1、大学英语四级模拟试卷 837及答案与解析 一、 Part I Writing (30 minutes) 1 For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a composition on the topic Popular Music. You should write at least 120 words and you should base your composition on the outline (given in Chinese) below: 1. 许多年轻人热衷于流行音乐。 2流行音乐受欢迎的原因。 3你的观点、态度。
2、 二、 Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes) Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions attached to the passage. For questions 1-7, mark： Y (for YES) if the statement agrees with the information given in the pa
3、ssage; N (for NO) if the statement contradicts the information given in the passage; NG (for NOT GIVEN) if the information is not given in the passage. 1 Gender Inequality In Western society, traditional male and female roles are not only substantially different, but also highly unequal. As we have
4、seen, the male is given the dominant position. In a sense he is the star actor, whereas the female often plays only a supporting role. Psychologically, the male is trained to play the role of decision maker, whereas the female is encouraged to be submissive and obedient. This same gender inequality
5、is reflected in our basic institutions. In education, employment, and politics, women clearly are treated as inferiors. Education In the past, women faced open discrimination in almost every aspect of our educational system. Far more boys than girls were enrolled in primary and secondary schools, an
6、d most of the best colleges did not admit women at all. Changing cultural expectations and new antidiscrimination laws broke down most of these barriers, and great progress has been made. Today, more females than males graduate from high school and from college. Yet men still maintain some important
7、 educational advantages. For one thing, men receive over 60 percent of professional degrees and doctorates. There are also important differences in the majors women and men pursue. More females are in the liberal arts and humanities, while more men major in such fields as science, mathematics, and e
8、ngineering, which are most likely to lead directly to high-paying career. Although the reasons for these differences are not entirely clear, several factors appear to be important. It seems that traditional gender role stereotypes no longer stop females from pursuing an education, but women are disc
9、ouraged from going into academic areas that are overwhelmingly dominated by males. For example, one recent study shows that the lack of female role models among faculty members in mathematics, science, and engineering subtly conveys the message to young women that those fields are not for them. Wome
10、ns preference for a more general liberal education may also reflect the fact that women expect to carry more child-rearing responsibilities than their male counterparts. As a result, they may shy away from majors leading to demanding careers that would interfere with those responsibilities. Employme
11、nt Womens role in the work force has undergone a remarkable change. Fifty years ago, fewer than a quarter of all adult women in the United States worked outside the home. Today, that figure has more than doubled, and the number of working women continues to increase. In the next decade, six of every
12、 ten new workers in the United States are expected to be women. Although the gap between mens and womens pay has narrowed in recent years, it continues to be a large one. In 1975 women earned only about 60 percent as much as men, but by 1992, that figure was around 75 percent. Unfortunately, the rea
13、son the gap has closed is due more to a decline in mens earnings than to an increase in womens pay. An analysis by the Economic Policy Institute concluded that over two-thirds of that improvement was caused by the drop in mens wages and only a third by increasing womens wages. Many women receive sma
14、ller paychecks than men because they enter lower-paying occupations and hold lower-ranking jobs within their field. Yet there are substantial differences in pay even among men and women who do the same type of work. Women in sales earn only 56 percent as much as salesmen, and women professionals abo
15、ut 72 percent as much as their male counterparts. A Business Week survey found that the starting salaries of male graduates of the best MBA programs in the United States are 12 percent higher than the starting salaries of female graduates. Even when workers break out of the traditional occupational
16、stereotypes, women still come up short. Although 94 percent of all registered nurses are female, male nurses earn about 10 percent more than their female co-workers. Women who cross the gender barrier to join the building trades, on the other hand, earn about 25 percent less than male construction w
17、orkers. Many occupations are clearly “sex-typed“; that is, they are considered either mens jobs or womens jobs. Almost 60 percent of all university professors are men, as are 86 percent of police officers and 92 percent of engineers. In contrast, 75 percent of primary and secondary teachers, 84 perc
18、ent of librarians, and 98 percent of all secretaries are women. “Womens jobs“ almost always have lower pay and lower status than comparable “male“ positions. Jobs that are relatively autonomous are usually typed as male, as in the case of truck drivers or traveling sales personnel. There are, noneth
19、eless, some hopeful signs. As Francine D. Blau and Marianne A. Ferber point out, there has been a slow but steady decrease in occupational segregation since the 1960s, and many women have managed to breach the walls that kept them out of better-paying “mens jobs“. In 1960, only about 6.5 percent of
20、U.S. physicians were women; today that number is over 20 percent. Women have made similar strides in the legal profession: In 1960, fewer than 1 out of 20 lawyers and judges was a woman, but today the ratio is more than 1 in 5. Political Power Politics has traditionally been considered a mans busine
21、ss. Women were not even allowed to vote in most democracies until this century. The few women who have gained top positions of power have often had the benefit of family connections to overcome objections to their sex. In 1993, only 7 percent of the members of the U.S. Senate and 11 percent of the H
22、ouse were women. No woman has ever held a key position of power in the U.S. Congress, such as majority leader or Speaker of the House, and women are still largely locked out of the inner circles of power in the White House including, of course, the presidency itself. In the judicial branch, only two
23、 women in the history of the United States have ever been on the Supreme Court. Women, nonetheless, have enormous political potential. Most of the volunteer workers essential to political campaigns are women. Even more significant is the fact that women outnumber men and could outvote them if they v
24、oted as a block. Until recently, women voted much as their husbands did, but in the last decade a significant “gender gap“ between the voting patterns of men and women had developed. Polls show that women look more favorably on welfare programs and environmental protection and are more likely to opp
25、ose military spending and an aggressive foreign policy. In the last three presidential elections, substantially more women than men voted for the Democratic candidate. So far, the gender gap has not been a decisive factor in U.S. politics, but the potential is certainly there. 2 Sexual discriminatio
26、n still exists in Western society. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 3 In the United States, the number of males and females is not in proportion. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 4 The pay gap between women and men tends to be bigger. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 5 Fifty years ago, more than 75 percent of all adult women in the
27、 U.S. had no jobs. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 6 Women earn less money than men even if they do the same type of work. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 7 Women earn more money than their counterparts of the opposite sex only in nursing. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 8 So far, the gender gap has been a decisive factor in U.S
28、. politics. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 9 Academic areas are mainly controlled by _. 10 Today, more than _ percent of U.S. physicians are women. 11 In the last three presidential elections, more women than men voted for _. Section A Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 lo
29、ng conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A, B, C and D, and decide w
30、hich is the best answer. （ A） Go to the football match with the woman. （ B） Ask the woman to help him do his assignment. （ C） Finish the last two chapters of his history assignment. （ D） Take part in the football match. （ A） Her arm needs an X-ray check. （ B） She played the basketball too long each
31、time. （ C） She broke her arm in a basketball match. （ D） There is nothing serious with her arm. （ A） He is optimistic about final cures. （ B） He is confident that will help. （ C） He is doubtful that it helps. （ D） He is pessimistic about modem medicine. （ A） He prefers to see a reporter this afterno
32、on. （ B） He has to read the report first. （ C） He is ready to help the woman. （ D） He cant help the woman at present. （ A） Families with cars. （ B） Americans heavy dependence on cars. （ C） Roads and highways. （ D） Traffic problems in America. （ A） The movie will not be shown. （ B） All the tickets ha
33、ve been sold out. （ C） The movie is interesting. （ D） The movie was shown last night. （ A） He hates his job. （ B） He enjoys his job. （ C） He wants to find another job. （ D） He is indifferent to his job. （ A） The work is being done slowly. （ B） He needs someone to do the corrections. （ C） He will fin
34、ish the translation in time. （ D） His dictionary is very helpful. （ A） Because he didnt want to go to the womans party. （ B） Because he was deeply attracted by a program about Oprah Winfrey. （ C） Because he participated in Oprah Winfreys program. （ D） Because he forgot about the womans party. （ A） S
35、he is a US actress. （ B） She is a US speaker. （ C） She is the sponsor of a US talk show. （ D） She is the hostess of a US talk show. （ A） Oprah Winfrey has a distinguished family background. （ B） Oprah Winfrey is frank and genuine. （ C） Oprah Winfrey never spreads gossip or scandal. （ D） Oprah Winfre
36、y was Americas first African-American news anchor. （ A） Reading newspapers. （ B） Reading advertisements. （ C） Doing housing business. （ D） Looking for a suitable house. （ A） The price is too high. （ B） The house is far from his company. （ C） The place is noisy. （ D） There is no shopping nearby. （ A）
37、 It has a garden. （ B） It is not in the city center. （ C） It is not very expensive. （ D） It is very far from the place the man works in. Section B Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions
38、 will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D. （ A） He got injured. （ B） He was exhausted. （ C） He was knocked down. （ D） He could no longer stand the pain. （ A） A sand beach. （ B） A deep valley. （ C） A high mountain.
39、 （ D） A grain of sand. （ A） To avoid failure. （ B） To avoid lasting sufferings. （ C） To avoid being blamed on a minor fault. （ D） To avoid anxiety, worry and regret. （ A） The advantages of traditional surveying methods. （ B） Using satellites to communicate with mountain climbers. （ C） Obtaining new
40、information about a mountain. （ D） Controlling satellites from the top of a mountain. （ A） To indicate how climbers communicated. （ B） To show that climbers enjoyed many comforts. （ C） To show that modern telephones work at high altitudes. （ D） To emphasize how small some equipment had become. （ A）
41、Detailed maps from previous studies. （ B） Recent advances in technology. （ C） Plenty of funding for the study. （ D） Experience carrying heavy loads up mountains. （ A） To carry information that would help determine elevation. （ B） To provide accurate weather reports. （ C） To relay information from sc
42、ientists around the world. （ D） To indicate which route the mountain climbers should take. （ A） She couldnt get admitted to medical school. （ B） She decided to further her education in Paris. （ C） She caught a serious eye illness. （ D） It was difficult for her to start a practice in the United State
43、s. （ A） She was a woman. （ B） She wrote too many letters. （ C） She couldnt graduate from medical school. （ D） She couldnt establish her hospital. （ A） In 1849. （ B） In 1857. （ C） In 1821. （ D） In 1823. （ A） She became the first woman physician. （ B） She was the first woman surgeon. （ C） She founded
44、the first hospital for women and children. （ D） She was born in England. Section C Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are re
45、quired to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 you are required to fill in the missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the 36 People tend to be more im
46、pressed by evidence that seems to confirm some relationship. Thus many are【 B1】 _their dreams are prophetic(预言的 )because a few have come true; They fail to【 B2】 _the many that have not. Consider also the belief that “the phone always rings when I m in the shower.“ If it does ring while you are in th
47、e shower, the event will stand out and be【 B3】 _. If it doesnt ring, that non-event probably wont even register(留下印象 ). People want to see order,【 B4】 _and meaning in the world. Consider, for example, the【 B5】 _belief that things like personal misfortunes, plane crashes, and deaths “happen in threes
48、.“ Such beliefs stem from the【 B6】 _of people to allow the third event to【 B7】 _the time period. If three plane crashes occur in a month, then the period of time that counts as their “happening【 B8】 _“is one month; if three crashes occur in a year, the period of time is stretched.【 B9】 _. We also te
49、nd to believe what we want to believe. A majority of people think they are more intelligent, more fair - minded and more skilled behind the wheel of an automobile than the average person.【 B10】 _As economist Thomas Schelling explains, “Everybody ranks himself high in qualities he values: careful drivers give weight to care, skilled drivers give weight to skill, and those who are polite give weight to courtesy, “This way everyone ranks high on his own scale. Perh
