1、大学英语四级模拟试卷 858及答案与解析 一、 Part I Writing (30 minutes) 1 For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay on the topic College Students Using Bribes to Become Student Leaders. You should write at least 120 words following the outline given below. 1.有些大学生通过贿赂谋取学生会等社团的领导职位 2. 这种行为存在许多弊端 3
2、. 如何正确对待大学生社团竞选 College Students Using Bribes to Become Student Leaders 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
3、 (for YES) if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage; 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 Why You Cant Ignore the Changing Climate by Eugene Linden PARADE Magazine (
4、June 25, 2006) As we learned last year in New Orleans, weather can be a weapon of mass destruction. With the 2006 hurricane season now upon us, scientists say the climate is changing in ways that could produce many more superhurricanes, as well as extreme floods, droughts and heat waves that could t
5、hreaten our way of life. Still, its easy to ignore the signs of global warming because weve always had crazy weather. Unfortunately, many of the predicted changes have begun, and they already affect our health and pocketbooks. Heres what we know: Look Outside: The Weather Already Is Changing Every y
6、ear since 1997 has been in the Top 10 list of hottest years, and 2005 set a record. The Earth has warmed about 1.4F since the late 19th century, and the warming has accelerated during the past four decades. That increase sounds small, but it has been sufficient to make weather records fall by the th
7、ousands. Studies by Kerry Emmanuel at MIT and others have documented that hurricanes are getting more intense. Extreme storms like the one that flooded New England with more than 10 inches of rain in May are becoming more frequent too. Birds are migrating earlier. Trees are blooming, and flowers and
8、 crops are popping up unseasonably early across the country. The warming has produced clear winners: pests. Mosquitoes love the warmer weather and are celebrating by bringing infectious diseases to new places. A recent Duke University study found that increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has l
9、ed to out-of-control growth of poison ivy (常春藤 ), as well as increased levels of allergy-producing pollen (引起过敏的花粉 ). Beetle populations have exploded in evergreen trees. Why should we care about beetles? It was beetles that killed the trees in Southern California, which provided the dry fuel for th
10、e wildfires that destroyed hundreds of homes in 2003. Higher temperatures also are causing glaciers (冰川 ) to melt fast. Mount Kilimanjaro (乞力马扎罗山 非洲的最高山峰 ), for instance, has been topped with ice for at least 11,700 years. Within the next 15 years, however, its summit might be ice-free, according to
11、 Lonnie Thompson, a glaciologist at Ohio State University. The fastest warming is taking place in the far north, where glaciers are receding. You may think this isnt relevant to those of us farther south, but snow and ice play a big role in balancing Earths climate by reflecting sunlight back into s
12、pace. Melting snow and ice could push climates everywhere past a tipping point: As the Earth warms, melting snow and ice expose dark surfaces such as land and oceans, and the switch from heatreflecting to heat-absorbing surfaces could turbo-charge further warming. Were Making It Worse “Im changing t
13、he climate! Ask me how“ reads a bumper sticker that activists have been plastering on SUVs. Their point is that gas-guzzlers (耗油量大的车 ) contribute to climate change. In a more sober way, the great majority of scientists are saying the same thing: Burning gas or oil in engines and furnaces has pushed
14、carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere far above where theyve been for hundreds of thousands of years, and the debate has ended over whether these emissions are making the planet hotter. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group of more than 1,500 scientists from 60 countries, asserts
15、that some portion of the recent warming is the result of human activities. Last year, the worlds leading scientific journal, Science, looked back at all the scientifically credible articles published between 1993 and 2003 that dealt with modern climate change. Not one took issue with the consensus t
16、hat humans are contributing to the changes we are seeing. A Darkening Financial Forecast Changing weather already costs you money. Of course, many Americans have felt the impact of hurricanes and floods, but even those not directly affected by extreme weather are paying a steep price: On May 13, the
17、 front page of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune trumpeted the news that State Farm Insurance, Floridas largest property insurer, was seeking to raise rates by more than 70% for houses and 95% for mobile homes. That would jump average insurance costs from about 1,733 to 3,101. But even if you live on Cape
18、 Cod more than 1,000 miles from the Gulf Coast insurers are raising rates and pulling out of some markets as they try to adjust to a new world in which the past behavior of hurricanes is no longer a reliable guide to the future. Southern California where water availability is largely determined by s
19、nowfall in faraway mountains already must scramble for water. Scarcities will become a severe problem if the snow pack continues to shrink and melt earlier because of warming temperatures, leaving residents extremely thirsty during the summer months. An extended water crisis will likely hurt house p
20、rices, setting off a chain reaction of job losses, foreclosures (回赎权取消 ) and bank failures. Drought in the West already affects hydro-electric power production. Power shortages could reach the Pacific Northwest if the regions river flows dropped below the levels needed to cool even coal- and gas-fir
21、ed power plants. For Americas workers, climate change will feel like an enormous tax, stripping savings and imposing costs ranging from disrupted jobs to a rash of health threats. Climate Has Destroyed Past Civilizations From the Fertile Crescent to the Yucatan Peninsula (尤卡坦半岛美洲北部 ), past civilizat
22、ions made the fatal mistake of assuming that good weather would continue. An abrupt shift to drought in Mesopotamia (美索不达米亚地区 ) 4,200 years ago probably spelled the doom of the Akkadian (古比伦阿卡得人的 ) culture, which united city-states into the first known empire. Others see the fingerprints of climate
23、in the collapse of the Mayans (马雅人 ) around 900 AD., the disappearance of the Anasazi from the American Southwest a few centuries later and the end of Norse expansion into the New World in the 14th century. A recurrent pattern of history has been for civilizations to take root and flourish while the
24、 weather is good, only to fall when the weather suddenly changes. But dont our technology and markets make us different? Absolutely, but 6 billion people still rely on crops grown in fertile areas like the American Midwest areas vulnerable to drought in a warming world. Past civilizations had no way
25、 to know that climates could change. We do. But if we are to prevent disaster from happening, we have to act on our knowledge, and we havent done that yet. 2 The extreme weather we have experienced in the past decades resulted from the ever increasing global warming. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 3 The warm
26、ing causes population explosions of mosquitoes as well as beetles, but it has been documented that the latter have done more damage to man than the former have. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 4 The fastest warming is taking place in the regions around the South Pole, where glaciers are disappearing at an ast
27、onishing speed. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 5 Scientists from many countries agree that the recent warming is caused in part by such human activities as mans ever-increasing consumption of gas or oil. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 6 As the result of insurance rates rising nationwide, Americans as a whole are suff
28、ering financially, no matter whether they are directly affected by destructive weather or not. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 7 To a large extent, our ancestors total ignorance of sudden changes in weather led to the destruction of some ancient civilizations. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 8 The author holds optimist
29、ically that with the aid of our knowledge and technology, we will eventually be able to find ways to prevent sudden changes in climates and avoid natural disasters. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 9 Snow and ice can balance Earths climate by _, but the never-ending melting of snow and ice, could cause land an
30、d oceans to switch from _to _ surfaces. 10 Water availability in Southern California is determined largely by _. 11 For Americans, changing weather already costs them money, and it will feel like _. Section A Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations.
31、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 which is the best a
32、nswer. （ A） The pear. （ B） The weather. （ C） The sea food. （ D） The cold. （ A） Mary has never studied mathematics. （ B） Mary must be good at mathematics. （ C） Mary enjoys learning mathematics. （ D） Mary probably is poor at mathematics. （ A） Georges brother. （ B） George s wife. （ C） George s father.
33、（ D） George s father - in - law. （ A） She can use his car. （ B） She can borrow someone elses car. （ C） She must get her car fixed. （ D） She cant borrow his car. （ A） At 2:35. （ B） At 2:45. （ C） At 3:00. （ D） At 3:1 （ A） To the bank. （ B） To bookstore. （ C） To a shoe store. （ D） To the grocer s. （ A）
34、 Near the station （ B） In the country （ C） In the city. （ D） Near her work place （ A） At a cigarette store （ B） At a bus station （ C） At a gas station （ D） At Aunt Mary s （ A） Searching for reference material. （ B） Watching a film of the 1930s. （ C） Writing a course book. （ D） Looking for a job in a
35、 movie studio. （ A） It s too broad to cope with. （ B） It s a bit outdated. （ C） It s controversial. （ D） It s of little practical value. （ A） At the end of the online catalogue. （ B） At the Reference Desk. （ C） In The New York Times. （ D） In the Reader s Guide to Periodical Literature. （ A） An exhib
36、it of paintings. （ B） A Broadway play. （ C） A modern dance production. （ D） An opera. （ A） Artists. （ B） Tour guides （ C） Grocers. （ D） Musicians. （ A） The late seventeenth century. （ B） The early eighteenth century. （ C） The late nineteenth century. （ D） The early twentieth century. （ A） An instrum
37、ent. （ B） A city （ C） A theater. （ D） A concert. 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 will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer fr
38、om the four choices marked A, B, C and D. （ A） Parents. （ B） Children. （ C） Breadwinners. （ D） Bank managers. （ A） To help people learn to be realistic. （ B） To help people increase their savings. （ C） To help people manage their money well. （ D） To help people test their power-control. （ A） Fill in
39、 the expenses as they really are. （ B） Avoid spending money on expensive things. （ C） Set aside a fixed amount of money as savings. （ D） List income and expenses on two pieces of paper. （ A） In the yellow pages. （ B） In the red pages. （ C） In the white pages. （ D） In the blue pages. （ A） In the fron
40、t of the white pages. （ B） Right after the white pages. （ C） At the end of the telephone book. （ D） On the first page of the telephone book. （ A） The public telephones often go wrong in malting a long distance call. （ B） It is not very expensive to make a long distance call on a public telephone. （
41、C） Youll probably not be charged for dialing a wrong number in matting a long distance call. （ D） Youd better not make a long distance call on a public telephone for it charges too much. （ A） It was famous for its film industry. （ B） It became one of the biggest cities in California. （ C） It was onl
42、y a small village. （ D） It became a suburb of Los Angeles. （ A） He discovered oil in and around Hollywood. （ B） He turned Hollywood into a big district of film industry. （ C） He set up oil wells in the neighborhood of Hollywood. （ D） He set up a film-producing workshop in Hollywood. （ A） In a open f
43、ield. （ B） Along the seaside. （ C） In a workshop. （ D） On a fine day. （ A） More television films are produced. （ B） Man-made lighting has taken the place d natural light. （ C） More films are taken for the ordinary people. （ D） Oil production has become more important than the film industry. Section
44、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 required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have
45、 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 Language is an amazing phenomenon. Speech the 【 B1】 _ of sounds to convey meaning is a kind of human actio
46、n. Like any other 【 B2】 _ repeated actions, speaking has to be learned. But once it is learned, it becomes a generally 【 B3】_ and apparently automatic process. As far as we can 【 B4】 _ , human beings do not need to be forced to speak. Most babies seem to 【 B5】 _ a sort of instinctive drive to produc
47、e 【 B6】 _ noises. How to speak and what to say are another matter 【 B7】 _ . These actions are learned from file particular society in which the baby is born; so that, like ail conduct and 【 B8】 _ that is learned from a society from the people around us speech is a patterned activity. 【 B9】 _ into a
48、few orderly patterns, accepted as meaningful by the people around him. 【 B10】 _ However, a child born into a society with a pattern of language is encouraged o make a small selection of sounds. 【 B11】 _. 37 【 B1】 38 【 B2】 39 【 B3】 40 【 B4】 41 【 B5】 42 【 B6】 43 【 B7】 44 【 B8】 45 【 B9】 46 【 B10】 47 【
49、B11】 Section A Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item with a single line through the center. You may not use any of t
