1、大学英语四级模拟试卷 890及答案与解析 一、 Part I Writing (30 minutes) 1 For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay entitled Utilitarian Courses or Elementary Courses. You should write at least 120 words following the outline given below in Chinese： 1. 有人认为大学里实用课程重要 2有人认为基础课程更重要 3我的看法 二、 Part II Readi
2、ng 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 passage; N (for NO)
3、 if the statement contradicts the information given in the passage; NG (for NOT GIVEN) if the information is not given in the passage. 1 Wind Energy Wind energy development has been thriving both in the United States and around the world. This reflects not only the declining cost of the resource and
4、 the improved performance of wind power plants, but also a growing awareness among utilities and other potential customers that this renewable energy technology offers many benefits for the economy and the environment. Wind energy can help create new business and jobs, keep energy dollars circulatin
5、g in local economies and reduce reliance on imported energy. Wind energy can help protect utilities and ratepayers from risks associated with changing fuel prices, new environmental regulations, uncertain load growth and other unpredictable COSTS. Wind energy can reduce a utilitys pollutant emission
6、s, helping power companies meet environmental regulations and satisfy their customers desire for clean power sources. In the past, these benefits were not enough to outweigh the significant costs and technological uncertainties associated with wind energy; now that the technology has proven reliable
7、 and competitive, however, they are .beginning to carry more weight. The greatest challenge for the future is to ensure that the benefits of wind energy continue to receive attention as the utility industry moves toward increased competition in the generation and marketing of power. How does wind en
8、ergy contribute to the economy? Electricity is an essential ingredient of our modern way of life: it runs our computers, appliances, factories and businesses. Without low-cost power, our standard of living would suffer. But electricity generation is also a major source of pollution and toxic wastes.
9、 Wind energy offers a way to meet the needs of both the economy and the environment by providing a source of clean, competitively priced power. Wind energy helps our economy in important ways. For communities and states in which wind power facilities are located, wind power plants create jobs, gener
10、ate income and support economic development. Several studies have established that wind energy produces more Jobs per dollar invested or per kilowatt-hour generated than most conventional resource. A New York study, for example, found that producing 10 million kilowatt-hours of electricity from wind
11、 energy generates 27 percent more jobs in the state than producing the same amount of energy from an advanced coal plant and 66 percent more jobs than from a natural gas combined-cycle power plant, One reason is that much of the expense for fossil-fuel plants is incurred from buying fuel, which supp
12、orts fewer jobs than other industry sectors, especially when the fuel is imported from other states or countries. Wind power plants als0 pay substantial property taxes and land rents. A typical rent payment is a small percentage of a plants revenues, implying that a wind plant located in an agricult
13、ural area can boost cropland rents and prices by as much as 50 percent to 100 percent. For the most part, farming operations can continue unaffected. States and communities with the foresight to invest in wind energy can reap another benefit by fostering a home-grown wind industry that can export po
14、wer to other regions. The market for wind power worldwide is growing rapidly. New companies that capture this market will develop in areas where substantial wind development already is occurring. Until the late 1980s, this was mainly California; recently, however, the United States has ceded(转让 ) it
15、s early lead in wind development to European competitors. Prudent investments in the domestic wind market can help reverse this trend. What are the advantages of wind power plants? Most consumers like to avoid risk: The chance that something they need, no matter how inexpensive today, will become mu
16、ch more costly tomorrow. Fixed-rate mortgages owe much of their popularity to this characteristic. While other loan packages may be less expensive in the short-term, many homeowners like the comfort of knowing that their monthly Mortgage bill will never increase. Like a fixed rate mortgage, investin
17、g in wind energy offers an effective strategy for managing risk, a way of buying an insurance policy against the ups and downs of the power market. It is especially effective against three kinds of risk: environmental regulation, fuel price volatility and load-growth uncertainty. The typical wind po
18、wer plant takes less than a year to build, once the site is selected and licenses and permits approved. By contrast, conventional large power plants may take three to four years to build with the result that if loads do not increase as expected, a utility may be left with a substantial excess cost.
19、Another advantage of wind power plants is that they can be built in phases timed according to Heed. Finally, interest costs are lower during the construction of wind projects. Does wind energy produce pollution? Opinion polls rank wind as one of the most popular energy resources, far ahead of fossil
20、 fuels and nuclear power. The reason is simple: it produces no pollution or hazardous wastes. This is a very real benefit, for pollution can have a serious effect on our health, the economy and our sense of well being. Air pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulates and volatil
21、e organic compounds have been shown to reduce life spans and increase the incidence of debilitating illnesses, especially among the elderly and those with respiratory impairments. Some pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide and ozone, damage wildlife and plants and even reduce crop yields. Finally, gree
22、nhouse gases (which are emitted primarily by fossil-fuel combustion) are implicated in global warming, which may cause major changes in climate during the next several decades. Wind powers popularity with the public can be a competitive advantage for power companies that invest in this technology. M
23、unicipal utilities, large industrial consumers, and perhaps even residential consumers in some locations soon may be able to express a preference for clean power by their choice of electricity supplier. Utility-sponsored market surveys show that a significant number of consumers are willing to spend
24、 more on their monthly utility bills to purchase power from renewable sources. Companies that want to attract and keep such customers should give careful attention to wind power. Whether utilities continue to be tightly regulated or the industry moves into a more competitive phase, the significant b
25、enefits of wind energy should play an increasingly important role in deciding what kinds of new power plants will be built. In the traditional regulated utility setting, regulators could simply require utilities to consider benefits such as lower pollution, reduced risks and job creation in their re
26、source planning. As competition in the power industry increases, new mechanisms must come into play. On the one hand, the wind industry must aggressively market the benefits of wind power to potential customers. At the same time, state policymakers must take steps to ensure that the move to competit
27、ion does not jeopardize (使冒危险 ) the public interest. So long as regulations and the market value environmental protection, long-term price stability, economic development and other benefits, wind power will receive the attention it deserves. 2 This passage gives a general description of the benefits
28、 of wind energy. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 3 Wind energy development has been thriving both in the United States and around the world. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 4 Wind energy offers a way to meet the needs of both the economy and the environment by providing a source of clean, competitively priced power. （
29、A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 5 Wind power plants pay no property taxes and land rents. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 6 Recently, the United States has ceded its early lead in wind development to Asian competitors. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 7 The typical conventional small power plant may take two years to build. （ A） Y
30、（ B） N （ C） NG 8 Opinion polls rank nuclear power as one of the most popular energy resources, far ahead of wind. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 9 Several studies have established that wind energy produces more Jobs per dollar invested or per kilowatt-hour generated than_. 10 A wind plant located in an agric
31、ultural area can boost cropland rents and prices by as much as_. 11 A significant number of consumers are willing to spend more on their monthly utility bills to purchase power from_. Section A Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of e
32、ach 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 answer. （ A） It
33、is about to start raining. （ B） The rain will stop soon. （ C） It has been raining all day. （ D） It just stopped raining. （ A） Cell phones are more convenient when they are smaller. （ B） He should change his thinking and understand that smaller phones are better. （ C） He should accept the fashion. （
34、D） Cell phones are not worth buying these days. （ A） Japanese. （ B） Arabic. （ C） Spanish. （ D） Chinese. （ A） The food at the new restaurant is not very good. （ B） He has not been to the new restaurant yet. （ C） He would like to go to the new restaurant with the woman. （ D） A restaurants atmosphere i
35、s very important to him. （ A） She isnt sure about where things are on campus. （ B） The man should not ask the registration office. （ C） The registration is outside of the building. （ D） The people outside are very good to ask. （ A） The fault was the University. （ B） The man should have seen the ligh
36、t. （ C） The lights were net working that night. （ D） There were lights there since she has seen them. （ A） Jennifer is wearing a bandage over her leg. （ B） Jennifer will be a runner. （ C） Jennifers brother hit her in the leg. （ D） Jennifer tried to climb the tree. （ A） Lending something to a student
37、. （ B） Reading a students application. （ C） Asking for some financial aid. （ D） Borrowing money for a business. （ A） A druggist s suggestion. （ B） An article. （ C） An advertisement. （ D） A salesclerks comment. （ A） The relationship of purchases made to time spent shopping. （ B） The length of time re
38、quired for drugstore shopping. （ C） The increases in the size and stock for drugstore. （ D） The buying of clothing from department stores. （ A） People enjoy shopping in them. （ B） People spend little time in them. （ C） People are more likely to buy something in them if time is limited. （ D） People s
39、pend too much time reading articles about quick cures sold in drugstore. （ A） He had a meal with a general manage. （ B） He applied for a new job. （ C） He moved into a new apartment. （ D） He bought some paintings. （ A） One. （ B） Two. （ C） Three. （ D） Four. （ A） Boring. （ B） Interesting. （ C） Easy. （
40、D） Difficult. （ A） Excited. （ B） Depressed. （ C） Nervous. （ D） Scared. 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 cho
41、ose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D. （ A） She does her shopping. （ B） She drinks extra tea. （ C） She eats a lot of things. （ D） She sleeps a great deal. （ A） Problems with the teachers. （ B） Problems with family members or friends. （ C） Problems with class work. （ D） Probl
42、ems with a part-time job. （ A） Talking to someone over the phone. （ B） Drinking some diet coke. （ C） Playing a video game. （ D） Drinking extra tea. 30 What does the second man answer when asked what they are doing? （ A） Breaking big rocks into little ones （ B） Feeding his family. （ C） Building a cat
43、hedral. （ D） Doing construction works. 31 According to the speaker， what is the first central component of a meaningful work? （ A） Having a point. （ B） Having flexibility. （ C） Making sense. （ D） Being interesting. （ A） To improve her computer program. （ B） To find out their attitudes towards food.
44、（ C） To find out details she can make use of. （ D） To predict what food theyll like in the future. （ A） People believe what the computer tells them. （ B） People can be led to believe in something false. （ C） People tend to forget their childhood experiences. （ D） People are not always aware of their
45、 personalities. （ A） If they learn it is harmful for health. （ B） If they lie to themselves that they dont want it. （ C） If they are willing to let doctors control their minds. （ D） If they. think they once had a bad experience of eating it. （ A） Whether it is moral. （ B） Who it is best for. （ C） Wh
46、en it is effective. （ D） How it should be used. 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 required to fill in the bla
47、nks 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 Falling down a manhole is not the best way to make
48、 a good impression. Or so I thought before coming to China. One day, 【 B1】 _ on Heping Li Xijie a potholed street crowded with taxis, bicycles, three wheel 【 B2】 _, and fruit and vegetable sellers, my front wheel 【 B3】 _ down a hole and threw me over the handlebars. 【 B4】 _, I waited for the unkind
49、laughing comments of 【 B5】_. But when I rearranged myself and 【 B6】 _ to laugh at my accident, a crowd of onlookers broke into a round of 【 B7】 _ and gave me a double thumbs up. So I was able to ride away without 【 B8】 _ of face. But 【 B9】 _. Perhaps its because Im a foreigner considered more of a spectator sport, than a respected member of the human race. 【 B10】 _mianzi. Had I been Chinese, or perhaps nose-dived in a less exaggerated way, people would not have
