1、大学英语四级（ 2013年 12月考试改革适用）模拟试卷 186及答案与解析 一、 Part I Writing 1 For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay on the following question. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words. Suppose you could change one important thing about your college, what would you chang
2、e? Give reasons and specific examples to support your answer. Section A （ A） The brick buildings are too old. （ B） Many people are still buried. （ C） Earthquakes keep occurring. （ D） Shelter and food is not enough. （ A） It was the worlds worst earthquake in 80 years. （ B） It created great panic amon
3、g the residents. （ C） Most residents spent the night outside in the open. （ D） Some witnesses were sent on a boat after the earthquake. （ A） To cultivate the next generation of smokers. （ B） To change peoples attitude towards smoking. （ C） To lure smokers into choosing their brands. （ D） To lift the
4、 smoking industrys position. （ A） They are be more difficult to quit for smokers. （ B） They are not as safe as traditional cigarettes. （ C） Their market has great potential. （ D） They are not attractive to young children. （ A） Extremely high crime rates. （ B） Troubled higher education. （ C） Limited
5、natural resources. （ D） Poor government stability. （ A） The increasing number of college graduates means hope. （ B） The number of graduates should be decreased. （ C） Therere enough resources for the African students. （ D） The high number of students is the biggest problem. （ A） It will sooner or lat
6、er be solved. （ B） It is one of the most serious issues. （ C） It isnt as hard as war or poverty. （ D） It is the root cause of other issues. Section B （ A） A lot of preparation is needed before doing real climbing. （ B） Rock-climbing is not dangerous if you are strong enough. （ C） The man has chosen
7、the class of rock-climbing. （ D） The man likes rock-climbing very much. （ A） Hi-tech safety equipment ensures ones safety. （ B） One is safe if he is very careful. （ C） There are safety equipments prepared on the ground. （ D） A lot of people do rock-climbing and they are OK. （ A） She can make a lot o
8、f friends. （ B） She can learn mental discipline. （ C） She can get more familiar with the man. （ D） She can lose weight. （ A） Take a climbing trip. （ B） Tell the woman once he has made a decision. （ C） Join the class. （ D） Join the class if the woman does. （ A） To ask for suggestions on family holida
9、y. （ B） To complain about the holiday plan. （ C） To inquire about camping information. （ D） To discuss about the accommodation. （ A） He hasnt enough money to go where he wants. （ B） He wants to visit many places. （ C） His family have different ideas. （ D） He doesnt know his likes and dislikes. （ A）
10、He plans to buy a new apartment. （ B） He is longing to spend his holiday in France. （ C） He wants to go fishing during the holiday. （ D） He doesnt care how much money to spend. （ A） Frame tent. （ B） Sleeping bags. （ C） A tin opener. （ D） Nothing at all. Section C （ A） Automobiles are more destructiv
11、e to human society. （ B） Peacebreakers pay little attention to law and morality. （ C） Modern technology brings more harm than good. （ D） The lack of virtue is becoming more prevailing. （ A） Researchers show great interest in this. （ B） Few drivers know the dangers of accidents. （ C） Experts want to
12、warn drivers of their own safety. （ D） It is a main reason leading to accidents. （ A） Raising safety standards for vehicles. （ B） Establishing speed limits on more roads. （ C） Limiting the number of vehicles on express ways. （ D） Regulating the release of drivers licenses. （ A） To show that the moto
13、r vehicle is a very dangerous invention. （ B） To discuss traffic problems and propose possible solutions. （ C） To promote drivers social awareness and sense of responsibility. （ D） To warn drivers of the destruction of careless driving. （ A） They become more mature in a shorter time. （ B） They might
14、 be of different genes from their ancestors. （ C） They are much more nutritious with better taste. （ D） They might take a totally different look than before. （ A） Which food could be sold. （ B） How foods must be described. （ C） When certain foods are available. （ D） What nutrients food should contai
15、n. （ A） They have trouble in moving. （ B） They have trouble in speaking. （ C） They have trouble in sleeping. （ D） They have trouble in breathing. （ A） It plays an important role in the international economy. （ B） Japan is the largest trading partner of America. （ C） American banks have the most bran
16、ches globally. （ D） Trade between Japan and America is the most active of all. （ A） She was interested in living in different places. （ B） She wanted to know more about Japanese culture. （ C） She was promoted by her boss to a new position. （ D） She wanted to gain more knowledge of the field. （ A） Sh
17、e is the manager of the Tokyo branch bank. （ B） She studies economics in Japan. （ C） She works for a Japanese bank in America. （ D） She set up her own business in Japan. Section A 26 The United States predominance in science and technology is fading, a report released this month by the National Scie
18、nce Board warns. The report underlines what a powerhouse the United States【 C1】 _in knowledge- and technology-intensive industries, including high-tech manufacturing, energy and drug industry. All in all, those industries【 C2】 _for about 40 percent of American economic output, more than in any other
19、 developed country, it finds. But with the rise of increasingly【 C3】 _emerging economies, the report suggests, underinvestment in research and development might translate into a less【 C4】 _, less productive American economy in the future. The world is【 C5】 _a “dramatic shift in the global scientific
20、: landscape,“ said Dan E. Arvizu, chairman of the National Science Board. “Emerging economies understand the【 C6】_science and innovation play in the global marketplace and in economic competitiveness and have increasingly placed a【 C7】 _on building their capacity in science and technology,“ he said.
21、 The Asian economies now perform a larger【 C8】 _of global research and development than the United States does. China carries out about as much high-tech manufacturing as the United States does, the report found. But the report also highlights some important market sectors where the United States ap
22、pears to be falling behind. More【 C9】 _, the report finds that the United States might be【 C10】 _in the research and development spending that scientists say is the most important fuel for future innovation. Moreover, many countries spend larger and faster-growing proportions of their economic outpu
23、t on research. A) account E) directly I) limited M) share B) competitive F) dominant J) priority N) undergoing C) concern G) effect K) remains O) worryingly D) decays H) lagging L) role 27 【 C1】 28 【 C2】 29 【 C3】 30 【 C4】 31 【 C5】 32 【 C6】 33 【 C7】 34 【 C8】 35 【 C9】 36 【 C10】 Section B 36 The End of
24、 AIDS? A On June 5th 1981 Americas Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported the outbreak of an unusual form of pneumonia (肺炎 ) in Los Angeles. When, a few weeks later, its scientists noticed a similar cluster of a rare cancer called Kaposis sarcoma (肉瘤 ) in San Francisco, they suspected t
25、hat something strange and serious was coming. That something was AIDS. B Since then, 25m people have died from AIDS and another 34m are infected. The 30th anniversary of the diseases discovery has been taken by many as an occasion for hand-wringing. Yet the war on AIDS is going far better than anyon
26、e dared hope. A decade ago, half of the people in several southern African countries were expected to die of AIDS. Now, the death rate is dropping. In 2005 the disease killed 2.1m people. In 2009, the most recent year for which data are available, the number was 1.8m. Some 5m lives have already been
27、 saved by drug treatment. In 33 of the worst-affected countries the rate of new infections is down by 25% or more from its peak. C Even more hopeful is a recent study which suggests that the drugs used to treat AIDS may also stop its transmission. If that proves true, the drugs could acliieve much o
28、f what a vaccine (疫苗 ) would. The question for the world will no longer be whether it can wipe out the plague, but whether it is prepared to pay the price. The appliance of science D If AIDS is defeated, it will be thanks to an alliance of science, activism and unselfishness. The science has come fr
29、om the worlds drug companies, which leapt on the problem. In 1996 a batch of similar drugs, all of them inhibiting the activity of one of the AIDS viruss crucial enzymes (霉素 ), appeared almost simultaneously. The effect was miraculous, if you (or your government) could afford the $15,000 a year that
30、 those drugs cost when they first came on the market. E Much of the activism came from rich-world gays. Having persuaded drug companies into creating the new medicines, the activists bullied them into dropping the price. That would have happened anyway, but activism made it happen faster. The unself
31、ishness was aroused as it became clear by the mid-1990s that AIDS was not just a rich-world disease. Three-quarters of those affected wereand still arein Africa. Unlike most infections, which strike children and the elderly, AIDS hits the most productive members of society: businessmen, civil servan
32、ts, engineers, teachers, doctors, nurses. Thanks to an enormous effort by Western philanthropists (慈善家 ) and some politicians (this is one area where even the left should give credit to George Bush junior), a series of programmes has brought drugs to those infected. F The result is unsatisfactory. N
33、ot enough peoplesome 6.6m of the 16m who would most quickly benefitare getting the drugs. And the pills are not a cure. Stop taking them, and the virus bounces back. But it is a huge step forward from ten years ago. G What can science offer now? A few peoples immune systems control the disease natur
34、ally, which suggests a vaccine might be possible, and antibodies have been discovered that neutralise the virus and might thus form the basis of AIDS-clearing drugs. But a cure still seems a long way off. Prevention is, for the moment, the better bet. A question of money H In the early days scientis
35、ts were often attacked by activists for being more concerned with trying to prevent the epidemic spreading than treating the affected. Now it seems that treatment and prevention will come in the same pill. If you can stop the virus reproducing in someones body, you not only save his life, you also r
36、educe the number of viruses for him to pass on. Get enough people on drugs and it would be like vaccinating them: the chain of transmission would be broken. I That is a huge task. It is not just a matter of bringing in those who should already be on the drugs (the 16m who show symptoms or whose immu
37、ne systems are critically weak). To prevent transmission, treatment would in theory need to be expanded to all the 34m people infected with the disease. That would mean more effective screening, which is planned already, and also a willingness by those without the symptoms to be treated. That willin
38、gness might be there, though, if it would protect peoples uninfected lovers. J Such a programme would take years and also cost a lot of money. About $16 billion a year is spent on AIDS in poor and middle-income countries. Half is generated locally and half is foreign aid. A report in this weeks Lanc
39、et suggests a carefully crafted mixture of approaches that does not involve treating all those without symptoms would bring great benefit for not much more than thisa peak of $22 billion in 2015, and a fall thereafter. Moreover, most of the extra spending would be offset by savings on the treatment
40、of those who would have been infected, but were notsome 12m people, if the scientists have done their sums right. At $500 per person per year, the benefits would far outweigh the costs in purely economic terms: though donors will need to compare the gain from spending more on knocking out AIDS again
41、st other worthy causes, such as eliminating malaria (疟疾 ). K For the moment, the struggle is to stop some rich countries giving less. The Netherlands and Spain are cutting their contributions to the Global Fund, one of the two main distributors of the life-saving drugs, and Italy has stopped paying
42、altogether. On June 8th the United Nations meets to discuss what to do next. Those who see the UN as a mere talking-shop should remember that its first meeting on AIDS launched the Global Fund. It is still a long haul. But AIDS can be beaten. A plague that 30 years ago was blamed on mans wickedness
43、has ended up showing him in a better, more inventive and generous light. 37 If the anti-AIDS drugs can stop AIDS from transmitting, the wipe-out of the plague will be out of question. 38 Activists forced the drug institutions not only to create new drugs but also to lower the drug price. 39 People u
44、sed to blame scientists for paying more attention to preventing the spread of AIDs than treating patients infected with it. 40 AIDS was first discovered by American scientists about some thirty years ago. 41 Even though drugs with amazing effect appeared in 1990s, they were too expensive for most pa
45、tients to afford. 42 About 50% of the money spent on AIDS, in the poor and middle-income countries, comes from foreign assistance. 43 Some rich countries in Europe are decreasing their anti-AIDS investment to Global Fund. 44 More effective screening and willingness are required to prevent AIDS from
46、transmitting. 45 Unlike most infectious diseases that hit the weak members, AIDS strikes the most capable members of society. 46 Scientists have discovered some antibodies which might help to produce drugs that can clear AIDS. Section C 46 Pregnant women who suffer lapses (忘却 ) in memory or concentr
47、ation may no longer be able to blame it on “the bump“. The idea that bearing children affects ones brain powerthe “baby brain“is a myth, researchers say. Their study found no difference in how pregnant women or new mothers scored on tests of thinking speed and memory compared with those who were chi
48、ldless. Writing in the British Journal of Psychiatry, the authors said that pregnant women should be encouraged to stop attributing lapses in memory or logical thinking to their growing baby. The findings contradict previous studies that claimed womens brains decline in size by up to 4 per cent whil
49、e they are pregnant, potentially leading to worse performance on tests of memory and oral skills. Helen Christensen, author of the latest study, said that the effect was “a myth“. Professor Chris-tensens team recruited 1,241 women aged 20-24 in 1999 and 2003 and asked them to perform a series of tasks. The women were followed up at four-year intervals and asked to perform the same cognitive (认知的 ) tests. A total of 77 women were pregnant at the follow-up assessments, 188
