1、大学英语四级（ 2013年 12月考试改革适用）模拟试卷 198及答案与解析 一、 Part I Writing 1 For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the saying “Persistent people begin their success where others end in failure.“ You can cite examples to illustrate the importance of perseverance. You should write at
2、 least 120 words but no more than 180 words. Section A （ A） It was the hottest year recorded since 1800s. （ B） It experienced the biggest El Nino weather. （ C） It saw the strongest global warming ever. （ D） It saw more deaths worldwide than ever before. （ A） 30 . （ B） 1 . （ C） 50 . （ D） 0.13 （ A） Lo
3、cal officials. （ B） Prime Minister in Nigeria. （ C） Resident in Nigeria. （ D） Nigerian officials. （ A） Far away from a mans home. （ B） Next to the main vegetable markets. （ C） Near the supermarket. （ D） A local mans market. （ A） The reasons for high price of monkey stamps from 1980. （ B） The designe
4、r of monkey stamps from 1980. （ C） The circulation of monkey stamps from 1980. （ D） The price of monkey stamps from 1980. （ A） 0.8yuan. （ B） 12,000 yuan. （ C） 1.5 million yuan. （ D） 80,000yuan （ A） Because it was the first time China Post released stamps featuring the Chinese Zodiac. （ B） Because it
5、 was designed by a well-known American painter. （ C） Because fifty million “Golden Monkey“ stamps were released for circulation in 1980. （ D） Because China has been issuing stamps on the theme of the lunar calendar every year. Section B （ A） The effect of the atmosphere on rainfall. （ B） How conditi
6、ons on Earth support life. （ C） How water originated on Earth. （ D） A new estimate of the age of Earth. （ A） The surface of the ocean is expanding. （ B） Volcanic activity is increasing. （ C） The surface of Earth contains tons of cosmic dust. （ D） Thousands of comets are colliding with Earths atmosph
7、ere. （ A） Disintegrating comets. （ B） Gases in the atmosphere. （ C） Underground water that rose to the surface. （ D） Water vapor. （ A） Biologists. （ B） Geologists. （ C） Oceanographers. （ D） Astronomers. （ A） Italy. （ B） Portugal. （ C） Costa Rica. （ D） Spain. （ A） It is hard to find a suitable hotel.
8、 （ B） She has never been abroad. （ C） She cant book tickets for her family now. （ D） She has to take her children with her. （ A） It should be on the beach. （ B） It should have a swimming pool. （ C） It should be quiet. （ D） It should be in the downtown. （ A） Charles advises Joan to not to stay in hot
9、el. （ B） Charles advises Joan to use the tent. （ C） Charles advises Joan to dont believe ad. （ D） Charles advises Joan to have a try. Section C （ A） He is the manager of IBM. （ B） He is the founder of IBM. （ C） He is a client of IBM. （ D） He is a member of IBM. （ A） Still in its early stage. （ B） St
10、ill controlled by a small group of skilled professionals. （ C） Still cant be called as a new mass medium. （ D） Still cant be called as a transformational technology. （ A） More than 100 million before 2005. （ B） More than 100 billion before 2005. （ C） More than 100 million by 2005. （ D） More than 100
11、 billion by 2005. （ A） 4 hours. （ B） 20 hours. （ C） 24 hours. （ D） More than 4 hours. （ A） Refine their interviewing techniques. （ B） Arrange their work schedules. （ C） Select appropriate courses. （ D） Write cover letters. （ A） They pay the same wage. （ B） They involve working outdoors. （ C） They ca
12、n be substituted for college courses. （ D） Theyre part-time. （ A） They are defensive when they feel threatened. （ B） It is the interbreeding between European bees and African bees. （ C） They came from the southern part of Africa. （ D） They are so large. （ A） Brazil. （ B） North Africa. （ C） Southern
13、Texas. （ D） Southern Africa. （ A） Northern Argentina Southern Brazil Central America Mexico United States. （ B） Southern Brazil Northern Argentina Central America Mexico United States. （ C） Northern Argentina Southern Brazil Mexico Central America United States. （ D） Southern Brazil Northern Argenti
14、na Mexico Central America United States. （ A） They are not at all as ferocious as people think. （ B） They are dangerous to get close to. （ C） They are not ferocious, but people think that because of their enormous size. （ D） They are ferocious only when they feel something unfair happened. Section A
15、 26 When retailers want to entice customers to buy a particular product, they typically offer it at a discount. According to a new study to be published in The Journal of Marketing, they are missing a【 C1】 _. A team of researchers, led by Akshay Rao of the University of Minnesotas Carlson School of
16、Management, looked at consumers attitudes to discounting. Shoppers, they found, much prefer getting something extra free to getting something cheaper. The main reason is that most people are 【 C2】 _at fractions. Consumers often 【 C3】 _to realise, for example, that a 50% increase in quantity is the s
17、ame as a 33% discount in price. They overwhelmingly assume the former is better value. In an experiment, the researchers sold 73% more hand lotion when it was【 C4】 _ in a bonus pack than when it carried an equivalent discount. This numerical blind spot remains even when the deal clearly favor the di
18、scounted product. In another experiment, this time on his undergraduates, Mr. Rao offered two deals on loose coffee beans: 33% extra free or 33% off the price. The discount is by far the better proposition, but the【 C5】 _clever students viewed them as equivalent. Studies have shown other ways in whi
19、ch retailers can exploit consumers innumeracy. One is to confuse them with double discounting. People are more likely to see a【 C6】_in a product that has been reduced by 20% , and then by an additional 25% , than one which has been bargain to an equivalent, one-off, 40%【 C7】 _. Marketing types can d
20、raw lessons beyond just pricing, says Mr. Rao. When advertising a new cars 【 C8】 _, for example, it is more【 C9】 _ to talk about the number of extra miles per gallon it does, rather than the equivalent percentage fall in fuel【 C10】 _ . A) bargain I) paid B) consumption J) persuading C) convincing K)
21、 reduction D) deduction L) straggle E) doubtfully M) supposedly F) efficiency N) trick G) hopeless O) useless H) afforded 27 【 C1】 28 【 C2】 29 【 C3】 30 【 C4】 31 【 C5】 32 【 C6】 33 【 C7】 34 【 C8】 35 【 C9】 36 【 C10】 Section B 36 Desert Formation A) The deserts, which already occupy approximately a four
22、th of the Earths land surface, have in recent decades been increasing at an alarming pace. The expansion of desert-like conditions into areas where they did not previously exist is called desertification. It has been estimated that an additional one-fourth of the Earths land surface is threatened by
23、 this process. B) Desertification is accomplished primarily through the loss of stabilizing natural vegetation and the subsequent accelerated erosion of the soil by wind and water. In some cases the loose soil is blown completely away, leaving a stony surface. In other cases, the finer particles may
24、 be removed, while the sand-sized particles are accumulated to form mobile hills or ridges of sand. C) Even in the areas that retain a soil cover, the reduction of vegetation typically results in the loss of the soils ability to absorb substantial quantities of water. The impact of raindrops on the
25、loose soil tends to transfer fine clay particles into the tiniest soil spaces, sealing them and producing a surface that allows very little water penetration. Water absorption is greatly reduced; consequently runoff is increased, resulting in accelerated erosion rates. The gradual drying of the soil
26、 caused by its diminished ability to absorb water results in the further loss of vegetation, so that a cycle of progressive surface deterioration is established. D) In some regions, the increase in desert areas is occurring largely as the result of a trend toward drier climatic conditions. Continued
27、 gradual global warming has produced an increase in aridity for some areas over the past few thousand years. The process may be accelerated in subsequent decades if global warming resulting from air pollution seriously increases. E) There is little doubt, however, that desertification in most areas
28、results primarily from human activities rather than natural processes. The semiarid lands bordering the deserts exist in a delicate ecological balance and are limited in their potential to adjust to increased environmental pressures. Expanding populations are subjecting the land to increasing pressu
29、res to provide them with food and fuel. In wet periods , the land may be able to respond to these stresses. During the dry periods that are common phenomena along the desert margins, though, the pressure on the land is often far in excess of its diminished capacity, and desertification results. F) F
30、our specific activities have been identified as major contributors to the desertification processes: over-cultivation, over-grazing, firewood gathering, and over-irrigation. The cultivation of crops has expanded into progressively drier regions as population densities have grown. These regions are e
31、specially likely to have periods of severe dryness, so that crop failures are common. Since the raising of most crops necessitates the prior removal of the natural vegetation, crop failures leave extensive tracts of land devoid of a plant cover and susceptible to wind and water erosion. G) The raisi
32、ng of livestock is a major economic activity in semiarid lands, where grasses are generally the dominant type of natural vegetation. The consequences of an excessive number of livestock grazing in an area are the reduction of the vegetation cover and the trampling and pulverization of the soil. This
33、 is usually followed by the drying of the soil and accelerated erosion. Firewood is the chief fuel used for cooking and heating in many countries. The increased pressures of expanding populations have led to the removal of woody plants so that many cities and towns are surrounded by large areas comp
34、letely lacking in trees and shrubs. The increasing use of dried animal waste as a substitute fuel has also hurt the soil because this valuable soil conditioner and source of plant nutrients is no longer being returned to the land. H) The final major human cause of desertification is soil salinizatio
35、n resulting from over-irrigation. Excess water from irrigation sinks down into the water table. If no drainage system exists, the water table rises, bringing dissolved salts to the surface. The water evaporates and the salts are left behind, creating a white crustal layer that prevents air and water
36、 from reaching the underlying soil. The extreme seriousness of desertification results from the vast areas of land and the tremendous numbers of people affected, as well as from the great difficulty of reversing or even slowing the process. Once the soil has been removed by erosion, only the passage
37、 of centuries or millennia will enable new soil to form. In areas where considerable soil still remains, though, a rigorously enforced program of land protection and cover-crop planting may make it possible to reverse the present deterioration of the surface. I) In geography, an oasis is an isolated
38、 area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source. Oases also provide habitat for animals and even humans if the area is big enough. The location of oases has been of critical importance for trade and transportation routes in desert areas. Caravans must travel v
39、ia oases so that supplies of water and food can be replenished. Thus, political or military control of an oasis has in many cases meant control of trade on a particular route. For example, the oases of Awjila, Chadames and Kufra, situated in modern-day Libya, have at various times been vital to both
40、 North-South and East-West trade in the Sahara. Oases are formed from underground rivers or aquifers such as an artesian aquifer, where water can reach the surface naturally by pressure or by man made wells. Occasional brief thunderstorms provide subterranean water to sustain natural oases, such as
41、the Tuat. Substrata of impermeable rock and stone can trap water and retain it in pockets, or on long faulting subsurface ridges or volcanic dikes water can collect and percolate to the surface. Any incidence of water is then used by migrating birds who also pass seeds with their droppings which wil
42、l grow at the waters edge forming an oasis. 37 Recently, the deserts which already occupy approximately a fourth of the Earths land surface have been increasing at a surprising speed. 38 An oasis is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source. 3
43、9 The main causes of desertification are the loss of stabilizing natural vegetation and the subsequent accelerated erosion of the soil by wind and water. 40 If people irrigates too much in a specific region, the water more than needed would sink down into the water table. 41 According to the theory,
44、 if water absorption is greatly reduced there would be an accelerated erosion rates. 42 Within the semiarid lands, the grasses are generally the dominant type of natural vegetation. 43 In some regions, a trend toward drier climatic conditions is mainly a reason for the increase of the desert. 44 Ove
45、r-cultivation, over-grazing, firewood gathering, and over-irrigation are the four specific factors causing the desertification processes. 45 Most of the desertification is caused by human activities rather than natural processes, which is known to the world. 46 Crop failures leave extensive tracts o
46、f land devoid of a plant cover and susceptible to wind and water erosion. Section C 46 The academics, at Miami University of Ohio, fill in questionnaires anonymously, evaluating their bosses effectiveness, with room to add more detailed remarks at the end. These comments are summarised and returned
47、to all academic staff in the department, who agree whether the summary is fair, and the evaluation is then used not only to inform individual chairs about what sort of job they are doing, but also whether a pay rise or promotion should be in the offing. This kind of evaluation is relatively common i
48、n American universities. But U. K. universities have always been much warier about the idea. Now union members at the University of Sussex want this to change, proposing that all academic staff should be given the chance to appraise their heads of school. They argue that with students increasingly a
49、sked to assess the effectiveness of the teaching they receive, academics should also be able to comment on the effectiveness of university management. A proposal to introduce upward appraisal was put to the university last term, but was rejected by managers. The union then conducted its own survey of academic and academic-related staff, but managers said this was unauthorized, flawed and represented a breach of trust and mutual confidence on the part of the union. The 300 r
