1、大学英语四级（ 2013年 12月考试改革适用）模拟试卷 244及答案与解析 一、 Part I Writing 1 For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay. You should start your essay with a brief account of how our education system generally judge students, and then explain why academic achievement isnt an adequate way to judge
2、a student. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words. Section A （ A） Six pints of wine a week is advised for drinkers. （ B） It is not advisable to take alcohol every day. （ C） Appropriate drinking is beneficial to old people. （ D） Safe drinking is essential to peoples health. （
3、A） It is acceptable on working days. （ B） It helps prevent alcohol addiction. （ C） It brings about a low dying rate. （ D） It can pass the breath alcohol test. （ A） Getting young people together to start a fashion. （ B） Attracting artists to complete their artistic creation. （ C） Making a profit by s
4、elling foreign artistic works. （ D） Inventing a new cultural tendency in Manhattan. （ A） Every weekend from April to November. （ B） Every weekend from December to March. （ C） Every weekend all the year round. （ D） Every fortnight all the year round. （ A） Its operating system broke down for 24 hours.
5、 （ B） Its personal banking site was inaccessible suddenly. （ C） The information of its business accounts was lost. （ D） Hacker invaded HSBCs customers database. （ A） All its customers would get extra money from HSBC. （ B） He apologized in a video clip on behalf of himself. （ C） He explained what had
6、 caused the problem technically. （ D） HSBC had prepared to deal with any problem in the future. （ A） Complex technical programs will be simplified. （ B） HSBC leaders will be questioned on the accident （ C） HSBC will be charged by Treasure Select Committee. （ D） HSBC will provide efficient online ban
7、king services. Section B （ A） Supportive. （ B） Opposed. （ C） Pessimistic. （ D） Neutral. （ A） It has no difference from other cells. （ B） It can only become a certain type of cell. （ C） It cant become a kidney cell. （ D） It maintains and repairs the body. （ A） They can develop into human organ. （ B）
8、They are able to cure cancer. （ C） They help to recreate stem cells. （ D） They are able to create new DNA. （ A） They dont know about the benefits of the research. （ B） The research goes against their religious beliefs. （ C） The research costs too much money. （ D） They insist that the research is aga
9、inst nature. （ A） It uses new technology. （ B） It is installed with a robot. （ C） It is as clever as human. （ D） It can talk with people. （ A） He does the work of making maps. （ B） He is reliable on giving directions. （ C） He is a Geographic specialist. （ D） He knows more than a computerized map. （
10、A） They will tell drivers the accident on the road ahead. （ B） They will remind drivers if there is only a little oil left. （ C） They will help drivers sheer off in the opposite direction. （ D） They will give an alarm if drivers get too close to other cars. （ A） He couldnt find the way. （ B） His car
11、 ran out of oil. （ C） He came at rush hour. （ D） His watch was slow. Section C （ A） In 766 B.C. （ B） In 776 B.C. （ C） In 676 B.C. （ D） In 667 B.C. （ A） To display the ancient Greek civilization. （ B） To let more nations and athletes to take part in. （ C） To present the worlds most important athletic
12、 contests. （ D） To refresh the ideals of excellence of body, mind, and spirit. （ A） Any qualified athlete can enter for the game freely. （ B） It is organized by the International Olympic Committee. （ C） It has been held every four years since it was revived. （ D） Any nation can enter a team in the G
13、ames unconditionally. （ A） Smoke. （ B） Tar. （ C） Nicotine. （ D） Ashes. （ A） Because they feel nervous when not smoking. （ B） Because they have nothing to do when not smoking. （ C） Because they feel no taste in their mouths without cigarettes. （ D） Because they dont know how to establish new contacts
14、 without cigarettes. （ A） The better taste that is less addictive. （ B） The reduced risk to their health. （ C） The higher status they symbolize. （ D） The less smoke they give out. （ A） It is a popular sport. （ B） It has a long history. （ C） It is rarely tried a second time. （ D） It is an adventurous
15、 activity. （ A） Everyday life makes people bored. （ B） Too much work exhausts people. （ C） People are suffering too much stress. （ D） Theyre mentally and physically healthy. （ A） It was quite stable and carefree. （ B） It was not easy to survive. （ C） People enjoyed a long healthy life. （ D） People n
16、eednt work hard for a living. （ A） They are effective as long as people take care. （ B） They are not a recommended way to relax. （ C） They are all right for some people. （ D） They are difficult to be accepted. Section A 26 Conrad Hilton really wanted to be a banker. Instead, he successfully changed
17、the【 C1】_purchase of a Texas low-end hotel into a multimillion-dollar hotel empire that earned him the【 C2】 _“innkeeper to the world.“ Born in New Mexico in 1887, Hilton was 19 when his parents began renting out rooms in their home. The business didnt interest him, however, so he became a【 C3】 _legi
18、slator (立法者 ), founded a bank and went off to war. In 1919, after Hiltons father died, a friend suggested he go to Texas to make his【 C4】 _. Hilton ended up in Cisco: when his bank deal there【 C5】 _, he headed to a nearby hotel, the Mobley. It【 C6】 _to oil-field workers, so its 40 rooms turned over
19、every eight hours. A week later, Hilton owned it He soon acquired more hotelsand started to build new ones. His first, the Dallas Hilton, opened in 1925. By the late 1940s, Hiltons list included the Town House in Beverly Hills and Chicagos Palmer House, as well as【 C7】 _nightclubs featuring A-list s
20、tars. He also expanded【 C8】 _. And in 1949, he bought the “greatest of them all“: New York Citys magnificent Waldorf Astoria Typically American, Hiltons were creative too: the first to have rooms with air-conditioning, TVs, ironing boards and sewing kits. Even modern hotel-reservations systems【 C9】
21、_from one Hilton which was established in 1948. Today the Hilton Hotels Corp. owns some 3,300【 C10】 _in 78 countries. Last year more than a quarter-billion guests checked in. A) casual E) fortune I) motivated M) severe B) catered F) inherited J) nickname N) soured C) evolved G) internationally K) pr
22、eviously O) state D) features H) luxurious L) properties 27 【 C1】 28 【 C2】 29 【 C3】 30 【 C4】 31 【 C5】 32 【 C6】 33 【 C7】 34 【 C8】 35 【 C9】 36 【 C10】 Section B 36 Designing for sustainability: what are the challenges behind green materials? A Learning to surf in Californias icy breakers, Todd Copeland
23、, a design master at the Patagonia clothing company, concluded that wetsuits (潜水服 ) werent cutting it. Sure, a traditional Neoprene (氯丁橡胶 ) suit could keep him warm, but the suits material could be synthesised only from non-renewable, energy-intensive resources such as petroleum. B In spring 2008, C
24、opeland blogged about the need for a truly green alternative. And, later that summer, his cry found its way to Yulex, an Arizona-based company working to bring back a low-energy, low-poison recipe for rubber from guayuie (银胶菊 ), a desert bush native to North America. Research on the plant peaked dur
25、ing the Second World War but was then shelved. Yulex had restarted the work around 2000 and was making hypo-allergenic (低过敏的 ) surgical gloves, but was seeking a new market. It saw Copelands post, and soon its representatives came knocking. C Yulexs efforts are set to pay off later this fall, when P
26、atagonia releases a full wetsuit made from a 60:40 blend of guayule and conventional Neoprene, five years after Copeland initiated the search. “We hope to get that to 100% guayuie, but it takes time to learn a new material,“ says Copeland, now Patagonias environmental product specialist. D This luck
27、y match between designer and material maker is, unfortunately, a rare exception. The tale of Patagonias eco-wetsuit offers a lesson of the larger challenge facing green materials on the path from lab to market. The process remains a complex web that few materials survive. But a recent survey of desi
28、gn leaders reveals that while eco-materials still face a tougher journey than their conventional peers, the process of green technology transfer is making progress. E Though spotty, statistics on green materials markets are all pointing up. The building industry is one of the largest shifting toward
29、s lower-impact practices. In the US, the green construction market is worth roughly $100bn, a ten-fold rise since 2006, according to the 2013 Dodge Construction Green Outlook. As a share, green construction now accounts for 44% of total US commercial and institutional construction, up from near zero
30、 a decade ago. F Evidence suggests that big corporations are deepening their commitment to these priorities, as well. For example, Green adoption has also been accelerating at Ford. A decade ago, engineers at the No. 2 US automaker were distrustful of the cost and performance benefits of alternative
31、s. Today, following a storm of successful material substitutions, design engineers are required to evaluate and pick green candidates where they equal or exceed conventional materials. G Fords shift didnt come quickly. “We were kicked out of conference rooms,“ laughs Debbie Mielewski, technical lead
32、er for Plastics Research at Ford Motor Co, recalling her efforts in the early 2000s to pitch bio-based plastics to the car makers internal development engineers. “They saw only risk and additional cost,“ she says. But thanks to the protection of Bill Ford Jr, the companys then CEO, Fords bio-plastic
33、s R&D program had the time and funding to mature new offerings to the point where today soy-based polyurethane foams (大豆聚氨酯泡沫塑料 ) are used in the seat cushions, backs, and headrests of all vehicles built in North America. A focus on value and performance has helped reverse early disbelief. “Our goal
34、 has always been to match the price and performance of any material were hoping to replace,“ she says. H As its commitment to recover and re-use waste carpet materials started to take root in the 1990s, Atlanta-based Interface, a $lbn-per-year manufacturer of carpet used primarily in commercial spac
35、es, recognised it could push this goal only as quickly as a key fibre supplier, Italys Aquafil, was able to develop and scale-up processes to harvest fibers from recovered carpets and to then re-melt them for use in new carpeting. “This was more of us pushing recycled materials,“ by Interface, “rath
36、er than a pull“ from the market, says Nigel Stansfield, Interfaces vice president and chief innovations officer. “We had to overcome a perception that recycled was more costly, or performed less well.“ I Interface also faced a reverse logistics (物流 ) challenge: it had to work with existing and new p
37、artners to learn how to capture and truck tons of carpet back to its partner plants. “To make this work, weve had to focus on all parts of the products life cycle at once,“ Stansfield says. At the installation phase, for example, this has meant educating flooring installers to abandon long-standing
38、practices of gluing carpets down, which damages the material at the later recovery stage. Interface instead relies on gravity and strong gluey patches to link its carpet tile and keep carpets locked down. And at the end-of-use stage, the move has meant developing reverse logistics flows, to steer ca
39、rpet waste away from landfills, and back to re-processors such as Aquafil. J Designers are widely frustrated by a lack of consistent, reliable services that can verify green materials virtues. The industry needs a “greenwash monitor (漂绿监控 ),“ Patagonias Copeland says. There has been some movement to
40、ward this goal, with efforts including Nikes MAKING app, Material Connexion, and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition. Green materials can fail an evaluation for many reasons. A few years ago, Patagonia became interested in bamboo-based fabrics. The cultivation of fast-growing bamboo was appealing as
41、 a sustainable raw material. But on deeper investigation, Patagonia passed on the new fabrics because the process to convert bamboo into fibres proved just as poisonous as the standard method. K “Most clients think that sustainable design is simply a case of switching existing material for a greener
42、 option,“ says Chris Sherwin, head of sustainability at Seymourpowell, a London-based design advisor. “Same product, new material: thats wrong on many grounds.“ Sherwin argues that its critical to understand that the stuff from which a product is made often accounts for only a tiny fraction of the i
43、mpact of the use-phase of a products lifetime. Hence, its smarter for laundry soap makers to improve the performance of their cleansers in cold water rather than focus solely on revising packaging. “We should start with more fundamental product redesign,“ Sherwin says. “We must start by asking, how
44、will the consumers needs best be satisfied, and design accordingly.“ 37 Even though the process of green technology transfer is hard, its improving. 38 Bamboo failed the green material evaluation not because of the material itself but because of its process to convert into fibres. 39 The research on
45、 guayule wasnt at its height when Yulex started its work on it. 40 Taking factors like the cost and performance benefits into consideration, engineers at Ford didnt trust green materials about ten years ago. 41 Interface started committing to using recycled materials in the 1990s. 42 Nearly half of
46、the US commercial and institutional construction is now green. 43 Most clients view that sustainable design means producing the same products with green material is wrong. 44 The focus on risk and additional cost nearly got Fords bio plastics program rejected. 45 Patagonias newly wetsuit will be rel
47、eased this autumn. 46 Gluing carpets down can bring negative effects on materials in the recovery stage. Section C 46 Coca-Cola has always been more focused on its economic bottom line than on global warming, but when the company lost a profitable operating license in India because of a serious wate
48、r shortage there in 2004, things began to change. Today, after a decade of increasing damage to Cokes balance sheet as global droughts dried up the water needed to produce its soda, the company has embraced the idea of climate change as an economically disruptive force. “Increased droughts, more unp
49、redictable variability, 100-year floods every two years,“ said Jeffrey Seabright, Cokes vice president for environment and water resources, listing the problems that he said were also disrupting the companys supply of sugar cane and sugar beets (甜菜 ). “When we look at our most essential ingredients, we see those events as threats.“ Coke reflects a growing view among American business leaders and mainstream economists who see global warming as a force that contrib
