1、大学英语四级（ 2013年 12月考试改革适用）模拟试卷 259及答案与解析 一、 Part I Writing 1 Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay. There are two different views about health care: one is that health care should be free for everyone and the other is that people should pay medical costs for themselve
2、s. You are to give your own opinion. Write an essay to explain the reasons for your opinion. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words. Section A （ A） It will be disconnected for repainting. （ B） It has bonged for more than 168 years. （ C） It will stop ringing four years later.
3、（ D） It will stop ringing for four years. （ A） To keep the famous timepiece clean. （ B） To keep the clock working for future generations. （ C） To replace the bell of the famous timepiece. （ D） To reconstruct the building and the clock. （ A） They must show their personalities through clothing. （ B） T
4、hey must wear almost all white. （ C） They must wear high white socks. （ D） They must impress the crowd with their clothing. （ A） He ranked the fourth in the tournament. （ B） He won the title in the tournament. （ C） He wore short white socks in the tournament. （ D） He wore a white headband with black
5、 stripes. （ A） A newly formed beach. （ B） The revived travel business. （ C） The return of an old beach. （ D） The return of seaweed. （ A） It began returning in April. （ B） It was coarse at first. （ C） It formed after a series of hurricanes. （ D） It began returning last year. （ A） It is the western-mo
6、st part of Europe. （ B） It is a part of Ireland. （ C） It has six Blue Flag beaches already. （ D） It is rainy all year round. Section B （ A） He played tennis for his high school team. （ B） He played football for his high school team. （ C） He played tennis starting from his junior year. （ D） He played
7、 tennis starting from his senior year. （ A） Tennis. （ B） Basketball. （ C） Golf. （ D） Volleyball. （ A） Because he has a lot in common with the woman. （ B） Because he thinks the woman is a good player. （ C） Because his team lacks girl players. （ D） Because his team can learn a lot from the woman. （ A）
8、 Join the man to watch a match. （ B） Visit a new stadium with the man. （ C） Watch the man play in a match. （ D） Join the man to play in a match. （ A） An interview between a customer and a shopping assistant. （ B） An interview between an airport staff and a passenger. （ C） A conversation between two
9、working staff about the airports future improvement. （ D） A conversation between an air-hostess and a passenger about the inflight meal service. （ A） Because many people want to stay in shape. （ B） Because he wants to take every chance to improve his health. （ C） Because many people are tired after
10、long flights. （ D） Because massaging will be a good way to kill time. （ A） Seasonal ones. （ B） Fresh ones. （ C） Local ones. （ D） Juicy ones. （ A） Disappointing. （ B） Satisfying. （ C） Outdated. （ D） Lovely. Section C （ A） They had four toes. （ B） They were not as big as dogs. （ C） They lived in South
11、 America. （ D） They lived in thick forests. （ A） They had long legs and a long tail. （ B） They were smaller and had front eyes. （ C） They began to eat grass as well as fruit. （ D） They were bigger and had long legs. （ A） They evolved into donkeys in Asia and Africa. （ B） They used their long legs to
12、 run south to South Africa. （ C） They began to eat apples on the North American plains. （ D） They preferred grass to fruit and vegetables. （ A） Being rejected by friends and teachers. （ B） Staying away from his native land. （ C） Adapting to new study expectations. （ D） Keeping a balance between stud
13、y and job. （ A） Talking with older brothers or sisters. （ B） Having a casual talk with a college student. （ C） Starting a conversation with close friends. （ D） Playing with friends on the same sports team. （ A） Follow traditions of famous colleges. （ B） Take part in as many activities as possible. （
14、 C） Respect the customs of different colleges. （ D） Take others advice as reference only. （ A） They tend to harm wildlife. （ B） They are hardly recyclable. （ C） They are thrown away everywhere. （ D） They are made from useless materials. （ A） It is fatal. （ B） It is weird. （ C） It is very serious. （
15、D） It is complicated. （ A） The sea creatures that have taken in them are consumed by humans. （ B） The oceans ecology has been polluted and affected humans. （ C） Humans eat the seabirds that have swallowed plastic particles. （ D） Humans consume the fish that have eaten sea creatures with them. （ A） I
16、ts use has been drastically reduced. （ B） It is still an indispensable material. （ C） Most products use natural materials. （ D） The use of plastic items will be charged. Section A 26 Theres something rotten in the state of womens health. As this article is being written in July, Republicans in Congr
17、ess are【 C1】 _ in a frenzied effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) put in place by the Obama administration. At least 22 million Americans would lose medical insurance by 2026 under the latest【 C2】_ of this plan which includes large cuts to Medicaid and lack of insurance means m
18、ore sickness and death for thousands, data show. These cuts【 C3】 _ to affect women more than men whether by removing basic health coverage, cutting maternity care or【 C4】 _ limiting reproductive rights. Its time to take a stand against this war on womens health. Current events are just the latest【 C
19、5】 _ in a long history of male-centric medicine, often driven not by politicians but by scientists and physicians. Before the National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act of 1993, which【 C6】 _ the inclusion of women and minorities in final-stage medication and therapy trials, women were actively
20、【 C7】 _ from such tests because scientists worried that female hormonal cycles would interfere with the results. The【 C8】 _ meant women did not know how drugs would affect them. Whether or not the repeal-and-replace legislation passes this year, these【 C9】 _ are part of a larger war on womens health
21、 that is not likely to abate anytime soon. We must resist this assault. Never mind “America First“ its【 C10】 _ to put women first. A) absolutely I) omission B) attacks J) required C) common K) sharply D) critical L) shifted E) engaged M) threaten F) excluded N) value G) influence O) version H) insul
22、t 27 【 C1】 28 【 C2】 29 【 C3】 30 【 C4】 31 【 C5】 32 【 C6】 33 【 C7】 34 【 C8】 35 【 C9】 36 【 C10】 Section B 36 Sent Home for Not Wearing Heels, She Ignited a British Rebellion A) LONDON When Nicola Thorp reported to work awhile back as a temporary receptionist in the financial center here, she was shocke
23、d when her temp supervisor said her flat shoes were unacceptable. She would need to get herself shoes with heels at least two inches high. B) When she refused, she was sent home from the accounting firm PwC without pay. But that was not the end of it. Five months later, Ms. Thorp, an actress origina
24、lly from the northern seaside city of Blackpool, started a petition calling for a law that would make sure no company could ever again demand that a woman wear heels to work. C) The petition collected more than 150,000 signatures, helped spur a popular opposition dozens of professional women posted
25、photographs of themselves on Twitter defiantly wearing flats and prompted an inquiry overseen by two parliamentary committees. D) On Wednesday, more than two years after Ms. Thorp, now 28, strode into that office in her chic but sensible black flats, the committees released a report concluding that
26、Portico, the outsourcing firm that had insisted she wear high heels, had broken the law. It added that existing law needed to be toughened to overcome outmoded and sexist workplace codes. E) During the investigation, the committees received hundreds of complaints from women whose companies had deman
27、ded that they “dye their hair blonde,“ “wear revealing outfits“ or “constantly reapply makeup.“ “Discriminatory dress codes remain widespread,“ the report said. F) Ms. Thorp praised the inquirys conclusion, saying it was all the more imperative in the Trump era, when men around the world had a role
28、model in the White House who had boasted about behaving badly toward women. G) “I refused to work for a company that expected women to wear makeup, heels and a skirt. This is unacceptable in 2017,“ she said. “People say sexism is not an issue anymore. But when a man who has admitted publicly to sexu
29、ally harassing women is the leader of the free world, it is more crucial than ever to have laws that protect women. “ H) Ms. Thorp said her resistance to heels, while a protest against sexism and discrimination, was also a matter of public health given the toll that high heels take on womens feet. “
30、The company expected me to do a nine-hour shift on my feet accompanying clients to meeting rooms,“ she said. “I told them that I just wouldnt be able to do that in heels.“ I) Portico on Wednesday said it had rewritten its code almost immediately after the issue was raised by Ms. Thorp, dropping the
31、heel requirement, among others. Its old code had warned employees against such things as greasy or highly gelled hair or wearing flowers as accessories. It had also called for heel height to be two to four inches and for makeup to be “worn at all times“ and “ regularly reapplied,“ with a minimum of
32、lipstick, mascara (睫毛膏 ) and eye shadow. J) PwC stressed that the dress code required by Portico in December 2015 was Porticos policy and had been enforced by a Portico supervisor. Nevertheless, it said it regretted that the inquiry was instigated by an incident at its offices, and it remained commi
33、tted to equality at the workplace. K) In some spheres, Britain, a multicultural society, has been particularly sensitive about gender discrimination. Last summer the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, banned advertisements showing scantily clad (衣着暴露的 ) women from the citys public transportation system, s
34、aying they promoted unhealthy or unrealistic body images. L) But legal experts and womens advocates say social and cultural conventions can be harder to change. When Prime Minister Theresa May was photographed recently wearing a $1,250 pair of “desert khaki (卡其色 )“ leather pants, she was criticized
35、as being excessive and out of touch, even as her defenders argued that no one talked about Mr. Trumps far more expensive Brioni suits. M) Nevertheless, before she entered No. 10 Downing Street, Mrs. May herself may have played a role in reinforcing gender stereotypes. When she was the minister for w
36、omen and equality in 2011, she said that “traditional gender-based workplace dress codes“ had not held her back and argued that they encouraged “a sense of professionalism“ in the workplace. N) In a sign of the challenges ahead, the British television host Piers Morgan inspired a Twitter storm on We
37、dnesday when he insisted during an interview with Ms. Thorp that it was not unreasonable to expect a receptionist to wear stiletto heels (细跟鞋 ). “Get Piers in Heels,“ roared The Suns headline. O) Britains 2010 Equality Act prohibits discrimination in the workplace on the basis of gender, age or sexu
38、al orientation. But womens advocates and legal experts said the law was unevenly applied. P) Emma Birkett, who works in retail, told the inquiry that her company encouraged her and her female colleagues to wear shorter skirts and unbutton more buttons on their blouses during Christmastime, “when a h
39、igher proportion of male shoppers was anticipated.“ Ruth Campion, a flight attendant, testified that she felt “prostituted“ when ordered to wear heels, skirts and makeup. Q) Sam Smethers, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, a leading womens rights organization in London that traces its roots to
40、1866, said sexist dress codes that objectified women or men had no place in the modem workplace. She noted that it took until last January for British Airways to allow female cabin crew members to wear trousers. She also lamented that it cost about $1,500 in Britain for a person to bring a case befo
41、re an employment tribunal (特别法庭 ), and that even without this financial constraint, “some women dont want to be seen as troublemakers or risk losing their jobs. “ R) “Employers need to focus on what drives productivity and enables their staff to feel part of a team,“ she said, adding, “It isnt a pai
42、r of high heels.“ 37 Many women complained to the committees about their companies regulations on hair, clothes and makeup, which proved gender-biased dress codes to be still common. 38 The fact that Theresa May and Mr. Trump were treated differently proves that it is more difficult to change social
43、 and cultural customs. 39 Ms. Thorp appealed for a law protecting women from being forced to work in heels. 40 PwC emphasized it was Portico rather than PwC that had developed and implemented the dressing rule. 41 When Nicola Thorp reported for duty, she was astonished at her temporary directors req
44、uirement to let her replace flat shoes with high-heeled ones. 42 According to Sam Smethers, women were prevented from charging against sexist dress codes because of high cost and the risk of dismissal. 43 Piers Morgans open support for Portico caused a stir on Twitter and met with the protest from T
45、he Sun. 44 Two years later, the two parliamentary committees announced Porticos violation of the law and the need to strengthen the present law. 45 Ms. Thorp refused to wear heels not only to object to sexism and discrimination but also to protect her feet. 46 Dozens of working women supported Ms. T
46、horps petition with posting their own pictures of wearing flats on a social media website. Section C 46 Think todays kids want to be doctors or lawyers? No. YouTube stardom (明星 ) is the number one dream career for young people today, at least according to a widely publicized survey by a British news
47、paper. The appeal is obvious: Some 20-somethings are making millions by playing video games or sharing beauty tips online. But the pressure of having to endlessly produce original content that makes them look accessible, transparent, and authentic has proven too much for some people, including Essen
48、a ONeill. The former social media figure went public in her posts about experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety from living an overexposed life. Living professionally online has also been a challenge for 24-year-old Lauren Riihimaki. Six million people follow her YouTube channel, LaurDIY, wh
49、ich covers topics ranging from home decorating to her adoption of a lovely little dog. Most of these stars are between the ages of 20 and 26. Unlike movie stars or rock stars, these videostars do most of their work themselves. Theyre responsible for everything from developing an idea, to physically producing it, to starring in it, to directing it, to editing it, to programming it, to promoting and marketing. And to keep their hungry audiences satisfied, they should be doing all that at least twice a
