2011年12月大学英语四级考试模拟试题(七)

英语自学网

　　Part I Writing (30 minutes)
        　　Net-surfing —— Are You Ready?
        　　Part II Reading 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 on Answer Sheet 1.
        　　For questions 1-7, mark
        　　Y(for YES) if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage;
        　　N(for NO) if the statement contradicts the information given in the passage;
        　　NG(for NOT GIVEN) if the information is not given in the passage.
        　　For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.
        　　The Trouble With Television
        　　It is difficult to escape the influence of television. If you fit the statistical averages, by the age of 20 you will have been exposed to at least 20,000 hours of television. You can add 10,000 hours for each decade you have lived after the age of 20. The only things Americans do more than watch television are work and sleep.
        　　Calculate for a moment what could be done with even a part of those hours. Five thousand hours, I am told, are what a typical college undergraduate spends working on a bachelor's degree. In 10,000 hours you could have learned enough to become an astronomer or engineer. You could have learned several languages fluently. If it appealed to you, you could be reading Homer in the original Greek or Dostoyevsky in Russian. If it didn't, you could have walked around the world and written a book about it.
       
            
            

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        　　The trouble with television is that it discourages concentration. Almost anything interesting and rewarding in life requires some constructive, consistently applied effort. The dullest, the least gifted of us can achieve things that seem miraculous to those who never concentrate on anything. But Television encourages us to apply no effort. It sells us instant gratification(满意). It diverts us only to divert, to make the time pass without pain.
        　　Television's variety becomes a narcotic(麻醉的), nor a stimulus. Its serial, kaleidoscopic (万花筒般的)exposures force us to follow its lead. The viewer is on a perpetual guided tour: 30 minutes at the museum, 30 at the cathedral, 30 for a drink, then back on the bus to the next attraction—except on television., typically, the spans allotted arc on the order of minutes or seconds, and the chosen delights are more often car crashes and people killing one another. In short, a lot of television usurps(篡夺;侵占) one of the most precious of all human gifts, the ability to focus your attention yourself, rather than just passively surrender it.
        　　Capturing your attention—and holding it—is the prime motive of most television programming and enhances its role as a profitable advertising vehicle. Programmers live in constant fear of losing anyone's attention—anyone's. The surest way to avoid doing so is to keep everything brief, not to strain the attention of anyone but instead to provide constant stimulation through variety, novelty, action and movement. Quite simply, television operates on the appeal to the short attention span.
        　　It is simply the easiest way out. But it has come to be regarded as a given, as inherent in the medium itself; as an imperative, as though General Sarnoff, or one of the other august pioneers of video, had bequeathed(遗留;传于) to us tablets of stone commanding that nothing in television shall ever require more than a few moments' Concentration.
        　　In its place that is fine. Who can quarrel with a medium that so brilliantly packages escapist entertainment as a mass-marketing tool? But I see its values now pervading this nation and its life. It has become fashionable to think that, like fast food, fast ideas are the way to get to a fast-moving, impatient public.
        　　In the case of news, this practice, in my view, results in inefficient communication. I question how much of television's nightly news effort is really absorbable and understandable. Much of it is what has been aptly described as "machine-gunning with scraps." I think the technique fights coherence. I think it tends to make things ultimately boring (unless they are accompanied by horrifying pictures) because almost anything is boring if you know almost nothing about it.
       
            
            

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        　　I believe that TV's appeal to the short attention span is not only inefficient communication but decivilizing as well. Consider the casual assumptions that television tends to cultivate: that complexity must be avoided, that visual stimulation is a substitute for thought, that verbal precision is an anachronism. It may be old-fashioned, but I was taught that thought is words, arranged in grammatically precise.
        　　There is a crisis of literacy in this country. One study estimates that some 30 million adult Americans are "functionally illiterate" and cannot read or write well enough to answer the want ad or understand the instructions on a medicine bottle.
        　　Literacy may not be an inalienable human right, but it is one that the highly literate Founding Fathers might not have found unreasonable or even unattainable. We are not only not attaining it as a nation, statistically speaking, but we are falling further and further short of attaining it. And, while I would not be so simplistic as to suggest that television is the cause, I believe it contributes and is an influence.
        　　Everything about this nation—the structure of the society, its forms of family organization, its economy, its place in the world— has become more complex, not less. Yet its dominating communications instrument, its principal form of national linkage, is one that sells neat resolutions to human problems that usually have no neat resolutions. It is all symbolized in my mind by the hugely successful art form that television has made central to the culture, the 30-second commercial: the tiny drama of the earnest housewife who finds happiness in choosing the right toothpaste.
        　　When before in human history has so much humanity collectively surrendered so much of its leisure to one toy, one mass diversion? When before has virtually an entire nation surrendered itself wholesale to a medium for selling?
        　　Some years ago Yale University law professor Charles L. Black. Jr., wrote: "... forced feeding on trivial fare is not itself a trivial matter-" I think this society is being forced-fed with trivial fare, and I fear that the effects on our habits of mind, our language, our tolerance for effort, and our appetite for complexity are only dimly perceived. If I am wrong, we will have done no harm to look at the issue skeptically and critically, to consider how we should be residing it. I hope you will join with me in doing so.
        　　1. In America people do sleeping and watching televisions more than anything else.
        　　2. From the passage we know the time an average American spends on watching TV could have made the person learn to become an astronomer or engineer.
        　　3. The trouble with TV is that it distracts people’s attention and encourages them to make no efforts toward their life.
       
            
            

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        　　4. TV programmers base this operation on the attraction of long-span attention of audiences.
        　　5. According to the author the improper television operation in American society will be likely to make things eventually boring.
        　　6. Americans will face a serious problem of illiteracy due to the negative impact of TV.
        　　7. In American society literacy is a certain right that cannot be deprived.
        　　Part Ⅲ Listening Comprehension (35 minutes)
        　　Section A
        　　Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each 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. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
        　　11. A) Two blocks. B) Five blocks.
        　　C) Three blocks. D) Four blocks.
        　　12. A) He suggests that she buy the sweater in another color.
        　　B) He suggests that she buy a jacket instead of the sweater.
        　　C) He suggests that she buy the sweater at its original price.
        　　D) He suggests that she buy the sweater on Friday.
        　　13. A) It was cleaned.
        　　B) There was a large sale.
        　　C) The employees had to work very late.
        　　D) There was a robbery.
        　　14. A) Be a bad boy. B) Eat too fast.
        　　C) Go to a game. D) Skip his lunch.
        　　15. A) A salesman. B) A telephone repairman.
        　　C) A plumber. D) An electrician.
       
            
            

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        　　16. A) She didn’t understand what Eva was saying.
        　　B) Eva should have been more active.
        　　C) Eva didn’t seem to be nervous at all during her presentation.
        　　D) Eva needs training in public speaking lessons.
        　　17. A) Whether to change his job.
        　　B) Asking for a higher salary.
        　　C) Accepting a new secretary.
        　　D) Getting a better position.
        　　18. A) He could help her with the problems.
        　　B) He could go out together with her.
        　　C) She should go out for a while.
        　　D) She should do the problems herself.
        　　Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
        　　19. A) In an apartment complex.
        　　B) In a hotel.
        　　C) At a friend’s house.
        　　D) He just arrived today and does not have a place to sleep yet.
        　　20. A) The size does not matter to him.
        　　B) He needs a place with two bedrooms.
        　　C) He just wants to share a place with other students.
        　　D) He needs a very large apartment.
        　　21. A) Proximity to the university.
        　　B) Benefits that his wife and child would enjoy.
        　　C) Cost.
        　　D) Size.
       
            
            

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        　　22. A) Lack of air conditioning.
        　　B) Distance from the university.
        　　C) Cost.
        　　D) Lack of laundry facilities close by.
        　　Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
        　　23. A) It needs cleaning.
        　　B) It needs regular servicing.
        　　C) It needs a new battery.
        　　D) It was ruined by water.
        　　24. A) $3.99. B) $5.50. C) $6.99. D) $9.50.
        　　25. A) The shop guarantees the battery for a year.
        　　B) The man will clean it at no extra.
        　　C) The man can repair watches very quickly.
        　　D) The shop is offering a special discount.
        　　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 choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
        　　Passage One
        　　Questions 26 to 29 are based on the passage you have just heard.
        　　26. A) It ruined many houses. B) The truck killed it.
        　　C) It was stuck in the middle of the road. D) It bit the lorry.
        　　27. A) The cat owner. B) The cat. C) The truck driver. D) A farmer.
        　　28. A) In the house. B) In the kitchen. C) Beside a river. D) In a river.
        　　29. A) A nice apple. B) A good-looking toy.
        　　C) A meal. D) A coat.
       
            
            

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        　　Passage Two
        　　Questions 30 to 32 are based on the passage you have just heard.
        　　30. A) People cannot live without automobiles.
        　　B) Many cars violate the regulations.
        　　C) Cars cause health problems.
        　　D) Many American people work in cars.
        　　31. A) Because of the air pollution. B) Because of the heavy traffic.
        　　C) Because of the accidents. D) Because of the less walk.
        　　32. A) Reduce the population. B) Solve the man-made problems.
        　　C) Smooth the heavy traffic. D) Limit the number of automobiles.
        　　Passage Three
        　　Questions 33 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
        　　33. A) Natural changes in four seasons.
        　　B) The effect of season on human thinking.
        　　C) How to improve our mental ability.
        　　D) If it is reasonable to spend holidays in summer.
        　　34. A) Warm. B) Hot. C) Cold. D) Moderate.
        　　35. A) People are least clever in spring.
        　　B) Temperature has some effect on human thinking.
        　　C) People tend to be intelligent in summer.
        　　D) People’s intelligence does not vary with seasons.
        　　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 blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have 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 main points in your own words. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.
       
            
            

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        　　Part Ⅳ Reading Comprehension(Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)
        　　Section A
        　　Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.
        　　Questions 47 to 56 are based on the following passage.
        　　A coeducational(男女合校的) school offers children nothing less than a tree version of society in miniature(缩影). Boys and girls are given the 47 to get to know each other, to learn to live together from their earliest years. They are put in a position where they can compare themselves with each other in terms of 48 ability, athletic achievement and many of the extracurricular activities which are part of school life. What a practical 49 it is (to give just a small example) to be able to put on a school play in which the male parts will be taken by boys and the female parts by girls! What nonsense coeducation makes of the argument that boys are cleverer than girls or vice versa. When 50 , boys and girls are made to feel that they are a race apart. In a coeducational school, everything falls into its 51 place.
        　　The greatest contribution of coeducation is 52 the healthy attitude to life it encourages. Boys don’t grow up believing that women are 53 creatures. Girls don’t grow up imagining that men are romantic heroes. Years of living together at school remove illusions of this kind. The awkward stage of adolescence brings into sharp focus some of the physical and 54 problems involved in growing up. These can better be 55 in a coeducational environment. When the time comes for the pupils to leave school, they are fully prepared to 56 society as well-adjusted adults. They have already had years of experience in coping with many of the problems that face men and women.
        　　A)advantage
        　　B)proper
        　　C)rewarded
        　　D)emotional
        　　E)opportunity
        　　F)activity
        　　G)overcome
        　　H)academic
        　　I)enter
        　　J)mysterious
        　　K)eventually
        　　L)segregated
        　　M)undoubtedly
        　　N)principle
        　　O)advocate
       
            
            

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        　　Section B
        　　Directions：There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the center.
        　　Passage One
        　　Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.
        　　Romantic love is a culture trait found primarily in industrialized societies. Elsewhere in the world, pragmatic considerations rather than flights of fancy are often used to make a choice of partner, and romantic love is seen as an unfortunate inconvenience that gets in the way of the ordinary, rational process of mate selection. Traces of this attitude persist in the American upper classes, where daughters are expected to marry “well”-----that is, to a male who is eligible by reason of family background and earning potential. Most Americans, however, see romantic love as essential for a successful marriage, and tend to look askance(轻蔑地)at anyone who marries for a more practical reason in which love plays no part.
        　　The phenomenon of romantic love occurs when two young people meet and find one another personally and physically attractive. They become mutually absorbed, start to behave in what appears to be a flighty(充满幻想的), even irrational manner, decide that they are right for one another, and may then enter a marriage whose success is expected to be guaranteed by their enduring love. Behavior of this kind is portrayed and warmly endorsed(赞同)throughout American popular culture, by books, magazines, comics, records, popular songs, movies, and TV.
        　　Romantic love is a noble ideal, and it can certainly provide a basis for the spouses to “live happily ever after.” But a marriage can equally well be founded on much more practical considerations”----as indeed they have been in most societies throughout most of history. Why is romantic love of such importance in the modern world? The reason seems to be that it has some basic functions in maintaining the institution of the nuclear family(小家庭).
        　　57. Romantic love is less frequently found in many non-industrial societies because people in these societies_______.
        　　A ) firmly believe that only money can make the world go round
        　　B ) fail to bring the imaginative power of the mind into full play
        　　C ) fondly think that flights of fancy prevent them from making a correct choice of partner
        　　D ) have far more practical considerations to determine who will marry whom
       
            
            

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        　　58. The word eligible (in Line5, Para. l), could best be replaced by ____.
        　　A ) qualified B ) available C ) chosen D ) influential
        　　59. According to the passage, most Americans _____.
        　　A) expect their daughters to fall in love with a male at first sight
        　　B) regard romantic love as the basis for a successful marriage
        　　C) look up to those who marry for the sake of wealth
        　　D) consider romantic love to be the most desirable thing in the world
        　　60. What can we learn from the second paragraph about romantic love?
        　　A) It is a common occurrence among the old.
        　　B) It is primarily depicted by books.
        　　C) It is characterized by mutual attraction and absorption.
        　　D) It is rejected as flighty and irrational.
        　　61. The author seems to believe that ___________
        　　A) romantic love makes people unable to think clearly in the process of mate selection
        　　B) only romantic love can make a marriage happy ever after
        　　C) much more practical considerations can also be the basis for a successful marriage
        　　D) romantic love plays an insignificant role in maintaining the institution of the nuclear family
        　　Passage Two
        　　Questions 62 to 66 are based on the following passage.
        　　The French word renaissance means rebirth. It was first used in 1855 by the historian Jules Michelet in his History of France, then adopted by historians of culture, by art historians, and eventually by music historians, all of whom applied it to European culture during the 150 years spanning 1450-1600. The concept of rebirth was appropriate to this period of European history because of the renewed interest in ancient Greek and Roman culture that began in Italy and then spread throughout Europe. Scholars and artists of this period wanted to restore the learning and ideals of the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome. To these scholars this meant a return to human. Fulfillment in life became a desirable goal, and expressing the entire range of human emotions and enjoying the pleasures of the senses were no longer frowned on. Artists and writers now turned to religious subject matter and sought to make their works understandable and appealing.