文档内容
大学英语四级考试 2015 年 12 月真题(第三套)
Part I Writing (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on
the saying “Never go out there to see what happens, go out there to make things
happen.” You can cite examples to illustrate the importance of being participants rather
than mere onlookers in life. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180
words.
Part I Listening (30 minutes)
SectionA
Directions: In this section, you will hear three news reports. At the end of each news
report, you will hear two or three questions.Both the news report and the questions will
bespokenonlyonce.After youhearaquestion,youmustchoosethebestanswerfrom the
four choices marked A),B), C) and D).Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer
Sheet1withasinglelinethroughthecentre.
Questions1and2arebasedonthenewsreportyouhavejustheard.
1. A)AlawsuithasbeenfiledagainstMalaysiaAirlines.
C)Thecauseofthedisappearancehasbeenunveiled.
B)Themissingpassengers’bodieshavebeenfound.
D)FlightMH370gotlostduringitstriptoHongKong.
2. A)OnabeachinMozambique. C)InReunionIsland.
B)InMalaysia. D)InBeijing.
Questions3and4arebasedonthenewsreportyouhavejustheard.
3. A)Becausetheyareusedtolivinghere.
B) Becauseitischeaperforthemtolivehere.
C) Becauseitiseasierforthemtogetajob.
D) Becausethegovernmentforcedthemtolivehere.
4. A)Thesnowstorm. C)Thewar.
B)Thebombing. D)Thestarvation.
Questions5to7arebasedonthenewsreportyouhavejustheard.
5. A)Enrichingthemenu. C)Openingnewbranches.
B)Meetingcustomerneeds. D)Improvingcustomersales.
6. A)U.S.-basedMcDonald’spresident. C)McDonald’sJapan’spresident.
B)McDonald’sJapan’scustomer. D)U.S.-basedMcDonald’scustomer.
17. A)In1971. C)In1997.
B)In1991. D)In2015.
SectionB
Directions: In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of each
conversation, you will hear four questions. Both the conversation and the questions will
bespokenonlyonce.After youhearaquestion,youmustchoosethebestanswerfrom the
four choices marked A),B),C) and D ).Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer
Sheet1withasinglelinethroughthecentre.
Questions8to11arebasedontheconversationyouhavejustheard.
8. A)HostinganeveningTVprogram. C)Lecturingonbusinessmanagement.
B)Havingherbicyclerepaired.. D)Conductingamarketsurvey.
9. A)Herepairedbicycles. C)Heworkedasasalesman.
B)Heservedasaconsultant. D)Hecoachedinaracingclub.
10. A)Hewantedtobehisownboss. C)Hedidn’twanttostartfromscratch.
B)Hefounditmoreprofitable. D)Hedidn’twanttobeintoomuchdebt.
11. A)Theyworkfivedaysaweek. C)Theyarepaidbythehour.
B)Theyarealltheman’sfriends. D)Theyallenjoygambling.
Questions12to15arebasedontheconversationyouhavejustheard.
12. A)Ithasgraduallygivenwaytoserviceindustry.
B) Itremainsamajorpartofindustrialactivity.
C) Ithasahistoryaslongaspaperprocessing.
D) Itaccountsfor80percentoftheregion’sGDP.
13. A)Transportproblems. C)Lackofresources.
B)Shortageoffunding. D)Poormanagement.
14. A)Competitionfromrivalcompanies.
B) Productpromotioncampaigns.
C) Possiblelocationsforanewfactory.
D) Measurestocreatejobopportunities.
15. A)It’sjustso-so. C)Itsverygoodandimproving.
B)Itsperfect. D)Itsdisappointing.
SectionC
Directions:Inthissection,youwillhearthreepassages.Attheendofeachpassage，you
will hear three or four 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 1 with a
singlelinethroughthecentre.
2Questions16to18arebasedonthepassageyouhavejustheard.
16. A)Theysharedmutualfriendsinschool.
B) Theyhadknowneachothersincechildhood.
C) Theysharedmanyextracurricularactivities.
D) Theyhadmanyinterestsincommon.
17. A)Atalocalclub. C)Atthesportscenter.
B)AtJoe’shouse. D)Attheboardingschool.
18. A)Durablefriendshipscanbeverydifficulttomaintain.
B) Onehastoberespectfulofotherpeopleinordertowinrespect.
C) Itishardforpeoplefromdifferentbackgroundstobecomefriends.
D) Socialdivisionswillbreakdownifpeoplegettoknoweachother.
Questions19to21arebasedonthepassageyouhavejustheard.
19. A)Neartheentranceofapark. C)Ataparkingmeter.
B)Inhisbuildingsparkinglot. D)Atastreetcorner.
20. A)Ithadbeentakenbythepolice. C)Ithadbeenstolenbysomeone.
B)Ithadbeenmovedtothenextblock. D)Ithadbeenparkedatawrongplace.
21. A)AttheGreenvillecenter. C)Inaneighboringtown.
B)Atapublicparkinglot. D)Inthecitygarage.
Questions22to25arebasedonthepassageyouhavejustheard.
22. A)Famouscreativeindividuals. C)Amajorscientificdiscovery.
B)Themysteriousnessofcreativity. D)Creativityasshowninarts.
23. A)Itissomethingpeopleallengagein. C)Itstartssoonafterweareborn.
B)Ithelpspeopleacquireknowledge. D)Itisthesourceofallartisticwork.
24. A)Creativeimagination. C)Naturalcuriosity.
B)Logicalreasoning. D)Criticalthinking.
25. A)Itisbeyondordinarypeople. C)Itispartofeverydaylife.
B)Itisyettobefullyunderstood. D)Itisauniquehumantrait.
Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)
SectionA
Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select
onewordforeachblankfromalistofchoicesgiveninawordbankfollowingthepassage.
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
bankmorethanonce.
3Question26to35arebasedonthefollowingpassage.
For many Americans, 2013 ended with an unusually bitter cold spell. Late
November and December 36 early snow and bone-chilling temperatures in much of
the country, part of a year when, for the first time in two 37 , record-cold days will
likely turn out to have outnumbered record-warm ones. But the U. S. was the exception:
November was the warmest ever 38 , and current data indicates that 2013 is likely to
havebeenthefourthhottestyearonrecord.
Enjoy the snow now, because 39 are good that 2014 will be even hotter,
perhaps the hottest year since records have been kept. That’s because, scientists are
predicting,2014willbeanElNinoyear.
El Nino, Spanish for “the child”, 40 when surface ocean waters in the southern
Pacific become abnormally warm. So large is the Pacific, covering 30% of the planet’s
surface,thatthe 41 energy generatedbyitswarming isenough totouchoffaseries
of weather changes around the world. El Ninos are 42 with abnormally dry
conditions in Southeast Asia and Australia. They can lead to extreme rain in parts of
North and South America, even as southern Africa 43 dry weather. Marine life may be
affected too: El Ninos can 44 the rising of the cold, nutrient-rich（营养丰富的）
water that supports large fish 45 , and the unusually warm ocean temperatures can
destroycoral（珊瑚）.
A)additional I)logically
B)associated J)occurs
C)bore K)populations
D)chances L)realize
E)communicated M)reduce
F)decades N)saw
G)Experiences O)Specific
H)globally
SectionB
Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached
to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the
paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more
than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the
correspondingletteronAnswerSheet2.
HowtoEatWell
A) Why do so many Americans eat tons of processed food, the stuff that is correctly
calledjunk(垃圾）andshouldreallycarrywarninglabels?
B) It’s not because fresh ingredients are hard to come by. Supermarkets offer more
4variety than ever, and there are over four times as many farmers, markets in the U. S.
astherewere20yearsago.Norisitforlackofavailableinformation.Thereareplenty
of recipes（食谱）how-to videos and cooking classes available to anyone who has a
computer,smartphoneortelevision.Ifanything,theinformationisoverwhelming.
C) And yet we aren’t cooking. If you eat three meals a day and behave like most
Americans, you probably get at least a third of your daily calories (卡路里）outside
thehome. Nearly two thirds of us grab fast foodoncea week, and we get almost 25%
of our daily calories from snacks. So we’re eating out or taking in, and we don’t sit
down—orwedo,butwehurry.
D) Shouldn’t preparing—and consuming—food be a source of comfort, pride, health,
well-being,relaxation,sociability? Something thatconnectsustootherhumans?Why
wouldwewanttooutsourc（e 外包）thisbasictask, especiallywhenoutsourcingitisso
harmful?
E) When I talk about cooking, I’m not talking about creating elaborate dinner parties or
three-day science projects. I’m talking about simple, easy, everyday meals. My
mission is to encourage green hands and those lacking time or money to feed
themselves. That means we need modest, realistic expectations, and we need to teach
peopletocookfoodthat’sgoodenoughtosharewithfamilyandfriends.”
F) Perhaps a return to real cooking needn’t be far off. A recent Harris poll revealed that
79% of Americans say they enjoy cooking and 30% “love it”; 14% admit to not
enjoying kitchen work and just 7% won’t go near the stove at all. But this doesn’t
necessarily translate to real cooking, and the result of this survey shouldn’t surprise
anyone: 52% of those 65 or older cook at home five or more times per week; only a
thirdofyoungpeopledo.
G) Back in the 1950s most of us grew up in households where Mom cooked virtually
every night. The intention to put a home-cooked meal on the table was pretty much
universal.Mostpeoplecouldn’taffordtodootherwise.
H) Although frozen dinners were invented in the 40s, their popularity didn’t boom until
televisions became popular a decade or so later. Since then, packaged, pre-prepared
meals have been what’s for dinner. The microwave and fast-food chains were the
biggest catalyst (催化剂）, but the big food companies—which want to sell anything
except the raw ingredients that go into cooking—made the home cook an endangered
species.
I) Still, I find it strange that only a third of young people report preparing meals at home
regularly. Isn’t this the same crowd that rails against processed junk and champions
craft cooking? And isn’t this the generation who say they’ve concerned about their
health and the well-being of the planet? If these are truly the values of many young
5people,thentheirbehaviordoesn’tmatchtheirbeliefs.
J) There have been half-hearted but well-publicized efforts by some food companies to
reduce calories in their processed foods, but the Standard American Diet is still the
polaropposite of the healthy, mostly plant-based dietthatjust aboutevery expert says
we should be eating. Considering that the government’s standards are not nearly
ambitious enough, the picture is clear: by not cooking at home, we’re not eating the
rightthings,andtheconsequencesarehardtooverstate.
K) Tohelpquantify（量化）costsofapoordiet,Irecentlytriedtoestimatethisimpactin
terms of a most famous food, the burger（汉堡包）. I concluded that the profit from
burgersis more thanoffset（抵消）by thedamage theycausein health problems and
environmentalharm?
L) Cooking real food is the best defense—not to mention that any meal you’ve likely to
eatathomecontainsabout200fewercaloriesthanoneyouwouldeatinarestaurant.
M) To those Americans for whom money is a concern, my advice is simple: Buy what
youcanafford,andcookityourself.Thecommonprescriptionistoprimarilyshopthe
grocery store, since that’s where fresh produce, meat and seafood, and dairy are. And
tosavemoneyandstilleatwellyoudon’tneedlocal,organicingredients;allyouneed
is real food. I’m not saying local food isn’t better; it is. But there is plenty of decent
foodinthegrocerystores.
N) Theother sections you should getto know are the frozen foodsandthe cannedgoods.
Frozen produce is still produce; canned tomatoes are still tomatoes. Just make sure
you’re getting real food without tons of added salt or sugar. Ask yourself, would
Grandma consider this food? Does it look like something that might occur in nature?
It’s pretty much common sense: you want to buy food, not unidentifiable foodlike
objects.
O) You don’t have to hit the grocery store daily, nor do you need an abundance of skill.
Since fewer than half of Americans say they cook at an intermediate level and only
20%describetheircookingskillsasadvanced,thecrisis isoneofconfidence.Andthe
only remedy for that is practice. There’s nothing mysterious about cooking the
evening meal. You just have to do a little thinking ahead and redefine what qualifies
as dinner. Like any skill, cooking gets easier as you do it more; every time you cook,
you advance your level ofskills. Someday you won’t even needrecipes. My advice is
thatyou notpay attention to the number of steps and ingredients, because they can be
deceiving.
P) Time, I realize, is the biggest obstacle to cooking for most people. You must adjust
your priorities to find time to cook. For instance, you can move a TV to the kitchen
andwatchyourfavoriteshowswhileyou’restandingatthesink.Nooneisaskingyou
6to give up activities you like, but if you’re watching food shows on TV, try cooking
instead.
36. Cookingbenefitspeopleinmanywaysandenablesthemtoconnectwithoneanother.
37. AbundantinformationaboutcookingisavailableeitheronlineoronTV.
38. Youngpeopledolesscookingathomethantheelderlythesedays.
39. Cookingskillscanbeimprovedwithpractice.
40. Inthemid-20thcentury,mostfamiliesatedinnerathomeinsteadofeatingout.
41. Even those short oftime or moneyshould be encouraged to cookfor themselves and
theirfamily.
42. Eatingfoodnotcookedbyourselvescancauseseriousconsequences.
43. To eat well and still save money, people should buy fresh food and cook it
themselves.
44. Wegetafairlylargeportionofcaloriesfromfastfoodandsnacks.
45. ThepopularityofTVledtothepopularityoffrozenfood.
SectionC
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some
questionsorunfinishedstatements.ForeachofthemtherearefourchoicesmarkedA),B),
C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on
AnswerSheet2withasinglelinethroughthecentre.
PassageOne
Questions46to50arebasedonthefollowingpassage.
Thewalletisheadingforextinction.Asaday-to-dayessential,itwilldieoffwiththe
generationwhoreadprintnewspapers.Thekindofshopping—whereyou handover notes
and count out change in return—now happens only in the most minor of our retail
encounters, like buying a bar of chocolate or a pint of milk from a comer shop. At the
shops whereyou spendanyrealmoney, that money is increasingly abstracted.And this is
more and more true, the higher up the scale you go. At the most cutting-edge retail
stores—Victoria Beckham on Dover Street, for instance—you don’t go and stand at any
kind of cash register when you decide to pay. The staff are equipped with iPads to take
yourpaymentwhileyourelaxonasofa.
Which is nothing more or less than excellent service, if you have the money. But
across society, the abstraction of the idea of cash makes me uneasy. Maybe I’m just old-
fashioned. But earning money isn’t quick or easy for most of us. Isn’t it a bit weird that
spending it should happen in half a blink (眨眼）of an eye? Doesn’t a wallet—that
7time-honoured Friday-night feeling of pleasing, promising fatness—represent something
thatmatters?
But I’ll leave the economics to the experts. What bothers me about the death of the
wallet is the change it represents in our physical environment. Everything about the look
and feel of a wallet—the way the fastenings and materials wear and tear and loosen with
age,theplasticandpaperandgoldandsilver,andhandwrittenphonenumbersandprinted
cinema tickets—is the very opposite of what our world is becoming. The opposite of a
walletisasmartphoneoraniPad.Theroundededges,coolglass,smoothandunknowable
asa pebble (鹅卵石）. Instead ofdigging through piecesof paper and peering into comers,
we move ourfingers left andright. No more counting outcoins. Show your wallet, if you
stillhaveone.Itmaynotbeheremuchlonger.
46. Whatishappeningtothewallet?
A) Itisdisappearing.
B) Itisbeingfattened.
C) Itisbecomingcostly,
D) Itischanginginstyle.
47. Howarebusinesstransactionsdoneinbigmodernstores?
A) Individually.
B) Electronically.
C) Intheabstract.
D) Viaacashregister.
48. Whatmakestheauthorfeeluncomfortablenowadays?
A) Savingmoneyisbecomingathingofthepast.
B) ThepleasingFriday-nightfeelingisfading.
C) Earningmoneyisgettingmoredifficult.
D) Spendingmoneyissofastandeasy.
49. Whydoestheauthorchoosetowriteaboutwhat’shappeningtothewallet?
A) Itrepresentsachangeinthemodemworld.
B) Ithassomethingtodowitheverybody’slife.
C) Itmarkstheendofatime-honouredtradition.
D) Itistheconcernofcontemporaryeconomists.
50. Whatcanweinferfromthepassageabouttheauthor?
A) Heisresistanttosocialchanges.
B) Heisagainsttechnologicalprogress.
C) Hefeelsreluctanttopartwiththetraditionalwallet.
D) Hefeelsinsecureintheever-changingmodemworld.
8PassageTwo
Questions51to55arebasedonthefollowingpassage.
Everybody sleeps, but what people stay up late to catch—or wake up early in order
nottomiss—variesbyculture.
From data collected, it seems the things that cause us to lose the most sleep, on
average,aresportingevents,timechanges,andholidays.
Around the world, people changed sleep patterns thanks to the start or end of
daylight savings time, Russians, for example, began to wake up about a half-hour later
each day after President Vladimir Putin shifted the country permanently to “winter time”
startingonOctober26.
Russia’sotherlatenightsandearlymornings generallycorrespondtopublicholidays.
On New Year’s Eve, Russians have the world’s latest bedtime, hitting the hay at around
3:30a.m.
Russians also get up an hour later on International Women’s Day, the day for
treatingandcelebratingfemalerelatives.
Similarly, Americans, late nights, late mornings, and longest sleeps fall on three-day
weekends. Canada got the least sleep of the year the night it beat Sweden in the Olympic
hockey （冰球）. TheWorld Cup is also chiefly responsiblefor sleep deprivation (剥夺）.
TheworstnightforsleepintheU.KwasthenightoftheEngland-ItalymatchonJune14.
Brits stayed up a half-hour later to watch it, and then they woke up earlier than usual the
next morning thanks to summer nights, the phenomenon in which the sun barely sets in
northern countries in the summertime. That was nothing, though, compared to Germans,
Italians, and the French, who stayed up around an hour and a half later on various days
throughoutthesummertowatchtheCup.
It should be made clear that not everyone has a device to record their sleep patterns;
in some of these nations, it’s likely that only the richest people do.And people who elect
to track their sleep may try to get more sleep than the average person. Even if that’s the
case, though, the above findings are still striking. If the most health-conscious among us
havesuchdeepswings inourshut-eye levelsthroughouttheyear, howmuchsleep arethe
restofuslosing?
51. Whatdoestheauthorsayaboutpeopledsleepinghabits?
A) Theyareculture-related.
C)Theychangewiththeseasons.
B)Theyaffectpeopledhealth.
D)Theyvaryfrompersontoperson.
952. WhatdowelearnabouttheRussiansregardingsleep?
A) Theydon’tfallasleepuntilverylate.
B) Theydon’tsleepmuchonweekends.
C) Theygetlesssleeponpublicholidays.
D) Theysleeplongerthanpeopleelsewhere.
53. WhatisthemajorcauseforEuropeans’lossofsleep?
A) Thedaylightsavingstime.
B) Thecolorfulnightlife.
C) TheWorldCup.
D) Thesummertime.
54. What is the most probable reason forsome rich peopleto use a device to record their
sleeppatterns?
A) Theyhavetroublefallingasleep.
B) Theywanttogetsufficientsleep.
C) Theyareinvolvedinasleepresearch.
D) Theywanttogotobedonregularhours.
55. Whatdoestheauthorimplyinthelastparagraph?
A) Sleeplessnessdoesharmtopeopledhealth.
B) Fewpeoplereallyknowtheimportanceofsleep.
C) Itisimportanttostudyoursleeppatterns.
D) Averagepeopleprobablysleeplessthantherich.
Part IV Translation (30 minutes)
SectionA
Directions:Forthispart,you areallowed30minutestotranslateapassage from
ChineseintoEnglish.YoushouldwriteyouransweronAnswerSheet2.
今年在长沙举行了一年一度的外国人汉语演讲比赛。这项比赛证明是促进中国
和世界其他地区文化交流的好方法。它为世界各地的年轻人提供了更好地了解中国 的
机会。
来自 87 个国家共计 126 位选手聚集在湖南省省会参加了从 7 月 6 日到 8 月 5 日
进行的半决赛和决赛。
比赛并不是唯一的活动。选手们还有机会参观了中国其他地区的著名景点和历 史
名胜。
10
