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2021年 06月大学英语四级考试真题（第 1 套）
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Part I Writing (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay titled “Are people
becoming addicted to technology?f,. The statement given below is for your reference. You
should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.
Numerous studies claim that addiction to technology is real and it has the same effect on the
brain as drug addiction.
Part II Listening Comprehension (25 minutes)
Section A
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 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 single
line through the centre.
Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.
1. A) Enrol him in a Newcastle football club.
B) Send him to an after-school art class.
C) Forbid him to draw in his workbook.
D) Help him post his drawings online.
2. A) Contacted Joe to decorate its dining-room.
B) Hired Joe to paint all the walls of its buildings.
C) Renovated its kitchen and all the dining-rooms.
D) Asked Joe fbr permission to use his online drawings.
Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.
3. A) Get her pet dog back. C) Identify the suspect on the security video.
B) Beg for help from the police. D) Post pictures of her pet dog on social media.
4. A) It is suffering a great deal from the incident.
B) It is helping the police with the investigation.
C) It is bringing the case to the local district court.
D) It is offering a big reward to anyone who helps.
Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.
5. A) Provide free meals to the local poor.
B) Help people connect with each other.
C) Help eliminate class difference in his area.
D) Provide customers with first-class service.
6. A) It does not supervise its employees. C) It does not use volunteers.
B) It donates regularly to a local charity. D) It is open round the clock.
2021年6月英语四级真题第1套 第 1 页 共 9 页 by:光速考研7. A) They will realize the importance of communication.
B) They will come to the cafe even more frequently.
C) They will care less about their own background.
D) They will find they have something in common.
Section B
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 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 single line through the centre.
Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
8. A) A surprise party for Paul's birthday.
B) Travel plans for the coming weekend.
C) Preparations for Saturday's get-together.
D) The new market on the other side of town.
9. A) It makes the hostess's job a whole lot easier.
B) It enables guests to walk around and chat freely.
C) It saves considerable time and labour.
D) It requires fewer tables and chairs.
10. A) It offers some big discounts. C) It is more spacious and less crowded.
B) It is quite close to her house. D) It sells local wines and soft drinks.
11. A) Cook a dish for the party. C) Prepare a few opening remarks.
B) Arrive 10 minutes earlier. D) Bring his computer and speakers.
Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
12. A) For commuting to work. C) For getting around in Miami.
B) For long-distance travel. D) For convenience at weekends.
13. A) They are reliable. C) They are spacious.
B) They are compact. D) They are easy to drive.
14. A) Buy a second-hand car. C) Seek advice from his friend.
B) Trust her own judgement. D) Look around before deciding.
15. A) He sells new cars. C) He is starting a business.
B) He can be trusted. D) He is a successful car dealer.
Section C
Directions: In this section, you will hear three passages. At the end of each passage, 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 single line through
the centre.
2021年6月英语四级真题第1套 第 2 页 共 9 页 by:光速考研Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.
16. A) Many escaped from farms and became wild.
B) They were actually native to North America.
C) Many got killed in the wild when searching for food.
D) They were hunted by Spanish and Russian explorers.
17. A) They often make sudden attacks on people.
B) They break up nature's food supply chain.
C) They cause much environmental pollution.
D) They carry a great many diseases.
18. A) They lived peacefully with wild pigs. C) They fell victim to eagles.
B) They ran out of food completely. D) They reproduced quickly.
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.
19. A)Taste coffee while in outer space.
B) Roast cofBe beans in outer space.
C) Develop a new strain of coflee bean.
D) Use a pressurised tank to brew coflee.
20. A) They can easily get burned. C) They have to be heated to 360℃.
B) They float around in the oven. D) They receive evenly distributed heat.
21. A) They charged a high price for their space-roasted coffee beans.
B) They set up a branch in Dubai to manufacture coffee roasters.
C) They collaborated on building the first space coffee machine.
D) They abandoned the attempt to roast coffee beans in space.
Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.
22. A) It is the best time for sightseeing.
B) A race passes through it annually.
C) They come to clean the Iditarod Trail.
D) It is when the villagers choose a queen.
23. A) Its children's baking skills. C) Its tasty fruit pies.
B) Its unique winter scenery. D) Its great food variety.
24. A) The contestants. C) Jan Newton and her friends.
B) The entire village. D) People from the state of Idaho.
25. A) She owned a restaurant in Idaho.
B) She married her husband in 1972.
C) She went to Alaska to compete in a race.
D) She helped the village to become famous.
2021年6月英语四级真题第1套 第 3 页 共 9 页 by:光速考研Part III Reading Comprehension (40 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 26 to 35 are based on the following passage.
Most animals seek shade when temperatures in the Sahara Desert soar to 120 degrees
Fahrenheit. But for the Saharan silver ant, 26 from their underground nests into the
sun's brutal rays to 27 for food, this is the perfect time to seek lunch. In 2015 these
ants were joined in the desert by scientists from two Belgian universities, who spent a
month in the 28 heat tracking the ants and digging out their nests. The goal was
simple, to discover how the 29 adapted to the kind of heat that can 30 melt the
bottom of shoes.
Back in Belgium, the scientists looked at the ants under an electronic microscope and
found that their 31 , triangular hair reflects light like a prism (棱镜)，giving them a
metallic reflection and protecting them from the sun's awful heat. When Ph. D. student
Quentin Willot 32 the hair from an ant with a 33 knife and put it under a heat
lamp, its temperature jumped.
The ants' method of staying cool is 34 among animals. Could this reflective type
of hair protect people? Willot says companies are interested in 35 these ants' method
of heat protection for human use, including everything from helping to protect the lives of
firefighters to keeping homes cool in summer.
A) adapting I) remote
B) consciously J) removed
C) crawling K) species
D) crowded L) specimens
E) extreme M) thick
F) hunt N) tiny
G) literally O) unique
H) moderate
Section B
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 corresponding letter on
Answer Sheet 2.
2021年6月英语四级真题第1套 第 4 页 共 9 页 by:光速考研The start of high school doesn't have to be stressful
A） This month, more than 4 million students across the nation will begin high school.
Many will do well. But many will not. Consider that nearly two-thirds of students will
experience the “ninth-grade shock,“ which refers to a dramatic drop in a studenfs
academic performance. Some students cope with this shock by avoiding challenges. For
instance, they may drop difficult coursework. Others may experience a hopelessness that
results in failing their core classes, such as English, science and math.
B） This should matter a great deal to parents, teachers and policymakers.Ultimately it
should matter to the students themselves and society at large, because students5
experience of transitioning （过渡）to the ninth grade can have long-term consequences
not only for the students themselves but for their home communities. We make these
observations as research psychologists who have studied how schools and families can
help young people thrive.
C） In the new global economy, students who fail to finish the ninth grade with passing
grades in college preparatory coursework are very unlikely to graduate on time and go
on to get jobs. One study has calculated that the lifetime benefit to the local economy
fbr a single additional student who completes high school is half a million dollars or
more. This is based on higher earnings and avoided costs in health care, crime, welfare
dependence and other things.
D） The consequences of doing poorly in the ninth grade can impact more than students'
ability to find a good job. It can also impact the extent to which they enjoy life.
Students lose many of the friends they turned to for support when they move from the
eighth to the ninth grade. One study of ninth-grade students found that 50 percent of
friendships among ninth graders changed from one month to the next, signaling striking
instability in friendships.
E） In addition, studies find the first year of high school typically shows one of the greatest
increases in depression of any year over the lifespan. Researchers think that one
explanation is that ties to friends are broken while academic demands are rising.
Furthermore, most adult cases of clinical depression first emerge in adolescence （青春
期）. The World Health Organization reports that depression has the greatest burden of
disease worldwide, in terms of the total cost of treatment and the loss of productivity.
F） Given all thafs riding on having a successful ninth grade experience, it pays to explore
what can be done to meet the academic, social and emotional challenges of the transition
to high school. So far, our studies have yielded one main insight: Students5 beliefs about
change- their beliefs about whether people are stuck one way forever, or whether people
can change their personalities and abilities—are related to their ability to cope, succeed
academically and maintain good mental health. Past research has called these beliefs
“mindsets （思维模式）,“ with a “fixed mindset“ referring to the belief that people cannot
change and a “growth mindsef, referring to the belief that people can change.
G） In one recent study, we examined 360 adolescents5 beliefs about the nature of
“smartness”- that is, their fixed mindsets about intelligence. We then assessed
biological stress responses for students whose grades were dropping by examining their
stress hormones （荷尔蒙）. Students who believed that intelligence is fixed- that you are
2021年6月英语四级真题第1套 第 5 页 共 9 页 by:光速考研stuck being “not smart“ if you struggle in school- showed higher levels of stress
hormones when their grades were declining at the beginning of the ninth grade. If
students believed that intelligence could improve—that is to say, when they held more
of a growth mindset of intelligence- they showed lower levels of stress hormones when
their grades were declining. This was an exciting result because it showed that the
body's stress responses are not determined solely by one's grades. Instead, declining
grades only predicted worse stress hormones among students who believed that
worsening grades were a permanent and hopeless state of affairs.
H） We also investigated the social side of the high school transition. In this study, instead of
teaching students that their smartness can change, we taught them that their social
standing- that is, whether they are bullied or excluded or left out- can change over
time. We then looked at high school students' stress responses to daily social difficulties.
That is, we taught them a growth mindset about their social lives. In this study, students
came into the laboratory and were asked to give a public speech in front of upper-year
students. The topic of the speech was what makes one popular in high school.
Following this, students had to complete a difficult mental math task in front of the
same upper-year students.
I） Experiment results showed that students who were not taught that people can change
showed poor stress responses. When these students gave the speech, their blood vessels
contracted and their hearts pumped less blood through the body_both responses that
the body shows when it is preparing for damage or defeat after a physical threat. Then
they gave worse speeches and made more mistakes in math. But when students were
taught that people can change, they had better responses to stress, in part because they
felt like they had the resources to deal with the demanding situation. Students who got
the growth mindset intervention （干预）showed less-contracted blood vessels and their
hearts pumped more blood_both of which contributed to more oxygen getting to the
brain, and, ultimately, better performance on the speech and mental math tasks.
J） These findings lead to several possibilities that we are investigating further. First, we are
working to replicate （复制）these findings in more diverse school communities. We want
to know in which types of schools and for which kinds of students these growth mindset
ideas help young people adapt to the challenges of high school. We also hope to learn
how teachers, parents or school counselors can help students keep their ongoing academic
or social difficulties in perspective. We wonder what would happen if schools helped to
make beliefs about the potential for change and improvement a larger feature of the
overall school culture, especially for students starting the ninth grade.
36. The number of people experiencing depression shows a sharp increase in the first year
of high school.
37. According to one study, students5 academic performance is not the only decisive factor
of their stress responses.
38. Researchers would like to explore further how parents and schools can help ninth
graders by changing their mindset.
39. According to one study, each high school graduate contributes at least 500,000 dollars
to the local economy.
2021年6月英语四级真题第1套 第 6 页 共 9 页 by:光速考研40. In one study, students were told their social position in school is not unchangeable.
41. It is reported that depression results in enormous economic losses worldwide.
42. One study showed that friendships among ninth graders were far from stable.
43. More than half of students will find their academic performance declining sharply when
they enter the ninth grade.
44. Researchers found through experiments that students could be taught to respond to
stress in a more positive way.
45. It is beneficial to explore ways to cope with the challenges facing students entering high
school.
Section C
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 centre.
Passage One
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
Educators and business leaders have more in common than it may seem. Teachers
want to prepare students fbr a successful future. Technology companies have an interest in
developing a workforce with the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills
needed to grow the company and advance the industry. How can they work together to
achieve these goals? Play may be the answer.
Focusing on STEM skills is important, but the reality is that STEM skills are enhanced
and more relevant when combined with traditional, hands-on creative activities. This
combination is proving to be the best way to prepare today's children to be the makers and
builders of tomorrow. That is why technology companies are partnering with educators to
bring back good, old-fashioned play.
In fact many experts argue that the most important 21 st-century skills aren't related
to specific technologies or subject matter, but to creativity; skills like imagination,
problem-finding and problem-solving, teamwork, optimism, patience and the ability to
experiment and take risks. These are skills acquired when kids tinker (鼓捣 4、玩意).
High-tech industries such as NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have found that their best
overall problem solvers were master tinkerers in their youth.
There are cognitive (认矢口的)benefits of doing things the way we did as children
- building something, tearing it down, then building it up again. Research shows that given
15 minutes of free play, four- and five-year-olds will spend a third of this time engaged in
spatial, mathematical, and architectural activities. This type of play- especially with
building blocks- helps children discover and develop key principles in math and geometry.
If play and building are critical to 21st-century skill development, thafs really good
news fbr two reasons: Children are bom builders, makers, and creators, so fostering (培养)
21st-century skills may be as simple as giving kids room to play, tinker and try things out,
even as they grow older. Secondly, it doesn't take 21 st-century technology to foster
21st-century skills. This is especially important for under-resourced schools and
communities. Taking whatever materials are handy and tinkering with them is a simple way
to engage those important “maker“ skills. And anyone, anywhere, can do it.
2021年6月英语四级真题第1套 第 7 页 共 9 页 by:光速考研46. What does the author say about educators?
A) They seek advice from technology companies to achieve teaching goals.
B) They have been successful in preparing the workforce for companies.
C) They help students acquire the skills needed fbr their future success.
D) They partner with technology companies to enhance teaching efficiency.
47. How can educators better develop students5 STEM skills, according to the author?
A) By blending them with traditional, stimulating activities.
B) By inviting business leaders to help design curriculums.
C) By enhancing students5 ability to think in a critical way.
D) By showing students the best way to learn is through play.
48. How do children acquire the skills needed for the 21st century?
A) By engaging in activities involving specific technologies.
B) By playing with things to solve problems on their own.
C) By familiarizing themselves with high-tech gadgets.
D) By mastering basic principles through teamwork.
49. What can we do to help children learn the basics of math and geometry?
A) Stimulate their interest as early as possible.
B) Spend more time playing games with them.
C) Encourage them to make things with hands.
D) Allow them to tinker freely with calculators.
50. What does the author advise disadvantaged schools and communities to do?
A) Train students to be makers to meet future market demands.
B) Develop students5 creative skills with the resources available.
C) Engage students with challenging tasks to foster their creativity.
D) Work together with companies to improve their teaching facilities.
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
Being an information technology, or IT, worker is not a job I envy. They are the ones
who, right in the middle of a critical meeting, are expected to instantly fix the projector
that5s no longer working. They have to tolerate the bad tempers of colleagues frustrated at
the number of times they've had to call the help desk for the same issue. They are also the
ones who know there are systems that are more powerful, reliable and faster, but their
employer simply will not put up the funds to buy them.
According to a recent survey, employees who have a job reliant on IT support consider
IT a major source of job dissatisfaction. Through no fault of their own, they can suddenly
find their productivity deteriorating or quality control non-existent. And there 5s little they
can do about it.
The experience of using IT penetrates almost the entire work field. It has become a
crucial part of employees? overall work experience. When IT is operating as it should,
employee sell-confidence swells. Their job satisfaction, too, can surge when well-functioning
machines relieve them of dull tasks or repetitive processes. But if there5s one thing that
triggers widespread employee frustration, ifs an IT transformation project gone wrong,
2021年6月英语四级真题第1套 第 8 页 共 9 页 by:光速考研where swollen expectations have been popped and a long list of promised efficiencies have
been reversed. This occurs when business leaders implement IT initiatives with little
consideration of how those changes will impact the end user.
Which is why managers should appreciate just how influential the IT user experience
is to their employees, and exert substantial effort in ensuring their IT team eliminates
programming errors and application crashes. Adequate and timely IT support should also be
available to enable users to cope with technological issues at work. More importantly, IT
practitioners need to understand what employees experience mentally when they use IT.
Therefore, businesses need to set up their IT infrastructure so that it is designed to fit
in with their employees5 work, rather than adjust their work to fit in with the company's IT
limitations.
51. What does the author say about working in IT?
A) It is envied by many. C) It is financially rewarding.
B) It does not appeal to him. D) It does not match his abilities.
52. What is the finding of a recent survey on employees who have a job reliant on IT support?
A) IT helps boost productivity.
B) IT helps improve quality control.
C) Many employees are deeply frustrated by IT.
D) Most employees rely heavily on IT in their work.
53. What is said to happen when IT is functioning properly?
A) There is a big boost in employees5 work efficiency.
B) Employees become more dependent on machines.
C) There are no longer any boring or repetitive tasks.
D) Employees become more confident in their work.
54. What should business leaders do before implementing new IT initiatives?
A) Consider the various expectations of their customers.
B) Draw up a list of the efficiencies to be promised.
C) Assess the swollen cost of training the employees.
D) Think about the possible effects on their employees.
55. How can a business help improve its employees; experience in using IT?
A) By designing systems that suit their needs.
B) By ensuring that their mental health is sound.
C) By adjusting their work to suit the IT system.
D) By offering them regular in-service training.
Part IV Translation (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into
English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.
铁观音(Tieguanyin)是中国最受欢迎的茶之一，原产于福建省安溪县西坪镇，如今安溪全县
普遍种植，但该县不同地区生产的铁观音又各具风味。铁观音一年四季均可采摘，尤以春秋两季
采摘的茶叶品质最佳。铁观音的加工非常复杂，需要专门的技术和丰富的经验。铁观音含有多种
维生素，喝起来口感独特。常饮铁观音有助于预防心脏病、降低血压、增强记忆力。
2021年6月英语四级真题第1套 第 9 页 共 9 页 by:光速考研2021年 06月大学英语四级考试真题（第 2 套）
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Part I Writing (30 minutes)
Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay titled “Is technology
making people lazy?The statement given below is for your reference. You should write at
least 120 words but no more than 180 words .
Many studies claim that computers distract people, make them lazy thinkers and even lower
their work efficiency.
Part II Listening Comprehension (25 minutes)
Section A
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 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 single
line through the centre.
Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.
1. A) See the Pope. C) Travel to Germany.
B) Go to Newcastle. D) Tour an Italian city.
2. A) He was taken to hospital in an ambulance.
B) His car hit a sign and was badly damaged.
C) His GPS system went out of order.
D) He ended up in the wrong place.
Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.
3. A) Scotland will reach the national target in carbon emissions reduction ahead of schedule.
B) Glasgow City Council has made a deal with ScottishPower on carbon emissions.
C) Glasgow has pledged to take the lead in reducing carbon emissions in the UK.
D) First Minister Nicola Sturgeon urged ScottishPower to reduce carbon emissions.
4. A) Glasgow needs to invest in new technologies to reach its goal.
B) Glasgow is going to explore new sources of renewable energy.
C) Stricter regulation is needed in transforming Glasgow's economy.
D) Ifs necessary to create more low-emission zones as soon as possible.
Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.
5. A) It donates money to overpopulated animal shelters.
B) It permits employees to bring cats into their office.
C) It gives 5,000 yen to employees who keep pet cats.
D) It allows workers to do whatever their hearts desire.
6. A) Keep cats off the street. C) Volunteer to help in animal shelters.
B) Rescue homeless cats. D) Contribute to a fund for cat protection.
2021年6月英语四级真题第2套 第 1 页 共 9 页 by：光速考研7. A) It has contributed tremendously to the fame.
B) It has helped a lot to improve animals5 well-being.
C) It has led some other companies to follow suit.
D) It has resulted in damage to office equipment.
Section B
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 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 single line through the centre.
Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
8. A) Find out where Jimmy is. C) Make friends with Jimmy.
B) Borrow money from Jimmy. D) Ask Jimmy what is to be done.
9. A) He was unsure what kind of fellow Jimmy was.
B) He was working on a study project with Jimmy.
C) He wanted to make a sincere apology to Jimmy.
D) He wanted to invite her to join in a study project.
10. A) He got a ticket for speeding. C) He was involved in a traffic accident.
B) He got his car badly damaged. D) He had an operation for his injury.
11. A) He needed to make some donation to charity.
B) He found the 60 pounds in his pocket missing.
C) He wanted to buy a gift for his mother's birthday.
D) He wanted to conceal something from his parents.
Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
12. A) Shopping delivery. C) Where he goes shopping.
B) Shopping online. D) How often he does shopping.
13. A)Searching in the aisles. C) Driving too long a distance.
B) Dealing with the traffic. D) Getting one's car parked.
14. A) The after-sales service. C) The quality of food products.
B) The replacement policy. D) The damage to the packaging.
15. A) It saves money. C) It increases the joy of shopping.
B) It offers more choice. D) It is less time-consuming.
Section C
Directions: In this section, you will hear three passages. At the end of each passage, 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 single line through the
centre.
Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.
2021年6月英语四级真题第2套 第 2 页 共 9 页 by：光速考研16. A) They have little talent fbr learning math.
B) They need medical help fbr math anxiety.
C) They need extra help to catch up in the math class.
D) They have strong negative emotions towards math.
17. A) It will gradually pass away without teachers5 help.
B) It affects low-performing children only.
C) It is related to a child's low intelligence.
D) It exists mostly among children from poor families.
18. A) Most of them have average to strong math ability.
B) Most of them get timely help from their teachers.
C) They will regain confidence with counselling.
D) They are mostly secondary school students.
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.
19. A) Social media addiction is a threat to our health.
B) Too many people are addicted to smartphones.
C) Addiction to computer games is a disease.
D) Computer games can be rather addictive.
20. A) They prioritize their favored activity over what they should do.
B) They do their favored activity whenever and wherever possible.
C) They are unaware of the damage their behavior is doing to them.
D) They are unable to get rid of their addiction without professional help.
21. A) It may be less damaging than previously believed.
B) There will never be agreement on its harm to people.
C) It may prove to be beneficial to developing creativity.
D) There is not enough evidence to classify it as a disease.
Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.
22. A) They are relatively uniform in color and design.
B) They appear more formal than other passports.
C) They are a shade of red bordering on brown.
D) They vary in color from country to country.
23. A) They must endure wear and tear. C) They must be made from a rare material.
B) They must be of the same size. D) They must follow some common standards.
24. A) They look more traditional. C) They are favored by airlines.
B) They look more official. D) They are easily identifiable.
25. A) For beauty. C) For visibility.
B) For variety. D) For security.
2021年6月英语四级真题第2套 第 3 页 共 9 页 by：光速考研Part III Reading Comprehension (40 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 26 to 35 are based on the following passage.
Social isolation poses more health risks than obesity or smoking 15 cigarettes a day,
according to research published by Brigham Young University. The 26 is that loneliness
is a huge, if silent, risk factor.
Loneliness affects physical health in two ways. First, it produces stress hormones that
can lead to many health problems. Second, people who live alone are less likely to go to the
doctor 27 , to exercise or to eat a healthy diet.
Public health experts in many countries are 28 how to address widespread
loneliness in our society. Last year Britain even appointed a minister fbr loneliness.
“Loneliness 29 almost every one of us at some point,“ its minister for loneliness
Baroness Barran said. "It can lead to very serious health 30 for individuals who
become isolated and disconnected.^^
Barran started a "Let's Talk Loneliness^^ campaign that 31 difficult conversations
across Britain. She is now supporting " 32 benches,which are public seating areas
where people are encouraged to go and chat with one another. The minister is also 33
to stop public transportation from being cut in ways that leave people isolated.
More than one-fifth of adults in both the United States and Britain said in a
2018 34 that they often or always feel lonely. More than half of American adults are
unmarried, and researchers have found that even among those who are married, 30% of
relationships are 35 strained. A quarter of Americans now live alone, and as the song
says, one is the loneliest number.
A) abruptly I) implication
B) appointments J) pushing
C) consequences K) severely
D) debating L) sparked
E) dimensions M) splitting
F) friendly N)survey
G) hindered O) touches
H) idiom
Section B
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 corresponding
letter on Answer Sheet 2.
2021年6月英语四级真题第2套 第 4 页 共 9 页 by：光速考研What happens when a language has no words for numbers?
A) Numbers do not exist in all cultures. There are numberless hunter-gatherers in
Amazonia, living along branches of the world's largest river tree. Instead of using
words for precise quantities, these people rely exclusively on terms similar to “a fbw" or
“some." In contrast, our own lives are governed by numbers. As you read this, you are
likely aware of what time it is, how old you are, your checking account balance, your
weight and so on. The exact numbers we think with impact everything in our lives.
B) But, in a historical sense, number-conscious people like us are the unusual ones. For the
bulk of our species' approximately 200,000-year lifespan, we had no means of precisely
representing quantities. What's more, the 7,000 or so languages that exist today vary
dramatically in how they utilize numbers.
C) Speakers of anumeric, or numberless, languages offer a window into how the invention
of numbers reshaped the human experience. Cultures without numbers, or with only one
or two precise numbers, include the Munduruku and Piraha in Amazonia. Researchers
have also studied some adults in Nicaragua who were never taught number
words.Without numbers, healthy human adults struggle to precisely distinguish and
recall quantities as low as four. In an experiment, a researcher will place nuts into a can
one at a time and then remove them one by one. The person watching is asked to signal
when all the nuts have been removed. Responses suggest that anumeric people have
some trouble keeping track of how many nuts remain in the can, even if there are only
four or five in total.
D) This and many other experiments have led to a simple conclusion: When people do
not have number words, they struggle to make quantitative distinctions that probably
seem natural to someone like you or me. While only a small portion of the world's
languages are anumeric or nearly anumeric, they demonstrate that number words are
not a human universal.
E) It is worth stressing that these anumeric people are cognitively (在认矢口方面)normal,
well-adapted to the surroundings they have dominated fbr centuries. As a child, I spent
some time living with anumeric people, the Piraha who live along the banks of the
black Maici River. Like other outsiders, I was continually impressed by their superior
understanding of the ecology we shared. Yet numberless people struggle with tasks that
require precise discrimination between quantities. Perhaps this should be unsurprising.
After all, without counting, how can someone tell whether there are, say, seven or eight
coc。〃小s(椰子)in a tree? Such seemingly straightforward distinctions become blurry
through numberless eyes.
F) This conclusion is echoed by work with anumeric children in industrialized societies.
Prior to being spoon-fed number words, children can only approximately discriminate
quantities beyond three. We must be handed the cognitive tools of numbers before we can
consistently and easily recognize higher quantities. In fact, acquiring the exact meaning of
number words is a painstaking process that takes children years. Initially, kids learn
numbers much like they learn letters. They recognize that numbers are organized
sequentially, but have little awareness of what each individual number means. With time,
they start to understand that a given number represents a quantity greater by one than the
number coming before it. This ''successor principle^^ is part of the foundation of our
numerical (数字的)cognition, but requires extensive practice to understand.
2021年6月英语四级真题第2套 第 5 页 共 9 页 by：光速考研G) None of us, then, is really a “numbers person.^^ We are not bom to handle quantitative
distinctions skillfully. In the absence of the cultural traditions that fill our lives with
numbers from infancy, we would all struggle with even basic quantitative distinctions.
Number words and their written forms transform our quantitative reasoning as they are
introduced into our cognitive experience by our parents, peers and school teachers. The
process seems so normal that we sometimes think of it as a natural part of growing up,
but it is not. Human brains come equipped with certain quantitative instincts that are
refined with age, but these instincts are very limited.
H) Compared with other mammals, our numerical instincts are not as remarkable as many
assume. We even share some basic instinctual quantitative reasoning with distant
non-mammalian relatives like birds. Indeed, work with some other species suggests
they too can refine their quantitative thought if they are introduced to the cognitive
power tools we call numbers.
I) So, how did we ever invent “unnatural“ numbers in the first place? The answer is,
literally, at your fingertips. The bulk of the world's languages use base-10, base-20 or
base-5 number systems. That is, these smaller numbers are the basis of larger numbers.
English is a base-10 or decimal (十进制的)language, as evidenced by words like 14
("four" + "10") and 31 ("three" x "10"+ "one"). We speak a decimal language because
an ancestral tongue, proto-Indo-European, was decimally based. Proto-Indo-European
was decimally oriented because, as in so many cultures, our ancestors? hands served as
the gateway to the realization that “five fingers on one hand is the same as five fingers
on the other.^^ Such momentary thoughts were represented in words and passed down
across generations. This is why the word "five" in many languages is derived from the
word for "hand." Most number systems, then, are the by-product of two key factors: the
human capacity for language and our inclination for focusing on our hands and fingers.
This manual fixation- an indirect by-product of walking upright on two legs- has
helped yield numbers in most cultures, but not all.
J) Cultures without numbers also offer insight into the cognitive influence of particular
numeric traditions. Consider what time it is. Your day is ruled by minutes and seconds,
but these concepts are not real in any physical sense and are nonexistent to numberless
people. Minutes and seconds are the verbal and written representations of an
uncommon base-60 number system used in ancient Mesopotamia. They reside in our
minds, numerical artifacts (人工制品)that not all humans inherit conceptually.
K) Research on the language of numbers shows, more and more, that one of our species'
key characteristics is tremendous linguistic (语言的)and cognitive diversity. If we are
to truly understand how much our cognitive lives differ cross-culturally, we must
continually explore the depths of our species5 linguistic diversity.
36. It is difficult for anumeric people to keep track of the change in numbers even when the
total is very small.
37. Human numerical instincts are not so superior to those of other mammals as is generally
believed.
38. The author emphasizes being anumeric does not affect one's cognitive ability.
39. In the long history of mankind, humans who use numbers are a very small minority.
40. An in-depth study of differences between human languages contributes to a true
2021年6月英语四级真题第2套 第 6 页 共 9 页 by：光速考研understanding of cognitive differences between cultures.
41. A conclusion has been drawn from many experiments that anumeric people have a hard
time distinguishing quantities.
42. Making quantitative distinctions is not an inborn skill.
43. Every aspect of our lives is affected by numbers.
44. Larger numbers are said to be built upon smaller numbers.
45. It takes great efforts fbr children to grasp the concept of number words.
Section C
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 centre.
Passage One
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
Sugar shocked. That describes the reaction of many Americans this week following
revelations that, 50 years ago, the sugar industry paid Harvard scientists fbr research that
shifted the focus away from sugar's role in heart disease- and put the spotlight (注意的 中
心、)squarely on dietary fat.
What might surprise consumers is just how many present-day nutrition studies are still
funded by the food industry. Nutrition scholar Marion Nestle of New York University spent
a year informally tracking industry-funded studies on food. t4Roughly 90% of nearly 170
studies favored the sponsor's interest,^Nestle tells us. Other systematic reviews support her
conclusions.
For instance, studies funded by Welch Foods- the brand behind Welch's 100% Grape
Juice- found that drinking Concord grape juice daily may boost brain function. Another,
funded by Quaker Oats, concluded, as a Daily Mail story put it, that “hot oatmeal
breakfast keeps you full fbr longer.”
Last year, The New York Times revealed how Coca-Cola was funding well-known
scientists and organizations promoting a message that, in the battle against weight gain,
people should pay more attention to exercise and less to what they eat and drink. Coca-Cola
also released data detailing its funding of several medical institutions and associations
between 2010 and 2015.
"It's certainly a problem that so much research in nutrition and health is funded by
industry,5,says Bonnie Liebman, director of nutrition at the Center for Science in the Public
Interest. "When the food industry pays for research, it often gets what it pays fbr."And what
it pays fbr is often a pro-industry finding.
Given this environment, consumers should be skeptical (怀疑的)when reading the
latest finding in nutrition science and ignore the latest study that pops up on your news feed.
“Rely on health experts who've reviewed all the evidence,Liebman says, pointing to the
official government Dietary Guidelines, which are based on reviews of hundreds of studies.
“And that expert advice remains pretty simple,says Nestle. t4We know what healthy
diets are- lots of vegetables, not too much junk food, balanced calories. Everything else is
really difficult to do experimentally.^^
2021年6月英语四级真题第2套 第 7 页 共 9 页 by：光速考研46. What did Harvard scientists do 50 years ago?
A) They raised public awareness of the possible causes of heart disease.
B) They turned public attention away from the health risks of sugar to fat.
C) They placed the sugar industry in the spotlight with their new findings.
D) They conducted large-scale research on the role of sugar in people's health.
47. What does Marion Nestle say about present-day nutrition studies?
A)They took her a full year to track and analyze.
B) Most of them are based on systematic reviews.
C) They depend on funding from the food industries.
D) Nearly all of them serve the purpose of the funders.
48. What did Coca-Cola-funded studies claim?
A) Exercise is more important to good health than diet.
B) Choosing what to eat and drink is key to weight control.
C) Drinking Coca-Cola does not contribute to weight gain.
D) The food industry plays a major role in fighting obesity.
49. What does Liebman say about industry-funded research?
A) It simply focuses on nutrition and health.
B) It causes confusion among consumers.
C) It rarely results in objective findings.
D) It runs counter to the public interest.
50. What is the author's advice to consumers?
A) Follow their intuition in deciding what to eat.
B) Be doubtful of diet experts' recommendations.
C) Ignore irrelevant information on their news feed.
D) Think twice about new nutrition research findings.
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
Success was once defined as being able to stay at a company fbr a long time and move
up the corporate ladder. The goal was to reach the top, accumulate wealth and retire to a life
of ease. My father is a successful senior executive. In 35 years, he worked fbr only three
companies.
When I started my career, things were already different. If you weren't changing
companies every three or four years, you simply weren't getting ahead in your career. But
back then, if you were a consultant or freelancer (自 由职业者)，people would wonder what
was wrong with you. They would assume you had problems getting a job.
Today, consulting or freelancing for five businesses at the same time is a badge of
honor. It shows how valuable an individual is. Many companies now look to these "ultimate
professionals^^ to solve problems their full-time teams can,t. Or they save money by hiring
''top-tier (顶尖的)experts^^ only fbr particular projects.
Working at home or in cafes, starting businesses of their own, and even launching
business ventures that eventually may fail, all indicate “initiative”, “creativity”, and
“adaptability”, which are desirable qualities in today's workplace. Most important, there is a
growing recognition that people who balance work and play, and who work at what they are
passionate about, are more focused and productive, delivering greater value to their clients.
2021年6月英语四级真题第2套 第 8 页 共 9 页 by：光速考研Who are these people? They are artists, writers, programmers, providers of office
services and career advice. Whafs needed now is a marketplace platform specifically
designed to bring freelancers and clients together. Such platforms then become a place to
feature the most experienced, professional, and creative talent. This is where they conduct
business, where a sense of community reinforces the culture and values of the gig economy
(零工经济),and where success is rewarded with good reviews that encourage more business.
Slowly but surely, these platforms create a bridge between traditional enterprises and
this emerging economy. Perhaps more important, as the global economy continues to be
disrupted by technology and other massive change, the gig economy will itself become an
engine of economic and social transformation.
51. What does the author use the example of his father to illustrate?
A) How long people took to reach the top of their career.
B) How people accumulated wealth in his father's time.
C) How people viewed success in his father's time.
D) How long people usually stayed in a company.
52. Why did people often change jobs when the author started his career?
A) It was considered a fashion at that time.
B) It was a way to advance in their career.
C) It was a response to the changing job market.
D) It was difficult to keep a job fbr long.
53. What does the author say about people now working for several businesses at the same time?
A) They are often regarded as most treasured talents.
B) They are able to bring their potential into fuller play.
C) They have control over their life and work schedules.
D) They feel proud of being outstanding problem solver.
54. What have businesses come to recognize now?
A) Who is capable of solving problems with ease.
B) How people can be more focused and productive.
C) What kind of people can contribute more to them.
D) Why some people are more passionate about work.
55. What does the author say about the gig economy?
A) It may force companies to reform their business practice.
B) It may soon replace the traditional economic model.
C) It will drive technological progress on a global scale.
D) It will bring about radical economic and social changes.
Part IV Translation (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into
English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.
普 洱 (Pu'er)茶深受中国人喜爱。最好的普洱茶产自云南的西双版纳(Xishuangbanna), 那
里的气候和环境为普洱茶树的生长提供了最佳条件。普洱茶颜色较深，味道与其他许多茶截然不
同。普洱茶渔(brew)的时间越长越有味道。许多爱喝茶的人尤其喜欢其独特的香味和口感。普
洱茶含有多种有益健康的元素，常饮普洱茶有助于保护心脏和血管，还有减肥、消除疲劳和促进
消化的功效。
2021年6月英语四级真题第2套 第 9 页 共 9 页 by：光速考研2021年 06月大学英语四级考试真题（第 3 套）
Part I Writing (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay titled “Do violent video
games lead to violence?”. The statement given below is for your reference. You should write at
least 120 words but no more than 180 words .
A growing body of research finds that violent video games can make kids act aggressively in
their real world relationships, causing an increase in violence.
Part II Listening Comprehension (25 minutes)
淘宝店铺【光速考研工作室】温馨提示：2021年 6 月大学英语四级考试共考了两套听力，本套的听力内
容与第二套相同，因此本套试题听力部分不再重复给出。
Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)
Section A
Nowadays you can't buy anything without then being asked to provide a rating of a
company's performance on a five-star scale.
Fve been asked to rate my “store 26 '' on the EFTPOS terminal before I can pay.
Even the most 27 activities, such as calling Telstra or picking up a parcel from
Australia Post, are followed by texts or emails with surveys asking, “How did we do?”
Online purchases are 28 followed up by a customer satisfaction survey.
Companies are so 29 fbr a hit of stars that if you delete the survey the company sends
you another one.
We're 30 to rate our apps when we've barely had a chance to use them. One
online course provider I use asks you what you think of the course after you've only
completed 31 2 per cent of it.
Economist Jason Murphy says that companies use customer satisfaction ratings
because a 32 display of star feedback has become the nuclear power sources of the
modem economy.
However, you can,t help but 33 if these companies are basing their business on
fabrications (捏造的东西).I 34 that with online surveys 1 just click the 35 that's
closest to my mouse ci/rs。/ (光标)to get the damn thing off my screen. Often the star rating
I give has far more to do with the kind of day Fm having than the purchase I just made.
A)announce I) roughly
B) commonplace J) routinely
C) confess K) shining
D) desperate L) showering
E) experience M) variety
F) fascinated N) voyage
G) option O) wonder
H) prompted
2021年6月英语四级真题第3套 第 1 页 共 6 页 by：光速考研Section B
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 corresponding letter on
Answer Sheet 2.
Science of setbacks:How failure can improve career prospects
A) How do early career setbacks affect our long-term success? Failures can help us learn
and overcome our fears. But disasters can still wound us. They can screw us up and set
us back. Wouldn't it be nice if there was genuine, scientifically documented truth to the
expression, uwhat doesn,t kill you makes you stronger”?
B) One way social scientists have probed the effects of career setbacks is to look at
scientists of very similar qualifications. These scientists, for reasons that are mostly
arbitrary, either just missed getting a research grant or just barely made it. In social
sciences, this is known as examining “near misses^^ and 4'narrow wins“ in areas where
merit is subjective. That allows researchers to measure only the effects of being chosen
or not. Studies in this area have found conflicting results. In the competitive game of
biomedical science, research has been done on scientists who narrowly lost or won
grant money. It suggests that narrow winners become even bigger winners down the
line. In other words, the rich get richer.
C) A 2018 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, for
example, followed researchers in the Netherlands. Researchers concluded that those
who just barely qualified for a grant were able to get twice as much money within the
next eight years as those who just missed out. And the narrow winners were 50 percent
more likely to be given a professorship.
D) Others in the US have found similar effects with National Institutes of Health early-career
fellowships launching narrow winners far ahead of close losers. The phenomenon is often
referred to as the Matthew effect, inspired by the Bible's wisdom that to those who have,
more will be given. There?s a good explanation for the phenomenon in the book The
Formula'. The Universal Laws of Success by Albert Laszlo Barabasi. According to
Barabasi, ifs easier and less risky for those in positions of power to choose to hand
awards and funding to those who've already been so recognized.
E) This is bad news for the losers.Small early career setbacks seem to have a
disproportionate effect down the line. What didn't kill them made them weaker. But
other studies using the same technique have shown there's sometimes no penalty to a
near miss. Students who just miss getting into top high schools or universities do just as
well later in life as those who just manage to get accepted. In this case, what didn't kill
them simply didn,t matter. So is there any evidence that setbacks might actually
improve our career prospects? There is now.
F) In a study published in Nature Communications, Northwestern University sociologist
Dashun Wang tracked more than 1,100 scientists who were on the border between
getting a grant and missing out between 1990 and 2005. He followed various measures
of performance over the next decade. These included how many papers they authored
and how influential those papers were, as measured by the number of subsequent
citations. As expected, there was a much higher rate of attrition (减员)among scientists
2021年6月英语四级真题第3套 第 2 页 共 6 页 by：光速考研who didn't get grants. But among those who stayed on, the close losers performed even
better than the narrow winners. To make sure this wasn't by chance, Wang conducted
additional tests using different performance measures. He examined how many times
people were first authors on influential studies, and the like.
G) One straightforward reason close losers might outperform narrow winners is that the
two groups have comparable ability. In Wang's study, he selected the most determined,
passionate scientists from the loser group and culled (易＞］除 )what he deemed the
weakest members of the winner group. Yet the persevering losers still came out on top.
He thinks that being a close loser might give people a psychological boost, or the
proverbial kick in the pants.
H) Utrecht University sociologist Amout van de Rijt, who was the lead author on the 2018
paper showing the rich get richer. He said the new finding is apparently reasonable and
worth some attention. His own work showed that although the narrow winners did get
much more money in the near future, the actual performance of the close losers was just
as good.
I) He said the people who should be paying regard to the Wang paper are the funding
agents who distribute government grant money. After all, by continuing to pile riches on
the narrow winners, the taxpayers are not getting the maximum bang for their buck if
the close losers are performing just as well or even better. There's a huge amount of
time and effort that goes into the process of selecting who gets grants, he said, and the
latest research shows that the scientific establishment is not very good at distributing
money. "Maybe we should spend less money trying to figure out who is better than
who,^^ he said, suggesting that some more equal dividing up of money might be more
productive and more efficient. Van de Rijt said he's not convinced that losing out gives
people a psychological boost. It may yet be a selection effect. Even though Wang tried
to account for this by culling the weakest winners, ifs impossible to know which of the
winners would have quit had they found themselves on the losing side.
J) For his part, Wang said that in his own experience, losing did light a motivating fire. He
recalled a recent paper he submitted to a journal, which accepted it only to request
extensive editing, and then reversed course and rejected it. He submitted the unedited
version to a more respected journal and got accepted.
K) In sports and many areas of life, we think of failures as evidence of something we could
have done better. We regard these disappointments as a fate we could have avoided with
more careful preparation, diflerent training, a better strategy, or more focus. And there it
makes sense that failures show us the road to success. These papers deal with a kind of
failure people have little control over- rejection. Others determine who wins and who
loses. But at the very least, the research is starting to show that early setbacks don't
have to be fatal. They might even make us better at our jobs. Getting paid like a winner,
though? Thafs a different matter.
36. Being a close loser could greatly motivate one to persevere in their research.
37. Grant awarders tend to favor researchers already recognized in their respective fields.
38. Suffering early setbacks might help people improve their job performance.
39. Research by social scientists on the effects of career setbacks has produced
contradictory findings.
2021年6月英语四级真题第3套 第 3 页 共 6 页 by：光速考研40. It is not to the best interest of taxpayers to keep giving money to narrow winners.
41. Scientists who persisted in research without receiving a grant made greater
achievements than those who got one with luck, as suggested in one study.
42. A research paper rejected by one journal may get accepted by another.
43. According to one recent study, narrow winners of research grants had better chances to
be promoted to professors.
44. One researcher suggests it might be more fruitful to distribute grants on a relatively
equal basis.
45. Minor setbacks in their early career may have a strong negative effect on the career of
close losers.
Section C
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 centre.
Passage One
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
Boredom has become trendy. Studies point to how boredom is good fbr creativity and
innovation, as well as mental health. It is found that people are more creative following the
completion of a tedious task. When people are bored, they have an increase in ''associative
thought”- the process of making new connections between ideas, which is linked to
innovative thinking. These studies are impressive, but in reality, the benefits of boredom
may be related to having time to clear your mind, be quiet, or daydream.
In our stimulation-rich world, it seems unrealistic that boredom could occur at all. Yet,
there are valid reasons boredom may feel so painful. As it turns out, boredom might signal
the fact that you have a need that isn't being met.
Our always-on world of social media may result in more connections, but they are
superficial and can get in the way of building a real sense of belonging. Feeling bored
may signal the desire fbr a greater sense of community and the feeling that you fit in with
others around you. So take the step of joining an organization to build face-to-face
relationships. You,ll find depth that you won't get from your screen no matter how many
likes you get on your post.
Similar to the need for belonging, bored people often report that they feel a limited
sense of meaning. It's a fundamental human need to have a larger purpose and to feel like
we're part of something bigger than ourselves. When people are bored, they're more likely
to feel less meaning in their lives. If you want to reduce boredom and increase your sense
of meaning, seek work where you can make a unique contribution, or find a cause you can
support with your time and talent.
If your definition of boredom is being quiet, mindful, and reflective, keep it up. But if
you're struggling with real boredom and the emptiness it provokes, consider whether you
might seek new connections and more significant challenges. These are the things that will
genuinely relieve boredom and make you more effective in the process.
2021年6月英语四级真题第3套 第 4 页 共 6 页 by：光速考研46. What have studies found about boredom?
A) It facilitates innovative thinking.
B) It is a result of doing boring tasks.
C) It helps people connect with others.
D) It does harm to one's mental health.
47. What does the author say boredom might indicate?
A) A need to be left alone. C) A conflict to be resolved.
B) A desire to be fulfilled. D) A feeling to be validated.
48. What do we learn about social media from the passage?
A) It may be an obstacle to expanding one's connections.
B) It may get in the way of enhancing one's social status.
C) It may prevent people from developing a genuine sense of community.
D) It may make people feel that they ought to fit in with the outside world.
49. What does the author suggest people do to get rid of boredom?
A) Count the likes they get on their posts. C) Engage in real-life interactions.
B) Reflect on how they relate to others. D) Participate in online discussions.
50. What should people do to enhance their sense of meaning?
A) Try to do something original. C) Define boredom in their unique way.
B) Confront significant challenges. D) Devote themselves to a worthy cause.
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
Can you remember what you ate yesterday? If asked, most people will be able to give
a vague description of their main meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner. But can you be sure
you've noted every snack bar in your car, or every handful of nuts at your desk? Most
people will have a feeling that they've missed something out.
We originally had this suspicion back in 2016, puzzled by the fact that national
statistics showed calorie consumption falling dramatically over past decades. We found
reliable evidence that people were drastically under-reporting what they ate.
Now the Office for National Statistics has confirmed that we are consuming 50% more
calories than our national statistics claim.
Why is this happening? We can point to at least three potential causes. One is the rise
in obesity levels itself. Under-reporting rates are much higher fbr obese people, because
they simply consume more food, and thus have more to remember.
Another cause is that the proportion of people who are trying to lose weight has been
increasing over time. People who want to lose weight are more likely to under-report their
eating- regardless of whether they are overweight or not. This may be driven partly by
seli-deception or 6twishful thinking^^.
The final potential cause is an increase in snacking and eating out over recent decades
- both in terms of how often they happen and how much they contribute to our overall
energy intake. Again, there is evidence that food consumed out of the home is one of the
most poorly recorded categories in surveys.
So, whafs the message conveyed? For statistics, we should invest in more accurate
measurement options. For policy, we need to focus on options that make it easy fbr people
2021年6月英语四级真题第3套 第 5 页 共 6 页 by：光速考研to eat fewer calories. If people do not know how much they are eating, it can be really hard
fbr them to stick to a diet. Also, we should be looking fbr new ways to ensure what people
eat wouldn't have much impact on their waistlines. If this works, it won't matter if they
can't remember what they ate yesterday.
51. What did the author suspect back in 2016?
A) Calorie consumption had fallen drastically over the decades.
B) Most people surveyed were reluctant to reveal what they ate.
C) The national statistics did not reflect the actual calorie consumption.
D) Most people did not include snacks when reporting their calorie intake.
52. What has the Office for National Statistics verified?
A) People's calorie intake was far from accurately reported.
B) The missing out of main meals leads to the habit of snacking.
C) The nation's obesity level has much to do with calorie intake.
D) Calorie consumption is linked to the amount of snacks one eats.
53. What do we learn about obese people from the passage?
A) They usually keep their eating habits a secret.
B) They overlook the potential causes of obesity.
C) They cannot help eating more than they should.
D) They have difficulty recalling what they have eaten.
54. What often goes unnoticed in surveys on food consumption?
A) The growing trend of eating out. C) People's home energy consumption.
B) The potential causes of snacking. D) People's changing diet over the years.
55. What does the author suggest policymakers do about obesity?
A) Remind people to cut down on snacking.
B) Make sure people eat non-fattening food.
C) Ensure people don't miss their main meals.
D) See that people don't stick to the same diet.
Part IV Translation (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into
English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.
龙 井 (Longjing)是一种绿茶，主要产自中国东部沿海的浙江省。龙井茶独特的香味和口感为
其赢得了 “中国名茶”的称号，在中国深受大众的欢迎，在海外饮用的人也越来越多。龙井茶通
常手工制作，其价格可能极其昂贵，也可能比较便宜，这取决于茶的生长地、采摘时间和制作工艺。
龙井茶富含维生素C 和其他多种有益健康的元素。经常喝龙井茶有助于减轻疲劳、延缓衰老。
2021年6月英语四级真题第3套 第 6 页 共 6 页 by：光速考研
