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2019年12月四级真题（第1套）
Part I Writing (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a letter to a foreign friend who wants to teach
English in China. Please recommend a city to him. You should write at least 120 words but no more than] 80
words
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 then 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) Many facilities were destroyed by a wande门ng cow
B)A wande门ng cow knocked down one of its fences
C) Some tourists were injured by a wande门ng cow
D)A wande门ng cow was captured by the police
2.A) It was shot to death by a police officer B)It found its way back to the park's zoo
C)It became a great attraction for tourists D)It was sent to the皿mal control department
Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.
3.A) It is the largest of its灼nd B)It is going to be expanded
C)It is displaying more fossil specimens D)It is sta巾ng an online exhibition
4.A) A collection of bird fossils from Australia B)Photographs of cert扣nrare fossil exhibits
C) Some ancient wall pa画ngs from Australia D)Pictures by winners of a wildlife photo contest
Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.
5.A) Pick up trash B)Amuse visitors
C)Deliver messages D)Play with children
6.A) They are especially血elligent B) They are children's favorite
C)They are quite easy to tame D)They are clean and pretty
7.A) Children may be harmed by the rooks B) Children may be tempted to drop litter
C)Children may contract bird diseases D)Children may overfeed the rooks
Section B
Directions: In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of each conversation, you will hear
- 1 -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) It will be produced at Harvard University B)It will be hosted by famous professors
C)It will cover different areas of science D)It will focus on recent scientific discovenes
9.A) It will be more futuristic B)It will be more systematic
C)It will be more enterta血ng D)It will be easier to understand
10.A) People血erestedm science B)Youngsters eager to explore
C)Children in their early teens D)Students maJonng m science
11.A) Offer professional advice B)Provide financial support
C)Help promote it on the Internet D)Make episodes for its first season
Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
12.A) Unsure B)Helpless C)Concerned D)Dissatisfied
13 .A) He is too concerned with being perfect B) He loses heart when faced with setbacks
C) He is too ambitious in achieving goals D) He takes on projects beyond his ability
14 .A) Embarrassed B) Unconcerned C) Miserable D) Resentful
15 .A) Try to be optimistic whatever happens B) Compare his present with his past only
C) Always learn from others'achievements D) Treat others the way he would be treated
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.
16.A) They have a stronger sense of social responsibility. B) They are more likely to succeed in the huma血ies
C)They are more likely to become engmeers D)They have greater potential to be leaders
17.A) Praise girls who like to speak up frequently B)Encourage girls to solve problems on their own
C)Insist that boys and girls work together more D)Respond more positively to boys comments
18.A) Offer personalized teaching materials B)Provide a variety of optional courses
C)Place great emphasis on test scores D)Pay extra attention to top students
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.
19.A) It often r扣nscats and dogs B)It seldom rains in summer time
C)It does not面nas much as people think D)It is one of the most r扣ny cities in the US
- 2 -20.A) They drive most of the time. B)The ram· 1s usually very light
C)They have got used to the r扣n. D)The r扣ncomes mostly at night
21.A) It has a lot of places fo r entertamment. B)It has never seen thunder and lightning
C)It has fewer cloudy days than any other coastal city. D) It has mild weather both in summer and in灼nter
Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.
22.A) It occurs when people are doing a repetitive activity
B)It results from exe巾ng one's muscles con血uously
C)It happens when people engage in an uncommon activity
D)It comes from stra血ng one's muscles in an unusual way
23.A) Blood flow and body heat increase in the affected area
B)Body movements in the affected area become difficult
C)They begin to make repairs immediately
D)They gradually become fragmented
24.A) About one week B)About two days
C)About ten days D)About four weeks
25.A) Apply muscle creams B)Drink plenty of water
C)Have a hot shower D)Take pa皿killers
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.
When travelling overseas, do you buy water in plastic bottles or take your chances with tap water? Imag皿
you are wande门ng about on a Thai island or 26 the血ns of Angkor. It's hot so you grab a bottle of water from
a local vendor. It's the safe 血ng to do, right? The bottle is 27 , and the label says "pure water". But maybe
what's inside is not so 28 . Would you still be dri心ng it if you knew that more than 90 percent of all bottled
water sold around the world 29 microplastics?
That's the conclusion of a recently 30 study, which analysed 259 bottles from 11 brands sold m mne
countries, 31 an average of 325 plastic particles per litre of water. These microplastics included a 32
commonly known as PET and widely used in the manufacture of clo血ng and food and 3 3 cont扣ners. The
study was conducted at the State University of New York on behalf of Orb Media, a journalism org画sation
About a million bottles are bought every血nute, not only by thirsty tourists but also by many of the 2 .1 billion
worldwide who live with unsafe dri心ng water
Confronted with this 34 , several bottled-water manufacturers including Nestle and Coca-Cola undertook
their own studies u匀ng the same methodology. These studies showed that their water did cont扣n microplastics,
but far less than the Orb study suggested. Regardless, the World Health Org画sation has launched a review血o
the 3 5 health risks of drinking water from plastic bottles
A)adequate I)natural
B)admi门ng J)potential
- 3 -C)cont扣ns K) released
D)defen小ng L) revealing
E)evidence M)sealed
F)mstant N)solves
G)liqmd 0)substance
H)modified
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
The quiet heroism of mail delivery
[A] On Wednesday, a polar灼nd brought bitter cold to the Midwest.O vernight , Chicago reached a low of
21 degrees Fahrenheit below zero, ma灼ng it slightly colder than Antarctica
(南极洲），
Alaska,and the North Pole
Wind chills were 64 degrees below zero in Park Rapids, Minnesota and 45 degrees below zero in Buffalo, North
Dakota, acco咄ng to the National Weather Service. Schools, restaurants, and bu匀nesses closed, and more than
1,000 flights were canceled
[B] Even the United States Postal Service (USPS) suspended mail delivery. "Due to this arctic outbreak and
concerns for the safety of USPS employees," USPS announced Wednesday mo血ng, "the Postal Service is
suspen小ng delivery Jan. 30 in some 3-digit ZIP Code locations." Twelve regions were listed as unsafe on
Wednesday, on Thursday, eight rem扣ned
[C] As global surface temperatures increase, so does the likelihood of extreme weather. In 2018 alone,
wildfires, volca血eruptions, hurricanes, mudslides, and other natural disasters cost at least $49 billion in the
United States. As my colleague Vann Newkirk reported, Puerto Rico is still confro血ng economic and structural
destruction and resource scarcity from 2017's Hurricane Maria. Natural disasters can wreck a community's
infrastructure, disrup血g systems for months or years. Some services, however, re血nd us that life will eventually
return, in some form, to nom叫
(无人机）
[D] Days after the deadly 2017 wildfires in Santa Rosa, California, a drone caught footage (连续
镜头）of a USPS worker, Trevor Smith, driving through burned homes in that familiar white van, colle叫ng mail
in an affected area.T he video is stri灼ng: The operation is familiar, but the scene looks like the end of the world
Acco咄ng to Rae Ann Haight, the program manager for the national-preparedness office at USPS, Smith was
fulfilling a request made by some of the home owners to pick up any mail that was left untouched. For Smith, this
was just another day on the job. "I followed my route like I normally do," Smith told a reporter. "As I came across
a box that was up but with no house, I checked, and there was mail—outgoing mail—in it. And so we picked
those up and carried on ""
[E] USPS has sophisticated emergency plans for natural disasters. Across the country, 285 emergency
management teams are devoted to crisis control.T hese teams are tr扣ned annually u匀ng a framework known as the
three Ps : people, property, product. A仕er mail service stops due to weather, the agency's top priority is ens叩ng
that employees are safe.T hen it evaluates the health of infrastructure, such as the roads that mail carriers drive on
Finally, it decides when and how to re-open operations. If the destruction is extreme, mail addressed to the area
will get sent elsewhere. In response to Hurricane Kat门na in 2005, USPS redirected皿o血ng New Orleans mail to
ex函ng mail facilities in Houston. Mail that was already processed in New Orleans facilities was moved to an
upper floor so it would be protected from water damage
[F] As soon as it's safe enough to be outside, couriers(邮递员）start distribu血g accumulated mail on the
still-accessible routes. USPS urges those without stan小ng addresses to file change-of-address forms with their
new location. After Hurricane Kat门na hit in 2005, mail facilities were set up in dozens of locations across the
- 4 -country in the two weeks that USPS was unable to provide street delivery
[G] Every day, USPS processes, on average, 493.4 million pieces of mail—anything from postcards to
Social Security checks to med虹ne. Spokespeople from both USPS and UPS told me all mail is important. But
some mail can be extremely sensitive and timely. Acco咄ng to data released in January 2017, 56 percent of bills
are paid online, which means that just under half of payments still rely on delivery services to be completed
[H] It can be hard to identify which parcels are carrying crucial items such as Social Security checks, but
USPS and UPS try their best to prioritize sensitive material. They will coo咄nate with the Social Security
Adm血stration to make sure that Social Security checks reach the right people in a timely fashion. After Hurricane
Florence and Hurricane Michael last fall, USPS worked with state and local election boards to make sure that
absentee ballots were available and received or time
[I] Mail compa血s are log础cs(物流）compa血s, which puts them in a special position to help when
disaster strikes. In a 2011 USPS case study, the agency emphasized its massive infrastructure as a "unique federal
asset" to be called upon in a disaster or terrorist attack. "I think we're unique as a federal agency," USPS official
Mike Swigart told me, "because we're in literally every community in this country…We're obligated to deliver to
that po血ona daily basis "
[J ] Private courier compa血s, which have more dollars to spend, use their expertise in logistics to he�p
revitalize damaged areas after a disaster. For more than a decade, FedEx has supported the American Red Cross m
its effort to get emergency supplies to areas affected by disasters, both domestically and 血emationally. In 2012,
the company distributed more than 1,200 MedPacks to Medical Reserve Corps groups in California. They also
donated space for 3 .1 million pounds of charitable shipping globally. Last October, the company pledged $1
million in cash and transportation support for Hurricanes Florence and Michael. UPS's charitable arm, the UPS
Foundation, uses the company's logistics to help disaster-struck areas rebuild. "We realize that as a company with
people, trucks, warehouses, we needed to play a larger role," said Eduardo Ma巾nez, the president of the UPS
Foundation. The company employs its trucks and planes to deliver food, med虹ne, and water. The day before I
spoke to Ma巾nez in November, he had beer to血ng the damage from Hurricane Michael in Florida with the
American Red Cross. "We have an obligation to make sure our communities are thriving," he said
[K] Rebuil小ng can take a long time, and even then, impressions of the disaster may still remain. Return四
to a normal life can be difficult, but some small rou血es— mail delivery being one of them— may help residents
remember that their communities are still their communities. "When they see that carrier back out on the street,"
Swigart said, "that's the first sign to them that life is sta巾ng to return to normal "
36.The United States Postal Service has a system to ensure its employees'safety
3 7. One official says USPS is unique in that it has more direct reach to communities compared with other
federal agencies
38.Natural disasters can have a long-las血g impact on community life
39.Mail delivery service is still responsible for the completion of almost half of payments
40.The sight of a mailman on the street is a reass叩ng sign of life beco血ng nom叫agam
41.A仕erHurricane Kat血a 血errupted rou血e delivery, temporary mail service po血swere set up
42.Postal service in some regions in the U.S. was suspended due to extreme cold weather
43.Private postal companies also support disaster relief efforts by distrib叩ng urgent supplies
44.A dedicated USPS employee was on the job carrying out duties in spite of extreme conditions
45.Postal services work hard to identify items that require priority treatment
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
- 5 -Passage One
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
Professor Ashok Goel of Georgia Tech developed an artificially血elligent tea啦ng assistant to help handle
the eno皿ous number of student questions in the online class, Knowledge-Based Artificial Intelligence. This
online course is a core requirement of Georgia Tech's online Master of Science in Computer Science program
Professor Goel already had eight tea啦ng assistants, but that wasn't enough to deal with the overwhel血ng
number of daily questions from students
Many students drop out of online courses because of the lack of tea啦ng support. When students feel
ISolated or confused and reach out with questions that go unanswered, their motivation to con血ue begins to fade
Professor Goel decided to do some血ng to remedy this situation and his solution was to create a virtual assistant
named Jill Watson, which is based on the IBM Watson platform
Goel and his team developed several versions of Jill Watson before relea匀ng her to the online forums. At
first, the virtual assistant wasn't too great. But Goel and his team sourced the online discussion forum to find all
40,000 questions that had ever been asked 匀nce the class was launched. Then they began to feed Jill with the
questions and answers. After some adjustments, and sufficient time, Jill was able to answer the students'questions
correctly 97% of the time. The virtual assistant became so advanced and realistic that the students didn't know she
was a computer. The students, who were studying artificial血elligence, were血era叫ng with the virtual assistant
and couldn't tell it apart from a real human being. Goel didn't inform them about Jill's true identity until April 26
The students were actually very positive about the experience
The goal of Professor Goel's virtual assistant next year is to take over answe门ng 40% of all the questions
posed by students on the online forum. The name Jill Watson will, of course, change to some血ng else next
semester. Professor Goel has a much rosier outlook on the future of artificial血elligence than, say, Elon Musk,
Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates or Steve W oz血k
46. What do we learn about Knowledge-Based Artificial Intelligence ?
A) It is a robot that can answer students'questions
B) It is a course designed for students to learn online
C) It is a high-tech device that revolutionizes teaching
D) It is a computer program that aids student leammg
4 7. What problem did Professor Goel meet with ?
A) His students were unsatisfied with the assistants
B) His course was too difficult for the students
C)Students'questions were too many to handle
D) Too many students dropped out of his course
48.What do we learn about Jill Watson?
A)She turned out to be a great success B)She got along pretty well with students
C)She was unwelcome to students at first D)She was released online as an experiment
49.How did the students feel about Jill Watson?
A)They thought she was a bit too artificial B)They found her not as capable as expected
C)They could not but admire her knowledge D)They could not tell her from a real person
- 6 -50. What does Professor Goel plan to do next with Jill Watson?
A)Launch different versions of her online
B)Feed her with new questions and answers
C)Assign her to answer more of students'questions
D)Encourage students to血eractwith her more freely
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
Thi心ng small, being engaging, and having a sense of humor don't hurt. Those are a few of the traits of
successful science crowdfunding efforts that emerge from a recent study that exa血ned nearly 400 campaigns. But
having a large network and some promotional skills may be more crucial
Crowdfunding, ra函ng money for a project through online appeals, has taken off in recent years for
丘
everyt血g om ma灼ng movies to produ画g water-saving gadgets. Scientists have tried to tap Internet donors,
too, with mixed success. Some raised more than twice their goals, but others have fallen short of rea啦ng even
modest targets
To detem血e what separates science crowdfunding triumphs from failures, a team led by science
communications scholar Mike Schafer of the University of Zurich exa血ned the content of the webpages for 3 71
recent campaigns
Four traits stood out for those that achieved their goals, the researchers report in Public Understanding of
沁ence. For one, they use a crowdfunding platform that specializes in ra函ng money for science, and not just any
灼nd of project. Although sites like Kickstarter take all comers, platforms such as Experiment. com and Petridish
org only present scientific projects. For another, they present the project with a funny video because good visuals
and a sense of humor improved success. Most of them engage with potential donors, 匀nce projects that answered
questions from血erested donors fared better. And they target a small amount of money. The projects皿luded in
the study raised $4000 on average, with 30% receiving less than $1000. The more money a project sought, the
lower the chance it reached its goal, the researchers found
Other factors may also significantly influence a project's success, most notably, the size of a scientist's
personal and professional networks, and how much a researcher promotes a project on their own. Those two
factors are by far more critical than the content on the page. Crowdfunding can be part of researchers' efforts to
reach the public, and people give because "they feel a connection to the person" who is doing the fundra函ng—not
necessarily to the science
51. What do we learn about the scientists trying to raise money online for their projects?
A) They did not raise much due to modest targets B) They made use of mixed fundraising strateg氐S
C)Not all of them achieved their anticipated goals D)Most of them put movies online for the purpose
52.What is the purpose of Mike Schafer's research of recent crowdfunding campaigns?
A) To create attractive content for science websites B) To identify reasons for their different outcomes
C)To help scientists to launch innovative projects D)To separate science projects from general ones
53.What trait contributes to the success of a crowdfunding campaign?
A) The potential benefit to future generations B)Its interaction with prospective donors
C)Its originality in addre函ng financial issues D)The value of the proposed project
54.What did the researchers think of the financial targets of crowdfunding projects?
A) They should be small to be successful B) They should be based on actual needs
C)They should be assessed with great care D)They should be ambitious to g扣nnotice
- 7 -55 . What motivates people to donate in a crowdfunding campaign ?
A) The ease of access to the content of the webpage
B) Their desire to contribute to the cause of science
C) The significance and influence of the project itself.
D) Their feeling of connection to the scientists themselves
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
中国家庭十分重视孩子的教育。许多父母认为应该努力工，作确保孩子受到良好教育。他们不仅非常
情愿为孩子的教育投资而且花很多时间督促他们学习。多数家长希望孩子能上名牌大学。由于改革开，放
越来越多的家长能送孩子到国外学习或参与国际交流项，目以拓宽其视野。通过这些努力，他们期望孩子健
康成长，为国家的发展和繁荣作出贡献。
- 8 -
