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大学英语四级考试 2015 年 6 月真题(第三套)
Part I Writing (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay based on the
picture below. You should start your essay with a brief description of the picture and
thencommentonparents’roleintheirchildren’sgrowth.Youshouldwriteatleast120
wordsbutnomorethan180words.
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.Afteryouhearaquestion,youmustchoosethebestanswerfromthe
four choices marked A),B).C) and D).Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer
Sheet1withasinglelinethroughthecentre.
Questions1and2arebasedonthenewsreportyouhavejustheard.
1. A)ThethreeresearcherssharedevenlytheNobelprize.
B)Thethreewinnersstudiedthesamesubject.
C)Thisyear'sfirstNobelprizewasawardedformedicine.
D)AlloftheNobelprizeshavebeenmadepublic.
2. A)YouyouTu'streatmentismorehi-tech.
B)YouyouTu'streatmentismoretraditional.
C)YouyouTufocusesonroundworm-causedinfections.
D)YouyouTuinventedacompletelynewtherapy.
1Questions3and4arebasedonthenewsreportyouhavejustheard.
3. A)NASAsentanewMarslander.
C)Scientistsrevealedanewspacetheory.
B)Differentsoilsampleswerestudied.
D)LiquidwaterhasbeenfoundonMars.
4. A)Marsisnotasdryaswhatweusedtothink.
B)Marscouldsupportlifeatthemoment.
C)TheyhavefoundlivingthingsonMars.
D)SoilsamplesfromMarsarethesameasthoseoftheEarth.
Questions5to7arebasedonthenewsreportyouhavejustheard.
5. A)Akidnapper. C)Her4-year-oldson.
B)Herrival. D)Herdrunkenhusband.
6. A)Sheisbrutalinnature. C)Shelovesshootingandkilling.
B)Sheisadie-hardracist. D)Sheisafirmgun-rightssupporter.
7. A)Itisagainstthelawtoownagun.
B)Womenarenotallowedtopossessagun.
C)Improperstoringofgunsconstitutesacrime.
D)Allthecitizenshavetherighttocarryagun.
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
be spoken onlyonce.After you heara question,you must choosethe bestanswer from the
four choices marked A),B), C) and D).Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer
Sheet1withasinglelinethroughthecentre.
Questions8to11arebasedontheconversationyouhavejustheard.
8. A)HelikesSwedenbetterthanEngland.
B)Heprefershotweathertocoldweather.
C)HeisanEnglishmanlivinginSweden.
D)HevisitsLondonnearlyeverywinter.
9. A)Thebadweather. C)Thecoldhouses.
B)Thegloomywinter. D)Thelongnight.
10.A)Delightful. C)Depressing.
B)Painful. D)Refreshing.
211.A)Theyoftenstayuplatereading.
B)Theyworkhardandplayhard.
C)Theyliketogocampinginsummer.
D)Theytrytoearnmoreandspendmore.
Questions12to15arebasedontheconversationyouhavejustheard.
12.A)Englishliterature. C)French.
B)Management. D)PublicAdministration.
13.A)Englishteaching. C)Careersguidance.
B)Stafftraining. D)Psychologicalcounselling.
14.A)Theywenttothesameuniversity.
B)Theyalllovetoengageinmanagement.
C)Thejobstheychoosearenotrelatedtotheirmajor.
D)Theyreceivedthesamejobtraining.
15.A)Itsgenerousscholarships. C)itswell-designedcourses.
B)Itsworldwidefame. D)Itspleasantenvironment.
SectionC
Directions:Inthissection,youwillhear3shortpassages.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.
Questions16to18arebasedonthepassageyouhavejustheard.
16.A)CharacteristicsofJapaneseartists.
C) TheartofJapanesebrushpainting.
B)SomefeaturesofJapaneseculture.
D)TheuniquenessofJapaneseart.
17.A)Tocalmthemselvesdown.
C)Toshowtheirimpatience.
B)Toenhanceconcentration.
D)Tosignallackofinterest.
18.A)Howlistenersindifferentculturesshowrespect.
B)Howspeakerscanwinapprovalfromtheaudience.
C)Howspeakerscanmisunderstandtheaudience.
D)HowdifferentWesternandEasternartformsare.
Questions19to22arebasedonthepassageyouhavejustheard.
319.A)Directingpersonnelevaluation.
B)Buyingandmaintainingequipment.
C)Drawingupplansforin-servicetraining.
D)Interviewingandrecruitingemployees.
20.A)Someofhisequipmentwasdamagedinafire.
C)Twoofhisworkerswereinjuredatwork.
B)Thetrainingprogramheranwasafailure.
D)Twoofhisemployeescommittedtheft.
21.A)Abetterrelationshipwithhisboss.
C)Abetter-payingjobinanothercompany.
B)Advancementtoahigherposition.
D)Improvementinthecompany'smanagement.
22.A)Shehasmoreself-confidencethanChris.
B)SheworkswithChrisinthesamedivision.
C)ShehasmoremanagementexperiencethanChris.
D)SheiscompetingwithChrisforthenewjob.
Questions23to25arebasedonthepassageyouhavejustheard.
23.A)Theyhelpusseetheimportantvaluesofaculture.
B)Theyguideusinhandlinghumanrelationships.
D) Theyhelpusexpressourselvesmoreeffectively.
D)Theyareaninfinitesourceofhumanknowledge.
24.A)Theirwordingmaybecomedifferent.
B)Thevaluestheyreflectmaychange.
C)Theiroriginscannolongerbetraced.
D)Theymaybemisinterpretedoccasionally.
25.A)Certainvaluesaresharedbyalargenumberofcultures.
B)Someproverbsareassumingmoreandmoreimportance.
C)Oldproverbsareconstantlyreplacedbynewones.
D)Certainvalueshavealwaysbeencentraltoaculture.
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.
4Question26to35arebasedonthefollowingpassage.
The U. S. Department of Education is making efforts to ensure thatall students have
equal access to a quality education. Today it is 26 the launch of the Excellent
Educators for All Initiative. The initiative will help states and school districts support
greateducatorsforthestudentswhoneedthemmost.
“All children are 27 to a high-quality education regardless of their race, zip
code or family income. It is 28 important that we provide teachers and principals
the support they need to help students reach their full 29 ” U. S. Secretary of
Education Arne Duncan said. “Despite the excellent work and deep 30 of our
nation’s teachers and principals, students in high-poverty, high-minority schools are
unfairlytreatedacrossourcountry.Wehave todobetter.Localleadersandeducatorswill
31 their own creative solutions, but we must work together to 32 our focus on
how to better recruit, support and 33 effective teachers and principals for all
students,especiallythekidswhoneedthemmost.”
Today’s announcement is another important step forward in improving access to a
quality education, a 34 of President Obama’s year ofaction. Later today, Secretary
Duncanwillleadaroundtablediscussion withprincipals andschoolteachersfromacross
the country about the 35 of working in high-need schools and how to adopt
promisingpracticesforsupportinggreateducatorsintheseschools.
A)announcing I)distributing
B)beneficial J)enhance
C)challenges K)entitled
D)commitment L)potential
E)component M)properly
F)contests N)qualified
G)critically O)retain
H)develop
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.
Essay-GradingSoftwareOffersProfessorsaBreak
A) Imagine taking a college exam, and, instead of handing in a blue book and getting a
grade from a professor a few weeks later, clicking the “send” button when you are
5done and receiving a grade back instantly, your essay scored by a software program.
And then, instead of being done with that exam, imagine that the system would
immediatelyletyourewritethetesttotrytoimproveyourgrade.
B) EdX, the nonprofit enterprise founded by Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) to offer courses on the Internet, has just introduced such a system
and will make its automated (自动的）software available free on the Web to any
institution that wants to use it. The software uses artificial intelligence to grade
studentessaysandshortwrittenanswers,freeingprofessorsforothertasks.
C) Thenewservicewillbringtheeducationalconsortium(联盟)intoagrowingconflict
over the role of automation in education. Although automated grading systems for
multiple-choice and true-false tests are now widespread, the use of artificial
intelligence technology to grade essay answers has not yet received widespread
acceptancebyeducatorsandhasmanycritics.
D) Anant Agarwal, an electrical engineer who is president of EdX, predicted that the
instant-grading software would be a useful teaching tool, enabling students to take
tests and write essays over and over andimprove the quality of their answers. He said
the technology would offer distinct advantages over the traditional classroom system,
wherestudentsoftenwaitdays orweeks forgrades.“Thereis ahugevalueinlearning
with instant feedback,” Dr. Agarwal said. “Students are telling us they learn much
betterwithinstantfeedback.”
E) But skeptics (怀疑者) the automated system is no match for live teachers. One
longtime critic , Les Perelman, has drawn national attention several times for putting
together nonsense essays thathave fooled software grading programs into giving high
marks. He hasalso beenhighly criticalof studies claiming thatthe softwarecompares
welltohumangraders.
F) Heis among agroup of educators wholast month began circulating apetition (呼吁)
opposing automated assessment software. The group, which calls itself Professionals
Against Machine Scoring of StudentEssays in High-Stakes Assessment, has collected
nearly2,000signatures,includingsomefromfamouspeoplelikeNoamChomsky.
G) “Let’s face the realities of automatic essay scoring,” the group’s statement reads in
part. “Computers cannot ‘read’. They cannot measure the essentials of effective
written communication: accuracy, reasoning, adequacy of evidence, good sense,
ethical(伦理的)position,convincingargument,meaningfulorganization,andclarity,
amongothers.
H) But EdX expects its software to be adopted widely by schools and universities. It
offers free online classes from Harvard, MIT and the University of
California-Berkeley; this fall, it will add classes from Wellesley, Georgetown and the
6UniversityofTexas.Inall,12universitiesparticipateinEdX,whichofferscertificates
for course completion and has said that it plans to continue to expand next year,
includingaddinginternationalschools.
I) TheEdX assessmenttoolrequireshuman teachers,or graders,to firstgrade 100essays
or essay questions. The system then uses a variety of machine-learning techniques to
train itself to be able to grade any number of essays or answers automatically and
almost instantly. The software will assign a grade depending on the scoring system
createdbytheteacher,whetheritisalettergradeornumerical（数字的）rank.
J) EdX is not the first to use the automated assessment technology, which dates to early
computers in the 1960s. There is now a range of companies offering commercial
programs to grade written test answers, and four states—Louisiana, North Dakota,
UtahandWestVirginia—areusingsomeformofthetechnologyinsecondaryschools.
A fifth, Indiana, has experimented with it. In some cases the software is used as a
“secondreader,”tocheckthereliabilityofthehumangraders.
K) Butthe growing influence of the EdX consortium to setstandards is likely to give the
technology a boost. On Tuesday, Stanford announced that it would work with EdX to
develop a joint educational system that will make use of the automated assessment
technology.
L) Two start-ups, Coursera and Udacity, recently founded by Stanford faculty members
tocreate“massive openonlinecourses,”orMOOCs, arealsocommittedtoautomated
assessmentsystemsbecauseofthevalue ofinstantfeedback.“Itallowsstudentstoget
immediate feedback on their work, so that lean turns into a game, with students
naturally (吸引) toward resubmitting the work until they get it right,” said Daphne
Roller,acomputerscientistandafounderofCoursera.
M) Last year the Hewlett Foundation, a grant-making organization set up by one of the
Hewlett-Packard founders and his wife, sponsored two $100,000 prizes aimed at
improving software that grades essays and short answers. More than 150 teams
entered each category. A winner of one of the Hewlett contests, Vik Paruchuri, was
hiredbyEdXtohelpdesignitsassessmentsoftware.
N) “One of our focuses is to help kids learn how to think critically,” said Victor Vuchic,
aprogram officer atthe Hewlett Foundation.“It’s probably impossible to dothatwith
multiple-choice tests. The challenge is that this requires human graders, and so they
costalotmoreandtheytakealotmoretime.”
O) Mark D. Shermis, a professor at the University of Akron in Ohio, supervised the
HewlettFoundation’s contestonautomated essayscoringandwrote apaper aboutthe
experiment. In his view, the technology—though imperfect—has a place in
educationalsettings.
7P) With increasingly large classes, it is impossible for most teachers to give students
meaningful feedback on writing assignments, he said. Plus, he noted, critics of the
technologyhavetendedtocome fromthenation’sbestuniversities,wherethelevelof
teachingismuchbetterthanatmostschools.
Q) Often they come from very famous institutions where, in fact, they do a much better
job of providing feedback than a machine ever could,” Dr. Shermis said. “There
seemstobealackofappreciationofwhatisactuallygoingonintherealworld.”
36. Some professionals in education are collecting signatures to voice their opposition to
automatedessaygrading.
37. Usingsoftwaretogradestudents’essayssavesteacherstimeforotherwork.
38. TheHewlettcontestsaimatimprovingessaygradingsoftware.
39. Though the automated grading system is widely used in multiple-choice tests,
automatedessaygradingisstillcriticizedbymanyeducators.
40. Some people don’t believe the software grading system can do as good a job as
humangraders.
41. Critics of automated essay scoring do not seem to know the true realities in less
famousuniversities.
42. Critics argue many important aspects of effective writing cannot be measured by
computerratingprograms.
43. As class size grows, most teachers are unable to give students valuable comments as
tohowtoimprovetheirwriting.
44. Theautomatedassessmenttechnologyissometimes usedtodoublechecktheworkof
humangraders.
45. Studentsfindinstantfeedbackhelpsimprovetheirlearningconsiderably.
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.
Boys' schoolsarethe perfectplacetoteachyoungmento express their emotions and
involvetheminactivitiessuchasart,danceandmusic.
8Far from the traditional image of a culture of aggressive masculinity(阳刚), the
absence of girls gives boys the chance to develop without pressure to conform to a
stereotype,aUSstudysays.
Boys atsingle-sexschoolsweresaidtobemorelikely togetinvolvedinculturaland
artistic activities that helped develop their emotional expressiveness, rather than feeling
theyhadtoconformtothe“boycode”ofhidingtheiremotionstobea"realman".
The findings of the study go against received wisdom that boys do better when
taughtalongsidegirls.
Tony Little, headmaster of Eton, warned that boys were being failed by the British
education system because it had become too focused on girls. He criticised teachers for
failingtorecognisethatboysareactuallymoreemotionalthangirls.
The research argued that boys often perform badly in mixed schools because they
become discouraged when their female peers do better earlier in speaking and reading
skills.
But in single-sex schools teachers can tailor lessons to boys' learning style, letting
them move around the classroom and getting them to compete in teams to prevent
boredom,wrotethestudy'sauthor,AbigailJames,oftheUniversityofVirginia.
Teachers could encourage boys to enjoy reading and writing with “boy-focused”
approaches such as themes and characters that appeal to them.Because boys generally
have more acute vision, learn best through touch, and are physically more active, they
need to be given“hands-on”lessons where they are allowed to walk around. “Boys in
mixed schools view classical music as feminine(女性的) and prefer the moderngenre(类
型)inwhichviolenceandsexismaremajorthemes,”Jameswrote.
Single-sex education also made it less likely that boys would feel they had to
conform to a stereotype that men should be “masterful and in charge”in relationships. “In
mixed schools, boys feel compelled to act like men before they understand themselves
wellenoughtoknowwhatthatmeans,”thestudyreported.
46.Theauthorbelievesthatasingle-sexschoolwould .
A)forceboystohidetheiremotionstobe“realmen”
B)helptocultivatemasculineaggressivenessinboys
C)encourageboystoexpresstheiremotionsmorefreely
D)naturallyreinforceinboysthetraditionalimageofaman
47.Itiscommonlybelievedthatinamixedschoolboys .
A)performrelativelybetter
C)behavemoreresponsibly
B)growupmorehealthily
D)receiveabettereducation
948.WhatdoesTonyLittlesayabouttheBritisheducationsystem?
A)Itfailsmoreboysthangirlsacademically.
C)Itfailstogiveboystheattentiontheyneed.
B)Itfocusesmoreonmixedschooleducation.
D)Itplacesmorepressureonboysthanongirls.
49.AccordingtoAbigailJames,oneoftheadvantagesofsingle-sexschoolsis .
A)teachingcanbetailoredtosuitthecharacteristicsofboys
B)boyscanfocusontheirlessonswithoutbeingdistracted
C)boyscanchoosetolearnwhatevertheyareinterestedin
D)teachingcanbedesignedtopromoteboys’teamspirit
50.WhichofthefollowingischaracteristicofboysaccordingtoAbigailJames’report?
A)Theyenjoybeingincharge.
C)Theyhavesharpervision.
B)Theyconformtostereotypes.
D)Theyareviolentandsexist.
PassageTwo
Questions51to55arebasedonthefollowingpassage.
It's an annual argument. Do we or do we not go on holiday? My partner says no
because the boiler could go, or the roof fall off, and we have no savings to save us. I say
you only live once and we work hard and what's the point if you can't go on holiday.The
joyofarecessionmeansnoargumentnextyear—wejustwon'tgo.
Since money is known to be one of the things most likely to bring a relationship to
its knees, we should be grateful. For many families the recession means more than not
booking a holiday. A YouGov poll of 2,000 people found 22% said they were arguing
more with their partners because of concerns about money.What's less clear is whether
divorce and separation rates rise in a recession—financial pressures mean couples argue
more but make splitting up less affordable. A recent research shows arguments about
money were especially damaging to couples. Disputes were characterised by intense
verbal(言语上的) aggression, tended to be repeated and not resolved, and made men,
morethanwomen,extremelyangry.
Kim Stephenson，an occupational psychologist，believes money is such a big deal
becauseofwhatitsymbolises,whichmaybedifferentthings tomenandwomen.“People
cansaythesamethingsaboutmoneybuthavedifferentideasofwhatit'sfor,”heexplains.
“They'll say it's to save, to spend, for security, for freedom,to show someone you love
them.” He says men are more likely to see money as a way of buying status and of
showingtheirparentsthatthey'veachievedsomething.
“The biggest problem is that couples assume each other knows what's going on with
their finances, but they don't. There seems to be more of a taboo(禁忌) about talking
about money than about death. But you both need to know what you're doing,who's
10paying what into the joint account and how much you keep separately. In a healthy
relationship,youdon'thavetoagreeaboutmoney,butyouhavetotalkaboutit.”
51.Whatdoestheauthorsayaboutvacationing?
A)Peopleenjoyitallthemoreduringarecession.
C)Itmakesallthehardworkworthwhile.
B)Fewpeoplecanafforditwithoutworkinghard.
D)Itisthechiefcauseoffamilydisputes.
52. What does the author mean by saying “money is known..to bring a relationship to its
knees”(Line1,Para.2)?
A)Moneyisconsideredtobetherootofallevils.
C)Fewpeoplecanresistthetemptationofmoney.
B)Somepeoplesacrificetheirdignityformoney.
D)Disputesovermoneymayruinarelationship.
53.TheYouGovpollof2,000peopleindicatesthatinarecession .
A)conflictsbetweencouplestendtorise
C)couplesshowmoreconcernforeachother
B)itismoreexpensiveforcouplestosplitup
D)divorceandseparationratesincrease
54.WhatdoesKimStephensonbelieve?
A)Moneyisoftenasymbolofaperson'sstatus.
C)Menandwomenspendmoneyondifferentthings.
B)Moneymeansagreatdealtobothmenandwomen.
D)Menandwomenviewmoneyindifferentways.
55.Theauthorsuggestsattheendofthepassagethatcouplesshould .
A)puttheirmoneytogetherinsteadofkeepingitseparately
B)makeeffortstoreachagreementontheirfamilybudgets
C)discussmoneymatterstomaintainahealthyrelationship
D)avoidarguingaboutmoneymatterstoremainromantic
Part IV Translation (30 minutes)
Section A
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.
在西方人心目中，和中国联系最为密切的基本食物是大米。长期以来，大米在
中国人的饮食中占据很重要的地位，以至于有谚语说“巧妇难为无米之炊”。中国
南方大多种植水稻，人们通常以大米为主食；而华北大部分地区因为过于寒冷或过
于干燥，无法种植水稻，那里的主要作物是小麦。在中国，有些人用面粉做面包，
但大多数人用面粉做馒头和面条。
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