1、2013年12月大学英语四级考试真题（第一套）Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay based on the picture below. You should start your essay with a brief account of the impact of the Internet on learning and then explain why education doesnt simply mean lear
2、ning to obtain information. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.Part Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked
3、 about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A), B), C) and D), and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet I with
4、 a single line through the centre.1. A) The woman is now working in a kindergarten. B) The man will soon start a business of his own. C) The man would like to be a high school teacher. D) The woman is going to major in child education.2. A) The furniture has to be rearranged. B) The sound equipment
5、has to be set up. C) The conference room has to be cleaned. D) The video machine has to be checked.3. A) She is exhausted. B) She is near-sighted. C) She cannot finish work in time. D) She cannot go straight home.4. A) The woman is too particular about food. B) He would rather have a meal an hour la
6、ter. C) The woman should order her food quickly. D) He usually prefers ice-cream to sandwiches.5. A) He is not a good mechanic. B) He doesnt keep his promises. C) He spends his spare time doing repairs. D) He is always ready to offer help to others.6. A) Sam has a big family to support. B) Sam is no
7、t interested in traveling. C) The pay offer by the travel agency is too low. D) The work hours in the travel agency are too long.7. A) International trade. B) Product development. C) Financial consulting. D) Domestic retailing.8. A) Go on a business trip. B) Look for a job in Miami. C) Make a ticket
8、 reservation. D) Take a vacation.Questions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.9. A) It is located on Route 18. B) It has an interesting museum. C) It is a beautiful little town. D) It lies seven miles east of Newton.10. A) They are in opposite directions. B) They are fifty-fiv
9、e miles apart. C) They are quite close to each other. D) They are a long drive from Norwalk.11. A) They are connected by Route 7. B) They are crowded with tourists. C) They have lots of old houses. D) They have many rare plants.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12.
10、 A) Bring him up to date on the current situation in Milan. B) Inform him of the arrangements for his trip in Italy. C) Fetch the documents signed by Mr. Gartner. D) Accompany Mr. Gartner to the Linate airport.13. A) About 8:30. B) About 6:30. C) About 5:30. D) About 4:15.14. A) Mr. Gartner from Mil
11、an. B) Gianni Riva at Megastar. C) The companys sales representative. D) Gavin from the Chamber of Commerce.15. A) Travel agent. B) Business manager. C) Secretary. D) Saleswoman.Section BDirections: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some quest
12、ions. 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 I with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 16 to 19 are b
13、ased on the passage you have just heard.16. A) She had a desire to help others. B) She wanted to find out more about it. C) She needed some overseas experience. D) She was interested in farming.17. A) Carry out a cultural exchange program. B) Work on an agricultural project. C) Learn Portuguese. D)
14、Teach English.18. A) She found it difficult to secure a job in her own country. B) She wanted to renew her contact with the Peace Corps. C) She was invited to work as an English teacher. D) She could not get the country out of her mind.19. A) By teaching additional English classes. B) By writing sto
15、ries for American newspapers. C) By working part time for the Peace Corps. D) By doing odd jobs for local institutions.Passage TwoQuestions 20 to 22 are based on the passage you have just heard.20. A) Time spent exercising. B) Time spent working. C) Time spent on leisure activities. D) Time spent wi
16、th friends and family.21. A) Reading. B) Surfing the Web. C) Eating out. D) Watching TV.22. A) Driving. B) Gardening. C) Going to the pub. D) Visiting friends.Passage ThreeQuestions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.23. A) The car driver was trying to avoid hitting a rabbit. B) T
17、he car driver was partly responsible for the accident. C) McLaughlin was talking to his manager while driving. D) McLaughlins carelessness resulted in the collision.24. A) He crashed into a car parked there. B) He knocked down several mailboxes. C) He tore down the companys main gate. D) He did seri
18、ous damage to a loaded truck.25. A) He will lose his job. B) He will have to pay damages. C) He will be fined heavily. D) He will receive retraining.Section CDirections: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for
19、 its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks with the exact words you have just heard. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.When Captain Cook asked the chiefs in Tahiti why they always
20、are 26 , they replied, “Because it is right.” If we ask Americans why they eat with knives and forks, or why their men wear pants 27 skirts, or why they may be married to only one person at a time, we are likely to get 28 and very uninformative answers: “Because its right.” “Because thats the way it
21、s done.” “Because its the 29 .” Or even “I dont know.” The reason for these and countless other patterns of social behavior is that they are 30 by social normsshared rules or guidelines which prescribe the behavior that is appropriate in a given situation. Norms 31 how people “ought” to behave under
22、 particular circumstances in a particular society. We conform (遵守) to norms so readily that we are hardly aware they 32 . In fact, we are much more likely to notice 33 from norms than conformity to them. You would not be surprised if a stranger tried to shake hands when you were introduced, but you
23、might be a little 34 if they bowed, started to stroke you or kissed you on both 35 . Yet each of these other forms of greeting is appropriate in other parts of the world. When we visit another society whose norms are different, we quickly become aware that things we do this way, they do that way.Par
24、t Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)Section ADirections: 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 choi
25、ce 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 36 to 45 are based on the following passage. What does it take to be a well-trai
26、ned nurse? The answer used to be two-year associates or four-year bachelors degree programs. But as the nursing shortage 36 , a growing number of schools and hospitals are establishing “fast-track programs” that enable college graduates with no nursing 37 to become registered nurses with only a year
27、 or so of 38 training. In 1991, there were only 40 fast-track curricula; now there are more than 200. Typical is Columbia Universitys Entry to Practice program. Students earn their bachelor of science in nursing in a year. Those who stay on for an 39 two years can earn a masters degree that 40 them
28、as nurse practitioners (执业护士) or clinical nurse specialists. Many students are recent 41 ; others are career switchers. Rudy Guardron, 32, a 2004 graduate of Columbias program, was a premedical student in college and then worked for a pharmaceutical (药物的) research company. At Columbia, he was 42 as
29、a nurse practitioner. “I saw that nurses were in high 43 and it looked like a really good opportunity,” he says. “Also, I didnt want to be in school for that long.” The fast-track trend fills a need, but its also creating some 44 between newcomers and veterans. “Nurses that are still at the bedside
30、45 these kids with suspicion,” says Linda Pellico, who has taught nursing at Yale University for 18 years. “They wonder, how can they do it quicker?” The answer is they dont.A) additionalB) appliedC) demandD) excessiveE) experienceF) expores G) graduatesH) operationsI) promoteJ) qualifiesK) speciali
31、zedL) tensionM) trainedN) viewO) worsensSection BDirections: 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 paragra
32、ph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.The rise of the sharing economyA Last night 40,000 people rented accommodation from a service that offers 250,000 rooms in 30,000 cities in 192 countries. They chose
33、their rooms and paid for everything online. But their beds were provided by private individuals, rather than a hotel chain. Hosts and guests were matched up by Airbnb, a firm based in San Francisco. Since its launch in 2008 more than 4 million people have used it2.5 million of them in 2012 alone. It
34、 is the most prominent example of a huge new “sharing economy”, in which people rent beds, cars, boats and other assets directly from each other, co-ordinated via the internet.B You might think this is no different from running a bed-and-breakfast (家庭旅店). owning a timeshare (分时度假房) or participating
35、in a car pool. But technology has reduced transaction costs, making sharing assets cheaper and easier than everand therefore possible on a much larger scale. The big change is the availability of more data about people and things, which allows physical assets to be divided and consumed as services.
36、Before the internet, renting a surfboard, a power tool or a parking space from someone else was feasible, but was usually more trouble than it was worth. Now websites such as Airbnb. RelayRides and SnapGoods match up owners and renters; smartphones with GPS let people see where the nearest rentable
37、car is parked; social networks provide a way to check up on people and build trust; and online payment systems handle the billing.Whats mine is yours, for a feeC Just as peer-to-peer businesses like eBay allow anyone to become a retailer, sharing sites let individuals act as an ad hoc (临时的) taxi ser
38、vice, car-hire firm or boutique hotel (精品酒店) as and when it suits them. Just go online or download an app. The model works for items that are expensive to buy and are widely owned by people who do not make full use of them. Bedrooms and cars are the most obvious examples, but you can also rent campi
39、ng spaces in Sweden, fields in Australia and washing machines in France. As advocates of the sharing economy like to put it, access trumps (胜过) ownership.D Rachel Botsman, the author of a book on the subject, says the consumer peer-to-peer rental market alone is worth $26 billion. Broader definition
40、s of the sharing economy include peer-to-peer lending or putting a solar panel on your roof and selling power back to the grid (电网). And it is not just individuals: the web makes it easier for companies to rent out spare offices and idle machines, too. But the core of the sharing economy is people r
41、enting things from each other.E Such “collaborative (合作的) consumption” is a good thing for several reasons. Owners make money from underused assets. Airbnb says hosts in San Francisco who rent out their homes do so for an average of 58 nights a year, making $ 9,300. Car owners who rent their vehicle
42、s to others using RelayRides make an average of $250 a month; some make more than $1,000. Renters, meanwhile, pay less than they would if they bought the item themselves, or turned to a traditional provider such as a hotel or car-hire firm. And there are environmental benefits, too: renting a car wh
43、en you need it, rather than owning one, means fewer cars are required and fewer resources must be devoted to making them.F For sociable souls, meeting new people by staying in their homes is part of the charm. Curmudgeons (倔脾气的人) who imagine that every renter is a murderer can still stay at conventi
44、onal hotels. For others, the web fosters trust. As well as the background checks carried out by platform owners, online reviews and ratings are usually posted by both parties to each transaction, which makes it easy to spot bad drivers, bathrobe-thieves and surfboard-wreckers. By using Facebook and
45、other social networks, participants can check each other out and identify friends (or friends of friends) in common. An Airbnb user had her apartment trashed in 2011. But the remarkable thing is how well the system usually works.Peering into the futureG The sharing economy is a little like online sh
46、opping, which started in America 15 years ago. At first, people were worried about security. But having made a successful purchase from, say, Amazon, they felt safe buying elsewhere. Similarly, using Airbnb or a car-hire service for the first time encourages people to try other offerings. Next, cons
47、ider eBay. Having started out as a peer-to-peer marketplace, it is now dominated by professional “power sellers” (many of whom started out as ordinary eBay users). The same may happen with the sharing economy, which also provides new opportunities for enterprise. Some people have bought cars solely to rent them out, for example.H Existing rental businesses are getting involved too. Avis, a car-hire firm, has a share in a sharing rival. So do GM and Daimler, two carmakers. In future, companies may develop hybrid (混合的) models, listing
