2019年12月四级真题第一套
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 180 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 1with a single line through the centre.
Questions l and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.
1. A) Many facilities were destroyed by a wandering cow.
B) A wandering cow knocked down one of its fences.
C) Some tourists were injured by a wandering cow.
D) A wandering 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 animal control department.
Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.
3. A) It is the largest of its kind. B) It is going to be expanded.
C) It is displaying more fossil specimens. D) It is staring an online exhibition.
4. A) A collection of bird fossils from Australia. B) Photographs of certain rare fossil exhibits.
C) Some ancient wall paintings 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 intelligent. 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 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 discoveries.
9. A) It will be more futuristic. B) It will be more systematic.
C) It will be more entertaining. D) It will be easier to understand.
10. A) People interested in science. B) Youngsters eager to explore.
C) Children in their early teens. D) Students majoring in 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 humanities.
C) They are more likely to become engineers.
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 rains cats and dogs. B) It seldom rains in summer time.
C) It does not rain as much as people think. D) It is one of the most rainy cities in the US.
20. A) They drive most of the time. B) The rain is usually very light.
C) They have got used to the rain. D) The rain comes mostly at night.
21. A) It has a lot of places for entertainment.
B) It has never seen thunder and lighting.
C) It has fewer cloudy days than any other coastal city.
D) It has mild weather both in summer and in winter.
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 exerting one’s muscles continuously.
C) It happens when people engage in an uncommon activity.
D) It comes from staining 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 pain-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.
Questions 26 to 35 are based on the following passage.
When travelling overseas, do you buy water in plastic bottles or take your chances with tap water? Imagine you are wandering about on a Thai island or 26 the ruins of Angkor. It’s hot so you grab a bottle of water from a local vendor. It’s the safe, sane thing 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 drinking 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 analyzed 259 bottles from 11 brands sold in nine countries, 31 an average of 325 plastic particles per liter of water. These microplastics included a 32 commonly known as PET and are widely used in the manufacture of clothing and food and 33 containers. The study was conducted at the State University of New York on behalf of Orb Media, a journalism organization. About a million bottles are bought every minute, not only by thirsty tourists but also by many of the 2.1 billion worldwide who live with unsafe drinking water.
Confronted with this 34 , several bottled-water manufacturers including Nestle and Coco-Cola undertook their own studies using the same methodology. These studies showed that their water did contain microplastics, but far less than the Orb study suggested. Regardless, the World Health Organization has now launched a review into the 35 health risks of drinking water from plastic bottles.
| A) adequate F) instant K) released B) admiring G) liquid L) revealing C) contains H) modified M) sealed D) defending I) natural N) solves E) evidence J) potential O) substance |
Section B
Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to 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 wind brought bitter cold to the Midwest. Overnight, Chicago reached a low of 21 degrees Fahrenheit below zero, making it slightly colder than Antarctica, 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, according to the National Weather Service. Schools, restaurants, and businesses closed, and more than 1,000 flights have been canceled.
[B] Even the United States Postal Service (USPS) suspended mail delivery temporarily. “Due to this arctic outbreak and concerns for the safety of USPS employees,” USPS announced Wednesday morning, “the Postal Service is suspending delivery Jan. 30 in the following 3-digit ZIP Code locations.” Twelve regions were listed as unsafe on Wednesday; on Thursday, eight remained.
[C] As global surface temperatures increase, so does the likelihood of extreme weather. In 2018 alone, wildfires, volcanic 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 confronting economic and structural destruction and resource scarcity from 2017’s Hurricane Maria. Natural disasters can wreck a community’s infrastructure, disrupting systems for months or years. Some services, however, remind us that life will eventually return, in some form, to normal.
[D] Days after the deadly 2017 wildfires in Santa Rosa, California, a drone caught footage of a USPS worker, Trevor Smith, driving through burned homes in that familiar white van, collecting mail in an affected area. The video is striking: The operation is familiar, but the scene looks like the end of the world. According 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’d come 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. These teams are trained annually using a framework known as the three Ps: people, property, product. After mail service stops due to weather, the agency’s top priority is ensuring that employees are safe. Then 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 Katrina in 2005, USPS redirected incoming New Orleans mail to existing 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 start distributing accumulated mail on the still-accessible routes. USPS urges those without standing addresses to file change-of-address forms with their new location. After Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, mail facilities were set up in dozens of other locations across the 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 medicine. Spokespeople from both USPS and UPS told me all mail is important. But some mail can be extremely sensitive and timely. According 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 coordinate with the Social Security Administration 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 on time.
[I] Mail companies are logistics companies, 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 point on a daily basis.”
[J] Private courier companies, which have more dollars to spend, use their expertise in logistics to help revitalize damaged areas after a disaster. For more than a decade, FedEx has supported the American Red Cross in its effort to get emergency supplies to areas affected by disasters, both domestically and internationally. In 2012, the company distributed more than 1,200 MedPacks to Medical Reserve Corps groups in California, and donated space for 3.1 million pounds of charitable shipping globally. Last October, the company pledged $1 million in cash and transportation support for Hurricanes Florence and Michael. UPS’s charitable arm, the UPS Foundation, uses the company’s logistics to help disaster-struck areas rebuild. “We realize that as a company with people, trucks, warehouses, we needed to play a larger role,” said Eduardo Martinez, the president of the UPS Foundation. The company employs its trucks and planes to deliver food, medicine, and water. The day before I spoke to Martinez in November, he had been touring the damage from Hurricane Michael in Florida with the American Red Cross. “We have an obligation to make sure our communities are thriving, prosperous,” he said.
[K] Rebuilding can take a long time, and even then, impressions of the disaster may still remain. Returning to a sense of normalcy can be difficult, but some small routines—mail delivery being one of them—may help residents remember that their communities are still their communities. “When they see that carrier back out on the street,” Swigart said, “that’s the first sign to them that life is starting to return to normal.”
36. The United States Postal Service has a system to ensure its employees’ safety.
37. One official says USPS is unique in that it has more direct reach to communities compared with other federal agencies
38. Natural disasters can have a long-lasting impact on community life.
39. Mail delivery service i$ still responsible for the completion of almost half of payments.
40. The sight of a mailman on the street is a reassuring sign of life becoming normal again.
41. After Hurricane Katrina interrupted routine delivery, temporary mail service points were 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 distributing 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.
Passage One
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
Professor Ashok Goel of Georgia Tech developed an artificially intelligent teaching assistant to help handle the enormous 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 8 teaching assistants, but that wasn’t enough to deal with the overwhelming number of questions from students.
Many students drop out of online courses because of the lack of teaching support. When students feel isolated or confused and reach out with questions that go unanswered, their motivation to continue begins to fade. Professor Goel decided to do something 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 releasing 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 since the class was launched. Then they began to feed Jill the questions and answers. After some adjustment 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 intelligence, were interacting with artificial intelligence 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 answering 40% of all questions posed by students on the online forum. The name, Jill Watson, will of course, change to something else next semester. Professor Goel has a much rosier outlook on the future of AI than say, Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates or Steve Wozniak.
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 learning.
47. 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.
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 interact with her more freely.
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
Thinking 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 examined nearly 400 campaigns. But having a large network and some promotional skills may be more crucial.
Crowdfunding, raising money for a project through online appeals, has taken off in recent years for everything from making movies to building water-saving gadgets. Scientists have tried to tap Internet donors, too, with mixed success. Some raised more than twice their goal, but others have fallen short of reaching more modest targets.
To determine what separates science crowdfunding triumphs from failures, a team led by science communications scholar Mike Schäfer of the University of Zurich in Switzerland examined the content of the WebPages for 371 recent campaigns.
Four traits stood out for those that achieved their goals, the researchers report in Public Understanding of Science. For one, they use a crowdfunding platform that specializes in raising money for science, and not just any kind of project. Although sites like Kickstarter take all comers, platforms such as Experiment.com, Medstartr.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 since projects that answered questions from interested donors and posted lab notes fared better. And they target a small amount of money. The projects included in the study raised $4000 on average, with 30% of projects 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 his or her 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 fundraising—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 strategies.
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 Schäfer’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 addressing 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 gain notice.
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，确保孩子受到良好的教育。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加国际交流项目，让其拓宽视野。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做出贡献。
2019年12月四级真题第二套
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 learn Chinese. Please recommend a place to him. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 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 1with a single line through the centre.
Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.
1. A) The number of nurses has dropped to a record low.
B) There is a growing shortage of medical personnel.
C) There is discrimination against male nurses.
D) The number of male nurses has gone down..
2. A) Cultural bias. B) Inadequate pay.
C) Educational system. D) Working conditions.
Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.
3. A) He fell out of a lifeboat. B) He lost his way on a beach.
C) He was almost drowned. D) He enjoyed swimming in the sea.
4. A) The beach is a popular tourist resort. B) The emergency services are efficient.
C) The beach is a good place to watch the tide. D) The lifeboats patrol the area round the clock.
Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.
5. A) It became an online star. B) It broke into an office room.
C) It escaped from a local zoo. D) It climbed 25 storeys at one go.
6. A) Send it back to the zoo. B) Release it into the wild.
C) Return it to its owner. D) Give it a physical checkup.
7. A) A raccoon can perform acts no human can.
B) A raccoon can climb much higher than a cat.
C) The raccoon became as famous as some politicians.
D) The raccoon did something no politician could.
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) She got a well-paying job in a bank. B) She received a bonus unexpectedly.
C She received her first monthly salary. D) She got a pay raise for her performance.
9. A) Several years ago. B) Two decades ago.
C) Right after graduation. D) Just last month.
10. A) He sent a small check to his parents. B) He took a few of his friends to a gym.
C) He immediately deposited it in a bank. D) He treated his parents to a nice meal.
11. A) Buy some professional clothes. B) Budget her salary carefully.
C) Join her colleagues for gym exercise. D) Visit her former university campus.
Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
12. A) He has a difficult decision to make. B) He has been overworked recently.
C) He has just quarreled with his girlfriend. D) He has just too many things to attend to.
13. A) Give priority to things more urgent. B) Turn to his girlfriend for assistance.
C) Think twice before making the decision. D) Seek advice from his family and advisor.
14. A) His parents and advisor have different opinions.
B) He is not particularly keen on the job offered.
C) He lacks the money for his doctoral program.
D) His girlfriend does not support his decision.
15. A) They need time to make preparations. B) They need to save enough money for it.
C) They haven’t started their careers yet. D) They haven’t won their parents’ approval.
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) Acquiring information and professional knowledge.
B) Using information to understand and solve problems.
C) Enriching social and intellectual lives.
D) Expressing ideas and opinions freely.
17. A) Improving mind-reading strategies. B) Reading classic scientific literature.
C) Playing games that challenge one’s mind. D) Traveling to different places in the world.
18. A) Give others freedom to express themselves. B) Expose themselves to different cultures.
C) Discard personal biases and prejudices. D) Participate in debates or discussions.
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.
19. A) The nature of relationships between dogs. B) The reason a great many people love dogs.
C) Why dogs can be faithful friends of humans. D) How dogs feel about their bonds with humans.
20. A) They have an unusual sense of responsibility. B) They can respond to humans’ questions.
C) They can fall in love just like humans. D) They behave like other animals in many ways.
21. A) They have their own joys and sorrows. B) They experience true romantic love.
C) They help humans in various ways. D) They stay with one partner for life.
Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.
22. A) A cow bone. B) A rare animal.
C) A historical site. D) A precious stone.
23. A) Measuring it. B) Preserving it.
C) Dating it. D) Identifying it.
24. A) The site should have been protected. B) The boy’s family had acted correctly.
C) The boy should have called an expert. D) The channel needs to interview the boy.
25. A) Search for similar fossils elsewhere. B) Ask the university to reward Jude.
C) Conduct a more detailed search. D) Seek additional funds for the search.
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.
Finally, some good news about airplane travel. If you are on a plane with a sick passenger, you are unlikely to get sick. That is the 26 of a new study that looked at how respiratory viruses 27 on airplanes. Researchers found that only people who were seated in the same row as a passenger with the flu, for example—or one row in front of or behind that individual—had a high risk of catching the illness. All other passengers had only a very 28 chance of getting sick, according to the findings. Media reports have not necessarily presented 29 information about the risk of getting infected on an airplane in the past. Therefore, these new findings should help airplane passengers to feel less 30 to catching respiratory infections while traveling by air.
Prior to the new study, litter was known about the risks of getting 31 infected by common respiratory viruses, such as the flu or common cold, on an airplane, the researchers said. So, to 32 the risks of infection, the study team flew on 10 different 33 in the U.S. during the flu season. The researchers found that passengers sitting within two seats on 34 side of a person infected with flu, as well as those sitting one row in front of or behind this individual, had about an 80 person chance of getting sick. But other passengers were 35 safe from infection. They had a less than 3 percent chance of catching the flu.
| A) accurate F) explorations K) slim B) conclusion G) flights L) spread C) directly H) largely M) summit D) either I) nearby N) vividly E) evaluate J) respond O) venerable |
Section B
Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to 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.
Is Breakfast Really the Most Important Meal of the Day?
[A] Along with old classics like “carrots give you night vision” and “Santa doesn’t bring toys to misbehaving children”, one of the most well-worn phrases of tired parents everywhere is that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Many of us grow up believing that skipping breakfast is a serious mistake—even if only two thirds of adults in the UK eat breakfast regularly, according to the British Dietetic Association, and around three-quarters of Americans.
[B] “The body uses a lot of energy stores for growth and repair through the night,” explains diet specialist Sarah Elder. “Eating a balanced breakfast helps to up our energy, as well as make up for protein and calcium used throughout the night.” But there’s widespread disagreement over whether breakfast should keep its top spot in the hierarchy of meals. There have been concerns around the sugar content of cereal and the food industry’s involvement in pro-breakfast research—and even one claim from an academic that breakfast is “dangerous”.
[C] What’s the reality? Is breakfast a necessary start to the day or a marketing tactic by cereal companies? The most researched aspect of breakfast (and breakfast-skipping) has been its links to obesity. Scientists have different theories as to why there’s a relationship between the two. In one US study that analyzed the health data of 50,000 people over seven years, researchers found that those who made breakfast the largest meal of the day were more likely to have a lower body mass index (BMI) than those who ate a large lunch or dinner. The researchers argued that breakfast helps reduce daily calorie intake and improve the quality of our diet—since breakfast foods are often higher in fiber and nutrients.
[D] But as with any study of this kind, it was unclear if that was the cause—or if breakfast-skippers were just more likely to be overweight to begin with. To find out, researchers designed a study in which 52 obese women took part in a 12-week weight loss program. All had the same number of calories over the day, but half had breakfast, while the other half did not. What they found was that it wasn’t breakfast itself that caused the participants to lose weight: it was changing their normal routine.
[E] If breakfast alone isn’t a guarantee of weight loss, why is there a link between obesity and skipping breakfast? Alexandra Johnstone, professor of appetite research at the University of Aberdeen, argues that it may simply be because breakfast-skippers have been found to be less knowledgeable about nutrition and health. “There are a lot of studies on the relationship between breakfast eating and possible health outcomes, but this may be because those who eat breakfast choose to habitually have health-enhancing behaviors such as not smoking and regular exercise,” she says.
[F] A 2016 review of 10 studies looking into the relationship between breakfast and weight management concluded there is “limited evidence” supporting or refuting the argument that breakfast influences weight or food intake, and more evidence is required before breakfast recommendations can be used to help prevent obesity.
[G] Researchers from the University of Surrey and University of Aberdeen are halfway through research looking into the mechanisms behind how the time we eat influences body weight. Early findings suggest that a bigger breakfast is beneficial to weight control. Breakfast has been found to affect more than just weight. Skipping breakfast has been associated with a 27% increased risk of heart disease, a 21% higher risk of type 2 diabetes men, and a 20% higher risk of type 2 diabetes in women. One reason may be breakfast’s nutritional value—partly because cereal is fortified with vitamins. In one study on the breakfast habits of 1,600 young people in the UK, researchers found that the fiber and micronutrient intake was better in those who had breakfast regularly. There have been similar findings in Australia, Brazil, Canada and the US.
[H] Breakfast is also associated with improved brain function, including concentration and language use. A review of 54 studies found that eating breakfast can improve memory, though the effects on other brain functions were inconclusive. However, one of the review’s researchers, Mary Beth Spitznagel, says there is “reasonable” evidence breakfast does improve concentration—there just needs to be more research. “Looking at studies that tested concentration, the number of studies showing a benefit was exactly the same as the number that found no benefit,” she says. “And no studies found that eating breakfast was bad for concentration.”
[I] What’s most important, some argue, is what we eat for breakfast. High-protein breakfasts have been found particularly effective in reducing food and consumption later in the day, according to research by the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization. While cereal remains a firm favorite among breakfast consumers in the UK and US, a recent investigation into the sugar content of “adult” breakfast cereals found that some cereals contain more than three quarters of the recommended daily amount of free sugars in each portion, and sugar was the second or third highest ingredient in cereals.
[J] But some research suggests if we’re going to eat sugary foods, it’s best to do it early. One recruited 200 obese adults to take part in a 16-week-long diet, where half added dessert to their breakfast, and half didn’t. Those who added dessert lost an average of 40 pounds more—however, the study was unable to show the long-term effects. A review of 54 studies found that there is no consensus yet on what type of breakfast is healthier, and concluded that the type of breakfast doesn’t matter as much as simply eating something.
[K] While there’s no conclusive evidence on exactly what we should be eating and when, the consensus is that we should listen to our own bodies and eat when we’re hungry. “Breakfast is most important for people who are hungry when they wake up,” Johnstone says. Every body starts the day differently—and those individual differences need to be researched more closely, Spitznagel says. “A balanced breakfast is really helpful, but getting regular meals throughout the day is more important to leave blood sugar stable through the day, which helps control weight and hunger levels,” says Elder, “Breakfast isn’t the only meal we should be getting right.”
36. According to one professor, obesity is related to a lack of basic awareness of nutrition and health.
37. Some scientists claim that people should consume the right kind of food at breakfast.
38. Opinions differ as to whether breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
39. It has been found that not eating breakfast is related to the incidence of certain diseases in some countries.
40. Researchers found it was a change in eating habits rather than breakfast itself that induced weight loss.
41. To keep oneself healthy, eating breakfast is more important than choosing what to eat.
42. It is widely considered wrong not to eat breakfast.
43. More research is needed to prove that breakfast is related to weight loss or food intake.
44. People who priorities breakfasts tend to have lower calorie but higher nutritional intake.
45. Many studies reveal that eating breakfast helps people memories and concentrate.
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.
Textbooks represent an 11 billion dollar industry, up from $8 billion in 2014. Textbook publisher Pearson is the largest publisher—of any kind—in the world.
It costs about $1 million to create a new textbook. A freshman textbook will have dozens of contributors, from subject-matter experts through graphic and layout artists to expert reviewers and classroom testers. Textbook publishers connect professors, instructors and students in ways that alternatives, such as Open E-Textbooks and Open Educational Resources, simply do not. This connection happens not only by means of collaborative development, review and testing, but also at conferences where faculty regularly decide on their textbooks and curricula for the coming year.
It is true that textbook publishers have recently reported losses, largely due to students renting or buying used print textbooks. But this can be chalked up to the exorbitant cost of their books—which has increased over 1,000 percent since 1977. A reshuffling of the textbook industry may well be in order. But this does not mean the end of the textbook itself.
While they may not be as dynamic as an iPad, textbooks are not passive or lifeless. For example, over the centuries, they have simulated dialogue in a number of ways. From 1800 to the present day, textbooks have done this by posing questions for students to answer inductively. That means students are asked to use their individual experience to come up with answers to general questions. Today’s psychology texts, for example, ask: “How much of your personality do you think you inherited?” while ones in physics say: “How can you predict where the ball you tossed will land?”
Experts observe that “textbooks come in layers, something like an onion.” For the active learner, engaging with a textbook can be an interactive experience: Readers proceed at their own pace. They “customize” their books by engaging with different layers and linkages. Highlighting, Post-It notes, dog-ears and other techniques allow for further customization that students value in print books over digital forms of books.
46. What does the passage say about open educational resources?
A) They contribute to teaching as much as to learning.
B) They don’t profit as much as traditional textbooks do.
C) They can’t connect professors and students as textbooks do.
D) They compete fiercely for customers with textbook producers.
47. What is the main cause of the publishers’ losses?
A) Failure to meet student need. B) Industry restructuring
C) Emergence of e-books. D) Falling sales.
48. What does the textbook industry need to do?
A) Reform its structures. B) Cut its retail prices.
C) Find replacements for printed textbooks. D) Change its business strategy periodically.
49. What are students expected to do in the learning process?
A) Think carefully before answering each question.
B) Ask questions based on their own understanding.
C) Answer questions using their personal experience.
D) Give answers showing their respective personality.
50. What do experts say about students using textbooks?
A) They can digitalize the prints easily. B) They can learn in an interactive way.
C) They can purchase customized versions. D) They can adapt the material themselves.
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
When we think of animals and plants, we have a pretty good way of dividing them into two distinct groups: one converts sunlight into energy and the other has to eat food to make its energy. Well, those dividing lines come crashing down with the discovery of a sea slug that is truly half animal and half plant. It’s pretty incredible how it has managed to hijack the genes of the algae on which it feeds.
The slugs can manufacture chlorophyll, the green pigment in plants that captures energy from sunlight, and hold these genes within their body. The term kleptoplasty is used to describe the practice of using hijacked genes to create nutrients from sunlight. And so far, this green sea slug is the only known animal that can be truly considered solar-powered, although some animals do exhibit some plant-like behaviors. Many scientists have studied the green sea slugs to confirm that they are actually able to create energy from sunlight.
In fact, the slugs use the genetic material so well, they pass it on to their further generations. The babies retain the ability to produce their own chlorophyll, though they can’t generate energy from sunlight until they’ve eaten enough algae to steal the necessary genes, which they can’t yet produce on their own.”
“There is no way on earth that genes from an alga should work inside an animal cell,” says Sidney Pierce from the University of South Florida. “And yet here, they do. They allow the animal to rely on sunshine for its nutrition. So if something happens to their food source, they have a way of not starving to death until they find more algae to eat.”
The sea slugs are so good at gathering energy from the sun that they can live up to 9 months without having to eat any food. They get all their nutritional needs met by the genes that they’ve hijacked from the algae.
51. What is the distinctive feature of a sea slug?
A) It looks like both a plant and an animal. B) It converts some sea animals into plants.
C) It lives half on animals and half on plants. D) It gets energy from both food and sunlight.
52. What enables the sea slug to live like a plant?
A) The genes it captures from the sea plant algae. B) The mechanism by which it conserves energy.
C) The nutrients it hijacks from other species. D) The green pigment it inherits from its ancestors.
53. What does the author say about baby sea slugs?
A) They can live without sunlight for a long time.
B) They can absorb sunlight right after their birth.
C) They can survive without algae for quite some time.
D) They can produce chlorophyll on their own.
54. What does Sidney Pierce say about genes from an alga?
A) They are stolen from animals like the sea slug. B) They can’t function unless exposed to sunlight.
C) They don’t usually function inside animal cells. D) They can readily be converted to sea slug genes.
55. What do we learn about sea slugs from the passage?
A) They behave the way most plant species do. B) They can survive for months without eating.
C) They will turn into plants when they mature. D) They will starve to death without sunlight.
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.
中国的家庭观念与其文化传统有关。和睦的大家庭曾非常令人美慕。过去四代同堂并不少见。由于这个传统，许多年轻人婚后继续与父母同住。今天，这个传统正在改变。随着住房条件的改善，越来越多年轻夫妇选择与父母分开住。但他们之间的联系依然很密切。许多老年人仍然帮着照看孙辈。年轻夫妇也抽时间探望父母，特别是在春节和中秋节等重要节日。
2019年12月四级真题第三套
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 study in China. Please recommend a university to him. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.
听力同第二套
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.
Millions of people travel by plane every single day. If you’re planning on being one of them soon, you might not be looking forward to the 26 feeling air travel often leaves you with.
Besides the airport crowds and stress, traveling at such a high altitude has real effects on the body. Although the pressure of the cabin is 27 to prevent altitude sickness, you could still 28 sleepiness or a headache. The lower oxygen pressure found in an aircraft cabin is 29 to that at 6,000 to 8,000 feet of altitude. A drop in oxygen pressure can cause headaches in certain 30 . To prevent headaches, drink plenty of water, and avoid alcohol and coffee.
Airplane food might not really be as tasteless as you 31 thought. The air you breathe in a plane dries out your mouth and nose, which can affect your sense of taste. Perception of sweet and salty foods dropped by almost 30 percent in a simulation of air travel. However, you can make your taste buds active by drinking water. A dry mouth may 32 taste sensitivity, but taste is restored with fluids.
Although in-flight infections 33 in dry environments like airplanes, your risk of getting sick from an airplane is actually low because of the air 34 used. Unless you’re sitting next to someone who is coughing or sneezing, you shouldn’t worry too much about getting sick. However, bacteria has been shown to live on cabin surfaces, so wash your hands 35 .
| A) adjusted F) frequently K) reduce B) channels G) individuals L) renovated C) equivalent H) originally M) smooth D) experience I) particular N) thrive E) filters J) primarily O) unpleasant |
Section B
Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to 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.
A South Korean City Designed for the Future Takes on a Life of Its Own
[A] Getting around a city is one thing—and then there’s the matter of getting from one city to another. One vision of the perfect city of the future: a place that offers easy access to air travel. In 2011, a University of North Carolina business professor named John Kasarda published a book called Aerotropolis: The Way We’ll Live Next. Kasarda says future cities should be built intentionally around or near airports. The idea, as he has put it, is to offer businesses “rapid, long-distance connectivity on a massive scale.”
[B] “The 18th century really was a waterborne century, the 19th century a rail century, the 20th century a highway, car, truck century—and the 21st century will increasingly be an aviation century, as the globe becomes increasingly connected by air,” Kasarda says. Songdo, a city built from scratch in South Korea, is one of Kasarda’s prime examples. It has existed for just a few years. “From the get-go, it was designed on the basis of connectivity and competitiveness,” says Kasada. “The government built the bridge directly from the airport to the Songdo International Business District. And the surface infrastructure was built in tandem with the new airport.”
[C] Songdo is a stone’s throw from South Korea’s Incheon Airport, its main international hub. But it takes a lot more than a nearby airport to be a city of the future. Just building a place as an “international business district” doesn’t mean it will become one. Park Yeon Soo conceived this city of the future back in 1986. He considers Songdo his baby. “I am a visionary,” he says. Thirty years after he imagined the city, Park’s baby is close to 70 percent built, with 36.000 people living in the business district and 90,000 residents in greater Songdo. It’s about an hour outside Seoul, built on reclaimed tidal flats along the Yellow Sea, There’s a Coast Guard building and a tall trade tower, as well as a park, golf course and university.
D) Chances are you’ve actually seen this place. Songdo appears in the most famous music video ever to come out of South Korea. “Gangnam Style” refers to the fashionable Gangnam district in Seoul. But some of the video was filmed in Songdo.” I don’t know if you remember, there was a scene in a subway station. That was not Gangnam. That was actually Songdo,” says Jung Won Son, a professor of urban development at London’s Bartlett School of Planning, “Part of the reason to shoot there is that it’s new and nice.”
[E] The city was supposed to be a hub for global companies, with employees from all over the world. But hat’s not how it has turned out. Songdo’s reputation is as a futuristic ghost town. But the reality is more complicated. A bridge with big, light-blue loops leads into the business district. In the center of the main road, there’s a long line of flags of the world. On the corner, there’s a Starbucks and a 7-Eleven—all of the international brands that you see all over the world nowadays.
[F] The city is not empty. There are mothers pushing strollers, old women with walkers—even in the middle of the day, when it’s 90 degrees out. Byun Young-Jin chairs the Songdo real estate association and started selling property here when the first phase of the city opened in 2005. He says demand has boomed in the past couple of years. Most of his clients are Korean. In fact, the developer says, 99 percent of the homes here are sold to Koreans. Young families move here because the schools are great. And that’s the problem: Songdo has become a popular Korean city—more popular as a residential area than a business one. It’s not yet the futuristic international business hub that planners imagined. “It’s a great place to live. And it’s becoming a great place to work,” says Scott Summers, the vice president of Gale International, the developer of the city. The floor-to-ceiling windows of his company’s offices overlook Songdo Central Park, with a canal full of kayaks and paddle boats. Shimmering glass towers line the canal’s edge.
[G] “What’s happened is, because we focused on creating that quality of life first, which enabled the residents to live here, what has probably missed the mark is for companies to locate here,” he says. “There needs to be strong economic incentives.” The city is still unfinished, and it feels a bit like a theme park. It doesn’t feel all that futuristic. There’s a high-tech underground trash disposal system. Buildings are environmentally friendly. Everybody’s television set is connected to a system that streams personalized language or exercise classes.
[H] But Star Trek this is not. And to some of the residents, Songdo feels hollow. “I’m, like, in * for weekdays. That’s what we call it in the workplace,” says a woman in her 20s. She doesn’t want to use her name for fear of being fired from her job. She goes back to Seoul every weekend. “I say I’m *-breaking on Friday nights.” But she has to make the * break in her own car. There’s no high-speed train connecting Songdo to Seoul, just over 20 miles away.
[I] The man who first imagined Songdo feels frustrated, too. Park says he built South Korea a luxury vehicle, “like Mercedes or BMW. It’s a good car now. But we’re waiting for a good driver to accelerate.” But there are lots of other good cars out there, too. The world is dotted with futuristic, high-tech cities trying to attract the biggest international companies
[J] Songdo’s backers contend that it’s still early, and business space is filling up—about 70 percent of finished offices are now occupied. Brent Ryan, who teaches urban design at MIT, says Songdo proves a universal principle. “There have been a lot of utopian cities in history. And the reason we don’t know about a lot of them is that a lot of them have vanished entirely.” In other words, when it comes to cities—or anything else—it is hard to predict the future.
36. Songdo’s popularity lies more in its quality of life than its business attraction.
37. The man who conceives Songdo feels disappointed because it has fallen short of his expectations.
38. A scene in a popular South Korean music video was shot in Songdo.
39. Songdo still lacks the financial stimulus for businesses to set up shop there.
40. Airplanes will increasingly become the chief means of transportation, according to a professor.
41. Songdo has ended up different from the city it was supposed to be.
42. Some of the people who work in Songdo complain about boredom in the workplace.
43. A business professor says that a future city should have easy access to international transportation.
44. Acording to an urban design professor, it is difficult for city designers to foresee what happen in the future.
45. Park Yeon So. Who envisioned Songdo, feels a parental connection with the city.
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.
The fifth largest city in the US passed a significant soda tax proposal that will levy 1.5 cents per liquid ounce on distributors.
Philadelphia’s new measure was approved by a 13 to 4 city council vote. It sets a new bar for similar initiatives across the county. It is proof that taxes on sugary drinks can win substantial support outside super-liberal areas. Until now, the only city to successfully pass and implement a soda tax was Berkeley, California, in 2014.
The tax will apply to regular and diet sodas, as well as other drinks with added sugar, such as Gatorade and iced teas. It’s expected to raise $410 million over the next five years, most of which will go toward funding a universal pre-kindergarten program for the city.
While the city council vote was met with applause inside the council room, opponents to the measure, including soda lobbyists made sharp criticisms and a promise to challenge the tax in court.
“The tax passed today unfairly singles out beverages—including low- and no-calorie choices,” said Lauren Kane, spokeswoman for the American Beverage Association. “But most importantly, it is against the law. So we will side with the majority of the people of Philadelphia who oppose this tax and take legal action to stop it.”
An industry backed anti-tax campaign has spent at least $4 million on advertisements. The ads criticized the measure. characterizing it as a “grocery tax.”
Public health groups applauded the approved tax as a step toward fixing certain lasting health issues that plague Americans. “The move to recapture a small part of the profits from an industry that pushes a product that contributes to diabetes, obesity and heart disease in poorer communities in order to reinvest in those communities will sure be inspirational to many other places,” said Jim Krieger, executive director of Healthy Food America. “Indeed, we are already hearing from some of them. It’s not just Berkeley’ anymore.”
Similar measures in California’s Albany, Oakland, San Francisco and Colorado’s Boulder are becoming hot-button issues Health advocacy groups have hinted that even more might be coming.
46. What does the passage say about the newly-approved soda tax in Philadelphia?
A) It will change the lifestyle of many consumers.
B) It may encourage other US cities to follow suit.
C) It will cut soda consumption among low-income communities.
D) It may influence the marketing strategies of the soda business.
47. What will the opponents probably do to respond to the soda tax proposal?
A) Bargain with the city council. B) Refuse to pay additional tax.
C) Take legal action against it. D) Try to win public support.
48. What did the industry-backed anti-tax campaign do about the soda tax proposal?
A) It tried to arouse hostile feelings among consumers.
B) It tried to win grocers’ support against the measure.
C) It kept sending letters of protest to the media.
D) It criticized the measure through advertising.
49. What did public health groups think the soda tax would do?
A) Alert people to the risk of sugar-induced diseases.
B) Help people to fix certain long-time health issues.
C) Add to the fund for their research on diseases.
D) Benefit low-income people across the country.
50. What do we learn about similar measures concerning the soda tax in some other cities?
A) They are becoming rather sensitive issues.
B) They are spreading panic in the soda industry.
C) They are reducing the incidence of sugar-induced diseases.
D) They are taking away lot of profit from the soda industry.
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
Popping food into the microwave for a couple of minutes may seem utterly harmless, but Europe’s stock of these quick-cooking ovens emit as much carbon as nearly 7 million cars, a new study has found. And the problem is growing. With costs falling and kitchen appliances becoming “status” items, owners are throwing away microwaves after an average of eight years. This is pushing sales of new microwaves which are expected to reach 135 million annually in the EU by the end of the decade.
A study by the University of Manchester calculated the emissions of CO2—the main greenhouse gas responsible for climate change—at every stage of microwaves, from manufacture to waste disposal. “It is electricity consumption by microwaves that has the biggest impact on the environment,” say the authors. The authors also calculate that the emissions from using 19 microwaves over a year are the same as those from using a car. According to the same study, efforts to reduce consumption should focus on improving consumer awareness and behaviour. For example, consumers could use appliances in a more efficient way by adjusting the time of cooking to the type of food.
However, David Reay, professor of carbon management, argues that, although microwaves use a great deal of energy, their emissions are minor compared to those from cars. In the UK alone, there are around 30 million cars. These cars emit more than all the microwaves in the EU. Backing this up, recent data show that passenger cars in the UK emitted 69 million tons of CO2 in 2015. This is 10 times the amount this new microwave oven study estimates for annual emissions for all the microwave ovens in the EU. Further, the energy used by microwaves is lower than any other from of cooking. Among common kitchen appliances used for cooking, microwaves are the most energy efficient, followed by a stove and finally a standard oven. Thus, rising microwave sales could be seen as a positive thing.
51. What is the finding of the new study?
A) Quick-cooking microwave ovens have become more popular.
B) The frequent use of microwaves may do harm to our health.
C) CO2 emissions constitute a major threat to the environment.
D) The use of microwaves emits more CO2 than people think.
52. Why are the sales of microwaves expected to rise?
A) They are becoming more affordable.
B) They have a shorter life cycle than other appliances.
C) They are getting much easier to operate.
D) They take less time to cook than other appliances.
53. What recommendation does the study by the University of Manchester make?
A) Cooking food of different varieties. B) Improving microwave users’ habits.
C) Eating less to cut energy consumption. D) Using microwave ovens less frequently.
54. What does Professor David Reay try to argue?
A) There are far more emissions from cars than from microwaves.
B) People should be persuaded into using passenger cars less often.
C) The UK produces less CO2 than many other countries in the EU.
D) More data are needed to show whether microwaves are harmful.
55. What does Professor David Reay think of the use of microwaves?
A) It will become less popular in the coming decades.
B) It makes everyday cooking much more convenient.
C) It plays a positive role in environmental protection.
D) It consumes more power than conventional cooking.
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.
中国汉族人的全名由姓和名组成。中文姓名的特点是，姓总是在前，名跟在其后。千百年来，父姓一直世代相传。然而，如今，孩子跟母亲姓并不罕见。一般来说，名有一个或两个汉字，通常承载父母对孩子的愿望。从孩子的名字可以推断出父母希望孩子成为代么样的人，或者期望他们过什么样的生活。父母非常重视给孩子取名，因为名字往往会伴随孩子一生。