12月大学英语四级考试模拟试卷及答案(3)

Part I Writing

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a composition on the topic: Graduate School or Work? You should write at least 120 words following the instructions given below in Chinese:

目前,越来越多的大学生本科毕业之后选择继续进入研究生院学习。一个重要的原因是工作不太好找。那么你打算在大学毕业之后选择找工作还是准备继续上研究生呢?请就这个问题谈谈你的打算和主要原因。

Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning)

Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer sheet1.

Why We Laugh

We start finding things laughable — or not laughable — early in life. An infant first smiles at approximately eight days of age. Many psychologists assume this is his first sign of simple pleasure— food, warmth and comfort. At six months or less, the infant laughs to express complex pleasures—such as the light of Mother's smiling face. Between the ages of six months and one year, the baby learns to laugh for essentially the same reasons he will laugh throughout his life, says Dr. Jacob Levine, associate professor of psychology at Yale University. Dr. Levine says that people laugh to express mastery over an anxiety. Picture what happens when a father throws his child into the air. The child will probably laugh—but not the first time. In spite of his enjoyment of "flying", he is too anxious to laugh. How does he know Daddy will catch him? Once the child realizes he will be caught, he is free to enjoy the game. But more importantly, says Dr. Levine, the child laughs because he has mastered an anxiety.

Adult laughter is more subtle, but we also laugh at what we used to fear. The feeling of achievement, or lack of it, remains a crucial factor. Giving a first dinner party is an anxious event for a new bride. Will the food be good? Will the guests get along? Will she be a good hostess? Will the knives and forks, cups and saucers be all right? All goes well; the party is over. Now she laughs freely. Her pleasure from having proved her success is the foundation for her pleasure in recalling the evening activities. She couldn't enjoy the second pleasure without the first, more important one—her mastery of anxiety.

Laughter is a social response triggered by cues. Scientists have not determined a brain center for laughter, and they are perplexed by patients with certain types of brain damage who go into laughing fits for no apparent reason. The rest of us require company, and a reason to laugh.

When we find ourselves alone in a humorous situation, our usual response is to smile. Isn't it hue that our highest compliment to a humorous book is to say that "it made me laugh out of loud"? Of course, we do occasionally laugh alone; but when we do, we are, in a sense, socializing with ourselves. We laugh at a memory, or at a part of ourselves.

Of course, we don't always need a joke to make us laugh. People who survive frightening situations, such as a fire or an emergency plane landing, frequently relate their story of the crisis with laughter. Part of the laughter express relief that everything is now all right. During a crisis, definitely, everyone mobilizes energy to deal with the potential problem. If the danger is avoided, we need to release that energy. Some people cry; others laugh.

When we are made the target of a joke, either on a personal or impersonal level, we are emotionally involved in it. Consequently, we won't be able to laugh.

Knowing that laughter blunts emotion, we can better understand why we sometimes laugh when nothing is funny. We laugh during moments of anxiety because we feel no mastery over the situation, claims Dr. Levine. He explains, "very often compulsive laughter is a learned response. If we laugh, it expresses good feelings and the fact that we are able to cope. When we're in a situation in which we can't cope, we laugh to reassure ourselves that we can!"

How often have we laughed at a funeral or upon hearing bad news? We laugh to deny an unendurable reality until we are strong enough to accept it. Laughter also breaks our tension. However, we may also be laughing to express relief that the tragedy didn't happen to us. We laugh before giving a big party, before delivering a speech, or while getting a traffic ticket, to say, "This isn't bothering me. See? I am laughing."

But if we sometimes laugh in sorrow, more often we laugh with joy. Laughter creates and strengthens our social

bonds. And the ability to share a laugh has guided many marriages through hard periods of adjustment.

How could we manage a life with the absence of laugh? According to Dr. Levine, we can measure our adjustment to the world by our capacity to laugh. When we are secure about our abilities, we can laugh at the defects of our own character. If we can laugh through our anxieties, we will not be overpowered by them.

The ability to laugh starts early, but it takes a lifetime to perfect. Says Dr. Grotjahn, "when social relationships are mastered, when the individual has mastered...a peaceful relationship with himself, then he has...the sense of humor." And then he can throw back his head and laugh. Both infants and adults laugh for the same reasons.

1. Giving your first dinner party is a source of laughter.

2. The cues that trigger laughter have been studied by scientists. 3. Ordinary people laugh a lot when they are alone.

4. If you escape from a dangerous situation you might cry.

5. When someone makes a joke about us we are able to share to joke. 6. Funerals are a good source of jokes.

7. It takes a lifetime to perfect the ability to laugh.

8. Laughter is a defense mechanism when reality is too hard or if we hear______.

9. A child of one and an old man laugh to show their______ of anxiety.

10. Laughter is a social glue that______ our relations.

Part IV Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth)

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.

Andrew Carnegie, known as the King of Steel, built the steel industry in the United States. And in this process, he became one of the (47) men in America. His success resulted in part from his ability to sell the product and in part from his policy of (48) during periods of economic decline, when most of his competitors were reducing their (49) .

Carnegie believed that individuals should progress through hard work, but he also felt strongly that the wealthy should use their (50) for the benefit of society. He opposed charity, (51) instead to provide educational opportunities that would allow others to (52) themselves.

Among his more (53) contributions to society are those that bear his name, including the Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, which has a library, a museum of fine arts, and a museum of national history. He also founded a school of technology that is (54) part of Carnegie-Mellon University. Other philanthropic gifts are the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to (55) understanding between nations, and the Carnegie Institute of Washington to fund scientific research.

There are (56) Americans who have been left untouched by Andrew Carnegie's generosity. His contributions of more than five million dollars established 2,500 libraries in small communities throughout the country and formed the nucleus of the public library system that we all enjoy today.

A) preferring

B) presently

C) wealthiest

D) previously

E) few

F) investments

G) fortune

H) expanding

I) noteworthy

J) promote

K) help

L) shrinking

M) opting

N) obstruct

O) many

Section B

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

Examinations have a longer history in China than in any other country, yet it is today an issue around in which controversy flourishes. At each stage of their school lives children are faced with exams: exams to enter junior middle school, senior middle school, vocational school, colleges and universities. As a result of having constantly to think of these hurdles facing them children find themselves under constant pressure, unable to take time off from studying exam-oriented subjects to relax with friends or to develop other interests. Within school the concentration on exam success leads to the neglect of courses which are not central to the examinations and a method of teaching and learning which emphasizes training the ability to do well in tests but neglects developing the ability to think creatively.

Despite such criticisms the examination system still has its defenders. Without it, they argue, how can we test students' abilities and evaluate the effectiveness of teachers and schools? They believe that they provide the only objective way of selecting students and reduce the exercise of unfair back-door practices to gain advantage for children on the basis of influence or corruption. Examinations are also felt to offer the impetus to students to master their subject in a way in which they otherwise might not. "While too much anxiety can be a bad thing, a little anxiety can stimulate students to learn better than if left without any test to pass," says Li Jie, a leading advocate of the value of testing. "I can remember things now which give me great pleasure which I doubt I would have learned at the time if I had not had to do so for the examinations."

57. Which of the following statements about examinations in China is correct?

[A] People can make money out of examinations.

[B] Only students of today have to take examinations.

[C] Students have to learn more about history than about any other subjects.

[D] People have different opinions concerning the value of examinations.

58. What is a possible result if students pay too much attention to examinations?

[A] Students neglect those exam-oriented subjects.

[B] Students are unable to relax with friends or to develop other interests.

[C] Teachers neglect the training of the students' ability to do well in tests.

[D] Students only pay attention to the development of their ability to think creatively.

59. Which of the following has NOT been mentioned as the advantage of examinations?

[A] Examinations are the only objective way of selecting students.

[B] Examinations are the only objective way to eliminate the problem of corruption.

[C] Examinations can tell us that too much anxiety can be a bad thing.

[D] Examinations can better stimulate students to study.

60. According to the passage, why are some people against exams?

[A] They are meaningless. [B] They will make students learn something useless.

[C] They are believed to cause stress for the students. [D] They are not related to the reality of life.

61. Which of the following is an acceptable summary of the organization of this passage?

[A] Discussing a problem in education. [B] Refuting a long held opinion.

[C] Persuading people to believe an idea. [D] Presenting a controversial issue and arguments from both sides.

Passage Two

An opinion poll was conducted in the early 1990's to ascertain the cultural attitudes of residents of five countries in Western Europe (Britain, France, Italy, Spain and Germany). One thousand people, forming a representative sample of the adult population, from each of the five participating countries were interviewed. The results of the poll suggest that though there is general agreement that culture can be defined as a distinct part of life, there are clear differences in the views of various European nations.

The poll assumed that literature, history, science, the arts, law, economics and so on would be regarded as significant components of culture by all participants but it set out to examine the areas which they deemed the most important forms of cultural expression. In addition, the poll required interviewees to indicate in a questionnaire the type of education they considered most appropriate for the modem world, the best channels of knowledge and the arts they most valued. The interviewees were also asked which European countries they found most attractive from a cultural point of view.

The results of the poll show interesting differences between the participating nations in terms of which components of culture they regard as most important forms of cultural expression. For the French and Italians, literature comes well at the top of the list. In contrast, mathematics is given priority by the British and economics/politics by the Germans. History occupies second place for the French, the Italians and Germans but is given very low priority by the British. For the Spanish these four areas are more or less equal, with mathematics having a slight edge.

It seems that members of each country in the survey have a common definition of culture but that definition varies from country to country. The variations tend to support the national stereotypes we have of one another. The French and Italians are literary peoples, the British scientific and the Germans practical and hard-working.

France has the distinction, according to the results of the poll, of being the country which provokes most interest from its British, Italian and German neighbors. Spanish interviewees indicated more interest in Italy than in France. The French also placed Italy first. Italy occupies second place for both the British and the Germans. It would seem, then, that the "literary" nations of France and Italy are more culturally exciting than the scientific British or the practical Germans!

The view of education in the five countries is particularly illuminating in view of the high cultural priority given to literature by both Italy and France because there is general agreement among the majority of the 5,000 interviewees that schooling should provide scientific and technical education rather than attempt to inculcate literary and artistic culture.

The residents of the five countries of the survey share the view that books are the best way of broadening knowledge. The French, Germans, and Italians identify radio and television as the second best means of improving knowledge but for the British and Spanish travel is in second place and conversation and discussion in third place. The poll confirms that, though there are broad similarities among the nations surveyed, the British, French,Italians, Spanish and Germans do not share identical cultural preferences and classifications. There are, it would seem, specific national characteristics.

62. What is the passage mainly about?

[A] It is about people's preference in spare time.

[B] It is about a poll interviewing people's cultural attitudes.

[C] It is about a poll investigating people's view toward their neighboring countries.

[D] It is about editorial criticizing cultures in different countries.

63. Which of the following is NOT included in the questions directed to the interviewees?

[A] Do you think literature, history, science, the arts, law, economics and so on should be regarded as significant components of culture?

[B] What kind of education is most appropriate for the modem world?

[C] What are the best channels of knowledge and the arts you most value?

[D] Which European countries are most attractive from a cultural point of view?

64. Which of the following statements about "the most important forms of cultural expression" is NOT correct?

[A] The French and Italians consider literature more important than other forms of cultural expression.

[B] Mathematics is considered most important by the British and the Germans.

[C] In the eyes of the French, the Italians and Germans, history is more important than that in the eyes of the British.

[D] For the Spanish, mathematics is somewhat more important than literature, history and economics/ politics.

65. Which country are British, Italian, Spanish and German interviewees most interested in?

[A] France. [B] Italy. [C] They do not share interests. [D] Neither of the two mentioned above.

66. Which of the following is regarded as the best way of broadening knowledge by most people in this interview?

[A] Conversation. [B] Books. [C] Travel. [D] Radio and television. 1. A 2. B 3. C 4. B 5. A 6. B 7. A

8. bad news 9. mastery 10.strengthens

Part IV Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth)

Section A

47. C 48. H 49. F 50. G 51. A 52. K 53. I 54. B 55. J 56. E

Section B

57. D 58. B 59. C 60. C 61. D

62. B 63. A 64. B 65. C 66. B