2016年6月大学英语四级听力题目答案及原文第2套
2016年6月四级真题(二)听力原文
College English Test Band FourPart ⅡListening ComprehensionSection ADirections：In this section, you will hear three news reports. At the end of each news report, you will hear two or three questions. Both the news report and the questions will 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.News Report OneYou probably think college students are experts at sleeping, but parties, preparations for tests, personal problems and general stress can rack a student’s sleep habits, which can be bad for the body and the mind. Texas Tech University is even offering a class called Improving Your Sleep Habits. People suffering from sleep-loss are at an increased risk from obesity, psychological problems and car crashes. Students who don’t get enough sleep have poorer attendance and lower grades. On top of all that, a new study published in the journal Learning and Memory finds you are probably better off sleeping than making last-minute preparations for a test. Two hundred college kids were taught to play some unfamiliar video games. Subjects who learned the games in the morninglost some skills when they played again 12 hours later, but they did much better after getting a good night’s sleep. So if you really want to do your job well,don’t forget to get some sleep.Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.1. What is the news report mainly about?2. What is the finding of the new study published in the journal Learning and Memory? News Report TwoLong queues, delayed flights and overcrowding at airports have become almost as much a topic for conversation in Britain as the traditional complaining about the weather. Meanwhile, there are complaints that poor service at London’s major airports is discouraging foreigners from doing business in Britain. Much of the criticism is directed at the British Airports Authority which runs seven major airports, including the three main ones serving London. The Competition Commission is now to investigate whether the British Airports Authority needs to sell off some of its assets.The idea is the competition between rival operators will lead to better service at airports. The British Airports Authority, recently bought by a Spanish company, says the root cause of the problem is not the ownership structure, but a lack of runway and terminal capacity, which is addressing through a program of heavy investment. Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.3. What is the Competition Commission going to investigate?4. What is the root cause of the poor service at British airports according to the British Airports Authority?News Report ThreeUnder the law in Massachusetts, tobacco companies have to measure the nicotine content of every type of cigarette and report the results. The Department of Public Health in Boston gathers and carefully examines the figures and then draws its conclusions. A hundred and sixteen brands were looked at for this study. Ninety-two were found to have higher nicotine yields than they did six years previously. The biggest increases tended to be in brands that were popular with young smokers. That worries the department because of the addictive nature of nicotine. Stand Glance, a professor of medicine in San Francisco, explains why. “The amount of nicotine that’s delivered in every cigaretteis 10 percent higher than it was six years ago,which means that it is easier to get hooked and harder to quit. The big tobacco companies have always insisted that they are frank with their customers about the dangers of smoking and provide them with enough detail to make an informed decision. However, none of them were prepared to comment on this study or discuss the detailed nicotine content of their products.”Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.5. What do tobacco companies have to do under the law in Massachusetts?6. What do we learn from the study by the Department of Public Health in Boston?7. What do we learn from the news report about the big tobacco companies?Section BDirections：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.Conversation OneM: And you know, one thing that I want to ask you.It’s great that you have had this experience of teaching in Indonesia and following up on what you just mentioned, what would you recommend for students who do not live in an English-speaking country and, you know, they want to learn. I don’t know about perfecting but they want at least to be able to communicate decently. How can they go about this?W: Yeah, it’s really hard. That’s the real struggle, because, right now,I do live in Holland, but I really don’t socialize much with Dutch people and my boyfriend’s English is so good that we just basically speak English all the time. So I have to make a real effort to practice. There is as much listening exposure as I want-all I have to do is turn on the TV.M: And reading also, right?W: Yeah, reading. There is plenty I can get to read and listen to, but for speaking, there really is no substitutefor trying to speak and use the language in a relaxed atmosphere.So, I think that’s really the challenge for people who live in a country where their target language isn’t spoken. And for that, gosh, what would I do? If I didn’thave people here, probably... try to find a club? In Sweden, they have a really cool system called Study Circles. Well, it’s not... it’s like a course. But really, you just have a course leader who is there, sort of, as a coach and guide and to help out, and you don’t get grades, and you go just because you want to learn.Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.8. Where does the woman live right now?9. What does the woman say is the real challenge?10. What does the woman suggest doing to learn to speak a foreign language?11. What does the woman say about the Study Circles in Sweden?Conversation TwoW: Okay, Nathan. So we are talking about driving and are there any rules or regulations that you like to change?M: I’m not sure I want to change rules,but I’d like the police to be stricter on the rules. Like if people jump the traffic lights, I don’t know why there isn’t a camera of the traffic lights to stop people doing that. Or like speeding.It’s very easy to put speed cameras in certain places.W: Maybe car manufacturers should have some responsibility in limiting the power of their engines. What’s the point in producing an engine that’s big and powerful enough to golike 200 kilometers an hour when the speed limit is only 100.M: Right, but do you know there are no speed limits in Germany?W: People there do drive responsibly though. Often people break laws simply because the laws are there. If the law isn’t there, people will drive within their ability range. When you’ve got speed limits,this creates situations that actually present dangers on the road.M: Do you think Germans have better education about personal responsibility when driving?W: Possibly. They also have very good cars.M: Right.W: If you’ve got a good car that can go at a high speed, then it’s really nice to do that. M: But still with care.W: So I think it’s the restrictions that create the danger sometimes.M: Okay.W: Obviously, when driving through a residential area or where there is a school, you’ve got to have speed policemen.M: Speed bumps.W: Yes, speed bumps. Those speed bumps that force you to slow down. I think they are a good idea.M: So you don’t think fining people is useful?W: Not really, because the police don’t have time to police every single driver.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12. What are the speakers mainly talking about?13. What does the woman think car manufacturers could do?14. What can we learn about people driving in Germany?15. What does the woman think of the police fining drivers?Section CDirections：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.Passage OneBehind the cash register at a store in downtown San Francisco, Sam Azar swiped his credit card to pay for a pack of cigarettes. The store’s card reader failed to scan the card’s magnetic strip. Azar tried again and again. No luck. As customers began to queue, Mr. Azar reached beneath the counterfor a black plastic bag. He wrapped one layer of the plastic around the card and tried again. Success! The sale was completed. “I don’t know how it works, it just does.” said Mr. Azar who learned the trick from another clerk. Verifone, the company that makes the store’s card reader would not confirm or denythat the plastic bag trick worked. But it’s one of many low-tech fixesfor high-tech failures that people without engineering degrees have discovered, often out of desperation, and shared. “Today’s shaky economy is likely to produce many more such tricks. In postwar Japan, the economy wasn’t doing so great, so you couldn’t get everyday-use items like household cleaners.” says Lisa Katayama, author of Urawaza, a book named after the Japanese term for “clever life style tips and tricks”. “So people look for ways to do with what they had.”Today, Americans are finding their own tips and tricks for fixing malfunctioning devices with supplies as simple as paper and glue. Some, like Mr. Azar’s plast ic bag are open to argument as to how they work or whether they really work at all. But many tech home remedies can be explained by a little science.Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.16. What happened when Sam Azar swiped his credit card to pay for his purchase?17. How did Sam Azar manage to complete the sale?18. What is today’s shaky economy likely to do?Passage TwoIf you are a graduate student, you may depend on your adviser for many things,including help with improving grades, acquiring financial support, forming an examining committee and getting letters of recommendation. If you’re a graduate teaching assistant, your adviser also maybe your boss. Academic departments vary in their procedures for assigning academic advisers to graduate students.In some departments, either the chairman or the director of graduate studiesserves for at leastthe first semester as a new student adviser.Then the student selects an adviserbased on shared academic interests. In other departments, a new student is assigned a faculty adviser based on some system of distribution of the departments’ advising load. Later, students may have the opportunity of selecting the adviser that they prefer.In any case, new graduate students can learn who their advisers or temporary advisers are by visiting or emailing the departmental office and asking for the information. Graduation requirements specify the number of credits you must earn, the minimum grade point average you must achieve and the distribution of credits you must have from among differing departments or fields of study. In addition, it is necessary to apply for graduation when you’re near the time that you will be completing your graduation requirements. Since graduation requirements vary among divisions of the university, you should consult the Bulletin of Information. You should also direct your questionsto your departmental office or academic adviser.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.19. What does the speaker say about the procedures for assigning academic advisers?20. How can new graduate students learn who their advisers are?21. What does the speaker say about graduation requirements?Passage ThreeJody Harbert is a diet and nutrition expert who travels around the stateto speak in middle and high schools.She primarily speaks to students in health classes, but sometimes the school will arrange for her to speak to several different groups of girls. Her biggest concern is the emphasis American culture places on thinness and the negative ways this affects girls today. Jody has a Ph.D. in nutrition, but more important, she has personal experience. Her mother talked her to diet when she was only eight years old. Jody has created several different presentations which she gives to different types of audiences, and she tries to establish an emotional connection with the students so that they will feel comfortable asking questions or talking to her privately. She shows them pictures and images from popular culture of beautiful women and explains how computers are used to make the women look even more thin and beautiful than they are in real life. She describes how the definition of beauty has changed over the years and even from culture to culture.She then talks about health issues and the physical damage that can occur as a result of dieting.Finally, she addresses self-respect and the notion that a person’s sense of beauty must include more than how much a person weighs. Sometimes, Jody feels that she succeeds in persuading some students to stop dieting. Other times, she feels that she fails. Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.22. Who does Jody Harbert primarily speak to?23. What is Jody Harbert’s biggest concern about American culture?24. Why does Jody Harbert show pictures of beautiful women to her audiences?25. What is Jody Harbert’s main purpose in giving her speeches?This is the end of listening comprehension.。
2016年6月大学英语四级第2套真题及答案
2016年6月大学英语四级真题（第2套)Part I WritingDirections:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a letter to express your thanks to one of your school teachers upon entering college. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.Part ⅡListening ComprehensionSection ADirections: In this section, you will hear three news reports. At the end of each news report, you will hear two or three questions. Both the news report and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.1. A)How college students can improve their sleep habits.B)Why sufficient sleep is important for college students.C)Why college students are more likely to have stress problems.D)How college students can handle their psychological problems.2. A)It is not easy to improve one’s sleep habits.B)It is not good for students to play video games.C)Students who are better prepared generally get higher scores in examinations.D)Making last-minute preparations for tests may be less effective than sleeping.Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.3. A)Whether more airports should be built around London.B)Whether adequate investment is being made to improve airport facilities.C)Whether the British Airports Authority should sell off some of its assets.D)Whether the Spanish company could offer better service.4. A)Inefficient management. B)Poor ownership structure.C)Lack of innovation and competition. D)Lack of runway and terminal capacity. Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.5. A)Report the nicotine content of their cigarettes.B)Set a limit to the production of their cigarettes.C)Take steps to reduce nicotine in their products.D)Study the effects of nicotine on young smokers.6. A)The biggest increase in nicotine content tended to be in brands young smokers like.B)Big tobacco companies were frank with their customers about the hazards of smoking.C)Brands which contain higher nicotine content were found to be much more popular.D)Tobacco companies refused to discuss the detailed nicotine content of their products.7. A)They promised to reduce the nicotine content in cigarettes.B)They have not fully realized the harmful effect of nicotine.C)They were not prepared to comment on the cigarette study.D)They will pay more attention to the quality of their products.Section BDirections: 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)Indonesia. B)Holland. C)Sweden. D)England.9.A)Getting a coach who can offer real help. B)Talking with her boyfriend in Dutch.C)Learning a language where it is not spoken . D)Acquiring the necessary ability to socialize .10. A)Listening language programs on the radio. B)Trying to speak it as much as one can.C)Making friends with native speakers. D)Practicing reading aloud as often as possible.11.A)It creates an environment for socializing.B)It offers various courses with credit points.C)It trains young people’s leadership abilities.D)It provides opportunities for language practice.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12. A)The impact of engine design on rode safety. B)The role policemen play in traffic safety.C)A sense of freedom driving gives. D)Rules and regulations for driving.13. A)Make cars with automatic control. B)Make cars that have better brakes.C)Make cars that are less powerful. D)Make cars with higher standards.14. A)They tend to drive responsibly. B)They like to go at high speed.C)They keep within speed limits. D)They follow traffic rules closely.15.A)It is a bad idea. B)It is not useful.C)It is as effective as speed bumps . D)It should be combined with education.Section CDirections: 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)The card got damaged . B)The card was found invalid.C)The card reader failed to do the scanning. D)The card reader broke down unexpectedly.17. A)By converting the credit card with a layer of plastic.B)By calling the credit card company for confirmation.C)By seeking help from the card reader maker Verifone.D)By typing the credit card number into the cash register.18.A)Affect the sales of high-tech appliances.B)Change the life style of many Americans.C)Give birth to many new technological inventions.D)Produce many low-tech fixes for high-tech failures.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.19. A)They are set by the dean of the graduate school.B)They are determined by the advising board.C)They leave much room for improvement.D)They vary among different departments.20. A)By consulting the examining committee . B)By reading the Bulletin of Information.C)By contacting the departmental office. D)By visiting the university’s website.21. A)They specify the number of credits students must earn.B)They are harder to meet than those for undergraduates.C)They have to be approved by the examining committee.D)They are the same among various divisions of the university.Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.22. A)Students majoring in nutrition. B)Students in health classes.C)Ph.D. candidates in dieting. D)Middle and high school teachers.23. A)Its overestimate of the effect of dieting. B)Its mistaken conception of nutrition.C)Its changing criteria for beauty. D)Its overemphasis on thinness.24. A)To illustrate her point that beauty is but skin deep.B)To demonstrate the magic effect of dieting on women.C)To explain how computer images can be misleading.D)To prove that technology has impacted our culture.25. A)To persuade girls to stop dieting.B)To promote her own concept of beauty.C)To establish an emotional connection with students.D)To help students rid themselves of bad living habits.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 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.Contrary to popular belief, older people generally do not want to live with their children.Moreover, most adult children 26 every bit as much care and support to their aging parentsas wa s the case in the “good old days”, and most older people do not feel 27 .About 80% of people 65years and older have living children, and about 90% of them have 28 contact with their children. About 75% of elderly parents who don’t go to nursing homes live within 30 minutes of at least one of their children.However, 29 having contact with children does not guarantee happiness in old age. In fact, some research has found that people who are most involved with their families have the lowest spirits. This research may be 30 , however, as ill health often makes older people more 31 and thereby increases contact with family members. So it is more likely that poor health, not just family involvement, 32 spirits.Increasingly, researchers have begun to look at the quality of relationships, rather than at the frequency of contact, between the elderly and their children. If parents and children share interests and values and agree on childrearing practices and religious 33 , they are likely to enjoy each other’s company. Disagreements on such matters can 34 cause problems. If parents are agreed by their daughter’s divorce, dislike her new husband, and disapprove of how she is raising their grandchildren, 35 are that they are not going to enjoy her visits.Section 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 paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilization?[A] For many years I have studied global agricultural, population, environmental and economictrends and their interactions. The combined effects of those trends and the political tensions they generate point to the breakdown of governments and societies. Yet I, too, have resisted the idea that food shortages could bring down not only individual governments but also our global civilization.[B] I can no longer ignore that risk. Our continuing failure to deal with the environmental declinesthat are undermining the world food economy forces me to conclude that such a collapse is possible.[C] As demand for food rises faster than supplies are growing, the resulting food-price inflationputs severe stress on the governments of many countries. Unable to buy grain or grow their own, hungry people take to the streets. Indeed, even before the steep climb in grain prices in 2008, the number of failing states was expanding. If the food situation continues to worsen, entire nations will break down at an ever increasing rate. In the 20th century the main threat to international security was superpower conflict; today it is failing states.[D] States fail when national governments can no longer provide personal security, food securityand basic social services such as education and health care. When governments lose theircontrol on power, law and order begin to disintegrate. After a point, countries can become so dangerous that food relief workers are no longer safe and their programs are halted. Failing states are of international concern because they are a source of terrorists, drugs, weapons and refugees(难民), threatening political stability everywhere.[E] The surge in world grain prices in 2007 and 2008—and the threat they pose to foodsecurity——has a different, more troubling quality than the increases of the past. During the second half of the 20th century, grain prices rose dramatically several times. In 1972, for instance, the Soviets, recognizing their poor harvest early, quietly cornered the world wheat market. As a result, wheat prices elsewhere more than doubled, pulling rice and corn prices up with them. But this and other price shocks were event-driven——drought in the Soviet Union, crop-shrinking heat in the U.S. Corn Belt. And the rises were short-lived: prices typically returned to normal with the next harvest.[F] In contrast, the recent surge in world grain prices is trend-driven, making it unlikely to reversewithout a reversal in the trends themselves. On the demand side, those trends include the ongoing addition of more than 70 million people a year, a growing number of people wanting to move up the food chain to consume highly grain-intensive meat products, and the massive diversion(转向) of U.S. grain to the production of bio-fuel.[G] As incomes rise among low-income consumers, the potential for further grain consumption ishuge. But that potential pales beside the never-ending demand for crop-based fuels. A fourth of this year’s U.S. grain harvest will go to fuel cars.[H] What about supply? The three environmental trends——the shortage of fresh water, the lossof topsoil and the rising temperatures——are making it increasingly hard to expand the world’s grain supply fast enough to keep up with demand. Of all those trends, however, the spread of water shortages poses the most immediate threat. The biggest challenge here is irrigation, which consumes 70% the world’s fresh water. Millions of irrigation wells in many countries are now pumping water out of underground sources faster than rainfall can refill them. The result is falling water tables(地下水位) in countries with half the world’s people, including the three big grain producers——China, India and the U.S.[I] As water tables have fallen and irrigation wells have gone dry, China’s wheat crop, the world’slargest, has declined by 8% since it peaked at 123 million tons in 1997. But water shortages are even more worrying in India. Millions of irrigation wells have significantly lowered water tables in almost every state.[J] As the world’s food security falls to pieces, individual countries acting in their own self-interest are actually worsening the troubles of many. The trend began in 2007, when leading wheat-exporting countries such as Russia and Argentina limited or banned their exports, in hopes of increasing local food supplies and thereby bringing down domestic food prices.Vietnam banned its exports for several months for the same reason. Such moves may eliminate the fears of those living in the exporting countries, but they are creating panic in importing countries that must rely on what is then left for export.[K] In response to those restrictions, grain-importing countries are trying to nail down long-term trade agreements that would lock up future grain supplies. Food-import anxiety is even leading to new efforts by food-importing countries to buy or lease farmland in other countries. In spite of such temporary measures, soaring food prices and spreading hunger in many other countries are beginning to break down the social order.[L] Since the current world food shortage is trend-driven, the environmental trends that cause it must be reversed. We must cut carbon emissions by 80% from their 2006 levels by 2020, stabilize the world’s p opulation at eight billion by 2040, completely remove poverty, and restore forests and soils. There is nothing new about the four objectives. Indeed, we have made substantial progress in some parts of the world on at least one of these——the distribution of family-planning services and the associated shift to smaller families.[M]For many in the development community, the four objectives were seen as positive, promoting development as long as they did not cost too much. Others saw them as politically correct and morally appropriate. Now a third and far more significant motivation presents itself: meeting these goals may be necessary to prevent the collapse of our civilization. Yet the cost we project for saving civilization would amount to less than $200 billion a year, 1/6 of current global military spending. In effect, our plan is the new security budget.36.The more recent steep climb in grain prices partly results from the fact that more and morepeople want to consume meat products.37. Social order is breaking down in many countries because of food shortages.38. Rather than superpower conflict, countries unable to cope with food shortages now constitutethe main threat to world security.39. Some parts of the world have seen successful implementation of family planning.40. The author has come to agree that food shortages could ultimately lead to the collapse of worldcivilization.41. Increasing water shortages prove to be the biggest obstacle to boosting the world’s grainproduction.42. The cost for sa ving our civilization would be considerably less than the world’s currentmilitary spending.43. To lower domestic food prices, some countries limited or stopped their grain exports.44. Environmental problems must be solved to ease the current global food shortage.45. A quarter of this year’s American grain harvest will be used to produce bio-fuel for cars. Section CDirections: 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 OneQuestions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.Declining mental function is often seen as a problem of old age, but certain aspects of brain function actually begin their decline in young adulthood, a new study suggests.The study, which followed more than 2,000 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 60, found that certain mental functions—including measures of abstract reasoning, mental speed and puzzle-solving—started to dull as early as age 27.Dips in memory, meanwhile, generally became apparent around age 37.On the other hand, indicators of a person’s accumulated knowledge—like performance on tests of vocabulary and general knowledge—kept improving with age, according to findings published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging.The results do not mean that young adults need to start worrying about their memories. Mostpeople’s minds function at a high level even in their later years, according to researcher Timothy Salthouse.“These patterns suggest that so me types of mental flexibility decrease relatively early in adulthood, but that the amount of knowledge one has, and the effectiveness of integrating it with one’s abilities, may increase throughout all of adulthood if there are no dise ases,” Salthouse sai d in a news release.The study included healthy, educated adults who took standard tests of memory, reasoning and perception at the outset and at some point over the next seven years.The tests are designed to detect subtle (细微的) changes in mental function, and involve solving puzzles, recalling words and details from stories, and identifying patterns in collections of letters and symbols.In general, Salthouse and his colleagues found, certain aspects of cognition (认知能力) generally started to decline in the late 20s to 30s.The findings shed light on normal age-related changes in mental function, which could aid in understanding the process of dementia (痴呆), according to the researchers.“By following individuals over time,” Salthouse said, “we gain insight in cognitio n changes, and may possibly discover ways to slow the rate of decline.”The researchers are currently analyzing the study participants’ health and lifestyle to see which factors might influence age-related cognitive changes.46. What is the common view of mental function?A)It varies from person to person. B)It weakens in one’s later years.C)It gradually expands with age. D)It indicates one’s health condition.47. What does the new study find about mental functions?A)Some diseases inevitably lead to their decline.B)They reach a peak at the age of 20 for most people.C)They are closely related to physical and mental exercise.D)Some of them begin to decline when people are still young.48. What does Timothy Salthouse say about people’s mi nds in most cases?A)They tend to decline in people’s later years.B)Their flexibility determines one’s abilities.C)They function quite well even in old age.D)Their functioning is still a puzzle to be solved.49. Although people’s minds may function less flexibly as th ey age, they _____.A)may be better at solving puzzlesB)can memorize things with more easeC)may have greater facility in abstract reasoningD)can put what they have learnt into more effective use50. According to Salthouse, their study may help us_____.A)find ways to slow down our mental declineB)find ways to boost our memoriesC)understand the complex process of mental functioningD)understand the relation between physical and mental healthPassage TwoQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.The most important thing in the news last week was the rising discussion in Nashville about the educational needs of children. The shorthand(简写)educators use for this is “pre-K”—meaning instruction before kindergarten—and the big idea is to prepare 4-year-olds and even younger kids to be ready to succeed on their K-12 journey.But it gets complicated. The concept has multiple forms, and scholars and policymakers argue about the shape, scope and cost of the ideal program.The federal Head Start program, launched 50 years ago, has served more than 30 million children. It was based on concepts developed at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College by Susan Gray, the legendary pioneer in early childhood education research.A new Peabody study of the Tennessee V oluntary Pre-K program reports that pre-K works, but the gains are not sustained through the third grade. It seems to me this highlights quality issues in elementary schools more than pre-K, and indicates longer-term success must connect pre-K with all the other issues related to educating a child.Pre-K is controversial. Some critics say it is a luxury and shouldn’t be free to families able to pay. Pre-K advocates insist it is proven and will succeed if integrated with the rest of the child’s schooling. I lean toward the latter view.This is, in any case, the right conversation to be having now as Mayor Megan Barry takes office. She was the first candidate to speak out for strong pre-K programming. The important thing is for all of us to keep in mind the real goal and the longer, bigger picture.The weight of the evidence is on the side of pre-K that early intervention (干预)works. What government has not yet found is the political will to put that understanding into full practice with a sequence of smart schooling that provides the early foundation.For this purpose, our schools need both the talent and the organization to educate each child who arrives at the schoolhouse door. Some show up ready, but many do not at this critical time when young brains are developing rapidly.51.What does the author say about pre-kindergarten education?A)It should cater to the needs of individual children.B)It is essential to a person’s future academic success.C)Scholars and policymakers have different opinions about it.D)Parents regard it as the first phase of children’s development.52.What does the new Peabody study find?A)Pre-K achievements usually do not last long.B)The third grade marks a new phase of learning.C)The third grade is critical to children’s development.D)Quality has not been the top concern of pre-K programs.53.When does the author think pre-K works the best?A)When it is accessible to kids of all families.B)When it is made part of kids’ education.C)When it is no longer considered a luxury.D)When it is made fun and enjoyable to kids.54.What do we learn about Mayor Megan Barry?A)She knows the real goal of education. B)She is a mayor of insight and vision.C)She has once run a pre-K program. D)She is a firm supporter of pre-K.55.What does the author thin k is critical to kids’ education?A)Teaching method. B)Kids’ interest.C)Early intervention. D)Parents’ involvement.Part IV Translation Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.在山东省潍坊市，风筝不仅仅是玩具，而且还是这座城市文化的标志。
2016年6月四级真题(二)听力原文
College English Test Band FourPart ⅡListening ComprehensionSection ADirections：In this section, you will hear three news reports. At the end of each news report, you will hear two or three questions. Both the news report and the questions will 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.News Report OneYou probably think college students are experts at sleeping, but parties, preparations for tests, personal problems and general stress can rack a student’s sleep habits, which can be bad for the body and the mind. Texas Tech University is even offering a class called Improving Your Sleep Habits. People suffering from sleep-loss are at an increased risk from obesity, psychological problems and car crashes. Students who don’t get enough sleep have poorer attendance and lower grades. On top of all that, a new study published in the journal Learning and Memory finds you are probably better off sleeping than making last-minute preparations for a test. Two hundred college kids were taught to play some unfamiliar video games. Subjects who learned the games in the morninglost some skills when they played again 12 hours later, but they did much better after getting a good night’s sleep. So if you really want to do your job well,don’t forget to get some sleep.Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.1. What is the news report mainly about?2. What is the finding of the new study published in the journal Learning and Memory? News Report TwoLong queues, delayed flights and overcrowding at airports have become almost as much a topic for conversation in Britain as the traditional complaining about the weather. Meanwhile, there are complaints that poor service at London’s major airports is discouraging foreigners from doing business in Britain. Much of the criticism is directed at the British Airports Authority which runs seven major airports, including the three main ones serving London. The Competition Commission is now to investigate whether the British Airports Authority needs to sell off some of its assets.The idea is the competition between rival operators will lead to better service at airports. The British Airports Authority, recently bought by a Spanish company, says the root cause of the problem is not the ownership structure, but a lack of runway and terminal capacity, which is addressing through a program of heavy investment. Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.3. What is the Competition Commission going to investigate?4. What is the root cause of the poor service at British airports according to the British Airports Authority?News Report ThreeUnder the law in Massachusetts, tobacco companies have to measure the nicotine content of every type of cigarette and report the results. The Department of Public Health in Boston gathers and carefully examines the figures and then draws its conclusions. A hundred and sixteen brands were looked at for this study. Ninety-two were found to have higher nicotine yields than they did six years previously. The biggest increases tended to be in brands that were popular with young smokers. That worries the department because of the addictive nature of nicotine. Stand Glance, a professor of medicine in San Francisco, explains why. “The amount of nicotine that’s delivered in every cigaretteis 10 percent higher than it was six years ago,which means that it is easier to get hooked and harder to quit. The big tobacco companies have always insisted that they are frank with their customers about the dangers of smoking and provide them with enough detail to make an informed decision. However, none of them were prepared to comment on this study or discuss the detailed nicotine content of their products.”Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.5. What do tobacco companies have to do under the law in Massachusetts?6. What do we learn from the study by the Department of Public Health in Boston?7. What do we learn from the news report about the big tobacco companies?Section BDirections：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.Conversation OneM: And you know, one thing that I want to ask you.It’s great that you have had this experience of teaching in Indonesia and following up on what you just mentioned, what would you recommend for students who do not live in an English-speaking country and, you know, they want to learn. I don’t know about perfecting but they want at least to be able to communicate decently. How can they go about this?W: Yeah, it’s really hard. That’s the real struggle, because, right now,I do live in Holland, but I really don’t socialize much with Dutch people and my boyfriend’s English is so good that we just basically speak English all the time. So I have to make a real effort to practice. There is as much listening exposure as I want-all I have to do is turn on the TV.M: And reading also, right?W: Yeah, reading. There is plenty I can get to read and listen to, but for speaking, there really is no substitutefor trying to speak and use the language in a relaxed atmosphere.So, I think that’s really the challenge for people who live in a country where their target language isn’t spoken. And for that, gosh, what would I do? If I didn’thave people here, probably... try to find a club? In Sweden, they have a really cool system called Study Circles. Well, it’s not... it’s like a course. But really, you just have a course leader who is there, sort of, as a coach and guide and to help out, and you don’t get grades, and you go just because you want to learn.Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.8. Where does the woman live right now?9. What does the woman say is the real challenge?10. What does the woman suggest doing to learn to speak a foreign language?11. What does the woman say about the Study Circles in Sweden?Conversation TwoW: Okay, Nathan. So we are talking about driving and are there any rules or regulations that you like to change?M: I’m not sure I want to change rules,but I’d like the police to be stricter on the rules. Like if people jump the traffic lights, I don’t know why there isn’t a camera of the traffic lights to stop people doing that. Or like speeding.It’s very easy to put speed cameras in certain places.W: Maybe car manufacturers should have some responsibility in limiting the power of their engines. What’s the point in producing an engine that’s big and powerful enough to golike 200 kilometers an hour when the speed limit is only 100.M: Right, but do you know there are no speed limits in Germany?W: People there do drive responsibly though. Often people break laws simply because the laws are there. If the law isn’t there, people will drive within their ability range. When you’ve got speed limits,this creates situations that actually present dangers on the road.M: Do you think Germans have better education about personal responsibility when driving?W: Possibly. They also have very good cars.M: Right.W: If you’ve got a good car that can go at a high speed, then it’s really nice to do that. M: But still with care.W: So I think it’s the restrictions that create the danger sometimes.M: Okay.W: Obviously, when driving through a residential area or where there is a school, you’ve got to have speed policemen.M: Speed bumps.W: Yes, speed bumps. Those speed bumps that force you to slow down. I think they are a good idea.M: So you don’t think fining people is useful?W: Not really, because the police don’t have time to police every single driver.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12. What are the speakers mainly talking about?13. What does the woman think car manufacturers could do?14. What can we learn about people driving in Germany?15. What does the woman think of the police fining drivers?Section CDirections：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.Passage OneBehind the cash register at a store in downtown San Francisco, Sam Azar swiped his credit card to pay for a pack of cigarettes. The store’s card reader failed to scan the card’s magnetic strip. Azar tried again and again. No luck. As customers began to queue, Mr. Azar reached beneath the counterfor a black plastic bag. He wrapped one layer of the plastic around the card and tried again. Success! The sale was completed. “I don’t know how it works, it just does.” said Mr. Azar who learned the trick from another clerk. Verifone, the company that makes the store’s card reader would not confirm or denythat the plastic bag trick worked. But it’s one of many low-tech fixesfor high-tech failures that people without engineering degrees have discovered, often out of desperation, and shared. “Today’s shaky economy is likely to produce many more such tricks. In postwar Japan, the economy wasn’t doing so great, so you couldn’t get everyday-use items like household cleaners.” says Lisa Katayama, author of Urawaza, a book named after the Japanese term for “clever life style tips and tricks”. “So people look for ways to do with what they had.”Today, Americans are finding their own tips and tricks for fixing malfunctioning devices with supplies as simple as paper and glue. Some, like Mr. Azar’s plast ic bag are open to argument as to how they work or whether they really work at all. But many tech home remedies can be explained by a little science.Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.16. What happened when Sam Azar swiped his credit card to pay for his purchase?17. How did Sam Azar manage to complete the sale?18. What is today’s shaky economy likely to do?Passage TwoIf you are a graduate student, you may depend on your adviser for many things,including help with improving grades, acquiring financial support, forming an examining committee and getting letters of recommendation. If you’re a graduate teaching assistant, your adviser also maybe your boss. Academic departments vary in their procedures for assigning academic advisers to graduate students.In some departments, either the chairman or the director of graduate studiesserves for at leastthe first semester as a new student adviser.Then the student selects an adviserbased on shared academic interests. In other departments, a new student is assigned a faculty adviser based on some system of distribution of the departments’ advising load. Later, students may have the opportunity of selecting the adviser that they prefer.In any case, new graduate students can learn who their advisers or temporary advisers are by visiting or emailing the departmental office and asking for the information. Graduation requirements specify the number of credits you must earn, the minimum grade point average you must achieve and the distribution of credits you must have from among differing departments or fields of study. In addition, it is necessary to apply for graduation when you’re near the time that you will be completing your graduation requirements. Since graduation requirements vary among divisions of the university, you should consult the Bulletin of Information. You should also direct your questionsto your departmental office or academic adviser.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.19. What does the speaker say about the procedures for assigning academic advisers?20. How can new graduate students learn who their advisers are?21. What does the speaker say about graduation requirements?Passage ThreeJody Harbert is a diet and nutrition expert who travels around the stateto speak in middle and high schools.She primarily speaks to students in health classes, but sometimes the school will arrange for her to speak to several different groups of girls. Her biggest concern is the emphasis American culture places on thinness and the negative ways this affects girls today. Jody has a Ph.D. in nutrition, but more important, she has personal experience. Her mother talked her to diet when she was only eight years old. Jody has created several different presentations which she gives to different types of audiences, and she tries to establish an emotional connection with the students so that they will feel comfortable asking questions or talking to her privately. She shows them pictures and images from popular culture of beautiful women and explains how computers are used to make the women look even more thin and beautiful than they are in real life. She describes how the definition of beauty has changed over the years and even from culture to culture.She then talks about health issues and the physical damage that can occur as a result of dieting.Finally, she addresses self-respect and the notion that a person’s sense of beauty must include more than how much a person weighs. Sometimes, Jody feels that she succeeds in persuading some students to stop dieting. Other times, she feels that she fails. Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.22. Who does Jody Harbert primarily speak to?23. What is Jody Harbert’s biggest concern about American culture?24. Why does Jody Harbert show pictures of beautiful women to her audiences?25. What is Jody Harbert’s main purpose in giving her speeches?This is the end of listening comprehension.。
2016年6月英语四级听力原文第二套
2016年6月英语四级听力原文第二套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 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 2 with a single line through the centre.1. M: I think there's much left in the fridge.W: I know. We should have gone shopping last night.Q: What do we learn from the conversation?2. M: Do you think Kathy should see a dentist right away?W: She doesn't have to. It's just a baby tooth.Q: What does the woman mean?3. W: What are you going to do this summer vacation?M: I've no idea. I'm thinking of taking a short holiday abroad.Q: Where will the man probably go this summer?4. W: Did you book the meeting room for the presentation?M: Yes, I did. It is at 2 pm on the 20th of this month.Q: What are the speakers talking about?5. M: I missed the lecture this afternoon. Can I borrow your notes? W: Sure. Provide your email and I will send them to you later.Q: What will the woman do for the man?6. W: I hear you went to the empty quarter in Saudi Arabia.M: Yes, it was such a fantastic experience.Q: What do we learn from the conversation?7. M: The office block has been sold, so we'll have to find another one.W: It is a great shame. We have been here for so many years.Q: What does the woman mean?8. M: Is there anything I can do to help you?W: I'm afraid not, thanks. I've nearly finished it.Q: What can we infer from the conversation?Conversation OneW: I'm so glad to see you after all these years.M: Thank you for helping me find your place. It used to be a pet shop, didn't it?W: Yes, but I thought it was about time I started my own business, so I bought it five years ago.M: And how's everything going?W: I can't complain, but I'm thinking of moving to a larger place. M: Any particular reason?W: I can't keep up with the demand. In the beginning, I mainly sold dogs and cats, but now more people want exotic pets like lizards and snakes and things like that. But that's not all. My pet grooming service has really taken off, and the place is just too small for everything I'm doing now.M: That sounds like a good reason to move.W: Yes, but I've run into my first problem already.M: What's that?W: There's no convenient place near here that I can move into. I'm looking for somewhere within walking distance so I can keep my customers. I'll have to put up with the present place for a while longer.M: Well, I'm sure you'll find something sooner or later.W: I certainly hope so.Questions 9 to 12 are based on the conversation you have just heard.9. How did the woman start her business?10. How does the woman feel about her present place?11. Why does the woman want to move?12. What problem has the woman run into?Conversation TwoM: Good morning. May I help you?W: Good Morning. I'm here to apply for the customer service position.M: Are you the person who phoned about the job?W: That's right. I phoned a couple of days ago and was told to come in and fill out an application form.M: Yes, I remember now. Please take a seat. First of all, how do you like working with people?W: I enjoy working with people. I've been working in a bookshop for the past two years, and my job involves talking to customers allthe time.M: What do you find most difficult when you deal with people? W: Well, I must admit I sometimes find it hard to deal with people who don't know what they want. They keep asking questions and can't make their minds up. Sometimes it can be quite frustrating. M: Yes, I know exactly what you mean. Last month, a customer came in looking for a birthday present for his wife. He walked round the shop for hour after hour and just couldn't decide on anything.W: Oh dear. That's exactly what I'm afraid of.M: On the other hand, there are customers who really know what they want and are quite aggressive. How would you handle that? W: I think if customers are aggressive, it is probably because they are not satisfied with the service. In such cases, I would try my best to find out what their problems are and then solve them.M: What kind of salary are you expecting?W: I expect to start at $6 per hour. I'm now earning $5 an hour, but that's just a part-time job.M: I see. You will have to work extra hours on Saturdays and Sundays sometimes. Is that a problem?W: No, not at all. I'm used to working weekends.Questions 13 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.13. What is the woman's reason for coming?14. What is the most difficult thing for the woman in dealing with people?15. How does the woman think an aggressive customer can be handled?Section BDirections: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some 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 2 with a single line through the centre.Passage OneLast year, Marion County raised prices everyone had to pay for services such as ordering divorce papers or getting a wedding license by about $11. In one case, the cost to file a business suit jumped from $53 to $300. Those increases in court costs are now paying for badly-needed repairs and improvements at Marion County's six courthouses, said Perry Township's Robin Stethem. "We desperately needed to do something", said Stethem, a 30-year veteran of the county court system. "We had air conditioners hanging out of the windows."Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.16. Why were the prices raised last year in Marion County?17. How much did the filing cost for a business suit increase?18. What was in poor condition at the Marion County's six courthouses?Passage TwoMost economists admit that one measure of a country's success is its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). GDP is the most commonly used measure of output (产出) or production. It is the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given time period (usually a year). However, there are some limitations with GDP as a measure of the well-being of a country. It does not reflect the amounts of leisure, environmental quality and personal freedom. Moreover, GDP includes mostly material goods rather than non-material goods like friendship, love and the enjoyment of leisure time. All these are important in providing a true measure of the standard of living and well-being of people in a country. Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.19. How is GDP commonly used?20. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a limitation of GDP as a measure of the well-being of a country?21. According to the speaker, what is important in providing a true measure of the standard of living and well-being of people in a country?Passage ThreeIf you think that everything went well for Japan after the war, you have a lot to learn. The people's survival day-to-day needs were threatened by a poor economy. This troubled period gave rise to the Japanese way of thinking "Mend it and use it." Everything and anything was valuable and would be rescued or retrieved if at all possible. Even if it could not be used by the family, it was given to someone who could. It was their moral responsibility. Thisguideline was followed by hundreds of thousands of people over the years during the early part of my life in Japan.Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage y ou have just heard.22. What was Japan's economy like after the war?23. What did the Japanese think of anything they owned?24. What did the Japanese do if they could not use something?25. How did the Japanese think of their responsibility during the hard time?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 its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 26 to 30 with the exact words you heard. For blanks numbered from 31 to 35 you are required to fill in the missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the main points in your own words. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.What is sight-reading? It's completely different from what we normally think of when we think of reading. After all, if we're sight-reading, we are playing an instrument, not (26)________ . We're using our eyes and our brains in a (27)________ different way, and we're doing something much more difficult than justmerely translating those letters and (28)________ into sounds and/or meanings. We're taking advantage of the strong wiring of our brains to process some (29)________ while playing an instrument. When you hear people talking about how a musician has a lot of experience, or "that's a great musician", that musician often has (30)________ a lot of experience in sight-reading. Blank 26:Blank 27:Blank 28:Blank 29:Blank 30:Questions 31 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.31. What is different when we sight-read from when we normally read?32. What does sight-reading involve?33. According to the passage, what do great musicians often have?34. Is it common for musicians to sight-read?35. What does the strong wiring of our brains enables us to do when sight-reading?听力原文如下：Section A1. M: I think there's much left in the fridge.W: I know. We should have gone shopping last night.Q: What do we learn from the conversation?2. M: Do you think Kathy should see a dentist right away?W: She doesn't have to. It's just a baby tooth.Q: What does the woman mean?3. W: What are you going to do this summer vacation?M: I've no idea. I'm thinking of taking a short holiday abroad.Q: Where will the man probably go this summer?4. W: Did you book the meeting room for the presentation?M: Yes, I did. It's at 2 pm on the 20th of this month.Q: What are the speakers talking about?5. M: I missed the lecture this afternoon. Can I borrow your notes? W: Sure. Provide your email and I'll send them to you later.Q: What will the woman do for the man?6. W: I hear you went to the Empty Quarter in Saudi Arabia.M: Yes, it was such a fantastic experience.Q: What do we learn from the conversation?7. M: The office block has been sold, so we'll have to find another one.W: It is a great shame. We have been here for so many years.Q: What does the woman mean?8. M: Is there anything I can do to help you?W: I'm afraid not, thanks. I've nearly finished it.Q: What can we infer from the conversation?Conversation OneW: I'm so glad to see you after all these years.M: Thank you for helping me find your place. It used to be a pet shop, didn't it?W: Yes, but I thought it was about time I started my own business, so I bought it five years ago.M: And how's everything going?W: I can't complain, but I'm thinking of moving to a larger place. M: Any particular reason?W: I can't keep up with the demand. In the beginning, I mainly sold dogs and cats, but now more people want exotic pets like lizards and snakes and things like that. But that's not all. My pet grooming service has really taken off, and the place is just too small for everything I'm doing now.M: That sounds like a good reason to move.W: Yes, but I've run into my first problem already.M: What's that?W: There's no convenient place near here that I can move into. I'm looking for somewhere within walking distance so I can keep my customers. I'll have to put up with the present place for a while longer.M: Well, I'm sure you'll find something sooner or later.W: I certainly hope so.Questions 9 to 12 are based on the conversation you have just heard.9. How did the woman start her business?W: Yes, but I thought it was about time I started my own business, so I bought it five years ago.10. How does the woman feel about her present place?W: I can't complain, but I'm thinking of moving to a larger place.11. Why does the woman want to move?W: I can't keep up with the demand. In the beginning, I mainly sold dogs and cats, but now more people want exotic pets like lizards and snakes and things like that.12. What problem has the woman run into?W: There's no convenient place near here that I can move into. Conversation TwoM: Good morning. May I help you?W: Good Morning. I'm here to apply for the customer service position.M: Are you the person who phoned about the job?W: That's right. I phoned a couple of days ago and was told to come in and fill out an application form.M: Yes, I remember now. Please take a seat. First of all, how do you like working with people?W: I enjoy working with people. I've been working in a bookshop for the past two years, and my job involves talking to customers all the time.M: What do you find most difficult when you deal with people? W: Well, I must admit I sometimes find it hard to deal with people who don't know what they want. They keep asking questions and can't make their minds up. Sometimes it can be quite frustrating. M: Yes, I know exactly what you mean. Last month, a customer came in looking for a birthday present for his wife. He walked round the shop for hours and hours and just couldn't decide on anything.W: Oh dear. That's exactly what I'm afraid of.M: On the other hand, there are customers who really know whatthey want and are quite aggressive. How would you handle that? W: I think if customers are aggressive, it is probably because they are not satisfied with the service. In such cases, I would try my best to find out what their problems are and then solve them.M: What kind of salary are you expecting?W: I expect to start at $6 per hour. I'm now earning $5 an hour, but that's just a part-time job.M: I see. You will have to work extra hours on Saturdays and Sundays sometimes. Is that a problem?W: No, not at all. I'm used to working weekends.Questions 13 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.13. What is the woman's reason for coming?W: Good Morning. I'm here to apply for the customer service position.14. What is the most difficult thing for the woman in dealing with people?W: Well, I must admit I sometimes find it hard to deal with people who don't know what they want. They keep asking questions and can't make their minds up. Sometimes it can be quite frustrating.15. How does the woman think an aggressive customer can be handled?W: I think if customers are aggressive, it is probably because they are not satisfied with the service. In such cases, I would try my best to find out what their problems are and then solve them. Section BPassage OneLast year, Marion County raised prices everyone had to pay for services such as ordering divorce papers or getting a wedding license by about $11. In one case, the cost to file a business suit jumped from $53 to $300. Those increases in court costs are now paying for badly-needed repairs and improvements at Marion County's six courthouses, said Perry Township's Robin Stethem. "We desperately needed to do something", said Stethem, a 30-year veteran of the county court system. "We had air conditioners hanging out of the windows."Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.16. Why were the prices raised last year in Marion County? Prices were raised last year to pay for repairs and improvements at Marion County's six courthouses.17. How much did the filing cost for a business suit increase?The filing cost for a business suit increased from $53 to $300. 18. What was in poor condition at the Marion County's six courthouses?The courthouses were in poor condition.Passage TwoMost economists admit that one measure of a country's success is its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). GDP is the most commonly used measure of output (产出) or production. It is the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given time period (usually a year). However, there are some limitations with GDP as a measure of the well-being of a country. It does notreflect the amounts of leisure, environmental quality and personal freedom. Moreover, GDP includes mostly material goods rather than non-material goods like friendship, love and the enjoyment of leisure time. All these are important in providing a true measure of the standard of living and well-being of people in a country. Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.19. How is GDP commonly used?GDP is commonly used as a measure of output or production. 20. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a limitation of GDP as a measure of the well-being of a country?GDP does not reflect the average income of the people.21. According to the speaker, what is important in providing。
2016年6月大学英语四级考试真题听力原文及参考答案(第2套)
2016年6月大学英语四级考试真题（第2套）参考答案Part I WritingDear My Parents,I would like to convey in this letter my heartfelt thanks to you. Without your support and encouragement, I wouldn’t have won the second prize in the National Mathematical Contest in Modeling.First of all, you inspired me to participate in the contest and gave me the confidence that I could achieve a good result if I worked hard enough. In addition, you spent large sums of money on prestigious mathematical modeling teachers to help me with methods of mathematical modeling, thesis writing and computer programming, which laid a solid foundation for my outstanding performance in the contest. Finally, it is also worth mentioning that when I was downhearted in the face of difficulties and setbacks during the contest, it was you who raised me up to press forward.All in all, your support in both spiritual and material terms made it possible for me to win a prize in the contest. So, thanks again for your kind help. I am looking forward to seeing you soon.Affectionately yours,Li MingPart IV TranslationChinese martial art is commonly known as Kung Fu. Its origin can be traced to the need of self-defense, hunting activities and military training in ancient China. It is one of the Chinese traditional sports, which is practiced by both the young and the old. It has gradually evolved into the unique element of Chinese culture. As China’s national treasure, Kung Fu has hundreds ofdifferent styles and is the most practiced martial arts from in the world. Some styles imitate animals’ movements, while others are inspired by Chinese philosophies, myths and legends.Part II Listening Comprehension 听力原文Section AQuestions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.The International Labor Organization says the number of people without jobs is increasing. In its latest update on Global Employment Trends, the agency says projections of the number of unemployed people this year range from 210 million to nearly 240 million people. The report warns that 200 million poor workers are at risk of joining the ranks of people living on less than two dollars per day in the past three years. The Director-General of the International Labor Organization Juan Somavia notes that some countries have taken measures to address the effects of the global crisis. However, he points out that many countries have not done so. And based on past experiences, it takes four to five years after economic recovery for unemployment to return to pre-crisis levels. Mr. Somavia says the International Labor Organization is proposing a global job’s agreement to deal with unemployment.“Its key objective is to place so the center of recovery efforts, measures that would generate high levels of employment and provide basic social protection for the most vulnerable.”1. What is the news report mainly about?2. What does Juan Somavia, the Director-General of the International Labor Organization say?Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.Big fast food chains in New York City have started to obey a first-of-its-kind rule requiring them to post calorie counts right on the menu. Cathy Nurses is with the New York City Department of Health.“We wanted to give people an opportunity to actually see the calories before they purchase the food and make a decision, an informed decision that if they want to make the healthier choice, if they want to eat fewer calories, they can. And we expect this will have a huge impact on obesity. And of course, if it has an impact on obesity, it will have an impact on diabetes and heart disease and high blood pressure.”The new rules will introduce as a part of anti-obesity campaign that also includes a recent citywide ban and artificial trans-fats in restaurant food. The menu rule only applies to restaurants that serve standardized portion sizes and have fifteen or more locations nationwide.Starting last Saturday, chains big enough to fall under the rule will face penalties about 2000 dollars for not showing calorie information in a prominent spot on their menus, preferably next to the price.3. What are big fast food chains in New York City required to do according to the new rule?4. What will happen to big restaurant chains that violate the new rule?Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.Almost all companies recognize the importance of innovation today. But not many are able to integrate innovation into their business. A commentary in the Shanghai Daily points out that innovation doesn’t mean piles of documents. It is something more practical. The article says many people tend to assume that innovation just means creating something new, but actually it's more than that. It's an attitude of doing things. A company should find ways to innovate not just in products but also in functions, business models and processes.The article cites the global giant Procter & Gamble as an example, saying a real innovative company should develop an innovation culture and use it as a primary tool for success. Procter & Gamble has a “Corporate Innovation Fund” which offers big rewards for high-risk ideas that succeed. It also has a special innovation facility for its employees. Sometimes its employees are released from their daily jobs for weeks and spend their time interacting in the innovation facility instead. In conclusion, the article says innovative ideas alone do not ensure success. It’s pointless unless there is a repeatable process in place to turn inspiration into financial performance.5. What is the problem with many companies according to the news report?6. What do many people tend to think of innovation?7. What does the company Procter & Gamble owe its success to?Section BQuestions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.M: So, Lyndsay, do you like to text message on your cell phone?W: Yeah, I text message a lot.M: I don't do it so much. I prefer to make a call if I'm in a hurry.W: Yeah, I go both ways. Sometimes I don’t really want to talk to the person. I just want to ask them one question, so it's much easier for me just to text message. If I call them, I'll have to have a long conversation.M: Yeah, I can see what you mean. But I get off the phone pretty quickly when I call. I'm not a big talker.W: Yeah, that's true. You don't talk a lot.M: So are you fast at writing the messages with your thumb?W: Well, when I first got a cell phone, I was so slow. I thought I would never text message. But then people kept text messaging me, so I felt obliged to learn how to text message. So now I'm pretty fast. What about you?M: Actually I have the opposite problem. When I first got my cell phone, I thought it was so cool to text message all my friends who have one, and I was pretty fast with my thumb then. But it seems like now I don't use it so much, I've got slower actually.W: Yeah, I think text messaging actually is what you have to do with your age. For example, people in high school, they text message a lot. But I ask my father if he texted messages, and guess what he said?M: What?W: He said he'd never text message. He thinks it's very childish and unprofessional to text message.M: Yeah, I can see what he means. It's considered pretty informal to text message someone.8: What does the man say about himself?9: What does the woman tend to do while she is on the phone?10: Why did the man text message all his friends when he first got his cell phone?11: What does the woman's father think of text messaging?Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.W: Good morning, Mr. Johnson. How can I help you?M: Well, I'd like to talk to you about Tim Bond, the department manager.W: What seems to be the problem?M: Well, ever since Sandra left the department, I feel like I've been targeted to do all her work as well as mine. I'm expected to attend too many meetings and I seem to be spending a lot of my time doing unnecessary paper work.W: I'm sorry to hear that.M: And, on top of that, I'd specifically asked if I could leave early last Friday as I’d done a lot of overtime during the week. But that afternoon, even though I'd finished my assigned work, I was told to help other colleagues finish their work, too.W: But surely that's a positive sign showing that Mr. Bond has a lot of trust in you.M: Yes, but other colleagues get to leave early, and they don't have such a lot of work to do.W: So you feel he's been making unrealistic demands on you?M: Yes, absolutely.W: Have you approached Mr. Bond about this particular problem?M: I've tried, but it seems like he just has no time for me.W: Well, at this stage, it would be better if you approached him directly. If nothing else, showing that you've tried to solve the problem yourself, before you take it further, makes it clear that you're just not a complainer. Why don't you send an email requesting a meeting with him in private?M: Hmm, I’d be a bit worried about his reaction. But anyway I'll send him an email to request a meeting, and I'll see what happens from there. Thanks for your advice.W: Good luck. And let us know the outcome.12. What do we learn about the man from the conversation?13. What is the man's chief complaint?14. How does the woman interpret the fact that the man was asked to help his colleagues with their work?15. What did the woman advise the man to do?Section CQuestions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.The massive decline in sleep happened so slowly and quietly that few seemed to notice the trend. Was it because of the growing attraction of the Internet, video games and endless TV channels? Never disconnecting from work? No matter how it happened, millions of Americans are putting their health, quality of life and even length of life in danger.New evidence shows why getting enough sleep is a top priority. Some 40% of Americans get less than 7 hours of shut-eye on weeknights. "The link between sleep and health, and bad sleep and disease is becoming clearer and clearer," says Lawrence Epstein, a sleep expert at Harvard University. For example, sleep duration has declined from some 8 hours in the 1950s to 7 in recent years. At the same time, high blood pressure has become an increasing problem. Blood pressure and heart rate are typically at their lowest levels during sleep. People who sleep less tend to have higher blood pressure, heart attack, diabetes, weight gain and other problems.Sleeping better may help fight off illness. "When people are sleep-deprived, there are higher levels of stress hormones in their bodies which can decrease immune function." says Doctor Felice, of Northwestern University in Chicago. A university of Chicago study shows people who sleep well live longer. So say good night sooner and it may help you stay active and vital to a ripe old age.16. What is the speaker mainly talking about?17. What do we learn from the talk about today's Americans?18. What does the speaker say will happen to people who lack sleep?Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.Parents and teachers will tell you not to worry when applying for a place at a university. But in the same breath we’ll remind you that it is the most important decision of your life.The first decision is your choice of course. It will depend on what you want to get out of university, what you are good at and what you enjoy. The next decision is where to apply. Aim high but within reason. Do you have the right combination of subjects and are your expected grades likely to meet entry requirements? The deadline is January 15th. But it is best to submit your application early because universities begin work as soon as forms start rolling in.The most important part of the application is the much feared personal statement. This is your chance to convey boundless enthusiasm for the subject. So economy of expression is foremost. Omit dull and ineffective generalities and make sure you give concrete examples.Admissions officers read every personal statement that arrives. It is not convincing if you say you have chosen the subject because you enjoy it. You have to get across what it is about a particular area that has inspired you. They will look for evidence that you have reflected and thought about the subject.Applicants should be honest. There is no point saying you run marathons if you are going to be out of breath arriving at the interview on the second floor.19. What is the first decision you should make in preparing to apply for a place at a university?20. What is the most important part of the application?21. What must applicants do in their personal statements?Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.It is usually agreed that a German, Carl Benz, built the first motor car in 1885. It was actually a tricycle with a petrol motor at the rear. Soon, members of the royal family and other wealthy people took up motoring as a sport. Many of the early cars had 2 seats. There were no petrol pumps and few garages, so every driver had to be his own engineer for the frequent breakdowns.By 1905, cars began to look like cars of today, with head lamps, wind screen, rubble tyres and number plates. Henry Ford's Model T introduced in America in 1909 was cheaper because it was made on the assembly line. It brought cars closer towards the reach of ordinary people. With the popularity of the car, registration became a must in 1903 with the Motor Car Act. Competency tests were introduced in 1935.Today, the legal driving age for a car in the UK is 17. You are not allowed to drive a car unsupervised until you have passed a driving test. In 1958, Britain celebrated the opening of its first motorway – the Preston Bypass. Until then, no one really understood what a motorway was, not even the laborers who were building it. The bypass held a new era in motor travel and was greeted with excitement and optimism. Service stations came with the motorway and the legend of the transport cafe was born. Of course, the service station has diversified greatly. But whether it’s an English-cooked breakfast or a coffee and a sandwich, one thing has remained the same: the prices.22. What does the speaker say about the first motor car?23. What was the problem with the early cars in Britain?24. Why did Henry Ford's Model T cars cost less?25. What do we learn about the Preston Bypass?。
2016年度6月大学英语四级听力题目规范标准答案及其原文第2套
Part II Listening ComprehensionSection ANews Report One【话题预测】由college students，sleep，problem，stress，psychological 等词可推断，本则新闻与大学生睡眠或心理健康有关。
【正确答案】1—2 B D听力原文You probably think college students are experts at sleeping, but parties, preparations for tests, personal problems and general stress can wreck a student’s sleep habits, which can be bad for the body and the mind. Texas Tech University is even offering a class called “Improving Your Sleep Habits”. People suffering from sleep loss are at an increased risk from obesity, psychological problems and car crashes. Students who don’t get enough sleep have poor attendance and lower grades. On top of all that, a new study published in the journal Learning and Memory finds you are probably better off sleeping than making last-minute preparations for a test. 200 college kids were taught to play some unfamiliar video games. Subjects who learned the games in the morning lost some skills when they played again 12 hours later, but they did much better after getting a good night’s sleep. So if you really want to do your job well, don’t forget to get some sleep. Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.1. What is the news report mainly about?2. What is the finding of the new study published in the journal Learning and Memory?试题解析【话题分类】时事新闻【新闻大意】大学生睡眠不好会严重影响学习效率和身心健康；Texas Tech 大学甚至开设课程教授学生改善睡眠习惯，提高睡眠质量；新的一项研究也证明了提高睡眠质量的重要性。
2016年6月四级考试真题(第二套)及解析
2016年6月四级考试真题(第二套)PartⅠWriting(30minutes)Directions：For this part,you are allowed30minutes to write a letter to express your thanks to your parents or any other family member upon making a memorable achievement．You should write at least120words but no more than180words．PartⅡListening Comprehension(25minutes)Section ADirections：In this section，you will hear three news reports．At the end of each news report,you will hear two or three questions．Both the news report and the questions will 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 l with a single line through the centre．Questions1and2are based on the news report you have just heard．1．A．The International Labour Organization’s key objective．B．The basic social protection for the most vulnerable．C．Rising unemployment worldwide．D．Global economic recovery．2．A．Many countries have not taken measures to create enough jobs．B．Few countries know how to address the current economic crisis．C．Few countries have realised the seriousness of the current crisis．D．Many countries need support to improve their people’s livelihood．Questions3and4are based on the news report you have just heard．3．A．Serve standardised food nationwide．B．Put calorie information on the menu．C．Increase protein content in the food．D．Offer convenient food to customers．4．A．They will be fined．B．They will be closed．C．They will get a warning．D．They will lose customers．Questions5to7are based on the news report you have just heard．5．A．Inability to implement their business plans．B．Inability to keep turning out novel products．C．Lack of a successful business model of their own．D．Failure to integrate innovation into their business．6．A．It is the secret to business success．B．It is the creation of something newC．It is a magic tool to bring big rewards．D．It is an essential part of business culture7．A．Its hardworking employees．B．Its flexible promotion strategy．C．Its innovation culture．D．Its willingness to make investments．Section BDirections：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 Sheet1with a single line through the centre．Questions8to11are based on the conversation you have just heard．8．A．He’s got addicted to technology．B．He is not very good at socializingC．He is crazy about text—messaging．D．He does not talk long on the phone．9．A．Talk big．B．Talk at length．C．Gossip a lot．D．Forget herself．10．A．He thought it was cool．B．He needed the practice．C．He wanted to stay connected with them，D．He had an urgent message to send．11．A．It poses a challenge to seniors．B．It saves both time and money．C．It is childish and unprofessional．D．It is cool and convenient．Questions l2to15are based on the conversation you have just heard．12．A．He wants to change his job assignment．B．He is unhappy with his department managerC．He thinks he deserves extra pay for overtime．D．He is often singled out for criticism by his boss13．A．His workload was much too heavy．B．His immediate boss did not trust himC．His colleagues often refused to cooperate．D．His salary was too low for his responsibility14．A．He never knows how to refuse．B．He is always ready to help othersC．His boss has a lot of trust in him．D．His boss has no sense of fairness．15．A．Put all his complaints in writing．B．Wait and see what happens next．C．Learn to say no when necessary．D．Talk to his boss in person first．Section CDirections：In this section，you will hear three passages．At the end of each passage,you will hear three or four questions。
2016年6月大学英语四级真题及答案 第二套
2016年6月英语四级真题第二套Part I Writing （30 minutes）Directions：For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a letter to express your thanks to one of your school teachers upon entering college. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.Part ⅡListening Comprehension （25 minutes）Section ADirections：In this section，you will hear three news reports。
At the end of each news report，you will hear two or three questions。
Both the news report and the questions will be spoken only once。
After you hear a question，you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A），B），C）and D）。
Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre。
Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard。
1。
A）The International Labor Organization’s key objective。
2016年6月大学英语四级第2套真题及答案
2016年6月大学英语四级真题（第2套)Part I WritingDirections:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a letter to express your thanks to one of your school teachers upon entering college. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.Part ⅡListening ComprehensionSection ADirections: In this section, you will hear three news reports. At the end of each news report, you will hear two or three questions. Both the news report and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.1. A)How college students can improve their sleep habits.B)Why sufficient sleep is important for college students.C)Why college students are more likely to have stress problems.D)How college students can handle their psychological problems.2. A)It is not easy to improve one’s sleep habits.B)It is not good for students to play video games.C)Students who are better prepared generally get higher scores in examinations.D)Making last-minute preparations for tests may be less effective than sleeping.Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.3. A)Whether more airports should be built around London.B)Whether adequate investment is being made to improve airport facilities.C)Whether the British Airports Authority should sell off some of its assets.D)Whether the Spanish company could offer better service.4. A)Inefficient management. B)Poor ownership structure.C)Lack of innovation and competition. D)Lack of runway and terminal capacity. Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.5. A)Report the nicotine content of their cigarettes.B)Set a limit to the production of their cigarettes.C)Take steps to reduce nicotine in their products.D)Study the effects of nicotine on young smokers.6. A)The biggest increase in nicotine content tended to be in brands young smokers like.B)Big tobacco companies were frank with their customers about the hazards of smoking.C)Brands which contain higher nicotine content were found to be much more popular.D)Tobacco companies refused to discuss the detailed nicotine content of their products.7. A)They promised to reduce the nicotine content in cigarettes.B)They have not fully realized the harmful effect of nicotine.C)They were not prepared to comment on the cigarette study.D)They will pay more attention to the quality of their products.Section BDirections: 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)Indonesia. B)Holland. C)Sweden. D)England.9.A)Getting a coach who can offer real help. B)Talking with her boyfriend in Dutch.C)Learning a language where it is not spoken . D)Acquiring the necessary ability to socialize .10. A)Listening language programs on the radio. B)Trying to speak it as much as one can.C)Making friends with native speakers. D)Practicing reading aloud as often as possible.11.A)It creates an environment for socializing.B)It offers various courses with credit points.C)It trains young people’s leadership abilities.D)It provides opportunities for language practice.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12. A)The impact of engine design on rode safety. B)The role policemen play in traffic safety.C)A sense of freedom driving gives. D)Rules and regulations for driving.13. A)Make cars with automatic control. B)Make cars that have better brakes.C)Make cars that are less powerful. D)Make cars with higher standards.14. A)They tend to drive responsibly. B)They like to go at high speed.C)They keep within speed limits. D)They follow traffic rules closely.15.A)It is a bad idea. B)It is not useful.C)It is as effective as speed bumps . D)It should be combined with education.Section CDirections: 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)The card got damaged . B)The card was found invalid.C)The card reader failed to do the scanning. D)The card reader broke down unexpectedly.17. A)By converting the credit card with a layer of plastic.B)By calling the credit card company for confirmation.C)By seeking help from the card reader maker Verifone.D)By typing the credit card number into the cash register.18.A)Affect the sales of high-tech appliances.B)Change the life style of many Americans.C)Give birth to many new technological inventions.D)Produce many low-tech fixes for high-tech failures.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.19. A)They are set by the dean of the graduate school.B)They are determined by the advising board.C)They leave much room for improvement.D)They vary among different departments.20. A)By consulting the examining committee . B)By reading the Bulletin of Information.C)By contacting the departmental office. D)By visiting the university’s website.21. A)They specify the number of credits students must earn.B)They are harder to meet than those for undergraduates.C)They have to be approved by the examining committee.D)They are the same among various divisions of the university.Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.22. A)Students majoring in nutrition. B)Students in health classes.C)Ph.D. candidates in dieting. D)Middle and high school teachers.23. A)Its overestimate of the effect of dieting. B)Its mistaken conception of nutrition.C)Its changing criteria for beauty. D)Its overemphasis on thinness.24. A)To illustrate her point that beauty is but skin deep.B)To demonstrate the magic effect of dieting on women.C)To explain how computer images can be misleading.D)To prove that technology has impacted our culture.25. A)To persuade girls to stop dieting.B)To promote her own concept of beauty.C)To establish an emotional connection with students.D)To help students rid themselves of bad living habits.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 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.Contrary to popular belief, older people generally do not want to live with their children.Moreover, most adult children 26 every bit as much care and support to their aging parentsas was the case in the “good old days”, and most older people do not feel 27 .About 80% of people 65years and older have living children, and about 90% of them have 28 contact with their children. About 75% of elderly parents who don’t go to nursing homes live within 30 minutes of at least one of their children.However, 29 having contact with children does not guarantee happiness in old age. In fact, some research has found that people who are most involved with their families have the lowest spirits. This research may be 30 , however, as ill health often makes older people more 31 and thereby increases contact with family members. So it is more likely that poor health, not just family involvement, 32 spirits.Increasingly, researchers have begun to look at the quality of relationships, rather than at the frequency of contact, between the elderly and their children. If parents and children share interests and values and agree on childrearing practices and religious 33 , they are likely to enjoy each other’s company. Disagreements on such matters can 34 cause problems. If parents are agreed by their daughter’s d ivorce, dislike her new husband, and disapprove of how she is raising their grandchildren, 35 are that they are not going to enjoy her visits.Section 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 paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilization?[A] For many years I have studied global agricultural, population, environmental and economictrends and their interactions. The combined effects of those trends and the political tensions they generate point to the breakdown of governments and societies. Yet I, too, have resisted the idea that food shortages could bring down not only individual governments but also our global civilization.[B] I can no longer ignore that risk. Our continuing failure to deal with the environmental declinesthat are undermining the world food economy forces me to conclude that such a collapse is possible.[C] As demand for food rises faster than supplies are growing, the resulting food-price inflationputs severe stress on the governments of many countries. Unable to buy grain or grow their own, hungry people take to the streets. Indeed, even before the steep climb in grain prices in 2008, the number of failing states was expanding. If the food situation continues to worsen, entire nations will break down at an ever increasing rate. In the 20th century the main threat to international security was superpower conflict; today it is failing states.[D] States fail when national governments can no longer provide personal security, food securityand basic social services such as education and health care. When governments lose theircontrol on power, law and order begin to disintegrate. After a point, countries can become so dangerous that food relief workers are no longer safe and their programs are halted. Failing states are of international concern because they are a source of terrorists, drugs, weapons and refugees(难民), threatening political stability everywhere.[E] The surge in world grain prices in 2007 and 2008—and the threat they pose to foodsecurity——has a different, more troubling quality than the increases of the past. During the second half of the 20th century, grain prices rose dramatically several times. In 1972, for instance, the Soviets, recognizing their poor harvest early, quietly cornered the world wheat market. As a result, wheat prices elsewhere more than doubled, pulling rice and corn prices up with them. But this and other price shocks were event-driven——drought in the Soviet Union, crop-shrinking heat in the U.S. Corn Belt. And the rises were short-lived: prices typically returned to normal with the next harvest.[F] In contrast, the recent surge in world grain prices is trend-driven, making it unlikely to reversewithout a reversal in the trends themselves. On the demand side, those trends include the ongoing addition of more than 70 million people a year, a growing number of people wanting to move up the food chain to consume highly grain-intensive meat products, and the massive diversion(转向) of U.S. grain to the production of bio-fuel.[G] As incomes rise among low-income consumers, the potential for further grain consumption ishuge. But that potential pales beside the never-ending demand for crop-based fuels. A fourth of this year’s U.S. grain harvest will go to fuel cars.[H] What about supply? The three environmental trends——the shortage of fresh water, the lossof topsoil and the rising temperatures——are making it increasingly hard to expand the world’s grain supply fast enough to keep up with demand. Of all those trends, however, the spread of water shortages poses the most immediate threat. The biggest challenge here is irrigation, which consumes 70% the world’s fresh water. Millions of irrigation wells in many countries are now pumping water out of underground sources faster than rainfall can refill them. The result is falling water tables(地下水位) in countries with half the world’s people, including the three big grain producers——China, India and the U.S.[I] As water tables have fallen and irrigation wells have gone dry, China’s wheat crop, the world’slargest, has declined by 8% since it peaked at 123 million tons in 1997. But water shortages are even more worrying in India. Millions of irrigation wells have significantly lowered water tables in almost every state.[J] As the world’s food security falls to pieces, individual countries acting in their own self-interest are actually worsening the troubles of many. The trend began in 2007, when leading wheat-exporting countries such as Russia and Argentina limited or banned their exports, in hopes of increasing local food supplies and thereby bringing down domestic food prices.Vietnam banned its exports for several months for the same reason. Such moves may eliminate the fears of those living in the exporting countries, but they are creating panic in importing countries that must rely on what is then left for export.[K] In response to those restrictions, grain-importing countries are trying to nail down long-term trade agreements that would lock up future grain supplies. Food-import anxiety is even leading to new efforts by food-importing countries to buy or lease farmland in other countries. In spite of such temporary measures, soaring food prices and spreading hunger in many other countries are beginning to break down the social order.[L] Since the current world food shortage is trend-driven, the environmental trends that cause it must be reversed. We must cut carbon emissions by 80% from their 2006 levels by 2020, stabilize the world’s population at eight billion by 2040, completely remove poverty, and restore forests and soils. There is nothing new about the four objectives. Indeed, we have made substantial progress in some parts of the world on at least one of these——the distribution of family-planning services and the associated shift to smaller families.[M]For many in the development community, the four objectives were seen as positive, promoting development as long as they did not cost too much. Others saw them as politically correct and morally appropriate. Now a third and far more significant motivation presents itself: meeting these goals may be necessary to prevent the collapse of our civilization. Yet the cost we project for saving civilization would amount to less than $200 billion a year, 1/6 of current global military spending. In effect, our plan is the new security budget.36.The more recent steep climb in grain prices partly results from the fact that more and morepeople want to consume meat products.37. Social order is breaking down in many countries because of food shortages.38. Rather than superpower conflict, countries unable to cope with food shortages now constitutethe main threat to world security.39. Some parts of the world have seen successful implementation of family planning.40. The author has come to agree that food shortages could ultimately lead to the collapse of worldcivilization.41. Increasing water shortages prove to be the biggest obstacle to boosting the world’s grainproduction.42. The cost for saving our civilization would be considerably less than the world’s currentmilitary spending.43. To lower domestic food prices, some countries limited or stopped their grain exports.44. Environmental problems must be solved to ease the current global food shortage.45. A quarter of this year’s American grain harvest will be used to produce bio-fuel for cars. Section CDirections: 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 OneQuestions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.Declining mental function is often seen as a problem of old age, but certain aspects of brain function actually begin their decline in young adulthood, a new study suggests.The study, which followed more than 2,000 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 60, found that certain mental functions—including measures of abstract reasoning, mental speed and puzzle-solving—started to dull as early as age 27.Dips in memory, meanwhile, generally became apparent around age 37.On the other hand, indicators of a person’s accumulated knowledge—like performance on tests of vocabulary and general knowledge—kept improving with age, according to findings published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging.The results do not mean that young adults need to start worrying about their memories. Mostpeople’s minds function at a high level even in their later years, according to researcher Timothy Salthouse.“These patterns suggest that some type s of mental flexibility decrease relatively early in adulthood, but that the amount of knowledge one has, and the effectiveness of integrating it with one’s abilities, may increase throughout all of adulthood if there are no dise ases,” Salthouse said in a news release.The study included healthy, educated adults who took standard tests of memory, reasoning and perception at the outset and at some point over the next seven years.The tests are designed to detect subtle (细微的) changes in mental function, and involve solving puzzles, recalling words and details from stories, and identifying patterns in collections of letters and symbols.In general, Salthouse and his colleagues found, certain aspects of cognition (认知能力) generally started to decline in the late 20s to 30s.The findings shed light on normal age-related changes in mental function, which could aid in understanding the process of dementia (痴呆), according to the researchers.“By following individuals over time,” Salthouse said, “we gain insig ht in cognition changes, and may possibly discover ways to slow the rate of decline.”The researchers are currently analyzing the study participants’ health and lifestyle to see which factors might influence age-related cognitive changes.46. What is the common view of mental function?A)It varies from person to person. B)It weakens in one’s later years.C)It gradually expands with age. D)It indicates one’s health condition.47. What does the new study find about mental functions?A)Some diseases inevitably lead to their decline.B)They reach a peak at the age of 20 for most people.C)They are closely related to physical and mental exercise.D)Some of them begin to decline when people are still young.48. What does Timothy Salthouse say abo ut people’s minds in most cases?A)They tend to decline in people’s later years.B)Their flexibility determines one’s abilities.C)They function quite well even in old age.D)Their functioning is still a puzzle to be solved.49. Although people’s minds may function less flexibly as they age, they _____.A)may be better at solving puzzlesB)can memorize things with more easeC)may have greater facility in abstract reasoningD)can put what they have learnt into more effective use50. According to Salthouse, their study may help us_____.A)find ways to slow down our mental declineB)find ways to boost our memoriesC)understand the complex process of mental functioningD)understand the relation between physical and mental healthPassage TwoQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.The most important thing in the news last week was the rising discussion in Nashville about the educational needs of children. The shorthand(简写)educators use for this is “pre-K”—meaning instruction before kindergarten—and the big idea is to prepare 4-year-olds and even younger kids to be ready to succeed on their K-12 journey.But it gets complicated. The concept has multiple forms, and scholars and policymakers argue about the shape, scope and cost of the ideal program.The federal Head Start program, launched 50 years ago, has served more than 30 million children. It was based on concepts developed at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College by Susan Gray, the legendary pioneer in early childhood education research.A new Peabody study of the Tennessee V oluntary Pre-K program reports that pre-K works, but the gains are not sustained through the third grade. It seems to me this highlights quality issues in elementary schools more than pre-K, and indicates longer-term success must connect pre-K with all the other issues related to educating a child.Pre-K is controversial. Some critics say it is a luxury and shouldn’t be free to families able to pay. Pre-K advocates insist it is proven and will succeed if int egrated with the rest of the child’s schooling. I lean toward the latter view.This is, in any case, the right conversation to be having now as Mayor Megan Barry takes office. She was the first candidate to speak out for strong pre-K programming. The important thing is for all of us to keep in mind the real goal and the longer, bigger picture.The weight of the evidence is on the side of pre-K that early intervention (干预)works. What government has not yet found is the political will to put that understanding into full practice with a sequence of smart schooling that provides the early foundation.For this purpose, our schools need both the talent and the organization to educate each child who arrives at the schoolhouse door. Some show up ready, but many do not at this critical time when young brains are developing rapidly.51.What does the author say about pre-kindergarten education?A)It should cater to the needs of individual children.B)It is essential to a person’s future academic success.C)Scholars and policymakers have different opinions about it.D)Parents regard it as the first phase of children’s development.52.What does the new Peabody study find?A)Pre-K achievements usually do not last long.B)The third grade marks a new phase of learning.C)The third grade is critical to children’s development.D)Quality has not been the top concern of pre-K programs.53.When does the author think pre-K works the best?A)When it is accessible to kids of all families.B)When it is made part of kids’ education.C)When it is no longer considered a luxury.D)When it is made fun and enjoyable to kids.54.What do we learn about Mayor Megan Barry?A)She knows the real goal of education. B)She is a mayor of insight and vision.C)She has once run a pre-K program. D)She is a firm supporter of pre-K.55.What does the author think is critical to kids’ education?A)Teaching method. B)Kids’ interest.C)Early intervention. D)Parents’ involvement.Part IV Translation Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.在山东省潍坊市，风筝不仅仅是玩具，而且还是这座城市文化的标志。
2016年6英语四级听力真题及答案第2套
Section A News ReportDirections：In this section，you will hear three newsreports。
At the end of each news report，you willhear two or three questions。
Both the news reportand the questions will be spoken only once。
A fteryou hear a question，youmust choose the best answer from the four choicesmarked A），B），C）and D）。
Then mark thecorrespond ing letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre。
Drections: Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.Question 1A) How college students can improve their sleep habits.B) Why sufficient sleep is important for college students.C) Why college students are more likely to have stress problems.D) How college students can handle their psychological problems.Question 2A) It is not easy to improve one's sleep habits.B) It is not good for students to play video games.C) Students who are better prepared generally get higher scores in examinations.D) Making last-minute preparations for tests may be less effective than sleeping.Drections: Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.Question 3A) Whether more airports should be built around London.B) Whether adequate investment is being made to improve airport facilities.C) Whether the British Airports Authority should sell off some of its assets.D) Whether the Spanish company could offer better service.Question 4A) Inefficient management.B) Poor ownership structure.C) Lack of innovation and competition.D) Lack of runway and terminal capacity.Drections: Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.Question 5A) Report the nicotine content of their cigarettes.B) Set a limit to the production of their cigarettes.C) Take steps to reduce nicotine in their products.D) Study the effects of nicotine on young smokers.Question 6A) The biggest increase in nicotine content tended to be in brands young smokers like.B) Big tobacco companies were frank with their customers about the hazards of smoking.C) Brands which contain higher nicotine content were found to be much more popular.D) Tobacco companies refused to discuss the detailed nicotine content of their products.Question 7A) They promised to reduce the nicotine content in cigarettes.B) They have not fully realized the harmful effect of nicotine.C) They were not prepared to comment on the cigarette study.D) They will pay more attention to the quality of their products.Section B ConversationDirections：In this section，you will hear two long conversations。
2016年6月大学英语四级考试.真题_第2套.答案解析+听力文本
2016年6月英语四级考试真题（第2套）答案、解析、听力Section A News ReportDirections：In this section，you will hear three news reports. At the end of each news report，you will hear two or three questions. Both the news report and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question，youmust 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.Directions: Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.Question 1A) How college students can improve their sleep habits.B) Why sufficient sleep is important for college students.C) Why college students are more likely to have stress problems.D) How college students can handle their psychological problems.Question 2A) It is not easy to improve one's sleep habits.B) It is not good for students to play video games.C) Students who are better prepared generally get higher scores in examinations.D) Making last-minute preparations for tests may be less effective than sleeping.Directions: Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.Question 3A) Whether more airports should be built around London.B) Whether adequate investment is being made to improve airport facilities.C) Whether the British Airports Authority should sell off some of its assets.D) Whether the Spanish company could offer better service.Question 4A) Inefficient management.B) Poor ownership structure.C) Lack of innovation and competition.D) Lack of runway and terminal capacity.Directions: Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.Question 5A) Report the nicotine content of their cigarettes.B) Set a limit to the production of their cigarettes.C) Take steps to reduce nicotine in their products.D) Study the effects of nicotine on young smokers.Question 6A) The biggest increase in nicotine content tended to be in brands young smokers like.B) Big tobacco companies were frank with their customers about the hazards of smoking.C) Brands which contain higher nicotine content were found to be much more popular.D) Tobacco companies refused to discuss the detailed nicotine content of their products. Question 7A) They promised to reduce the nicotine content in cigarettes.B) They have not fully realized the harmful effect of nicotine.C) They were not prepared to comment on the cigarette study.D) They will pay more attention to the quality of their products.Section B ConversationDirections：In this section，you will hear two long conversations. At the end of each conversations you will hear four questions. Both the conversations and the question-s will be spoken only once. After you hear a question. Youmust 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.Question 8A) Indonesia.B) Holland.C) Sweden.D) England.Question 9A) Getting a coach who can offer real help.B) Talking with her boyfriend in Dutch.C) Learning a language where it is not spoken.D) Acquiring the necessary ability to socialize.Question 10A) Listening to language programs on the radio.B) Trying to speak it as much as one can.C) Making friends with native speakers.D) Practicing reading aloud as often as possible.Question 11A) It creates an environment for socializing.B) It offers various courses with credit points.C) It trains young people's leadership abilities.D) It provides opportunities for language practice.Directions: Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.Question 12A) The impact of engine design on road safety.B) The role policemen play in traffic safety.C) A sense of freedom driving gives.D) Rules and regulations for driving.Question 13A) Make cars with automatic control.B) Make cars that have better brakes.C) Make cars that are less powerful.D) Make cars with higher standards.Question 14A) They tend to drive responsibly.B) They like to go at high speed.C) They keep within speed limits.D) They follow traffic rules closely.Question 15A) It is a bad idea.B) It is not useful.C) It is as effective as speed bumps.D) It should be combined with education.Section C PassagesDirections：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 choosethe 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.Directions:Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.Question 16A) The card got damaged.B) The card was found invalid.C) The card reader failed to do the scanning.D) The card reader broke down unexpectedly.Question 17A) By covering the credit card with a layer of plastic.B) By calling the credit card company for confirmation.C) By seeking help from the card reader maker Verifone.D) By typing the credit card number into the cash register.Question 18A) Affect the sales of high-tech appliances.B) Change the lifestyle of many Americans.C) Give birth to many new technological inventions.D) Produce many low-tech fixes for high-tech failures.Directions: Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.Question 19A) They are set by the dean of the graduate school.B) They are determined by the advising board.C) They leave much room for improvement.D) They vary among different departments.Question 20A) By consulting the examining committee.B) By reading the Bulletin of Information.C) By contacting the departmental office.D) By visiting the university's website.Question 21A) They specify the number of credits students must earn.B) They are harder to meet than those for undergraduates.C) They have to be approved by the examining committee.D) They are the same among various divisions of the university.Directions: Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard. Question 22A) Students majoring in nutrition.B) Students in health classes.C) Ph.D. candidates in dieting.D) Middle and high school teachers.Question 23A) Its overestimate of the effect of dieting.B) Its mistaken conception of nutrition.C) Its changing criteria for beauty.D) Its overemphasis on thinness.Question 24A) To illustrate her point that beauty is but skin deep.B) To demonstrate the magic effect of dieting on women.C) To explain how computer images can be misleading.D) To prove that technology has impacted our culture.Question 25A) To persuade girls to stop dieting.B) To promote her own concept of beauty.C) To establish an emotional connection with students.D) To help students rid themselves of bad living habits.Keys：参考答案1. B)Why sufficient sleep is important for college students.2. D)Making last-minute preparations for tests may be less effective than sleeping.3. C)Whether the British Airports Authority should sell off some of its assets.4. D)Lack of runway and terminal capacity.5. A)Report the nicotine content of their cigarettes.6. A)The biggest increase in nicotine content tended to be in brands young smokers like.7. C)They were not prepared to comment on the cigarette study.8. B)Holland.9. C)Learning a language where it is not spoken.10. B)Trying to speak it as much as one can.11. D)It provides opportunities for language practice.12. D)Rules and regulations for driving.13. C)Make cars that are less powerful.14. A)They tend to drive responsibly.15. B)It is not useful.16 C)The card reader failed to do the scanning.17 A)By covering the credit card with a layer of plastic.18 D)Produce many low-tech fixes for high-tech failures.19. D)They vary among different departments.20. C)By contacting the departmental office.21. A)They specify the number of credits students must earn.22 B)Students in health classes.23 D)Its overemphasis on thinness.24 C)To explain how computer images can be misleading.25 A)To persuade girls to stop dieting.大学英语四级考试2016年6月第二套真题听力原文及解析Section ANews Item 1You probably think college students are experts at sleeping, but parties, preparations for tests, personal problems and general stress can rack a student's sleep habits, which can be bad for the body and the mind. Texas Tech University is even offering a class called Improving Your Sleep Habits. People suffering from sleep loss are at an increased risk from obesity, psychological problems and car crashes. Students who don't get enough sleep have poor attendance and lower grades. On top of all that, (2)a new study published in the journal Learning and Memory finds you are probably better off sleeping than making last-minute preparations for a test. Two hundred college kids were taught to play some unfamiliar video games. Subjects who learned the games in the morning lost some skills when they played again 12 hours later, (1)but they did much better after getting a good night's sleep. So if you really want to do your job well, don't forget to get some sleep.Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.What is the news report mainly about?解析：主旨大意题。
2016年6月大学英语四级考试真题、听力原文及参考答案(第2套)
2016年6月大学英语四级考试真题（第2套）Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a letter to express your thanks to your parents or any other family member upon making a memorable achievement. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.Part II Listening Comprehension (25 minutes)Section ADirections:In this section, you will hear three news reports. At the end of each news report, you will hear two or three questions. Both the news report and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.1. A) The International Labour Organization's key objective.B) The basic social protection for the most vulnerable.C) Rising unemployment worldwide.D) Global economic recovery.2. A) Many countries have not taken measures to create enough jobs.B) Few countries know how to address the current economic crisis.C) Few countries have realised the seriousness of the current crisis.D) Many countries need support to improve their people's livelihood.Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.3. A) Serve standardised food nationwide.C) Increase protein content in the food.B) Put calorie information on the menu.D) Offer convenient food to customers.4. A) They will be fined. C) They will get a warning.B) They will be closed.D) They will lose customers.Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.5. A) Inability to implement their business plans.B) Inability to keep turning out novel products.C) Lack of a successful business model of their own.D) Failure to integrate innovation into their business.6. A) It is the secret to business success. C) It is a magic tool to bring big rewards.B) It is the creation of something new.D) It is an essential part of business culture.7. A) Its hardworking employees. C) Its innovation culture.B) Its flexible promotion strategy. D) Its willingness to make investments.Section BDirections: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) He's got addicted to technology. C) He is crazy about text-messaging.B) He is not very good at socializing.D) He does not talk long on the phone.9. A) Talk big.C) Gossip a lot.B) Talk at length. D) Forget herself.10. A) He thought it was cool. C) He wanted to stay connected with them.B) He needed the practice.D) He had an urgent message to send.11. A) It poses a challenge to seniors. C) It is childish and unprofessional.B) It saves both time and money. D) It is cool and convenient.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12. A) He wants to change his job assignment.B) He is unhappy with his department manager.C) He thinks he deserves extra pay for overtime.D) He is often singled out for criticism by his boss.13. A) His workload was much too heavy. C) His colleagues often refused to cooperate.B) His immediate boss did not trust him. D) His salary was too low for his responsibility.14. A) He never knows how to refuse.C) His boss has a lot of trust in him.B) He is always ready to help others.D) His boss has no sense of fairness.15. A) Put all his complaints in writing. C) Learn to say no when necessary.B) Wait and see what happens next.D) Talk to his boss in person first.Section CDirections: 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) The importance of sleep to a healthy life.B) Reasons for Americans' decline in sleep.C) Some tips to improve the quality of sleep.D) Diseases associated with lack of sleep.17. A) They are more health-conscious. C) They get less and less sleep.B) They are changing their living habits. D) They know the dangers of lack of sleep.18. A) Their weight will go down. C) Their work efficiency will decrease.B) Their mind function will deteriorate.D) Their blood pressure will rise.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.19. A) How much you can afford to pay.B) What course you are going to choose.C) Which university you are going to apply to.D) When you are going to submit your application.20. A) The list of courses studied.C) The references from teachers.B) The full record of scores. D) The personal statement.21. A) Specify what they would like to do after graduation.B) Describe in detail how much they would enjoy studying.C) Indicate they have reflected and thought about the subject.D) Emphasize that they admire the professors in the university.Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.22. A) It was equipped with rubber tyres.C) It was purchased by the Royal family.B) It was built in the late 19th century.D) It was designed by an English engineer.23. A) They consumed lots of petrol. C) They were difficult to drive.B) They took two passengers only.D) They often broke down.24. A) They were produced on the assembly line. C) They were modeled after British cars.B) They were built with less costly materials. D) They were made for ordinary use.25. A) It made news all over the world. C) It marked a new era in motor travel.B) It was built for the Royal family. D) It attracted large numbers of motorists.Part III 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 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.Contrary to popular belief, older people generally do not want to live with their children. Moreover, most adult children 26 every bit as much care and support to their aging parents as was the case in the "good old days", and most older people do not feel 27 .About 80% of people 65 years and older have living children, and about 90% of them have28 contact with their children. About 75% of elderly parents who don't go to nursing homes live within 30 minutes of at least one of their children.However, 29 having contact with children does not guarantee happiness in old age. In fact, some research has found that people who are most involved with their families have the lowest spirits. This research may be 30 , however, as ill health often makes older people more 31 and thereby increases contact with family members. So it is more likely that poor health, not just family involvement, 32 spirits.Increasingly, researchers have begun to look at the quality of relationships, rather than at the frequency of contact, between the elderly and their children. If parents and children share interests and values and agree on childrearing practices and religious 33 , they are likely to enjoy each other's company. Disagreements on such matters can 34 cause problems. If parents are angered by their daughter's divorce, dislike her new husband, and disapprove of how she is raisingSection 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 paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilization?A) For many years I have studied global agricultural, population, environmental and economic trends and their interactions. The combined effects of those trends and the political tensions they generate point to the breakdown of governments and societies. Yet I, too, have resisted the idea that food shortages could bring down not only individual governments but also our global civilization.B) I can no longer ignore that risk. Our continuing failure to deal with the environmental declines that are undermining the world food economy forces me to conclude that such a collapse is possible.C) As demand for food rises faster than supplies are growing, the resulting food-price inflation puts severe stress on the governments of many countries. Unable to buy grain or grow their own, hungry people take to the streets. Indeed, even before the steep climb in grain prices in 2008, the number of failing states was expanding. If the food situation continues to worsen, entire nations will break down at an ever increasing rate. In the 20th century the main threat to international security was superpower conflict; today it is failing states.D) States fail when national governments can no longer provide personal security, food security and basic social services such as education and health care. When governments lose their control on power, law and order begin to disintegrate. After a point, countries can become so dangerous that food relief workers are no longer safe and their programs are halted. Failing states are of international concern because they are a source of terrorists, drugs, weapons and refugees (难民) threatening political stability everywhere.E) The surge in world grain prices in 2007 and 2008 --and the threat they pose to food security -- has a different, more troubling quality than the increases of the past. During the second half of the 20th century, grain prices rose dramatically several times. In 1972, for instance, the Soviets, recognizing their poor harvest early, quietly cornered the world wheat market. As a result, wheat prices elsewhere more than doubled, pulling rice and corn prices up with them. But this and other price shocks were event-driven -- drought in the Soviet Union, crop-shrinking heat in the U.S. Corn Belt. And the rises were short-lived: prices typically returned to normal with the next harvest.F) In contrast, the recent surge in world grain prices is trend-driven, making it unlikely to reverse without a reversal in the trends themselves. On the demand side, those trends include the ongoing addition of more than 70 million people a year, a growing number of people wanting to move up the food chain to consume highly grain-intensive meat products, and the massive diversion (转向) of U.S. grain to the production of bio-fuel.G) As incomes rise among low-income consumers, the potential for further grain consumption is huge. But that potential pales beside the never-ending demand for crop-based fuels.A fourth of this year's U.S. grain harvest will go to fuel cars.H) What about supply? The three environmental trends -- the shortage of fresh water, the loss of topsoil and the rising temperatures -- are making it increasingly hard to expand the world's grain supply fast enough to keep up with demand. Of all those trends, however, the spread of water shortages poses the most immediate threat. The biggest challenge here is irrigation, which consumes 70% of the world's fresh water. Millions of irrigation wells in many countries are now pumping water out of underground sources faster than rainfall can refill them. The result is falling water tables (地下水位) in countries with half the world's people, including the three big grain producers -- China, India and the U.S.I) As water tables have fallen and irrigation wells have gone dry, China's wheat crop, the world's largest, has declined by 8% since it peaked at 123 million tons in 1997. But water shortages are even more worrying in India. Millions of irrigation wells have significantly lowered water tables in almost every state.J) As the world's food security falls to pieces, individual countries acting in their own self-interest are actually worsening the troubles of many. The trend began in 2007, when leading wheat-exporting countries such as Russia and Argentina limited or banned their exports, in hopes of increasing local food supplies and thereby bringing down domestic food prices. Vietnam banned its exports for several months for the same reason. Such moves may eliminate the fears of those living in the exporting countries, but they are creating panic in importing countries that must rely on what is then left for export.K) In response to those restrictions, grain-importing countries are trying to nail down long-term trade agreements that would lock up future grain supplies. Food-import anxiety is evenleading to new efforts by food-importing countries to buy or lease farmland in other countries. In spite of such temporary measures, soaring food prices and spreading hunger in many other countries are beginning to break down the social order.L) Since the current world food shortage is trend-driven, the environmental trends that cause it must be reversed. We must cut carbon emissions by 80% from their 2006 levels by 2020, stabilize the world's population at eight billion by 2040, completely remove poverty, and restore forests and soils. There is nothing new about the four objectives. Indeed, we have made substantial progress in some parts of the world on at least one of these -- the distribution of family-planning services and the associated shift to smaller families.M) For many in the development community, the four objectives were seen as positive, promoting development as long as they did not cost too much. Others saw them as politically correct and morally appropriate. Now a third and far more significant motivation presents itself: meeting these goals may be necessary to prevent the collapse of our civilization. Yet the cost we project for saving civilization would amount to less than $200 billion a year, 1/6 of current global military spending. In effect, our plan is the new security budget.36. The more recent steep climb in grain prices partly results from the fact that more and more people want to consume meat products.37. Social order is breaking down in many countries because of food shortages.38. Rather than superpower conflict, countries unable to cope with food shortages now constitute the main threat to world security.39. Some parts of the world have seen successful implementation of family planning.40. The author has come to agree that food shortages could ultimately lead to the collapse of world civilization.41. Increasing water shortages prove to be the biggest obstacle to boosting the world's grain production.42. The cost for saving our civilization would be considerably less than the world's current military spending.43. To lower domestic food prices, some countries limited or stopped their grain exports.44. Environmental problems must be solved to ease the current global food shortage.45. A quarter of this year's American grain harvest will be used to produce bio-fuel for cars.Section CDirections: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 2with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.Declining mental function is often seen as a problem of old age, but certain aspects of brain function actually begin their decline in young adulthood, a new study suggests.The study, which followed more than 2,000 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 60, found that certain mental functions -- including measures of abstract reasoning, mental speed and puzzle-solving -- started to dull as early as age 27.Dips in memory, meanwhile, generally became apparent around age 37.On the other hand, indicators of a person's accumulated knowledge -- like performance on tests of vocabulary and general knowledge --kept improving with age, according to findings published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging.The results do not mean that young adults need to start worrying about their memories. Most people's minds function at a high level even in their later years, according to researcher Timothy Salthouse."These patterns suggest that some types of mental flexibility decrease relatively early in adulthood, but that the amount of knowledge one has, and the effectiveness of integrating it with one's abilities, may increase throughout all of adulthood if there are no diseases," Salthouse said in a news release.The study included healthy, educated adults who took standard tests of memory, reasoning and perception at the outset and at some point over the next seven years.The tests are designed to detect subtle(细微的) changes in mental function, and involve solving puzzles, recalling words and details from stories, and identifying patterns in collections of letters and symbols.In general, Salthouse and his colleagues found, certain aspects of cognition(认知能力) generally started to decline in the late 20s to 30s.The findings shed light on normal age-related changes in mental function, which could aid in understanding the process of dementia (痴呆), according to the researchers."By following individuals over time," Salthouse said, "we gain insight in cognition changes, and may possibly discover ways to slow the rate of decline."The researchers are currently analyzing the study participants' health and lifestyle to see which factors might influence age-related cognitive changes.46. What is the common view of mental function?A) It varies from person to person.C) It gradually expands with age.B) It weakens in one's later years.D) It indicates one's health condition.47. What does the new study find about mental functions?A) Some diseases inevitably lead to their decline.B) They reach a peak at the age of 20 for most people.C) They are closely related to physical and mental exercise.D) Some of them begin to decline when people are still young.48. What does Timothy Salthouse say about people's minds in most cases?A) They tend to decline in people's later years.B) Their flexibility determines one's abilities.C) They function quite well even in old age.D) Their functioning is still a puzzle to be solved.49. Although people's minds may function less flexibly as they age, theyA) may be better at solving puzzlesB) can memorize things with more easeC) may have greater facility in abstract reasoningD) can put what they have learnt into more effective use50. According to Salthouse, their study may help us ________.A) find ways to slow down our mental declineB) find ways to boost our memoriesC) understand the complex process of mental functioningD) understand the relation between physical and mental healthPassage TwoQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.The most important thing in the news last week was the rising discussion in Nashville about the educational needs of children. The shorthand(简写) educators use for this is "pre-K" --meaning instruction before kindergarten --and the big idea is to prepare 4-year-olds and even younger kids to be ready to succeed on their K-12 journey.But it gets complicated. The concept has multiple forms, and scholars and policymakers argue about the shape, scope and cost of the ideal program.The federal Head Start program, launched 50 years ago, has served more than 30 million children. It was based on concepts developed at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College by Susan Gray, the legendary pioneer in early childhood education research.A new Peabody study of the Tennessee V oluntary Pre-K program reports that pre-K works, but the gains are not sustained through the third grade. It seems to me this highlights quality issues in elementary schools more than pre-K, and indicates longer-term success must connect pre-K with all the other issues related to educating a child.Pre-K is controversial. Some critics say it is a luxury and shouldn't be free to families able to pay. Pre-K advocates insist it is proven and will succeed if integrated with the rest of the child's schooling. I lean toward the latter view.This is, in any case, the right conversation to be having now as Mayor Megan Barry takes office. She was the first candidate to speak out for strong pre-K programming. The important thing is for all of us to keep in mind the real goal and the longer, bigger picture.The weight of the evidence is on the side of pre-K that early intervention (干预) works. What government has not yet found is the political will to put that understanding into full practice with a sequence of smart schooling that provides the early foundation.For this purpose, our schools need both the talent and the organization to educate each child who arrives at the schoolhouse door. Some show up ready, but many do not at this critical time when young brains are developing rapidly.51. What does the author say about pre-kindergarten education?A) It should cater to the needs of individual children.B) It is essential to a person's future academic success.C) Scholars and policymakers have different opinions about it.D) Parents regard it as the first phase of children's development.52. What does the new Peabody study find?A) Pre-K achievements usually do not last long.B) The third grade marks a new phase of learning.C) The third grade is critical to children's development.D) Quality has not been the top concern of pre-K programs,53. When does the author think pre-K works the best?A) When it is accessible to kids of all families.B) When it is made part of kids' education.C) When it is no longer considered a luxury.D) When it is made fun and enjoyable to kids.54. What do we learn about Mayor Megan Barry?A) She knows the real goal of education.C) She has once run a pre-K program.B) She is a mayor of insight and vision. D) She is a firm supporter of pre-K.55. What does the author think is critical to kids' education?A) Teaching method. C) Early intervention.B) Kids' interest. D) Parents' involvement.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.功夫(Kung Fu)是中国武术(martial arts)的俗称。
2016年6月英语四级听力真题及答案第2套
2016年6月真英语四级真题及答案：第2套Section A News ReportDirections： In this section， you will hear three newsreports。
At the end of each news report, you willhear two or t hree questions. Both the news reportand the questions will be spoken only once。
Afteryou hear a question， you must choose the best answer from the four choicesmarked A), B）， C） and D）。
Then mark thecorresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Drections： Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard。
Question 1A） How college students can improve their sleep habits。
B) Why sufficient sleep is important for college students.C） Why college students are more likely to have stress problems。
D） How college students can handle their psychological problems。
Question 2A） It is not easy to improve one's sleep habits。
2016年6月大学英语四级听力题目答案及原文第2套解析
Part II Listening ComprehensionSection ANews Report One【话题预测】由college students，sleep，problem，stress，psychological 等词可推断，本则新闻与大学生睡眠或心理健康有关。
【正确答案】1—2 B D听力原文You probably think college students are experts at sleeping, but parties, preparations for tests, personal problems and general stress can wreck a student’s sleep habits, which can be bad for the body and the mind. Texas Tech University is even offering a class called “Improving Your Sleep Habits”. People suffering from sleep loss are at an increased risk from obesity, psychological problems and car crashes. Students who don’t get enough sleep have poor attendance and lower grades. On top of all that, a new study published in the journal Learning and Memory finds you are probably better off sleeping than making last-minute preparations for a test. 200 college kids were taught to play some unfamiliar video games. Subjects who learned the games in the morning lost some skills when they played again 12 hours later, but they did much better after getting a good night’s sleep. So if you really want to do your job well, don’t forget to get some sleep. Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.1. What is the news report mainly about?2. What is the finding of the new study published in the journal Learning and Memory?试题解析【话题分类】时事新闻【新闻大意】大学生睡眠不好会严重影响学习效率和身心健康；Texas Tech 大学甚至开设课程教授学生改善睡眠习惯，提高睡眠质量；新的一项研究也证明了提高睡眠质量的重要性。
【英语】2016年6月英语四级听力真题及答案第2套
【关键字】英语2016年6月真英语四级真题及答案:第2套Section A News ReportDirections： In this section， you will hear three newsreports。
At the end of each news report， you willhear two or three questions。
Both the news reportand the questions will be spoken only once。
Afteryou hear a question， youmust choose the best answer from the four choicesmarked A）， B）， C） and D）。
Then mark t hecorresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre。
Drections: Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.Question 1A) How college students can improve their sleep habits.B) Why sufficient sleep is important for college students.C) Why college students are more likely to have stress problems.D) How college students can handle their psychological problems.Question 2A) It is not easy to improve one's sleep habits.B) It is not good for students to play video games.C) Students who are better prepared generally get higher scores in examinations.D) Making last-minute preparations for tests may be less effective than sleeping.Drections: Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.Question 3A) Whether more airports should be built around .B) Whether adequate investment is being made to improve airport facilities.C) Whether the British Airports Authority should sell off some of its assets.D) Whether the Spanish company could offer better service.Question 4A) Inefficient management.B) Poor ownership structure.C) Lack of innovation and competition.D) Lack of runway and terminal capacity.Drections: Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.Question 5A) Report the nicotine content of their cigarettes.B) Set a limit to the production of their cigarettes.C) Take steps to reduce nicotine in their products.D) Study the effects of nicotine on young smokers.Question 6A) The biggest increase in nicotine content tended to be in brands young smokers like.B) Big tobacco companies were frank with their customers about the hazards of smoking.C) Brands which contain higher nicotine content were found to be much more popular.D) Tobacco companies refused to discuss the detailed nicotine content of their products. Question 7A) They promised to reduce the nicotine content in cigarettes.B) They have not fully realized the harmful effect of nicotine.C) They were not prepared to comment on the cigarette study.D) They will pay more attention to the quality of their products.Section B ConversationDirections： In this section， you will hear two long conversations。
2016年6月大学英语四级第2套真题及答案解析
2016年6月大学英语四级真题（第2套)Part I WritingDirections:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a letter to express your thanks to one of your school teachers upon entering college. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.Part ⅡListening ComprehensionSection ADirections: In this section, you will hear three news reports. At the end of each news report, you will hear two or three questions. Both the news report and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.1. A)How college students can improve their sleep habits.B)Why sufficient sleep is important for college students.C)Why college students are more likely to have stress problems.D)How college students can handle their psychological problems.2. A)It is not easy to improve one’s sleep habits.B)It is not good for students to play video games.C)Students who are better prepared generally get higher scores in examinations.D)Making last-minute preparations for tests may be less effective than sleeping.Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.3. A)Whether more airports should be built around London.B)Whether adequate investment is being made to improve airport facilities.C)Whether the British Airports Authority should sell off some of its assets.D)Whether the Spanish company could offer better service.4. A)Inefficient management. B)Poor ownership structure.C)Lack of innovation and competition. D)Lack of runway and terminal capacity. Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.5. A)Report the nicotine content of their cigarettes.B)Set a limit to the production of their cigarettes.C)Take steps to reduce nicotine in their products.D)Study the effects of nicotine on young smokers.6. A)The biggest increase in nicotine content tended to be in brands young smokers like.B)Big tobacco companies were frank with their customers about the hazards of smoking.C)Brands which contain higher nicotine content were found to be much more popular.D)Tobacco companies refused to discuss the detailed nicotine content of their products.7. A)They promised to reduce the nicotine content in cigarettes.B)They have not fully realized the harmful effect of nicotine.C)They were not prepared to comment on the cigarette study.D)They will pay more attention to the quality of their products.Section BDirections: 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)Indonesia. B)Holland. C)Sweden. D)England.9.A)Getting a coach who can offer real help. B)Talking with her boyfriend in Dutch.C)Learning a language where it is not spoken . D)Acquiring the necessary ability to socialize .10. A)Listening language programs on the radio. B)Trying to speak it as much as one can.C)Making friends with native speakers. D)Practicing reading aloud as often as possible.11.A)It creates an environment for socializing.B)It offers various courses with credit points.C)It trains young people’s leadership abilities.D)It provides opportunities for language practice.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12. A)The impact of engine design on rode safety. B)The role policemen play in traffic safety.C)A sense of freedom driving gives. D)Rules and regulations for driving.13. A)Make cars with automatic control. B)Make cars that have better brakes.C)Make cars that are less powerful. D)Make cars with higher standards.14. A)They tend to drive responsibly. B)They like to go at high speed.C)They keep within speed limits. D)They follow traffic rules closely.15.A)It is a bad idea. B)It is not useful.C)It is as effective as speed bumps . D)It should be combined with education.Section CDirections: 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)The card got damaged . B)The card was found invalid.C)The card reader failed to do the scanning. D)The card reader broke down unexpectedly.17. A)By converting the credit card with a layer of plastic.B)By calling the credit card company for confirmation.C)By seeking help from the card reader maker Verifone.D)By typing the credit card number into the cash register.18.A)Affect the sales of high-tech appliances.B)Change the life style of many Americans.C)Give birth to many new technological inventions.D)Produce many low-tech fixes for high-tech failures.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.19. A)They are set by the dean of the graduate school.B)They are determined by the advising board.C)They leave much room for improvement.D)They vary among different departments.20. A)By consulting the examining committee . B)By reading the Bulletin of Information.C)By contacting the departmental office. D)By visiting the university’s website.21. A)They specify the number of credits students must earn.B)They are harder to meet than those for undergraduates.C)They have to be approved by the examining committee.D)They are the same among various divisions of the university.Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.22. A)Students majoring in nutrition. B)Students in health classes.C)Ph.D. candidates in dieting. D)Middle and high school teachers.23. A)Its overestimate of the effect of dieting. B)Its mistaken conception of nutrition.C)Its changing criteria for beauty. D)Its overemphasis on thinness.24. A)To illustrate her point that beauty is but skin deep.B)To demonstrate the magic effect of dieting on women.C)To explain how computer images can be misleading.D)To prove that technology has impacted our culture.25. A)To persuade girls to stop dieting.B)To promote her own concept of beauty.C)To establish an emotional connection with students.D)To help students rid themselves of bad living habits.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 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.Contrary to popular belief, older people generally do not want to live with their children.Moreover, most adult children 26 every bit as much care and support to their aging parentsas wa s the case in the “good old days”, and most older people do not feel 27 .About 80% of people 65years and older have living children, and about 90% of them have 28 contact with their children. About 75% of elderly parents who don’t go to nursing homes live within 30 minutes of at least one of their children.However, 29 having contact with children does not guarantee happiness in old age. In fact, some research has found that people who are most involved with their families have the lowest spirits. This research may be 30 , however, as ill health often makes older people more 31 and thereby increases contact with family members. So it is more likely that poor health, not just family involvement, 32 spirits.Increasingly, researchers have begun to look at the quality of relationships, rather than at the frequency of contact, between the elderly and their children. If parents and children share interests and values and agree on childrearing practices and religious 33 , they are likely to enjoy each other’s company. Disagreements on such matters can 34 cause problems. If parents are agreed by their daughter’s divorce, dislike her new husband, and disapprove of how she is raising their grandchildren, 35 are that they are not going to enjoy her visits.Section 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 paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilization?[A] For many years I have studied global agricultural, population, environmental and economictrends and their interactions. The combined effects of those trends and the political tensions they generate point to the breakdown of governments and societies. Yet I, too, have resisted the idea that food shortages could bring down not only individual governments but also our global civilization.[B] I can no longer ignore that risk. Our continuing failure to deal with the environmental declinesthat are undermining the world food economy forces me to conclude that such a collapse is possible.[C] As demand for food rises faster than supplies are growing, the resulting food-price inflationputs severe stress on the governments of many countries. Unable to buy grain or grow their own, hungry people take to the streets. Indeed, even before the steep climb in grain prices in 2008, the number of failing states was expanding. If the food situation continues to worsen, entire nations will break down at an ever increasing rate. In the 20th century the main threat to international security was superpower conflict; today it is failing states.[D] States fail when national governments can no longer provide personal security, food securityand basic social services such as education and health care. When governments lose theircontrol on power, law and order begin to disintegrate. After a point, countries can become so dangerous that food relief workers are no longer safe and their programs are halted. Failing states are of international concern because they are a source of terrorists, drugs, weapons and refugees(难民), threatening political stability everywhere.[E] The surge in world grain prices in 2007 and 2008—and the threat they pose to foodsecurity——has a different, more troubling quality than the increases of the past. During the second half of the 20th century, grain prices rose dramatically several times. In 1972, for instance, the Soviets, recognizing their poor harvest early, quietly cornered the world wheat market. As a result, wheat prices elsewhere more than doubled, pulling rice and corn prices up with them. But this and other price shocks were event-driven——drought in the Soviet Union, crop-shrinking heat in the U.S. Corn Belt. And the rises were short-lived: prices typically returned to normal with the next harvest.[F] In contrast, the recent surge in world grain prices is trend-driven, making it unlikely to reversewithout a reversal in the trends themselves. On the demand side, those trends include the ongoing addition of more than 70 million people a year, a growing number of people wanting to move up the food chain to consume highly grain-intensive meat products, and the massive diversion(转向) of U.S. grain to the production of bio-fuel.[G] As incomes rise among low-income consumers, the potential for further grain consumption ishuge. But that potential pales beside the never-ending demand for crop-based fuels. A fourth of this year’s U.S. grain harvest will go to fuel cars.[H] What about supply? The three environmental trends——the shortage of fresh water, the lossof topsoil and the rising temperatures——are making it increasingly hard to expand the world’s grain supply fast enough to keep up with demand. Of all those trends, however, the spread of water shortages poses the most immediate threat. The biggest challenge here is irrigation, which consumes 70% the world’s fresh water. Millions of irrigation wells in many countries are now pumping water out of underground sources faster than rainfall can refill them. The result is falling water tables(地下水位) in countries with half the world’s people, including the three big grain producers——China, India and the U.S.[I] As water tables have fallen and irrigation wells have gone dry, China’s wheat crop, the world’slargest, has declined by 8% since it peaked at 123 million tons in 1997. But water shortages are even more worrying in India. Millions of irrigation wells have significantly lowered water tables in almost every state.[J] As the world’s food security falls to pieces, individual countries acting in their own self-interest are actually worsening the troubles of many. The trend began in 2007, when leading wheat-exporting countries such as Russia and Argentina limited or banned their exports, in hopes of increasing local food supplies and thereby bringing down domestic food prices.Vietnam banned its exports for several months for the same reason. Such moves may eliminate the fears of those living in the exporting countries, but they are creating panic in importing countries that must rely on what is then left for export.[K] In response to those restrictions, grain-importing countries are trying to nail down long-term trade agreements that would lock up future grain supplies. Food-import anxiety is even leading to new efforts by food-importing countries to buy or lease farmland in other countries. In spite of such temporary measures, soaring food prices and spreading hunger in many other countries are beginning to break down the social order.[L] Since the current world food shortage is trend-driven, the environmental trends that cause it must be reversed. We must cut carbon emissions by 80% from their 2006 levels by 2020, stabilize the world’s p opulation at eight billion by 2040, completely remove poverty, and restore forests and soils. There is nothing new about the four objectives. Indeed, we have made substantial progress in some parts of the world on at least one of these——the distribution of family-planning services and the associated shift to smaller families.[M]For many in the development community, the four objectives were seen as positive, promoting development as long as they did not cost too much. Others saw them as politically correct and morally appropriate. Now a third and far more significant motivation presents itself: meeting these goals may be necessary to prevent the collapse of our civilization. Yet the cost we project for saving civilization would amount to less than $200 billion a year, 1/6 of current global military spending. In effect, our plan is the new security budget.36.The more recent steep climb in grain prices partly results from the fact that more and morepeople want to consume meat products.37. Social order is breaking down in many countries because of food shortages.38. Rather than superpower conflict, countries unable to cope with food shortages now constitutethe main threat to world security.39. Some parts of the world have seen successful implementation of family planning.40. The author has come to agree that food shortages could ultimately lead to the collapse of worldcivilization.41. Increasing water shortages prove to be the biggest obstacle to boosting the world’s grainproduction.42. The cost for sa ving our civilization would be considerably less than the world’s currentmilitary spending.43. To lower domestic food prices, some countries limited or stopped their grain exports.44. Environmental problems must be solved to ease the current global food shortage.45. A quarter of this year’s American grain harvest will be used to produce bio-fuel for cars. Section CDirections: 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 OneQuestions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.Declining mental function is often seen as a problem of old age, but certain aspects of brain function actually begin their decline in young adulthood, a new study suggests.The study, which followed more than 2,000 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 60, found that certain mental functions—including measures of abstract reasoning, mental speed and puzzle-solving—started to dull as early as age 27.Dips in memory, meanwhile, generally became apparent around age 37.On the other hand, indicators of a person’s accumulated knowledge—like performance on tests of vocabulary and general knowledge—kept improving with age, according to findings published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging.The results do not mean that young adults need to start worrying about their memories. Mostpeople’s minds function at a high level even in their later years, according to researcher Timothy Salthouse.“These patterns suggest that so me types of mental flexibility decrease relatively early in adulthood, but that the amount of knowledge one has, and the effectiveness of integrating it with one’s abilities, may increase throughout all of adulthood if there are no dise ases,” Salthouse sai d in a news release.The study included healthy, educated adults who took standard tests of memory, reasoning and perception at the outset and at some point over the next seven years.The tests are designed to detect subtle (细微的) changes in mental function, and involve solving puzzles, recalling words and details from stories, and identifying patterns in collections of letters and symbols.In general, Salthouse and his colleagues found, certain aspects of cognition (认知能力) generally started to decline in the late 20s to 30s.The findings shed light on normal age-related changes in mental function, which could aid in understanding the process of dementia (痴呆), according to the researchers.“By following individuals over time,” Salthouse said, “we gain insight in cognitio n changes, and may possibly discover ways to slow the rate of decline.”The researchers are currently analyzing the study participants’ health and lifestyle to see which factors might influence age-related cognitive changes.46. What is the common view of mental function?A)It varies from person to person. B)It weakens in one’s later years.C)It gradually expands with age. D)It indicates one’s health condition.47. What does the new study find about mental functions?A)Some diseases inevitably lead to their decline.B)They reach a peak at the age of 20 for most people.C)They are closely related to physical and mental exercise.D)Some of them begin to decline when people are still young.48. What does Timothy Salthouse say about people’s mi nds in most cases?A)They tend to decline in people’s later years.B)Their flexibility determines one’s abilities.C)They function quite well even in old age.D)Their functioning is still a puzzle to be solved.49. Although people’s minds may function less flexibly as th ey age, they _____.A)may be better at solving puzzlesB)can memorize things with more easeC)may have greater facility in abstract reasoningD)can put what they have learnt into more effective use50. According to Salthouse, their study may help us_____.A)find ways to slow down our mental declineB)find ways to boost our memoriesC)understand the complex process of mental functioningD)understand the relation between physical and mental healthPassage TwoQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.The most important thing in the news last week was the rising discussion in Nashville about the educational needs of children. The shorthand(简写)educators use for this is “pre-K”—meaning instruction before kindergarten—and the big idea is to prepare 4-year-olds and even younger kids to be ready to succeed on their K-12 journey.But it gets complicated. The concept has multiple forms, and scholars and policymakers argue about the shape, scope and cost of the ideal program.The federal Head Start program, launched 50 years ago, has served more than 30 million children. It was based on concepts developed at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College by Susan Gray, the legendary pioneer in early childhood education research.A new Peabody study of the Tennessee V oluntary Pre-K program reports that pre-K works, but the gains are not sustained through the third grade. It seems to me this highlights quality issues in elementary schools more than pre-K, and indicates longer-term success must connect pre-K with all the other issues related to educating a child.Pre-K is controversial. Some critics say it is a luxury and shouldn’t be free to families able to pay. Pre-K advocates insist it is proven and will succeed if integrated with the rest of the chil d’s schooling. I lean toward the latter view.This is, in any case, the right conversation to be having now as Mayor Megan Barry takes office. She was the first candidate to speak out for strong pre-K programming. The important thing is for all of us to keep in mind the real goal and the longer, bigger picture.The weight of the evidence is on the side of pre-K that early intervention (干预)works. What government has not yet found is the political will to put that understanding into full practice with a sequence of smart schooling that provides the early foundation.For this purpose, our schools need both the talent and the organization to educate each child who arrives at the schoolhouse door. Some show up ready, but many do not at this critical time when young brains are developing rapidly.51.What does the author say about pre-kindergarten education?A)It should cater to the needs of individual children.B)It is essential to a person’s future academic success.C)Scholars and policymakers have different opinions about it.D)Parents regard it as the first phase of children’s development.52.What does the new Peabody study find?A)Pre-K achievements usually do not last long.B)The third grade marks a new phase of learning.C)The third grade is critical to children’s development.D)Quality has not been the top concern of pre-K programs.53.When does the author think pre-K works the best?A)When it is accessible to kids of all families.B)When it is made part of kids’ education.C)When it is no longer considered a luxury.D)When it is made fun and enjoyable to kids.54.What do we learn about Mayor Megan Barry?A)She knows the real goal of education. B)She is a mayor of insight and vision.C)She has once run a pre-K program. D)She is a firm supporter of pre-K.55.What does the author thin k is critical to kids’ education?A)Teaching method. B)Kids’ interest.C)Early intervention. D)Parents’ involvement.Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.在山东省潍坊市，风筝不仅仅是玩具，而且还是这座城市文化的标志。
2016年6月英语四级真题及答案第二套
2016年6月英语四级真题及答案第二套Part I Writing （30 minutes）Directions：For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a letter to express your thanks to one of your school teachers upon entering college. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.Part Ⅱ Listening Comprehension （25 minutes）Section ADirections： In this section， you will hear three news reports。
At the end of each news report， you will hear two or three questions。
Both the news report and the questions will be spoken only once。
After you hear a question， you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A）， B）， C） and D）。
Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre。
Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard。
Question 1A) How college students can improve their sleep habits.B) Why sufficient sleep is important for college students.C) Why college students are more likely to have stress problems.D) How college students can handle their psychological problems. Question 2A) It is not easy to improve one's sleep habits.B) It is not good for students to play video games.C) Students who are better prepared generally get higher scores in e xaminations.D) Making last-minute preparations for tests may be less effective th an sleeping.Drections: Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.Question 3A) Whether more airports should be built around London.B) Whether adequate investment is being made to improve airport facil ities.C) Whether the British Airports Authority should sell off some of it s assets.D) Whether the Spanish company could offer better service.Question 4A) Inefficient management.B) Poor ownership structure.C) Lack of innovation and competition.D) Lack of runway and terminal capacity.Drections: Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.Question 5A) Report the nicotine content of their cigarettes.B) Set a limit to the production of their cigarettes.C) Take steps to reduce nicotine in their products.D) Study the effects of nicotine on young smokers.Question 6A) The biggest increase in nicotine content tended to be in brands young smokers like.B) Big tobacco companies were frank with their customers about the h azards of smoking.C) Brands which contain higher nicotine content were found to be mu ch more popular.D) Tobacco companies refused to discuss the detailed nicotine content of their products.Question 7A) They promised to reduce the nicotine content in cigarettes.B) They have not fully realized the harmful effect of nicotine.C) They were not prepared to comment on the cigarette study.D) They will pay more attention to the quality of their products. Section B ConversationDirections：In this section，you will hear two long conversations。
2016年6月英语四级真题及答案详解和听力原文 第二套
2016年6月英语四级真题及答案详解和听力原文第二套2016年6月英语四级真题第二套Part I Writing (30minutes)For this part,you are allowed 30 minutes to write a letter to express your thanks to one of your school teachers upon entering college.You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words。
Part ⅡListening Comprehension (25 minutes)Section ADirections：In this section，you will hear three news reports.At the end of each news report,you will hear two or three questions.Both the news report and the questions will 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 d single line through the centre.Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.1.A.How college students can handle their psychological problems.B.Why college students are more likely to have stress problems.C.Why sufficient sleep is important for college students.D.How college students can improve their sleep habits.2.A.It is not easy to improve one’s sleep habits.B.It is not good for students to play video games.C.Making last-minute preparations for tests may be less effective than sleeping.D.Students who are better prepared generally get higher scores in examinations. Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard .3.A.Whether adequate investment is being made to improve airport facilities.B.Whether the British Airports Authority should sell off some of its assets.C.Whether the Spanish company could offer better service.D.Whether more airports should be built around London.4.A. Poor ownership structure.B.Inefficient management.C. Lack of innovation and competition.D. Lack of runway and terminal capacity.Questions 5 to7 are based on the news report you have just heard.5.A.study the effects of nicotine on young smokers.B.Set a limit to the production of their cigarettes.C.Take steps to reduce nicotine in their products.D.Report the nicotine content of their cigarettes.6.A.The biggest increase in nicotine content tended to be in brands young smokers like.B. Brands which contain higher nicotine content were found to be much more popular.C.Tobacco companies refused to discuss the detailed nicotine content of their products.D.Big tobacco companies were flank with their customers about the hazards of smoking .7.A.They will pay more attention to the quality of their products.B.They were not prepared to comment on the cigarette study.C.They promised to reduce the nicotine content in cigarettes.D.They have not fully realized the harmful effect of nicotine.Section BDirections:In this section，you will hear two long conversations.At the end of eachconversation,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 tol1 are based on the conversation you have just heard.8.A.Holland. B.Indonesia. C.England. D.Sweden.9.A.Talking with her boyfriend in Dutch. C.Acquiring the necessary ability to socialize.B.Getting a coach who can offer real help. D.Learning a language where it is not spoken10.A.Practicing reading aloud as often as possible.B.Listening to language programs on the radio.C.Trying to speak it as much as one can.D.Making friends with native speakers.11.A.It provides opportunities for language practice.B.It trains young people’s leadership abilities.C.It offers various courses with credit points.D.It creates an environment for socializing .Questions 12 tol5 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12.A.A sense of freedom driving gives. C.The role policemen play in traffic safety.B.Rules and regulations for driving . D. The impact of engine design on road safety.13.A.Make cars with automatic control. C.Make cars that are less powerful.B.Make cars with higher standards. D. Make cars that have better brakes.14.A.They follow traffic rules closely. C.They like to go at high speed.B. They keep within speed limits. D. They tend to drive responsibly.15.A. It is a bad idea.B.It is as effective as speed bumps.C.It is not useful.D.It should be combined with education.Section CDirections：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 l with a single line through the centre.Questions 16 tol8 are based on the passage you have just heard.16.A.The card got damaged. C.The card reader broke down unexpectedly.B.The card was found invalid. D.The card reader failed to do the scanning.17.A.By seeking help from the card reader maker Verifone.B.By covering the credit card with a layer of plastic.C.By calling the credit card company for confirmation.D.By typing the credit card number into the cash register.18.A.Produce many low-tech fixes for high.tech failures.B. Give birth to many new technological inventions.C. Change the lifestyle of many Americans.D. Affect the sales of high.tech appliances.Questions 19 to21 are based on the passage you have just heard.19.A.They vary among different departments.B.They leave much room for improvement.C.They are determined by the advising board.D.They are set by the dean of the graduate school.20.A.By consulting the examining committee. C. By visiting the university’s website.B. By reading the Bulletin of Information. D. By contacting the departmental office.21.A.They are harder to meet than those for undergraduates.B.They specify the number of credits students must earn.C.They have to be approved by the examining committee.D.They are the same among various divisions of the university.Questions 22 to 25 are based oil the passage you have just heard.22.A.Ph.D.candidates in dieting.B.Students majoring in nutrition.C.Students in health classes.D.Middle and high school teachers.23.A.Its overemphasis on thinness.B.Its changing criteria for beauty.C.Its mistaken conception of nutrition.D.Its overestimate of the effect of dieting.24.A.To demonstrate the magic effect of dieting on women.B.To explain how computer images can be misleading.C.To prove that technology has impacted our culture.D.To illustrate her point that beauty is but skin deep.25.A.To help students rid themselves of bad living habits.B.To establish an emotional connection with students.C.To promote her own concept of beauty.D.To persuade girls to stop dieting.Part III Reading Comprehension （40 minutes）Section ASigns barring cell-phone use are a familiar sight to anyone who has ever sat in a hospital waiting room. But the_____(26)popularity of electronic medical records has forced hospital-based doctors to become_____(27)on computers throughout the day, and desktops-which keep doctors from besides-are_____(28)giving way to wireless devices.As clerical loads increased, "something had to_____(29), and that was always face time with patients," says Dr.Bhakti Patel, a former chief resident in the University of Chicago's internal-medicine program. In fall 2010, she helped_____(30)a pilot project in Chicago to see if the iPad could improve working conditions and patient care. The experiment was so_____(31)that all internal-medicine program adopted the same_____(32)in 2011. Medical schools at Yale and Stanford now have paperless, iPad-based curriculums. "You'll want an iPad just so you can wear this" is the slogan for one of the new lab coats_____(33)with large pockets to accommodate tablet computers.A study of the University of Chicago iPad project found that patients got tests and_____(34) faster if they were cared for by iPad-equipped residents.Many patients also_____(35) a better understanding of the illnesses that landed them in the hospital in the first place.A.dependentB.designedC.fastD.flyingE.gainedF.giveG.growingunchI.policyJ.prospectK.ratherL.reliableM.signalN.successfulO.treatmentsSection BAncient Greek Wisdom Inspires Guidelines to Good Life[A] Is it possible to enjoy a peaceful life in a world that is increasingly challenged by threats and uncertainties from wars, terrorism, economic crises and a widespread outbreak of infectious diseases? The answer is yes, according to a new book The 10 Golden Rules: Ancient Wisdom from the Greek Philosophers on Living a Good Life. The book is co-authored by Long Island University's philosophy professor Michael Soupios and economics professor Panos Mourdoukoutas.[B] The wisdom of the ancient Greek philosophers is timeless, says Soupios. The philosophy professor says it is as relevant today as when it was first written many centuries ago. "There is no expiration(失效)date on wisdom," he says "There is no shelf life on intelligence. I think that things have become very gloomy these day, lots of misunderstanding, misleading cues, a lot of what the ancients would have called sophistry(诡辩). The nice thing about ancient philosophy as offered by the Greeks is that they tended to see life clear and whole, in a way that we tend not to see life today."Examine your life.[C] Soupies, along with his co-author Panos Mourdoukoutas, developed their 10 golden rules by turning to the men behind that philosophy-Aristotle, Socrates, Epictetus and Pythagoras, among others. The first rule-examine your life-is the common thread that runs through the entire book. Soupios says that it is based on Plato's observation that the unexamined life is not worth living. "The Greek are always concerned about boxing themselves in, in terms of convictions(信念)," he says. "So take a step back, switch off the automatic pilot and actually stop and reflect about things like our priorities, our values, and our relationships."Stop worrying about what you can not control.[D] As we begin to examine our life, Soupios says, we come to Rule No.2: Worry only about things that you can control. "The individual who promoted this idea was a Stoic philosopher His name is Epictetus, "he says." And what the Stoics say in general is simply this. There is a larger plan in life. You are not really going to be able to understand all of the dimensions of this plan. You are not going to be able to control the dimensions of this plan."[E]So, Soupios explains, it is not worth it to waste our physical, intellectual and spiritual energy worrying about things that are beyond our control. "I can not control whether or not I wind up getting the disease swine flu, for example." He says. "I mean, there are some cautious steps. I can take, but ultimately I can not guarantee myself that. So what Epictetus would say is sitting at home worrying about that would be wrong and wasteful and irrational. You should live your life attempting to identify and control those things which you can genuinely control."Seek true pleasure.[F]To have a meaningful, happy life we need friends. But according to Aristotle-a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great-most relationships don't qualify as true friendships. "Just because I have a business relationship with an individual and I can profit from that relationship, it does not necessarily mean that this person is my friend." Soupios says. "Real friendship is when two individuals share the same soul. It is a beautiful and uncharacteristically poetic image that Aristotle offers."[G]In our pursuit of the good life, he says, it is important to seek out true pleasures-advice which was originally offered by Epicurus. But unlike the modern definition of Epicureanism as a life of indulgence(放纵)and luxury, for the ancient Greeks, it meant finding a state of calm, peace and mental case.[H]"This was the highest and most desirable form of pleasure and happiness for the ancientEpicureans." Soupios says. "This is something that is very much well worth considering here in the modern era. I do not think that we spend nearly enough time trying to concentrate on achieving a sort of calmness, a sort of contentment in mental and spiritual, which was identified by these people as the highest form of happiness and pleasure."Do good to others[I]Other golden rules counsel us to master ourselves, to avoid excess and not to be a prosperous(发迹的)fool. There are also rules dealing with interpersonal relationships. Be a responsible human being and do not do evil things to others.[J]"This is Hesiod, of course, a younger contemporary poet, we believe, with Homer," Soupios says. "Hesiod offers an idea-which you very often find in some of the word's great religions, in the Judeo-Christian tradition and in Islam an others-that in some sense, when you hurt another human being, you hurt yourself. That damaging other people in your community and in your life, trashing relationships, results in a kind of self-inflicted(自己招致的)spiritual wound."[K]Instead, Soupios says,ancient wisdom urges us to do good. Golden Rule No.10 for a good life is that kindness toward others tends to be rewarded.[L]"This is Aesop, the fabulist(寓言家), the man of these charming little tales, often told in terms of animals and animal relationships." He says. "I think what Aesop was suggesting is that when you offer a good turn to another human being. One can hope that that good deed will come back and sort of pay a profit to you, the doer of the good deed. Even if there is no concrete benefit paid in response to you good deed. At the very least, the doer of the good deed has the opportunity to enjoy a kind of spiritually enlightened moment."[M]Soupios say following the 10 Golden Rules based on ancient wisdom can guide us to the path of the good life where we stop living as onlookers and become engaged and happier human beings. And that, he notes, is a life worth living.36.According to an ancient Greek philosopher, it is impossible for us to understand every aspect of our life.37.Ancient Philosophers saw life in a different light from people of today.38.Not all your business partners are your soul mates.39.We can live a peaceful life despite the various challenges of the modern world.40.The doer of a good deed can feel spiritually rewarded even when they gain no concrete benefits.41.How to achieve mental calmness and contentment is well worth our consideration today.42.Michael Soupios suggests that we should stop and think carefully about our priorities in life.43.Ancient philosophers strongly advise that we do good.44.The wise teachings of ancient Greek thinkers are timeless, and are applicable to contemporary life.45.Do harm to others and you do harm to yourself.Section CDirections：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 OneQuestions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.As Artificial Intelligence(AI)becomes increasingly sophisticated，there are growing concerns that robots could become a threat.This danger can be avoided，according to computer science professor Stuart Russell，if we figure out how to turn human values into a programmable code.Russell argues that as robots take on more complicated tasks，it's necessary to translate our morals into AI language.For example，if a robot does chores around the house，you wouldn’t want it to put the pet cat in the oven to make dinner for the hungry children.“You would want that robot preloaded with a good set of values，”said Russell.Some robots are already programmed with basic human values.For example，mobile robots have been programmed to keep a comfortable distance from humans.Obviously there are cultural differences，but if you were talking to another person and they came up close in your personal space，you wouldn’t think that’s the kind of thing a properly brought—up person would do.It will be possible to create more sophisticated moral machines，if only we can find a way to set out human values as clear rules.Robots could also learn values from drawing patterns from large sets of data on human behavior.They are dangerous only if programmers are careless.The biggest concern with robots going against human values is that human beings fail to do sufficient testing and they’ve produced a system that will break some kind of taboo(禁忌).One simple check would be to program a robot to check the correct course of action with a human when presented with an unusual situation.If the robot is unsure whether an animal is suitable for the microwave，it has the opportunity to stop，send out beeps(嘟嘟声)，and ask for directions from a human.If we humans aren’t quite sure about a decision.We go and ask somebody else.The most difficult step in programming values will be deciding exactly what we believe is moral，and how to create a set of ethical rules.But if we come up with an answer,robots could be good for humanity.46.What does the author say about the threat of robots?A.It may constitute a challenge to computer programmers.B.It accompanies all machinery involving high technology.C.It Can be avoided if human values are translated into their language.D.It has become an inevitable peril as technology gets more sophisticated.47.What would we think of a person who invades our personal space according to the author?A.They are aggressive.B.They are outgoing.C.They are ignorant.D.They are ill.bred.48.How do robots learn human values?A.By interacting with humans in everyday life situations.B.By following the daily routines of civilized human beings.C.By picking up patterns from massive data on human behavior.D.By imitating the behavior of properly brought—up human beings.49.What will a well—programmed robot do when facing an unusual situation?A.Keep a distance from possible dangers. C.Trigger its built—in alarm system at once.B.Stop to seek advice from a human being. D.Do sufficient testing before taking action.50.What is most difficult to do when we turn human values into a programmable code?A.Determine what is moral and ethical. C.Set rules for man—machine interaction.B.Design some large—scale experiments. D.Develop a more sophisticated program.Passage TwoQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.Why do some people live to be older than others?You know the standard explanations：keeping a moderate diet，engaging in regular exercise，etc.But what effect does your personality have on your longevity(长寿)?Do some kinds of personalities lead to longer lives?A new study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society looked at this question by examining the personality characteristics of 246 children of people who had lived to be at least 100.The study shows that those living the longest are more outgoing，more active and less，neurotic(神经质的)than other people.Long—living women are also more likely to be sympathetic and cooperative than women with a normal life span.These findings are in agreement with what you would expect from the evolutionary theory：those who like to make friends and help others can gather enough resources to make it through tough times.Interestingly,however,other characteristics that you might consider advantageous had no impact on whether study participants were likely to live longer.Those who were more self-disciplined，for instance,were no more likely to live to be very old.Also，being open to new ideas had no relationship to long life，which might explain all those bad-tempered old people who are fixed in their ways.Whether you can successfully change your personality as an adult is the subject of a longstanding psychological debate.But the new paper suggests that if you want long life，you should strive to be as outgoing as possible.Unfortunately,another recent study shows that your mother’s personality may also help determine your longevity.That study looked at nearly 28，000 Norwegian mothers and found that those moms who were more anxious，depressed and angry were more likely to feed their kids unhealthy diets.Patterns of childhood eating can be hard to break when we’re adults，which may mean that kids of depressed moms end up dying younger.Personality isn’t destiny(命运)，and everyone knows that individuals can learn to change.But both studies show that long life isn’t just a matter of your physical health but of ,your mental health.51.The aim of the study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society is .A.to see whether people’s personality affects their life spanB.to find out if one’s lifestyle has any effect on their healthC.to investigate the role of exercise in living a long lifeD.to examine all the factors contributing to longevity52.What does the author imply about outgoing and sympathetic people?A.They have a good understanding of evolution.B.They are better at negotiating an agreement.C.They generally appear more resourceful.D.They are more likely to get over hardship.53.What finding of the study might prove somewhat out of our expectation?A.Easy—going people can also live a relatively long life.B.Personality characteristics that prove advantageous actually vary with times.C.Such personality characteristics as self-discipline have no effect on longevity.D.Readiness to accept new ideas helps one enjoy longevity.54.What does the recent study of Norwegian mothers show?A.Children’s personality characteristics are invariably determined by their mothers·B.People with unhealthy eating habits are likely to die sooner.C.Mothers’influence on children may last longer than fathers’.D.Mothers’negative personality characteristics may affect their children’s life spans.55.What can we learn from the findings of the two new studies?A.Anxiety and depression more often than not cut short one’s life span.B.Longevity results from a combination of mental and physical health.C.Personality plays a decisive role in how healthy one is.D.Health is in large part related to one’s lifestyle.Part ⅣTranslation (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.在山东省潍坊市，风筝不仅仅是玩具，而且还是这座城市文化的标志。
2016年6月大学英语四级第2套真题及答案
2016年6月大学英语四级真题（第2套)Part I WritingDirections:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a letter to express your thanks to one of your school teachers upon entering college. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.Part ⅡListening ComprehensionSection ADirections: In this section, you will hear three news reports. Atthe end of each news report, you will hear two or three questions. Both the news report 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 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.1. A)How college students can improve their sleep habits.B)Why sufficient sleep is important for college students.C)Why college students are more likely to have stress problems.D)How college students can handle their psychological problems.2. A)It is not easy to improve one’s sleep habits.B)It is not good for students to play video games.C)Students who are better prepared generally get higher scores in examinations.D)Making last-minute preparations for tests may be less effective than sleeping.Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.3. A)Whether more airports should be built around London.B)Whether adequate investment is being made to improve airport facilities.C)Whether the British Airports Authority should sell off some of its assets.D)Whether the Spanish company could offer better service.4. A)Inefficient management. B)Poor ownership structure.C)Lack of innovation and competition. D)Lack of runway and terminal capacity.Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.5. A)Report the nicotine content of their cigarettes.B)Set a limit to the production of their cigarettes.C)Take steps to reduce nicotine in their products.D)Study the effects of nicotine on young smokers.6. A)The biggest increase in nicotine content tended to be in brands young smokers like.B)Big tobacco companies were frank with their customers about the hazards of smoking.C)Brands which contain higher nicotine content were found to be much more popular.D)Tobacco companies refused to discuss the detailed nicotine content of their products.7. A)They promised to reduce the nicotine content in cigarettes.B)They have not fully realized the harmful effect of nicotine.C)They were not prepared to comment on the cigarette study.D)They will pay more attention to the quality of their products.Section BDirections: 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)Indonesia. B)Holland. C)Sweden. D)England.9.A)Getting a coach who can offer real help. B)Talking with her boyfriend in Dutch.C)Learning a language where it is not spoken . D)Acquiring the necessary ability to socialize .10. A)Listening language programs on the radio. B)Trying to speak it as much as one can.C)Making friends with native speakers. D)Practicing reading aloud as often as possible.11.A)It creates an environment for socializing.B)It offers various courses with credit points.C)It trains young people’s leadership abilities.D)It provides opportunities for language practice.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12. A)The impact of engine design on rode safety. B)The role policemen play in traffic safety.C)A sense of freedom driving gives. D)Rules and regulations for driving.13. A)Make cars with automatic control. B)Make cars that have better brakes.C)Make cars that are less powerful. D)Make cars with higher standards.14. A)They tend to drive responsibly. B)They like to go at high speed.C)They keep within speed limits. D)They follow traffic rules closely.15.A)It is a bad idea. B)It is not useful.C)It is as effective as speed bumps . D)It should be combined with education.Section CDirections: 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)The card got damaged . B)The card was found invalid.C)The card reader failed to do the scanning. D)The card reader broke down unexpectedly.17. A)By converting the credit card with a layer of plastic.B)By calling the credit card company for confirmation.C)By seeking help from the card reader maker Verifone.D)By typing the credit card number into the cash register.18.A)Affect the sales of high-tech appliances.B)Change the life style of many Americans.C)Give birth to many new technological inventions.D)Produce many low-tech fixes for high-tech failures.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.19. A)They are set by the dean of the graduate school.B)They are determined by the advising board.C)They leave much room for improvement.D)They vary among different departments.20. A)By consulting the examining committee . B)By reading the Bulletin of Information.C)By contacting the departmental office. D)By visiting the university’s website.21. A)They specify the number of credits students must earn.B)They are harder to meet than those for undergraduates.C)They have to be approved by the examining committee.D)They are the same among various divisions of the university.Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.22. A)Students majoring in nutrition. B)Students in health classes.C)Ph.D. candidates in dieting. D)Middle and high school teachers.23. A)Its overestimate of the effect of dieting. B)Its mistaken conception of nutrition.C)Its changing criteria for beauty. D)Its overemphasis on thinness.24. A)To illustrate her point that beauty is but skin deep.B)To demonstrate the magic effect of dieting on women.C)To explain how computer images can be misleading.D)To prove that technology has impacted our culture.25. A)To persuade girls to stop dieting.B)To promote her own concept of beauty.C)To establish an emotional connection with students.D)To help students rid themselves of bad living habits.Part III Reading Comprehension Array 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 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.Contrary to popular belief, older people generally do not want to live with their children. Moreover, most adult children 26 every bit as much care and support to their aging parents as was the case in the “good old days”, and most older people do not feel 27 .About 80% of people 65years and older have living children, and about 90% of them have 28 contact with their children. About 75% of elderly par ents who don’t go to nursing homes live within 30 minutes of at least one of their children.However, 29 having contact with children does not guarantee happiness in old age. In fact, some research has found that people who are most involved with their families have the lowest spirits. This research may be 30 , however, as ill health often makes older people more 31 and thereby increases contact with family members. So it is more likely that poor health, notjust family involvement, 32 spirits.。
2016年6月大学英语四级听力题目答案及原文第2套
Part II Listening ComprehensionSection ANews Report One【话题预测】由college students，sleep，problem，stress，psychological 等词可推断，本则新闻与大学生睡眠或心理健康有关。
【正确答案】1—2 B D听力原文You probably think college students are experts at sleeping, but parties, preparations for tests, personal problems and general stress can wreck a student’s sleep habits, which can be bad for the body and the mind. Texas Tech University is even offering a class called “Improving Your Sleep Habits”. People suffering from sleep loss are at an increased risk from obesity, psychological problems and car crashes. Students who don’t get enough sleep have poor attendance and lower grades. On top of all that, a new study published in the journal Learning and Memory finds you are probably better off sleeping than making last-minute preparations for a test. 200 college kids were taught to play some unfamiliar video games. Subjects who learned the games in the morning lost some skills when they played again 12 hours later, but they did much better after getting a good night’s sleep. So if you really want to do your job well, don’t forget to get some sleep. Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.1. What is the news report mainly about?2. What is the finding of the new study published in the journal Learning and Memory?试题解析【话题分类】时事新闻【新闻大意】大学生睡眠不好会严重影响学习效率和身心健康；Texas Tech 大学甚至开设课程教授学生改善睡眠习惯，提高睡眠质量；新的一项研究也证明了提高睡眠质量的重要性。
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Part II Listening ComprehensionSection ANews Report One【话题预测】由college students，sleep，problem，stress，psychological 等词可推断，本则新闻与大学生睡眠或心理健康有关。
【正确答案】1—2 B D听力原文You probably think college students are experts at sleeping, but parties, preparations for tests, personal problems and general stress can wreck a student’s sleep habits, which can be bad for the body and the mind. Texas Tech University is even offering a class called “Improving Your Sleep Habits”. People suffering from sleep loss are at an increased risk from obesity, psychological problems and car crashes. Students who don’t get enough sleep have poor attendance and lower grades. On top of all that, a new study published in the journal Learning and Memory finds you are probably better off sleeping than making last-minute preparations for a test. 200 college kids were taught to play some unfamiliar video games. Subjects who learned the games in the morning lost some skills when they played again 12 hours later, but they did much better after getting a good night’s sleep. So if you really want to do your job well, don’t forget to get some sleep. Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.1. What is the news report mainly about?2. What is the finding of the new study published in the journal Learning and Memory?试题解析【话题分类】时事新闻【新闻大意】大学生睡眠不好会严重影响学习效率和身心健康；Texas Tech 大学甚至开设课程教授学生改善睡眠习惯，提高睡眠质量；新的一项研究也证明了提高睡眠质量的重要性。
1. 【考核技能】概括总结B) 【答案解析】由How，Why 及对应选项概述可判断，本题与新闻的主题相关；原文开始介绍睡眠不好对身心的不良影响：sleep habits, which can be bad for the body and mind ；中间提到you are probably better off sleeping than making last-minute preparations for your test （睡觉可能比做考前最后的准备更利于考试）；最后又强调So if you really want to do your job well, don’t forget to get some sleep（如果想做好自己的工作，不要忘记睡觉）；由此可知，本则新闻主要介绍睡眠为何重要，所以本题选B。
2. 【考核技能】语义理解D)【答案解析】根据原文：a new study published in the journal Learning and Memory finds you are probably better sleeping than making last-minute preparations for your test（睡觉可能比做考前最后的准备更利于考试），由此可知本题选D。
News Report Two【话题预测】从选项中的airports，built，investment，facilities，assets，offer better service 可知本篇新闻应该与机场及服务有关。
【正确答案】3—4 C D听力原文Long queues, delayed flights and over-crowding at airports have become almost as much a topic for conversation in Britain as the traditional complaining about the weather. Meanwhile, there arecomplaints that poor service at London’s major airports is discouraging foreigners from doing business in Britain. Much of the criticism is directed at the British Airports Authority, which runs 7 major airports, including the 3 main ones serving London. The Competition Commission is now to investigate whether the British Airports Authority needs to sell off some of its assets. The idea is that competition between rival operators would lead to better service at airports. The British Airports Authority, recently bought by a Spanish company, says the root cause of the problem is not the ownership structure, but a lack of runway and terminal capacity, which is addressing through a program of heavy investment.Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.3. What is the Competition Commission going to investigate?4. What is the route cause of the poor service at British airports according to the British Airports Authority?试题解析【话题分类】时事新闻【新闻大意】人们日益抱怨英国机场排队、飞机延误、拥挤、差劲的服务等问题，并将矛头指向英国机场管理局。
竞争委员会介入并调查是否需要出售其资产，而刚被西班牙公司收购的英国机场管理局称，根本原因不在于所有制结构，而是跑道和航站楼的承载能力不足。
3. 【考核技能】事件背景C) 【答案解析】根据录音原文the Competition Commission is now to investigate whether the British Airports Authority needs to sell off some of its assets（竞争委员会在评估是否需要出售英国机场管理局的部分资产），选项中C 完全符合原文。
4. 【考核技能】缘由结果D) 【答案解析】根据录音原文the root cause of the problem is not the ownership structure, but a lack of runway and terminal capacity （根本原因不在所有制结构，而是跑道和航站楼的承载能力不足），所以本题D 正确。
News Report Three【话题预测】由选项中出现的nicotine，cigarettes，tobacco，smokers 等可预测本则新闻主要与控制烟草中尼古丁的含量相关。
【正确答案】5—7 A A C听力原文Under the law in Massachusetts, tobacco companies have to measure the nicotine content of every type of cigarette and report the results. The Department of Public Health in Boston gathers and carefully examines the figures and then draws its conclusions. 116 brands were looked at for this study. 92 were found to have higher nicotine yield than they did 6 years previously. The biggest increases tended to be in brands that were popular with young smokers. That worries the department because of the addicted nature of nicotine. Stan Glance, a professor of medicine in San Francisco explains why: “The amount of nicotine that’s delivered in every cigarette is 10 percent higher than it wa s 6 years ago, which means that it’s easier to get hooked and harder to quit. The big tobacco companies have always insisted that they are frank with their customers about the dangers of smoking and provide them with enough detail to make an informed decision. However, none of them were prepared to comment on this study or discuss the detailed nicotine content of their products.”Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.5. What do tobacco companies have to do under the law in Massachusetts?6. What do we learn from the study by the Department of Public Health in Boston?7. What do we learn from the news report about the big tobacco companies?试题解析【话题分类】时事新闻【新闻大意】马萨诸塞州立法要求烟草公司必须测量每种香烟的尼古丁含量并进行相应报告；波士顿卫生厅对此展开了严格的调查。