四级真题第三套6月样稿

PartI Writing (30 minutes)
Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay onthe importance of speaking ability and how to develop it. You shouldwrite at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.

PartII Listening Comprehension (30 minutes) (同前二套)

PartⅢReading Comprehension (40 minutes)
SectionA
Directions:In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are requiredto select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in aword bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefullybefore making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified bya letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item onAnswer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not useany of the words in the bank more than once.

Neon(霓虹)is to Hong Kong as red phone booths are to London and fog is to SanFrancisco. When night falls, red and blue and other colors 26 a hazy(雾蒙蒙)glow over a city lit up by tens of thousands of neon signs. But manyof them are going dark, 27 by more practical, but less romantic, LEDs(发光二极管).

Changingbuilding codes, evolving tastes, and the high cost of maintainingthose wonderful old signs have businesses embracing LEDs, which areenergy 28 , but still carry great cost. "To me, neon representsmemories of the past," says photographer Sharon Blance, whoseseries Hong Kong Neon celebrates the city's famous signs. "Lookingat the signs now I get a feeling of amazement, mixed with sadness."
Buildinga neon sign is an art practiced by 29 trained on the job to moldglass tubes into 30 shapes and letters. They fill these tubes withgases that glow when 31 . Neon makes orange, while other gases makeyellow or blue. It takes many hours to craft a single sign.

Blancespent a week in Hong Kong and 32 more than 60 signs; 22 of themappear in the series that capture the signs lighting up lonelystreets—an 33 that makes it easy to admire their colors andcraftsmanship. "I love the beautiful, handcrafted, old-fashioned34 of neon," says Blance. The signs do nothing more than 35 arestaurant, theater, or other business, but do so in the moststriking way possible.

SectionB
Directions:In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statementsattached to it. Each statement contains information given in one ofthe paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information isderived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph ismarked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking thecorresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.

NewJersey School District Eases Pressure on Students—Baring an EthnicDivide A)This fall, David Aderhold, the chief of a high-achieving schooldistrict near Princeton, New Jersey, sent parents an alarming 16-pageletter. The school district, he said, was facing a crisis. Itsstudents were overburdened and stressed out, having to cope with toomuch work and too many demands. In the previous school year, 120middle and high school students were recommended for mental healthassessments and 40 were hospitalized. And on a survey administered bythe district, students wrote things like, "I hate going toschool," and "Coming out of 12 years in this district, Ihave learned one thing: that a grade, a percentage or even a point isto be valued over anything else." B) With his letter, Aderholdinserted West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District into anational discussion about the intense focus on achievement at eliteschools, and whether it has gone too far. At follow-up meetings, heurged parents to join him in advocating a "whole child"approach to schooling that respects "social-emotionaldevelopment" and "deep and meaningful learning" over

academicsalone. The alternative, he suggested, was to face the prospect ofbecoming another Palo Alto, California, where outsize stress onteenage students is believed to have contributed to a number ofsuicides in the last six years.

C)But instead of bringing families together, Aderhold's letter revealeda divide in the district, which has 9,700 students, and one thatbroke down roughly along racial lines. On one side are white parentslike Catherine Foley, a former president of theParent-Teacher-Student Association at her daughter's middle school,who has come to see the district's increasingly pressured atmosphereas opposed to learning. "My son was in fourth grade and told me,'I'm not going to amount to anything because I have nothing to put onmy resume,'" she said. On the other side are parents like MikeJia, one of the thousands of Asian-American professionals who havemoved to the district in the past decade, who said Aderhold's reformswould amount to a "dumbing down" of his children'seducation. "What is happening here reflects a nationalanti-intellectual trend that will not prepare our children for thefuture," Jia said.

D)About 10 minutes from Princeton and an hour and a half from New YorkCity, West Windsor and Plainsboro have become popular bedroomcommunities for technology entrepreneurs, researchers and engineers,drawn in large part by the public schools. From the last threegraduating classes, 16 seniors were admitted to MIT. It producesScience Olympiad winners, classically trained musicians and studentswith perfect SAT scores.

E)The district has become increasingly popular with immigrant familiesfrom China, India and Korea. This year, 65 percent of its studentsare Asian-American, compared with 44 percent in . Many of them arethe first in their families born in the United States. They have hada growing influence on the district. Asian-American parents areenthusiastic supporters of the competitive instrumental musicprogram. They have been huge supporters of the district's advancedmathematics program, which once began in the fourth grade but willnow start in the sixth. The change to the program, in which 90percent of the participating students are Asian-American, is one ofAderhold's reforms.

F)Asian-American students have been eager participants in a stateprogram that permits them to take summer classes off campus for highschool credit, allowing them to maximize the number of honors andAdvanced Placement classes they can take, another practice thatAderhold is limiting this school year. With many Asian-Americanchildren attending supplementary instructional programs, there is aperception among some white families that the elementary schoolcurriculum is being sped up to accommodate them.

G)Both Asian-American and white families say the tension between thetwo groups has grown steadily over the past few years, as the numberof Asian families has risen. But the division has become more obviousin recent months as Aderhold has made changes, including no-homeworknights, an end to high school midterms and finals, and an initiativethat made it easier to participate in the music program.

H)Jennifer Lee, professor of sociology at the University of California,Irvine, and an author of the Asian American Achievement Paradox, saysmisunderstanding between first-generation Asian-American parents andthose who have been in this country longer are common. What whitemiddle-class parents do not always understand, she said, is how muchpressure recent immigrants feel to boost their children into themiddle class. "They don't have the same chances to get theirchildren internships (实习职位)or jobs at law firms," Lee said. "So what they believe isthat their children must excel and beat their white peers in academicsettings so they have the same chances to excel later. "
I)The issue of the stresses felt by students in elite school districtshas gained attention in recent years as schools in places likeNewton, Massachusetts, and Palo Alto have reported a number ofsuicides. West Windsor-Plainsboro has not had a teenage suicide inrecent years, but Aderhold, who has worked in the district for sevenyears and been chief for the last three years, said he had seentroubling signs. In a recent art assignments, a middle school studentdepicted (描绘)an overburdened child who was being scolded for earning an A, ratherthan an A+ , on a math exam. In the image, the

motherscolds the student with the words, "Shame on you!" Further,he said, the New Jersey Education Department has flagged at least twopieces of writing on state English language assessments in whichstudents expressed suicidal thoughts.

J)The survey commissioned by the district found that 68 percent of highschool honor and Advanced Placement students reported feelingstressed about school "always or most of the time." "Weneed to bring back some balance," Aderhold said. "You don'twant to wait until it's too late to do something.

"
K)Not all public opinion has fallen along racial lines. Karen Sue, theChinese-American mother of a fifth-grader and an eighth-grader,believes the competition within the district has gotten out ofcontrol. Sue, who was born in the United States to immigrant parents,wants her peers to dial it back. "It's become an arms race, aneducational arms race," she said. "We all want our kids toachieve and be successful. The question is, at what cost?"
36.Aderhold is limiting the extra classes that students are allowed totake off campus.

37.White and Asian-American parents responded differently to Aderhold'sappeal.

38.Suicidal thoughts have appeared in some students' writings.

39.Aderhold's reform of the advanced mathematics program will affectAsian-American students most.

40.Aderhold appealed for parents' support in promoting an all-rounddevelopment of children, instead of focusing only on their academicperformance.

41.One Chinese-American parent thinks the competition in the districthas gone too far.

42.Immigrant parents believe that academic excellence will allow theirchildren equal chances to succeed in the future.

43.Many businessmen and professionals have moved to West Windsor andPlainsboro because of the public schools there.

44.A number of students in Aderhold's school district were found to havestress-induced mental

healthproblems.

45.The tension between Asian-American and white families has increasedin recent years.

SectionC
Directions:There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed bysome questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there arefour choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the bestchoice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with asingle line through the centre.

PassageOne
Questions46 and 50 are based on the following passage.

Forthousands of years, people have known that the best way to understanda concept is to explain it to someone else. "While we teach, welearn," said Roman philosopher Seneca. Now scientists arebringing this ancient wisdom up-to-date. They're documenting whyteaching is such a fruitful way to learn, and designing innovativeways for young people to engage in instruction.

Researchershave found that students who sign up to tutor others work harder tounderstand the material, recall it more accurately and apply it moreeffectively. Student teachers score higher on tests than pupilswho're learning only for their own sake. But how can children, stilllearning themselves, teach others? One answer: They can tutor youngerkids. Some studies have found that first-born children are moreintelligent than their later-born siblings (弟兄姐妹).This suggests their higher IQs result from the time they spendteaching their siblings. Now educators are experimenting with ways toapply this model to academic subjects. They engage collegeundergraduates to teach computer science to high school students, whoin turn instruct middle school students on the topic. But the mostcutting-edge tool under development is the "teachable agent"—acomputerized character who learns, tries, makes mistakes and asksquestions just like a real-world pupil. Computer scientists havecreated an animated (动画)figure called Betty's Brain, who has been "taught" aboutenvironmental science by hundreds of middle school students. Studentteachers are motivated to help

Bettymaster certain materials. While preparing to teach, they organizetheir knowledge and improve their own understanding. And as theyexplain the information to it, they identify problems in their ownthinking.

Feedbackfrom the teachable agents further enhances the tutors' learning. Theagents' questions compel student tutors to think and explain thematerials in different ways, and watching the agent solve problemsallows them to see their knowledge put into action.

Aboveall, it's the emotions one experiences in teaching that facilitatelearning. Student tutors feel upset when their teachable agents fail,but happy when these virtual pupils succeed as they derive pride andsatisfaction from someone else's accomplishment.

46.What are researchers rediscovering through their studies?

A)Seneca's thinking is still applicable today.

B)Better learners will become better teachers.

C)Human intelligence tends to grow with age.

D)Philosophical thinking improves instruction.

47.What do we learn about Betty's Brain?

A)It is a character in a popular animation.

B)It is a teaching tool under development.

C)It is a cutting-edge app in digital games.

D)It is a tutor for computer science students.

48.How does teaching others benefit student tutors?

A)It makes them aware of what they are strong at.

B)It motivates them to try novel ways of teaching.

C)It helps them learn their academic subjects better.

D)It enables them to better understand their teachers.

49.What do students do to teach their teachable agents?

A)They motivate them to think independently.

B)They ask them to design their own questions.

C)They encourage them to give prompt feedback.

D)They use various ways to explain the materials.

50.What is the key factor that eases student tutors' learning? A) Theirsense of responsibility.

B)Their emotional involvement.

C)The learning strategy acquired.

D)The teaching experience gained.

PassageTwo

Questions51 to 55 are based on the following passage.

Anew batch of young women—membersof the so-called Millennial (千禧)generation—hasbeen entering the workforce for the past decade. At the starting lineof their careers, they are better educated than their mothers andgrandmothers had been—orthan their young male counterparts are now. But when they look ahead,they see roadblocks to their success. They believe that women arepaid less than men for doing the same job. They think it's easier formen to get top executive jobs than it is for them. And they assumethat if and when they have children, it will be even harder for themto advance in their careers.

Whilethe public sees greater workplace equality between men and women nowthan it did 20-30 years ago, most believe more change is needed.Among Millennial women, 75% say this country needs to continue makingchanges to achieve gender equality in the workplace, compared with57% of Millennial men. Even so, relatively few young women (15%) saythey have been discriminated against at work because of their gender.

AsMillennial women come of age they share many of the same views andvalues about work as their

malecounterparts. They want jobs that provide security and flexibility,and they place relatively little importance on high pay. At the sametime, however, young working women are less likely than men to aim attop management jobs: 34% say they're not interested in becoming aboss or top manager; only 24% of young men say the same. The gendergap on this question is even wider among working adults in their 30sand 40s, when many women face the trade-offs that go with work andmotherhood. These findings are based on a new Pew Research Centersurvey of 2,002 adults, including 810 Millennials (ages 18-32),conducted Oct. 7-27, . The survey finds that, in spite of thedramatic gains women have made in educational attainment and laborforce participation in recent decades, young women view this as aman's world—just as middle-aged and older women do.

51.What do we learn from the first paragraph about Millennial womenstarting their careers? A) They can get ahead only by strivingharder.

B)They expect to succeed just like Millennial men.

C)They are generally quite optimistic about their future.

D)They are better educated than their male counterparts.

52.How do most Millennial women feel about their treatment in theworkplace?

A)They are the target of discrimination.

B)They find it satisfactory on the whole.

C)They think it needs further improving.

D)They find their complaints ignored.

53.What do Millennial women value most when coming of age?

A)A sense of accomplishment.

B)Job stability and flexibility.

C)Rewards and promotions.

D)Joy derived from work.

54.What are women in their 30s and 40s concerned about?

A)The welfare of their children.

B)The narrowing of the gender gap.

C)The fulfillment of their dreams in life.

D)The balance between work and family.

55.What conclusion can be drawn about Millennial women from the survey?A) They still view this world as one dominated by males.

B)They account for half the workforce in the job market.

C)They see the world differently from older generations.

D)They do better in work than their male counterparts.

PartIV Translation (30 minutes)

Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage fromChinese into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.

多年来，中国有越来越多城市开始建设地铁。发展地铁有利于降低城市交通拥堵和空气污染。

地铁含有安全、快捷和舒适优点。越来越多人选择地铁作为天天上班或上学关键交通工具。现

在，在中国乘坐地铁正变得越来越方便。在有些城市里，乘客只需用卡或手机就能够乘坐地铁。

很多当地老年市民还能够无偿乘坐地铁。