2012年6月英语四级真题及答案
Part Ⅰ
Writing
(30minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay
entitled Excessive Packaging following the outline given below. You should write
at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.
1.目前许多商品存在过度包装的现象
2.出现这一现象的原因
3.我对这一现象的看法和建议
On Excessive Packaging
Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension(Skimming and Scanning)(15minutes)
Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly
and answer the questions on Answer sheet 1. For questions 1-7,choose the best answer
from the four choices marked A),B),C)and D). For questions 8-10,complete the
sentences with the information given in the passage.
Small Schools Rising
This year's list of the top 100 high schools shows that today, those with fewer
students are flourishing.
Fifty years ago, they were the latest thing in educational reform: big, modern,
suburban high schools with students counted in the thousands. As baby boomers(二
战后婴儿潮时期出生的人) came of high-school age, big schools promised economic
efficiency. A greater choice of courses, and, of course, better football teams. Only
years later did we understand the trade-offs this involved: the creation of excessive
bureaucracies(官僚机构),the difficulty of forging personal connections between
teachers and students.SAT scores began dropping in 1963;today,on average,30% of
students do not complete high school in four years, a figure that rises to 50% in
poor urban neighborhoods. While the emphasis on teaching to higher, test-driven
standards as set in No Child Left Behind resulted in significantly better performance
in elementary(and some middle)schools, high schools for a variety of reasons seemed
to have made little progress.
Size isn't everything, but it does matter, and the past decade has seen a
noticeable countertrend toward smaller schools. This has been due ,in part ,to the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has invested $1.8 billion in American high
schools, helping to open about 1,000 small schools-most of them with about 400 kids
each with an average enrollment of only 150 per grade, About 500 more are on the
drawing board. Districts all over the country are taking notice, along with mayors
in cities like New York, Chicago and San Diego. The movement includes independent
public charter schools, such as No.1 BASIS in Tucson, with only 120 high-schoolers
and 18 graduates this year. It embraces district-sanctioned magnet schools, such
as the Talented and Gifted School, with 198 students, and the Science and Engineering
Magnet,with383,which share a building in Dallas, as well as the City Honors School
in Buffalo, N.Y., which grew out of volunteer
evening seminars for students. And
it includes alternative schools with students selected by lottery(抽签),such as
H-B Woodlawn in Arlington, Va. And most noticeable of all, there is the phenomenon
of large urban and suburban high schools that have split up into smaller units of
a few hundred, generally housed in the same grounds that once boasted thousands of
students all marching to the same band.
Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, Calif, is one of those, ranking No.423-among
the top 2% in the country-on Newsweek's annual ranking of America's top high schools.
The success of small schools is apparent in the listings. Ten years ago, when the
first Newsweek list based on college-level test participation was published, only
three of the top 100 schools had graduating Classes smaller than 100 students. This
year there are 22. Nearly 250 schools on the full ,Newsweek list of the top 5% of
schools nationally had fewer than 200 graduates in 2007.
Although many of Hillsdale's students came from wealthy households, by the late
1990 average test scores were sliding and it had earned the unaffectionate nickname
(绰号) "Hillsjail. " Jeff Gilbert. A Hillsdale teacher who became principal last
year, remembers sitting with other teachers watching students file out of a
graduation ceremony and asking one another in astonishment, "How did that student
graduate?"
So in 2003 Hillsdale remade itself into three "houses," romantically named
Florence, Marrakech and Kyoto. Each of the 300 arriving ninth graders are randomly(随
机地) assigned to one of the houses. Where they will keep the same four core subject
teachers for two years, before moving on to another for 11th and 12th grades. The
closeness this system cultivates is reinforced by the institution of "advisory"
classes Teachers meet with students in groups of 25, five mornings a week, for
open-ended discussions of everything from homework problems to bad Saturday-night
dates. The advisers also meet with students privately and stay in touch with parents,
so they are deeply invested in the students' success."We're constantly talking about
one another's advisers," says English teacher Chris Crockett. "If you hear that yours
isn't doing well in math, or see them sitting outside the dean's office, it's like
a personal failure." Along with the new structure came a more demanding academic
program, the percentage of freshmen taking biology jumped from 17 to 95."It was rough
for some. But by senior year, two-thirds have moved up to physics," says Gilbert
"Our kids are coming to school in part because they know there are adults here who
know them and care for them."But not all schools show advances after downsizing,
and it remains to be seen whether smaller schools will be a cure-all solution.
The Newsweek list of top U.S. high schools was made this year, as in years past,
according to a single metric, the proportion of students taking college-level exams.
Over the years this system has come in for its share of criticism for its simplicity.
But that is also its strength: it's easy for readers to understand, and to do the
arithmetic for their own schools if they'd like.
Ranking schools is always controversial, and this year a group of 38
superintendents(地区教育主管)from five states wrote to ask that their schools be
excluded from the calculation."It is impossible to know which high schools are 'the
best' in the nation, "their letter read. in part. "Determining whether different
schools do or don't offer a high quality of education requires a look at man different
measures, including students' overall academic accomplishments and their subsequent
performance in college. And taking into consideration the unique needs of their
communities."
In the end, the superintendents agreed to provide the data we sought, which is,
after all, public information. There is, in our view, no real dispute here, we are
all seeking the same thing, which is schools that better serve our children and our
nation by encouraging students to tackle tough subjects under the guidance of gifted
teachers. And if we keep working toward that goal, someday, perhaps a list won't
be necessary.
注意:此部分试题请在答卡 1 上作答.
1. Fifty years ago. big. Modern. Suburban high schools were established in the
hope of __________.
A) ensuring no child is left behind
B) increasing economic efficiency
C) improving students' performance on SAT
D)providing good education for baby boomers
2. What happened as a result of setting up big schools?
A)Teachers' workload increased.
B)Students' performance declined.
C)Administration became centralized.
D)Students focused more on test scores.
3.What is said about the schools forded by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation?
A)They are usually magnet schools.
B)They are often located in poor neighborhoods.
C)They are popular with high-achieving students.
D)They are mostly small in size.
4.What is most noticeable about the current trend in high school education?
A)Some large schools have split up into smaller ones.
B)A great variety of schools have sprung up in urban and suburban areas.
C)Many schools compete for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funds.
.
D)Students have to meet higher academic standards.
5.Newsweek ranked high schools according to
A)their students' academic achievement
B)the number of their students admitted to college
C)the size and number of their graduating classes
D)their college-level test participation
6.What can we learn about Hillsdale's students in the late 1990s?
A)They were made to study hard like prisoners.
B)They called each other by unaffectionate nicknames.
C)Most of them did not have any sense of discipline,
D)Their school performance was getting worse.
7.According to Jeff Gilbert, the "advisory" classes at Hillsdale were set up
so that students could
.
A)tell their teachers what they did on weekends
B)experience a great deal of pleasure in learning
C)maintain closer relationships with their teachers
D)tackle the demanding biology and physics courses
8.________is still considered a strength of Newsweek's school ranking system
in spite of the criticism it receives.
9.According to the 38 superintendents, to rank schools scientifically, it is
necessary to use________.
10.To better serve the children and our nation, schools students to
take________.
Part Ⅲ
Listening Comprehension
(35minutes)
Section A
Directions: in this section you will hear 8 short conversations, 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.
注意:此部分试题请在答案卡2上作案。
11. A)Trying to sketch a map
C)Discussing a house plan.
B)Painting the dining room.
D)Cleaning the kitchen.
12.A)She is tired of the food in the canteen.
B)She often eats in a French restaurant.
C) She usually takes a snack in the KFC.
D)She in very fussy about what she eats.
13.A) Listening to some loud music
C)Talking loudly on the telephone.
B)Preparing for as oral examination.
D)Practicing for a speech contest.
14.A)The man has left a good impression on her family.
B)The man can dress casually for the occasion.
C)The man should buy himself a new suit.
D)The man's jeans and T-shirts are stylish.
15.A)Grey pants made from pure cotton.
C)100% cotton pants in dark blue.
B) Fashionable pants in bright colors.
D)Something to match her brown
pants.
16.A) Its price.
B)Its location
17.A)Travel overseas.
C)Its comfort.
D)Its facilities.
C)Take a photo.
B)Look for a new job.
D)Adopt a child.
18.A)It is a routine offer.
C)It is quite healthy.
B)It is new on the menu.
D)It is a good bargain.
Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation you
.
19.A)Hosting an evening TV program.
C)Lecturing on business management.
B) Having her bicycle repaired.
D)Conducting a market survey.
20.A) He repaired bicycles.
C)He worked as a salesman.
B)He served as a consultant.
D)He coached in a racing club.
21.A) He wanted to be his own boss.
B) He found it more profitable
C)He didn't want to start from scratch.
D)He didn't want to be in too much debt.
22.A)They work five days a week.
C)They are paid by the hour.
B)They are all the man's friends.
D)They all enjoy gambling.
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
23.A)It has gradually given way to service industry.
B)It remains a major part of industrial activity.
C)It has a history as long as paper processing.
D)It accounts for 80 percent of the region's GDP.
24.A) Transport problems.
C)Lack of resources.
B)Shortage of funding.
D)poor management.
25.A) Competition from rival companies.
C)Possible locations for a new
factory
B)Product promotion campaigns.
D)Measures to create job
opportunities.
Section B
Directions: 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.
注意:此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
Passage One
Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.
26.A)They shared mutual friends in school.
B)They had known each other since childhood.
C)They shared many extracurricular activities.
D)They had many interests in common.
27.A)At a local club.
B)At the sports center.
B)At Joe's house.
D)At the bearing school.
28.A)Durable friendships can be very difficult to maintain
B)One has to be respectful of other people in order to win respect.
C)It is hard for people from different backgrounds to become friends
D)Social divisions will break down if people get to know each other
Passage Two
Questions 29 to 31 are based as the passage you have just heart.
29.A)Near the entrance of a park.
C)At a parking meter.
B)In his building's parking lot
D)At a street corner.
30.A)It had been taken by the police
C)In had been stolen by someone.
B)it had keen moved to the next block.
D )it had been parked at a wrong place
31. A)At the Greenville center.
C)In a neighboring town.
B) At a public parking lot.
D)In a the city garage.
Passage Three
Questions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
32.A)Famous creative individuals.
C)A major scientific discovery.
B)The mysteriousness of creativity.
D)Creativity as shown in arts.
33.A)It is something people all engage in.
C) It starts soon after we are born.
B) It helps people acquire knowledge.
D) It is the source of all artistic
work.
34.A) Creative imagination.
C) Natural curiosity.
B) Logical reasoning
D) Critical thinking.
35.A)It is beyond ordinary people.
C)It is part of everyday life.
B)It is yet to be fully understood.
D)It is a unique human trait.
Section C
Directions: 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 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered
from 44 to 46 you are required to fill in the missing information. For these blanks
you can other use the exact words you have just heard or write down the main points
in your are words. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should
check what you have written.
注意:此部分试题请在答题卡 2 上作答。
Students have been complaining more and more about stolen property. Radios, cell
,and books have all been reported stolen. Are
phones, bicycles, pocket(36)
there enough campus police to do the job?
There are 20 officers in the Campus Security Division Their job is to(37)
crime, accidents lost and found(38)
,and traffic problems on campus. More than
half of their time is spent directing traffic and writing parking tickets.(39)
promptly to accidents and other(40)
is important, but it is their smallest
job.
Dealing with crime takes up the rest of their time. Very(41)
do any violent
.In the last five years there have been
.seven robberies and about 60 other violent attacks, most of these
crimes actually(42)
no(43)
involving fights at parties. On the other hand,(44)
,which usually involves breaking windows or lights or writing on walls. The
thefts are not the carefully planned burglaries(入室盗窃)that you see in movies.(45)
.
Do we really need more police? Hiring more campus police would cost money,
possibly making our tuition go up again.(46)
.
Part Ⅳ Reading Comprehension(Reading in depth)(25minntes)
Section A
Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required
to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a ward bank
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 them
on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the
words in the bank more than once.
Questions 47 to 56 are based on the following passage,
One in six. Believe it or not, that's the number of Americans who struggle with
hanger To make tomorrow a little better, Feeding Action Month. As part of its 30
Ways in 30 Days program, It's asking
48
across the country to help the more
than 200 food banks and 61,000 agencies in its network provide low-income individuals
and families with the fuel they need to
49
.
It's the kind of work that's done every day at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
in San Antonio, People who
50
at its front door on the first and third
Thursdays of each month aren't looking for God-they're there for something to eat,
St. Andrew's runs a food pantry(食品堂)that
51
the city and several of the
52
towns. Janet Drane is its manager.
In the wake of the
53
.the number of families in need of food assistance
began to grow. It is
54
that 49 million Americans are unsure of where they
will find their next meal What's most surprising is that 36% of them live in
55
where at least one adult is working."It used to be that one job was all you needed."
says St. Andrew's Drane."The people we see now have three or four part-time jobs
and they're still right on the edge
56
."
注意:此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
A)survive
B) surrounding
C)serves
D)reviewed
E)reported
F)recession
G)households
H)gather
Section B
I)formally
J)financially
K)domestic
L)competition
M)communities
N)circling
O)accumulate
Directions: there are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by
some questions or unfinished statements For each of them there are four choices
marked A),B),C) and D).You should decide on the best choice and mark the
corresponding letter on
Answer Sheer 2
with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.
In times of economic crisis. Americans turn to their families for support. If
the Great Depression is any guide, we may see a drop in our skyhigh divorce rate.
But this won't necessarily represent. an increase in happy marriages. In the long
run, the Depression weakened American families, and the current crisis will probably
do the same.
We tend to think of the Depression as a time when families pulled together to
survive huge job losses, By 1932. when nearly one-quarter of the workforce was
unemployed, the divorce rate had declined by around 25% from 1929 But this doesn't
mean people were suddenly happier with their marriages. Rather, with incomes
decreasing and insecure jobs, unhappy couples often couldn't afford to divorce. They
feared neither spouse could manage alone.
Today, given the job losses of the past year, fewer unhappy couples will risk
starting separate households, Furthermore, the housing market meltdown will make
it more difficult for them to finance their separations by selling their homes.
After financial disasters family members also tend to do whatever they can to