大学英语四级（2013年12月考试改革适用）模拟试卷319

For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled Stopping or Going-on. You should start your essay with a brief description of the picture and give your comments. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words. [*]

The US has declared thirty international groups as terrorist organizations, preventing them from receiving money, weapons or other support from US citizens. The new terrorist list includes a Palestinian group Hamas, the Pro-Iranian Hezbollah, Cambodian’s Khmer Rouge, the Basque separatist group ETA, Sri Lanka’s Tami tigers, and Peru-based Shining Path and Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement. The list does not include the Irish Republican Army or the Palestinian Liberation Organization. US Secretary of State Madden Albright says the affected groups will have their US visas cancelled and US financial assets frozen. 1. Which of the following is NOT listed as a terrorist group by the US? 2. What the affected groups will be prevented from? The pro-Iranian Hezbollah. The Palestinian group Hamas. The Irish Republican Army. The Basque separatist group ETA.

AT & T plans to spend 18 billion dollars in 2019 upgrading its wireless networks to handle the increasing amount of new traffic. This is roughly 2 billion dollars more than the company had invested last year. Specifically AT & T will add 2000 new cell sites and upgrade existing cell sites with 3 times more fiber links than it had in 2009. This will increase capacity to connect the cell towers to AT & T’ s main network. AT & T, which is the only wireless operator in the US selling iPhone, had been a target of much criticism over this past year as many iPhone users, particularly in big cities have complained about dropped calls, slow Internet access and poor service. Some critics claimed the company has not been spending enough on network upgrades to keep up with growing demand. AT & T has admitted that it has faced some difficulties particularly in big cities, but the company is closing the gap. 3. What will the 18 billion dollars be used for? 4. Where does AT&T face difficulties in particular? Upgrade its network capacity. Improve customer services. Develop new products. Market more iPhones.

“A large fire broke out Tuesday in Egypt’s parliament and five people were hospitalized for being hurt by smoke, “ official said. There was no official word on the cause of the fire which destroyed a 19th century palace where parliament’s upper house located. Dozens of fire tracks were at the scene. While firefighters focused on one corner of the building, the fire burned heavier on the second corner, spreading to the second floor. Two helicopters brought water from the nearby Nile River in small buckets and poured it onto the fire. Survived employees said authorities told them that the fire was not caused by terrorism and that an electrical short-circuit had likely sparked the fire. “Those hospitalized people included parliament employees and firefighters, “ said Ahmad Salah, the fire operation director. The extent of damage was not immediately known. Egypt requires some fire safety measures in buildings, including fire extinguishers. But in general, the rules are not straightly enforced. 5. Which of the following is correct? 6. What is the cause of the big fire? 7. What do we know about the safety measures in Egypt? A big fire erupted on the Nile River. Helicopters were used to evacuate people. Five people were taken to hospital for burns. A big fire took place on two floors.

W: Mr. Hiller. Is the number of complaints increasing or decreasing? M: There was a slight decrease last year. The highest number of complaints was two years ago when we received 7, 300. W: Does the reduction mean that the quality of goods and services is improving? M: I don’ t think so. It’ s probably due to poor economic situation. Most people are simply buying less. W: Is there any change in the nature of the complaints? M: Not really. People are still complaining about the same things. W: What do they complain about most often? M: Electrical appliances. Last year, we received 1, 809 complaints about them—25 percent of all complaints. Then there are complaints about travel agencies, photographic and sound equipment, and clothing—in that order. W: What sort of complaints do you get about travel agencies? M: Oh, they include anything from air tickets to accommodation. W: Are most of the complaints justified? M: About 90 percent of the complaints about travel agencies are justified. In other areas, investigation of about 50 percent of the complaints reveals some kind of business illegal practice, but overall about 30 percent of the complaints are due to misunderstandings on the part of the consumer: The rest are too vague to be worth following up. W: How long does it take you to complete an investigation of a complaint? M: About two to three weeks for a proper investigation. We really need more staff. W: Thank you. Mr. Hiller. M: My pleasure. Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard. 8. Why did the number of complaints decrease last year according to the man? 9. What do customers often complain about most? 10. What does the man say about complaints about travel agency? 11. How long does it take the man to complete an investigation of a complaint? The quality of goods and services has improved. Most people are reducing their consumption. Complaint channels are too limited. Many people don’ t bother to complain.

W: Bob, will you tell me something about the new intelligent house your company has just built? I heard that it promises to be a model for houses of the future. M: Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of cleverly-designed device. This is a complete household system. It will make people’ s lives much easier. W: OK. So tell me how this house will make my life easier. M: When you arrive at the front door, you won’ t need a key. The door will open automatically with a touch of your finger: the system can recognize your fingerprint. You’ll be able to call your refrigerator when you’re in the supermarket and find out how much milk you still have and figure out how much you need to buy. Isn’ t that wonderful? W: Can I call the washing machine as well? M: Sure. But you won’t need to. The house comes with a robot. You can call the robot directly and ask it to do what you want to do. W: What about household problems? M: Well, if a pipe breaks open, the house will call the property management agency. And if there’ s a fire, the house will turn on the fire extinguishers automatically and call the fire department. W: And what’ s the price of this intelligent house? M: A million dollars. W: A million dollars! It will be the 22nd century before I’ 11 be able to afford one. Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard. 12. What does the man say about the new intelligent house? 13. What convenience can the new intelligent house bring to one’s life? 14. What do we know about household problems? 15. What does the woman think of the intelligent house? It is a house full of cleverly-designed device. It can help people live a much easier life. It is the most comfortable house available. It expresses the newest architectural style.

The ice-cream sundae is an original American dish. Ice cream is not an original American food and chocolate syrup is not an original American food. But an American put the two together and started the ice-cream sundae. An ice-cream sundae is ice cream with chocolate or other syrup over it. There are many kinds of toppings today. You put the toppings on top of the syrup. These can be nuts, fruit, and whipped cream. Ice-cream sundaes started in the 1890s. At that time people went to ice-cream parlors to eat ice cream. One day in Wisconsin a customer went to an ice-cream parlor. He wanted chocolate syrup on his vanilla ice cream. The owner of the parlor said this was a bad idea. But the customer insisted and finally got what he wanted. Soon many customers wanted syrup on their ice cream. Other ice-cream parlors started to have this new ice-cream dish. The sundae got its name from an ice-cream parlor in another town in Wisconsin. Here the owner of an ice-cream parlor only served the unusual ice-cream dish on Sundays. The ice-cream with the syrup was a special order and it was more expensive. It was a Sunday special. That is how it got the name sundae. Nobody knows why the spelling changed from Sunday to sundae. Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard. 16. What makes up sundae toppings? 17. When did the ice-cream sundae start? 18. What did the name “Sundae“ come from? Vanilla. Chocolate or syrup. Food. Nuts, fruit and whipped cream.

Jazz began in the early 20th century as a music of African Americans. It was intended for singing, for dancing, for entertainment at parties and social gatherings. Jazz has continued to develop and has produced some of the United States leading singers, instrumentalists, and composers. Today, it is considered by many to be American’s art music. It has already influenced almost every other kind of music in America, Europe, and even Asia. The origin of the word “jazz“ is not known, but the term came into common use after the first photograph records of Jazz were made in 1917. Jazz represents a mixture of musical elements from Africa and from Europe. Jazz uses some European ideas of harmony and melody, but the rhythms are more African in origin. It is usually said to be irregular in rhythm. And jazz uses many rhythms around one basic rhythm. Another important feature of jazz is that players can invent music while they are playing. This is the way jazz is usually played. Jazz musicians can make up excellent melodies as they play. A good jazz player seldom plays anything the same way twice. Thus, listening to jazz is not like hearing a piece of music that was written long ago. It is like being there when the music is first being made. Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard. 19. What is Jazz considered now by many Americans? 20. How does Jazz include the elements from Africa and Europe? 21. What do you know about Jazz according to the passage? American’s art music. American’ s street music. American’ s black music. American’ s classic music.

Decades before the American Revolution of 1776, Jesse Fish, a native New Yorker, retreated to an island off St. Augustine, Florida, to escape unhappy family situation. In a time he became Florida’s first orange baron and his oranges were in great demand in London throughout the 1770’s. The English found them juicy and sweet and preferred them to other varieties, even though they had thin skins and were hard to peel. There would probably have been other successful commercial growers before Fish if Florida had not been under Spanish rule for some two hundred years. Columbus first brought seeds for citrus trees to the New World and planted them in the Antilles. But it was most likely Ponce de Leon who introduced oranges to the North American continent when he discovered Florida in 1513. For a time, each Spanish sailor on a ship bound for America was required by law to carry one hundred seeds with him. Later, because seeds tended to dry out, all Spanish ships were required to carry young orange trees. The Spaniards planted citrus trees only for medicinal purpose, however, they saw no need to start commercial groves because oranges were so abundant in Spain. Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard. 22. What is the main topic of the passage? 23. Where did Jesse Fish come from? 24. By whom were oranges most probably introduced to Florida? 25. Why did the Spaniards not grow oranges commercially in the New World? The role of Florida in the American Revolution. The discovery of Florida by Ponce de Leon in 1513. The history of the cultivation of oranges in Florida. The popularity of Florida oranges in London in the 1770’s.

How do we get more people to increase their consumption of iron-rich foods? Many nutritionists【C1】______the increase of a number of foods. This may help, but I contend that we should also intensify our【C2】______in nutrition education among our young people. I simply do not buy the argument that it is【C3】______to try to change eating habits. Once an intelligent person—and this includes adolescents—understands the need for a healthy diet, I think he or she will act【C4】______. As for specific actions, I suggest that blood should be checked as a【C5】______part of a youngster’ s yearly physical examination. It should contain at least 11 grams iron per 100 milliliters of blood for a girl and at least 12 grams for a boy. If it is any lower, the physician probably will【C6】______an easily absorbed iron supplement. Adolescents—and everyone else—should cut out highly processed foods and drinks, which may be【C7】______in iron and other nutrients. Read the labels for iron content. Especially make sure that all【C8】______products are made with enriched flour or whole grains. Try adding liver (chicken, beef or any other variety) to the weekly【C9】______. Finally, even when you are trying to lose weight, always eat a sensible, well-balanced diet made up of a variety of flesh or very【C10】______processed foods. This way, you stand a good chance of getting not only enough iron, but also adequate amounts of all the other essential nutrients. A) bakery B) determining C) efforts D) aging E) advocate F) complained G) ineffective H) accordingly I) menu J) lightly K) routine L) prescribe M) limited N) coverage O) low

Safe As Houses A) Home builders and buyers are feeling hesitant. Residential fixed investment has dragged back GDP growth in each of the past three quarters; in October sales of existing homes were 5.1% below their level a year before and new ones down by 12%. Since March price rises have slowed. As housing has historically have been as a canary in the coal mine for the American economy, this wooziness is worrying. But it is not yet cause for panic. B) The wobble invites two questions. Why is it happening? And does it matter? Answering them gains importance as chatter about a possible economic slowdown gets louder. The corpse of the last yellow finch is still fresh. C) In August of 2007 Edward Learner of the University of California, Los Angeles highlighted the predictive power of residential investment and hoe-building when forecasting downturns, in a paper called “Housing is the Business Cycle“. Eight of the ten previous recessions had been preceded by serious problems in housing, he pointed out, before forecasting that “this time troubles in housing will stay in housing“. D) When identifying the causes of what is happening it is better to consider a brew of factors than any single ingredient. Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders, refers to five “L“s that have been pushing up builders’ costs and so constraining the pace of new home-building: labour, lots, lending, laws and lumber. Construction workers are scarce, and are therefore seeing faster wage increases than the general workforce. These burdens might not matter so much if the sector were managing to squeeze more from its inputs. But it is struggling to do so. As a result, the incentive to build many new homes has been reduced. E) With the possible exception of a 20% tariff on Canadian lumber, which led to a spike in prices this summer, these pressures are not new. For several years they have been to explain why building has been so slow in the face of strong demand and rising prices (aside from the hangover from over-building in the mid-2000s). Mr. Dietz says that for cheaper, entry-level homes, the fixed costs of building are most crippling, which helps to explain why their supply has been particularly squeezed. Homebodies F) Over the summer something else seemed to change. Aaron Terrazas, an economist at Zillow, a price-listing website, has noticed a tilt in favour of buyers. He has been less evidence of bidding wars; fewer examples of buyers waiving contingencies, such as forgoing the option to pull out of if something about the sale goes wrong; fewer multiple offers, and fewer homes that sell for very much more than their asking price. While the priciest points of the market have been chilly for a while, now the bottom end is catching a cold, too. G) The next likely explanation is that demand is being constrained by an affordability crunch. House prices are rising nationally just as, according to Freddie Mac (a government-backed mortgage insurer), the effective rate on home loans has risen by 0.8 percentage points since 2017. As Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, pointed out, on average housing is still more affordable than it was before the financial crisis, and mortgages are still historically cheap. But in this case the change matters, and more expensive houses coupled with more expensive mortgages can still weigh on demand. H) The buyers most vulnerable to this dynamic are young. Home-ownership rates for those under 35 collapsed following the recession, and although they have recovered a bit since 2016 they are still well below their historical average, and around seven percentage points below their pre-crisis peak. The young are the most likely to buy cheaper, entry-level homes. To buy an average starter home with a 10% down-payment, the National Association of Realtors estimates that a first-time buyer would need to fork out $1,099 per month in the third quarter of this year, $120 more than a year ago. I) On November 14th Mr. Powell noted the sensitivity of the housing sector to interest rates, and said that he and his fellow monetary-policy makers were watching it carefully. But elsewhere the economy is doing well, particularly the labour market, which is in ruder health by the day. In a speech on November 28th Mr. Powell said that interest rates now are “just below the broad range of estimates“ of neutral, the level at which they neither speed up nor slow down growth. Although investors interpreted this as a doveish statement, most still expect another interest-rate rise in December, and at least one more next year. J) Mr. Powell did not seem too concerned about housing, noting that the sector is less of a motor for the economy than it has been in the past. Mr. Terrazas warns of overreaction to “any slight news of softness“. For his part, Mr. Learner is relatively relaxed. Although he agrees that the market is cooling, there are few signs of the over-building that characterized the 2000s—if anything, the opposite. “We haven’t built up a mountain that would create a cliff,“ he says. Besides, in historical terms the recent dip in housing starts is small. In the four quarters preceding the peak of an economic cycle, housing starts have fallen by 22% on average. Over the past four quarters home starts have fallen by 2%. K) Overall, recent noises from the canary sound less like a cry of distress than a chirp as the atmosphere changes. There are reasons to worry about housing. The fact that a generation is being largely shut out of one of America’s most common forms of wealth accumulation is genuinely troubling. If what is happening in housing is an early sign of a broader decline in consumer confidence, that could spell trouble. And if construction and the spending that accompanies hoe-building are not driving demand, that may leave the economy more fragile when other stimuli fade. But it is too soon to call this a crisis.

Gestures aren’t the only area in which the unwary traveler can get tripped up. Foreign cultures adhere to different business customs and behavior. For example, Caffeine junkies should restrain themselves in the Middle East. “Three cups of tea or coffee is usually the polite limit in offices and during social calls, “ counsels “Travel Pak, “ a free publication of Alia, the Royal Jordanian Airline. “But if your host keeps going, you also may continue sipping. If you’ve had your fill, give your empty cup a quick twist a sort of wiggle—as you hand it back. That means “No more, thank you.“ Middle East visitors also should not be surprised “if others barge right into the office in the middle of your conversation with the person you are seeing, “ notes “Travel Pak.“ An old Arab cus torn calls for keeping an “open office.“ The British, however, consider it impolite to interrupt a visitor, even after all business has been transacted. The commercial caller is expected to be sensitive to this point, know when to stop, and initiate his or her own departure. In Japan certain guests at evening business gatherings will leave early. They should be allowed to leave without effusive goodbyes. The Japanese consider formal departures to be disruptive in such cases and disturbing to remaining guests. In Scandinavia and Finland business guests may be asked to shed their clothes and join their hosts in a sauna. The invitation is a sign that a good working relationship has been established. In the Arab world, the word “no“ must be mentioned three times before it is accepted. In contrast, it is considered good business manners to make many and long efforts to pick up the check. In the People’ s Republic of China, gift giving is considered an insult, says Patrick J. Lewis, President of Club Universe, a Los Angeles tour operator. “If you want to give someone a gift, make sure it’s modest in value. This will not be considered offensive, but it may be declined, “ The Chinese manner of expressing friendship and welcome is to clap. Lewis adds. “You may be greeted with clapping when entering a factory, hospital, commune, or school. Politeness dictates that you respond with applause, even though it may seem like you’re clapping for yourself.“

The predictability of our mortality rates is something that has long puzzled social scientists. After all, there is no natural reason why 2, 500 people should accidentally shoot themselves each year or why 7, 000 should drown or 55, 000 die in their cars. No one establishes a quota for each type of death. It just happens that they follow a consistent pattern year after year. A few years ago a Canadian psychologist named Gerald Wilde became interested in this phenomenon. He noticed that mortality rates for violent and accidental deaths throughout the western world have remained oddly static throughout the whole of the century, despite all the technological advances and increases in safety standards that have happened in that time. Wilde developed an intriguing theory called “risk homeostasis“. According to this theory, people instinctively live with a certain level of risk. When something is made safer, people will get around the measure in some way to reassert the original level of danger. If, for instance, they are required to wear seat belts, they will feel safer and thus will drive a little faster and a little more recklessly, thereby statistically canceling out the benefits that the seat belt confers. Other studies have shown that where an intersection is made safer, the accident rate invariably falls there but rises to a compensating level elsewhere along the same stretch of road. It appears, then, that we have an innate need for danger. In all events, it is becoming clearer and clearer to scientists that the factors influencing our lifespan are far more subtle and complex than had been previously thought. It now appears that if you wish to live a long life, it isn’t simply a matter of adhering to certain precautions ..., eating the right foods, not smoking, driving with care. You must also have the right attitude. Scientists at the Duke University Medical Center made a 15-year study of 500 persons personalities and found, somewhat to their surprise, that people with a suspicious or mistrustful nature die prematurely far more often than people with a sunny disposition. Looking on the bright side, it seems, can add years to your life span.

清洁的空气对于健康是至关重要的。空气中含有杂质(impurities)，这些杂质会被我们的身体吸收，让我们生病。我们需要清洁的空气，但不幸的是，目前普遍存在着空气污染，尤其是在城市里。城市里有许多食品厂、服装厂和制造其他东西的工厂。每天这些工厂把千百万吨烟灰排入空气，大大污染了空气。现今，世界上还没有一个彻底摆脱了空气污染的地区。我们必须采取措施来控制空气污染。