2011年英语专业四级考试真题
TEST FOR ENGLISH MAJORS(2011)
——GRADE FOUR——
PART I DICTATION [10 MIN]
Listen to the following passage. Altogether the passage will be read to you four times. During the first reading, which will be done at normal speed, listen and try to understand the meaning. For the second and third readings, the passage will be read sentence by sentence, or phrase by phrase, with intervals of 15 seconds. The last reading will be done at normal speed again and during this time you should check your work. You will then be given ONE minute to check through your work once more.
Please write the whole passage on ANSWER SHEET ONE.
PART II LISTENING COMPREHENSION [20 MIN]
SECTION A TALK
In this section you will hear a talk. You will hear the talk ONCE ONLY. While listening, you may look at the task on ANSWER SHEET ONE and write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each gap. Make sure what you fill in is both grammatically and semantically acceptable. You may use the blank sheet for note-taking.
You have THIRTY seconds to preview the gap-filling task.
Now listen to the talk. When it is over, you will be given TWO minutes to check your work.
Successful Debate Is Like Building a House
1. The definition of debate
■ Group discussions
■ Give opinions about a(1)______
■ More formal discussions
■ (2)______judges of their opinions
(1)____________
(2)____________
2. Debate as a(3)______skill
■ Public speaking in favor of an opinion
■ Providing evidence to support one’s opinion
(3)____________
3. The structure of debate contest
■ A selected resolution or a statement
■ Affirmative team
■ (4)_____team
■ (5)_____and questions in turns
■ Finally,(6)_____on the arguments
(4)____________
(5)___________
(6)___________
4. An approach to teaching debate
■ English teachers mainly taught(7)_____
■ Debate is mistaken as(8)______
■ Debate is a(9)______discussion
■ (10)______the other person’s opinion is required
(7)____________
(8)___________
(9)___________
(10)___________
SECTION B CONVERSATIONS
In this section you will hear two conversations. At the end of each conversation, five questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversations and the questions will be spoken ONCE ONLY. After each question there will be a ten-second pause. During the pause, you should read the four choices of A, B, C and D, and mark the best answer to each question on ANSWER SHEET TWO.
You have thirty seconds to preview the choices.
Now, listen to the conversations.
Conversation One
Questions 1 to 5 are based on Conversation One.
1. A. The show will have more stands this year.
B. The show will have more visitors this year.
C. The number of overseas visitors will be the same this year.
D. The number of exhibition days will be the same this year.
2. A. A catalogue.
B. A poster.
C. Two desks.
D. Four chairs.
3. A. The size of the show.
B. The cost of the stand.
C. The basic furniture.
D. The visitor number.
4. A. 5% discount in price.
B. A poster.
C. More basic furniture.
D. Free use of electricity and lighting.
5. A. Text message.
B. Fax.
C. Telephone call.
D. Email.
Conversation Two
Questions 6 to 10 are based on Conversation Two.
6. A. A book shop.
B. A paper factory.
C. A school.
D. A fast food restaurant.
7. A. He has no interest.
B. He has only one interest.
C. He has two interests.
D. He has quite a few interests.
8. A. He is very reserved.
B. He is very outgoing.
C. He is warm-hearted.
D. He is calm and lonely.
9. A. He tries to learn many things.
B. He wants to finish things in time.
C. He always works overtime.
D. He does not care about time management.
10. A. John worked in a paper factory.
B. John worked in a youth club.
C. John looked after his brother and sister.
D. John looked after his young friends.
PART III LANGUAGE KNOWLEDGE [10 MIN]
There are twenty sentences in this section. Beneath each sentence there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Choose one word or phrase that best completes the sentence. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET TWO.
11. My uncle is quite worn out from years of hard work. He is no longer the man______he was fifteen years ago.
A. which
B. whom
C. who
D. that
12. When you have finished with the book, don’t forget to return it to Tim,______?
A. do you
B. will you
C. don’t you
D. won’t you
13. It is not so much the language______the cultural background that makes the book difficult to understand.
A. as
B. nor
C. but
D. like
14. Which of the following italicized parts is used as an object?
A. What do you think has happened to her?
B. Who do you think the visiting professor is?
C. How much do you think he earns every month?
D. How quickly would you say he would come?
15. The additional work will take______weeks.
A. the other
B. another two
C. other two
D. the more
16. Which of the following italicized parts is a subject clause(主语从句)?
A. We are quite certain that we will get there in time.
B. He has to face the fact that there will be no pay rise this year.
C. She said that she had seen the man earlier that morning.
D. It is sheer luck that the miners are still alive after ten days.
17. It’s getting late. I’d rather you______now.
A. left
B. leave
C. are leaving
D. will leave
18. There is no doubt______the couple did the right thing in coming back home earlier than planned.
A. whether
B. that
C. why
D. when
19. Which of the following italicized phrases indicates a subject-predicate relation(主谓关系)?
A. Mr. Smith’s passport has been issued.
B. The visitor’s arrival was reported in the news.
C. John’s travel details have not been finalized.
D. The new bookstore sells children’s stories.
20. Which of the following sentences is INCORRECT?
A. How strange feelings they are!
B. How dare you speak to me like that!
C. What noise they are making!
D. What a mess we are in!
21. The crowd went______as soon as the singer stepped onto the stage.
A. wild
B. emotional
C. uncontrolled
D. unrestricted
22. Our school library is______closed for repairs.
A. shortly
B. quickly
C. temporarily
D. rapidly
23. House repairs, holidays, school fees and other______have reduced his bank balance to almost nothing.
A. amount
B. payment
C. expenses
D. figures
24. It was really______of you to remember my birthday.
A. grateful
B. thoughtful
C. considerable
D. generous
25. You can go to a travel agency and ask for a holiday______.
A. introduction
B. advertisement
C. book
D. brochure
26. The city government is building more roads to______the increasing number of cars.
A. accommodate
B. receive
C. accept
D. hold
27. They’ve lifted a two-year-long economic______on the country.
A. enclosure
B. restriction
C. blockade
D. prohibition
28. His plan is carefully prepared and full of details, so it is a very______one.
A. elaborate
B. refined
C. ambitious
D. complex
29. The girl’s voice was so low that we could______hear her.
A. seldom
B. almost
C. only
D. barely
30. She must have been pretty______to fall for such an old trick.
A. interested
B. gullible
C. enthusiastic
D. shrewd
PART IV CLOZE [10 MIN]
Decide which of the words given in the box below would best complete the passage if inserted in the corresponding blanks. The words can be used ONCE ONLY. Mark the letter for each word on ANSWER SHEET TWO.
A. process
B. immediate
C. care for
D. bring in
E. emotional
F. proud
G. reaction
H. nearly
I. considerable
J. bring forth
K. readiness
L. educate
M. transformation
N. almost
O. current
“Congratulations, Mr. Cooper. It’s a girl.”
Fatherhood is going to have a different meaning and 31 a different response from every man who hears these words. Some feel 32 when they receive the news, while others worry, wondering whether they will be good fathers. Although there are some men who like children and may have had 33 experience with them, others do not particularly 34 children and spend little time with them. Many fathers and mothers have been planning and looking forward to children for some time. For other couples, pregnancy was an accident that both husband and wife have accepted willingly or unwillingly.
Whatever the 35 to the birth of a child, it is obvious the shift from the role of husband to that of a father is a difficult task. Yet, unfortunately, few attempts have been made to 36 fathers in this resocialization 37 . Although numerous books have been written about mothers, only recently has literature focused on the role of a father.
It is argued that the transition to the father’s role, although difficult, is not 38 as great as the transition the wife must make to the mother’s role. The mother’s role seems to require a complete 39 in daily routine. However, the father’s role is less demanding and 40 .
PART V READING COMPREHENSION [35 MIN]
SECTION A MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS
In this section there are several passages followed by ten multiple-choice questions. For each questions, there are four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the best answer and mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET TWO.
PASSAGE ONE
(1)We have a crisis on our hands. You mean global warming? The world economy? No, the decline of reading. People are just not doing it anymore, especially the young. Who’s responsible? Actually, it’s more like, What is responsible? The Internet, of course, and everything that comes with it—Facebook, Twitter(微博). You can write your own list.
(2)There’s been a warning about the imminent death of literate civilization for a long time. In the 20th century, first it was the movies, then radio, then television that seemed to spell doom for the written world. None did. Reading survived; in fact it not only survived, it has flourished. The world is more literate than ever before—there are more and more readers, and more and more books.
(3)The fact that we often get our reading material online today is not something we should worry over. The electronic and digital revolution of the last two decades has arguably shown the way forward for reading and for writing. Take the arrival of e-book readers as an example. Devices like Kindle make reading more convenient and are a lot more environmentally friendly than the traditional paper book.
(4)As technology makes new ways of writing possible, new ways of reading are possible. Interconnectivity allows for the possibility of a reading experience that was barely imaginable before. Where traditional books had to make do with photographs and illustrations, an e-book can provide readers with an unlimited number of links: to texts, pictures, and videos. In the future, the way people write novels, history, and philosophy will resemble nothing seen in the past.
(5)On the other hand, there is the danger of trivialization. One Twitter group is offering its followers single-sentence-long “digests” of the great novels. War and Peace in a sentence? You must be joking. We should fear the fragmentation of reading. There is the danger that the high-speed connectivity of the Internet will reduce our attention span—that we will be incapable of reading anything of length or which requires deep concentration.
(6)In such a fast-changing world, in which reality seems to be remade each day, we need the ability to focus and understand what is happening to us. This has always been the function of literature and we should be careful not to let it disappear. Our society needs to be able to imagine the possibility of someone utterly in tune with modern technology but able to make sense of a dynamic, confusing world.
(7)In the 15th century, Johannes Guttenberg’s invention of the printing press in Europe had a huge impact on civilization. Once upon a time the physical book was a challenging thing. We should remember this before we assume that technology is out to destroy traditional culture.
41. The following are all cited as advantages of e-books EXCEPT______
A. multimodal content.
B. environmental friendliness.
C. convenience for readers.
D. imaginative design.
42. In Para. 5, the author feels______toward single-sentence-long novels.
A. ironic
B. worried
C. sarcastic
D. doubtful
43. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Technology pushes the way forward for reading and writing.
B. Interconnectivity is a feature of new reading experience.
C. Technology is an opportunity and a challenge for traditional reading.
D. Technology offers a greater variety of reading practice.
PASSAGE TWO
(1)I know when the snow melts and the first robins(知更鸟)come to call, when the laughter of children returns to the parks and playgrounds, something wonderful is about to happen.
(2)Spring cleaning.
(3)I’ll admit spring cleaning is a difficult notion for modern families to grasp. Today’s busy families hardly have time to load the dishwasher, much less clean the doormat. Asking the family to spend the weekend collecting winter dog piles from the melting snow in the backyard is like announcing there will be no more Wi-Fi. It interrupts the natural order.
(4)“Honey, what say we spend the weekend beating the rugs, sorting through the boxes in the basement and painting our bedroom a nice lemony yellow?” I say.
(5)“Can we at least wait until the NBA matches are over?” my husband answers.
(6)But I tell my family, spring cleaning can’t wait. The temperature has risen just enough to melt snow but not enough for Little League practice to start. Some flowers are peeking out of the thawing ground, but there is no lawn to seed, nor garden to tend. Newly wakened from our winter’s hibernation(冬眠), yet still needing extra blankets at night, we open our windows to the first fresh air floating on the breeze and all of the natural world demanding “Awake and be clean! ”
(7)Biologists offer a theory about this primal impulse to clean out every drawer and closet in the house at spring’s first light, which has to do with melatonin, the sleepytime hormone(激素)our bodies produce when it’s dark. When spring’s light comes, the melatonin diminishes, and suddenly we are awakened to the dusty, virus-filled house we’ve been hibernating in for four months.
(8)I tell my family about the science and psychology of a good healthy cleaning at spring’s arrival. I speak to them about life’s greatest rewards waiting in the removal of soap scum from the bathtub, which hasn’t been properly cleaned since the first snowfall.
(9)“I’ll do it,” says the eldest child, a 21-year-old college student who lives at home.
(10)“You will? Wow! ” I exclaim.
(11)Maybe after all these years, he’s finally grasped the concept. Maybe he’s expressing his rightful position as eldest child and role model. Or maybe he’s going to Florida for a break in a couple of weeks and he’s being nice to me who is the financial-aid officer.
(12)No matter. Seeing my adult son willingly cleaning that dirty bathtub gives me hope for the future of his 12-year-old brother who, instead of working, is found to be sleeping in the seat of the window he is supposed to be cleaning.
(13)“Awake and be clean!” I say.
44. According to the passage, “...spring cleaning is a difficult notion for modern families to grasp” means that spring cleaning______
A. is no longer an easy practice to understand.
B. is no longer part of modem family life.
C. requires more family members to be involved.
D. calls for more complicated skills and knowledge.
45. Which of the following is LEAST likely to be included in family spring cleaning?
A. Beating the rugs.
B. Cleaning the window.
C. Restoring Wi-Fi services.
D. Cleaning the backyard.
46. Which of the following statements about melatonin is INCORRECT?
A. The production of melatonin in our bodies varies at different times.
B. Melatonin is more likely to cause sleepiness in our bodies.
C. The reduction of melatonin will cause wakefulness in our bodies.
D. The amount of melatonin remains constant in our bodies.
PASSAGE THREE
(1)These days lots of young Japanese do omiai, literally, “meet and look.” Many of them do so willingly. In today’s prosperous and increasingly conservative Japan, the traditional omiai kekkon, or arranged marriage, is thriving.
(2)But there is a difference. In the original omiai, the young Japanese couldn’t reject the partner chosen by his parents and their middleman. After World War II, many Japanese abandoned the arranged marriage as part of their rush to adopt the more democratic ways of their American conquerors. The Western ren’ai kekkon, or love marriage, became popular; Japanese began picking their own mates by dating and falling in love.
(3)But the Western way was often found wanting in an important respect: it didn’t necessarily produce a partner of the right economic, social, and educational qualifications. “Today’s young people are quite calculating,” says Chieko Akiyama, a social commentator.
(4)What seems to be happening now is a repetition of a familiar process in the country’s history, the “Japanization” of an adopted foreign practice. The Western ideal of marrying for love is accommodated in a new omiai in which both parties are free to reject the match. “Omiai is evolving into a sort of stylized introduction,” Mrs. Akiyama says.
(5)Many young Japanese now date in their early twenties, but with no thought of marriage. When they reach the age—in the middle twenties for women, the late twenties for men—they increasingly turn to omiai. Some studies suggest that as many as 40% of marriages each year are omiai kekkon. It’s hard to be sure, say those who study the matter, because many Japanese couples, when polled, describe their marriage as a love match even if it was arranged.
(6)These days, doing omiai often means going to a computer matching service rather than to a nakodo. The nakodo of tradition was an old woman who knew all the kids in the neighbourhood and went around trying to pair them off by speaking to their parents; a successful match would bring her a wedding invitation and a gift of money. But Japanese today find it’s less awkward to reject a proposed partner if the nakodo is a computer.
(7)Japan has about five hundred computer matching services. Some big companies, including Mitsubishi, run one for their employees. At a typical commercial service, an applicant pays $80 to $125 to have his or her personal data stored in the computer for two years and $200 or so more if a marriage results. The stored information includes some obvious items, like education and hobbies, and some not-so-obvious ones, like whether a person is the oldest child.(First sons, and to some extent first daughters, face an obligation of caring for elderly parents.)
47. According to the passage, today’s young Japanese prefer______
A. a traditional arranged marriage.
B. a new type of arranged marriage.
C. a Western love marriage.
D. a more Westernized love marriage.
48. What is the purpose of the last paragraph?
A. To tell the differences between an old and modern nakoto.
B. To provide some examples for the traditional nakoto.
C. To offer more details of the computerized nakoto.
D. To sum up the main ideas and provide a conclusion.
PASSAGE FOUR
(1)Cordia Harrington was tired of standing up all day and smelling like French fries at night. She owned and operated three McDonald’s shops in Illinois, but as a divorced mother of three boys, she yearned for a business that would provide for her children and let her spend more time with them:
(2)Her lucky moment came, strangely enough, after she was nominated in 1992 to be on the McDonald’s bun committee. “The company picked me up in a corporate jet to see bakeries around the world,” she recalls. “Every time I went to a meeting, I loved it. This was global!”
(3)The experience opened her eyes to business possibilities. When McDonald’s decided it wanted a new bun supplier, Harrington became determined to win the contract, even though she had no experience running a bakery.
(4)Harrington studied the bakery business and made sure she was never off executives’ radar. “If you have a dream, you can’t wait for people to call you,” she says. “So I’d visit a mill and send them photos of myself in a baker’s hat and jacket, holding a sign that says ‘I want to be your baker.’” After four years and 32 interviews, her persistence paid off.
(5)Harrington sealed the deal with a handshake, sold her shops, and borrowed $13.5 million. She was ready to build the fastest, most automated bakery in the world.
(6)The Tennessee Bun Company opened ahead of schedule in 1997, in time for a slump in U.S. fast-food sales for McDonald’s. Before Harrington knew it, she was down to her last $20,000, not enough to cover payroll. And her agreement with McDonald’s required that she sell exclusively to the company. “I cried myself to sleep many nights,” she recalls. “I really did think, I am going to go bankrupt.”
(7)But Harrington worked out an agreement to supply Pepperidge Farm as well. “McDonald’s could see a benefit if our production went up and prices went down, and no benefit if we went out of business,” she says. “That deal saved us.”
(8)Over the next eight years, Harrington branched out even more: She started her own trucking business, added a cold-storage company, and now has three bakeries producing fresh buns and frozen dough—all now known as the Bun Companies. Speed is still a priority: It takes 11 people at the main bakery to turn out 60,000 buns an hour for clients across 40 states, South America, and the Caribbean.
(9)Grateful for the breaks she’s had, Harrington is passionate about providing opportunities to all 230 employees. “Financial success is the most fun when you can give it away,” she says.
(10)The current economy is challenging. Some of her clients’ sales have declined, but she’s found new clients and improved efficiencies to help sustain the company’s double-digit growth.
(11)Cordia Harrington doesn’t have to stand on her feet all day anymore. Two of her three sons now work for her. And she’s remarried—her husband, Tom, is now her CFO.
(12)“This is more than a job,” says Harrington. “It’s a mission. I’m always thinking, how can we best serve our employees? If we support them, they’ll do their best to look after our clients. That’s how it works here.”
49. “Harrington...made sure she was never off executives’ radar ”(Paragraph Four)means that she______
A. herself wanted to be a company executive.
B. meant to hire executives to run the business.
C. meant to keep her management knowledge and skills.
D. focused on the management of the bakery business.
50. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
A. Bread Made Her a Millionaire
B. Never Give Up
C. A Successful Woman
D. Lucky Moment
SECTION B SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS
In this section there are five short questions based on the passages in Section A. Answer the questions with NO more than TEN words in the space provided on ANSWER SHEET TWO.
PASSAGE ONE
51. According to the author, what do people need to survive in the fast-changing society?
PASSAGE TWO
52. Why does the author say “spring cleaning can’t wait”?
53. What is the author’s overall reaction to her adult son’s positive response to spring cleaning?
PASSAGE THREE
54. What is the big difference between a traditional nakodo and its contemporary version?
PASSAGE FOUR
55. According to the passage, what is fundamental to Harrington’s success?
PART VI WRITING [45 MIN]
Recently government agencies in some big cities have been studying the possibility of putting a “pollution tax” on private cars. The amount of tax private car owners would have to pay would depend on the emission levels, i.e. engine or vehicle size. This has caused quite a stir among the public. The following are the supporters’ and opponents’ opinions. Read carefully the opinions from both sides and write your response in about 200 words, in which you should:
● first summarize briefly the opinions from both sides;
● give your view on whether private car owners should be taxed for pollution.
Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization and language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.
Write your response on ANSWER SHEET THREE.
—THE END—