1、大学英语四级（2013 年 12月考试改革适用）-试卷 185及答案解析(总分：118.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Writing(总题数：2，分数：4.00)1.Part I Writing（分数：2.00）_2.For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled Education Fever based on the statistics provided in the chart below (Family Spending on Education in China). Please
2、give a brief description of the chart first and then make comments on it. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words. （分数：2.00）_二、Listening Comprehens(总题数：12，分数：50.00)3.Part II Listening Comprehension_4.Section A_A.A businessman.B.A doctor.C.A full-time father.D.A lawmaker.A.Japa
3、n.B.The UK.C.The US.D.Australia.A.It will be hard to hire enough qualified teachers.B.British government will decide to cut down educational fund.C.More and more students will not be qualified for graduation.D.Teachers pay will be restricted in England and Wales only.A.Offer more training to school
4、leaders.B.Rethink the pay policies for teachers.C.Increase the number of pupils.D.Reform the education system as a whole.A.She watched it on ABC News.B.She watched a video on YouTube.C.She witnessed it on the spot.D.She learned it from the fisherman.A.It snapped off the bait on the hook.B.It swung v
5、iolently at the fisherman.C.It sank deep in the sea and escaped.D.It struggled hard to unhook itself.A.He was shocked at the sight of the white shark.B.He failed to get his fishing hook back from the shark.C.He was frightened into throwing his fishing rod away.D.He managed to free the white shark fr
6、om the hook.5.Section B_A.It was a custom to do so.B.There was flu in the city.C.The pollution was serious.D.Wearing a mask was popular.A.Natural disasters.B.Large chemical factories.C.Exhaust from vehicles.D.Large amounts of household garbage.A.It is not feasible.B.It is a sensible solution.C.It wi
7、ll be good for health.D.It will cause greenhouse effect.A.They care much about the environment.B.The air pollution will disappear gradually.C.Their towns become more pleasant to live.D.It benefits their economy a lot.A.He closes and opens his eyes too frequently.B.He didnt have enough sleep last nig
8、ht.C.He has been long staring at the computer screen.D.He has been doing homework about computer for hours.A.Lack of moisture.B.Exposure to radiation.C.Lack of sleep.D.Misuse of medicine.A.Using eye drops.B.Taking breaks.C.Seeing a doctor.D.Keeping eyes opener.A.Get some sleep.B.Do homework till ton
9、ight.C.Read articles about eye problems.D.Drink some coffee.6.Section C_A.Markets where birds like parrots are sold.B.Zoos where there are no experts to manage the birds.C.Owners who cannot handle their pets.D.Forests where birds get wounded.A.He likes changes in life.B.He wants the birds to enjoy m
10、ore music.C.He tries to prevent the parrots imitating the tone.D.He is not sure which tone is the best.A.Restricting the number of visitors.B.Raising money for his expanding operation.C.Accumulating wealth for himself.D.Raising money to support his study.A.The Washington Federation of Teachers.B.The
11、 National Labor Union.C.The American Federation of Teachers.D.The Washington Labor Union.A.The influence from Asian countries.B.The growing competition from foreign students.C.The growing competition for entrance into top universities.D.The teachers need of extra income from the tutoring.A.The Feder
12、al government.B.Students parents.C.The school administrators.D.The Teachers Association.A.The changing of weather.B.The health of teenagers.C.Energy drinks and their nutrition.D.The danger of energy drinks.A.Protein.B.Calcium.C.Zinc.D.Vitamin.A.Students and housewives.B.Athletes and trainers.C.Young
13、 people and busy people.D.Singers and teachers.A.Cautious.B.Supportive.C.Opposed.D.Relieved.三、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：8，分数：60.00)7.Part III Reading Comprehension_8.Section A_What do dieting and energy policy have in common? The SnackWell effect. The name comes from those tasty little cookies that a
14、re 1as being lower in fat and sugar. But they often lead dieters to eat more of them than 2cookies and then wonder why theyre not losing weight. It turns out theres a SnackWell effect for energy use tooand it may make it tougher for us to cut back on carbon. When 3conscious consumers buy an energy-e
15、fficient dishwasher, for example, they may feel less guilty about 4the machine more often and as a result may not end up saving much on their utility bills. Likewise, studies indicate that people who 5more-energy-efficient lights lose 5% to 12% of the expected savings by leaving them on longer. Much
16、 like dieters eating too many SnackWells, we can fail in our attempts to save energy and money. So resist the 6to raise your thermostat (恒温器) after you buy a more efficient furnace: lower the temperature by a degree and shave another 1% off your heating bill. But even if we do what Jimmy Carter did
17、and wear a 70s-style sweater all winter, we may end up spending those energy savings somewhere elselike on a plane 7to Bermuda A report estimated that 8, this effect could reduce the savings from energy efficiency by 10% or more. That doesnt mean energy-efficiency measures are 9or that we should nev
18、er go on vacation. But it does mean that cutting back on energy 10, like dieting, is not an excuse to stuff ourselves on less guilty pleasures.A) acting E) globally I) ride M) specialB) advertised F) install J) route N) urgeC) consumption G) operated K) running O) uselessD) environmentally H) regula
19、r L) saving（分数：20.00）填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_10.Section B_What Your iPad Knows About YouA Youve finally finished the book your co-worker recommended, so what to read next? If it is 5 a,m., chances are that youre reaching for a romance novelespecially if
20、youre in Texas or Georgia. By early morning, thrillers might start to look more appealing. And if Philip K. Dick is your favorite author, books about beer are probably more up your taste than anything about wine or liquor.B These are some of the insights from Scribd Inc. and Oyster, two startups tha
21、t offer unlimited e-book rentals for a monthly subscription fee. Scribd, Oyster and Entitle Bookswhich just launched in Decemberare tracking reader behavior in hopes of figuring out recommendations of exactly what youll want to pick up next.C About 50% of the U.S. population owns a dedicated e-reade
22、r, according to a Pew Research study released last month. In addition, 28% read an e-book last year, up from 23% the previous year. The services are expanding. Scribd, a San Francisco-based site that started selling monthly e-book subscriptions last October, announced this month that its app is avai
23、lable on Amazons Kindle Fire and Kindle Paperwhite. After running exclusively on Apples operating system, New York-based Oyster plans to expand to Android later this year. And Entitle is considering adding an all-you-can-read feature to complement its current “book of the month“-style subscription s
24、ervice. Subscription services are popular because they “reduce the emotional burden“ of purchasing, says Julie Haddon, Scribd vice president of marketing. Buying a book creates pressure to finish and get your moneys worth, she adds. In addition, people might try to save money by buying a cheaper boo
25、k instead of the one they really want.D Brian Konash, 34, who works at Web startup Squarespace in Manhattan, joined Oyster two months ago because it didnt cause the buyers sense of guilty he experienced when purchasing Kindle e-books. “Youve already paid for the service, so you can read as much as y
26、ou want,“ he says. “With other models, theres that little financial bite each time you want to buy a book and you worry that its going to be worthless.“ Mr. Konash, who has been picking books based on the sites suggestions, predicts hell read up to 10 more books a year beyond his usual 25.E An all-a
27、ccess subscription “lowers the activation energy for reading,“ says Oyster CEO Eric Stromberg. Reading often has a high “activation energy“ because theres a time gap between wanting to read a book and then actually getting your hands on it, he says. “When you can order a book and instantly get it on
28、 your tablet, you can hear about the book and then read it right there,“ says Willem van Lancker, Oysters chief product officer.F “From the publishing perspective, the biggest problem is how to get people to care about a new book,“ says Otis Chandler, CEO of Goodreads, a site where people share what
29、 theyre reading and post recommendations. Goodreads, which was acquired by Amazon in March, uses an algorithm (运算法则 ) that recommends books that users with similar taste have enjoyed.G Oyster and Scribd ask readers to rate books, what they call an “active signal.“ They also track “passive signals,“
30、such as the percentage of a book that a reader finishes and the click rate, or how many people who are shown a book click through to learn more. The companies use that information among other factors to recommend books. Active signals represent what we wish we read, while passive signals are more ho
31、nest, says Jared Friedman, Scribd chief technology officer. A lot of people give a 5-star rating to “The Great Gatsby,“ while they read greedily, but dont necessarily rate, thrillers like “The Da Vinci Code,“ for example.H Other findings: Self-help might be a popular market, yet only about 20% of pe
32、ople who start such a book finish it. More than 80% of people who crack the pages of a mystery novel will find out who did it. People read through biographies at 20 pages per hour, while they read at three times that speed for erotica (色情作品). And higher “acceleration factor“or how much readers speed
33、 up as they get closer to finishingcorrelates with higher average rating for a book. One of the highest acceleration factors comes from Kurt Vonneguts “Cats Cradle,“ which readers start speeding through at the halfway mark, Mr. Friedman says. All three companies allow users to hide their reading beh
34、avior from other customers, but users cant opt out of their behavior being collected by the company itself. Entitle, however, says it keeps track of browsing and download information only.I Personalized recommendations drive 10 times more browsing traffic than lists based on themes such as “globe-tr
35、otting memoirs“ or “bad role models“ that copy racks at the front of bookstores, Scribds Mr. Friedman says. The company is interested in combining algorithms with lists to create a list of best sellers that someone would, based on past reading behavior, find interesting. Another possible approach is
36、 to suggest different books or genres depending on time of day to take advantage of what the company knows about time-based preferences.J The algorithm doesnt just analyze behavior signals, but “reads“ through a books text to pull out different topics, genres and subjects, says Bryan Batten, chief e
37、xecutive of Entitle. Theres also a patent-pending (申请专利中的) service called “if these books had a baby,“ where users can input two books and find a third with similar themes. For example, the “baby“ of Joseph Hellers “Catch-22“ and Leo Tolstoys “Anna Karenina“ is Fyodor Dostoevskys “The Brothers Karam
38、azov“ but the product of “Catch-22“ and Steve Jobs biography is a book called “Dealers of Lightning,“ about engineers at Xerox Corp.K Entitle operates on a tiered model: two books for $9.99 a month (the most popular plan), three for $14.99, and so on. For customers, the upside is being able to keep
39、the e-books, even if they cancel the service. The services, of course, compete with the library. But libraries have had limited e-book offerings and there are often waits for the books. Robert Wolven, co-chair of the American Library Associations Digital Content Working Group, says demand has increa
40、sed significantly in the past 18 months. He says he doesnt see the startups as a threat.L While libraries budget for e-books has been growing, licensing restrictions mean that popular titles often arent available, says Laura Girmscheid, research manager for the trade publication Library Journal, whi
41、ch recently released its fourth annual report on e-books in libraries. This, combined with holds on e-books, is the largest hurdle preventing people from using library e-books more. “Its just not convenient for instant access,“ Ms. Girmscheid says.（分数：20.00）(1).Subscribers cant stop e-book provider
42、from collecting information about their reading behavior.（分数：2.00）填空项 1:_(2).Due to the time gap between wanting to read a book and actually starting reading, people need high activation energy to read a paper book.（分数：2.00）填空项 1:_(3).The biggest problem for publication is how to raise readers inter
43、ests in a new book.（分数：2.00）填空项 1:_(4).Passive signals, like click rates, are more honest indications of reading behavior.（分数：2.00）填空项 1:_(5).Some e-book rental websites track subscribers reading behavior so as to offer proper book recommendations.（分数：2.00）填空项 1:_(6).Subscribers of Entitle can keep
44、e-books they have bought even after they cancel the service.（分数：2.00）填空项 1:_(7).Inconvenience for instant access to popular e-books prevents people from using library e-books.（分数：2.00）填空项 1:_(8).About four-fifth readers of self-help books fail to complete their reading.（分数：2.00）填空项 1:_(9).When purch
45、asing paper books, people might give up the one they want and choose a cheaper one in order to save money.（分数：2.00）填空项 1:_(10).Personalized recommendations are more efficient in boosting books browsing rates than traditional best-sale lists based on different themes.（分数：2.00）填空项 1:_11.Section C_A new partner pushes out two close friends on average, leaving lovers with a smaller inner circle of people they can turn to in times of crisis, a study found. The research, led by Robin Dunbar, h
