1、大学英语四级 189及答案解析(总分：746.57，做题时间：130 分钟)一、Writing (30 minutes)(总题数：1，分数：30.00)1.For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a composition on the information shown in the following table. Write the conclusions you draw from the figures about the various ways in which people spent their holidays
2、in 2000 as compared with 2006. Attempt to explain the reasons for these differences. Remember to write your composition neatly. （分数：30.00）_二、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：1，分数：71.00)Learning a language When Do We Learn a Language? Children begin learning languages at birth (infants pay attention to their
3、 parents voices, as opposed to random noises or even other languages), and havent really mastered it subtleties before the age of ten years. Indeed. we never really stop learning our language. This isnt exactly the sort of behavior (like foals walking an hour after birth) that we call instinct in an
4、imals. Do We learn When We Dont Have to? But at least its effortless, isnt it? Well, no, as we can see when children have a choice of languages to learn. Whats found is that, to be frank, children dont learn a language if they can get away with not learning it. Many an immigrant family in the U.S. i
5、ntends to teach their child their native language; and for the first few years it goes swimmingly so much so that the parents worry that the child wont learn English. Then the child goes to school, picks up English, and within a few years the worry is reversed: the child still understands his parent
6、s, but responds in English. Eventually the parents may give up, and the home language becomes English. Peoples Influence A child is likely to end up as a fluent speaker of a language only if there are significant people in her life who speak it: a nanny who only speaks Spanish, a relative who doesnt
7、 speak English, etc. Once a child discovers that his parents understand English perfectly well, hes likely to give up on the home language, even in the face of strong disapproval from the parents. Its a myth that children learn to speak mainly from their parents. They dont: they learn mostly from th
8、eir peers. This is most easily seen among children of immigrants, whether they come from differing language backgrounds or merely different dialect areas: the children invariably come to speak the dialect of their neighborhood and school, not that of their parents. (I found a neat example of this in
9、 my colleges alumni magazine: A liberal family in Mississippi sent their daughter to the public schools, which except for her were all black. She grew up speaking fluent African-American Vernacular English. ) Do We Need Grammar? Supporters of the language instinct make much of the fact that children
10、 learn to speak without formal instruction - indeed, they notoriously ignore explicit corrections. Very little of what we learn is through formal instruction. Children arent schooled in video games, either, yet they pick them up with the same seeming ease. The apparent effortlessness is largely an i
11、llusion caused by psychological distance. We just dont remember how hard it was to learn language. (In fact, theres some studies suggesting that memory is tied to language, so that we cant remember the language learning process. ) The perception of effortlessness should be balanced, anyway, by the u
12、niversal amusement (which some cartoonists have been mining for nearly half a century) over childrens language mistakes. Do Children Learn Faster? One may fall back on the position that languages may be hard for children to learn, but at least they do it better than adults. This, however, turns out
13、to be surprisingly difficult to prove. Singleton examined hundreds of studies, and found them resoundingly ambiguous. Quite a few studies, in fact, find that adult learners progress faster than children. Even in phonetics, sometimes tile last stronghold of the kids-learn-free position, there are stu
14、dies finding that adults are better at recognizing and producing foreign sounds. Now, I think Singleton misses a key point in understanding this discrepancy: the studies he reviews compare children vs. adults who are learning languages. Thats quite reasonable, and indeed its hard to imagine an alter
15、native approach, but the two groups are not really comparable! All children have to learn at least one language; but few adults do. So the studies compare the situation of all children with that of the minority of adults motivated to formally learn other languages. Why? Why do children learn languag
16、es well, when even adults who want to learn them have trouble with them? Innate abilities aside, children have a number of powerful advantages: They can devote almost their full time to it. Adults consider half an hours study a day to be onerous. Their motivation is intense. Adults rarely have to sp
17、end much of their time in the company of people they need to talk to but cant children can get very little of what they want without learning language(s). Their peers are nastier. Embarrassment is a prime motivating factor for human beings (I owe this insight to Marvin Minskys The Society of Mind, b
18、ut it was most memorably expressed by David Berlinski (in Black Mischief, p. 129), who noted that of all emotions, from rage to depression to first love, only embarrassment can recur, decades later, with its full original intensity). Dealing with a French waiter is nothing compared with the vicious
19、reception in store for a child who speaks funny. If adults could be placed in a similar situation, they might well learn languages as readily as children. The closest such situation is cross-cultural marriage. And indeed, this works quite well. My wife, for instance, a native Spanish speaker who cam
20、e here in her late 20s, has learned exceptional English, since we speak it at home. By contrast, some of her Spanish-speaking friends of the same age, married to other Spanish speakers, speak English haltingly and with a strong accent. （分数：71.00）(1).The passage gives a general explanation about the
21、benefits of a cross cultural marriage. （分数：7.10）A.YB.NC.NG(2).According to the author, children dont learn another language if they dont have to. （分数：7.10）A.YB.NC.NG(3).Unless children have other people in their lives who speak another language, they wont become fluent speakers in that language. （分数
22、：7.10）A.YB.NC.NG(4).Children dont learn to speak another language from their parents because at times, children dont get along with their parents. （分数：7.10）A.YB.NC.NG(5).Nearly everything we learn is through formal instruction. （分数：7.10）A.YB.NC.NG(6).Few studies find that adult language learners pro
23、gress faster than children. （分数：7.10）A.YB.NC.NG(7).Some studies say that adults are better at learning phonetics than children. （分数：7.10）A.YB.NC.NG(8).Singletons studies compare the situation of all children with that of the _ of adults motivated to formally learn other languages. （分数：7.10）_(9).Thre
24、e advantages that children have over adults in language learning include: _ , and _. （分数：7.10）_(10).The closest situation to that of a childrens environment for adults is _. （分数：7.10）_三、Listening Comprehens(总题数：1，分数：15.00)A.He will return the following week.B.He will be back immediately after the ho
25、liday.C.He will come back for the holiday.D.He will begin his vacation next week.A.The speakers are bothered by the smoke.B.The man complains the smoke in the room.C.The room is very hot.D.The woman is bothered by the smoke.A.In the living room.B.In the bedroom.C.In the garden.D.In the garage.A.$10.
26、00.B.$6.00.C.$20.00.D.$4.00.A.In a mill.B.In a bank.C.In an airport.D.In a post office.A.He was late.B.He is hoping for a promotion.C.He is a new employee.D.The boss usually leaves messages for him.A.The Best of Jazz.B.Christmas Carols.C.Rock Music Collection.D.Classical Favorites.A.She doesnt like
27、to go shopping.B.She went shopping yesterday.C.She doesnt live near the shops.D.She prefers shopping to studying.四、Section B(总题数：2，分数：10.00)A.Movies play an important role in persuading young people not to smoke.B.Movies fail to reflect social reality and need improvement in this respect.C.Movies ar
28、e in many ways competing with TV to gain young viewers.D.Movies partly contribute to the increasing number of young smokersA.They insert advertisements when the movies are near the most appealing part.B.They give actors free lifetime supply of cigarettes and ask them to smoke in the movies.C.They pr
29、omote their products by giving cigarettes as gifts to the viewers before the movies start.D.They sponsor the moviemakers on the condition that the actors use their products.A.Because the smoking actors in the movies have good-looking bodies.B.Because the movies show that smoking is necessary for soc
30、ial activities.C.Because the movies convey that smoking enhances the image of a man.D.Because the actors tell the audience that smoking causes no harm.A.She is from Japan.B.She is from China.C.She is from Thailand.D.We dont know.A.Tata Young is not only famous in Thailand but Asia too.B.There are ac
31、tually three seasons in Thailand in a year.C.It rains about one hundred days in one year in Thailand.D.Sor Ploenchit is the famous for his fighting.A.In general they like brown clothes.B.In general they like black clothes.C.In general they like dark clothes.D.In general they like colorful clothes.A.
32、The ancestors of some of the Thai people are Chinese.B.Some of the Thai people have immigrated from China.C.Some of the Thai people have relatives and friends in China.D.Some of the Thai people are like Chinese in appearance.A.They need little experimentation.B.Their cost is very cheap.C.They can be
33、 used in many countries.D.Their source is plentiful.A.It causes winds to turn a windmill.B.It warms up the land along the coast.C.It gathers heat from the sun.D.It pushes a turbine in a dam.A.Changing the wave pattern.B.Polluting the water.C.Slowing down the Earths rotation.D.Harming the coastline.A
34、.Rent a grave.B.Burn the body.C.Bury the dead near a church.D.Buy a piece of land for a grave.A.To solve the problem of lack of land.B.To see whether they have decayed.C.To follow the Greek religious. practice.D.To move them to a multi-storey graveyard.A.They should be buried lying down.B.They shoul
35、d be buried standing up.C.They should be buried after being washed.D.They should be buried when partially decayed.A.Burning dead bodies to ashes.B.Storing dead bodies in a remote place.C.Placing dead bodies in a bone room.D.Digging up dead bodies after three years.A.One of the bridges between North
36、and South London collapsed.B.The heart of London was flooded.C.An emergency exercise was conducted.D.100 people in the suburbs were drowned.A.50 underground stations were made waterproof.B.A flood wall was built.C.An alarm system was set up.D.Rescue teams were formed.A.Most Londoners were frightened
37、.B.Most Londoners were rather confused.C.Most Londoners took the Exercise Flood Call calmly.D.Most Londoners complained about the trouble caused by Exercise Flood Call.六、Section C(总题数：1，分数：10.00)Days before a summit with U. S. President George W. Bush in Washington, Chinese President Hu Jintao calle
38、d on Sunday for talks between Beijing and Taiwan as soon as possible to (36) 1peace in the region. Beijing and Taiwan should “ (37) 2talks on an equal footing as soon as possible“, Hu told Lien Chan, former chairman of Taiwans main (38) 3Nationalist Party, who led a (39) 4of 170 business leaders to
39、(40) 5a two -day economic and trade forum on April, 16th, 2006. Throughout his speech, Hu (41) 6the importance of peace between the mainland and the island. Fence-mending talks between Beijing and Taipei have been (42) 7since 1999 when then-president Lee Teng-hui (43) 8bilateral relations as “specia
40、l state to state“. (44) 9 because the islands leaders have refused to embrace the 1992 consensus (45) 10“ Adhering to the 1992 consensus is the important basis for realizing peaceful development between the two sides,“ Hu said. (46) 11 “We will fulfill our promises to Taiwan compatriots. There will
41、be no change just because of momentary fluctuations in the situation or a small group of people interfering in or sabotaging (破坏)“ , Hu said without elaborating. （分数：10.00）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:_填空项 1:_七、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：2，分数：355.00)In communiti
42、es north of Denver, residents are pitching in to help teachers and administrators as the Vrain school District tries to solve a $13.8 million budget shortage blamed on mismanagement. ”Were worried about our teachers and principals, and we really dont want to lose them because of this,” one parent sa
43、il. “If we can help ease their financial burden, we will.” Teachers are grateful, but know it may be years before the district is solvent(有综合能力的). They feel really good about the parent support, but they realize its impossible for then to solve this problem. The 22,000-student district discovered th
44、e shortage last month. “Its extraordinary. Nobody would have imagined something happening like this at this level,” said State Treasurer Mike Coffman. Coffman and district officials last week agreed on a state emergency plan freeing yp a $9.8 million loan that enabled the payroll(工资单) to be met for
45、2,700 teachers and staff in time for the holidays. District officials also took $1.7 million from student-activity accounts its 38schools. At Coffmans request, the District Attorney has begun investigating the districts finances. Coffman says he wants to know whether district officials hid the budge
46、t shortage until after the November election., when voters approved a $212 million bond issue for schools. In Frederick, students parents are buying classroom supplies and offering to pay for groceries and utilities to keep first-year teachers and principals in their jobs. Some $36,000 has been rais
47、ed in donations from Safeway. A Chevrolet dealership donated $10,000 and forgave the districts $10,750 bill for renting the driver educating cars. IBM contributed 4,500 packs of paper. “We employ thousands of people in this community,” said Mitch Carson, a hospital chief executive, who helped raise funds. “We have children in the school, and we see how they could be affected.” At Creek High School, three students started a website that displays newspaper articles, district information and an email forum(论坛)。“Rumors
