1、大学英语四级（ 2013年 12月考试改革适用）模拟试卷 206及答案与解析 一、 Part I Writing 1 For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled The Changes of Urban Green Coverage Ratio based on the statistics provided in the bar graph below. Please convey the information in the graph. You should write at leas
2、t 120 words but no more than 180 words. Section A （ A） Offices. （ B） Restaurants. （ C） Bars. （ D） School playgrounds. （ A） Television producers. （ B） Hotel owners. （ C） Medical workers. （ D） Hospital management. （ A） 1.5 years. （ B） 1.4 years. （ C） 1.2 years. （ D） 1.1 years. （ A） New-born baby. （ B）
3、 Maternal. （ C） Male. （ D） Middle-aged. （ A） Doctors are sometimes professionally incompetent. （ B） In cases like that hospitals have to pay huge compensations. （ C） Language barriers might lower the quality of treatment. （ D） Language barriers can result in fatal consequences. （ A） 71 million. （ B）
4、 91million. （ C） 81million. （ D） 17 million. （ A） They have seen the need for hiring trained interpreters. （ B） They have realized the problems of language barriers. （ C） They have begun training their staff to speak two or more languages. （ D） They have taken steps to provide accurate diagnosis. Se
5、ction B （ A） Theyre partners. （ B） Theyre roommates. （ C） Theyre classmates. （ D） Theyre cousins. （ A） He couldn t decide on a topic for his paper. （ B） He thought the woman would not finish the paper on time. （ C） He hadn t heard from his family in a while. （ D） He thought his paper was late. （ A）
6、To identify their relatives. （ B） To locate plant fibers. （ C） To find their way back to the nest. （ D） To identify kinds of honey. （ A） Visit his parents. （ B） Write his paper. （ C） Research how bees build nests. （ D） Plan a family reunion. （ A） A popular television program. （ B） A new electronics
7、store. （ C） A breakthrough in technology. （ D） A recent purchase. （ A） Ask for a cheaper price on the television. （ B） Be satisfied with what he has. （ C） Try a different store. （ D） Research what television is best for him. （ A） 2,400 dollars. （ B） 4,800 dollars. （ C） 1,200 dollars. （ D） 600 dollar
8、s. （ A） Watch less television. （ B） Return the television to the store. （ C） Pay for the television. （ D） Accept the television as it is. Section C （ A） The mouth. （ B） The throat. （ C） The nose. （ D） A computer. （ A） How much air normally goes through your nose when you talk. （ B） The force of air
9、that comes from the lungs. （ C） The highness or lowness of sounds. （ D） The length of speech for each sound. （ A） Decibels(分贝 ). （ B） Small fractions per sound. （ C） Cycles per sound. （ D） The force of air. （ A） Short, tiring, and often dangerous. （ B） Long, tiring but not dangerous. （ C） Short but
10、dangerous. （ D） Long, weary and often dangerous. （ A） For pleasure and excitement. （ B） For new places where their herds could feed. （ C） For animals. （ D） For tree trunks. （ A） Bicycles, cars, trains, and ships. （ B） Bicycles, cars, trains, and planes. （ C） Cars, trains, ships, and planes. （ D） Fer
11、ries, cars, trains, and planes. （ A） Because there are no signs to direct them. （ B） Because no tour guides are available. （ C） Because all the buildings in the city look alike. （ D） Because the university is everywhere in the city. （ A） They set their own exams. （ B） They select their own students.
12、 （ C） They award their own degrees. （ D） They organize their own laboratory work. （ A） Most of them has a long history. （ B） Many of them are specialized libraries. （ C） They house more books than any other university library. （ D） They each have a copy of every book published in Britain. （ A） Very
13、few of them are engaged in research. （ B） They were not awarded degrees until 1948. （ C） They have outnumbered male students. （ D） They were not treated equally until 1881. Section A 26 These days, people who do【 C1】 _work often receive far more money than people who work in offices. People who work
14、 in offices are frequently referred to as “white-collar“ workers for the simple reason that they usually wear a(n) 【 C2】 _and tie to go to work. Such is human nature, that a great many people are often willing to sacrifice higher pay for the【 C3】_of becoming white-collar workers. This can give【 C4】
15、_to curious situations, as it did in the case of Alfred Bloggs who worked as a(n) 【 C5】 _for the Ellesmere Corporation. When he got married, Alf was too【 C6】 _to say anything to his wife about his job. He simply told her that he worked for the Corporation. Every morning, he left home dressed in a sm
16、art black suit. He then【 C7】 _into overalls and spent the next eight hours as a dustman.【 C8】 _returning home at night, he took a shower and changed back into his suit. Alf did this for over two years and his fellow dustmen kept his secret. Alf s wife has never【 C9】_that she married a dustman and sh
17、e never will, for Alf has just found another job. He will soon be working in an office. He will be earning only half as much as he used to, but he feels that his rise in【 C10】 _is well worth the loss of money. From now on, he will wear a suit all day and others will call him “Mr. Bloggs“, not “Alf.
18、A)knowledge B)rise C)discovered D)privilege E)embarrassed F)collar G)strengthened H)envious I)status J)changed K)before L)mental M)dustman N)manual O)willing 27 【 C1】 28 【 C2】 29 【 C3】 30 【 C4】 31 【 C5】 32 【 C6】 33 【 C7】 34 【 C8】 35 【 C9】 36 【 C10】 Section B 36 When Mom and Dad Grow Old A)The prospe
19、ct of talking to increasingly fragile parents about their future can be “one of the most difficult challenges adult children will ever face,“ says Clarissa Green, a Vancouver therapist. “People often tell me they dont want to raise sensitive issues with their parents about bringing in caregivers or
20、moving,“ she says. “Theyll say, I dont want to see dad cry.“ But Green usually responds, “What s wrong with that?“ Adult children, she says, need to try to join their parents in grieving their decline, acknowledge their living arrangements may no longer work and, if necessary, help them say goodbye
21、to their beloved home. “Its sad. And its supposed to be. Its about death itself.“ B)There are almost four million men and women over age 65 in Canada. Nearly two thirds of them manage to patch together enough supportfrom family, friends, private and government servicesto live independently until vir
22、tually the day they die, according to Statistics Canada. C)Of the Canadian seniors who live to 85 and over, almost one in three end up being moved sometimes kickingto group living for the last years of their lives. Even in the best-case scenarios(可能出现的情况 ), such dislocations can bring sorrow. “Often
23、 the family feels guilty, and the senior feels abandoned“ says Charmaine Spencer, a professor in the gerontology department of Simon Fraser University. Harassed with their own careers and children, adult children may push their parents too fast to make a major transition. D)Val MacDonald, executive
24、director of the B.C. Seniors Services Society, cautions adult children against imposing their views on aging parents. “Many baby boomers can be quite patronizing(高人一等的 ),“ she says. Like many who work with seniors, Macdonald suggests adult children devote many conversations over a long period of tim
25、e to collaborating on their parents future, raising feelings, questions and optionsgently, but frankly. However, many middle-aged adults, according to the specialists, just muddle(应付 )through with their aging parents. E)When the parents of Nancy Woods of Mulmur Hills, Ont., were in their mid-80s, th
26、ey made the decision to downsize from their large family home to an apartment in Toronto. As Wood s parents, George and Bernice, became frailer(更虚弱的 ), she believed they knew she had their best interests at heart. They agreed to her suggestion to have meals on Wheels start delivering lunches and din
27、ners. However, years later, after a crisis, Woods discovered her parents had taken to throwing out the prepared meals. Her dad had appreciated them, but Bernice had come to believe they were poisoned. “My father was so loyal,“ says Woods, “he had hid that my mother was overwhelmed by paranoia(偏执狂 ).
28、“ To her horror, Woods discovered her dad and mom were “living on crackers and oatmeal porridge“ and were weakening from the impoverished diet. Her dad was also falling apart with the stress of providing for Bernicea common problem when one spouse tries to do everything for an ailing partner. “The s
29、pouse who s being cared for might be doing well at home,“ says Spencer, “but often the other spouse is burned out and ends up being hospitalized.“ F)Fortunately, outside help is often available to people struggling through the often-distressing process of helping their parents explore an important s
30、hift. Sons and daughters can bring in brochures or books on seniors issues, as well as introduce government health-care workers or staff at various agencies, to help raise issues and open up discussions, says Val Macdonald, whose nonprofit organization responds to thousands of calls a year from Brit
31、ish Columbians desperate for information about how to weave through the dizzying array of seniors services and housing options. The long list of things to do, says MacDonald, includes assessing their ability to live independently: determining your comfort level with such things as bathing a parent:
32、discussing with all household members whether it would be healthy for an elderly relative to move in: monitoring whether, out of pure duty, youre overcommitting yourself to providing a level of care that could threaten your own well-being. G)The shock phone call that flung Nancy Woods and her parent
33、s into action came from her desperate dad. “I got this call from father that he couldnt cope anymore. My mother was setting fires in the apartment,“ she says. “He didnt want to see it for what it was. Up to then hed been in denial.“ Without knowing she was following the advice of experts who recomme
34、nd using outside sources to stimulate frank discussion with parents, Woods grabbed a copy of The 36-Hour Day: a family guide to caring for persons with Alzheimer disease, related dementing illness, and memory loss in later life. She read sections of the book to her dad and asked him, “Who does that
35、sound like? “ Her father replied, “It s mother. It s dementia(痴呆 ).“ At that point, Woods said, her dad finally recognized their tragic plight(困境 ). She told her father she would help them move out of their apartment. “He nodded. He didnt yell or roar. He took it on the chin(忍受痛苦 ).“ H)Woods regrets
36、 that she “had not noticed small details signaling moms dementia.“ But shes satisfied her dad accepted his passage into a group residence, where he and his wife could stay together in a secure unit where staff were trained to deal with patients with dementia. “From the moment they moved into the Tor
37、onto nursing home, their physical health improved. On the other hand, it was the beginning of the end in terms of their mental abilities. Perhaps they couldnt get enough stimulation. Perhaps it was inevitable.“ I)After my father died in 2002, the grim reality of my mothers sharply declining memory s
38、et in starkly. With her expanding dementia, mom insisted on staying in her large North Shore house, even though she was confused about how to cook, organize her day or take care of herself. For the next three years we effectively imposed decisions on her, most of them involving bringing in caregiver
39、s, including family members. In 2005 mom finally agreed, although she barely knew what was happening, to move to a nearby nursing home, where, despite great confusion, she is happier. As Spencer says, the sense of dislocation that comes with making an important passage can be “a very hard adjustment
40、 for a senior at the best of times. But it s worse if it s not planned out.“ 37 Clarissa Green suggests that adult children should try to share their fragile parents grieving feelings. 38 When Nancy Woods father got to know their tragic situation, he finally moved out of their apartment. 39 When Nan
41、cy Woods parents reached their mid-80s, they moved into an apartment. 40 Despite knowing little about what was happening, his mother lived more happily in a nearby nursing home. 41 Val MacDonald s organization is non-profit and helps adult children cope with their aging parent issues through phone c
42、alls. 42 Under stress from their own careers and children, adult children will always push their parents to group living. 43 Most Canadian seniors older than 65 live independently until they die, Statistics Canada, reported. 44 Val MacDonald hopes baby boomers not to force their parents to understan
43、d their ideas. 45 Since Nancy Woods parents moved into the Toronto nursing home, they became physically healthier, but had new problems with their mental abilities. 46 When her mother set fires in the apartment, Nancy Woods father couldnt handle it. Section C 46 In August, environmentalists in the P
44、hilippines vandalized(肆意破坏 )a field of Golden Rice, an experimental grain whose genes had been modified. Its seeds will be handed out free to farmers. The aim is to improve the health of children in poor countries by reducing vitamin A deficiency, which contributes to hundreds of thousands of premat
45、ure deaths and cases of blindness each year. Environmentalists claim that these sorts of actions are justified because genetically modified crops pose health risks. Now the main ground for those claims has crumbled. Last year a paper which was published in a respected journal found that unusual rate
46、s of tumours and deaths in rats that had been fed upon a variety of genetic modification(GM)(转基因 )corn. Other studies found no such effects. But this one enabled campaigners to make a health-and-safety argument against GM cropsone persuasive enough to influence governments. After the study appeared,
47、 Russia suspended imports of the grain in question. Kenya banned all GM crops. And the French prime minister said that if the results were confirmed he would press for a Europe-wide ban on the GM corn. There is now no serious scientific evidence that GM crops do any harm to the health of human being
48、s. There is plenty of evidence, though, that they benefit the health of the planet. One of the biggest challenges facing mankind is to feed the 9 billion-10 billion people who will be alive and richer in 2050. This will require doubling food production on roughly the same area of land, using less wa
49、ter and fewer chemicals. It will also mean making food crops more resistant to the droughts and floods that seem likely if climate change is as bad as scientists fear. If the Green revolution had never happened, and yields had stayed at 1960 levels, the world could not produce its current food output even if it ploughed up every last acre of cultivable land. In contrast, GM crops boost yields, protecting wild habitat from the plough. They are more resistant to the vagaries of climate
