2019年12月四级真题（第3套）
Part I Writing (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a letter to a foreign friend who wants to study in China. Please recommend a university to him. You should write at least 120 words but no more than] 80 words
Part II Part III Section A Listening Comprehension 牛寺另肵兑明四级考试每次仅考两套听力第三套听力试题同第一套或第二套试题一 致
Reading Comprehension (30 minutes)
(40 minutes)
Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.
Millions of people travel by plane every匀ngle day. If you're pla皿ng on being one of them soon, you might not be loo灼ng forward to the 26 feeling air travel often leaves you with
Besides the airport crowds and stress, travelling at a high altitude has real effects on the body. Although the pressure of the cabin is 27 to prevent altitude sickness, you could still 28 sleep皿ss or a headache. The lower oxygen pressure found in an aircraft cabin is 29 to that at 6,000-8,000 feet of altitude. A drop in oxygen pressure can cause headaches in cert扣n 30. To help prevent headaches, drink plenty of water, and avoid alcohol and coffee
Airplane food might not really be as tasteless as you 31 thought. The air you breathe in a plane dries out your mouth and nose, which can affect your sense of taste. Perception of sweet and salty foods dropped by almost 30 percent in a simulation of air travel. However, you can make your taste buds active ag扣n by dri心ng water. A dry mouth may 32 taste sensitivity, but taste is restored by dri心ng fluids
Although证flight infections 33 in dry environments like airplanes, your risk of ge山ng sick from an airplane is actually low because of the air 34 used. Unless you're si山ng next to someone who is coughing or snee刀ng, you shouldn't worry too much about ge山ng sick. However, bacteria have been shown to live on cabin surfaces, so wash your hands 3 5
A) adjusted
I) particular
B) channels
J) primarily
C) equivalent
K) reduce
D) expenence
L) renovated
E) filters
M) smooth
F) frequently
N) thrive
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G) individuals
0) unpleasant
H) originally
Section B Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived.
You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2
A South Korean city designed for the future takes on a life of its own
[A]Get血g around a city is one伽ng —and then there's the matter of ge山ng from one city to another. One v1s10n of the perfect city of the future is a place that offers easy access to air travel. In 2011, a University of North Carolina bu匀ness professor named John Kasarda published a book called Aerotropolis: The Way We'll Live Next.
Kasarda says future cities should be built intentionally around or near airports. The idea, as he has put it, is to offer bu匀nesses "rapid, long-distance connectivity on a massive scale "
[B] "The 18th century really was a waterborne (水运的） century, the 19th century a rail century, the 20th century a highway, car, truck century—and the 21 st century will increa匀ngly be an aviation century, as the globe becomes increa匀ngly connected by air," Kasarda says. Songdo, a city built from scratch in South Korea, is one of Kasarda's prime examples. It has existed for just a few years. "From the outset, it was designed on the basis of connectivity and competitiveness," says Kasarda. "The government built the bridge directly from the airport to the Songdo International Bu匀ness District. And the surface infrastructure was built at the same time as the new airport
[C]Songdo is a stone's throw from South Korea's Incheon Airport, its main international hub (枢纽）. But it takes a lot more than a nearby airport to be a city of the future. Just buil小ng a place as an "international bu匀ness district" doesn't mean it will become one. Park Yeon Soo conceived(构想） this city of the future back in 1986. He considers Songdo his baby. Park sees himself as a visionary. Thirty years after he imag皿d the city, Park's baby is close to 70 percent built, with 36,000 people living in the bu匀ness district and 90,000 residents in greater Songdo. It's about an hour outside Seoul, built on fom记r tidal flats along the Yell ow Sea. There's a Coast Guard buil小ng and a tall trade tower, as well as a park, golf course and university
[D]Chances are you've actually seen this place. Songdo appears in the most famous music video ever to come out of South Korea. "Gangnam Style" refers to the fashionable Gangnam district in Seoul. But some of the video was filmed in Songdo. "I don't know if you remember, there was a scene in a subway station. That was not Gangnam. That was actually Songdo," says Jung Won Son, a professor of urban development at London's Bartlett School of Planning. "Part of the reason to shoot there is that it's new and血e "
[E]The city was supposed to be a hub for global compa血s, with employees from all over the world. But that's not how it has turned out. Songdo's reputation is as a futuristic ghost town. But the reality is more complicated. A bridge with big, light-blue loops leads血o the bu匀ness district. In the center of the m扣n road, there's a long line of flags of the world. On the comer, there's a Starbucks and a 7-Eleven—all of the血emational brands that you see all over the world nowadays
[F]The city is not empty. There are mothers pu啦ng baby carriages, old women with walkers—even in the 皿ddle of the day, when it's 90 degrees out. Byun Young-Jin chairs the Songdo real estate association and started selling property here when the first phase of the city opened in 2005. He says demand has boomed in.the past couple of years. Most of his clients are Korean. In fact, the developer says, 99 percent of the homes here are sold to Koreans. Young families move here because the schools are great. And that's the problem: Songdo has become a popular Korean city—more popular as a residential area than a bu匀ness one. It's not yet the futuristic 血emational bu匀ness hub that planners imag皿d. "It's a great place to live. And it's beco血ng a great place to work," says Scott Summers, vice president of Gale International, the developer of the city. The floor-to-ceiling 灼ndows of his company's offices overlook Songdo Central Park, with a canal full of small boats and people fi啦ng. Shimmering(闪烁的） glass towers line the canal's edge
[ G]"What's happened is that our focus on crea血g that quality of life first has enabled the residents to live here," Summers says. But there needs to be strong economic incentives for companies to locate here. The city is still un伽ished, and it feels a bit like a theme park. It doesn't feel all that futuristic. There's a high-tech
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underground trash disposal system. Buildings are environmentally friendly. Everybody's television set 1s connected to a system that streams personalized language or exercise classes
[H] But this is not Star Trek. And to some of the residents, Songdo feels hollow. "I'm, like, in prison for weekdays. That's what we call it in the workplace," says a woman in her 20s. She doesn't want to use her name for fear of being fired from her job. She goes back to Seoul every weekend. "I say I'm prison-brea灼ngon Friday nights." But she has to make the prison break in her own car. There's no high-speed tr扣n conne叫ng Songdo to Seoul, just over 20 miles away
[I] Park Y eon Soo, the man who first imag皿d Songdo, feels frustrated, too. He says he built South Korea a luxury vehicle, "like Mercedes or BMW. It's a good car now. But we're waiting for a good driver to accelerate." But there are lots of other good cars out there, too. The world is dotted with futuristic, high-tech cities trying to attract the biggest international companies
[ J] Songdo's backers contend that it's still early, and bu匀ness space is filling up—about 70 percent of 伽ished offices are now occupied. Brent Ryan, who teaches urban design at MIT, says Songdo proves a universal p门nciple. "There have been a lot of utopian (鸟托邦的） cities in history. And the reason we don't know about a lot of them is that they have v画shed entirely." In other words, when it comes to cities—or anything else—it is hard to predict the future
3 6. Songdo's popularity lies more in its quality of life than its bu匀ness attraction
3 7. The man who conceived Songdo feels disappo血ed because it has fallen short of his expectations
3 8.A scene in a popular South Korean music video was shot in Songdo
39. Songdo still lacks the financial stimulus for bu匀nesses to set up shop there
40. Airplanes will increa匀ngly become the chief means of transportation, acco咄ng to a professor
41. Songdo has ended up different from the city it was supposed to be
42. Some of the people who work in Songdo compl扣n about boredom in the workplace
43. A bu匀ness professor says that a future city should have easy access to 血emational transportation
44. Acco咄ng to an urban design professor, it is difficult for city designers to foresee what will happen m the future
45. Park Y eon Soo, who envisioned Songdo, feels a parental connection with the city
Section C Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre
Passage One
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
The fifth largest city in the US passed a significant soda tax proposal that will levy (征税） I.Scents per liquid ounce on distributors
Philadelphia 's new measure was approved by a 13 to 4 city council vote. It sets a new bar for similar initiatives across the country. It is proof that taxes on sugary drinks can灼n substantial support outside super _ liberal areas. Until now, the only city to successfully pass and implement a soda tax was Berkeley, California, in
T he tax will apply to regular and diet sodas, as well as other drinks with added sugar, such as Gatorade and iced teas. It's expected to raise $410 million over the next five years, most of which will go toward funding a universal pre如ndergarten program for the city
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While the city council vote was met with applause inside the council room, opponents to the measure, mcluding soda lobbyists, made sharp criticisms and a promise to challenge the tax in court
"The tax passed today unfairly匀ngles out beverages—including low-and no-calorie choices," said Lauren Kane, spokeswoman for the American Beverage Association. "But most importantly, it is ag扣nst the law. So we will side with the majority of the people of Philadelphia who oppose this tax and take legal action to stop it "
An industry-backed anti-tax campaign has spent at least $4 million on advertisements. The ads criticized the measure, character迈ngit as a "grocery tax "
Public health groups applauded the approved tax as a step toward fixing cert扣n las血g health issues that plague Americans. "The move to recapture a small part of the profits from an industry that pushes a product that contributes to diabetes, obesity and heart disease in poorer commu血ies in order to reinvest in those commu血ies will sure be inspirational to many other places," said Jim Krieger, executive director of Healthy Food America "Indeed, we are already hea门ng from some of them. It's not'just Berkeley'anymore "
Similar measures in California's Albany, Oakland, San Francisco and Colorado's Boulder are beco血ng hot button issues. Health advocacy groups have h血ed that even more might be co血ng
46. What does the passage say about the newly-approved soda tax in Philadelphia?
A)It will change the lifestyle of many consumers
B)It may encourage other US cities to follow suit
C)It will cut soda consumption among low-income communities
D)It may influence the marke血gstrategies of the soda busmess
47. What will the opponents probably do to respond to the soda tax proposal?
A)Barg扣n with the city council
C)Take legal action against it
B)Refuse to pay additional tax
D)Try to灼n public support
48. What did the industry-backed anti-tax campaign do about the soda tax proposal?
A)It tried to arouse hostile feelings among consumers.
B) It tried to win grocers'support ag扣nst the measure
C)It kept sen小ng letters of protest to the media.
D)It criticized the measure through advertismg
49. What did public health groups think the soda tax would do?
A) Alert people to the risk of suga曰nduceddiseases.
B)Help people to fix cert扣n long-time health issues
C)Add to the fund for their research on diseases.
D)Benefit low-income people across the country
50. What do we learn about similar measures conce血ng the soda tax in some other cities?
A) They are beco血ng rather sensitive issues
B) They are sprea小ngpanic in the soda industry
C) They are reducing the incidence of sugar-induced diseases
D) They are ta灼ng away a lot of profit from the sod缸ndustry
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
Popping food into the microwave for a couple of血nutes may seem utterly harmless, but Europe's stock of these quick-coo灼ng ovens emit as much carbon as nearly 7 million cars, a new study has found. And the problem
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1s growmg. With costs falling and kitchen ap �liances beco血ng "status" items, owners are thro灼ng away microwaves after an average of eight years. This 1s pu啦ng sales of new microwaves which are expected to reach 13 5 million annually in the EU by the end of the decade
A study by the University of Manchester calculated the emissions of CO 2 —the main gree咄ouse gas responsible for climate change —at every stage of microwaves, from manufacture to waste disposal. "It is electricity consumption by microwaves that has the biggest impact on the environment," say the authors. The authors also calculate that the emissions from u匀ng 19 microwaves over a year are the same as those from u匀ng a car. Acco咄ng to the same study, efforts to reduce consumption should focus on improving consumer awareness and behaviour. For example, consumers could use appliances in a more efficient way by adjus血g the time of coo灼ng to the type of food
However, David Reay, professor of carbon management, argues that, although microwaves use a great deal of energy, their emissions are 血nor compared to those from cars. In the UK alone, there are around 30 million cars.
These cars emit more than all the microwaves in the EU. Bac灼ng this up, recent data show that passenger cars in the UK emitted 69 million tons of CO 2 in 2015. This is IO times the amount this new microwave oven study estimates for annual emissions for all the microwave ovens in the EU. Further, the energy used by microwaves is lower than any other form of coo灼ng. Among common kitchen appliances used for coo灼ng, microwaves are the most energy efficient, followed by a stove and finally a standard oven. Thus, r函ng microwave sales could be seen as a positive thing
51. What is the fin小ng of the new study?
A) Quick-coo灼ng microwave ovens have become more popular
B) The frequent use of microwaves may do harm to our health
C) CO2 emissions constitute a major threat to the environment
D) The use of microwaves emits more CO 2 than people think
52. Why are the sales of microwaves expected to rise?
A) They are beco血ng more affordable
B) They have a shorter life cycle than other appliances
C) They are get血gmuch easier to operate
D) They take less time to cook than other appliances
53. What recommendation does the study by the University of Manchester make?
A) Coo灼ng food of different varieties
B) Improving microwave users'habits
C)Ea血gless to cut energy consumption
D)U匀ng microwave ovens less frequently
54. What does Professor David Reay try to argue?
A) There are far more emissions from cars than from microwaves
B) People should be persuaded血OU 匀ng passenger cars less often
C) The UK produces less CO 2 than many other countries in the EU
D) More data are needed to show whether microwaves are harmful
55. What does Professor David Reay think of the use of microwaves?
A) It will become less popular in the co血ng decades
B) It makes everyday coo灼ng much more convenient
C) It plays a positive role in environmental protection
D) It consumes more power than conventional coo灼ng
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Part IV Translation (30 ． mmutes)
Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2
中国汉族人的全名由姓和名组成。中文姓名的特点是， 姓总是在前， 名跟在其后。千百年来， 父姓一 直世代相传。然而， 如今， 孩子跟母亲姓并不罕见。 一 般来说名有 一个或两个汉字， 通常承载父母对孩子的愿望。从孩子的名字可以推断出父母希望孩子成为什么样的人， 或者期望他们过什么样的生活。父母非常重视给孩子取名， 因为名字往往会伴随孩子一生。
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