星火2008年12月四级模拟试卷样题及解析
Part Ⅲ Listening Comprehension
Section A
11. W: I think I'll have lunch in the cafeteria. I like their mushroom and cheese.
M: The chicken salad is good but there's nothing like home cooking.
Q: What do we know about the man?
B）。根据选项可知问题是关于"He"对饮食的选择。 "there's nothing like home cooking"意为这里没有什么比得上家里做的。女士说要在食堂吃午饭，她喜欢那里的蘑菇和奶酪。男士说鸡肉沙拉不错，但那儿没有什么能比得上家里做的。因此男士喜欢吃自己做的食物。故正确答案为B）。
12. M: Can I borrow this magazine, please?
W: Sorry, the newest issue is only allowed to read in the reading room. You can borrow the older ones.
Q: Where did this conversation most probably take place?
C）。根据选项可知本题询问地点。本题关键词为reading room"阅览室"。男士问能否借阅这本杂志。女士说最新的只能在阅览室阅读，可以借阅旧的。因此对话发生在图书馆。故正确答案为C）。
13. M: You were absent from class yesterday, Sandy. Where were you?
W: I couldn't come, Mr. Hart. I hurt my foot, and my mother took me to the doctor.
Q: What is the probable relationship between the two speakers?
C）。根据选项可知本题询问人物关系。男士问女士昨天为什么没来上课。女士说昨天没法来，脚受伤了，妈妈带她去看医生。可推测这两个人应该是老师和学生。故正确答案为C）。
14. M: You've been hoping to get that job, haven't you? Why do you think they gave it to Thomas but not to you?
W: I think I'm the wrong sex, that's all.
Q: Why did Thomas get the job according to the woman?
A）。根据选项可知问题询问原因。男士对女士说："你一直期待那份工作，为什么他们把工作给了Thomas而不是你？"女士说："我是女性的缘故吧（I'm the wrong sex）"，可知Thomas得到这份工作是因为他是位男士。故正确答案为A）。
15. M: It's mostly blue and green with a pattern of flowers in the middle. There's a dark green border.
W: Yes, it matches the curtains well. We are going to put it down in the sitting room.
Q: What are they talking about?
B）。根据选项可知本题询问谈论对象。本题关键句为put it down in..."把它铺在..."。男士说它几乎是蓝绿相间的，中间有花卉图案，边是墨绿色的。女士说它和窗帘刚好相配，我们把它铺在起居室吧。可知他们在讨论地毯。故正确答案为B）。
16. M: Have you decided where you are going to live when you get married?
W: I would like to live in the city, but my boyfriend wants a house in the suburbs, which means a long way from my office.
Q: Why does the woman want to live in the city?
C）。根据选项可知对话可能关于工作和居住地。 suburbs 意为"郊外"。男士问女士有没有决定结婚后住哪里。女士说想住城里，但她男友想在郊外买房，那就离她公司很远了。因此女士想住城里因为工作在那儿。故正确答案为C）。
17. M: I really can't understand it. I kept a very careful record of my checks and the total was much less than we deposited.
W: But perhaps your wife also wrote some checks, Charlie.
Q: What does the woman imply?
C）。根据选项可知对话可能关于储蓄和花钱。 wrote some checks意为"开了一些支票（花了一些钱）"。男士说真不明白，我的支票记录得很仔细，可总额比我存入的少很多。女士说可能你妻子也开了一些支票，也花了一些钱。故正确答案为C）。
18. M: Did you get what you wanted? I remember you said you wanted to get a sweater.
W: No, a blouse. But by that time, the ones on sale were all gone, so I settled for skirt.
Q: What did the woman finally buy?
C）。根据选项可知问题询问"She"最终买什么了。本题关键词为"settle"（定下）。男士说：决定要什么了没？我记得你说想要一件毛衣。女士说：是一件衬衫。但那时特价的都卖完了，所以买了短裙。故正确答案为C）。
Conversation One
W: Hello. 85469959.
M: Hello. I'm calling about the advertisement in the newspaper.（19）Are the rooms still available now?
W: Yes, they are. Would you like to make an appointment to come and see them? It's very convenient to get here by bus or subway.
M: Well, I'm very interested in the room. But could I ask you a few questions first?
W: Yes, of course. Go ahead.
M: What sort of house is it?
W: Well,（20）it's a semi-detached house with three floors. And eight rooms all together. I usually have seven people living here, sharing the kitchen and bathroom.
M: （19）Are the rooms fully furnished? You see, I'll only be here for three months.
W: Yes, there's a single bed, a wardrobe, a desk, a chair and a book case.
M: And what about the kitchen? You see, I'm Chinese, so I'd like to cook for myself because I'm not used to Western food.
W: Ah, you're from China, are you? I've heard Chinese food is delicious. The kitchen has most things but it doesn't have one of those special Chinese pans.
M: Ok. What about the surroundings in the community?
W: （21）It's not far from the bus station and the subway, and there's a Chinese Supermarket near here.
M: Ok, thank you very much. I will think it over and phone you this afternoon to make an appointment.
19. Why does the man make the phone call?
C）。根据选项可知本题关于"He"想要租/买房子。本题关键句为"Are the rooms still available now?"男士询问房间是否还有。此外他还询问房间有无家具，他要在此地住三个月"Are the rooms fully furnished? You see, I'll only be here for three months."因此可知他想为自己租一间有家具的房间。故正确答案为C）。
20. What sort of house is it?
D）。根据选项可知问题询问房屋类型。本题关键句为"it's a semi-detached house with three floors."这是三层的半独立式房子。storey意为"层"。故正确答案为D）。
21. How does the lady describe the area?
D）。根据选项可知问题询问地区情况如何。本题关键句为"It's not far from the bus station and the subway, and there's a Chinese Supermarket near here."女士说附近有公交站、地铁站和超市。因此可知，女士的意思是该地区非常方便。故正确答案为D）。
Conversation Two
M: I recently started painting model airplanes.When I was young I would buy models and then paint them. It was a painstaking effort, but I was young.
W: Is it expensive?
M: I try not to think about the cost. It's my hobby. It's the time for me. How can I put a price on that? I waste money. I don't care. I enjoy it.
W: (22)I used to watch birds when I was a youngster. I could identify every species and gender of bird.
M: What happened?
W: I stopped doing it and started working for a living.
M: We can get caught up in living an ordinary life.（23）I, at least, want to have some pleasure while I am still young. Old age comes very fast.
W: Life is like a movie sometimes. You think that only a month has passed but really it has been a year. One year turns to ten years.
M: Ten years turns to a lifetime. What's wrong with a little enjoyment?
W: Nothing. （24）Kids know how to take full advantage of life.
M: When I am getting old, I have to remind myself of stopping to smell the roses. I just can't work 15 hours a day and be happy about it. Money is only money. When I die, I can't take it with me.
W: You can give it to your kids.
M:（25）They won't appreciate money unless they earn it like I earned it.
W: I guess I can understand.
M:（24）The real joy in life is in the doing. Seize the moment.
W: Let's seize the day.
22. What did the woman enjoy doing when she was young?
B）。根据选项可知四选项均为休闲活动，问题询问"某人做某事"。本题关键句为"I used to watch birds when I was a youngster."我小时候常常观察鸟类。故正确答案为B）。
23. What does the man want to do?
B）。根据选项可知问题询问"某人做某事"。本题关键句为"I, at least, want to have some pleasure while I am still young."男士想在年轻时至少能愉快地生活。故正确答案为B）。
24. What's the real joy in life according to the two speakers?
C）。根据选项可知本题可能关于工作或休闲。本题关键句为"Kids know how to take full advantage of life."女士说孩子们知道如何充分享受生活。"...The real joy in life is in the doing."男士认为钱乃身外之物，生活真正的乐趣就是享受现在。故正确答案为C）。
25. What's the man's attitude towards money?
D）。根据选项可知本题关于"赚钱"。本题关键句为"They won't appreciate money unless they earn it like I earned it."男士认为他的孩子如果不是像他一样自己赚钱，是不会珍惜钱的。因此如果钱是他自己赚的，就会珍惜。故正确答案为D）。
Section B
Passage One
Your assignments this term will be writing two major research papers. One of the most important things about writing a research paper is giving proper credit for your sources of information. Failure to do this is called plagiarism.
(26) Plagiarism is a kind of stealing or at least an unauthorized borrowing of someone else's ideas. Sometimes inexperienced students will plagiarize unintentionally, and then be surprised when the teacher won't accept their papers, or gives them a failing grade.
The best way to avoid unintentional plagiarizing is to be very careful in gathering your information. As you take notes on books and magazine articles about the topic you've selected, first try to assimilate the information thoroughly. Second,(27) write it down in your own words. This is called paraphrasing. If you do a good job of paraphrasing, you'll capture the main idea from your source without actually plagiarizing any phrases from it. Most of your notes should probably be paraphrased. However, occasionally you may find something you wish to quote directly in your research paper. In this case, be sure that you copy the quotation precisely in your notes and (28) enclose it in quotation marks. That way when you're finalizing your research paper, you will be able to remember which of your notes are directly quoted. You can incorporate them appropriately and give the original author proper credit.
26. What does the speaker warn the students against doing?
B)。通过预读选项可推断出问题是关于一种不规范的学术行为。短文中提到plagiarism(剽窃)，文章第二段开头部分就明确对此进行了解释Plagiarism is a kind of stealing or at least an unauthorized borrowing of someone else's ideas，与B)基本一致。
27. According to the speaker,how should most of the notes be taken?
A)。短文最后一段开头部分对如何避免无意的剽窃提出了几点建议。第一条就是：As you take notes on books and magazine articles about the topic you've selected,first try to assimilate the information thoroughly(彻底理解吸收所选择的信息)，随后又指出，用paraphrasing的方法，即write it down in your own words，与A)相同。
28. What does the speaker say a direct quotation should be used?
B)。题干中的关键词direct quotation，短文最后的部分提出，在直接引用的情况下be sure that you copy the quotation precisely in your notes and enclose it in quotation marks，随后又对这种方法的优点进行了具体的解释，A)和C)是避免无意剽窃的总方法，D)没有提到。
Passage Two
In ancient times the most important examinations were spoken, not written. In the schools of ancient Greece and Rome, testing usually consisted of saying poetry aloud or giving speeches. In the European universities of the Middle Ages, students who were working for advanced degrees (29) had to discuss questions in their field of study with people who had made a special study of the subject. This custom exists today as part of the process of testing candidates for the doctor's degree.
Generally, however, modern examinations are written. The written examination, where all students are tested on the same questions, was probably not known until the nineteenth century. Perhaps it came into existence (30) with the great increase in population and the development of modern industry. A room full of candidates for a state examination, timed exactly by electric clocks and carefully watched over by managers, resembles a group of workers at an automobile factory. Certainly, during examinations teachers and students are expected to act as machines.
One type of test is sometimes called an objective test. It is intended to deal with facts, not personal opinions. To make up an objective test the teacher writes a series of questions,(31) each of which has only one correct answer.
29. How did students in Middle Ages take a test?
D)。根据选项可知文章与学习、考试有关。古希腊、罗马学校的学生考试包括saying poetry aloud or giving speeches；而中世纪的欧洲大学生要discuss questions in their field of study with people who had made a special study of the subject，这种考试属于subjective test(主观考试)。objective test意思为"客观考试"。
30. What might be the reason for the application of written examination?
A)。文中提到it came into existence with the great increase in population and the development of modern industry，随着人口增长和现代工业的发展，笔试产生了。学生越来越多，A room full of candidates，笔试也就进而得到发展和更广泛的应用。所以答案为A)。
31. What can we learn from the passage?
C)。四个选项中都提到了objective test，可推断这是听音的重点。短文最后一段提到(objective test) is intended to deal with facts,not personal opinions，排除A)，随后指出客观考试中the teacher writes a series of questions,each of which has only one correct answer，可知C)正确。B)和D)是关于written state examination的内容。
Passage Three
The first postal service in North America began in New England in the 17th century. All mail arriving in Massachusetts colony was sent to the home of appointed official in Boston. In turn, the mail would be delivered from Boston on horseback to its destination, receiving one penny for each good article of mail. Later in the century postal services were established between Philadelphia and Delaware. In 1691,(33) (34) the British crown appointed the first postmaster general to have charge of the mail for all the colonies in North America. Later, Benjamin Franklin served as the postmaster general for the British government and then (35) was made postmaster by the newly formed United States' postal systems on a permanent basis. He increased the number of post office, introduced the use of stagecoaches to carry mail, and started a package service system. They were used to carry mail into the towns. Some communities, especially those out west, were far from the services of transportation. To serve them, the post office developed a system called"star routes".Private contractors paid to deliver mail to the communities from railways by horse and wagon.(32) The postal service, which was started 3 centuries ago, has developed into an extensive government service with post offices in every city, town, and village in the United States.
32. What is the main topic of this passage?
B)。这是一道主旨题。文章通篇出现了postal service,mail等词汇，全文最后一句话是总结。从关键词started...developed into都可以看出，本文讲述了美国邮政业的发展史。
33. What is the task of the first North America postal general?
B)。根据选项可推断这是一道表示任务或目的的题目。关于the first North American postal general，短文只提到了一句：the British crown appointed the first postmaster general to have charge of the mail for all the colonies in North America，答案为B)。A)是first postal service的内容；C)是Benjamin Franklin采取的措施；而D)则是star routes的内容。
34. Who appointed the first postmaster general?
A)。四个选项均为名词短语，可推断这是一道细节题，答案在文章中间的部分In 1691,the British crown appointed...。其中British crown指"英国政府"，crown本是指"皇冠"，这里代表government，后面的 postmaster general表示"邮政部长"。
35. Why did Benjamin Franklin deserve credit?
D)。题干中的credit表示"信任，称赞"，Franklin当上新成立的美国政府邮政部长后，负责建立美国的邮政系统，因此做了许多事，例如增加邮局的数量、运用马车运送邮件等。他得到大家赞誉的原因就在于他建立了美国的邮政系统。
Section C
36. values
［听前猜测］根据上文reflect和下文culture可知此处可能为"特点/价值"。
37. opportunities
［听前猜测］根据下文"for education, employment, and entertainment"，可知此处为"机会"。
38. poverty
［听前猜测］根据上文"violent crime, racial conflict"可知此处为同一性质的"贫穷"。
39. space
［听前猜测］根据下文"They moved out of their apartments... buy their own homes"可知此处为"空间"。
40. suburbs
［听前猜测］根据下文"near a city"可知此处为"郊区"。
41. areas
［听前猜测］根据上文"where people live"可知该处为"地区"。
42. adults
［听前猜测］根据上文"children... are now..."可知该处为"成年人"。
43. executives
［听前猜测］根据上文"professionals, doctors, lawyers"可知此处也为某种职业。
44. Many are single; others are married, but often without children
［听写关键词］single, married, children
45. or they just enjoy the excitement and opportunities which the city offers
［听写关键词］enjoy, excitement, opportunities, city
46. Only a few years ago people thought that the older American cities were dying
［听写关键词］years, older, cities, dying
