2023英语专业四级真题及答案详解(版本).docx

TEST FOR ENGLISH MAJORS (2023)GRADE FOUR-TIME LIMIT: 130 MINPART 1 DICTATION 15 MINListen to the following passage. Altogether the passage will be read to you four times: During the first reading, which will be read at normal speed, listen and try to understand the meaning. For the second and third readings, the passage will be read sentence by sentence, or phrase by phrase, with intervals of 15 seconds. The last reading will be read at normal speed again and during this time you should check your work. You will then be given 2 minutes to check through your work once more.PART 2 LITENING COMPREHENSION 20 MINSECTION A CONVERSATIONSIn this section, you will hear several conversations. Listen to the conversations carefully and then answer the questions that follow.Questions 1 to 3 are based on the following conversation. At the end of the conversation you will be given 15 seconds to answer the questions.1. According to the conversation, an example of "Christmas trimmings could beA. presents.B. fruitsC. sauceD. meat2. A Christmas lunch would include all the following EXCECTA. roast turkeyB. sweet potatoes C. meatD. carrots3. Why did Helen come to Rob's house?A. She wanted to talk to Bob.B. She had come to help Bob.C. She had been invited to lunch.D. She was interested in cooking.Questions 4 to 7 are based on the following conversation. At the end of the conversation you will be given 20 seconds to answer the questions.4. Why did the woman phone the club?A. She wanted to know more about it.B. She was a new comer and felt lonely.C. She wanted to learn a new language.D. She was interested in social activities.5. We learn from the conversation that theclubA. mainly organize language activities.B. accepts members from local students.C. has been set up for a long time.D. is increasing its membership.6. According to the conversation, the woman might come to practice German onA. Wednesday.B. Tuesday. C. Monday. D. Friday.7. What is the man going to do after the conversation?A. Call up the woman for her address.B. Wait for the woman to call him again.C. Mail the woman some information.D. Wait for the woman to pick up a form.Questions 8 to 10 are based on the following conversation. At the end of the conversation you will be given 15 seconds to answer the questions.8. According to the woman, what actually makes her job difficult?A. Difficult questions from interviewees.B. Embarrassing requests from interviewees.C. Lack of professional background.D. Speeches paying tribute to the dead can comfort the mourners.83. Public speaking can play all the following roles EXCEPT .A. to convince people in a debate.B. to inform people at a presentation.C. to advise people at work.D. to entertain people at a wedding.84. According to the passage, which of the following best explains the author's view on “ great speaking ability ” ?A. It comes from observing rules.B. It can be perfected with easy effort.C. It can be acquired from birth.D. It comes from learning and practice.85. What is the main idea of the passage? .A. Public speaking in international forums.B. The many uses of public speaking.C. Public speaking in daily life context.D. The rules of public speaking.TEXTBEvery business needs two things, says Skullcandy CEO Rick Alden: inspiration and desperation. In 2023, Alden had both. He'd sold two snowboarding businesses, and he was desperately bored. But he had an idea: He wanted to make a new kind of headphone. " I kept seeing people missing their cell phone calls because they were listening to music,“ he explains. Then I'm in a chairlift, Fve got my headphones on, and I realize my phone is ringing. As 1 take my gloves off and reach f or my phone, I think, “ It can't be that tough to make headphones with two plugs, one for music a nd one for your cell phone. " Alden described what he wanted to a designer, perfected a prototyp e, and outsourced （夕卜包） manufacturing overseas.Alden then started designing headphones into helmets, backpacks - anywhere that would make it easy to listen to music while snowboarding. " Selling into board and skate shops wasn't a big res earch effort,v he explains. uThose were the only guys I knew! ”Alden didn't want to be a manufacturer. And by outsourcing, he*d hoped he could get the business off the ground without debt. But he was wrong. So he asked his wife, “Can I put a （抵押贷款）on the house? She said, What is the worst thing that can happen? Welose the house, we sell our cars, and we start all over again.” definitely married the right woman!vFor the next two years, Alden juggled mortgage payments and payments to his manufacturers. ” Factories won't ship your product till they get paid, “ he says. " But it takes four or five months t o get a mortgage company so upset that they knock on your door. So we paid the factory first. ” Gradually, non-snowboarders began to notice the colorful headphones. In 2023, the company start ed selling them in 1,400 FYE （For Your Entertainment） stores. " We knew that nine out often peo pie walking into that store would be learning about Skullcandy for the first time. Why would the y look at brands they knew and take home a new brand instead? We had agreed to buy back anyth ing we didn't sell, but we were dealing with huge numbers. It'd kill us to take back all the produc tsAlden's fears faded as Skullcandy became the No. 1 headphone seller in those stores and tripled its revenue to $120 million in one year. His key insight was that headphones weren't gadgets; they were a fashion accessory. "In the beginning,he says, “ that little white wire th at said you had an iPod -that was cool. But now wearing the white bud means you're just like e veryone else. Headphones occupy this critical piece of cranial real estate and are highly visible.vToday, Skullcandy is America's second-largest headphone supplier, after Sony. With 79 employees ,the company is bigger than Alden ever imagined.86. Alden came up with the idea of a new kind of headphone because he .A. was no longer in snowboarding business.B. had no other business opportunities.C. was very fond of modern music.D. saw an inconvenience among mobile users.87. The new headphone was originally designed for.A. snowboarders.B. motorcyclists.C. mountain hikers.D. marathon runners.88. Did Alden solve the money problem? .A. He sold his house and his cars.B. Factories could ship products before being paid.C. He borrowed money from a mortgage company.D. He borrowed money from his wife's family.89. What did Alden do to promote sales in FYE stores? .A. He spent more money on product advertising.B. He promised to buy back products not sold.C. He agreed to sell products at a discount.D. He improved the colour design of the product.90. Alden sees headphones as .A. a sign of self-confidence.B. a symbol of status.C. part of fashion.D. a kind of device.TEXTCI was standing in my kitchen wondering what to have for lunch when my friend Taj called. " Sit down,v she said. I thought she was going to tell me she had just gotten the haircut from hell. I laughed and said, “It can't be that bad.”But it was. Before the phone call, I had 30 years of retirement saving in a “safe” fund with a brilliant financial guru （金融大亨）.When I put down the phone, my savings were gone. I felt as if I had died and, for some unknown reason, was still breathing.Since Bernie Madoffs arrest on charges of running a $65 million Ponzi scheme, I've read many articles about how we investors should have known what was going on. I wish I could say I had reservations about Madoff before “ the Call "，but I did not.On New Year's Eve, three weeks after we lost our savings, six of us Madoff people gathered at Taj's house for dinner. As we were sitting around the table, someone asked, “If you could have your money back right now, but it would mean giving up what you have learned by losing it, would you take the money or would you take what losing the money has given you? ”My husband was still in financial shock. He said, “ I just want the money back. " I wasn't certai n where I stood. I knew that losing our money had cracked me wide open. I'd been walking aroun d like what the Buddhists call a hungry ghost: always focused on the bite that was yet to come, n ot the one in my mouth. No matter how much I ate or had or experienced, it didn't satisfy me, be cause I wasn't really taking it in, wasn't absorbing it. Now I was forced to pay attention. Still, I c ouldn't honestly say that if someone had offered me the money back, I would turn it down.But the other four all said that what they were seeing about themselves was incalculable, and they didn't think it would have become apparent without the ground of financial stability being ripped out from underneath them.My friend Michael said,rd started to get complacent. It's as if the muscles of my heart started to a trophy （萎缩）.Now they're awake, alive一and I donl want to go back. ” Theseweren'tjust empty words. Michael and his wife needed to take in boarders to meet their expenses. Taj was so broke that she was moving into someone's garage apartment in three weeks. Three friends had declared bankruptcy and weren't sure where or how they were going to live.91. What did the author learn from Taj's call?A. had got an awful haircut.B. They had lost their retirement savings.C. Taj had just retired from work.D. They were going to meet for lunch.92. How did the author feel in the following weeks?A. Angry.B. Disappointed.C. Indifferent.D. Desperate.93. According to the passage, to which was she “forced to pay attention” ?A. Her friends.B. Her husband.C. Her lost savings.D. Her experience.94. Which of the following statements is CORRECT about her friends?A. Her friends valued their experience more.B. Her friends felt the same as she did.C. Her friends were in a better financial situation.D Her friends were more optimistic than she.95. What is the message of the passage?A. Desire for money is human nature.B. One has to be decisive during crises.C. Understanding gained is more important than money lost.D. It is natural to see varied responses to financial crises.TEXTDIn the 19th century, there used to be a model of how to be a good person. There are all these torren ts of passion flowing through you. Your job, as captain of your soul, is to erect dams to keep these passions in check. Your job is to just say no to laziness, lust, greed, drug use and the other sins. These days that model is out of fashion. You usually can't change your behaviour by simply resol ving to do something. Knowing what to do is not the same as being able to do it.Your willpower is not like a dam that can block the torrent of self-indulgence. It's more like a mu scle, which tires easily. Moreover, you're a social being. If everybody around you is overeating, y ou'll probably do so, too.The 19th-century character model was based on an understanding of free will. Today, we know that free will is bounded. People can change their lives, but ordering change is not simple because many things, even within ourselves, are beyond our direct control.Much of our behaviour, for example, is guided by unconscious habits. Researchers atDuke University calculated that more than 40 percent of the actions we take are governed by habit, not actual decisions. Researchers have also come to understand the structure of habits cue, routine, reward.You can change your own personal habits. If you leave running shorts on the floor at night, thafll be a cue to go running in the morning. Don* try to ignore your afternoon snack craving. Every time you feel the cue for a snack, insert another routine. Take a walk.Their research thus implies a different character model, which is supposed to manipulate the neural （神经系统的）networks inside.To be an effective person, under this model, you are supposed to coolly examine your own unconscious habits, and the habits of those under your care. You are supposed to devise strategies to alter the cues and routines. Every relationship becomes slightly manipulative, inclu ding your relationship with yourself. Youre trying to arouse certain responses by implanting cert ain cues.This is a bit disturbing, because the important habitual neural networks are not formed by mere routine, nor can they be reversed by clever cues. They arc burned in by emotion and strengthened by strong yearnings, like the yearnings for admiration and righteousness. If you think you can change your life in a clever way, the way an advertiser can get you to buy an air freshene r, you're probably wrong. As the Victorians understood, if you want to change your life, don't just look for a clever cue. Commit to some larger global belief.96. Which of the following is a key element in the 19th-century character model?A. Passion.B. Action.C. Capability.D. Determination.97. The 19th-century model supposedly does not work because .A. there were many other factors beyond one*s control.B. it has worked unsatisfactorily most of the time.C. the comparison of free will to a dam is groundless.D. what one wishes to do should be considered carefully.98. What is the main implication of the research at Duke University?A. Habit is key to one's behaviour.B. One's behaviour is difficult to change.C. Both habit and will power are important.D. Habit has an unidentified structure.99. According to the new character model, personal behaviour could be altered through.A. cues to stop all the former unconscious habits.B. cues to manipulate the habitual neural responses.C. techniques to devise different physical cues.D. techniques to supplement old routines.100. We learn from the passage that the new character model .A. stresses the neural and psychological aspects of habit change.B. can bring about changes in one*s life like what advertisers do.C. has been used to change behaviour successfully.D. deals better with emotional aspects of behaviour.PART VI WRITINGSECTION A COMPOSITION 45 MINMost of us, as students, are careful with our money in daily life: we collect all kinds of coupons; we look for group-buy deals if we eat out or travel; we don't buy clothes unless in a sale. However ,some people think that all this may not make us smart consumers. What is your opinion?Write on ANSWER SHEET THREE a composition of about 200 words. You are to write in three parts.In the first part, state specifically what your opinion is.In the second part, provide one or two reasons or your experience (s) to support your opinion.In the last part, bring what you have written to a natural conclusion or make a summary.You should supply an appropriate title for your composition.Marks will be awarded for content, organization, language and appro