2012年12月英语四级真题及答案.doc

2012年12月英语四级真题及答案Passage OneQuestions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage.The predictability of our mortality rates is something that has long puzzled social scientists. After all, there is no natural reason why 2,500 people should accidentally shoot themselves each year or why 7,000 should drown or 55,000 die in their cars. No one establishes a quota for each type of death. It just happens that they follow a consistent pattern year after year.A few years ago a Canadian psychologist named Gerald Wilde became interested in this phenomenon. He noticed that mortality rates for violent and accidental deaths throughout the Western world have remained oddly static throughout the whole of the century, despite all the technological advances and increases in safety standards that have happened in that time. Wilde developed an intriguing theory called “risk homeostasis”. According to this theory, people instinctively live with a certain level of risk. When something is made safer, people will get around the measure in some way to reassert the original level of danger. If, for instance, they are required to wear seat belts, they will feel safer and thus will drive a little faster and a little more recklessly, thereby statistically canceling out the benefits that the seat belt confers. Other studies have shown that where an intersection is made safer, the accident rate invariably falls there but rises to a compensating level elsewhere along the same stretch of road. It appears, then, that we have an innate need for danger.In all events, it is becoming clearer and clearer to scientists that the factors influencing our lifespan are far more subtle and complex than had been previously thought. It now appears that if you wish to live a long life, it isnt simply a matter of adhering to certain precautions eating the right foods, not smoking, driving with care. You must also have the right attitude. Scientists at the Duke University Medical Center made a 15-year study of 500 persons personalities and found, somewhat to their surprise, that people with a suspicious or mistrustful nature die prematurely far more often than people with a sunny disposition. Looking on the bright side, it seems, can add years to your life span.11. What social scientists have long felt puzzled about is why .A) the mortality rate can not be predictedB) the death toll remained stable year after yearC) a quota for each type of death has not come into beingD) people lost their lives every year for this or that reason12. In his research, Gerald Wilde finds that technological advances and increases in safety standards .A) have helped solve the problem of so high death rateB) have oddly accounted for mortality rates in the past centuryC) have reduced mortality rates for violent and accidental deathsD) have achieved no effect in bringing down the number of deaths13. According to the theory of “risk homeostasis”, some traffic accidents result from .A) our innate desire for riskB) our fast and reckless drivingC) our ignorance of seat belt benefitsD) our instinctive interest in speeding14. By saying “statistically canceling out the benefits that the seat belt confers” (Para. 2),the author means .A) wearing seat belts does not have any benefits from the statistic point of viewB) deaths from wearing seat belts are the same as those from not wearing themC) deaths from other reasons counterbalance the benefits of wearing seat beltsD) wearing seat belts does not necessarily reduce deaths from traffic accidents15. Which of the following may contribute to a longer life span?A) Showing adequate trust instead of suspicion of othersB) Eating the food low in fat and driving with great careC) Cultivating an optimistic personality and never losing heartD) Looking on the bright side and developing a balanced level of riskPassage TwoQuestions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage.In California the regulators, the utilities and the governor all want the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to cap spot (现货的) market prices. The Californians claim it will rein in outrageous prices. Federal regulators have refused. The battle is on.Governor Gray Davis says,“Im not happy with the Federal Regulatory Commission at all. Theyre living in an ivory tower. If their bills were going up like the people in San Diego, they would know that this is a real problem in the real world.”As part of deregulation, price caps were removed to allow for a free market. Timing is everything; natural gas prices had already skyrocketed. Demand was high from Californias booming economy. No new power plants had been built here in ten years, and power producers had the right to hike prices along with demand. And hike them they did.Loretta Lynch of the Public Utilities Commission says,” This commission and all of California was beating down the door of federal regulators to sayhelp us impose reasonable price caps to help to keep our market stable.”Federal regulators did ask for longer-term contracts between power producers and the utilities to stabilize prices. The federal commission, unavailable for comment on this story, released a recent statement defending its position not to re-regulate.Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Dec. 15,2000: “The commission?s intention is to enable the markets to catch up to current supply and demand problems and not to reintroduce command and control regulation that has helped to produce the current crisis.”Some energy experts believe that, without temporary price caps, the crisis will continue.Severin Borenstein of the U.C. Energy Institute says,“Some federal regulators have a blind commitment to making the market work and I think part of the problem is they really don?t understand what?s going on.”Gary Ackerman of the Western Power Trading Forum says,“Hes dead wrong about that. The federal regulators understand far better than any individual state that, though it might be painful and it certainly is painful in California, price caps dont work. They never work.”16. The battle between Californians and federal regulators is about .A) control over the price of powerB) necessity of removing price capsC) hiking the energy prices in CaliforniaD) a regulation concerning power supply17. Governor Gray Davis was dissatisfied with the Federal Regulatory Commission because .A) they did not know what the real problem wasB) they were living an easy life in an ivory towerC) they could not experience the life in San DiegoD) they turned a blind eye to the situation in California18. The Federal Commission uncapped the energy price with the intention to .A) help Californias economy booming steadilyB) prevent power price from going up any furtherC) enable the market to deal with supply and demand problemsD) have contracts signed between power producers and the utilities19. To help keep prices from going higher, people and groups in California .A) imposed reasonable price capsB) beat down the door of federal regulatorsC) urged the federal authorities to take actionD) struggled against federal policy to hike prices20. Energy experts against price caps believe that .A) the present situation in California will continue unless there is price controlB) the current crisis is partly attributed to previous command and control policyC) price caps can temporarily solve energy problems an individual state meets withD) they do understand what is going on in California and will take proper measuresPassage ThreeQuestions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.Another cultural aspect of nonverbal communication is one that you might not think about: space. Every person perceives himself to have a sort of invisible shield surrounding his physical body. When someone comes too close, he feels uncomfortable. When he bumps onto someone, he feels obligated to apologize. But the size of a persons “comfort zone” depends on his cultural ethnic origin. For example, in casual conversation, many Americans stand about four feet apart. In other words, they like to keep each other “at arm?s length”,people in Latin or Arab cultures, in contrast, stand very close to each other, and touch each other often. If someone from one of those cultures stands too close to an American while in conversation, the American may feel uncomfortable and back away.When Americans are talking, they expect others to respond to what they are saying. To Americans, polite conversationalists empathize by displaying expressions of excitement or disgust, shock or sadness. People with a “poker face”, whose emotions are hidden by a deadpan expression, are looked upon with suspicion. Americans also indicate their attentiveness in a conversation by raising their eyebrows, nodding, smiling politely and maintaining good eye contact. Whereas some cultures view direct eye contact as impolite or threatening, Americans see it as a sign of genuineness and honesty. If a person doesnt look you in the eye, American might say, you should question his motivesor assume that he doesnt like you. Yet with all the concern for eye contact, Americans still consider staringespecially at strangersto be rude.21. What the author discussed in the previous section is most probably about .A) classification of nonverbal communicationB) the reasons why people should think about spaceC) the relationship between communication and spaceD) some other cultural aspects of nonverbal communication22. How far people keep to each other while talking is closely associated with their .A) origin B) culture C) custom D) nationality23. When an Italian talks to an Arabian on informal occasions,.A) he stands about four feet awayB) “comfort zone” does not existC) keeping close enough is preferredD) communication barriers may emerge24. A “poker face” (Line 3,Para. 2) refers to a face which is .A) attentive B) emotional C) suspicious D) expressionless25. In a conversation between friends, Americans regard it as sincere and truthful to .A) maintain direct eye contactB) hide emotions with a deadpan expressionC) display excitement or disgust, shock or sadnessD) raise their eyebrows,nod and smile politelyPassage FourQuestions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.We all know that DNA has the ability to identify individuals but, because it is inherited, there are also regions of the DNA strand which can relate an individual to his or her family (immediate and extended), tribal group and even an entire population. Molecular Genealogy (宗谱学) can use this unique identification provided by the genetic markers to link people together into family trees. Pedigrees (家谱) based on such genetic markers can mean a breakthrough for family trees where information is incomplete or missing due to adoption, illegitimacy or lack of records. There are many communities and populations which have lost precious records due to tragic events such as the fire in the Irish courts during Civil War in 1921 or American slaves for whom many records were never kept in the first place.The main objective of the Molecular Genealogy Research Group is to build a database containing over 100,000 DNA samples from individuals all over the world. These individuals will have provided a pedigree chart of at least four generations and a small blood sample. Once the database has enough samples to represent the world genetic make-up, it will eventually help in solving many issues regarding genealogies that could not be done by relying only on traditional written records. Theoretically, any individual will someday be able to trace his or her family origins through this database.In the meantime, as the database is being created, molecular genealogy can already verify possible or suspected relationships between individuals. “For example, if two men sharing the same last name believe that they are related, but no written record proves this relationship, we can verify this possibility by collecting a sample of DNA from both and looking for common markers (in this case we can look primarily at the Y chromosome (染色体),” explains Ugo A. Perego, a member of the BYU Molecular Genealogy research team.26. People in a large area may possess the same DNA thread because .A) DNA is characteristic of a regionB) they are beyond doubt of common ancestryC) DNA strand has the ability to identify individualsD) their unique identification can be provided via DNA27. The possible research of family trees is based on the fact that .A) genetics has achieved a breakthroughB) genetic information contained in DNA can be revealed nowC) each individual carries a unique record of who he is and how he is related to othersD) we can use DNA to prove how distant an individual is to a family, a group or a population28. The Molecular Genealogy Research Group is building a database for the purpose of .A) offering assistance in working out genealogy-related problemsB) solving many issues without relying on traditional written recordsC) providing a pedigree chart of at least four generations in the worldD) confirming the assumption that all individuals are of the same origin29. If two men suspected for some reason they have a common ancestor, .A) we can decide according to their family treeB) we can find the truth from their genetic markersC) we can compare the differences in their Y chromosomeD) we can look for written records to prove their relationship30. Which of the following CANNOT be inferred from the passage?A) We are a walking,living,breathing record of our ancestorsB) Many American slaves did not know who their ancestors were.C) An adopted child generally lacks enough information to prove his identity.D) Molecular genealogy can be used to prove a relationship between individuals.Part Writing (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write A Letter Applying for a Bank Loan. You should write at least 120 words following the outline given below in Chinese.1 你的基本情况2 你申请贷款的原因、数额及用途3 你如何保证专款专用以及你的还款打算Part Reading ComprehensionPassage One这是一篇人文类说明文。第一段中作者提出长期困扰社会科学家的问题，即死亡率遵循一种一成不变的模式。在第二段中作者引用加拿大心理学家Gerald Wilde的risk homeostasis（体内风险平衡）理论分析了原因，并以交通事故为例，指出如果驾驶时系了安全带，这方面原因导致的车祸会降低，但另一方面驾车人因为感到安全可能会开快车，开鲁莽车，从而发生死亡事故。第三段讨论了影响寿命的因素，文中提到，保持长寿，不仅要注意饮食、不抽烟、谨慎驾驶，更要有乐观的生活态度。11. B) 语义理解题 问的是长期困扰社会科学家的问题是什么，本题依据是第一段最后一句“It just happens that they follow a consistent pattern year after year”，与选项B)“死亡人数年复一年保持稳定”相吻合。12. D) 细节推论题 本题题干出现在第二段第二句，意思说：虽然有技术进步和安全标准的提高，西方世界的暴力和意外死亡率在整个世纪中保持着奇怪的恒定（static），由此判断，技术进步和安全标准的提高并未降低各种原因的死亡人数，D项正确。13. A) 细节理解题 问题是“根据体内风险平衡理论，某些交通事故是由于什么原因”，A)“我们天生的冒险欲望”；B)“开快车，开鲁莽车”；C)“无视安全带的好处”；D)“对超速行驶的本能兴趣”。在第二段靠后，作者先列举交通事故例子，然后在最后一句得出结论：It appears, then, that we have an innate need for danger. 符合A项意思。14. C) 句意理解题 本句大体意思是：从数字统计的角度说，（开快车开鲁莽车导致的死亡人数的增加）抵消了系保险带（引起的死亡人数减少）的好处。cancel out解释为“抵消，对消”。所以C项“因为其他原因引起的死亡对消了系保险带的好处”符合题意。A和D都包含系保险带没有好处，不对，系保险带有benefits，会降低这方面原因导致的死亡事故。B)“系安全带与不系安全带的死亡人数一样”，无此意。15. C) 语义理解题 问什么有助于长寿，依据最后一段。A)“对别人信任不要怀疑”，不对，倒数第二句是说疑惑心重的人比乐观豁达的人早逝；B项不对，文中说“eating the right foods”，并不等于低脂食物；C项正确，“an optimistic personality and never losing heart”都是“a sunny disposition”的特征；D项后半部分不对。Passage Two这是一篇新闻报道类议论文。文章报道了美国加州就是否对能源价格进行控制这一问题进行的辩论，一方面，加州管理者、公用事业公司和州长都强烈要求对加州的能源价格实施限制，另一方面，联邦能源管理委员会坚决反对，认为以前取消价格限制的目的是为了让市场来调节供求，不会再人为干预价格（not to re-regulate）。文中许多地方采用直接引语，反映各自观点。16. A) 细节理解题 题目是“加州人和联邦管理者之间的斗争是关于什么”，依据第一段，加州人要求“to cap spot market prices(控制现货市场价格)”，但联邦管理者拒绝了，A项正确；B)“取消价格控制的必要性”；C)“提高加州的能源价格”；D)“对电力供应的调节”，均与第一段不符。17. D) 语义理解题 题干中的“dissatisfied with”与第二段中的“not happy with”是一致的，第二段字面理解为“他们生活在象牙塔中，如果他们的支付账单像圣第亚哥的人那样不断增加，他们就会理解这确实是个问题”，Gray Davis州长并非真的说联邦管理者生活优越或者不了解加州的问题（文章最后一段提及他们知道情况），而是说他们对加州的问题熟视无睹，不愿采取措施。18. C) 细节理解题 本题题干对应第三段第一句，以前取消价格控制的目的是“to allow for a free market”，“free market”的含义在第六段进一步阐述为“to enable the markets to catch up to current supply and demand problems(让市场来解决目前的供求问题)”，所以答案为C。19. C) 细节判断题 题干“为了有助于抑制价格的进一步上涨，加州的个人和团体干什么”，从全文特别是第一段可以判断，他们敦促联邦当局采取措施，C项正确。A)“实施合理的价格控制”，是要求政府做而不是他们自己做，不对；B)“敲打联邦管理者的门”，文中是比喻说法，并非真的敲门；D)“与政府提高价格的政策进行斗争”，与文章不符。20. B) 观点判断题 问的是反对价格控制的专家们的观点。A)“除非有价格控制，否则加州目前的局面将会继续”，这是赞成价格控制者的观点，不对；B)“目前的危机部分归咎于以前指令控制政策”，正确，依据是第六段“command and control regulation that has helped to produce the current crisis”；C)“价格控制只能暂时解决一个州的能源问题”，不对，文章在最后一段最后一句说“They never work”；D项中后半句“将采取措施”，与原文不符。Passage Three这是一篇关于非言语交际的说明文。本文在第一段谈及非言语交际的另外一种因素，即距离。文章提到，美国人在非正式场合交流时，一般保持“臂长的距离”，拉丁或阿拉伯文化背景的人则靠得较近，甚至常常互相触摸。第二段讨论了言语交际时表情的使用，美国人把“保持眼神接触”看作是“真诚和诚实”的表示，但同时指出盯着陌生人看被认为是粗鲁的。21.D) 推论题 题目的意思是：在先前的章节中作者最有可能讨论了什么。依据文章的第一句选择答案：“非言语交际的另外一个文化方面是你可能想不到的：交际距离”，既然是另外一个文化方面（another cultural aspect），说明在前面章节中讨论了其他的文化方面，所以本题答案是D。22. B) 细节理解题 问的是“人们谈话时彼此保持的距离与什么密切相关”，参看第一段第五句“But the size of a persons comfort zone depends on his cultural ethnic origin.（一个人“舒服距离”的大小取决于他的来自什么民族文化）”，“cultural ethnic origin”连在一起理解为来自什么民族文化，而不是指A)“出生；起源”；C)“习俗”；D)“国籍”。23. C) 细节推断题 题目要求判断意大利人与阿拉伯人在非正式交流时的情况。第一段倒数第二句提到“拉丁或阿拉伯文化背景的人靠得非常近，甚至常常互相触摸”。意大利属于拉丁文化，所以C)“喜欢保持较近的距离”符合句意。24. D) 词汇理解题 a “poker face”后的定语从句“whose emotions are hidden by a deadpan expression（其情感被没有表情所掩盖）”，但deadpan可能是生词，那就退回去看上一句：美国人为了表示强调会显示出各种表情，本句应该理解为“那么什么样的人会招致怀疑”，应该是没有表情，答案为D项。25. A) 细节理解题 第二段提到“Whereas some cultures view direct eye contact as impolite or threatening,Americans see it as a sign of genuineness and honesty”,“genuineness and honesty”与题干中的“sincere and truthful”是同义，答案是A。Passage Four这是一篇科普类说明文。文章提到，DNA可以用来识别个人身份。宗谱学利用遗传标记所提供的独有识别特征将人连成家族树。对于家族信息缺失的人来说，通过研究他们的遗传标记，可以使他们的家谱研究取得突破。宗谱学研究小组（the Molecular Genealogy Research Group）建立一个由10万基因样本组成的数据库，其最终目的是帮助解决仅靠传统文字资料不能完全解决的有关宗谱的问题。26.B) 单句理解推断题 题干的意思是对第一句中“there are also regions of the DNA strand（也有一些区域具有同样的DNA线索）”的改写，原因就是前面提到的“because it is inherited（DNA具有遗传性）”，既然是遗传，那么可以推断出具有同样DNA特征的人必定有同样的祖先。比较四个选项，B符合这样的意思。27. C) 语义理解推断题 基于第一段第二、三句，我们知道遗传标记提供独有的识别特征（unique i