2016年12月英语四级真题(第三套)

1、2016年12月大学英语四级考试真题(第3套)Part IWriting(30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay. Suppose you have twooptions upon graduation: one is to work in a state-owned business and the other in ajoint venture. You are to make a choice between the two. Write an essay to

2、explain thereasons for your choice.You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180words.Part IIListening Comprehension(25 minutes）说明：由于2016年12月四级考试全国共考了2套听力，本套真题听力与前2套内容完全一样，只是顺序不一样，因此在本套真题中不再重复出现。Part Reading Comprehension (40 minutes）Section ADirections: In this section, there is a passag

3、e with ten blanks. You are required to select one wordfor each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read thepassage through carefully before making your choices.Each choice in the bank isidentified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on

4、 AnswerSheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in thebank more than once.Questions 26 to 35 are based on the following passage.Many men and women have long bought into the idea that there are male and female brains,believing that explains just about every diff

5、erence between the sexes. A new study26that belief,questioning whether brains really can be distinguished by gender.In the study, Tel Aviv University researchers27for sex differences throughout the entirehuman brain.And what did they find? Not much. Rather than offer evidence for28brains as male orf

6、emale, research shows that brains fall into a wide range, with most people falling right in themiddle.Daphna Joel, who led the study, said her research found that while there are some gender-based29, many different types of brain cant always be distinguished by gender.While the average male and aver

7、age female brains were30different, you couldnt tell itby looking at individual brain scans. Only a small31of people had all-male or all-femalecharacteristics.Larry Cahill, an American neuroscientist ( 神经科学家), said the study is an important addition toa growing body of research questioning32beliefs a

8、bout gender and brain function. But hecautioned against concluding from this study that all brains are the same,33of gender.Theres a mountain of evidence34the importance of sex influences at all levels of brainfunction, he told The Seattle Times.If anything, he said, the study35that gender plays a v

9、ery important role in the brain- evenwhen we are not clear exactly how. A.abnormalB.appliedC.brieflyD.categorizingE.challengesF.figureG.percentageH.provingI.regardlessJ.searchedK.similaritiesL.slightlyM.suggestsN. tastes0.traditionalSection BDirections：In this section，you are going to read a passage

10、 with ten statements attached to it. Eachstatement contains information given in one of the paragraphsIdentify the paragraphfrom which the information is derivedYou may choose a paragraph more than onceEach paragraph is marked with a letterAnswer the questions by marking thecorresponding letter on A

11、nswer Sheet 2Can Burglars Jam Your Wireless Security System?A.Any product that promises to protect your home deserves careful examinationSo it isnt surprising thatyou11 find plenty of strong opinions about the potential vulnerabilities of popular homesecurity systemsB.The most likely type of burglar

12、y(人室盗窃)by far is the unsophisticated crime of opportunity，usuallyinvolving a broken window or some forced entryAccording to the FB1crimes like these accounted forroughly twothirds of all household burglaries in the US in 2013The wide majority of the rest were illegalunforced entries that resulted fr

13、om something like a window being left openThe odds of a criminal usingtechnical means to bypass a security system are so small that the FBI doesnt even track those statisticsC.One of the main theoretical homesecurity concerns is whether or not a given system is vulnerable to beingblocked from workin

14、g altogetherWith wired setups，the fear is that a burglar(人室盗贼)might be ableto shut your system down simply by cutting the right cableWith a wireless setupyou stick batterypowered sensors up around your home that keep an eye on windows。doors，motion，and moreIf theydetect something wrong while the syst

15、em is armedtheyll transmit a wireless aleft signal to a base station that will then raise the alarmThat approach will eliminate most cordcutting concerns-but what abouttheir wireless equivalent，jamming?with the fight device tuned to the fight frequency，whats to stop athief from jamming your setup an

16、d blocking that alert signal from ever reaching the base station?D.Jamming concerns are nothing new，and theyre not unique to security systemsAny device thats built toreceive a wireless signal at a specific frequency can be overwhelmed by a stronger signal coming in on thesame frequencyFor comparison

17、1ets say you wanted to“jam”a conversation between two people-allyoud need to do is yell in the listeners earE) Security devices are required to list the frequencies they broadcast onmat means that a potential thief canfind what they need to know with minimal GooglingThey willhoweverneed to know what

18、 systemtheyre looking forIf you have a sign in your yard declaring what setup you use，thatd point them in theright direction，though at that point，were talking about a highly targeted，semisophisticated attack，andnot the sort of forcedentry attack that makes up the majority of burglariesIts easier to

19、find and acquirejamming equipment for some frequencies than it is for othersF)Wireless security providers will often take steps to help combat the threat of jamming attacksSimpliSafe，winner of our EditorsChoice distinctionutilizes a special system thats capable of separating incidental RFinterferenc

20、e from targeted jamming attacksWhen the system thinks its being jammed，itll notify you viapush alert(推送警报)From there，its up to you to sound the alarm manuallyG)SimpliSafe was singled out in one recent article on jamming，complete with a video showing the entiresystem being effectively bypassed with h

21、andheld jamming equipmentAfter taking appropriate measures tocontain the RF interference to our test lab，we tested the attack out for ourselves，and were able to verify that its possible with the right equipmentHoweverwe also verified that SimpliSafes anti-jammingsystem worksIt caught us in the act，s

22、ent an alert to my smartphone，and also listed our RF interferenceon the systems event logThe team behind the article and video in question make no mention of thesystem，or whether or not it detected themH)We like the unique nature of that softwareIt means that a thief likely wouldnt be able to Google

23、 how thesystem worksthen figure out a way around itEven if they could，SimpliSafe claims that its system isalways evolving，and that it varies slightly from system to system，which means there wouldnt be auniversal magic formula for cracking itOther systems also seem confident on the subject of jamming

24、Theteam at Frontpoint addresses the issue in a blog on its site，citing their own jam protection software andclaiming that there arent any documented cases of a successful jam attack since the company began offeringwireless security sensors in the l980sI)Jamming attacks are absolutely possibleAs said

25、 beforewith the fight equipment and the right knowhow，its possible to jam any wireless transmissionBut how probable is it that someone will successfully jam their way into your home and steal your stuff?J)Lets imagine that you live in a small home with a wireless security setup that offers a functio

26、nal antijamming systemFirst，a thief is going to need to target your home，specificallyThen，hes going to needto know the technical details of your system and acquire the specific equipment necessary for jamming yourspecific setupPresumably，you keep your doors locked at night and while youre away，so th

27、e thief willstill need to break inThat means defeating the lock somehow，or breaking a windowHe11 need to be jamming you at this point，as a broken window or opened door would normally release the alarmS0，too，would the motion detectors in your home，so the thief will need to continue jamming once hes i

28、nside andsearching for things to stealHoweverhe11 need to do so without tripping the anti-jamming system，thedetails of which he almost certainly does not have access toK)At the end of the day，these kinds of systems are primarily designed to protect against the sort ofopportunistic smashandgrab attac

29、k that makes up the majority of burglariesTheyre also only a singlelayer in what should ideally be a manysided approach to securing your home，one that includes commonsense things like sound locks and proper exterior lighting at nightNo system is impenetrable，and none canpromise to eliminate the wors

30、t case completelyEvery one of them has vulnerabilities that a knowledgeablethief could theoretically exploitA good system is one that keeps that worstcase setting as improbable aspossible while also offering strong protection in the event of a less-extraordinary attack36It is possible for burglars t

31、o make jamming attacks with the necessary equipment and skill37Interfering with a wireless security system is similar to interfering with a conversation38A burglar has to continuously jam the wireless security device to avoid triggering the alarm，both inside and outside the house39SimpliSafe provide

32、s devices that are able to distinguish incidental radio interference from targeted jamming attacks40Only a very small proportion of burglaries are committed by technical means41It is difficult to crack SimpliSafe as its system keeps changing42Wireless devices will transmit signals so as to activate

33、the alarm once something wrong is detected43Different measures should be taken to protect ones home from burglary in addition to the wireless security system44SimpliSafes device can send a warning to the house owners cellphone45Burglars can easily get a security devices frequency by Internet searchS

34、ection CDirections：There are 2 passages in this sectionEach passage is followed by some questions orunfinished statementsFor each of them there arefour choices marked A，B，CandDYou should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on AnswerSheet 2 with a single line through the centr

35、ePassage OneQuestions 46 to 50 are based oil the following passageAs a person who writes about food and drink for a living。I couldnt tell you the first thing aboutBill Perry or whether the beers he sells are that greatBut I can tell you that I like this guyThatsbecause he plans to ban tipping in fav

36、or of paying his servers an actual living wageI hate tippingI hate it because its an obligation disguised as an optionI hate it for the postdinner math it requires of meBut mostlyI hate tipping because I believe l would be in a better place if pay decisionsregarding employees were simply left up to

37、their employers，as is the custom in virtually every otherindustry Most of you probably think that you hate tipping，tooResearch suggests otherwiseYou actuallylove tipping!You like to feel that you have a voice in how much money your server makesNo matterhow the math works out，you persistently view re

38、staurants with voluntary tipping systems as being abetter value，which makes it extremely difficult for restaurants and bars to do away with the tippingsystem One argument that you tend to hear a lot from the pr0tipping crowd seems logical enough：theservice is better when waiters depend on tips，presu

39、mably because they see a benefit to successfullyveiling their contempt for youWellif this were truewe would all be slipping a few l00-dollar bills toour doctors on-the way out their doors，tooBut as it turns out，waiters see only a tiny bump in tipswhen they do an exceptional job compared to a passabl

40、e oneWaiters，keen observers of humanity thatthey areare catching on to this；in one poll，a full 30said they didnt believe the job they did hadany impact on the tips they received So come on，folks：get on board with ditching the outdated tip systemPay a little more upfrontfor your beer or burgerSupport

41、 Bill Perrys pub，and any other bar or restaurant that doesnt ask youto do drunken math46、hat can we learn about Bill Perry from the passage?A.He runs a pub that serves excellent beerB.He intends to get rid of the tipping practiceC.He gives his staff a considerable sum for tipsD.He lives comfortably

42、without getting any tips47What is the main reason why the author hates tipping?A. It sets a bad example for other industriesB. It adds to the burden of ordinary customersC. It forces the customer to compensate the waiterD.It poses a great challenge for customers to do math48Why do many people love t

43、ipping according to the author?A.They help improve the quality of the restaurants they dine inB. They believe waiters deserve such rewards for good serviceC.They want to preserve a wonderful tradition of the industryD.They can have some say in how much their servers earn49What have some waiters come

44、 to realize according to a survey?A.Service quality has little effect on tip sizeB. It is in human nature to try to save on tipsC.Tips make it more difficult to please customersD.Tips benefit the boss rather than the employees50What does the author argue for in the passage?A.Restaurants should calcu

45、late the tips for customersB.Customers should pay more tips to help improve serviceC.Waiters deserve better than just relying on tips for a livingD.Waiters should be paid by employers instead of customersPassage TwoQuestions 5l to 55 are based on the following passageIn the past，falling oil prices h

46、ave given a boost to the world economy，but recent forecasts forglobal growth have been toned downeven as oil prices sink lower and lowerDoes that mean the linkbetween lower oil prices and growth has weakened?Some experts say there are still good reasons to believe cheap oil should heat up the worlde

47、conomyConsumers have more money in their pockets when theyre paying less at the pumpTheyspend that money off other things，which stimulates the economyThe biggest gains go to countries that import most of their oil like ChinaJapanand IndiaButdoesnt the extra money in the pockets of those countries co

48、nsumers mean an equal loss inoil-producing countries, cancelling out the gains? Not necessarily, say economic researcher SaraJohnson. Many oil producers built up huge reserve funds when prices were high, so when prices fallthey will draw on their reserves to support government spending and subsidies

49、 (补贴) for theirconsumers.But not all oil producers have big reserves. In Venezuela, collapsing oil prices have sent itseconomy into free-fall.Economist Carl Weinberg believes the negative effects of plunging oil prices are overwhelming thepositive effects of cheaper oil. The implication is a sharp d

50、ecline in global trade, which has plungedpartly because oil-producing nations cant afford to import as much as they used to.Sara Johnson acknowledges that the global economic benefit from a fall in oil prices today is likelylower than it was in the past. One reason is that more countries are big oil

51、 producers now, so thenations suffering from the price drop account for a larger share of the global economy.Consumers, in the U.S. at least, are acting cautiously with the savings theyre getting at the gaspump, as the memory of the recent great recession is still fresh in their mind. And a number o

52、foil-producing countries are trimming their gasoline subsidies and raising taxes, so the net savings forglobal consumers is not as big as the oil price plunge might suggest.51. What does the author mainly discuss in the passage?A. The reasons behind the plunge of oil prices.B. Possible ways to stimulate the global economy.C. The impact of chape oil