2013年12月大学英语四级考试真题（第一套）

　　Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)

　　Section A

　　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.

　　Questions 36 to 45 are based on the following passage.

　　To get a sense of how women have progressed in science, take a quick tour of the physics department at the University of California, Berkeley. This is a storied place, the ___36___ of some of the most important discoveries in modern science—starting with Ernest Lawrence’s invention of the cyclotron (回旋加速器) in 1931. A generation ago, female faces were ___37___ and, even today, visitors walking through the first floor of LeConte Hall will see a full corridor of exhibits ___38___ the many distinguished physicists who made history here, ___39___ all of them white males.

　　But climb up to the third floor and you’ll see a ___40___ display. There, among the photos of current faculty members and students, are portraits of the ___41___ head of the department, Marjorie Shapiro, and four other women whose research ___42___ everything from the mechanics of the universe to the smallest particles of matter. A sixth woman was hired just two weeks ago. Although they’re still only about 10 percent of the physics faculty, women are clearly a presence here. And the real ___43___ may be in the smaller photos to the right: graduate and undergraduate students, about 20 percent of them female. Every year Berkeley sends its fresh female physics PhDs to the country’s top universities. That makes Shapiro optimistic, but also ___44___. “I believe things are getting better,” she says, “but they’re not getting better as ___45___ as I would like.”

　　A) circumstance I) honoring

　　B) confidence J) hope

　　C) covers K) presently

　　D) current L) rare

　　E) deals M) realistic

　　F) different N) site

　　G) exposing O) virtually

　　H) fast

　　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.

　　Is College a Worthy Investment?

　　A) Why are we spending so much money on college? And why are we so unhappy about it? We all seem to agree that a college education is wonderful, and yet strangely we worry when we see families investing so much in this supposedly essential good. Maybe it’s time to ask a question that seems almost sacrilegious (大不敬的): is all this investment in college education really worth it?

　　B) The answer, I fear, is no. For an increasing number of kids, the extra time and money spent pursuing a college diploma will leave them worse off than they were before they set foot on campus.

　　C) For my entire adult life, a good education has been the most important thing for middle-class households. My parents spent more educating my sister and me than they spent on their house, and they’re not the only ones... and, of course, for an increasing number of families, most of the cost of their house is actually the cost of living in a good school district. Questioning the value of a college education seems a bit like questioning the value of happiness, or fun.

　　D) The average price of all goods and services has risen about 50 percent. But the price of a college education has nearly doubled in that time. Is the education that today’s students are getting twice as good? Are new workers twice as smart? Have they become somehow massively more expensive to educate?

　　E) Perhaps a bit. Richard Vedder, an Ohio University economics professor, says, “I look at the data, and I see college costs rising faster than inflation up to the mid-1980s by 1 percent a year. Now I see them rising 3 to 4 percent a year over inflation. What has happened? The federal government has started dropping money out of airplanes.” Aid has increased, subsidized (补贴的) loans have become available, and “the universities have gotten the money.” Economist Bryan Caplan, who is writing a book about education, agrees: “It’s a giant waste of resources that will continue as long as the subsidies continue.”

　　F) Promotional literature for colleges and student loans often speaks of debt as an “investment in yourself.” But an investment is supposed to generate income to pay off the loans. More than half of all recent graduates are unemployed or in jobs that do not require a degree, and the amount of student-loan debt carried by households has increased more than five times since 1999. These graduates were told that a diploma was all they needed to succeed, but it won’t even get them out of the spare bedroom at Mom and Dad’s. For many, the most visible result of their four years is the loan payments, which now average hundreds of dollars a month on loan balances in the tens of thousands.

　　G) It’s true about the money—sort of. College graduates now make 80 percent more than people who have only a high-school diploma, and though there are no precise estimates, the wage premium (高出的部分) for an outstanding school seems to be even higher. But that’s not true of every student. It’s very easy to spend four years majoring in English literature and come out no more employable than you were before you went in. Conversely, chemical engineers straight out of school can easily make almost four times the wages of an entry-level high-school graduate.

　　H) James Heckman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist, has examined how the returns on education break down for individuals with different backgrounds and levels of ability. “Even with these high prices, you’re still finding a high return for individuals who are bright and motivated,” he says. On the other hand, “if you’re not college ready, then the answer is no, it’s not worth it.” Experts tend to agree that for the average student, college is still worth it today, but they also agree that the rapid increase in price is eating up more and more of the potential return. For borderline students, tuition (学费) rise can push those returns into negative territory.

　　I) Everyone seems to agree that the government, and parents, should be rethinking how we invest in higher education—and that employers need to rethink the increasing use of college degrees as crude screening tools for jobs that don’t really require college skills. “Employers seeing a surplus of college graduates and looking to fill jobs are just adding that requirement,” says Vedder. “In fact, a college degree becomes a job requirement for becoming a bar-tender.”

　　J) We have started to see some change on the finance side. A law passed in 2007 allows many students to cap their loan payment at 10 percent of their income and forgives any balance after 25 years. But of course, that doesn’t control the cost of education; it just shifts it to taxpayers. It also encourages graduates to choose lower-paying careers, which reduces the financial return to education still further. “You’re subsidizing people to become priests and poets and so forth,” says Heckman. “You may think that’s a good thing, or you may not.” Either way it will be expensive for the government.

　　K) What might be a lot cheaper is putting more kids to work. Caplan notes that work also builds valuable skills—probably more valuable for kids who don’t naturally love sitting in a classroom. Heckman agrees wholeheartedly: “People are different, and those abilities can be shaped. That’s what we’ve learned, and public policy should recognize that.”

　　L) Heckman would like to see more apprenticeship-style (学徒式) programs, where kids can learn in the workplace—learn not just specific job skills, but the kind of “soft skills,” like getting to work on time and getting along with a team, that are crucial for career success. “It’s about having mentors (指导者) and having workplace-based education,” he says. “Time and again I’ve seen examples of this kind of program working.”

　　M) Ah, but how do we get there from here? With better public policy, hopefully, but also by making better individual decisions.”Historically markets have been able to handle these things,” says Vedder, “and I think eventually markets will handle this one. If it doesn’t improve soon, people are going to wake up and ask,‘Why am I going to college?’”

　　46. Caplan suggests that kids who don’t love school go to work.

　　47. An increasing number of families spend more money on houses in a good school district.

　　48. Subsidized loans to college students are a huge waste of money, according to one economist.

　　49. More and more kids find they fare worse with a college diploma.

　　50. For those who are not prepared for higher education, going to college is not worth it.

　　51. Over the years the cost of a college education has increased almost by 100%.

　　52. A law passed recently allows many students to pay no more than one tenth of their income for their college loans.

　　53. Middle-class Americans have highly valued a good education.

　　54. More kids should be encouraged to participate in programs where they can learn not only job skills but also social skills.

　　55. Over fifty percent of recent college graduates remain unemployed or unable to find a suitable job.

　　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 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.

　　A recent global survey of 2,000 high-net-worth individuals found that 60% were not planning on a traditional retirement. Among U.S. participants, 75% expected to continue working in some capacity even after stepping away from full-time jobs. “Many of these people made their wealth by doing something they’re passionate (有激情的) about,” says Daniel Egan, head of behavioral finance for Barclays Wealth Americas. “Given the choice, they prefer to continue working.” Barclays calls these people “nevertirees.”

　　Unlike many Americans compelled into early retirement by company restrictions, the average nevertiree often has no one forcing his hand. If 106-year-old investor Irving Kahn, head of his own family firm, wants to keep coming to work every day, who’s going to stop him? Seventy-eight-year-old Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s job security is guaranteed in the Constitution.

　　It may seem that these elderly people are trying to cheat death. In fact, they are. And it’s working. Howard Friedman, a professor at UC Riverside, found in his research that those who work hardest and are successful in their careers often live the longest lives. “People are generally being given bad advice to slow down, take it easy, stop worrying, and retire to Florida,” he says. He described one study participant, still working at the age of 100, who was recently disappointed to see his son retire.

　　“We’re beginning to see a change in how people view retirement,” says George Leeson, co-director of the Institute of Population Ageing at Oxford. Where once retirement was seen as a brief reward after a long struggle through some miserable job, it is now akin (近似) to being cast aside. What Leeson terms “the Warren Buffett effect” is becoming more broadly appealing as individuals come to “view retirement as not simply being linked to economic productivity but also about contribution.”

　　Observers are split on whether this is a wholly good thing. On the one hand, companies and financial firms can benefit from the wisdom of a resilient (坚韧的) chief. On the other, the new generation can find it more difficult to advance—an argument that typically holds little sway to a nevertiree.

　　56. What do we learn about the so-called”nevertirees”?

　　A) They are passionate about making a fortune.

　　B) They have no choice but to continue working.

　　C) They love what they do and choose not to retire.

　　D) They will not retire unless they are compelled to.

　　57. What do Irving Kahn and Ruth Bader Ginsburg have in common?

　　A) Neither of them is subject to forced retirement.

　　B) Neither of them desires reward for their work.

　　C) Both cling to their positions despite opposition.

　　D) Both are capable of coping with heavy workloads.

　　58. What is the finding of Howard Friedman’s research?

　　A) The harder you work, the bigger your fortune will be.

　　B) The earlier you retire, the healthier you will be.

　　C) Elderly people have to slow down to live longer.

　　D) Working at an advanced age lengthens people’s life.

　　59. What is the traditional view of retirement according to the passage?

　　A) It means a burden to the younger generation.

　　B) It is a symbol of a mature and civilized society.

　　C) It is a compensation for one’s life-long hard work.

　　D) It helps increase a nation’s economic productivity.

　　60. What do critics say about “nevertirees”?

　　A) They are an obstacle to a company’s development.

　　B) They lack the creativity of the younger generation.

　　C) They cannot work as efficiently as they used to.

　　D) They prevent young people from getting ahead.

　　Passage Two

　　Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.

　　When we talk about Americans barely into adulthood who are saddled with unbearable levels of debt, the conversation is almost always about student loan debt. But there’s a growing body of evidence suggesting that today’s young adults are also drowning in credit-card debt—and that many of them will take this debt to their graves.

　　More than 20% overspent their income by more than $100 every single month. Since they haven’t built up their credit histories yet, it’s a safe bet that these young adults are paying relatively high interest rates on the resulting credit card debt.

　　Although many young people blame “socializing” as a barrier to saving money, most of them aren’t knocking back $20 drinks in trendy (时尚的) lounges. They’re struggling with much more daily financial demands.

　　To a disturbingly large extent, the young and the broke are relying on credit cards to make it until their next payday. This obviously isn’t sustainable in the long run, and it’s going to put a huge drag on their spending power even after they reach their peak earning years, because they’ll still be paying interest on that bottle of orange juice or box of spaghetti (意式面条) they bought a decade earlier.

　　A new study out of Ohio State University found that young adults are accumulating credit card debt at a more rapid rate than other age groups, and that they’re slower at paying it off. “If what we found continues to hold true, we may have more elderly people with substantial financial problems in the future,” warns Lucia Dunn, professor of economics at Ohio State. “If our findings persist, we may be faced with a financial crisis among elderly people who can’t pay off their credit cards.”

　　Dunn says a lot of these young people are never going to get out from under their credit card debt. “Many people are borrowing on credit cards so heavily that payoff rates at these levels are not sufficient to recover their credit card debt by the end of their life, which could have loss implications for the credit card issuing banks.”

　　61. What is the main idea of the first paragraph?

　　A) Many young Americans will never be able to pay off their debts.

　　B) Credit cards play an increasingly important role in college life.

　　C) Credit cards are doing more harm than student loans.

　　D) The American credit card system is under criticism.

　　62. Why do young people have to pay a higher interest on their credit card debt?

　　A) They tend to forget about the deadlines.

　　B) They haven’t developed a credit history.

　　C) They are often unable to pay back in time.

　　D) They are inexperienced in managing money.

　　63. What is said to be the consequence of young adults relying on credit cards to make ends meet?

　　A) It will place an unnecessary burden on society.

　　B) It will give them no motivation to work hard.

　　C) It will exert psychological pressure on them.

　　D) It will affect their future spending power.

　　64. What will happen to young adults if their credit card debt keeps accumulating according to Lucia Dunn?

　　A) They will have to pay an increasingly higher interest rate.

　　B) They may experience a financial crisis in their old age.

　　C) Their quality of life will be affected.

　　D) Their credit cards may be cancelled.

　　65. What does Lucia Dunn think might be a risk for the credit card issuing banks?

　　A) They go bankrupt as a result of over-lending.

　　B) They lose large numbers of their regular clients.

　　C) Their clients leave their debts unpaid upon death.

　　D) Their interest rates have to be reduced now and then.

　　Part IV Translation (30 minutes)

　　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.

　　许多人喜欢中餐。在中国，烹饪不仅被视为一种技能，而且也被视为一种艺术。精心准备的中餐既可口又好看。烹饪技艺和配料在中国各地差别很大。但好的烹饪都有一个共同点，总是要考虑到颜色、味道、口感和营养(nutrition)。由于食物对健康至关重要，好的厨师总是努力在谷物、肉类和蔬菜之间取得平衡，所以中餐既味美又健康。