2015年12月英语四级真题试卷一

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2015年12月英语四级真题试卷一

　　试题是用于考试的题目，要求按照标准回答。它是命题者按照一定的考核目的编写出来的。下面是小编整理的2015年12月英语四级真题试卷一，一起来看看吧。

2015年12月英语四级真题试卷一

　　2015年12月英语四级真题试卷一1

　　Part I Writing (30 minutes)

　　For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the saying “Learning is a daily experience and lifetime mission.”You can cite examples to illustrate the importance of lifelong learning. You should write at least 120 words but no more than180 words.

　　Part II Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)

　　Section A

　　Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A), B), C) and D), and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.

　　A) They admire the courage of space explorers.

　　B) They enjoyed the movie on space exploration.

　　C) They were going to watch a wonderful movie.

　　D) They like doing scientific exploration very much.

　　2. A) At a gift shop.

　　B) At a graduation ceremony.

　　C) In the office of a travel agency.

　　D) In a school library.

　　3. A) He used to work in the art gallery.

　　B) He does not have a good memory.

　　C) He declined a job offer form the art gallery.

　　D) He is not interested in any part-time jobs.

　　4.A) Susan has been invited to give a lecture tomorrow.

　　B) He will go to the birthday party after the lecture.

　　C) The woman should have informed him earlier.

　　D) He will be unable to attend the birthday party.

　　5.A) Reward those having made good progress.

　　B) Set a deadline for the staff to meet.

　　C) Assign more workers to the project.

　　D) Encourage the staff to work in small groups.

　　6. A) The way to the visitor’s parking.

　　B) The rate for parking in Lot C.

　　C) How far away the parking lot is.

　　D) Where she can leave her car.

　　7. A) He regrets missing the classes.

　　B) He plans to take the fitness classes.

　　C) He is looking forward to a better life.

　　D) He has benefited form exercise.

　　8.A) How to ? work efficiency.

　　B) How to select secretaries.

　　C)The responsibilities of secretaries.

　　D) The secretaries in the man’s company.

　　Conversation One

　　Questions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

　　9.A) It is more difficult to learn than English.

　　B) It is used by more people than English.

　　C) It will be as commonly used as English.

　　D) It will eventually become a world language.

　　10.A) It has words words from many languages,

　　B) Its popularity with the common people.

　　C) The influence of the British Empire.

　　D) The effect of the Industrial Revolution.

　　11.A) It includes a lot of words form other languages.

　　B) It has a growing number of newly coined words,

　　C) It can be easily picked up by overseas travelers.

　　D) It is the largest among all languages in the world.

　　Conversation 2

　　Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

　　12.A) To return some goods.

　　B) To apply for a job.

　　C) To place an order.

　　D) To make a complaint.

　　13. A) He has become somewhat impatient with the woman.

　　B) He is not familiar with the exact details of goods.

　　C) He has not worked in the sales department for long.

　　D) He works on a part-time basis for the company.

　　14. A) It is not his responsibility.

　　B) It will be free for large orders.

　　C) It costs 15 more for express delivery.

　　D) It depends on a number of factors.

　　15.A) Report the information to her superior.

　　B) Pay a visit to the saleswoman in charge.

　　C) Ring back when she comes to a decision.

　　D) Make inquiries with some other companies.

　　Section B

　　Directions:In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D ). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet I with a single line through the centre.

　　Passage One

　　Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　16. A) No one knows exactly where they were ？

　　B) No one knows for sure when thy came into being.

　　C) No one knows for what purpose they were ？

　　D) No one knows what they will ？

　　17. A) Carry ropes across rivers.

　　B) Measure the speed of wind.

　　C) Pass on secret messages.

　　D) Give warnings of danger.

　　18. A) To protect houses against lightning.

　　B) To test the effects of the lightning rod.

　　C) To find out the strength of silk for kites.

　　D) To prove the lightning is electricity.

　　Passage Two

　　Questions 19 to 22 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　19.A) She enjoys teaching languages.

　　B) She can speak several languages.

　　C) She was trained to be an interpreter.

　　D) She was born with a talent for languages.

　　20. A) They acquire an immunity to culture shock.

　　B) They would like to live abroad permanently.

　　C) They want to learn as many foreign languages as possible.

　　D) They have an intense interest in cross-cultural interactions.

　　21.A) She became an expert in horse racing.

　　B) She got a chance to visit several European countries.

　　C) She was able to translate for a German sports judge.

　　D) She learned to appreciate classical music.

　　22. A) Taste the beef and give her comment.

　　B) Take part in a cooking competition.

　　C) Teach vocabulary for food in ?

　　D) Give cooking lessons on ？

　　Passage Three

　　Questions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　23. A) He had only a third-grade education.

　　B) He once threatened to kill his teacher.

　　C) He grew up in a poor ？

　　D) He often helped his ？

　　24.A) Careless.

　　B) Stupid.

　　C) Brave.

　　D) Active.

　　25.A) Write two book reports a week.

　　B) Keep a diary.

　　C) Help with housework.

　　D) Watch education??

　　Section C

　　Directions:In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks with the exact words you have just heard. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.

　　When you look up at the night sky, what do you see?There are other bodies out there besides the moon and stars. One of the most of this is a comet. Comets were formed around the same the earth was formed. They are made up of ice and other frozen liquids and gasses. these dirty snow balls begin to orbit the sun just as the planets do. As a comet gets closer to the sun, some gasses in it begin to unfreeze. They combine with dust particles from the comet to form a huge cloud. As the comet gets even nearer to the sun and solar wind blows the cloud behind the comet thus forming its tail. The tail and generally fuzzy atmosphere around the comet are that can help this phenomenon in the night sky. In any given year，about dozen known comets come close to the sun in their orbits. The average person can’t see them all of course. Usually there is only one or two a year bright enough to be seen with the _________eye. Comet Hale-Bopp discovered in 1995 was an unusually bright comet. Its orbit bought it _________to the earth within 122 million miles of it. But Hale-Bopp came a long way on its earthly visit. It won’t be back for another 4 thousand years or so.

　　Part Ш 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 onAnswer 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.

　　For many Americans, 2013 ended with an unusually bitter cold spell. November and December 36 early snow and bone-chilling temperatures in much of the country, part of a year when, for the first time in two 37 , record-cold days will likely turn out to have outnumbered record-warm ones. But the U.S. was the exception; November was the warmest ever 38 , and current data indicates that 2013 is likely to have been the fourth hottest year on record.

　　Enjoy the snow now, because 39 are good that 2014 will be even hotter, perhaps the hottest year since records have been kept. That’s because, scientists are predicting, 2014 will be an EI Niuo year.

　　EI niuo, Spanish for “the child”, 40 when surface ocean waters in the southern Pacific become abnormally warm. So large is the Pacific, covering 30% of the planet’s surface, that the 41 energy generated by its warming is enough to touch off a series of weather changes around the world. EI Ninos are 42 with abnormally dry conditions in Southeast Asia and Australia. They can lead to extreme rain in parts of North and South America, even as southern Africa 43 dry weather. Marine life may be affected too; EI Ninos can 44 the rising of the cold, nutrient-rich(营养丰富的)water that supports large fish 45 ,and the unusually warm ocean temperatures can destroy coral(珊瑚).

　　注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

　　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 question by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.

　　The Perfect Essay

　　A) Looking back on too many years of education, I can identify one truly impossible teacher. She cared about me, and my intellectual life, even when I didn’t. Her expectations were high—impossibly so. She was an English teacher. She was also my mother.

　　B) When good students turn in an essay, they dream of their instructor returning it to them in exactly the same condition, save for a single word added in the margin of the final page.“Flawless.” This dream came true for me one afternoon in the ninth grade. Of course, I had heard that genius could show itself at an early age, so I was only slightly taken aback that I had achieved perfection at the tender age of 14. Obviously, I did what and professional writer would do; I hurried off to spread the good news. I didn’t get very far. The first person I told was my mother.

　　C) My mother, who is just shy of five feet tall, is normally incredibly soft-spoken, but on the rare occasion when she got angry, she was terrifying. I am not sure if she was more upset by my hubris(得意忘形)or by the fact that my English teacher had let my ego get so out of hand. In and event. My mother and her red pen showed me how deeply flawed a flaw less essay could be. At the time, I am sure she thought she was teaching me about mechanics, transitions(过渡), structure, style and voice. But what I learned, and what stuck with me through my time teaching writing at Harvard, was a deeper lesson about the nature of creative criticism.

　　D) First off, it hurts. Genuine criticism, the type that leaves a lasting mark on you as a writer, also leaves an existential imprint(印记)on you as a person. I have heard people say that a writer should never take criticism personally. I say that we should never listen to these people.

　　E) Criticism, at its best, is deeply personal, and gets to the heart of why we write the way we do. The intimate nature of genuine criticism implies something about who is able to give it, namely, someone who knows you well enough to show you how your mental life is getting in the way of good writing. Conveniently, they are also the people who care enough to see you through this painful realization. For me it took the form of my first, and I hope only, encounter with writer’s block—I was not able to produce anything for three years.

　　F) Franz Kafka once said; “Writing is utter solitude(独处), the descent into the cold abyss(深渊)of oneself.” My mother’s criticism had shown me that Kafka is right about the cold abyss, and when you make the introspective(内省的)descent that writing requires you are not always pleased by what you find. But, in the years that followed, her sustained tutoring suggested that Kafka might be wrong about the solitude, I was lucky enough to find a critic and teacher who was willing to make the journey of writing with me. “It is a thing of no great difficulty.”according to Plutarch, “to raise objections against another man’s speech. it is a very easy matter, but to produce a better in its place is a work extremely troublesome.” I am sure I wrote essays in the later years of high school without my mother’s guidance, but I can’t recall them. What I remember, however, is how she took up the“extremely troublesome”work of ongoing criticism.

　　G) There are two ways to interpret Plutarch when he suggests that a critic should be able to produce“a better in its place.”In a straightforward sense, he could mean that a critic must be more talented than the artist she critiques(评论).My mother was well covered on this count. But perhaps Plutarch is suggesting something slightly different, something a bit closer to Marcus Cicero’s claim that one should“criticize by creation, not by finding fault.”Genuine criticism creates a precious opening for an author to become better on his own terms—a process that is often extremely painful, but also almost always meaningful.

　　H) My mother said she would help me with my writing, but first I had to help myself. For each assignment, I was to write the best essay I could. Real criticism is not meant to find obvious mistakes, so if she found any—the type I could have found on my own—I had to start from scratch. From scratch. Once the essay was“flawless,” she would take an evening to walk me through my errors. That was when true criticism, the type that changed me as a person, began.

　　I) She criticized me when I included little-known references and professional jargon(行话). She had no patience for brilliant but irrelevant figures of speech.“Writers can’t bluff(虚张声势)their way through ignorance.” That was news to me—I would need to find another way to structure my daily existence.

　　J) She trimmed back my flowery language, drew lines through my exclamation marks and argued for the value of restraint in expression.“John,” she almost whispered. I leaned in to hear her: “I can’t hear you when you shout at me.” So I stopped shouting and bluffing, and slowly my writing improved.

　　K) Somewhere along the way I set aside my hopes of writing that flawless essay. But perhaps I missed something important in my mother’s lessons about creativity and perfection. Perhaps the point of writhing the flawless essay was not to give up, but to never willingly finish. Whitman repeatedly reworked“song of Myself” between 1855 and 1891. Repeatedly. We do our absolute best with a piece of writing, and come as close as we can to the ideal. And, for the time being, we settle. In critique, however, we are forced to depart, to give up the perfection we thought we had achieved for the chance of being even a little bit better. This is the lesson I took from my mother: If perfection were possible, it would not be motivating.

　　注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

　　46. The author was advised against the improper use of figures of speech.

　　47. The author’s mother taught him a valuable lesson by pointing out lots of flaws in his seemingly perfect essay.

　　48. A writer should polish his writing repeatedly so as to get closer to perfection.

　　49. Writers may experience periods of time in their life when they just can’t produce anything.

　　50. The author was not much surprised when his school teacher marked his essay as“flawless”.

　　51. Criticizing someone’s speech is said to be easier than coming up with a better one.

　　52. The author looks upon his mother as his most demanding and caring instructor.

　　53. The criticism the author received from his mother changed his as a person.

　　54. The author gradually improved his writing by avoiding fancy language.

　　55. Constructive criticism gives an author a good start to improve his writing.

　　Section C

　　Passage One

　　Questions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.

　　The wallet is heading for extinction. As a day-to-day essential, it will die off with the generation who read print newspapers. The kind of shopping-where you hand over notes and count out change in return—now happens only in the most minor of our retail encounters，like buying a bar of chocolate or a pint of milk from a comer shop. At the shops where you spend any real money, that money is increasingly abstracted. And this is more and more true, the higher up the scale you go. At the most cutting-edge retail stores—Victoria Beckham on Dover Street, for instance—you don’t go and stand at any kind of cash register when you decide to pay. The staff are equipped with iPads to take your payment while you relax on a sofa.

　　Which is nothing more or less than excellent service, if you have the money. But across society, the abstraction of the idea of cash makes me uneasy. Maybe I’m just old-fashioned. But earning money isn’t quick or easy for most of us. Isn’t it a bit weird that spending it should happen in half a blink (眨眼) of an eye? Doesn’t a wallet—that time-honoured Friday-night feeling of pleasing, promising fatness—represent something that matters?

　　But I’ll leave the economics to the experts. What bothers me about the death of the wallet is the change it represents in our physical environment. Everything about the look and feel of a wallet—the way the fastenings and materials wear and tear and loosen with age, the plastic and paper and gold and silver, and handwritten phone numbers and printed cinema tickets—is the very opposite of what our world is becoming. The opposite of a wallet is a smartphone of an iPad. The rounded edges, cool glass, smooth and unknowable as pebble (鹅卵石). Instead of digging through pieces of paper and peering into corners, we move our fingers left and right. No more counting out coins. Show your wallet, if you still have one. It may not be here much longer.

　　56. What is happening to the wallet?

　　A) It is disappearing.

　　C) it is becoming costly.

　　B) It is being fattened.

　　D) It is changing in style.

　　57. How are business transactions done in big modern stores?

　　A) Individually.

　　C) In the abstract.

　　B) Electronically.

　　D) Via a cash register.

　　58. What makes the author feel uncomfortable nowadays?

　　A) Saving money is becoming a thing of the past.

　　B) The pleasing Friday-night feeling is fading.

　　C) Earning money is getting more difficult.

　　D) Spending money is so fast and easy.

　　59. Why does the author choose to write about what’s happening to the wallet?

　　A) It represents a change in the modern world.

　　B) It has something to do with everybody’s life.

　　C) It marks the end of a time-honoured tradition.

　　D) It is the concern of contemporary economists.

　　60.What can we infer from the passage about the author?

　　A)He is resistant to social changes.

　　B)He is against technological progress.

　　C)He feels reluctant to part with the traditional wallet.

　　D)He fells insecure in the ever-changing modern world.

　　Passage Two

　　Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.

　　Everybody sleeps,but what people stay up late to catch—or wake up early in order not to miss—varies by culture.From data collected,it seems the things that cause us to lose the most sleep,on average,are sporting events,time changes,and holidays.

　　Around the world, people changed sleep patterns thanks to the start or end of daylight savings time. Russians, for example, began to wake up about a half-hour later each day after President Vladimir Putin shifted the country permanently to “winter time”starting on October 26.

　　Russia’s other late nights and early mornings generally correspond to public holidays. On New Year’s Eve, Russians have the world’s latest bedtime, hitting the hay at around 3:30 am.

　　Russians also get up an hour later on International Women’s Day, the day for treating and celebrating female relatives.

　　Similarly, Americans’ late nights late mornings, and longest sleeps fall on three-day weekends.

　　Canada got the least sleep of the year the night it beat Sweden in the Olympic hockey(冰球)final.

　　The World Cup is also chiefly responsible for sleep deprivation(剥夺), The worst night for sleep in the U.K. was the night of the England-Italy match on June 14. Brits stayed up a half-hour later to watch it, and then they woke up earlier than usual the next morning thanks to summer nights, the phenomenon in which the sun barely sets in northern countries in the summertime. That was nothing, though, compared to Germans, Italians, and the French, who stayed up around an hour and a half later on various days throughout the summer to watch the Cup.

　　It should be made clear that not everyone has a device to record their sleep patterns, in some of these nations, it’s likely that only the richest people do. And people who elect to track their sleep may try to get more sleep than the average person. Even if that’s the case, though, the above findings are still striking, If the most health-conscious among us have such deep swings in our shut-eye levels throughout the year, how much sleep are the rest of us losing?

　　注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

　　61. What does the author say about people’s sleeping habits?

　　A) They are culture-related

　　C)They change with the seasons.

　　B) They affect people’s health.

　　D)They vary from person to person.

　　62.What do we learn about the Russians regarding sleep?

　　A) They don’t fall asleep until very late.

　　B) They don’t sleep much on weekends.

　　C) They get less sleep on public holidays.

　　D) They sleep longer than people elsewhere.

　　63.What is the major cause for Europeans’ loss of sleep?

　　A) The daylight savings time.

　　B) The colorful night life.

　　C) The World Cup.

　　D) The summertime.

　　64.What is the most probable reason for some rich people to use a device to record their patterns?

　　A) They have trouble falling asleep.

　　B) They want to get sufficient sleep.

　　C) They are involved in a sleep research.

　　D) They want to go to bed on regular hours.

　　65. What does the author imply in the last paragraph?

　　A) Sleeplessness does harm to people’s health.

　　B) Few people really know the importance of sleep.

　　C) It is important to study our sleep patterns.

　　D) Average people probably sleep less than the rich.

　　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.

　　云南省的丽江古镇是中国著名的旅游目的地之一。那里的生活节奏比大多数中国的城市都要缓慢。丽江到处都是美丽的自然风光，众多的.少数民族同胞提供了各式各样，丰富多彩的文化让游客体验。历史上，丽江还以“爱之城”而闻名。当地人中流传着许多关于人生，为爱而死的故事。如今，在中外游客眼中，这个古镇被视为爱情和浪漫的天堂。

　　2015年12月英语四级真题试卷一2

　　Part II Listening Comprehension (25 minutes)

　　Section A

　　Directions: In this section, you will hear three news reports. At the end of each news report, you will hear two or three questions. Both the news report and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.

　　Questions 1 and 2 will be based on the following news item.

　　1. A) Christmas-time attacks made by Somali rebels.

　　B) An explosion at a bus station in central Nairobi.

　　C) The killing of more than 70 Ugandans in Kampala.

　　D) Blasts set off by a Somali group in Uganda’s capital.

　　2. A) On Christmas Eve.

　　C) During a security check.

　　B) Just before midnight.

　　D) In the small hours of the morning.

　　Questions 3 and 4 will be based on the following news item.

　　3. A) It is likely to close many of its stores.

　　B) It is known for the quality of its goods.

　　C) It remains competitive in the recession.

　　D) It will expand its online retail business.

　　4. A) Expand its business beyond groceries.

　　B) Fire 25,000 of its current employees.

　　C) Cut its DVD publishing business.

　　D) Sell the business for one pound.

　　Questions 5 to 7 will be based on the following news item.

　　5. A) All taxis began to use meters.

　　B) All taxis got air conditioning.

　　C) Advertisements were allowed on taxis.

　　D) Old taxis were replaced with new cabs.

　　6. A) A low interest loan scheme.

　　C) Taxi passengers’ complaints.

　　B) Environmentalists’ protests.

　　D) Permission for car advertising.

　　7. A) There are no more irregular practices.

　　B) All new cabs provide air-conditioning.

　　C) New cabs are all equipped with meters.

　　D) New legislation protects consumer rights.

　　Section B

　　Directions: In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of each conversation, you will hear four questions. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.

　　Conversation One

　　Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

　　8. A) It has a partnership with LCP.

　　C) It specializes in safety from leaks.

　　B) It is headquartered in London.

　　D) It has a chemical processing plant.

　　9. A) He is a chemist.

　　C) He is a safety inspector.

　　B) He is a salesman.

　　D) He is Mr. Grand’s friend.

　　10. A) The public relations officer.

　　C) Director of the safety department.

　　B) Mr. Grand’s personal assistant.

　　D) Head of the personnel department.

　　11. A) Wait for Mr. Grand to call back.

　　B) Leave a message for Mr. Grand.

　　C) Provide details of their products and services.

　　D) Send a comprehensive description of their work.

　　Conversation Two

　　Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

　　12. A) Teacher.

　　B) Journalist.

　　C) Editor.

　　D) Typist.

　　13. A) Some newly discovered scenic spot.

　　B) Big changes in the Amazon valley.

　　C) A new railway under construction.

　　D) The beautiful Amazon rainforests.

　　14. A) In news weeklies.

　　C) In newspapers’ Sunday editions.

　　B) In a local evening paper.

　　D) In overseas editions of U.S. magazines.

　　15. A) To become a professional writer.

　　C) To get her life story published soon.

　　B) To be employed by a newspaper.

　　D) To sell her articles to a news service.

　　Section C

　　Directions: In this section, you will hear three passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.

　　Passage One

　　Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　16. A) She is both a popular and a highly respected author.

　　B) She is the first writer to focus on the fate of slaves.

　　C) She is the most loved African novelist of all times.

　　D) She is the most influential author since the 1930’s.

　　17. A) The Book Critics Circle Award.

　　C) The Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

　　B) The Nobel Prize for literature.

　　D) The National Book Award.

　　18. A) She is a relative of Morrison’s.

　　C) She is a skilled storyteller.

　　B) She is a slave from Africa.

　　D) She is a black woman.

　　Passage Two

　　Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　19. A) They are very generous in giving gifts.

　　B) They refuse gifts when doing business.

　　C) They regard gifts as a token of friendship.

　　D) They give gifts only on special occasions.

　　20. A) They enjoy giving gifts to other people.

　　B) They spend a lot of time choosing gifts.

　　C) They have to follow many specific rules.

　　D) They pay attention to the quality of gifts.

　　21. A) Gift-giving plays an important role in human relationships.

　　B) We must be aware of cultural differences in giving gifts.

　　C) We must learn how to give gifts before going abroad.

　　D) Reading extensively can make one a better gift-giver.

　　Passage Three

　　Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　22. A) She tenderly looked after her sick mother.

　　B) She developed a strong interest in finance.

　　C) She learned to write for financial newspapers.

　　D) She invested in stocks and shares on Wall Street.

　　23. A) She inherited a big fortune from her father.

　　B) She sold her restaurant with a substantial profit.

　　C) She got 7.5 million dollars from her ex-husband.

　　D) She made a wise investment in real estate.

　　24. A) She was dishonest in business dealings.

　　B) She frequently ill-treated her employees.

　　C) She abused animals including her pet dog.

　　D) She was extremely mean with her money.

　　25. A) She carried on her family’s tradition.

　　B) She made huge donations to charities.

　　C) She built a hospital with her mother’s money.

　　D) She made a big fortune from wise investments.

　　Tape Script of Listening Comprehension

　　Section A

　　Questions 1 and 2 will be based on the following news item.

　　Kenyan police say one person was killed and 26 injured in an explosion at a bus station in central Nairobi. The blast hit a bus about to set off for the Ugandan capital Kampala. Last July, the Somali group al-Shabab said it was behind the blasts in the Ugandan capital which killed more than 70 people. Will Ross reports from the Kenyan capital.

　　The explosion happened beside a bus which was about to set off for an overnight journey from Nairobi to the Ugandan capital Kampala. Some eyewitnesses report that a bag was about to be loaded on board, but it exploded during a security check. Windows of the red bus were left smashed, and blood could be seen on the ground beside the vehicle. Just hours earlier, Uganda’s police chief had warned of possible Christmas-time attacks by Somali rebels.

　　1. What is the news report mainly about?

　　2. When did the incident occur?

　　Questions 3 and 4 will be based on the following news item.

　　Woolworths is one of the best known names on the British High Street. It’s been in business nearly a century. Many of its 800 stores are likely to close following the company’s decision to call in administrators after an attempt to sell the business for a token 1 failed.

　　The company has huge debts. The immediate cause for the collapse has been Britain’s slide toward recession, which has cut into consumer spending. However, the business had been in trouble for years.

　　Known for low-priced general goods, Woolworths has struggled in the face of competition from supermarkets expanding beyond groceries and a new generation of internet retailers.

　　Many of the store group’s 25,000 employees are likely to lose their jobs. Some profitable areas such as the DVD publishing business will survive.

　　3. What do we learn about Woolworths from the news report?

　　4. What did Woolworths attempt to do recently?

　　Questions 5 to 7 will be based on the following news item.

　　Cairo is known for its overcrowded roads, irregular driving practices and shaky old vehicles, but also for its air pollution. In recent months, though, environmental studies indicate there have been signs of improvement. That’s due in part to the removal of many of the capital’s old-fashioned black and white taxis. Most of these dated back to the 1960s and 70s and were in a poor state of repair.

　　After new legislation demanded their removal from the roads, a low interest loan scheme was set up with three Egyptian banks so drivers could buy new cars. The government pays about $900 for old ones to be discarded and advertising on the new vehicles helps cover repayments.

　　The idea has proved popular with customers ― they can now travel in air-conditioned comfort and because the new cabs are metered, they don’t have to argue over fares. Banks and car manufacturers are glad for the extra business in tough economic times. As for the taxi drivers, most are delighted to be behind the wheel of new cars, although there have been a few complaints about switching from black and white to a plain white colour.

　　5. What change took place in Cairo recently?

　　6. What helped bring about the change?

　　7. Why do customers no longer argue with new cab drivers?

　　Section B

　　Conversation One

　　W: Morning, this is TGC.

　　M: Good morning. Walter Barry here, calling from London. Could I speak to Mr. Grand, please?

　　W: Who’s calling, please?

　　M: Walter Barry, from London.

　　W: What is it about, please?

　　M: Well, I understand that your company has a chemical processing plant. My own company, LCP, Liquid Control Products, is a leader in safety from leaks in the field of chemical processing. I would like to speak to Mr. Grand to discuss ways in which we could help TGC protect itself from such problems and save money at the same time.

　　W: Yes, I see. Well, Mr. Grand is not available just now.

　　M: Can you tell me when I could reach him?

　　W: He’s very busy for the next few days – then he’ll be away in New York. So it’s difficult to give you a time.

　　M: Could I speak to someone else, perhaps?

　　W: Who in particular?

　　M: A colleague for example?

　　W: You’re speaking to his personal assistant. I can deal with calls for Mr. Grand.

　　M: Yes, well, could I ring him tomorrow?

　　W: No, I’m sorry he won’t be free tomorrow. Listen, let me suggest something. You send us details of your products and services, together with references from other companies and then we’ll contact you.

　　M: Yes, that’s very kind of you. I have your address.

　　W: Very good, Mr….

　　M: Barry. Walter Barry from LCP in London.

　　W: Right, Mr. Barry. We look forward to hearing from you.

　　M: Thank you. Goodbye.

　　W: Bye.

　　Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

　　8. What do we learn about the woman’s company?

　　9. What do we learn about the man?

　　10. What is the woman’s position in her company?

　　11. What does the woman suggest the man do?

　　Conversation Two

　　M: You’re going to wear out the computer’s keyboard!

　　W: Oh, hi.

　　M: Do you have any idea what time it is?

　　W: About ten or ten-thirty?

　　M: It’s nearly midnight.

　　W: Really? I didn’t know it was so late.

　　M: Don’t you have an early class to teach tomorrow morning?

　　W: Yes, at seven o’clock. My commuter class, the students who go to work right after their lesson.

　　M: Then you ought to go to bed. What are you writing, anyway?

　　W: An article I hope I can sell.

　　M: Oh, another of your newspaper pieces? What’s this one about?

　　W: Do you remember the trip I took last month?

　　M: The one up to the Amazon?

　　W: Well, that’s what I’m writing about—the new highway and the changes it’s making in the Amazon valley.

　　M: It should be interesting.

　　W: It is. I guess that’s why I forgot all about the time.

　　M: How many articles have you sold now?

　　W: About a dozen so far.

　　M: What kind of newspapers buy them?

　　W: The papers that carry a lot of foreign news. They usually appear in the big Sunday editions where they need a lot of background stories to help fill up the space between the ads.

　　M: Is there any future in it?

　　W: I hope so. There’s a chance I may sell this article to a news service.

　　M: Then your story would be published in several papers, wouldn’t it?

　　W: That’s the idea. And I might even be able to do other stories on a regular basis.

　　M: That would be great.

　　Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

　　12. What is the woman’s occupation?

　　13. What is the woman writing about?

　　14. Where do the woman’s articles usually appear?

　　15. What does the woman expect?

　　Section C

　　Passage One

　　In today’s class, we’ll discuss Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved. As I’m sure you all know, Morrison is both a popular and a highly respected author, and it’s not easy to be both. Born in 1931, Morrison has written some of the most touching and intelligent works on the African-American experience ever written by anyone, and yet to call her an “African-American writer” doesn’t seem to do her justice. In many ways, she’s simply an American writer—and certainly one of our best.

　　Beloved is a truly remarkable work. It was recommended for nearly every major literary prize, including the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and it in fact won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1988. Morrison herself is distinguished for having won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1993.

　　What makes Beloved unique is the skillful, sure way in which Morrison blends intensely personal storytelling and American history, racial themes and gender themes, the experience of Blacks with the experience of all people everywhere, the down-to-earth reality of slavery with a sense of mysterious spirituality.

　　We’ll be paying special attention to these themes as we discuss this work. I’m particularly interested in your views on the relative importance of race and gender in this book. Is it more important that Sethe, the main character, is black or that she’s a woman? Which contributes more to her being? What does Morrison tell us about both?

　　Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　16. What do we learn about Toni Morrison?

　　17. What honor did Toni Morrison receive in 1993?

　　18. What does the speaker tell us about Sethe, the main character in Morrison’s novel Beloved?

　　Passage Two

　　The topic of my talk today is gift-giving. Everybody likes to receive gifts, right? So you may think that gift-giving is a universal custom. But actually, the rules of gift-giving vary quite a lot, and not knowing them can result in great embarrassment. In North America, the rules are fairly simple. If you’re invited to someone’s home for dinner, bring wine or flowers or a small item from your country. Among friends, family, and business associates, we generally don’t give gifts on other occasions except on someone’s birthday and Christmas. The Japanese, on the other hand, give gifts quite frequently, often to thank someone for their kindness. The tradition of gift-giving in Japan is very ancient. There are many detailed rules for everything from the color of the wrapping paper to the time of the gift presentation. And while Europeans don’t generally exchange business gifts, they do follow some formal customs when visiting homes, such as bringing flowers. The type and color of flowers, however, can carry special meaning.

　　Today we have seen some broad differences in gift-giving. I could go on with additional examples. But let’s not miss the main point here: If we are not aware of and sensitive to cultural differences, the possibilities for miscommunication and conflict are enormous. Whether we learn about these differences by reading a book or by living abroad, our goal must be to respect differences among people in order to get along successfully with our global neighbors.

　　Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　19. What does the speaker say about gift-giving of North Americans?

　　20. What do we learn about the Japanese concerning gift-giving?

　　21. What point does the speaker make at the end of the talk?

　　Passage Three

　　Hetty Green was a very spoilt, only child. She was born in Massachusetts, USA, in 1835. Her father was a millionaire businessman. Her mother was often ill, and so from the age of two her father took her with him to work and taught her about stocks and shares. At the age of six she started reading the daily financial newspapers and opened her own bank account.

　　Her father died when she was 21 and she inherited $7.5 million. She went to New York and invested on Wall Street. Hetty saved every penny, eating in the cheapest restaurants for 15 cents. She became one of the richest and most hated women in the world. At 33 she married Edward Green, a multi-millionaire, and had two children, Ned and Sylvia.

　　Hetty’s meanness was well known. She always argued about prices in shops. She walked to the local grocery store to buy broken biscuits which were much cheaper, and to get a free bone for her much loved dog. Once she lost a two-cent stamp and spent the night looking for it. She never bought clothes and always wore the same long, ragged black skirt. Worst of all, when her son Ned fell and injured his knee, she refused to pay for a doctor and spent hours looking for free medical help. In the end Ned lost his leg.

　　When she died in 1916 she left her children $100 million. Her daughter built a hospital with her money.

　　Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　22. What do we learn about Hetty Green as a child?

　　23. How did Hetty Green become rich overnight?

　　24. Why was Hetty Green much hated?

　　25. What do we learn about Hetty’s daughter?

　　参考答案

　　Part II Listening Comprehension

　　Section A

　　1. B 2. C 3. A 4. D 5. D

　　6. A 7. C

　　Section B