2013年12月四级听力模拟试题二

　　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 2 with a single line through the centre.

　　11.W: Well wait here by the door and look at the sea. We can change our rooms if we dont like them.

　　M: Oh, I would like a room facing the sea. Ive been looking forward to that ever since we left London.

　　Q: Where does the conversation most probably take place?

　　12.M: Well be here in London sitting in a newspaper office or teaching in a classroom full of chalk dust.

　　W: Well, George, youll be able to go out in the sunshine sometimes. You are a journalist. Im the one who has to stay in the classroom. Dont forget.

　　Q: What is the womans profession?

　　13.W: Do you think you could give me a ride to the library tonight?

　　M: Id like to, but Im heading in the other direction. Im meeting Jean tonight...

　　Q: What does the man mean?

　　14.M: When do you want to start working?

　　W: Right away. Yesterday I spent all day long making phone calls. But nobody wanted a secretary.

　　Q: What can we learn from the conversation?

　　15.W: Whats the matter with your appetite?

　　M: Im not used to eating in the middle of the night.

　　Q: What does the man mean?

　　16.M: You know Ive been watering my plants regularly. But they are still not doing well in my new apartment.

　　W: Maybe instead of keeping them in the corner, you should put them directly in front of the window.

　　Q: What does the woman imply?

　　17.W: Bob, shall I cut your hair for you?

　　M: You must be kidding. Last time you almost made me bald.

　　Q: What does the man imply?

　　18.M: This scarf is nice, but Debbie really wanted a sweater for her birthday.

　　W: I know. But I didnt know her size. So I got this as an alternative.

　　Q: What can be inferred from this conversation?

　　Now you will hear two long conversations.

　　Conversation One

　　M: Excuse me, are you waiting to buy concert tickets?

　　W: Yes, I am. So are all these people in front of me.

　　M: Have you been here long?

　　W: About 45 minutes. Ive moved forward a total of about 3 feet in that time.

　　M: Youre kidding!

　　W: Not at all. There was a couple up ahead of me who got so disgusted they finally gave up and left. They said theyd been waiting for more than an hour.

　　M: Does anyone know whats causing the delay?

　　W: If so, no one is letting us know. It could be that there arent enough people selling tickets this afternoon. Or maybe their computers down. Im sure the concert hasnt been canceled.

　　M: I just hope they dont run out of tickets before I get there.

　　W: That really would be annoying, wouldnt it?

　　M: I guess I should have come before lunch. Or has it been like this all day?

　　W: Apparently it has. In fact, before I came, I tried calling to charge my tickets over the phone, just to avoid this long wait, but theyre not taking phone orders, or checks, or credit cards. Its cash or nothing. And you have to come in person.

　　M: Well, therere two more hours before the ticket office closes. Tickets to a good concert are worth waiting for. So I think Ill just make myself comfortable.

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

　　19.What are the two speakers doing?

　　20.Why did the couple ahead of the woman give up waiting?

　　21.At what time of the day does the conversation most probably take place?

　　Conversation Two

　　W: Ok, last night you were supposed to read an article about human bones. Are there any comments about it?

　　M: Well, to begin with, I was surprised to find out there was so much going on in bones. I always assumed they were pretty lifeless.

　　W: Well, thats an assumption many people make. But the fact is that bones are made of dynamic living tissue that requires continuous maintenance and repair.

　　M: Right. Thats one of the things I found so fascinating about the article---the way the bones repair themselves.

　　W: Ok. So can you tell us how the bones repair themselves?

　　M: Sure. See, there are two groups of different types of specialized cells in the bone that work together to do it. The first group goes to an area of the bone that needs repair. This group of cells produces the chemical that actually breaks down the bone tissue, and leaves a hole in it. After that the second group of specialized cells comes and produces the new tissue that fills in the hole that was made by the first group.

　　W: Very good. This is a very complex process. In fact, scientists who study human bones dont completely understand it yet. They are still trying to find out how it all actually works. Specifically, because sometimes after the first group of cells leaves a hole in the bone tissue, for some reason, the second group doesnt completely fill in the hole. And this can cause real problems. It can actually lead to a disease in which the bone becomes weak and is easily broken.

　　M: Ok, I get it. So if the scientists can figure out what makes the specialized cells work, maybe they can find a way to make sure the second group of cells completely fills the hole in the bone tissue every time. Thatll prevent the disease from ever occurring.

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

　　22. What is the conversation mainly about?

　　23. What is the function of the first group of specialized cells discussed in the conversation?

　　24. What does the woman say about scientists who study the specialized cells in human bones?

　　25. According to the man, what is one important purpose of studying specialized cells in human bones?

　　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 2 with a single line through the centre.

　　Passage One

　　I had spent my last day in London visiting friends, taking pictures, and doing some last-minute shopping. Among other things, I had bought some presents: a shirt for my brother, a wool blanket for my sister, and a battery-powered alarm clock for my father.

　　After traveling in a crowded bus and waiting in the noisy airport building, I was glad to be sitting in the plane at last. In a few minutes, we would be asked to fasten our seat belts and to stop smoking, and then we would soon be up in the sky on our flight to Berlin.

　　But I had been mistaken. Ten minutes later, instead of enjoying the beauty of the evening sky from high above the clouds, I was sitting in a smoke-filled room with an airline official and a police officer at my side. On the table in front of me was one of my suitcases.

　　The officials were very polite. They asked me to show them my passport, my ticket, and my baggage check. Then I was requested to open the suitcase and to spread out its contents on the table.

　　I did as I was told. The moment I placed the alarm clock on the table, the two officials looked at each other and smiled. Hearing the clock ticking away merrily, I suddenly understood. Someone must have heard the ticking noise coming from my suitcase and thought there was a time bomb hidden in it.

　　Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　26.How did the man spend his last day in London?

　　27.What present did he buy for his father?

　　28.Why did the man get off the plane ten minutes later?

　　Passage Two

　　How many of you drink cola? Nearly everyone. Did you know that cola started out not as a soft drink but as a cure for headaches back in the late 1800s? John S. Pemberton, a druggist from Atlanta, had experimented for many months trying to find a cure for the common headache. He worked in his backyard, mixing and heating different combinations of oils and flavors until he found one that seemed promising. Pemberton bottled the mixture and began selling it in drugstores as concentrated syrup that the customer had to mix with water before drinking.

　　Colas transformation from medicinal syrup to a carbonated soft drink came about quite by accident. One day, a customer came into a drugstore complaining of a headache and asked for a bottle of cola syrup. He wanted to take it right away. So he asked the clerk to mix the medicine while he waited. The clerk, instead of walking to the other end of the counter to get plain water, suggested mixing the syrup with soda water. The customer agreed, and after drinking it, remarked how good it tasted. The clerk continued offering the mix and carbonated cola grew in popularity. Today carbonated cola is sold in most countries around the world. And although they no longer contain the ingredients used to cure headaches, they are still very refreshing.

　　Questions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　29.What is the passage mainly about?

　　30.How was cola sold originally?

　　31.How was cola syrup made into a soft drink?

　　Passage Three

　　One of the most popular myths about the United States in the 19th century was that of the free and simple life of the farmer. It was said that farmers worked hard on their own land to produce whatever their families needed. They might sometimes trade with their neighbors, but in general they could get along just fine by relying on themselves, not on commercial ties with others. This is how Thomas Jefferson idealized the farmer at the beginning of the 19th century. And at that time, this may have been close to the truth, especially on the frontier.

　　But by the mid-century, sweeping changes in agriculture were well underway as farmers began to specialize in the raising of crops such as cotton, corn or wheat. Late in the century, revolutionary advances in farm machinery had vastly increased production of specialized crops and an extensive network of railroads had linked farmers throughout the country to markets in the east and even overseas. By raising and selling specialized crops, farmers could afford more and finer goods and achieve a much higher standard of living---but at a price.

　　Now farmers were no longer dependent just on the weather and on their own efforts. Their lives were increasingly controlled by banks, which had power to grant or deny loans for new machinery, and by the railroads which set the rates for shipping their crops to market. As businessmen, farmers now had to worry about national economic depressions and the influence of world supply and demand on, for example, the price of wheat in Kansas. And so by the end of the 19th century, the era of Jeffersons independent farmer had come to a close.

　　Questions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　32. What is the main topic of the passage?

　　33. According to the passage, what was the major change in agriculture during the 19th century?

　　34. What was one result of the increased use of machinery on farms in the United States?

　　35. According to the passage, why was the world market important for United States agriculture?

　　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 numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 you are required to fill in the missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the main points in your own words. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.

　　Psychologists have found that only about two percent of adults use their creativity, compared with ten percent of seven-year-old children. When five-year olds were tested, the results rose to ninety percent! Curiosity and originality are daily occurrences for the small child, but somehow most of us lose the freedom and flexibility of the child as we grow older. The need to follow directions and do it right plus the many social constraints we put on ourselves prevent us from using our creative potential.

　　It is never too late to tap our creative potential. Some of us, however, find it difficult to think in imaginative and flexible ways because of our set pattern of approaching problems. When we are inflexible in our approach to situations, we close our minds to creative possibilities.

　　Being creative doesnt necessarily mean being a genius. It means looking at situations in a new way or putting something together in a new form that makes sense. Spontaneity is one of the key elements of creativity.

　　If you were to ask someone, Whats half of eight? and received the answer zero, you might laugh and say Thats wrong! But the figure 8 can be visualized as two zeros, one on top of the other, or it can also be seen as two 3s standing face to face.

　　The ability to visualize our environment in new ways opens our perspective and allows us to make all kinds of discoveries. If each of us asked the question why more often and investigated other alternatives to problem solving, our lives would be more interesting and exciting.