四级真题.docx

四级真题.docx

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四级真题

2017年12月大学英语四级考试真题（第1套）

PartIWriting（30minutes）

Directions:

Forthispart,youareallowed30minutestowriteashortessayonhowtobesthandletherelationshipbetweenparentsandchildren.Youshouldwriteatleast120wordsbutnomorethan180words.

PartIIIReadingComprehension（40minutes）SectionA

Aratorpigeonmightnotbetheobviouschoicetotendtosomeonewhoissick,butthesecreatureshavesome26skillsthatcouldhelpthetreatmentofhumandiseases.

Pigeonsareoftenseenasdirtybirdsandanurban27,buttheyarejustthelatestinalonglineofanimalsthathavebeenfoundtohaveabilitiestohelphumans.Despitehavingabrainnobiggerthanthe28ofyourindexfinger,pigeonshaveaveryimpressive29__memory.Recentlyitwasshownthattheycouldbetrainedtobeasaccurateashumansatdetectingbreastcancerinimages.

Ratsareoften30withspreadingdiseaseratherthan31it,butthislong-tailedanimalishighly32.Insidearat'snoseareupto1,000differenttypesofolfactoryreceptors（嗅觉感受器）,whereashumansonlyhave100to200types.Thisgivesratstheabilitytodetect__33smells.Asaresult,someratsarebeingputtoworktodetectTB（肺结核）.Whentheratsdetectthesmell,theystopandrubtheirlegsto34asampleisinfected.

Traditionally,ahundredsampleswouldtakelabtechniciansmorethantwodaysto35butforaratittakeslessthan20minutes.Thisratdetectionmethoddoesn'trelyonspecialistequipment.Itisalsomoreaccurate—theratsareabletofindmoreTBinfectionsand,therefore,savemorelives.

A）associatedI）slight

B）examineJ）specify

C）indicateK）superior

D）nuisanceL）suspicious

E）peakM）tip

F）preventingN）treated

G）prohibitingO）visual

H）sensitive

SectionB

DoIn-ClassExamsMakeStudentsStudyHarder?

Researchsuggeststheymaystudymorebroadlyfortheunexpectedratherthansearchforanswers.

[A]Ihavealwaysbeenapoortest-taker.SoitmayseemratherstrangethatIhavereturnedtocollegetofinishthedegreeIleftundonesomefourdecadesago.IammakingmywaythroughColumbiaUniversity,surroundedbystudentswhoquicklysupplytheverbalanswerwhileIamstillprocessingthequestion.

[B]Sincethereisnowayformetoavoidexams,Iamcurrentlyquestioningwhatkindarethemosttaxingandultimatelybeneficial.Ihavealreadysweatedthroughnumerousin-classmidtermsandfinals,andnowIhaveaprofessorwhoissuestake-homeones.IwasexcitedwhenIlearnedthis,figuringIhadafullweektodotheresearch,readthetexts,andwriteitallup.Infact,Iwasstillrewritingmymidtermthemorningitwasdue.TosayIhadlostthethreadisputtingitmildly.

[C]AsIwassufferingthroughmyweekofanxiety,overthinkingthematerialandguessingmygraspofit,Ididsomeofmyownpollingamongstudentsandprofessors.DavidEisenbach,whoteachesapopularclassonU.S.presidentsatColumbia,prefersthein-classvariety.Hebelievesstudentsultimatelylearnmoreandencouragesthemtoformstudygroups.“Thatwaytheysocializeoverhistoryoutsidetheclass,whichwouldn’thappenwithoutthepressureofanin-classexam,”heexplained,“Furthermore,in-classexamsforcestudentstolearnhowtoperformunderpressure,andessentialworkskill.”

[D]Healsosaysthereislesschanceofcheatingwiththein-classvariety.In2012,125studentsatHarvardwerecaughtupinascandalwhenitwasdiscoveredtheyhadcheatedonatake-homeexamforaclassentitled“IntroductionToCongress.”Somecollegeshavewhattheycallan“honorcode,”thoughifyouaresmartenoughtogetintotheseschools,youareeithersmartenoughtogetaroundanycodesorhopefully,tooethicaltoconsiderdoingso.AsIsatblockedandcluelessfortwosoliddays,ImomentarilywonderedifIcouldn’tjustcallanexpertonthesubjectmatterwhichIwastackling,orsomeonewhotooktheclasspreviously,togetmegoing.

[E]FollowingtheHarvardscandal,MaryMiller,theformerdeanofstudentsatYale,madeanimpassionedappealtoherschool’sprofessorstorefrainfromtake-honeexams.“Studentsriskhealthandwellbeing,aswellasperformanceinotherend-of-termwork,whenfacultyofferstake-homeexamswithoutclear,time-limitedboundaries,”shetoldme.“Researchnowshowsthatregularquizzes,shortessays,andotherassignmentsoverthecourseofatermbetterenhancelearningandretention.”

[F]Mostcollegeprofessorsagreethekindofexamtheychooselargelydependsonthesubject.Aquantitative-basedone,forexample,isunlikelytobesenthome,whereonecouldasktheirolderbrothersandsisterstohelp.Vocational-typeclasses,suchascomputerscienceorjournalism,ontheotherhand,areoftenmoreresearch-orientedandlendthemselvestotake-hometesting.ChrisKoch,whoteaches“HistoryofBroadcastJournalism”atMontgomeryCommunityCollegeinRockville,Maryland,pointsoutthatreportingisaboutinvestigationratherthanthememorizationofminutedetails.“Inmyfield,it’snotwhatyouknow—it’swhatyouknowhowtofindout,”saysKoch.“Thereiswaytoomuchinformation,andmorecomingallthetime,foranyonetoremember.Iwantmystudentstosearchouttheanswerstoquestionsbyusingalltheresourcesavailabletothem.

[G]Students’test-formpreferencesvary,too,oftendependingonthesubjectandcoursedifficulty.“Iprefertake-homeessaysbecauseitisthenreallyaboutthewriting,soyouhavetimetoeditanddomoreresearch,”saysElizabethDresser,ajunioratBarnard.Thenthereisthestressfactor.FrancescaHaass,asenioratMiddlebury,says,“Ifindthein-classonesaremorestressfulintheshortterm,butthereisimmediatereliefasyouswallowinformationlikemad,andthenyougettoforgetitall.Take-homesrequirethoughtfulengagementwhichcanleadtolongertermstressasthereisneveramomentwhenthetimeisup.”Meanwhile,OliviaRubin,asophomoreatEmory,saysshehardlyevenconsiderstake-homestrueexams.“Ifyouunderstandthematerialandhavetheabilitytoarticulate（说出）yourthoughts,theyshouldbeabreeze.”

[H]Howstudentsultimatelyhandlestressmaydependontheirpersonaltest-takingabilities.Therearepeoplewhoalwayswaituntilthelastminute,andmakeitmuchharderthanitneedstobe.Andthentherethosewho,notknowingwhatquestionsarecomingatthem,andhavingnoresourcestoreferto,canfreeze.Andthentherearewerarefolkswhofitboththosedescriptions.

[I]Yes,myadvancedagemustfactorintotheequation（等式）,inpartbecauseofmyinabilityto

accesstheinformationasquickly.AsanotherreturningstudentatColumbia,KateMarber,told

me,“Wearelearningnotonlyallthisinformation,butessentiallyhowtolearnagain.Our

fellowstudentshavejustcomeoutofhighschool.Alothaschangedsincewewerelastin

school.”

[J]Ifnothingelse,thesituationhasgivenmycollegesonandmesomethingtoshare,WhenI

askedhisopiniononthismatter,heresponded,“Ilikein-classexamsbecausethetimeis

alreadyreserved,asopposedtousingmyfreetimeathometoworkonatest,”heresponded.

Itseemstomethatacompromisewouldbereceivingtheexamquestionsadayortwoin

advance,andthendoingtheactualtestinclassthetickingclockoverhead.

[K]Betteryet,howaboutwhatoneHunterCollegeprofessorreportedlydidrecentlyforherfinal

exam:

Sheencouragedtheclassnottostressorevenstudy,promisingthat,“Itisgoingtobea

pieceofcake.”Whenthestudentscamein,sharpenedpencilsinhand,therewasnotablue

bookinsight.Rather,theysawalargechocolatecakeandtheyeachweregivenaslice.

36.Elderlystudentsfindithardtokeepupwiththerapidchangesineducation.

37.Somebelievetake-homeexamsmayaffectstudents'performanceinothercourses.

38.Certainprofessorsbelievein-classexamsareultimatelymorehelpfultostudents.

39.In-classexamsarebelievedtodiscouragecheatinginexams.

40.Theauthorwashappytolearnshecoulddosomeexamsathome.

41.Studentswhoputofftheirworkuntilthelastmomentoftenfindtheexamsmoredifficultthan

theyactuallyare.

42.Differentstudentsmaypreferdifferenttypesofexams.

43.Mostprofessorsagreewhethertogiveanin-classoratake-homeexamdependsontypeof

coursebeingtaught.

44.Theauthordroppedoutofcollegesomefortyyearsago.

45.Somestudentsthinktake-homeexamswilleatuptheirfreetime.

SectionC

Thatpeopleoftenexperiencetroublesleepinginadifferentbedinunfamiliarsurroundingsisaphenomenonknownasthe“first-night”effect.Ifapersonstaysinthesameroomthefollowingnighttheytendtosleepmoresoundly.YukaSasakiandhercolleaguesatBrownUniversitysetouttoinvestigatetheoriginsofthiseffect.

Dr.Sasakiknewthefirst-nighteffectprobablyhassomethingtodowithhowhumansevolved.Thepuzzlewaswhatbenefitwouldbegainedfromitwhenperformancemightbeaffectedthefollowingday.Shealsoknewfrompreviousworkconductedonbirdsanddolphinsthattheseanimalsputhalfoftheirbrainstosleepatatimesothattheycanrestwhileremainingalertenoughtoavoidpredators（捕食者）.Thisledhertowonderifpeoplemightbedoingthesamething.Totakeacloserlook,herteamstudied35healthypeopleastheysleptintheunfamiliarenvironmentoftheuniversity’sDepartmentofPsychologicalSciences.Theparticipantseachsleptinthedepartmentfortwonightsandwerecarefullymonitoredwithtechniquesthatlookedattheactivityoftheirbrains.Dr.Sasakifound,asexpected,theparticipantssleptlesswellontheirfirstnightthantheydidontheirsecond,takingmorethantwiceaslongtofallasleepandsleepinglessoverall.D