12年四级真题.docx

1、12年四级真题2012年6月四级真题Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled On Excessive Packaging following the outline given below. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.1目前许多商品存在过度包装的现象2出现这一现象的原因3我对这一现象的看法和建议On Excess

2、ive PackagingPart II Reading Comprehension(Skimming and scanning)Fifty years ago, they were the latest thing in educational reform: big, modern, suburban high schools with students counted in the thousands. As baby boomers（二战后婴儿潮时期出生的人） came of high-school age, big schools promised economic efficien

3、cy, a greater choice of courses, and, of course, better football teams. Only years later did we understand the trade-offs this involved: the creation of excessive bureaucracies（官僚机构）, the difficulty of forging personal connections between teachers and students. SAT scores began dropping in 1963; tod

4、ay, on average, 30% of students do not complete high school in four years, a figure that rises to 50% in poor urban neighborhoods. While the emphasis on teaching to higher, test-driven standards as set in No Child Left Behind resulted in significantly better performance in elementary (and some middl

5、e) schools, high schools for a variety of reasons seemed have made little progress.Size isnt everything, but it does matter, and the past decade has seen a noticeable countertrend toward smaller schools. This has been fostered, in part, by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has invested $1

6、.8 billion in American high schools, helping to open about 1,000 small schoolsmost of them with about 400 kids each, with an average enrollment of only 150 per grade. About 500 more are on the drawing board. Districts all over the country are taking notice, along with mayors in cities like New York,

7、 Chicago and San Diego. The movement includes independent public charter schools, such as No. 1 BASIS in Tucson, with only 120 high-schoolers and 18 graduates this year. It embraces district-sanctioned magnet schools, such as the Talented and Gifted School, with 198 students, and the Science and Eng

8、ineering Magnet, with 383, which share a building in Dallas, as well as the City Honors School in Buffalo, N.Y., which grew out of volunteer evening seminars for students. And it includes alternative schools with students selected by lottery, such as H-B Woodlawn in Arlington, Va. And most noticeabl

9、e of all, there is the phenomenon of large urban and suburban high schools that have split up into smaller units of a few hundred, generally housed in the same sprawling grounds that once boasted thousands of students all marching to the same band.Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, Calif., is one o

10、f those, ranking No. 423among the top 2% in the countryon NEWSWEEKs annual ranking of Americas top high schools. The success of small schools is apparent in the listings. Ten years ago, when the first NEWSWEEK list based on college-level test participation was published, only three of the top 100 sc

11、hools had graduating classes smaller than 100 students. This year there are 22. Nearly 250 schools on the full Newsweek list of the top 5% of schools nationally had fewer than 200 graduates in 2007.Although many of Hillsdales students came from wealthy households, by the late 1990s average test scor

12、es were sliding and it had earned the unaffectionate nickname（绰号）”Hillsjail.” Jeff Gilbert, a Hillsdale teacher who became principal last year, remembers sitting with other teachers watching students file out of a graduation ceremony and asking one another in astonishments, “How did that student gra

13、duate?” So in 2003 Hillsdale remade itself into three “houses”, romantically named Florence, Marrakech and Kyoto. Each of the 300 arriving ninth graders are randomly（随机地） assigned to one of the houses, where they will keep the same four core subject teachers for two years before moving on to another

14、 for 11th and 12th grades. The closeness this system cultivates is reinforced by the institution of advisory classes. Teachers meet with students in groups of 25, five mornings a week, for open-ended discussions of everything from homework problems to bad Saturday-night dates. The advisers also meet

15、 with students privately and stay in touch with parents, so they are deeply invested in the students success. Were constantly talking about one anothers advisees, says English teacher Chris Crockett. If you hear that yours isnt doing well in math, or see them sitting outside the deans office, its li

16、ke a personal failure. Along with the new structure came a more demanding academic program; the percentage of freshmen taking biology jumped from 17 to 95. It was rough for some, but by senior year, two-thirds have moved up to physics, says Gilbert. Our kids are coming to school in part because they

17、 know there are adults here who know them and care for them. But not all schools show advances after downsizing, and it remains to be seen whether smaller schools will be a cure-all solution.The NEWSWEEK list of top U.S. high schools was made this year, as in years past, according to a single metric

18、, the proportion of students taking college-level exams. Over the years this system has come in for its share of criticism for its simplicity. But that is also its strength: its easy for readers to understand, and to do the arithmetic for their own schools if theyd like.Ranking schools is always con

19、troversial, and this year a group of 38 superintendents （地区教育主管）from five states wrote to ask that their schools be excluded from the calculation. It is impossible to know which high schools are the best in the nation, their letter read, in part. Determining whether different schools do or dont offe

20、r a high quality of education requires a look at many different measures, including students overall academic accomplishments and their subsequent performance in college, and taking into consideration the unique needs of their communities.In the end, the superintendents agreed to provide the data we

21、 sought, which is, after all, public information. There is, in our view, no real dispute here; we are all seeking the same thing, which is schools that better serve our children and our nation by encouraging students to tackle tough subjects under the guidance of gifted teachers. And if we keep work

22、ing toward that goal, someday, perhaps, a list wont be necessary.1. Fifty years ago, big, modern, suburban high schools were established in the hope of _.A. ensuring no child is left behindB. increasing economic efficiencyC. improving students performance on SATD. providing good education for baby b

23、oomers2. What happened as a result of setting up big schoolsA. Students focused more on test scores.B. Administration became centralized.C. Teachers workload inreased.D. Students performance declined.3. What is said about the schools funded by the Bill and Mclinda Gates Foundation?A. They are often

24、located in poor neighborhoods.B. They are popular with high-achieving students.C. They are usually magnet schools.D. They are mostly small in size.4. What is most noticeable about the current trend in high school education?A. Many schools compete for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funds.B. A

25、great variety of schools have sprung up in urban and suburban areas.C. Students have to meet higher academic standards.D. Some large schools have split up into smaller ones.5. Newsweek ranked high schools according to _.A. the size and number of their graduating classesB. their students academic ach

26、ievementC. their college-level test participationD. the number of their students admitted to college6. What can we learn about Hillsdales students in the late 1990s?A. They were made to study hard lie prisoners.B. Their school performance was getting worse.C. Most of them did not have any sense of d

27、iscipline.D. They called each other by unaffectionate nicknames.7. According to Jeff Gilbert, the advisory classes at Hillsdale were set up so that students could _.A. maintain closer relationships with their teachersB. experience a great deal of pleasure in learningC. tell their teachers what they

28、did on weekendsD. tackle the demanding biology and physics courses8. _ is still considered a strength of Newsweeks school ranking system in spite of the criticism it receives.9. According to the 38 superintendents, to rank schools scientifically, it is necessary to use _.10. To better serve the chil

29、dren and our nation, schools should hire gifted teachers and encourage students to take _.Part III Listening Comprehension (35 minutes)Section A11. A. Trying to sketch a map. B. Cleaning the kitchen. C. Painting the dining room. D. Discussing a house plan.12. A. She is very fussy about what she eats

30、. B. She often eats in a French restaurant. C. She usually takes a snack in the KFC. D. She is tired of the food in the canteen.13. A. Talking loudly on the telephone. B. Preparing for an oral examination. C. Listening to some loud music. D. Practicing for a speech contest.14. A. The mans jeans and

31、T-shirts are stylish. B. The man should buy himself a new suit. C. The man can dress casually for the occasion. D. The man has left a good impression on her family.15. A. 100% cotton pants in dark blue. B. Grey pants made from pure cotton. C. Fashionable pants in bright colors. D. Something to match

32、 her brown pants.16. A. Its price. B. Its comfort. C. Its location. D. Its facilities.17. A. Adopt a child. B. Look for a new job. C. Travel overseas. D. Take a photo.18. A. It is a good bargain. B. It is quite healthy. C. It is new on the menu. D. It is a routine offer.Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation you have just heard.19. A. Having her bicycle repaired. B. Conducting a market survey. C. Lecturing on busines