夹紧大学英语四级考试精解真题cet4199806

2021年1月8日发(作者：岑范)
大学英语四级考试精解真题
（1998年6月）

Part I Listening Comprehension (20 minutes)
Section A
Directions: In this section, you will hear 10 short conversations. At the end of each
conversation, a question will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and
the question 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 the Answer Sheet with a single
line through the center.

Example: You will hear:
You will read:
A) 2 hours.
B) 3 hours.
C) 4 hours.
D) 5 hours.
From the conversation we know that the two were talking about some work they will start
at 9 o’clock in the morning and have to finish at 2 in the afternoon. Therefore, D) “5
hours” is the correct answer. You should choose [D] on the Answer Sheet and mark it
with a single line through the center.
Sample Answer [A] [B] [C] [D]
1.



2.



3.



A) They are twins.
B) They are classmates.
C) They are friends.
D) They are colleagues.
A) The man is planning a trip to Austin.
B) The man has not been to Austin before.
C) The man doesn’t like Austin.
D) The man has been to Austin before.
A) The size of the room.
B) Long working hours.
C) The hot weather.
D) The fan in the room.
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4. A) The man has changed his destination.
B) The man is returning his ticket.
C) The man is flying to New York tomorrow morning.
D) The man can’t manage to go to New York as planned.
5. A) It is difficult to identify.
B) It has been misplaced.
C) It is missing.
D) It has been borrowed by someone.
6. A) Looking for a timetable.
B) Buying some furniture.
C) Reserving a table.
D) Window shopping.
7. A) Cold and windy.
B) Snow will be replaced by strong winds.
C) It will get better.
D) Rainy and cold.
8. A) It is no longer available.
B) It has been reprinted four times.
C) The store doesn’t have it now, but will have it soon.
D) The information in the book is out of date.
9. A) Henry doesn’t like the color.
B) Someone else painted the house.
C) There was no ladder in the house.
D) Henry painted the house himself.
10. A) In a cotton field.
B) At a railway station.
C) On a farm.
D) On a train.

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 the Answer Sheet with a
single line through the center.

Passage one
Question 11 to 13 are based on the passage you have just heard.
11. A) They invited him to a party.
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B) They asked him to make a speech.
C) They gave a special dinner for him.
D) They invited his wife to attend the dinner.
12. A) He was embarrassed.
B) He felt greatly encouraged.
C) He felt sad.
D) He was deeply touched.
13. A) Sam’s wife did not think that the company was fair to Sam.
B) Sam’s wife was satisfied with the gold watch.
C) Sam did not like the gold watch.
D) The company had some financial problems.

Passage Two
Questions 14 to 16 are based on the passage you have just heard.
14. A) The number of students they take in is limited.
B) They receive little or no support from public taxes.
C) They are only open to children from rich families.
D) They have to pay more taxes.
15. A) Private schools admit more students.
B) Private schools charge less than religious schools.
C) Private schools run a variety of programs.
D) Private schools allow students to enjoy more freedom.
16. A) The churches.
B) The program designers.
C) The local authorities.
D) The state government.

Passage Three
Questions 17 to 20 are based on the passage you have just heard.
17. A) She was found stealing in a bookstore.
B) She caught someone in the act of stealing.
C) She admitted having stolen something.
D) She said she was wrongly accused of stealing.
18. A) A book.
B) $$3,000.
C) A handbag.
D) A Christmas card.
19. A) She was questioned by the police.
B) She was shut in a small room for 20 minutes.
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C) She was insulted by the shopper around her.
D) She was body- searched by the store manager.
20. A) They refused to apologize for having followed her through the town.
B) They regretted having wrongly accused her of stealing.
C) They still suspected that she was a thief.
D) The agreed to pay her $$3,000 damages.

Part II
Direction:
Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)
There are 4 passages in this part. 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 the Answer Sheet with a single line
through the center.

Passage One
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage:
Psychologist George Spilich and colleagues at Washington College in Chestertown,
Maryland, decided to find out whether, as many smokers say, smoking helps them to
“think and concentrate.” Spilich put young non-smokers, active smokers and smokers
deprived（被剥夺）of cigarettes through a series of tests.
In the first test, each subject（试验对象）sat before a computer screen and pressed a
key as soon as he or she recognized a target letter among a grouping of 96. In this simple
test, smokers, deprived smokers and non-smokers performed equally well.
The next test was more complex, requiring all to scan sequences of 20 identical letters
and respond the instant one of the letters transformed into a different one. Non-smokers
were faster, but under the stimulation of nicotine（尼古丁）, active smokers were faster
than deprived smokers.
In the third test of short-term memory, non- smokers made the fewest errors, but
deprived smokers committed fewer errors than active smokers.
The fourth test required people to read a passage, then answer questions about it.
Non- smokers remembered 19 percent more of the most important information than active
smokers, and deprived smokers bested those who had smoked a cigarette just before
testing. Active smokers tended not only to have poorer memories but also had trouble
separating important information from insignificant details.
“As our tests became more complex.” Sums up Spilich, “non-smokers performed
better than smokers by wider and wider margins” He predicts, “smokers might perform
adequately at many jobs-until they got complicated. A smoking airline pilot could fly
adequately if no problems arose, but if something went wrong, smoking might damage his
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mental capacity.”
21. The purpose of George Spilich’s experiments is ________.
A) to test whether smoking has a positive effect on the mental capacity of smokers
B) to show how smoking damages people’s mental capacity
C) to prove that smoking affects people’s regular performance
D) to find out whether smoking helps people’s short-term memory
22. George Spilich’s experiment was conducted in such a way as to __________.
A) compel the subjects to separate major information from minor details
B) put the subjects through increasingly complex tests
C) check the effectiveness of nicotine on smokers
D) register the prompt responses of the subjects
23. The word “bested” (Line 3, Para.5) most probably means _________.
A) beat
B) envied
C) caught up with
D) made the best of
24. Which of the following statements is true?
A) Active smokers in general performed better than deprived smokers.
B) Active smokers responded more quickly than the other subjects.
C) Non-smokers were not better than other subjects in performing simple tasks.
D) Deprived smokers gave the slowest responses to the various tasks.
25. We can infer from the last paragraph that ________.
A) smokers should not expect to become airline pilots
B) smoking in emergency cases causes mental illness
C) no airline pilots smoke during flights
D) smokers may prove unequal to handing emergency cases

Passage Two
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage:
There is no denying that students should learn something about how computers work,
just as we expect them at least to understand that the internal-combustion engine（内燃
机） has something to do with burning fuel, expanding gases and pistons（活塞）being
driven. For people should have some basic idea of how the things that they use do what
they do. Further, students might be helped by a course that considers the computer’s
impact on society. But that is not what is meant by computer literacy. For computer
literacy is not a form of literacy（读写能力）; it is a trade skill that should not be taught as
a liberal art.
Learning how to use a computer and learning how to program one are two distinct
activities. A case might be made that the competent citizens of tomorrow should free
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themselves from their fear of computers. But this is quite different from saying that all
ought to know how to program one. Leave that to people who have chosen programming
as a career. While programming can be lots of fun, and while our society needs some
people who are experts at it, the same is true of auto repaid and violin-making.
Learning how to use a computer is not that difficult, and it gets easier all the time as
programs become more “user-friendly”. Let us assume that in the future everyone is going
to have to know how to use a computer to be a competent citizen. What does the phrase
“learning to use a computer” mean? It sounds like “learning to drive a car”, that is, it
sounds as if there is some set of definite skills that, once acquired, enable one to use a
computer.
In fact, “learning to use a computer” is much more like “learning to play a game”, but
learning the rules of one game may not help you play a second game, whose rules may
not be the same. There is no such a thing as teaching someone how to use a computer.
One can only teach people to use this or that program and generally that is easily
accomplished.
26. To be the competent citizens of tomorrow, people should ________.
A) try to lay a solid foundation in computer science
B) be aware of how the things that they use do what they do
C) learn to use a computer by acquiring a certain set of skills
D) understand that programming a computer is more essential than repairing a car.
27. In the second paragraph “violin-making” is mentioned to show that _________.
A) programming a computer is as interesting as making a violin
B) our society needs experts in different fields
C) violin-making requires as much skill as computer programming
D) people who can use a computer don’t necessarily have to know computer
programming
28. Learning to use a computer is getting easier all the time because _________.
A) programs are becoming less complicated
B) programs are designed to be convenient to users
C) programming is becoming easier and easier
D) programs are becoming readily available to computer users
29. According to the author, the phrase “learning to use a computer” (Lines3-4, Para.3)
means learning ___________.
A) a set of rules
B) the fundamentals of computer science
C) specific programs
D) general principles of programming
30. The author’s purpose in writing this passage is _________.
A) to stress the impact of the computer on society
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B) to explain the concept of the computer literacy
C) to illustrate the requirements for being competent citizens of tomorrow.
D) to emphasize that computer programming is an interesting and challenging job

Passage Three
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:
The way people hold to the belief that a fun-filled, pain free life equals happiness
actually reduces their chances of ever attaining real happiness, if fun and pleasure are
equal to happiness then pain must be equal to unhappiness. But in fact, the opposite is true:
more often than not things that lead to happiness involve some pain.
As a result, many people avoid the very attempts that are the source of true happiness.
They fear the pain inevitably brought by such things as marriage, raising children,
professional achievement, religious commitment（承担的义务）, self-improvement.
Ask a bachelor（单身汉）why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be
less and less satisfying. If he is honest he will tell you that he is afraid of making a
commitment. For commitment is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun,
adventure, excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most
distinguishing features.
Couples with infant children are lucky to get a whole night’s sleep or a three-day
vacation. I don’t know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising
children. But couples who decide not to have children never know the joys of watching a
child grow up or of playing with a grandchild.
Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of
the most liberating realizations. It liberates time: now we can devote more hours to
activities that can genuinely increase our happiness. It liberates money: buying that new
car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems
pointless. And it liberates us from envy: we now understand that all those who are always
having so much fun actually may not be happy at all.
31. According to the author, a bachelor resists marriage chiefly because ________.
A) he is reluctant to take on family responsibilities
B) he believes that life will be more cheerful if he remains single
C) he finds more fun in dating than in marriage
D) he fears it will put an end to all his fun adventure and excitement
32. Raising children, in the author’s opinion, is _________.
A) a moral duty
B) a thankless job
C) a rewarding task
D) a source of inevitable pain
33. From the last paragraph, we learn that envy sometimes stems from ________.
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