圆模2020年9月大学英语四级考试听力原文及参考答案

2021年1月12日发(作者：舒荣)


2020年9月大学英语四级考试听力原文及参考答案

【News report one】
A NASA satellite orbiting over Portugal took photographs that reveal the effects
of pollution from ships. One of the photos shows a thin film of clouds above the brilliant
blue of the north Atlantic, cut by white lines of thicker clouds that look like scars. (1)
NASA officials explained those thicker clouds are signs of ship traffic below when
ships power their way through the ocean, they pump exhaust into the atmosphere. Just
as cars do.
And those massive amounts of particles can cause clouds to form, get enough of
those particles in one place as from the exhaust of a ship. And they can lead to the
creation of new clouds easily visible from space. These clouds can be huge. Some of
them stretch hundreds of kilometers from end to end. (2) NASA officials said it's likely
that these sorts of clouds are having some effect on the global climate, according to
NASA officials.
But scientists aren't yet sure what effect it has. questions one and two are based on the
news report you have just heard.

Question 1 What has caused the thick clouds in the photos taken by a NASA satellite?
Question 2 What do NASA officials think about the thick clouds?

【News report two】
Staff at a suburban supermarket in Melbourne say they feel unsafe at work after
security guards were removed. This came after a series of physical attacks and verbal
abuse by customers. (3) More than 50 workers at the store have signed a letter calling
for a permanent security guard following a series of incidents, including a customer
threatening to attack a supervisor with a knife. A security worker had guard at the storm
each night from seven pm until 12 am.
But that had stopped suddenly on Monday, employees said. One worker said an

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angry customer had thrown a chicken at his head after complaining about how long she
had waited to be served. Another worker said the lack of protection at the storm made
her feel uncomfortable at work. (4) However, the spokesman of the supermarket said
the store had taken strong action in response to incidents. We have found very few
instances of bad customer behavior at our store in the past year. In the rare cases, we
have seen bad behavior. We have taken strong action in response, including banning a
customer from the store.
Question 3 For what purpose did this staff at a supermarket in Melbourne sign a letter?
Question 4 What did the spokesman of the supermarkets say regarding the employees
demand?

【New report three】
(5) Drivers on their way to the polish capital of Warsaw on Wednesday morning found
the road blocked by an unusual obstacle. Tons of liquid chocolate that spilled onto the
motorway. A truck carrying the sweet load hit a road barrier and overturned, blocking
two lanes. (6) The cracked tank spilled a pool of a rapidly hardening chocolate, which
quickly covered the width of the road, while the driver was taken to hospital with a
broken arm, firefighters struggled to remove a reported 12 tons of solid chocolate from
the road. (7) A representative for the firefighters told the local TV that removing the
chocolate was worse than dealing with snow. After contacting the chocolate
manufacturer, the firefighters resorted to spraying hot, pressurized water to get rid of
the sticky substance. The local TV also noted that the cleanup spanned more than a Mile
because drivers simply drove through the chocolate after the crash, leaving a long
chocolate trail. But despite the sticky situation, firefighters and police attending to the
cleanup were reportedly cheerful about the long task ahead. After all, who could be mad
about 12 tons of chocolate?
Question 5 What does drivers on the motorway to Warsaw find?
Question 6 What does the report say about the accident?
Question 7 What are the firefighters representative tell the local TV?

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【Conversation one】
M: Lisa, why did you pay for your meal with cash instead of the payment apps on your
phone?
W: Well, I’ve gone back to cash. I’m only using payment apps if that’s the only option.
[8]I am trying to save money for a new phone. And I find that using cash rather than
payment apps helps me to save.
M: But how? Money is money, isn’t it? I don’t think it matters whether you take it out
of the bank and put it in your wallet will simply transfer from your bank account to the
seller’s bank account using an app.
W: No, I believe it does matter. It’s a psychological phenomenon. [9] I believe we have
less connection with the value of our money when we just have the approved buttons
on our phones.
M: You might have a point. Since I stopped carrying cash around and started using my
phone apps to pay, [10] I may have developed a tendency to buy more small or
nonessential items.
W: That’s highly possible. Think about the amount of time we spend with our phones
in our hands and all the things we do with our phones. It sometimes seems that our
phone is buying the product for us, not ourselves.
M: [11] So cashless payment affects our ability to budget?
W: I believe so. If we spend a hundred yuan in cash, we realize that we don’t have that
hundred yuan to spend on something else. But if we’re spending electronically, we are
less likely to make that mental calculation.
M: I stopped using my credit card because I found out spending excessively, perhaps I
should take the same approach of paying using my phone.
W: It’s worth considering.
Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
Question 8. Why did the woman decide to go back to cash for payment?
Question 9. What happens when people use that for payment according to the woman?

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Question 10. What might the man tend to buy with payment apps?
Question 11. What does the man think of electronic payment?

【Conversation Two】
W: Hello, Mr. Brown. I was expecting your call. [12] My secretary told me you were
having some problems with the wooden table. Is that right?
M: No, no, the table is fine. [12] The problem is the chairs.
W: Oh, the chairs. So what exactly is the issue?
M: Well, to put simply, these are not the chairs my wife and I selected in your store last
week. There must have been some confusion with our order.
W: Oh, I see. I’m looking through my files now, and I see that the delivery was this
morning. Is that correct?
M: Yes.
W: [13] Do you mind describing the chairs that were delivered to your apartment, Mr.
Brown?
M: Sure. These have a flat back with a rounded top, and are very heavy—they’re light
brown that look kind of cheap. The ones we ordered were dark brown to match the table.
W: Right, of course. It says here you purchased the Arlington table and four
Milano chairs. As you said, there must have been some confusion with the order. I’m
terribly sorry. [14] We will send a van to collect those four and replace them with the
Milano you purchased. Will tomorrow 9am be okay, Mr. Brown?
M: Yes, that would be great. Thank you.
W: Good. Did everything else you ordered from us arrive okay?
M: Yes, I think so. Let me check. The mirror and two paintings are here. The two coffee
tables are also here, and the sofa. Yes, we haven’t noticed anything else wrong or
missing. But if we do, we will certainly let you know.
W: Okay, great. [15] Once again, I’m sorry for the confusion and trouble caused.
Question 12. Why did the man call the woman?
To talk about the wrong chairs.

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