2020年12月大学英语四级考试真题（二）Part IWriting(30 minutes)Directions:For this part,you are allowed 30 minutes to write on the topic Changes in the Way ofTransportation.You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.Part IListening Comprehension(25 minutes)Section ADirections:In this section,you will hear three news reports.At the end of each news report,you will heartwo or three questions.Both the news report and the questions will be spoken only once.After you hear aquestion,you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A),B),C)and D).Then markthe corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard1.A)He wanted to buy a home.C)He lost a huge sum of money.B)He suffered from a shock.D)He did an unusual good deed.2.A)Invite the waiter to a fancy dinner.C)Give some money to the waiter.B)Tell her story to the Daily News.D)Pay the waiter's school tuition.Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.3.A)Whether or not to move to the state's mainland.B)How to keep the village from sinking into the sea.C)Where to get the funds for rebuilding their village.D)What to do about the rising level of the seawater.4.A)It takes too long a time.C)It has to wait for the state's final approval.B)It costs too much money.D)It faces strong opposition from many villagers.Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.5.A)To investigate whether people are grateful for help.B)To see whether people hold doors open for strangers.C)To explore ways of inducing gratitude in people.D)To find out how people express gratitude.6.A)They induced strangers to talk with them.B)They helped 15 to 20 people in a bad mood.C)They held doors open for people at various places.D)They interviewed people who didn't say thank you.7.A)People can be educated to be grateful.C)Most people have bad days now and then.B)Most people express gratitude for help.D)People are ungrateful when in a bad mood.四级2020年12月24Section BDirections:In this section,you will hear two long conversatioris.At the.end of each conversation,you willhear four questions.Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once.After you hear aquestion,you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A),B),C)and D).Then markthe corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.8.A)To order a solar panel installation.C)To enquire about solar panel installations.B)To report a serious leak in his roof.D)To complain about the faulty.solar panels.9.A)He plans to install solar panels.C)He saves $300 a year..B)He owns a four-bedroom house.D)He has a large family.10.A)The service of the solar panel company.C)The maintenance of the solar panels.B)The cost of a solar panel installation.D)The quality of the solar panels.11.A)One year and a half.C)Roughly six years.B)Less than four years.D)About five years.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12.A)At a travel agency.C)At an airline transfer serviceB)At an Australian airport.D)At a local transportation authority.13.A)She would be able to visit more scenic spots.B)She wanted to save as much money as possible.C)She would like to have everything taken care of.D)She wanted to spend more time with her family.14.A)Four days.C)One week.B)Five days.D)Two weeks.15.A)Choosing some activities herself.C)Driving along the Great Ocean Road.B)Spending Christmas with Australians.D)Learning more about wine making.Section CDirections:In this section,you will hear three passages.At the end of each passage,you will hear three orfour questions.Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once.After you hear a question,youmust choose the best answer from the four choices marked A),B),C)and D).Then mark thecorresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.16.A)Bring their own bags when shopping.C)Dispose of their trash properly.B)Use public transport when traveling.D)Pay a green tax upon arrival.17.A)It has not been doing a good job in recycling.B)It has witnessed a rise in accidental drowningC)It has not attracted many tourists in recent years.D)It has experienced an overall decline in air quality.18.A)To charge a small fee on plastic products in supermarkets.B)To ban single-use plastic bags and straws on Bali Island.C)'To promote the use of paper bags for shopping.D)To impose a penalty on anyone caught littering.四级2020年12月25Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard19.A)It gives birth to several babies at a time.C)Its breeding grounds are now better preserved.B)It is the least protected mammal species.D)Its population is.now showing signs of increase.20.A)Global warming.C)Commercial hunting.B)Polluted seawaters.D)Decreasing birthrates.21.A)To mate.C)To escape hunters.B)To look for food.D)To seek breeding grounds.Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.22.A)They prefer to drink low-fat milk.C)They consume less milk these days.B)They think milk is good for health.D)They buy more milk than the British23.A)It is not as healthy as once thought.C)It benefits the elderly more.B)It is not easy to stay fresh for long.D)It tends to make people fat.24.A)They drink too many pints every day.C)They lack the necessary proteins to digest it.B)They are sensitive to certain minerals.D)They have eaten food incompatible with milk.25.A)It is easier for sick people to digest.C)It is healthier than other animal products.B)It provides some necessary nutrients.D)It supplies the body with enough calories.Reading Comprehension(40 minutes)Section ADirections:In this section,there is a passage with ten blanks.You are required to select one word for eachblank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage.Read the passage through carefullybefore making your choices.Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter.Please mark the correspondingletter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.You may not use any of thewords in the bank more than once.When my son completes a task,I can't help but praise him.It's only natural to give praise wherepraise is due,right?But is there such a thing as too much praise?According to psychologist Katherine Phillip,children don'tbenefit from 26praise as much aswe'd like to think."Parents'often praise,believing they are building their child's self-confidence.However,over-praising can have a 27 effect,"says Phillip."When we use the same praise28,it may become empty and no longer valued by the child.It can also become an expectation thatanything they do must be 29 with praise.This may lead to the child avoiding taking risks due tofear of 30 their parents."Does this mean we should do away with all the praise?Phillip says no."The key to healthy praise is tofocus on the process rather than the 31.It is the recognition of a child's attempt,or the process inwhich they achieved something,that is essential,"she says."Parents should encourage their child to takethe risks needed to learn and grow."So how do we break the 32of praise we're all so accustomed to?Phillip says it's important to_33_between“person praise”and“process praise”.“Person praise is_34_saying how greatsomeone is.It's a form of personal approval.Process praise is acknowledgement of the efforts the person四级2020年12月26has just 35.Children who receive person praise are more likely to feel shame after losing,".saysPhillip.A)chooseF)experiencedK)repeatedlyB)constantG)negativeL)rewardedC)disappointingH)outcomeM)separatelyD)distinguishI)patternN)simplyE)exhaustingJ)pluralO)undertakenSection BDirections:In this section,you are going to read a passage with ten statements aitached to it.Eachstatement contains information given in one of the paragraphs.Identify the paragraph from which theinformation is derived.You may choose a paragraph more than once.Each paragraph is marked with aletter.Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.Poverty is a story about us,not themA)Too often still,we think we know what poverty looks like.It's the way we've been taught,the imageswe've been force-fed for decades.The chronically homeless.The undocumented immigrant.Theurban poor,usually personified as a woman of color,the "welfare queen"politicians still too oftenreference.B)But as income inequality rises to record levels in the United States,even in the midst of a recordeconomic expansion,those familiar images are outdated,hurtful,and counterproductive to focusingattention on solutions and building ladders of opportunity.C)Today's faces of income inequality and lack of opportunity look like all of us.It's Anna Landre,adisabled Georgetown University student fighting to keep health benefits that allow her the freedom tolive her life.It's Tiffanie Standard,a counselor for young women of color in Philadelphia who want tobe tech entrepreneurs-but who must work multiple jobs to stay afloat.It's Ken Outlaw,a welder inrural North Carolina whose dream of going back to school at a local community'college was dashed byHurricane Florence-just one of the extreme weather events that have tipped the balance for strugglingAmericans across the nation.D)If these are the central characters of our story about poverty,what layers of perceptions,myths,andrealities must we unearth to find meaningful solutions and support?In pursuit of revealing thiscomplicated reality,Mothering Justice,led by women of color,went last year to the'state capital inLansing,Michigan,to lobby on issues that affect working mothers.One of the Mothering Justiceorganizers went to the office of a state representative to talk about the lack of affordable childcare-the vestiges (of a system that expected mothers to stay home with their children while theirhusbands worked.A legislative staffer dismissed the activist's concerns,telling her "my husband tookcare of that-I stayed home.E)That comment,says Mothering Justice director Danielle Atkinson,"was meant to shame"and reliedon the familiar notion that a woman of color concerned about income inequality and programs thatpromote mobility must by definition be a single mom,probably with multiple kids.In this case,theMothering Justice activist happened to be married.And in most cases in the America of 2019,theimages that come to mind when we hear the words poverty or income inequality fail miserably in四级2020年12月27reflecting a complicated reality:poverty touches virtually all of us.The face of income inequality,forall but a very few of us,is the one we each see in the mirror.F)How many of us are poor in the U.S.It depends on who you ask.According to the Census Bureau,38 million people in the U.S.are living below the official poverty thresholds.Taking into accounteconomic need beyond that absolute measure,the Institute for Policy Studies found that 140 millionpeople are poor or low-income.That's almost half the U.S.population.G)Whatever the measure,within that massive group,poverty is extremely diverse.We know that somepeople are more affected than others,like children,the elderly,people with disabilities,and peopleof color.H)But the fact that 4 in 10 Americans can't come up with $.400 in an emergency is a commonly citedstatistic for good reason:economic instability stretches across race,gender,and geography.It evenreaches into the middle classes,as real wages have stagnated (for all but the very wealthy andtemporary spells of financial instability are not uncommon.I)Negative images remain of who is living in poverty as well as what is needed to move out of it.The bigAmerican myth is that you can pull yourself up by your own efforts and change a bad situation into agood one.The reality is that finding opportunity without help from families,friends,schools,andcommunity is virtually impossible.And the playing field is nothing close to level.J)The FrameWorks Institute,a research group that focuses on public framing of issues,has studied whatsustains stereotypes and narratives of poverty in the United Kingdom."People view economic successand wellbeing in life as a product of choice,willpower,and drive,"says Nat Kendall-Taylor,CEO ofFrameWorks."When we see people who are struggling,"he says,those assumptions "lead us to theperception that people in poverty are lazy,they don't care,and they haven't made the rightdecisions..”K)Does this sound familiar?Similar ideas surround poverty in the U.S.And these assumptions give a falsepicture of reality."When people enter into that pattern of thinking,"says Kendall-Taylor,"it'scognitively comfortable to make sense of issues of poverty in that way.It creates a kind of cognitiveblindness-all of the factors external to a person's drive and choices that they've made become invisibleand fade from view.”L)Those external factors include the difficulties accompanying low-wage work or structuraldiscrimination based on race,gender,or ability.Assumptions get worse when people who are poor usegovernment benefits to help them survive.There is a great tension between "the poor"and those whoare receiving what has become a dirty word:"welfare."M)According to the General Social Survey,71 percent of respondents believe the country is spending too'little on "assistance to the.poor."On the other hand,22 percent think we are spending too little on"welfare":37 percent .believe we are spending too much.mothers,"says Atkinson of Mothering Justice.It's true that black mothers are more affected bypoverty than many other groups,yet they are.disproportionately the face of poverty.For example,Americans routinely overestimate the share of black recipients of public assistance programs.O)In reality,most people.will experience some form of financial hardship at some point in their lives.Indeed,people tend to dip in and out of poverty,perhaps due to unexpected obstacles like losing a job,四级2020年12月28