2018年12月英语四级真题(第2套)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay on the challenges of studying abroad. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.
Section A
Section B
Section C
Section A
Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.
Questions to are based on the following passage.
Have you ever used email to apologize to a colleague? Delivered a to a subordinate (下属) with a voice-mail message? Flown by plane across the country just to deliver important news in person? The various communication options at our fingertips today can be good for and productivity—and at the same time very troublesome. With so many ways to communicate, how should a manager choose the one that's best— when the message to be delivered is bad or unwelcome news for the recipient? We've business communication consultants and etiquette (礼仪) experts to come up with the following guidelines for using the alternative ways of delivering difficult messages.
First of all, choose how personal you want to be. A face-to-face communication is the most . Other choices, in descending order of personalization, are: a real-time phone call, a voice-mail message, a handwritten note, a typewritten letter, and the most is email. Some of these may change order according to the situation or your own preferences; for example, a handwritten note might seem more personal than voice-mail. How do you decide on the best choice for the difficult message you've got to deliver? "My concern is: How can I soften or civilize this message?" says etiquette expert Dana Casperson. "So when I apologize, I usually choose in-person first, or a phone conversation as my top alternative, and maybe a handwritten note next. Apologizing by email is something I now totally ."
Section B
Directions: In this section. you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.
How a Poor, Abandoned Parisian Boy Became a Top Chef
Section C
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. 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 Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Roughly the size of a soda can, sitting on a bookshelf, a relatively harmless gadget may be turning friends away from your home. The elephant in your living room is your Internet-connected security camera, a device people are increasingly using for peace of mind in their homes. But few stop to think about the effect these devices may have on house guests. Should you tell your friends, for instance, that they're being recorded while you all watch the big game together?
"It's certainly new territory, especially as home security cameras become easier to install," says Lizzie Post, president of the Emily Post Institute, America's foremost manners advisors. "I think it will be very interesting to see what etiquette (礼仪) emerges in terms of whether you tell people you have a camera or not, and whether guests have a right to ask that it be turned off, if it's not a security issue."
Post wants to make clear that she's not talking about legal rights, but rather personal preference. She also wants to explain that there are no right or wrong answers regarding manners on this front yet, because the technology is just now becoming mainstream. Besides, the Emily Post Institute doesn't dictate manners.
When it comes to security cameras, Post says it's a host's responsibility to make sure guests feel comfortable within their home. "I'm always a fan of being open and honest." For instance, if the host casually acknowledges that there is a camera in the room by telling a story about it, that may be enough to provide an opening for a guest to say if they are uncomfortable.
However, if a contractor is working in your home, you don't need to tell them that there are cameras watching. Then again, the air of accountability that the camera generates can also work in contractors' favor. "If anything does go wrong while they're in the house, they don't want to be blamed for it," she says. "In fact, the camera could be the thing that proves that they didn't steal the $20, or knock the vase off the table."
Passage Two
PepsiCo is to spend billions of dollars to develop drinks and snacks and reformulate existing ones with lower sugar, salt and fat, as consumers demand healthier options and regulatory pressure intensifies amid an obesity epidemic (流行 病).
The maker of Mountain Dew and Gatorade has been one of the earlier movers in the industry to offer products with reduced levels of unhealthy ingredients—PepsiCo claims a packet of its chips now contains less salt than a slice of white bread. However, its new 10-year plan makes clear it believes it still has a long way to go.
Shifting eating habits, including a sharp drop in consumption of sparkling drinks, have forced radical change on the industry. But those shifts have yet to be reflected in record obesity levels, which stand at 36.5% overall in the US.
Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo chairman, said the plan to make its products healthier was important for the company's growth. But on the subject of obesity, she pointed out that consumers' lifestyles have changed significantly, with many people being more sedentary (久坐不动的) not least because more time is spent in front of computers. She said PepsiCo's contribution was to produce healthier snacks that still tasted good.
"Society has to change its habits," she added. "We can't do much to alter sedentary lifestyles, but we can provide consumers with great-tasting products, low in salt, sugar and fat. In the past we had to have a taste trade-off. But we're breaking that trade-off."
PepsiCo's plan for its foods and drinks is based on guidelines from the World Health Organisation, which last week backed using taxes on sparkling drinks to reduce sugar consumption. Initiatives also include efforts to reduce its environmental impact, water consumption and materials used in packaging by 2025.
PepsiCo did not say exactly how much it planned to invest to reach its goals. However, Dr. Mehmood Khan, chief scientific officer, said the company had doubled research and development spending in the past five years and was "committed to sustaining investment", adding that companies cannot cost-cut their way to increasing sales. PepsiCo's research and development budget in 2015 was $754 million.
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.
本页为2018年12月英语四级真题(第2套),支持听力、阅读、写作和翻译在线练习。
写作题目:the challenges of studying abroad
翻译题干节选:越来越多的中国人现在的确离不开手机了。他们中的许多人,包括老年人,都使用手机应用程序(apps)保持联系并拓宽朋友圈。他们也用手机购物、查找信息,因为手机便于携…