2019 年 12 月大学英语四级考试真题（第 1 套）
Part IWriting(30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a letter to a foreign friend who wants to teach English in China. Please recommend a city to him. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.
You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.
Part IIListening Comprehension(25分钟)
Section A
Directions: In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of each conversation, you will hear four questions. Both the conversation 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 Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.
1. What happened in New York's Prospect Park on Tuesday?
A) Many facilities were destroyed by a wandering cow.
B) A wandering cow knocked down one of its fences.
C) Some tourists were injured by a wandering cow.
D) A wandering cow was captured by the police.
2. What do we learn about the cow from the end of the news report?
A) It was shot to death by a police officer.
B) It found its way back to the park's zoo.
C) It became a great attraction for tourists.
D) It was sent to the animal control department.
3. What does the news report say about the Fossil Hall of the National Museum of Natural History?
A) It is the largest of its kind.
B) It is going to be expanded.
C) It is displaying more fossil specimens.
D) It is starting an online exhibition.
4. What is on display this week in the museum's resident exhibition hall?
A) A collection of bird fossils from Australia.
B) Photographs of certain rare fossil exhibits.
C) Some ancient wall paintings from Australia.
D) Pictures by winners of a wildlife photo contest.
5. What have six birds been trained to do at a French historical theme park?
A) Pick up trash.
B) Amuse visitors.
C) Deliver messages.
D) Play with children.
6. Why were rooks chosen by the park manager?
A) They are especially intelligent.
B) They are children's favorite.
C) They are quite easy to tame.
D) They are clean and pretty.
7. What is the concern of some parents? In this section, you'll hear two long conversations.
A) Children may be harmed by the rooks.
B) Children may be tempted to drop litter.
C) Children may contract bird diseases.
D) Children may overfeed the rooks.
Section B
Directions: In this section, you will hear two passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear three or four 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 Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.
8. What do we learn about the TV show Science Nation?
A) It will be produced at Harvard University.
B) It will be hosted by famous professors.
C) It will cover different areas of science.
D) It will focus on recent scientific discoveries.
9. In what way will the TV show Science Nation differ from traditional documentaries?
A) It will be more futuristic.
B) It will be more systematic.
C) It will be more entertaining.
D) It will be easier to understand.
10. Who will be the audience of the TV show Science Nation?
A) People interested in science.
B) Youngsters eager to explore.
C) Children in their early teens.
D) Students majoring in science.
11. What does the woman want the man to do for the TV show?
A) Offer professional advice.
B) Provide financial support.
C) Help promote it on the Internet.
D) Make episodes for its first season.
12. How does the man feel about himself?
A) Unsure
B) Helpless
C) Concerned
D) Dissatisfied
13. What does the woman think is the man's problem?
A) He is too concerned with being perfect.
B) He loses heart when faced with setbacks.
C) He is too ambitious in achieving goals.
D) He takes on projects beyond his ability.
14. How does the man feel when he sees others accomplishing things?
A) Embarrassed
B) Unconcerned
C) Miserable
D) Resentful
15. What does the woman suggest the man do?
A) Try to be optimistic whatever happens.
B) Compare his present with his past only.
C) Always learn from others' achievements.
D) Treat others the way he would be treated.
Section C
Directions: In this section you will hear three recordings of lectures or talks followed by three or four questions. The recordings will be played 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 Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.
16. What advantage does the speaker say girls from single-sex schools have over those from coeducational schools?
A) They have a stronger sense of social responsibility.
B) They are more likely to succeed in the humanities.
C) They are more likely to become engineers.
D) They have greater potential to be leaders.
17. What do teachers tend to do in coeducational settings?
A) Praise girls who like to speak up frequently.
B) Encourage girls to solve problems on their own.
C) Insist that boys and girls work together more.
D) Respond more positively to boys' comments.
18. What are teachers more likely to do in an all-girls school?
A) Offer personalized teaching materials.
B) Provide a variety of optional courses.
C) Place great emphasis on test scores.
D) Pay extra attention to top students.
19. What did the speaker find out about Seattle?
A) It often rains cats and dogs.
B) It seldom rains in summer time.
C) It does not rain as much as people think.
D) It is one of the most rainy cities in the US.
20. Why do local people in Seattle seldom carry an umbrella?
A) They drive most of the time.
B) The rain is usually very light.
C) They have got used to the rain.
D) The rain comes mostly at night.
21. Why does the speaker say Seattle is a good place to be?
A) It has a lot of places for entertainment.
B) It has never seen thunder and lightning.
C) It has fewer cloudy days than any other coastal city.
D) It has mild weather both in summer and in winter.
22. What does the German professor say about muscle soreness?
A) It occurs when people are doing a repetitive activity.
B) It results from exerting one's muscles continuously.
C) It happens when people engage in an uncommon activity.
D) It comes from straining one's muscles in an unusual way.
23. What happens when muscles are damaged according to the passage?
A) Blood flow and body heat increase in the affected area.
B) Body movements in the affected area become difficult.
C) They begin to make repairs immediately.
D) They gradually become fragmented.
24. How long does it take for damaged cells to heal?
A) About one week.
B) About two days.
C) About ten days.
D) About four weeks.
25. What does the speaker suggest one do to relieve muscle soreness?
A) Apply muscle creams.
B) Drink plenty of water.
C) Have a hot shower.
D) Take pain-killers.
Part IIIReading Comprehension(40分钟)
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.
When travelling overseas, do you buy water in plastic bottles or take your chances with tap water? Imagine
you are wandering about on a Thai island or __26__ the ruins of Angkor.
It's hot so you grab a bottle of water from
a local vendor. It's the safe thing to do, right? The bottle is __27__, and
the label says "pure water". But maybe
what's inside is not so __28__. Would you still be drinking it if you knew
that more than 90 percent of all bottled
water sold around the world __29__ microplastics?
That's the conclusion of a recently __30__ study, which analysed 259
bottles from 11 brands sold in nine
countries, __31__ an average of 325 plastic particles per litre of water.
These microplastics included a __32__
commonly known as PET and widely used in the manufacture of clothing and food and __33__ containers. The
study was conducted at the State University of New York on behalf of Orb Media, a journalism organisation
About a million bottles are bought every minute, not only by thirsty tourists but also by many of the 2.1
billion worldwide who live with unsafe drinking water.
Confronted with this __34__, several bottled-water manufacturers including
Nestle and Coca-Cola undertook
their own studies using the same methodology. These studies showed that their water did contain microplastics,
but far less than the Orb study suggested. Regardless, the World Health Organisation has launched a review into
the __35__ health risks of drinking water from plastic bottles.
A) adequateB) admiringC) containsD) defendingE) evidenceF) instantG) liquidH) modifiedI) naturalJ) potentialK) releasedL) revealingM) sealedN) solvesO) substance
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.
The quiet heroism of mail delivery
A) On Wednesday, a polar wind brought bitter cold to the Midwest. Overnight, Chicago reached a low of 21 degrees Fahrenheit below zero, making it slightly colder than Antarctica (南极洲), Alaska, and the North Pole. Wind chills were 64 degrees below zero in Park Rapids, Minnesota and 45 degrees below zero in Buffalo, North Dakota, according to the National Weather Service. Schools, restaurants, and businesses closed, and more than 1,000 flights were cancelled.
B) Even the United States Postal Service (USPS) suspended mail delivery. "Due to this arctic outbreak and concerns for the safety of USPS employees," USPS announced Wednesday morning, "the Postal Service is suspending delivery Jan. 30 in some 3-digit ZIP Code locations." Twelve regions were listed as unsafe on Wednesday; on Thursday, eight remained.
C) As global surface temperatures increase, so does the likelihood of extreme weather. In 2018 alone, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, mudslides, and other natural disasters cost at least $49 billion in the United States. As my colleague Vann Newkirk reported, Puerto Rico is still confronting economic and structural destruction and resource scarcity from 2017's Hurricane Maria. Natural disasters can wreck a community's infrastructure, disrupting systems for months or years. Some services, however, remind us that life will eventually return, in some form, to normal.
D) Days after the deadly 2017 wildfires in Santa Rosa, California, a drone (无人机) caught footage (连续镜头) of a USPS worker, Trevor Smith, driving through burned homes in that familiar white van, collecting mail in an affected area. The video is striking: The operation is familiar, but the scene looks like the end of the world. According to Rae Ann Haight, the program manager for the national-preparedness office at USPS, Smith was fulfilling a request made by some of the home owners to pick up any mail that was left untouched. For Smith, this was just another day on the job. "I followed my route like I normally do," Smith told a reporter. "As I came across a box that was up but with no house, I checked, and there was mail—outgoing mail—in it. And so we picked those up and carried on."
E) USPS has sophisticated emergency plans for natural disasters. Across the country, 285 emergency management teams are devoted to crisis control. These teams are trained annually using a framework known as the three Ps: people, property, product. After mail service stops due to weather, the agency's top priority is ensuring that employees are safe. Then it evaluates the health of infrastructure, such as the roads that mail carriers drive on. Finally, it decides when and how to re-open operations. If the destruction is extreme, mail addressed to the area will get sent elsewhere. In response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, USPS redirected incoming New Orleans mail to existing mail facilities in Houston. Mail that was already processed in New Orleans facilities was moved to an upper floor so it would be protected from water damage.
F) As soon as it's safe enough to be outside, couriers (邮递员) start distributing accumulated mail on the still-accessible routes. USPS urges those without standing addresses to file change-of-address forms with their new location. After Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, mail facilities were set up in dozens of locations across the country in the two weeks that USPS was unable to provide street delivery.
G) Every day, USPS processes, on average, 493.4 million pieces of mail—anything from postcards to Social Security checks to medicine. Spokespeople from both USPS and UPS told me all mail is important. But some mail can be extremely sensitive and timely. According to data released in January 2017, 56 percent of bills are paid online, which means that just under half of payments still rely on delivery services to be completed.
H) It can be hard to identify which parcels are carrying crucial items such as Social Security checks, but USPS and UPS try their best to prioritize sensitive material. They will coordinate with the Social Security Administration to make sure that Social Security checks reach the right people in a timely fashion. After Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Michael last fall, USPS worked with state and local election boards to make sure that absentee ballots were available and received on time.
I) Mail companies are logistics (物流) companies, which puts them in a special position to help when disaster strikes. In a 2011 USPS case study, the agency emphasized its massive infrastructure as a "unique federal asset" to be called upon in a disaster or terrorist attack. "I think we're unique as a federal agency," USPS official Mike Swigart told me, "because we're in literally every community in this country. We're obligated to deliver to that point on a daily basis."
J) Private courier companies, which have more dollars to spend, use their expertise in logistics to help revitalize damaged areas after a disaster. For more than a decade, FedEx has supported the American Red Cross in its effort to get emergency supplies to areas affected by disasters, both domestically and internationally. In 2012, the company distributed more than 1,200 MedPacks to Medical Reserve Corps groups in California. They also donated space for 3.1 million pounds of charitable shipping globally. Last October, the company pledged $1 million in cash and transportation support for Hurricanes Florence and Michael. UPS's charitable arm, the UPS Foundation, uses the company's logistics to help disaster-struck areas rebuild. "We realize that as a company with people, trucks, warehouses, we need to play a larger role," said Eduardo Martinez, the president of the UPS Foundation. The company employs its trucks and planes to deliver food, medicine, and water. The day before I spoke to Martinez in November, he had been touring the damage from Hurricane Michael in Florida with the American Red Cross. "We have an obligation to make sure our communities are thriving," he said.
K) Rebuilding can take a long time, and even then, impressions of the disaster may still remain. Returning to a normal life can be difficult, but some small routines — mail delivery being one of them — may help residents remember that their communities are still their communities. "When they see that carrier back out on the street," Swigart said, "that's the first sign to them that life is starting to return to normal."
36. The United States Postal Service has a system to ensure its employees' safety. ______
37. One official says USPS is unique in that it has more direct reach to communities compared with other federal agencies. ______
38. Natural disasters can have a long-lasting impact on community life. ______
39. Mail delivery service is still responsible for the completion of almost half of payments. ______
40. The sight of a mailman on the street is a reassuring sign of life becoming normal again. ______
41. After Hurricane Katrina interrupted routine delivery, temporary mail service points were set up. ______
42. Postal service in some regions in the U.S. was suspended due to extreme cold weather. ______
43. Private postal companies also support disaster relief efforts by distributing urgent supplies. ______
44. A dedicated USPS employee was on the job carrying out duties in spite of extreme conditions. ______
45. Postal services work hard to identify items that require priority treatment. ______
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
Professor Ashok Goel of Georgia Tech developed an artificially intelligent teaching assistant to help handle
the enormous number of student questions in the online class, Knowledge-Based Artificial Intelligence. This
online course is a core requirement of Georgia Tech's online Master of Science in Computer Science program
Professor Goel already had eight teaching assistants, but that wasn't enough to deal with the overwhelming
number of daily questions from students.
Many students drop out of online courses because of the lack of teaching support. When students feel
isolated or confused and reach out with questions that go unanswered, their motivation to continue begins to
fade.
Professor Goel decided to do something to remedy this situation and his solution was to create a virtual
assistant
named Jill Watson, which is based on the IBM Watson platform.
Goel and his team developed several versions of Jill Watson before releasing her to the online forums. At
first, the virtual assistant wasn't too great. But Goel and his team sourced the online discussion forum to find
all
40,000 questions that had ever been asked since the class was launched. Then they began to feed Jill with the
questions and answers. After some adjustments, and sufficient time, Jill was able to answer the
students' questions
correctly 97% of the time. The virtual assistant became so advanced and realistic that the students didn't know
she
was a computer. The students, who were studying artificial intelligence, were interacting with the virtual
assistant
and couldn't tell it apart from a real human being. Goel didn't inform them about Jill's true identity until
April 26. The students were actually very positive about the experience.
The goal of Professor Goel's virtual assistant next year is to take over answering 40% of all the questions
posed by students on the online forum. The name Jill Watson will, of course, change to something else next
semester. Professor Goel has a much rosier outlook on the future of artificial intelligence than, say, Elon
Musk,
Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates or Steve Wozniak.
46. What do we learn about Knowledge-Based Artificial Intelligence?
A) It is a robot that can answer students' questions.
B) It is a course designed for students to learn online.
C) It is a high-tech device that revolutionizes teaching.
D) It is a computer program that aids student learning.
47. What problem did Professor Goel meet with?
A) His students were unsatisfied with the assistants.
B) His course was too difficult for the students.
C) Students' questions were too many to handle.
D) Too many students dropped out of his course.
48. What do we learn about Jill Watson?
A) She turned out to be a great success.
B) She got along pretty well with students.
C) She was unwelcome to students at first.
D) She was released online as an experiment.
49. How did the students feel about Jill Watson?
A) They thought she was a bit too artificial.
B) They found her not as capable as expected.
C) They could not but admire her knowledge.
D) They could not tell her from a real person.
50. What does Professor Goel plan to do next with Jill Watson?
A) Launch different versions of her online.
B) Feed her with new questions and answers.
C) Assign her to answer more of students' questions.
D) Encourage students to interact with her more freely.
Passage Two
Thinking small, being engaging, and having a sense of humor don't hurt. Those are a few of the traits of
successful science crowdfunding efforts that emerge from a recent study that examined nearly 400 campaigns. But
having a large network and some promotional skills may be more crucial.
Crowdfunding, raising money for a project through online appeals, has taken off in recent years for
everything from making movies to producing water-saving gadgets. Scientists have tried to tap Internet donors,
too, with mixed success. Some raised more than twice their goals, but others have fallen short of reaching even
modest targets.
To determine what separates science crowdfunding triumphs from failures, a team led by science
communications scholar Mike Schafer of the University of Zurich examined the content of the webpages for 371
recent campaigns.
Four traits stood out for those that achieved their goals, the researchers report in Public Understanding of
Science. For one, they use a crowdfunding platform that specializes in raising money for science, and not just
any
kind of project. Although sites like Kickstarter take all corners, platforms such as Experiment.com and
Petridish.org
only present scientific projects. For another, they present the project with a funny video because good
visuals
and a sense of humor improved success. Most of them engage with potential donors, since projects that answered
questions from interested donors fared better. And they target a small amount of money. The projects included in
the study raised $4000 on average, with 30% receiving less than $1000. The more money a project sought, the
lower the chance it reached its goal, the researchers found.
Other factors may also significantly influence a project's success, most notably, the size of a scientist's
personal and professional networks, and how much a researcher promotes a project on their own. Those two
factors are by far more critical than the content on the page. Crowdfunding can be part of researchers' efforts
to
reach the public, and people give because "they feel a connection to the person" who is doing the
fundraising—not
necessarily to the science.
51. What do we learn about the scientists trying to raise money online for their projects?
A) They did not raise much due to modest targets.
B) They made use of mixed fundraising strategies.
C) Not all of them achieved their anticipated goals.
D) Most of them put movies online for the purpose.
52. What is the purpose of Mike Schafer's research of recent crowdfunding campaigns?
A) To create attractive content for science websites.
B) To identify reasons for their different outcomes.
C) To help scientists to launch innovative projects.
D) To separate science projects from general ones.
53. What trait contributes to the success of a crowdfunding campaign?
A) The potential benefit to future generations.
B) Its interaction with prospective donors.
C) Its originality in addressing financial issues.
D) The value of the proposed project.
54. What did the researchers think of the financial targets of crowdfunding projects?
A) They should be small to be successful.
B) They should be based on actual needs.
C) They should be assessed with great care.
D) They should be ambitious to gain notice.
55. What motivates people to donate in a crowdfunding campaign?
A) The ease of access to the content of the webpage.
B) Their desire to contribute to the cause of science.
C) The significance and influence of the project itself.
D) Their feeling of connection to the scientists themselves.
Part IVTranslation(30 minutes)
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.
中国家庭十分重视孩子的教育。许多父母认为应该努力工作，确保孩子受到良好教育。他们不仅非常情愿为孩子的教育投资而且花很多时间督促他们学习。多数家长希望孩子能上名牌大学。由于改革开放，越来越多的家长能送孩子到国外学习或参与国际交流项目，以拓宽其视野。通过这些努力，他们期望孩子健康成长，为国家的发展和繁荣作出贡献。