2023年12月大学英语四级考试真题试卷第二套.doc

2023年12月英语四级考试真题试卷（第二套）

Part I Writing (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay about a course that has impressed you most in college. You should state the reasons and write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.
注意：此部分试题在答题卡1上

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1. A) He was ordered to clear the apartment by his mother last time.
B) He has not cleared the apartment since his mother's visit.
C) He has cleared the apartment several times since his mother's visiting.
D) He asked his mother to clear the apartment last time.

2. A) They might as well catch the coming bus. B) They will also miss the next bus.
C) They might as well take the next bus. D) They hurry up to catch the coming bus.

3. A) She asked for a sick leave because of neck pain.
B) Mrs. Smith will take over her work for several days.
C) She has to do extra work for a few days.
D) Mrs. Smith was too busy to take over her work.

4. A) Change her job. B) Sell her cafeteria. C) Plant flowers. D) Wash dishes.

5. A) He remembered to take the package to the post office.
B) He was told to have something wrong with his mind.
C) He is a deliver man working in the post office.
D) He failed to do what he promised to do.

6. A) The woman has a rule to select horror films. B) The woman does not like horror films.
C) The woman cares much for horror films. D) The woman like the film the man mentioned.

7. A) The speakers disagree with each other about love.
B) Love in the woman's eye is happy and sweet.
C) The speakers share a common view on love.
D) Love hurts the man from time to time.

8. A) Preparations for a forum. B) Preparations for an interview.
C) Preparations for a banquet. D) Preparations for making chairs.

Questions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

9. A) England. B) Scandinavia. C) South America. D) Scotland.

10. A) More women will stay at home. B) More women will run for higher posts.
C) Marriages will be abolished. D) More women will work outside the family.

11. A) Spending more time improving women's income.
B) Spending more time changing men's attitudes.
C) Spending more time improving marriage quality.
D) Spend more time changing women's attitudes.

Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
12. A) In a restaurant. B) In a meeting room. C) In an office. D) In a factory.

13. A) He is a salesman of J.R. Motors. B) He is the boss of the restaurant.
C) He is the Managing Director of J.R. Motors.
D) He is the managing director of the big factory.

14. A) To get a good export agent. B) To expand the factory.
C) To get a good import agent. D) To design a new product.

15. A) His family background. B) His reputation.
C) His designing talent. D) His determination.

Passage One Questions 16 to 18 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

16. A) How being an identical twin influences one's identity.
B) How twins are born and have the same identity.
C) Why many identical twins make different choices.
D) Why many identical twins don't live near each other.

17. A) They didn't meet each other for 4 months.
B) They grew up in different surroundings.
C) They were separated when they are 39 years old.
D) They all have two wives and two daughters.

18. A) They want to find out the relationship between environment and biology.
B) They want to find out the connection between hobby and personalities.
C) They want to find out the connection between surroundings and personality characteristics.
D) They want to find out the connection between communication and talents.

Passage Two Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.

19. A) It isn't one of the cheapest ways of having a holiday.
B) It is the most comfortable ways of spending a holiday.
C) It is the most popular ways of having a holiday.
D) It is an inexpensive way of spending a holiday.

20. A) It is the frame tent for two people. B) It consists of an inner and an outer tent.
C) It is the kind of the outer tent with a ground sheet.
D) It is comfortable with windows, kitchens and sitting rooms.

21. A) A ground sheet. B) A bedroom extension.
C) A kitchen extension. D) A water-proof sheet.

Passage Three Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.

22. A) It covers 179 square miles. B) It is larger than New York City.
C) It is located between France and Italy. D) It only covers 197 square miles.

23. A) Travelers were easy to reach the country.
B) The living way of the people changed quickly.
C) It has a small number of farmer population.
D) It was cut off from the rest of the world.

24. A) The investment of tourism from its neighboring countries.
B) The lowest import fees for tourists cheapest shopping.
C) The building of roads connecting it with neighboring countries.
D) The permission to visit so many ancient buildings.

25. A) They work in foreign business. B) They work in the tourist industry.
C) They farm and raise sheep. D) They work in transportation industry.

Don't take many English courses, they won't help you get a decent job. Sign up for management classes, so you will be ready to join the family business when you graduate. Sound __26__? Many of us have heard suggestions like these __27__ by parents or others close to us. Such comments often seem quite reasonable. Why then? Should suggestions like these be taken with __28__? The reason is they relate to the decisions you should make. You are the one who must 29 their consequences. One of the worst reasons to follow a particular path in life is that other people want you to. Decisions that affect your life should be your decisions. Decisions you make after you've considered various __30__ and chosen the path that suits you best. Making your own decisions does not mean that you should __31__ the suggestions of others. For instance, your parents do have their own unique experiences that may make their advice helpful and having __32__ in a great deal of your personal history. They may have a clear view of your strength and weaknesses. Still, their views are not necessarily accurate. They may still see you as a child __33__ caring and protection. Or they may see only your strength, or in some unfortunate cases they may __34__ only your flaws and shortcomings. People will always be giving your advice, ultimately though, you have to make your own __35__.

Questions 36 to 45 are based on the following passage.

For decades, Americans have taken for granted the United States' position in the development of new technologies. The innovations (创新) resulted from research and development during World War II and afterwards were __36__ to the prosperity of the nation in the second half of the 20th century. Those innovations, upon which virtually all aspects of __37__ society now depend, were possible because the United States __38__ then the world in mathematics and science education. Today, however, despite increasing demand for workers with strong skills in mathematics and science, the __39__ of degrees awarded in science, math, and engineering are decreasing.
The decline in degree production in what are called the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and math) seems to be __40__ related to the comparatively weak performance by U.S. schoolchildren on international assessments of math and science. Many students entering college have weak skills in mathematics. According to the 2023 report of the Business-Higher Education Forum, 22 percent of college freshmen must take remedial (补习旳) math __41__. and less than half of the students who plan to major in science or engineering __42__ complete a major in those fields.
The result has been a decrease in the number of American college graduates who have the skills, __43__ in mathematics, to power a workforce that can keep the country at the forefront (前沿) of innovation and maintain its standard of living. With the __44__ performance of American students in math and science has come increased competition from students from other countries that have strongly supported education in these areas. Many more students earn __45__ in the STEM disciplines in developing countries, especially China, than in the United States.
A) accelerating
B) actually
C) closely
D) contemporary
E) courses
F) critical
G) declining
H) degrees
I) especially
J) future
K) led
L) met
M) procedures
N) proportions
O) spheres

Ban Sugary Drinks that Will Add Fuel to the Obesity War

[A] On a train last Thursday, I sat opposite a man who was so fat he filled more than one seat. He was pale and disfigured and looked sick to death, which he probably was: obesity (肥胖症) leads to many nasty ways of dying. Looking around the carriage, 1 saw quite a few people like him, including a couple of fatty children with swollen checks pressing against their eyes. These people are part of what is without exaggeration an epidemic (流行病) of obesity.
[B] But it is quite unnecessary: there is a simple idea — far from new — that could spare millions of such people a lifetime of chronic (长期旳) ill health, and at the same time save the National Health Service(NHS)at least ￡ 14 billion a year in England and Wales. There would, you might think, be considerable public interest in it. This simple idea is that sugar is as good — or as bad — as poison and should be avoided. It is pure, white and deadly, as Professor John Yudkin described it 40 years ago in a revolutionary book of that name. The subtitle was How Sugar Is Killing Us.
[C] In its countless hidden forms, in ready meals, junk food and sweet drinks, sugar leads to addiction (瘾), to hormonal upsets to the appetite, to metabolic (新陈代谢旳) malfunctions and obesity and from there to type 2 diabetes (糖尿病) and its many horrible complication. If people really grasped that, they would try to kick the habit, particularly as Britain is the "fat man of Europe". They might even feel driven to support government measures to prevent people from consuming this deadly stuff. Yet so far this idea has met little but resistance.
[D] It is not difficult to imagine the vested interests (既得利益集团) lined up against any sugar control- all the food and drink manufacturers, processors, promoters and retailers who make such easy pickings out of the magic powers of sugar. Then there are the liberals, with whom I would normally side, who protest that government regulation would be yet another instance of interference in our lives.
[E] That is true, but people should realize that you cannot have a welfare state without a nanny slate (保姆国家), to some degree. If we are all to be responsible for one another's health insurance, through socialized medicine, then we are all closely involved in one another's health, including everyone's eating and drinking. That has already been admitted, finally, with smoking. But it has yet to be admitted with overeating, even though one in four adults in this country is obese and that number is predicted to double by the year 2050. Quite apart from anything else, obesity will cripple the NHS.
[F] Recently, though, there have been signs that the medical establishment is trying to sound the alarm. Last month the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AMRC) published a report saying that obesity is the greatest public health issue affecting the UK and urging government to do something.
[G] The report offers 10 recommendations, of which the first is imposing a tax of 20 percent on sugary drinks for at least a year, on top of the existing 20 percent value-added tax. That at least would be an excellent start. The amounts of sugar in soft drinks are horrifying, and turn straight to fat. As Professor Terence Stephenson, head of the AMRC, has said, sugary soft drinks are "the ultimate bad food. You are just consuming neat sugar. Your body didn't evolve to handle this kind of thing."
[H] Precisely. The risks of eating too much fat or salt (which are very different) pale into insignificant compared with the harm done by sugar. And it is everywhere.
[I] It is difficult to buy anything in a supermarket, other than plain, unprepared meat, fish or vegetables, that doesn't have a large amount of sugar in it. This has come about because the prevailing scientific views of the 1960s and 1970s ignored the evidence about sugar, and instead saw fat as the really serious risk, both to the heart and other organs, as well as the cause of obesity.
[J] The fashion was to avoid fat. But finding that food with much of its fat removed is not very appetizing, food producers turned to sugar as a magic alternative flavor enhancer, often in the forms of syrups (糖浆) that had recently been developed from corn, and put it generously into most prepared foods and soft drinks.
[K] This stuff is not just fattening. It is addictive. It interferes with the body's metabolism, possibly via the activity of an appetite-controlling hormone. There's plenty of evidence for this, for those who will accept the truth.
[L] Theoretically, people ought to make "healthy choices" and avoid overeating. But sugar additives are not easy to identify and are hard to avoid. So the snacking, over-drinking and over eating that makes people fat is not really their own fault: obesity is in large part something that is being done to them. It should be stopped, or rather the government should stop it.
[M] Going round my local supermarket, I am constantly astonished that it is still legal to sell all the poisons stacked high on the shelves. The problem is that they are worse than useless. They are poisonous. They are known to be addictive. They are known to make people obese. And giving small children sweet drinks or bottles of fake juice all day long is nothing less than child abuse.
[N] Clear