1、2019年12月四級真題（第一套）Part I WritingDirections: 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.Part II Listening ComprehensionSection ADirec

2、tions: In this section, you will hear three news reports. At the end of each news report, you will hear two or three questions. Both the news report 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).

3、Then mark the 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 heard.1. 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 w

4、andering cow.D) A wandering cow was captured by the police.2. A) It was shot to death by a police officer.B) It found its way back to the parks zoo.C) It became a great attraction for tourists.D) It was sent to the animal control department.Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have jus

5、t heard.3. 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. A) A collection of bird fossils from Australia.B) Photographs of certain rare fossil exhibits.C) Some ancient wall paintings from Australia.D)

6、 Pictures by winners of a wildlife photo contest.Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.5. A) Pick up trash.B) Amuse visitors.C) Deliver messages.D) Play with children.6. A) They are especially intelligent.B) They are childrens favorite.C They are quite easy to tame.D) The

7、y are clean and pretty.7. 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 BDirections: In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of each conversation, you will h

8、ear 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.Questions 8 to 1

9、1 are based on the conversation you have just heard. 8. 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. A) It will be more futuristic.B) It will be more systematic.

10、C) It will be more entertaining.D) It will be easier to understand.10. A) People interested in science.B) Youngsters eager to explore.C) Children in their early teens.D) Students majoring in science.11. A) Offer professional advice.B) Provide financial support.C) Help promote it on the Internet.D) M

11、ake episodes for its first season.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12. A) Unsure.B) Helpless.C) Concerned.D) Dissatisfied.13. 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

12、 on projects beyond his ability.14. A) Embarrassed.B) Unconcerned.C) Miserable.D) Resentful.15. 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 CDirections: In this section

13、, you will hear three 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 lette

14、r 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) 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 p

15、otential to be leaders.17. 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. A) Offer personalized teaching materials.B) Provide a variety of optional cour

16、ses.C) Place great emphasis on test scores.D) Pay extra attention to top students.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.19. 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

17、 the US.20. 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. A) It has a lot of places for entertainment.B) It has never seen thunder and lighting.C) It has fewer cloudy days than any other coastal city.D) It has

18、 mild weather both in summer and in winter.Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.22. A) It occurs when people are doing a repetitive activity.B) It results from exerting ones muscles continuously.C) It happens when people engage in an uncommon activity.D) It comes from stra

19、ining ones muscles in an unusual way.23. 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. A) About one week.B) About two days.C) About ten days.D) About

20、four weeks.25. A) Apply muscle creams.B) Drink plenty of water.C) Have a hot shower.D) Take pain-killers.Part III Reading ComprehensionSection ADirections: 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 b

21、ank 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 t

22、han 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. Its hot so you grab a bottle of water from a local vendor. Its the safe thing to do, right? The bottle is 27 , and t

23、he label says “pure water”. But maybe whats 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?Thats the conclusion of a recently 30 study, which analysed 259 bottles from 11 brands sold in nine count

24、ries, 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 organis

25、ation. 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 sa

26、me 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)

27、evidenceF) instantG) liquidH) modifiedI) naturalJ) potentialK) releasedL) revealingM) sealedN) solvesO) substanceSection BDirections: 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

28、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 deliveryA) On Wednesday, a polar wind brought bitter cold to the Mi

29、dwest. Overnight, Chicago reached a low of 21 degrees Fahrenheit below zero, making it slightly colder than Antarctica (南極洲), 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 We

30、ather Service. Schools, restaurants, and businesses closed, and more than 1,000 flights have been canceled.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 Post

31、al 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, hurricane

32、s, 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 devastation and resource scarcity from 2017s Hurricane Maria. Natural disasters can wreck a communitys infrastruct

33、ure, upending 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 (無人機) caught footage (連續(xù)鏡頭) of a USPS worker, Trevor Smith, driving through burned homes i

34、n 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

35、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 I picked

36、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 du

37、e to weather, the agencys 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 devastation is extreme, mail addressed to the area will get sent e

38、lsewhere. 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 its safe enough to be

39、outside, couriers (郵遞員) 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

40、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 sen

41、sitive 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

42、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 e

43、lection 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

44、asset” to be called upon in a disaster or terrorist attack. “I think were unique as a federal agency,” USPS official Mike Swigart told me, “because were in literally every community in this country Were obligated to deliver to that point on a daily basis.”J) Private courier companies, which have mor

45、e 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 compa

46、ny 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. UPSs charitable

47、arm, the UPS Foundation, uses the companys logistics to help disaster-struck areas rebuild. “We realize that as a company with people, trucks, warehouses, we needed to play a larger role,” said Eduardo Martinez, the president of the UPS Foundation. The company employs its trucks and planes to delive

48、r 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, im

49、pressions 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, “thats t

50、he 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

51、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 serv

52、ice 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 condi

53、tions.45. Postal services work hard to identify items that require priority treatment.Section CDirections: 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

54、 the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.Professor Ashok Goel of Georgia Tech developed an artificially intelligent teaching assistant to help handle the enormous number

55、 of student questions in the online class, Knowledge Based Artificial Intelligence. This online course is a core requirement of Georgia Techs online Master of Science in Computer Science program. Professor Goel already had eight teaching assistants, but that wasnt enough to deal with the overwhelmin

56、g 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 wasnt too great. But G