2021年6月 四级 第一套 试题 Part I Writing (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay titled \"Do violent video games lead to violence?\". You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.
Part II Listening Comprehension (25 minutes) Section A
Directions: 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). 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) Enroll him in a Newcastle football club. B) Send him to an after-school art class. C) Forbid him to draw in his workbook. D) Help him post his drawings online. 2
A) Contacted Joe to decorate its dining-room. B) Hired Joe to paint all the walls of its buildings. C) Renovated its kitchen and all the dining-rooms. D) Asked Joe for permission to use his online drawings.
Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard. 3
A) Get her pet dog back. B) Beg for help from the police.
C) Identify the suspect or the security video. D) Post pictures of her pet dog on social media. 4
A) It is suffering a great deal from the incident. B) It is helping the police with the investigation. C) It is bringing the case to the local district court. D) It is offering a big reward to anyone who helps.
Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard. 5
A) Provide free meals to the local poor. B) Help people connect with each other. C)Help eliminate class difference in his area. D) Provide customers with first-class service. 6.
A) It does not supervise its employees. B) It donates regularly to a local charity. C) It donates regularly to a local charity. D) It is open round the clock. 7.
A) They will realise the importance of communication. B) They will come to the café even more frequently. C) They will care less about their own background. D) They will find they have something in common. Section B
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.
Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard. 8.
A) A surprise party for Paul’s birthday. B) Travel plans for the coming weekend. C) Preparations for Saturday’s get-together. D) The new market on the other side of town. 9.
A) It makes the hostess’s job a whole lot easier. B) It enables guests to walk around and chat freely. C) It saves considerable time and labor. D) It requires fewer tables and chairs. 10.
A) It offers some big discounts.
B) It is quite close to her house. C) It is more spacious and less crowded. D) It sells local wines and soft drinks. 11.
A) Cook a dish for the party. B) Arrive 10 minutes earlier. C) Prepare a few opening remarks. D) Bring his computer and speakers.
Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard. 12.
A) For commuting to work. B) For long-distance travel. C) For getting around in Miami. D) For convenience at weekends. 13.
A) They are reliable. B) They are compact. C) They are suspicious. D) They are easy to drive. 14.
A) Buy a second-hand car. B) Trust her own judgement. C) Seek advice from his friend. D) Look around before deciding. 15.
A) He sells new cars. B) He can be trusted. C) He is starting a business. D) He is a successful car dealer.
Section C
Directions: In this section, 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 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) Many escaped from farms and became wild. B) They were actually native to North America. C) Many got killed in the wild when searching for food. D) They were hunted by Spanish and Russian explorers. 17.
A) They often make sudden attacks on people. B) They break up nature’s food supply chain. C) They cause much environmental pollution. D) They carry a great many diseases. 18.
A) They lived peacefully with wild pigs. B) They ran out of food completely. C) They fell victim to eagles. D) They reproduced quickly.
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard. 19.
A) Taste coffee while in outer space. B) Roast coffee beans in outer space. C) Develop a new strain of coffee bean. D) Use a pressurised tank to brew coffee. 20.
A) They can easily get burned. B) They float around in the oven. C) They have to be heated to 360 ℃. D) They receive evenly distributed heat. 21.
A) They charged a high price for their space-roasted coffee beans. B) They set up a branch in Dubai to manufacture coffee roasters. C) They collaborated on building the first space coffee machine. D) They abandoned the attempt to roast coffee beans in space.
Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard. 22.
A) It is the best time for sightseeing.
B) A race passes through it annually. C)They come to clean the Iditarod Trail. D) It is when the villagers choose a queen. 23.
A) Its children’s baking skills. B) Its unique winter scenery. C) Its tasty fruit pies. D) Its great food variety. 24.
A) The contestants. B) The entire village. C) Jan Newton and her friends. D) People from the state of Idaho. 25.
A) She owned a restaurant in Idaho. B) She married her husband in 1972. C) She went to Alaska to compete in a race. D) She helped the village to become famous.
Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes) 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.
Most animals seek shade when temperatures in the Sahara Desert soar to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. But for the Saharan silver ants, 26________ from their underground nests into the sun’s brutal rays to 27_________ for food, this is the perfect time to seek lunch. In 2015 these ants were joined in the desert by scientists from two Belgian universities, who spent a month in the 28__________ heat tracking the ants and digging out their nests. The goal was simple: to discover how the 29________ adapted to the kind of heat that can 30__________ melt the bottom of shoes. Back in Belgium, the scientists looked at the ants under an electronic microscope and found that their 31_________ , triangular hair reflects light like a prism, giving them a metallic reflection and protecting them from the sun’s awful heat. When Ph.D. student Quentin Willot 32________ the hair from an ant with 33_________ knife and put it under a heat lamp, its temperature jumped.
The ants' method of staying cool is 34________ among animals. Could this reflective type of
hair protect people? Willot says companies are interested in 35_______ these ants’ method of heat protection for human use, including everything from helping to protect the lives of firefighters to keeping homes cool in summer.
A) adapting C) crawling D) crowded 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 start of high school doesn’t have to be stressful
[A] This month, more than 4 million students across the nation will begin high school. Many will do well. But many will not. Consider that nearly two-thirds of students will experience the “ninth-grade shock,” which refers to a dramatic drop in a student’s academic performance. Some students cope with this shock by avoiding challenges. For instance, they may drop rigorous coursework. Others may experience a hopelessness that results in failing their core classes, such as English, science and math.
[B] This should matter a great deal to parents, teachers and policymakers. Ultimately it should matter to the students themselves and society at large, because students’ experience of transitioning（过渡） to ninth grade can have long-term consequences not only for the students but for their home communities. We make these observations as research psychologists who have studied how schools and families can help young people thrive.
[C] In the new global economy, students who fail to finish ninth grade with passing grades in college preparatory coursework are very unlikely to graduate on time and go on to get jobs. One study has calculated that the lifetime benefit to the local economy for a single additional student who completes high school is half a million dollars or more. This is based on higher earnings and avoided costs in health care, crime, welfare dependence and other things.
[D] The consequences of doing poorly in the ninth grade can impact more than students’ ability to find a good job. It can also impact the extent to which they enjoy life. Students lose many of the friends they turned to for support when they move from eighth to ninth grade. One study of ninth grade students found that 50 percent of friendships among ninth graders changed from one month
E) extreme
G) literally
I) remote
K) species
M) thick O) unique
B) consciously F) hunt
J) removed
N) tiny
H) moderate L) specimens
to the next, signaling striking instability in friendships.
[E] In addition, studies find the first year of high school typically shows one of the greatest increases in depression of any year over the lifespan. Researchers think that one explanation is that ties to friends are broken while academic demands are rising. Furthermore, most adult cases of clinical depression first emerge in adolescence（青春期）. The World Health Organization reports that depression has the greatest burden of disease, in terms of the total cost of treatment and the loss of productivity.
[F] Given all that’s riding on having a successful ninth grade experience, it pays to explore what can be done to improve the academic, social and emotional challenges of the transition to high school. So far, our studies have yielded one main insight: Students’ beliefs about change – their beliefs about whether people are stuck one way forever, or whether people can change their personalities and abilities – are related to their ability to cope, succeed academically and maintain good mental health. Past research has called these beliefs “mindsets（思维模式）,” with a “fixed mindset” referring to the belief that people cannot change and a “growth mindset” referring to the belief that people can change.
[G] In one recent study, we examined 360 adolescents’ beliefs about the nature of “smartness” – that is, their fixed mindsets about intelligence. We then assessed biological stress responses for students whose grades were dropping by examining their stress hormones（荷尔蒙）. Students who believed that intelligence is fixed – that you are stuck being “not smart” if you struggle in school – showed higher levels of stress hormones when their grades were declining at the beginning of ninth grade. If students believed that intelligence could improve – that is to say, when they held more of a growth mindset of intelligence – they showed lower levels of stress hormones when their grades were declining. This was an exciting result because it showed that the body’s stress responses are not determined solely by one’s grades. Instead, declining grades only predicted worse stress hormones among students who believed that worsening grades were a permanent and hopeless state of affairs.
[H] We also investigated the social side of the high school transition. In this study, instead of teaching students that their smartness can change, we taught them that their social standing – that is, whether you are bullied or excluded or left out – can change over time. We then looked at high school students’ stress responses to daily social difficulties. That is, we taught them a growth mindset about their social lives. In this study, students came into the laboratory and were asked to give a public speech in front of upper-year students. The topic of the speech was what makes one popular in high school. Following this, students had to complete a difficult mental math task in front of the same upper-year students.
[I] Experiment results showed that students who were not taught that people can change showed poor stress responses. When these students gave the speech, their blood vessels contracted and their hearts pumped less blood through the body – both responses that the body shows when it
is preparing for damage or defeat after a physical threat. Then they gave worse speeches and made more mistakes in math. But when students were taught that people can change, they had better responses to stress, in part because they felt like they had the resources to deal with the demanding situation. Students who got the growth mindset intervention（干预） showed less-contracted blood vessels and their hearts pumped more blood – both of which contributed to more oxygen getting to the brain, and, ultimately, better performance on the speech and mental math tasks.
[J] These findings lead to several possibilities that we and others are investigating further. First, we are working to replicate（复制） these findings in more diverse school communities. We want to know in which types of schools and for which kinds of students these growth mindset ideas help young people adapt to the challenges of high school. We also hope to learn how teachers, parents or school counselors can help students keep their ongoing academic or social difficulties in perspective. We wonder what would happen if schools helped to make beliefs about the potential for change and improvement a larger feature of the overall school culture, especially for students starting the ninth grade.
36. The number of people experiencing depression shows a sharp increase in the first year of high school.
37. According to one study, students’ academic performance is not the only decisive factor of their stress responses.
38. Researchers would like to explore further how parents and schools can help ninth graders by changing their mindset.
39. According to one study, each high school graduate contributes at least 500,000 dollars to the local economy.
40. In one study, students were told their social position in school is not unchangeable. 41. It is reported that depression results in enormous economic losses worldwide. 42. One study showed that friendships among ninth graders were far from stable.
43. More than half of students will find their academic performance declining sharply when they enter the ninth grade.
44. Researchers found through experiments that students could be taught to respond to stress in more positive way.
45. It is beneficial to explore ways to cope with the challenges facing students entering high school.
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
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
Educators and business leaders have more in common than it may seem. Teachers want to prepare students for a successful future. Technology companies have an interest in developing a workforce with the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills needed to grow the company and advance the industry. How can they work together to achieve these goals? Play may be the answer.
Focusing on STEM skills is important, but the reality is that STEM skills are enhanced and more relevant when combined with traditional, hands-on creative activities. This combination is proving to be the best way to prepare today's children to be the makers and builders of tomorrow. That is why technology companies are partnering with educators to bring back good, old-fashioned play.
In fact many experts argue that the most important 2lst-century skills aren't related to specific technologies or subject matter, but to creativity; skills like imagination, problem-finding and problem-solving, teamwork, optimism, patience and the ability to experiment and take risks. These are skills acquired when kids tinker (鼓捣小玩意) , High-tech industries such as NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have found that their best overall problem solvers were master tinkerers in their youth.
There are cognitive (认知的) benefits of doing things the way we did as children — building something, tearing it down, then building it up again. Research shows that given 15 minutes of free play, four- and five-year-olds will spend a third of this time engaged in spatial, mathematical, and architectural activities. This type of play—especially with building blocks—helps children discover and develop key principles in math and geometry.
If play and building are critical to 21st century skill development, that's really good news for two reasons: Children are born builders, makers, and creators, so fostering（培养） 21st century skills may be as simple as giving kids room to play, tinker and try things out, even as they grow older; Secondly, it doesn't take 21st century technology to foster 21st century skills. This is especially important for under-resourced schools and communities. Taking whatever materials are handy and tinkering with them is a simple way to engage those important “maker” skills. And anyone, anywhere, can do it.
46. What does the author say about educators?
A) They seek advice from technology companies to achieve teaching goals. B) They have been successful in preparing the workforce for companies. C) They help students acquire the skills needed for their future success.
D) They partner with technology companies to enhance teaching efficiency.
47. How can educators better develop students’ STEM skills, according to the author? A) By blending them with traditional, stimulating activities. B) By inviting business leaders to help design curriculums. C) By enhancing students’ ability to think in a critical way. D) By showing students the best way to learn is through play.
48. How do children acquire the skills needed for the 21 st century? A) By engaging in activities involving specific technologies. B) By playing with things to solve problems on their own. C) By familiarizing themselves with high-tech gadgets. D) By mastering basic principles through teamwork.
49.What can we do to help children learn the basics of math and geometry? A) Stimulate their interest as early as possible. B) Spend more time playing games with them. C) Encourage them to make things with hands. D) Allow them to tinker freely with calculators.
50. What does the author advise disadvantaged schools and communities to do? A) Train students to be makers to meet future market demands. B) Develop students’ creative skills with the resources available. C) Engage students with challenging tasks to foster their creativity. D) Work together with companies to improve their teaching facilities.
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
Being an information technology, or IT, worker is not a job I envy. They are the ones who, right in the middle of a critical meeting, are expected to instantly fix the projector that's no longer working. They have to tolerate the bad tempers of colleagues frustrated at the number of times they’ve had to call the help desk for the same issue. They are also the ones who know there are systems that are more powerful, reliable and faster, but their employer simply will not put up the funds to buy them.
According to a recent survey, employees who have a job reliant on IT support consider IT a major source of job dissatisfaction. Through no fault of their own, they can suddenly find their productivity deteriorating or quality control non-existent. And there's little they can do about it.
The experience of using IT penetrates almost the entire work field. It has become a crucial part of employees' overall work experience. When IT is operating as it should, employee self-confidence swells. Their job satisfaction, too, can surge when well-functioning machines relieve them of dull tasks or repetitive processes. But if there's one thing that triggers widespread employee frustration, it's an IT transformation project gone wrong, where swollen expectations have been popped and a long list of promised efficiencies have been reversed. This occurs when business leaders implement IT initiatives with little consideration of how those changes will impact the end user.
Which is why managers should appreciate just how influential the IT user experience is to their employees, and exert substantial effort in ensuring their IT team eliminates programming errors and application crashes. Adequate and timely IT support should also be available to enable users to cope with technological issues at work. More importantly, IT practitioners need to understand what employees experience mentally when hey use IT.
Therefore, businesses need to set up their IT infrastructure so that it is designed to fit in with their employees' work, rather than adjust their wok to fit in with the company's IT limitations.
51. What does the author say about working in IT? A) It is envied by many. B) It does not appeal to him. C) It is financially rewarding. D) It does not match his abilities.
52. What is the finding of a recent survey on employees who have a job reliant on IT support? A) IT helps boost productivity. B) IT helps improve quality control.
C) Many employees are deeply frustrated by IT. D) Most employees rely heavily on IT in their work.
53. What is said to happen when IT is functioning properly? A) There is a big boost in employees' work efficiency. B) Employees become more dependent on machines. C) There are no longer any boring or repetitive tasks. D) Employees become more confident in their work.
. What should business leaders do before implementing new IT initiatives? A) Consider the various expectations of their customers. B) Draw up a list of the efficiencies to be promised. C) Assess the swollen cost of training the employees.
D) Think about the possible effects on their employees.
55. How can a business help improve its employees' experience in using IT? A) By designing systems that suit their needs. B) By ensuring that their mental health is sound. C) By adjusting their work to suit the 1T system. D) By offering them regular in-service training.
Part IV Translation (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.
铁观音(Tieguanyin)是中国最受欢迎的茶之一，原产自福建省安溪县西坪镇，如今安溪全县普遍种植，但该县不同地区生产的铁观音又各具风味。铁观音一年四季均可采摘，尤 以春秋两季采摘的茶叶品质最佳。铁观音加工非常复杂，需要专门的技术和丰富的经验。 铁观音含有多种维生素，喝起来口感独特。常饮铁观音有助于预防心脏病、降低血压、增 强记忆力。
2021年6月四级 第二套 试题 Part I Writing (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay titled \"Is technology making people lazy?\" The statement given below is for your reference. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.
Many studies claim that computers distract people, make them lazy thinkers and even lower their work efficiency.
Part II Listening Comprehension (25 minutes) Section A
Directions: 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). 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) See the Pope. 2.
C) Travel to Germany. D) Tour an Italian city.
B) Go to Newcastle.
A) He was taken to hospital in an ambulance. B) His car hit a sign and was badly damaged. C) His-GPS-system-went out of-order. D) He ended up in the wrong place.
Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard. 3.
A) Scotland will reach the national target in carbon emissions reduction ahead of schedule. B) Glasgow City Council has made a deal with ScottishPower on carbon emissions. C) Glasgow has pledged to take the lead in reducing carbon emissions in the UK. D) First Minister Nicola Sturgeon urged ScottishPower to reduce carbon emissions. 4.
A) Glasgow needs to invest in new technologies to reach its goal. B) Glasgow is going to explore new sources of renewable energy. C) Stricter regulation is needed in transforming Glasgow's economy. D) It's necessary to create more low-emission zones as soon as possible.
Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard. 5.
A) It donates money to overpopulated animal shelters. B) It permits employees to bring cats into their office. C) It gives 5,000 yen to employees who keep pet cats. D) It allows workers to do whatever their hearts desire. 6.
A) Keep cats off the street. B) Rescue homeless cats.
C) Volunteer to help in animal shelters. D) Contribute to a fund for cat protection. 7.
A) It has contributed tremendously to the firm's fame. B) It has helped a lot to improve animals' well-being. C) It has led some other companies to follow suit. D) It has resulted in damage to office equipment. Section B
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.
Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard. 8. A) Find out where Jimmy is. B) Borrow money from Jimmy. C) Make friends with Jimmy. D) Ask Jimmy what is to be done. 9.
A) He was unsure what kind of fellow Jimmy was. B) He was working on a study project with Jimmy. C) He wanted to make a sincere apology to Jimmy. D) He wanted to invite her to join in a study project. 10.
A) He got a ticket for speeding. B) He got his car badly damaged. C) He was involved in a traffic accident. D) He had an operation for his injury. 11.
A) He needed to make some donation to charity. B) He found the 60 pounds in his pocket missing. C) He wanted to buy a gift for his mother's birthday. D) He wanted to conceal something from his parents.
Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard. 12.
A) Shopping delivery. B) Shopping online.
C) Where he goes shopping. D) How often he does shopping. 13.
A) Searching in the aisles. B) Dealing with the traffic. C) Driving too long a distance. D) Getting one's car parked. 14.
A) The after-sales service.
B) The replacement policy. C) The quality of food products. D) The damage to the packaging. 15.
A) It saves money.
B) It offers more choice. D) It is less time-consuming.
Section C
Directions: In this section, 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 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) They have little talent for learning math. B) They need medical help for math anxiety. C) They need extra help to catch up in the math class. D) They have strong negative emotions towards math. 17.
A) It will gradually pass away without teachers' help. B) It affects low performing children only. C) It is related to a child's low intelligence.
D) It exists mostly among children from poor families. 18.
A) Most of them have average to strong math ability. B) Most of them get timely help from their teachers. C) They will regain confidence with counselling. D) They are mostly secondary school students.
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard. 19.
A) Social media addiction is a threat to our health. B) Too many people are addicted to smartphones. C) Addiction to computer games is a disease. D) Computer games can be rather addictive.
C) It increases the joy of shopping.
20.
A) They prioritize their favored activity over what they should do. B) They do their favored activity whenever and wherever possible. C) They are unaware of the damage their behavior is doing to them. D) They are unable to get rid of their addiction without professional help. 21.
A) It may be less damaging than previously believed. B) There will never be agreement on its harm to people. C) It may prove to be beneficial to developing creativity. D) There is not enough evidence to classify it as a disease.
Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard. 22.
A) They are relatively uniform in color and design. B) They appear more formal than other passports. C) They are a shade of red bordering on brown. D) They vary in color from country to country. 23.
A) They must endure wear and tear. B) They must be of the same size.
C) They must be made from a rare material. D) They must follow some common standards. 24
A) They look more traditional B) They look more official. C) They are favored by airlines. D) They are easily identifiable. 25.
A) For beauty. B) For variety. C) For visibility. D) For security.
Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes) 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.
Social isolation poses more health risks than obesity or smoking 15 cigarettes a day, according to research published by Brigham Young University. The 26______ is that loneliness is a huge, if silent, risk factor.
Loneliness affects physical health in two ways. First, it produces stress hormones that can lead to many health problems. Second, people who live alone are less likely to go to the doctor 27________, to exercise or to eat a healthy diet.
Public health experts in many countries are 28_________ how to address widespread loneliness in our society. Last year Britain even appointed a minister for loneliness. \"Loneliness 29__________ almost every one of us at some point,\" its minister for loneliness Baroness Barran said. \"It can lead to very serious health 30 ________ for individuals who become isolated and disconnected. \"
Barran started a \"Let's Talk Loneliness\" campaign that 31____ difficult conversations across Britain. He is now supporting \"32________ benches,\" which are public seating areas where people are encouraged to go and chat with one another. The minister is also 33______ to stop public transportation from being cut in ways that leave people isolated.
More than one-fifth of adults in both the United States and Britain said in a 2018 34_____ that they often or always feel lonely. More than half of American adults are unmarried, and researchers have found that even among those who are married, 30% of relationships are 35_________ strained. A quarter of Americans now live alone, and as the song says, one is the loneliest number.
A) abruptly
E) dimensions F) friendly H) idiom
G) hindered
I) implication J) pushing K) severely L) sparked
M) splitting N) survey O) touches
B) appointments C) consequences D) debating 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 question by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.
What happens when a language has no words for numbers?
A Numbers do not exist in all cultures. There are numberless hunter-gatherers embedded deep in Amazonia, living along branches of the world’s largest river tree. Instead of using words for precise quantities, these people rely exclusively on terms analogous to “a few” or “some.” In contrast, our own lives are governed by numbers. As you read this, you are likely aware of what time it is, how old you are, your checking account balance, your weight and so on. The exact (and exacting) numbers we think with impact everything from our schedules to our self-esteem. B But, in a historical sense, numerically fixated people like us are the unusual ones. For the bulk of our species’ approximately 200,000-year lifespan, we had no means of precisely representing quantities. What’s more, the 7,000 or so languages that exist today vary dramatically in how they utilize numbers.
C Speakers of anumeric, or numberless, languages offer a window into how the invention of numbers reshaped the human experience. In a new book, I explored the ways in which humans invented numbers, and how numbers subsequently played a critical role in other milestones, from the advent of agriculture to the genesis of writing. Cultures without numbers, or with only one or two precise numbers, include the Munduruku and Pirahã in Amazonia. Researchers have also studied some adults in Nicaragua who were never taught number words. Without numbers, healthy human adults struggle to precisely differentiate and recall quantities as low as four. In an experiment, a researcher will place nuts into a can one at a time, then remove them one by one. The person watching is asked to signal when all the nuts have been removed. Responses suggest that anumeric people have some trouble keeping track of how many nuts remain in the can, even if there are only four or five in total.
D This and many other experiments have converged upon a simple conclusion: When people do not have number words, they struggle to make quantitative distinctions that probably seem natural to someone like you or me. While only a small portion of the world’s languages are anumeric or nearly anumeric, they demonstrate that number words are not a human universal. E It is worth stressing that these anumeric people are cognitively normal, well-adapted to the environs they have dominated for centuries. As the child of missionaries, I spent some of my youth living with anumeric indigenous people, the aforementioned Pirahã who live along the sinuous banks of the black Maici River. Like other outsiders, I was continually impressed by their superior understanding of the riverine ecology we shared. Yet numberless people struggle with tasks that require precise discrimination between quantities. Perhaps this should be unsurprising. After all, without counting, how can someone tell whether there are, say, seven or eight coconuts in a tree? Such seemingly straightforward distinctions become blurry through numberless eyes.
F This conclusion is echoed by work with anumeric children in industrialized societies. Prior to being spoon-fed number words, children can only approximately discriminate quantities beyond
three. We must be handed the cognitive tools of numbers before we can consistently and easily recognize higher quantities. In fact, acquiring the exact meaning of number words is a painstaking process that takes children years. Initially, kids learn numbers much like they learn letters. They recognize that numbers are organized sequentially, but have little awareness of what each individual number means. With time, they start to understand that a given number represents a quantity greater by one than the preceding number. This \"successor principle\" is part of the foundation of our numerical cognition, but requires extensive practice to understand. G None of us, then, is really a \"numbers person.\" We are not predisposed to handle quantitative distinctions adroitly. In the absence of the cultural traditions that infuse our lives with numbers from infancy, we would all struggle with even basic quantitative distinctions. Number words and written numerals transform our quantitative reasoning as they are coaxed into our cognitive experience by our parents, peers and school teachers. The process seems so normal that we sometimes think of it as a natural part of growing up, but it is not. Human brains come equipped with certain quantitative instincts that are refined with age, but these instincts are very limited. For instance, even at birth we are capable of distinguishing between two markedly different quantities – for instance, eight from 16 things. But we are not the only species capable of such abstractions.
H Compared to chimps and other primates, our numerical instincts are not as remarkable as many presume. We even share some basic instinctual quantitative reasoning with distant nonmammalian relatives like birds. Indeed, work with some other species, including parrots, suggests they too can refine their quantitative thought if they are introduced to the cognitive power tools we call numbers.
I So, how did we ever invent \"unnatural\" numbers in the first place? The answer is, literally, at your fingertips. The bulk of the world's languages use base-10, base- 20 or base-5 number systems. That is, these smaller numbers are the basis of larger numbers. English is a base-10 or decimal language, as evidenced by words like 14 (\"four\" + \"10\") and 31 (\"three\" x \"10\" + \"one\"). We speak a decimal language because an ancestral tongue, proto-Indo-European, was decimally based. Proto-Indo-European was decimally oriented because, as in so many cultures, our linguistic ancestors' hands served as the gateway to realizations like \"five fingers on this hand is the same as five fingers on that hand.\" Such transient thoughts were manifested into words and passed down across generations. This is why the word \"five\" in many languages is derived from the word for \"hand.\" Most number systems, then, are the by-product of two key factors: the human capacity for language and our propensity for focusing on our hands and fingers. This manual fixation – an indirect by-product of walking upright on two legs – has helped yield numbers in most cultures, but not all.
J Cultures without numbers also offer insight into the cognitive influence of particular numeric traditions. Consider what time it is. Your day is ruled by minutes and seconds, but these entities
are not real in any physical sense and are nonexistent to numberless people. Minutes and seconds are the verbal and written vestiges of an uncommon base-60 number system used in Mesopotamia millennia ago. They reside in our minds, numerical artifacts that not all humans inherit conceptually.
K Research on the language of numbers shows, more and more, that one of our species' key characteristics is tremendous linguistic and cognitive diversity. While there are undoubtedly cognitive commonalities across all human populations, our radically varied cultures foster profoundly different cognitive experiences. If we are to truly understand how much our cognitive lives differ cross-culturally, we must continually sound the depths of our species' linguistic diversity. It is worth stressing that these anumeric people are cognitively (在认知方面）normal, well-adapted to the surroundings they have dominated for centuries.
36. It is difficult for anumeric people to keep track of the change in numbers even when the total is small.
37. Compared with other mammals, our numerical instincts are not as remarkable as many assume. 38. It is worth stressing that these anumeric people are cognitively(在认知方面）normal, well- adapted to the surroundings they have dominated for centuries.
39. But, in a historical sense, number-conscious people like us are the unusual ones.
40. Research on the language of numbers shows, more and more, that one of our species' key characteristics is tremendous linguistic(语言的) and cognitive diversity.
41. This and many other experiments have led to a simple conclusion: When people do not have number words, they struggle to make quantitative distinctions that probably seem natural to someone like you or me.
42. None of us, then, is really a “numbers person.” We are not born to handle quantitative distinctions skillfully.
43. Numbers do not exist in all cultures.
44. So, how did we ever invent “unnatural” numbers in the first place? The answer is, literally, at your fingertips.
45. This conclusion is echoed by work with anumeric children in industrialized societies.
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
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
Sugar shocked. That describes the reaction of many Americans this week following revelations that, 50 years ago, the sugar industry paid Harvard scientists for research that shifted the focus away from sugar's role in heart disease-and put the spotlight (注意的中心) squarely on dietary fat.
What might surprise consumers is just how many present-day nutrition studies are still funded by the food industry. Nutrition scholar Marion Nestle of New York University spent a year informally tracking industry-funded studies on food. \"Roughly 90% of nearly 170 studies favored the sponsor's interest,\" Nestle tells us. Other systematic reviews support her conclusions.
For instance, studies funded by Welch Foods-the brand behind Welch's 100% Grape Juice-found that drinking Concord grape juice daily may boost brain function. Another, funded by Quaker Oats, concluded, as a Daily Mail story put it, that \"hot oatmeal ”(燕麦粥) breakfast keeps you full for longer.
Last year, The New York Times revealed how Coca-Cola was funding well-known scientists and organizations promoting a message that, in the battle against weight gain, people should pay more attention to exercise and less to what they eat and drink. Coca-Cola also released data detailing its funding of several medical institutions and associations between 2010 and 2015.
\"It's certainly a problem that so much research in nutrition and health is funded by industry,\" says Bonnie Liebman, director of nutrition at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. \"When the food industry pays for research, it often gets what it pays for.\" And what it pays for is often a pro-industry finding.
Given this environment, consumers should be skeptical (怀疑的) when-reading-the-latest-finding in nutrition science and ignore the latest study that pops up on your news feed. \"Rely on health experts who've reviewed all the evidence,\" Liebman says, pointing to the official government Dietary Guidelines, which are based on reviews of hundreds of studies.
\"And that expert advice remains pretty simple,\" says Nestle. \"We know what healthy diets are—lots of vegetables, not too much junk food, balanced calories. Everything else is really difficult to do experimentally. \"
46. What did Harvard scientists do 50 years ago?
A) They raised public awareness of the possible causes of heart disease. B) They turned public attention away from the health risks of sugar to fat. C) They placed the sugar industry in the spotlight with their new findings. D) They conducted large-scale research on the role of sugar in people's health.
47. What does Marion Nestle say about present-day nutrition studies? A) They took her a full year to track and analyze.
B) Most of them are based on systematic reviews. C) They depend on funding from the food industries. D) Nearly all of them serve the purpose of the funders.
48. What did Coca-Cola-funded studies claim? A) Exercise is more important to good health than diet. B) Choosing what to eat and drink is key to weight control. C) Drinking Coca-Cola does not contribute to weight gain. D) The food industry plays a major role in fighting obesity.
49. What does Liebman say about industry-funded research? A) It simply focuses on nutrition and health. B) It causes confusion among consumers. C) It rarely results in objective findings. D) It runs counter to the public interest.
50. What is the author's advice to consumers? A) Follow their intuition in deciding what to eat. B) Be doubtful of diet experts' recommendations. C) Ignore irrelevant information on their news feed. D) Think twice about new nutrition research findings.
Passage 2
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
Success was once defined as being able to stay at a company for a long time and move up the corporate ladder. The goal was to reach the top, accumulate wealth and retire to a life of ease. My father is a successful senior executive. In 35 years, he worked for only three companies.
When I started my career, things were already different. If you weren't changing companies every three or four years, you simply weren't getting ahead in your career. But back then, if you were a consultant or freelancer ( 自由职业者) , people would wonder what was wrong with you. They would assume you had problems getting a job.
Today, consulting or freelancing for five businesses at the same time is a badge of honor. It ·shows how valuable an individual is. Many companies now look to these \"ultimate professionals\" to solve problems their full-time teams can't. Or they save money by hiring \"top-tier (顶尖的) experts\" only for particular projects.
Working at home or in cafes, starting businesses of their own, and even launching business ventures that eventually may fail, all indicate \"initiative,\" \"creativity,\" and \"adaptability,\" which are
desirable qualities in today's workplace. Most important, there is a growing recognition that people who balance work and play, and who work at what they are passionate about, are more focused and productive, delivering greater value to their clients.
Who are these people? They are artists, writers, programmers, providers of office services and career advice. What's needed now is a marketplace platform specifically designed to bring freelancers and clients together. Such platforms then become a place to feature the most experienced, professional, and creative talent. This is where they conduct business, where a sense of community reinforces the culture and values of the gig economy (零工经济) , and where success is rewarded with good reviews that encourage more business.
Slowly but surely, these platforms create a bridge between traditional enterprises and this emerging economy. Perhaps more important, as the global economy continues to be disrupted by technology and other massive change, the gig economy will itself become an engine of economic and social transformation.
51. What does the author use the example of his father· to illustrate? A) How long people took to reach the top of their career. B) How people accumulated wealth in his father's time. C) How people viewed success in his father's time. D) How long people usually stayed in a company.
52. Why did people often change jobs when the author started his career? A) It was considered a fashion at that time. B) It was a way to advance in their career. C) It was a response to the changing job market. D) It was difficult to keep a job for long.
53. What does the author say about people now working for several businesses at the same time? A) They are often regarded as most treasured talents. B) They are able to bring their potential into fuller play. C) They have control over their life and work schedules. D) They feel proud of being outstanding problem solver.
. What have businesses come to recognize now? A) Who is capable of solving problems with ease. B) How people can be more focused and productive. C) What kind of people can contribute more to them. D) Why some people are more passionate about work.
55. What does the author say about the gig economy? A) It may force companies to reform their business practice. B) It may soon replace the traditional economic model. C) It will drive technological progress on a global scale. D) It will bring about radical economic and social changes.
Part IV Translation (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.
普洱(Pu’er)茶深受中国人喜爱，最好的普洱茶产自云南的西双版纳(Xishuangbanna)， 那里的气候和环境为普洱茶树的生长提供了最佳条件。普洱茶颜色较深，味道与其他的茶截 然不同。普洱茶泡(brew)的时间越长越有味道。许多爱喝的人尤其喜欢其独特的香味和口感。 普洱茶含有多种有益健康的元素，常饮普洱茶有助于保护心脏和血管，还有减肥、消除疲劳 和促进消化的功效。
2021年6月四级真题 第三套 试题 Part I Writing (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay titled \"Are people becoming addicted to technology?\". The statement given below is for your reference. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.
Numerous studies claim that addiction to technology is real and it has the same effect on the brain as drug addiction.
Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes) 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.
Nowadays you can't buy anything without then being asked to provide a rating of a company's performance on a five-star scale.
I've been asked to rate my \"store 26 _________\" on the EFTPOS terminal before I can pay. Even the most 27 _______ activities, such as calling Telstra or picking up a parcel from Australia Post, are followed by texts or emails with surveys asking \"How did we do?\"
Online purchases are 28 ________ followed up by a customer satisfaction survey. Companies are so 29 _______ for a hit of stars that if you delete the survey the company sends you another one.
We're 30 ______ to rate our apps when we've barely had a chance to use them. One online course provider I use asks you what you think of the course after you've only completed 31_______ 2 per cent of it.
Economist Jason Murphy says that companies use customer satisfaction ratings· because a 32________ display of star feedback has become the nuclear power sources of the modem economy.
However, you can't help but 33______ if these companies are basing their business on fabrications (捏造的东西) . I 34______ that with online surveys 1 just click the 35_______ that's closest to my mouse cursor (光标) to get the damn thing off my screen. Often the star rating I give has far more to do with the kind of day I'm having than the purchase 1 just made.
A) announce B) commonplace F) fascinated G) option K) shining 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. &eh paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.
Science of setbacks: How failure can improve career prospects
A How do early career setbacks affect our long-term success? Failures can help us learn and overcome our fears. But disasters can still wound us, screw us up and set us back. Wouldn't it be nice if there was genuine, scientifically documented truth to the expression, \"what doesn't kill you makes you stronger\"?
B One way social scientists have probed the effects of career setbacks is to look at scientists of very similar qualifications who, for reasons that are mostly arbitrary, either just missed getting a research grant or who just barely made it. In the social sciences, this is known as examining \"near misses\" and \"narrow wins\" in areas where merit is subjective. That allows researchers to measure only the effects of being chosen or not. Studies in this area have found conflicting results. In the competitive game of biomedical science, research on scientists who narrowly lost or won grant money suggests that narrow winners become even bigger winners down the line. In other words, the rich get richer.
C A 2018 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, for example,
L) showering
C) confess
D) desperate E) experience J) routinely
O) wonder
H) prompted I) roughly
M) variety
N) voyage
followed researchers in the Netherlands and concluded that those who just barely qualified for a grant were able to get twice as much money within the next eight years as those who just missed out. And the narrow winners were 50 per cent more likely to be given a professorship. D Others in the US have found similar effects with National Institutes of Health early-career fellowships catapulting narrow winners far ahead of close losers. The phenomenon is often referred to as the Matthew effect, inspired by the New Testament's wisdom that to those who have, more will be given. There's a good explanation for the phenomenon in the book The Formula: The Universal Laws of Success by Albert Laszlo Barabasi: it's easier and less risky for those in positions of power to choose to bestow awards and funding on those who've already been so recognised.
E This is bad news for the losers: small early career setbacks seem to have a disproportionate effect down the line. What didn't kill them made them weaker. But other studies using the same technique have shown there's sometimes no penalty to a near miss: students who just miss getting into top high schools or universities do just as well later in life as those who squeak in. In this case, what didn't kill them simply didn't matter. So is there any evidence that setbacks might actually improve our career prospects? There is now.
F In a study published in Nature Communications, Northwestern University sociologist Dashun Wang tracked more than 1100 scientists who were on the border between getting a grant and missing out between 1990 and 2005. He followed various measures of performance over the next decade, including how many papers they authored and how influential those papers were, as measured by the number of subsequent citations. As expected, there was a much higher rate of attrition among scientists who didn't get grants. But among those who stayed on, the close losers performed even better than the narrow winners. To make sure this wasn't a fluke, Wang said he conducted additional tests using different performance measures, such as how many times people were first authors on influential studies, and the like.
G One straightforward reason close losers might outperform narrow winners is that the two groups have comparable ability, but the losers were culled so that only the most determined, passionate scientists remained. Wang said he tried to correct for this by culling what he deemed the weakest members of the winner group - but the persevering losers still came out on top. He thinks that being a close loser might give people a psychological boost, or the proverbial kick in the pants. HUtrecht University sociologist Arnout van de Rijt, who was lead author on the 2018 paper showing the rich get richer, said the new finding is plausible and worth some attention. His own work showed that although the narrow winners did get much more money in the near future, the actual performance of the close losers was just as good.
I He said the people who should be paying heed to the Wang paper are the funding agents who disburse government grant money. After all, by continuing to pile riches on the narrow winners, the taxpayers are not getting the maximum bang for our buck if the close losers are performing
just as well or even better. There's a huge amount of time and effort that go into the process of selecting who gets grants, he said, and the latest research shows that the scientific establishment is not very good at allocating money. \"Maybe we should spend less money trying to figure out who is better than who,\" he said, suggesting that some more equal partitioning of money might be more productive and more efficient. Van de Rijt said he's not convinced that losing out gives people a psychological boost. It may yet be a selection effect. Even though Wang tried to account for this by culling the weakest winners, it's impossible to know which of the winners would have quit had they found themselves on the losing side.
J For his part, Wang said that in his own experience, losing did light a motivating fire. He recalled a recent paper he submitted to a journal, which accepted it only to request extensive editing, and then reversed course and rejected it. He submitted the unedited version to a more prestigious journal and got accepted.
K In sports and many areas of life, we think of failures as evidence of something we could have done better - a fate we could have avoided with more careful preparation, different training, better strategy, or more focus. And there it makes sense that failures show us the road to success. These papers deal with a kind of failure people have little control over - rejection. Others determine who wins and who loses. But at the very least, the research is starting to show that early setbacks don't have to be fatal. They might even make us better at our jobs. Getting paid like a winner, though? That's a different matter.
36. Being a close loser could greatly motivate one to persevere in their research. 37. Grant awarders tend to favor researchers already recognized in their respective fields. 38. Suffering early setbacks might help people improve their job performance.
39. Research by social scientists on the effects of career setbacks has produced contradictory findings.
40. It is not to the best interest of taxpayers to keep giving money to narrow winners.
41. Scientists who persisted in research without receiving a grant made greater achievements than those who got one with luck, as suggested in one study.
42. A research paper rejected by one journal may get accepted by another.
43. According to one recent study, narrow winners of research grants had better chances to be promoted to professors.
44. One researcher suggests it might be more fruitful to distribute grants on a relatively equal basis. 45. Minor setbacks in their early career may have a strong negative effect on the career of close losers.
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
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
Boredom has become trendy. Studies point to how boredom is good for creativity and innovation, as well as mental health. For example, a 2014 study published in the Creativity Research Journal found that people were more creative following the completion of a tedious task. Another piece of research published in the same year by the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology found that when people were bored, they had an increase in “associative thought”—the process of making new connections between ideas, which is linked to innovative thinking. These studies are impressive, but in reality, the benefits of boredom may be related to having time to clear your mind, be quiet, or daydream.
In our stimulation-rich world, it seems unrealistic that boredom could occur at all. Yet, there are legitimate reasons boredom may feel so painful. As it turns out, boredom might signal the fact that you have a need that isn’t being met.
Our always-on world of social media may result in more connections, but they are superficial and can get in the way of building a real sense of belonging. Feeling bored may signal the desire for a greater sense of community and the feeling that you fit in with others around you. So take the step of joining a club, organization, or association to build face-to-face relationships and create new friendships. You’ll find depth that you won’t get from your screen no matter how many likes you get on your post.
Similar to the need for belonging, bored people often report that they feel a limited sense of meaning. It’s a fundamental human need to have a larger purpose and to feel like we’re part of something bigger than ourselves. A 2007 University of Mississippi study found that when people are bored, they’re more likely to feel less meaning in their lives and vice versa. Conversely, a 2016 study by the University of Southampton found that when people volunteered, their happiness increased. If you want to reduce boredom and increase your sense of meaning, seek work that matters to you where you can make a unique contribution, or find a cause you can support with your time and talents.
If your definition of boredom is being quiet, mindful, and meditative, keep it up. But if you’re wrestling with real boredom and the emptiness it provokes, consider whether you might seek new connections, more meaning, more significant challenges, diversity of experiences, or more depth in your efforts. These are the things that will genuinely alleviate boredom and make you more effective in the process.
46. What have studies found about boredom? A) It facilitates innovative thinking. B) It is a result of doing boring tasks. C) It helps people connect with others. D) It does harm to one's mental health.
47. What does the author say boredom might indicate? A) A need to be left alone. B) A desire to be fulfilled. C) A conflict to be resolved. D) A feeling to be validated.
48. What do we learn about social media from the passage? A) It may be an obstacle to expanding one's connections. B) It may get in the way of enhancing one's social status.
C) It may prevent people from developing a genuine sense of community. D) It may make people feel that they ought to fit in with the outside world.
49. What does the author suggest people do to get rid of boredom? A) Count the likes they get on their posts. B) Reflect on how they relate to others. C) Engage in real-life interactions. D) Participate in online discussions.
50. What should people do to enhance their sense of meaning? A) Try to do something original. B) Confront significant challenges. C) Define boredom in their unique way. D) Devote themselves to a worthy cause.
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
Can you remember what you ate yesterday? If asked, most people will be able to dredge up a vague description of their main meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner. But can you be sure you’ve noted every snack bar en route to the car, or every handful of nuts at your desk? Most people will have the lingering feeling that they’ve missed something out.
We originally had this suspicion back in 2016, puzzled by the fact that national statistics showed
calorie consumption falling dramatically over past decades. We found reliable evidence that people were drastically under-reporting what they ate – and the problem was getting worse over time. Now the O℃ce for National Statistics has responded to our report by confirming its findings: we are consuming 50% more calories than our national statistics claim.
Why is this happening? We can point to at least three potential causes. One is the rise in obesity levels itself. There is good evidence that under-reporting rates are much higher for obese people. The main reason for this seems to be that obese people simply consume more food, and thus have more to remember.
Another cause is that the proportion of people who are trying to lose weight has been increasing over time (from 40% in 1997 to 50% in 2013, for example). People who want to lose weight are around 10 percentage points more likely to under-report their eating – regardless of whether they are overweight or not. This may be driven partly by self-deception or “wishful thinking”. The final potential cause is an increase in snacking and eating out over recent decades – both in terms of how often they happen and how much they contribute to our overall energy intake. The amount of time spent eating out doubled between 1975 and 2000, for example. By 2015, one in five meals was eaten outside the home. This trend means it is more di℃cult for us to keep track of what we eat, not least because we have to remember more eating events. Again, there is evidence for this – food consumed out of the home is one of the most poorly recorded categories in surveys. We will be presenting these findings in a BBC documentary called The Truth About Obesity. However, we want to stress that they are not just interesting statistical nuggets. First, the di℃erences we are talking about are huge – men are consuming 1,000 more calories a day than previous figures suggested. This is the equivalent of not reporting that you ate a whole pepperoni pizza.
Second, these statistics guide and underpin policy. There is much concern about the health e℃ects of obesity, but what do we do to reduce it? Based on the old numbers, our food consumption would not be seen as the problem: it seems to be below recommended intakes, and falling. So policymakers may be tempted to look elsewhere – perhaps to increasing physical activity instead. We showed that this is not the most e℃ective way of preventing obesity, given that it takes much more e℃ort to burn calories than consume them.
So, what’s the takeaway? For statistics, we should invest in more accurate measurement options – these do exist, but they can be expensive. For policy, we need to focus on options that make it easy for people to eat fewer calories. If people do not know how much they are eating, it can be really hard for people to stick to a diet. Instead, we should be looking for new ways to incentivise and achieve food reformulation. If this works, then people would not need to try to eat less – it’s just that what they eat wouldn’t have the same impact on their waistlines. And it won’t matter so much if they can’t remember whether it was a mu℃n or a croissant yesterday morning.
51. What did the author suspect back in 2016?
A) Calorie consumption had fallen drastically over the decades. B) Most people surveyed were reluctant to reveal what they ate. C) The national statistics did not reflect the actual calorie consumption. D) Most people did not include snacks when reporting their calorie intake.
52. What has the Office for National Statistics verified? A) People's calorie intake was far from accurately reported. B) The missing out of main meals leads to the habit of snacking. C) The nation's obesity level has much to do with calorie intake. D) Calorie consumption is linked to the amount of snacks one eats.
53. What do we learn about obese people from the passage? A) They usually keep their eating habits a secret. B) They overlook the potential causes of obesity. C) They cannot help eating more than they should. D) They have difficulty recalling what they have eaten.
. What often goes unnoticed in surveys on food consumption? A) The growing trend of eating out. B) The potential causes of snacking. C) People's home energy consumption. D) People's changing diet over the years.
55. What does the author suggest policymakers do about obesity? A) Remind people to cut down on snacking. B) Make sure people eat non-fattening food. C) Ensure people don't miss their main meals. D) See that people don't stick to the same diet. Part IV Translation (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.
龙井(Longjing)是一种绿茶，主要产自中国东部沿海的浙江省。龙井茶独特的香味和口 感为其赢得了“中国名茶”的称号，在中国深受大众的欢迎，在海外饮用的人也越来越多。 龙井茶通常手工制作，其价格可能极其昂贵，也可能比较便宜，这取决于生长地、采摘时间 和制作工艺。龙井茶富含维生素 C 和其它多种有益健康的元素。经常喝龙井茶有助于减轻 疲劳，延缓衰老。
2021年6月四级考试参
2021年6月 四级 第一套 参 Part I writing 参考范文 video games
With technology advancing daily and pressure mounting steadily, an increasing number of people show more interest in playing video games. At the same time, there has been widespread public debate over whether violence depicted in video games can trigger real-world violence.
On the one hand, some people hold the view that playing video games can make people get relaxed and help them relieve pressure. But on the other hand, there is a link between violence in video games and real-world aggression. This is due to the fact that young players are not mature enough and are vulnerable to misleading information and wrong values hidden in violent games. For instance, some teenagers who have the experience of playing first-person shooter games tend to resolve a conflict with classmates in a violent way. Thus, playing violent games can make players, especially teenagers more aggressive in thinking and behaviors.
In conclusion, it is of utmost importance to take actions to counteract the negative effects mentioned above. Perhaps the first step is that teenagers should be educated to stay away from violent video games as soon as possible.
Part II Listening 听力答案 Section A
1. B) Send him to an after-school art class. 2. A) Contacted Joe to decorate its dining-room. 3. A) Get her pet dog back.
4. D) It is offering a big reward to anyone who helps. 5. B) Help people connect with each other. 6. C) It does not use volunteers.
7. D) They will find they have something in common. 8. C) Preparations for Saturday’s get-together. Section B
9. B) It enables guests to walk around and chat freely. 10. A) It offers some big discounts. 11. D) Bring his computer and speakers. 12. D) For convenience at weekends. 13. A) They are reliable.
14. C) Seek advice from his friend. 15. B) He can be trusted. Section C
16. A) Many escaped from farms and became wild. 17. D) They carry a great many diseases. 18. C) They fell victim to eagles. 19. B) Roast coffee beans in outer space. 20. A) They can easily get burned.
21. C) They collaborated on building the first space coffee machine. 22. B) A race passes through it annually. 23. C) Its tasty fruit pies. 24. B) The entire village.
25. D) She helped the village to become famous.
Part III Reading Comprehension答案 Section A 26 C crawling 27 F) hunt 28 E) extreme 29 K) species 30 G) literally 31 M) thick 32 J) removed 33 N) tiny 34 O) unique 35 A) adapting
Section B
36. [E] The number of people experiencing depression shows a sharp increase in the first year of high school.
37. [G] According to one study, students’ academic performance is not the only decisive factor of their stress responses.
38. [J] Researchers would like to explore further how parents and schools can help ninth graders by changing their mindset.
39. [C] According to one study, each high school graduate contributes at least 500,000 dollars to the local economy.
40. [H] In one study, students were told their social position in school is not unchangeable.
41. [E] It is reported that depression results in enormous economic losses worldwide. 42. [D] One study showed that friendships among ninth graders were far from stable.
43. [A] More than half of students will find their academic performance declining sharply when they enter the ninth grade.
44. [I] Researchers found through experiments that students could be taught to respond to stress in more positive way.
45. [F] It is beneficial to explore ways to cope with the challenges facing students entering high school.
Section C Passage 1
46. C) They help students acquire the skills needed for their future success. 47. A) By blending them with traditional, stimulating activities. 48. B) By playing with things to solve problems on their own. 49. C) Encourage them to make things with hands.
50. B) Develop students’ creative skills with the resources available. Passage 2
51. B) It does not appeal to him.
52. C) Many employees are deeply frustrated by IT. 53. D) Employees become more confident in their work. . A) Consider the various expectations of their customers.
55. D）By offering them regular in-service training. adequate and timely
Part IV Translation 铁观音 【参考译文】
Tieguanyin is one of the most popular types of tea in China. It was originally produced in Xiping Town, Anxi County, Fujian Province. Nowadays, Tieguanyin is widely grown in Anxi County, but Tieguanyin, produced in different regions of the county, has its own flavor. The tea leaves of Tieguanyin can be picked in all seasons, but those picked in spring and autumn have the best quality. The processing of Tieguanyin is very complicated and requires expertise as well as rich experience. Tieguanyin contains a variety of vitamins and possesses a unique texture. Drinking Tieguanyin regularly helps prevent heart disease, lower blood pressure and improve memory.
2021年6月四级 第二套 参
Part I Writing Is technology making people lazy? 参考范文
No one could deny the fact that we are living in an age where the advancements of technology
are continuing to accelerate and changing every aspect of our life. At the same time, there has been widespread public debate over whether technology can make people lazy.
On the one hand, some people hold the view that technological advancements have really offered more convenient and effective choices for us to communicate, learn and work. For example, learners are flooded with learning opportunities at their fingertips. But on the other hand, there is a risk that technology can make people lazy. This is due to the fact that modern people nowadays are heavily reliant on technological inventions. For instance, many young people always indulge in online social media platforms or computer games and thus are reluctant to do physical exercise on a regular basis. Besides, some students depend on using a calculator to work out simple math problems.
In conclusion, technological advancements can bring us both benefits and problems. In view of the risk mentioned above, I highly suggest that we should avoid relying too much on technology.
Part II Listening Comprehension Section A 1. A) See the Pope.
2. D) He ended up in the wrong place.
3. C) Glasgow has pledged to take the lead in reducing carbon emissions in the UK. 4. A) Glasgow needs to invest in new technologies to reach its goal. 5. B) It permits employees to bring cats into their offices. 6. B) Rescue homeless cats.
7. C) It has let some other companies to follow suit. Section B
8. A) Find out where Jimmy is.
9. B) He was working on a project with Jimmy. 10. C) He was involved a traffic accident.
11. D) He wanted to conceal something from his parents. 12. B) Shopping online. 13. D) Getting one’s car parked. 14. C) The quality of food products. 15. A) It saves money. Section C
16. D) They have strong negative emotions towards math. 17. B) It affects low performing children only.
18. A) Most of them have average to strong math ability. 19. C) Addiction to computer games is a disease.
20. A) They prioritize their favored activity over what they should do.
21. D) There is not enough evidence to classify it as a disease. 22. C) They are a shade of red bordering on brown. 23. D) They must follow some common standards. 24. B) They look more official. 25. D) For security.
Part III Reading Comprehension 答案 Section A
26. I implementation 27. B appointments 28. D debating 29. O touches 30. C consequences 31. L sparked 32. F friendly 33. J pushing 34. N survey 35. K severely
Section B
36. C It is difficult for anumeric people to keep track of the change in numbers even when the total is small.
37. [H] Compared with other mammals, our numerical instincts are not as remarkable as many assume.
38. [E] It is worth stressing that these anumeric people are cognitively(在认知方面）normal, well-adapted to the surroundings they have dominated for centuries.
39. [B] But, in a historical sense, number-conscious people like us are the unusual ones.
40. [K] Research on the language of numbers shows, more and more, that one of our species’ key characteristics is tremendous linguistic(语言的) and cognitive diversity.
41. [D] This and many other experiments have led to a simple conclusion: When people do not have number words, they struggle to make quantitative distinctions that probably seem natural to someone like you or me.
42. [G] None of us, then, is really a “numbers person.” We are not born to handle quantitative distinctions skillfully.
43. [A] Numbers do not exist in all cultures.
44. [I] So, how did we ever invent “unnatural” numbers in the first place? The answer is, literally, at your fingertips.
45. [F] This conclusion is echoed by work with anumeric children in industrialized societies.
Section C
46.B) They turned public attention away from the health risks of sugar to fat. 47.D) Nearly all of them serve the purpose of the funders . 48.A) Exercise is more important to good health than diet. 49.C)It rarely results in objective findings .
50.D) Think twice about new nutrition research findings .
51. C) How people viewed success in his father' s time. 52. B) It was a way to advance in their career.
53. A) They are often regarded as most treasured talents. . C) What kind of people can contribute more to them. 55. D) It will bring about radical economic and social changes.
Part IV Translation 普洱茶 参考译文 译本１
Pu’er enjoys great popularity among Chinese people, and the best Pu’er tea is produced in Xish uangbanna, Yunnan Province, where the climate and environment provide the best conditions for t he tea tree to grow. The color of Pu’er is relatively deep and its flavor is totally different from othe rs. The longer it brews, the better it tastes. Many people who love the tea are especially fond of its unique flavor and taste. Considering that Pu’er contains a great number of elements that are benefi cial to health, drinking the tea regularly helps protect the heart and blood vessels, as well as lose w eight, eliminate fatigue and promote digestion. 译本２
Pu'er tea is hugely popular among Chinese, the best of which is native to Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, where climate and environment are the best for the growth of Pu'er tea trees. The tea takes on a darker color and a markedly flavor different from many other types of tea. The longer the tea is brewed, the better it tastes. Its unique aroma and taste are especially adored by its lovers. With numerous elements that promote good health, the tea helps regular drinkers with weight loss, recovery from fatigue and digestion, as well as protection of the heart and blood vessels.
2021年6月四级 第三套 参
Part I Writing Are people becoming addicted to technology? 参考范文
Are people becoming addicted to technology?
With technology advancing daily, there has been an increase in the number of people who
become addicted to technological inventions, such as computers and cellphones. From my point of view, this trend can harmfully influence individuals in many ways.
The negative consequences of technology addiction can be illustrated from two aspects. For one thing, being indulged in technological gadgets is detrimental to students’ academic performance. For example, many university students stay up all night to play video games and thus feel drowsy and distracted in class. In addition, many psychological researchers found that the excessive use of technological devices can have an adverse effect on individuals’ mental well-being and interpersonal relationship. For instance, modern people, especially youngsters, are reluctant to interact face to face with their friends and families because of the indulgence in online social media platforms or computer games.
In conclusion, it is of utmost importance to take actions to counteract the negative effects mentioned above. Perhaps the first step is that students should be educated to use technological devices in a rational way.
Part III Reading Section A 26.E) experience 27.B) commonplace 28.J) routinely 29.D) desperate 30.H) prompted 31.I) roughly 32.K) shining 33.O) wonder 34.C) confess 35.G) option
Section B
36.[G] Being a close loser could greatly motivate one to persevere in their research.
37.[D] Grant awarders tend to favor researchers already recognized in their respective fields. 38.[K] Suffering early setbacks might help people improve their job performance.
39.[B] Research by social scientists on the effects of career setbacks has produced contradictory findings.
40.[I] It is not to the best interest of taxpayers to keep giving money to narrow winners.
41.[F] Scientists who persisted in research without receiving a grant made greater achievements than those who got one with luck, as suggested in one study.
42.[J] A research paper rejected by one journal may get accepted by another.
43.[C] According to one recent study, narrow winners of research grants had better chances to be promoted to professors.
44. [I] One researcher suggests it might be more fruitful to distribute grants on a relatively equal basis.
45. [E] Minor setbacks in their early career may have a strong negative effect on the career of close losers.
Section C
46. A）It facilitates innovative thinking. 47. B）A desire to be fulfilled.
48. C）It may prevent people from developing a genuine sense of community. 49. C）Engage in real-life interaction. 50. D）Devote themselves to a worthy cause.
51. C) The national statistics did not reflect the actual calorie consumption. 52. A) People' s calorie intake was far from accurately reported. 53. B) They overlook the potential causes of obesity. . B) The potential causes of snacking. 55. B) Make sure people eat non-fattening food.
Part IV Translation 龙井茶 参考译文
Longjing is a kind of green tea, primarily yielded in Zhejiang Province on the east coast of China. Longjing has won the title of “China’s Famous Tea” for its unique fragrance and taste. It is not only popular with Chinese people, but also consumed by more and more overseas people. Longjing is usually handmade, and its price might be extremely expensive or relatively cheap, depending on where the tea tree grows, when the tea leaves are picked and how the tea is made. Longjing is rich in Vitamin C and other varieties of elements which are beneficial to health. Drinking Longjing regularly helps relieve fatigue and delay the process of ageing.
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