12月英语四级预测试卷标准听力(三)答案及解析

　　Section A
　　11. M: Then why did you decide to quit your former job?
　　W: That’s because of the journey. It took me about two hours to get to work. Your firm is within walking distance.
　　Q: Why does the woman want to change her job?
　　【解析】选[D]。男士问女士为什么辞了以前的工作。女士说因为她每天要花两个小时去上班，同时流露出羡慕男士的公司离其住所近，[A]错误。女士所说的journey，指路程而不是旅行，[B]错误。[C]项未提及。[D]中说女士不想在上班的路上花太多的时间，符合题意。12. W: Do you think Edward will get here on time for the job interview?
　　M: If he doesn’t, nobody will.
　　Q: What does the man mean?
　　【解析】选[A]。这道题关键在于听懂男士的回答。女士问他Edward能否准时参加面试，男士并未直接回答，而是说：如果他不能的话，那么就没有人能了，言外之意就是他肯定会准时到达。
　　13. M: Hey, you should be doing your art class now. Why are you here?
　　W: I realized I’ve no talent for drawing. Drama is a better alternative than those　brushes.
　　Q: What does the woman mean?
　　【解析】选[D]。女士的回答中，Drama is a better alternative than those brushes是这个对话中的关键点。[D]项表明她已经退出了艺术课，而选择了戏剧课，故为答案。
　　14. W: Oh dear, I gained these 10 pounds in the last 3 months, none of my clothes fit any more.
　　M: I wouldn’t complain, you look much better. In fact, you can gain another 5 pounds and still look good.
　　Q: What does the man mean?
　　【解析】选[C]。每每女士为自己的体重大惊小怪时，男士常会给予一定的安慰和劝说。对话中男士说you look much better. In fact, you can gain another 5 pounds and still look good表明，男士劝女士不应为其体重担心。
　　15. M: I’d like to buy these four greeting cards. Are they ten yuan each?
　　W: Three of them are. But that smaller one costs only half the price of the big ones.
　　Q: How much will the man pay for the cards?
　　【解析】选[C]。这是一道综合性的计算题，但并不复杂，只要听到Three of them are (ten yuan each)“其中三个是每个十元”及that smaller one costs half the price of the bigger ones“小卡片的价钱是大卡片的一半”，确定应选[C]。
　　16. W: I know you’re busy, but how about attending a film festival tonight? Your favorite star will make an appearance.
　　M: You think I’d give that a miss?
　　Q: What does the man mean?
　　【解析】选[A]。女士对男士说我知道你很忙，但今晚你愿意参加一个电影节吗，你最喜欢的明星会露面。男士反问道，你认为我会放弃这个机会吗?实际上暗示了他肯定会去的，这和选项 [A]吻合。男士的回答中，You think I’d give that a miss?是这个对话的关键点。
　　17. W: Would you mind sending champagne and strawberries to my room at 1 a.m. please?
　　M: I’ll try, ma’am. But on Wednesday the kitchen staff leave at mid-night.
　　Q: Where does the conversation probably take place?
　　【解析】选[D]。champagne and strawberry、sending … to my room、kitchen staff构成了一个“在宾馆谈论送餐”的特定场景。
　　18. W: You were on the phone for a long time. To whom were you talking?
　　M: Oh, to Susan. She always knows the latest news in town and she couldn’t wait to see me to talk it over.
　　Q: What can we learn from the conversation?
　　【解析】选[B]。对话中男士不仅回答了女士的问题，还进一步提到Susan急于告知他镇上的最新消息。选项[B] eager to pass the information she knows就是对话中couldn’t wait to see me to talk it over的同义转述can’t wait to do sth.意为“急切地想要做某事”。
　　Conversation One
　　W: Can I help you?
　　M: Yes, I’d like to read some articles that are on reserve about British culture.
　　W: Professor Grand’s class?
　　M: That’s right. How could you know?
　　W: Let’s just say you are not the first person coming in asking for those articles.
　　M: Oh, well, seeing as how I haven’t read any of them yet, it doesn’t really matterwhich one you give me first.
　　W: I’m afraid I can’t give you any of them at the moment. They’ve all been checked out.
　　M: You’re joking, all of them?
　　W: Every month. I’ve asked professor Grand twice already to bring in additional copies of the articles, but no sooner do I place them on the shelves than they are gone. See that girl in the black sweater? She’s been waiting for half an hour for those same articles to be returned.
　　M: And here’s me. I went out of my way to free out the whole afternoon to read.
　　W: I’m sorry, but there is not a whole lot I can do about it. All I can suggest is that you come in first thing tomorrow morning and try again. We open at eight.
　　Questions 19 to 21 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
　　19. What is the man surprised to learn?
　　【解析】选[C]。男士来借阅论文，被告知论文都被借走(been checked out)了，不由得说，You are joking, all of them?其中，You are joking表示不相信、惊讶之情(surprised)。同义的表达有Are you kidding?
　　20. What does the woman say about Professor Grand?
　　【解析】选[D]。根据选项无法判断问题是什么的时候，更需要我们注意听问题。 题目问Professor Grand的情况，图书管理员说她已经两次请Professor Grand拿来多份论文，但总是很快就被借走了。其他选项在对话中都找不到依据。
　　21. What does the woman suggest that the man do?
　　【解析】选[A]。对话的最后部分女士建议男士明天一早就过来(come in first thing tomorrow morning)，并告诉他开馆时间为8点。
　　Conversation Two
　　M: Come on, Julie, how are we going to convince everybody that I’m the best candidate?
　　W: It won’t be easy!
　　M: Thanks a lot!
　　W: Oh, just kidding. Actually, I think once we show everyone how well you did asjunior class treasurer, you are sure to be elected president.
　　M: Well..., what’s your strategy?
　　W: One thing I was thinking of is to hang campaign posters in all the hallways.
　　M: But everyone puts up posters. We need to do something different.
　　W: Let me finish. The campus radio station is willing to let you have five minutestomorrow morning at seven to outline your plans for the year. Lots of students will hear you then.
　　M: Great idea!
　　W: I’ve also arranged for you to give a speech during dinner time tomorrow. Over a hundred students will be there. And you can answer questions after you finish speaking.
　　M: That means I’d better come up with a speech pretty quickly. How about if I write it tonight and show it to you after chemistry class tomorrow?
　　W: Fine. I’ll see you after class.
　　M: You are really good at this. I’ll be glad you agreed to help me out.
　　Questions 22 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
　　22. What election are the speakers discussing?
　　【解析】选[D]。听对话，注意对话开头部分，捕捉与elected相关的信息，根据the best candidate，sure to be elected president可以判断他们谈论的是学生会主席的选举。
　　23. What do we learn from the conversation?
　　【解析】选[D]。对话首句男士问how are we going to...;女士策略：One thing I was thinking of..., I’ve also arranged for you...。根据细节进行推理可知，女士是在帮助男士策划竞选活动。
　　24. What will the man do tonight?
　　【解析】选[B]。听音时捕捉与选举有关的动作行为：come up with a speech以及write it tonight。问题问男士今天晚上将要做什么，[B]为细节再现。
　　25. What will the speakers do after chemistry class?
　　【解析】选[B]。听对话，捕捉与选项有关的表动作的词句，come up with a speech，and show it to you after chemistry class。问题问谈话者化学课后做什么。根据细节进行推理，应该是Review the man’s talk。
　　Section B
　　Passage One
　　Human beings enjoy challenges. Many of them like physical challenges. They ask themselves questions like these: How fast can I run? How high can I climb? How deep can I dive? How far can I swim? How long can I hold my breath? How much can I lift? How high can I jump? Because people enjoy challenges, they like to play sports and watch other people play sports. They like climbing, running, diving, lifting, jumping, and so on. Every four years millions of people all over the world enjoy the international sports competition called the Olympics. There are challenges that are not physical challenges. There are social and intellectual challenges, too. Leonardo da Vinci, who lived in Italy during the fifteenth century, enjoyed every possible challenge. He was an artist and painted the well known picture, the Mona Lisa. He was an engineer who made plans for a city with roads under the street for traffic. He was an inventor who invented a device to let people breathe under water. He was a scientist, and he learned a great deal about human structure.
　　Another kind of challenge faced the Egyptians between 4,000 and 5,000 years ago when they decided to build the first pyramid. They used six million tons of rock. That is enough to build a ten foot wall around all of France. Four hundred thousand men worked for twenty years to build it.
　　So, for thousands of years, people accepted challenges. Today we still have many challenges before us. Medical science faces the challenges of conquering the many diseases which still attack human beings. Engineers and planners must build new cities and new kinds of transportation. Scientists must develop new forms of energy. And many of us are interested in the challenge of space. We live in an age of challenge.
　　Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.
　　26. When people participate in sporting activities, what kind of challenge do they face?
　　【解析】选[B]。预读选项可知此题询问的是challenge的类型。在听的过程中需要留意涉及类型的细节。文中开头的Many of them like physical challenges后用一系列的例子，如How fast I can run?...They like climbing, running...表明，当人们参加体育活动时他们面对的是physical challenges。
　　27. Which belongs to social challenge?
　　【解析】选[D]。预读选项可以推测此题是考查对四种行为在细节上的区分。在听的过程中需要留意文中出现了哪几种行为、分别是为了说明什么问题而出现。
　　28. How do people react to the category of social challenges?
　　【解析】选[C]。预读选项可以推测此题是考查They对them的态度。在听问题时需要留意They和them分别指代的是什么。
　　Passage Two
　　Today we’ll examine the role that private transportation ― namely, the automobile ― plays in city planning.
　　A number of sociologists blame the automobile for the decline of the downtown areas of major cities. In the 1950’s and 1960’s the automobile made it possible to work in the city and yet live in the suburbs many miles away. Shopping patterns changed; instead of going to downtown stores, people in the suburbs went to large shopping malls outside the city and closer to the home. Merchants in the city failed, and their stores closed.
　　Downtown shopping areas became deserted. In recent years there’s been a rebirth of the downtown area, as many suburbanites have moved back to the city. They’ve done this, of course, to avoid highways blocked with commuters from the suburbs. I’ve chosen this particular city planning problem―our dependence on private transportation ― to discuss in groups. I’m hoping you will all come up with some novel solutions. Oh, and don’t approach the problem from a purely sociological perspective; try to take into account environmental and economic issues as well.
　　Questions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.
　　29. How did the automobile affect the work force in the 1950’s and 1960’s?
　　【解析】选[B]。预读选项可以推测此题是考查对It对workers或jobs的影响。在听问题时需要留意It指代的是什么。
　　30. What problem did downtown city merchants face in the 1960’s?
　　【解析】选[C]。预读选项可知此题是考查对四种负面事实的区分，需要留意文中关于这些细节的陈述。
　　31. According to the speaker, why are some people moving back to the city?
　　【解析】选[D]。预读选项可知此题询问的是关于某件事情的原因。文中提到人们从乡下搬回到城市的原因是：to avoid highways blocked with comustters...,[D]是对此的同义转述。
　　Passage Three
　　The United States operates under a federal system of government. Under the federal system, power is divided between the central government and the states. The central government is given specific powers. These powers are named in the Constitution. Powers that are not assigned to the central government in the Constitution belong to the states.
　　The central government can pass laws that affect trade between states. The central government can also make treaties with foreign countries. It has the power to print money. The Constitution gives the central government these powers. These powers belong to the central government only. However, the states have many powers that the central government cannot control. For example, a state is allowed to tax people who live and work in the state. The central government cannot put a limit on the amount of money that a state taxes its people.
　　Many people feel that the federal system has many good points. One good point is that it restrains the power of the central government. The central government cannot become too powerful. Another good point is that the central government makes sure that the bigger states don’t become too powerful. Under the Constitution, all states are treated equally. The laws of the central government do not favor one state over another.
　　Questions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
　　32. What does the passage mainly tell us?
　　【解析】[B]。在听录音之前，预览四个选项可知本文与federal system或central government and the states有关。而且这些选项的概括性很强，很有可能询问文章的主旨大意。
　　33. Which is the power of the states governments?
　　【解析】[B]。预读选项可以推测此题是考查对四种行为在细节上的区分。在听的过程中需要留意文中出现了哪几种行为、分别是为了说明什么问题而出现。
　　34. What is stated in the passage?
　　【解析】[D]。预读选项可以推测此题是考查对四种事实的区分，而且均与中央政府和每个州的权力有关。
　　35. According to the passage, what is a good point about the federal system?
　　【解析】[A]。预读选项可以推测此题是考查对四种事实的区分，需要留意文中出现了哪种或哪几种事实。