2014年12月英语四级考试真题试卷附答案 第2套(3)

　　Section C

　　Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read forthe first time，you should listen carefully for its general idea.When the passage is read for thesecond time，you are required to fill in the blanks with the exact words you have just heard.Finally，when the passage is read for the third time，you should check what you have written.

　　注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。

　　Passage One

　　Questions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.

　　New Yorkers are gradually getting used to more pedaling passengers on those blazing blue CitiBikes. But what about local bike shops? Is Citi Bike rolling up riders at their expense? AtGotham Bikes in Tribeca, manager W. Ben said the shop has seen an increase in its overallsales due to the bike-share program. "It's getting more people on the road," he said. JamesRyan, an employee at Danny's Cycles in Gramercy said Citi Bike is a good option for people toease into biking in a city famed for its traffic jams and aggressive drivers. "They can try out abike without committing to buying one," he said.

　　Rentals are not a big part of the business at either Gotham Bikes or Danny's Cycles. But forFrank's Bike Shop, a small business on Grand St., the bike-share program has been bad news.Owner Frank Arroyo said his rental business has decreased by 90% since Citi Bike was rolledout last month. Arroyo's main rental customers are European tourists, who have since beendrawn away by Citi Bikes.

　　However, Ben said the bike-share is good for bike sales at his shop. "People have used thebike-share and realized how great it is to bike in the city, then decide that they want somethingnicer for themselves," he noted.

　　Christian Farrell of Waterfront Bicycle Shop, on West St. just north of Christopher St., saidinitially he was concerned about bike-share, though, he admitted, "I was happy to see peopleon bikes."

　　Farrell's early concerns were echoed by Andrew Crooks, owner of NYC Velo, at 64 Second Ave. "It seemed like a great idea, but one that would be difficult to implement," Crooks said of CitiBike. He said he worried about inexperienced riders' lack of awareness of biking rules andstrong negative reaction from non- cyclists. However, he said, it's still too early to tell if hisbusiness has been impacted.

　　While it's possible bike-share will cause a drop in business, Crooks allowed that the idea is apositive step forward for New York City.

　　56. What is the author's chief concern about the increasing use of Citi Bikes in New York?

　　A) How non-cyclists will respond to it.

　　B) Whether local bike shops will suffer.

　　C) Whether local bike businesses will oppose it.

　　D) How the safety of bike riders can be ensured.

　　57. What happened to Gotham Bikes as a result of the bike-share program?

　　A) It found its bike sales unaffected.

　　B) It shifted its business to rentals.

　　C) It saw its bike sales on the rise.

　　D) It rented more bikes to tourists.

　　58. Why is the bike-share program bad news for Frank's Bike Shop?

　　A) It cannot meet the demand of the bike-share program.

　　B) Its customers have been drawn away by Citi Bikes.

　　C) Its bike prices have to be lowered again and again.

　　D) It has to compete with the city's bike rental shops.

　　59. Why did Andrew Crooks think that the bike-share program would be difficult to execute?

　　A) Inexperienced riders might break biking rules.

　　B) Conflicts might arise among bike rental shops.

　　C) Traffic conditions might worsen in the downtown area.

　　D) There are not enough lanes to accommodate the bikes.

　　60. What is the general attitude of the local bike shops towards Citi Bike?

　　A) Wait and see. B) Negative. C) Indifferent. D) Approving.

　　Passage Two

　　Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.

　　Various studies have shown that increased spending on education has not led to measurableimprovements in learning. Between 1980 and 2008. staff and teachers at U.S. public schoolsgrew roughly twice as fast as students. Yet students showed no additional learning inachievement tests.

　　Universities show similar trends of increased administration personnel and costs withoutgreater learning, as documented in Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa's recent book AcademicallyAdrift Limited Learning on College Campuses.

　　A survey shows that 63% of employers say that recent college graduates don't have the skillsthey need to succeed and 25% of employers say that entry-level writing skills are lacking.

　　Some simplistically attribute the decline in our public education system to the drain of theskilled students by private schools, but far more significant events were at work.

　　Public schools worked well until about the 1970s. In fact, until that time, public schools providedfar better education than private ones. It was the underperforming students who were threwout of public schools and went to private ones.

　　A prominent reason public schools did well was that many highly qualified women had fewoptions for working outside the house other than being teachers or nurses. They acceptedrelatively low pay, difficult working conditions, and gave their very best.

　　Having such a large supply of talented women teachers meant that society could pay less fortheir services. Women's liberation opened up new professional opportunities for women, and,over time, some of the best left teaching as a career option, bringing about a gradual declinein the quality of schooling.

　　Also around that time, regulations, government, and unions came to dictate pay, preventadjustments, and introduce bureaucratic (官僚的) standard for adjustment. Large educationbureaucracies and unions came to dominate the landscape, confusing activity withachievement. Bureaucrats regularly rewrite curriculums, talk nonsense about the theories ofeducation, and require ever more administrators. The end result had been that, after all thespending, students have worse math and reading skills than both their foreign peers and earliergenerations spending far less on education — as all the accumulating evidence nowdocuments.

　　注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

　　61. What do we learn from various studies on America's public education?

　　A) Achievement tests have failed to truly reflect the quality of teaching.

　　B) Public schools lack the resources to compete with private schools.

　　C) Little improvement in education has resulted from increased spending.

　　D) The number of students has increased much faster than that of teachers.

　　62. How do some people explain the decline in public education?

　　A) Government investment does not meet school's needs.

　　B) Skilled students are moving for private schools.

　　C) Qualified teachers are far from adequately paid.

　　D) Training of students' basic skills is neglected.

　　63. What was significant contribution to the past glory of public schools?

　　A) Well-behaved students.

　　B) Efficient administration.

　　C) Talented women teachers.

　　D) Generous pay for teachers.

　　64. Why did some of the best women teachers leave teaching?

　　A) New career opportunities were made available to them by women's liberation.

　　B) Higher academic requirements made it difficult for them to stay in their jobs.

　　C) They were unhappy with the bureaucratic administration in their schools.

　　D) The heavy teaching loads left them little time and energy for family life.

　　65. What docs the author think is one of the results of government involvement in education?

　　A) Increasing emphasis on theories of education.

　　B) Highly standardized teaching methods.

　　C) Students' improved academic performance.

　　D) An ever-growing number of administrators.

　　Part Ⅳ Translation (30 minutes)

　　Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese intoEnglish. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.

　　大熊猫 (giant panda) 是一种温顺的动物，长着独特的黑白皮毛。因其数量极少，大熊猫已被列为濒危物种。大熊猫对于世界自然基金会(WWF)有着特殊意义。自1961年该基金会成立以来，大熊猫就一直是它的徽标。大熊猫是熊科中最稀有的成员，主要生活在中国西南部的森林里。目前，世界上大约有1000只大熊猫。cet4v.com物正面临许多威胁。因此，确保大熊猫的生存比以往更重要。

　　注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。