大学英语四级考试2023年3月真题(第一套)
2023年3月四级考试共考了一套听力、一套阅读、三篇写作和三篇翻译,请知悉。
Part I Writing (30 minutes)
Part II Listening Comprehension (25 minutes)
Section A
Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.
Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.
Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.
Section B
Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
Section C
Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.
Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.
Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)
Section A
It's a fantasy that goes back centuries: a message in a bottle, carried ashore from far-off lands. Authors,artists and children (26) have dreamed of such a gift from the sea.
This time, though, it's not a bottle that washes ashore. Ifs eggs——thousands of little toy eggs.
Thafs what happened on the German island of Langegoog this week.
Lying just off the North Sea coast, it found itself (27) by an invasion of colored plastic eggs- much to the (28) of local children, because the eggs contained toys.
Police (29) the eggs came from a freighter that lost part of its cargo during an unusually (30) storm, the worst to hit Germany's northeastern coast since 2006.
At any rate, what was lost has now been found by many of the community's littlest residents.
“The surprise eggs have found their way to freedom ,said Mayor Uwe Garrels. However, the joy of the moment (31) off soon.
“At first I thought this was a wonder, because everything was so (32) . but then we realized that this is a huge (33) in the end,“ said the mayor. He also noted the plastic bags and other materials that have washed ashore on the island can cause serious problems for (34).
Still, all these little eggs contained an extra treat with their toys. They (35) notes from afar.
There was just one problem for the German children who received them: They were written in Russian.
Section B
Hyphenating your last name after marriage?
A. Congratulations on deciding to get married! While being married is great and wonderful, the act of getting married can be quite stressful. There is the planning of the ceremony itself, the merging (合并)of two households and all of the details involved in that. You also have to take the time to apply fbr your marriage license and then decide whether or not you are going to keep your last name or change it.
B. This is where a lot of people have trouble. Once upon a time, it was just customary fbr a bride to take her grooms last name as her own and abandon her maiden name completely. The act of keeping her own last name was considered taboo (禁忌)and people's eyebrows would raise right off their faces when they found out that the bride was even considering something so radical. Over time, though, more and more women are deciding to keep their last names.
C. There are a lot of reasons to want to keep your own last name. Hopefully you have a supportive groom who understands why this idea is the most appealing to you. A lot of times, though, the act of keeping your name is still something that causes concern. Even if your groom is fine with it, his family (or your own) might not be so understanding.
D. There are a couple of ways to compromise on the issue. You could choose an entirely new last name fbr the two of you to share. This way neither of you gets "your" way and you both have to deal with the legalities of going through a name change. Most of the time, though, the most popular compromise is to hyphenate your last name and the last name of your groom. For example, if your groom's name is John Smith and your name is Kate Jones, you would name yourself Kate Jones-Smith or Kate Smith-Jones. This allows you to keep going by your own last name while legally adopting your husband's last name at the same time.
E. The compromise is the biggest reason that so many women choose to hyphenate their last names. It is a way of you keeping your own identity while also making your future husband happy. It allows you to stay connected to accomplishments that you achieved before you got married. For example, many women who choose to hyphenate do so partially because they have earned higher educational degrees and certifications under their maiden names. They might have also had things published or publicized and want to stay connected to that identity. Hyphenating your last name can help you bridge the gap between your personal and professional lives. Many women who opt to simply keep their own names do so because they don't want to give up all that they have accomplished professionally. Adopting their husband's last name makes it hard fbr them to claim ownership of these accomplishments personally because they happened under their “other” name.
F. While tradition is one thing, there isn't any logical reason to completely change your name. Keeping your name and joining it to your husband's through hyphenation is as legal as simply adopting his name or as simply keeping your own and leaving his out of the picture entirely.
G. Probably the most important reason to consider hyphenation is your identity. You've spent your whole life building your identity under a certain name. Obviously you will still be you even if you've taken on your husband's last name and omitted yours entirely. At the same time, your name is associated with the identity you've built up and hyphenation allows you to respect that while also respecting tradition and your husband's family's identity.
H. If you care about outside opinions on your name, you should know that a large portion of today's society is annoyed by the hyphenated name. Some people find it “snobby”(势利 的)and others simply find it irritating because they have a hard time remembering which last name they are supposed to say first. Some people even believe that not simply adopting your husband's last name is a huge sign of disrespect and a lack of commitment.
I. t is possible that your future husband will find this choice offensive. Some men, regardless of how you might feel about such things, are traditionalists and feel that it is simply “right“ fbr the woman to take the man's last name as her own. Whether your future husband insisting on your adopting his last name is a red flag to you or not, it is still something that you should take into consideration.
J. There are all sorts of reasons to hyphenate your name or not to hyphenate your name. The basis for each of these things, however, is whether or not you are willing to make a compromise when it comes to changing your name. The hyphenation is the epitome (体现)of a compromise. One spouse wants a complete name change. The other spouse wants no name change. Hyphenating the two names is a way fbr each person to, at least a little bit, "win" the argument.
K. And don't forget the legal stuff! Making the decision is just part of the process. From there you are going to have to legally change your name all over the place. You'll need to change your name at the bank, with social security, with your credit cards, on your driver's license, at the gym... everywhere. If s easy to get overwhelmed just thinking about it.
L. What matters, o f course, is that the two of you are going to be happily married—— hopefully for the rest o f your lives. At the end o f the day, whether you each keep your names, whether you come up with an entirely new name for the two o f you to share or whether you hyphenate your current last names, what matters is that you love each other and are going to be joining your lives together. Try to remember that as you are staring at the application for your marriage license and filling out the portion that reads “name after you get m am ed(or whatever the legalese for that might be).
36. Many people today still find name hyphenation upon marriage unacceptable.
37. As a compromise, a bride will in most cases adopt a name that combines the couple's last names.
38. The bride should consider adopting her groom's last name whether he feels strongly about it or not.
39. Making preparations for marriage causes a lot o f stress.
40. Hyphenating the last names could be a win-win solution should arguments arise about what name to adopt upon marriage.
41. It used to be considered socially unacceptable for a bride to retain her maiden name.
42. The bride who adopts a hyphenated last name after marriage can maintain connections with their past achievements.
43. Hyphenating names allows the bride to preserve her own identity while respecting tradition.
44. No matter what name the bride adopts, it is most important that the newly weds truly love each other.
45. Legally speaking, the bride is free to choose whatever name she prefers.
Section C
Passage One
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
It's good to be smart. After all, intelligent people earn more money, accumulate more wealth, and even live longer. But there's another side to the story. The brightest people and strongest leaders sometimes make errors others don't, especially in situations that require common sense.
Travis Bradberry, president at TalentSmart, explained in his post Why Smart People Act So Stupid that "Rational thinking and intelligence don't tend to go hand in hand. Intelligent people are more prone to silly mistakes because o f blind spots in how they use logic. These blind spots exist because smart people tend to be overconfident in their reasoning a b ilitie s.T h e y are so used to being right and having quick answers that they don't even realise when they re making a mess by answering without thinking things through.
A lifetime o f praise leads smart people to develop too much faith in their intelligence and abilities. They often fail to recognise when they need help, and when they do recognise it, they tend to believe that no one else is capable o f providing it.
“It's hard for anyone to graciously accept the fact that they're wrong. It's even harder for smart people because they grow so used to being right all the time that it becomes a part of their identity," Bradberry wrote. "For smart people, being wrong can feel like a personal attack, and being right, a necessity.
Smart people also have a hard time accepting feedback. They tend to undervalue the opinions o f others, which means they have trouble believing that anyone is qualified to give them useful feedback. Not only does this tendency hinder their growth and performance, it can lead to harmful relationships, both personally and professionally.
Smart people develop overachieving personalities because things come so easily to them. They simply don't understand how hard some people have to work to accomplish the same things, and because o f that, they push people too hard. They set the bar too high, and when people take too long or don't get things quite right, they assume it's due to a lack o f effort. So they push even harder.
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
Of the endless troubles that come with being driven from one's home country, losing educational certificates may seem small. But it isn't Refugees who settle in other countries often find themselves unable to continue on their previous career path due to a new set o f employer standards or skills requirements. To solve this problem, the U.S. State Department is posing a solution: online learning.
The State Department will announce a partnership with an online education platform called Coursera. The platform will allow refugees worldwide to take thousands of online courses for free. "'Coursera for Refugees” will be available for any non-profit group that supports refugees in any country, as well as individual refugees. They can apply for fully funded access to Coursera's course catalog, which means they can take all of the platform^ classes and obtain professional certificates for free. The platform currently offers professor-led lectures on a broad range of topics, from data science to fashion design.
As the world migrant crisis intensifies, employment is becoming a global concern. The new program aims to aid refugees by offering '"important skills that will help them in the global econom y,Evan Ryan, U.S. assistant secretary o f state for educational and cultural affairs, said on a press call last week. "What we don't want to do is not act,“ added Coursera chief operations officer Lila Ibrahim.
The idea isn't without problems. For one, starting a new career path isn't as simple as watching a few videos and obtaining an online certificate; even those looking to continue previous careers can't simply rely on an online lecture to get them up-to-date on standards, policies, and practices. For another, most of the classes on Coursera are in English, and though there are plans to add translations, language barriers can be a big obstacle. Then there are the questions over the value of massive open online courses (MOOCs) themselves- both for refugees and for average learners.
But it's still early days and there are signs of hope. In 2015, a joint study found 72% of people taking the MOOCs saw career benefits afterwards.
Part IV Translation (30 minutes)