2013年12月大学英语四级考试改革样题：短文理解
Section B
Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage,
you will hear some 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.
注意:此部分试题请在答题卡 1 上作答。
Passage One
Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.
16. A) They shared mutual friends in school.
B) They had many interests in common.
C) They shared many extracurricular activities.
D) They had known each other since childhood.
17. A) At a local club. C) At the boarding school.
B) At Joe’s house. D) At the sports center.
18. A) Durable friendships can be very difficult to maintain.
B) One has to be respectful of other people in order to win respect.
C) Social divisions will break down if people get to know each other.
D) It is hard for people from different backgrounds to become friends.
Passage Two
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.
19. A) The art of Japanese brush painting.
B) Some features of Japanese culture.
C) Characteristics of Japanese artists.
D) The uniqueness of Japanese art.
20. A) To calm themselves down.
B) To enhance concentration.
C) To show their impatience.
D) To signal lack of interest.
21. A) How speakers can misunderstand the audience.
B) How speakers can win approval from the audience.
C) How listeners in different cultures show respect.
D) How different Western and Eastern art forms are.
Passage Three
Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.
22. A) They mistake the firefighters for monsters.
B) They do not realize the danger they are in.
C) They cannot hear the firefighters for the noise.
D) They cannot see the firefighters because of the smoke.
23. A) He teaches Spanish in a San Francisco community.
B) He often teaches children what to do during a fire.
C) He travels all over America to help put out fires.
D) He provides oxygen masks to children free of charge.
24. A) He is very good at public speaking.
B) He rescued a student from a big fire.
C) He gives informative talks to young children.
D) He saved the life of his brother choking on food.
25. A) Kids should learn not to be afraid of monsters.
B) Informative speeches can save lives.
C) Carelessness can result in tragedies.
D) Firefighters play an important role in America.
【短文理解参考答案】
16. D 17. B 18. C 19. A 20. B
21. C 22. A 23. B 24. D 25. B
【短文理解听力理解原文】
Section B
Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage,
you will hear some 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.
Passage One
I first met Joe Gans when we were both nine years old, which is probably the only reason he’s one of my best friends. If I had first met Joe as a freshman in high school, we wouldn’t even have had the chance to get to know each other. Joe is a day student, but I am a boarding student. We haven’t been in the same classes, sports, or extracurricular activities.
Nonetheless, I spend nearly every weekend at his house and we talk on the phone every night. This is not to say that we would not have been compatible if we had first met in our freshman year. Rather, we would not have been likely to spend enough time getting to know each other due to the lack of immediately visible mutual interests. In fact, to be honest, I struggle even now to think of things we have in common. But maybe that’s what makes us enjoy each other’s company so much.
When I look at my friendship with Joe, I wonder how many people I’ve known whom I never disliked, but simply didn’t take the time to get to know. Thanks to Joe, I have realized how little basis there is for the social divisions that exist in every community. Since this realization, I have begun to make an even more determined effort to find friends in unexpected people and places.
Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.
16. Why does the speaker say Joe Gans became one of his best friends? 17. Where does the speaker spend most of his weekends?
18. What has the speaker learned from his friendship with Joe?
Passage Two
While Gail Opp-Kemp, an American artist, was giving a speech on the art of Japanese brush painting to an audience that included visitors from Japan, she was confused to see that many of her Japanese listeners had their eyes closed. Were they turned off because an American had the nerve to instruct Japanese in their own art form? Were they deliberately trying to signal their rejection of her?
Opp-Kemp later found out that her listeners were not being disrespectful. Japanese listeners sometimes close their eyes to enhance concentration. Her listeners were showing their respect for her by chewing on her words.
Someday you may be either a speaker or a listener in a situation involving people from other countries or members of a minority group in North America. Learning how different cultures signal respect can help you avoid misunderstandings. Here are some examples:
In the deaf culture of North America, many listeners show applause not by clapping their hands but by waving them in the air.
In some cultures, both overseas and in some minority groups in North America, listeners are considered disrespectful if they look directly at the speaker. Respect is shown by looking in the general direction but avoiding direct eye contact.
In some countries, whistling by listeners is a sign of approval, while in other countries, it is a form of insult.
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.
19. What did Opp-Kemp’s speech focus on?
20. Why do Japanese listeners sometimes close their eyes while listening to a speech? 21. What does the speaker try to explain?
Passage Three
One of the greatest heartbreaks for firefighters occurs when they fail to rescue a child from a burning building because the child—frightened by smoke and noise—hides under a bed or in a closet and is later found dead.
Saddest of all is when children catch a glimpse of the masked firefighter but hide because they think they have seen a monster.
To prevent such tragedies, firefighter Eric Velez gives talks to children in his community, explaining that they should never hide during a fire. He displays firefighters’ equipment, including the oxygen mask, which he encourages his listeners to play with and put on. “If you see us,” Velez tells them, “don’t hide. We are not monsters. We have come to rescue you.”
Velez gives his presentations in English and Spanish. Growing up in San
Francisco, he learned Spanish from his immigrant parents.
Velez—and other firefighters throughout North America who give similar
presentations—will never know how many lives they save through their talks, but it’s a fact that informative speaking saves lives. For example, several months after listening to an informative speech, Pete Gentry in North Carolina rescued his brother, who was choking on food, by using the method taught by student speaker Julie Parris.
In addition to saving lives, informative speakers help people learn new skills, solve problems, and acquire fascinating facts about the exciting world in which they live.
Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.
22. Why do some children trapped in a burning building hide from masked firefighters? 23. What does the passage tell us about firefighter Eric Velez?
24. What do we learn about Pete Gentry?
25. What message is the speaker trying to convey?