录音文本
　　Part III Listening Comprehension
　　Section A
　　11. W: I’m glad that you win the singing contest. The award money may enable you to travel around Africa this autumn.
　　M: I wish I could, but I have to save the money to pay for my daily bills for the next year. You know how expensive things are nowadays.
　　Q: What does the man imply?
　　12. W: I haven’t got enough cash for this suit and the discount will end tomorrow.
　　M: That’s all right. The credit card always does in such case.
　　Q: What will the woman most probably do next?
　　13. M: I’d like to book a table for four this evening at 7:00.
　　W: Wait a minute and let me check if there is any table available at that time. You know, we have been busy these days since Christmas.
　　Q: What does the woman mean?
　　14. M: There is nothing I like more than rock and roll music when I listen to the tape. It is really exciting.
　　W: Actually I don’t listen to popular music. I prefer classical music.
　　Q: What does the woman mean?
　　15. W: I have received your school report for this term and you failed in the subject of The Introduction to Economics.
　　M: You know, this class is so dull. The professor puts us all to sleep with his lectures.
　　Q: What does the man mean?
　　16. W: It is said that you have made a new pretty girlfriend. And we’re having a party tonight. Why not join us together with your girlfriend?
　　M: Well…I’m breaking up with Cathy.
　　Q: What does the man mean?
　　17. M: I have studied French for nearly two months. But it is still hard for me to talk with my French friends.
　　W: You see, usually it is hard to start out and it is a long way to master a foreign language.
　　Q: What does the woman mean?
　　18. W: We have been working on this paper for several hours and I feel really tired.
　　M: Why don’t we just stop and breathe some fresh air outdoors? We have plenty of time to finish it tomorrow.
　　Q: What does the man mean?
　　Now you will hear the two long conversations.
　　Conversation One
　　M: Say, Lisa, what show are you watching?
　　W: An old Japanese film. I figure if I’m going to spend all next year there, I’d better start familiarizing myself with the culture.
　　M: You mean you were accepted into the program?
　　W: Sure.
　　M: That’s wonderful. You must be excited.
　　W: Excited and nervous. You know I owe a lot to Professor Mercheno. He wrote a letter of recommendation for me and he bought me a set of practice tapes and a book that goes with them just so I can work on my basic conversation skills.
　　M: How much Japanese can you understand?
　　W: Not a lot right now. But I signed up for intensive Japanese this semester.
　　M: I wish I were as talented as you are in foreign languages. I’d love to study abroad.
　　W: Then why don’t you? The university has lots of overseas programs that don’t require mastery of a foreign language. The tuition is about the same. You just have to be the kind of person who is receptive to new ways of looking at things and willing to adapt to a different kind of lifestyle.
　　M: I had assumed that all programs require you to know a foreign language. I might check into this.
　　W: You won’t regret it.
　　Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
　　19. What is the woman doing when the man interrupts her?
　　20. Why is the woman so excited?
　　21. Why does the woman feel grateful to Professor Mercheno?
　　22. What does the woman say one needs to have in order to study in a program like hers?
　　Conversation Two
　　W: I haven’t seen you here for a couple of weeks. Have you stopped eating or something?
　　M: No. Does it look as if I’ve stopped eating? I’ve been spending a lot of time in the library.
　　W: Working on a paper?
　　M: I wish I were working on a paper. I was working on three different papers: anthropology, English literature, and history.
　　W: Wow. That is a lot of work.
　　M: Yeah. And what’s frustrating is that I’m studying 19th-century British Empire in all three classes. But I can’t write a single paper for all the three.
　　W: Why not?
　　M: The professors won’t let me. Even if I make it three times as long as the suggested length.
　　W: Oh. That’s too bad. Could you write your paper on three aspects of one topic?
　　M: Mm. What do you mean? Do you have something in mind?
　　W: Well, let’s see. Maybe you could do something with Romanticism, like — write your anthropology paper on the cultural basis of Romanticism, and your history paper on the influence of the Romantic poets on the British foreign policy, and OK... and your English paper on analysis of some Romantic poems.
　　M: Hey, that’s not a bad idea. I’ve already started the research for one of my papers. So I can use that. Oh, it’s so nice! What can I do to repay you?
　　W: You want to wrap up my chemistry lab for me?
　　M: I’d love to, but I’ve never taken chemistry. So I’m not sure if you will like the results.
　　W: Oh, well, not necessary then. Have a good weekend. And try to get out of the library and get some sleep. You look tired. You have big circles under your eyes.
　　M: OK. I’ll try. See you later.
　　W: See you.
　　Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
　　23. What has the man been busy doing all week?
　　24. What does the woman suggest the man do to make his work easier?
　　25. Why doesn’t the woman want any help from the man?
　　Section B
　　Passage One
　　Animals perform many useful and entertaining jobs. Dogs are particularly valuable in guiding the blind, protecting property, finding lost people, and hunting criminals. Horses are used in guarding herds, carrying men in lands when there are no roads and helping farmers work their lands. Pigeons have long been used to carry messages.
　　Dogs are extremely useful as companions for blind people. When a dog has been properly trained, he will always lead its blind master in the right direction and keep him out of danger. For example, seeing-eye dogs learn never to cross a busy road when cars are coming, even if their masters command them to do so.
　　Horses are also able to learn a lot of things. Horses that are used for guard or police duty must learn never to be frightened of noises, traffic and other disturbances. Therefore it is necessary for those who train them to be very patient and understanding.
　　Pigeons have a natural instinct to return home, even if they are far away and the trip is very hard and dangerous. Men utilize this instinct to send messages on small pieces of paper which are fastened to the pigeon’s backs or legs. In wartime, pigeons have been known to fly as fast as 75 miles an hour and to cover a distance of 500 to 600 miles.
　　People have realized that although animals may not have the intelligence as human beings, they are smart enough to learn many things.
　　Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.
　　26. What is the passage mainly about?
　　27. What can be inferred from the passage?
　　28. What is required for trainers of horses used for guard?
　　Passage Two
　　Many changes are taking place in the way in which men and women look at their roles in society. We see these changes most dramatically in jobs and business situations. It is no longer unusual to find a male nurse or a female construction worker. Years ago, however, a man who worked as a nurse would have been looked down upon for doing a “woman’s job”, and a female construction worker would have been roared off the construction site by her male co-workers. However, the most important changes that have taken place can be found in men’s and women’s roles in family life.
　　Household work that used to be done by women is now often shared equally by men and women. Men have discovered at last that they too are capable of preparing the family dinner, rather than thinking that they are only capable of taking out the garbage.
　　Perhaps the greatest change that has taken place in the family is in parents’ new attitude towards bringing up children. While it is true that only mothers can breastfeed their infants, nowhere is it written that fathers cannot bathe their own babies or change diapers. And more and more of them are doing just that. These days, being a full-time parent is a job that fathers and mothers both share.
　　As a result of these changes, we no longer insist that little boys play with trucks and grow up to be doctors, while little girls play with dolls and grow up to be housewives. Many men no longer feel that they must maintain a masculine attitude all the time, and many women no longer feel that they should be submissive and obedient. Changes like these do not occur overnight or even in a few years because they involve fundamental changes in attitude and behavior.
　　Questions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.
　　29. Where do the most important changes of men’s and women’s roles take place?
　　30. What is the greatest change that has taken place in the family?
　　31. What is the passage mainly about?
　　Passage Three
　　An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer, a contractor, of his plans to leave the house-building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by. The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career. When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. “This is your house,” he said, “my gift to you.” What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well. So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built. If we had realized that we would have done it differently. Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one more day, that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity. The plaque on the wall says, “Life is a do-it-yourself project.” Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today.
　　Questions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
　　32. What did the carpenter plan to do?
　　33. How did the contractor plan to deal with the house he asked the carpenter to build?
　　34. What can we know about the last house the carpenter built?
　　35. What does the story intend to tell us?
　　Section C
　　Throughout history the basic unit of almost every human society has been the family. Members of a family live together under the same roof, and they (36) share the economic burdens of life as well as its affectionate (有感情的) joys. It is the family that has primary (37) responsibility for the important task of raising children to (38) adulthood.
　　The family is not a (39) uniform concept in all societies. In many places it is an extended group that (40) includes uncles, aunts, cousins and in-laws. The head of the family usually has (41) considerable influence in arranging marriages, selecting careers and (42) determining all the important moves and purchases by any member of the family. Particularly where the society or the state does not give aid and where (43) consequently the responsibilities of the family are greater, this larger group provides better.
　　In many other societies, including most industrialized ones, the “nuclear family” is the basic social unit. (44) This term refers to a husband and wife united through marriage and their dependent children, whether natural or adopted. Industrialization and urbanization (45) create many specialized jobs which tend to scatter family members among different employers and thus to separate residences as soon as they become wage earners. The small family, with one or perhaps two incomes, (46) is better able to adapt to rapid change and to move when jobs move.

　　考前模拟训练：
　　2011年12月英语四级全真模拟试卷汇总
　　2011年12月英语四级全真预测试卷及答案汇总

　　作文预测汇总：
　　2011年12月英语四级预测话题作文汇总
　　英语四级作文模板汇总

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