近三年四级作文真题范文(共8篇)

近三年四级作文真题范文 第1篇

第一步，读问题，划出标志词或关键词

快速浏览题目，对5个题目有大概印象以便阅读时有侧重点。一般来说，对于本身已经明确其考查内容的题目，标志词和关键词是比较容易找到的，只看一下题干即可，而对于那些并没有出现标志词和关键词的题目，如：The author suggests that，可以在解答试题时浏览选项作出解答

第二步，略读文章

第三步，解答试题

根据试题中的标志词和关键词，找到试题在文章中对应的句子，并对其进行仔细阅读，然后对比四个选项，选出正确答案。

——2015年12月英语四级真题试卷一200篇

近三年四级作文真题范文 第2篇

There is a universal phenomenon among college students that in English learning they don’t attach much importance to spelling, which can find expression in the fact that numerous mistakes will arise in their compositions.

I reckon that the primary reason why the majority of students ignore spelling in their English learning is that computers are performing increasingly important role in our daily life. Mostly, there is no need for us to use our pen or pencil when we compose an article or submit our assignments to the teachers. Therefore the students acquire more and more skills in computer operation. Yet, their spelling mistakes in their articles are accumulating.

In order to untangle the problem, we are supposed to enable students to minimize the usage of computers in our daily life, and the teachers are expected to maximize the chance for students in writing on paper.

点评

总体来讲这篇四级作文出的基本中规中矩。

从结构来看属于典型的给定观点的文章，三段论很清晰，任务很明确。能用到的语言也在我们的预测范围之内。

第一段，开头的句子我们就可以写到：Now we are entering a brand new era full of opportunities and innovations, and great changes have taken place in peoples attitude towards some traditional practice只是紧接着只需要把spelling放到后面点明即可。后面加上一句This issue has been brought into public focus and called for further concern.

第一段就圆满了。

第二段开头任务明确写原因：

开头句子给大家备好了：

A number of factors could account for the problem, but the following are the most critical ones.

这段的内容是比较好想的，第一个原因我准备从信息角度入手，并且在内容的预测上我也是给同学们准备了信息方面的句子。

First, information is expanding at such an increasing rate that our society is called the one of information. The information is so immense that students haven t ample energy and time to deal deeply with spelling,这里我用到了很好的代词:one,和句式：so…that…既然是范文我就自己小小的发挥了一下：some computer programs, such as word ,have done the spelling checking work for us .

第二个原因：万恶考为首，

Second, the standardized-test oriented way of English learning, in which the high score can be achieved without spelling, put students to the position in which they have the quite reason to ignore spelling.

在这个句子中用到了同学们熟悉的表达：put students to the position.还很拽的`用到了一个主干隔离结构in which the high score can be achieved without spelling，一个好的单词test oriented以什么为目标。

这段也很圆满。

第三段:这段更是平淡无奇：

但开头的句子是没有问题的，我们很熟悉的开头句。

This issue may lead to a number of unfavorable consequences, with the following two the most serious.

后面有两种写法：

一种是写危害：

但是诚实的讲我认为这个现象没有什么太大的危害，但是不写的话又无话可说了。

我自己也是想了很久才想到了两点所谓的危害。

For one thing ,… for another ,这样的句子和京剧里面的亮相是一个概念。

For one thing, the information would be incorrect when conveyed by hand- writing way and cause some bad effects. For another, we may indulge ourselves in this way of inaccuracy which may influence our attitude of learning or research.

这两个危害我是憋了好久才想出来了，又不敢写的太难，大家就将就看了，

有危害总要解决下吧，咱的强项啊!

The awareness of the importance of this issue should be enhanced and some proper measures should be taken. It is reasonable for us to believe that the situation will be improved in the near future. 多棒的结尾啊!

还有一种写法就是：直接写解决的方法会简单些 ：

In view of the importance of this issue , effective measures should be taken before things get worse. For one thing, it is essential that students should be encouraged to use less automatic spelling checking tools.(回忆下上课讲的上下义词) For another, spelling should be highlighted in the English test ,such as CET-4 and CET ’s more ,the public should enhance their awareness of the importance of spelling .With these measures taken, it is reasonable for us to believe that the situation of poor spelling will be improved in the near future.

针对不同的两个原因提出两个不同的解决方法。

参考范文：

Now we are entering a brand new era full of opportunities and innovations, and great changes have taken place in peoples attitude towards some traditional practice, especially in the area of English learning , one of which is less attention has been given to spelling by college students . This issue has been brought into public focus and called for further concern.

A number of factors could account for the problem, but the following are the most critical ones. First, information is expanding at such an increasing rate that our society is called the one of information. The information is so immense that students haven t ample energy and time to deal deeply with spelling, and some computer programs, such as word ,have done the spelling checking work for us . Second, the standardized-test oriented way of English learning, in which the high score can be achieved without spelling, put students to the position in which they have the quite reason to ignore spelling.

This issue may lead to a number of unfavorable consequences, with the following two the most serious. For one thing, the information would be incorrect when conveyed by hand- writing way and cause some bad effects. For another, we may indulge ourselves in this way of inaccuracy which may influence our attitude of learning or research. The awareness of the importance of this issue should be enhanced and some proper measures should be taken. It is reasonable for us to believe that the situation will be improved in the near future.

三段的第二种写法：In view of the importance of this issue , effective measures should be taken before things get worse. For one thing, it is essential that students should be encouraged to use less automatic spelling checking tools. For another, spelling should be highlighted in the English test ,such as CET-4 and CET ’s more ,the public should enhance their awareness of the importance of spelling .With these measures taken, it is reasonable for us to believe that the situation of poor spelling will be improved in the near future.

近三年四级作文真题范文 第3篇

W： Can I help you？

M： Well。 I m not 。I think so。 You see， actually， Im getting married soon。 And my friends want to buy me presents things。

W： And would you like somethings for the kitchen。

M： Yes， thats right。 I thought if I could find out things about kitchen things。 They would be the best sorts of presents。

W： Well。 I suppose the first thing you need is a cooker。 Do you like a electron one or a gas one？

M： Em。 I think I probably prefer a gas one。 But cookers are very expensive。 Arent they？ How much is this one？

W： Its one hundred and seventy five cent， including tax and delivery。 Its a very good one though。

M： But Its a lot of money。 Isnt it？What sorts of things could I ask people to buy？ You know， cheaper。

W： Well。 You need some pans。 Wont you？ A set of pans， I suppose。 and drying pans。 Do you like cooking？

M： Yes。 I suppose so。

W： Well。 In that case， you might like a mixer。 If you make cakes and things like that。 Itll save you a lot of time。 And a blender too。 Thats good if you make soup and things。

M： Em。 Thats a sort。

W： Something else you might use is a set of these knifes， you know，carving knifes， bread knifes，steak knifes， fruit knifes， potato peeling knifes。

近三年四级作文真题范文 第4篇

话题：

让我们在电脑普及的今天，谈一谈电脑给我们带来了什么。

参考例文：

With the rapid development of computer, computers are becoming growing popular among people all over the world. And the popularity of using computer is increasing year by year. It is obvious that the computer is playing an important role in our daily life.

Due to the comprehensive applications of the Computer, it has been gradually taking place of human beings in some areas. Such as people can use computers to compose, purchase goods, or hold meetings. Whats more, computer can greatly improve peoples working efficiency. However, every coin has its two aspects. Computer also brings some disadvantages. For example, since computer games now have been prevalent among students, they almost spend more than 6 hours for entertainment on computer, and not study any more. Besides, many people now favor talk with their friends on line, and they meet less frequently than ever before. As a consequence, the lack of speaking leads to their terrible expression.

To sum up, we are supposed to keep balance between entertainment and study, make the best use of its good aspect to get further more improvement.

近三年四级作文真题范文 第5篇

Nowadays,the overwhelming influence of advertisements on media has made too many controversial social people argue that advertisements make the audience have the similar look by driving them to buy products of the same fundamentally agree with this assertion,and my reasons will be explored as below.

Admittedly,the literal intention of advertisements is to sharpen the concept of the purpose of distinguishing brand names,slogans and testimonials in advertisement are always full of very personalized words,including _new_,_innovation_,_uniqueness_,_revolution_,_the best_,_the only_,_the first_.It is clear that core values of these words bring people a motivation to change,and a desire to try something gap between people can be broadened,because any individual is stimulated by advertisements to express their personalities by buy different items,instead of following common tastes.

However,when considering practical effects of advertisements on the society,I strongly believe they play a role of depersonalizing the audience,and the first reason is that commercials are the key tool for big companies to monopolize the hand,many big companies invest billions of dollars annually in making fascinating and prepossessing advertisements to attract the public,which consistently maintains the loyalty of patrons,and cultivate good impressions of potential customers on their the other hand,small companies have too limited financial ability to afford these costly publicity campaigns,so that their names and influences continue to fade and lose consumer is to say,advertisements,an expensive privilege only for rich and big companies,help these companies exclusively occupy the market,as well as reducing the diversity of this situation,people definitely look the same,because they have no other options but buy the same-brand food,clothes and devices produced by a dominating company.

Another reason supporting this assertion lies on the fact that exposure to advertisements standardizes thoughts and tastes among audiences,especially in terms of their typical example comes from fashion,cosmetic and shampoo commercials which highlight the close-up of images of certain model or is a strong brainwash by implying that images of these actors are common standards of human beauty,and then triggering massive public imitation shows round by too many cases,large groups of hypnotized people,regardless of ages,careers and races,blindly follow and chase so-called iconic figures in an advertisement,mainly through buying and using the same lipstick and perfume,wearing same clothes,watch,ornaments and bag,even copying the same hair style.

In conclusion,I believe the main social influence of advertisements is to make people have the similar images slogans of advertisements tend to individualize the audience,the truth is that advertisements not only let big companies rule the market solely,but also manipulate the public’s minds to buy the same things.

近三年四级作文真题范文 第6篇

It has been said that when people succeed,it is because of hard work and that luck has nothing to do with I believe that hard work is very important and is the surest way to success for most people,I must disagree with this cannot be denied that luck often plays an important role in example,many important discoveries have been made by have been many cases of researchers and inventors making major breakthroughs while they were actually trying to solve another problem or create a different device.

Furthermore,there is something to be said for simply being in the right place at the right time-perhaps meeting someone by chance who can offer a good job or rare of course,there are the rare examples of gamblers and lottery winners who beat the odds and achieve sudden and unexpected success.

While the influence of luck cannot be ignored,this is not to say that one should depend on it and ignore the value of hard one is willing to work hard,I believe that success will eventually be achieved,with or without the added benefit of work is often an essential ingredient of luck because it enables one to take advantage of a lucky the scientist has not worked hard to develop his knowledge and skills,he may not recognize that lucky breakthrough when it comes suggestion is not to count on luck to bring you hard and keep your eyes open for that lucky opportunity.

近三年四级作文真题范文 第7篇

Suppose you have two options upon graduation. One is to take a job in a company and the other to go to a graduate school. You are to make a choice between the two. Write an essay to explain the reasons for your choice. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.

参考范文

Upon graduation, virtually all college students will confront the problem of the career choice，which is truly a tough choice. Students' opinions differ greatly on this issue. Some hold that priority should be given to take a job, but others take the attitude that going to a graduate school is the most critical factor influencing their future career choices.

As to myself, I prefer the latter view. A higher educational background exerts a tremendous fascination on a great number of people, with no exception to me. This phenomenon that the graduates have difficulties in finding job after their graduation can easily be found anywhere in our daily life, especially on campus. On the one hand, with the improved high education of Chinese college students which directly brought the result that there are more and more graduates every year. On the contrary, job vacancies don’t increase that fast. More people, less food, which is the exact deion of the hard condition. On the other hand, more and more people go on to pursue their master and doctor degree; more and more Chinese oversea students come back to China to hunt better working chances. It is sure that the competition is more and more fierce.

Therefore, it is high time that we took effective measures to improve our own competitiveness. That is the secret of success in the future employment market after our graduation.

近三年四级作文真题范文 第8篇

Part I Writing (30 minutes)

For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the saying “Learning is a daily experience and lifetime mission.”You can cite examples to illustrate the importance of lifelong learning. You should write at least 120 words but no more than180 words.

Part II Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)

Section A

Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A), B), C) and D), and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.

A) They admire the courage of space explorers.

B) They enjoyed the movie on space exploration.

C) They were going to watch a wonderful movie.

D) They like doing scientific exploration very much.

2. A) At a gift shop.

B) At a graduation ceremony.

C) In the office of a travel agency.

D) In a school library.

3. A) He used to work in the art gallery.

B) He does not have a good memory.

C) He declined a job offer form the art gallery.

D) He is not interested in any part-time jobs.

) Susan has been invited to give a lecture tomorrow.

B) He will go to the birthday party after the lecture.

C) The woman should have informed him earlier.

D) He will be unable to attend the birthday party.

) Reward those having made good progress.

B) Set a deadline for the staff to meet.

C) Assign more workers to the project.

D) Encourage the staff to work in small groups.

6. A) The way to the visitor’s parking.

B) The rate for parking in Lot C.

C) How far away the parking lot is.

D) Where she can leave her car.

7. A) He regrets missing the classes.

B) He plans to take the fitness classes.

C) He is looking forward to a better life.

D) He has benefited form exercise.

) How to ? work efficiency.

B) How to select secretaries.

C)The responsibilities of secretaries.

D) The secretaries in the man’s company.

Conversation One

Questions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

) It is more difficult to learn than English.

B) It is used by more people than English.

C) It will be as commonly used as English.

D) It will eventually become a world language.

) It has words words from many languages,

B) Its popularity with the common people.

C) The influence of the British Empire.

D) The effect of the Industrial Revolution.

) It includes a lot of words form other languages.

B) It has a growing number of newly coined words,

C) It can be easily picked up by overseas travelers.

D) It is the largest among all languages in the world.

Conversation 2

Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

) To return some goods.

B) To ap* for a job.

C) To place an order.

D) To make a complaint.

13. A) He has become somewhat impatient with the woman.

B) He is not familiar with the exact details of goods.

C) He has not worked in the sales department for long.

D) He works on a part-time basis for the company.

14. A) It is not his responsibility.

B) It will be free for large orders.

C) It costs 15 more for express delivery.

D) It depends on a number of factors.

) Report the information to her superior.

B) Pay a visit to the saleswoman in charge.

C) Ring back when she comes to a decision.

D) Make inquiries with some other companies.

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 I with a single line through the centre.

Passage One

Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.

16. A) No one knows exactly where they were ？

B) No one knows for sure when thy came into being.

C) No one knows for what purpose they were ？

D) No one knows what they will ？

17. A) Carry ropes across rivers.

B) Measure the speed of wind.

C) Pass on secret messages.

D) Give warnings of danger.

18. A) To protect houses against lightning.

B) To test the effects of the lightning rod.

C) To find out the strength of silk for kites.

D) To prove the lightning is electricity.

Passage Two

Questions 19 to 22 are based on the passage you have just heard.

) She enjoys teaching languages.

B) She can speak several languages.

C) She was trained to be an interpreter.

D) She was born with a talent for languages.

20. A) They acquire an immunity to culture shock.

B) They would like to live abroad permanently.

C) They want to learn as many foreign languages as possible.

D) They have an intense interest in cross-cultural interactions.

) She became an expert in horse racing.

B) She got a chance to visit several European countries.

C) She was able to translate for a German sports judge.

D) She learned to appreciate classical music.

22. A) Taste the beef and give her comment.

B) Take part in a cooking competition.

C) Teach vocabulary for food in ?

D) Give cooking lessons on ？

Passage Three

Questions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.

23. A) He had only a third-grade education.

B) He once threatened to kill his teacher.

C) He grew up in a poor ？

D) He often helped his ？

) Careless.

B) Stupid.

C) Brave.

D) Active.

) Write two book reports a week.

B) Keep a diary.

C) Help with housework.

D) Watch education??

Section C

Directions:In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second 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.

When you look up at the night sky, what do you see?There are other bodies out there besides the moon and stars. One of the most of this is a comet. Comets were formed around the same the earth was formed. They are made up of ice and other frozen liquids and gasses. these dirty snow balls begin to orbit the sun just as the planets do. As a comet gets closer to the sun, some gasses in it begin to unfreeze. They combine with dust particles from the comet to form a huge cloud. As the comet gets even nearer to the sun and solar wind blows the cloud behind the comet thus forming its tail. The tail and generally fuzzy atmosphere around the comet are that can help this phenomenon in the night sky. In any given year，about dozen known comets come close to the sun in their orbits. The average person can’t see them all of course. Usually there is only one or two a year bright enough to be seen with the _________eye. Comet Hale-Bopp discovered in 1995 was an unusually bright comet. Its orbit bought it _________to the earth within 122 million miles of it. But Hale-Bopp came a long way on its earthly visit. It won’t be back for another 4 thousand years or so.

Part Ш Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)

Section A

Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given

in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item onAnswer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

Questions 36 to 45 are based on the following passage.

For many Americans, 2013 ended with an unusually bitter cold spell. November and December 36 early snow and bone-chilling temperatures in much of the country, part of a year when, for the first time in two 37 , record-cold days will likely turn out to have outnumbered record-warm ones. But the . was the exception; November was the warmest ever 38 , and current data indicates that 2013 is likely to have been the fourth hottest year on record.

Enjoy the snow now, because 39 are good that 2014 will be even hotter, perhaps the hottest year since records have been kept. That’s because, scientists are predicting, 2014 will be an EI Niuo year.

EI niuo, Spanish for “the child”, 40 when surface ocean waters in the southern Pacific become abnormally warm. So large is the Pacific, covering 30% of the planet’s surface, that the 41 energy generated by its warming is enough to touch off a series of weather changes around the world. EI Ninos are 42 with abnormally dry conditions in Southeast Asia and Australia. They can lead to extreme rain in parts of North and South America, even as southern Africa 43 dry weather. Marine life may be affected too; EI Ninos can 44 the rising of the cold, nutrient-rich(营养丰富的')water that supports large fish 45 ,and the unusually warm ocean temperatures can destroy coral(珊瑚).

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

Section B

Directions:In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the question by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.

The Perfect Essay

A) Looking back on too many years of education, I can identify one truly impossible teacher. She cared about me, and my intellectual life, even when I didn’t. Her expectations were high—impossibly so. She was an English teacher. She was also my mother.

B) When good students turn in an essay, they dream of their instructor returning it to them in exactly the same condition, save for a single word added in the margin of the final page.“Flawless.” This dream came true for me one afternoon in the ninth grade. Of course, I had heard that genius could show itself at an early age, so I was only slightly taken aback that I had achieved perfection at the tender age of 14. Obviously, I did what and professional writer would do; I hurried off to spread the good news. I didn’t get very far. The first person I told was my mother.

C) My mother, who is just shy of five feet tall, is normally incredibly soft-spoken, but on the rare occasion when she got angry, she was terrifying. I am not sure if she was more upset by my hubris(得意忘形)or by the fact that my English teacher had let my ego get so out of hand. In and event. My mother and her red pen showed me how dee* flawed a flaw less essay could be. At the time, I am sure she thought she was teaching me about mechanics, transitions(过渡), structure, style and voice. But what I learned, and what stuck with me through my time teaching writing at Harvard, was a deeper lesson about the nature of creative criticism.

D) First off, it hurts. Genuine criticism, the type that leaves a lasting mark on you as a writer, also leaves an existential imprint(印记)on you as a person. I have heard people say that a writer should never take criticism personally. I say that we should never listen to these people.

E) Criticism, at its best, is dee* personal, and gets to the heart of why we write the way we do. The intimate nature of genuine criticism implies something about who is able to give it, namely, someone who knows you well enough to show you how your mental life is getting in the way of good writing. Conveniently, they are also the people who care enough to see you through this painful realization. For me it took the form of my first, and I hope only, encounter with writer’s block—I was not able to produce anything for three years.

F) Franz Kafka once said; “Writing is utter solitude(独处), the descent into the cold abyss(深渊)of oneself.” My mother’s criticism had shown me that Kafka is right about the cold abyss, and when you make the introspective(内省的)descent that writing requires you are not always pleased by what you find. But, in the years that followed, her sustained tutoring suggested that Kafka might be wrong about the solitude, I was lucky enough to find a critic and teacher who was willing to make the journey of writing with me. “It is a thing of no great difficulty.”according to Plutarch, “to raise objections against another man’s speech. it is a very easy matter, but to produce a better in its place is a work extremely troublesome.” I am sure I wrote essays in the later years of high school without my mother’s guidance, but I can’t recall them. What I remember, however, is how she took up the“extremely troublesome”work of ongoing criticism.

G) There are two ways to interpret Plutarch when he suggests that a critic should be able to produce“a better in its place.”In a straightforward sense, he could mean that a critic must be more talented than the artist she critiques(评论).My mother was well covered on this count. But perhaps Plutarch is suggesting something slightly different, something a bit closer to Marcus Cicero’s claim that one should“criticize by creation, not by finding fault.”Genuine criticism creates a precious opening for an author to become better on his own terms—a process that is often extremely painful, but also almost always meaningful.

H) My mother said she would help me with my writing, but first I had to help myself. For each assignment, I was to write the best essay I could. Real criticism is not meant to find obvious mistakes, so if she found any—the type I could have found on my own—I had to start from scratch. From scratch. Once the essay was“flawless,” she would take an evening to walk me through my errors. That was when true criticism, the type that changed me as a person, began.

I) She criticized me when I included little-known references and professional jargon(行话). She had no patience for brilliant but irrelevant figures of speech.“Writers can’t bluff(虚张声势)their way through ignorance.” That was news to me—I would need to find another way to structure my daily existence.

J) She trimmed back my flowery language, drew lines through my exclamation marks and argued for the value of restraint in expression.“John,” she almost whispered. I leaned in to hear her: “I can’t hear you when you shout at me.” So I stopped shouting and bluffing, and slowly my writing improved.

K) Somewhere along the way I set aside my hopes of writing that flawless essay. But perhaps I missed something important in my mother’s lessons about creativity and perfection. Perhaps the point of writhing the flawless essay was not to give up, but to never willingly finish. Whitman repeatedly reworked“song of Myself” between 1855 and 1891. Repeatedly. We do our absolute best with a piece of writing, and come as close as we can to the ideal. And, for the time being, we settle. In critique, however, we are forced to depart, to give up the perfection we thought we had achieved for the chance of being even a little bit better. This is the lesson I took from my mother: If perfection were possible, it would not be motivating.

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

46. The author was advised against the improper use of figures of speech.

47. The author’s mother taught him a valuable lesson by pointing out lots of flaws in his seemingly perfect essay.

48. A writer should polish his writing repeatedly so as to get closer to perfection.

49. Writers may experience periods of time in their life when they just can’t produce anything.

50. The author was not much surprised when his school teacher marked his essay as“flawless”.

51. Criticizing someone’s speech is said to be easier than coming up with a better one.

52. The author looks upon his mother as his most demanding and caring instructor.

53. The criticism the author received from his mother changed his as a person.

54. The author gradually improved his writing by avoiding fancy language.

55. Constructive criticism gives an author a good start to improve his writing.

Section C

Passage One

Questions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.

The wallet is heading for extinction. As a day-to-day essential, it will die off with the generation who read print newspapers. The kind of shopping-where you hand over notes and count out change in return—now happens only in the most minor of our retail encounters，like buying a bar of chocolate or a pint of milk from a comer shop. At the shops where you spend any real money, that money is increasingly abstracted. And this is more and more true, the higher up the scale you go. At the most cutting-edge retail stores—Victoria Beckham on Dover Street, for instance—you don’t go and stand at any kind of cash register when you decide to pay. The staff are equipped with iPads to take your payment while you relax on a sofa.

Which is nothing more or less than excellent service, if you have the money. But across society, the abstraction of the idea of cash makes me uneasy. Maybe I’m just old-fashioned. But earning money isn’t quick or easy for most of us. Isn’t it a bit weird that spending it should happen in half a blink (眨眼) of an eye? Doesn’t a wallet—that time-honoured Friday-night feeling of pleasing, promising fatness—represent something that *?

But I’ll leave the economics to the experts. What bothers me about the death of the wallet is the change it represents in our physical environment. Everything about the look and feel of a wallet—the way the fastenings and materials wear and tear and loosen with age, the plastic and paper and gold and silver, and handwritten phone numbers and printed cinema tickets—is the very opposite of what our world is becoming. The opposite of a wallet is a smartphone of an iPad. The rounded edges, cool glass, smooth and unknowable as pebble (鹅卵石). Instead of digging through pieces of paper and peering into corners, we move our fingers left and right. No more counting out coins. Show your wallet, if you still have one. It may not be here much longer.

56. What is happening to the wallet?

A) It is disappearing.

C) it is becoming costly.

B) It is being fattened.

D) It is changing in style.

57. How are business transactions done in big modern stores?

A) Individually.

C) In the abstract.

B) Electronically.

D) Via a cash register.

58. What makes the author feel uncomfortable nowadays?

A) Saving money is becoming a thing of the past.

B) The pleasing Friday-night feeling is fading.

C) Earning money is getting more difficult.

D) Spending money is so fast and easy.

59. Why does the author choose to write about what’s happening to the wallet?

A) It represents a change in the modern world.

B) It has something to do with everybody’s life.

C) It marks the end of a time-honoured tradition.

D) It is the concern of contemporary economists.

can we infer from the passage about the author?

A)He is resistant to social changes.

B)He is against technological progress.

C)He feels reluctant to part with the traditional wallet.

D)He fells insecure in the ever-changing modern world.

Passage Two

Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.

Everybody sleeps,but what people stay up late to catch—or wake up early in order not to miss—varies by data collected,it seems the things that cause us to lose the most sleep,on average,are sporting events,time changes,and holidays.

Around the world, people changed sleep patterns thanks to the start or end of daylight savings time. Russians, for example, began to wake up about a half-hour later each day after President Vladimir Putin shifted the country permanently to “winter time”starting on October 26.

Russia’s other late nights and early mornings generally correspond to public holidays. On New Year’s Eve, Russians have the world’s latest bedtime, hitting the hay at around 3:30 am.

Russians also get up an hour later on International Women’s Day, the day for treating and celebrating female relatives.

Similarly, Americans’ late nights late mornings, and longest sleeps fall on three-day weekends.

Canada got the least sleep of the year the night it beat Sweden in the Olympic hockey(冰球)final.

The World Cup is also chiefly responsible for sleep deprivation(剥夺), The worst night for sleep in the . was the night of the England-Italy match on June 14. Brits stayed up a half-hour later to watch it, and then they woke up earlier than usual the next morning thanks to summer nights, the phenomenon in which the sun barely sets in northern countries in the summertime. That was nothing, though, compared to Germans, Italians, and the French, who stayed up around an hour and a half later on various days throughout the summer to watch the Cup.

It should be made clear that not everyone has a device to record their sleep patterns, in some of these nations, it’s likely that only the richest people do. And people who elect to track their sleep may try to get more sleep than the average person. Even if that’s the case, though, the above findings are still striking, If the most health-conscious among us have such deep swings in our shut-eye levels throughout the year, how much sleep are the rest of us losing?

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

61. What does the author say about people’s sleeping habits?

A) They are culture-related

C)They change with the seasons.

B) They affect people’s health.

D)They vary from person to person.

do we learn about the Russians regarding sleep?

A) They don’t fall asleep until very late.

B) They don’t sleep much on weekends.

C) They get less sleep on public holidays.

D) They sleep longer than people elsewhere.

is the major cause for Europeans’ loss of sleep?

A) The daylight savings time.

B) The colorful night life.

C) The World Cup.

D) The summertime.

is the most probable reason for some rich people to use a device to record their patterns?

A) They have trouble falling asleep.

B) They want to get sufficient sleep.

C) They are involved in a sleep research.

D) They want to go to bed on regular hours.

65. What does the author im* in the last paragraph?

A) Sleeplessness does harm to people’s health.

B) Few people really know the importance of sleep.

C) It is important to study our sleep patterns.

D) Average people probably sleep less than the rich.

Part IV Translation (30 minutes)

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

云南省的丽江古镇是*著名的旅游目的地之一。那里的生活节奏比大多数*的城市都要缓慢。丽江到处都是美丽的自然风光，众多的****同胞提供了各式各样，丰富多彩的文化让游客体验。历史上，丽江还以“爱之城”而闻名。当地人中流传着许多关于人生，为爱而死的故事。如今，在中外游客眼中，这个古镇被视为爱情和浪漫的天堂。

——英语四级真题听力材料