12月英语四级听力真题及参考答案

1、20XX 年 12 月英语四级听力真题及参考答案Employers have the right to monitor their workersonline private messages, according to a ruling by theEuropean Court of Human Rights (ECHR). It comes after a Romanian man was fired for sendingpersonal messages while at work. The Strasbourg court sided on Tuesday with the empl

2、oyer of aRomanian engineer who was dismissed from his job after using Yahoo Messenger to communicate withhis fianc ewhile at work.During his time as an engineer, Bogdan Barbulescu was asked by his employer to create a YahooMessenger account to answer his clients queries. However, he was informed in

3、July that he hadbreached company rules by using the program for personal reasons, and was subsequently sacked.Barbulescu took his case against Romania to the human rights court later, alleging that his employerdsecision to 01:45.45end his contract was based on a violation of his right to confidentia

4、lcorrespondence.1. What is legal for employers according to the ECHR?2. What can we learn about Bogdan Barbulescu? Questions 3 and 4 will be based on the following newsitem.At the Sifa Primary School outside Nairobi, Kenya, students pay their tuition with a new, localcurrency called the pesa. The sc

5、hool is one of several institutions that accept the community currency.The currency is widely used by peoplein the Gatina Village. The pesas are equal in value to the Kenyanshilling and can be spent in the community just like cash. The new currency gives poor people morebuying power than they would

6、otherwise have. If members of the community have a shortage of thenational currency, they can use the community currency to get accessto the goods and services theymay need. The non-profit group Grassroots Economics introduced the currency here last year.Community currency programs are being set up

7、by non-profit organizations across the world. They helppoor communities increase trade and create jobs, according to Grassroots Economics, based inMombasa, Kenya.It does not replace but rather supplements the national currency system, reported the non-profit group.3. What is the advantage of the pes

8、a?4. What can we learn about the Grassroots Economics? Questions 5 to 7 will be based on the followingnews item.Health officials in Brazil have declared a state of emergency in several states. They are alsowarning women not to get pregnant. These extreme actions are the result of a recent rise in bi

9、rth defects.About 2 400 babies in Brazil were born recently with extremely small heads. The babies have acondition called microcephaly. Microcephaly causes severe brain damage. To date, 29 of these babieshave died. The number of microcephaly cases in Brazil is about 10 times higher than what the cou

10、ntryusually sees in a year.The US Centers for Disease Control says the link between a virus infection and microcephaly is beinginvestigated. The virus is called Zika. Zika is spread by mosquitos. Some babies in Brazil withmicrocephaly have tested positive for the Zika virus while others have tested

11、negative. 05:34.88TheCDC says that Brazil reported its first case of Zika virus in May 2015. Since then, the virus has spreadand has caused infections in many Brazilian states and other countries in Latin America.5. What situation is Brazil facing?6. How many deaths have been reported so far?7. What

12、 is related to the situation according to the CDC?Section BDirections: In this section, Conversation One W: Hi Leo, why do you say English would become theworld language? M: Well. For one thing, itsso commonly used. The only language that is used by morepeople is Chinese.W: Why is English spoken by

13、so many people?M: Its spoken in many countries of the wobreldcause of the British Empire. And now of course, thereis the influence of America as well.W: Many students find English a difficult language to learn.M: Oh, all languages are difficult to learn. But English does have two great advantages.W:

14、 What are they?M: Well, first of all, it has a very international vocabulary. It has many German, Dutch, French, Spanishand Italian words in it. So speakers of those languages will find many familiar words in English. In fact,English has words from many other languages as well.W: Why is that?M: Well

15、, partly because English speakers have travelled a lot.They bring back words with them, so English really does have an international vocabulary.W: And what is the other advantage of English?M: Its that English grammar is really quite eaFsoy.r example, it doesnt have dozensof different endings forits

16、 nouns, adjectives and verbs, not like Latin, Russian and German for example.W: Why is that?M: Well, its quite interesting actuaItlly. s because of the FrencWh.hen the Frenchruled England, French was the official language, and only the common people spoke English. They triedto make their language as

17、 simple as possible. So they made the grammar easier.Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversationyou have just heard.8. What does the man say about Chinese?9. What made English a widely used language?10. What is said to be special about English vocabulary?11. What is the other advantage of Englis

18、h?Conversation TwoWoman: Hello. Is that the sales department?M: Yes, it is.W:Oh,well. My name is Jane Kingsbury of GPF limited. We need some supplies for our designoffice.M: Oh, what sort?W:Well,first of all, we need one complete new drawing board.M: DO44 or DO45?W:Ah,I dont know. Whats the differen

19、ce?M: Well, the 45 costs 15 pounds more.W:So whats the total price then?M:Its 387 pounds.W:Dose that include valued-added tax?M: Oh,Im not sure. Most of the prices do. Yes,I think it does.W:What are the boards actually made of?M: Oh,I dont know. I think its a sort of plastic stuff these days. Itanyw

20、ay.W:And how long does it take to deliver?M: Oh, I couldnt really say. It depends on how much work wemany other orders there are to send out, you know.W: Ok, now we also want some drawing pens, ink and rulers, and some drawing paper.M: Oh dear. The girl who takes all those supplies isnt here this mo

21、rcant take those orders for you. I only do the equipment you see.W:Ok,well,perhaps Ill ring back tomorrow.M: So do you want the drawing board then?W:Oh,I have to think about it. Thanks very much. Ill let-yboyue.know. GoodM: Thank you. Good-bye.Question 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you just

22、 heard.Question 12: What is the womans purpose in making the phone call?Question 13: What do we learn about the man from the conversation?Question 14: What does the man say about delivery?Question 15: What does the woman say she will possibly do tomorrow?Part 3短文短文1No one knows for sure just how old

23、 kites are. In fact, they have been in use for centuries. 25centuries ago, kites were well-known in China. These first kites were probably made of wood. They mayeven have been covered with silk, because silk were used a lot at that time. Early kites were built forcertain uses. In ancient China, they

24、 will use to carry ropes to cross rivers. Once across, the ropes weretear down and wooden bridges would hang for them. Legend tells of one General who flew musical kitesover the enemiescamp. The enemy fled, believing the sounds to be thewarming voices of angels. By the 15th century, many people flew

25、 kites in Europe. Marco Polo may havebrought the kite back from his visit to China. The kite has been linked to great names and events. Forinstance, Benjamin Franklin used kite to prove the lightening electricity. He flew the kite in the storm. Hedid this in order to draw lightening from the clouds.

26、 He tied a metal key and a strip of silk to the kite line.The silk ribbon would stop the lightening from passing through his body. Benjaminswas first laughed at. But later on, it enlightened the invention of the lightening rod. With such grandhistory, kite flying is short remain an entertaining and

27、popular sport.Question 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.Question 16: What does the speaker say about kite?Question 17: What did ancient Chinese use cats to do?Question 18: Why did BF flied a kite in the storm?短文2I have learnt many languages, but Im not mastered them the way thep

28、rofessional interpreter or translator has. Still, they have open doors for me. They have allowed me theopportunity to seek jobs in international contexts and help meget those jobs. Like many people who have lived overseas for a while simply got interactions. Since1977, I have spent much more time ab

29、road than in the United States. I like going to new places, eatingnew foods and experiencing new cultures. Ifyou can speak the language, its easier to gtheet tcookunnotrwy and its people. If Icrazy about it. I cant image living myprofessoiocniall loifre withoutinternationalhad the time and money. I

30、would live for a year in as many countries as possible. Beyond my career, myfacility with languages has given me a few rare opportunities. Once, just after I returned my year inVienna. I was asked to translate for a German judge at Olympic level horse event and learned a lotabout the sport.In Japan,

31、 once when I was in the studio audience of a TV cooking show, I was asked to go up onthe stage and taste the beef dish that was being prepared and tell what I thought. They asked“Was it as good as American beef?”It was very excitingfor me to be on Japanese TV, speaking in Japanese about how deliciou

32、s the beef was.Questions 19 to 22 are based on the passage youve just heard.Question 19 What does the speaker say about herself?Question 20 What does the speaker say about many people who have lived overseas for a while?Question 21 How did the speaker experience of living in Vienna benefit her?Quest

33、ion 22 What was the speaker asked to do in the Japanese studio?短文3Dr. Ben Carsen grew up in a poor single parent house-hold in Detroit. His mother, who had only a3rd grade education held two jobs cleaning bathrooms. To his classmates and even to his teachers hewas thought of as the dumbest kid in hi

34、s class. According to his own not so fond memories.He had a terrible temper, and once threatened to kill another child. Dr. Carsen was headed downpart of self-distraction until a critical moment in his youth. His mother convinced that he had to dosomething dramatic preventing leading a life of failu

35、re laid down some rules. He could not watchtelevision except for twoprograms a week, could not play with his friends after school until he finished his homework. And had toread two books a week, and write book reports about them. His mothers strategy worked.“Ofcourse didnt know she couldnt read. So

36、therewas submitting these reports.”he said. She would put check marks on them like shehad been reading them. As I began to read about scientis，tseconomists andphilosophers. I started imaging myself in their shoes. As he got into the hobbit of hard work, his gradebegan to soar. Ultimately he received

37、 a scholarship to attending Yale University, and later he wasadmitted to the University of Michigan Medical School.He is now a leading surgeon at Johns Hopkins Medical School and he is also the author of thethree books.Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation youve just heard.Q23 What do we

38、learn about Ben Carsen?Q24 What did Ben Carsens classmates and teachers think of him when he wasfirst at school?Q25 What did Ben Carsens mother tell him to do when he was a school boy?Part 4听写题When you look up at the night sky, what do you see? There are other heavenly bodies out therebesides the mo

39、on and stars. One of the most fascinating of this is a comet. Comets were formed aroundthe same the earth was formed. They are made up of ice and other frozen liquids and gasses. Now andthen these dirty snow balls begin to orbit the sun just as the planets do. As a comet gets closer to the sun.Some

40、gasses in it begin to unfreeze. They combine with dust particles from the comet to form a hugecloud. As the comet gets even nearer to the sun and solar wind blows the cloud behind the comet thusforming its tail. The tail and generally fuzzy atmosphere around the comet are characteristics that canhelp identify this phenomenon in the night sky. In any given year, about dozen known comets comeclose to the sun in their orbits. The average person cant see them all of course. Usually there is onlyone or two a year bright enough to be seen with the na