2019年大学英语四级考试样题(一)
Part Ⅰ Writing (30 minutes)
注意：此部分试题在答题卡1上。
Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes)
Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1.
For questions 1-7, mark
Y (for YES) if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage;
N (for NO) if the statement contradicts the information given in the passage;
NG (for NOT GIVEN) if the information is not given in the passage.
For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.
Landfills
You have just finished your meal at a fast food restaurant and you throw your uneaten food, food wrappers, drink cups, utensils and napkins into the trash can. You don't think about that waste again. On trash pickup day in your neighborhood, you push your can out to the curb, and workers dump the contents into a big truck and haul it away. You don't have to think about that waste again, either. But maybe you have wondered, as you watch the trash truck pull away, just where that garbage ends up.
Americans generate trash at an Astonishing rate of four pounds per day per person; which translates to 600,000 tons per day or 210 million tons per year! This is almost twice as much trash per person as most other major countries. What happens to this trash? Some gets recycled (回收利用) or recovered and some is burned, but the majority is buried in landfills.
How Much Trash Is Generated?
Of the 210 million tons of trash, or solid waste, generated in the United States annually, about 56 million tons, or 27 percent, is either recycled (glass, paper products, plastic, metals) or composted (做成堆肥) (yard waste). The remaining trash, which is mostly unrecyclable, is discarded.
How Is Trash Disposed of?
The trash production in the United States has almost tripled since 1960. This trash is handled in various ways. About 27 percent of the trash is recycled or composted, 16 percent is burned and 57 percent is buried in landfills. The amount of trash buried in landfills has doubled since 1960. The United States ranks somewhere in the middle of the major countries (United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France and Japan) in landfill disposal. The United Kingdom ranks highest, burying about 90 percent of its solid waste in landfills.
What Is a Landfill?
There are two ways to bury trash:
Dump—an open hole in the ground where trash is buried and that is full of various animals (rats, mice, birds). (This is most people's idea of a landfill!)
Landfill—carefully designed structure built into or on top of the ground in which trash is isolated from the surrounding environment (groundwater, air, rain). This isolation is accomplished with a bottom liner and daily covering of soil.
Sanitary landfill—land fill that uses a clay liner to isolate the trash from the environment
Municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill—landfill that uses a synthetic (plastic) liner to isolate the trash from the environment
The purpose of a landfill is to bury the trash in such a way that it will be isolated from groundwater, will be kept dry and will not be in contact with air. Under these conditions, trash will not decompose (腐烂) much. A landfill is not like a compost pile, where the purpose is to bury trash in such a way that it will decompose quickly.
Proposing the Landfill
For a landfill to be built, the operators have to make sure that they follow certain steps. In most parts of the world, there are regulations that govern where a landfill can be placed and how it can operate. The whole process begins with someone proposing the landfill.
In the United States, taking care of trash and building landfills are local government responsibilities. Before a city or other authority can build a landfill, an environment impact
study must be done on the proposed site to determine:
the area of land necessary for the landfill
the composition of the underlying soil and bedrock
the flow of surface water over the site
the impact of the proposed landfill on the local environment and wildlife
the historical value of the proposed site
Building the Landfill
Once the environmental impact study is complete, the permits are granted and the funds have been raised, then construction begins. First, access roads to the landfill site must be built if they do not already exist. There roads will be used by construction equipment, sanitation (环卫) services and the general public. After roads have been built, digging can begin. In the North Wake Country Landfill, the landfill began 10 feet below the road surface.
What Happens to Trash in a Landfill?
Trash put in a landfill will stay there for a very long time. Inside a landfill, there is little oxygen and little moisture. Under these conditions, trash does not break down very rapidly. In fact, when old landfills have been dug up or sampled, 40-year-old newspapers have been found with easily readable print. Landfills are not designed to break down trash, merely to bury it. When a landfill closes, the site, especially the groundwater, must be monitored and maintained for up to 30 years!
How Is a Landfill Operated?
A landfill, such as the North Wake County Landfill, must be open and available every day. Customers are typically municipalities and construction companies, although residents may also use the landfill.
Near the entrance of the landfill is a recycling center where residents can drop off recyclable materials (aluminum cans, glass bottles, newspapers and paper products). This helps to reduce the amount of material in the landfill. Some of these materials are banned from landfills by law because they can be recycled.
As customers enter the site, their trucks are weighed at the scale house. Customers are charged tipping fees for using the site. The tipping fees vary from $10 to $40 per ton. These fees are used to pay for operation costs. The North Wake County Landfill has an operating budget of approximately $4.5 million, and part of that comes from tipping fees.
Along the site, there are drop-off stations for materials that are not wanted or legally banned by the landfill. A multi-material drop-off station is used for tires, motor oil, lead-acid batteries. Some of these materials can be recycled.
In addition, there is a household hazardous waste drop-off station for chemicals (paints, pesticides, other chemicals) that are banned from the landfill. These chemicals are disposed of by private companies. Some paints can be recycled and some organic chemicals can be burned in furnaces or power plants.
Other structures alongside the landfill are the borrowed area that supplies the soil for the landfill, the runoff collection pond and methane (甲烷) station.
Landfills are complicated structures that, when properly designed and managed, serve an important purpose. In the future, new technologies called bioreactors will be used to speed the breakdown of trash in landfills and produce more methane.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答;8-10题在答题卡1上。
1. The passage gives a general description of the structure and use of a landfill.
2. Most of the trash that Americans generate ends up in landfills.
3. Compared with other major Industrialized countries, America buries a much higher percentage of its solid waste in landfills.
4. Landfills are like compost piles in that they speed up decomposition of the buried trash.
5. In most countries the selection of a landfill site is governed by rules and regulations.
6. In the United States the building of landfills is the job of both federal and local governments.
7. Hazardous wastes have to be treated before being dumped into landfills.
Part Ⅲ Listening Comprehension (35 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 2 with a single line through the center.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
11. A) The man hates to lend his tools to other people.
B) The man hasn't finished working on the bookshelf.
C) The tools have already been returned to the woman.
D) The tools the man borrowed from the woman are missing.
12. A) Save time by using a computer. B) Buy her own computer.
C) Borrow Martha's computer. D) Stay home and complete her paper.
13. A) He has been to Seattle many times. B) He has chaired a lot of conferences.
C) He holds a high position in his company. D) He lived in Seattle for many years.
14. A) Teacher and student. B) Doctor and patient. ]
C) Manager and office worker. D) Travel agent and customer.
15. A) She knows the guy who will give the lecture.
B) She thinks the lecture might be informative.
C) She wants to add something to her lecture.
D) She'll finish her report this weekend.
16. A) An art museum. C) A college campus.
B) A beautiful park. D) An architectural exhibition.
17. A) The houses for sale are of poor quality.
B) The houses are too expensive for the couple to buy.
C) The housing developers provide free trips for potential buyers.
D) The man is unwilling to take a look at the houses for sale.
18. A) Talking about sports. C) Reading newspapers.
B) Writing up local news. D) Putting up advertisements.
Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
19. A) The benefits of strong business competition.
B) A proposal to lower the cost of production.
C) Complaints about the expense of modernization.
D) Suggestions concerning new business strategies.
20. A) It cost much more than its worth. B) It should be brought up-to-date.
C) It calls for immediate repairs. D) It can still be used for a long time.
21. A) The personnel manager should be fired for inefficiency.
B) A few engineers should be employed to modernize the factory.
C) The entire staff should be retrained.
D) Better-educated employees should be promoted.
22. A) Their competitors have long been advertising on TV.
B) TV commercials are less expensive.
C) Advertising in newspapers alone is not sufficient.
D) TV commercials attract more investments.
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
23. A) Searching for reference material. B) Watching a film of the 1930s'.
C) Writing a course book. D) Looking for a job in a movie studio.
24. A) It's too broad to cope with. C) It's controversial.
B) It's a bit outdated. D) It's of little practical value.
25. A) At the end of the online catalogue. B) At the Reference Desk.
C) In The New York Times. D) In the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature.
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 2 with a single line through the center.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
Passage One
Questions 26 to 28 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
26. A) Synthetic fuel. C) Alcohol.
B) Solar energy. D) Electricity.
27. A) Air traffic conditions. C) Road conditions.
B) Traffic jams on highways. D) New traffic rules.
28. A) Go through a health check. C) Arrive early for boarding.
B) Take little luggage with them. D) Undergo security checks.
Passage Two
Questions 29 to 31 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
29. A) Beauty. C) Luck.
B) Loyalty. D) Durability.
30. A) He wanted to follow the tradition of his country.
B) He believed that it symbolized an everlasting marriage.
C) It was through that a blood vessel in that finger led directly to the heart.
D) It was supposed that the diamond on that finger would bring good luck。
31. A) The two people can learn about each other's likes and dislikes.
B) The two people can have time to decide if they are a good match.
C) The two people can have time to shop for their new home.
D) The two people can earn enough money for their wedding.
Passage Three
Questions 32 to 35 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
32. A) Because there are no signs to direct them.
B) Because no tour guides are available.
C) Because all the buildings in the city look alike.
D) Because the university is everywhere in the city.
33. A) They set their own exams.
B) They select their own students.
C) They award their own degrees.
D) They organize their own laboratory work.
34. A) Most of them have a long history.
B) Many of them are specialized libraries.
C) They house more books than any other university library.
D) They each have a copy of every book published in Britain.
35. A) Very few of them are engaged in research.
B) They were not awarded degree until 1948.
C) They have outnumbered male students.
D) They were not treated equally until 1881.
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 numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered from 44 t0 46 you are required to fill in the missing information. For these blanks ,you can either use the exact words you hove just heard or write down the main points in your own words . Finally, when the passage is read for the third time ,you should check what you have written.