2024 年英语专业四级真题及详解
TEST FOR ENGLISH MAJORS (2024)
-GRADE FOUR-
TIME LIMIT: 130 MIN
PART Ⅰ DICTATION [10 MIN]
Listen to the following passage. Altogether the passage will be read to you four times. During the first reading, which will be done at normal speed, listen and try to understand the meaning. For the second and third readings, the passage will be read sentence by sentence, or phrase by phrase, with intervals of 15 seconds. The last reading will be done at normal speed again and during this time you should check your work. You will then be given ONE minute to check through your work once more.
Please write the whole passage on ANSWER SHEET ONE. 【答案与解析】
Emotional Reaction to Music
①No matter who you are, where you live, or what your cultural background is, people get some pleasure from listening to their favorite music. ②However, some people are simply not capable of enjoying music. ③This is not because they can‘t experience pleasure at all. ④They don‘ have trouble hearing music properly, either. ⑤Instead, they‘re just indifferent to music. ⑥Researchers have conducted studies to find out why some people have no emotional reaction to music. ⑦However, despite their efforts, the mystery remains. 【难点点评】
）1（ ）2（ ）3（ ）4（
句②中，capable 意为“能干的”，与“of”连用“表示能??的”，注意“of”不要遗漏。
句③中，注意“not”不要遗漏。
句⑥中，时态为现在完成时，注意动词用现在分词形式；conduct 意为“实施，执行”。 句⑦中，注意“mystery”的拼写，其意思为“谜团”。
PART Ⅱ LISTENING COMPREHENSION [20 MIN] SECTION A TALK
In this section you will hear a talk. You will hear the talk ONCE ONLY. While listening, you may look at the task on ANSWER SHEET ONE and write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each gap. Make sure what you fill in is both grammatically and semantically acceptable. You may use the blank sheet for note-taking.
You have THIRTY seconds to preview the gap-filling task.
Now listen to the talk. When it is over, you will be given TWO minutes to check your work.
The Linguistic Gift of Babies
Critical age
Decline of babies‘ language learning ability occurs at the age of (1) Lab work
Research focus:
? How babies learn (2) in the first critical period Research aims:
? developing a model for babies in their critical periods of —language acquisition
—social, emotional and (3) development Research process:
? Babies need to listen.
? They are trained to turn their heads when (4) . ? A panda bear pounds a drum if babies are correct. Participants:
? (5) babies Results:
? Babies can (6) of all languages.
? Babies become language-bound before (7) .
—sound reaction between American and Japanese babies -6 to 8 months old: (8) -two months later: (9) ? Two events during the critical two months —(10) when listening to a language
. (1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5) (6)
(7) (8) (9)
—change of babies, brains when distributions grow Conclusion
Language learning may slow down when sound distributions become stable.
(10) 【答案与解析】
1. seven
(录音提到“Babies and children are geniuses until they turn seven”，即婴儿和孩子在七岁前一直都是天才，故本题填入 seven。)
2. sounds (录音提到“that is the period in which babies try to master which sounds are used in their language”即这个时期是关于婴儿试着掌握他们语言中的声音，故本题填入 sounds。)
3. cognitive (录音提到“perhaps for critical periods that ... and cognitive development”，即或许关键期也出现在孩童期??也为了研究社会，情感和认知发展，故本题填入 cognitive。) 4. a sound changes
(录音提到“and we train them to turn their heads when a sound changes”，即我们训练他们当听到一个声音就转头，故本题填入 a sound changes。)
5. six-month-old
(录音提到“usually six-monther”，即 6 个月大的婴儿，故本题填入 six-month-old。)
6. discriminate the sounds
(录音提到“They can discriminate all the sounds of all languages”，即他们能区分所有语言的所有声音，故本题填入 discriminate the sounds。)
7. their first birthdays
(录音提到“And the answer: before their first birthdays”，即答案是一岁之前，故本题填入 their first birthdays。) 8. totally equivalent
(录音提到“So at six to eight months, the babies are totally equivalent”，即对于 6 到 8 个月的婴儿，他们的测试结果完全相似，故本题填入 totally equivalent。)
9. incredible difference occurs (录音提到“Two months later, something incredible occurs”，即2 个月之后便产生明显变 化，故本题填入 incredible difference occurs。)
10. taking statistics
(录音提到“they‘re taking statistics as they listen to us talk”，即他们听我们说话的同时在做统计，故本题填入taking statistics。) 【录音原文】
The Linguistic Gift of Babies
Good morning, everyone. In today‘s lecture, I‘m going to talk about something you can‘t see. That is, what‘s going on in the little brain of a baby, for example, how babies learn a language. It is always a question people show great interest in. [1]Babies and children are geniuses until they turn seven, and then there‘s a systematic decline.
Work in my lab is focused on the first critical period in development, [2]and that is the period in which babies try to master which sounds are used in their language. We think, by studying how the sounds are learned, we‘ll have a model for the rest of language, [3]and perhaps for critical periods that may exist in childhood for social, emotional and cognitive development.
So we‘ve been studying the babies by conducting an experiment. During our experiment, the baby, [5]usually six-monther, sits on a parent‘s lap, [4]and we train them to turn their heads when a sound changes—like from ―ah‖ to ―ee‖. If they do so at the appropriate time, the black box lights up and a panda bear pounds a drum.
What have we learned? Well, babies all over the world are what I like to describe as ―citizens of the world‖. [6]They can discriminate all the sounds of all languages, no matter what country we‘re testing and what language we‘re using and that‘s remarkable because you know I can‘t do that. We‘re culture-bound listeners. We can discriminate the sounds of our own language, but not those of foreign languages.
So the question arises: When do those citizens of the world turn into the language-bound listeners that we are? [7]
And the answer: before their first birthdays. What you see here is performance on that head-turn task for babies tested in Tokyo and the United States, here in Seattle, as they listened to the ―ra‖ and ―la‖-sounds important to English, but not to Japanese. [8]So at six to eight months, the babies are totally equivalent. [9]Two months later, something incredible occurs. The babies in the United States are getting a lot better while babies in Japan are getting a lot worse.
So the question is: What‘s happening during this critical two month period? We know this is the critical period for sound developments but what‘s going on up there? Maybe there are two things going on. The first is that the babies are listening intently to us, [10]and they‘re taking statistics as they listen to us talk-they‘re taking statistics. That is to say the two babies listen to their own mother speaking motherese—the universal language we use when we talk to kids. During the production of speech when babies listen what they‘re doing is taking statistics that is sound distribution on the language that they hear. And those sound distributions grow and babies absorb more. And what we‘ve learned is that babies are sensitive to the statistics, and the statistics of Japanese and English are very, very different. I mean, the sound distribution of both languages is different. So babies absorb the statistics of the language and it changes their brains ; it changes them from the citizens of the world to the culture-bound listeners that we are because we as adults are no longer absorbing those statistics. In this case, of course, we‘re arguing that the learning of language material may slow down when our distribution stabilizes. OK. Today we just talked about a recent project on babies‘ language development. In our next lecture, we will concentrate on bilingual people, how bilinguals keep two sets of statistics in mind at once.
SECTION B CONVERSATIONS
In this section you will hear two conversations. At the end of each conversation, five questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversations and the questions will be spoken ONCE ONLY. After each question there will be a ten-second pause. During the pause, you should read the four choices of A B C and D, and mark the best answer to each question on ANSWER SHEET TWO.
You have THIRTY seconds to preview the choices. Now, listen to the conversations.
Conversation One
Questions 1 to 5 are based on Conversation One. 1. A. Many foreign languages are spoken in Britain. B. Everyone in Britain can speak a foreign language. C. The British are unable to speak a foreign language. D. The British can survive on their mother tongue. 2. A. Chinese. B. Polish, C. Punjabi. D. Urdu.
3. A. To help improve international trade. B. To allow a speaker to hold a simple talk. C. To improve the education system.
D. To encourage learning another language. 4. A. It gives you self-satisfaction.
B. It makes you more confident. C. It gives you an advantage. D. It makes you work hard. 5. A. Workmates. B. Schoolmates.
C. Teacher and student. D. Brother and sister. 【答案与解析】
1. C 对话中男士提到“not being able to speak a foreign language”，说明不能说外语是英国人的一个特色，故选
C 项。 2. B 对话中男士提到“Polish is the second most-spoken language”，表明波兰语是说得人数第二多的语言，故正
确答案为 B。
3. A 对话中男士在说完最近在开展“1000 字运动”后，接着说“It hopes to help Br itain increase international trade”表示，
“1000 字运动”开展的目的是希望帮助英国拓展国际贸易，故选 A。 4. D 对话中在女士说完听上去不错后，男士说到“It gives you self-satisfaction and self-esteem”和“it boosts your
confidence”，可知说一门外语能够给人带来自我满足感和自尊，并且能够提升自信心，对话没有提到使人努力工作，故选 D。
5. B 在对话的最后，男士提到“I‘ll have my Chinese class at 10 o‘clock”表示他 10 点时要上汉语课，而女士随
之提到“I have a class at 10 as well”表示她 10 点也有课，故两人应为同校不同班，为校友，因此正确答案为 B 。 【录音原文】
W: Hi, Bob. You speak very good Chinese.
M: Not really, Mary. I just know a little. Actually, not being able to speak a foreign language is a bit of a British trait or a particularly Br itish characteristic. The British are generally considered to be lazy linguists. We just don‘t bother to learn another language.
W: I guess the main reason is that when you travel around the world, you find that English is spoken almost everywhere.
M: Yes, yes. We get by. We survive on just using our mother language.
W: But you seem to love learning languages a lot. How many foreign languages can you speak?
M: Not that many. A bit of German, some French, Polish a little, Chinese of course, a bit of Japanese. That‘s about it. W: I‘m impressed. Well, what is the second most-spoken language in England? Is it Chinese? M: No, I don‘t think so.
W: Then, that must be French.
M: No. According to the recent census, 104 different languages are spoken in the UK and Polish is the second most-spoken language, followed by Punjabi and Urdu.
W: Then, do you have to learn a foreign language in school?
M: No, it‘s not compulsory. But recently a campaign was launched to encourage everyone in the UK to learn at least 1,000 words of another language. It hopes to help Britain increase international trade. W: 1,000 words?
M: Yes. It‘s called the 1,000 Words Campaign because it says a vocabulary of 1,000 words would allow a speaker to hold a simple conversation. W: That sounds like a good idea.
M: Yes. It gives you self-satisfaction and self-esteem if you can speak another language when you‘re travelling. And I think it also gives you an edge in a lot of different areas in the workplace. You feel good about learning a new skill and you feel good about yourself, and it boosts your confidence. Imagine going on a holiday to Spain and being able to speak to the locals. W: Of course it does make one feel good.
M: And there are also the economic benefits of speaking another language. It gives you an advantage? especially if you are dealing with foreign companies.
W: Yes. It also shows politeness and respect for other people by showing you have made an effort. M: You‘re right. Mm, I‘m afraid I must get going now. I‘ll have my Chinese class at 10 o‘clock. W: Oh, I have a class at 10 as well. OK, see you later. M: See you.
1. According to the man, what is a British characteristic? 2. What is the second most-spoken language in the UK? 3. Why was the 1,000 Words Campaign launched?
4. According to the man, which is not considered an advantage of learning a foreign language? 5. What‘s the most probable relationship between the man and the woman?
Conversation Two
Questions 6 to 10 are based on Conversation Two. 6. A. A dangerous event. B. An unreasonable fear. C. A small probability. D. A risk-assessing ability.
7. A. One in one million. B. One in four million. C. One in fourteen million. D. One in forty million. 8. A. Future events.
B. Catastrophic events. C. Small-scale disasters. D. Smoking cigarettes. 9. A. Traveling by air. B. Riding a bicycle. C. Catching bird flu. D. Smoking cigarettes.
10. A. They get pleasure from risks.
B. They can control potential risks. C. They can assess danger from risks. D. They have strong needs for risks. 【答案与解析】
6. B 对话中女士提到“that means a strong and unreasonable fear of something”，这表示恐惧症意味着对一些事物
强烈的没来由的恐惧，因此 B 项正确。 7. C 对话中在男士猜测为 100 万分之一后，女士说“it‘s one in 14 million”，表明此事件发生的概率为 1400 万
分之一，故选 C。
2024年英语专业四级TEM-4真题及解析
