2019年6月大学英语四级真题解析及参考答案
Part I Writing (30 minutes) Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a news report to your campus newspaper on a volunteer activity organized by your
Student Union to assist elderly people in the neighborhood. You should write at least 120 words but no more than180 words. 【参考范文】
On June 14, Friday, a volunteer activity where many students took an active part in visiting the local Nursing House was organized by the Student Union and it turns out to be a big success.
The activity was aimed at encouraging students to visit the elderly at the Nursing House and help elderly people deal with their troubles both physical and
psychological. Many students volunteered to participate in this good deed and were engaged in helping the elderly here out by making their meals, washing their clothes and chatting with them. When asked about those volunteers’ feelings about such an experience, all of them responded with a smile, saying “what a wonderful practice and I really appreciate this experience, for it makes me learn to care more for others in need.”
All in all, the activity turns out to be a success not only for the visited elderly but for those students involved. 【参考范文译文】
6月14日，星期五，学生会组织了一个参观当地敬老院的志愿活动，许多学生都积极参与其中，该活动取得了巨大的成功。
此次志愿活动旨在拜访当地敬老院的老人们并对他们各个方面的困难提供帮助。许多学生主动加入到此次善举当中，帮老人们洗衣做饭、谈心解闷，竭尽所能提供帮助。问及参与此次活动的感想时，他们毫无例外地回道“真是太有意义了，很感谢这次经历，它让我懂得要去更加关爱那些有困难的人”
总而言之，此次活动取得了巨大成功，不仅仅对那些老人来说受益多多，对于参与的学生来说也是意义良多。 Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes) Section A The center of American automobile innovation has in the past decade moved 2,000 miles away. It has 26 from Detroit to Silicon Valley, where self-driving vehicles are coming into life. In a 27 to take production back to Detroit, Michigan lawmakers have introduced 28 that could make their state the best place in the country, if not the world, to develop self-driving vehicles and put them on the road. “Michigan’s 29 in auto research and development is under attack from several states and countries which desire to 30 our leadership in transportation. We can’t let happen,” says Senator Mike Kowall, the lead 31 of four bills recently introduced. If all four bills pass as written, they would 32 a substantial update of Michigan’s 2013 law that allowed the testing of self-driving vehicles in limited conditions. Manufacturer would have nearly total freedom to test their self-driving technology on public roads. They would be allowed to send groups of self-driving cars on cross-state road trips, and even set on-demand 33 of self-driving cars, like the one General Motors and Lyft are building.
Lawmakers in Michigan clearly want to make the state ready for the commercial application of self-driving technology. In 34 , California, home of Silicon Valley, recently proposed far
more 35 rules that would require human drivers be ready to take the wheel, and commercial use of self-driving technology.
A) bid B) contrast C) deputy D) dominance E) fleets F) knots G) legislation I) replace J) represent k) restrictive L) reward M) significant N) sponsor O) transmitted
【参考答案】26-30 HAGDI31-35 NJEBK
Section B
How Work Will Change When Most of Us Live to 100
A. Today in the United States there are 72,000 centenarians（百岁老人）.Worldwide,
Probably 450,000. If current trends continue, then by 2050 there will be more
than a million in the US alone. According to the work of Professor James Vaupel and his co-researchers, 50% of babies born in the US in 2007 have a life expectancy of 104 or more. Broadly the same holds for the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Canada, and for Japan 50% of 2007 babies can expect to live to 107.
B. Understandably, there are concerns about what this means for public finances
given the associated health and pension challenges. These challenges are real, and society urgently needs to address them. But it is also important to look at the wider picture of what happens when so many people live for 100 years. It is a mistake to simply equate longevity (长寿) with issues of old age. Longer lives have implications for all of life, not just the end of it.
C. Our view is that if many people are living for longer, and are healthier for
longer, then this will result in an inevitable redesign of work and life. When people live longer, they are not only older for longer, but also younger for longer. There is some truth in the saying that “70 is the new 60” or “40 the new 30.” If you age more slowly over a longer time period, then you are in some sense younger for longer.
D. But the changes go further than that. Take, for instance, the age at which
people make commitments such as buying a house, getting married, having children, or starting a career. These are all fundamental commitments that are now occurring later in life. In 1962, 50% of Americans were married by age 21. By 2014, that milestone(里程碑)had shifted to age 29.
E. While there are numerous factors behind these shifts, one factor is surely
a growing realization for the young that they are going to live longer. Options are more valuable the longer they can be held. So if you believe you will live longer, then options become more valuable, and early commitment becomes less attractive. The result is that the commitments that previously characterized
the beginning of adulthood are now being delayed, and new patterns of behavior and a new stage of life are emerging for those in their twenties.
F. Longevity also pushes back the age of retirement, and not only for financial
reasons. Yes, unless people are prepared to save a lot more, our calculations suggest that if you are now in your mid-40s, then you are likely to work until your early 70s; and if you are in your early 20s, there is a real chance you will need to work until your late 70s or possibly even into your 80s. But even if people are able to economically support a retirement at 65, over thirty years of potential inactivity is harmful tocognitive(认知的) and emotional vitality. Many people may simply not want to do it.
G. And yet that does not mean that simply extending our careers is appealing.
Just lengthening that second stage of full-time work may secure the financial assets needed for a 100-year life, but such persistent work will inevitably exhaust precious intangible assets such as productive skills, vitality, happiness, and friendship.
H. The same is true for education. It is impossible that a single shot of education,
administered in childhood and early adulthood, will be able to support a
sustained, 60-year career. If you factor in the projected rates of
technological change, either your skills will become unnecessary, or your industry outdated. That means that everyone will, at some point in their life, have to make a number of major reinvestments in their skills.
A. It seems likely, then, that the traditional three-stage life will evolve into
multiple stages containing two, three, or oven more different careers. Each of these stages could potentially be different. In one the focus could be on building financial success and personal achievement, in another on creating a better work/life balance, still another on exploring and understanding options more fully, or becoming an independent producer, yet another on making a social Contribution. These stages will span sectors, take people to different cities, and provide Foundation for building a wide variety of skills. J) Transitions between stages could be marked with sabbaticals (休假) as people find tim rest and recharge their health, re-invest in their relationships, or improve their skills. At times, these breaks and transitions will be self-determined, at others they will be forced as existing roles, firms, or industries cease to exist.
K）A multi-stage life will have profound changes not just in how you manage your career, but also in your approach to life. An increasingly important skill will be your ability to deal with change and even welcome it. A three-stage life has few transitions, while a multi-stage life has many. That is why being self-aware, investing in broader networks of friends, and being open to new ideas will become even more crucial skills.
L）These multi-stage lives will create extraordinary variety across groups of people simply because there are so many ways of sequencing the stages. More stages mean more possible sequences.
M）With this variety will come the end of the close association of age and stage. I n a three-stage life, people leave university at the same time and the same age, they tend to start their careers and
family at the same age, they proceed through middle management all roughly the same time, and then move into retirement within a few years of each other. In a multi-stage life, you could be an undergraduate at 20, 40, or 60; a manager at 30, 50, or 70; and become an independent producer at any age.
N）Current life structures, career paths, educational choices, and social norms are out of tune with the emerging reality of longer lifespans. The three-stage life of full-time education, followed by continuous work, and then complete retirement may have worked for our parents or even
grandparents, but it is not relevant today. We believe that to focus on longevity as primarily an issue of aging is to miss its full implications. Longevity is not necessarily about being older for longer. It is about living longer, being older later, and being younger longer.
36. An extended lifespan in the future will allow people to have more careers than now.
37. Just extending one’s career may have both positive and negative effects. 38. Nowadays, many Americans have on average delayed their marriage by some eight years.
39. Because of their longer lifespan, young people today no longer follow the pattern of life of their parents or grandparents.
40. Many more people will be expected to live over 100 by the mid-21st century.
41. A longer life will cause radical changes in people’s approach to life.
42. Fast technological change makes it necessary for one to constantly upgrade their skills. 43. Many people may not want to retire early because it would do harm to their mental and emotional well-being.
44. The close link between age and stage may cease to exist in a multi-stage life. 45. People living a longer and healthier life will have to rearrange their work and life.
【参考答案】 36-40 IGDNA 41-45 KHFMC
Section C Passage One Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
In the classic marriage vow（誓约）, couples promise to stay together in sickness and in health. But a new study finds that the risk of divorce among older couples rises when the wife-not the husband—becomes seriously ill.
“Married women diagnosed with a serious health condition may find themselves struggling with the impact of their disease while also experiencing the stress of divorce,” said researcher Amelia Karraker.
Karraker and co-author Kenzie Latham analyzed 20 years of data on 2,717 marriages from a study conducted by Indiana University since 1992. At the time of the first interview, at least one of the partners was over the age of 50.
The researchers examined how the onset（发生）of four serious physical illnesses affected marriages. They found that, overall, 31% of marriages ended in divorce over the period studied. The incidence of newchronic（慢性的）illness onset increased over time as will, with more husbands than wives developing serious health problems. “We found that women are doubly vulnerable to marital break-up in the face of illness,” Karraker said.“They’re more likely to be widowed, and if they’re the noes who become ill, they’re more likely to get divorced.”
While the study didn’t assess why divorce in more likely when wives but not husbands become seriously ill, Karraker offers a few possible reasons. “Gender norms and social expectations about caregiving many make it more difficult for men to provide care to sick spouses,” Karraker said. “And because of the imbalance in marriage markets, especially in older ages, divorced men have more choices among prospective partners than divorced women.”
Given the increasing concern about health care costs for the aging population, Karraker believes policymakers should be aware of the relationship between disease and risk of divorce.
“Offering support services to spouses caring for their other halves may reduce marital stress and prevent divorce at older ages,” she said. “But it’s also important to recognize that the pressure to divorce may be health-related and that sick ex-wives may need additional care and services to prevent worsening health and increased health costs.”
46. What can we learn about marriage vows from the passage? A) They may not guarantee a lasting marriage. B) They are as binding as they used to be. C) They are not taken seriously any more. D) They may help couples tide over hard times.
47. What did Karraker and co-author Kenzie Latham find about elderly husbands? A) They are generally not good at taking care of themselves. B) They can become increasingly vulnerable to serious illnesses. C) They can develop different kinds of illnesses just like their wives. D) They are more likely to contract serious illnesses than their wives. 48. What does Karraker say about women who fall ill? A) They are more likely to be widowed.
（完整word版）2019年6月大学英语四级真题及参考答案（第一套）
