2023年6月大學(xué)英語四級考試聽力真題及答案（一）

Section A

Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you havejust heard.

A woman was charged with allegedly violating a Rhode Island city law against feeding wild animals.The 55-year-old woman's neighborsblame her for making the area's rat problem worse.

Newly installed cameras captured several rats active in the middle of theday.Neighbors say that it's even worse duringthe night.

The woman and her parents,who own thehome,told reporters thatshe's being charged for feding birds.

“Who would have known just loving animals gets you that much trouble,”she said

It is prohibited to feed any wild animals including birds in Rhode Island City.Nevertheless,while the woman's intention was to feed birds,it is clear that rats were also benefiting.

Anthony Moretti,director of the city administration,said he saw more than 20 rats near the woman' home.He said it will take months to get the problem under control.

1.What do we learn from the report about the 55-year-old woman?

2.What did the director of the cityadministration say at the end of the news report?

Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report youhave just heard.

To prepare for eventually sending astronautsto Mars,NASA began taking applications Friday for four people to live for a year in Mars Dune Alpha.That's a 1,700-square-foot Martian habitat inside a building in Houston.

The paid volunteers will work in an environment similar to Mars.They wil have limited communications with family,restricted food and resources.

NASA is planning three experiments with the first one starting in the fall next year.Food will all be ready-to-cat space food. Some plants will be grown,but not poatoes like in the movie The Martian.

“Wewant to understand how humans perform in them,”said lead scientists Grace Douglas.“We are looking at Mars realistic situations."

The application process open Fridayand they're not seeking just anybody.The requirements are strict,includinga master's degree in ascience,enginering or math field or pilot experience.Only American citizens or permanent US.residents are aceptable.Applicants must be between 30 and 55 and in good physical health.

Attitude is key,said former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield.He said the participants need to be super competent,resourceful,and not relying on other people to feel comfortable.

3.What does NASA require the paid volunteers to do?

4.What will the participants in the project eat?

Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.

A Japanese mayor apologized Thursday for biting the Olympic gold medal of a softball player.Nagoya mayor Takashi Kawamura had praised athlete,Miu Goto,during a public media event.He asked her to put the around his neck.Kawamurathen bit into it.

Biting a medal in front of journalists and photographers has become a common pose for Olympic medalists is  only for the winners themselves,not others.

“I'm really sorry that I hurt the treasure of the gold medalist,”Kawamura told reporters Thursday.

The mayor said the medal was undamaged,though he offered to pay for the cost of a new one.

Goto,however,has accepted the International Olympic Committee's offer of a replacement,according to Japanese media reports.

The scene broadcast on television prompted thousands of complaints to city hall.Some Olympians saic they treat their medals as treasures and that it was disrespectful and unacceptable for Kawamura to bite one

“I would cry if that happened to me,"said another athlete,Naohisa Takato.“I handle my own gold medal so gently that I wouldnot scratch it.”

5.What does the newsreports say aboutthe Japanese mayor Takashi Kawamura?

6.What did mayor Takashi Kawamura offer to do?

7.What did some Olympians say they would do with their medals?

Section B

Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

M:What's that orange thing on your computer screen?

W:It's something I bought yesterday.It's a plastic sheet that blocks blue light.I have one that I use to cover my phone screen too.

M:What do you mean by blue light?

W:Blue light includes natural light,but it also includeslight that isn't natural,for example,from computers, phones,televisions and other electronic devices.

M:So blue light is harmful and that's why you want to block it.

W: It isn't that simple.Blue light isn't necessarilybad for us.In fact,we need blue light during the day to be healthy.But too much blue light,especially from electronic devices,can harm our health by weakening our vision and making it harder for us to fall asleep.And poor sleep can cause all sorts of health problems.

M:I'm not so sure that sleep is nearly as important as people always say it is.I haven't slept enough in months because I have too much work to do,and I feel fine. And it's the same for mostof my friends.Poor sleep might be a problem for older people,but surely young people can handle late nights.

W:Well,the research I've read shows that sleep is probably even more important than we thought,and that not having enough sleep can contribute to serious health problems like obesity and heart disease. And all the artificial bluelight from electronic devices means we have to try harder to sleepwell.

M:Maybe you're right.I'm on my computer very late most nights,and that's probably why I don't sleep enough.

8.What did the woman do to her computer?

9.What does the woman say about blue light?

10.Why does the man say he hasn't slept enough for months?

11.What has the woman learned from the research she has read?

Questions 12 to 15 are basedon theconversation youhave just heard.

W:Asa kid,did you know what job you wanted to do when you grew up?

M:No,I didn't.And I got sick every time adults asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up.

W:It's the same with me. And I'm tired of people asking that question ofmy 10-year-old daughter.M daughter's  stock answers are basketball player,pop singer,mechanical engineer.Adults love that last one as it's the perfect mix of thesensible and the ambitious. When she was much younger,my daughter used to say she wanted to be Queen of the Clouds,which I loved.That's the kind of goal-setting I like to see in children,springingfrom their boundless imaginations.

M:Yes,we grown-ups can be tedious and limiting in our need for reality.And we teach a very gloomy image of adulthood—that whatever our children's future holds,it must be seen within the context of a job.

W:How utterly overwhelming and dull!

M:When people ask my son what he wants to be when he grows up,I have to swallow the urge to say,“Hey, back off my kid's dreams!”

W:We can't dismiss the idea that teenagers have to plan to do something after they finish school,and parents are entitled to hope it's more than simply spending 10 hours a day playing computer games.

M:But asking“What do you want to be?”isn't going to lead a child to a fulfilled life rather lead to false expectationsanda high chance of disappointment.

W:Exactly.We should be helping our kids understand who they are,even if that means letting go of who we think they should be.

12.What question were both speakers fed up with when they were kids?

13.What occupation do adults see as both sensible and ambitious according to the woman?

14.Whatkind of goal-seting does the woman like to see in children?

15.What does the woman suggest adults should do?

Section C

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

Greater Internet access corelates directly with improved health care,education and economic development.People living in rural areas,however,lag behind in online use,which limits their access to government services,banking and job opportunities.

Nowhere is this challenge clearer than in Africa.Most Africanslive in rural areasthat are tough to wire for Internet access.

Now,some phone companies are trying to introduce Internet-ready phones into African markets Certain companies have started selling simple smartphones for only $20.Previously,the lowest price had beer around $40,well out of reach for many people.

These devices are powered by software from the giant electronics company,KaiOS Technologies Limited.Most companies are trying to make phones ever more powerful and capable.But KaiOS went the other way. It made every effort to keep the essential capabilities of smartphones,but strip out costs and preserve battery life for  people who likely have inadequate access to electricity.

The KaiOS devicesoffer an alternative to the more expensive models that remain out of reach of many Africans and contribute to the digital divide.The body of KaiOS phones is as basic as it gets.Instead of a touchscreen,they're controlled with an old-school keypad.They're designed for 3G networks because 4G coverage doesn't reach two thirds of Africa's customers.In total,KaiOS phones are made from about $15 worth of parts,while Apple's top-of-the-line iPhone has $390 worthof stuff.

16.What are a number of phone companies trying to do in Africa?

17.How do KaiOS smartphones differ from smartphones of most other companies?

18.What are KaiOS smartphones equipped with?

Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you havejust heard.

For years,using recycled plastic to make plastic products was cheap.By contrast,fossil fuel plastic was more expensive.Thus this sustainable option was an cconomic option too.

But now it is cheaper formajor manufacturers to use new plastic.

According to one recentbusiness report,recycled plastic now costs an extra $72 a tonne compared with newly-made plastic.This may be because of consumer demands.They are pushing for more recycled plastics in new products.Meanwhile,new plastic is becoming cheaper.This is because of a boom in petroleum chemical production from the U.S.The price increase of recycled plastic could cost sustainable manufacturers an extra $250 million a year.

Smaller manufacturers may alsobe forced touse new plastic to reducecosts.Makers ofclear plastic bottles may also opt for new fosil-fuel based plastic to save money.

Plastic packaging makersare beingpressured to use more recycledplastic.This isdone in hopes of reducing the enormous amountof plastic pollution in the oceans.

The UK government plans to tax companies which don't use at least 30% recycled plastic in their products.Additionally,the government is planning to increase the quantity of recycled plastic in the market.

This could mean incentives for new recycling plants.Additionally,recyeling facilities maybe improved at a local council level and recycled plastic could be imported.

This would help increase the amount of recycled plastic in circulation.

19.What is said about using recycled plastic to make plastic products in the past?  

20.What has led to more competitive price for new plastic?    

21.What does the UK government plan to do about plastic?

Questions 22 to 25 are based on thepassageyou have just heard.

At the Dreamery,a business in Manhattan,naps are for sale.A 45-minute session in a darkened enclosure with peace and quiet costs $25.To be clear,this institution is no hotel.This is a nap joint. It sells the idea of thenap as much as the nap itself.

Is a nap worth $25?The answer is obviously yes.Here,at this point in the argument,it's traditiona for me to bring up all the studies that show the benefits of napping.But do you really need experts to tell you that?Just look at the world around you at 2:30 in the afternoon.

I've been working from home for more than  10 years now.And the quality and quantity of work I can do emerges directly from my ability to concentrate.I don't understand how people have creative careers without napping.Every day at about 1 p.m.,everyone faces the samechoice:sleep until 2 p.m.and then work until 5,or  daydream and driftaround socialmediaand attend pointless meetings until 7 p.m.

The friends I have who still work in offices inform me their bosses insist that they take the second  option,and that napping is associated with laziness.I genuinely find it odd.For if you nap properly,it's like waking up from a full night's sleep and you can double your day's worth of concentration.

22.What do we learn about the Dreamery,a business in Manhattan?

23.Why does the speaker ask us to look at the world around us at 2:30 in the afternoon?

24.What do we learn about the quantity and  quality of the speaker's work?

25.What does the speaker say he finds odd?