2024年6月第1套英语四级真题

Directions: In this section,you will hear three news reports.At the end ofeach news report,you will hear two or three questions.Both the news report and the questions will bespoken only once.Afier you hear a question,you must choose the best answerfrom the four choices marked A),B),C)and D).Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.

Directions: In this section,you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it.Each statementcontains information given in one of the paragraphs.Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived.You may choose a paragraph more than once.Each paragraph is marked with a letter.Answer the questions by markingthe corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.

Why DoAmericans Work So Much?

• A)How will we all keep busy when we only have to work 15 hours a week?That was the question that worried the British economist John Maynard Keynes when he wrote his short essay“Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren”in 1930.Over the next century,he predicted,the economy would become so productive that people would barely need to work at all.For a while,it looked like Keynes was right.In 1930 the average working week was 47 hours in the United States.But by 1970,the number of hours Americans worked on average had fallen to slightly less than 39.
• B)But then something changed.Instead of continuing to decline,the duration of the working week remained stable.It has stayed at just below 40 hours for nearly five decades.So what happened?Why are people working just as much today as in 1970?
• C)There would be no mystery in this if Keynes had been wrong about the power oftechnology to increase the economy's productivity,which he thought would lead to a standard ofliving “between four and eight times as high as it is today.”But Keynes got that right:Technology has made the economy massively more productive. According to Benjamin M.Friedman,an economistat Harvard,the U.S.economy isright ontrack to reach Keynes's eight-fold(八倍)multiple by2029.That is a century after the last data Keynes wouldhave had access to.
• D)In a new paper,Friedman tries to figure out why that increased productivity has not translated into increased leisure time.Perhaps people just never feel materially satisfied,always wanting more money to buy the next new thing.This is a theory that appeals to many economists.“This argument is,at best,far from sufficient,” he writes.If that were the case,why did the duration of the working week decline in the first place?
• E)Another theory Friedman considers is that,in an era of ever fewer settings that provide effectiveopportunities for personal connections and relationships,people may place more value on the socializing that happens at work.There is support for this theory.Many people today consider colleagues as friends.But Friedman argues that the evidence for this theory is far from conclusive.Many workers report that they would like to spend more time with family,rather than at work.Furthermore,this theory cannot explain the change in trend in the U.S.working week in the 1970s.
• F)A third possibility proves more convincing for Friedman.That is:American inequality means that the gains of increasing productivity are not widely shared by everyone.In other words,most Americans are too poor to work less.Unlike the other two explanations Friedman considers,this one fits chronologically(按年代). Inequality declined in America during the period following World War II,along with the duration of the working week.But since the early 1970s it has risen dramatically.
• G)Keynes's prediction of a shorter working week rests on the idea that the standard of living would continue rising for everyone.But Friedman says that this is not what has happened.Although Keynes's eight-fold figure holds up for the economy as a whole,it is not at all the case for the median(中位数的)American worker.For them,output by 2029 is likely to be around 3.5 times what it was when Keynes was writing.This is a bit below his four-to eight-fold predicted range
• H)This can be seen in the median worker's income over this time period,complete with a shift in 1973 that fits in precisely with when the working week stopped shrinking.According to Friedman,between 1947 and 1973 the average hourly wage for normal workers (those who were not in management roles)in private industries other than agriculture nearly doubled in terms of what their money could buy.But by 2013 the average hourly wage for ordinary workers had fallen 5 percent from the 1973 level in terms of actual purchasing power.Thus,though American incomes may have gone up since 1973,the amount that American workers can actually buy with their money has gone down.For most Americans,then,the magic of increasing

• productivity stopped working around 1973.Thus,they had to keep working just as much in order to maintain their standard of living

  I)What Keynes predicted was a very optimistic version of what economists call technological unemployment. This is the idea that less labor will be necessary because machines can do somuch.In Keynes's vision,the resulting unemployment would be distributed more or less evenly across society in the form of increased leisure.But Friedman says that,for Americans,reality is much darker.Americans now have a labor market in which millions of people—those with fewer skills and less education—are seeking whatever poorly paid work they can get.This is confirmed by a recent poll that found that,for half of hourly workers,their top concern is not that they work too much but that they work too little.This is most likely not because they like

• their jobs so much.Rather,we can assume it is because they need the money.
• J)This explanation leaves an important question.If the very rich—the workers who have reaped above-average gains from the increased productivity since Keynes's time—can afford to work less,why do they continue to work so much?(Indeed,research has shown that the highest earners in America tend to work the most.) Friedman believes that for many top earners,work is a labor oflove.They are doing work they care about and are interested in,and doing more ofit is not necessarily a burden.For them,it may even be a pleasure.These top earners derive meaning from theirjobs and work is an important part of how they think ofthemselves. And,of course,they are compensated for it at a level that makes it worth their while.
• K)Friedman concludes that the prosperity(繁荣)Keynes predicted is here.After all,the economy as a whole has grown even more brilliantly than he expected.But for most Americans,that prosperity is nowhere to beseen.And,as a result,neither are those shorter working weeks.

Passage One

Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.

    Lao Zi once said,“Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.”

    People-pleasing,or seeking self-worth through others'approval,is unproductive and an exhausting way to go through life.Why do we allow what others think of us to have so much power over how we feel about ourselves?If it's true that you can't please all people all of the time,wouldn't it make senseto stop trying? 

    Unfortunately,sense often isn't driving our behavior.For social beings who desire love and belonging, wanting to be liked,and caring about the effect we have on others,is healthy and allows us to make connections. However,where we get into trouble is when our self-worth is dependent upon whether we win someone's approval or not.

    This need to be liked can be traced back to when we were children and werecompletely dependent on others to take care of us:Small children are not just learning how to walk and communicate,they are alsotrying to learn how the world works.We learn about who we are and what is expected of us based on interactions with others so,to a four-year-old,if Mommy or Daddy doesn't like him or her,there is the danger that they will abandon them.We need to understand that when we desperately want someone to approveof us,it's being driven by that little kid part of us that is still terrified of abandonment.

    As you become more capable of providing yourself with the approval you seek,your need for external validation will start to vanish,leaving you stronger,more confident,and yes,happier in your life.Imagine how much time we lose each moment we restrainour authentic selves in an effort to be liked.

    If we base our worth on the opinions of others,we cheat ourselves of the power to shape our experiences and embrace life not only for others but also for ourselves,becauseultimately,there is no difference.So embrace the cliché(老话)and loveyourself as it's highly doubtful that you'll regret it.

Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.

    Some people have said aging is more a slide into forgetfulness than a journey towards wisdom.However,a growing body of research suggests that late-in-life learning is possible.In reality,education does an aging brain good.

    Throughout life,people's brains constantly renovate themselves.In the late 1960s,British brain scientist Geoffrey Raisman spied growth in damaged brain regions ofrats through an electron microscope; their brains were forging new connections.This meant brains may change every time a person learns something new.

    Of course,that doesn't mean the brain isn't affected by the effects of time.Just as height usually declines over the years,so does brain volume:Humans lose about 4 percent every decade starting in their 40s.But that reduction doesn't necessarily make people think slower;as long as we are alive and functioning,we can alter our brains with new information and experiences.

    In fact,scientists now suspect accumulating novel experiences,facts,and skills can keep people's minds more flexible.New pathways can strengthen our ever-changing mental structure,even as the brain shrinks.

    Conventional fixes like word puzzles and brain-training apps can contribute to mental durability.Even something as simple as taking a different route to the grocery store or going somewhere new on vacation can keep the brain healthy.

   A desire for new life challenges can further boost brainpower.Research about aging adults who take on new enterprises shows improved function and memory as well as a reduced risk of mental disease.Openness—a characteristic defined by curiosity and a desire for knowledge—may also help folks pass brain tests.Some folks are born with this take-in-the-world atitude,but those who aren't as genetically gifted aren't necessarily out of luck.While genes can encourage an interest in doing new things,a 2012 study in the journal Psychology and Aging found completing reasoning tasks like puzzles and number games can enhance that desire for novel experiences,which can,in turn,refresh the brain.That's why brain scientist Richard Kennedy says “It's not that old dogs can't learn new tricks.It's that maybe old dogs don't realize why they should.