2021年12月英语四级真题 第1套

Section C
Directions: In this section, you will hear three passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear three or four 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 1 with a single line through the centre.

Homework is an important part of schooling, but the purposes of giving children homework will change as they grow older. [16] At the primary level, the main aim is to cultivate good habits, like learning to plan and exercising self-discipline. During the secondary school years, extending what is learned at school is positively related to academic achievement, so the content of homework becomes more important. So how can you help your child do their best? [17] Creating an ideal working environment will make it easier for them to get down to their assignments quickly. Make sure it's free of distractions, and—for primary school children at least—somewhere near you, so you can answer questions and offer encouragement. You probably have to help younger children plan their session, but it's important that by the end of primary school it's second nature. Get them to tell you everything they have to do, then encourage them to establish an order in which they do work. [18] When there are several different assignments, make sure they begin with one they enjoy, so it seems easy to get started. It's best to take on the most difficult task second—once they're settled, but before they get tired. If older children have more than an hour of homework, encourage them to schedule a short break to stretch. If you encourage them to tell you what they've learned, they'll absorb the information more deeply and remember it more readily.

家庭作业是学校教育的重要组成部分，但随着孩子年龄的增长，给他们留家庭作业的目的会随之改变。[16] 在小学阶段，作业的主要目的是培养良好的习惯，如学会列学习计划和培养自律性。在中学阶段，把在学校里学到的东西进行延伸与学业成绩呈正相关，因此家庭作业的内容变得更加重要。那么你怎样才能帮助你的孩子做到最好呢？[17] 创造一个理想的学习环境会让他们更容易迅速地开始做作业。确保他们不受干扰，同时让他们就在你附近（至少对小学生来说应该如此），这样你就可以回答他们的问题并给予他们鼓励。你很可能还需要帮助年幼的孩子安排做作业的先后顺序，但重要的是，等他们小学结束时，要让他们习惯成自然。让他们告诉你他们要做的每一件事，然后鼓励他们给待完成的作业进行排序。[18] 面临几项不同的作业时，要确保他们先从自己喜欢的作业开始，这样似乎更容易上手。然后，最好再做难度最大的作业—在他们适应后开始，但是要在感到疲劳前结束。如果大一点的孩子的作业超过一个小时，可以鼓励他们安排一个短暂的休息时间来伸展身体。如果你鼓励他们跟你说自己学到了什么，他们就能更加深入地理解所学的内容，并且更容易记住这些内容。

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

Workers at Mexican Oil Company will receive a health incentive of almost $300 a year if they meet certain body weight standards. To qualify for the bonus, [19] they must maintain a healthy weight. For those who are overweight or obese, they can receive the bonus if they reduce their weight by 10% during the year. Some applaud the policy as fair, because it rewards both individuals who maintain a healthy weight and those who are working towards achieving it. [20] But critics say the policy contradicts recommendations by many health experts who warned that a person's weight is influenced by genetic and environmental factors. That means weight can be hard for individuals to control, which makes the bonus unfair.
Some experts say the policy is inconsistent with the science of what we know about body weight regulation. These experts argue that focusing on weight is the wrong approach. [21] A more productive method of encouraging health among employees is to promote healthy behaviors. For example, companies can give workers gym memberships, or encourage participation in lectures on healthy eating and living. They can also reduce sweets and provide healthier snacks in the office and healthier meals at the company canteen. Or they can give employees more time during their lunch break to exercise. These are much better and much more productive ways for companies to move forward on their employees' wellbeing.

如果墨西哥石油公司的员工达到一定的体重标准，他们一年将获得近300美元的健康奖励。为了有资格获得奖金，［19］他们必须保持健康的体重。对于那些超重或肥胖的员工，如果他们在一年内将体重减少10％，也可以获得奖金。一些人称赞这项政策很公平，因为它既奖励了那些保持健康体重的人，也奖励了那些正在为健康体重努力的人。［20］但批评者称，该政策与许多健康专家的建议相矛盾，专家们警告说一个人的体重会受基因和环境因素的影响。这也就意味着个人体重很难控制，导致奖金有失公平。
一些专家表示，这项政策与我们所熟知的关于控制体重的科学不一致。这些专家认为，关注体重问题是一种错误的做法。［21］鼓励员工保持健康，更有效的方法是鼓励他们养成健康的行为习惯。例如，公司可以给员工办理健身房的会员，或者鼓励他们参加关于健康饮食和健康生活的讲座。他们还可以减少办公室里甜食的供应，将其改换成更加健康的零食，同时让公司食堂提供的膳食更加健康。或者，他们也可以延长员工的午餐休息时间，让他们有更多的时间来锻炼。这些都是公司改善员工福利可以采用的更好的、更有成效的方式。

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

Campaigners have warned that [22] the British government is not doing enough to prevent left-handed pupils from falling behind their peers. They claim that thousands of children are still being penalized for being left-handed. This is due to a lack of action from ministers who failed to take any meaningful action for years. It is feared that a failure to address early-year challenges, such as poor handwriting, leads to much more serious problems down the line with these pupils facing reduced career prospects.
[23] Studies in recent years show that left-handed children are more likely to suffer with learning difficulties, and their scores are lower on IQ tests. Campaigners feel it's strange that children in British schools are penalized because they happen to be left-handed. They don't understand why successive governments have failed to act on this. [24] They want the Department of Education to record which children are left-handed and what their educational attainments are, since they make up some 10% of the population. In early-year education, left-handed children are struggling and making a mess of their handwriting. Educators don't know how to deal with this. In many cases, there's no active help and a lack of teacher training. [25] Campaigners point out that a high percentage of the prison population is left-handed. They say that these prison numbers are unusually high and ask why it is the case.

活动家们警告说，［22］英国政府在防止左撇子学生落后于同龄人方面做得不够。他们声称有数以千计的儿童仍然因左撇子的问题而处于劣势。这是部长们缺乏行动所致，多年来，他们没有采取任何有意义的行动。人们担心，如果不能解决小时候面临的挑战，比如书写差，将会使得这些学生面临严峻的就业前景，导致更严重的问题。
［23］近年来的研究表明，左撇子儿童更容易出现学习困难的问题，他们在智商测试中的得分也更低。令活动家们感到奇怪的是，在英国的学校里，孩子们仅因为他们碰巧是左撇子而处于劣势。他们不明白为什么历届政府都未能对此采取行动。［24］他们希望教育部记录下哪些孩子是左撇子，以及他们的受教育程度，因为左撇子大约占总人口的10％。在幼龄教育中，左撇子儿童学习起来很艰难，他们的书写乱七八糟。教育工作者不知道如何处理这种情况。在很多情况下，学校没有提供积极的帮助，同时缺乏教师培训。［25］活动家们指出，监狱中，囚犯是左撇子的占比很大。他们称左撇子在押人数异常多，并质疑为什么会出现这种情况。

Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.