2012年6月英语四级考试真题Part IWriting(30 minutes)Directions:For this part,you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitledExcessive Packaging following the outline given below.You shouldwrite at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.1.目前许多商品存在过度包装的现象2.出现这一现象的原因3.我对这一现象的看法和建议On Excessive PackagingPart II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning)(15 minutes)Directions:In this part,you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quicklyand answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1.For questions 1-7 choose thebest answer from the four choices marked A),B),C)and D).For questions8-10,complete the sentence with the information given in the passageSmall Schools RisingThis year's list of the top 100 high schools shows that today,those with fewerstudents are flourishing.Fifty years ago,they were the latest thing in educational reform:big,modern,suburban high schools with students counted in the thousands.As baby boomers(后婴儿潮时期出生的人)came of high-school age,.big schools promised economicefficiency.A greater choice of courses,and,of course,better football teams.Onlyyears later did we understand the trade-offs this involved:the creation of excessivebureaucracies(官僚机构)，the difficulty of forging personal connections betweenteachers and students.SAT scores began dropping in 1963:today,on average,30%ofstudents do not complete high school in four years,a figure that rises to 50%in poorurban neighborhoods.While the emphasis on teaching to higher,test-driven standardsas set in No Child Left Behind resulted in significantly better performance inelementary(and some middle)schools,high schools for a variety of reasons seemed tohave made little progress.Size isn't everything,but it does matter,and the past decade has seen anoticeable countertrend toward smaller schools.This has been due,in part ,to the Billand Melinda Gates Foundation,which has invested $1.8 billion in American highschools,helping to open about 1,000 small schools-most of them with about 400 kidseach with an average enrollment of only 150 per grade,About 500 more are on thedrawing board.Districts all over the country are taking notice,along with mayors incities like New York,Chicago and San Diego.The movement includes independentpublic charter schools,such as No.1 BASIS in Tucson,with only 120 high-schoolersand 18 graduates this year.It embraces district-sanctioned magnet schools,such as theTalented and Gifted School,with 198 students,and the Science and EngineeringMagnet,with383,which share a building in Dallas,as well as the City Honors Schoolin Buffalo,N.Y.,which grew out of volunteer evening seminars for students.And itincludes alternative schools with students selected by lottery(),such as H-BWoodlawn in Arlington,Va And most noticeable of all,there is the phenomenon oflarge urban and suburban high schools that have split up into smaller units of a fewhundred,generally housed in the same grounds that once boasted thousands ofstudents all marching to the same band.Hillsdale High School in San Mateo,Calif,is one of those,rankingNo.423-among the top 2%in the country-on Newsweek's annual ranking ofAmerica's top high schools.The success of small schools is apparent in the listingsTen years ago,when the first Newsweek list based on college-level test participationwas published,only three of the top 100 schools had graduating Classes smaller than100 students.This year there are 22.Nearly 250 schools on the full Newsweek list ofthe top 5%of schools nationally had fewer than 200 graduates in 2007.Although many of Hillsdale's students came from wealthy households,by thelate 1990 average test scores were sliding and it had earned the unaffectionatenickname ()"Hillsjail.Jeff Gilbert.A Hillsdale teacher who became principallast year,remembers sitting with other teachers watching students file out of agraduation ceremony and asking one another in astonishment,"How did that studentgraduate?”So in 2003 Hillsdale remade itself into three "houses,"romantically namedFlorence,Marrakech and Kyoto.Each of the 300 arriving ninth graders arerandomly()assigned to one of the houses.Where they will keep the same fourcore subject teachers for two years,before moving on to another for 11th and 12thgrades.The closeness this system cultivates is reinforced by the institution of"advisory"classes Teachers meet with students in groups of 25,five mornings a week,for open-ended discussions of everything from homework problems to badSaturday-night dates.The advisers also meet with students privately and stay in touchwith parents,so they are deeply invested in the students'success."We're constantlytalking about one another's advisers,"says English teacher Chris Crockett."If youhear that yours isn't doing well in math,or see them sitting outside the dean's office,it's like a personal failure."Along with the new structure came a more demandingacademic program,the percentage of freshmen taking biology jumped from 17 to95."It was rough for some.But by senior year,two-thirds have moved up to physics,"says Gilbert "Our kids are coming to school in part because they know there areadults here who know them and care for them."But not all schools show advancesafter downsizing,and it remains to be seen whether smaller schools will be a cure-allsolution.The Newsweek list of top U.S.high schools was made this year,as in years past,according to a single metric,the proportion of students taking college-level exams.Over the years this system has come in for its share of criticism for its simplicity.Butthat is also its strength:it's easy for readers to understand,and to do the arithmetic fortheir own schools if they'd like.Ranking schools is always controversial,and this year a group of 38superintendents(地区教育主管)from five states wrote to ask that their schools beexcluded from the calculation."It is impossible to know which high schools are 'thebest'in the nation,"their letter read.in part."Determining whether different schoolsdo or don't offer a high quality of education requires a look at man different measures,including students'overall academic accomplishments and their subsequentperformance in college.And taking into consideration the unique needs of theircommunities.”In the end,the superintendents agreed to provide the data we sought,which is,after all,public information.There is,in our view,no real dispute here,we are allseeking the same thing,which is schools that better serve our children and our nationby encouraging students to tackle tough subjects under the guidance of gifted teachers.And if we keep working toward that goal,someday,perhaps a list won't be necessary.注意：此部分试题请在答卡1上作答.1.Fifty years ago.big.Modern.Suburban high schools were established in thehope ofA)ensuring no child is left behindB)increasing economic efficiencyC)improving students'performance on SATD)providing good education for baby boomers2.What happened as a result of setting up big schools?A)Teachers'workload increased.B)Students'performance declined.C)Administration became centralized.D)Students focused more on test scores.3.What is said about the schools forded by the Bill and Melinda Gatesfoundation?A)They are usually magnet schools.B)They are often located in poor neighborhoods.