2012年12月大学英语四级真题(3)Part IWriting(30 minutes)注意：此部分试题在答题卡1上，请在答题卡1上作答。Direction:For this part,you are allowed 30 minutes to write a composition entitled EducationPays based on the statistics provided in the chart below (Weekly earnings of 2010).Please write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.Education:A Worthy InvestmentWeekly earnings in 2010($)Doctoral degree1.550Master's degree1,272Bachelor's degree1.038Some college,no degree712High school diploma626Less than high school degree444Source:U.S.Bureau of Labor StatisticsEducation PaysPart II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning)(15 minutes)Directions:In this part,you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer thequestions on Answer sheet 1.For questions 1-7,choose the best answer from the fourchoices marked A),B),C)and D).For questions 8-10,complete the sentences with theinformation given in the passage.Suffering in silenceDespite a law designed to protect them,many people with disabling conditions are unawareof their rights.Carole Concha-Bell tells of her experiences.Being diagnosed with a disabling condition is always a shock.Leaming to live without theguarantee of health is like having to unleam a previous life.The implications for your working lifemay seem intimidating.There is the disability Discrimination Act (DDA),of course.But does it really provide theprotection in the workplace that parliament intended?Are employers merely paying lip service tothe DDA?Or are they even aware of an employer's legal duties and responsibilities?In my experience,it is the latter.I have received little support from employers to whom Ihave revealed my condition.This has often left me feeling at a disadvantage and wondering why Ibothered doing so in the first place.I had been struggling with illness long before I was diagnosed.In practical terms thediagnosis did little to aid me.Of course,it enabled me to understand my body,my limitations andset me on a course to stabilize my symptoms.But it brought a new dilemma.Where I hadpreviously struggled to work while ill,ignorant of why my body was misbehaving,I now had aname for my daily struggle:Lps(狼疮).This is a chronic(慢性的)，auto-immune disorder thatcan affect virtually any system in the body.It also leaves a huge,dark question hanging over myhead when seeking employment:should I tell my employers I have a condition?It is a dilemmathat continues to be a root cause of anxiety both for myself and for thousands of other UKemployees.The rocky road to my unfortunate enlightenment about work and disability began just aftergraduation when I'd set my sights on a career in communications and landed my dream job with arespected public relations consultancy(咨询公司)in Bristol..But while I was leaming the art ofmedia relations,my body wasn't quite making it in health terms.I often went to work withswollen limbs and fevers.At my first and last performance review,my boss was amazed that,despite my many capabilities,I hadn't quite taken control of my responsibilities.A few monthslater,my contract wasn't renewed and I plunged further into new depths of ill health.However,I was determined not to be beaten and returned to the interview trail.My next jobwas in publishing.But despite a shining performance at the interview,I felt like a fraud.How longwould it be before I sank into ill health and depression again?The job was to end with a monumental bang when I became so poorly I could no longerfunction.A few feverish weeks in bed ended in a specialist appointment,where I was diagnosedwith Lupus and rushed into hospital for fear that it may have attacked my internal organs.The next 12 months were filled with confusion.I had no idea about benefits,felt alienated(被视为另类)by the medical establishment and lived off my savings until I was broke.I realized Ineeded help from my family and moved to London.As soon as I felt better,I marched into a marketing recruitment consultancy and,within 10minutes,I had impressed the interviewer enough to be offered a job with the agency.We agreed ona decent salary and I told him had arthritis (and would need to work a four-day week.Things went well at the start but soon the client meetings began to fall on my day off,and Irarely left the office on time.I began to slip both in health and professional terms.The 10-hourdays crashed around my head;no amount of make-up could disguise my ill health as I battledagainst the odds to prove to myself that I cold still make it in the business world.I often cried onthe bus on the way back from work.Not long before my contract was due to be made permanent,I was called to the boss's officeand given the "talk"abut how my performance was slipping,how awful I looked.I felt too weakto fight back and agreed to leave.No attempts to offer adjustments to my job,such as being ableto work from home,were ever made.I had a case for unfair dismissal under the DDA,but wasignorant of this at the time.An estimated 10 million people in UK,or 17%of the population,qualify for disability statusunder the DDA.I have encountered a number of them:the liver-diseased boss;the co-worker witha heart condition;and my asthmatic(哮喘的)trainee-teacher friend..None had disclosed(透露)their conditions to employers,and all were feeling the strain of not doing so.To access your rights under the DDA and to request "reasonable adjustments"to yourworking conditions or your workplace requires disclosure.I had wamed my former employerabout my condition but it served little purpose.They were ignorant about their obligations to theirdisabled staff.However,there are plenty of forward-thinking organizations that have inclusive recruitmentpolicies;are more likely to employ a worker with a disability;and are more aware of their legalduties.The public sector out-performs the private,but not always the voluntary,according tostudies for the Disabilities Rights Commission.I decided to give the voluntary sector a go and was surprised to be offered flexible workingconditions and other solutions to meet my needs as an employee.But given the choice,I wouldstill prefer a career in the private sector,which for me is more dynamic,has more attractivesalaries and offers better prospects than the voluntary or public sectors.Despite the advances of the DDA,there will always be an army of workers who will soldieron,maybe aware of their rights but choosing to remain silent for personal reasons.It is important,though,to recognize the significance of the act,the protection it affords and the obligations thatemployers have to us as employees and as human beings.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。1.What is people's immediate response when they are first diagnosed with a disabling condition?[A]They report the situation on their employers.[B]They come to realize the value of good health.[C]They feel nervous about their work prospects.[D]They try to seek protection from the DDA.2.When the author revealed her condition to her employers,they[A]were quite sympathetic toward her[B]did not give her the support she needed.[C]made adjustments to meet her needs[D]were annoyed not to be informed earlier3.When the author was diagnosed with Lupus,she was in a dilemma whether she should[A]ask for assistance from her fellow workers[B]find employment at a different company[C]ignore her limitations and struggle to work[D]inform her employers of her disability status4.The author lost her job at the public relations consultancy in Bristol because[A]her boss had fund a much better replacementB]she was in no mood at all to discharge her duties[C]her performance was disappointing to her boss