2018年上半年英语四级听力真题(卷二)：短篇新闻。供考生参考练习。
News Report 1 女士开车遇到毒蛇
Kelly escaped injury and managed to save her car after a four-foot long rat snake came out from under her car seat and slithered across her feet as she was driving down the high way。 Rat snakes are poisonous or a threat to people generally。 Q1： But the woman says the snake she encountered Thursday terrified her out of her wits。 It was rough with big scales， said 。。。 who was on her way to pick up her friend at the airport when it happened。 I don‘t know whether I had my hands on the steering wheel or not。 I’m not the most flexible person in the world， but I can guarantee my knees were up next to my ears。 She said the snake first slithered back under the seat and she hoped it would stay there until she was able to get off the high way and stop。 That didn‘t work out， she said。 Here he comes， and he wind up in my back seat before I could finally get off the road， stop and get out of the car。 Q2： She called for help and Washington county animal control officers came and captured the snake。
Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.
Q1： How did Kelly feel when she first came across the Rattlesnake?
A) Annoyed.
B) Scared.
C) Confused.
D) Offended.
Q2： What does the report say about the snake?
A) It crawled over the woman's hands.
B) It wound up on the steering wheel.
C) It was killed by the police on the spot.
D) It was covered with large scales.
News Report 2 快餐的上餐速度正在变慢
Fast food turns out isn’t quite as fast as it used to be.A new study finds that MacDonald posted its slowest drives through times since this survey was first conducted fifteen years ago. As MacDonald’s, customers were spent on average three minutes and nine seconds from the time they placed their orders until they received their food. That‘s about ten seconds more than the industry average and a lot slower than a decade ago, according to the study, which was commissioned by QSR, an industry trade publication. And MacDonalds wasn’t alone in slowing down. Other chains also saw their drive through performance slowing down. Q4： Among the reasons for the slower service, today there are more choices on the menu, and the products themselves are more complex and take longer to prepare. Speed, of course, is essential to the drive through experience, and drive throughs are hugely important to chains such as MacDonalds, Burger King, and Tucle Bell.Usually, the drive through accounts for sixty to seventy percent of all business that goes through a fast food restaurant, notes Sam Ochers, editor of QSR. Of course, consumers also want their orders prepare correctly and on that score, Ochers says accuracy is still really high.
Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.
Q3： What is the news report mainly about?
A) A study of the fast-food service.
B) Fast food customer satisfaction.
C) McDonald's new business strategies.
D) Competition in the fast-food industry.
Q4： What has slowed down MacDonald‘s drive through service?
A) Customers' higher demands.
B) The inefficiency of employees.
C) Increased variety of products.
D) The rising number of customers.
News Report 3 民间探月计划-去月球采矿
The first private mission outside earth orbit is closed to many of our think。 U.S。 government officials outset to approve a mission by privately held space company-Moon Express to travel outside of the earth orbit in late 2017。 Q6： Moon express’s mission involves plans to land a suitcase size package of scientific equipment on the moon for on-going exploration on commercial development。 The decision involved amounts of lobbying and coordinated conversations between a number of factual agencies。 On the international treaties， the US is responsible for the cargo of both public and private space craft。 This makes commercial space travel a complex legal issue not just domestically but abroad 。 A Moon Express representative declined to comment on the story Q7： but noted that the company is very optimistic about its proposal。 Moon express is not the only company seeking for the rights to travel to outerspace 。 Elon Musk’s space X aims to send an unmanned aircraft to Mars by 2018。
Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.
Q5： What is the news report mainly about?
A) International treaties regarding space travel programs.
B) Legal issues involved in commercial space exploration.
C) U.S. government's approval of private space missions.
D) Competition among public and private space companies.
Q6： What is the Moon Express planning to do?
A) Deliver scientific equipment to the moon.
B) Approve a new mission to travel into outer space.
C) Work with federal agencies on space programs.
D) Launch a manned spacecraft to Mars.
Q7： What does Moon Express think of its mission?
A) It is significant.
B) It is promising.
C) It is unpredictable.
D) It is unprofitable.
参考答案：
1. B) Scared.
2. D) It was covered with large scales.
3. A) A study of the fast-food service.
4. C) Increased variety of products.
5. C) U.S. government's approval of private spacemissions.
6. A) Deliver scientific equipment to the moon.
7. B) It is promising.
