CET-4 Listening Passages: Learning a Language as an Adult and Sleep Before Exams

Passage One.

短文一。

Is it too late to learn a new language after the age of twenty?

过了二十岁再学一门新语言，是不是太晚了？

Many people believe it is, but the truth is more interesting.

很多人认为是的，但真相要有趣得多。

In 2018, researchers in the United States studied almost seven hundred thousand people.

2018年，美国的研究人员对近七十万人进行了研究。

Everyone took a short online grammar quiz in English.

每个人都在网上做了一份简短的英语语法测试。

The results suggested that our ability to learn grammar stays strong until about seventeen.

结果表明，我们学习语法的能力在十七岁左右之前一直很强。

To sound like a native speaker, it helps to start before about the age of ten.

要想说得像母语者一样，最好在十岁左右之前开始学。

But that's not the whole story.

但这并不是全部。

Adults often learn new words faster than children, because they know how to study.

成年人知道该怎么学习，所以记新单词往往比孩子更快。

And you don't need to sound like a native speaker to communicate well!

而且，想要交流顺畅，并不需要说得像母语者一样！

Questions sixteen to eighteen are based on the passage you have just heard.

第16题到第18题基于你刚才听到的短文。

Question sixteen. What did the people in the 2018 study do?

第16题。2018年那项研究的参与者做了什么？

Question seventeen. According to the study, until what age does our ability to learn grammar stay strong?

第17题。根据这项研究，我们学习语法的能力在多大年龄之前一直很强？

Question eighteen. What is the speaker's attitude towards adult language learners?

第18题。说话者对成年语言学习者持什么态度？

Passage Two.

短文二。

Many students think the best way to prepare for an exam is to stay up all night.

很多学生以为，备考的最好办法就是熬个通宵。

Science says otherwise.

科学可不这么认为。

In 2019, researchers at MIT gave nearly ninety students fitness trackers to wear.

2019年，麻省理工学院的研究人员让近九十名学生戴上了健身手环。

The trackers recorded how long and how well the students slept during one term.

手环记录了学生们一个学期里的睡眠时长和睡眠质量。

Sleep explained almost a quarter of the differences in their grades!

睡眠竟然能解释他们成绩差异的近四分之一！

But here's the surprising part.

但令人意外的是这一点。

Sleep on the night before a test made little difference.

考试前一晚的睡眠几乎没有什么影响。

What mattered was regular sleep in the weeks before.

真正重要的是考前几周规律的睡眠。

So start sleeping well today, not the night before the exam!

所以，从今天就开始好好睡觉吧，别等到考试前一晚！

Questions nineteen to twenty-one are based on the passage you have just heard.

第19题到第21题基于你刚才听到的短文。

Question nineteen. What did the researchers give the students?

第19题。研究人员给了学生什么？

Question twenty. What did the study find about sleep on the night before a test?

第20题。关于考试前一晚的睡眠，这项研究发现了什么？

Question twenty-one. What is the speaker's advice?

第21题。说话者给出了什么建议？