改革后的四级听力（20-25分钟）：
新闻报道3段7题7% 每题1/7.1分
长对话2篇8题8% 每题1/7.1分
短文理解3篇10题20% 每题2/14.2分
新闻报道，是英语专业四级中的元老级题型，不幸在前不久（2015年8月）的专四题型改革中被“革”掉了。没想到，该题型却在大学英语四级中重获新生。当然，其难度比专业四级要低很多。一是语速较慢，二是每题后的暂停有15秒，而专业四级中每题暂停5秒。
换个角度看，新闻听力也算是短文听力，只是篇幅比“短文”更短——短文每篇长度为220-250词，而新闻长度为130-190词。每篇新闻后跟着两三道题，多是考察新闻的六要素，即5W1H——When/Where/Who/What/Why和How。
这些细节题客观真实，卷面所见与耳中所听一致；不必再像原来的短对话一样，要根据说话人的语调和口气做出推理判断。这是令人放心的一个变化。
那么，该如何准备这一题型呢？
1掌握新闻语篇的特点
倒金字塔结构：也称“倒三角”结构，其显著特征是“头重脚轻”，就是把新闻中最重要的事实放在最前面，再以重要性递减的顺序来安排事实或材料。所以，开头的“导语”（news lead）是整个新闻的精华，考试中听懂前面一二句，就能抓住新闻的主旨或要素，如：
Chinese President Xi Jinping left Beijing on Sunday afternoon by specia
l plane for a three-day state visit to the United State sat the invitat ion of American President Barack Obama.
（应美国总统巴拉克·奥巴马的邀请，中国国家主席习近平于周日下午乘专机离开北京，对美国进行为期三天的国事访问。）
这句导语不算很长，但信息量很大，竟然囊括了新闻的5W1H：
When——on Sunday afternoon
Where——Beijing（airport）
Who——Chinese President Xi Jinping
What——Xi Jinping left Beijing
Why——for a seven-day state visit to the United States
How——by special plane
整句话只有一个关键动词left，其余信息全凭几个简单的介词（on, by, for, to, at, of）联缀在一起。活用小词，善用介词，也是新闻英语的一个特色。
2注意新闻的语法特点及题型特征
新闻报道常用现在时态叙述过去发生的事情，给人以真实感。请看样题中的第一条新闻，顺便注意一下答案与原文词句的对应：
主旨题，抓住新闻的第一句话；
细节题，细节题的关键在于找“题点”：预先浏览四个选项中的关键词，有利于捕捉新闻中相应的细节，找到与问题对应的正确答案。
3多听多读，积累词汇
功夫在平时，水到渠自成。既然“冰冻三尺非一日之寒”，那么四级过关也非一月之功。
一是多听新闻报道，如慢速的VOA Special English (特别英语)、常速的BBC News、超快的AP News Minute（美联社新闻一分钟）。四级新闻的朗读速度比较慢.
Model Test 1
Tape Script
Section A News Reports
New Item 1
Nineteen-year old Elly Nowell from Winchester in the south of England applied to the Oxford college of Magdalen to read law, but when she was invited for interview she decided she didn't like what she saw.
Elly, who is finishing her A-levels, told the BBC that Oxford resemble d the British Monarchy君主制in that it was what she called ridiculous and eliti st, but unlike the Royal Family, was rarely mock ed. Her actions may well change that. Following her interview at Magdalen College, Elly wrote a rejection letter to the University using the kind of language that officials employ when they're trying to let somebody down gently.
Elly admits that her letter of rejection to the University was not entirely serious, but it has raised some important points. Oxford and Cambridge universities are often accuse d of elitism and of having entrance procedures that favor students from private schools.
Yet Oxford says it's changing and that last year more than half of its academic offers went to pupils from state schools. As for Elly, she now hopes to gain a place at University College London. The admissions staff there may well be watching the mailbox very closely.
A-levels英国中学高级水平考试to resemble (something)效仿什么
ridiculous荒谬的elit ist过于提倡精英主义to be mocked被嘲弄a rejection letter拒绝信to employ采用
to let somebody down让某人失望，回绝某人procedure程序
a state school公立学校
1.What was the result of Elly Nowell’s interview? (D)
2.Why is Oxford often criticized?(A)
News Item 2
Doctors at Mumbai's Sion hospital say dozens of patients arrived at the casualty伤亡ward complaining of giddiness, vomiting and headaches. The vast majority were children from one of
Mumbai's largest slum s, Dharavi. Most are in a stable condition. It's believed they developed a reaction to colored powders they were throwing.
Across the country, millions of people from all walks of life smear and cover themselves from head to toe in bright paints and powders as is custom for Holi. But there has been concern for some time that some of the artificially-produced dyes, which are cheap to buy, contain harmful toxic chemicals which can lead to serious skin and breathing problems.
There has been a push in recent years to encourage more revellers to use organic and environmentally-friendly dyes to avoid health risks.
印度胡里狂欢节期间已经有近两百人被送进了孟买的医院。按照当地的习俗，人们在庆祝活动中相互投掷五颜六色的粉彩。不过医生们怀疑某些粉彩可能含有有毒物质，导致一些人有不良反应。
giddiness头晕 a slum贫民区stable稳定的
a reaction to（身体）对什么东西的不良反应from all walks of life来自各行各业artificially人工的toxic 有毒的 a push呼吁/敦促
revellers欢庆的人们organic有机的
3.What symptoms did they show when the children arrived at Mumbai’s Sion Hospital?(D)
4.What are more revelers advised to do?(B)
News Item 3
Scientists in Canada say the ability to speak two languages could help protect the brain against aging. They found that people who have been bilingual since childhood suffered less mental decline when they grow older than those who only speak one language.
Previous studies on children suggest that being bilingual can improve creativity and problem-solving skills, but the effect of being able to speak two languages on the brain, as we get older, hasn’t until now been known. This work, published in the journal of Psychology and Aging, looked at around a hundred and fifty adults, some bilingual and other monolingual, and tested their reaction times. It appears that bilingual adults over sixty respond ed as quickly as much younger monolingual counterparts.Why being able to speak two languages can improve brain function is unclear, although the authors suspect that it may have something to do with being able to react to one particular stimulus while ignoring irrelevant information. It’s clearly an ability that bilingual individuals must develop. However, the benefits may only be seen if someone speaks both languages daily.
5. What does the research published find out?(C)
6. Why speaking two languages can improve brain ability?(A)
7. Who may benefit the most?(D)