05年考博英语试题

English Entrance Examination for Doctoral Candidates

Graduate School Of CAAS, 2005

Part One Reading Comprehension (30 points, 1.5 points each)

Directions: In this section, there are four passages. Read the passages and questions carefully and make your choices that you think would best complete the statements or best answer the questions by marking them on the ANSWER SHEET.

Passage One

There are several advantages in making computers as small as one can. Sometimes weight is particularly important. A modern aircraft, for example, carries quite a load of electronic apparatus. If it is possible to make any of these smaller, and therefore lighter, the aircraft can carry a bigger pay-load. This kind of consideration applies to space satellites and to all kinds of computers that have to be carried about.

But weight is not the only factor. The smaller the computer the faster it can work. The signals go to and fro at a very high but almost constant speed. So if one can scale down all dimensions to, let us say, one tenth, the average lengths of the current paths will be reduced to one tenth. So, very roughly speaking, scaling down of all linear dimensions in the ratio of one to ten also gives a valuable bonus, the speed of operation is scaled up 10 times. Other techniques allow even further speed increases.

This increase of operation is a real advantage. There are some applications in which computers could be used which require very fast response times. Many of these are military, of course; but military applications also have applications in engineering sooner or later. For example, automatic blind landing of aircraft requires continuous computer calculations which result in control of the aircraft flight. The more immediate the responses are, the more stable that control can be.

Another advantage is that less power is required to run the computer. In space vehicles and satellites this is an important matter; but even in a trial application we need not waster power. Sometimes a computer takes so much power that cooling systems which require still more power have to be installed to keep the computer from getting too hot, which would increase the risk of faults developing. So a computer which does not need to be cooled saves power on two counts.

Another advantage is reliability. Mini-computers have been made possible by the development of integrated circuits. Instead of soldering bits of wire to join separate components such as resistors and capacitors sometimes in the most intricate networks, designers can now produce many connected circuits in one unit which involves no soldering and therefore no risk of broken joints at all.

1. Which of the following is NOT one of the advantages of mini-computers?

A. The increase of operation speed

B. The decrease of power needed

C. The development integrated circuits

D. Their reliability

2. A modern aircraft______.

A. is run by electronic computers

B. carries a bigger load of electronic apparatus than pay-load

C. does not need mini-computers at all

D. can carry a bigger pay-load if the electronic apparatus carried by it becomes lighter

3. If all linear dimensions of a computer is scaled down to one tenth, ______.

A. the speed of its operation will go up ten times

B. the electronic signals will go to and fro ten times faster

C. its operation speed will remain constant

D. its weight will be reduced to one tenth

4. Sometimes cooling systems have to be installed______.

A. to keep the computer from becoming too hot

B. in order to save power

C. because they are necessary for a modern computer to work efficiently

D. to ensure the normal working of a mini-computer

5. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. Continuous computer calculations are required for the automatic blind landing of an aircraft.

B. Military applications of computers require their very fast response ability.

C. Scaling down of all dimensions of a computer may result in faults developing.

D. The development to integrated circuits contributes a lot to the miniaturization of computers.

Passage Two

Universities continue to function as institutions in which the cultural heritage is preserved and transmitted to a new generation, but during this period of growth a large number of universities also took on new roles as centers in which the arts were performed,

exhibited, and created. As part of their task of teaching skills as well as knowledge, universities added active writers, composers, musicians, painters, sculptors and other artists and performers to their teaching staffs. A number of universities established or expanded museum, music and theater programs as the means of training students and also of improving the cultural environments of their cities and states. Among the most notable examples of such programs was the Tyrone Guthrie Theater associated with the University of Minnesota, which became nationally known for the high quality of its staging and performances. The new cultural activities of universities served in important ways to decentralize cultural production in the United States and make live performances of the arts available to a far wide audience.

Government support for the arts also took the form of aid and planning for new cultural centers in the nation’s cities. In th e course of extensive urban renewal many cities sought to concentrate or revive their cultural institutions by constructing centers for cultural activity in inner city locations. New York City established the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, with facilities for opera, theater, music, film, and other arts, and Los Angeles developed its Music Center. In 1971 the federally sponsored John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was opened, to mixed critical reception, in Washington D. C.

Both privately and publicly supported cultural institutions have become increasingly involved in the cultural and social issue of society as a whole. Although the cultural activities of universities were not directly affected by the political controversies and turmoil on many college campuses, the resulting cutbacks in state aid and private donations played a strain on the financing of higher that curtailed or sometimes even threatened the survival of many cultural programs. Museums and cultural centers in inner cities suffered declines in attendance and revenues because patrons became reluctant to enter high-crime areas in which these centers were located.

6. What does the passage mainly discuss?

A. Government support for the arts.

B. Art centers in the U. S. A.

C. The declining of cultural activities in the U. S. A.

D. Cultural activities in the U.S.A.

7. Which of the following can be concluded from the passage?

A. There were no cultural activities on campus before the period of growth mentioned in the passage.

B. The opening of the John F. Kennedy Center was unwelcome.

C. It was through the influence of the universities that many cities tried to revive their cultural institutions in the inner city areas.

D. Government aid and private donations to universities were reduced because of their political involvement.

8. The following are examples of government support for the arts, EXCEPT______.

A. the Lincoln Center

B. the Music Center in Los Angles

C. the Tyrone Guthrie Theater

D. the John F. Kennedy Center

9. According to the passage, why did museums and cultural centers in inner cities decline in attendance?

A. The tickets were too expensive.

B. The museums were out-of-date.

C. The areas were not safe.

D. The patrons were not well educated.

10. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that the cultural activities will grow if the government and individuals______.

A. increase the finance of higher education

B. curtail some cultural activities

C. open more theaters

D. work out some rules for donation

Passage Three

The world can be classified in different ways, depending on one’s interests and principles of classification. The classificat ions (also known as taxonomies) in turn determine which comparisons seem natural or unnatural which literal or analogical. For example, it has been common to classify living creatures into three distinct groups—plans, animals, and humans. According to this classification, human beings are not a special kind of animal, nor animals a special kind of plant. Thus any comparisons between the three groups are strictly analogical. Reasoning from inheritance in garden peas to inheritance in fruit flies, and from these two species to inheritance in human beings, is sheer poetic metaphor.

Another mode of classifying living creatures is commonly attributed to Aristotle. Instead of treating plants, animals, and humans as distinct groups, they are nested. All living creatures possess a vegetative soul that enables them to know and metabolize. Of these, some also have a sensory soul that enables them to sense their environments and move. One species also has a rational soul that is capable of true understanding. Thus, human beings are a special sort of animal and animals are a special sort of plant. Given this classification, reasoning from human beings to all other species with respect to the attributes of the vegetative soul is legitimate, reasoning from human beings to other animals with respect to the attributes of the sensory soul is also legitimate, but reasoning from the rational characteristics of the human species is unique. In the first, it has a kingdom all to itself; in the second it stands at the

pinnacle of the taxonomic hierarchy.

Homo sapiens is unique. All species are. But this sort of uniqueness is not enough for many (probably most) people, philosophers included. For some reason, it is very important that the species to which we belong be uniquely unique. It is of utmost importance that the human species be insulated from all other species with respect to how we explain certain qualities. Human beings clearly are capable of developing and learning languages. For some reason, it is very important that the waggle dance performed by bees not count as a genuine language. I have never been able to understand why. I happen to think that the waggle dance differs from human languages to such a degree that little is gained by terming them both “languages” but even if “language” is so defined that the waggle dance slips in bees still remain bees. It is equally important to some that no other species use tools. No matter how ingenious other species get in the manipulation of objects in their environment, it is absolutely essential that nothing they do count as “tool use.” I, however, fail to see what difference it makes whether an y of these devices such as probes and anvils, etc. are really tools. All the species involved remain distinct biological species no matter what decisions are made. Similar observations hold for rationality and anything a computer might do.

11. According to the author, what is most reasonable for influencing our perception of a comparison between species?

A. The behavior of the organisms in their natural environment

B. The organizational scheme imposed on the living world by researchers and philosophers

C. The style of language used by scientists in presenting their research

D. The sophistication of the communication between organisms

12. Which is of the following is not possible within an Aristotelian classification scheme?

A. Two species that are alike in having sensory souls but differ in that one lacks a rational soul

B. Two species that are alike in having vegetative souls but differ in that only one has a sensory soul

C. A species having a vegetative soul while lacking sensory and rational souls

D. A species having vegetative and rational souls while lacking a sensory soul

13. If the author had wished to explain why “most” people feel the way they do, the explanation would have probably focused o n

the______.

A. reality of distinct biological species

B. “most” recent advances in biological research

C. lack of objectivity in the classification of Homo sapiens

D. role of language in the development of technology

14. The author uses the words “for some reason” in the third para graph to express______.

A. rage

B. disapproval

C. despair

D. sympathy

15. Which best summarizes the idea of “uniquely unique”?

A. We are unique in the same way that all other species are unique.

B. We are defined by attributes that we alone possess and that are qualitatively different from those of other species.

C. We are, by virtue of our elevated rank, insulated from many of the problems of survival faced by less sophisticated species.

D. Our awareness of our uniqueness defines us as a rational species.

Passage Four

The question of one’s identity is at the same time a simple and very complex issue. Is one to be identified by one’s race, nationality, sex, place of birth, place of death, place of longest residence, occupation, class, relationships to others, personality traits, size, age, interests, religion, astrological sign, salary, by how one perceives oneself, by how one is perceived by others? When born to parents of different races or nationalities, or when born in one country, reared in another, and finally settled in a third, one cannot give a simple answer to the question of racial or national identity. When one is born female in a word dominated by males of two different races, further complications ensue.

At what point doe s an immigrant become an American? How does the identify one’s nationality if one has moved about the world a great deal? Mai-Mai Sze, for example, was born in China to Chinese parents, taken to England as a young child, cared for by an Irish nanny, sent to a private high school and college in the United States, to a painting school in France, and now lives in New York City. Another example is Diana Chang, whose mother was Eurasian (of Irish and Chinese ancestry) and whose father was Chinese; she was born in New York City, taken to China as an infant, reared in the International Sector in Shanghai where she attended American schools, then brought back to the United States for high school and college. In the early 1970’s, scholars included her work in anthologies of Asian American literature but also castigated her for the lack of ethnic pride and themes in her novels.

To complicate further the question of identity, not only are parentage and geographical factors significant, but external or social factors impinge as well. That recent immigrants feel a sense of alienation and strangeness in a new country is to be expected, but when American-born Chinese Americans, from families many generations in the United States, are asked where they learned such good Englis h, they too are made to feel foreign and alien. The “double consciousness” with which W. E. B. Du Bois characterized the

African-American- “this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the type of a worl d that looks on in amused contempt and pity”-equally characterizes Chinese- the People’s Republic of China, they would soon realize, by their unfamiliarity with conditions and customs and by the reactions of the Chinese to them, how American they are. As Lindo long tells her daughter in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, “When you go to China…you don’t even need to open your mouth. They already know you are an outsider…They know just watching the way you walk, they way you carry your face. They know you do not be long.”

Thus, the feeling of being between worlds, totally at home nowhere, is at the core of all the writers in this study and, consequently, of the books they write.

16. The passage serves primarily to______.

A. inform the reader of the conflicting senses of identity experienced by Chinese American and other multicultural writers

B. encourage Chinese writers more fully about the variety of cultural experiences they have had

C. inform Chinese American writers about writers from other cultures who have experienced conflicts similar to theirs

D. praise the talent and resourcefulness of contemporary Chinese writers

17. The author refers to the life of Mai-mai Sze in the second paragraph chiefly to illustrate the______.

A. difficulty of deter mining one’s identity alter many relocations

B. beneficial effects of a multiethnic heritage

C. influence of social rank on the perception of ethnic identity

D. advantages of wide experiences on an author’s creativity

18. The discussion of Dinna C hang’s life in the second paragraph suggests that she was______.

A. unfamiliar with the culture of the United States

B. isolated from other writers

C. concerned with developing an unusual style

D. unwilling to identify solely with any one cultural background

19. Which does the author consider the best example of the “external or social factors” mentioned in the third paragraph?

A. The ability to speak several languages

B. The assumptions other people make about one’s identify

C. The political climate of the country in which one resides

D. The number of countries one has lived in

20. The quotation at the end of the third paragraph from the Joy Luck Club emphasizes the point that American-born Chinese

Americans______.

A. would have difficulty understanding the sense of separation left by their relatives who emigrated

B. should travel to China to learn about their heritage

C. would feel alienated in their ancestors’ homeland of China

D. need to communicate with their relatives in China

Part Two Vocabulary (30 points, 1 point each)

Section A

Directions:Choose the one word or phrase which you think closest in meaning to the underlined part of the sentence in its context and mark your choices on the ANSWER SHEET.

21. The College English Test Band Four (CET Ⅳ) is currently undergoing reforms to ensure that it measures proficiency levels

accurately.

A. experiencing

B. elevating

C. objecting

D. lowering

22. To create a circuit, a conducting wire is attached to an electric cell at one end, and to an electric outlet at the door.

A. battery

B. faucet

C. socket

D. appliance

23. One word describes what makes Singapore work: discipline.

A. punishment

B. regulation

C. unemployment

D. salary

24. Jane and Tom have been able to reconcile their difference and are a happy family again.

A. settle

B. arrange

C. balance

D. pacify

25. Recent research into aging suggests that the body’s defense mechanisms may lose the ability to distinguish what is alien.

A. insane

B. infectious

C. foreign

D. poisonous

26. Attitudes on the two sides in the Revolutionary War precluded the possibility of a peaceful solution.

A. presaged

B. prejudiced

C. anticipated

D. prevented

27. Cowry shells were once in widespread use as a token of value.

A. a symbol

B. an amount

C. a thing

D. an investment

28. The massacre of innocent people cannot ever be condoned.

A. overlooked

B. praised

C. condemned

D. satisfied

29. The whole of the endowment was used to refurbish the school gymnasium.

A. millionaires

B. endorsement

C. governments

D. donations

30. The majority of the observers at the conference, in contradistinction to the delegates, were opposed to ratification.

A. adjournment

B. distribution

C. tabling

D. approving

31. I could never spend the time that he does pouring over sports magazines, compiling intricate lists, and calculating averages.

A. delicate

B. incomprehensible

C. meaningless

D. complicated

32. The report sets out strict inspection procedures to ensure that recommendations are properly implemented.

A. made up of

B. carried out

C. put into operation

D. charged with

33. Management was not acting i n good faith when it alleged that worker’s wages would have to be cut for the company to remain

solvent.

A. prosperous

B. out of debt

C. productive

D. out of trouble

34. Modern nursing practices not only hasten the recovery of the sick but also promote better health through preventive medicine.

A. permit

B. accelerate

C. determine

D. accompany

35. There are still some outdated prejudices lurking in the minds of individuals.

A. existing

B. hiding

C. remaining

D. emerging

Section B

Directions: Choose for each blank the word or phrase that can best complete the sentence.

36. A vague law is always______ to different interpretation.

A. suspicious

B. susceptible

C. subjective

D. skeptical

37. A newspaper ______ will sometimes be distributed free with the newspaper.

A. complement

B. supplement

C. implement

D. compliment

38. His health was the ______ he paid for working too hard.

A. penalty

B. persecution

C. fine

D. forfeit

39. Generally, it is only when animals are trapped that they ______ to violence in order to escape.

A. proceed

B. appeal

C. resort

D. incline

40. Please don’t ______ too much on the painful memories. Everything will be all right.

A. hesitate

B. linger

C. retain

D. minimum

41. The energy which the sun radiates goes in every direction, and only a _____ part of it falls on the earth.

A. minor

B. minute

C. miniature

D. minimum

42. Without telephone it would be impossible to carry ______ every business operation in the whole country.

A. presumably

B. precisely

C. practically

D. preferably

43. Life insurance is financial protection for dependents against loss ______ the bread-winner’s death.

A. at the cost of

B. on the verge of

C. in the event of

D. for the sake of

44. The human voice often sounds______ on the telephone.

A. twisted

B. irregular

C. distorted

D. deformed

45. To be a successful criminal, one must be______.

A. empirical

B. emigrant

C. elegant

D. elusive

46. Reading______ the mind ______food is to the body.

A. is for…is as

B. as…is as

C. is to…what

D. what is…is as

47. The speaker went on and on, ______to his listeners’ obvious boredom.

A. obligated

B. obsessive

C. obvious

D. oblivious

48. The cargo box has a label______ on it. Please handle with care.

A. “flexible”

B. “break”

C. “fragile”

D. “stiff”

49. According to the latest report, consumer confidence ______ a breathtaking 15 points last month, to its lowest level in 9 years.

A. soared

B. mutated

C. plummeted

D. fluctuated

50. As the society has rigid social______, everyone knows his role in the society.

A. hemisphere

B. contempt

C. controversy

D. hierarchy

Part Three Cloze (15 points, I point each)

Directions: Read the article below and fill in each of the blanks with one suitable word or phrase by marking your choices on the ANSWER SHEET.

People regard the process of change in a number of different ways as good as evil, as fun and as annoying. It all depends on the situation, the type of change and the degree of change. The subject merits consideration, for at no time in human history 51 faced with not only so many changes, but also such unprecedented changes.

In the past, major disasters, such as wars, plagues and earthquakes, could destroy only a 52 of the human race and environment. But now, 53 the first time we are aware that there exists the 54 for a disaster that would affect everyone, everywhere. In the past, for so many years the existence of seemingly boundless 55 meant that there appeared to 56 necessity to consider the gradual drain 57

them. There is simple 58 left to go, and the effects on the mind have been great. In the past, a vital concern was always the matter of having a (n) 59 number of children to protect man’s physical existence and 60 cultural heritage. Today, human survival depends more on reducing the number of children 61 than increasing it. Possibly the young who are 62 in need of learning how to adapt to the realities have already had to adapt to the 63 changes of a number of generations. On the other hand, perhaps the human race has reached a saturation point 64 change is concerned, and those who are faced with an overwhelming amount of it simply cannot cope. Unfortunately, 65 will have no longer any place to go and hide.

51. A. people have been B. have people been C. people had D. were people

52. A. fraction B. friction C. fragment D. fracture

53. A. in B. at C. for D. on

54. A. indication B. alternative C. potential D. realization

55. A. sources B. wealth C. resorts D. resources

56. A. little B. any C. hardly D. without

57. A. on B. at C. for D. without

58. A. somewhere B. anywhere C. nowhere D. elsewhere

59. A. adequate B. substantial C. sufficient D. accumulative

60. A. their B. our C. its D. your

61. A. less B. other C. rather D. quite

62. A. very B. most C. best D. more

63. A. succeeding B. successive C. subsequent D. consequential

64. A. insofar as B. even if C. as though D. so that

Part Four Translation（10 points）

Section A

Directions: Put following passage into Chinese.

The richness of great book shows itself in the many levels of meaning they contain. They lend themselves to a variety of interpretations. This does not mean they are ambiguous or that their integrity is compromised. The different interpretations complement one another and allow the reader to discover the unity of the work from a variety of perspectives. We need not read other books more than once to get all that they have to say. But we can always go deeper into great books. As sources of enlightenment, they are inexhaustible.

Section B

Directions: Put the following passage into English.

人道主义援助不过是一项缓和措施（a palliative）。西方国家必须增加发展援助项目，不是出于慈善目的，而是为了自身利益。必须树立一种新的安全观念，它不仅基于军事和防御方面的考虑，而且还基于经济和社会方面的考虑。只要还有一百多万人继续生活在极度贫困之中，我们就永远别想取得国家或国际稳定。

Passage Five Writing (15 points)

Directions: Write about 200 words on one of the following topics.

1.Though the media such as television and Internet have been widely popularized, people still prefer to reading as their pastime.

Give possible reasons for this phenomenon.

2.There is still a widespread illegal behavior of software piracy even though it is already under great attach. Explain this situation.