1999年英语专业八级考试试卷真题

1999年英语专业八级考试试卷真题

PartⅠ Listening Comprehension (40 min)

In Sections A, B and C you will hear everything ONCEONLY. Listen carefully an d then answer the questionsthat follow. Mark the correct response to eachqu estion on your Colored Answer Sheet.?

SECTION A TALK?

Questions 1 to 5 refer to the talk in this section. Atthe end of the talk you will be given 15 seconds toanswer each of the following five questions. Now listen to the talk.?

1. The technology to make machines quieter ___.?

A. has been in use since the 1930’s?

B. has accelerated industrial production?

C. has just been in commercial use?

D. has been invented to remove all noises?

2. The modern electronic anti-noise devices ___.?

A. are an update version of the traditional methods?

B. share similarities with the traditional methods?

C. are as inefficient as the traditional methods?

D. are based on an entirely new working principle?

3. The French company is working on anti-noise techniques to be used in all E XCEPT ___.?

A. streets

B. factories

C. aircraft

D. cars?

4. According to the talk, workers in “zones of quiet” can ___.?

A. be more affected by noise

B. hear talk from outside the zone?

C. work more efficiently

D. be heard outside the zone?

5. The main theme of the talk is about ___.?

A. noise-control technology

B. noise in factories?

C. noise-control regulations

D. noise-related effects??

SECTION B INTERVIEW?

Questions 6 to 10 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview yo u will be given 15seconds to answer each of the following five questions. Now listen to the interview.?

6. Employees in the US are paid for their time. This means that they are supp osed to ___.?

A. work hard while their boss is around?

B. come to work when there is work to be done?

C. work with initiative and willingness?

D. work through their lunch break?

7. One of the advantages of flexible working hours is that ___.?

A. pressure from work can be reduced?

B. working women can have more time at home?

C. traffic and commuting problems can be solved?

D. personal relationships in offices can be improved?

8. On the issue of working contracts in the US, which statement is NOT corr ect??

A. Performance at work matters more than anything else.?

B. There are laws protecting employees’ working rights.?

C. Good reasons must be provided in order to fire workers.?

D. Working contracts in the US are mostly short-term ones.?

9. We can be assumed from the interview that an informal atmosphere mi ght be found in___.?

A. small firms?

B. major banks?

C. big corporations?

D. law offices?

10. The interview is mainly about ___ in the USA.?

A. office hierarchies?

B. office conditions?

C. office roles?

D. office life?

SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST?

Question 11 is based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 15seconds to answer the question. Now listen to the news.?

11. Senator Bob Dole’s attitude towards Clinton’s anti-crime policy is that of _ __.?

A. opposition

B. support

C. ambiguity D . indifference?

Questions 12 and 13 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item , you will begiven 30 seconds to answer the questions . Now listen to the

news.

12. Japan and the United States are now ___.?

A. negotiating about photographic material?

B. negotiating an automobile agreement?

C. facing serious problems in trade?

D. on the verge of a large-scale trade war?

13. The news item seems to indicate that the agreement ___.?

A. will end all other related trade conflicts?

B. is unlikely to solve the dispute once and for all?

C. is linked to other trade agreements?

D. is the last of its kind to be reached?

Questions 14 and 15 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will begiven 30 seconds to answer the questions . Now listen to the news.

14. According to the news, the ice from Greenland provides information about ___.?

A. oxygen?

B. ancient weather?

C. carbon dioxide?

D. temperature?

15. Which of the following statements is CORRECT??

A. Drastic changes in the weather have been common since ancient times.?

B. The change in weather from very cold to very hot lasted over a century.?

C. The scientists have been studying ice to forecast weather in the future.?

D. The past 10,000 years have seen minor changes in the weather.?

SECTION D NOTE-TAKING AND GAP-FILLING?

Fill in each of the gaps with ONE word. You may refer to your notes. Make sur e the word you fillin is both grammatically and semantically acceptable.?

At present companies and industries like to sponsor sports events. Two reaso ns are putforward to explain this phenomenon. The first reason is that they get (1)______ throughoutthe world. ?

The second reason is that companies and industries (2)______money, as they get reductions inthe tax they owe if they sponsor sports or arts activities.?

As sponsorship is (3)______, careful thinking is required in deciding which ev ents to sponsor.

It is important that the event to be sponsored (4)______ the product(s) to be promoted. Thatis, the right (5)______ and maximum product coverage must be guaranteed in the event.?

Points to be considered in sports sponsorship.

Popularity of the event.?

International sports events are big (6)______ events, which get extensive c overage on TV andin the press. Smaller events attract fewer people.

Identification of the potential audience?

Aiming at the right audience is most important for smaller events. The right a udience wouldattract manufacturers of other related products like (7)______ , etc.

Advantages of sponsorship,

Advantages are longer-term.?

People are expected to respond (8)______ to the products promoted. And b e more likely tobuy them.?

Advertising is (9)______the mind. ?

Sponsorship is better than straight advertising: a) less (10) ___

___ ; b) tax-free?

(1) ______ (2) ______ (3) ______ (4) ______ ( 5 ) ______

(6) ______ (7) ______ (8) ______ (9) ______ (10) ______

1999年英语专业八级考试听力MP3听力原文

PART Ⅰ LISTENING COMPREHENSION?

SECTION A TALK?

As we all know, when machines work they give off alot of noise, and the noise can sometimes be very unpleasant, or annoying. As a result, people haveb een trying to find ways to reduce noise. Although itmay sound a bit strange to you all, one of the best ways to make machines quieter, in cars forexample, may be to make them noisier. The source of this paradox is electronic anti-n oisewhich creates sound waves to cancel out unwanted noise, such as rattles

, blare, etc.

Now although the idea dates back to the 1930s, it’s only recently that advanc es in computertechnology have made anti-noise a commercial possibility. Ta ke Franc e for example. Hereindustry spends a fortune to get rid of noise. W e all know how unpleasant it is. Both peopleworking in factories and ordinar y people at home enjoying their leisure can be affected bynoise. Delicate ma chines are affected by noise as well. The government has passed a lot ofregu lations concerning acceptable levels of noise. ?

Noise is costly to industry. In the first place, just following a single regulatio n can cost 1 to 2billion US dollars in the textile industry, they say.

Then secondly, of course, vibration can cause damage to machinery. Even very smallvibrations can cause parts to wear out and equipment to fail. And n aturally enough, this getsadded on to the price of the products. About $ to 15 % of the price of a product comes fromnoise and vibration costs, it’s estimat ed.?

At present, methods used to dampen down noise and vibrations rely on tech niques that are 30or 40 years old. These usually involve wrapping the noisy or vibrating component in anythingfrom cotton to concrete. But this is often expensive and inefficient.?

The modern electronic anti-noise devices don’t reduce sound. Instead, sound i s used to attacksound. The trick is to hit these sound waves with other waves in a carefully controlled way. Itmay not be possible to eliminate noise comp letely, but engineers can build systems to eliminate specific kinds of noise a nd vibration. The new systems can deal with repetitive noise. This unfortuna tely means that there is not much that can be done about one-off noise,like s omeone try ing to learn to play a trumpet. But they can handle fairly regula r things likeengine noise.?

A French company has developed a technique which uses a microphone an d amicroprocessor. The processor measures the sound and directs a speaker t o broadcast soundwaves that are out of phase with the engine noise. The com pany claimed t hat it will make a carengine quieter, if not completely 100% sil ent. There are a number of other areas of application in the noisy, industrial environment of today. One system which the company is developing,aims to minimize the noise of aircraft engines and helicopter vibrations. Now anti-n

oisesystems would be able to reduce noise in the cabin of an airplane to mere acceptable levels. ?

Another area which affects ordinary households nowadays concerns the noise which electricityand gas suppliers create. The electricity companies spend a lo t of money each year, cutting theharm of transformers, trying to quiet the no ise and maintaining equipment that is constantlyaffected by vibration. If t hey can get rid of or even stop the vibrations, manufacturers canincrease production speeds. But, of course, people working in noisy workplaces are per haps mere affected than anything by the effects of noise. Anti-noise can also create “zones of quiet” innoisy workplaces. To create such a zone, you do two things.

First, microphones are suspended around the workplace. Then speakers that produce out-of-phase sound waves can then be put close to the worker unde r the desk o r the machine.A company working in this area has tested this sys tem and says that it cuts noise levelsenough for somebody inside the zone to hear a conversation from another part of the workplace. Yet, this is only one -way; shouts from t he quiet zone could not be heard over thefactory noise by those outside it, because the rest of the workplace remains noisy. This is one of the anti-noise measures experimented with today. If this proves to be feas ible in manyworkplaces, I’m sure it can contribute to the reduction of noise in factory workshops in thefuture.??

SECTION B INTERVIEW?

W: First of all, when do people start work in American offices??

M: Right, well, the official work day starts at 9:00 am. This really mea ns 9 o’clock-not ten pastor half past nine.?

W: Would you say that people work very hard in offices in America??

M: Well, I don’t know about employees in your country. But some nations hav e a philosophythat you work when the “boss” is around. And any time he’s no t there, one can relax byreading the newspaper or whatever one likes doing in a personel way.?

W: And things are different in the States, you’re saying??

M: Well, in America one is being paid for one’s time. So employees are expect ed to find otherwork if their own desks are clear, or to help someone else with

his or her work. But you never sit idle doing nothing.?

W: Yes, as the saying goes: “Time is money.”?

M: Exactly. Your employer“owns” your time while he is paying you for it. That is precisely what“Time is money” means. And anyway the boss doesn’t ask m o re of you than he is doinghimself: he ...he will probably work through the lu nch hour himself and even take work home atnight.?

W: Talking about lunch hours. What about them? Do you have to take them s eriously??

M: Oh, yes, sure, of course. An employee’s lunch hour should he taken withi n t h e periodallowed, unless you are officially discussing company business-s ay ... en ... on a business lunch.It’s the same too with the end of the day. I m ean, e n, work until the day officially ends at fiveo’clock, unless you are in an off ice where“flextime”is the accepted practice.?

W: Oh, so you have the flextime system, do you? I wasn’t sure about that.?

M: Oh yes, sure. Flexible working hours, that is, en ... starting or ending work earlier or later I... I know it’s still relatively new. However, there are mo r e a nd more Americans on the systemtoday. Well, for the same reasons as in Eur ope-to keep traffic and commuting problems down.And as more women now work it gives more family time.?

W: Er ... could you say something about contracts or hiring in America, please ?

M: Well, it’s different in America from, say, European countries like Germany or France, perhapsJapan, too, I’m not sure. I know that in some countries peo ple relax once they have got a job,because they know that they will almost ne ver be fired-unless they do something wrong.?

W: You mean that your employer can just fire you in America??

M: No, no, no. There are, of course, legal protections in the US. So employee s cannot be unjustly fired without good reasons. Workers must do a good job, produce well, and getalong with their colleagues-or they can be “let go”, as i t is called.?

W: From one day to the next, you mean??

M: Well, it’s rarely done without warning, but it is important to remember that

in the US you area member of a business firm and not a family. It makes a di fference.?

W: I wonder, is the physical or external appearances of office life different fr om Europeanoffices??

M: Well, I have heard people comment on the informality found in America n offices. And thisis certainly a little difficult for people who are more used to a hierarchical system, of course.But there are some very formal offices, too, say, in... in big banks, law firms and majorcorporations. But in many establi shment s with fewer employees the atmosphere is loose andeasy with a lot o f joking, and teasing, and wandering in and out of offices among all levels of employees.?

W: Well, that sounds quite interesting. I think that’s all I want to know really. Thank you verymuch.?

M: My pleasure.?

SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST?

News Item 1(For Question 11)?

President Clinton begins a 3-day campaign-styled trip to the western US late r today to highlight his domestic agenda.?

White House spokesman says crime, the most important issue for Americans t his election year according to public opinion polls, will be a key theme of Pr esident Clinton’s trips toCalifornia, Nevada and New Mexico. Mr. Clinton’s pres umptive Republican challenger, retiring Senator Bob Dole, has repeatedly di sapproved of Mr. Clinton’s record on fighting crime. Thepresident is expected t o argue that his policies have helped make American communities saferplaces . Mr. Clint on will also attend a number of political fund-raising events during his visits toCalifornia and Nevada.??

News Item 2(For Questions 12-13)?

Reports say Japan and the US have reached an agreement on their dispute o ver air-cargotransport rights in Asia.?

The agreement will mean that Washington and Tokyo will renegotiate a 1952 Aviation Treatywhich allowed American airlines to fly on from Tokyo to other p l aces in Asia but didn’t allowJapanese airlines the same rights to fly on from

America to other destinations. Tokyo hasalways said that the treaty was unfai r and Japan has always wanted it changed.?

According to the agreement, Japan will allow the American airline carrier Fede ral Express to flyon through Tokyo to 7 other destinations in Asia. Now Japan has always said it was happy toallow that, if the treaty was renegotiated. It d oes seem very clear that Japan has come out ofthis one on top.?

This is certainly not the first dispute and it certainly won’t be the last disput e, either. There areseveral outstanding areas of friction between Japan and the US. At the moment, they arenegotiating about photographic film and pho tographic paper. It could take a year to resolve.But even where the two coun tries do reach agreement there is still room for argument. Theyreached this fa mous car agreement about a month ago. They are already bickering about it. ??

News Item 3(For Questions 14-15)?

Scientists say they can tell what air and sea conditions were like hundreds of thousands ofyears ago. They say pieces of ice taken from Greenland provide s uch information.?

Scientists took the ice from more than one-and-a-half mile deep in huge mass es of ice that floaton the sea. That is the deepest scientists ever have drilled f or ice. The ice represents 25,000years of history. It provides one of the cleare st records of ancient weather. European andAmerican scientific teams have be en studying ice from the same area to confirm each other sfindings. The scien tists examine the ice that was formed each year. They measure the oxygena nd carbon dioxide in the ice. These measurements tell about the year’s temp erature.?

From these measurements, the scientific teams say that the past 10,000 year s is the onlyperiod during which the weather has not changed very much. Bef ore that time, they believe verylarge, sudden changes in the weather were co mmon. The ice appears to show that at someperiods, earth’s weather change d from very hot to very cold in only ten years.??

SECTION D NOTE-TAKING AND GAP-FILLING

?It is common nowadays for companies and industries to sponsor big sports events. Forexample, many companies sponsored the 8th National Games held in Shanghai in 1997. Then,what exactly do companies and industries get out

of sponsoring big sports events, such asinternational games? And why need t hey do so??

There is an obvious answer and a not so obvious one. The obvious answer is that they getknown worldwide, particularly if they are the principal sponso r of an event. This is especiallyimportant when you consider the number of co untries around the world that might show theevent on TV. The not so obviou s answer is that sponsorship can help firms to save money.?

Then how can they save money in this way? Companies can claim expenditur es on sponsorshipor “support to sport and the arts” against the amount of tax that they owe. So, if they aregoing to have to pay tax anyway, why not spen d the money on promoting their name orproduct??

However, sponsorship is surely a very expensive business. So, how does one decide whichevents or activities to support? Companies spend a lot of time m aking sure that they have aperfect match between the products to be represe nted and the activity that needs sponsorship.Basically, companies have to ma ke sure that the image is right and that the product getsmaximum coverage t hrough the event. I mean, you wouldn’t expect a company whose producthas a young international image to sponsor a sport that has a following among ol der people.There are all sorts of reasons behind sponsorship. That’s what the game’s about for those whoare trying to sell it.?

There are some important points to consider before agreeing to sponsor an e vent. First andforemost, I suppose, is the popularity of the event in go-betw een, I mean. Events like theWorld Cup and the Olympics have businesses que uing up to offer sponsorship. There are thebig media event: hours and hours of TV and satellite coverage guaranteed all over the world, aswell as press cov erage and the possibility of photographs that in some way advertise yourpro duct. Most events aren’t quite like that though. I suppose you’ve got the natio nal gamesevery four years in China. But most events appeal to only a limite d proportion of the potential audience-tennis, for example. Most of the audi ence there is young, so products forthe young are the ones that you would as sociate with the event recently. Then how do youmatch up the product with t he event? The most important thing with the smaller event is to identify the a udience it’s going to appeal to in this instance, tennis and young people. Tha tshould attract drinks manufactures, sports fashion designers, cosmetics prod ucers, and so on.Then you look at the potential coverage in the media. It’s t he sort of event that might attractCoca-Cola or Pepsi maybe even McDonalds. ?

In sponsoring sports events, it is not just the media coverage that matters. T he importantquestion is whether the people who’ve either been to the event o r read about it in the press willbe more likely to buy your product as a result.

A lot of the advantages of investment insponsorship are longer-term. People who have possibly read about or watched an event on TVmay not even be abl e to tell you who was sponsoring the event, yet will react favorably if askedto comment on products marketed by the sponsoring company. They have bee n conditioned insome way. Conditioning the mind is what advertising is about. Believe it or not, straightadvertising is a far more expensive way of promotin g your image than sponsorship, and what’smore, sponsorship is mostly tax-fr ee.?

To sum up, today we have talked about sponsorship of sports events by comp anies: thereasons behind and a few related points. I hope this will help you g ain some insight into the issue.

参考答案：

PAPER ONE

PART Ⅰ LISTENING COMPREHENSION

SECTION A TALK

1. C

2. D

3.A

4.B

5.A

SECTION B INTERVIEW

6.C

7.B

8.D

9.A 10.D

SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST

News Item 1

11. A

News Item 2

12.A 13.B

News Item 3

14.B 15.D

SECTION D NOTE-TAKING AND GAP-FILLING

1.known

2.save

3.expensive／costly

4.match

5.image

6.media

7.cosmetics / drinks

8.favorably

9.conditioning

10.expensive