2008下学期专业英语阅读
2008年高考英语阅读理解精选5篇
2008年高考英语阅读理解精选5篇（附详解）NO.01Some people make you feel comfortable when they are around. You spend an hour with them and feel as if you have known them half your life. These people have somethi ng in common. And once we know what it is, we can try to do it ourselves.How is it done? Here are several skills that good talkers have. If you follow the skil ls, they‟ll help you put people at their ease, and make friends with them quickly.First of all, good talkers ask questions. Almost anyone, no matter how shy he is, wil l answer a question. One well-known businesswoman says, “At business lunches, I always ask people what they did that morning. It‟s a common question, but it will get thi ngs go ing.” From there you can move on to other matters—sometimes to really personal questio ns. And how he answers will let you know how far you can go.Second, once good talkers have asked questions, they listen to the answers. This poin t seems clear, but it isn‟t. Your questions should have a point and help to tell what sortof person you are talking to. And to find out, you really have to listen carefully and atte ntively.Real listening at least means some things. First it means not to change the subject of conversation. If someone sticks to one topic, you can take it as a fact that he‟s really in terested in it. Real listening also means not just listening to words, but to tones of voice. If the voice sounds dull, then, it‟s time for you to change the sub ject.Finally, good talkers know well how to deal with the occasion of parting. If you‟re s aying good-bye, you may give him a firm handshake and say, “I‟ve really enjoyed meetin g you.” If you want to see that person again, don‟t keep it a secret. Let peopl e know wh at you feel, and they may walk away feeling as if they‟ve known you half their life.1.Asking questions might be a quite good and suitable way _______.A.for you to make more and more new friendsB.to begin your business talksC.to get the conversation going smoothlyD.for you to make a deep and lasting impression on others2.After having asked somebody a question, it‟ll be polite of you to _______.A.make clear what kind of person he isB.listen to his reply attentivelyC.wait quietly and patiently for his answerD.go on asking him more questions3.Generally speaking, good talkers are persons who _______.A.are good at making any topic interestingB.never talk too much or too littleC.always speak in a gentle wayD.know how and when they should change the topic of the talk4.If you really take delight in meeting someone again, _______.A.you may take him as your lifelong trustworthy friendB.it seems necessary for you to let him know itC.it‟s proper for you to give him a second handshakeD.it‟ll be helpful for you to have further understanding of him【答案与解析】文章主要教我们一些说话的技巧。
2008考研英语阅读理解真题解析第一篇女性压力Women Under Stress
CONTENTS2008 Text 1While still catching-up to men in some spheres of modern life, women appear to be way ahead in at least one undesirable category. “Women are particularly susceptible to developing depression and anxiety disorders in response to stress compared to men,” according to Dr. Yehuda, chief psychiatrist at New York’s Veteran’s Administration Hospital.在现代生活中女性就算是在某些领域可以追赶上男性，但至少在一个方面是领先的，尽管是她们不太想要的。
纽约的退伍军管理医院精神科首席医生Yehuda博士说道，和男性相比，女性面对压力时，更容易受到影响，导致抑郁和紧张。
sphere [sfiə] n. 球,球面,球体,天体,地球仪,范围vt. 包围,使成球体,放入球内【例】Many countries have difficulties in the economic sphere. 许多国家在经济方面遇到了困难。
category['kætigəri] n. 种类,类项;【例】These Categories recognize different levels of competition. 这些类别可被用来分辨出比赛里不同的等级。
susceptible[sə'septəbl] a. 易受影响的,易感动的,容许…的【例】This agreement is not susceptible to alteration. 这一协议不容更改。
2008年英语专业八级真题及答案解析
TEST FOR ENGLISH MAJORS (2008)--GRADE EIGHT--PART I LISTENING COMPREHENSION (35 MIN)SECTION A MINI-LECTUREIn this section you will hear a mini-lecture. You will hear the lecture ONCE ONLY. While listening, take notes on the important points. Your notes will not be marked, but you will need them to complete a gap-filling task after the mini-lecture. When the lecture is over, you will be given two minutes to check your notes, and another ten minutes to complete the gap-filling task on ANSWER SHEET ONE. Use the blank sheet for note-taking.Complete the gap-filling task. Some of the gaps below may require a maximum of THREE words. Make sure the word(s) you fill in is (are) both grammatically & semantically acceptable. You may refer to your notes.The Popularity of EnglishⅠ. Present status of EnglishA. English as a native/first languageB. English as a lingua franca: a language for communicationamong people whose (1) are different (1) ______C. Number of people speaking English as a first or a second language:— 320—380 million native speakers— 250—(2) million speakers of English as a second (2) ______LanguageⅡ. Reasons for the popular use of EnglishA. (3) reasons (3) ______— the Pilgrim Fathers brought the language to America;— British settlers brought the language to Australia;— English was used as a means of control in (4) (4) ______B. Economic reasons— spread of (5) (5) ______— language of communication in the international business communityC. (6) in international travel (6) ______— use of English in travel and tourism— signs in airports— language of announcement— language of (7) (7) ______D. Information exchange— use of English in the academic world— language of (8) or journal articles (8) ______E. Popular culture— pop music on (9) (9) ______— films from the USAⅢ. Questions to think aboutA. Status of English in the futureB. (10) of distinct varieties of English (10) ______SECTION B CONVERSATIONIn this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Mark the correct answer to each question on your coloured answer sheet.Questions 1 to 5 are bused on a conversation. At the end of the conversation you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following five questions. Now listen to the conversation.1. Mary doesn't seem to favour the idea of a new airport because[A] the existing airports are to be wasted. [B] more people will be encouraged to travel.[C] more oil will be consumed. [D] more airplanes will be purchased.2. Which of the following is NOT mentioned by Mary as a potential disadvantage?[A] More people in the area. [B] Noise and motorways.[C] Waste of land. [D] Unnecessary travel.3. Freddy has cited the following advantages for a new airport EXCEPT[A] more job opportunities. [B] vitality to the local economy.[C] road construction. [D] presence of aircrew in the area.4. Mary thinks that people don't need to do much travel nowadays as a result of[A] less emphasis on personal contact. [B] advances in modern telecommunications.[C] recent changes in people's concepts. [D] more potential damage to the area.5. We learn from the conversation that Freddy is ______ Mary's ideas.[A] strongly in favour of [B] mildly in favour of[C] strongly against [D] mildly againstSECTION C NEWS BROADCASTIn this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Mark the correct answer to each question on your coloured answer sheet.Question 6 is bused on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the question. Now listen to the news.6. What is the main idea of the news item?[A] A new government was formed after Sunday's elections.[B] The new government intends to change the welfare system.[C] The Social Democratic Party founded the welfare system.[D] The Social Democratic Party was responsible for high unemployment.Questions 7 and 8 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the two questions. Now listen to the news.7. The tapes of the Apollo 11 mission were first stored in[A] a U. S. government archives warehouse.[B] a NASA ground tracking station.[C] the Goddard Space Flight Centre.[D] none of the above places.8. What does the news item say about Richard Nafzger?[A] He is assigned the task to look for the tapes.[B] He believes that the tapes are probably lost.[C] He works in a NASA ground receiving site.[D] He had asked for the tapes in the 1970s.Questions 9 and 10 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the two questions. Now listen to the news.9. The example in the news item is cited mainly to show[A] that doctors are sometimes professionally incompetent.[B] that in cases like that hospitals have to pay huge compensations.[C] that language barriers might lower the quality of treatment.[D] that language barriers can result in fatal consequences.10. According to Dr. Flores, hospitals and clinics[A] have seen the need for hiring trained interpreters.[B] have realized the problems of language barriers.[C] have begun training their staff to be bilinguals.[D] have taken steps to provide accurate diagnosis.PART ⅡREADING COMPREHENSION (30 MIN)In this section there are four reading passages followed by a total of 20 multiple-choice questions. Read the passages and then mark your answers on your coloured answer sheet.TEXT AAt the age of 16, Lee Hyuk Joon's life is a living hell. The South Korean 10th grader gets up at 6 in the morning to go to school, and studies most of the day until returning home at 6 p. m. After dinner, it's time to hit the books again—at one of Seoul's many so-called cram schools. Lee gets back home at 1 in the morning, sleeps less than five hours, then repeats the routine—five days a week. It's a grueling schedule, but Lee worries that it may not be good enough to get him into a top university. Some of his classmates study even harder.South Korea's education system has long been highly competitive. But for Lee and the other 700,000 high-school sophomores in the country, high-school studies have gotten even more intense. That's because South Korea has conceived a new college-entrance system, which will be implemented in 2008. This year's 10th graders will be the first group evaluated by the new admissions standard, which places more emphasis on grades in the three years of high school and less on nationwide SA T-style and other selection tests, which have traditionally determined which students go to the elite colleges.The change was made mostly to reduce what the government says is a growing education gap in the country: wealthy students go to the best colleges and get the best jobs, keeping the children of poorer families on the social margins. The aim is to reduce the importance of costly tutors and cram schools, partly to help students enjoy a more normal high-school life. But the new system has had the opposite effect. Before, students didn't worry too much about their grade-point averages; the big challenge was beating the standardized tests as high-school seniors. Now students are competing against one another over a three-year period, and every midterm and final test is crucial. Fretful parents are relying even more heavily on tutors and cram schools to help their children succeed.Parents and kids have sent thousands of angry online letters to the Education Ministry complaining that the new admissions standard is setting students against each other. "One can succeed only when others fail," as one parent said.Education experts say that South Korea's public secondary-school system is foundering, while private education is thriving. According to critics, the country's high schools are almost uniformly mediocre—the result of an egalitarian government education policy. With the number of elite schools strictly controlled by the government, even the brightest students typically have to settle for ordinary schools in their neighbourhoods, where the curriculum is centred on average students. To make up for the mediocrity, zealous parents send their kids to the expensive cram schools.Students in affluent southern Seoul neighbourhoods complain that the new system will hurt them the most. Nearly all Korean high schools will be weighted equally in the college-entrance process, and relatively weak students in provincial schools, who may not score well on standardized tests, often compile good grade-point averages.Some universities, particularly prestigious ones, openly complain that they cannot select the best students under the new system because it eliminates differences among high schools. They've asked for more discretion in picking students by giving more weight to such screening tools as essay writing or interviews.President Roh Moo Hyun doesn't like how some colleges are trying to circumvent the new system. He recently criticized "greedy" universities that focus more on finding the best students than trying to "nurture good students". But amid the crossfire between the government and universities, the country's 10th graders are feeling the stress. On online protest sites, some are calling themselves a "cursed generation" and "mice in a lab experiment". It all seems a touch melodramatic, but that's the South Korean school system.11. According to the passage, the new college-entrance system is designed to[A] require students to sit for more college-entrance tests.[B] reduce the weight of college-entrance tests.[C] select students on their high school grades only.[D] reduce the number of prospective college applicants.12. What seems to be the effect of introducing the new system?[A] The system has given equal opportunities to students.[B] The system has reduced the number of cram schools.[C] The system has intensified competition among schools.[D] The system has increased students' study load.13. According to critics, the popularity of private education is mainly the result of[A] the government's egalitarian policy. [B] insufficient number of schools.[C] curriculums of average quality. [D] low cost of private education.14. According to the passage, there seems to be disagreement over the adoption of the new system between the following groups EXCEPT[A] between universities and the government.[B] between school experts and the government.[C] between parents and schools.[D] between parents and the government.15. Which of the following adjectives best describes the author's treatment of the topic?[A] Objective. [B] Positive. [C] Negative. [D] Biased.TEXT BWilfred Emmanuel-Jones was a teenager before he saw his first cow in his first field. Born in Jamaica, the 47-year-old grew up in inner-city Birmingham before making a career as a television producer and launching his own marketing agency. But deep down he always nurtured every true Englishman's dream of a rustic life, a dream that his entrepreneurial wealth has allowed him to satisfy. These days he's the owner of a thriving 12-hectare farm in deepest Devon with cattle, sheep and pigs. His latest business venture: pushing his brand of Black Farmer gourmet sausages and barbecue sauces. "My background may be very urban," says Emmanuel-Jones. "But it has given me a good idea of what other urbanites want."And of how to sell it. Emmanuel-Jones joins a herd of wealthy fugitives from city life who are bringing a new commercial know-how to British farming. Britain's burgeoning farmers' markets—numbers have doubled to at least 500 in the last five years—swarm with specialty cheesemakers, beekeepers or organic smallholders who are redeploying the business skills they learned in the city. "Everyone in the rural community has to come to terms with the fact that things have changed." Says Emmanuel-Jones. "Y ou can produce the best food in the world, but if you don't know how to market it, you are wasting your time. We are helping the traditionalists to move on."The emergence of the new class of superpeasants reflects some old yearnings. If the British were the first nation to industrialize, they were also the first to head back to the land. "There is this romantic image of the countryside that is particularly English," says Alun Howkins of the University of Sussex, who reckons the population of rural England has been rising since 1911. Migration into rural areas is now running at about 100,000 a year, and the hunger for a taste of the rural life has kept land prices buoyant even as agricultural incomes tumble. About 40 percent of all farmland is now sold to "lifestyle buyers" rather than the dwindling number of traditional farmers, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.What's new about the latest returnees is their affluence and zeal for the business of producing quality foods, if only at a micro-level. A healthy economy and surging London house prices have helped to ease the escape of the would-be rustics. The media recognize and feed the fantasy. One of the big TV hits of recent years, the "River Cottage" series, chronicled the attempts of a London chef to run his own Dorset farm.Naturally, the newcomers can't hope to match their City salaries, but many are happy to trade any loss of income for the extra job satisfaction. Who cares if there's no six-figure annual bonus when the land offers other incalculable compensations?Besides, the specialist producers can at least depend on a burgeoning market for their products. Today's eco-aware generation loves to seek out authentic ingredients. "People like me may be making a difference in a small way," Jan McCourt, a onetime investment banker now running his own 40-hectare spread in the English Midlands stocked with rare breeds.Optimists see signs of far-reaching change: Britain isn't catching up with mainland Europe; it's leading the way. "Unlike most other countries, where artisanal food production is being eroded, here it is being recovered," says food writer Matthew Fort. "It may be the mark of the next stage of civilization that we rediscover the desirability of being a peasant." And not an investment banker.16. Which of the following details of Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones is INCORRECT?[A] He was born and brought up in Birmingham.[B] He used to work in the television industry.[C] He is wealthy, adventurous and aspiring.[D] He is now selling his own quality foods.17. Most importantly, people like Wilfred have brought to traditional British farming[A] knowledge of farming. [B] knowledge of brand names.[C] knowledge of lifestyle. [D] knowledge of marketing.18. Which of the following does NOT contribute to the emergence of a new class of farmers?[A] Strong desire for country life. [B] Longing for greater wealth.[C] Influence of TV productions. [D] Enthusiasm for quality food business.19. What is seen as their additional source of new income?[A] Modern tendency to buy natural foods. [B] Increase in the value of land property.[C] Raising and selling rare live stock. [D] Publicity as a result of media coverage.20. The sentence in the last paragraph "... Britain isn't catching up with mainland Europe; it's leading the way" implies that[A] Britain has taken a different path to boost economy.[B] more authentic foods are being produced in Britain.[C] the British are heading back to the countryside.[D] the Europeans are showing great interest in country life.TEXT CIn Barcelona the Catalonians call them castells, but these aren't stereotypical castles in Spain. These castles are made up of human beings, not stone. The people who perform this agile feat of acrobatics are called castellers, and to see their towers take shape is to observe a marvel of human cooperation.First the castellers form what looks like a gigantic rugby scrummage. They are the foundation blocks of the castle. Behind them, other people press together, forming outward-radiating ramparts of inward-pushing muscle: flying buttresses for the castle. Then sturdy but lighter castetlers scramble over the backs of those at the bottom and stand, barefoot, on their shoulders—then still others, each time adding a higher "story".These human towers can rise higher than small apartment buildings: nine "stories", 35 feet into the air. Then, just when it seems this tower of humanity can't defy gravity any longer, a little kid emerges from the crowd and climbs straight up to the top. Arms extended, the child grins while waving to the cheering crowd far below.Dressed in their traditional costumes, the castellers seem to epitomize an easier time, before Barcelona became a world metropolis and the Mediterranean's most dynamic city. But when you observe them up close, in their street clothes, at practice, you see there's nothing easy about what the castellers do—and that they are not merely reenacting an ancient ritual.None of the castellers can give a logical answer as to why they love doing this. But Victor Luna, 16, touches me on the shoulder and says in English: "We do it because it's beautiful. We do it because we are Catalan."Barcelona's mother tongue is Catalan, and to understand Barcelona, you must understand two words of Catalan: seny and rauxa. Seny pretty much translates as common sense, or the ability to make money, arrange things, and get things done. Rauxa is reminiscent of our words "raucous" and "ruckus".What makes the castellers revealing of the city is that they embody rauxa and seny. The idea of a human castle is rauxa—it defies common sense—but to watch one going up is to see seny in action. Success is based on everyone working together to achieve a shared goal.The success of Carlos Tusquets bank, Fibanc, shows seny at work in everyday life. The bank started as a family concern and now employs hundreds. Tusquets said it exemplifies how the economy in Barcelona is different.Entrepreneurial seny demonstrates why Barcelona and Catalonia—the ancient region of which Barcelona is the capital—are distinct from the rest of Spain yet essential to Spain's emergence, after centuries of repression, as a prosperous, democratic European country. Catalonia, with Barcelona as its dynamo, has turned into an economic powerhouse. Making up 6 percent of Spain's territory, with a sixth of its people, it accounts for nearly a quarter of Spain's production—everything from textiles to computers—even though the rest of Spain has been enjoying its own economic miracle.Hand in hand with seny goes rauxa, and there's no better place to see rauxa in action than on the Ramblas, the venerable, tree-shaded boulevard that, in gentle stages, leads you from the centre of Barcelona down to the port. There are two narrow lanes each way for cars and motorbikes, but it's the wide centre walkway that makes the Ramblas a front-row seat for Barcelona's longest running theatrical event. Plastic armchairs are set out on the sidewalk. Sit in one of them, and an attendant will come and charge you a small fee. Performance artists throng the Ramblas—stilt walkers, witches caked in charcoal dust, Elvis impersonators. But the real stars are the old women and happily playing children, millionaires on motorbikes, and pimps and women who, upon closer inspection, prove not to be.Aficionados (Fans) of Barcelona love to compare notes: "Last night there was a man standing on the balcony of his hotel room," Mariana Bertagnolli, an Italian photographer, told me, "The balcony was on the second floor. He was naked, and he was talking into a cell phone."There you have it, Barcelona's essence. The man is naked (rauxa), but he is talking into a cell phone (seny).21. From the description in the passage, we learn that[A] all Catalonians can perform castells.[B] castells require performers to stand on each other.[C] people perform castells in different formations,[D] in castells people have to push and pull each other.22. According to the passage, the implication of the performance is that[A] the Catalonians are insensible and noisy people.[B] the Catalonians Show more sense than is expected.[C] the Catalonians display paradoxical characteristics.[D] the Catalonians think highly of team work.23. The passage cites the following examples EXCEPT ______ to show seny at work.[A] development of a bank [B] dynamic role in economy[C] contribution to national economy [D] comparison with other regions24. In the last but two paragraph, the Ramblas is described as "a front-row seat for Barcelona's longest running theatrical event". What does it mean?[A] On the Ramblas people can see a greater variety of performances.[B] The Ramblas provides many front seats for the performances.[C] The Ramblas is preferred as an important venue for the events.[D] Theatrical performers like to perform on the Ramblas.25. What is the main impression of the scenes on the Ramblas?[A] It is bizarre and outlandish. [B] It is of average quality.[C] It is conventional and quiet. [D] It is of professional standard.TEXT DThe law firm Patrick worked for before he died filed for bankruptcy protection a year after his funeral. After his death, the firm's letterhead properly included him: Patrick S. Lanigan, 1954-1992. He was listed up in the right-hand corner, just above the paralegals. Then the rumors got started and wouldn't stop. Before long, everyone believed he had taken the money and disappeared. After three months, no one on the Gulf Coast believed that he was dead. His name came off the letterhead as the debts piled up.The remaining partners in the law firm were still together, attached unwillingly at the hip by the bondage of mortgages and the bank notes, back when they were rolling and on the verge of serious wealth. They had been joint defendants in several unwinnable lawsuits; thus the bankruptcy. Since Patrick's departure, they had tried every possible way to divorce one another, but nothing would work. Two were raging alcoholics who drank at the office behind locked doors, but never together. The other two were in recovery, still teetering on the brink of sobriety.He took their money. Their millions. Money they had already spent long before it arrived, as only lawyers can do. Money for their richly renovated office building in downtown Biloxi. Money for new homes, yachts, condos in the Caribbean. The money was on the way, approved, the papers signed, orders entered; they could see it, almost touch it when their dead partner—Patrick—snatched it at the last possible second.He was dead. They buried him on February 11,1992. They had consoled the widow and put his rotten name on their handsome letterhead. Y et six weeks later, he somehow stole their money.They had brawled over who was to blame. Charles Bogan, the firm's senior partner and its iron hand, had insisted the money be wired from its source into a new account offshore, and this made sense after some discussion. It was ninety million bucks, a third of which the firm would keep, and it would be impossible to hide that kind of money in Biloxi, population fifty thousand. Someone at the bank would talk. Soon everyone would know. All four vowed secrecy, even as they made plans to display as much of their new wealth as possible. There had even been talk of a firm jet, a six-seater.So Bogan took his share of the blame. At forty-nine, he was the oldest of the four, and, at the moment, the most stable. He was also responsible for hiring Patrick nine years earlier, and for this he had received no small amount of grief.Doug V itrano, the litigator, had made the fateful decision to recommend Patrick as the fifth partner. The other three had agreed, and when Patrick Lanigan was added to the firm name, he had access to virtually every file in the office. Bogan, Rapley, V itrano, Havarac, and Lanigan, Attorneys and Counselors-at-Law. A large ad in the yellow pages claimed "Specialists in Offshore Injuries." Specialists or not, like most firms they would take almost anything if the fees were lucrative, Lots of secretaries, and paralegals. Big overhead, and the strongest political connections on the Coast.They were all in their mid-to late forties, Havarac had been raised by his father on a shrimp boat. His hands were still proudly calloused, and he dreamed of choking Patrick until his neck snapped. Rapley was severely depressed and seldom left his home, where he wrote briefs in a dark office in the attic.26. What happened to the four remaining lawyers after Patrick's disappearance?[A] They all wanted to divorce their wives. [B] They were all heavily involved in debts.[C] They were all recovering from drinking. [D] They had bought new homes, yachts, etc,27. Which of the following statements contains a metaphor?[A] His name came off the letterhead as the debts piled up.[B] ... they could see it, almost touch it when their dead partner...[C] ... attached unwillingly at the hip by the bondage of mortgages...[D] ... and for this he had received no small amount of grief.28. According to the passage, what is the main cause of Patrick stealing the money?[A] Patrick was made a partner of the firm.[B] The partners agreed to have the money transferred.[C] Patrick had access to all the files in the firm.[D] Bogan decided to hire Patrick nine years earlier.29. The lawyers were described as being all the following EXCEPT[A] greedy. [B] extravagant. [C] quarrelsome. [D] bad-tempered.30. Which of the following implies a contrast?[A] ..., and it would be impossible to hide that kind of money in Biloxi, population fifty thousand.[B] They had been joint defendants in several unwinnable lawsuits; thus the bankruptcy.[C] There had even been talk of a firm jet, a six-seater.[D] His name came off the letterhead as the debts piled up.PART ⅢGENERAL KNOWLEDGE (10 MIN)There are ten multiple-choice questions in this section. Choose the best answer to each question. Mark your answers on your coloured answer sheet.31. The largest city in Canada is[A] V ancouver. [B] Montreal. [C] Toronto. [D] Ottawa.32. According to the United States Constitution, the legislative power is invested in[A] the Federal Government. [B] the Supreme Court,[C] the Cabinet. [D] the Congress.33. Which of the following is the oldest sport in the United States?[A] Baseball. [B] Tennis. [C] Basketball. [D] American football,34. The head of the executive branch in New Zealand is[A] the President. [B] the Governor-General.[C] the British monarch. [D] the Prime Minister.35. The Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories told by a group of pilgrims on their way to Canterbury, is an important poetic work by[A] William Langland. [B] Geoffrey Chaucer.[C] William Shakespeare. [D] Alfred Tennyson.36. Who wrote The American?[A] Herman Melville. [B] Nathaniel Hawthorne.[C] Henry James. [D] Theodore Dreiser.37. All of the following are well-known female writers in 20th-century Britain EXCEPT[A] George Eliot. [B] Iris Jean Murdoch.[C] Doris Lessing. [D] Muriel Spark.38. Which of the following is NOT a design feature of human language?[A] Arbitrariness. [B] Displacement.[C] Duality. [D] Diachronicity.39. What type of sentence is "Mark likes fiction, but Tim is interested in poetry."?[A] A simple sentence. [B] A coordinate sentence.[C] A complex sentence. [D] None of the above.40. The phenomenon that words having different meanings have the same form is called[A] hyponymy. [B] synonymy.。
2008英语专业八级阅读真题及答案
2008英语专业八级真题及答案PART II READING COMPREHENSION (30 MIN)In this section there are four reading passages followed by a total of 20 multiple-choice questions. Read the passages and then mark your answers on your coloured answer sheetTEXT AAt the age of 16, Lee Hyuk Joon's life is a living hell. The South Korean 10th grader gets up at 6 in the morning to go to school, and studies most of the day until returning home at 6 p.m. After dinner, it's time to hit the books again—at one of Seoul's many so-called cram schools. Lee gets back home at 1 in the morning, sleeps less than five hours, then repeats the routine—five days a week. It's a grueling schedule, but Lee worries that it may not be good enough to get him into a top university. Some of his classmates study even harder.South Korea's education system has long been highly competitive. But for Lee and the other 700,000 high-school sophomores in the country, high-school studies have gotten even more intense. That's because South Korea has conceived a new college-entrance system, which will be implemented in 2008. This year's 10th graders will be the first group evaluated by the new admissions standard, which places more emphasis on grades in the three years of high school and less on nationwide SAT-style and other selection tests, which have traditionally determined which students go to the elite colleges.The change was made mostly to reduce what the government says is a growing education gap in the country: wealthy students go to the best colleges and get the best jobs, keeping the children of poorer families on the social margins. The aim is to reduce the importance of costly tutors and cram schools, partly to help students enjoy a more normal high-school life. But the new system has had the opposite effect. Before, students didn't worry too much about their grade-point averages; the big challenge was beating the standardized tests as high-school seniors. Now students are competing against one another over a three-year period, and every midterm and final test is crucial. Fretful parents are relying even more heavily on tutors and cram schools to help their children succeed.Parents and kids have sent thousands of angry online letters to the Education Ministry complaining that the new admissions standard is setting students against each other. "One can succeed only when others fail,” as one parent said.Education experts say that South Korea's public secondary-school system is foundering, while private education is thriving. According to critics, the country's high schools are almost uniformly mediocre—the result of an egalitarian government education policy. With the number of elite schools strictly controlled by the government, even the brightest students typically have to settle for ordinary schools in their neighbourhoods, where the curriculum is centred on average students. To make up for the mediocrity, zealous parents send their kids to the expensive cram schools.Students in affluent southern Seoul neighbourhoods complain that the new system will hurt them the most. Nearly all Korean high schools will be weighted equally in the college-entrance process, and relatively weak students in provincial schools, who may not score well on standardized tests, often compile good grade-point averages. Some universities, particularly prestigious ones, openly complain that they cannot select the best students under the new system because it eliminates differences among high schools. They've asked for more discretion in picking students by giving more weight to such screening tools as essay writing or interviews.President Roh Moo Hyun doesn't like how some colleges are trying to circumvent the new system. He recently criticized "greedy" universities that focus more on finding the best students than faying to "nurture good students". But amid the crossfire between the government and universities, the country's 10th graders are feeling the stress. On online protest sites, some are calling themselves a “cursed generation” and “mice in a lab experiment”. It all seems a touch me lodramatic, but that's the South Korean school system.11. According to the passage, the new college-entrance system is designed toA. require students to sit for more college-entrance tests.B. reduce the weight of college-entrance tests.C. select students on their high school grades only.D. reduce the number of prospective college applicants.12. What seems to be the effect of introducing the new system?A. The system has given equal opportunities to students.B. The system has reduced the number of cram schools.C. The system has intensified competition among schools.D. The system has increased students' study load.13. According to critics, the popularity of private education is mainly the result ofA. the government's egalitarian policy.B. insufficient number of schools:C. curriculums of average quality.D. low cost of private education.14. According to the passage, there seems to be disagreement over the adoption of the new system between the following groups EXCEPTA. between universities and the government.B. between school experts and the government.C. between parents and schools.D. between parents and the government.15. Which of the following adjectives best describes the author's treatment of the topic?A. Objective.B. Positive.C. Negative.D. Biased.TEXT BWilfred Emmanuel-Jones was a teenager before he saw his first cow in his first field. Born in Jamaica, the 47-year-old grew up in inner-city Birmingham before making a career as a television producer and launching his own marketing agency. But deep down he always nurtured every true Englishman's dream of a rustic life, a dream that his entrepreneurial wealth has allowed him to satisfy. These days he's the owner of a thriving 12-hectare farm in deepest Devon with cattle, sheep and pigs. His latest business venture: pushing his brand of Black Fanner gourmet sausages and barbecue sauces. “My background may be very urban,” says Emmanuel-Jones. “But it has given me a good idea of what other urbanites want.”And of how to sell it. Emmanuel-Jones joins a herd of wealthy fugitives from city life who are bringing a new commercial know-how to British farming. Britain's burgeoning farmers' markets -numbers have doubled to at least 500 in the last five years—swarm with specialty cheesemakers, beekeepers or organic smallholders who are redeploying the business skills they learned in the city. "Everyone in the rural community has to come to terms with the fact that things have changed." Says Emmanuel-Jones. "You can produce the best food in the world, but if you don't know how to market it, you are wasting your time. We are helping the traditionalists to move on."The emergence of the new class of superpeasants reflects some old yearnings. If the British were the first nation to industrialize, they were also the first to head back to the land. "There is this romantic image of the countryside that is particularly English," says Alun Howkins of the University of Sussex, who reckons the population of rural England has been rising since 1911. Migration into rural areas is now running at about 100,000 a year, and the hunger for a taste of the rural life has kept land prices buoyant even as agricultural incomes tumble. About 40 percent of all farmland is now sold to "lifestyle buyers" rather than the dwindling number of traditional farmers, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.What's new about the latest returnees is their affluence and zeal for the business of producing quality foods, if only at a micro-level. A healthy economy and surging London house prices have helped to ease the escape of the would-be rustics. The media recognize and feed the fantasy. One of the big TV hits of recent years, the "River Cottage" series, chronicled the attempts of a London chef to run his own Dorset farm.Naturally, the newcomers can't hope to match their City salaries, but many are happy to trade any loss of income for the extra job satisfaction. Who cares if there's no six-figure annual bonus when the land offers other incalculable compensations?Besides, the specialist producers can at least depend on a burgeoning market for their products. Today's eco-aware generation loves to seek out authentic ingredients. "People like me may be making a difference in a small way," Jan McCourt, a onetime investment banker now running his own 40-hectare spread in the English Midlands stocked with rare breeds.Optimists see signs of far-reaching change: Britain isn't catching up with mainland Europe; it's leading the way. “Unlike most other countries, where art isanal food production is being eroded, here it is being recovered," says food writer Matthew Fort. “It may be the mark of the next stage of civilization that we rediscover the desirability of being a peasant.” And not an investment banker.16. Which of the following details of Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones is INCORRECT?A. He was born and brought up in Birmingham.B. He used to work in the television industry.C. He is wealthy, adventurous and aspiring.D. He is now selling his own quality foods.17. Most importantly, people like Wilfred have brought to traditional British farmingA. knowledge of farming.B. knowledge of brand names.C. knowledge of lifestyle.D. knowledge of marketing,18. Which of the following does NOT contribute to the emergence of a new class of farmers?A. Strong desire for country life.B. Longing for greater wealth,C. Influence of TV productions.D. Enthusiasm for quality food business.19. What is seen as their additional source of new income?A. Modern tendency to buy natural foods.B. Increase in the value of land property.C. Raising and selling rare live stock. VD. Publicity as a result of media coverage.20. The sentence in the last paragraph “...Britain isn't catching up with mainland Europe; it's leading the way" implies thatA. Britain has taken a different path to boost economy.B. more authentic foods are being produced in Britain.C. the British are heading back to the countryside.D. the Europeans are showing great interest in country life.TEXT CIn Barcelona the Catalonians call them castells, but these aren't stereotypical castles in Spain. These castles are made up of human beings, not stone. The people who perform this agile feat of acrobatics are called castellers, and to see their towers take shape is to observe a marvel of human cooperation.First the castellers form what looks like a gigantic rugby scrummage. They are the foundation blocks of the castle. Behind them, other people press together, forming outward-radiating ramparts of inward-pushing muscle: flying buttresses for the castle. Then sturdy but lighter castellers scramble over the backs of those at the bottom and stand, barefoot, on their shoulders—then still others, each time adding a higher "story".These human towers can rise higher than small apar tment buildings: nine “stories”, 35 feet into the air. Then, just When it seems this tower of humanity can't defy gravity any longer, a little kid emerges from the crowd and climbs straight up to the top. Arms extended, the child grins while waving to the cheering crowd far below. Dressed in their traditional costumes, the castellers seem to epitomize an easier time, before Barcelona became a world metropolis arid the Mediterranean's most dynamic city. But when you observe-them tip close, in their street clothes, at practice, you see there's nothing easy about what the castellers do - and that they are not merely reenacting an ancient ritual.None of the castellers can-give a logical answer as to why they love doing this. But Victor Luna, 16, touches me on the shoulder and says in English: "We do it because it's beautiful. We do it because we are Catalan."Barcelona’s mother tongue is Catalan, and to understand Barcelona, you must understand two words of Catalan: seny and rauxa. Seny pretty much translates as common sense, or the ability to make money, arrange things, and get things done. Rauxa is reminiscent of our words “raucous” and “ruckus”.What makes the castellers revealing of the city is that they embody rauxa and seny. The idea of a human castle is rauxa—it defies common sense—but to watch one going up is to see seny in action. Success is based on everyone working together to achieve a shared goal.The success of Carlos Tusquets' bank, Fibanc, shows seny at work in everyday life. The bank started as a family concern and now employs hundreds. Tusquets said it exemplifies how the economy in Barcelona is different.Entrepreneurial seny demonstrates why Barcelona and Catalonia—the ancient region of which Barcelona is the capital—are distinct from the rest of Spain yet essential to Spain's emergence, after centuries of repression, as a prosperous, democratic European country. Catalonia, with Barcelona as its dynamo, has turned into an economic powerhouse. Making up 6 percent of Spain’s territory, with a sixth of its people, it accounts for nearly a quarter of Spain's production—everything fromtextiles to computers—even though the rest of Spain has been enjoying its own economic miracle.Hand in hand with seny goes rauxa, and there's no better place to see rauxa in action than on the Ramblas, the venerable, tree-shaded boulevard that, in gentle stages, leads you from the centre of Barcelona down to the port. There are two narrow lanes each way for cars and motorbikes, but it’s the wide centre walkway that makes the Ramblas a front-row seat for Barcelona's longest running theatrical event. Plastic armchairs are set out on the sidewalk. Sit in one of them, and an attendant will come and charge you a small fee. Performance artists throng the Ramblas—stilt walkers, witches caked in charcoal dust, Elvis impersonators. But the real stars are the old women and happily playing children, millionaires on motorbikes, and pimps and women who, upon closer inspection, prove not to be.Aficionados (Fans) of Barcelona love to co mpare notes: “Last night there was a man standing on the balcony of his hotel room,” Mariana Bertagnolli, an Italian photographer, told me. "The balcony was on the second floor. He was naked, and he was talking into a cell phone."There you have it, Barcelona's essence. The man is naked (rauxa), but he is talking into a cell phone (seny).21. From the description in the passage, we learn thatA. all Catalonians can perform castells.B. castells require performers to stand on each other.C. people perform castells in different formations.D. in castells people have to push and pull each other.22. According to the passage, the4mplication of the performance is thatA. the Catalonians are insensible and noisy people.B. the Catalonians show more sense than is expected.C. the Catalonians display paradoxical characteristics.D. the Catalonians think highly of team work.23. The passage cites the following examples EXCEPT __________ to show seny at work.A. development of a bankB. dynamic role in economyC. contribution to national economyD. comparison with other regions24. In the last but two paragraph, the Ramblas is described as “a front-row seat for Barcelona’s longest running theatrical event”. What does it mean?A. On the Ramblas people can see a greater variety of performances.B. The Ramblas provides many front seats for the performances.C. The Ramblas is preferred as an important venue for the events.D. Theatrical performers like to perform on the Ramblas.25. What is the main impression of the scenes on the Ramblas?A. It is bizarre and Outlandish.B. It is of average quality.C. It is conventional and quiet.D. It is of professional standard.TEXT DThe law firm Patrick worked for before he died filed for bankruptcy protection a year after his funeral. After his death, the firm's letterhead properly included him: Patrick S. Lanigan, 1954-1992. He was listed up in the right-hand corner, just above the paralegals. Then the rumors got started and wouldn't stop. Before long, everyone believed he had taken the money and disappeared. After three months, no one on the Gulf Coast believed that he was dead. His name came off the letterhead as the debts piled up.The remaining partners in the law firm were still together, attached unwillingly at the hip by the bondage of mortgages and the bank notes, back when they were rolling and on the verge of serious wealth. They had been joint defendants in several unwinnable lawsuits; thus the bankruptcy. Since Patrick's departure, they had tried every possible way to divorce one another, but nothing would work. Two were raging alcoholics who drank at the office behind locked doors, but nevertogether. The other two were in recovery, still teetering on the brink of sobriety.He took their money. Their millions. Money they had already spent long before it arrived, as only lawyers can do. Money for their richly renovated office building in downtown Biloxi. Money for new homes, yachts, condos in the Caribbean. The money was on the way, approved, the papers signed, orders entered; they could see it, almost touch it when their dead partner—Patrick—snatched it at the last possible second.He was dead. They buried him on February 11, 1992. They had consoled the widow and put his rotten name on their handsome letterhead. Yet six weeks later, he somehow stole their money.They had brawled over who was to blame. Charles Bogan, the firm's senior partner and its iron hand, had insisted the money be wired from its source into a new account offshore, and this made sense after some discussion. It was ninety million bucks, a third of which the firm would keep, and it would be impossible to hide that kind of money in Biloxi, population fifty thousand. Someone at the bank would talk. Soon everyone would know. All four vowed secrecy, even as they made plans to display as much of their new wealth as possible. There had even been talk of a firm jet, a six-seater.So Bogan took his share of the blame. At forty-nine, he was the oldest of the four, and, at the moment, the most stable. He was also responsible for hiring Patrick nine years earlier, and for this he had received no small amount of grief.Doug Vitrano, the litigator, had made the fateful decision to recommend Patrick as the fifth partner. The other three had agreed, and when Patrick Lanigan was added to the firm name, he had access to virtually every file in the office. Bogan, Rapley, Vitrano, Havarac, and Lanigan, Attorneys and Counselors-at-Law. A large ad in the yellow pages claimed "Specialists in Offshore Injuries." Specialists or not, like most firms they would take almost anything if the fees were lucrative. Lots of secretaries and paralegals. Big overhead, and the strongest political connections on the Coast.They were all in their mid- to late forties. Havarac had been raised by his father on a shrimp boat. His hands were still proudly calloused, and he dreamed of choking Patrick until his neck snapped. Rapley was severely depressed and seldom left his home, where he wrote briefs in a dark office in the attic.26. What happened to the four remaining lawyers after Patrick's disappearance?A. They all wanted to divorce their wives.B. They were all heavily involved in debts.C. They were all recovering from drinking.D. They had bought new homes, yachts, etc.27. Which of the following statements contains a metaphor?A. His name came off the letterhead as the debts piled up.B. …they could see it, almost touch it when their dead partner...C. …, attached unwillingly at the hip by the bondage of mortgages...D. …, and for this he had received no small amount of grief.28. According to the passage, what is the main cause of Patrick stealing the money?A. Patrick was made a partner of the firm.B. The partners agreed to have the money transferred.C. Patrick had access to all the files in the firm.D. Bogan decided to hire Patrick nine years earlier.29. The lawyers were described as being all the following EXCEPTA. greedy.B. extravagantC. quarrelsome.D. bad-tempered.30. Which of the following implies a contrast?A. …, and it would be impossible to hide that kind of money in Biloxi, population fifty thousand.B. They had been joint defendants in several unwinnable lawsuits; thus the bankruptcy.C. There had even been talk of a firm jet, a six-seater.D. His name came off the letterhead as the debts piled up.2008年英语专业八级Mini-lecture：(沪友今心提供)1. native language2. 3503. Historical4. India5. commerce6. Boom7. sea travel communication8. conference9. many radios 10. split阅读：(沪友落落提供)阅读一共四篇：韩国的新教育制度引起多方不满；第二篇是讲西班牙人的一些性格；第三篇是英国人热衷自己饲养出售畜牧产品；最后一篇是一个小说节选，四个律师被死去的合伙人骗得破产。
2008下学期专业英语阅读答案
Part one:1）This is too large a signal for the transistor to handle.2）Used properly, this book is of great help to readers.3) They are not clear how it is that the formula can be used.4) The definition of an electric current as a flow of charge(s) is familiar to us all.5) This book discusses both practical design method and theoretical problems withemphasis on the basic concept.6) This done, electrons possess more energy, thus/thereby increasing the brightness ofthe light spot.7) What are called the three elements of a force play an important role in our study ofmechanics.8) This device has the advantages over those available of small size, light weight andsimple structure.9) A comparison between magnetic tapes and discs has been made.10) One of the most noteworthy achievements at that time was the realization thatlight consists of electromagnetic waves.11) All that one needs to solve the equation for the unknown is a computer.12) These equations are called differential equations, and their study forms one of themost challenging braches in mathematics.13) For a transistor to function normally, it is necessary to apply proper voltages to itselectrodes.14) It makes no difference which letter we use to represent the independent variable.15) The hotter the body (is), the more energy it will radiate, a fact that is of great importance in engineering.Part two:1．A detailed analysis of the ability of the components to carry loads is made.2. This material is very difficult to machine.3. After being processed, these data are sent to the database server immediately.4. This is the largest aircraft which has ever been manufactured in China.5. This professor plays an active role in research on and the application of theObject/Relation Mapping Framework.6. Tin does not have as high a melting point as lead does.7. The conductivity of copper is higher than that of iron.8. By observing the effect of a new drug on patients, we can see its curative effect.9. Only when these signal are sent to the same layer, can the process mentioned aboveoccur.10. This is due to the existence of a capacitance across the PN junction.(This is due to the fact that there exists a capacitance across the PN junction.)11. Sound travels less fast than light does.12. Direct current flows always in one direction.13. People will get used to this color as time goes on.(People will get used to this color with time going on.)14. Usually we can not see earth’s shadow, because there is nothing for it to fall on.15. Work equals force multiplied by distance.(Work is equal to force multiplied by distance.)Part three:Translation:1）地球物理学家Raymond说到，新兴卫星技术的应用能够推动地震科学，使其具有更好的预测力。
2008考研英语真题阅读A型四篇(背诵用)
Text 1While still catching-up to men in some spheres of modern life, women appear to be way ahead in at least one undesirable category. Women are particularly susceptible to developing depression and anxiety disorders in response to stress compared to men, according to Dr. Yehuda, chief psychiatrist at New York's Veteran's Administration Hospital.Studies of both animals and humans have shown that sex hormones somehow affects the stress response, causing females under stress to produce more of the trigger chemicals than do males under the same conditions. In several of the studies, when stressed-out female rats had their ovaries （the female reproductive organs）removed, their chemical responses became equal to those of the males.Adding to a woman's increased dose of stress chemicals, are her increased opportunities for stress. It's not necessarily that women don't cope as well. It's just that they have so much more to cope with, says Dr. Yehuda. Their capacity for tolerating stress may even be greater than men's, she observes, It's just that they're dealing with so many more things that they become worn out from it more visibly and sooner.Dr. Yehuda notes another difference between the sexes. I think that the kinds of things that women are exposed to tend to be in more of a chronic or repeated nature. Men go to war and are exposed to combat stress. Men are exposed to more acts of random physical violence. The kinds of interpersonal violence that women are exposed to tend to be in domestic situations, by, unfortunately, parents or other family numbers, and they tend not to be one-shot deals. The wear-and-tear that comes from these longer relationships can be quite devastating.Adeline Alvarez married at 18 and gave birth to a son, but wad determined to finish college. I struggled a lot to get the college degree. I was living in so much frustration that that was my escape, to go to school, and get ahead and do better. Later her marriage ended and she became a single mother. It's the hardest thing to take care of a teenager, have a job, pay the rent, pay the car payment, and pay the debt. I lived from paycheck to paycheck.Not everyone experiences the kinds of severe chronic stresses Alvarez describes. But most women today are coping with a lot of obligations, with few breaks, and feeling the strain. Alvarez's experience demonstrates the importance of finding ways to diffuse stress before it threatens your health and your ability to function.Text 2It used to be so straightforward. A team of researchers working together in the laboratory would submit the results of their research to a journal. A journal editor would then remove the authors names and affiliations from the paper and send it to their peers for review. Depending on the comments received, the editor would accept the paper for publication or decline it. Copyright rested with the journal publisher, and researchers seeking knowledge of the results would have to subscribe to the journal.No longer. The Internet and pressure from funding agencies, who are questioning why commercial publishers are making money from government-funded research by restricting access to it- is making access to scientific results a reality. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development （OECD）has just issued a report describing the far-reaching consequences of this. The report, by John Houghton of Victoria University in Australia and Graham Vickery of the OECD, makes heavy reading for publishers who have, so far, made handsome profits. But it goes further than that. It signals a change in what has, until now, been a key element of scientificendeavor.The value of knowledge and the return on the public investment in research depends, in part, upon wide distribution and ready access. It is big business. In America, the core scientific publishing market is estimated at between $7 billion and $11 billion. The International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers says that there are more than 2,000 publishers worldwide specializing in these subjects. They publish more than 1.2 million articles each year in some 16,000 journals.This is now changing. According to the OECD report, some 75% of scholarly journals are now online. Entirely new business models are emerging; three main institutional subscribers pay for access to a collection of online journal titles through site-licensing agreements. There is open-access publishing, typically supported by asking the author （or his employer）to pay for the paper to be published. Finally, there are open-access archives, where organizations such as universities or international laboratories support institutional repositories. Other models exist that are hybrids of these three, such as delayed open-access, where journals allow only subscribers to read a paper for the first six months, before making it freely available to everyone who wishes to see it. All this could change the traditional form of the peer-review process, at least for the publication of papers.Text 3In the early 1960s Wilt Chamberlain was one of only three players in the National Basketball Association （NBA）listed at over seven feet. If he had played last season, however, he would have been one of 42. The bodies playing major professional sports have changed dramatically over the years, and managers have been more than willing to adjust team uniforms to fit the growing numbers of bigger, longer frames.The trend in sports, though, may be obscuring an unrecognized reality: Americans have generally stopped growing. Though typically about two inches taller now than 140 years ago, today's people- especially those born to families who have lived in the U.S. for many generations- apparently reached their limit in the early 1960s. And they aren’t likely t o get any taller. In the general population today, at this genetic, environmental level, we've pretty much gone as far as we can go, says anthropologist William Cameron Chumlea of Wright State University. In the case of NBA players, their increase in height appears to result from the increasingly common practice of recruiting players from all over the world.Growth, which rarely continues beyond the age of 20, demands calories and nutrients–notably, protein–to feed expanding tissues. At the start of the 20th century, under-nutrition and childhood infections got in the way. But as diet and health improved, children and adolescents have, on average, increased in height by about an inch and a half every 20 years, a pattern known as the secular trend in height. Yet according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, average height- 5′9〞for men, 5′4〞for women- hasn't really changed since 1960.Genetically speaking, there are advantages to avoiding substantial height. During childbirth, larger babies have more difficulty passing through the birth canal. Moreover, even though humans have been upright for millions of years, our feet and back continue to struggle with bipedal posture and cannot easily withstand repeated strain imposed by oversize limbs. There are some real constraints that are set by the genetic architecture of the individual organism, says anthropologist William Leonard of Northwestern University.Genetic maximums can change, but don't expect this to happen soon. Claire C. Gordon, senior anthropologist at the Army Research Center in Natick, Mass, ensures that 90 percent of the uniforms and workstations fit recruits without alteration. She says that, unlike those for basketball, the length of military uniforms has not changed for some time. And if you need to predict human height in the near future to design a piece of equipment, Gordon says that by and large, you could use today’s data and feel fairly confident.Text 4In 1784, five years before he became president of the United States, George Washington, 52, was nearly toothless. So he hired a dentist to transplant nine teeth into his jaw –having extracted them from the mouths of his slaves.That’s a far different image from the cherry-tree-chopping George most people remember from their history books. But recently, many historians have begun to focus on the roles slavery played in the lives of the founding generation. They have been spurred in part by DNA evidence made available in 1998, which almost certainly proved Thomas Jefferson had fathered at least one child with his slave Sally Hemings. And only over the past 30 years have scholars examined history from the bottom up. Works of several historians reveal the moral compromises made by the nation’s early leaders and the fragile nature of the country’s infancy. More significantly, they argue that many of the Founding Fathers knew slavery was wrong – and yet most did little to fight it.More than anything, the historians say, the founders were hampered by the culture of their time. While Washington and Jefferson privately expressed distaste for slavery, they also understood that it was part of the political and economic bedrock of the country they helped to create.For one thing, the South could not afford to part with its slaves. Ownin g slaves was “like having a large bank account,” says Wiencek, author of An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America. The southern states would not have signed the Constitution without protections for the “peculiar institution,” including a clause that counted a slave as three fifths of a man for purposes of congressional representation.And the statesmen’s political lives depended on slavery. The three-fifths formula handed Jefferson his narrow victory in the presidential election of 1800 by inflating the votes of the southern states in the Electoral College. Once in office, Jefferson extended slavery with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803; the new land was carved into 13 states, including three slave states.Still, Jefferson freed Hemings’s children – though not Hemings herself or his approximately 150 other slaves. Washington, who had begun to believe that all men were created equal after observing the bravery of the black soldiers during the Revolutionary War, overcame the strong opposition of his relatives to grant his slaves their freedom in his will. Only a decade earlier, such an act would have required legislative approval in Virginia.。
英语专业2007-08学年第二学期普通语言学试卷和答案
英语专业2007-2008学年第二学期普通语言学考试试卷1. Choose ALL the correct ones from A, B, C, or D. There may be as many as three correct choices. (30 points, 2 points each)1) “It is wrong to split an infinitive.” This is an example of _____ rules.A. prescriptiveB. descriptiveC. transformationalD. functional2) The distinction between competence and performance was put forward by _____.A. Leonard BloomfieldB. Ferdinand de SaussureC. Noam ChomskyD. M. A. K. Halliday3) Which of the following is the correct description of [t]?A. Voiceless alveolar stop.B. Voiceless alveolar fricative.C. Voiced alveolar stop.D. Voiced alveolar fricative.4) Which of the following is a voiced labiodental fricative?A. [s]B. [z]C. [v]D. [f]5) Which of the following are “derivational suffixes”?A. -sB. -ionC. -ingD. -ify6) Which of the following are “content words”?A. Nouns.B. Verbs.C. Determiners.D. Prepositions.7) Which of the following is the correct bracketing of the phrase structure in the sentence “The boy is crying”?A. [[The] [boy] [is] [crying]]B. [[The] [boy]] [[is] [crying]]C. [[The boy] is [crying]]D. [[The] [boy] [is]] [crying]8) Which of the following sentences contain a participial phrase?A. The best thing would be to leave early.B. Having finished their work, they came to our aid.C. It’s great for a man to be free.D. To my surprise, she started looking for jobs.9) Which of the following terms are related to Cognitive Linguistics?A. Word recognition.B. Language acquisition.C. Construal operations.D. Categorization.10) Which of the following are NOT true of the “women register”?A. Women use more “fancy” color terms.B. Women use stronger swearing words.C. Women use more intensifiers.D. Women use more direct expressions.11) Which of the following forms of writing are more likely to use foregrounding?A.Diary.Poetry. B.Novels.Papers. D.C.Research12) Which of the following include a metaphor?A. His eyes came out of his head like a prawn’s.B. The hallway was zebra-striped with darkness and moonlight.C. The thought was a fire in him.D. The world is a looking-glass, and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face.13) Which of the following are writings of stream of consciousness?A. Pride and PrejudiceB. To the Lighthouse.C. As I Lay Dying.D. Jane Eyre.14) Which of the following book titles contain “alliteration”?A. Vowels and Consonants.B. Gone with the Wind.C. Sex and the City.D. The Wonder of Words.15) “_____” is often understood as a language system between the target languageand the learner’s native language.A. Input HypothesisB. Sapir-Whorf HypothesisAnalysisContrastiveC.Interlanguage D.2. Decide whether the following statements are True (T) or False (F). (10 points,1 point each)1) Duality refers to the property of having two levels of structures，such that units ofthe primary level are composed of elements of the secondary level and each of the two levels has its own principles of organization.2) Articulatory Phonetics studies the physical properties of speech sounds.3) The adjective is an open class of words.4) The “parts of speech” in traditional grammar is often referred to as “word class”today.5) “Hot” and “cold” are converse antonyms.6) The holophrastic stage is the mature phase of language acquisition.7) Men use stronger curse words than women.8) The Relevance Theory was suggested by H. P. Grice.9) Stream of consciousness was used in the writings of William Faulkner.10) Machine translation can be used for restricted technical purposes, such as theweather report.3. Briefly explain the following terms. (20 points, 5 points each)1) lateral2) back-formation3) cognition4) foregrounding4. Answer TWO of the following questions. (40 points, 20 points each)1) Use examples to illustrate the concept of “recursiveness”.2) Describe the three categories of conceptual metaphors.3) In recent years, numerous new words have entered the daily life of Chinese people,e.g. 上网，海选. Give a list of (about 10) such words, discuss the context of theirusage, and provide a feasible explanation of their booming.2007-08学年第二学期普通语言学试卷参考答案和评分标准I. 多选题。
2008 考研英语阅读真题Text 2(英语二)
2008 Text 2（英语⼆）⽆纸化图书馆It used to be so straightforward.A team of researchers working together in the laboratory would submit the results of their research to a journal.A would then remove the authors' names and affiliations from the paper and send it to their peers for review.Depending on the comments received, the editor would accept the paper for publication or decline it.Copyright rested with the journal publisher, and researchers seeking knowledge of the results would have to subscribe to the journal.No longer.The Internet — and pressure from funding agencies, who are questioning why commercial publishers are making money from government-funded research by restricting access to it — is making free access to scientific results a reality.The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development () has just issued a report describing the far-reaching consequences of this.The report, by John Houghton of in Australia and Graham Vickery of the OECD, makes heavy reading for publishers who have, so far, made 原本⼀切都很简单。
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西安电子科技大学研究生课程考试试题考试科目: 研究生专业英语阅读课程代码：0821004考试日期：08 年月日考试时间：100 分钟答案请写在答题纸上。
Part one: Sentence T ranslation (30%)1.这个信号太大了，以至于该晶体管(transistor)无法处理。
2.常用的方法均不能解这样（so）一个复杂的方程(equation)。
3.他们不清楚到底如何使用这个公式(formula)。
4.电流被定义为电荷的流动为大家所熟悉。
5.物体越热，它所释放(radiate)的能量就越多，这一事实在工程学中具有重要作用。
6.这样做了以后，电子拥有更多能量，从而增加光区（light spot）亮度（brightness）。
7.所谓力的三要素在我们学习力学(mechanics)中起很重要作用。
8.与现有设备相比，这个设备具有体积小，质量轻，结构简单的优点。
9.我们把磁带(magnetic tapes)和光盘做了一比较。
10.当时最引人注目(noteworthy)的成就之一是人们认识到了光是由电磁波(electromagneticwave)构成的。
11.为了解这个方程求出未知数（unknown）来只需要一台计算机。
12.这些方程称为微分方程（differential equation），而对它们的研究形成(form)了数学(mathematics)最具挑战的分支之一。
13.这本书如果使用得当，对读者是很有帮助的。
14.我们使用用哪个字母表示独立变量（independent variable）是没有关系的。
15. 本书既讲了实际的设计方法，同时也讲述了理论问题，而重点放在一般概念上。
Part two: Mistakes Correction(30%)(Write down the corrected sentence on the answer sheet. )1. The detailed analysis of the ability of carrying loads of the components is given.2. This material is very difficult to be machined.3. After processed, these data are sent to the database server immediately.4. This is the largest aircraft which was ever manufactured in China.5. This professor plays an active role in research and application about the Object/RelationMapping Framework.6. Tin does not have a melting point as high as lead does.7. The conductivity of copper is higher than iron.8. It is not clear yet that it is under what conditions that this method can be used.9. Only when these signals are sent to the same layer, the process above mentioned can occur.10. This is due to that there exists a capacitance on the PN junction.11. Sound travels less faster than light is.12. The direct current flows always on one direction.13. People will get used with this color as time going on.14．Usually we can not see earth’s shadow, because there is nothing for it to fall.15. Work equals to force multiplying distance.Part three:Read this article, translate the underlined sentences (15%), answer the questions (15%) and then summarize this article within 100 words (10%).Earthquake PredictionEarthquake prediction is an imprecise science, and to illustrate the point, many experts point to the story Tangshan, China. On July 28, 1976, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake stuck the city of Tangshan, China, without warning. None of the signs of the successful prediction from a year and half earlier were present. An estimated 250,000 people died.Unlike thirty years ago, however, earthquake scientists today have a few more tools at their fingertips to help predict temblors. Raymond, a geophysicist(地球物理学家), says the application of an emerging satellite technology “could advance earthquake science towards a better predicative capability.”The system, known as the Global Earthquake Satellite System (GESS), employs a technology called interferometer synthetic aperture radar (InSAR).（合成孔径雷达干涉测量技术）The technology allows scientists to detect minute deformations（变形）in the Earth’s crust（地壳）. In theory, knowing how and where the Earth’s crust is deforming, combined with knowledge of how earthquakes work, could give scientists a clue that an earthquake is going to happen. Max Wyss, director of the World Agency of Planetary Monitoring and Earthquake Risk Reduction, said that “InSAR is a great new technology that allows us to illuminate the surface of the planet and map the deformation that happens. And it is very reasonable that Earth deformation may happen before an earthquake.”But he also stated that the InSAR technique can not be seen completely reliable because there is little evidence that the Earth actually deforms before a major earthquake.The InSAR technique involves examining pairs of radar images of the same landscape to determine changes in the land surface over very broad regions to within a couple of inches. The satellites can thus detect slight deformations in the Earth’s crust, which may indicate strain prior to an earthquake.The space shuttle flew a mission in 2000 that used the technology to create a geographic map of the Earth. A proposal to launch an InSAR equipped satellite is currently before NASA. Scientists hope that within 20 years, several more satellites will launch. Raymond said that while asingle InSAR-equipped satellite would be useful, a group of such satellites would deliver an extremely dense data set for use by earthquake prediction scientists.As scientists wait for the network of InSAR satellite to be realized, sophisticated global positioning system (GPS) networks are being used to monitor the Earth’s crust. This information is helping scientists create models of complex Earth deformation.Many of us know that earthquakes are a sudden release of energy caused by the sliding of a part of the Earth’s crust along a fault(断层). But Raymond adds that scientific evidence suggests the Earth also release stress via a slow process. In such cases, there is no shaking and damage to buildings. Scientists are uncertain as to how much of the overall stress in the Earth is released in this manner, but InSAR may help to answer the question.1.What does the word “temblor” in Para. 2 refer to?2.According to Max Wyss, is InSAR technique precise enough in prediction? Why or why not?3.For the satellites to detect slight deformations in the Earth’s crust, what does the InSARtechnique involve?4.What is used to help scientists create models of complex Earth deformation?5.What is the cause of an earthquake in the common case?。