2008年英语专业八级考试全真试卷及其参考答案
专八口试2008年英译汉答案
专八口试2008年英译汉答案第一篇：专八口试2008年英译汉答案2008年12月英译汉一位美籍教授在欢送外籍教师宴会上的祝酒词女士们，先生们，晚上好！我知道在这个热闹非凡的场合中很难吸引大家的注意，因此我的祝酒词尽量简短些。
我想借此机会，代表所有的外籍教师感谢南平大学的全体教职员工，特别是外事办的工作人员和不同系的同事们，感谢你们2007-2008学年在各方面对我们的帮助，使我们感到家的温暖。
我知道接待外籍教师并不容易，因为我们对于中国很陌生，所以不免为你们增添了许多麻烦。
不像中国的教师一样，刚来时我们需要定位，需要帮助。
于是你们为我们做着一切，从领着我们到小超市到帮我们调试电脑。
学期开始时，又会回答我们无数有关课程的问题以及我们对于这里的教育体制的适应情况。
而这些中国教师都不需要问。
当然，最重要的是，我们呆在中国时，你们还为我们做了许多其他的事情。
比如说和我们一起过假期，带我们去有趣的旅游景点以及向我们介绍中国的传统美食。
然而，到了学期末，我们中的许多人就会离开，你们不得不为接待下一轮的外籍教师重复同样的过程。
年复一年，你们不次劳苦周到地做着这些。
因此今晚，我们想对你们为我们所做的一切事情表示感谢，就比如说今晚这个美好的宴会。
同时还要感谢你们今年投资十万元升级我们的网络服务。
然而，我们还要特别感谢你们每天为我们的生活所做的大事小事，点点滴滴。
请允许我举杯，为南平大学及所有使这个地方工作和生活变得美好的人们，干杯！第二篇：2014年专八翻译及答案2014年英语专八考试汉译英部分真题（网友回忆版）当我在小学毕了业的时候，亲友一致的愿意我去学手艺，好帮助母亲。
我晓得我应当去找饭吃，以减轻母亲的勤劳困苦。
可是，我也愿意升学。
我偷偷的考入了师范学校——制服，饭食，书籍，宿处，都由学校供给。
只有这样，我才敢对母亲说升学的话。
入学，要交十圆的保证金。
这是一笔巨款！母亲作了半个月的难，把这巨款筹到，而后含泪把我送出门去。
英语专业专八口语考试2008年真题
英语专业专八口语考试2008年真题2008年12月考题Task One: Interpreting from English into ChineseDirections: Please do not do interpreting when you listen to the speech this time.A Toast by an American Professor at a Farewell Banquet for Foreign TeachersGood evening, ladies and gentlemen:I know that it will be hard to keep everyone’s attention while such a fine buffet awaits us, so I’ll attempt to be very brief.On behalf of the foreign teachers at Nanping University, I want to take this opportunity to thank all of the staff of Nanping University, especially the Foreign Affairs Office staff and our colleagues in our various departments, for all the ways you’ve assisted us during the 2007-2008 academic year and made us feel at home.I know that it’s not always easy to host foreign teachers. Because we’re strangers in China, we inevitably wind up creating a lot of extra work for all of you. Unlike Chinese teachers, we require a lot of orientation and assistance when we first arrive, and you’re called on to do everything from guiding us to the local department store to helping us get our computers set up. Then, as the semester starts, you have to answer endless questions about our courses and how we fit into the educational program here—questions that Chinese teachers wouldn’t need to ask. Of course, on top of all this are all the extra things you do to host us while we’re in China—celebrating Chinese holidays with us, taking us to visit interesting scenic sites, and introducing us to China’s find food tradition. Then at the end of theacademic year, many of us leave, and you have to get through the whole process again with the next new group of foreign teachers. Yet, year after year, you do all of this with diligence and grace.So tonight we wish to thank you for all the wonderful ways you host us—such as providing this fine banquet tonight. We also want to express our gratitude for the 100,000 yuan upgrade of our internet services that you paid for this year. However, we especially want to thank you for the many little things—and not so little things—that you do every day to help us in our lives here.May I propose a toast to Nanping University and to all of the people who make this a great place to live and work.When you listen this time, begin interpreting when you heara beep.1.On behalf of the foreign teachers at Nanping University, I want to take this opportunity to thankall of the staff of Nanping University, especially the Foreign Affairs Office staff and our colleagues in our various departments, for all the ways you’ve assisted us during the 2007-2008 academic year and made us feel at home.2.Unlike Chinese teachers, we require a lot of orientation and assistance when we first arrive, andyou’re call ed on to do everything from guiding us to the local department store to helping us get our computers set up.3.Of course, on top of all this are all the extra things you do to host us while we’re inChina—celebrating Chinese holidays with us, taking us to visit interesting scenic sites, and introducing us to China’s find food tradition.4.Then at the end of the academic year, many of us leave, andyou have to get through the wholeprocess again with the next new group of foreign teachers. Yet, year after year, you do all of this with diligence and grace.5.So tonight we wish to thank you for all the wonderful ways you host us—such as providing thisfine banquet tonight. We also want to express our gratitude for the 100,000 yuan upgrade of our internet services that you paid for this year.Task Two: Interpreting from Chinese into EnglishDirections: Please do not do interpreting when you listen to the speech this time.北京奥运经济研究会会长谈“北京奥运与北京经济”各位媒体记者朋友，大家上午好！非常高兴有这个机会和大家做个交流，谈谈奥运对北京经济的作用。
2008-2012年英语专八人文部分真题及答案(部分有解析)
201231. The Maori people are natives ofA. Australia.B. Canada.C. Ireland.D. New Zealand.32. The British monarch is the Head ofA. Parliament.B. State.C. Government.D. Cabinet.33. Americans celebrate Independence Day onA. July 4th.B. October 11th.C. May 31st.D. September 6th.34. Canada is bounded on the north byA. the Pacific Ocean.B. the Atlantic Ocean.C. the Arctic Ocean.D. the Great Lakes.35. Who is the author of The Waste Lana?A. George Bernard Shaw.B. W.B. Yeats.C. Dylan Thomas.D. T.S. Eliot.36. Which of the following novelists wrote The Sound and the Fury?A. William Faulkner.B. Ernest Hemingway.C. Scott Fitzgerald.D. John Steinbeck.37. "The lettuce was lonely without tomatoes and cucumbers for company" is an example ofA. exaggeration.B. understatement.C. personification.D. synecdoche.38. In English ifa word begins with a [l] or a [r], then the next sound must be a vowel. This is a (n)A. assimilation rule.B. sequential rule.C.deletion rule.D. grammar rule.39. Which of the following is an example of clipping?A.APEC.B.Motel.C.Xerox.D.Disco.40. The type of language which is selected as appropriate to a particular type of" situation is calledA. register.B. dialect.C. slang.D. variety.31: new Zealand 32: state 33: July 4th 34: the Arctic Ocean 35: T.S.Eliot 36: William Faulkner 37: personification 38: sequential rule 39: Disco 40: register201131. The northernmost part of Great Britain is _______.A. Northern IrelandB. WalesC. EnglandD. Scotland参考答案：DTIP：选D。
2008年英语专业八级改错练习题及答案解析
改错题出现的错误经常包括：语法；词汇；语篇1. 语法包括英语的时态，语态，倒装句，虚拟语气，主，谓，宾在数，格，人称上的一致。
2 .词汇方面，短文改错在用词上的错误主要集中在以下几个方面：名次单复数，可数名词和不可数名词的差异，形容词与副词，连词与介词的误用，同义词的混淆等。
3. 语篇的改错旨在测试做题者在具体语境上下文中使用语法和词汇的能力。
从逻辑的意义上看，句与句之间的关系可以分为顺序，并列，时间，空间，层递，对比，转折，解释，因果，过渡，推论等。
最好的做法是先通读全文，结合上下文的逻辑关系回答问题。
2008年英语专业八级改错练习题及答案解析(1)About half of the infant and maternal deaths in developing countries couldbe avoided if women had used family planning methods to prevent high risk ____1____pregnancies, according to a report publishing recently by the Johns Hopking ____2____University.The report indicates that 5.6 million infant deaths and 2,000,000 maternal Deaths could be prevented this year if women chose to have theirs children ____3____within the safest years with adequate intervals among births and limited their ____4____families to moderate size.This amounts to about half of the 9.8 million infant and 370.000 maternal deaths in developing countries, excluded China, estimated for this year by ____5____the United Nation’s Children’s Fund and the US Centers for Disease Control respectably. China was excluded because very few births occur in the high ____6____risk categories.The report says that evidences from around the world shows the risk of ____7____maternal or infant ill and death is the highest in four specific types of ____8_____ pregnancy; pregnancies before the mother is 18 year old; those after the ____9____mother is 35 years old; pregnancies after four births; and those lesser than ____10____two years apart.2008年英语专业八级改错练习题及答案解析(2)“Home, sweet home” is a ph rase that express an essential attitude in the United States. Whether the reality of life in the family house is sweet or no sweet, the cherished ideal of home _____1_____has great importance for many people.This ideal is a vital part of the American dream. This dream, dramatized in the history of nineteenth century European settlers of American West, was to find a piece of place, build a house _____2_____for one’s family, and started a farm. These small households were _____3_____portraits of independence: the entire family- mother, father, children, even grandparents-live in a small house and working together to _____4_____ support each other. Anyone understood the life-and-death importance _____5_____of family cooperation and hard work. Although most people in the United States no longer live on farms, but the ideal of home ownership _____6_____is just as strong in the twentieth century as it was in the nineteenth. When U.S soldiers came home before World WarⅡ, for example, _____7_____they dreamed of buying houses and starting families. But there was _____8_____a tremendous boom in home building. The new houses, typically in the suburbs, were often small and more or less identical, but it satisfied _____9_____a deep need. Many regarded the single-family house the basis of their _____10_____way of life.2008年英语专业八级改错练习题及答案解析(3)We live in a society which there is a lot of talk about science, but I would say _____1_____that there are not 5 percent of the people who are equipped with school, including college, to understand scientific reasoning. We are more ignorant of science as people _____2_____with comparable education in Western Europe. There are a lot of kids who know everything about computers—how to build them, how to take them apart, and how to write programs for games. So if you ask _____3_____them to explain about the principles of physics that have gone into creating the _____4_____computer, you don’t have faintest idea. _____5_____The failure to understand science leads to such things like the neglect of human _____6_____ creative power. It also takes rise to blurring of the distinction between science and _____7_____technology. Lots of people don’t differ between the two. Science i s the production of _____8_____new knowledge that can be applied or not, and technology is the application of knowledge to the production of some products, machinery or the like. The two are really different, and people who have the faculty for one very seldom have a faculty for the others. _____9_____Science in itself is harmless, more or less. But as soon as it can provide technology, it’s not necessarily harmful. No society has yet learned to forecast the consequences of _____10_____new technology, which can be enormous.2008年英语专业八级改错练习题及答案解析(4)What is a black hole? Well, it is difficult to answer the question,as the terms we would normally use to describe a scientific phenomenon __1__are adequate here. Astronomers and scientists think that a black hole is __2__a region of space which matter has fallen and from which nothing can __3__ escape—not even light. But we can’t see a black hole. A black hole __4__exerts a strong gravitational pull and yet it has no matter. It is only space—or thus we think. How can this happen? __5__The theory is that some stars explode when their density increasesto a particular point; they “collapse” and sometimes a supernova occurs.The collapse of a star may produce a “White Dwarf” of a “neutronstar”—a star which matter is so dense that if continually shrinks by the force of __6___its own gravity. But if the star is very large, this process of shrinking maybe so intense that a black hole results in. Imagine the earth reduced to the __7__size of a marble, but still having the same masses and a stronger __8__ gravitational pull, and you have some ideas of the force of a black hole. __9__And no matter near the black hole is sucked in. __10__2008年英语专业八级改错练习题及答案解析(5)The great whales are among the most fascinating creatures which __1__have ever lived on the earth, and one of them, the blue whale, is thelargest. People in ancient times thought whales as fearsome __2__monsters of the ocean depths. So to hunt a whale, when oneoccasionally swam toward shore, he was high adventure. People __3__found the adventure was rewarding, too, for the oil and meat fromone whale alone could heat and feed a village for a whole winter.Whales resemble huge fish. They were referred by the ancients as __4__“great fish,” and any whale beaching along the coasts of Englandwas designated “the King’s fish” because it automa tically belongedto the Crown. Ever since those early times, human have felt whales a sense of __5__ wonder mixed with an intense desire to capture, slaughter, andexploit. Now the slaughter has reached alarming proportions. __6__Even though some species are protected by the regulations ofthe International Whaling Commission and theoretically all whalehunting is regulated, but the earth’s stock of whales is still being __7__ depleted. In fact, some scientists worry that 100 years since now __8__there may be no whales left. If this happens, mankind willbe blame for removing from the earth forever a remarkable and __9__awe-inspiring creature that always fed man’s imagination and __10__made the world a more exciting place2008年英语专业八级改错练习题及答案解析(6)We use language every day. We live in a world of words. Hardly anymoment passes with someone talking, writing or reading. Indeed, __1__ languages is most essential to mankind. Our lives increasingly dependon fast and successful use of language. Strangely enough, we know __2__more about things around us than on ourselves. For example, language __3__is species specific, that is, it is language that differs human from __4__animals. However, we do not know yet how exactly we inquire language __5__ and how it is possible for us to perceive through language; nor we __6__ understand precisely the combinations between language and thought, __7__ language and logic, or language and culture; still less, how and whenlanguage started. One reason for this inadequate knowledge of languageis that we, like language users, take too many things for granted. __8__ Language comes to every normal person so naturally that a few __9__of us stop to question what language is, much less do we feel thenecessity to study it. Language is far more complex than most peoplehave probably imagined and the necessity to study it is far greater thansome people may have assured. Linguistic is a branch of science which __10__ takes language as its object of investigation.2008年英语专业八级改错练习题及答案解析(7)Whenever you see an old film, even one made as little asten years before, you can’t help being strucked by the __1__appearance of the women taking part. Their hair styles andmake-up look date; their skirts look either too long or too __2__short; their general appearance is, in fact, slightly ludicrous.The men taking part, on other hand, are clearly recognizable. __3__There is nothing about their appearance to suggest thatthey belong to an entire different age. This illusion is created __4__by changing fashions. Over the years, the great minority of men __5__have successfully resisted all attempts to make it change their __6__style of dress. The same cannot be said for women. Each year,a fewer so-called top designers in Paris and London lay down __7__on the law and women around the world run to obey. The __8__decrees of the designers are unpredictable and dictatorial.Sometime they decide arbitrarily, that skirts will be short and __9__waists will be height; hips are in and buttons are out. __10__2008年英语专业八级改错练习题及答案解析(8)Demographic indicators show that Americans in the post war period were more eager than ever to establish families. They quickly brought down the age at marriage for both men and women and brought the birth rate to a twentieth century height __1_ after more than a hundred years of a steady decline, producing the “baby boom.” __2_ These young adults established a trend of early marriage and relatively large families that went for more than two decades and caused a major but temporary __3__ reversal of long-term demographic patterns. From the 1940s through the early1960s, Americans married at a high rate and at a younger age than their __4__ Europe counterparts. __5__Less noted but equally more significant, the men and women who formed __6__ families between 1940 and 1960 nevertheless reduced the divorce rate after a __7__ postwar peak; their marriages remained intact to a greater extent than did that of __8_ couples who married in earlier as well as later decades. Since the United States __9__ maintained its dubious distinction of having the highest divorce rate in the world,the temporary decline in divorce did not occur in the same extent in Europe. __10__ Contrary to fears of the experts, the role of breadwinner and homemaker was not abandoned.2008年英语专业八级改错练习题及答案解析(9)When you start talking about good and bad manners you immediately startmeeting difficulties. Many people just cannot agree what they mean. We asked a lady, who replied that she thought you could tell a well-mannered person on the __1_ way they occupied the space around them—for example, when such a person walks d own a street he or she is constantly unaware of others. Such people never __2_ bump into other people. However, a second person thought that this was more a questi on of civilized behavior as good manners. Instead, this other person told us a story_3_ it he said was quite well-known, about an American who had been invited __4__to an Arab meal at one of the countries of the Middle East. The American __5__ hasn’t been told very much about the kind of food he might expect. If he had __6__ known about American food, he might have behaved better. __7__Immediately before him was a very flat piece of bread that looked, tohim, very much as a napkin. Picking it up, he put it into his collar, so that __8__it falls across his shirt. His Arab host, who had been watching, __9__said of nothing, but immediately copied the action of his guest. __10__And that, said this second person, was a fine example of good manners.2008年英语专业八级改错练习题及答案解析(10)A great many cities are experiencing difficulties which are nothingnew in the history of cities, except in their scale. Some cities have lost theiroriginal purpose and have not found new one. And any large or rich city is __1__ going to attract poor immigrants, who flood in, filling with hopes of __2__ prosperity which are then often disappointing. There are backward towns on the edge of Bombay or Brasilia, just as though there were on the edge of __3__ seventeenth-century London or early nineteenth-century Paris. This is new is __4__ the scale. Descriptions written by eighteenth-century travelers of the poor of Mexico City, and the enormous contrasts that was to be found there, are very __5__ dissimilar to descriptions of Mexico City today—the poor can still be numbered __6_ in millions.The whole monstrous growth rests on economic prosperity, but behind it lies __7__ two myths; the myth of the city as a promised land, that attracts immigrants __8__ from rural poverty and brings it flooding into city centers, and the myth of the __9__ country as a Garden of Eden, which, a few generations late, sends them flood __10__ -ing out again to the suburbs.（一）参考答案及解析:1 将had used 改为used。
08年英语专业八级全真试题（3）
TEXT B Wilfred 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 Englishmans dream of a rustic life, a dream that his entrepreneurial wealth has allowed him to satisfy. These days hes 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. Britains 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 dont 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. Whats 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 cant hope to match their City salaries, but many are happy to trade any loss of income for the extra job satisfaction. Who cares if theres 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. Todays 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 isnt catching up with mainland Europe; its 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. V D. Publicity as a result of media coverage. 20. The sentence in the last paragraph “……Britain isnt catching up with mainland Europe; its 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.。
英语专业八级考试试题附听力mp3
2008年英语专业八级考试试题附听力mp3PART 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. You notes will not be market, but you will need them to complete agap-filling task for 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 onANSWER SHEET ONE.Use the blank sheet for note- tanking.SECTION B INTERVIEWIn 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 colored answer sheet.Questions 1 to 5 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following five questions.Now listen to the interview1. Mary doesn't seem to favour the idea of a new airport becauseA. the existing airports are to be wastedB. 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 EXCEPTA. more job opportunities.B. vitality to the local economy.C. road construction,D. presence of aircrew in the area.4. Mary thinks that people dont need to do much travel nowadays as a result ofA. less emphasis on personal contact.B. advances in modern telecommunications.C. recent changes in peoples concepts.D. more potential damage to the area5. We learn from the conversation that Freddy is Marys ideas,A. strongly in favour ofB. mildly in favour ofC. strongly againstD. 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 based 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 Sundays 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 20 seconds to answer the questions.Now listen to the news.7. The tapes of the Apollo-11 mission were first stored inA. 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 20 seconds to answer the questions.Now listen to the news.9. The example in the news item is cited mainly to showA. that doctors are sometimes professionally incompetentB. 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 clinicsA. 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 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 sheet。
专八试题及答案
2008英语专业八级真题及答案TEST FOR ENGLISH MAJORS (2008)-GRADE EIGHT-TIME LIMIT: 195 MIN PARTI 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.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 based on a conversation. At the end of the conversation you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the followingfive questions.Now listen to the conversation.1. Mary doesn't seem to favour the idea of a new airport becauseA. the existing airports are to be wastedB. 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 potentialdisadvantage?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 airportEXCEPTA. 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 nowadaysas a result ofA. less emphasis on personal contact.B. advances in modern telecommunications.C. recent changes in people's concepts.D. more potential damage to the area5. We learn from the conversation that Freddy is Mary's ideas,A. strongly in favour ofB. mildly in favour ofC. strongly againstD. 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 based 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 20 seconds to answer the questions.Now listen to the news.7. The tapes of the Apollo-11 mission were first stored inA. 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 20 seconds to answer the questions.Now listen to the news.9. The example in the news item is cited mainly to showA. that doctors are sometimes professionally incompetentB. 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 clinicsA. 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 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 youranswers 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 ofhis 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-styleand other selection tests, which have traditionally determined whichstudents 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 othersfail,” 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 theexpensive 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" universitiesthat 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 melodramatic, but that's the SouthKorean school system.11. According to the passage, the new college-entrance system isdesigned 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 ismainly 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 theadoption 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'streatment 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 traditionaliststo 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 ofthe 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 ofChartered 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 otherincalculable 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 beinga peasant.” And not an investment banker.16. Which of the following details of Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones isINCORRECT?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 traditionalBritish 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 ofa 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 catchingup 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 ofhuman 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 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 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 ancientritual.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 isdifferent.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 owneconomic 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 notto 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 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 isthatA. 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 __________ toshow 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”. Whatdoes 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 hehad taken the money and disappeared. After three months, no one on the Gulf Coast believed that he was dead. His name came off the letterheadas 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, asix-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 nosmall 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 "Specialistsin 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 theCoast.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 officein the attic.26. What happened to the four remaining lawyers after Patrick'sdisappearance?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 Patrickstealing 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; thusthe 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 III GENERAL 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 sheet31. The largest city in Canada isA. Vancouver.B. Montreal.C. TorontoD. Ottawa.32. According to the United States Constitution, the legislativepower is invested inA. 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 isA. 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 byA. 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-centuryBritain EXCEPTA. 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 isinterested 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 sameform is calledA. hyponymy.B. synonymy.C. polysemy.D. homonymy.PART IV PROOFREADING & ERROR CORRECTION (15 MIN) Proofread the given passage on ANSWER SHEET TWO as instructed.PART V TRANSLATION (60 MIN)SECTION A CHINESE TO ENGLISHTranslate the underlined part of the following text into English. Write your translation on ANSWER SHEET THREE.都市寸土千金，地价炒得越来越高，今后将更高。
专八口译08年口译试题答案
08年口译试题Task 1联想集团总裁关于更换品牌标识的讲话The speech of the president of Lenovo Group on the Change of Brand Logo1.今天是一个值得联想人永远铭记的日子。
•Today will always be remembered by all the staff of Lenovo.•Today will be engraved on the heart and memory of every member of Lenovo.•Today is a day that every Lenovo member will bear in mind forever.•此事值得铭记。
It is worthy to be remembered.•20世纪的历史教训值得铭记,维护和发展和平友好的国际环境是人类共同的责任。
•Historical lessons of the 20th century should never be forgotten. To maintain and develop an international surrounding with peace and friendship is the responsibility of all the human beings.•铭记在心。
Bear this in mind.•那个事件铭记在我的记忆里。
The event was imprinted on my memory.•他的忠言被铭记在我的心头。
His advice was graven on my mind.•她父亲的话铭记在她记忆中。
Her father's words were inscribed in her memory•她对自己所负的责任铭记在心。
She is mindful of her responsibilities.2.我非常高兴和大家一起见证联想品牌新标识的诞生。
2008年专八口译参考译文
2008年度全国英语专业八级口试参考答案1 I believe that the research we’ve conducted as part of the project will prove important to our field, both here in China and in the US.我相信作为项目的一部分，我们的研究将会对我们这个领域产生重要作用，不仅在中国在美国也如此。
我相信，作为此项目的一个组成部分，我们所作的研究对于我们在中国和美国的研究领域都具有重大的意义。
2. By working closely with my colleagues from China and Canada, I’ve come to realize how important it is to understand and learn from different perspectives. Diversity adds rather than detracts.通过与中加两国的同事密切合作开展工作，我认识到从不同的角度相互理解和学习是多么重要。
多样性有益无损。
通过与我的中国和加拿大同事的紧密合作,我渐渐意识到从不同角度去理解问题和学习知识的重要性。
不同的背景没有削弱我们的实力，而是让我们更加强大。
3. Without the expertise of our Chinese and Canadian fellow researchers, my American colleagues and I would never have been able to get this far.如果没有中国和加拿大研究同行的专业技术，我和我的美国同事不可能取得今天的成就。
如果没有我们中国和加拿大研究同行的专业知识，我和我的美国同事们是不可能取得今天的成就的。
4. I’m happy to be able to announce, on behalf of my university, that we have received a grant of about $158, 000 US dollars that allows us to organize a six-week research session in Dallas, Texas, next summer.我很高兴代表我所在的大学宣布，我们获得了一笔大约15万8千美元的拨款，能够让我们明年夏天在德州的达拉斯举办一次为期六周的研究会议。
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。
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2008年英语专业八级考试全真试卷及其参考答案TEST FOR ENGLISH MAJORS（2008）—GRADE EIGHT—TIME LIMIT: 195MINPART I LISTENING COMPREHENSION (35 MIN)SECTION A MINI -LECTUREIn this section you will hear a mini-lecture. You will hear the lecture ONCE ONL Y. While listening, take notes on the important points. You notes will not be market, but you will need them to complete a gap-filling task for 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 onANSWER SHEET ONE.Use the blank sheet for note- tanking.SECTION B INTERVIEWIn 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 colored answer sheet. Questions 1 to 5 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following five questions.Now listen to the interview1. Mary doesn't seem to favour the idea of a new airport becauseA. the existing airports are to be wastedB. 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 EXCEPTA. more job opportunities.B. vitality to the local economy.C. road construction,D. presence of aircrew in the area.4. Mary thinks that people dont need to do much travel nowadays as a result ofA. less emphasis on personal contact.B. advances in modern telecommunications.C. recent changes in peoples concepts.D. more potential damage to the area5. We learn from the conversation that Freddy is Marys ideas,A. strongly in favour ofB. mildly in favour ofC. strongly againstD. 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 based 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 Sundays 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 20 seconds to answer the questions.Now listen to the news.7. The tapes of the Apollo-11 mission were first stored inA. 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 20 seconds to answer the questions.Now listen to the news.9. The example in the news item is cited mainly to showA. that doctors are sometimes professionally incompetentB. 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 clinicsA. 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 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 sheet。
TEXT AAt the age of 16, Lee Hyuk Joons 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, its time to hit the books again—at one of Seouls 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. Its 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 Koreas 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. Thats because South Korea has conceived a new college-entrance system, which will be implemented in 2008. This years 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 didnt worry too much about their grade-point averages; the big challenge was beating he 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 Koreas public secondary-school system is foundering, while private education is thriving. According to critics, the countrys 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. Theyve asked for more discretion in picking students by giving more weight to such screening tools as essay writing or interviews.President Roh Moo Hyun doesnt 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 countrys 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 thats 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 governments 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 authors 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 Englishmans dream of a rustic life, a dream that his entrepreneurial wealth has allowed him to satisfy. These days hes 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. Britains 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 tocome to terms with the fact that things have changed." Says Emmanuel-Jones. "You can produce the best food in the world, but if you dont 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 100,000a 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.Whats 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 "RiverCottage" series, chronicled the attempts of a London chef to run his own Dorset farm. Naturally, the newcomers cant hope to match their City salaries, but many are happy to trade any loss of income for the extra job satisfaction. Who cares if theres 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. Todays 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 isnt catching up with mainland Europe; its 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 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 isnt catching up with mainland Europe; its 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 arent 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 apartment buildings: nine “stories”, 35 feet into the air. Then, just When it seems this tower of humanity cant 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 Mediterraneans most dynamic city. But when you observe-them tip close, in their street clothes, at practice, you see theres nothing easyabout 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 its 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 Spains 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 near ly a quarter of Spains 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 theres 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 Barcelonas 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 th ere 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, Barcelonas 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 firms 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 wouldnt 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 Patricks 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 firms senior partner and itsiron 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 Patricks 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.PART III GENERAL 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 sheet31. The largest city in Canada isA. V ancouver.B. Montreal.C. TorontoD. Ottawa.32. According to the United States Constitution, the legislative power is invested inA. 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 isA. 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 byA. 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 EXCEPTA. 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 calledA. hyponymy.B. synonymy.C. polysemy.D. homonymy.PART IV PROOFREADING & ERROR CORRECTION (15 MIN)Proofread the given passage on ANSWER SHEET TWO as instructed.PART V TRANSLATION (60 MIN)SECTION A CHINESE TO ENGLISHTranslate the underlined part of the following text into English. Write your translation on ANSWER SHEET THREE.都市寸土千金，地价炒得越来越高，今后将更高。