四川大学2005年博士研究生入学英语考试题.doc

四川大学2005年博士研究生入学英语考试题Passage 1 As the horizons of science have expanded, two main groups of scientists have emerged. One is the pure scientist; the other, the applied scientist. The pure or theoretical scientist does original research in order to understand the basic laws of nature that govern our world. The applied scientist adapts this knowledge to practical problems. Neither is more important than the other, however, for the two groups are very much related. Sometimes, however, the applied scientist finds the problem for the theoretical scientist to work on. Lets take a particular problem of the aircraft industry: heat-resistant metals. Many of the metals and alloys which perform satisfactorily in a car cannot be used in a jet-propelled plane. New alloys must be used, because the jet engine operates at a much higher temperature than an automobile engine. The turbine wheel in a turbojet must withstand temperatures as high as 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit, so aircraft designers had to turn to the research metallurgist for the development of metals and alloys that would do the job in jet-propelled planes. Dividing scientists into two groups is only one broad way of classifying them, however. When scientific knowledge was very limited, there was no need for men to specialize. Today, with the great body of scientific knowledge, scientists specialize in many different fields. Within each field, there is even further subdivision. And, with finer and finer subdivisions, the various sciences have become more and more interrelated until no one branch is entirely independent of the others. Many new specialties -geophysics and biochemistry, for example - have resulted from combining the knowledge of two or more sciences.1. The applied scientist _.A. is not always interested in practical problems B. provides the basic knowledge for practiceC. applies the results of research to practice D. does original research to understand the basic laws of nature2. The example given in the passage illustrates how _.A. pure science operates independently of applied science B. the applied scientist discovers the basic laws of nature C. applied science defines all the areas in which basic research is done D. applied science suggests problems for the basic scientist3. The problem discussed in the second paragraph called for_.A. selecting the best hear-resistant metal from existing metalsB. developing a turbine wheel capable of generating heat up to 1,600 degrees FahrenheitC. developing metals and alloys that would withstand terrific temperaturesD. causing the jet engine to operate at higher temperatures4. Finer mad finer subdivision in the field of science has resulted in_.A. greater independence of each science B. greater interdependence of all the various sciencesC. the eradication of the need for specialists D. the need for only on classification of scientists5. The horizons of science have expanded means that_.A. the horizon changes its size from year to year B. science has developed more fields of endeavorC. scientists have made great progress in studying the horizon D. scientists can see further out into spacechow Passage 2 In The Disuniting of America: Reflections on a Multicultural Society, Revised and Enlarged Edition (W. W. Norton) Schlesinger provides deep insights into the crises of nationhood in America. A new chapter assesses the impact both of radical multiculturalism and radical monoculturalism on the Bill of rights. Written with his usual clarity and force, the book brings a noted historians wisdom and perspective to bear on Americas culture wars. Schlesinger addresses the questions: What holds a nation together? And what does it mean to be an American? Describing the emerging cult of ethnicity, Schlesinger praises its healthy effect on a nation long shamed by a history of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. But he warns against the campaign of multicultural advocates to divide the nation into separate ethnic and racial communities. From the start, he observes, the United States has been a multicultural nation, rich in its diversity but held together by a shared commitment to the democratic process and by the freedom of intermarriage. It was this national talent for assimilation that impressed foreign visitors like Alexis de Tocqueville and James Bryce, and it is this historic goal that Schlesinger champions as the best hope for the future. Schlesinger analyzes what he sees as grim consequences of identity politics: the widening of differences. Attacks on the First Amendment, he argues, threaten intellectual freedom and, ultimately, the future of the ethnic groups. His criticisms are not limited to the left. As a former target of McCarthyism, he understands that the radical right is even more willing than the radical left to restrict and weaken the Bill of Rights. The author does not minimize the injustices concealed by the melting pot dream. The Disuniting of America is both academic and personal, forceful in argument, balanced in judgment. It is a book that will no doubt anger some readers, but it will surely make all of them think again. The winner of Pulitzer Prizes for history and for biography, an authoritative voice of American liberalism, Schlesinger is uniquely positioned to bring bold answers and healing wisdom to this passionate debate over who we are and what we should become.6. According to Schlesinger, the United States is_. A. a melting pot B. a nation with diverse cultures held together by the democratic processC. a federation of ethnic and racial communities D. a nation with various ethnic and racial groups7. We can infer from the passage that Schlesinger_.A. advocates the assimilation of different cultures into one nationhood B. prefers multiculturalism to monoculturalismC. gives full support to the emerging cult of ethnicity D. holds that each racial group should keep its distinct identity8. The author wants to tell us that America_.A. is experiencing a crisis of nationhood B. is trying to restrict the Bill of RightC. has ended its history of racial prejudice D. has tried to obstruct intellectual freedom9. According to the author, Schlesingers book will_.A. cause anger among the radical right B. cause anger among the radical leftC. put an end to the culture wars in America D. provoke thinking among the readers10. This passage is most probably taken from _. A. a history book B. a book introduction C. a book review D. a journal of literary criticismchow Passage 3The El Nino (little boy in Spanish) that pounded the globe between the summers of1997 and 1998 was in some measure the most destructive in this century. Worldwide damage estimates exceed 20 billion -not to mention the human death toll caused by resulting droughts, floods and bushfires. El Nino and La Nina (little girl) are part of a seesawing of winds and currents in the equatorial Pacific called ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillation) that appears every two to eight years. Normally, westward-blowing trade winds caused by the rotation of the earth and conditions in the Tropics push surface water across the Pacific towards Asia. The warm water piles up along the coasts of Indonesia, Australia and the Philippines, raising sea levels more than a foot above those on the South American side of the Pacific. As El Nino builds the normal east-to-west trade winds wane. Like water splashing in a giant bathtub, the elevated pool of warm water washes from Asian shores back towards South America. In last seasons cycle, surface temperatures off the west coast of South America soared from a normal high of 23C degrees to 28C degrees. This area of warm water, twice the size of the continental US, interacted with the atmosphere, creating storms and displacing high-altitude winds. El Nino brought rain that flooded normally dry coastal areas of Ecuador, Chile and Peru, while droughts struck Australia and Indonesia. Fires destroyed some five million acres of Indonesian forest. The drought, along with the economic crisis, left about five million people desperate for food and water. These conditions helped set the stage for riots that led to the downfall of President Suharto. El Nino also took the blame for extreme temperatures in Texas last summer over 38C degrees for a record 30 days in a row. In Florida, lush vegetation turned to tinder and bushfires raged. Even Britain has been sweltering with our hottest year on record in 1997.11. As El Sino builds, _ . A. the normal westward trade winds weaken B. the normal eastward trade winds weaken C. the normal westward trade winds strengthen D. the normal eastward trade winds strengthen12. Which of the following statements is true? A. El Nino results from droughts, floods and bushfires. B. El Nino brought rain to most areas that were affected, C. When El Nino appeared, some of the worlds rainforests were attacked by droughts. D. Most areas that were affected by El Nino got droughts.13. Once El Nino even played a role in the political world. What was it?A. President Suharto was overthrown by the drought caused by El Nino. B. El Nino caused riots that led to the downfall of President Suharto. C. President Suharto resigned because of the drought caused by El Nino. D. The drought caused by El Nino together with the economic crisis prevailing in Indonesia helped to overthrow President Suharto.14. The phrase in a row in the last paragraph means_. A. continuously B. in a line C. awfully D. now and then15. The writer of this passage is most likely to be_. A. an Australia observer B. a British national C. an American geographer D. an Indonesia journalistchow Passage 4 In patients with Huntingtons disease, its the part of the brain called the basal ganglia thats destroyed. While these victims have perfectly intact explicit memory systems, they cant learn new motor skills. An Alzheimers patient can learn to draw in a mirror but cant remember doing it: a Huntingtons patient cant do it but can remember trying to learn. Yet another region of the brain, an almond-size knot of neural tissue seems to be crucial in forming and triggering the recall of a special subclass of memories that is tied to strong emotion, especially fear. These are just some of the major divisions. Within the category implicit memory, for example, lie the subcategories of associative memory the phenomenon that famously led Parlovs dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell which they had learned to associate with food and of habituation, in which we unconsciously file away unchanging features of the environment so we can pay closer attention to whats new and different upon encountering a new experience. Within explicit, or declarative memory, on the other hand, there are specific subsystems that handle shapes, textures such as faces, names - even distinct systems to remember nouns vs. verbs. All of these different types of memory are ultimately stored in the brains cortex, within its deeply furrowed outer layer - a component of the brain dauntingly more complex than comparable parts in other species. Experts in brain imaging are only beginning to understand what goes where, and how the parts are reassembled into a coherent whole that seems to be a single memory is actually a complex construction. Think of a hammer, and your brain hurriedly retrieves the tools name, its appearance, its function, its heft and the sound of its clang, each extracted from a different region of the brain. Fail to connect persons name with his or her face, and you experience the breakdown of that assembly process that many of us begin to experience in our 20s and that becomes downrightworrisome when we reach our 50s. It was this weakening of memory and the parallel loss of ability to learn new things easily that led biologist Joe Tsien to the experiments reported last week. This age-dependent loss of function, he says, appears in many animals, and it begins with the onset of sexual maturity. Whats happening when the brain forms memories - and what fails with aging, injury and disease - involves a phenomenon known as plasticity. Its obvious that something in the brain changes as we learn and remember new things, but its equally obvious that the organ doesnt change its overall structure or grow new nerve cells wholesale. Instead, its the connections between new cells - and particularly the strength of these connections that are altered by experience. Hear a word over and over, and the repeated firing of certain cells in a certain order makes it easier to repeat the firing pattern later on. It is the pattern that represents each specific memory.16. Which of the following symptoms can be observed in a person who suffers from the Huntingtons disease?A. He cannot remember what he has done but can remember trying to learn.B. He cannot do something new but he can remember doing it.C. He suffers from a bad memory and lack of motor skills. D. He suffers from a poor basal ganglia and has intact explicit memory.17. According to the passage, which of the following memories has nothing to do with implicit memory?A. Associating a signal with an action. B. Recognizing of new features.C. Focusing on new environment. D. Remembering a familiar face of a friend.18. Which of the following may happen to a patient who suffered from damages to his explicit memory?A. When he is in a new environment, he is always frightened. B. When he plays football, he cannot learn new tricks.C. When he sees a friend, its hard for him to remember his name. D. When he finds a hammer, he cannot tell anything about it.19. The word extract in the second paragraph means_.A. obtain B. remove C. pull D. derive20. We can draw a conclusion from the passage that_.A. Scientists have found the mechanism underlying the memorizing activitiesB. More research must be done to determine the brain structure. C. Some researchers are not content with the findings.D. It is obvious that something in the brain changes as we learn and remember.chow Passage 5 Mobility of individual members and family groups tends to split up family relationships. Occasionally the movement of a family away from a situation which has been the source of friction results in greater family organization, but on the whole mobility is disorganizing. Individuals and families are involved in three types of mobility: movement in space, movement up or down in social status, and the movement of ideas. These are termed respectively spatial, vertical and ideational mobility. A great increase in spatial mobility has gone along with improvements in rail and water transportation, the invention and use of the automobile, and the availability of airplane passenger service. Spatial mobility results in a decline in the importance of the traditional home with its emphasis on family continuity and stability. It also means that when individual family members or the family as a whole move away from a community, the person or the family is removed from the pressures of relatives, friends, and community institutions for conventionality and stability. Even more important is the fact that spatial mobility permits some members of a family to come in contact with and possibly adopt attitudes, values, and ways of thinking different from those held by other family members. The presence of different attitudes values, and ways of thinking within a family may, and often does, result in conflict and family disorganization. Potential disorganization is present in those families in which the husband, wife and children are spatially separated over a long period, or are living together but see each other only briefly because of different work schedules. One index of the increase in vertical mobility is the great increase in the proportion of sons, and to some extent daughters who engage in occupations other than those of the parents. Another index of vertical mobility is the degree of intermarriage between social classes. This occurs almost exclusively between classes which are adjacent to each other. Engaging in a different occupation, or intermarriage, like spatial mobility, allows one to come in contact with ways of behavior different from those of the parental home, and tends to separate parents and their children. The increase in ideational mobility is measured by the increase in publications, such as newspapers, periodicals and books, the increase in the percentage of the population owning radios, and the increase in television sets. All these tend to introduce new ideas into the home. When individual family members are exposed to and adopt the new ideas, the tendency is for conflict to arise and for those in conflict to become psychologically separated from each other.21. What the passage tells us can be summarized by the statement_.A. potential disorganization is present in the American familyB. social development results in a decline in the importance of traditional familiesC. the movement of a family is one of the factors in raising its social status D. family disorganization is more or less the result of mobility22. According to the passage, those who live in a traditional family _A. can get more help from their family members if the are in troubleB. will have more freedom of action and thought if they move away from itC. are less likely to quarrel with others because of conventionality and stabilityD. have to depend on th