英语专业八级考试模拟题2.doc

英语专业八级考试模拟题2(1)PART I LISTENING COMPREHENSIONIn Section A, B and C you will hear everything ONLY ONCE. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Mark the correct response to each question on the Colored Answer Sheet.SECTION A TALKQuestion 1 to 5 refer to the talk in this section. At the end of the talk you will be given 15 seconds to answer each of the following five questions.Now listen to the talk.1. When you say to your guest, I hope you like it, he will probably think that _.A) the food may not be very good.B) the food is very delicious.C) you are being polite.D) you are proud of the food.2. Which of the following is not a simple, universal and socially neutral expression to use when drinking with someone?A) Salud.B) Prosit.C) Bon appetit.D) Skaal.3. According to the author, the term goodbye is _.A) formal and final, therefore very appropriate to use.B) often used for temporary affairs.C) bit of baby-talking.D) not very appropriate to use for temporary leave-taking.4. According to Mr. Daniel Kane, _A) the English language is dying.B) other European languages are superior than English.C) English is better than any other language.D) English doesnt exactly help social contact.5. The main idea of the passage is _A) English customs are changing all the time.B) English is more than deficient in its social contact expressions than other European languages.C) English cooking is the most notorious.D) There is a gap between English and other languages.SECTION B INTERVIEWQuestion 6 to 10 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will be given 15 seconds to answer each of the following question.Now listen to the interview.6. Whats the relationship between the speakers?A) colleagues.B) friends.C) roommates.D) classmates.7. What did Jane think of Potters course?A) There are too many things to do.B) Its rubbish.C) Its entertaining.D) Its boring but very useful.8. What did they think of Potters fist lecture?A) over-detailed.B) interesting.C) overloading.D) boring.9. What did the three speakers think of Potters lecture dealing with the 18th century developments?A) Jane and Helen thought it was good but Brain didnt.B) All of them thought it was all right.C) None of them thought much of it.D) Helen and Brian liked it, but Jane thought it was too detailed and too formless.10. What is the Union?A) The place where the Students Union is located.B) A Department of the government.C) A place where they can have coffee.D) One of the states in U.S.ASECTION D NOTE-TAKING AND GAP-FILLINGIn this section you will hear a mini-lecture. You will hear the lecture ONLY ONCE. While listening to the lecture, take notes on the important points. Your notes will not be marked, but you will need them to complete a 15-minute gap-filling task on ANSWER SHEET ONE after the mini lecture. Use the blank sheet for note-taking.Man is the only animal that laughs. But what is the (16) of laughter? One writer thought that it is to (17) others or to gain stature over them by humiliating them. Another writer in the 17th century thought we laugh at the (18) of the others. Laughter is defined as an emotional (19) It originated as a kind of semi verbalized social expression of (20) Everyone likes a good laughter because he brings (21) with him wherever he goes. We cannot think that it was (22) in the early days of mans evolution.A second stage of the (23) is that nature favors those capable of expressing their pleasure in laughter. The development of (24) undeniably is an indispensable factor in the (25) of mans capacity to think and establish a mastery of his environment.PART II PROOFREADING & ERROR CORRECTIONThe following passage contains ten errors .Each line contains a maximum of one error. In each case only one word is involved. You should proofread the passage and correct it in the following way:For a wrong word: underline the wrong word and write the correct one in the blank provided at the end of the line.For a missing word: mark the position of the missing word with a sign and write the word you believe to be missing in the blank provided at the end of the line.For an unnecessary word: cross the unnecessary word with a slash / and put the word in the blank provided at the end of the line.One important outcome of the work on the expressionof genes in developing embryos is sure to be knowledgethat can help preventing birth defects. Just as promising(26)is the possibility of unraveling the complicated writing(27)of the brain. A mechanic gets valuable insight how an(28)automobile works by rebuilding car engines; similarly,neuroscientists can learn how the brain functions from(29)the way it is put together. The next step pursuing the(30)goal is to find out how the blueprint genes, the home boxgenes, control the expression of other genes that create thevalves and piston of the working cerebral engine. Theprotein encoded by the latter genes could change the(31)stickiness of the cell surface, the shape of the cell or itsmetabolism to create the characteristic peculiar to, say,neurons or neural-crest cell. Surface proteins may be the(32)mechanism, whereby similar programmed cells sticktogether to form specific structures; they might also sense(33)the local environment to help the cell decide what is to do.Clarifying those mechanisms will engage the best talents in(34)embryology and molecular biology for some times to come.(35)What is perhaps the most intriguing question of all is if thebrain is powerful enough to solve the puzzle of its own creation.PART III READING COMPREHENSIONSIn this section there are four reading passages followed by fifteen multiple-choice questions. Read the passages and then mark your answers on your Answer Sheet.TEXT ASuch joy. It was the spring of 1985, and President Reagan had just given Mother Teresa the Medal of Freedom in a Rose Garden ceremony. As she left, she walked down the corridor between the Oval Office and the West Wing drive, and there she was, turning my way. What a sight: a saint in a sari coming down the White House hall. As she came nearer, I could not help it: I bowed. Mother, I said, I just want to touch your hand. She looked up at me it may have been one of Gods subtle jokes that his exalted child spent her life looking up to everyone else and said only two words. Later I would realize that they were the message of her mission. Luff Gott, she said. Love God. She pressed into my hand a poem she had written, as she glided away in a swoosh of habit. I took the poem from its frame the day she died. It is free verse, 79 lines, and is called Mothers Meditation (in the Hospital). In it she reflects on Christs question to his apostles: Who do you say I am? She notes that he was the boy born in Bethlehem, put in the manager full of straw kept warm by the breath of the donkey, who grew up to be an ordinary man without much learning. Donkeys are not noble; straw is common; and it was among the ordinary and ignoble, the poor and sick, that she chose to labor. Her mission was for them and among them, and you have to be a pretty tough character to organize a little universe that exists to help people other people arent interested in helping. Thats how she struck me when I met her as I watched her life. She was tough. There was the worn and weathered face, the abrupt and definite speech. We think saints are great organizers, great operators, great combatants in the world. Once I saw her in a breathtaking act of courage. She was speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington in 1995. All the Washington Establishment was there, plus a few thousand born-again Christians, orthodox Catholics and Jews, and searchers looking for a faith. Mother Teresa was introduced, and she spoke of God, of love, of families. She said we must love one another and care for one another. There were great purrs of agreement. But as the speech continued it became more pointed. She asked, Do you do enough to make sure your parents, in the old peoples homes, feel your love? Do you bring then each day your joy and caring? The baby boomers in the audience began to shift in their seats. And she continued. I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, she said, and then she told them why, in uncompromising term. For about 1.3 seconds there was complete silence, then applause built and swept across the room. But not everyone: the President and the First Lady, the Vice President and Mrs. Gore, looked like seated statues at Madame Tussauds, glistening in the lights and moving not a muscle. She didnt stop there either, but went on to explain why artificial birth control is bad and why Protestants who separate faith from works are making a mistake. When she was finished, there was almost no one she hadnt offended. A US Senator turned to his wife and said, Is my jaw up yet? Talk about speaking truth to power! But Mother Teresa didnt care, and she wasnt afraid. The poem she gave me included her personal answers to Christs question. She said he is the Truth to be told the Way to be walked the Light to be lit. She took her own advice and lived a whole life that showed it.36. Who was the exalted child?A) Mother Teresa.B) the author.C) I.D) God.37. Who raised the question who do you say I am?A) the apostle.B) Christ.C) Mother Teresa.D) she.38. Which of the following is not a quality of Mother Teresa?A) tough.B) definite.C) ethereal.D) like a steam-roller.39. Why did the President and the First Lady, the Vice President and Mrs. Gore look like seated statues at the Madame Tussauds?A) Because they didnt love Madame Tussaud.B) Because they didnt like to move.C) Because they were VIP.D) Because they didnt quite agree with Mother Teresa over the issue of abortion.40. According to Mother Teresa, abortion is _A) one of Protestant works.B) one of Protestant faith.C) one of the Truths.D) not one of Protestant worksTEXT BSince the Titanic vanished beneath the frigid waters of the North Atlantic 85 years ago, nothing in the hundreds of books and films about the ship has ever hinted at a connection to Japan until now. Director James Camerons 200 million epic Titanic premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival last Saturday. Among the audience for a glimpse of Hollywoods costliest film ever descendants of the liners only Japanese survivor. The newly rediscovered diary of Masabumi Hosono has Titanic enthusiasts in a frenzy. The document is scrawled in 4,300 Japanese character on a rare piece of RMS Titanic stationery. Written as the Japanese bureaucrat steamed to safety in New York aboard the ocean liner Carpathia, which rescued 706 survivors, the account and other documents released by his grandchildren last week offer a fresh and poignant reminder of the emotional wreckage left by the tragedy. Hosono, then 42 and an official at Japans Transportation Ministry, was studying railway networks in Europe. He boarded the Titanic in Southampton, en route home via the US. According to Hosonos account, he was awakened by a loud knock on the door of his second-class deck with the steerage passengers. Hosono tried to race back upstairs, but a sailor blocked his way. The Japanese feigned ignorance and pushed past. He arrived on deck to find lifeboats being lowered into darkness, flares bursting over the ship and an eerie human silence. He wrote: Not a single passenger would howl or scream. Yet Hosono was screaming inside. Women were being taken to lifeboats and men held back at gunpoint. I tried to prepare myself for the last moment with no agitation, making up my mind not to do anything disgraceful as a Japanese, he wrote. But still I found myself looking for and waiting for any possible chance of survival. Then an officer shouted, Room for two more! Hosono recalled: I myself was deep in desolate thought that I would no more be able to see my beloved wife and children. Then he jumped into the boat. When Hosono arrived in Tokyo two months later, he was met with suspicion that he had survived at someone elses expense. The culture of shame was especially strong in prewar Japan. In the face of rumors and bad press, Hosono was dismissed from his post in 1914. He worked at the office part-time until retiring in 1923. His grandchildren say he never mentioned the Titanic again before his death in 1939. Even then, shame continued to haunt the family. In newspapers, letters and even a school textbook, Hosono was denounced as a disgrace to Japan. Readers Digest reopened the wound in 1956 with an abridged Japanese version of Walter Loads best seller. A Night to remember, which described Anglo-Saxons as acting bravely on the Titanic, while Frenchmen, Italians, Americans, Japanese and Chinese were disgraceful. Citing his fathers diary, one of Hosonos sons, Hideo, launched a letter-writing campaign to restore the family name. But nobody in Japan seemed to care. The diary resurfaced last summer. A representative for a US foundation that plans to hold an exhibition of Titanic artifacts in Japan next August found Hosonos name on a passenger list. A search led him to Haruomi Hosono, a well-known composer, and to his cousin Yuruoi, Hideos daughter. She revealed that she had her grandfathers dairy as well as a collection of his letters and postcards. I was floored, says Michael Findley, cofounder of the Titanic International Society in the US This is a fantastic, fresh new look at the sinking and the only one written on Titanic stationery immediately after the disaster. The information allows enthusiasts to rearrange some historical minutes, such as which lifeboat Hosono jumped into. More chilling, the account confirms that the crew tried to keep foreigners and third-class passengers on the ships lower deck, effectively ensuring their name. The diary cannot correct injustice, but Hosonos family hopes it will help clear his name. The Titanic foundation also hopes to capitalize on the diary and the movie to promote its upcoming exhibition. To that end, Haruomi Hosono, the composer, has been asked to give a talk at next months public premiere of Titanic! The diary cannot, of course, match Camerons fictionalized epic for drama and intrigue. But at least Masabumi Hosonos tale really happened.41. _ was among the descendants of the Liners only Japanese survivor.A) Masabumi Hosono.B) Yuriko.C) Cameron.D) RMS.42. Why was Masabumi denounced as a disgrace to Japan?A) Because he killed some people on the Titanic.B) Because he was then an official.C) Because he was dismissed from his ministry post.D) Because the culture of shame was too strong.43. What important role did the diary really play?A) It corrected injustice.B) It was as vivid as the movie Titanic.C) It proved what Masabumi said was true.D) It made the Japanese believe what Masabumi had said.TEXT CFor years, Europeans have been using smart cards to pay their way through the day. They use them in shops and restaurants, plug them into pubic into telephones as and parking meters. In France smart cards cover anything from a bistro bill to a swimming-pool entry fee. In American, smart cards are not nearly so common only about 43,000 are now circulating in the US and Canada but Forrester Research of Cambridge, Mass., predicts that number will balloon to 4.7 million by the year 2002. What is a smart card, exactly, and how does it work? Also called a chip card because of the tiny microprocessor embedded in it, a smart card looks like the other plastic in your wallet. To make things more confusing, some smart cards pull double duty as regular ATM bank cards. The difference is that when you swipe your ATM (or debit) card at the grocery-store checkout, youre draining cash from your bank account. Smart cards, on the other hand, are worthless unless they are loaded with cash value, pulled directly from your bank account or traded for currency. The chip keeps track of the amounts stored and spent. The advantage, in theory, is convenience: consumers bother less with pocket change and are able to use plastic even at traditionally cash-only vendors. The electronic transaction doesnt require a signature, a PIN number or bank approval. Downside: lose the card, lose the money. Most people are probably more familiar with stored-value cards equipped only with a magnetic strip, such as fare card issued to riders on the Washington metro or the New York City subway. The newer chip-enhanced versions, armed with more memory and processing power, have popped up in various places in the past years or so, from college campuses to military bases to sports stadiums. Other experiments are under way. A health-care claims processor in Indianapolis, Ind., hopes smart cards will streamline medical-bill payments. In Ohio, food-stamp recipients receive a smart card rather paper vouchers. Smart cards issued for general commerce are rarer, unless you happen to live in a place designated for a test run, such as Manhattans Upper West Side. But big bank and plastic-purveying kings Visa and MasterCard are hot for the idea, promising more extensive trials and more elaborate, multipurpose cards capable of rendering everything else you carry plastic, paper or coin superfluous. Todays smart cards may not be revolutionizing the way we buy the morning paper yet, but they could turn out to be right tool spu