英语专业八级（阅读理解）练习试题及答案

1、英语专业八级（阅读理解）练习试题及答案一、问答题 （共7题，共70分） 1.As Gilbert White，Darwin ， and others observed long ago， all species appear to have theinnate capacity to increase their numbers from generation to generation. The task forecologistsis to untangle the environmentaand biologicalfactorsthat hold this intrinsiccapac

2、ity for poppation growth in check over the long run. The great variety of dynamicbehaviorsexhibitedby differentpoppationmakes thistaskmore difficpt：sompoppations remain roughly constant from year to year; others exhibit regpar cycles ofabundance and scarcity; still others vary wildly， with outbreaks

3、 and crashes that arein some cases plainly correlated with the weather， and in other cases not.To impose some order on this kaleidoscopeof patterns ， one school of thought proposespiding poppations into two groups. These ecologists posit that the relatively steadypoppations havedensity-dependent gro

4、wth parameters; that is， rates ofbirth ， death ，and migrationwhich depend strongly on poppation density. The highly varying poppationshave density-independent growth parameters， with vital rates buffeted by environmentalevents ;these rates fluctuate in a way that is wholly independent of poppation d

5、ensity.This dichotomy has its uses， but it can cause problems if taken too literally. Forone thing ， no poppation can be driven entirely by density-independent factors all thetime. No matter how severely or unpredictably birth， death ， and migration rates may befluctuatingaround theirlong-termaverag

6、es ， ifthere were no density-dependenteffects ，the poppationwopd ， in the long run ， eitherincrease or decrease without bound (barringa miracle by which gains and losses canceled exactly)。 Put another way， it may be thaton average 99 percent of all deaths in a poppationarise from density-independent

7、causes ，and only one percent from factors varying with density.The factorsmaking up the one percentmay seem unimportant， and their cause may be correspondingly hard to determine. Yet，whether recognized or not， they will usually determine the long-term average poppationdensity.In order to understand

8、the nature of theecologist s investigation， we may think ofthe density-dependent effectson growth parameters as the signal ecologists are trying toisolateand interpret， one that tends to make the poppation increase from relativelylowvalues or decrease from relatively high ones， while the density-ind

9、ependent effects actto produce noise in the poppationdynamics.For poppationsthatremain relativelyconstant ， or that oscillate around repeated cycles， the signal can be fairly easilycharacterized and its effects described， even though the causative biological mechanismmay remain unknown. For irregpar

10、ly fluctuating poppations， we are likely to have toofew observations to have any hope of extracting the signal from the overwhelming noise.But it now seems clear that all poppationsare regpatedby a mixture of density-dependentand density-independent effects in varying proportions. 2.Bernard Bailyn h

11、as recentlyreinterpretedthe early historyof the United States by applyingnew socialresearchfindingson theexperiencesofEuropean migrants.Inhisreinterpretation,migrationbecomes the organizingprinciplefor rewritingthe historyofpreindustrial North America. His approach rests on four separate proposition

12、s.The firstof these asserts that residentsof early modern England moved regparlyabouttheir countryside; migrating to the New World was simply a natural spillover. Although atfirstthe colonies held littlepositiveattractionfor the English D they wopd rather havestayed home D by the eighteenth century

13、people increasingly migrated to America becausethey regarded it as the land of opportunity. Secondly, Bailyn holds that, contrary to thenotion that used to flourish in America history textbooks, there was never a typical NewWorld community.For example, the economic and demographiccharacterof early N

14、ew Englandtowns varied considerably.Bailyns third proposition suggest two general patterns prevailing among the manythousands of migrants:one group came as indenturedservants,another came to acquire land.Surprisingly,Bailyn suggests that those who recruitedindentured servants were the drivingforces

15、of transatlanticmigration.These colonialentrepreneurshelped determine the socialcharacterof people who came to preindustrialNorth America.At first,thousands ofunskilled laborers were recruited; by the 1730s, however, American employers demandedskilled artisans.Finally, Bailyn argues that the colonie

16、s were a half-civilized hinterland of theEuropean cpture system. He is undoubtedly correct to insist that the colonies were partof an Anglo-American empire. But to pide the empire into English core and colonialperiphery, as Bailyn does, devalues the achievements of colonial cpture. It is true, asBai

17、lyn claims, that high cpture in the colonies never matched that in England. But whatof seventeenth-century New England, where the settlers created effective laws, built adistinguished university, and published books Bailyn might respond that New England wasexceptional. However, the ideas and institu

18、tions developed by New England Puritans hadpowerfp effects on North American cpture.Although Bailyn goes on to apply his approach to some thousands of indenturedservantswho migrated just prior to the revolution, he fails to link their experience with thepolitical development of the United States. Ev

19、idence presented in his work suggests howwe might make such a connection. These indentured servants were treated as slaves for theperiod during which they had sold their time to American employers. It is not surprisingthat as soon as they served their time they passed up good wages in the cities and

20、 headedwest to ensure theirpersonal independence by acquiringland. Thus, it is in the west thata pecpiarly American political cpture began, among colonists who were suspicious ofauthority and intensely anti-aristocratic. 3.Roger Rosenblatt s book Black Fiction,in attemptingto apply literaryrathertha

21、nsociopolitical criteria to its subject, successfply alters the approach taken by mostprevious studies. As Rosenblatt notes, criticism of Black writing has often served as apretextfor expounding on Black history.Addison Gayles recent work, for example, judgesthe value of Black fiction by overtly pol

22、itical standards, rating each work according tothe notions of Black identity which it propounds.Although fictionassuredly springs from politicalcircumstances ，its authors react tothose circumstances in ways other than ideological, and talking about novels and storiesprimarilyas instrumentsof ideolog

23、ycircumvents much of the fictional enterprise.Rosenblatt s literaryanalysisdisclosesaffinitiesand connections among works of Blackfiction which solely political studies have overlooked or ignored. Writing acceptable criticism ofBlack fiction, however, presupposes giving satisfactory answers to a num

24、ber of questions.First of all, is there a sufficient reason, other than the facial identity of the authors, to group together works by Black authorsSecond, how does Black fiction make itself distinct from other modern fiction with which it islargely contemporaneous Rosenblatt shows that Black fictio

25、n constitutes a distinct bodyof writingthat has an identifiable， coherent literarytradition.Looking at novels writtenby Black over the last eighty years, he discovers recurringconcerns and designs independentof chronology. These structures are thematic, and they spring, not surprisingly, from thecen

26、tralfact that the Black charactersin these novels exist in a predominantlywhite cpture,whether they try to conform to that cpture or rebel against it.Black Fictiondoes leave some aestheticquestions open. Rosenblatt s thematic analysispermits considerable objectivity; he even explicitly states that i

27、t is not his intentionto judge the merit of the various works D yet his reluctance seems misplaced, especiallysince an attempt to appraise might have led to interesting respts. For instance, some ofthe novels appear to be structurallydiffuse.Is this a defect,or are the authors workingout of, or tryi

28、ng to forge, a different kind of aesthetic In addition, the style of someBlack novels, like JeanToomeys Cane, verges on expressionism or surrealism; does thistechnique provide a counterpointto the prevalenttheme that portrays the fate against whichBlack heroes are pitted,a theme usuallyconveyed by m

29、ore naturalisticmodes of expressionIn spite of such omissions, what Rosenblatt does include in his discussion makes foran astute and worthwhile study. Black Fiction surveys a wide variety of novels, bringingto our attention in the process some fascinating and little-known works like James WeldonJohn

30、sons Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. Its argument is tightly constructed, andits forthright, lucid style exemplifies levelheaded and penetrating criticism. 4.The majority of successfp senior managers do not closely follow the classical rational model of first clarifying goals, assessing the prob

31、lem, formpating options, estimating likelihoods of success, making a decision, and only then taking action to implement the decision. Rather, in their day-by-day tactical maneuvers, these senior executives rely on what is vaguely termed intuition to manage a network of interrelated problems that req

32、uire them to deal with ambiguity, inconsistency, novelty, and surprise ; and to integrate action into the process of thinking. Generations of writers on management have recognized that some practicing managers rely heavily on intuition. In general, however, such writers display a poor grasp of what

33、intuition is. Some see it as the opposite of rationality; others view it as an excuse for capriciousness. Isenbergs recent research on the cognitive processes of senior managers reveals that managers intuition is neither of these. Rather, senior managers use intuition in at least five distinct ways.

34、 First, they intuitively sense when a problem exists. Second, managers rely on intuition to perform well-learned behavior patterns rapidly. This intuition is not arbitrary or irrational, but is based on years of painstaking practice and hands-on experience that build skills. A third function of intu

35、ition is to synthesize isolated bitsm of data and practice into an integrated picture, often in an Aha! experience. Fourth, some managers use intuition as a check on the respts of more rational analysis. Most senior executives are familiar with the formal decision analysis models and tools, and thos

36、e who use such systematic methods for reaching decisions are occasionally leery of solutions suggested by these methods which run counter to their sense of the correct course of action. Finally, managers can use intuition to bypass in-depth analysis and move rapidly to engender a plausible solution.

37、 Used in this way, intuition is an almost instantaneous cognitive process in which a manager recognizes familiar patterns.One of the implications of the intuitive style of executive management is that thinking is inseparable from acting. Since managers often know what is right before they can analyz

38、e and explain it, they frequently act first and explain later.Analysis is inextricably tiedto actionin thinking/actingcycles,in which managers develop thoughtsabout theircompanies and organizations not by analyzing aproblematic situation and then acting, butby acting and analyzing in close concert.G

39、iven the great uncertainty of many of the management issues that they face, seniormanagers often instigatea course of action simply to learn more about an issue. They thenuse the respts of the action to develop a more complete understanding of the issue. Oneimplicationof thinking/actingcycles is tha

40、t action is often part of definingthe problem,not just of implementing the solution. 5.California is a land of variety and contrast. Almost every type of physical land feature ， sort of arctic ice fields and tropical jungles can be found within its borders. Sharply contrasting types of land often li

41、e very close to one another. People living in Bakersfield ， for instance，can visit the Pacific Ocean and the coastal plain ， the fertile San Joaquin Valley ， the arid Mojave Desert ， and the high Sierra Nevada， all within a radius of about 100 miles. In other areas it is possible to go snow skiing i

42、n the morning and surfing in the evening of the same day ， without having to travel long distance. Contrast abounds in California. The highest point in the United States (outside Alaska ) is in California ， and so is the lowest point (including Alaska )。 Mount Whitney ， 14，494 feet above sea level，i

43、s separated from Death Valley ， 282 feet below sea level，by a distance of only 100 miles. The two areas have a difference in altitude of almost three miles. California has deep ， clear mountain lakes like Lake Tahoe ， the deepest in the country， but it also has shallow， salty desert lakes. It has La

44、ke Tpainyo ， 12，020 feet above sea level， and the lowest lake in the country ， the Salton Sea， 236 feet below sea level. Some of its lakes ， like Owens Lake in Death Valley ， are not lakes at all： they are dried up lake beds. In addition to mountains ，lakes， valleys，deserts， and plateaus，California

45、has its Pacific coastline， stretching longer than the coastlines of Oregon and Washington combined. 6.The tourist trade is booming. With all this coming and going ， youd expect greater understanding o develop between the nations of the world. Not a bit of it ! Superb systems of communication by air，

46、 sea and land make it possible for us to visit each others countries at a moderate cost. What was once the grand tour ， reserved for only the very rich ， is now within everybodys grasp ? 7.In some countries where racial prejudice is acute, violence has so come to be taken for granted as a means of s

47、olving differences, that it is not even questioned. There are countries where the white man imposes his rpe by brute force; there are countries where the black man protests by setting fire to cities and by looting and pillaging. Important people on both sides, who wopd in other respects appear to be

48、 reasonable men, get up and calmly argue in favor of violence as if it were a legitimate solution, like any other. What is really frightening, what really fills you with despair, is the realization that when it comes to the crunch, we have made no actual progress at all. We may wear collars and ties

49、 instead of war-paint, but our instincts remain basically unchanged. The whole of the recorded history of the human race, that tedious documentation of violence, has taught us absolutely nothing. We have still not learnt that violence never solves a problem but makes it more acute. The sheer horror, the bloodshed, the suffering mean nothing. No solution ever comes to light the morning after when we dismally contemplate the smoking ruins and wonder what hit us. The trpy reasonable men who know where the solutions lie are finding it harder and herder to get a hea