北外英语专业考研真题

1、北外英语专业考研真题I.Reading Comprehension (60 points).AMultiple Choice (36 points).Please read the following passages and choose A, B, C or D to best complete the statements about them.The Greening of America How America is likely to take over leadership of the fight against climate change; and how it can g

2、et it right.A country with a presidential system tends to get identified with its leader. So, for the rest of the world, America is George Bushs America right now. It is the country that has mismanaged the Iraq war; holds prisoners without trial at Guant anamo Bay; restricts funding for stem-cell re

3、search because of fundamentalist religious beliefs; and destroyed the chance of a global climate-change deal based on the Kyoto Protocol.But to simplify thus is to misunderstand especially in the case of the huge, federal America. One of its great strengths is the diversity of its political, economi

4、c and cultural life. While the White House dug its heels in on global warming, much of the rest of the country was moving. Thats what forced the presidents concession to greens in the state-of-the-union address. His poll ratings sinking under the weight of Iraq, President Bush is grasping for popula

5、r issues to keep him afloat; and global warming has evidently become such an issue. Albeit in the context of energy security, a now familiar concern of his, President Bush spoke for the first time to Congress of the serious challenge of global climate change and proposed measures designed, in part,

6、to combat it.Its the weather, appropriately, that has turned public opinion starting with Hurricane Katrina. Scientists had been warning Americans for years that the risk of extreme weather events would probably increase as a result of climate change. But scientific papers do not drive messages home

7、 as convincingly as the destruction of a city. And the heat wave that torched Americas west coast last year, accompanied by a constant drip of new research on melting glaciers and dying polar bears, has only strengthened the belief that something must be done.Business is changing its mind too. Five

8、years ago corporate America was solidly against carbon controls. But the threat of a patchwork of state regulations, combined with the opportunity to profit from new technologies, began to shift business attitudes. And that movement has gained momentum, because companies that saw their competitors e

9、spouse carbon controls began to fear that, once the government got down to designing regulations, they would be left out of the discussion if they did not jump on the bandwagon. So now the loudest voices are not resisting change but arguing for it.Support for carbon controls has also grown among som

10、e unlikely groups: security hawks (who want to reduce Americas dependence on Middle Eastern oil); farmers (who like subsidies for growing the raw material for ethanol); and evangelicals (who worry that man should looking after the Earth God gave him a little better). This alliance has helped persuad

11、e politicians to move. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Californias Republican governor, has led the advance, with muscular measures legislating Kyoto-style curbs in his state. His popularity has rebounded as a result. And now there is movement too at the federal level, which is where it really matters. Bills

12、 to tackle climate change have proliferated. And three of the serious candidates for the presidency in 2008 John McCain, Hillary Clinton andBarack Obama are all pushing for federal measures.Unfortunately, President Bushs newfound interest in climate change is coupled with, and distorted by, his focu

13、s on energy security. Reducing Americas petrol consumption by 20% 2017, a target he announced in the state-of-the-union address, would certainly diminish the countrys dependence on Middle Eastern oil, but the way he plans to go about it may not be either efficient or clean. Increasing fuel-economy s

14、tandards for cars and trucks will go part of the way, but for most of the switch America will have to rely on a greater use of alternative fuels. That means ethanol (inefficient because of heavy subsidies and high tariffs on imports of foreign ethanol) or liquefied coal (filthy because of high carbo

15、n emissions)The measure of President Bushs failure to tackle this issue seriously is his continued rejection of the only two clean and efficient solutions to climate change. One is a carbon tax, which this paper has long advocated. The second is a cap-and- trade system of the sort Europe introduced

16、to meet the Kyoto targets. It would limit companies emissions while allowing them to buy and sell permits to pollute. Either system should, by setting a price on carbon, discourage emission; and, in doing so,encourage the development and use of cleaner-energy technologies. Just as Americas adoption

17、of catalytic converters led eventually to the worlds conversion to lead-free petrol, so its drive to clean-energy technologies will ensure that these too spread.A tax is unlikely because of Americas aversion to that three-letter word. Given that, it should go for a tough cap-and-trade system. In doi

18、ng so, it can usefully learn from Europes experience. First, get good data. Europe failed to do so: companies were given too many permits, and emissions have therefore not fallen. Second, auction permits (which are, in effect, money) rather than giving them away free. Europe gave them away, which al

19、lowed polluters to make windfall profits. This will be a huge fight; for, if the federal government did what the Europeans did, it would hand out $40 billion to $50 billion in permits. Third, set a long time-horizon. Europeans do not know whether carbon emissions will still be constrained after 2012

20、, when Kyoto runs out. Since most clean-energy projects have a payback period of more than five years, the system thus fails to encourage green investment.One of Americas most admirable characteristics is its belief that it has a duty of moral leadership. At present, however, its not doing too well

21、on that score. Global warming could change that. By tackling the issue now it could regain the high moral ground (at the same time forging ahead in the clean-energy business, which Europe might otherwise dominate). And it looks as though it will; for even if the Toxic Texan continues to evade the is

22、sue, his successor will grasp it.(1)It can be inferred from the first paragraph that .AAmerica is busy dealing with the Iraq war and the Guant namo Bay prisonersBAmerica is interested in stem-cell researchCAmerica despises the global climate-change dealDAmerica declines to sign the Kyoto protocol(2)

23、Dig ones heels in in the second paragraph means .Aimprove by pressureBjudge by oneselfCrefuse to change ones mindDpay more attention to(3)Which is NOT the reason that causes the corporate America to change its mind over carboncontrols ? .AThe state regulations are getting strictBThere is an opportun

24、ity to profit from new technologiesCSome competitors approve of carbon controlsDThe loudest voices are supporting carbon controls(4)According to the author, which is NOT a practicable way to reduce carbon emissions in America? .AImposition of a carbon taxBEstablishment of a cap-and-trade systemCPerm

25、ission to buy and sell permits to polluteDSetting a price on carbon(5)Because of the Americans distaste for tax, the author suggests that all of the following should be done EXCEPT that .Aa suitable number of permits be offeredBthe price for the permits be setCcarbon emissions be tackled in a long-t

26、erm viewDcarbon emissions be loosened after 2012(6)The polluters windfall profits (para. 8) stands for .Athe privilege granted by the permitsBthe unexpected lucky gain from the permitsCthe financial support from the federal government北外英语专业考研真题 (2)CGap Filling (14 points).Please choose the best sent

27、ence from the list after the passage to fill in each of the gaps in the text. There are more sentences than gaps.Truths to live byThe art of living is to know when to hold fast and when to let go.(18) . The rabbis of old put it this way: A man comes intothis world with his fist clenched, but when he

28、 dies, his hand is open.(19) . We know that this is so, but all too often we recognize this truth only in our backward glance when we remember with far greater pain that we did not see that beauty when it flowered, that we failed to respond with love to love when it was tendered.(20) . I was hospita

29、lized following a severe heart attack andhad been in intensive care for several days. It was not a pleasant place.One morning, I had to have some additional tests. The required machines were located in a building at the opposite end of the hospital, so I had to be wheeled across the courtyard.As we

30、emerged from our unit, the sunlight hit me. Thats all there was to my experience. Just the light of the sun. (21) .I looked to see whether anyone else relished the suns golden glow, but everyone was hurrying to and fro, most with their eyes fixed on the ground. Then I remembered how often I, too, ha

31、d been indifferent to the grandeur of each day, too preoccupied with petty and sometimes even mean concerns to respond to the splendor of it all.The insight gleaned from that experience is really as commonplace as was the experience itself: lifes gifts are precious but we are too heedless of them.He

32、re then is the first pole of lifes paradoxical demands on us: Never be too busy for the wonder and the awe of life. (22) . Embrace each hour.Seize each golden minute.(23) . This is the second side of lifes coin, the opposite pole ofits paradox: we must accept our losses, and learn how to let go.This

33、 is not an easy lesson to learn, especially when we are young and think that the world is ours to command, that whatever we desire with the full force of our passionate being can, may, will, be ours. (24).ASurely we ought to hold fast to life, for it is wondrous, and full of a beauty that breaks through every pore of Gods own earth.BBut then life moves along to confront us with realities, and slowly but surely this second truth dawns upon us.CFor life is a paradox: it enjoins us to cling to its many gifts even while it ordains their eventual relinquishment.DWhen life is treated with the