[外语类试卷]专业英语八级（作文）模拟试卷81及答案与解析.doc

1、专业英语八级（作文）模拟试卷 81及答案与解析 一、 PART V WRITING 1 Earth Hour participation has grown by leaps and bounds since its inception in 2007. Advocates claim it saves energy and raises awareness of the issue. Naysayers dismiss it as worthless and paranoiacs dismiss it as a conspiracy. The following article introd

2、uces the basic information of Earth Hour and peoples opinions to it. Write an article of NO LESS THAN 300 words, in which you should: 1. summarize briefly the article; 2. give your comment. This Saturday night, a global effort is set to take place to promote energy conservation the Earth Hour. To jo

3、in in on the effort, simply turn off your lights from 8:30-9:30 pm in your local time zone. This worldwide effort is designed to demonstrate that each person has a choice in their energy consumption and at any time can simply choose to use less. Some 2,400 cities in 82 countries have signed up to pa

4、rticipate, six times more than last year. Some of the landmarks scheduled to go dark include the Great Pyramids and Sphinx in Egypt, Acropolis in Greece, Broadway Theater marquees, etc. Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour.

5、In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. This year, however, Earth Hour has been transformed from being just a sign of solidarity regarding energy conservation, to a “global vote.“ The organizers of this years event are p

6、ublicizing participation in the event as a vote “For Earth and Against Global Warming“. According to Earth Hour sponsor the World Wildlife Fund(WWF), “For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote sw

7、itching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. Some scientists are confident

8、that the temperature increases we are experiencing are all within normal heating and cooling trends that have been occurring for centuries, long before industrialization was ever an issue. Other scientific bodies have stated unequivocally that global warming is occurring, and people are causing it b

9、y burning fossil fuels and the only debate about global warming is about how much and how fast warming will continue as a result of heat-trapping emissions. As a result of this controversy, not everyone agrees with the message of Earth Hourand at least one counter-protest is planned for Saturday. Su

10、burban Philadelphia ice cream shop owner Bob Gerenser, 56, believes global warming is based on faulty science and calls Earth Hour “nonsense.“ The resident of New Hope, PA, and owner of Gerensers Exotic Ice Cream planned to illuminate his store with extra theatrical lighting. “Im going to get everyo

11、ne I know in my neighborhood to turn on every light they possibly can to waste as much electricity as possible to underline the absurdity of this action. by being absurd.“ Despite the controversy over “global warming“ or climate change, I personally think that energy conservation is never a bad thin

12、g. So the lights will go out in our house for an hour on Saturday, for no other reason than to remind my family that at any time we can choose to reduce our energy usage by simply flicking a switch. 2 Electronic gadgets such as smartphones are so overused in daily life that the relationships such as

13、 those between husbands and wives, parents and children, have been affected to varying extents. Thus, the All-China Womens Federation (ACWF) has put forward a proposal, calling on cellphone addicts to switch off their devices at least one hour a day and spend more quality time with their families. T

14、he following are different opinions on this proposal. Write an article of NO LESS THAN 300 words, in which you should: 1. summarize briefly the arguments from both sides; 2. give your comment. Chen Guangjiang, physician in Suzhou Central Hospital Just like Earth Hour, a global initiative for environ

15、mental awareness that encourages people all around the world to turn off the nonessential lights for an hour on the event day, cannot tangibly reduce energy consumption, this proposal constitutes a modest suggestion. In certain cases, however, the power of such a symbolic action should not be undere

16、stimated. It is likely that switching off ones phones may help people to view things in a different light and maybe even to reevaluate their priorities. Besides, in my humble opinion, the fact that many people keep their smart phones on all day long may just mean they are deluding themselves into th

17、inking that they are more important than they actually are! Ran Yu, Graduate Student at the University of Kansas People tend to spend a large amount of time on their smartphones, time that might otherwise have been spent on communicating within ones family or participating in social gatherings, lead

18、ing to a sum decline in the quality of their interpersonal relationships. Given this, the ACWFs proposal to put ones mobile phones to one side for at least one hour every day is eminently reasonable. However, in this era of the mobile Internet, what an impractical idea it is! In any case, if the hap

19、piness some couples experience in their married life hangs on them switching off smartphones, their marriage is in the first place quite fragile. While it is indeed true that smartphones have caused conflicts between couples, the side effects of the use of such devices should not be so exaggerated.

20、Liu Yunxi, Associate Advisory at KPMG Whether or not this initiative will really help to bolster familial connections remains a moot point. I, for one, do not hold high expectations. Apart from playing with our cellphones, we have at our disposal a multitude of other ways in which we can kill time.

21、Those who turn off their phones will not necessarily spend the time with their family. They may go out to meet friends or spend the time reading instead. The key to improving family relationships lies not in switching off our phones, but in our desire to spend time with family members. If people are

22、 willing and able to be together with their loved ones, even their phones will not prove sufficient distraction. Placing the blame for the deterioration of family relationships solely on electronic gadgets is surely going a step too far. Wang Chuantao, journalist from Workers Daily: The ACWFs propos

23、al is more of symbolic significance than of actual practical use. The message the ACWF seems to be trying to convey is that smartphones are distracting users from the real life and that life will still go on, and maybe even improve, if you power off your smartphones for one or more hours a day. This

24、 proposal does not mean to deny the convenience brought by modern hi-tech products, but people should remember that they are not the slaves of electronic devices, but rather should be the masters. 3 Human intelligence technology has been thriving over the past decade. Now, we have super-computers th

25、at even beat humans in go. Some experts say that one day computers will replace teachers in the classroom, believe it or not. The following article provides detailed information about this prediction. Read it carefully and write your response in NO LESS THAN 300 words, in which you should: 1. summar

26、ize briefly the article; 2. give your comment on whether computers will replace human teachers. Could Computers Ever Replace Teachers? In the early 1960s, Professor Donald Bitzer, an electrical engineer at the University of Illinois, was creating one of the worlds first teaching machines. But with i

27、ts growth came speculation and apprehension could a computer replace a teacher? Fifty years on, this question is still being asked. Fiona Hollands, senior researcher at Columbia Universitys Teachers College, says computers are now being used for several distinct reasons in the classroom: they help f

28、ace-to-face teacher instruction in “blended learning“ models; they can be used to supplement educators in “hybrid“ teaching models; and replace teachers in “virtual“ classrooms. “A few states and districts have created their own virtual schools with Florida Virtual School being the best known,“ says

29、 Hollands, adding that a recent study claimed not only can students do just as well with this approach, but there may also be cost savings. In the US, Rocketship schools have cut overheads by introducing more online classes and employing fewer teachers. They have attracted global attention through t

30、heir “blended learning“ approach in which a quarter of a students school day is taught by a computer. Teachers without credentials supervise online sessions while qualified teachers focus on critical thinking. Any savings are used to pay existing teachers more. Hollands argued that Rocketship school

31、s provide a lower quality education to deprived children. He believes it is hard, for example, to work alone online if your English reading skills are weak and if you are easily distracted. Tricia Kelleher, principal of the Stephen Perse Foundation, warns that technology should not spell the end for

32、 teachers. Rather, it should be seen as a useful tool in the teachers armoury. This May, Mitra did a Ted talk on the “school in the cloud“ where he discussed his hole in the wall experiment. Mitra placed a computer in a kiosk in a Delhi slum and allowed children to use it freely. He found that many

33、of them, lots who had never seen a computer, could teach themselves all on their own. “Teachers often ask me, am I going to lose my job? I say no because your job will get harder. It will become a different job. It will go from being a master standing at the front of class to a helpful friend at the

34、 back.“ He adds: “There will have to be a dramatic change to teacher programmes but we are no where near that yet.“ One thing that is going to change, however, is the need for teachers with technological skills. Jose Picardo, the assistant principal of Surbiton High school, says teachers who can use

35、 technology will replace those who cannot. He adds that tools like video now allow children to learn at any point, and teachers need to make the most of this. 4 As Internet have been quite popular, some argue that peoples problem-solving ability will deteriorate, because they are adapted to “Google“

36、 the solution, instead of thinking of one by themselves. The following article provides information about how the internet affects students way of doing research. Read it carefully and write your response in NO LESS THAN 300 words, in which you should: 1. summarize briefly the article; 2. give your

37、comment on whether the internet worsens peoples problem-solving ability. How Teens Do Research in the Digital World Three-quarters of college teachers say that the internet and digital search tools have had a “mostly positive“ impact on their students research habits, but 87% say these technologies

38、are creating an “easily distracted generation with short attention spans“ and 64% say todays digital technologies “do more to distract students than to help them academically.“ These complex and at times contradictory judgments emerge from an online survey of more than 2,000 middle and high school t

39、eachers drawn from the Advanced Placement (AP) and National Writing Project (NWP) communities. Overall, teachers who participated in this study characterize the impact of todays digital environment on their students research habits and skills as mostly positive. Yet, when asked if they agree or disa

40、gree with specific assertions about how the internet is impacting students research, their views are decidedly mixed. On the more encouraging side, virtually all (99%) AP and NWP teachers in this study agree with the notion that the best students access a greater depth and breadth of information on

41、topics that interest them; students can take advantage of the availability of educational material in engaging multimedia formats; and many become more self-reliant researchers. At the same time, these teachers juxtapose these benefits against some emerging concerns. Specifically, some teachers worr

42、y about students overdependence on search engines; the difficulty many students have judging the quality of online information; the general level of literacy of todays students; increasing distractions pulling at students and poor time management skills; students potentially diminished critical thin

43、king capacity; and the ease with which todays students can borrow from the work of others. Perhaps the greatest impact this group of teachers sees todays digital environment having on student research habits is the degree to which it has changed the very nature of “research“ and what it means to “do

44、 research.“ Teachers and students alike report that for todays students, “research“ means “Googling.“ As a result, some teachers report that for their students “doing research“ has shifted from a relatively slow process of intellectual curiosity and discovery to a fast-paced, short-term exercise aim

45、ed at locating just enough information to complete an assignment. In response to this trend, many teachers say they shape research assignments to address what they feel can be their students overdependence on search engines and online encyclopedias. Nine in ten direct their students to specific onli

46、ne resources they feel are most appropriate for a particular assignment, and 83% develop research questions or assignments that require students to use a wider variety of sources, both online and offline. The vast majority of these teachers say a top priority in todays classrooms should be teaching

47、students how to “judge the quality of online information.“ As a result, a significant portion of the teachers surveyed here report spending class time discussing with students how to assess the reliability of the information they find online, and how to improve their search skills. 专业英语八级（作文）模拟试卷 81

48、答案与解析 一、 PART V WRITING 1 【正确答案】 Conserving Energy: More Than One Hour a Year The article above discusses this years Earth Hour movement to call for energy conservation by encouraging people switching off their lights for one hour and vote for Earth to fight against global warming. However, scientis

49、ts and citizens who are convinced that global warming has far been over-exaggerated dont seem to appreciate this effort. For me, Global warming is a real problem whose enormity and seriousness cannot be underestimated, but there definitely are better ways to arouse peoples awareness of conserving energy. Simply asking our parents how much warmer it has become these years than the time when they were children we can understand what global warming means to us. Plus, all those pictures and research studies on disappearing icebergs, melting gla