[外语类试卷]专业英语八级（作文）模拟试卷92及答案与解析.doc

1、专业英语八级（作文）模拟试卷 92及答案与解析 一、 PART V WRITING 1 Nowadays, over-reliance on computers and smartphones has eroded our penmanship. Worse still, it may further worsen our reading skills which are based on the recognition of Chinese characters. Read the excerpt carefully and write your response in about 300

2、words, in which you should: 1. summarize briefly the authors opinion; 2. give your comment. Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization and language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks. Bad Characters Some Chinese Forget

3、How to Write Calligraphy has been a revered art form in China for centuries. Children are taught to write with brushes; endless copying of characters is a rite of passage in their schooling. Writing is a feat of memory. Mastery requires learning thousands of unique characters. Despite these ordeals,

4、 literacy rates have increased from around 20% in 1949 to over 95% now. But computers, smartphones and tablets are posing a new obstacle to progress. Penmanship is on the decline. Reading skills may follow. Pundits all over the world blame a reliance on computers for shoddy handwriting and spelling.

5、 In China the problem is particularly acute. The number of primary schoolchildren with severe reading difficulties is rising, according to a 2012 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The authors linked poor reading scores to increased use of keyboards. One reason is that lea

6、rning to write is so arduous. Chinese uses ideograms, or characters, rather than an alphabet, to represent each syllable. An ideogram is a graphic symbol that represents an idea or concept, independent of any particular language, and specific words or phrases. Some ideograms are comprehensible only

7、by familiarity with prior convention; others convey their meaning through pictorial resemblance to a physical object, and thus may also be referred to as pictograms. It normally takes six years of primary education to master the 3 ,000 or so characters required to read a newspaper. Nowadays Chinese

8、can use keyboards to type a word in pinyin, a Romanisation of Chinese words that reflects sounds but not appearance. They then select the right character from a list. This process does not reinforce how to write the separate strokes that make up a character, and may even disrupt the process of remem

9、bering, says Wai Ting Siok of the University of Hong Kong. Ms. Siok predicts that on current trends literacy levels will begin declining within ten years. The problem is already evident. A government body helped to launch a popular television spelling show that pits middle-school students against ea

10、ch other to write difficult words; in one episode in July more than 50% of the adult audience incorrectly drew a two-character word meaning “gossip“ , feiwen. Over the past century, some have campaigned to raise literacy by replacing characters with an alphabet. That remains unlikely. Homophones are

11、 so common in Chinese that many different words would be spelled the same. And China views its script as near-sacred. Abandoning its written form would be entirely out of character. Write your response on ANSWER SHEET FOUR. 2 Just like other nations in the world, China has been entering an aging era

12、 demographically. How serious is this problem and what can we do to tackle it? Read the excerpt carefully and write your response in about 300 words, in which you should: 1. summarize briefly the authors opinion; 2. give your comment. Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency,

13、 organization and language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks. Aging Liu Caiping is a former teacher, now 71, who has lived alone in Xian since her husband died last year. The radio is her steadfast companion. Her eyesight is failing and she rarely goes o

14、ut. Like many city residents, her former neighbors have scattered, and her two daughters are far away. When she can no longer cope on her own she will go to a nursing home, she says. That option remains extremely rare for old Chinese. And that highlights the problem: China is struggling to cope with

15、 a rapidly aging society and a rising number of elderly people living by themselves. For most of the past two millennia the family has been central to how Chinese have seen themselves and the state has been seen as a family writ large. Filial piety was somewhere near the heart of a Confucian order r

16、egulating society, and the family was an extended, stable unit of several generations under one roof. A very common saying encapsulated it all: yang er fang lao “ raise children for your old age. Today multi-generation families are still the norm. Almost three-fifths of people over 65 live with thei

17、r children, a higher proportion than in most rich countries. Yet things are changing fast. Increasingly, parents are living apart from their children and when one spouse dies, as with Ms. Liu, the other often lives alone. A fifth of all single-person households in China are made up of over-65-year-o

18、lds. In contrast to younger Chinese living alone, few elderly do so by choice. Many are poorly educated. Women predominate, because they tend to outlive their husbands. China is unprepared for the consequences of solo dwelling among the elderly. Government policy enshrines the idea that families sho

19、uld live together and provide for the old and others unable to look after themselves. Despite efforts to extend pensions and other social protection, provisions fall far short because the state assumes offspring will help the old and sick. The welfare system is ill-equipped to help the elderly livin

20、g alone. State financial support has improved in the past decade, but many millions of elderly Chinese still have no pension or retirement income. Health insurance is increasingly widespread, but usually covers only the basics. Rural areas lag far behind cities in the provision of pensions and healt

21、h care for the old. By 2025 nearly one in four Chinese will be over 60. Chinas one-child policy has made a mockery of yang er fang lao fewer among the younger generation are around for the old to move in with, a trend reinforced by starting families later. By 2050 there are likely to be just 2.5 wor

22、king-age adults for every person over 65, down from eight today. Chinese born in the boondocks who migrate to far-off cities in search of work cannot easily take older family members with them even if they want to. Despite the challenges, many in China still regard responsibility towards their famil

23、y as a defining feature of their culture. Not much difference with other countries there. But the expectation of filial piety means that those who are not recipients of it often feel ashamed or isolated. Many are reluctant to seek help of neighbors when they need it, for instance. The government ack

24、nowledges the problem. When it relaxed the one-child policy, one reason it cited was a growing number of elderly singletons. Some enterprising local governments have introduced schemes aimed at the lonely old. But with a weak social-safety net, little support is in place when families fail to help t

25、hose living alone. Write your response on ANSWER SHEET FOUR. 3 The recent tragedies involving small children dying from heat strokes after being left in cars have sparked online discussions. Should parents be held legally accountable for leaving their children in a car? Read the excerpts carefully a

26、nd write your response in about 300 words, in which you should: 1. summarize briefly the different opinions; 2. give your comment. Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization and language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of mar

27、ks. Ratfink (Australia) Penalties dont always work in cases like this. From a humanitarian viewpoint, losing a child in such a tragic manner will cause a lifetime of grief for the parents. However, there are times when a steep penalty is needed, in the case of wilful neglect for example. Ted (Canada

28、) Here in Canada criminal charges are sometimes brought against negligent parents and they are sometimes convicted and sometimes imprisoned. This has been the case for as long as Ive been alive (72. 5 years). Heir (The Philippines) No. The loss of a child is enough to bear. Instead, as a result of t

29、he first incidence of such an accidental death of a child, the government should instruct the mass media to educate all the parents by forewarning them of such possible tragedies. Also educate law enforcers to check parked vehicles for children inside and how to get them out even if they have to bre

30、ak the windshield or side door window to free a trapped child. Hail (Australia) Here in Australia we have accidents on farms from time to time where children are injured or killed. It is most often the case that the parents have been careless and this has resulted in their childs death but there is

31、no sense in getting angry at them about it. These types of accidents are a tragedy and often the parents are in more need of counseling than punishment. I do not think that parents that cause a tragic accident through being careless should be charged with manslaughter. Earthcitizen (the US) Its abou

32、t time parents were held more responsible for their lack of action. Too many times a child has drowned in a dam or at the beach, been run over in the driveway or on the road outside the house, been in a room many storeys up with insecure windows or left in the car to cook. Too many times people say

33、“oh those poor parents“. We need to start saying “Where were the parents?“ There is NO EXCUSE for failed parenting. If I live in a property with water or dangerous equipment I never let my children out of my sight. If I am at a beach or lake I never let my children out of my sight and this also appl

34、ies to the park, my own yard, etc. Children and accidents happen easily, but when it is because of the failure of the parents, they need to be held responsible. Team (France) I dont believe any prison sentence could be more tortuous to a parent who has forgotten his/her child than his/her own consci

35、ence. I dont think the threat of prison would deter any further instances of children dying in cars. Again, it is not an intentional act. People who had the misfortune of leaving their child in the car most likely did not intend to harm their child. What is needed is a proactive measure. The technol

36、ogy exists to implement security sensors in the back seat of a vehicle that would sound an alarm once the car door is opened, indicating that there is something in the back seat of a car a package or a child. It can be as simple as a pressure sensor blanket installed under the fabric of the seat tha

37、t activates as soon as it senses a measure of weight say, that of a child. Write your response on ANSWER SHEET FOUR. 4 Celebrities are some of the worlds most influential trend setters in the world of fashion, style, movies, television, food, diets, and everything else in between. The question of wh

38、ether celebrities should have the right to privacy remains controversial. The following are opinions on this issue. Read the excerpts carefully and write your response in about 300 words, in which you should: 1. summarize briefly the different opinions; 2. give your comment. Marks will be awarded fo

39、r content relevance, content sufficiency, organization and language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks. Vincent (China) Everyone has the right to privacy and the paparazzi should not be allowed to interfere in their life. They should be arrested and fined

40、 for invading the privacy of others and the magazines who buy the pictures should be sued as well. Why should actors be treated like this? Just because they earn more money or because of what? I think it is unfair because the paparazzi are killing the actors and pushing them too far. Vicki (the UK)

41、Celebrities know perfectly well that when they are famous, the press is going to try and dig out all the secrets from their private life, but I do think that some things should be private because we are all human! Hannan (the US) I think that it seems a bit unfair that the press is too hard on the c

42、elebrities. Some celebrities just want to be a singer, or an actor, rather than a red-carpet walking person. Theyre just doing something that they really love and are so good at that they are famous for it. Linda (the UK) Even though they should have the right to their privacy, the reality is that o

43、nce you put yourself in the spotlight, you must expect a certain amount of attention in your personal life. Its the price you pay for having such a high profile occupation or lifestyle. Oshuy (France) French law states that taking a picture of you while you are in your house or car or anywhere priva

44、te without your consent is forbidden, but allows any shot taken in a public area ( with restrictions concerning publication). If the shot is taken at home, paparazzi may be fined. If the shot is taken inside and published, the publisher may be sued for reparations. Mark Borkowski (Russia) If you wan

45、t privacy, you can obtain it by keeping a delicate balance between the needs of promoting what you have to professionally and how you conduct your life. You need to have a long-term commitment to the amount of fame you have generated. You cant switch it on and off, so you have to have a strategy of

46、dealing with it. Christy (the US) I think that like everyone, they have the right to privacy in their houses, of their medical records, etc., just like you and me, but when they go out in public, they are fair game for the paparazzi. Its public knowledge that a job in the entertainment industry make

47、s you a target for this kind of thing. There are some entertainers who do a good job at remaining private, and I dont think thats entirely by chance. They arent necessarily hanging out at the “hollywood hotspots“ or getting into mischief that draws attention, and therefore arent as easy to follow. I

48、 think that they are well compensated in the size of their paychecks. Its one of those things where you have to take the good with the bad. Write your response on ANSWER SHEET FOUR. 专业英语八级（作文）模拟试卷 92答案与解析 一、 PART V WRITING 1 【正确答案】 Do not Say Goodbye to Chinese Characters Nowadays, our penmanship of

49、 Chinese characters is being eroded for two main reasons. One is that as an ideogram system, it is hard to learn to write Chinese characters. Worse still, most keyboards of electronic devices are equipped with pinyin, which skips the arduous drawing of each stroke. Their users can select the right character from a list, which leads to the neglect of mastery of separate strokes that make up a character. Statistics show that with the decline of penmanship, so down goes the literacy level. Try drawing a difficult word yourself and then lament over what