1、专业八级-496 及答案解析(总分：100.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、READING COMPREHENSIO(总题数：8，分数：100.00)Like many campuses, Purdue University has some traditional hot spots for romance“The Old Pump,“ where couples used to meet after dark, and a bell tower known as a lucky place to propose marriage. But engineering major Amy Pen
2、ner has been so busy volunteering with a women“s engineering group and planning her career that she“s only dimly aware of them. Her boyfriend has left campus to get a doctorate overseas; asked how much time she spends dating, she says, “That would be zero.“ Remember the movie “Love Story“ and its st
3、ar-crossed student lovers? Such torrid campus romances may be becoming a thing of the past. College life has become so competitive, and students so focused on careers, that many aren“t looking for spouses anymore. Replacing college as the top marital hunting ground is the office. Only 14% of people
4、who are married or in a relationship say they met their partners in school or college, says a recent Harris Interactive study of 2,985 adults; 18% met at work. That“s a reversal from 15 years ago, when 23% of married couples reported meeting in school or college and only 15% cited work, according to
5、 a study of 3,432 adults by the University of Chicago twenty years ago. Gone are the days when sororities and dorms marked engagements with candle-passing ceremonies while men serenaded beneath the windows. Even at tradition-steeped Transylvania University, a 228-year-old institution in Lexington, K
6、y., an old white ash called “The Kissing Tree,“ cited in 2003 by the Chronicle of Higher Education as one of the most romantic spots on campuses, is no longer an “icon of intimacy,“ says Richard Thompson, a longtime Transylvania professor and dean. Lucie Hartmann, 21, a senior, says “no one utilizes
7、“ the spot for romance; like most students, she“s intent on “using college to set a foundation for a career.“ Researchers cite a couple of factors. Young adults are delaying marriage, for one thing. In the past 15 years, men“s median age at first marriage has risen by 1.2 years to 27.5 and by 1.4 ye
8、ars for women, to 25.5, the highest in more than a century, Census Bureau data show. Also at work is “credential inflation“an increase in the qualifications required for many skilled jobs, says Janet Lever, a sociology professor at California State University, Los Angeles. Many young adults want the
9、 flexibility to relocate freely and immerse themselves in new work and educational opportunities before making room for marriage and family. As a result, students favor “light relationships that aren“t going to compromise where they go to grad school or which job they take,“ she says. Cody Cheetham,
10、 22, a Purdue senior, is looking for a marketing job after she graduates in May and plans on getting an MBA. “A lot of us don“t even know where we“re going to be riving six months after we graduate,“ she says. “We don“t want to bring another person into the chaos of our lives.“ If you“re a parent, y
11、ou may be wondering what all this means. Such sordid campus-life portrayals as Tom Wolfe“s “I Am Charlotte Simmons“ aside, the news about students“ social rives isn“t all bad. To be sure, the “hookup culture“the campus trend toward casual sexual behavior, usually linked with alcohol and no expectati
12、ons of a continuing relationshipis rife. Some 76% of college students have engaged in hookups, which usually stop short of intercourse, according to a study of 4,000 students by Stanford University sociology professor Paula England. Students report having had an average 6.9 hookups and only 4.4 trad
13、itional dates by their senior year. On the bright side, more students are having fun on group dates; also, deep, but platonic, male-female friendships are more common. Many young adults return to traditional dating after graduation, says Kathleen Bogle, author of a new book, “Hooking Up,“ based on a
14、 study of 76 students and recent alumni. Young adults “want to find a quality person, a good person,“ to marry, says Ms. Bogle, an assistant sociology professor at La Salle University in Philadelphia, “and traditional dating is seen as a better way to do that“ than hooking up. With the benefit of hi
15、ndsight, though, some grads may yearn for the stretches of time on campus for extracurricular activities and studying with the opposite sex. Julia Vasiliauskas broke up with her boyfriend at the University of Rochester in New York soon after her 2003 graduation, then went to grad school and began te
16、aching near Seattle. Now that she feels ready, at 26, to find a partner, “I regret that I didn“t find that person in collegebecause now that I“m working, I don“t have time.“（分数：9.00）(1).Which of the following is NOT cited as an example of campus romantic spots?（分数：3.00）A.The Old Pump.B.Dorms.C.An ol
17、d white ash.D.A bell tower.(2).Which of the following statements is INCORRECT?（分数：3.00）A.College students used to date on campus romantic spots.B.More young people find their spouses at work.C.Student couples get engaged in their dorms.D.College students spend little time dating now.(3).Which of the
18、 following does NOT lead to college students“ avoidance of campus romance?（分数：3.00）A.Increasing average age for marriage.B.Keen focus on developing careers.C.Pressure in looking for jobs.D.Lack of interest in dating.If there was a pub where you could drink your fill and leave the hangover with the l
19、andlord, would you go there? Idle dreaming, but this is the deal in the world of carbon accounting, where responsibility is shared out among countries, and targets set for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. If I want to own and enjoy a cheap, garage-sized TV, all the fossil fuel emissions that resul
20、t from making it don“t get added to my home account, but to the country of manufacture, most probably the developing countries. As a result, the origins of demand and the place of consumption become insulated from environmental consequences. Worse still, as the latest, most comprehensive set of figu
21、res on the hidden trade in “embodied carbon“ reveal, it allows countries such as the UK and the US to delude themselves, by suggesting that the real problems in tackling climate change lay elsewhere, and to dangerously misunderstand the scale of domestic challenges. It allows us to think that, even
22、if too slowly, we are heading in the right downward direction in terms of our emissions. When in fact the more comprehensive, latest figures reveal that the UK“s CO 2 emissions didn“t fall by 28m tonnes between 1990 and 2008 at all, as the official record indicates, but rose by a substantial 100m to
23、nnes. Rich country emissions went up 12% over the period when hidden, traded emissions are included, and anomalies such as Russia, whose economy collapsed in the early 1990s, are left out. Trade“s share of the global economy increased steadily in the last two decades and emissions from the productio
24、n of traded goods and services rose from one fifth to more than one quarter of global CO 2 emissions. The UK has targets under the Kyoto protocol, and legal obligations under the Climate Change Act to reduce emissions. But the benchmark against which those targets and obligations are set excludes th
25、is “off-shored“ carbon. Using a faulty accounting system creates a kind of Alice in Climate Wonderland word in which up is down, the wrong people take the blame and the kingdom is never put in order. Enter the government“s “green deal“, a centrepiece of the coalition“s pledge to be the greenest gove
26、rnment ever, which is about to arrive for scrutiny in the House of Commons. Like a spoon of sugar at the Hatter“s tea party, it will allow motivated households to install home insulation and pay off the cost over time through their fuel bills. Parliament“s environmental audit committee is currently
27、investigating whether there are contradictions between how the UK addresses climate change in its aid programme, and how we behave at home. The contradiction is so large that perhaps it is difficult to see. It is the economic model itself. It demands ever more damaging over-consumption by the alread
28、y rich to deliver shrinking, unreliable benefits to the poor. It“s a model in which most benefits accrue to the former, yet without significantly improving life satisfaction, and costs, to the latter. Economic insult is merely added to environmental injury that a large proportion of our current carb
29、on debts (let alone larger historical ones) are borne by others because of an accounting quirk. Other downright peculiarities emerge, such as the boomerang trade, which sees the UK importing and exporting often near identical amounts of goods, like sending 5,000 tonnes of toilet paper to Germany, th
30、en importing 4,000 tonnes. Apart from failing on its own terms and being distorted by faulty measurement, the modelrising overall consumption fuelled by debt and export-led developmentassumes endless supplies of cheap oil and infinite natural resources. Neither are available. Last week saw commentat
31、ors obsessed with minor fluctuations in the UK“s GDP, a measure of the quantity, not quality, of economic activity. “Recovery“ has become synonymous with the return of rising consumption. In trying to revive a flawed and failing economic order, however, we appear as sad romantics, rather like those
32、diehard Russians who still dream with misplaced memories of a golden age, for the return of the tsars or “strong“ communist party leaders, rather than looking forward and imagining how the world could be different, better.（分数：9.00）(1).Which of the following facts does NOT arise from the current carb
33、on accounting system?（分数：3.00）A.Countries of manufacture are taking more responsibilities for carbon emissions.B.Rich countries underestimate the seriousness of their own carbon emissions.C.Rich countries mistakenly believe that they have reduced carbon emissions.D.Rich countries realize that the pr
34、oblem of carbon emissions is getting worse.(2).The sentence “.creates a kind of Alice in Climate Wonderland world.“ in Paragraph Seven implies that _.（分数：3.00）A.import-led countries take less responsibilities than they shouldB.export-led countries are to blame for traded carbon emissionsC.export-led
35、 countries produce more carbon emissionsD.import-led countries produce more carbon emissions(3).From the passage we can infer that _.（分数：3.00）A.people“s living standards have been improved greatly in the UKB.the gap between the rich and poor is widening in the UKC.economy has been developing steadil
36、y in the UKD.the UK copies Russia“s pattern in economic recoveryMohamed Nasheed, the dapper young president of the Maldives, thinks the jasmine revolutionaries of the Arab world may have something to learn from his own small country“s transition to democracy. The Indian Ocean archipelago, which has
37、historical ties to the Arab world, saw the ouster of its own strongman, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, just two years ago. Mr Gayoom had ruled as president for three decades, jailing and torturing his opponents along the way, until he was eventually persuaded in 2008, after popular protests, to hold a free e
38、lectionand then to respect its result, which brought the opposition to power. The relatively orderly transition did not produce an entirely smooth outcome. Opposition lawmakers have since been able to block the government“s policies, leading to the resignation of the cabinet in protest. But even suc
39、h disagreements are resolved peacefully. “We are in the process of consolidating our democracy“ says Mr Nasheed, on a visit to Delhi for a conference on promoting liberal governance in South Asia. “For so many years Maldivian rulers tried to emulate society in Egypt,“ he argues; now the Egyptians sh
40、ould return the favour. He urges them not to rush to an election, without first allowing time for the formation of stable political parties. Elections should be held only after a constitution is in place. Mr Nasheed notes that since its first multi-party presidential elections the Maldives has also
41、held a parliamentary poll and then local elections. “We are a 100% Muslim country. We feel if democracy can survive in the Maldives it can survive in other Islamic countries. Islam and democracy are not in conflict.“ Asked if Mr Gayoom, who seems to show an interest in returning to politics, should
42、be prosecuted for previous wrongdoing, Mr Nasheed disagrees. He reckons that “vengeance“ against the previous leader would be counterproductive. Not all is going swimmingly. Islamic radicals, as in north Africa, are a worry. Individuals from the Maldivesfrustrated young menhave been arrested while t
43、raining with extremists in Pakistan. One of the terrorists who attacked India“s commercial capital, Mumbai, in November 2008, killing some 170 people, was rumoured to be Maldivian. (Most of the attackers were Pakistani; Mr Nasheed says he has seen no evidence to prove there was any Maldivian among t
44、hem.) But the president argues that the religious extremism which flourished under authoritarian rule is now weakening under democracy. “When political space is available, then liberal forces will be able to organise themselves and win the support of the people.“ He points out that in last year“s lo
45、cal elections radical Islamic parties won just 2% of the vote. Next he wants liberal Muslims to take initiatives to outsmart the radicals: it is time for an “ideological confrontation“, with South Asian Muslims learning tactics from moderate and liberal Muslims from farther East: Malaysia and Indone
46、sia. Mr Nasheed plans to play host to a conference on the topic, probably later this year. It helps that the Maldives also has resources to alleviate poverty. Tourism and the local fishing industry are flourishing. Income per person, at $4,200 per year, is the highest of any country in South Asia an
47、d is enough that the Maldives is no longer classified in the “least developed“ category. How much any of its success can be replicated in the larger countries of north Africa or the Persian Gulf is open to debatethe Maldives are home to just 350,000 people, and its democracy cannot be considered to
48、be robust until many years have passed. But even a small example of success should be a welcome model for the revolutionaries on the other side of the Arabian Sea.（分数：12.00）(1).Which of the following statements is NOT true about the Maldives?（分数：3.00）A.It“s a violence-free country.B.It was ruled by
49、a dictator for 30 years.C.It has transformed into a democratic country peacefully.D.Legislators play a decisive role in making government“s policies.(2).According to the passage, the cabinet resigned because of _.（分数：3.00）A.the unsmooth result of the political transitionB.legislators“ dissatisfaction with the cabinet“s policiesC.the conflicts between the cabinet and the legislatureD.people“s protest against its policies(3).The sentence “.Egyptians should return the favour.“ (Paragraph Three) implies that _.（分数：3.00）A.the Maldivians learned from the Egyptians in d
