1、专业英语八级20及答案解析 (总分：77.03，做题时间：120分钟)一、PART I LISTENING (总题数：1，分数：1.00)1. Skill to ask questions 1) be aware of the human nature:readiness to answer others questions regardless of (1) 1 2) start a conversation with some personal but unharmful questions e.g. questions about ones (2) 2 job questions abo
2、ut ones activities in the (3) 3 3) be able to spot signals for further talk 2. Skill to (4) 4 for answers 1) dont shift from subject to subject sticking to the same subject: signs of (5) 5 in conversation 2) to (6) 6of voice If people sound unenthusiastic, then change subject. 3) use eyes and ears s
3、teady your gaze while ing 3. Skill to laugh Effects of laughter: ease peoples (7) 7 help start (8) 8 4. Skill to part 1) importance: open up possibilities for future friendship or contact 2) ways: : a smile, a (9) 9 wo: same as (10) 10 now how to express pleasure in meeting someone （分数：1.00）填空项1:_填空
4、项1:_填空项1:_填空项1:_填空项1:_填空项1:_填空项1:_填空项1:_填空项1:_填空项1:_二、SECTION B INTERVI(总题数：1，分数：1.00)(1).What subject is Mr. Pitt good at?（分数：0.20）A.Art.B.French.C.German.D.Chemistry.(2).What does Mr. Pitt NOT do in his spare time?（分数：0.20）A.Doing a bit of acting and photography.B.Going to concerts frequently.C.Pl
5、aying traditional jazz and folk music.D.Traveling in Europe by hitch-hiking.(3).When asked what a managers role is, Mr. Pitt sounds（分数：0.20）A.confident.B.hesitant.C.resolute.D.doubtful.(4).What does Mr. Pitt say he would like to be?（分数：0.20）A.An export salesman working overseas.B.An accountant worki
6、ng in the company.C.A production manager in a branch.D.A policy maker in the company.(5).Which of the following statements about the management trainee scheme is TRUE?（分数：0.20）A.Trainees are required to sign contracts initially.B.Trainees performance is evaluated when necessary.C.Trainees starting s
7、alary is 870 pounds.D.Trainees cannot quit the management scheme.三、SECTION C NEWS BR(总题数：2，分数：1.00)(1).From the news item, we can infer that Bush administration holds a/an _towards family planning.（分数：0.17）A.positiveB.negativeC.optimisticD.pessimistic(2).According to the former U.S. Secretary of Sta
8、te, _child-bearing aged women died of pregnancy-related diseases each year in the world.（分数：0.17）A.16000B.25000C.60000D.600000(3)._ did NOT attend the womens health conference.（分数：0.17）A.Madeleine AlbrightB.Marian Wright EdelmanC.Wye-AspenD.Mary Robinson(1).Japan and the United States are now （分数：0.
9、25）A.negotiating about photographic material.B.negotiating an automobile agreement.C.facing serious problems in trade.D.on the verge of a large-scale trade war.(2).The news item seems to indicate that the agreement（分数：0.25）A.will end all other related trade conflicts.B.is unlikely to solve the dispu
10、te once and for all.C.is linked to other trade agreements.D.is the last of its kind to be reached.四、PART II GENERAL K(总题数：10，分数：10.00)2. What essentially distinguishes semantics and pragmatics is the notion of_.（分数：1.00）A.reference.B.meaning.C.antonymy.D.context.3. _is defined as an expression of hu
11、man emotion which is condensed into fourteen lines. _.（分数：1.00）A.Free verseB.SonnetC.OdeD.Epigram4. Which of the following is NOT a distinctive feature of human language?（分数：1.00）A.Arbitrariness.B.Productivity.C.Cultural transmission.D.Finiteness.5. U. S. presidents normally serve a(n)_term.（分数：1.00
12、）A.two-yearB.four-yearC.six-yearD.eight-year6. Which of the following cities is NOT located in the Northeast, U. S. ?（分数：1.00）A.Huston.B.Boston.C.Baltimore.D.Philadelphia.7. The Prime Minister in Britain is head of_.（分数：1.00）A.the Shadow Cabinet.B.the Parliament.C.the Opposition.D.the Cabinet.8. Syn
13、tax is the study of_.（分数：1.00）A.language functions.B.sentence structures.C.textual organization.D.word formation.9. The novel For Whom the Bell Tolls is written by_.（分数：1.00）A.Scott Fitzgerald.B.William Faulkner.C.Eugene ONeill.D.Ernest Hemingway.10. William Sidney Porter known as O. Henry, is most
14、famous for_.（分数：1.00）A.his poems.B.his plays.C.his short stories.D.his novels.11. The distinction between parole and langue was made by_.（分数：1.00）A.Halliday.B.Chomsky.C.Bloomfield.D.Saussure.五、PART III READING (总题数：4，分数：4.00) Family Matters This month Singapore passed a bill that would give legal te
15、eth to the moral obligation to support ones parents. Called the Maintenance of Parents Bill, it received the backing of the Singapore Government. That does not mean it hasnt generated discussion. Several members of the Parliament opposed the measure as un-Asian. Others who acknowledged the problem o
16、f the elderly poor believed it a disproportionate response. Still others believe it will subvert relations within the family: cynics dubbed it the Sue Your Son law. Those who say that the bill does not promote filial responsibility, of course, are right. It has nothing to do with filial responsibili
17、ty. It kicks in where filial responsibility fails. The law cannot legislate filial responsibility any more than it can legislate love. All the law can do is to provide a safety net where this morality provide insufficient. Singapore needs this bill not to replace morality, but to provide incentives
18、to shore it up. Like many other developed nations, Singapore faces the problems of an increasing proportion of people over 60 years of age. Demography is inexorable. In 1980, 7.2% of the population was in this bracket. By the turn of the century, that figure will grow to 11%. By 2030, the proportion
19、 is projected to be 260%. The problem is not old age per se. It is that the ratio of economically active people to economically inactive people will decline. But no amount of government exhortation or paternalism will completely eliminate the problem of old people who have insufficient means to make
20、 ends meet. Some people will fall through the holes in any safety net. Traditionally, a persons insurance against poverty in his old age was his family. This is not a revolutionary concept. Nor is it uniquely Asian. Care and support for ones parents is a universal value shared by all civilized socie
21、ties. The problem in Singapore is that the moral obligation to look after ones parents is unenforceable. A father can be compelled by law to maintain his children. A husband can be forced to support his wife. But, until now, a son or daughter had no legal obligation to support his or her parents. In
22、 1989, an Advisory Council was set up to look into the problems of the aged. Its report stated with a tinge of complacency that 95% of those who did not have their own income were receiving cash contributions from relations. But what about the 5% who arent getting relatives support? They have severa
23、l options: (a) get a job and work until they die; (b) apply for public assistance (you have to be destitute to apply); or (c) starve quietly. None of these options is socially acceptable. And what if this 5% figure grows, as it is likely to do, as society ages? The Maintenance of Parents Bill was pu
24、t forth to encourage the traditional virtues that have so far kept Asian nations from some of the breakdowns encountered in other affluent societies. This legislation will allow a person to apply to the court for maintenance from any or all of his children. The court would have the discretion to ref
25、use to make an order if it is unjust. Those who deride the proposal for opening up the courts to family lawsuits miss the point. Only in extreme cases would any parent take his child to court. If it does indeed become law, the bills effect would be far more subtle. First, it will reaffirm the notion
26、 that it is each individuals not societys responsibility to look after his parents. Singapore is still conservative enough that most people will not object to this idea. It reinforces the traditional values and it doesnt hurt a society now and then to remind itself of its core values. Second, and mo
27、re important, it will make those who are inclined to shirk their responsibilities think twice. Until now, if a person asked family elders, clergymen or the Ministry of Community Development to help get financial support from his children, the most they could do was to mediate. But mediators have no
28、teeth, and a child could simply ignore their pleas. But to be sued by ones parents would be a massive loss of face. It would be a public disgrace. Few people would be so thick-skinned as to say. Sue and be damned. The hand of the conciliator would be immeasurably strengthened. It is far more likely
29、that some sort of amicable settlement would be reached if the recalcitrant Son or daughter knows that the alternative is a public trial. It would be nice to think that Singapore doesnt need this kind of law. But that belief ignores the clear demographic trends and the effect of affluence itself on t
30、raditional bonds. Those of us who pushed for the bill will consider ourselves most successful if it acts as an incentive not to have it invoked in the first place. （分数：1.02）(1).The Maintenance of Parents Bill（分数：0.17）A.received unanimous support in the Singapore Parliament.B.was believed to solve al
31、l the problems of the elderly poor.C.was intended to substitute for traditional values in Singapore.D.was passed to make the young more responsible to the old(2).By quoting the growing percentage points of the aged in the population, the author seems to imply that（分数：0.17）A.the country will face mou
32、nting problems of the old in future.B.the social welfare system would be under great pressure.C.young people should be given more moral education.D.the old should be provided with means of livelihood(3).Which of the following statements is CORRECT?（分数：0.17）A.Filial responsibility in Singapore is enf
33、orced by law.B.Fathers have legal obligations to look after their children.C.It is an acceptable practice for the old to continue working.D.The Advisory Council was dissatisfied with the problems of the old(4).The author seems to suggest that traditional values（分数：0.17）A.play an insignificant role i
34、n solving social problems.B.are helpful to the elderly when they sue their children.C.are very important in preserving Asian uniqueness.D.are significant in helping the Bill get approved(5).The author thinks that if the Bill becomes law, its effect would be（分数：0.17）A.indirect.B.unnoticedC.apparent.D
35、.straightforward(6).At the end of the passage, the author seems to imply that success of the Bill depends upon（分数：0.17）A.strict enforcement.B.public support.C.government assurance.D.filial awareness.Etiquette In sixteenth-century Italy and eighteenth-century France, waning prosperity and increasing
36、social unrest led the ruling families to try to preserve their superiority by withdrawing from the lower and middle classes behind barriers of etiquette. In a prosperous community, on the other hand, polite society soon absorbs the newly rich and in England there has never been any shortage of books
37、 on etiquette for teaching them the manners appropriate to their new way of life. Every code of etiquette has contained three elements; basic moral duties; practical rules which promote efficiency; and artificial, optional graces such as formal compliments to, say, women on their beauty or superiors
38、 on their generosity and importance. In the first category are considerations for the weak and respect for age. Among the ancient Egyptians the young always stood in the presence of older people. Among the Mponguwe of Tanzania, the young men bow as they pass the huts of the elders. In England, until
39、 about a century ago, young children did not sit in their parents presence without asking permission. Practical rules are helpful in such ordinary occurrences of social life as making proper introductions at parties or other functions so that people can be brought to know each other. Before the inve
40、ntion of the fork, etiquette directed that the fingers should be kept as clean as possible; before the handkerchief came into common use, etiquette suggested that after spitting, a person should rub the spit inconspicuously underfoot. Extremely refined behavior, however, cultivated as an art of grac
41、ious living, has been characteristic only of societies with wealth and leisure, which admitted women as the social equals of men. After the fall of Rome, the first European society to regulate behavior in private life in accordance with a complicated code of etiquette was twelfth-century Province, i
42、n France. Province had become wealthy. The lords had returned to their castle from the crusades, and there the ideals of chivalry grew up, which emphasized the virtue and gentleness of women and demanded that a knight should profess a pure and dedicated love to a lady who would be his inspiration, a
43、nd to whom he would dedicate his valiant deeds, though he would never come physically close to her. This was the introduction of the concept of romantic love, which was to influence literature for many hundreds of years and which still lives on in a debased form in simple popular songs and cheap nov
44、els today. In renaissance Italy too, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, a wealthy and leisured society developed an extremely complex code of manners, but the rules of behavior of fashionable society had little influence on the daily life of the lower classes. Indeed many of the rules, such
45、as how to enter a banquet room, or how to use a sword or handkerchief for ceremonial purposes, were irrelevant to the way of life of the average working man, who spent most of his life outdoors or in his own poor hut and most probably did not have a handkerchief, certainly not a sword, to his name.
46、Yet the essential basis of all good manners does not vary. Consideration for the old and weak and the avoidance of harming or giving unnecessary offence to others is a feature of all societies everywhere and at all levels from the highest to the lowest. （分数：1.00）(1).One characteristic of the rich cl
47、asses of a declining society is their tendency to（分数：0.25）A.take in the recently wealthy.B.retreat within themselves.C.produce publications on manners.D.change the laws of etiquette(2).Which of the following is NOT an element of the code of etiquette?（分数：0.25）A.Respect for age.B.Formal compliments.C.Proper introductions at social functions.D.Eating with a fork rather than fingers.
