1、专业英语八级（阅读）-试卷132及答案解析 (总分：44.00，做题时间：90分钟)一、READING COMPREHENSIO(总题数：11，分数：44.00)1.PART II READING COMPREHENSION_2.SECTION A MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONSIn this section there are several passages followed by fourteen multiple-choice questions. For each multiple-choice question, there are four suggested
2、 answers marked A , B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the best answer._A recent article indicated that business schools were going to encourage the study of ethics as part of the curriculum. If graduate schools have to discover ethics, then we are truly in serious trouble. I no more belie
3、ve that ethics can be taught past the age of 10 than I believe in the teaching of so-called creative writing. There are some things that you are born with, or they are taught by your parents, your priest or your grade-school teacher, but not in college or in graduate school. I believe that businesse
4、s should go back to basics in recruiting, should forget about the business schools and recruit the best young liberal arts students we can find. The issue of ethics, both in business and in politics, takes on a sharper focus in the money culture of a service economy than in our earlier industrial da
5、ys. For the businessmen and the politicians, virtually the only discipline that can be applied is ethical. Financial scandals are not new, nor is political corruption. However, the potential profit, and the ease with which they can be made from insider trading, market manipulation, conflict-of-inter
6、est transactions and many other illegal or unethical activities are too great and too pervasive to be ignored. At the same time, those institutions that historically provided the ethical basis to the societythe family, the church and the primary schoolare getting weaker and weaker. Hence, our dilemm
7、a. The application of ethics, as well as overall judgment, is made even more difficult by the increasing application of rapidly changing technology to major problems in our society. How does a layman deal with the questions raised by Star Wars, genetic engineering, AIDS and the myriad issues relatin
8、g to the availability and affordability of life-saving drugs and other medical technology? It is clear that one cannot abdicate to the technocrats the responsibility of making judgment on these issues. Two important risks accompany the discarding of our value system when dealing with a money culture
9、 and high technology. The first risk is that more people will turn to radical religion and politics. People always search for frameworks that provide a certain amount of support. If they do not find it in their family, in their school, in their traditional church or in themselves, they will turn to
10、more absolute solutions. The second risk is the polarization of society. We have created hundreds of paper millionaires and quite a few billionaires. But alongside the wealth and glamour of Manhattan and Beverly Hills, we have seen the growth of a semipermanent or permanent underclass. The most impo
11、rtant function of higher education is to equip the individual with the capacity to compete and to fulfill his or her destiny. A critically important part of this capacity is the ability to critically evaluate a political process that is badly in need of greater public participation. This raises the
12、issue of teaching ethics in graduate schools. Ethics is a moral compass. Ideally, it should coincide with enlightened self-interest, not only to avoid jail in the short run but to avoid social upheaval in the long run. It must be embedded early, at home, in grade school, in church. It is highly pers
13、onal. I doubt it can be taught in college. Yet what is desperately needed in an increasingly complex world dominated by technicians is the skepticism and the sense of history that a liberal arts education provides. History, philosophy, logic, English, and literature are more important to deal with t
14、odays problems than great technical competence. These skills must combine with an ethical sense acquired early in life to provide the framework needed to make difficult judgments. We most certainly need the creativity of great scientific minds. But all of us cannot be technical experts, nor do we ne
15、ed to be. In the last analysis, only judgment, tempered by a sense of history and a healthy skepticism of cant and ideology will give us the wherewithal to make difficult choices.（分数：8.00）(1).Why are ethical rules more difficult to apply today?（分数：2.00）A.Because business is no longer a matter of int
16、erpersonal act.B.Because the movement of capital has become the result of all activities.C.Because people are not knowledgeable enough to make sensible judgment.D.Because making profits has become dominant in doing all businesses.(2).When people fail to get guidance from traditional ethical basis,_.
17、（分数：2.00）A.they will denounce the old value systemB.they may turn to politicians or religious leadersC.they will find support from schools or themselvesD.they may become religious or political extremists(3).The author considers the polarization of society as_.（分数：2.00）A.a further advancement toward
18、a democratic stateB.a factor that helps reduce unemployment among the needyC.a consequence resulting from ignoring moral disciplines in businessD.an aggravation of the disadvantaged status of certain groups of people(4).Which of the following does the author think is less important in dealing with t
19、odays problem?（分数：2.00）A.Skepticism.B.Technical competence.C.Logical thinking.D.A sense of history.One of the obvious problems with predicting the future effects of climate change is that they havent happened. This makes climate studies highly dependent on models, which invariably and unavoidably ma
20、ke simplifying assumptions. This means that using their results to say anything of practical import needs care and caveats, both of which can often be in short supply, or stripped out to make a point. However, it is now ever more possible for studies of climate change to look at the past, not the fu
21、ture. The 20th century saw a fair amount of warming, and it is sometimes possible to compare what this warming did and didnt do with what future warming might or might not do. This is what a paper published in Nature this week does in an attempt to re-examine, and perhaps close down, long-running de
22、bates about malaria and climate change. Both the malaria parasite and the mosquitoes which spread it respond to temperature and moisture. Understanding those responses makes it possible to model what changes in climate might mean to the incidence of the disease. Such models have suggested that in a
23、warmer world the area subject to endemic malaria would increase, perhaps quite a lot, though some places would see a reduction due to increased aridity. The caveats here include noting that the climate models can make no great claims to accuracy at the regional level and that such an approach does a
24、lmost nothing to deal with changes in land use, wealth and public health programs. One of the main thrusts of the new Nature paper is to see how much of what happened to the spread of malaria in the 20th century can be explained by what happened to the climate. The answer, according to Peter Gething
25、 of Oxford University and his colleagues, is not much. They conclude that claims that a warming climate has led to more widespread disease and death due to malaria are largely at odds with the evidence, which shows the areas effected shrinking, and the size of the effect shrinking too. Increases in
26、the spread and severity of the disease burden foreseen over the next 40 years by the biological models are far smaller than the decreases in comparable measures seen over the past century. The second tack of their argument is to compare the sort of effect seen in biology-based models of where malari
27、a might spread with both models of and data on the effects direct intervention against the disease can have. Again the effects due to climate are small, even negligible, compared with the effects that interventions have achieved already and might achieve in decades to come. The marginal areas where
28、climate might enlarge the area at risk are also, the article argues, the areas where the greatest declines in transmission have recently been seen thanks to increased intervention. The conclusion is clear. People who are thinking about what to do about malaria should bear in mind that the biological
29、 basis of its distribution may change in a warmer world. Those thinking about the overall danger that climate change represents should not spend their time worrying about its impact on malaria. Is there a wider conclusion to draw about computer models such as those that underlay frightening statemen
30、ts about malaria in a climate-changed world? Perhaps; but like the models themselves, it comes with caveats. Scientists tend to model what can be modeled, and natural scientists, in particular, tend to prefer models that incorporate at least some aspects of the underlying processes which they are in
31、terested in, rather than working purely on empirical correlations. This means that if you search the scientific literature for approaches to the future, you will tend to find answers based on natural processes. If other knowledge suggests that natural processes arent the most important aspect of the
32、 problem at hand, then its a good idea to look at the models with that provision in the forefront of your mind. The other vital lesson is that the caveats matter. Pretty much every paper presenting a biology-based model of malarias dependence on climate contains a warning that changes in economy, te
33、chnology and society matter too, and arent in the model. To transmit the models results without important caveats is reckless. If one is going to be optimistic about the future of malaria, one might also, with caution, be optimistic about the future of assessments of climate change. Things can, over
34、 time, get better, especially when the record of what has happened to date gets taken seriously. They will do so quicker if people accept both the usefulness and limits of models of the future, as well as the appeal of models of the past.（分数：8.00）(1).The major defect of the current climate-study mod
35、els lies in their_.（分数：2.00）A.simplifying assumptionsB.comparative methodologyC.arbitrary assertionsD.heavy dependence on future(2).The Nature paper suggests_may be an influential factor affecting malaria.（分数：2.00）A.warmer climateB.human involvementC.droughtD.biology diversity(3).Which of the follow
36、ing statements is CORRECT as for the new Nature paper?（分数：2.00）A.The paper found that the warming climate had led to more malaria.B.The paper aroused disputes about malaria and climate change after publication.C.The paper concluded that the spread of malaria could be explained by climate changes.D.T
37、he paper tried to study the effect of climate changes on malaria during the past 20th century.(4).Which of the following does the author most probably agree with?（分数：2.00）A.Climate changes have nothing to do with the malaria.B.There are scientists who do not treat the data record in an exact way.C.F
38、uture-oriented climate studies have more advantages than the past-oriented ones.D.Important warnings can be saved in conclusions if considered in models.Not even the combined powers of Spiderman, Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Captain America and the X-Men could keep The Mouse at bay. On August 31st
39、 Walt Disney announced it was buying Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion, just days after the comic-book publisher had celebrated 70 glorious years of independence, during which it had created many of the most famous cartoon characters not invented by Disney itself. In fact, Marvel did not put up mu
40、ch of a fight, accepting what most analysts think was a generous price. Disney will get access both to Marvels creative minds andpotentially far more valuable in an age when familiar stories rule the box officean archive containing around 5,000 established characters, only a fraction of which have y
41、et made the move from paper to the silver screen. Marrying Marvels characters with Disneys talent for making money from successful franchises is a good idea. In recent years Disney has proved the undisputed master at exploiting the same basic content through multiple channels, including films, websi
42、tes, video games, merchandising, live shows and theme parks. The edgier, darker Marvel characters should fill a hole in Disneys much cuddlier portfolio. This currently covers most people from newborn babies, through the addictive Baby Einstein DVDs, to adults, through its Touchstone label. Disneys o
43、wn cartoons, and the newer ones created by Pixar, an animation studio it bought in 2006 for $7 billion, appeal to children. Hannah Montana, a hit television show, caters to pre-teen girls. The Marvel characters should be just the thing for boys of the same age, whom Disney has found especially hard
44、to attract of late. However, many of Marvels best-known characters already have contractual obligations to various rival media conglomerates that will not be easily or quickly undone. Sony has an indefinite hold on Spider-Man; News Corporation exerts similar control over the X-Men. Universal owns di
45、stribution rights to the Hulk and long-term theme-park rights in Florida to several characters. This is a pity, because Disneys theme parks are a part of its business where teenage boys would particularly welcome the contrast that Marvels superheroes would provide to the Magic Kingdoms oppressive wh
46、olesomeness. Another risk is one that often presents itself in mergers, especially those involving creative types: a clash of cultures. Happily for Marvel, Disney is no longer the corporate control-freak it was under its former boss, Michael Eisner. His successor, Bob Iger, has turned out to be a re
47、latively hands-off boss, with the Pixar acquisition a model of the sort of treatment Marvel can expect. Indeed, John Lasseter, the chief creative force behind Pixar, reportedly played an important role in reassuring Marvels talent that their culture would be safe in Disneys hands. Also fully behind
48、the deal is Stan the Man Lee, a living legend of the cartoon world who helped create many of Marvels best-known characters during the 1960s. Mr Lee, who recently launched his first digital comic as part of a partnership between his new firm and Disney, has predicted that the Disney-Marvel merger will prove a terrific deal which will be extremely beneficial to both companies. The synergy between them is perfect. Ironically, in the 1960s, Mr Lee tried, without success, to convince his bosses to turn Marvel into a mul
