1、1997年专业英语八级真题试卷及答案与解析 SECTION A MINI-LECTURE Directions: In this section you sill hear a mini-lecture. You will hear the lecture ONCE ONLY. While listening, take notes on the important points. Your notes will not be marked, but you will need them to complete a gap-filling task after the mini-lecture
2、. When the lecture is over, you will be given two minutes to check your notes, and another ten minutes to complete the gap-filling task on ANSWER SHEET ONE. Use the blank sheet for note-taking. 1 In business, many places adopt a credit system, which dates back to ancient times. At present, purchases
3、 can be made by using credit cards. They fall into two categories: one has 【 L1】 _ use, while the other is accepted almost everywhere. The application for the use of the latter one must be made at a 【 L2】 _ . Once the customer starts using the card, he will be provided with a monthly statement of 【
4、L3】 _ by the credit company. He is required to pay one quarter to half of his credit 【 L4】 _ every month. ADVANTAGES. 1). With a card, it is not【 L5】 _ to save up money before an actual purchase. 2) If the card is lost, its owner is protected. 3). A 【 L6】 _ and complete list of purchase received fro
5、m the credit company helps the owner to remember the time and 【 L7】 _ of his purchase. 4). The cards are accepted in a(n) 【 L8】_ by professional people like dentists, etc. MAJOR DISADVANTAGE. The card owner is tempted to 【 L9】 _ his money. If this is the case, it will become increasingly difficult f
6、or the user to keep up with the required 【 L10】 _ , which will result in the credit card being cancelled by the credit company. 1 【 L1】 2 【 L2】 3 【 L3】 4 【 L4】 5 【 L5】 6 【 L6】 7 【 L7】 8 【 L8】 9 【 L9】 10 【 L10】 SECTION B INTERVIEW Directions: In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen
7、 carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Questions 1 to 5 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following five questions. Now listen to the interview. 11 In the Black Forest, the acid rain is said to attack all EXCEPT （
8、 A） firs. （ B） metals. （ C） leaves. （ D） soils. 12 The percentage of firs dying in the Black Forest is （ A） 41%. （ B） 43%. （ C） 26%. （ D） 76%. 13 Germany is tackling part of the problem by introducing （ A） new car designing schemes. （ B） new car production lines. （ C） a new type of smoke stacks. （ D
9、） new car safety standards. 14 Which of the following statements is INCORRECT? （ A） Germany is likely to succeed in persuading her neighbors to reduce acid rain. （ B） The disastrous effects of acid rain are not confined to one area. （ C） German tourists are allowed to drive across their neighbors bo
10、rders. （ D） Germanys neighbors are in favor of the use of lead-free petrol. 15 On the issue of future solution of acid rain, the speakers tone is that of （ A） warning. （ B） pessimism. （ C） indifference. （ D） optimism. 16 What subject is Mr. Pitt good at? （ A） Art. （ B） French. （ C） German. （ D） Chem
11、istry. 17 What does Mr. Pitt NOT do in his spare time? （ A） Doing a bit of acting and photography. （ B） Going to concerts frequently. （ C） Playing traditional jazz and folk music. （ D） Traveling in Europe by hitch-hiking. 18 When asked what a managers role is, Mr. Pitt sounds （ A） confident. （ B） he
12、sitant. （ C） resolute. （ D） doubtful. 19 What does Mr. Pitt say he would like to be? （ A） An export salesman working overseas. （ B） An accountant working in the company. （ C） A production manager in a branch. （ D） A policy maker in the company. 20 Which of the following statements about the manageme
13、nt trainee scheme is TRUE? （ A） Trainees are required to sign contracts initially. （ B） Trainees performance is evaluated when necessary. （ C） Trainees starting salary is 870 pounds. （ D） Trainees cannot quit the management scheme. SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST Directions: In this section you will hear e
14、verything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. At the end of each news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the questions. 21 Which of the following statements is TRUE? （ A） Five gunmen were flown to Iran in a helicopter. （ B） Most of the ransom was retrieve
15、d in the end. （ C） The children were held for five days. （ D） The authorities have passed sentence on the gunmen. 22 According to the news, American troops in Panama （ A） were attacked at refugee camps. （ B） were angry at delays in departure. （ C） attacked Cuban refugee camps last week. （ D） will be
16、 increased to 2,000. 23 Which of the following statements is CORRECT? U.S. lawmakers （ A） challenged the accord for freezing Pyongyangs nuclear program. （ B） required the inspection of Pyongyangs nuclear site for at least five years. （ C） were worried that North Korea may take advantage of the conce
17、ssions. （ D） blamed the U.S. Negotiator for making no compromises with North Korea. 24 According to the news, the Italian Parliament was asked to act by （ A） the U.N. （ B） the Red Cross. （ C） the Defense Minister. （ D） the Swedish Government. 25 On the issue of limited use of land mines, the Italian
18、 Parliament is （ A） noncommittal. （ B） resolute. （ C） unsupportive. （ D） wavering. 26 1 A magazines design is more than decoration, more than simple packaging. It expresses the magazines very character. The Atlantic Monthly has long attempted to provide a design environment in which two disparate tr
19、aditions - literary and journalistic - can co-exist in pleasurable dignity. The redesign that we introduce with this issue - the work of our art director, Judy Garlan - represents, we think, a notable enhancement of that environment. 2 Garlan explains some of what was in her mind as she began to cre
20、ate the new design:“I saw this as an opportunity to bring the look closer to matching the elegance and power of the writing which the magazine is known for. The overall design has to be able to encompass a great diversity of styles and subjects - urgent pieces of reporting, serious essays, lighter p
21、ieces, lifestyle-oriented pieces, short stories, poetry. We dont want lighter pieces to seem too heavy, and we dont want heavier pieces to seem too pretty. We also use a broad range of art and photography, and the design has to work well with that, too. At the same time, the magazine needs to have a
22、 consistent feel, needs to underscore the sense that everything in it is part of one Atlantic world. “ 3 The primary typefaces Garlan chose for this task are Times Roman, for a more readable body type, and Bauer Bodoni, for a more stylish and flexible display type (article titles, large initials, an
23、d so on). Other aspects of the new design are structural. The articles in the front of the magazine, which once flowed into one another, now stand on their own, to gain prominence. The travel column, now featured in every issue, has been moved from the back to the front. As noted in this space last
24、month, the word “Monthly“ rejoins “The Atlantic“ on the cover, after a decade-long absence. 4 Judy Garlan came to the Atlantic in 1981 after having served as the art director of several other magazines. During her tenure here The Atlantic has won more than 300 awards for visual excellence, from the
25、society of illustrators, the American Institute of Graphic Arts, the Art Directors Club, Communication Arts, and elsewhere. Garlan was in various ways assisted in the redesign by the entire art-department staff. Robin Gilmore, Betsy Urrico, Gillian Kahn, and Lisa Manning. 5 The artist Nicholas Gaeta
26、no contributed as well. he redrew our colophon (the figure of Neptune that appears on the contents page) and created the symbols that will appear regularly on this page (a rendition of our building), on the Puzzler page, above the opening of letters, and on the masthead. Gaetano, whose work manages
27、to combine stylish clarity and breezy strength, is the cover artist of this issue. 26 Part of the new design is to be concerned with the following EXCEPT （ A） variation in the typefaces. （ B） reorganization of articles in the front. （ C） creation of the travel column. （ D） reinstatement of its forme
28、r name. 27 According to the passage, the new design work involves （ A） other artists as well. （ B） other writers as well. （ C） only the cover artist. （ D） only the art director. 28 This article aims to （ A） emphasize the importance of a magazines design. （ B） introduce the magazines art director. （
29、C） persuade the reader to subscribe to the magazine. （ D） inform the reader of its new design and features. 29 1 WHY SHOULD anyone buy the latest volume in the ever-expanding Dictionary of National Biography? I do not mean that it is bad, as the reviewers will agree. But it will cost you 65 pounds.
30、And have you got the rest of volumes? You need the basic 22 plus the largely decennial supplements to bring the total to 31. Of course, it will be answered, public and academic libraries will want the new volume. After all, it adds 1,068 lives of people who escaped the net of the original compilers.
31、 Yet in 10 years time a revised version of the whole caboodle, called the New Dictionary of National Biography, will be published. Its editor, professor Colin Matthew, tells me that he will have room for about 50,000 lives, some 13, 000 more than in the current DNB. This rather puts the 1,068 in Mis
32、sing Persons in the shade. 2 When Dr Nicholls wrote to The Spectator in 1989 asking for names of people whom readers had looked up in the DNB and had been disappointed not to find, she says that she received some 100, 000 suggestions. (Well, she had written to “other quality newspapers“ too. ) As so
33、on as her committee had whittled the numbers down, the professional problems of an editor began. Contributors didnt file copy on time; some who did sent too much. 50, 000 words instead of 500 is a record, according to Dr Nicholls. 3 There remains the dinner-party game of whos in, whos out. That is a
34、 game that the reviewers have played and will continue to play. Criminals were my initial worry. After all, the original edition of the DNB boasted. Malefactors whose crimes excite a permanent interest have received hardly less attention than benefactors. Mr. John Gross clearly had similar anxieties
35、, for he complains that, while the murderer Christie is in, Crippen is out. One might say in reply that the injustice of the hanging of Evans instead of Christie (entry in Missing Persons) notes. But then Crippen was reputed as the first murderer to be caught by telegraphy (he had tried to escape by
36、 ship to America). 4 It is surprising to find Max Miller excluded when really not very memorable names get in. There has been a conscious effort to put in artists and architects from the Middle Ages. About their lives not much is always known. 5 Of Hugo of Bury St Edmunds, a 12th-century illuminator
37、 whose dates of birth and death are not recorded, his biographer comments: “Whether or not Hugo was a wall- painter, the records of his activities as carver and manuscript painter attest to his versatility.“ Then there had to be more women, too (12 per cent, against the original DBNs 3), such as Roy
38、 Strongs subject, the Tudor painter Levina Teerlinc, of whom he remarks. “Her most characteristic feature is a head attached to a too small, spindly body. Her technique remained awkward, thin and often cursory.“ Doesnt seem to qualify her as a memorable artist. Yet it may be better than the record o
39、f the original DNB, which included lives of people who never existed (such as Merlin) and even managed to give thanks to J. W. Clerke as a contributor, though, as a later edition admits in a shamefaced footnote, “except for the entry in the List of contributors there is no trace of J. W. Clerke.“ 29
40、 The writer suggests that there is no sense in buying the latest volume （ A） because it is not worth the price. （ B） because it has fewer entries than before. （ C） unless one has all the volumes in his collection. （ D） unless an expanded DNB will come out shortly. 30 On the issue of who should be in
41、cluded in the DNB, the writer seems to suggest that （ A） the editors had clear rules to follow. （ B） there were too many criminals in the entries. （ C） the editors clearly favored benefactors. （ D） the editors were irrational in their choices. 31 Crippen was absent from the DNB （ A） because he escap
42、ed to the U.S. （ B） because death sentence had been abolished. （ C） for reasons not clarified. （ D） because of the editors mistake. 32 The author quoted a few entries in the last paragraph to （ A） illustrate some features of the DNB. （ B） give emphasis to his argument. （ C） impress the reader with i
43、ts content. （ D） highlight the people in the Middle Ages. 33 Throughout the passage, the writers tone towards the DNB was （ A） complimentary. （ B） supportive. （ C） sarcastic. （ D） bitter. 34 1 Medical consumerism like all sorts of consumerism, only more menacingly is designed to be unsatisfying. The
44、 prolongation of life and the search for perfect health (beauty, youth, happiness) are inherently self-defeating. The law of diminishing returns necessarily applies. You can make higher percentages of people survive into their eighties and nineties. But, as any geriatric ward shows that is not the s
45、ame as to confer enduring mobility, awareness and autonomy. Extending life grows medically feasible, but it is often a life deprived of everything, and one exposed to degrading neglect as resources grow over- stretched and politics turn mean. 2 What an ignominious destiny for medicine if its future
46、turned into one of bestowing meagre increments of unenjoyed life! It would mirror the fate of athletics, in which disproportionate energies and resources not least medical ones, like illegal steroids are now invested to shave records by milliseconds. And, it goes without saying, the logical extensio
47、n of longevism the “abolition“ of death would not be a solution but only an exacerbation. To air these predicaments is not anti-medical spleen a churlish reprisal against medicine for its victories but simply to face the growing reality of medical power not exactly without responsibility but with di
48、ssolving goals. 3 Hence medicines finest hour becomes the dawn of its dilemmas. For centuries, medicine was impotent and hence unproblematic. From the Greeks to the Great War, its job was simple, to struggle with lethal diseases and gross disabilities, to ensure live births, and to manage pain. It p
49、erformed these uncontroversial tasks by and large with meagre success. Today, with mission accomplished, medicines triumphs are dissolving in disorientation. Medicine has led to vastly inflated expectations, which the public has eagerly swallowed. Yet as these expectations grow unlimited, they become unfulfillable. The task facing medicine in the twenty-first century will be to redefine its limits even as it extends its capacities. 34 In the authors opinion, the prolongati
