1、2006年武汉大学考博英语真题试卷及答案与解析 一、 Reading Comprehension 0 Tides are created mainly by the pull of the moon on the earth. The moons pull causes water in the oceans to be a little deeper at a point closest to the moon and also at a point farthest from the moon, on the opposite side of the earth. These two ti
2、dal “waves“ follow the apparent movement of the moon around the earth strike nearly every coastline at intervals of about twelve hours and twenty-five minutes. After reaching a high point, the water level goes down gradually for a little more than six hours and then begins to rise toward a new high
3、point. Hence, most coastlines have two tides a day, and the tides occur fifty minutes later each day. Differences in the coastline and in channels in the ocean bottom may change the time that the tidal wave reaches different points along the same coastline. The difference in water level between high
4、 and low tide varies from day to day according to the relative positions of the sun and the moon because the sun also exerts a pull on the earth, although it is only about half as strong as the pull of the moon. When the sun and the moon are pulling along the same line, the tides rise higher, and wh
5、en they pull at right angles to one another, the tide is lower. The formation of the coastline and variations in the weather are additional factors which can affect the height of tides. Some sections of the coast are shaped in such a way as to cause much higher tides than are experienced in other ar
6、eas. A strong wind blowing toward the shore may also cause tides to be higher. 1 Which of the following may be concluded from the information presented in the passage? （ A） Some coastlines do not have two tides each day. （ B） Tides usually rise to the same level day after day. （ C） Tides are not aff
7、ected by the shape of a coastline. （ D） The sun has as much effect on tides as does the moon. 2 The time that high tide occurs at a particular place is affected by all of the following EXCEPT _. （ A） tone position of the moon （ B） the direction of the wind （ C） channels in the sea bottom （ D） variat
8、ions in the coastline 3 Which of the following is an accurate statement about the pull of the sun on the earth? （ A） It determines the time of high tide. （ B） It is about twice the pull of the moon. （ C） It determines the time of low tide. （ D） It is about half the pull of the moon. 4 If the pull of
9、 the sun equaled the pull of the moon, tides would _. （ A） sometimes be higher than they are now （ B） be the same height they are now （ C） no longer be affected by the wind （ D） be of equal height all the time 4 George Mason must rank with John Adams and James Madison as one of the three Founding Fa
10、thers who left their personal imprint on the fundamental law of the United States. He was the principal author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which because of its early formation greatly influenced other state constitutions framed during the Revolution and, through them, the Federal Bill of
11、Rights of 1791. Yet Mason was essentially a private person with very little inclination for public office or the ordinary operation of politics beyond the country level. His appearances in the Virginia colonial and state legislatures were relatively brief, and not until 1787 did he consent to repres
12、ent his state at a continental or national congress or convention. Polities was never more than a means for Mason. He was at all times a man of public spirit, but politics was never a way of life, never for long his central concern. It took a revolution to pry him away from home and family at Gunsto
13、n Hall, mobilize his skill and energy for constitutional construction, and transform him, in one brief moment of brilliant leadership, into a statesman whose work would endure to influence the lives and fortunes of those “millions yet unborn“ of whom he and his generation of Americans spoke so frequ
14、ently and thought so constantly. 5 The author ascribes importance to the Virginia Declaration of Rights primarily because _. （ A） Mason was its principal author （ B） it was later adopted as the Federal Bill of Rights （ C） through wide circulation it influenced the writing of other state constitution
15、s during the Revolution （ D） through other state constitutions it eventually influenced the writing of the Federal Bill of Rights 6 The passage indicates that, for Mason, political activities were _. （ A） undertaken only when absolutely necessary （ B） a fundamental and lifelong preoccupation （ C） so
16、mething he successfully avoided throughout his life （ D） something to which he always wished to devote more time and attention 7 The author indicates that Masons brilliant leadership ability _. （ A） was exercised throughout his life （ B） has been recognized only by the generations that followed him
17、（ C） was less important historically than his brilliance as a lawyer （ D） emerged powerfully, but for a brief time only 8 The author seems to be especially impressed by the fact that _. （ A） Mason, a responsible citizen, resisted for so long the obligation to represent his state in politics （ B） Mas
18、on, having so little political inclination, turned out to be such an influential statesman （ C） Mason was willing to leave home and family for public service （ D） Mason could be a devoted family man and a statesman at the same time 8 People appear to be born to compute. The numerical skills of child
19、ren develop so early and so inexorably that it is easy to imagine an internal clock of mathematical maturity guiding their growth. Not long after learning to walk and talk, they can set the table with impressive accuracy-one plate, one knife, one spoon, one fork, for each of the five chairs. Soon th
20、ey are capable of noting that they have placed five knives, spoons, and forks on the table and, a bit later, that this amounts to fifteen pieces of silverware. Having thus mastered addition, they move on to subtraction. It seems almost reasonable to expect that if a child were secluded on a desert i
21、sland at birth and retrieved seven years later, he or she could enter a second-grade mathematics class without any serius problems of intellectual adjustment. Of course, the truth is not so simple. This century, the work of cognitive psychologists has illuminated the subtle forms of daily learning o
22、n which intellectual progress depends. Children were observed as they slowly grasped-or, as the case might be bumped into- concepts that adults take for granted, as they refused, for instance, to concede that quantity is unchanged as water pours from short stout glass into a tall thin one. Psycholog
23、ists have since demonstrated that young children, asked to count the pencils in a pile, readily report the number of blue or red pencils, but must be coaxed into finding the total. Such studies have suggested that the rudiments of mathematics are mastered gradually, and with effort. They have also s
24、uggested that the very concept of abstract numbers-the idea of a oneness, a twoness, a threenes that applies to any class of objects and is a prerequisite for doing anything more mathematically demanding than setting a table-is itself far from innate. 9 What does the passage mainly discuss? （ A） Tre
25、nds in teaching mathematics to children. （ B） The use of mathematics in child psychology. （ C） The development of mathematical ability in children. （ D） The fundamental concepts of mathematics that children must learn. 10 It con be inferred from the passage that children onrmally learn simple counti
26、ng _. （ A） soon after they learn to talk （ B） by looking at the clock （ C） when they begin to be mathematically mature （ D） after they reach the second grade in school 11 The author implies that most small children believe that the quantity of water changes when it is transferred to a container of a
27、 different _. （ A） color （ B） quality （ C） weight （ D） shape 12 With which of the following statements would the author be LEAST likely to agree? （ A） Children naturally and easily learn mathematics. （ B） Children learn to add before they learn to subtract. （ C） Most people follow the same pattern o
28、f mathematical development. （ D） Mathematical development is subtle and gradual. 12 If a new charter of the rights of people (in the First World, or North, or whatever you like to call the part where people to not on the whole starve) were to be drawn up, there is no doubt that the right to be a tou
29、rist, to go to a Spanish beach or to visit places endorsed as being of cultural or scenic interest, would be prominent among its clauses. The mythology of tourism is that of the idyll-of outdoor pleasures, eating, drinking and love-making with neither hangover nor remorse. But whereas the ancient po
30、ets knew that idylls were an art form, modern tourists are persuaded to believe that they can be bought for the price of a plane ticket and a hotel room. So it is not surprising that so many tourists look bewildered, dazed, even at times despondent. They are exchanging the comforts of home, where a
31、particular way of living has been laboriously and lovingly created, for the uncertainty of existence in a foreign place, the soullessness of hotels, the wear and tear of constant travel. To be translated suddenly into an unfamiliar environment is an alienating experience, if not an unpleasant trauma
32、. Another reason why tourists in reality do not look as happy as the smiliing figures in the brochures is that the activities open to them, far from liberating, are both limited and unbalanced. Lying on a beach and visiting museums may be fine in their different ways, but to do either continuously f
33、or days on end must constitute a kind of hell. The strongest arguments against tourism, however, are based on the damage it does to the countries which are toured against rather than those which tour. The most striking examples are in the “Third World“. Cultures which have survived centuries of arme
34、d assault have not been able to resist this more insidious form of colonization: the dollar is mightier than the sword. Physical environment and culture may suffer, but the apologists for tourism argue that great economic benefits are produced. This is not the case. At least in Third World countries
35、, most of the foreign money brought in goes straight out again, via the foreign-owned companies which exploit tourism. The jobs created by tourism are for the most part menial and low-paid. In the long term, above all, the effect of reliance on tourism must be to reduce a country to a servile, paras
36、itical condition, selling its past and its image to richer, more dynamic people who are in control of their destiny, and in the end, that of the country they are visiting. 13 The first sentence indicates that _. （ A） people have a universal claim to holidays abroad （ B） tourists turn a blind eye to
37、the poverty in the countries they visit （ C） holidays overseas are considered essential by people in Western societies （ D） People seem to appreciate the right to a holiday more than any other right 14 According to the writer, tourists look “bewildered, dazed, even at times despondent“ because they
38、_. （ A） do not realize that holiday pleasures are so costly （ B） abandon themselves to all kinds of excesses （ C） confuse their dreams with reality （ D） hardly prepare for their holidays 15 The writer concludes that tourism in the Third World _. （ A） produces only limited economic benefits （ B） amou
39、nts to a present-day form of colonialism （ C） is developed at the expense of other industries （ D） will bring prosperity to it only in the distant future 16 The essential argument in this article is that _. （ A） tourism makes people unhappy and ruins whole cultures （ B） tourist agencies should do mo
40、re to promote tourism at home （ C） tourists are exploited by both travel organizations and tourist countries （ D） the tourist industry is not yet able to meet the demands of todays tourists 16 It happened in the late fall of 1939 when, after a Nazi submarine had penetrated the British sea defense ar
41、ound the Firth of Forth and damaged a British cruiser, Reston and a colleague contrived to get the news past British censorship. They cabled a series of seemingly harmless sentences to The Timess editors in New York, having first sent a message instructing the editors to regard only the last word of
42、 each sentence. Thus they were able to convey enough words to spell out the story. The fact that the news of the submarine attack was printed in New York before it had appeared in the British press sparked a big controversy that led to an investigation by Scotland Yard and British Military Intellige
43、nce. But it took the investigators eight weeks to decipher The Timess reporters code, an embarrassingly slow bit of detective work, and when it was finally solved the incident had given the story very prominent play, later expressed dismay that the reporters had risked so much for so little. And the
44、 incident left Reston deeply distressed. It was so out of character for him to have. become involved in such a thing. The tactics were questionable and, though the United States was not yet in the war, Britain was already established as Americas close ally and breaking British censorship seemed both
45、 an irresponsible and unpatriotic thing to do. 17 The episode recounted in the passage took place _. （ A） just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War （ B） bofore Britain entered the Second World War （ C） before the United States entered the Second World War （ D） while the United States was in
46、 the Second World War 18 It was clear that British censorship rules had been broken because the story was _. （ A） first published in New York （ B） published nowhere but in The Times （ C） uncomplimentary to the Bristish （ D） much fuller in its Times version than elsewhere 19 According to the author,
47、the British did little about the storys publication mainly because _. （ A） everyone responsible had apologized for what had happened （ B） it took the authorities too long to figure out how the censors had been outwitted （ C） Scotland Yard and British Military Intelligence disagreed about who was at
48、fault （ D） they were afraid to admit that the censors had been so easily fooled 20 The passage indicates that eventually everyone involved came to regard the publication of the story in The Times as a _. （ A） regrettable error （ B） cheap journalistic trick （ C） brilliant journalistic maneuver （ D） p
49、roper exercise of the freedom of the press 二、 English-Chinese Translation 20 Tsunamis are impulsively generated sea waves by a disturbance to or near the ocean. 21. Earthquakes, submarine volcanic explosions, landslides and the detonation of nuclear devices near the sea can give rise to such destructive sea waves. By far the most destructive tsunamis are generated from large shallow-focus earthquakes with an epicenter or fault line near or in the ocean. Vertical displacements of the earths
