1、2007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 What Can We Learn from Art? . Introduction A. Differences between general history and art history Focus:
3、 general history: 【 1】 _ art history: political values, emotions, everyday life, etc. B. Significance of study More information and better understanding of human society and civilization. . Types of information A. Information in history book is 【 2】 _ facts, but no opinions B. Information in art his
4、tory is subjective 【 3】 _ and opinions e.g. Spanish painters works: misuse of governmental power Mexican mists works: attitudes towards social problems Art as a reflection of religious beliefs A. Europe: 【 4】 _ in pictures in churches B. Middle East: pictures of flowers and patterns in mosques, pala
5、ces Reason: human and 【 5】 _ are not seen as holy C. Africa and the Pacific Islands: Masks, headdresses and costumes in special ceremonies Purpose: to seek the help of 【 6】 _ to protect crops, animals and people . Perceptions of Art How people see art is related to their cultural background A. Europ
6、eans and Americans 【 7】 _ expression of ideas B. People in other places part of everyday life 【 8】 _ use . Art as a reflection of social changes A. Cause of changes: 【 9】 _ of different cultures B. Changes tribal people: effects of 【 10】 _ on art forms European artists: influence of African traditio
7、nal art in their works American and Canadian artists: study of Japanese painting 1 【 1】 2 【 2】 3 【 3】 4 【 4】 5 【 5】 6 【 6】 7 【 7】 8 【 8】 9 【 9】 10 【 10】 SECTION B INTERVIEW Directions: In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Que
8、stions 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 According to Nigel, most problems of air travel are caused by _. （ A） unfavorable weather conditions （ B） airports handlin
9、g capacity （ C） inadequate ticketing service （ D） overbooking 12 Which of the following is not mentioned as compensation for volunteers for the next fight out? （ A） Free ticket. （ B） Free phone call. （ C） Cash reward （ D） Seat reservation. 13 Why does Nigel suggest that business travelers avoid big
10、airports? （ A） Because all flights in and out of there are full. （ B） Because the volume of traffic is heavy. （ C） Because there are more popular flights. （ D） Because there are more delays and cancellations. 14 According to Nigel, inexperience travelers are likely to make the following mistakes exc
11、ept _. （ A） booking on less popular flights （ B） buying tickets at full price （ C） carrying excessive luggage （ D） planning long business trips 15 Which of the following statements is INCORRECT? （ A） The possibility of discounts depends on a travel agents volume of business. （ B） Longer flights to t
12、he same destination maybe cheaper. （ C） It is advisable to plan every detail of a trip in advance. （ D） Arranging for stopovers can avoid overnight travel. SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST Directions: In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that fol
13、low. At the end of each news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the questions. 16 What happened on Monday? （ A） A train crash occurred causing minor injuries. （ B） Investigator found out the cause of the accident. （ C） Crews rescued more passengers from the site. （ D） A commuter train cras
14、hed into a building. 17 Which of the following was NOT on the agenda of the G20 meeting? （ A） Iraq debts. （ B） WTO talks. （ C） Financial disasters. （ D） Possible sanctions. 18 The G20 is a(n) _ organization. （ A） International （ B） European （ C） Regional （ D） Asian 19 The UN Charter went into effect
15、 after _. （ A） it was signed by the 50 original member countries （ B） it was approved by the founders and other member countries （ C） it was approved by the founding members （ D） it was signed by the founding members 20 Which of the following best describe the role of the charter? （ A） The Charter o
16、nly describes powers of the UN bodies. （ B） The Charter mainly aims to promote world economy. （ C） The charter is a treaty above all other treaties. （ D） The charter authorizes reforms in UN bodies. 21 The Welsh language has always been the ultimate marker of Welsh identity, but a generation ago it
17、looked as if Welsh would go the way of Manx, once widely spoken on the isle of Man but now extinct. Government financing and central planning, however, have helped reverse the decline of Welsh. Road signs and official public documents are written in both Welsh and English, and schoolchildren are req
18、uired to learn both languages. Welsh is now one of the most successful of Europes regional languages, spoken by more than a half-million of the countrys three million people. The revival of the language, particularly among young people, is part of a resurgence of national identity sweeping through t
19、his small, proud nation. Last month Wales marked the second anniversary of the opening of the National Assembly, the first parliament to be convened here since 1404. The idea behind devolution was to restore the balance within the union of nations making up the United Kingdom. With most of the peopl
20、e and wealth, England has always had bragging rights. The partial transfer of legislative powers from Westminster, implemented by Tony Blair, was designed to give the other members of the club Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales a bigger say and to counter centrifugal forces that seemed to threate
21、n the very idea of the union. The Welsh showed little enthusiasm for devolution. Whereas the Scots voted overwhelmingly for a parliament, the vote for a Welsh assembly scraped through by less than one percent on a turnout of less than 25 percent. Its powers were proportionately limited. The Assembly
22、 can decide how money from Westminster or the European Union is spent. It cannot, unlike its counterpart in Edinburgh, enact laws. But now that it is here, the Welsh are growing to like their Assembly. Many people would like it to have more powers. Its importance as figurehead will grow with the ope
23、ning in 2003, of a new debating chamber, one of many new buildings that are transforming Cardiff from a decaying seaport into a Baltimore-style waterfront city. Meanwhile a grant of nearly two million dollars from the European Union will tackle poverty. Wales is one of the poorest regions in Western
24、 Europe only Spain, Portugal, and Greece have a lower standard of living. Newspapers and magazines are filled with stories about great Welsh men and women, boosting self- esteem. To familiar faces, such as Dylan Thomas and Richard Burton have been added new icons such as Catherine Zeta-Jones, the mo
25、vie star, mad Bryn Terfel, the opera singer. Indigenous foods like salt marsh lamb are in vogue. And Wales now boasts a national airline. Awyr Cymm. Cymru, which means “land of compatriots,“ is the Welsh name for Wales. The red dragon, the nations symbol since the time of King Arthur, is everywhere
26、- on T-shirts, rugby jerseys and even cell phone covers. “Until very recent times most Welsh people had this feeling of being second-class citizens,“ said Dyfan Jones, an 18-year-old student. It was a warm summer night, and I was sitting on the grass with a group of young people in Llanelli, an indu
27、strial town in the south, outside the rock music venue of the National Eisteddfod, Waless annual cultural festival. The disused factory in front of us echoed to the sounds of new Welsh bands. “There was almost a genetic tendency for lack of confidence,“ Dyfan continued. Equally comfortable in his We
28、lshness as in his membership in the English-speaking, global youth culture and the new federal Europe, Dyfan, like the rest of his generation, is growing up with a sense of possibility unimaginable ten years ago. “We used to think. We cant do anything, were only Welsh. Now 1 think thats changing.“ 2
29、1 According to the passage, devolution was mainly meant to _. （ A） maintain the present status among the nations （ B） reduce legislative powers of England （ C） create a better state of equality among the nations （ D） grant more say to all the nations in the union 22 The word “centrifugal“ in the sec
30、ond paragraph means _. （ A） separatist （ B） conventional （ C） feudal （ D） political 23 Wales is different from Scotland in all the following aspects EXCEPT _. （ A） peoples desire for devolution （ B） locals turnout for the voting （ C） powers of the legislative body （ D） status of the national languag
31、e 24 Which of the following is NOT cited as an example of the resurgence of Welsh national identity? （ A） Welsh has witnessed a revival as a national language. （ B） Poverty-relief funds have come from the European Union. （ C） A Welsh national airline is currently in operation. （ D） The national symb
32、ol has become a familiar sight. 25 According to Dyfan Jones what has changed is _. （ A） peoples mentality （ B） pop culture （ C） towns appearance （ D） possibilities for the people 26 Getting to the heart of Kuwaiti democracy seems hilariously easy. Armed only with a dog-eared NEWSWEEK ID, I ambled th
33、rough the gates of the National Assembly last week. Unscanned, unsearched, my satchel could easily have held the odd grenade or an anthrax-stuffed lunchbox. The only person who stopped me was a guard who grinned and invited me to take a swig of orange juice from his plastic bottle. Were I a Kuwaiti
34、woman wielding a ballot, I would have been a clearer and more present danger. That very day Parliament blocked a bill giving women the vote; 29 M. P. s voted in favor and 29 against, with two abstentions. Unable to decide whether the bill had passed or not, the government scheduled another vote in t
35、wo weeks too late for women to register for Junes municipal elections. The next such elections arent until 2009. Inside the elegant, marbled Parliament itself, a sea of mustachioed men in white robes sat in green seats, debating furiously. The ruling emir has pushed for womens political rights for y
36、ears. Ironically, the democratically elected legislature has thwarted him. Traditionalists and tribal leaders are opposed. Liberals fret, too, that Islamists will let their multiple wives vote, swelling conservative ranks. “When I came to Parliament today, people who voted yes didnt even shake hands
37、 with me,“ said one Shia clerc. “Why cant we respect each other and work together?“ Why not indeed? By Gulf standards, Kuwait is a democratic superstar. Its citizens enjoy free speech (as long as they dont insult their emir, naturally) and boast a Parliament that can actually pass laws. Unlike their
38、 Saudi sisters, Kuwait women drive, work and travel freely. They run multibillion-dollar businesses and serve as ambassadors. Their academic success is such that colleges have actually lowered the grades required for make students to get into medical and engineering courses. Even then, 70 percent of
39、 university students are females. In Kuwait, the Western obsession with the higab finds its equivalent. At a fancy party for NEWSWEEKs Arabic edition, some Kuwait women wore them. Others opted for tight, spangled, sheer little numbers in peacock blue or parrot orange. For the partys entertainment, N
40、ancy Ajram, the Arab worlds answer to Britney Spears, sang passionate songs of love in a white mini-dress. She couldnt dance for us, alas, since shaking ones body onstage is illegal in Kuwait. That didnt stop whole tables of men from raising their camera-enabled mobile phones and clicking her pictur
41、e. Youd think not being able to vote or dance in public would anger Kuwaits younger generation of women. To find out, I headed to the malls-Kuwaits archipelago of civic freedom. Eager to duck Strict parents and the social taboos of dating in public. Young Kuwaitis have taken to cafes, beaming flirta
42、tious infrared e-mails to one another on their cell photos. At Starbucks in the glittering Al Sharq Mall, I found only tables of men, puffing cigarettes and grumbling about the service. At Pizza Hut, I thought Id got an answer after encountering a young woman who looked every inch the modem suffrage
43、tte drainpipe jeans, strappy sliver high-heeled sandals and a higab studded with purple rhinestones. But, no, Miriam A1-Enizi, 20, studying business administration at Kuwait University, doesnt think women need the vote.“ Men are better at politics than women,“ she explained, adding that women in Kuw
44、ait already have everything they need. Welcome to democracy, Kuwait style. 26 According to the passage, which of the following groups of people might be viewed as being dangerous by the guards? （ A） Foreign tourists. （ B） Women protestors. （ C） Foreign journalists. （ D） Members of the National Assem
45、bly. 27 The bill giving women the vote did not manage to pass because _. （ A） different interest groups held different concerns （ B） liberals did not reach consensus among themselves （ C） parliament was controlled by traditionalists （ D） parliament members were all conservatives 28 What is the role
46、of the 4th and 5th paragraphs in the development of the topic? （ A） To show how Kuwaiti women enjoy themselves. （ B） To describe how women work and study in Kuwait. （ C） To provide a contrast to the preceding paragraphs. （ D） To provide a contrast to the preceding paragraphs. 29 Which of the followi
47、ng is NOT true about young Kuwaiti women? （ A） They seem to be quite contented. （ B） They go in for Western fashions. （ C） They desire more than modem necessities. （ D） They favor the use of hi-tech products. 30 Richard, King of England from 1189 to 1199, with all his characteristic virtues and faul
48、ts cast in a heroic mould, is one of the most fascinating medieval figures. He has been described as the creature and embodiment of the age of chivalry. In those days the lion was much admired in heraldry, and more than one king sought to link himself with its repute. When Richards contemporaries ca
49、lled him “Coeur de Lion“ (The Lion heart), they paid a lasting compliment to the king of beasts. Little did the English people owe him for his services, and heavily did they pay for his adventures. He was in England only twice for a few short months in his ten years reign; yet his memory has always English hearts, and seems to present throughout the centuries the pattern of the fighting man. In all deed
