1、2013年北京航空航天大学考博英语真题试卷及答案与解析 一、 Reading Comprehension 0 Printmaking is the generic term for a number of processes, of which woodcut and engraving are two prime examples. Prints are made by pressing a sheet of paper(or other material)against an image-bearing surface to which ink has been applied. When
2、 the paper is removed, the image adheres to it, but in reverse. The woodcut had been used in China from the fifth century A.D. for applying patterns to textiles. The process was not introduced into Europe until the fourteenth century, first for textile decoration and then for printing on paper. Wood
3、cuts are created by a relief process; first, the artist takes a block of wood, which has been sawed parallel to the grain, covers it with a white ground, and then draws the image in ink. The background is carved away, leaving the design area slightly raised. The woodblock is inked, and the ink adher
4、es to the raised image. It is then transferred to damp paper either by hand or with a printing press. Engraving, which grew out of the goldsmiths art, originated in Germany and northern Italy in the middle of the fifteenth century. It is an intaglio process(from Italian intagliare, “to carve“). The
5、image is incised into a highly polished metal plate, usually copper, with a cutting instrument, or burin. The artist inks the plate and wipes it clean so that some ink remains in the incised grooves. An impression is made on damp paper in a printing press, with sufficient pressure being applied so t
6、hat the paper picks up the ink. Both woodcut and engraving have distinctive characteristics. Engraving lends itself to subtle modeling and shading through the use of fine lines. Hatching and cross-hatching determine the degree of light and shade in a print. Woodcuts tend to be more linear, with shar
7、per contrasts between light and dark. Printmaking is well suited to the production of multiple images. A set of multiples is called an edition. Both methods can yield several hundred good-quality prints before the original block or plate begins to show signs of wear. Mass production of prints in the
8、 sixteenth century made images available, at a lower cost, to a much broader public than before. 1 What does the passage mainly discuss? （ A） The origins of textile decoration. （ B） The characteristics of good-quality prints. （ C） Two types of printmaking. （ D） Types of paper used in printmaking. 2
9、The word “prime“ in line 2 is closest in meaning to_. （ A） principal （ B） complex （ C） general （ D） recent 3 The authors purposes in paragraph 2 is to describe_. （ A） the woodcuts found in China in the fifth century （ B） the use of woodcuts in the textile industry （ C） the process involved in creati
10、ng a woodcut （ D） the introduction of woodcuts to Europe 4 According to the passage, all of the following are true about engraving EXCEPT that it_. （ A） developed from the art of the goldsmiths （ B） requires that the paper be cut with a burin （ C） originated in the fifteenth century （ D） involves ca
11、rving into a metal plate 5 According to the passage, what do woodcut and engraving have in common? （ A） Their designs are slightly raised. （ B） They achieve contrast through hatching and cross-hatching. （ C） They were first used in Europe. （ D） They allow multiple copies to be produced from one orig
12、inal. 5 The French word renaissance means rebirth. It was first used in 1855 by the historian Jules Michelet in his History of France, then adopted by historians of culture, by art historians, and eventually by music historians, all of whom applied it to European culture during the 150 years spannin
13、g 1450-1600. The concept of rebirth was appropriate to this period of European history because of the renewed interest in ancient Greek and Roman culture that began in Italy and then spread throughout Europe. Scholars and artists of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries wanted to restore the learnin
14、g and ideals of the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome. To these scholars this meant a return to human as opposed to spiritual values. Fulfillment in life as opposed to concern about an afterlife became a desirable goal, and expressing the entire range of human emotions and enjoying the plea
15、sures of the senses were no longer frowned on. Artists and writers now turned to secular as well as religious subject matter and sought to make their works understandable and appealing. These changes in outlook deeply affected the musical culture of the Renaissance period how people thought about mu
16、sic as well as the way music was composed, experienced, discussed, and disseminated. They could see the architectural monuments, sculptures, plays, and poems that were being rediscovered, but they could not actually hear ancient music although they could read the writings of classical philosophers,
17、poets, essayists, and music theorists that were becoming available in translation. They learned about the power of ancient music to move the listener and wondered why modern music did not have the same effect. For example, the influential religious leader Bernardino Cirillo expressed disappointment
18、with the learned music of his time. He urged musicians to follow the example of the sculptors, painters, architects, and scholars who had rediscovered ancient art and literature. The musical Renaissance in Europe was more a general cultural movement and state of mind than a specific set of musical t
19、echniques. Furthermore, music changed so rapidly during this century and a half-though at different rates in different countries that we cannot define a single Renaissance style. 6 What is the passage mainly about? （ A） The musical compositions that best illustrate the developments during the Europe
20、an Renaissance. （ B） The musical techniques that were in use during the European Renaissance. （ C） The European Renaissance as a cultural development that included changes in musical style. （ D） The ancient Greek and Roman musical practices used during the European Renaissance. 7 It can be inferred
21、from the passage that thinkers of the Renaissance were seeking a rebirth of_. （ A） communication among artists across Europe （ B） spirituality in everyday life （ C） a cultural emphasis on human values （ D） religious themes in art that would accompany the traditional secular themes 8 According to the
22、 passage, Renaissance artists and writers had all of the following intentions EXCEPT_. （ A） using religious themes （ B） portraying only the pleasant parts of human experience （ C） producing art that people would find attractive （ D） creating works that were easily understood 9 The word “disseminated
23、“ in line 16 is closest in meaning to “_“. （ A） played （ B） documented （ C） spread （ D） analyzed 10 Which of the following is mentioned in the passage as a reason for the absence of a single Renaissance musical style? （ A） The musical Renaissance was defined by technique rather than style. （ B） The
24、musical Renaissance was too short to give rise to a new musical style. （ C） Renaissance musicians adopted the styles of both Greek and Roman musicians. （ D） During the Renaissance, music never remained the same for very long. 10 The energy contained in rock within the earths crust represents a nearl
25、y unlimited energy source, but until recently commercial retrieval has been limited to underground hot water and/or steam recovery systems. These systems have been developed in areas of recent volcanic activity, where high rates of heat flow cause visible eruption of water in the form of geysers and
26、 hot springs. In other areas, however, hot rock also exists near the surface but there is insufficient water present to produce eruptive phenomena. Thus a potential hot dry rock(HDR)reservoir exists whenever the amount of spontaneously produced geothermal fluid has been judged inadequate for existin
27、g commercial systems. As a result of recent energy crisis, new concepts for creating HDR recovery systems which involve drilling holes and connecting them to artificial reservoirs placed deep within the crust are being developed. In all attempts to retrieve energy from HDRs, artificial stimulation w
28、ill be required to create either sufficient permeability or bounded flow paths to facilitate the removal of heat by circulation of a fluid over the surface of the rock. The HDR resource base is generally defined to include crustal rock that is hotter than 150C, is at depths less than ten kilometers,
29、 and can be drilled with presently available equipment. Although wells deeper than ten kilometers are technically feasible, prevailing economic factors will obviously determine the commercial feasibility of wells at such depths. Rock temperatures as low as 100C may be useful for space heating; howev
30、er, for producing electricity, temperatures greater than 200 C are desirable. The geothermal gradient, which specifically determines the depth of drilling required to reach a desired temperature, is a major factor in the recoverability of geothermal resources. Temperature gradient maps generated fro
31、m oil and gas well temperature-depth records kept by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists suggest that tappable high-temperature gradients are distributed all across the United States.(There are many areas, however, for which no temperature gradient records exist.) Indications are that t
32、he HDR resource base is very large.If an average geothermal temperature gradient of 22 C per kilometer of depth is used, a staggering 13,000,000 quadrillion B.T.U. s of total energy are calculated to be contained in crustal rock to a ten-kilometer depth in the United States. If we conservatively est
33、imate that only about 0.2 percent is recoverable, we find a total of all the coal remaining in the United States. The remaining problem is to balance the economics of deeper, hotter, more costly wells and shallower, cooler, less expensive wells against the value of the final product, electricity and
34、/or heat. 11 The primary purpose of the passage is to_. （ A） alert readers to the existence of HDRs as an available energy source （ B） document the challenges that have been surmounted in the effort to recover energy from HDRs （ C） warn the users of coal and oil that HDRs are not an economically fea
35、sible alternative （ D） encourage the use of new techniques for the recovery of energy from underground hot water and steam 12 The passage would be most likely to appear in a_. （ A） petrological research report focused on the history of temperature-depth records in the United States （ B） congressiona
36、l report urging the conservation of oil and natural gas reserves in the United States （ C） technical journal article concerned with the recoverability of newly identified energy sources （ D） consumer report describing the extent and accessibility of remaining coal resources 13 According the passage,
37、 an average geothermal gradient of 22 C per kilometer of depth can be used to_. （ A） balance the economics of HDR energy retrieval against that of underground hot water or steam recovery systems （ B） determine the amount of energy that will be used for space heating in the United States （ C） provide
38、 comparisons between hot water and HDR energy sources in United States （ D） estimate the total HDR resource base in the United States 14 It can be inferred from the passage that the availability of temperature-depth records for any specific area in the United States depends primarily on the_. （ A） p
39、ossibility that HDRs may be found in that area （ B） existence of previous attempts to obtain oil or gas in that area （ C） history of successful hot water or steam recovery efforts in that area （ D） failure of inhabitants to conserve oil gas reserves in that area 15 Which of the following would be th
40、e most appropriate title for the passage? （ A） Energy from Water Sources: The Feasibility of Commercial Systems （ B） Geothermal Energy Retrieval: Volcanic Activity and Hot Dry Rocks （ C） Energy Underground: Geothermal Sources Give Way to Fossil Fuels （ D） Tappable Energy for Americas Future: Hot Dry
41、 Rocks 15 Picture-taking is a technique both for annexing the objective world and for expressing the singular self. Photographs depict objective realities that already exist, though only the camera can disclose them. And they depict an individual photographers temperament, discovering itself through
42、 the cameras cropping of reality. That is, photography has two antithetical ideals: in the first, photography is about the world and the photographer is a mere observer who counts for little; but in the second, photography is the instrument of intrepid, questing subjectivity and the photographer is
43、all. These conflicting ideals arise from a fundamental uneasiness on the part of both photographers and viewers of photographs toward the aggressive component in “taking“ a picture. Accordingly, the ideal of a photographer as an observer is attractive because it implicitly denies that picture-taking
44、 is an aggressive act. The issue, of course, is not so clear-cut. What photographers do cannot be characterized as simply predatory or as simply, and essentially, benevolent. As a consequence, one ideal of picture-taking or the other is always being rediscovered and championed. An important result o
45、f the coexistence of these two ideals is a recurrent ambivalence toward photographys means. Whatever the claims that photography might make to be a form of personal expression on a par with painting, its originality is inextricably linked to the powers of a machine. The steady growth of these powers
46、 has made possible the extraordinary informativeness and imaginative formal beauty of many photographs, like Harold Edgertons high-speed photographs of a bullet hitting its target or of the swirls and eddies of a tennis stroke. But as cameras become more sophisticated, more automated, some photograp
47、hers are tempted to disarm themselves or to suggest that they are not really armed, preferring to submit themselves to the limits imposed by premodern camera technology because a cruder, less high-powered machine is thought to give more interesting or emotive results, to leave more room for creative
48、 accident. For example, it has been virtually a point of honor for many photographers, including Walker Evans and Cartier-Bresson, to refuse to use modem equipment. These photographers have come to doubt the value of the camera as an instrument of “fast seeing.“ Cartier-Bresson, in fact, claims that
49、 the modem camera may see too fast. This ambivalence toward photographic means determines trends in taste. The cult of the future(of faster and faster seeing)alternates over time with the wish to return to a purer past when images had a handmade quality. This nostalgia for some pristine state of the photographic enterprise is currently widespread and underlies the present-day enthusiasm for daguerreotypes and the wok of forgotten nineteenth-century provincial photographers. Photographers and viewers of
