1、专业英语八级模拟试卷 102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. 0 The American Tax System Governments raise revenues through taxation, A tax is a 【 1】 _ payment to governm
3、ent. In the Unites States, taxes 【 1】 _ fall into three main categories: a. Taxes on personal or corporation income; b. Taxes on wealth, including ownership and【 2】 _; 【 2】 _ c. Taxes on activities, including consumption, production, employment, etc. Each year in April, taxpayers sort their previous
4、 years income and expense records to prepare their income tax【 3】 _ They are allowed to take specific types 【 3】 _ of deductions and【 4】 _ A deduction applies if 【 4】 _ they donate to the Red Cross, their【 5】 _ or other 【 5】 _ 【 6】 _ organizations. 【 6】 _ Property taxes are levied primarily on land
5、and【 7】 _ Death taxes are levied on 【 7】 _ 【 8】 _ by the federal government and on inheritances by 【 8】 _ some state governments. Besides, gift taxes are levied on the transfer of assets. Sales taxes are levied on the【 9】 _ prices of items. 【 9】 _ Sometimes, the federal government may impose a value
6、-added tax. Social security taxes, which are【 10】 _ taxes levied 【 10】 _ by the federal government, are collected to finance social insurance programs. 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 ONC
7、E ONLY. Listen 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 Cattle raising is not necessarily a profitable busi
8、ness because _. （ A） the demand is too low （ B） the supply is too large （ C） the cost is too high （ D） the price is changeable 12 Despite insecure returns the ranchers raise cattle because _. （ A） they like investments （ B） they like challenges （ C） they like the job （ D） they like the rural area 13
9、 Beck does not agree with the interviewer who thinks that the rural life suffers _. （ A） isolation （ B） insecurity （ C） poverty （ D） crowdedness 14 According to Beck, children on the farm have all the following advantages EXCEPT that _. （ A） they are more responsible （ B） they are more self-reliant
10、（ C） they know how to work （ D） they are more sophisticated 15 Beck thinks it is _ for the government to set a base price. （ A） helpful （ B） reasonable （ C） wrong （ D） necessary SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST Directions: In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer
11、the questions that follow. At the end of each news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the questions. 16 The collapsed WTOs ministerial meeting was held in _ last year. （ A） Mexico （ B） Qatar （ C） Japan （ D） Switzerland 17 The document approved earlier Saturday will concern all the followin
12、g EXCEPT _. （ A） industrial goods （ B） agriculture （ C） service industries （ D） tourism 18 There is a general opposition to big cuts in import tariffs for some industries because _. （ A） they are sources of huge revenues （ B） they may fail to survive foreign competition （ C） they are new industries
13、（ D） they are supported by the government 19 The vice-president candidate, John Edwards, comes form _. （ A） Massachusetts （ B） North Carolina （ C） Iowa （ D） South Dakota 20 One unfavorable point about Edwards as a vice-president candidate is his _. （ A） young age （ B） his attitude on Iraq war （ C） l
14、ack of experience in international affairs （ D） major disagreement with Kerry 20 1 Its been 40 years since the surgeon general issued the first report warning that cigarettes cause cancer. Since then, the public has grown acutely aware that smoking is lethal. But though the public education campaign
15、 has been a great success in providing information, its been a failure in one conspicuous way: 46 million American adults still smoke. 2 How come? Because its so hard to quit. Nicotine is so powerfully addictive that lots of people find it impossible to give up-even with lung cancer, emphysema and h
16、eart disease staring them in the face. Despite an array of products and strategies designed to help people conquer the habit, cigarettes remain a major killer in this country. 3 If we want to know how to reduce the death toll from tobacco use, we might want to look at Sweden, where smoking among men
17、 has dropped sharply in recent years. How come? Brad Rodu, a professor of pathology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, says one big reason is that a lot of Swedish smokers have switched to smokeless tobacco. 4 That may sound like a pointless exercise, substituting one deadly addiction for a
18、nother. In fact, snuff and other unsmoked forms of tobacco are not nearly as risky as the kind you ignite and inhale. 5 A 2002 report by Britains Royal College of Physicians noted that “the consumption of non-combustible tobacco is of the order of 10 to 1,000 times less hazardous than smoking.“ Smok
19、eless tobacco is known to cause oral cancer. But Rodu estimates that if everyone now smoking made the change, the annual number of tobacco related deaths in the United States would plunge from 440,000 to 6,000. 6 U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona, who says he would like to ban all tobacco product
20、s, insists that “there is no scientific evidence that smokeless tobacco products are both safe and effective aids to quitting smoking.“ Anti-smoking groups portray smokeless tobacco as an intolerable danger. But a growing pile of evidence suggests snuff could be a valuable tool to help smokers help
21、themselves. 7 Its true that theyd do well to swear off the weed in any form. But when virtue fails, as it often does, we have to look for ways to make vice less dangerous. Thats the rationale for giving teens access to condoms and other types of birth control, even if we strongly prefer that they ab
22、stain from sex. Its also the idea behind needle-exchange programs, which recognize that one thing worse than injecting heroin is injecting it with an AIDS-infected syringe. 8 Smokeless tobacco offers hope to hard-core smokers because it lets them fill their nicotine needs without sucking toxic fumes
23、 into their lungs. Addicts would be better off getting their daily dose without lighting up. 9 The rest of us would gain as well, since this indulgence lacks a notable byproduct of cigarettes: secondhand smoke. (With some forms, the user doesnt even have to spit. ) And nobody ever burned down his ho
24、use by falling asleep while dipping snuff. 10 You may wonder why any smoker wouldnt use nicotine gum or patches instead. Answer: because theyre more expensive and less potent, relieving smokers of their cash but not their cravings. While nicotine maintenance works for some people, it doesnt work for
25、 others, and they shouldnt be deprived of additional options. 11 Critics dismiss Rodu as a hired gun for the smokeless tobacco industry, which in recent years has donated money to support his research and would like to market its product as a safer alternative to smoking. But he says his studies bet
26、ween 1993 and 1999 were done without any industry financing. The funds the industry has given since then have been unrestricted grants to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and it has no control over the research. 12 Attacking his funding seems to be easier than refuting his evidence. If the t
27、obacco industry donates money to scientists who say the sky is blue, that doesnt make it green. Instead of rejecting the scientific data that has been produced on the subject, the surgeon general should be demanding government funding for additional research. 13 Based on the evidence so far, though,
28、 smokeless tobacco is far less dangerous than cigarettes, and the industry should be free to publicize that fact. The ideal solution, of course, is for everyone who smokes to quit tobacco once and for all. But when people cant or wont do whats best for them, we shouldnt discourage them from doing wh
29、ats second best. 21 Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage? （ A） Quite a big percentage of Americans are cigarette smokers. （ B） Americans are well informed of the danger from smoking. （ C） Smokers of cigarettes may die of cancer. （ D） The campaign against smoking suc
30、ceeds in preventing Americans from smoking. 22 The author seems to consider it to be _ for those Swedish smokers to switch to smokeless tobacco. （ A） valuable （ B） pointless （ C） useless （ D） irrational 23 Which of the following seems to be NOT true of smokeless tobacco? （ A） lethal （ B） addictive （
31、 C） safe （ D） non-combustible 24 The following advantages of smokeless tobacco are listed EXCEPT that _. （ A） it is an effective substitute for ordinary smoking （ B） it has no side effects （ C） it avoids second-hand smoke （ D） it can prevent a fire from bursting out 25 It can be inferred from the pa
32、ssage that the author _ Brad Rodu. （ A） is dissatisfied with （ B） is suspicious of （ C） is sympathetic with （ D） is supportive of 25 1 There is an accelerating trend toward greater realism in media communications. This trend can be attributed to technological innovations. 2 Years ago the radio sound
33、ed brassy and full of static. Now, since the development of frequency modulation (FM), radio sound is of a much higher fidelity. Stereophonic sound (stereo), another technological innovation, was a further step toward an improvement in the method of retaining naturalness in sound. 3 Perhaps a greate
34、r advance in the trend toward realism in communications was the invention of television. Wall to Wall television with panels for a cinematic effect may indeed be what tomorrow holds in store for us. Only three-dimensional and true-size projection remains to be developed in the continuing search for
35、realism in visual communications. 4 It was not until 1960 that the first major breakthrough in the capability for the production of a practical stereoscopic system took place. At the time, the invention of the laser ray, which incorporated the principles of light and radio radiation, was utilized by
36、 communications media technicians. With the laser ray, which created an energy form known as electromagnetic radiation, it became possible to record the actual distance from each object to the photographic plate. This finished plate, called a hologram (whole picture), permits three-dimensional viewi
37、ng. 5 The only areas not yet near perfection in the technological communication search for realism are the sensations of touch, taste, and smell. Who knows what sensations of realism we may yet experience in the communications world of tomorrow? 26 What is one trend attributed to technological innov
38、ation in media communication? （ A） science fiction （ B） historical fiction （ C） realism （ D） news development 27 What is indicated as a possible future development in television? （ A） wall-size projection （ B） mini-projection （ C） color projection （ D） true-size projection 28 What invention incorpor
39、ated the principles of light and radio radiation? （ A） satellite communication （ B） X-ray （ C） the laser beam （ D） continuous wave 29 According to this lecture, what areas of human sensation have not yet been accounted for in media communication? （ A） touch, taste, and hearing （ B） touch, taste, and
40、 smell （ C） smell, hearing, and sound （ D） touch, taste, and sight 29 1 I believe that we all accept the principle that an affluent society must do what it can to prevent hunger and misery, and also to provide equality of opportunity to those who have been denied it. But how far can a society go in
41、the redistribution of wealth without changing the very nature of society? I think this is a problem that weve got to face. I do not think that a majority in Congress are trying to face it, or realize that it is a problem, because so many of them are still hard at work at this business of redistribut
42、ing income. 2 All that reminds me of what happened in the universities during the 1960s and 1970s- events that I witnessed from a ringside seat. During this period we had a fashion of giving As to every student-there were no failures. The effect on academic life was devastating. When illiterate or l
43、azy students could get an A average, good students stopped studying. The result was a profound change in academic life: formerly dropouts were those who failed in their studies; in the 1960s and 1970s most of the dropouts were the most gifted and brilliant students, who found that college had become
44、 meaningless. 3 What happens in the schools is not unlike what happens in society at large when the penalties of improvidence, laziness, or ignorance are not just softened, but removed. When there is no such thing as failure, there is no such thing as success either. Motivation, the desire to excel,
45、 the urge to accomplishmentall these disappear. The dynamism of society is lost. 4 This, Im afraid, is the direction in which our society has been going steadily for many years. The biggest losers are the brightest and most capable men and women. But the average person is a loser too. Faced with no
46、challenge, assured of a comfortable living whether they work or not, such persons become willing dependents, content with a parasitical relationship to the rest of society. 5 What is significant in our time is that there is a whole class of people interested in encouraging this parasitism. Many welf
47、are officials and social workers are threatened with a loss of their power if there is a marked reduction in the number of their clients, so they are motivated to increase rather than decrease welfare dependency. 6 Politicians, too, have flourished by getting increased federal grants for this or tha
48、t disadvantaged group. They go back to their constituents and say, “Look what Ive done for you,“ and get reelected. These are the officeholders who are far more interested in being reelected than in doing what is good for people, good for the economy, good for the nation. 7 If everybody is rewarded just for being alive, you get the same sort of effect as you do when you reward every student just for being enrolled. You destroy not only education, you destroy society by giving As to everyone. This is a philosophical consideration that bothers me very much as I sit in the Uni
