1、专业英语八级模拟试卷 175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 Press Conference The press conference has certain advantages. The first advantage lies with the【 1】 _
3、 of the【 1】 _ event itself; public officials are supposed to submit to scrutiny by responding to various questions at a press conference. Secondly, statements previously made at a press conference can be used as a 【 2】 _in judging following statements or 【 2】 _ policies. Moreover, in case of importa
4、nt events, press conferences are an effective way to break the news to groups of reporters. However, from the point of view of【 3】 _, 【 3】 _ the press conference possesses some disadvantages, mainly in its【 4】 _and news source. The 【 4】 _ provider virtually determines the manner in which a press con
5、ference proceeds. This, sometimes, puts news reporters at a(n)【 5】 _, as can be 【 5】 _ seen on live broadcasts of news conferences. Factors in getting valuable information -preparation:a need to keep up to date on journalistic subject matter; -【 6】 _ of the news source. 【 6】 _ 1) news sources【 7】 _t
6、o provide information;【 7】 _ 2) news-gathering methods. Conditions under which news reporters cannot trust the information provided by a news source -not knowing the required information; -knowing and willing to share the information, but without【 8】 _skills; 【 8】 _ -knowing the information, but unw
7、illing to share; -willing to share, but unable to recall. -【 9】 _ of questions asked 【 9】 _ Ways of improving the questions: -no words with double meanings; -no long questions; -specific time, place, etc.; -【 10】 _questions; 【 10】 _ -clear alternatives, or no alternatives in answers. 1 【 1】 2 【 2】 3
8、 【 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. Questions 1 to 5 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will be given 10 second
9、s to answer each of the following five questions. Now listen to the interview. 11 Which of the following is NOT a point made by Daniel at the beginning part? （ A） All media people try to be objective. （ B） All people have some prejudice. （ C） Unlike radio and TV, newspapers are impersonal. （ D） Peop
10、le cannot avoid showing their bias. 12 Daniel thinks it would be_ to reveal ones bias too readily. （ A） wrong （ B） improper （ C） natural （ D） justifiable 13 Daniel look on himself as a_. （ A） sportsman （ B） public servant （ C） mayor （ D） policeman 14 According to Daniel, the biggest problem for a TV
11、 host is to_. （ A） become anxious （ B） become self-important （ C） become confident （ D） become self-conscious 15 What does Daniel find most attractive about his profession? （ A） visibility （ B） high salary （ C） high pressure （ D） feeling of accomplishment SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST Directions: In this
12、 section you will hear everything 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. 16 The heavy rain and floods were responsible for all of the following except （ A） displacement of people （ B）
13、transit stoppage （ C） serious injuries （ D） airport delays 17 A total of_ people were displaced because of the floods. （ A） 80 （ B） 250 （ C） 100 （ D） 337 18 The last strike at Darby by a hurricane took place in_. （ A） 1973 （ B） 1953 （ C） 1995 （ D） 1999 19 In the past two decades, the rate of birth d
14、efects in Shanxi Province is higher than the countrys average by_. （ A） 0.3 （ B） 0.5 （ C） 0.6 （ D） 0.8 20 Which of the following is not mentioned as an international organization that supports the project? （ A） United Nations Childrens Fund （ B） The World Health Organization （ C） International Scien
15、ce Institute （ D） International Childrens Foundation 20 Another kind of distinction that can be made among works of art is whether they were originally intended as objects purely to be looked at, or as objects to be used. The fine arts, such as drawing, painting, printmaking, and sculpture, involve
16、the production of works to be seen and experienced primarily on an abstract rather than practical level. Pieces of fine art may evoke emotional, intellectual, sensual, or spiritual responses in us. Those who love the fine arts feel that these responses are very valuable, and perhaps especially so in
17、 the midst of a highly materialistic world, for they expand our awareness of the great richness of life itself. The nineteenth century sculptor Auguste Rodin, whose work The Gates of Hell offered a passionate challenge to artistsand to those who are touched by their works: “The main thing is to be m
18、oved, to love, to hope, to tremble, to live.“ In contrast to the nonfunctional appeals of the fine arts, the first purpose of the applied arts is to serve some useful function. Lucy Lewis, a traditional potter from Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico, has applied a visually exciting surface decoration to her
19、 water jar, using the chewed end of a yucca spine to paint the fine lines. But the jars main reason for being “however“ is to hold water. Some of the people of Acoma, which may be the oldest continually inhabited city in the United States, still follow the old ways, carrying water for drinking, cook
20、ing, and washing up to their adobe homes from natural rock cisterns on the cliff walls below. The forms of their water jars are therefore designed to prevent spilling and to balance readily on ones head. The pots must also be light in weight, so Acoma water jars are some of the world s thinnest-wall
21、ed pottery. Interestingly, the languages of most Native American peoples do not include a word that means “fine art.“ While they have traditionally created pottery, basketry, and weaving with a highly sophisticated sense of design, these pieces were part of their everyday lives. The applied art of p
22、ottery-making, or ceramics, is one of the crafts, the making of useful objects by hand. Other applied art disciplines are similarly functional. Graphic designers create advertisements, fabrics, layouts for books and magazines, logos for corporate identification, and so on; industrial designers shape
23、 the mass-produced objects used by high-tech societies, from cars, telephones, and teapots, to one of the most famous visual images in the world: the Coca- Cola bottle. Other applied arts include clothing design, interior design, and environmental design. 21 The water jar mentioned in the second par
24、agraph can NOT be described as _. （ A） light in weight （ B） made by a Native American （ C） an example of fine art （ D） an object to be used 22 “Yucca“ (in the second paragraph) is most probably _. （ A） a paint （ B） a brush used in painting （ C） an object with a pointed end （ D） a plant 22 It has bee
25、n known for many decades that the appearance of sunspots is roughly periodic, with an average cycle of eleven years. Moreover, the incidence of solar flares and the flux of solar cosmic rays, ultraviolet radiation, and X-radiation all vary directly with the sunspot cycle. But after more than a centu
26、ry of investigation, the relation of these and other phenomena, known collectively as the solar-activity cycle, to terrestrial weather and climate remains unclear. For example, the sunspot cycle and the allied magnetic-polarity cycle have been linked to periodicities discerned in records of such var
27、iables as rainfall, temperature, and winds. Invariably, however, the relation is weak, and commonly of dubious statistical significance. Effects of solar variability over longer terms have also been sought. The absence of recorded sunspot activity in the notes kept by European observers in the late
28、seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries has led some scholars to postulate a brief cessation of sunspot activity at that time (a period called the Maunder minimum). The Maunder minimum has been linked to a span of unusual cold in Europe extending from the sixteenth to the early nineteenth centuri
29、es. The reality of the Maunder minimum has yet to be established, however, especially since the records that Chinese naked-eye observers of solar activity made at that time appear to contradict it. Scientists have also sought evidence of long-term solar periodicities by examining indirect climatolog
30、ical data, such as fossil records of the. thickness of ancient tree rings. These studies, however, failed to link unequivocally terrestrial climate and the solar-activity cycle, or even to confirm the cycles past existence. If consistent and reliable geological or archaeological evidence tracing the
31、 solar-activity cycle in the distant past could be found it might also resolve an important issue in solarphysics: how to model solar activity. Currently, there are two models of solar activity. The first supposes that the Suns internal motions (caused by rotation and convection) interact with its l
32、arge-scale magnetic field to produce a dynamo, a device in which mechanical energy is converted into the energy of a magnetic field. In short, the Sun s large-scale magnetic field is taken to be self-sustaining, so that the solar-activity cycle it drives would be maintained with little overall chang
33、e for perhaps billions of years. The alternative explanation supposes that the Suns large-scale magnetic field is a remnant of the field the Sun acquired when it formed, and is not sustained against decay. In this model, the solar mechanism dependent on the Suns magnetic field runs down more quickly
34、. Thus, the characteristics of the solar-activity cycle could be expected to change over a long period of time. Modem solar observations span too short a time to reveal whether present cyclical solar activity is a long-lived feature of the Sun, or merely a transient phenomenon. 23 The author focuses
35、 primarily on _. （ A） two competing scientific models concerning the suns magnetic field （ B） an overview of some recent scientific developments in solar physics （ C） the reasons why a problem in solar physics has not yet been solved （ D） the difficulties involved in linking terrestrial climate with
36、 solar activity 24 According to the passage, for which of the following reasons are the late seventeenth and early eighteenth-century Chinese records important? （ A） They contradict the theory of the Maunder minimum. （ B） They suggest that the Maunder minimum cannot be related to climate. （ C） They
37、verify the existence of a span of unusual cold worldwide during the Maunder minimum. （ D） They show that the European observations are of dubious statistical significance. 25 On which of the following assumptions is based the belief, that tree-ring thicknesses show links between solar periodicity an
38、d terrestrial climate? （ A） Solar-activity cycle existed m its present form during the period in question. （ B） Average tree-ring thickness varies from species to species. （ C） Tree-ring thickness varies with changes in terrestrial climate. （ D） Both terrestrial climate and solar-activity cycle rand
39、omly affect tree-ring thickness. 25 Northern marshes are being turned into empty, desecrated mud flat wasteland. The culprit? Snow geese. These marshes are the breeding ground for snow geese. Once destroyed, some fear the species will take over the habitat of the Canada goose a popular game bird in
40、Minnesota. If this happens, Minnesota hunting and land conditions could be greatly affected. The snow goose population has been on the rise in the last 25 years, but numbers are hitting an all-time high. This year there is an estimated 4.5 or 6 million birds, triple what the population was 25 years
41、ago. Although effects of the snow goose invasion arent apparent in Minneapolis, northern Minnesota and Canada can clearly see the signs. The population growth is due to the birds wintering habits. They fly south to Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi to nest. The conditions and food availability there
42、have made it possible for more birds to survive the winter and make the trip back north. The period over which theyve increased in number correlates to a change in agriculture practices in the region. After World War , there was an increase in man-made fertilizers, yielding an increase of corn, rice
43、, wheat and other crops. There have also been other changes in agricultural practices causing an increase of production in cereal crops. The geese find the agricultural areas better than the natural areas. The geese have escaped from any natural limits. They are not doing this on their own; it is in
44、 response to human practices. Usually, about 70 to 75 percent of the birds make it back to Canada in late winter and early spring. But the surviving number of snow geese has steadily climbed each year to reach 95 percent in the last couple of years. Because so many survive, they strip the capacity o
45、f the breeding ground. The snow geese are destroying salt marshes where they nest in the summer, about 30 percent of the salt marshes are completely destroyed, leaving them as inhabitable mud flats. Another 35 percent of salt marshes are significantly damaged. There are three possible solutions: Let
46、 the problem take care of itself and wait for the population to crash, deal directly with the population by changing hunting limits and regulations or address the cause of the problem in the south. 26 According to the author, if the marshes are destroyed,_. （ A） the snow geese will be in danger （ B）
47、 the agriculture of the area will suffer （ C） the Canada geese will replace the snow geese （ D） the snow geese may move to breed in Minnesota 27 The sharp rise of the snow geese population is mainly caused by_. （ A） lack of natural enemies （ B） great care of wildlife preservationists （ C） favorable conditions in their winter habitat （ D） changes in their migration patterns 28 The author seems to imply that _. （ A） humans are responsible for the problem （ B） hunting limits and regulations should be lifted （ C） the birds have a strong capability to survive （ D） the Canada geese
