1、专业英语八级模拟试卷 236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 Problems Learners of English Face The problems learners of English face can be divided into three bro
3、ad categories: a)【 1】 problems, some of which involve fear of !he unknown, and some of which are caused by the possible homesickness of the overseas student. b)culture problems, which are bound up with the British way of life, including【 2】 , habits and traditions. c)【 3】 problems, for which there a
4、re a number of reasons: First, it seems to overseas students that English people speak very【 4】 . Second, they speak with a variety of【 5】 . Third, different styles of speech are used. What can a student do to overcome these difficulties? He should attend【 6】 and use a language laboratory as much as
5、 possible. He should also listen to programmes in English on the radio and TV. Most important of all, he should take every opportunity to speak with【 7】 . Finally. I have some advice for students who have difficulty in speaking English fluently. Firstly, he must【 8】 what he wants to say. Secondly, h
6、e must try to【 9】 in English. This will only begin to take place when his use of English becomes【 10】 . 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 que
7、stions 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 According to the interview, what is conventional medicine? （ A） Only the diseased part of the body
8、is treated. （ B） The doctor treats the whole person. （ C） The whole person and the diseased part are both treated. （ D） Patients are treated in a conventional way. 12 How does acupuncture work? （ A） It works on rheumatism. （ B） It works on blood. （ C） It works on arms and legs. （ D） It works on ener
9、gy balance. 13 What relationship did the Chinese traditionally have with their doctors? （ A） Doctors treated the patients. （ B） Doctors were paid to keep people well. （ C） People were frightened of doctors. （ D） They treated each other as friends. 14 What is the doctor-patient relationship like in t
10、he West? （ A） People prefer a doctor of holistic medicine. （ B） People dont consult a doctor even if they are ill. （ C） people dont go to see a doctor until they are iii. （ D） People often visit a doctor whether they are iii or not. 15 What can you infer from the interview? （ A） Westerners are crazy
11、 about work. （ B） Westerners emphasize prevention. （ C） The Chinese prefer conventional medicine. （ D） The Chinese emphasize treatment. SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST Directions: In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. At the end of e
12、ach news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the questions. 16 Mr. William Perrey _. （ A） was nominated for Defense Secretary （ B） was member of the Senate Arms Services Committee （ C） was concerned by the growing tension on the Korean Peninsula （ D） is Deputy-Secretary of Defense 17 The US
13、 Senate Arms Services Committee _. （ A） held confirmation hearing for Mr. Perrey （ B） may have to decide whether to impose sanctions on North Korea （ C） made discussions on whether to deploy Patriot Defense system to South Korea （ D） made discussions on whether to deploy a single nuclear device to S
14、outh Korea 18 Which of the following statements about William Perrey is NOT true? （ A） He is very concerned about the North Koreas nuclear program. （ B） He favors aggressive diplomacy to resolve the crisis. （ C） He thinks US troops should continue to join UN peace-keeping missions. （ D） He thinks la
15、rge American units should not remain under US command. 19 What caused the Minnesota River to run out of its bank? （ A） The heavy snowfall. （ B） The melting snow and heavy rain. （ C） The tropical storm. （ D） The dike has been destroyed. 20 Which of the following is TRUE? （ A） People evacuated from th
16、eir homes can return now. （ B） Flood waters are receding in all parts of the upper mid-western United States. （ C） Flooding is expected to continue for a few more days. （ D） There was a record snowfall last year. 20 The age of gilded youth is over. Todays under-thirties are the first generation for
17、a century who can expect a lower living standard than their parents. Research into the lifestyle and prospects of people horn since 1970 shows that they are likely to face a lifetime of longer working hours, lower job security and higher taxes than the previous generation. When they leave work late
18、in the evening they will be more likely to return to a small rented flat than to a house of their own. When, eventually, they retire it will be on pensions far lower in real terms than those of their immediate forebears. The findings are revealed in a study of the way the ageing of Britains populati
19、on is affecting different generations, Anther Tinker, professor of social gerontology at Kings College London, who carried out much of the work, said the growth of the proportion of people over 50 had reversed the traditional flow of wealth from older to younger generations, “Todays older middle-age
20、d and elderly are becoming the new winners,“ she said. “They made relatively small the last three to four decades face the prospect of handing over more than a third of their lifetimes earnings (in taxes) to care for them.“ She revealed that between 1993 and 2000 the proportion of under-25s who owne
21、d their own property fell from 21% to 19% and it is still declining. The number of 25 to 29-year-old men living with their parents rose from 18% in 1978 to 23% in 1998. But perhaps the most telling figures are for people living without a companion or spouse. In 1973 just 2% of 25 to 35-year-olds liv
22、ed this way; by 2000 the figure was 12%. Rachel Thomson, a social science researcher at South Bank University, has studied social mobility. “Working-class youngsters can still expect to do better than their parents provided they live in the right area,“ she said. “but for many with middle-class back
23、grounds, downward mobility is increasingly likely.“ The two biggest financial blows for under-thirties are student loans and property prices. Marie-Claire Smith, 28, a civil servant in London earning just over 30,000 a year, said: “At my age my parents had a home and were starting a family. I gradua
24、ted five years ago with 6,000 in student loans, a 2,000 overdraft and a postgraduate loan of 3,000 which I have to pay off. Im getting paranoid that by the time my boyfriend and I can afford a home and a family Ill be less fertile.“ One refuge is futile optimism. Thomson said: “The studies found peo
25、ple refuse to talk about downward mobility even when it is clearly happening to them. Doing worse than your parents is the great modern anxiety and they hate to face up to it.“ The under-thirties can, however, take consolation in being much more widely travelled. Cheap air fares and wider acceptance
26、 of taking years out before or after university have allowed many to go far afield before starting a career. 21 Tinker believes that the major cause for the lower living standard of todays under-thirties is that_. （ A） they have to face lower job security （ B） they are living in an ageing society （
27、C） they have to take care of the old （ D） their expectations go beyond their abilities 22 We can learn from Tinkers and Thomsons study that_. （ A） there may be more and more under-thirties women living with their parents （ B） there may be more and more about: thirties remaining single （ C） working-c
28、lass youngsters are likely to live better than middle-class youngsters （ D） the under-thirties tend to avoid downward mobility by travelling 23 It may be advised to the under-thirties that_. （ A） they seek help from their parents （ B） they hold an optimistic attitude （ C） they start a career oversea
29、s （ D） No advice is offered 23 Most interpreters agree that their really unsettling moments come when the speaker makes a joke involving an untranslatable-play on words. “There is hardly anything people are more sensitive about than the jokes .they tell,“ Miss Seleskovitch says, “and it is very unco
30、mfortable for everyone when the speaker is overcome with laughter at his own humour and everyone stares at him blankly.“ In an extreme instance, she once solved this problem by quietly informing the delegates, “The speaker has just made a pun which cannot be translated. Please laugh. It would please
31、 him very much.“ To her enormous relief, they did. Not every contretemps ends so happily. Victore Sukhodrev was constantly tested by Khrushchevs earthy style. His personal Waterloo came when his chief, finally realising that his expressions were being diplomatically tiding up, insisted, “I didnt say
32、 riffraff. I said bastards.“ It was not until the turn of the century that the interpreting art came into its own. Previously, exchanges between nations were conducted by career diplomats, usually in secret and almost always in French. With the end of World War I, heads of state and heads of governm
33、ent met face to face at the peace conference in Versailles-and discovered they could communicate only with great difficulty. Conferences that should have ended in hours dragged on for days. The League of Nations, abandoning secret diplomacy, opened a new era in international affairs; but it was as t
34、hough the burden of language had been incorporated into the League charter. A delegate rose to speak in French. An interpreter took notes, When the delegate finished, the interpreter rose to repeat what had been said, this time in English. A one-hour speech that might have been merely tedious became
35、 a crashing bore when it took two, and those who said the League eventually talked itself to death had at least a point. Simultaneous translation changed all that, and the relatively simple equipment that makes it possible is routinely used in 85% of all international meetings today. The speaker tal
36、ks into a microphone linked to a sound-proof booth just off the assembly floor. There the interpreter, speaking into a second microphone, translates the speech for the benefit of those who dont understand the original language, all of whom wear an ear-piece no bigger than a hearing aid. If the audie
37、nce is multi-lingual, all that is needed to keep everyone abreast isan interpreter for each language, and additional booths and transmitting channels with the corresponding selection dials at each listeners post. Inside the little booth, however, the atmosphere is invariably charged with tension, an
38、d the stress is usually most severe in the German booth. Since the verb comes last in a German sentence, there is no way of anticipating what a speaker will say. If the sentence is long and involved, there is no chance of understanding it until many nerve-racking minutes have passed. There are those
39、 who believe that the age-old problem of how best to translate the thoughts of men from one language to another will yield to the magic of the electronic age. In 1996, the US National Research Council published its findings on the proficiency of a translating machine that took ten years to build and
40、 cost 8 million. It was, said the report, 21%slower than a skilled human. Man v. s. Computer. When it comes to translating subtleties, the machine itself best emphasizes why the gifted professionals are in no danger of being replaced. In a demonstration once, the designers asked a statesman to feed
41、the machine a phrase any phrase. The statesman chose, “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.“ In went the words in English to the accompaniment of blinking lights and whirrings, and out came a slip of paper in French. “The vodka is strong,“ it said, “but the meat is rotten.“ Winston Churchill
42、 once said: “Jaw jaw is better than war war .“ Only the anonymous little fraternity of conference interpreters, the real catalysts of international communication, makes this kind of jawing possible, and the world is just a little bit safer for them. 24 Miss Seleskovitchs case shows that an interpret
43、er needs to_. （ A） have a sense of humour （ B） be quick-witted （ C） have a good command of a foreign language （ D） be able to play on words 25 What made simultaneous translation possible? （ A） The League of Nations. （ B） International meetings. （ C） Technology advancement. （ D） Secret diplomacy. 26
44、The most likely trend for machine translation believed by the author is that_. （ A） it will take the place of human translators （ B） it wont work at all （ C） it may have an equal standing with human translators （ D） it may complement human translators 27 According to the passage, all of the followin
45、g statements are true EXCEPT_. （ A） before World War I, the diplomat language was French rather than English （ B） simultaneous translation is a demanding job （ C） German is more difficult than English （ D） interpreters have played a role in preventing breakout of war 27 In the beginning, E. Mavis He
46、therington was looking for as much pathology as the next person. It was the early 1970s, with the American family in free fall, and she fully expected that her just-launched study. of the impact of divorce would find dysfunction and plenty of it: parents unable to cope, maladjusted children with lon
47、g-term difficulties. By almost any measure-emotional, social or ecademic-“we expected them to blow it.“ Yet heres the surprising thing about her families, with all their couplings and uncouplings and even recouplings during the years that followed: the vast majority of parents rebounded from the pai
48、n and upheaval. Resiliency overshadowed pathology. And by the time the children were young adults, considering marriage and families of their own, Hetherington discovered at least 75% coping fairly well-some very well-with life. Divorce, it seems, is not predestined. Now at the close of her pioneeri
49、ng career, Hetherington, 75, wants to get the word out. More than that, with the publication of For Better or for Worse: Divorce Reconsidered, she wants to change the public debate about divorce. Her book offers reassurance to the millions of Americans who dont make it till death does part them. More than 40% of marriage end in divorce, down from the high record of the 1980s hut hardly a statistic for celebration. The most decisive aspect has long centered on the harm inflicted on children-irreparable
