1、专业英语八级模拟试卷 237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 Cosmetics are now more popular than ever before. The agency responsible for regulating the【 1】 is the Foo
3、d and Drug Administration. A cosmetic is expected to cleanse, beautify, promote attractiveness, or change【 2】 For action to be taken against a cosmetic, it must be proven【 3】 in a court of law. But before a cosmetic is sold to the public, the FDA does not have【 4】 to review the safety of cosmetics o
4、r its ingredients. Cosmetics are tested constantly by the FDA for【 5】 Generally, customers complaints are deodorants, antiperspirants and hair【 6】 . Some cosmetics firms guarantee that cosmetics are safe and properly labeled. They test their products in【 7】 . Recently, the first step in the CTFA pro
5、gram assuring cosmetic safety is the【 8】 of cosmetic finns with the FDA. The second step is calling for the manufacturers to list the ingredients in their【 9】 . The third step is providing the FDA with information on all consumer complaints they receive. These【 10】 should assure that tighter control
6、s are being placed on the cosmetics industry. 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. Questions 1 to 5 are based on an inter
7、view. 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 What makes many people believe that our future energy demands will easily be met? （ A） The progress in developing alternative energy. （ B） The abundant depos
8、it. （ C） The development of technology. （ D） All of the above. 12 Compared to alternative energy, one of the disadvantages of fossil fuels is _. （ A） mining is difficult （ B） it costs a lot of money to preserve （ C） they are difficult to be processed （ D） they are non-renewable 13 By what is the nuc
9、lear energy primarily generated? （ A） Blowing. （ B） Splitting atoms. （ C） Joining atoms. （ D） None of the above. 14 According to some estimates, at most for how long can we use the fossil fuel reserves? （ A） 20-50 years. （ B） 50-100 years. （ C） 100-120 years. （ D） 200-500 years. 15 According to the
10、conversation, the use of fossil fuels _. （ A） should be banned in order to save energy （ B） brings some side effects （ C） causes the earths temperature rise （ D） should not be blamed for the pollution of environment SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST Directions: In this section you will hear everything ONCE O
11、NLY. 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 According to the news, the five Chinese crewmen lost their lives （ A） because they cleaned the ship with lethal liquid. （ B） as a result of loading
12、poisonous ores. （ C） as a result of too much exposure to the poisonous gas. （ D） because of the leakage of lethal gas at the port. 17 Which of the following statements is INCORRECT? （ A） The ship was carrying minerals to Thailand. （ B） The only survivor was being treated in a hospital far away. （ C）
13、 The survivor was the youngest of the six crewmen. （ D） The Chinese Embassy was very concerned about the accident. 18 According to the news, US will not send peacekeeping troops to Afghanistan but it will （ A） provide a British-led force with information and materials. （ B） help a British-led armed
14、force in military training. （ C） help to train new soldiers only in a. British-led force. （ D） provide the new Afghan army with military information. 19 Which of the following in NOT true about the air crash yesterday irt Afghanistan7 （ A） There were 24 passengers in the helicopter. （ B） More than h
15、alf of the passengers were hurt. （ C） The helicopter made a wrong landing. （ D） The helicopter attempted to land in a difficult terrain. 20 From the news, we know that Bin Laden （ A） went to a Pakistani hospital for his kidney disease. （ B） committed 6 militants to fight in a hospital in Kandahar. （
16、 C） was still somewhere in the southern city of Kandahar. （ D） went to a Pakistani hospital for a regular medical check. 20 In the world of entertainment, TV talk shows have undoubtedly flooded every inch of space on daytime television. And anyone who watches them regularly knows that each one varie
17、s in style and format. But no two shows are more profoundly opposite in content, while at the same time standing out above the rest, than the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey shows. Jerry Springer could easily be considered the king of “trash talk“. The topics on his show are as shocking as ,sho
18、cking can be. For example, the show takes the ever-common talk show themes of love, sex, cheating, guilt, hate, conflict and morality to a different level. Clearly, the Jerry Springer show is a display and exploitation of societys moral catastrophes, yet people are willing to eat up the intriguing p
19、redicaments of other peoples lives. Like Jerry Springer, Oprah Winfrey takes TV talk show to its extreme, but Oprah goes in the opposite direction. The show focuses on the improvement of society and an individuals quality of life. Topics range from teaching your children responsibility, managing you
20、r work week, to getting to know your neighbors. Compared to Oprah, the Jerry Springer show looks like poisonous waste being dumped on society. Jerry ends every show with a “final word“. He makes a small speech that sums up the entire moral of the show. Hopefully, this is the part where most people w
21、ill learn something very valuable. Clean as it is, the Oprah show is not for everyone. The shows main target audience are middle-class Americans. Most of these people have the time, money, and stability to deal with lifes tougher problems. Jerry Springer, on the other hand, has mole of an associatio
22、n with the young adults of society. These are 18-to 21.year-olds whose main troubles ill life involve love, relationship, sex, money and peers. They are the ones who see some value and lessons to be learned underneath the shows exploitation. While the two shows are as different as night and day, bot
23、h have ruled the talk show circuit for many years now. Each one caters to a different audience while both have a strong following from large groups of fans. Ironically, both could also be considered pioneers in the talk show world. 21 Compared with other TV talk shows, both the Jerry Springer and th
24、e Oprah Winfrey are _. （ A） more family-oriented （ B） unusually popular （ C） more profound （ D） relatively formal 22 Though the social problems Jerry Springer talks about appear distasteful, the audience_. （ A） remain fascinated by them （ B） are ready to face up to them （ C） remain indifferent to th
25、em （ D） are willing to get involved in them 23 Which of the following is likely to be a topic of the Oprah Winfrey show? （ A） A new type of robot. （ B） Racist hatred. （ C） Family budget planning. （ D） Street violence. 24 We can learn from the passage that the two talk shows （ A） have monopolized the
26、 talk show circuit （ B） exploit the weaknesses in human nature （ C） appear at different times of the day （ D） are targeted at different audiences 24 In the 1950s, the pioneers of artificial intelligence (AI) predicted that, by the end of this century, computers would be conversing with us at work an
27、d robots would be performing our housework. But as useful as computers are, theyre nowhere close to achieving anything remotely resembling these early aspirations for humanlike behavior. Never mind something as complex as conversation: the most powerful computers struggle to reliably recognize the s
28、hape of an object, the most elementary of tasks for a ten-month-old kid. A growing group of AI researchers think they know where the field went wrong. The problem, the scientists say, is that AI has been trying to separate the highest, most abstract levels of thought, like language and mathematics,
29、and to duplicate them with logical, step-by-step programs. A new movement in Al, on the other hand, takes a closer look at the more roundabout way in which nature came up with intelligence. Many of these researchers study evolution and natural adaptation instead of formal logic and conventional comp
30、uter programs. Rather than digital computers and transistors, some want to work with brain cells and proteins. The re- suits of these early efforts are as promising as they are peculiar, and the new nature-based AI movement is slowly but surely moving to the fore- front of the field. Imitating the b
31、rains neural network is a huge step in the right direction, says computer scientist and biophysicist Michael Conrad, but it still misses an important aspect of natural intelligence. “People tend to treat the brain as if it were made up of color-coded transistors“, he explains, “but its not simply a
32、clever network of switches. There are lots of important things going on inside the brain cells themselves.“ Specifically, Conrad believes that many of the brains capabilities stem from the pat- tern-recognition proficiency of the individual molecules that make up each brain cell. The best way to bui
33、ld and artificially intelligent device, he claims, would be to build it around the same sort of molecular skills. Right now, the notion that conventional computers and software are fundamentally incapable of matching the processes that take place in the brain remains controversial. But if it pr. yes
34、 true, then the efforts of Conrad and his fellow Al rebels could turn out to be the only game in town. 25 The author says that the powerful computers of today _. （ A） are capable of reliably recognizing the shape of an object （ B） are close to exhibiting humanlike behavior （ C） are not very differen
35、t in their performance from those of the 50s （ D） still cannot communicate with people in a human language 26 The new trend in artificial intelligence research stems from （ A） the shift of the focus of study on to the recognition of the shapes of objects （ B） the belief that human intelligence canno
36、t be duplicated with logical, step-by-step programs （ C） the aspirations of scientists to duplicate the intelligence of a ten-month-old child （ D） the efforts made by scientists in the study of the similarities between transistors and brain cells 27 Conrad and his group of Al researchers have been m
37、aking enormous efforts to （ A） find a roundabout way to design powerful computers （ B） build a computer using a clever network of switches （ C） find out how intelligence developed in nature （ D） separate the highest and most abstract levels of thought 28 Whats the authors opinion about the new Al mo
38、vement? （ A） It has created a sensation among artificial intelligence researchers but will soon die out. （ B） Its a breakthrough in duplicating human thought processes. （ C） Its more like a peculiar game rather than a real scientific effort. （ D） It may prove to be in the right direction though nobo
39、dy is sure of its future prospects. 28 Birds that are literally half-asleep-with one brain hemisphere alert and the other sleeping-control which side of the brain remains awake, ac cording to a new study of sleeping ducks. Earlier studies have documented half-brain sleep in a wide range of birds. Th
40、e brain hemispheres take turns sinking into the sleep stage characterized by slow brain waves. The eye controlled by the sleeping hemi sphere keeps shut, while the wakeful hemispheres eye stays open and alert. Birds also can sleep with both hemispheres resting at once. Decades of studies of bird flo
41、cks led researchers to predict extra alertness in the more vulnerable, cud-of-the-row sleepers. Sure enough, the end birds tended to watch carefully on the side away from their companions. Ducks in the inner spots showed no preference for gaze direction. Also, birds dozing at the end of the line res
42、orted to single-hemi sphere sleep, rather than total relaxation, more often than inner ducks did. Rotating 16 birds through the positions in a four-duck row, the re searchers found outer birds half-asleep during some 32 percent of dozing time versus about 12 percent for birds in internal spots. “We
43、believe this is the first evidence for an animal behaviorally controlling sleep and wakefulness simultaneously in different regions of the brain, “the researchers say. The results provide the best evidence for a long-standing supposition that single-hemisphere sleep evolved as creatures scanned for
44、enemies. The preference for opening an eye on the lookout side could be wide spread, he predicts. Hes seen it in a pair of birds dozing side-by-side in the zoo and in a single pet bird sleeping by a mirror. The mirror-side eye closed as if the reflection were a companion and the other eye stayed ope
45、n. Useful as half-sleeping might be, its only been found in birds and such water mammals as dolphins, whales, and seals. Perhaps keeping one side of the brain awake allows a sleeping animal to surface occasion ally to avoid drowning. Studies of birds may offer unique insights into sleep. Jerome M. S
46、iegel of the UCLA says he wonders if birds half-brain sleep “is just the tip of the iceberg.“ He speculates that more examples may turn up when we take a closer look at other species. 29 A new study on birds sleep has revealed that_. （ A） half-brain sleep is found in a wide variety of birds （ B） hal
47、t-brain sleep is characterized by slow brain waves （ C） birds can control their half-brain sleep consciously （ D） birds seldom sleep with the whole of their brain at rest 30 According to the passage, birds often half sleep because_. （ A） they have to watch out for possible attacks （ B） their brain h
48、emispheres take turns to rest （ C） the two halves of their brain are differently structured （ D） they have to constantly keep an eye on their companions 31 The example of a bird sleeping in front of a mirror indicates that_. （ A） the phenomenon of birds dozing in pairs is widespread （ B） BI birds pr
49、efer to sleep in pairs for the sake of security （ C） even an imagined companion gives the bird a sense of security （ D） a single pet bird enjoys seeing its own reflection in the mirror 32 While sleeping, some water mammals tend to keep half awake in order to_. （ A） alert themselves to the approaching enemy （ B） emerge from water now and then to breathe （ C） be sensitive to the ever-changing environment （ D） avoid being swept away by rapid currents 32 The two modern writers whose influence on young novelists has
