1、专业英语八级模拟试卷 251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 Air pollution exists not only outdoor, but also indoor. It has great effects on people, and there are man
3、y measures taken to correct the problem. . Effects of air pollution 1)Different groups of individuals are affected by air pollution in different ways. Some individuals are more【 1】 _ to pollutants. Young children and elderly people suffer more. People with【 2】 _ suffer more. 2)The extent of air poll
4、ution effects on individuals depends on【 3】 _ to the damaging chemicals. 3)Short-term effects 【 4】 _ to the eyes, nose and throat upper respiratory infections headaches, nausea, and allergic reactions 4)Long-term effects chronic respiratory disease lung cancer heart disease damage to the brain, nerv
5、es, lives or kidneys . Measure taken to control air pollution 1)The first step: assessment investigate outdoor air pollution develop standards for measuring the type and【 5】 _ of some air pollutants determine how much exposure to pollutants is【 6】 _ 2)Steps to reduce exposure to air pollution outdoo
6、r air pollution regulation of man-made pollution through【 7】 _ , which is usually done through a variety of【 8】 _ that monitor the air and the environment prevention through regulation, and through personal, careful attention to【 9】 _ with the environment indoor air pollution 【 10】 _ to be reviewed
7、for potential harmful effects adequate ventilation smoking to be restricted 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. Question
8、s 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 Who is the first speaker? （ A） A driver. （ B） A passenger. （ C） A policeman. （ D） doctor. 12 What did the first speaker want? （
9、 A） AR the details. （ B） Only a little information at that time. （ C） No information until the next day. （ D） Mr. Simpsons comments on the accident. 13 Why wasnt the young lady wearing her seat-belt? （ A） She wasnt able to make it fit her. （ B） She wasnt able to fasten it. （ C） She was told not to f
10、asten it. （ D） It was unnecessary to wear the seat-belt. 14 Why did Mr. Simpson say that he couldnt have been driving fast? （ A） He had only been driving fifty yards on the main road. （ B） He had just come out into the main road. （ C） He had stopped fifty yards away. （ D） He had always driven under
11、fifty miles an hour. 15 What would happen to Mr. Simpsons car after everything is finished? （ A） It would be taken to the garage. （ B） It would be repaired. （ C） It would be driven away by Mr. Simpson. （ D） It would be removed by the police. SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST Directions: In this section you w
12、ill 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 Clinton Administration announced Friday that _. （ A） US aid programs in 21 countries over the next three years will be
13、 halted （ B） US aid missions in 21 countries over the next three years will be extended （ C） the United States government will establish an aid assistant organization （ D） the United States is willing to invest more on many developing countries such as Zaire 17 AID Administrator Bryan Ratwood says t
14、he countries affected most will be concentrating in such areas as _. （ A） North America （ B） South America （ C） Europe （ D） Africa, Asia, and Latin America 18 AID will now concentrate on sustainable development programs in some fifty nations focusing on key areas not including _. （ A） environment （
15、B） population （ C） culture （ D） economic growth 19 In a visit to Germany, Pope John Paul said _ is responsible for the 16th century schism led by Martin Luther. （ A） both the Catholics and Protestants （ B） the Catholics （ C） the Protestants （ D） neither of the two 20 So far the Pontiff _ to the dema
16、nd. （ A） has decided to give in （ B） is not going to give in （ C） has shown no sign of giving in （ D） is ready to counterattack 20 It has been 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 an
17、d the flux of solar cosmic rays, ultraviolet radiation, and X-radiation all vary directly with the sunspot cycle. But after more than a century of investigation, the relation of these and other phenomena, known collectively as the solar-activity cycle, to terrestrial weather and climate remains uncl
18、ear. For example, the sunspot cycle and the allied magneticpolarity cycle have been linked to periodicities discerned in records of such variables as rainfall, temperature, and winds. Invariably, however, the relation is weak, and commonly of dubious statistical significance. Effects of solar variab
19、ility over longer terms have also been sought. The absence of recorded sunspot activity in the notes kept by European observers in the late 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 m
20、inimum). The Maunder minimum has been linked to a span of unusual cold in Europe extending from the sixteenth to the early nineteenth centuries. 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
21、 at that time appear to contradict it. Scientists have also sought evidence of long-term solar periodicities by examining indirect climatological data, such as fossil records of the thickness of ancient tree rings. These studies, however, failed to link unequivocally terrestrial climate and the sola
22、r-activity cycle, or even to confirm the cycles past existence. If consistent and reliable geological or archaeological evidence tracing the solar-activity cycle in the distant past could be found, it might also resolve an important issue in solar physics, how to model solar activity. Currently, the
23、re are two models of solar activity. The first supposes that the Suns internal motions (caused by rotation and convection) interact with its large-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 Suns large-
24、scale magnetic field is taken to be self-sustaining, so that the solar-activity cycle it drives would be maintained with little overall change 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
25、it formed, and is not sustained against decay. In this model, the solar mechanism dependent on the Suns magnetic field runs down more quickly. Thus, the characteristics of the solar-activity cycle could be expected to change over a long period of time. Modern solar observations span too short a time
26、 to reveal whether present cyclical solar activity is a long-lived feature of the Sun, or merely a transient phenomenon. 21 The author focuses primarily on _. （ A） two competing scientific models concerning the suns magnetic field （ B） an overview of some recent scientific developments in solar phys
27、ics （ C） the reasons why a problem in solar physics has not yet been solved （ D） the difficulties involved in linking terrestrial climate with solar activity 22 According to the passage, for which of the following reasons are the late seventeenth-and early eighteenth-century Chinese records importan
28、t? （ A） They disprove the reality of the Maunder minimum. （ B） They suggest that the Maunder minimum cannot be related to climate. （ C） They verify the existence of a span of unusual cold during the Maunder minimum. （ D） They show that the European observations are of dubious statistical significanc
29、e. 23 On which of the following assumptions is based the belief that tree-ring thickness shows links between solar periodicity and terrestrial climate? （ A） Solar-activity cycle existed in its present form during the period in question. （ B） Average tree-ring thickness varies from species to species
30、. （ C） Tree-ring thickness varies with changes in terrestrial climate. （ D） Both terrestrial climate and solar-activity cycle affect treering thickness. 23 Computers, and especially connecting to the Internet, provide unique opportunities to enhance science and math education. Take, for example, the
31、 project called Chickscope, a program that would only be possible with the Internet. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? In schools across the country, many teachers use the egg as a springboard to a demonstration of how life begins and develops, setting up an incubator to hatch chicks in the
32、classroom. Fascinated kids watch as a chick pecks its way through the shell and finally struggles out. But what if the kids could see inside the egg and observe the changes in the chick embryo during its three weeks of growth. gathering egg-related data along the way? Chickscope, an interdisciplinar
33、y program based at the University of Illinois at Urbane-Champaign, permits just that. Kids see inside the egg courtesy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology. Without leaving their classrooms, East Central Illinois high school students and teachers can access and operate an MRI system via th
34、e World Wide Web, and watch as the chick embryo matures. “They actually run the MRI system, collect data, and run experiments,“ says Clint Potter, Chickscope project leader and a researcher at the universitys Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. A key side benefit: Students not onl
35、y learn about the subject at hand, they feel as though they are part of “a community of learners.“ as one teacher put it. This community concept is key to many of the prevailing theories about how best to learn science. Kids tend to learn faster and more deeply when the learning experience is shared
36、. And thats what makes the Internet, with its built-in ability to promote interaction, so powerful. Students can use the Net as a tool to construct solutions to problems, learning from one another in the process by doing, not by rote instruction. And community learning can benefit the community. In
37、an environmental science class at Covington High School in Covington, Louisiana, for example, students used the Internet to focus on cleaning up a local polluted stream by researching water-quality improvement techniques. With the help of a computer, they put together multimedia presentations for lo
38、cal and state political leaders. The Army Corps of Engineers awarded the city a grant to proceed with cleanup in large part because of the students work, which the Corps said was the equivalent of 50,000 of research and preparation time. Because the Internet is not limited in time and space, it can
39、transport kids to realms that are intrinsically more exciting than their own classrooms. Thousands of elementary school students connected by the Internet are joining biologist David Anderson in collecting satellite data that tracks the marathon flights of two species of albatross that nest on Tern
40、Island in Hawaii. The Albatross Project, which is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, seeks to learn how the availability of food affects the large seabirds extremely slow reproduction. But it has another purpose, sparking childrens interest in science by involving them in actual research.
41、 The project seemed the perfect opportunity to engage school-age kids in science, says Anderson. 24 According to the passage, which of the following should be encouraged to enhance learning of math and science? Problem solving. Actual research. Repetitive in-class drills. Group work. Rote learning.
42、（ A） 1 and 3. （ B） 1, 2 and 4. （ C） 4 and 5. （ D） 2, 3 and 5. 25 The Chickscope Project enabled students to do all of the following EXCEPT _. （ A） to set up an incubator to hatch chicks （ B） to actually operate an MRI system （ C） to get involved in actual research （ D） to watch the changes in the ch
43、ick embryo 26 The students in Louisiana _. （ A） worked together to find solutions to a problem over the Internet （ B） cleaned up a polluted stream across their home town （ C） received a grant of 50,000 for their project （ D） lobbied the local and state political leaders 27 Judging by the passage, bi
44、ologist David Anderson _. （ A） seemed to be interested in marathon （ B） made use of a satellite in his research （ C） was probably a specialist in remote education （ D） put together multimedia presentations for NSF 27 Northern marshes are being turned into empty, desecrated mud flat wasteland. The cu
45、lprit? 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 Minnesota. If this happens, Minnesota hunting and land conditions could be greatly affected. The snow goose population
46、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 ago. Although effects of the snow goose invasion arent apparent in Minneapolis, northern Minnesota and Canada can clear
47、ly 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 have made it possible for more birds to survive the winter and make the trip back north. The period over which theyve i
48、ncreased 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, wheat and other crops. “There have also been other changes in agricultural practices causing an increase of productio
49、n 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 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.
