1、专业英语八级模拟试卷 341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 British Education . British Education Acts A. 1870 Act: inspired by the example of mass【 1】 in Germany 【
3、1】 _ B. 1902 Act: established local education authorities (LEAs) established【 2】 for secondary education 【 2】 _ C. 1944 Act: established age of free and compulsory secondary education D. 1988 Act: free individual schools from LEAs . Contrasts with American Education A. State schools in Britain vs. p
4、ublic schools in America B. Grammar schools:【 3】 schools 【 3】 _ C. Secondary modem schools: providing vocational education . Types of Schools in Britain A. Private boarding school e.g. Eton College, Harrow School, Rugby School, and Winchester School. attended by the wealthy and influential due to hi
5、gh【 4】 including: 【 4】 _ preparatory schools (age of 7 to the age of 11, 12 or 13) 【 5】 schools (age of 11, 12, or 13 to 18 or 19) 【 5】 _ B. Schools supported with public funds e.g. state schools: owned and funded by LEAs 【 6】 schools: established and funded by religious 【 6】 _ groupsself-governing
6、or【 7】 (GM) schools: receiving funds directly from the government 【 7】 _ specialist schools: connected to a private【 8】 【 8】 _ C. Comprehensive schools (in Scotland) serving students of all abilities D. Schools subordinate to religious groups (in Northern Ireland) 【 9】 school: maintained by the cath
7、olic or the Protestant church 【 9】_ 【 10】 schools 【 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 questions that follow. Questions 1 to 5 are based
8、 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 The interviewees first job was with _. （ A） a newspaper （ B） the government （ C） a construction firm （ D） a private company 12 The interviewee is
9、 not self-employed mainly because _. （ A） his wife likes him to work for a firm （ B） he prefers working for the government （ C） self-employed work is very demanding （ D） self-employed work is sometimes insecure 13 To study architecture in a university one must _. （ A） be interested in arts （ B） stud
10、y pure science first （ C） get good exam results （ D） be good at drawing 14 On the subject of drawing the interviewee says that _. （ A） technically speaking artists draw very well （ B） an artists drawing differs little from an architects （ C） precision is a vital skill for the architect （ D） architec
11、ts must be natural artists 15 The interviewee says that the job of an architect is _. （ A） more theoretical than practical （ B） to produce sturdy, well-designed buildings （ C） more practical than theoretical （ D） to produce attractive, interesting buildings SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST Directions: In th
12、is 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 Which of the following is not the reason for the English couples divorce? （ A） Mrs. Turner moved the furni
13、ture for 38 years. （ B） Mr. Turner could not bear her. （ C） Mr. Turner had committed adultery since January. （ D） Mrs. Turner refused to stop the moving of furniture. 17 Why did the couple moved from the matrimonial home into a caravan with some of the furniture fixed to the floor? （ A） They hoped i
14、t could cure Mrs. Turners illness. （ B） They were tired of old environment. （ C） They hoped the obsession would stop. （ D） They wanted to lead a new life. 18 Haier Group bid for Maytag is _. （ A） $1.75 billion （ B） $18.5 billion （ C） $16.4 billion （ D） $1.3 billion 19 Which statement is not true acc
15、ording to the news? （ A） This is the biggest takeover battle for China. （ B） Chinas bid will probably trigger a costly biding competition over the company Unocal. （ C） The US is planning forbidding Chinese companys bids for US company. （ D） Unocal has agreed to be sold to another American oil compan
16、y. 20 Why has the rate of new phone purchases slowed in Europe? （ A） Because of the warning about sales. （ B） Because the customers are reluctant to trade up to new handsets. （ C） Because of cutting into demand for handsets. （ D） Because of the US slowdown. 20 “The landscape seen from our windows is
17、 certainly charming,“ said Annabel; “those cherty orchards and green meadows, and the river winding along the valley, and the church tower peeping out among the elms, they all make the most effective picture. Theres something dreadfully sleepy and languorous about it, though ; stagnation seems to be
18、 the dominant note. Nothing ever happens here; seedtime and harvest, an occasional outbreak of measles or a mildly destructive thunderstorm, and a little election excitement about once in five years, that is all that we have to modify the monotony of our existence. Rather dreadful, isnt it?“ “On the
19、 contrary,“ said Matilda, “I find it soothing and restful: but then, you see, Ive lived in countries where things do happen, ever so many at a time, when youre not ready for them happening all at once. “That, of course, makes a difference,“said Annabel. “I have never forgotten,“ said Matilda, “the o
20、ccasion when the Bishop of Bequar paid us an unexpected visit; he was on his way to lay the foundation-stone of a mission-house or something of the sort. “ “I thought that out there you were always prepared for emergency guests turning up, “said Annabel. “I was quite prepared for half a dozen Bishop
21、s,“said Matilda, “but it was rather disconcerting to find out after a little conversation that this particular one was a distant cousin of mine, belonging to a branch of the family that had quarreled bitterly and offensively with our branch about a Crown Derby dessert service; they got it, and we ou
22、ght to have got it, in some legacy, or else we got it and they thought they ought to have it, I forget which; anyhow, I know they behaved disgracefully. “ “It was rather trying, but you could have left your husband to do most of the entertaining. “ My husband was fifty miles up-country, talking sens
23、e, or what he imagined to be sense, to a village community that fancied one of their leading men was a were-tiger. “ “A what tiger? A were-tiger; youve heard of were-wolves, havent you, a mixture of wolf and human being and demon? Well, in those parts they have were-tigers, or think they have, and I
24、 must say that in this case, so far as sworn and uncontested evidence went, they had every ground for thinking so. However, as we gave up witchcraft prosecutions about three hundred years ago, we dont like to have other people keeping on our discarded practices; it doesnt seem respectful to our ment
25、al and moral position. “ “ I hope you werent unkind to the Bishop, “said Annabel. “Well, of course he was my guest, so I had to be outwardly polite to him, but he was tactless enough to rake up the incidents of the old quarrel, and to try to make out that there was something to be said for the way h
26、is side of the family had behaved; even if there was, which I dont for a moment admit, my house was not the place in which to say it. I didnt argue the matter, but I gave my cook a holiday to go and visit his aged parents some ninety miles away. The emergency cook was not a specialist in curries, in
27、 fact, I dont think cooking in any shape or form could have been one of his strong points. I believe he originally came to us in the guise of a gardener, but as we never pretended to have anything that could be considered a garden he was utilized as assistant goatherd, in which capacity, I understan
28、d, he gave every satisfaction. When the Bishop heard that I had sent away the cook on a special and unnecessary holiday he saw the inwardness of the man oeuvre, and from that moment we were scarcely on speaking terms. If you have ever had a Bishop with whom you were not on speaking terms staying in
29、your house, you will appreciate the situation. “ Annabel confessed that her life story had never included such a disturbing experience. 21 All of the following adjectives describe Annabels impression of the landscape EXCEPT （ A） languid. （ B） repressive. （ C） enchanting. （ D） boring. 22 Which of the
30、 following statements is NOT true of Matilda? （ A） She enjoys the peace of the place where she is. （ B） The visit of a Bishop left a deep impression on her. （ C） Her life story is quite different from Annabels. （ D） She is on good terms with a lot of Bishops. 23 Which of the following can we infer f
31、rom the passage? （ A） Many people tend to practise witchcraft. （ B） Matildas husband knows the visiting Bishop. （ C） Matildas husband may be one of the priesthood. （ D） Matilda doesnt believe that there are were-tigers. 24 The phrase“ rake up“ in the seventh paragraph probably refers to （ A） bring t
32、o light. （ B） keep away from. （ C） chatter on about. （ D） keep dark. 25 What do we know about the emergency cook from the passage? （ A） His parents lived ninety miles away. （ B） He did well in tending Matildas livestock. （ C） He had planned to work as a cook in Matildas. （ D） He cooked a dish with c
33、un-ies for the Bishop. 25 Kimiyuki Suda should be a perfect customer for Japans car makers. Hes a young (34) , successful executive at an internet-services company in Tokyo and has plenty of disposable income. He used to own Toyotas Hilux Surf, a sport utility vehicle. But now he uses mostly subways
34、 and trains. “Its not inconvenient at all,“ he says. Besides, “having a car is so 20th century. “ Suda reflects a worrisome trend in Japan; the automobile is losing its emotional appeal, particularly among the young, who prefer to spend their money on the latest electronic gadgets. While minicars an
35、d luxury foreign brands are still popular, everything in between is slipping. Last year sales fell 6.7 percent 7.6 percent if you dont count the minicar market. There have been larger one-year drops in other nations: sales in Germany fell 9 percent in 2007 thanks to a tax hike. But analysts say Japa
36、n is unique in that sales have been eroding steadily over time. Since 1990, yearly new-car sales have fallen from 7.8 million to 5.4 million units in 2007. Alarmed by this state of decay, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association launched a comprehensive study of the market in 2006. It found a
37、widening wealth gap, demographic changes fewer households with children, a growing urban populationand general lack of interest in cars led Japanese to hold their vehieles longer, replace their cars with smaller ones or give up car ownership altogether. “Japans automobile society stands at a crossro
38、ads,“ says Ryuichi Kitamura, a transport expert and professor at Kyoto University. He says he does not expect the trend to be reversed, as studies show that the younger Japanese consumers are, the less interested they are in having a car. JAMA predicts a further sales decline of 1.2 percent in 2008.
39、 Some analysts believe that if the trend continues for much longer, further consolidation in the automotive sector (already under competitive pressure) is likely. Japanese demographics have something to do with the problem. The countrys urban population has grown by nearly 20 percent since 1990, and
40、 most city dwellers use mass transit (the countrys system is one of the best developed in the world) on a daily basis, making it less essential to own a car. Experts say Europe, where the car market is also quite mature, may“ be in for a similar shift. But in Japan, the “demotorization“process, or k
41、uruma banare, is also driven by cost factors. Owning and driving a car can cost up to $500 per month in Japan, including parking fees, car insurance, toll roads and various taxes. Taxes on a $17, 000 ear in Japan are 4.1 times higher than in the United States, 1.7 times higher than in Germany and 1.
42、25 times higher than in the U. K. , according to JAMA. “Automobiles used to represent a symbol of our status, a Western, modern lifestyle that we aspired for,“ says Kitamura. For todays young people, he argues, “such thinking is completely gone. “ Cars are increasingly just a mobile utility; the rea
43、l consumer time and effort goes into picking the coolest mobile phones and personal computers, not the hippest hatchback. The rental-car industry has grown by more than 30 percent in the past eight years, as urbanites book weekend wheels over the Internet. Meanwhile, government surveys show that spe
44、nding on cars per household per year fell by 14 percent, to $600, between 2000 and 2005, while spending on Net and mobile-phone subscriptions rose by 39 percent, to $1,500, during the same period. For Japanese car companies, the implications are enormous. “Japan is the worlds second largest market,
45、with a 17 to 18 percent share of our global sales. Its important,“ says Takao Katagiri, corporate vice president at Nissan Motor Co. The domestic market is where Japanese carmakers develop technology and build their know-how, and if it falters, it could gut an industry that employs 7.8 percent of th
46、e Japanese work force. While surging exports, particularly to emerging markets, have more than offset the decline in domestic sales so far, companies are looking for ways to turn the tide. Nissan, for example, is trying to appeal to the digital generation with promotional blogs and even a videogame.
47、 A racing game for Sonys PlayStation, for example, offers players the chance to virtually drive the companys latest sporty model, the GT-R a new marketing approach to create buzz and tempt them into buying cars. Toyota Motors has opened an auto mall as part of a suburban shopping complex near Tokyo,
48、 hoping to attract the kinds of shoppers who have long since stopped thinking about dropping by a car dealership. Its a bit akin to the Apple strategy of moving electronics out of the soulless superstore, and into more appealing and well-trafficked retail spaces. It worked for Apple, but then Apple
49、is so 21st century. 26 It can be concluded from the passage that Japanese young people （ A） no longer consider owning a car as being fashionable. （ B） tend to be rebellious in their choice of automobiles. （ C） are becoming more reasonable when buying cars. （ D） are becoming more and more interested in owning cars. 27 Which of t
