1、专业英语八级模拟试卷 351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 Ben Buchanan and A Magic Book The Texas teen is devouring the 672 pages of Harry Potter and the Half-Bloo
3、d Prince written by J. K. Rowling. When Buchanan got the first Harry Potter book in 1998, he was struggling with difficulty in reading. But when his morn read the first chapter aloud to him, he was determined to conquer his first “real“ book. . The success of Rowlings books: 1) over【 1】 of Rowlings
4、books printed in U.S. 【 1】 _ 2) kids reading and【 2】 each title fervently. 【 2】 _ However, whether all of this hype of countdowns and midnight trips to bookstores translates into a lifelong reading habit remains unclear. . Our society now needed a reading renaissance: 1) A study shows: adult【 3】 hav
5、e dropped 10 percentage points. 【 3】_ A. the loss of readers possibly【 4】 to the booming world 【 4】 _ of technology; B.【 5】 offer experience that cant be gained from these 【 5】 _ other sources. 2) Thr facts reflect: fewer kids are reading for【 6】 . 【 6】 _ A. This【 7】 retreat from books not taken a t
6、oll on reading ability. 【 7】_ B. this indicates a poor future in reading ability development the very reason why many educators are hoping the Harry Potter series can work some【 8】 . 【 8】 _ . The Harry Potter series has “broken the rules“: 1) the book was as exciting as a video game; 2) 59 percent o
7、f U.K. kids think the books have【 9】 their reading skills;【 9】_ 3)【 10】 say the books are the reason they read more. 【 10】 _ Part of the allure of The Harry Potter is the thrilling story, with well-developed characters and an avalanche of magical moments. 1 【 1】 2 【 2】 3 【 3】 4 【 4】 5 【 5】 6 【 6】 7
8、【 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 seconds to answer each of the follo
9、wing five questions. Now listen to the interview. 11 According to the conversation what is Dr. Gus purpose? （ A） To have a talk with exhibitor. （ B） To purchase a lab. （ C） To discuss the possibility of negotiation with the Universal Computers Ltd. （ D） To inquire more information about the scientif
10、ic apparatus. 12 They have been concerned with the following terms EXCEPT_. （ A） millions of instructions per second （ B） discount （ C） remote connection （ D） management committee 13 From the conversation we know if we buy more products from the Universal Computers Ltd., _. （ A） we can earn more mon
11、e （ B） we can benefit more （ C） they will give us more service （ D） they will move their main building to China 14 When can exhibitor expect to get an answer? （ A） Within a month or two. （ B） By Tuesday. （ C） Very soon. （ D） Immediately. 15 From the conversation we can deduce that_. （ A） they have a
12、 good beginning of trading （ B） they are eager to know each other （ C） they want to shake hands in Beijing （ D） they hate the barriers between them SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST Directions: In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. At
13、the end of each news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the questions. 16 According to the United Nations, nearly _ people are homeless because of the floods in Pakistan. （ A） 4,000 （ B） 140,000 （ C） 400,000 （ D） 40,000 17 Many _ are living in school buildings or in makeshift roadside shel
14、ters. （ A） teachers and students （ B） elder people （ C） women and children （ D） homeless people 18 Which of the following statements is NOT correct according to the news? （ A） The Taleban commander was killed in a U.S.-led coalition operation. （ B） Many of journalists had interviewed the one-legged
15、Taleban commander. （ C） Dadullah was the insurgencys top military leader. （ D） He was a common member of the Talebans ruling council. 19 The campaign to name _ was started in 1999 with nearly 200 nominations. （ A） 11 new wonders （ B） a new wonder （ C） 7 new wonders （ D） 17 new wonders 20 According t
16、o the news, the original list of wonders was concentrated in the Mediterranean and _. （ A） Middle East （ B） Canada （ C） Switzerland （ D） Mexico 20 A full moon was shining down on the jungle. Accompanied only by an Indian guide, the American explorer and archaeologist Edward Herbert Thompson thirteen
17、 hundred years after the Mayas had left their cities and made a break for the country farther north was riding through the New Empire that they had built for themselves, which had collapsed after the arrival of the Spaniards. He was searching for Chichen Itza, the largest, most beautiful, mightiest,
18、 and most splendid of all Mayan cities. Horses and men had been suffering intense hardships on the trail. Thompsons head sagged on his breast from fatigue, and each time his horse stumbled him all but fell out of the saddle. Suddenly his guide shouted to him. Thompson woke up with a start. He looked
19、 ahead and saw a fairland. Above the dark treetops rose a mound, high and steep, and on top of the mound was a temple, bathed in coot moonlight. In the hush of the night it towered over the treetops like the Parthenon of some Mayan acropolis. It seemed to grow in size as they approached. The Indian
20、guide dismounted, unsaddled his horse, and roiled out his blanket for the nights sleep. Thompson could not tear his fascinated gaze from the great structure. While the guide prepared iris bed, he sprang from his horse and continued on toot. Steep stairs overgrown with grass and bushes, and in part f
21、allen into ruins, led from the base of the mound up to the temple. Thompson was acquainted with this architectural form, which was piously some kind of pyramid. He was familiar, too, with the function of pyramids as known in Egypt. But this Mayan version was not a tomb, like the pyramids of Gizeh. E
22、xternally it rather brought to mind a ziggurat, but to a much greater degree than the Babylonian ziggurats it seemed to consist mostly of a stony fill providing support or the enormous stairs rising higher and higher, towards the gods of the sun and moon. Thompson climbed up the steps. He looked at
23、the ornamentation, the rich reliefs. On too, ghnost 96 feet above the jungle, he surveyed the scene, he counted one-two-three a half dozen scattered buildings, half-hidden in shadow, often revealed by nothing more than a gleam of moonlight on stone. This, then, was Chichen Itza. From its original st
24、atus as advance outpost at the beginning of the great trek to the north, it had grown into a shining metropolis, the heart of the New Empire. Again and again during the next few days Thompson climbed on to the old ruins. “I stood upon the roof of this temple one morning“, he writes, “just as the fir
25、st rays of the sun reddened the distant horizon. The morning stillness was profound. The noises of the night had ceased, and those of the day were not yet begun. All the sky above and the earth below seemed to be breathlessly waiting for something. Then the great round sun came up, flaming splendidl
26、y, and instantly the whole world sang and hummed. The birds in the trees and the insects on the ground sang a grand Te Deum. Nature herself taught primal man to be a sun-worshipper and man in his heart of hearts still follows the ancient teaching. “ Thompson stood where he was, immobile and enchante
27、d. The jungle melted away before his gaze. Wide spaces opened up, processions crept up to the temple site, music sounded, palaces became filled with reveling, the temples hummed with religious adjuration. He tried to recognize his task. For out there in the jungle green he could distinguish a narrow
28、 path, barely traced out in the weak light, a path that might lead to Chichen hzas most exciting mystery: the Sacred Well. 21 The territory which Thompson was exploring had been _ by the Mayas about thirteen hundred years previously. （ A） controlled and reformed （ B） conquered and abandoned （ C） occ
29、upied and developed （ D） defeated and destroyed 22 What was Thompsons first reaction to the scene ahead? （ A） He remained in the saddle for several minutes spellbound. （ B） He immediately jumped down and went forward. （ C） He waited until his bed was ready and then dismounted. （ D） He rode to the mo
30、und and stared at the structure before him. 23 According to the author, what is the first impression of the various ruins? （ A） They formed part of the capital of a new Mayan kingdom. （ B） They were what remained of a temple to sky gods. （ C） They were what was left of the new territory. （ D） They w
31、ere what remained of the farthest city. 24 Thompson believed that man is instinctively a sun-worshipper because （ A） the worship of the sun god had clearly been the function of the temple. （ B） all living things celebrate the sunrise. （ C） the sunrise is the most magnificent of all phenomena. （ D） i
32、t is natural for man to worship the sun and he has always done so. 25 Thompsons attitude towards Chichen Itza can be described as （ A） yearning. （ B） incredible. （ C） mysterious. （ D） emotional. 25 While no woman has been President of the United States, yet the world does have several thousand years
33、 of experience with female leaders, and I have to acknowledge it: their historical record puts mens to shame. A notable share of the great leaders in history have been women: Queen Hatshepsut and Cleopatra of Egypt, Empress Wu Zetian of China, Isabella of Castile, Queen Elizabeth I of England, Cathe
34、rine the Great of Russia, and Maria Theresa of Austria. Granted, Im neglecting the likes of Bloody Mary, but its still true that those women who climbed to power in monarchies had an astonishingly high success rate. Research by political psychologists points to possible explanations. Scholars find t
35、hat women, compared with men, tend to excel in consensus-building and certain other skills useful in leadership. If so, why have female political leaders been so much less impressive in the democratic era? Margaret Thatcher was a transformative figure, but women have been mediocre prime ministers or
36、 presidents in countries like Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Philippines and Indonesia. Often, they havent even addressed the urgent needs of women in those countries. I have a pet theory about whats going on. In monarchies, women who rose to the top dealt mostly with a narrow elite, so
37、 they could prove themselves and get on with governing. But in democracies in the television age, female leaders also have to navigate public prejudices and these make democratic politics far more challenging for a woman than for a man. In a common experiment, the “Goldberg paradigm“, people are ask
38、ed to evaluate a particular article or speech, supposedly by a man. Others are asked to evaluate the identical presentation, but from a woman. Typically, in countries all over the world, the very same words are rated higher coming from a man. In particular, one lesson from this research is that prom
39、oting their own successes is a helpful strategy for ambitious men. But experiments have demonstrated that when women highlight their accomplishments, thats a turn-off. And women seem even more offended by self-promoting females than men are. This creates a huge challenge for ambitious women in polit
40、ics or business: if theyre self-effacing, people find them unimpressive, but if“ they talk up their accomplishments, they come across as pushy braggarts. The broader conundrum is that for women, but not for men, there is a tradeoff in qualities associated with top leadership. A woman can be perceive
41、d as competent or as likable, but not both. “Its an uphill struggle, to be judged both a good woman and a good leader,“ said Rosabeth Moss Kanter, a Harvard Business School professor who is an expert on women in leadership. Professor Kanter added that a pioneer in a mans word, like Hillary Rodham Cl
42、inton, also faces scrutiny on many more dimensions than a man witness the public debate about Mrs. Clintons allegedly “thick ankles,“or the headlines last year about cleavage. Clothing and appearance generally matter more for women than for men, research shows. Surprisingly, several studies have fou
43、nd that its actually a disadvantage for a woman to be physically attractive when applying for a managerial job. Beautiful applicants received lower ratings, apparently because they were subconsciously pegged as stereotypically female and therefore unsuited for a job as a boss. Female leaders face th
44、ese impossible judgments all over the world. An M. I. T. economist, Esther Duflo, looked at India, which has required female leaders in one-third of village councils since the mid-1990s. Professor Duflo and her colleagues found that by objective standards, the women ran the villages better than men.
45、 For example, women constructed and maintained wells better, and took fewer bribes. Yet ordinary villagers themselves judged the women as having done a worse job, and so most women were not re-elected. That seemed to result from prejudice. Professor Duflo asked villagers to listen to a speech, ident
46、ical except that it was given by a man in some cases and by a woman in others. Villagers gave the speech much lower marks when it was given by a woman. Such prejudices can be overridden after voters actually see female leaders in action. While the first ones received dismal evaluations, the second r
47、ound of female leaders in the villages were rated the same as men. “Exposure reduces prejudice,“ Professor Duflo suggested. Women have often quipped that they have to be twice as good as men to get anywhere but that, fortunately, is not difficult. In fact, it appears that it may be difficult after a
48、ll. Modern democracies may empower deep prejudices and thus constrain female leaders in ways that ancient monarchies did not. 26 What does the author mean by “Their historical record puts mens to shame“? （ A） Women have had a better record than men throughout history. （ B） Women have far exceeded me
49、n in leadership throughout history. （ C） Women have made men ashamed of their own historical record. （ D） Women have far exceeded men in recording experience throughout history. 27 The second paragraph （ A） contradicts the first paragraph. （ B） has no connection with the first paragraph. （ C） exemplifies the idea of the first paragraph. （ D） repeats the argument of the first
