1、专业英语八级模拟试卷 874及答案与解析 SECTION A MINI-LECTURE In this section you will hear a mini-lecture. You will hear the mini-lecture ONCE ONLY. While listening to the mini-lecture, please complete the gap-filling task on ANSWER SHEET ONE and write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each gap. Make sure the word(s) you
2、 fill in is (are) both grammatically and semantically acceptable. You may use the blank sheet for note-taking. You have THIRTY seconds to preview the gap-filling task. 0 Theories of History I. How much we know about history? A. 【 T1】 _ exist for only a fraction of mans time 【 T1】 _ B. The accuracy o
3、f these records is often 【 T2】 _, 【 T2】 _ and 【 T3】 _often needs improvement. 【 T3】 _ II. Reconstruction of history before writing A. being difficult because of the 【 T4】 _ of history to us 【 T4】 _ B. the most that we can do is: use 【 T5】 _ 【 T5】 _ and the knowledge of the habits of animals. III. Th
4、eories about history A Objective: impossible to 【 T6】 _ the beginning and 【 T6】 _ 【 T7】 _the end of mans story. 【 T7】 _ B. One theory believes that man continually 【 T8】 _. 【 T8】 _ 【 T9】 _ must be more intelligent and civilized 【 T9】 _ than his ancestors. Human race will evolve into a race of 【 T10】
5、 _. 【 T10】 _ C. The second theory holds the mans history is like a 【 T11】 _ 【 T11】 _ of development. Modern man is not 【 T12】 _. 【 T12】 _ Modern man may be inferior to members of 【 T13】 _. 【 T13】 _ D. The third theory: Human societies 【 T14】 _ a cycle of stages, 【 T14】 _ but overall progress is 【 T1
6、5】 _in the long historical perspective. 【 T15】 _ 1 【 T1】 2 【 T2】 3 【 T3】 4 【 T4】 5 【 T5】 6 【 T6】 7 【 T7】 8 【 T8】 9 【 T9】 10 【 T10】 11 【 T11】 12 【 T12】 13 【 T13】 14 【 T14】 15 【 T15】 SECTION B INTERVIEW In this section you will hear ONE interview. The interview will be divided into TWO parts. At the e
7、nd of each part, five questions will be asked about what was said. Both the interview and the questions will be spoken ONCE ONLY. After each question there will be a ten-second pause. During the pause, you should read the four choices of A , B , C and D , and mark the best answer to each question on
8、 ANSWER SHEET TWO. You have THIRTY seconds to preview the questions. （ A） By teaching writers how to imitate. （ B） By identifying writers strength and weakness. （ C） By developing writers potential. （ D） By criticizing the writers own writing. （ A） Someone who has special voice. （ B） Someone who cre
9、ates unique stories. （ C） Someone who knows the market well. （ D） Someone who really loves fiction. （ A） She considers whether the story sells well. （ B） She considers whether the story is believable. （ C） She considers whether there are enough characters. （ D） She considers whether the characters a
10、re well portrayed. （ A） The one making strong reaction. （ B） The one who is lifeless. （ C） The one feeling sympathy. （ D） The one who is alive. （ A） It contains lots of issues. （ B） It arouses readers thinking. （ C） It contains a central theme. （ D） It arouses readers understanding. （ A） She decline
11、d a lot of interviews. （ B） She had little idea of the protagonist. （ C） She has revised the novel many times. （ D） She met the characters in real life. （ A） Forming a clear idea of the major characters. （ B） Ensuring her work can be published soon. （ C） Getting advice from her colleagues. （ D） Shar
12、ing her idea with publishers. （ A） They come from the same culture and background. （ B） They write in their own mother languages. （ C） They bring their own cultures into their writing. （ D） They have accents of their mother tongues. （ A） English. （ B） French. （ C） Bengali. （ D） Spanish. （ A） It is w
13、ritten in Bengali. （ B） It is accomplished by Chitra and her students. （ C） It is Chitras latest novel. （ D） Its main character is from Latin America. SECTION A MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS In this section there are several passages followed by fourteen multiple-choice questions. For each multiple-choi
14、ce question, there are four suggested answers marked A , B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the best answer. 25 (1)The pounding rain began in the middle of the night. The people of Jackson, Ohio awoke to the sound then went back to sleep. The next day the rain continued, and the water bega
15、n to rise. Statistics said Jackson floods once every one hundred years, but no one believed this would be the flood of the century. People were evacuated from their homes to higher ground, leaving everything behind. Buildings in the low-lying areas were immersed in water. People watched as dogs, cat
16、s, cows and other animals were swept away. Cars and trucks were carried miles from their homes. The people felt helpless as they watched Mother Nature show her power. (2)Susan returned to her sixth-grade-student-teaching experience the following Monday. She told the story to her students and showed
17、them pictures from the newspaper. Her inspired and compassionate students took action. They stopped raising money for their trip to Camp Kern and began raising money for the flood victims. They sold lollipops, wrote letters to the community asking for donations and collected their own money. Even fi
18、rst-graders donated money. Mountains of clothes, furniture and food piled up. Susans class made Easter baskets from shoeboxes and filled them with candy and toys as well as toothpaste, soap, toothbrushes and shampoo. (3)She and I loaded her moms black Chevy Beretta to the ceiling with the Easter bas
19、kets. On the trip there, I wondered what I would see: I couldnt imagine losing almost everything. Dusk was beginning to set in, and I felt nervous when we arrived. My stomach dropped when I saw some houses reduced to the railroad ties that had been their foundation. The smell of river water permeate
20、d the air. No carpet, furniture, plumbing or appliances remained. Knowing that only days ago this had been someones home pained my heart. How many children had grown up here? What kind of memories lingered? Would the house ever be rebuilt? The monster flood had dulled its roar and retreated, but its
21、 impact would be long-lasting. (4)We drove from house to house, knocking on doors, ready to begin our mission. I was filled with trepidation. Would families who had been devastated by floodwater want an Easter basket? The gesture was beginning to seem useless. “Hello, Im Susan Moore, and this is my
22、friend, Allison. My sixth-graders at Pennyroyal Elementary made Easter baskets for you when they heard about the flooding because they wanted to help.“ (5)Their faces lit up as they opened their gifts. As we entered one home, a husband and wife were crouched over their floor with hammer and nails. W
23、hen he opened the box, he began to cry. “I cant believe those kids did this. Let me give you some money for their school.“ As I glanced at what was left of his home, I could not believe his generous spirit. He eventually conceded to write a thank-you note instead. One woman ran out to find us after
24、opening her box, tears rolling down her face. “I collected bunny rabbits, and I lost them all in the flood. There was a small pink rabbit in my box. I can start my collection again. Thank you.“ The burly man standing next to her also had tears in his eyes. (6)My heart was warmed as I played the smal
25、l role of messenger in this tribute to the good in the human spirit. So often we hear of the shortcomings of our youth, but these youngsters answered a cry for help and gave proof that generosity and love prevail. 26 In the passage, Mother Nature showed her power in all of the following ways EXCEPT
26、_. （ A） evacuating people to higher ground （ B） sweeping different kinds of animals away （ C） carrying cars and trucks miles away （ D） immersing buildings in the low-lying areas in water 27 Which of the following words best describes what the author saw when they arrived in Jackson? （ A） Peaceful. （
27、 B） Devastated. （ C） Placid. （ D） Prosperous. 28 When the author said “I played the small role of messenger“ in the last paragraph, he meant _. （ A） he was working as a mailman （ B） he helped deliver the Easter baskets （ C） he delivered written messages to the youth （ D） he helped collect money for
28、the school 28 (1)When the Dow rockets 300 points or the stocks of retailers, say, get decimated, I devour the news. Heres my admission: Im a buy-and-hold investor, and a lazy one at that. My employer prohibits us news folks to trade equities on a short-term basis, but even if it didnt, Id still buy
29、and hold. (2)The bulk of my portfolio is in two retirement accounts, and neither stock-market gyrations nor major financial earthquakes prompt me to tweak my allocations. I simply hold a fairly routine mix of low-cost U.S. and international-stock mutual funds, plus a bond fund, and I stick to it. (3
30、)Sure, the markets get volatile but I figure that, eventually, average historical returns will work in my favor. And, to my mind, stock-market trading, if youre not spending many hours a week working on it, is little more than a guessing game. (5)The fact is, a buy-and-hold investor with a decently
31、diversified portfolio should celebrate her ability to remain firm in the face of financial-news tidal waves which prompt many, less staunch, to jump in and out of investments, often at the worst possible time. (5)Some might say the staunch investor is akin to a passenger on the Titanic, refusing a l
32、ifeboat to safety due to misguided loyalty to the idea of “buy and hold.“ But as long as three prerequisites are satisfied, that investor is among the most prudent savers around: a well-diversified investment plan, invested in low-cost index funds, with a long-term outlook. (6)In fact, if youre not
33、going to be an active, pay-attention-every-day investor, setting up a simple plan and then forgetting about it may be the best retirement-savings decision you make. “What is often problematic is the middle ground. People will set something up and then follow it intermittently and on a whim make chan
34、ges,“ says John Nofsinger, associate professor of finance at Washington State University and author of “The Psychology of Investing.“ (7)Those who follow the markets tangentially but dont take time for deeper analysis tend to buy high and sell low. If, like me, youre not going to spend time daily on
35、 your plan, then set it and forget it. (8)Note that, unless you have a rock-solid pension plan from your employer and significant other assets, youre going to need to invest Interest rates on cash simply wont get most savers to a well-funded retirement. (9)What to do? (10)1. Create a plan. That mean
36、s investing in low-cost index funds covering the U.S. stock market, perhaps 10% to 25% of your portfolio in international stock funds, plus exposure to bonds (a typical scenario is 70% or 80% in stocks and 30% or 20% in bonds), and perhaps some portion in a money-market or cash-type account. Keep in
37、 mind that your focus is not to beat the market. (11)2. Once your plan is in place, ignore it. “I do virtually nothing. I do less than I do for my car. Theres not even a need to change the oil,“ Mr. Statman says. If rebalancing worries you, dont even do that except perhaps once every few years. And
38、make sure you focus on getting back to your investment plan, rather than chasing the winners of the moment. “If the stock market went up that year and maybe bonds didnt, so you take a little out of the stock market and put it in bonds to reallocate to where your targets originally were, I think that
39、s a good strategy,“ Mr. Nofsinger says. (12)3. Accept risk. Yes, stock-market investing is risky. But over the long haul, investors are rewarded if they adopt a long-term outlook and diversified investment plan. “Risk is not something you want, but oftentimes risk does go hand in hand with return,“
40、says Peng Chen, chief investment officer of Ibbotson Associates, an investment research and consulting firm owned by Morningstar in Chicago. Keep in mind: Avoid this risk with money you need soon, say, in the next year or two. And remember that the more you invest in one company, sector or country,
41、the more risk youre taking on. (13)4. Stay in for the long haul. We have no idea whats coming tomorrow, and past stock-market performance does not predict future results. But what is your alternative? Stick all your cash in a money-market account, a CD or, slightly riskier, bonds? You are not avoidi
42、ng risk with this plan, simply shifting to the risk inflation will trump your return. (14)5. Do what you can. The investment options available through your retirement plan may not be ideal. Invest there for the employer match, but ensure diversification through an account outside your employer plan,
43、 perhaps an individual retirement account or Roth IRA. 29 The word “volatile“ in the third paragraph means_. （ A） explosive （ B） transient （ C） unstable （ D） lively 30 Which of the following is NOT one of the authors suggestions on investment? （ A） Create a reasonable investment plan with a decently
44、 diversified portfolio. （ B） Forget about the investment plan completely, once it is in place. （ C） Remember that risk comes with return in stock-market investment. （ D） Stay in the investment market with a long-term vision. 31 This passage mainly focuses on _. （ A） a well-diversified investment pla
45、n （ B） investing in low-cost index funds （ C） a long-term investment outlook （ D） accepting risk in stock markets 31 (1)The concern throughout the world in 1988 for those three whales that were locked in the Arctic ice was dramatic proof that whales, several species of which face extinction, have be
46、come subjects of considerable sympathy. (2)These are the recorded voices of whales. These monstrous creatures have been trumpeting their songs, one to another, in the worlds oceans since the dawn of time, while overhead, great empires and civilizations have come and gone. Now, their time of decline
47、has come. It began a long time ago. (3)Four-thousand-year-old rock carvings show that the people who lived in what is now Norway were probably the first to seek out and kill whales in the sea. By around 890 AD, 3,000 years later, the practice had spread to the Basque people of France and Spain, who
48、hunted whales from boats in the Bay of Biscay. In the centuries that followed, Whaling became an important industry in Denmark, England, Germany, the Netherlands, and, finally, in what would become America. (4)Whaling went into dramatic decline, beginning around 1900. Today, whales are hunted commer
49、cially only by Norway, Iceland and Japan. The worlds fascination with them, however, is at an all-time high, because so few of them are left, given their tragic history. (5)Richard Ellis writes about whales, takes pictures of whales in the open sea, and sketches whales stranded on the beach. He says its a 20-year obsession that began in the mid-1960s, w
