1、专业英语八级（阅读）模拟试卷 119及答案与解析 SECTION A MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS In this section there are several passages followed by fourteen multiple-choice questions. For each multiple-choice question, there are four suggested answers marked A , B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the best answer. 0 (1)Ho
2、llywood was an attractive place for the early filmmakers to settle, full of good weather, orange and lemon trees. For producers who owed money on borrowed camera equipment if a creditor came after them, they could hide among the trees. It was a hard business full of casualties and took a pirates men
3、tality to survive. Most of the studio heads were from poor backgrounds, with limited English skills and never forgot their childhood or a personal slight. Included were Jack, Harry, Albert and Sam, the four Warner Brothers from Youngstown, Ohio. They had begun with showing movies off the side of a t
4、ent in Youngstown, borrowing all the chairs from the local undertaker. Every time there was a funeral in Youngstown, they had to give all the chairs back and the film patrons were forced to stand. (2)As a boy Jack Warner wished to be a singer and a comedian. His brothers, recognizing his lack of tal
5、ent instructed him to sing in the tent when they wanted the audience to leave. He was later advised that the money was not in performing, it was in paying performers. Among the stars that would be under contract to him would be Betty Davis, James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart and Errol Flynn. (3)The silen
6、t days were a struggle for Warner Bros. Rin Tin Tin, a German shepherd that according to his publicity was born in a foxhole in World War I, was their biggest star. Heroic as he might have been on the screen, he proved to be, like many stars, cantankerous in person. Jack Warner took the dog on a pub
7、licity tour. As he introduced him to the crowd, his ungrateful employee bit him on the behind, leading to the dogs dismissal. It proved to be a prelude to Warners many future battles with stars. (4)Trying to make a name for themselves, the four brothers got great publicity by announcing that the ren
8、owned opera tenor Caruso would be arriving from Italy to make a film for them. They paid him 25,000 dollars and then put him in a silent movie. (5)The movie studios had the technology to make talking films years before they made them. One of the reasons why they resisted the idea was that they didnt
9、 want to risk losing their overseas market. Stars like Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford rarely ever had a flop as their films were shown around the world and knew no language barriers. But in 1926 the silent films faced their biggest competition with a new device called the radio
10、. As movie attendance dwindled, the studio heads shut their eyes and pretended the radio was not there. But the Warners led by the ambitious Sam, decided to push the envelope and try to save their sinking studio by experimenting with movie sound. (6)Sam purchased an experimental sound system called
11、Vitaphone. They then acquired the rights to The Jazz Singer, a popular play about a young man who had a beautiful voice and is offered a Broadway career against the wishes of his Old World Jewish father. In the play the son gave in to his father but the Warners, wishing to reach a wider audience, Am
12、ericanized the story by having the son follow his own dreams. Star Al Jolson adlibbed the dialogue, “Wait a minute, wait a minute you aint heard nothing, yet! “ The Warners were only intending singing but at the last minute they impulsively kept the line in the film. The Jazz Singer received a stand
13、ing ovation when it premiered in New York in 1927 and went on to make three and half million dollars at a time when admission costs 20 cents. The sound revolution was under way! (7)Movie audiences had often been loud and noisy while watching silent films. Now the theaters got quiet as people straine
14、d to hear every word. Movie Theaters had to be rewired for sound, costing major studios like Paramount and Fox millions of dollars. Movies now had to film mostly at night as any passing truck noise could ruin a sound recording. “How boring!“ said Mary Pickford “At first we moved! Now everyone is sta
15、nding around talking!“ One enterprising actor was hired for one days work. When the director wasnt looking he let a bunch of crickets loose on the set. It was five days before the crew could round up the chirping crickets, and the actor kept on hold received five times the paycheck. 1 The phrase “a
16、pirates mentality to survive“ in the first paragraph probably means that _. （ A） in order to survive, they had to sail on the seas （ B） in order to survive, they had to sell others works （ C） when being asked for money, they had to hide up （ D） when short of money, they had to rob the others 2 What
17、was Hollywood like? （ A） It was a place of wild grassland. （ B） It was a place full of small stars. （ C） It was a place filled with talents. （ D） It was a place full of poor boys. 3 The following were the experiences of Warner Brothers EXCEPT _. （ A） showing film off the tent side （ B） being a singe
18、r and a comedian （ C） playing the silent films （ D） playing the sound films 4 Which of the following did NOT contribute to Warner Brothers success? （ A） Ambition. （ B） Suspicion. （ C） Persistence. （ D） Publicity. 4 (1)Disaster struck 250 million years ago, when the worst devastation in the earths hi
19、story occurred. Called the end-Permian mass extinction, it marks a fundamental change in the development of life. (2)The history of life on the earth is replete with catastrophes of varying magnitudes. The one that has captured the most attention is the extinction of the dinosaurs and other organism
20、s 65 million years ago between the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods which claimed up to half of all species. As severe as that devastation was, it pales in comparison to the greatest disaster of them all: the mass extinction some 250 million years ago, at the end of the Permian period. Affectionately
21、 called “the mother of mass extinctions“ among paleontologists(with apologies to Saddam Hussein), it yielded a death toll that is truly staggering. About 90 percent of all species in the oceans disappeared during the last several million years of the Permian. On land, more than two thirds of reptile
22、 and amphibian families vanished. Insects, too, did not escape the carnage: 30 percent of insect orders ceased to exist, marking the only mass extinction insects have ever undergone. (3)But from catastrophes, opportunities arise. For several hundred million years before the end-Permian event, the sh
23、allow seas had been dominated by life-forms that were primarily immobile. Most marine animals lay on the seafloor or were attached to it by stalks, filtering the water for food or waiting for prey. In the aftermath of the extinction, many once minor groups active, predatory relatives of modern-day f
24、ish, squids, snails and crabs were able to expand. Some completely new lineages appeared. This ecological reorganization was so dramatic that it forms a fundamental boundary in the history of life. Not only does it demarcate the Permian and Triassic periods, it also establishes the close of the Pale
25、ozoic era and the start of the Mesozoic era. The modern tidal pool reflects what lived and what died 250 million years ago. (4)Over the past few years, exciting new insights into the causes and consequences of the end-Permian mass extinction have poured in from virtually every branch of the earth sc
26、iences. Some of these findings include detailed studies of rapid changes in ocean chemistry, more thorough documentation of extinction patterns and new analyses showing that large volcanic eruptions occurred at the Permo-Triassic boundary. (5)How much do mass extinctions contribute to the evolution
27、of a group, as compared with long-term adaptive trends? For example, sea urchins are ubiquitous in modern oceans but were relatively uncommon during the Permian. Only a single genus, Miocidaris, is known for certain to have survived the extinction. Did Miocidaris survive by pure chance, or was it be
28、tter adapted? Would sea urchins today look any different had it not been for the end-Permian extinction? (6)To resolve such questions, we need to learn more about the causes of the catastrophe and how those species that survived differed from those that disappeared. The key sources for this informat
29、ion are rock layers and fossils. Unfortunately, samples from the late Permian and early Triassic are notoriously difficult to come by. The fossil record across the boundary is plagued by poor preservation, a lack of rock to sample and other problems, including access. An extensive drop in sea level
30、during the late Permian limited the number of marine rocks deposited on land, and many areas where the best rocks were preserved(most notably, in southern China)have been relatively hard for some geologists to reach. (7)As such, it has proved difficult to ascertain just how quickly life was snuffed
31、out or if the deaths were subject to any regional variations. Some creatures, especially those sensitive to changes in the environment, died off rapidly, as shown by Erik Flugel and his colleagues at the University of Erlangen, who arrived at this conclusion after examining reefs in southern China a
32、nd Greece. Other evidence indicates more gradual loss of life. (8)Intensive studies of newly found and critical boundary layers in Italy, Austria and southern China have helped our understanding. They indicate that the duration of the extinction is shorter than previously thought, implying that abru
33、ptly calamitous environmental conditions must have set in. 5 The relationship between the second and third paragraphs is that _. （ A） both present the destruction of the disaster （ B） the second generalizes the third with examples （ C） the third is the logical result of the second （ D） each presents
34、 one side of the disaster 6 What is the role of the third paragraph in the development of the topic? （ A） To describe the rapid changes in oceanic chemistry. （ B） To introduce some extinction patterns documented. （ C） To offer supporting evidence for the preceding paragraphs. （ D） To provide a contr
35、ast to the preceding paragraphs. 7 What is the sixth paragraph mainly talking about? （ A） The end-Permian mass extinction is called “ecological reorganization“. （ B） The main sources for the extinction are rock layers and fossils. （ C） The boundary layers in Northern China help understand ancient co
36、nditions. （ D） Scientists can not make sure what life is lost rapidly or gradually. 8 We can infer from the passage that_. （ A） there is a general agreement over the causes of the end-Permian mass extinction （ B） marine animals would have disappeared but for the end-Permian mass extinction （ C） the
37、insects can adapt themselves to the changeable environment in the history （ D） the end-Permian mass extinction must have prevented the spread of the species 8 (1)I am standing under Hammersmith Bridge looking at something I have known all my life as a Londoner but am beginning to realize that I dont
38、 have a clue about. The River Thames has been here a lot longer than the city itself, but it has been keeping its secrets well hidden beneath those familiar muddy tones of green and brown. On a grey afternoon such as this one, the surface of the river is particularly unforgiving, and a tentative dip
39、 soon brings me close to fast-running water. This is the sort of stuff that carries people away to a watery doom and I dont want any part of that. (2)But Im here with an open mind at this family beach party in Hammersmith, part of a series of events in South East Marine Week. It is not a beach party
40、 in the traditional sense, needless to say, more an opportunity to get a little gentle education. I had been vaguely aware, over the past few years, that the river was getting cleaner all the time. Its very appearance, it appears, is deceptive, because its color is a result of the natural silts whic
41、h are constantly disturbed from the bottom. From being a river that supported no fish at all, it can now boast more than 100 different types. I was aware that the Thames occasionally played host to a well-publicized dolphin or seal, but this diversity was news to me. It is all the result, I was info
42、rmed, of the fact that the North Sea pours up the river twice a day, bringing with it all the teeming life of those salty depths. (3)I took a deep breath and went for a light dredge with a net. The results didnt look like much at all, but when carefully sifted my sample was teeming with tiny shrimps
43、, which are the basic foodstuff of the river, the tiny little fellows holding the key to the food chain. There were, thankfully, better fishermen here than me, and there was great excitement when someone captured a flounder. Granted, it was about an inch long, but the flounder was otherwise perfect
44、in every detail. Further excitement was to follow, with the capture of the shell of a crab, but that did not last long. The shell belonged to a Chinese mitten crab so called because it appears to have mittens on its claws. Rachel Hill from the Environment Agency explained to me that it ate everythin
45、g in its path, suffered no effective predators, and caused havoc by its habit of burrowing into the river banks, which are consequently being eroded. Furthermore, the fact that it was only a shell meant that somewhere not too far away the former occupant was going about its business only this time i
46、t would be bigger. This unwanted visitor, a delicacy in the restaurants of Chinatown, is here to stay. (4)Further up the beach, enthusiastic volunteers were coping with another menace, this one of human making. The amount of rubbish on this relatively small stretch of the river was astonishing and d
47、epressing. There were the expected plastic bottles and hamburger cartons, tossed away carelessly by idiots. To my surprise, there was also the wheel from a car, complete with tyre. The most sinister items were also among the smallest: slim white sticks which looked as if they might have come from a
48、childs lollipop but are, in fact, cotton buds. The thought occurred that thousands of Londoners must come to the banks of the Thames each morning to clean out their ears. By the end of the afternoon, all this rubbish had been cleared away in a quite astonishing number of black bags, but it would hav
49、e been better had it not been there in the first place. (5)There was, however, great cause for optimism in the behavior of the kids who were present. They huddled excitedly round microscopes to look at tiny shrimps and gobies transformed into fearsome-looking creatures. They listened intently as it was explained to them how important it was to keep the river clean. Even the very smallest who were painting their fishy face masks might have gone away with the idea that fish are a good thing and worth looking after. It occurred to me that if
