1、专业英语八级（阅读）模拟试卷 135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 There
2、 are around 6,000 languages in the world today. At least there were until January of 2001. Then Carlos Westez died. Westez was the last speaker of the native American language Catawba. With him passed away the language itself. The death of Westez was mourned not just by professional linguists, but m
3、ore generally by advocates of cultural diversity. Writing in The Independent of London, Peter Popham warned that “when a language dies“ we lose “the possibility of a unique way of perceiving and describing the world“. What particularly worries people like Popham is that many other languages are like
4、ly to follow the fate of Catawba. Aore is a language native to one of the islands of the Pacific state of Vanuatu. When the islands single inhabitant dies, so will the language. Ironically, the status of Gafat, an Ethiopian language spoken by fewer than 30 people, has been made more precarious thank
5、s to the efforts of linguists attempting to preserve it. A language researcher took two speakers out of their native land, whereupon they caught cold and died. Of the 6,000 extant languages in the world, more than 3,000 will disappear over the next century. Linguist Jean Aitcheson believes that “thi
6、s massive disappearance of so many languages will be an irretrievable loss“. Popham compares this loss to the “death of untold species of plants and insects“ from rainforest destruction. Warning of the “impact of a homogenizing monoculture upon our way of life,“ he worries about the “spread of Engli
7、sh carried by American culture, delivered by Japanese technology“ and the “hegemony of a few great transnational languages: Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Hindi.“ Yet the whole point of a language is to enable communication. A language spoken by one person is not a language at all. It is a private conce
8、it, like a childs secret code. Carlos Westez might well have had “a unique way of perceiving the world,“ but it was so unique that only he had access to it. However happy Westez might have been talking to himself, to everyone else in the world he may as well have been talking gibberish. It is, of co
9、urse, enriching to learn other languages and delve into other cultures. But it is enriching not because different languages and cultures are unique, but because making contact across barriers of language and culture allows us to expand our own horizons and become more universal in our outlook. Cultu
10、ral homogenization is something to be welcomed, not feared. The more universally we can communicate, the more dynamic our culture will be. It is not being parochial to believe that the more people to speak English or Spanish, Chinese, or Hindi the better it would be. The real chauvinists are surely
11、those who worry about the spread of “American culture“ and “Japanese technology“. The idea that particular languages embody unique visions of the world derives from the romantic concept of cultural difference, a concept that underlies much of contemporary thinking about multiculturalism. “Each natio
12、n speaks in the manner it thinks,“ Johann Gottfried von Herder argued in the 18th century, “and thinks in the manner it speaks.“ For Herder the nature of a people was expressed through its Volksgeist the unchanging spirit of a people refined through history. Language was particularly crucial to the
13、delineation of a people, because “in it dwells its entire world of tradition, history, religion, principles of existence; its whole heart and soul.“ Herders Volksgeist became transformed into racial makeup, an unchanging substance, the foundation of all physical appearance and mental potential, and
14、the basis for division and difference within humankind. The contemporary argument for the preservation of linguistic diversity, liberally framed though it may be, draws on the same philosophy that gave rise to racial difference. “Nobody can suppose that it is not more beneficial for a Breton or a Ba
15、sque to be a member of the French nationality, admitted on equal terms to all the privileges of French citizenship.than to sulk on his own rocks, the half-savage relic of past times, revolving in his own little mental orbit, without participation or interest in the general movement of the world.“ So
16、 wrote John Stuart Mill, more than a century ago. “The same applies,“ he added, “to the Welshman or the Scottish Highlander as members of the British nation. “It would have astonished him that, as we approach a new era, there are those who think that sulking on your own rock is a state worth preserv
17、ing. 1 Peter Popham is afraid that_. （ A） some languages are in peril of extinction （ B） some languages are losing their own features （ C） some languages are replaced by their dialects （ D） some languages are facing great challenges 2 “.hegemony of a few great transnational languages.“ in the third
18、paragraph probably means _. （ A） the exchange of features of some languages used in different countries （ B） the exchange of features of some languages used in allied countries （ C） the bad influence of some languages reaching beyond national boundaries （ D） the predominant influence of some languag
19、es reaching beyond national boundaries 3 The mention of Westezs talking gibberish is to_. （ A） exemplify the point that communicative function is of great importance to languages （ B） support the fact that nobody else in the world can understand Catawba （ C） illustrate that Westez indeed enjoyed tal
20、king to himself in Catawba （ D） argue that diverse languages cannot prevent cultural homogeneity 4 Which of the following is INCORRECT of the philosophy of racial makeup? （ A） It originates from Volksgeist. （ B） It provides a basis for calling on language diversity. （ C） It is used as a basis to mai
21、ntain racial difference. （ D） It has been challenged by many linguists. 4 When school starts each year, the most important question on the minds of parents and children is, Who will be my teacher? The concern is well founded. Researchers have discovered that schools deepest influence on learning dep
22、ends on the quality of the teacher. Students lucky enough to have teachers who know their content and how to teach it well achieve more. And the effects of a very good (or very poor) teacher last beyond a single year, influencing a students learning for years. Put simply, expert teachers are the mos
23、t fundamental resource for improving education. This lesson has been well learned by societies that top international rankings in education. The highest-achieving countries Finland, Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Canada have bee
24、n pouring resources into teacher training and support. These countries routinely prepare their teachers more extensively, pay them well in relation to competing occupations and give them lots of time for professional learning. They also provide well-trained teachers for all students rather than allo
25、wing some to be taught by untrained novices by offering equitable salaries and adding incentives for harder-to-staff locations. All teacher candidates in Finland, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands, for example, receive two to three years of graduate-level preparation for teaching, at government exp
26、ense, plus a living stipend. Unlike the U. S. , where teachers either go into debt to prepare for a profession that will pay them poorly or enter with little or no training, these countries made the decision to invest in a uniformly well-prepared teaching force by recruiting top candidates and payin
27、g them while they receive extensive training. With its steep climb in the international rankings, Finland has been a poster child for school improvement. Teachers learn how to create programs that engage students in research and inquiry on a regular basis. There, training focuses on how to teach stu
28、dents who learn in different ways including those with special needs. The Finns reason that if teachers learn to help students who struggle, they will be able to teach their students more effectively. Singapore, top-ranked in math by the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, treats
29、teaching similarly. When I visited Singapores National Institute of Education, the nations only teacher-training institution, nearly all the people I spoke with described how they were investing in teachers abilities to teach a curriculum focused on critical thinking and inquiry skills needed in a h
30、igh-tech economy. To get the best teachers, the institute recruits students from the top third of each graduating high school class into a fully paid four-year teacher-education program (or, if they enter later, a one-to-two-year graduate program) and puts them on the governments payroll. When they
31、enter the profession, teachers salaries are higher than those of beginning doctors. Expert teachers are given time to serve as mentors to help beginners learn their craft. The government pays for 100 hours of professional development each year for all teachers. In addition, they have 20 hours a week
32、 to work with other teachers and visit one anothers classrooms. And teachers continue to advance throughout their career. With aid from the government, teachers in Singapore can pursue three separate career ladders, which help them become curriculum specialists, mentors for other teachers or school
33、principals. These opportunities bring recognition, extra compensation and new challenges that keep teaching exciting and allow teachers to share their expertise. Most U. S. teachers, on the other hand, have no time to work with colleagues during the school day. They plan by themselves and get a few
34、hit-and-run workshops after school, with little opportunity to share knowledge or improve their practice. In a study of mathematics teaching and learning in Japan, Taiwan and the U. S. , James Stigler and Harold Stevenson noted that “Asian class lessons are so well crafted ( because) there is a very
35、 systematic effort to pass on the accumulated wisdom of teaching practice to each new generation of teachers and to keep perfecting that practice by providing teachers the opportunities to continually learn from each other.“ With these kinds of investments, it is possible to ensure that every teache
36、r has access to the knowledge he or she needs to teach effectively and that every child has access to competent teachers. Such a goal is critical for the U. S. if it is indeed to leave no child behind. 5 The expression “poster child“ in Paragraph Three means_. （ A） symbol （ B） example （ C） show （ D）
37、 success 6 The following factors all play a part in preparing good teachers EXCEPT_. （ A） recruiting top candidates （ B） providing graduate programs （ C） offering chances for promotion （ D） honoring teachers with awards 7 It can be learned from Paragraph Six that American teachers_. （ A） are not wel
38、l-trained and qualified （ B） value individual competence more than team work （ C） do not have chances to learn from each other （ D） have a heavier workload comparing with their counterparts in Asia 8 Which of the following best describes the authors development of argument? （ A） Putting forward the
39、issueproviding sufficient evidencecomparing the differences drawing the conclusion. （ B） Putting forward the issuecomparing the differencesproviding sufficient evidence drawing the conclusion. （ C） Providing sufficient evidenceputting forward the issuecomparing the differences drawing the conclusion
40、. （ D） Providing sufficient evidencecomparing the differences putting forward the issue drawing the conclusion. 8 In the competitive model the economy of many sellers each with a small share of the total market the restraint on the private exercise of economic power was provided by other firms on th
41、e same side of the market. It was the eagerness of competitors to sell, not the complaints of buyers, that saved the latter from spoliation. It was assumed, no doubt accurately, that the nineteenth-century textile manufacturer who overcharged for his product would promptly lose his market to another
42、 manufacturer who did not. If all manufacturers found themselves in a position where they could exploit a strong demand, and mark up their prices accordingly, there would soon be an inflow of new competitors. The resulting increase in supply would bring prices and profits back to normal. As with the
43、 seller who was tempted to use his economic power against the customer, so with the buyer who was tempted to use it against his labor or suppliers, the man who paid less than the prevailing wage would lose his labor force to those who paid the worker his full (marginal) contribution to the earnings
44、of the firm. In all cases the incentive to socially desirable behavior was provided by the competitor. It was to the same side of the market the restraint of sellers by other sellers and of buyers by other buyers, in other words to competition that economists came to look for the self-regulatory mec
45、hanisms of the economy. They also came to look to competition exclusively and in formal theory still do. The notion that there might be another regulatory mechanism in the economy had been almost completely excluded from economic thought. Thus, with the widespread disappearance of competition in its
46、 classical form and its replacement by the small group of firms if not in overt, at least in conventional or tacit, collusion, it was easy to suppose that since competition had disappeared, all effective restraint on private power had disappeared. Indeed, this conclusion was all but inevitable if no
47、 search was made for other restraints, and so complete was the preoccupation with competition that none was made. In fact, new restraints on private power did appear to replace competition. They were nurtured by the same process of concentration which impaired or destroyed competition. But they appe
48、ared not on the same side of the market but on the opposite side, not with competitors but with customers or suppliers. It will be convenient to have a name for this counterpart of competition and I shall call it countervailing power. To begin with a broad and somewhat too dogmatically stated propos
49、ition, private economic power is held in check by the countervailing power of those who are subject to it. The first begets the second. The long trend toward concentration of industrial enterprise in the hands of a relatively few firms has brought into existence not only strong sellers, as economists have supposed, but also strong buyers, a fact they have failed to see. The two develop together, not in precise step, but in such manner that there can be no doubt that the one is in response to the other.
