1、专业英语八级（阅读）模拟试卷 141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 Of al
2、l the extraordinary events in the life of John Paul II, few can compare with the 21 minutes he spent in a cell in Romes Rebibia prison. Just after Christmas, 1983, the pope visited Mehmet Ali Agca, the man who 30 months earlier had shot him in St. Peters Square. He presented Agca with a silver rosar
3、y, and something else as well: his forgiveness. It requires a Christ-like forbearance to pardon a would-be assassin, of course. But how many of us are ready to forgive an unfaithful lover or a scheming colleague? Persistent unforgiveness is part of human nature, but it appears to work to the detrime
4、nt not just of our spiritual well-being but our physical health as well. The subject is one of the hottest fields of research in clinical psychology today, with more than 1,200 published studies. It even has its own foundation A Campaign for Forgiveness Research which sponsored a conference last yea
5、r with papers on topics like “Exploring Gender Differences in Forgiveness.“ Dr. Dean Ornish, Americas all-purpose lifestyle guru, regards forgiveness as the nutrition of the soul, a healthful alternative to the anger and vengeance. “In a way,“ Ornish says, “the most selfish thing you can do for your
6、self is to forgive other people.“ Research suggests that forgiveness works in at least two ways. One is by reducing the stress of the state of unforgiveness, a potent mixture of bitterness, anger, hostility, hatred, resentment and fear (of being hurt or humiliated again). These have specific physiol
7、ogic consequences such as increased blood pressure and hormonal changes linked to cardiovascular disease, immune suppression and, possibly, impaired neurological function and memory. One study examined 20 individuals in happy relationships, matched with 20 in troubled relationships. The latter had h
8、igher baseline levels of Cortisol, a hormone associated with impaired immune function which shot up even further when they were asked to think about their relationships. “ It happens down the line, but every time you feel unforgiveness, you are more likely to develop a health problem,“ says Everett
9、Worthington, executive director of A Campaign for Forgiveness Research. The other benefit of forgiveness is more subtle? it relates to research showing that people with strong social networks of friends, neighbors and family tend to be healthier than loners. Someone who nurses grudges and keeps trac
10、k of every slight is obviously going to shed some relationships over the course of a lifetime. Forgiveness, says Charlotte Van Oyen Witvliet, a researcher at Hope College in Holland, Mich. , should be incorporated into ones personality, a way of life, not merely a response to specific insults. In fa
11、ct, forgiveness turns out to be a surprisingly complex process, according to many researchers. Worthington distinguishes what he calls “decisional forgiveness“ a commitment to reconcile with the perpetrator from the more significant “emotional forgiveness,“ an internal state of acceptance. Forgivene
12、ss does not require us to forgo justice, or to make up to people we have every right to despise. Anger has its place in the panoply of human emotions, but it shouldnt become a way of life. “When I talk about forgiveness, I mean letting go, not excusing the other person or reconciling with them or co
13、ndoning the behavior,“ says Ornish. “Just letting go of your own suffering.“ “Its a process, not a moment,“ says Dr. Edward M. Hallowell, a Harvard psychiatrist and the author of Dare to Forgive. Forgiveness, he emphasizes, has to be cultivated; it goes against a natural human tendency to seek reven
14、ge and the redress of injustice. For that reason, he recommends doing it with help of friends, a therapist or through prayer. It was from his faith that John Paul drew the strength to forgive Mehmet Agca, setting (as he no doubt intended) an example for the rest of us. The message is the same whethe
15、r its couched in the language of Christian charity, clinical psychology or the wisdom of Confucius, as quoted by Hallowell: “If you devote your life to seeking revenge, first dig two graves.“ 1 The word “detriment“ in the second paragraph probably means_. （ A） determination （ B） benefit （ C） damage
16、（ D） adversity 2 According to researches in clinical psychology, unforgiveness will lead to all the physiologic consequences EXCEPT_. （ A） immune suppression （ B） impaired memory （ C） increased blood pressure （ D） lower baseline levels of Cortisol 3 The fourth paragraph states all of the following E
17、XCEPT that_. （ A） loners do not forgive others （ B） to be sociable is better for peoples health （ C） forgiveness is not just a reaction to some insults （ D） forgiveness should become part of ones personality 4 According to Hallowell, which of the following is INCORRECT? （ A） It takes time to forgive
18、. （ B） It is difficult for people to forgive. （ C） One will get hurt by ones revenge against others. （ D） John Paul II forgave Mehmet Agca in order to set an example for the others. 5 A suitable title for the passage would be_. （ A） Forgive or Not, It Is a Question （ B） Forgive and Let Live （ C） Joh
19、n Paul a Model for Us （ D） Forgiveness Is Not Easy 5 Compared with the systems in other industrialized countries, the American unemployment-insurance (UI) scheme pays lower benefits for less time and to a smaller share of the unemployed. In expansions this encourages the jobless to return quickly to
20、 work and unemployed Americans do indeed work harder at finding jobs than their European counterparts (see chart). But in recessions, when there is less work to return to, it causes hardship. Like Americas training system, UI is ripe for attention from the incoming Obama administration. Like much of
21、 the social safety net, the current UI system was a product of Franklin Roosevelts New Deal. States were prodded to provide benefits in accordance with federal guidelines; in return the federal government paid their administrative costs. But the system has not kept up with changes in Americas labor
22、force. States often require beneficiaries to have worked or earned an amount that disqualifies many part-time and low-wage workers. They also disqualify people seeking only part-time work even though many people now work part-time for family reasons. Benefits typically last for only six months, more
23、 than enough time to find a new job in normal times but not in recessions. Extended benefits kick in automatically when unemployment reaches certain thresholds, but those thresholds are so high that they are almost never triggered. Congress therefore has to pass special legislation to extend benefit
24、s, as it did twice last year, but political wrangling often delays such action. In the week that ended on December 20th, 586,000 workers filed a first claim for unemployment benefits, the largest number for 26 years. Yet such claimants are, in one sense, lucky, typically, 60% of unemployed people do
25、nt qualify for the benefits at all. Unemployment insurance is one of the economys most important automatic stabilisers, helping to maintain household purchasing power when the economy weakens. But that role is impaired by the short duration of benefits and their skimpy level. At just under $300, the
26、 average weekly benefit is less than half the average private-sector wage. Mississippis maximum benefit of $230 is not much more than the federal poverty threshold of $200 for an individual. Benefits are low, in part, because they are financed by payroll taxes that states levy on their employers. St
27、ates dont like to raise such taxes, even when times are good. But that means they lack the funds to pay benefits when times are bad, forcing them to raise other taxes or borrow from the federal government, as some 30 states are now considering. One of the best features of Americas system is “experie
28、nce rating“: employers that frequently lay workers off must pay higher payroll taxes, thereby discouraging such lay-offs. But according to Alan Krueger of Princeton, many states have neutered that feature by charging most employers the lowest tax rate. Several moves are afoot to mend the flaws in th
29、e UI system. Under a bill put forward by Jim McDermott, a congressman from Seattle, the government would offer cash incentives to states to expand eligibility to part-time workers and make the benefit formula more generous. A second bill would significantly expand eligibility for the 46-year old Tra
30、de Adjustment Assistance programme, for example by including service-sector workers and providing more generous benefits. Both measures passed the House of Representatives but stalled in the Senate. As a senator, Barack Obama backed both. As president, he might make them reality. 6 Which of the foll
31、owing statements is CORRECT according to the first paragraph? （ A） American workers can get equal amount of benefits in less working time compared to Europeans. （ B） American workers can get more benefits in less working time compared to Europeans. （ C） The amount of benefits American unemployed get
32、 is in proportion to their working time. （ D） The time interval American unemployed get benefits is smaller compared to Europeans. 7 Which of the following has the highest threshold? （ A） Mississippis maximum benefit. （ B） The average weekly benefit. （ C） The federal poverty threshold. （ D） Half the
33、 average private-sector wage. 8 Which of the following has NOT been proposed to mend the UI system? （ A） To encourage more jobless to return to work. （ B） To increase the amount of benefits in the system. （ C） To extend the range of beneficiaries to more sectors. （ D） To lower the thresholds by whic
34、h part-time workers are included in the system. 8 At the Hemingway Memorial, just past the Sun Valley Resort, it is quiet. In the background, mountains rise up. There is a curved stone bench, like a tiny amphitheater facing the memorial. I sit for a while and watch the stream swirl around a corner,
35、then look up at Hemingways image on the column old, bearded and balding. My mind runs around this strange, complicated person who seemed in so many ways to embody the American Dream. He was a self-made man, a self-made writer, and a self-made celebrity. He was our prodigal son, and we watched him gr
36、ow up all over the world, but knew that his heart was always here, at home. As the afternoon light fades, I move to a nearby campground and cook dinner. When night comes, the moon is bright and the Milky Way is a wide, pale stripe across the sky. In the north, the big dipper is sinking behind a hill
37、. Next to the campground is Trail Creek, a stream filled with rocks that the water rushes over. In the dark, I go down to the stream, sit next to it and let the bubbling stir my thoughts. Moonlight glints off the water. When it gets too cold, I go back to camp to sleep for the night. But on my way,
38、I hear a rustle and shine my light where the sound came from. A fox runs past me and its eyes shine in the light. He disappears into the bushes. I stand there. A few seconds later he comes back. The fox stops tentatively, then walks toward me, eyes glowing. He stops again and spins around in three n
39、ervous circles. His fur looks gray and black. He is followed by a huge tail. The fox looks at me again and we both stand still for a minute, engaged in some kind of mutual regard. Then he turns into the bushes and disappears. It was his favorite shotgun, and his third try. Things had gone badly for
40、Ernest in his marriage, in his writing and in his mind. He had three big books unfinished, perhaps unfinishable: Islands in the Stream, The Garden of Eden, and True at First Light. Of these, biographer Michael Reynolds said, “They were to be his legacy, his most complex undertaking. It was like work
41、ing a crossword puzzle in three dimensions. All he needed was time, which, unfortunately, was no longer on his side.“ His account of the Bullfights in Spain, The Dangerous Summer, was more or less finished, as was his memoir of Paris, A Moveable Feast. But they were not published because Hemingway r
42、emained unhappy with them. In his last two years at Ketchum, he worked intermittently on them, sometimes making progress, sometimes not. But things werent right in Ernests head. Two decades after he first came to Ketchum, he looked like he had aged four decades. At 61, he was a shadow of the man who
43、 arrived at Sun Valley with Martha in 1939 to write For Whom the Bell Tolls and with Mary in 1947 to work on Islands in the Stream. He threatened to kill himself, but Mary talked him out of it. A few days later, he tried again, but was stopped by a friend. The next day he flew to the Mayo clinic for
44、 his second course of electroshock. Two months later, he was released from the clinic and drove back to Ketchum with Mary. They arrived on June 30th. Two days later, Ernest Hemingway walked downstairs, put his favorite gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. The shot must have rung out through the
45、valley. At Trail Creek Campground, I wake to the sound of water rushing over rocks. Its cold and my hands are stiff. But the sky is clear and I watch as the sun drips down the hills like honey. I eat some breakfast, make a cup of coffee, and pack up to leave. On the way out, I stop again at the Hemi
46、ngway Memorial. On the ground I notice small, wet, paw prints. They had come out of the stream by the memorial, wind through the open area by the bench and go up the path from where I just came. I sit for a while and watch the water swirl in the stream. It is so clear you can see to the bottom. In t
47、he distance is the rush of Trail Creek, and just above is the profile of Ernest Hemingway framed against, “the high blue windless sky.“ His head is turned away from where I sit, towards the mountains. The inscription of eulogy Hemingway wrote for another friend talks about how he loved the trees and
48、 hills and sky. It ends: “Now he will be part of them forever. “It is a beautiful place to die. 9 Which of the following adjectives can NOT describe Hemingway Memorial? （ A） Secluded. （ B） Scenic. （ C） Mysterious. （ D） Illuminating. 10 The writer did all of the following EXCEPT to_. （ A） meditate on
49、 Hemingways life story （ B） erect a tent on the bank of a stream （ C） cook a meal in a campground （ D） have a cup of coffee on the cold day 11 It can be inferred from the passage that Hemingway was all of the following EXCEPT_. （ A） abnormal （ B） desperate （ C） haggard （ D） lonesome 11 In the old days, historians at least some of them were patriotic and moralistic. No longer. We live in what Andrew Ferguson, in his brilliant new book, Land of Lincoln-. Adventures in Abes America, calls “a wised-
