1、专业英语八级（阅读）模拟试卷 49及答案与解析 0 The United States produced more crude oil in October than it imported for the first time since early 1995, as domestic shale oil output continued to surge and U. S. consumption of petroleum products remained relatively flat, the Energy Information Administration said on Wed
2、nesday. The figures mark a milestone in the rebound of U.S. oil production since drillers started using a combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to unlock oil previously trapped in layers of shale rock in states such as North Dakota and Texas. At the same time, gains in automobi
3、le fuel efficiency and other areas have been curbing U. S. oil consumption. The trend is expected to continue for another decade as U. S. domestic oil supplies grow and reliance on imports shrinks, easing one of the main sources of pressure on global oil markets. For now, however, the United States
4、remains the worlds biggest oil-consuming nation and the largest importer of crude oil. Moreover, global crude oil prices remain high by historic measures. U.S. crude oil production reached 7. 74 million barrels a day in October, down slightly from September because of disruptions from Tropical Storm
5、 Karen, but up 17 percent from the year before. Aside from September, U. S. production in October was the highest level of any month since May 1989. Net crude oil imports in October fell to 7.57 million barrels a day, down from 7.92 million barrels in September and down 8 percent from the year befor
6、e. The White House sought to take credit for the figures. It issued a statement calling them “ a result of both increased production and administration policies like increased fuel economy standards that cut oil consumption, cut carbon pollution, and cut consumer bills.“ Economists welcomed the figu
7、res. “It highlights the reversal of fortune in our energy sector, that we are increasingly energy independent and prospects are good that well be more energy independent going forward“ , said Mark M. Zandi, chief economist of Moodys Analytics. “Its one of the reasons to be optimistic about our growt
8、h prospects. “ Zandi added that rising domestic oil production “means a smaller trade and current account deficit, which is a big plus for the economy. Well be less sensitive to increases in global oil prices“. According to figures compiled by Zandi, the oil import bill as a percentage of the gross
9、domestic product in the third quarter of this year was lower than any quarter since 1986. The firm estimates that shale oil output will result in an $80 billion reduction in imports this year. Frank Verrastro, senior vice president and energy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Stud
10、ies, said the milestone was important, although he warned that higher costs, geological variations and constrained exploration budgets at many independent drillers could make it a “challenge“ to meet expectations for future crude oil output growth. The turnaround in U. S. oil fortunes has been rapid
11、. Five years ago, U. S. oil production hit a 62-year low. Since then, domestic production has increased by more than 50 percent. Prices remain high. This is the third consecutive year in which the price has hovered above $ 105 a barrel for crude oil produced by the Organization of the Petroleum Expo
12、rting Countries. The U. S. benchmark for crude oil, West Texas Intermediate, has tumbled to about $95 a barrel, down from $110 a barrel in September, but that is still high by historic standards. Some oil analysts note that prices would be even higher without the increase in U. S. production, which
13、has helped offset oil disruptions in Libya, Iraq and Nigeria and sanctions on Iran. 1 Which of the following factors leads to U. S. oil production milestone? （ A） Improvement on automobile fuel efficiency. （ B） Federal policies on oil consumption. （ C） New technology of extracting oil. （ D） Gains on
14、 energy independence. 2 It can be learned from the statistics in the 2nd paragraph that_. （ A） oil production is greatly affected by natural factors （ B） U. S. produced more oil and imported less in October than it did in September （ C） the consumption of oil in the U. S. forms a great pressure on g
15、lobal oil market （ D） U.S. has a high level of oil production and less import of it 3 Which of the following statements contains a metaphor? （ A） .U. S. consumption of petroleum products remained relatively flat. （ B） .to unlock oil previously trapped in layers of shale rock in states. （ C） The Whit
16、e House sought to take credit for the figures. （ D） The turnaround in U. S. oil fortunes has been rapid. 4 What is the role of the 4th and 5th paragraphs in the development of the topic? （ A） To further illustrate the trend of oil production in the U. S. （ B） To provide supportive evidence for the t
17、rend of oil production. （ C） To explain how the present condition come into being. （ D） To give professional viewpoint on the present condition. 5 What is the main idea of the passage? （ A） The White House improves U. S. oil production. （ B） U. S. oil production changes global oil prices. （ C） U.S.
18、oil production reaches milestone. （ D） The rapid change in U.S. shale oil production. 5 Imagine taking a university exam in your own home, under the watchful eye of a webcam or with software profiling your keystrokes or your syntax to see whether it really is you answering the questions. Online univ
19、ersity courses have become the Next Big Thing for higher education, particularly in the United States, where millions of students have signed up for courses from some of the most upmarket universities. With spiralling costs and student loan debts crossing the trillion dollar barrier this year, the o
20、nline university has been seen as a way of reaching many more people for much less money. But a major stumbling block has been how such digital courses are assessed. When students are at home how do you know whether they are cheating? How do you know the identity of the person answering the question
21、s? For the online courses to gain value, they need a credible way of assessing students and an important part of that is preventing fraud. The Open University in the U. K. has been a pioneer of distance learning. “Its a common problem across the sector how do you know that the individual taking the
22、exam is the right person?“ says Peter Taylor, chair of the Open Universitys academic conduct group. “The students computer would be locked down so that it cant use other materials. If youve got an appropriate webcam that can provide you with effective invigilation. “ says Prof. Taylor. This still ra
23、ises the question about how you know who is sitting the exam. “There are various ways you can identify a person,“ says Prof. Taylor. “One system we looked at meant that you had to type in a particular phrase and the rate and the particular way you type is effectively a signature of the individual. “
24、 These are not distant-horizon ideas Prof. Taylor says he would expect such technology to be in place within the next five years. He also says that there is no reason to think more people would necessarily cheat online. EdX, an online university project set up earlier this year by the Massachusetts
25、Institute of Technology and Harvard, wants to make more use of the exam hall rather than less. Students taking edX online courses will be able to sit their final exams in an international network of test centres, run by Pearson Vue. These will be formally supervised on-screen exams, using the edX we
26、bsite, and those who pass will receive a “proctored certificate“ , showing it has been achieved in an invigilated setting. Such online testing techniques are going to have an impact on the traditional university course too, he says. But this volume of testing depends on automated marking and will me
27、an a limit on the range of subjects and type of questions that can be examined. A computer is going to struggle to mark an essay on irony. Thats the challenge for another of the most significant online course providers, Coursera, set up by Stanford academics and backed by Silicon Valley investors. I
28、t has attracted students remarkably quickly 1.6 million have signed up in the first year, taking courses from more than 30 top universities. When the University of Londons international section joined last month, 9,000 students signed up in the first 24 hours. But how can such large numbers of candi
29、dates be reliably marked? Courseras co-founder Daphne Koller says trying to find a way to assess so many students is “ part of the learning process“. She says automatic marking can generate a score or a grade, but students want human feedback. And there isnt any technology that can judge whether an
30、essay has really connected with a question. The Open Universitys Prof. Taylor says their own experiments have shown that any software for assessing free-text answers requires a large amount of human intervention. Coursera has been experimenting with peer assessment, where students grade each others
31、work, following guidelines set by the teacher. This allows for the marking capacity to grow with the class size but it also depends on the reliability of fellow students. These online courses are also being discussed online and blogs from students refer to disagreements over marking. Martin Bean, vi
32、ce chancellor of the Open University, said: “There is no doubt that this is the web moment for higher education and a battle is shaping up for growing student numbers on global courses online. However this is a battle which will be about brands and the market ability of the providers but also, cruci
33、ally, about quality of teaching and credibility. “ 6 What does the word “distant-horizon“ in Paragraph Two mean? （ A） Far-reaching. （ B） Remote. （ C） Grand. （ D） Idealistic. 7 What can be inferred from the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs? （ A） Online course providers have tried to ensure the credibility of t
34、he exams. （ B） The certificates of edX seem to be more credible than those of Open University. （ C） Exam halls will gain popularity with the development of online courses. （ D） Online courses are seeking ways to make use of traditional testing measures. 8 Which of the following statements about Cour
35、sera is CORRECT? （ A） Courseras Stanford background makes it develop so quickly. （ B） Coursera is the first online project that makes use of peer assessment. （ C） Coursera has noticed that human feedback is crucial in online teaching. （ D） Coursera courses are provided by top universities in the U.
36、S. and U. K. 9 According to Martin Bean,_. （ A） college student numbers will soar in the near future （ B） quality of teaching is essential in both online and offline education （ C） higher education will be more global with the help of Internet （ D） there will be fierce future online competition of h
37、igher education 10 Which of the following best describes the authors development of the passage? （ A） Introducing the issuelisting possible solutionsmaking the closing statement. （ B） Raising the topicgiving supportive detailsdrawing up the conclusion. （ C） Introducing the issueproviding controversi
38、al opinionsmaking the closing statement. （ D） Describing the actual statusputting forward the questiongiving practical answers. 10 Sixty-three years old and retired from a career as a welder, Jim Crawford doesnt have much use for the Internet. The only time he goes online is to read through the auto
39、motive listings in the office of a local online auction company. If he sees something he likes, he says, he asks his mechanic to bid on it for him. Crawford is far from alone: About 15 percent of Americans older than 18 dont use the Internet, according to a study released in September by the Pew Int
40、ernet & American Life Project. An additional 9 percent use it only outside the home. They make up a shrinking, but not insignificant, segment of the population. And the gap between them and our increasingly digitized society is growing wider every day. “There is a group of Americans being left behin
41、d as technology advances without them,“ Lawrence E. Strickling, head of the Commerce Departments National Telecommunications and Information Administration, told an audience at the Brookings Institution recently. These people are being left out even as access to broadband Internet service provided b
42、y cable, fiber, DSL and other high-speed networks, as opposed to the older, slower dial-up service has expanded dramatically in the past 20 years. Because of a national infrastructure upgrade that Strickling compares to the rural electrification effort of the 1930s, well over 90 percent of U. S. hou
43、seholds are either wired for high-speed broadband or can get high-speed wireless access. But actual adoption of that service lags behind availability: As of October 2012, the NTIA found that 72.9 percent of homes used broadband Internet service. Thats remarkable growth from 2000, when only 4 percent
44、 of homes used broadband, but it still indicates a significant gap. So who are these Americans who remain disconnected from the online world? “They are disproportionately older,“ says Kathryn Zickuhr, who wrote the Pew study. According to the survey, which was done in May, 49 percent of non-Internet
45、 users are older than 65. They also are, in general, less educated. Although nearly everyone in the United States with a college degree is online, 41 percent of adults without a high school diploma are offline. The Pew survey asked these people why they dont go online. Perhaps surprisingly, cost was
46、nt the most common answer. The most prevalent reason, given by 34 percent of offline respondents, was that the Internet is not relevant to them. A slightly smaller group, 32 percent, cited problems with using the technology: They said that getting online was difficult or frustrating, or that they we
47、re worried about issues such as privacy or hackers. Nineteen percent of non-users cited concerns about the expense of owning a computer or paying for an Internet connection. Most policymakers would disagree with that sense of irrelevance. They point out that people who arent online have a harder tim
48、e accessing vital services such as Medicare and Medicaid or the new health-care exchanges created under President Obamas health-care law. They cant perform useful daily functions that most Americans take for granted, such as looking up directions when traveling, using e-mail for speedy written corre
49、spondence, or being able to see and talk with faraway friends or relatives via Skype or FaceTime. They cant easily search for competitive prices for housing, cars, appliances or other goods. Perhaps most importantly, they are at a major disadvantage when looking for a job: NTIA statistics show that 73 percent of unemployed Internet users reported going online to look for work. The Pew study found that only 14 percent of offline adults were previous Internet users. Theres good reason to believe if the rest of them tried it, they w
