1、专业英语八级（阅读）练习试卷 22及答案与解析 0 Anyone believing the global economic crisis to be over should have taken a look around Europe this week. Desperate to revive his countrys feeble economy, Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan promised $6 billion worth of savings in a budget aimed at taming the countrys stubb
2、orn deficit. The plan is his second budget this year, and Irelands harshest in decades. In a mini-budget announced a couple of hours earlier, Britains Alistair Darling unveiled his governments latest plan to fix the U.K.s broken economy, including a punitive tax on bankers bonuses, a rise in social
3、security contributions and a cap on public-sector workers pay. In other parts of Europe, things are looking even worse. Shares on the Greek stock market have fallen 9% over the past two days. The parlous state of Greeces public finances has prompted credit-rating agency Fitch to lower the countrys d
4、ebt rating to BBB+, the lowest in the euro zone, Europes single-currency region. Further blows could follow: rival agencies Moodys and Standard & Poors have threatened similar moves in recent days. Two weeks after Dubai stunned investors by requesting a standstill on $60 billion in liabilities belon
5、ging to its main corporate arm, Greeces downgrade is yet more evidence that the economic crisis is far from over. For countries left to fill gaping holes in their public finances exposed by the meltdown, theres plenty of pain still to come. Nowhere more so than Greece. Years of debt-fueled consumpti
6、on and lax fiscal policies have left the country drowning in red ink. National debt is expected to rise to 125% of GDP in 2010, the highest in the euro zone. “If you want an example of a political elite that thought membership of the euro zone was a panacea,“ says Simon Tilford, chief economist at t
7、he Centre for European Reform in London, “you dont need to look further than Greece. Theyre in very serious trouble.“ Getting out of it wont be easy. Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, which sets interest rates for the euro zones 16 countries, urged the country on Monday, D
8、ec. 7, to take “courageous“ steps to tackle the crisis. Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou, part of the socialist government that won power in the country last October, duly pledged to do “whatever is required“ to shore up the countrys finances. Key to the recovery plan: slashing Greeces
9、 budget deficit next year from 12.7% more than four times the level allowed under E.U. rules to 9.1%. While that has triggered revenue-raising measures like a crackdown on tax evasion, theres little sign of the deep spending cuts the country needs to rebalance its books. Whats more, reviving growth
10、will mean shifting from an economy founded on domestic consumption to one driven by exports. “Thats going to be extremely difficult, given that the Greeks have allowed their cost competitiveness within the euro zone to erode massively,“ says Tilford. “Were still seeing big increases in Greeces wages
11、.“ Contrast that with Ireland. Since losing its edge in Europe rising labor costs helped the countrys share of euro-zone exports fall one-fifth between 2001 and 2008 the Irish havent shied from cutting their cloth in recent months. In his budget announced Dec. 9, for instance, Lenihan unleashed deep
12、ly unpopular cuts in public-sector pay that look set to trigger strike action. But when it comes to a spending squeeze of their own, says Tilford, “the Greeks are a long way from recognizing that they really have no choice.“ That surely irks the E.U., which is limited in the amount of help or punish
13、ment it can impose on Greece. Allowing the country to default, or to approach to the International Monetary Fund for emergency funds, would deal a huge blow to the credibility of the 11-year-old euro zone. Whatever financial concessions it can offer, therefore, will almost certainly come with stiff
14、conditions. Greece may have little option but to accept. 1 Which of the following is NOT the measure taken to improve UKs economy? （ A） A shift of its economy. （ B） A severe tax on bankers bonuses. （ C） A limit on public-sector workers pay. （ D） A rise in social security contributions. 2 What does “
15、parlous“ mean in Paragraph 2? （ A） financial （ B） perilous （ C） steady （ D） reviving 3 What can be inferred from the passage about the E.U.? （ A） It can do nothing to stop the dangerous situation in euro zone. （ B） It has played a limited role in economic matters in euro zone. （ C） It has played an
16、important role in economic matters in euro zone. （ D） It has played an important role in keeping its members out of financial crisis. 4 According to the author, which of the following is the key measure to revive Greeces economy? （ A） To punish those who do not pay taxes. （ B） To control the country
17、s deficit. （ C） To increase peoples wages. （ D） To cut peoples spendin 5 Which of the following is NOT true about Greece? （ A） Its economy is based on exports. （ B） It is very likely to be the next Dubai. （ C） Its people have realized their situation. （ D） Its debt rating is the lowest in the euro z
18、on 5 Women are getting unhappier, I told my friend Carl. “How can you tell?“ he deadpanned. “Its always been whine-whine-whine.“ Why are we sadder? I persisted. “Because you care,“ he replied with a mock sneer. “You have feelings.“ Oh, that. In the early 70s, breaking out of the domestic cocoon, lea
19、ving their mothers circumscribed lives behind, young women felt exhilarated and bold. But the more women have achieved, the more they seem aggrieved. Did the feminist revolution end up benefiting men more than women? According to the General Social Survey, which has tracked Americans mood since 1972
20、, and five other major studies around the world, women are getting gloomier and men are getting happier. Before the 70s, there was a gender gap in America in which women felt greater well- being. Now theres a gender gap in which men feel better about their lives. As Arianna Huffington points out in
21、a blog post headlined “The Sad, Shocking Truth About How Women Are Feeling“: “It doesnt matter what their marital status is, how much money they make, whether or not they have children, their ethnic background, or the country they live in. Women around the world are in a funk.“ (The one exception is
22、 black women in America, who are a bit happier than they were in 1972, but still not as happy as black men.) Marcus Buckingham, a former Gallup researcher who has a new book out called “Find Your Strongest Life: What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently,“ says that men and women pas
23、sed each other midpoint on the graph of life. “Though women begin their lives more fulfilled than men, as they age, they gradually become less happy,“ Buckingham writes in his new blog on The Huffington Post, pointing out that this darker view covers feelings about marriage, money and material goods
24、. “Men, in contrast, get happier as they get older.“ Buckingham and other experts dispute the idea that the variance in happiness is caused by women carrying a bigger burden of work at home, the “second shift“. They say that while women still do more cooking, cleaning and child-caring, the trend lin
25、es are moving toward more parity, which should make them less stressed. When women stepped into male-dominated realms, they put more demands and stress on themselves. If they once judged themselves on looks, kids, hubbies, gardens and dinner parties, now they judge themselves on looks, kids, hubbies
26、, gardens, dinner parties and grad school, work, office deadlines and meshing a two-career marriage. “Choice is inherently stressful,“ Buckingham said in an interview. “And women are being driven to distraction.“ One area of extreme distraction is kids. “Across the happiness data, the one thing in l
27、ife that will make you less happy is having children,“ said Betsey Stevenson, an assistant professor at Wharton who co-wrote a paper called “The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness“. “Its true whether youre wealthy or poor, if you have kids late or kids early. Yet I know very few people who would
28、tell me they wish they hadnt had kids or who would tell me they feel their kids were the destroyer of their happiness.“ The more important things that are crowded into their lives, the less attention women are able to give to each thing. Add this to the fact that women are hormonally more complicate
29、d and biologically more vulnerable. Women are much harder on themselves than men. They tend to attach to other people more strongly, beat themselves up more when they lose attachments, take things more personally at work and pop far more antidepressants. “Women have lives that become increasingly em
30、pty,“ Buckingham said. “Theyre doing more and feeling less.“ Another daunting thing: America is more youth and looks obsessed than ever, with an array of expensive cosmetic procedures that allow women to be their own Frankenstein Barbies. Men can age in an attractive way while women are expected to
31、replicate and Restylane their 20s into their 60s. Buckingham says that greater prosperity has made men happier. And they are also relieved of bearing sole responsibility for their family finances, and no longer have the pressure of having women totally dependent on them. Men also tend to fare better
32、 romantically as time wears on. There are more widows than widowers, and men have an easier time getting younger mates. Stevenson looks on the bright side of the dark trend, suggesting that happiness is beside the point. Were happy to have our newfound abundance of choices, she said, even if those c
33、hoices end up making us unhappier. A paradox, indeed. 6 According to Marcus Buckingham, which of the following is true? （ A） Men are luckier than women. （ B） Men and women do things differently. （ C） Men and women have different demands on themselves. （ D） Men and women meet each other on the halfwa
34、y of their lif 7 Which of the following is the reason that women feel unhappy? （ A） Their husbands do little housework. （ B） They have to do a lot of housework. （ C） They ask too much from themselves. （ D） They have to take care of the children. 8 According to Betsey Stevenson, which one can be infe
35、rred? （ A） Women wild have no children. （ B） Women know that having children make them less happy. （ C） Women will feel less happy if they cannot afford to support their children. （ D） Women are doomed to unhappiness because they will definitely have children. 9 What can be inferred from the passage
36、? （ A） The feminist revolution did not improve womens position. （ B） A woman who has more choices will be less happy. （ C） Men and women have different roles in society. （ D） Women are unluckier than men. 10 The purpose in writing the passage is （ A） to explain why men feel happy. （ B） to ask women
37、not to have children. （ C） to show women how to live a happy life. （ D） to analyze the causes that make women less happy. 专业英语八级（阅读）练习试卷 22答案与解析 【知识模块】 阅读 1 【正确答案】 A 【试题解析】 此题是事实题。由第一段可知。 【知识模块】 阅读 2 【正确答案】 B 【试题解析】 此题是词义理解题。结合上下文可知，希腊的公共财政状况非常危险。 【知识模块】 阅读 3 【正确答案】 B 【试题解析】 此题是推断题。由最后一段可知，欧盟的作用是有限的
38、。 【知识模块】 阅读 4 【正确答案】 D 【试题解析】 此题是事实题。由第六、七段可知，希腊经济复苏的关键是国民紧缩开支。 【知识模块】 阅读 5 【正确答案】 A 【试题解析】 此题是事实题。由第六段可知，希腊经济是以国内消费为主，而非依赖出口。 【知识模块】 阅读 【知识模块】 阅读 6 【正确答案】 C 【试题解析】 此题是推断题。 Marcus Buckingham认为女性对自己的要求比男性更高。 【知识模块】 阅读 7 【正确答案】 C 【试题解析】 此题是推断概括题。文章探讨的是女性不快乐的原因，虽然妇女拥有越来越多的选择，但正是这些选择导致女性不快乐。 【知识模块】 阅读 8 【正确答案】 D 【试题解析】 此题是推断题。 Betsey Stevenson认为孩子是导致女性不快乐的原因。 【知识模块】 阅读 9 【正确答案】 B 【试题解析】 此题是推断题。由： Marcus Buckingham的观点可知。 【知识模块】 阅读 10 【正确答案】 D 【试题解析】 此题是推理概括题。全文探讨的是女性不快乐的原因。 【知识模块】 阅读
