1、厦门大学考博英语模拟试卷 1及答案与解析 一、 Cloze 0 I have never seen Mrs. Clark before, but I know from her medical chart and the report I received from the preceding shift that tonight she will die. The only light in her room is coming from a piece of medical equipment, which is flashing its red light as if is warnin
2、g. As I stand there, the smell hits my nose, and I close my eyes as I remember the smell of decay from past experience. In my mouth I have a sour, vinegar taste coming from the pit of my stomach. I reach for the light switch, and as it silently lights the scene, I return to the bed to observe the pa
3、tient with an unemotional, medical eye. Mrs. Clark is dying. She lies motionless: the head seems unusually large on a skeleton body; the skin is dark yellow and hangs loosely around exaggerated bones that not even a blanket can hide; the right arm lies straight out at the side, taped cruelly to a bo
4、ard to secure a needle so that fluid may drip in; the left arm is across the sunken chest, which rises and falls with the uneven breath. I reached for the long, thin fingers that are lying on the chest. They are ice cold, and I quickly move to the wrist and feel for the faint pulse. Mrs Clarks eyes
5、open somewhat as her head turns towards me slightly. I bend close to her and scarcely hear as she whispers, “Water.“ Taking a glass of water from the table, I put my finger over the end of the straw and allow a few drops of the cool moisture to slide into her mouth and ease her thirst. She makes no
6、attempt to swallow; there is just not enough strength. “More,“ the dry voice says, and we repeat the procedure. This time she does manage to swallow some liquid and weakly says, “Thank you.“ She is too weak for conversation. So without asking, I go about providing for her needs. Picking her up in my
7、 arms like a child, I turn her on her side. Naked, except for a light hospital gown, she is so very small and light that she seems like a victim of some terrible famine. I remove the lid from a jar of skin cream and put some on the palm of my hands. Carefully, to avoid injuring her, I rub cream into
8、 the yellow skin, which rolls freely over the bones, feeling perfectly the outline of each bone in the back. Placing a pillow between her legs, I notice that these too are ice cold, and not until I run my hands up over her knees do I feel any of the life-giving warmth of blood. When I am finished, I
9、 pull a chair up beside the bed to face her and, taking her free hand between mine, again notice the long, thin fingers, graceful. I wonder briefly if she has any family, and then I see that there are neither flowers, nor pictures of rainbows and butterflies drawn by children, nor cards. There is no
10、 hint in the room anywhere that this is a person who is loved. As though she is a mind reader, Mrs. Clark answers my thoughts and quietly tells me, “I sent my family home tonight didnt want them to see“ Having spent her last ounce of strength she cannot go on, but I have understood what she has done
11、. Not knowing what to say, I say nothing. Again she seems to sense my thoughts, “You stay“ Time seems to stand still. In the total silence, I feel my own pulse quicken and hear my breathing as it begins to match hers, breath for uneven breath. Our eyes meet and somehow, together, we become aware tha
12、t this is a special moment between two human beings Her long fingers curl easily around my hands and I nod my head slowly, smiling. Without words, through yellowed eyes, I receive my thank you and her eyes slowly close. Some unknown interval of time passes before her eyes open again, only this time
13、there is no response in them, just a blank stare. Without warning, her shallow breathing stops, and within a few moments, the faint pulse is also gone. One single tear flows from her left eye, across the cheek and down onto the pillow. I begin to cry quietly. There is a swell of emotion within me fo
14、r this stranger who so quickly came into and went from my life. Her suffering is done, yet so is the life. Slowly, still holding her hand, I become aware that I do not mind this emotional battle that in fact, it was a privilege she has allowed me, and I would do it again, gladly. Mrs. Clark spared h
15、er family an episode that perhaps they were not equipped to handle and instead shared it with me. She had not wanted to have her family see her die, yet she did not want to die alone. No one should die alone, and I am glad I was there for her. Two days later, I read about Mrs. Clark in the newspaper
16、. She was the mother of seven, grandmother of eighteen, an active member of her church, a leader of volunteer associations in her community, a concert piano player, and a piano teacher for over thirty years. Yes, they were long and graceful fingers. A drip K liquid B secured L famine C decay M jar D
17、 preceding N slide E straw O thirst F faint P fluid G pit Q moisture H chart R loosely I palm S hit J lid T indication The medical【 1】 from the【 2】 shift was the first【 3】 I got that Mrs. Clark would die. There was also a smell of【 4】 in the room that【 5】 me in the【 6】 of my stomach. The patients sk
18、in hung【 7】 so a needle was【 8】 to let the【 9】【 10】 in. She had a 【 11】 pulse and was thirsty, so I gave her a 【 12】 of a few drops of 【 13】 to 【 14】into her mouth to ease her 【 15】 . Having managed to swallow some 【 16】 , she said “Thank you.“ She was so small and light that she looked like a victi
19、m of some terrible 【 17】 . I removed the 【 18】 of a 【 19】 of cream and put some on the 【 20】 of my hand. Then I rubbed the cream into her yellow skin to make her feel better. 二、 Reading Comprehension 20 The main idea of these business school academics is appealing. In a word where companies must ada
20、pt to new technologies and source of competition, it is much harder than it used to be to offer good employees job security and an opportunity to climb the corporate ladder. Yet it is also more necessary than ever for employees to invest in better skills and sparkle with bright ideas. How can firms
21、get the most out of people if they can no longer offer them protection and promotion? Many bosses would love to have an answer. Sumantrra Ghoshal of the London Business School and Christopher Bartlett of the Harvard Business School think they have one: “Employability.“ If managers offer the right ki
22、nds of training and guidance, and change their attitude towards their underlings, they will be able to reassure their employees that they will always have the skills and experience to find a good job even if it is with a different company. Unfortunately, they promise more than they deliver. Their th
23、oughts on what an ideal organization should accomplish are hard to quarrel with: encourage people to be creative, make sure the gains from creativity are shared with the pains of the business that can make the most of them, keep the organization from getting stale and so forth. The real disappointme
24、nt comes when they attempt to show how firms might actually create such an environment. At its hub is the notion that companies can attain their elusive goals by changing their implicit contract with individual workers, and treating them as a source of value rather than a cog in a machine. The autho
25、rs offer a few inspiring example of companies they include Motorola, 3M and ABB that have managed to go some way towards creating such organizations. But they offer little useful guidance on how to go about it, and leave the biggest questions unanswered. How do you continuously train people, without
26、 diverting them from their everyday job of making the business more profitable? How do you train people to be successful elsewhere while still encouraging them to make big commitments to your own firm? How do you get your newly liberated employees to spend their time on ideas that create value, and
27、not simply on those they enjoy? Most of their answers are platitudinous, and when they are not they are unconvincing. 21 We can infer from the passage that in the past an employee_. （ A） had job security and opportunity of promotion （ B） had to compete with each other to keep his job （ C） had to und
28、ergo training all the time （ D） had no difficulty climbing the corporate ladder 22 What does the writer of this passage think of the ideas of Ghoshal and Bartlett? （ A） Very instructive. （ B） Very inspiring. （ C） Hard to implement. （ D） Quite harsh. 23 In their work, Ghoshal and Bartlett discuss_. （
29、 A） changes in business organizations （ B） contracts between employers and employees （ C） employment situation （ D） management ideas 24 This passage seems to be a(n)_. （ A） book review （ B） advertisement （ C） news report （ D） research paper 25 According to Chritopher Bartlett what will improve “empl
30、oyability“? （ A） Ability to lay out ones talents to employers. （ B） Skills and knowledge accumulated from school education. （ C） Training opportunity and guidance offered by company. （ D） Being creative and ready to share collective wisdom. 25 To understand the failings of existing farm programs, it
31、s important to understand the roots of the current farm crisis. At the heart of the problem is money how much there is and how much it costs to borrow. A farmer is a debtor almost by definition. In my own state, its not unusual for a wheat farmer with 1,000 acres to owe several hundred thousand doll
32、ars for land and machinery. In addition to making payments on these loans, its common for such a farmer to borrow about $40,000 each spring to cover fertilizer, diesel fuel, seed, and other operating expenses. The months before the harvest will be anxious ones as the farmer contemplates all the thin
33、gs that could bring: financial hardship, bad weather, crop disease, insects, falling commodity prices. If he has a good year, the farmer can repay his loans and retain some profit; in a bad one, he can lose his whole farm. Money thus becomes one of the farmers biggest expenses. Most consumers can fi
34、nd some refuge from high interest rates by postponing large purchases like houses or cars. Farmers have no choice. In 1989, for example, farmers paid $12 billion in interest costs while earning $32 billion; last year they paid $22 billion in interest costs, while earning only $20 billion. In a busin
35、ess in which profit margins are small, $4,000 more in interest can mean the difference between profit and loss. Since 1985, 100,000 family farms have disappeared, and while interest rates have fallen recently, they still imperil the nations farmers. This is why the most basic part of our nations far
36、m policy is its money and credit policy which is set by Paul Voicker and the Federal Reserve Board. The Federal Reserve Boards responsibility for nearly ruining our economy is well-known. Whats often overlooked is how the boards policies have taken an especially devastating toil on farmers. While hi
37、gh interest rates have increased farm expenses, theyve also undermined the export market farmers have traditionally relied on. High interest rates, by stalling our economic engines, have been a drag on the entire worlds economy. Developing and third world nations have been particularly hard hit. Str
38、uggling just to meet interest payments on their loans from multinational banks, they have had little cash left over to buy our farm products. Even those countries that could still afford our farm products abandoned us for other producers. Our interest rates were so high that they attracted multinati
39、onal bankers, corporations, and others who speculate on currencies of different countries. These speculators were willing to pay more for dollars in terms of pesos, yen, or marks because those rates guaranteed them such a substantial return. 26 This passage is intended to_. （ A） suggest effective me
40、ans to deal with money crisis （ B） satire the existing farm programs （ C） argue against the current interest rates policy （ D） advocate a modest attitude towards farmers 27 The author believes that_. （ A） high interest rates have an immediate effect on the farming industry （ B） the Federal Reserve B
41、oards policies will stimulate the export market （ C） reduction of costs is a sure way to gain long-term profitability to the farmers （ D） radical reforms are essential for the increase of productivity 28 Nowadays, developing and third world nations rarely buy American farm products mainly because_.
42、（ A） they rely on their domestic markets and are self-sufficient on the whole （ B） there are small profit margins in the business （ C） farm products offered by other producers are of higher quality （ D） they have financial difficulty 29 Multinational bankers and corporations were willing to pay more
43、 for dollars in terms of pesos and other currencies in the hope of_. （ A） gaining a large profit （ B） helping those poor nations （ C） decreasing interest rates （ D） overcoming financial hardships 30 By “A farmer is a debtor almost by definition.“ is meant that_. （ A） a “farmer“ originally means a “d
44、ebtor“ （ B） farmers have more to buy than workers or whatsoever （ C） farmers have no choice but to pay high interest rates （ D） farmers are vulnerable to natural disasters 30 Among the many ways in which people communicate through speech, public speaking has probably received more study and attracte
45、d more attention than any other. Politicians campaigning for public office, salespeople presenting products, and preachers delivering sermons all depend upon this form of public communication. Even people who do not make speaking a part of their daily work are often asked to make public speeches: st
46、udents at graduation, for instance, or members of churches, clubs, or other organizations. Nearly everyone speaks in public at some time or other, and those who perform the task well often become leaders. There are many reasons for speaking in public. A public speaker may hope to teach an audience a
47、bout new ideas, for example, or provide information-about some topic. Creating a good feeling or entertaining an audience may be another purpose. Public speakers, however, most often seek to persuade an audience to adopt new opinions, to take certain actions, or to see the world in a new way. Public
48、 speakers usually know well in advance when they are scheduled to make an address. Consequently, they are able to prepare their message before they deliver it. Sometimes, though, speakers must deliver the message unprepared, or off the cuff, such as when they are asked to offer a toast at a wedding
49、reception or to participate in a televised debate or interview. When they do not have to speak unprepared, most speakers write their own speeches. Politicians and business executives sometimes employ professional writers who prepare their speeches for them. These professional writers may work alone or in small teams. Although the speaker may have some input into the contents of the speech, the writers sometimes have a great influence over the opinions expressed by their employers. Rega
