1、同济大学考博英语模拟试卷 20及答案与解析 一、 Reading Comprehension 0 Tides are created mainly by the pull of the moon on the earth. The moons pull causes water in the o-ceans to be a little deeper at a point closest to the moon and also at a point farthest from the moon,on the opposite side of the earth. These two tida
2、l “waves“follow the apparent movement of the moon around the earth and strike nearly every coast line at intervals of about twelve hours and twenty-five minutes. After reaching a high point,the water level goes down gradually for a little more than six hours and then begins to rise towards a new hig
3、h point. Hence,most coast lines have two tides a day,and the tides occur fifty minutes later each day. Differences in the coast line and in channels in the ocean bottom may change the time that the tidal wave reaches different points along the same coast line. The difference in water level between h
4、igh and low tide varies from day to day according to the relative positions of the sun and the moon because the sun also exerts a pull on the earth,although it is only about half as strong as the pull of the moon. When the sun and the moon are pulling along the same line,the tides rise higher,and wh
5、en they pull at right angles to one another,the tide is lower. The formation of the coast line and variations in the weather are additional factors which can affect the height of tides. Some sections of the coast are shaped in such a way as to cause much higher tides than in other areas. A strong wi
6、nd blowing towards the shore may also cause tides to be higher. 1 Which of the following may be concluded from the information presented in the passage? （ A） Some coast lines do not have two tides each day. （ B） Tides usually rise to the same level day after day. （ C） Tides are not affected by the s
7、hape of a coast line. （ D） The sun has as much effect on tides as does the moon. 2 The time that high tide occurs at a particular place is affected by all of the following EXCEPT_. （ A） the position of the moon （ B） the direction of the wind （ C） channels in the sea bottom （ D） variations in the coa
8、st line 3 Which of the following is an accurate statement about the pull of the sun on the earth? （ A） It determines the time of high tide. （ B） It is about twice the pull of the moon. （ C） It determines the time of low tide. （ D） It is about half the pull of the moon. 4 If the pull of the sun equal
9、ed the pull of the moon,tides would_. （ A） sometimes be higher than they are now （ B） be the same height they are now （ C） no longer be affected by the wind （ D） be of equal height all the time 4 George Mason must rank with John Adams and James Madison as one of the three Founding Fathers who left t
10、heir personal imprint on the fundamental law of the United States. He was the principal author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights,which because of its early formation greatly influenced other state constitutions framed during the Revolution and,through them,the Federal Bill of Rights of 1791. Yet
11、 Mason was essentially a private person with very little inclination for public office or the ordinary operation of politics beyond the country level. His appearances in the Virginia colonial and state legislatures were relatively brief,and not until 1787 did he consent to represent his state at a c
12、ontinental or national congress or convention. Politics was never more than a means for Mason. He was at all times a man of public spirit,but politics was never a way of life,never for long his central concern. It took a revolution to pry him away from home and family at Gunston Hall, mobilize his s
13、kill and energy for constitutional construction, and transform him,in one brief moment of brilliant leadership,into a statesman whose work would endure to influence the lives and fortunes of those“millions yet unborn“of whom he and his generation of Americans spoke so frequently and thought so const
14、antly. 5 The author ascribes importance to the Virginia Declaration of Rights primarily because_. （ A） Mason was its principal author （ B） it was later adopted as the Federal Bill of Rights （ C） through wide circulation it influenced the writing of other state constitutions during the Revolution （ D
15、） through other state constitutions it eventually influenced the writing of the Federal Bill of Rights 6 The passage indicates that,for Mason,political activities were_. （ A） undertaken only when absolutely necessary （ B） a fundamental and lifelong preoccupation （ C） something he successfully avoide
16、d throughout his life （ D） something to which he always wished to devote more time and attention 7 The author indicates that Masons brilliant leadership ability_. （ A） was exercised throughout his life （ B） has been recognized only by the generations that followed him （ C） was less important histori
17、cally than his brilliance as a lawyer （ D） emerged powerfully, but for a brief time only 8 The author seems to be especially impressed by the fact that_. （ A） Mason,a responsible citizen,resisted for so long the obligation to represent his state in politics （ B） Mason,having so little political incl
18、ination,turned out to be such an influential statesman （ C） Mason was willing to leave home and family for public service （ D） Mason could be a devoted family man and a statesman at the same time 8 People appear to be born to compute. The numerical skills of children develop so early and so inexorab
19、ly that it is easy to imagine an internal clock of mathematical maturity guiding their growth. Not long after learning to walk and talk,they can set the table with impressive accuracy-one plate,one knife,one spoon,one fork,for each of the five chairs. Soon they are capable of noting that they have p
20、laced five knives,spoons,and forks on the table and,a bit later,that this amounts to fifteen pieces of silverware. Having thus mastered addition,they move on to subtraction. It seems almost reasonable to expect that if a child were secluded on a desert island at birth and retrieved seven years later
21、,he or she could enter a second-grade mathematics class without any serious problems of intellectual adjustment. Of course,the truth is not so simple. This century,the work of cognitive psychologists has illuminated the subtle forms of daily learning on which intellectual progress depends. Children
22、were observed as they slowly grasped-or.as the case might be bumped into-the concepts that adults take for granted,as they refused, for instance,to concede that quantity is unchanged as water pours from a short stout glass into a tall thin one. Psychologists have since demonstrated that young childr
23、en,asked to count the pencils in a pile,readily report the number of blue or red pencils,but must be coaxed into finding the total. Such studies have suggested that the rudiments of mathematics are mastered gradually,and with effort. They have also suggested that the very concept of abstract numbers
24、-the idea of a oneness,a twoness.a threeness that applies to any class of objects and is a prerequisite for doing anything more mathematically demand ing than setting a table-is itself far from innate. 9 What does the passage mainly discuss? （ A） Trends in teaching mathematics to children. （ B） The
25、use of mathematics in child psychology. （ C） The development of mathematical ability in children. （ D） The fundamental concepts of mathematics that children must learn. 10 It can be inferred from the passage that children normally learn simple counting_. （ A） soon after they learn to talk （ B） by lo
26、oking at the clock （ C） when they begin to be mathematically mature （ D） after they reach second grade in school 11 The author implies that most small children believe that the quantity of water changes when it is transferred to a container of a different_. （ A） color （ B） quality （ C） weight （ D） s
27、hape 12 With which of the following would the author be LEAST likely to agree? （ A） Children naturally and easily learn mathematics. （ B） Children learn to add before they learn to subtract. （ C） Most people follow the same pattern of mathematical development. （ D） Mathematical development is subtle
28、 and gradual. 12 If a new charter of the rights of people(in the First World,or North,or whatever you like to call the part where people do not on the whole starve)were to be drawn up,there is no doubt that the right to be a tourist,to go to a Spanish beach or to visit places endorsed as being of cu
29、ltural or scenic interest,would be prominent among its clauses. The mythology of tourism is that of the idyll-of outdoor pleasures,eating, drinking and love-making with neither hangover nor remorse. But whereas the ancient poets knew that idylls were an art form,modern tourists are persuaded to beli
30、eve that they can be bought for the price of a plane ticket and a hotel room. So it is not surprising that so many tourists look bewildered,dazed,even at times despondent. They are exchanging the comforts of home,where a particular way of living has been laboriously and lovingly created,for the unce
31、rtainty of existence in a foreign place,the soullessness of hotels,the wear and tear of constant travel. To be translated suddenly into an unfamiliar environment is an alienating experience, if not an unpleasant trauma. Another reason why tourists in reality do not look as happy as the smiling figur
32、es in the brochures is that the activities open to them,far from liberating,are both limited and unbalanced. Lying on a beach and visiting museums may be fine in their different ways,but to do either continuously for days on end must constitute a kind of hell. The strongest arguments against tourism
33、,however,are based on the damage it does to the countries which are toured against rather than those which tour. The most striking examples are in the“Third Word“. Cultures which have survived centuries of armed assault have not been able to resist this more insidious form of colonization:the dollar
34、 is mightier than the sword. Physical environment and culture may suffer,but the apologists for tourism argue that great economic benefits are produced. This is not the case. At least in the Third Word countries,most of the foreign money brought in goes straight out again,via the foreign-owned compa
35、nies which exploit tourism. The jobs created by tourism are for the most part menial and low-paid. In the long term,above all,the effect of reliance on tourism must be to reduce a country to a servile,parasitical condition,selling its past and its image to richer,more dynamic people who are in contr
36、ol of their destiny,and in the end,that of the country they are visiting. 13 The first sentence indicates that_. （ A） people have a universal claim to holidays abroad （ B） tourists turn a blind eye to the poverty in the countries they visit （ C） holidays overseas are considered essential by people i
37、n Western societies （ D） people seem to appreciate the right to a holiday more than any other right 14 According to the author,tourists look “bewildered,dazed,even at times despondent“(Line 8)because they_. （ A） do not realize that holiday pleasures are so costly （ B） abandon themselves to all kinds
38、 of excesses （ C） confuse their dreams with reality （ D） hardly prepare for their holidays 15 The author concludes that tourism in the Third World_. （ A） produces only limited economic benefits （ B） amounts to a present-day form of colonialism （ C） is developed at the expense of other industries （ D
39、） will bring prosperity to it only in the distant future 16 The essential argument in this passage is that_. （ A） tourism makes people unhappy and ruins whole cultures （ B） tourist agencies should do more to promote tourism at home （ C） tourists are exploited by both travel organizations and tourist
40、 countries （ D） the tourist industry is not yet able to meet the demands of todays tourists 16 It happened in the late fall of 1939 when,after a Nazi submarine had penetrated the British sea de-fense around the Firth of Forth and damaged a British cruiser, Reston and a colleague contrived to get the
41、 news past British censorship. They cabled a series of seemingly harmless sentences to the Times editors in New York,having first sent a message instructing the editors to regard only the last word of each sen-tence. Thus they were able to convey enough words to spell out the story. The fact that th
42、e news of the submarine attack was printed in New York before it had appeared in the British press sparked a big con-troversy that led to an investigation by Scotland Yard and British Military Intelligence. But it took the inves-tigators eight weeks to decipher the Times reporters code, an embarrass
43、ingly slow bit of detective work,and when it was finally solved the incident had died and little was done about it. The Times editors in New York,though they had given the story very prominent play, later expressed dismay that the reporters had risked so much for so little; and the incident left Res
44、ton deeply distressed. It was so out of character for him to have become involved in such a thing. The tactics were questionable and,though the United States was not yet in the war,Britain was already established as Americas close ally and breaking British cen-sorship seemed both an irresponsible an
45、d unpatriotic thing to do. 17 The episode recounted in the passage took place_. （ A） just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War （ B） before Britain entered the Second World War （ C） before the United States entered the Second World War （ D） while the United States was in the Second World War
46、 18 It was clear that British censorship rules had been broken because the story was_. （ A） first published in New York （ B） published nowhere but in the Times （ C） uncomplimentary to the British （ D） much fuller in its times version than elsewhere 19 According to the author,the British did little a
47、bout the storys publication mainly because_. （ A） everyone responsible had apologized for what had happened （ B） it took the authorities too long to figure out how the censors had been outwitted （ C） Scotland Yard and British Military Intelligence disagreed about who was at fault （ D） they were afra
48、id to admit that the censors had been so easily fooled 20 The passage indicates that eventually everyone involved came to regard the publication of the story in the Times as a_. （ A） regrettable error （ B） cheap journalistic trick （ C） brilliant journalistic maneuver （ D） proper exercise of the free
49、dom of the press 二、 English-Chinese Translation 21 He is a man obsessed by himself. Not the slightest interest would he have unless it is a matter or people concerning him. To him, his existence is not just an evidence of human excellence, but the proof of the only living spirit in this world. As a self proclaimed mastermind of drama, philosophy and music, he talks as if he was a very incarnation of Shakespeare, Plato and Beethoven at the same time. You cant miss it when he talks, for he would express himself tirelessl
