北外网院专升本入学考试英语题目汇编4

I was just about to draw the curtain as well when I       (2) a loud cry of “Help! Help!” It seemed to come from the trees at the end of the garden. I looked _________ (3) but it was too dark to see anything clearly. So I decided to go out and have a look in the garden, just in case someone was in trouble. I took the torch and picked up a long walking stick. _________ (4) with these, I went out into the garden. Now and then I heard the cry. There was no doubt that it came from the trees at the end of the garden. “Who’s there?” I called out as I walked, rather _________ (5), down the path that led to the trees. But there was no answer. _________ (6) the help of my torch I searched the whole of that part of the garden and the lower branches of the trees. There was no sign of anybody or anything. I came to the _________ (7) that someone was playing a rather silly joke on me.

__________ (8) feeling rather puzzled, I went back to the house and put away the torch and the stick. I had just sat down when I heard the cry of “Help! Help!” This time from right __________ (9) my shoulder. I dropped my book and __________ (10). There, sitting on top of the radio set, was a parrot!

1. A. easily               B. smoothly      C. quickly            D. hardly

2. A. listen               B. noticed         C. heard              D. made

3. A. in                     B. out               C. ahead              D. around

4. A. Supplied          B. Loaded        C. Armed              D. Provided

5. A. nervously        B. went             C. passed              D. joined

6. A. By                    B. With             C. Through           D. Of

7. A. decision          B. suggestion    C. explanation     D. conclusion

8. A. Even                B. Just                C. Still                 D. Though

9. A. before             B. under             C. beside            D. behind

10. A. cried for        B. came out        C. jumped up     D. pointed to

Tim Gill, director of the Children’s Play Council, said, “Dads have difficulty __________ (5) too competitive. Several fathers said they found __________ (6) hard to get down to their children’s level. It is not easy for them to let children win, __________ (7) children will get fed up if they lose all their time.”

The competitive dad sometimes puts his children to constant challenges they can never __________ (8). It’s also partly a power control issue. Fathers want to let their children know they are still “players”. But being competitive was not altogether unhealthy. The thing is not to be obsessive about it. One father of two, who __________ (9) to be named (as he didn’t want his children to feel embarrasseD., told The Telegraph: “I don’t think I am overly competitive but it is better my children learn to lose with __________ (10) who cares for them.”

1.A. most               B. best               C. least               D. worst

2.A. imagination    B. imagine         C. imaging         D. image

3.A. as against       B. as to              C. as in                D. as for

4.A. to                    B. for                 C. of                     D. in

5.A. not to be        B. to be not       C. not being         D. being not

6.A. is                     B. it                   C. too                    D. that

7.A. when              B. unless           C. because             D. but

8.A. look up to      B. live up to      C. come up with    D. end up with

9.A. decided          B. demanded    C. declined            D. delivered

10. A. someone      B. anyone        C. that one             D. no one

1. A. if                 B. until            C. that         D. unless 

2. A. adequately B. attractively C. urgently   D. eagerly 

3. A. remark        B. tell              C. discuss    D. argue 

4. A. opposes      B. denies        C. refuses    D. offends 

5. A. with             B. as               C. over         D. for 

6. A. point           B. custom       C. idea         D. plan 

7. A. much           B. little            C. few          D. many 

8. A. on                B. during        C. by            D. over

9. A. soon            B. hurriedly     C. fast          D. slowly 

10. A. some         B. any              C. such        D. no

1. A. imagine    B. possess         C. have        D. own

2. A. given        B. faced             C. coped      D. greeted

3. A. suddenly  B. hurrily           C. rapidly      D. readily

4. A. ampler      B. stronger       C. broader    D. wider

5. A. from          B. at                 C. for            D. with

6. A. their          B. one’s         C. his            D. her

7. A. fitness       B. use               C. value        D. worth

8. A. example    B. a while        C. the sake    D. this

9. A. things       B. keys             C. answers     D. products

10. A. studying  B. practising   C. working     D. shopping

So why do producers keep on designing and producing VCRs that are difficult to use if problems are so obvious? First, the problems are not obvious to designers who have years of experience and who are ____(4) to understand how these things work. Secondly, designers tend to add one or two features at a time to each model, whereas you or I face all a machine’s features ____(5). Thirdly, although finding problems in a ____(6) product is easy, it is too late by then to do anything about the design. Finally, if producers can ____(7) selling products that are difficult to use, it is not worth the effort of any of them to make improvements.

Some producers say they like to provide a wide ____(8) of features rather than making the machines easy to use. But that gives rise to the question, “Why ____(9) you have features that are easy to use?” The answer is you can.

In an ideal world, there would be some ways of controlling quality ____(10) repeatedly redesigning the VCR until, say, 90 percent of users can work 90 percent of the features correctly 90 percent of the time.    

1. A. but                   B. that           C. since                                   D. and

2. A. along               B. lonely         C. alone                                 D. lone 

3. A. to                      B. in               C. for                                     D. by

4. A. training              B. trained    C. having trained                    D. was trained

5. A. at once             B. at times    C. all in one                             D. once and for all

6. A. fulfilled             B. done                       C. made                     D. finished

7. A. get away with   B. get through with    C. get behind with    D. get over with

8. A. degree              B. range                      C. scope                    D. extent

9. A. doesn’t           B. do                            C. can’t                   D. can  

10. A. for example     B. much like                C. such as                  D. that is

The doctor was soon on his way to Clens Falls. It was 60 miles away. And it was snowing heavily in the city. The surgeon thought he could get there before 12 o’clock.

A few minutes later, the doctor was stopped by a man in an old black coat. Gun in hand, the man ordered the doctor to get out. Then the man drove the car down the road, leaving the doctor in the falling snow.

It was after two o’clock in the morning when the doctor arrived at the hospital in Clens Falls.

Dr. Haydon told him that the boy had died an hour before.

The two doctors walked by the door of the hospital waiting room. There sat the man in the old black coat with his head in his hands.

 "MR. Cunningham," said Dr. Haydon to the man, "This is Dr. Eyck. He is the surgeon who came all the way from Albany to save your boy."

Questions 1 – 5: Choose the best answer from A, B, C and D. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet. 从A, B, C, D选项中选择一个正确的答案写在答题卷上。

1. Dr. Haydon asked Dr. Eyck to come to Clens Falls because________.

A.  the boy wounded by a shot was Dr. Eyck’ patient

B.the boy needed his help

C.Dr. Haydon was not a surgeon

D.Dr. Eyck was his assistant

2. The surgeon was late because________.

A.he was stopped by a beggar

B.the weather was rather terrible

C.Clens Falls was far away from Albany

D.His car was taken away

3. Choose the right order of the events given in the story.

a. Dr. Eyck was asked to come to the hospital in Clens Falls.

b. Dr. Eyck arrived at the hospital.

c. The boy shot himself.

d. The boy died.

e. The man in an old coat reached the hospital.

 f. Dr. Eyck was robbed (抢劫) of his car.

A. c, e, f, a, b, d 

B. a, c, f, d, b, e

C. c, a, f, e, d, b 

D. a, c, f, e, d, b

4. The boy died because________.

A.he was too far away from hospital

B.Dr. Haydon didn’t do anything to save him

C.Dr. Eyck was not able to arrive at the hospital in time

D. Dr. Haydon was not able to arrive at the hospital in time

5. Who should be responsible for the boy’s death?

A.The boy’s father.

B.The hospital.

C.Dr. Eyck. 

D.Dr. Haydon

Every mom and dad can tell you that keeping children busy helps stave off cries of boredom – now there is scientific backing to prove it. Dr. Anthony Chaston has proven that time really does fly when you’re having fun. Or, at least, it flies when your attention is engaged.

Working in the University of Alberta, Chaston devised a test that required subjects to find specific items in various images. However, before the subjects started the test, they were told that once they had completed it they would be asked to estimate how much time had passed during their test.

There were seven levels of difficulty among the tests. In some cases, the items were easy to find because they were of different colors. In the more difficult tests, the items were placed among many similar looking items, or they didn’t even exist in the image. “The harder the search tasks were, the smaller the estimates became,” said Chaston.

There are two kinds of time estimations, Chaston added, and there’s generally a big difference between the two. There’s prospective time estimation, which means the estimator knows in advance that he or she will be asked to make an estimate after a task is completed. Then there’s retrospective, which means someone has been asked to provide a time estimate after the task has been completed.

Chaston said, “In our society, we’re pretty good with prospective estimates. Most of us wear watches, and we’re pretty good at keeping track of the time because we have to for most of our regular, daily lives.” For this reason, Chaston is pleased that the results of his study showed such a powerful effect of attention on prospective time estimates. “This really shows that even if you know in advance that you’re going to have to estimate the time of a task, the more attention the task requires, the faster time flies.”

Questions 6 – 10: Choose the best answer from A, B, C and D. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet. 从A, B, C, D选项中选择一个正确的答案写在答题卷上。

6.“Stave off” in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to __________.

A. prevent

B. encourage

C. support

D. worsen

7. The second paragraph is centered on __________.

A.the difficulty of the test

B.the procedure of the test

C.Dr. Chaston’s expected result

D.Dr. Chaston’s theory

8. Dr. Chaston’s tests show that __________.

A.the easier task needs less time to make the estimation

B.the harder task needs less time to make the estimation

C.the easier task results in less correct time estimation

D.the harder task results in less correct time estimation

9. The major difference between prospective and retrospective time estimation lies in __________.

A.different test results

B.different groups of estimators

C.different items used in the tests

D.different instructions to the estimators

10. “For this reason, Chaston is pleased” in the last paragraph, what does “this reason” refer to?

A.Most of us wear watches.

B.We have to keep track of time.

C.We are good with prospective estimation.

.We work hard in most of our regular, daily lives.

Some people remember things by writing notes to themselves. Then they leave the notes in obvious(明显的) places, such as on the table or on the floor in the middle of the living room. I don’t think I like to write notes to myself. Most of the time I lose them or forget to look at them until it’s too late. I prefer to use an alarm clock (闹钟) to tell me what I should do. I have some alarm clocks in my house. They could tell me about things. For example, if I have to make a telephone call at a certain time, I’ll set an alarm clock to go off a few minutes early and put the clock by the telephone. Or if I want to watch a certain television program, I’ll set an alarm clock at the right time and put the clock on the top of the TV set. I can remember almost anything if I use my clocks. However, sometimes an alarm clock goes off and I don’t know what it means. I always remember setting it, but not why I set it. If the clock is by the telephone, I know I may have set it to tell me to call someone. But I can’t be sure. I might have set it to tell myself that somebody was to call me at a certain time.

Questions 11 – 15: Choose the best answer from A, B, C and D. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet. 从A, B, C, D选项中选择一个正确的答案写在答题卷上。

11. The writer doesn’t like to write notes to himself because _______.

A.most of the time he loses them or forgets to look at them.

B.he doesn’t know where to put them.

C.his handwriting is poor.

D.they bring him too much trouble.

12. The writer often uses _______ to help him remember things.

A.a notebook

B.a computer

C.telephone calls

D.alarm clocks

13. In this passage, “go off” means ________.

A.start off

B.get off

C.go away

D. make a sudden noise

14. According to the passage, notes are not good, because people may ________.

A.forget where the notes have been put

B.misuse them

C.put them on the table

D.read them in the future

15. The clock helps a lot but sometimes ________.

A.doesn’t work

B.refuse to give alarm

C.gives trouble

D.tells nothing

Tim Berners-Lee is the brilliant British physicist and computer scientist who in 1991 invented the World Wide Web. But the great breakthrough engineered by this icon of cyberspace did occur, in part, by chance. Berners-Lee was trying to find a way to organize his research files, so he developed a software program that, as he puts it, was “really useful for keeping track of all the random associations one comes across in real life. Brains are supposed to be so good at remembering – but sometimes mine wouldn’t.” It worked so well, creating effective linkages between huge amounts of information. It eventually became the basis for the revolution we now casually refer to as the Web. “It would be akin to a carpenter building a little cabinet for himself and suddenly discovering he could store the entire world inside the thing. There was quite a bit of luck in it,” says Arthur Molella from the National Museum of American History.

The element of chance has also helped produce many of the most important innovations in modern life. Take Percy Lebaron Spencer, a hero of World War II for his work in developing radar. One day shortly after the war, he was walking through his lab when he stopped briefly by a magnetron – the tube that produces the high-frequency microwaves that power radar. But just that second he got a strange feeling. He realized that a candy bar in his pocket had melted. Odd, Spencer thought. Immediately, he performed an experiment. He put some popcorn in front of the magnetron and popcorn was soon popping all over the place. Right away Percy Spencer was thinking about what this could be used for – a microwave oven.

Questions 16 – 20: Choose the best answer from A, B, C and D. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet. 从A, B, C, D选项中选择一个正确的答案写在答题卷上。

16. The word “icon” in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to __________.

A. follower

B. idol

C. teacher

D. newcomer

17. Berners-Lee’s new way of organizing files was intended to __________.

A.made up for his imperfect memory

B.provide information for people to share

C.promote his newly-developed computer program

D.made it easy for him to communicate with others

18. Percy Spencer thought about inventing a microwave oven __________.

A.at the time he was developing radar

B.as wartime people needed a new cooking device

C.when a candy bar melted in his pocket

D.after he did experiment with the popcorn

19. We can know from the passage that Percy Spencer had all the following characteristics EXCEPT __________.

A.realistic

B.experienced

C.observant

D.creative

20. The passage emphasizes the importance of __________ in innovations.

A.hard work

B.pioneering spirit

C.unexpected luck

D.great knowledge

Passage 1

For many years, officials of the National Institutes of Health have told Americans that they need to get enough sleep. They say this is necessary for people to stay healthy and do well. Now health officials begin to urge children to get enough sleep. They say children need at least nine hours of sleep every night. They say research shows that children who get this much sleep perform better in school and are less likely to become too fat.

Studies show that lack of sleep causes tiredness and problems with clear thinking. People who do not get enough sleep become angry easily. They also have trouble controlling their emotions.

Among children, problems that result from lack of sleep often are mistaken for more serious disorders. Unlike adults, tired children seem to have endless energy. Some doctors mistakenly identify this as hyper-activity. Many sleep disorders first develop in childhood. But doctors often do not identify the disorder until years later.

Experts say many American teenagers are not getting enough sleep. Teenagers stay up late for several reasons. For example, schoolwork, after school activities and late-night fun. Four years ago, education officials in Minneapolis changed the starting time of seven high schools. The officials delayed the starting time by almost ninety minutes.

A University of Minnesota study found that participation at the high schools improved after the starting time was changed. However, the later start did not greatly affect the performance of the students. Still, school systems in other parts of the country are discussing later starting times for high school students.

Questions 1 – 5: Choose the best answer from A, B, C and D. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet. 从A, B, C, D选项中选择一个正确的答案写在答题卷上。

1. It can be inferred from the passage that health officials __________.

A.suggest that children should not sleep too much

B.believe that children did not get enough sleep in the past

C.have for years been urging children to sleep more

D.used to think that children had enough sleep

2. Which of the following is caused by the shortage of sleep?

A.Lack of self-control

B.Mental disorder

C.Physical disability          

D.Lack of confidence

3. Tired children are different from tired adults in that __________.

A.the former are more likely to be lacking in energy

B.the latter are more likely to be lacking in energy

C.the former are more likely to have physical problems

D.the latter are more likely to have physical problems

4. Which of the following is NOT the reason for teenagers' keeping late hours?

A.Doing school assignments

B.Enjoying entertainment

C.Suffering from sleep disorder

D.Taking up various activities

5. Change in the schools’ starting time __________.

A.has resulted in a better performance of students

B.has failed to attract more students to schools

C.may be adopted by more schools in the future

D.may cause new problems for some students

This summer, for the first time, Emory College let freshmen pick their own roommates in an online roommate-selection system. Students, using screen names to hide their identities, posted profiles of themselves detailing personality attributes, work habits, music and food preferences, and exchanged information using e-mail.

Housing officials at Emory say they expect that letting students pick their own roommates who are their closest matches will increase the likelihood of compatibility. And there’s little risk of hurt feelings if the e-mail exchanges do not lead to a match, since the initial round of contacts is done under screen names.

Several studies have shown that roommates have an impact on the attitudes and social behavior of those they live with. And one recent study found that a roommate’s academic performance has a small, but statistically significant, effect on the other roommate’s grade-point average. Other studies, however, did not find that effect.

The business of assigning roommates varies widely across the country. At Davidson College, the housing staff sort every freshman with careful hand-selection. The Davidson philosophy is that roommates should be as similar as possible, while halls should be as diverse as possible.

“We had a match that seemed perfect, until we discovered that one was a cattle rancher’s son and the other was a vegan (绝对素食者),” said Ms. Kromm. “They should definitely meet, on the same hall. But we didn’t want to put them in the same room.” Occasionally, an incoming student asks to be paired with an Asian, or says she might not be able to get along with a Republican. In such cases, Ms. Kromm will remind them that Davidson does not accept roommate preferences based on race, ethnicity, and religion.

Davidson’s care in matching pays off. By Christmas last year, only four requested roommate changes out of 480 students. No one knows whether computer-matching works as well. But at Emory, so far, student reaction seems to be overwhelmingly positive.

Questions 6 – 10: Choose the best answer from A, B, C and D. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet. 从A, B, C, D选项中选择一个正确的答案写在答题卷上。

6. In computer matchmaking, initially students do not reveal their __________.

A. personalities

B. identities

C. habits

D. hobbies

7. If e-mail exchanges between students fail to lead to a match, the students involved __________.

A.will end up with hurt feelings

B.will stop using their screen names

C.won’t feel embarrassed or discouraged

D.won’t have another chance to contact others

8. As mentioned in the passage, only one study found that roommates have an impact on the __________ of the other roommates.

A.academic grades

B.social behavior

C.sleeping patterns

D.personal attitudes

9. It can be inferred from the passage that computer matching __________.

A.is unlikely to be a great success

B.is a novelty with no final results

C.will not be as good as expected

D.will soon replace hand selection

10. Both computer matching and hand selection follow the principle of __________.

A.putting students with similarities together

B.meeting all legitimate demands of students

C.letting students pick their own roommates

D.seeking diversity in roommate matching

Around the world more and more people are taking part in dangerous sports and activities. Of course, there have always been people who have looked for adventure – those who have climbed the highest mountains, explored unknown parts of the world or sailed in small boats across the greatest oceans. Now, however, there are people who seek an immediate excitement from a risky activity which may only last a few minutes or even seconds.

I would consider bungee jumping to be a good example of such an activity. You jump from a high place (perhaps a bridge or a hot-air balloon) 200 meters above the ground with an elastic rope tied to your ankles. You fall at up to 150 kilometers an hour until the rope stops you from hitting the ground. It is estimated that two million people around the world have now tried bungee jumping. Other activities which most people would say are as risky as bungee jumping involve jumping from tall buildings and diving into the sea from the top of high cliffs.

Why do people take part in such activities as these? Some psychologists suggest that it is because life in modern societies has become safe and boring. Not very long ago, people's lives were constantly under threat. They had to go out and hunt for food, diseases could not easily be cured, and life was a continuous battle for survival.

Nowadays, according to many people, life offers little excitement. They live and work in comparatively safe environment; they buy food in shops; and there are doctors and hospitals to look after them if they become ill. The answer for some of these people is to seek danger in activities such as bungee jumping.

Questions 11 – 15: Choose the best answer from A, B, C and D. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet. 从A, B, C, D选项中选择一个正确的答案写在答题卷上。

11. A suitable title for the passage is __________

A.The Boredom of Modern Life.

B.Dangerous Sports: What and why?

C.Bungee Jumping: Is it Really Dangerous?

D.The Need for Excitement.

12. More and more people today __________.

A.are close to death in sports

B.are climbing the highest mountains

C.are trying activities such as bungee jumping

D.are looking for adventures such as exploring unknown places

13. People probably take part in dangerous sports nowadays because __________.

A.they have a lot of free time

B.they can go to hospital if they are injured

C.they no longer need to hunt for food

D.their lives lack excitement

14. The writer of the passage has a(n) __________ attitude towards dangerous sports.

A. positive

B. negative 

C. subjective   

D. objective

15. What’s the meaning of the underlined word “elastic” underlined in paragraph two?

A. adaptable

B. changeable 

C. flexible  

D. yielding

Mother Teresa was born in Yugoslavia, on August 27, 1910. She attended the government school near her home until she was eighteen. At that time, some doctors and nurses from Yugoslavia were working in India, and they often wrote to the school about their work. She decided to join them one day.

 When she left school, she went first to Britain. Then a year later she went to India, where she began to train to be a teacher. After training, she was sent to Calcutta, where she taught geography at a school and soon after became headmistress.

However, although she loved teaching, in 1946 Mother Teresa left the school and went to work in the poor parts of Calcutta. Later she trained to become a nurse in Patna, and then began her work helping the poor and comforting the dying in the streets of the city. Slowly, others came to help her, and her work spread to other parts of India.

Mother Teresa is now a well-known person. Many photos have been taken of her, as she travels the world to open new schools and hospitals in poor countries. In 1979, she was given the Nobel Peace Prize for the lifetime of love and service she has given to the poor.

Questions 16 – 20: Choose the best answer from A, B, C and D. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet. 从A, B, C, D选项中选择一个正确的答案写在答题卷上。

16. Where did Mother Teresa receive her education?

A. In Yugoslavia and India.

B. In Yugoslavia and Britain.

C. In Britain and India.

D. In Yugoslavia, Britain and India.

17. What first made Mother Teresa work in India?

A.Her visit to the poor parts of Calcutta.

B.Her visit to Britain after she finished school.

C.more than one thousand lives can be saved each year

D.The work of the nurse in the city of Patna.

18. In which order did Mother Teresa do the following things?

a. Trained to be a nurse   

b. Went to India

c. Helped the dying      

d. Studied to be a teacher

e. Went to Britain         

f. Worked as a headmistress

A. b,a,c,e,d,f        

B. b,f,a,d,e,c        

C. e,b,d,f,a,c      

D. e,a,b,c,d,f

19. Mother Teresa gave up teaching because she wanted ________.

A. to look after the poor

B. to travel to poor countries

C. to build hospitals for the poor

D. to train nurses to care for the poor

20. Mother Teresa is now a famous person because she has ________.

A.saved many poor people in India

B.helped to bring about world peace

C.helped to make India a more peaceful place

D.taken care of many poor people in the world

Passage One

In bringing up children, every parent watches eagerly the child's acquisition(学会) of each new skill-- the first spoken words, the first independent steps, or the beginning of reading and writing. It is often tempting to hurry the child beyond his natural learning rate, but this can set up dangerous feelings of failure and states of worry in the child. This might happen at any stage. A baby might be forced to use a toilet too early, a young child might be encouraged to learn to read before he knows the meaning of the words he reads. On the other hand, though, if a child is left alone too much, or without any learning opportunities, he loses his natural enthusiasm for life and his desire to find out new things for himself. 

Parents vary greatly in their degree of strictness towards their children. Some may be especially strict in money matters. Others are severe over times of coming home at night or punctuality for meals. In general, the controls imposed represent the needs of the parents and the values of the community as much as the child's own happiness.

 As regards the development of moral standards in the growing child, consistency is very important in parental teaching. To forbid a thing one day and excuse it the next is no foundation for morality(道德). Also, parents should realize that "example is better than precept". If they are not sincere and do not practise what they preach (说教), their children may grow confused, and emotionally insecure when they grow old enough to think for themselves, and realize they have been to some extent fooled. A sudden awareness of a marked difference between their parents' principles and their morals can be a dangerous disappointment. 

Questions 1 – 5: Choose the best answer from A, B, C and D. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet. 从A, B, C, D选项中选择一个正确的答案写在答题卷上。

1.  Eagerly watching the child's acquisition of new skills ______ . 

A. should be avoided 

B .is universal among parents 

C. sets up dangerous states of worry in the child 

D. Will make him lose interest in learning new things 

2.  In the process of children's learning new skills parents ______ . 

A. should encourage them to read before they know the meaning of the words they read 

B. should not expect too much of them 

C. should achieve a balance between pushing them too hard and leaving them on their own 

D. should create as many learning opportunities as possible 

3.  The second paragraph mainly tells us that ______ . 

A. parents should be strict with their children 

B. parental controls reflect only the needs of the parents and the values of the community 

C. parental restrictions vary, and are not always enforced for the benefit of the 

children alone 

D. parents vary in their strictness towards their children according to the 

situation 

4.  The word "precept"(Line 4, Para. 3) probably means "______ ". 

A.idea 

B.punishment 

C.behaviour 

D.instruction 

5.  In moral matters, parents should _______ . 

A .observe the rules themselves 

B.  be aware of the marked difference between adults and children 

C.  forbid things which have no foundation in morality 

D.consistently ensure the security of their children, the fridge is considered a necessity.

Many a young person tells me he wants to be a writer. I always encourage such people, but I also explain that there’s a big difference between “being a writer” and writing. In most cases these individuals are dreaming of wealth and fame, not the long hours alone at a typewriter. “You’ve got to want to write,” I say to them, “not want to be a writer.”

The reality is that writing is a lonely, private and poor-paying affair. For every writer kissed by fortune there are thousands more whose longing is never rewarded. When I left a 20-year career in the U.S. Coast Guard to become a freelance writer, I had no prospects at all. What I did have was a friend who found me my room in a New York apartment building. It didn’t even matter that it was cold and had no bathroom. I immediately bought a used manual typewriter and felt like a genuine writer.

After a year or so, however, I still hadn’t gotten a break and began to doubt myself. It was very hard to sell a story, and I barely made enough money to eat. But I knew I wanted to write. I had dreamed about it for years. I wasn’t going to become one of those people who die wondering, What if? I would keep putting my dream to the test – even though it meant living with uncertainty and fear of failure. This is the Shadowland of Hope, and anyone with a dream must learn to live there.

Questions 6 – 10: Choose the best answer from A, B, C and D. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet. 从A, B, C, D选项中选择一个正确的答案写在答题卷上。

6.The passage is meant to _________.

A. warn young people of the hardships that a successful writer may experience

B. advise young people to give up their idea of becoming a professional writer

C. show young people it’s unrealistic for a writer to pursue wealth and fame

D. encourage young people to pursue a writing career

7.It can be concluded from the passage that _________.

A. genuine writers often find their work interesting and rewarding

B. a writer’s success depends on luck rather than on effort

C. famous writers usually live in poverty and isolation

D. the chances of a writer becoming successful are small

8.The reason why the author began to doubt himself after the first year of his writing career is _________.

A. he wasn’t able to produce a single book

B. he hadn’t seen a change for the better

C. he wasn’t able to have a rest for a whole year

D. he found his dream would never come true

9.“… people who die wondering, What if?” (Para. 3, Line 4) refers to “those _________”.

A. who think too much of the dark side of life

B. who regret giving up their career halfway

C. who think a lot without making a decision

D. who are full of imagination even upon death

10.“Shadowland” in the last sentence refers to _________.

A. the wonderland one often dreams about

B. the bright future that one is looking forward to

C. the state of uncertainty before one’s final goal is reached

D. a world that exists only in one’s imagination

In his book 1984, George Orwell envisioned a future society where every aspect of a person’s life was watched and controlled by the evil Big Brother. We are now years past that infamous year, and have avoided the dismal fate Orwell had in store for us. Or have we?

When you walk into a store and purchase a product with a credit card, most of the time the credit card company is immediately informed of the purchase (and makes the decision to accept or deny the charge) via sophisticated system. You may not even know it is happening.

When you apply for a loan, a credit card or try to rent an apartment, a computerized credit check is usually run on you, and almost every aspect of your financial life is scrutinized. Thanks to federal legislation, there are now ways to see your credit report and offer rebuttals for inaccuracies that may have gotten into your report. Prior to these laws, there were many horror stories about false and even malicious information that had been carried in some credit reports and widely circulated. TRW, the largest credit reporting service, in a brilliant marketing move, is even selling a service to allow you to periodically review and update your credit history (something you can do for free if you are denied credit based on a TRW report). 

When you have a brush with the law, no matter how minor, the police can tap into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC. computer and instantly find out if you’ve ever been arrested or otherwise managed to get into any law enforcement files. The FBI Advisory Policy Board several years ago approved proposals to link major data bases and to create a system to track anyone suspected of a crime. More and more organizations, including private companies, are pushing to gain access to this system and, in the absence of legislation, the same excesses that used to be possible in credit reporting will be extended to law enforcement. Orwell may not have been so far off.

Questions 11-15: Choose the best answer from A, B, C and D. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet. 从A, B, C, D选项中选择一个正确的答案写在答题卷上。

11. In this passage, the author describes the Big Brother as _________.

A. something that helps us when we are in danger

B. an invisible power

C. a well-known person

D. a positive force

12. The word “scrutinized” in the third paragraph may be best replaced by _________.

A. scrabbled

B. examined

C. credited

D. reported

13. We can conclude that the federal laws regarding credit reporting systems are helpful because _________.

A. they allow the credit card holders to question the wrong information occurring in the report

B. they allow the credit card holders to check their credit history more often

C. they help sell services to credit card holders

D. they are designed to reduce errors in the systems

14. The proposals the FBI Advisory Policy Board approved may lead to a system to _________.

A. diminish crimes all over the country

B. track down any criminal

C. track down any criminal and any suspect

D. capture anyone who commits a crime

15. The author’s attitude towards credit reporting systems and the FBI systems is _________.

A. supportive

B. informative

C. negative

D. sentimental

Impatience characterizes young knowledge workers. They want to make their mark fast. So it’s important to get across to them in a challenging manner the idea that big achievements rarely come easily and quickly. Point out that the little successes are essential. Show that they in turn become the foundation on which reputations are built and from which more important tasks can be attacked.

A variety of job assignments, including job or project rotation, also keep a job from becoming dull. Whereas it’s natural for some individuals to want to move ahead immediately to more difficult assignments, under proper guidance they can continue to learn and to gain versatility by working on a number of jobs that are essentially of the same complexity. This way they gain breadth, if not depth.

Probably the greatest offense to guard against when dealing with younger specialists is to reject ideas out of hand. You must listen – and listen objectively – to their suggestions. Avoid being overcritical. You want to nurture an inquiring mind with a fresh approach. You’ll discourage it quickly if you revert too often to “We’ve tried that before and it won’t work here.”

One sure way to disenchant young college graduates is flagrantly misuse their talents. Expect them to do some routine work, of course. But don’t make their daily work just one long series of errands. This includes such break-in assignments as performing routine calculations, digging up reference material, and operating reproduction equipment. One large manufacturing company recently interviewed a number of promising engineers who had left them. The company found that the overwhelming complaint was that the company not only did not provide work that was challenging but also expected far too little from them in the way of performance.

Questions 16-20: Choose the best answer from A, B, C and D. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet. 从A, B, C, D选项中选择一个正确的答案写在答题卷上。

16. The main idea of the first paragraph is that __________.

A. young workers shouldn’t expect to accomplish a lot overnight

B. young workers are usually impatient and so can’t achieve much in their work

C. little successes are more important than big achievements

D. it is important to challenge the young workers from time to time

17. The underlined word “they” in the first paragraph refers to __________.

A. young workers

B. big achievements

C. reputations and important tasks

D. little successes

18. In order to gain “breadth” (para. 2), young workers should __________.

A. stick to one job for a sufficiently long period of time

B. change their jobs as frequently as possible

C. try some other jobs at more or less the same level

D. move to more difficult assignments as early as possible

19. From the third paragraph we can conclude that the writer believes that __________.

A. young workers are usually very difficult to deal with

B. some administrators tend not to trust in young workers’ creativity

C. young workers’ suggestions are usually objectively evaluated

D. administrators should try all the suggestions put forward by the young workers

20. In order to stimulate young workers’ enthusiasm, administrators __________.

A. should not ask them to do routine work

B. should not let them start with the break-in assignments

C. should try to prevent them from leaving the company

D. should encourage them to do some tough jobs

Passage One         

“The public can have this car in any color they like as long as it is black.” Henry Ford, the first of the world’s great car makers, said those famous words back in 1911. Since then everyone has tried to show that he was wrong. The development of the car economy has resulted in a move away from standardization.

Marketing professionals often use car ownership as a kind of shorthands for different social or economic groups. The “Sierra man” is a young junior executive. He is sales oriented, very ambitious and likes sports. He drives a large, powerful Ford Sierra.  The “Galaxy man” has fulfilled most of his career ambitions. His home and family are the most important things in his life, so he drives a Ford Galaxy, an MPV.

The ability to make these statements is naturally limited by spending power. Some car makers like BMW and Mercedes concentrate on the upper income ranges. Others, like Ford, Toyota and Volkswagen develop large families of cars to cover different tastes in the mass market.

Originally, car ownership was limited to the head of the family, nearly always the father. As women have become increasingly financially independent, car makers have begun to produce cars for this market too.

Questions 1 – 5: Choose the best answer from A, B, C and D. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet. 从A, B, C, D选项中选择一个正确的答案写在答题卷上。

1. What does the speaker think of Henry Ford's standardization in making cars? 

A. It is still the most modern method in the industry.       

B. People are wrong to prove that Ford was wrong.

C. It was possibly acceptable in the 1910s but is out of date now.

D. Black is still one of the most popular car colors.

2. What is a typical “Sierra man” ?

A. A young and powerful man.

B. A young and ambitious junior manager.

C. A man who has fulfilled his career ambitions.

D. A family man who likes sports.

3. What is a typical “Galaxy man”? 

A. He pays more attention to his work than his family.

B. He has not completely realized his ambition yet.

C. He pays equal attention to his work and his family.

D. He pays more attention to his family than his work.

4. Which of the following makers aims at the rich and wealthy?    

A. Ford.

B. Volkswagen.

C. Toyota.

D. BMW.

5. When cars first became popular, who was the normal owner of a car in the family?

A. The eldest son.

B. The wife.

C. The daughter.     

D. The father.

The interview has been going on for about 20 minutes and everything seems to be going well. Then, suddenly, the interviewer asks an unexpected question. “Which is more important, justice or mercy?”

Job applicants in the West increasingly find themselves asked strange questions like this. And the signs are that this is beginning to happen in China. These questions are the result of a problem with the interview process.

Employers want staff who are skilled, enthusiastic and committed. So these are the qualities that any reasonably intelligent job applicant will try to show no matter what his or her actual feelings are. In response, employers are increasingly using questions which try and reveal the applicant’s true personality.

The question at the beginning comes from a test. It is an attempt to discover how people solve problems, rather than what they know. This is often called aptitude testing.

According to Mark Baldwin of Alliance, many job applicants in China are finding this type of questions difficult. When a Chinese person fills out an aptitude test he or she tends to think there is a right answer, and they may well fail because they try to guess what the examiner wants to see.

This is sometimes called the prisoner’s dilemma. Applicants are trying to act rationally in their own interests. But they fail because they don’t understand what the interviewer is looking for. Remember that in an aptitude test, the correct answer is always the honest answer.

Questions 6 – 10: Choose the best answer from A, B, C and D. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet. 从A, B, C, D选项中选择一个正确的答案写在答题卷上。

6.  Why do companies increasingly ask applicants strange questions in interviews?

A. To test the applicant’s range of knowledge.

B. To find out the applicant’s IQ.

C. To find out the applicant’s true personality.

D. To confirm the applicant’s qualifications.

7.  What is the correct answer to the question in an aptitude test?

A. A smart answer.

B. A funny answer.

C. An honest answer.

D. A cunning answer.

8. According to the article, what is the problem with the interview process?

A. It is unable to show whether the applicant is really skilled.

B. It is easy for the applicant to demonstrate his personality.

C. It is difficult for the interviewers to think up different questions.

D. It is easy for the applicant to guess what the interviewer wants.

9.  Increasing number of companies in China are starting to use aptitude test to discover_______.

A. how the applicant solves problems  

B. what the applicant knows about life

C. how skilled the applicant is at his job 

D. how committed the applicant is to his work

10.  According to the article, many Chinese applicants fail in the aptitude test because _________.

A. they tend to think there is a right answer

B. they do not know the right answer

C. they think the question is a trick 

D. they are unable to understand the question

A good illustration of an ecological upset comes from Australia. In 1859, Mr. Thomas Austin let 24 wild English rabbits loose on his land. At the time, they were probably the only rabbits in the whole country. Within ten years, Mr. Austin had killed 20,000 rabbits. Even so, he figured there were still 10,000 on or near his land. 

Before 1900, this small army of rabbits had conquered half the continent. In a desperate attempt to keep rabbits out of Western Australia, the government of the state set about erecting a wire-mesh fence, at a cost of roughly $2 million. Before the fence was finished, some rabbits were already on the wrong side of it. 

In 1950, the Australian government officials estimated rabbits were eating as much food as 25 or 30 million sheep. Worse, their burrowing yearly turned thousands of acres of sheep-ranching land into a dust bowl.

The moral of the story is clear. People ought to think long and hard before introducing foreign animals into a country. It often takes only a few small animals to upset nature’s ecological balance.

Questions 11 – 15: Choose the best answer from A, B, C and D. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet. 从A, B, C, D选项中选择一个正确的答案写在答题卷上。

11.  We can infer from the text that ___________.

A. there were no rabbits in Australia before 1859

B. there were only a few rabbits in Australia before 1859

C. Australia was not a good place for rabbits before 1859

D. all the rabbits in Australia had died out before 1859

12.  Mr. Thomas Austin ___________.

A. brought some wild rabbits from England and raised them on his farm

B. let loose 24 wild rabbits from England not expecting them to increase so rapidly

C. raised wild rabbits from England and was pleased that they increased

D. killed many rabbits and he made a fortune out of them

13.  Rabbits are bad for the soil because they _________.

A. eat all the goodness from it

B. make the soil very wet

C. dig the soil into heaps

D. dig lots of holes in the soil

14.  We can tell from the text that Mr Austin’s farm was___________.

A.  not a very large farm

B.  not in the west of Australia

C.  not a farm for rearing sheep

D.  not on the coast of Australia

15.  The best title for this passage would be_______.

A. How rabbits upset nature’s balance

B. How Australian farmers defeated the rabbit

C. How the rabbit was introduced to Australia

D. How rabbits are farmed in Australia