2011年四川大學(xué)考博英語真題

I．Reading Comprehension (30%; one mark each)

Directions: Read the following six passages. Answer the questions below each passage by choosing A., B., C., or D.. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet.

Passage One

Concern with money, and then more money, in order to buy the conveniences and luxuries of modem life, has brought great changes to the lives of most Frenchmen. More people are working than ever before in France. In the cities the traditional leisurely midday meal is disappointing. Offices ,shops, and factories are discovering the great efficiency of a short lunch hour in company lunchrooms. In almost all lines of work emphasis now falls on ever-increasing output. Thus the “typical” Frenchman produces more, earns more, and buys more consumer goods than his counterpart of the last generation. He gains in creating comforts and ease of life. What he loses to some extent is his sense of personal uniqueness, or individuality.

Some say that France has been Americanized. This is because the U. S. is a world symbol of the technological society and its consumer products. The so-called Americanization of France has its critics. They fear that “assembly-line life” will lead to the disappearance of the pleasures of the more graceful and leisurely (but less productive) old French style. What will happen, they ask, to taste, elegance, and the cultivation of the good things in life—joy in the smell of a freshly picked apple, a stroll by the river, or just happy hours of conversation in a local cafe?

Since the late 1950s life in France has indeed taken on qualities of rush, tension, and the pursuit of material gain. Some of the strongest critics of the new way of life are the young, especially university students. They are concerned with the future, and they rear that France is threated by triumph of this competitive, goods-oriented culture. Occasionally, they have reacted against the trend with considerable violence.

In spite of the critics, however, countless Frenchmen are committed to keeping France in the forefront of the modem economic world. They find that the present life brings more rewards, convenience ,and pleasures than that of the past. They believe that a modem, industrial France is preferable to the old.

1.The old French way of life is characterized by   .

A.leisure, elegance and efficiency          B. elegance, efficiency and taste

C. leisure, elegance and taste              D. leisure, efficiency and taste

2.According to the passage, all the following are the description of today’s Frenchmen EXCEPT that   .

A.many of them prefer the modem lifestyle

B.the actually enjoy working at the assembly line

C.they are more concerned with money than before

D.they are more competitive than the old generation

3.Which of the following is true about the critics?

A.Critics are greater in number than people enjoying the new way of life.

B.Student critics are greater in number than critics in other field.

C.Student critics have, on occasion, resorted to violent means against the trend.

D. Critics are concerned solely with the present rather than the future.

4.The best title for the passage would be   .

A.Changes in the French Way of Life

B.Criticism of the New Lifestyle

C.The Americanization of France

D.Features of the New Way of Life

5.It can be inferred from the passage that   .

A.in pursuing material gains the French are suffering losses elsewhere

B.the French enjoy short lunch hours

C.the French are fed up with the smell of freshly picked apples

D.great changes have occurred in the lifestyle of all Frenchmen

Passage Two

The decline in moral standards——which has long concerned social analysts—has at last captured the attention of average Americans. And Jean Bethke Elshtain, for one, is glad.

The fact the ordinary citizens are now starting to think seriously about the nation’s moral climate, says this ethics professor at the University of Chicago, is reason to hope that new ideas will come forward to improve it.

But the challenge is not to be underestimated. Materialism and individualism in American society are the biggest obstacles. “The thought that ‘ I’m in it for me’ has become deeply rooted in the national consciousness,” Ms. Elshtain says.

Some of this can be attributed to the disintegration of traditional communities, in which neighbors looked out for one another, she says. With today’s greater mobility and with so many couples working, those bonds have been weakened, replaced by a greater emphasis on self.

In a 1996 poll of Americans, loss of morality topped the list of the biggest problems facing the U. S. And Elshtain says the public is correct to sense that: Data show that Americans are struggling with problems unheard of in the 1950s, such as classroom violence and a high rate of births to unmarried mothers.

The desire for a higher moral standard is not a lament for some nonexistent “ golden age, ” Elshtain says, nor is it a wishful longing for a time that denied opportunities to women and minorities. Most people, in fact, favor the lessening of prejudice.

Moral decline will not be reversed until people find ways to counter the materialism in society, she says. “Slowly, you recognize that the things that matter are those that can’t be bought.”

6.Professor Elshtain is pleased to see that Americans       .

A.have adapted to a new set of moral standards

B.are longing for the return of the good old days

C.have realized the importance of material things

D.are awakening to the lowering of their moral standards

7.The moral decline of American society is caused mainly by       .

A.its growing wealth

B.the self-centeredness of individuals

C.underestimating the impact of social changes

D.the prejudice against women and minorities

8.Which of the following characterizes the traditional communities?

A.Great mobility.                   B.Concern for one’s neighbors.

C.Emphasis on individual effort       D.Ever-weakening social bonds.

9.In the 1950s, classroom violence        .

A.was something unheard of           B.was by no means a rare occurrence

C.attracted a lot of public attention      D.began to appear in analysts’ data

10.According to Elshtain, the current moral decline may be reversed       .

A.if people can return to the “golden age”       B.when women and men enjoy equal rights

C.when people rid themselves of prejudice      D.if less emphasis is laid on material things

Passage Three

No woman can be too rich or too thin. This saying often attributed to the late Duchess of Windsor embodies much of the odd spirit of our times. Being thin is deemed as such virtue.

The problem with such a view is that some people actually attempt to live by it. I myself have fantasies of slipping into narrow designer clothes. Consequently, I have been on a diet for the better一or worse—part of my life. Being rich wouldn’t be bad either, but that won’t happen unless an unknown relative dies suddenly in some distant land leaving me millions of dollars.

Where did we go off the track? When did eating butter become a sin, and a little bit of extra flesh unappealing, if not repellent? All religions have certain days when People refrain from eating, and excessive eating is one of Christianity’s seven deadly sins. However until quite recently, most People had a problem getting enough to eat. In some religious groups, wealth was a symbol of probable salvation and high morals, and fatness a sign of wealth and well-being.

Today the opposite is true. We have shifted to thinness as our new mark of virtue. The result is that being fat—or even only somewhat overweight—is bad because it implies a lack of moral strength.

Our obsession with thinness is also fueled by health concerns. It is true that in this country we have more overweight people than ever before, and that, in many cases, being overweight correlates with an increased risk of heart and blood vessel diseases. These diseases, however, may have as much to do with our way of life and our high-fat diets as with excess weight. And the associated risk of cancer in the digestive system may be more of a dietary problem—too much fat and a lack of fiber—than a weight problem.

The real concern, then, is not that we weigh too much, but that we neither exercise enough nor eat well. Exercise is necessary for strong bones and both heart and lung health. A balanced diet without a lot of fat can also help the body avoid many diseases. We should surely stop paying so much attention to weight. Simply being thin is not enough. It is actually hazardous if those who get (or already are) thin think they are automatically healthy and thus free from paying attention to their overall lifestyle. Thinness can be pure vainglory.

11.Swept by the prevailing trend, the author       .

A.has to go on a diet

B.could still prevent herself from going off the track

C.has to seek help from rich distant relatives

D.has to wear highly fashionable clothes

12.In the eyes of the author, an odd phenomenon nowadays is that       .

A.the Duchess of Windsor is regarded as a woman of virtue.

B.looking slim is a symbol of having a large fortune

C.being thin is viewed as a much desired quality

D.religious people are not necessarily virtuous

13.In human history people’s views on body weight       .

A.were closely related to their religious beliefs

B.changed from time to time

C.varied between the poor and the rich

D.led to different moral standards

14.What’s the author’s advice to women who are absorbed in the idea of thinness?

A.They should be more concerned with their overall lifestyle.

B.They should be more watchful for fatal diseases.

C.They should gain weight to look healthy.

D.They should rid themselves of fantasies about designer clothes.

15.The author criticizes women’s obsession with thinness       .

A. from an economic and educational perspective

B.from sociological and medical points of view

C.from a historical and religious standpoint

D.in the light of moral principles

Passage Four

Imagine a world in which there was suddenly no emotion—a world in which human beings could feel no love or happiness, no terror or hate. Try to imagine the consequences of such a transformation. People might not be able to stay alive: knowing neither joy nor pleasure, neither anxiety nor fear, they would be as likely to repeat acts that hurt them as acts that were beneficial. They could not learn: they could not benefit from experience because this emotionless world would lack rewards and punishments. Society would soon disappear: People would be as likely to harm one another as to provide help and support. Human relationships would not exist: In a world without friends or enemies ,there could be no marriage, affection among companions, or bonds among members o￡ groups. Society’s economic underpinnings would be destroyed: since there would be no incentives of any kind. For as we will see, incentives imply a capacity to enjoy them.

In such a world, the chances that the human species would survive are next to zero, because emotions are the basic instrument of our survival and adaptation. Emotions structure the world for us in important ways. As individuals, we categorize objects on the basis of our emotions. True, we consider the length, shape, size, or texture, but an object’s physical aspects are less important than what it has done or can do to us—hurt us, surprise us, anger us or make us joyful. We also use categorizations colored by emotions in our families, communities, and overall society. Out of our emotional experiences with objects and events comes a social feeling of agreement that certain things and actions are “good” and others are “bad”, and we apply these categories to every aspect of our social life—from what foods we eat and what clothes we wear to how we keep promises and which people our group will accept. In fact, society explains our emotional reactions and attitudes, such as loyalty, morality, pride, shame, guilt, fear and greed, in order to maintain itself. It gives high rewards to individuals who perform important tasks such as surgery, makes heroes out of individuals for unusual or dangerous achievements such as flying fighter planes in a war, and uses the legal and penal system to make people afraid to engage in antisocial acts.

16.The reason why people might not be able to stay alive in a world without emotion is that       .

A.they would not be able to tell the texture of objects

B.they would not know what was beneficial and what was harmful to them

C.they would not be happy with a life without love

D.they would do things that hurt each other’s feelings

17.According to the passage, people’s learning activities are possible because they       .

A.enjoy being rewarded for doing the right thing

B. know what is vital to the progress of society

C. believe that emotions are fundamental for them to stay alive

D.benefit from providing help and support to one another

18.It can be inferred from the passage that the economic foundation of society is dependent on       .

A.the ability to make money            B.the will to work for pleasure

C.the capacity to enjoy incentives        D.the categorizations of our emotional experiences

19.Emotions are significant for man’s survival and adaptation because       .

A.they provide the means by which people view the size or shape of objects

B.they are the basis for the social feeling of agreement by which society is maintained

C.they encourage people to perform dangerous achievements

D.they generate more love than hate among people

20.The emotional aspects of an object are more important than its physical aspects in that they       .

A.help society exploit its members for profit      B.encourage us to perform important tasks

C.help to perfect the legal and penal system       D.help us adapt our behavior to the world surrounding us

Passage Five

To fight against computer crimes, a computer system needs a sure way of identifying its right users and rejecting those who are not entitled to use it. The identification system should be quick, simple, and convenient.

At present, signatures are widely used to identify credit card holders, but it takes an expert to detect a good forgery. Sometimes even a human expert is fooled, and there is no reason to believe that a computer could do any better,

Photographs are also sometimes used for identification. But, people find it inconvenient to stop by a credit-card company and to be photographed. Companies might lose business if they made the pictures under absolute requirement. Also, photographs are less useful these days, when people frequently change their appearance by changing the way they wear their hair. Finally, computer programs for analyzing photographs are still highly experimental.

Cash-drawing systems often use two identification numbers: One is recorded on a magnetic stripe on the identification cards, and the other is given to the CRS holder. When the user inserts his card into the cash-drawing terminal, he keys in the identification number he has been given. The computer checks to see that the number recorded on the card and the other keyed in by the user refer to the same person.

For a long time, fingerprints have provided a method of positive identification. But they suffer from two problems. One is that there is no simple system for comparing fingerprints electronically, the other is that because most people associate being fingerprinted with being arrested; they most surely would resist being fingerprinted for routine identification.

Voiceprints have suggested. With these, the user has only to speak a few words for the computer to analyze his voice. There are no psychological problems here. And technically it ’ s easier to take and analyze voiceprints than fingerprints. However, it has yet to be proved that the computer line.

Even lipprints have been suggested. But it’s doubtful that kissing computer will ever catch.

21.Which of the following is NOT mentioned as one of the identification system requirements?

A.Convenience.   B. Reliability.   C. Low costs.   D. Acceptability.

22.The most reliable and convenient identification method in present use is______.

A.signatures   B. photographs   C. fingerprints   D. magnetic stripes

23.If the technical problems can be worked out, which method is the most promising?

A.Voiceprints.   B. Fingerprints.   C. Photographs.   D. Signatures.

24.Which of the following methods is the least psychologically acceptable?

A.Photgraphs.   B. Lipprints.   C. Fingerprints.   D. Voiceprints.

25.The passage is organized by______.

A.a simple listing of facts

B.presenting a solution and discussing its advantages or disadvantages

C.cause and effect

D.comparison and contrast

Passage Six

Only two countries in the advanced world provide no guarantee for paid leave from work to care for a newborn child. Last spring one of the two, Australia, gave up that dubious distinction by establishing paid family leave starting in 2011. I wasn’t surprised when this didn’t make the news here in the United States—we’re now the only wealthy country without such a policy.

The United States does have one explicit family policy, the Family and Medical Leave Act, passed in 1993. It entitles workers to as much as 12 weeks’ unpaid leave for care of a newborn or dealing with a family medical problem. Despite the modesty of the benefit, the Chamber of Commerce and other business groups fought it bitterly, describing it as “government-run personnel management” and a “dangerous precedent”. In fact, every step of the way, as (usually) Democratic leaders have tried to introduce work-family balance measures into the law, business groups have been strongly opposed.

As Yale law professor Anne Alstott argues, justifying parental support depends on defining the family as a social good that, in some sense, society must pay for. In her book No Exit: What Parents Owe Their Children and What Society Owes Parents, she argues that parents are burdened in many ways in their lives: there is “no exit” when it comes to children. “Society expects—and needs—parents to provide their children with continuity of care, meaning the intensive, intimate care that human beings need to develop their intellectual, emotional and moral capabilities. And society expects—and needs—parents to persist in their roles for 18 years, or longer if needed.”

While most parents do this out of love, there are public penalties for not providing care. What parents do, in other words, is of deep concern to the state, for the obvious reason that caring for children is not only morally urgent but essential for the future of society. The state recognizes this in the large body of family laws that govern children’s welfare, yet parents receive little help in meeting the life-changing obligations society imposes. To classify parenting as a personal choice for which there is no collective responsibility is not merely to ignore the social benefits of good parenting; really, it is to steal those benefits because they accrue to the whole of society as today’s children become tomorrow, s productive citizenry. In fact, by some estimates, the value of parental investments in children, investments of time and money (including lost wages) , is equal to 20-30% of gross domestic product. If these investments generate huge social benefits—as they clearly do—the benefits of providing more social support for the family should be that much clearer.

26.What do we learn about paid family leave from the first paragraph?

A.America is now the only developed country without the policy.

B.It has now become a hot topic in the United States.

C.It came as a surprise when Australia adopted the policy.

D.Its meaning was clarified when it was established in Australia.

27.What has prevented the passing of work-family balance laws in the United States?

A.The incompetence of the Democrats.

B.The existing Family and Medical Leave Act.

C.The lack of a precedent in American history.

D.The opposition from business circles.

28.What is Professor Anne Alston’s argument for parental support?

A.The cost o￡ raising children in the UShas been growing.

B.Good parenting benefits society.

C.The U. S. should keep up with other developed countries.

D.Children need continuous care.

29.What does the author think of America’s large body of family laws governing children’s welfare?

A.They fail to ensure children, s healthy growth

B.The fail to provide enough support for parents

C.They emphasize parents’ legal responsibilities.

D.They impose the care of children on parents.

30.Why does the author object to classifying parenting as a personal choice?

A.It is regarded as a legal obligation.           B.It relies largely on social support.

C.It generates huge social benefits.             D.It is basically a social undertaking.

II. Vocabulary (10%; 0.5 mark each)

31.If the world is to remain peaceful the utmost effort must be made by nations to limit local       .

A. collisions B. combats C. contradictions D. conflicts

32.Satellite communications are so up-to-date that even when       in the middle of the Pacific ,businessmen can contact their offices as if they were next door .

A. gliding B. cruising C. piloting D. patrolling

33.In the past ten years skyscrapers have developed       in Chicago and New York City.

A. homogeneously B. simultaneously  C. spontaneously D. harmoniously

34.The court considers a, financial       to be an appropriate way of punishing him.

A. option B. duty C. obligation D. penalty

35.I think that I committed a       in asking her because she seemed very upset by my question.

A. blunder B. revenge C. reproach D. scandal

36.Even when textbooks are       through a school system, methods of teaching may vary greatly.

A. commonplace B. standardized C. competitive D. generalized

37.They have always regarded a man of        and fairness as a reliable friend.

A. robustness B. temperament C. integrity D. compactness

38.All individuals are required to       to the laws made by their governments.

A. obey B. conform C. concede D. observe

39.The basic causes are unknown, although certain conditions that may lead to cancer have been       .

A. identified B. guaranteed C. notified D. conveyed

40.It is very strange but I had an       that the plane would crash.

A. inspiration B. intuition C. imagination D. incentive

41.The changing image of the family on television provides     into changing attitudes toward the family in society.

A. insights B. presentations  C. revelations D. specifications

42.The town planning commission said that their financial outlook for the next year was optimistic. They expected increased tax       .

A. efficiency B. revenues C. privileges D. validity

43.Bill is an example of a severely disabled person who has become       at many survival skills.

A. proficient B. persistent C. consistent D. sufficient

44.The ties that bind us together in common activity are so       that they can disappear at any moment.

A. trivial B. fatal C. tentative D. feeble

45.During the construction of skyscrapers, cranes are used to       building materials to the upper floors.

A. toss B. tow C. hoist D. hurl

46.Diamonds have little       value and their price depends almost entirely on their scarcity.

A. extinct B. permanent C. surplus D. intrinsic

47.The kitchen was small and        so that the disabled could reach everything without difficulty.

A. conventional B. compact C. compatible D. concise

48.He will       resign in view of the complete failure of the research project.

A. doubtfully B. adequately C. presumably D. reasonably

49.The Space Age       in October 1957 when the first artificial satellite was launched by the Soviet Union.

A. initiated B. embarked C. originated D. commenced

50.John said that he didn’t quite       and asked me to repeat what I had said.

A. snatch up B. catch on C. summon up D. watch out

III. Cloze (10%; 0.5 mark each)

Are we at the beginning of another Age of Exploration? Perhaps even more important, are we at the beginning of   51  Age of Colonization? As the population of the world increases towards the point  52  the earth can no longer support all the people  53  on it, the second question becomes urgent. Will we discover a new world,  54  Columbus did, on which human life will be possible? At this point in the space age, no one can really answer these questions. We can say,  55  , that we will not see tomorrow the kind of space travel that  56  fiction and the movies have shown. It will be a long time before we have flight that run  57  to human colonies on the moon or on one of the planets. We are not even going to be able to  58  immediate advantages of the minerals that we may find on the planets  59  our own solar system.

Great problems must be solved  60  we could send colonists out into space. The distances that must be  61  and the length of time it takes to do that can hardly be  62  . There are also dangers that we still do not really understand—from radiation. For example, or from pieces of matter  63  in space, or from contamination from forms of life that might  64  there. There is also need for humans to take their own environment into space  65  them. So far no “ island” has been discovered in space on which people can exist without systems that  66  life , and these systems must accompany any future space  67  . Finally, on the mast practical  68  , there has to be the enormous expense  69  in space exploration. The USand Russian governments have already spent billions of dollars for projects  70  which they can receive return only in knowledge and not in money.

51. A. another B. an C. the D. one

52. A. which B. when C. where D. whether

53.A. inhabited     B. crowded       C. borne         D.rushed

54.A. like         B. what           C. as            D. such

55.A. however      B. moreover       C.otherwise     D. therefore

56.A. ethical       B. science         C.affectional     D. action

57.A. punctually    B. permanently     C.temporarily    D. regularly

58.A. get          B. take            C.gain          D. make

59.A. from        B. in              C.on            D. with

60.A. after        B. till             C. before          D. until

61.A. covered      B. done           C.ended          D. finished

62.A. imagined     B. imaginable      C.imaginary       D. imaginative

63.A. out          B. over           C.from            D. above

64.A. revive        B. exist          C. survive          D. live

65.A. around       B. among         C.across           D. with

66.A. support       B. handle         C.provide         D. invade

67.A. tourists       B. pilots          C.travelers        D. invaders

68.A. grade         B. level          C.point           D. standard

69.A. involved      B. invested        C.concerned      D. budgeted

70.A. from         B. toward         C.onto           D. with

IV. Translation (30%)

Part A (20%)

Translate the following passage into Chinese.

There are several things worth noting about cognitive neuroscience that are also reflected in the Articles in this special issue of Science. First is the idea that distributed brain networks underlie complex behaviors. In the early days of the field, most neuroscientists focused on individual brain regions and their responses. The sensory domain was particularly captivating; one could, for example, appropriately talk about hyper-complex cells in the visual system that responded to comers or the existence of cortical columns as the organizing basis for neuro-sensory input. It is becoming clear, however, that the processing of information that leads to complex behaviors such as learning and memory involves multiple brain regions that must operate in an interactive parallel.

Part B (10%)

Translate the following sentences into English.

71. 人們必須通過對現(xiàn)象的分析和研究, 才能了解到事實的本質(zhì), 因此需要科學(xué)。

72. 我們現(xiàn)在面臨的所有重大世界性問題中最重要的問題就是人口對土地和土地資源的壓力正在迅速增長。

73. 受到這么多挫折和失敗, 他比以前聰明多了, 這次任務(wù)他一定會完成得很好的。

74. 沒有農(nóng)業(yè), 人們就不能生存, 社會生產(chǎn)就不能繼續(xù)下去, 因此, 農(nóng)業(yè)作為國民經(jīng)濟的基礎(chǔ)必須得到足夠重視。

75. 這件事的發(fā)生不是由于我們的過錯, 而是由于你的疏忽大意。

V. Writing (20%)

Directions: Write a composition in the title “How to Eliminate Fake Diplomas” based on the following given outline in Chinese. Your composition should be about 150 English words. Please write your composition on the Answer Sheet.

Outline:

1.現(xiàn)在社會上的假文憑屢見不鮮。

2.如何杜絕假文憑現(xiàn)象？

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