北外“高级时事英语”课程终结考试笔试复习题暨考试宝典.doc

“高级时事英语”课程终结考试笔试复习题暨考试宝典一、 课文框架纵览 蓝色字体部分为准备口语考试时需要具体复习的单元。单元主题内容简介1The Media（媒体）学习了解不同的媒体形式，区分事实与意见，解读新闻标题，了解“大众传媒”的定义，学会描述不同的媒体给自身生活带来的影响等。2Cultural Differences and Similarities（文化异同）学习描述不同文化之异同，解析调查结果，预测文章内容，识别作者观点等。3Education（教育）学习描述教育体制，讨论教育方面的问题并提建议，就传统教育体制和现代教育体制进行对比等。4Development（发展）学习描述日常生活变化及国家的发展，辨别社会发展带来的积极和负面的作用，就现代发明发表观点等。5Our Environment（环境）学习从上下文解析含义，表达担心、焦虑的心情，发表批评意见或对批评意见做回应等。6Social Problems（社会问题）学习描绘社会问题，就社会问题的根源进行讨论、发表意见，建议解决办法或评估解决办法等。7Equality（平等）学习描述男女不同分工或角色，讨论有关性别平等、种族平等问题。8Information Highway（信息高速）学习描述电脑的多种用途，谈论电脑科技的发展，推论/引申作者的态度等。口语复习请大家收听11秋学期针对高职，高时口语集训营回放，以下为链接地址：第一次节目：/v_show/id_XMzE5NDQyNzYw.html第二次节目：/programs/view/xXtYHl4zU_Q/第三次节目：/programs/view/gmm_eQbe6Ak/Information for the Examinees:This examination consists of THREE sections. They are:Section I:Listening Test(25 points, 30 minutes)Section II:Reading Test(50 points, 60 minutes)Section III:Writing Test(25 points, 30 minutes)The total marks for this examination are 100 points. Time allowed for completing this examination is 2 hours (120 minutes).YOU MUST WRITE ALL YOUR ANSWERS ON THE ANSWER SHEET.Section IListening Test 25 pointsInstructions: The listening test will take approximately 30 minutes. There are THREE parts to the test. There will be a pause of 30 seconds before each part to allow you to look at your questions. There will be a pause of 30 seconds after each part to allow you to think about your answers.同学们，本复习题中红色字体部分将和大家最终拿到的考卷一模一样，以下是听力部分的复习题Review question 1:Instructions: Listen to a paragraph. As you listen, fill in each blank with the word you hear. NOTE: Each blank consists of only one word.Almost every family buys at least one copy of a newspaper every day. Some people _ (1) to as many as two or three newspapers. But why do people read newspapers? Five hundred years ago, news of important happenings - battles lost and won, kings or rulers overthrown or killed - took months and even years to _ (2) from one country to another. The news passed by word of mouth and was never accurate. Today we can read in our newspapers about important events that _(3) in far away countries on the same day the events happen. Apart from _(4) news from all over the world, newspapers give us a lot of other useful information. There are weather reports, radio, television and film guides, book reviews, stories and, of course, advertisements. The bigger ones are put in by large companies to bring attention to their products. They pay the newspapers thousands of dollars for the advertising space, but it is worth the money, for news of their products goes into almost every home in the country. For those who _(5) newspapers, advertisements are also very important. Money earned from advertisements makes it possible for them to sell their newspapers at a low price and still make a profit. Newspapers often have information on gardening, cooking and fashion, as well as a small but very popular section on jokes and cartoons. Review question 2:Instructions: Listen to a paragraph. As you listen, fill in each blank with the word you hear. NOTE: Each blank consists of only one word.When Steveland Judkins Morris was born, on May 13, _(1), the doctors shook their heads and told Lula Mae Morris that her son had been born blind and likely would always be that way. Blind and black and poor - what kind of life could this new infant have? In her _ (2) dreams, Mrs. Morris could never have imagined that her new baby would become a rich and famous musician called Stevie Wonder. When Stevie was a child, blindness wasnt holding him back from _ (3). He often used the tables for drums. Then his uncle bought him a toy harmonica, and Stevie learned to play it so quickly that everyone was amazed. Stevie taught himself to play piano as quickly as he had once learned the harmonica. With friends, he began to play rock and roll music. Stevie started going to Motowns office every day after school. He hung around and listened to everybody elses music and played some of his own. Everyone there called him Stevie Wonder. Stevie had his first hit when he was 12 years old. It was called Fingertips and it was _ (4) all over the country. He felt grown and strong and ready to fly. And he did fly. Now Stevie has faith and _ (5), wealth and love. He has conquered his own darkness and brings sunshine to the shadows of other lives. Review question 3:You are going to listen to a short passage. As you listen, fill in each blank with one word from the recording. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet.The poverty line is the _ (1) income that people need for an acceptable standard of living. About 10 percent of the people in the United States are below the poverty line. _ (2) suggest several reasons. For one thing, more than half of the poor people are not _ (3) to work. By law, children less than _ (4) years old cannot work in many industries; many companies do not hire people over 65 years old, which is considered the normal retirement age. Some poor adults do not look for jobs for a variety of _ (5) reasons.Review question 4:Instructions: Listen to a passage, and then complete each of the following statements by choosing the best answer from A, B, C and D. 1. According to the speaker, if a person hasnt received high school education, he will _.A. be dead. B. become such people as George Bernard Shaw or Thomas Alva Edison. C. become very successful D. find it extremely difficult to get a job.2. According to the author, which of the following statements is NOT correct? _ A. With the help of a college diploma, one is easier to have a successful career. B. After college education, one shouldnt pursue further education. C. After college education, one must have an MB A. from a first-rate university. D. After college education, the more one gets education, the less he will earn after graduation. 3. According to the speaker, if you want to start a Ph.D, youd better do that in _. A. physics or chemistry, B. English or history C. anthropology or political science D. language or philosophy 4. Which of the following is not mentioned as the job that thousands of Ph.D.s are now doing?A. high school teachers B. taxi driversC. waitersD. fruit sellers5. The tone of the speaker is _. A. aggressiveB. contemptuousC. patronizingD. sarcasticTip: 在做听力题目时，需要在答题前仔细审题，把每个选项中的核心词划下来，以便在听的时候有强烈的目的性。这里复习几个单词，需要同学们在考前烂熟于心，从而扫清词汇对于听力理解的障碍：catering to, entrepreneur, for-profit, schooler, go off to, basement, doubtful about, concern, critic, the gold rush, downside, diploma, chatroom, virtual, interaction capability, back and forth, Socratic method, marvellous, catch on, shut-down response, engaged response, caring, fear, self-indulgent, despite, prospect听力部分考生常犯的错误：1） 不会正确拼写单词：虽然也能根据读音去想拼写，但总不能做到精确；2） 语法不过关，遗漏关键词缀：举个例子，听到licensing，但写成license，ing没写，过去式后该有-ed的漏掉了(如 absorbed 写成了 absorb)。Goose复数的不规则变形 geese等。3） 听力欠准确：辅音听错，比如depressed听成impressed；明明是短语，但没有写相应的介词或副词，如taken up写成taken等。4） 有些错误表明学生没听懂/理解上下文的意思，如：worn写成warm, unpleasant pleasant; deal meal; positive negative; sold - told 等5）信息搞混淆：比如attended a meeting with the Marketing Department. 对话中也提及了services department, 有的同学就写services；这种令人遗憾的错误表明这些同学没有顾及句子的语法结构。所以，在需要填写单词的试题部分建议大家不仅要将注意力放在所填的单词上，还有考虑整个句子的语法结构或上下文，这样不仅可以排除干扰项，避免语法错误，有时还能从上下文中得到线索，对答案进行合理的猜测。6) 填答案时填错行：比如不会做第五题，却把第六题的答案写上去，造成后面的答案跟着错。This is the end of the Listening Test.Section IIReading Test 50 pointsReview passage 1Beluga Caviar May Become MemoryYou see scenes of the wealthy at Western dinner parties and exclusive gatherings, eating the black, salty fish eggs that have a more glamorous namecaviar. Its because of the difficulty in obtaining this supply of sturgeon (鲟) roe (鱼卵) that the delicacy has become a symbol of those who are able to afford the expensive hors doeuvre (开胃菜).But now beluga caviar, which costs about $5,500 (RMB 45,000) a kilogram, could literally become pricelessbecause scientists think overfishing will make beluga sturgeon extinct.Russia, Iran and other states around the Caspian Sea, the belugas stronghold (大本营), were given permission in October 2003 to harvest up to 155 tons of the fish a year. The decision, by Cites, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, was based on sturgeon numbers growing from 7.6 million in 1998 up to 11.6 million in 2002.But New Scientist magazine says critics of the decision think there could be fewer than half a million fishand Cites own raw data hints stocks fell 40 per cent last year.“Cites is using unreliable data without any review,” said Vadim Birstein, a Russian sturgeon geneticist, “and expects us to believe (the fish) have performed a miracle.”Scientists think sturgeon stocks have fallen about 90 percent since the 1970s, mainly due to overfishing and an illegal trade by Russian mafia (秘密犯罪组织), worth about $1.375 billion (more than RMB 11 billion), that threatens the fishs survivaland with it the supply of tiny eggs which make up the expensive delicacy.The decline in the numbers of sturgeon, an ancient species predating (早于) the dinosaurs (恐龙), has prompted US conservation groups to call for a global ban on trade in beluga in favour of farmed caviar. Though still in its infancy, sturgeon farming may offer some hope for the threatened fish.Bulgarias caviar baron (巨商), Atanas Chobanov, who last year exported half the 1,720 kg of caviar sold abroad, has an 800sqm sturgeon-breeding farm. Even then security is tight, its eight fish pools and buildings are surrounded by concrete walls and guarded by dogs.Cites estimate of sturgeon numbers is made by scientists in Astrakhan, based on a trawl (托网) of the Caspian and assuming that 10 to 24 fish escape for every one caught, and multiplying that by the volume trawled.But Ellen Pikitch of the Wildlife Conservation Society in Washington DC, said UN and US fisheries researchers assume at most one fish escapes for each caughthence a far smaller estimate of 500,000. Cites said its model was justified by previous research, but agreed the data was “contradictory” and that scientists did not agree on its interpretation. Questions 26-35: Decide whether the following statements are true, false or not mentioned. Write T for “true”, F for “false” and NM for “not mentioned” on the Answer Sheet._26. Caviar has become a symbol of luxurious lifestyle._27. The difficulty of sturgeon farming makes caviar even more precious._28. Overfishing has eventually resulted in the extinction of beluga sturgeon._1. Countries around Caspian Sea are permitted to harvest 155 tons of the beluga sturgeon every year by Cites._2. Cites own raw data suggests that sturgeon numbers fell rather than grew. _3. Many conservation groups have taken measures to stop Russian businessmans illegal trade in beluga._4. Sturgeon farming has become a booming industry, which may offer hope for the threatened fish._5. Atanas Chobanov is an exporter who deals in trade of sturgeon business. _6. Cites estimate of sturgeon numbers is questioned by many researchers._7. This passage is most probably written as a leaflet to prevent illegal trade in beluga sturgeon.Review passage 2A Most Unusual SchoolWith only one or two exceptions, Summerhill is quite unlike any other school in England. Being a small private boarding school founded over seventy years ago by A.S. Neill, it continues to this day to follow his belief that children should be given as much freedom as possible. This means, for one thing, that lessons are optional. Children can choose which subjects they go to or can decide to stay away from lessons altogether if they wish. Many children who transfer to Summerhill from more conventional schools where lessons are compulsory can often hardly believe their luck and stay away from lessons for many weeks after their arrival. But eventually they settle in and start attending classes quite voluntarily. The school can take this casual approach to children missing lessons partly because of its belief that much of the work done by pupils in ordinary schools is simply a waste of time and partly because willing pupils learn much more quickly. Good digestion waits on appetite.Summerhill is remarkable in other ways too. There is a weekly meeting of all the pupils and staff which makes school rules and policy. Everyone has the same rights and teachers can be outvoted by pupils. The meeting appoints a tribunal which deals with those caught stealing or breaking school rules. Neill himself had his own novel ways of dealing with theft. On one occasion one of his pupils sent Neill a message which pretended to come from his parents telling Neill to give the boy some money. This was not unusual as parents would occasionally contact Neill and ask him to give their children some extra spending money, money which the parents would pay back by having it added to the school fees. So Neill was quite unsuspecting and gave the money to the boy. Later, however, he found out that he had been tricked. Instead of punishing the boy or demanding the money back Neill took another approach. Dipping into his own pocket, Neill went back to the boy and gave him some more money, telling him that his parents had sent a second message regretting that they had not been generous enough in their first.Questions 1-2: Choose the best answer from A, B, C or D.1. Summerhill School adopts quite unusual methods to deal with children missing lessons because it believes that _. a. in ordinary schools students are simply forced to do useless things b. it will be much quicker for students to grasp the things they want to know c. this could give them a good appetite d. this is good for their digestion2. After Neill found out that he had been tricked, he _. A. a and bB. c and dC. b and cD. all of the four choicesQuestions 3-5: Decide whether the following statements are true, false or not mentioned. 3. Summerhill School is totally different from the other schools in England.4. Summerhill School believes that children should be given as much freedom as possible, so students there could do whatever they want to do. 5. In the meetings held every week, students assist staff to make school rules and policy. Review passage 3Western attitudes towards the societies of East Asia are a sad reflection of an inability to appreciate the economic achievements of Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and, more recently, parts of mainland China. No impartial observer can deny that Asian models of economic and political development are proving successful. Impressive rates of economic growth have been achieved in at least some East Asian societies, such as Japan and Singapore. The resulting standard of healthcare and education which are offered to the citizens of these countries is superior to that of many Western countries. In addition, communal harmony and social stability are frequently combined with these East Asian economic success stories. It is not uncommon for East Asian societies to enjoy enviably high levels of employment and low rates of crime. The East Asian picture is impressive and totally justifies the invocation - in Singapore, and Malaysia and, increasingly in China and Japan - of an Asian model of economic and political development. The potent combination of dynamic market institutions and the benefits of flourishing communities, which has already become a reality in parts of East Asia, is one which has eluded Western societies.Asian models of political and economic development draw on indigenous cultural traditions such as Confucianism. They candidly repudiate Western ideals of individualism, human rights and democracy. Adherence to such models is already delivering prosperity and social stability to the peoples of East Asia so it would seem logical for the West to demonstrate a sympathetic interest.No such interest is apparent. It remains generally true that Western opinion and policy are based on the premise that Western ideals and practices have universal authority. In other words, there is a widespread belief that success for Asian societies is dependent on their adoption of Western values and institutions.For many people in the West, modernization implies westernization. They would appear to overlook the fact that their own societies frequently demonstrate features which are far from desirable. Crimes against property in Britain are astonishingly common - with a worse record than even the United States. The foregrounding of human rights in the United States does not alter the disturbing fact that Americas violent crime and homicide record is higher than in all other Western societies. The murder rate in Moscow, in 1993 was only one third of that in New York.The US government has experimented with incarceration on a scale which exceeds that of any other democratic country but it remains unable to protect the ordinary liberty of its citizens. Over one and a quarter million US citizens are currently experiencing some form of imprisonment but the threat of this type of punishment is clearly no real deterrent to crime. American criticism of human rights infringements in Japan and Singapore would seem unjustified when measured against how successful these countries are in protecting ordinary people from crime.Evidence that Western models are not entirely satisf