2013年英语专业八级考试真题附参考答案

1、Test For English Majors (2013)Grade Eight Time Limit: 195 MinPART I LISTENING COMPREHENSION (35 MIN)Section A Mini-lectureIn this section you will hear a mini-lecture. You will hear the lecture ONCE ONLY. While listening, take notes on the important points. Your notes will not be marked, but you wil

2、l need them to complete a gap-filling task after the mini-lecture. When the lecture is over, you will be given two minutes to check your notes, and another ten minutes to complete the gap-filling task on ANSWER SHEET ONE, using no more than three words in each gap. Make sure the word(s) you fill in

3、is (are) both grammatically and semantically acceptable. You may refer to your notes while completing the task. Use the blank sheet for note-taking.Now, listen to the mini-lecture.Section B InterviewIn this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions th

4、at follow. Make the best answer to each question on ANSWER SHEET TWO.Now listen to the interview.According to the interviewer, which of the following best indicates the relationship between choice and mobility?Better education more choices greater mobility. Better education greater mobility more cho

5、ices. Greater mobility better education more choices. Greater mobility more choices better education. According to the interview, which of the following details about the first poll is INCORRECT?Job security came second according to the poll results. Chances for advancement might have been favored b

6、y young people. High income failed to come on top for being most important. Shorter work hours was least chosen for being most important. According to the interviewee, which is the main difference between the first and the second poll?The type of respondents who were invited. The way in which the qu

7、estions were designed. The content area of the questions. The number of poll questions. What can we learn from the respondents answers to items 2, 4 and 7 in the second poll?Recognition from colleagues should be given less importance. Workers are always willing and ready to learn more new skills. Wo

8、rk will have to be made interesting to raise efficiency. Psychological reward is more important than material one. According to the interviewee, which of the following can offer both psychological and monetary benefitsContact with many people. Appreciation from coworkers. Chances for advancement. Ch

9、ances to learn new skills. Section C News BroadcastIn this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Mark the best answer to each question on ANSWER SHEET TWO.Questions 6 and 7 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item,

10、 you will be given 20 seconds to answer the questions.Now listen to the news.According to the news item, “sleepboxes” are designed to solve the problems ofairports. passengers. architects. companies. Which of the following is NOT true with reference to the news?Renters can take a shower inside the b

11、ox. Renters of normal height can stand up inside. Bedding can be automatically changed. Sleepboxes can be rented for different lengths of time. Question 8 is based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the question.Now listen to the news. What is

12、the news item mainly about?Londons preparations for the Notting Hill Carnival. Main features of the Notting Hill Carnival. Polices preventive measures for the carnival. Police participation in the carnival. Questions 9 and 10 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be

13、given 20 seconds to answer the questions.Now listen to the news.The news item reports on a research finding aboutearly malnutrition and heart health. the Dutch famine and the Dutch women. the causes of death during the famine. nutrition in childhood and adolescence.When did the research team carry o

14、ut the study?At the end of World War II. Between 1944 and 1945. In the 1950s. In 2007. PART II READING COMPREHENSION (30 MIN)In this section there are four reading passages followed by a total of 20 multiple-choice questions. Read the passages and then mark the best answer to each question on ANSWER

15、 SHEET TWO.TEXT AThree hundred years ago news travelled by word of mouth or letter, and circulated in taverns and coffee houses in the form of pamphlets and newsletters. “The coffee houses particularly are very roomy for a free conversation, and for reading at an easier rate all manner of printed ne

16、ws,” noted one observer. Everything changed in 1833 when the first mass-audience newspaper, the New York Sun, pioneered the use of advertising to reduce the cost of news, thus giving advertisers access to a wider audience. The penny press, followed by radio and television, turned news from a two-way

17、 conversation into a one-way broadcast, with a relatively small number of firms controlling the media.Now, the news industry is returning to something closer to the coffee house. The internet is making news more participatory, social and diverse, reviving the discursive characteristics of the era be

18、fore the mass media. That will have profound effects on society and politics. In much of the world, the mass media are flourishing. Newspaper circulation rose globally by 6% between 2005 and 2009. But those global figures mask a sharp decline in readership in rich countries.Over the past decade, thr

19、oughout the Western world, people have been giving up newspapers and TV news and keeping up with events in profoundly different ways. Most strikingly, ordinary people are increasingly involved in compiling, sharing, filtering, discussing and distributing news. Twitter lets people anywhere report wha

20、t they are seeing. Classified documents are published in their thousands online. Mobile-phone footage of Arab uprisings and American tornadoes is posted on social-networking sites and shown on television newscasts. Social-networking sites help people find, discuss and share news with their friends.A

21、nd it is not just readers who are challenging the media elite. Technology firms including Google, Facebook and Twitter have become important conduits of news. Celebrities and world leaders publish updates directly via social networks; many countries now make raw data available through “open governme

22、nt” initiatives. The internet lets people read newspapers or watch television channels from around the world. The web has allowed new providers of news, from individual bloggers to sites, to rise to prominence in a very short space of time. And it has made possible entirely new approaches to journal

23、ism, such as that practiced by WikiLeaks, which provides an anonymous way for whistleblowers to publish documents. The news agenda is no longer controlled by a few press barons and state outlets.In principle, every liberal should celebrate this. A more participatory and social news environment, with

24、 a remarkable diversity and range of news sources, is a good thing. The transformation of the news business is unstoppable, and attempts to reverse it are doomed to failure. As producers of new journalism, individuals can be scrupulous with facts and transparent with their sources. As consumers, the

25、y can be general in their tastes and demanding in their standards. And although this transformation does raise concerns, there is much to celebrate in the noisy, diverse, vociferous, argumentative and stridently alive environment of the news business in the ages of the internet. The coffee house is

26、back. Enjoy it.11. According to the passage, what initiated the transformation of coffee-house news to mass-media news?A. The emergence of big mass media firms.B. The popularity of radio and television.C. The increasing number of newspaper readers.D. The appearance of advertising in newspapers.12. W

27、hich of the following statements best supports “New, the news industry is returning to something closer to the coffee house”?A. Newspaper circulation rose globally by 6% between 2005 and 2009.B. People in the Western world are giving up newspapers and TV news.C. More people are involved in finding,

28、discussing and distributing news.D. Classified documents are published in their thousands online.13. According to the passage, which is NOT a role played by information technology?A. Challenging the traditional media.B. Planning the return to coffee-house news.C. Providing people with access to clas

29、sified files.D. Giving ordinary people the chance to provide news.14. The authors tone in the last paragraph towards new journalism isA. doubtful and reserved.B. supportive and skeptical.C. optimistic and cautious.D. ambiguous and cautious.15. In “The coffee house is back”, coffee house best symboli

30、zesA. the participatory nature of news.B. the more varied sources of news.C. the changing characteristics of news audience.D. the more diversified means of news distribution.TEXT BParis is like pornography. You respond even if you dont want to. You turn a corner and see a vista, and your imagination

31、 bolts away. Suddenly you are thinking about what it would be like to live in Pairs, and then you think about all the lives you have not lived. Sometimes, though, when you are lucky, you only think about how many pleasures the day ahead holds. Then, you feel privileged.The lobby of the hotel is deco

32、rated in red and gold. It gives off a whiff of 19th century decadence. Probably as much as any hotel in pairs, this hotel is sexy. I was standing facing the revolving doors and the driveway beyond. A car with a woman in the back seat a woman in a short skirt and black-leather jacket pulled up before

33、 the hotel door. She swung off and she was wearing high heels. Normally, my mind would have leaped and imagined a story for this woman. Now it didnt. I stood there and told myself. Cheer up. Youre in Pairs.In many ways, Paris is best visited in winter. The tourist crowds are at a minimum, and one is

34、 not being jammed off the narrow sidewalks along the Rue Dauphine. More than this, Pairs is like many other European cities in that the season of blockbuster cultural events tends to begin in mid- to late fall and so, by the time of winter, most of the cultural treasures of the city are laid out to

35、be admired.The other great reason why Pairs in winter is so much better than Pairs in spring and fall is that after the end of the August holidays and the return of chic Parisian women to their city, the restaurant-opening season truly begins hopping. By winter, many of the new restaurants have work

36、ed out their kinks (不足；困难) and, once the hype has died down, it is possible to see which restaurants are actually good and which are merely noisy and crowded.Most people are about as happy as they set their mind to being, Lincoln said. In Pairs it doesnt take much to be happy. Outside the sky was pa

37、le and felt very high up. I walked the few blocks to the seine and began running along the blue-green river toward the Eiffel Tower. The tower in the distance was black, and felt strange and beautiful the way that many things built for the joy of building do. As I ran toward it, because of its latti

38、ce structure, the tower seemed obviously delicate. Seeing it, I felt s sense of protectiveness.I think it was this moment of protectiveness that marked the change in my mood and my slowly becoming thrilled with being in Paris.During winter evening, Pariss streetlamps have a halo sand resemble dandel

39、ions. In winter, when one leaves the Paris street and enters a caf or restaurant, the light and temperature change suddenly and dramatically, there is the sense of having discovered something secret. In winter, because the days are short, there is an urgency to the choices one makes. There is the se

40、nse that life is short and so let us decide on what matters.16. According to the passage, once in Paris one might experience all the following feeling EXCEPTA. regret.B. condescension.C. expectation.D. impulse.17. Winter is the best season to visit Paris. Which of the following does NOT support this

41、 statement?A. Fashionable Parisian women return to Paris.B. There are more good restaurants to choose from.C. More entertainment activities are staged.D. There are fewer tourists in Paris.18. “Most people are about as happy as they set their mind to being.” This statement menas that most peopleA. ex

42、pect to be happy.B. hope to be as happy as others.C. would be happier if they wanted.D. can be happy if they want.19. In the eyes of the author, winter in Paris is significant because ofA. its implications for life.B. the atmosphere of its evenings.C. the contrast it brings.D. the discovery one make

43、s.20. At the end of the passage, the author found himself in a mood ofA. joyfulness.B. thoughtfulness.C. loneliness.D. excitement.TEXT CIf you want to know why Denmark is the worlds leader in wind power, start with a three-hour car trip from the capital Copenhagen mind the bicyclists to the small to

44、wn of Lem on the far west coast of Jutland. Youll fell it as you cross the 6.8 km-long Great Belt Bridge: Denmarks bountiful wind, so fierce even on a calm summers day that it threatens to shove your car into the waves below. But wind itself is only part of the reason. In Lem, workers in factories t

45、he size of aircraft hangers build the wind turbines sold by Vestas, the Danish company that has emerged as the industrys top manufacturer around the globe. The work is both gross and fine; employees weld together massive curved sheets of steel to make central shafts as tall as a 14-story building, a

46、nd assemble engine housings that hold some 18,000 separate parts. Most impressive are the turbines blades, which scoop the wind with each sweeping revolution. As smooth as an Olympic swimsuit and honed to aerodynamic perfection, each blade weighs in at 7,000 kg, and theyre what help make vestas turb

47、ines the best in the world. “The blade is where the secret is,” says Erik Therkelsen, a vestas executive. “If we can make a turbine, its sold.”But technology, like the wind itself, is just one more part of the reason for Denmarksdominance. In the end, it happened because Denmark had the political an

48、d public will to decide that it wanted to be a leader and to follow through. Beginning in 1979, the government began a determined programme of subsidies and loan guarantees to build up its wind industry. Copenhagen covered 30% of investment costs, and guarantees loans for large turbine exporters suc

49、h as Vestas. It also mandated that utilities purchase wind energy at a preferential price thus guaranteeing investors a customer base. Energy taxes were channeled into research centers, where engineers crafted designs that would eventually produce cutting-edge giants like Vestas 3-magawatt (MW) V90

50、turbine.As a result, wind turbines now dot Denmark. The country gets more than 19% of its electricity from the breeze (Spain and Portugal, the next highest countries, get about 10%) and Danish companies control one-third of the global wind market, earning billions in exports and creating a national

51、champion from scratch. “They were out early in driving renewables, and that gave them the chance to be a technology leader and a job-creation leader,” says Jake Schmidt, international climate policy director for the New York City-based Natural Resources Defense Council. “They have always been one or

52、 two steps ahead of others.”The challenge now for Denmark is to help the rest of the world catch up. Beyond wind, the country (pop. 5.5 million) is a world leader in energy efficiency, getting more GDP per watt than any other member of the E.U. Carbon emissions are down 13.3% from 1990 levels and to

53、tal energy consumption has barely moved, even as Denmarks economy continued to grow at a healthy clip. With Copenhagen set to host all-important U.N. climate change talks in December where the world hopes for a successor to the expiring Kyoto Protocol and the global recession beginning to hit enviro

54、nmental plans in capitals everywhere, Denmarks example couldnt be more timely. “Well try to make Denmark a showroom,” says Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. “You can reduce energy use and carbon emission, and achieve economic growth.”Its tempting to assume that Denmark is innately green, with th

55、e kind of Scandinavian good conscience that has made it such a pleasant global citizen since, oh, the whole Viking thing. But the countrys policies were actually born from a different emotion, one now in common currency: fear. When the 1973 oil crisis hit, 90% of Denmarks energy came from petroleum,

56、 almost all of it imported. Buffeted by the same supply shocks that hit the rest of the developed world, Denmark launched a rapid drive for energy conservation, to the point of introducing car-free Sundays and asking business to switch off lights during closing hours. Eventually the Mideast oil star

57、ted flowing again, and the Danes themselves began enjoying the benefits of the petroleum and natural gas in their slice of the North Sea. It was enough to make them more than self-sufficient. But unlike most other countries, Denmark never forgot the lessons of 1973, and kept driving for greater ener

58、gy efficiency and a more diversified energy supply. The Danish parliament raised taxes on energy to encourage conservation and established subsidies and standard to support more efficient buildings. “It all started out without any regard for the climate or the environment,” says Svend Auken, the for

59、mer head of Denmarks opposition Social Democrat Party and the architect of the countrys environmental policies in the 1990s. “But today theres a consensus that we need to build renewable power.”To the rest of the world, Denmark has the power of its example, showing that you can stay rich and grow gr

60、een at the same time. “Denmark has proven that acting on climate can be a positive experience, not just painful,” says NRDCs Schmidt. The real pain could come from failing to follow in their footsteps.21. Which of the following is NOT cited as a main reason for Denmarks world leadership in wind powe