TEST FOR ENGLISH MAJORS (1999)
—GRADE EIGHT
PAPER ONE
PART ⅠLISTENING COMPREHENSION (40 MIN. )
In Sections A, B and C you will hear everything once only. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow.
SECTION A TALK
Questions 1 to 5 refer to the talk in this section. At the end of the talk you will be given 15 seconds to answer each of the following five questions. Now listen to the talk.
1. The technology to make machines quieter
A. has been in use since the 1930's.
B. has accelerated industrial production.
C. has just been in commercial use.
D. has been invented to remove all noises.
2. The modern electronic anti-noise devices
A. are an update version of the traditional methods.
B. share similarities with the traditional methods.
C. are as inefficient as the traditional methods.
D. are based on an entirely new working principle.
3. The French company is working on anti-noise techniques to be used in all EXCEPT
A. streets.
B. factories.
C. aircraft.
D. cars.
4. According to the talk, workers in "zones of quiet" can
A. be more affected by noise.
B. hear talk from outside the zone.
C. work more efficiently.
D. be heard outside the zone.
5. The main theme of the talk is about
A. noise-control technology.
B. noise in factories.
C. noise-control regulations.
D. noise-related effects.
SECTION B INTERVIEW
Questions 6 to 10 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will be given 15 seconds to answer each of the following five questions. Now listen to the interview.
6. Employees in the US are paid for their time. This means that they are supposed to
A. work hard while their boss is around.
B. come to work when there is work to be done.
C. work with initiative and willingness.
D. work through their lunch break.
7. One of the advantages of flexible working hours is that
A. pressure from work can be reduced.
B. working women can have more time at home.
C. traffic and commuting problems can be solved.
D. personal relationships in offices can be improved.
8. On the issue of working contracts in the US, which statement is NOT correct?
A. Performance at work matters more than anything else.
B. There are laws protecting employees' working rights.
C. Good reasons must be provided in order to fire workers.
D. Working contracts in the US are mostly short-term ones.
9. It can be assumed from the interview that an informal atmosphere might be found in
A. small firms.
B. major banks.
C. big corporations.
D. law offices.
10. The interview is mainly about __________ in the USA.
A. office hierarchies
B. office conditions
C. office rules.
D. office life.
SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST
Question 11 is based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given
15 seconds to answer the question. Now listen to the news.
11. Senator Bob Dole's attitude towards Clinton's anti-crime policy is that of
A. opposition.
B. support.
C. ambiguity.
D. indifference.
Questions 12 and 13 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 30 seconds to answer the questions. Now listen to the news.
12. Japan and the United States are now
A. negotiating about photographic material.
B. negotiating an automobile agreement.
C. facing serious problems in trade.
D. on the verge of a large-scale trade war.
13. The news item seems to indicate that the agreement
A. will end all other related trade conflicts.
B. is unlikely to solve the dispute once and for all.
C. is linked to other trade agreements.
D. is the last of its kind to be reached.
Question 14 and 15 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 30 seconds to answer the questions. Now listen to the news.
14. According to the news, the ice from Greenland provides information about
A. oxygen.
B. ancient weather.
C. carbon dioxide.
D. temperature.
15. Which of the following statement is CORRECT?
A. Drastic changes in the weather have been common since ancient times.
B. The change in weather from very cold to very hot lasted over a century.
C. The scientists have been studying ice to forecast weather in the future.
D. The past 10,000 years have seen minor changes in the weather.
SECTION D NOTE-TAKING AND GAP-FILLING
In this section you will hear a mini-lecture. You will hear the lecture once only. While listening to the lecture, take notes on the important points. Y our notes will not be marked, but you will need them to complete a 15-minute gap-filling task on ANSWER SHEET after the mini-lecture. Use the blank sheet for note-taking
ANSWER SHEET
At present companies and industries like to sponsor sports events. Two reasons are put forward to explain this phenomenon. The first reason is that they get (1) throughout the world.
The second reason is that companies and industries (2) money as they get reductions in the tax they owe if they sponsor sports or arts activities.
As sponsorship is (3) careful thinking is required in deciding which events to sponsor.
It is important that the event to be sponsored (4) the product(s) to be promoted. That is, the right (5) and maximum product coverage must be guaranteed in the event.
Points to be considered in sports sponsorship.
Popularity of the event
International sports events are big (6) events, which get extensive coverage on TV and in press.
Smaller events attract fewer people.
Identification of the potential audience
Aiming at the right audience is most important for smaller events.
The right audience would attract manufacturers of related products like (7) , etc.
Advantages of sponsorship
Advantages are longer-term.
People are expected to respond 8 to the products promoted and be more likely to buy them.
Advertising is 9 the mind.
Sponsorship is better than straight advertising:
a) less 10
b) tax-free
PART ⅡPROOFREADING AND ERROR CORRECTION (15 MIN. )
Proofread the given passage on ANSWER SHEET as instructed.
The hunter-gatherer tribes that today live as our prehistoric (1) __________
human ancestors consume primarily a vegetable diet supplementing (2) __________
with animal foods. An analysis of 58 societies of modern hunter-
gatherers, including the Kung of southern Africa, revealed that
one-half emphasize gathering plant foods, one-third concentrate on
fishing, and only one-sixth are primarily hunters. Overall, two-thirds and (3) __________
more of the hunter-gatherer's calories come from plants. Detailed studies
of the Kung by the food scientists at the University of London, showed
that gathering is a more productive source of food than is hunting. An
hour of hunting yields in average about 100 edible calories, (4) __________
as an hour of gathering produces 240. (5) __________ Plant foods provide for 60 percent to 80 percent of the Kung diet, (6) __________
and no one goes hungry when the hunt fails, interestingly, if they escape
fatal infections or accidents, these contemporary aborigines live to old
ages despite of the absence of medical care. They experience no obesity, (7) __________
and no middle-aged spread, little dental decay, no high blood pressure, no
heart disease, and their blood cholesterol level are very low (about half of (8) __________
the average American adult. ) If no one is suggesting that we return to (9) __________
an aboriginal life, we certainly could use their eating habits
as a model for healthier diet. (10) __________ PART ⅢREADING COMPREHENSION (40 MIN. )
SECTION A READING COMPREHENSION (30 MIN. )
In this section there are four reading passages followed by a total of fifteen multiple- choice questions. Read the passages carefully and then answer the questions.
TEXT A
Ricci's "Operation Columbus"
1 Ricci, 45, is now striking out on perhaps his boldest venture yet. He plans to market an English-language edition of his elegant monthly art magazine, FMR, in the United States. Once again the skeptics are murmuring that the successful Ricci has headed for a big fall. And once again Ricci intends to prove them wrong.
2 Ricci is so confident that he has christen quest "Operation Columbus" and has set his sights on discovering an American readership of 300,000. That goal may not be too far- fetched. The Italian edition of FMR —the initials, of course, stand for Franco Maria Ricci— is only 18 months old. But it is already the second largest art
magazine in the world, with a circulation of 65,000 and a profit margin of US $ 500,000. The American edition will be patterned after the Italian version, with each 160-page issue carrying only 40 pages of ads and no more than five articles. But the contents will often differ. The English-language edition will include more American works, Ricci says, to help Americans get over "an inferiority complex about their art". He also hopes that the magazine will become a vehicle for a two-way cultural exchange — what he likes to think of as a marriage of brains, culture and taste from both sides of the Atlantic.
3 To realize this version, Ricci is mounting one of the most lavish, enterprising — and expensive promotional campaigns in magazine-publishing history. Between November and January, eight jumbo jets will fly 8 million copies of a sample 16-page edition of FMR across the Atlantic. From a warehouse in Michigan, 6.5 million copies will be mailed to American subscribers of various cultural, art and business magazines. Some of the remaining copies will circulate as a special Sunday supplement in the New York Times. The cost of launching Operation Columbus is a staggering US $ 5 million, but Ricci is hoping that 600% of the price tag will be financed by Italian corporations. "To land in America Columbus had to use Spanish sponsors," reads one sentence in his promotional pamphlet. "We would like Italians."
4 Like Columbus, Ricci cannot know what his reception, will be on foreign shores. In Italy he gambled —and won — on a simple concept: it is more important to show art than to write about it. Hence, one issue of FMR might feature 32 full-colour pages of 17th-century tapestries, followed by 14 pages of outrageous eyeglasses. He is gambling that the concept is exportable. "I don't expect that more than 30% of my readers.., will actually read FMR," he says. "The magazine is such a visual delight that they don't have to. "Still, he is lining up an impressive stable of writers and professors for the American edition, including Noam Chomsky, Anthony Burgess, Eric Jong and Norman Mailer. In addition, he seems to be pursuing his own eclectic vision without giving a moment's thought to such established competitors as Connosisseur and Horizon. "The Americans can do almost everything better than we can, "says Ricci," But we (the Italians) have a 2,000 year edge on them in art."
16. Ricci intends his American edition of FMR to carry more American art works in order to
A. boost Americans' confidence in their art.
B. follow the pattern set by his Italian edition.
C. help Italians understand American art better.
D. expand the readership of his magazine.
17. Ricci is compared to Columbus in the passage mainly because
A. they both benefited from Italian sponsors.
B. they were explorers in their own ways.
C. they obtained overseas sponsorship.
D. they got a warm reception in America.
18. We get the impression that the American edition of FMR will probably
A. carry many academic articles of high standard.
B. follow the style of some famous existing magazines.
C. be read by one third of American magazine readers.
D. pursue a distinctive editorial style of its own.
TEXT B
Uncle Geoff
1 My mother's relations were very different form the Mitfords. Her brother, Uncle Geoff, who often came to stay at Swinbrook, was a small, spare man with thoughtful blue eyes and a rather silent manner. Compared to Uncle Tommy, he was an intellectual of the highest order, and indeed his satirical pen belied his mild demeanor. He spent most of his waking hours composing letters to The Times and other publications in which he outlined his own particular theory of the development of English history. In Uncle Geoff's view, the greatness of England had risen and waned over the centuries in direct proportion to the use of natural manure in fertilizing the soil. The
Black Death of 1348 was caused by gradual loss of the humus fertility found under forest trees. The rise of the Elizabethans two centuries later was attributable to the widespread use of sheep manure.
2 Many of Uncle Geoff's letters-to-the-editor have fortunately been preserved in a privately printed volume called Writings of A Rebel. Of the collection, one letter best sums up his views on the relationship between manure and freedom. He wrote:
3 Collating old records shows that our greatness rises and falls with the living fertility of our soil. And now, many years of exhausted and chemically murdered soil, and of devitalized food from it, has softened our bodies and still worse, softened our national character. It is an actual fact that character is largely a product of the soil. Many years of murdered food from deadened soil has made us too tame. Chemicals have had their poisonous day. It is now the worm's turn to reform the manhood of England. The only way to regain our punch, our character, our lost virtues, and with them the freedom natural to islanders, is to compost our land so as to allow moulds, bacteria and earthworms to remake living soil to nourish Englishmen's bodies and spirits.
4 The law requiring pasteurization of milk in England was a particular target of Uncle Geoff's. Fond of alliteration, he dubbed it "Murdered Milk Measure," and established the Liberty Restoration League, with headquarters at his house in London, for the specific purpose of organizing a counteroffensive. "Freedom not Doctordom" was the League's proud slogan. A subsidiary, but nevertheless important, activity of the League was advocacy of a return to the " unsplit, slowly smoked fish" and bread made with "English stone-ground flour, yeast, milk, sea salt and raw cane-sugar."
19. According to Uncle Geoff, national strength could only be regained by
A. reforming the manhood of England.
B. using natural manure as fertilizer.
C. eating more bacteria-free food.
D. granting more freedom to Englishmen.
20. The tone of the passage can most probably be described as
A. facetious.
B. serious.
C. nostalgic.
D. factual.
TEXT C
Interview
1 So what have they taught you at college about interviews? Some courses go to town on it, others do very little. You may get conflicting advice. Only one thing is certain: the key to success is preparation.
2 There follow some useful suggestions from a teacher training course co-ordinator, a head of department and
a headteacher. As they appear to be in complete harmony with one another despite never having met, we may take their advice seriously.
3 Oxford Brookes University's approach to the business of application and interview focuses on research and rehearsal. Training course co-ordinator Brenda Stevens speaks of the value of getting students "to deconstruct the advertisement, see what they can offer to that school, and that situation, and then write the letter, do their CVs and criticize each other's ". Finally, they role play interviewer and interviewee.
4 This is sterling stuff, and Brookes students spend a couple of weeks on it. "The better prepared students won't be thrown by nerves on the day," says Ms. Stevens. "They'll have their strategies and questions worked out. "She also says, a trifle disconcertingly, "the better the student, the worse the interviewee. ' She believes the most capable students are less able to put themselves forward. Even if this were true, says Ms. Stevens, you must still make your own case.
5 "Beware of informality," she advises. One aspirant teacher, now a head of department at a smart secondary school, failed his first job interview because he took his jacket off while waiting for his appointment. It was hot and everyone in the staffroom was in shirtsleeves but at the end of the day they criticized his casual attitude, which they had deduced from the fact that he took his jacket off in the staffroom, even though he put it back on for the interview.
6 Incidentally, men really do have to wear a suit to the interview and women really cannot wear jeans, even if men never wear the suit again and women teach most days in jeans. Panels respond instantly to these indicators. But beware: it will not please them any better if you are too smart.
7 Find out about the peope who will talk to you. In the early meetings they are likely to be heads of departments or heads of year. Often they may be concerned with pastoral matters. It makes sense to know their priorities and let them hear the things about you that they want to hear.
8 During preliminary meetings you may be seen in groups with two or three other applicants and you must demonstrate that you know your stuff without putting your companions down. The interviewers will be watching how you work with a team.
9 But remember the warning about informality: however friendly and co-operative the other participants are, do not give way to the idea that you are there just to be friends.
10 Routine questions can be rehearsed, but "don't go on too long", advises the department head. They may well ask: "what have been your worst/best moments when teaching?" , or want you to "talk about some good teaching you have done". The experts agree you should recognize your weaknesses and offer a strategy for overcoming them. "I know I've got to work on classroom management. I would hope for some help," perhaps. No one expects a new teacher to know it all, but they hope for an objective appraisal of capabilities.
11 Be warned against inexpert questioning. You may be asked questions in such a way that it seems impossible to present your best features. Some questions may be plain silly, asked perhaps by people on the panel who are from outside the situation. Do not be thrown, have ways of circumnavigating it, and never, ever let them see that you think they have said something foolish.
12 You will almost certainly be asked how you see the future and it is important to have a good answer prepared. Some people are put off by being asked what they expect to be doing in five or ten year's time. On your preliminary visit, says the department head, be sure to give them a bit of an interview of your own, to see the direction the department is going and what you could contribute to it.
13 The headteacher offers his thoughts in a eight-point plan.
1. Iron the application form! Then it stands out from everyone else's, which have been folded and battered in the post. It gives an initial impression which may get your application to the top of the pile.
2. Ensure that your application is tailored to the particular school. Make the head feel you are writing directly to him or her.
3. Put yourself at ease before you meet the interviewing panel, if you are nervous, you will talk too quickly. Before you enter the room remember that the people are human beings too; take away the mystique of their roles.
4. Listen. There is danger of not hearing accurately what is being said. Make eye contact with the speakers, and with everyone in the room.
5. Allow your warmth and humanity to be seen. A sense of humour is very important.
6. Have a portfolio of your work that can link theory to practice. Many schools want you to show work. For
a primary appointment, give examples from the range of the curriculum, not just art. (For this reason, taking pictures on your teaching practice is important. )
7. Prepare yourself in case you are asked to give a talk. Have prompt cards ready, and don't waffle.
8. Your speech must be clear and articulate, with correct grammar. This is important: they want to hear you and they want to hear how well you can communicate with children. Believe in yourself and have confidence. Some of the people asking the questions don't know much about what you do. Be ready to help them.
14 Thus armed, you should have no difficulty at all. Good luck, and keep your jacket on!
21. Ms Brenda Stevens suggests that before applying job applicants should
A. go through each other's CVs.
B. rehearse their answers to questions.
C. understand thoroughly the situations.
D. go to town to attend training courses.
22. Is it wise to admit some of your weaknesses relating to work?
A. Yes, but you should have ideas for improvement in the future.
B. Yes, because it is natural to be weak in certain aspects.
C. No, admitting weaknesses may put you at a disadvantage.
D. No, it will only prompt the interviewers to reject you.
23. The best way to deal with odd questions from the interviewers is to
A. remain smiling and kindly point out the inaccuracies.
B. keep calm and try to be tactful in your answers.
C. say frankly what you think about the issues raised.
D. suggest something else to get over your nervousness.
24. The suggestions offered by the head teacher are
A. original.
B. ambiguous.
C. practical.
D. controversial.
TEXT D
Family Matters
1 This month Singapore passed a bill that would give legal teeth to the moral obligation to support one's parents. Called the Maintenance of Parents Bill, it received the backing of the Singapore Government.
2 That does not mean it hasn't generated discussion. Several members of the Parliament opposed the measure as un-Asian. Others who acknowledged the problem of the elderly poor believed it a disproportionate response. Still others believe it will subvert relations within the family: cynics dubbed it the "Sue Your Son" law.
3 Those who say that the bill does not promote filial responsibility, of course, are right. It has nothing to do with filial responsibility. It kicks in where filial responsibility fails. The law cannot legislate filial responsibility any more than it can legislate love. All the law can do is to provide a safety net where this morality provide insufficient. Singapore needs this bill not to replace morality, but to provide incentives to shore it up.
4 Like many other developed nations, Singapore faces the problems of an increasing proportion of people over 60 years of age. Demography is inexorable. In 1980, 7.2% of the population was in this bracket. By the turn of the century, that figure will grow to 11%. By 2030, the proportion is projected to be 260%. The problem is not old age per se. It is that the ratio of economically active people to economically inactive people will decline.
5 But no amount of government exhortation or paternalism will completely eliminate the problem of old people who have insufficient means to make ends meet. Some people will fall through the holes in any safety net.
6 Traditionally, a person's insurance against poverty in his old age was his family. This is not a revolutionary concept. Nor is it uniquely Asian. Care and support for one's parents is a universal value shared by all civilized societies.
7 The problem in Singapore is that the moral obligation to look after one's parents is unenforceable. A father can be compelled by law to maintain his children. A husband can be forced to support his wife. But, until now, a son or daughter had no legal obligation to support his or her parents.
8 In 1989, an Advisory Council was set up to look into the problems of the aged. Its report stated with a tinge of complacency that 95% of those who did not have their own income were receiving cash contributions from relations. But what about the 5% who aren't getting relatives' support? They have several options: (a) get a job and work until they die; (b) apply for public assistance (you have to be destitute to apply); or (c) starve quietly.
None of these options is socially acceptable. And what if this 5% figure grows, as it is likely to do, as society ages?
9 The Maintenance of Parents Bill was put forth to encourage the traditional virtues that have so far kept Asian nations from some of the breakdowns encountered in other affluent societies. This legislation will allow a person to apply to the court for maintenance from any or all of his children. The court would have the discretion to refuse to make an order if it is unjust.
10 Those who deride the proposal for opening up the courts to family lawsuits miss the point. Only in extreme cases would any parent take his child to court. If it does indeed become law, the bill's effect would be far more subtle.
11 First, it will reaffirm the notion that it is each individual's — not society's — responsibility to look after his parents. Singapore is still conservative enough that most people will not object to this idea. It reinforces the traditional values and it doesn't hurt a society now and then to remind itself of its core values.
12 Second, and more important, it will make those who are inclined to shirk their responsibilities think twice. Until now, if a person asked family elders, clergymen or the Ministry of Community Development to help get financial support from his children, the most they could do was to mediate. But mediators have no teeth, and a child could simply ignore their pleas.
13 But to be sued by one's parents would be a massive loss of face. It would be a public disgrace. Few people would be so thick-skinned as to say." Sue and be damned. "The hand of the conciliator would be immeasurably strengthened. It is far more likely that some sort of amicable settlement would be reached if the recalcitrant Son or daughter knows that the alternative is a public trial.
14 It would be nice to think that Singapore doesn't need this kind of law. But that belief ignores the clear demographic trends and the effect of affluence itself on traditional bonds. Those of us who pushed for the bill will consider ourselves most successful if it acts as an incentive not to have it invoked in the first place.
25. The Maintenance of Parents Bill
A. received unanimous support in the Singapore Parliament.
B. was believed to solve all the problems of the elderly poor.
C. was intended to substitute for traditional values in Singapore.
D. was passed to make the young more responsible to the old.
26. By quoting the growing percentage points of the aged in the population, the author seems to imply that
A. the country will face mounting problems of the old in future.
B. the social welfare system would be under great pressure.
C. young people should be given more moral education.
D. the old should be provided with means of livelihood.
27. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?
A. Filial responsibility in Singapore is enforced by law.
B. Fathers have legal obligations to look after their children.
C. It is an acceptable practice for the old to continue working.
D. The Advisory Council was dissatisfied with the problems of the old.
28. The author seems to suggest that traditional values
A. play an insignificant role in solving social problems.
B. are helpful to the elderly when they sue their children.
C. are very important in preserving Asian uniqueness.
D. are significant in helping the Bill get approved.
29. The author thinks that if the Bill becomes law, its effect would be
A. indirect.
B. unnoticed.
C. apparent.
D. straightforward.
30. At the end of the passage, the author seems to imply that success of the Bill depends upon
A. strict enforcement.
B. public support.
C. government assurance.
D. filial awareness.
SECTION B SKIMMING AND SCANNING (10 MIN. )
In this section there are seven passages with ten multiple-choice questions. Skim or scan them as required and then answer the questions.
TEXT E
First read the question.
31. The primary purpose of the letter is to
A. illustrate the World Bank's efforts in poverty-relief programmes.
B. call for further efforts by the nations in sustainable developement.
C. provide evidence for the World Bank's aid to the private sectors.
D. clear up some misunderstanding about the World Bank.
Now go through TEXT E quickly and answer question 31.
August 18th 199_ Dear Sir,
In your July 28th article you noted that the Bank's own internal analysis rated one third of the projects completed in 1991 as unsatisfactory. But that statement fails to take account of the Bank's criteria for "success", which are exceptionally strict. For instance, before a project can be considered successful, it must have at least a 10% rate of return. This rate is far higher than the minimum demanded by many bilateral aid donors, many of which require a return of only 5% or 6%. Thus, projects rated unsatisfactory under the Bank's standards still yield many benefits.
You imply that, because it deals mainly with governments, the Bank does not sufficiently support private-sector development. Here are the facts. The World Bank has.
·supported reforms in more than 80 countries aimed at opening up trade, making prices realistic and dismantling state monopolies which stifle individual enterprise;
· invested in infrastructure to facilitate business activity;
· assisted and advised over 200 privatization-related operations involving nearly US $ 25 billion in loans;
· provided more than US $12 billion through an affiliate, the International Finance Corp. over the last 30 years to more than 1,000 private companies in the developing world; and through another affiliate, the Multiateral Investment Guarantee Agency, offered insurance against non-commercial risk to encourage foreign investment, in poor countries.
The record shows that, over the past generation, more progress has been made in reducing poverty and raising living standards than during any other comparable period in history. In the developing countries.
· life expectancy has been increased form 40 to 63 years;
· infant mortality has been reduced by 50% and
· per capita income has doubled.
The World Bank consistently stresses that most of the credit for these advances should go to the countries themselves. Nevertheless, the Bank and organizations with which it collaborates—bilateral and international agencies and non-governmental organizations — have played a valuable role in this progress. In the future the Bank will continue to do its utmost to support its member countries in their efforts to achieve sustainable development.
LEANDRO V. CORONEL
Public Affairs
The World Bank
Washington TEXT F
First read the question.
32. The author's main argument is that
A. most farmers in developing countries face unemployment.
B. developing countries need agricultural aid to boost economy.
C. agricultural aid hurts the economy in developing countries.
D. a well-developed agricultural sector provides a domestic market.
Now go through TEXT F quickly and answer question 32 .
Ours is an agrarian economy. We must become self-sufficient in food to feed a rapidly growing population at an annual growth rate of more than 3 million people. A well-developed agricultural sector would offset the need for food import and play an important role in the development process by providing a home market for the products of the industrial sector. This implies that the rate of industrialization itself depend upon how fast agricultural incomes are rising. Development in the agricultural sector in our country means a rise in the income level of 70 percent of the population who are related to this sector. Their increased income in turn will give us more voluntary savings and investment and thus a source of revenue through taxation and potential capital formation by the government plus reduction in income inequalities between the urban population and rural masses. In this sense, aid received in the form of agricultural commodities hurts the developing countries and benefits developed countries more than proportionately. Because most of the farmers in developing countries are already at a mere subsistence level with a high rate of unemployment, disguised- unemployment and underemployment.
The Chinese experience with rural development has demonstrated that agricultural modernization via labour-intensive techniques is a highly promising way to create extra jobs without extensive geographic displacement of the farmers. Regarding the impact of transfer of agricultural commodities on the long-term growth rate in the recipient country, it can be said that transfer of agricultural commodities under concessional terms may result in an ultimate lowering of the recipient countries' long-term growth rate.
TEXT G
First read the question.
33. The passage is most probably from
A. a review of a book on cowboys.
B. a study of cowboy work culture.
C. a novel about cowboy life and culture.
D. a school textbook on the cowboy history.
Now go through TEXT G quickly and answer question 33.
A cowboy is defined by the work that he does. Any man can lay claim to that name if he lives on a ranch and works — drives, brands, castrates, or nurtures — a cattleman's herd. In addition, working accounts for ways in which cowboys portray themselves in their "art" in 19th-century poems that they orally composed and sang on the ranch, in 20th-century poems that they write, in books that they publish, and in art objects that they fashion, cowboys always represent themselves as engaging in some form of labour. This book's threefold purpose is, first, to look at art that cowboys produce — art that has never been studied before— and, second, to demonstrate that cowboy art values historically document labour routines that cowboys have traditionally acted out in their work culture.
I use the term work culture not only to suggest that cowboys are defined by the work that they do, but also to argue that they are self-represented in culture by poems, prose, and art that all reveal cowboys to be men who are culturally unified by engaging in labour routines that they think of as cowboy work. Art deals with cowboy work, as well as with concerns about economics, gender, religion, and literature, even though these thoughts sometimes express themselves as concerns about cattle branding, livestock castration, and
other tasks. The book's third and most important function is, therefore, to show that artistic self-representations of labour also formulate systems of thought which cowboys use as a metaphor for discussing economics, gender, religion, and literature, sometimes equating branding with religious salvation, at other times defining spur making as freedom, and so on.
TEXT H
First read the question.
34. The writer of this letter attempts to __________ the views in the editorial.
A. refute
B. illustrate
C. support
D. substantiate
Now go through TEXT H quickly and answer question 34.
October 3rd, 199_ Dear Sir,
In your editorial on August 31st, there seems to be some confused thinking in attempting to establish a direct relationship between the desire of the OAA airlines to negotiate more equitable agreements with the United States for air-traffic rights and the cost of air travel for the public.
It is simply untrue that the Asian carriers are not looking for increased access to the U. S. market, including its domestic markets they are, as part of balanced agreements that provide equality of opportunity. So long as the U. S. takes the inequitable arrangements enshrined in current agreements as a starting point for negotiation, however, there is no chance that U. S. carriers will be granted more regional rights which further unbalance the economic opportunities available to each side. Most importantly from the consumer viewpoint, it has yet to be demonstrated that in those regional sectors where U.S. carriers currently operate such as Hong Kong/Tokyo —they have added anything in terms of price, quality of service, innovation or seat availability in peak seasons.
Turning to cost, I am not sure to which Merrill Lynch study you are referring, but it would be simplistic to compare seat-mile costs of narrow-body operation over U. S. domestic sectors with wide-body operation over international sectors; comparative studies of seat-mile costs are valid only if they compare similar aircraft operating over identical sectors. On this basis, International Civil Aviation Organization figures show that Asian carriers are highly competitive. Of course, given its operating environment Japan Air Lines will have high seat- mile costs, while a carrier based in Southeast Asia, such as Singapore Airlines, will have relatively low costs. But it is a fallacy to assume this means "higher ticket prices or higher taxes" for the "hapless Asian air traveller" if he travels on JAL.
The Japanese carriers have to compete in the Asian marketplace with others, and costs cannot simply be passed on to the consumer or taxpayer. The people who really pay the price or reap the reward of differing cost levels are the shareholders.
RICHARD. T. STIRLAND
Director General
Orient Airlines Association TEXT Ⅰ
First read the questions.
35. Today's computers can process data __________ times faster than the 1952 model, ILLIAC.
A. 4
B. 100
C. 200
D. 4,000
36. NCSA aims to develop
A. a new Internet browser.
B. a more powerful national system.
C. human-computer intelligence interaction.
D. a new global network.
Now go through TEXT I quickly and answer questions 35 and 36.
URBANA, Illinois. Welcome to Cyber City, USA, where scientists are developing the next-generation Internet and leading ground-breaking research in artificial intelligence.
The University of Illinois at Urbana, which has a student body of 36, 100, has a proud computing tradition. In 1952, it became the first educational institution to build and own its own computer.
That computer, ILLIAC, was four metres tall, four metres long and sixty centimetres deep. Its processing speed was about 50 kilohertz compared with 200 megahertz — that's 200,000 kilohertz—for today's computers.
At the state-of-the-art Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, researchers from disciplines as far-ranging as psychology, computer science and biochemistry are focusing on biological intelligence and
human-computer intelligence interaction.
Beckman also houses the National Centre for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), which played a key role in the development of the Internet global network. It was NCSA that developed Mosaic, the graphically driven program that first made surfing on the Internet possible.
Mosaic, introduced in 1992, has been replaced by much more powerful Internet browsers such as its successor Netscape or Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
NCSA officials say they are now trying to bring more advanced computing and communication to research scientists, engineers and ultimately the public.
"What we're looking for is a national system in which the networks are 100 times greater than the Internet today, and the supercomputers are 100 times more powerful," said NCSA Director Larry Smarr.
A proposed joint project would develop a prototype or demonstration model for the "21st century national information infrastructure" in line with an initiative announced by President Bill Clinton last October.
If funded by the National Science Foundation, the new structure would take effect on
October 1st.
NCSA, one of the four operational federal supercomputer centres in the country, is awaiting a decision from the Foundation's board late this month on a competition for US $ 16 million in contiued annual federal funding.
NCSA, which employs 200 people and has a yearly budget of US $ 31 million, is expected to be one of two winners along with its counterpart in San Diego.
"The University has put a great deal of effort into this competition. We remain hopeful about the outcome, but we will have no comment until the National Science Foundation Board's decision," Smarr said.
TEXT J
First read the questions.
37. In Japanese the word depato refers to
A. traditional Japanese stores.
B. Modern stores in cities.
C. special clothing stores.
D. railway stores.
38. During the Meiji era depato was regarded by Japanese customers as a(n) __________ shopping place.
A. cheap
B. traditional
C. fashionable
D. attractive
Now go through TEXT J quickly and answer questions 37 and 38.
The Japanese have two words for the modern department stores that abound in large urban areas. The older word, hyakkaten, which is seldom used in daily speech, can usually be found engraved in ideographs in a building cornerstone, and it is part of a store's official title. Literally "a store with one hundred items" , this word was coined during the late Meiji era (1868-1912), when clothing stores began to expand their product lines and railroads began to build shops at major train crossings. The more recent and more commonly used word is depato(form the English "department store").
These words reflect the dual nature of Japanese department stores. Words written in ideographs can impart an aura of antiquity and tradition. Frequently, as in the case of the word hyakkaten, they suggest indigenous origin. In contrast, foreign borrowed words often give a feeling of modernity and foreignness. Many Japanese department stores actually originated in Japan several hundred years ago as dry goods stores that later patterned themselves after foreign department stores. Even the trendiest and most avant-garde of these stores practise patterns of merchandising and retain forms of prepaid credit customer service, and special relationships with suppliers characteristic of merchandising during the Tokygawa era (1600-1868). To many Japanese these large urban stores may seem like a direct import from the West, but like the word depato, they have undergone a transformation in the process of becoming Japanese.
Throughout the Tokygawa era, Japan was closed by decree to foreign influences. During the Meiji ear, however, Japan reopened to the western world; concurrently, depato
emerged as large-scale merchandisers in Japan. The Meiji depato were soon perceived by Japanese customers
as glamorous places to shop because of their Western imports, which the Japanese were eager to see and buy. Depato also sold Japanese goods but often followed practices that people of the time considered foreign, such as letting customers wear their shoes while shopping in the store.
A representative of the Japan Department Store Association told me that throughout their history depato have played on the Japanese interest in foreign places, cultures and objects, and that to a great extent these were introduced to Japan through department stores. I suggest that in addition to this role of cultural importer depato have also been involved in the creation of domestic cultural meanings. They have made foreign customs, ideas and merchandise familiar by giving them meanings consistent with Japanese cultural practice.
TEXT K
First read the questions.
39. The Agency for International Development is a __________ organization.
A. new
B. regional
C. UN
D. US
40. According to NDS's statistics, the number of babies the average philipino woman bears dropped by __________ between 1960 and 1993.
A. 4.1
B. 6.4
C. 2.3
D. 2.9
Now go through TEXT K quickly and answer questions 39 and 40.
When representatives from 170 nations gather in Cairo next month for the third International Conference on Population and Development, they will vote on the largest population-control plan in history. It is ambitious. Not only does it call for a host of "reproductive rights" and aim to freeze world population at 7.2 billion people by 2050; it also calls for billions of dollars in new government spending on the issue — US $ 13.2 billion by the end of the century.
Some of the plan's provisions have already aroused opposition, most notably from Pope John Paul II. All this has been gleefully covered by the newspapers. Yet scant attention has been paid to many of the dubious social and economic assumptions that underlie the plan. In particular, it is interesting to see how these programs are being sold in places like the Philippines, on the front lines of the population debate. For the way the proponents of population control have gone about pushing their programs raises serious doubts about the integrity of their studies, their ultimate value to development, and the role of foreign-aid groups.
Although population-control measure in the Philippines never reached the coercive levels they did in India, they were not popular. This time, proponents have learned their lesson. For the past few years, they have been quietly laying the groundwork for Cairo. Rather than attack the issue head-on, it has been redefined in terms of a host of new "reproductive rights" to which the solution is invariably a government-funded initiative.
We have just had a good taste of this in the Philippines. The National Statistics Office recently published the results of the 1993 National Demographic Survey (NDS), which happens to have been funded by the U. S. Agency for International Development. It is probably mere coincidence, but the NDS report, published on the eve of the Cairo meeting, nicely supports the thrust of the Cairo Declaration. That is, it has found a connection between mothers' and childrens' health and fertility behavior. The implication is that large- scale government family-planning programs are essential if health issues are to be addressed.
But the demographic survey seems to have been selective about what facts it would report and connections it would make. Take the health issue. The document concludes that the high risk of infant, child and maternal mortality is associated with pregnancies where mothers are too young, too old, or have already had several childern. But a discussion of poverty is missing from the list of factors related to health. It would be difficult to deny that poverty, lack of access to safe water, poor housing, poor hygiene and unsanitary conditions all have a strong bearing on the health of the mother and child. Although the NDS collected data on housing characteristics, it did not include any date on income.
A closer look at the fertility behavior of the poor is important because of the extensive literature on the "replacement effect" of high infant mortality. Statistical studies in various countries show high fertility among the
poor as a rational desire to have children who will survive into adulthood to help take care of them. This helps to explain why many poor women have babies at such short intervals, The 1993 NDS would have been a good opportunity to verify the validity of this behavior in the Philippines.
The NDS avoided collecting data on socio-economic variables that would have a serious effect on these health issues. But, in one area, it made painstaking efforts to quantify fertility preference to derive figures for planned and unplanned pregnancies. It concluded that," if all unwanted births were avoided, the total fertility rate would be 2. 9 children, which is almost 30% less than the observed rate. "This, too, was used to establish an "unmet" need requiring a government program.
Yet the NDS's own numbers suggest that Filipinos are aware of their options. The total fertility rate — the number of babies the average woman bears over her lifetime — has dropped to 4. 1 in 1993 from 6. 4 in 1960. Some 61% used contraceptives, just a few percentage points short of the 65-80% rate prevailing in Europe, North America and most of East Asia. The delay of marriage by Filipinos to the age of 23 years represents a reduction of the risk of pregnancy by 19% given the 35 years of their reproductive life.
In short, the Philippines has its problems but its people are not as ignorant as the population-control lobby would suppose. Unfortunately, this lobby has development dollars, organizational muscle and support of the media. "We've built a consensus about population as a global issue and family planning as a health issue," says the UN's Naris Sadik, host of the conference. Yes, they have. And now we know how.
PAPER TWO
PART ⅣTRANSLATION (60 MIN. )
SECTION A CHINESE TO ENGLISH
Translate the following underlined part of the text into English.
加拿大的温哥华1986年刚刚度过百岁的生日，但城市的发展令世界瞩目。以港立市，以
港兴市，是许多港口城市生存发展的道路。经过百年开发建设，有着天然不冻良港的温哥华，
成为举世闻名的港口城市，同亚洲、大洋洲、欧洲、拉丁美洲均有定期班轮，年货物吞吐量达
8000万吨，全市就业人口中有三分之一从事贸易与运输行业。
温哥华(Vancouver)的辉煌是温哥华人的智慧和勤奋的结晶，其中包括多民族的贡献。
加拿大地广人稀，国土面积比中国还大，人口却不足3000万。吸收外来移民，是加拿大长期奉
行的国策。可以说，加拿大除了印第安人外，无一不是外来移民，不同的只是时间长短而已。
温哥华则更是世界上屈指可数的多民族城市。现今180万温哥华居民中，有一半不是在本地
出生的，每4个居民中就有一个是亚洲人。而25万华人对温哥华的经济转型起着决定性作
用，其中有一半是近5年才来到温哥华地区的，使温哥华成为亚洲以外最大的中国人聚居地。SECTION B ENGLISH TO CHINESE
Translate the following underlined part of the text into Chinese.
In some societies people want children for what might be called familial reasons: to extend the family line or the family name, to propitiate the ancestors; to enable the proper functioning of religious rituals involving the family. Such reasons may seem thin in the modern, secularized society but they have been and are powerful indeed in other places.
In addition, one class of family reasons shares a border with the following category, namely, having children in order to maintain or improve a marriage; to hold the husband or occupy the wife; to repair or rejuvenate the marriage; to increase the number of children on the assumption that family happiness lies that way. The point is underlined by its converse: in some societies the failure to bear children (or males) is a threat to the marriage and a ready cause for divorce.
Beyond all that is the profound significance of children to the very institution of the family itself. To many people, husband and wife alone do not seem a proper family — they need children to enrich the circle, to validate its family character, to gather the redemptive influence of offspring. Children need the family, but the family seems also to need children, as the social institutions uniquely available, at least in principle, for security, comfort,
assurance, and direction in a changing, often hostile world. To most people, such a home base, in the literal sense, needs more than one. person for sustenance and in generational extension.
PART ⅤWRITING (60 MIN.)
Some people claim that competition is more important than co-operation in the present-day society. How far do you agree with these people? You are to write a con, position of about 300 words on the following topic:
COMPETITION OR CO-OPERATION
In the first part of your writing you should present your thesis statement, and in the second part you should support the thesis statement with appropriate details. In the last part you should bring what you have witten to a natural conclusion or a summary.
Marks will be awarded for content, organization, grammar and appropriacy. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.
答案
TEST FOR ENGLISH MAJORS (1999)
—GRADE EIGHT—
PART ⅠLISTENING COMPREHENSION
SECTION A—C
1. C
2. D
3. A
4. B
5. A
6. C
7. B
8. D 9. A 10. D 11. A 12. A 13. B 14. B 15. D
SECTION D NOTE-TAKING AND GAP-FILLING
1. known
2. save
3. expensive
4. match
5. image
6. media
7. drinks 或cosmetics 8. favorably 9. conditioning
10. expensive
PARTⅡPROOFREADING AND ERROR CORRECTION
1．将as改成like。lived like our prehistoric human ancestors像我们史前的人类祖先那样活着。as后接从句，因此，在as与our之间加上did也可以。这时，as从句为倒装结构。
2．将supplementing改为supplemented。这里混淆了动词现在分词与过去分词的用法。
3．将此行最后一个and改成or。two thirds or more of．．．表示“三分之二或更多的……”。如果需要表达“多于三分之二的”，我们一般说more than two-thirds of．．．。
4．将in改成on。表示“平均”时我们习惯上说on(the或an)average，而不说in average。
5．将as改成while，whereas或but。表示两者比较或对比时我们一般用while，whereas或but来引导，but的语气最强。
6．将provide改成account。provide for表示“抚养”、“为……提供生计”或“为……作准备”、“预防”。account for表示“占(比例)”。
7．将despite后的of去掉。despite现在的用法是，在其后直接跟名词。另一个意义相近但用法不一样的短语是in spite。of，二者易引起混淆。
8．在half与of之间加that。这里讲的是当今以打猎、采果为生的南非一部落(the Kung)人员血液中胆固醇含量非常低，只是一般美国人胆固醇含量的一半。这里比较的是该部落人员与一般美国人的血液中胆固醇的含量(前者大约是后者的一半)。我们不可用该部落人员的胆固醇与一般美国人进行比较。加上that以代替blood cholesterol level，从而可以进行比较。之所以加that而非those，因为后面的中心名词(adult)为单数。
9．将If改成Although。此句的意思是：尽管现在没有人建议我们重新回到原始的生活方式，但我们当然可以把他们的饮食习惯当作一种更有助健康的饮食习惯的榜样。如果采用原句的表达，意思是：如果没有
人建议我们重新回到原始的生活方式，那么我们当然可以把他们的饮食习惯当作一种更有助健康的饮食习惯的榜样。从上下文的逻辑发展来看，后者不如前者有助于语篇的连贯。况且，当我们用if引导条件从句时，从句中通常用一般现在时(或过去时)，几乎不用进行体形式。while也可以接受。
10. 在for后加a。a healthier diet表示“一种有助健康的饮食(习惯)”。在英语中，不可数名词前加了修饰语后有时可使该名词变成可数，前面可以加a(n)，不过一般表示“一种”而非“一个”。
PARTⅢREADING COMPREHENSION
SECTION A READING COMPREHENSION
Text A Ricci's “Operation Columbus”
16．A．此题为细节理解题。依据第2段中间一句：The English-language edition will include more American works，Ricci says，to help Americans get over“an inferiority complex about their art”。inferiority complex表示“自卑情结”，即缺乏自信。
17．B．此题为细节理解题。在第4段前几句中，作者明确指出Ricci与Columbus之间的相似性。一方面，Ricci像Columbus一样，不知他在异地他乡是否会受到欢迎，仅是根据自己的想法去做，发现一个新的美国市场。依据第3段最后两句，可排除A和C，依据第4段第1句可排除D。
18．D．本题为一般推理题。依据第2段中间部分内容可以排除A。根据第4段倒数第2句可排除B，也可基本确定D。结合此段上面几句，可进一步确定D。第4段中那一句“I don't expect that more than 30% of my readers．．．will actually read FMR．”的意思是说：Ricci预料在他的杂志读者群中，多于30%的读者不会去阅读(而是翻看)FMR。事实上，Ricci并不知美国人对此杂志会有什么样的反应(见此段第1句)，故可排除C。
[难点解析]
◇Operation Columbus“哥伦布行动”。operation这个词用作大写时，常为某行动代号名的一部分，表示“行动计划”。例如，Operation Overload指“霸王计划”，即第二次世界大战中由美国制订的从西部进攻欧洲的军事计划的代号，该计划的目标于1944年6月6日实施。
◇strike out(On)独立闯新路，开辟(道路等)
◇christen本意为“(施洗礼时)给……命名”，用在此处说明Ricci自认为到美国开拓市场是一项很伟大的工作。
◇inferiority complex自卑情结
◇staggering(数目)巨大的，大得惊人的
◇line up an impressive stable of writers and professors line up表示“组织”、“邀集”。stable这里表示“受同一人(或机构)经营的人(如运动员、演员等)”。
◇have an edge on sb．对某人有优势，占某人的上风
Text B Uncle Geoff
19．B．本题为细节理解题。依据第1段第5句可知Uncle Geoff的观点：一个国家(英国)的兴衰与其是否使用自然肥料来使土壤肥沃有直接关系。因此，要增强或恢复一民族的力量，可以通过使用自然肥料。根据第3段(即斜体部分)第7句可获得更为直接的答案。
20．A. 此题为一般推理题。从作者对Uncle Geoff的所言所行的描述看，可知作者并非仅仅在描述一些事实(故可排除D)，也并非一板一眼、非常认真地回忆Uncle Geoff的过去，这可从作者使用的一些表达(如intellectual of the highest orders，satirical pen，making hours，headquarters等等)可知，故可排除B，且可确定A(facetious的意思是“诙谐的，开玩笑的”)。作者虽然谈到Uncle Geoff的过去，但本身并不是怀旧(nostalgic)自己的过去，故可排除C。
[难点解析]
◇．．．his satirical pen belied his mild demeanor．belie表示“使人误会”、“掩饰”。mild demeanor的意思是“温和的态度或品行”。由于Uncle Geoff经常写一些带有讥讽的东西，容易使人误以为他不是一个温和的人。
◇in proportion to与……成比例，与……可相比
◇collate校对，整理