1990年全国硕土学位研究生入学考试英语试题Ⅱ. 1In May l989 , space shuttle "Atlantis" released in outer space the space prob e "Megallan" ,which is now on her 15-month and one-billion-kilometer flight to Venus. A new pha se in spaceexploration has begun .The planet Venus is only slightly smaller than Earth; it is the only other obje ct in the solarsystem, in fact, that even comes close to earth' s size. Venus has a similar density, so it is proba-bly made of approximately the sanle stuff, and it has an atmosphere, complete with clouds. It isalso the closest planet to earth, and thus the most similar in distance from the sun. In short,Venus seems to justify its long-held nickname of "earth' s twin. "The surface temperature of Venus reaches some 900F. Added to that is an a tmospheric pres-sure about 90 times Earth' s: High overhead in the carbon dioxide that passes for air is alayer of clouds, perhaps IO to 20 miles thick, whose little drops consist mostly of s ulfuric acid(H2SO4) . Water is all but nonexistent.Born with so many fundamental similarities to earth, how did Venus get to b e so radicallydifferent : It is not just an academic matter. For all its extremes, Venus is a valuab le laboratory forresearchers studying the weather and climate of earth. It has no earth' s oceans, s o the heat trans-port and other mechanisms are greatly simplified. In addition, the planet Venus take s 243 earth-days to turn once on its axis, so incoming heat from the sun is added and distribut ed at a moreleisurely , observable pace.16. Venus is similar to Earth in __A. size and densityB. distance from the sunC. having atmosphereD. all of the above17. The greatest value in studying Venus should be to__A. allow us to visit thereB. understand Earth betterC. find a new source of energyD. promote a new space program18. The main idea of this passage is about _A. problems of space travelB. scientific methods in space explorationC. the importance of Venus to EarthD. conditions on Venus2 Tourists were surprised to see a woman driving a huge orange tractor down o ne of Rome' smain avenues. Italy' s political leaders and some of its male union chiefs are said t o have been evenmore puzzled to see that the tractor was followed by about 200,OOO women in aparading proces-sion that took more than three hours to snake through central Rome.Shouting slogans, waving flags and dancing to drumbeats, the women had co me to the capi-tal from all over Italy to demonstrate for "a job for each of us, a different type of job, and a soci-ety without violence" . So far, action to improve women' s opportunities in employ ment has beenthe province of collective industrtal bargaining. "But there is a growing awareness t hat this is notenough, " says a researcher on female labor at the govemment-funded Institute for the Develop-ment of Professional Training for Workers.Women, who constitute 52 per cent of Italy' s population, today represent onl y 35 per centof Italy' s total workforce and 33 per cent of the total number of Italians with jobs. However,their presence in the workplace is growing. The employment of women is expanding considerablyin services, next to the public administration and commerce as their principal workpl ace. Officialstatistics also show that women have also made significant strides in self-employme nt. More andmore women are going into business for themselves. Many young women are turnin g to businessbecause of the growing overall in employment. It is also a fact that today many prejudices havedisappeared , so that banks and other financial institutes make judgements on purel y business con-siderations without caring if it is a man or a woman.Such changes are occurring in the professions too. The number of women doc tors, dentists ,lawyers , engineers and university professors increased two to three fold. Some of t he changes areimmediately visible. For example, women have appeared on the scene for the first t ime as statepolice , railway workers and street cleaner.However , the present situation is far from satisfactoty though some progress has been made.A breakthrough in equal opportunities for women is now demanded.19 . The expression "snake through central Rome" probably means "to move_A. quietly through central Rome"B. violently through central Rome"C. in a long winding line through central Rome"D. at a leisurely pace through central Rome"20 . Which of the following statements is NOT true?A. There are more women than men in Italy.B. In Italy, women are chiefly employed in services.C. In Italy, women are still at a disadvantage in employment.D. In Italy, about two-thirds of the jobs are held by men.21.About 200 ,OOO women in Rome demonstrated for_A. more job opportunitiesB. a greater variety of jobsC. "equal job, equal pay"D. both A and B22.The best title for this passage would be_A. The Role of Women is SocietyB. Women Demonstrate for Equality in EmploymentC. Women as Self-enlployed ProfessionalsD. Women and the Jobs Market3"The old idea that talanted children "burn themselves out" in the early years, and, therefore, aresubjected to failure and at worst, mental illness if unfounded. As a matter of fact, t he outstanding thing that happens to bright kids is that they are very likely to gro w into bright adults.To find this out, l,500 gifted persons were followed up to their thirty-fifth ye ar with theseresults : .On adult intelligence tests, they scored as high as they had as children. The y were, as agroup, in good health, physically and mentally. 84 per cent of their group were mar ried andseemed content with their lives.About 70 per cent had graduated from college , though only 30 per cent ha d graduated withhonors. A few had even dropped out, but nearly half of these had returned to grad uate.Of the men, 80 per cent were in one of the professions or in business management orsemiprofessional jobs. The women who had remained single had office , business , or professionaloccupations .The group had published 90 books and 1, 500 articles in scientific, scholarly, and literarymagazines and had collected more than 100 patents.In a material way they did not do badly either. Average income was conside rably higher a-mong the gifted people, especially the men, than for the country as a whole, despit e their com-parative youth .In fact , far from being strange , most of the gifted were turning their earl y promise into prac-tical reality.23. The old idea that talented children "bum themselves out" in the early years is_A. true in all sensesB. refuted by the authorC. medically provenD. a belief of the author24. The survey of bright children was made toA. find out what had happened to talented children when they became adultsB. prove that talented children "burn themselves out" in the early yearsC. discover the percentage of those mentaUy ill among the giftedD. prove that talented children never bum themselves out25 . Intelligence tests showed that_A. bright children were unlikely to be mentally healthyB. between childhood and adulthood there was a considerable loss of intelligenceC. talented children were most likeLy to become gifted adultsD. when talented children grew into adults, they made low scores5ur personalities andbehavior patterns are largely determined by biological factors. (63 ) That our enviro nment has lit-tle, if anything, to do with our abilities, characteristics and behavior is central to thi s theory.Taken to an extreme, this theory maintains that our behavior is pre-determined to s uch a greatdegree that we are almost completely governed bv our instincts.Those who support the "nurture" theory, that is, they advocate education, ar e often calledbehaviorists. They claim that our environment is more important than our biologicall y based in-stincts in determining how we will act. A behaviorist, B. F. Skinner, sees humans as beingswhose behavior is almost completely shaped by their surroundings. ( 64 ) The beha viorists main-tain that , like machines, humans respond to environmental stimuli as the basis of t heir behavior.Let us examine the different explanations about one human characteristic , in telligence , of-fered by the two theories. (65 ) Supponers of the "nature" theory insist that we ar e born with acertain capacity for learning that is biologically determined. Needless to say. They d on't believethat factors in the environment have much influence on what is basically a predete mlined charac-tedstic. On the other hand, behaviorists argue that our intelligence levels are the pr oduct of ourexperiences. (66) Behaviorists suggest that the child who is raised in an environmen t where thereare many stimuli which develop his or her capacity for appropriate responses will ex periencegreater intellectual development .The social and political implications of these two theories are profound. (67 ) In the UnitedStates, blacks often score below whites on standardized intelligence tests. This leads some " na-ture" proponents to conclude that blacks are biologically inferior to whites. ( 68) Be haviorists, incontrast , say that differences in scores are due to the fact that blacks are often d eprived of many ofthe educational and other environmental advantages that whites enjoy. .Most people think neither of these theories can yet fully explain human beha vior.1991年全国硕士学位研究生入学考试英语试题Ⅱ. Each of the passages below is followed by some questions. For ach question fo ur answersare given. Read the passages carefully and chnose the best answer to each of the questions.Put your choice in the ANSWER SHEET. (30 poinb)lA wise man once said that the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil i s for good men todo nothing. So, as a police officer, I have some urgent things to say to good peopl e.Day after day my men and I struggle to hold back a tidal wave of crime. S omething has goneterribly wrong with our once-proud American way of life. It has happened in the ar ea of values. Akey ingredient is disappearing, and I think I know what it is: accountability.Accountability isn' t hard to define. It means that every person is responsibl e for his or heractions and liable for their consequences.Of the many values that hold civilization together--honesty, kindness, and so on--account-ability may be the most important of all. Without it, there can be no respect, no tr ust, no law--and, ultimately, no society.My job as a polioe officer is to impose accountability on people who refuse, or have never learned, to impose it on themselves. But as every policeman knows, external controls on people's behavior are far less effective than internal restraints s uch as guilt, shame and embarrassment.Fortunately there are still communities--smaller towns,usually--where schools maintaindiscipline and where parents hold up standards that proclaim: "In this family certain things are nottolerated--they simply are not done! "Yet more and more, especially in our larger citis and suburbs, these inner r estraints areloosening. Your typical robber has none. He considers your property his property; h e takes whathe wants, including your life if you enrage him.The main cause of this break-down is a radical shift in attitudes. Thirty year s ago, if a crimewas committed , society was considered the victim. Now, in a shocking reversal, it' s the criminalwho is considered victimized : by his underpriviledged upbringing, by the school tha t didn ' t teachhim to read, by the church that failed to reach him with moral guidance, by the pa rents whodidn' t provide a stable home.I don' t believe it. Many others in equally disadvantaged circumstances choo se not to engagein criminal activities. If we free the criminal, even partly, from accountabiliy, we bec ome a soci-ety of endless excuses where no one accepts responsibility for anything.We in America desperately need more people who believe that the person w ho commits acrime is the one responsible for it.31 . What the wise man said suggests that__.A. it' s unnecessary for good people to do anything in face of evilB. it' s certain that evil will prevail if good men do nothing about itC. it's only natural for vinue to defeat evilD. it's desirable for good men to keep away from evil32. According to the author, if a person is found guilty of a crime,__.A. society is to be held responsibleB. modern civilization is rnponsible for itC. the criminal himself should bear the blameD. the standards of living should be improved33. Compared with those in small towns, people in large cities have__.A. less self-disciplineB. better sense of disciplineC. more mutual respect .D. less effective government34. The writer is sorry to have noticed that __.A. people in large cities tend to excuse criminalsB. people in small towns still stick to old discipline and standardsC. today ' s society lacks sympathy for people in difficultyD. people in disadvantaged circumstances are engaged in criminal activities35. The key point of the passage is that__.A. stricter discipline should be maintained in schools and familiesB. more good examples should be set for people to followC. more restrictions should be imposed on people' s behaviorD. more people should accept the value of accountability2 The period of adolescence, i. e. , the person between childhood and adultho od, may be longor short , depending on social expectations and on society' s definition as to what constitutes matu-rity and adulthood. In primitive societies adolescence is frequently a relatively short period oftime , while in industrial societies with pattems of prolonged education coupled with laws againstchild labor, the period of adolescence is much longer and may include most of the second decade ofone ' s life. Furthermore, the length of the adolescent period and the definition of adulthood statusmay change in a given society as social and economic conditions change. Examples of this type ofchange are the disappearance of the frontier in the latter part of the nineteenth ce ntury in the U-nited States , and more universally , the industrialization of an agricultural society.In modern society,ceremonies for adolescence have lost their formal recogniti on and symbolic signifi-cance and there no longer is agreement as to what constitutes initiation ceremonies. Social ones have been replaced by a sequence of steps that lead to increased rec ognition and social status. For example, grade school graduation, high school graduation and college graduation constitute such a sequence, and while each step implie s certain behavioral changes and social recognition , the significance of each depen ds on the socio-economic status and the educational ambition of the individual. Cer emonies for adolescence have also been replaced by legal definitions of status roles, right, privileges and responsibilitis. It is during the nine years from the twelfth birt hday to the twenty-first that the protective and restrictive aspects of child-hood and minor status are removed and adult privileges and responsibilitis are granted. The twelve-year-old is no longer considered a child and has to pay full fare for train, air plane, theater and movie tickets. Basically, the individual at this age loses childhood privileges without gaining significant adult rights. At the age of sixteen the adolesc ent is granted cenain adult rights which increases his social status by providing him with more freedom and choices. He now can obtain a driver' s license; he can lea ve public schools; and he can work without the restrictions of child labor laws. At t he age of eighteen the law provides adult responsibilities as well as rights; the you ng man can now be a soldier, but he also can marry without parental permission. At the age of twen-ty-one the individual obtains his full legal rights as an adult. He now can wote, he can buy liquor,he can enter into financial contracts, and he is entitled to run for public office. No additional basicrights are acquired as a function of age alter majority status has been attained. No ne of these legalprovisions determine at what point adulthood has been reached but they do point t o the prolongedperiod of adolescence .36 . The period of adolescence is much longer in industrial societies because__.A. the definition of maturity has changedB. the industrialized society is more developedC. more education is provided and laws against child labor are madeD. ceremonies for adolescence have lost their formal recognition and symbolic signifi cance37. Former social ceremonies that used to mark adolescence have given place to__.A. graduations from schools and collegesB.social recognitionC. socio-economic statusD. certain behavioral changes38. No one can expect to fully enjoy the adulthood privileges until he is __.A. eleven years oldB. sixteen years oldC. twenty-one years oldD.between twelve and twenty-one years old39. Starting from 22,__.A. one will obtain more basic rightsB. the older one becomes, the more basic rights he will haveC. one won't get more basic rights than when he is 21D. one will enjoy more rights granted bv society.40. Acoording to the passage, it is true thatA. in the late 19th century in the United States the dividing line between adolescen ce andadulthood no longer existedB. no one can marry without the permission of his parents until the age of twenty-oneC. one is considered to have reached adulthood when he has a driver' s licenseD. one is not free from the restrictions of child labor laws until he can join the ar my3Most growing plants contaln much more water than all other materials combi ned. C. R.Darnes has suggested that it is as proper to term the plant a water structure as to call a house com-posed mainly of brick a brick building. Certain it is that all essential processes of pl ant growth anddevelopment occur in water. The mineral elements from the soil that are usable by the plant mustbe dissolved in the soil solution before they can be taken into the root. They are c arried to all partsof the growing plant and are built into essential plant materials while in a dissolved state. The car-bon dioxide from the air may enter the leaf as a gas but is dissolved in water in t he leaf be-fore it is combined with a part of the water to form simple sugars--the base materi al from whichthe plant body is mainly built. Actively growing plant parts are generally 75 to 90 p ercent water.Stnlctural parts of plants, such as woodv stems no longer actively growing, may ha ve much lesswater than growlng tissues.The actual amount of water in the plant at any one time, however, is only a very small partof what passes through it during its development. The processes of photosynthesis, by which car-bon dioxide and water are combined-in the presence of chlorophvll ( 叶绿素) and with energyderived from light-to form sugars, require that carbon dioxide from the air enter the plant. Thisoccurs mainly in the leaves. The leaf surface is not solid but contains great number s of minuteopenings, through which the carbon dioxide enters. The same structure that permits the one gasto enter the leaf, however, permits another gas-water vapor--to be lost from it. Sin ce carbondioxide is present in the air only in trace quantities (3 to 4 parts in 1O ,000 parts of air) and watervapor is near saturation in the air spaces within the leaf (at 80"F , saturated air w ould containabout 186 parts of water vapor in 1O, OOO parts of air) , the total amount of wat er vapor lost ismany times the carbon dioxide intake. Actually, because of wind and other factors, the loss ofwater In proportion to carbon dioxide intake may be even greater than the relative concentrationsof the two gases. Also, not all of the carbon dioxide that enters the leaf is synthesi zed into carbo-hydrates ( 碳水化合物) .41 . A growing plant needs water for all of the following except__.A. forming sugarsB. sustaining woody stemsC. keeping greenD. producing carbon dioxide42 . The essential function of photosynthesis in terms of plant needs is__.A. to form sugarsB. to derive energy from lightC. to preserve waterD. to combine carbon dioxide with water43 . The second paragraph uses facts to develop the essential idea that__.A. a plant efficiently utilizes most 0f the water it absorbsB. carbon dioxide is the essential substance needed for plant developmentC. a plant needs more water than is found in its compositionD. the stronger the wind, the more the water vapor loss44 . According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?A. The mineral eLements will not be absorbed by the plant unless they are dissolve d in itsroot .B. The woody stems contain more water than the leaves.C. Air existing around the leaf is found to be saturated.D. Only part of the carbon dioxide in the plants is synthesized.45 . This passage is mainly about__.A. the functions of carbon dioxide and waterB. the role of water in a growing plantC. the process of simple sugar formationD. the synthesis of water with carbon dioxideⅥ . Writlng (15 point)DIRECTIONS :A) Title: WHERE TO LIVE--IN THE CITY OR THE COUNTRY?B) Time limit: 40 minutesC) Word limit: 120 - 150 words (not including the given opening sentence)D) Your composition should be based on the OUTLINE below and should start with the giv-en opening sentence.E) Your composition must be written clearly in the ANSWER SHEET.OUTLINE :1. Conveniences of the city2. Attractions of the country3. Disadvantages of both4. My preference答案:Ⅰ. l. C 2. B 3. A 4. B 5. D6. B7. C8. B9. C 10. A11. C 12. D 13. D 14. A 15. C16. B 17. C 18. A 19. D 20. D21. B 22. C 23. A 24. D 25. A26. C 27. D 28. A 29. B 30. DⅡ. 31. B 32. C 33. A 34. A 35. D36. C 37. A 38. C 39. C 40. A41. D 42. A 43. C 44. D 45. BⅢ. 46. B 47. A 48. D 49. C 50. C51. B 52. A 53. D 54. B 55. C56. A 57. D 58. B 59. C 60. B1992年全国硕士学位研究生入学考试英语试题Ⅱ. Each of the passags below is fnllowed by some questions. For each question four ans wersare given. Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each of the questions. Put your choice in the ANSWER SIIEET. (30 points)1 It is all very well to blame traffic jams, the mst of petrol and the quick pace of modem life,but manners on the roads are beaoming horrible. Everybody knows that the nicest men be comemonsters behind the wheel. It is aU vvy well, again, to have a tiger in the tank, but to h ave onein the driver's seat is arnother matter altogether. You might tolerate the odd road-hog, the rudeand inconsiderate driver, but nowadays the well-mannered motorist is the exception to the rule.Perhaps the situation calls for a 'Be Kind to Other Drivers' campaign, otherwise it may ge t com-pletely out of hand.Road politeness is not only good manners, but good sense too. It takes the most c ool-headedand good-tempered of drivers to resist the temptation to revenge when subjected to uncivil ized be-havior. On the other hand, a little politeness goes a long way towards relieving the tensio ns ofmotoring. A friendly nod or a wave of acknowledgement in response to an act of politene ss helpsto create an atmosphere of goodwill and tolerance so necessary in modem tralfic condition s. Butsuch acknowledgements of politeness are all too rare today. Many drivers nowadays don't evenseem able to recognize politeness when they see it.However, misplaced politeness can also be dangerous. Typical examples are the driv er whobrakes violently to allow a car to emerge from a side street at solne hazard to following traffic,when a few seconds later the road would be clear anyway; or the man who waves a chil d across azebra crossing into the path of oncoming vehicles that may be unable to stop in time. Th e samegoes for encouraging old ladies to cross the road wherever and whenever they care to. It always a-mazes me that the highways are not covered with the dead bodies of these grannies.A veteran driver, whose mallners are faultless, told me it would help if motorists l eamt tofilter correctly into traffic streams one at a time without causing the total blockages that g ive riseto bad temper. Unfortunately, modern motorists can' t even learn to drive, let alone master thesubtler aspects of roadsmanship. Years ago the experts warned us that the car-owrner-ship explo-sion would demand a lot more give-and-take from all road users. It is high time for all o f us totake this message to heart.31 . According to this passage, troubles on the road are primarily caused byA. people' s attitude towards the road-hogB. the rhythm of modem lifeC. the behavior of the driverD. traffic conditions32. The sentence "You might tolerate the odd road-hog . . . the rule. " (Para. I ) implies thatA. our society is unjust towards well-mannered motoristsB. rude drivers can be met only occasionallyC. the well-mannered motorist cannot tolerate the road-hogD. nowadays impolite drivers constitute the majority of motorists33. By "good sense" , the writer meansA. the driver' s ability to understand and react reasonablyB. the driver' s prompt response to difficult and severe conditionsC. the driver' s tolerance of nlde or even savage behaviorD. the driver' s acknowledgement of politeness and regulations34. Experts have long pointed out that in the faoe of car-owner-ship explosion,A. road users should make more sacrificeB. drlvers should be ready to yield to each otherC. drivers should have more communication among themselvesd. drivers will suffer great loss if they pay no respect to others35. In the writer's opinion,A. strict traffic regulations are badly neededB. drivers should apply road politeness properlyC. rude drivers should be punishedD. drivers should avoid traffic jams2 In the atmosphere, carbon dioxide acts rather like a one-way mirror--the glass in th e roof ofa greenhouse which allows the sun's rays to enter but prevents the heat from escaping.According to a weather expert' s prediction, the annosphere will be 3C warmer in t he year2050 than it is today, if man continues to burn fuels at the present tate. If this warming up tookplace, the ice caps in the poles would begin to melt, thus raising sea level several metres andseverely flooding coastal cities. Also, the increase in atmospheric temperature would lead t o greatchanges in the climate of the nonthern hemisphere, possibly resulting in an alteration of earth's chief food-growing zones.In the past, concern about a man-made warming of the earth has concentrated on t he Arcticbecause the Antarctic is much colder and has a much thicker ice sheet. But the weather e xpertsare now paying more attention to West Antarctic, which may be affected by only a few d egress ofwarming, in other words, by a warming on the scale that will possibly take place in the。
