2015年一月硕士英语考试真题PAPER ONEPART ILISTENING COMPREHENSION(25 minutes, 20 points)Section A (1 point each)Directions:In this section, you will hear nine short conversations between two speakers. At the end of each conversation a question will be asked about what was said. Theconversations and the questions will be read only once. Choose the best answer fromthe four choices given by marking the corresponding letter with a single bar acrossthe square brackets on your machine-scored Answer Sheet.1. A. Try job agencies.B. Read newspaper ads.C. Receive extra training.D. Contact other people.2. A. About six and a half hours.B. About seven and a half hours.C. About seven hours.D. About eight hours.3. A. Live a simple life for 30 years.B. Rent a three-bedroom flat in 1984.C. Buy a three-bedroom flat in 1984.D. Save money for 30 years.4. A. Those with a degree in Education earn more.B. Not everyone with a degree earns more.C. Those with a degree in Media Studies earn more.D. It is hard to get a degree in Media Studies.5. A. The man‘s wife.B. The man‘s car.C. The man‘s dog.D. The man‘s boss.6. A. At a fast food restaurant.B. At home.C. At a delivery company.D. At a post office.7. A. She is too young to travel alone.B. Her husband has just left home.C. Her husband has passed away.D. She doesn‘t love her husband.8. A. She took a long walk.B. She stayed up late.C. She felt very sad.D. She had a cold.9. A. A doctor and a patient.B. A teacher and a student.C. A police officer and a driver.D. A customer and a waiter.Section B (1 point each)Directions:In this section you will hear two mini-talks. At the end of each talk, there will be some questions. Both the talks and the questions will be read to you only once. After eachquestion, there will be a pause. During the pause, you must choose the best answerfrom the four choices given by marking the corresponding letter with a single baracross the square brackets on your machine-scored Answer Sheet.Mini-talk One10: A. Help them with their homework.B. Emphasize the importance of education.C. Attend school events.D. All the above.11. A. By limiting the time a child spends watching TV.B. By talking about school with their children.C. By reminding a child of his psychological problems.D. By respecting a child‘s need to watch screens.12. A. Because they enjoy flying in a helicopter.B. Because they promote parent-school programs.C. Because they push the child to improve academically.D. Because they make efforts to reduce class size.Mini-talk Two13. A. 25 percent cheaper.B. 2.5 percent cheaper.C. 2.3 percent cheaper.D. 1.7 percent cheaper.14. A. To make international calls.B. To assign calls local numbers.C. To ensure the quality of calls.D. All the above.15. A. America.B. China.C. Britain.D. Holland.Section C (1 point each)Directions: In this section you will hear a short lecture. Listen to the recording and complete the notes about the lecture. You will hear the recording twice. After the recording you areasked to write down your answers on the Answer Sheet. You now have 25 seconds toread the notes below.(请在录音结束后把16-20题的答案抄写在答题纸上)16.But before we talk about it, let‘s first take a look at the ________ (2 words) of sleep.17. …it is particularly vital to those learning a physical skill, such as mastering a ________ (2w ords) or a sporting skill….18. Deep sleep stages are vital to your mood because they are ________ (2 words) the productionof growth hormones that help repair damaged tissue.19. This stage plays a vital role in ________ (3 words).20. …and this sequence repeats itself again and again ________ (3 words).PART IIVOCABULARY(10 minutes, 10 points )Section A (0.5 point each)Directions: There are ten questions in this section. Each question is a sentence with one word or phrase underlined. Below the sentence are four words or phrases marked A, B, C andD. Choose the word or phrase that is closest in meaning to the underlined one. Markthe corresponding letter with a single bar across the square brackets on yourmachine-scored Answer Sheet.21. One of the most demanding jobs facing middle-aged males is how to control their weight.A. requiredB. difficultC. voluntaryD. amusing22. Experts are working hard to seek better and safer ways to dispose of nuclear waste.A. facilitiesB. designsC. hazardsD. necessities24. Universities turn out students who know how to give answers, but not how to ask questions.A. recruitB. assembleC. verifyD. produce25. Because of the penetrating rain, further outdoor exercise was now out of the question.A. accessibleB. impossibleC. consecutiveD. awkward26. More businesses look to cloud-based collaboration as a means to gain a competitive edge.A. advantageB. borderC. awarenessD. innovation27. Police in plain clothes tried to disperse the crowd that was gathered outside the city council.A. break outB. break downC. break offD. break up28. Officials at the grass-roots level are expected to care about the daily lives of local people.A. superiorB. intermediateC. fundamentalD. utmost29. There is much clinical evidence that smoking adversely and irreversibly affects human health.A. unfavorablyB. chronicallyC. temporarilyD. sentimentally30. After the students put up Christmas decorations, the classroom assumed a holiday appearance.A. took upB. took inC. took toD. took onSection B (0.5 point each)Directions: There are ten questions in this section. Each question is a sentence with something missing. Below each sentence are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D.Choose one word or phrase that best completes the sentence. Mark the correspondingletter with a single bar across the square brackets on your machine-scored AnswerSheet.31. The nuclear industry produces radioactive waste ________ contaminated items like clothing.A. in the event ofB. in the form ofC. at the mercy ofD. for the sake of32. It is suspected that regular use of ________ messages and email can lower one‘s IQ.A. testB. textureC. textD. textile33. Some cancers are ________ to be cured if detected in the early stage and treated without delay.A. possibleB. easyC. worthD. likely34. This high school is well-located, where the ________ of teachers to students is excellent.A. ratioB. proportionC. percentageD. rate35. Jeff realized that he would have no personal life without his daughter; everything he did________ round her.A. involvedB. evolvedC. revolvedD. resolved36. Mr. Stevens managed to ________ his business by cell phone while he was in the hospital.A. give way toB. keep track ofC. be skeptical aboutD. come up with37. It is generally believed that ________ behavior is quite commonplace in the streets of Beijing.A. incompetentB. inexhaustibleC. inestimableD. indecent38. There is evidence that fish breathe in ________ much the same way as humans do.A. quiteB. fairlyC. prettyD. rather39. The presence of elements ________ iron greatly affects the physical properties of steel.A. but forB. other thanC. rather thanD. up to40. The United Kingdom ________ England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.A. comprisesB. consistsC. composesD. constitutesPART IIICLOZE TEST(10 minutes, 10 points, 1 point each)Directions: There are 10 questions in this part of the test. Read the passage through. Then, go back and choose one suitable word or phrase marked A, B, C, or D for each blank inthe passage. Mark the corresponding letter of the word or phrase you have chosenwith a single bar across the square brackets on your machine-scored Answer Sheet.Small business owners can sometimes feel like it‘s a dog-eat-dog world out there. If you fall behind, even ___41___, a more tech-shrewd business with greater resources could appear from nowhere and take your customers. But competition among businesses does not ___42___ mean war. ___43___ viewing other companies only as competitors, business owners should look at them as potential collaborators. Collaboration is ___44___ to every business, as there are so many opportunities out there for businesses to work together to exchange ideas and increase purchasing ___45___.There are plenty of ways that small business owners can use the neighbor principle and collaborate to ___46___ mutual growth. An independent Web development company can offer their website design services to other local businesses ___47___ a link back on the homepage. Small businesses with similar inventory needs can combine their orders to receive ___48___ wholesale prices. An entertainment company can host an event at a restaurant in town to bring in business ___49___ marketing its own services. These real-life examples from win-win users prove that working for and with other small businesses can be more powerful than ___50___ them.41. A. in the past B. at your disposal C. for a moment D. on your own42. A. necessarily B. hardly C. solely D. infinitely43. A. Because of B. Apart from C. As for D. Instead of44. A. vicious B. vital C. vocational D. vacant45. A. strength B. force C. might D. power46. A. come about B. bring about C. look about D. inquire about47. A. in exchange for B. in relation to C. in comparison with D. in case of48. A. discouraged B. dissatisfied C. dismissed D. discounted49. A. while B. unless C. if D. though50. A. working out B. working up C. working against D. working onPART IVREADING COMPREHENSION(45 minutes, 30 points, 1 point each)Directions: In this part of the test, there are five short passages. Read each passage carefully, and then do the questions that follow. Choose the best answer from the four choices givenand mark the corresponding letter with a single bar across the square brackets on yourmachine-scored Answer Sheet.Passage OneHospitals are packed full of valuable information about patients, but doctors often struggle to use it effectively. A London-based start-up wants to change all that with a new suite of iPad apps called Medopad.The idea is to link up every data-making system and machine in a hospital to a central service which can deliver the collection of a patient‘s records – from historical medical files to X-ray and scans –at the touch of a doctor‘s iPad.A number of Medopad apps help doctors utilize this data. For example, one app broadcasts the readings from a patient‘s heart monitor to their doctor‘s iPad screen, so a check-up can be carried out from anywhere in the hospital building. Another app uses voice-recognition to letdoctors create written notes on patients just by speaking.For BMI Healthcare, Medopad could be about to transform how their doctors work. BMI has been piloting the software and testing integration with its hospitals‘ existing databases and is now deciding whether to roll it out for use with actual patients. ―It‘s intuitive, and it kind of works the way doctors think,‖ says group medical director, Mark Ferreira.With Medopad in place, doctors will be able to refer cases to one another for a second opinion from within the app suite. Photos of a patient‘s visible symptoms can be taken using an iPad and shared, for example. Another Medopad app features integration with the Google Glass headset, which allows up to five clinicians to collaborate in real time, take pictures and share them, and access a patient‘s records simultaneously. A pathology app can even do some analytical work for doctors, with abnormal blood-test results flagged automatically.The system has a number of security features. For example, it can be set up so that when a doctor‘s device physically leaves the hospital network, patient data will no longer be available on it.Doctors and patients alike should benefit from this kind of system, says Stevan Wing, who co-hosts a podcast on medical apps called The Digital Doctor. ―If you increase the doctor‘s information as well as their ability to share it with patients and make joint decisions, then I think the qualit y of care must improve,‖ he says.Charles Lowe, president of the Telemedicine and eHealth section at the Royal Society of Medicine in London, has been following Medopad‘s progress. ―It‘s going to speed up treatment,‖ he says.51. As used in this passage, the word ―app‖ probably means ________.A. an advertisement about medical facilitiesB. a mobile phone with special functionsC. a website that supplies medical dataD. a computer program or a piece of software52. The biggest advantage of Medopad lies in ________.A. improving access to the InternetB. reducing the medical cost at a hospitalC. effective use of information on patientsD. quick exchange of data between hospitals53. It can be concluded from Paragraph 4 that BMI Healthcare ________.A. has started to use Medopad clinicallyB. is using Medopad on a trial basisC. has changed the way doctors workD. knows what each doctor thinks via Medopad54. As said in Paragraph 5, Medopad can help doctors to do the following EXCEPT ________.A. to test the blood of patients for abnormalitiesB. to take and share photos of patients‘ symptomsC. to use a patient‘s information at the same timeD. to ask for the opinion from another doctor55. The last two paragraphs suggest that doctors are likely to ________ Medopad.A. welcomeB. fearC. opposeD. improve56. The central idea of this passage is that ________.A. iPads will replace doctors in future healthcareB. iPads will be readily available in many hospitalsC. doctors with iPads could transform hospital careD. Medopad will be of financial benefit to patientsPassage TwoIn 1919 the Hotel Pennsylvania, in New York, opened its first restaurant, with offerings notable for their descriptive simplicity: ―lamb,‖ ―potatoes: boiled,‖ and so on. Nearly 100 years later, the Statler Grill, one of the hotel‘s current restaurants, offers updated takes, from a ―lollipop Colorado lamb chop‖ to ―buttered mashed potatoes.‖You needn‘t be a linguist to note changes in the language of menus, but Stanford‘s Dan Jurafsky has written a book doing just that. In The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu, Jurafsky describes how he and some colleagues analyzed a database of 6,500 restaurant menus describing 650,000 dishes from across the U.S. Among their findings: fancy restaurants, not surprisingly, use fancier—and longer—words than cheaper restaurants do. Jurafsky writes that ―every increase of one letter in the average length of words describing a dish is associated with an increase of 69 cents in the price of that dish.‖Lower-priced restaurants, meanwhile, rely on ―linguistic fillers‖: su bjective words like delicious, unique, and soft. These are the empty calories of menus, less indicative of flavor than of low prices. Cheaper establishments also use terms like ripe and fresh, which Jurafsky calls ―status anxiety‖ words. Thomas Keller‘s Pe r Se, after all, would never use fresh—that much is taken for granted—but Subway would. Per Se does, however, engage in the trendy habit of adding provenance to descriptions of ingredients (Island Creek oysters, Frog Hollow‘s peaches). According to Jurafsk y, very expensive restaurants ―mention the origins of the food more than 15 times as often as inexpensive restaurants.‖Already, provenance-oriented menu language is spreading outward from the finer restaurants to the Subways and Applebee‘s of the world. T he first business to take provenance seriously was Chipotle, says the food developer Barb Stuckey. (―They‘ve always menuedNiman Ranch pork.‖) In turn, high-end food supplier may head in a different direction. ―As this stuff trickles down, the rich need a way to be different again,‖ says Jurafsky, who notes the flourishing menu trend of extreme minimalism, seen at the Michelin-starred San Francisco spot Saison, where the set price starts at $248 and the menu comes after the meal, as a souvenir. In some ways, this is ―a return to 200 years ago, when you‘d say, ‗Give me dinner,‘ and they‘d just give you what they‘d cooked,‖ Jurafsky says.57. What does Dan Jurafsky find out about the language of menus?A. More expensive restaurants tend to use simple words in their menus.B. Cheaper restaurants tend to use longer words in their menus.C. The longer the words in the menu, the more expensive the dishes.D. The shorter the words in the menu, the more expensive the dishes.58. What does Dan Jurafsky t hink of the words like ―delicious‖ and ―fresh‖ in the menu?A. They indicate high quality of the food.B. They are hollow words of little value.C. They are more than necessary in the menu.D. They will be out of fashion sooner or later.59. T he underlined word ―provenance‖ (Para. 3) probably refers to ________.A. the calorie count of the foodB. the special flavor of the foodC. the source of the foodD. the way the food is made60. Which of the following is probably the most expensive restaurant?A. Subway.B. Per Se.C. Chipotle.D. Applebee.61. As stated in the last paragraph, the latest menu trend is ________.A. simplicityB. creativityC. practicalityD. extravagance62. What is the major topic of the passage?A. A comparison of various menus.B. The messages hidden in a menu.C. Dish price and menu trend.D. The evolution of menu language.Passage ThreeIt is impossible to confidently predict what will happen should Scotland decide to declare independence. But some factors will come into play.The first is an unavoidable fact of life: we are all getting older. Developed nations are set to struggle with the effects of an ageing population over the next 50 years, but population projections suggest the impact will be felt even harder in Scotland. The problem for Scotland is that its under-65 population will shrink while its over-65s increase, putting big pressure on public finances.The Scottish government says independence will allow the nation to pursue a very different immigration strategy to the rest of the UK. But if working-age migrants don‘t come as hoped, Scotland will find it more difficult to support its ageing population. Things get worse when North Sea oil and gas are taken into account. ―Oil revenues will almost certainly fall over the longer term,‖ says David Phillips at the IFS. ―If it takes decades, that would give Scotland time to adjust, although it would still involve some potentially painful choices.‖Addressing the shortfall in revenues will mean higher taxes or a fall in living standards –something Scotland can ill afford: life expectancy is already 2.3 years lower for Scottish men than those in the rest of the UK. The difference is particularly striking in Glasgow. ―Health isScotland‘s Achilles‘ heel,‖ sa ys Gerry McCartney of NHS Scotland. And it‘s a relatively recent phenomenon.The Scottish government says a vote for independence will reduce inequality. But a study suggests that new Scottish powers to increase taxes or benefits may have little effect. That‘s because small nations can find it difficult to implement radically different policies to their larger neighbors: people can simply decide to cross the border in search of lower taxes, for example. This is particularly problematic when it comes to funding pensions, which depend on a thriving workforce. ―Raising tax rates to provide pensions could be a self-defeating policy if it leads to mass departure of workers,‖ says Comerford.The voting age for the Scottish referendum has been lowered to 16 from the normal UK voting age of 18, to let teenagers have a say in their country‘s future. If independence goes wrong, a youthful yes vote could prove a big mistake.63. It can be inferred from Paragraph 2 that ________.A. Scotland will soon have a much smaller populationB. an ageing population will be a big trouble for ScotlandC. elders will make up more than half of Scottish populationD. independence will add to the ageing population64. The author believes that revenues from oil ________.A. will fall dramatically in a short timeB. have nothing to do with living standardsC. will make little difference to elders‘ lifeD. are critical to supportingthe ageing population65. The expression ―Achilles‘ heel‖ u sed in Paragraph 4 probably means ________.A. an vulnerable spotB. a big advantageC. a source of prideD. a future problem66. The underlined sentence in Paragraph 5 implies that ________.A. higher tax rates can provide enough pensionsB. raising tax rates will help win independenceC. tax rates are subject to change if necessaryD. increasing taxes may possibly harm the workforce67. The author seems to ________ the potential declaration of independence by Scotland.A. completely supportB. strongly opposeC. be concerned overD. be neutral about68. A proper title for this passage might be ________A. It Is Time That Scotland Declared Independence.B. Scotland: What if Independence Goes Horribly Wrong?C. Independence – Both a Blessing and a Curse.D. What‘s the Best Way to WinIndependence in Scotland?Passage FourDolphins are believed to have succeeded where mainstream physicians have not. The long-standing myth about the extraordinary powers of dolphins as healers has been passed down from the first written records of encounters with these animals. Much of our attraction to these animals derives from their so-called combination of intelligence and communications skills.Dolphin-assisted therapy (DAT) typically involves several sessions of customers swimming or interacting with captive dolphins, along with performing more conventional therapeutic tasks such as puzzle solving and motor-skills exercises. The standard price of DAT sessions, whose practitioners are not required by law to receive any special training or certification, is steep, reaching into thousands of dollars. DAT practitioners say that the sessions are particularly successful in treating depression and motor disorders in addition to childhood autism. But DAT can sometimes be less honestly advertised as being an effective treatment for everything from cancer to infections and development delays.Even when they don‘t promise any complete cure, DAT facilities market themselves as offering real therapy. They often use technology that suggests scientific legitimacy. But true therapy must have a relationship to a specific condition and result in quantifiable effects. While there are some published studies claiming to demonstrate positive results from DAT, few include a control group, which would help measure whether general, short-term results are due to interacting with the dolphins or caused by other factors, like being in the water, being given tasks, receiving increased attention from other people.The loved ones of children with autism and other people who appear to benefit from DAT tend to accept these explanations as scientifically sound. And even those suspicious of DAT may ask, ―What‘s the harm if a child who typically experiences little enjoyment and accomplishment fin ds some happiness and connection with dolphins?‖The sad fact is that they are being harmed –along with the humans who believe in them. Captive dolphins spend their lives under tremendous stress, as they struggle to adapt to environments different from the wild. Unlike their natural habitats, the shallow pools are only six feet deep and 24 feet long, filled with chemicals but empty of plants, sand, and other forms of life. The outcome of this treatment is devastating. Dolphins in the wild can live 30 or 50 years, but captive ones are prone to a much shorter lifespan and other stress-and immune-related diseases.69. Paragraph 1 reveals the author‘s ________.A. admiration for dolphins as healersB. faith in the therapeutic effect of dolphinsC. disbelief in the healing effect of dolphinsD. intense resentment to dolphins70. Which of the following is true about DA T?A. DAT is sometimes advertised in a misleading manner.B. DAT sessions are cheap enough to be popularized.C. DAT practitioners need special training before work.D. DAT doesn‘t involve conventional therapeutic tasks.71. In Paragraph 3, the author expresses doubt about ________.A. the availability of DAT facilitiesB. the allegedly negative effect of DATC. the real intention of DAT criticsD. the reliability of results of studies on DAT72. This passage implies that many people are________.A. indifferent to the benefit of DATB. unaware of the harm to captive dolphinsC. concerned about the captive dolphinsD. quite justified in receiving DAT73. The author believes that captivity ________.A. keeps most dolphins healthy and happyB. leaves dolphins unhealthy and unhappyC. can contribute to protection of dolphinsD. causes dolphins to do harm to humans74. The central idea of this passage is that ________.A. dolphin-assisted therapy is quite effective for some diseasesB. captive dolphins have a shorter lifespan than those in the wildC. dolphins are lovely animals worthy of careful protectionD. the belief that dolphins can heal is actually an illusionPassage FiveBack in the 1950s and ‗60s, an American woman typically planned on getting her degree and getting properly married upon graduation. Sometimes she would work to support her new husband until he got his next degree and was well started in a job; but after that, with so few exceptions, the wife stayed at home raising the children.But a new study shows that that rock of experience upon which we built our families and our moral lives is crumbling beneath us. The majority of women are no longer in the home; men are slowly giving up their previous workplaces to their wives. Four in ten American households with children under 18 now include a mother who is either the sole or primary earner for her family. It is the record-high share of working women in this position, having quadrupled since 1960.―While most of these families are headed by single mothers, a growing number are married mothers who bring in more income than their husbands,‖ according to the study. But single mother ―providers‖ are at a severe disadvantage. They earn an average of $23,000 and are likely to be young or black, and to have a lower level of education than married women breadwinners, whose family income averages $80,000.In 1960, only 4 percent of single mothers had never been married; today that figure is 44 percent. Meanwhile, 40 percent of all births are to single mothers. The figure is 80 percent in the African-American community.These changes also date back to the 1960s, when the United States allowed its greedy corporations to locate their offices and factories overseas so as not to pay taxes. Working-classjobs for men started disappearing. As ―globalization was good,‖ factories might move to Chengdu or Jakarta, but the U.S. would come out of the turmoil by becoming a ―service economy.‖But no one ever suggested how strong former steelworkers would transform overnight into a doorkeeper at the Plaza or sell a trip to Bhutan to a choosy lady at a travel agency. There is no embarrassment in saying that we are not all fit for all jobs.But above all, I think of culture. Women were always the culture-carriers and the nurturing sex. Today, I look around and see America‘s popular culture degrading, and I yearn for some motherliness in our society. Who will take those roles?75. It can be learned from the first paragraph that in the 1950‘s or 60‘s ________.A. men started to work at a younger age than womenB. women were mostly better-educated than their husbandsC. the husband normally became the sole breadwinnerD. most women got married before they finished college76. The underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 probably means that ________.A. the divorce rate is getting increasingly high in the United StatesB. partnerships or relationships are improving in American familiesC. our families and moral lives are undergoing tremendous changesD. living costs are becoming unbearably high for American couples77. Which of the following is true according to this passage?A. About 10% of breadwinners with children under 18 were women in 1960.B. Most families in the United States depend on the wife for a living.C. Globalization has put more women out of work in the United States.D. 80 percent of the mothers are single in the African-American community.78. Paragraph 6 implies that ________.A. men can switch to another job easilyB. sometimes men can‘t find a suitable jobC. women are more adaptable than menD. a woman can do different jobs equally well79. The author believes that the high rate of employment among women ________.A. has nothing to do with the trend of globalizationB. shows the superiority of women over menC. can contribute to the happiness of a familyD. has negative effects on the U.S. culture80. A proper title of this passage might be ________A. For Better or Worse, Women‘s Roles Are Changing.B. Why the Rate of Unemployment Is High among Males?C. A Closer Look at Relations between Marriage and Income.D. The Impact of Globalization on Women‘s Education.。
