英语专八真题与答案

英语专八考试试题及参考答案英语专八考试试题及参考答案试卷是接受考试者学习情况而设定的并规定在一定时间内必须完成的试题。

一般是有老师集体讨论决定出的试卷，下面店铺为大家收集有关英语专八考试试题及参考答案，供大家参考。

英语专八考试试题及参考答案篇1第一部分听力测试（共25分）一、听句子选择图片。

共5小题，计5分。

A B CD E F 1， 2， 3， 4， 5，二、听对话回答问题。

共10小题，计10分。

请听第一段对话，回答第6小题。

6，How does the man keep in touch with（保持联系）his old friends?A. By sending e-mailsB. By meeting each other.C. By talking on the Internet. 请听第二段对话，回答第7小题。

7，What’s the man going to do this weekend?A.Chat online.B. Buy a computer.C. T ake classes.请听第三段对话，回答第8小题。

8，When did the boy use to play soccer?A. In the morning.B.At noon.C.After school.请听第四段对话，回答第9和10小题。

9，What’s Tom’s problem?A. His parents fought last night.B. He fought with his father last night.C. He fought with his brother last night.10,What’s Linda’s advice for Tom?A.Talking with his teacher.B.Talking with his friend.C.Talking with his parents. 请听第五段对话，回答第11和12小题。

2023年英语专八真题一、阅读理解题目一阅读下面的短文，并根据短文后的问题选择正确答案。

One of the most fascinating aspects of human nature is our ability to communicate through language. Language is not only a means of transmitting information, but it also reflects our culture and identity. English, as a global language, plays an important role in international communication.In the future, the demand for English proficiency will continue to grow. As technology advances and the world becomes more interconnected, English will be the common language used in various domains, such as business, travel, and education. Therefore, it is crucial for individuals to develop excellent English skills in order to be competitive in the job market.To improve English proficiency, individuals can take advantage of various resources and strategies. First of all, it is important to expose oneself to authentic English materials, such as books, movies, and news. This will help individuals get familiar with the natural rhythms and expressions of the language. Additionally, interactive language-learning platforms, such as language exchange programs and online courses, can provide a supportive environment for practicing English skills.Moreover, communication plays a vital role in language development. Engaging in conversations with native English speakers or participating in English-speaking activities can greatly enhance one’s oral communication skills. It is also beneficial to join English clubs or communities, where individuals can interact with like-minded people and exchange ideas in English.In conclusion, English proficiency is becoming increasingly important in the globalized world. By utilizing various resources, strategies, and opportunities for practice, individuals can enhance their English skills and become proficient in the language.根据短文内容，回答以下问题：1.What is one of the most fascinating aspects ofhuman nature?(A)Our ability to communicate through language.(B)Our ability to adapt to new environments.(C)Our ability to solve complex mathematical problems.(D)Our ability to predict the future.答案：A2.Why is it crucial for individuals to develop excellentEnglish skills?(A)English is the most widely spoken language in the world.(B)English is the official language of most countries.(C)English proficiency is necessary for success in the job market.(D)English is the language of science and technology.答案：C3.What is one strategy mentioned in the passage to improve English proficiency?(A)Learning from textbooks.(B)Watching movies in English.(C)Memorizing grammar rules.(D)Writing essays in English.答案：B4.How can individuals enhance their oral communication skills?(A)Joining English clubs or communities.(B)Reading English literature.(C)Studying English vocabulary.(D)Taking online courses.答案：A题目二阅读下面的短文，并根据短文后的问题选择正确答案。

专八听力考试题及答案1. 听下面一段对话，回答以下问题：(1) 男人为什么去图书馆？(2) 女人建议男人做什么？答案：(1) 男人去图书馆是为了借阅一本关于历史的书籍。

(2) 女人建议男人可以在网上查找相关信息。

2. 根据所听短文，完成下列句子：(1) The speaker mentioned that ________ is the most important aspect of a successful business.(2) According to the speaker, ________ can significantly impact the growth of a company.答案：(1) innovation is the most important aspect of a successful business.(2) employee satisfaction can significantly impact the growth of a company.3. 听下面一段新闻报道，回答以下问题：(1) What is the main topic of the news?(2) What measures are being taken to address the issue?答案：(1) The main topic of the news is the increasing pollution levels in major cities.(2) The government is implementing stricter emission standards for vehicles to address the issue.4. 根据所听讲座内容，回答以下问题：(1) What is the speaker's opinion on the role oftechnology in education?(2) What example does the speaker give to illustrate the point?答案：(1) The speaker believes that technology can greatly enhance the learning experience in education.(2) The speaker gives the example of using interactive software in classrooms to make lessons more engaging.5. 听下面一段对话，完成下列句子：(1) The woman is planning to ________ for her vacation.(2) The man suggests ________ as a possible destination.答案：(1) The woman is planning to go hiking for her vacation.(2) The man suggests visiting the national park as a possible destination.6. 根据所听短文，回答以下问题：(1) What is the main reason for the decline in the population of the species discussed?(2) What conservation efforts are mentioned in the article?答案：(1) The main reason for the decline in the population is habitat loss due to urban development.(2) The conservation efforts mentioned includeestablishing protected areas and raising public awareness.7. 听下面一段对话，回答以下问题：(1) Why is the woman upset?(2) What does the man offer to do?答案：(1) The woman is upset because she missed her flight.(2) The man offers to help her rebook another flight.8. 根据所听讲座内容，完成下列句子：(1) The speaker argues that ________ is crucial for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.(2) The speaker also mentions that ________ can lead to various health issues.答案：(1) The speaker argues that regular exercise is crucialfor maintaining a healthy lifestyle.(2) The speaker also mentions that a sedentary lifestyle can lead to various health issues.9. 听下面一段新闻报道，回答以下问题：(1) What is the main focus of the news report?(2) What is the current status of the situation?答案：(1) The main focus of the news report is the ongoing negotiations between two countries.(2) The current status of the situation is that both sides have agreed to continue talks next month.10. 根据所听对话，回答以下问题：(1) What is the man's opinion about the new restaurant?(2) What does the woman think about the food?答案：(1) The man's opinion about the new restaurant is that it is overpriced.(2) The woman thinks the food is delicious but not worth the high price.。

英语专八试卷真题及答案 Revised final draft November 26, 20202004年英语专八试卷真题及答案PART Ⅰ LISTENING COMPREHENSIONSECTION A TALKLanguage is used for doing things. People use it in everyday conversation for transacting business, planning meals and vacations, debating politics, and gossiping. Teachers use it for instructing students, and comedians use it for amusing audiences. All these are instances of language use - that is activities in which people do things with language. As we can see, language use is really a form of joint action.What is joint action I think it is an action that is carried out by a group of people doing things in coordination with each other. As simple examples, think of two people waltzing, or playing a piano duet. When two dancers waltz, they each move around the ballroom in a special way. But waltzing is different from the sum of their individual actions. Can you imagine these two dancers doing the same steps, but in separate rooms, or at separate times So waltzing is, in fact, the joint action that emerges as the two dancers do their individual steps in coordination, as a couple.Similarly, doing things with language is also different from the sum of the speaker speaking and the listener listening. It is the joint action that emerges when speakers and listeners, or writers and readers, perform their individual actions in coordination, as ensembles. Therefore, we can say that language use incorporates bothindividual and social processes. Speakers and listeners, writers and readers, must carry out actions as individuals, if they are to succeed in their use of language. But they must also work together as participants in the social units I have called ensembles. In the example I mentioned just now, the two dancers perform both individual actions, moving their bodies, arms, and legs, and joint actions, coordinating these movements, as they create the waltz. In the past, language use has been studied as if it were entirely an individual process. And it has also been studied as if it were entirely a social process. For me, I suggest that it belongs to both. We cannot hope to understand language use without viewing it as joint actions built on individual actions. In order to explain how all these actions work,I'd like to review briefly settings of language use. By settings, I mean the scene in which language use takes place, plus the medium - which refers to whether language use is spoken or written. And inthis talk, I'll focus on spoken settings.The spoken setting mentioned most often is conversation - either face to face, or on the telephone. Conversations may be devoted to gossip, business transactions or scientific matters, but they're all characterized by the free exchange of terms among the two participants. I'll call these personal settings. Then we have what I would call nonpersonal settings. A typical example is the monologue.In monologues, one person speaks with little or no opportunity for interruption, or turns by members of the audience. Monologues come in many varieties too, as a professor lectures to a class, or a student giving a presentation to a seminar. These people speak for themselves, uttering words they formulated themselves for the audience before them, and the audience isn't expected to interrupt. In another kindof setting which are called institutional settings, the participantsengage in speech exchanges that look like ordinary conversation, but they are limited by institutional rules. As examples, we can think of a government official holding a news conference, a lawyercross questioning a witness in court, or a professor directing a seminar discussion. In these settings, what is said is more or less spontaneous, even though turns at speaking are allocated by a leader, or are restricted in other ways.The person speaking isn't always the one whose intentions are being expressed. We have the clearest examples in fictional settings. Vivian Leigh plays Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone with the Wind", Frank Sinatra sings a love song in front of a live audience, the speakers are each vocalizing words composed by someone else - for instance a playwright or a composer - and are openly pretending to be expressing opinions that aren't necessarily their own. Finally there are private settings when people speak for themselves without actually addressing anyone else, for example, I might explain silently to myself, or talk to myself about solving a research problem, or rehearsing what I'm about to say in a seminar tomorrow. What I say isn't intended to be recognized by other people, it is only of use to myself. These are the features of private settings.SECTION B TALKW: Good evening, I'm Nancy Johnson. The guest on our radio talk this evening is Professor Wang Gongwu. Hello, Professor Wang.M: Hello.W: Professor Wang, you're now professor emeritus of Australia National University, and in your long academic career, you've wornmany hats as tutor, lecturer, department head, dean, professor, and vice chancellor. However, as I know, you're still very fond of your university days as a student.M: That's right. That was in 1949. The university that I went to was a brand new university then, and the only one in the country at that time. When I look back, it was an amazingly small university, and we knew everybody.W: How did the students like you, for example, study thenM: We didn't study very hard, because we didn't have to. We didn't have all this fantastic competition that you have today. Mmm. We were always made to feel that getting a first degree in the Arts faculty was not preparation for a profession. It was a general education. We were not under any pressure to decide on our careers, and we had such a good time. We were left very much on our own, and we were encouraged to make things happen.W: What do you see as the most striking difference in university education since thenM: University education has changed dramatically since those days. Things are very specialized today.W: Yes, definitely so. And, in your subsequent career experience as an educator and later administrator in various institutions of higher education in Asia and elsewhere, Professor Wang, you have repeatedlynoted that one has to look at the development of education in one particular country in a broad context. What do you mean by thatM: Well, the whole world has moved away from elite education in universities to meet the needs of mass education, and entering universities is no longer a privilege for the few. And universities today are more concerned with providing jobs for their graduates in a way that universities in our time never had to be bothered about. Therefore, the emphasis of university programs today is now on the practical and the utilitarian, rather than on a general education or on personal development.W: Do you think that is a welcome developmentM: Well, I personally regret this development. But the basicbachelor's education now has to cater to people who really need a piece of paper to find a decent job.W: So you're concerned about this development.M: Yes, I'm very concerned. With technical changes, many of the things that you learn are technical skills, which don't require you to become very well educated. Yet, if you can master those skills, you can get very good jobs. So the technical institutions are going to be increasingly popular at the expense of traditional universitites.W: Professor Wang, let's look at a different issue. How do you comment on the current phenomenon because of the fees they payM: Well, once you accept students on financial grounds, one wonders whether you have to pass them as well. But this is the development in education that we have to contend with. Yet, if we are concerned about maintaining standards, what we can do is to concentrate on improving the quality of education.W: Yes, you're right. A university is judged by the quality of education it offers. Professor Wang, let's turn to the future. What type of graduates, in your view, to universities of the future need to produce, if they are to remain relevantM: I think their graduates must be able to shift from one profession to another, because they are trained in a very independent way. If you can do that, you raise the level of the flexibility of the mind. Today's rapid changes in technology demand this adaptability. And you see the best universities in the world are already trying to guarantee that their students will not only be technically trained, but will be the kind of people that can adapt to any changing situation.W: I guess many people would agree with you on that point. University education should focus on both personal and professional development of students. But still some might believe there is a definite place for education in a broader sense - that is, in personal intellectual development.M: No doubt about that. We need people who will think about the future, about the past, and also people who will think about society.If a society doesn't have philosophers, or people who think about the value of life, it's a very sad society indeed.W: Professor Wang, my last question: do you see any common ground in education between your generation and the young generation nowM: Adapting to new challenges is perhaps the true cornerstone of our generation's legacy to education. And the future of education in a country rests not so much on the construction of better buildings, labs, etc., but in the development of an ever adaptable mind.W:That's true. The essence of education is the education of the mind. Okay, thank you very much, Professor Wang, for talking to us on the show about the changing trends in education.M: You're welcomeSECTION CA new data shows that the global AIDS pandemic will cause a sharp drop in life expectancy in dozens of countries, in some cases, declines of three decades. Several nations are losing a century's progress in extending the length of life. Nations in every part of the world, 51 in all, are suffering declining life expectancies because of an increasing prevalence of HIV infection. The increase is occurring in Asia, Latin America, and the Carribbean, but is greatest in sub Saharan Africa, a region with only 10% of the world's population but 70% of the world's HIV infections. Seven African countries have life expectancies of less than 40 years. For example, in Botswana, where 39% of the adult population is infected with HIV,life expectancy is 39 years. But by 2010, it will be less than 27 years. Without AIDS, it would have been 44 years. Life expectancy throughout the Carribbean and some Central American nations will drop into the 60's by 2010, when they would otherwise have been in the70's without AIDS. In Cambodia and Burma, they are predicted to decline to around 60 years old, to what otherwise would have been in the mid 60's. Even in countries where the number of new infections is dropping, such as Thailand, Uganda, and Senegal, small life expectancy drop is forecast. Back in the early 1990's, we never would have suspected that population growth would have turned negative because of AIDS mortality. In less than 10 years, we expect that 5 countries will be experiencing negative population growth because of AIDS mortality, including South Africa, Mozambique, Lesotho, Botswana and Swaziland.Questions 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.The European Union has drafted alist of US products to be hit with import taxes in retaliation for tariffs the United States has imposed on European steel. EU member governments will review the list before the EU submits it to the World Trade Organization, which arbitrates international trade disputes. EU officials will not say which American products will be hit by the EU sanctions. But diplomats monitoring the most recent trans Atlantic trade dispute say they include textiles and steel products.Earlier this month, the Bush administration imposed tariffs of up to 30 percent on some steel imports, including European products.The EU has appealed to the World Trade Organization to get those duties overturned. But a WTO decision on the matter could take up to a year or more. EU officials say that, under WTO rules, the EU has the right to impose retaliatory measures in June. But they saythe United States can avoid the EU's possible countermeasures if it pays more than two billion dollars in compensation to the EU for imposing the steel tariffs in the first place. The officials say Washington could also escape retaliation by lowering U.S. import duties on other EU products. The Bush administration says it will not pay compensation.SECTION D TALKGood morning. Today's lecture will focus on how to make people feel at ease in conversations. I guessall of you sitting here can recall certain people who just seem to make you feel comfortable when they are around. You spend an hour with them and feel as if you've known them half your life. These people who have that certain something that makes us feel comfortable have something in common, and once we know what that is, we can go about getting some of that something for ourselves. How is it done Here are some of the skills that good talkers have. If you follow the skills, they will help you put people at their ease, make them feel secure, and comfortable, and turn acquaintances into friends. First of all, good talkers ask questions. Almost anyone, no matter how shy, will answer a question. In fact, according to my observation, very shy persons are often more willing to answer questions than extroverts. They are more concerned that someone will think them impolite if they don't respond to the questions. So most skillful conversationalists recommend starting with a question that is personal, but not harmful. For example, once a famous American TV presenter got a long and fascinating interview from a notoriously private billionaire by asking him about his first job. Another example, one prominent woman executive confesses that at business lunches, "I always ask people what they did that morning. It's a dull question, but it gets things going." From there, you can move on to other matters, sometimes to really personal questions. Moreover, howyour responder answers will let you know how far you can go. A few simple catchwords like "Really" "Yes" are clear invitations to continue talking. Second, once good talkers have asked questions,they listen for answers. This point seems obvious, but it isn't in fact. Making people feel comfortable isn't simply a matter of making idle conversation. Your questions have a point. You're really asking, "What sort of person are you" and to find out, you have to really listen. There are at least three components of real listening. Forone thing, real listening means not changing the subject. If someone sticks to one topic, you can assume that he or she is reallyinterested in it. Another component of real listening is listeningnot just to words but to tones of voice. I once mentioned D.H. Lawrence to a friend. To my astonishment, she launched into an academic discussion of the imagery in Lawrence's works. Midway through, I listened to her voice. It was, to put it mildly, unanimated, and it seemed obvious that the imagery monologue was intended solely for my benefit, and I quickly changed the subject. At last, real listening means using your eyes as well as your ears. When your gaze wanders, it makes people think they're boring your, or what they are saying is not interesting. Of course, you don't have to stare, or glare at them. Simply looking attentive will make most people think that you think they're fascinating. Next, good talkers are not afraid to laugh. If you think of all the people you know who make you feel comfortable, you may notice that all of them laugh a lot. Laughter is not only warming and friendly, it's also a good wayto ease other people's discomfort. I have a friend who might enjoy watching at gathering of other people who do not know each other well. The first few minutes of talk are a bit uneasy and hesitant, for the people involved do not yet have a sense of each other. Invariably, alight comment or joke is made, and my friend's easy laughter appears like sunshine in the conversation. There is always then a visible softening that takes place. Other people smile, and loosen in response to her laughter, and the conversation goes on with more warmth and ease.Finally, good talkers are onces who cement a parting. That is, they know how to make use of parting as a way to leave adeep impression on others. Last impressions are just as important as first impressions in determining how a new acquaintance will remember you. People who make others really feel comfortable take advantage of that parting moment to close the deal. Men have had it easier. They have done it with a smile, and a good firm handshake. What about women then Over the last several years, women have started to take over that custom well between themselves or with men. If you'resaying goodbye, you might want to give him or her a second extra hand squeeze. It's a way to say, I really enjoyed meeting you. But it'snot all done with body language. If you've enjoyed being with someone, if you want to see that person again, don't keep it a secret. Let people know how you feel, and they may walk away feeling as ifthey've known you half their life. Okay, just to sum up. Today, we've talked about four ways to make people feel at ease in conversations. These skills are important in keeping conversations going, and in forming friendships later on. Of course, these skills are by no means the only ones we can use. the list is much longer. I hope you willuse these four skills, and discover more on your own in your conversations with other people. Now you have two minutes to check your notes, and then please complete the 15 minute gap filling taskon Answer Sheet One.This is the end of listening comprehension.试题Part Ⅰ Listening Comprehension (40 min)In Sections A,B and C you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Mark the correct answer to each question on your colored answer sheet.SECTION A TALKQuestions 1 to 5 refer to the talk in this section. At the end of the talk you will be given 75 seconds to answer the questions. Now listen to the talk.1. The parallel between waltzing and language use lies in ____.A. the coordination based on individual actionsB. the number of individual participantsC. the necessity of individual actionsD. the requirements for participants2. In the talk the speaker thinks that language use is a(n) ____ process.A. individualB. combinedC. distinctD. social3. The main difference between personal and non-personal settings is in ____.A. the manner of language useB. the topic and content of speechC. the interactions between speaker and audienceD. the relationship between speaker and audience4. In fictional settings, speakers ____.A. hide their real intentionsB. voice others' intentionsC. play double roles on and off stageD. only imitate other people in life5. Compared with other types of settings, the main feature of private setting is ____.A. the absence of spontaneityB. the presence of individual actionsC. the lack of real intentionsD. the absence of audienceSECTION B INTERVIEWQuestions 6 to 10 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will be given 75 seconds to answer the questions. Now listen to the interview.6. What was education like in Professor Wang's daysA. Students worked very hard.B. Students felt they needed a second degree.C. Education was not career－oriented.D. There were many specialized subjects.7. According to Professor Wang, what is the purpose of the present－day educationA. To turn out an adequate number of elite for the society.B. To prepare students for their future career.C. To offer practical and utilitarian courses in each programme.D. To set up as many technical institutions as possible.8. In Professor Wang's opinion, technical skills ____.A. require good educationB. are secondary to educationC. don't call for good educationD. don't conflict with education9. What does Professor Wang suggest to cope with the situation caused by increasing numbers of fee-paying studentsA. Shifting from one programme to another.B. Working out ways to reduce student number.C. Emphasizing better quality of education.D. Setting up stricter examination standards.10. Future education needs to produce graduates of all the following categories EXCEPT ____.A. those who can adapt to different professionsB. those who have a high flexibility of mindC. those who are thinkers, historians and philosophersD. those who possess only highly specialized skillsSECTION C NEWS BROADCASTQuestions 11 to 13 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 45 seconds to answer the questions. Now listen to the news.11. Which of the following regions in the world will witness the sharpest drop in life expectancyA. Latin America.B. Sub Saharan Africa.C. Asia.D. The Caribbean.12. According to the news, which country will experience small life expectancy dropA. Burma.B. Botswana.C. Cambodia.D. Thailand.13. The countries that are predicted to experience negative population growth are mainly in ____ .A. Asia.B. Africa.C. Latin America.D. The Caribbean.Questions 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. The trade dispute between the European Union and the US was caused by ____. refusal to accept arbitration by WTO imposing tariffs on European steel refusal to pay compensation to EU refusal to lower import duties on EU products15. Who will be consulted first before the EU list is submitted to WTOA. EU member states.B. The United States.C. WTO.D. The steel corporations.SECTION D NOTE-TAKING AND GAP-FILLINGIn this section you will hear a mini-lecture ONCE ONLY. While listening to the lecture, take notes on the important points. Your notes will not be marked, but you will need them to complete a 15-minute gap-filling task on ANSWER SHEET ONE after the mini-lecture. Use the blank paper for note-taking. Fill in each of the gaps with one word. You may refer to your notes. Make sure the word you fill in is both grammatically and semantically acceptable.Conversation SkillsPeople who usually make us feel comfortable in conversations are good talkers. And they have something in common, i.e. skills to put people at ease.1. Skill to ask question1) be aware of the human nature: readiness to answer other's questions regardless of (1)____2) start a conversation with some personal but unharmful questions about one's (2)____ job.questions about one's activities in the (3)____3) be able to spot signals for further talk2. Skill to (4)____for answers1) don't shift from subject to subject-sticking to the same subject: signs of (5)____in conversation.2) listen to (6)____of voice - If people sound unenthusiastic, then change subject.3) use eyes and ears - steady your gaze while listening3. Skill to laughEffects of laughter:- ease people's (7)____- help start (8)____4. Skill to part1) importance: open up possibilities for future friendship or contact2) ways:- men: a smile, a (9)____- women: same as (10)____ now- how to express pleasure in meeting someone.(1) ______ (2) ______ (3) ______ (4) ______ ( 5 ) ______(6) ______ (7) ______ (8) ______ (9) ______ (10) ______PART II PROOFREADING AND ERROR CORRECTION (15 MIN)The following passage contains TEN errors. Each line contains a maximum of one error and three are free from error. In each case, only one word is involved. You should proofread the passage and correct it in the following way.For a wrong word, underline the wrong word and write the correct one in the blank provided at the end of the line.For a missing word, mark the position of the missing word with a “∧” sign and write the word you believe to be missing in the b lank provided at the end of the line.For an unnecessary word, cross out the unnecessary word with a slash “／” and put the word in the blank provided at the end of the line.If the line is correct, place a V in the blank provided at the end of the lineExampleWhen ^ art museum wants a new exhibit, (1) anIt never buys things in finished form and bangs (2) neverthem on the wall. When a natural history museum (3) vwants an exhibition, it must often build it. (4) exhibitProofread the given passage on ANSWER SHEET TWO as instructed.One of the most important non-legislative functions of the U.S Congressis the power to investigate. This power is usually delegated to committees - eitherstanding committees, special committees set for a specific(1)____purpose, or joint committees consisted of members of both houses. (2)____Investigations are held to gather information on the need forfuture legislation, to test the effectiveness of laws already passed,to inquire into the qualifications and performance of members andofficials of the other branches, and in rare occasions, to lay the (3)____groundwork for impeachment proceedings. Frequently, committeesrely outside experts to assist in conducting investigative hearings (4)____and to make out detailed studies of issues. (5)____There are important corollaries to the investigative power. Oneis the power to publicize investigations and its results. Most (6)____committee hearings are open to public and are reported (7)____widely in the mass media. Congressional investigationsnevertheless represent one important tool available to lawmakers (8)____to inform the citizenry and to arouse public interests in national issues. (9)____Congressional committees also have the power to compeltestimony from unwilling witnesses, and to cite for contemptof Congress witnesses who refuse to testify and for perjurythese who give false testimony. (10)____Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension (30 min)In this section there are four reading passages followed by a total of fifteen multiple-choice questions. Read the passages and then mark your answers on your colored answer sheet.TEXT AFarmers in the developing world hate price fluctuations. It makes it hard to plan ahead. But most of them have little choice: they sell at the price the market sets. Farmers in Europe, the U.S. and Japan are luckier: they receive massive government subsidies in the form of guaranteed prices or direct handouts. Last month U.S. President Bush signed a new farm bill that gives American farmers $190 billion over the next 10 years, or $83 billion more than they had been scheduled to get, and pushes U.S. agricultural support close to crazy European levels. Bush said the step was necessary to "promote farmer independence and preserve the farm way of life for generations". It is also designed to help the Republican Party win control of the Senate in November's mid term elections.Agricultural production in most poor countries accounts for up to 50% of GDP, compared to only 3% in rich countries. But most farmers in poor countries grow just enough for themselves and their families. Those who try exporting to the West find their goods whacked with huge tariffs or competing against cheaper subsidized goods. In 1999 the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development concluded that。

英语专业八级考试阅读试题及答案详解英语专业八级考试阅读试题及答案详解The Result of the Falling US DollarLike a ticking time bomb, the falling dollar has grabbed the attention of Japan and West Germany, forcing them to consider adopting economic polices the United States advocates. The U.S. gover____ent wants the dollar to fall because as the dollar declines in value against the yen and Deutsche mark, U.S. good bees cheaper. U.S. panies then sell more at home and abroad, and U.S. trade deficit declines. Cries for trade protection abate, and the global free-trade system is preserved.Then, the cheaper dollar makes it cheaper for many foreign investors to snap up U.S. stocks. That prompts heavy buying from abroad—especially from Japan. Also, if the trade picture is improving, that means U.S. panies eventually will be more petitive. Consequently, many investors are buying shares of export-orientedU.S. panies in anticipation of better profits in the next year or so. But that is a rather faddish notion right now; if corporate earnings are disappointing in interest rates, the stock market rally could stall.Improving U.S. petitiveness means a decline in another’s petitiveness.Japan and West Germany are verging on recession. Their export-oriented economies are facing major problems. Japan is worried about the damage the strong yen will do to Japanese trade. West Germany is also worried. Share prices in Frankfurt plummeted this past week. Bonn is thought to be considering a cut in interest rates to boost its economy.1. What is the main idea of this passage?[A] The impression of the falling U.S. dollar.[B] The result of the U.S. falling dollar.[C] The side effect of U.S. falling dollar.[D] Japan and West Germany are worried about U.S. falling dollar.2. What does the word “rally” mean.[A] prosperity. [B] decline. [C] richness. [D] import.3. Why are Japan and West Germany worried aboutthe falling dollar?[A] Because the falling dollar may cause inflation in their countries.[B] Because it may force them to sell a lot of U.S, stocks.[C] Because it may do damage to their trade.[D] Because it may make Japanese pany lesspetitive.4. If dollar-falling got out of hand, and the U.S. Federal Reserve might step in , what would happen?[A] The prosperity of the U.S. economy would disappear.[B] The U.S. economy might face serious problems.[C] Investors might lose confidence in U.S. investments.[D] Inflation could flare up.答案详解：1. B.美元下跌的结果。

专八英语考试阅读理解试题附答案专八英语考试阅读理解试题附答案Often and violates, what the people.以下是我为大家搜寻整理的专八英语考试阅读理解试题附答案，期望能给大家带来帮忙!更多精彩内容请准时关注我们应届毕业生考试网!Can electricity cause cancer? In a society that literally runs on electric power, the very idea seems preposterous. But for more than a decade, a growing band of scientists and journalists has pointed to studies that seem to link exposure to electromagnetic fields with increased risk of leukemia and other malignancies. The implications are unsettling, to say the least, since everyone comes into contact with such fields, which are generated by everything electrical, from power lines and antennas to personal computers and micro-wave ovens. Because evidence on the subject is inconclusive and often contradictory, it has been hard to decide whether concern about the health effects of electricity is legitimateor the worst kind of paranoia.Now the alarmists have gained some qualified support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In the executive summary of a new scientific review, released in draft form late last week, the EPA has put forward what amounts to the most serious government warning to date. The agency tentatively concludes that scientific evidence "suggests a casual link' between extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fieldsthose having very longwave-lengthsand leukemia, lymphoma and braincancer, While the report falls short of classifying ELF fields as probable carcinogens, it does identify the common 60-hertz magnetic field as "a possible, but not proven, cause of cancer in humans.'The report is no reason to panicor even to lost sleep. If there is a cancer risk, it is a small one. The evidence is still so controversial that the draft stirred a great deal of debate within the Bush Administration, and the EPA released it over strong objections from the Pentagon and the Whit House. But now no one can deny that the issue must be taken seriously and that much more research is needed.At the heart of the debate is a simple and well-understood physical phenomenon: When an electric current passes through a wire, tit generates an electromagnetic field that exerts forces on surrounding objects, For many years, scientists dismissed any suggestion that such forces might be harmful, primarily because they are so extraordinarily weak. The ELF magnetic field generated by a video terminal measures only a few milligauss, or about one-hundredth the strength of the earths own magnetic field, The electric fields surrounding a power line can be as high as 10 kilovolts per meter, but the corresponding field induced in human cells will be only about 1 millivolt per meter. This is far less than the electric fields that the cells themselves generate.How could such minuscule forces pose a health danger? The consensus used to be that they could not, and for decades scientists concentrated on more powerful kinds of radiation, like X-rays, that pack sufficient wallop to knock electrons outof the molecules that make up the human body. Such "ionizing' radiations have been clearly linked to increased cancer risks and there are regulations to control emissions.But epidemiological studies, which find statistical associations between sets of data, do not prove cause and effect. Though there is a body of laboratory work showing that exposure to ELF fields can have biological effects on animal tissues, a mechanism by which those effects could lead to cancerous growths has never been found.The Pentagon is for from persuaded. In a blistering 33-page critique of the EPA report, Air Force scientists charge its authors with having "biased the entire document' toward proving a link. "Our reviewers are convinced that there is no suggestion that (electromagnetic fields) present in the environment induce or promote cancer,' the Air Force concludes. "It is astonishing that the EPA would lend its imprimatur on this report.' Then Pentagons concern is understandable. There is hardly a unit of the modern military that does not depend on the heavy use of some kind of electronic equipment, from huge ground-based radar towers to the defense systems built into every warship and plane.1. The main idea of this passage is ___________[A]. studies on the cause of cancer[B]. controversial view-points in the cause of cancer[C]. the relationship between electricity and cancer.[D]. different ideas about the effect of electricity on caner.2. The view-point of the EPA is ___________[A]. there is casual link between electricity and cancer.[B]. electricity really affects cancer.[C]. controversial.[D].low frequency electromagnetic field is a possible cause of cancer3. Why did the Pentagon and Whit House object to the release of the report? Because ___________[A]. it may stir a great deal of debate among the Bush Administration.[B]. every unit of the modern military has depended on the heavy use of some kind of electronic equipment.[C]. the Pentagons concern was understandable.[D]. they had different arguments.4. It can be inferred from physical phenomenon ___________[A]. the force of the electromagnetic field is too weak tobe harmful.[B]. the force of the electromagnetic field is weaker than the electric field that the cells generate.[C]. electromagnetic field may affect health.[D]. only more powerful radiation can knock electron out of human body.5. What do you think ordinary citizens may do after reading the different arguments?[A].They are indifferent. [B]. They are worried very much.[C]. The may exercise prudent avoidance. [C]. They are shocked.Vocabulary1. preposterous 反常的，非常荒谬的，乖戾的2. leukemia 白血病3. malignancy 恶性肿瘤4. legitimate 合法的`，合理的5. paranoia 偏执狂，妄想狂。

Section B interviewin this section you will hear everything once only. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Mark the conect answer to each question on your colored answer sheet.Questions 1 to 5 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following five questions.Now listen to the following five questions.Now listen lo the interview1. According to Nigel, most problems of air travel are caused byA.Unfavorable weather conditions.B.Airports handling capacity.C.Inadequate ticketing service.D. Overbooking.2.Which of the following is not mentioned as compensation for volunteers for the next fight out?A. Free ticket.BFree phone callC. Cash rewardD. Scat reservationWhy does Nigel suggest that business travelers avoid big airports?A Because all flights in and out of there are full.B.Because the volume of traffic is heavy.C.Because there are more popular flights.D.Because there are more delays and cancellations.3.According to Nigel, inexperience travelers are likely to make the following mistakes except.A Booking on less popular flights.B.buying tickets at full price.C.carrying excessive luggage.D.planning long business trips.5. Which of the following statements is INCORRECT?A.The possibility of discounts depends on a travel agent's volume of business.B.Longer flights to the same destination maybe cheaper.C.It is advisable to plan every detail of a trip in advance.D.arranging for stopovers can avoid overnight travel.SECTION C NEWS BROACASTIn this section you will hear everything once only. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Mark the correct answer to each question on your coloured answer sheet.Question 6 is based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will bepeople's outlook on lift.A.people's life styles.B.people's living standardpeople's social values.28.Changes in pension schemes were also part ofthe corporate lay-offs.A.the government cuts in welfare spending.B.the economic restructuring.C.the warning power of labors unions.29.Thousands of employees chose Enron as their sole investment option mainly becauseThe 401 (k) made them responsible for their own future.A.Enron offered to add company stock to their investment.B.their employers intended to cut back on pension spending.C.Enron's offer was similar to a defined-benefit plan.30.Which is NOT seen as a lesson drawn from the Enron disaster?A.401(k) assets should be placed in more than one investment option.B.Employees have to take up responsibilities for themselves.C.Such events could happen again as it is not easy to change people's mind.D.Economic security won't be taken for granted by future young workers.PART HI GENERAL KNOWLEDGE (1() MIN)The majority of the current population in the UK are decedents of all the following tribes respectively EXCEPTA.the Anglosthe CeltsB.the Jutesthe Saxons31.The Head of State of Canada is represented bythe MonarchA.the Presidentthe Prime MinisterB.the Governor-generalThe Declaration of Independence was written byA.Thomas JeffersonGeorge WashingtonB.Alexander HamiltonJames Madison32.The original inhabitants of Australia werethe Red IndiansA.the Eskimosthe AboriginesB.the MaorisWhich of the following novels was written by Emily Bronte?A.Oliver TwistMiddlemarchB.Jane EyreWuthering Heights33.William Butler Yeats was a(n)poet and playwright.A.AmericanCanadianB.IrishAustralian34.Death of a Salesman was written byArthur MillerA.Ernest HemingwayRalph EllisonB.James Baldwin38.refers to the study of the internal structure of words and the rules of word formation.A.PhonologyMorphologyB.SemanticsSociolinguistics39.The distinctive features of a speech variety may be all the following EXCEPTlexicalA.syntacticphonologicalB.psycholinguisticThe word tail once referred to “the tail of a horse” , but now it is use d to mean “the tail of any animal.This is an example ofA.widening of meaningnarrowing of meaningB.meaning shiftloss of meaning英译中Scientific and technological advances are enabling us to comprehend the furthest reaches of the cosmos, the most basic constituents of matter, and the miracle of life.At the same lime, today, the actions, and inaction, of human beings imperil not only life on the planet, but the very life of the planet.Globalization is making the world smaller, faster and richer. Still, 9/11, avian flu, and Iran remind us that a smaller, faster world is not necessarily a safer world.Our world is bursting with knowledge - but desperately in need of wisdom. Now, when sound bites are getting shorter, when instant messages crowd out essays, and when individual lives grow more frenzied, college graduates capable of deep reflection are what our world needs.For all these reasons I believed - and I believe even more strongly today - in the unique and irreplaceable mission of universities.科技进步正在使我们能够探索宇宙的边陲、物质最根本的成分及生命的奇迹.与此同时，今天，人类所做的及没能做到的事情，不仅危害到这个星球上的生命，也危害到该星球的寿命。

2010英语专八真题TEST FOR ENGLISH MAJORS (2010)-GRADE EIGHT-PART I LISTENING COMPREHENSION (35 MIN)SECTION A MINI-LECTUREIn this section you will hear a mini-lecture. You will hear the lecture ONCE ONLY. While listening, take notes on the important points. Your notes will not be marked, but you will need them to complete a gap-filling task after the mini-lecture. When the lecture is over, you will be given two minutes to check your notes, and another ten minutes to complete the gap-filling task on ANSWER SHEET ONE. Use the blank sheet for note-taking.Complete the gap-filling task. Some of the gaps below may require a maximum of THREE words. Make sure the word(s) you fill in is (are) both grammatically & semantically acceptable. You may refer to your notes.Paralinguistic Features of LanguageIn face-to-face communication speakers often alter their tomes of voice or change their physical postures in order to convey messages. These means are called paralinguistic features of language, which fall into two categories.First category: vocal paralinguistic featuresA.(1)__________: to express attitude or intention (1)__________B.Examples1. whispering: need for secrecy2. breathiness: deep emotion3. (2)_________: unimportance (2)__________4. nasality: anxiety5. extra lip-rounding: greater intimacySecond category: physical paralinguistic featuresA.facial expressions1.(3)_______ (3)__________----- smiling: signal of pleasure or welcome2.less common expressions----- eye brow raising: surprise or interest----- lip biting: (4)________ (4)_________B.gesturegestures are related to culture.1.British culture----- shrugging shoulders: (5) ________ (5)__________----- scratching head: puzzlement2.other cultures----- placing hand upon heart:(6)_______ (6)__________----- pointing at nose: secretC.proximity, posture and echoing1.proximity: physical distance between speakers----- closeness: intimacy or threat----- (7)_______: formality or absence of interest (7)_________Proximity is person-, culture- and (8)________ -specific. (8)_________2.posture----- hunched shoulders or a hanging head: to indicate(9)_____ (9)________----- direct level eye contact: to express an open or challenging attitude3.echoing----- definition: imitation of similar posture----- (10)______: aid in communication (10)___________----- conscious imitation: mockerySECTION B INTERVIEWIn this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Mark the correct answer to each question on ANSWER SHEET TWO.Questions 1 to 5 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following five questions.Now listen to the interview.1. According to Dr Johnson, diversity meansA. merging of different cultural identities.B. more emphasis on homogeneity.C. embracing of more ethnic differences.D. acceptance of more branches of Christianity.2. According to the interview, which of the following statements in CORRECT?A. Some places are more diverse than others.B. Towns are less diverse than large cities.C. Diversity can be seen everywhere.D. American is a truly diverse country.3. According to Dr Johnson, which place will witness a radical change in its racial makeup by 2025?A. MaineB. SelinsgroveC. PhiladelphiaD. California4. During the interview Dr Johnson indicates thatA. greater racial diversity exists among younger populations.B. both older and younger populations are racially diverse.C. age diversity could lead to pension problems.D. older populations are more racially diverse.5. According to the interview, religious diversityA. was most evident between 1990 and 2000.B. exists among Muslim immigrants.C. is restricted to certain places in the US.D. is spreading to more parts of the country.SECTION C NEWS BROADCASTIn this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Mark the correct answer to each question on your coloured answer sheet.Question 6 is based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the question.Now listen to the news.6. What is the main idea of the news item?A. Sony developed a computer chip for cell phones.B. Japan will market its wallet phone abroad.C. The wallet phone is one of the wireless innovations.D. Reader devices are available at stores and stations.Question 7 and 8 is based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 20 seconds to answer the questions.Now listen to the news.7. Which of the following is mentioned as the government’s measure to control inflation?A. Foreign investment.B. Donor support.C. Price control.D. Bank prediction.8. According to Kingdom Bank, what is the current inflation rate in Zimbabwe?A. 20 million percent.B. 2.2 million percent.C. 11.2 million percent.D. Over 11.2 million percent.Question 9 and 10 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 20 seconds to answer the question.Now listen to the news.9. Which of the following is CORRECT?A. A big fire erupted on the Nile River.B. Helicopters were used to evacuate people.C. Five people were taken to hospital for burns.D. A big fire took place on two floors.10. The likely cause of the big fire isA. electrical short-cut.B. lack of fire-satefy measures.C. terrorism.D. not known.PART II READING COMPREHENSION (30 MIN)In this section there are four reading passages followed by a total of 20 multiple-choice questions. Read the passages and then mark your answers on your coloured answer sheet.TEXT AStill, the image of any city has a half-life of many years. (So does its name, officially changed in 2001 from Calcutta to Kolkata, which is closer to what the word sounds like in Bengali. Conversing in English, I never heard anyone call the city anything but Calcutta.) To Westerners, the conveyance most identified with Kolkata is not its modern subway—a facility whose spacious stations have art on the walls and cricket matches on television monitors—but the hand-pulled rickshaw. Stories and films celebrate a primitive-looking cart with high wooden wheels, pulled by someone who looks close to needing the succor of Mother Teresa. For years the government has been talking about eliminating hand-pulled rickshaws on what it calls humanitarian grounds—principally on the ground that, as the ma yor of Kolkata has often said, it is offensive to see “one man sweating and straining to pull another man.” But these days politicians also lament the impact of 6,000 hand-pulled rickshaws on a modern city’s traffic and, particularly, on its image. “Wester ners try to associate beggars and these rickshaws with the Calcutta landscape, but this is not what Calcutta stands for,” the chief minister of West Bengal, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, said in a press conference in 2006. “Our city stands for prosperity and development.” The chief minister—theequivalent of a state governor—went on to announce that hand-pulled rickshaws soon would be banned from the streets of Kolkata.Rickshaws are not there to haul around tourists. (Actually, I saw almost no tourists in Kolkata, apart from the young backpackers on Sudder Street, in what used to be a red-light district and is now said to be the single place in the city where the services a rickshaw puller offers may include providing female company to a gentleman for the evenin g.) It’s the people in the lanes who most regularly use rickshaws—not the poor but people who are just a notch above the poor. They are people who tend to travel short distances, through lanes that are sometimes inaccessible to even the most daring taxi driver. An older woman with marketing to do, for instance, can arrive in a rickshaw, have the rickshaw puller wait until she comes back from various stalls to load her purchases, and then be taken home. People in the lanes use rickshaws as a 24-hour ambulance service. Proprietors of cafés or corner stores send rickshaws to collect their supplies. (One morning I saw a rickshaw puller take on a load of live chickens—tied in pairs by the feet so they could be draped over the shafts and the folded back canopy and even the axle. By the time he trotted off, he was carrying about a hundred upside-down chickens.) The rickshaw pullers told me their steadiest customers are schoolchildren. Middle-class families contract with a puller to take a child to school and pick him up; the puller essentially becomes a family retainer.From June to September Kolkata can get torrential rains, and its drainage system doesn’t need torrential rain to begin backing up. Residents who favor a touch of hyperbole say that in Kolkata “if a stray cat pees, there’s a flood.” During my stay it once rained for about 48 hours. Entire neighborhoods couldn’t be reached by motorized vehicles, and the newspapers showed pictures of rickshaws being pulled through water that was up to the pullers’ waists. When it’s raining, the normal customer base for rickshaw pullers expands greatly, as does the price of a journey. A writer in Kolkata told me, “When it rains, even the governor takes rickshaws.”While I was in Kolkata, a magazine called India Today published its annual ranking of Indian states, according to such measurements as prosperity and infrastructure. Among India’s 20 largest states, Bihar finished dead last, as it has for four of the past five years. Bihar, a couple hundred miles north of Kolkata, is where the vast majority of rickshaw pullers come from. Once in Kolkata, they sleep on the street or in their rickshaws or in a dera—a combination garage and repair shop and dormitory managed by someone called a sardar. For sleeping privileges in a dera, pullers pay 100 rupees (about $2.50) a month, which sounds like a pretty good deal until you’ve visited a dera. They gross between 100 and 150 rupees a day, out of which they have to pay 20 rupees for the use of the rickshaw and an occasional 75 or more for a payoff if a policeman stops them for, say, crossing a street where rickshaws are prohibited. A 2003 study found that rickshaw pullers are near the bottom of Kolkata occupations in income, doing better than only the ragpickers and the beggars. For someone without land or education, that still beats trying to make a living in Bihar.There are people in Kolkata, particularly educated and politically aware people, who will not ride in a rickshaw, because they are offended by the idea of being pulled by another human being or because they consider it not the sort of thing people of their station do or because they regard the hand-pulled rickshaw as a relic of colonialism. Ironically, some of those people are not enthusiastic about banning rickshaws. The editor of the editorial pages of Kolkata’s Telegraph—Rudrangshu Mukherjee, a former academic who still writes history books—told me, for instance, that he sees humanitarian considerations as coming down on the side of keeping hand-pulled rickshaws on the road. “I refuse to be carried by another human being myself,” he said, “but I question whether we have the right to take away their livelihood.” Rickshaw supporters point out that when it comes to demeaning occupations, rickshaw pullers are hardly unique in Kolkata.When I asked one rickshaw puller if he thought the government’s plan to rid the city of rickshaws was based on a genuine interest in his welfare, he smiled, with a quick shake of his head—a gesture I interpreted to mean, “Ifyou are so naive as to as k such a question, I will answer it, but it is not worth wasting words on.” Some rickshaw pullers I met were resigned to the imminent end of their livelihood and pin their hopes on being offered something in its place. As migrant workers, they don’t have the political clout enjoyed by, say, Kolkata’s sidewalk hawkers, who, after supposedly being scaled back at the beginning of the modernization drive, still clog the sidewalks, selling absolutely everything—or, as I found during the 48 hours of rain, absolut ely everything but umbrellas. “The government was the government of the poor people,” one sardar told me. “Now they shake hands with the capitalists and try to get rid of poor people.”But others in Kolkata believe that rickshaws will simply be confined more strictly to certain neighborhoods, out of the view of World Bank traffic consultants and California investment delegations—or that they will be allowed to die out naturally as they’re supplanted by more modern conveyances. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, after all, is not the first high West Bengal official to say that rickshaws would be off the streets of Kolkata in a matter of months. Similar statements have been made as far back as 1976. The ban decreed by Bhattacharjee has been delayed by a court case and by a widely held belief that some retraining or social security settlement ought to be offered to rickshaw drivers. It may also have been delayed by a quiet reluctance to give up something that has been part of the fabric of the city for more than a century. Kolkata, a resident told me, “has difficulty letting go.” One day a city official handed me a report from the municipal government laying out options for how rickshaw pullers might be rehabilitated.“Which option has been chosen?” I asked, noting that th e report was dated almost exactly a year before my visit.“That hasn’t been decided,” he said.“When will it be decided?”“That hasn’t been decided,” he said.11. According to the passage, rickshaws are used in Kolkata mainly for the following EXCEPTA. taking foreign tourists around the city.B. providing transport to school children.C. carrying store supplies and purchasesD. carrying people over short distances.12. Which of the following statements best describes the rickshaw pullers from Bihar?A. They come from a relatively poor area.B. They are provided with decent accommodation.C. Their living standards are very low in Kolkata.D. They are often caught by policemen in the streets.13. That “For someone without land or education, that still beats trying to make a living in Bihar” (4 paragraph)means that even so,A. the poor prefer to work and live in Bihar.B. the poor from Bihar fare better than back home.C. the poor never try to make a living in Bihar.D. the poor never seem to resent their life in Kolkata.14. We can infer from the passage that some educated and politically aware peopleA. hold mixed feelings towards rickshaws.B. strongly support the ban on rickshaws.C. call for humanitarian actions fro rickshaw pullers.D. keep quiet on the issue of banning rickshaws.15. Which of the following statements conveys the author’s sense of humor?A. “…not the poor but people who are just a notch above the poor.” (2 paragraph)B. “…,.which sounds like a pretty good deal until you’ve visited a dera.” (4 paragraph)C. Kolkata, a resident told me, “ has difficulty letting go.” (7 paragraph).D.“…or, as I found during the 48 hours of rain, absolutely everything but umbrellas.” (6 paragraph)16. The dialogue between the author and the city official at the end of the passage seems to suggestA. the uncertainty of the court’s decision.B. the inefficiency of the municipal government.C. the difficulty of finding a good solution.D. the slowness in processing options.TEXT BDepending on whom you believe, the average American will, over a lifetime, wait in lines for two years (says National Public Radio) or five years (according to customer-loyalty experts).The crucial word is average, as wealthy Americans routinely avoid lines altogether. Once the most democratic of institutions, lines are rapidly becoming the exclusive province of suckers(people who still believe in and practice waiting in lines). Poor suckers, mostly.Airports resemble France before the Revolution: first-class passengers enjoy "élite" security lines and priority boarding, and disembark before the unwashed in coach, held at bay by a flight attendant, are allowed to foul the Jetway.At amusement parks, too, you can now buy your way out of line. This summer I haplessly watched kids use a $52 Gold Flash Pass to jump the lines at Six Flags New England, and similar systems are in use in most major American theme parks, from Universal Orlando to Walt Disney World, where the haves get to watch the have-mores breeze past on their way to their seats.Flash Pass teaches children a valuable lesson in real-world economics: that the rich are more important than you, especially when it comes to waiting. An NBA player once said to me, with a bemused chuckle of disbelief, that when playing in Canada--get this--"we have to wait in the same customs line as everybody else."Almost every line can be breached for a price. In several U.S. cities this summer, early arrivers among the early adopters waiting to buy iPhones offered to sell their spots in the lines. On Craigslist, prospective iPhone purchasers offered to pay "waiters" or "placeholders" to wait in line for them outside Apple stores.Inevitably, some semi-populist politicians have seen the value of sort-of waiting in lines with the ordinary people. This summer Philadelphia mayor John Street waited outside an AT&T store from 3:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. before a stand-in from his office literally stood in for the mayor while he conducted official business. And billionaire New York mayor Michael Bloomberg often waits for the subway with his fellow citizens, though he's first driven by motorcade past the stop nearest his house to a station 22 blocks away, where the wait, or at least the ride, is shorter.As early as elementary school, we're told that jumping the line is an unethical act, which is why so many U.S. lawmakers have framed the immigration debate as a kind of fundamental sin of the school lunch line. Alabama Senator Richard Shelby, to cite just one legislator, said amnesty would allow illegal immigrants "to cut in line ahead of millions of people."Nothing annoys a national lawmaker more than a person who will not wait in line, unless that line is in front of an elevator at the U.S. Capitol, where Senators and Representatives use private elevators, lest they have to queue with their constituents.But compromising the integrity of the line is not just antidemocratic, it's out-of-date. There was something about the orderly boarding of Noah's Ark, two by two, that seemed to restore not just civilization but civility during the Great Flood.How civil was your last flight? Southwest Airlines has first-come, first-served festival seating. But for $5 per flight, an unaffiliated company called will secure you a coveted "A" boarding pass when that airline opens for online check-in 24 hours before departure. Thus, the savvy traveler doesn't even wait in line when he or she is online.Some cultures are not renowned for lining up. Then again, some cultures are too adept at lining up: a citizen of the former Soviet Union would join a queue just so he could get to the head of that queue and see what everyone was queuing for.And then there is the U.S., where society seems to be cleaving into two groups: Very Important Persons, who don't wait, and Very Impatient Persons, who do--unhappily.For those of us in the latter group-- consigned to coach, bereft of Flash Pass, too poor or proper to pay a placeholder --what do we do? We do what Vladimir and Estragon did in Waiting for Godot: "We wait. We are bored."17. What does the following sentence mean? “Once the most democratic of institutions, lines are rapidlybecoming the exclusive province of suckers…Poor suckers, mostly.” (2 paragraph)A. Lines are symbolic of America’s democracy.B. Lines still give Americans equal opportunities.C. Lines are now for ordinary Americans only.D. Lines are for people with democratic spirit only.18. Which of the following is NOT cited as an example of breaching the line?A. Going through the customs at a Canadian airport.B. Using Gold Flash Passes in amusement parks.C. First-class passenger status at airports.D. Purchase of a place in a line from a placeholder.19. We can infer from the passage that politicians (including mayors and Congressmen)A. prefer to stand in lines with ordinary people.B. advocate the value of waiting in lines.C. believe in and practice waiting in lines.D. exploit waiting in lines for their own good.20. What is the tone of the passage?A. Instructive.B. Humorous.C. Serious.D. Teasing.TEXT CA bus took him to the West End, where, among the crazy coloured fountains of illumination, shattering the blue dusk with green and crimson fire, he found the café of his choice, a tea-shop that had gone mad and turned. Bbylonian, a while palace with ten thousand lights. It towered above the other building like a citadel, which indeed it was, the outpost of a new age, perhaps a new civilization, perhaps a new barbarism; and behind the thin marble front were concrete and steel, just as behind the careless profusion of luxury were millions of pence, balanced to the last halfpenny. Somewhere in the background, hidden away, behind the ten thousand llights and acres of white napery and bewildering glittering rows of teapots, behind the thousand waitresses and cash-box girls and black-coated floor managers and temperamental long-haired violinists, behind the mounds of cauldrons of stewed steak, the vanloads of ices, were a few men who went to work juggling with fractions of a farming, who knew how many units of electricity it took to finish a steak-and-kidney pudding and how many minutes and seconds a waitress( five feet four in height and in average health) would need to carry a tray of given weight from the kitchen life to the table in the far corner. In short, there was a warm, sensuous, vulgar life flowering in the upper storeys, and a cold science working in the basement. Such as the gigantic tea-shop into which Turgis marched, in search not of mere refreshment but of all the enchantment of unfamiliar luxury. Perhaps he knew in his heart that men have conquered half the known world, looted whole kingdoms, and never arrived in such luxury. The place was built for him.It was built for a great many other people too, and, as usual, they were al there. It seemed with humanity. The marble entrance hall, piled dizzily with bonbons and cakes, was as crowded and bustling as a railway station. The gloom and grime of the streets, the raw air, all November, were at once left behind, forgotten: the atmosphere inside was golden, tropical, belonging to some high mid-summer of confectionery. Disdaining the lifts, Turgis, once more excited by the sight, sound, and smell of it all, climbed the wide staircase until he reached his favourite floor, whre an orchestra, led by a young Jewish violinist with wandering lustrous eyes and a passion for tremolo effects, acted as a magnet to a thousand girls, scented air, the sensuous clamour of the strings; and, as he stood hesitating a moment, half dazed, there came, bowing, s sleek grave man, older than he was and far more distinguished than he could ever hope to be, who murmured deferentially: “ For one, sir? This way, please,” Shyly, yet proudly, Turgis followed him.21. That “behind the thin marble front were concrete and steel” suggests thatA. modern realistic commercialism existed behind the luxurious appearance.B. there was a fundamental falseness in the style and the appeal of the café..C. the architect had made a sensible blend of old and new building materials.D. the café was based on physical foundations and real economic strength.22. The following words or phrases are somewhat critical of the tea-shop EXCEPTA. “…turned Babylonian”.B. “perhaps a new barbarism’.C. “acres of white napery”.D. “balanced to the last halfpenny”.23. In its context the statement that “ the place was built for him” means that the café was intended toA. please simple people in a simple way.B. exploit gullible people like him.C. satisfy a demand that already existed.D. provide relaxation for tired young men.24. Which of the following statements about the second paragraph is NOT true?A. The café appealed to most senses simultaneously.B. The café was both full of people and full of warmth.C. The inside of the café was contrasted with the weather outside.D. It stressed the commercial determination of the café owners.25. The following are comparisons made by the author in the second paragraph EXCEPT thatA. the entrance hall is compared to a railway station.B. the orchestra is compared to a magnet.C. Turgis welcomed the lift like a conquering soldier.D. the interior of the café is compared to warm countries.26. The author’s attitude to the café isA. fundamentally critical.B. slightly admiring.C. quite undecided.D. completely neutral.TEXT DI Now elsewhere in the world, Iceland may be spoken of, somewhat breathlessly, as western Europe’s last pristine wilderness. But the environmental awareness that is sweeping the world had bypassed the majority of Icelanders. Certainly they were connected to their land, the way one is complicatedly connected to, or encumbered by, family one can’t do anything about. But the truth is, once you’re off the beat-en paths of the low-lying coastal areas where everyone lives, the roads are few, and they’re all bad, so Iceland’s natural wonders have been out of reach and unknown even to its own inhab-itants. For them the land has always just been there, something that had to be dealt with and, if possible, exploited—the mind-set being one of land as commodity rather than land as, well, priceless art on the scale of the “Mona Lisa.”When the opportunity arose in 2003 for the national power company to enter into a 40-year contract with the American aluminum company Alcoa to supply hydroelectric power for a new smelter, those who had been dreaming of some-thing like this for decades jumped at it and never looked back. Iceland may at the moment be one of the world’s richest countries, with a 99 percent literacy rate and long life expectancy. But the proj-ect’s advocates, some of them getting on in years, were more emotionally attuned to the country’s century upon century of want, hardship, and colonial servitude to Denmark, which officially had ended only in 1944 and whose psychological imprint remained relatively fresh. For the longest time, life here had meant little more than a sod hut, dark all winter, cold, no hope, children dying left and right, earthquakes, plagues, starvation, volcanoes erupting and destroying all vegeta-tion and livestock, all spirit—a world revolving almost entirely around the welfare of one’s sheep and, later, on how good the cod catch was. In the outlying regions, it still largely does.Ostensibly, the Alcoa project was intended to save one of these dying regions—the remote and sparsely populated east—where the way of life had steadily declined to a point of desperation and gloom. After fishing quotas were imposed in the early 1980s to protect fish stocks, many indi-vidual boat owners sold their allotments or gave them away, fishing rights ended up mostly in the hands of a few companies, and small fishermen were virtually wiped out. Technological advances drained away even more jobs previously done by human hands, and the people were seeing every-thing they had worked for all their lives turn up worthless and their children move away. With the old way of life doomed, aluminum projects like this one had come to be perceived, wisely or not, as a last chance. “Smelter or death.”The contract with Alcoa would infuse the re-gion with foreign capital, an estimated 400 jobs, and spin-off service industries. It also was a way for Iceland to develop expertise that potentially could be sold to the rest of the world; diversify an economy historically dependent on fish; and, in an appealing display of Icelandic can-do verve, perhaps even protect all of Iceland, once and for all, from the unpredictability of life itself.“We have to live,” Halldór Ásgrímsson said in his sad, sonorous voice. Halldór, a former prime minister and longtime member of parliament from the region, was a driving force behind the project. “We have a right to live.”27. According to the passage, most Icelanders view land as something ofA. environmental value.B. commercial value.C. potential value for tourism.D. great value for livelihood.28. What is Iceland’s old-aged advocates’ feeling towards the Alcoa project?A. Iceland is wealthy enough to reject the project.。

英语专八翻译试题及答案一、翻译试题（英译汉）原文：In the past few decades, the rapid development of technology has brought about significant changes to our lives. The advent of the internet and smartphones has transformed the way we communicate, work, and learn. However, this progress has also led to some unintended consequences, such as the decline in face-to-face interactions and the proliferation of misinformation.要求：1. 将上述英文原文翻译成中文。

2. 翻译应准确、流畅，符合汉语表达习惯。

3. 注意保持原文的语境和语义。

二、翻译试题（汉译英）原文：随着全球化的深入发展，跨国公司在世界经济中扮演着越来越重要的角色。

它们不仅促进了国际贸易和投资，还推动了技术交流和文化交流。

要求：1. 将上述中文原文翻译成英文。

2. 翻译应准确、自然，符合英语表达习惯。

3. 注意使用恰当的词汇和句式。

三、参考答案（一）英译汉参考答案：在过去的几十年里，科技的快速发展给我们的生活带来了显著的变化。

互联网和智能手机的出现改变了我们的交流、工作和学习方式。

然而，这种进步也导致了一些意料之外的后果，比如面对面交流的减少和错误信息的泛滥。

（二）汉译英参考答案：With the deepening development of globalization,multinational companies are playing an increasingly important role in the world economy. They not only promoteinternational trade and investment but also drive the exchange of technology and culture.四、评分标准1. 翻译准确性：译文应忠实原文，不得有遗漏或添加。