2010年北京外国语大学英语专业（基础英语）真题试卷(总分：60.00，做题时间：90分钟)一、阅读理解(总题数：2，分数：24.00)Americans are living in an argument culture. There is a pervasive warlike atmosphere that makes us approach public dialogue, and just about anything we need to accomplish, as if it were a fight. Thinking of human interactions as battles is a metaphorical frame through which we learn to regard the world and the people in it. All language uses metaphors to express ideas; some metaphoric words and expressions are novel, made up for the occasion, but more are calcified in the language. They are simply the way we think it is natural to express ideas. We don"t think of them as metaphors. When someone says, "Don"t pussyfoot around; get to the point" , there is no explicit comparison to a cat, but the comparison is there nonetheless, implied in the word "pussyfoot". I doubt that individuals using the word "pussyfoot"think consciously of cats. More often than not, we use expressions without thinking about their metaphoric implications. But that doesn"t mean those implications are not influencing us. Americans talk about almost everything as if it were a war.A book about the history of linguistics is called The Linguistics Wars. A magazine article about claims that science is not completely objective is titled The Science Wars. One about competition among caterers is" Party Wars"—and on and on in a potentially endless list. Politics, of course, is a prime candidate . One of the innumerable possible examples, the headline of a story reporting that the Democratic National Convention nominated Bill Clinton to run for a second term declares, " DEMOCRATS SEND CLINTON INTO BATTLE FOR A 2D TERM. "But medicine is as frequent a candidate, as we talk about battling and conquering disease. Why does it matter that our public discourse is filled with military metaphors? Aren"t they just words? Why not talk about something that matters—like actions? Because words matter. When we think we are using language, language is using us. As linguist Dwight Bolinger put it(employing a military metaphor), language is like a loaded gun;It can be fired intentionally, but it can wound or kill just as surely when fired accidentally. The terms in which we talk about something shape the way we think about it—and even what we see. The power of words to shape perception has been proven by researchers in controlled experiments. Psychologists Elizabeth Loftus and John Palmer, for example, found that the terms in which people are asked to recall something affect what they recall. The researchers showed subjects a film of two cars colliding, then asked how fast the cars were going; one week later, they asked whether there had been any broken glass. Some subjects were asked, " About how fast were the cars going when they bumped into each other?"Others were asked, "About how fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?"Those who read the question with the verb "smashed "estimated that the cars were going faster. They were also more likely to"remember"having seen broken glass.(There wasn"t any.) This is how language works. It invisibly molds our way of thinking about people, actions, and the world around us. Military metaphors train us to think about—and see—everything in terms of fighting, conflict, and war. This perspective then limits our imaginations when we consider what we can do about situations we would like to understand or change. In the argument culture, war metaphors pervade our talk and shape our thinking. Nearly everything is framed as a battle or game in which winning or losing is the main concern. These all have their uses and place, but they are not the only way—and often not the best way—to understand and approach our world. Conflict and opposition are as necessary as cooperation and agreement, but the scale is off balance, with conflict and opposition over-weighted.（分数：12.00）(1).We know from Paragraph 2 that______.（分数：2.00）A.the word "pussyfoot" has no relation with catsB.metaphoric words are usually created for special occasionsC.pussyfootis a newly-coined wordD.metaphoric implications can be found in all languages(2).The underlined words "a prime candidate" in Paragraph 3 probably means______.（分数：2.00）A.an important person for electionB.the first person considered for a jobC.something most suitable for a particular purposeD.something more important than words(3).By saying "language is using us"(Paragraph 5), the writer means______.（分数：2.00）A.the terms we use shape our perception of the worlditary metaphors help linguists to express ideas more clearlynguage can hurt people unintentionallynguage empowers us to fight with each other(4).The experiment conducted by the two psychologists shows______.（分数：2.00）A.the choice of words can affect the way people see thingsB.it is of utmost importance to ask good questionsC.there is difference between "smash" and "bump into"D.the memory of an accident can only last for one week(5).We can learn from the text that, in the writer"s opinion, ______.（分数：2.00）A.the argument culture is good for American societyB.Americans place too much importance on conflict and oppositionC.war metaphors have a positive impact on people"s thinkingD.more research should be done on the argument culture(6).The best title for this passage is probably______.（分数：2.00）A.Metaphors in an Argument CultureB.We Are What We Speak; Living in an Argument CultureC.Words Do Matter; Metaphors in American Culturenguage and Culture DebateI recently became one of the last people in America to acquire a portable radio/headphone set. This delay was out of character—normally I ride the crest of every trend. But in this case I sensed a certain dangerous potential. So I put off the purchase for ages, feeling wary of such an inviting distraction. Too much headphone time, I worried, could easily impair my business performance, if not ruin my way of life completely. As it turns out, my concerns were right on target. The problem isn"t the expense, or the constant exposure to musical drivel, or even the endangerment of my hearing—and I do like to keep the volume set on "blast". No, the problem is more subtle and insidious. It"s simply that, once I was fully plugged in, things stopped occurring to me. I get excited about good ideas. Especially my own. I used to have lists of them in all my regular haunts . My office desk, kitchen, car and even my gym bag were littered with bits of paper. Ideas ranging from a terrific brochure headline or a pitch to a new client for my public-relations agency to finding a new route to avoid the morning rush—each notion began as an unsummoned thought, mulled over and jotted down. The old story has it that Isaac Newton identified the concept and presence of gravity while sitting under an apple tree. One fruit fell and science gained new dimension. While there may be some historic license in that tale, it"s easy to see that if Newton had been wearing his Walkman, he probably would have overlooked the real impact of the apple"s fall. This is the problematic side of technological evolution. As tools become more compact, portable and inescapable, they begin to take away something they cannot replace. The car phone, battery-powered TV, portable fax and notepad-size computer do everything for accessibility. They make it easy to be in touch, to be productive, to avoid the tragedy of a wasted second. But there are worse things than empty time. A calendar packed to the max makes it easy to overlook what"s missing. A dearth of good ideas isn"t something that strikes like alightning bolt. It"s a far more gradual dawning, like the slow unwelcome recognition that one"s memory has become less sharp. If that dawning is slow, it"s because our minds are fully occupied. It now takes an unprecedented depth of knowledge to stay on top of basic matters, from choosing sensible investments to purchasing the healthiest food. There is literally no end to the information that has become essential. When there is a chance to relax, we don"t stop the input; we change channels. With earphones on our heads or televisions in our faces, we lock in to a steady barrage of news, views and videos that eliminate likelihood of any spontaneous thought. Still, we are not totally oblivious. We work hard to counter the mind-numbing impact of the river of information we are forced to absorb. There is a deliberate emphasis on the importance of creative thought as a daily factor. From seminars to smart drinks, from computer programs to yoga postures, there"s no end to the strategies and products that claim to enhance creativity. It would be unfair to say that all of these methods are without value. But beyond a certain point they are, at best, superfluous. Trying too hard to reach for high-quality insight can thwart the process in the worst way. The best ideas occur to me when my mind is otherwise unchallenged and there is no pressure to create. I have mentally composed whole articles while jogging, flashed upon the solution to a software dilemma while sitting in the steam room, come up with just the right opening line for a client"s speech while pushing a vacuum. These were not problems I had set out to address at those particular times. Inventiveness came to my uncluttered mind in a random, unfocused moment. Certainly not every idea that pops up during a quiet time is a winner. But a surprising number do set me on the path to fresh solutions. And I have found that a free flow of ideas builds its own momentum, leapfrogging me along to answer that work. The simple fact is that time spent lost in thought isn"t really lost at all. That"s why" unplugged time "is vital. It"s when new directions, different approaches and exciting solutions emerge from a place that can"t be tapped at will. It is unwise to take this resource for granted. Better to recognize it, understand something about where it resides and thereby ensure it is not lost. Clearly, this is far easier said than done. Technology is seductive. It chases us down, grabs hold and will not let us go. Nor do we want it to. The challenge is to keep it in its place and to remember that time spent unplugged brings unique rewards. This doesn"t mean I will abandon my new radio headset toy. But I will take the precaution of leaving it in my dresser drawer on a regular basis. Otherwise, unlike wise old Newton,I may see the fall but never grasp its meaning.（分数：12.00）(1).We may infer from the text that the writer______.（分数：2.00）A.did not like to follow the trendB.prefers to listen to soft musicC.works at a public relations firmD.was not a creative person(2).The writer uses the example of Isaac Newton to show that______.（分数：2.00）A.scientists should stay close to nature to grasp the meaning of natural lawB.a creative scientist can change the course of historyC.a good idea is something that strikes like a lightning boltD.innovative ideas usually originate in times when the mind ranges freely(3).One of the problems that come with technological development is that______.（分数：2.00）A.our minds are too occupied to have any creative ideasB.tools become too complicated to operateC.our memory becomes less sharpD.people have too many gadgets to carry(4).The underlined word" haunts" in Paragraph 4 probably refers to______ .（分数：2.00）A.placesB.peopleC.activitiesD.ghosts(5).In the last few paragraphs, the writer suggests that people should______.（分数：2.00）A.get rid of radio headsetsB.enjoy unplugged time regularlyC.face the challenge of technologyD.learn from Isaac Newton(6).The best title for this text probably is______.（分数：2.00）A.The Latest Trend in HeadsetsB.Impacts of Scientific DevelopmentC.We Are Too Busy for IdeasD.The Best of the Gadgets二、判断题(总题数：1，分数：10.00)Read the following passage carefully and then decide whether the statements which follow are true(T)or false(F). Multiculturalism: E Pluribus Plures Questions of race, ethnicity, and religion have been a perennial source of conflict in American education. The schools have often attracted the zealous attention of those who wish to influence the future, as well as those who wish to change the way we view the past. In our history, the schools have been not only an institution to teach young people skills and knowledge, but an arena where interest groups fight to preserve their values, or to revise the judgments of history, or to bring about fundamental social change. Given the diversity of American society, it has been impossible to insulate the schools from pressures that result from differences and tensions among groups. When people differ about basic values, sooner or later those disagreements turn up in battles about how schools are organized or what the schools should teach. Sometimes these battles remove a terrible injustice, like racial segregation. Sometimes, however, interest groups politicize the curriculum and attempt to impose their views on teachers, school officials, and textbook publishers. When groups cross the line into extremism, advancing their own agendas without regard to reason or to others, they threaten public education itself, making it difficult to teach any issues honestly and making the entire curriculum vulnerable to political campaigns. For many years, the public schools attempted to neutralize controversies over race, religion, and ethnicity by ignoring them. The textbooks minimized problems among groups and taught a sanitized version of history. Race, religion, and ethnicity were presented as minor elements in the American saga; slavery was treated as an episode, immigration as a sidebar, and women were largely absent. The textbooks concentrated on presidents, wars, national politics, and issues of state. An occasional "great black" or "great woman" received mention, but the main narrative paid little attention to minority groups and women. With the ethnic revival of the 1960s, this approach to the teaching of history came under fire, because the history of national leaders—virtually all of whom were white, Anglo-Saxon, and male — ignored the place in American history of those who were none of the above. The traditional history of elites had been complemented by an assimilationist view of American society, which presumed that everyone in the American melting pot would eventually lose or abandon those ethnic characteristics that distinguished each from mainstream Americans. The ethnic revival demonstrated that many groups did not want to be assimilated or melted. Ethnic studies programs popped up on campuses to teach not only that" black is beautiful" , but also that every other variety of ethnicity is " beautiful" as well; eveiyone who had "roots" began to look for them so that they, too, could recover that ancestral part of themselves that had not been homogenized. As ethnicity became an accepted subject for study in the late 1960s, textbooks were assailed for their failure to portray blacks accurately; within a few years, the textbooks in wide use were carefully screened to eliminate bias against minority groups and women. At the same time, new scholarship about the history of women, blacks, and various ethnic minorities found its way into the textbooks. Today"s history textbooks routinely incorporate the experiences of women, blacks,American Indians, and various immigrant groups. As a result of the political and social changes of recent decades, cultural pluralism is now generally recognized as an organizing principle of this society. In contrast to the idea of the melting pot, which promised to erase ethnic and group differences, children now learn that variety is the spice of life. They learn that America has provided a haven for many different groups and has allowed them to maintain their cultural heritage or to assimilate, or—as is often the case—to do both; the choice is theirs, not the state"s. They learn that cultural pluralism is one of the norms of a free society; that differences among groups are a national resource rather than a problem to be solved. Indeed, the unique feature of the United States is that its common culture has been formed by the interaction of its subsidiary cultures. It is a culture that has been influenced over time by immigrants, American Indians, Africans(slave and free)and by their descendants. American music, art, literature, language, food, clothing, sports, holidays, and customs all show the effects of the commingling of diverse cultures in one nation. Paradoxical though it may seem, the United States has a common culture that is multicultural.（分数：10.00）(1).For a long time in history, American schools have been an arena for different interest groups to fight to preserve their values.（分数：2.00）A.TRUEB.FALSE(2).Public schools are biased against minority groups and women, so textbooks chose to ignore the related issues.（分数：2.00）A.TRUEB.FALSE(3).Ethnic studies programs became popular in schools as a result of the ethnic revival in the 1960s.（分数：2.00）A.TRUEB.FALSE(4).Today"s history textbooks advocate the idea of melting pot by incorporating the experiences of women, blacks, American Indians and various immigrant groups.（分数：2.00）A.TRUEB.FALSE(5).It is generally acknowledged now that multiculturalism is a reality as well as a unique feature of American society.（分数：2.00）A.TRUEB.FALSE三、选词填空(总题数：1，分数：14.00)Please choose the best sentence from the list after the passage to fill in each of the gaps in the text. There are more sentences than gaps. The Myth of Asian Superiority Asian Americans have increasingly come to be viewed as a "model minority". But are they as successful as claimed? And for whom are they supposed to be a model? 1 Asian American shopkeepers have been congratulated, as well as criticized, for their ubiquity and entrepreneurial effectiveness. If Asian Americans can make it, many politicians and pundits ask, why can"t African Americans? 2The victims are blamed for their plight, rather than racism and an economy that has made many young African American workers superfluous. The celebration of Asian Americans has obscured reality. 3 Most Asian Americans live in California, Hawaii, and New York—states with higher incomes and higher costs of living than the national average. 4 While Japanese American men in California earned an average income comparable to Caucasian men in 1980, they did so only by acquiring more education and working more hours. 5Some Asian American groups do have higher family incomes than Caucasians. But they have more workers per family. The " model minority" image homogenizes Asian Americans and hides their differences. For example, while thousands of Vietnamese American young people attenduniversities, others are on the streets. They live in motels and hang out in pool halls in places like East Los Angeles; some join gangs. Hmong and Mien refugees from Laos have unemployment rates that reach as high as 80 percent. A recent California study showed that three out of ten Southeast Asian refugee families had been on welfare for four to ten years. Although college-education Asian Americans are entering the professions and earning good salaries, many hit the "glass ceiling"—the barrier through which high management positions can be seen but not reached. 6 Finally, the triumph of Korean immigrants has been exaggerated. In 1988 , Koreans in the New York metropolitan area earned only 68 percent of the median income of non-Asians. More thanthree-quarters of Korean greengrocers came to America with a college education. 7For many of them, the greengrocery represents dashed dreams, a step downward in status. Most Asian Americans know their "success"is largely a myth. They also see how the celebration of Asian Americans as a " model minority" perpetuates their inequality and exacerbates relations between them and African Americans. A. Even Japanese Americans, often touted for their upward mobility, have not reached equality. B. A survey showed that only 8 percent of Asian Americans were " officials" and " managers " , compared with 12 percent for all groups. C. Such comparisons pit minorities against each other and generate African American resentment toward Asian Americans. D. Engineers, teachers, or administrators while in Korea, they became shopkeepers after their arrival. E. Asian Americans have been described in the media as" excessively, even provocatively" successful in gaining admission to universities. F. For example, figures on the high earnings of Asian Americans relative to Caucasians are misleading. G. For all their hard work and long hours, most Korean shopkeepers do not actually earn very much. H. Comparing family incomes is even more deceptive.（分数：14.00）填空项1:__________________填空项1:__________________填空项1:__________________填空项1:__________________填空项1:__________________填空项1:__________________填空项1:__________________四、英译汉(总题数：1，分数：10.00)Please read the following passage and translate the underlined parts into Chinese.(40 points, 8 points each) How to Manage Time 【F1】The belief that time is a resource that must be monitored closely and managed carefully is one of the basic laws of our time-pressed world, as is the urge to do more and do it quicker. Is it any wonder our culture favors the young and energetic? Who else can accomplish the hundreds of tasks each of us must master in a typical day, as well as process the thousand bits of information rushing at us every hour? In my workshops at Omega and around the country on time-shifting—learning how to toggle between hyperproductivity and an awareness of the world around you—the first question I pose is" Do you feel that you have enough time in your daily lives?"Invariably, more than 90 percent declare an overwhelming sense of "time-poverty"—part of an epidemic of anxiety and pressure in our society. 【F2】 Ironically, in response, methods to improve our management of time have gained in popularity, along with new, speedier technology that helps us develop greater efficiency. Yet while these initially seem to help, they ultimately serve only to increase the speed of our lives. We learn to go faster and get more done—only to take on more work and responsibility. As a result, the future arrives that much quicker, and it begins to predominate. The "now" becomes a prelude to the "next". We do this so we can get to that. We work for the weekend, rush through lunch to get back to our desks, worry about next month"s deadline before this month is completed. We divide our attention and awareness between the task at hand that we"re rushing to complete and the next item on our day-planner. So, what is needed is to come into the present moment. Instead of rushing, take your time, let your rhythm slow down. You can rush late if you need to, but for now, simply perform the taskthat is in front of you, whether it"s washing the dishes or commuting to work. We spend our lives waiting for the important events to take place, rushing through these" in-between" moments. Yet the reality is that these in-betweens actually make up a significant portion of our lives. Allowing ourselves to be present in them and experience them fully is what makes us alive— and helps to keep us young. This involves developing a sense of mindfulness, a way of being that puts you fully in the moment without pressure or anxiety about staying on schedule. 【F3】It is a quality that each of us needs to learn how to cultivate more in our lives, awakening all of our senses and being comfortable in the present—to feel rooted, with no need to rush. Some will read this and wonder why they should slow down. Isn"t it okay to keep moving along with the progress of modern times? Isn"t it, in fact, necessary to do so? There really is no right or wrong answer;rather it is a question of how we feel about our lives. My experience has taught me that there is too much stress caused by the frantic pace at which most of us exist. The result is a disconnection from the world around us and our sense of being alive in it. 【F4】People report feeling trapped, powerless to effect any meaningful change, coping as best as they can yet knowing they don"t feel the way they would like to feel. The key is to step back from the edge, learn to get involved in the process rather than constantly longing for the end result. 【F5】This does not mean giving up our goal-oriented lives—simply modifying them, finding a balance between our productive and our emotional selves. This enables us to live as whole beings, fully alive. In response to the pace of our modern world, learning how to successfully shift time can be one of the keys to achieving both health and longevity as we continue to age.（分数：10.00）(1).【F1】（分数：2.00）__________________________________________________________________________________________ (2).【F2】（分数：2.00）__________________________________________________________________________________________ (3).【F3】（分数：2.00）__________________________________________________________________________________________ (4).【F4】（分数：2.00）__________________________________________________________________________________________ (5).【F5】（分数：2.00）__________________________________________________________________________________________ 写作2.With the information given in the following graph, explain what is the greenhouse effect, what causes the greenhouse effect, and what we can do to reduce the greenhouse effect.(no less than150 words)methane: 2.00）__________________________________________________________________________________________。
