TEST FOR ENGLISH MAJORS (2008)GRADE EIGHT TIME LIMIT:195MIN
PART I LISTENING COMPREHENSIONSECTION 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.
Now listen to the mini-lecture.
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 and semantically acceptable. You may refer to your notes.
The Popularity of English
I. Present status of English
1) English as a native / first language
2) English as a lingua franca: a language for communication among people whose (1) are different
3) Number of people speaking English as a first or a second language:
— 320-380 million native speakers
— 250-(2) million speakers of English as a second language
II. Reasons for the popular use of English
1) (3)
— the Pilgrim Fathers brought the language to America;
— British settlers brought the language to Australia;
— English was used as a means of control in (4)
2) Economic reasons
— spread of (5)
— language of communication in the international business community
3) (6) in international travel
— use of English in travel and tourism
— signs in airports
— language of announcement
— language of (7)
4) Information exchange
— use of English in the academic world
— language of (8) or journal articles
5) Popular culture
— pop music on (9)
— films from the USA
III. Questions to think about
1) status of English in the future
2) (10) of distinct varieties of English
参考答案：
(1) native/first languages
(2) 350
(3) Historical / Colonial
(4) India / colonies / (other) British colonies
(5) international commerce / business / trade
(6) Boom / Increase
(7) air traffic control / sea travel communication
(8) conferences / meetings
(9) radios / radio / air / many radios
(10) possibilities / possibility / emergence / appearance / development
TIP：
(1) native / first languages 讲座共分为三个部分。第一部分讲述了英语目前使用状况。其中第二点讲了英语在不同母语人群中作为通用语。
(2) 第三点讲了英语作为第二外语或外语的使用现状，主要是数字。本题考查对相关数字的理解。
(3) 讲座的第二部分主要回顾英语崛起的原因。第一个是历史原因。
(4) 本题考查对有关细节的理解。
(5) 第二个是经济原因，如国际贸易的扩展。
(6) 第三个是国际旅游业的兴起。
(7) 英语作为空中交通指挥、海上通讯的工作语言。
(8) 第四个原因是信息交流。如英语作为会议工作语言。
(9) 最后一个原因是大众文化的崛起。英语主导了西方国家的大众文化，如电台上常播放英语流行歌曲 / 音乐。
(10) 演讲者在结束之前提了几个思考问题，其中之一关于英语将来发展成多个独立分支的可能性。本题考查对信息的归纳、总结能力。原文中的varieties that become less mutually intelligible被归纳为distinct varieties。
SCRIPT:
Good morning, everyone. Today's lecture is about the popularity of English. As we all know, English is widely used in the world. Although English is NOT the language with the largest number of native or "first" language speakers, it has really become a lingua franca. Then, what is a lingua franca? The term refers to a language which is widely adopted for communication between two speakers whose native languages are different from each other's, and where one or both speakers are using it as a "second" language. For example, when an Indian talks to a Singaporean using English, then English is the lingua franca.
Then, actually how many people speak English as either a "first" or a "second" language? Some researchers suggested a few years ago that between 320-380 million people spoke English as a first language, and anywhere between 250-350 million as a second language.
And of course, if we include people who are learning English as a foreign language all over the world, that number may increase dramatically.
Then, we may ask a question: how did English get there? That is, how did English gain the present status of popularity? There are, in fact, a number of interlocking reasons for the popularity of English as a lingua franca. Many of the reasons are historical, but they also include economic and cultural factors that have influenced and sustained the spread of the language. Let's go through the reasons one by one.
First is the historical reason. This is related to the colonial history. As we know, when the Pilgrim Fathers landed on the Massachusetts coast in 1620, after their journey from England, they brought with them not just a set of religious beliefs, a pioneering spirit or a desire for colonization, but also their language. Although many years later the Americans broke away from their colonial master, the language of English remained, and still does.
It was the same in Australia, too. When Commander Philip planted the British flag in Sydney Cove on 26th Jan. 1788, it was not just a bunch of British convicts and their guardians, but also a language.
In other parts of the former British Empire, English rapidly became a unifying or dominating means of control. For example, it became a lingua franca in India, where a variety of indigenous languages made the use of any one of them as a whole-country system / problematic. So, the imposition of English as the one language of administration helped maintain the colonizer's control and power.
Thus, English traveled around many parts of the world in those days, and long after that colonial power has faded away, it is still widely used as a main or at least an institutional language in countries as far apart as Jamaica and Pakistan, Uganda, and New Zealand.
That is the first factor. Now, the second major factor in the spread of English has been the spread of commerce throughout the world: the spread of international commerce has taken English along with it. This is the 20th-century phenomenon of "globalization". Therefore, one of the first sights many travelers see when arriving in countries as diverse as Brazil, China, for example, is the yellow twin-arched sign of a McDonald's fast food restaurant, or some other famous brands’ outlets. And without doubt, English is used as the language of communication in the international business community.
And the third factor related to the popular use of English is the boom in international travel. And you will find that much travel and tourism is carried on, around the world, in English. Of course, this is NOT always the case, as the mutilingualism of many tourism workers in different countries demonstrate. But, a visit to most airports on the globe will show signs not only in the language of that country, but also in English, just as many airline announcements are broadcast in English, too, whatever the language of the country the airport is situated in.
So far, English is also the preferred language of air traffic control in many countries and is used widely in sea travel communication.
Another factor has something to do with information exchange around the world. As we all know, a great deal of academic discourse around the world takes place in English. It is often a lingua franca of conferences, for example, and many journal articles in fields as diverse as astronomy, child psychology and zoology have English as a kind of default language.
The last factor I cite here concerns popular culture. In the western world, at least, English is a dominating language in popular culture. Pop music in English can be heard on many radios. Thus many people who are not English speakers can sing words from their favourite English medium songs. And many people who are regular cinemagoers or (TV viewers) can frequently hear English in subtitled films coming out of the USA.
Now, to sum up, in today's lecture, we have reviewed some of the reasons or factors that lie behind the popular use of English as the number one world language. Before we finish, I would like to leave a few questions for you to think about: Is the status of English as the number-one world language assured in the future? Will it split into varieties that become less mutually intelligible? OR will some other language or languages take the place of English as world language in future? These questions are not easy to answer, I know, but they are definitely worth pondering over after the lecture.
OK, this brings us to the end of today's lecture. Thank you for your attention.
SECTION B INTERVIEW / CONVERSATIONIn 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.
Questions 1 to 5 are based on a conversation. At the end of the conversation you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following five questions.
Now listen to the conversation.
1. Mary doesn't seem to favour the idea of a new airport because
A. the existing airports are to be wasted.
B. more people will be encouraged to travel.
C. more oil will be consumed.
D. more airplanes will be purchased.
参考答案： C
TIP：Mary不赞成建新机场，她讲了几个原因，但最突出的原因是燃料因素。原文：Well, my real objection to this idea of a new airport is, is that the whole thing is so wasteful. I mean, we know we're currently in a fuel crisis, we know that we've got to conserve oil and fuel and all the rest of it. And yet here the government seems quite deliberately to be encouraging people to, to travel, to use, and these jets use a heck of a lot of oil — I mean, it takes a ton of oil, a ton of petrol before one of these big jets even takes off.本题考查对相关信息的甄别能力。
2. Which of the following is NOT mentioned by Mary as a potential disadvantage?
A. More people in the area.
B. Noise and motorways.
C. Waste of land.
D. Unnecessary travel.
参考答案： A
TIP：Mary在对话中提到选项B、C、D的内容，唯一没有提到的是选项A。然而B、C、D的内容在对话中分布得较开，如选项C、D出现在对话较前部分，而B则出现在较后部分。本题考查对语篇相关信息的归纳、梳理和分析能力。
3. Freddy has cited the following advantages for a new airport EXCEPT
A. more job opportunities.
B. vitality to the local economy.
C. road construction.
D. presence of aircrew in the area.
参考答案： D
TIP：Freddy提到了建新机场的益处。原文为 ... airports do bring some local advantages; they bring roads, there is obviously extra employment. For instance, new hotels, shops, restaurants will have to be built. This means more jobs for the locals, and it is good for local economy。唯一未提到的是机组人员。
4. Mary thinks that people don't need to do much travel nowadays as a result of
A. less emphasis on personal contact.
B. advances in modern telecommunications.
C. recent changes in people's concepts.
D. more potential damage to the area.
参考答案： B
TIP：Mary认为人们现在可以减少旅行。理由在原文可以找到： ... Um, with modern technology, we're going to make a lot of travel unnecessary really. For example, it won't be necessary for businessmen to fly out to a foreign country to talk to somebody. They can just lift up a telephone in the office, press a button, and see the person they, they want to do business with. You see, business deals can be made without having to travel back and forth, right?
5. We learn from the conversation that Freddy is _____ Mary's ideas.
A. strongly in favour of
B. mildly in favour of
C. strongly against
D. mildly against
参考答案： D
TIP：从整个对话中我们可以感觉到Freddy不太赞同Mary的看法。比如他用了Well / but / Yes, you're right. But ... 等诸如此类的引导语，表示他的不同观点。本题考查对说话者态度的理解。
SCRIPT:
Mary: Hello, Freddy.
Freddy: Hello, Mary. How nice to see you again. How is everything going?
Mary: Fine. Busy these days?
Freddy: Yeah, with lots of things to do. Would you like to join me for a drink?
Mary: OK, thanks.
Freddy: Any news recently?
Mary: Oh, well, I read in the local paper the other day, that the government is planning to build an airport here. You know that?
Freddy: Afraid not.
Mary: Well, my real objection to this idea of a new airport is, is that the whole thing is so wasteful. I mean, we know we're currently in a fuel crisis, we know that we've got to conserve oil and fuel and all the rest of it. And yet here the government seems quite deliberately to be encouraging people to, to travel, to use, and these jets use a heck of a lot of oil — I mean, it takes a ton of oil, a ton of petrol before one of these big jets even takes off.
Freddy: Mm.
Mary: It seems so completely shortsighted to me, quite apart from all the waste of land and so on. I can't see, I can't see the rationale behind really wanting an — an airport at all.
Freddy: Well, surely, you must admit that the existing airports nearby are, are becoming swamped. I mean, why should people, er —
Mary: — Well they are being swamped!
Freddy: — be treated like cattle when there's a chance of er, a new airport here?
Mary: But, but really people shouldn't be traveling as much. That, that's why most of the journeys, I mean, they're swamped because there's far too much unnecessary tourism and so on. It isn't necessary for people to travel, so fast or even so often.
Freddy: Well, you take the climate here in this country. Now just before Christmas there was this dreadful cold spell and there was a tremendous increase in the number of people who wanted to leave and spend Christmas and the New Year in a reasonable climate of sun and a, a certain mild climate. And, and in summer the same situation occurs. It is unbearably hot here, and people want to go somewhere cool.
Mary: Well yes, I can sympathize with that. But it is still not really necessary to do whereas it is necessary to, to conserve fuel and it is necessary to, well, not to waste land. I mean, land for a new airport could be used for far more important things which would benefit the people here far more. I mean it could be used for farming, for instance.
Freddy: True.
Mary: It could also be used for housing. Or it could be used for parks, you know. People then could come and enjoy themselves without having to travel far.
Freddy: But er, airports do bring some local advantages; they bring roads, there is obviously extra employment. For instance, new hotels, shops, restaurants will have to be built. This means more jobs for the locals, and it is good for local economy.
Mary: But, you ask the people, you ask those who are now living near the airports, for instance whether, whether they reckon that airports are bringing them advantages. All the, all the airports are bringing, are noise and vast motorways and the whole area is, is desolated, isn't it?
Freddy: But the airport infer-, infrastructure relies on housing and, er other facilities for the, great number of people who would be employed in the airport, the pilots even, the stewardesses, they have to live somewhere near the airport, right?
Mary: Yeah, but it's, it's just so, so damaging to the whole area, I think, airports. From my point of view, the whole concept is out-dated, really. Um, with modern technology, we're going to make a lot of travel unnecessary really. For example, it won't be necessary for businessmen to fly out to a foreign country to talk to somebody. They can just lift up a telephone in the office, press a button, and see the person they, they want to do business with. You see, business deals can be made without having to travel back and forth, right?
Freddy: Yes, you're right. But for a lot of people, personal contact is important and this means travel and means quick travel, air travel, and, er, we just need a new airport.
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. A new government was formed after Sunday's elections.
B. The new government intends to change the welfare system.
C. The Social Democratic Party founded the welfare system.
D. The Social Democratic Party was responsible for high unemployment.
参考答案： B
TIP：本题考查对新闻主要内容的理解。
SCRIPT:
The New Moderates Party began forming the new Swedish Government on Monday. In Sunday's elections, the New Moderates Party defeated the Social Democrats.
The Social Democratic Party has controlled Sweden for all but nine years since 1932, building up the country's generous welfare state. But the New Moderates wants to change it.
Sweden's welfare system is famed around the world. But the system encourages people to be lazy. And unemployment is also high in Sweden. One reason is the high tax on companies, which makes it difficult to employ new people.
Questions 7 and 8 are 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. The tapes of the Apollo-11 mission were first stored in
A. a U.S. government archives warehouse.
B. a NASA ground tracking station.
C. the Goddard Space Flight Centre.
D. none of the above places.
参考答案： C
TIP：本题考查对新闻中地名的记忆和理解。
8. What does the news item say about Richard Nafzger?
A. He is assigned the task to look for the tapes.
B. He believes that the tapes are probably lost.
C. He works in a NASA ground receiving site.
D. He had asked for the tapes in the 1970s.
参考答案： A
TIP：本题考查对新闻中有关人物细节的记忆、梳理和理解。回答本题的关键是理解原文的意思：The space agency has authorized him to set aside his other duties for the foreseeable future and devote his time to the hunt for the tapes. Nafzger says they are stored somewhere.
SCRIPT:
Much of the world was watching on television when the commander of the Apollo-11 mission, Neil Armstrong, took the first steps on the moon in July 1969.
The pictures of that historic footstep and everything else about that and subsequent Apollo moon landings were recorded on magnetic tape at three NASA ground tracking stations around the world. The tapes were then shipped to a NASA operations center near Washington, the Goddard Space Flight Center.
In late 1969, the space agency began transferring them and tens of thousands of tapes from other space missions to a nearby U.S. government archives warehouse. NASA says it asked for them back in the 1970s, but now does not know where they are.
"I probably am overly sensitive to the word 'lost.’ I did not feel they are lost," said Richard Nafzger, a Goddard Space Flight Center engineer who was in charge of television processing from all of NASA's ground receiving sites.
The space agency has authorized him to set aside his other duties for the foreseeable future and devote his time to the hunt for the tapes. Nafzger says they are stored somewhere.
Questions 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 questions.
Now listen to the news.
9. The example in the news item is cited mainly to show
A. that doctors are sometimes professionally incompetent.
B. that in cases like that hospitals have to pay huge compensations.
C. that language barriers might lower the quality of treatment.
D. that language barriers can result in fatal consequences.
参考答案： D
TIP：本题不考查对例子本身细节的理解，而是例子的作用。答案可以从位于例子前面的信息中找到。原文为： ... Dr Glenn Flores highlights some cases where language barriers prevented patients from communicating with health care providers — with serious consequences.
10. According to Dr Flores, hospitals and clinics
A. have seen the need for hiring trained interpreters.
B. have realized the problems of language barriers.
C. have begun training their staff to be bilinguals.
D. have taken steps to provide accurate diagnosis.
参考答案： B
TIP：本题的答案可以从新闻的最后部分中找到：But he acknowledges that increasing numbers of health care workers are bilingual, and that more clinics and hospitals do make sure their staff and patients understand each other。从中我们可以得知，医院已意识到语言障碍带来的问题。其他几个选项与新闻实际内容不符。本题考查对所听信息的理解和解释能力。
SCRIPT:
More than 22 million people who live in the United States don't speak or understand English very well. And that can be deadly. In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Glenn Flores highlights some cases where language barriers prevented patients from communicating with health care providers — with serious consequences.
Dr. Flores recalls one incident in which English-speaking doctors thought a Spanish-speaking man was suffering from a drug overdose. "He was in the hospital basically for two days being worked up for drug abuse," Flores says. "They finally did a head C-T scan and realized he had had a major bleed into his brain. He ended up being paralyzed and he got a $71 million settlement award from the hospital."
Dr. Flores, a professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin says that despite examples like that, the majority of U.S. health care facilities still do not have trained interpreters on site. But he acknowledges that increasing numbers of health care workers are bilingual, and that more clinics and hospitals do make sure their staff and patients understand each other.
PART II READING COMPREHENSIONIn 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 A
At the age of 16, Lee Hyuk Joon's life is a living hell. The South Korean 10th grader gets up at 6 in the morning to go to school, and studies most of the day until returning home at 6 p.m. After dinner, it's time to hit the books again — at one of Seoul's many so-called cram schools. Lee gets back home at 1 in the morning, sleeps less than five hours, then repeats the routine — five days a week. It's a grueling schedule, but Lee worries that it may not be good enough to get him into a top university. Some of his classmates study even harder.
South Korea's education system has long been highly competitive. But for Lee and the other 700,000 high-school sophomores in the country, high-school studies have gotten even more intense. That's because South Korea has conceived a new college-entrance system, which will be implemented in 2008.This year's 10th graders will be the first group evaluated by the new admissions standard, which places more emphasis on grades in the three years of high school and less on nationwide SAT-style and other selection tests, which have traditionally determined which students go to the elite colleges.
The change was made mostly to reduce what the government says is a growing education gap in the country: wealthy students go to the best colleges and get the best jobs, keeping the children of poorer families on the social margins. The aim is to reduce the importance of costly tutors and cram schools, partly to help students enjoy a more normal high-school life. But the new system has had the opposite effect. Before, students didn't worry too much about their grade-point averages; the big challenge was beating the standardized tests as high-school seniors. Now students are competing against one another over a three-year period, and every midterm and final test is crucial. Fretful parents are relying even more heavily on tutors and cram schools to help their children succeed.
Parents and kids have sent thousands of angry online letters to the Education Mini-stry complaining that the new admissions standard is setting students against each other. "One can succeed only when others fail," as one parent said.
Education experts say that South Korea's public secondary-school system is foundering, while private education is thriving. According to critics, the country's high schools are almost uniformly mediocre — the result of an egalitarian government education policy. With the number of elite schools strictly controlled by the government, even the brightest students typically have to settle for ordinary schools in their neighbourhoods, where the curriculum is centred on average students. To make up for the mediocrity, zealous parents send their kids to the expensive cram schools.
Students in affluent southern Seoul neighbourhoods complain that the new system will hurt them the most. Nearly all Korean high schools will be weighted equally in the college-entrance process, and relatively weak students in provincial schools, who may not score well on standardized tests, often compile good grade-point averages.
Some universities, particularly prestigious ones, openly complain that they cannot select the best students under the new system because it eliminates differences among high schools. They've asked for more discretion in picking students by giving more weight to such screening tools as essay writing or interviews.
President Roh Moo Hyun doesn't like how some colleges are trying to circumvent the new system. He recently criticized "greedy" universities that focus more on finding the best students than trying to "nurture good students". But amid the crossfire between the government and universities, the country's 10th graders are feeling the stress. On online protest sites, some are calling themselves a "cursed generation" and "mice in a lab experiment". It all seems a touch melodramatic, but that's the South Korean school system.
11. According to the passage, the new college-entrance system is designed to
A. require students to sit for more college-entrance tests.
B. reduce the weight of college-entrance tests.
C. select students on their high school grades only.
D. reduce the number of prospective college applicants.
参考答案： B
TIP：根据第二段，韩国即将执行的高考新制度是为了降低高考在录取时的比重。原文为：This year's 10th graders will be the first group evaluated by the new admissions standard, which places more emphasis on grades in the three years of high school and less on nationwide SAT-style and other selection tests。本题考查对句子含义的解释能力。
12. What seems to be the effect of introducing the new system?
A. The system has given equal opportunities to students.
B. The system has reduced the number of cram schools.
C. The system has intensified competition among schools.
D. The system has increased students' study load.
参考答案： D
TIP：新制度似乎起到相反作用，不但没有减少学生的学习负担，而是大大增加了他们的负担。文章第一段提到的16岁男孩就是一个典型案例。此外，文章还提到： ... for Lee and the other 700,000 high-school sophomores in the country, high-school studies have gotten even more intense；But the new system has had the opposite effect. Before, students didn't worry too much about their grade-point averages; the big challenge was beating the standardized tests as high-school seniors. Now students are competing against one another over a three-year period ...；Fretful parents are relying even more heavily on tutors and cram schools to help their children succeed。
13. According to critics, the popularity of private education is mainly the result of
A. the government's egalitarian policy.
B. insufficient number of schools.
C. curriculums of average quality.
D. low cost of private education.
参考答案： A
TIP：本题问私立教育(这里主要指补习学校)在韩国盛行的主要原因。从第五段中我们可以得出结论：是国家实施的平均主义教育政策所造成的。原文为：Education experts say that South Korea's public secondary-school system is foundering, while private education is thriving. According to critics, the country's high schools are almost uniformly mediocre — the result of an egalitarian government education policy ...；To make up for the mediocrity, zealous parents send their kids to the expensive cram schools.本题主要考查对相关细节之间关系的理解。
14. According to the passage, there seems to be disagreement over the adoption of the new system between the following groups EXCEPT
A. between universities and the government.
B. between school experts and the government.
C. between parents and schools.
D. between parents and the government.
参考答案： C
TIP：对于即将实施的新政策，大学与政府之间有分歧(Some universities, particularly prestigious ones, openly complain that they cannot select the best students under the new system because it eliminates differences among high schools.)；教育专家与政府之间有分歧(见第五、六段)；家长与政府之间有分歧(Parents and kids have sent thousands of angry online letters to the Education Ministry complaining that the new admissions standard is setting students against each other.)。唯独没有提到的分歧是选项C。
15. Which of the following adjectives best describes the author's treatment of the topic?
A. Objective
B. Positive
C. Negative
D. Biased
参考答案： A
TIP：从文章整体看，作者对这个话题的处理是客观的。作者介绍了不同群体(政府、中学、大学、家长等)对高考新政策的看法。本题考查对作者态度的理解和把握能力。
TEXT B
Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones was a teenager before he saw his first cow in his first field. Born in Jamaica, the 47-year-old grew up in inner-city Birmingham before making a career as a television producer and launching his own marketing agency. But deep down he always nurtured every true Englishman's dream of a rustic life, a dream that his entrepreneurial wealth has allowed him to satisfy. These days he's the owner of a thriving 12-hectare farm in deepest Devon with cattle, sheep and pigs. His latest business venture: pushing his brand of Black Farmer gourmet sausages and barbecue sauces. "My background may be very urban," says Emmanuel-Jones. "But it has given me a good idea of what other urbanites want. "
And of how to sell it. Emmanuel-Jones joins a herd of wealthy fugitives from city life who are bringing a new commercial know-how to British farming. Britain's burgeoning farmers' markets — numbers have doubled to at least 500 in the last five years — swarm with specialty cheesemakers, beekeepers or organic smallholders who are redeploying the business skills they learned in the city. "Everyone in the rural community has to come to terms with the fact that things have changed. " Says Emmanuel-Jones. "You can produce the best food in the world, but if you don't know how to market it, you are wasting your time. We are helping the traditionalists to move on. "
The emergence of the new class of superpeasants reflects some old yearnings. If the British were the first nation to industrialize, they were also the first to head back to the land. "There is this romantic image of the countryside that is particularly English," says Alun Howkins of the University of Sussex, who reckons the population of rural England has been rising since 1911. Migration into rural areas is now running at about 100,000 a year, and the hunger for a taste of the rural life has kept land prices buoyant even as agricultural incomes tumble. About 40 percent of all farmland is now sold to "lifestyle buyers" rather than the dwindling number of traditional farmers, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
What's new about the latest returnees is their affluence and zeal for the business of producing quality foods, if only at a micro-level. A healthy economy and surging London house prices have helped to ease the escape of the would-be rustics. The media recognize and feed the fantasy. One of the big TV hits of recent years, the "River Cottage" series, chronicled the attempts of a London chef to run his own Dorset farm.
Naturally, the newcomers can't hope to match their city salaries, but many are happy to trade any loss of income for the extra job satisfaction. Who cares if there's no six-figure annual bonus when the land offers other incalculable compensations?
Besides, the specialist producers can at least depend on a burgeoning market for their products. Today's eco-aware generation loves to seek out authentic ingredients. "People like me may be making a difference in a small way," Jan McCourt, a onetime investment banker now running his own 40-hectare spread in the English Midlands stocked with rare breeds.
Optimists see signs of far-reaching change: Britain isn't catching up with mainland Europe; it's leading the way. "Unlike most other countries, where artisanal food production is being eroded, here it is being recovered," says food writer Matthew Fort. "It may be the mark of the next stage of civilization that we rediscover the desirability of being a peasant." And not an investment banker.
16. Which of the following details of Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones is INCORRECT?
A. He was born and brought up in Birmingham.
B. He used to work in the television industry.
C. He is wealthy, adventurous and aspiring.
D. He is now selling his own quality foods.
参考答案： A
TIP：本题考查甄别人物相关细节的能力。文章第一段介绍了Wilfred EmmanuelJones的个人情况。唯独选项A不符合他个人经历：他出生在牙买加，在伯明翰市里长大。
17. Most importantly, people like Wilfred have brought to traditional British farming
A. knowledge of farming.
B. knowledge of brand names.
C. knowledge of lifestyle.
D. knowledge of marketing.
参考答案： D
TIP：最重要的是，Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones他们给英国传统农业带来营销知识。本题答案可以在第二段中找到，如who are bringing a new commercial know-how to British farming；“You can produce the best food in the world, but if you don't know how to market it, you are wasting your time. We are helping the traditionalists to move on. ”
18. Which of the following does NOT contribute to the emergence of a new class of farmers?
A. Strong desire for country life.
B. Longing for greater wealth.
C. Influence of TV productions.
D. Enthusiasm for quality food business.
参考答案： B
TIP：本题答案涉及第三、四、五段。选项A、C、D出现在第三和第四段中，都是产生新生代农场主的缘由，而选项B则不是。第五段讲了这些新来者的收入不可能与他们昔日在伦敦金融中心工作时的收入相比等，说明他们改行的初衷不是为了追求更多财富。
19. What is seen as their additional source of new income?
A. Modern tendency to buy natural foods.
B. Increase in the value of land property.
C. Raising and selling rare live stock.
D. Publicity as a result of media coverage.
参考答案： A
TIP：他们新收入的另外一块取决于现代人购买天然食品的趋势。文章在倒数第二段中提到有关信息。本题考查对相关细节的梳理和理解能力。
20. The sentence in the last paragraph “ ... Britain isn't catching up with mainland Europe; it's leading the way” implies that
A. Britain has taken a different path to boost economy.
B. more authentic foods are being produced in Britain.
C. the British are heading back to the countryside.
D. the Europeans are showing great interest in country life.
参考答案： C
TIP：这句话的意思是“英国不一定跟得上欧洲大陆，但她领先一步”。句子看似自相矛盾，但根据上下文，它的真正含义是“英国人已看到现代文明史的下一阶段，并开始回归农村”。
TEXT C
In Barcelona the Catalonians call them castells, but these aren't stereotypical castles in Spain. These castles are made up of human beings, not stone. The people who perform this agile feat of acrobatics are called castellers, and to see their towers take shape is to observe a marvel of human cooperation.
First the castellers form what looks like a gigantic rugby scrummage. They are the foundation blocks of the castle. Behind them, other people press together, forming outward-radiating ramparts of inward-pushing muscle: flying buttresses for the castle. Then sturdy but lighter castellers scramble over the backs of those at the bottom and stand, barefoot, on their shoulders — then still others, each time adding a higher "story".
These human towers can rise higher than small apartment buildings: nine "stories", 35 feet into the air. Then, just when it seems this tower of humanity can't defy gravity any longer, a little kid emerges from the crowd and climbs straight up to the top. Arms extended, the child grins while waving to the cheering crowd far below.
Dressed in their traditional costumes, the castellers seem to epitomize an easier time, before Barcelona became a world metropolis and the Mediterranean's most dynamic city. But when you observe them up close, in their street clothes, at practice, you see there's nothing easy about what the castellers do — and that they are not merely reenacting an ancient ritual.
None of the castellers can give a logical answer as to why they love doing this, But Victor Luna, 16, touches me on the shoulder and says in English: "We do it because it's beautiful. We do it because we are Catalan."
Barcelona's mother tongue is Catalan, and to understand Barcelona, you must understand two words of Catalan: seny and rauxa. Seny pretty much translates as common sense, or the ability to make money, arrange things, and get things done. Rauxa is reminiscent of our words "raucous" and "ruckus".
What makes the castellers revealing of the city is that they embody rauxa and seny. The idea of a human castle is rauxa — it defies common sense — but to watch one going up is to see seny in action. Success is based on everyone working together to achieve a shared goal.
The success of Carlos Tusquets' bank, Fibanc, shows seny at work in everyday life. The bank started as a family concern and now employs hundreds. Tusquets said it exemplifies how the economy in Barcelona is different.
Entrepreneurial seny demonstrates why Barcelona and Catalonia — the ancient region of which Barcelona is the capital — are distinct from the rest of Spain yet essential to Spain's emergence, after centuries of repression, as a prosperous, democratic European country. Catalonia, with Barcelona as its dynamo, has turned into an economic powerhouse. Making up 6 percent of Spain's territory, with a sixth of its people, it accounts for nearly a quarter of Spain's production — everything from textiles to computers — even though the rest of Spain has been enjoying its own economic miracle.
Hand in hand with seny goes rauxa, and there's no better place to see rauxa in action than on the Ramblas, the venerable, tree-shaded boulevard that, in gentle stages, leads you from the centre of Barcelona down to the port. There are two narrow lanes each way for cars and motorbikes, but it's the wide centre walkway that makes the Ramblas a fron-trow seat for Barcelona's longest running theatrical event. Plastic armchairs are set out on the sidewalk. Sit in one of them, and an attendant will come and charge you a small fee. Performance artists throng the Ramblas — stilt walkers, witches caked in charcoal dust, Elvis impersonators. But the real stars are the old women and happily playing children, millionaires on motorbikes, and pimps and women who, upon closer inspection, prove not to be.
Aficionados (Fans) of Barcelona love to compare notes: "Last night there was a man standing on the balcony of his hotel room," Mariana Bertagnolli, an Italian photographer, told me. "The balcony was on the second floor. He was naked, and he was talking into a cell phone. "
There you have it, Barcelona's essence. The man is naked (rauxa), but he is talking into a cell phone (seny).
21. From the description in the passage, we learn that
A. all Catalonians can perform castells.
B. castells require performers to stand on each other.
C. people perform castells in different formations.
D. in castells people have to push and pull each other.
参考答案： B
TIP：从文章对castells的描述中我们可以想象出，人梯城堡需要表演者叠加上去。本题考查对相关细节的理解能力。
22. According to the passage, the implication of the performance is that
A. the Catalonians are insensible and noisy people.
B. the Catalonians show more sense than is expected.
C. the Catalonians display paradoxical characteristics.
D. the Catalonians think highly of team work.
参考答案： C
TIP：搭建人梯城堡意味着Catalonians具有自相矛盾的特点。见原文： ... the castellers seem to epitomize an easier time, ...； But when you observe them up close, in their street clothes, at practice, you see there's nothing easy about what the castellers do ... easier time与nothing easy是答案的依据。本题考查对文章细节含义的理解能力。
23. The passage cites the following examples EXCEPT _____ to show seny at work.
A. development of a bank
B. dynamic role in economy
C. contribution to national economy
D. comparison with other regions
参考答案： D
TIP：本题答案在第八、九段中。第八段举了银行的例子(选项A)。第九段讲了Catalonia对西班牙经济的推动力，以及对国民经济的贡献(选项B和C)。唯独选项D的对应内容没有出现在文章里。
24. In the last but two paragraph, the Ramblas is described as “front-row seat for Barcelona's longest running theatrical event”. What does it mean?
A. On the Ramblas people can see a greater variety of performances.
B. The Ramblas provides many front seats for the performances.
C. The Ramblas is preferred as an important venue for the events.
D. Theatrical performers like to perform on the Ramblas.
参考答案： A
TIP：本题考查根据上下文对句子含义的理解。这里a front-row seat用作比喻，表示能看到种类繁多的表演。
25. What is the main impression of the scenes on the Ramblas?
A. It is bizarre and outlandish.
B. It is of average quality.
C. It is conventional and quiet.
D. It is of professional standard.
参考答案： A
TIP：本题考查对相关细节的归纳、总结能力。在The Ramblas上演出的人物形形色色、稀奇古怪，见原文：Performance artists throng the Ramblas — stilt walkers, witches caked in charcoal dust, Elvis impersonators. But the real stars are the old women and happily playing children, millionaires on motorbikes, and pimps and women who, upon closer inspection, prove not to be.
TEXT D
The law firm Patrick worked for before he died filed for bankruptcy protection a year after his funeral. After his death, the firm's letterhead properly included him: Patrick S. Lanigan, 1954-1992. He was listed up in the right-hand corner, just above the paralegals. Then the rumors got started and wouldn't stop. Before long, everyone believed he had taken the money and disappeared. After three months, no one on the Gulf Coast believed that he was dead. His name came off the letterhead as the debts piled up.
The remaining partners in the law firm were still together, attached unwillingly at the hip by the bondage of mortgages and the bank notes, back when they were rolling and on the verge of serious wealth. They had been joint defendants in several unwinnable lawsuits; thus the bankruptcy. Since Patrick's departure, they had tried every possible way to divorce one another, but nothing would work. Two were raging alcoholics who drank at the office behind locked doors, but never together. The other two were in recovery, still teetering on the brink of sobriety.
He took their money. Their millions. Money they had already spent long before it arrived, as only lawyers can do. Money for their richly renovated office building in downtown Biloxi. Money for new homes, yachts, condos in the Caribbean. The money was on the way, approved, the papers signed, orders entered; they could see it, almost touch it when their dead partner — Patrick — snatched it at the last possible second.
He was dead. They buried him on February 11, 1992. They had consoled the widow and put his rotten name on their handsome letterhead. Yet six weeks later, he somehow stole their money.
They had brawled over who was to blame. Charles Bogan, the firm's senior partner and its iron hand, had insisted the money be wired from its source into a new account offshore, and this made sense after some discussion. It was ninety million bucks, a third of which the firm would keep, and it would be impossible to hide that kind of money in Biloxi, population fifty thousand. Someone at the bank would talk. Soon everyone would know. All four vowed secrecy, even as they made plans to display as much of their new wealth as possible. There had even been talk of a firm jet, a six-seater.
So Bogan took his share of the blame. At forty-nine, he was the oldest of the four, and, at the moment, the most stable. He was also responsible for hiring Patrick nine years earlier, and for this he had received no small amount of grief.
Doug Vitrano, the litigator, had made the fateful decision to recommend Patrick as the fifth partner. The other three had agreed, and when Patrick Lanigan was added to the firm name, he had access to virtually every file in the office. Bogan, Rapley, Vitrano, Havarac, and Lanigan, Attorneys and Counselors-at-Law. A large ad in the yellow pages claimed "Specialists in Offshore Injuries." Specialists or not, like most firms they would take almost anything if the fees were lucrative. Lots of secretaries and paralegals. Big overhead, and the strongest political connections on the Coast.
They were all in their mid-to late forties. Havarac had been raised by his father on a shrimp boat. His hands were still proudly calloused, and he dreamed of choking Patrick until his neck snapped. Rapley was severely depressed and seldom left his home, where he wrote briefs in a dark office in the attic.
26. What happened to the four remaining lawyers after Patrick's disappearance?
A. They all wanted to divorce their wives.
B. They were all heavily involved in debts.
C. They were all recovering from drinking.
D. They had bought new homes, yachts, etc.
参考答案： B
TIP：Patrick失踪后剩下的四个律师都是债台高筑。文章的第二段讲了有关细节，如The remaining partners in the law firm were still together, attached unwillingly at the hip by the bondage of mortgages and the bank notes ...；They had been joint defendants in several unwinnable lawsuits; thus the bankruptcy.
27. Which of the following statements contains a metaphor?
A. His name came off the letterhead as the debts piled up.
B. ... they could see it, almost touch it when their dead partner ...
C. ..., attached unwillingly at the hip by the bondage of mortgages ...
D. ..., and for this he had received no small amount of grief.
参考答案： C
TIP：选项C含有隐喻。不管喜欢与否，抵押贷款把四人捆绑在一起。这里attached ... at the hip by the bondage of ... 用作比喻。
28. According to the passage, what is the main cause of Patrick stealing the money?
A. Patrick was made a partner of the firm.
B. The partners agreed to have the money transferred.
C. Patrick had access to all the files in the firm.
D. Bogan decided to hire Patrick nine years earlier.
参考答案： B
TIP：本题考查细节之间的因果关系。主要/直接原因是他们决定把9000万美金汇到海外的一个账户上，这给了Patrick可乘之机。
29. The lawyers were described as being all the following EXCEPT
A. greedy.
B. extravagant.
C. quarrelsome.
D. bad-tempered.
参考答案： C
TIP：本题考查对文中人物特点的理解和把握能力。律师的特点是贪婪(Specialists or not, like most firms they would take almost anything if the fees were lucrative)；奢侈(Money they had already spent long before it arrived, as only lawyers can do. Money for their richly renovated office building in downtown Biloxi. Money for new homes, yachts, condos in the Caribbean.)、脾气暴躁(Two were raging alcoholics who drank at the office behind locked doors, but never together.)。选项C(动辄争吵)在文中不明显，故不作为特点。
30. Which of the following implies a contrast?
A. ..., and it would be impossible to hide that kind of money in Biloxi, population fifty thousand.
B. They had been joint defendants in several unwinnable lawsuits; thus the bankruptcy.
C. There had even been talk of a firm jet, a six-seater.
D. His name came off the letterhead as the debts piled up.
参考答案： D
TIP：选项D中的came off和piled up是一对反义词，表示对比。其他选项中未含有表示对比的词。
PART III GENERAL KNOWLEDGEThere are ten multiple-choice questions in this section. Choose the best answer to each question. Mark your answers on your coloured answer sheet.
31. The largest city in Canada is
A. Vancouver.
B. Montreal.
C. Toronto.
D. Ottawa.
参考答案： C
TIP：多伦多是加拿大最大的城市。本题属于加拿大概况类问题。
32. According to the United States Constitution, the legislative power is invested in
A. the Federal Government.
B. the Supreme Court.
C. the Cabinet.
D. the Congress.
参考答案： D
TIP：美国宪法赋予国会立法权。本题属于美国国情类问题。
33. Which of the following is the oldest sport in the United States?
A. Baseball.
B. Tennis.
C. Basketball.
D. American football.
参考答案： A
TIP：美国历史最悠久的运动项目是棒球。本题属于美国文化类问题。
34. The head of the executive branch in New Zealand is
A. the President.
B. the Governor-General.
C. the British monarch.
D. the Prime Minister.
参考答案： D
TIP：新西兰国家行政首脑是首相。本题属于新西兰国情类问题。
35. The Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories told by a group of pilgrims on their way to Canterbury, is an important poetic work by
A. William Langland.
B. Geoffrey Chaucer.
C. William Shakespeare.
D. Alfred Tennyson.
参考答案： B
TIP：The Canterbury Tales的作者是Geoffrey Chaucer。本题属于英国文学类问题。
36. Who wrote The American ?
A. Herman Melville.
B. Nathaniel Hawthorne.
C. Henry James.
D. Theodore Dreiser.
参考答案： C
TIP：Henry James创作了小说The American。本题属于美国文学类问题。
37. All of the following are well-known female writers in 20th-century Britain EXCEPT
A. George Eliot.
B. Iris Jean Murdoch.
C. Doris Lessing.
D. Muriel Spark.
参考答案： A
TIP：除George Eliot外，其他几位都是20世纪英国著名女作家。本题属于英国文学类问题。
38. Which of the following is NOT a design feature of human language?
A. Arbitrariness.
B. Displacement.
C. Duality.
D. Diachronicity.
参考答案： D
TIP：Diachronicity(历时性)不是人类语言的特点。本题考查考生对语言特征的理解。
39. What type of sentence is “ Mark likes fiction, but Tim is interested in poetry.”?
A. A simple sentence.
B. A coordinate sentence.
C. A complex sentence.
D. None of the above.
参考答案： B
TIP：此句是并列句。本题考查考生对句子种类的辨别能力。
40. The phenomenon that words having different meanings have the same form is called
A. hyponymy.
B. synonymy.
C. polysemy.
D. homonymy.
参考答案： D
TIP：homonymy指词同形/音异义的现象。本题考查考生对词汇学相关概念的理解。
PART IV PROOFREADING & ERROR CORRECTIONProofread the given passage on ANSWER SHEET TWO as instructed.
The passage contains TEN errors. Each indicated line contains a maxinum of ONE error. In each case, only ONE word is involved. You should proofread the passage and correct it in the following way:
To correct these mistakes, you may need to change, delete or add a word. If you need to change a word, click the left mouse button to select the word，choose "change" on the menu and write the correct word in the blank. If you need to delete a word, click the left mouse button to select the word and choose "delete" on the menu. If you need to add a word, click the left mouse button to select the space in between the two words where you think there is a word missing, choose "add" on the menu and write the missing word in the blank. And you may use "cancel" on the menu to cancel the choice of the correction way you've just made.
The desire to use language as a sign of national identity is avery natural one, and in result language has played a prominent(1) part in national moves. Men have often felt the need to cultivate(2) a given language to show that they are distinctive from another(3) race whose hegemony they resent. At the time the United States(4) split off from Britain, for example, there were proposals thatindependence should be linguistically accepted by the use of a(5) different language from those of Britain. There was even one(6) proposal that Americans should adopt Hebrew. Others favouredthe adoption of Greek, though, as one man put it, things wouldcertainly be simpler for Americans if they stuck on to English(7) and made the British learn Greek. At the end, as everyone(8) knows, the two countries adopted the practical and satisfactorysolution of carrying with the same language as before.(9) Since nearly two hundred years now, they have shown the world(10) that political independence and national identity can be completewithout sacrificing the enormous mutual advantages of a commonlanguage.
PART V TRANSLATIONSECTION A CHINESE TO ENGLISHTranslate the underlined part of the following text into English. Write your translation on ANSWER SHEET THREE.
都市寸土千金，地价炒得越来越高，今后将更高。拥有一个小小花园的希望，对寻常之辈不啻是一种奢望，一种梦想。
我想，其实谁都有一个小小花园，这便是我们的内心世界。人的智力需要开发，人的内心世界也是需要开发的。人和动物的区别，除了众所周知的诸多方面，恐怕还在于人有内心世界。心不过是人的一个重要脏器，而内心世界是一种景观，它是由外部世界不断地作用于内心渐渐形成的。每个人都无比关注自己及至亲至爱之人心脏的健损，以至于稍有微疾便惶惶不可终日，但并非每个人都关注自己及至亲至爱之人的内心世界的阴晴。
SECTION B ENGLISH TO CHINESETranslate the following text into Chinese. Write your translation on ANSWER SHEET THREE.
But, as has been true in many other cases, when they were at last married, the most ideal of situations was found to have been changed to the most practical. Instead of having shared their original duties, and as schoolboys would say, going halves, they discovered that the cares of life had been doubled. This led to some distressing moments for both our friends; they understood suddenly that instead of dwelling in heaven they were still upon earth, and had made themselves slaves to new laws and limitations. Instead of being freer and happier than ever before, they had assumed new responsibilities; they had established a new household, and must fulfill in some way or another the obligations of it. They looked back with affection to their engagement; they had been longing to have each other to themselves, apart from the world, but it seemed they never felt so keenly that they were still units in modern society.
PART VI WRITING
In a few months' time you are going to graduate from university. How do you think your college years have prepared you for your future life? Write an essay of about 400 words on the following topic:
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED FROM MY YEARS AT UNIVERSITY
In the first part of your essay you should state clearly your main argument, and in the second part you should support your argument with appropriate details. In the last part you should bring what you have written to a natural conclusion or make a summary.
Marks will be awarded for content, organization, grammar and appropriateness. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.
Write your essay on ANSWER SHEET FOUR.
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