北京有色金属研究总院考博基础英语2012

北京有色金属研究总院
2012年招收攻读博士学位研究生入学考试试题
（基础英语）
（请将答案写在答题纸上）
1.Words and Sentence Structures. There are 10 incomplete sentences in this part.
From the choices after each sentence, choose the ONE that best completes the sentence. (15%)
(1). The World War I ended in November 1918 with the war dead on both sides of the
conflict numbering ______ the millions.
a) at b) in
c) within d) without
(2).Although Einstein was not a socialist ______ today’s definition, his politics
were left of center, much like today’s liberal wing of the Democratic Party in the United States.
a) by b) at
c) for d) in
(3). President Obama is meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel at the White
House today, trying to talk him ______ an immediate strike on Iran's nuclear sites.
a) off b) against
c) with out d) out of
(4). Companies nowadays are always looking for people who are organized and
______ so as to fit any situation more easily.
a) operated b) flexible
c) dependent d) personal
(5). People will move around to do different jobs, ______ moving up in the company
as before.
a) in addition b) rather than
c) as well as d) owe to
(6). ______ I’m late, start the meeting without me, please.
a) So long as b) In case
c) In case of d) When
(7). A university degree has become a must for the entrance to most ______.
a) professors b) scholars
c) jobs d) professions
(8).We waited for Mr. White last whole night but he didn’t ______.
a) get up b) turn up
c) make up d) give up
(9).I would love ______ last night but I had to work extra hours to finish a report.
a) to go b) to have gone
c) to be gone d) at no time
(10).Having a trip abroad is certainly good for the old couple, but it remains ______
whether they will enjoy it.
a) to see b) to be seen
c) seeing d) seen
2.Reading Comprehension. Each passage in this part is followed by some
questions or unfinished statements. Read the text carefully and decide on the best ONE from given choices. (40%)
(A)
Sherlock Holmes took his bottle from the corner of the mantelpiece, and his hypodermic syringe from its neat morocco case. With his long, white, nervous fingers he adjusted the delicate needle and rolled back his left shirtcuff. For some little time his eyes rested thoughtfully upon the sinewy forearm and wrist, all dotted and scarred with innumerable puncture-marks. Finally, he thrust the sharp point home, pressed down the tiny piston, and sank back into the velvet-lined armchair with a long sigh of satisfaction.
Three times a day for many months I had witnessed this performance, but custom had not reconciled my mind to it. On the contrary, from day to day I had become more irritable at the sight, and my conscience swelled nightly within me at the thought that I had lacked the courage to protest. Again and again I had registered a vow that I should deliver my soul upon the subject; but there was that in the cool, nonchalant air of my companion which made him the last man with whom one would care to take anything approaching to a liberty. His great powers, his masterly manner, and the experience which I had had of his many extraordinary qualities, all made me diffident and backward in crossing him.
(1) What was Sherlock Holmes doing?
a) Polishing his shirtcuff.
b) Counting his puncture-marks.
c) Injecting something into his arm.
d) Assembling a tool on his hypodermic syringe.
(2) What was the author’s attitude toward Sherlock Holmes’ behavior?
a) anger.
b) nonchalance.
c) amusement.
d) satisfaction.
(3) Why didn’t the author dissuade Sherlock Holmes immediately?
a) He was awed by his extraordinary qualities.
b) He was accustomed to his behavior.
c) He was nonchalant toward his health.
d) He was the last man to do such an experiment.
(B)
A first mover is a firm that takes an initial competitive action. The concept of first movers has been influenced by the work of economist Joseph Schumpeter. In particular, he believed that firms achieve competitive advantage through entrepreneurial and innovative competitive actions. In general, first movers allocate funds for product innovation and development, aggressive advertising, and advanced research and development. Through competitive actions such as these, first movers hope to gain a competitive advantage.
Several competitive advantages can accrue to the firm that is first to initiate a competitive action. Successful actions allow a firm to earn above-average returns until other competitors are able to respond effectively. In addition, first movers have the opportunity to gain customer loyalty, thereby making it difficult for responding firms to capture customers. The advantages and their duration vary by the type of competitive action and industry. First-mover advantages also vary on the basis of the ease with which competitors can imitate the action. The more difficult and costly an action is to imitate, the longer a firm may receive the benefits of being a first mover. When core competencies are the foundation of a competitive action, first-mover advantages tend to last longer.
(4) Which of the following measures may a firm take to become a “first-mover”?
a) obtain a new fund.
b) build a new production line.
c) establish a new customer.
d) develop a new product.
(5) Which of the following is NOT mentioned as an advantage of a “first-mover”?
a) entrepreneurial influence.
b) high profit.
c) customer loyalty.
d) forestall of potential competitors.
(6) What will become of the benefits of a “first-mover”when imitation to the first-moving action can be done at a low cost?
a) It will work more effectively.
b) It will achieve high profits.
c) It tends to last longer.
d) It tends to last shorter.
(C)
My father, a wise and grave man, gave me serious and excellent counsel against what he foresaw was my design. He told me it was men of desperate fortunes on one hand, or of aspiring, superior fortunes on the other, who went abroad upon adventures, to rise by enterprise, and make themselves famous in undertakings of a nature out of the common road; that these things were all either too far above me or too far below me; that mine was the middle state, or what might be called the upper station of low life, which he had found, by long experience, was the best state in the world, the most suited to human happiness, not exposed to the miseries and hardships, the labour and sufferings of the mechanic part of mankind, and not embarrassed with the pride, luxury, ambition, and envy of the upper part of mankind. He told me I might judge of the happiness of this state by this one thing - viz. that this was the state of life which all other people envied; that kings have frequently lamented the miserable consequence of being born to great things, and wished they had been placed in the middle of the two extremes, between the mean and the great. He bade me observe it, and I should always find that the calamities of life were shared among the upper and lower part of mankind, but that the middle station had the fewest disasters, and was not exposed to so many vicissitudes as the higher or lower part of mankind; nay, they were not subjected to so many distempers and uneasinesses, either of body or mind, as those were who, by vicious living, luxury, and extravagances on the one hand, or by hard labour, want of necessaries, and mean or insufficient diet on the other hand, bring distemper upon themselves by the natural consequences of their way of living; that the middle station of life was calculated for all kind of virtue and all kind of enjoyments.
(7) Who might be “men of desperate fortunes”?
a) Those who need money desperately.
b) Those who are very rich.
c) Those who are desperately fortunate.
d) Those who are extremely adventurous.
(8) Which might be said of “me” according to his father?
a) He should go abroad upon adventures.
b) He was either too far away from or too near fortunes.
c) He was neither too rich nor too poor.
d) He should envy the life of the upper part of mankind.
(9) “Kings” are mentioned here to explain that:
a) Adventure makes one rich.
b) Poverty leads to miserable consequence.
c) Being born to great things is the most suited to human happiness.
d) Being born to great things is unnecessarily fortunate.
(10) What can be said of a man from the upper part of mankind?
a) He is exposed to the miseries and hardships.
b) He suffers from the labor.
c) He is embarrassed with the pride, luxury, ambition, and envy.
d) He laments of being placed in the middle of the two extremes.
(11) Which of the following may a man of the lower part of life be subjected to?
a) Vicious living.
b) Want of necessaries.
c) Extravagances.
d) Superior fortunes.
(D)
I had neither kith nor kin in England, and was therefore as free as air – or as free as an income of eleven shillings and sixpence a day will permit a man to be. Under such circumstances I naturally gravitated to London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained. There I stayed for some time at a private hotel in the Strand, leading a comfortless, meaningless existence, and spending such money as I had, considerably more freely than I ought. So alarming did the state of my finances become that I soon realized that I must either leave the metropolis and rusticate somewhere in the country, or that I must make a complete alteration in my style of living. Choosing the latter alternative, I began by making up my mind to leave the hotel, and take up my quarters in some less pretentious and less expensive domicile.
On the very day that I had come to this conclusion, I was standing at the Criterion Bar, when someone tapped me on the shoulder, and turning round I recognized young Stamford, who had been a dresser under me at Bart’s. The sight of a friendly face in the great wilderness of London is a pleasant thing indeed to a lonely man. In old days Stamford had never been a particular crony of mine, but now I hailed him with enthusiasm, and he, in his turn, appeared to be delighted to see me. In the exuberance of my joy, I asked him to lunch with me at the Holborn, and we started off together in
a hansom.
(12) What is “my” freedom limited by?
a) air.
b) money.
c) kith and kin.
d) gravitation.
(13) Why do “I” consider the alternative to “rusticate somewhere in the country”?
a) to get fresh air for his health.
b) to change his life style.
c) to cut down his spending.
d) to be less pretentious.
(14) Why does the author call London a “great wilderness”?
a) He has few acquaintances there.
b) It is a long time since he leaved the city.
c) London is well known for its wild whether.
d) London is an underdeveloped city for loungers and idlers.
(15) How was the author’s relationship with Stamford in the army?
a) They were very good friends.
b) They were ordinary familiars.
c) He actually never knew him even in the same unit.
d) They got to know each other in the restaurant of Holborn.
(E)
Incomes in the United States, of which wages constitute the most important component, have been growing more unequal. The wages of a 90th-percentile earner – that is, a person earning more than 90 percent of the general population – increased by about 65 percent more over the period 1975-2005 than the wages of a 10th-percentile earner (This difference is known as the 90/10 differential.) In 1975, the 90th percentile earned, on average, about three times more than the 10th percentile; by 2005, they earned five times more. All of this growth was concentrated at the top: the wages of those in the middle relative to those at the 10th percentile have not gone up anywhere near as much as the wages of the 90th percentile have grown relative to those in the middle.
Many commentators, both in academia and in the popular press, have focused on the income gains made by the top 1 percent or even the top 0.01 percent of earners, perhaps because it is more customary to look up than down. I believe the more troublesome trend for the United States is the 90/10 or 90/50 differential, which reflects the changes most Americans experience.
Much of the 90/10 differential can be attributed to what economists call the “college premium.”The ratio of the wages of those who have only a bachelor’s degree to those who only have a high school degree has risen steadily since 1980.The 2008 Current Population Survey by the Census Bureau indicated that the median wage of a high school graduate was $27,963, while the median wage of someone with an undergraduate degree was $48,097 –about 72 percent more. Those with professional degrees (like an MD or MBA) earn even more, with a median wage of
$87,775. That the 90/10 differential is largely due to the college premium also explains why the 50/10 differential has not moved as much –neither the 50th percentile earner nor the 10th percentile earner has been to college.
(16) Which should be higher for the “income” and “wage” of a citizen in the U.S.?
a) The income.
b) The wage.
c) Equal.
d) It depends.
(17) Probably how much was the 90/10 differential for the American population in 1990?
a) less than 1.
b) around 2.
c) around 4.
d) higher than 5.
(18) Between the 90/50 differential and the 50/10 differential, which value increased
faster for the U.S. over the period 1975-2005?
a) The former.
b) The latter.
c) Roughly on the same rate.
d) It depends on statistics for the top or low.
(19) Which stratum of the population is the most important according to the author?
a) The academia and the popular press.
b) The top 1 percent or even the top 0.01 percent of earners.
c) People who have obtained an undergraduate degree.
d) The more general population, largely without a college education.
(20) Which of the following stratum has been beneficiary of a college education?
a) The 90th percentile.
b) The 50th percentile.
c) The 10th percentile.
d) The 50th percentile and the 10th percentile.
3.Context Translation. Read the following text and translate the underlined
sentences into Chinese. (15%)
“People Aren't Smart Enough for Democracy to Flourish, Scientists Say”
The democratic process relies on the assumption that citizens (the majority of them, at least) can recognize the best political candidate, or best policy idea, when they see it.①But a growing body of research has revealed an unfortunate aspect of the human psyche that would seem to disprove this notion, and imply instead that
democratic elections produce mediocre leadership and policies.
The research, led by Dunning at Cornell University, shows that incompetent people are inherently unable to judge the competence of other people, or the quality of those people's ideas. ②For example, if people lack expertise on tax reform, it is very difficult for them to identify the candidates who are actual experts. They simply lack the mental tools needed to make meaningful judgments.
③As a result, no amount of information or facts about political candidates can override the inherent inability of many voters to accurately evaluate them. On top of that, "very smart ideas are going to be hard for people to adopt, because most people don’t have the sophistication to recognize how good an idea is," Dunning told Life's Little Mysteries.
He and colleague Justin Kruger, formerly of Cornell and now of New York University, have demonstrated again and again that people are self-delusional when it comes to their own intellectual skills. ④Whether the researchers are testing people's ability to rate the funniness of jokes, the correctness of grammar, or even their own performance in a game of chess, the duo has found that people always assess their own performance as "above average" —even people who, when tested, actually perform at the very bottom of the pile.
We're just as undiscerning about the skills of others as about ourselves. " ⑤To the extent that you are incompetent, you are a worse judge of incompetence in other people," Dunning said. In one study, the researchers asked students to grade quizzes that tested for grammar skill. "We found that students who had done worse on the test itself gave more inaccurate grades to other students." Essentially, they didn't recognize the correct answer even when they saw it.
4.Chinese-to-English Translation. There are 5 sentences in this part. Read the
Chinese carefully and translate them into English.(15%)
(1)直到上周三我才拿到工作许可。

(2)你怎样去北京，是乘飞机还是坐火车？
(3)这项建议转移了大家对真正的纳米材料的注意力。

(4)大多数用户既非新手，也不是专家，而是介于二者之间。

(5)正如工业革命的历史所显示的，人们常常可以用传统技术的语言来描述新
技术的成果。

5.Writing (15%)
请以“My Favorite Job”为题，描述你对于未来理想工作的各方面设想。

Answer Sheet 1.Words and Sentence Structures. (15%)
2.Reading Comprehension. (40%)
3.Context Translation. (15%)
①
②
③
④
⑤
4.Chinese-to-English Translation. (15%) (1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
5.Writing. (15%)。