专业八级54篇改错练习与答案解析

可可英语专八改错练习
第一期
About half of the infant and maternal deaths in developing countries could be avoided if women had used family planning methods to prevent high risk ____1 pregnancies, according to a report publishing recently by the Johns Hopking University. ____2
The report indicates that 5.6 million infant deaths and 2,000,000 maternal Deaths could be prevented this year if women chose to have theirs children ____3
within the safest years with adequate intervals among births and limited their ____4
families to moderate size.
This amounts to about half of the 9.8 million infant and 370.000 maternal deaths in developing countries, excluded China, estimated for this year by ____5
the United Nation’s Children’s Fund and the US Center s for Disease Control respectably. China was excluded because very few births occur in the high risk categories. ____6 The report says that evidences from around the world shows the risk of ____7
maternal or infant ill and death is the highest in four specific types of ____8
pregnancy; pregnancies before the mother is 18 year old; those after the ____9
mother is 35 years old; pregnancies after four births; and those lesser than two years apart.____10
第二期
'Home, sweet home" is a phrase that express an essential attitude in the United States. Whether the reality of life in the family house is sweet or no sweet, the cherished ideal of home _____1
has great importance for many people.
This ideal is a vital part of the American dream. This dream, dramatized in the history of nineteenth century European settlers of American West, was to find a piece of place, build a house _____2
for one's family, and started a farm. These small households were _____3
portraits of independence: the entire family- mother, father, children,even grandparents-live in a small house and working together to ___4
support each other. Anyone understood the life-and-death importance _____5
of family cooperation and hard work. Although most people in the United States no longer live on farms, but the ideal of home ownership _____6
is just as strong in the twentieth century as it was in the nineteenth. When U.S soldiers came home before World WarⅡ, for example, _____7
they dreamed of buying houses and starting families. But there was _____8
a tremendous boom in home building. The new houses, typically in the suburbs, were often small and more or less identical, but it satisfied _____9
a deep need. Many regarded the single-family house the basis of their way of life._____10
第三期
We live in a society which there is a lot of talk about science, but I would say _____1
that there are not 5 percent of the people who are equipped with school, including college, to understand scientific reasoning. We are more ignorant of science as people _____2
with comparable education in Western Europe.There are a lot of kids who know everything about computers—how to build them, how to take them apart, and how to write programs for games. So if you ask _____3
them to explain about the rinciples of physics that have gone into creating the _____4
computer, you don’t have faintest idea. _____5
The failure to understand science leads to such things like the neglect of human _____6
creative power. It also takes rise to blurring of the distinction between science and _____7
tec hnology. Lots of people don’t differ between the two. Science is the production of _____8
new knowledge that can be applied or not, and technology is the application of knowledge to the production of some products, machinery or the like. The two are really different, and people who have the faculty for one very seldom have a faculty for the others. _____9
Science in itself is harmless, more or less. But as soon as it can provide technology,it’s not necessarily harmful. No society has yet earned to forecast the consequences of new technology, which can be enormous._____10
第四期
What is a black hole? Well, it is difficult to answer the question,as the terms we would normally use to describe a scientific phenomenon __1
are adequate here. Astronomers and scientists think that a black hole is __2
a region of space which matter has fallen and from which nothing can __3
escape—not even light. But we can’t see a black hole. A black hole __4
exerts a strong gravitational pull and yet it has no matter. It is only space—or thus we think. How can this happen? __5 The theory is that some stars explode when their density increases to a particular point; they “collapse” and sometimes a supernova occurs.
The collapse of a star may produce a “White Dwarf” of a “neutronstar”—a star which matter is so dense that if continually shrinks by the force of __6
its own gravity. But if the star is very large, this process of shrinking may be so intense that a black hole results in. Imagine the earth reduced to the __7
size of a marble, but still having the same masses and a stronger __8
gravitational pull, and you have some ideas of the force of a black hole. __9
And no matter near the black hole is sucked in. __10
第五期
The great whales are among the most fascinating creatures which __1
have ever lived on the earth, and one of them, the blue whale, is the largest. People in ancient times thought whales as fearsome __2
monsters of the ocean depths. So to hunt a whale, when one occasionally swam toward shore, he was high adventure. People __3
found the adventure was rewarding, too, for the oil and meat from one whale alone could heat and feed a village for a whole winter.Whales resemble huge fish. They were referred by the ancients as __4
“great fish,” and any whale beaching along the c oasts of England was designated “the King’s fish” because it automatically belonged to the Crown.Ever since those early times, human have felt whales a sense of __5 wonder mixed with an intense desire to capture, slaughter, and exploit. Now the slaughter has reached alarming proportions. __6
Even though some species are protected by the regulations of the International Whaling Commission and theoretically all whale hunting is regulated, but the earth's stock of whales is still being __7
depleted. In fact, some scientists worry that 100 years since now __8
there may be no whales left. If this happens, mankind will be blame for removing from the earth forever a remarkable and __9
awe-inspiring creature that always fed man's imagination and made the world a more exciting place__10
第六期
We use language every day. We live in a world of words. Hardly any moment passes with someone talking, writing or reading. Indeed, __1
languages is most essential to mankind. Our lives increasingly depend on fast and successful use of language. Strangely enough, we know __2
more about things around us than on ourselves. For example, language __3
is species specific, that is, it is language that differs human from __4
animals. However, we do not know yet how exactly we inquire language __5
and how it is possible for us to perceive through language; nor we __6
understand precisely the combinations between language and thought, __7
language and logic, or language and culture; still less, how and when language started. One reason for this inadequate knowledge of language is that we, like language users, take too many things for granted. __8 Language comes to every normal person so naturally that a few __9
of us stop to question what language is, much less do we feel the necessity to study it. Language is far more complex than most people have probably imagined and the necessity to study it is far greater than some people may have assured. Linguistic is a branch of science which takes language as its object of investigation.__10
第七期
Whenever you see an old film, even one made as little as ten years before, you can’t help being strucked by the __1 appearance of the women taking part. Their hair styles and make-up look date; their skirts look either too long or too short__2 ;
their general appearance is, in fact, slightly ludicrous.
The men taking part, on other hand, are clearly recognizable. __3
There is nothing about their appearance to suggest that they belong to an entire different age. This illusion is created __4
by changing fashions. Over the years, the great minority of men __5
have successfully resisted all attempts to make it change their __6
style of dress. The same cannot be said for women. Each year,a fewer so-called top designers in Paris and London lay down __7
on the law and women around the world run to obey. The __8
decrees of the designers are unpredictable and
dictatorial.Sometime they decide arbitrarily, that skirts will be short and __9
waists will be height; hips are in and buttons are out. __10 第八期
Demographic indicators show that Americans in the post war period were more eager than ever to establish families. They quickly brought down the age at marriage for both men and women and brought the birth rate to a twentieth century height __1
after more than a hundred years of a steady decline, producing the "baby boom." __2
These young adults established a trend of early marriage and relatively large families that went for more than two decades and caused a major but temporary __3
reversal of long-term demographic patterns. From the 1940s through the early 1960s, Americans married at a high rate and at a ounger age than their __4
Europe counterparts. __5
Less noted but equally more significant, the men and women who formed__6
families between 1940 and 1960 nevertheless reduced the divorce rate after a __7
postwar peak; their marriages remained intact to a greater extent than did that of __8
couples who married in earlier as well as later decades. Since the United States __9
maintained its dubious distinction of having the highest divorce rate in the world,the temporary decline in divorce did not occur in the same extent in Europe. __10 Contrary to fears of the experts, the role of breadwinner and homemaker was not abandoned.
第九期
When you start talking about good and bad manners you immediately start
meeting difficulties. Many people just cannot agree what they mean. We asked a
lady, who replied that she thought you could tell a well-mannered person on the __1
way they occupied the space around them—for example, when such a person
walks down a street he or she is constantly unaware of others. Such people never __2
bump into other people.
However, a second person thought that this was more a question of
civilized behavior as good manners. Instead, this other person told us a story, __3
it he said was quite well-known, about an American who had been invited __4 to an Arab meal at one of the countries of the Middle East. The American __5
hasn't been told very much about the kind of food he might expect. If he had __6
known about American food, he might have behaved better. __7
Immediately before him was a very flat piece of bread that looked, to
him, very much as a napkin. Picking it up, he put it into his collar, so that __8
it falls across his shirt. His Arab host, who had been watching, __9
said of nothing, but immediately copied the action of his guest. __10
And that, said this second person, was a fine example of good manners.
第十期
A great many cities are experiencing difficulties which are nothing new in the history of cities, except in their scale. Some cities have lost their original purpose and have not found new one. And any large or rich city is __1
going to attract poor immigrants, who flood in, filling with hopes of __2
prosperity which are then often disappointing. There are backward towns on the edge of Bombay or Brasilia, just as though there were on the edge of __3
seventeenth-century London or early nineteenth-century Paris. This is new is __4
the scale. Descriptions written by eighteenth-century travelers of the poor of Mexico City, and the enormous contrasts that was to be found there, are very __5 dissimilar to descriptions of Mexico City today—the poor can still be numbered __6
in millions.The whole monstrous growth rests on economic prosperity, but behind it lies __7
two myths; the myth of the city as a promised land, that attracts immigrants __8
from rural poverty and brings it flooding into city centers, and the myth of the __9
country as a Garden of Eden, which, a few generations late, sends them flood __10
-ing out again to the suburbs.
第十一期
Artists use caricature to distort the human face or figure for comic affect__1
while at the same time capturing an identifiable likeness and suggests the essence __2
of the personality or character beneath the surface. The humor lies in the fact __3
the caricature is recognizable, and yet exaggerated.
From their origin in Europe as witty sketches, caricature grew through __4
the eighteenth and nineteenth century, becoming enormously popular in __5
the United States early in this century. In 1920s and 1930s especially, this lively form of illustration was appeared in newspapers and __6
magazines throughout the country. The caricaturists in this era drew his __7
portraits of important figures primary to entertain. In spirit their work was __8
close to the humor of the fast-developing comic strip and gag cartoon than to the __9
string of political satire. Their subjects were more often amusing than offended __10
by amiable attacks.
第十二期
Most people would describe water like a colorless liquid. They __1
would know that in very cold conditions it becomes a solid called
ice and that when heating on a fire it becomes a vapor called steam. __2
However, water, they would say, is a liquid. We have learned that
water consists of molecules composed with two atoms of hydrogen __3
and one atom of oxygen, which we describe by the formula H2O.
This is equally true of the solid called ice and the gas called steam.
Chemically there is no difference between the gas, the liquid, and
the solid, all of which is made up of molecules with the formula H2O. __4
This is true of other chemical substances; most of them can exist as
gases or as liquids or as solids. We may normally think of iron as a
solid, but if we will heat it in a furnace, it will melt and become a __5
liquid, and at very high temperatures it will become a gas. Nothing
very permanent occurs when a gas changes into a liquid or a solid.
Everyone knows that ice, which has been made by freezing water,
can be melted again by warmed and that steam can be condensed __6
on a cold surface to become liquid water. In fact, it is only because
water is so a familiar substance that different names are used for __7
the solid, liquid and gas. Most substances are only familiar with __8
us in one state, because the temperatures requiring to turn them __9
into gases are very high, or the temperatures necessary to turn them
into solids are so low. Water is an exception in this respect, which
is another reason why its three states have given three different names. __10
第十三期
Classic Intention Movement
In social situations, the classic Intention Movement is “the chair-grasp”. Host and guest have been talking for some time, but now the host has an ppointment to keep and can get away. His urge __1
to go is held in cheek by his desire not be rude to his guest. If he did __2
not care of his guest’s feelings he would simply get up out of his chair __3
and to announce his departure. This is what his body wants to do, __4
therefore his politeness glues his body to the chair and refuses to let him __5
raise. It is at this point that he performs the chair-grasp Intention __6
Movement. He continues to talk to the guest and listen to him, but leans forward and grasps the arms of the chair as about to push himself upwards. __7
This is the first act he would make if he were rising. If he were not __8
hesitating, it would only last the fraction of the second. He would lean, __9
push, rise, and be up. But now, instead, it lasts much longer. He holds his “readiness-to-rise” post and keeps on holding it. It is as if his __10
body had frozen at the get-ready moment.
第十四期
The hunter-gatherer tribes that today live as our prehistoric human __1
ancestors consume primarily a vegetable diet supplementing with animal foods __2
An analysis of 58 societies of modern hunter-gatherers, including the Kung of southern Africa, revealed that
one-half emphasize gathering plants foods,
one-third concentrate on fishing, and only one-sixth are primarily hunters,Overall, two-thirds and more of the hunter-gatherer’s calories come from __3
plants. Detailed studies of the Kung by the food scientists at the University of London, showed that gathering is a more productive source of food than is hunting. An hour of hunting yields in average about 100 edible __4 calories, as an hour of gathering produces 240. __5
Plant foods provide for 60 percent to 80 percent of the Kung diet, and no __6
one goes hungry when the hunt fails. Interestingly, if they escape fatal infections or accidents, these contemporary aborigines live to old ages despite of the absence __7
of medical care. They experience no obesity, no middle-aged spread, little dental decay, no high blood pressure, no heart disease, and their blood cholesterol levels are very low (about half of the average American adult). __8
If no one is suggesting that we return to an aboriginal life style, we certainly __9
could use their eating habits as a model for healthier diet. __10
第十五期
There are great impediments to the general use of a standard in pronun-ciation comparable to that existing in spelling (orthography). One is the fact that pronunciation is learnt ‘naturally’ and unconsciously, and orthography __1
is learnt deliberately and consciously. Large numbers of us, in fact, remain throughout our lives quite unconscious with what our speech sounds __2
like when we speak out, and it often comes as a shock when we __3
firstly hear a recording of ourselves. It is not a voice we recognize at once, __4
whereas our own handwriting is something which we almost always know. We __5
begin the "natural" learning of pronunciation long before we start learning to read or write, and in our early years we went on unconsciously imitating and __6
practicing the pronunciation of those around us for many more hours per every __7
day than we ever have to spend learning even our difficult English spelling.
This is "natural", therefore, that our speech-sounds should be those of our im- __8
mediate circle; after all, as we have seen, speech operates a means of holding a community and to give a sense of "belonging". We learn quite early to recognize a __9 "stranger", someone who speaks with an accent of a different community—perhaps only a few miles far. __10 第十六期
Sporting activities are essentially modified forms of hunting behavior.
Viewing biologically, the modern footballer is revealed as a member of a disguised __1
hunting pack. His killing weapon has turned into a harmless football and his prey into a goal-mouth. If his aim is inaccurate and he scores a goal, __2
enjoys the hunter’s triumph of killing his prey. __3
To understand how this transformation has taken place we must briefly look up at our ancient ancestors. They spent over a million __4
year evolving as co-operative hunters. Their very survival depended on success __5
in the hunting-field. Under this pressure their whole way of life, even if their __6
bodies, became radically changed. They became chasers, runners, jumpers, aimers, throwers and prey-killers. They co-operate as skillful male-group __7
attackers.
Then, about ten thousand years ago, when this immensely long formative __8
period of hunting for food, they became farmers. Their improved intelligence,
so vital to their old hunting life, were put to a new use—that of penning, __9
controlling and domesticating their prey. The food was there on the farms,awaiting their needs. The risks and uncertainties of farming were no longer __10
essential for survival.
第十七期
In addition to learn how to cope with daily__1
work, I've also know to handle study sessions for__2
big tests. My all-night study sessions in high school are experiment in self-torture. Around __3
2:00A.M., My mind, as a soaked sponge, simply__4 stopped absorb things. Now, I space out exam__5
study sessions over several days. That way, the night before can be devoted to a overall review__6
rather than raw memorizing. Most important,though, I've changed my attitude toward tests. In high school, I thought tests were mysterious things with completely predictable questions. Now, I ask __7
teachers the kinds of questions that will be on the __8 exam, and I try to "psych out" which areas or facts teachers are like to ask about. These practices really__9
work, and for me they've taken many of the __10
fear and mystery out of tests
第十八期
For the last fifteen or twenty years the fashion in criticism or appreciation of the arts have been to deny the existence of any valid criteria and to make the __1__ words “good” or “bad” irrelevant, immaterial, and inapplicable. There is no such thing, we are told, like a set of standards first acquired through experience and __2__ knowledge and late imposed on the subject under discussion. This has been a __3__
popular approach, for it relieves the critic of the responsibility of judgment and the public by the necessity of knowledge. It pleases those resentful of disciplines, it __4__
flatters the empty-minded by calling him open-minded, it comforts the __5__
confused. Under the banner of democracy and the kind of quality which our forefathers did no mean, it says, in effect, “Who are you to tell us what is good or bad?” This is same cry used so long and so effectively by the producers of mass __6__
media who insist that it is the public, not they, who decide what it wants to hear __7__
and to see, and that for a critic to say that this program is bad and that program is good is pure a reflection of personal taste. Nobody recently has expressed this __8__ philosophy most succinctly than Dr. Frank Stanton, the highly intelligent __9__
president of CBS television. At a hearing before the Federal Communications Commission, this phrase escaped from him under questioning: “One man’s mediocrity __10__
is another man’s good program”.
第二十期
The grammatical words which play so large a part in English grammar are for the most part sharply and obviously different from the lexical words. A rough and ready difference which may seem the most obvious is that grammatical __1__
words have “less meaning”, but in fact some grammarians have called them __2__
“empty”words as opposed in the “full”words of vocabulary. But this is a rather __3__
misled way of expressing the distinction. Although a word like the is not the name __4__
of something as man is, it is very far away from being meaningless; there is a __5__
sharp difference in meaning between “man is vile”and “the man is vile”, yet the is the single vehicle of this difference in meaning. Moreover, grammatical words __6__
differ considerably among themselves as the amount of meaning they have even in __7__
the lexical sense. Another name for the grammatical words has been “little words.”
But size is by no mean a good criterion for distinguishing the grammatical words.”__8__
of English, when we consider that we have lexical words as go, man, say, car. __9__
Apart from this, however, there is a good deal of truth in what some people say:
we certainly do create a great number of obscurity when we omit them. This is __10__
illustrated not only in the poetry of Robert Browning but in the prose of telegrams and newspaper headlines.
第二十一期
More people die of tuberculosis than of any other disease caused by a single agent. This has probably been the case in quite a while. During the __1__
early stages of the industrial revolution, perhaps one in every seventh __2__
deaths in Europe’s crowded cities were caused by the disease. From __3__
now on, though, western eyes, missing the global picture, saw the trouble __4__
going into decline. With occasional breaks for war, the rates of death and infection in the Europe and America dropped steadily through the 19th and __5__
20th centuries. In the 1950s, the introduction of antibiotics strengthened the trend in rich countries, and the antibiotics were allowed to be imported to __6__ poor countries. Medical researchers declared victory and withdrew.
They are wrong. In the mid1980s the frequency of infections and deaths __7__
started to pick up again around the world. Where tuberculosis vanished, it came __8__
back; in many places where it had never been away, it grew better. The World __9__
Health Organization estimates that 1.7 billion people (a third of the earth’s population)suffer from tuberculosis. Even when the infection rate was falling,population growth kept the number of clinical cases more or less constantly at 8 __10__
million a year. Around 3 million of those people died, nearly all of them in poor countries.
tuberculosis n.肺结核
antibiotics n.抗生素, 抗生学
第二十二期
One of America’s most important export is her modern music. __1__
American popular music is playing all over the world. It is enjoyed __2__
by people of all ages in all countries. Because the lyrics are English, __3__
nevertheless people not speaking English enjoy it. The reasons for its popularity are its fast pace and rhythmic beat.The music has many origins in the United States. Country music,coming from the suburban areas in the southern United States, is one __4__
source. Country music features simple themes and melodies describing day-to-day situations and the feelings of country people. Many people appreciate this music because the emotions expressed by country __5__ music songs. A second origin of American popular music is the blues. It depicted __6__
mostly sad feelings reflecting the difficult lives of American blacks. It is usually played and sung by black musicians, but it is not popular with __7__
all Americans.
Rock music is a newer form of music. This music style, featuring fast and repetitious rhythms, was influenced by the blues and country music. It is first known as rock-and- roll in the 1950’s. Since then there __8__ have been many forms of rock music, hard rock, soft rock, punk rock,disco music and others. Many performers of popular rock music are young musicians.American popular music is marketed to a demanding audience.Now popular songs are heard on the radio several times a day. Some songs become popular all over the world. People hear these songs sing __9__
in their original English or sometimes translated into other languages.
The words may coincide but the enjoyment of the music is universal. __10__
第二十三期
Cities can be frightened places. The majority of __1__
the population live in noisy massive tower blocks. The sense of belonging to a community tends to appear __2__ when you live thirty floors up in a skyscraper. Strange __3__
enough, whereas in the past the inhabitants of one street all knew each other, nowadays people on the same floor in tower blocks even say hello to each __4__
other.Country life, on the other hand, differs from this kind of isolated existence in that a sense of community generally keep the inhabitants of a small village together. __5__
People have the advantage of knowing that there is always someone to turn to when they need help. So __6__ country life has disadvantages too. For example, shopping becomes a major problem and for anything slightly out of the ordinary you have to go for an expe- dition__7__
to the nearest large town. The country has the advantage of peaceful and quiet, but suffers from the __8__
isadvantages of being cut off. The city has noise and population which do harm to human health. But one of their main advantages is that you are at the centre of __9__
things and that life doesn’t come to an end even at ten at night. Some people have found a compromise be-tween the two: they expressed their preference for the quiet life by leaving for the city and moving to the __10__ country within commuting distance of the large city.
第二十四期
Planning is a very important activity in our lives. It can give pleasure, even excitement, and it can cause quite severe headaches. __1
The most significant the task ahead, the more careful the planning __2
required. Getting to school or to work on time is a task requiring few __3
or no planning, it is almost routine. A month’s touring holiday abroad,or better still, getting married, is a different matter altogether. If the matter involve a church wedding, a reception, a honeymoon in Venice, __4
and returning a new home, this requires even more planning to make __5
sure that it is successful. Planning is our way of trying to ensure success and of avoiding costly failures we can not suffer. It is equally essential __6
to individual nations and families; the scale may be vary, but the degree __7
of importance does not. In the essence, a nation planning its resources __8
and needs do not differ from the familiar weekly shopping or monthly __9
household budget. Both are designed to ensure an adequate supply of essentials, and if improperly carried out, will avoid shortages, wastage __10
and over-expenditure.
第二十五期
Tracing missing persons can take much patient detective work. But a special kind of "private eye" can trace the missing ancestors of whole peoples by studying the clues。