2008.9中级

SECTION 1: LISTENING TEST （45 minutes）Part A: Spot DictationDirections: In this part of the test, you will hear a passage and read the same passage with blanks in it. Fill in each of the blanks with the word or words you have heard on the tape. Write your answer in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET. Remember you will hear the passage ONLY ONCE.Americans have four primary avenues for making friends: at work, at school, through a hobby or a ________ （1）such as volunteer work and discussion group, or through a family or ________ （2）.In American culture, a job is more than the work that one performs between the hours of 9 a.m. and ________ （3）. Work becomes a major socializing influence. Many young mothers who ________ （4）their jobs to care for small children remark on the loneliness of their new lifestyles because they have lost their forum for ________ （5）.A great number of American employers recognize business social ________ （6）and use it to build a family atmosphere on the job so that employees will feel ________ （7）in their work environment. Some employers arrange company get-togethers in their home or at a ________ （8）. American companies have at least one ________ （9）annually, usually at Christmas time. Many corporations have ________ （10）where employees and administrators alike dress ________ （11）to play games such as baseball and volleyball.Top American administrators often hold social gatherings ________ （12）. Depending upon the size of the employer's home and the number of ________ （13）, these social gatherings may be picnics, pool parties, or ________ （14）. If the company is large, an employer may hold what Americans call ________ （15）. For an open house, the employer will invite his employees to come to his home ________ （16）between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. on a certain day. Those invited usually stay for ________ （17）, chatting with the other guests and their host. People come and go ________ （18）during the designated hours, and the host keeps refreshments, usually, ________ （19）or hors d'oeuvres and beverages, available for all who come. For such social gatherings, it is considered ________ （20）the invitation unless you have an excellent reason.Part B: Listening Comprehension.StatementsDirections: In this part of the test, you will hear several short statements. These statements will be spoken ONLY ONCE, and you will not find them written on the paper; so you must listen carefully. When you hear a statement, read the answer choices and decide which one is closest in meaning to the statement you have heard. Then write the letter of the answer you have chosen in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.1.（A）Going shopping is much more exhaustive than shopping on the Internet. （B）For me, taking a rest is better than surfing the Internet or shopping.（C）I am not sure if I should take a break to work in the garden this morning. （D）My friend and I have to finish our annual report by this weekend.2.（A）It is hardly true that Mr Johnson is a new employee with such initiatives. （B）We are not sure if Mr Johnson is satisfied with his working environment. （C）Usually new employees will not take such initiatives as Mr Johnson does. （D）Mr Johnson is really very friendly as he helps us with our working initiatives.3.（A）What are the differences between marketing and cost-effective publicity? （B）Could you say something on the subject of cost-effective publicity?（C）How much will the conference on marketing and sales cost us?（D）When will the subject of the 50-minute conference be publicized?4.（A）Children will directly or indirectly affect what their parents purchase.（B）Growing children will have special needs that their parents cannot satisfy. （C）The needs for special food and clothing are more obvious in girls.（D）It is necessary for parents to influence what their children eat and wear.5.（A）The apple is one of the fruits that can lower your blood sugar.（B）Apples are sugar-containing fruits that may raise your blood sugar.（C）Although it is sugar-containing, the apple is a kind of healthy fruits.（D）For those who are on a diet, an apple a day is enough because it digests slowly.6.（A）We decided to purchase a camera for our online course.（B）I know that we cannot beat the price for the camera on the Net.（C）The order is that we need to buy the camera cheaper on the Internet.（D）The camera we bought is more expensive than I expected.7.（A）The problem of inflation could be worsened due to rising unemployment and wage explosion.（B）Because of the rise of unemployment during inflation, there could be a wage explosion.（C）The most serious economic problem in the wake of inflation is a possible wage explosion.（D）A possible way to curb inflation and rising unemployment is to raise the workers' wages dramatically.8.（A）This kind of tax on imported goods is unnecessary.（B）To practice economy, the government imposes a tax.（C）A tariff is recommended by our economists.（D）The tariff is a government tax on imported goods.9.（A）We had planned to sell $120,000 worth of this new product.（B）We had a promotion plan for our product that costs $ 360,000.（C）Originally, there were 3 promotion plans for the new product.（D）The sales figure of our new product had reached a record high.10.（A）The committee voted against the proposed project.（B）The committee approved the proposed project.（C）The committee considered the short report well written.（D）The committee was convinced by the documented report.II. Talks and ConversationsDirections: In this part of the test, you will hear several short talks and conversations. After each of these, you will hear a few questions. Listen carefully because you will hear the talk or conversation and questions ONLY ONCE. When you hear a question, read the four answer choices and choose the best answer to that question. Then write the letter of the answer you have chosen in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.Questions 11-1411.（A）Discussing inflation with the man.（B）Helping her parents pay for debts.（C）Seeking a permanent job overseas.（D）Studying in a foreign country.12.（A）Her parents' unwillingness to pay her tuition.（B）Her desire to earn as much as possible.（C）The rising cost of living through inflation.（D）The fact that she is an overseas student.13.（A）The education centre.（B）The university bookstore.（C）The university library.（D）The student cafeteria.14.（A）She will use her study time more effectively. （B）She will buy second-hand books from the store. （C）She will spend her money on something else. （D）She will devote more time to working extra hours. Questions 15-1815.（A）A palm reader.（B）A speech therapist.（C）A student.（D）A teacher.16.（A）She was ill.（B）She was afraid.（C）She was anxious.（D）She was excited.17.（A）50.（B）120.（C）220.（D）240.18.（A）Her anxiety.（B）Her mistake.（C）Her excitement.（D）Her success.Questions 19-2219.（A）He was at a news conference.（B）He was on a business trip.（C）He was traveling with the company's CEO. （D）He was negotiating with a New Y ork agent.20.（A）The company's top executives.（B）Producers and servicemen.（C）Agents and customers.（D）Managers from home and abroad.21.（A）220.（B）250.（C）300.（D）350.22.（A）The loudspeakers.（B）The visual aids.（C）The hall capacity.（D）The lunch menu.Questions 23-2623.（A）Working is more important than having a holiday. （B）A driver should be more careful than a pedestrian. （C）In driving, it is always safety that comes first.（D）It is dangerous to drive fast in crowded areas.24.（A）Because they may not judge speeds very well. （B）Because they may step into the road for convenience. （C）Because they cannot run very fast.（D）Because they may become nervous easily.25.（A）Shoppers.（B）Traffic police.（C）Y oung people.（D）The handicapped.26.（A）Signal to a school crossing patrol. （B）Slow down or stop to let people cross. （C）Overtake other drivers for safety. （D）Watch out for a Stop-Children sign. Questions 27-3027.（A）Programme writing.（B）Note-takind techniques.（C）Handwriting analysis.（D）Sample collecting.28.（A）A good self-controlled personality. （B）An introspective nature.（C）A friendly and sociable disposition. （D）A mix of interest and emotion.29.（A）Socially-minded people.（B）Scientists and intellectuals.（C）Mediocre writers.（D）Friendly companions.30.（A）The rounded, medium size of the letters.（B）The small open a's and o's.（C）The wide spaces between the words.（D）The upright slant and the signature.Part C: Listening and Translation.Sentence TranslationDirections: In this part of the test, you will hear 5 sentences in English. Y ou will hear the sentences ONLY ONCE. After you have heard each sentence, translate it into Chinese and write your version in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.（1）（2）（3）（4）（5）II. Passage TranslationDirections: In this part of the test, you will hear 2 passages in English. Y ou will hear the passages ONLY ONCE. After you have heard each passage, translate it into Chinese and write your version in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET. Y ou may take notes while you are listening.（1）（2）SECTION 2: STUDY SKILLS （45 minutes）Directions: In this section, you will read several passages. Each passage is followed by several questions based on its content. Y ou are to choose ONE best answer, （A）, （B）, （C）or （D）, to each question. Answer all the questions following each passage on the basis of what is stated or implied in that passage and write the letter of the answer you have chosen in the c orresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.Questions 1-5Mankind‟s fascination with gold is as oid as civilization itself. The ancient Egyptians esteemed gold, which had religious significance to them, and King Tutankhamen was buried in a solid-goJd coffin 3300 years ago.People have always longed to possess gold. Unfortunately, this longing has also brought out the worst in the human character. The Spanish conquistadores robbed palaces, temples, and graves, and killed thousands of Indians in their ruthless search for gold. Often the only rule in young California during the days of the gold rush was exercised by the mob with a rope. Even today, the economic running of South Africa‟s gold mines depends largely on the employment of black laboures who are paid about ?40 a month, plus room and board, and who must work in conditions that can only be described as cruel. About 400 miners are killed in mine accidents in South Africa each year, or one for every two tons of gold produced.Much of gold‟s value li es in its scarcity. Only about 80,000 tons have been mined in the history of the world. All of it could be stored in a vault 60 feet square, or a supertanker.Great Britain was the first country to adopt the gold standard, when the Master of the Mint, Sir Isaac Newton, established a fixed price for gold in 1717. But until the big discoveries of gold in the last half of the nineteenth century—starting in California in 1848 and later in Australia and South Africa—there simply wasn‟t enough gold around for a ll the trading nations to link their currencies to the precious metal.An out-of-work prospector named George Harrison launched South Africa into the gold age in 1886 when he discovered the metal on a farm near what is now Johannesburg. Harrison was given a ?12 reward by the farmer. He then disappeared and reportedly was eaten by a lion.Historically, the desire to hoard gold at home has been primarily an occupation of the working and peasant classes, who have no faith in paper money. George Bernard Shaw defended their instincts eloquently: …Y ou have to choose between trusting to the natur al stability of gold and the natural stability of the honesty and intelligence of the members of the government’，he said, ‘and with due respect to these gentlemen, I advise you …to vote for gold.’1.It can be inferred from the passage that during the days of the gold-rush in California ________.（A）people had to mark out their gold claims with a rope（B）people carried ropes instead of guns（C）hanging was a common form of punishment（D）the rope was the symbol of law and order2.One of the problems with gold is that ________.（A）it loses its shape too easily（B）it changes the human characters（C）it entails danger to the miners（D）it costs money to produce .3.According to the passage, gold has always been considered a precious metal mainly because ________.（A）money is made of it（B）it is rare（C） a small quantity goes a long way（D）it has religious significance4.After the big gold discoveries in the late nineteenth century ________.（A）the trading nations adopted the gold standard（B）the trading nations were unable to get enough gold（C）gold coins were used by most nations（D）gold was considered to be a kind of precious metal5.George Bernard Shaw thought that ________.（A）the members of the government were honest and intelligent（B）the value of gold was likely to change unexpectedly（C）gold was more valuable than paper money（D）one could place more faith in gold than in politiciansQuestions 6-10Let us take a brief look at the planet on which we live. As Earth hurtles through space at a speed of 70,000 miles an hour, it spins, as we all know, on its axis, which causes it to be flattened at the Poles. Thus if you were to stand at sea level at the North or South Pole you would be 13 miles nearer the centre of the earth than if you stood on the Equator.The earth is made up of three major layers—a central core, probably metallic, some 4000 miles across, a surrounding layer of compressed rock, and to top it all a very thin skin of softer rock, only about 20 to 40 miles thick—-that‟s about as thin as the skin of an apple, talking in relative terms.The pressure on the central core is unimaginable. It has been calculated that at the centre it is 60 million pounds to the square inch, and this at a temperature of perhaps 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The earth‟s interior, therefore, would seem to be of liquid metal—and evidence for this is given by the behaviour of earthquakes.When an earthquake occurs, shock waves radiate from the centre just as waves radiate outwards from the point where a stone drops into a pond. And these waves pulsate through the earth‟s various layers. Some waves descend vertically and pass right through the earth, providing evidence for the existence of the core and an indication that it is fluid rather than solid. Thus, with their sensitive instruments, the scientists who study earthquakes, the seismologists, can in effect X-ray the earth.Iceland is one of the most active volcanic regions of the world. And it was to Iceland that Jules V erne sent the hero of his book A Journey to the Centre of the Earth. This intrepid explorer clambered down the opening of an extinct volcano and followed its windings until he reached the earth‟s core. There he found great oceans, and continents with vegetation. This conception of a hollow earth we now know to be false. In the 100 years since Jules V erne published his book, the science of vulcanology, as it is called, has made great strides. But even so the deepest man has yet penetrated is about 10,000 feet. This hole, the Robinson Deep mine in South Africa, barely scratches the surface; so great is the heat at 10,000 feet that were it not for an elaborate air-conditioning system, the miners working there would be roasted. Oil borings down to 20,000 feet have shown that the deeper they go, the hotter it becomes.The temperature of the earth at the centre is estimated to be anything between 3,000 and 11,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Some scientists believe that this tremendous heat is caused by the breaking-down of radio-active elements, which release large amounts of energy and compensate for the loss of heat from the earth‟s surface. If this theory is correc t, then we are all living on top of a natural atomic powerhouse.6.The outer layer of the earth is compared to the skin of an apple because ________. （A）it is about 20 to 40 miles thick（B）it is thin in proportion to the earth’s mass（C）it is softer than the central core（D）it is thinner than the surrounding layer7.Which of the following cannot explain why the interior of the earth is fluid? （A）There is great pressure at the centre.（B）Earthquake waves can move vertically.（C）The outer layer is made of rock.（D）The heat at the centre is too great.8.The Robinson Deep mine in South Africa is ________.（A）too deep to work in（B）too hot to work in（C）close to the centre（D）still in use9.Since the publication of Jules V erne‟s book it has been proved that ________. （A）the centre of the earth is not hollow（B）oil borings cannot go deeper than 20,000 feet（C）there are active volcanic regions at the centre（D）the earth is not in danger of exploding10.What is the best title for the passage?（A）The Earthquake.（B）The Underworld.（C）The V olcanic Regions.（D）The Great Oceans.Questions 11-15Many people will have heard of the Alexander technique but have only a vague idea what it is about. Until earlier this year, I didn‟t have the faintest idea about it. But, hunched over a computer screen one day, I noticed that the neck- and backache I regularly suffered were more painful than usual. I consulted a doctor, who said: “I can treat the symptoms by massaging your neck and upper back. But you actually have bad posture. That is what you need to get sorted out. Go off and learn the Alexander technique.”I had regularly been told by friends and family that I tend to slouch in chairs but had thought bad posture was something one was born with and could do nothing about. That is not true. Dentists and car mechanics, among others, tend to develop bad posture from leaning over patients or engine bays. Mothers often stress and strain their necks and backs lifting and carrying children, and those of us who sit in front of computers all day are almost certainly not doing our bodies any favours.A few clicks on the web and I found an Alexander technique teacher, Tanya Shoop, in my area of south London and booked a first appointment. Three months later I am walking straighter and sitting better, while my neck and back pain are things of the past. I feel taller, too, which I may be imagining, but the technique can increase your height by up to five centimeters if you were badly slumped beforehand.The teaching centres on the neck, head and back. It trains you to use your body less harshly and to perform familiar movements and actions with less effort. There is very little effort in the lessons themselves, which sets apart the Alexander technique from pilates or yoga, which are exercise-based.A typical lesson involves standing in front of a chair and learning to sit and stand with minimal effort. Y ou spend some time lying on a bench with your knees bent to straighten the spine and relax your body while the teacher moves your arms and legs to train you to move them correctly.The key is learning to break the bad habits accumulated over years. Try, for example, folding your arms the opposite way to normal. It feels odd, doesn‟t it? This is an example of a habit the body has formed which can be hard to break. Many of us carry our heads too far back and tilted skyward. The technique teaches you to let go of the muscles holding the head back, allowing it to resume its natural place on the summit of our spines. The head weighs four to six kilos, so any misalignment can cause problems for the neck and body.So who was Alexander and how did he come up with the technique? Frederick Matthias Alexander, an Australian theatrical orator born in 1869, found in his youth that his voice was failing during performance. He analysed himself and realized his posture was bad. He worked on improving it, with dramatic results. He brought his technique to London 100 years ago and quickly gathered a following that included some very famous people. He died in 1955, having established a teacher-training school in London, which is thriving today.So if you are slouching along the road one day, feeling weighed down by your troubles, give a thought to the Alexander technique. It could help you walk tall again.11.The writer first learnt about the Alexander technique ________.（A）after consulting someone about her problems（B）after she suddenly developed a bad back（C）when massage failed to alleviate her back pain（D）when she was browsing the Internet12.The Alexander technique is different from yoga in that familiar movements ________.（A）are learnt through one-to-one tutorial（B）need more energy and effort than we think（C）are not to be performed strenuously（D）are not required in the exercise13.According to the passage, the body appears to form habits that ________.（A）inevitably cause physical pain（B）can be difficult to change（C）are a consequence of actions we perform（D）develop in early childhood14.It is suggested that Frederick Alexander ________.（A）believed in the benefits of exercise（B）invented an alternative to yoga（C）developed a form of exercise for actors（D）recovered his vocal powers15.What is the writer‟s main purpose in the article?（A）To recommend regular physical exercise.（B）To describe the dreadful nature of the backache.（C）To suggest that back problems can be remedied.（D）To explain the widespread occurrence of back pain.Questions 16-20The earth is our home. We must take care of it, for ourselves and for the next generation. This means preserving the quality of our environment.Consume, consume, consume! Our society is consumer oriented—dangerously so. To keep the wheels of industry turning, we manufacture consumer goods in endless quantities, and in the process, are rapidly exhausting our natural resources. But this is only half the problem. What do we do with manufactured products when they are worn out? They must be disposed of, but how and where? Unsightly junkyards full of rusting automobiles already surround every city in the nation. Americans throw away 80 billion bottles and cans each year, enough to build more than ten stacks to the moon. There isn‟t room for much more waste, an d yet the factories grind on. They cannot stop because everyone wants a job. Our standard of living, one of the highest in the world, requires the consumption of manufactured products in ever-increasing amounts. Man, about to be buried in his own waste, is caught in a vicious cycle.It wasn‟t always like this. Only 100 years ago, man lived in harmony with nature. There weren‟t so many people then and their wants were fewer. Whatever wastes were produced could be absorbed by nature and were soon covered over. Today this harmonious relationship is threatened by man‟s lack of foresight and planning, and by his carelessness and greed. For man is slowly poisoning his environment.Pollution is a “dirty” word. To pollute means to contaminate—to spoil something by introducing impurities which make it unfit or unclean to use. Pollution comes in many forms. We see it, smell it, taste it, drink it, and stumble through it. We literally live in and breathe pollution, and not surprisingly, it is beginning to threaten our health, our happiness, and our very civilization.Where is this all to end? Are we turning the world into a gigantic dump, or is there hope that wecan solve the pollution problem? Fortunately, solutions are in sight. A few of them are positively ingenious.Take the problem of discarded automobiles, for instance. Each year over 40,000 of them are abandoned in New Y ork City alone. Eventually the discards end up in a junkyard. But cars are too bulky to ship as scrap to a steel mill. They must first be flattened. This is done in a giant compressor which can reduce a Cadillac to the size of a television set in a matter of minutes. Any leftover scrap metal is mixed with concrete and made into exceptionally strong bricks that are used in buildings and bridg es. Man‟s ingenuity has come to his rescue.What about water pollution? More and more cities are building sewage-treatment plants. Instead of being dumped into a nearby river or lake, sewage is sent through a system of underground pipes to a giant tank where the water is separated from the solid material, purified, and returned for reuse to the community water supply. The solid material, called sludge, is converted into fertilizer. The sludge can also be made into bricks.16.According to the passage, what is the immediate problem caused by the consumption of manufactured products?（A）Exhaustion of natural resources.（B）Waste disposal.（C）Pollution from industry.（D）Money-oriented mentality.17.About a century ago, people lived in relative harmony with their environment as ________. （A）their wastes were covered over by nature（B）they were more careful and less greedy（C）their junkyards didn’t grow tall yet（D）they had foresight and planning18.Which of the following in NOT one of the stages in dealing with discarded automobiles?（A）Flattening them to the size of a television set.（B）Building more gigantic junkyards.（C）Shipping them as scrap to a steel mill for new vehicles.（D）Using them as ingredients for bricks.19.The solution to water pollution is ________.（A）storing the sewage in a giant tank（B）dumping more sewage into the distant ocean（C）building more sewage disposal plants（D）replacing underground pipes full of sewage20.According to the passage, what can be made into fertilizer?（A）Water.（B）Scrap metal.（C）Bricks.（D）Sludge.Questions 21-25In the 1960s, the Pharmaceutical Company Sandoz marketed its tranquilizer Serentil with ads suggesting the drug be prescribed to “the newcomer in town who can‟t make friends…The woman who can‟t get along with her new daughter-in-law. The executive who can‟t accept retirement.”But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration （FDA）stopped the ads. Drugs are supposed to treat illnesses, the agency said, not the changes of living.Isn’t that an unusual idea? The FDA was worried back then about an overmedicated society. Today 7% of Americans are on antidepressants （many more have tried them）, and ads try to persuade people to buy drugs for problems like fatigue, loneliness and sadness. Still, drug companies aren’t the （sole）villain. Horwitz, dean of social and behavioral sciences at Rutgers, and Wakefield, an expert on mental-illness diagnosis at New Y ork University, persuasively argue that many instances of normal sadness are now misdiagnosed as depressive disorder. They also point out that the capacity to feel sad is an evolutionarily selected trait that we might not want to drug away.We‟ve been living in an age of sadness for at least two decades. But while it‟s tempting to blame our culture—fear of terrorists, too much caffeine—there‟s a more straightforward explanation for the boom in sadness. In 1980, the American Psychiatric Association published a new definition of depression that was a radical departure from the old one, which had described “depressiveneurosis” as “an excessive reaction of depression due to an internal conflict or to an identifiable event such as the loss of a love object.” To be diagnosed with major depressive disorder today, you need have only five symptoms for two weeks, which can include depressed mood, weight gain, insomnia, fatigue and indecisiveness. The definition does make an exception for bereavement: if you recently lost a loved one, such symptoms are not considered disordered. But it doesn‟t make exceptions for other things that make us sad—divorce or financial stress.Still, is there anything wrong with medicating normal sadness if you don‟t mind side effects? Horwitz and Wakefield take no position on this. They point out that women giving birth take painkillers even though pain is a normal part of the process. But they also note that “loss responses are part of our biological heritage.” Nonhuman primates separated from sexual partners or peers have physiological responses that correlate with sadness. Human infants express despair to evoke sympathy from others. These sadness responses suggest sorrow is genetic and that it is useful for attracting social support, protecting us from aggressors and teaching us that whatever prompted the sadness—say, getting fired because you were always late to work—is behavior to be avoided. This is a brutal economic approach to the mind, but it makes sense: we are sometimes meant to suffer emotional pain so that we will make better choices.21.Which of the following is the passage primarily concerned with?（A）Sadness is a normal human emotion that serves a specific purpose.（B）Sadness makes humans strive for happiness or contentment.（C）Sadness and happiness are definitely two sides of the same coin.（D）Sadness is now diagnosed as depressive disorder.22.Why did the FDA stop the drug advertisements for Serentil?（A）The drug did not treat illnesses as it should.（B）The drug changed the people’s way of life.（C）The drug had possible serious side effects.（D）The drug was recommended to the wrong people.23.Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as a symptom of major depressive disorder?（A）Inability to sleep.（B）Grief over death.。