2018北京外国语大学基础英语真题

2018北京外国语大学基础英语真题

第一部分：改错

When Rudyard Kipling died on Jan. 18, 1936, just three weeks after his 70th birthday, he had been one of Britain's most heralded writers for no fewer than 47 years. During much of this time, he also used his fame to intervene in politics as a propagandist, prophet and doomsayer. His standing in Britain was exceptional: for almost his entire adult life, he wrote in the knowledge that he would be read and he spoke with the expectation of being heard.

His life's cause was defense of the British Empire, but he also opined of →on every imaginable topic. A conservative by instinct, a rebel at heart, his views were unpredictable: many echoed on (去掉) the mood of the street, some were stridently pugnacious, a few unapologetically eccentric.

His immense popularity guaranteed himfor （去掉）a lifelong pulpit. Yet how did he achieve this power at so young an age? Born in India in 1865, he was just 5 when he was shipped back to England and installed unhappily in a boarding house in Southsea. At 12 he was packed off to one of myriad boarding schools preparing boys to running →run the empire. Then at 16 he returned to India, there→where his father found him a job on a newspaper in Lahore. So →Yet only seven years later, when he arrived back in England, he was proclaimed as (去掉) Tennyson's successor.

His precocious talent, it seems, was born of sharp powers of observation, an ability to empathize ＋with ordinary people, and a fearless and fluent pen. His early political views reflected a belief that India was well served by British rule. Thus, moves to give Indians＋a greater say in running the country stirred his fury. At 17, young Rud had the gall to assail the British viceroy of India in print. Soon, he was also publishing poems and stories, beginning with clever parodies of well-known British poets, then moving into political and social satire.

第二部分：阅读理解1

The Current State of the U.S. Debt

As of June 7, 2016, the U.S. national debt stood at $19.279 trillion, which is 101% of our nation’s gross domesti c product (GDP). This is more than double the national debt from 10 years ago, when it was 61% of GDP. However, when broader measures of debt are included, such as entitlement payments and government pensions, the actual debt load rises to a staggering 288% of GDP. The good news is that the rate of growth in national debt is slowing. The bad news is, even with a slowing growth rate, federal budget experts suggest that the high national debt may not be sustainable without significant reductions

in government spending and an increase in tax revenues, a feat not likely to happen anytime soon with a polarized U.S. Congress. Under current circumstances, the national debt will soar to more than $30 trillion in 2026.

How the National Debt Grew So Large

The increase in national debt comes from the government spending more than it takes in, which creates a fiscal deficit in the year when it occurs. The fiscal deficit is added to the national debt every year. A surplus would reduce the national debt, but the government has not generated one since 1998 through 2001. The rapid increase in the national debt can be

traced back to 1974, when it grew at an average annual rate of 10.9% through 1978. In 1980, when annual deficits spiked sharply, the rate of growth was 13.4% through 1990. These periods followed the decoupling of the dollar from the gold standard by President Richard Nixon in 1971. Since dollars were no longer redeemable in gold, and were backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, there was no limit on what Congress could spend.

That newfound freedom ushered in the era of pork spending, in which politicians could add pet projects to bills to benefit people in their districts or states. These earmarks add billions of dollars to the budget each year. Although Congress imposes debt limits each year, a budget deal between Congress and the administration effectively removed them in 2015, allowing the government to borrow as much as it needs.

In 1974, the fiscal deficit was $6.1 billion. By 1983, it mushroomed to $207 billion. Following the surpluses in 1998 to 2001, the deficits grew under President George W. Bush, reaching $459 billion in 2008. In President Barack Obama’s first year of office, the def icit ballooned to $1.4 trillion, due in large part to the stimulus package he enacted during the Great Recession. After four years of trillion-dollar deficits, the combination of a recovering economy, higher taxes and reduced government spending cut the deficit in half. In 2015, the deficit was $438 billion, and the projected 2016 deficit is $500 billion. Although that is a big improvement, the current deficit level is projected to add around $1 trillion to the national debt every two years.

Deficits Are Going to Increase From Here

Since 2007, the federal government has benefited from near-zero interest rates, which came about through its quantitative easing programs in the wake of the financial crisis. However, as the interest rates rise, the cost of maintaining the debt will increase. Interest on debt is projected to overtake military spending by 2021, which will require major cuts in domestic spending to avoid a dramatic debt increase. Over the next 10 years, interest on debt, Social Security and federal health care programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Obamacare are expected to account for 83% of the projected increase in spending,