【精品】英语专业高级时事英语练习题.doc

英语专业高级吋事英语练习题Paper 1: LISTENING TEST30 pointsInformation for the candidatesThere are two parts to the test. Each part will be played twice.There will be a pause before each part to let you read through the questions and another pause at the end of each part for you to check your answers.You may write your answers in the question paper as you listen*You will have to minutes at the end of the listening test to transfer your answers to the answer sheet.Part 1. Questions l-6> Interview with Professor Michaelson.You are going to listen to an interview with Professor Michael Michaelson・ You will hear the recording twice. Choose the best answer according to what you learn through listening. Before the first listening you have half a minute to study the questions.1.The main topic of the interview is ______ ・cation in ChinaB.pollution in EnglandC.pollution in China2.As seen by the interviewer, the major problem of pollution in China concems ______ .A.air, land and water pollutionB.people disposing of mbbish indiscriminatelyC.too much waste cardboard and too many empty bottles3.In his country, when Michael Michaelson sees people dropping litter he_C __A.reports them to the policeB.quietly disposes of the litter himselfC.confronts the person4.Michael Michaelson was shocked in China because B ________ ・A.in England people never drop litterB.in China people drop litter everywhereC.he cannot run after people in China5.Michael Michaelson C ________ the idea of using bikes to collect waste cardboard・A.can't understandB.criticizesC.likes6.In China people use bicycles A ________ ・A.to carry waste cardboardB.to collect empty bottles for moneyC.both A and BPart 2. Questions 7・13・ You are going to listen to a talk about 'The Fourth Word，.Task 1. Questions 7-13. A list of topics is given below. Find the ones that the speaker mentioned and write the letters representing them in the space provided on the Answer Sheet.A.The Fourth WorldB.AustraliaC.AfricaD.cultural marginalisationE.newspaper reports of social problemsF.BushmenG landrights stmgglesH.the PitjanjaraI.the MauritaniansJ.popular cultureK.the common experiences of* fourth world* peoplesL.the long term consequences of colonizationKEY: ABDGHKLTask 2. Questions 14-20> Listen again to the talk and mark the following statements as True (T) or False (F) according to the text.(14)The "fourth world' is a term used to interpret forms of inequality in rich countries.(15)The concept is used to interpret the problems of indigenous people(16)'Indigenous people9 means people who colonised others.(17)Fourth world people experience cultural, political and economic poverty.(18)Fourth world people have to fight to maintain their cultural identity.(19)When Australia was colonised only one cultural group was dispossessed.(20)Australian aboriginal people are the only population of "fourth woiicT people・KEY; TTFTTFFPart 1. Questions 1 — 10 are based on this part・10 points, I point eachYon* re going to Listen to Professor Jackson being interviewed about the environmental problems in China・ The following passage summarizes the interview. Complete the following summary with one word according to the information you hea匚You have one minute to look at the passage.Norman has been working in China for (1) ••… years, He thinks the govemmentneed to (2) Laws to prevent (3) ・ tile laws need lo be (4) .... 、the people need to be (5) abom them.Two things shocked Norman in China. ()ne is that people drop (6)....everywhere, the other is that the three distinguished (7) threw their carls into the(8) after they finished their drinks・To redress the problems that people throw litters at random, he suggested (9)people to be aware of the problem and (10) a good example for others to follow.KEY: 1. three2. make3. pollution4. enforce5・ educated6・ liMer (or trash, or rubbish)7. educationalists & eounrtyside9・ edtleatingl0. settingPart 2. Questions 11-20 are based on this part・20 points, 2 points eachYou are going to hear a talk entitled so ftware Pioneer Takes On New Frontier. The talk will be played twice. Fill in the blanks with one word according to what you hear on the tape.One of Microsoft Corp. *s early ( 11 )〜architect s, who led t he (12) _ todesign the (I3)and Excel programs, is leaving the software giant to work(14)—time on developing new ways to (15) the computer process. CharlesSimonyi, a 21-year veteran of Microsoft, is launching his own company, to be known as Intentional Software Corp. He and his (16), former Xerox Corp. programmer Gregor Kiczales, plan a formal (17) on Tuesday・The two hope to pioneer a new generation of software tools that aim to greatly reduce the complexity of (18) tasks, in part by making better use of graphical shortcuts・Many computer programs these days are more (19) than they need to be because the (20) of the designer tend to get swallowed by the conventions of the programming code, Simonyi said.-. KEY; 11. software 12. efforts 13. Word 14. full 15. simplify 16. partner 17. announcememl 8. programming 19. complicated20. intentionsPaper 2: READING AND WRITINGInformation for candidates•There are four parts to the reading test.•There is one writing task.•You should write ALL your answers on the Answer Sheet as you do the tasks* READING TEST 50 pointsPart L Read the following passage and answer Questions 21・30・Passage 1Changes in Australian EducationHaralambos and his colleagues (1996) have summarised the major changes in Australian education over the past two hundred years・The major issues driving their analysis are the questions:-of the effects that education has had on society; and-why some social groups tend to enjoy more educational success than others. They are not the only social scientists concerned with these issues. However their book contains a recent and comprehensive summaiy of Australian educational research・Here are some of the major points they make・ There are five basic components to the Australian education system:(i ) primary school ( age 5-12 years of age)(ii)compulsoiy sec on dary school (12-15 years of age)(or 12-16 years in the State of Tasmania)(iii)post-compulsory secondary school (15-17)(iv)technical and further education (17 years and older)(v ) higher education or university ( 17 years and older)Before the second world war nearly haft of Australian children did not attend secondary school. In the second half of the twentieth century education expanded and changed fonn dramatically. Between 1956 and 1966 the number of universities grew from nine to 14, then rose to 19 in 1975. In addition, there has been a significant growth in non university post secondary education. In the 1990s the percentage of women with post secondary school qualifications was 37%・The percentage of men was 47 per cent.Haralambos and his colleagues summarise the evidence about the impact of education on the creation of a more equal society. They say 1 both material and cultural factors affect the length of stay in education・1Family wealth still exerts a powerful influence on access to university education. However the expansion of education has meant an expansion of educational opportunities for people from social groups earlier denied a higher education.Bob Connell, a major writer on Australian education, has argued that 'the evidence of socially unequal outcomes continues to mount. It is one of the most firmly established facts about Western style educational Systems in all parts of the world/Mark the following statements as T (true) or F (false) according to the information in the text.21.Haralambos worked alone on his summary of Australian education.22.He and his colleagues were interested in studying social inequality.23.Most Australian students must stay at school until they are 15 years of age・24.There is a common compulsory school leaving age across all of Australia・25.There are two major forms of education for 17 year olds to choose.26.Post secondary education is compulsory in Australia.27.Only a small number of children attended secondary school before 1939・28.Major changes in education occurred in the latter half of the 20th century・29.By the 1990s, a higher percentage of women than men had post secondary qualifications.30.The expansion of education has meant that there is now no social inequality in access to higher education in Australia.KEY:FTTFTFFTFFPart 2. Read Passage 2 and answer Questions 31-40.Passage 2My ComputerTen years ago I occasionally used a typewriter for important documents such as mycurriculum vitae and job application letters. I couldn^ really type so I tapped away at the keyboard with my two index fingers and made lots of mistakes. One simple letter would often require at least a dozen attempts before I managed to produce the final, neat document. When a course that I was doing demanded typed assignments I begged friends with good typing skills to help me. In other words, to type them for me and when my final project had to be typed up, I actually paid a professional typist to do it ! I was 'a pen and paper person\ I had never been interested in machines and 'artificial intelligence, and sincerely believed I could live happily without advanced technology in my personal life!The situation has changed, of course. It's been a gradual change but these days I hardly know myself! I even have a computer and a printer. I have never learned to use all ten fingers on the keyboard but I can work quite quickly and produce documents which have an impressive layout and which use different sizes and styles of typeface (or font). I know how to underline, how to write words in bold or italic script, how to give parts of a text a border, how to insert illustrations and so on! I feel a great sense of achievement when I finish a document, print it out and see the finished product. Such documents seem 'professional' I suspect, however, that impressive layout may camouflage inferior content ! I hope this is not true in my case・Five years ago, I had no idea what friends were talking about when they mentioned "E-mail (even 讦they used the full term, electronic mail), 'the internet, and 'modem' but my computer now has a modem, and through this device, it is connected to the international network known as the Internet. As a result, I can now send and receive E-mail messages to and from friends and organisations around the world whose computers are also connected to the Internet. There is no time delay. It's possible to read messages in Beijing as they are being written in London or Hong Kong. This is indeed progress !Choose the best answer from the choices given ( Write the letter representing your choice in the space provided on the Answer Sheet):(31)In the article the writer compares changes over a period of A ・A.a decadeB.a centuryC.five years(32)The writer's typed essays were often produced by B .A.himself.B.friends and paid professionals.C.both A and B.(33)How many different kinds of electronic possessions does the writer list?BA.Moro than five・B.Three.C.Two.(34)The writer feels a sense of achievement because A .A.he produces an impressive looking documentB.his document cleverly camouflages inferior contentC.he can work quickly(35)The author is an C .A.accomplished ten finger typistB.illustratorC.accomplished internet user(36)The author started to use the Internet C ・A.ten years agoB・ exactly five years agoC. probably within the past five years(37)The author sends e-mail messages B •A.to all his friendsB・ to organisations around the worldC. both A and B.(38)Five years ago, the authors friends _B _____ ・A. were all connected to the InternetB.knew more about the Internet than he didC.worked in organisations all around the world(39)It is now possible A .A.to send immediate answers to correspondents on the InternetB.to assess the feelings of friends on the InternetC.to become a ten finger typist by using the Intemet(40)It is A .A.inferable that the author approves of the InternetB・ likely that the author is no longer employedC. unlikely that the author is a manPart 3. Read Passage 3 and answer Questions 41-50.Passage 3Income EqualityAdapted from Work by Yang Chunya and Kate ThorneA system to regulate income inequality should be mapped out in time to prevent income gaps from broadening. The lopsided individual income pattern in China has tended to worsen since the country initiated economic reform and the open-door policy 17 years ago.Although official statistics have not yet been made available to indicate how large income gaps have become, the people in the street have tested enough of this inequality in their daily life. While a couple of restaurant owners in Shanghai have revealed that their monthly income has reached 100, 000 yuan ( $11,900) ,630,000 residents in Hnnan Province are struggling for a bare subsistence wage of 132 yuan ( $16) a month, according to the weekly magazine Outlook.Gone are the days when people who had 10,000 yuan ( $1,190) were dubbed upstarts. Nowadays, a person who has 100,000 yuan ( $11,900) is barely considered rich. At the same time, around 10 million people across the country are living such a scanty life that they can f t afford enough vegetables and fruit.Although the disparity is inevitable when the country is in the stage of transition from the planned economy to a market-oriented economy, it does not mean that such unequal distribution of wealth is acceptable or fair. If the income gap keeps widening and finally develops to a polarisation, it will lead to deep resentment among the poor. A growing fear in the public is that chronic disatfection will trigger social disruption.Research cited by Keith Windschuttle in his Australian book on unemployment shows that low income people usually suffer higher levels of sickness and mortality and have few opportunities to enable their children to progress. The Left Realist school in the UK have shown that people living in communities suffering poverty and unemployment are at higher risks of becoming victims of crime. On the other hand, the rich who rise to fortune through illegal profiteering will frustrate fair competition in the market pace. Moreover, their self-indulgent life style has a negative effect on social values・To narrow the income gap, the most common practice exercised in western countries is to levy strictly regulated personal income tax.Unfortunately, this practice does not function well in China due to the fledgling financial and banking systems of the country, even though it has been pursued for about ten years, the weekly said.Questions 41-50. Fill in all the empty cells with either one-word or short-phrase (no more thanPassage 4Analysing the MediaPeople in today's global society know about their own lives, they also know something about what is happening in their local community and they have news about the wider world, the world they never experience directly, the world in which they never meet the people in the news face-to-face.We can leam about the culture, politics, economics, social problems, and achievements of people in distant countries and foreign societies. Mainly the knowledge we have of this wider world is communicated, almost always, through the media, and the details we receive are instant and multitudinous・It is in the news broadcasts of radio, television and the press, that the majority of people learn about the wider world・ Today, people live in a global world: the occurrences in far-off countries affect us all. We cannot be isolated from the events of foreign societies because those events can impinge on our own lives. So it is important to ask ' How well do the media do in their job of providing us with news of the wider world?\"Not too weir is the conclusion of some media analysts. Galtung and Ruge ( 1981 ), studied the way that Western news agencies mediate world events・ To summarise their work: we only get to hear, read of, or view, news events if they fulfill at least two or three of the following criteria: (i)if the people concerned have elite status(ii)if the country concerned has an elite status(iii)if the news is negative(iv)if the news has 4immediacy5Journalists define "a top story" as one that fulfills all four criteria. The sudden death of a glamorous member of a royal family in a rich country would have the very top billing. This kind of 'top story1 occurs infrequently. We are much more likely to receive stories fulfilling only three of the criteria・A slightly less appealing story but still 1a good news story1might be about rich people from rich countries being charitable to poor people. A story about poor women in Uganda or Laos running a successful long term community project would not fulfill any of the criteria. It would not be "a good news story\ Peasants in developing countries feature in the Westeni media only if they suffer large scale sudden disasters, like floods, earthquakes, famine or war. Large scale death of poor people is 4a good news story9So Western viewers develop a very imbalanced picture of the world at large・ An image of the world develops in which only rich people in First World countries are good, competent and charitable・Poor people in non-Westem countries come to be seen, only and inevitably, as the incompetent and passive recipients of all the disasters the world can bring them, and, if they are lucky, the charity of the rich people in the rich nations of the world.Give short answers to the following questions (Wr让e your answers on the Answer Sheet). (51 ) What are the three areas of social life we hear news about according to the author?(52)What is different about *the wider world' ?(53)How, mainly, do we learn about overseas countries?(54)Why is it important for us to have news of people in different countries?(55)What, according to the article, arc the major media forms providing global news?(56)What was the research focus of Galtung and Ruges 1981 publication?(57)What does 'negative news5 mean?(58)What is the difference between a 'top news story，and a lesser 'good news story9?(59)What do poor people from poor countries have to do to enter the consciousness of Western television viewers?(60)Why don't Westerners believe that peasants can be competent and successful?Part 1 ・ Questions 21—30 are based on the following passage. 20 points, 2 points eachPassage 1A delegation of church leaders met Heritage Secretary Virginia Bottomley at the House of Commons on Thursday. The discussion centred on the church leaders1 growing concern about the lottery^ effect on the poor and vulnerable・ The Rt Rev David Sheppard, Bishop of Liverpool, speaking from his train carriage on the way to the meeting, called for independent research into its impact. It had, he claimed, driven a ^oach and horses1 through existing gambling restrictions. Yet, in the first round of grants from the National Lottery, applications from organisations aiming to help problem gamblers were turned down.Although the National Lottery has created a new wave of gamblers, it has not created the problem itself. The problem of a very British, very secret vice, often disguised as the respectable middle—class pastime of having a flutter on the horses, can be far more serious.Susan, an artist, was department head in a grammar school when she married Graham・Getting was perceived as normal/ she says. H1 was brought up to believe that the odd flutter is perfectly OK. I didn*t like it, but I tolerated it."It was when they had been married for a few years, and Susan was at home with young children, that she had begun to notice a pattern. Graham worked abroad, and was at home only for a small part of the yea匚He hsd violent mood swings and bouts of excessive drinking. He locked himself in his study and made repeated 'business calls1. They were always short of money.Susan realised that she had married a gambler, not just someone who enjoyed a Gutter but a person who was prepared to risk his family's economic security for the excitement of gambling. She spoke with him about it. He denied the seriousness of the situation・ However, he did promise to share the full details about the family's income and expenditures with her. Prior to this conversation Susan did not know the details of his income. This accounting procedure meant that Susan was able to confront Graham with the actual extent of his gambling and the effect it made on the family's expenditure.Although Graham was forced to acknowledge that he used an unfair proportion of theKEY: 21. F 22. T 23. F 24. F 26. F 27. F28. T Part 2. Questions 31 〜35 are based on this part. 24. F25. T 29. T 30. F 10 points, 2 points eachThe Great Journeyfamily income on himself, he refused to stop gambling. Susan left him. She stayed with her mother for a year whilst waiting for her divorce. She was able to claim 70% of the money from the sale of the house she had shared with Graham. With that she went back to university, graduated with a Master's degree in Management and opened a private college ・'You could almost say it was Graham's gambling that has led to my success as a career woman 1 she says laughing.Susan recognises that other people might not be so fortunate and she fully supports David Sheppard's fight for funding for services to help people stop gambling ・ But these services only work if the gamblers make that first decision themselves 1, Susan says ・ She knows too well that some people will sacrifice anything, even their children, because they are not prepared to consider the full effects of their gambling expenditures.QuesUoas 21—30. True or False: Mark the following statements as being T(true) or F(false)according to the information in passage 1. Write T for True, ami F for False in the spaces provided in your Answer Sheet.21. Virginia Bottomley is a church leader.22. David Sheppard is Bishop of Liverpool.23. The delegatton was concemed about the country*s heritage ・24. The bishop drove a coach and horses to the meeting.25. Existing gambling legislation has been undermined by the lottery ・26. The National Lottery supported organisations aiming to help problem gamblers.27. Without the National Lottery gambling would not be a problem.28. In Britain, 'having a flutter* means gambling 1.29. Susan stayed with her mother for a year while she was waiting for her divorce ・30. Susan believes that the problem of gambling cannot be addressed. The Great Journey, aptly named by the archaeologist B.M. Fagan, refers to the spread of mankind throughout the world. The human race is believed ti> have originated in East Africa. Over the course of four million years, our ancestors traveled across the Eurasian continent and the Bering Straits, then traversed the Americas to reach Navarino island, an island on the southernmost tip of Chile ・ Yoshiharu Sekino set out to follow the same route ・ He limited himself to human forms of transport such as a bicycle or Kayak, or animal transport such as dog sleds or camels ・One of the goals of Sekino's trip was to experience traditional ways of life by staying in the villages of various ethnic groups along the way. He also took the challenge of traveling the more difficult routes, as befits the spirit of an explorer. Sekino's Great Journey began in 1993. He spent a total of eight years and three months carrying out this adventure, traveling nine months out of each year. Many Japanese were deeply inspired by his travels, which were documented by a Japanese television station once a year. PF featured Sekino^ travels in an article in 1995, not 1 ong after the start of his )ourney.Sekino began his explorations as a university student. While slilt enrolled in the lawdepartment of his university, he began vemuring into remote areas such as \be Amazon headwaters.Over the next 20 years, lie went on repeated sojourns tn this region, visiting the Guiana Highlands and Central Andes 29 times, where he immersed himself in the lives of people who live there amid nature, lie eventually returned to university and obtained a medical degree with a view to helping tile native inh〜d~itants of these areas in some way.Even after marrying and becoming the father of a daughter, his adventurous spirit never waned, and at the age of 40, he resolved to undertake the Great Journey・The Great Journey is the amalgamation of all of his expeditions thus far. The goal was not simply to undertake a long distance journey on foot. He set as his final destination Laetoli, Tanzania, the home of the worlds oldest fossil footprints of our human ancemors・ Sekino decided to start in South America, which had been the focus of his travels until then, and from there move on to visit other ethnic groups with traditional lif〜tyles in various parts of the world.On his journey, he came across peoples who helped each other in their daily lives to cope with harsh living conditions・ The (;rest Journey exposed Sekino the explorer to a ~Lew horizo n. Questions 3t—35 MuttipleChoice: Complete the following statements by choosing the best from the answers A, B, C or D. Write A, B, C or D on your Answer Sheet.31 ・ According to the passage, the human race is believed to have originated inA.The Bering Straits 13. East AfricaC. The AmericaD. Navarino Island32.Sekino limited himself to human farms of transport such asA・ a bicycle or kayak, or a dog sleds or horsesB.a bicycle or kayak, or camels or horst!sC.a bicycle or kayak, or animal transportD.a bicycle or kayak, or a dog sleds or camels or horses33.Sekino started his great Joumey as a university student in _A.1993B.1994C.1995D.199634.Over the next 20 years, he went on repeated sojourns toA.the Amazon headwatersB.TanzaniaC.the Bering StraitsD.the Navarino Island35.What kind of degree did he obtain when he eventually return tn university?A.A doctor degree・B.A master degree・C.A medical degree・D.A bachelor degree・KEY; 31. B 32. C 33. A 34. A 35. CPart 3. Questions 36 ~ 40 are based on this part・20 points, 4 points eachTravel in spaceTravel in space presented a big problem. How could an object get away from the pull of the earth? What was needed was a special engine. It would have to produce enough force to lift a spacecraft weighing many tons. Airplane engines use oxygen.'〜here is no oxygen in space・ So a20 pointsspacecraft needs an engine that works without oxygen. Finding the right kind of engine took many years. Modem scientists used a very old idea ~ the rocket.A rocket is an engine that burns fuel and moves forward by pushing exhaust backward.Rockets operate by burning fuel in a tube. When the fuel bums, the hot gases produced are allowed to escape in one direction only. This causes a force to push in the opposite direction. Rockets do not need the presence of air. Any oxygen they need is in the fuel mixture that they burn.Rockets can be used to place satellites in orbi 乙 The rocket provides the power for thesatellite to get into space. Once the satellite is far enough away from earth, the rocket falls off. The satellite then circles around earth on its own.In 1957, the Soviet Unibn used a rocket to put the first spacecraft into orbit around earth, ft was called Sputnik I. ()ne year later, the United States sent a spacecraft named Explorer I into space. These events marked the start of the space age ・ Since then, powerful rockets have placed heavier satellites into orbit ・]'hey have carried astronauts to the moon. Rockets have taunched space probes to fly near the other planets. Powerful computers help these spacecraft to stay on course ・Large spacecraft are very expensive to build. The United States has developed a spacecraft that is powerful and can be reused. 11 is the space shuttle ・ The space shuttle is different from other spacecraft. It can do three important things. It takes off like a rocket. It can fly in orbit around the earth like a rocket. Most important of all, it can land like an airplane ・ The shuttle is used to place satellites in orbit. It can also repair satellites that are in orbit ・ Someday the shuttle will carry people to orbiting space stations. Best of all, the same shuttle will fly to space and back more than 100 times ・The shuttle is made of two parts: the booster and the orbite 匚 The booster contains large rockets. The orbiter looks like an airplane. The orbiter is attached to the top of the rockets ・ At lift-off the rockets push the orbiter ahout 40 kilometers- There they separate from the orbiter. The rockets fall to the ocean by parachute ・ They are picked up, cleaned, and used again.Questions 36 一 40 Short Answers: Give short answers to the following questions ・ Write your answers on the Answer Sheet.36. What does an object need to have to get away from the pull of the earth according to thepassage?37. From where can a rocket get oxygen?38. From where does the satellite get power to get into the space?39. When did the United States send Explorer I into space?40. According to the passage, the space shuttle can do three important things, what is themost important thing it can do?KEY: 36. A special engine.37・ From the burning fuel mixture.38. From the rocket,39. In 1958. 40. It can land like an airplaneSection Ill: Writing Test WRITING TEST 20 pointsWrite a short essay about development in Western societies. You may write about some of the key changes of the past fifty years or so, the benefits of these changes and/or the disadvantages of these developments ・ You may include material comparing changes in Western society with those in China. You may include as a conclusion a summary and an evaluation of the material you have covered ・ You may use your own personal experience, or write about one specific Western society,。