博士英语入学考试试题

monica · 发表于 2008-3-9 22:30:27

有兴趣的可以看一下。
北京**大学2002 年博士英语入学考试试题
I Listening Comprehension
Section A
Directions: In this section, you will hear five short talks. At the end of each talk, you will hear
some questions. Both the talks and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a
question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D. Then
mark the corresponding letter on the ANSWER SHEET with a single line through the centre.
1. A. They are looking for the news in that journal.
B. They do not understand the news.
C. The newsstand probably has the journal.
D. They are expecting a new journey.
2. A. She has changed her major to economics.
B. she majors in business administration now.
C. She has studied business administration for three years.
D. she does not want to major in business administration.
3. A. She bought a carpet and a cleaner.
B. Someone cleaned Ann’s carpet.
C. Ann purchased a product for cleaning her carpet.
D. The carpet was cleaned at the supermarket.
4. A. Mr. Brown was at home.
B. Mr. Brown was in the office.
C. Mr. Brown was caught out of town.
D. Mr. Brown was on a business trip.
5. A. Hardly anybody here speaks frankly.
B. Take a different route to get where you are going.
C. We have asked everyone to form a straight line.
D. The questions are complicated, but there is only one right answer.
Section B
Directions: In this section, you will hear three short talks. At the end of each talk, you will hear
some questions. Both the talks and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a
question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D. Then
mark the corresponding letter on the ANSWER SHEET with a single line through the centre.
Question 6-8 are based on the talk you have just heard.
6. On what occasions should you say “Congratulations!”?
A. When somebody offers apologies to you.
B. When someone tells an exciting story to you.
C. When somebody is in an extremely happy occasion.
D. When people have completed something successfully.
7. What does R.S.V.P .in an invitation mean?
A. Response very promptly.
B. Response very punctually.
C. Response, please.
D. Response very politely.
8. What are the two main uses of “I’m sorry” according to the speaker?
A. To express one’s sympathy and regret to someone.
B. To express one’s gratitude to someone.
C. To express one’s opinion to someone.
D. To express one’s anger to someone.
Question 9-11 are based on the talk you have just heard.
9. What is the movie Soylent Green about?
A. The population of New York City in the year 2022.
B. The life in New York City in the year 2022.
C. The ocean plant-soylent.
D. The food and housing problems in the future.
10. What is the soylent yellow and red made of?
A. Ocean plants.
B. Crackers.
C. Soybeans.
D. Tomatoes.
11. What might be the main reason of this “scaring reality” according to the speaker?
A. The gap between the rich and the poor.
B. The housing shortage in big cities like New York.
C. The limited job opportunities in New York City.
D. The expansion of big cities and large population.
Question 12-15 are based on the talk you have just heard.
12. Which room does the guest stay?
A. 240 B. 250 C. 214 D. 213
13. What does the guest want to borrow?
A. Ten dollars.
B. An iron.
C. A laundry bag.
D. The newspaper.
14. What is particularly wrong with the air-conditioner?
A. It bothers the guest.
B. It makes the room too cool to stay in.
C. It doesn’t work at all.
D. It doesn’t cool the room very much.
15. Where can the hotel guest get a foreign newspaper?
A. In the reception.
B. In the housekeeping office.
C. In the gift shop of the lobby.
D. In the hotel lobby.
II. Reading Comprehension (25 points)
Directions: There are five passages in this part. Each of the passages is followed by five questions
or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose
the best one and mark your answer on the ANSWER SHEET with a single line through the center.
1
There is a new type of small advertisement becoming increasingly common in newspaper
classified columns. It is sometimes placed among “situations vacant”, although it does not offer
anyone a job; and sometimes it appears among “situations wanted”, although it is not placed by
someone looking for a job either. What it does is to offer help in applying for a job.
“Contact us before writing application”, or “Make use of our long experience in preparing
your curriculum vitae, or job history”, is how it is usually expressed. The growth and apparent
success of such a specialized service is , of course, a reflection on the current high levels of
unemployment. It is also, an indication of growing importance of the curriculum vitae.(or job
history), with the suggestion that it may now qualify as an art form in its own right.
There was a time when job seekers simply wrote letters of application. “Just put down your
name, address, age and whether you have passed any exams”, was about the average level of
advice offered to young people applying for their first jobs when I left school. The letter was
really just for openers, it was explained. Everything else could and should be saved for the
interview. And in those days of full employment the technique worked. The letter proved that you
could write and were available for work. Your eager face and intelligent replies did the rest.
Later, as you moved up the ladder, something slightly more sophisticated was called for. The
advice then was to put something in the letter which would distinguish you from the rest. It might
be the aggressive approach.” your search is over. I am the person you are looking for,” was a
widely used trick that occasionally succeeded. Or it might be some special feature special feature
specially designed for the job in view.
There is no doubt, however, that it is the increasing number of applicants with university
education at all points in the process of engaging staff that has led to the greater importance of the
curriculum vitae.
16. The new type of advertisement which is appearing in newspaper columns .
A. informs job hunters of the opportunities available
B. promises useful advice to those looking for employment
C. divides available jobs into various types
D. informs employers that people are available for work.
17. Nowadays a demand for this specialized type of service has been created because .
A. there is lack of jobs available for artistic people
B. there are so many top-level jobs available
C. there are so many people out of work
D. the job history is considered to be a work of art .
18. In the past it was expected that first-job hunters would .
A. write an initial letter giving their life history
B. pass some exams before applying for a job
C. have no qualifications other than being able to read and write
D. keep any detailed information until they obtained an interview
19. Later, as one went on to apply more important jobs, one was advised to include in the letter
.
A. something that would attract attention to one’s application
B. a personal opinion about the organization one was trying to join
C. something that would offered that person reading it
D. a lie that one could easily get with telling
20. The job history has become such an important document because .
A. there has been a decrease in the number of jobs advertised
B. there has been an increase in the number of “qualified” job hunters
C. jobs are becoming much more complicated nowadays
D. the other processes of applying for jobs are more complicated
2
Pity those who aspire to put the initials PhD after their names. After 16 years of closely
supervised education, prospective doctors of philosophy are left more or less alone to write the
equivalent of a large book. Most social-science postgraduates have still not completed their theses
by the time their grant runs out after three years. They must then get a job and finish in their spare
time, which can often take a further three years. By then , most new doctors are sick to death of
the narrowly defined subject which has blighted their holidays and ruined their evenings.
The Economic and Social Research Council, which gives grants to postgraduate social
scientists, wants to get better value for money by cutting short this agony. It would like to see
faster completion rates: until recently, only about 25% of PhD candidates were finishing within
four years. The ESRC’s response has been to stop PhD grants to all institutions where the
proportion taking less than four years is below 10%; in the first year of this policy the national
average shot up to 39%. The ESRC feels vindicated in its toughness, and will progressively raise
the threshold to 40% in two years. Unless completion rates improve further, this would exclude 55
out of 73 universities and polytechnics-including Oxford University, the London School of
Economics and the London Business School.
Predictably, howls of protest have come from the universities, who view the blacklisting of
whole institutions as arbitrary and negative. They point out that many of the best students go
quickly into jobs where they can apply their research skills, but consequently take longer to finis
their theses. Polytechnics with as few as two PhD candidates complain that they are penalized by
random fluctuations in student performance. The colleges say there is no hard evidence to prove
that faster completion rates result from greater efficiency rather than lower standards or less
ambitious doctoral topics.
The ESRC thinks it might not be a bad thing if PhD students were more modest in their aims.
It would prefer to see more systematic teaching of research skills and fewer unrealistic
expectations placed on young men and women who are undertaking their first piece of serious
research. So in future its grants will be given only where it is convinced that students are being
trained as researchers, rather than carrying out purely knowledge-based studies.
The ESRC can not dictate the standard of thesis required by external examiners, or force
departments to give graduates more teaching time. The most it can do is to try to persuade
universities to change their ways. Recalcitrant professors should note that students want more
research training and a less elaborate style of thesis, too.
21. By time new doctors get a job and try to finish their theses in spare time, .
A. most of them died of some sickness
B. their holidays and evenings have been ruined by their jobs
C. most of them are completely tired of the narrowly defined subject
D. most of their grants run out
22. Oxford University would be excluded out of those universities that receive PhD grants from
ESRC, because the completion rate of its PhD students’ theses within four years is lower than
.
A. 25% B. 40% C. 39% D. 10%
23. All the following statements are the arguments against ESRC’s policy except .
A. all the institutions on the blacklist are arbitrary and negative
B. there is no hard evidence to prove that faster completion rates result from greater efficiency
rather than lower standards or less ambitious doctoral topics.
C. many of the best students go quickly into jobs where they can apply their research skills, but
consequently take longer to finish their theses.
D. some polytechnics are penalized by random fluctuations in student performance
24. The ESRC would prefer .
A. that the students were carrying out purely knowledge-based studies rather than being trained as
researchers.
B. to see higher standards of PhD students’ theses and more ambitious doctoral topics
C. more systematic teaching of research skills to fewer unrealistic expectations placed on
inexperienced young PhD students.
D. that PhD students were less modest in their aims
25. what the ESRC can do is to .
A. force departments to give graduates more teaching time
B. try to persuade universities to change their ways
C. dictate the standard of thesis required by external examiners
D. note that students want more research training and less elaborate style of thesis
3
Influenza should not be dismissed as a trivial disease. It kills thousands of people every year
at a very high cost to the economy, hits hardest the young and the elderly, and is most dangerous
for people over the age of 65. influenza is mainly a seasonal illness of the winter months, though
in tropical and subtropical areas of Asia and the Pacific it can occur all the year round.
The damaging effects of influenza can be prevented by immunization, but constant changes
of antigenic specificity of the virus necessitate a different composition of the vaccine from one
year to another. The network of WHO Collaborating Centers for Influenza and national institutes
carries out influenza surveillance activities to monitor the evaluation of influenza virus strains, and
WHO hold an annual consultation at the end of February to recommend the composition of the
vaccine for the forthcoming epidemiological season. These recommendations are published
immediately in the Weekly epidemiological record.
Vaccination each year against influenza is recommended for certain high-risk populations. In
closed or semi-closed settings, maximum benefit from immunization is likely to be achieved when
more than three-quarters of the population are vaccinated so that the benefit of “herd immunity”
can be exploited. Special care should be taken of the following groups:
--adults and children with chronic disorders of the pulmonary or cardiovascular systems
requiring regular medical follow-up or who had been hospitalized during the previous year,
including children with asthma;
--residents of nursing homes and other establishments for patients of any age with chronic
medical conditions;
--all people over the age of 65.
Physicians, nurses, and other personal in primary and intensive care units, who are potentially
capable of transmitting influenza to high risk persons, should be immunized; visiting nurses and
volunteer workers providing home care to high-risk persons should also be included.
26. This passage .
A. concerns the damaging effects of influenza
B. mentions the steps of fighting against the harmful effects of influenza
C. emphasizes the worry expressed by all age groups
D. both A and B
27. That a different component part of the vaccine is necessary is principally due to the variable
change of .
A. virus B. strain C. antigen D. immunization
28. Which has been done by World Health Organization in combating the bad effects of influenza?
A. supervising the assessment of influenza virus strains.
B. Holding meetings twice a year to provide the latest data concerning the composition of the
vaccines.
C. Publishing the related information in a WHO almanac.
D. Stressing the importance of preventing influenza for people living in tropical areas of Asia.
29. According to the passage, high-risk persons exclude which of the following kinds of people ?
A. Children suffering from asthma.
B. The elderly with chronic pulmonary diseases.
C. Middle aged people with chronic heart diseases.
D. Nurses taking special care of the sick.
30. In which of the following publications would this passage most likely be printed?
A. A surgery book.
B. A psychology book
C. An epidemiology book.
D. An obstetrics book
4
In science the meaning of the word “explain” suffers with civilization’s every step in search
of reality. Science can not really explain electricity, magnetism, and gravitation; their effects can
be measured and predicted, but of their nature no more is known to the modern scientist than to
Thales who first speculated on the electrification of amber. Most contemporary physicists reject
the notion that man can ever discover what these mysterious forces “really” are. Electricity,
Bertrand Russell says, “is not a thing, like St. Paul’s Cathedral; it is a way in which things behave.
When we have told how things behave when they are electrified, we have told all thee is to tell.”
Until recently scientists would have disapproved of such an idea. Aristotle, for example, whose
natural science dominated Western thought for two thousand years, believed that man could arrive
at an understanding of reality by reasoning from self-evident principles. He felt, for example, that
it is a self-evident principle that everything in the universe has its proper place, hence one can
conclude that objects fall to the ground because that is where they belong, and smoking goes up
because that is where it belongs. The goal of Aristotelian science was to explain why things
happen. Modern science was born when Galileo began trying to explain how things happen and
thus originated the method of controlled experiment which now forms the basis of scientific
investigation.
31. The aim of controlled scientific experiments is .
A. to explain why things happen
B. to explain how things happen
C. to describe self-evident principles
D. to support Aristotelian science
32. what principles most influenced scientific thought for two thousand years?
A. The speculations of Thales
B. The forces of electricity, magnetism, and gravity
C. Aristotle’s natural science
D. Galileo’s discoveries
33. Bertrand Russell’s notion about electricity is .
A. disapproved of by most modern scientists
B. in agreement with Aristotle’s theory of self-evident principles
C. in agreement with scientific investigation directed toward “how” things happen
D. in agreement with scientific investigation directed toward “why ” things happen
34. The passage says that until recently scientists disagreed with the idea .
A. that there are mysterious forces in the universe
B. that man can not discover what forces “really” are
C. that there are self-evident principles
D. that we can discover why things behave as they do
35. Which of the following is the topic most likely to be discussed right after the passage?
A. The most recent definition of “explain”
B. The relationship between science and religion
C. The limitations of science
D. Galileo and the birth of modern science.
5
Some weeks ago, riding in a cab from Boston to Cambridge, my driver turned and asked me
what I did for a living . “Teach English”, I said. “Is that so? ” The young man continued. “I was an
English major” But then, instead of chatting idly about Joyce or dropping the subject altogether,
this driver caught me short. “You guys,” he said, turning back so that his furry face pressed into
the glass partition, “ought to be shot” I think he meant it .
The guilty party in this present state of affairs is not really the academic discipline. It is not
the fault of English and philosophy and biology that engineering and accounting and computer
science afford students better job opportunities and increased flexibility in career choice.
Literature and an understanding of, say, man’s evolutionary past are as important as ever. They
simply are no longer perceived in today’s market as salable. That is a harsh economic fact. And it
is not only true in the United States. Employment prospects for liberal arts graduates in Canada,
for example, are said to be the worst since the 1930s.
What to do? I think it would be shortsighted for colleges and universities to advise students
against majoring in certain subjects that do not appear linked (at least directly) to careers. Where
our energies should be directed instead is toward the development of educational programs that
combine course sequences in the liberal arts with course in the viable professions. Double
majors---one for enrichment, one for earning one’s bread---have never been promoted very
seriously in our institutions of higher learning, mainly because liberal arts and
professional-vocational faculties have long been suspicious or contemptuous of one another. Thus
students have been directed to one path or the other, to the disadvantage of both students and
faculty.
A hopeful cue could be taken, it seems to me, from new attempts in the health
profession(nursing and pharmacy, for example), where jobs are still plentiful, to give the
humanities and social sciences a greater share of the curriculum. Why could not the traditional
history major in the college of arts and sciences be pointed toward additional courses in the
business school, or to engineering, or to physical therapy? This strategy requires a new
commitment from both the institution and the student and demands a much harder look at the
allocation of time and resources. But in an age of adversity, double majors are one way liberal arts
students can more effectively prepare for the world outside.
36. What is the chief purpose of double majors?
A. To help graduates of history major become successful businessmen.
B. To provide liberal arts graduates with a method of meeting effectively the challenge in
employment.
C. To extend their knowledge learnt in the college.
D. To moderate the tension between liberal arts and vocational faculties.
37. In paragraph 1, the sentence “You guys ought to be shot” shows that at heart the
driver .
A. felt greatly regretted about the major he had chosen
B. felt a deep hatred for all the English teachers in his former college
C. complained that his teachers hadn’t taught him how to survive in this competitive society.
D. held a deep contempt in the author because of his scholastic manner
38. It can be inferred from the passage that the blame for the present state of affairs lies in the fact
that .
A. the course sequences themselves are unreliable.
B. more and more students start to select science majors
C. almost none of the specialties the students major in might be salable in today’s market
D. the opportunities of employment are scarce for graduates of non-science majors
39. The obstacles in course sequences in academic schooling are indicated in all of the following
EXCEPT .
A. the misguidance of major-selection in some of the institutions of higher learning
B. the current curriculum couldn’t keep up with the development of the society
C. the inharmonious relation among the teaching faculties
D. the authorities of higher learning attach only little importance to course sequences
40. This passage can best be titled as .
A. Harsh Economic Fact
B. Double Majors, a Way Out
C. Careers, Schooling fro Better
D. Market for Graduates
6
Does an unborn baby know his mother’s voice? psychology professor Anthony DeCasper
advised an ingenious experiment to find out. He placed padded earphones over a newborn’s ears
and gave him a bottle nipple attached to a closed rubber tube. Changes in pressure in the tube
switched channels on a tape recorder. If the baby paused extra long between bursts of sucking, he
heard on channel; if he paused shorter than average, he heard the other. The baby now had the
ability, in effect to change channels.
DeCasper found that newborns choose the recording of their mother’s voice over that of
another woman’s. The baby, however, has no innate interest in his father’s voice, which is heard in
the womb only from time to time, while the mother’s voice is ever present. Within two weeks after
birth, however, the baby can recognize Dad’s voice too.
A newborn is even attuned to the cadence and rhythm of his native language. In a French
study using a setup similar to DeCasper’s, French babies given the choice between French and
Russian words responded more to the sound of French.
Brian Satt, a research specialist in clinical psychology, has parents sing a lullaby-like “womb
song” to their babies. The unborn baby often develops a specific, consistent movement pattern
when its song is sung. According to Satt, most parents can calm a fussy newborn with the song
most of the time, which is a prize worth more than rubies to a new parent.
He is roused by a heavy jolt. His mother has tripped and fallen heavily on one hip. He is
much too well cushioned to experience any injury, but her pain and the fear that she may have hurt
him floods both their bodies with adrenaline and other stress-related hormones. He cries and kicks
vigorously, a cry never heard because there is no air to make sound. As she recovers the stress
hormones ebb away, and he calms down too.
41. Which of the following is NOT mentioned about the unborn baby in the passage?
A. An unborn baby can occasionally hear his father’s voice.
B. Dc. Casper’s approach proved absolutely effective in a French experiment.
C. An unborn baby is able to identify the tone and rhythm of his native language.
D. Parents are able to soothe a fussy newly-born baby.
42. According to the author, an unborn baby .
A. is unable to identify his mother’s lullaby after birth
B. is able to identify his mother’s voice rather than that of others’
C. is able to help release adrenaline and other stress-related hormones
D. is able to distinguish French accent from Russian accent
43. It is known from the passage that .
A. mother’s stress, anger, shock or grief might not hurt the unborn baby in the womb
B. an unborn baby’s cry might never be heard because of the particular condition of the womb.
C. lullabies are the most precious means to young parents
D. an unborn baby has to move at intervals in the womb
44. The author believes that the reaction of an unborn baby to his mother’s voice .
A. belongs to one of the natural tendencies
B. is an indication which shows an unborn baby can use all his senses after birth
C. is but a physiological circulation of any human being
D. is the most important factor which leads an unborn baby to the survival in the womb
45. It can be assumed that the paragraph preceding the passage most probably discussed .
A. the development of the baby in his mother’ s womb
B. the well-developed taste buds of the baby
C. the fact that the baby remains motionless just as what he performs in the first month of his
mother’s pregnancy
D. the fact that the baby can start to use some of his senses by the last few weeks of pregnancy
Ⅲ. Translation and Writing (55 points)
Part A Translation
Translate the following into Chinese (30 points):
Engineering is the professional art of applying science to the optimum conversion of the
resources of nature to the uses of humankind. Engineering has been defined as the creative
application of “scientific principles to design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or
manufacturing processes, or works utilizing them singly or in combination.” The term engineering
is sometimes more loosely defined, especially in Great Britain, as the manufacture or assembly of
engines, machine tools, and machine parts.
Associated with engineering is a great body of special knowledge; preparation for
professional practice involves extensive training in the application of that knowledge. The
function of the scientist is to know, while that of the engineer is to do. The scientist adds to the
store of verified, systematized knowledge of the physical world; the engineer brings this
knowledge to bear on practical problems. Engineering is based principally on physics, chemistry,
and mathematics and their extensions into materials science, solid and fluid mechanics,
thermodynamics, and systems analysis.
2
Although for the purpose of this article English literature is treated as being confined to
writings in English by natives or inhabitants of the British Isles, it is to a certain extent the case
that literature---and this is particularly true of the literature written in English---knows no frontiers.
Thus, English literature can be regarded as a cultural whole of which the mainstream literatures of
the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada and important elements in the literatures of
other commonwealth countries are parts. It can be argued that no single English novel attains the
universality of the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Yet in the Middle ages the Old
English literature was influenced and gradually changed by the Latin and French writings,
eminently foreign in origin in which the churchmen and the Norman conquerors expressed
themselves. From this combination emerged a flexible and subtle linguistic instrument exploited
by Geoffrey Chaucer and brought to supreme application by William Shakespeare.
Translate the following into English (10 points):
从二十世纪中叶起，名国政府对科学技术的重视引起了各级教育机构的响应，理论科学
和应用科学的巨大进步也激起了人们学习自然科学的兴趣，科学技术因此有了飞速的发展。
但与此同时，人们忽视了对人文科学和社会科学的学习，公民对道德观念和社会准则在生活
中的意义缺乏认识。这在一定程度上导致了以下后果：地方、民族和国际间的暴力冲突层出
不穷，环境污染日益严重，这些都给人类生活带来了危险。因此，在教育中应纠正重理轻
文的倾向，在生活中恢复人文主义的价值，以求物质文明和精神文明的平衡发展。
Part B Summary Writing (15 points)
Read the following passage carefully and then write a summary of it in English in about 120
words.
Developments in 19th century Europe are bounded by two great events. The French
Revolution broke out in 1789, and its effects reverberated throughout much of Europe for many
decades. World War I began in 1914. Its inception resulted from many trends in European society,
culture, and diplomacy during the late 19th century. In between these boundaries---the one opening
a new set of trends, the other bringing long-standing tensions to a head---much of modern Europe
was defined.
Europe during this 125-year span was both united and deeply divided. A number of basic
cultural trends, including new literary styles and the spread of science, ran through the entire
continent. European states were increasingly locked in diplomatic interaction, culminating in
continentwide alliance system after 1871. At the same time, this was the century of growing
nationalism, in which individual states jealously protected their identities and indeed established
more rigorous border controls than ever before. Finally, the European continent was to an extent
divided between two zones of differential development. Changes such as the Industrial Revolution
and political liberalization spread first and fastest in western Europe---Britain, France, the Low
Countries, Scandinavia, and, to an extent, Germany and Italy. Eastern and southern Europe, more
rural at the outset of the period, changed more slowly and in somewhat different ways.
Europe witnessed important common patterns and increasing interconnections, but these
developments must be assessed in terms of nation-state divisions and, even more, of larger
regional differences. Some trends, including the ongoing impact of the French Revolution, ran
through virtually the entire 19th century. Other characteristics, however, had a shorter life span.
Some historians prefer to divide 19th century history into relatively small chunks. Thus
1789-1815 is defined by the French Revolution and Napoleon; 1815-48 forms a period of reaction
and adjustment; 1848-71 is dominated by a new round of revolution and the unifications of the
German and Italian nations; and 1871-1914, an age of imperialism, is shaped by new kinds of
political debate and the pressures that culminated in war. Overriding these important markers,
however, a simpler division can also be useful. Between 1789 and 1849 Europe dealt with the
forces of political revolution and the first impact of the Industrial Revolution. Between 1849 and
1914 a fuller industrial society emerged, including new forms of states and of diplomatic and
military alignments. The mid-19th century, in either formulation, looms as a particularly important
point of transition within the extended 19th century.博士英语入学考试试题