abrupt09专八阅读真题及答案详解

09

专八阅读真题及答案详解

TEXT A

We

had

been

wanting

to

expand

our

children's

horizons

by

taking

them

to

a

place

that

was

unlike

anything

we'd

been

exposed

to

during

our

travels

in

Europe

and

the

United

States.

In

thinking

about

what

was

possible

from

Geneva, where we are based, we decided on a trip to Istanbul, a two- hour

plane ride from Zurich.

We envisioned the trip

as a prelude to more exotic one

s

（

11

题答案

C

的出处）

,

perhaps to New Delhi or Bangkok later this year, but

thought our 11- and 13-year-olds needed a first step away from

manicured boulevards and pristine monuments.

What we didn't foresee was the reaction of friends, who warned

that we were putting our children

most incorrectly, to disease, terrorism or just the unknown. To help us

get acquainted with the peculiarities of Istanbul and to give our

children a chance to choose what they were particularly interested in

seeing, we bought an excellent guidebook and read it thoroughly

before leaving. Friendly warnings didn't change our planning,

although we might have more prudently checked with the U.S. State

Department's list of troublespots. We didn't see a lot of children

among the foreign visitors during our six-day stay in Istanbul,

but we

found the tourist areas quite safe, very interesting and var ied

（

12

题答案

< br>A

的出处）

enough even to suit our son, whose oft-repeated

request is that we not see

given city.

Vaccinations weren't needed for the city, but we were concemed

about adapting to the water for a short stay. So we used bottled water

for drinking and brushing our teeth, a precaution that may seem

excessive, but we all stayed healthy. Taking the advice of a friend, we

booked a hotel a 20-minute walk from most of Istanbul's major tourist

sites. This not only got us some morning exercise, strolling over the

Karakoy Bridge, but took us past a colorful assortment of fishermen,

vendors and shoe shiners. From a teenager and pre-teen's view,

Istanbul street life is fascinating since almost everything can be

bought outdoors. They were at a good age to spend time wandering

the labyrinth of the Spice Bazaar, where shops display mounds of

pungent herbs in sacks. Doing this with younger children would be

harder simply because the streets are so packed with people; it would

be easy to get lost.

For our two, whose buying experience consisted of

department stores and shopping mall bou tiques

（

13

题答案

的

出处）

, it was amazing to discover that you could bargain over price

and perhaps end up with two of something for the price of one. They

also learned to figure out the relative value of the Turkish lira, not a

small matter with its many zeros.

Being exposed to Islam was an important part of our trip. Visiting

the mosques, especially the enormous Blue Mosque, was our first

glimpse into how this major religion is practiced. Our children's

curiosity already had been piqued by the five daily calls to prayer over

loudspeakers in every corner of the city, and the scarves covering the

heads of many women. Navigating meals can be troublesome with

children, but a kebab, bought on the street or in restaurants, was

unfailingly popular. Since we had decided this trip was not for

gourmets, kebabs spared us the agony of trying to find a restaurant

each day that would suit the adults' desire to try something new amid

children's insistence that the food be served immediately. Gradually,

we branched out to try some other Turkish specialties. Although our

son had studied Islam briefly, it is impossible to be prepared for every

awkward question that might come up, such as during our visits to the

Topkapi Sarayi, the Ottoman Sultans' palace.

No guides were

available so it was do-it-yourself, using our guidebook, which

cheated us of a lot of interesting history and anecdotes that a

professional guide could provide

14

题答案

B

的出处）

.

Next time,

we resolved to make such arrangements in advance.

On this trip, we wandered through the magnificent complex, with

its imperial treasures, its courtyards and its harem. The last required

a bit of explanation that we would have happily lef~ to a learned third

party.

11. The couple chose Istanbul as their holiday destination mainly

because

A. the city is not too far away from where they lived.

B. the city is not on the list of the U.S. State Department.

C. the city is between the familiar and the exotic.

D. the city is more familiar than exotic.

12. Which of the following statements is INCORRECT?

A. The family found the city was exactly what they had

expected.

B. Their friends were opposed to their holiday plan.

C. They could have been more cautious about bringing kids along.

D. They were a bit cautious about the quality of water in the city.

13. We learn from the couple's shopping experience back home that

A. they were used to bargaining over price.

B. they preferred to buy things outdoors.

C. street markets were their favourite.

D. they preferred fashion and brand names.

14. The last two paragraphs suggest that to visit places of interest in

Istanbul

A. guidebooks are very useful.

B. a professional guide is a must.

C. one has to be prepared for questions.

D. one has to make arrangements in advance.

15. The family have seen or visited all the following in Istanbul

EXCEPT

A. religious prayers.

B. historical buildings.

C. local-style markets.

D. shopping mall boutiques.

（

根据本文，

shopping mall boutiques

是讲述者在国内购物的去处）

TEXT B

Last month the first baby-boomers turned 60. The bulky

generation born between 1946 and 1964 is heading towards

retirement. The looming

skilled workers dis

patch

ed from the labour force.

The workforce is ageing across the rich world

（

16

题答案

D

出处）

. Within the EU the number of workers aged between 50 and 64

will increase by 25% over the next two decades, while those aged

20-29 will decrease by 20%. In Japan almost 20% of the population is

already over 65, the highest share in the world. And in the United

States the number of workers aged 55-64 will have increased by more

than half in this decade, at the same time as the 35- to 44-year-olds

decline by 10%.

Given that most societies are geared to retirement at around 65,

companies have a looming problem of knowledge management, of

making sure that the boomers do not leave before they have handed

over their expertise along with the office keys and their e-mail

address. A survey of human-resources directors by IBM last year

concluded:

companies will find out too late that a career's worth of experience has

walked out the door, leaving insufficient talent to fill in the void.

Some also face a shortage of expertise. In aerospace and defence, for

example, as much as 40% of the workforce in some companies will be

eligible to retire within the next five years. At the same time, the

number of engineering graduates in developed countries is in steep

decline.

A few companies are so squeezed that they are already taking

exceptional measures. Earlier this year the Los Angeles Times

interviewed an enterprising Australian who was staying in Beverly

Hills while he tried to persuade locals to emigrate to Toowoomba,

Queensland, to work for his engineering company there. Toowoomba

today; the rest of the developed world tomorrow?

If you look hard enough, you can find companies that have begun

to adapt the workplace to older workers. The AARP, an American

association for the over-50s, produces an annual list of the best

employers of its members. Health-care firms invariably come near the

top because they are one of the industries most in need of skilled

labour. Other sectors similarly affected, says the Conference Board,

include oil, gas, energy and government. Near the top of the AARP's

latest list comes Deere & Company, a no-nonsense

industrial-equipment manufacturer based in Illinois; about 35% of

Deere's 46,000 employees are over 50 and a number of them are in

their 70s. The tools it uses to achieve that

–

flexible working(17D),

telecommuting, and so forth(17A)

- also coincidentally help older

workers to extend their working lives.

The company spends

of time

less tiring, which enables older workers to stay at them for

longer

19

题答案

D

出处

,

根据上下文和

e rgonimics

的字面意思

the

branch

of engineering science in which biological science is used to study the

relation between workers and their environments

）

.

Likewise, for more than a decade, Toyota, arguably the world's

most advanced manufacturer, has adapted its workstations to older

workers. The shortage of skilled labour available to the automotive

industry has made it unusually keen to recruit older workers. BMW

recently set up a factory in Leipzig that expressly set out to employ

people over the age of 45. Needs must when the devil drives. Other

firms are polishing their

alumni networks

（

1 7B

）

. IBM uses its

network to recruit retired people for particular projects. Ernst & Young,

a professional-services firm, has about 30,000 registered alumni, and

about 25% of its

who return after an absence. But such examples are unusual. A

survey in America last month by Ernst & Young found that

corporate America foresees a significant workforce shortage as

boomers retire, it is not dealing with the issue.

of the 1,400 global companies questioned by Deloitte last year said

they expected a shortage of salaried staff over the next three to five

years. Yet few of them are looking to older workers to fill that

shortage; and even fewer are looking to them to fill another gap that

has already appeared. Many firms in Europe and America complain

that they struggle to find qualified directors for their boards - this

when the pool of retired talent from those very same firms is growing

by leaps and bounds.

Why are firms not working harder to keep old employees? Part of

the reason is that the crunch has been beyond the horizon of most

managers.

Nor is hanging on to older workers the only way to

cope with a falling supply of labour

（

19

题答案

D

出处）

.

The

participation of developing countries in the world economy has

increased the overall supply - whatever the local effect of

demographics in the rich countries. A vast amount of work is being

sent offshore to such places as China and India and more will go in

future. Some countries, such as Australia, are relaxing their

immigration policies to allow much needed skills to come in from

abroad. Others will avoid the need for workers by spending money on

machinery and automation.

16. According to the passage, the most serious consequence of

baby-boomers approaching retirement would be

A. a loss of knowledge and experience to many companies.

B. a decrease in the number of 35- to 44- year-olds.

C. a continuous increase in the number of 50-to 64-year-olds.

D. its impact on the developed world whose workforce is

ageing.

17. The following are all the measures that companies have

adopted to cope with the ageing workforce EXCEPT

A. making places of work accommodate the needs of older workers.

B. using alumni networks to hire retired former employees.

C. encouraging former employees to work overseas.

D. granting more convenience in working hours to older workers.

18.

factories

A. the company attaches great importance to the layout of its

factories.

B. the company improves the working conditions in its

factories.

C. the company attempts to reduce production costs of its factories.

D. the company intends to renovate its factories and update

equipment.

19. In the author's opinion American firms are not doing anything

to deal with the issue of the ageing workforce mainly because

A. they have not been aware of the problem.

B. they are reluctant to hire older workers.

C. they are not sure of what they should do.

D. they have other options to consider.

20. Which of the following best describes the author's development

of argument?

A. introducing the issue---citing ways to deal with the

issue---~describing the actual status---offering reasons.

B. describing the actual status--- introducing the issue---citing ways

to deal with the issue---offering reasons.

（根据整个文章的结构）