2008 山西大学考博英语试题

2008 Shanxi University

General English Admission Test for Non- English Major PH.D.

Program

PARTI VOCABULARY(10 points)

Directions:

There

are

20

sentences

in

this

part.

Beneath

each

sentence

there

are

four

choices

marked A, B, C, and D. Choose the one that best completes the sentence .Then put the letter of

your choice on the

ANSWER SHEET.

1.

Retail

sales

volume

in

local

urban

都市的

and

rural

乡下的

areas

rose

57.8

percent

and

46.8

percent,

D

over February 1995.

A. individually

分别地

B. accordingly

因此，相应地

C. correspondingly

相对地，比照地

D. respectively

各自地，各个地

2. The attic

阁楼

was full of

D

a bronze buffalo

水牛

, a glass colt

小雄马

, and a lifelike

peacock

孔雀

.

A. deception

骗局

B. deletion

删除

C. digestion

消化

D. decoration

装饰

3. Few companies can afford to hire the most

A

people.

A. eminent

杰出的

B. emergent

紧急的

C. emphatic

着重的

D. envious

嫉妒的

4. The fact

that the earth‘s surface heats

C

provides a convenient way to divide it into

temperature regions.

A. irregularly

不规则地

B. infrequently

嫉妒的

C. unevenly

不规则地，不均匀地

D. unsteadily

不稳定地

5. It is rare for so

D

an old man to get angry.

我觉得选

B

A. warlike

好战的

B. temperate

有节制的；（气候）温和的；适度的

C. vocational

职业的

D. vulgar

庸俗的

6. They need a couple of

D

young fellows to move the piano.

B

A. spacious

宽敞的

B. stout

强壮的

C. sullen

愠怒的

D. strenuous

费力的

7. He was arrested because the police had found a large sum of

B

money in his suitcase.

A. illiterate

文盲的

B. forged

文盲的

伪造；假冒

C. hypothetical

假设的

D. lethal

致命的

8. These guitar players enjoyed success on a scale

D

by any precious group.

A. unintentional

无意的

B. unnecessary

不必要的

C. unworthy

不值得的

D. unparalleled

无比的，空前的

9. A period of five days

C

before local fight escalated

（战争）逐步升级

into a full-scale

war.

A. engraved

（使）铭记，雕刻

B. exterminated

消灭；根除

C. elapsed

消逝；时间过去

D. endorsed

签署，批准

10. There is no evidence whatsoever

无论什么

of popular

A

with our donation

捐赠

A. discontent

不满

B. discourse

论述，交谈

C. disillusion

觉醒，幻灭

D. distribution

分配，分布

11.

This

experienced

author

was

able

to

the

lifetime‘s

work

of

Jefferson

into

one

volume.

A. suppress

镇压，压制

B. express

表达；快递

C. compress

压紧；压缩；精简

D. depress

压低；使沮丧

12. It took this disabled boy a long time to

D

the fact that he was not qualified for< /p>

（使）

有…资格

admission

准许进入；承认

to college.

A. come up with

比得上；想出；准备好（钱等）

B. come down with

付钱，染上（病）

C. come up to

达到；将近；来到近旁；比得上

D. come to terms with

与…达成协议；忍受，对待

13. Some teenagers are so crazy about video games as to play them many hours if possible

D .

A. on purpose

故意地

B. on hand

在手边，在附近，在场

C. on credit

赊账

D. on end

连续地；直立着

14. One of the main purposes of using slang

俚语；

黑话

is to c onsolidate

加强

one‘s

D

with

a group.

A. identification

鉴定，识别

B. specification

规格；详述

C. notification

通知

D. unification

统一，联合

15.

The

chairman

said

that

he

was

prepared

to

B

the

younger

people

in

the

decision

making.

A. put up with

忍受，将就

B. make way for

让路给，为…开路

C. shed light on

为…提供线索，阐明…

D. take charge of

掌管

16. The so-

called ―brain drain

智囊流失

‖ refers to the fact people carrying he

avy responsibilities

become disillusioned

大失所望的

and end up by

D

.

A. immigrating

移入

B. migrating

迁移

C. integrating

使一体化

D. emigrating

移居国外

17. As fulfillment

完成，实现

seldom

B

to anticipation

期待，希望

, there is no need to

feel upset.

A. amounts

等于，接近

B. corresponds

符合，一致

C. adds

增加

D. contributes

贡献出；捐赠

18. When I was at school I thought that what my teachers told me was the

C

truth.

A. glamouring

迷惑；迷住

B. eccentric

古怪的

C. gospel

传播福音的

D. cryptic(al)

神秘的

（

the gospel truth

福音书中的真理）

19. There are vast tracts

大片土地

of land,

A

or never cultivated

耕作

.

A. abandoned

被遗弃的

B. scattered

分散的；零散的

C. rejected

拒绝

D. vanished

消失；突然不见

20. The boy‘s back was

B

with sweat.

A. glittering

辉煌的；闪闪发光的

B. glistening

（湿物）闪耀的，反光的

C. glimmering

微光，隐约的一瞥

D. gleaming

闪闪发光的

PART II

READING COMPREHENSION (40 points)

DIRECTIONS:

In this part there are 5 passages followed by questions or unfinished

Statements, each with 4 suggested answers marked A, B, C, and D. Choose the one

You think is the correct answer and put your choice on the

ANSWER SHEET.

Passage One

Some economists have suggested that the U.S. distribution of income is somehow naturally

more

unequal

than

of

other

countries.

After

all,

the

U.S.

is

geographically

and

racially

more

diverse

than

Europe.

Nevertheless,

it

is

noted

that

even

the

highest

income

regions

of

the

U,S,

have significantly higher rates of poverty than all but the poorest nations of Europe. Romania or

Bulgaria might have similar percentages of poverty but theirs is hardly a standard for the world‘s

richest nation to aspire to.

Even

if

blacks,

the

racial

group

with

the

highest

poverty

level,

are

eliminated

from

the

calculations, the U.S. still has twice the European rate of poverty. And American poor work just as

much as the poor of European nations, if not more .More single mothers in the U.S. for example,

have jobs than in Great Britain (although family and employment).

If

the

exodus

from

the

bottom

of

the

middle

class

can

be

traced

to

a

lack

of

government

support

for

the

working

poor,

that

still

leaves

departures

at

the

top

to

be

explained.

Although

income from two careers is pushing an increasing number of households over the threshold to the

upper class, higher salaries earned by men account for the bulk of upward mobility. In addition,

many are moving up simply because the salary of the top 10 percent of wage earners is now at

least 3.8times that of the bottom 20 percent, as compared with 2.6 only 25 years ago.

Will the middle class eventually become a minority in

the U.S.? Current numbers suggest

there

is

no

danger

of

that

before

the

turn

of

the

century

at

least.

Nevertheless,

the

trend

seems

ominous. As long as the work force is increasingly segregated into professionalized, high-paying

jobs and less skilled, low- paying ones, the middle will be threatened.

1. The highest-income regions of the U.S. have higher rates of poverty than

.

A. all European nations

B. Romania and Bulgaria

C. the poorest nations of Europe

D. all except the poorest Europe nations

2.

The

U,S,

distribution

of

income

is

more

unequal

than

that

of

European

countries

because

.

A. the U.S. has twice the European rate of poverty

B. the U.S. is one of the world‘s richest nations

C. Europe is geographically and racially less diverse than the U.S.

D. the American poor people work as much as the poor people of European nations.

3. By saying ―t

he salary of the top 10 percent of wage earners is now at least 3.8 times that of the

bottom 20 percent, as compared with 2.6 only 25 years ago‖, the author means

.

A. the gulf between earners and bottom earners has considerably widened in 25 years.

B. the number of the top 10precent of wage earners has increased.

C. the number of the bottom 20 percent of wage earners has decreased.

D. more people are neither rich nor poor.

4. Frp, the passage, it can be concluded that

.

A. the middle class will eventually become a minority in the U.S.

B. most of the middle class people will move into the upper class before the end of this century.

C. the proportion of the middle class population will decrease if the gap between the working rich

and the working poor further widems.

D. professionalized, high- paying jobs will comprise the bulk of work force in the U.S.

Passage Two

This is supposed to be an enlightened age, but you wouldn‘t think so if you could hear what

the average man thinks of the average women. Women won their independence years ago. After a

long, bitter struggle, they now enjoy the same educational opportunities as men in most parts of

the world. They have proved repeatedly that they are equal and often superior to men in almost

every field. The hard-fought battle for recognition has been won, but it is by no means over. It is

men, not women who still carry on the sex war because their attitude remains basically hostile.

Even in the most progressive societies, women continue to be regarded as second-rate citizens. To

hear some men talk, you‘d think that women belonged to a different species!

On the surface, the comments made by these men about

women‘s

abilities seem light-hearted.

The

same

tired

jokes

about

women

drivers

are

repeated

day

in,

day

out.

This

apparent

light-heartedness

does

not

conceal

the

real

contempt

that

many

men

feel

for

women.

However

much

men

sneer

at

women.

Their

claims

to

superiority

are

not

born

out

by

statistics

.

Let‘s

consider the matter of driving, for instance. We all know that women cause far fewer accidents

than

men.

They

are

too

conscientious

and

responsible

to

drive

like

maniacs.

But

this

is

minor

quibble. Women

have

succeeded

in

any

job

you

care

to

name.

As

politicians,

soldiers,

doctors,

factory-hands,

university

professors,

farmers,

managers,

company

directors

,

lawyers,

bus-conductors, scientists and presidents of countries they have often put men to shame. And we

must remember that they frequently succeed brilliantly in all these fields in addition to bearing and

rearing children.

Yet men go on maintaining the fiction that there are many jobs women can‘t don Top

-level

political

negotiation

between

countries,

business

and

banking

are

almost

entirely

controlled

by

men

,who

jealously

guard

their

so=called

?rights‘.

Even

in

otherwise

enlightened

places

like

Switzerland

women

haven‘t

even

been

given

the

cote.

This

situation

is

preposterous!

The

arguments that men put forward to exclude women from there fields are all too familiar. Women,

they say, are unreliable and irrational. They depend too little on cool reasoning and too much on

intuition

and

instinct

to

arrive

at

decisions.

They

are

not

even

capable

of

thinking

clearly.

Yet

when women prove their abilities, men refuse to acknowledge them and give them their due. So

much for a man‘s ability to think clearly!

The truth is that men cling to their supremacy because of their basic inferiority complex.

They shun real competition. They know in their hearts that women are superior and they are afraid

of

being

beaten

at

their

own

game.

One

of

the

most

important

tasks

in

the

world

is

to

achieve

peace

between

the

nations.

You

can

be

sure

that

if

women

were

allowed

to

sit

round

the

conference

table,

they

would

succeed

brilliantly,

as

they

always

do,

there

men

have

failed

for

centuries. Some things are too important to be left to men!

5. What does the first sentence imply?

A. It is not really an enlightened age.

B. It is different from an enlightened age.

C. It the same as an enlightened age.

D. It is like an enlightened age.

6. Why do men carry on the sex war against women?

A. Because of their inferiority.

B. Because they shun real competition.

C. Because of their claim to supremacy.

D. Because they still look down upon women.

7.

The word ―fiction‖ is

closest in meaning to

.

A. Novel

B. man-made idea