2014年专八真题及答案

2014

年专业八级考试原题及答案

PART I LISTENING COMPREHENSION (30 MIN)

SECTION A MINI-LECTURE

In this section you will hear a mini-lecture. You will hear the lecture ONCE ONLY

.

While

listening,

take

notes

on

the

important

points.

Your

notes

will

not

be

marked,

but

you

will

need

them

to

complete

a

gap-filling

task

after

the

mini-lecture. When the lecture is over

, you will be given two minutes to check

your

notes,

and

another

ten

minutes

to

complete

the

gap- filling

task

on

ANSWER SHEET ONE. Use the blank sheet for note-taking.

Writing a Research Paper

I. Research Papers and Ordinary Essay

A. Similarity in (1) __________:

e.g.

—

choosing a topic

—

asking questions

—

identifying the audience

B. Difference mainly in terms of (2) ___________

1. research papers: printed sources

2. ordinary essay: ideas in one's (3) ___________

II. Types and Characteristics of Research Papers

A. Number of basic types: two

B. Characteristics:

1. survey-type paper:

—

to gather (4) ___________

—

to quote

—

to (5) _____________

The writer should be (6) ___________.

2. argumentative (research) paper:

a. The writer should do more, e.g.

—

to interpret

—

to question, etc.

b. (7) _________varies with the topic, e.g.

—

to recommend an action, etc.

III. How to Choose a Topic for a Research Paper

In choosing a topic, it is important to (8) __________.

Question No. 1: your familiarity with the topic

Question No. 2: Availability of relevant information on the chosen topic

Question No. 3: Narrowing the topic down to (9) _________

Question No. 4: Asking questions about (10) ___________

The questions help us to work out way into the topic and discover its possibilities.

SECTION B INTERVIEW

In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY

. Listen carefully and then

answer the questions that follow. Mark the correct answer to each question on

your coloured answer sheet.

Questions 1 to 5 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will

be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following five listen to

the interview.

1. What is the purpose of Professor McKay's report?

A. To look into the mental health of old people.

B. To explain why people have negative views on old age.

C. To help correct some false beliefs about old age.

D. To identify the various problems of old age

2. Which of the following is NOT Professor McKay's view?

A. People change in old age a lot more than at the age of 21.

B. There are as many sick people in old age as in middle age.

C. We should not expect more physical illness among old people.

D. We should not expect to find old people unattractive as a group.

3. According to Professor McKay's report,

A. family love is gradually disappearing.

B. it is hard to comment on family feeling.

C. more children are indifferent to their parents.

D. family love remains as strong as ever

.

4. Professor McKay is ________ towards the tendency of more parents living

apart from their children.

A. negative

B. positive

C. ambiguous

D. neutral

5. The only popular belief that Professor McKay is unable to provide evidence

against is

A. old-age sickness.

B. loose family ties.

C. poor mental abilities.

D. difficulities in maths.

SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST

In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY

. Listen carefully and then

answer the questions that follow. Mark the correct answer to each question on

your coloured answer sheet.

Question 6 is based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will

be given 10 seconds to answer the question. Now listen to the news.

6. Scientists in Brazil have used frog skin to

A. eliminate bacteria.

B. treat burns.

C. Speed up recovery.

D. reduce treatment cost.

Question 7 is based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will

be given 10 seconds to answer the question. Now listen to the news.

7. What is NOT a feature of the new karaoke machine?

A. It is featured by high technology.

B. It allows you to imitate famous singers.

C. It can automatically alter the tempo and tone of a song.

D. It can be placed in specially designed theme rooms.

Question 8 is based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will

be given 10 seconds to answer the question. Now listen to the news.

8. China's Internet users had reached _________ by the end of June.

A. 68 million

B. 8.9 million

C. 10 million

D. 1.5 million

Question 9 and 10 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item,

you will be given 20 seconds to answer the question. Now listen to the news.

9. According to the WTO, Chinese exports rose _________ last year

.

A. 21%

B. 10%

C. 22%

D. 4.73

10. According to the news, which trading nation in the top 10 has reported a 5

per cent fall in exports?

A. The UK.

B. The US.

C. Japan.

D. Germany.

PART II READING COMPREHENSION (30 MIN)

TEXT A

I remember meeting him one evening with his pushcart. I had managed to sell

all my papers and was coming home in the snow. It was that strange hour in

downtown New York when the workers were pouring homeward in the twilight.

I marched among thousands of tired men and women whom the factory whistles

had unyoked. They flowed in rivers through the clothing factory districts, then

down along the avenues to the East Side.

I met my father near Cooper Union. I recognized him, a hunched, frozen figure

in an old overcoat standing by a banana cart. He looked so lonely, the tears

came to my eyes. Then he saw me, and his face lit with his sad, beautiful smile

-Charlie Chaplin's smile.

it's

Mikey,

he

said.

you

have

sold

your

papers!

Come

and

eat

a

banana.

He offered me one. I refused it. I felt it crucial that my father sell his bananas,

not give them away. He thought I was shy, and coaxed and joked with me, and

made me eat the banana. It smelled of wet straw and snow.

He shrugged his shoulders.

It was true. The work crowds pushed home morosely over the pavements. The

rusty

sky

darkened

over

New

York

building,

the

tall

street

lamps

were

lit,

innumerable trucks, street cars and elevated trains clattered by. Nobody and

nothing in the great city stopped for my father's bananas.

peddlers, but it makes my throat sore. Anyway, I'm ashamed of yelling, it makes

me feel like a fool.

I had eaten one of his bananas. My sick conscience told me that I ought to pay

for it somehow. I must remain here and help my father

.

I'll be late.

But I yelled and yelled. My father

, standing by, spoke occasional words of praise,

and

said

I

was

a

wonderful

yeller

.

Nobody

else

paid

attention.

The

workers

drifted past us wearily, endlessly; a defeated army wrapped in dreams of home.

Elevated trains crashed; the Cooper Union clock burned above us; the sky grew

black,

the

wind

poured,

the

slush

burned

through

our

shoes.

There

were

thousands of strange, silent figures pouring over the sidewalks in snow. None of

them stopped to buy bananas. I yelled and yelled, nobody listened.

My father tried to stop me at last.

wonderful yelling. Mikey. But it's plain we are unlucky today! Let's go home.

I was frantic, and almost in tears. I insisted on keeping up my desperate yells.

But at last my father persuaded me to leave with him.

11.

A. sent out

B. released

C. dispatched

D. removed

12. Which of the following in the first paragraph does NOT indicated crowds of

people?

nds of

B. Flowed

C. Pouring

D. Unyoked

13. Which of the following is intended to be a pair of contrast in the passage?

A. Huge crowds and lonely individuals.

B. Weather conditions and street lamps.

C. Clattering trains and peddlers' yells.

D. Moving crowds and street traffic.

14. Which of the following words is NOT suitable to describe the character of the

son?

A. Compassionate

B. Responsible

C. Shy

D. Determined

15. What is the theme of the story?

A. The misery of the factory workers.

B. How to survive in a harsh environment.

C. Generation gap between the father and the son.

D. Love between the father and the son.

16. What is the author's attitude towards the father and the son?

A. Indifferent

B. Sympathetic

C. Appreciative

D. Difficult to tell

TEXT B

When former President Ronald Reagan fell and broke his hip two weeks ago, he

joined a group of more than 350,000 elderly Americans who fracture their hips

each year

. At 89 and suffering from advanced Alzheimer's disease, Reagan is in

one of the highest-risk groups for this type of accident. The incidence of hip

fractures not only increases after age 50 but doubles every five to six years as

the risk of falling increases. Slipping and tumbling are not the only causes of hip

fractures; weakened bones sometimes break spontaneously. But falling is the

major cause, representing 90% of all hip fractures. These... ...

17. The following are all specific measures to guard against injuries with the

EXCEPTION of

A. removal of throw rugs.

B. easy access to devices

C. installation of grab bars

D. re-arrangement of furniture

18. In which paragraph does the author state his purpose of writing?

A. The third paragraph

B. The first paragraph

C. The last paragraph

D. The last but one paragraph

19. The main purpose of the passage is to

A. offer advice on how to prevent hip fractures

B. emphasize the importance of health precautions

C. discuss the seriousness of hip fractures.

D. identify the causes of hip fractures.

TEXT C

In his classic novel,

developer

, take his cousin on a tour of the city he is building. He describes the

broad

streets,

rows

of

houses,

a

teeming

metropolis.

But

his

cousin

looks

around

bewildered.

All

she

sees

is

a

forest.

are

the

beauties

and

improvements which you were to show me?

see them.

earth, he has built them in his mind, and they as concrete to him as if they were

already constructed and finished.

Cooper

was

illustrating

a

distinctly

American

trait,

future-mindedness:

the

ability to see the present from the vantage point of the future; the freedom to

feel

unencumbered

by

the

past

and

more

emotionally

attached

to

things

to

come. As Albert Einstein once said,

never being.

20.

The

third

paragraph

examines

America's

future-mindedness

from

the

_________ perspective.