1994年英语专业四级真题

1994

年英语专业四级真题

Part I

Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)

Directions:

There

are

4

passages

in

this

part.

Each

passage

is

followed

by

some

questions

or

unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked [A], [B],[C] and [D]. You

should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a

single line through the centre.

Passage A

A Wise Man

?

He

was

a

funny

looking

man

with

a

cheerful

face,

good

natured

and

a

great

talker.

He

was

described by his student, the great philosopher Plato, as

“

the best and most just and wisest man.

”

Yet, this same man was condemned to death for his beliefs.

?

The

man

was

the

Greek

philosopher,

Socrates,

and

he

was

condemned

for

not

believing

in

the

recognized

gods

and

for

corrupting

young

people.

The

second

charge

stemmed

from

his

association with numerous young men who came to Athens from all over the civilized world to

study under him.

?

Socrates? method of teaching was to ask quest

ions and, by pretending not to know the answers,

to press his students into thinking for themselves. His teachings had unsurpassed influence on all

the great Greek and Roman schools of philosophy. Yet, for all his fame and influence, Socrates

himself never wrote a word.

?

Socrates

encouraged

new

ideas

and

free

thinking

in

the

young,

and

this

was

frightening

to

the

conservative

people.

They

wanted

him

silenced.

Yet,

many

were

probably

surprised

that

he

accepted death so readily.

?

Socrates had the right to ask for a lesser penalty, and he probably could have won over enough of

the people who had previously condemned him. But Socrates, as a firm believer in law, reasoned

that it was proper to submit to the death sentence. So, he calmly accepted his fate and drank a cup

of poison hemlock in the presence of his grief-stricken friends and students.

?

the first paragraph, the word yet is used to introduce _______.

st

B.a sequence

is

example

es was condemned to death because he ______.

?

ed in law

a philosopher

hed outspoken philosophical articles

?

ted original opinions

?

word unsurpassed in the third paragraph is closest in meaning to _______.

?

lled

ced

cted

mentioning that Socrates himself never wrote anything, the writer implies that ______.

?

was surprising that Socrates was so famous

?

es was not so learned as he is reputed to have been

?

es used the work of his students in teaching

?

authorities refused to publish Socrates

’

works

?

es accepted the death penalty to show ______.

?

belief in his students

contempt for conservatives

recognition of the legal system

he was not afraid of death

?

Passage B

In England,

along a stretch of the north-east coast which gently curves from Northumberland

to the estuary of the river Tees, there was a spot, typical of many on that coast, where sea-coal

collected richly and effortlessly. This coal was a coarse powder, clean and brilliant. It seemed to

bear

little

resemblance

to

the

large,

filthy

lumps

put

onto

the

fire. Although

it

was

coal,

it

was

perfectly clean and it was silently deposited at high tide in a glittering carpet a kilometre long for

the local community to gather up.

?

The gear needed for sea- coaling expeditions was a curious and traditionally proven assortment

which

never

varied

from

community

to

community

along

the

entire

north- east

coastline.

Sacks

were essential to put the coal in, and string to tie the neck of each sack when it was full. A wooden

rake was used to serape the coal from the beach. The only alternative to the rake was a flat piece

of board held in the hand. A flat, broad shovel to lift the raked coal into the bags, completed the

portable hardware.

?

But the most crucial item of equipment was a bicycle, a special kind of rusty, stripped down

model which was the symbol of the sea-

coaling craft. A lady?s bike was no good because it lacked

a crossbar, and that was an essential element in transporting sea-coal. One full sack could be slung

through the triangular frame of a man?s bike, another over the crossbar and, sometimes, even a

third

on

top

of

that.

It

not

only

enabled

one

to

move

the

sea

coal

from

place

to

place,

but

the

pressure of the metal bar against the full, wet sacks forced excess water out of the coal while it

was being wheeled home. On a good day, the path to the beach was generally a double snailtrack

of water that had been forced from each end of a trail of coal sacks.

difference between the two types of coal was that ___.

?

coal burnt better

coal was cheaper

?

coal was more finely-grained

coal came in big pieces

?

n equipment was used because ______.

?

people were very traditional

could be made by the communities themselves

had proved to be practical

communities had curious habits

piece of equipment was not vital to sea-coal collecting?

?

B.A sack

C.A lady?s bike

D.A piece of string

?

carry three sacks of coal on a bicycle it was necessary to ______.

?

one of them on the saddle

e them all on the crossbar

?

e two on the crossbar

two through the framework

using the bicycle _______.

?

collectors could ride home

coal could be moved easily over the sand

?

collectors could sell more coal

liquid could be removed

?

Passage C

Did you know that all human beings have a

“

comfort zone

”

regulating the distance they stand

from someone when they talk? This distance varies in interesting ways among people of different

cultures.

?

Greeks,

others

of

the

Eastern

Mediterranean,

and

many

of

those

from

South

America

normally

stand quite close together when they talk, often moving their faces even closer as they warm up in

a

conversation. North

Americans

find

this awkward

and

often

back

away

a

few

inches.

Studies

have found that they tend to feel most comfortable at about 21 inches apart. In much of Asia and

Africa, there is even more space between two speakers in conversation. This greater space subtly

lends an air of dignity and respect. This matter of space is nearly always unconscious, but it is

interesting to observe.

?

This difference applies also to the closeness with which people sit together, the extent to which

they lean over one another in conversation, how they

move as they argue or make an emphatic

point. In the United States, for example, people try to keep their bodies apart even in a crowded

elevator; in Paris they take it as it comes!

?

Although

North

Americans

have

a

relatively

wide

“comfort

zone”

for

talking,

they

communicate a great deal with their hands

—

not only with gesture but also with touch. They put a

sympathetic hand on a person?s shoulder to demonstrate warmth of feeling or an arm around him

in

sympathy;

they

nudge

a

man

in

the

ribs

to

emphasize

a

funny

story;

they

pat

an

arm

in

reassurance

or

stroke

a

child?s

head

in

affection;

they

readily

take

someone?s

arm

to

help

him

across a street or direct him along an unfamiliar route. To many people

—

especially those from

Asia or the Moslem countries

—

such bodily contact is unwelcome, especially if inadvertently done

with the left hand.

(The left hand carries no special significance in the U. S.. Many Americans

are simply left-handed and use that hand more. )

?

terms of bodily distance, North Americans ______.

?

similar to South Americans

farthest apart

?

ill at ease when too close

nearer during conversations

Asians, the comfort zone _______.

?

deliberately determined

es 21 inches

?

according to status

s esteem

?

can be inferred from the passage that in a crowded elevator, a Frenchman ______.

?

behave in the same way as an American would

make no particular effort to distance himself

?

be afraid of bodily contact

do his best to leave

Americans tell a joke, they often _______.

?

people on the head

people a hug

?

people in the ribs

people on the arm

?

passage mainly concerns ________.

?

ce and bodily contact

language

?

al differences between the East and the West

signals

Passage D

Do Insects Think?

?

In a recent book entitled The Psychic Life of Insects, Professor Bouvier says that we must be

careful not to credit the little winged fellows with intelligence when they behave in what seems

like an intelligent manner. They may be only reacting. I would like to confront the Professor with

an instance of reasoning power on the part of an insect which cannot be explained away in any

other manner.

?

During the summer of 1899, while I was at work on my doctoral thesis, we kept a female wasp at

our cottage. It was more like a child of our own than a wasp, except that it looked more like a

wasp than a child of our own. That was one of the ways we told the difference.

?

It was still a young wasp when we got it (thirteen or fourteen years old) and for some time we

could not get it to eat or drink, it was so shy. Since it was a female we decided to call it Miriam,

but soon the children?s nickname for it—“Pudge”—

became a fixture, and

“

Pudge

”

it was from

that time on.

?

One evening I had been working late in my laboratory fooling around with some gin and other

chemicals,

and

in

leaving

the

room

I

tripped

over.

a

nine

of

diamonds

which

someone

had

left

lying on the floor and knocked over my card index which contained the names and addresses of all

the larvae worth knowing in North America. The cards went everywhere.

?

I was too tired to stop to pick them up that night, and went sobbing to bed, just as mad as I could

be. As I went, however, I noticed the wasp was flying about in circles over the scattered cards.

“Maybe

Pudge

will

pick

them

up”,

I

said

half

laughingly

to

myself,

never

thinking

for

one

moment that such would be the case.

?

When I came down the next morning Pudge was still asleep in her box, evidently tired out. And

well she might have been. For there on the floor lay the cards scattered all about just as I had left

them the night before. The faithful little insect had buzzed about all night trying to come to some

decision about picking them up and arranging them in the boxes for me, and then had figured out

for

herself

that,

as

she

knew

practically

nothing

of

larvae

of

any

sort

except

wasp

larvae,

she