自考专业英语（英语阅读一）模拟试卷八

(63)And speaking of freedom is not the author free, as few men are free? Is he not secure, as few men are secure?The tools of his industry are so common and so cheap that they have almost ceased to have commercial value. He needs no bulky pile of raw material, no elaborate apparatus, no service of men or animals. (64)He is dependent for his occupation upon no one but himself, and nothing outside him that matters.He is the sovereign of an empire, self-supporting, self-containeD。 No one can sequestrate his estates. (65)No one can deprive him of his stock in trade; no one can force him to exercise his faculty against his will; no one can prevent him exercising it as he chooses.The pen is the great liberator of men and nations. No chains can bind, no poverty can choke, no tariff can restrict the free play of his mind, and even the Times Book Club can only exert a moderately depressing influence upon his rewards. (66)Whether his work is good or bad, so long as he does his best he is happy.I often fortify myself amid the uncertainties and vexations of political life by believing that possess a line of retreat into a peaceful and fertile country where no rascal can and where one need never be dull or idle or ever wholly without power. (67)It is then, indeed, that I feel devoutly thankful to have been born fond of writing.It is then, indeed, that I feel grateful to all the brave and generous spirits who, in every age and in every land, have fought to establish the now unquestioned freedom of the pen.

For what reason is this capability for acquiring language remarkable?

Passage 4

Children display an amazing ability to become fluent speakers of any language consistently spoken around them. Every normal child who is not brought up in virtual isolation from language use soon comes to speak one or more languages natively.

 The child's acquisition of his or her native language is not dependent on any special tutoring. Parents may spend many hours "reinforcing every recognizable bit of their child's verbal activity with smile or some other reward. But there is no particular reason to believe that such activity affects the child's ultimate success in becoming a native speaker of his parents' language. Children can pick up a language by playing with other children who happen to speak it just as well as they can through the concentrated efforts of doting parents. All they seem to need is sufficient exposure to the language in question.

  This capacity for acquiring language is remarkable for number of reasons. It is remarkable firstly because of its uniformity throughout the human race. There simply are no cases of normal children who, when they are given the chances, fail to acquire native language. By way of comparison, it is not at all unusual for a child to fail to master arithmetic, reading, swimming, or gymnast a considerable amount of instruction. Language acquisition, in other words, is "inherently, It is also species specific

 Every normal person learns a human language but no other animals, not even the most intelligent apes, has been shown to be capable of making the slightest progress in this direction, although some animals can learn to solve problems, use tools, and so on. Language acquisition thus appears to be kind from acquisition of the other skills mentioned

 The progress is further remarkable for its comparative speed and perfection. When we actually attempt to take a language apart to see how it works, we find it is extraordinarily complex and it involves highly abstract organizational principles. Yet, within the first few years of his life, every child has succeeded in mastering at least one such system. Furthermore, the linguistic system that the child masters is identical to the one employed by the people around him or her. If a child is regularly exposed to two languages, he will very probably learn both. Moreover, they will succeed in keeping the two linguistic systems separate, which is a considerable achievement.

According to the passage, what is the children's amazing ability in learning any language? How do they acquire their native language?

(sincerity) She wasn't entirely( ) when she said she liked me.

meaningful meaningless consistent  publish truthful appreciate

embarrass figurative symbolically recover relevant loss

 What Bible reading I did was (51)( ) and superficial. Yet, if I had been asked, "What is the most important book ever (52) ( ) "I would say, "The Bible. "Nevertheless, I did not give it much attention.As a freshman in college, I took a course studying the Bible as literature. But rather than this experience leading me to a greater(53)( ) of the Bible, it convinced me the Bible was irrelevant. I remember wanting the Bible to really mean something to me and being disappointed that it did not. I did not talk about this disappointment; I guess I was ashamed or (54)( ) that this book so many said was great seemed irrelevant and out of date to me.so, placed it on the shelf, both literally and(55)( ) along with other souvenirs from the past. And it was not just the Bible that seemed irrelevant and meaningless to me, it was also church liturgy and church talk. And, of course, in the confidence of my youth I was sure that if I could not understand it, the Bible and church jargon must be just so much rubbish.

 I had grown up assuming life was(56)( )and assuming the Bible and the church would provide me with the key to discovering that meaning. So, when I viewed both the Bible and the language of the church as more or less meaningless I was on the edge of viewing life and my own life as more or less(57)( ) My viewing the Bible and the language of the church as (58)( )

 to contemporary life was a significant factor but not the only one)contributing to a crisis of faith and significant depression that described as the(59)( )of hope.

 My greatest motivation for going to seminary was the hope of finding hope. And just as there were more factors involved in my becoming depressed than my problems with the Bible, so there were more factors involved in my recovering hope than my (60)( ) of the Bible and meaning in church language. But these were significant factors.

(relax) The PC and TV will remain two different experiences: one you interact with and sit close to; the other you turn to for

(horrify) We were( )by what we saw.

(fortunate) I was( ) enough to lose my keys.

(occupy) She has many( )including gardening and wine-making.

(commerce) ( )television has mixed entertainment and advertising.

( confuse) If you try to learn too many things at time, you may get( )

(job) Gentleman does not have a joB。 He is

(imagine) Computers turn impossibilities into possibilities. By using computer graphics, you can create anything( )

(child) He likes classical music since

Hollywood suggests glamour(诱惑力),(31)( ) Hollywood suggests luxurious houses with vast palm-fringed swimming pools cocktail bars and furnishings fit for a millionaire. And the big movie stars were millionaires. Many spent their fortunes on yachts, Rolls Royces and diamonds. A few of them lost their glamour quite suddenly and were left with nothing but emptiness and colossal(巨大的) debtsMovies were first made in Hollywood before World War. The constant sunshine and mild climate of southern California made it(32)( ) Hollywood's fame and fortune reached its peak in the 1930s and 1940s, the golden days of the black and white movies. Most of the famous motion pictures corporations of those days, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Columbia and Warner Brothers are still very much in business and great stars like Greta Garbo. Marlene Dietrich, Charlie Chaplin Gary Cooper, and many others besides, have become immortal.In those days Hollywood was like a magnet, (33)( ) Most of them had only their good looks to recommend them and had no acting experience-or ability-whatsoever. Occasionally they got jobs, (34)( ) Gary Cooper was one of the few who was noticed. He started as a stunt(特技表演) rider, and from there rose to be one of the great stars of the early Westerners. Many of the girls got jobs in cafes or gas stations, and as they served their customers they tossed their heads and swung their hips, hoping to attract the attentions of some important person connected with the movies. Most of them hoped in vain.As for the stars themselves, they were held on tight rein(受控) by the studio chiefs who could make or break all but the stars with really big appeal. The stars were "persuaded" to sign seven-year contracts, (35)( ) Under their contracts (36)( ) Their studios decided everything.No country in the world has developed so expertly the skill of advertising as the Americans.They advertise everything, (37)( ) The Hollywood studios, by means of advertising, turned starlets into superstars. Many studio chiefs were tyrants, determined to get their own way at all costs, no matter how unscrupulous(肆无忌惮的;不计后果的) the means.Stars were often typecast and if he or she appealed to the public as a lover, then he or she always played the part of lover. star who was hit(轰动一时的人物) as cowboy or bad guy, got the same kind of role again and again. There was little arguing. "You're the perfect dumb blond, baby, and that's how you're going to stay, "they would say. They even tried to interfere in their stars' private lives: "No, sugar! You just can't marry Mel Billigan. He's too intellectual. He'd destroy your image. "Only when they ceased to be stars did some of them discover that they were also good actors! Movie stars like Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy and James Mason gave distinguished performances in character parts as well as leading roles.(38)( ) Most movies today are filmed on location that is to say, in the cities, in the countryside, and in any part of the world that the script.demands. The Hollywood studios are still standing, but most of them have been leased to television networks. About 80% of all American TV entertainment comes from HollywooD。 Yet Hollywood has not lost all its glamour. Movie stars still live there, or in neighboring Beverley Hills, and so do many of the famous and wealthy people who have made their homes in southern CaliforniA。 There is also the attractive Hollywood Bowl, the huge outdoor amphitheater(39)( )Hollywood, above all, has the glamour of the past. It is a name(40)( )_ and for many years to come the old Hollywood movies will be shown again and again in movie houses and on television screens all over the worlD。

A from ice cream to candidates for the PresidencyB an ideal site for shooting(拍摄) motion picturesC drawing ambitious young men and women from all over the worldD Hollywood really is the land of dreams to its visitors who can by visiting this site, learn all there is to know about Hollywood past and presentE. the stars did not have the right to choose their partsF. where every summer since 1922 Symphonies Under the Stars are played by America's best orchestras before packed audiencesG. which will always be associated with motion picture-makingH. during which time the studios built up their imagesI. Hollywood is no longer the heart of the world's motion picture industryJ. a place where the young star-truck teenagers could, with a bit of luck, fulfill their dreamsK. if they were lucky enough to be noticed

The author mentions Oates's book Them because it is( )

The subject of Joyce Carol Oates's first novel is( )

The most striking feature of Joyce Carol Oates's work is her( )

Passage6

 Joyce Carol Oates published her first collection of short stories, By the North Gate, in 1963, two years after she had received her master's degree from the University of Wisconsin and became an instructor of English at the University of Detroit. Her productivity since then has been tremendous, accumulating in less than two decades up to nearly thirty titles, including novels, collections of short stories and verse, plays, and literary criticism. In the meantime, she has continued to teach, moving in 1967 from the University of Detroit to the University of Windsor in Ontario, and in 1978, to Princeton University. Reviewers have admired her enormous energy, but they also find such a large body of writing very amazing.

 In a period characterized by the abandonment of so much of the realistic tradition by authors such as John Barth, Donald Barthelme and Thomas Pynchon, Joyce Carol Oates has seemed at times determinedly old-fashioned in her insistence on depicting the world as it is. Hers is a world of violence, insanity, fractured love, and hopeless loneliness. Although some of it appears to come from her personal observations, her dreams and her fears, much more is clearly from the experiences of others. Her first novel, With Shuddering Fall (1964), dealt with stock car racing, though she had never seen a race. In Them (1969) she focused on Detroit from the Depression through the riots of 1967, drawing much of her material from the deep impression made on her by the problems of one of her students. Whatever the source is and however shocking the events or the motivations are, her fictional world nonetheless remains strikingly related to that real one reflected in the daily newspapers, the television news, talk shows and the popular magazines of our day.

The passage is mainly an introduction to Oates's( )

The passage tells us that Joyce Carol Oates's first publication was( )

All of the following factors may affect the public image of a corporation EXCEPT

The author's attitude toward the notion of public image is

In paragraph 2 the author mentions creditors, shareholders and employees to show that

The word "woo"(ParA)means

Passage 5

Public image refers to how a company is reviewed by its customers, suppliers, and stockholders, by the financial community, by the communities in which it operates, and by the federal and local governments. Public image is controllable to considerable extent, just as the product, price, place, and promotional efforts are.

Bees, ants, toads and turtles are mentioned in the last paragraph in order( )

In actual races, homing pigeons must be guided to enter the loft trap very quickly because( )

According to the passage, the difference between a homing pigeon and an ordinary one lie in?

According to the passage, what happens to homing pigeons when they are about a month old?

Passage 4

 Homing pigeons are placed in a training program from about the time they are twenty-eight days of age. They are taught to enter the loft鸽房) through trap and to exercise above and around the loft, and gradually they are taken away for short distances in baskets and released. They are then expected to find their way home in the shortest possible time.

 In their training flights or in actual races, the birds are taken to pre-arranged distant points and released to find their way back to their own lofts. Once the birds are liberated, their owners, who are standing by at the home lofts, anxiously watch the sky for their return. Since time is of the essence, the speed with which the birds can be directed to enter the loft trap may make the difference between gaining a win and a second place.

 The head of a homing pigeon is comparatively small, but its brain is one quarter larger than that of the ordinary pigeon. The homing pigeon is very intelligent and some have been known to fly hundred miles off course to avoid a storm.

 Some homing pigeon experts claim that this bird is gifted with form. of built-in radar that helps it find its own loft after hours of flight, for the birds have two very sensitive ears hidden under the head feathers, while the sharp, prominent eyes can see great distances in daytime.

Why do homing pigeons fly home? They are not unique in this inherent skill; it is found in most tory birds(候鸟), and in bees, ants, toads and even turtles, which have been known to travel hundreds of miles to return to their homes. But in the animal world, the homing pigeon can be trusted with its freedom and trained to carry out the missions that people demand.

What is the purpose of this passage?

The word "predecessors"(Para. 4)refers to( )

It can be inferred from the 4th paragraph that before 1730( )

Those responsible for designing houses in the 18th century North America were( )

Stones were commonly used to build houses in( )

Passage 3

 Seventeenth-century houses in colonial North America were simple structures that were primarily functional, carrying over traditional designs that went back to the Middle Ages. During the first half of the eighteenth century, however, houses began to show a new elegance. As wealth increased more and more colonists built fine houses

 Since architecture was not yet a specialized profession in the colonies, the design of building was left to carpenters who undertook to interpret architectural manuals imported from England. There are an astonishing number of these handbooks for builders in colonial libraries, and the houses erected during the eighteenth century show their influence. Most domestic architecture of the first three-quarters of the eighteenth century displayed a wide range of taste and freedom of application of the rules laid down in these books.

 Increasing wealth throughout the colonies resulted in houses of improved design, whether the material was wood, stone or brick. New England still favored wood, though brick houses became common in Boston and other towns where the danger of fire forced people to use more durable material. A few houses in New England were built of stone, but only in Pennsylvania and its neigh-boring areas stone was widely used in dwellings. An increased use of bricks is noticeable in Virginia and Maryland, but wood remained the most popular material even in houses built by wealthy land- owners. In the Carolinas, even in the crowded town of Charleston, wooden houses were much more common than brick houses.

 Eighteenth-century houses showed great interior improvements over their predecessors. Windows were made larger and shutters removed. Large, clear panes replaced the gray glass of the seventeenth century. Doorways were larger and more decorative Fireplaces became decorative features of rooms Walls were sometimes elaborately decorated White paint began to take the place of blue, yellow, green and gray colors, which had been popular for walls in the earlier years. After about 1730, advertisements for wallpaper styles in scenic patterns began to appear in colonial newspapers.

The passage mainly discusses( )

It can be safely concluded from the passage that( )

This passage is intended for( )

The passage tells us how to( )

Passage 2

When you're negotiating with someone, listen for the messages that he or she might be sending to you. For example, the word "difficult" does not mean the same as impossible. Imagine you're staying in a hotel, and you want to change your room. The manager's answer of, "That would be very difficult, sir", does not mean that he is saying "no". It just means that he wants to know what you are prepared to offer him in return for the change of room.

 If you are buying a new car, and want to pay less than the price being asked, then the salesman's comment, "I'm sorry, but we never negotiate on the price", means that they do negotiate on other things, like the delivery time, or the "extra" that might be available as part of the purchase. In the same car showroom, if the salesman says, "Sorry, I can't negotiate prices", then should be to ask who can. The message the salesman is sending suggests that his boss is the one you need to be talking to.

 In all of these situations, the message is never communicated in clear terms. In any negotiation, the two "players" wish to get as much out of it as they can, of course. In the three examples above, the salesmen and the hotel manager are hoping that you will accept their price or conditions-but their "messages" make it clear that there may be room for movement and compromise. In a successful negotiation, the two sides move towards each other and reach agreement on conditions that satisfy both sides.

The hotel manager's answer" That would be very difficult, sir" implies( )

When the salesmen tell you that they never negotiate on the price, you can( )

According to the author, marriage more often than not( )

The author argues that( )

Besides escaping from unsatisfying home life, young people also marry early( )

The phrase" shaking of graying heads"(Para. 1) refers to( )

Passage 1

Since the Second World War, there has been an obvious trend, especially among the growing group of college students, toward early marriage. Many youths begin dating in the first stages of adolescence, "go steady" through high school, and marry before their formal education has been completed. In some quarters, there is much shaking of graying heads over the ways of rebellious youth. However, emotional maturity does not grow with age; it does not arrive automatically at twenty-one or twenty-five. Some achieve it surprisingly early, while others never do, even in three-score years and ten.

 Many students are marrying as an escape, not only from an unsatisfying home life, but also from their own personal problems of isolation and loneliness. However, any marriage entered into as an escape cannot prove entirely successful. The sad fact is that marriage seldom solves one's problems; more often, it merely worsens them. Furthermore, it is doubtful whether the home is capable of carrying all that the young are seeking to put into it; one might say that they are abandoning one idol only to worship another. Young people correctly understand that their parents are wrong in believing that success is the ultimate good, but they themselves are wrong in believing that they have found the of life's meaning. Their expectations of marriage are essentially unrealistic and therefore incapable of fulfillment. They want too much, and tragic disillusionment is often bound to follow.

 Shall we, then, join the chorus of those against early marriages? One cannot generalize: all ages are not bad any more than all later ones are good. Satisfactory marriages are determined not by how old one is, but by the emotional maturity of the partners. Therefore, each case must be judged on its own merits. If the early marriage is not an escape, if it is entered into with relatively few illusions or false expectations, and if it is economically feasible, why not? Good marriages can be made from sixteen to sixty and so can bad ones.

The phrase" go steady"(Para. 1) can be replaced by( )