江大研究生学位英语考试试卷.doc

EST 1
Part I Listening Comprehension

Section 1, Conversation (10 minutes, 10 points)

Section 2, Passages (10 minutes, 10 points)

Part II: Cloze Test (10 minutes, 15 points)
Scientists who study the Earth's climate are convinced that volcano eruptions have a significant effect on general weather patterns. In fact, one of the many (36) which attempt to explain how an ice age begins holds that the (37) is a dramatic increase in volcanic eruptions. The volcanic explosions, besides causing local thunderstorms and lightning, inject great amounts of gas and (38)_into the stratosphere (同温层). At this (39)，the volcanic material spreads all the way around the Earth. This volcanic material (40) a certain amount of sunlight and (41) some back into space. The net result is to (42) the planet's surface. For instance, 43 was perhaps the largest eruption occurred in 1883 when the Indonesia volcano Krakatoa exploded. The following year was (44) in Europe as the "year without summer" because the (45) was so cool and rainy.
While there is (46) scientific agreement that volcanic eruption can lead to cooling, (47) of how this happens are not clear. As a result, scientists cannot (48) whether the volcanic activity which (49) past ice ages would result (50) sufficient cooling to cause a glacial period. Similarly, it is not possible for scientists to predict the climate effect of a future volcanic eruption with any confidence.
36. A. theories B. inventions C. judgments D. discoveries
37. A. cause B. course C. means D. case
38. A. petroleum B. ash C. flame D. garbage
39. A. relation B. instance C. moment D. altitude
40. A. scatters B. releases C. constitutes D. absorbs
41. A. carries B. converts C. reflects D. gathers
42. A. cool B. warm C. freeze D. heat
43. A. such B. what C. there D. that
44. A. known B. reported C. marked D. testified
45. A. air B. temperature C. sky D. weather
46. A. committed B. optimistic C. general D. absolute
47. A. indexes B. predictions C. details D. decisions
48. A. analyze B. determine C. assure D. assume
49. A. confronted B. promoted C. proceed D. preceded
50. A. in B. from C. to D. with
Part I Reading
Passage One
We use emotive language to express our own attitudes and feelings. We also direct emotive language at other people to persuade them to believe as we do or to do as we want them to do; and, of course, other people direct emotive language at us to get us to believe or to do what they want.
We are subjected to a constant stream of persuasion day in, day out, at home and in school, on the radio and on television. It comes from parents and teachers, from preachers and politicians, from editors and commentators, but, most of all, of course, from advertisers. Most of this persuasion is expressed in emotive language and is intended to appeal to our feelings rather than to be weighed up by our powers of reasoning.
We should look at the motives behind all this persuasion. Why do they want to persuade us? What do they want us to do? We are not thinking very clearly unless we try to see through the veil of words and realize something of the speaker's purpose.
An appeal to emotion is in itself neither good or bad. Our emotions exist and they are part of our personality. On some occasions people appeal to our emotions on the highest levels and from the best of motives. A case in point is Churchill's wartime speeches: whatever people thought of Churchill as a politician, they were united behind him when he spoke as national leader in those dark days --- their feelings responded to his call for resolution and unity.
It is a characteristic of social groups that the members have a feeling of personal attachment to the group --- to the family in earliest childhood and extending later to the school, the team, the church, the nation, in patterns that vary from time to time. Hence a speaker from our group will find in us feelings to which he can readily and genuinely appeal, whether our reaction is favorable or not. We are at least open to the appeal and we appreciate the context in which it is made.
1. The major functions of emotive language discussed in the passage are to - .
A. extend our powers of reasoning and carry out a purpose
B. advertise and produce the wanted social effects
C. show one's feelings and appeal to those of others
D. make others believe in us and respond to our feelings
2. It is suggested in the third paragraph of this passage that we - .
A should keep a cool head when subjected to persuasion of various kinds
B need to judge whether a persuasion is made for good or bad
C. have to carefully use our emotive language
D. should avoid being easily seen through by an appeal from others
3. The source from which emotive language flows upon us in its greatest amount is - .
A. the mass media B. the educational institutions
C. the religious circles D. the advertising business
4. Churchill is mentioned in the passage as -'
A. an example of how people weighed up persuasion with reasoning
B. a national leader who brought out people's best feelings
C. a positive example of appealing to people's motion
D. a politician who has been known as a good speaker
5. What is NOT mentioned as relevant to our emotions in this passage?
A. Social context B. Personal experience
C. The personality of national leaders D. Religious belief
6. It can be inferred from the passage that a persuasive speaker must .
A. find out what group his audience is attached to 
B. vary his speech patterns from time to time
C. know how to adapt his way of speaking to the needs of the audience
D. be aware whether the listeners are favorable to his opinion or not

Passage Two
As goods and services improved, people were persuaded to spend their money on changing from old to new, and found the change worth the expenses. When an airline equipped itself with jets, for example, its costs ( and therefore air fare) would go up, but the new planes meant such an improvement that the higher cost was justified. A new car ( or wireless, washing machine, electric kettle) made life so much more comfortable than the old one that the high cost of replacement was fully repaid. Manufacturers still cry their wares as persuasively as ever, but are the improvements really worth paying for? In many fields things have now reached such a high standard of performance that further progress is very limited and very expensive. Airlines, for example, go to enormous expense in buying the latest prestige jets, in which vast research costs have been spent on relatively small improvements. If we scrap these vast costs we might lose the chance of cutting minutes away from flying times, but wouldn't it be better to see air fares drop dramatically, as capital costs become relatively insignificant? Again, in the context of a 70mph limit, with platoons of cars traveling so densely as to control each other's speeds, improvements in performance are virtually irrelevant; improvements in handling are unnecessary, as most production cars grip the road perfectly; and comfort has now reached a very high level indeed. Small improvements here are unlikely to be worth the thousands that anybody replacing an ordinary family car every two years may ultimately have spent on them. Let us instead have cars --- or wireless, electric kettles, washing machines, television sets --- which are made to last, and not to be replaced. Significant progress is obviously a good thing; but the insignificant progression from model-change to model-change is not.
7. The author obviously is challenging the social norm that - .
A. it is. important to improve goods and services
B. development of technology makes our life more comfortable
C. it is reasonable that prices are going up all the time
D. slightly modified new products are worth buying
8. According to this passage, air fares may rise because -'
A people tend to travel by new airplanes
B. the airplane has been improved
C. the change is found to be reasonable
D. the service on the airplane is better than before
9. According to the author, passengers would be happier if they -'
A. could fly in the latest model of reputable planes
B. could get tickets at much lower prices
C. see the airlines make vital changes in their services
D. could spend less time flying in the air
10. When manufacturers have improved the performance of their products to a certain level, then
it would be_. .
A. justified for them to cut the price
B. unnecessary for them to make any new changes
C. difficult and costly to further better them
D. insignificant for them to cut down the research costs
11. In the case of cars, the author urges that we - .
A. cancel the speed limit B. further improve the performance
C. improve the durability D. change models every two years
12. The author's criticism is probably based on the fact that - .
A. we have been persuaded to live an extravagant life today
B. many products we buy turn out to be substandard or inferior
C. inflation is becoming a big problem in the world today
D. people are wasting their money on trivial technological progress

Passage Three
Recent studies on the male-female wage gap predict that even though entry salaries for males and females in the same occupation are nearly equal because women's market skills have improved vastly, the chances of the overall gap closing in the foreseeable future are minimal. This is due to several factors that are likely to change very slowly, if at all. An important reason is that women are concentrated in occupations --- service and clerical --- that pay less than traditional male jobs. It is possible that more women than men in their twenties are hesitant to commit themselves to a year-round, lifetime career or job for many reasons There is lingering attitude on both the part of women and their employers that women are not cut out for certain jobs. Not only does this attitude channel women into lower-paying work, but it also serves to keep them from top management positions.
Another significant factor in the widening wage gap between men and women entering the work force, even in comparable jobs, is that women often drop out at critical points in their careers to have a family. Women still have the primary responsibility for child-bearing; even if they continue to work, they often forgo overtime and promotions that would conflict with home responsibilities. The ages of 25 to 35 have been shown repeatedly to be the period when working consistently and hard is vital to advancement and job security. These are precisely the years when women are likely to have children and begin to slide away from men in earning power. Consequently, a woman's income is more likely to be seen as secondary to her husband's.
13.According to recent studies on the male-female wage gap, -'
A. there is much hope of narrowing the male-female wage gap in the near future
B. working women will have many opportunities to hold high-paying jobs in the near future
C. women's pay will still stay at a level below that of men in the near future
D. salaries for males and females in the same occupation will be equal in the near future
14. Women are kept from top management positions partly because they - .
A. decide to devote themselves to certain lifetime jobs in their twenties
B. are inclined to rank family second to work
C. tend to have more quarrels with their employers
D. still take an incorrect attitude towards themselves
15. Which of the following is implied in the passage as a partial reason for women's concentration in certain occupations?
A. Social division of labor. B. Social prejudice against them
C. Employment laws. D. Physiological weakness.
16. The word" forgo" in Paragraph 2 could be best replaced by - .
A. give up B. drop out
C. throwaway D. cut out
17. It can be inferred from the second paragraph that - .
A. men's jobs are subject to change
B. women tend to be employed off and on at the same job
C. men' chances of promotion are minimal
D. women used to be employed all the year round
18. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. Women's market skills have improved greatly.
B. Child care is still chiefly women's work
C. Women are typically employed in clerical and service jobs.
D. Domestic duties no longer conflict with women's jobs.

Passage Four
It seems that the life of a television reporter is fantastically admired by many people. But this is only one side of the coin. First, he never goes deeply into anyone subject --- he may be expert at mastering a brief in a short time and "getting up" a subject, but a week later he is on to the next subject, and a week later still he is on to the subject after that. He seldom grasps with a full-scale investigation anyone thing. He has to be able to forget what he was working on a few weeks before, otherwise his mind would become messed up.
Second, a reporter does not have anything lasting to show for what he does --- there is no shelf of books, no studio full of paintings. He pours his life into something which flickers in shadows across a screen and is gone forever. I have seen people in many television jobs turn at the end of watching one of their own programs and say something like: " Well, that's all those days/weeks/months of work. Travel and worry sunk without trace." As a way of life it comes to seem like blowing bubbles --- entertaining to do, and the bubbles numerous and pretty to look at, and all different, but all disappearing into thin air.
Third, the pace of life is too fast. Not only is it destructive of one's private life, one does not even have time to give proper consideration to the things one is professionally concerned with --not enough time to think, not enough time to read, not enough time to write one's commentary, prepare one's interviews and so on. When one disengages from it and allows one's perceptions, thinking, reading and the rest to proceed at their natural pace one gets an altogether unfamiliar sense of solidarity and well-being.
Fourth, the reporter is at the mercy of events. A revolution breaks out in Cuba so he is off there on the next plane. Somebody shoots President Reagan so he drops everything he is doing and flies to Washington. He is like a puppet pulled by strings --- the strings of the world's affairs. He is not motivated from within. He does not decide for himself what he would like to do, where he would like to go, what he would like to work on. He is activated from without, and his whole life becomes a kind of reflex action, a series of high-pressure responses to external stimuli. He has ceased to exist as an independent personality.
19.A TV reporter never makes an in-depth study of a subject because -'
A. he usually gets one s