湖南农业大学考博英语真题,考博英语试题

湖南农业大学2009年博士研究生入学考试英语试题

Section I Vocabulary and Structure (10 points)
Directions: In this section there are 20 incomplete sentences. For each sentence there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that best completes the sentence and make your answer on your ANSWER SHEET.
1. John had participated well in class discussion and read widely ______.
A. by his own
B. on his own
C. with his own
D. of his own
2. Tommy walked away whistling, the dusty old book ______ beneath his arm.
A. to be tucked
B. were tucked
C. tucked
D. tucking
3. She finished her work successfully, ______ impressed us most.
A. which
B. that
C. it
D. so that
4. On this occasion I spoke for as much as an hour and a half and ______ with attention.
A. heard
B. was being heard
C. was heard
D. being heard
5. Jane will not lend you the book because she is fearful ______ you will forget to return it.
A. if
B. whether
C. that
D. as
6. Such ______ the case, there were no grounds to justify your complaints.
A. was
B. is
C. were
D. being
7. ______ nonsense the newspapers print, some people always believe it.
A. However
B. What
C. Whatever
D. Whichever
8. My health is ______.
A. as poor, if not poorer than, my brother
B. poor as my brother's if not poorer
C. as poor as, if not poorer than, my brother's
D. as poor, if not poorer than my brother's
9. We believe that the younger generation will prove ______ our trust.
A. worth of
B. worthless
C. worthy of
D. worthy
10. I have been studying in the library every night ______ the last four weeks.
A. since
B. until
C. before
D. for
11. ______ I could speak several foreign languages!
A. If
B. If possible
C. If only
D. If necessary
12. ______, a man who expresses himself effectively is sure to succeed more rapidly than one whose command of language is poor.
A. To be equal to other things
B. Were other things equal
C. Other things being equal
D. Other things to be equal
13. Over a third of the population was estimated to have no ______ to the health service.
A. assessment
B. assignment
C. exception
D. access
14. We did not know his telephone number; otherwise, we ______ him.
A. would have telephoned
B. must telephone
C. would telephone
D. had telephoned
15. Since they ______ the new method, their production has been doubled.
A. admitted
B. adopted
C. adapted
D. accepted
16. He was so busy. No sooner ______ home ______ he was asked to start on another journey.
A. did he arrive...and he
B. he arrive...that
C. had he arrived...than
D. had he arrived...when
17. If a bank doesn't ______ the rules, the law makers must decide what type of legal action must be taken.
A. stick on
B. keep up with
C. pick up
D. abide by
18. It was the first time that he was late for class. He ______ up in the heavy traffic.
A. may be held
B. may have been held
C. might be held
D. might have been held
19. Those books are very expensive. Do you know ______?
A. how much cost them
B. how much they cost
C. they cost how much
D. what do they cost
20. The health program outlined in the article seems very sound to me, but it has ______ considerable public outcry.
A. meet with
B. run up with
C. run against
D. run out
Section II Cloze (10 points)
Directions: Read through the passage. For each blank there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that best completes the sentence and make your answer on your ANSWER SHEET.
When Laura Langanki found extra towels in the laundry smelling lemony fresh, she never __21__ that her 13-year-old son was __22__ drugs. "We were __23__ three to four bottles of air freshener a week," says the 42-year-old nurse from Plymouth, Minn. "__24__ a fool, I thought my kid was becoming more interested in personal __25__." Instead, Jake was "huffing" — spraying the __26__ into towels and inhaling the fumes. __27__ his mother found out two years later, he was smoking pot, using acid and crystal methamphetamine, drinking alcohol and snorting cocaine.
Laura had warned Jake not to __28__ illegal drugs when he was younger and felt sure he got the message. But according to a new U.S. News __29__, even parents who believe they talk often with their kids about drugs can be __30__. Of 700 parents and 700 teens surveyed, 31 percent of parents claimed to talk about drugs a lot with his or her teen, while only 14 percent of teenagers felt they had frequent conversation on the __31__ with Mom or Dad.
That failure to communicate can have __32__ consequences. In a 1999 survey of nearly 10,000 parents and teens __33__ the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, teens who __34__ antidrug messages at home were 42 percent __35__ to use drugs. "This may sound like __36__ advice," says Steve Dnistrian, executive vice president of the group, "but hard numbers quantify that parental communication is the __37__ most important thing we can do to prevent children using drugs."
Indeed, parents received __38__ vote of confidence from 63 percent of the teens polled by US News, __39__ sibling, teachers, and friends.
21.
A. believed
B. dreamed
C. assured
D. thought
22.
A. in
B. on
C. with
D. by
23.
A. going through
B. experiencing
C. buying
D. purchasing
24.
A. As
B. Being
C. Like
D. Feeling
25.
A. development
B. character
C. belongings
D. hygiene
26.
A. contents
B. solutions
C. liquor
D. solvent
27.
A. As
B. Since
C. By the time
D. Unless
28.
A. abuse
B. breathe
C. try
D. use
29.
A. investigation
B. poll
C. statistics
D. announcement
30.
A. wrong
B. tight
C. sure
D. mistaken
31.
A. from
B. of
C. out
D. in
32.
A. subject
B. issue
C. problem
D. question
33.
A. direct
B. immediate
C. natural
D. by means of
34.
A. by
B. through
C. with
D. learned
35.
A. accepted
B. received
C. informed
D. less likely
36.
A. unlikely
B. likely
C. dislikely
D. parental
37.
A. good
B. bad
C. soft
D. much
38.
A. single
B. far
C. by far
D. the much
39.
A. the many
B. the most
C. the highest
D. outnumbering
40.
A. outranking
B. outnumbering
C. outweighing
D. outperforming
Section III Reading Comprehension (30 points)
Directions: In this section there are three passages. Each one is followed by five questions. Read the passages and then mark your answers on your ANSWER SHEET.
Passage 1
When you think of the tremendous technological progress we have made, it’s amazing how little we have developed in other respects. We may speak contemptuously of the poor old Romans because they relished the orgies of slaughter that went on in their arenas. We may despise them because they mistook these goings on for entertainment. We may forgive them condescendingly because they lived 2000 years ago and obviously knew no better. But are our feelings of superiority really justified? Are we any less blood-thirsty? Why do boxing matches, for instance, attract such universal interest? Don’t the spectators who attend them hope they will see some violence? Human beings remain as blood-thirsty as ever they were. The only difference between ourselves and the Romans is that while they were honest enough to admit that they enjoyed watching hungry lions tearing people apart and eating them alive, we find all sorts of sophisticated arguments to defend sports which should have been banned long ago; sports which are quite as barbarous as, say, public hangings or bear-baiting.
It really is incredible that in this day and age we should still allow hunting or bull-fighting, that we should be prepared to sit back and watch two men battle each other to pulp in a boxing ring, that we should be relatively unmoved by the sight of one or a number of racing cars crashing and bursting into flames. Let us not deceive ourselves. Any talk of "the sporting spirit" is sheer hypocrisy. People take part in violent sport because of the high rewards they bring. Spectators are willing to pay vast sums of money to see violence. A world heavyweight championship match, for instance, is front page news. Millions of people are disappointed if a big fight is over in two rounds instead of fifteen rounds. They feel disappointed because they have been deprived of the exquisite pleasure of witnessing prolonged torture and violence.
Why should we ban violent sports if people enjoy them so much? You may well ask. The answer is simple: they are uncivilized. For centuries man has been trying to improve himself spiritually and emotionally — admittedly with little success. But at least we no longer tolerate the sight of madmen cooped up in cages, or public floggings or any of the countless other barbaric practices which were common in the past. Prisons are no longer the grim forbidding places they used to be. Social welfare systems are in operation in many parts of the world. Big efforts are being made to distribute wealth fairly. These changes have come about not because human beings have suddenly and unaccountably improved, but because positive steps were taken to change the law. The law is the biggest instrument of social change that we have and it may exert great civilizing influence. If we banned dangerous and violent sports, we would be moving one step further to improving mankind. We would recognize that violence is degrading and unworthy of human beings.
41. It can be inferred from the passage that the author's opinion of nowadays' human beings is ______.
A. not very high
B. high
C. contemptuous
D. critical
42. The main idea of this passage is ______.
A. vicious and dangerous sports should be banned by law
B. people are willing to pay vast sums of money to see violence
C. to compare two different attitudes towards dangerous sports
D. people are blood-thirsty in sports
43. That the author mentions the old Romans is ______.
A. to compare the old Romans with today’s people
B. to give an example
C. to show human beings in the past know nothing better
D. to indicate human beings are used to blood-thirsty
44. How many dangerous sports does the author mention in this passage?
A. Three
B. Five
C. Six
D. Seven
45. The purpose of the author in writing this passage is ______.
A. that, by banning the violent sports, we human beings can improve ourselves
B. that, by banning the violent sports, we can improve law
C. that we must take positive steps to improve social welfare system
D. to show the law is the main instrument of social change
Passage 2
No one can be a great thinker who does not realize that as a thinker it is her first duty to follow her intellect to whatever conclusions it may lead. Truth gains more even by the errors of one who with due study and preparation, thinks for himself, than by the true opinions of those who only hold them because they do not suffer themselves to think. Not that it is solely, or chiefly, to form great thinkers that freedom of thinking is required. On the contrary, it is as much or even more indispensable to enable average human beings to attain the mental stature which they are capable of. There have been and may again be great individual thinkers in a general atmosphere of mental slavery. But there never has been, nor ever will be, in that atmosphere an intellectually active people. Where any of heterodox speculation was for a time suspended, where there is a tactic convention that principles are not to be disputed: where the discussion of the greatest questions which can occupy humanity is considered to be closed, we cannot hope to find that generally high scale of mental activity which has made some periods of history so remarkable. Never when controversy avoided the subjects which are large and important enough to kindle enthusiasm was the mind of a people stirred up from its foundations and the impulse given which raised even persons of the most ordinary intellect to something of the dignity of thinking beings.
She who knows only her own side of the case knows little of that. Her reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if she is equally unable to refute the reasons of the opposite side; if she does not so much as know what they are, she has no ground for preferring either opinion. The rational position for her would be suspension of judgment, and unless she contents herself with that, she is either led by authority, or adopts, like the generality of the world, the side to which she feels the most inclination. Nor is it enough that she should hear the arguments of adversaries from her own teachers, presented as they state them, and accompanied by what they offer as refutations. That is not the way to do justice to the arguments, or bring them into real contact with her mind. She must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them: who defend them in earnest, and do their very utmost for them. She must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form; she must feel the whole force of the difficulty which the true view of the subject has to encounter and dispose of: else she will never really possess herself of the portion of truth which meets and removes that difficulty.
Ninety-nine in a hundred of what are called educated people are in this condition; even of those who can argue fluently for their opinions. Their conclusion may be true, but it might be false for anything they know; they have never thrown themselves into the mental position of those who think differently from them and considered what such persons may have to say; and consequently they do not, in any proper sense of the word, know the doctrines which they themselves profess.
46. The best title for this passage is ______.
A. The Age of Reason
B. The Need for Independent Thinking
C. The Value of Refutation
D. Stirring People’s Minds
47. According to the author, it is always advisable to ______.
A. have opinions which cannot be refuted
B. adopt the point of view to which one feels the most inclination
C. be acquainted with the arguments favoring the point of view with which one disagrees
D. suspend heterodox speculation in favor of doctrinaire approaches
48. According to the author, in a great period such as the Renaissance we may expect to find ______.
A. acceptance of truth
B. controversy over principles
C. inordinate enthusiasm
D. a dread of heterodox speculation
49. According to the author, the person who holds orthodox beliefs without examination may be described in all of the following ways EXCEPT as ______.
A. enslaved by tradition
B. less than fully rational
C. determined on controversy
D. having a closed mind
50. Which of the following statements can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to agree with?
A. A truly great thinker makes no mistakes.
B. Periods of intellectual achievement are periods of unorthodox reflection.
C. The refutation of accepted ideas can best be provided by one's own teachers.
D. Excessive controversy prevents clear thinking.
Passage 3
I intend to deal with the problems of formulating practical and realistic plans for the application of science and technology by the government of a newly emerging country. I will specifically have in mind the new African nations, for various historical reasons, they are particularly short of trained manpower.
The first thing which must strike, say, the Prime Minister or Minister of finance of such a young nation, is that science and scientists are expensive and that financial demands clash with the innumerable other demands on a country’s very limited financial resources, and still more limited foreign currency.
In considering the formulation of national policy in relation to the application of science and technology and to the increase in material wealth, it is useful to distinguish three main aspects of this question.
The first is that of known and available technology. The majority of the most urgent needs of the emerging countries in the early stages of development come into this category. To set up a motor-bus service, it is necessary to have the foreign exchange to buy the vehicles and fuel, and the technical schools to train the drivers and repair personnel, but no research or development at all is needed. Nor is new research and development required to set up an airline, or a television system or an electricity supply, or a sewage system and piped water supply or the majority of normal manufacture plants. Though such projects do not involve any appreciable research and development, they do require a large supply of technically and scientifically trained personnel to run them.
The second most important aspect of the application of science and technology to a less-developed country is that concerned with problems which are related to the special conditions of the country, and which can only be solved on the spot. Prominent among these, of course, are problems in agriculture and medicine which have specific local significance and so cannot be studied elsewhere. Then there are many problems in meteorology, geology, geophysical surveying, road building and housing, where original research and development related to local conditions are required. In addition, many new technological problems arise in the setting up of local industries, because of the special properties of the local fuels, raw materials, textiles, foodstuffs, etc. In relation to the problems, the importance of a first-rate information service is vital. It must be made as easy as possible for the research and development personnel to be kept aware of the state of general world knowledge on a particular subject, so as not to be led by ignorance into expensive researches to find out what is already well known. The opposite danger is to assume too easily that some process, technique or method, which has long been in successful use in some other country, can be transferred without modification to a new situation.
The third aspect is concerned with the group of new technologies which are not yet in general use, but are still under development mainly in the technologically advanced countries. I refer, for instance, to such things as solar heats, fuel cells, desalination of water, and a great many improved processes and manufactured goods. Though a close watch must be kept on these developments, I am convinced that the national economic and technological planning of a new country’s development, over the next decade or so, should be based on what is now known.
51. The main object of Professor Blackett's address is ______.
A. the scientists and technologists all over the world
B. the Ministers of finance of young countries
C. the national authorities of less-developed countries
D. persons in charge of formulating plans for the development of national economy in the emerging countries
52. The greatest difficulty the leaders of a young nation have to get over is that ______.
A. they are short of trained manpower.
B. science and scientists are expensive in their country
C. they have very limited financial resource.
D. all of the above
53. The author suggests that ______.
A. all the known and available technologies should be applied to developing a young nation
B. the national economic and technological planning of a new country's development should be based on new technologies which are still under development.
C. the research and development personnel should be kept aware of the state of general world knowledge on all the subjects.
D. some process, technique or method which has long been in successful use not be transferred to a new situation without modification.
54. What is the best way to avoid being misled into expensive researches to find out what is already well known?
A. To keep close watch on the development of most advanced branches of science
B. To have a first-rate information service.
C. To take up original researches related to local conditions
D. To meet the innumerable financial demands of researches.
55. To solve problems in agriculture, geology, geophysical surveying scientists and technologists first of all should ______.
A. carry out researches related to local conditions.
B. study them in advanced countries
C. consider the historical reasons
D. develop a sound sense of the economic realities.
Section IV Error Correction (10 points)
Directions: Find out one error on each underlined part of the passage, and correct it in your ANSWER SHEET.
There are certain basic rules of photography which, even if you are a very inexperiencing photographer with (56) little more knowledge than how to load your camera, will prevent you to making the classic mistakes and (57) give you quite acceptable results. Before you set off on your photographic expedition, and make sure your camera is loaded and you have a spare (58) reel of film in your pocket. There is nothing more infuriating than running out of a film when a really (59) interesting subject presents itself. Before you actually take the picture, check the focus and exposure setting on your camera. A blurred photo is worse than nothing at all and if you haven’t got the exposure right, your subject will neither be black or have vanished (60) into white haze. Do remember to take the lens cap off before you shoot. So many people forget. When you actually taking your photograph, keep (61) the camera absolutely steady. Tuck your arms into your sides to steady our hands. Don’t stick your (62) elbows out. If you are taking a long exposure and you haven’t got a tripod, wedge the body of the camera against a wall, a piece of furniture, the branch of tree, etc. (63) squeeze the shutter release gently; don’t press it hard because that will jerk the camera and you will get blurred results. My final piece of advice applied to all photographers. (64) If you want to take a picture of people and you can’t do it without disturbing them, asking them if they mind first. (65) Lots of people don’t like having their photos taken for a variety of reasons, religious or otherwise and you can cause a great deal of hard feeling without meaning to.
Section V Translation (25 points)
66. Translate the following into English. (10 points)
好容易和两个朋友一同找着了“萨蒂拉阿帕拖”那著名的小房子，外面漆的粉红色，完全和樱花的颜色一般。我最初望到它时，脑筋里立刻受到一个大大的刺激，呵，住在粉红色的房子里，该是多么有诗意的生活！我一面这样想着，一面念着这房子的名字：“沙桔拉阿帕拖”，太美了！这名字太美了，如果有房子，我非住这里不可！
——摘自《机之家》
67. Translate the following into Chinese. (15 points)
The pinprick to the credit bubble came with the housing-sector meltdown in late 2006. From that point, confidence in the U.S. financial system eroded, especially as the sub-prime toxin seeped into the banks and brokerages as well as those parts of the insurance sector linked to mortgages. With confidence in the financial sector deflated, attention turned to the country’s massive structural problems — a long-term imbalance between government expenditures and revenues, related to ongoing pressure for tax cuts; the rapidly aging national transport and communications infrastructure; and Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, the combined cost of which is expected to grow 22 percent faster than the economy over the next decade.
Section VI Writing (15 points)
For this section you are required to write a composition on the following topic: "Economy Development Must Be in Harmony with Environment Protection". You should write at least 200 words to state your ideas. Please write your composition on ANSWER SHEET.