华中科技大学考博英语真题,考博英语试题

华中科技大学2008年博士研究生入学考试英语试题

Part I Cloze (10%)
Directions: In this part you are asked to choose the best word for each blank in the passage. Write your answers on the answer sheet.
He peered over at the writhing blackness that jerked convulsively with the jerking nerves. It grew quieter. There were small twitches from the mass that still looked vaguely __1__ the shape of a small animal.
It came __2__ his mind that he could shoot it and end its pain; and he raised the gun. Then he lowered __3__ again. The buck could no longer feel; its fighting was a mechanical protest of the nerves. But it was not that which made him __4__ the gun. It was a swelling feeling of rage and misery and protest that __5__ itself in the thought: if I had not come it __6__ like this, so why should I interfere? All over the bush things like this happen; they happen all the time; this is how life goes on, by living things dying in anguish. I can’t stop it. There is nothing I can do.
He was glad that the buck was unconscious and had gone past suffering __7__ he did not have to make a decision to kill it. At his feet, now, __8__ ants trickling back with pink fragments in their mouths, and there was fresh acid smell in his nose. He sternly controlled the __9__ convulsing muscles of his empty stomach, and reminded himself: the ants must eat too.
The shape had grown small. Now it looked like nothing recognizable. He did not know how long it was __10__ he saw the blackness thin, and bits of white showed through, shining in the sun—yes, there was the sun just up, glowing over the rocks. Why, the whole thing could not have taken longer __11__ a few minutes.
He strode forward, crushing ants with each step, and brushing them __12__ his clothes till he stood above the skeleton. It was clean-picked. It might have been lying there for years, __13__ on the white bone there were pink fragments of flesh. About the bones ants were ebbing away, their pincers __14__ meat.
The boy looked at them, big black ugly insects. __15__ were standing and gazing up at him with small glittering eyes.
“Go away!” he said to the ants very coldly. “I am not __16__ you—not just yet, at any rate. Go away.” And he fancied that the ants turned and went away.
He bent over the bones and touched the sockets in the skull: that was where the eyes were, he thought incredulously, __17__ the liquid dark eyes of a buck.
That morning, perhaps an hour ago, this small creature had been stepping __18__ through the bush, feeling the chill on its skin even as he himself had done, exhilarated by it. Proudly stepping the earth, __19__ a pretty white tail, it had sniffed the cold morning air. Walking like kings and conquerors it had moved freely through this bush, where each blade of grass grew for it __20__ and where the river ran pure sparkling water for it to drink.
1.
A. as
B. through
C. like
D. at
2.
A. through
B. into
C. on
D. over
3.
A. which
B. this
C. it
D. one
4.
A. put down
B. putting down
C. to put down
D. having put down
5.
A. expressing
B. to express
C. expressed
D. was expressed
6.
A. would die
B. would be dying
C. had died
D. would have died
7.
A. such as
B. so as
C. so that
D. such that
8.
A. was
B. is
C. are
D. were
9.
A. usefulness
B. uselessness
C. uselessly
D. usely
10.
A. when
B. before
C. after
D. ago
11.
A. like
B. within
C. than
D. as
12.
A. away
B. onto
C. of
D. off
13.
A. except
B. except for
C. except that
D. except as
14.
A. fill with
B. full with
C. fill of
D. full of
15.
A. a little
B. little
C. a few
D. few
16.
A. on
B. for
C. with
D. as
17.
A. remembered
B. had remembered
C. remembering
D. remember
18.
A. proud and free
B. proudly and freely
C. proudly and free
D. proud and freely
19.
A. frisk
B. frisked
C. frisking
D. had frisked
20.
A. alone
B. lone
C. lonely
D. alone
Part II Reading Comprehension (40%)
Directions: There are four passages in this part after each passage, there are five questions. You are to choose the best answer for each question. Write your answers on the answer sheet.
Passage One
From the perspective of the poor, it seems obvious that the benefits would outweigh the costs. The benefits to poor people of no longer being poor would be enormous. Their intake of protein and other nutrition would increase their choice of housing and the quality of the housing they select would improve. Crimes related to poverty (that the poor generally commit against each other), murder, rape, robbery, burglary, child abuse, spouse abuse, and drug-related crimes would probably decrease. Apart from these specific improvements, the poor would benefit by an increase in the control over their own lives. Increased purchasing power represents a part of this. More money to spend not only permits the purchase of additional goods and services but greatly widens the choice of goods and services that potentially could be purchased. The poor, if no longer poor, would also gain greater control of various non-fiscal aspects of their lives. As their economic stake in society increases, their political stake is likely to increase as well. They will note more, and thus exercise a greater influence in municipal, local, state, and federal elections. As a result, elected officials will respond to them more effectively. Agencies of government police, fire, sanitation, streets, parks, and so forth will also respond more promptly and effectively. Public school systems in particular will be more responsive. The former poor who dislike the education their children are getting in public schools will have an increased ability to "vote with the dollars" by enrolling their children in previously unaffordable private schools or moving to living quarters in previously unaffordable communities. Responding to the former poor will become a matter of survival for the teachers and administrators who depend for their livelihood on the public schools.
While the benefits to the poor of enjoying a right not to be poor may for the most part be obvious, some potential disadvantages to them should also be considered. First, will not the creation of a right not to be poor reduce the motivation of the poor to exert themselves to get out of poverty? It is arguable that to the extent that self-help is rendered unnecessary to achieve a minimum living standard, many of the poor will refrain from enrolling in the schools, undertaking the enterprises, and in general taking the risks that today elevate many of them not only above the poverty line but into the middle class and beyond. The establishment of a right not to be poor could result, arguably, in the poor as a whole—or at least a substantial percentage of them ending up economically worse off in the long run. Second, to the extent that a guarantee of non-poverty reduces the poor’s incentive to exert themselves, will there not be a parallel reduction in their innovative contributions to the economic well-being of our entire society—including the well-being of the former poor along with the well-being of the rest of us? In other words, a guarantee of nonpoverty may arguably induce the poor child—whose deprivation would otherwise have spurred the child to graduate from high school, finish college, get a Ph.D. in physics, and win the Nobel Prize for devising a way to produce cheaper energy—to refrain, because of the security offered by the guarantee, from embarking on a course that would greatly benefit all former poor people as well as society as a whole.
21. Which one of the following is usually viewed as a crime related to poverty?
A) A rich businessman humiliates his poor fellow for not working hard.
B) A worker beats a gentleman for his staring at his beautiful wife.
C) A poor man murders another poor one just for his money.
D) A president of a company sends a spy to another company to steal some information.
22. "Vote with dollars" means ______.
A) to choose what they like by the use of money
B) to move to living quarters in previously unaffordable communities
C) to send their children to better private schools
D) to elect a leader with the treatment of dollars
23. What is the author’s viewpoint toward “the right of not to be poor”?
A) Absolutely approval.
B) Mixed.
C) Moderately approval.
D) Dislike.
24. It can be inferred from the first paragraph that ______.
A) the benefits excel definitely the costs from the perspective of the poor.
B) the costs excel the benefits definitely from the perspective of the poor.
C) the benefits to poor people of no longer being poor would be enormous.
D) the benefits excel the costs is not absolute.
Passage Two
Green-space facilities are contributing to an important extent to the quality of the urban environment. Fortunately it is no longer necessary that every lecture or every book about this subject has to start with the proof of this idea. At present it is generally accepted, although more a self-evident statement than on the base of a closely-reasoned scientific proof. The recognition of the importance of green-spaces in the urban environment is a first step on the right way, this does not mean, however, that sufficient details are known about the functions of green-space in towns and about the way in which the inhabitants are using these spaces. As to this rather complex subject, I shall, within the scope of this lecture, enter into one aspect only, namely the recreative function of green space facilities.
The theoretical separation of living, working, traffic and recreation which for many years has been used in town-and-country planning, has in my opinion resulted in disproportionate attention for forms of recreation far from home, whereas there was relatively little attention for improvement of recreative possibilities in the direct neighborhood of the home. We have come to conclusion that this is not right, because an important part of the time which we do not pass in sleeping or working, is used for activities at and around home. So it is obvious that recreation in the open air has to begin at the street-door of the house. The urban environment has to offer as many recreation activities as possible, and the design of these has to be such that more obligatory activities can also have a recreative aspect.
The very best standard of living is nothing if it is not possible to take a pleasant walk in the district, if the children cannot be allowed to play in the streets, because the risks of traffic are too great, if during shopping you can nowhere find a spot for enjoying for a moment the nice weather, in short, if you only feel yourself at home after the street-door of your house is closed after you.
25. According to the author, the importance of green-space in the urban environment ______.
A) is still unknown
B) is usually neglected
C) has been fully recognized
D) is being closely studied
26. The author suggests that the recreative possibilities of green-space should be provided ______.
A) in special areas
B) in the neighborhood of the house
C) in the suburbs
D) in gardens and parks
27. According to the author, green-space facilities should be designed in such a way that ______.
A) an increasing number of recreative activities might be developed
B) more and more people might have access to them
C) more obligatory activities might take on a recreative aspect
D) recreative activities might be brought into our homes
28. The main idea of the passage is that ______.
A) better use of green-space facilities should be made so as to improve the quality of our life
B) attention must be directed to the improvement of recreative possibilities
C) the urban environment is providing more recreative activities than it did many years ago
D) priority must be given to the development of obligatory activities
Passage Three
It has been challenging for most twentieth-century American policy-makers to recapture the memory of the early United States, Constitution and all, as a revolutionary force—to ascertain, in other words, the original motives of our founding fathers. The argument that the war was a revolution is essentially universal among the progressives like Turner, Becker, and Jameson, who argue that the war was fought for, or at least caused, greater democracy in the colonies, and generally agree that the war was a true revolution, not simply a rejection of British tyranny.
Though this may be true—wars do tend to terminate Old Orders and ancient regimes—it is hardly a singular observation regarding the American Revolution. A more salient hypothesis is that the fight for greater democracy spawned not so much from a desire for change as an affirmation of the existing order. Those gaining votes and other social privileges only wished to profit from the existing system—these were no sans culottes beheading kings and aristocrats as the Frenchmen did in their frenzied Terror and Englishmen who desired home governance, at first seeking to preserve local autonomy and loyalty to the King, not to Parliament.
It was only after the initial conflict that the revolutionaries slipped into the position of demanding sovereignty. Classwise, those ruling in 1770 also held power in 1790, while the Parliament, a bicameral legislature, was replaced by the Congress, another bicameral legislature and the King supplanted by a President, who could very easily have maintained his position for life. This nearly created a tradition that the head-of-state-for-life would be chosen without the benefit of heredity, a disastrous case suffered by twentieth-century Ugandans under Idi Amin. Furthermore, only propertied white males had suffrage, both before and after the war, and the end of slavery was not exactly accelerated by the war, though there were a few relatively minor gains for blacks. Meanwhile, the economic system was not altered, nor was the class structure, except to forbid a nobility that in any case had only a nominal existence in the colonies before the war.
What the colonists sought was control to which they had already been accustomed. Parliament was not in the colonists’ "chain of command" in 1700, and for the House of Commons to attempt to place itself there was seen as a loss to the colonists. Alteration was what they resisted, not what they sought; they largely felt that they were resisting an invasion of their political birthright, not that they were breaking bold new political ground, and therefore, it would be very convincing to argue that the war was fought as a reactionary response, not as a radical one.
29. According to the passage, Turner, Becker, and Jameson have done which of the following?
A) I and II only
B) II only
C) I only
D) II and III only
30. According to the passage, the colonists who participated and supported the American Revolution initially did so ______.
A) with the goal of replacing a corrupt system of power with a more egalitarian one
B) in order to preserve and retain the monarch’s powers, so that they would not be usurped by Parliament
C) primarily in an effort to gain more votes from their dissatisfied political supporters
D) with the foremost intent of achieving a greater level of profit from the system already in place
31. The author most likely mentions the Terror in the second paragraph as an example of which of the following types of revolutions?
A) A non-violent revolution intent upon replacing an old order with a new one.
B) A violent revolution intent upon replacing the leadership, but maintaining, an old order.
C) A violent revolution intent upon replacing an old order with a new one.
D) A non-violent revolution intent upon replacing the leadership, but maintaining, an old order.
32. The author mentions all of the following as evidence that the revolutionary colonists were more intent upon expanding their roles in the old power order than in creating a new one EXCEPT ______.
A) The system of commerce implemented after the revolution was relatively similar to the one that existed before it.
B) They established a chain of executive command which strongly resembled that which was in place before the revolution.
C) Their only attempt to change class structure was to outlaw the development of an aristocracy.
D) They maintained the same exclusive and undemocratic system of suffrage that existed prior to the war.
33. It can be inferred from the passage that the author mentions the case of Idi Amin in paragraph 3 most likely in order to ______.
A) recall a well-known case of a general who fought unsuccessfully against a rebel army
B) cite the case of a revolutionary whose revolution did not result in very permanent changes
C) reference the example of a dictator who installed himself in office without term limits
D) allude to a situation where a leader was democratically elected but proved ineffective once in office
34. Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?
A) The author presents the general argument of an academic school, describes the argument more thoroughly, concluding with a criticism of the school.
B) The author presents his thesis, draws on the work of other historians to support his thesis, and concludes by reiterating his thesis.
C) The author summarizes his work, then carefully examines the work of other historians to demonstrate how they stand in conflict.
D) The author presents his thesis, contrasts it with the work of other historians, provides support, then concludes with a refrain of his thesis.
Passage Four
Scientists researching hypnosis have uncovered evidence that counters some of the skepticism about the technique. One skeptical hypothesis is that hypnosis may be the product of “vivid imagination”, a now discredited charge stemming from the observation that many people who are hypnotizable can be led to experience compellingly realistic auditory and visual hallucinations. Nothing that an auditory hallucination and the act of imagining a sound are both self-generated and that, like real hearing, a hallucination is experienced as the product of an external source, Henry Szechtman used PET (positron emission tomography) to image the brain activity of hypnotized subjects invited to imagine a scenario and then experiencing a hallucination. By monitoring regional blood flow in areas activated during both hearing and auditory hallucination but not during simple imagining, the investigators sought to determine where in the brain a hallucinated sound is mistakenly “tagged” as authentic and originating in the outside world.
Szechtman imaged the brain activity of eight very hypnotizable subjects who had been prescreened for their ability to hallucinate under hypnosis. During the session, the subjects were under hypnosis and lay in the PET scanner with their eyes covered, their brain activity being monitored under four conditions: at rest; while hearing an audiotape of a voice, while imagining hearing the voice again; and during the auditory hallucination they experienced after being informed that the tape was playing once more, although it was not. The tests suggested that a region of the brain called the right anterior cingulate cortex was just as active while the volunteers were hallucinating as it was while they were actually hearing the stimulus. In contrast, that brain area remained dormant while the subjects were imagining that they heard the stimulus.
The second major objection raised by critics argues that hypnosis’ ability to blunt pain results from either simple relaxation or a placebo response. McGlashan established that while hypnosis was only as effective in reducing pain as a sugar pill for poorly hypnotizable people, highly hypnotizable subjects benefited three times more from hypnosis than from the placebo. In response to these successes, Rainville devised experiments to determine which brain structures are involved in pain relief during hypnosis, attempting to locate the brain structures associated with the suffering component of pain, as distinct from its sensory aspects. Using PET, he and other scientists found that hypnosis reduced the activity of the anterior cingulate cortex—an area known to be involved in pain—but did not affect the activity of the somatosensory cortex, where the sensations of pain are processed.
Despite the value of these findings, the mechanisms underlying hypnotic pain relief are still poorly understood. The model favored by most researchers is that the analgesic effect of hypnosis occurs in higher brain centers than those involved in registering the painful sensation, accounting for the fact that most autonomic responses that routinely accompany pain—such as increased heart rate—are relatively unaffected by hypnotic suggestions of analgesia.
35. According to the passage, which of the following is one of the primary factors that led researchers studying hypnosis to compare auditory hallucinations and imagined sounds?
A) The high level of realism involved in auditory hallucinations but not in the experience of external sounds
B) The observed similarities between visual and auditory hallucinations in hypnotized subjects
C) The fact that both auditory hallucinations and simple imagining are generated by the research subjects
D) The blood flow in areas activated by simple imagining but not by auditory hallucination
36. It can be inferred that researchers abandoned the skeptical “vivid imagination” hypothesis because ______.
A) a new and more attractive hypothesis was suggested
B) research results provided evidence to counter the hypothesis
C) no research was reported that supported the hypothesis
D) the hypothesis was supported only by Szechtman’s study, and not McGlashan’s
37. Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?
A) Research has suggested that positron emission tomography will soon answer most skeptical objections to the existence of the phenomenon of hypnosis.
B) Researchers have failed to present incontrovertible evidence that skeptical explanations of the hypnosis phenomenon are unwarranted.
C) Researchers have spent an adequate amount of time allaying skepticism concerning the effects of hypnosis, though more needs to be understood.
D) Researchers have recently made valuable discoveries concerning the potential of hypnosis in creating auditory hallucinations.
38. The research described in the passage is primarily concerned with answering which of the following questions?
A) What research guarantees the reality of the effects that hypnosis has on brain activity, and what is their causal mechanism?
B) How are experiments devoted to disproving the “vivid imagination” objection to hypnosis different from those devoted to disproving the “placebo effect” thesis?
C) How can researchers reproduce the useful effects of hypnosis in a medical setting?
D) What technical advances have permitted researchers to reject skeptical explanations of the phenomenon of hypnosis?
39. Which of the following best defines “higher brain centers” as the term is used in the passage?
A) The parts of the brain known as the somatosensory cortex, where the sensations of pain are processed
B) The parts of the brain whose function is to distinguish the sensory aspects of pain from it suffering aspect
C) The parts of the brain known as the anterior cingulate cortex, whose activity is suppressed by hypnosis
D) The parts of the brain associated with pain, which appear to be insusceptible to placebo effects
40. Which of the following best describes the organization of the argument that the author of the passage presents in the last two paragraphs?
A) Two approaches to testing a hypothesis is described, and the greater merits of each approach are compared.
B) The assumptions underlying a hypothesis are outlined, and evidence for and against the hypothesis is discussed.
C) A phenomenon is described, and hypothesis concerning its occurrence are considered and rejected.
D) A hypothesis is discussed, evidence supporting the hypothesis is revealed and qualified, and a working model derived from the hypothesis is suggested.
Part III Translation (30%)
Section A From Chinese into English (15%)
Directions: Translate the following three underlined parts from Chinese into English and write your translation on the answer sheet.
活动组织者于本周二称，全球24个城市将于下个月“陷入黑暗”。因为这些城市的家庭和企业届时将集体熄灯，以引起人们对全球变暖问题的关注。
1. “地球一小时”于去年在澳大利亚最大的城市悉尼（Sydney）首次举行。当时全市约有220万居民集体熄灯，没有灯光的悉尼歌剧院沐浴在月光里，海湾大桥（Harbour Bridge）也熄灯响应。
活动组织者安迪·瑞德（Andy Rid）表示，今年的活动规模将空前。目前，亚太、北美、欧洲以及中东地区的23个城市已报名参加今年的活动。
最新响应的八个城市包括：美国的亚特兰大、旧金山和菲尼克斯、泰国首都曼谷、加拿大的渥太华、温哥华和蒙特利尔，以及爱尔兰的都柏林。
此外，参与该活动的城市还包括：澳大利亚的悉尼、珀斯、墨尔本、吉朗、布里斯班、阿德莱德，丹麦的哥本哈根、奥胡斯、奥尔堡和欧登塞，菲律宾首都马尼拉，斐济的苏瓦，新西兰的惠灵顿，以色列的特拉维夫以及多伦多。
由“世界自然基金会”发起的“地球一小时”活动计划于当地时间3月29日晚八点准时开始。他表示，希望这一理念能越过国界，影响更多的国家。
2. 他说：“你可能身不在巴黎，也不在法国的一个小悉尼这样的地方。”瑞德说，悉尼的“熄灯一小时”活动在节能减排的同时，提高了人们对全球变暖问题的关注意识。活动当天，悉尼市民被要求关掉电灯和电器一小时。
他说：“我知道，大家以为当晚的活动可能会节约5%的能源，但实际上我们节约了10.1%的能源。”
3. 他表示，他希望“地球一小时”活动能向政界人士传递一个“具有很强冲击力的视觉信息”，让他们意识到治理气候变化刻不容缓。
Section B From English into Chinese (15%)
Directions: Translate the following three underlined parts from English into Chinese and write your translation on the answer sheet.
The British government has decided to wipe out the obesity epidemic through a novel strategy—by offering fat people cash incentives.
1. According to the latest measure, employers will be urged to set up competitions with money, vouchers and other rewards for people who renounce junk food in favour of healthy eating and living.
And those who will shed the maximum amount of pounds will earn the biggest prizes, reports the Telegraph.
One competition, called The Biggest Loser, has a 130-pounds gift in store for the participant who loses the most weight in eight weeks.
2. The announcement comes after experts estimated that most of the population in Britain would be obese by 2050 unless urgent action is taken and the related rise in ill health would cost the National Health Service 50 billion pounds a year.
According to ministers, giving people incentives to fight the flab will help avoid larger costs associated with treating cancer, heart disease and diabetes caused by obesity.
The government said that it wants to make Britain the first major nation to quash the rising tide of obesity.
And the milestone strategy—Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives—is their solution to the problem. The strategy will feature a series of projects run through a Well@work scheme led by British Heart Foundation, which will offer rewards to workers who lose weight.
3. There will also be a “Walking into Health” campaign, aiming to get a third of the population in England walking an extra thousand steps around a kilometer every day by 2012.
“We will look at using financial incentives, such as payments, vouchers and other rewards, to encourage individuals to lose weight and sustain that weight loss, to eat more healthily, or to be consistently more physically active,” officials said.
Part IV Essay Writing (20%)
Directions: You are required to write about 200 words on the following topic: "To what extent is the use of animals in scientific research acceptable".