江西师范大学考博英语真题,考博英语试题

江西师范大学2013年博士研究生入学考试英语试题

Part One Reading Comprehension (30%)
Directions: Read the following passages carefully and then choose the best answer to each of the questions after the passages. Put your answers on the ANSWER SHEET.
Passage One
Beauty has always been regarded as something praiseworthy. Almost everyone thinks attractive people are happier and healthier, have better marriages and have more respectable occupations. Personal consultants give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive defendants. But in the executive circle, beauty can become a liability.
While attractiveness is a positive factor for a man on his way up the executive ladder, it is harmful to a woman.
Handsome male executives were perceived as having more integrity than plainer men; effort and ability were thought to account for their success.
Attractive female executives were considered to have less integrity than unattractive ones; their success was attributed not to ability but to factors such as luck.
All unattractive women executives were thought to have more integrity and to be more capable than the attractive female executives. Interestingly, though, the rise of the unattractive overnight successes was attributed more to personal relationships and less to ability than was that of attractive overnight successes.
Why are attractive women not thought to be able? An attractive woman is perceived to be more feminine and an attractive man more masculine than the less attractive ones. Thus, an attractive woman has an advantage in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in a traditionally masculine position appears to lack the "masculine" qualities required.
This is true even in politics. "When the only clue is how he or she looks, people treat men and women differently," says Anne Bowman, who recently published a study on the effects of attractiveness on political candidates. She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men and one of women, in order of attractiveness. The students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices. They were asked to rank them again, in the order they would vote for them.
The results showed that attractive males utterly defeated unattractive men, but the women who had been ranked most attractive invariably received the fewest votes.
1. The word "liability" (Line 5, Para. 1) most probably means "______".
A. misfortune
B. instability
C. disadvantage
D. burden
2. In traditionally female jobs, attractiveness ______.
A. reinforces the feminine qualities required
B. makes women look more honest and capable
C. is of primary importance to women
D. often enables women to succeed quickly
3. Bowman's experiment reveals that when it comes to politics, attractiveness ______.
A. turns out to be an obstacle to men
B. affects men and women alike
C. has as little effect on men as on women
D. is more of an obstacle than a benefit to women
4. It can be inferred from the passage that people's views on beauty are often ______.
A. practical
B. prejudiced
C. old-fashioned
D. radical
5. The author writes this passage to ______.
A. discuss the negative aspects of being attractive
B. give advice to job-seekers who are attractive
C. demand equal rights for women
D. emphasize the importance of appearance
Passage Two
In the 1920s demand for American farm products fell, as European countries began to recover from World War I and instituted austerity programs to reduce their imports. The result was a sharp drop in farm prices. This period was more disastrous for farmers than earlier times had been, because farmers were no longer self-sufficient. They were paying for machinery, seed, and fertilizer, and they were also buying consumer goods. The prices of the items farmers bought remained constant, while prices they received for their products fell. These developments were made worse by the Great Depression, which began in 1929 and extended throughout the 1930s.
In 1929, under President Herbert Hoover, the Federal Farm Board was organized. It established the principle of direct interference with supply and demand, and it represented the first national commitment to provide greater economic stability for farmers.
President Hoover's successor attached even more importance to this problem. One of the first measures proposed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt when he took office in 1933 was the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which was subsequently passed by Congress. This law was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on the grounds that general taxes were being collected to pay one special group of people. However, new laws were passed immediately that achieved the same result of resting soil and providing flood-control measures, but which were based on the principle of soil conservation. The Roosevelt Administration believed that rebuilding the nation's soil was in the national interest and was not simply a plan to help farmers at the expense of other citizens. Later the government guaranteed loans to farmers so that they could buy farm machinery, hybrid grain, and fertilizers.
6. What brought about the decline in the demand for American farm products?
A. The impact of the Great Depression.
B. The shrinking of overseas markets.
C. The destruction caused by the First World War.
D. The increased exports of European countries.
7. The chief concern of the American government in the area of agriculture in the 1920s was ______.
A. to increase farm production
B. to establish agricultural laws
C. to prevent farmers from going bankrupt
D. to promote the mechanization of agriculture
8. The Agricultural Adjustment Act encouraged American farmers to ______.
A. reduce their scale of production
B. make full use of their land
C. adjust the prices of their farm products
D. be self-sufficient in agricultural production
9. The Supreme Court rejected the Agricultural Adjustment Act because it believed that the Act ______.
A. might cause greater scarcity of farm products
B. didn't give the Secretary of Agriculture enough power
C. would benefit neither the government nor the farmers
D. benefited one group of citizens at the expense of others
10. It was claimed that the new laws passed during the Roosevelt Administration were aimed at ______.
A. reducing the cost of farming
B. conserving soil in the long-term interest of the nation
C. lowering the burden of farmers
D. helping farmers without shifting the burden onto other taxpayers
Passage Three
With the prospect of coal and petroleum supplies depleted and with air pollution becoming an increasing concern, the major countries of the world are seeking alternate sources of energy. If a means to obtain energy from water, especially from the ocean, can be effected economically, it would furnish a never-ending supply of energy, since 70% of the earth’s surface is ocean and another 10% is fresh water in rivers and lakes.
From the beginning of time man has used water power as a source of work energy — waterfalls and dams — but these are fresh water sources and are landlocked. The seas have contributed little or nothing in the way of power.
The use of temperature variation between currents is one area of exploration. Ocean water is heated by the sun near the equator and drawn by the rotation of the earth toward the poles, where it cools and drops toward the ocean floor and starts its journey back toward the equator. The differential between the two currents is 35 degrees to 45 degrees Fahrenheit and to use it, the scientists must find the places where they run near land and are not too far away from each other. One area that meets these requirements is the Caribbean Sea.
In the United States the National Space Administration and the Energy Research and Development Administration have been working on another kind of thermal sea energy proposal. One plan would somewhat resemble the operation of a refrigerator on a vast scale. Warm water would be the heat source, cold water the heat sink.
Oceans also offer wave power, tides and the chemical propensities of salt water as potential sources of energy. All these uses are theoretically possible.
Britain’s Department of Energy is interested in wave power, using a string of "tear drop" devices that depend on very active wave areas and 100 feet depths. In addition to this, the British are working on a method that the Japanese have already put into practical use on a small scale for powering their navigational buoys. This method is called an oscillating water column and rides the waves with a series of cylinders having one-way air valves. Wave movement produces air under pressure that has only one escape route — to a turbine that powers a generator.
11. The use of water is ______.
A. a new concept
B. less expensive than petroleum products
C. now being used more from the ocean than from rivers and lakes
D. being developed to supplement other sources of energy
12. In the matter of developing energy from ocean water, Britain is ______.
A. working on a method that the Japanese have already put into practice
B. the most advanced country in the field
C. following the lead of the United States National Space Administration and Energy Research and Development Administration
D. consolidating their work with the North Sea drilling operations already going on
13. The development of water power from the ocean is important to America and Russia because ______.
A. there is a severe shortage of coal
B. it is the cheapest method of producing energy
C. petroleum supplies are being steadily depleted
D. the procedures for obtaining energy from ocean water are simpler than methods now being used for petroleum
14. Getting energy from the ocean is important to ______.
A. Russia because of its limited water resources on land
B. America because of its great consumption of energy
C. Asia because most of the Asian countries lack other sources of energy
D. South America because a large percentage of the population is very poor
15. The word "depleted" in Line 1, Para. 1, most probably means ______.
A. run out
B. used up
C. deserted
D. extinct
Part Two Cloze (10%)
Directions: There are 20 blanks in the following passage. For each blank there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should choose the ONE answer that best fits into the passage. Put your answers on the ANSWER SHEET.
Most Western nations, including the U.S., __16__ Japan the benefits of its rigorous educational system. More than 90% of Japanese students graduate from twelfth grade (in contrast to 75% in the U.S.), __17__ a demanding academic agenda. During high school, the Japanese must __18__ far more math and science than their American counterparts. By the time they __19__ their college entrance exams, students are prepared to handle questions in English grammar, as well as Japanese, and in subject __20__ not generally approached until college in the U.S. The system has __21__ Japan well. It prepares students for smooth __22__ into an overcrowded and competitive society. In a __23__ ordered culture like Japan’s, high educational achievement is __24__ the only guarantee of a successful career. More than 65% of high school students __25__ with college entrance courses. __26__ begins early. From the time children first set foot in school at age six, they are faced __27__ seven hours of classes a day, 240 days a year and twelve years of unremitting pressure. Students devote almost all their __28__ hours to studies. In addition to regular classes and half-days on Saturdays, they often __29__ up to five additional hours at special cram schools called "juku" (private academies). A candidate may apply to only one top university. Because government ministries and top firms all recruit from a handful of universities, __30__ to settle for a low-ranking institution is an almost irreversible disaster. The ultimate __31__ of success: acceptance by the 14,000-student Tokyo University.
Preoccupation with exams leads the Japanese to emphasize __32__ rather than analytical thinking. The teacher talks, and the students listen. The pressure to do well can become so __33__ that some students commit suicide, even before attempting college entrance exams. The teenage suicide rate in Japan is 17.6 per 100,000 (in the U.S. it is 10.9), and almost all of it is thought __34__ to academic stress. The universities do not offer much consolation. One sent this message to a __35__ candidate: "You cannot go on living unless you are tough."
16.
A. envy
B. hate
C. admire
D. appreciate
17.
A. despite
B. in spite
C. no matter
D. however
18.
A. make
B. get
C. acquire
D. cover
19.
A. take
B. enter
C. undertake
D. make
20.
A. topics
B. problems
C. courses
D. matter
21.
A. served for
B. served in
C. served
D. served with
22.
A. entry
B. entering
C. recruit
D. transmitting
23.
A. casual
B. casually
C. carefully
D. careful
24.
A. wonderfully
B. rarely
C. hardly
D. virtually
25.
A. stick
B. clung
C. stuck
D. insist
26.
A. Technology
B. Industry
C. Technique
D. Occupation
27.
A. to
B. for
C. with
D. up
28.
A. awakening
B. waking
C. wakeful
D. sleeping
29.
A. take
B. cost
C. give
D. spend
30.
A. they had
B. they need
C. wanting
D. having
31.
A. degree
B. extent
C. measurement
D. measure
32.
A. reminding
B. interpretation
C. memorization
D. learning
33.
A. stingy
B. deserving
C. intense
D. natural
34.
A. concerning
B. relative
C. to be related
D. to be attached
35.
A. rejected
B. rejecting
C. rejection
D. reject
Part Three Error Correction (10%)
Directions: This part consists of a short passage. In this passage, there are altogether 10 mistakes, one in each numbered line. You may have to add a word, cross out a word, or change a word. Put your answers on the ANSWER SHEET.
Many artists today are in __36__ is called applied art. __37__ They use their ability in advertise, interior decoration, or some similar job. __38__ But people in business which hire the artists for that kind of work say that simple artistic ability is not enough. There are lots of young people who have that. __39__ But not enough of us know anything about physics, or mechanical things, or math. __40__ To be a druggist you have to study about chemistry. You can’t learn chemistry without knowing something about algebra. How about a nurse? __41__ One of the required subjects in a course of nursing is known to materia medica. __42__ In materia medica you’ll learn to figure doses and prepare medicines. Algebra is important in doing the figuring. Too many student nurses flunk out of the course because their math is weak. It’s the same with many trades. __43__ If you want to be a draftsman, a machinist, a molder, and a patternmaker, you’ll need algebra and geometry and even trigonometry. __44__ As if you want to go into business for yourself, you’ll need math. __45__ Business today, whether it’s running a little gas station or a big factory, take good management. Good management takes mathematics.
Part Four Translation
I. Translate the following passage into Chinese. (10%)
Youth is not a time of life — it is a state of mind. It is not a matter of red cheeks, red lips and supple knees. It is a temper of the will; a quality of the imagination; a vigor of the emotions; it is a freshness of the deep springs of life. Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over a life of ease. This often exists in a man of fifty, more than in a boy of twenty. Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years; people grow old by deserting their ideals.
II. Translate the following passage into English. (10%)
洗手的时候，日子从水盆里过去；吃饭的时候，日子从饭碗里过去；默默时，便从凝然的双眼前过去。我觉察他去的匆匆了，伸出手遮挽时，他又从遮挽着的手边过去，天黑时，我躺在床上，他便伶伶俐俐地从我身上跨过，从我脚边飞去了。等我睁开眼和太阳再见，这算又溜走了一日。
Part Five Writing
I. (10%)
Directions: For this part you are allowed 15 minutes to write a composition of about 80 words based on the following material. Today some people have to work away from family, then what are the advantages and disadvantages? Give your opinion and some examples of your experience.
II. (20%)
Directions: For this part you are allowed 30 minutes to write a composition on the topic Aid Education in China. You should write at least 150 words, and base your composition on the outline given in Chinese below.
1. 支教的现象
2. 支教的意义
3. 你的观点