西安建筑科技大学考博英语真题,考博英语试题

西安建筑科技大学
2004年非英语专业博士研究生入学考试英语试卷

Paper I
Part 1 Listening Comprehension
Section A
Directions: In this section, you'll hear 10 short conversations. At the end of each conversation, a question will be asked about what was said. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A, B, C and D, and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.
1.
A. The lecture for next Monday is cancelled.
B. The lecture wasn't successful as expected.
C. The woman doesn't want to attend the lecture.
D. The woman may attend next Monday's lecture.

2.
A. The woman has a very tight budget.
B. He does not think the fur coat is worth buying.
C. He is willing to lend the woman money for the fur coat.
D. The woman is not careful enough in planning her spending.

3.
A. Clean the kitchen.
B. Ask someone to fix the sink.
C. Find a bigger apartment for the lady.
D. Check the work done by the maintenance man.

4.
A. The lens.
B. The price.
C. The flash.
D. The leather case.

5.
A. She needs another haircut soon.
B. She thinks it worthwhile to try Santerbale's.
C. She knows a less expensive place for a haircut.
D. She would like to make an appointment for the man.

6.
A. The woman doesn't want to cook a meal.
B. The woman wants to have a picnic.
C. The woman has a poor memory.
D. The woman likes Mexican food.

7.
A. Everyone enjoyed himself at John's parties.
B. The woman didn't enjoy John's parties at all.
C. It will be the first time for the man to attend John's party.
D. The woman was glad to be invited to John's house-warming party.

8.
A. She lacks confidence in herself.
B. She is not interested in computer programming.
C. She has never signed up for any competition before.
D. She is sure to win the programming contest.

9.
A. The man has an enormous amount of work to do.
B. The man has made plans for his vacation.
C. The man will take work with him on his vacation.
D. Work stacked up during the man's last vacation.

10.
A. She likes the job of feeding fish.
B. She finds her new job interesting.
C. She feels unfit for her new job.
D. She is not in good health.

Section B
Directions: In this section, you'll hear three short passages. At the end of each passage, you'll hear some questions. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four alternatives marked A, B, C and D. Then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.
Passage 1
11.
A. Rally support for their movement.
B. Liberate women from tedious housework.
C. Claim their rights to equal job opportunities.
D. Express their anger against sex discrimination.

12.
A. It will bring a lot of trouble to the local people.
B. It is a popular form of art.
C. It will spoil the natural beauty of their surroundings.
D. It is popular among rock stars.

13.
A. To show that mindless graffiti can provoke violence.
B. To show that Londoners have a special liking for graffiti.
C. To show that graffiti, in some cases, can constitute a crime.
D. To show that graffiti can make the environment more colorful.

Passage 2
14.
A. The Asian elephant is easier to tame.
B. The Asian elephant's skin is more valuable.
C. The Asian elephant is less popular with tourists.
D. The Asian elephant produces ivory of a better quality.

15.
A. From the captured or tamed elephants.
B. From the British wildlife protection group.
C. From elephant hunters in Thailand and Burma.
D. From tourists visiting the Thai-Burmese border.

16.
A. Their taming for circuses and zoos.
B. The destruction of their natural homes.
C. Man's lack of knowledge about their behavior.
D. Their greater vulnerability to extinction than other species.

Passage 3
17.
A. They had lost their jobs as a result of the Industrial Revolution.
B. They had been suffering from political and religious oppression.
C. They wanted to flee from the widespread famine in Northern Europe.
D. They wanted to make a fortune there by starting their own businesses.

18.
A. They might lose control of their members because of the increase in immigration.
B. Their members might find it difficult to get along with the newcomers.
C. The working conditions of their members might deteriorate.
D. Their members might lose their jobs to the newcomers.

19.
A. To impose restrictions on further immigration.
B. To improve the working conditions of immigrants.
C. To set a minimum wage level for new immigrants.
D. To put requirements on languages for newcomers.

20.
A. They were looked down upon by European immigrants.
B. They had a hard time seeking equal job opportunities.
C. They worked very hard to earn a decent living.
D. They strongly opposed continued immigration.

Part 2 Vocabulary
Section A Choose the word or phrase that is closest in meaning to the underlined one.
21. No merchandise is currently in short supply thanks to the market economy.
A. businessman
B. commodity
C. substance
D. stuff

22. It is difficult for an only child to live up to the expectations of their parents.
A. encourage
B. survive
C. arouse
D. fulfill

23. The earthquake took a heavy toll when most of the local residents were sound asleep.
A. was minor in intensity
B. occurred suddenly
C. brought about much confusion
D. caused a heavy loss in human lives

24. Plans are being made to come up with a database containing detailed information about the epidemic disease for the region.
A. investigate
B. assist
C. determine
D. create

25. During the 19th century, heat was recognized as manifestation of motion among tiny molecules.
A. indication
B. acceleration
C. abundance
D. deterioration

26. What players and coaches fear most is the partiality on the part of referees in a game.
A. justice
B. bias
C. participation
D. realization

27. There is a real fear that all of the precautions taken may not save the city from further catastrophes still more deadly than Tuesday's.
A. breakdowns
B. cruelties
C. destructions
D. horrors

28. Readers are required to observe the rules of the library and mind their manners.
A. come up with
B. comply with
C. compete with
D. confide to

29. The only areas of physical science into which quantum mechanics has not yet been properly incorporated are gravity and the large-scale structure of the universe.
A. merged
B. integrated
C. drawn
D. charged

30. Artificial intelligence deals with the analogy between the computer and the human brain.
A. likeness
B. relation
C. consensus
D. difference

Section B Fill in the gap with one word or phrase from the alternatives given.
31. Listening is as important as talking. If you are a good listener, people often ______ you for being a good conversationalist.
A. complement
B. comprehend
C. compliment
D. compete

32. The new secretary has written a remarkably ______ report within a few hundred words but with all the important details included.
A. concise
B. precise
C. brisk
D. elaborate

33. Within ten years they have turned the ______ hills into green woods.
A. vacant
B. weird
C. wasteful
D. barren

34. Although the pay is not good, people usually find social work ______ in many other ways.
A. payable
B. respectful
C. grateful
D. rewarding

35. If a person talks about his weak points, his listener is expected to say something in the way of ______.
A. persuasion
B. remedy
C. encouragement
D. compromise

36. The ______ of the scientific attitude is that the human mind can succeed in understanding the universe.
A. content
B. essence
C. context
D. phase

37. Board chairman as he was, he often attended to some unimportant business ______.
A. transactions
B. transitions
C. transformation
D. transmissions

38. If you meet your antiself, don't shake hands! You would both ______ in a great flash of light.
A. vanish
B. die
C. appear
D. migrate

39. The court considers a financial ______ to be an appropriate way of punishing him.
A. option
B. duty
C. penalty
D. reward

40. I had fantasized for so long about kicking him ______ it hurts, I really wasn't sure I could handle it.
A. when
B. so that
C. where
D. whether

Part 3 Reading Comprehension
Directions: Each of the following passages is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. Decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.
Passage 1
Crying is hardly an activity encouraged by the society. Tears, be they of sorrow, anger, or joy, typically make Americans feel uncomfortable and embarrassed. The shedder of tears is likely to apologize, even when a devastating (毁灭性的) was the provocation. The observer of tears is likely to do everything possible to put an end to the emotional outpouring. But judging from recent studies of crying behavior, links between illness and crying and the chemical composition of tears, both those responses to tears are often inappropriate and may even be counterproductive.
Humans are the only animals that are definitely known to shed emotional tears. Since evolution has given rise to few, if any, purposeless physiological responses, it is logical to assume that crying has one or more functions that enhance survival.
Although some observers have suggested that crying is a way to elicit assistance from others (as a crying baby might from its mother), the shedding of tears is hardly necessary to get help. Vocal cries would have been quite enough, more likely than tears to gain attention. So, it appears, there must be something special about tears themselves.
Indeed, the new studies suggest that emotional tears may play a direct role in alleviating stress. University of Minnesota researchers who are studying the chemical composition of tears have recently isolated two important chemicals from emotional tears. Both chemicals are found only in tears that are shed in response to emotion. Tears shed because of exposure to a cut onion would contain no such substance.
Researchers at several other institutions are investigating the usefulness of tears as a means of diagnosing human ills and monitoring drugs.
At Tulane University's Tear Analysis Lab Dr. Peter Kastl and his colleagues report that they can use tears to detect drug abuse and exposure to medication, whether a contact lens fits properly or why it may be uncomfortable, to study the cause of "dry eye" syndrome and the effects of eye surgery, and perhaps even to measure the exposure to environmental pollutants.
At Columbia University Dr. Linsy Faris and colleagues are studying tears for clues to diagnosis of diseases away from the eyes. Tears can be obtained painlessly without invading the body and only tiny amounts are needed to perform highly refined analyses.
41. It is known from the 1st paragraph that ______.
A. shedding tears gives unpleasant feelings to Americans
B. crying may often irritate people or even result in tragedy
C. crying usually wins sympathy from other people
D. one who shed tears in public will be blamed

42. What does "both those responses to tears" (Line 8, Para. 1) refer to?
A. Crying out of sorrow and shedding tears for happiness.
B. The embarrassment and unpleasant sensation of the observers.
C. The tear shedder's apology and the observer's effort to stop the crying.
D. Linking illness with crying and finding the chemical composition of tears.

43. "Counterproductive" (Line 9, Para. 1) very probably means ______.
A. having no effect at all
B. leading to tension
C. producing disastrous impact
D. harmful to health

44. What does the author say about crying?
A. It is a pointless physiological response to the environment.
B. It must have a role to play in man's survival.
C. It is meant to get attention and assistance.
D. It usually produces the desired effect.

45. What can be inferred from the new studies of tears?
A. Emotional tears have the function of reducing stress.
B. Exposure to excessive medication may increase emotional tears.
C. Emotional tears can give rise to "dry eye" syndrome in some cases.
D. Environmental pollutants can induce the shedding of emotional tears.

Passage 2
When global warming finally came, it stuck with a vengeance (异乎寻常地). In some regions, temperatures rose several degrees in less than a century. Sea levels shot up nearly 400 feet, flooding coastal settlements and forcing people to migrate inland. Deserts spread throughout the world as vegetation shifted drastically in North America, Europe and Asia. After driving many of the animals around them to near extinction, people were forced to abandon their old way of life for a radically new survival strategy that resulted in widespread starvation and disease. The adaptation was farming: the global-warming crisis that gave rise to it happened more than 10,000 years ago.
As environmentalists convene in Rio de Janeiro this week to ponder the global climate of the future, earth scientists are in the midst of a revolution in understanding how climate has changed in the past — and how those changes have transformed human existence. Researchers have begun to piece together an illuminating picture of the powerful geological and astronomical forces that have combined to change the planet's environment from hot to cold, wet to dry and back again over a time period stretching back hundreds of millions of years.
Most important, scientists are beginning to realize that the climate changes have had a major impact on the evolution of human species. New research now suggests that climate shifts have played a key role in nearly every significant turning point in human evolution: from the dawn of primates some 65 million years ago to human ancestors rising up to walk on two legs, from the huge expansion of the human brain to the rise of agriculture. Indeed, the human history has not been merely touched by global climate change, some scientists argue, it has in some instances been driven by it.
The new research has profound implications for the environmental summit in Rio. Among other things, the findings demonstrate that dramatic climate change is nothing new for Planet Earth. The global environment that has existed over 10,000 years — during which agriculture, writing, cities and most other features of civilization appeared — is a mere bright spot in a much larger pattern of widely varying climate over the ages. In fact, the pattern of climate change in the past reveals that Earth's climate will certainly go through dramatic changes in the future — even without the influence of human activity.
46. Farming emerged as a survival strategy because man had been obliged ______.
A. to leave the coastal areas
B. to give up his former way of life
C. to abandon his original settlement
D. to follow the ever-shifting vegetation

47. Earth scientists have come to understand that climate ______.
A. has gone through periodical changes
B. is going through a fundamental change
C. will eventually change from hot to cold
D. has been getting warmer for 10,000 years

48. Scientists believe that human evolution ______.
A. has had a major impact on climatic changes
B. has largely been affected by climatic changes
C. has exerted little influence on climatic changes
D. has seldom been accompanied by climatic changes

49. Evidence of past climatic changes indicates that ______.
A. Earth's climate is bound to change significantly in the future
B. Earth's environment will remain mild despite human interference
C. Human activities have accelerated changes of Earth's environment
D. Earth's climate is unlikely to undergo substantial changes in the future

50. The message the author wishes to convey in the passage is ______.
A. human civilization remains glorious though it is affected by climatic changes
B. human civilization will continue to develop in spite of the changes of nature
C. man has to limit his activities to slow down the global warming process
D. mankind is virtually helpless in the face of dramatic changes of climate

Passage 3
The Carnegie Foundation report says that many colleges have tried to be "all things to all people". In doing so, they have increasingly catered to narrow-minded careerism while failing to cultivate a global vision among their students. The current crisis, it contends, does not derive from a legitimate desire to put learning to productive ends. The problem is that in too many academic fields, the work has no context; skills, rather than being means, have become ends. Students are offered a variety of options and allowed to pick their way to a degree. In short, driven by careerism, "the nation's colleges and universities are more successful in providing credentials (文凭) than in providing a quality education for their students." The report concludes that the special challenge confronting the undergraduate is one of shaping an "integrated core" of common learning. Such a core would introduce students "to essential knowledge, to connections across the disciplines, and in the end, to application of knowledge to life beyond the campus."
Although the key to a good college is high-quality faculty, the Carnegie study found that most colleges do very little to encourage good teaching. In fact, they do much to undermine it. As one professor observed: "Teaching is important, we are told, and yet faculty know that research and publication matter most." Not surprisingly, over the last twenty years, colleges and universities have failed to graduate half of their four-year degree candidates. Faculty members who dedicate themselves to teaching soon discover that they will not be granted tenure, or substantial salary increases. Yet 70 percent of all faculty say their interests lie more in teaching than in research. Additionally, a frequent complaint among young scholars is that "There is pressure to publish, although there is virtually no interest among administrators or colleagues in the content of the publications."
51. When a college tries to be "all things to all people", it aims to ______.
A. satisfy the needs of all kinds of students simultaneously
B. focus on training students in various skills
C. encourage students to take as many courses as possible
D. make learning serve academic rather than productive ends

52. By saying that "in too many academic fields, the work has no context", the author means that the teaching in these areas ______.
A. ignores the actual situation
B. is not based on the right perspective
C. only focuses on an integrated core of common learning
D. gives priority to the cultivation of a global vision among students

53. One of the reasons for the current crisis in American colleges and universities is that ______.
A. a narrow vocationalism has come to dominate many colleges
B. students don't have enough freedom in choosing what they want to learn
C. skills are being taught as a means to an end
D. students are only interested in obtaining credentials

54. American colleges and universities failed to graduate half of their four-year degree candidates because ______.
A. most of them lack high-quality faculties
B. the interest of most faculty members lie in research
C. there are not enough incentives for students to study hard
D. they attach greater importance to research than to teaching

55. It can be inferred from the passage that high-quality education calls for ______.
A. putting academic work in the proper context
B. a commitment to students and effective teaching
C. the practice of putting learning to productive ends
D. dedication to research in frontier areas of knowledge

Passage 4
Early in the age of affluence (富裕) that followed World War II, an American retailing analyst named Victor Lebow proclaimed, "Our enormously productive economy ... demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals (仪式) that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego (自我) satisfaction, in consumption. ... We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever increasing rate."
Americans have responded to Lebow's call, and much of the world has followed.
Consumption has become a central pillar (支柱) of life in Industrial lands and is even embedded (嵌入) in social values. Opinion surveys in the world's two largest economies — Japan and United States — show consumerist definitions of success becoming ever more prevalent (普遍的).
Over-consumption by the world's fortunate (有钱人) is an environmental problem unmatched in severity by anything but perhaps population growth. Their surging exploitation of resources threatens to exhaust or unalterably spoil forests, soils, water, air and climate.
Ironically, high consumption may be a mixed blessing in human terms, too. The time-honored values of integrity (正直) of character, good work, friendship, family and community have often been sacrificed in the rush to riches.
Thus many in the Industrial lands have a sense that their world of plenty is somehow hollow — that, misled by a consumerist culture, they have been fruitlessly attempting to satisfy what are essentially social, psychological and spiritual needs with material things.
Of course, the opposite of over-consumption — poverty — is no solution to either environmental or human problems. It is infinitely worse for people and bad for the natural world too. Dispossessed peasants slash-and-burn their way into the rain forests of Latin America, and hungry nomads turn their herds onto fragile African grassland, reducing it to desert.
If environmental destruction results when people have either too little or too much, we are left to wonder how much is enough. What level of consumption can the earth sustain? When does having more cease to add noticeably to human satisfaction?
56. The emergence of affluent society after World War II ______.
A. gave birth to a new generation of upper class consumers
B. gave rise to the dominance of the new egoism
C. led to the reform of the retailing system
D. resulted in the worship of consumerism

57. Apart from enormous productivity, another impetus to high consumption is ______.
A. the conversion of the sale of goods into rituals
B. the people's desire for a rise in their living standards
C. the imbalance that has existed between production and consumption
D. the concept that one's success is measured by how much he consumes

58. Why does the author say high consumption is a mixed blessing? ______.
A. Because poverty still exists in an affluent society.
B. Because moral values are sacrificed in pursuit of material satisfaction.
C. Because over consumption won't last long due to unrestricted population growth.
D. Because traditional rituals are often neglected in the process of modernization.

59. According to the passage, consumerist culture ______.
A. cannot thrive on a fragile economy
B. will not aggravate environmental problems
C. cannot satisfy human spiritual needs
D. will not alleviate (减轻) poverty in wealthy countries

60. It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
A. human spiritual needs should match material affluence
B. there is never an end to satisfy people's material needs
C. whether high consumption should be encouraged is still an issue
D. how to keep consumption at a reasonable level remains a problem

Part 4 Error Identification
Directions: Identify the part of the sentence that is incorrect and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.（下列各句中 A、B、C、D 为划线部分）
61. The teenagers tend to (A) follow the trend while openly declaring (B) themselves nonconformists is (C) because (D) they are really insecure.

62. Man (A) cannot live (B) by bread alone, (C) or can he (D) live without bread.

63. Compared (A) about (B) other areas, the population (C) of deserts is (D) sparse.

64. Alike (A) other waves, sound waves tend (B) to curl around obstacles according to (C) the laws of refraction and produce waves moving in all directions. (D)

65. Long before (A) the dawn of (B) recorded (C) history, humans celebrated to harvest (D) their crops.

66. People complain (A) that the costs of establishing an office (B) are so (C) much that only the rich can afford (D) running for office.

67. A great many (A) educators firmly (B) believe that English is one of the poorest (C) taught subjects in high schools today. (D)

68. The human brain (A) can put ideas together in many ways and come up (B) with (C) new ideas which no one has ever thought. (D)

69. Neither (A) tears nor (B) protests effect (C) their parents' (D) decision.

70. He had trouble finding out (A) that (B) the capital of the country lay in (C) the coastal area or in the (D) mountains.

Paper II
Part 5 Translation
Section A Put the following into Chinese
We of this age have discovered a shorter and more prudent method to become scholars and wits, without the fatigue of reading books or of thinking. The most accomplished way of using books at present is twofold: either, first, to serve them as some men do lords, learn their titles exactly and then boast of their acquaintance. Or, secondly, which is indeed the choicer, the profounder, and politer method, to get a thorough insight into the index, by which the whole book is governed and turned, like fishes by the tail. For to enter the palace of learning by the great gate requires an expense of time and forms; therefore men of great haste and little ceremony are content to get in by the back door. For the arts are all in a flying march and therefore are more easily subdued by attacking them in the rear.
Section B Put the following into English
不言而喻，人与自然的矛盾是人类生存与发展的基本矛盾，人与自然灾害的关系正是这对矛盾最突出的表现形式。要减轻自然灾害所造成的损失，必须把社会经济发展与资源环境协调起来。实际上，减轻自然灾害已经成为实现可持续发展的迫切任务之一。
Part 6 Writing
Directions: Write a composition of approximately 150 words according to the requirements given below.
Here is a quotation from a classical writer. Read it and comment on it. Illustrate it with at least two examples you have observed or experienced in life.
“Those who bring sunshine to others cannot keep themselves from it.”