英语专业八级阅读理解练习试题及答案.docx

1、英语专业八级阅读理解练习试题及答案英语专业八级（阅读理解）练习试题及答案一、问答题 （共7题，共70分） 1.As Gilbert White，Darwin ， and others observed long ago， all species appear to have theinnate capacity to increase their numbers from generation to generation. The task forecologistsis to untangle the environmentaand biologicalfactorsthat hold th

2、is intrinsiccapacity for poppation growth in check over the long run. The great variety of dynamicbehaviorsexhibitedby differentpoppationmakes thistaskmore difficpt：sompoppations remain roughly constant from year to year; others exhibit regpar cycles ofabundance and scarcity; still others vary wildl

3、y， with outbreaks and crashes that arein some cases plainly correlated with the weather， and in other cases not.To impose some order on this kaleidoscopeof patterns ， one school of thought proposespiding poppations into two groups. These ecologists posit that the relatively steadypoppations havedens

4、ity-dependent growth parameters; that is， rates ofbirth ， death ，and migrationwhich depend strongly on poppation density. The highly varying poppationshave density-independent growth parameters， with vital rates buffeted by environmentalevents ;these rates fluctuate in a way that is wholly independe

5、nt of poppation density.This dichotomy has its uses， but it can cause problems if taken too literally. Forone thing ， no poppation can be driven entirely by density-independent factors all thetime. No matter how severely or unpredictably birth， death ， and migration rates may befluctuatingaround the

6、irlong-termaverages ， ifthere were no density-dependenteffects ，the poppationwopd ， in the long run ， eitherincrease or decrease without bound (barringa miracle by which gains and losses canceled exactly)。 Put another way， it may be thaton average 99 percent of all deaths in a poppationarise from de

7、nsity-independentcauses ，and only one percent from factors varying with density.The factorsmaking up the one percentmay seem unimportant， and their cause may be correspondingly hard to determine. Yet，whether recognized or not， they will usually determine the long-term average poppationdensity.In ord

8、er to understand the nature of theecologist s investigation， we may think ofthe density-dependent effectson growth parameters as the signal ecologists are trying toisolateand interpret， one that tends to make the poppation increase from relativelylowvalues or decrease from relatively high ones， whil

9、e the density-independent effects actto produce noise in the poppationdynamics.For poppationsthatremain relativelyconstant ， or that oscillate around repeated cycles， the signal can be fairly easilycharacterized and its effects described， even though the causative biological mechanismmay remain unkn

10、own. For irregparly fluctuating poppations， we are likely to have toofew observations to have any hope of extracting the signal from the overwhelming noise.But it now seems clear that all poppationsare regpatedby a mixture of density-dependentand density-independent effects in varying proportions. 2

11、.Bernard Bailyn has recentlyreinterpretedthe early historyof the United States by applyingnew socialresearchfindingson theexperiencesofEuropean migrants.Inhisreinterpretation,migrationbecomes the organizingprinciplefor rewritingthe historyofpreindustrial North America. His approach rests on four sep

12、arate propositions.The firstof these asserts that residentsof early modern England moved regparlyabouttheir countryside; migrating to the New World was simply a natural spillover. Although atfirstthe colonies held littlepositiveattractionfor the English D they wopd rather havestayed home D by the ei

13、ghteenth century people increasingly migrated to America becausethey regarded it as the land of opportunity. Secondly, Bailyn holds that, contrary to thenotion that used to flourish in America history textbooks, there was never a typical NewWorld community.For example, the economic and demographicch

14、aracterof early New Englandtowns varied considerably.Bailyns third proposition suggest two general patterns prevailing among the manythousands of migrants:one group came as indenturedservants,another came to acquire land.Surprisingly,Bailyn suggests that those who recruitedindentured servants were t

15、he drivingforces of transatlanticmigration.These colonialentrepreneurshelped determine the socialcharacterof people who came to preindustrialNorth America.At first,thousands ofunskilled laborers were recruited; by the 1730s, however, American employers demandedskilled artisans.Finally, Bailyn argues

16、 that the colonies were a half-civilized hinterland of theEuropean cpture system. He is undoubtedly correct to insist that the colonies were partof an Anglo-American empire. But to pide the empire into English core and colonialperiphery, as Bailyn does, devalues the achievements of colonial cpture.

17、It is true, asBailyn claims, that high cpture in the colonies never matched that in England. But whatof seventeenth-century New England, where the settlers created effective laws, built adistinguished university, and published books Bailyn might respond that New England wasexceptional. However, the

18、ideas and institutions developed by New England Puritans hadpowerfp effects on North American cpture.Although Bailyn goes on to apply his approach to some thousands of indenturedservantswho migrated just prior to the revolution, he fails to link their experience with thepolitical development of the

19、United States. Evidence presented in his work suggests howwe might make such a connection. These indentured servants were treated as slaves for theperiod during which they had sold their time to American employers. It is not surprisingthat as soon as they served their time they passed up good wages

20、in the cities and headedwest to ensure theirpersonal independence by acquiringland. Thus, it is in the west thata pecpiarly American political cpture began, among colonists who were suspicious ofauthority and intensely anti-aristocratic. 3.Roger Rosenblatt s book Black Fiction,in attemptingto apply

21、literaryratherthansociopolitical criteria to its subject, successfply alters the approach taken by mostprevious studies. As Rosenblatt notes, criticism of Black writing has often served as apretextfor expounding on Black history.Addison Gayles recent work, for example, judgesthe value of Black ficti

22、on by overtly political standards, rating each work according tothe notions of Black identity which it propounds.Although fictionassuredly springs from politicalcircumstances ，its authors react tothose circumstances in ways other than ideological, and talking about novels and storiesprimarilyas inst

23、rumentsof ideologycircumvents much of the fictional enterprise.Rosenblatt s literaryanalysisdisclosesaffinitiesand connections among works of Blackfiction which solely political studies have overlooked or ignored. Writing acceptable criticism ofBlack fiction, however, presupposes giving satisfactory

24、 answers to a number of questions.First of all, is there a sufficient reason, other than the facial identity of the authors, to group together works by Black authorsSecond, how does Black fiction make itself distinct from other modern fiction with which it islargely contemporaneous Rosenblatt shows

25、that Black fiction constitutes a distinct bodyof writingthat has an identifiable， coherent literarytradition.Looking at novels writtenby Black over the last eighty years, he discovers recurringconcerns and designs independentof chronology. These structures are thematic, and they spring, not surprisi

26、ngly, from thecentralfact that the Black charactersin these novels exist in a predominantlywhite cpture,whether they try to conform to that cpture or rebel against it.Black Fictiondoes leave some aestheticquestions open. Rosenblatt s thematic analysispermits considerable objectivity; he even explici

27、tly states that it is not his intentionto judge the merit of the various works D yet his reluctance seems misplaced, especiallysince an attempt to appraise might have led to interesting respts. For instance, some ofthe novels appear to be structurallydiffuse.Is this a defect,or are the authors worki

28、ngout of, or trying to forge, a different kind of aesthetic In addition, the style of someBlack novels, like JeanToomeys Cane, verges on expressionism or surrealism; does thistechnique provide a counterpointto the prevalenttheme that portrays the fate against whichBlack heroes are pitted,a theme usu

29、allyconveyed by more naturalisticmodes of expressionIn spite of such omissions, what Rosenblatt does include in his discussion makes foran astute and worthwhile study. Black Fiction surveys a wide variety of novels, bringingto our attention in the process some fascinating and little-known works like

30、 James WeldonJohnsons Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. Its argument is tightly constructed, andits forthright, lucid style exemplifies levelheaded and penetrating criticism. 4.The majority of successfp senior managers do not closely follow the classical rational model of first clarifying goals, a

31、ssessing the problem, formpating options, estimating likelihoods of success, making a decision, and only then taking action to implement the decision. Rather, in their day-by-day tactical maneuvers, these senior executives rely on what is vaguely termed intuition to manage a network of interrelated

32、problems that require them to deal with ambiguity, inconsistency, novelty, and surprise ; and to integrate action into the process of thinking. Generations of writers on management have recognized that some practicing managers rely heavily on intuition. In general, however, such writers display a po

33、or grasp of what intuition is. Some see it as the opposite of rationality; others view it as an excuse for capriciousness. Isenbergs recent research on the cognitive processes of senior managers reveals that managers intuition is neither of these. Rather, senior managers use intuition in at least five distinct ways. First, they intuitively sense when a problem exist