公共英语五级考试试题五.docx

1、公共英语五级考试试题五公共英语五级考试试题(五)一、Reading Comprehension（共15小题,共15.0分）Read the following three textsAnswer the questions on each text by choosing A, B, C or D 第1题 I am extremely important. So important that all kinds of people might need to communicate with me 24 hours a day. Mere phone calls are good enough

2、, letters take days, or at least a day, and meetings face to facewell, obviously that is out of the question. No, the index of my success is my fax-ability. Only God knows what international incidents have been averted by my black fax machine. For I am now at the centre of a vast global communicatio

3、ns network, all of which is instantly faxable, and made up of busy people who cannot possibly wait for that vital document a minute longer.Fax it to me, we say snappily, presuming that we are in the company similarly echnologicallyendowed. What do you mean you havent got one? We gasp in amazement at

4、 their willingness to admit they are not a member of this exclusive club. After all, membership only sets you back 400 or so and for this you get to review daily our motto: I fax therefore I am. Once you are in possession of one of those magic machines a new world opens up to you. A world of escalat

5、ing urgency, a world where the most mundane information becomes some how more significant because it arrives via a bleeping machine, a world where the medium has more cachet than the message.The fax machine, like the camcorder, has come into its own in the Nineties. The affordability of this technol

6、ogy has meant that the democracy of instantaneous communication has filtered down to us all. So we are all dutifully engaged in this orgy of electronic impulses, recording and erasing, faxing and receiving. But what we are actually communicating apart from the fact that we are in communication? The

7、urgent messages we send each other on these electronic postcards are often little more than reminders that, Yes, we have the technology, even if we have little use for it.Yet because we know that knowledge is power we cannot admit as much, for to do so would be tojoin the great faxless underclass. I

8、nstead, we pretend that every doodle, every hurried sentence issomehow so earth-shatteringly crucial that it must immediately be signaled halfway round the world.For some like Philippe Starck, who designs by fax, this may be the case. But what do most of us usefax for ? We can now fax a pizza or a s

9、andwich; we can fax afternoon radio shows with our funny stories;we can fax our bank manager; we can fax our resignation notice and nowadays we can even befired by fax.Although there is some argument about the legal status of any fax that declares to be contractual, the great benefit of all these is

10、 that it is done in public. Indeed what the latest batch of communications technology, from mobile phones to camcorders to faxes, have in common is that they no longer respect the old boundaries between public and private, work and leisure. If you fall down and break your leg, some idiots with a cam

11、corder will be recording your pain and sending it to an amateur video show on TV. If someone sends you a humiliating rejection by fax, you can guarantee that everyone else will have read it before you.Likewise, encouraged by insane advertising which advertises us to turn our homes into extensionsof

12、our offices, there is now no time in which work cannot intrude on leisure. The answering and faxmachines may always be switched on in case we miss some vital pieces of information. But what exactly is it that for most of us cannot wait till tomorrow? We are not running countries, or multinational co

13、rporations, but the trick is to act like we are. In our accelerated culture speed ,feeds our sense of self-importance. Its not what you say but how fast you say it, and a fax provides instant gratification that this is the case. Faxes are about declarations rather than dialogue.But even this delicio

14、us frenzy of non-communication can go wrong. Fax terrorists sabotage business by bunging up the machine with 50 pages saying nothing except Peace and love. And who hashad a fax gone astray? As you slot your paper into the hungry mouth how do you really know where itis going, that you have the right

15、number, that you are not sending your masterpieces into oblivion?Worse still: they can break down.Since my ten-year-old son poured a can of coke into mine I have not received any faxes at all.The sad truth is that I never did get many. Apart from the odd work stuff they would mostly be fromfriends t

16、rying out their new fax machines. Having received theirs, I could then fax them back to tell them that they were in full working order. See, I told you I was important.The writer thinks that most people use the faxA to order pizzas and sandwiches.B to send vital documents.C to give themselves a sens

17、e of self-importance.D to help them become successful.【正确答案】：C【本题分数】：1.0分【答案解析】解析短文多处都能看出作者的观点，他认为大多数人使用传真机都是为了一种感觉，即使用它能使他们感到自己的重要性。故应选C。第2题 The purpose of the first paragraph is toA interest and surprise the reader.B explain why the writer needs a fax.C convince the reader of the importance of fax

18、es.D focus on the legitimate used of faxes.【正确答案】：A【本题分数】：1.0分【答案解析】解析由短文第一段可知，作者以一种新颖的方式引出下文是为了吸引读者。故应选A。第3题 The general tone of the text isA serious.B ironic.C enthusiastic.D matter-of-fact.【正确答案】：B【本题分数】：1.0分【答案解析】解析从全文看，通篇都是在用一种讽刺、幽默的口吻。故应选B。第4题 The writer uses exaggeration in order toA demonstr

19、ate how ridiculous it is for people to have a fax.B prove to the reader that faxes can be sabotaged and broken down.C show why her friends are getting fax machines.D describe the importance of speedy communications in the modern business world.【正确答案】：A【本题分数】：1.0分【答案解析】解析作者在文中用夸大的笔调，主要目的显然是为了证明人们拥有传真

20、机是很可笑的。故应选A。第5题 Why do so many people own fax machines today?A Because the fax is a symbol of success.B Because it is the fastest way of sending a document.C Because it is more reliable than sending a letter.D Because it is still too expensive for most people.【正确答案】：A【本题分数】：1.0分【答案解析】解析由短文第二段可知，今天许多

21、人拥有传真机是因为拥有它是成功的象征。故应选A。第6题 Standard English is that variety of English which is usually used in print, and which is normally taught in schools and to non-native speakers studying the language. It is also the variety which is normally spoken by educated people and used in news broadcasts and other s

22、imilar situations. The difference between standard and non-standard, it should be noted, has nothing in principle to do with differences between formal and colloquial language; Standard English has colloquial as well as formal variants.Historically, the standard variety of English is derived from th

23、e London dialect of English that developed after the Norman Conquest resulted in the removal of the Court from Winchester to London. This dialect became the one preferred by the educated, and it was developed and promoted as a model, or norm, for wider and wider segments of society. It was also the

24、norm that was carried overseas, but not one unaffected by such export. Today, Standard English is codified to the extent that the grammar and vocabulary of English are much the same everywhere in the world where English is used: variation among local standards is really quite minor, so that the Sing

25、apore, South Africa, and Irish varieties are really very little different from one another so far as grammar and vocabulary are concerned. Indeed, Standard English is so powerful that it exerts a tremendous pressure on all local varieties, to the extent that many of the long-established dialects of

26、England have lost much of their vigor and there is considerable pressure on them to converge toward the standard. This latter situation is not unique to English: it is also true in other countries where processes of standardization are under way. But it sometimes brings problems to speakers who try

27、to strike some kind of compromise between local norms and national, even supranational ones.In terms of grammar and vocabulary, Standard EnglishA differs greatly from dialects in the United Kingdom.B differs greatly from varieties outside U. K.C differs little from any variety in the world.D is the

28、same with any variety of English.【正确答案】：C【本题分数】：1.0分【答案解析】解析由第二段中的“. are really very little different from one another so far as grammar and vocabulary are concerned”可知答案为C。故应选C。第7题 What are the characteristics of Standard English?A It is usually used in print.B It is normally taught in schools.C It

29、 is used in news broadsts.D A, B and C.【正确答案】：D【本题分数】：1.0分【答案解析】解析由短文第一段中的Standard English is that variety of English which is usually used in print，and which is normally taught in schools and to non-native speakers studying the language in news broadcasts.”可知答案为D。故应选D。第8题 Which of the following fac

30、tors did not contribute to the London dialect becoming Standard English?A The court moved from Winchester to London.B The dialect was used by educated people.C The dialect remained unaffected by foreign trade.D The dialect was gradually accepted and spoken by more and more people.【正确答案】：C【本题分数】：1.0分

31、【答案解析】解析A、B、D均在文中提到，均是伦敦口音变成标准英语的原因，而C不对。故应选C。第9题 The strong influence of Standard English is causingA many new varieties to appear.B many dialects to lose their uniqueness.C variation among dialects to grow.D different local standards to diverge.【正确答案】：B【本题分数】：1.0分【答案解析】解析由第二段中的“. Standard English

32、is so. many of the long-established dialects of Englandstandard”可知答案为B。故应选B。第10题 Which of the following statements is true according to this passage?A Standard English is better than non-standard English.B Standard English does not differ from non-standard English in principle.C Standard English can be both formal and colloquial.D Non-standard English is the