08年学位英语A卷.docx

1、08年学位英语A卷北京地区成人本科学士学位英语统一考试（A）Part I Reading Comprehension (30%)Directions: There are three passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice and mark the corr

2、esponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.Passage 1Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage:Scientists in India have invented a new way to produce electricity. Their invention does not get its power from oil, coal or other fuels, it produces electricity wi

3、th the power of animals. India has about eighty million bullocks. They do all kinds of jobs. They work in the fields. They pull vehicles through the streets. They carry water containers.(76)Indian energy officials have been seeking ways to use less imported oil to provide energy. Scientists at the N

4、ational Institute for Industrial Engineering in Bombay(孟买)wondered whether the millions of bullocks could help. Many villages in India lack electricity, but they have many bullocks. And often the animails are not working. One job done by bullocks is to pump water out of the well. The animals do this

5、 by walking around and around in a circle. As they walk, they turn a heavy stick that makes the pump move. This simple technology is centuries old. Scientists thought that the same technology could be used to produce electricity. Bullocks walk in a circle only two or three times a minute. This is mu

6、ch too slow to produce electricity, but it can create enough power to turn a series of gears(齿轮). A large gear sits next to a smaller gear. As the large gear turns it causes the smaller gear to turn. That gear turns an even smaller one. Each gear moves faster because it is a little smaller. The smal

7、lest gear may turn extremely fast. (77)clocks operate with gears. So do cars and so does the device invented by he Indian scientists to produce electricity.According to the officials in the United Nations, the idea is being tested at several places in India. The device is easy to operate and repair.

8、 And it can be moved easily. It costs about three hundred and seven dollars now to make such a device, but production of large numbers of them could cut the cost of each to about two hundred dollars.1. who first thought of using bullocks to provide energy?A. Indian energy officials. B. Scientists in

9、 IndiaC. Officials in the United Nations D. Researchers in Europe2. which kind of job that the bullocks do is NOT mentioned in the passage?A. Pulling vehicles. B. Plowing fieldsC. Pumping water out of wells D. Carrying food baskets.3. why are bullocks used to provide energy in India?A. Because bullo

10、cks have long been used by Indian peopleB. Because bullocks walk slowly and are easy to control.C. Because there are few non-working bullocks in IndiaD. Because there is not enough oil in India.4. in the sentence “This simple technology is centuries old” in Paragraph One, “This simple technology” re

11、fers to _.A. using bullocks to produce energyB. using pumps to draw water outC. having bullocks walk around to make the pump moveD. connecting gears of different sizes to produce electricity5. Which of the following is true about the device mentioned in the passage?A. It has a large gear and a small

12、er gear.B. Its easy to use, but difficult to moveC. Its quite cheap.D. Its still being tested.Passage 2Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage:On-the-job smoking is a hot issue for both smokers and non-smokers, and many managers now see smoking as a productivity(生产力)problem. Although so

13、me people question whether smoking really affects ones productivity, it has, in fact been proven that a smoker costs a company more than a non-smoker. According to professor William Weis, a smoking employee costs his or her employer about $5,700 more a year than a never-smoker. These costs include m

14、edical care, lost earnings and insurance. And absence due to smoking breaks is one of the productivity problems, yet it accounts for a great deal of employer costs.(78)When the issue of smoking at the workplace is discussed, perhaps the most important problem is the health risk that smoking causes t

15、o both smokers and never-smokers. It has long been proven that smoking is linked to lung cancer. Now many healty experts warn that passive smoking can cause lung cancer and other illnesses in healthy never-smokers. Passive smoking can be defined as exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke in enclosed a

16、reas. Anyone who has been with smokers indeed knows that their smoke can cause eye irritation（刺激），coughing, headaches and throat soreness. While eye irritation may seem a small thing to some smokers, it nevertheless is a problem that occurs every workday in offices and break-rooms and can lead to gr

17、eater health problems. Employees who do not smoke should not be subjected(遭受)to the risks of passive smoking and need to be able to work in a safe environment. Surgeon General Koop states that the right of the smoker stops at the point where his or her smoking increases the disease risk of those occ

18、upying the same environment.6. All the following cases are on-the-job smoking except that _.A. an employer smokes while working in the officeB. A taxi driver smokes while driving the carC. A worker smokes while working in the workshopD. a worker smokes while reading in the train7. According to the p

19、assage, on-the-job smoking affects an employees performance in the office in that_.A. he cant concentrate on what he is doing while smokingB. he often goes away from his desk to smoke in the break-roomC. he often asks for sick leave as a result of too much smokingD. he takes a rest from time to time

20、 because of eye irritation8. Many managers do not seem to be in favor of on-the-job smoking mainly because it_.A. reduces productivity of the company to a certain degreeB. does harm to the health of never-smokers of the companyC. affects the relationship between smokers and non-smokersD. makes the b

21、reak-rooms more crowded and more polluted9. Passive smoking means_.A. never-smokers take up the habit of smoking unwillinglyB. never-smokers have to put up with the active smokersC. never-smokers share an enclosed area with smokersD. never-smokers share an enclosed area with smokers10. In the second

22、 part of the passage, the author suggests banning(禁止)on-the-job smoking so as to_.A. cut down costs of medical care and insuranceB. Create a healthy and safe working environmentC. prevent eye irritation from becoming a big health problemD. improve the smoking employees work efficiencyPassage 3Questi

23、ons 11 to 15 are based on the following passage:Not all memories are sweet. Some people spend all their lives trying to forget bad experiences. Violence and traffic accidents can leave people with terrible physical and emotional scars. Often they relive these experiences in nightmares(恶梦)（79）Now Ame

24、rical researchers think they are close to developing a pill, which will help people forget bad memories. The pill is designed to be taken immediately after a frightening experience. They hope it might reduce, or possibly erase(抹去) the effect of painful memories.In November, experts tested a drug on

25、people in the US and France. The drug stops the body releasing chemicals that fix memories in the brain. (80)So far the research has suggested that only the emotional effects of memories may be reduced, not that the memories are erased.The research has caused a great deal of argument. Some think it

26、is a bad idea, while others support in.Supporters say it could lead to pills that prevent or treat soldiers troubling memories after war. They say that there are many people who suffer from terrible memories.“Some memories can ruin peoples lives. They come back to you when you dont want to have them

27、 in a daydream or nightmare they usually come with very painful emotions,” said Roger Pitman, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “this could relieve a lot of that suffering.”But those who are against the research say that it is very dangerous to change memories because memories giv

28、e us our identity(特质). They also help us all avoid the mistakes of the past.“All of us can think of bad events in our lives that were horrible at the time but make us who we are, Im not sure we want to wipe those memories out, ” said Rebecca Dresser, a medical ethicist.11. The passage is mainly abou

29、t_.A. a new medical inventionB. a new research on memoriesC. a way of erasing painful memoriesD. an argument about the research on the pill12. The drug tested on people can_.A. cause the brain to fix memoriesB. stop people remembering their experiencesC. prevent body producing certain chemicalsD. wi

30、pe out the emotional effects of memories13. We can infer from the passage that_.A. people doubt the effects of the pills.B. the pill will stop peoples and experiences.C. taking the pill will do harm to peoples healthD. the pill has probable been produced in America14. Which of the following does Reb

31、ecca Dresser agree with?A. Some memories can ruin peoples livesB. people want to get rid of bad memories.C. Experiencing bad events makes us different from others.D. The pill will reduce peoples suffering from bad memories.15. The word “scars” in Paragraph one is close in meaning to _.A. good stories B. pains C. experiences D. memoriesPart II Vocabulary and Structure(30%)Directions: In this part there are 30 incomplete sentences. For each sentence there are four choices marked A, B, C, and D. Choose the ONE answer that best completes the senten