Part I. Vocabulary and Grammar (30 x 1% = 30%)
Directions: There are 30 incomplete sentences in this part. For each sentence there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the ONE answer that best completes the sentence. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet.
1. The ________ of the film shows that the reviewers’ fears were completely unjustified.
A. population B. popularity C. populace D. populism
2. A survey was carried out on the death rate of new born babies in that region, _____ were surprising.
A. as results B. which results C. the results of it D. the results of which
3. Although some students graduate from high school, they are virtually illiterate ______ writing a business letter.
A. in the event of B. in the light of C. in case of D. in terms of
4. ______ his undoubted innocence, the accused man appeared extremely nervous.
A. HoweverB. Despite
C. Even thoughD. Although
5. The motion picture is only a series of still photographs which are split and viewed in rapid _______ to create the illusion of movement and continuity.
A. sequence B. succession C. transmission D. conveyance
6. Operations which left patients ________ and in need of long periods of recovery time now leave them feeling relaxed and comfortable.
A. exhausted B. abandoned C. injured D deserted
7. His honeymoon expense is rather high in _______ to his income.
A. comparison B. proportion C. association D. calculation
8. We started burning some leaves in our yard, but the fire got __________ and we had to call the fire brigade to put it out.
A. out of hand B. out of order C. out of place D. out of way
9. It is said that the math teacher seems _______ towards bright students.
A. partial B. beneficial C. preferable D. liable
10. His use of color, light and form quickly departed from the conventional style of his _____ as he developed his own techniques.
A. descendants B. predecessors C. successors D. ancestors
11. I’m one of the students _____ never late for school.
A. that is B. who are C. who am D. who is
12. The visitors, men and women, old and young, had walked for many hours. ________ of them got very tired, but _______ of them would stop to take a rest.
A. All…neither B. Both… none C. All…none D. Both….everyone
13. I do not understand how the arranged marriage could ________ work out in the more traditional societies.
A. frequentlyB. conceivablyC. naivelyD. precisely
14. I wondered what her ____ to the news would be.?
A. impression B. reaction ?C. comment D. opinion
15. The introduction of modern technique from abroad makes it necessary for skilled workers to ____ unskilled workers.
A. take place B. take over C. take down D. take the place of
16. How do you ____ for coming late for the meeting? ?
A. explain B. excuse C. describe D. account?
17. The Song Dynasty contributed three great inventions____ world civilization.?
A.to B. towards ?C. with D. in
18. After _____ deliberation, the foreman announced that the jury had reached verdict.
A. 10 minutes of B. 10-minutes of ? C. 10 minute’s D. 10 minutes
19. The student was very excited when he ____ his teacher in this important lecture.
A. assisted B. insisted ?C. resisted D. persisted
20. A funny moment in the show is _____ the bad guy falls into a pile of wet cement.
A. as B. that C. while D. when
21. Understanding this article is ____ a seven-year-old child’s capacity.?
A. on B. up ? C. down D. beyond
22. Jill would rather that his girl friend ____ in the same department as he does. ?
A. studied ?B. should study? C. study ?D. had studied
23. Bob had been ____ on a meadow sprinkled with dandelion for a long time before he sat up. ?
A. laid B. lying? C. lain D. laying
24. There are signs ____ Internet are becoming more and more popular with teenagers.
A. that B. whose ?C. what D. which
25. She had no objection to ____ the airplane ticket which would send her to Geneva. ?
A. to take B. taking ?C. of taking D. to taking
26. The coat I bought yesterday is not expensive at all. As a matter of fact, I would gladly have paid ____ for it.?
A. as much twice B. much as twice ?C. as twice much ?D. twice as much
27. He _______ unwisely, but he was at least trying to do something helpful.
A. may have acted B. must have acted C. should act D. would act
28. ______ him tomorrow?
A. Why not to call on B. Why don’t call on
C. Why not calling on D. Why not call on
29. Without facts, we cannot form a worthwhile opinion, for we need to have factual knowledge ____ our thinking.?
A. upon which to base ?B. which to base upon ?C. which to be based on ?D. to base on which?
30. Some areas, ____ their severe weather conditions, are hardly populated.
A. due to B. but for ?C. in spite of D. with regard to
Part II. Reading Comprehension (40%)
SECTION A MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS (20 ×1%=20%)
Directions: There are seven 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 write on the Answer Sheet.
Passage 1
In the fall of 1924 Thomas Wolfe, fresh from his course in playwright at Harvard, joined the eight or ten of us who were teaching English composition in New York University. I had never before seen a man so tall as he, and so ungraceful. I pitied him and went out of my way to help him get adjusted to his work and to make him feel at home.
His students soon let me know that he had no need of my protectiveness. They spoke of his ability to describe a simple event in such a manner as to have them roar with laughter or struggling to keep back their tears，of his readiness to quote in detail from any poet they could name, of his habit of writing three pages of comment on a student’s one-page composition, and of his astonishing ease in expressing in words anything he had seen or heard or tasted or felt.
Indeed, his students made so much of his powers of observation that I decided to make a little test and see for myself. My opportunity came one morning when the students were slowly gathering for nine-o’clock classes.
Upon arriving at the university that day, I found Wolfe alone in the large room which served all the English composition teachers as an office. He made no protest when I asked him to come with me out into the hall, and he only smiled when we reached a classroom door and I told him to enter alone and look around.
He stepped in, remained no more than thirty seconds and then came out. “Tell me what I see,” I said as I took his place in the room, leaving him in the hall with his back to the door. Without the least hesitation and without a single error, he gave the number of seats in the room, identified those which were occupied by boys and those occupied by girls, named the colors each student was wearing, pointed out the Latin verb written on the blackboard, spoke of the chalk marks which the cleaner had failed to wash from the floor, and pictured in detail the view of Washington Square from the windows.
As I rejoined Wolfe, I was speechless with amazement. He, on the contrary, was wholly calm as he said. “The worst thing about it is that I’ll remember it all.”
1.Which of the following statements is true of Thomas Wolfe?
A.He failed to finish his course at Harvard.
B.He began teaching right after his graduation.
C.He regarded New York University as his home.
D.He had a polite manner.
2.What did the author think of Thomas Wolfe?
A.He was not satisfied with his job.
B.He felt uncomfortable in his work.
C.He was not good at teaching.
D.He was unfamiliar with his students.
3.Which of the following statements is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A.Wolfe’s students praised his power of observation.
B.The author performed an experiment on Wolfe’s ability.
C.Wolfe’s students asked the author to have a test of their ability.
D.Wolfe did not feel angry when he was tested.
Passage 2
Throughout this long, tense election, everyone has focused on the presidential candidates and how they'll change America. Rightly so. But selfishly, I'm more fascinated by Michelle Obama and what she might be able to do, not just for this country, but for me as an African-American woman. As the potential First Lady, she would have the world's attention. And that means that for the first time people will have a chance to get up close and personal with the type of African-American woman they so rarely see.
Usually, the lives of black women go largely unexamined. The prevailing theory seems to be that we're all hot-tempered single mothers who can't keep a man. Even in the world of make-believe, black women still can't escape the stereotype of being eye-rolling, oversexed females raised by our never-married, alcoholic mothers.
These images have helped define the way all black women are viewed, including Michelle Obama. Before she ever gets the chance to commit to a cause, charity or foundation as First Lady, her most urgent and perhaps most complicated duty may be simply to be herself.
It won't be easy. Because few mainstream publications have done in-depth features on regular African-American women, little is known about who we are, what we think and what we face on a regular basis. For better or worse, Michelle will represent us all.
Just as she will have her critics, she will also have millions of fans who usually have little interest in the First Lady. Many African-American blogs have written about what they'd like to see Michelle bring to the White House—mainly showing the world that a black woman can support her man and raise a strong black family. Michelle will have to work to please everyone—an impossible task. But for many African-American women like me, just a little of her poise (沉着), confidence and intelligence will go a long way in changing an image that's been around for far too long.
4. What is the common stereotype of African-American women according to the author?
A. They are victims of family violence.
B. They are of an inferior social group.
C. They use quite a lot of body language.
D. They live on charity and social welfare.
5. What do many African-Americans write about in their blogs?
A. Whether Michelle can live up to the high expectations of her fans.
B. How Michelle should behave as a public figure.
C. How proud they are to have a black woman in the White House.
D. What Michelle should do as wife and mother in the White House.
6. What does the author say about Michelle Obama as a First Lady?
A. However many fans she has, she should remain modest.
B. She shouldn't disappoint the African-American community.
C. However hard she tries, she can't expect to please everybody.
D. She will give priority to African-American women's concerns.
Passage 3
The success of a speech is often attributed to the skill of the speaker, with merit being given to speakers who are confident, articulate, knowledgeable and able to deliver a speech with conviction. But often it is not the speakers who write these moving speeches, it is a speechwriter. And one industry in which this practice is common is that of politics. So what does it take to be a political speechwriter?
Well according to a recent job advertisement from the US Embassy in Britain, a political speechwriter needs to have exceptional interpersonal skills, be detail-oriented and able to demonstrate a deep knowledge of their subject. They must also work closely with speakers and be able to relate to their style. Some believe that the best speechwriters have an inherent talent, a natural creative instinct, and that speechwriting is an art form.
So what about those of us who do not possess such genius? Can we still produce successful speeches? In an interview with the BBC, Dr Max Atkinson (a communications specialist) outlined a number of speechwriting techniques. He also illustrated how these techniques have been used in historic speeches. One such technique is introducing contrast. This is extremely useful when presenting a positive spin on a negative issue. One of the most famous examples of this can be seen in a speech given by former American President John F Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country." Another technique is the use of three-part lists. Dr Atkinson explains that this can be an excellent way of adding finality or confirming a statement. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was a fan of this technique. One of his most famous campaign slogans was "education, education, education".
These techniques can be used like tools - they can be chosen from a toolbox and applied as necessary. A few other techniques you might find in a speechwriter's toolbox might be the use of imagery, anecdotes and alliteration. So next time you have to prepare a speech or presentation, try applying one or more of these techniques and see if you have what it takes to be a winning speechwriter.
7. According to the passage, all of the following are techniques often used in political speech except ________.
A. contrastB. alliteration
C. metaphors D. three-part lists
8. Which of the following is NOT a skill required of a good public speaker?
A. confidence
B. Conviction
C. knowledge
D. a deep voice
Passage 4
There was a rich merchant who had 4 wives. He loved the 4th wife the most and adorned her with rich robes and treated her to delicacies. He took great care of her and gave her nothing but the best.
He also loved the 3rd wife very much. He's very proud of her and always wanted to show off her to his friends. However, the merchant is always in great fear that she might run away with some other men.
He too, loved his 2nd wife. She is a very considerate person, always patient and in fact is the merchant's confidante. Whenever the merchant faced some problems, he always turned to his 2nd wife and she would always help him out and tide him through difficult times.
Now, the merchant's 1st wife is a very loyal partner and has made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and business as well as taking care of the household. However, the merchant did not love the first wife and although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her.
One day, the merchant fell ill. Before long, he knew that he was going to die soon. He thought of his luxurious life and told himself, "Now I have 4 wives with me. But when I die, I'll be alone. How lonely I'll be!"
Thus, he asked the 4th wife, "I loved you most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?" "No way!" replied the 4th wife and she walked away without another word. The answer cut like a sharp knife right into the merchant's heart. The sad merchant then asked the 3rd wife, "I have loved you so much for all my life. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?" "No!" replied the 3rd wife. "Life is so good over here! I'm going to remarry when you die!" The merchant's heart sank and turned cold.
He then asked the 2nd wife, "I always turned to you for help and you've always helped me out. Now I need your help again. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?" "I'm sorry, I can't help you out this time!" replied the 2nd wife. "At the very most, I can only send you to your grave." The answer came like a bolt of thunder and the merchant was devastated.
Then a voice called out : "I'll leave with you. I'll follow you no matter where you go." The merchant looked up and there was his first wife. She was so skinny, almost like she suffered from malnutrition. Greatly grieved, the merchant said, "I should have taken much better care of you while I could have!"
Actually, we all have 4 wives in our lives:
a. The 4th wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, it'll leave us when we die.
b. Our 3rd wife is our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, they all go to others.
c. The 2nd wife is our family and friends. No matter how close they had been there for us when we're alive, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave.
d. The 1st wife is in fact our soul, often neglected in our pursuit of material, wealth and sensual pleasure. Guess what? It is actually the only thing that follows us wherever we go. Perhaps it's a good idea to cultivate and strengthen it now rather than to wait until we're on our deathbed to lament.
9. What is the implied meaning of the sentence that describes his first wife as “so skinny, almost like she suffered from malnutrition.” (paragraph 8)?
A. His first wife was growing old.
B. His first wife had an eating disorder.
C. He failed to nourish his spirit.
D. He failed to protect his wealth.
10. From the passage, we can conclude that ________.
A. A life devoted to business is a worthy life.
B. One should only have a single wife.
C. The second wife is callous.
D. Death shows us what is most important in life.
Passage 5
We find that bright children are rarely held back by mixed ability teaching. On the contrary, both their knowledge and experience are enriched. We feel that there are many disadvantages in streaming (把……按能力分班) pupils. It does not take into account the fact that children develop at different rates. It can have a bad effect on both the bright and the not-so-bright child. After all, it can be quite discouraging to be at the bottom of the top grade!
Besides, it is rather unreal to grade pupils just according to their intellectual ability. This is only one aspect of their total personality. We are concerned to develop the abilities of all our pupils to the full, not just their academic ability. We also value personal qualities and social skills, and we find that mixed-ability teaching contributes to all these aspects of learning.
In our classrooms, we work in various ways. The pupils often work in groups: this gives them the opportunity to learn to co-operate, to share, and to develop leadership skills. They also learn how to deal with personal problems as well as learning how to think, to make decisions, to analyze and evaluate, and to communicate effectively in order to have the ability to become leaders. The pupils learn from each other as well as from the teacher.
Sometimes the pupils work in pairs; sometimes they work on individual tasks , and they can do this at their own speed. They also have some formal class teaching when this is suitable. We encourage our pupils to use the library, and we teach them the skills they need in order to do this efficiently. An advanced pupil can do advanced work: it does not matter what age the child is. We expect our pupils to do their best, not their least, and we give them every encouragement to attain this goal.
11. We can know from the passage that the author’s attitude towards “mixed-ability teaching” is ________.
A. approvingB. disapproving
C. questioningD. inactive
12. According to the passage, mixed-ability teaching ________.
A. has both merits and demerits
B. Discourages the children who are left behind
C. enables the bright children to learn better
D. fails to acknowledge the gap between top and bottom students
13. Which of the following is NOT MENTIONED in the third paragraph?
A. Pupils also learn to develop their reasoning abilities.
B. Pupils also learn how to participate in teaching activities
C. Group work gives pupils the chance to learn to work together with others.
D. Group work supply pupils with the chance to learn to be good organizers.
Passage 6
I lost my sight when I was four years old by falling off a box car in a freight yard in Atlantic City and landing on my head. Now I am thirty two. I can vaguely remember the brightness of sunshine and what color red is. It would be wonderful to see again, but a calamity can do strange things to people. It occurred to me the other day that I might not have come to love life as I do if I hadn't been blind. I believe in life now. I am not so sure that I would have believed in it so deeply, otherwise. I don't mean that I would prefer to go without my eyes. I simply mean that the loss of them made me appreciate the more what I had left.
Life, I believe, asks a continuous series of adjustments to reality. The more readily a person is able to make these adjustments, the more meaningful his own private world becomes. The adjustment is never easy. I was bewildered and afraid. But I was lucky. My parents and my teachers saw something in me--a potential to live, you might call it--which I didn't see, and they made me want to fight it out with blindness.
The hardest lesson I had to learn was to believe in myself. That was basic. If I hadn't been able to do that, I would have collapsed and become a chair rocker on the front porch for the rest of my life. When I say belief in myself I am not talking about simply the kind of self-confidence that helps me down an unfamiliar staircase alone. That is part of it. But I mean something bigger than that: an assurance that I am, despite imperfections, a real, positive person; that somewhere in the sweeping, intricate pattern of people there is a special place where I can make myself fit.
It took me years to discover and strengthen this assurance. It had to start with the most elementary things. Once a man gave me an indoor baseball. I thought he was mocking me and I was hurt. "I can't use this." I said. "Take it with you," he urged me, "and roll it around." The words stuck in my head. "Roll it around! " By rolling the ball I could hear where it went. This gave me an idea how to achieve a goal I had thought impossible: playing baseball. At Philadelphia's Overbrook School for the Blind I invented a successful variation of baseball. We called it ground ball.
All my life I have set ahead of me a series of goals and then tried to reach them, one at a time. I had to learn my limitations. It was no good to try for something I knew at the start was wildly out of reach because that only invited the bitterness of failure. I would fail sometimes anyway but on the average I made progress.
14. We can learn from the beginning of the passage that
A. the author lost his sight because of a car crash.
B. the author wouldn't love life if the disaster didn't happen.
C. the disaster made the author appreciate what he had.
D. the disaster strengthened the author's desire to see.
15. According to the context, "a chair rocker on the front porch" in paragraph 3 means that the author
A. would sit in a rocking chair and enjoy his life.
B. was paralyzed and stayed in a rocking chair.
C. would lose his will to struggle against difficulties.
D. would sit in a chair and stay at home.
16. According to the passage, the baseball and encouragement offered by the man_______
A. hurt the author's feeling.
B. gave the author a deep impression.
C. directly led to the invention of ground ball.
D. inspired the author.
17. According to the passage, which of the following is CORRECT?
A. The author set goals for himself but only invited failure most of the time.
B. The author suggested not trying something beyond one's ability at the beginning.
C. The bitterness of failure prevented the author from trying something out of reach.
D. Because of his limitations, the author tried to reach one goal at a time.
Passage 7
Today, more and more people are using credit cards instead of money to buy the things they need. Almost anyone who has a steady income and continuous work record can apply for a credit card. If you have a credit card, you buy a car, eat a dinner, take a trip, and even get a haircut by changing the cost to your account. You can pay for purchases a month or two later, without any extra charge. Or you may choose to spread out your payments over several months and pay only part of the total amount each month. If you do this, the credit card company of the bank who sponsors the credit card will add a small service charge to your bill. This is very convenient for customers. With the credit card in your wallet or purse, you don't have to carry much cash. This saves your trips to the bank to cash checks. Also if you carry credit cards instead of a lot of cash, you don't have to be concerned about losing your money through carelessness or theft.
Credit cards are big business. Americans spend $16 billion a year on cards and there are already 590 million of them in circulation. Many banks sponsor their own credit companies and issue cards free to their customers. Other credit card companies charge their members annual dues. The stores that accept credit cards must pay a small fee to the credit card company ―a percentage of purchase price of the merchandise or service. In return, the credit card company promptly pays the store for the merchandise or service. Credit card companies make a profit from the fees they charge the store and also from the fees collected from customers who pay for their charges in monthly installment.
However, credit card companies sometimes have problems collecting overdue payments from unreliable customers if they charge more than they can pay for. Yet, in many ways, the big loser in the credit card system is not the credit card company, the store, or the card user, but rather the general customer. The store makes up for the fees it pays to the credit card company by increasing prices for goods and services. Stores may have more sales if they accept cards, but the added cost to the store when credit cards are accepted instead of cash is actually passed on to all consumers in higher prices. In this way, the cash customer suffers for the convenience the credit card customer enjoys.
18. According to the passage, nearly everyone can apply for credit cards if he or she can prove to be ________.
A. a dependable and honest person
B. a person with an income and work experience
C. a person with work experience but no regular income
D. a person with a regular income and an unbroken work record
19. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT a channel for the credit card company to make a profit?
A. Membership fees for credit card users.
B. A heavy fine for overdue payments.
C. Service charges for stores that accept credit cards.
D. Service charges for card users who pay back over a period.
20. The author’s purpose of writing this article is to ________.
A. persuade people to use credit cards
B. warn people of the danger of using credit cards
C. explain how credit card business works
D. explain how to use credit cards
SECTION B SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS (10 ×2%=20%)
Directions: In this section there are five short answer questions based on the passages in Section A. Answer the question with NO more than ten words in the space provided on Answer Sheet.
Passage 1
1. What is the students’ opinion of Thomas Wolfe?
Passage 2
2. What do many African-American women hope Michelle Obama will do?
Passage 3
3. According to the writer, who hires political speechwriters in a recent job ad?
4. Why does the writer of the passage say “these techniques can be used like tools” (para. 4)?
Passage 4
5. What does the passage mainly discuss?
Passage 5
6. What is the meaning of the underlined words “held back” in Paragraph 1?
7. What is the main idea of the passage?
Passage 6
8. What's the most difficult thing for the author?
Passage 7
9. What is the biggest worry for the credit card users?
10. What kind of difficulties may credit companies have?
Part III. Writing (30%)
December 5th is International Volunteers Day. Since 1985, when the United Nations announced the special day, tens of millions of people around the world have volunteered to help those in need. China now has 4.5 million registered volunteers who have provided more than 4.5 billion hours of volunteer work. What can you gain from volunteering?
Write a composition of about 400 words on the following topic:
The Benefits of Volunteering
Marks will be awarded for content, organization, grammar and appropriateness. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.
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