2017年华南理工大学研究生入学考试专业课真题626_英语综合水平测试.docx
第 1 页626华南理工大学2017 年攻读硕士学位研究生入学考试试卷(试卷上做答无效,请在答题纸上做答,试后本卷必须与答题纸一同交回)科目名称:英语综合水平测试 适 用 专 业 : 英 语 语 言 文 学 ; 外 国 语 言 学 及 应 用 语 言 学共 页Part 1 Reading Comprehension (50 scores, 2.5 scores each)Directions: There are 4 passages, each of which is followed by 5 statements or questions. Read the passages and make ONE choice that best completes or answers each of the statements or questions.Passage 1Unlike most of Western Europe, where paid vacations for regular workers are typical four to six weeks, the U.S. has no official vacation policy. Employers are not required to provide them, and the starting norm is good jobs remains a paltry two weeks. Millions of the hard-working poor, without steady employment, have no paid vacation at all. And millions of the hard-working well-to-do have nice allotments that exist only on paperthe excessive demands of positions make planning and taking significant time off almost impossible.The failure to increase vacation time in the U.S. is especially scandalous these days, given how much harder most Americans are working. They are working more hours than they are scheduled to work, they do more overtime, bring more work home, and take more business trips. And 60 percent still report that they dont have enough time at work to finish “every thing that needs to get done.” Despite the fact that 68 percent report having to work “very fast” and 88 percent reporting having to work “very hard”, American corporations seem downright ungracious about vacations when viewed in this light, or when we consider that they give their European employees the same months to six weeks that European companies do.The Western Europeans understand that being a good, hard-working employee requires an annual period of serous relaxation. Not just a three-day jet to the Bahams, but a genuine unwinding, not only from word, but also from the hectic pace of daily life. In the U.S., we tend to use vacations as opportunities for consuming, whether its expensive hotel stays, outlet shopping, or exotic luxury destinations. This is part of our longer pattern of work and spend, using economic progress to consume more rather than give ourselves more time off. Europeans, by contrast, are more likely to go camping, or hiking, or stay in the country, where they can live more simply, enjoy nature, and reflect on their lives. The第 2 页vacation bonus ensures that everyone can afford to do this. In Western Europe, vacations have become a basic human right. In the U.S., they feel more like an endangered species.1. We learn from the first paragraph that .A) American employers refuse to grant vacation to employees although they are required to do so.B) The longest vacation American employees can take is two weeks.C) Americans without steady employment can have a limited amount of paid vacation.D) Many American executives skip the vacation they are entitled to.2. A very strong case for increasing vacation time in America is that .A) America has a very strong economy.B) Europeans take vacation more than Americans do.C) Americans are working extremely hard.D) Americans have a stronger desire to take vacation than European.3. In granting vacation to Europeans, American employers _.A) take a double standardB) are extremely patrioticC) do worse than their European counterpartsD) do better than their European counterparts4. What do Americans do when they take vacation?A) They know how to enjoy themselves.B) They spent a lot of money.C) They do everything economically.D) They try to imitate their European counterparts.5. In discussing vacation in America, the tone of the author is .A) criticalB) tolerantC) humorousD) desperatePassage 2By the year 2020 AD, a single silicon chip will contain more components than the number of cells in the human brain. And electronic chip makers will have turned away from silicon and other conventional materials and will be designing a generation of biological computers, made partly nor entirely of protein molecules like those in living cells. These are some of the forecasts being made by Mr. Brain Oakley, one of Britains top第 3 页men in the computer world.Mr. Oakley is director of the Alvey program set up as a collaborative effort by the UK Government, the academic world and private industry to keep Britain among the leaders in the fast developing world of silicon chips and computer technology.Mr. Oakley predicts that in 10 years, computers will be working 10 times faster than today, and the trend will continue. Every year silicon chips will double in complexity. But fortunately as they get smaller they use less power and are cheaper to produce as well as working faster, so the cost of chips is being reduced by one-tenth every six years. This means that computers are getting smaller and at the same time more powerful and more intelligent, but little or no more expensive.By 2020, says Mr. Oakley, typist should be getting uneasy about their future, for their job will finally be on the way out because speech recognition will transform even messy dictation straight into the printed word. By 2030 AD computers will be to reason from inadequate data, get the sense of rambling conversations and recognize blurred or faulty pictures of things as human beings can. Such developments will need computers 1,000 times more powerful than those of today.6. Mr. Brian Oakley predicts that by the year 2020 .A) computers will become more completedB) silicon chips contain more informationC) computers will be made of living cellsD) other conventional materials will take the place of silicon7. Alvey program is .A) the academic worldB) part of the UK governmentC) a collaborative effort by private industryD) to advance UKs computer technology8. If a silicon chip costs 100 dollars to produce today, six years later it will cost .A) 99 dollarsB) 90 dollarsC) 10 dollarsD) 11 dollars9. Which of the following statements is TRUE?A) Typists will be out of work before 2020.B) Silicon chips will become more complicated.C) Mr. Oakley is an expert on computer.D) Both B and C.第 4 页10. Which of the following may be considered as the best title for this passage?A) Comparison Between Old and New ComputersB) Typists Trouble in FutureC) Computers in the Year 2020D) Relationship Between Silicon Chip and ComputerPassage 3Is Harvard worth it? Conventional wisdom says yes. But with the price of degree from Americas most famous university and other elite private colleges now surpassing $125,000, many families and a number of economistsare not so sure. Heres a look at the evidence.For Americas high school seniors, April is the cruelest month. Thats when colleges flood the postal system with news of who has won a place in next falls freshman class. For more than a few families, a difficult decision will follow: Is it worth paying some $125,000 to give their child an education at an elite best private college? Or would her future be just as bright if she went to less expensive school?These questions have no easy answers. Of course, thats not the impression you get from the $500-miUion-a-year college-admissions industry, with its magazine rankings, test prep courses, and guidebooks. Certainly many neurotic boomer parentsand their stressed-out resume-building teenagersassume that it is always better to choose Harvard over Big State U. because of Harvards presumably superior educational environment, better alumni connections, and more lucrative on-campus recruiting opportunities.Its true that big law firms, major teaching hospitals, and investment bankseven the offices of FORTUNEare stuffed with Ivy Leaguers. Its also true that if you want a career in big leading firms in the U.S., a gilt-edged diploma is a distinct advantage. Then again, theres plenty of anecdotal evidence that an elite education is hardly necessary. The majority of top CEOs surveyed by FORTUNE in 1990s did not attend an elite college.So what kind of return is there likely to be on that $125,000 investment? And how does it compare with the return on a less expensive but also less prestigious education? The academic evidence is murky. To start with the basics: College pays. On average, a person with an undergraduate degree now earns almost twice as much as someone with only a high school diploma, up from 1.5 times in 1975.The economic literature on the payoff of graduating from an elite college, however, as opposed to any college, is far less conclusive. Several studies during the past decade found a connection between higher future earnings and attendance at college with high SAT scores. Most of the research concluded that for each 100-point increase in the average SAT score, a graduate could expect a 3% to 7% increase in lifetimes earnings.第 5 页But the studies compared schools, not people. You would expect graduates of selective schoolswhich attract successful studentsto have successful careers. (It would be stunning if they didnt.) What such studies do not measure is how an individuals earnings are affected by the choice of college. Researchers found that those who went to the more prestigious schools reported higher earnings.But SAT scores are not everything. Admission offices at elite schools include many other criteria in their decisionsgrades, extracurricular activities, recommendations, essays, interviews. These factors may reveal abilities, like good communication skills, which are far more valuable in the workplace than a perfect 600. Because economists have no data on these traits, they term them “unobserved”. But they are hardly unimportant. Until recently, no one had tried to control unobserved characteristics in measuring the effect of an elite education on earnings.11. Why April is the crudest month in U.S.?A) Because the postal system is full of all kinds of news.B) Because an education at an elite private college is high-standard.C) Because it is time for college to admit students.D) Because it is hard for parents to make a decision.12. It is better to choose Harvard rather than state university, for the following factors EXCEPT .A) reasonable costB) better alumni connectionsC) more profitable chance of future workD) better educational conditions13. Which of the following statements is NOT true?A) FORTUNE is a famous magazine.B) Graduates from an elite college can get gilt-edged diplomas.C) It is necessary to have an elite education to work at big law firms.D) FORTUNE offices are stuffed with Ivy Leaguers.14. “Murky” in paragraph 5 means .A) true B) untrue C) clear D) unclear15. What is the most appropriate title for this passage?A) The Crudest MonthB) Is An Elite College Worth It?C) A Difficult Decision.D) Higher Education第 6 页Passage 4Occasional self-medication has always been part of normal living. The making and selling of drugs have a long history and are closely linked, like medical practice itself, with the belief in magic. Only during the last hundred years or so has the development of scientific techniques made it possible for some of the causes of symptoms to be understood, so that more accurate diagnosis has become possible. The doctor is now able to follow up the correct diagnosis of many illnesses with specific treatment of their causes. In many other illnesses, of which the causes remain unknown, it is still limited, like the unqualified prescriber, to the treatment of symptoms. The doctor is trained to decide when to treat symptoms only and when to attack the cause: this is the essential difference between medical prescribing and self-medication.The advance of technology has brought about much progress in some fields of medicine, including the development of scientific drug therapy. In many countries public health organization is improving and peoples nutritional standards have risen. Parallel with such beneficial trends have two adverse effects. One is the use of high-pressure advertising by the pharmaceutical industry, which has tended to influence both patients and doctors and has led to the overuse of drugs generally. The other is the emergence of the sedentary society with its faulty ways of life: lack of exercise, over-eating, unsuitable eating, insufficient sleep, excessive smoking and drinking. People with disorders arising from faulty habits such as these, as well as from unhappy human relationships, often resort to self-medication and so add the taking of pharmaceuticals to the list. Advertisers go to great lengths to catch this market.Clever advertising, aimed at chronic sufferers who will try anything because doctors have not been able to cure them, can induce such faith in a preparation, particularly if steeply priced, that it will produceby suggestiona very real effect in some people. Advertisements are also aimed at people suffering from mild complaints such as simple colds and coughs, which clear up by themselves within a short time.These are the main reasons why laxatives, indigestion remedies, painkillers, tonics, vitamin and iron tablets and many other preparations are found in quantity in many households. It is doubtful whether taking these things ever improves a persons health; it may even make it worse. Worse because the preparation may contain unsuitable ingredients; worse because the taker may become dependent on them; worse because they might be taken in excess; worse because they may cause poisoning, and worse of all because symptoms of some serious underlying cause may be masked and therefore medical help may not be sought.第 7 页16. The first paragraph is intended to .A) suggest that self-medication has a long historyB) define what diagnosis means excatlyC) praise doctors for their expertiseD) tell the symptoms from the causes17. Advertisements are aimed at people suffering from mild complaints because .A) they often watch ads on TVB) may recover soon even without taking medicineC) they generally lead a sedentary lifeD) they dont take sports and easily catch colds18. Paragraphs 2 and 3 explain .A) those good things are not without side effectsB) why clever advertising is so powerfulC) why in modern times self-medication is still practisedD) why people develop faulty ways of life19. The author tells us in paragraph 4 .A) the reasons for keeping medicine at homeB) peoples doubt about taking medicineC) what kind of medicine people should prepare at homeD) the possible harms self-medication may do to people20. The best title for the passage would be .A) Medical PracticeB) Clever AdvertisingC) Self-MedicationD) Self-TreatmentPart 2 Short Answer and Translation (50 scores, 5 scores each)Directions: There are two passages in this part. Please read them and answer the questionsin English and translate the underlined sentences into Chinese.A Promise KeptBy Ed Cook1I had my first chocolate bar at five years old. Ill never forget the delicious, comforting taste. But the circumstances were anything but sweet. It was World War II. I lived with my family in the Lithuanian town of Taurage when the Russian army swept west tow