1、第 1 页 共 12 页四川农业大学2008 年招收攻读博士学位研究生考试试题科目名称： 1080 英语 (总分：100 分) 适用专业： 各专业考生注意：所有答案必需写在答题纸上，否则无效！本试题随同答题纸交回！Part I Reading Comprehension (45 points )Directions: There are 6 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choi
2、ces marked A. B.C and D . You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.Passage OneQuestions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage.As the English language has changed at a fast speed in this century, so has the us
3、e of the English language.After the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was founded in 1927, the particular style of speech of the BBC announcers was recognized as Standard English or Received Pronunciation (RP) English. Now, most people still consider that the pronunciation and delivery of BBC a
4、nnouncers is the clearest and most understandable spoken English.English has had a strong association with class and social status. However, since the Second World War there has been a considerable change of attitude towards speech snobbery, and hallmarks of class distinction such as styles of speec
5、h have been gradually discarded, especially by the younger generation.As the need has arisen, new words have been invented or found from other languages and incorporated into English. Similarly, old words and expressions have been discarded as their usefulness has diminished or the fashions have pas
6、sed. This also happens to styles and modes of speech which became fashionable at a particular time and in specific circumstances.By the end of the 1960s it became apparent that it was not necessary to speak Standard English or even correct grammar to become popular, successful and rich. The fashiona
7、ble speech of the day was no longer the prerogative of a privileged class but rather a defiant expression of class lessness.The greatest single influence of the shaping of the English language in modern times is the American English. Over the last 25 years the English used by many people, particular
8、ly by those in the media, advertising and show business, has become more and more mid-Atlantic in style, delivery and 第 2 页 共 12 页accent.In the 1970s, fashion favoured stressless pronunciation and a language full of jargon, slang and “in” words, much of it quite incomprehensible to the outside world
9、. What is considered modern and fashionable in Britain today is often not the kind of English taught in schools and colleges.1. Which one of the following is NOT true?A. The use of the English language has not changed much in this century.B. The BBS announcers speak Standard English.C. English has n
10、o association with class and social status now.D. Young people all speak English in the same way.2. What does the author imply by saying “there has been a considerable change of attitude towards speech snobbery” (Para. 3)?A. People all speak English like BBC announcers.B. There is a great change of
11、attitude about how English should be spoken.C. Some people still think their way of speaking is inferior.D. Most people dont believe their way of speaking is inferior.3. According to the author, there was a trend in the U. S. for the young people _.A. to speak Standard English.B. to speak English wi
12、thout class distinctionC. to speak English with class distinctionD. to speak English with grammar mistakes4. The word “mid-Atlantic” in the passage (Para. 6) probably means _.A. American and European B. American and BritishC. the Atlantic OceanD. in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean5. It can be concl
13、uded from the passage that _.A. Standard English is taught in school and collegesB. the young people are defiant because they refuse to speak standard EnglishC. English language is influenced by American English in the last 25 yearsD. there has been a great change in the English language in this cen
14、turyPassage TwoQuestions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage.A wise man once said that the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do 第 3 页 共 12 页nothing. So, as a police officer, I have some urgent things to say to good people.Days after days my men and I struggle to
15、hold back a tidal wave of crime. Something has gone terribly wrong with our once-proud American way of life. It has happened in the area of values. A key ingredient is disappearing, and I think I know what it is: accountability.Accountability isnt hard to define. It means that every person is respon
16、sible for his or her actions and liable for their consequences.Of the many values that hold civilization together honesty, kindness, and so on accountability may be the most important of all. Without it, there can be no respect, no trust, no law and, ultimately, no society.My job as a police officer
17、 is to impose accountability on people who refuse, or have never learned, to impose it on themselves. But as every policeman knows, external controls on peoples behavior are far less effective than internal restraints such as guilt, shame and embarrassment.Fortunately there are still communities sma
18、ller towns, usually where schools maintain discipline and where parents hold up standards that proclaim: “In this family certain thing are not tolerated they simply are not done!”Yet more and more, especially in our larger cities and suburbs, these inner restraints are loosening. Your typical robber
19、 has gone. He considers your property his property; he takes what he wants, including your life if you enrage him.The main cause of this break-down is a radical shift in attitudes. Thirty years ago, if a crime was committed, society was considered the victim. Now, in a shocking reversal, its the cri
20、minal who is considered victimized: by his underprivileged upbringing, by the school that didnt teach him to read, by the church that failed to reach him with moral guidance, by the parents who didnt provied a stable home.I dont believe it. Many others in equally disadvantaged circumstances choose n
21、ot to engage in criminal activities. If we free the criminal, even partly, from accountability, we become a society of endless excuses where no one accepts responsibility for anything.We in America desperately need more people who believe that the person who commits a crime is the one responsible fo
22、r it.6. What the wise man said suggests that _.A. its unnecessary for good people to do anything in face of evilB. its certain that evil will prevail if good men do nothing about itC. its only natural for virtue to defeat evilD. its desirable for good men to keep away from evil7. According to the au
23、thor, if a person is found guilty of a crime, _.第 4 页 共 12 页A. society is to be held responsibleB. modern civilization is responsible for itC. the criminal himself should bear the blameD. the standards of living should be improved8. Compared with those in small towns, people in large cities have _.A
24、. less self-disciplineB. better sense of disciplineC. more mutual respectD. less effective government9. The writer is sorry to have noticed that _.A. people in large cities tend to excuse criminalsB. people in small towns still stick to old discipline and standardsC. todays society lacks sympathy fo
25、r people in difficultyD. people in disadvantaged circumstances are engaged in criminal activities.10. The key point of the passage is that _.A. stricter discipline should be maintained in schools and familiesB. more good examples should be set for people to followC. more restrictions should be impos
26、ed on peoples behaviorD. more people should accept the value of accountabilityPassage Three Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage.Many of the most damaging and life threatening types of weather torrential rains, severe thunderstorms, and tornadoes begin quickly, strike suddenly, and
27、disappear rapidly, destroying small regions while leaving neighboring areas untouched. Such event as a tornado struck the northeastern section of Edmonton, Alberta, in July 1987. Total damages from the tornado exceeded $250 million, the highest ever for any Canadian storm.Conventional computer model
28、s of the atmosphere have limited value in predicting short lived local storms like the Edmonton tornado, because the available weather data are generally not detailed enough to allow computers to study carefully the subtle atmospheric changes that come before these storms. In most nations, for examp
29、le, weather balloon observations are taken just once every twelve hours at locations typically separated by hundreds of miles. With such limited data, conventional forecasting models do a much better job predicting general weather conditions over large regions than they do forecasting specific local
30、 events.第 5 页 共 12 页Until recently, the observation intensive approach needed for accurate, very short range forecasts, or “Nowcasts,” was not feasible. The cost of equipping and operating many thousands of conventional weather stations was extremely high, and the difficulties involved in rapidly co
31、llecting and processing the raw weather data from such a network were hard to overcome. Fortunately, scientific and technological advances have overcome most of these problems. Radar systems, automated weather instruments, and satellites are all capable of making detailed, nearly continuous observat
32、ion over large regions at a relatively low cost. Communications satellites can transmit data around the world cheaply and instantaneously, and modern computers can quickly compile and analyze this large volume of weather information. Meteorologists and computer scientists now work together to design
33、 computer programs and video equipment capable of transforming raw weather data into words, symbols, and vivid graphic displays that forecasters can interpret easily and quickly. As meteorologists have begun using these new technologies in weather forecasting offices, Nowcasting is becoming a realit
34、y.11. The word “exceeded” in paragraph I most probably means _.A. added up to B. were more thanC. were about D. were less than12. Conventional computer models of the atmosphere fails to predict such a short lived tornado because _.A. the computer is not used to forecast specific local eventsB. the c
35、omputers are not advanced enough to predict itC. the weather data people collect are often wrongD. weather conditions in some small regions are not available13. According to the passage, the word “Nowcast” (paragraph 3) means _.A. a way of collecting raw weather dataB. a forecast which can predict t
36、he weather conditions in the small area in an accurate wayC. a network to collect instant weather dataD. a more advanced system of weather observation14. According to the passage, _ is the key factor to making “Nowcasts” a reality.A. scientific and technological advances such as radar, or satellites
37、B. computer scientistC. meteorologistsD. advanced computer programs15. According to the author, the passage mainly deals with _.A. a tornado in Edmonton, AlbertaB. whats a “Nowcast”第 6 页 共 12 页C. the disadvantage of conventional computer models of the weather forecastD. a breakthrough in weather for
38、ecastPassage FourQuestions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage.Bringing up children is a hard work, and you are often to blame for any bad behavior of your children. If so, Judith Rich Harris has good news for you. Parents, she argues, have no important long term effects on the development o
39、f the personality of their children. Far more important are their playground friends and neighborhood. Ms. Harris takes to hitting the assumption, which has dominated developmental psychology for almost half a century.Ms. Harriss attack on the developmentalists “nature” argument looks likely to rein
40、force doubts that the profession was already having. If parents matter, why is it that two adopted children, reared in the same home, are no more similar in personality than two adopted children reared in separate homes? Or that a pair of identical twins, reared in the same home, are no more alike t
41、han a pair of identical twins reared in different homes?Difficult as it is to track the precise effects of parental upbringing, it may be harder to measure the exact influence of the peer (同龄人) group in childhood and adolescence. Ms. Harris points to how children from immigrant homes soon learn not
42、to speak at school in the way their parents speak. But acquiring a language is surely a skill, rather than a characteristic of the sort developmental psychologists hunt for. Certainly it is different from growing up tensely or relaxed, or from learning to be honest or hard working or generous. Easy
43、though it may be to prove that parents have little impact on those qualities, it will be hard to prove that peers have vastly more.Moreover, mum and dad surely cannot be ditched completely. Young adults may, as Ms. Harris argues, be keen to appear like their peers. But even in those early years, par
44、ents have the power to open doors: they may initially choose the peers with whom their young associate, and pick that influential neighborhood. Moreover, most people suspect that they come to resemble their parents more in middle age, and that peoples child bearing habits may be formed partly by wha
45、t their parents did. So the balance of influences is probably complicated, as most parents already suspected without being able to demonstrate it scientifically. Even if it turns out that the genes they pass on and the friends their children play with matter as much as affection, discipline and good
46、 example, parents are not completely off the hook.16. According to Ms. Harris, _.A. parents are to blame for any bad behavior of their childrenB. parents will affect greatly the childrens life in the long run第 7 页 共 12 页C. nature rather than nurture has a significant effect on childrens personality
47、developmentD. childrens personality is shaped by their friends and neighbors17. Which of the following views is consistent with what the developmentalists hold?A. Children are more influenced by their peers than by their parents.B. Twins are quite different if they are reared in two separate familie
48、s.C. Identical twins reared in the same home are different in personality.D. Nurture has a less significant effect on childrens personality development.18. According to Para.3, which of the following statements is TRUE?A. It is harder to track the precise effects of parental upbringing than the exac
49、t influence of the peer group in children.B. Immigrant children tend to discard the way their parents speak quickly when they go to school.C. It has been proved that peers have more impact on childrens qualities such as to be honest or hard working or generous.D. It is easier for children to acquire a language at school than at home.19. The word “ditched” (Line 1, Para. 4 ) could be b
