2024年4月7日发(作者：)
TEST FOR ENGLISH MAJORS (2018)
-GRADE EIGHT-
TIME LIMIIT: 150 MIN
PART I LISTENING COMPREHENSION [25 MIN]
SECTION A MINI-LECTURE
In this section you will hear a mini-lecture. You will hear the lecture ONCE ONLY. While listening to
the mini-lecture, please complete the gap-filling task on ANSWER SHEET ONE and write NO MORE
THAN THREE WORDS for each gap. Make sure the word(s) you fill in is(are) both grammatically and
semantically acceptable. You may use the blank sheet for note-taking.
You have THIRTY seconds to preview the gap-filling task.
Now listen to the mini-lecture. When it is over, you will be given THREE minutes to check your work.
SECTION B INTERVIEW
In this section you will hear ONE interview. The interview will be divided into TWO parts. At the end
of each part, five questions will be asked about what was said. Both the interview and the questions will
be spoken ONCE ONLY. After each question there will be a ten-second pause. During the pause, you
should read the four choices of A, B, C, and D, and mark the best answer to each question on ANSWER
SHEET TWO.
You have THIRTY seconds to preview the choices.
Now listen to Part One of the interview.
Questions 1 to 5 are based on Part One of the interview.
1. A. Announcement of results. B. Lack of a time schedule.
C. Slowness in ballots counting. D. Direction of the electoral events.
2.A. Other voices within Afghanistan wanted so. B. The date had been set previously.
C. All the ballots had been counted. D. The UN advised them to do so.
3. A. To calm the voters. B. To speed up the process.
C. To stick to the election rules. D. To stop complaints from the labor.
4. A. Unacceptable. B. Unreasonable. C. Insensible. D. Ill-considered.
5. A. Supportive. B. Ambivalent. C. Opposed. D. Neutral.
Now listening to Part Two of the interview.
Questions 6 to 10 are based on Part Two of the interview.
6. A. Ensure the government includes all parties. B. Discuss who is going to be the winner.
C. Supervise the counting of votes. D. Seek support from important sectors.
7. A. 36%-24%. B. 46%-34%. C. 56%-44%. D. 66%-54%.
8. A. Both candidates. B. Electoral institutions. C. The United Nations. D. Not specified.
9. A. It was unheard of. B. It was on a small scale.
C. It was insignificant. D. It occurred elsewhere.
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10. A. Problems in the electoral process.
C. Premature announcement of results.
B. Formation of a new government.
D. Democracy in Afghanistan.
PART II READING COMPREHENSION [45 MIN]
SECTION A MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
In this section there are three passages followed by fourteen multiple choice questions. For each
multiple choice question, there are four suggested answers marked A, B, C, and D. Choose the one that
you think is the best answer and mark your answer on ANSWER SHEET TWO.
PASSAGE ONE
(1) “Britain’s best export,” I was told by the Department of Immigration in Canberra, “is people.”
Close on 100,000 people have applied for assisted passages in the first five months of the year, and half of
these are eventually expected to migrate to Australia.
(2) The Australian are delighted. They are keenly aware that without a strong flow of immigrants
into the workforce the development of the Australian economy is unlikely to proceed at the ambitious
pace currently envisaged. The new mineral discoveries promise a splendid future, and the injection of
huge amounts of American and British capital should help to ensure that they are properly exploited, but
with unemployment in Australia down to less than 1.3 per cent, the government is understandably anxious
to attract more skilled labor.
(3) Australia is roughly the same size as the continental United States, but has only twelve million
inhabitants. Migration has accounted for half the population increase in the last four years, and has
contributed greatly to the country’s impressive economic development. Britain has always been the
principal source—ninety percent of Australians are of British descent, and Britain has provided one
million migrants since the Second World War.
(4) Australia has also given great attention to recruiting people elsewhere. Australians decided they
had an excellent potential source of applicants among the so-called “guest workers” who have crossed
their own frontiers to work in other parts of Europe. There were estimated to be more than four million of
them, and a large number were offered subsidized passages and guaranteed jobs in Australia. Italy has for
some years been the second biggest source of migrants, and the Australians have also managed to attract a
large number of Greeks and Germans.
(5) One drawback with them, so far as the Australians are concerned, is that integration tends to be
more difficult. Unlike the British, continental migrants have to struggle with an unfamiliar language and
new customs. Many naturally gravitate towards the Italian or Greek communities which have grown up in
cities such as Sydney and Melbourne. These colonies have their own newspapers, their own shops, and
their own clubs. Their inhabitants are not Australians, but Europeans.
(6) The government’s avowed aim, however, is to maintain “a substantially homogeneous society
into which newcomers, from whatever sources, will merge themselves”. By and large, therefore, Australia
still prefers British migrants, and tends to be rather less selective in their case than it is with others.
(7) A far bigger cause of concerns than the growth of national groups, however, is the increasing
number of migrants who return to their countries of origin. One reason is that people nowadays tend to be
more mobile, and that it is easier than in the past to save the return fare, but economic conditions also
have something to do with it. A slower rate of growth invariably produces discontent—and if this
coincides with greater prosperity in Europe, a lot of people tend to feel that perhaps they were wrong to
come here after all.
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(8) Several surveys have been conducted recently into the reasons why people go home. One noted
that “flies, dirt, and outside lavatories” were on the list of complaints from British immigrants, and added
that many people also complained about “the crudity, bad manners, and unfriendliness of the Australians”.
Another survey gave climate conditions, homesickness, and “the stark appearance of the Australian
countryside” as the main reasons for leaving.
(9) Most British migrants miss council housing the National Health scheme, and their relatives and
former neighbor. Loneliness is a big factor, especially among housewives. The men soon make new
friends at work, but wives tend to find it much harder to get used to a different way of life. Many are
housebound because of inadequate public transport in most outlying suburbs, and regular correspondence
with their old friends at home only serves to increase their discontent. One housewife was quoted recently
as saying: “I even find I miss the people I used to hate at home.”
(10) Rents are high, and there are long waiting lists for Housing Commission homes. Sickness can
be an expensive business and the climate can be unexpectedly rough. The gap between Australian and
British wage packets is no longer big, and people are generally expected to work harder here than they do
at home. Professional men over forty often have difficulty in finding a decent job. Above all, perhaps,
skilled immigrants often find a considerable reluctance to accept their qualifications.
(11) According to the journal Australian Manufacturer, the attitude of many employers and fellow
workers is anything but friendly. “We Australians,” it stated in a recent issue, “are just too fond of
painting the rosy picture of the big, warm-hearted Aussie. As a matter of fact, we are so busy blowing our
own trumpets that we have not got time to be warm-hearted and considerate. Go down ‘heart-break alley’
among some of the migrants and find out just how expansive the Aussie is to his immigrants.”
11. The Australians want a strong flow of immigrants because ____________.
A. Immigrants speed up economic expansion B. unemployment is down to a low figure
C. immigrants attract foreign capital D. Australia is as large as the United States
12. Australia prefers immigrants from Britain because ____________.
A. they are selected carefully before entry B. they are likely to form national groups
C. they easily merge into local communities D. they are fond of living in small towns
13. In explaining why some migrants return to Europe the author ____________.
A. stresses their economic motives B. emphasizes the variety of their motives
C. stresses loneliness and homesickness D. emphasizes the difficulties of men over forty
14. Which of the following words is used literally, not metaphorically?
A. “flow” (Para.2). B. “injection? (Para. 2). C. “gravitate” (Para. 5). D. “selective” (Para. 6).
15. Para. 11 pictures the Australians as ____________.
A. unsympathetic B. ungenerous C. undemonstrative D. unreliable
PASSAGE TWO
(1) Some of the advantages of bilingualism include better performance at tasks involving “executive
function” (which involves the brain’s ability to plan and prioritize), better defense against dementia in old
age and—the obvious—the ability to speak a second language. One purported advantage was not
mentioned, though. Many multilinguals report different personalities, or even different worldviews, when
they speak their different languages.
(2) It’s an exciting notion, the idea that one’s very self could be broadened by the mastery of two or
more languages. In obvious ways (exposure to new friends, literature and so forth) the self really is
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broadened. Yet it is different to claim—as many people do—to have a different personality when using a
different language. A former Economist colleague, for example, reported being ruder in Hebrew than in
English. So what is going on here?
(3) Benjamin Lee Whorf, an American linguist who died in 1941, held that each language encodes a
worldview that significantly influences its speakers. Often called “Whorfianism”, this idea has its sceptics,
but there are still good reasons to believe language shapes thought.
(4) This influence is not necessarily linked to the vocabulary or grammar of a second language.
Significantly, most people are not symmetrically bilingual. Many have learned one language at home
from parents, and another later in life, usually at school. So bilinguals usually have different strengths and
weaknesses in their different languages—and they are not always best in their first language. For example,
when tested in a foreign language, people are less likely to fall into a cognitive trap (answering a test
question with an obvious-seeming but wrong answer) than when tested in their native language. In part
this is because working in a second language slows down the thinking. No wonder people feel different
when speaking them. And no wonder they feel looser, more spontaneous, perhaps more assertive or
funnier or blunter, in the language they were reared in from childhood.
(5) What of “crib” bilinguals, raised in two languages? Even they do not usually have perfectly
symmetrical competence in their two languages. But even for a speaker whose two languages are very
nearly the same in ability, there is another big reason that person will feel different in the two languages.
This is because there is an important distinction between bilingualism and biculturalism.
(6) Many bilinguals are not bicultural. But some are. And of those bicultural bilinguals, we should be
little surprised that they feel different in their two languages. Experiments in psychology have shown the
power of “priming”—small unnoticed factors that can affect behavior in big ways. Asking people to tell a
happy story, for example, will put them in a better mood. The choice between two languages is a huge
prime. Speaking Spanish rather than English, for a bilingual and bicultural Puerto Rican in New York,
might conjure feelings of family and home. Switching to English might prime the same person to think of
school and work.
(7) So there are two very good reasons (asymmetrical ability, and priming) that make people feel
different speaking their different languages. We are still left with a third kind of argument, though. An
economist recently interviewed here at Prospero, Athanasia Chalari, said for example that:
Greeks are very loud and they interrupt each other very often. The reason for that is the Greek
grammar and syntax. When Greeks talk, they begin their sentences with verbs and the form of the verb
includes a lot of information so you already know what they are talking about after the first word and can
interrupt more easily.
(8) Is there something intrinsic to the Greek language that encourages Greeks to interrupt? People
seem to enjoy telling tales about their languages’ inherent properties, and how they influence their
speakers. A group of French intellectual worthies once proposed, rather self-flatteringly, that French be
the sole legal language of the EU, because of its supposedly unmatchable rigor and precision. Some
Germans believe that frequently putting the verb at the end of a sentence makes the language especially
logical. But language myths are not always self-flattering: many speakers think their languages are
unusually illogical or difficult—witness the plethora of books along the lines of “Only in English do you
park on a driveway and drive on a parkway; English must be the craziest language in the world!” We also
see some unsurprising overlap with national stereotypes and self-stereotypes: French, rigorous; German,
logical; English, playful. Of course.
(9) In this case, Ms. Chalari, a scholar, at least proposed a specific and plausible line of causation
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from grammar to personality: in Greek, the verb comes first, and it carries a lot of information, hence easy
interrupting. The problem is that many unrelated languages all around the world put the verb at the
beginning of sentences. Many languages all around the world are heavily inflected, encoding lots of
information in verbs. It would be a striking finding if all of these unrelated languages had speakers more
prone to interrupting each other. Welsh, for example, is also both verb-first and about as heavily inflected
as Greek, but the Welsh are not known as pushy conversationalists.
16. According to the author, which of the following advantages of bilingualism is commonly accepted?
A. Personality improvement. B. Better task performance.
C. Change of worldviews. D. Avoidance of old-age disease.
17. According to the passage, that language influences thought may be related to ____________.
A. the vocabulary of a second language
B. the grammar of a second language
C. the improved test performance in a second language
D. the slowdown of thinking in a second language
18. What is the author’s response to the question at the beginning of Para. 8?
A. It’s just one of the popular tales of national stereotypes.
B. Some properties inherent can make a language logical.
C. German and French are good examples of Whorfianism.
D. There is adequate evidence to support a positive answer.
19. Which of the following statements concerning Para. 9 is correct?
A. Ms. Chalari’s theory about the Greek language is well grounded.
B. Speakers of many other languages are also prone to interrupting.
C. Grammar is unnecessarily a condition for change in personality.
D. Many unrelated languages don’t have the same features as Greek.
20. In discussing the issue, the author’s attitude is ____________.
A. satirical B. objective C. critical D. ambivalent
PASSAGE THREE
(1) Once across the river and into the wholesale district, she glanced about her for some likely door
at which to apply. As she contemplated the wide windows and imposing signs, she became conscious of
being gazed upon and understood for what she was—a wage-seeker. She had never done this thing before
and lacked courage. To avoid conspicuity and a certain indefinable shame she felt at being caught spying
about for some place where she might apply for a position, she quickened her steps and assumed an air of
indifference supposedly common to one upon an errand. In this way she passed many manufacturing and
wholesale houses without once glancing in. At last, after several blocks of walking, she felt that this
would not do, and began to look about again, though without relaxing her pace. A little way on she saw a
great door which, for some reason attracted her attention. It was ornamented by a small brass sign, and
seemed to be the entrance to a vast hive of six or seven floors. “Perhaps,” she thought, “they may want
someone,” and crossed over to enter, screwing up her courage as she went. When she came within a score
of feet of the desired goal, she observed a young gentleman in a grey clerk suit, fumbling his watch-chain
and looking out. That he had anything to do with the concern she could not tell, but because he happened
to be looking in her direction, her weakening heart misgave her and she hurried by, too overcome with
shame to enter in. After several blocks of walking, in which the uproar of the streets and the novelty of
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the situation had time to wear away the effect of her first defeat, she again looked about. Over the way
stood a great six-story structure labeled “Storm and King,” which she viewed with rising hope. It was a
wholesale dry goods concern and employed women. She could see them moving about now and then
upon the upper floors. This place she decided to enter, no matter what. She crossed over and walked
directly toward the entrance. As she did so two men came out and paused in the door. A telegraph
messenger in blue dashed past her and up the few steps which graced the entrance and disappeared.
Several pedestrians out of the hurrying throng which filled the sidewalks passed about her as she paused,
hesitating. She looked helplessly around and then, seeing herself observed, retreated. It was too difficult a
task. She could not go past them.
(2) So severe a defeat told sadly upon her nerves. She could scarcely understand her weakness and
yet she could not think of gazing inquiringly about upon the surrounding scene. Her feet carried her
mechanically forward, every foot of her progress being a satisfactory portion of a flight which she gladly
made. Block after block passed by. Upon streetlamps at the various corners she read names such as
Madison, Monroe, La Salle, Clark, Dearborn; and still she went, her feet beginning to tire upon the broad
stone flagging. She was pleased in part that the streets were bright and clean. The morning sun shining
down with steadily increasing warmth made the shady side of the streets pleasantly cool. She looked at
the blue sky overhead with more realization of its charm than had ever come to her before.
(3) Her cowardice began to trouble her in a way. She turned back along the street she had come,
resolving to hunt up Storm and King and enter. On the way she encountered a great wholesale shoe
company, through the broad plate windows of which she saw an enclosed executive department, hidden
by frosted glass. Without this enclosure, but just within the street entrance, sat a grey-haired gentleman at
a small table, with a large open ledger of some kind before him. She walked by this institution several
times hesitating, but finding herself unobserved she eventually gathered sufficient courage to falter past
the screen door and stood humble waiting.
(4) “Well, young lady,” observed the old gentleman, looking at her somewhat kindly—“what is it
you wish?”
(5) “I am, that is, do you—I mean, do you need any help?” she stammered.
(6) “Not just at present,” he answered smiling. “Not just at present. Come in some time next week.
Occasionally we need someone.”
(7) She received the answer in silence and backed awkwardly out. The pleasant nature of her
reception rather astonished her. She had expected that it would be more difficult, that something cold and
harsh would be said—she knew not what. That she had not been put to shame and made to feel her
unfortunate position seemed remarkable. She did not realize that it was just this which made her
experience easy, but the result was the same. She felt greatly relieved.
(8) Somewhat encouraged, she ventured into another large structure. It was a clothing company, and
more people were in evidence.
(9) An office boy approached her.
(10) “Who is it you wish to see?” he asked.
(11) “I want to see the manager,” she returned.
(12) He ran away and spoke to one of a group of three men who were conferring together. One broke
off an came towards her.
(13) “Well?” he said, coldly. The greeting drove all courage from her at once.
(14) “Do you need any help?” she stammered.
(15) “No,” he replied abruptly and turned upon his heel.
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(16) She went foolishly out, the office boy deferentially swinging the door for her, and gladly sank
into the obscuring crowd. It was a severe set-back to her recently pleased mental state.
21. She quickened her steps because she ____________.
A. was afraid of being seen as a stranger
B. was in a hurry to leave the district
C. wanted to look like someone working there
D. wanted to apply at more factories that day
22. Why didn’t she enter Storm and King the first time?
A. She was too timid to enter the building
B. Two men stopped her at the entrance
C. Several pedestrians had found her strange
D. The messenger had closed the door behind him
23. What does “every foot of her progress being a satisfactory portion of a flight which she gladly made”
mean according to the context (Para.2)?
A. She thought she was making progress in job search.
B. She was glad that she was looking for a job.
C. She found her experience satisfactory.
D. She just wanted to leave the place.
24. Why did she feel greatly relieved (Para.7)?
A. She eventually managed to enter the building.
B. She was kindly received by the clerk.
C. She had the courage to make an inquiry.
D. She was promised a work position.
SECTION B SHORT-ANSWER QUESTIONS
In this section there are eight short answer questions based on the passages in SECTION A. Answer
each question in NO MORE THAN TEN WORDS in the space provided on ANSWER SHEET TWO.
PASSAGE ONE
25. What do “promise” and “should” in Para. 2 imply about author’s vision of Australia’s economy?
26. Explain the meaning of “the growth of national groups” according to the context (Para. 7).
PASSAGE TWO
27. Explain the meaning of “The choice between two languages is a huge prime” according to the
context (Para. 6).
28. What reasons does the author give to explain why people feel different when speaking different
languages?
29. What does the author focus on in the passage?
PASSAGE THREE
30. Select and write down at least THREE words or phrases in Para. 1 describing the girl’s inner feelings
while walking in the streets looking for a job.
31. Explain the meaning of “So severe a defeat told sadly upon her nerves” according to the context
(Para. 2).
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