2008年专业英语八级考试真题及答案.doc

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1、2008年专业英语八级考试真题及答案SECTION A MINI-LECTUREIn this section you will hear a mini-lecture. You will hear the lecture ONCE ONLY. While listening, take notes on the important points. Your notes will not be marked, but you will need them to complete a gap-filling task after the mini-lecture. When the lectur

2、e is over, you will be given two minutes to check your notes, and another ten minutes to complete the gap-filling task on ANSWER SHEET ONE. Use the blank sheet for note-taking.The Popularity of EnglishI. Present status of EnglishA. English as a native/first languageB. English as a lingua franca: a l

3、anguage for communication among peoplewhose (1)_ are differentC. Number of people speaking English as a first or a second language: 320-380 million native speakers 250- (2) _ million speakers of English as a second languageII. Reasons for the popular use of EnglishA. (3) _ reasons the Pilgrim Father

4、s brought the language to America; British settlers brought the language to Australia; English was used as a means of control in (4)_B. Economic reasons spread of (5) _ language of communication iii the international business communityC. (6)_ in international travel use of English in travel and tour

5、ism signs in airports language of announcement language of (7) _D. Information exchange use of English in the academic world language of (8) _ or journal articlesE. Popular culture pop music on (9)_ films from the USAIII. Questions to think aboutA. status of English in the futureB. (10) _ of distinc

6、t varieties of EnglishSECTIONAMINI-LECTUREInthissectionyouwillhearamini-lecture.YouwillhearthelectureONCEONLYwhilelistening,takenotesontheimportantpoints.Yournoteswillnotbemarked,butyouwillneedthemtocompleteagap-fillingtaskafterthemini-lecture.Whenthelectureisover,youwillbegiventwominutestocheckyour

7、notes,andanothertenminutestocompletethegap-fillingtaskonANSWERSHEETONE.Usetheblanksheetfornote-taking.Nowlistentothemini-lectureThePopularityofEnglishGoodmorning,everyone.TodayslectureisaboutthepopularityofEnglish.Asweallknow,Englishiswidelyusedintheworld.AlthoughEnglishisnotthelanguagewiththelarges

8、tnumberofnativeorfirstlanguagespeakers,ithasreallybecomealinguafranca.Thenwhatisalinguafranca?Thetermreferstoalanguagewhichiswidelyadoptedforcommunicationbetweentwospeakerswhosenativelanguagesaredifferentfromeachothers,andwhereoneorbothspeakersareusingitasasecondlanguage.Forexample,whenanIndiantalks

9、toaSingaporeanusingEnglish,thenEnglishisthelinguafranca.ThenactuallyhowmanypeoplespeakEnglishaseitherafirstorasecondlanguage?Someresearcherssuggestedafewyearsagothatbetween320380millionpeoplespokeEnglishasafirstlanguage,andanywaybetween250350millionasasecondlanguage.Andofcourse,ifweincludepeoplewhoa

10、relearningEnglishasaforeignlanguageallovertheworld,thatnumbermayincreasedramatically.Thenwemayaskaquestion:howdidEnglishgetthere?Thatis,howdidEnglishgainthepresentstatusofpopularity?ThereareinfactanumberofinterlockingreasonsforthepopularityofEnglishasalinguafranca.Manyofthereasonsarehistorical,butth

11、eyalsoincludeeconomicandculturalfactorsthathaveinfluencedandsustainedthespreadofthelanguage.Letsgothroughthereasonsonebyone.Firstisthehistoricalreason.Thisisrelatedtothecolonialhistory.Asweknow,whenthePilgrimFatherslandedontheMassachusettscoastin1620aftertheirjourneyfromEngland,theybroughtwiththemno

12、tjustasetofreligiousbeliefs,apioneeringspiritoradesireforcolonization,butalsotheirlanguage.Althoughmanyyearslater,theAmericansbrokeawayfromtheircolonialmaster,thelanguageofEnglishremainedandstilldoes.ItwasthesameinAustralia,too.WhenCommanderPhillipplantedtheBritishflaginSydneycoveonthe26thJanuary, 1

13、788,itwasnotjustabunchofBritishconvictsontheirguardians,butalsoalanguage.InotherpartsoftheformerBritishEmpire,Englishrapidlybecameaunifyingordominatingmeansofcontrol.Forexample,itbecamealinguafrancainIndiaoravarietyofindigenouslanguagesmadetheuseofanyoneofthemasawholecountrysystemproblematic.Sotheim

14、positionofEnglishastheonelanguageofadministrationhelpsmaintainthecolonizerscontrolandpower,thusEnglishtraveledaroundmanypartsoftheworldinthosedays.Andlongafterthatcolonialpowerhasfadedaway,itisstillwidelyusedasamainoratleastaninstitutionallanguageincountriesasfarapartasJamaicaandPakistan,UgandaandNe

15、wZealand.Thatisthefirstfactor.NowthesecondmajorfactorinthespreadofEnglishhasbeenthespreadofcommercethroughouttheworld.ThespreadofinternationalcommercehastakenEnglishalongwithit.Thisisthe20thcenturyphenomenonofglobalization.Therefore,oneofthefirstsightsmanytravelersseewhenarrivingincountriesasdiverse

16、asBrazil,China,forexample,istheyellowtwinarchsignofMacDonaldsfastfoodrestaurantorsomeotherfamousbrandsoutletsAndwithoutdoubt,Englishisusedasthelanguageofcommunicationintheinternationalbusinesscommunity.intheinternationalbusinesscommunity.AndthethirdfactorrelatedtothepopularuseofEnglishistheboomingin

17、ternationaltravel.AndyouwillfindthatmuchtravelandtourismiscarriedonaroundtheworldinEnglish.Ofcoursethisisnotalwaysthecase,asthemulti-lingualismofmanytourismworkersinmanydifferentcountriesdemonstrate.ButavisittomostairportsontheglobewillshowsignsnotonlyinthelanguageofthatcountrybutalsowithEnglish,jus

18、tasmanyairlineannouncementsbroadcastinEnglishtoo,whateverthelanguageofthecountrytheairportissituatedin.Sofar,Englishisalsothepreferredlanguageofairtrafficcontrolinmanycountriesandisusedwidelyinseatravelcommunication.Anotherfactorhassomethingtodowithinformationexchangearoundtheworld.Asweallknow,agrea

19、tdealofacademicdiscoursearoundtheworldtakesplaceinEnglish.Itisoftenalinguafrancaofconferences,forexample,andmanyjournalarticlesinfieldsasdiverseasastronomy,triopsychologyandgeologyhaveEnglishasakindofdefaultlanguage.ThelastfactorIcitehereconcernspopularculture.Inthewesternworld,atleastEnglishisadomi

20、natinglanguageinpopularculture.PopmusicinEnglishcanbeheardonmanyradios,thusmanypeoplewhoarenotEnglishspeakerscansingwordsfromtheirfavoriteEnglishmediumsongs.Andmanypeoplewhoareregularcinema-goersorTVviewerscanfrequentlyhearEnglishinsubtitlefilmscomingoutoftheUSA.Now,tosumupintodayslecture,wehaverevi

21、ewedsomeofthereasonsorfactorsthatliebehindthepopularuseofEnglishastheNo. 1worldlanguage.Beforewefinish,Idliketoleaveafewquestionsforyoutothinkabout.IsthestatusofEnglishastheNo. 1worldlanguageasureinthefuture?Willitsplitintovarietiesthatbecomelessmutuallyintelligible?Orwillsomeotherlanguageorlanguage

22、staketheplaceofEnglishasworldlanguageinfuture?Thesequestionsarenoteasytoanswer,Iknow.Buttheyaredefinitelyworthponderingoverafterthelecture.Ok,thisbringstotheendoftodayslecture.Thankyouforyourattention.Nowyouhavetwominutestocheckyournotes.Andthenpleasefinishthegap-fillingtaskonAnswerSheet1in10minutes

23、.SECTION B INTERVIEWIn this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Mark the correctanswer to each question on your colored answer sheet.Questions 1 to 5 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will be given 10 second

24、s to answer each of the following five questions.Now listen to the interview1. Mary doesnt seem to favour the idea of a new airport becauseA. the existing airports are to be wastedB. more people will be encouraged to travel.C. more oil will be consumed.D. more airplanes will be purchased.2. Which of

25、 the following is NOT mentioned by Mary as a potential disadvantage?A. More people in the area.B. Noise and motorways.C. Waste of land.D. Unnecessary travel.3. Freddy has cited the following advantages for a new airport EXCEPTA. more job opportunities.B. vitality to the local economy.C. road constru

26、ction,D. presence of aircrew in the area.4. Mary thinks that people dont need to do much travel nowadays as a result ofA. less emphasis on personal contact.B. advances in modern telecommunications.C. recent changes in peoples concepts.D. more potential damage to the area5. We learn from the conversa

27、tion that Freddy is Marys ideas,A. strongly in favour ofB. mildly in favour ofC. strongly againstD. mildly againstSECTION C NEWS BROADCASTIn this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Mark the correct answer to each question on your c

28、oloured answer sheet.Question 6 is based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the question. Now listen to the news.6. What is the main idea of the news item?A. A new government was formed after Sundays elections.B. The new government intends to c

29、hange the welfare system.C. The Social Democratic Party founded the welfare system.D. The Social Democratic Party was responsible for high unemployment.Questions 7 and 8 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 20 seconds to answer the questions.Now listen to t

30、he news.7. The tapes of the Apollo-11 mission were first stored inA. a U.S. government archives warehouse.B. a NASA ground tracking station.C. the Goddard Space Flight Centre.D. none of the above places.8. What does the news item say about Richard Nafzger?A. He is assigned the task to look for the t

31、apes.B. He believes that the tapes are probably lost.C. He works in a NASA ground receiving site.D. He had asked for the tapes in the 1970s.Questions 9 and 10 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 20 seconds to answer the questions.Now listen to the news.9.

32、The example in the news item is cited mainly to showA. that doctors are sometimes professionally incompetentB. that in cases like that hospitals have to pay huge compensations.C. that language barriers might lower the quality of treatment.D. that language barriers can result in fatal consequences.10

33、. According to Dr. Flores, hospitals and clinicsA. have seen the need for hiring trained interpreters.B. have realized the problems of language barriers.C. have begun training their staff to be bilinguals.D. have taken steps to provide accurate diagnosis.PART II READING COMPREHENSION (30 MIN)In this

34、 section there are four reading passages followed by a total of 20 multiple-choice questions. Read the passages and then mark your answers on your coloured answer sheet。TEXT AAt the age of 16, Lee Hyuk Joons life is a living hell. The South Korean 10th grader gets up at 6 in the morning to go to sch

35、ool, and studies most of the day until returning home at 6 p.m. After dinner, its time to hit the books againat one of Seouls many so-called cram schools. Lee gets back home at 1 in the morning, sleeps less than five hours, then repeats the routinefive days a week. Its a grueling schedule, but Lee w

36、orries that it may not be good enough to get him into a top university. Some of his classmates study even harder.South Koreas education system has long been highly competitive. But for Lee and the other 700,000 high-school sophomores in the country, high-school studies have gotten even more intense.

37、 Thats because South Korea has conceived a new college-entrance system, which will be implemented in 2008. This years 10th graders will be the first group evaluated by the new admissions standard, which places more emphasis on grades in the three years of high school and less on nationwide SAT-style

38、 and other selection tests, which have traditionally determined which students go to the elite colleges.The change was made mostly to reduce what the government says is a growing education gap in the country: wealthy students go to the best colleges and get the best jobs, keeping the children of poo

39、rer families on the social margins. The aim is to reduce the importance of costly tutors and cram schools, partly to help students enjoy a more normal high-school life. But the new system has had the opposite effect. Before, students didnt worry too much about their grade-point averages; the big cha

40、llenge was beating he standardized tests as high-school seniors. Now students are competing against one another over a three-year period, and every midterm and final test is crucial. Fretful parents are relying even more heavily on tutors and cram schools to help their children succeed.Parents and k

41、ids have sent thousands of angry online letters to the Education Ministry complaining that the new admissions standard is setting students against each other. One can succeed only when others fail,” as one parent said.Education experts say that South Koreas public secondary-school system is founderi

42、ng, while private education is thriving. According to critics, the countrys high schools are almost uniformly mediocrethe result of an egalitarian government education policy. With the number of elite schools strictly controlled by the government, even the brightest students typically have to settle

43、 for ordinary schools in their neighbourhoods, where the curriculum is centred on average students. To make up for the mediocrity, zealous parents send their kids to the expensive cram schools. Students in affluent southern Seoul neighbourhoods complain that the new system will hurt them the most.Ne

44、arly all Korean high schools will be weighted equally in the college-entrance process, and relatively weak students in provincial schools, who may not score well on standardized tests, often compile good grade-point averages.Some universities, particularly prestigious ones, openly complain that they

45、 cannot select the best students under the new system because it eliminates differences among high schools. Theyve asked for more discretion in picking students by giving more weight to such screening tools as essay writing or interviews.President Roh Moo Hyun doesnt like how some colleges are trying to circumvent the new system. He recently criticized greedy universities that focus more on finding the best students than faying to nurture good students. But amid the crossfire between the government and unive