2004年英语专八真题及答案

　　SECTION B SKIMMING AND SCANNING (10 MIN)?

　　In this section there are seven passages with ten multiple?choice questions. Skim or scan them as required and then mark your answers on your coloured answer sheet.??

　　First read the question.

　　31.The main purpose of the passage is to ____.?

　　A.demonstrate how to prevent crime

　　B.show the seriousness of crime?

　　C.look into the causes of crime

　　D.call for more government efforts?

　　Now go through TEXT E quickly to answer question 31.?

　　For three weeks, every night at 11 p.m., correspondents, officers and judges from justice courts, police departments and prisons, psychiatrists, criminologists, victims and even criminals in prisons made their appearance on TV to debate on a topic “Crime in the United States”.?

　　Indeed, crime has been disturbing the American people and has become a serious social problem just next to the unemployment problem. Some figures are terrifying: 1 of 4 Americans has been a victim of some kind of crimes; nearly 22 million crimecases occurred last year throughout the country. A simple arithmetic calculation indicates that on average, a crime is being committed in every 2 seconds. Now the Americans are living in a horrible environment. Their safety and property are threatened by various crimes: robbery, theft, rape, kidnapping, murder, arson, vandalism and violence.?

　　The most worrisome problem comes from the fact that about one?third of crime cases were committed by the juvenile and 53% of criminals in jails are youngsters below 25. A poll indicates that about 73% of citizens said they avoided teenagers in streets, especially at night.?

　　To protect themselves from crime, according to a released figure, 52% of Americans keep guns at home. But some gun owners turn out to be potential criminals. Some people demand that strict law for gun control be enforced; but others oppose the ban of gun. No decision is in sight.?

　　Some experts said poverty, unemployment and racial discrimination are the cause of crime. They cited figures to show that 47% of crime cases were committed by the black, though they account for only about 12% of the population of the nation. Others argued that about 54% of convicted criminals came from families associated with these evils.?

　　The American state government and federal government spend billions of dollars each year in maintaining the police departments and jails. But police authorities complain that they have not sufficient well?trained hands and advanced equipment to detect and stop crimes. Several cases of criminal insurgence were reported as a result of resentment at overcrowded prisons. Taxpayers complain that they pay more and more tax but receive less and less protection from crime for their lives and property.?

　　Though the host of the live TV programme made great efforts to search for a solution, so far no participant could put forward a measure that was approved by most of the attendants.??

　　TEXT F

　　First read the question.?

　　32.What is the main topic of the following passage??

　　A.Differences between modes of learning.?

　　B.Deficiencies of formal learning.?

　　C.Advantages of informal learning.?

　　D.Social context and learning systems.?

　　Now go through TEXT F quickly to answer question 32.?

　　The term “formal learning” is used in this paper to refer to all learning that takes place in the classroom, irrespective of whether such learning is informed by conservative or progressive ideologies. “Informal learning”, on the other

　　hand, is used to refer to learning which takes place outside the classroom.These definitions provide the essential, though by no means sole, difference bet ween formal and informal learning. Formal learning is decontextualised from daily life and, indeed, as Scribner and Cole (1973:553) have observed, may actually “promote ways of learning and thinking which often run counter to those nurtured in practical daily life”. A characteristic feature of formal learning is the centrality of activities that are not closely paralleled by activities outside the classroom. The classroom can prepare for, draw on, and imitate the challenges of adult life outside the classroom, but it cannot, by its nature, consist of these challenges.?

　　In doing this, language plays a critical role as the major channel for information exchange. “Success” in the classroom requires a student to master this abstract code. As Bernstein (1969:152) noted, the language of the classroom is more

　　similar to the language used by middle?class families than that used by working?class families. Middle?class children thus find it easier to acquire the language of the classroom than their working class peers. Informal learning, in contrast, occurs in the setting to which it relates, making learning immediately relevant. In this context, language does not occupy such an important role: the child’s experience of learning is more holistic, involving sight, touch, taste, and smell—senses that are under?utilised in the classroom.?While formal learning is transmitted by teachers selected to perform this role, informal learning is acquired as a natural part of a child’s development. Adults or older children who are proficient in the skill or activity provide - sometimes unintentionally - target models of behaviour in the course of everyday activity. Informal learning, therefore, can take place at any time and is not subject to the limitations imposed by institutional timetabling.?

　　The motivation of the learner provides another critical difference between the two modes of learning. The formal learner is generally motivated by some kind of external goal such as parental approval, social status, and potential financial reward. The informal learner, however, tends to be motivated by successful completion of the task itself and the partial acquisition of adult status.??

　　TEXT G

　　First read the question.

　　33.The three approaches mentioned in the passage aim at ____.?

　　A.restructuring economy?

　　B.improving the tax system?

　　C.improving the living conditions?

　　D.reducing poverty?

　　Now go through TEXT G quickly to answer question 33.

　　As a rule, it is essential that the poor’s productive capabilities be mobilized and the conditions for developing these human resources be improved. In this connection, German development policy has developed the following three approaches:

　　?

　　— Structural reform: Structural reform is the preferred approach for reducing poverty because it eliminates the causes of poverty rather than just its symptoms. It is vital that economic, political and social conditions which can alleviate poverty be established at national and international levels. Efforts at international level focus on fair conditions for international trade and competition.

　　At national level, the poor must be helped through structural reform such as the introduction of democratic government, options for independent private enterprise, decentralization and agricultural reform. Development policy tools for realizing such reforms include political dialogue, political advisory services, structural adjustment measures and personnel and material support for reform efforts in the government, business and administrative sectors.?— Direct measures: Projects of this category are aimed at directly helping the poor and improving their living conditions or increasing their job options and earning potential. Of special importance are those projects which provide help for self?help in reducing poverty. The material support and advisory services offered by these projects reinforce the poor’s will to help themselves and help eable them to lead self?sufficient lives. Typical direct aid projects include the construction of simple housing by self?help groups, the creation of a savings and loan system for the poorer segments of society and support for women’s self?help organizations.—Indirect measures: A project’s beneficiaries - its target group - are not only often difficult to identify clearly, they are also not necessarily all poor people. In these cases, the project in question must be integrated into one of the partner nation’s overall or sector?specific policies that aim at reducing poverty. A good illustration of this type of project is the use of advisory services to improve the tax system. Advising and upgrading the qualifications of personnel working in the fiscal system can lead to increased tax revenues which could be allocated for anti?poverty measures. In keeping with this focus, German development assistance concentrates on the poorest nations and on projects to reduce poverty. In 1993, some 10 percent of the commitments Germany made for bilateral financial and technical assistance went to self?help projects aimed at reducing poverty. Basic needs projects comprised 48 percent of all projects and almost 30 percent of the commitments made for financial and technical assistance were allocated for the world’s least developed countries (LDCs).?

　　TEXT H

　　First read the question.

　　34.What is the following passage mainly concerned with??

　　A.Educational facilities in Africa.?

　　B.Founding a university for women.?

　　C.Agricultural production in Zimbabwe.?

　　D.Women’s role in agricultural production.?

　　Now go through TEXT H quickly to answer question 34.

　　Access to education facilities is inadequate in sub?Saharan Africa. And women and girls there face greater disadvantages. They are often denied education as customs dictate they marry early and have children.

　　Two Zimbabwean academics plan to open a university to help African women whose education was interrupted by either family commitments or financial constraints. The university will initially be in Harare, but will be relocated to Marondera, 80 kilometres east. The academics, Hope Sadza, former deputy commissioner of Zimbabwe’s Public Service Commission and Fay Chung, former Minister of Education, are to open the university this month. It will initially have 400 students.?

　　Students will be split into groups of 100 and placed in one of four faculties: social science, agriculture, environmental studies or science and technology. The university is for women aged 25 or older.The need for a university for women is more acute in Africa, where women are the poorest and most disadvantaged. When they do have access to education they often must endure sexual harassment. Most women drop out because they lack educational materials or the schools are inaccessible.“In Africa, women till the land and produce the bulk of the food, yet they have

　　no understanding about marketing,” Sadza siad. “Agriculture is another area where we can empower women.”?The university will have a 285?hectare farm and courses will include agricultural production and marketing. Women account for 80 per cent of Africa’s agricultural production, but have no control over either the resources or policies.?

　　The university since August has raised about Z$32.5 million (US$591,000) in donations and pledges. The university will be open to students from across Africa. It will be the second women’s university - after Sudan’s Ahfad University - in Africa.??

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