1999年英语专八真题及答案

　　TEXT A

　　Ricci's "Operation Columbus"

　　Ricci, 45, is now striking out on perhaps his boldest venture yet. He plan s to market an English language edition of his elegant monthly art magazine, FMR , in the United States. Once again the skeptice are murmuring that the successfu l Ricci has headed for a big fall. And once again Ricci intends to prove them wr ong.

　　Ricci is so confident that he has christened his quest "Operation Columbu s " and has set his sights on discovering an American readership of 300,000. That goal may not be too far-fetched. The Italian edition of FMR - the initials, of course, stand for Franco Maria Ricci-is only 18 months old. But it is already the second largest art magazine in the world, with a circulation of 65,000 and a profit margin of US $ 500,000. The American edition will be patterned after th e Italian version, with each 160-page issue carrying only 40 pages of ads and no more than five articles. But the contents will often differ. The English-langua ge edition will include more American works, Ricci says, to help Americans get o ver "an inferiority complex about their art." He also hopes that the magazine will become a vehicle for a two -way cultural exchange - what he likes to think of as a marriage of brains, culture and taste from both sides of the Atlantic.

　　 To realize this vision, Ricci is mounting one of the most lavish, enterpris ing - and expensive-promotional campaigns in magazine - publishing history. Between November and January, eight jumbo jets will fly 8 million copies of a sample 16-page edition of FMR across the Atlantic. From a warehouse in Michigan, 6.5 million copies will be mailed to American subscribers of various cultural, art and business magazines. Some of the remaining copies will circulate as a spe cial Sunday supplement in the New York Times. The cost of launching Operation Co lumbus is a staggering US $ 5 million, but Ricci is hoping that 60% of the price tag will be financed by Italian corporations." To land in America Columbus had to use Spanish sponsors," reads one sentence in his promotional pamphlet. "We would like Italians."

　　Like Columbus, Ricci cannot know what his reception will be on foreign shor es. In Italy he gambled - and won - on a simple concept: it is more important to show art than to write about it. Hence, one issue of FMR might feature 32 fu ll-colour pages of 17th-century tapestries, followed by 14 pages of outrageous e yeglasses. He is gambling that the concept is exportable. "I don't expect that more than 30% of my reader…… will actually read FMR," he says. "The magazine is such a visual delight that they don't have to." Still, he is lining up an impr es sive stable of writers and professors for the American edition , including Noam Chomsky, Anthony Burgess, Eric Jong and Norman Mailer. In addition, he seems to be pursuing his won eclectic vision without giving a moment's thought to such e s tablished competitors as Connosisseur and Horizon. "The Americans can do almost everything better than we can," says Rieci, "But we(the Italians)have a 2,000 year edge on them in art."

　　16. Ricci intends his American edition of FMR to carry more American art works in order to___.

　　A. boost Americans' confidence in their art

　　B. follow the pattern set by his Italian edition

　　C. help Italians understand American art better

　　D. expand the readership of his magazine

　　17. Ricci is compared to Columbus in the passage mainly because___.

　　A. they both benefited from Italian sponsors

　　B. they were explorers in their own ways

　　C. they obtained overseas sponsorship

　　D. they got a warm reception in America

　　18. We get the impression that the American edition of FMR will probably ___.

　　A. carry many academic articles of high standard

　　B. follow the style of some famous existing magazines

　　C. be mad by one third of American magazine readers

　　D. pursue a distinctive editorial style of its own

　　TEXT B

　　 My mother's relations were very different from the Mitfords. Her brother, Uncle Geoff, who often came to stay at Swimbrook, was a small spare man with th oughtful blue eyes and a rather silent manner. Compared to Uncle Tommy, he was a n intellectual of the highest order, and indeed his satirical pen belied his mil d demeanor. He spent most of his waking hours composing letters to The Times and other publications in which he outlined his own particular theory of the develo pment of English history. In Uncle Geoff's view, the greatness of England had r isen and waned over the centuries in direct proportion to the use of natural man ure in fertilizing the soil. The Black Death of 1348 was caused by gradual loss of the humus fertility found under forest trees. The rise of the Elizabethans tw o centuries later was attributable to the widespread use of sheep manure. 

　　Many of Uncle Geoff's letters-to-the-editor have fortunately been preserv ed in a privately printed volume called Writings of a Rebel. Of the collection, one letter best sums up his views on the relationship between manure and freedom

　　. He wrote:

　　Collating old records shows that our greatness rises and falls with the li ving fertility of our soil. And now, many years of exhausted and chemically murd ered soil, and of devitalized food from it, has softened our bodies and still wo rse, softened our national character. It is an actual fact that character is lar gely a product of the soil. Many years of murdered food from deadened soil has m ade us too tame. Chemicals have had their poisonous day. It is now the worm's t urn to reform the manhood of England. The only way to regain our punch, our char acter, our lost virtues, and with them the freedom natural to islanders, is to c o mpost our land so as to allow moulds, bacteria and earthworms to remake living s oil to nourish Englishmen's bodies and spirits.

　　The law requiring pasteurization of milk in England was a particular targe t of Uncle Geoff's. Fond of alliteration, he dubbed it "Murdered Milk Measure ", and established the Liberty Restoration League, with headquarters at his house i n London, for the specific purpose of organizing a counteroffensive. "Freedom n o t Doctordom" was the League's proud slogan. A subsidiary, but nevertheless imp or tant, activity of the League was advocacy of a return to the "unsplit, slowly s m oked fish" and bread made with "English stone-ground flour, yeast, milk, sea s alt and raw cane-sugar."

　　19. According to Uncle Geoff, national strength could only be regained by ___.

　　A. reforming the manhood of England

　　B. using natural manure as fertilizer

　　C. eating more bacteria-free food

　　D. granting more freedom to Englishmen

　　20. The tone of the passage can most probably be described as___.

　　A. facetious B. serious C. nostal gic D. factual

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