2000年英语专业八级考试真题（附听力mp3及答案）

　　Part Ⅱ Proofreading and Error Correction (15 min)

　　The following passage contains TEN errors. Each line contains a maximum of one error and three are free from error. In each case, only one word is involved. You should proofread the passage and correct it in the following way.?

　　For a wrong word, underline the wrong word and write the correct one in the blank provided at the end of the line.?

　　For a missing word, mark the position of the missing word with a “∧” sign and write the word you believe to be missing in the blank provided at the end of the line.?

　　For an unnecessary word, cross out the unnecessary word with a slash “/” and put the word in the blank provided at the end of the line.?

　　If the line is correct, place a V in the blank provided at the end of the line

　　The grammatical words which play so large a part in English?

　　grammar are for the most part sharply and obviously different 1.___?

　　from the lexical words. A rough and ready difference which may?

　　seem the most obvious is that grammatical words have“less?

　　meaning”, but in fact some grammarians have called them 2.___?

　　“empty”words as opposed in the“full”words of vocabulary. 3.___?

　　But this is a rather misled way of expressing the distinction. 4.___?

　　Although a word like the is not the name of something as man is,?

　　it is very far away from being meaningless; there is a sharp 5.___?

　　difference in meaning between“man is vile and”“the man is?

　　vile”, yet the is the single vehicle of this difference in meaning. 6.___?

　　Moreover, grammatical words differ considerably among?

　　themselves as the amount of meaning they have, even in the 7.___?

　　lexical sense. Another name for the grammatical words has been?

　　“little words”. But size is by no mean a good criterion for 8.___?

　　distinguishing the grammatical words of English, when we?

　　consider that we have lexical words as go, man, say, car. Apart 9.___?

　　from this, however, there is a good deal of truth in what some?

　　people say: we certainly do create a great number of obscurity 10.___?

　　when we omit them. This is illustrated not only in the poetry of?

　　Robert Browning but in the prose of telegrams and newspaper headlines.?

　　Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension (40 min)

　　SECTION A READING COMPREHENSION (30 min)?

　　In this section there are four reading passagesfollowed by a total of fifteen multiple-choicequestions. Read the passages and then mark youranswers on your Colored Answer Sheet.??

　　TEXT A

　　Despite Denmark’s manifest virtues, Danes nevertalk about how proud they a re to be Danes. Thiswould sound weird in Danish. When Danes talk to foreigners about Denmark, they always beginby commenting on its tininess, its unimportance , the difficulty of its language, the generalsmall-mindedness and self-indulgence of their countrymen and the high taxes. No Dane wouldlook you in the eye and say, “Denmark is a great country.” You’re supposed to figure this outfor yourself.?

　　It is the land of the silk safety net, where almost half the national budget goes towardsmoothing out life’s inequalities, and there is plenty of money f or schools, day care, retrainingprogrammes, job seminars-Danes love seminars: three days at a study centre hearing aboutwaste management is almost as good as a ski trip. It is a culture bombarded by English, inadvertising, pop music, the Internet, and despite all the English that Danish absorbs—there isno Danish Academy to defend against it —old dialects persist in Jutland that can barely beunderstood by Copenhageners. It is the land where, as the saying goes,“ Fe w have too muchand fewer have too little, ”and a foreigner is struck by the sweet egalitarianism that prevails,where the lowliest clerk gives you a level gaze, where Sir and Madame have disappeared fromcommon usage, even Mr. and Mrs. It’ s a nation of recyclers—about 55 % of Danish garbagegets made into something new— and no nuclear power plants. It’s a nation of tireless planner.Trains run on time. Things operate well in general.?

　　Such a nation of overachievers — a brochure from the Ministry of Business and Industry says, “Denmark is one of the world’s cleanest and most organize d countries, with virtually nopollution, crime, or poverty. Denmark is the most corruption-free society in the NorthernHemisphere.”So, of course, one’s heart lifts at any sighting of Danish sleaze: skinhead graffition buildings (“Foreigners Out of Denmark! ”), broken beer bottles in the gutters, drunkenteenagers slumped in the park.

　　Nonetheless, it is an orderly land. You drive through a Danish town, it comes to an end at astone wall, and on the other side is a field of barley, a nice clean line: town here, country there.It is not a nation of jay-walkers. People stand on the curb and wait for the red light to change,even if it’s 2 a.m. and there’s not a car in sight. However, Danes don’ t think of themselves as awai nting-at-2-a.m.-for-the-green-light people——that’s how they see Swedes and Germans.Danes see themselves as jazzy people, improvisers, more free spirited than Swedes, but thetruth is( though one should not say it)that Danes are very much like Germans and Swedes.Orderliness is a main selling point. Denmark has few natural resources, limited manufacturingcapability; its future in Europe will be as a broker, banker, and distributor of goods. You sendyour goods by container ship to Copenhagen, and these bright, young, English-speaking,utterly honest, highly disciplined people will get your goods around to Scandinavia, the BalticStates, and Russia. Airports, seaports, highways, and rail lines are ultramodern and well-maintained.?

　　The orderliness of the society doesn’t mean that Danish lives are less messy or lonely thanyours or mine, and no Dane would tell you so. You can hear plenty about bitter family feuds andthe sorrows of alcoholism and about perfectly sensible people who went off one day and killedthemselves. An orderly society c an not exempt its members from the hazards of life.?

　　But there is a sense of entitlement and security that Danes grow up with. Certain things areyours by virtue of citizenship, and you shouldn’t feel bad f o r taking what you’re entitled to,you’re as good as anyone else. The rules of the welfare system are clear to everyone, thebenefits you get if you lose your job, the steps you take to get a new one; and the orderlinessof the system makes it possible for the country to weather high unemployment and socialunrest without a sense of crisis.?

　　16. The author thinks that Danes adopt a ___ attitude towards their country.

　　A. boastful B. modest C. deprecating D. mysterious?

　　17. Which of the following is NOT a Danish characteristic cited in the passage??

　　A. Fondness of foreign culture. B. Equality in society.

　　C. Linguistic tolerance. D. Persistent planning.

　　18. The author’s reaction to the statement by the Ministry of Business and Industry is ___.

　　A. disapproving B. approving C. noncommittal D. doubtful?

　　19. According to the passage, Danish orderliness ___.?

　　A. sets the people apart from Germans and Swedes?

　　B. spares Danes social troubles besetting other people?

　　C. is considered economically essential to the country?

　　D. prevents Danes from acknowledging existing troubles?

　　20. At the end of the passage the author states all the following EXCEPT that ___.?

　　A. Danes are clearly informed of their social benefits?

　　B. Danes take for granted what is given to them?

　　C. the open system helps to tide the country over?

　　D. orderliness has alleviated unemployment?

　　TEXT B

　　But if language habits do not represent classes, a social stratification into something asbygone as “aristocracy” and “commons”, they do still of course serve to identify socialgroups. This is something that seems fundamental in the use of language. As we see inrelation to political and national movements, language is used as a badge or a barrierdepending on which way we look at it. The new boy at school feels out of it at first because hedoes not know the fight words for things, and awe-inspiring pundits of six or seven lookdown on him for no t being aware that racksy means “dilapidated”, or hairy “out first ball”. Theminer takes a certain pride in being “one up” on the visitor or novice who calls the cage a “lift”or who thinks that men working in a warm seam are in their “underpants” when anyone oughtto know that the garments are called hoggers.

　　The“insider”is seldom displeased that his language distinguishes him from the“outsider”.

　　Quite apart from specialized terms of this kind in groups, trades and professions, there are allkinds of standards of correctness at which mast of us feel more or less obliged to aim, becausewe know that certain kinds of English invite irritation or downright condemnation. On theother hand, we know that other kinds convey some kind of prestige and bear a welcomecachet.?

　　In relation to the social aspects of language, it may well be suggested that English speakers fallinto three categories: the assured, the anxious and the indifferent. At one end of this scale,we have the people who have “position” an d “status”, and who therefore do not feel they needworry much about their use o f English. Their education and occupation make them confidentof speaking an unimpeachable form of English: no fear of being criticized or corrected is likelyt o cross their minds, and this gives their speech that characteristically unselfconscious andeasy flow which is often envied. ?

　　At the other end of the scale, we have an equally imperturbable band, speaking with a similardegree of careless ease, because even if they are aware that their English is condemned byothers, they are supremely indifferent to the fact. The Mrs. Mops of this world have active andefficient tongues in their heads, and if we happened not to like the/r ways of saying things,well, we “can lump i t ”. That is their attitude. Curiously enough, writers are inclined torepresent t he speech of both these extreme parties with -in’ for ing. On the one hand, “we’regoin ’ huntin’, my dear sir”; on the other,“we’re goin ’ racin’ , mate.”?

　　In between, according to this view, we have a far less fortunate group, the anxious. Theseactively try to suppress what they believe to be bad English and assiduously cultivate whatthey hope to be good English. They live their lives in some degree of nervousness over theirgrammar, their pronunciation, and their choice of words: sensitive, and fearful of betrayingthemselves. Keeping up with the Joneses is measured not only in houses, furniture,refrigerators, cars, and clothes, but also in speech.?

　　And the misfortune of the “anxious”does not end with their inner anxiety. Their lot is also theopen or veiled contempt of the “assured”on one side of them and of the“indifferent” on theother.?

　　It is all too easy to raise an unworthy laugh at the anxious. The people thus uncomfortablystilted on linguistic high heels so often form part of what is, in many ways, the mostadmirable section of any society: the ambitious, tense, inner-driven people, who are bent on“going places and doing things”. The greater the pity, then, if a disproportionate amount of theirenergy goes into what Mr Sharpless called“ this shabby obsession” with variant forms ofEnglish— especially if the net result is(as so often)merely to sound affected and ridiculous. “Here”, according to Bacon, “is the first distemper of learning, when men study words and notmatter …. It seems to me that Pygmalion’ s frenzy is a good emblem …of this vanity: for wordsaxe but the images of matter; and except they have life of reason and invention, to fall in lovewith them is to fall in love with a picture.”?

　　21. The attitude held by the assured towards language is ___.?

　　A. critical B. anxious C. self-conscious D. nonchalant?

　　22. The anxious are considered a less fortunate group because ___.?

　　A. they feel they are socially looked down upon?

　　B. they suffer from internal anxiety and external attack?

　　C. they are inherently nervous and anxious people?

　　D. they are unable to meet standards of correctness?

　　23. The author thinks that the efforts made by the anxious to cultivate w hat they believe isgood English are ___.?

　　A. worthwhile B. meaningless C. praiseworthy D. irrational?

　　TEXT C

　　Fred Cooke of Salford turned 90 two days ago and the world has been beating a path to hisdoor. If you haven’t noticed, the backstreet boy educated at Blackpool grammar styles himselfmore grandly as Alastair Cooke, broadcaster extraor dinaire. An honorable KBE, he would beSir Alastair if he had not taken American citizenship more than half a century ago.?

　　If it sounds snobbish to draw attention to his humble origins, it should be reflected that thereal snob is Cooke himself, who has spent a lifetime disguising them. But the fact that he optedto renounce his British passport in 1941 — just when his country needed all the wartime helpit could get-is hardly a matter for congratulation.?

　　Cooke has made a fortune out of his love affair with America, entrancing listeners with a weeklymonologue that has won Radio 4 many devoted adherents. Pa rt of the pull is the developeddrawl. This is the man who gave the world “midatlantic”, the language of the disc jockey andpublic relations man.?

　　He sounds American to us and English to them, while in reality he has for decades belonged toneither. Cooke’s world is an America that exists largely in the imagination. He took ages toacknowledge the disaster that was Vietnam and even longer to wake up to Watergate. Hispolitics have drifted to the right with age, and most of his opinions have been acquired on thegolf course with fellow celebrities.?

　　He chased after stars on arrival in America, Fixing up an interview with Charlie Chaplin andbriefly becoming his friend. He told Cooke he could turn him into a fine light comedian; insteadhe is an impressionist’s dream.?

　　Cooke liked the sound of his first wife’s name almost as much as he admired her good looks.But he found bringing up baby difficult and left her for the wife of his landlord.

　　Women listeners were unimpressed when, in 1996, he declared on air that the fact that 4% ofwomen in the American armed forces were raped showed remarkable self-restraint on thepart of Uncle Sam’s soldiers. His arrogance in not allowing BBC editors to see his script inadvance worked, not for the first time, to his detriment. His defenders said he could not helpliving with the 1930s values he had acquired and somewhat dubiously went on to cite“gallantry” as chief among them. Cooke’s raconteur style encouraged a whole generation ofBBC men to think of themselves as more important than the story. His treacly tones were themo del for the regular World Service reports From Our Own Correspondent, known as FOOCs inthe business. They may yet be his epitaph.?

　　24. At the beginning of the passage the writer sounds critical of ___.?

　　A. Cooke’s obscure origins?

　　B. Cooke’s broadcasting style?

　　C. Cooke’s American citizenship?

　　D. Cooke’s fondness of America?

　　25. The following adjectives can be suitably applied to Cooke EXCEPT ___.?

　　A. old-fashioned B. sincere C. arrogant D. popular?

　　26. The writer comments on Cooke’s life and career in a slightly ___ tone.?

　　A. ironic B. detached C. scathing D. indifferent

　　TEXT D

　　?

　　Mr Duffy raised his eyes from the paper and gazed out of his window on the cheerless eveninglandscape. The river lay quiet beside the empty distillery and from time to time a light appearedin some house on Lucan Road. What an end! The whole narrative of her death revolted himand it revolted him to think that he had ever spoken to her of what he held sacred. Thecautious words of a reporter won over to conceal the details of a commonplace vulgar deathattacked his stomach. Not merely had she degraded herself, she had degraded him. His soul’scompanion! He thought of the hobbling wretches whom he had seen carrying cans and bottlesto be filled by the barman. Just God, what an end! Evidently she had been unfit to live, withoutany strength of purpose, an easy prey to habits, one of the wrecks on which civilization hasbeen reared. But that she could have sunk so low! Was it possible he had deceived himself soutterly about her? He remembered her outburst of that night and interpreted it in a harshersense than he had ever done. He had no difficulty now in approving of the course he hadtaken.?

　　As the light failed and his memory began to wander he thought her hand touched his. Theshock which had first attacked his stomach was now attacking his nerves. He put on hisovercoat and hat quickly and went out. The cold air met him on the threshold; it crept into thesleeves of his coat. When he came to the public house at Chapel Bridge he went in and ordereda hot punch.?

　　The proprietor served him obsequiously but did not venture to talk. There were five or sixworking-men in the shop discussing the value of a gentleman’s e state in County Kildare. Theydrank at intervals from their huge pint tumblers, and smoked, spitting often on the floor andsometimes dragging the sawdust over their heavy boots. Mr Duffy sat on his stool and gazedat them, without seeing o r hearing them. After a while they went out and he called for anotherpunch. He sat a long time over it. The shop was very quiet. The proprietor sprawled on thecounter reading the newspaper and yawning. Now and again a tram was heard swishing alongthe lonely road outside.?

　　As he sat there, living over his life with her and evoking alternately the two images on which henow conceived her, he realized that she was dead, that s he had ceased to exist, that she hadbecome a memory. He began to feel ill at ea se. He asked himself what else could he have done.He could not have lived with her openly. He had done what seemed to him best. How was he toblame? Now that s he was gone he understood how lonely her life must have been, sittingnight after night alone in that room. His life would be lonely too until he, too, died, ceased toexist, became a memory-if anyone remembered him.?

　　27. Mr Duffy’s immediate reaction to the report of the woman’s death was that of ___.

　　A. disgust B. guilt C. grief D. compassion?

　　28. It can be inferred from the passage that the reporter wrote about the woman’s death in a___ manner.?

　　A. detailed B. provocative C. discreet D. sensational?

　　29. We can infer from the last paragraph that Mr Duffy was in a(n) ___ mood.?

　　A. angry B. fretful C. irritable D. remorseful?

　　30. According to the passage , which of the following statements is NOT t rue??

　　A. Mr Duffy once confided in the woman.?

　　B. Mr Duffy felt an intense sense of shame.?

　　C. The woman wanted to end the relationship.?

　　D. They became estranged probably after a quarrel.

　　SECTION B SKIMMING AND SCANNING (10 min)?

　　In this section there are seven passages followed by ten multiple -choice questions. Skim orscan them as required and then mark your answers on the Color ed Answer Sheet.?

专四专八精选好课 暖心助学

新东方好老师 手把手带学