2014英语专八真题

　　Text B

　　It was nearly bed-time and when they awoke next morning land would be in sight. Dr. Macphail lit his pipe and, leaning over the rail, searched the heavens for the Southern Cross. After two years at the front and a wound that had taken longer to heal than it should, he was glad to settle down quietly at Apia (阿皮亚，西萨摩亚首都) for twelve months at least, and he felt already better for the journey. Since some of the passengers were leaving the ship next day at Pago-Pago they had had a little dance that evening and in his ears hammered still the harsh notes of the mechanical piano. But the deck was quiet at last. A little way off he saw his wife in a long chair talking with the Davidsons, and he strolled over to her. When he sat down under the light and took off his hat you saw that he had very red hair, with a bald patch on the crown, and the red, freckled skin which accompanies red hair; he was a man of forty, thin, with a pinched face, precise and rather pedantic; and he spoke with a Scots accent in a very low, quiet voice.

　　Between the Macphails and the Davidsons, who were missionaries, there had arisen the intimacy of shipboard, which is due to propinquity rather than to any community of taste. Their chief tie was the disapproval they shared of the men who spent their days and nights in the smoking-room playing poker or bridge and drinking. Mrs. Macphail was not a little flattered to think that she and her husband were the only people on board with whom the Davidsons were willing to associate, and even the doctor, shy but no fool, half unconsciously acknowledged the compliment. It was only because he was of an argumentative mind that in their cabin at night he permitted himself to carp (唠叨).

　　‘Mrs. Davidson was saying she didn’t know how they’d have got through the journey if it hadn’t been for us,’ said Mrs. Macphail, as she neatly brushed out her transformation (假发). ‘She said we were really the only people on the ship they cared to know.’

　　‘I shouldn’t have thought a missionary was such a big bug (要人、名士) that he could afford to put on frills (摆架子).’

　　‘It’s not frills. I quite understand what she means. It wouldn’t have been very nice for the Davidsons to have to mix with all that rough lot in the smoking-room.’

　　‘The founder of their religion wasn’t so exclusive,’ said Dr. Macphail with a chuckle.

　　‘I’ve asked you over and over again not to joke about religion,’ answered his wife. ‘I shouldn’t like to have a nature like yours, Alec. You never look for the best in people.’

　　He gave her a sidelong glance with his pale, blue eyes, but did not reply. After many years of married life he had learned that it was more conducive to peace to leave his wife with the last word. He was undressed before she was, and climbing into the upper bunk he settled down to read himself to sleep.

　　When he came on deck next morning they were close to land. He looked at it with greedy eyes. There was a thin strip of silver beach rising quickly to hills covered to the top with luxuriant vegetation. The coconut trees, thick and green, came nearly to the water’s edge, and among them you saw the grass houses of the Samoaris (萨摩亚人); and here and there, gleaming white, a little church. Mrs. Davidson came and stood beside him. She was dressed in black, and wore round her neck a gold chain, from which dangled a small cross. She was a little woman, with brown, dull hair very elaborately arranged, and she had prominent blue eyes behind invisible pince-nez (夹鼻眼镜). Her face was long, like a sheep’s, but she gave no impression of foolishness, rather of extreme alertness; she had the quick movements of a bird. The most remarkable thing about her was her voice, high, metallic, and without inflection; it fell on the ear with a hard monotony, irritating to the nerves like the pitiless clamour of the pneumatic drill.

　　‘This must seem like home to you,’ said Dr. Macphail, with his thin, difficult smile.

　　‘Ours are low islands, you know, not like these. Coral. These are volcanic. We’ve got another ten days'' journey to reach them.’

　　‘In these parts that’s almost like being in the next street at home,’ said Dr. Macphail facetiously.

　　‘Well, that’s rather an exaggerated way of putting it, but one does look at distances differently in the J South Seas. So far you’re right.’

　　Dr. Macphail sighed faintly.

　　16. It can be inferred from the first paragraph that Dr. Macphail

　　A. preferred quietness to noise B. enjoyed the sound of the mechanical piano

　　C. was going back to his hometown D. wanted to befriend the Davidsons

　　17. The Macphails and the Davidsons were in each other’e company because they

　　A. had similar experience B. liked each other

　　C. shared dislike for some passengers D. had similar religious belief

　　18. Which of the following statements best DESCRIBES Mrs. Macphail?

　　A. She was good at making friends B. She was prone to quarrelling with her husband

　　C. She was skillful in dealing with strangers D. She was easy to get along with.

　　19. All the following adjectives can be used to depict Mrs. Davidson EXCEPT

　　A. arrogant B. unapproachable C. unpleasant D. irritable

　　20. Which of the following statements about Dr. Macphail is INCORRECT?

　　A. He was sociable. B. He was intelligent.

　　C. He was afraid of his wife. D. He was fun of the Davidsons.

　　Text C

　　Today we make room for a remarkably narrow range of personality styles. We're told that to be great is to be bold, to be happy is to be sociable. We see ourselves as a nation of extroverts—which means that we've lost sight of who we really are. One-third to one-half of Americans are introverts—in the other words, one out of every two or three people you know. If you're not an introvert yourself, you are surely raising, managing, married to, or coupled with one.

　　If these statistics surprise you, that's probably because so many people pretend to be extroverts. Closet introverts pass undetected on playgrounds, in high school locker rooms, and in the corridors of corporate America. Some fool even themselves, until some life event---a layoff, an empty nest, an inheritance that frees them to spend time as they like---jolts them into taking stock of their true natures. You have only to raise this subject with your friends and acquaintances to find that the most unlikely people consider themselves introverts.

　　It makes sense that so many introverts hide even from themselves. We live with a value system that I call the Extrovert Ideal— the omnipresent belief that the ideal self is gregarious, alpha, and comfortable in the spotlight. The archetypal extrovert prefers action to contemplation, risk-taking to heed-taking, certainty to doubt. He favors quick decisions, even at the risk of being wrong. She works well in teams and socializes in groups. We like to think that we value individuality, but all too often we admire one type of individual—— the kind who's comfortable "putting himself out there." Sure, we allow technologically gifted loners who launch companies in garages to have any personality they please, but they are the exceptions, not the rule, and our tolerance extends mainly to those who get fabulously wealthy or hold the promise of doing so.

　　Introversion---along with its cousins sensitivity, seriousness, and shyness---is now a second-class personality trait, somewhere between a disappointment and a pathology. Introverts living under the Extrovert Ideal are like women in a man's world, discounted because of a trait that goes to the core of who they are. Extroversion is an enormously appealing personality style, but we've turned it into an oppressive standard to which most of us feel we must conform.

　　The Extrovert Ideal has been documented in many studies, though this research has never been grouped under a single name. Talkative people, for example, are rated as smarter, better-looking, more interesting, and more desirable as friends. Velocity of speech counts as well as volume: we rank fast talkers as more competent and likable than slow ones. Even the word introvert is stigmatized---one informal study, by psychologist Laurie Helgoe, found that introverts described their own physical appearance in vivid language, but when asked to describe generic introverts they drew a bland and distasteful picture.

　　But we make a grave mistake to embrace the Extrovert Ideal so unthinkingly. Some of our greatest ideas, art, and inventions---from the theory of evolution to van Gogh's sunflowers to the personal computer---came from quiet and cerebral people who knew how to tune in to their inner worlds and the treasures to be found there.

　　21. According to the author, there exists, as far as personality styles are concerned, a discrepancy between

　　A. what people say they can do and what they actually can B. what society values and what people pretend to be

　　C. what people profess and what statistics show D. what people profess and what they hide from others

　　22. The ideal extrovert is described as being all the following EXCEPT

　　A. doubtful B. sociable C. determined D. bold

　　23. According to the author, our society only permits ___ to have whatever personality they like.

　　A. the young B. the ordinary C. the artistic D. the rich

　　24. According to the passage, which of the following statements BEST reflects the author’s opinion?

　　A. Introversion is seen as an inferior trait because of its association with sensitivity.

　　B. Extroversion is arbitrary forced by society as a norm upon people.

　　C. Introverts are generally regarded as either unsuccessful or as deficient.

　　D. Extroversion and introversion have similar personality trait profiles.

　　25. The author winds up the passage with a____ note.

　　A. cautious B. warning C. positive D. humorous

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