到专八阅读真题及答案

第二部分2007年----2012年英语专业八级阅读真题

2007年

Text A

The Welsh language has always been the ultimate marker of Welsh identity, but a generation ago it looked as if Welsh would go the way of Manx. Once widely spoken on the Isle of Man but now extinct. Governments financing and central planning, however, have helped reverse the decline of Welsh. Road signs and official public documents are written in both Welsh and English, and schoolchildren are required to learn both languages. Welsh is now one of the most successful of Europe’s regional languages, spoken by more than a half-million of the country’s three million people.

The revival of the language, particularly among young people, is part of a resurgence of national identity sweeping through this small, proud nation. Last month Wales marked the second anniversary of the opening of the National Assembly, the first parliament to be convened here since 1404. The idea behind devolution was to restore the balance within the union of nations making up the United Kingdom. With most of the people and wealth, England has always had bragging rights. The partial transfer of legislative powers from Westminster, implemented by Tony Blair, was designed to give the other members of the club- Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales-a bigger say and to counter centrifugal forces that seemed to threaten the very idea of the union.

The Welsh showed little enthusiasm for devolution. Whereas the Scots voted overwhelmingly for a parliament, the vote for a Welsh assembly scraped through by less than one percent on a turnout of less than 25 percent. Its powers were proportionately limited. The Assembly can decide how money from Westminster or the European Union is spent. It cannot, unlike its counterpart in Edinburgh, enact laws. But now that it is here, the Welsh are growing to like their Assembly. Many people would like it to have more powers. Its importance as figurehead will grow with the opening in 2003, of a new debating chamber, one of many new buildings that are transforming Cardiff from a decaying seaport into a Baltimore-style waterfront city. Meanwhile a grant of nearly two million dollars from the European Union will tackle poverty. Wales is one of the poorest regions in Western Europe- only Spain, Portugal, and Greece have a lower standard of living.

Newspapers and magazines are filled with stories about great Welsh men and women, boosting self-esteem. To familiar faces such as Dylan Thomas and Richard Burton have been added new icons such as Catherine

Zeta-Jones, the movie star, and Bryn Terfel, the opera singer. Indigenous foods like salt marsh lamb are in vogue. And Wales now boasts a national airline. Awyr Cymru. Cymru, which means “land of compatriots,” is the Welsh name for Wales. The red dragon, the nation’s symbol since the time of King Arthur, is everywhere- on T-shirts, rugby jerseys and even cell phone covers.

“Until very recent times most Welsh people had this feeling of being second-class citizens,” said Dyfan Jones, an 18-year-old student. It was a warm summer night, and I was sitting on the grass with a group of young people in Llanelli, an industrial town in the south, outside the rock music venue of the National Eisteddfod, Wales’s annual cultural festival. The disused factory in front of us echoed to the sounds of new Welsh bands. “There was almost a genetic tendency for lack of confidence,” Dyfan continued. Equally comfortable in his Welshness as in his membership in the English-speaking, global youth culture and the new federal Europe, Dyfan, like the rest of his generation, is growing up with a sense of possibility unimaginable ten years ago. “We used to think. We can’t do anything, we’re only Welsh. Now I think that’s changing.”

11. According to the passage, devolution was mainly meant to

A. maintain the present status among the nations.

B. reduce legislative powers of England.

C. create a better state of equality among the nations.

D. grant more say to all the nations in the union.

12. The word “centrifugal” in the second paragraph means

A. separatist.

B. conventional.

C. feudal.

D. political

13. Wales is different from Scotland in all the following aspects EXCEPT

A. people's desire for devolution.

B. locals' turnout for the voting.

C. powers of the legislative body.

D. status of the national language.

14. Which of the following is NOT cited as an example of the resurgence of Welsh national identity

A. Welsh has witnessed a revival as a national language.

B. Poverty-relief funds have come from the European Union.

C. A Welsh national airline is currently in operation.

D. The national symbol has become a familiar sight.

15. According to Dyfan Jones what has changed is

A. people's mentality.

B. pop culture.

C. town's appearance.

D. possibilities for the people.

Text B

Getting to the heart of Kuwaiti democracy seems hilariously easy. Armed only with a dog-eared NEWSWEEK ID, I ambled through the gates of the National Assembly last week. Unscanned, unsearched, my satchel could easily have held the odd grenade or an anthrax-stuffed lunchbox. The only person who stopped me was a guard who grinned and invited me to take a swig of orange juice from his plastic bottle.

Were I a Kuwaiti woman wielding a ballot, I would have been a clearer and more present danger. That very day Parliament blocked a bill giving women the vote; 29 M.P.S voted in favor and 29 against, with two abstentions. Unable to decide whether the bill had passed or not, the government scheduled another vote in two weeks- too late for women to register for June's municipal elections. The next such elections aren't until 2009. Inside the elegant, marbled Parliament itself, a sea of mustachioed men in white robes sat in green seats, debating furiously. The ruling emir has pushed for

women's political rights for years. Ironically, the democratically elected legislature has thwarted him. Traditionalists and tribal leaders are opposed. Liberals fret, too, that Islamists will let their multiple wives vote, swelling conservative ranks. “When I came to Parliament to day, people who voted yes didn't even shake hands with me,” said one Shia clerc. “Why can't we respect each other and work together?” Why not indeed? By Gulf standards, Kuwait is a democratic superstar. Its citizens enjoy free speech (as long as they don't insult their emir, naturally) and boast a Parliament that can actually pass laws. Unlike their Saudi sisters, Kuwaiti women drive, work and travel freely. They run multibillion-dollar businesses and serve as ambassadors. Their academic success is such that colleges have actually lowered the grades required for make students to get into medical and engineering courses. Even then, 70 percent of university students are females.

In Kuwait, the Western obsession with the higab finds its equivalent. At a fancy party for NEWSWEEK's Arabic edition, some Kuwaiti women wore them. Others opted for tight, spangled, sheer little numbers in peacock blue or parrot orange. For the party's entertainment, Nancy Ajram, the Arab world's answer to Britney Spears, sang passionate songs of love in a white mini-dress. She couldn't dance for us, alas, since shaking one's body onstage is illegal in Kuwait. That didn't stop whole tables of men from raising their camera-enabled mobile phones and clicking her picture. You'd think not being able to vote or dance in public would anger Kuwait's younger generation of women. To find out, I headed to the malls-Kuwait's archipelago of civic freedom. Eager to duck strict parents and the social taboos of dating in public. Young Kuwaitis have taken to cafes, beaming flirtatious infrared e-mails to one another on their cell photos. At Starbucks in the glittering Al Sharq Mall, I found only tables of men, puffing cigarettes and grumbling about the service .At Pizza Hut, I thought I'd got an answer after encountering a young woman who looked every inch the modern suffragette—drainpipe jeans,strappy sliver high-heeled sandals and a higab studded with purple rhinestones. But, no, Miriam Al-Enizi, 20, studying business administration at Kuwait University, doesn't think women need the vote.” Men are better at politics than women,” she explained, adding that women in Kuwait already have everything they need. Welcome to democracy, Kuwait style.

16. According to the passage, which of the following groups of people might be viewed as being dangerous by the guards?

A. Foreign tourists.

B. Women protestors.

C. Foreign journalists.

D. Members of the National Assembly.

17. The bill giving women the vote did not manage to pass because

A. Different interest groups held different concerns.

B. Liberals did not reach consensus among themselves.

C. Parliament was controlled by traditionalists.

D.Parliament members were all conservatives.

18. What is the role of the 4th and 5th paragraphs in the development of the topic?

A. To show how Kuwaiti women enjoy themselves.

B. To describe how women work and study in Kuwait.

C. To provide a contrast to the preceding paragraphs.

D. To provide a contrast to the preceding paragraphs.

19. Which of the following is NOT true about young Kuwaiti women?

A. They seem to be quite contented.

B. They go in for Western fashions.

C. They desire more than modern necessities.

D. They favour the use of hi-tech products.

Text C

Richard, King of England from 1189 to 1199, with all his characteristic virtues and faults cast in a heroic mould is one of the most fascinating medieval figures. He has been described as the creature and embodiment of the age of chivalry, In those days the lion was much admired in heraldry, and more than one king sought to link himself with its repute. When

Richard's contemporaries called him" Coeur de Lion"(The Lion heart), they paid a lasting compliment to the king of beasts. Little did the English people owe him for his services, and heavily did they pay for his adventures. He was in England only twice for a few short months in his ten years' reign; yet his memory has always English hearts, and seems to present throughout the centuries the pattern of the fighting man. In all deeds of prowess as well as in large schemes of war Richard shone. He was tall and delicately shaped strong in nerve and sinew, and most dexterous in arms. He reioiced in personal combat, and regarded his opponents without malice as necessary agents in his fame He loved war, not so much for the sake of glory or political ends, but as other men love science or poetry, for the excitement of the struggle and the glow of victory. By this his whole temperament was toned; and united with the highest qualities of the military commander, love of war called forth all the powers of his mind and body. Although a man of blood and violence, Richard was too impetuous to be either treacherous on habitually cruel. He was as ready to forgive as he was hasty to offend; he was open-handed and munificent to profusion; in war circumspect in design and skilful in execution; in political a child, lacking in subtlety and experience. His political alliances were formed upon his likes and dislikes; his political schemes had neither unity nor clearness of purpose. The advantages gained for him by military geoids were flung away through diplomatic ineptitude. When, on the journey to the East, Messina in Sicily was won by his arms he was easily persuaded to share with his polished, faithless ally, Philip Augustus, fruits of a victory which more wisely used might have foiled the French King's artful schemes. The rich and tenable acquisition of Cyprus was cast away even more easily than it was won. His life was one magnificent parade, which, when ended, left only an empty plain.

In 1199, when the difficulties of raising revenue for the endless war were at their height, good news was brought to King Richard. It was said there had been dug up near the castle of Chaluz, on the lands of one of his French vassals, a treasure of wonderful quality; a group of golden images of an emperor, his wife, sons and daughters, seated round a table, also of gold, had been unearthed. The King claimed this treasure as lord paramount. The lord of Chaluz resisted the demand, and the King laid siege to his small, weak castle. On the third day, as he rode daringly, near the wall. Confident in his hard-tried luck, a bolt from a crossbow struck him in the left shoulder by the neck. The wound, already deep, was aggravated by the necessary cutting out of the arrow-head. Gangrene set in, and Coeur de Lion knew that he must

pay a soldier’s debt. He prepared for death with fortitude and calm, and in accordance with the principles he had followed. He arranged his affairs, he divided his personal belongings among his friends or bequeathed them to charity. He declared John to be his heir, and made all present swear fealty to him. He ordered the archer who had shot the fatal bolt, and who was now a prisoner, to be brought before him. He pardoned him, and made him a gift of money. For seven years he had not confessed for fear of being compelled to be reconciled to Philip, but now he received the offices of the Church with sincere and exemplary piety, and died in the forty-second year of his age on April 6, 1199, worthy, by the consent of all men, to sit with King Arthur and Roland another heroes of martial romance at some Eternal round Table, which we trust the Creator of the Universe in His comprehension will not have forgotten to provide.

The archer was flayed alive.

20 “little did the English people own him for his service” (paragraph one) means that the English

A. paid few taxes to him.

B gave him little respect.

C received little protection from him.

D had no real cause to feel grateful to him.

21. To say that his wife was a “ magnificent parade’( paragraph Two) implies that it was to some extent.

A .spent chiefly at war.

B impressive and admirable.

C lived too pompously

D. an empty show.

22. Richard’s behaviour as death approached sh owed.

A. bravery and self-control.

B. Wisdom and correctness

C. Devotion and romance

D. Chivalry and charity

23. The point of the last short paragraph is that Richard was

A. cheated by his own successors

B. determined to take revenge on his enemies.

C. more generous to his enemies than his seccesors.

D unable to influence the behavior of his successors.

24. Which of the following phrase best describes Richard as seen by the author?

A. An aggressive king, too fond of war.

B. A brave king with minor faults.

C A competent but cunning soldier.

D A kind with great political skills.

25. The relationship between the first and second paragraphs is that

A. each presents one side of the picture.

B. the first generalizes the second gives examples.

C. the second is the logical result of the first.

D. both present Richard’s virtues and faults.

TEXT D

The miserable fate of Enron's employees will be a landmark in business history, one of those awful events that everyone agrees must never be allowed to happen again. This urge is understandable and noble: thousands

have lost virtually all their retirement savings with the demise of Enron stock. But making sure it never happens again may not be possible, because the sudden impoverishment of those Enron workers represents something even larger than it seems. It's the latest turn in the unwinding of one of the most audacious promise of the 20th century.

The promise was assured economic security-even comfort- for essentially everyone in the developed world. With the explosion of wealth, that began

in the 19th century it became possible to think about a possibility no one had dared to dream before. The fear at the center of daily living since caveman days- lack of food warmth, shelter- would at last lose its power to terrify. That remarkable promise became reality in many ways. Governments created welfare systems for anyone in need and separate programmes for the elderly (Social Security in the U.S.). Labour unions promised not only better pay for workers but also pensions for retirees. Giant corporations came into being and offered the possibility- in some cases the promise- of lifetime employment plus guaranteed pensions. The cumulative effect was a fundamental change in how millions of people approached life itself, a reversal of attitude that most rank as one of the largest in human history. For millennia the average person’s stance toward providing for himself had been. Ultimately I’m on my own. Now it became, ultimately I’ll be taken care of. The early hints that this promise might be broken on a large scale came in the 1980s. U.S. business had become uncompetitive globally and began restructuring massively, with huge Layoffs. The trend accelerated in the 1990s as the bastions of corporate welfare faced reality. IBM ended it’s

no-layoff policy. AT&T fired thousands, many of whom found such a thing simply incomprehensible, and a few of whom killed themselves. The other supposed guarantors of our economic security were also in decline.

Labour-union membership and power fell to their lowest levels in decades. President Clinton signed a historic bill scaling back welfare. Americans realized that Social Security won’t provide social security for any of us.

A less visible but equally significant trend a affected pensions. To make costs easier to control, companies moved away from defined benefit pension plans, which obligate them to pay out specified amounts years in the future, to define contribution plans, which specify only how much goes into the play today. The most common type of defined-contribution plan is the

401(k). the significance of the 401(k) is that it puts most of the responsibility for a person's economic fate back on the employee. Within limits the employee must decide how much goes into the plan each year and how it

gets invested- the two factors that will determine how much it’s worth when the employee retires. Which brings us back to Enron? Those billions of dollars in vaporized retirement savings went in employees' 401(k) accounts. That is, the employees chose how much money to put into those accounts and then chose how to invest it. Enron matched a certain proportion of each employee's 401(k) contribution with company stock, so everyone was going to end up with some Enron in his or her portfolio; but that could be regarded as a freebie, since nothing compels a company to match employee contributions at all. At least two special features complicate the Enron case. First, some shareholders charge top management with illegally covering up the company's problems, prompting investors to hang on when they should have sold. Second, Enron's 401(k) accounts were locked while the company changed plan administrators in October, when the stock was falling, so employees could not have closed their accounts if they wanted to.

But by far the largest cause of this human tragedy is that thousands of employees were heavily overweighed in Enron stock. Many had placed 100% of their 401(k) assets in the stock rather than in the 18 other investment options they were offered. Of course that wasn't prudent, but it's what some of them did.

The Enron employees' retirement disaster is part of the larger trend away from guaranteed economic security. That's why preventing such a thing from ever happening again may be impossible. The huge attitudinal shift to

I’ll-be-taken-care-of took at least a generation. The shift back may take just as long. It won't be complete until a new generation of employees see assured economic comfort as a 20th- century quirk, and understand not just intellectually but in their bones that, like most people in most times and places, they're on their own

26. Why does the author say at the beginning “The miserable fate of Enron's employees will be a landmark in business history...”?

A. Because the company has gone bankrupt.

B. Because such events would never happen again.

C. Because many Enron workers lost their retirement savings.

D. Because it signifies a turning point in economic security.

27. According to the passage, the combined efforts by governments, layout unions and big corporations to guarantee economic comfort have led to a significant change in

A. people's outlook on life.

B. people's life styles.

C. people's living standard

D. people's social values.

28. Changes in pension schemes were also part of

A. the corporate lay-offs.

B. the government cuts in welfare spending.

C. the economic restructuring.

D. the warning power of labors unions.

29. Thousands of employees chose Enron as their sole investment option mainly because

A. The 401(k) made them responsible for their own future.

B. Enron offered to add company stock to their investment.

C. their employers intended to cut back on pension spending.

D. Enron's offer was similar to a defined-benefit plan.

30. Which is NOT seen as a lesson drawn from the Enron disaster?

A. 401(k) assets should be placed in more than one investment option.

B. Employees have to take up responsibilities for themselves.

C. Such events could happen again as it is not easy to change people's mind.

D. Economic security won't be taken for granted by future young workers.

阅读理解答案：

11-15 CADBA 16-20 BACCD 21-25 DDDBA 26-30 DABBD

2008年

TEXT A

At 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 school, and studies most of the day until returning home at 6 p.m. After dinner, its time to hit the books again—at 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 routine—five days a week. Its a grueling schedule, but Lee worries 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. 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 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 poorer 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 challenge 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 kids 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 foundering, while private education is thriving. According to critics, the countrys high schools are almost uniformly mediocre—the 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 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.

Nearly 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 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 universities, the countrys 10th graders are feeling the stress. On online protest sites, some are calling themselves a “cursed generation” and “mice in a lab experiment”. It all seems a touch melodramatic, but thats the South Korean school system.

11. According to the passage, the new college-entrance system is designed to

A. require students to sit for more college-entrance tests.

B. reduce the weight of college-entrance tests.

C. select students on their high school grades only.

D. reduce the number of prospective college applicants.

12. What seems to be the effect of introducing the new system?

A. The system has given equal opportunities to students.

B. The system has reduced the number of cram schools.

C. The system has intensified competition among schools.

D. The system has increased students study load.

13. According to critics, the popularity of private education is mainly the result of

A. the governments egalitarian policy.

B. insufficient number of schools:

C. curriculums of average quality.

D. low cost of private education.

14. According to the passage, there seems to be disagreement over the adoption of the new system between the following groups EXCEPT

A. between universities and the government.

B. between school experts and the government.

C. between parents and schools.

D. between parents and the government.

15. Which of the following adjectives best describes the authors treatment of the topic?

A. Objective.

B. Positive.

C. Negative.

D. Biased.TEXT B

Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones was a teenager before he saw his first cow in his first field. Born in Jamaica, the 47-year-old grew up in inner-city Birmingham before making a career as a television producer and launching his own marketing agency. But deep down he always nurtured every true Englishmans dream of a rustic life, a dream that his entrepreneurial wealth has allowed him to satisfy. These days hes the owner of a thriving 12-hectare farm in deepest Devon with cattle, sheep and pigs. His latest business venture: pushing his brand of Black Fanner gourmet sausages and barbecue sauces. “My background may be very urban,” says Emmanuel-Jones.

“But it has given me a good idea of what other urbanites want.”

And of how to sell it. Emmanuel-Jones joins a herd of wealthy fugitives from city life who are bringing a new commercial know-how to British farming. Britains burgeoning farmers markets -numbers have doubled to at least 500 in the last five years—swarm with specialty cheesemakers, beekeepers or organic smallholders who are redeploying the business skills they learned in the city. "Everyone in the

rural community has to

come to terms with the fact that things have changed." Says Emmanuel-Jones. "You can produce the best food in the world, but if you dont know how to market it, you are wasting your time. We are helping the traditionalists to move on."

The emergence of the new class of superpeasants reflects some old yearnings. If the British were the first nation to industrialize, they were also the first to head back to the land. "There is this romantic image of the countryside that is particularly English," says Alun Howkins of the University of Sussex, who reckons the population of rural England has been rising since 1911. Migration into rural areas is now running at about 100,000

a year, and the hunger for a taste of the rural life has kept land prices buoyant even as agricultural incomes tumble. About 40 percent of all farmland is now sold to "lifestyle buyers" rather than the dwindling number of traditional farmers, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Whats new about the latest returnees is their affluence and zeal for the business of producing quality foods, if only at a micro-level. A healthy economy and surging London house prices have helped to ease the escape of the would-be rustics. The media recognize and feed the fantasy. One of the big TV hits of recent years, the "River

Cottage" series, chronicled the attempts of a London chef to run his own Dorset farm. Naturally, the newcomers cant hope to match their City salaries, but many are happy to trade any loss of income for the extra job satisfaction. Who cares if theres no six-figure annual bonus when the land offers other incalculable compensations?

Besides, the specialist producers can at least depend on a burgeoning market for their products. Todays eco-aware generation loves to seek out authentic ingredients. "People like me may be making a difference in a small way," Jan McCourt, a onetime investment banker now running his own 40-hectare spread in the English Midlands stocked with rare breeds.Optimists see signs of far-reaching change: Britain isnt catching up with mainland Europe; its leading the way. “Unlike most other countries, where artisanal food production i s being eroded, here it is being recovered," says food writer Matthew Fort. “It may be the mark of the next stage of civilization that we rediscover the desirability of being a peasant.” And not an investment banker.

16. Which of the following details of Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones is INCORRECT?

A. He was born and brought up in Birmingham.

B. He used to work in the television industry.

C. He is wealthy, adventurous and aspiring.

D. He is now selling his own quality foods.

17. Most importantly, people like Wilfred have brought to traditional British farming

A. knowledge of farming.

B. knowledge of brand names.

C. knowledge of lifestyle.

D. knowledge of marketing,

18. Which of the following does NOT contribute to the emergence of a new class of farmers?

A. Strong desire for country life.

B. Longing for greater wealth,

C. Influence of TV productions.

D. Enthusiasm for quality food business.

19. What is seen as their additional source of new income?

A. Modern tendency to buy natural foods.

B. Increase in the value of land property.

C. Raising and selling rare live stock. V

D. Publicity as a result of media coverage.

20. The sentence in the last paragraph “...Britain isnt catching up with mainland Europe; its leading the way" implies that

A. Britain has taken a different path to boost economy.

B. more authentic foods are being produced in Britain.

C. the British are heading back to the countryside.

D. the Europeans are showing great interest in country life.

TEXT C

In Barcelona the Catalonians call them castells, but these arent stereotypical castles in Spain. These castles are made up of human beings, not stone. The people who perform this agile feat of acrobatics are called castellers, and to see their towers take shape is to observe a marvel of human cooperation.

First the castellers form what looks like a gigantic rugby scrummage. They are the foundation blocks of the castle. Behind them, other people press together, forming outward-radiating ramparts of inward-pushing muscle: flying buttresses for the castle. Then sturdy but lighter castellers scramble over the backs of those at the bottom and stand, barefoot, on their shoulders—then still others, each time adding a higher "story".

These human towers can rise higher than small apartment buildings: nine “stories”, 35 feet into the air. Then, just When it seems this tower of humanity cant defy gravity any longer, a little kid emerges from the crowd and climbs straight up to the top.

Arms extended, the child grins while waving to the cheering crowd far below.

Dressed in their traditional costumes, the castellers seem to epitomize an easier time, before Barcelona became a world metropolis arid the Mediterraneans most dynamic city. But when you observe-them tip close, in their street clothes, at practice, you see theres nothing easy about what the castellers do - and that they are not merely reenacting an ancient ritual.

None of the castellers can-give a logical answer as to why they love doing this. But Victor Luna, 16, touches me on the shoulder and says in English: "We do it because its beautiful. We do it because we are Catalan."

Barcelona’s mother tongue is Catalan, and to understand Barcelona, you must understand two words of Catalan: seny and rauxa. Seny pretty much translates as common sense, or the ability to make money, arrange things, and get things done. Rauxa is reminiscent of our words “raucous” and “ruckus”.

What makes the castellers revealing of the city is that they embody rauxa and seny. The idea of a human castle is rauxa—it defies common sense—but to watch one going up is to see seny in action. Success is based on everyone working

together to achieve a shared goal.

The success of Carlos Tusquets bank, Fibanc, shows seny at work in everyday life. The bank started as a family concern and now employs hundreds. Tusquets said it exemplifies how the economy in Barcelona is different.

Entrepreneurial seny demonstrates why Barcelona and Catalonia—the ancient region of which Barcelona is the capital—are distinct from the rest of Spain yet essential to Spains emergence, after centuries of repression, as a prosperous, democratic European

country. Catalonia, with Barcelona as its dynamo, has turned into an economic powerhouse. Mak ing up 6 percent of Spain’s territory, with a sixth of its people, it accounts for nearly a quarter of Spains production—everything from textiles to computers—even though the rest of Spain has been enjoying its own economic miracle.

Hand in hand with seny goes rauxa, and theres no better place to see rauxa in action than on the Ramblas, the venerable, tree-shaded boulevard that, in gentle stages, leads you from the centre of Barcelona down to the port. There are two narrow lanes each way for cars and motorbikes, but it’s the wide centre walkway that makes the Ramblas a front-row seat for Barcelonas longest running theatrical event. Plastic armchairs are set out on the sidewalk. Sit in one of them, and an attendant will come and charge you a small fee. Performance artists throng the Ramblas—stilt walkers, witches caked in charcoal dust, Elvis impersonators. But the real stars are the old women and happily playing children, millionaires on motorbikes, and pimps and

women who, upon closer inspection, prove not to be.

Aficionados (Fans) of Barcelona love to compare notes: “Last night there was a man standing on the balcony of his hotel room,” Mariana Bertagnolli, an Italian photographer, told me. "The balcony was on the second floor. He was naked, and he was talking

into a cell phone."

There you have it, Barcelonas essence. The man is naked (rauxa), but he is talking into a cell phone (seny).

21. From the description in the passage, we learn that

A. all Catalonians can perform castells.

B. castells require performers to stand on each other.

C. people perform castells in different formations.

D. in castells people have to push and pull each other.

22. According to the passage, the4mplication of the performance is that

A. the Catalonians are insensible and noisy people.

B. the Catalonians show more sense than is expected.

C. the Catalonians display paradoxical characteristics.

D. the Catalonians think highly of team work.

23. The passage cites the following examples EXCEPT __________ to show seny at work.

A. development of a bank

B. dynamic role in economy

C. contribution to national economy

D. comparison with other regions

24. In the last but two paragraph, the Ramblas is described as “a front-row seat

for Barcelona’s longest running theatrical event”. What does it mean?

A. On the Ramblas people can see a greater variety of performances.

B. The Ramblas provides many front seats for the performances.

C. The Ramblas is preferred as an important venue for the events.

D. Theatrical performers like to perform on the Ramblas.

25. What is the main impression of the scenes on the Ramblas?

A. It is bizarre and Outlandish.

B. It is of average quality.

C. It is conventional and quiet.

D. It is of professional standard.

TEXT D

The law firm Patrick worked for before he died filed for bankruptcy protection a year after his funeral. After his death, the firms letterhead properly included him: Patrick S. Lanigan, 1954-1992. He was listed up in the right-hand corner, just above the paralegals. Then the rumors got started and wouldnt stop. Before long, everyone believed he had taken the money and disappeared. After three months, no one on the Gulf Coast believed that he was dead. His name came off the letterhead

as the debts piled up.

The remaining partners in the law firm were still together, attached unwillingly at the hip by the bondage of mortgages and the bank notes, back when they were rolling and on the verge of serious wealth. They had been joint defendants in several unwinnable lawsuits; thus the bankruptcy. Since Patricks departure, they had tried every possible way to divorce one another, but nothing would work. Two were raging alcoholics who drank at the office behind locked doors, but nevertogether. The other two were in recovery, still teetering on the brink of sobriety.

He took their money. Their millions. Money they had already spent long before it arrived, as only lawyers can do. Money for their richly renovated office building in downtown Biloxi. Money for new homes, yachts, condos in the Caribbean. The money was on the way, approved, the papers signed, orders entered; they could see it, almost touch it when their dead partner—Patrick—snatched it at the last possible second.

He was dead. They buried him on February 11, 1992. They had consoled the widow and put his rotten name on their handsome letterhead. Yet six weeks later, he somehow stole their money.

They had brawled over who was to blame. Charles Bogan, the firms senior partner and its iron hand, had insisted the money be wired from its source into a new account offshore, and this made sense after some discussion. It was ninety million bucks,

a third of which the firm would keep, and it would be impossible to hide that kind of money in Biloxi, population fifty thousand. Someone at the bank would talk. Soon everyone would know. All four vowed secrecy, even as they made plans to display as much of their new wealth as possible. There had even been talk of a firm jet, a six-seater.

So Bogan took his share of the blame. At forty-nine, he was the oldest of the four, and, at the moment, the most stable. He was also responsible for hiring Patrick nine years earlier, and for this he had received no small amount of grief.

Doug Vitrano, the litigator, had made the fateful decision to recommend Patrick as the fifth partner. The other three had agreed, and when Patrick Lanigan was added to the firm name, he had access to virtually every file in the office. Bogan, Rapley, Vitrano, Havarac, and Lanigan, Attorneys and Counselors-at-Law. A large ad in the yellow pages claimed "Specialists in Offshore Injuries." Specialists or not, like most firms they

would take almost anything if the fees were lucrative. Lots of secretaries and paralegals. Big overhead, and the strongest political connections on the Coast.

They were all in their mid- to late forties. Havarac had been raised by his father on a shrimp boat. His hands were still proudly calloused, and he dreamed of choking Patrick until his neck snapped. Rapley was severely depressed and seldom left his home, where he wrote briefs in a dark office in the attic.

26. What happened to the four remaining lawyers after Patricks disappearance?

A. They all wanted to divorce their wives.

B. They were all heavily involved in debts.

C. They were all recovering from drinking.

D. They had bought new homes, yachts, etc.

27. Which of the following statements contains a metaphor?

A. His name came off the letterhead as the debts piled up.

B. …they could see it, almost touch it when their dead partner...

C. …, attached unwillingly at the hip by the bondage of mortgages...

D. …, and for this he had received no small amount of grief.

28. According to the passage, what is the main cause of Patrick stealing the money?

A. Patrick was made a partner of the firm.

B. The partners agreed to have the money transferred.

C. Patrick had access to all the files in the firm.

D. Bogan decided to hire Patrick nine years earlier.

29. The lawyers were described as being all the following EXCEPT

A. greedy.

B. extravagant

C. quarrelsome.

D. bad-tempered.

30. Which of the following implies a contrast?

A. …, and it would be impossible to hid e that kind of money in Biloxi, population fifty thousand.

B. They had been joint defendants in several unwinnable lawsuits; thus the bankruptcy.

C. There had even been talk of a firm jet, a six-seater.

D. His name came off the letterhead as the debts piled up.

Secton C

6-10、DABCB 11-15、CBDAC 16-20、BDCDB 21-25、CADDB 26-30CADBC 2009年

PART II READING COMPREHENSION (30 MIN)

In this 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 A

We had been wanting to expand our children's horizons by taking them to a place that was

unlike anything we'd been exposed to during our travels in Europe and the United States. In

thinking about what was possible from Geneva, where we are based, we decided on a trip to

Istanbul, a two-hour plane ride from Zurich.

We envisioned the trip as a prelude to more exotic ones, perhaps to New Delhi or Bangkok

later this year, but thought our 11- and 13-year-olds needed a first step away from manicured

boulevards and pristine monuments.

What we didn't foresee was the reaction of friends, who warned that we were putting our

children "in danger," referring vaguely, and most incorrectly, to disease, terrorism or just the

unknown. To help us get acquainted with the peculiarities of Istanbul and to give our children a

chance to choose what they were particularly interested in seeing, we bought an excellent guidebook and read it thoroughly before leaving.

Friendly warnings didn't change our planning, although we might have more prudently

checked with the U.S. State Department's list of troublespots. We didn't see a lot of children

among the foreign visitors during our six-day stay in Istanbul, but we found the tourist areas

quite safe, very interesting and varied enough even to suit our son, whose oft-repeated request is

that we not see "every single" church and museum in a given city.

Vaccinations weren't needed for the city, but we were concemed about adapting to the

water for a short stay. So we used bottled water for drinking and brushing our teeth, a precaution

that may seem excessive, but we all stayed healthy.

Taking the advice of a friend, we booked a hotel a 20-minute walk from most of Istanbul's

major tourist sites. This not only got us some morning exercise, strolling over the Karakoy

Bridge, but took us past a colorful assortment of fishermen, vendors and shoe shiners.

From a teenager and pre-teen's view, Istanbul street life is fascinating since almost everything can be bought outdoors. They were at a good age to spend time wandering the labyrinth of the Spice Bazaar, where shops display mounds of pungent herbs in sacks. Doing this

with younger children would be harder simply because the streets are so packed with people; it

would be easy to get lost.

For our two, whose buying experience consisted of department stores and shopping mall

boutiques, it was amazing to discover that you could bargain over price and perhaps end up with

two of something for the price of one. They also learned to figure out the relative value of the

Turkish lira, not a small matter with its many zeros.

Being exposed to Islam was an important part of our trip. Visiting the mosques, especially

the enormous Blue Mosque, was our first glimpse into how this major religion is practiced. Our

children's curiosity already had been piqued by the five daily calls to prayer over loudspeakers

in every corner of the city, and the scarves covering the heads of many women.

Navigating meals can be troublesome with children, but a kebab, bought on the street or in

restaurants, was unfailingly popular. Since we had decided this trip was not for gourmets, kebabs

spared us the agony of trying to find a restaurant each day that would suit the adults' desire to try

something new amid children's insistence that the food be served immediately. Gradually, we

branched out to try some other Turkish specialties.

Although our son had studied Islam briefly, it is impossible to be prepared for every

awkward question that might come up, such as during our visits to the Topkapi Sarayi, the

Ottoman Sultans' palace. No guides were available so it was do-it-yourself, using our guidebook,

which cheated us of a lot of interesting history and anecdotes that a professional guide could

provide. Next time, we resolved to make such arrangements in advance.

On this trip, we wandered through the magnificent complex, with its imperial treasures, its

courtyards and its harem. The last required a bit of explanation that we would have happily lef~

to a learned third party.

11. The couple chose Istanbul as their holiday destination mainly because

A. the city is not too far away from where they lived.

B. the city is not on the list of the U.S. State Department.

C. the city is between the familiar and the exotic.

D. the city is more familiar than exotic.

12. Which of the following statements is INCORRECT?

A. The family found the city was exactly what they had expected.

B. Their friends were opposed to their holiday plan.

专八阅读理解练习题

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专八真题

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专八阅读真题

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2005 The University as Business A number of colleges and universities have announced steep tuition increases for next year much steeper than the current, very low, rate of inflation. They say the increases are needed because of a loss in value of university endowments heavily investing in common 1 stock. I am skeptical. A business firm chooses the price that maximizes its net revenues, irrespective fluctuations in income; and increasingly the 2 outlook of universities in the United States is indistinguishable from those of 3 business firms. The rise in tuitions may reflect the fact economic uncertainty 4 increases the demand for education. The biggest cost of being in the school is foregoing income from a job (this is primarily a factor in 5 graduate and professional-school tuition; the poor one's job prospects, 6 the more sense it makes to reallocate time from the job market to education, in order to make oneself more marketable. The ways which universities make themselves attractive to students 7 include soft majors, student evaluations of teachers, giving students a governance role, and eliminate required courses. 8 Sky-high tuitions have caused universities to regard their students as customers. Just as business firms sometimes collude to shorten the 9 rigors of competition, universities collude to minimize the cost to them of the athletes whom they recruit in order to stimulate alumni donations, so the best athletes now often bypass higher education in order to obtain salaries earlier

英语专业八级考试真题(阅读部分).

03年英语专业八级考试真题(阅读部分) 2007-04-05 It came as something of a surprise when Diana, Princess of Wales, made a trip co Angola in 1997, to support the Red Cross’s campaign for a total ban on all anti-personnel landmines. Within hours of arriv!ng in Angola, television screens around the world were filled with images of her comforting victims injured in explosions caused by landmines. "I knew the statistics," she said. "But putting a face to those figures brought the reality home to me; like when I met Sandra, a 13- year-old girl who had lost her leg, and people like her." The Princess concluded with a simple message: "We must stop landmines". And she used every opportunity during her visit to repeat this message. But, back in London, her views were not’ shared by some members of the British government, which refused to support a ban on these weapons. Angry politicians launched an attack On the Princess in the press. They described her as "very ill-informed" and a "loose cannon (乱放跑的人) The Princess responded by brushing aside the Criticisms: "This is a distraction ( 干扰) we do not need. All I’m trying to do is help." Opposition parties, the media and the public immediately voiced their Support for the Princess. To make matters worse for the government, it soon emerged that the Princess’s trip had been approved by the Foreign Office, and that she was in fact very well-inf0rmed about both the situa-tion in Angola and the British government’s policy reg arding landmines. The result was a severe embarrassment for the government. To try and limit the damage, the Foreign Secretary, Malcolm Rifkidnd, claimed that the Princess’s views on landmines were not very different from government policy, and that it was "working towards" a worldwide ban. The Defence Secretary, Michael Portillo, claimed the matter was "a misinterpretation or misunderstanding." - For the Princess, the trip to this war-torn countrywas an excellent opportunity to use her popularity to show the world how much