北京师范大学2006年博士生入学考试英语试题
English Entrance Examination for
Non—English Major
I．Listening Comprehension (1 5 points) II． Reading Comprehension (30 points)
—Directions： There are six passages in this part．Each of the passages is followed by five questions
or unfinished statements．For each of them there are four choices marked A，B，C and D．Choose the best One and mark your answer 0n the ANSWER SHEET with a single line through the centre． Passage 1
Anyone who trains animals recognizes that human and animal perceptual capacities are different. For most humans，seeing is believing，although we do occasionally brood about whether we can believe our eyes．The other senses are largely ancillary；Most of us do not know how we might go about either doubting or Believe our noses. But for dogs，scenting is believing．A dog’s nose is to ours as the wrinkled surface of our complex brain is to the surface of an egg．A dog who did comparatively psychology might easily worry about our consciousness or lack there of. Just as we worry about the consciousness of a squid．
We who take sight for granted can draw pictures of scent，but we have no language for doing it the other way about，no way to represent something visually of humans can by means of actual scent．Most humans cannot know, with their limited noses，what they can imagine about being deaf, blind，mute，or paralyzed．The sighted can, for example，speak of a blind person as “in the darkness,” but there is no corollary expression for what it is that. We are in relationship to scent．If we tried to coin words． we might come up with something like“scent-blind.” But what would it mean? It could，have the sort of meaning that “color-blind” and “tone-deaf” do，because most of us have experienced what“tone”and“color”mean in those expressions，but we don’t know what “scent” means in the expression“scent-blind．” Scent for many of us can be only a theoretical，technical expression that we use because our grammar requires that we have a noun to go in the sentences we are
prompted to utter about animals’tracking．We don?t have a sense of scent．What we do have is a sense of smell—for Thanksgiving dinner and skunks and a number of things we call chemicals．
So if Fido and I are sitting on the terrace，admiring the view, we inhabit worlds with radically different principles of phenomenology．Say that the wind is to our backs．Our world lies all before us，within a 1 80 degree angle．The dog?s well，we don?t know, do we?
He sees roughly the same things that I see but he believes the scents of the garden behind US．He marks the path of the black—and white cat as she moves among the roses in search of the bits of chicken sandwich I 1et fall as I walked from the house to
our picnic spot．I can show that Fido is alert to the kitty, but not how，for my
picture—making modes of thought too easily supply falsifying literal representations of the cat and the garden and their modes of being hidden from or revealed to me． 1 6．The phrase“other senses are largely ancillary” (Paragraph 1)is used by the author to suggest that_________.
A．only those events experienced directly Can be appreciated by the senses
B．for many human beings the sense of sight is the primary means of knowing about
the world
C．smell is in many respects a more powerful sense than sight
D．people rely on at least one of their other senses in order to confirm with what they
see 1 7． “principles of phenomenology” mentioned in Paragraph 3 can best be defined as that _________.
A．rules one uses to determine the philosophical truth about a certain thing B．behaviors caused by certain kinds of perception C．ways and means of knowing about something
D．effect of single individual?s perception on what others believe
1 8．The missing phrase in the incomplete sentence“The dog?s___well。we don’t know, do we?”refers to _________. A. color blindness
B. perception of the world C. concern for our perception D. depth perception
1 9．The author uses the distinction between“that”and“how”(Last Paragraph) in order to suggest the difference between_________. A．seeing and believing
B．a cat?s way and dog?s way of perceiving
C．false representations and accurate representations
D．awareness of presence and the nature of that awareness
20．The example in the last paragraph is used to illustrate how________. A．a dog? perception differs from a human?s B．people fear nature but animals are part of it C．a dog?s ways of seeing are superior to a cat?s D．phenomenology is universal and constant
Passage 2
Sneezing，wheezing season begins for hay fever victims．
We have had tidings for the country?s 30 million hay sufferers：Sneezing season is here．
Unfortunately, this year?s weather conditions--a rainy spring and summer--were perfect for producing bumper crops of ragweed and goldenrod in many areas of the
country．That means pollen counts may be very high during the next two months． Traditionally，sneezing season arrives August 1 5 and hangs around until the first frost in October．The peak occurs around Labor Day，a holiday that wise hay fever victims spend at the beach，in the desert，or parked in front of air conditioners． Financially well-off hay fever victims jet to Europe because the old continent doesn?t have ragweed and goldenrod．
Most of the country east of the Mississippi River basin is infested with the noxious plants，but allergists say the upper Midwest is the nation?s pollen pits， particularly Ohio，Indiana，Michigan and Illinois．
Oddly, the East has two hay fever havens：New York?s Adirondack Mountains and southern Florida．Soil conditions in the Adirondack and Florida aren?t conducive to ragweed and goldenrod．
The Western states from the Rockies to the Pacific also don?t have sneezy weeds．
National Weather Service climatologists say folks along the East Coast from Georgia to Maine will have the worst pollen counts this year because rainfall along the Atlantic Seaboard has been above normal and the plants have had unusual
growth．Rainfall in Massachusetts，New Hampshire and Maine has been 50 percent above normal since New Year?s .
Rainfall also is 50 percent above normal in parts of lower，Nebraska．Minnesota and South Dakota，and folks in those states also can expect heavy wheezing．
Tennessee，Kentucky and Louisiana have had above normal rains since New Years and they，too，face high pollen counts．
21．According to the article，soil conditions in some areas aren?t “conducive to ragweed or goldenrod?? the word “conducive” means__________. A．favorable to B．confusing C．beneficial to
D．capable of conducting liquid
22．The plant most commonly associated with high pollen counts is__________. A．the rose B．the dandelion C．ragweed D．seaweeds
23．According to the article，pollen counts will be unusually high because__________.
A．the season started earlier than usual
B．the Mississippi River is affected by the noxious plants C．climatologists have been working on the problem
D．there was a rainy spring and summer in many parts of the country
24．The article implies that people who live in the western states from the Rockies to the Pacific_________.
A. will suffer more than anyone else from hay fever B. will not suffer much from hay fever
C. will fly to Europe during the heavy fever season
D. will always leave for a holiday during the hay fever season
25．If you had allergies, your doctor probably would warn you against moving to_________.
A．the upper mid-west C．southern Florida B．the lower mid-west D．any European country
Passage 3
Faced with rapid change and the fear and uncertainty that go with it, individuals as well as nations sometimes seek to return to the ways of the past as a solution．In the early 1980s the idea of returning to the ways of the past had a strong appeal to
many Americans who increasingly viewed their past as being better than their future． Yankelovich and Lefkowitz have observed that until the 1970s Americans generally believed that the present was a better time for their country than the past and that the future would be better than the present；by 1 978，however，public opinion polls showed that many Americans had come to believe that trust the opposite was true：the past had been better for the country than the present，and the present was better than the future would be．
The population appeal of returning to the ways of the past as a solution to the problems of the 1 980s was demonstrated when Ronald Reagan was elected President of the United States in 1 980．Time magazine chose President Reagan as its “man of the year” and said of him：“intellectually．emotionally．Reagan 1ives in the past．” One of President Reagan?s basic beliefs is that the United States should return as much as possible to its pre-1980 ways．In those times business institutions were strong and government institutions were weak．Reagan believes that the American values of individual freedom and competition are strengthened by business and weakened by government．Therefore，his programs as President have been designed to greatly strengthen business and reduce the size and power of the national government．By moving in this way toward the practices of the past，president Reagan believed that the standard of living of Americans would begin to improve once more in the 1 980s as it had done throughout most of the nation?s history．
26．American people wish to return to ways of the past because_________. A．they are nostalgic
B．they are uncertain of the present C．they are conservative
D．they are facing too many social problems
27．Before the 1 970s Americans generally believed that__________. A．the past was better than the present
B．the present was as good as the past C．they should return to the past
D．the present was better than the past
28．One of the reasons that Reagan was chosen as the“man of the year?? in 1 980 by Time magazine was that___________. A．he knew a lot about the past
B．he was experienced enough to compare the present with the past C．his ideas and feelings are quite similar to those of the pleasant past D．he was well liked by American people
29．Which of the following might not be used as an explanation for Reagan?s belief that the American values of individual freedom and competition are strengthened by business and weakened by government?___________.
A．When a government is too powerful，individuals won’t have much freedom． B．When businesses have more freedom，they are likely to be more competitive． C．The reduction of the power of the government will allow more freedom for business．
D．Government has proved itself useless in terms of enhancing individual freedom and competition．
30．President Reagan?s belief about the relation between business and government was based on __________. A．modem political theory B. practices of the past C．practices of the present D．his own creative ideas
Passage 4
The average population density of the world is 47 persons per square mile． Continental densities range from no permanent inhabitants in Antarctica to 2 11 per square mile in Europe．In the western hemisphere，population densities range from about 4 per square mile in Canada to 675 per square mile in Puerto Rico．In Europe the range is from 4 per square mile in Iceland to 831 per square mile in the
Netherlands．Within countries there are wide variations of population densities．For example，in Egypt，the average is 55 persons per square mile，but 1300 persons inhabit each square mile in settled portions where the land is arable． High population densities generally occur in regions of developed industrialization，such as the Netherlands，Belgium，and Great Britain，or where lands are intensively used for agriculture，as in Puerto Rico and Java．
Low average population densities are characteristic of most underdeveloped Countries．Low density of population is generally associated with a relatively low percentage of cultivated land．This generally results from poor quality lands．It may also be due to natural obstacles to cultivation，such as deserts，mountains or
malaria．infested jungles；to land uses other than cultivation，as pasture and forested
北京师范大学2006年博士生入学考试英语试题
