主人公）. We watch her grow through a childhood dominated by her cruel but hard-working father；experience tragedy（her mother's suicide and murder of her twin children）; and learn about her feelings as she grows into a woman. We see her marry, lose her husband, then marry again. Chris has seemed so convincing a figure to some female readers that they cannot believe that she is the creation of a man.
But it would be misleading to suggest that this book is just about Chris. 1t is truly a novel of a place and its people. Its opening section tells of Kinraddie's long history, in a language that imitates the place’s changing patterns of speech and writing.
The story itself is amazingly full of characters and incidents. It is told from Chris’ point of view but also from that of the gossiping community, a community where everybody knows eye, body else’s business and nothing is ever forgotten.
Sunset Song has a social theme too. It is concerned with what Grassic Gibbon perceives as the destruction of traditional Scottish rural life first by modernization and then by World War l. Gibbon tried hard to show how certain characters resist the war. Despite this, the war takes the young men away, a number of them to their deaths. In particular, it takes away Chris’ husband, Ewan Tavendale. The war finally kills Ewan, but not in the way his widow is told. In fact, the Germans aren’t responsible for his death, but his own side. He is shot because he is said to have run away from a battle.
If the novel is about the end of one way of life it also looks ahead. It is a “Sunset Song” but is concerned too with the new Kinraddie, indeed of the new European world. Grassic Gibbon went on to publish two other novels about the place that continue its story.
36 What is Sunset Song mainly about? A The First World War. B The beauty of the sunset. C The new European world.
D The lives of rural Scottish farmers. 37 Which statement is NOT true of Chris? A She is the heroine of Sunset Song. B She had a miserable childhood. C She is the creation of a man. D She married only once.
38 What is the opening section of the novel mainly concerned with? A The climate of Kinraddie. B The history of Kinraddie. C The geography of Kinraddie.
D The language spoken in Kinraddie. 39 Who killed Chris' husband, Ewan? A His own troops. B The French army
C The Germans. .
D The Russian soldiers.
40 The word “Sunset” in the title of this novel most probably means
A B C D
第三篇
the end of the heroine's life. the end of the story.
the end of the traditional way of life. the end of the day.
Centers of the Great European Cities
The centers of the great cities of Europe are meeting places by tradition. People gather there to drink coffee and chat late into the night. A mixture of locals and tourists make for an exciting. metropolitan（大都市的）atmosphere.
Squares, plazas（广场）and arcades（拱廊）form the heart of Europe's cities.
Venice in Italy has the Piazza San Marco - a beautiful square surrounded by shops, churches, restaurants and cafes. In Barcelona, Spain, La Bosqueria is a lively market with hundreds of stalls selling all kinds of goods. London's Covent Garden is filled with fruit and vegetable stalls by day and musicians, acrobats（杂技演员）and artists by night. The government buildings at the center of many cities often are architecturally impressive. In London, they serve as a beautiful backdrop（背景）to the coffee tables that line the streets and the banks of the Thames.
These vibrant（有活力的）hearts are the product of centuries of evolution, social historian Joel Garreau told US News and World Report recently. “The reason people think Venice is so great today is you don’t see all the mistakes,” said Garreau. “Those have all been removed.” Most European cities were laid out before the invention of the car, so bars, restaurants and cafes were near to people’s homes. Today, the focus of many Europeans' life has moved away from the centers. They live in the suburbs and outskirts, driving to supermarkets to get their supplies. But on a continent where people treasure convention there are still those who hold onto traditional ways, living and shopping locally. These people, together with tourists, provide the city centers with their reason for existence.
Coffee culture plays a part in keeping these city centers flourishing. This is particularly true of Paris whose citizens are famous enthusiastic conversationalists. This skill is developed over many hours spent chaffing over espressos（浓咖啡）and cigarettes.
Religion also plays a role in developing sociable atmosphere. People in Roman Catholic countries used to visit the Church on an almost daily basis. Entire communities would gather in the same building and then move out to the markets, cafés and bars in the surrounding streets. An enormous example of this relationship between church and society is the Duomo. The huge marble cathedral in Florence, Italy is surrounded by bakeries and coffee shops, and caters（迎合）not only to the tourist crowds, but also the local community.
41 It can be inferred from the first paragraph that each big city in Europe A has many large squares.
B has many very magnificent sky-scrapers. C draws tourists in large numbers every yean D has a center where tourists meet their spouses. 42 Which statement is NOT true of Covent Garden?
A It is crowded with people. B It is located in London. C It is filled with stalls.
D It is surrounded by shops, churches, restaurants and cafes. 43 Why do people think that Venice is so great? A Because It is a famous tourist attraction. B Because you can reach anywhere by boat. C Because it is well-known for its merchants. D Because all the mistakes have been removed. 44 What are Parisians famous for ? A Their pursuit of independence. B Their enthusiasm for conversation.
C Their ability to keep the city flourishing.
D Their devotion to developing a multiple culture.
45 The writer cites the Duomo in the last paragraph as an example to illustrate that A there is a tight link between church and society. B all churches are magnificent. C old churches are very popular.
D high—rise churches are impressive.
第5部分：补全短文（第46～50题，每题2分，共10分）
下面的短文有5处空白，短文后有6个句子，其中5个取自短文，请根据短文内容将 其分别放回原有位置，以恢复文章原貌.
Rising Tuition in the US
Every Spring, US university administrators gather to discuss the next academic year's budget. They consider faculty salaries, utility costs for dormitories, new building needs and repairs to old ones. They run the numbers and conclude - it seems, inevitably - that, yet again, the cost of tuition must go up.
According to the US's College Board, the price of attending a four-year private university in the US rose 81 percent between l993 and 2004 （46）In 2005 and 2006, the numbers continued to rise.
According to university officials, college cost increases are simply the result of balancing university checkbooks. “Tuition increases at Cedarville University are determined by our revenue needs for each year,” said the university's president. Dr Bill Brown. “Student tuition pays for 78 percent of the university's operating costs.” Brown's school is a private university that enrolls about 3,100 undergrads and is consistently recognized by annual college ranking guides like US News and World Report's and The Princeton Review's. （47）
Tuition at private universities is set by administration officials and then sent for approval to the school's board of trustees（董事）. （48）This board oversees（监管）all of a state's public institutions.
John Durham, assistant secretary to the board of trustees at East Carolina University（ECU）,
explains that state law says that public institutions must make their services available whenever possible to the people of the state for free. Durham said that North Carolina residents only pay 22 percent of the cost of their education. （49）State residents attending ECU pay about US $10,000 for tuition, room and board before financial aid.
Amid the news about continued increases in college costs, however, there is some good news. Tuition increases have been accompanied by roughly equal increases in financial aid at almost every university. To receive financial aid, US students complete a formal application with the federal government. The federal government then decides whether an applicant is eligible（有资格的）for grants or loans. （50）
A The application is then sent to the student’s university, where the school itself will decide
whether free money will be given to the student and how much.
B At public universities, however, tuition increases must also be approved by a state education
committee, sometimes called the board of governors.
C The school currently charges US $23,410 a year for tuition.
D Many American people are simply unable to pay the growing cost of food. E That’s more than double the rate of inflation. F The state government covers the rest.
第6部分：完形填空（第51～65题，每题l分，共15分）
下面的短文有l5处空白，请根据短文内容为每处空白确定1个最佳选项。
How Two Great Conflicts Helped to Change Europe
Ninety years ago on a sunny morning in Northern France, something happened that changed Britain and Europe for ever. At half past seven on the morning of July l,1916, whistles（哨子）blew and thousands of British soldiers left their positions to attack their German enemies. By the end of the day, 20,000 of them were dead, and another 30,000 wounded or missing. The Battle of the Somme, （51）it is called, lasted for six months. When it ended, 125,000 British soldiers were dead. They had gained five kilometers of ground.
This was one of a series of great battles during WWI. The attack on the Somme was staged to relieve （52）on the French, who were engaged in a great battle of their own at a place called Verdun. By the time the battle ended, over a million French and German troops had been killed.
About l7 million people were killed in WWI. There have been wars with greater numbers of dead. But there has never been one in （53）most of the dead were concentrated in such a small area. On the Somme battlefield, two men died for every meter of space.
Local farmers working in the land still （54）the bodies of those who died in that battle. The dead of all nations were buried in a series of giant graveyards along the line of the border （55）France and Belgium. Relatives and descendants（子孙）of those who died still visit these graveyards today. What the French call the “tourism of death” （56）an important contribution to the local economy.
It took a second great conflict before Europe was to turn （57）war itself.
Twenty-eight years after the Somme baffle, a liberating army of British, American and Canadian troops took back （58）from another German invasion. More than 500,000 people were killed. New （59）were built.
Two great conflicts across two generations helped to change the European mind about war. Germany, once the most warlike country in Europe, is now probably more in （60）of peace than any other. One major cause of war in Europe was rivalry（竞争）between France and Germany. The European Union was specifically formed to end that （61）.
According to US commentator William Pfaff, “Europeans are interested in a slow development of civilized and tolerant international relations, （62） on problems while avoiding catastrophes（灾难）along the way. They have themselves only recently （63）from the catastrophes of WWI and WWI l, when tens of millions of people were destroyed. They don’t want （64）.”
The last British veteran of the Somme battle died in 2005, aged l08. And WWI is passing out
of memory and into history. But for anyone who wants to understand how Europeans （65）, it is still important to know a little about the terrible events Of July l,1916.
51 A since B because C as D for
52 A aggression B anxiety C pressure D resistance 53 A where B which C why D that 54 A find B look for C seek D look at 55 A among B on C in D between 58 A makes B brings C gives D adds 57 A into B to C in D against 58 A America B Britain C Canada D France 59 A monuments B graveyards C tablets D gravestones 60 A hatred B suspicion C favor D fear 61 A war B rivalry C battle D revenge 62 A compromising B confronting C attacking D fighting 63 A repeated B recovered C repaired D relaxed 64 A much B many C more D less 65 A behave B assume C know D think
2008年度全国职称英语等级考试
综合类（B级）答案
1. D 2. A 3.D 4. A 5. D 6. A 7. C 8. C 9. D l0. C 11. B l2. A l3. B l4. D l5. B 16. A l7. C l8. B 21. B 22. A 23. F 26. E 27. F 28. A 31. B 32. D 33. A 36. D 37. D 38. B41. C 42. D 43. D46. E 47. C 48. B 51. C 52. C 53. B 56. A 57. D 58. D61. B 62. A 63. B
其中：
1－30每题l分； 31－45每题3分； 46－50每题2分； 51－65每题l分。 试卷满分：100分。
l9. A 20. C 24. B 25. C 29. B 30. C 34. C 35. D 39. A 40. C 44. B 45. A 49. F 50. A 54. A 55. D 59. B 60. C 64. C 65. D
2008年度全国职称英语等级考试综合类（B级）试题及答案
