中央电大本科学士学位英语统一考试真题（A卷）
2008年11月
注 意 事 项
一、本场考试时间为上午9：00——11：00.
二、考生务必在答题卡上用黑色字迹签字笔填写自己的准考证号、姓名和学校，再用2B铅笔把对应准考证号码的标号涂黑。
三、请考生仔细阅读题目的说明。
四、答案必须按要求写在答题卡规定的位置上，凡是写在试题册上的答案一律作废。
五、答题时，PartⅠ至 Part Ⅳ部分用2B铅笔按示例填涂，如：[■][B][C][D]，用其它符号答题者不记分。修改时，必须先用橡皮擦去原来选定的答案，然后再按要求重新作答。
六、Part V 部分必须用黑色字迹的签字笔在答题卡规定区域内作答，超出黑色矩形边框区域的答案无效。
Part I Reading Comprehension (30%)
Directions: There are three passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C, and D. You should decide on the best choice and blacken the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet. Passage 1
Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage:
Scientists in India have invented a new way to produce electricity. Their invention does not get its power from oil, coal or other fuels. It produces electricity with the power of animals. India has about eighty million bullocks. They do all kinds of jobs. They work in the fields. They pull vehicles through the streets. They carry water containers. (76)Indian energy officials have been seeking ways to use less imported oil to provide energy. Scientists at the National Institute for Industrial Engineering in Bombay wondered whether the millions of bullocks could help. Many villages in India lack electricity, but they have many bullocks. And often the animals are not working. One job done by bullocks is to pump water out of the well. The animals do this by walking around and around in a circle. As they walk, they turn a heavy stick that makes the pump move. This simple technology is centuries old. Scientists thought that the same technology could be used to produce electricity. Bullocks walk in a circle only two or three times a minute. This is much too slow to produce electricity, but it can create enough power to turn a series of gears. A large gear sits next to a smaller gear. As the large gear turns, it causes the smaller gear to turn. That gear turns an even smaller one. Each gear moves faster because it is a little smaller. The smallest gear may turn extremely fast. (77) Clocks operate with gears. So do cars and so does the device invented by the Indian scientists to produce electricity.
According to the officials in the United Nations, the idea is being tested at several places in India. The device is easy to operate and repair. And it can be moved easily. It costs about three hundred and seven dollars now to make such a device, but production of large numbers of them could cut the cost of each to about two hundred dollars. 1. Who first thought of using bullocks to provide energy? A. Indian energy officials. B. Scientists in India.
C. Officials in the United Nations. D. Researchers in Europe.
2. Which kind of job that the bullocks do is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A. Pulling vehicles. B. Plowing fields.
C. Pumping water out if wells. D. Carrying food baskets.
3. Why are bullocks used to provide energy in India? A. Because bullocks have long been used by Indian people. B. Because bullocks walk slowly and are easy to control C. Because there are few non-working bullocks in India. D. Because there is not enough oil in India.
4. In the sentence “This simple technology is centuries old” in Paragraph One, “This simple technology” refers to _____. A. using bullocks to produce energy B. using pumps to draw water out
C. having bullocks walk around to make the pump move D. connecting gears of different sizes to produce electricity
5. Which of the following is true about the device mentioned in the passage? A. It has a large gear and a smaller gear. B. It’s easy to use, but difficult to move. C. It’s quite cheap. D. It’s still being tested. Passage 2
Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage:
On-the-job smoking is a hot issue for both smokers and non-smokers, and many managers now see smoking as a productivity problem. Although some people question whether smoking really affects one’s productivity, it has, in fact, been proven that a smoker costs a company more than a non-smoker. According to Professor William Weis, a smoking employee costs his or her employer about $ 5,700 more a year than a never-smoker. These costs include medical care, lost earnings and insurance. And absence due to smoking breaks is one of the productivity problems, yet it accounts for a great deal of employer costs.
(78) When the issue of smoking at the workplace is discussed, perhaps the most important problem is the health risk that smoking causes to both smokers and never-smokers. It has long been proven that smoking is linked to lung cancer. Now many health experts warn that passive smoking can cause lung cancer and other illnesses in healthy never-smokers. Passive smoking can be defined as exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke in enclosed areas. Anyone who has been with smokers indeed knows that their smoke can cause eye irritation, coughing, headaches and throat soreness. While eye irritation may seem a small thing to some smokers, it nevertheless is a problem that occurs every workday in offices and break-rooms and can lead to greater health problems. Employees who do not smoke should not be subjected to the risks of passive smoking
and need to be able to work in a safe environment. Surgeon General Koop states that the right of the smoker stops at the point where his or her smoking increases the disease risk of those occupying the same environment.
6. All the following cases are on-the-job smoking except that ____. A. an employer smokes while working in the office B. a taxi driver smokes while driving the car C. a worker smokes while working in the workshop D. a worker smokes while reading in the train
7. According to the passage, on-the-job smoking affects an employee’s performance in the office in that_____. A. he can concentrate on what he is doing while smoking B. he often goes away from his desk to smoke in the break-room. C. he often asks for sick leave as a result of too much smoking. D. he takes a rest from time to time because of eye irritation
8. Many managers do not seem to be in favor of on-the-job smoking mainly because it ____. A. reduces productivity of the company to a certain degree B. does harm to the health of never-smokers of the company. C. affects the relationship between smokers and non-smokers D. makes the break-rooms more crowded and more polluted 9. Passive smoking means____
A. never-smokers take up the habit of smoking unwillingly B. never-smokers have to put up with the active smokers C. never-smokers take in smoke released by a lit cigarette D. never-smokers share an enclosed area with smokers
10. In the second part of the passage, the author suggests banning on-the-job smoking so as
to____.
A. cut down costs of medical care and insurance B. create a healthy and safe working environment
C. prevent eye irritation from becoming a big health problem D. improve the smoking employees’ work efficiency Passage 3
Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage
Not all memories are sweet. Some people spend all their lives trying to forget bad experiences. Violence and traffic accidents can leave people with terrible physical and emotional scars. Often they relive these experiences in nightmares(噩梦).
(79)Now American researchers think they are close to developing a pill, which will help people forget bad memories. The pill is designed to be taken immediately after a frightening experience. They hope it might reduce, or possibly erase(抹去), the effect of painful memories. In November, experts tested a drug on people in the US and France. The drug stops the body releasing chemicals that fix memories in the brain. (80) So far the research has suggested that only the emotional effects of memories may be reduced, not that the memories are erased.
The research has caused a great deal of argument. Some think it is a bad idea, while others support it.
Supporters say it could lead to pills that prevent or treat soldiers’ troubling memories after war. They say that there are many people who suffer from terrible memories.
“Some memories can ruin people’s lives. They come back to you when you don’t want to have them in a daydream or nightmare. They usually come with very painful emotions.” said Roger Pitman, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “This could relieve a lot of that suffering.”
But those who are against the research say that it is very dangerous to change memories because memories give us our identity. They also help us all avoid the mistakes of the past. “All of us can think of bad events in our lived that were horrible at the time but make us who we are. I’m not sure we want to wipe those memories out,” said Rebecca Dresser, a medical ethicist.
11. The passage is mainly about _____.
A. a new medical invention B. a new research on memories C a way of erasing painful memories D an argument about the research on the pill 12. The drug tested on people can ____.
A. cause the brain to fix memories
B. stop people remembering their experiences C. prevent body producing certain chemicals D. wipe out the emotional effects of memories 13. We can infer from the passage that_____.
A. people doubt the effects of the pills
B. the pill will stop people’s bad experiences C. taking the pill will do harm to people’s health
D. the pill has probably been produced in America 14. Which of the following does Rebecca Dresser agree with?
A. Some memories can ruin people’s lives. B. People want to get rid of bad memories.
C. Experiencing bad events makes us different from others.
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