中国科学院考博英语-4
(总分89.5, 做题时间90分钟)
Part Ⅰ Vocabulary
1. 
The profession fell into ______, with some physicists sticking to existing theories, while others came up with the big-bang theory.
A harmony
B turmoil
C distortion
D accord
2. 
The researchers found the age at which young people first fall ______ to bullies seems to determine how much it affects them.
A sacrifice
B short
C witness
D victim
3. 
The motorist had to ______ to avoid knocking the old woman down in the middle of the road.
A swerve
B twist
C depart
D swing
4. 
The computer can be programmed to ______ a whole variety of tasks.
A assign
B tackle
C realize
D solve
5. 
After negotiation for some time, all the members of the association promised to ______ to the strict code of practice.
A ascribe
B confirm
C adhere
D confide
6. 
Apparently there were ______ between police reports taken from the same witnesses at different times.
A distortions
B discrepancies
C disorders
D distractions
7. 
The computer can be programmed to ______ a whole variety of tasks.
A assign
B tackle
C realize
D solve
8. 
There are few, if any, countries in the world in which sports ______ national life to the degree that they do in the US.
A permeate
B overwhelm
C submerge
D immerse
9. 
The Association of University Teachers claims that taxpayers"money, ______ for basic research, is being used to prop up industrial and other applied research projects.
A designed
B engaged
C oriented
D intended
10. 
Human facial expressions differ from those of animals in the degree to which they can be ______ controlled and modified.
A deliberately
B consequently
C originally
D absolutely
11. 
The head of the Museum was ______ and let us actually examine the ancient manuscripts.
A promising
B agreeing
C pleasing
D obliging
12. 
If you don"t want to talk to him, I"ll speak to him ______.
A on your account
B on your behalf
C for your part
D in your interest
13. 
It happened in a flash, although ______ everything seemed to occur in slow motion, as though I were watching from another planet.
A in return
B in practice
C in reality
D in retrospect
14. 
The prime minister"s proposal for new taxes created such a(n)______that his government fell.
A sensation
B upheaval
C withdrawal
D outbreak
15. 
Hosting the 2008 Olympics provided China with an opportunity to ______ its unprecedented progress.
A demonstrate
B deduce
C distinguish
D disperse
16. 
While this arrangement was a major improvement over its ______, it still had drawbacks.
A premium
B prevalence
C premise
D predecessor
17. 
His expenditure on holidays and luxuries is rather high in ______ to his income.
A comparison
B proportion
C association
D calculation
18. 
History will always ______ any intended route and take an unforeseen one instead.
A lead to
B deviate from
C pass through
D result from
19. 
The water was so clear that it ______ the trees on the river bank.
A shadowed
B shaded
C represented
D reflected
20. 
A knowledge of history ______ us to deal with the vast range of problems confronting the contemporary world.
A equips
B provides
C offers
D satisfies
Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension
Section A
Passage 1
States are considering major changes in prepaid college tuition programs - raising prices, restricting participation of canceling them - as they grapple with financial woes. Nationwide, families will likely have to pay more to participate, or accept that they might not cover tuition when children go to college.
Colorado has closed its prepaid plan to new investors and told existing ones that it may not cover future tuition increases. Wisconsin stopped selling its plan Dec. 20. Maryland and Illinois are among states hiking prices by 20% or more.
Prepaid plans let parents lock in tuition by paying for it now, protecting them against rising costs. But the hear market has hurt investment returns, leaving the plans unable to keep up with big increases in tuition. So far, Colorado is the only state that has told participants their investments may not cover tuition, and no plan has missed a payment.
Other states have said they will fulfill obligations, even if it requires a legislative bailout. Still, the financial problems have forced thousands to grapple with uncertainty - something prepaid plans were designed to avoid. More than 1 million families have an estimated $ 8 billion invested in the plans, says ＜ Saving for College. com ＞.
Some states, including Colorado, may replace the prepaid plan with a guaranteed investment contract, a CD-like investment that"s backed by an insurance company. Investors get a minimum rate of return, but no guarantee that it will cover tuition.
Wisconsin"s EdVest program is encouraging investment in a stable value fund, which is similar to a guaranteed investment contract, in its investment plan. Wisconsin"s prepaid plan never guaranteed to cover tuition inflation. It also never got a lot of investors, possibly because it lacked that guarantee.
In Florida, a task force is considering limiting the state"s prepaid program to low-income families. Ohio officials are also looking at limiting participation, but it"s a measure they hope to avoid. "Program administrators are looking for alternatives," says Andrea Feirstein, a state-plan consultant.
Maryland recently boosted its prices by up to 30%; Illinois by up to 23%. The increases have made some prepaid plans uneconomical for parents of older children. In Ohio, the price of one year"s tuition for a child over 12 months old is $ 8, 000, more than 40% above current tuition at Ohio State. SO it may not be a good deal for children starting college in three or four years because tuition may not jump that much that fast.
1. 
Prepaid college tuition is generally designed on the principle that ______.
A it is easy to pay at the present time
B it is economical in the long run
C it saves pains to pass the entrance exam
D it ensures the admission to the college
2. 
Many states plan to modify their prepaid college tuition programs ______.
A under the mounting financial pressures
B because of deficient college facilities
C to ease overcrowding problems in college
D to limit the participation of low-income families
3. 
The word "investors" (in boldface in Paragraph 2) most exactly refers to those who ______.
A serve as the main source of finance to the state
B invest money in developing local colleges
C sponsor colleges and their educational programs
D join the plan and pay the tuition in advance
4. 
Colorado now has told participants in the prepaid tuition plan that ______.
A they would not have to make any other payment later
B they would not be guaranteed against further payment
C the plan would cover further tuition increases
D the plan would be replaced by a guaranteed investment contract
5. 
The expression "a CD-like investment" (in boldface in Paragraph 5) most probably refers to an investment ______.
A to support civil defense
B put in producing compact disc
C to promote show industry
D like certificate deposit
6. 
It can be inferred from the last paragraph that in Ohio ______.
A prepaid plans require a participation at most 3 or 4 years before starting college
B children may start college 3 or 4 years earlier than at a normal age if they prepay tuition
C college tuition 3 or 4 years later may not be so high as today"s price of prepaid tuition
D the younger a child to join the plan, the greater loss he/she will suffer at the age for college
Passage 2
The familiar sounds of an early English summer are with us once again. Millions of children sit clown to SATs, GCSEs, AS-levels, A-levels and a host of lesser exams, and the argument over educational standards starts. Depending on whom you listen to, we should either be letting up on over-examined pupils by abolishing SATs, and even GCSEs, or else making exams far more rigorous.
The chorus will reach a peak when GCSE and A-level results are published in August. If pass rates rise again, commentators will say that standards are falling because exams are getting easier. If pass rates drop, they will say that standards are falling because children are getting lower marks. Parents like myself try to ignore this and base our judgements on what our children are learning. But it"s not easy given how much education has changed since we were at school.
Some trends are encouraging—education has been made more relevant and enthuses many children that it would have previously bored. My sons" A-level French revision involved listening to radio debates on current affairs, whereas mine involved rereading Molière. And among their peers, a far greater proportion stayed in education for longer.
On the other hand, some aspects of schooling today are incomprehensible to my generation, such as graps in general knowledge and the hand-holding that goes with ensuring that students leave with good grades. Even when we parents resist the temptation to help with GCSE or A-level coursework, a teacher with the child"s interests at heart may send a draft piece of work back several times with pointers to how it can be improved before the examiners see it.
The debate about standards persists because there is no single objective answer to the question "Are standards better or worse than they were a generation ago?" Each side points to indicators that favour them, in the knowledge that there is no authoritative definition, let alone a measure that has been consistently applied over the decades. But the annual soul-searching over exams is about more than student assessment. It reveals a national insecurity about whether our education system is teaching the right things. It is also fed by an anxiety about whether, in a country with a history of upholding standards by ensuring that plenty of students fail, we can attain the more modern objective of ensuring that every child leaves school with something to show for it.
1. 
It can be concluded from Paragraph 1 that ______.
A SATs is one of the most rigorous exams mentioned
B it has been debated if children should be given exams
C few parents approve of the exam systems in England
D each year children have to face up to some new exams
2. 
Parents try to judge the educational standards by ______.
A whether their children have passed the exams
B what knowledge their children have acquired
C what educators say about curriculum planning
D whether their children"s school scores are stable
3. 
To the author, the rereading of Molière was ______.
A dreary
B routine
C outmoded
D arduous
4. 
To the author"s generation, it is beyond understanding today why ______.
A teachers lay great stress on helping students obtain good grades
B teachers show much concern for students" future
C parents help little with their children"s coursework
D parents focus on their children"s general knowledge
5. 
According to the passage, with respect to educational standards in Britain, ______.
A no authorities have ever made a comment
B no one has ever tried to give them a definition
C no effective ways have been taken to apply them
D no consistent yardstick has ever been used
6. 
In the author"s opinion, the school education in Britain has been ______.
A inflexible
B irresponsible
C unsuccessful
D unforgivable
Passage 3
Of late, there have been several posts suggesting that America has no culture or that what culture it has is somehow inferior to that of other societies. Of course, it cannot be both. To suggest that America has, in some sense, an inferior culture is to grant that it has a culture.
America most definitely has culture and the culture of America is easily the most dominant of the world. Whether it is McDonald"s in the heart of what was once the center of the Evil Empire, or Arnold Schwarzenagger storming across German theatres, or Disneyland sending the French snobs into hysteria, American culture dominates Europe as never before. And it is not just Europe. Enter any shopping center in Asia and the odds are that the music blasting over the sound system is American pop music. Madonna look-alikes speak Mandarin Chinese.
Often, American culture is derided by the so-called "intellectuals". (And by that, I do not mean the traditional definition of those who use their intellect to make a living as, in a increasingly service economy, there are few people today who would not fit into that category but, rather, people who fancy themselves as in some way gifted to impose their views upon the rest of us, to save us from ourselves.)
What is it about American culture that annoys the "intellectuals" so much? It is precisely that which differentiates it from other cultures, particularly the cultures of Europe ("intellectuals" tending to be europhiles). Whereas European culture (and, indeed, most pre-industrial cultures) sprang from their traditions of aristocracy and the subservience of society to the ruling class, American culture serves the middle-class, the vulgar, if you will. Whereas European culture is concerned with what is exclusive and aloof, American culture is concerned with what is common and accessible. You don"t need classes in school in rock music appreciation or the finer aspects of eating pizza.
Some have suggested that America is doomed because it has no culture. But the contrary is more likely the case. In spite of the best efforts of the multi-cultural fascists, America has yet to fulfill its manifest destiny primarily because its culture is not only dominating and assimilating immigrants from every corner of the world, it is, indeed reaching out to every corner of the world and creating a world community, a community centered on the individual, every individual not just those gifted with expensive tastes.
1. 
From the beginning of the passage we can infer that the author ______.
A believes that America has culture despite its inferiority to others
B agrees that America has no culture, let alone an inferior culture
C objects to both of the views about American culture
D tries to show objectively the two views about American culture
2. 
According to the passage, Disneyland in France ______.
A has overridden the country"s cartoon industry
B has driven all its fans there mad
C has encountered strong opposition
D has enjoyed a nationwide acclaim
3. 
It is implied in Paragraph 2 that ______.
A Chinese girls are crazy about Madonna
B McDonald"s is regarded as evil in Russia
C German films become more of Schwarzenagger"s style
D American pop music is confined to shops and stores in Asia
4. 
In the author"s eyes "intellectuals" are those who ______.
A are gifted and thus categorized as such
B claim themselves to be superior to others
C are in small numbers compared with the rest
D advance their careers to save humanity
5. 
The last sentence "You don"t need ""eating pizza" of Paragraph 4 implies ______.
A rock music, eating pizza or the like is quite popular in the school curriculum
B anything that concerns American pop culture is prohibited in school
C schoolchildren are all equal in enjoying rock music and eating pizza
D American culture is never taught to but intuitively assimilated by people
6. 
Which of the following would the author most probably agree to as to describing American culture?
A It is full of vitality
B It is non-intellectual
C It enhances vulgarity
D It scorns wealth
Section B
Passage 4
Advertising is paid, nonpersonal communication that is designed to communicate in a creative manner, through the use of mass or information-directed media, the nature of products, services, and ideas. It is a form of persuasive communication that offers information about products, ideas, and services that serves the objectives determined by the advertiser. 1 Thus, the ultimate objective of advertising is to sell things persuasively and creatively. Advertising is used by commercial firms trying to sell products and services; by politicians and political interest groups to sell ideas or persuade voters; by not-for-profit organizations to raise funds, solicit volunteers, or influence the actions of viewers; and by governments seeking to encourage or discourage particular activities, such a wearing seatbelts, participating in the census, or ceasing to smoke. 2
The visual and verbal commercial messages that are a part of advertising are intended to attract attention and produce some response by the viewer. Advertising is pervasive and virtually impossible to escape. Newspapers and magazines often have more advertisements than copy; radio and television provide entertainment but are also laden with advertisements; advertisements pop up on Internet sites; and the mail brings a variety of advertisements. 3 In shopping malls, there are prominent logos on designer clothes, moviegoers regularly view advertisements for local restaurants, hair salons, and so on, and live sporting and cultural events often include signage, logos, products, and related information about the event sponsors. 4
Although the primary objective of advertising is to persuade, it may achieve this objective in many different ways. An important function of advertising is the identification function , that is, to identify a product and differentiate it from others; this creates an awareness of the product and provides a basis for consumers to choose the advertised product over other products. 5 The third function of advertising is to induce consumers to try new products and to suggest reuse of the product as well as new uses; this is the persuasion function.
A. Another function of advertising is to communicate information about the product, its attributes, and its location of sale, this is the information function.
B. The forms that advertising takes and the media in which advertisements appear are as varied as the advertisers themselves and the messages that they wish to deliver.
C. An especially important issue in the creation of advertising is related to understanding how much information consumers want about a given product.
D. Advertising may influence consumers in many different ways, but the primary goal of advertising is to increase the probability that consumers exposed to an advertisement will behave or believe as the advertiser wishes.
E. Advertising also exists on billboards along the freeway, in subway and train stations, on benches at bus stops, and on the frames around car license plates.
F. The pervasiveness of advertising and its creative elements are designed to cause viewers to take note.
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
Passage 5
No single element has tantalized and tormented the human imagination more than the shimmering metal known by the chemical symbol Au. For thousands of years the desire to possess gold has driven people to extremes, fueling wars and conquests, girding empires and currencies, leveling mountains and forests. 1 Yet its chief virtues—its unusual density and malleability along with its imperishable shine—have made it one of the world"s most coveted commodities, a transcendent symbol of beauty, wealth, and immortality. From pharaohs (who insisted on being buried in what they called the "flesh of the golds") to the forty-niners (whose mad rush for the mother lode built the American West) to the financiers (who, following Sir Isaac Newton"s advice, made it the bedrock of the global economy); 2
Humankind"s feverish attachment to gold shouldn"t have survived the modern world. Few cultures still believe that gold can give eternal life, and every country in the world—the United States was last, in 1971—has done away with the gold standard. 3 The price of gold, which stood at $ 271 an ounce on September 10, 2001, hit $1,023in March 2008, and it may surpass that threshold again. Aside from extravagance, gold is still continuing to play its role as a safe haven in perilous times. 4 In 2007 demand outstripped mine production by 59 percent. "Gold has always had this kind of magic," says Peter L. Bernstein, author of The Power of Gold. "But it"s never been clear if we have gold or gold has us. "
While investors flock to new gold-backed funds, jewelry still accounts for two-thirds of the demand, generating a record $53.5 billion in worldwide sales in 2007. 5 However, such concerns don"t ruffle the biggest consumer nations, namely India, where a gold obsession is woven into the culture, and China, which leaped past the U.S. in 2007 to become the world"s second largest buyer of gold jewelry.
A. But gold"s luster (光泽) not only endures; fueled by global uncertainty, it grows stronger.
B. Gold is not vital to human existence; it has, in fact, relatively few practical uses.
C. In the U. S. an activist-driven "No Dirty Gold" campaign has persuaded many top jewelry retailers to stop selling gold from mines that cause severe social or environmental damage.
D. Nearly every society through the ages has invested gold with an almost mythological power.
E. For all of its allure, gold"s human and environmental toll has never been so steep. Part of the challenge, as well as the fascination, is that there is so little of it.
F. Gold"s recent surge, sparked in part by the terrorist attack on 9/11, has been amplified by the slide of the U. S. dollar and jitters over a looming global recession.
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
Part Ⅲ Cloze
There are so many new books about dying that there are now special shelves set aside for them in bookshops, along with the health-diet and home-repair paperbacks. Some of them are so 21 with detailed information and step-by-step instructions for performing the function, that you"d think this was a new sort of 22 which all of us are now required to learn. The strongest impression the casual reader gets is that proper dying has become an extraordinary, 23 an exotic experience, something only the specially trained can do.
24 , you could be led to believe that we are the only 25 capable of being aware of death, and that when the rest of nature is experiencing the life cycle and dying, one generation after 26 , it is a different kind of process, done automatically and trivially, or more "natural", as we say.
An elm in our backyard 27 the blight (枯萎病) this summer and dropped stone dead, leafless, almost overnight. One weekend 28 was a normal-looking elm, maybe a little bare in spots but 29 alarming, and the next weekend it was gone, passed over, departed, taken. Taken is right, for the tree surgeon came by yesterday with his 30 of young helpers and their cherry picker, and took it down branch by branch and carted it off in the back of a red truck, everyone 31 .
The dying 32 a field mouse, at the jaws of an amiable household cat, is a spectacle I have beheld many times. It 33 to make me wince. However, early in life I gave up throwing sticks 34 the cat to make him drop the mouse, 35 the dropped mouse regularly went ahead and died anyway.
1. 
A contained
B embraced
C packed
D littered
2. 
A ability
B skill
C quality
D technology
3. 
A and
B even
C yet
D but
4. 
A Furthermore
B However
C Even so
D Since then
5. 
A races
B creatures
C people
D human
6. 
A the other
B another
C the next
D the following
7. 
A caught
B held
C took
D picked
8. 
A that
B which
C it
D this
9. 
A something
B anything
C nothing
D everything
10. 
A crew
B members
C corps
D fellows
11. 
A sings
B sang
C sung
D singing
12. 
A to
B in
C for
D of
13. 
A was
B was used
C used
D was about
14. 
A into
B on
C at
D off
15. 
A but
B because
C while
D in order that
Part Ⅳ Translation
One of the most difficult situations that a researcher can encounter is to see or suspect that a colleague has violated the ethical standards of the research community. It is easy to find excuses to do nothing, but someone who has witnessed misconduct has an unmistakable obligation to act. At the most immediate level, misconduct can seriously obstruct or damage one"s own research or the research of colleagues. 1) More broadly, even a single case of misconduct can malign scientists and their institutions, which in turn can result in the imposition of counterproductive regulations, and shake public confidence in the integrity of science.
To be sure, raising a concern about unethical conduct is rarely an easy thing to do. In some cases, anonymity is possible--but not always. Reprisals by the accused person and by skeptical colleagues have occurred in the past and have had serious consequences. 2) Any allegation of misconduct is a very important charge that needs to be taken seriously. If mishandled, an allegation can gravely damage the person charged, the one who makes the charge, the institutions involved, and science in general.
Someone who is confronting a problem involving research ethics usually has more options than are immediately apparent. In most cases the best thing to do is to discuss the situation with a trusted friend or advisor. 3) In universities, faculty advisors, department chairs, and other senior faculty call be invaluable sources of advice in deciding whether to go forward with a complaint.
An important consideration is deciding when to put a complaint in writing. Once in writing, universities are obligated to deal with a complaint in a mole formal manner than if it is made verbally. 4) Putting a complaint in writing can have serious consequences for the career of a scientist and should be undertaken only after thorough consideration.
The National Science Foundation and Public Health Service require all research institutions that receive public funds to have procedures in place to deal with allegations of unethical practice. 5) These procedures take into account fairness for the accused, protection for the accuser, coordination with funding agencies, and requirements for confidentiality_ and disclosure.
In addition, many universities and other research institutions have designated an ombudsman, ethics Officer, or other official who is available to discuss situations involving research ethics. Such discussions are carried out in the strictest confidence whenever possible. Some institutions provide multiple entry points, so that complainants can go to a person with whom they feel comfortable.
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
Part Ⅴ Writing
1. 
TOPIC

According to some statistics, by the end of 2009, the resident (常住人口) in Beijing has reached 17 million, not to mention the large floating population and the number is becoming bigger. Do you think the population in Beijing should be controlled? Why or why not?