1、专业八级-412 及答案解析(总分：100.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、READING COMPREHENSIO(总题数：0，分数：0.00)二、Passage 1(总题数：1，分数：20.00)Sometimes the biggest changes in society are the hardest to spot precisely because they are hiding in plain sight. It could well be that way with wireless communications. Something that people think o
2、f as just another technology is beginning to show signs of changing lives, culture, politics, cities, jobs, even marriages dramatically. In particular, it will usher in a new version of a very old idea: nomadism. Futurology is a dangerous business, and it is true that most of the important arguments
3、 about mobile communications at the moment are to do with technology or regulationbandwidth, spectrum use and so on. Yet it is worth jumping ahead, and wondering what the social effects will be, for two reasons. First, the broad technological future is pretty clear: there will be ever faster cellula
4、r networks, far more numerous Wi-Fi “hotspots“ and many more gadgets to connect to these networks. Second, the social changes are already visible: parents on beaches waving at their children while typing furtively on their BlackBerrys; entrepreneurs discovering they don“t need offices after all (if
5、you need to recharge something, you just go to Starbucks); teenagers text-dumping their boy-friends. Everybody is doing more on the move. Ancient nomads went from place to placeand they had to take a lot of stuff with them (including their livelihoods and families). The emerging class of digital nom
6、ads also wanders, but they take virtually nothing with them; wherever they go, they can easily reach people and information. And the barriers to entry are falling. You don“t have to be rich to be a nomad (wander round any American college campus if you doubt that). It is getting harder to find good
7、excuses for being off-line: this week the European Union allowed airlines to offer in-flight mobile-phone service, and several carriers have Wi-Fi. The gadgets, too, are getting ever smaller and more portable. A century ago some people saw the car merely as a faster horse, yet it led to entirely new
8、 cities, with suburbs and sprawl, to new retail cultures (megastores, drive-throughs), new dependencies (oil) and new health threats (sloth, obesity). By the same token, wireless technology is surely not just an easier-to-use phone. The car divided cities into work and home areas; wireless technolog
9、y may mix them up again, with more people working in suburbs or living in city centers. Traffic patterns are beginning to change again: the rash hours at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. are giving way to more varied “daisy-chain“ patterns, with people going backwards and forwards between the office, home and all
10、sorts of other places throughout the day. Already, architects are redesigning offices and universities: more flexible spaces for meeting people, fewer private enclosures for sedentary work. Will it be a better life? In some ways, yes. Digital nomadism will liberate ever more knowledge workers from t
11、he cubicle prisons of Dilbert cartoons. But the old tyranny of place could become a new tyranny of time, as nomads who are “always on“ all too often end upmentallyanywhere but here (wherever here may be). As for friends and family, permanent mobile connectivity could have the same effect as nomadism
12、: it might bring you much closer to family and friends, but it may make it harder to bring in outsiders. It might isolate cliques. Sociologists fret about constant e-mailers and texters losing the everyday connections to casual acquaintances or strangers who may be sitting next to them in the caf or
13、 on the bus. As for politics, the tools of nomadismsuch as mobile phones that double as camerascan improve the world. For instance, they turn practically everybody into a potential human-rights activist, ready to take pictures or video of police brutality. But the same tools have a dark side, turnin
14、g everybody into a fully equipped paparazzo. Some fitness clubs have started banning mobile phones near the treadmills and showers lest patrons find themselves pictured, flabby and sweaty, on some website that future Google searches will happily turn up. As in the desert, so in the city: nomadism pr
15、omises the heaven of new freedom, but it also threatens the hell of constant surveillance by the tribe.（分数：20.00）(1).Wireless communications are believed to be all of the following EXCEPT（分数：4.00）A.one of the biggest changes in society.B.just another technology.C.developing even faster in the future
16、.D.bringing about great social effects.(2).Digital nomads are similar to ancient nomads in that they both（分数：4.00）A.wander with a lot of stuff.B.wander with virtually nothing.C.reach people and information easily.D.have the possibility of clique, isolation.(3).The relationship between the fourth and
17、 fifth paragraphs is that（分数：4.00）A.each presents one side of the picture.B.the fourth generalizes and the fifth gives examples.C.the fifth is the logical result of the fourth.D.the fourth provides a transition to the fifth.(4).Which of the following is NOT true, according to the passage?（分数：4.00）A.
18、Digital nomadism free knowledgeable workers from the tyranny of place.B.It is feared that digital nomadism may weaken people“s social connections.C.The tool of digital nomadism has absolutely improved the political world.D.Digital nomadism has already brought worries about privacy intrusion.(5).The
19、author“s attitude towards digital nomadism is（分数：4.00）A.positive.B.neutral.C.negative.D.impossible to tell.三、Passage 2(总题数：1，分数：20.00)Scientists say Chandra provides first evidence that two such mysteries can coexist in one galaxy. In a very bright galaxy 400 million light-years away, two black hole
20、s are drifting toward each other and in millions of years will merge with an eruption of energy and a burst of gravitational waves that could warp the very fabric of space, astronomers said Tuesday. The Scientists said the Chandra X-ray Observatory has found the first evidence that two immense black
21、 holes can coexist in the same galaxy and that they are moving toward each other for an eventual merger. The double black holes were found in a bright, highly active galaxy known as NGC6240, about 400 million light-years from the Earth. Astronomers studied NGC6240 because it produced unexplained bur
22、sts of X-rays that appeared to come from one of two nuclei at the galactic center. Images collected by radio, infrared and optical observations showed two bright spots, but did not pinpoint the origin of the X-rays. When Chandra, with its sensitive X-ray detectors, focused on the nuclei, astronomers
23、 hoped it would tell them whether either of the two points of activity were black holes. “Much to our surprise, we found that both were active black holes,“ Stefanie Komossa of the Max Planck Institute in Germany, said in a statement. “Finding two black holes in one galaxy,“ said Komossa, “supports
24、the idea that black holes can grow to enormous masses in the centers of galaxies by merging with other black holes.“ An artist“s conception shows two black holes whirling around each other at the center of a galaxy. Guenther Hasinger, also of Max Planck, said the Chandra images captured the unmistak
25、able markings of two black holeshigh-energy photons swirling around the dense black hole centers and X-rays spewing out from iron atoms being pulled into the center at a high rate of speed. Komossa and Hasinger are co-authors of a study submitted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
26、 The two black holes in NGC6240 are now about 3,000 light-years apart and are expected to merge some time in the next few hundred million years, the researchers said. The merger will be accompanied by an eruption of radiation and a burst of gravitational waves that will spread throughout the univers
27、e, causing ripples in the fabric of space, the astronomers said. The gravitational ripples could cause minute changes in the distance between any two points in the universe, they said. In another study, French and Argentine astronomers said that observations by the Hubble Space Telescope and ground-
28、based telescopes have detected a stellar black hole streaking across the Milky Way at about 250,000 miles an hour. A companion star is being dragged along and slowly devoured by the black hole, according to scientists at the French Atomic Energy Commission and the Institute for Astronomy and Space P
29、hysics in Argentina. The astronomers said the stellar black hole may have been created by an exploding star in the inner disk of the Milky Way. The black hole is 6,000 to 9,000 light years away, the researchers said. A report on the observations appears Tuesday in the journal Astronomy and Astrophys
30、ics. A black hole is a point in space that is so dense with matter that its gravitational field will not let anythingnot even lightescape. Stellar black holes, equal to 3.5 to about 15 solar masses, can be formed by the collapse of a single massive star. But galactic black holes, such as those in NG
31、C6240, are much larger, equal perhaps to millions of solar masses, and are usually at the center of galaxies. The Milky Way, home galaxy of the sun and its planets, is thought to have a black hole at its center. With its immense gravitational pull, a black hole can suck in gas, dust and other matter
32、 from the surrounding space. Entire stars can be stripped and pulled into the bottomless maw. As it spirals in at near light speeds, matter captured by a black hole heats by millions of degrees and gives out intense radiation in several parts of the spectrum, including X-rays. The orbiting Chandra o
33、bservatory is able to detect these X-rays and relay the data to Earth for study by astronomers.（分数：20.00）(1).According to the passage, NGC6240（分数：4.00）A.is a black hole 400 million light-years from the Earth.B.has two black holes coexisting and moving towards each other.C.consists of two black holes
34、 that are already merging with each other.D.is the home galaxy of the solar system with the sun and its planets.(2).The discovery of the double black holes has（分数：4.00）A.been previously anticipated.B.been theoretically unexplainable.C.supported some hypothesis.D.uncovered an unknown galaxy.(3).Accor
35、ding to the study done by Komossa and Hasinger,（分数：4.00）A.the distance between the earth and the sun could be changed after the merger.B.a radiation eruption and a gravitational waves burst will happen after the merger.C.the universe will be completely changed by the merger of the two black holes.D.
36、no gravitational ripples will be produced until a few hundred million years later.(4).The study done by the French and Argentine astronomers was about（分数：4.00）A.the Hubble Space Telescope.B.the two black holes in NGC6240.C.a stellar black hole in the Milky Way.D.a galactic black hole in the Milky Wa
37、y.(5).Which of the following is NOT true, according to the passage?（分数：4.00）A.Nothing can escape the gravitational field of a black hole.B.X-rays from black holes can be detected and studied.C.Intense radiation is found to be coming out of black holes.D.Black holes are usually found at the center of
38、 galaxies.四、Passage 3(总题数：1，分数：20.00)Humans are damaging the planet at an unprecedented rate and raising risks of abrupt collapses in nature that could spur disease, deforestation or “dead zones“ in the seas, an international report said on Wednesday. The study, by 1,360 experts in 95 nations, said
39、a rising human population had polluted or over-exploited two-thirds of the ecological systems on which life depends, ranging from clean air to fresh water, in the past 50 years. “At the heart of this assessment is a stark warning,“ said the 45-member board of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. “Hu
40、man activity is putting such strain on the natural functions of Earth that the ability of the planet“s ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted,“ it said. Ten to 30 percent of mammal, bird and amphibian species were already threatened with extinction, according to
41、the assessment, the biggest review of the planet“s life support systems. “Over the past 50 years, humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any comparable time in human history, largely to meet rapidly growing demands for food, fresh water, timber, fibre and fuel,“ the repo
42、rt said. “This has resulted in a substantial and largely irreversible loss in the diversity of life on earth,“ it added. More land was changed to cropland since 1945, for instance, than in the 18th and 19th centuries combined. “The harmful consequences of this degradation could grow significantly wo
43、rse in the next 50 years,“ it said. The report was compiled by experts, including from UN agencies and international scientific and development organizations. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the study “shows how human activities are causing environmental damage on a massive scale throughout the
44、 world, and how biodiversitythe very basis for life on earthis declining at an alarming rate.“ The report said there was evidence that strains on nature could trigger abrupt changes like the collapse of cod fisheries off Newfoundland in Canada in 1992 after years of over-fishing. Future changes coul
45、d bring sudden outbreaks of disease. Warming of the Great Lakes in Africa due to climate change, for instance, could create conditions for a spread of cholera. And a build-up of nitrogen from fertilizers washed off farmland into seas could spur abrupt blooms of algae that choke fish or create oxygen
46、-depleted “dead zones“ along coasts. It said deforestation often led to less rainfall. And at some point, lack of rain could suddenly undermine growing conditions for remaining forests m a region. The report said that in 100 years, global warming widely blamed on burning of fossil fuels in cars, fac
47、tories and power plants, might take over as the main source of damage. The report mainly looks at other, shorter-term risks. And it estimated that many ecosystems were worth more if used in a way that maintains them for future generations. A wetland in Canada was worth $6,000 a hectare (2.47 acres),
48、 as a habitat for animals and plants, a filter for pollution, a store for water and a site for human recreation, against $2,000 if converted to farmland, it said. A Thai mangrove was worth $1,000 a hectare against $200 as a shrimp farm. “Ecosystems and the services they provide are financially signi
49、ficant and, to degrade and damage them is tantamount to economic suicide,“ said Klaus Toepfer, head of the U.N. Environment Program. The study urged changes in consumption, better education, new technology and higher prices for exploiting ecosystems. “Governments should recognize that natural services have costs,“ A.H.Zakri of the UN University and a co-chair of the report told Reuters. “Protection of natural services is unlikely to be a priority for those who see them as free and limitless.“（分数：20.00）(1).The part of sentence “irreversible loss in the diversity of life“ in Paragrap
