1、专业八级-413 及答案解析(总分：100.02，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1(总题数：1，分数：22.00)Mark Twain“s instructions were quite clear: his autobiography was to remain unpublished until 100 years after his death. Who could resist a pay cheque in the here and now for deferred immortality in t
2、he hereafter? More to the point, could any modern writer be certain their lives would still be interesting to anyone so long after their death? Pride never came into Twain“s calculations. He was the American writer, the rags-to-riches embodiment of the American dream, and it never seems to have occu
3、rred to him that his popularity would fade. Nor has it. He is still the writer before whom everyone from Faulkner to Mailer has knelt. And even though his literary executors might not have followed his instructions to the lettervarious chunks of his autobiography have been published over the yearsth
4、e publication of the first of three planned collections of Twain“s full autobiographical writings to coincide with the centenary of his death has still been one of the literary events of the year. Still more remarkable is that Twain“s reputational longevity is based on so few books. As John Sutherla
5、nd, professor of English at University College London, points out, “Huckleberry Finn has been largely off-limits in American schools and colleges because of Twain“s use of the word “nigger“, so most readers only know him for his maxims and Tom Sawyer. And even that is overrated. What makes him the “
6、father“ of American fiction?“ Sutherland suggests the answer lies in voice, eye and attitude. Twain was a gifted public speaker; he turned literature into something that was heard as well as seen; and cast himself as an innocent, with a decidedly resentful, feisty (好争辩的) gaze on the rest of the worl
7、d. “Take these three elements,“ he says, “and, as Hemingway argued, you have the essence of a national literature. After Twain, no one could dismiss it as “English literature written in America“. It was itself.“ And it“s the voice that shines through his autobiography. “The general reader gets to se
8、e the man beyond the maxims,“ says Harriet Smith, editor of the Mark Twain Project, “What we get is him speaking to us from beyond the grave; even in the passages that seem quite boring his appeal still resonates for the infelicitiesrather than being a flaware a window into how he thought and what j
9、ogged his memory.“ Above all, there is no linear narrative. He first toyed with the idea of writing his autobiography in the 1870s but abandoned the idea because he couldn“t find a way of telling the truth about himself. Finally, after the death of his wife, Olivia, in 1904, he came up with two solu
10、tions. The firstalmost certainly borrowed from the Freudian psychoanalytic model of free associationwas to dictate his thoughts to a stenographer (速记); for 15 minutes each day he would start by deliberating on an item of news that had captured his attention and see where it led. The second was to se
11、lf-impose a 100-year role, so that by the time any judgment was passed he would be “dead, unaware and indifferent“. Not that any of this necessarily had the desired effect. “If you“re relying on memory,“ says novelist Michael Frayn, “howeven with the best of intentionscan you distinguish between wha
12、t you remember and what you make up? A biographer can seek corroboration elsewhere; a personal memoir does not have that advantage.“ Twain understood the value of his image and went to some lengths to protect it. Some of the more fascinating passages in the autobiography are those that have been cro
13、ssed out. These are, more often than not, the ones about which he was particularly sensitive. And they aren“t to do with the personal, such as his feelings of loss over the deaths of his wife and daughter, Susy, or his suspicions about being financially ripped off by his manager, Ralph Ashcroft, and
14、 his secretary, Isabel Lyon. “There are some extracts, including one in which he confuses the Virgin birth and the Immaculate Conception, in which he declares his religious scepticism robustly, about which Twain was extremely nervous,“ says Smith. “He was so worried he would be ostracised (排斥) and s
15、hunned for this by God-fearing Americans that he actually set a publication date of 2406 for those sections.“ Imagine. A man so protective and nervous of his own reputation that he sought to keep some of the ideas he thought might alienate his public silent for 500 years. Yet equally a man so sure o
16、f his reputation that he had no doubts people would still want to read him 500 years after his death. There, in essence, is Twain“s ambivalence between the public and the private, between truth and spin. Needless to say, his executors didn“t adhere to the 500-year demand and the American public cont
17、inue to adore him regardless. Then Twain being Twain, he“d have hardly expected anything less.（分数：22.02）(1).The sentence “Pride never came into Twain“s calculations.“ in the second paragraph means that（分数：3.67）A.Twain was quite indifferent to fame.B.Twain had enough confidence in his works.C.Twain h
18、ad never thought he would be a success.D.Twain predicted that he would be popular among Americans.(2).According to Sutherland, Huckleberry Finn is banned in most American schools because（分数：3.67）A.the word “nigger“ is too out-dated to accept by American people.B.the ideas conveyed by the book are un
19、healthy for students.C.a discriminatory word is used in the book.D.the book is beyond students“ understanding.(3).The sentence “and cast himself as an innocent, with a decidedly resentful, feisty gaze on the rest of the world.“ in the 4th paragraph implies that（分数：3.67）A.Twain turned literature into
20、 something to be heard as well as seen.B.Twain showed a critical attitude towards the American worldC.Twain“s works embodied the American dream.D.Twain“s works revealed the brightness and darkness of human heart.(4).Twain finished his autobiography by（分数：3.67）A.writing the autobiography himself.B.di
21、ctating his thoughts to a stenographer.C.seeking corroboration from his family.D.borrowing Freudian“s idea on how to write.(5).According to the passage, what advantage a biography has over personal memoir?（分数：3.67）A.A biography can be closer to the truth through collecting evidence.B.A biographer ca
22、n distinguish between fact and fabrication.C.A biography has a more logical structure than the personal memoir.D.A biography is more inclusive than the personal memoir.(6).The word “ambivalence“ in the last paragraph means _ feelings.（分数：3.67）A.anxiousB.pleasantC.confidentD.contradictory三、Passage 2(
23、总题数：1，分数：24.00)I went back to the Devon School not long ago, and found it looking oddly newer than when I was a student there fifteen years before. It seemed more tranquil than I remembered it, more perpendicular and strait-laced, with narrower windows and shinier woodwork, as though a coat of paint
24、 had been put over everything for better preservation. But, of course, fifteen years before there had been a war going on. Perhaps the school wasn“t as well kept up in those days; perhaps paint along with everything else, had gone to war. I didn“t entirely like this glossy new surface, because it ma
25、de the school look like a museum, and that“s exactly what it was to me, and what I did not want it to be. In the deep, tacit way in which feeling becomes stronger than thought, I had always felt that the Devon School came into existence the day I entered it, was vibrantly real while I was a student
26、there, and then blinked out like a candle the day I left. Now here it was after all, preserved by some considerate hand with paint and wax. Preserved along with it, like stale air in an unopened room, was the well known fear which had surrounded and filled those days, so much of it that I hadn“t eve
27、n known it was there. Because, unfamiliar with the absence of fear and what that was like, I had not been able to identify its presence. Looking back now across fifteen years, I could see with great clarity the fear I had lived in, which must mean that in the interval I had succeeded in a very impor
28、tant undertaking: I must have made my escape from it. I felt fear“s echo, and along with that I felt the unhinged, uncontrollable joy which had been its accompaniment and opposite face, joy which had broken out sometimes in those days like Northern Lights across black sky. There were a couple of pla
29、ces now which I wanted to see. Both were fearful sites, and that was why I wanted to see them. So after lunch at the Devon Inn I walked back toward the school. It was a raw, nondescript time of year, toward the end of November, the kind of wet, serf-pitying November day when every speck of dirt stan
30、ds out clearly. Devon luckily had very little of such weatherthe icy clamp of winter, or the radiant New Hampshire summers, were more characteristic of itbut this day it blew wet, moody gusts all around me. I walked along Gilman Street, the best street in town. The houses were as handsome and as unu
31、sual as I remembered. Clever modernizations of old Colonial manses, extensions in Victorian wood, capacious Greek Revival temples lined the street, as impressive and just as forbidding as ever. I had rarely seen anyone go into one of them, or anyone playing on a lawn, or even an open window. Today w
32、ith their failing ivy and stripped, moaning trees the houses looked both more elegant and more lifeless than ever. Like all old, good schools, Devon did not stand isolated behind walls and gates but emerged naturally from the town which had produced it. So there was no sudden moment of encounter“ as
33、 I approached it; the houses along Gilman Street began to look more defensive, which meant that I was near the school, and then more exhausted, which meant that I was in it. It was early afternoon and the grounds and buildings were deserted, since everyone was at sports. There was nothing to distrac
34、t me as I made my way across a wide yard, called the Far Commons, and up to a building as red brick and balanced as the other major buildings, but with a large dome and a bell and a clock and Latin over the doorwaythe First Academy Building. In through swinging doors I reached a marble foyer, and st
35、opped at the foot of a long white marble flight of stairs. Although they were old stairs, the worn moons in the middle of each step were not very deep. The marble must be unusually hard. That seemed very likely, only too likely, although with all my thought about these stairs this exceptional hardne
36、ss had not occurred to me. It was surprising that I had overlooked that, that crucial fact.（分数：24.00）(1).Which of the following best describes the atmosphere of the Devon school when the author went back（分数：4.00）A.Quiet.B.Forbidding.C.Fearful.D.Vibrant.(2).Which of the following statements about the
37、 third paragraph is NOT true?（分数：4.00）A.The author had experienced extreme fear as a student at the Devon school.B.Now the author could sense the fear he had experienced at the Devon school.C.The author was not familiar with what fear was like when he was a student there.D.The scene of the Devon sch
38、ool reminded the author of his feeling in the past.(3).In Paragraph Five, “Northern Lights“ is used to imply（分数：4.00）A.the uncontrollability of joy.B.the magnificence of joy.C.the existence of joy.D.the transitoriness of joy.(4).Which of the following statements about Devon“s weather is NOT true?（分数
39、：4.00）A.It is usually ice-cold in winter.B.There is a lot of sunshine in summer.C.It is usually dry in winter.D.It is usually windy in winter.(5).According to the passage, the author went back to the Devon school（分数：4.00）A.because of his happy memories there.B.because of his painful experiences ther
40、e.C.because of the impressive buildings there.D.because it was well preserved.(6).According to the passage, which of the following was NOT located in the Devon School?（分数：4.00）A.The Far Commons.B.The First Academy Building.C.Greek Revival temples.D.A marble foyer.四、Passage 3(总题数：1，分数：15.00)As a youn
41、g child, Buffett was pretty serious about making money. He used to go door-to-door and sell soda pop. He and a friend used math to develop a system for picking winners in horseracing and started selling their “Stable-Boy Selections“ tip sheets until they were shut down for not having a license. Late
42、r, he also worked at his grandfather“s grocery store. At the ripe age of 11, Buffett bought his first stock. When his family moved to Washington D.C., Buffett became a paperboy for The Washington Post and its rival The Times-Herald. Buffett ran his five paper routes like an assembly line and even ad
43、ded magazines to round out his product offerings. While still in school, he was making $175 a month, a full-time wage for many young men. When he was 14, Buffett spent $1,200 on 40 acres of farmland in Nebraska and soon began collecting rent from a tenant farmer. He and a friend also made $50 a week
44、 by placing pinball machines in barber shops. They called their venture Wilson Coin Operated Machine Co. Already a successful albeit small-time businessman, Buffett wasn“t keen on going to college but ended up at Wharton at the University of Pennsylvaniahis father encouraged him to go. After two yea
45、rs at Wharton, Buffett transferred to his parents“ Alma Mater, the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, for his final year of college. There Buffett took a job with the Lincoln Journal supervising 50 paper boys in six rural counties. Buffett applied to Harvard Business School but was turned down in wh
46、at had to be one of the worst admissions decisions in Harvard history. The outcome ended up profoundly affecting Buffett“s life, for he ended up attending Columbia Business School, where he studied under revered mentor Benjamin Graham, the father of securities analysis who provided the foundation fo
47、r Buffett“s investment strategy. From the beginning, Buffett made his fortune from investing. He started with all the money he had made from selling pop, delivering papers, and operating pinball machines. Between 1950 and 1956, he grew his $9,800 kitty to $140,000. From there, he organized investmen
48、t partnerships with his family and friends, and then gradually drew in other investors through word of mouth and very attractive terms. Buffett“s goal was to top the Dow Jones Industrial Average by an average of 10% a year. Over the length of the Buffett partnership between 1957 and 1969, Buffett“s
49、investments grew at a compound annual rate of 29.5%, crushing the Dow“s return of 7.4%, over the same period. Buffett“s investment strategy mirrors his lifestyle and overall philosophy. He doesn“t collect houses or cars or works of art, and he disdains companies that waste money on such extravagances as limousines, private dining rooms, and high-priced real estate. He is a creature of habitsame house, same office, same city, same sodaand dislikes change. In his investments, that means holding on to “core holdings“ such as American Express, Coca-Cola, and The Washington Post
