1、专业英语八级（阅读）模拟试卷 115及答案与解析 SECTION A MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS In this section there are several passages followed by fourteen multiple-choice questions. For each multiple-choice question, there are four suggested answers marked A , B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the best answer. 0 (1)Ma
2、rk Twains instructions were quite clear: his autobiography was to remain unpublished until 100 years after his death.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 the hereafter? More to the point, could any modern writer be certain their lives would still be interest
3、ing to anyone so long after their death? (2)Pride never came into Twains calculations. He was the American writer, the rags-to-riches embodiment of the American dream, and it never seems to have occurred to him that his popularity would fade. Nor has it. He is still the writer before whom everyone f
4、rom 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 yearsthe publication of the first of three planned collections of Twains full autobiographical writings to c
5、oincide with the centenary of his death has still been one of the literary events of the year. (3)Still more remarkable is that Twains reputational longevity is based on so few books. As John Sutherland, professor of English at University College London, points out, “Huckleberry Finn has been largel
6、y off-limits in American schools and colleges because of Twains 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 father of American fiction?“ (4)Sutherland suggests the answer lies in voice, eye and attitude. Twain wa
7、s 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 world. “Take these three elements,“ he says, “and, as Hemingway argued, you have the essence of a national
8、literature. After Twain, no one could dismiss it as English literature written in America. It was itself.“ (5)And its the voice that shines through his autobiography. “The general reader gets to see the man beyond the maxims,“ says Harriet Smith, editor of the Mark Twain Project, “What we get is him
9、 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 jogged his memory.“ (6)Above all, there is no linear narrative. He first toyed with the idea of writing
10、his autobiography in the 1870s but abandoned the idea because he couldnt find a way of telling the truth about himself. Finally, after the death of his wife, Olivia, in 1904, he came up with two solutions. The firstalmost certainly borrowed from the Freudian psychoanalytic model of free associationw
11、as to dictate his thoughts to a stenographer(速记员 ); 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 self-impose a 100-year rule, so that by the time any judgment was passed he would be “dead, unaware an
12、d indifferent“. (7)Not that any of this necessarily had the desired effect. “If youre relying on memory,“ says novelist Michael Frayn, “howeven with the best of intentionscan you distinguish between what you remember and what you make up? A biographer can seek corroboration elsewhere; a personal mem
13、oir does not have that advantage.“ Twain once admitted that in many instances he didnt even try to tell the remorseless truth when he wrote that he could think of 1,500 incidents of which he was ashamed and had not put to paper. “Even the two shameful incidents of which he does writebeing unable to
14、prevent his young son from falling in the river and not allowing his wife to visit a friend in Scotlandare hardly the stuff of deep shame,“ says Smith. Theres an obvious danger here of applying 21st-century values to something that was written in the early years of the 20th century. Yet there is som
15、ething quintessentially modern about Twain. Not least in the blurring of his public and private personas. Twains real name was Samuel Clemens: his nom de plume derives from the Mississippi boatmens cry for “safe passage“. Yet despite a fierce attachment to the idea of telling the truth, it never see
16、ms to have occurred to him to call the book The Autobiography of Sam Clemens. Much in the way that Bono and Sting never use their real names today. To his readers, to his friendsand, above all, to himselfMark Twain was every bit as real as Sam Clemens. (8)Twain understood the value of his image and
17、went to some lengths to protect it. Some of the more fascinating passages in the autobiography are those that have been crossed out. These are, more often than not, the ones about which he was particularly sensitive. And they arent to do with the personal, such as his feelings of loss over the death
18、s of his wife and daughter, Susy, or his suspicions about being financially ripped off by his manager, Ralph Ashcroft, and his secretary, Isabel Lyon. (9)“There are some extracts, including one in which he confuses the Virgin birth and the Immaculate Conception, in which he declares his religious sc
19、epticism robustly, about which Twain was extremely nervous,“ says Smith. “He was so worried he would be ostracised(排斥 )and shunned for this by God-fearing Americans that he actually set a publication date of 2406 for those sections.“ (10)Imagine. A man so protective and nervous of his own reputation
20、 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 of his reputation that he had no doubts people would still want to read him 500 years after his death. There, in essence, is Twains ambivalence between the public and the pr
21、ivate, between truth and spin. Needless to say, his executors didnt adhere to the 500-year demand and the American public continue to adore him regardless. Then Twain being Twain, hed have hardly expected anything less. 1 The sentence “Pride never came into Twains calculations.“ in the second paragr
22、aph means that _. （ A） Twain was quite indifferent to fame （ B） Twain had enough confidence in his works （ C） Twain had 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 bec
23、ause _. （ A） the word “nigger“ is too out-dated to accept by American people （ B） the ideas conveyed by the book are unhealthy 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
24、resentful, feisty gaze on the rest of the world“ in the 4th paragraph implies that _. （ A） Twain turned literature into something to be heard as well as seen （ B） Twain showed a critical attitude towards the American world （ C） Twains works embodied the American dream （ D） Twains works revealed the
25、brightness and darkness of human heart 4 Twain finished his autobiography by _. （ A） writing the autobiography himself （ B） dictating his droughts to a stenographer （ C） seeking corroboration from his family （ D） borrowing Freudians idea on how to write 5 The word “ambivalence“ in the last paragraph
26、 means_ feelings. （ A） anxious （ B） pleasant （ C） confident （ D） contradictory 5 (1)A celebrity is a widely-recognized or famous person who commands a high degree of public and media attention; therefore, one may not become a celebrity unless public and mass media interest is piqued. On the other ha
27、nd, mass entertainment personalities such as soap opera actors or music stars are likely to become celebrities even if the person deliberately avoids media attention. For example Virgin Director Richard Branson was famous as a CEO, but he did not become a global celebrity until he attempted to trave
28、l around the globe in a hot air balloon. Another example is Al Gore, whose environmental campaign has elevated him to celebrity status. Of all the celebrities, a small number of them can be considered “global“, in that their fame has spread across the world, even across linguistic and cultural bound
29、aries. These celebrities are often prominent political figures, actors, globally successful artists, musicians and sports stars. The rise of international celebrities in acting and popular music is due in large part to the massive scope and scale of the media industries, enabling celebrities to be v
30、iewed more often and in more places. The reach of entertainment products is further extended by large-scale illegal copying of movies and music, which makes inexpensive pirated versions of DVDs and CDs available throughout even less economically developed countries. (2)Besides the global celebrities
31、, there are regional or cultural celebrities. Each culture and region has its own independent celebrity system, with a hierarchy of popular film, television, and sports stars. Celebrities who are very popular in one country might be unknown abroad, except with culturally-related groups, such as with
32、in a diaspora. In some cases, a country-level celebrity might command some attention outside their native country, but not to the degree that they can be considered a global celebrity. (3)Subnational entities or regions, or cultural communities(linguistic, ethnic, religious)also have their own “cele
33、brity systems“, especially in linguistically or culturally-distinct regions such as Quebec and Wales. Regional radio personalities, newscasters, politicians or community leaders can be considered as local or regional celebrities. (4)A local celebrity can be more of a household name than a national c
34、elebrity and may often experience the same type of attention from the public as a national celebrity albeit in the confines of their particular region. For example, in New York City, fashion designer Marisol Deluna is well known for her design work to the Park Avenue set, but perhaps would not be re
35、cognized as easily in Greenwich Village, a nearby neighborhood in Manhattan. (5)In a smaller country, linguistic or cultural community, a figure will be less likely to gain a broader celebrity. For example, Spanish actors Pen61ope Cruz and Antonio Banderas, who were country-level celebrities in thei
36、r native Spain, were able to become global celebrities only after they became Hollywood actors in English-speaking films. (6)English-speaking media commentators and journalists will sometimes refer to celebrities as A-List, B-List, C-List, D-List or Z-List. These informal rankings indicate a placing
37、 within the hierarchy. However, due to differing levels of celebrity in different regions, it is difficult to place people within one bracket. An objective method of placing celebrities from any country into categories from A-List to H-List based on their number of Google hits has been proposed, but
38、 while this method is quantitative, it only works for individuals with distinctive names, e.g., Jason Mewes, not Kevin Smith. (7)In the 1970s, academics began analyzing the phenomenon of celebrity and stardom. In Bob Greenes article “The New Stardom That Doesnt Require Paying Any Dues,“ he argues th
39、at for “most of mans history. people of talent would work to create somethingsomething written, something painted, something sculpted, something acted outand it would be passed on to audiences.“ With the rise of reality TV shows, Greene points out that audiences have been turned into the creators. H
40、e argues that the “alleged stars of the reality shows Survivor and Big Brother have become famous not for doing, but merely for being.“ (8)Celebrities often have fame comparable to that of royalty. As a result, there is a strong public curiosity about their private affairs. Celebrities may be resent
41、ed for their accolades, and the public may have a love/hate relationship with celebrities. Due to the high visibility of celebrities private lives, their successes and shortcomings are often made very public. Celebrities are alternately portrayed as glowing examples of perfection, when they garner a
42、wards, or as decadent or immoral if they become associated with a scandal. (9)Clive James, the Australian writer, broadcaster and performer, wrote a book on the phenomenon of fame in the 20th century. He contends that true fame was almost unknown before the 20th century, because of the lack of globa
43、l mass media, and the first true media celebrity was Charles Lindbergh, initially because of his aviation feats and later because of the tragic kidnapping and murder of his son. (10)James points out that celebrity eventually became distinctly different from fame, resulting in the phenomenon of peopl
44、e who are famous for being famous. He cites Elizabeth Taylor as an early example, whose private life made her more of a celebrity than her film career had. He also contends that fame sometimes backfires on those who seek it by depriving them of their privacy for life, a point illustrated by the rise
45、 of the paparazzi and their fanatic desire for pictures and personal stories about celebrities. 6 By citing the example of “diaspora“, the author indicates that diaspora _. （ A） dont have their own independent celebrity system in their community （ B） dont have the condition to foster celebrities sin
46、ce they scatter all over the world （ C） belong to a cosmopolitan community that shares the celebrity of their own culture （ D） hold an exclusive culture whose celebrities are difficult to be accepted by others 7 The comparison between a regional celebrity and a national celebrity is that _. （ A） the
47、 public attention gained by a regional and a national celebrity is totally different （ B） the fame of a national celebrity is more likely to be the result of the media exaggeration （ C） a national celebrity is more likely to be hated by the public than a regional celebrity （ D） a national celebrity
48、differs from a regional one mainly in the degree of their influence 8 From the passage, we can infer that_. （ A） Kevin Smith is a name that is quite common and widely used （ B） one would become a celebrity only if he acts in Hollywood films （ C） whether one would become a celebrity depends on audien
49、ces preference （ D） celebrities in the present day are not as welcome as those in the past 9 From the past to present, the role of audiences has undergone the change _. （ A） from the admirer to the bystander （ B） from the recipient to the creator （ C） from the creator to the recipient （ D） from the admirer to the creator 10 According to the passage, the people who are more likely to become celebrities are _. （ A） individuals with distinctive names （ B） mass entertainment figures who avo
