1、专业英语八级（阅读）模拟试卷 82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)I w
2、as just a boy when my father brought me to Harlem for the first time, almost 50 years ago. We stayed at the Hotel Theresa, a grand brick structure at 125th Street and Seventh Avenue. Once, in the hotel restaurant, my father pointed out Joe Louis. He even got Mr. Brown, the hotel manager, to introduc
3、e me to him, a bit paunchy but still the champ as far as I was concerned. (2)Much has changed since then. Business and real estate are booming. Some say a new renaissance is under way. Others decry what they see as outside forces running roughshod over the old Harlem. (3)New York meant Harlem to me,
4、 and as a young man I visited it whenever I could. But many of my old haunts are gone. The Theresa shut down in 1966. National chains that once ignored Harlem now anticipate yuppie money and want pieces of this prime Manhattan real estate. So here I am on a hot August afternoon, sitting in a Starbuc
5、ks that two years ago opened a block away from the Theresa, snatching at memories between sips of high-priced coffee. I am about to open up a piece of the old Harlem the New York Amsterdam News when a tourist asking directions to Sylvias, a prominent Harlem restaurant, penetrates my daydreaming. Hes
6、 carrying a book: Touring Historic Harlem. (4)History. I miss Mr. Michauxs bookstore, his House of Common Sense, which was across from the Theresa. He had a big billboard out front with brown and black faces painted on it that said in large letters: “World History Book Outlet on 2,000,000,000 Africa
7、ns and Nonwhite People.“ An ugly state office building has swallowed that space. (5)I miss speaker like Carlos Cooks, who was always on the southwest corner of 125th and Seventh, urging listeners to support Africa. Harlems powerful political electricity seems unplugged although the streets are still
8、 energized, especially by West African immigrants. (6)Hardworking southern newcomers formed the bulk of the community back in the 1920s and 1930s, when Harlem renaissance artists, writers, and intellectuals gave it a glitter and renown that made it the capital of black America. From Harlem, W. E. B.
9、 DuBois, Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson, Zora Neal Hurston, and others helped power Americas cultural influence around the world. (7)By the 1970s and 80s drugs and crime had ravaged parts of the community. And the life expectancy for men in Harlem was less than that of men in Bangladesh. Harlem had b
10、ecome a symbol of the dangers of inner-city life. (8)Now, you want to shout “Lookin good! “ at this place that has been neglected for so long. Crowds push into Harlem USA, a new shopping centre on 125th, where a Disney store shares space with HMV Records, the New York Sports Club, and a nine-screen
11、Magic Johnson theatre complex. Nearby, a Rite Aid drugstore also opened. Maybe part of the reason Harlem seems to be undergoing a rebirth is that it is finally getting what most people take for granted. (9)Harlem is also part of an “empowerment zone“ a federal designation aimed at fostering economic
12、 growth that will bring over half a billion in federal, state, and local dollars. Just the shells of once elegant old brownstones now can cost several hundred thousand dollars. Rents are skyrocketing. An improved economy, tougher law enforcement, and community efforts against drugs have contributed
13、to a 60 percent drop in crime since 1993. 1 At the beginning the author seems to indicate that Harlem _. （ A） has remained unchanged all these years （ B） has undergone drastic changes （ C） has become the capital of Black America （ D） has remained a symbol of dangers of inner-city life 2 From the pas
14、sage we can infer that, generally speaking, the author _. （ A） has strong reservations about the changes （ B） has slight reservations about the changes （ C） welcomes the changes in Harlem （ D） is completely opposed to the changes 3 Which of the following is true about Harlem today? （ A） The life exp
15、ectancy for men there is less than other parts of the country. （ B） Great black Americans in Harlem make it the capital of black America. （ C） Drugs and crime are a big problem now in Harlem. （ D） Houses are very expensive in Harlem because of its growing economy. 3 (1)Oscar Wilde said that work is
16、the refuge of people who have nothing better to do. If so, Americans are now among the worlds saddest refugees. Factory workers in the United States are working longer hours than at any time in the past half-century. America once led the rich world in cutting the average working week from 70 hours i
17、n 1850 to less than 40 hours by the 1950s. It seemed natural that as people grew richer they would trade extra earnings for more leisure. Since the 1970s, however, the hours clocked up by American workers have risen, to an average of 42 this year in manufacturing. (2)Several studies suggest that som
18、ething similar is happening outside manufacturing: Americans are spending more time at work than they did 20 years ago. Executives and lawyers boast of 80-hour weeks. On holiday, they seek out fax machines and phones as eagerly as Germans bag the best sun-loungers. Yet working time in Europe and Jap
19、an continues to fall. In Germanys engineering industry the working week is to be trimmed from 36 to 35 hours next year. Most Germans get six weeks paid annual holiday; even the Japanese now take three weeks. Americans still make do with just two. (3)Germany responds to this contrast with its usual c
20、oncern about whether peoples aversion to work is damaging its competitiveness. Yet German workers, like the Japanese, seem to be acting sensibly: as their incomes rise, they can achieve a better standard of living with fewer hours of work. The puzzle is why America, the worlds richest country, sees
21、things differently. It is a puzzle with sinister social implications. Parents spend less time with their children, who may be left alone at home for longer. Is it just a coincidence that juvenile crime is on the rise? (4)Some explanations for Americas time at work fail to stand up to scrutiny. One b
22、lames weak trade unions that leave workers open to exploitation. Are workers being forced by cost-cutting firms to toil harder just to keep their jobs? A recent study by two American economists, Richard Freeman and Linda Bell, suggests not: when asked, Americans actually want to work longer hours. M
23、ost German workers, in contrast, would rather work less. (5)Then, why do Americans want to work harder? One reason may be that the real earnings of many Americans have been stagnant or falling during the past two decades. People work longer merely to maintain their living standards. Yet many higher-
24、skilled workers, who have enjoyed big increases in their real pay, have been working harder too. Also, one reason for the slow growth of wages has been the rapid growth in employment which is more or less where the argument began. (6)Taxes may have something to do with it. People who work an extra h
25、our in America are allowed to keep more of their money than those who do the same in Germany. Falls in marginal tax rates in America since the 1970s have made it all the more profitable to work longer. (7)None of these answers really explains why the century-long decline in working hours has gone in
26、to reverse in America but not elsewhere(though Britain shows signs of following Americas lead). Perhaps cultural differences the last refuge of the defeated economist are at play. Economists used to believe that once workers earned enough to provide for their basic needs and allow for a few luxuries
27、, their incentive to work would be eroded, like lions relaxing after a kill. But humans are more susceptible to advertising than lions. Perhaps clever marketing has ensured that “basic needs“ for a shower with built-in TV, for a rocket-propelled car expand continuously. Shopping is already one of Am
28、ericas most popular pastimes. But it requires money hence more work and less leisure. (8)Or try this: the television is not very good, and baseball and hockey keep being wiped out by strikes. Perhaps Wilde was right. Maybe Americans have nothing better to do. 4 In the United States, working longer h
29、ours is _. （ A） confined to the manufacturing industry （ B） a traditional practice in some sectors （ C） prevalent in all sectors of society （ D） favoured by the economists 5 According to the third paragraph, which might be one of the consequences of working longer hours? （ A） Rise in employees worki
30、ng efficiency. （ B） Rise in the number of young offenders. （ C） Rise in peoples living standards. （ D） Rise in competitiveness. 6 Which of the following is true about American workers according to the passage? （ A） They are more diligent than those from other developed countries. （ B） They earn more
31、 than those from other developed countries. （ C） They prefer to spend more time with their children but are forced to work long hours. （ D） Tax policies make it profitable for American workers to work extra time. 6 (1)The biggest problem facing Chile as it promotes itself as a tourist destination to
32、 be reckoned with, is that it is at the end of the earth. It is too far south to be a convenient stop on the way to anywhere else and is much farther than a relatively cheap half-days flight away from the big tourist markets, unlike Mexico, for example. (2)Chile, therefore, is having to fight hard t
33、o attract tourists, to convince travelers that it is worth coming halfway round the world to visit. But it is succeeding, not only in existing markets like the USA and Western Europe but in new territories, in particular the Far East. Markets closer to home, however, are not being forgotten. More th
34、at 50% of visitors to Chile still come from its nearest neighbour, Argentina, where the cost of living is much higher. (3)Like all South American countries, Chile sees tourism as a valuable earner of foreign currency, although it has been far more serious than most in promoting its image abroad. Rel
35、atively stable politically within the region, it has benefited from the problems suffered in other areas. In Peru, guerrilla warfare in recent years has dealt a heavy blow to the tourist industry and fear of street crime in Brazil has reduced the attraction of Rio de Janeiro as a dream destination f
36、or foreigners. (4)More than 150,000 people are directly involved in Chiles tourist sector, an industry which earns the country more than US $950 million each year. The state-run National Tourism Service, in partnership with a number of private companies, is currently running a world-wide campaign, t
37、aking part in trade fairs and international events to attract visitors to Chile. (5)Chiles great strength as a tourist destination is its geographical diversity. From the parched Atacama Desert in the north to the Antarctic snowfields of the south, it is more than 5,000km long. With the Pacific on o
38、ne side and the Andean mountains on the other, Chile boasts natural attractions. Its beaches are not up to Caribbean standards but resorts such as Vina del Mar are generally clean and unspoilt and have a high standard of services. (6)But the trump card is the Andes mountain range. There are a number
39、 of excellent ski resorts within one hours drive of the capital, Santiago, and the national parks in the south are home to rare animal and plant species. The parks already attract specialist visitors, including mountaineers, who come to climb the technically difficult peaks, and fishermen, lured by
40、the salmon and trout in the regions rivers. (7)However, infrastructural development in these areas is limited. The ski resorts do not have as many lifts as their European counterparts and the poor quality of roads in the south means that only the most determined travellers see the best of the nation
41、al parks. (8)Air links between Chile and the rest of the world are, at present, relatively poor. While Chiles two largest airlines have extensive networks within South America, they operate only a small number of routes to the United States and Europe, while services to Asia are almost non-existent.
42、 (9)Internal transport links are being improved and luxury hotels are being built in one of its national parks. Nor is development being restricted to the Andes. Easter Island and Chiles Antarctic Territory are also on the list of areas where the Government believes it can create tourist markets. (1
43、0)But the rush to open hitherto inaccessible areas to mass tourism is not being welcomed by everyone. Indigenous and environmental groups, including Greenpeace, say that many parts of the Andes will suffer if they become over-developed. There is a genuine fear that areas of Chile will suffer the cul
44、tural destruction witnessed in Mexico and European resorts. (11)The policy of opening up Antarctica to tourism is also politically sensitive. Chile already has permanent settlements on the ice and many people see the decision to allow tourists there as a political move, enhancing Santiagos territori
45、al claim over part of Antarctica. (12)The Chilean Government has promised to respect the environment as it seeks to bring tourism to these areas. But there are immense commercial pressures to exploit the countrys tourism potential. The Government will have to monitor developments closely if it is ge
46、nuinely concerned in creating a balanced, controlled industry and if the price of an increasingly lucrative tourist market is not going to mean the loss of many of Chiles natural riches. 7 Chile is disadvantaged in the promotion of its tourism by _. （ A） geographical location （ B） guerrilla warfare
47、（ C） political instability （ D） street crime 8 Many of Chiles tourists used to come from EXCEPT _. （ A） U.S.A （ B） the Far East （ C） Western Europe （ D） her neighbours 9 The objection to the development of Chiles tourism might be all EXCEPT that it _. （ A） is ambitious and unrealistic （ B） is politi
48、cally sensitive （ C） will bring harm to culture （ D） will cause pollution in the area 9 (1)This month Singapore passed a bill that would give legal teeth to the moral obligation to support ones parents. Called the Maintenance of Parents Bill, it received the backing of the Singapore Government. (2)T
49、hat does not mean it hasnt generated discussion. Several members of the Parliament opposed the measure as un-Asian. Others who acknowledged the problem of the elderly poor believed it a disproportionate response. Still others believe it will subvert relations within the family; cynics dubbed it the “Sue Your Son“ law. (3)Those who say that the bill does not promote filial responsibility, of course, are right. It has nothing to do with filial responsibility. It kicks in where filial responsibility fails. The
