专业八级-504及答案解析.doc

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1、专业八级-504 及答案解析(总分：100.01，做题时间：90 分钟)一、READING COMPREHENSIO(总题数：8，分数：100.00)It is mid-September, the heat is just leaking out of the end of summer, and Japan is enjoying a rare public holiday. A holiday, that is, in the uniquely Japanese sense of the word, which means the GPS hardwired into every cit

2、izen is sending thousands upon thousands to the same fashionable boutiques near my home in Tokyo to shop. It is more crowded than a commuter train at rush hour. Policemen shepherd the multitude along the streets with flashing orange batons. Yet there is something peaceful about the way the Japanese

3、drift together in a crowd; they carry a tiny aura of personal space with them, no bigger than one of their Louis Vuitton handbags, and every bit as precious. They hardly touch, like those shoals of translucent fish that dart from one direction to another without colliding. The policemen use their ba

4、tons like conductors, keeping everything harmonious. But if you try to defy them, those batons will block your way faster than they can say “Dame desu“which is about as final as “Not on your life.“ Such are the means by which order and harmony are maintained in Japan. There is a deep-rooted respect

5、for others, so ingrained that ground staff at Narita airport bow to departing planes as they taxi to the runway. And there is a subtle coercion, like an invisible hand on society“s collar, based on centuries of ancestor worship that has made many customs immutable. The attitudes have been shaped par

6、tly by the physical landscape of Japan, which packs one of the most crowded populations on earth onto narrow plains, bounded by sea and inhospitable mountains. For centuries the main activity has been rice farming, which requires communal planting, weeding, watering and harvesting, rather than the r

7、ugged individualism of American and European agriculture. I have been captivated by life here since I arrived a year ago, floating on a wave of adoration of most things Japanese, yet getting in everyone“s way and doing everything wrong. I would jog around the Imperial Palace in a clockwise direction

8、, only to find everyone else running anti-clockwise, bearing down on me as if I didn“t exist. I wore short sleeves in early autumn, and couldn“t work out why, when it was still blazing hot outside, everyone had put on their jackets and ties again. After swimming with dolphins on the island of Mikura

9、jima this summer, my family and I went to a caf to have lunch, still in our damp bathing costumes. Our hostess was so livid that at first I thought we must have set the place alight, not left a few damp seats where our bottoms had been. Living as a foreigner in Japan, for all its attractions, has ma

10、ny such small humiliations. You may be on a noble quest to plumb the depths of the Japanese soul, but you will take so many wrong turns you end up wondering whether you are indeed too brutish to make sense of it. You may also be struck by how few of the locals have a matching interest in you and you

11、r culture. That is because it increasingly seems as if the outside worldwith its sharper elbows, fattier food and shoddy dress senseis kept at arm“s length. Fewer young Japanese are travelling abroad, fewer are studying English, and fewer are taking places at leading academic institutions overseas s

12、uch as Harvard Business School. Bosses at Japan“s legendary export businesses complain they cannot find youngsters who are prepared to work abroad. Two clever young Japanese friends, just posted to excellent jobs in America, told me that Japan is so comfortable they find it hard to leave. Yet as tho

13、se friends are the first to admit, it is a cotton-wool comfort that keeps out alien germslike the surgical facemasks that many Japanese wear, so at odds with the rest of their perfect dress. To the outsider, it can lend the society an air of feeble vulnerability. At times it is downright maddening.

14、Foreign ATM cards don“t work in most Japanese banks, Japanese movieseven the classicsrented at the ubiquitous Tsutaya video store don“t offer the option of foreign-language subtitles. Japanese mobile-phone technology is so unusual that analysts talk of “the Galapagos effect“, because it has grown up

15、 in a unique eco-system that makes it unsuitable for use anywhere else.（分数：12.00）(1).According to the passage, which is NOT seen as a cause for the order and harmony in Japan?（分数：3.00）A.Forefather“s influence.B.The large population.C.Geographical environment.D.The ingrained notions.(2).Which of the

16、following statements about the third paragraph is INCORRECT?（分数：3.00）A.The Japanese get accustomed to run anti-clockwise.B.It is a little difficult to probe into the Japanese mind for foreigners.C.Having dinners in bathing costumes after swimming seems unacceptable in Japan.D.Wearing short sleeves a

17、nd pants is popular in a burning hot day during September.(3).In the author“s view, which of the following is NOT a fact that makes foreigners crazy in Japan?（分数：3.00）A.The locals live too cozily and have no interest in foreign countries.B.Most Japanese banks don“t identify foreign ATM cards.C.Movie

18、s for rent offer no choice of foreign-language subtitles.D.The cell phone made in Japan is not suitable to use outside Japan.(4).According to the passage, we learn that _.（分数：3.00）A.citizens in Japan all drive to boutiques with a GPS in public holidayB.young people in Japan are not hard-working in t

19、heir academic studyC.Japan is a densely-populated country and unsuitable for livingD.Japan tends to live in isolation, shunning off from the rest of worldThe Muslim calendar, now in its 1,431st year, follows the cycle of the moon rather than the sun. This means it shifts by 11 days a year in compari

20、son with the Gregorian calendar, completing a full cycle in about 33 years. And it ignores the seasons. Ramadan (斋月), the month of fasting which this year began on August 12th, is now taking place slap in the middle of the Arab world“s summer holiday. Those who observe the fast must not only put up

21、with the heat and the ensuing dangers of dehydration and exhaustion. There are economic costs that did not weigh a generation ago, when consumer culture had yet to take hold. Across the Arab world, for instance, the price of cooking oil shoots up, since fried sweets are a Ramadan speciality. The cos

22、t of sugar rises too. So does the price of honey, especially in the Maghreb. Food importers do particularly well out of pistachios (开心果), dates and dried apricots. Cafs close by day but often make up for that with late-night revels. Many big new television shows are launched during Ramadan, accounti

23、ng for a third of annual advertising revenue for Arab satellite television stations. But for many businesses, especially government ones, productivity plummets as the working day shortens by two or three hours. The stock market, however, usually surges, according to a recent study by Ahmad Etebari,

24、a professor at the University of New Hampshire. Studying market patterns in Muslim countries between 1989 and 2007, he found that returns during Ramadan were almost nine times higher than in the rest of the year. The reason, he says, is that the seasonal cheer encourages optimism and thus risk-takin

25、g. But a summer Ramadan is, overall, bad for the economy. Governments worry about the higher cost of producing more electricity. The lights stay on longer, as people have to eat after nightfall. Kuwait“s electricity ministry has given warning of power cuts and electricity rationing, since more local

26、s will stay at home for Ramadan, with air conditioners on full throttle, rather than go abroad, as many of them usually do in August. The authorities in many Arab countries offer food subsidies to ensure that families can afford basic staples. Price controls are often imposed on retailers who are te

27、mpted to raise prices to take advantage of increased demand. Western tourists hesitate to spend their holidays at a time when food can be hard to find during the day and alcohol sales are suspended, as in Morocco. Muslim tourists may also choose to stay at home for Ramadan. Egypt, where August is a

28、peak month for tourists from other Arab countries, has launched a festival to entice this high-income customers to come and celebrate away from home. Visits from the millions of North Africans who work in Europe have been shortened or shifted to earlier dates, as they are less keen to visit their fa

29、milies back home when the weather is scorching. Ferry companies say bookings for Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, which used to peak at the end of August as families returned to Europe for the start of the school year, piled up at the beginning of the month, just before Ramadan. Meanwhile, Arabs who ca

30、n afford to fly north and west prefer to spend the fasting month in gentler climes.（分数：12.00）(1).The italicized word “slap“ in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to _.（分数：3.00）A.coincidentlyB.auspiciouslyC.approximatelyD.unexpectedly(2).Which of the following is NOT true about the economic si

31、tuation during Ramadan?（分数：3.00）A.The increased demand of food used for Ramadan makes price rise.B.The TV stations make a large fortune because of the advertising income.C.Many industries achieve high-efficiency production because of shorter working time.D.The stock market seems to be more bullish d

32、uring this period of time.(3).To ensure the Ramadan run smoothly, the following measures are taken by governments of the Arab countries EXCEPT _.（分数：3.00）A.restricting and planning the electricity useB.encouraging the citizens to go abroadC.providing the citizens with food subsidiesD.controlling pri

33、ces to hinder some opportunists(4).A suitable title for the passage would be _.（分数：3.00）A.How Muslims Celebrate RamadanB.Ramadan in the Summer HeatC.The Economic Impact of RamadanD.The Depression of Tourism during RamadanNext time you“re out raising money for your favorite charity, you would do best

34、 to first hit up your female friendsor perhaps the wives of your male ones. Women, it appears, are much better givers. According to a recent study by the Women“s Philanthropy Institute at the University of Indiana, women are as much as 40% more likely to donate than men. What“s more, women at nearly

35、 every income level are better givers. Not only do they give more often; they also tend to donate more. For example, the study found that a female-headed household with a family income of at least $103,000 is likely to give to charities, on average, nearly $1,910, or $1,000 more a year than a simila

36、r household in which a man controls the checkbook. “It is not just the older white males giving,“ says Dr. Debra Mesch, the director of the institute. “We are seeing women really growing in terms of philanthropy.“ The study, titled “Women Give 2010,“ is, according to Mesch, the first to look at phil

37、anthropy by gender. Mesch studied 2,532 single-headed households of comparable income and their giving habits. With women steadily increasing their earning power, what she found is good news for the world of charity. “This is the perfect storm for philanthropy, and we are on the verge of a huge glob

38、al movement as women become more powerful in the philanthropic movement,“ says Mesch. The gender giving gap varied by type of charity. The one category in which women were less likely than men to give to a charity was arts and culture. For all other causes that Mesch looked at, women were more likel

39、y donors. Women were 55% more likely donors to international causes than men, 42% more likely to religious organizations, and 32% more likely to youth and family groups. The study shows another big difference: women are more drawn than men to causes and organizations they or family members closely r

40、elate to. Professional fundraiser Heather Gee realized that finding her interests gave her focus. “Instead of just writing a check to this charity or that charity, I started to really explore what I was passionate about and what was most important to me,“ she says. That means organizations have to t

41、ake the time to foster relationships, Mesch says. “It is easier to work with men who get out their checkbooks and put names on buildings. It is different to work with women.“ Mark Hanlon, senior vice president of the Colorado-based nonprofit Compassion International, says the Indiana study rings tru

42、e to him. For his group, 60% of its donors are women. As a Christian organization aiming to pull children out of poverty globally, Compassion International falls right in line with what the report says is a sweet spot for female givers. “Ultimately, our cause and what we do is about children and pov

43、erty,“ Hanlon says. “Very naturally, women gravitate toward those two issues. They understand it acutely, and there is a natural leaning for Compassion to be attractive to them.“ Mesch says not enough nonprofits have discovered the strength of targeting female givers and that there is room for resea

44、rch. “Now we know the difference of behavior,“ she says. “We need to go deeper into why this is happening.“（分数：9.00）(1).Compared with men, women are more likely to donate in the following categories EXCEPT _.（分数：3.00）A.religious organizationsB.international affairsC.arts and cultureD.family and teen

45、ager group(2).Which of the following sentences is NOT true about the differences between men and women donors?（分数：3.00）A.Women are often attracted by the affairs and organizations relevant to their families.B.When involved in leaving names on buildings, men will be more enthusiastic than women.C.Wom

46、en are highly motivated in saving children and helping the poor.D.Women donate more often than men but the sum is relatively smaller each time.(3).The following paragraphs are expected to focus on _.（分数：3.00）A.exploring the reasons that cause the differences between men and women donorsB.exemplifyin

47、g the distinguished features between men and women donorsC.explaining why the result of the research is in coincidence with Hanlon“s wordsD.informing how to win over the women donors by analyzing their featuresOf all the catastrophes that could befall America in coming years, a big terrorist attack,

48、 perhaps even bigger than those on September 11th 2001, may be more likely than others. Who would pay for the millions in property damage, business losses and other claims from such an attack? This is the question with which America“s Congress is currently wrestling. The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act

49、 (TRIA) was passed as a temporary measure after September 11th to provide a government back-stop for the insurance industry in the event of a catastrophic attack. It now says government can step in when insured losses from a terrorist event top $5m. TRIA has helped to stabilize the market, and enabled insurers to continue offering terrorism-risk cover even after swallowing the big losses imposed by September 11th. But unless Congress acts fast, TRIA will expire at the end of the year. One likely result is the loss of terrorism-risk cover for thousands of