2003 年专业英语八级考试真题及答案
PART I LISTENING COMPREHENSION (40 MIN)
In Sections A, B and C you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then
answer the questions that follow. Mark the correct answer to each question on your
coloured answer sheet
SECTION A TALK
Questions I to 5 refer to the talk in this section. At the end of the talk you will
be given 15 seconds to answer each of the following five questions.
Now listen to the talk.
1. Which of the following statements about offices is NOT true according to the talk?
A. Offices throughout the world are basically alike.
B. There are primarily two kinds of office layout.
C. Office surroundings used to depend on company size.
D. Office atmosphere influences workers' performance.
2. We can infer from the talk that harmonious work relations may have a direct impact
on your
A. promotion.
B. colleagues.
C. management.
D. union.
3. Supposing you were working in a small firm, which of the following would you do
when you had some grievances?
A. Request a formal special meeting with the boss.
B. Draft a formal agenda for a special meeting.
C. Contact a consultative committee first.
D. Ask to see the boss for a talk immediately.
4. According to the talk, the union plays the following roles EXCEPT
A. mediation.
B. arbitration.
C. negotiation.
D. representation.
5. Which topic is NOT covered in the talk?
A. Role of the union.
B. Work relations.
C. Company structure.
D. Office layout.
SECTION B INTERVIEW
Questions 6 to 10 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will
be given 15seconds to answer each of the following five questions.
Now listen to the interview.
6. Which of the following statements is INCORRECT about David's personal background?
A. He had excellent academic records at school and university.
B. He was once on a PHD programme at Yale University.
C. He received professional training in acting.
D. He came from a single-parent family.
7. David is inclined to believe in
A. aliens.
B. UFOs.
C. the TV character.
D. government conspiracies.
8. David thinks he is fit for the TV role because of his
A. professional training.
B. personality.
C. life experience.
D. appearance.
9. From the interview, we know that at present David feels
A. a sense of frustration.
B. haunted by the unknown things
C. confident but moody.
D. successful yet unsatisfied.
10. How does David feel about the divorce of his parents?
A. He feels a sense of anger.
B. He has a sense of sadness.
C. It helped him grow up.
D. It left no effect on him.
SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST
Question 11 is based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will
be given 15seconds to answer the question.
Now listen to the news.
11. What is the main idea of the news item?
A. US concern over th6 forthcoming peace talks.
B. Peace efforts by the Palestinian Authority.
C. Recommendations by the Mitchell Commission.
D. Bomb attacks aimed at Israeli civilians.
Question 12 is based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will
be given 15 seconds to answer the question.
Now listen to the news.
12. Some voters will waste their ballots because
A. they like neither candidate.
B. they are all ill-informed.
C. the candidates do not differ much.
D. they do not want to vote twice.
Questions 13 to 15 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item,
you will be given15 seconds to answer each of the questions.
Now listen to the news.
13. According to the UN Human Development Report, which is the best place for women
in the world?
A. Canada.
B. The US.
C. Australia.
D. Scandinavia.
14. _______ is in the 12th place in overall ranking.
A. Britain
B. France
C. Finland
D. Switzerland
15. According to the UN report, the least developed country is
A. Ethiopia.
B. Mali.
C. Sierra Leon.
D. Central African Republic.
SECTION D NOTE-TAKING AND GAP-FILLING
In this section you will hear a mini-lecture. You will hear the lecture ONCE ONLY.
While listening, take notes on the important points. Your notes will not be marked,
but you will need them to complete a 15-minute gap-filling task on ANSWER SHEET ONE
after the mini-lecture. Use the blank sheet for note-taking.
PART II PROOFREADING & ERROR CORRECTION (15 MIN)
Proofread the given passage on ANSWER SHEET TWO as instructed.
PART III READING COMPREHENSIOS (40MIN)
SECTION A READING COMPREHENSION (30 MIN)
In this section there are four reading passages followed by a total of fifteen
multiple-choice questions. Read the passages and then mark your answers on your
coloured answer sheet~
TEXT A
Hostility to Gypsies has existed almost from the time they first appeared in Europe
in the 14th century. The origins of the Gypsies, with little written history, were
shrouded in mystery. What is known now from clues in the various dialects of their
language, Romany, is that they came from northern India to the Middle East a thousand
years ago, working as minstrels and mercenaries, metal-smiths and servants.
Europeans misnamed them Egyptians, soon shortened to Gypsies. A clan system, based
mostly on their traditional crafts and geography, has made them a deeply fragmented
and fractious people, only really unifying in the face of enmity from non-Gypsies,
whom they call gadje. Today many Gypsy activists prefer to be called Roma, which
comes from the Romany word for“man”. But on my travels among them most still referred
to themselves as Gypsies.
In Europe their persecution by the gadje began quickly, with the church seeing heresy
in their fortune-telling and the state seeing anti-social behaviour in their
nomadism. At various times they have been forbidden to wear their distinctive bright
clothes, to speak their own language, to travel, to marry one another, or to ply
their traditional crafts. In some countries they were reduced to slavery it wasn't
until the mid-1800s that Gypsy slaves were freed in Romania. In more recent times
the Gypsies were caught up in Nazi ethnic hysteria, and perhaps half a million
perished in the Holocaust. Their horses have been shot and the wheels removed from
their wagons, their names have been changed, their women have been sterilized, and
their children have been forcibly given for adoption to non-Gypsy families.
But the Gypsies have confounded predictions of their disappearance as a distinct
ethnic group and their numbers have burgeoned. Today there are an estimated 8 to
12 million Gypsies scattered across Europe, making them the continent's largest
minority. The exact number is hard to pin down. Gypsies have regularly been
undercounted, both by regimes anxious to downplay their profile and by Gypsies
themselves, seeking to avoid bureaucracies. Attempting to remedy past inequities,
activist groups may overcount. Hundreds of thousands more have emigrated to the
Americas and elsewhere. With very few exceptions Gypsies have expressed no great
desire for a country to call their own -unlike the Jews, to whom the Gypsy experience
is often compared. “Romanestan” said Ronald Lee, the Canadian Gypsy writer, "is
where my two feet stand."
16. Gypsies are united only when they
A are engaged in traditional crafts.
B. call themselves Roma.
C. live under a clan system.
D. face external threats.
17. In history hostility to Gypsies in Europe resulted in their persecution by all
the following
EXCEPT
A. the Egyptians.
B the state.
C. the church.
D. the Nazis.
18. According to the passage, the main difference between the Gypsies and the Jews
lies in their concepts of
A.language.
B. culture.
C. identity.
D. custom.
TEXT B
I was 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 introduce me to him, a bit paunchy but
still the champ as far as I was concerned.
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.
New York meant Harlem to me, 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 Starbucks
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 Sylvia's, a prominent
Harlem restaurant, penetrates my daydreaming. He's carrying a book: Touring Historic
Harlem.
History. I miss Mr. Michaux's 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
Africans and Nonwhite Peoples." An ugly state office building has swallowed that
space.
I miss speaker like Carlos Cooks, who was always on the southwest comer of 125th
and Seventh, urging listeners to support Africa. Harlem's powerful political
electricity seems unplugged-although the sweets are still energized, especially by
West African immigrants.
Hardworking southern newcomers formed the bulk of the community back in the 1920s
and'30s, 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.
DuBois, Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson, Zora Neal Hurston, and others helped power
America's cultural influence around the world.
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 become a symbol of the dangers of inner-city life.
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
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.
Harlem is also part of an “empowerment zone”—a federal designation aimed at
fostering economic 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 to
a 60 percent drop in crime since 1993.
19. 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.
20. When the author recalls Harlem in the old days, he has a feeling of
A. indifference.
B, discomfort.
C. delight.
D. nostalgia.
21. Harlem was called the capital of Black America in the 1920s and '30s mainly
because of its
A. art and culture.
B. immigrant population.
C. political enthusiasm.'
D. distinctive architecture.
22. From the passage 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.
TEXT C
The senior partner, Oliver Lambert, studied the resume for the hundredth time and
again found nothing he disliked about Mitchell Y. McDeere, at least not on paper.
He had the brains, the ambition, the good looks. And he was hungry; with his
background, he had to be. He was married, and that was mandatory. The firm had never
hired an unmarried lawyer, and it frowned heavily on divorce, as well as womanizing
and drinking. Drug testing was in the contract. He had a degree in accounting, passed
the CPA exam the first time he took it and wanted to be a tax lawyer, which of course
was a requirement with a tax firm. He was white, and the firm had never hired a black.
They managed this by being secretive and clubbish and never soliciting job
applications. Other firms solicited, and hired blacks. This firm recruited, and
remained lily white. Plus, the firm was in Memphis, and the top blacks wanted New
York or Washington or Chicago. McDeere was a male, and there were no women in the
firm. That mistake had been made in the mid-seventies when they recruited the number
one grad from Harvard, who happened to be a she and a wizard at taxation. She lasted
four turbulent years and was killed in a car wreck.
He looked good, on paper. He was their top choice. In fact, for this year there were
no other prospects. The list was very short. It was McDeere, or no one.
The managing partner, Royce McKnight, studied a dossier labeled "Mitchell Y.
McDeere-Harvard." An inch thick with small print and a few photographs; it had been
prepared by some ex-CIA agents in a private intelligence outfit in Bethesda. They
were clients of the firm and each year did the investigating for no fee. It was easy
work, they said, checking out unsuspecting law students. They learned, for instance,
that he preferred to leave the Northeast, that he was holding three job offers, two
in New York and one in Chicago, and that the highest offer was $76,000 and the lowest
was $68,000. He was in demand. He had been given the opportunity to cheat on a
securities exam during his second year. He declined, and made the highest grade in
the class. Two months ago he had been offered cocaine at a law school party. He said
no and left when everyone began snorting. He drank an occasional beer, but drinking
was expensive and he had no money. He owed close to $23,000 in student loans. He
was hungry.
Royce McKnight flipped through the dossier and smiled. McDeere was their man.
Lamar Quin was thirty-two and not yet a partner. He had been brought along to look
young and act young and project a youthful image for Bendini, Lambert & Locke, which
in fact was a young firm, since most of the partners retired in their late forties
or early fifties with money to bum. He would make partner in this firm. With a
six-figure income guaranteed for the rest of his life, Lamar could enjoy the
twelve-hundred-dollar tailored suits that hung so comfortably from his tall,
athletic frame. He strolled nonchalantly across the thousand-dollar-a-day suite and
poured another cup of decaf. He checked his watch. He glanced at the two partners
sitting at the small conference table near the windows.
Precisely at two-thirty someone knocked on the door. Lamar looked at the parmers,
who slid the resume and dossier into an open briefcase. All three reached for their
jackets. Immar buttoned his top button and opened the door.
23. Which of the following is NOT the firm’s recruitment requirement?
A. Marriage.
B. Background.
C. Relevant degree.
D. Male.
24. The details of the private investigation show that the firm
A. was interested in his family background.
B. intended to check out his other job offers.
C. wanted to know something about his preference.
D. was interested in any personal detail of the man.
25. According to the passage, the main reason Lama Quin was there at the interview
was that
A. his image could help impress McDereer.
B. he would soon become a partner himself.
C. he was good at interviewing applicants.
D. his background was similar to MeDereer's.
26. We get the impression from the passage that in job recruitment the firm was NOT
A. selective.
B. secretive.
C. perfunctory.
D. racially biased.
TEXT K
First read the questions.
39. When did Moore receive his first commission?
A. In 1948.
B. In 1946.
C. In 1931.
D. In 1928.
40. Where did Moore win his first international prize?
A. In London.
B. In Venice.
C. In New York.
D. In Hamburg.
Now go through TEXT K quickly to answer questions 39 and 40.
Henry Moore, the seventh of eight children of Raymond Spencer Moore and his wife
Mary, was born in Yorkshire on 30 July 1898. After graduating from secondary school,
Moore taught for a short while. Then the First World War began and he enlisted in
the army at the age of eighteen. After the war he applied for and received an
ex-serviceman's grant to attend Leeds School of Art. At the end of his second year
he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in London.
In 1928 Moore met Irina Radetsky, a painting student at the college, whom he married
a year later. The couple then moved into a house which consisted of a small
ground-floor studio with an equally small flat above. This remained their London
home for ten years.
Throughout the 1920's Moore was involved in the art life of London. His first
commission, received in 1928, was to produce a sculpture relief for the newly opened
headquarters of London Transport. His first one-man exhibition opened at the Warren
Gallery in 1928; it was followed by a show at the Leicester Galleries in 1931 and
his first sale to a gallery abroad- the Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg.
His success continued.
In 1946 Moore had his first foreign retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modem
Art, New York. In 1948 he won the International Sculpture Prize at the 24th Venice
Biennale, the first of countless international accolades acquired in succeeding
years. At the same time sales of Moore's work around the world increased, as did
the demand for his exhibitions. By the end of 1970's the number of exhibitions had
grown to an average of forty a year, ranging from the very small to major
international retrospectives taking years of detailed planning and preparation.
The main themes in Moore's work included the mother and child, the earliest work
created in 1922, and the reclining figure dating from 1926. At the end of the 1960's
came stringed figures based on mathematical models observed in the Science Museum,
and the first helmet head, a subject that later developed into the internal-external
theme- variously interpreted as a hard form coveting a soft, like a mother protecting
her child or a foetus inside a womb.
A few years before his death in 1986 Moore gave the estate at Perry Green with its
studios, houses and cottages to the Trustees of the Henry Moore Foundation to promote
sculpture and the fine arts within the cultural life of the country and in particular
the works of Henry Moore.
ANSWER SHEET ONE
PART I LISTENING COMPREHENSION
SECTION D NOTE-TAKING & GAPFILING (15 MIN)
Fill in each of the gaps with ONE word You may refer to your notes. Make sure the
word you fill in is both grammatically and semantically acceptable.
Marslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Abraham Maslow has developed a famous theory of human needs, which can be arranged
In order of importance.