发布时间 : 星期六 文章试卷一（A卷）更新完毕开始阅读
Passage Three
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:
The rise of English is a remarkable success story. When Julius Caesar landed in Britain nearly two thousand years ago, English did not exist. Five hundred years later, English, incomprehensible to modern ears, was probably spoken by about as few people as currently speak Cherokee ( an American Indian language)—and with about as little influence. Nearly a thousand years later, at the end of sixteenth century, when William Shakespeare was in his prime, English was the native speech of between five and seven million English people and it was, in the words of a contemporary, “of small reach, it stretched no further than this island of ours, never not there over all.”
Four hundred years later, the contrast is extraordinary. Between 1600 and the present, in armies, navies, companies, and expeditions, the speakers of English—including Scots, Irish, Welsh, American, and many more traveled into every corner of the globe, carrying their language and culture with them. Today English is used by at least 750 million people, and barely half of those speak it as a mother tongue. Some estimates have put that figure closer to one billion. Whatever the total, English at the end of the twentieth century is more widely scattered, more widely spoken and written, than any other language has ever been. It has become the language of the planet, the first truly global language.
The statistics of English are astonishing. Of all the world’s languages, it is arguably the richest in vocabulary. The Compendious Oxford English Dictionary lists about 500,000 words; and a further half milion technical and scientific terms remain uncatalogued. About 350 million people use the English vocabulary as a mother tongue—about one-tenth of the world’s population, scattered across every continent and surpassed, in numbers, though not in distribution, only by the speakers of the many varieties of Chinese. Three-quarters of world’s mail, and its telexes and cables, are in English. So are more than half the world’s technical and scientific periodicals: it is the language of technology from Silicon Valley to Shanghai.
31. When did English apear as a language spoken by few people?
A) Julius Caesar’s time B) Shakespeare’s time C) 2,000 years ago D) 1,500 years ago 32. The word “contemporary” (Para. 1) most likely means _____.
A) a person in modern time B) a person who studies old English C) a scholar who studies Shakespeare D) a person in Shakespeare’s time 33. By saying “the contrast is extraordinary”, the author means _____. A) English becomes a global language
B) native speakers of English have reached the number of at least 750 million C) there might be one billion native speakers of English
D) many other nations have accepted the English language as their mother tongue 34. Statistics show that English has a vocabulary of about _____.
5
A) 500,000 words B) 350,000 words C) 750,000 words D) 1,000,000 words 35. Which of the following statement is NOT true?
A) English has the largest number of native speakers in the world. B) English has the largest technical and scientific terms in the world. C) English is probably the richest in vocabulary.
D) English is the most widely spoken and written language in the world.
Passage Four
Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage:
It will come as no surprise that the earth is going to be a much more crowded place in the next century. From a globle population of about 5.4 billion today, the United Nations Fund for Population Activities says we’ll see a rise to 8.2 billion people in 2025. The UN expects the total population to stabilize at 11.6 billion sometime later in the 2000s.
More than ninety percent of the population growth will occur in developing countries. Eighteen of the world’s twenty largest cities will be in these lands as the number of urban-dwellers (城市居民) swells from roughly two billion to 5.1 billion. The United States and Europe, which in 1950 accounted for twenty-two percent of the world’s population, will be home to less than nine percent of its people in 2025. By contrast, Africa’s share of the total will climb from nine percent in 1950 to nearly twenty percent by 2015. Ethiopia should double in size to almost 100 million people. In about the same time period, India will overtake China as the world’s most populous country.
For the United States, the big news won’t be an abundance of new faces; experts predict the country will grow from its present 250 million population and stabilize at about 350 million sometime before the middle of the 21th century. The important changes will be in American ethnic (族群的) makeup. Twenty years from now, the United States’ white, non-Hispanic majority will peak at 195 million, and then may decline in numbers. Asian Americans will become an increasingly important manority, while African Americans—whose population growth rate is slowing dramatically—will become the second largest minority behind Hispanics, a half million of whom are now thought to be emigrating to the United States legally and otherwise, each year. 36. This article is primarily about _____.
A) population growth in developing countries B) why the world’s population is changing
C) how the population is going to change in different parts of the world in the future D)the sharp contrast in population changes between developing and developed countries 37. We can infer from the passage that ______.
A) Hispanics are the largest minority group in the United States B) Ethiopia will become the most populous country in the future
6
C) in the future, China’s population will grow faster than India’s D) Asian Americans will be the most powerful minority in the US 38. Which of the following statement is true according to the passage? A) Hispanics are the largest ethnic group in the United States. B) All Hispanics in the US are thought to be legal immigrants.
C) African Americans will become the second largest minority in the US. D) The white, non-Hispanic majority will decrease twenty years from now.
39. Today people in the US account for about _____ percent of the global population. A) 9 B) 4.6 C) 22 D) 6.5
40. What is the meaning of “For the United States, the big news won’t be an abundance of new faces” in Line 1 of Paragraph 3?
A) People in the US won’t be surprised at any new faces. B) There won’t be any news in the eye of the US people. C) People in the US will become known to one another. D) There won’t be a large growth in the US population.
Part III Vocabulary (15 points, 20 minutes)
Section A
Directions: In this section, there are 15 sentences, each with one word or phrase underlined. Choose the ONE from the four choices marked A, B, C and D that best keeps the meaning of the sentence. Mark your answer by blackening the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet
41. Many doctors are still general practioners, but the tendency is toward specialization in medicine.
A) manage B)stake C) stretch D) trend
42. Before his appointment as secretary of state, Henry Kissinger was a professor of government and international affairs at Harvard.
A) Prime to B) Prior to C) Temporal of D) Foremost of 43. Einstein’s theory of relativity seemed hard to believe at the time that he first introduced it.
A) incredible B) congenial C) brutal D) invariable
44. A series of columns supporting a large porch is typical of the architecture of pre-civil war mansions in the South.
A) mantles B) daggers C) pillars D) chasms
45. The cost of living in the United States has risen at a rate of 6 percent per year during the last ten-year period. A) tenth B) decade C) century D) quarter
7
46. Keep two extra pencils where they can be easily reached while taking the examination. A) dingy B) handy C) lanky D) risky
47. Changes in the color of sea water from blue to green seem to be caused by high or low concentrations of salt.
A) Variations B) Precautions C) Aversions D) Recollections 48. Cruel treatment of inmates instigated a riot in the prison. A) Tolerant B) Brutal C) Reliable D) Curious 49. Four your safety and the safety of others, pay attention to the traffic signals. A) heed B) warn C) listen D) focus
50. If the teams were not so evenly matched, it would be easier to foretell the outcome. A) prepare B) prevail C) predict D) precede 51. It is much easier to talk about social change than it is to make it happen. A) bring it up B) bring it out C) bring it about D) bring it on 52. Passenger ships and planes are often equipped with ship-to-shore or air-to-land radio telephones.
A) highways B) railroad C) sailboats D) aircraft
53. Although originally a German innovation, kindergarten gets its real start in the United States as a movement to provide an improved learning environment. A) an easy B) a playful C) an open D) a better
54. Medicine depends on other fields of knowledge for basic information, particularly in some of its specialized branches.
A) conventionally B) obviously C) especially D) inevitably 55. Professor Baker is a co-worker of professor Ayers. A) constituent B) confident C) contender D) colleague
Section B
Directions: In this section, there are 15 incomplete sentences. For each sentence there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the ONE that best completes the sentence. Mark your answer by blackening the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.
56. _____ the flood, the ship would have reached its destination.
A) In case of B) In spite of C) Because of D) But for 57. The excursion will give you an even deeper _____ into our language and culture. A) inquiry B) investigation C) input D) insight 58. The branches could hardly _____ the weight of the fruit.
A) retain B) sustain C) maintain D) remain 59. I can’t ______ what he was hinting.
A) figure out B) carry out C) look out D) come out
8
60. The Olympic Games can _____ its history back to 776 B.C.
A) chase B) follow C) track D) trace 61. Every society has its own peculiar customs and _____ of acting.
A) ways B) behavior C) attitudes D) means 62. She didn’t explain it clearly — _____, he didn’t understand.
A) constantly B) consequently C) consistently D) concretely
63. The magician picked several persons _____ from the audience and asked them to help him with the performace.
A) by accident B) on occasion C) at random D) on an average 64. It is known to us all that everything on earth is subjected ______ the laws of nature. A) of B) by C) to D) with
65. The school committee naturally hope that their choice of play will be ____ with the students and parents.
A) popular B) pleasing C) favorable D) content 66. A teacher should give attention to each _____ student in his class.
A) individual B) personal C) private D) intimate 67. The mail has been _____ for nearly a week because of the strike.
A) held up B) held on C) held out D) held back 68. I hate people who _____ the end of a film that you haven’t seen before.
A) rewrite B) reveal C) revise D) reverse
69. Being disabled by an accident is one of the most serious _____ that all drivers face. A) shortcomings B) hazards C) mistakes D) faults 70. Since the situatuion is changing, let’s take some _____ measures to deal with it. A) available B) considerable C) changeable D) flexible
Part IV Error Correction (10 points, 15 minutes)
(注意：该部分的内容印制在“试卷二”(题号71-80)上，要求直接在“试卷二”上作答)
Part V Writing (15 points, 30 minutes)
(注意：该部分的内容印制在“试卷二”上，要求直接在“试卷二”上作答)
9