北京大学2010年考博英语真题

Part Two Structure and Written Expression （20%）

Directions: For each question decide which of the four choices given will most suitably complete the sentence if inserted at the place marked. Mark your choices on the ANSWER SHEET.

XI. Only when faced with overwhelming evidence of being treated differently than the men who surrounded me ，briefly, with the notion that I was different in gender-related ways from my male colleagues.

A. that I dealt B. I dealt C. then I dealt D. did I deal

12. only one moving soul in the center of all the orbits that is the sun which drives the planets the more vigorously the closer the planet is.

A. As exists B. Although existing C. There exists D. Where existing

13. The fact is that motherhood makes the heaviest demands in the areas of least experience.

A. that it might be called B. what might be called

C. which might be called D. it might be called

14. sermons retained their preeminence in religious life during most of the twentieth century, they are gradually losing that central places as churches devote more energy to social activities.

A. As B. For C. While D. Although

15. As a result, the mission of the school, along with the culture of the classroom， •

A. was slowly to change B. are slowly changed C. is slowly changing D. have slowly changed

16. These early clocks, operated by weights, were not particularly accurate, and it was not until the sixteenth century .

A. any great reliability attained it B. then attained any great reliability

C. that any great reliability was attained D. when any great reliability attained

17. I was supposed to go to a concert with your sister the other night, but your sister didn’t turn up. I can’t believe I have been .

A. given up B. stood up C. left up D. taken up

18. In time，the woman was persuaded to try this new form of discipline and to a failure to go to time out by the withdrawal of some privilege.

A. back off B. back up C. back down D. back with

19. The government will prosecute those individuals who unlawfully possess material.

A. classified B. bizarre C. personal D. legitimate

20. The structure of the global economy that developing nations put all their efforts into raising cash — usually by exporting whatever virgin resources the industrial world might desire.

A. dictates B. regulates C. allows D. appeals

21. U. S. Secretary of State Rice a three-day trip to the Middle East with an agreement from Israeli and Palestinian leaders to hold meetings every two weeks.

A. ended up B. wrapped up C. rounded up D. summed up

22. Some readers, especially children, find his works among the most books they ever read.

A. captivating B. captivated C. capturable D. captious

23. He never felt that being disabled him of all moral responsibility to himself and his community.

A. released B. relieved C. removed D. relied

24. A , he was probably one of the most realistic writers of his day.

A. self-confessing romantic B. self-confessed romance

C. self-confessing romance D. self-confessed romantic

25. When he was in junior high at fourteen, his intelligence was such that he among undergraduates than among schoolboys.

A. would fit better in B. would have fitted in better

C. fitted better in D. would have fitted better

26. The manuscripts are still able to tell a lot about the author who charmed the world with his works several hundred years ago.

A. extended B. intent C. extant D. distant

27. It was to watch her condition deteriorate day by day.

A. sympathetic B. pathetic C. empathic D. pathic

28. All the mountains are stunningly beautiful, and there are valleys and the smell of peat from every cottage.

A. wooden B. wooded C. wooding D. woods

29. She wore long, heavy dresses, clothes that allowed movement.

A. minimum of B. the minimum C. her minimum of D. a minimum of

30. Hip replacement surgery is joint replacement surgery in the U. S.

A. the single most frequent B. the most single frequent

C. the single frequent D. a single frequent

Part Three Cloze Test （10%）

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and choose ONE best word for each numbered blank. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET.

The strangest weather of last year was possibly not on Earth, but on the Sun. Every 11 years 31 the Sun goes through a cycle of sunspots ——actually magnetic storms erupting across its surface. The number of sunspots 32 its minimum in 2007 and 33 have increased soon afterwards, but the Sun has remained strangely quiet since then. Scientists have been baffled as weeks and sometimes months have gone by without a single sunspot, in 34 is thought to be the deepest solar minimum for almost 100 years.

This 35 of solar activity means that cosmic rays reaching Earth from space have increased and the planet’s ionosphere in the upper atmosphere has sunk in 36 ，giving less drag on satellites and making collisions between them and space junk more likely. The solar minimum could also be cooling the climate on Earth because of slightly diminished solar irradiance. In fact, the quiet spell on the Sun may be 37 some of the wanning effects of greenhouse gases, accounts for the somewhat flat temperature trend of the past decade. But 38 if this solar minimum is offsetting global warming, scientists stress that the overall effect is relatively slight and certainly will not last. The Sun has gone into long quiet spells before. From 1645 to 1715 few sunspots were seen during a period called the Little Ice Age，when short summers and savage winters often plagued Northern Europe. Scotland was hit particularly 39 as harvests were ruined in cold, miserable summers, which led to famine, death, migration and huge depopulation. But whether the quiet Sun was entirely to blame for it remains highly 40 •

31. A. and so B. or so C. on so D. so on

32. A. increased B. got C. reduced D. reached

33. A. should B. could C. would D. might

34. A. which B. that C. what D. how

35. A. much B. lack C. number D. amount

36. A. high B. height C. altitude D. space

37. A. making B. causing C. decreasing D. masking

38. A. even B. what C. in case D. still

39. A. hard B. severe C. harsh D. heavy

40. A. certain B. unlikely C. likely D. uncertain

Part Four Reading Comprehension （20%）

I. Directions: Each of the following three passages is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each question or unfinished statement, four answers are given. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each question. Mark your choices on the ANSWER SHEET.(15%)

Passage One

Parkinson’s disease, first described in the early 1800s by British physician James Parkinson as shaking palsy”，is among the most prevalent neurological disorders. According to the United Nations, at least four million people worldwide have it; in North America, estimates run from 500, 000 to one million, with about 500, 000 diagnosed every year. These figures are expected to double by 2040 as the world’s elderly population grows ; indeed, Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative illnesses common in the elderly ( such as Alzheimer’s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) are on their way to overtaking cancer as a leading cause of death. But the disease is not entirely one of the aged: 50 percent of patients acquire it after age 60; the other half are affected before then. Furthermore, better diagnosis has made experts increasingly aware that the disorder can attack those younger than 40.

So far researchers and clinicians have found no way to slow, stop or prevent Parkinson’s. Although treatments do exist — including drugs and deep-brain stimulation — these therapies alleviate symptoms, not causes. In recent years, however, several promising developments have occurred. In particular, investigators who study the role proteins play have linked miscreant proteins to genetic underpinnings of the disease. Such findings are feeding optimism that fresh angles of attack can be identified.

As its 19th-century name suggests — and as many people know from the educational efforts of prominent Parkinson’s sufferers such as Janet Reno, Muhammad Ali and Michael J. Fox —- the disease is characterized by movement disorders. Tremor in the hands, arms and elsewhere, limb rigidity, slowness of movement, and impaired balance and coordination are among the disease’s hallmarks. In addition, some patients have trouble walking, talking, sleeping, urinating and performing sexually. These impairments result from neurons dying. Although the victim cells are many and found throughout the brain, those producing the neurotransmitter dopamine in a region called the substantia nigra are particularly hard-hit. These dopaminergic nerve cells are key components of the basal ganglia, a complex circuit deep within the brain that fine-tunes and co-ordinates movement. Initially the brain can function normally as it loses dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, even though it cannot replace the dead cells. But when half or more of these specialized cells disappear, the brain can no longer cover for them. The deficit then produces the same effect that losing air traffic control does at a major airport. Delays, false starts, cancellations and, ultimately, chaos pervade as parts of the brain involved in motor control — the thalamus, basal ganglia and cerebral cortex — no longer function as an integrated and orchestrated unit.

41. Which of the following statements about Parkinson’s disease can be best supported by the passage?

A. Parkinson’s disease will become one of the leading causes of death for the old people.

B. Parkinson’s disease is not entirely one of the aged, as half of the patients are young people.

C. Parkinson’s disease first appeared in the 19th century.

D. Parkinson’s disease is a neurological disorder, but not yet a neurodegenerative illness.

42. The author of the passage suggests that the developments in the study of Parkinson’s disease can help .

A. prevent Parkinson’s B. alleviate the causes of Parkinson’s

C. find new avenues for treatment of Parkinson’s D. cure Parkinson’s

43. According to the passage, what causes Parkinson’s disease?

A. The dopaminergic nerve cells are impaired by the victim cells.

B. The dopaminergic nerve cells can no longer co-ordinate movement.

C. There are tumors in the brain.

D. There are not enough dopaminergic neurons in the brain.

44. Janet Reno and Michael J. Fox are mentioned in the passage because .

A. they were experts on Parkinson’s disease

B. they made great efforts to fight Parkinson’s disease

C. they succeeded in fighting Parkinson’s disease

D. they were well-known sufferers of Parkinson’s disease

45. The primary purpose of this passage is to .

A. analyze what causes Parkinson’s disease

B. demonstrate how to prevent Parkinson’s disease

C. warn the young people of the danger of Parkinson’s disease

D. present new movements in the study of Parkinson’s disease

Passage Two

Yet these global trends hide starkly different national and regional stories. Vittorio Colao, the boss of Vodafone, which operates or partially owns networks in 31 countries, argues that the farther south you go, the more people use their phones, even past the equator: where life is less organized, people need a tool, for example to rejig appointments. “Culture influences the lifestyle, and the lifestyle influences the way we communicate,he says. “If you don’t leave your phone on in a meeting in Italy, you are likely to miss the next one. ”

Other mundane factors also affect how phones are used. For instance, in countries where many people have holiday homes they are more likely to give out a mobile number, which then becomes the default where they can be reached, thus undermining the use of fixed-line phones. Technologies are always “both constructive and constructed by historical, social, and culture contexts,” writes Mizuko Ito, an anthropologist at the University of California in Irvine, who has co-edited a book on Japan’s mobile-phone subculture.

Indeed, Japan is a good example of how such subcultures come about. In the 1990s Americans and Scandinavians were early adopters of mobile phones. But in the next decade Japan was widely seen as the model for the mobile future, given its early embrace of the mobile Internet. For some time Wired, a magazine for technology lovers, ran a column called “Japanese Schoolgirl Watch”，serving readers with a stream of mobile oddities. The implication was that what Japanese schoolgirls did one day, everyone else would do the next.

The country’s mobile boom was arguably encouraged by underlying social conditions. Most teenagers had long used pagers to keep in touch. In 1999 NTT, Japan’s dominant operator, launched i-mode, a platform for mobile-internet services. It allowed cheap e-mails between networks and the Japanese promptly signed up in droves for mobile internet. Ms Ito also points out that Japan is a crowded place with lots of rules. Harried teenagers, in particular, have few chances for private conversations and talking on the phone in public is frowned upon, if not outlawed. Hence the appeal of mobile data services.

The best way to grasp Japan’s mobile culture is to take a crowded commuter train. There are plenty of signs advising you not to use your phone. Every few minutes announcements are made to the same effect. If you do take a call, you risk more than disapproving gazes. Passengers may appeal to a guard who will quietly but firmly explain: dame desu? — it’s not allowed. Some studies suggest that talking on a mobile phone on a train is seen as worse than in a theatre. Instead, hushed passengers type away on their handsets or read mobile-phone novels (written Japanese allows more information to be displayed on a small screen than languages that use the Roman alphabet).

46. According to the passage, an Italian would leave his phone on in a meeting for which of the following reason?

A. He is afraid of missing a business opportunity.

B. His family members may call him in emergency.

C. He thinks it is rude to leave a call unanswered.

D. He needs to get posted about the latest change in the work schedule.

47. Which of the following statements is best supported by the passage?

A. How we use our phones reflect where we live.

B. Technologies determine the way we communicate.

C. Culture influences the development of technologies.

D. Social conditions dictate the mobile future.

48. The author suggests that Japan leads the world in the mobile-phone culture in that .

A. the Japanese are the earliest mobile phone users

B. the Japanese are the chattiest mobile phone users

C. the Japanese use mobile Internet early on

D. Japan provides the best mobile phone services

49. It can be inferred from the passage that the Japanese teenagers are fond of the mobile data services because •

A. they like to play electronic games

B. they like to talk to their friends on the phone

C. they can read novels on the phone

D. they can communicate with their friends more conveniently

50. Which of the following is the most appropriate title for the passage, based on its content?

A. The Japanese Phone Culture. 

B. Culture and Technology.

C. All Alike, All Different. 

D. Handy, If You Are Thrifty.

Passage Three

Today’s recyclers can now conceivably lay claim to a rich, bloody, brawny heritage, if a new Viking discovery is any indication. The famed Norse warriors, many of whom settled parts of eastern and northern England in the Middle Ages, recycled as they fought, new excavations in the United

Kingdom suggest. An 11th-century metalworking site recently discovered in the city of York is likely evidence of a makeshift recycling center, where Vikings took weapons for reprocessing after battle, according to historian Charles Jones, organizer of the Fulford Battlefield Society, which advocates preserving the battle site against potential development.

Jones and his team have found hundreds of pieces of ironwork — including axes, sword parts, and arrowheads 一 along with lumps of melted-down iron and the remains of smelting pits. “ We found several smithing hearth bottoms，一 the remains of the molten metal which dribbles down during the reprocessing of the weaponry ironwork,n he told the York Press. “The iron finds support the idea that metal was gathered and recycled in the area just behind where the fighting took place, ” Jones said. The artifacts are currently undergoing X-ray analysis at the University of York. The university’s Soren Sindbaek said the tests should reveal whether the corroded items were forged using Norse ironwork,

which involved using distinctive alloys of soft iron and hard steel. “ The Vikings were very skillful metalworkers,” said archaeologist Sindbaek. “Their weaponry is famous for the way iron is treated. Any metal was a precious material that would be recycled，” he said. “ Whoever won a fight in this period would collect what was left on the battlefield. ”

Though he knows of no other battlefield examples of Viking recycling，evidence of reuse of metal and other materials has been found at other Viking sites, Sindbaek said. Recent excavations in York, which was captured and settled by the Scandinavian seafarers in 866，for instance, show that Vikings recycled boats for building material for houses and even sidewalks. Jones believes Vikings forces worked on the metal in 1066 after defeating English warriors at the Battle of Fulford, a village long since subsumed by the expanded city of York. The historian’s team believes the Vikings were forced to abandon their recycling work five days later by a second English attack, the Battle of Stamford Bridge, led by England’s King Harold II. The Viking leader in the battle, King Harold III of Norway, was killed and his forces routed. The English king lost his own life the

following month, when his war-weary troops were defeated at the Battle of Hastings by William, Duke of Normandy, who became the new English king.

Project leader Jones, author of The Forgotten Battle of 1066: Fulford, is an amateur historian, and many of the artifacts were uncovered not during professional archaeological excavations but by metal-detector enthusiasts. But that “doesn’t at all devalue” the discovery, said archaeologist Allan Hall of the University of York. The Fulford Battlefield Society is “ working in close co-operation with the archaeological establishment，” Hall said. “Archaeology has a long tradition of amateurs taking part. ”

51. What is said about today’s recyclers at the beginning of this passage?

A. They recycle things that are discovered at the Viking settlements.

B. They are as rich, bloody and brawny as their Viking ancestors.

C. They may have inherited the recycling tradition from the Vikings.

D. They recycle the same things that the Vikings recycled.

52. Which of the following is true about the 11th-century metalworking site recently discovered in the city of York?

A. It was an ironwork recycling center far away from the battlefield.

B. Weapons and other utensils were reprocessed here by the Vikings.

C. Evidence shows that the weapons recycled here were left by the enemy in the battle.

D. The pieces of ironwork found in this site are being analyzed in order to know what exactly they were made' of.

53. What had archaeologists known about Viking recycling before the weapon recycling center was discovered?

A. The Vikings recycled metal and other materials for daily use.

B. The Vikings only recycled metals because they were precious.

C. The Vikings were the only people at that time who used alloys in reprocessing weapons.

D. Recycling centers were usually found behind the battlefields.

54. What is special about the village of Fulford?

A. It is near the city of York but was not included in the city in history.

B. A battle took place here in 1066 after which the Viking recycling center was built to reprocess weapons.

C. The Vikings defeated the English army twice here in the year 1066.

D. It was the location of the battle between King Harold II and Duke of Normandy.

55. What do we know about the Fulford Battlefield Society?

A. It is an organization of professional and amateur historians.

B. It strives for preserving the Viking recycling site against potential development.

C. It assisted professional archaeologists in the excavation of the Viking recycling center.

D. It is an amateur organization cooperating closely with professional archaeologists.

II. Directions: Read the following passage carefully and then explain in your own English the exact meaning of the numbered and underlined parts. Put your answers on the ANSWER SHEET (2).（70%）

(56) A study presented last week at the American Heart Association meeting suggests that mental relaxation produced by meditation may have physiological benefits, at least in the case of people with established coronary artery disease. Researchers followed about 200 high-risk patients for an average of five years. Among the 100 who meditated, there were 20 heart attacks, strokes and deaths ; in the comparison group, there were 32. (57) The meditators tended to remain disease-free longer and also reduced their blood pressure. “ We found reduced blood pressure that was significant 一 that was probably one important mediator，” said Dr. Robert Schneider, director of the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention in Fairfield, Iowa, who presented the findings. The study was conducted at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, in collaboration with the institute. Dr. Schneider suggested that (58) the stress reduction produced by the meditation could cause changes in the brain that cut stress hormones and decelerate the processes associated with atherosclerosis (动脉硬化).

Part Five Proofreading (10%)

Directions: In the fallowing passage, there are altogether 10 mistakes, ONE in each numbered and underlined part. You may have to change a word, add a word, or just delete a word. If you change a word, cross it with a slash (/) and write the correct word beside it. If you add a word，write the missing word between the words ( in brackets ) immediately before and after it. If you delete a word, cross it out with a slash (/). Put your answer on the ANSWER SHEET (2).

Examples:

eg. 1 (59) The meeting begun 2 hours ago.

Correction put on the ANSWER SHEET (2): (59) begun began

eg. 2 (60) Scarcely they settled themselves in their seats in the theatre when the curtain went up.

Correction put on the ANSWER SHEET (2): (60) (Scarcely) had (they)

eg. 3 (61) Never will I not do it again.

Correction put on the ANSWER SHEET (2): (61)^to^

(59) Three Google executives were convicted Wednesday of violating Italian privacy laws in a ruling that the company denounced as an “astonishing” attack at freedom of expression on the Internet.

(60) The case involves online videos showing an autistic boy being bullied with classmates in Turin，which were posted in 2006 on Google Video, an online video-sharing service that Google ran before its acquisition of You Tube.

(61) Prosecutors charged that the videos violated Italian personal private protections.

(62) They said the clips were moved only after complaints from Vivi Down, an Italian organization representing people with Down syndrome，whose name was mentioned in the videos.

(63) “We are definitely satisfied that someone has to take responsibility for this violating of privacy，，’ said Fuido Camera, a lawyer for Vivi Down.

(64) Google said it planned to appeal，warned that the verdicts raised serious questions about the viability of user-generated content platforms like You Tube in Italy and potentially elsewhere in Europe.

(65) “If company employee like me can be held criminally liable for any video on a hosting platform，

(66) when they had absolute nothing to do with the video in question，

(67) then our liability is limited，"said one of the three executives. Peter Fleischer，Google’s chief privacy counsel.

(68) “The decision today therefore raises broader questions as the continued operation of many Internet platforms that are the essential foundations of freedom of expression in the digital age，"he said in a statement. Video-sharing services like Google Video and YouTube generally rely on users to notify them of potentially problematic content, which is then taken down if it violates the terms of service.

Part Six Writing (15%)

Directions: Read the following paragraph and then write a response paper of about 250 to 300 words. Write it nearly on the ANSWER SHEET (2).

High-speed rail (HSR) develops at a high speed in China. Many people, however, prefer slow trains to HSR because of the high ticket price of the latter. In many cases, even airfare is not much higher than HSR fares. As the construction of HSR is still gathering momentum in China, where do you think lies its competitiveness？

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