2017年空军工程大学考博英语真题

2017年空军工程大学考博英语真题

Part I Vocabulary (40×0.5 points)

Directions: There are 40 multiple-choice questions in this section. Choose the word(s)/phrase(s) that is closest in meaning to the underlined word/phrase in each question OR that can best complete the sentence. Mark your answers on your answer sheet.

1. Natural selection is defined as the process ________ the course of evolution by preserving those traits best adapted for an organism’s survival.

A to which directs B of which directs it C directs it D that directs

2. Advocates of organic foods—a term whose meaning varies greatly—frequently proclaim that such products are safer and more nutritious than others.

A. proponents B. merchants C. inspectors D. consumers

3. There are numerous unsubstantiated reports that natural vitamins are superior to synthetic ones, that fertilized eggs are nutritionally superior to unfertilized eggs, that untreated grains are better than fumigated grains, and the like.

A. unbelievable B. uncontested C. unpopular D. unverified

4. In addition, there were performers and since considerable importance was attached to avoiding mistakes in the enactment of rites, religious leaders usually assumed that task.

A. establishment B. performance C. authorization D. season

5. It was she, a Baltimore printer, who published the first official copies of the Declaration, the first copies that included the names of its signers and therefore heralded the support of all thirteen colonies.

A. influenced B. announced C. ignored D. rejected

6. As early as 1782 the prolific Delaware inventor Oliver Evans had built a highly automated, laborsaving flour mill driven by water power.

A. efficient B. productive C. self-employed D. progressive

7. Small, both in format and number of pages, they were generally bound simply, in board (a form of cardboard) or merely stitched in paper wrappers (a sewn antecedent of modern-day paperbacks).

A. predecessor B format C. imitation D. component

8. By far, the most appealing publishing investments were to be found in small books that had proven to be steady sellers, providing a reasonably reliable source of income for the publisher.

A. dependable B. respectable C. enduring D. attractive

9. The answer appears to be that they were the first group of predatory eusocial insects that both lived and foraged primarily in the soil and in rotting vegetation on the ground.

A. decaying B. collected C. expanding D. cultivated

10. The most graphic proof that the grand spectacle of a comet develops from a relatively small and inconspicuous chunk of ice and dust was the close-up image obtained in 1986 by the European Giotto probe of the nucleus of Halley’s Comet.

A. mathematical B. popular C. unusual D. vivid

11. Staggering tasks confronted the people of the United States, North and South, when the Civil War ended. About a million and a half soldiers from both sides had to be demobilized, readjusted to civilian life, and reabsorbed by the devastated economy.

A. specialized B. confused C. various D. overwhelming

12. Making an efficient icebox was not as easy as we might now suppose. In the early 19th century, the knowledge of the physics of heat, which was essential to a science of refrigeration, was rudimentary.

A. growing B. undeveloped C. uninteresting D. necessary

13. One award subsidizes a promising American writer’s visit to Rome. There is even an award for a very good work of fiction that failed commercially—once won by the young John Updike for the Poorhouse Fair and more recently, by Alice Walker for In Love and Trouble.

A. assures B. finances C. publishes D. schedules

14. Committee membership rotates every year, so that new voices and opinions are constantly heard.

A. alternates B. participates C. meets D. decides

15. One important line of evidence comes from flaking patterns of stone cores used in tool making: implements flaked with a clockwise motion (indicating a right-handed toolmaker) can be distinguished from those flaked with a counter-clockwise rotation (indicating a left-handed toolmaker).

A. tools B. designs C. pieces D. examples

16. Plants are subject to attack and infection by a remarkable variety of symbiotic species and have evolved a diverse array of mechanisms designed to frustrate the potential colonists.

A. attractive to B. classified to C. strengthened to D. susceptible to

17. The external surface of plants, in addition to being covered by an epidermis and a waxy cuticle, often carry spiky hairs known as trichomes, which either prevent feeding by insects or may even puncture and kill insects larvae.

A. pierce B. pinch C. surround D. cover

18. Deeply philosophical historians such as Henry Adams lamented the role that the new frenzy for business was playing in eroding traditional values. A distrust of industry and business continued among writers throughout the rest of the 19th century and into the 20th.

A. analyzed B. explained C. complained about D. reflected on

19. The engine that became standard on western steamboats was of a different and novel design. It was the work primarily of an unsung hero of American industrial progress, Oliver Evans (1755-1819).

A. fictional B. innovative C. powerful D. intricate

20. The self-educated son of a Delaware farmer, Evans early became obsessed by the possibility of mechanized production and steam power. As early as 1802 he was using a stationary steam engine of high pressure design in his mill. Engines of this type were not unknown, but before Evans they were generally considered to be impractical and dangerous.

A. single B. fixed C. locomotive D. modified

21. In shallow western rivers the weight of vessel and engine was important; a heavy engine added to the problem of navigation.

A. fuel B. cargo C craft D. crew

22. The confusion and congestion of individual citizens looking for their letters was itself enough to discourage use of the mail. It is no wonder that, during the years of these cumbersome arrangements, private letter carrying and express businesses developed.

A. loathsome B. quarrelsome C. handsome D. burdensome

23. And in Sacramento an excavation at the site of a fashionable 19th century hotel revealed that garbage had been stashed in the building’s basement despite sanitation laws to the contrary.

A. city B. health C. housing D. trade

24. Although scientists can speculate about its nature, neither humans nor machines will ever be able to visit it.

A. worry B. hypothesize C. learn D. report

25. Farmers could get better prices for their crops if the alternative existed of sending them directly eastward to market, and merchants could sell larger quantities of their manufactured goods if these could be transported more directly and more economically to the west.

A. option B. transition C. authorization D. intention

26. The answer lay in a resource that unknowing Americans had trampled underfoot in their haste to cross the “Great American Desert” to reach lands that sometimes proved barren. In the eastern part of the United States, the preferred grass for forage was a cultivated grass.

A. lonely B. dangerous C. infertile D. uncomfortable

27. Whereas schooling has a certain predictability, education quite often produces surprises. A chance conversation with a stranger may lead a person to discover how little is known of other religions. People are engaged in conversation from infancy on.

A. unplanned B. lively C. lengthy D. unusual

28. In many instances the specimens are less than one-tenth of a millimeter in diameter. Although they were entombed in the rocks for hundreds of millions of years, many of the fossils consist of the organic remains of the organisms.

A. excavated B. crushed C. trapped D. produced

29. Citizens of prosperous, essentially middle-class Republics—whether ancient Romans, 17th century Dutch Burghers or 19th century Americans—have always shown a marked taste for portraiture.

A. pronounced B. fortunate C. understandable D. mysterious

30. And there were factories in occupations such as metalwork where individuals contractors presided over what were essentially handicraft proprietorships that coexisted within a single building.

A. led to B. worked in C. produced D. managed

31. Finally, there is safety in numbers at communal roosts since there will always be a few birds awake at any given moment to give the alarm. But this increased protection is partially counteracted by the fact that mass roosts attract predators and are especially vulnerable if they are on the ground.

A. suggested B. measured C. negated D. shielded

32. The icebox became a fixture in most homes and remained so until the mechanized refrigerator replaced it in the 1920s and 1930s. Almost everyone now had a more diversified diet.

A. luxury item B. commonplace object C. substance D. mechanized device

33. The primary reason was skepticism that a railroad built through so challenging and thinly settled a stretch of desert, mountain and semiarid plain could pay a profit.

A. doubt B. amazement C. urgency D. determination

34. However, the concept of number of the counting process developed so long before the time of recorded history (there is archaeological evidence that counting was employed by humans as far back as 50,000 years ago) that the manner of this development is largely conjectural.

A. unbelievable B. supported by careful research

C. based on guessing D. complex

35. Probably the earliest way of keeping a count was by some simple tally method, employing the principle of one-to-one correspondence. In keeping a count of sheep, for example, one finger per sheep could be turned under.

A. using B. hiring C. paying D. focusing

36. Colonial coppersmithing also came of age in the early 18th century and prospered in northern cities.

A. declined B. established itself

C. became less expensive D. was studied

37. A useful definition of an air pollutant is a compound added directly or indirectly by humans to the atmosphere in such quantities as to affect humans, animals, vegetation or materials adversely.

A. quickly B. considerably C. admittedly D. negatively

38. The result is an increased concentration of noxious chemicals in the air. The concentrations at which the adverse effects appear will be greater than the concentrations that the pollutants would have in the absence of human activities.

A. harmful B. noticeable C. weak D. extensive

39. Significantly, the use of exposed iron occurred mainly in the new building types spawned by the Industrial Revolution: in factories, warehouses, commercial offices, exhibition halls and railroad stations, where its practical advantages far outweighed its lack of status.

A. exposed B. created C. rejected D. maintained

40. The scientific investigation of an experience as private as consciousness is frustratingly beyond the usual tools of the experimental psychologist. This may be one reason that many researchers have shied away from the notion of mind and consciousness in nonhuman animals.

A. allowed B. avoided C. approached D. respected

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