2014年天津大学考博英语真题

2014 年天津大学考博英语真题 Part I. Listening Comprehension (10 %) Directions: In this section, you will hear 10 short conversations. At the end of each conversation, a question will be asked about what was said.Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A), B),C) and D), and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre. 1. A) He has proved to be a better reader than the woman. B) He has difficulty understanding the book. C) He cannot get access to the assigned book. D) He cannot finish his assignment before the deadline. 2. A) She will drive the man to the supermarket. B) The man should buy a car of his own. C) The man needn't go shopping every week. D) She can pick the man up at the grocery store. Part IV Banked Cloze (10 %) Directions: Fill in the blanks in the following passage by selecting suitable words from the Word Bank. You may not use any of the words more than once. You have seen a friend succeed. No doubt you feel joy at this.You love your friend,and maybe you even helped him accomplish his goal. ____1____, there is another feeling, a dark feeling, within you. You begin to wish that it was you who was enjoying success, and you begin to even dislike your friend. At first this envious feeling starts off like a tiny seed. But then, like a seed, it grows. It threatens to ____2____ you. Of course you feel bad about your feelings, as they have become a(n) ____3____ to your friendship. Still, there doesn't seem to be anything that you can do. Facing your friend invariably leads to more ____4____ between you. Avoiding him just seems to ____5____ the gulf between you. Instead of feeling ____6____ about your envy or hating your friend, you should take a different ____7___. Use your friend's success as a challenge. He has succeeded. This means that you can succeed as well. By thingking this way, you are ____8____ your feelings and redirecting them into a course of action that won't ruin your friendship. Remember that friendships can ____9_____ friendly competitiion. You cannot, however, maintain your friendship if you ____10____ envy. A) approach F) survive K) establish B) goal G) harnessing L) still C) tension H) widen M) guilty D) harbor I) overwhelm N) E) remain J) overtake O) handicap responsible Part III. Reading Comprehension (40%) Part A. Directions: In this part there are three passages followed by questions or unfinished statements, each with four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the correct answer. （1） Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage: A report consistently brought back by visitors to the US is how friendly, courteous and helpful most Americans were to them. To be fair, this observation is also frequently made of Canada and Canadians, and should best be considered North American. There are, of course, exceptions. Small- minded officials, rude waiters, and ill-mannered taxi drivers are hardly unknown in the US. Yet it is an observation made so frequently that it deserves comment. For a long period of time and in many parts of the country, a traveler was a welcome break in an otherwise dull existence. Dullness and loneliness were common problems of the families who generally lived distant from one another. Strangers and travelers were welcome sources of diversion, and brought news of the outside world. The harsh realities of the frontier also shaped this tradition of hospitality. Someone traveling alone, if hungry, injured, or ill, often had nowhere to turn except to the nearest cabin or settlement. It was not a matter of choice for the traveler or merely a charitable impulse on the part of the settlers. It reflected the harshness of daily life: if you didn’t take in the stranger and take care of him, there was no one else who would. And someday, remember, you might be in the same situation. Today there are many charitable organizations which specialize in helping the weary traveler. Yet, the old tradition of hospitality to strangers is still very strong in the US, especially in the smaller cities and towns away from the busy tourist trails. "I was just traveling through, got talking with this American, and pretty soon he invited me home for dinner—amazing." Such observations reported by visitors to the US are not uncommon, but are not always understood properly. The casual friendliness of many Americans should be interpreted neither as superficial nor as artificial, but as the result of a historically developed cultural tradition. As is true of any developed society, in America a complex set of cultural signals, assumptions, and conventions underlies all social interrelationships. And, of course, speaking a language does not necessarily mean that someone understands social and cultural patterns. Visitors who fail to "translate" cultural meanings properly often draw wrong conclusions. For example, when an American uses the word "friend", the cultural implications of the word may be quite different from those it has in the visitor’s language and culture. It takes more than a brief encounter on a bus to distinguish between courteous convention and individual interest. Yet, being friendly is a virtue that many Americans value highly and expect from both neighbors and strangers. 1、In the eyes of visitors from the outside world, ___________. A. rude taxi drivers are rarely seen in the US B) small-minded officials deserve a serious comment C) Canadians are not so friendly as their neighbors D. most Americans are ready to offer help 2、It could be inferred from the last paragraph that ___________. A) culture exercises an influence over social interrelationship B) courteous convention and individual interest are interrelated C) various virtues manifest themselves exclusively among friends D) social interrelationships equal the complex set of cultural conventions 3、Families in frontier settlements used to entertain strangers ___________. A) to improve their hard life B) in view of their long-distance travel C) to add some flavor to their own daily life D) out of a charitable impulse 4、The tradition of hospitality to strangers ___________. A) tends to be superficial and artificial B) is generally well kept up in the united States C) is always understood properly D) has something to do with the busy tourist trails 5、What’s the author’s attitudes toward the American’s friendliness? A) Favorable. B) Unfavorable. C) Indifferent. D) Neutral. Part B Directions: In the following article, some sentences have been removed. For Questions 1-5, choose the most suitable one from the list A-H to fit into each of the numbered gaps. There are three extra choices, which you do not need to use. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10%) From her vantage point she watched the main doors swing open and the first arrivals pour in. Those who had been at the head of the line paused momentarily on entry, looked around curiously, then quickly moved forward as others behind pressed in. Within moments the central public area of the big branch bank was filled with a chattering, noisy crowd. The building, relatively quiet less than a minute earlier, had become a Babel. Edwina saw a tall heavyset black man wave some dollar bills and declare loudly, "I want to put my money in the bank". 1. It seemed as if the report about everyone having come to open an account had been accurate after all. Edwina could see the big man leaning back expansively, still holding his dollar bills. His voice cut across the noise of other conversations and she heard him proclaim, "I'm in no hurry. There's something I'd like you to explain." Two other desks were quickly manned by other clerks. With equal speed, long wide lines of people formed in front of them. Normally, three members of staff were ample to handle new account business, but obviously were inadequate now. Edwina could see Tottenhoe on the far side of the bank and called him on the intercom. She instructed, "Use more desks for new account and take all the staff you can spare to man them." 2. Tottenhoe grumbled in reply, "You realize we can't possibly process all