1998年6月北京地区成人本学士学位英语试题及答案

1998年6月北京地区成人本学士学位英语统一考试试题

Part I Reading Comprehension

Passage 1 

Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage. 

Almost every family buys at least one copy of a newspaper every day. Some people subscribe (订阅) to as many as two or three newspapers. But why do people read newspapers? 

Five hundred years ago, news of important happenings —— battles lost and won, kings or rulers overthrown (推翻

Apart from supplying news from all over the world, newspapers give us a lot of other useful information. There are weather reports, radio, television and film guides, book reviews, stories and, of course, advertisements. The bigger ones are put in by large companies to bring attention to their products. They pay the newspapers thousands of dollars for the advertising space, but it is worth the money, for news of their products goes into almost every home in the country. For those who produce newspapers, advertisements are also very important. Money earned from advertisements makes it possible for them to sell their newspapers at a low price and still make a profit. 

Newspapers often have information on gardening, cooking and fashion as well as a small but very popular section on jokes and cartoons(漫画). 

1. The habit of reading newspapers is _________ 

A. uncommon in the world      B. not popular in U. S. A. 

C. widespread in the world      D. founded among a few families 

2. A few hundred years ago news did not ________  

A. receive attention            B. travel fast 

C. spread to other countries      D. take long to reach other countries 

3. In the past, news was ________ 

A. sent by telegraph            B. passed from one person to another  

C. sent by letter               D. sent by telephone 

4. The money spent on advertisements is 

A. wasted    B. not much   C. worthwhile   D. useless 

5. The section on jokes and cartoons is _________  

A. read only by children        B. of no value 

C. not helpful               D. read by many 

Passage 2 

Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage: 

Pepys and his wife had asked some friends to dinner on Sunday, September 2nd, 1666. They were up very late on the Saturday evening, getting everything ready for the next day, and while they were busy they saw the glow of a fire start in the sky. By 3 o’clock on the Sunday morning, its glow had become so bright that Jane woke her husband to watch it. Pepys slipped on his dressing—gown and went to the window to watch it. It seemed fairly far away, o after a time he went back to bed. When he got up in the morning, it looked, as though the fire was dying down, though he could still see some flames. So he set to work to tidy his room and put his things back where he wanted them. 

While he was doing this, Jane came in to say that she had heard the fire was a bad one; hundred houses had been burned down in the night and he fire was still burning. Pepys went out to see for himself. He went to the Tower of London and climbed up ‘on a high part of the buildings so that he could see what was happening. From there, Pepys could see that it was, indeed, a bad fire and that even the houses on London Bridge were burning. The man of the Tower told him that the fire had started in a baker’s shop in Pudding Lane; the baker’s house had caught fire from the over — heated oven and then the flames had quickly spread to the other houses in the narrow lane. So began the Great Fire of London, a fire that lasted nearly five days, destroyed most of the old city and ended, so it is said, at Pie Corner. 

6. What is the passage about? 

A. The Great Fire of London. 

B. Who was the first to discover the fire. 

C. What Pepys was doing during the fire. 

D. The losses caused by the fire. 

7. They were up very late because ________ 

A. it was Sunday morning            B. they were not very sleepy 

C. they were preparing for the dinner.   D. they saw the great fire start. 

8. What was Pepys doing when his wife told him about the fire? 

A. He was asleep.              B. He was writing something. 

C. He was putting things back.    D. He was looking out of the window. 

9: “Pepys slipped on his dressing gown. “ To slip on means 

A. to be wearing   B. to be pushing 

C. to take off      D. to put on 

10. Why did the flames spread quickly? 

A. The oven became very hot. 

B. The houses were close together. 

C. The baker did nothing to stop it. 

D. The baker’s house was burning quickly. 

Passage 3 

Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passages 

A new report of the United Nations shows that, if the present growth rate of 2 percent per year continues, today’s world population of 5. 1 will hit 6.4 billion by the year 2000. 

What’s more, the great part of the growth ——— 9 of every 10 p~ added to the earth’s population ——— will be in the poor and undeveloped countries. These are the nations where providing enough food for billions of people already is proving to be a headaching problem. 

By the year 2000,today’s “have not” nations will have a total population of 5 billion people, nearly four fifths of the world’s population. 

Food isn’t the only problem that such a population explosion presents. The more people there are and the worse their living conditions, the greater grow the possibility of all kinds of social problems. 

In 1830, world population reached 1 billion. It took only 100 more years to add another billion to world population just 30 more to add a third billion. And it took just 15 more years to reach the 4 billion mark in 1975. 

Actually, the world’s birth rate is falling. But so is death rate, as medical advances have made it possible for man to live longer than before. Such advances have also reduced baby death rate. Unless population growth is reduced, the world population may reach 12 billion in a century. Is the earth capable of providing a good life for so large a population? 

11. A population explosion will lead to _________. 

A. a lot of social problems         B. medical advances 

C. a decrease in food production     D. a worse life in every country 

12. It took _______year for world population to grow form 1 billion to 3 billion. 

A. 100   B. 115   C. 130   D. 145 

13. By the year 2000, today’s ____ nations will have a total population of 5 billion people, nearly four fifths of the world’s population. 

A. biggest   B. Asian   C. developing   D. developed 

14. ________, the world may have a population of 12 billion in a century. 

A. If man can live longer in the future 

B. If the science of medicine is developing fast enough 

C. If the population growth is not reduced 

D. If the earth is able to provide a good life for more people 

15. This passage tells us that _________ 

A. the United Nations thinks it possible to avoid a population explosion 

B. 5. 1 billion people are living in the undeveloped countries 

C. in advanced nations the population growth is being controlled 

D. the world’s population is increasing 

Passage 4 

Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage. 

A scientist who wants to predict the way in which consumers(消费者) will spend their money must study consumer behavior. He must obtain data both on the resources of consumers and on the motives that tend to encourage or discourage money spending. 

If an economist were asked which of three groups borrow most — — —people with rising incomes, Stable incomes, or decreasing incomes — — — he would probably answer, those with decreasing incomes. Actually years 1947— 1950,the answer was: people with rising incomes. People with decreasing incomes were next and people with stable incomes borrowed the least. This shows us that traditional assumptions(假设) about earning and spending are not always reliable. Another traditional assumption is that if people who have money expect prices to go up they will hasten to buy. If they expect prices to go down, they will postpone buying. But research surveys have shown that this is not always true. The expectations of price increases may not stimulate buying. One typical attitude was expresser by the wife of a mechanic in an interview at a time of rising prices. “In a few months,” she said, “we’ll have pay more for meat and milk; we’ll have less to spend on other things. “Her family had been planning to buy a new car but they postponed this purchase. Furthermore, the rise in prices that has already taken place may be disliked and buyer’s resistance may be produced. This is shown by the following typical comment: “I just don’t pay these prices; they are too high.” 

The investigations mentioned above were carried out in America; condition most helpful to spending appears to be price stability. If prices have been stable and people consider that they are reasonable, they are likely to buy. Thus, it appears that the common business policy of maintaining stable prices is based on a correct understanding of consumer psychology(心理学)。 

16. According to the passage, if one wants to predict the way spend their money, he should _______ 

A. rely on traditional assumptions about earning and spending 

B. try to encourage or discourage consumers to spend money 

C. carry out investigations on consumer behavior and get data on consumers incomes and money spending motives 

D. do researches in consumer psychology in a laboratory. 

17. According to paragraph 2, one traditional assumption is that people with ________ incomes borrow most. 

A. average        B. stable 

C. decreasing      D. rising 

18.According to paragraph 2, research surveys have proved that _________ 

A. price increases always stimulate people to hasten to buy things 

B. rising prices may make people put off their purchase of certain things 

C. women are more sensitive to the rising in prices than men 

D. the expectations of price increases often make buyers feel angry. 

19. From the results of the surveys, the writer of this article _________ 

A. concludes that the saving and spending patterns in Great Britain are better than those in America 

B. concludes that the consumers always expect prices to remain stable 

C. concludes that maintaining stable prices is a correct business policy 

D. does not draw any conclusion 

20. Which of the following statements is always TRUE according to the surveys mentioned in the passage? 

A. Consumers will put off buying things if they expect prices to decrease.  

B. Consumers will spend their money quickly if they expect prices to increase 

C. The price condition has an influence on consumer behavior  

D. Traditional assumptions about earning and spending are reliable.