编号：

专业

班

学号：

姓名：

装

订

线

出题人：大学英语教研室

教研室负责人签字：

王志慧

系主任签字：

冯 梅

河北传媒学院

2013～2014学年第一学期期末考试

2013级本科A班《 大学英语 》试题A卷 共 6 页

Part I Writing （20 points）

Directions: For this part, you are allowed to write a short essay on the topic of My Dream Job. You should write at least 120 words following the outline given below:

1. 我梦想的工作是……

2. 为什么我有这样的梦想；

3. 为实现我的梦想我要……

Part Fast Reading （10 points）

Directions: In this part, you will go over two passages quickly and answer the questions on

Answer Sheet. For questions 1-10, choose the best answer from the four choices marked A),

B), C) and D).

Passage One:

Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage:

People over the age of 65 in the United States are called senior citizens. Most senior citizens retire or no longer work full time. Also it is unusual for people of this age to live with their children and grandchildren. For many senior citizens, the years after age of 65 are not enjoyable. They feel unproductive when they no longer work. Their lives lose meaning. In addition, they may feel lonely being away from their families. Moreover, they become more concerned about their health as they grow older. If they live in big cities, they often worry about their safety.

Other senior citizens enjoy their lives. They feel free to do things they were not able to do when they were working and raising families. They now have time to enjoy hobbies and sports and travel. They associate with their fellow senior citizens who have common interests and equal free time. Many senior citizens move to retirement communities located in warm climates. Some senior citizens continue to work beyond retirement age. Many find new careers and professional opportunities after they retire.

The number of the senior citizens in the United States is increasing rapidly because people are living longer than before. The average life span(寿命)for Americans is now more than 74 years. Because of their larger numbers and more active life styles, senior citizens are gaining social influence in the country both politically and economically. Their concerns are receiving a wider audience than ever before. The time may come when all Americans will look forward to becoming senior citizens.

1. Many senior citizens are not happy due to the following reasons EXCEPT________.

A. loneliness B. less money

C. poor health D. meaningless life

2. It’s implied in the first paragraph that________.

A. living in the country is safer for elder people than living in big

cities

B. people become senior citizens in the U.S at 65

C. most senior citizens live with their children

D. people retire at 65 in the U.S.

3. From Para. 2 we learn that________.

A. senior citizens’ life can be enjoyable

B. senior citizens enjoy their lives

C. senior citizens enjoy living in retirement communities

D. senior citizens enjoy working after retirement

4. It can be learned from the passage that senior citizens must _____ to

be happy.

A. have free time B. find fun in life

C. continue to work D. live with their children

5. According to the writer, in the future, senior citizens will be _______.

A. enjoying a longer life span B. a burden to the society

C. highly respected D. fewer in number

Passage Two:

编号：

专业

班

学号：

姓名：

装

订

线

出题人：大学英语教研室

教研室负责人签字：

王志慧

系主任签字：

冯 梅

Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage:

Sex years ago, Dr. Leslie Gordon found that her 21-month-old son, Sam, suffered from an extremely rare disease called progeria (早衰).

Gordon, an assistant professor in an American college of medicine, wanted to find out what caused her son’s condition and what she could do about it. But, at that time, no one knew the cause of the deadly disease. So she rounded up a team of experts. This team finally discovered the gene mutation that causes progeria and announced it on April 16.

Researchers found that this gene mutation causes the nucleus of all the body’s cells, except for those in the brain, to become unbalanced. The nucleus holds most of the cell’s genes and chromosomes(染色体).

“The nucleus is usually a nice, round structure,” said Gordon. “But with the disease, bubbles(水泡，气泡)form there. That most likely causes them to become unbalanced and lead to cell death.”

This discovery is a big step towards finding a cute for affected children. But it’s not the end of the story.

Every human being could benefit from this research. It provides a better understanding of what occurs in the bodies of aging people.

Aging is a condition that eventually affects everyone. And Gordon believes drug companies will be interested in her findings because everyone wants to fight old age.

Of course, she keeps her highest hopes for her son.

“I hope, I hope, I hope that we can help Sam,” she said.

“I live every day thinking we just need to do the best that we can. And we need to have hope. But this research is there for all the children.”

6. Gordon’s son caught progeria six years ago when________.

A. the disease frequently happened to children

B. the cause of the disease was unknown to people

C. much work had been done concerning the disease

D. some ways had been discovered to treat the disease

7. “Gene mutation” in the second paragraph refers to ________.

A. the change in the gene B. the bubble in the gene

C. the death of the gene D. the balance of the gene

8. Which of the following statements is the writer’s point in the passage?

A. Life is a mystery.

B. Nature is dangerous.

C. Science can help us live.

D. A child can cause a parent a lot of worries.

9. The research benefits everyone, because________.

A. it helps people fight aging

B. it prevents people from dying

C. drug companies can develop more quickly

D. progeria is attacking more and more people

10. The story of Gordon tells the following facts EXCEPT that______.

A. she is a great mother B. she is a devoted researcher

C. she is a qualified leader D. she is a chemistry professor

Part III Listening Comprehension （30 points）

Sections A：

Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations. At the end of each conversation, one 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 center.

11. A. She can do the job. B. She could call a friend.

C. She’s just switched off the light.

D. She’s already replaced the switch by herself.

12. A. They want to go downtown.

B. He wants to go to the park, but she doesn’t.

C. He doesn’t know where to park the car.

D. He wants to find out where the park is.

13. A. Company and customer. B. Repairman and customer.

C. Teacher and student’s parent. D. Wife and husband.

14. A. She didn’t like working in a company.

B. She disliked machines.

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姓名：

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出题人：大学英语教研室

教研室负责人签字：

王志慧

系主任签字：

冯 梅

C. She was not good at doing business.

D. She didn’t like accounting.

15. A. It was cleaned.

B. There was a large sale.

C. The employees had to work very late.

D. There was a robbery.

16. A. Salesman. B. A telephone repairman.

C. A plumber. D. An electrician.

17. A. He’s playing sports. B. He’s walking.

C. He’s driving. D. He’s fighting.

18. A. She didn’t feel well. B. She went dancing earlier.

C. She came down to go dancing. D. She got mad at the woman.

Sections B:

Directions: In this section, you will hear 4 short passages. After you hear a passage, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.

Passage One

Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.

19. When did Mark Twain write The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn?

A. In 1835 B. In 1847 C. In 1884 D. In 1886

20. How many languages has The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn been published?

A. thirty B. forty C. fifty D. sixty

21. What’s the meaning of “mark twain”?

A. It was a pilot’s name. B. It was a name of a river.

C. It was a measure for the depth of water.

D. It was the name of a steamboat on the Mississippi River.

Passage Two:

Questions 22 to 24 are based on the passage you have just heard.

22. The definition of the American Dream appeared in in a history book .

A. 1913 B. 1931 C. 1916 D. 1961

23. Who was the author of the book which first explained the definition of “American

Dream”?

A. Benjamin Franklin B. George Washington

C. Abraham Lincoln D. James Truslow Adams

24. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. Each individual may define the American Dream differently.

B. Many immigrants come to America to seek the American Dream.

C. The expression first appeared in the Book The Tragedy of

America.

D. The general idea is that a person in the United States has the

freedom to carry out his or her goals.

Passage Three

Questions 25 to 27 are based on the passage you have just heard.

25. Helen Keller was born , in a small town in .

A. July 17, 1818; southern Albama

B. June 27, 1880; northern Albama

C. June 17, 1818; southern Albama

D. July 27, 1880; northern Albama

26. What special meaning has the name Helen Keller had for many

people?

A. It represents hope. B. It represents a miracle.

C. It represents unfortunate. D. It represents misery.

27. Which of the following statements about Helen Keller is NOT true?

A. She could not see or hear. B. Her father was a captain.

C. Her mother was much younger than her father.

D. Helen Keller was her parents’ second child.

Passage Four

Questions 28 to 30 are based on the passage you have just heard.

28. Which kinds of animals also share some of the genes found in the

platypus?

A. Birds and amphibians. B. Amphibians and reptiles

C. Reptiles and birds. D. Reptiles and fish.

29. What do platypus’ webbed feet like?

A. duck B. chicken C. bird D. dog

编号：

专业

班

学号：

姓名：

装

订

线

出题人：大学英语教研室

教研室负责人签字：

王志慧

系主任签字：

冯 梅

30. Which of the following statements is NOT true about the platypus?

A. It is native to eastern Australia. B. It is endangered.

C. It has hair covering its body. D. It is an unusual-looking animal.

Sections C：

Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks with the exact words you have just heard. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.

When Bob Smith was invited to attend an international conference, he was 31 . The conference was to take 32 in Geneva and Bob thought that it would be a good opportunity to take his wife Susan on a short 33 . They decided that they would go to Paris for a week before Bob traveled on to Geneva for the conference. Susan would then return home.

Bob and Susan spent a nice week in Paris. They did a lot of 34 and at the end of the week, they were very 35 . Bob went with Susan to the airport and saw her on to a plane for London. While he was waiting for his plane to Geneva, a mist began to form. Finally his plane took off. 36 after the plane's take-off, Bob fell fast asleep.

Unfortunately, as the plane 37 towards Geneva, the mist changed into thick fog. It was impossible to land in Geneva because of the fog. When this news was given to the passengers, Bob was still having his sweet dream. He did not 38 up until the plane landed back in Paris.

Still very sleepy, he got out of the airport and 39 a taxi. He asked the driver to take him to the Geneva International Hotel. The surprised driver looked at him as if he were 40 . He asked, "Are you sure you want a taxi?" "Yes," Bob said, "I feel too tired to walk."

Part IV Reading Comprehension （25 points）

Section A

Directions: In this section, there are ten sentences with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank. Read the sentences through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet with a single line through the center. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

Questions 41 to 50 are based on the following sentences:

41. , the pilot survived the plane crash.

42. He indicated the of the Persian Gulf with a pen on the map.

43. Won’t you your decision to leave the club?

44. The war the trade between the two countries.

45. This is the painting, and the others are copies.

46. The witness that she had never seen Mr. Smith before.

47. China is rich in natural .

48. Beethoven didn’t himself though his hearing began to weaken when he was 29.

49. After a long journey, she felt and was eager to go back home.

50. Tom failed to his term paper on time, though he works very hard.

Section B

Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.

Passage One:

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage:

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出题人：大学英语教研室

教研室负责人签字：

王志慧

系主任签字：

冯 梅

While the cities of China have undergone modernization evident in the rising towers and bright lights that have awakened the sleeping country, the countryside remains largely the same.

Rectangular (长方形的) rows of rice fields litter the long lanes of water designed to provide the constant supply of water that is vital to producing the crop. The experience is not unlike driving through the American Midwest, only rice not corn dominates the landscape.

Four years ago, when I last took this trip, the roads were dust and telephone wires did not run parallel to the highway. Bare roads have been replaced by sleek, newly paved highways running from Shanghai to Nanking, to my smaller, home city, Wuhu. Unlike the changes I had heard of and expected in Shanghai, Wuhu was much more of a surprise. The small city where I was born had grown up as I have. There are large high-rise buildings, each ringed with smaller buildings around it, many of these apartment complexes. Little seemed familiar and I wonder what my grandparent’s flat built of brick and mortar had become.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised to find out that their home had been demolished and rebuilt as a six story apartment complex as well. Walking up to the second floor I saw my grandfather’s face peering out of the screen door. He began to smile as he saw me, and so did I. Their home is now no different from a western apartment. Equipped with the modern amenities of a gas stove, a toilet, a shower, this was indeed different from four years ago.

51. According to the author, dramatic changes took place in______.

A. cities but not countryside of China B. both cities and countryside of China

C. countryside but not in large cities D. everywhere

52. It can be inferred from the second paragraph that ______.

A. peasants lead similar life all over the world

B. Chinese irrigating system is more impressing than that in America

C. peasants in Midwest America raise more corns while Chinese peasants raise more rice

D. peasants in Midwest America raise more rice while Chinese peasants raise more corn

53. The author was traveling to Wuhu,______.

A. in order to take a stop during the trip from Shanghai to Nanking

B. in order to find some place similar to his hometown

C. in order to visit his grandparents

D. in order to find out changes in small cities

54. The author’s grandparents ______.

A. live in their house of brick and mortar

B. live in an apartment similar to westerners

C. led a totally westernized life

D. was poor as they always were

55. Which of the following is the best title for this passage?

A. Flash back to China B. From Shanghai to Nanking

C. Wuhu Today D. Back With My Grand Parents

Passage Two:

Questions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage:

Now let us look at how we read. When we read a printed text, our eyes move across a page in short, jerky movement. We recognize words usually when our eyes are still when they fixate. Each time they fixate, we see a group of words. This is known as the recognition span or the visual span. The length of time of which the eyes stop --- the duration of the fixation --- varies considerably from person to person. It also vaies within any one person according to his purpose in reading and his familiarity with the text. Furthermore, it can be affected by such factors as lighting and tiredness.

　　Unfortunately, in the past, many reading improvement courses have concentrated too much on how our eyes move across the printed page. As a result of this misleading emphasis on the purely visual aspects of reading, numerous exercises have been devised to train the eyes to see more words at one fixation. For instance, in some exercises, words are flashed on to a screen for, say, a tenth or a twentieth of a second. One of the exercises has required students to fix their eyes on some central point, taking in the words on either side. Such word patterns are often constructed in the shape of rather steep pyramids so the reader takes in more and more words at each successive fixation. All these exercises are very clever, but it’s one thing to improve a person’s ability to see words and quite another thing to improve his ability to read a text efficiently. Reading requires the ability to understand the

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姓名：

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出题人：大学英语教研室

教研室负责人签字：

王志慧

系主任签字：

冯 梅

relationship between words. Consequently, for these reasons, many experts have now begun to question the usefulness of eye training, especially since any approach which trains a person to read isolated words and phrases would seem unlikely to help him in reading a continuous text.

56. The time of the recognition span can be affected by the following facts except ______.

A. one’s familiarity with the text

　 B. one’s purpose in reading

　 C. the length of a group of words

　 D. lighting and tiredness

57. The author may believe that reading ______.

　 A. requires a reader to take in more words at each fixation

　 B. requires a reader to see words more quickly

　 C. demands a deeply-participating mind

　 D. demands more mind than eyes

58. What does the author mean by saying “but it’s one thing to improve a person’s ability to

see words and quite another thing to improve his ability to read a text efficiently.” in the

second paragraph?

A. The ability to see words is not needed when an efficient reading is conducted.

B. The reading exercises mentioned can’t help to improve both the ability to see and to

comprehend words.

C. The reading exercises mentioned can’t help to improve an efficient reading.

D. The reading exercises mentioned has done a great job to improve one’s ability to see

words.

59. Which of the following is NOT true?

　 A. The visual span is a word or a group of words we see each time.

　 B. Many experts began to question the efficiency of eye training.

　 C. The emphasis on the purely visual aspects is misleading.

　 D. The eye training will help readers in reading a continuous text.

60. The tune of the author in writing this article is ______.

　 A. critical B. neutral C. pessimistic D. optimistic

Part V Translation （15 points）

Directions: Complete the sentences by translating the Chinese given in the brackets into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet .

61. Would you please ________________（详细地说明一下主题）?

62. The policeman described it as the bloodiest murder ever and said

that _______________________(其残忍的程度令人难以置信)

63. The man _______________________（挣扎着从泥泞中爬起来）

and ran away.

64. ________________________（看着瀑布在你面前飞流直下）,

you will be amazed by the awesomeness of nature.

65. A working party has been set up to (调查该问题).

2013-2014-1,2013级本科A班A卷