作者：圣才电子书
出版社：圣才电子书
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西安外国语大学241英语二外历年考研真题及详解试读：
2005年西安外国语大学211英语二外考研真题
Part I. Structure and Vocabulary (20 points)
Section A
Directions: Beneath each of the following sentences, there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that best completes the sentence and write your answer on the answer sheet.
1．_____ at the meeting that everyone present was convinced.
A. So forcefully he speak
B. So forcefully was he spoken
C. So forcefully did he speak
D. So forcefully has he spoken
2．Helen probably _____ her rapid recovery, to her husband’s devoted care.
A. was owing
B. owned
C. owed
D. was owning
3．The young girl was chosen to ______ our school for a diving competition in Asia.
A. represent
B. recall
C. respect
D. resemble
4．Our society _____ on “making it” that we assume that any failure is bad.
A. takes so much emphasis
B. gets so much emphasis
C. stresses so much emphasis
D. places so much emphasis
5．The couple can _____ on their income at the moment, but they’ll need more money when their son goes to school.
A. get off
B. get by
C. get back
D. get about
6．The ozone layer ______ the earth from harmful radiation.
A. shades
B. shields
C. shadows
D. shapes
7．The boy took an apple and ______ it into quarters.
A. divided
B. decided
C. decreased
D. distributed
8．Having worked for five years, she is extremely well ______ for the job.
A. superior
B. satisfied
C. qualified
D. abundant
9．She rang up to _____ when her car would be ready.
A. inquire
B. require
C. acquire
D. expire
10．Barbara ______ a job-training program in the city to learn computer operation.
A. signed to
B. applied to
C. signed up for
D. made for
11．When she was in danger, she screamed and some passers-by came to her _____.
A. safe
B. way
C. mind
D. rescue
12．It is urgent that the police ______ informed about those strange phone calls.
A. will be
B. are
C. have to be
D. be
13．______ criticizing Alice for what she has done, the teacher praised her highly for it.
A. Thanks to
B. Instead of
C. Owing to
D. In spite of
14．Usually excellent work leads to frequent pay increase and _____.
A. progress
B. advance
C. promotion
D. lift
15．Attempts to swim across the English Channel have been made by over 3,700 people, but _____ have succeeded.
A. of whom only 298
B. of them only 298
C. only 298 of them
D. only 298 of whom
16．You should save your work often as a _____ against computer failure.
A. precaution
B. preparation
C. presentation
D. prescription
17．The boy _____ to be the descendant of the rich businessman.
A. clapped
B. claimed
C. decided
D. demanded
18．Reform is rather difficult, for it will face the _____ between tradition and innovation.
A. tissue
B. matter
C. solution
D. conflict
19．Seeing the children in the park _____ thoughts of her own sons on the other side of the Atlantic.
A. arose
B. prompted
C. encouraged
D. brought
20．They _____ bravely against repeated enemy bombing.
A. held down
B. held on
C. held up
D. held out
Part II. Cloze Test (15points)
Directions: For each numbered blank in the following passage, there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the best one and write your answer on the answer sheet.
Silas Minton’s funeral was a quiet affair. It was attended by the only relations he had in the world, his niece and nephew, and by a few friends. The priest who 1 over a hundred miles into this wild part of the county was now getting 2 for the simple ceremony. Minton, 3 ‘Minty’ as his friends used to call him, 4 a hard life 5 for gold in a lonely part of Western Australia. He had always refused to work in a gold mine 6 he believed that he could do better 7 his own. Although he was not a boastful(夸口的)person, he had often declared that one day he 8 find a lump(块) of gold as big as his head and 9 he would retire and live in 10 for the rest of his life. But his dreams of great wealth 11 came true. For many years he had hardly earned enough money to keep himself 12 .
Two men now gently lifted the rough wooden box that 13 Minty’s body, but they almost dropped it when they heard a loud cry from the grave-digger. His spade(铁鍬)had struck something hard in the rocky soil and he was shouting excitedly. Then he held up a large stone. 14 it was covered 15 dirt, the stone shone curiously in the fierce sun1ight: it was unmistakably a heavy piece of solid gold!
1．A. travelled
B. was travelling
C. had travelled
D. used to travel
2．A. ready
B. better
C. preparation
D. worse
3．A. and
B. but
C. or
D. except
4．A. leaded
B. had leaded
C. had led
D. led
5．A. look
B. looking
C. looked
D. had looked
6．A. because
B. so
C. even
D. only
7．A. to
B. in
C. on
D. for
8．A. would
B. must
C. ought to
D. for
9．A. since
B. which
C. when
D. with that
10．A. comfort
B. comforts
C. comfortable
D. comfortably
11．A. ever
B. never
C. always
D. once
12．A. live
B. life
C. lived
D. alive
13．A. contains
B. containing
C. contained
D. having contained
14．A. Though
B. For
C. Then
D. Because
15．A. in
B. with
C. within
D. below
Part III. Reading Comprehension (50 points)
Section A
Directions: Each of the passages below is followed by some questions. For each question there are four answers marked A, B, C, and D. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each of the questions. Write your answer on the answer sheet.
Questions 1 through 5 are based on the following passage.
Television can help us see the pattern of American life and understand the events that unite or divide us.
Consider an example of the deaths of the political leaders, including John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr and Robert Kennedy. These deaths caused a profound unification of the whole nation. Therefore the whole nation shared the experience of grief and shame. Television let us intensely and dramatically participate in these historical events. Through it we are joined with other people for a few electric moments.
But television can also divide us from each other. The dividing has occurred in confrontations between young and old, radicals and conservatives, police and students, blacks and whites, and hawks and doves. These confrontations have dramatized the feeling beneath the surface of society. They have shown Americans in conflicts which stem from our policy in southeast Asia and range to the busing of school children. Such events have provided an opportunity for bigots (抱偏见的人), who promote stereotyped thinking. And these confrontations have infected our social and emotional wounds.
So television does more than transmit movies, weather, sports and variety shows. It helps shape our feelings toward each other and ourselves, and some time unites us, and sometimes divides us.
1．Television can help us take part in _____.
A. Electric moments.
B. Historical events
C. Emotional wounds
D. Stereotyped thinking
2．Television can also make worse _____.
A. the social contradiction
B. the surface of society
C. conservative thinking
D. grief and shame
3．The confrontations are only welcomed by those who are _____.
A. infected by the social wounds
B. going to shape their feeling toward themselves
C. obstinately devoted to their own belief
D. providing the opportunity for thinking
4．Which of the following statements is true?
A. Some political leaders were once bigots.
B. Television sometimes transmits more movies than historical events.
C. Confrontations are the sigh of division.
D. Television often provides stereotyped thinking.
5．A suitable title for this passage would be _____.
A. Social Unity and Division
B. Television’s Conflicts
C. Unification and Confrontations
D. Television’s Social Influence
Questions 6 through 10 are based on the following passage.
Andrew Carnegie, American industrialist and philanthropist (慈善家), make a fortune by manufacturing iron and steel protected by custom tariff (关税). In 1873, on one of his frequent trips to England, he met Henry Bessemer and became convinced that the industrial future lay in steel. He built the J. Edgar Thomson Steel Mills near Pittsburgh, and from that moment on, the Carnegie empire was one of constant expansion. Later on, the Caregie Steel Co. became an immense organization. It included all the processes of steel production from the great furnaces and finishing mills of Pittsburgh to the inroads and lake steamers that move the ores and the finished products.
Like his grandfather, Andrew Caregie did not abandon the radical idealism of his forebears for the benefit of the working class and the poor people. In spite of his espousal (拥护) Herber Spencer’s philosophy and the social Darwinism of the period, Caregie remained deeply committed to many of the Charitist ideals of his boyhood. He believed in the social responsibility that fortune to provide greater opportunity for all and to increase man’s knowledge of himself and of his universe. Furthermore, Carnegie considers that the dispensation (分配) of wealth for the benefit of society must never be in the form of free charity but rather must be as a buttress (支柱) to the community’s responsibility for its own people.
When Carnegie died in 1919, most of his fortune was already gone. People wonder that if Caregie had known this when he was alive, he would have spread most of wealth to the poor people.
6．Carnegie was able to develop his vast industrial fortunes _____.
A. Because he was both an industrialist and a philanthropist
B. Because he obtained large loans from the American government for his steel mills
C. Because the American government had special tariffs to protect the American steel and iron industry
D. Because he had relatives in the English steel industry
7．Caregie followed his ancestor’s footsteps by _____.
A. Developing a large industrial company
B. Caring for and improving benefits for the workers and the poor
C. Furthering Spencer’s philosophy
D. Being a follower of social Darwinism
8．The industry Carnegie was not concerned with was _____.
A. the manufacturing of steel
B. the transporting of the finished product
C. the movement of raw materials
D. the lumber business
9．Carnegie’s trips to England _____.
A. Were purely for pleasure and visiting relatives
B. Introduced him to the Charitist ideals which would influence his life
C. Helped him gain steel contracts with the British industrialists
D. Led him to believe that the industrial future would be with steel
10．We can infer from the passage that as a philanthropist Carnegie was willing to give money to all of the following except ______.
A. a school
B. poor man
C. a hospital
D. a charity performance
Questions 11 through 15 are based on the following passage.
If you want to stay young, sit down and have a good think. This is the research findings of a team of Japanese doctors, who say that most of our brains are not getting enough exercise and as a result we are aging unnecessarily soon.
Professor Taiju Matsuzawa wanted to find out why otherwise healthy farmers in northern Japan appeared to be losing their ability to think and reason at a relatively early age and how the process of aging could be slowed down. With a team of colleagues at Tokyo National University, he set about measuring brain volumes of a thousand people of different ages and varying occupations.
Computer technology enabled the researchers to obtain exact measurement of the volume of the front and side sections of the brain, which are related to thinking and emotion contraction of these parts as cells die off. That was observed in some people in their thirties, but it was still not evident in some sixty-year-olds who mainly used brains in their profession.
11．The new findings show that people get old also because _____.
A. they do not use their brains enough
B. they do not have enough exercises
C. they do not have their health checked regularly
D. they do not have the right choice of food
12．The team of doctors wanted to find out _____.
A. why certain people are aging sooner than others
B. how to make people live longer
C. the size of certain people’s brains
D. which people are most intelligent
13．On what are their research findings based?
A. A survey of farmers in northern Japan.
B. Tests performed on a thousand old people.
C. The study of brain volumes of different people.
D. The latest development of computer technology.
14．The researcher’s tests show that _____.
A. our brains contract as we grow older
B. sixty-year-old have better brains than thirty-year-old
C. the front and side sections do not contract
D. some people’s brains have contracted more than other people’s
15．According to the passage, which group of people seems to age more slowly?
A. Farmers.
B. Lawyers.
C. Laborers.
D. Shop assistants.
Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage.
Current income for most consumers is their wages or salaries. This income is used to pay regular and day-to-day expenses such as rent, food, movies, gasoline, newspapers, haircuts, and so on. But suppose a person is faced with an unexpected expense too big to be paid out of current income, it may be an illness or costly household repairs. In Frank and Sandy Dexter’s case, the roof on their house had to be replaced. They did not have enough savings to cover the cost, so they borrowed the money needed. They then repaid the loan with small and regular payment out of their future income. By using credit, they avoided what might have been a serious hardship.
Credit also enables consumers to buy goods and services when they need them most. For example, when does a married couple most need a house? While their children are young and living at home. It would take most couples many years to save enough money to pay cash for a house. By then, their children would be grown, and the house would not be needed so much. In the meanwhile, they would have to continue paying rent out of current income. By using credit, a couple can buy a house and live in it while they pay for it. The money they would otherwise spend for rent could go to the payment.
What is true of houses is true of many goods that consumers buy today, such as appliances, automobiles, and furniture. By using credit, consumers can ‘buy now and pay later’ as the ads say. They have the use of the goods while for them. Today many high school graduates are using credit to pay for additional education. They will pay off their loan with money earned in the future from full-time jobs.
16．By using credit, people can _____.
A. pay regular and day-to-day expenses
B. avoid unnecessary payment
C. save money to cover future cost
D. pay an unexpected expense too big to be paid at the moment
17．A married couple most needs a house _____.
A. after they have spent years saving enough money to buy it in cash
B. when their children have grown up
C. when their children are still young and living at home
D. when they can rent it out of current income
18．“The money they would otherwise spend for rent could go to the payment” means _____.
A. they would rent the house
B. they had bought the house
C. they would not pay for the house
D. they could buy the house otherwise
19．With regard to credit, what do house have in common with good that consumers buy today?
A. Both can be bought on credit.
B. Neither can be used until the loan has been paid.
C. Both must be paid as soon as they are bought.
D. Both should be paid in cash.
20．What’s true of high school graduates today?
A. They can’t get additional education without money.
B. They can get additional education without payment.
C. They can have additional education when they have full-time jobs.
D. They can have additional education now and pay for it later.
Section B
Directions: Read the following passage carefully and fill in each blank with the most appropriate sentence given according to the passage.
From good reading we can derive pleasure, companionship, experience, and instruction. A good book may absorb our attention so completely that for the time being we forget our surroundings and even our identity. Reading good books is one of the greatest pleasures in life 1 Whatever may be our main purpose in reading, our contact with good books should never fail to give us enjoyment and satisfaction.
With a good book in our hands we need never be lonely 2 . In the pages of books we can walk with the wise and the good of all lands and all times. The people we meet in books may delight us either because they resemble human friends whom we hold dear or because they represent unfamiliar types whom we are glad to welcome as new acquaintances. Our human friends sometimes may bore us, but friends we make in books need never weary us with their company. By turning the pages we can dismiss them without any fear of hurting their feelings 3 .
One of the most valuable gifts bestowed by books is experience. Few of us can travel far from home or have a wide range of experiences, but all of us can lead varied lives through the pages of books. 4 To travel by book we need no bank account to pay for our way; no airship or ocean liner or streamlined train to transport us; no passport to enter the land of our heart’s desire. Through books we may get the thrill of hazardous adventure without danger. We can climb lofty mountains, brave the perils of an Antarctic winter, or cross the scorching sands of the desert, all without hardship. In books we may visit the studios of Hollywood; we may mingle with the gay throngs of the Paris boulevards; we may join the picturesque peasants in an Alpine village or the kindly natives on a South Sea island. 5 The possibilities of our literary experiences are almost unlimited. The beauties of nature, the enjoyment of music, the treasures of art, the triumphs of architecture, the marvels of engineering, are all open to the wonder and enjoyment of those who read.
A. Indeed, through books the whole world is ours for the asking.
B. whether the characters portrayed are taken from real life or are purely imaginary, they may become our companions and friends.
C. Whether we wish to escape from the seemingly dull realities of everyday life or whether we long to visit some far-off place, a book will help us when nothing else can.
D. when human friends desert us, good books are always ready to give us friendship, sympathy, and encouragement.
E. It increases our contentment when we are cheerful, and lessens our troubles when we are sad.
F. We forgot our surroundings and even our identity because we are alone and no one interrupts us.
Part IV. English-Chinese Translation (15 points)
Directions: Read the following passage carefully and then translate the underlined sentences into Chinese.
In the United States, advertising itself is a big business. 1. Millions of dollars are spent on television, radio and printed messages to prospective consumers. Advertising firms do “market research” for their clients, testing our various “pitches” in the quest for ones that are effective.
From the viewpoint of American consumers, advertising functions to inform them about available products and services, as well as to encourage them to buy 2. From the viewpoint of visitors from abroad, though, advertising serves as additional function, and it affords countless insights into American values, tastes and standards. From American advertising, foreign visitors can gain some understanding of these and other aspects of American society: American ideas about physical attractiveness in males and females, American ideas about hygiene, the emphasis Americans place on sex, speed and technical sophistication, the amount of faith Americans in arguments that include specific numbers, materialism in American society, male-female relationships, both pre-and post-marital, the attention Americans pay to the words of celebrities, the characteristics of people who, in Americans’ eyes, are considered “authorities”, whose ideas and recommendations are persuasive, and the sorts of things Americans find humorous.
3. By Comparing advertising they see in the States to what they have seen at home, foreign visitors can gain understanding not just of American society, but of their own as well.
Pricing
With few exceptions, Americans are accustomed to fixed prices on merchandise they buy and sell. The usual exceptions are houses, automobiles, and sometimes major appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines. Another exception is a private sale. Americans are not accustomed to bargaining over prices, and in fact usually feel quite uncomfortable with the idea.
4. Foreign visitors must realize that the price marked on an item does not include the sales tax that is added as part of the payment.
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