学位英语 考前训练

考前训练
Part I Writing
Directions: For this part, you will write a short passage entitled How will AI Affect our Life? You
should write at least 120 words following the outline given below.

1. 随着科技的进步，人工智能技术得到广泛应用；
2. 人们对人工智能技术有不同的看法；
3. 我对人工智能技术的看法。
   Part II Listening Comprehension
   Section A: Short Conversations
4. A. The woman is now working in a kindergarten.
   B. The man will soon start a business of his own.
   C. The man would like to be a high school teacher.
   D. The woman is going to major in child education.
5. A. The furniture has to be rearranged. B. The sound equipment has to be set up.
   C. The conference room has to be cleaned. D. The video machine has to be checked.
6. A. She is exhausted. B. She is near-sighted.
   C. She cannot finish work in time. D. She cannot go straight home.
7. A. The woman is too particular about food. B. He would rather have a meal an hour later.
   C. The woman should order her food quickly. D. He usually prefers ice-cream to sandwiches.
8. A. He is not a good mechanic. B. He doesn’t keep his promises.
   C. He spends his spare time doing repairs. D. He is always ready to offer help to others.
9. A. Sam has a big family to support.
   B. Sam is not interested in traveling.
   C. The pay offer by the travel agency is too low.
   D. The work hours in the travel agency are too long.
10. A. International trade. B. Product development.
    C. Financial consulting. D. Domestic retailing.
11. A. Go on a business trip. B. Look for a job in Miami.
    C. Make a ticket reservation. D. Take a vacation.
    Section B: Short Passages
    Passage 1
12. A. She had a desire to help others. B. She wanted to find out more about it.
    C. She needed some overseas experience. D. She was interested in farming.
13. A. Carry out a cultural exchange program. B. Work on an agricultural project.
    C. Learn Portuguese. D. Teach English.
14. A. She found it difficult to secure a job in her own country.
    B. She wanted to renew her contact with the Peace Corps.
    C. She was invited to work as an English teacher.
    D. She could not get the country out of her mind.
15. A. By teaching additional English classes. B. By writing stories for American newspapers.
    C. By working part time for the Peace Corps. D. By doing odd jobs for local institutions.
    Passage 2
16. A. Time spent exercising. B. Time spent working.
    C. Time spent on leisure activities. D. Time spent with friends and family.
17. A. Reading. B. Surfing the Web. C. Eating out. D. Watching TV.
18. A. Driving. B. Gardening. C. Going to the pub. D. Visiting friends.
    Passage 3
19. A. The car driver was trying to avoid hitting a rabbit…
    B. The car driver was partly responsible for the accident.
    C. McLaughlin was talking to his manager while driving.
    D. McLaughlin’s carelessness resulted in the collision.
20. A. He crashed into a car parked there. B. He knocked down several mailboxes.
    C. He tore down the company’s main gate. D. He did serious damage to a loaded truck.
21. A. He will lose his job. B. He will have to pay damages.
    C. He will be fined heavily. D. He will receive retraining.
    Part IV Reading Comprehension
    Section A
    Should Sugar Be Regulated like Alcohol and Tobacco?
    A) Sugar poses enough health risks that it should be considered a controlled substance just like alcohol and
    tobacco, argue a team of researchers from the University of California, San Francisco(UCSF). In an
    opinion piece called “The Toxic（毒性的）Truth About Sugar” published Feb. 1 in Nature, Robert Lustig,
    Laura Schmidt and Claire Brindis argue that it’s wrong to consider sugar just “empty calories.”They write:
    “There is nothing empty about these calories. A growing body of scientific evidence is showing that
    fructose（果糖）can trigger processes that lead to liver toxicity and a host of other chronic diseases. A
    little is not a problem, but a lot kills-slowly.”
    B) Almost everyone’s heard of–or personally experienced–the well-known sugar high, so perhaps the
    comparison between sugar and alcohol or tobacco shouldn’t come as a surprise. But it’s doubtful that
    Americans will look favorably upon regulating their favorite vice. We’re a nation that’s sweet on sugar:
    the average US adult downs 22 teaspoons of sugar a day, according to the American Heart Association,
    and surveys have found that teens swallow 34 teaspoons.
    C) To counter our consumption, the authors advocate taxing sugary foods and controlling sales to kids under
22. Already, 17% of US children and teens are obese（肥胖的）, and across the world the sugar intake
    （摄人）has increased three times in the past 50 years. The increase has helped create a global obesity
    plague that contributes to 35 million annual deaths worldwide from noninfectious diseases including
    cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Linda Matzigkeit, a senior vice president at Children’s Healthcare, said
    “We have to do something about this or our country is in danger. It’s not good if your state has the secondhighest obesity rate. Obese children turn into obese adults.”
    D) “There are good calories and bad calories, just as there are good fats and bad fats. good amino acids（氨
    基酸）and bad amino acids,” Lustig, director of the Weight Assessment for Teen and Child Health program
    at UCSF, said in a statement. “But sugar is toxic beyond its calories.” The food industry tries to imply that
    “a calorie is a calorie.” says Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at
    Yale University. “But this and other research suggests there is something different about sugar,” says
    Brownell.
    E) The UCSF report emphasizes the metabolic（新陈代谢的）effects of sugar. Excess sugar can alter
    metabolism, raise blood pressure, affect the signaling of hormones and damage the liver—outcomes that
    sound suspiciously similar to what can happen after a person drinks too much alcohol. Schmidt, co-chair
    of UCSF’s Community Engagement and Health Policy program, noted on CNN: “When you think about
    it, this actually makes a lot of sense. Alcohol, after all, is simply made from sugar. Where does vodka
    come from?Sugar.”
    F) But there are also other areas of impact that researchers have investigated: the effect of sugar on the brain
    and how liquid calories are interpreted differently by the body than solids. Research has suggested that
    sugar activates the same reward pathways in the brain as traditional drugs of abuse like morphine or heroin.
    No one is claiming the effect of sugar is quite that strong, but, says Brownell, “it helps confirm what people
    tell you sometimes, that they hunger for sugar and have withdrawal symptoms when they stop eating it.”
    There’s also something particularly tricky about sugary drinks. “When calories come in liquids, the body
    doesn’t feel as full,”says Brownell. “People are getting more of their calories than ever before from
    sugared drinks.”
    G) Other countries, including France, Greece and Denmark, impose soda taxes, and the concept is being
    considered in at least 20 US cities and states. Last summer, Philadelphia came close to passing a 2-centsper-ounce soda tax. The Rudd Center has been a strong advocate of a more modest 1-cent-per-ounce tax.
    But at least one study from 2010, has raised doubts that soda taxes would result in significant weight loss:
    apparently people who are determined to eat–and drink–unhealthily will find ways to do it. Teens–no
    surprise–are good at finding ways to get the things they can’t have, so state policies banning all sugarsweetened drinks from public schools and providing only water, milk or 100% fruit juices haven’t had the
    intended effect of steering kids away from drinking sugared drinks: the average teen consumes about 300
    calories per day 一 that’s nearly 15% of his daily calories 一 in sweetened drinks, and the food and drink
    industry is only too happy to feed this need.
    H) Ultimately, regulating sugar will prove particularly tricky because it goes beyond healthconcerns; sugar,
    for so many people, is love. A plate of cut-up vegetables just doesn’t pack the same emotional punch as a
    tin of home-made chocolate chip cookies（饼千）,which is why I took my daughter out for a cupcake and
    not an apple as an after-school treat today. We don’t do that regularly–it’s the first time this school year,
    actually–and that’s what made it special. As a society, could we ever reach the point where we’d think
    apples–not a cupcake–are something to get excited over? Says Brindis, one of the report’s authors and
    director of UCSF’s Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies: “We recognize that there are cultural
    and celebratory aspects of sugar. Changing these patterns is very complicated.”
    I) For inroads（进展）to be made, say the authors in their statement, people have to be better educated about
    the hazards of sugar and agree that something’s got to change: Many of the interventions（干预）that have
    reduced alcohol and tobacco consumption can be models for addressing the sugar problem. such as
    imposing special sales taxes, controlling access, and tightening licensing requirements on vending
    machines（自动售货机）and snack-bars that sell high sugar products in schools and workplaces.
    J) “We’re not talking prohibition.”Schmidt said. “We’re not advocating a major imposition of the government
    into people’s lives. We’re talking about gentle ways to make sugar consumption slightly less convenient,
    thereby moving people away from the concentrated dose. What we want is to actually increase people’s
    choices by making foods that aren’t loaded with sugar comparatively easier and cheaper to get.”
23. The food industry tries to relieve the public worry about sugar intake by suggesting thatsugar is no more
    than a source of energy.
24. Regulating sugar will prove tricky becausesugar may convey a sense of love.
25. A gentle way to steer people away from sugar is to make inexpensive, low-sugar foods comparatively
    easier to get.
26. Some researchers think sugar should be considered “a controlled substance” as excessive intake of sugar
    results in liver toxicity and various diseases.
27. It is suggested that the licensing requirements on vending machines and snack-bars selling high sugar
    products be tightened.
28. Excessive sugar intake worldwidecontributes to 35 million noninfectious disease-related deaths a year.
29. Liquid sugar usually increases your calorie intake without your knowing it because the body doesn’t feel
    as full.
30. The practice of imposing sugar taxesis unlikely to yield the intended effect.
31. In order to reduce sugar consumption, education should be conducted to raise people’s awareness of its
    hazards.
32. Most Americans may fell disapproving towards government regulation of sugar consumption.
    Section B Questions 36-45 are based on the following passage.
    Years ago, doctors often said that pain was a normal part of life. In particular, when older
    patients 36 of pain, they were told it was a natural part of aging and they would have to learn
    to live with it.
    Times have changed. Today, we take pain 37 . Indeed, pain is now considered the fifth
    vital sign, as important as blood pressure, temperature, breathing rate and pulse in 38 a
    person’s well-being. We know that chronic (慢性的) pain can disrupt (扰乱) a person’s life, causing
    problems that 39 from missed work to depression.
    That’s why a growing number of hospitals now depend upon physicians who 40 in pain
    medicine. Not only do we evaluate the cause of the pain, which can help us treat the pain better, but
    we also help provide comprehensive therapy for depression and other psychological and social
    __41 related to chronic pain. Such comprehensive therapy often 42 the work of social
    workers, psychiatrists (心理医生) and psychologists, as well as specialists in pain medicine.
    This modern 43 for pain management has led to a wealth of innovative treatments which
    are more effective and with fewer side effects than ever before. Decades ago, there were only a
    _44 number of drugs available, and many of them caused 45 side effects in older people,
    including dizziness and fatigue. This created a doubleedged sword: the medications helped relieve
    the pain but caused other problems that could be worse than the pain itself.
    A) result B) involves C) significant D) range E) relieved
    F) issues G) seriously H) magnificent I) determining J) limited
    K) gravely L) complained M) respect N) prompting O) specialize
    Section C
    Passage One
    Questions 46-50 are based on the following passage.
    Communications technologies are far from equal when it comes to conveying the truth. The
    first study to compare honesty across a range of communication media has fund that people are
    twice as likely to tell lies in phone conversations as they are in emails. The fact that emails are
    automatically recorded—and can come back to haunt (困扰) you—appears to be the key to the
    finding.
    Jeff Hancock of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, asked 30 students to keep a
    communications diary for a week. In it they noted the number of conversations or email exchanges
    they had lasting more than 10 minutes, and confessed to how many lies they told. Hancock then
    worked out the number of lies per conversation for each medium. He found that lies made up 14 per
    cent of emails, 21 per cent of instant messages, 27 per cent of face-to-face interactions and an
    astonishing 37 per cent of phone calls.
    His results to be presented at the conference on human-computer interaction in Vienna, Austria,
    in April, have surprised psychologists. Some expected emailers to be the biggest liars, reasoning
    that because deception makes people uncomfortable, the detachment (非直接接触) of emailing
    would make it easier to lie. Others expected people to lie more in face-to-face exchanges because
    we are most practised at that form of communication.
    But Hancock says it is also crucial whether a conversation is being recorded and could be
    reread, and whether it occurs in real time. People appear to be afraid to lie when they know the
    communication could later be used to hold them to account, he says. This is why fewer lies appear
    in email than on the phone.
    People are also more likely to lie in real time—in a instant message or phone call, say—than
    if they have time to think of a response, says Hancock. He found many lies are spontaneous (脱口
    而出的) responses to an unexpected demand, such as: “Do you like my dress?”
    Hancock hopes his research will help companies work out the best ways for their employees
    to communicate. For instance, the phone might be the best medium for sales where employees are
    encouraged to stretch the truth. But, given his result, work assessment where honesty is a priority,
    might be best done using email.
33. Hancock’s study focuses on ________.
    A) the consequences of lying in various communications media
    B) the success of communications technologies in conveying ideas
    C) people are less likely to lie in instant messages
    D) people’s honesty levels across a range of communications media
34. Hancock’s research finding surprised those who believed that ________.
    A) people are less likely to lie in instant messages
    B) people are unlikely to lie in face-to-face interactions
    C) people are most likely to lie in email communication
    D) people are twice as likely to lie in phone conversations
35. According to the passage, why are people more likely to tell the truth through certain media of
    communication?
    A) They are afraid of leaving behind traces of their lies.
    B) They believe that honesty is the best policy.
    C) They tend to be relaxed when using those media.
    D) They are most practised at those forms of communication.
36. According to Hancock the telephone is a preferable medium for promoting sales because
    ________.
    A) salesmen can talk directly to their customers
    B) salesmen may feel less restrained to exaggerate
    C) salesmen can impress customers as being trustworthy
    D) salesmen may pass on instant messages effectively
37. It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
    A) honesty should be encouraged in interpersonal communications
    B) more employers will use emails to communicate with their employees
    C) suitable media should be chosen for different communication purposes
    D) email is now the dominant medium of communication within a company
    Passage Two
    Questions 51-55 are based on the following passage.
    In a country that defines itself by ideals, not by shared blood, who should be allowed to come
    work and live here? In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks these questions have never seemed more
    pressing.
    On Dec. 11, 2001, as part of the effort to increase homeland security, federal and local
    authorities in 14 states staged “Operation Safe Travel”—raids on airports to arrest employees with
    false identification (身份证明). In Salt Lake City there were 69 arrests. But those captured were
    anything but terrorists, most of them illegal immigrants from Central or South America. Authorities
    said the undocumented workers’ illegal status made them open to blackmail (讹诈) by terrorists.
    Many immigrants in Salt Lake City were angered by the arrests and said they felt as if they
    were being treated like disposable goods.
    Mayor Anderson said those feelings were justified to a certain extent. “We’re saying we want
    you to work in these places, we’re going to look the other way in terms of what our laws are, and
    then when it’s convenient for us, or when we can try to make a point in terms of national security,
    especially after Sept. 11, then you’re disposable. There are whole families being uprooted for all of
    the wrong reasons,” Anderson said.
    If Sept. 11 had never happened, the airport workers would not have been arrested and could
    have gone on quietly living in America, probably indefinitely. Ana Castro, a manager at a Ben &
    Jerry’s ice cream shop at the airport had been working 10 years with the same false Social Security
    card when she was arrested in the December airport raid. Now she and her family are living under
    the threat of deportation (驱逐出境). Castro’s case is currently waiting to be settled. While she
    awaits the outcome, the government has granted her permission to work here and she has returned
    to her job at Ben & Jerry’s.
38. According to the author, the United States claims to be a nation ________.
    A) composed of people having different values
    B) encouraging individual pursuits
    C) sharing common interests
    D) founded on shared ideals
39. How did the immigrants in Salt Lake City feel about “Operation Safe Travel”?
    A) Guilty. B) Offended.
    C) Disappointed. D) Discouraged.
40. Undocumented workers became the target of “Operation Safe Travel” because ________.
    A) evidence was found that they were potential terrorists
    B) most of them worked at airports under threat of terrorists
    C) terrorists might take advantage of their illegal status
    D) they were reportedly helping hide terrorists around the airport
41. By saying “… we’re going to look the other way in terms of what our laws are” (Line 2, Para.
    4), Mayor Anderson means “________”.
    A) we will turn a blind eye to your illegal status
    B) we will examine the laws in a different way
    C) there are other ways of enforcing the law
    D) the existing laws must not be ignored
42. What do we learn about Ana Castro from the last paragraph?
    A) She will be deported sooner or later. B) She is allowed to stay permanently.
    C) Her case has been dropped. D) Her fate remains uncertain.
    Part VI Passage Translation
    Scientists have designed “transparent wood” that could replace conventional glass in windows.
    The innovation was developed using wood from the balsa tree（沙树）, which is native to South
    and Central America, and claims to be five times more thermally efficient than glass. Unlike
    traditional glass, the transparent wood can withstand much stronger impacts and will bend or splinter
    （裂开）when damaged, instead of shattering. The transparent wood was created by teams at the
    University of Maryland and University of Colorado, which set out to find a greener alternative to
    conventional glass – a production that creates 25,000 tons in emissions each year. Along with
    contributing to greenhouse gases, glass contributes to a loss of energy. “Switching to transparent
    wood could prove to be cost efficient as well,” researchers shared in a statement. “It is approximately
    five times more thermally efficient than glass, cutting energy costs.” “It is made from a sustainable,
    renewable resource with low carbon emissions. It’s also compatible with existing industrial
    processing equipment, making the transition into manufacturing an easy prospect.”