试题库在线考试题库-历年真题模拟试题及答案-考博英语在线试题测试中心-希赛网

燕山大学

Global warming is causing more than 300,000 deaths and about $125 billion in economic losses each year, according to a report by the Global Humanitarian Forum, an organization led by Annan, the former United Nations secretary general.The report, to be released Friday, analyzed data and existing studies of health, disaster, population and economic trends. It found that human-influenced climate change was raising the global death rates from illnesses including malnutrition (营养不良) and heat-related health problems.But even before its release, the report drew criticism from some experts on climate and risk, who questioned its methods and conclusions.Along with the deaths, the report said that the lives of 325 million people, primarily in poor countries, were being seriously affected by climate change. It projected that the number would double by 2030.Roger Pielke Jr., a political scientist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who studies disaster trends, said the Forum’s report was “a methodological embarrassment” because there was no way to distinguish deaths or economic losses related to human-driven global warming amid the much larger losses resulting from the growth in populations and economic development in vulnerable (易受伤害的) regions. Dr. Pielke said that “climate change is an important problem requiring our utmost attention”. But the report, he said, “will harm the cause for action on both climate change and disasters because it is so deeply flawed (有瑕疵的)”.However, Soren Andreasen, a social scientist at Dalberg Global Development Partners who supervised the writing of the report, defended it, saying that it was clear that the numbers were rough estimates. He said the report was aimed at world leaders, who will meet in Copenhagen in December to negotiate a new international climate treaty.In a press release describing the report, Mr. Annan stressed the need for the negotiations to focus on increasing the flow of money from rich to poor regions to help reduce their vulnerability to climate hazards while still curbing the emissions of the heat-trapping gases. More than 90% of the human and economic losses from climate change are occurring in poor countries, according to the report.1. What is the finding of the Global Humanitarian Forum?2. What do we learn about the Forum’s report from the passage?3. What does Dr. Pielke say about the Forum’s report?4. What is Soren Andreasen’s view of the report?5. What does Kofi Annan say should be the focus of the Copenhagen conference?

Several recent studies have found that being randomly (随机地) assigned to a roommate of another race can lead to increased tolerance but also to a greater likelihood (可能性) of conflict.Recent reports found that lodging with a student of a different race may decrease prejudice and compel students to engage in more ethnically diverse friendships.An Ohio State University study also found that black students living with a white roommate saw higher academic success throughout their college careers. Researchers believe this may be caused by social pressure.In a New York Times article, Sam Boakye—the only black student on his freshman year floor—said that “if you’re surrounded by whites, you have something to prove.”Researchers also observed problems resulting from pairing interracial students in residences. According to two recent studies, randomly assigned roommates of different races are more likely to experience conflicts so strained that one roommate will move out.An Indiana University study found that interracial roommates were three times as likely as two white roommates to no longer live together by the end of the semester.Grace Kao, a professor at Penn said she was not surprised by the findings. “This may be the first time that some of these students have interacted, and lived, with someone of a different race,” she said.At Penn, students are not asked to indicate race when applying tor housing.“One of the great things about freshman housing is that, with some exceptions, the process throws you together randomly,” said Undergraduate Assembly chairman Alec Webley. “This is the definition of integration.”“I’ve experienced roommate conflicts between interracial students that have both broken down stereotypes and reinforced stereotypes,” said one Penn resident advisor RA. The RA of two years added that while some conflicts “provided more multicultural acceptance and melding (融合)”, there were also “jarring cultural confrontations”.The RA said that these conflicts have also occurred among roommates of the same race. Kao said she cautions against forming any generalizations based on any one of the studies, noting that more background characteristics of the students need to be studied and explained.1. What can we learn from some recent studies?2. What does Sam Boakye’s remark mean?3. What does the Indiana University study show?4. What does Alec Webley consider to be the “definition of integration”?5. What does Grace Kao say about interracial lodging?

When next year’s crop of high-school graduates arrive at Oxford University in the fall of 2009, they’ll be joined by a new face: Andrew Hamilton, the 55-year-old provost (教务长) of Yale, who’ll become Oxford’s vice-chancellor—a position equal to university president in America.Hamilton isn’t the only educator crossing the Atlantic. Schools in France, Egypt, Singapore, etc. have also recently made top-level hires from abroad. Higher education has become a big and competitive business nowadays, and like so many businesses, it’s gone global. Yet the talent flow isn’t universal. High-level personnel (人员) tend to head in only one direction: outward from America.The chief reason is that American schools don’t tend to seriously consider looking abroad. For example, when the board of the University of Colorado searched for a new president, it wanted a leader familiar with the state government, a major source of the university’s budget. “We didn’t do any global consideration,” says Patricia Hayes, the board’s chair. The board finally picked Bruce Benson, a 69-year-old Colorado businessman and political activist (活动家) who is likely to do well in the main task of modern university presidents: fund-raising. Fund-raising is a distinctively American thing, since U.S. schools rely heavily on donations. The fund-raising ability is largely a product of experience and necessity.Many European universities, meanwhile, are still mostly dependent on government funding. But government support has failed to keep pace with rising student numbers. The decline in government support has made fund-raising an increasingly necessary ability among administrators (管理人员), and has hiring committees hungry for Americans.In the past few years, well-known schools around the world have joined the trend. In 2003, when Cambridge University appointed Alison Richard, another former Yale provost, as its vice-chancellor, the university publicly stressed that in her previous job she had overseen “a major strengthening of Yale’s financial position”.Of course, fund-raising isn’t the only skill outsiders offer. The globalization of education means more universities will be seeking heads with international experience of some kind to promote international programs and attract a global student body. Foreigners can offer a fresh perspective (视角) on established practices.1. What is the current trend in higher education discussed in the passage?2. What is the chief consideration of American universities when hiring top-level administrators?3. What do we learn about European universities from the passage?4. Cambridge University appointed Alison Richard as its vice-chancellor chiefly because ________.5. In what way do top-level administrators from abroad contribute to university development?

Throughout this long, tense election, everyone has focused on the presidential candidates and how they’ll change America. Rightly so. But selfishly, I’m more fascinated by Michelle Obama and what she might be able to do, not just for this country, but for me as an African-American woman. As the potential First Lady, she would have the world’s attention. And that means that for the first time people will have a chance to get up close and personal with the type of African-American woman they so rarely see.Usually, the lives of black women go largely unexamined. The prevailing theory seems to be that we’re all hot-tempered single mothers who can’t keep a man. Even in the world of make-believe, black women still can’t escape the stereotype of being eye-rolling, oversexed females raised by our never-married, alcoholic (酗酒的) mothers.These images have helped define the way all black women are viewed, including Michelle Obama. Before she ever gets the chance to commit to a cause, charity or foundation as First Lady, her most urgent and perhaps most complicated duty may be simply to be herself.It won’t be easy. Because few mainstream publications have done in-depth features on regular African-American women, little is known about who we are, what we think and what we face on a regular basis. For better or worse, Michelle will represent us all.Just as she will have her critics, she will also have millions of fans who usually have little interest in the First Lady. Many African-American blogs have written about what they’d like to see Michelle bring to the White House—mainly showing the world that a black woman can support her man and raise a strong black family. Michelle will have to work to please everyone—an impossible task. But for many African-American women like me, just a little of her poise (沉着), confidence and intelligence will go a long way in changing an image that’s been around for far too long.1. Why does Michelle Obama hold a strong fascination for the author?2. What is the common stereotype of African-American women according to the author?3. What do many African-Americans write about in their blogs?4. What does the author say about Michelle Obama as a First Lady?5. What do many African-American women hope Michelle Obama will do?

Directions: Write a composition of no less than 150 words under the title of “Online Shopping”. You should base your composition on the following outline (given in Chinese).1. 现在网上购物已成为一种时尚；2. 网上购物有很多好处，但也有不少问题；3. 我的建议。

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