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

东北师范大学

At some time in your life you may have a strong desire to do something strange or terrible. However, chances are that you don’t act on your impulse, but let it pass instead. You know that to commit the action is wrong in some way and that other people will not accept your behavior.Perhaps the most interesting thing about the phenomenon of taboo behavior is how it can change over the years within the same society, how certain behavior and attitudes once considered taboo can become perfectly acceptable and natural at another point in time. Topics such as death, for example were once considered so upsetting and unpleasant that it was a taboo to even talk about them. Now with the publication of important books such as On Death and Dying and Learning to Say Goodbye, people have become more aware of the importance of expressing feelings about death and, as a result, are more willing to talk about this taboo subject.One of the newest taboos in American society is the topic of fat. Unlike many other taboos, fat is topic that Americans talk about constantly. It's not taboo to talk about fat; it's taboo to be fat. The “in” look is thin, not fat. In the work world most companies prefer youthful-looking, trim executives to sell their image as well as their products to the public. The thin look is associated with youth, vigor, and success. The fat person, on the other hand, is thought of as lazy and lacking in energy, self-discipline, and self-respect. In an image-conscious society like the U.S., thin is "in", fat is "out".It’s not surprising, then, that millions of Americans have become obsessed with staying slim and "in shape". The pursuit of a youthful physical appearance is not, however, the sole reason for America’s fascination with diet and exercise. Recent research has shown the critical importance of diet and exercise for personal-health. As in most technologically developed nations, the life-style of North Americans has changed dramatically during the course of the last century. Modem machines do all the physical labor that people were once forced to do by hand. Cars and buses transport us quickly from point to point. As a result of inactivity and disuse, people’s bodies can easily become weak and vulnerable to disease. In an effort to avoid such a fate, millions of Americans are spending more of their time exercising.1.From the passage we can infer taboo is （）.2.Based on the ideas presented in the passage we can conclude “being fat” in American society （）. 3.The topic of fat is many other taboo subjects （）. 4.In the U.S., thin is “in” fat is “out”，this means （）. 5.Apart from this new understanding of the correlation between health and exercise, the main reason the passage gives for why so many Americans are exercising regularly is （）.

We can begin our discussion of “population as global issue” with what most persons mean when they discuss “the population problem”： too many people on earth and a too rapid increase in the number added each year. The facts are not in dispute. It was quite right to employ the analogy that likened demographic growth to ’’a long, thin powder fuse that bums steadily and haltingly until it finally reaches the charge and explodes.”To understand the current situation, which is characterized by rapid increases in population, it is necessary to understand the history of population trends. Rapid growth is a comparatively recent phenomenon. Looking back at the 8,000 years of demographic history, we find that populations have been virtually stable or growing very slightly for most of human history. For most of our ancestors, life was hard, often nasty, and very short. There was high fertility in most places, but this was usually balanced by high mortality. For most of human history, it was seldom the case that one in ten persons would live past fort, while infancy and childhood were especially risky periods. Often, societies were in clear danger of extinction because death rates could exceed their birthrates. Thus, the population problem throughout most of history was how to prevent extinction of the human race.This pattern is important to notice. Not only does it put the current problems of demographic growth into a historical perspective, but it suggest that the cause of rapid increase in population in recent years is not a sudden enthusiasm for more children, but an improvement in the conditions that traditionally have caused high mortality.Demographic history can be divided into two major periods: a time of long, slow growth which extended from about 8,000 BC. till approximate AD 1650. In the first period of some 9600 years, the population increased from same 8 million to 500 million in 1650. Between 1650 and the present, the population has increased from 500 million to more than 4 billion. And it is estimated that by the year 2000 there will be 6.2 billion people throughout the world. One way to appreciate this dramatic difference in such abstract numbers is to reduce the time frame to something that is more manageable. Between 8000BC and 1650, an average of only 50,000 persons was being added annually to the world's population each year. At present, this number is added every six hours. The increase is about 80,000,000 persons annually.1.Which of the following demographic growth pattern is most suitable for the long thin powder fuse analogy?2.During the first period of demographic history, societies were often in danger of extinction because （）.3.Which statement is true about population increase?4.The author of the passage intends to （）. 5.The word “demographic” in the first paragraph means（）.

Art is considered by many people to be little more than a decorative means of giving pleasure. This is not always the case, however; at times, art may be seen to have a purely functional side as well. Such could be said of the sand paintings of the Navaho Indians of the American Southwest; these have a medicinal as well as an artistic purpose.According to Navaho traditions, one who suffers from either a mental or a physical illness has in some way disturbed or come in contact with the supernatural—perhaps a certain animal, a ghost, or the dead. To counteract this evil contact, the ill person or one of his relatives will employ a medicine man called a “singer” to perform a healing ceremony which will attract a powerful supernatural being.During the ceremony, which may last from 2 to 9 days, the “singer” will produce a sand painting on the floor of the Navaho hogan. On the last day of the ceremony, the patient will sit on this sand painting and the “singer” will rub the ailing parts of the patient's body with sand from a specific figure in the sand painting. In this way the patient absorbs the power of that particular supernatural being and becomes strong like it. After the ceremony, the sand painting is then destroyed and disposed of so its power will not harm anyone.The art of sand painting is handed down from old “singer” to their students. The material used are easily found in the areas the Navaho inhabit: brown, red, yellow, and white sandstone, which is pulverized by being crushed between 2 stones much as corns is ground into flour. The “singer” holds a small amount of this sand in his hand and lets it flow between his thumb and fore-finger onto a clean, flat surface on the floor. With a steady hand and great patience, he is thus able to create designs of stylized people, snakes and other creatures that have power in the Navaho belief system. The traditional Navaho does not allow reproduction of sand paintings, since he believes the supernatural powers that taught him the craft have forbidden this; however, such reproductions can in fact be purchased today in tourist shops in Arizona and New Mexico. These are done by either Navaho Indians or by other people who wish to preserve this craft .1.The purpose of the passage is to（）.2.The purpose of a healing ceremony lies in （）. 3.The “singer” rubs sand on the patient because （）. 4.What is used to produce a sand painting?5.Which of the following titles will be best suit the passage?

What we know of prenatal development makes all this attempt made by a mother to mold the character of her unborn child by studying poetry, art or mathematics during pregnancy seem utterly impossible. How could such extremely complex influences pass from the mother to the child? There is no connection between their nervous systems. Even the blood vessels of mother and child do not join directly. An emotional shock to the mother will affect her child, because it changes the activity of her glands and so the chemistry of her blood. Any chemical change in the mother’s blood will affect the child for better or worse. But we cannot see how a looking for mathematics or poetic genius can be dissolved in blood and produce a similar liking or genius in the child.In our discussion of instincts we saw that there was reason to believe that whatever we inherit must be of some very simple sort rather than any complicated or very definite kind of behavior. It is certain that no one inherits a knowledge of mathematics. It may be, however, that children inherit more or less of a rather general ability that we may call intelligence. If very intelligent children become deeply interested in mathematics, they will probably make a success of that study.As for musical ability, it may be that what is inherited is an especially sensitive ear, a peculiar structure of the hands or the vocal organs, connections between nerves and muscles that make it comparatively easy to learn the movements a musician must execute, and particularly vigorous emotions. If these factors are all organized around music, the child may become a musician. The same factors, in other circumstance might be organized about some other center of interest. The rich emotional equipment might find expression in poetry. The capable fingers might develop skill in surgery. It is not the knowledge of music that is inherited, then nor even the love of it, but a certain bodily structure that makes it comparatively easy to acquire musical knowledge and skill. Whether that ability shall be directed toward music or some other undertaking may be decided entirely by forces in the environment in which a child grows up.1.Which of the following statements is not true?2.A mother will affect her unborn baby on the condition that （）.3.According to the passage, a child may inherit （）. 4.If a child inherits something from his mother, such as an especially sensitive ear, a peculiar structure of the hands or of the vocal organs, he will （）. 5.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

People who refuse to （）with the law will be punished.

2 / 58