Section I   Use of English

Directions:

Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)

 

Salt, shells or metals are still used as money in out-of-the-way parts of the world today. Salt may seem rather a strange  1  to use as money,  2  in countries where the food of the people is mainly vegetable, it is often an  3  necessity. Cakes of salt, stamped to show their  4  , were used as money in some countries until recent  5  , and cakes of salt  6  buy goods in Borneo and parts of Africa.

Sea shells  7  as money at some time  8  another over the greater part of the Old World. These were  9  mainly from the beaches of the Maldives Islands in the Indian Ocean, and were traded to India and China. In Africa, shells were traded right across the  10  from East to West.

Metal, valued by weight,  11  coins in many parts of the world. Iron, in lumps, bars or rings, is still used in many countries 12  paper money. It can either be exchanged  13  goods, or made into tools, weapons, or ornaments. The early money of China, apart from shells, was of bronze,  14  in flat, round pieces with a hole in the middle, called “cash”. The  15  of these are between three thousand and four thousand years old—older than the earliest coins of the eastern Mediterranean.

Nowadays, coins and notes have  16  nearly all the more picturesque  17  of money, and  18  in one or two of the more remote countries people still keep it for future use on ceremonial  19  such as weddings and funerals, examples of  20  money will soon be found only in museums.

 

 1.  A. object             B. article             C. substance                D. category

 2.  A. but                B. and                 C. so                       D. even

 3.  A. abstract           B. advantageous        C. abundant                 D. absolute

 4.  A. weight             B. value               C. role                     D. size

 5.  A. times              B. events              C. situations               D. conditions

 6.  A. even               B. also                C. still                    D. never

 7.  A. had been used                             B. are used                  

     C. would be used                             D. would have been used

 8.  A. and                B. but                 C. yet                      D. or

 9.  A. collected          B. produced            C. grown                    D. raised

10.  A. city               B. district            C. community                D. continent

11.  A. processed          B. produced            C. preceded                 D. proceeded

12.  A. in spite of        B. instead of          C. along with               D. in line with

13.  A. against            B. as                  C. in                       D. for

14.  A. often              B. seldom              C. really                   D. much

15.  A. earlier            B. earliest            C. better                   D. best

16.  A. replaced           B. reproduced          C. reflected                D. recovered

17.  A. sizes              B. shapes              C. formats                  D. forms

18.  A. while              B. although            C. because                  D. if

19.  A. events             B. gatherings          C. occasions                D. assemblies

20.  A. original           B. primitive           C. historical               D. crude

 

Section II

Part A

Directions:

Read the following four passages. Answer the questions below each passage by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)

 

Passage 1

“I’ve never met a human worth cloning,” says cloning expert Mark Westhusin from the cramped confines of his lab at Texas A&M University. “It’s a stupid endeavor.” That’s an interesting choice of adjective, coming from a man who has spent millions of dollars trying to clone a 13-year-old dog named Missy. So far, he and his team have not succeeded, though they have cloned two calves and expect to clone a cat soon. They just might succeed in cloning Missy later this year — or perhaps not for another five years. It seems the reproductive system of man’s best friend is one of the mysteries of modern science.

Westhusin’s experience with cloning animals leaves him vexed by all this talk of human cloning. In three years of work on the Missyplicity project, using hundreds upon hundreds of canine eggs, the A&M team has produced only a dozen or so embryos carrying Missy’s DNA. None have survived the transfer to a surrogate mother. The wastage of eggs and the many spontaneously aborted fetuses may be acceptable when you’re dealing with cats or bulls, he argues, but not with humans. “Cloning is incredibly inefficient, and also dangerous,” he says.

Even so, dog cloning is a commercial opportunity, with a nice research payoff. Ever since Dolly the sheep was cloned in 1997, Westhusin’s phone at A&M College of Veterinary Medicine has been ringing busily. Cost is no obstacle for customers like Missy’s mysterious owner, who wishes to remain unknown to protect his privacy. He’s plopped down $3.7 million so far to fund the research because he wants a twin to carry on Missy’s fine qualities after she dies. But he knows her clone may not have her temperament. In a statement of purpose, Missy’s owners and the A&M team say they are “both looking forward to studying the ways that her clone differs from Missy.”

The fate of the dog samples will depend on Westhusin’s work. He knows that even if he gets a dog viably pregnant, the offspring, should they survive, will face the problems shown at birth by other cloned animals: abnormalities like immature lungs and heart and weight problems. “Why would you ever want to clone humans,” Westhusin asks, “when we’re not even close to getting it worked out in animals yet?”

 

21. Which of the following best represents Mr. Westhusin’s attitude toward cloning ?

    [A] Animal cloning is a stupid attempt.

    [B] Human cloning is not yet close to getting it worked out.

    [C] Cloning is too inefficient and should be stopped.

    [D] Animals cloning yes, and human cloning at least not now.

 

22. The Missyplicity project does not seem very successful probably because       .

    [A] there isn’t enough fund to support the research

    [B] cloning dogs is more complicated than cloning cats and bulls

    [C] Mr. Westhusin is too busy taking care of the business

    [D] the owner is asking for an exact copy of his pet

 

23. When Mr. Westhusin says “... cloning is dangerous,” he implies that       .

    [A] lab technicians may be affected by chemicals

    [B] cats and dogs in the lab may die of diseases

    [C] experiments may waste lots of lives

    [D] cloned animals could outlive the natural ones

 

24. We can infer from the third paragraph that       .

    [A] rich people are more interested in cloning humans than animals

    [B] cloning of animal pets is becoming a prosperous industry

    [C] there is no distinction between a cloned and a natural dog

    [D] Missy’s master pays a lot in a hope to revive the dog

 

25. We may conclude from the text that       .

    [A] human cloning will not succeed unless the technique is more efficient

    [B] scientists are optimistic about cloning technique

    [C] many people are against the idea of human cloning

    [D] cloned animals are more favored by owners even if they are weaker

 

Passage 2

   Lots of states would love to be California, having their own little Hollywood, and then film

crews would come to town and spend money in hair salons and hotels.  Last year, more than 40 states had incentives like huge tax credits to lure film producers, costing them a record $1.4 billion. However, the huge tax credits can be justified in no way.

California has no way but to be in the game, with the assumption that it has to defend itself against the new-coming hunters. In 2003, when only a handful of states offered incentives, California made two-thirds of America’s big-studio films, but now it makes far fewer than half. Film LA, an organization that co-ordinates permits for film shoots in Los Angeles, says that without California’s own tax credit, “2010 would have been the worst year” since the mid-1990s for filming in Hollywood.

All this costs money, which legislators volunteer on behalf of taxpayers. Many tax credits exceed the filmmaker’s total tax liability to that state. The credits have even become an industry unto themselves. In Iowa filmmakers were selling their credits until that state shut its program in 2009. Last month an Iowa judge sentenced a producer to ten years in prison for cheating credits. Incentives do not have to involve tax credits. Some states simplify the paperwork by just giving out cash and others remit film-makers from sales or hotel taxes or give them other subsidies.

As Joseph Henchman at the Tax Foundation puts it, even when a state succeeds in luring film crews, they rarely boost the economy or tax revenues enough to justify the costs of the incentives. Film companies usually import their staff and export them again when the shoot is over, and thus the local jobs they create are mostly temporary.

In addition, since virtually all states are at it, the programs largely cancel out one another and no state gets a lasting advantage. The craze resembles a war with mutually destructive tariffs with its loopholes (漏洞) for every lobby and thus higher rates for all. The only winner is the film industry.

Fortunately, this has begun sinking in. Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, New Jersey and Washington have recently ended, suspended or shrunk their programs. Many others, struggling with budget deficits, are considering doing the same, investing the money in something permanent or even leaving it to taxpayers.

 

26. The fact that California makes fewer films is mentioned to show ______.

    [A] it loses its advantages in film shoot technologies

    [B] it does not regard film shoot as a main industry

    [C] it gives importance to the attack and defend game

    [D] it is compelled to attract film crews with incentive

 

27. Which of the following is NOT one of the ways to attract film crews?

    [A] Tax credits.                        [B] Free accommodation.

    [C] Cash subsidies.                     [D] Tax exempt.

 

28. According to the text, Joseph Henchman believes ______.

    [A] film companies creates permanent employments

    [B] it is not wise to attract film crews by incentives

    [C] film companies help local in imports and exports

    [D] film shootings create lasting advantage to a state

 

29. The author says “Fortunately, this has begun sinking in” because ______.

    [A] some states refuse to accept film shooting

    [B] some states reduce the state deficits

    [C] some states stop incentives to film shooting

    [D] some states give in to California in films

 

30. The most appropriate title for this text would be ______.

    [A] Film Shooting: A Thriving Business

    [B] Film Shooting: Hard to Love

    [C] Film Shooting: An Engine for Development

    [D] Film Shooting: A High-cost Industry

 

Passage 3

     Public anger over high levels of executive pay has provoked new government proposals in Britain for binding shareholder votes on compensation committee reports. This will mark a revolution in corporate governance, as shareholders would vote both on the past year’s awards and on the coming year’s plans for salary increases, bonuses and long-term share awards, although boards will find it difficult to deal with such intervention in complex pay structures.

     As a former chairman and member of several remuneration committees, I support the move to a binding ‘say on pay’ vote, despite its difficulties. The market for chief executives has a number of inherent flaws which can be improved by regulation. There is a strong element of ‘

winner take all’ behavior in this market, just as for top athletes or musicians. If a board has good ones, it will want to keep them and keep them motivated. The motivational considerations also explain why there is so much inertia（惰性）in the bonus element of pay even during a year of poor results.

     The other side of this coin is that there is nothing more damaging to a company than a poor CEO, one who does not live up to the task or who creates a negative internal culture. But in such a case, the board’s response will not be to deduct the bonus, but to find someone new. Unless there is an in-house successor, this often drives up the pay because it will be necessary to appeal to the preferred candidate away from their current employer.

     These market characteristics have the effect of escalating executive pay. To counterbalance this, it is helpful to enhance the intervention power of shareholders. This has already happened to some extent with the advisory vote on compensation reports, as shown by the recent cases of large negative votes by shareholders in Barclays, Aviva and Xstrata.

     There are risks to this approach. Shareholders may simply vent their anger at other aspects of corporate strategy through the vehicle of the compensation vote, leaving the way forward unclear. But it is also possible that giving shareholders more power will cause them to accept the responsibility that comes with such engagement. If more shareholder engagement can lead to better understanding and simpler pay structures, then the extra burdens on both boards and investors imposed by binding votes will be well justified.

 

31. It can be learned from paragraph 1 that shareholders in Britain ______.

    [A] are angry with government’s high level of governance

    [B] will play their role in deciding the distribution of bonus

    [C] find the present situation hard to properly dealt with

    [D] can offer proposals in the vote of executives to a firm

 

32. The author is in favor of binding ‘say on pay’ vote because ______.

    [A] the present recruit system for executives is not ideal

    [B] “winner takes all” behaviors should be encouraged

    [C] good executives are hard to get unless well paid

    [D] top executives behave just as athletes or musicians

 

33. We can infer from paragraph 3 that ______.

    [A] a company will motivate executives by reducing their bonus

    [B] companies play emphasis on the cultivation of executives

    [C] a successor of the poor CEO is likely to get a higher pay

    [D] companies prefer executives from the present employees

 

34. The intervention of the power of shareholders can prevent ______.

    [A] executives from leaving a company

    [B] a company from releasing a false report

    [C] executives from giving negative advice

    [D] the general rise of executives’ pay

 

35. Generally speaking, the author’s attitude toward shareholders’ intervention is ______.

    [A] critical     [B] supportive       [C] scornful          [D] objective

 

Passage 4

California has launched a new campaign known as the Digital Textbook Initiative.

     “Starting the coming fall semester with high school math and science, we will be the first state nationwide to provide schools with a state-approved list of digital textbooks,” so proclaimed Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in June, talking about his projection and effort to boost and inspire schools to use materials available online without paying. He contends that digital textbooks can present the latest information, lighten the load of school bags, economize paper and therefore lessen deforestation, render learning more fun and interactive, and above all, relieve schools of their concern about finances. In addition, the state has had to make severe cuts in school expenditure because of deep financial problems. After all, far beyond six million students attend California public schools.

     Earlier this year, California recruited a number of content developers to gather and then offer digital math and science materials for high schools. These had satisfied at least 90% of the state’s learning requirements. Specially trained teachers canvassed 16 textbooks and approve ten of them, six of which have been published by the CK 12 Foundation, a non-profit group that had been developing digital science and math books for about two years. The foundation paid teachers and other education professionals to compile and edit them and the funds came from a group backed by the Khosia family.

     California cannot compel schools to turn to the digital books and so leave the option to individual school districts. Susan Martimo, a California Department of Education official, claims she has only a dim anticipation of extensive adoption of digital textbooks and her best guess is that some schools with a lot of technology will be the pioneers to use them, but accompanied by their traditional books.

     School administrators pointed out that the texts may be free online but students need a channel to access them and not everyone owns or possesses a computer or electronic reader. Furthermore, schools could print out copies but that would not sound environmentally, and more practically speaking, immense cost is called for to discipline the faculty to utilize digital textbooks effectively.

 

36. According to the text, the Digital Textbook Initiative ______.

    [A] will take effect six months later

    [B] covers all the high school subjects

    [C] has been approved by all the states

    [D] is advocated by California state governor

 

37. The primary reason for promoting digital textbooks is to ______.

    [A] help save money                         [B] benefit the environment

    [C] provide interesting materials           [D] reduce students’ burden

 

38. Which of the following is true according to paragraph 3 ?

    [A] Specially trained teachers compile digital text books.

    [B] Content developers get no pay for their work in digital textbooks.

    [C] CK 12 Foundation has issued some digital textbooks.

    [D] Khosia Family has asked content developers to do some work.

 

39. From Susan Martimo’s perspective, digital textbooks ______.

    [A] are not likely to have a widespread use

    [B] will soon replace traditional ones

    [C] will first be adopted by good-financed schools

    [D] will be used by traditional technology schools

 

40. School administrators’ attitude toward digital textbooks is ______.

    [A] Supportive      [B] Apprehensive       [C] Objective      [D] Indignant

 

Part B

Directions:

Reading the following text and answer questions by finding a subtitle for each of the marked parts or paragraphs. There are two extra items in the subtitle. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)

 

 [A] Global Warming Becomes More Severe Than Before.

 [B] Shifted Focus.

 [C] Global Warming Might Be Good for the Earth.

 [D] Balance Must Be Achieved.

 [E] One Example of Natural Cause.

 [F] Scientists Conclude a More Significant Impact on the Weather.

 [G] Possible Geographic and Climate Changes in the Future.

 

In the atmosphere, carbon dioxide acts rather like a one-way mirror—the glass in the roof of a green which allows the sun’s rays to enter but prevents the heat from escaping.

41.                 

According to a weather expert’s prediction, the atmosphere will be 3℃ warmer in the year 2050 than it is today, if man continues to burn fuels at the present rate. If this warming-up took place, the ice caps in the poles would begin to melt, thus raising sea level several meters and severely flooding coastal cities. Also, the increase in atmospheric temperature would lead to great changes in the climate of the northern hemisphere, possibly resulting in an alteration of the earth’s chief food-growing zones.

42.                 

In the past, concern about a man-made warming of the earth has concentrated on the Arctic because the Antarctic is much colder and has a much thicker ice sheet. But the weather experts are now paying more attention to West Antarctic, which may be affected by only a few degrees of warming; in other words, by a warming on the scale that will possibly take place in the next fifty years from the burning of fuels.

43.                 

Satellite pictures show that large areas of Antarctic ice are already disappearing. The evidence available suggests that a warming has taken place. This fits the theory that carbon dioxide warms the earth. However, most of the fuel is burnt in the northern hemisphere, where temperatures seen to be falling. Scientists conclude, therefore, that up to now natural influences on the weather have exceeded those caused by man. The question is: which natural cause has most effect on the weather?

44.                 

One possibility is the variable behavior of the sun. Astronomers at one research station have studied the hot spots and “cold” spots (that is, the relatively less hot spots) on the sun. As the sun rotates, every 27.5 days, it presents hotter or “colder” face to the earth, and different aspects to different parts of the earth. This seems to have a considerable effect on the distribution of the earth’s atmospheric pressure, and consequently on wind circulation. The sun is also variable over a long term: its heat output goes up and down in cycles, the latest trend being downward.

45.                 

Scientist are now finding mutual relations between models of solar-weather interactions and the actual climate over many thousands of years, including the last Ice Age. The problem is that the models are predicting that the world should be entering a new Ice Age and it is not. One way of solving this theoretical difficulty is to assume a delay of thousands of years while the solar effects overcome the inertia of the earth’s climate. If this is right, the warming effect of carbon dioxide might thus be serving as a useful counter-balance to the sun’s diminishing heat.

 

Section III  Translation

46. Directions:

Translate the following text from English into Chinese. Write your translation on ANSWER SHEET 2. (15 points)

 

Even present surveys reveal that parents still have a preference of a boy rather than a girl. Yet tables have turned and girls may now be a better investment. The expansion of female employment in the advanced world has been the principal propeller of growth in the past decades. Those women have contributed more to global GDP growth than have either new technology or the new giants, China and India. Add the value of housework and child-rearing, and women are likely to account for just over half of world output. It is true that few women make it to the top of enterprises, but, as prejudice fades over coming years, women will have great scope to boost their productivity and incomes. Governments, too, should embrace the potential of women. To an economist, women are not exploited enough: they are the world’s most under-utilized resource; getting more of them into work is part of the solution to many economic woes, including shrinking populations and poverty.

 

Section IV  Writing

Part A

47. Directions:

You have worked in your present company for nearly eight years and you find the work there is not to your taste and your potentials cannot be exploited. Write a letter to your manager to

1) Ask to resign from the company;

2) Ask the manager for a reference.

You should write about 100 words on ANSWER SHEET 2.

Do not sign your own name at the end of the letter. Use “Zhang Wei” instead.

Do not write your address. (10 points)

 

Part B

48. Directions:

Write an essay based on the following chart. In your writing, you should

1) describe the chart briefly

2) interpret the causes of it

3) give your point of view

You should write at least 150 words.

Write your essay on ANSERE SHEET 2. (15points)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MPAcc学位联考

————  英语模拟测试二答案

 

Section I

1—5 CADBA    6—10 CADAD     11—15 CBDAB    16—20 ADBCB

Section  II

PartA:    P1:  DBCBA    P2 :  DBBCB     P3 :  BACDB      P4 :  DACAB

PartB:   GBFEC

 

Section III  Translation

 

调查表明即使如今，父母依然更喜欢男孩而不是女孩。然而，形势已经有所不同，女孩或许是更好的投资。在过去二十年中，就业女性的增长是发达国家经济增长的主要推动力。女性对全球国民生产总值（GDP）增长的贡献比新技术和新兴大国（如中国和印度）的贡献多得多。加上处理家务和养育孩子的价值，女性的贡献或许超过全球产出的一半。虽然女性难以荣升到公司高层，但是，随着未来人们对其偏见逐渐减少，女性在提高其生产率和收入方面具有很大的拓展空间。政府同样要发挥女性的潜能。对于一个经济学家来说，女性的潜能还没有充分开发，她们是世界上最没有得到充分利用的资源，为更多女性提供工作是许多经济难题（包括人口缩减和消除贫穷）的部分解决方案。

 

Section IV  Writing

 

Part A

 

Dear Manager,

I regret to inform you that I decided to resign from my present position, effective from March 1st.

Three years ago I was so lucky to get the opportunity to work for our company. In our company I have learned a lot and got valuable experiences, but I am keen on personnel management and I have been offered such an opportunity in Huang he Company.

Thank you for your kind consideration and I would be grateful if you could let me have a reference letter before I leave.

Yours faithfully,

Zhang Wei

48. 略