2016年北京外国语大学博士生英语入学考试试题

PartⅠ Structure and Written Expression (40%)

Section A

Directions: In this section, there are 15 incomplete sentences. Under each sentence, you will see four words or phrases, marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one word or phrase that completes the sentence correctly. Then on your answer sheet, find the number of the question and mark your choice on the corresponding letter.

1. Experiments in the photography of moving objects______ in both the United States and Europe well before 1900.

A. have been conducing          B. was conducted

C. had been conducted            D. being conducted

2. All the many different parts of the body, large and small, ______ to perform the processes essential to life.

A. they combine  B. which combine  C. combining  D. combine

3. ______ the earth’s mass twice as great as it is, it would attract an object twice______ as it does.

A. Were…as strongly      B. If …as strongly

C. Had been…as strong    D. If…as strong

4. Slavery was unknown in English common law, and black laborers at first occupied a legal status similar______.

A. to those of white servants        B. as the white servant

C. with that of white servants      D. to that of white servants

5. ______ the sun is not shining?

A. What do    B. What if      C. What about    D. what is the result that

6. Today, formal education primarily______ memorizing data.

A. consists  B. consists in  C. in comprised by  D. composes

7. To keep from______ at jobs_____ he had no interest, he went to live for two years in the woods.

A. being worked…in that        B. working…which

C. having to work…in which    D. having been worked…that

8. It is_____ doubt that his conclusion is correct.

A. above        B. out of          C. no          D. beyond

9. ______your timely advice, I might not have succeeded.

A. Thanks to    B. With            C. For          D. But for

10. You will have some nice lecture. The names of the lectures are ______.

A. as follows    B. such as following  C. as following  D. as follows

11. It is foolish______ to make such a blunder.

A. of him        B. to him        C. for him      D. on him

12. Continuing deterioration of the earth’s ozone shield would expose human beings to increased ultraviolet radiation, ______of many serious skin cancers.

A. is the cause  B. has been the cause  C. the cause  D. that is the cause

13. ______your hand in front of your face, and you can feel the air moving.

A. To wave          B. If wave        C. Waving        D. Wave

14. Despite the pill my doctor prescribed, I still have trouble______.

A. to sleep        B. for sleeping      C. sleeping      D. to sleeping

15. The volume of the sun is about 1,300,000 times______.

A. the earth  B. as that of the earth  C. that of the earth  D. one of the earth

Section B

Directions: Identify the part of the sentence that is incorrect from the four underlined parts marked A, B, C and D. Mark your answer on the answer sheet.

16. One of the most famous of ancient times Socrates was, whose teachings are

A                  B          C            D

reflected in Plato’s writings.

17. When a spider catches an insect, it releases some poison into an insect with its

A                                          B    C

fangs, but the poison of most spiders is harmless to man.

D

18. It is generally known that the natural habitat of these types of monkeys are the

A                      B            C            D

central and eastern forest of Africa.

19. Bats are able to guide them by producing sound waves too high for us to hear.

A                  B        C      D

20. Government authorities said tonight that as many as 10,000 people were now

A                  B

believed missing and feared to die after a cyclone devastated the area over the

C              D

weekend.

21. Nowhere we have seen the results more clearly than in Europe, which really have

A                B        C

surprised us all.

D

22. Yesterday afternoon, walking along the road, a small flower pot fell from the

A                        B  C

balcony of a house, and knocked him unconscious.

D

23. Kenneth had his heart set on owing one of the new sports cars, but he finally

A                                          B    C

succeeded in buying one.

D

24. Mr. Smith is well known as a poet, and he is only three years senior than I.

A    B                C      D

25. To such an extent did his health deteriorate that he forced

A              B                  C      D

26. A turtle differs from all other reptiles that it has its body encased in a protective

A        B        C                D

shell of its own.

27. The process of graduate education and the process of basic research reinforce each

A    B

other in a great variety of ways, and each is weakened when carrying on without

C                            D

the other.

28. The point here is, to understand what you are reading, you must think about what

A                                    B

you are reading, you must make sense the message conveyed by the words.

C                  D

29. We intend to move that our committee appoints Prof. Bacon as chairman, and we

A                        B

hope that you will second our motion.

C            D

30. Although Mary was not invited to the wedding, she would very much have liked

A            B                    C

to have gone.

D

31. In a day’s work a police office often deals with a wide panorama of problems

A                                        B

from the pursuing of suspecting criminals to the rescuing of a trapped kitten.

C                              D

32. If you were awarded a prize of ten thousand dollars, what would you do with it if

A                                                  B

you had to spend in a day.

C    D

33. He wanted more out of life, not just working at high-paid jobs or spending nights

A                  B    C

on the street playing games and asked for a better one.

D

34. It is encouraging to note that in recent years, cigarette smokers have been in the

A      B                                          C

decline, especially among older people.

D

35. Beethoven, the great musician, wrote nine symphonies in his life, most of them

A            

were written after he had lost his hearing.

B              C      D

36. The new hotel has erected a beautiful building with recreation areas and

A                    B

conference facilities on the top floor in which the finest view of the city can be                   

C                          D

obtained.

37. Despite much research, there are still certain elements in the life cycle of the

A                                        B

insect that is not fully understood.

C            D

38. On the whole, ambitious students are much likely to succeed in their studies than

A                          B

are those with little ambition.

C    D

39. He got up, walked across the room, and with a sharp quick movement flung the

A              B                    C

door widely open.

D

40. The parcel you post must be well packed. Inadequate packing can mean delay

A                        B

damage or loss at your own expenses.

C                  D

PartⅡ Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension (60%)

Section A

Directions: In questions 1-30 each sentence has a word or phrase underlined. Below each sentence are four other words or phrase, marked A, B, C and D. You are to choose the one word or phrase that best keeps the meaning of the original sentence if it is substituted for the underlined word or phrase. Then, on your answer sheet find the number of the question and blacken the space that corresponds to the letter you have chosen so that the letter inside the oval cannot be seen.

1. Punctuality is imperative in your new job.

A. Being efficient  B. Being courteous  C. Being on time  D. Being cheerful

2. Egyptian authorities are trying to prevent their historical monuments from succumbing to the ravages of time.

A. standing by  B. counting on  C. yielding to  D. holding up

3. The few Americans at the party seemed just as inhibited as the rest of the guests.

A. restrained    B. tedious      C. comfortable  D. delighted

4. From an airplane, the grasslands of the western prairie appear almost as uniform as

a placid sea.

A. fake          B. seedy      C. hilly      D. calm

5. By the time that dispute was resolved, relations between Severo and management had been poisoned.

A. disdained      B. retained    C. tainted    D. stained

6. No remnants of the settlement of Roanoke, Virginia, were found by the next group of colonists.

A. traces      B. survivors      C. buildings    D. implements

7. The climate in the great plains is arid.

A. hot and dry  B. hot and wet  C. cold and wet  D. cold and dry

8. Mr. Del Rio was asked to condense his report in order to allow his audience some time to ask question.

A. abbreviate    B. expand    C. continue    D. delay

9. Can this be a duplicate of the document?

A. a summary    B. a revision  C. an outline  D. a copy

10. Sometimes a psychological problem will trigger a physical reaction.

A. release      B. initiate      C. perform    D. settle

11. He is infamous for his dishonesty in business matters.

A. notorious    B. dreaded    C. loathed    D. investigated

12. Toddlers sometimes require special attention.

A. Elderly people    B. Babies    C. Pets    D. Houseplants

13. The soldier rashly agreed to lead the dangerous expedition.

A. resignedly  B. heroically  C. recklessly  D. reluctantly

14. The old widow must have liked the young soldier, for when she died she left him most of her fortune.

A. taken after    B. taken up    C. taken to  D. taken on

15. The hotel was a four-story building away from the university where most competitors were accommodated.

A. put up      B. put down      C. put in    D. put over

16. The manic-depressive usually fluctuates between great excitement and deep depression.

A. recovers    B. falls      C. improves      D. alternates

17. The first major outburst of musical creativity in the United States occurred at the end of the nineteenth century.

A. surge      B. round      C. outcome      D. performance

18. Little Rock is the hub of the federal interstate highways that cross Arkansas.

A. highpoints    B. summit    C. path        D. center

19. The world is on the threshold of a new century.

A. realizing the importance of    B. at the beginning of

C. expecting                  D. establishing goal for

20. Though I am good at my job, it sure grinds me down sometimes.

A. oppresses me    B. disappoints me    C. bores me    D. troubles me

21. The president’s compassion for the neighboring refugees caused him to admit a very large number of them into his country.

A. friendship    B. pity    C. respect    D. hostility

22. The gunfire was sporadic.

A. intermittent    B. frequent    C. continuous  D. distant

23. The Ford Foundation is one of the world’s wealthiest philanthropic organizations.

A. profligate  B. governmental  C. humanitarian  D. multinational

24. The criminal insinuated that he had been roughly treated by the arresting officers.

A. suggested indirectly    B. denied positively

C. argued convincingly    D. stated flatly

25. Minoan kings had such strong navies that they were able to build unfortified palaces.

A. unprotected  B. undeveloped  C. unequaled  D. unidentified

26. Realizing that many readers find long descriptive passages uninteresting, Bruce began his story with an exciting conflict.

A. melancholy    B. tedious    C. incredible    D. offensive

27. In the Navajo household, grandparents and other relatives play indispensable roles in raising children.

A. dominant      B. exemplary  C. essential      D. demanding

28. For several years the lives of the two old ladies continued to revolve in intimate enmity around each other.

A. companionship  B. hospitality  C. amiability  D. hostility

29. The weather forecast was only for the metropolitan area, not for the outlying farm communities.

A. residential      B. geographical      C. city      D. industrial

30. Automation has done away with much of the drudgery of work.

A. uniqueness    B. dirtiness    C. unpleasantness    D. slowness

Section B

Directions: The rest of this section is based on a variety of reading material followed by questions about the meaning of the material. For questions 31-60, you are to choose the one best answer A, B, C or D to each question. Then , on your answer sheet, find the number of the question and blacken the space that corresponds to the letter of the answer you have chosen.

Questions 31-33

The library of Congress in Washington, D.C., which houses the largest collection of books in the world, is fighting a battle against paper deterioration. The pages of old books, often yellowed and torn, sometimes crumble when they are touched. The main culprit in the battle is the acidic paper that has been used for making books since the nineteenth century.

Air pollution and moisture have added to the problem. Strangely, the books that are most in danger of destruction are not the oldest books. The paper in books produced before the last century was made from cotton and linen rags, which are naturally low in acid. And the Gutenberg Bible, printed five centuries ago, was made of thin calfskin, and is in remarkably good shape. But in the nineteenth century, with widespread literary bringing a demand for a cheaper and more plentiful supply of paper, the industry began using chemically treated wood pulp for making paper. It is the chemical in this paper that is causing today’s problem.

This problem of paper deterioration is one of global concern. France, Canada, and has been developed recently, in fact, that allows for mass deacidification of thousands of books at the same time. It costs less than microfilming and still preserves books in their original form. It is hoped there will soon be treatment facilities all over the world to preserve and deacidify library book collections.

31. According to this passage, libraries are trying to stop

A. the tearing of books        B. the yellowing of pages

C. the problem of air pollution  D. the deterioration of paper

32. We can assume from this passage that

A. cotton and linen rags are not good for making paper

B. calfskin is low in acid

C. wood pulp is expensive

D. microfilming is an inexpensive way to preserve old books

33. Some countries in the world are

A. using calfskin for book production

B. producing books from cotton and linen rags

C. doing research into methods of mass preservation

D. building treatment facilities

Question 34-36

Lew Archer, the detective hero created by Ross MacDonald in The Moving Target (1949), is more literary in his tastes than Mike Hammer, and so more apt to muse on fate and the past than to create a political philosophy out of the individualist fantasies of the present. In part, archer owes his special sensitivity to the fact that his creator placed him in the hastily thrown up world of California and the West Coast rather than in the grimy eastern cities of Spillane and Hammer. Attuned to history as much as to action, Archer is more fascinated by the past patterns of relationships that erupt into the present than by the immediacies of violence and personal confrontation. Like other American naturalists, both Archer and Hammer pride themselves on their ability to know all the parts of town and country. But MacDonald explores what Spillane essentially disregards: The intricacies of family and the gradation of social class. Thus Spillane’s hero seems to spring from Hammett and Hemingway, while MacDonald’s Archer owes his lineage to Chandler and Faulkner.

34. What is the author’s main purpose in the passage?

A. to explain the plot of The Moving Target

B. To show the importance of setting in the detective novel

C. To prove that Archer and Hammer are literary heroes

D. To compare two characters in detective fiction

35. Which of the following is LEAST likely to be characteristic of an Archer story?

A. A violent argument          B. A California setting

C. A concern with social class    D. A study of family relationship

36. Which of the following best describes MacDonald’s relationship to Chandler and Faulkner?

A. MacDonald portrayed the lives of Chandler and Faulkner in one of his novels.

B. MacDonald followed in the tradition of Chandler and Faulkner.

C. MacDonald influenced the work of Chandler and Faulkner.

D. MacDonald disregarded the intricacies of Chandler and Faulkner.

Question 37-40

Time, we are told, is relative. We know from our experience that his is so. One summer in childhood stretched for cons, yet a year in the life of a busy adult gives him hardly time to exchange one year’s calendar for the next.

Change is relative also, though it is always occurring—and, indeed, is a law of the expanding universe of which our earth is a part. But the leisurely progress of man’s first fifteen million years was so slow that tie seemed to him to stand still. Changes could be measured in millennia—no man’s memory encompassed the span between the first use of a sharp stone as a weapon to the shaped pointed spear to extend his fighting arm.

But today change is accelerated. Not infrequently technology compounds its achievements faster than we can assimilate them, and often much faster than we can assimilate them, and often much faster than the socio-economic and other elements of contemporary society are “generalized animal” varies greatly within the species homo sapiens, and what is envisioned as progress by the “specialized brains” of some will be tolerable to others only with the passage of time. Nevertheless, acceleration of change is now our fate, and it is in our power to make it a controlled acceleration. The time span of change relative to human life is the critical factor. Once it was: Length of life=Given way of life. Now it has become: Length of life=Given way of life+ change in technological factors +change in economic and social factors. The individual who does not have to meet this new equation is rare. The industry or profession or nation that is unaffected by it is a living fossil.

37. In the first two paragraph, the author

A. says that time seems to go faster for children

B. compares change to time

C. says that adults must be careful to change calendars each year

38. According to paragraph three, technological achievements

A. easily replace old ways of doing things

B. are seen as progress by homo sapiens

C. are often slow to be accepted

D. are intolerable to the “specialized brains” of some

39. What does the writer say is a critical factor for man?

A. Acceleration of change

B. Control of acceleration of change

C. Toleration of technological advances

D. Time span of change relative to human life

40. The time span of change relative to human life

A. is not as important today as it used to be

B. is a much longer and more complex equation today than it used to be

C. does not have to be met by most people

D. does not affect industries

Questions 41-46

Impressionism in painting developed in the late nineteenth century in France. It began with a loosely structured group of painters who got together mainly to exhibit their paintings. Their art was characterized by the attempt to depict light and movement by using pure broken color. The movement began with four friends who met in a cafe: Monet, Renoir, Sisley, and Bazille. They were reacting against the academic standards of their time an dthe romantic emphasis on emotion as a subject matter. They rejected the rolr of imagination in art. Instead, they observed nature closely, painting with a scientific interest in visual phenomena. Their subject matter was as diverse as their personalities. Monet and Sislery painted landscapes with changing effects of light, and Renoir painted idealized women and children. The works of impressionists were received with hostility until the 1920s. By the 1930s impressionism had a large cult following, and by the 1950s even the least important works by people associated with the movement commanded enormous prices.

41. Impressionism began with a small group of artists who wanted to

A. use light colors      B. fight the government

C. become scientists    D. show their paintings

42. The first impressionists

A. supported the academic standards    B. began a new academy

C. did not like the academic standards  D. developed new official standards

43. The early impressionist artists painted

A. with imagination    B. different subject matter

C. landscapes          D. diverse personalities

44. What subject matter did Monet and Sisley usually paint?

A. Country scenes  B. Portraits  C. Skyscrapers  D. Animals in nature

45. Which of the following typifies the early impressionists?

A. They had a romantic emphasis

B. They tried to see nature unemotionally

C. They worked toward a unified goal

D. They idealized life

46. Most people did not like impressionistic painting

A. before 1920            B. between 1920 and 1930

C. between 1930 and 1950    D. after 1950

Question 47-50

The United States court system, as part of the federal system of government, is characterized by dual hierarchies: there are both state and federal courts. Each state has its own system of courts, composed of civil and criminal trial courts, sometimes intermediate courts, sometimes intermediate courts of appeal, and a state supreme court. The federal court system consists of a series of trial courts(called district courts) serving relatively small geographic regions(there is at least one for every state), a tier of circuit courts of appeal that hear appeals from many district courts in a particular geographic region, and the Supreme Court of the United States. The two court systems are to some extent overlapping, in that certain kinds of disputes(such as a claim that a state law is in violation of the Constitution) may be initiated in either system. They are also to some extent hierarchical, for the federal system stands above the state system in that litigants (persons engaged in lawsuits) who lose their cases in the state supreme court may appeal their cases to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Thus, the typical court case begins in a trial court—a court of general jurisdiction—in the state or federal system. Most cases go on further than the trial court: for example, the criminal defendant is convicted (by a trial or a guilty plea) and sentenced by the court and the case ends; the personal injured suit results in a judgment by a trial court (or na out-of-court settlement by the parties while the court is pending) and the parties leave the court system. But sometimes the losing party at the trial court cares enough about the cause that the matter does not end there. In these cases, the “loser” at the trial court may appeal to the next higher court.

47. According to the passage, district courts are also known as

A. circuit courts B. supreme courts C. intermediate courts D. trial courts

48. In the last sentence of the first paragraph, the phrase “engaged in” could be replaced by which of the following?

A. committed to  B. involved in  C. attentive to  D. engrossed in

49. The passage indicates that litigants who lose their cases in the state trial court may take them to a

A. different trial court in the same state B. court in a different geographic region

C. federal trial court                D. state supreme court

50. It can be inferred from the passage that typical court cases are

A. always appealed      B. usually revolved in the district courts

C. always overlapping    D. usually settled by the Supreme Court

Question 51-54

Cotton Mather, the so-called “Puritan priest,” is a man familiar to all historians interested in early America. Undeniably, he had a profound impact on the intellectual climate in America during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. In placing this man in context, it is important to realize that the era into which Mather was born in 1663 was what might be called medieval early America, a time very different from the post-Enlightenment America characterized by Georigian architecture and republican ideas. nonetheless, it was time of considerable philosophical evolution, and Cotton Mather was a prominent force not only in the religious and legal thought of the day, but also in medical affairs.

Cotton Mather’s maternal grandfather was John Cotton, who for twenty years was a minister of St. Botolph Church in Boston, Linconshire, England. he was compelled to give up his post when a townsman charged that magistrates were not required to kneel at the sacrament in Reverend Cotton’s church. In some theological disgrace, John Cotton set off for the New World, and, as it happeed, he sailed for America with two other ministers, Thomas Hooker and Samuel Stone. This was taken to be a good omen by all three, for one ship brought Cotton for clothing, Stone for building, and Hooker for fishing. Reverend Cotton preached in Boston for nineteen years until his death in 1652. His widow married Richard Mather.

Mather was also a minister who had been suspended for nonconformity and came to New England as a result. His first wife was Catherine Holt, of whom Cotton Mather was later to write: “If a pretty late abortion might have passed for a birth, it might be said of this gentle woman that she was a mother of seven sons.” The last of these sons was Increase Mather. He too entered the ministry and began preaching in the Second Church of Boston. On March 6, 1662, he married the daughter of John Cotton. To this couple Cotton Mather was born on February 12, 1663. Increase Mather later became one of the most prominent early Bostonians and was named president of Harvard College in 1685.

51. According to the passage, Cotton Mather influenced all areas of American life except.

A. legal thought  B. medical affairs  C. religious thought  D. republican ideas

52. What is the main idea of the first paragraph?

A. Cotton Mather was called the “Puritan priest.”

B. Mather was born in 1663.

C. Medieval early America and post-Enlightenment America were very different.

D. Cotton Mather is a well-known historical figure who was very influential in his time.

53. According to the passage, which of the following could not be said of Increase Mather?

A. He was a minister.

B. He was a youngest son.

C. He was president of Harvard College.

D. He was suspended for religious non-conformity.

54. What most likely follows this passage?

A. Further discussion of America in the 1600s

B. More information about Cotton Mather’s background and life

C. A discussion of the ministry and ministers in America in the 1600s

D. Further discussion of John Cotton

Question 55-60

Radiocarbon is a radioactive isotope with an atomic weight of 14, which makes it heavier than ordinary carbon. Radiocarbon forms when cosmic rays, or high-energy atomic particles, collide with the Earth’s atmosphere. This collision causes atoms to disintegrate into smaller elements. One of these elements, the neutron, smashes into the nuclei of nitrogen atoms and, in the process of being absorbed into the nuclei, causes a proton element to be released. In this manner a nitrogen atom turns into a radiocarbon atom.

Radiocarbon is found in all living matter. For every trillion molecules of carbon dioxide gas, the atmosphere contains about one radiocarbon atom. Plants assimilate radiocarbon from carbon dioxide in the air, and humans absorb it mainly from food made from plants.