1、四川大学考博真题四川大学2015年博士研究生入学考试英语试题I. Reading Comprehension (30%; one mark each)Directions: Read the following six passages. Answer the questions below each passage by Choosing A, B, C, or D. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet.Passage OneSpeech is so familiar a feature of daily life that we rarely pa
2、use to define it. It seems as natural to man as walking, and only less so than breathing. Yet it needs but a moments reflection to convince us that this naturalness of speech is but an illusory feeling. The process of acquiring speech is, in sober fact, an utterly different sort of thing from the pr
3、ocess of learning to walk. In the case of the latter function, culture, in other words, the traditional body of social usage, is not seriously brought into play. The child is individually equipped, by the complex set of factors that we term biological heredity, to make all the needed muscular and ne
4、rvous adjustments that result in walking. Indeed, the very conformation of these muscles and of the appropriate parts of the nervous system may be said to be primarily adapted to the movements made in walking and in similar activities. In a very real sense, the normal human being is predestined to w
5、alk, not because his elders will assist him to learn the art, but because his organism is prepared from birth to take on all those muscular adaptations that result in walking. To put it concisely, walking is an inherent, biological function of man.Not so language. It is of course true that in a cert
6、ain sense the individual is predestined to talk, but that is due entirely to the circumstance that he is born in the lap of a society that is certain to lead him to its traditions. Eliminate society and there is every reason to believe that he will learn to walk, if, indeed, he survives at all. But
7、it is just as certain that he will never learn to talk, that is, to communicate ideas according to the traditional system of a particular society. Or, again, remove the new-born individual from the social environment into which he has come and transplant him to an utterly foreign one. He will develo
8、p the art of walking in his new environment very much as he would have developed it in the old. But his speech will be completely at variance with the speech of his native environment. Walking then is a general human activity that varies only within a restricted limit as we pass from individual to i
9、ndividual. Its variability is purposeless. Speech is a human activity that varies without assignable limit as we pass from social group to social group, the product of long-continued social usage. It varies as all creative effort varies . not as consciously, perhaps, but none the less as truly as do
10、 the religions, the beliefs, the customs, and the arts of different peoples. Walking is an organic, an instinctive, function; speech is a non-instinctive, acquired, “cultural” function.1. The first sentence of Paragraph Two, Not so language, is the closest in meaning to（ ）A This is not the case with
11、 languageB So is language and net anything elseC No such a thing exists in languageD Not so much with language2. The real difference between the ability to walk and the ability to talk is that （ ）.A the former is like breathing while the latter is notB the former does not require social interaction
12、while the latter doesC the former requires muscular movement while the latter does notD the former is predestined while the latter is not3. Which of the following is NOT an idea of the author? （ ）A Language is biologically programmed but has to be acquired later on.B Only when a child grows up in a
13、community can he learn to talk.C Language interaction is a way to impart culture.D Formal education is necessary for the learning of language.4. When the author says the variability of walking is purposeless, he means that（ ）.A any person who walks would not have a purposeBI in all cultures people w
14、alk aimlesslyC culture does affect the ways people walkD purpose in walking varies with ones ability5. The author wrote this passage in order to（ ）.A argue for a point B provide informationC narrate a legend D debate with his rivalsPassage TwoThe observer does not have to look far to discover that W
15、estern society is youth oriented and youth worshiping. The phenomenon shows itself in many ways. First, adults do all they can to be youthful and to remain young because old age is feared and youthfulness admired. Beauty and cosmetic industries have made billions of dollars by encouraging this emula
16、tion of agelessness.Second, much of what parents do is for their young. Thousands of parents make daily sacrifices for their children. The numerous benefits heaped upon children are evident. Many mothers say: I would give my life for my children. This feeling does not apply to all parents, but it ap
17、plies to enough of them to be proof positive that todays adults care about their young people.Third, most adults say that the majority of youth today are pretty good kids. This point of view can be fairly well substantiated. Most studies that focus on normal adolescents agree that the majority are n
18、ot problems, not in turmoil, not deeply disturbed, not at the mercy of their impulses, not resistant to parental values, not politically active, and not rebellious. In a recent Gallup poll, 97 percent of teens said they got along with their parents either very well or fairly well. Only 3 percent sai
19、d they did not get along at all well. Sometimes, parents carry a positive view of their teenagers to an over-idealized extreme. They refuse to believe their children are ever at fault or ever capable of doing wrong, and they tend to attack any friend, teacher, or town official who tries to tell them
20、 otherwise. Despite this over-idealization most youths are not problems - to themselves or to their communities. Misconceptions are foraged by focusing only on the drug-addicted, delinquent, and disturbed or on the social rebels who are in fact a minority.Finally, although most youths today are not
21、activist rebels like those of the late 1960s and early 1970s; youthful idealism is still much in evidence. Adolescents are much concerned about social issues such as juvenile crime, drug abuse, the energy crises, unemployment, womens liberation, materialism and indifference in society, pollution, an
22、d the environment. They also show genuine concern for the underdog, indicated by their frequent political alliance with blacks or the poor. They will give generously and work hard to help the starving overseas or will come to the defense of convicted criminals if they feel their cause is just. Clerg
23、y and other caring adults applaud youths who join the love generation to find more meaningful relationships than those between their parents at home or between business elements in a highly competitive society. These adults-emphasize that parents ought not to be critical of their young for hating co
24、rruption, injustice, or superficial values. Although they are a little awed by youths who will work for months to keep a wilderness area from being mined by developers, value-oriented adults tell parents to admire their Young and admit that their activities are more worthwhile than swallowing goldfi
25、sh or seeing how many kids can crowd themselves into a telephone booth.6. By youth worshiping, the author expressed the idea that in Western society the adults A worship the young people B are all religious believersC desire to stay young D worship God like the youth7. According to the passage, teen
26、agers in Western society are.A unmotivated students in schoolsB sympathetic with the unfortunateC highly competitive on the job marketD equipped with all kinds of values8. All of the following can be inferred from the passage EXCEPT that .A young people are more active than adults in protecting thei
27、r environmentB a majority of families live in peace and harmonyC adults used to believe that adolescents are rebelliousD it is not right for adults to criticize the youths9. Which of the following is the best paraphrase of the idea of the last sentence of the passage ?A Youths may go too far in thei
28、r social activities, but thats better than their doing mischievous things or wasting their time.B Youths may oppose development, and thats worthwhile because goldfish and telephone booth are far less important.C Youths are environment protectionists, but they may also cause damage to wildlife or to
29、public properties.D Youths stay too long in wilderness, since they love things in nature instead of goldfish or telephone booths in modem cities.10. Most likely, the author of this passage is .A a sociologist B a loving parentC a political official D a clergymanPassage ThreeCrocodiles are incredibly
30、 strong, agile and aggressive. They are merciless killers and its their nature to be brutal. They are estimated to kill up to 200 people per year in Africa and they can eat up to half their body weight in one meal. This is why in Burkina Faso, the lakeside Bazoule village is famous for its unique tr
31、adition.For many generations the villagers have lived harmoniously with about 200 wild crocodiles. Crocodiles have remained the same for over 200 million years. They are feared and avoided by humans and animals alike. But the people of Bazoule revere the sacred crocodiles in the lake. This unique tr
32、adition started many generations ago at a time when the people of Bazoule were facing a great drought and there was no water. Women used to walk 40 kilometers searching for water. The crocodiles lived apart and hence there was no co-habitation between the crocodiles and the people of Bazoule.Legend says that one day the women were passing close to the crocodiles and one woman attempted to collect water in the lake and the crocodile let her fetch water without atta
