沈陽工業大學2022年考博英語真題-1001英語（B）

Part Ι Reading Comprehension (60 points, 3 for each)

Directions: There are four passages in this part. Each of the passages is followed by five questions or unfinished statements. For each of the questions there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the best one and mark your answer on the ANSWER SHEET.

Passage One

While the mission of public schools has expanded beyond education to include social support and extra-curricular activities, the academic schedule has changed little in more than a century.

Reclaiming the school day for academic instruction and escaping the time-bound traditions of education are vital steps in the school-reform process, says a report released today by the National Education Commission on Time and Learning. 

The commission’s report, titled “Prisoners of Time,” calls the fixed clock and calendar in American education a “fundamental design flaw” in desperate need of change. “Time should serve children instead of children serving time,” the report says.

The two-year commission found that holding American students to “world-class standards,” will require more time for classroom instruction. “We have been asking the impossible of our students-that they learn as much as their foreign peers while spending half as much as in core academic subjects,” it states. 

The Commission compared the relationships between time and learning in Japan, Germany, and the United States and found that American students receive less than half the basic academic instruction that Japanese andGerman students are provided. On average,American students can earn a high school diploma if they spend only 41 percent of their school time on academics, says the report.

American students spend an average of three hours a day on “core” academics such as English, math, science,and history, the commission found. Their report recommends offering a minimum of 5.5 hours of academics every school day.

The nine-member commission also recommends lengthening the school day beyond the traditional six hours.

“If schools want to continue offering important activities outside the academic core, as well as serving as a hub for family and community services, they should keep school doors open longer each day and each year,” says John Hodge Jones, superintendent of schools in Murfreesboro, Tenn., and chairman of the commission. 

The typical school year in American public schools is 180 days. Eleven states allow school years of 175 days or less, and only one state requires more than 180 days. 

“For over a decade, education reform advocates have been working feverishly to improve our schools,” says Milton Goldberg, executive director of the commission. “But... if reform is to truly take hold, the six-hour, 180-day school year should be relegated (歸屬于) to museums—an exhibit from our education past.”

1. Compared with the academic courses more than a hundred years ago, the academic courses now __________.

A) include some extra-curricular activities

B) focus more on education of social support

C) demand students’ more contribution of time

D) remain more or less what they used to be

2. The researches by the commission mentioned in the passage are most concerned about __________.

A) the time attributed to academic learning

B) the components of school education

C) the changes in education in the recent century

D) the fashion of education management

3. As it is mentioned in the passage, schools in the United States do the following except________.

A) provide important outside-academic activities

B) serve social units such as family and community

C) arrange six-hour teaching and learning every day

D) have competition with schools of other countries

4. American students differ from those in Japan, Germany in that___________.

A) they stay at school for a shorter time every day

B) they do not learn as much as their counterparts abroad

C) they devote less time to academic learning

D) they earn a high school diploma more easily

5. Executive director of the commission Milton Goldberg would most probably agree that __________.

A) what the education reform advocates have done is not good enough

B) the time of school day and school year should be extended

C) visiting museums can improve students’ academic learning ability

D) social support and extra-curricular activities should be cancelled

Passage Two

As anyone who has been to Japan knows, there are strict rules about bathing in onsen (溫泉), or hot springs. Bodies must be scrubbed beforehand, swimming trunks are banned and tattoos are taboo. The industry’s management scope extends far beyond the tub, however.

For decades, onsen owners have hindered development of a huge potential source of clean energy: geothermal(地熱的) power. They argue that the tapping of heated aquifers (蓄水層) in volcanic Japan will drain the onsen dry, increase pollution and ruin a cherished form of relaxation. With Japan on the verge of running out of nuclear power, however, the demand for new sources of energy is becoming harder to resist.

Three Japanese companies—Toshiba, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Fuji Electric—control more than half of the global market for geothermal turbines (渦輪機), yet Japan itself gets a mere 0.3% of its energy, or 537 megawatts, from its own steam. The industry’s promoters say that Japan sits on about 20,000 MW of geothermal energy, or the equivalent of 20 nuclear reactors, though not all of this could be developed. Since the disaster at Fukushima last year, all but one of the nation’s 54 nuclear reactors are now temporarily suspended, reducing Japan’s power-generating capacity by about a third. That has accelerated the search for alternatives.

In July the government is set to introduce a feed-in tariff that will force the ten regional electricity monopolies to buy renewable energy at above-market rates—though a price has not yet been set. At the end of March the environment ministry said it would abolish guidelines that restrict geothermal development in some national parks. Companies including Idemitsu, a refiner, have quickly announced plans to build a geothermal plant in the mountains of Fukushima prefecture, which is famous for its hot springs. But they expect it will take ten years before they start generating electricity.

Experts say the long time lag reflects some of the difficulties of developing new business in Japan. Tetsunari Iida, head of the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies, says the country needs a “strong and wise government” that can persuade the onsen owners and local communities that the industry would not spoil their spas. He also says the country needs companies with strong balance-sheets and a robust risk culture to lead the way. Having the world’s best turbine manufacturers is not enough, he says.

To speed things up, Japan could also look overseas for help. Iceland, for instance, generates the same amount of geothermal energy as Japan, though Japan has 400 times more people. A Japanese expert, Hirofumi Muraoka, calculates that one mid-sized northern city, Aomori, with a population about the size of Iceland’s 318,000, could save enormously on imported fuel bills and heating costs by tapping geothermal springs nearby. Besides generating electricity, it could use the hot water from the springs to heat houses, as Iceland does.

Iceland’s ambassador to Japan, Stefan Stefansson, says his country’s experience suggests Japan does not need subsidies to develop geothermal energy. It needs careful management of underground reservoirs, and an entrepreneurial (企業家的) vision. Besides heating houses, he says, Iceland’s geothermal water is used for farming tasty tropical fish.

6. The hot springs’ owners prevent people developing geothermal power because they think it might __________.

A) reduce the temperature of hot springs

B) lead to the dryness of hot springs

C) promote other forms of recreation

D) make the volcanos erupt

7. The result of the Fukushima accident in Japan is that __________.

A) one nuclear reactor is shut down for a limited time

B) Japan’s electricity output is reduced to one third

C) the area nearby is seriously polluted

D) Japan speeds up the search for new energy sources

8. Which of the following statements about the policy introduced by the Japanese government in July is TURE?

A) It was implemented on a volunteer basis.

B) It aimed at all the electricity companies.

C) It was about purchasing the renewable energy.

D) It set the price of the renewable energy below the market rate.

9. Hirofumi Muraoka thinks Aomori can learn from Iceland to use hot springs __________.

A) to heat houses

B) for having baths

C) to export fuels

D) to farm the fish

10. To develop geothermal energy, what does Stefan Stefansson think Japan needs to have?

A) The allowance to develop geothermal energy.

B) Careful development of the natural resources.

C) Good management of underground reservoirs.

D) A fair-sighted government.

Passage Three

In the 1920s America enjoyed what was to become known as “an Age of Excess”. From 1921-1929 manufacturing output increased with only a small check—the mild recession of 1924, and real GNP (1929 prices) rose 45.6 percent. In real terms it was a vigorous expansion with the added attractions of stable prices, rising real wages, and mainly “full” employment. So the 1920s’ boom remains a legend in the American economic history.

The boom was created by several factors that worked together. The three presidents of the twenties, Harding,Coolidge and Hoover were all Republicans who supported business and the stock market. The Republicans were against any kind of welfare state or the government regulating business. They introduced lower tax rates and raised tariffs on foreign goods so they could not compete with American business. This was known as “protectionism”.America’s economy had not suffered from World War I. In fact it had been strengthened by trading arms to the allies.In the twenties, there was a substantial growth in production, jobs, profits, wages and the standard of living. The growth in production created more jobs, and because more people had more money they could buy the newly produced goods. More goods needed to be produced so more jobs and profits were created. This led to the twenties seeing the start of mass production and consumerism. For the first time items like cars and refrigerators were available and affordable to the middle classes, and secondary industries such as advertising became very profitable.There was an inevitable change in the ideas and actions of society. People could afford to enjoy their leisure time and the leisure industries also boomed.

Much of American Society was changed by the Boom. More people could go out and enjoy themselves because of the increased leisure time and affluence of society. Writer F. Scott Fitzgerald called it “the Age of Excess”. Jazz music had a massive effect on the youth of America, as they became more outgoing. More started smoking and going out, and women started to wear shorter skirts and other more outrageous fashions. Older generations hated the new music and showed apparent disrespect of younger people. A new kind of woman was created, called a “flapper”.Hollywood promoted these women and their fashions as the rogue actresses became icons for other young ladies. To most, these women were nothing but a sign of the times, a decline in traditional standards.

11. From the passage, we learn that “the Age of Excess” __________.

A) was the result of “protectionism” and “consumerism”

B) was the most economically prosperous times in the U.S.

C) was a term first used by a writer named F. Scott Fitzgerald

D) was the only period when the unemployment rate was zero

12. The three republican presidents contributed to the boom of U.S. economy in the 1920’s because they advocated

__________.

A) the idea of welfare state

B) business regulated by the government

C) raising duties on imported goods

D) business competition among countries

13. It can be inferred that mass production started when __________.

A) the needs for consumer goods kept growing

B) the middle class could afford to buy luxuries

C) secondary industries became profitable

D) people had more leisure time activities

14. The word “affluence” (Line2, Para.3) is closest in meaning to “__________”.

A) wealth

B) influence

C) standard

D) diversity

15. What was most people’s attitude toward “flappers”?

A) They regarded these women as their icons.

B) They reckoned these women to be fashionable.

C) They heaped hatred upon these women.

D) They thought these women were just a symbol of the times.

Passage Four

A solid majority of technology experts and stakeholders participating in the fourth Future of the Internet survey expect that by 2020 most people will access software application online and share and access information housed on their individual, personal computers. They say that cloud computing will become more dominant than the desktop in the next decade. In other words, most users will perform most computing and communicating activities through connections to serves operated by outside firms.

Among the most popular cloud services now are social networking sites (the 500 million people using Facebook are being social in the cloud), webmail services like Hotmail and Yahoo mail, microblogging and blogging services such as Twitter and WordPress, vide-sharing sites like YouTube, picture-sharing sites such as Flickr, document and applications sites like Google Docs, social-bookmarking sites like Delicious, business sites like eBay, and ranking,rating and commenting sites such as Yelp and TripAdvisor.

Most of those surveyed noted that cloud computing will continue to expand and come to dominate information transactions because it offers many advantages, allowing users to have easy, instant, and individualized access to tools and information they need wherever they are, locatable from any networked device. Some experts noted that people in technology-rich environments will have access to sophisticated-yet-affordable local networks that allow them to “have the cloud in their homes”.

Many of the people who agreed with the statement that cloud computing will expand as the Internet evolves said the desktop will not die out but it will be used in new, improved ways in tandem with remote computing. Some survey participants said they expect that a more sophisticated desktop-cloud hybrid (混合物) will be people’s primary interface with information. They predicted the desktop and individual, private networks will be able to provide most of the same conveniences as the cloud but with better functionality, overall efficiency, and speed. Some noted that general-purpose in-home PC servers can do much of the work locally via a connection to the cloud to tap into resources for computing-intensive tasks.

Meanwhile, a number of people said cloud computing presents difficult security problems and further exposes private information to governments, corporations, thieves, opportunists, and human and machine error, etc.

Survey participants noted that there are also quality of service and compatibility hurdles (障礙) that must be crossed successfully before loud computing gains more adopters. Among the other limiting factors the expert respondents mentioned were: the lack of broadband spectrum to handle the load if everyone is using the cloud; the variability of cost and access in different parts of the world and the difficulties that lie ahead before they can reach the ideal of affordable access anywhere, anytime; and complex legal issues, including cross-border intellectual property and privacy conflicts.

16. We can learn from the first paragraph that __________.

A) cloud computing is a special machine operated by some companies

B) the desktop access software applications through stored tools and information

C) computing and communicating cannot be carried out without cloud computing

D) cloud computing will replace desktops completely in the near future

17. According to the passage, microblogging and Twitter belong to __________.

A) cloud services

B) talking applications

C) picture-sharing sites

D) community networking sites

18. What is the future of the desktop with the development of cloud services?

A) It will not die out but only be used by a small group.

B) It will disappear slowly with cloud service spreading.

C) It will cooperate with remote computing and offer new services.

D) It will not die out but only be improved to offer cloud services.

19. What problems must could computing solve if it wants to expand its services?

A) The lack of broadband spectrum and errors.

B) Leakages of private information and errors.

C) The variability of cost, access and human errors.

D) The lack of broadband spectrum and compatibility.

20. What’s the author’s main purpose in writing this passage?

A) To announce the ending of the desktop time.

B) To indicate the problems of cloud computing.

C) To point out the future of desktop applications.

D) To state the coming of the cloud computing era.

Part ΙΙ Put the following into Chinese. (15 points)

Group buying is a new shopping mode which, as its name implies, means a large group of people buying the 

same product. It aims at enhancing buyers’ negotiation power with sellers to get a favorable price. With the 

prosperity and development of Chinese e-commerce, online group buying is popular among Chinese Internet users 

and has become the main form of group buying. It is convenient, fast, low in price and unrestrained by regions.

Currently many websites in China are trying to launch group buying service and flourish quickly. It is known that the 

majority of online group buyers are young people in large and medium-sized cities in China.

Part Ⅲ Essay Writing (25 points)

Write a composition of about 200 words on the following topic:

The Challenges of Pursuing a Doctoral Degree

You are to write in three parts.

In the first part, state specifically what your opinion is.

In the second part, support your opinion with appropriate details.

In the last part, bring what you have written to a natural conclusion or a summary.

Marks will be awarded for content, organization, grammar and appropriateness. Failure to follow the instructions may result in a loss of marks.