ambient2008年英语专业八级考试真题及答案

2021年1月10日发(作者：崔峰)
2008年英语专业八级考试真题及答案
TEST FOR ENGLISH MAJORS（2008）
—GRADE EIGHT—

PART II READING COMPREHENSION (30 MIN)
In this section there are four reading passages followed by a total of 20 multiple-choice questions. Read the passages and
then mark your answers on your coloured answer sheet。
TEXT A
At the age of 16, Lee Hyuk Joons life is a living hell. The South Korean 10th grader gets up at 6 in the morning to go to
school, and studies most of the day until returning home at 6 p.m. After dinner, its time to hit the books again—at one of Seouls
many so- called cram schools. Lee gets back home at 1 in the morning, sleeps less than five hours, then repeats the routine—five
days a week. Its a grueling schedule, but Lee worries that it may not be good enough to get him into a top university. Some of
his classmates study even harder.
South Koreas education system has long been highly competitive. But for Lee and the other 700,000 high-school
sophomores in the country, high- school studies have gotten even more intense. Thats because South Korea has conceived a new
college-entrance system, which will be implemented in 2008. This years 10th graders will be the first group evaluated by the
new admissions standard, which places more emphasis on grades in the three years of high school and less on nationwide
SAT-style and other selection tests, which have traditionally determined which students go to the elite colleges.
The change was made mostly to reduce what the government says is a growing education gap in the country: wealthy
students go to the best colleges and get the best jobs, keeping the children of poorer families on the social margins. The aim is
to reduce the importance of costly tutors and cram schools, partly to help students enjoy a more normal high-school life. But the
new system has had the opposite effect. Before, students didnt worry too much about their grade-point averages; the big
challenge was beating he standardized tests as high-school seniors. Now students are competing against one another over a
three-year period, and every midterm and final test is crucial. Fretful parents are relying even more heavily on tutors and cram
schools to help their children succeed.
Parents and kids have sent thousands of angry online letters to the Education Ministry complaining that the new admissions
standard is setting students against each other.
Education experts say that South Koreas public secondary-school system is foundering, while private education is thriving.
According to critics, the countrys high schools are almost uniformly mediocre—the result of an egalitarian government
education policy. With the number of elite schools strictly controlled by the government, even the brightest students typically
have to settle for ordinary schools in their neighbourhoods, where the curriculum is centred on average students. To make up
for the mediocrity, zealous parents send their kids to the expensive cram schools. Students in affluent southern Seoul
neighbourhoods complain that the new system will hurt them the most.
Nearly all Korean high schools will be weighted equally in the college-entrance process, and relatively weak students in
provincial schools, who may not score well on standardized tests, often compile good grade-point averages.
Some universities, particularly prestigious ones, openly complain that they cannot select the best students under the new
system because it eliminates differences among high schools. Theyve asked for more discretion in picking students by giving
more weight to such screening tools as essay writing or interviews.
President Roh Moo Hyun doesnt like how some colleges are trying to circumvent the new system. He recently criticized

between the government and universities, the countrys 10th graders are feeling the stress. On online protest sites, some are
calling themselves a “cursed generation” and “mice in a lab experiment”. It all seems a touch melodramatic, but thats the South
Korean school system.
11. According to the passage, the new college-entrance system is designed to
A. require students to sit for more college-entrance tests.
B. reduce the weight of college-entrance tests.
C. select students on their high school grades only.
D. reduce the number of prospective college applicants.
12. What seems to be the effect of introducing the new system?
A. The system has given equal opportunities to students.
B. The system has reduced the number of cram schools.
C. The system has intensified competition among schools.
D. The system has increased students study load.
13. According to critics, the popularity of private education is mainly the result of
A. the governments egalitarian policy. B. insufficient number of schools:
C. curriculums of average quality. D. low cost of private education.
14. According to the passage, there seems to be disagreement over the adoption of the new system between the following
groups EXCEPT
A. between universities and the government.
B. between school experts and the government.
C. between parents and schools.
D. between parents and the government.
15. Which of the following adjectives best describes the authors treatment of the topic?
A. Objective. B. Positive. C. Negative. D. Biased.
TEXT B
Wilfred Emmanuel- Jones was a teenager before he saw his first cow in his first field. Born in Jamaica, the 47-year- old
grew up in inner-city Birmingham before making a career as a television producer and launching his own marketing agency.
But deep down he always nurtured every true Englishmans dream of a rustic life, a dream that his entrepreneurial wealth has
allowed him to satisfy. These days hes the owner of a thriving 12-hectare farm in deepest Devon with cattle, sheep and pigs.
His latest business venture: pushing his brand of Black Fanner gourmet sausages and barbecue sauces. “My background may be
very urban,” says Emmanuel-Jones.
“But it has given me a good idea of what other urbanites want.”
And of how to sell it. Emmanuel-Jones joins a herd of wealthy fugitives from city life who are bringing a new commercial
know-how to British farming. Britains burgeoning farmers markets -numbers have doubled to at least 500 in the last five
years—swarm with specialty cheesemakers, beekeepers or organic smallholders who are redeploying the business skills they
learned in the city.
come to terms with the fact that things have changed.
if you dont know how to market it, you are wasting your time. We are helping the traditionalists to move on.
The emergence of the new class of superpeasants reflects some old yearnings. If the British were the first nation to
industrialize, they were also the first to head back to the land. is this romantic image of the countryside that is
particularly English,
rising since 1911. Migration into rural areas is now running at about 100,000
a year, and the hunger for a taste of the rural life has kept land prices buoyant even as agricultural incomes tumble. About 40
percent of all farmland is now sold to
the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
Whats new about the latest returnees is their affluence and zeal for the business of producing quality foods, if only at a
micro-level. A healthy economy and surging London house prices have helped to ease the escape of the would-be rustics. The
media recognize and feed the fantasy. One of the big TV hits of recent years, the
Cottage
match their City salaries, but many are happy to trade any loss of income for the extra job satisfaction. Who cares if theres no
six-figure annual bonus when the land offers other incalculable compensations?
Besides, the specialist producers can at least depend on a burgeoning market for their products. Todays eco-aware
generation loves to seek out authentic ingredients.
onetime investment banker now running his own 40-hectare spread in the English Midlands stocked with rare sts
see signs of far-reaching change: Britain isnt catching up with mainland Europe; its leading the way. “Unlike most other
countries, where artisanal food production is being eroded, here it is being recovered,
be the mark of the next stage of civilization that we rediscover the desirability of being a peasant.” And not an investment
banker.
16. Which of the following details of Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones is INCORRECT?
A. He was born and brought up in Birmingham.
B. He used to work in the television industry.
C. He is wealthy, adventurous and aspiring.
D. He is now selling his own quality foods.
17. Most importantly, people like Wilfred have brought to traditional British farming
A. knowledge of farming.
B. knowledge of brand names.
C. knowledge of lifestyle.
D. knowledge of marketing,
18. Which of the following does NOT contribute to the emergence of a new class of farmers?
A. Strong desire for country life.
B. Longing for greater wealth,
C. Influence of TV productions.
D. Enthusiasm for quality food business.
19. What is seen as their additional source of new income?
A. Modern tendency to buy natural foods.
B. Increase in the value of land property.
C. Raising and selling rare live stock. V
D. Publicity as a result of media coverage.
20. The sentence in the last paragraph “...Britain isnt catching up with mainland Europe; its leading the way
A. Britain has taken a different path to boost economy.
B. more authentic foods are being produced in Britain.
C. the British are heading back to the countryside.
D. the Europeans are showing great interest in country life.
TEXT C
In Barcelona the Catalonians call them castells, but these arent stereotypical castles in Spain. These castles are made up of
human beings, not stone. The people who perform this agile feat of acrobatics are called castellers, and to see their towers take
shape is to observe a marvel of human cooperation.
First the castellers form what looks like a gigantic rugby scrummage. They are the foundation blocks of the castle. Behind
them, other people press together, forming outward-radiating ramparts of inward- pushing muscle: flying buttresses for the
castle. Then sturdy but lighter castellers scramble over the backs of those at the bottom and stand, barefoot, on their
shoulders—then still others, each time adding a higher
These human towers can rise higher than small apartment buildings: nine “stories”, 35 feet into the air. Then, just When it
seems this tower of humanity cant defy gravity any longer, a little kid emerges from the crowd and climbs straight up to the top.
Arms extended, the child grins while waving to the cheering crowd far below.
Dressed in their traditional costumes, the castellers seem to epitomize an easier time, before Barcelona became a world
metropolis arid the Mediterraneans most dynamic city. But when you observe-them tip close, in their street clothes, at practice,
you see theres nothing easy about what the castellers do - and that they are not merely reenacting an ancient ritual.
None of the castellers can-give a logical answer as to why they love doing this. But Victor Luna, 16, touches me on the
shoulder and says in English: