桂林理工大学2021年硕士研究生入学考试试题A

考试科目代码：630 

考试科目名称：综合英语 

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　（总分150分，三小时答完）                    　　　　　　　  

考生注意：请将答题写在答卷纸上，写在试卷上视为无效。 

Part I Structure a n d Expression (30分,每题1分) 

Directions: In this section there are 30 sentences followed by four multiple choices. Choose one to complete the sentences. Mark your answers on the Answer Sheet. 

1.      As old proverb goes, the grass is always greener _____ the other side. 

A. with       B. fo r        C. on      D. than          

2.      Our success was attributed not so much to your help _____ to our cooperation. 

A. but        B. as         C. as if     D. but also 

3.      Personality is to man      perfume is to a flower. 

A. what   B. as   C. as if     D. like 

4.      In interpreting, wo rds are _____ significant to be left out. 

A. quite       B. very       C. so       D. too   

5.      _____ all the effo rts we’d made, we still failed to actualize our potentials. 

A. Fo r        B. With       C. On      D. Despite         

6.      Nothing could _____ the to rpidity of the indifferent audience. 

A. compel     B. expel       C. dispel      D. excel 

7.      We must ____ a sense of duty in our children.  

A. distill      B. instill       C. still        D. sta n dstill 

8.      ____ physicists from all over the wo rld came to the United States to celebrate the centennial of Einstein’s birth. 

A. Imminent    B. Dominant    C. Preeminent    D. Eminent 

9.             can have tremendous value if you accept the hard-won wisdom a n d move on with life a n d love. 

A. Fo resight     B. Insight      C. Hindsight     D. Eyesight 

10.  A slowdown in the economy caused us to ____ great losses. 

A. incur        B. occur       C. concur     D. recur 

11.  Money still talks, but in mo re       ways. 

A. imaginal     B. imaginable   C. imaginary   D. imaginative 

12.  Her membership of the club will _____ by the end of this month. 

A. collapse      B. elapse      C. laps      D. lapse 

13.  I hope the plan doesn’t       a second time owing to lack of funds. 

A. fallen down    B. fallen through    C. fallen apart    D. fallen off 

14.  It’s not very wise fo r one to          the past failures. 

A. dwell at     B. dwell down    C. dwell in     D. dwell on            

15.  The young scholar _____ home what he wanted to convey to the audience in the lecture. 

A. hampered    B. drove        C. sent        D. came 

16.  When a debate came to a _____, he could quote his autho rities with a sureness which withstood reference to the books. 

A. clinch       B. clench       C. quench      D. stench 

17.  The country’s economy is on the       of collapse.  

A. edge        B. verge        C. blink        D. threshold  

18.  Hunger is the best       fo r food. 

A. relish       B. favo r        C. joy       D. delight 

19.  It was a        that produced extremely useful results. 

A. cooperation     B. acco rdance    C. line     D. collabo ration   

20.  Home a n d family life has changed in impo rtant ways since the     of cellphone. 

A. adventure    B. advert      C. advent     D. advertise 

21.  Most vegetables we buy in winter are       in the greenhouse. 

A. nurtured      B. nursed      C. fed       D. reared 

22.  He declared that he was not      fo r his wife’s debts. 

A. timely        B. liable      C. simultaneous      D. subject 

23.  The new drug can _____ his pain to some degree but it does not cure his illness. 

B. deterio rate     B. motivate     C. alleviate     D. activate 

24.  There are still large populations of the wo rld who are _____ by famine a n d diseases. 

A. suffered       B. injured      C. spoiled       D. afflicted  

25.  The economic _____ fo r Europe is gloomy because of the global financial crisis. 

A. outlook       B. outbreak      C. output       D. outcome 

26.  The two approaches are not conflicting but       . 

A. supplementary    B. complementary     C. subsidiary      D. secondary 

27.  There are _____ reasons that make the other America an invisible la n d. 

A. multitude   B. many    C. histo rical    D. perennial 

28.  The government tries to _____ between the wo rkers a n d the employers during the strike. 

A. mediate    B. meditate      C. reconcile     D. compromise 

29.  Such a questionable assertion is sure to      criticism. 

A. inspire    B. irritate      C. provoke      D. advocate 

30.  Investiture is distinct from       . 

A. hono r      B. love         C. attribute      D. homage 

Part II Figure of Speech (10分,每题1分)  

Directions: Identify the figure of speech in each of the following sentences. Choose the best answer in the box a n d write the co rresponding letters of your answers on the Answer Sheet. 

1. Money makes the mare go. 

2. She sat there with embarrassed delight. 

3. An individual human existence should be like a river. 

4. I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears a n d sweat. 

5. The gentle breeze caressed my cheeks a n d soothed my anger. 

6. His hono r rooted in dishono r stood. A n d faith unfaithful kept him falsely true. 

7. We shall fight him by la n d, we shall fight him by sea, we shall fight him in the air. 

8. Poetry is the scent of the rose, the lightening in the sky, the gleam of the fly, the sound of the sea. 

9. A mother takes twenty years to make a man of her boy, a n d another woman makes a fool of him in twenty minutes. 

10. He was both out of pocket a n d out of spirits by that catastrophe, failed in his health a n d prophesied the speedy ruin of the empire. 

Part III Blank Filling (20分,每题1分) 

Directions: Choose a proper wo rd from the box to fill in each blank in the following passage. Each wo rd can be used only once. Write the co rresponding letters of your answers on the Answer Sheet. 

Many Americans harbo r a (1) disto rted a n d exaggerated view of most of the risks surrounding food. Fergus Clydesdale, head of the department of food science a n d nutrition at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, says (2) that if the dangers from bacterially (3) chicken were as great as some people believe, “the streets would be littered with people lying here a n d there.” 

Though the public increasingly dema n ds no-risk food, there is no such thing. Bruce Ames, chairman of the biochemistry department at the University of Califo rnia, Berkeley, points out that up to 10% of a plant’s weight is made up of natural (4). He says, “Since plants do not have jaws o r teeth to protect themselves, they employ chemical (5).” A n d many naturally produced chemicals, though occurring in tiny amounts, prove in labo rato ry tests to be strong (6) — substance which can cause cancer. Mushrooms might be banned if they were judged by the same sta n dards that apply to food (7). “We’ve got far wo rse natural chemicals in the food supply than anything man-made”, declares Christina Stark, a nutritionist at Co rnell University, 

Yet the issues are not (8) simple. While Americans have no reason to be (9) to sit down at the dinner table, they have every reason to dema n d significant improvements in food a n d water (10). They unconsciously a n d unwillingly take (11) too much of too many dangerous chemicals. If food already contains natural carcinogens, it does not make much sense to add dozens of new man-made ones. Though most people will (12) the small amount of (13) generally found in food a n d water, at least a few individuals will probably get cancer one day because of what they eat a n d drink. 

To make good food a n d water supplies even better, the Government needs to (14) its regulato ry sta n dards, (15) its inspection program a n d (16) its enfo rcement policies. The food industry should (17) some long-accepted practices o r turn to less (18) alternatives. Perhaps most impo rtant, consumers will have to do a better job of learning how to ha n dle a n d cook food (19). The problems that need to be (20) exist all along the food-supply chain, from fields to processing plants to kitchens. 

Part IV Paraphrase (20分,每题2分)    

Directions: Explain the following sentences in your own wo rds a n d write your answers on the Answer Sheet. 

1. He notes that speedy action can be embarrassing o r extremely costly. 

2. The news media seem to operate on the philosophy that all news is bad news. 

3. When battling a recalcitrant problem, he wo rried it as an animal wo rries its prey. 

4. The opinion does not survive experience of a popular Continental camping place. 

5. The exact use of language gives us mastery over the material we are dealing with. 

6. So, fo r me, one of the keenest pleasures of appetite remains in the wanting, not the satisfaction. 

7. Fo r all the trouble procrastination may incur, delay can often inspire a n d revive a creative soul. 

8. In unskilled o r uncaring ha n ds a ha n dmade basket o r boat can fall apart as quickly as basket o r boats made by machines. 

9. It attacks the best minds, a n d gradually destroys the critical faculties, making it impossible fo r the sufferer to detect gibberish in his own writing o r in that of others. 

10. The most disquieting thing about the scofflaw spirit is its extreme infectiousness. Only a terminally foolish society would sit still a n d allow it to spread indefinitely. 

Part V Wo rd Fo rmation (10分,每题1分) 

Directions: Write out the full fo rm of the following wo rds a n d write your answers on the Answer Sheet. 

1. ASEAN      2. APEC   3. CIIE         4. BRICS        5. WHO  

6. globesity     7. smog    8. agritainment   9. infonomics    10. exam 

Part VI General Knowledge (10分,每题1分) 

Directions: Choose the best answer to each of the 10 multiple-choice questions. Mark your answers on the Answer Sheet. 

1. Which of the following nicknames does not refer to the U.S.A.? ______.
A. Uncle Sam    B. Brother Jonathan    C. Yankee    D. John Bull 

2. British reco rded histo ry begins with the _____ invasion. 

A. Roman    B. Viking    C. Anglo-Saxon   D. No rman 

3. The largest university in Canada is ____.
A. Laval University              B. The University of To ronto 
C. McGill University             D. Simon Fraser University 

4. ____ is the common facto r of the three sounds: [p], [t], [k].
A. voiceless    B. spread    C. voiced    D. nasal 

5. There are______ mo rphemes in the wo rd “undesirables”. 

A. twelve    B. six        C. five      D. four 

6. Which of the following designed features of human language does this sentence “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” refer to? ______. 

A. Arbitrariness  B. Duality  C. Cultural transmission  D. Displacement 

7. “To be o r not to be, that is the question.” This quote is from Shakespeare’s ______. 

A. Merchant of Venice       B. King Lear  C. Hamlet      D. Much Ado about Nothing 

8. The Catcher in the Rye was written by ____.
A. J.D. Salinger  B. Jack London  C. Flannery O’Conno r   D. Saul Bellow 

9. Robinson Crusoe was written by ____
A. Henry Fielding    B. Jonathan Swift   C. Samuel Richardson   D. Daniel Defoe 

10.  Scarlet Letter is one of the greatest American novels. It was written by _______. 

      A. Nathaniel Hawtho rne   B. Wallace Steven           C. Francis Bacon       D. Willa Cather 

Part VII Proof Reading a n d Erro r Co rrection (10分,每题1分) 

Directions: The following passage contains 10 erro rs. Each line contains a maximum of one erro r. In each case only one wo rd is involved. You should proofread the passage a n d co rrect it in the following way. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet. 

Fo r a wrong wo rd, underline the wrong wo rd a n d write the co rrect one in the blank provided at the end of the line. 

Fo r a missing wo rd, mark the position of the missing wo rd with a “ ^ ” sign a n d write the wo rd you believe to be missing in the blank provided at the end of the line. 

Part VIII Reading Comprehension (40分,每题2分) 

Directions: In this section there are four reading passages followed by a total of twenty multiple-choice questions. Read the passages a n d mark your answers on the Answer Sheet. 

TEXT A 
“There is one a n d only one social responsibility of business,” wrote Milton Friedman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist. “That is, to use its resources a n d engage in activities designed to increase its profits.” But even if you accept Friedman’s premise a n d regard co rpo rate social responsibility (CSR) policies as a waste of shareholders’ money, things may not be absolutely clear-cut. New research suggests that CSR may create monetary value fo r companies -- at least when they are prosecuted fo r co rruption. 

The largest firms in America a n d Britain together spend mo re than $15 billion a year on CSR, acco rding to an estimate by EPG, a consulting firm. This could add value to their businesses in three ways. First, consumers may take CSR spending as a “signal” that a company’s products are of high quality. Second, customers may be willing to buy a company’s products as an indirect way to donate to the good causes it helps. A n d third, through a mo re diffuse “halo effect”, whereby its good deeds earn it greater consideration from consumers a n d others. 

Previous studies on CSR have had trouble differentiating these effects because consumers can be affected by all three. A recent study attempts to separate them by looking at bribery prosecutions under America’s Fo reign Co rrupt Practices Act (FCPA). It argues that since prosecuto rs do not consume a company’s products as part of their investigations, they could be influenced only by the halo effect. 

The study found that, among prosecuted firms, those with the most comprehensive CSR programmes tended to get mo re lenient penalties. Their analysis ruled out the possibility that it was firms’ political influence, rather than their CSR sta n d, that accounted fo r the leniency: Companies that contributed mo re to political campaigns did not receive lower fines. 

In all, the study concludes that whereas prosecuto rs should only evaluate a case based on its merits, they do seem to be influenced by a company’s reco rd in CSR. “We estimate that either eliminating a substantial labour-rights concern, such as child labour, o r increasing co rpo rate giving by about 20% result in fines that generally are 40% lower than the typical punishment fo r bribing fo reign officials.” says one researcher. 

Researchers admit that their study does not answer the question of how much businesses ought to spend on CSR. No r does it reveal how much companies are banking on the halo effect, rather than the other possible benefits, when they decide their do-gooding policies. But at least they have demonstrated that when companies get into trouble with the law, evidence of good character can win them a less costly punishment. 

1. The autho r views Milton Friedman’s statement about CSR with     .      

A. tolerance   B. skepticism   C. uncertainty    D. approval 

2. Acco rding to Paragraph 2, CSR helps a company by     . 

A. winning trust from consumers     

B. guarding it against malpractices 

C. protecting it from being defamed    

D. raising the quality of its products 

3. The expression “mo re lenient” (line 2, Para.4) is closest in meaning to          .      

A. mo re effective       B. less controversial   

C. less severe          D. mo re lasting 

4. When prosecuto rs evaluate a case, a company’s CSR reco rd    . 

A. has an impact on their decision        

B. comes across as reliable evidence 

C. increases the chance of being penalized  

D. constitutes part of the investigation 

5. Which of the following is true of CSR, acco rding to the last paragraph? 

A. Its negative effects on businesses are often overlooked. 

B. The necessary amount of companies’ spending on it is unknown. 

C. Companies’ financial capacity fo r it has been overestimated. 

D. It has brought much benefit to the banking industry. 

TEXT B 

France, which prides itself as the global innovato r of fashion, has decided its fashion industry has lost an absolute right to define physical beauty fo r woman. Its lawmakers gave preliminary approval last week to a law that would make it a crime to employ ultra-thin models on runways. The parliament also agreed to ban websites that “incite excessive thinness” by promoting extreme dieting. 

Such measures have a couple of uplifting motives. They suggest beauty should not be defined by looks that end up impinging on health. That’s a start. A n d the ban on ultra-thin models seems to go beyond protecting models from starving themselves to death – as some have done. It tells the fashion industry that it must take responsibility fo r the signal it sends women, especially teenage girls, about the social tape-measure they must use to determine their individual wo rth. 

The bans, if fully enfo rced, would suggest to woman (a n d many men) that they should not let others be arbiters of their beauty. A n d perhaps faintly, they hint that people should look to intangible qualities like character a n d intellect rather than dieting their way to size zero o r wasp-waist physiques. 

The French measures, however, rely too much on severe punishment to change a culture that still regards beauty as skin-deep -- a n d bone-showing. Under the law, using a fashion model that does not meet a government-defined index of body mass could result in a $85,000 fine a n d six months in prison. 

The fashion industry knows it has an inherent problem in focusing on material ado rnment a n d idealized body types. In Denmark, the United States, a n d a few other countries, it is trying to set voluntary sta n dards fo r models a n d fashion images that rely mo re on peer pressure fo r enfo rcement. 

In contrast to France’s actions, Denmark’s fashion industry agreed last month on rules a n d sanctions regarding the age, health, a n d other characteristics of models .The newly revised Danish Fashion Ethical charter clearly states: “we are aware of a n d take responsibility fo r the impact the fashion industry has on body ideals, especially on young people.” The charter’s main tool of enfo rcement is to deny access fo r designers a n d modeling agencies to Copenhagen Fashion week (CFW), which is run by the Danish Fashion Institute .But in general it relies on a name-a n d -shame method of compliance. 

Relying on ethical persuasion rather than law to address the misuse of body ideals may be the best step. Even better would be to help elevate notions of beauty beyond the material sta n dards of a particular industry. 

6. Acco rding to the first Paragraph, what would happen in France? 

A. New runways would be constructed.  

B. Physical beauty would be redefined. 

C. Websites about dieting would thrive.  

D. The fashion industry would decline. 

7. The phrase “impinging on” (Line 2, Para. 2) is closest in meaning to     . 

A. heightening the value of     

B. indicating the state of 

C. losing faith in            

D. doing harm to 

8. Which of the following is true of the fashion industry? 

A. New sta n dards are being set in Denmark.  

B. The French measures have already failed. 

C. Models are no longer under peer pressure.  

D. Its inherent problems are getting wo rse. 

9. A designer is most likely to be rejected by CFW fo r        .          

A. pursuing perfect physical conditions     

B. caring too much about models’ character 

C. showing little concern fo r health facto rs  

D. setting a high age threshold fo r models 

10. Which of the following may be the best title of the text? 

A. A Challenge to the Fashion Industry’s Body Ideals 

B. A Dilemma fo r the Starving Models in France 

C. Just Another Round of Struggle fo r Beauty 

D. The Great Threats to the Fashion Industry 

TEXT C 
There will eventually come a day when The New Yo rk Times ceases to publish sto ries on newsprint. Exactly when that day will be is a matter of debate. “Sometime in the future,” the paper’s publisher said back in 2010. 

Nostalgia fo r ink on paper a n d the rustle of pages aside, there’s plenty of incentive to ditch print. The infrastructure required to make a physical newspaper – printing presses, delivery trucks – isn’t just expensive; it’s excessive at a time when online-only competito rs don’t have the same set of financial constraints. Readers are migrating away from print anyway. A n d though print ad sales still dwarf their online a n d mobile counterparts, revenue from print is still declining. 

Overhead may be high a n d circulation may be lower, but rushing to eliminate its print edition would be a mistake, says BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti. 

Peretti says the Times shouldn’t waste time getting out of the print business, but only if they go about doing it the right way. “Figuring out a way to accelerate that transition would make sense fo r them,” he said, “but if you discontinue it, you’re going to have your most loyal customers really upset with you.” 

Sometimes that’s wo rth making a change anyway. Peretti gives the example of Netflix discontinuing its DVD-mailing service to focus on streaming. “It was seen as a blunder,” he said. The move turned out to be fo resighted. A n d if Peretti were in charge at the Times? “I wouldn’t pick a year to end print,” he said. “I would raise prices a n d make it into mo re of a legacy product.” 

The most loyal customers would still get the product they favo r, the idea goes, a n d they’d feel like they were helping sustain the quality of something they believe in. “So if you’re overpaying fo r print, you could feel like you were helping,” Peretti said. “Then increase it at a higher rate each year a n d essentially try to generate additional revenue.” In other wo rds, if you’re going to make a print product, make it fo r the people who are already obsessed with it. Which may be what the Times is doing already. Getting the print edition seven days a week costs nearly $500 a year – mo re than twice as much as a digital–only subscription. 

“It’s a really hard thing to do a n d it’s a tremendous luxury that BuzzFeed doesn’t have a legacy business,” Peretti remarked. “But we’re going to have questions like that where we have things we’re doing that don’t make sense when the market changes a n d the wo rld changes. In those situations, it’s better to be mo re aggressive than less aggressive.” 

11. The New Yo rk Times is considering ending its print edition partly due to     . 

A. the high cost of operation      

B. the pressure from its investo rs 

C. the complaints from its readers  

D. the increasing online ad sales 

12. Peretti suggests that, in face of the present situation, the Times should       . 

A. seek new sources of leadership   

B. end the print edition fo r good 

C. aim fo r efficient management    

D. make strategic adjustments 

13. It can be inferred from paragraphs 5 a n d 6 that a “legacy product”          . 

A. helps resto re the glo ry of fo rmer times  

B. is meant fo r the most loyal customers 

C. will have the cost of printing reduced   

D. expa n ds the popularity of the paper 

14. Peretti believes that, in a changing wo rld           . 

A. legacy businesses are becoming outdated  

B. cautiousness facilitates problem-solving 

C. aggressiveness better meets challenges    

D. traditional luxuries can stay unaffected 

15. Which of the following would be the best title of the text? 

A. Shift to Online Newspapers All at Once   

B. Cherish the Newspapers Still in Your Ha n d 

C. Make Your print Newspapers a Luxury Good 

D. Keep Your Newspapers Fo rever in Fashion 

TEXT D 

Fo r the first time in the histo ry mo re people live in towns than in the country. In Britain this has had a curious result. While polls show Britons rate “the countryside” alongside the royal family, Shakespeare a n d the National Health Service (NHS) as what make them proudest of their country, this has limited political suppo rt. 

A century ago Octavia Hill launched the National Trust not to rescue stylish houses but to save “the beauty of natural places fo r everyone fo rever”. It was specifically to provide city dwellers with spaces fo r leisure where they could experience “a refreshing air”. Hill’s pressure later led to the creation of national parks a n d green belts. They don’t make countryside any mo re, a n d every year concrete consumes mo re of it. It needs constant guardianship. 

At the next election none of the big parties seem likely to endo rse this sentiment. The Conservatives’ planning refo rm explicitly gives rural development prio rity over conservation, even autho rizing “off–plan” building where local people might object. The concept of sustainable development has been defined as profitable. Labour likewise wants to discontinue local planning where councils oppose development. The Liberal Democrats are silent. Only Ukip, sensing its chance, has sides with those pleading fo r a mo re considered approach to using green la n d. Its Campaign to Protect Rural Engla n d struck terro r into many local Conservative parties. 

The sensible place to build new houses, facto ries a n d offices is where people are, in cities a n d towns where infrastructure is in place. The London agents Stirling Ackroyed recently identified enough sites fo r half of million houses in the London area alone, with no intrusion on green belt. What is true of London is even truer of the provinces. 

The idea that “housing crisis” equals “concreted meadows” is pure lobby talk. The issue is not the need fo r mo re houses but, as always, where to put them. Under lobby pressure, Geo rge Osbo rne favours rural new-build against urban renovation a n d renewal. He favours out-of-town shopping sites against high streets. This is not a free market but a biased one. Rural towns a n d villages have grown a n d will always grow. They do so best where building sticks to their edges a n d respects their character. We do not ruin urban conservation areas in this way. Why ruin rural ones? 

Development should be planned, not let rip. After the Netherla n ds, Britain is Europe’s most crowed country. Half a century of town a n d country planning has enabled it to retain an enviable rural coherence, while still permitting low-density urban living. There is no doubt of the alternative -- the co rrupted la n dscapes of southern Po rtugal, Spain o r Irela n d. Avoiding this rather than promoting it should unite the left a n d right of the political spectrum. 

16. Britain’s public sentiment about the countryside          .      

A. didn’t start till the Shakespearean age  

B. has brought much benefit to the NHS 

C. is fully backed by the royal family    

D. is not well reflected in politics 

17. Acco rding to paragraph 2, the achievements of the National Trust are now being        .      

A. gradually destroyed      

B. effectively reinfo rced 

C. largely overshadowed     

D. properly protected 

18. Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 3? 

A. Labour is under attack fo r opposing development. 

B. The Conservatives may aba n don “off-plan” building. 

C. The Liberal Democrats are losing political influence. 

D. Ukip may gain from its suppo rt fo r rural conservation. 

19. The autho r holds that Geo rge Osbo rne’s preference    .     

A. highlights his firm sta n d against lobby pressure 

B. shows his disregard fo r the character of rural areas 

C. stresses the necessity of easing the housing crisis 

D. reveals a strong prejudice against urban areas 

20. In the last paragraph, the autho r shows his appreciation of         .      

A. the size of population in Britain       

B. the political life in today’s Britain 

C. the enviable urban lifestyle in Britain   

D. the town-a n d-country planning in Britain