中央民族大学2005年招收攻读博士学位研究生入学考试试题
x5W@zqj 科目：101英语
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SC0_ h(zb, Part Ⅰ Listening Comprehension (15 minutes, 15 points)
4L6'4 t"s Section A (I point each)
H 4W4# \M Directions: In this section, you will hear nine short conversations between two speaker. At the end of each conversation, a third voice will ask a question about what was said. The conversation will be spoken only once. Choose the best answer from the four choices given by writing the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.
3:P "6mN 1. [A]. Allen has a lot of money.
X9uYqvP\( [B] . Allen’s money is inadequate.
$k3l[@;hE [C]. Allen will have enough money soon
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5 [D]. Allen is not a qualified applicant.
lLeN `{? 2. [A]. Susan will probably dislike the picture.
:,dO7dJi [B]. Susan is younger than what she looks in the picture.
2Yd;#i) [C]. That picture matters a lot to Susan.
3H/4$XJB [D]. That picture beautifies Susan
j i| tc9#6 3. [A]. To the woman’s dormitory.
mOi 8W,2 [B]. To the test room.
VbzW4J_ [C]. To the theater.
wS1zd? [D]. To the man’s house.
GSu&Z /Jo 4. [A]. The woman’s suitcase is not big enough.
l+8G6?@]> [B]. The woman’s suitcase has got lost.
rw ou[QU [C]. The man’s suitcase is lighter.
)[h QK_e] [D]. The woman’s suitcase lacks a lock.
U
ORoj )$I 5. [A]. What the massage said.
L 2
tSKw~ [B]. What the man’s name is.
?KfV>.() [C]. Where the message is now.
07L 1 " [D]. What the woman said.
www.freekaobo.com ${F] N } 6. [A]. He is very glad to have got the new job.
As7Y4w* + [B]. He is very busy at his new job.
RK`C31Ws [C]. His new position is not permanent.
UjU*`} k3 [D]. He is unhappy about the new job.
}[OOkYF#r 7. [A]. It would be the best to hire someone to do the work.
IZkQmA= [B]. They should forget about the work.
0
))W [ [C]. They should put it off till tomorrow.
Sc zYL?w^ [D]. They should do the job together.
le-Q&* 8. [A]. She is well interested in the sound card.
]dKLzW:l [B]. She has got the sound card already.
6 U`y f&D [C]. She thinks the card sounds impressive.
AI &Bv [D]. She doesn’t have much interest in the sound card.
}t[?g)"M#- 9. [A]. She thanks the man for his kind words.
Z'vGX,: [B]. She wants the man to be reasonable.
f|f9[h' [C]. The man may try the cookies if he wants.
D|}%(N@sl [D]. The man may get cookies delivered to his home.
I(*4N^9++ Section B (1 point each)
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V6O~# Directions: In this section, you will hear 2 short passages. At the end of each passage, there will be three questions. Both the passage and the questions will be read to you only once After each question, there will be a pause. During the pause, you must choose the best answer from the four choices given by writing the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.
HNRZ59Yyq 10. [A]. They contracted the disease by contacting with the infected people.
sacaL4[_< [B] . They contracted the disease by breathing the contaminated dust.
(gv1f [C]. They contracted the disease by drinking the contaminated water.
M@V.?;F}, [D]. They contracted the disease by cating the contaminated food.
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~<s 11. [A]. The virus destroys people’s nerve cells.
jcWv&u| [B]. The disease can not be treated with drugs.
_BV'J92. [C]. The patients didn’t go to see the doctor in time.
ESl- k2 [D]. The doctor didn’t treat the patients in time.
,3t(' SE 12. [A]. More people are gathering to celebrate holidays.
s\6kXR [B]. More and more people have moved to the South of Argentina.
Jbud_.h9 [C]. Weather changes.
@"9^U_Qf1z [D]. Environmental changes.
tTT./-*0 13. [A]. Working in restaurants.
{jX
h/` [B]. Working in glass factories.
.`OyC' [C]. Working as servants in people’s houses.
n1n1 } [D]. Working in agriculture.
_y q"F#,* 14. [A]. They are very poor.
Ng?n}$g* [B]. They can get money from their children.
GoI3hp( [C]. They need their children’s help.
^FJ=/ #@T [D]. They cannot find jobs themselves.
c]`}DH,TJ 15. [A]. To provide more job opportunities in developing countries.
:xitV]1.
[B]. To place restrictions on child labor.
\Gh]$s p [C]. To place restrictions on trade and products made by children.
28u)q2s^W| [D]. To provide more money for children’s education.
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-zNS Part Ⅱ Cloze Test (10 points)
n& Q{
[E Directions:
Y%v?ROql For each numbered blank in the following passage, there are four choices marked A, B, C and D Choose the best one and mark your answer on the ANSWER SHEET.
)_P| _( Urban life has always involved a balancing of opportunities and rewards against dangers and stress: its 16 force is, in the broadest sense, money. Opportunities to make money mean competition and competition is stressful; it is often at its most 17 in the largest cities, where opportunities are greatest. The 18 of huge numbers of people inevitably involves more 19 , more traveling, the overloading of public services and 20 to those deviants and criminals who are 21 to the rich pickings of great cities. Crime has always flourished in the 22 anonymity of urban life, but today’s ease of movement makes its 23 more difficult than ever; there is much 24 that its extent has a direct relationship to the size of communities. City dwellers may become 25 in their homes by the fear of crime around them.
}(h_ztw As a defense 26 these developments. City dwellers tend to use various 27 to try and reduce the pressures upon themselves: doors are kept locked; telephone numbers may be ex-directory; 28 outside the home are usually hurried, rather than a 29 of pleasure. There are other strategies, too, which are positively harmful to the 30 , for example, reducing awareness through drugs or alcohol 31 , all these defensive forms of behavior are 32 to society in general; they cause widespread loneliness and destroy the community’s concern 33 its members. Lack of informal social contact and 34 to the misfortunes of others, if they are not 35 known to oneself, are amongst the major causes of urban crime.
B w1ir 16. [A] challenging [B] motivating [C] mobilizing [D] interacting
acgtXfHR 17. [A] infinite [B] intense [C] intensive [D] intricate
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" "*Q 18. [A] presence [B] encounter [C] combination [D] diffusion
CO e"te 19. [A] dispute [B] quarrel [C] conflict [D] interference
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8FYc 20. [A] confrontation [B] exposure [C] absorption [D] admission
v\>!J? 21. [A] compelled [B] driven [C] induced [D] drawn
byl#8=? 22. [A] particular [B] relative [C] moderate [D] inherent
zc&>RM 23. [A] management [B] isolation [C] commitment [D] control
.CI { g2 24. [A] inference [B] hypothesis [C] evidence [D] suspicion
D" ^4X'6 25. [A] trapped [B] blocked [C] surrounded [D] confined
JivkY"= F 26. [A] of [B] against [C] toward [D] for
X
UT,)dL 27. [A] strategies [B] measures [C] steps [D] approaches
( H/JB\~r 28. [A] journeys [B] appointments [C] missions [D] performances
hj@< wU 29. [A] resource [B] clue [C] source [D] guarantee
J0 BA@jH5 30. [A] city [B] individual [C] society [D] country
HS3] 8nJW 31. [A] However [B] Therefore [C] Finally [D] Furthermore
X{A|{
u= 32. [A] beneficial [B] invalid [C] harmful [D] ineffective
}eUeADbC 33. [A] for [B] over [C] with [D] to
]J;pUH+u 34. [A] ignorance [B] neglect [C] indifference [D] sympathy
J%d\ 7 35. [A] mutually [B] personally [C] essentially [D] socially
Z -3i -( Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension (45 points)
~kUdHne ( Directions:
G+N &(: There are six passages in this part. Each passage is followed by 5 questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D Decide on the best choice and then mark your answer on the Answer Sheet.
BgLW!|T[ Passage Onewww.freekaobo.com
fZU#%b6G Nothing has become John Zeglis, chief executive of AT&T Wireless, quite as much as the decision to sell America’s third- biggest mobile-phone operator. A couple of months ago. The company’s shares were trading at below $7. valuing it at $18 billion, well below what it was worth when it was spun off from AT&T in 2001. But thanks to Mr Zeglis’s decision to put AT&T Wireless on the block a month ago, his shareholders will pick up around $15 a share following a fierce bidding war between Vodafone, the world’s biggest mobile-phone company by revenues, and Cingular, America’s number two operator. Cingular won early on Tuesday February 17th. Its parents, SBC Communications and BellSouth. have thus realised their ambition of doubling their mobile revenues, giving them an alternative to the flat revenues in their core fixed-line markets. But the victory over Vodafone, which reduces the number of nationwide players to five, is unlikely to lessen the fierce competition in the American mobile market. And the $41 billion or so paid may prove to be cripplingly extravagant.
%[(DFutJY+ Cingular already has plans for integrating AT&T Wireless. According to reports in the Wall Street Journal, Cingular will use its new acquisition to sell to the business market, though it will drop the brand, while Cingular itself concentrates o the consumer market. But AT&T Wireless is a weak business. It has made losses in half of the past ten quarters, and it has a seemingly
9 p6QNDp insatiable appetite for capital. Moreover, its operations are inefficient: it is currently running two networks, an old one and a new one based on GSM, a more common global standard. Migration has not been as fast as expected, with just a fifth of customers using GSM. This means that Cingular will have to continue to bear the costs of running both networks, while forking out on marketing to speed up the transition.
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))->&2 Ironically, apart from AT&T Wireless, the other winners in the bidding war appear to be its losers. Shares in NTT DoCoMo rose last Friday after it became clear that the Japanese market leader would not be bidding. Vodafone shareholders seem similarly relieved that it has lost out. Its shares fell on Monday as stories emerged that it had raised its bid to $38 billion, and appeared poised to win. However, the shares jumped by more than 7% on Tuesday morning after Vodafone announced that it had dropped out of the bidding.
RD_IGV Quite apart from integrating AT&T Wireless and dealing with its numerous problems, if it had bought the firm Vodafone would have been forced by regulators to give up its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless, America’s leading mobile-phone operator. Whatever the strategic rationale for the acquisition, analysts said it would have been a financial disaster for Vodafone at anything above $30 billion.
MxMrLiqU6l 36. According to the text, Mr. Zeglis’s decision to sell AT&T Wireless
dIi Q^M [A] ruined his fame.
k,o|"9H [B] disappointed its shareholders.
=Kf V;.& [C] triggered a bidding war.
G0p|44_~t [D] caused its share price to drop.
k $`~,LJ p 37. The author thinks that Cingular’s victory in acquiring AT&T Wireless may
Dohq@+] O [A] boost its flat revenues in the fixed-line markets.
H\]ZtSw8- [B]make the competition in the mobile market more fierce.
t ,#9i#q# [C] cause other national players to go bankrupt.
AF5.)Y@. [D] make Cingular suffer due to the high price paid.
Mx<V ;GPm 38. It can be learned from the second paragraph that
6 R}]RuFQ [A] the brand of AT&T Wireless is likely to be enhanced after being acquired.
j'Ry.8} [B] AT&T Wireless’s weak business can be soon revived after being integrated.
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8 [C] AT&T Wireless’s current networks may become a burden for Cingular.
J7:VRf|,?( [D] the cost of marketing to speed up transition will be unbearable for Cingular.
(. ~#bl 39. By saying “Ironically, apart from AT&T Wireless. The other winners in the bidding war appear to be its losers” the author implies thatwww.freekaobo.com
ta`}}I [A] only AT&T Wireless benefits from the bidding war.
` #Qlr+X [B] Cingular is the only real winner in the bidding war.
FncK#hZ. [C] losing the bidding war turned out a good thing.
k<p$BZ [D] the losers should have won the bidding war.
bt3v`q+V 40. It can be inferred from the text that Vodafone shareholders
:o$k( X7a [A] have been looking forward to the company’s success in the bid.
e1$T%?(&[ [B]have already suffered loss due to the company’s failure in the bid.
Bw^*6P^l [C] don’t want the company to bid for AT&T Wireless.
S?p WxHR] [D] don’t like the company to give up its stake in Verizon Wrieless.
z~b5K\/1B Passage 2
eUP.:(E Figures lie, as everyone knows, and liars figure. That should make economists especially suspect, since they rely heavily on statistics to try and resolve a wide range of controversies. For example, does a rise in the minimum wage put people out of work? Are stock market returns predictable? Do taxes influence whether a company pays dividends? In recent years, helped by cheaper, more powerful computers, and egged on by policy-makers anxious for their views, economists have analyzed reams of statistics to answer such questions. Unfortunately, their guidance may be deeply flawed.
i("ok Two economists, Deirdre MeCloskey of the University of Illinois, and Stephen Ziliak of Roosevelt University, think their colleagues do a lousy job of making sense of figures, often falling prey to elementary errors. But their biggest gripe is that, blinded by statistical wizardry, many economists fail to think about the way in which the world really works.
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To be fair, statistics can be deceptive, especially when explaining human behavior, which is necessarily complicated, and to which iron laws do not apply. Moreover, even if a relationship exists, the wrong conclusions can be drawn. In medieval Holland, it was noted that there was a correlation between the number of storks living on the roof of house and the number of children born within it. The relationship was so striking that, according to the rules of math’s that govern such things, you could say with great confidence that the results were very unlikely to be merely random. Such a relationship is said to be “statistically significant”. But the Dutch folklore of the time that storks somehow increased human fertility was clearly wrong.
t[HfaW1W A failure to separate statistical significance from plausible explanation is all too common in economics, often with harmful consequences. In a past paper Professors McCloskey and Ziliak attacked other economists’ over-reliance on statistical rather than economic reasoning, and focused on one case in particular.
G 3))3] In the 1980s, the American state of Illinois launched a program to keep people off the dole. Economists asked whether its costs outweighed its benefits. One study estimated that the program produced benefits that were more than four times as large as the costs. Although this seemed a good deal for taxpayers---and other tests seem to support this conclusion---the authors of the study rejected such a finding because they found that their estimate was not statistically significant. In other words, their results fell just short of 90% certainty---the usual, though ad hoc, rule of thumb for most economic work---of not being random.
OV<'v%_& But far from this being an unusual case, Ms McCloskey and Mr Ziliak found that 70% of the papers published during the 1980s in the American Economic Review (AER), one of the most respected journals of the dismal science, failed to distinguish between “economic” and “statistical” significance. They relied too much on numbers, and too little on economic reasoning.
CK4C:`YG 41. The author thinks that economists should
`M0m`Up [A] not rely on statistics to try and solve controversies.
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CA2N% [B]not use computers to help them analyze statistics.
AlZ] UGf^ [C] hold a skeptical attitude toward statistical figures.
! @EZ [D] provide definite answers to economic questions.
9j'(T:Zs 42. According to Ms McCloskey and Mr Ziliak, many economists
PfF5@W;E; [A] often make good sense of statistic figures.
S fl. &A( [B]seldom make fundamental errors in analyzing figures.
L !/Zw~ [C] often fail to find real meanings in statistic figures.
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[D] seldom realize the real nature of statistics.
r.WQ6h/eZ5 43. The author mentions the example of medieval Holland (Pare.3) to illustrate that
'YFy6rds [A] statistics cannot be used to explain complicated human behaviors.
a!?JVhD& [B]conclusions should be based on statistically significant relationships.
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9W'@| [C] a correlation that really exists may have come from random results.
qDlh6W?}k [D] a relationship that is statistically significant may lead to wrong conclusions.
TzSEQ S{ 44. Professors McCloskey and Ziliak think that the finding of the study in lllinois
]Lb Fh5;s [A] was contradictory to the reality.
J? R\qEq% [B]had great economic significance.
2E 0A` [C] had no statistical significance.
@~
6,8 nQ [D] was based on economic reasoning.
$ j(laD#AR 45. The author writes this text to
%4$J.6M [A] present Professors McCloskey and Ziliak’s latest work.
u2o196,Ut [B]inform people that statistic figures are not reliable.
~rfUqM]I [C] show that too many economists misuse statistics
z*ly`-! [D] argue that numbers and economic reasoning are equally important.
HrK7qLw7 Passage 3www.freekaobo.com
r?%,# 1|$$ As NASA prepares to set twin robots loose on the Martian surface and makes plans to send another in 2007, the agency’s long term goal is clear: Determine whether the red planet does or over did harbor life.
`Lj'2LoER But the current search for life is necessarily limited to life as we know it, organisms dependent on liquid water. A SPACE.com reader recently suggested that “we as humans are arrogant, simply believing that any other form of life will be just like us.”
N2uTWT> Researchers devoted to the search for extraterrestrial (ET) have a similar view. “Scientists” approach to finding life is very Earth-centric”, says Kenneth Nealson, a geobiologist at the University of Southern California. “Based on what we know about life on Earth, we set the limits for where we might look on other planets”, Nealson said. Within that framework, however, there are extreme cases of life on Earth that suggest the range of places to look on frigid Mars.
Wr6y w# Nealson and his colleagues recently found the most extreme sort of organism in a salty liquid lake under the permafrost of Siberia. The organism, named cryopegella, can exist at colder temperatures than any previously discovered. Nealson’s team figures that if the ice at the polar caps of Mars warmed to liquid water, organisms like cryopegella could have awakened and repaired any damage that might have occurred to their various cellular components. That does not mean there are necessarily dormant microbes within the ice caps of Mars. But it does suggest a broader range of potential cradles for life.
{36QZV *P Other researchers agree, and a host of so-called “extremophile” discoveries on Earth in recent years indicate the polar regions of Mars might be prime hunting grounds. As on Earth, organisms there might be slathered in natural antifreeze or be able to go dormant for tens of thousands of years. Waiting for a brief thaw, their moment in the Sun.
9i`MUE1Sh Meanwhile, scientists recognize that there could indeed be life elsewhere in the universe that does not require water. And some astrobiologists are trying to explore the possibilities. But it is a tough problem to approach. In looking for “life as we don’t know it”, it’s hard to even imagine what to expect.
www.freekaobo.com JWsOze 8# Life might or might not exist on Mars. If there are critters there, they might or might not be like bacteria on Earth. In laboratory conditions, scientists in 2001 were able to get one-celled organisms to incorporate an amino acid---a fundamental building block of life---that no other known life uses. The discovery borders on the creation of artificial life, experts said. It also suggests that ET might operate by entirely different rules than those we’re used to.
l\6.f_ If life on Mars is fundamentally different from what scientists understand life to be, then current spacecraft and others in the works may well not recognize what’s right under their mechanical noses.
= `+c}i? 46. According to the text, we human beings are arrogant because
WqRaD=R->; [A] we can send robots to Mars.
9jJ:T$} [B]we are searching ET in the outer space.
W 61nJ7@ [C] we assume that life is all humanlike.
]L;X A j? [D] we believe we are the most intelligent life.
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>qBw8t 47. According to Kenneth Nealson, scientists’ current approach to finding life is
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[A] limited. [B]costly. [C] centralized. [D] earthly.
C<E;f]d 48. Nealson’s team’s discovery of extreme cases of life on Earth suggests that
umI6# Vd`= [A] there might be life on Mars that still remains dormant.
l~#%j( Yo [B]there might be ET in the universe that is like human beings.
G|LcTV [C] there might be life that is beyond the range of our current search.
4>Y\Y$3 [D] there might be ET elsewhere in the universe that does not require water.
;T|hNsSt 49. The purpose of the author mentioning scientists’ laboratory creation in 2001 is to emphasize the idea that
Uq=!>C8 [A] it is hard to imagine what ET is really like.
G 0Wv=tX| [B]life might or might not exist on Mars.
I`[s(C>3
@ [C] it is possible to create artificial life.
9~6~[z [D] Martians may live by entirely different rules.
vx4Jk]h+=L 50. What is the best title of the text?
0 ChdFf7 [A] Does Mars Harbor Life?
.WpvDDUK3 [B]If We Find ET, Will We Know It?
;0Mg\~T~' [C] Will the Twin Robots Live Up to Us?
f4lC*nCN [D] Why Search ET As We Don’t Know It?
t(\P8J Passage4
1ZRSeh The announcement by South Korean scientists that they had created human embryos by cloning and extracted embryonic stem cells has raised concerns around the world.
www.freekaobo.com >o8N@`@VK- The technique, scientists at Seoul National University said, was not designed to make babies but to further the process known as therapeutic cloning, a possible treatment for a multitude of diseases.
l ArDOFl]x Advances in stem-cell technology have been hailed as holding potential cures for many crippling illnesses, such as diabetes, spinal cord injuries and Parkinson’s disease. According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, stem cells can be manipulated by scientists to develop into many other human cells. But opponents say using embryos, even ones just several minutes old, is destroying a human life. Embryos are destroyed when stem cells are removed.
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S4D Although cloning may be technically possible, the moral issues will be the great dilemma, said Arthur Kaplan, medical ethicist and director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Bioethics. “I think the big question is: If you make this kind of thing in a dish, have you created a human life?” Kaplan said. “Can you make something that people have strong moral views about in terms of destroying it, in order to benefit other people? And that’s going to be the key debate”.
\"AzT{l!; Kaplan said splitting the debate into two issues---cloning for making babies and cloning for research purposes---would help in making sensible policy. But may people believe all such experiments should be banned---both in the United States and around the world.
6),VN>j Last year, a ban on human cloning passed the U.S. House of Representatives but failed to get approval by the Senate over questions of whether cloning for research purposes could be allowed. The United Nations decided at the end of last year to delay any decision on a human cloning ban for two years.
a!*K)x,"< “Reports of human cloning experiments undertaken in South Korea underscore the need for a comprehensive national and international ban on all human cloning.” U.S. Senator Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican, said in a statement. “Human cloning is wrong. It treats the youngest of humans as mere property and should be banned.”
^laf!kIP Some ethicists agreed. “Controversy continues to swirl around killing even long-abandoned human embryos for research”. John Kilner. President of the Chicago-based Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity, told Reuters. “The South Korean experiment disturbingly goes significantly further. It produces human embryos for the explicit purpose of fatally mining them to obtain bodily materials for experimental purposes.”
OE_> K w7q However, groups calling for cures for specific diseases disagree, arguing that human embryos are destroyed daily in fertility clinics, in abortions and in natural miscarriages.
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!QuK 51. The main idea of the text iswww.freekaobo.com
(d$ksf_[%f [A] South Korea has made a new breakthrough in cloning technology.
4Q5 c' [B]clone report by South Korean scientists sparks fresh debate.
sN9
SuQ [C] South Korea’s research in human cloning meets oppositions of other countries.
# vBS7ba [D] Advances in stem-cell technology make it possible to apply cloning in actual therapies.
[m{uJ dj\ 52. Arthur Kaplan implies that
+Rb0:r>kU [A] cloning can be used as a possible treatment for crippling illnesses.
fY{&W@#g [B]no life should be destroyed in order to benefit other people.
}~3 %KHT [C] human cloning and therapeutic cloning should be differentiated when making policy.
/ng +IC3 [D] all cloning experiments should be banned around the world.
] eD5It\ 53. Which of the following statements is not true?
=x3ZQA [A] The US House of Representatives agreed to ban human cloning,
wk (}q [B]The US Senate disapproved a ban on cloning for research purposes.
6m!%X GZ T [C] The UN has decided to ban human cloning but will not impose it in the following two year.
_aLml9f
W [D] The UN will not decide whether or not to ban human cloning in the following two years.
FsyM{LT 54. The word “underscore” in Line 1, Paragraph 7 most probably means
h.D*Y3=< [A] underline. [B]underlie. [C] undermine. [D] understate.
-yH8bm'0" 55. Which of the following is an argument of the proponents of human cloning?
b3RCsIz [A] Using a laboratory created embryo for research is not destroying a life.
69>N xr~k [B]Cloning human embryos may benefit those who have lost their children.
W u9))Ir [C] A ban on human cloning failed to get approval by the US Senate.
_B hm\|t [D] Human embryos are destroyed daily in many other ways other than cloning.
@p}"B9h*^ Passage 5
DRUvQf Comcast, a cable-TV company, last week launched a hostile takeover bid for The Walt Disney Company, arguably America’s best-known entertainment company. Comcast is taking advantage of a particularly weak point in Disney’s history. Last month Disney’s most important business partner, Pixar, an animation studio, abandoned it. At the end of last year, two board members, Roy Disney and Stanley Gold, resigned and started a campaign to oust Michael Eisner, Disney’s boss. On the day that Comcast announced its bid, Disney’s executives started an investor conference in Florida, an occasion they had counted on to boost the company and its share price. The share price did indeed jump. But this was thanks to Comcast’s bid, initially worth $66 billion, rather than to any of Disney’s business plans.
bRzw.(k0`r At its get-together with investors, the Disney high command behaved as if the Comcast bid had never happened. Indeed, the bidder’s name was barely mentioned, until Mr Eisner joked that “we’re buying Comcast” when asked about possible acquisitions. The Disney boss also argued against the sort of consolidation that media distributors like Comcast have pursued. Perhaps foreshadowing the arguments that Disney’s lobbyists will make in Washington, Mr Eisner said: “Concentration of distribution usually hurts the small guy not the large player”.
%W [#60 Mr Eisner’s dismissal of Comcast’s approach was backed up by Disney’s board, which formally rejected the hostile bid on Monday February 16th and expressed confidence in Mr Eisner’s leadership. However, the board also said it would “consider any legitimate proposal”. The problem was that Comcast’s all-share bid. Which by then had fallen in value to $60 billion, did not “refieet fully Disney’s intrinsic value and carnings prospects”.
"X7;^yY Mr Eisner’s rejection of merger talks was “unfortunate”, Comcast argued in a letter to him. Because strategically the deal makes sense. Putting Comcast, which has 21m cable subscribers, together with Disney, wrote Brian Roberts, president and chief executive of Comcast, would unite its distribution power and technology know-how with Disney’s peerless content businesses. Although the jury remains out on whether vertical integration really delivers value, other companies have already pursued such a strategy. Rupert Murdock’s News Corp, for instance, has satellite distribution plus its Fox content businesses. Time Warner unites cable with a film studio and television programming—as well as, thanks to its horribly bubbly merger with AOL in January 2000, the internet. But a merger between Comcast and Disney would create by far the biggest vertically-integrated entertainment giant of them all, with a market capitalization of over $120 billion, says Comcast, compared with Time Warner’s current $78 billion. There are no obvious competition grounds for blocking the proposed deal, since Comcast and Disney mostly operate in different businesses. However, the sheer size of the proposed company has prompted regulators and politicians to insist that they will scrutinize it aggressively.
%
m5&U6 56. It can be inferred that Comcast’s timing for the bid is
a~nErB [A] shrewd. [B]impulsive. [C] ridiculous. [D] audacious.
CS<,qvLpL 57. Mr. Eisner implies that the proposed merger of Comcast and Disney
c ii]-%J}c [A] would benefit Comcast only.
u{_jweZ [B]might do harm to Comcast.
:J{| /"== [C] could hurt many small investors.
5lc%GJybV [D] might destroy Disney’s content business.
#kt3l59Ty 58. Disney dismissed Comcast’s bid mainly because
=Q!)xEK [A] its boss, Mr. Eisner is under attack for poor governance.
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X! [B]the hostile bid caused Disney’s share price to plummet.
~baVS-v [C] Disney has already planned to acquire Comcast.
d? Ol d [D] Disney’s board doesn’t think the bid legitimate.
p? dXs^ c 59. Rupert Murdock’s News Corp and Time Warner are mentioned to illustrate that
Imi#$bF6
[A] Mr. Eisner’s rejection of Comcast’s bid was unfortunate.
%L\buwjy$ [B]it is not sure whether vertical integration really delivers value.
xgX"5Czvv` [C] vertical integration has already been pursued by some companies.
`Z}7G@ol [D] it strategically makes sense for the merge to create an entertainment giant.
;-OnCLr 60. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that regulators and politicians will
QB Nnvg4v [A] spare no efforts to persuade Disney to reconsider Comcast’s bid.
(L{Kg U&{$ [B]try their best to block the merger of Disney and Comcast.
t~l uBUF [C] implement antitrust inspections if the deal is to be made.
WCg*TL} [D] help create the biggest vertically-integrated entertainment giant
Ls<.&3X2 Passage 6
}w#Ek=,s#o The issue of unemployment has loomed especially large in America in recent months. That is partly because there are presidential elections in November, and much will hinge on whether George Bush can convince voters that an apparently booming economy is producing jobs. A glance at the unemployment rate would seem to give him the answer he wants. The unemployment rate has fallen from a post-recession peak of 6.3% in June to 5.6% last month, though that is still higher than the 5.0% that many economists consider to be the “natural rte” of unemployment.
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But the unemployment rate is, in fact, a poor measure of economic health. It is defined as the fraction of the people in the lab our force those who are actively seeking work and available for it who cannot find a job. And it relies on surveys to determine who is, in fact, actively seeking work rather than enjoying a spot of leisure. It is that subjectivity that makes the unemployment rate such a flawed statistic. A better question by far is how many people are employed ie, are being paid by someone for doing something, since this should be less subject to doubt.
\G3 P[E[ Or so you might have thought, Yet there has been a fierce debate in America recently over even this humble statistic. That is because the number employed in America is also still measured using surveys, and the two that are widely used tell different stories. One is taken of over 400,000 firms with formal payrolls. Another asks 60,000 households whether people in them are working. But both are hostage to the usual limitations of using small samples to estimate employment for the whole economy, though obviously to different degrees.
FAS+*G Fz According to the household measure, nearly 139m Americans were in work in January, even more than had jobs at the height of the boom in March 2000. By the payroll measure, some 130m were in work—a fall of nearly 2% since employment peaked.
?HP54G<{xz Left-leaning pundits naturally prefer the payroll survey. The Bush administration and its friends prefer the household version. Still, even the latter’s figures would make job growth in the current economy recovery anaemic by historical standards.
U%Kv}s/(F{ Concerns over employment data are not just an American problem. According to a recent report from Barclays Capital, Germany’s employment statistics may be overstating the numbers of self-employed because of a government initiative to subsidise previously unemployed workers in starting their own business. Combined with other shenanigans, this may produce an army of “hidden unemployed” of 1.4m, estimates the report, some 30% more than the number of officially unemployed.
6O`s& T,t 61. The author implies that the fall of the unemployment rate
y U-^w^4 [A] promises greater chances for George Bush to win the election.
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4&$z [B]may well convince the voters that the economy is booming.
92@/8,[ [C] does not necessarily reflect that the economy is becoming healthier.
.%.kEJh` [D] the “natural rate” of unemployment is likely to be attained soon.
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/~4 62. The major flaw in the unemployment rate statistic is that
!n=?H1@ [A] the statistic is based on unclear definition.
$ =x1_ [B]the statistic relies on subjective surveys.
-/#VD&MJO= [C] the statistic is calculated in a wrong way.
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[D] the statistic is not convincing to economists.
(RDY-~#~ 63. The author thinks that the statistics about how many people are employed are
&=1A g}l57 [A] better indicators of economic health.
W\'njN [B]less doubtful than the unemployment statistic.
\m3'4# [C] inconsistent and imprecise.
jWn!96NhlL [D] objective and widely used.
DFgr,~ 64. It can be inferred that the Bush administration prefer the household survey because
Q 9(J$_: [A] it indicates a growth in employment.
Q?f%]uGFQ [B]it better reflects the current economic recovery.
dmq< vVxC [C] the payroll measure uses a smaller sample.
\m.ap+dFa [D] the payroll measure indicates a fall in people’s income.
"(@W^q F}d 65. One of the reasons for Germany to produce the “hidden unemployed” is that
AM L8.wJ [A] the government wants to lower the unemployment rate.
.k{omr&Dy5 [B] the government is ignorant of their employment status.
@/S6P-4 [C] the government wants to help them to start their own business.
p*11aaIbp~ [D] the government wants to evade offering them the subsidy.
8 1 \$X Part Ⅳ Translation (10 points)
64Ot`=A" Directions:
/UJ@ e You are required to translate five sentences from English into Chinese. Read the following short passage carefully and ONLY translate the five sentences that are underlined.
b.qp&2 A Green space facilities are contributing to an important extent to the quality of the urban environment. (66) Fortunately it is no longer necessary that every lecture or every book about this subject has to start with the proof of this idea. At present it is generally accepted, although more as a self-evident statement than on the base of a closely-reasoned scientific proof. The recognition of the importance of green space in the urban environment is a first step on the right way. (67) This does not mean, however, that sufficient details are known about the functions of green space in towns and about the way in which the inhabitants are using these spaces. As to this rather complex subject I shall, within the scope of this lecture, enter into one aspect only, namely the recreative function of green space facilities.
2<d l23 (68) The theoretical separation of living, working, traffic and recreation which for many years has been used in town-and-country planning, has in my opinion resulted in disproportionate attention for forms of recreation far from home. However, there was relatively little attention for improvement of recreative possibilities in the direct neighborhood of the home. (69) We have come to the conclusion that this is not right, because an important part of the time which we do not pass in sleeping or working, is used for activities at and around home. So it is obvious that recreation in the open air has to begin at the street-door of the house.
S(7_\8 h (70) The urban environment has to offer as many recreation activities as possible, and the design of these has to be such that more obligatory activities can also have a recreative aspect. The very best standard of living is nothing if it is not possible to take a pleasant walk in the district, if the children cannot be allowed to play in the streets, because the risks of traffic are too great, if during shopping you can nowhere find a spot for enjoying for a moment the nice weather, in short, if you only feel yourself at home after the street-door of your house is closed after you.
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} Part Ⅴ Writing (20 points)
<Tq&Va_w Directions:
/PP \L ]( In this part, you are required to write a composition on the topic “Calamity Brings Out One’s Best Qualities” in about 200 words.
[ 此贴被nanafly在2006-05-27 20:41重新编辑 ]
