CHINA UNIVERSITY OF GEOSCIENCES ;~\MZYs3m
PhD Entrance Examination in English \l. -eu'O
11 May 1994 uvV;Mlo]
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Hello! You are about to take the English test for people who wish to enter the doctoral program in the earth sciences at this school. The test may be rather different from any exam you’ve taken in the past. The first part is a timed listening exercise. The second part will assess your reading comprehension, you will probably be most familiar with the format of this section of the exam. The last part tests your ability to produce good, grammatical English in simple, ordinary situations. ^ 8@Iyh
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Make sure you read and follow the directions for each part of the test! Q~j`Y mR|
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The results of this exam will enable us to compare your preparation in English with that of the other candidates. The “passing” grade is relative; in other words, it will depend on the scores for the whole body of test-takers .You should just relax and do as well as you can. Only the first part is timed ; for parts 2 and 3 you will have plenty of time. Ldl 5zc
We shall now begin. Turn the page to part 1. Good Luck! CJXg@\ \/
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PART 1. On your paper you see a list of 48 objects (=things) from everyday life. You will hear short descriptions of 20 of these objects. After listening to each description, decide which object is being described. Then write your answer in the appropriate space on your answer sheet. 8krpowVs~
For example, suppose you hear this: “Object U is a device for cleaning clothes. You fill it with water, add soap, then the dirty clothes, and turn the control dial. The clothes will be swirled round and round in the soapy water, first in one direction, then in the other. Usually there is also a compartment that you can use to spin the excess water out of the clothes.” You decide the object U is a washing machine. You look for WASHING MACHINE on your list. You see that the number next to WASHING MACHINE is 46. You then write “46” next to U on your answer sheet. (Of course, your actual answer sheet only goes as far as the letter T.) i![
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You will now have three minutes to look over the list of objects. SJ};TEA
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1 AIR CONDITIONER 17 FORK 33 SCISSORS SY^dWLf
2 ALARM CLOCK 18 GUITAR 34 SCREWDRIVER Kbb78S30
3 ARMCHAIR 19 HAMMER 35 SPOON p mFk 50`
4 BED 20 LIGHTBULB 36 STOVE @ bnG:np
5 BICYCLE 21 MIRROR 37 TABLE LAMP ` /MvQ/
6 CAMERA 22 MOP 38 TAPE RECORDER p!
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7 CANDLE 23 MOTORCYCLE 39 TELEPHONE yG sz2T;w
8 CAR 24 PAGER 34 TELEVISION { vN}<f`
9 CARPET 25 PERSONAL COMPUTER 41 THERMOMETER !E-Pa5s
10 CHOPSTICKS 26 PHONEGRAPH 42 THERMOS BOTTLE ^+1#[E
11 COMB 27 PHOTOCOPIER 43 TYPEWRITER ]d]
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12 DESK 28 PIANO 44 VACUUM CLEANER >N?2""
13 DOORKNOB 29 RADIATOR 45 VCR cn-
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14 ELECTRIC FAN 30 RADIO 46 WASHING MACHINE D Kw*~0
15 FAX MACHINE 31 RAZOR 47 WATER HEATER xGG,2W+z
16 FLASHLIGHT 32 REFRIGERATOR 48 WRISTWATCH *k1<:
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ANSWERS 1<h >B:
A _____________ H _____________ O _____________ C( id=F
B _____________ I _____________ P _____________ s-7R
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C _____________ J _____________ Q _____________ w Hem5 E
D _____________ K _____________ R _____________ 2Gs$?}"a
E _____________ L _____________ S _____________ ,=
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F _____________ M _____________ T _____________ /2 m?15c+
G _____________ N _____________ 033T>qY
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PART 2. Carefully read the passage below and then answer the questions that follow. Mark the correct answer by drawing a small circle around the letter of the response you have chosen. \Fe_rh
There are 15 questions in all, but each question is worth two points on this test. Thus the total value of Part 2 is 30 points out of 100 for the test as a whole. (? *BB3b`
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The woman, 69 years old and still active as a professor at Harvard University, told a research team that she had begun to find it hard to recall the names of never faculty members. Not long ago she had forgotten her classroom number when asking for a slide projector to be sent up. She had one anxious question for the research team, assembled to study the normal course of mental aging: “Am I losing my ability to remember, and perhaps even to think clearly?” 4W#E`9
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That question is the principal focus of a new wave of scientific inquiry on the decline in mental ability with age. The finings are challenging some basic assumptions, like the belief that such decline is a natural part of the aging process, irrespective of general health. o iH|uIsqR
From 20 to 30 percent of people in their 80s who volunteer for cognitive testing perform as well as volunteers in their 30s and 40s, who are presumably in their mental prime. The intellectual and creative productivity in later life of certain artists and intellectuals may represent not so much an exception as an ideal, some experts now say. Ijf
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Dr KW Schaie, a psychologist at Pennsylvania State University, is the director of a major study of normal mental decline in the elderly. For over 35 years, his study has been following more than 5000 men and women who have been tested regularly. Dr Schaie’s investigations seek to fill a gap in gerontological research, which, according to Dr Jack Rowe, president of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and a leading expert in the field, has focused on disease and disability, and neglected the prospects of maintaining high functioning in old age. Dr Rowe heads a research network on successful aging sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation. In an interview he pointed out that gerontologists have focused on “ the 6 to 15 percent of the elderly who are frail and then lumped everyone else together as normal. But there is a huge variation from person to person among older people: the older a group gets, the less like each other people in it become.” tyDY'W\]
Dr Schaie’s most recent findings were reported this month in The American Psychologist. Although the study’s results abilities begins gradually in the middle to late 60s and accelerates in the late 70s,the rate of decline differs for various mental faculties and differs in men and women. The sharpest declines are seen in basic mathematics. By their late 80s, both men and women were only about half as adept in basic math as they had been in their 50s. For men, the least decline shown is in spatial orientation, used, for example, in reading a map correctly. By the late 80s,it had dropped by only about one-eighth on average. Z.wA@ ~e
For women, the most enduring mental skill is inductive reasoning, assessing the information in a timetable, for instance. As women reached their late 80s, it had dropped just over one-eighth from its height in middle age. One of the drastic declines for women proved to be in verbal comprehension, while that ability dropped relatively little into the 70s, it plummeted by about one-quarter during the 80s. For men, the decline was slight in those years. (( rv]f{
Another study, this one by Dr Richard Mons, a psychologist at Mount Sinai Medical School who is the acting director of a research consortium on normal memory loss and aging sponsored by the Charles A. Dana Foundation, has found that different kinds of memory differ in their vulnerability to aging. “Crystallized” memory, i.e. vocabulary or other knowledge accumulated over the years, holds up very well into old age. “Fluid” memory, on the other hand, the ability to add new information to memory or to recall something that happened recently is more prone to decline, beginning in the 60s. He found little decline in very short-term memory, like remembering a telephone number just looked up. '&;69`FSe
A pair of Harvard psychologists, Douglas Powell and Kean Whitla, have designed a computerized test of mental skills like long-term and short-term memory, attention, reasoning and calculation, they reported the test in the February issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science. They are the researchers whom the 69-year-old professor spoke with. Their test compares a person’s score with norms for others of the same age, for people who are still in middle age and for others in their own professional group. CVi`bO 4\
Dr Schaie’s study has found certain predictors for good mental function in old age. These include a high level of ability in reading comprehension and verbal fluency, a successful career or some other involvement through life and continuing keen mental interests after retirement. Having a flexible attitude in middle age was also a promising indicator. “There is less mental decline in people who adapt easily to change, who like learning new things and enjoy going to new places,” Dr Schaie observed. The study also found that simply living with someone with these characteristics is beneficial. “It helps to have a high-functioning spouse, since this is your major immediate social environment and support,” Dr Schaie stated. Sc]P<F7N]
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1. The 69-year-old woman mentioned at the beginning of the passage is finding it increasingly. ]p~IYNl2%j
A difficult to remember who her colleagues are Se!)n;?7Sw
B difficult to recall some of her colleagues’ faces w18RA#Zo/
C difficult to remember what some of her colleagues are called dS`Bk6 Y
D easy to forget the name of her faculty {$M;H+Foh
E easy to forget what some of her younger colleagues do in the faculty T#O??3/%$1
2. Some artists and intellectuals remain productive to the very end of long lives. The writer of the passage states that some experts h~7,`
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A believe that such examples are more common than gerontologists formerly supposed MbXq`
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B are certain that such late productivity is impossible for ordinary people in other walks of life r
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C are almost certain that in the future such late productivity will become quite ordinary E:nt)Ef,
D suspect that it is wrong to regard such late productivity as abnormal rather than simply uncommon uvA(Rn
E reject the idea that such people can be taken as models for normal human beings Yn
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3. Dr Schaie’s findings reveal that Iwpbf Z
A the pattern of mental decline among men and women is virtually identical 9zgNjjCl]
B loss of the ability to calculate is severe in women, but much less so in men ~@8+hnE ]
C among older women, inductive reasoning is just as impaired by aging as is basic math 5A&y]5-Q`
D damage to inductive reasoning among the elderly is about equal for men and women k:#6^!b1
E loss of the ability to calculate is severe in both men and women 0W
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4. Dr Schaie tells us that the average 85-year-old woman is likely to have lost a good deal of her ability to [$ :
A use numbers and understand language r-w2\ 2
B use numbers and read timetables S)%_we LW7
C read timetables and use maps w5]l1}rl
D understand language and read timetables )'q%2%Ak
E learn new facts and use numbers *rqm8z50a
5. Dr Jack Rowe, in addition to serving as director of a well-known medical school, fY2wDD
A is the head of a foundation that gives money for research on the problems of the elderly 9e<Zgr?N
B is one of America’s top gerontologists studying old people with abnormally severe memory loss v9}[$HWx
C is the leader of a tightly coordinated research association studying how to remain healthy in old age @XOi62(
D is responsible for deciding which experts on successful aging will get research grants from the MacArthur Foundation c!&Qj
E is the leader of a loosely coordinated group of research teams studying how to remain healthy in old age ~hURs;Sb
6. Dr Rowe says, “… there is a huge variation from person to person among older people: the older a group gets, the less like each other the people in it become.” This can best be paraphrased (re-stated) as t ,qul4y}
A The older the people in a group get, the more characteristics they share 1a9w(X
B Differences between individuals in a group diminish as age increases rbk< z\pc
C As people age, certain similarities increase, while others become less marked ~,}s(`~
D Human individuals are very dissimilar at any age, this is no less true as people grow older zj]b&In6;
E Overall resemblances between members of a human group decrease as the years go by 7unA"9=[4V
7. Which of these items would Dr Mohs not classify as part of your crystallized memory? E!aq?`-'!
A A headline in last week’s newspaper 9y"TDo
B The date of your eldest child’s birth lSc, AOXp
C Your mother’s name DY> <qk
D The meaning of the English word “geology” a'[)9:
E The formula for finding the area of a triangle $P?{O3:V
8. What Powell and Whitla have created "2h5m4
A constitutes a great advance in computer software 5fHYc0
B compares someone like the 69-year-old woman with other women and with other people of various ages, but not with other university instructors `=!p$hg($
C will probably confirm many of Dr Schaie’s findings and invalidate those of Dr Mohs ",W f uz
D should make it easier to determine the relative mental skills of large numbers of people
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E will be of little use to Dr Schaie but very valuable for Dr Mohs T|f_~#?eV
9. If you were a young man thinking of getting married and you asked Dr Schaie for advice, he would probably tell you to ;4d.)-<No_
A marry someone quiet and dependable -fM1$/
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B seek unity and stability in your marriage h}6b&m
C marry someone lively and curious a R#Co
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D avoid women who are always trying to change their situations v,\93mNp[
E choose someone who would rather read than travel ry,}F@P&
10. This article X'2 Gi
A is limited to a discussion of Dr Schaie’s recent research s<{GpWT8
B surveys recent developments in the study of aging and the elderly <t6 d)mJ %
C gives an overview of recent advances in the understanding of the relation between old age and mental activities n49s3|#)G
D is primarily a criticism of the excessive concentration among earlier gerontologists on severs memory loss by the elderly 3^H/LWx`{]
E explains recent advances in scientific understanding of the physical mechanisms of mental decline among the aged c+;S<g 0
11. Given that the average person is unlikely to know that geronto--- is the Greek root meaning “old person” (see line 25), we may reasonably conclude that this article is intended for N
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A gerontologists interested in recent developments in their field rHo6iJj
B schoolchildren being taught how to deal with difficult old people
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C doctors who need a technical summary of recent advances in mental research aZ/yC S7
D university-educated readers curious about recent work in gerontology 5|m9:Hv[#
E adults with secondary-school educations or less who want to know what will happen to their memories as they grow older c V(H<"I
12. The word challenging in line 11 means jhcuK:`L
A supporting C!kbZTO[p"
B supplying evidence for HtS#
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C disproving q]?+By-
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D bringing into doubt &0h=4i=6r
E suspicious (T2<!&0 @
13. The word cognitive in line 15 is ^B6`e^ <
A an adjective pertaining to the act of knowing and judging Q^kMCrp
B a verb meaning to invent by suing the power of one’s brain " # J}A0
C a noun related to the word recognize mlmnkgl
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D an adjective referring to the process of aging ?bCTLt7k
E a noun meaning a mental action, especially one involving recognition zPA>af~Ej
14. The opposite of flexible in line 83 is Z_!9iA:X
A easy \ /sF:~=
B bending (F_7%!g1d
C difficult @]yQJuXA&Z
D strong np&HEh 6
E rigid g;ct!f=U
15. The word promising in line 83 means bv_AJ4gS
A indicating a definite result uJ7,rq
B productive bwT"$Ee
C strongly suggesting possible results MEDskvBG
D guaranteeing certain results &AN%Qh I
E guaranteed by the evidence M~# 5/eRX
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PART 3. The sentences below contain one or more blanks. Write one appropriate word in each blank. There may be several appropriate choices, but you must write only one. Your choice must be logical, grammatically correct and properly spelled. In other words, it must be acceptable real English. Any answer in good English is correct. C} |O#"t^\
Put only ONE word in each blank. Contractions like he’s or they’ve are considered one word. If you put more than one word in a blank, your answer will automatically be wrong. a'c9XG}
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1. Yesterday I gave my mother ___________ orange sweater for _________ birthday. Pau&4h0
2. I was hungry, _________ I went into a restaurant and ordered ________food. The waiter _______ a long time to bring me _______ I had ordered. When he finally brought it, he _______for the delay. oM m/ !Dc
3. Someone________ just given me a typewriter. Do you think you could _______me to type? E]D4']
4. Look at the time! It’s already 5:10, and we have to be at the station by 5:45! If we don’t _______ up, we’ll _________ our train. 7ZrJ#n8?ih
5. The stores are so crowded today and the file at the theatre is terrible. _______ just stay home and ________television instead. Of course, if you’d really ________ go out, we can do that. I’ll leave it up to you. b'i%B9yU:%
6. These documents are all in Chinese. We need to _______them translated _______ English in time _________ the meeting with the foreign businessmen _________ Friday. Nj"_sA
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7. My parents have been __________ me to ___________married for the last two years, but I still haven’t made up my ___________. `1DU b7<
8. __________ to the weather report on the radio, it’s raining in Shanghai , but that ________ be true. I was just on the phone to shanghai and the _________ I spoke with said it was sunny there. 9$}+-Z
9. After I ________ the university entrance exam I was extremely upset, because I was almost sure I had _________ the test. To my ________, it __________ out that I had gotten the highest score in the province! c1=;W$T(s
10. This man claims that he’s from Beijing, but he speaks with a strong southern ________. It’s obvious that he is just ________ to be from Beijing. I ________ where he’s really from. uBV^nUjS"m
11. I __________ to speak Russian fluently, but that’s not true now. In fact, I can no ________carry on even a simple conversation in the language. I _________be able to get back my former fluency if I stayed in Russia for a __________ months. a'( lVZA;
12. Our research team is _________ to complete a major project. Our findings will be _________in a series of articles scheduled to appear next year. I will also _________ the results at a conference being _________ in Sydney later this year. \L&qfMjW"Z
13. We are having some _________ with the machine that we imported__________ Japan last year. It has __________down twice already. Each time we have ________to ask a technician to come to Beijing to __________it. The good news is that our technicians have__________ completed their training in Tokyo. The next time we have a __________ , we won’t need to send for a Japanese specialist. WcQ
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14. __________ he studied in America for three years, he can’t write English very well. He is rather embarrassed by this now. He _________ he had spent more time ___________his written English while he was abroad. G
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15. You and I don’t need anyone else’s assistance. We can solve these problems by __________.
