上海交通大学2013年考博英语真题

Part I Reading Comprehension

Directions: In this part you are going to read six passages. Each of the passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each question there are four choices marked A, B, C and D decide on the best choice according to the passage you have read, then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.

Passage One

There are desert plants which survive the dry season in the form of inactive seeds. There are also desert insects which survive as inactive larvae (high). In addition, difficult as it is to believe, there are desert fish which can survive through years of drought in the form of inactive eggs. These are the shrimps that live in the Mojave Desert, an intensely dry region in the south-west of the United States where shade temperatures of over 50 are open recorded.

The eggs of the Mojave shrimps are the size and have the appearance of grains of sand. When sufficient spring rain falls to form a lake, once every two to five years, these eggs hatch. Then the water is soon filled with millions of tiny shrimps about a millimeter long which feed on tiny plant and animal organisms which also grow in the temporary desert lake. Within a week, the shrimps grow from their original 1 millimeter to a length of about 1.5 centimeters.

Throughout the time that the shrimps are rapidly maturing, the water in the lake equally rapidly evaporates. Therefore, for the shrimps it is a race against time. By the twelfth day, however, when they are about 3 centimeters long, hundreds of tiny eggs form on the underbodies of the females. Usually by this time, all that remains of the lake is a large, muddy patch of wet soil. On the thirteenth day and the next, during the final hours of their brief lives, the shrimps lay their eggs in the mud. Then, having ensured that their species will survive, the shrimps die as the last of the water evaporates.

If sufficient rain falls the next year to form another lake, the eggs hatch, and once again the shrimps pass rapidly through their cycle of growth, adulthood, egg-laying, and death. Some years is insufficient rain to form a lake: in this case, the eggs will remain dormant for another year, or even longer if necessary. Very, very occasionally, perhaps twice in a hundred years, sufficient rain falls to form a deep lake that lasts a month or more. In this case, the species passes through two cycles of growth, egg-laying, and death. Thus, on such occasions, the species multiplies considerably, which further ensures its survival.

1. Which of the following is the MOST distinctive feature of Mojave shrimps?

A. Their lives are brief.

B. They feed on plant and animal organisms.

C. Their eggs can survive years of drought.

D. They lay their eggs in the mud.

2. By saying “or the shrimps it is a race against time” (para. 3) the author means __________.

A. they have to swim fast to avoid danger in the rapidly evaporating licks.

B. they have to swim fast to catch the animal organisms on which they survive.

C. they have to multiply as many as possible within thirteen days.

D. they have to complete their life cycle within a short span of time permitted by the environment.

3. The passage mainly deals with __________.

A. the life span of Mojave shrimpsB. the survival of desert shrimps

C. the importance of water to lifeD. life in the Mojave Desert

4. The word "dormant" (Para. 4) most probably means __________.

A. inactiveB. strongC. alertD. soft

5. It may be inferred from the passage that __________.

A. appearance and size are most important for life to survive in the desert.

B. a species must be able to multiply quickly in order to survive.

C. for some species one life cycle in a year is enough to survive the desert drought.

D. some species develop a unique life pattern to survive in extremely harsh conditions.

Passage Two

The Welsh language has always been the ultimate marker of Welsh identity, but a generation ago it looked as if Welsh would go the way of Manx---once widely spoken on the isle of Man but not extinct. Government financing and central planning, however, have helped reverse the decline of Welsh. Road signs and official public documents are written in both Welsh and English, and schoolchildren are required to learn both languages, Welsh is now one of the most successful of Europe’s regional languages, spoken by more than a half-million of the country’s three million people.

The revival of the language, particularly among young people, is part of a resurgence of national identity sweeping through this small, proud nation. Last month Wales marked the second anniversary of the opening of the National Assembly, the first parliament to be convened here since 1404. The idea behind devolution was to restore the balance within the union of nations making up the United Kingdom. With most of the people and wealth, England has always had bragging rights. The partial transfer of legislative powers from Westminster, implemented by Tony Blair, was designed to give the other members of the club---Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales---a bigger say and to counter centrifugal forces that seemed to threaten the very idea of the union.

The Welsh showed little enthusiasm for devolution. Whereas the Scots voted overwhelmingly for a parliament, the vote for a Welsh assembly scraped through by less than one percent on a turnout of less than 25 percent. Its powers were proportionately limited. The Assembly can decide how money from Westminster or the European Union is spent. It cannot, unlike its counterpart in Edinburgh, enact laws. But now that it is here, the Welsh are growing to like their Assembly. Many people would like it to have more powers. Its importance as figurehead will grow with the opening in 2003, of a new debating chamber, one of many new buildings that are transforming Cardiff from a decaying seaport into a Baltimore-style waterfront city. Meanwhile a grant of nearly two million dollars from the European Union will tackle poverty. Wales is one of the poorest regions in Western Europe-only Spain, Portugal, and Greece have a lower standard of living.

Newspapers and magazines are filled with stories about great Welsh men and women, boosting self-esteem. To familiar faces such as Dylan Thomas and Richard Burton have been added new icons such as Catherine Zeta-Jones, the movie star, and Bryn Terfel, the opera singer. Indigenous foods like salt marsh lamb are in vogue. And Wales now boasts a national airline, Awyr Cymru. Cymru, weans “land of compatriots” is the Welsh name for Wales. The red dragon, the nation’s symbol since the time of King Arthur, is everywhere on T-shirts, rugby Jerseys and even cell phone covers.

“Until very recent times most Welsh people had this feeling of being second-class citizens,” said Dyfan Jonos, an 18-year old student. It was a warm summer night, and I was siding on the grass with a group of young people in Llanelli, an industrial town in the south, outside rock music venue of the National Eisteddfod, Wales’s annual cultural festive disused factory in front of us echoed to the sounds of new Welsh bands. “There was almost a genetic tendency for lack of confidence,” Dyfan continued. Equally comfortable in his membership in the English-speaking, global youth culture and a new federal Europe, Dyfan, like the rest of his generation, is growing up with a sense of possibility unimaginable ten years ago. “We used to think. We can’t do fig, we’re only Welsh. Now I think that’s changing.”

6. According to the Passage, devolution was mainly means to __________.

A. maintain the present status among the nations

B. reduce legislative powers of England

C. create a better state of equality among the nations

D. grant more say to all the nations in the union

7. The word “centrifugal” in the second paragraph means __________.

A. separatistB. conventionalC. feudalD. political

8. Wales is different from Scotland in all the following aspects EXCEPT __________.

A. people’s desire for devolutionB. locals’ turnout for the voting

C. powers of the legislative bodyD. status of the national language

9. Which of the following is NOT cited as an example of the resurgence of Welsh national identity?

A. Welsh has witnessed a revival as a national language.

B. Poverty-relief funds have come from the European Union.

C. a Welsh national airline is currently in operation.

D. The national symbol has become a familiar sight.

10. According to Dyfan Jones what has changed is __________.

A. people’s mentalityB. pop culture

C. town’s appearanceD. possibilities for the people

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