天津大学研究生2011级期末英语考试题
ENGLISH PROFICIENCY EXAM
FOR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS
TIANJIN UNIVERSITY
Jan. 5th, 2012
PART 1: Vocabulary (20%)
Directions: In this part, there are 20 incomplete sentences. For each sentence there are 4 choices marked A, B, C, and D. Choose the one that best completes the sentence. Mark your answer on the ANSWER SHEET with a single line through the center.
1.Mutual endeavor has shaped our world, and mutualism, the belief that individual and
collective well-being is obtainable only by mutual dependence, ______ family life, relationships and society.
A. underpins
B. overstates
C. underlines
D. overcomes
2. A man of original power can never be ______ within the limits of a single field of interest
and activity, nor can he ever be content to bear the marks and use the skill of a single occupation.
A. located
B. liberated
C. committed
D. confined
3.As a result of technological convergence and progress in digitization, the laboratories of
computer technology and consumer electronics firms are ______ in the race for innovation and sophistication.
A. searching
B. competing
C. intervening
D. absorbing
4.The degree in which a man ______ his work and gives it the quality of his own mind and
spirit is the measure of his success in giving his nature free and full expression.
A. demolishes
B. standardizes
C. individualizes
D. abolishes
5.In common with other developed economies, Britain has advocated the creation of a
high-skilled, high-waged economy by ______ the education and skills of its workforce.
A. renewing
B. overthrowing
C. decreasing
D. upgrading
6.No one on the planet is going to escape the effects of global warming, and for billions the
resulting environmental deterioration is going to make life ______ more difficult.
A. considerably
B. terminally
C. originally
D. regularly
7.Digital television will enable users to access a wide range of new services, such as
pay-per-view TV, the downloading of video games or software, or channels ______ in sports
or teleshopping.
A. interfering
B. specializing
C. participating
D. consisting
8.Earthquakes are immensely destructive, mainly because most cities in regions of high
seismic risk are dominated by buildings that are simply not built well enough to ______ the severe ground shaking of a major quake.
A. sustain
B. withstand
C. guarantee
D. inspect
9.By giving students access to a new world of information, sparking creativity, and ______
rich communication and collaboration across vast distances, computers have long been a powerful tool for education.
A. preventing
B. disrupting
C. facilitating
D. manipulating
10.While more and more women are ______ roles as managers, a new study reveals that these
women are increasingly turning to the stereotypically more 'male' traits, such as aggression, to get results.
A. defining
B. assuming
C. regarding
D. interpreting
11.The potential negative effects of violent video games on adolescent antisocial behavior, and
youth violence ______, is a highly debated issue, both in academic circles and among the general public and policy makers.
A. on average
B. on purpose
C. in particular
D. in advance
12. A new digital watermarking system not only protects music and media files from online
pirates but also ensures that the quality for ______ users is as good as it gets.
A. unauthorized
B. temporary
C. malicious
D. legitimate
13.There is relatively little ______ of opinion and scholarship about whether generational
differences exist that are worth taking into consideration in the workplace, colleges, and universities, and other contexts.
A. permission
B. minority
C. absence
D. consensus
14.Young people’s worlds have changed in a variety of ways, many of which have a ______ on
the sort of education and training that they demand.
A. contact
B. bearing
C. lead
D. stake
15.Nowadays graduates in the labor market are expected to be flexible, to direct and steer their
own work as well as that of others, to take responsibility and to mould jobs to make best use
of their ______ in the global market economy.
A. expectations
B. blunders
C. competencies
D. defects
16.No generation is more at ease with online, collaborative technologies than today’s young
people—“digital natives”, who have grown up in a/n ______ computing environment.
A. immersive
B. emergent
C. hostile
D. rural
17.Whereas university research and development departments may once have been the primary
arena for testing new tools and theories, the survey data reveal that corporations now have the ______ in adopting new innovations.
A. right
B. edge
C. control
D. license
18.Access to technology in school is particularly important ______ increasing disparities in
technology access outside of school.
A. in tune with
B. in line with
C. in need of
D. in light of
19.Taking an international overview on anything, in this case the out-of-school education of the
gifted and talented, offers ______ which can sometimes cut right across anyone’s cultural assumptions.
A. perspectives
B. prosecutions
C. obligations
D. objections
20.Obesity is a national health crisis and if current trends continue, it will soon ______ smoking
in the U.S. as the biggest single factor in early death, reduced quality of life and added health care costs.
A. distinguish
B. modify
C. imitate
D. surpass
PART 2: Cloze (15%)
Directions: In this part of the test, you’ll read an incomplete passa ge with 15 blanks. Read the passage carefully, and choose the best answer from choices marked A, B, C and D. Then on your ANSWER SHEET, find the number of the question and mark your answer with a single line through the center.
One of the greatest assets a manager can have is a happy and satisfied team of employees. However, building such a team is a __21__. Unless you’re in senior management, you may be limited __22__ the amount of compensation or the promotion opportunities you can provide to your employe es. Fortunately, these aren’t the only factors that influence employee job satisfaction, or __23__ the most important.
Providing tangible proof to your employees that their efforts are recognized, while often
__24__ as secondary to other factors, is still very important. Reasonable employees will understand that wage increases do have their limits, __25__ they expect to be adequately compensated. However, other types of incentives, such as bonuses or prizes for the __26__ achievers in key performance categories, can be just as effective.
It is crucial that both increases and other monetary incentives be performance __27__. Employees should always receive greater rewards and more recognition when they are giving a higher quality of work. __28__ being fair, of course, it also sends the message that the organization values and recognizes those who __29__ their jobs instead of just doing the bare minimum.
The culture and the work environment factor highly into employee job satisfaction. Employees who enjoy being around their coworkers and respect their management team are more __30__ to stay in a job when they agree with the company’s goals and values.
Another major __31__ to job satisfaction is how the employee feels about their role and responsibilities. Studies show __32__ those surveyed about their level of job satisfaction have cited factors such as the desire for __ 33__ in their work, having a variety of tasks to __34__, being properly trained and equipped to do their jobs, and having work that is challenging and requires thought and creativity. Employees looking to __35__ a company will have an interest in their personal development and opportunities for advancement as well.
Above all, employees want to feel that both they and their work are valued and appreciated by the company.
21. A. blessing B. handicap
C. challenge
D. failure
22 A. in favor of B. in terms of
C. on behalf of
D. on top of
23. A. necessarily B. viciously
C. accurately
D. collectively
24. A. to rank B. being ranked
25. C. ranked
A. therefore
C. otherwise
D. ranks
B. unless
D. but
26. A. top B. bottom
C. low
D. peak
27. A. driving B. driven
28. C. counting
A. In addition to
C. With regard to
D. counted
B. Regardless of
D. For the sake of
29. A. specialize in B. excel at
C. draw on
D. ward off
30. A. subject B. likely
C. contrary
D. loyal
31. A. advantage B. obstacle
C. response
D. contributor
32. A. that B. how
C. when
D. whether
33 A. authorship B. automation
C. autonomy
D. authority
34. A. adopt B. undergo
C. perform
D. supply
35. A. depart from
C. interfere in B. confine to
D. stay with
Part 3: Reading Comprehension (40%)
Directions: In this part of the test, there are 4 passages. After each passage there are 5 questions or unfinished statements followed by 4 choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that can best answer the question or complete the statement, and then on your ANSWER SHEET, find the number of the question and mark your answer with a single line through the center.
Passage 1
It seems only natural that happiness should flow from having more money. Even if they don’t admit it, people still behave as though it were true. More money means you can have what you want and do what you want. The house you dream of? It’s yours. The new car you desire? Here are the keys. The freedom to enjoy your favorite pastimes? Here’s your racket, the court is down there, just past the pool.
So the puzzle is this: why do social scientists consistently find only moderate relationships between having more money and being happy? Some have even suggested that this moderate connection might be exaggerated. In reality money might have very little to do with happiness at all. Most puzzling, though, is that people often seem aware at some level that money won’t make them happy. And yet they continue to work away earning money they don’t objectively need.
First, though, let's look at the three reasons money doesn’t make us happy:
It’s relative income that’s important. As I’ve noted previously, money is relative. It turns out we don’t mind so much about our actual level of income, so long as we’re earning more than other people around us. Unfortunately as we earn more money we’re likely to be surrounded by richer people so we often end up failing to take advantage of the positive comparison.
Material goods don’t make us happy. Acquiring things like houses and cars only have a transient effect on happiness. People’s desires for material possessions crank up at the same, or greater rate, than their salaries. Again, this means that despite considerably more luxurious
possessions, people end up no happier. There’s even evidence that materialism make us less happy.
People don’t shift to enjoyable activities when they are rich. This may be because of ‘the focusing illusion’. When people think about earning more money they probably imagine they would use the money on recreational activities. In fact, to earn the money, they have to spend more time at work, and commuting to and from work.
These three reasons naturally raise the question of why psychological findings are so out of step with people’s everyday experience. Surely if money doesn’t lead to happiness, most people would have worked that out by now. So why do people still chase the mighty dollar/pound/yen like their lives depended on it?
Nobel-prize winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman and colleagues put forward the idea that the reason people continue to think money makes them happier is that chasing it leads to conventional achievements. Conventional achievements include things like getting that coveted promotion or being able to afford that big house - in other words things that say loud and clear: hear I am and this is what I can do.
So we end up with this: money doesn't make us happy on a day-to-day basis. Acquiring money and status makes us feel satisfied with life. Through the ‘focusing illusion’ we convince ourselves that satisfaction equals happiness. Unfortunately it doesn’t. Even though we appear to have everything, we are left feeling that something is missing, but are unable to identify what that thing is. That thing is simply this: feeling happy. Right now. In the moment.
36. What do social scientists find about money and happiness?
A.Money is the final goal of people pursuing happiness.
B.Happiness largely depends on the amount of money.
C.More money does not necessarily make people happy.
D.Money counts most in people’s feeling of happiness.
37. According to the passage, which of the following confuses the author most?
A.The scientific findings fail to explain people’s obsession with pursuing money and
happiness.
B.Although happiness loosely correlates with money, people still paradoxically crave for
earning more.
C.Social scientists cannot reach an agreement on their findings as to the importance of
money.
D.Awareness of causal relationship between money and happiness weakens people’s
desire to make money.
38. According to the passage, people _____.
A.care a lot about their actual level of income
B.are convinced that people around them earn higher income