北京航空航天大学考博英语真题2014年_真题-无答案

北京航空航天大学考博英语真题2014年

(总分100,考试时间90分钟)

Ⅰ. Reading Comprehension

Directions:In this section, there are four texts. After each text, there are five questions marked A, B, C and D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1.

Text One

A controversy erupted in the **munity in early 1998 over the use of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) fingerprinting in criminal investigations. DNA fingerprinting was introduced in 1987 as a method to identify individuals based on a pattern seen in their DNA, the molecule of which genes are made. DNA is present in every cell of the body except red blood cells. DNA fingerprinting has been used successfully in various ways, such as to determine paternity where it is not clear who the father of a particular child is. However, it is in the area of criminal investigations that DNA fingerprinting has potentially powerful and controversial uses.

DNA fingerprinting and other DNA analysis techniques have revolutionized criminal investigations by giving investigators powerful new tools in the attempt to prove guilt, not just establish innocence. When used in criminal investigations, a DNA fingerprint pattern from a suspect is compared with a DNA fingerprint pattern obtained from such material as hairs or blood found at the scene of a crime. A match between the two DNA samples can be used as evidence to convict a suspect.

The controversy in 1998 stemmed from a report published in December 1991 by population geneticists Richard C. Lewontin of Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., and Daniel L. Hartl called into question the methods to calculate how likely it is that a match between two DNA fingerprints might occur by chance alone. In particular, they argued that the current method cannot properly determine the likelihood that two DNA samples will match because they came from the same individual rather than simply from two different individuals who are members of the same ethnic group. Lewontin and Hartl called for better surveys of DNA patterns methods are adequate. In response to their criticisms, population geneticists Ranajit Chakraborty of the University of Texas in Dallas and Kenneth K. Kidd of Yale University in New Haven, Conn., argued that enough data are already available to show that the methods currently being used are adequate. In January 1998, however, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and laboratories that conduct DNA tests announced that they would collect additional DNA samples from various ethnic groups in an attempt to resolve some of these questions. And, in April, a National Academy of Sciences called for strict standards and system of accreditation for DNA testing laboratories.

1. Before DNA fingerprinting is used, suspects ______.

A. would have to leave their fingerprints for further investigations B. would have to submit evidence for their innocence C. could easily escape conviction of guilt D. could be convicted of guilt as well

2. DNA fingerprinting can be unreliable when ______.

A. the methods used for blood-cell calculation are not accurate

B. two different individuals of the same ethnic group may have the same DNA fingerprinting pattern

C. a match is by chance left with fingerprints that happen to belong to two different individuals D. two different individuals leave two DNA samples

3. To geneticists like Lewontin and Hartl, the current method ______.

A. is not so convincing as to exclude the likelihood that two DNA samples can **e from two individuals

B. is arguable because two individuals of the same ethnic group are likely to have the same DNA pattern

C. is not based on adequate scientific theory of genetics

D. is theoretically contradictory to what they have been studying

4. The attitude of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows that ______.

A. enough data are yet to be collected from various ethnic groups to confirm the unlikelihood of two DNA **ing from two individual members

B. enough data of DNA samples should be collected to confirm that only DNA samples from the same person can match

C. enough data are yet to be collected from various ethnic groups to determine the likelihood of two different DNA **ing from the same person

D. additional samples from various ethnic groups should be collected to determine that two DNA samples are unlikely to come from the same person

5. National Academy of Sciences holds the stance that ______. A. DNA testing should be systematized

B. only authorized laboratories can conduct DNA testing

C. the academy only is authorized to work out standards for testing D. the academy has the right to accredit laboratories for DNA testing

Text Two

Racket, din clamor, noise, whatever you want to call it, unwanted sound is America\"s most widespread nuisance. But noise is more than just a nuisance. It constitutes a real and present danger to people\"s health. Day and night, at home, at work, and at play, noise can produce serious physical and psychological stress. No one is immune to this stress. Though we seem to adjust to noise by ignoring it, the ear, in fact, never closes and the body still responds—sometimes with extreme tension, as to a strange sound in the night.

The annoyance we feel when faced with noise is the **mon outward symptom of the stress building up inside us. Indeed, because irritability is so apparent, legislators have made public

annoyance the basis of many noise abatement programs. The more subtle and more serious health hazards associated with stress caused by noise traditionally have been given much less attention. Nevertheless, when we are annoyed or made irritable by noise, we should consider these symptoms fair warning that other thing may be happening to us, some of which may be damaging to our health. Of many health hazards to noise, hearing loss is the most clearly observable and measurable by health professionals. The other hazards are harder to pin down. For many of us, there may be a risk that exposure to the stress of noise increases susceptibility to disease and infection. The more susceptible among us may experience noise as a complicating factor in heart problems and other diseases. Noise that causes annoyance and irritability in health persons may have serious consequences for these already ill in mind or body.

Noise affects us throughout our lives. For example, there are indications of effects on the unborn child when mothers are exposed to industrial and environmental noise. During infancy and childhood, youngsters exposed to high noise levels may have trouble falling asleep and obtaining necessary amounts of rest.

Why, then, is there not greater alarm about these dangers? Perhaps it is because the link between noise and many disabilities or diseases has not yet been conclusively demonstrated. Perhaps it is because we tend to dismiss annoyance as a price to pay for living in the modern world. It may also be because we still think of hearing loss as only an occupational hazard. 1. In Paragraph 1, the phrase \"immune to\" is used to mean ______. A. unaffected by B. hurt by C. unlikely to be seen by D. unknown by

2. The author\"s attitude toward noise would best be described as ______. A. unrealistic B. traditional C. concerned D. hysterical

3. Which of the following best states the main idea of the passage? A. Noise is a major problem; most people recognize its importance B. Although noise can be annoying, it is not a major problem

C. Noise is a major problem and has not yet been recognized as such D. Noise is a major problem about which nothing can be done 4. The author condemns noise essentially because it ______. A. is against the law

B. can make some people irritable C. is a nuisance

D. is a danger to people\"s health

5. The author would probably consider research about the effects noise has on people to be ______.

A. unimportant B. impossible C. a waste of money D. essential

Text Three

Is language, like food, a basic human need without which a child at a critical period of life can be starved and damaged? Judging from the drastic experiment of Frederick I in the thirteenth century,

it may be hoping to discover what language a child would speak if he heard no mother tongue, he told the nurses to keep silent.

All the infants died before the first year. But clearly there was more than lack of language here What was missing was good mothering. Without good mothering, in the first year of life especially, the capacity to survive is seriously affected.

Today no such severe lack exists as that ordered by Frederick. Nevertheless, some children are still backward in speaking. Most often the reason for this is that the mother is insensitive to the signals of the infant, whose brain is programmed to learn language rapidly. If these sensitive periods are neglected, the ideal time for acquiring skills passes and they might never be learned so easily again. A bird learns to sing and to fly rapidly at right time, but the process is slow and hard once the critical stage has passed.

Experts suggest that speech stages are reached in a fixed sequence and at a constant age, but there are cases where speech has started late in a child who eventually turns out to be of high IQ. At twelve weeks a baby smiles and makes bowel-like sounds; at twelve months he can speak simple words and understand **mands; at eighteen months he has a vocabulary of three to fifty words. At three he knows about 1,000 words which he can put into sentences, and at four his language differs from that of his parents in born with the capacity to speak. What is special about man\"s brain, compared with that of the monkey, is **plex system which enables a child to connect the sight and feel of, say, a toy-bear with the sound pattern \"toy-bear\". And even more incredible is the young brain\"s ability to pick out an order in language from the mixture of sound around him, to analyze, to combine and recombine the parts of a language in new ways.

But speech has to be induced, and this depends on interaction between the mother and the child, where the mother recognizes the signals in the child\"s babbling, grasping and smiling, and responds to them. Insensitivity of the mother to these signals dulls the interaction because the child gets discouraged and sends out only the obvious signals. Sensitivity to the child\"s non-verbal signals is essential to the growth and development of language. 1. The purpose of Frederick I\"s experiment was ______. A. to prove that children are born with ability to speak

B. to discover what language a child would speak without hearing any human speak C. to find out what role careful nursing would play in teaching a child to speak D. to prove that a child could be damaged without learning a language

2. The reason that some Children are backward in speaking is most likely that ______. A. they are incapable of learning language rapidly B. they are exposed to too much language at once

C. their mothers respond inadequately to their attempts to speak D. their mothers are not intelligent enough to help them

3. What is particularly remarkable about a child is that ______. A. he is born with the capacity to speak B. he has a brain **plex than an animal\"s C. he can produce his own sentences

D. he owes his speech ability to good nursing

4. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage? A. The faculty of speech is inborn in man B. The child\"s brain is highly selective

C. Most children learn their language in definite stages D. All the above

5. If a child starts to speak later than others, he will ______ in future. A. have a high IQ B. be less intelligent

C. be insensitive to verbal signals D. not necessarily be backward

Text Four

Everyone has a moment in history, which belongs particularly to him. It is the moment when his emotions achieve their most powerful sway over him, and afterward when you say to this person \"the world today\" or \"life\" or \"reality\" he will assume that you mean this moment, even if it is fifty years past. The world, through his unleashed (释放的) emotions, imprinted itself upon him, and he carries the stamp of that passing moment forever.

For me, this moment—four years in a moment in history—was the war. The war was and is reality for me. I still instinctively live and think in its atmosphere. These are some of its characteristics. Franklin Delano Roosevelt is the president of the United States, and he always has been. The other two eternal world leaders are Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. America is not, never has been, and never will be what the song and poems call it, a land of plenty. Nylon, meat, gasoline, and steel are rare. There are too many jobs and not enough workers. Money is very easy to earn but rather hard to spend, because there isn\"t very much to buy. Trains are always late and always crowded with \"service men\". The war will always be fought very far from America, and it will never end. Nothing in America stands still for very long, including the people who are always either leaving or on leave. People in America cry often. Sixteen is the key and crucial and natural age for a human being to be, and people of all other ages are ranged in an orderly manner ahead of and behind you as a harmonious setting for the sixteen-year-olds of the world. When you are sixteen, adults are slightly impressed and almost intimidated by you. This is a puzzle finally solved by the realization that they foresee your military future: fighting for them. You do not foresee it. To waste anything in America is immoral. String and tinfoil are treasures. Newspapers are always crowed with strange maps and names of towns, and every few months the earth seems to lurch (突然倾斜) from its path when you see something in the newspapers, such as the time Mussolini, who almost seemed one of the eternal leaders, is photographed hanging upside down on a meat hook.

1. Which statement best depicts the main idea of the first paragraph? A. Reality is what you make of it B. Time is like a river C. Emotions are powerful

D. Every person has a special moment

2. Why does the author still clearly remember the war? A. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President B. It was his personal reality and part of his life C. There was not much to buy

D. The war would never end

3. Which statement best describes the author\"s feelings about the war? A. It was ever real for him, yet he was not actively involved B. It was real for him because he was a soldier at that time C. It was very unreal to him

D. The war was very disruptive to the people at home

4. Why does the author think that adults are impressed with sixteen-year-olds? A. Adults would like to be young

B. Sixteen-year-olds do not waste things C. Sixteen-year-olds read newspapers D. They will be fighting soon for adults

5. Why does the author say that string and tinfoil are treasures? A. The war has made them scarce

B. They are useful to sixteen-year-olds C. He liked them when he was sixteen D. People are very wasteful

Ⅱ. Vocabulary

Directions:In this section, there are 20 uncompleted sentences with four choices below each sentence. Choose the best one from the four choices to fill in the blanks. Then mark the corresponding letter on ANSWER SHEET 1 with a single line through the center.

1. Deserts, dry areas with ______ no vegetation, cover more than one-third of the Earth\"s land surface.

A. surprisingly B. eventually C. permanently D. virtually

2. He found his new acquaintance to be ______: trying to understand her personality was like peering into an unknown dimension. A. cosmopolitan B. imperturbable C. inscrutable D. puerile

3. Beth worked hard to ______ in with the locals during her visit. A. encounter B. blend C. merge D. adapt

4. I think Kim would be great for the job. Her work record is ______. A. impeccable B. enriched C. rudimentary D. tarnished

5. **pany that Joan works for is ______ with an **pany, so she can get a discount on a new car. A. correlated B. parallel C. affiliated D. accounted

6. Vacation policies continue to be a source of ______ between management and the workers. A. disturbance B. resistance C. contraction D. friction

7. Current data suggest that, although ______ states between fear and aggression exist, fear and aggression are as distinct physiologically as they are psychologically.

A. simultaneous B. exceptional C. partial D. transitional

8. The government ______ the use of seat belts in all cars. A. prevails B. provokes C. mediates D. mandates

9. The river was ______ with industrial waste from the nearby factory. A. irradiated B. contaminated C. corrupted D. fragmented

10. John was not selected ______; he was chosen for the job because he had the most experience. A. deliberately B. alternatively C. momentously D. arbitrarily

11. The differences between the male and female of this species become more ______ with age. A. divisible B. pronounced C. dictated D. assured

12. Under ethical guideline recently adopted by the National Institutes of Health, human genes are to be manipulated only to correct disease for which ______ treatments are unsatisfactory. A. similar B. dangerous C. uncommon D. alternative

13. As long as nations cannot themselves accumulate enough physical power to dominate all others, they must depend on ______. A. allies B. resources C. freedom D. education

14. A recent survey shows that, while ninety-four percent of companies conducting management-training programs open them to women, women are ______ only seventy-four percent of those programs. A. protesting against B. participating in C. displeased by D. allowed in

15. Unfortunately, his damaging attacks on the ramifications of the economic policy have been ______ by his wholehearted acceptance of that policy\"s underlying assumptions. A. supplemented B. undermined C. redeemed D. diverted

16. Superficial differences between the special problems and techniques of the physical sciences and those of the biological sciences are sometimes cited as evidence for the ______ of biology and for the claim that the methods of physics are therefore not adequate to biological inquiry. A. autonomy B. vitality C. purposefulness D. obsolescence

17. To compensate for the substantial decline in the availability of fossil fuels in future years, we will have to provide at least ______ alternative energy source. A. an anticipated B. an official C. an equivalent D. a redundant

18. Some biologists argue that each specifically human trait must have arisen gradually and erratically, and that it is therefore difficult to isolate definite ______ in the evolution of species. A. fluctuations B. manifestations C. predispositions D. milestones

19. In some cultures the essence of magic is its traditional integrity; it can be efficient only if it has been ______ without loss from primeval times to the present practitioner. A. aggrandized B. realized C. transmitted D. manipulated

20. An analysis of the ideas in the **pels an analysis of the form of the work, particularly when form and content are as ______ as they are in The House of the Seven Gables. A. symptomatic B. delineated C. integrated D. conspicuous

Ⅲ. Cloze

Directions:There are 20 blanks in the following passage. For each blank, there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should choose the One that best fits in the passage and then mark the corresponding letter on ANSWER SHEET 1 with a single line through the center.

Recent research from animal behaviorists suggests that \"as the crow flies\" should no longer be taken to mean \"the shortest distance between two points.\" Zoologists at Oxford University, 1 conducted an eighteen-month 2 of homing pigeons, have concluded that under some circumstances, pigeons follow 3 visual landmarks to find their way home 4 than taking the shortest, most direct route. 5 for their ability to navigate long distances, homing pigeons use the 6 of the sun and stars, their **passes, and perhaps also their sense of smell to direct their flight over long 7 or on a journey for the first time. 8 , different factors appear to affect a pigeon\"s navigation 9 it is released close to its 10 . Animal behaviorists reached this 11 after attaching small global positioning devices to the backs of pigeons and releasing them a few miles from their home. These devices enabled the scientists to 12 the precise location of each pigeon every second of 13 flight. Each pigeon was tracked for approximately twenty flights from the 14 point. For the first several flights, each bird\"s path 15 significantly from the paths it had taken 16 . Subsequently, 17 , the bird would tend to follow the same path, 18 after flight, even though that path was not always the most direct route home. The scientists concluded that pigeons use a 19 of familiar visual landmarks to find their way when they are near their home rather than relying primarily on compass navigation. Major highways are one 20 landmark. **ically, some of the pigeons followed the path of a major highway they could see below them, turning where the road turned, and even following the circular path of the exit ramps. 1.

A. which B. then C. who D. had 2.

A. check B. flight C. period D. study 3.

A. full B. familiar C. magnetic D. no 4.

A. longer B. other

C. fewer D. rather 5.

A. Certain B. Regardless C. Known D. Concerning 6.

A. composition B. influence C. position D. dimensions 7.

A. distractions B. distances C. moments D. delays 8.

A. Simply B. However C. Otherwise D. Consequently 9.

A. when B. until C. still D. since 10.

A. flight B. wings C. home D. young 11.

A. decision B. idea C. conclusion D. summary 12.

A. approve B. match C. manipulate D. record 13.

A. its B. group C. per D. one 14.

A. same B. actual C. distant D. home 15.

A. reduced B. varied C. followed D. improved 16.

A. off B. first C. earlier D. over 17.

A. nevertheless B. moreover C. although D. though 18.

A. flight B. right C. then D. soon 19.

A. unit B. sum C. link D. chain 20.

A. example B. such C. similar D. type

Ⅳ. Translation

Directions:Read the following passage carefully and translate the underlined sentences into Chinese. Write your translations on ANSWER SHEET2.

As Apple prepares to report what (analysts project) may be **pany\"s first year-over-year quarterly earnings decline in a decade on Tuesday, it is also grappling with jittery investors and a recent share-price plunge that has wiped about $280 billion off its market capitalization since its stock reached a high of $702.10 last September.

1 Much of the investor nervousness is rooted in how Wall Street is treating and valuing the Cupertino, Calif., company as a traditional hardware maker.One camp of analysts and some investors said there is strong evidence that Apple should be viewed in a different light: as a software-hardware hybrid.

The distinction matters. If it continues to be seen as a hardware business, Apple\"s streak—driven by products like the iPhone and iPad—could run out quickly as smartphones and tablets **moditized and consumer tastes change. 2 It is a lesson learned by companies like BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion Ltd., whose tech hardware was quickly eclipsed by products from Apple itself.

If Apple is classified as a software-hardware hybrid, **pany could be valued more like Internet and software makers that have recurring revenue streams and that often trade at higher price-to-earnings ratios than hardware firms.

\"The market views Apple as a consumer **pany tied to product cycles that drive volatile revenue and earnings streams,\" says Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty. 3 But that view isn\"t complete, she sags, since \"Apple customers bug into a brand that offers ease of use similar to companies like or **panies like NetApp.\"

An Apple spokesman declined to comment ahead of Tuesday\"s earning report.

With Wall Street categorizing Apple as a hardware maker, investors value **pany—which made an astounding $13 billion in profits in the quarter ended in December—at 8.6 times expected earnings per share for the next 12 months. Investors are currently valuing Hewlett-Packard Co., which made $1.2 billion in profits during its most recent quarter, at a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.6. Troubled PC maker Dell Inc., whose stock price inflated after signing a buyout deal earlier this year, trades at a P/E ratio of 8.5.

Apple\"s gross margins are around 40%, an important-measure of **pany\"s efficiency at making money. That is roughly twice as high as H-P\"s and Dell\"s.

Apple has characteristics that differ from many other hardware businesses. 4 Its customers often upgrade their Apple products annually, far more frequently than the four-gear PC upgrade cycles typically found at tech hardware businesses including Hewlett-Packard or Dell.

While H-P and Dell have tried beefing up the enterprise software side of their business, Apple\"s

operating system and iTunes software is already ubiquitous. 5 Apple also has more than 500 million accounts for its App Store tied to credit cards—and a customer base to sell new services to—giving it a recurring software and services revenue stream.Apple took in revenue of $3.7 billion from iTunes and other software and services in its last quarter, or 7% of its total revenue. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Part Ⅵ Writing

1. Directions: There are many reasons for a person planning to do PhD research (for example, new experiences, career preparation, and increased knowledge). Why do you think people should pursue a doctoral degree? Write an essay of no less than 200 words about your opinion on this topic. Write your essay on ANSWER SHEET 2.