TEST FOR ENGLISH MAJORS (1996)
-GRADE FOUR-

PART I WRITNG (45 MIN)

SECTION A COMPOSITION (35 MIN)

Write on ANSWER SHEET ONE a composition of about 150 words on the following topic:

Every college student would agree that life in college is not the same as it was in the middle school. Now, you have been asked by the Students' Union to write a passage entitled:

THE MAIN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN

MY COLLEGE LIFE AND MY MIDDLE SCHOOL LIFE

as part of an introduction programme for new students coining in September.

You are to write in three paragraphs.

In the first paragraph, state clearly what you think the main difference between college and middle school life.

In the second paragraph, state which life you prefer and why.

In the last paragraph, bring what you have, written to a natural conclusion with a summary or suggestion.

Marks will be awarded far content, organization, grammar and appropriateness. Failure to follow the instructions may result in a loss of marks.

SECTION B NOTE-WRITING (10 MIN)

Write on ANSWER SHEET ONE a note of about 50-60 words based on the following situation:

Your friend has just won the first prize in the Provincial English Speech Contest. Write a note of congratulations.

Marks will be awarded for content, organization, grammar and appropriateness.

PART II DICTAION (15 MIN)

Listen to the following passage. Altogether the passage will be read to you four times. During the first reading, which will be read at normal speed, listen and try to understand the meaning. For the second and third readings, the passage will be read sentence by sentence, or phrase by phrase, with intervals of 15 to 20 seconds. The last reading will be read at normal speed again and during this time you should check your work. You will then be given 2 minutes to check through your work once mare.

PART III LISTENING COMPREHENSION (25 MIN)

In Sections A, B and C you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Mark the correct response for each question on your answer sheet.

SECTION A STATEMENT

In this section you will hear eight statements. At the end of the statement you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following eight questions.

Now, listen to the statements.

1. Joe went to court because he was a ________.

A. law breaker

B. trainee lawyer

C. friend of the judge

D. traffic policeman

2. Where did the speaker think they were supposed to meet?

A. On the platform.

B. On the train.

C. Near the stairs.

D. At the information desk.

3. What is being described?

A. Telephone.

B. Telegraph.

C. Microfilm.

D. Microscope.

4. How long was the coach delayed?

A. Three hours and forty-five minutes.

B. Five and a half hours.

C. Two hours and forty-five minutes.

D. Eight hours and fifteen minutes.

5. What does the speaker imply?

A. I want you to have a fully enjoyable holiday.

B. Your plans for the trip interest me a lot.

C. I think you should arrive according to the plan.

D. We are now making plans for your journey.

6. What does the speaker mean?

A. The shop told me this would happen.

B. I didn't know it would be like this.

C. It became smaller but still fits me.

D. The cardigan is well worth the price.

7. When will the writer's new book be published?

A. In the spring.

B. In the summer.

C. In the autumn.

D. In the winter.

8. What does the speaker mean?

A. Travelling by car is more dangerous than by air.

B. There are 300 air crashes each year in the US.

C. The air crashes each year kill about 50,000 people.

D. Travelling by planeis more dangerous than by car.

SECTION B CONVERSATION

In this section, you will hear nine short conversations between two speakers. At the end of each conversation you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following nine questions.

Now, listen to the conversations.

9. What does the man mean?

A. It's really nice to have a change.

B. They ought to have been clinked long ago.

C. The curtains are of a wrong color.

D. The curtains are still quite good.

10. The woman's usual attitude towards film is ________.

A. mixed

B. fascinated

C. enthusiastic

D. disinterested

11. According to the conversation, the woman's sister ________.

A. was probably upset

B. bad little education

C. always writes like that

D. usually never writes

12. The man's purpose in visiting was to ________.

A. take a course

B. see the city

C. go to the park

D. take a rest

13. What does the man indicate?

A. Most people like the museum.

B. It is difficult to get up early.

C. There might be varied opinions.

D. It is a problem to get there.

14. What does the woman mean?

A. She does not really need his help.

B. She has not started thinking about it yet.

C. She is very grateful to the man for his advice.

D. She has already talked with the man.

15. Which of the following best describes the woman's reaction?

A. Overjoyed.

B. Confused.

C. Surprised.

D. Supportive.

16. The woman is going to the supermarket tomorrow because ________.

A. the supermarket is dosing down after Christmas

B. the man is going to help her with shopping

C. tomorrow is the only day she is free before Christmas

D. she wants to get enough food for the holiday period

17. John is going to France because ________.

A. he'll start a new business in properties

B. he tins been left property there

C. he's made a for time with his uncle

D. his uncle wants his company there

SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST

Question 18 is based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the question.

Now, listen to the news.

18. What happened to the schoolboy?

A. He forgot to lock the cold store door.

B. He was forced to work throughout the night.

C. He caught cold while working at the butcher's.

D. He was locked up by accident in a cold store.

Questions 19 and 20 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 20 seconds to answer the two questions.

Now, listen to the news.

19. Mr. Warren Christopher________.

A. believes there is hope for peace

B. will report to the UN on Thursday

C. will hold more talks before leaving the region

D. is not sure that the peace process will succeed

20. With whom did Mr. Christopher NOT meet?

A. The Syrian President.

B. The PLO leader.

C. The Ordanian President.

D. The Israeli Prime Minister.

Questions 21 and 22 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 20 seconds to answer the two questions.

Now, listen to the news.

21. The number of the escaped prisoners is ________.

A. 6

B. 5

C. 1

D. 7

22. Following the prison breakout, the Government is to ________.

A. restructure the prison service

B. discipline some prison officers

C. recruit more security staff

D. look into security conditions

Questions 23 to 25 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 30 seconds to answer the three questions.

Now, listen to the news.

23. The aim of the agreement is to ________.

A. encourage trade in the region

B. crack down on drug smuggling

C. save the declining fishing industry

D. strengthen cross-boarder police presence

24. Which group of people is now taking advantage of the agreement?

A. Canadian police.

B. Businessmen.

C. Drug traffickers.

D. Customs officers.

25. The percentage of cocaine brought through the coast has increased by________.

A. 10%

B. 50%

C. 60%

D. 70%

PART IV CLOZE (15 MIN)

Decide which of the choices given below would correctly complete the passage if inserted in the responding blanks. Mark the correct choice for each blank on your answer sheet.

SECTION A STATEMENT

Since 1895 the National Trust (国家文物信托基金会) has worked for the preservation of places of historic interest and natural beauty in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Today the Trust is not a government department but a charity depending on the support of the public and its own conservation society in Britain.

Wherever you go, you are close to land that is protected and by the National Trust. Over 350 miles of coastline: 90,000 acres of land, lakes and forests in one area of natural beauty; pre-historic and Roman ruins; moorlands and farmland, woods and islands, lengths of water-ways; even seventeen whole village – all are open to the public at all times subject only the needs of farming, forestry and the protection of wildlife.

But the Trust's protection further than this. It has in its possession a hundred gardens and two hundred historic buildings which it opens to paying visitors. Castles and churches, houses of or historic importance, mills, gardens and parks to the Trust by their former owners. Many houses retain their contents of fine furniture, pictures, and other treasures accumulated over, and often the donor himself continues to live in part of the house as a of the National Trust. The walking-sticks in the hall, the flowers, silver-framed photographs, books and papers in the morns are signs that the house is still loved and and that visitors are welcomed as private individuals just as much as tourists.

26. A. it

B. which

C. this

D. whether it

27. A. deliberate

B. compulsory

C. spontaneous

D. voluntary

28. A. maintained

B. watched

C. renewed

D. repaired

29. A. unused

B. underdeveloped

C. unwanted

D. unspoilt

30. A. besides

B. nearby

C. alone

D. beyond

31. A. interior

B. inland

C. inside

D. inner

32. A. by

B. at

C. to

D. on

33. A. develops

B. extends

C. enlarges

D. prolongs

34. A. some

B. nearly

C. on average

D. more

35. A. architectural

B. archetype

C. architecture

D. archaeology

36. A. are giving

B. have given

C. been given

D. have been given

37. A. primitive

B. initial

C. elementary

D. original

38. A. times

B. generations

C. years

D. age groups

39. A. resident

B. dweller

C. tenant

D. housekeeper

40. A. lived in

B. kept over

C. resided with

D. taken up

PART V GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY (20 MIN)

There are twenty-five sentences in this section. Beneath each sentence there are four wards or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Choose one word or phrase that correctly completes the sentence.

41. You won't get a loan ________ you can offer some security.

A. lest

B. in case

C. unless

D. other than

42. ________ time, he'll make a flint-class tennis player.

A. Having

B. Given

C. Giving

D. Had

43. I ________ the party much more ff there hadn't been quite such a crowd of people there.

A. would enjoy

B. will have enjoyed

C. would have enjoyed

D. will be enjoying

44. This company has now introduced a policy ________ pay rises are related performance at work.

A. which

B. where

C. whether

D. what

45. He wasn't asked to take on the chairmanship of the society, ________ insufficiently popular with all members.

A. having considered

B. was considered

C. was being considered

D. being considered

46. This may have preserved the elephant from being wiped out as well as other animals ________ in Africa.

A. hunted

B. hunting

C. that hunted

D. are hunted

47. The office has to be shut down ________ funds.

A. being a lark of

B. from lack of

C. to a lack of

D. for lack of

48. In international matches, prestige is so important that the only thing that matters is to avoid ________.

A. from being beaten

B. being beaten

C. beating

D. to be beaten

49. As it turned out to be a small house party, we________ so formally.

A. need not have dressed up

B. must not have dressed up

C. did not need to dress up

D. must not dress up

50. Western Nebraska generally receives less snow than ________ Eastern Nebraska.

A. in

B. it receives in

C. does

D. it does in

51. ________ no cause for alarm, the old man went back to his bedroom.

A. There was

B. Since

C. Being

D. There being

52. The brilliance of his satires was ________ make even his victim laugh.

A. so as to

B. such as to

C so that

D. such that

53. If he ________ in that way for much longer he will find himself in the bankruptcy court.

A. carries on

B. carries off

C. carried by

D. carried away

54. Although the false bank notes fooled many people, they did not ________ to do examination.

A. look up

B. pay up

C. keep up

D. stand up

55. He must give us more lime, ________ we shall not be able to make a good job of it.

A. consequently

B. otherwise

C. therefore

D. doubtlessly

56. When there was a short ________ in the conversation, I asked if anyone would like anything to drink.

A. blank

B space

C. pause

D. wait

57. You can do it if you want to, but in my opinion it's not worth the ________ it involves.

A. effort

B. strength

C. attempt

D. force

58. The main road through little bury was blocked for three hours today after an accident ________ two lorries.

A. involving

B. including

C. combining

D. containing

59. Very few scientists ________ with completely new answers to the world's problems.

A. come to

B. come round

C. come on

D. come up

60. Hotel rooms must be ________ by noon, but luggage may be left with the porter.

A. departed

B. abandoned

C. vacated

D. displaced

61. Half the excuses she gives are not tree, but she always seems to________ them.

A. get on with

B. get away with

C. get up from

D. get in on

62. The ________ physicist has been challenged by others in his field.

A. respectable

B. respectful

C. respective

D. respecting

63. With hundreds of works left behind, Picasso is regarded as a very ________ artist.

A. profound

B. productive

C. prosperous

D. plentiful

64. The city suffered ________ damage as a result of the earthquake.

A. considered

B. considerate

C. considerable

D. considering

65. Undergraduate students have no ________ to the rare books in the school library.

A. access

B. entrance

C. way

D. path

PART VI READING COMPREHENSION (30 MIN)

SECTION A READING COMPREHENSION (25 MIN)

In this part there are four passages followed by questions or unfinished statements, each with four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose he one that you think is the correct answer.

TEXT A

In the past thirty years many social changes bare taken place in Britain. The greatest of these have probably been in the economic lives of women.

The changes have been significant, but because tradition and prejudice can still handicap women in their working careers and personal lives, major legislation to help promote equality of opportunity and pay was passed during the 1970s.

At the heart of women's changed role in society has been the rise in the number of women at work, particularly married women. As technology and society permit highly effective and generally acceptable methods of family planning there has been a decline in family size. Women as a result are involved in child-rearing for a much shorter time and related to this, there has been a rapid increase in the number of women with young children who return to work when the children are old enough not to need constant care and attention.

Since 1951 the proportion of married women who work has grown from just over a fifth to a haft. Compared with their counterparts elsewhere on the Continent, British women comprise a relatively high proportion of the work force, about two-fifths, but on average they work fewer hours, about 31 a week There is still a significant difference between women's average earnings and men's, but the equal pay legislation which came into force at the end of 1975 appears to have helped to narrow the gap between women's and men's basic rates.

As more and more women joined the work force in the 1960s and early 1970s there was an increase in the collective incomes of women as a whole and a major change in the economic role of large numbers of housewives. Families have come to rely on married women's earnings as an essential part of their income rather than as "pocket money". At the same time social roles within the family are more likely to be shared, exchanged or altered.

66. The general idea of the passage is about ________.

A. social trends in contemporary Britain

B. changes in women's economic stares

C. equal opportunity and pay in Britain

D. women's roles within the family

67. According to the author, an increasing number of married women are able to work because ________.

A. their children no longer require their care

B. there are more jobs available nowadays

C. technology has enabled them to find acceptable jobs

D. they spend far less time on child care than before

TEXT B

NATURE'S GIGANTIC SNOWPLOUGH

On January 10, 1962, an enormous piece of glacier broke away and tumbled down the side of a mountain in Peru. A mere seven minutes later, when cascading ice finally came to a stop ten miles down the mountain, it had taken the lives of 4,000 people.

This disaster is one of the most devastating examples of a very common event: an avalanche of snow or ice. Because it is extremely cold at very high altitudes, snow rarely melts. It just keeps piling up higher and higher. Glaciers are eventually created when the weight of the snow is so great that the lower layers are pressed into solid ice. But most avalanches occur long before this happens. As snow accumulates on a steep slope, it reaches a critical point at which the slightest vibration will send it sliding into the valley below.

Even an avalanche of light power can be dangerous, but the Peruvian catastrophe was particularly terrible because it was caused by a heavy layer of ice. It is estimated that the ice that broke off weighed three million tons. As it crashed down the steep mountainside like a gigantic snow plough, it swept up trees, boulders and tons of topsoil, and completely crushed and destroyed the six villages that lay in its path.

At present there is no way to predict or avoid such enormous avalanches, but, lucidly, they are very rare. Scientists are constantly studying the smaller, more common avalanches, to try to understand what causes them. In the future, perhaps dangerous masses of snow and ice can be found and removed before they take human lives.

68. The first paragraph catches the reader's attention with a ________.

A. first-hand report

B. dramatic description

C. tall tale

D. vivid word picture

69. In this passage devastating means ________.

A. violently ruinous

B. spectaculary interesting

C. stunning

D. unpleasant

70. The passage is mostly about ________.

A. avalanches

B. glaciers

C. Peru

D. mountains

TEXT C

I was born in Tuckahoe, Talbot County, Maryland. I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their age as horses know of their, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant. I do not remember having ever met a slave who could tell of his birthday. They seldom come nearer to it than planting-time, harvesting, springtime, or fall time. A lack of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even during childhood. The white children could tell their ages, I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege. I was not allowed to make any inquires of my master concerning it. He considered all such inquiries on the part of a slave improper and impertinent. The nearest estimate I can give makes me now between twenty-seven and twenty-eight years of age. I come to this, from heating my master say, some time during 1835, I was about seventeen years old.

My mother was named Harriet Bailey. She was the daughter of Issac and Betsey Bailey, both colored, and quite dark. My mother was of a darker complexion than either my grandmother or grandfather.

My father was a white man. He was admitted to be such by all I ever heard speak of my parentage. The opinion was also whispered that my maser was my father, but of the correctness of this opinion, I know nothing; the means of knowing was withheld from me. My mother and I were separated when I was an infant before I knew her as my mother. It is a common custom, in the part of Maryland from which I ran away, to part children from their mothers at a very early age. Frequently, before the child has reached its twelfth month, its mother is taken from it, and hired out on some faint a considerable distance off, and the child is placed under the care of an older woman, too old for field labor. For what this separation is done, I do not know, unless it be to hinder the development of the child's affection towards its mother.

71. The author did not know exactly when he was born because ________.

A. he did not know who his mother was

B. there was no written evidence of it

C. his master did not tell his father

D. nobody on his farm knew anything about it

72. In the mid-nineteenth century, slaves often ________.

A. marked their birthdays by the season

B. did not really care how old they were

C. forgot the exact time when they were born

D. pretended not to know each other's birthdays

73. The author's mother told him ________.

A. his father was black

B. his father was white

C. nothing about his father

D. his master was his father

74. According to the passage, when the author was very young his mother ________.

A. run away

B. was light skinned

C. had several children

D. was sent to work elsewhere

75. The author bad not spent much time with his ________.

A. mother

B. master

C. grandfather

D. grandmother

76. The author was most probably raised ________.

A. by his grandparents