1997年英语专业八级考试真题及答案（3）
TEXT CMedical consumerism——like all sorts of consumerism, only more menacingly——is designed to be unsatisfying. The prolongation of life and the search for perfect health (beauty, youth, happiness)are inherently self-defeating. The law of diminishing returns necessarily applies. You can make higher percentages of people survive into their eighties and nineties. But, as any geriatric ward shows, that is not the same as to confer enduring mobility, awareness and autonomy. Extending life grows medically feasible, but it is often a life deprived of everything, and one exposed to degrading neglect as resources grow over-stretched andpolitics turn mean.
What an ignoramus destiny for medicine if its future turned into one of bestowing meager increments of unenjoyed life! It would mirror the fate of athletes, in which disproportionate energies and resources—not least medical ones, like illegal steroids—are now invested to shave records by milliseconds. And, it goes without saying, the logical extension of longevism—the “ abolition” of death — would not be a solution but only an exacerbation. To air these predicaments is not anti-medical spleen—a churlish reprisal against medicine for its victories—but simply to face the growing reality of medical power not exactly without responsibility but with dissolving goals.
Hence medicine’s finest hour becomes the dawn of its dilemmas. For centuries, medicine was impotent and hence unproblematic. From the Greeks to the Great War, its job was simple: to struggle with lethal diseases and gross disabilities, to ensure live births, and to manage pain. It performed these uncontroversial tasks by and large with meager success. Today, with mission accomplished, medicines triumphs are dissolving in disorientation. Medicine has led to vastly inflated expectations, which the public has eagerly swallowed. Yet as these expectations grow unlimited, they become unfulfillable. The task facing medicine in the twenty-first century will be to redefine its limits even as it extends its capacities.
24. In the author’s opinion, the prolongation of life is equal to ___.
A. mobility B. deprivation C. autonomy D. awareness
25. In the second paragraph a comparison is drawn between ___.
A. medicine and life
B. resources and energies
C. predicaments and solutions
D. athletics and longevism
TEXT D
The biggest problem facing Chile as it promotes itself as a tourist destination to be reckoned with, is that it is at the end of the earth. It is too far south to be a convenient stop on the way to anywhere else and is much farther than a relatively cheap half-day’s flight away from the big tourist markets, unlike Mexico, for example. Chile, therefore, is having to fight hard to attract tourists, to convince
travellers that it is worth coming halfway round the world to visit. But it is
succeeding, not only in existing markets like the USA and Western Europe but in
new territories, in particular the Far East. Markets closer to home, however, are not being forgotten. More than 50% of visitors to Chile still come from its nearest neighbour, Argentina, where the cost of living is much higher.
Like all South American countries, Chile sees tourism as a valuable earner
of foreign currency, although it has been far more serious than most in promoting its image abroad. Relatively stable politically within the region, it has benefited from the problems suffered in other areas. In Peru, guerrilla warfare in
recent years has dealt a heavy blow to the tourist industry and fear of street crime in Brazil has reduced the attraction of Rio de Janeiro as a dream destination for foreigners.
More than 150,000 people are directly involved in Chile’s tourist sector,
an industry which earns the country more than US $ 950 million each year. The state-run National Tourism Service, in partnership with a number of private companies, is currently running a worldwide campaign, taking part in trade fairs and international events to attract visitors to Chile.
1997年英语专业八级考试真题及答案（3）
Chile’s great strength as a tourist destination is its geographical diversity. From the parched Atacama Desert in the north to the Antarctic snowfields ofthe south, it is more than 5,000km long. With the Pacific on one side and the Andean mountains on the other, Chile boasts natural attractions. Its beaches are not up to Caribbean standards but resorts such as Vina del Mar are generally clean and unspoilt and have a high standard of services.But the tromp card is the Andes mountain range. There are a number of excellent ski resorts within one hour’s drive of the capital, Santiago, and the national parks in the south are home to rare animal and plant species. The parks already attract specialist visitors, including mountaineers, who come to climb the technically difficult peaks, and fishermen, lured by the salmon and trout in theregion’s rivers. However, infrastructural development in these areas is limited. The ski resorts do not have as many lifts and pistes as their European counterparts and the poor quality of roads in the south means that only the most determined travelers see the best of the national parks.
Air links between Chile and the rest of the world are, at present, relatively poor. While Chile’s two largest airlines have extensive networks within SouthAmerica, they operate only a small number of routes to the United States and Europe, while services to Asia are almost non-existent.
Internal transport links are being improved and luxury hotels are being built in one of its national parks. Nor is development being restricted to the Andes. Easter Island and Chile’s Antarctic Territory axe also on the list of areas where the Government believes it can create tourist markets.
But the rush to open hitherto inaccessible areas to mass tourism is not being welcomed by everyone. Indigenous and environmental groups, including Greenpeace, say that many parts of the Andes will suffer if they become over-developed.
There is a genuine fear that areas of Chile will suffer the cultural destruction witnessed in Mexico and European resorts.
The policy of opening up Antarctica to tourism is also politically sensitive. Chile already has permanent settlements on the ice and many people see the decision to allow tourists there as a political move, enhancing Santiago’ s territorial claim over part of Antarctica.
The Chilean Government has promised to respect the environment as it seeks
to bring tourism to these areas. But there are immense commercial pressures to exploit the country’s tourism potential. The Government will have to monitor developments closely if it is genuinely concerned in creating a balanced, controlled industry and if the price of an increasingly lucrative tourist market is not going to mean the loss of many of Chile’s natural riches.
26. Chile is disadvantaged in the promotion of its tourism by ___.
A. geographical location B. guerrilla warfare
C. political instability D. street crime
27. Many of Chile’s tourists used to come from EXCEPT ___.
A.U.S.A B. the Far East
C. western Europe D. her neighbours
28. According to the author, Chile’s greatest attraction is ___.
A. the unspoilt beaches
B. the dry and hot desert
C. the famous mountain range
D. the high standard of services
29. According to the passage, in WHICH area improvement is already under way?
A. Facilities in the ski resorts.
B. Domestic transport system.
C. Air services to Asia.
D. Road network in the south.
30. The objection to the development of Chile’s tourism might be all EXCEPT that it ___.
A. is ambitions and unrealistic
B. is politically sensitive
C. will bring harm to culture
D. will cause pollution in the area
SECTION B SKIMMING AND SCANNING (10 min)
In this section there are seven passages followed by ten multiple-Choice questions. Skim or scan them as required and then mark your answers on your Coloured Answer heet.
1997年英语专业八级考试真题及答案（3）
TEXT E
First read the question.
31. The main purpose of the passage is to ___.
A. illustrate the features of willpower
B. introduce ways to build up willpower
C. explain the advantages of willpower
D. define the essence of willpower
Now go through the TEXT E quickly and answer the question.
Willpower isn’t immutable trait we’re either born with or not. It is a skill that can be developed, strengthened and targeted to help us achieve our goals.
“Fundamental among man’s inner powers is the tremendous unrealized potency
of man’s own will,” wrote Italian psychologist Roberto Assagioli 25 years ago.
The trained will is a masterful weapon, ”added Man Marlatt of the University of
Washington, a psychologist who is studying how willpower helps people break habi
ts and change their lives.“ The dictionary defines will power as control of one
’s impulses and actions. The key words are power and control. The power is there,
but you have to control it.” Here, from Marlatt and other experts, is how to do that:
Be positive. Don’t confuse willpower with self-denial. Willpower is most dynamic when applied to positive, uplifting purposes.
Positive willpower helps us overcome inertia and focus on the future. When the going gets tough, visualize yourself happily and busily engaged in your goal, and you’ ll keep working toward it.
Make up your mind. James Prochaska, professor of psychology at the University of Rhode Island, has identified four stages in making a change. He calls themprecontemplation (resisting the change), contemplation (weighing the pros and cons of the change), action ( exercising willpower to make the change), and maintenance (using willpower to sustain the change).
Some people are “chronic contemplators,” Prochaska says. They know they should reduce their drinking but will have one mere cocktail while they consider the matter. They may never put contemplation into action.
To focus and mobilize your efforts, set a deadline.
Sharpen your will. In 1915, psychologist Boyd Barrett suggested a list of repetitive will-training activities-stepping up and down from a chair 30 times, spilling a box of matches and carefully replacing them one by one. These exerciss, he maintained, strengthen the will so it can confront more consequential and difficult challenges.
New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley was a basketball star with the champion New York Knicks. On top of regular practice, he always went to the gym early and practised foul shots alone. He was determined to be among the best form of the foul line. True to his goal, he developed the highest percentage of successful free throws on his team.
Expect trouble. The saying“ Where there’s a will, there’s a way” is not the whole truth. Given the will, you still have to anticipate obstacles and plan how to deal with them.
When professor of psychology Saul Shiffman of the University of Pittsburgh worked with reformed smokers who’s gone back to cigarettes, he found that many of them hadn’t considered how they’ d cope with the urge to smoke. They had summoned the strength to quit, but couldn’t remain disciplined. The first time they
were offered a cigarette, they went back to smoking.
If you’ve given up alcohol, rehearse your answer for when you’re offered a drink. If you’re expecting to jog but wake up to a storm, have an indoor workout program ready.
Be realistic. The strongest will may falter when the goal is to lose 50 pounds in three months or to exercise three hours a day. Add failure undercuts your desire to try again.
Sometimes it’s best to set a series of small goals instead of a single big one. As in the Alcohohes Anonymous slogan “One day at a time, ” divide your objective into one-day segments, then renew your resolve the next day. At the end of a week, you’ll have a series of triumphs to look back on.
Be patient. A strong will doesn’t develop overnight. It takes shape in inc rements, and there can be setbacks. Figure out what caused you to backslide, and redouble your efforts.
1997年英语专业八级考试真题及答案（3）
When a friend of ours tried to give up cigarettes the first time, she failed. Analyzing her relapse, she realized she needed to do something with her hands. On her second try, she took up knitting and brought out needles and yam every time she was tempted to light up. Within months she had knitted a sweater for her husband-and seemed to be off cigarettes for good.Keep it up. A strong will becomes stronger each time it succeeds. If you’ve successfully mustered the willpower to kick a bad habit or leave a dead-end job, you gain confidence to confront other challenges.
A record of success fosters an inner voice of confidence that, in the words of Assagioli, gives you “a firm foot on the edge of the precipice.” You may face more difficult tasks, but you’ve conquered before, and you can conquer gain.
页:
[1]