2018年上海自考《基础英语》测试题二

　　Passage two

　　The need for a satisfactory education is more important than ever before. Nowadays, without

　　a qualification from a reputable school or university, the odds of landing that plum job advertised

　　in the paper are considerably shortened. Moreover, one’s present level of education could fall well

　　short of future career requirements.

　　It is no secret that competition is the driving force behind the need to obtain increasingly

　　higher qualifications. In the majority of cases, the urge to upgrade is no longer the result of an

　　insatiable thirst for knowledge. The pressure is coming from within the workplace to compete with

　　ever more qualified job applicants, and in many occupations one must now battle with colleagues

　　in the reshuffle for the position one already holds.

　　Striving to become better educated is hardly a new concept. Wealthy parents have always

　　been willing to spend the vast amounts of extra money necessary to send their children to schools

　　with a perceived educational edge. Working adults have long attended night schools and refresher

　　courses. Competition for employment has been around since the curse of working for a living

　　began. Is the present situation so very different to that of the past?

　　The difference now is that the push is universal and from without as well as within. A student

　　at secondary school receiving low grades is no longer as easily accepted by his or her peers as was

　　once the case. Similarly, in the workplace, unless employees are engaged in part-time study, they

　　may be frowned upon by their employers and peers and have difficulty even standing still. In fact,

　　in these cases, the expectation is for careers to go backwards and earning capacity to take an

　　appreciable nosedive.

　　At first glance, the situation would seem to be laudable; a positive response to the exhortation

　　by a former Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, for Australia to become the clever country. Yet there are

　　serious ramifications according to at least one educational psychologist. Dr Brendan Gatsby has

　　caused some controversy in academic circles by suggesting that a bias towards what he terms

　　paper’ excellence might cause more problems than it is supposed to solve. Gatsby raises a number

　　of issues that affect the individual as well as society in general.

　　Firstly, he believes the extra workload involved is resulting in abnormally high stress levels

　　in both students at secondary school and adults studying after working hours. Secondly, skills

　　which might be more relevant to the undertaking of a sought after job are being overlooked by

　　employers interviewing candidates without qualifications on paper. These two areas of concern for

　　the individual are causing physical and emotional stress respectively.

　　Gatsby also argues that there are attitudinal changes within society to the exalted role

　　education now plays in determining how the spoils of working life are distributed. Individuals of

　　all ages are being driven by social pressures to achieve academic success solely for monetary

　　considerations instead of for the joy of enlightenment. There is the danger that some universities

　　are becoming degree factories with an attendant drop in standards. Furthermore, our education

　　system may be rewarding doggedness above creativity; the very thing Australians have been

　　encouraged to avoid. But the most undesirable effect of this academic paper chase, Gatsby says, is

　　the disadvantage that “user pays” higher education confers on the poor, who invariably lose out to

　　the more financially favoured.

　　Naturally, although there is agreement that learning can cause stress, Gatsby’s comments

　　regarding university standards have been roundly criticised as alarmist by most educationists who

　　point out that, by any standard of measurement, Australia’s education system overall, at both

　　secondary and tertiary levels, is equal to that of any in the world.

　　Do the following statements reflecting the views of the writer in the reading passage.

　　TRUE if the statement reflects the views of the writer

　　FALSE if the statement contradicts the views of the writer

　　NOT GIVEN if there is no information about this in the passage

　　46. Most people who upgrade their qualifications do so for the joy of learning.

　　47. In some jobs, the position you hold must be reapplied for.

　　48. According to the text, students who performed bally at school used to be accepted by their

　　classmates.

　　49. Employees who do not undertake extra study may find their salary decreased by employers.

　　50. Australians appear to have responded to the call by a former Prime Minister to become better

　　qualified.

　　Section B

　　Directions: Read the following passage carefully and then give your answear to the question.

　　Write your answers on the Answer Sheet. (3×5=15 points)

　　Passage three

　　In the past we have celebrated trees in poetry and song, myth and legend, and even

　　worshipped them. Our ancestors lived in the forest and our attachment to trees has deep

　　psychological roots, traces of which remain in popular superstitions like the saying, “touch wood”.

　　Richard St Barbe Baker, the man who helped to save the Californian redwoods, and who has

　　spent most of his long life planting trees around the world，has written: “Man and trees, water and

　　trees, man and water are inseparable”.

　　To put it plainly, trees are vital for our continued survival. They provide us with oxygen and

　　absorb carbon dioxide. They trap soil and moisture, thus preventing the soil being washed away by

　　erosion. In large parts of the world they provide the only source of fuel. Their fruits, nuts and oils

　　are a vital part of our human diet. We have built our houses, our transport, our tools, even our

　　musical instruments from them. They supply medicines, fibers, dyes, rubber and thousands of

　　other essential products. They provide shelter for millions of life forms. They shade us and inspire

　　us.

　　Yet in our modem world trees have become victims of the chainsaw and the earth-mover. We

　　have forgotten their value. Having exhausted our own forests, we are now destroying the forests of

　　the southern hemisphere. An area the size of a football field is being cut down or burned every

　　second. Every year fifteen million hectares are removed, equivalent to an area the size of England

　　and Wales combined. At present cutting rates, the world’s tropical forests will be completely gone

　　within twenty years.

　　Only one thing can halt this rapidly deteriorating situation—planting trees. The World Bank

　　estimates that about twenty million hectares of forest must be planted in the next twenty years if

　　the demand for fuel is to be met. At present it looks as if world efforts will only reach one-tenth of

　　that. In the south, the pressure of population and inappropriate agricultural systems are doing the

　　damage. Countries are often forced to sacrifice their forests because of their desperate need for

　　foreign exchange.

　　In his book The World Needs Its Forests, American ecologist Eric Eckholm links the two

　　ideas of deforestation and development. He writes this: “Uncontrolled deforestation is usually a

　　symptom of a society’s inability to get a grip on other fundamental problems, such as

　　unemployment, rapid population growth and the incapacity to regulate private enterprise to protect

　　the public interest.”

　　51. In your own words explain the philosophy of Richard St Barbe Baker.

　　52. In what way do trees prevent soil erosion?

　　53. If we carry on destroying forests in the southern hemisphere at the present rate, what will

　　eventually happen?

　　54. What can we do to prevent the present situation deteriorating still further?

　　55. How many reasons for uncontrolled deforestation does ecologist Eric Eekholm mention in his

　　book The World Needs Its Forests? P1ease state the reasons.

　　Ⅳ. Translation: (45 points)

　　A. Translate the following passages into Chinese. (30 points)

　　The world economy has managed, with some indigestion, to swallow the rise of oil prices

　　past $80 a barrel. How well could it survive $100 a barrel?

　　The answer is quite well -- so long as several conditions still hold true. The price rise would

　　probably have to be gradual. Inflation couldn’t get so bad as to force big interest-rate hikes.

　　Oil-rich nations would need to pump their profits back into U.S. and European economies.

　　All of this has happened so far. The happy confluence may continue, though fears remain

　　strong that high energy prices will tip the U.S. into recession.

　　A host of factors, including tight oil supplies and a weak U.S. dollar, suggest that oil prices

　　have further to rise. Some analysts continue to believe that oil is destined to reach an all-time high,

　　as measured in today’s dollars, of more than $101 a barrel. The record was set in 1980. On Friday

　　in New York, the benchmark crude-oil futures price closed down $1.22, or 1.5%, to finish at

　　$81.66, a little more than $2 off the all-time high, not adjusting for inflation.

　　High oil prices could lead to ugly consequences if they hit consumers’ pocketbooks --

　　especially in the U.S., where the housing slump is already hurting the economy. Consumer

　　spending has been the primary engine of growth in the U.S. in recent years.

　　Target Corp. was among the major retailers in the last week cutting sales forecasts. Target

　　expects September sales at stores open at least a year to rise just 1.5% to 2.5%, down from an

　　earlier expectation of 4% to 6% growth. The main reason has to do with what some call the

　　Wal-Mart effect. For every extra dollar taken from drivers’ pockets at the pump in the form of

　　higher prices in recent years, low-cost exporters from China and elsewhere have put roughly $1.50

　　back in the form of cheaper retail goods. Even at today’s near-record prices, U.S. households

　　today spend less than 4% of their disposable income at the pump, vs. over 6% in 1980.

　　B. Translate the following passage into English. (15 points)

　　一项研究结果表明，当夫妻双方劳燕分飞时，和男性相比，女性往往想要占有更多的共

　　同财产。

　　在一份包括房子、照片和宠物等 24 类物品的清单中，接受调查的男性普遍希望把其中

　　的19 样留给前妻，而女性只愿意他们的前夫拿走其中的8 样东西。

　　尽管女性并不是特别想要诸如电视机、CD、DVD 碟片和烤面包机等，但他们仍然希望

　　前夫也不要带走这些东西。

　　Part Ⅴ Writing (30points)

　　Some people hold the view that a student’s success in university study follows the same

　　pattern as that of farming, which is characterized by the sowing the seeds, nurturing growth and

　　harvesting the rewards’ process. Write an essay of about 300 words on the topic given below to

　　support this view with your own experience as a university student.

　　SOWING THE SEEDS,NURTURING GROWTH AND HARVESTING THE REWARDS

　　In the first part of your writing you should present your thesis statement, and in the second

　　part you should support the thesis statement with appropriate details. In the last part you should

　　bring what you have written to a natural conclusion with a summary.

　　Marks will be awarded for content, organization, grammar and appropriacy. Failure to follow

　　the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.


       附：2018年上海自考《基础英语》测试题一

上海自考培训报名预约

请选择您的报考层次 大专 本科 专本套读

提交报名信息 重置信息

我已阅读并同意《用户隐私条款》

个人信息授权与保护声明

关闭

鉴于网络的特性，本网站将无可避免地与您产生直接或间接的互动关系，故特此说明本网站对用户个人信息所采取的收集、使用和保护政策，请您务必仔细阅读：

信息收集范围

我们根据合法、正当、必要的原则，仅收集为您提供服务所必要的信息。包括：

1、您在使用我们服务时主动提供的信息

(2)您通过电话咨询方式提供的姓名、电话、住址、微信/QQ、备注等信息。

(3)您在使用网上咨询服务所提供的姓名、电话、住址、微信/QQ、备注等信息。

(4)您参与我们线上活动时填写的调查问卷中可能包含您的姓名、电话、地址等信息。

我们的部分服务可能需要您提供特定的个人敏感信息来实现特定功能。

若您选择不提供该类信息，则可能无法正常使用服务中的特定功能，但不影响您使用服务中的其他功能。

若您主动提供您的个人敏感信息，即表示您同意我们按本政策所述目的和方式来处理您的个人敏感信息。

本次报名数据服务由本网站提供，本网站不承担由于内容的不一致性所引起的一切争议和法律责任，报名结果以最终辅导报名系统为准。

信息使用用途

我们严格遵守法律法规的规定及与用户的约定，将收集的信息用于以下用途。若我们超出以下用途使用您的信息，我们将再次向您进行说明，并征得您的同意。

1、通过微信、电话形式建立沟通，向您提供学历咨询服务。

2、满足您的个性化需求。例如，学历途径规划、学历评估等。

3、项目开发和服务优化。例如，通过您的咨询问题及服务过程中您的建议等，优化我们的服务。

4、向您推荐您可能感兴趣的学校、资讯等。

5、学校推荐。例如，我们会根据您的具体要求以您所具备的条件向您推荐合适的院校。

为了让您有更好的体验、改善我们的服务或经您同意的其他用途，在符合相关法律法规的前提下，我们可能将通过某些服务所收集的信息用于我们的其他服务。例如，将您在使用我们某项服务时的信息，用于另一项服务中向您展示个性化的内容或广告、用于用户研究分析与统计等服务。

信息保护

我们仅在本《隐私政策》所述目的所必需的期间和法律法规要求的时限内保留您的个人信息。

本网站将对您所提供的资料进行严格的管理及保护，本网站将使用相应的技术，防止您的个人资料丢失、被盗用或遭篡改。

当政府机关依照法定程序要求本网站披露个人资料时，本网站将根据执法单位之要求或为公共安全之目的提供个人资料。在此情况下之任何披露，本网站均得免责。

由于您将用户密码告知他人或与他人共享注册帐户，由此导致的任何个人资料泄露。任何由于计算机问题、黑客政击、计算机病毒侵入或发作、因政府管制而造成的暂时性关闭等影响网络正常经营之不可抗力而造成的个人资料泄露、丢失、被盗用或被篡改情况时本网站亦毋需承担任何责任。

未成年人保护

本网站将建立和维持一合理的程序，以保护未成年人个人资料的保密性及安全性。本网站郑重声明：任何16岁以下的未成年人参加网上活动应事先得到家长或其法定监护人的可经查证的同意。若您是未成年人的监护人，当您对您所监护的未成年人的个人信息有相关疑问时，请通过与我们联系。

适用范围

我们的所有服务均适用本政策。但某些服务有其特定的隐私指引/声明，该特定隐私指引/声明更具体地说明我们在该服务中如何处理您的信息。如本政策与特定服务的隐私指引/声明有不一致之处，请以该特定隐私指引/声明为准。

您必须完全同意以上协议才能使用本网站的在线报名服务。