TEST FOR ENGLISH MAJORS

——GRADE EIGHT——

MODEL TEST ONE

TIME LIMIT: 195 MIN

PART I LISTENING COMPREHENSION [ 35 MIN ]

SECTION A MINI-LECTURE

In this section you will hear a mini-lecture. You will hear the lecture ONCE ONLY. While listening, take notes on the important points. Your notes will not be marked, but you will need them to complete a gap-filling task after the mini-lecture. When the lecture is over, you will be given two minutes to check your notes, and another ten minutes to complete the gap-filling task on ANSWER SHEET ONE. Some of the gaps may require a maximum of THREE words. Make sure the word(s) you fill in is (are) both grammatically and semantically acceptable. You may refer to your notes while completing the task. Use the blank sheet for note-taking.

SECTION B INTERVIEW

In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow.Mark the best answer to each question on ANSWER SHEET TWO.

Questions 1 to 5 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following five questions. Now listen to the interview.

1. What is the decoration of the East Room like?

A. It’s elaborate.

B. It’s simpler than past.

C. It’s nothing special.

D. It’s too plain.

2. Why do they use real roses according to Laura?

A. Real roses are more fragrant.

C. Real roses are fresh.

B. Real roses can show their social status.

D. Real roses can better show their love.

3. What’s Donna Green’s main responsibility?

A. To help decorate the White House.

B. To do the White House Christmas card.

C. To guide visitors to the White House during the Christmas.

D. To illustrate the decorations of the White House.

4. The White House during Christmas this year is very different in that_______.

A. it’s much prettier

B. it’s more elegant

C. everything is fresh and real

D. everything is brand new

5. Which of the following is NOT mentioned by Laura as something Americans have a difficult time doing?

A. Criticizing President Bush.

B. Having family members deployed in Iraq.

C. Worrying about their family members in Iraq.

D. Watching American troops in Iraq.

SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST

In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow.

Mark the best answer to each question on ANSWER SHEET TWO.

Questions 6 to 7 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 20 seconds to answer the questions. Now listen to the news.

6. The Maersk Alabama is owned by

A. Kenya

B. Denmark

C. America

D. Somalia

7. According to Andrew Mwangura, how can the deadlock be resolved quickly?

A. Denmark’s A. P. Moller-Maersk contact with pirates directly.

B. The crew disabled.the ship and overpowered the pirates.

C. Give pirates enough money immediately.

D. Use a lot of third parties to be part of the negotiation team.

Question 8 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.

8. Which of the following is NOT the result of Yahoo’s issue?

A. Scott Thompson lost his position in the company.

B. Ross Levinson took place of Scott Thompson.

C. Mr. Loeb will be appointed a company director.

D. The chief executive was found padding his academic credentials.

Questions 9 to 10 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 20 seconds to answer the questions. Now listen to the news.

9. The new taxes are used to

A. sort out troubled firms

B. pay for bailouts

C. avoid the risk of each firm’s activities

D. increase the employees’ pay

10. If governments want to raise more money, they can put in an additional tax on ____ firstly.

A. financial institutions

B. products of companies

C. profits of companies

D. employees’ salaries

PARTⅡ READING COMPREHENSION [30 MIN]

In this section there are four reading passages followed by a total of 20 multiple-choice questions. Read the passages and then mark the best answer t6 each question on ANSWER SHEET TWO.

TEXT A

The newspaper must provide for the reader the facts, unalloyed, unslanted, objectively selected facts. But in　these days of complex news it must provide more; it must supply interpretation, the meaning of the facts. This is the　most important assignment confronting American journalism--to make clear to the reader the problems of the day, to make international news as understandable as community news, to recognize that there is no longer any such　thing (with the possible exception of such scribbling as society and club news) as "local" news, because any event　in the international area has a local reaction in manpower draft, in economic strain, in terms, indeed, of our very way of life.

There is in journalism a widespread view that when you embark on interpretation, you are entering choppy and dangerous waters, the swirling tides of opinion. This is nonsense.

The opponents of interpretation insist that the writer and the editor shall confine themselves to the "facts". This insistence raises two questions: what are the facts? And: are the bare facts enough?

As to the first query, consider how a so-called "factual" story comes about. The reporter collects, say, fifty facts; out of these fifty, his space allotment being necessarily restricted, he selects the ten, which he considers most important. This is Judgment Number One. Then he or his editor decides which of these ten facts shall constitute the lead of the piece. This is important decision because many readers do not proceed beyond the first paragraph. This is Judgment Number Two. Then the night editor determines whether the article shall be presented on page one, where it has a large impact, or on page twenty-four, where it has little. Judgment Number Three.

Thus, in the presentation of a so-called "factual" or "objective" story, at least three judgments are involved. And they are judgments not at all unlike those involved in interpretation, in which reporter and editor, calling upon their general background, and their "news neutralism", arrive at a conclusion as to the significance of the news.

The two areas of judgment, presentation of the news and its interpretation, are both objective rather than subjective processes-as objective, that is, as any human being can be. (Note in. passing: even though complete objectivity can never be achieved, nevertheless the ideal must always be the beacon on the murky news channels. ) If an editor is intent on slanting the news, he can do it in other ways and more effectively than by interpretation. He can do it by the selection of those facts that prop up his particular plea. Or he can do it by the pay he gives a story-

promoting it to page one or demoting it to page thirty.

11. Readers expect all of the following from newspapers EXCEPT

A. how to interpret news

B. interpretations of news

C. community news

D. international news

12. It can be inferred from the passage that _____.

A. news of local areas will no longer be reported

B. interpretation of news always involves editor’s bias

C. American journalism is in lack of objectivity

D. there is a higher requirement for the content of news today

13. What can be inferred about the opponents of interpretation?

A. They have a higher requirement for the objectivity of news than supporters do.

B. They have a narrow understanding of what facts mean.

C. They doubt that news can be factual.

D. They don’t believe in the validity of interpreted news.

14. In what way are presentation and interpretation of news alike?

A. They are both subjective.

B. They are both difficult to do.

C. They both involve judgments by reporters and editors.

D. They both help keep the objectivity of news.

15. The passage is mainly about _____.

A. how to select news

B. how to interpret news

C. requirements for news interpretation

D. the objectivity of news interpretation