1997年同等学力人员申请硕士学位英语水平全国统一考试试题
Part I Listening Comprehension (20 minutes, 15 points)
Section A
Directions: In this Section, you will hear 9 short conversations. At the end of each conversation, there will be a question. Both the conversation and the question will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on the ANSWER SHEET with a single line through the center.

[LISTEN]

A. Reasons. 
Beadlike.
Cleave. 
Dominions.

A. Teacher and student. 
B. Manager and customer.
C. Secretary and client. 
D. Interviewer and interviewee.

A. At a supermarket. 
B. In a hotel room.
C. At a department store. 
D. In a lost and found department.

A. She can’t find her notebook in the place where she left it.
B. She can remember now where she left her notebook.
C. She can’t recall where she left her notebook.
D. She has found her notebook at last.

A. They are satisfactory.
B. They are disappointing.
C. They are terrible. 
D. Too early to know.

A. It’s hard to say.
B. Definitely.
C. Certainly not. 
D. Yes,he is.

A. $44.00. 
B. $14.00.
C. $40.00. 
D. $30.00.

A. He is too sleepy to eat.
B. He doesn’t feel like eating at this hour.
C. He can’t stand the taste of the food.
D. He doesn’t enjoy eating in this dim place.

A. The man spends more than he makes.
B. The man is not keen on arts.
C. The woman is an artist.
D. The woman looks down upon the man.

Section B
Directions: In this section, you will hear 2 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the question will be spoken only once. After you hear one question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D. Then mark the corresponding letter on the ANSWER SHEET with a single line through the center.
Questions 10~12 are based on the following passage.

Passage One [LISTEN]

A. Certainly. 
B. It depends.
C. Certainly not. 
D. None of the above.

A. The world would be more beautiful.
B. The earth would become less visible from the moon.
C. Sunrise and sunset would lose their beauty.
D. The view of sunrise and sunset would become more enjoyable.

A. Formation of rain drops in the air.
B. Vaporization of water in the air.
C. Development of air pollution. 
D. Increase of rain drops.

Questions 13~15 are based on the following passage.
Passage Two [LISTEN]

A. They can be used to express all kinds of feelings.
B. They can be used to do business with people.
C. They can be used to convey our most important messages to people.
D. They can be used to deliver all the messages in our life.

A. Dismayed. 
B. Frustrated.
C. Disappointed.
D. Relieved.

A. It helps to avoid conflict.
B. It helps people get their own way.
C. It stops any kinds of arguments.
D. It improves the business of the marriage counselors.

Part II Vocabulary(10 minutes,10 points)
Section A
Directions: In each item, choose one word that best keeps the meaning of the sentence if it is substituted for the underlined word. Mark out your choice on the ANSWER SHEET with a single line through the center.

The country old hostilities between the two tribes eventually terminated through the persistent efforts of the local government.
A. vanished 
B. diminished
C. shrunk 
D. worsened


The leaders of the two countries are planning their summit meeting with a pledge to maintain and develop good ties.
A. strategy 
B. standpoint
C. promise 
D. priority

Computers will flourish because they enable us to accomplish tasks that could never before have been undertaken.
A. Implement 
B. render
C. complete 
D. assign

Herman’s success is due to his hard work and his ability to formulate plans which will get work done efficiently.
A. fulfill 
B. approve
C. conceive 
D. conduct

The farm ministers scheduled an emergency meeting in Luxembourg in hopes of easing the worldwide "mad cow" panic .
A. crisis 
B. alarm
C. hazard 
D. peril

The young man asked his parents not to worry because he was full of optimism about his career.
A. motivation 
B. confidence
C. imagination 
D. resolution

One’s awareness , both conscious and unconscious, of what happened in the past has a strong influence on one’s behavior.
A. storage 
B. impression
C. perception 
D. momory

On hearing of the case some time later, Conan Doyle was convinced that the man was not guilty, and immediately went to work to ascertain the reuth.
A. explore 
B. obtain
C. verify 
D. search

All the staff members of the department made zealous efforts to clean up the hall for the Christmas party.
A. enthusiastic 
B. concerted
C. gigantic 
D. dedicated

The recent findings are also applicable to other areas of design engineering.
A. relevant 
B. practical
C. convenient 
D. comparable

Section B
Directions: In each question, decide which of the four choices given will most suitably complete the sentence if inserted at the place marked. Mark out your choice on the ANSWER SHEET with a single line through the center.

All experts agree that the most important consideration with diet drugs is carefully _____ the risks and benefits.
A. weighing 
B. valuing
C. evaluating 
D. distinguishing

More international trend for business and pleasure brings greater _____ to other societies.
A. exchange 
B. contribution
C. expansion 
D. exposure

Shortage of land and funding are blamed for the city’s _____ green space.
A. inefficient 
B. inaccurate
C. inadequate 
D. indispensable

If English is not our first language you can often be puzzled by ways of expression that the native speaker of English does not even have to _____ .
A. think out
B. think about
C. think over 
D. think for 

Retail sales volume in local urban and rural areas rose 57.8 per cent and 46.8 per cent, _____ ,over February 1995.
A. individually 
B. respectively
C. correspondingly 
D. accordingly

This book is a _____ of radio scripts, in which we seek to explain how the words and expressions become part of our language.
A. collection 
B. publication
C. volume 
D. stack

A man’s _____ is best when he can forget himself and any reputation he may have required and can concentrate wholly on making the right decisions.
A. anticipation 
B. acknowledgment
C. expectation 
D. judgment

Does brain power _____ as we get older? Scientists now have some surprising answers.
A. descend 
B. decline
C. deduce 
D. collapse

The largest system serving email messengers is the Internet, a _____ of millions of computers linked worldwide.
A. unity 
B. combination
C. network 
D. connection

I _____ a letter to an Internet service that distributes journalists' questions to more than 750 institutions.
A. assigned 
B. dispatched
C. attached 
D. detached

Part III Reading Comprehension (50 minutes,30 points)
Directions: There are 6 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B,C and D. You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the ANSWER SHEET with a single line through the center.

Questions 36~40 are based on the following passage.

    In the USA, 85% of the population over the age of 21 approve of the death penalty. In the many states which still have the death penalty, some use the electric chair, which can take up to 20 minutes to kill, while others use gas or lethal injection.
The first of these was the case of Ruth Ellis who was hanged for shooting her lover in what was generally regarded as a crime of passion. The second was hanged for murders which, it was later proved, had been committed by someone else.
    The pro-hanging lobby(赞成极刑的活动集团)uses four main arguments to support its call for the reintroduction of capital punishment. First there is the deterrence theory, which argues that potential murderers would think twice before committing the act if they knew that they might die if they were caught. The armed bank robber might, likewise, go back to being unarmed.
The other two arguments are more suspect. The idea of retribution demands that criminals should get what they deserve: if a murderer intentionally set out to commit a crime, he should accept the consequences. Retribution, which is just another word for revenge, is supported by the religious doctrine of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
    The arguments against the death penalty are largely humanitarian(人道主义的).But there are also statistical reasons for opposing it: the deterrence figures do not add up. In Britain, 1903 was the record year for executions and yet in 1904 the number of murders actually rose. There was a similar occurrence in 1946 and 1947. If the deterrence theory were correct, the rate should have fallen.
    The other reasons to oppose the death penalty are largely a matter of individual conscience and belief. One is that murder is murder and that the state has no more right to take a life than the individual. The other is that Christianity advises forgiveness, not revenge.