英语八级快速阅读理解试题及答案解析

英语八级快速阅读理解试题及答案解析

TEXT C

In Barcelona the Catalonians call them castells, but these aren't stereotypical castles in Spain.

These castles are made up of human beings, not stone. The people who perform this agile feat of

acrobatics are called castellers, and to see their towers take shape is to observe a marvel of human

cooperation.

First the castellers form what looks like a gigantic rugby scrummage. They are the foundation

blocks of the castle. Behind them, other people press together, forming outward-radiating ramparts

of inward-pushing muscle: flying buttresses for the castle. Then sturdy but lighter castellers

scramble over the backs of those at the bottom and stand, barefoot, on their shoulders—then still

others, each time adding a higher "story".

These human towers can rise higher than small apartment buildings: nine “stories”, 35 feet into the

air. Then, just When it seems this tower of humanity can't defy gravity any longer, a little kid

emerges from the crowd and climbs straight up to the top. Arms extended, the child grins while

waving to the cheering crowd far below.

Dressed in their traditional costumes, the castellers seem to epitomize an easier time, before

Barcelona became a world metropolis arid the Mediterranean's most dynamic city. But when you

observe-them tip close, in their street clothes, at practice, you see there's nothing easy about what

the castellers do - and that they are not merely reenacting an ancient ritual.

None of the castellers can-give a logical answer as to why they love doing this. But Victor Luna,

16, touches me on the shoulder and says in English: "We do it because it's beautiful. We do it

because we are Catalan."

Barcelona’s mother tongue is Catalan, and to understand Barcelona, you must understand two

words of Catalan: seny and rauxa. Seny pretty much translates as common sense, or the ability to

make money, arrange things, and get things done. Rauxa is reminiscent of our words “raucous”

and “ruckus”.

What makes the castellers revealing of the city is that they embody rauxa and seny. The idea of a

human castle is rauxa—it defies common sense—but to watch one going up is to see seny in

action. Success is based on everyone working together to achieve a shared goal.

The success of Carlos Tusquets' bank, Fibanc, shows seny at work in everyday life. The bank

started as a family concern and now employs hundreds. Tusquets said it exemplifies how the

economy in Barcelona is different.

Entrepreneurial seny demonstrates why Barcelona and Catalonia—the ancient region of which

Barcelona is the capital—are distinct from the rest of Spain yet essential to Spain's emergence,

after centuries of repression, as a prosperous, democratic European country. Catalonia, with

Barcelona as its dynamo, has turned into an economic powerhouse. Making up 6 percent of

Spain’s territory, with a sixth of its people, it accounts for nearly a quarter of Spain's

production—everything from textiles to computers—even though the rest of Spain has been

enjoying its own economic miracle.

Hand in hand with seny goes rauxa, and there's no better place to see rauxa in action than on the

Ramblas, the venerable, tree-shaded boulevard that, in gentle stages, leads you from the centre of

Barcelona down to the port. There are two narrow lanes each way for cars and motorbikes, but it’s

the wide centre walkway that makes the Ramblas a front-row seat for Barcelona's longest running

theatrical event. Plastic armchairs are set out on the sidewalk. Sit in one of them, and an attendant

will come and charge you a small fee. Performance artists throng the Ramblas—stilt walkers,

witches caked in charcoal dust, Elvis impersonators. But the real stars are the old women and

happily playing children, millionaires on motorbikes, and pimps and women who, upon closer

inspection, prove not to be.

Aficionados (Fans) of Barcelona love to compare notes: “Last night there was a man standing on

the balcony of his hotel room,” Mariana Bertagnolli, an Italian photographer, told me. "The

balcony was on the second floor. He was naked, and he was talking into a cell phone."

There you have it, Barcelona's essence. The man is naked (rauxa), but he is talking into a cell

phone (seny).

21. From the description in the passage, we learn that

A. all Catalonians can perform castells.

B. castells require performers to stand on each other.

C. people perform castells in different formations.

D. in castells people have to push and pull each other.

22. According to the passage, the4mplication of the performance is that

A. the Catalonians are insensible and noisy people.

B. the Catalonians show more sense than is expected.

C. the Catalonians display paradoxical characteristics.

D. the Catalonians think highly of team work.

23. The passage cites the following examples EXCEPT __________ to show seny at work.

A. development of a bank

B. dynamic role in economy

C. contribution to national economy

D. comparison with other regions

24. In the last but two paragraph, the Ramblas is described as “a front-row seat for Barcelona’s

longest running theatrical event”. What does it mean?

A. On the Ramblas people can see a greater variety of performances.

B. The Ramblas provides many front seats for the performances.

C. The Ramblas is preferred as an important venue for the events.

D. Theatrical performers like to perform on the Ramblas.

25. What is the main impression of the scenes on the Ramblas?

A. It is bizarre and Outlandish.

B. It is of average quality.

C. It is conventional and quiet.

D. It is of professional standard.

TEXT D

The law firm Patrick worked for before he died filed for bankruptcy protection a year after his

funeral. After his death, the firm's letterhead properly included him: Patrick S. Lanigan,

1954-1992. He was listed up in the right-hand corner, just above the paralegals. Then the rumors

got started and wouldn't stop. Before long, everyone believed he had taken the money and

disappeared. After three months, no one on the Gulf Coast believed that he was dead. His name

came off the letterhead as the debts piled up.

The remaining partners in the law firm were still together, attached unwillingly at the hip by the

bondage of mortgages and the bank notes, back when they were rolling and on the verge of serious

wealth. They had been joint defendants in several unwinnable lawsuits; thus the bankruptcy. Since

Patrick's departure, they had tried every possible way to divorce one another, but nothing would

work. Two were raging alcoholics who drank at the office behind locked doors, but nevertogether.

The other two were in recovery, still teetering on the brink of sobriety.

He took their money. Their millions. Money they had already spent long before it arrived, as only

lawyers can do. Money for their richly renovated office building in downtown Biloxi. Money for

new homes, yachts, condos in the Caribbean. The money was on the way, approved, the papers

signed, orders entered; they could see it, almost touch it when their dead

partner—Patrick—snatched it at the last possible second.

He was dead. They buried him on February 11, 1992. They had consoled the widow and put his

rotten name on their handsome letterhead. Yet six weeks later, he somehow stole their money.

They had brawled over who was to blame. Charles Bogan, the firm's senior partner and its iron

hand, had insisted the money be wired from its source into a new account offshore, and this made

sense after some discussion. It was ninety million bucks, a third of which the firm would keep, and

it would be impossible to hide that kind of money in Biloxi, population fifty thousand. Someone at

the bank would talk. Soon everyone would know. All four vowed secrecy, even as they made plans

to display as much of their new wealth as possible. There had even been talk of a firm jet, a

six-seater.

So Bogan took his share of the blame. At forty-nine, he was the oldest of the four, and, at the

moment, the most stable. He was also responsible for hiring Patrick nine years earlier, and for this

he had received no small amount of grief.

Doug Vitrano, the litigator, had made the fateful decision to recommend Patrick as the fifth partner.

The other three had agreed, and when Patrick Lanigan was added to the firm name, he had access

to virtually every file in the office. Bogan, Rapley, Vitrano, Havarac, and Lanigan, Attorneys and

Counselors-at-Law. A large ad in the yellow pages claimed "Specialists in Offshore Injuries."

Specialists or not, like most firms they would take almost anything if the fees were lucrative. Lots

of secretaries and paralegals. Big overhead, and the strongest political connections on the Coast.

They were all in their mid- to late forties. Havarac had been raised by his father on a shrimp boat.

His hands were still proudly calloused, and he dreamed of choking Patrick until his neck snapped.

Rapley was severely depressed and seldom left his home, where he wrote briefs in a dark office in

the attic.

26. What happened to the four remaining lawyers after Patrick's disappearance?

A. They all wanted to divorce their wives.

B. They were all heavily involved in debts.

C. They were all recovering from drinking.

D. They had bought new homes, yachts, etc.

27. Which of the following statements contains a metaphor?

A. His name came off the letterhead as the debts piled up.

B. …they could see it, almost touch it when their

C. …, attached unwillingly at the hip by the bondage

D. …, and for this he had received no small amount of grief.

28. According to the passage, what is the main cause of Patrick stealing the money?

A. Patrick was made a partner of the firm.

B. The partners agreed to have the money transferred.

C. Patrick had access to all the files in the firm.

D. Bogan decided to hire Patrick nine years earlier.

29. The lawyers were described as being all the following EXCEPT

A. greedy.

B. extravagant

C. quarrelsome.

D. bad-tempered.

30. Which of the following implies a contrast?

A. …, and it would be impossible to hide that kind of money in Biloxi, population fifty thousand.

B. They had been joint defendants in several unwinnable lawsuits; thus the bankruptcy.

C. There had even been talk of a firm jet, a six-seater.

D. His name came off the letterhead as the debts piled up.

PART III GENERAL KNOWLEDGE (10 MIN)

There are ten multiple-choice questions in this section. Choose the best answer to each question.

Mark your answers on your coloured answer sheet

31. The largest city in Canada is

A. Vancouver.

B. Montreal.

C. Toronto

D. Ottawa.

32. According to the United States Constitution, the legislative power is invested in

A. the Federal Government.

B. the Supreme Court.

C. the Cabinet.

D. the Congress.

33. Which of the following is the oldest sport in the United States?

A. Baseball.

B. Tennis.

C. Basketball.

D. American football.

34. The head of the executive branch in New Zealand is

A. the President.

B. the Governor-General.

C. the British monarch,

D. the Prime Minister.

35. The Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories told by a group of pilgrims on their way to

Canterbury, is an important poetic work by

A. William Langland.

B. Geoffrey Chaucer.

C. William Shakespeare.

D. Alfred Tennyson.

36. Who wrote The American?

A. Herman Melville.

B. Nathaniel Hawthorne.

C. Henry James.

D. Theodore Dreiser.

37. All of the following are well-known female writers in 20th -century Britain EXCEPT

A. George Eliot.

B. Iris Jean Murdoch.

C. Doris Lessing.

D. Muriel Spark.

38. Which of the following is NOT a design feature of human language?

A. Arbitrariness.

B. Displacement.

C. Duality.

D. Diachronicity.

39. What type of sentence is “Mark likes fiction, but Tim is interested in poetry.”?

A. A simple sentence.

B. A coordinate sentence.

C. A complex sentence.

D. None of the above.

40. The phenomenon that words having different meanings have the same form is called

A. hyponymy.

B. synonymy.

C. polysemy.

D. homonymy.

PART IV PROOFREADING & ERROR CORRECTION (15 MIN)

Proofread the given passage on ANSWER SHEET TWO as instructed.

PART V TRANSLATION (60 MIN)

SECTION A CHINESE TO ENGLISH

Translate the underlined part of the following text into English. Write your translation on

ANSWER SHEET THREE.

都市寸土千金，地价炒得越来越高，今后将更高。拥有一个小小花园的希望，对寻常之辈不啻是一种奢望，一种梦想。

我想，其实谁都有一个小小花园，这便是我们的内心世界。人的智力需要开发，人的内心世界也是需要开发的。人和动物的区别，除了众所周知的诸多方面，恐怕还在于人有内心世界。心不过是人的一个重要脏器，而内心世界是一种景观，它是由外部世界不断地作用于内心渐渐形成的。每个人都无比关注自己及至亲至爱之人心脏的渐损，以至于稍有微疾便惶惶不可终日。但并非每个人都关注自己及至亲至爱之人的内心世界的阴晴。

SECTION B ENGLISH TO CHINESE

Translate the following text into Chinese. Write your translation on ANSWER SHEET THREE.

But, as has been true in many other cases, when they were at last married, the most ideal of

situations was found to have been changed to the most practical. Instead of having shared their

original duties, and as school-boys would say, going halves, they discovered that the cares of life

had been doubled. This led to some distressing moments for both our friends; they understood

suddenly that instead of dwelling in heaven they were still upon earth, and had made themselves

slaves to new laws and limitations. Instead of being freer and happier than ever before, they had

assumed new responsibilities; they had established a new household, and must fulfill in some way

or another the obligations of it. They looked back with affection to their engagement; they had

been longing to have each other to themselves, apart from the world, but it seemed they never felt

so keenly that they were still units in modern society.

PART VI WRITING (45 MIN)

In a few months’ time you are going to graduate from university. How do you think your college

years have prepared you for your future life? Write an essay of about 400 words on the following

topic:

What I have learned from my years at university

In the first part of your essay you should state dearly your main argument, and in the second part

you should support your argument with appropriate details. In the last part you should bring what

you have written to a natural conclusion or make a summary.

参考答案

Mini-lecture：

1. native language 2. 350 3. Historical 4. India 5. commerce 6. Boom 7. sea travel

communication 8. conference 9. many radios 10. split

阅读：

阅读一共四篇：韩国的新教育制度引起多方不满；

第二篇是讲西班牙人的一些性格；

第三篇是英国人热衷自己饲养出售畜牧产品；

最后一篇是一个小说节选，四个律师被死去的合伙人骗得破产。

改错：

大致内容是人们倾向于用语言作为自己在国际上的身份标志。

改为thing

2. have (去掉)

3. a改为their

4. at the time 后加 when

5. by改为with

6. those改为that

7. on 去掉

8. At改为In

9. carrying 后加on

10。 now改为ago

翻译：

汉译英 In fact, I think everyone has a small garden and that is our inner world. People’s

intelligence needs to be developed, so does the inner world. The difference between people and

animals, in addition to the many well-known, is also in the inner world. The heart is an important

organ, however, the inner world is a landscape. It gradually took shape under the constant

influence of the outside world on the heart. Everyone is so concerned about the health of the hearts

of their lovedones as well as his that a slight disease would cause great anxiety. But not everyone

is concerned about the inner world of themselves and their lovedones.

英译汉 但是正如其他许多已经发生过的事情一样，当他们最终结婚后，发现最憧憬的生活变得再实际不过了。他们非但没有分担各自原先的责任---正如那些学生们所说“一半一半”，相反却发现生活的重担加倍了。这使得我们那两个结婚的朋友时常觉得沮丧；他们突然发现自己并没有过着天堂般的生活而是仍实实在在地生活在地球上，而且成为了新规则和新约束的奴隶。他们不但没有比以前更加自由和幸福反而承担了新的责任；他们建立了新的家庭所以必须用某种方式履行义务。他们深情地回想起订婚的那段时光，曾经如此地渴望拥有彼此而忘掉这个世界，然而现在最深切的感受却是自己仍是这个世界的一份子。

人文：

31 选C加拿大最大的城市是TORONTO

32 选 D立法权是国会THE CONGRESS

33 选 A 棒球

一切都始于棒球 美国的体育文化脱胎于棒球,一直以来,棒球就一直是文人们的最爱。作为最古老的美式运动,棒球的形态一直保存完整,历史学家们视之为宝物

34 新西兰的最高长官是 B governor general 总督

35选B THE CANTERBURY TALES 是GEORFFERY CHAUCER 写的

36 选 C THE AMERICAN 是谁写的 Henrry James

37 选A 不是20世纪英国 女作家那题 选A 其他都是20世纪著名的女性作家

乔治.艾略特(George Eliot)原名玛丽·安·埃文斯Mary Ann Evans，1819年11月22日-1880年12月22日，英国小说家，与狄更斯和萨克雷齐名。其主要作品有《弗洛斯河上的磨坊》The Mill on the Floss，《米德尔马契》等。

38 选D 历时性(diachronicity) 这个不是语言学的特性

39选 B 并列句 but连接的两个分句

40选D

homonymy指的是语汇中一对对或是一组组的单词，虽然意思不同，但是发音相同，或拼写相同，又或者是发音和拼写都相同。这些一对对一组组的单词我们称之为homonym(同形同音异义词、同形异义词、同音异义词)。