12-13商务英语第一阶段测试.doc

第一学期 第一阶段测试卷（阅读、词汇）

Ⅰ For each italicized word or expression in the following sentences, please choose the best meaning below.
1. The plane crashed shortly after take-off.
A. speeded up B. slowed down
C. had an accident and broke in pieces
D. had an accident and changed its direction
2. It’s difficult to cross the desert by car, but not absolutely impossible.
A. nearly B. often C. always D. completely
3. My car has a device which opens the garage doors.
A. a brake B. a design C. a plan D. an instrument
4. As she turned the knob, the sound in the room diminished.
A. became sharper B. became louder
C. became weaker D. became harsher
5. I hated the big formal dances and felt very awkward.
A. pleasant B. happy C. uncomfortable D. boring
6. My cousin is an acquaintance of the president of that company; they greet each other when they meet.
A. a close friend B. a person who works with C. a classmate
D. a person one has met but doesn’t know very well
7. Because of their different opinions on the issue, there is now open hostility between the two leaders.
A. friendly feelings B. cooperation
C. unfriendly feelings D. relationship
8. Making mistakes is inevitable, so do not be discouraged.
A. cannot be blamed B. cannot be avoided C. cannot last long D. cannot be found
9. Stop dwelling on your problems and do something about them.
A. living in B. thinking a little about

C. forgetting about D. thinking too much about
10. Efforts have been made to wipe out poverty in the rural areas.
A. city B. countryside C. mountain D. coast
11. The woolen clothes will shrink in the wash, so buy a large size when you want them.
A. become darker B. become lighter
C. become larger D. become thinner
12. The trend of prices is still upwards.
A. tendency B. part C. majority D. minority
13. My friend is an emotional person. She cries and gets excited easily.
A. full of movements B. full of feelings C. full of energy
14 Will the strike affect the price of coal?
A. raise B. lower C. influence
15. The stormy sea engulfed the small boat.
A. carried B. covered C. hit
16. Different from tigers and lions, horses and dogs are domestic animals.
A. four-legged B. grass-eating C. not wild
17. His descendants still live in the same village.
A. ancestors B. supporters C. children or grandchildren
18. In the forest, people are forbidden to kindle a fire.
A. start B. handle C. put out
19. The new military government banned strikes.
A. allowed B. didn’t allow C. called for
20. Do they observe Christmas Day in that country?
A. watch B. find C. celebrate
II. Reading Comprehension:
Questions 21 to 40 are based on the following passage
Passage 1
When one looks back upon the fifteen hundred years that are the life span of the English language, he should be able to notice a number of significant truths. The history of our language has always been a history of constant change—at times a slow, almost imperceptible change, at other times a violent collision between two languages. Our language has always been a living growing organism, it has never been static. Another significant truth that emerges from such a study is that language at all times has been the possession not of one class or group but of many. At one extreme it has been the property of the common, ignorant folk, who have used it in the daily business of their living, much as they have used their animals or the kitchen pots and pans. At the other extreme it has been the treasure of those who have respected it as an instrument and a sign of civilization, and who have struggled by writing it down to give it some permanence, order, dignity, and if possible, a little beauty.
　As we consider our changing language, we should note here two developments that are of special and immediate importance to us. One is that since the time of the Anglo-Saxons there has been an almost complete reversal of the different devices for showing the relationship of words in a sentence. Anglo-Saxon (old English) was a language of many inflections. Modern English has few inflections. We must now depend largely on word order and function words to convey the meanings that the older language did by means of changes in the forms of words. Function words, you should understand, are words such as prepositions, conjunctions, and a few others that are used primarily to show relationships among other words. A few inflections, however, have survived. And when some word inflections come into conflict with word order, there may be trouble for the users of the language, as we shall see later when we turn our attention to such maters as WHO or WHOM and ME or I. The second fact we must consider is that as language itself changes, our attitudes toward language forms change also. The eighteenth century, for example, produced from various sources, a tendency to fix the language into patterns not always set in and grew, until at the present time there is a strong tendency to restudy and re-evaluate language practices in terms of the ways in which people speak and write.
21. In contrast to the earlier linguists, modern linguists tend to___ .
　　A. attempt to continue the standardization of the language
　　B. evaluate language practices in terms of current speech rather than standards or proper patterns
　　C. be more concerned about the improvement of the language than its analysis or history
　　D. be more aware of the rules of the language usage
22. Choose the appropriate meaning for the word “inflection” used in line 4 of paragraph 2.
　　A. Changes in the forms of words.
　　B. Changes in sentence structures.
　　C. Changes in spelling rules.
　　D. Words that have similar meanings.
23. Which of the following statements is not mentioned in the passage?
　　A. It is generally believed that the year 1500 can be set as the beginning of the modern English language.
　　B. Some other languages had great influence on the English language at some stages of its development.
　　C. The English language has been and still in a state of relatively constant change.
　　D. Many classes or groups have contributed to the development of the English language.
24. The author of these paragraphs is probably a(an) ___.
　　A. historian B. philosopher 　C. anthropologist D. linguist
25. Which of the following can be best used as the title of the passage?
　　A. The history of the English language.
　　B. Our changing attitude towards the English language.
　　C. Our changing language.
D. Some characteristics of modern English.
Passage 2
Culture is one of the most challenging elements of the international marketplace. This system of learned behavior patterns characteristic of the members of a given society is constantly shaped by a set of dynamic variables: language, religion, values and attitudes, manners and customs, aesthetics, technology, education, and social institutions. To cope with this system, an international manager needs both factual and interpretive knowledge of culture. To some extent, the factual knowledge can be learned; its interpretation comes only through experience.
The most complicated problems in dealing with the cultural environment stem from the fact that one cannot learn culture—one has to live it. Two schools of thought exist in the business world on how to deal with cultural diversity. One is that business is business the world around, following the model of Pepsi and McDonald’s. In some cases, globalization is a fact of life; however, cultural differences are still far from converging.
The other school proposes that companies must tailor business approaches to individual cultures. Setting up policies and procedures in each country has been compared to an organ transplant; the critical question centers around acceptance or rejection. The major challenge to the international manager is to make sure that rejection is not a result of cultural myopia or even blindness.
Fortune examined the international performance of a dozen large companies that earn 20 percent or more of their revenue overseas. The internationally successful companies all share an important quality: patience. They have not rushed into situations but rather built their operations carefully by following the most basic business principles. These principles are to know your adversary, know your audience, and know your customer.
26. According to the passage, which of the following is true?
　　A. All international managers can learn culture.
　　B. Business diversity is not necessary.
C. Views differ on how to treat culture in business world.
D. Most people do not know foreign culture well.
27. According to the author, the model of Pepsi___ .
　 A. is in line with the theories of the school advocating the business is business the world around
　　B. is different from the model of McDonald’s
C. shows the reverse of globalization
　　D. has converged cultural differences
28. The two schools of thought ____
　　A. both propose that companies should tailor business approaches to individual cultures
　　B. both advocate that different policies be set up in different countries
C. admit the existence of cultural diversity in business world 
D. Both A and B 
29. This article is supposed to be most useful for those ____.
　　A. who are interested in researching the topic of cultural diversity
　　B. who have connections to more than one type of culture
　　C. who want to travel abroad
　　D. who want to run business on International Scale
30. According to Fortune, successful international companies ____.
　　A. earn 20 percent or more of their revenue overseas
　　B. all have the quality of patience
　　C. will follow the overseas local cultures
　　D. adopt the policy of internationalization
Passage 3 
　　There are people in Italy who can’t stand soccer. Not all Canadians love hockey. A similar situation exists in America, where there are those individuals you may be one of them who yawn or even frown when somebody mentions baseball. Baseball to them means boring hours watching grown men in funny tight outfits standing around in a field staring away while very little of anything happens. They tell you it’s a game better suited to the 19th century, slow, quiet, and gentlemanly. These are the same people you may be one of them who love football because there’s the sport that glorifies “the hit”.
　　By contrast, baseball seems abstract, cool, silent, still. On TV the game is fractured into a dozen perspectives, replays, close ups. The geometry of the game, however, is essential to understanding it. You will contemplate the game from one point as a painter does his subject; you may, of course, project yourself into the game. It is in this projection that the game affords so much space and time for involvement. The TV won’t do it for you.
　　Take, for example, the third baseman. You sit behind the third base dugout and you watch him watching home plate. His legs are apart, knees flexed. His arms hang loose. He does a lot of this. The skeptic still cannot think of any other sports so still, so passive. But watch what happens every time the pitcher throws: the third baseman goes up on his toes, flexes his arms or brings the glove to a point in front of him, takes a step right or left, backward or forward, perhaps he glances across the field to check his first baseman’s position. Suppose the pitch is a ball. “Nothing happened,” you say. “I could have had my eyes closed.”
　　The skeptic and the innocent must play the game. And this involvement in the stands is no more intellectual than listening to music is. Watch the third baseman. Smooth the dirt in front of you with one foot; smooth the pocket in your glove; watch the eyes of the batter, the speed of the bat, the sound of horsehide on wood. If football is a symphony of movement and theatre, baseball is chamber music, a spacious interlocking of notes, chores and responses.
31. The passage is mainly concerned with____ .
　　A. the different tastes of people for sports
　　B. the different characteristics of sports
　　C. the attraction of football
D. the attraction of baseball
32. Those who don’t like baseball may complain that _____.
　　A. it is only to the taste of the old
　　B. it involves fewer players than football
C. it is not exciting enough
　　D. it is pretentious and looks funny
33. The author admits that_____ .
　　A. baseball is too peaceful for the young
　　B. baseball may seem boring when watched on TV
　　C. football is more attracting than baseball
　　D. baseball is more interesting than football
34. By stating “I could have had my eyes closed. ” the author means (4th paragraph last sentence)______:
　　A. The third baseman would rather sleep than play the game.
　　B. Even if the third baseman closed his eyes a moment ago, it could make no different to the result.
　　C. The third baseman is so good at baseball that he could finish the game with eyes closed all the time and do his work well.
　　D. The consequent was too bad he could not bear to see it.
35. We can safely conclude that the author _____ .
A. likes football B. hates football
　　C. hates baseball D. likes baseball

Passage 4
Today, there are many avenues open to those who wish to continue their education. However, nearly all require some break in one’s career in order to attend school full time. Part time education, that is, attending school at night or for one weekend a month, tends to drag the process out over time and puts the completion of a degree program out of reach of many people. Additionally, such programs require a fixed time commitment which can also impact negatively on one’s career and family time.
Of the many approaches to teaching and learning, however, perhaps the most flexible and accommodating is that called distance learning. Distance learning is an educational method which allows the students the flexibility to study at his or her own pace to achieve the academic goals which are so necessary in today’s world. The time required to study may be set aside at the student’s convenience with due regard to all life’s other requirements. Additionally, the student may enroll in distance learning courses from virtually any place in the world, while continuing to pursue their chosen career. Tutorial assistance may be available via regular airmail, telephone, facsimile machine, teleconferencing and over the Internet.
Good distance learning programs are characterized by the inclusion of a subject evaluation tool with every subject. This precludes the requirement for a student to travel away from home to take a test. Another characteristic of a good distance learning program