2005年北大考博英语真题

　　Passage Two

　　English as a World Language

　　English is a victim of its ow n success. Newspapers in England have not iced that the incorrect

　　use of clichés are marring the smooth flow of a great language w hose ability to imb ibe and absorb

　　has been one important reason for its success . This success also stems from the language’s unique

　　position of being the only one spoken in most parts of the w orld. Really, English has no

　　boundaries. Even in countries such as Japan and China, w hich w ere not colonized by Brit ain,

　　English is making a determined “conquest”.

　　Unfortunately, such a conquest is not alw ays w elcome because a language sometimes

　　doubles as a polit ical w eapon. In fact, it has alw ays led a troubled life. It has been dislik ed, even

　　hated, largely because the people w ho originally spoke English conquered, colonized and

　　terrorized half the w orld, or just about. The animosity to the language continues, at least in some

　　places. The bitterness that the French, for instance, have for English is a good example of a

　　language being given a quasi-political role in society.

　　Fortunately, this aversion does not run as deep as it did some years ago, and there is a

　　grow ing realization that Eng lish is the lingua franca. Many nations, such as China and Japan, have

　　been making serious efforts to promote the language.

　　But there might be a serious problem if every state or continent w ere to have its ow n version of

　　English. As is pointed out by the new spapers of England, w ith too many variations of the language,

　　a time may come w hen one group of English -speaking peop le may not be ab le to understand

　　another. This is happening Hear the w ay Singaporeans speak English. Listen to the

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　　北京大学 2005 考博试题

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　　Australians pronouncing “e”; it sounds like “a”. And very possibly, in the future nobody w ill

　　try to correct school boys and girls for getting their English w rong.

　　65 In this passage, the success of English refers to the fact that_______.

　　A. it has become the most w idely used language in the w orld

　　B. it has made a conquest in Japan and China, w hich w ere not colonized by Britain

　　C. it has beaten other languages such as French

　　D. each state or continent has its ow n version of English

　　66 The bitterness of the French people tow ard the English language show s _______.

　　A. w hat a political role languages can play in society

　　B. how people can attach political significance to w hich language they speak

　　C. languages in fact alw ays fail to play a political role in society

　　D. some people like to give languages roles to play

　　67 In the future, nobody w ill try to correct children w hen they speak w rong English, because

　　A. people all w ant to promote the learning of English

　　B. English w ill change to be that spoken by Singaporeans and Australians

　　C. people w ill not be able to understand each other

　　D. too many versions of English w ill make it impossible to tell w hat is correct English

　　Passage Three

　　Affluenza

　　For many people, economic grow th and an increase in possessions are signs of progress, but

　　for anti-consumer groups overconsumption and materialism are sicknesses. A recent Public

　　Broadcasting Service corned the term affluenza, w hich describes consumption of material goods

　　in a strongly negative w ay.

　　Af-flu-en-za (noun) combines tw o w ords: affluence and fluenza. According to anti consumer-

　　and environmental fights organizations, the high consumption life styles of affluence cause people

　　to be less happy even though they are acquiring more “things”. The major negative effect on the

　　environment is that overconsumption is depleting the w orld’s natural resources, anti-consumer

　　groups argue. Furthermore, the groups observe that an artificial, ongoing and insatiable quest for

　　things and the money to buy them has replaced the normal desire for an adequate supply of life’s

　　necessities, community life, a stable family, and healthy relationships. For example, today’s

　　families are replacing items much more frequently than in the past. Many Amer icans now treat

　　clothing as “disposable”, discarding clothes w hen fashion changes, and creating a boom in thrift

　　stores, and yard sales. The U.S.A.’s largest export is now used clothes. About 2.5million tons of

　　unfashionable old clothes and rags are sold to Third World countries every year.

　　68. A coined w ord is a w ord that_______.

　　A. combines tw o w ords together

　　B. is often made by putting w ords or parts of w ords together

　　C. is made in the w ay coins are produced

　　D. gives an old w orld a new meaning

　　69. In the w ord ‘affluenza’ is implied the meaning that_______.

　　A. too much money is a disaster

　　B. a life of affluence is like a fluenza

　　C. overconsumption is like an epidemic brought by affluence

　　D. affluence is a negative thing

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