英语专八真题卷

The Young Generation

Old people are always saying that the young are not whatthey were. The same comment is made from generation togeneration and it is always true. It has never been truer than it istoday. The young are better educated. They have a lot moremoney to spend and enjoy more freedom. They grow up morequickly and are not so dependent on their parents. They thinkmore for themselves and do not blindly accept the ideals of theirelders. Events which the older generation remembers vividly arenothing more than past history. This is as it should be. Every new generation is different from theone that preceded it. Today the difference is very marked indeed.

The old always assume that they know best for the simple reason that they have been around abit longer. They don’t like to feel that their values are being questioned or threatened. And this isprecisely what the young are doing. They are question the assumptions of their elders anddisturbing their complacency. Office hours, for instance, are nothing more than enforced slavery.Wouldn’t people work best if they were given complete freedom and responsibility? And whatabout clothing? Who said that all the men in the world should wear drab grey suits and convicthaircuts? If we ruin our minds to more serious matters, who said that human differences can bestbe solved through conventional politics or by violent means, who said that human difference canbest be solved through conventional politics or by violent means? Why have the older generationso often used violence to solve their problems? Why are they so unhappy and guilt-ridden in theirpersonal lives, so obsessed with mean ambitions and the desire to amass more and more materialpossessions? Can anything be right with the rat-race? Haven’t the old lost touch with all that isimportant in life?

These are not questions the older generation can shrug off lightly. Their record over the pastforty years or so hasn’t been exactly spotless. Traditionally, the young have turned to their eldersfor guidance. Today, the situation might be reversed. The old—if they are prepared to admitit—could learn a thing or two from their children. One of the biggest lessons they could learn is thatenjoyment is not ‘sinful’. Enjoyment is a principle one could apply to all aspects of life. It is surelynot wrong to enjoy your work and enjoy your leisure; to shed restricting inhibitions. It is surely notwrong to live in the present rather than in the past or future. This emphasis on the present is onlyto be expected because the young have grown up under the shadow of the bomb: the constantthreat of complete annihilation. This is their glorious heritage. Can we be surprised that they shouldso often question the sanity of the generation that bequeathed it?

1. Which of the following features in the young is NOT mentioned?

[A] Better educated. [B] More money and freedom.

[C] Independence. [D] Hard work.

2. What so the young reject most?

[A] Values. [B] The assumption of the elders.

[C] Conformity. [C] Conventional ideas.

3. Why do the young stress on the present?

[A] They have grown up under the shadow of the bomb.

[B] They dislike the past.

[C] They think the present world is the best.

[D] They are afraid of destruction.

4. What can the old learn from the young generation?

[A] Enjoyment is not sinful. [B] People should have more leisure time.

[C] Men might enjoy life. [D] One should enjoy one’s work.

1. D. 艰苦工作。这在第一段中第四句“青年一代受了更好教育，有大量的钱话，有更多的自由。他们成长的很快，不那么依赖于父母，他们独立思考得更多，不盲目接受老一代的理想……。”

A. 受更好的教育。 B. 更多的钱和自由。 C. 独立性。这三项均提及到。

2. C. 顺从。第二段集中讲到这一点。“因为老人们经常认为自己懂得多，理由就是他们经历得多。他们不喜欢自己的价值观受到怀疑或威胁。而这正是青年在做的。他们对老人们的设想提出疑问，打乱他们的自鸣得意。他们甚至敢于怀疑老一代创造了世界上可能最佳的社会。他们最反对的莫过于顺从。例如：他们说办公时间就是强制奴役，如果人们完全自由，绝对负责，他们的工作不会更好吗?而穿衣呢?谁说世界上所有的男人都该穿单调的灰色西装和剪成像罪犯似的短发?……。”这些词语都表示他们最反对的东西是遵从，“一致性”。所以

A. 价值。 B. 长者的设想。 D. 传统习俗观念。都是具体的某一点。

3. A. 他们在炸弹的阴影下成长。第三段倒数第四句起“由于年轻人是在炸弹战争的阴影下成长壮大：在不断受到全面歼灭的威胁之下，所以也只能期望他们重视目前。这是他们的光荣遗产。他们经常询问赠给他们遗产的这代人的头脑是否清醒。对此我们能表示惊讶吗?”遗产指的是第二段的种种问题所体现出来的东西，如：“谁说人类之差异能通过常规政策或暴力手段予以很好的解决?为什么老一代人常用暴力来解决他们的问题?为什么他们(老一代)个人生活那么不愉快。老有负罪感?为什么老纠缠于要积聚越来越多的物质财富?……。”

B. 他们不喜欢过去。 C. 他们认为现世界是最好的。 D. 他们害怕破坏。

4. A. 享受不是犯罪。这在第三段中间“老年人——如果他们准备承认的话——可以从他们的孩子们那里学到一两件事。他们能学的最大的课堂之一是享受不是犯罪。”“享受”是人可适用于生活各个方面的原则。从工作中获得乐处，享受闲暇时间，肯定不是错误。抛弃约束限制，生活在现在而不是生活在过去肯定也不是错。

B. 人们应有更多的闲暇。 C. 人可以享受生活。 D. 一个人应当享受工作。

1. reminder 使共回想起某事的东西，提示者

2. complacency 自鸣得意，自满情结

3. take leave 擅自，任意，随意

I took leave to consider this matter settled. 请原谅我认为这事已经解决了。

4. conformity 与……一致，遵从

5. guilt 有罪，内疚

6. ridden (ride 的过去分词)受……支配的`，受……压迫

7. guilt-ridden 负罪感

8. amass 积累，积聚

9. a rat-race 激烈的竞争

10. shrug off 对……耸肩表示不屑一理，轻视，摆脱

11. spotless 无污点的，纯洁的

12. shed 摆脱，抛弃

13. annihilate 歼灭

14. bequeath 赠送，把……传给后代

15. sanity 头脑清醒健全

1. convict haircut. Convict 义：罪犯。罪犯和短发两字合在一起为“囚犯理的发式”。但在这里其含义根据上下文决定。前面讲到“谁说世界上所有的男人都应穿浅灰色的西装”，后面只能译成“剪成像罪犯似的短发呢”。本义有haircut义：修理整齐的短发。整齐划一表示绅士派的工作人中作风正派，认真负责，一丝不苟的精神。作者用了convict罪犯一字表示讽刺：“罪犯也是整齐划一的短发跟绅士们的要求一样，难道他们也是作风正派，认真负责，一丝不苟吗?”

写作方法与文章大意：

这是一篇论及“代沟”的文章。主要采用对比手法，一开始就提出了一个老问题：“老人们经常说年轻人不是从前那样了。这一评语代代相传，永远是对的，而今天比以前任何时候更正确。”下面几段就论述他们之不同点以及对比老少两代人的态度。

The statistics I’ve cited and the living examples are all too familiar to you.But what may not be so familiar will be the increasing number of women who are looking actively for advancement of for a new job in your offices.This woman may be equipped with professional skills and perhaps valuable experience, She will not be content to be Executive Assistant to Mr.Seldom Seen of the Assistant Vice President’s Girl Friday, who is the only one who comes in on Saturday.

She is the symbol of what I call the Second Wave of Feminism.She is the modern woman who is determined to be.

Her forerunner was the radical feminist who interpreted her trapped position as a female as oppression by the master class of men.Men, she believed, had created a domestic, servile role for women in order that men could have the career and the opportunity to participate in making the great decisions of society.Thus the radical feminist held that women through history had been oppressed and dehumanized, mainly because man chose to exploit his wife and the mother of his children.Sometimes it was deliberate exploitation and sometimes it was the innocence of never looking beneath the pretensions of life.

The radical feminists found strength in banding together.Coming to recognize each other for the first time, they could explore their own identities, realize their own power, and view the male and his system as the common enemy.The first phases of feminism in the last five years often took on this militant, class-warfare tone.Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Germaine Greer, and many others hammered home their ideas with a persistence that aroused and intrigued many of the brightest and most able women in the country.Consciousness-raising groups allowed women to explore both their identities and their dreams—and the two were often found in direct conflict.

What is the stereotyped role of American women? Marriage.A son.Two daughters.Breakfast.Ironing.Lunch.Bowling, maybe a garden club of for the very daring, non-credit courses in ceramics.Perhaps an occasional cocktail party.Dinner.Football or baseball on TV.Each day the same.Never any growth in expectations—unless it is growth because the husband has succeeded.The inevitable question: “Is that all there is to life?”

The rapid growth of many feminist organizations attests to the fact that these radical feminists had touched some vital nerves.The magazine “Ms.” was born in the year of the death of the magazine “Life.” But too often the consciousness-raising sessions became ends in themselves.Too often sexism reversed itself and man-hating was encouraged.Many had been with the male chauvinist.

It is not difficult, therefore, to detect a trend toward moderation.Consciousness-raising increasingly is regarded as a means to independence and fulfillment, rather than a ceremony of fulfillment itself.Genuine independence can be realized through competence, through finding a career, through the use of education.Remember that for many decades the education of women was not supposed to be useful.

1.What was the main idea of this passage?

[A]The Second Wave of Feminist.

[B]Women’s Independent Spirits.

[C]The Unity of Women.

[D]The Action of Union.

2.What was the author’s attitude toward the radical?

[A]He supported it wholeheartedly.

[B]He opposed it strongly.

[C]He disapproved to some extent.

[D]He ignored it completely.

3.What does the word “militant” mean?

[A]Aggressive.

[B]Ambitions.

[C]Progressive.

[D]Independent.

4, What was the radical feminist’s view point about the male?

[A]Women were exploited by the male.

[B]Women were independent of the male.

[C]Women’s lives were deprived by the male.

[D]The male were their common enemy.

Vocabulary

1. trapped 被诱入圈套的，陷阱

2. servile 屈从的，奴隶的，奴性的.

3. dehumanized 使失去人/个性的

4. pretension 要求，权利，借口

5. look beneath 看到下面

6. band together 紧密团结在一起

7. explore 探索，考察

8. phase 阶段，方面，形式

9. class-warfare 阶级斗争

10. hammer home 硬性灌输hammer home an idea into sb. 硬向某人灌输某种观念

11. intrigue 使着迷，密谋，用诡计取得

12. stereotype 固定不变的，陈规旧习的

13. attest 证明，证实，表明

14. chauvinist 沙文主义者，男子至上主义这

15. moderation (政治，宗教上)稳健中庸，缓和

16. fulfillment 臻于完善，发挥潜在能力

17. sexism 性别歧视(常指其实妇女)

18. be independent of 独立于……之外，不受……控制/支配

答案：CCAD