职称英语《综合类C》模拟试卷二

They Say Ireland's the Best
Ireland is the best place in the world to live in for 2005,according to a life quality ranking that appeared in Britain's Economist magazine last week.
The ambitious attempt to compare happiness levels around the world is based on the principle that wealth is not the only measure of human satisfaction and well-being.
The index of the countries uses data on incomes,health,unemployment,climate,political stability,job security,gender equality as well as what the magazine calls“freedom,family and community life”.
Despite the bad weather,troubled health service,traffic congestion,gender inequality,and the high cost of living,Ireland scored an impressive 8 .33 points out of 10.
That put it well ahead of second-place Switzerland,which managed 8 .07 .Zimbabwe,trou-bled by political insecurity and hunger,is rated the gloomiest,picking up only 3 .89 points.
“Although rising incomes and increased individual choices are highly valued,”the report said,“some of the factors associated with modernization such as the breakdown in traditional in-stitutions and family values in part take away from a positive impact.”
“Ireland wins because it successfully combines the most desirable elements of the new with the preservation of certain warm elements of the old,such as stable family and community life.”
The magazine admitted measuring the quality of life is not a straight forward thing to do,and that its findings would have their critics.
No.2 on the list is Switzerland.The other nations in the top 10 are Norway,Luxembourg, Sweden,Australia,Iceland,Italy,Denmark and Spain.
The UK is positioned at No.29,a much lower position chiefly because of the social and fam-ily breakdown recorded in official statistics.The US,which has the second highest per capita GDP after Luxembourg,took the 13th place in the survey.China was in the lower half the league at 60th.

The Fridge
1.The fridge is considered a necessity.It has been so since the 1960s when packaged food first appeared with the label:“store in the refrigerator.”
2.In my fridgeless Fifties childhood,I was fed well and healthily.The milkman came daily,the grocer,the butcher,the baker,and the ice-cream man delivered two or three times a week.The Sunday meat would last until Wednesday and surplus bread and milk became all kinds of cakes.Nothing was wasted and we were never troubled by rotten food.Thirty years on,food deliveries have ceased,fresh vegetables are almost unobtainable in the country.
3.The invention of the fridge contributed comparatively little to the art of food preservation.A vast variety of well-tried techniques already existed-natural cooling,drying,smoking,salting, sugaring,bottling…
4.What refrigeration did promote was marketing-marketing hardware and electricity,marketing soft drinks,marketing dead bodies of animals around the globe in search of a good price.
5.Consequently,most of the world's fridges are to be found,not in the tropics where they might prove useful,but in the wealthy countries with mild temperatures where they are climatically al- most unnecessary .Every winter,millions of fridges hum away continuously,and at vast expanse, busily maintaining an artificially-cooled space inside an artificially-heated house-while outside, nature provides the desired temperature free of charge.
6.The fridge's effect upon the environment has been evident,while its contribution to human happiness has been insignificant.If you don't believe me,try it yourself.Invest in a food cabinet and turn off your fridge next winter.You may miss the hamburgers but at least you'll get ride of that terrible hum.

Computers in Cars
You're far from home on a lonely road.Shadowy forests stretch away on both sides.A thick mist（雾）makes it difficult to see far beyond your car's windshield（挡风玻璃）.
“Can this be route 90A?”you wonder.if it is,you should be near a town.Yet there's no hint of one .Night is closing in.And you're low on gasoline.
This is a situation where an in-car computer that can navigate would be a big help.
A car computer that navigates?Yes!Such computers exist.Several experimental models are being tested by General Motors,Ford,Chrysler,and several foreign car makers.These computers vary in detail .But they all contain series of maps on videodiscs or videotapes.For example,one computer system contains 13,300 maps covering the continental US.
Before starting out on a trip,a driver can type in the code for the region he or she plans to drive through .The computer then shows a map of that region.At the same time,a tiny radio re-ceiver linked to the computer goes to work.It picks up signals from navigation satellites such as the NAVSTAR network.Using these signals,the computer shows the car's position at all times and displays this position on the map.The computer can also calculate and display the best route to follow.
A navigation computer may also receive and use data about road construction,weather condi- tions,and traffic jams.This information would be displayed to the driver and the computer would also use the information to work out alternate（交替的）routes.
Most cars nowadays also contain computers that help cars run more efficiently .Microproces- sors（微处理机）control certain engine functions by regulating the mixing of fuel.Data on car speed,oil pressure,revolutions per minute,engine temperature,and fuel level can be displayed as digital data(numbers)or warning lights.
Some auto designers suggest that a central computer display be used to clearly present such timely information as car speed and fuel level.Warning lights would indicate a drop in oil pres- sure or a sudden rise in engine temperature .To get more information on these conditions,the driver could call it up on the computer display screen.When needed,the computer could be “asked”to provide navigation aid or information about the car's condition.

A Debate on the English Language
A measure declaring English the national language is under intense debate in the United States .The US Senate passed two declarations last week.One calls English the nation's official lan-guage and the other says it is the “common and unifying（统一的）”tongue.But Americans found themselves divided on the issue.
Since people worldwide know that most Americans speak only English,many can't understand
why the issue is so controversial（有争议的）.
“The discussion is related to fears of immigration issues,”says Dick Tucker,a social scientist at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University.“It's related to a worry about the changing demography （人口统计）of the US It's a worry about who will continue to have political and economic influence.”
In fact,the notion of protecting the language has been kicked around almost since the nation's founding.John Adams lobbied（游说）in 1780 for the creation of a national academy to correct and improve the English language.But his proposal died,since lawmakers saw it as a roy-alist（保皇主义者）attempt to define personal behavior.
Since then,the country hasn't had a national language,but the idea of recognizing the special status of English lived on.
The emotions surrounding language resurface（再次浮现）not because people feel comfortable with English .It is more about the discomfort many Americans feel with the new languages,says Walt Wolfram,a professor at North Carolina State University.
“Language is never about language,”he says.
According to the 2000 US Census Bureau report,of 209 million Americans over 18 years old, 172 million speak only English at home.About 37 million speak languages other than English.Among them,6 .5 million speak poor English and 3 .1 million don't speak English at all.

His Own Way to Express Love
Yesterday was our three-year anniversary.We didn't do anything romantic;we just walked hand in hand and talked about our past and the future.This was pretty much what I had expected.
Andy is an unromantic guy : no sweet words or roses.Smart as he is,he is a little bit shy expressing his love.In contrast , I am an outspoken（直言不讳）girl who likes to show her feelings directly .So needless to say,I often feel that he is insensitive.I envy other girls who are surrounded by sweet words.
I was in this sullen mood until I heard a beautiful sentence one day:“If one does not love you in the way you like,it does not mean that he does not love you.”This simple but sensible sentence made me think about our happy days and recall his deep concern for me.
One cold winter night,I got a high fever.He hurried to my dormitory and took me to the hospital.He was in such a hurry that he even forgot to wear socks.After arrival,he ran through the hospital handling all the formalities（手续）.When I was put on a drip（点滴）,he told me interesting stories to make me happy.Being held in his warm arms and listening to his tender（温柔的）voice,I had never felt so safe and comfortable.Gradually,I fell asleep.When I woke up 15 minutes later , he was still mumbling（咕浓地说）to me.He explained that if he had stopped talking I would have woken up.At that moment,I found love in his eyes.
Another time,I had a bad quarrel with my best friend.Although I knew it was my fault,I refused to admit it.I was angry when he insisted I apologize to her.He said that it was difficult to admit a mistake,but this was what everyone should do.The next morning,I apologized to my friend and asked for her forgiveness.
My unromantic boyfriend cares about my health like my father,understands me like my mother and helps me like my elder brother.

New Changes in American Life
Once it was possible to define male and female roles easily by the division of labor.Men worked outside the home and earned the income to support their families,while women cooked the meals and took care of the home and the children.______(46)But by the middle of this centu- ry,men's and women's roles were becoming less firmly fixed.
In the 1950s,economic and social success was the goal of the typical American.But in the l960s a new force developed called the counterculture.______(47)The counterculture presen- ted men and women with new role choices.Taking more interest in childcare,men began to share child-raising tasks with their wives.In fact,some young men and women moved to communal homes or farms where the economic and childcare responsibilities were shared equally by both se- xes.______(48)Some young men refused to be drafted as soldiers to fight in the war in Viet-nam。
In terms of numbers,the counterculture was not a very large group of people.______(49) Working men of all classes began to change their economic and social patterns.Industrial workers and business executives alike cut down on“overtime”work so that they could spend more leisure time with their families.Some doctors,lawyers,and teachers turned away from high paying situa-tions to practice their professions in poorer neighborhoods.
In the 1970s,the feminist movement,or women's liberation,produced additional economic and social changes.Women of all ages and at all levels of society were entering the work force in greater numbers.______(50)But some women began to enter traditionally male occupations: police work,banking,dentistry,and construction work.Women were asking for equal work,and equal opportunities for promotion.
Today the experts generally agree that important changes are taking place in the roles of men and women.Naturally,there are difficulties in adjusting to these transformations.

Have You Filled Up The Form?
Of all things in the world,I most dislike filling up forms.In fact,I have a______(51) horror of it.Applying for a living license,______(52)for an evening course,booking a holi- day abroad-everything nowadays seems to involve______(53)information about one's per-sonal life and habits that has little or nothing to do with the matter______(54)hand.When applying for a job,it may be______(55)some obscure interest to a______(56)employer to learn that I collect stamp or had measles as a child,but why should he conceivably want to know that my father was a tobacconist who died in 1988?
The authorities who______(57)one to fill up forms,frequently demand answers to questions that one would hesitate to put______(58)one's intimate friends.rrhe worst of it is that, when______(59)with such questions,my mind goes blank.Have I ever suffered from a seri-ous illness?My mother always assured me I was“delicate”.Do I suffer from any personal de-fects?Well,I wear contact lenses and my upper teeth are not my own,hut perhaps the word“de-fects”______(60)to my character.Am I supposed to______(61)that I like gambling,and find it difficult to get up in the morning?Both of them are true.
Of all,I think job applications are the worst,“education”—previous experience—post held—give______(62）…Terrified by the awful warning about giving false______(63) which appear at the bottom of the form,I struggle to remember what exams I passed and how long I worked for what firms.______(64)hard I try，there always seems to be a year or two for which I cannot satisfactorily account and which I am certain,if left______(65),that will give the impression that I was in prison or engaged in some occupation too dubious to mention.