北京航空航天大学2013年博士英语真题​

北京航空航天大学2013年博士英语真题

Part I: Listening comprehension (20%)

Part II: Reading Comprehension (30%)

Directions: There are four passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them, there are 4 choices marked A, B, C and D. Read the passages carefully and decide on the best choice. Then mark the corresponding letter on the ANSWER SHEET with a single line through the center.

Passage 1

Printmaking is the generic term for a number of processes, of which woodcut and engraving are two prime examples. Prints are made by pressing a sheet of paper (or other material) against an image-bearing surface to which ink has been applied. When the paper is removed, the image adheres to it, but in reverse.

The woodcut had been used in China from the fifth century A.D. for applying patterns to textiles. The process was not introduced into Europe until the fourteenth century, first for textile decoration and then for printing on paper. Woodcuts are created by a relief process. First, the artist takes a block of wood, which has been sawed parallel to the grain, covers it with a white ground, and then draws the image in ink. The background is carved away leaving the design area slightly raised. The woodblock is inked, and the ink adheres to the raised image. It is then transferred to damp paper either by hand or with a printing press.

Engraving, which grew out of the goldsmith's art, originated in Germany and northern Italy in the middle of the fifteenth century. It is an intaglio process (from Italian intagliare, "to carve"). The image is incised into a highly polished metal plate, usually copper, with a cutting instrument, or burin. The artist inks the plate and wipes it clean so that some ink remains in the incised grooves. An impression is made on damp paper in a printing press with sufficient pressure being applied so that the paper picks up the ink.

Both woodcut and engraving have distinctive characteristics. Engraving lends itself to subtle modeling and shading through the use of fine lines. Hatching and cross-hatching determine the degree of light and shade in a print. Woodcuts tend to be more linear, with sharper contrasts between light and dark. Printmaking is well suited to the production of multiple images. A set of multiples is called an edition. Both methods can yield several hundred good-quality prints before the original block or plate begins to show signs of wear. Mass production of prints in the sixteenth century made images available, at a lower cost, to a much broader public than before.

Questions 21 to 25 are based on the passage.

21. What does the passage mainly discuss?

A. The origins of textile decoration

B. The characteristics of good-quality punts

C. Two types of printmaking

D. Types of paper used in printmaking

22. The word “prime” is closest in meaning to ________.

23. The author's purposes in paragraph 2 is to describe ________.

A. the woodcuts found in China in the fifth century

B. the use of woodcuts in the textile industry

C. the process involved in creating a woodcut

D. the introduction of woodcuts to Europe

24. According to the passage, all of the following are true about engraving EXCEPT that it ________.

A. developed from the art of the goldsmiths

B. requires that the paper be cut with a burin

C. originated in the fifteenth century

D. involves carving into a metal plate

25. According to the passage, what do woodcut and engraving have in common?

A. Their designs are slightly raised.

B. They achieve contrast through hatching and cross-hatching.

C. They were first used in Europe.

D. They allow multiple copies to be produced from one original.

Passage 2

The French word renaissance means rebirth. It was first used in 1855 by the historian Jules Michelet in his History of France, then adopted by historians of culture, by art historians, and eventually by music historians, all of whom applied it to European culture during the 150 years spanning 1450-1600. The concept of rebirth was appropriate to this period of European history because of the renewed interest in ancient Greek and Roman culture that began in Italy and then spread throughout Europe. Scholars and artists of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries wanted to restore the learning and ideals of classical civilizations of Greece and Rome. To these scholars this meant a return to human — as opposed to spiritual values. Fulfillment in life — as opposed to concern about an afterlife — became a desirable goal, and expressing the entire range of human emotions and enjoying the pleasures of the senses were no longer frowned on. Artists and writers now turned to secular as well as religious subject matter and sought to make their works understandable and appealing.

These changes in outlook deeply affected the musical culture of the Renaissance period — how people thought about music as well as the way music was composed, experienced, discussed, and disseminated. They could see the architectural monuments, sculptures, plays, and poems that were being rediscovered, but they could not actually hear ancient music — although they could read the writings of classical philosophers, poets, essayists, and music theorists that were becoming available in translation. They learned about the power of ancient music to move the listener and wondered why modern music did not have the same effect. For example, the influential religious leader Bernardino Cirillo expressed disappointment with the learned music of his time. He urged musicians to follow the example of the sculptors, painters, architects, and scholars who had rediscovered ancient art and literature. The musical Renaissance in Europe was more a general cultural movement and state of mind than a specific set of musical techniques. Furthermore, music changed so rapidly during this century and a half — though at different rates in different countries — that we cannot define a single Renaissance style.

Questions 26 to 30 are based on the passage.

26. What is the passage mainly about?

A. The musical compositions that best illustrated the developments during the European Renaissance.

B. The musical techniques that were in use during the European Renaissance.

C. The European Renaissance as a cultural development that included changes in musical style.

D. The ancient Greek and Roman musical practices used during the European Renaissance.

27. It can be inferred from the passage that thinkers of the Renaissance were seeking a rebirth of ________.

A. communication among artists across Europe

B. spirituality in everyday life

C. a cultural emphasis on human values

D. religious themes in art that would accompany the traditional secular themes

28. According to the passage, Renaissance artists and writers had all of the following intentions EXCEPT ________.

A. using religious themes

B. portraying only the pleasant parts of human experience

C. producing art that people would find attractive

D. creating works that were easily understood

29. The word "disseminated" is closest in meaning to ________.

30. Which of the following is mentioned in the passage as a reason for the absence of a single Renaissance musical style?

A. The musical Renaissance was defined by technique rather than style.

B. The musical Renaissance was too short to give rise to a new musical style.

C. Renaissance musicians adopted the styles of both Greek and Roman musicians.

D. During the Renaissance, music never remained the same for very long.

Passage 3

The energy contained in rock within the earth's crust represents a nearly unlimited energy source, but until recently commercial retrieval has been limited to underground hot water and/or steam recovery systems. These systems have been developed in areas of recent volcanic activity, where high rates of heat flow cause visible eruption of water in the form of geysers and hot springs. In other areas, however, hot rock also exists near the surface but there is insufficient water present to produce eruptive phenomena. Thus a potent hot dry rock (HDR) reservoir exists whenever the amount of spontaneously product geothermal fluid has been judged inadequate for existing commercial systems.

As a result of recent energy crisis, new concepts for creating HDR recovery systems — which involve drilling holes and connecting them to artificial reservoirs place deep within the crust — are being developed. In all attempts to retrieve energy from HDR, artificial stimulation will be required to create either sufficient permeability or bounds flow paths to facilitate the removal of heat by circulation of a fluid over the surface of the rock.

The HDR resource base is generally defined to include crustal rock that is hotter than 150℃, is at depth of  less than ten kilometers, and can be drilled with presently available equipment. Although wells deeper than ten kilometers are technically feasible, prevailing economic factors will obviously determine the commercial feasibility of wells at such depths. Rock temperatures as low as 100℃ may be useful for space heating; however, for producing electricity, temperatures greater than 200℃ are desirable.

The geothermal gradient, which specifically determines the depth of drilling, required to reach a desired temperature, is a major factor in the recoverability of geothermal resources. Temperature gradient maps generated from oil and gas well temperature-depth records kept by American Association of Petroleum Geologists suggest that tappable high-temperature gradients are distributed all across the United States. (There are many areas, however, for which no temperature gradient records exist.)

Indications are that the HDR resource base is very large. If an average geothermal temperature gradient of 22℃ per kilometer of depth is used, a staggering 13,000,000 quadrillion B.T.U.'s of total energy are calculated to be contained in crustal rock to a ten-kilometer depth in the United States. If we conservatively estimate that only about 0.2 percent is recoverable, we find a total of all the coal remaining in the United States. The remaining problem is to balance the economics of deeper, hotter, more costly wells and shallower, cooler, less expensive wells against the value of the final product — electricity and/or heat.

Questions 31 to 35 are based on the passage.

31. The primary purpose of the passage is to ________.

A. alert readers to the existence of HDRs as an available energy source

B. document the challenges that have been surmounted in the effort to recover energy from HDRs

C. warn the users of coal and oil that HDRs are not an economically feasible alternative

D. encourage the use of new techniques for the recovery of energy from underground hot water and steam

32. The passage would be most likely to appear in a ________.

A. petrologic research report focused on the history of temperature-depth records in the United States

B. congressional report urging the conservation of oil and natural gas reserves in the United States

C. technical journal article concerned with the recoverability of newly identified energy sources

D. consumer report describing the extent and accessibility of remaining coal resources

33. According the passage, an average geothermal gradient of 22℃ per kilometer of depth can be used to ________.

A. balance the economics of HDR energy retrieval against that of underground hot water or steam recovery systems

B. determine the amount of energy that will be used for space heating in the United States

C. provide comparisons between hot water and HDR energy sources in United States

D. estimate the total HDR resource base in the United States

34. It can be inferred from the passage that the availability of temperature-depth records for any specific area in the United States depends primarily on the ________.

A. possibility that HDRs may be found in that area

B. existence of previous attempts to obtain oil or gas in that area

C. history of successful hot water or steam recovery efforts in that area

D. failure of inhabitants to conserve oil gas reserves in that area

35. Which of the following would be the most appropriate title for the passage?

A. Energy from Water Sources: The Feasibility of Commercial Systems

B. Geothermal Energy Retrieval: Volcanic Activity and Hot Dry Rocks

C. Energy Underground: Geothermal Sources Give Way to Fossil Fuels

D. Tappable Energy for America's Future: Hot Dry Rocks