09NECCS Level B

2009 National English Contest for College Students (Level A– Sample)

Part I Listening Comprehension (25 minutes, 30 marks)

Section A (5 marks)

Directions: In this section, you will hear five short conversations. Each conversation will be read only once. At the end of each conversation, there will be a twenty-second pause.

During the pause, read the question and the three choices marked A, B and C, and

decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on the

answer sheet with a single line through the center.

1. How does the woman feel about the company?

A. Grateful and surprised.

B. Pleased and impressed.

C. Upset and unimpressed.

2. How long has the receptionist been working there?

A. 4 weeks.

B. 3 weeks.

C. 2 weeks.

3. What time will they leave for the airport?

A. 6:00.

B. 8:00.

C. 5:00.

4. What is the man going to do to avoid future complaints?

A.Make sure the water is not turned off.

B.Give the public advance warning.

C.Put up notices with telephone numbers for complaints.

5. What does the woman want the man to do?

A.Read books about war.

B.Take a course in modern warfare.

C.Pay attention to world events.

Section B (10 marks)

Directions: In this section, you will hear two interviews. Each interview will be read only once.

At the end of each interview, there will be a pause. During the pause, read the five

questions, each with three choices marked A, B and C, and decide which is the best

answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on the answer

sheet with a single line through the center.

Interview One

6. How did Jack get the role in the soap opera?

A.He had a certificate in drama studies.

B.One of his friends was a TV star.

C.Another actor had just resigned.

7.Which part of Jack?s job is the most difficult?

A.Remembering his lines.

B.Pretending to be a bad person.

C.Working with famous people.

8. How does Jack avoid the negative effects of fame?

A.He reads about other actors' experiences.

B.He listens to his old friends.

C.He follows his mother's advice.

9.What is Jack's reason for not going to the gym?

A. He prefers team sports.

B. He is too busy.

C. He thinks it is unnecessary.

10. What?s Jack's dream for the future?

A.To win a TV award.

B.To become a cinema actor.

C.To become world famous.

Interview Two

11.What reason did the first firm of publishers give for not accepting Dominic's first book?

A. Its subject.

B. Its style.

C. Its length.

12. What does Dominic want from the characters in his books?

A.To be as realistic as possible.

B.To change as the story develops.

C.To be likeable people.

13.What happens after Dominic finished writing his series of books?

A.Readers wanted more of the same.

B.He got tired of receiving letters.

C.Many publishers offered him contracts.

14.What is Dominic's ambition at the moment?

A.To win an award in the science-fiction field.

B.To have more people read his novels.

C.To improve his story-telling skills.

15. Why did Dominic accept a film offer?

A.He wanted a rest from writing.

B.He was promised high earnings.

C.He was too proud to reject it.

Section C (5 marks)

Directions: In this section, you will hear five short news items. Each item will be read only once.

After each item, there will be a pause. During the pause, read the question and the

three choices marked A, B and C, and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the

corresponding letter on the answer sheet with a single line through the center.

16. Which countries does the story mention?

A. Mexico and the USA.

B. Mexico and Canada.

C. Mexico and Russia.

17. What was Jo n Scieszka?s previous job?

A. Ambassador.

B. Teacher.

C. Author.

18. How many times did the chocolate company Mars change its mind?

A. Once.

B. Twice.

C. Three times.

19. Which company says that China is its 3rd most important market?

A. Rolls Royce.

B. Bentley.

C. Lamborghini.

20. How many statues are mentioned in the report?

A. 2.

B. 3.

C. 4.

Section D (10 marks)

Directions: In this section, you will hear a short passage. There are 10 missing words or phrases.

Fill in the blanks with the exact words or phrases you hear on the tape. Remember to

write the answers on the answer sheet.

If this is a "Mandela moment" for America, there were --- perhaps inevitably --- few specific clues in Barack Obama's victory speech as to how that will work its way through on to the world stage.

But for those who have objected to American (21) _________ during the Bush years there was the commitment to listening, the promise --- in Mr Obama's words --- of (22) _________ American leadership, coupled with the pledge to defeat those who "would (23) _________".

Among the reaction from Europe, President Sarkozy said the American people had chosen "change, openness and (24) _________". And the European Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, said "we need a new deal for a new world".

Iraq's foreign minister (25) _________ Mr Obama that there was "(26) _________" in Iraq and he did not foresee a quick US disengagement, (27) _________ President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan said he hoped the election would bring peace, life and (28) _________ to his country.

Managing such (29) _________ abroad, as well as at home, will clearly be one of Mr Obama's biggest (30) _________.

Part II Multiple Choice (10 minutes, 15 marks)

Section A (10 marks)

Directions: There are 10 incomplete sentences in this section. For each blank there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that best completes the sentence. Then

mark the corresponding letter on the answer sheet with a single line through the center.

31. The government is _________ and will take the necessary steps to maintain security and stability.

A. on standby

B. at risk

C. out of control

D. on the alert

32. Being an experienced inventor, Jackson knew _________ all his money in a risky venture.

A. better than putting

B. rather than putting

C. better than to put

D. rather than to put

33. _________, a man who expresses himself effectively is sure to succeed more rapidly than a

man whose command of language is poor.

A. Other things being equal

B. Were other things equal

C. To be equal to other things

D. Other things to be equal

34. ---Two tins of baked beans, please.

--- I?m afraid we haven?t got any _________ at the moment. But we should be getting som e

more on Thursday.

A. in stock

B. on order

C. on the books

D. in store

35. There is unfortunately a _________ between the petty cash slips and the actual money in the

till.

A. variety

B. variance

C. discrepancy

D. differentiation

36.The current economic crisis is, _________, no big issue.

A. as well as I am concerned

B. as long as I am concerned

C. as I am concerned

D. as far as I am concerned

37. However weak your memory may be, you can _________ by attending closely to what you

want to remember, and repeating it over and over again.

A. back it up

B. make up for it

C. look for help

D. bear it in mind

38. The Oxford English Dictionary _________ a resolution of the English Philological Society,

passed in 1857.

A. originated from

B. originated at

C. originated on

D. originated by

39. The Prime Minister frequently wandered from his text to _________ on a point that had

obviously caught his audience?s interest.

A. stress

B. interrupt

C. elaborate

D. explain

40. Mary: Mike, I?m exhausted. How much further is it?

Mike: Not far, I promise.

Mary: _________

Mike: Oh, come on, Mary.

A. That?s great!

B. I?m glad to hear it.

C. What a beautiful view!

D. But you said that half an hour ago.

Section B (5 marks)

Directions: There are five incomplete statements or questions about some English speaking countries in this section. For each blank there are four choices marked A, B, C and D.

Choose the most suitable answer from the given choices. Then mark the

corresponding letter on the answer sheet with a single line through the center.

41. Which of the following is not part of Britain?

A. Wales

B. England

C. Scotland

D. Greenland

42. _________ and William Shakespeare are the best representatives of English Humanism.

A. Edmund Spenser, Christopher Marlowe

B. Thomas More, Christopher Marlowe

C. John Donne, Edmund Spenser

D. John Milton, Thomas More

43. The novel of A Tale of Two Cities is a story about what happened during the time of the

_________.

A. Napoleonic Wars

B. British Civil War

C. French Revolution

D. WW II

44. When the Cold War began, who was the president of the U.S.A?

A. Roosevelt

B. Lincoln

C. Eisenhower

D. Truman

45. The largest and smallest states of the United States are _________.

A. Alaska and Rhode Island

B. Texas and Maine

C. Texas and Rhode Island

D. Alaska and Maine

Part III Reading Comprehension (20 minutes, 35 marks)

Section A (5 marks)

Directions: There is one passage in this section followed by five questions. For each question, there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice,

and then mark the corresponding letter on the answer sheet with a single line through

the center.

Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.

The warden led us in single file along a narrow line of paving-slabs that ran past the huts. Every so often, four steps led to a front door. We could hear people inside, shouting at children. …The overcrowding has to be seen to be believed,? he said as he shook his head forlornly. We squeezed to one side as a sullen woman passed us, carrying a bucket of coal. She had the look of someone who was old before her time.

The warden went up the last set of steps, opened the door with a jangling bunch of keys, took one off the ring and handed it to me. …There you are. Home Sweet Home. There?s a bath in that hut by the trees; get the key from me when you want one,? he said, and he came down the steps, leaving us room to go up. …I hope you can make a go of it,? he said. …At least we?ve got you a bit of furniture.?

We walked into a square …cell? with a table and two chairs and a two-seater settee. No two of anything were the same; it all looked like furniture from a charity shop, which I suppose it was. There was a double hotplate on top of a low cupboard, and a dead black stove against the back wall with a scuttle beside it containing a few lumps of fuel. The adjoining …cell? had a double bed with a pink plastic mattress cover, glistening like wet salmon. There was a cupboard that hung open because the door catch had gone. Inside the cupboard were two meagre blankets.

The bedroom was freezing. I struggled to shut the top flap of the window, but it was jammed open by rust. There were bits of yellowing sellotape all round the wall near it, where previous inmates had tried to block the draught with cardboard.

I sat on the bed with my head in my hands, wondering how long we would have to spend here before we found a real home, and noticing, as I glanced sideways into the front room, that a thin film of dust was blowing under the front door.

We took the plastic cover off the mattress because it looked worse than the stains underneath. The blankets smelled, but we had to keep warm somehow.

We had been in this place exactly a week when, on returning in the evening, we went up to our front door and heard children?s voices and a transistor radio. We peered round the door at a jumble of people and things and colors. The people turned round and we all looked at each other. The muddle resolved itself into a huge woman and a little man, and two small children. They had a lot of stuff, mostly carrier bags and laundry bags with clothes spilling out, and a couple of buckets full of kitchen equipment which we?d have been glad to have ourselves.

They didn?t want to share with us any more than we did with them, but that?s what the warden had told them to do. We argued about it, though it seemed ridiculous to quarrel over accommodation which none of us really wanted anyway.

QUESTIONS:

46. The warden seems to think that the couple?s accommodation would be______________.

A. cozy

B. unpleasant

C. spacious enough

D. well furnished

47. The main thing the author notices about the furniture is that _________________.

A. it looks or smells dirty

B. most of it is in poor condition

C. it is very cheap

D. nothing matches anything else

48. The main reason the author feels cold in the bedroom is that _________________.

A. there isn?t enough fuel for t he stove

B. there area lot of draughts

C. there aren?t enough blankets

D. the door lets in a lot of cold air

49.What was the writer?s feeling when he / she had looked around the accommodation?

A. Despair.

B. Contentment.

C. Anger.

D. Fear.

50. The four other people are in the accommodation because ___________________ .

A.they find it quite comfortable

B.they have been told to share their kitchen equipment

C.they have been told to share the accommodation

D. a week is up and it is their turn to live there

Section B (10 marks)

Directions: In this section, there is one passage followed by a summary. Read the passage carefully and complete the summary below by choosing no more than three words

from the passage. Remember to write the answers on the answer sheet.

The deathwatch beetle is thought of as the devil?s pest in churches and old houses, but in natural habitats it infests a wide range of decaying hardwoods. It has been found in hornbeam, sweet chestnut, hawthorn, beech, ash, black-poplar, elm, larch, spruce and yew, but the two most commonly infested species in Britain are oak and willow. In buildings, oak timbers are usually the focus of attack by the beetle, but alder, walnut, elm, larch and Scots pine can be affected too.

Deathwatch beetles attack wood that has been decayed by fungi, so it is the damp-prone parts of timbers, at the ends and near leaking gutters and enclosed spaces that are normally attacked first. Adult beetles emerge from holes in the timber in spring, or occasionally in autumn. They breed once and a week or two later the females lay eggs, usually about fifty, in small cracks on the surface of the wood. Adults depend on stored reserves; they do not feed, so the adult lifespan is largely determined by body size and metabolic demands. Emergent females rarely live for more than ten weeks, and males eight or nine weeks, at a temperature of about 20°C.

The eggs hatch after two to five weeks and the larvae then wander across the wood to find suitable entry points through which to bore into the timber. Then they take between two and ten weeks to complete their development. The larvae pupate in late summer to early autumn, each individual having constructed a pupal cell just below the surface of the wood. After two or three weeks, the immature beetle emerges from the pupal skin, but then remains torpid inside the chamber until the following spring or early summer. The mature beetle then cuts a perfectly round hole, three to five millimeters in diameter, and emerges covered in a fine layer of wood powder. SUMMARY:

The deathwatch beetle is found most often in (51) _________ beams in British buildings. They infest damp-prone timber which has been affected (52) _________. Adults do not feed, so they survive on (53) _________ and live for only two or three months. The larvae, on the other hand, live in the wood until they reach maturity. They pupate in late (54) _________, but the adult does not emerge until (55) _________ or early summer.

Section C (10 marks)

Directions: In this section, there is one passage followed by five incomplete sentences. Read the passage carefully, and then complete each sentence in a maximum of 10 words.

Remember to write the answers on the answer sheet.

NEW YORK --- College is expensive. Four years at an elite university like Princeton or Harvard will set you back around $160,000.

That?s a lot of money, but consider the benefits: the professors, the coursework, the people you?ll meet and the invaluable experiences you?ll have. And, of course, the bottom line: you?ll earn more money afterward. In fact, on average, the holder of a four-year college degree will earn 62% more over their lifetime than a typical high-school graduate. And that?s just on average. The return on investment for attending one of the nati on?s 25 or so most selective colleges is far more impressive. Money well spent, right?

Well, not necessarily.

Although there is clearly a correlation between earnings and a four-year degree, a correlation isn?t the same thing as a cause. Economists like Robert Reischauer ruffled feathers several years ago by pointing out that talented, driven kids are more likely to go to college in the first place and they succeed, in other words, because of their innate abilities, not because of their formal education. Bill Gates, who dropped out of Harvard to start Microsoft, certainly doesn?t fit the stereotype of a low paid college dropout.

In fact, more than a couple of billionaires never graduated from college. Larry Ellison, cofounder of database giant Oracle, dropped out of the University of Illinois and is now worth $16 billion. Fellow billionaire John Simplot, inventor of the frozen French fry, never even finished high school. Neither did Alan Gerry, who built the first cable television network in upstate New York and then sold it to Time Warner Cable for $2.8 billion.

In fact, there is plenty of evidence that what really matters is how smart you are, not where --- or even if --- you went to school. According to a number of studies, small differences in SAT scores, which you take before going to college, correlate with measurably higher incomes. And, according to a report from the National Bureau of Economic Research, the lifetime income of high-school dropouts is directly associated with their scores on a battery of intelligence tests.

By this logic, the real economic value in a Princeton degree is not the vaunted Princeton education, but in signaling potential employers that you are smart enough to get into Princeton. Actually, attending the classes is irrelevant. A few years back, we even went so far as to speculate that an entrepreneur could build a healthy businesses by charging, say $16,000, to certify qualified high-school graduates as Ivy League material. (See: “Is Yale A Waste Of Money?”) College-skippers could invest the $144,000 savings and have a nice nest-egg built up by the time they are in their mid-30s. And they could use their formative years between 18 and 22 to learn an actual trade.

For, in truth, most professions, journalism, software engineering, sales, and trading stocks, to name but a few, depend far more on “on-the-job” education than on classroom learning. Until relatively recently, lawyers, architects and pharmacists learned their trade through apprenticeship, not through higher education.

Certainly some jobs, like medical doctors and university professors, require formal education. But many do not, and between the Internet and an excellent public library system, most Americans can learn pretty much anything for a nominal fee. By all means, go to college if you want the “university experience,” but don?t spend all that cash just on the assumption that it will lead you to a higher paying job.

QUESTIONS:

56. The first reason given to skip college is that college is ______________ and the second given

reason is that college does not necessarily____________ in a higher income.

57. __________ rather than formal college education correlates with higher incomes.

58. Most professions are learned through ____________ instead of classroom learning.

59. Most people can learn almost anything from the _____________ and an good public library

system for a small amount of money.

60. College offers the “university experience” but does not necessarily lead to ________.

Section D (10 marks)

Directions: In this section, there is one passage followed by five questions. Read the passage carefully, and then answer the questions in a maximum of 10 words. Remember to

write the answers on the answer sheet.

The Italian opera star Luciano Pavarotti died at his home in Modena, aged 71. The tenor, who helped take opera to a new mass audience, had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year and had further treatment in August 2007.

His manager, Terri Robson, said Pavarotti died at 5 am on September 6. “The maestro fought a long, tough battle against the pancreatic cancer which eventually took his life. Characteristically, he remained positive until finally succumbing to the last stages of his illness,” Mr. Robson said in a statement.

Pavarotti was considered by some critics to have been the greatest tenor since Enrico Caruso. He made his professional debut in 1961, as Rodolfo in Puccini?s La Boheme at the opera house in Reggio Emilia. His most celebrated performance came at New York?s Metropolitan Opera Hou se, where he hit nine high Cs in Donizetti?s La fille du regiment.

But Pavarotti reached a new global audience during the 1990 football World Cup, when his interpretation of the Puccini aria Nessun Dorma was chosen as the tournament?s theme tune. It became an international hit. Later, Essential Pavarotti became the first classical album to reach number 1 in the UK charts.

The 1990 World Cup was also the venue of the first of the hugely popular Three Tenor concerts that Pavarotti performed with Placido Domingo and José Carreras. His most high-profile performance in Britain was the Pavarotti in the Park concert, in a rain-sodden Hyde Park in 1991. His friend, Diana, Princess of Wales, was in the front row.

Like many opera stars, Pavarotti also had a reputation for being demanding. At a Royal Variety performance in Edinburgh, he reportedly demanded a fully fitted kitchen to be built into his hotel suite. He also frequently cancelled concerts at short notice. But he also raised millions of pounds for good causes around the world in a number of charity performances.

Domingo led the tributes to his fellow tenor. “I always admired the God-given glory of his voice,” he said. “I also loved his wonderful sense of humor and on several occasions during our concerts with José Carreras we had trouble remembering that we were giving a concert before a paying audience, because we had so much fun between ourselves.”

The British tenor Russell Watson told GMTV that Pavarotti was “without question” the man who brought opera t o the people. “The World Cup was the Three Tenors led by Pavarotti, with a very entertaining version of Nessun Dorma. In fact, it?s now called …Pavarotti?s Nessun Dorma?,” Watson said. “His voice was so distinctive you only needed to listen to a couple of bars and you knew it was him, he had incredible power and control.”

QUESTIONS:

61. What was the cause of Pavarotti?s death?

62. Where did Pavarotti first perform professionally?

63. Who were The Three Tenors?

64. How did Pavarotti raise money for good causes?

65. Which piece of operatic music do people usually associate with Pavarotti?

Part IV Cloze (15 minutes, 15 marks)

Directions: Read the following passage and fill in each blank with one word in three ways: according to the context; using the correct form of the given words; according to the

given letters of the words. Remember to write the answers on the answer sheet.

Birds live almost everywhere on our planet, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. In total there are around 10,000 different (66) sp_________, from the bee hummingbird, which measures only five centimeters, to the 2.7 meter ostrich.

There are, of course, some (67) __________ (character) that all birds have, such as feathers, beaks (with no teeth) and (68) w_____________. The reason almost all birds are able to fly is that their (69) ___________ tons are very light and the muscles that control their wings are very strong. Another characteristic is the (70) _________ (lay) of eggs, usually in a nest. Most birds are diurnal, which means they are active during the daytime and rest at night. Nocturnal birds, such as the (71) o_________, do the opposite.

The tropical parts of the world have the greatest (72) __________ (vary) of birds and also most of the very brightly colored ones, such as parrots, hummingbirds and flamingos. A surprising fact is that Britain also now has a growing (73) pop ________of wild parrots.

No one is sure how they first arrived (some people think a few parrots escaped from a film set near London in the 1950s, and began to (74) br _________) but there are now thousands of these bright green, noisy birds, many of them living in parks in the south and west of London.

A person who studies birds is called an ornithologist. As well as the small number of (75) pro____________ ornithologists there are many people who study birds as a hobby and who like to go (76) bird- wat___________, which usually involves going to the countryside to look at wild birds, and in particular to try to see (77) r______ species.

In Britain there is an organization called the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) that tries to protect wild birds and their natural habitat. It has more than one million (78) __________ (out of a total population of 60 million), which shows the high level of interest in birds in Britain.

Unfortunately, it seems organizations like the RSPB have a lot of work to do, as at least a thousand species of birds are in danger of becoming (79) ____________. In almost every case the reason is that the birds are losing their habitat, usually due to the growth of agriculture, roads and cities, or to (80) cli_________ change.

Part V Translation (15 minutes, 20 marks)

Section A (10 marks)

Directions: Translate the underlined sentences in the following passage into Chinese. Remember to write the answers on the answer sheet.

A fly can do one thing extremely well: fly. (81) Recently a team of British scientists declared that the common housefly is the most talented aerodynamicist on the planet, superior to any bird, bat, or bee.

A housefly can make six turns a second; hover; fly straight up, down, or backward; do somersaults; land on the ceiling; and perform various other show-off maneuvers. And it has a brain smaller than a sesame seed.

Michael Dickinson, who stu dies fly flight in his lab at Caltech, says the housefly isn?t actually the best flier. “Hoverflies are the be-all and end-all,” he says. (82) They can hover in one spot, hurtle through the air to another location, and then race back to their original hovering point-precisely.

Scientists, engineers, and military researchers want to know how creatures with such small brains can do that. Maybe they could reverse-engineer a fly to make a robotic device that could reconnoiter dangerous places, such as earthquake zones or collapsed mines.

Dickinson?s laboratory works with fruit flies. Researchers put them in chambers and manipulate the visual field, filming the flies in super-slow motion, 6,000 frames a second. Dickinson is interested in knowing how flies avoid collisions. He has found that certain patterns, such as 90-degree turns, are triggered by visual cues and two equilibrium organs on their backs that function like a gyroscope.

(83) Flies have only a dozen muscles for maneuvering, but they?re loaded with sensors. In addition to their compound eyes, which permit panoramic imagery and are excellent at detecting motion, they have wind-sensitive hairs and antennae. They also have three light sensors, called ocelli, on the tops of their heads, which tell them which way is up. Roughly two-thirds of a fly?s entire nervous system is devoted to processing visual images. They take all this sensory data and boil it down to a few basic commands, such as “go left” and “go right.”

(84) Imagine if you didn?t utter an opi nion until you had read hundreds of books, magazines, newspaper articles, and blogs, and then issued a statement based on a few basic notions. That?s how a fly approaches flying. Only the fly is a speed reader. The information processing takes a fraction of a second. Researcher Rafal Zbikowski of Cranfield University in Shrivenham, England, calls this mode of operation a “sensor-rich feedback control paradigm.”

(85) Given that flies have evolved for hundreds of millions of years (and that they were the fir st animals to take to the air), we shouldn?t be surprised that they?re such good fliers.“They just don?t have brains like ours. Studying flies,” says Dickinson, “is like traveling to another planet.”

Section B (10 marks)

Directions: Translate the following sentences into English, using the words given in the brackets.

Remember to write the answers on the answer sheet.

86. 文章呼吁对外语教学中的文化干扰问题给予更多关注。(call for)

87. 这位中国电影明星曾经说过，他宁愿被人们当作普通人怀念而不是名人。(would rather …

than)

88. 司令官对他的军队讲道，在任何情况下都不允许敌人跨过国境。(under no circumstances)

89. 在其他时候，他上了汽车，甚至火车，然后就坐在那里，直到有人向他索要车票。(until)

90. 政府借口不知情，拒绝为爆炸承担责任。(take responsibility)

Part VI IQ Test (5 minutes, 5 marks)

Directions: There are 5 IQ questions in this part. Write the answers on the answer sheet.

91. Guess the answer to the riddle.

It doesn?t have a mouth, but it can whistle.

It doesn?t have any muscles, but it?s very strong.

It doesn?t have any legs or wings, but it can move very fast.

Y ou can?t see it, but you can feel it.

What is it?

92.Which number comes next in this series?

2736, 9108, 17127, 89298, ?,

93. Replace the dots with a word to make three new words.

(…) DOOR / FLOW / GROW

94. A man jogs at 6 mph over a certain distance and walks back over the same route at 4 mph.

What is his average speed for the journey?

95. What American has the largest family?

Part VII Writing (30 minutes, 30 marks)

Task I (10 marks)

Directions: Suppose you are the dean of the English Department in your University. You want to invite Professor Patrick Johnson, a prestigious scholar of British Literature, to come

to be a judge of the English speech contest. You write a letter to him, in which you: --- State the purpose of the invitation

--- Give the time and place of the English speech contest

--- Invite him to deliver a speech, summarizing the contest, at the end of the closing ceremony. Write a letter between 100 and 120 words in an appropriate style on the Answer Sheet. Do not write your name or address.

Task II (20 marks)

Directions: Read the following poem and write an essay in which you discuss its moral and express your personal views.

Anything Is Possible --- Cotney Moore

When I was just a little girl

Trying to walk there to here

My parents urged, "Anything is possible"

And I took one more step near.

When I was a little older

Trying to ride my bike

My dad said, "Anything is possible"

And I rode till night.

When I was in fourth grade

With work that was very new

My mom whispered, "Anything is possible"

And I made it through.

Now my sisters face these challenges

That I once went through

I say "Anything is possible"

To them and now to you.

You should write between 180 and 200 words. Now write the essay on the Answer Sheet.

2009 National English Contest for College Students (Level B –Sample)

参考答案及录音原文

参考答案：

Part I Listening Comprehension (25 minutes, 30 marks)

Section A (5 marks)

1. C

2. A

3. C

4. B

5. C

Section B (10 marks)

6. C

7. A

8. C

9. B 10. A

11. C 12. B 13. A 14. B 15. C

Section C (5 marks)

16. A 17. B 18. B 19. A 20. C

Section D (10 marks)

21. unilateralism 22. a new dawn of 23. tear this world down

24. optimism 25. was quick to tell 26. a great deal at stake

27. while 28. prosperity 29. expectations

30. challenges

Part II Multiple Choice (10 minutes, 15 marks)

Section A (10 marks)

31. D 32. C 33. A 34. A 35. C 36. D 37. B 38. A 39. C 40. D Section B (5 marks)

41. D 42. B 43. C 44. D 45. A

Part III Reading Comprehension (20 minutes, 35 marks)

Section A (5 marks)

46. B 47. D 48. B 49. A 50. C

Section B (10 marks)

51. oak and willow 52. by fungi 53. stored reserves

54. summer to autumn 55. the following spring

Section C (10 marks)

56. expensive; result 57. Intelligence/ How smart you are

58. practice / apprenticeship/ experience / on-the-job education

59. Internet 60. a higher paying job

Section D (10 marks)

61. Pancreatic cancer 62. The opera house in Reggio Emilia

63. Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and José Carreras

64. By giving charity performances / concerts 65. Nessun Dorma

Part IV Cloze (15 minutes, 15 marks)

66. species 67. characteristics 68. wings 69. skeletons 70. laying 71. owl 72. variety 73. population 74. breed 75. professional 76. watching 77. rare

78. members 79. extinct 80. climate

Part V Translation(15 minutes, 20 marks)

Section A (10 marks)

81. 最近有一群英国科学家宣称，家蝇是地球上最有天赋的空气动力学家，没有任何一种鸟

类、蝙蝠或家蜂能超过它。

82. 它们能定点盘旋，往前冲到另一个定点，再分毫不差地冲回原来盘旋的地方。

83. 苍蝇能利用的肌肉只有12 条，但感应器遍布全身。

84. 想像一下，你要读过几百本书、杂志、新闻报道、博客之后，才敢根据一些基本概念发

表一些看法。

85. 由于苍蝇已经演化了几亿年(也是第一种会飞的动物)，我们对他们飞行能力如此高强就

不感到惊奇了。

Section B (10 marks)

86. This article calls for more attention to be paid to the problem of cultural interference in foreign

language teaching and learning.

87. The Chinese film superstar once said that he would rather be remembered as a common person

than as a famous person.

88. The commander said to his troops that under no circumstances should the enemy be allowed to

step across the border.

89. On other occasions he got on a bus or even a train, and simply sat there until someone asked

for his ticket.

90. The government pleaded ignorance and refused to take any responsibility for the bombing.

Part VI IQ Test (5 minutes, 5 marks)

91. Wind.

92. 178596

2736 + 6372 = 9108

9108 + 8019 = 17127

17127+72171 = 89298

89298+89298 = 178596

93. Out

94. 4.8 mph.

95. George Washington.

Part VII Writing (30 minutes, 30 marks) 参考范文略。

Task I 应用文评分标准

一、评分原则：

1．本题满分为10 分。

2．评分时，先根据文章的内容和语言初步确定其所属档次，然后以该档次的要求来衡量、确定或调整本档次，最后给分。

3．词数少于80 或多于120 的，从总分中减去2 分。

4．如书写较差，以致影响阅卷，将分数降低一个档次。

二、各档次的给分范围和要求：

第四档：8—10 分

完全符合写作格式的要求，覆盖所有内容要点，表达思想清楚，文字通顺，连贯性很好，基本上无词汇和语法错误。

第三档：6—7 分

基本符合写作格式的要求，有个别地方表达思想不够清楚，文字基本通顺、连贯，有少量词汇和语法错误。

第二档：3—5 分

未恰当完成写作格式的要求，漏掉内容要点，表达思想不清楚，文字多处出现词汇和语法错误，影响了对写作内容的理解。

第一档：1—2 分

未完成写作格式的要求，明显遗漏主要内容，表达思想紊乱，有较多词汇和语法的重大错误，未能将信息传达给读者。

0 分

白卷；作文与题目毫不相关；内容太少，无法评判；所写内容无法看清。

Task II 议论文评分标准

一、评分原则：

1．本题满分为20 分。

2．评分时，先根据文章的内容和语言初步确定其所属档次，然后以该档次的要求来衡量、确定或调整本档次，最后给分。

3．词数少于140 或多于180的，从总分中减去2 分。

4．如书写较差，以致影响交流，将分数降低一个档次。

二、各档次的给分范围和要求：

第四档：16—20 分

完全符合写作格式的要求，覆盖所有内容要点，表达思想清楚，文字通顺，连贯性很好，基本上无词汇和语法错误。

第三档：11—15分

基本符合写作格式的要求，有个别地方表达思想不够清楚，文字基本通顺、连贯，有少量词汇和语法错误。

第二档：6—10 分

未恰当完成写作格式的要求，漏掉内容要点，表达思想不清楚，文字多处出现词汇和语法错误，影响了对写作内容的理解。

第一档：1—5 分

未完成写作格式的要求，明显遗漏主要内容，表达思想紊乱，有较多词汇和语法的重大错误，未能将信息传达给读者。

0 分: 白卷；作文与题目毫不相关；内容太少，无法评判；所写内容无法看清。

2009 National English Contest for College Students (Level B- Sample)

听力理解录音材料文字稿

Part I Listening Comprehension (25 minutes, 30 marks)

Section A (5 marks)

Directions: In this section, you will hear five short conversations. Each conversation will be read only once. At the end of each conversation, there will be a twenty-second pause.

During the pause, read the question and the three choices marked A, B and C, and

decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on the

answer sheet with a single line through the center.

1. W: I don't know about this company. They were supposed to pick us up at the airport, but no one was there, so we had to find our own hotel! It was awful.

M: That's surprising. They?re usually very good.

W:I was glad I?d changed some money before I left or we would have had serious problems. 2. M: I?m not impressed with the new receptionist.

W: Give her time; it's only been a month since she started.

M: But she's got 3 years' previous experience and the job is not a difficult one. It only took Carla 2 weeks to learn what to do.

3. W: My flight leaves at 8:00. Can you give me a ride to the airport?

M: Yes. You'll need to be there 2 hours earlier, so that's 6:00. And we should allow an hour for traffic, so I?ll pick you up at 5:00.

W: Great, and thanks a lot.

4. W: I've been getting a lot of complaints from customers. What seems to be the problem?

M: It looks like the water has been shut off to this part of the city for the afternoon.

W: I see. Well, in future, we should put up notices to tell people what to expect.

5. W: Do you know how many countries are at war?

M: I don't like to think about depressing things like that.

W: I know what you mean, but I think it's important to be aware of what's happening in the

world, even if it's unpleasant.

Section B (10 marks)

Directions: In this section, you will hear two interviews. Each interview will be read only once.

At the end of each interview, there will be a pause. During the pause, read the five

questions, each with three choices marked A, B and C, and decide which is the best

answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on the answer sheet with a single line

through the center.

Interview One

Interviewer: Hello and welcome to One to One. In the studio with us today is Jack Benton, who plays the leading role in the TV soap opera Teenagers. Jack, have you always wanted

to be an actor?

Jack: Well, I've always wanted to act - it's the only thing I knew I wanted to do. I started acting when I was still at school. One day I went along to a TV studio to meet a TV star with a

friend. As we got there, we heard one of the actors had suddenly decided to accept a job offer in another studio. Believe it or not, I was offered the job then and there. I'd planned to go to drama college and get a degree in cinema studies, but things just happened differently. Interviewer: Do you find acting difficult or is it fun?

Jack: I really enjoy acting, not just because Teenagers is the first acting job I've done, but because

I really get into it and it's a real challenge acting side by side with all the big stars. I find it

hard learning what I have to say, though. I need to read through the scripts several times! I play the part of a really nasty guy, and I'm often asked if that's hard. It's not, really, and I

won't suddenly turn into somebody like that!

Interviewer: Do you ever worry that fame may go to your head?

Jack: No, my mum's definitely going to keep my feet on the ground. She still makes me do the washing up, you know. And she insists I keep doing the usual things, like going round to my

mates' houses and sitting in the front room watching films and things. She's read lots of books about what fame can do to people, how an actor can have a real change of personality. Interviewer: Jack, you seem to be very fit. Is the gym one of your favorite places?

Jack: No, the gym's a place I never ever go to, as it happens! I'm afraid my excuse is simply lack of time. I'm sure it would do me a lot of good, although as you say I basically look really fit, in fact I'm not as strong as I look. At school I used to play a number of sports and was never much good at any, I'm afraid. I couldn't understand how my friends found them so exciting! Interviewer: One last question, Jack. What are your dreams for the future?

Jack: Well, like most young actors, I have quite a few! Getting an award for my role in Teenagers is top of my list at the moment. And I've been offered the opportunity to play a minor role in

a film, which is tempting because it might lead to other cinema roles. Also films are shown

all over the world. You might think this sounds strange, but it is a little frightening. Interviewer: Thank you, Jack, it's been wonderful to have you in our studio.

Interview Two

Interviewer: With us in the studio today is Dominic Austin, a science-fiction writer who has delighted readers of all ages. Dominic, I read somewhere that you found it very

easy to get published.

Dominic: It's true. I was very lucky. But with Return to Nothing, my first book, I had a problem. I sent it to a firm of publishers and they kept it for about six months. They finally sent it

back to me, saying the way it was written was very original and the story was amazing,

but they were unwilling to publish it because it was rather a large book and they were a

tiny company. They advised me to contact another publisher who they knew were

looking for science-fiction writers. I had no trouble after that.

Interviewer: In Return to Nothing the three central characters are completely imaginary, aren't they?

Dominic: That's right. My characters are different from real people. The main thing is that in a good adventure story the characters must have some sort of evolution, for example they

come to have knowledge that they lacked to begin with. And it doesn't mean they always

go from being bad to being good at the end of the story. I don't believe in that. My

heroes are not particularly loveable.

Interviewer: After Return to Nothing you went on to write a series of three other books with the same central characters. Why?

Dominic: I started Return to Nothing with one book in mind. It sort of progressed from there, and it went to another book, then it went to a third book. The publishers knew they'd be an

instant success. But writing a good series of books has one unwelcome consequence: I

get a lot of requests from readers for more books in that series. I love the fact that they

bother to write to me about it. But I also need to do something different and recharge my

batteries.

Interviewer: Your success has not yet led to any literary prizes. Do you regret that?

Dominic: Not in the least. I'm a story-teller, and story-tellers want an audience. The more people who read me, the happier I am. So all the other stuff to me has no meaning. I've always

believed that when writers win prizes, their careers are over. But everyone seems to

think I'm dying to win awards. I read a lot of fiction, too, and sometimes I wish I'd

written some of that. But I know I'm just as good, only different.

Interviewer: I understand you regret having allowed your book series to be made into a film ... Dominic: Most definitely. It was a moment of foolishness when I thought: 'There's no one in the science-fiction field who's ever been offered this chance.' I somehow knew I was

making a mistake, but my pride got in the way, and then it was too late. It was a difficult

experience because the director was asking me to change parts of the book all the time. I

knew from the beginning there'd be little money in it anyway. Maybe the only advantage

is that it was an experience I could use in my writing.

Interviewer: That's very interesting.

Section C (5 marks)

Directions: In this section, you will hear five short news items. Each item will be read only once.

After each item, there will be a pause. During the pause, read the question and the

three choices marked A, B and C, and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the

corresponding letter on the answer sheet with a single line through the center.

16. Money from migrant workers now exceeds the combined total of all direct foreign investment

and foreign aid to Latin America: sixty-two-point-three billion dollars. Twenty-three billion dollars of that was sent back to Mexico, mostly from workers living in the United States. It now ranks along with oil and tourism as Mexico's biggest foreign currency earner.

17. Jon Scieszka, previously an elementary school teacher and now a best-selling children's book

author with over 25 titles, has been given a title of his own. For the next two years, he will be the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. The U.S. Library of Congress and the Children's Book Council, a nonprofit trade association for children's book publishers, recently created the position to help promote literacy and the joy of reading in young people.

18. The firm, Mars, had said it would not change the whey used in some of its products from a

vegetarian source to one with traces of the animal enzyme, rennet. Rennet is extracted from calves' stomachs and was to have been used by the parent company, Masterfoods, in all its ice cream versions of the chocolate bars too. The Vegetarian Society organized a campaign against the move, asking members to voice their concerns to Masterfoods. And in just one week, more than 6,000 people bombarded the company with phone and e-mail complaints.

Forty MPs also signed a petition to voice their opposition. Fiona Dawson, managing director of Mars UK, said the company had listened to customers and decided to reverse its decision.

19. The world's carmakers have turned up in droves at the Shanghai auto show. A generation ago

there were only a million cars in all of China; now there are thirty three million and that number is expected to quadruple over the next fifteen years. So auto manufacturers are expecting great things from China and none more so than luxury carmakers. Bentley, Lamborghini and Rolls Royce have all built extensive dealerships here. It was a market that didn't exist a few years ago, but the appearance of home grown millionaires and even billionaires has changed that. Bentley saw its sales in China double last year. Rolls Royce, with cars costing as much as two million dollars, has seen China become its third most important market after the United States and Britain. It plans to double the number of showrooms in China this year.

20. The nine foot bronze shows Nelson Mandela standing and gesturing, as if making a speech.

The idea for the monument was initiated by the anti-apartheid activist, Donald Woods. He

chose the sculptor Ian Walters who began the work six years ago. Sadly, neither man lived to see today's ceremony. The statue's fate has been dogged by arguments over where it should go, as well as its artistic merit. The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, had wanted it to stand on the north side of Trafalgar Square. But in 2005 Westminster Council refused permission, saying it would clutter the space needed for large events. It was finally agreed it should face the Houses of Parliament and stand alongside other great leaders, such as Winston Churchill, Benjamin Disraeli and Abraham Lincoln.

Section D (10 marks)

Directions: In this section, you will hear a short passage. There are 10 missing words or phrases.

Fill in the blanks with the exact words or phrases you hear on the tape. Remember to

write the answers on the answer sheet.

If this is a "Mandela moment" for America, there were --- perhaps inevitably --- few specific clues in Barack Obama's victory speech as to how that will work its way through on to the world stage.

But for those who have objected to American (21) unilateralism during the Bush years there was the commitment to listening, the promise --- in Mr Obama's words --- of (22) a new dawn of American leadership, coupled with the pledge to defeat those who "would (23) tear this world down".

Among the reaction from Europe, President Sarkozy said the American people had chosen "change, openness and (24) optimism". And the European Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, said "we need a new deal for a new world".

Iraq's foreign minister (25) was quick to tell Mr Obama that there was "(26) a great deal at stake" in Iraq and he did not foresee a quick US disengagement, (27) while President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan said he hoped the election would bring peace, life and (28) prosperity to his country.

Managing such (29) expectations abroad, as well as at home, will clearly be one of Mr Obama's biggest (30) challenges.