2012年职称英语考试理工类A级试题及答案

　　二、阅读判断

　　Europas watery underworld

　　Europa, one of Jupiters 63 known moons, looks bright and icy on the surface. But appearances can be deceiving: Miles within its cracked, frigid shell, Europa probably hides giant pools of liquid water. Where scientists find liquid water, they hope to find life as well.

　　Since we cant go diving into Europas depths just yet, scientists instead have to investigate the moons surface for clues to what lies beneath. In a new study, scientists investigated one group of strange ice patterns on Europa and concluded that the formations mark the top of an underground pool that holds as much water as the U.S. Great Lakes.

　　Pictures of Europa, which is slightly smaller than Earths moon, clearly show a tangled, icy mishmash of lines and cracks known as chaos terrains. These chaotic places cover more than half of Europa. For more than 10 years, scientists have wondered what causes the formations. The new study suggests that they arise from the mixing of vast underground stores of liquid water with icy material near the surface.

　　For scientists who suspect that Europa also may be hiding life beneath its icy surface, the news about the new lake is exciting.

　　It would be great if these lakes harbored life, Britney Schmidt, a planetary scientist who worked on the study, told Science News. But even if they didnt, they say that Europa is doing something interesting and active right now.

　　Schmidt, a scientist at the University of Texas at Austin, and her colleagues wanted to know how chaos terrains form. Since they couldnt rocket to Europa to see for themselves, they searched for similar formations here on Earth. They studied collapsed ice shelves in Antarctica and icy caps on volcanoes in Iceland. Those features on Earth formed when liquid water mixed with ice. The scientists now suspect something similar might be happening on Europa: that as water and ice of different temperatures mingle and shift, the surface fractures. This would explain the jumbled ice sculptures.

　　Fracturing catastrophically disrupts the ice in the same way that it causes ice shelves to collapse on Earth, Schmidt told Science News. She and her team found that the process could be causing chaos terrains to form quickly on Europa.

　　The new study suggests that on this moon, elements such as oxygen from the surface blend with the deep bodies of water. That mixture may create an environment that supports life.

　　16. The liquid water of an underground pool of Europa is estimated xxxxx of the US Great lakes.

　　A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mention

　　答案：A

　　17. The strange ice patterns on Europa are formed as a result of a xxxxx underground water pool.

　　A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mention

　　答案：B

　　18. Europa is the most recently discovered one among Jupiters

　　A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mention

　　答案：C

　　19. The size of Europa is a bit larger than that of Earths moon.

　　A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mention

　　答案：B

　　20. Schmidt and her colleagues are the first group of scientists xxxxx Europa.

　　A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mention

　　答案：B

　　21. The formations on Europas surface are rather unique in the

　　A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mention

　　答案：B

　　22. The existence of liquid water is a necessity for a life-support

　　A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mention

　　答案：A

　　三、概括大意与完成句子

　　Learn about Noble Gases(惰性气体)

　　1　 Have you ever ridden on a balloon? Many tourist spots offer balloon rides in order for people to see the beauty of a place from above. A balloon contains a noble gas called helium(氦). Formerly, balloons contained hydrogen but hydrogen is very flammable and dangerous when uncontrolled. Therefore, people shifted to helium, which is safer. Helium is safe because it has the properties of the noble gases.

　　2　 People once believed that noble gases couldnt chemically react at all. For this reason, they were called inert gases(惰性气体). They were also listed under Group 0 in the old periodic table because scientists believed that the gases have zero valence(价) electrons in their outer shell. This was later proven to be untrue when some noble gas compounds were discovered.

　　3 　The gases are elements, which share similar properties. These properties include being monoatomic, colorless, odorless, being able to conduct electricity, and having low chemical reactivity. Noble gases include Helium, Neon, Argon, Krypton, Xenon and Radon. These are all found in Group 18, in the rightmost column of the periodic table. If you look at the periodic table, you will notice that these elements are the only ones, which do not have a charge. Helium has the lowest molecular(分子的) weight while Radon is the heaviest.

　　4 Remember that chemical reactions occur because atoms have valence electrons, which are electrons in their outer shell. When the outer shell is unfilled or the required number of electrons is not yet complete, the atom is more reactive. Noble gases have a full outer shell, meaning that they have complete electrons in their outer shell. This complete number varies. For instance, the outer shell of Helium has 2 valence electrons while the outer shell of Xenon has 8 electrons. Nowadays, there remains to be a few noble gases because of the low chemical reactivity of these said gases.

　　A. what is the periodic table?B. What are noble gases?C. What causes the low chemical reactivity of noble gases? D. How were noble gases discovered?E. How were noble gases understood in the past?F. what are the applications of noble gases?

　　5 because of their properties, noble gases have many important applications. They are widely used in medicine and industries. For instance, liquid Helium is used for superconducting magnets(磁体). These magnets are very important in physics and medicine. When a doctor suspects that a persons brain has been damaged, he might request for Magnetic Resonance Imaging(MRI). MRI allows the doctor to see the brain, without operating on the patient.

　　23. paragraph 2__ E ___

　　24. paragraph 3__ B____

　　25. paragraph 4___C____

　　26. paragraph 5___F_____

　　27. Noble gases are not very chemically

　　答案：A

　　28. Among the elements of noble gases Helium is the

　　答案：B

　　29. The required number of electrons in noble gases outer shell is

　　答案：D

　　30. MRI may make operating on the patient

　　答案：F

　　A. reactive B. lightestC. important D. complete E. flammableF. unnecessary

　　四、阅读理解

　　第一篇

　　Gross National Happiness

　　In the last century, new technology improved the lives of many people in many countries. However, one country resisted these changes. High in the Himalayan mountains of Asia, the kingdom of Bhutan remained separate. Its people and Buddhist(佛教) culture had not been affected for almost a thousand years. Bhutan, however, was a poor country. People died at a young age. Most of its people could not read, and they did not know much about the outside world. Then, in 1972, a new ruler named King Jigme Singye Wangchuck decided to help Bhutan to become modern, but without losing its traditions.

　　King Wangchuck looked at other countries for ideas. He saw that most countries measured their progress by their Gross National Product (GNP). The GNP measures products and money. When the number of products sold increases, people say the country is making progress. King Wangchuck had a different idea for Bhutan. He wanted to measure his countrys progress by peoples happiness. If the peoples happiness increased, the king could say that Bhutan was making progress. To decide if people were happier, he created a measure called Gross National Happiness (GNH).

　　GNH is based on certain principles that create happiness. People are happier if they have health care, education, and jobs. They are happier when they live in a healthy, protected environment. They are happier when they can keep their traditional culture and customs. Finally, people are happier when they have a good, stable government.

　　Now there is some evidence of increased GNH in Bhutan. People are healthier and are living longer. More people are educated and employed. Teenty-five percent of the land has become national parks, and the country has almost no pollution. The Bhutanese continue to wear their traditional clothing and follow their ancient Buddhist customs. Bhutan has also become a democracy. In 2008, King Wangchuck gave his power to his son. Although the country still had a king, it held its first democratic elections that year. Bhutan had political parties and political candidates for the first time. Finally, Bhutan has connected to the rest of the world through television and internet.

　　Bhutan is a symbol for social progress. Many countries are now interested in Bhutans GNH. These countries are investigating their own ways to measure happiness. They want to create new policies that take care of their people, cultures, and land.

　　Brazil may be the nest country to use the principles of GNH. Brazilian leaders see the principles of GNH as a source of inspiration. Brazil is a large country with a diverse population. If happiness works as a measure of progress in Brazil, perhaps the rest of the world will follow.

　　31. Who was Jigme Singye Wangchuck?

　　A. A president.

　　B. A Buddhist priest.

　　C. A king.

　　D. A general.

　　答案：C

　　32. Apart from modernizing Bhutan, what else did Wangchuck want to do for Bhutan?

　　A. To make its population grow.

　　B. To keep it separate from the world.

　　C. To keep its traditions and customs.

　　D. To encourage its people to get rich.

　　答案：C

　　33. A country shows its progress with GNP by

　　A. selling more products.

　　B. spending more money.

　　C. spending less money.

　　D. providing more jobs.

　　答案：A

　　34. According to GNH, people are happier if they

　　A. have new technology.

　　B. have a good, stable government.

　　C. can change their religion.

　　D. have more money.

　　答案：B

　　35. Today many countries are

　　A. using the principles of GNH to measure their progress.

　　B. working together to develop a common scale to measure GNH.

　　C. taking both Bhutan and Brazil as symbols for social progress.

　　D. trying to find their own ways to measure happiness.

　　答案：D

　　第二篇

　　Download Knowledge Directly to Your Brain

　　For the first time, researchers have been able to hack into the process of learning in the brain, using induced brain patterns to create a learned behavior. Its not quite as advanced as an instant kung-fu download, and its not as sleek as cognitive inception, but its still an important finding that could lead to new teaching and rehabilitation techniques.

　　Future therapies could decode the brain activity patterns of an athlete or a musician, and use them as a benchmark for teaching another person a new activity, according to the researchers.

　　Scientists from Boston University and ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto used functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, to study the learning process. They were examining the adult brains aptitude for visual perceptual learning, or VPL, in which repetitive training improves a persons performance on a particular task. Whether adults can do this as well as young people has been an ongoing debate in neuroscience.

　　Led by BU neuroscientist Takeo Watanabe, researchers used a method called decoded fMRI neurofeedback to stimulate the visual cortex. First they showed participants circles at different orientations. Then they used fMRI to watch the participants brain activity. The researchers were then able to train the participants to recreate this visual cortex activity.

　　The volunteers were again placed in MRI machines and asked to visualize shapes of certain colors. The participants were asked to somehow regulate activity in the posterior part of the brain to make a solid green disc as large as they could. They were told they would get a paid bonus proportional to the size of this disc, but they werent told anything about what the disc meant. The researchers watched the participants brain activity and monitored the activation patterns in their visual cortices.

　　Participants can be trained to control the overall mean activation of an entire brain region, the study authors write, or the activation in one region relative to that in another region.

　　This worked even when test subjects were not aware of what they were learning, the researchers said.

　　The most surprising thing in this study is that mere inductions of neural activation patterns corresponding to a specific visual feature led to visual performance improvement on the visual feature, without presenting the feature or subjects awareness of what was to be learned, Watanabe said in a statement.

　　Watanabe and colleagues said this method can be a powerful tool.

　　It can incept a person to acquire new learning, skills, or memory, or possibly to restore skills or knowledge that has been damaged through accident, disease, or aging, without a persons awareness of what is learned or memorized, they write.

　　36. what have researchers been able to do with the help of the study?

　　A. Discover a persons learning process in the brain.

　　B. Make a person know how to do something without learning.

　　C. Set up different learning patterns for different people.

　　D. Enable people to learn kung fu instantly.

　　答案：A

　　37. what helps a person to do a particular task better in visual perceptual learning?

　　A. Testing

　　B. Encouragement

　　C. Self- assessment

　　D. Repetition

　　答案：D

　　38. which of the following statements is true of the experiment participants?

　　A. They learned how to control MRL machines in the experiment

　　B. They were not told what to be learned in the experiment

　　C. They were paid to take part in the experiment

　　D. They were not cooperative in the experiment

　　答案：B

　　39. the finding of the study is most significant in that learning

　　A. is full of fun

　　B. is visualized

　　C. happens unconsciously

　　D. becomes unnecessary

　　答案：B

　　40. who are most likely to benefit from the study?

　　A. Teenagers

　　B. Musicians

　　C. Senior people

　　D. Athletes

　　答案：C

　　第三篇

　　Small But Wise

　　On December 14, NASA1 blasted a small but mighty telescope into space. The telescope is called WISE and is about as wide around as a trashcan. Dont let its small size fool you: WISE has a powerful digital camera, and it will be taking pictures of some the wildest objects2 in the known universe, including asteroids, faint stars, blazing galaxies3 and giant clouds of dust where planets and stars are born.

　　Im very excited because were going to be seeing parts of the universe that we havent seen before, said Ned Wright, a scientist who directs the WISE project.

　　Since arriving in space, the WISE telescope has been circling the Earth, held by gravity in a polar orbit4( this means it crosses close to the north and south poles with each lap5). Its camera is pointed outward, away from the Earth, and WISE will snap a picture of a different part of the sky every 11 minutes. After six months it will have taken pictures across the entire sky.

　　The pictures taken by WISE wont be like everyday digital photographs, however. WISE stands for Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. As its name suggests, the WISE camera takes pictures of features that give off infrared radiation6.

　　Radiation is energy that travels as a wave. Visible light, including the familiar spectrum of light7 that becomes visible in a rainbow, is an example of radiation. When an ordinary digital camera takes a picture of a tree, for example, it receives the waves of visible light that are reflected off the tree. When these waves enter the camera through the lens, theyre processed by the camera, which then puts the image together.

　　Waves of infrared radiation are longer than waves of visible light, so ordinary digital cameras dont see them, and neither do the eyes of human beings. Although invisible to the eye, longer infrared radiation can be detected as warmth by the skin.

　　Thats a key idea to why WISE will be able to see things other telescopes cant. Not everything in the universe shows up in visible light. Asteroids, for example, are giant rocks that float through space but they absorb most of the light that reaches them. They dont reflect light, so theyre difficult to see. But they do give off infrared radiation, so an infrared telescope like WISE will be able to produce images of them. During its mission WISE will take pictures of hundreds of thousands of asteroids.

　　Brown dwarfs8 are another kind of deep-space object that will show up in WISEs pictures. These objects are failed stars which means they are not massive enough to jump start9 the same kind of reactions that power stars such as the sun. Instead, brown dwarfs simply shrink and cool down. Theyre so dim that theyre almost impossible to see with visible light, but in the infrared spectrum they glow.

　　41. What is so special about WISE?

　　A It is as small as a trashcan.

　　B It is small in size but carries a large camera.

　　C Its digital camera can help astronomers to see the unknown space.

　　D Never before has a telescope carried a digital camera in space.

　　答案：C

　　42. The camera on WISE

　　A is equipped with expensive computers.

　　B produces images of objects giving off infrared radiation.

　　C reflects light visible to the human eyes.

　　D is similar to an ordinary digital camera.

　　答案：B

　　43. It is true that infrared radiation.

　　A is not detectable to humans.

　　B looks brighter than visible light.

　　C is visible light reflected off an object.

　　D has longer waves than those of visible light.

　　答案：D

　　44. Which of the following statements about asteroids is NOT ture?

　　A The WISE telescope can catch and take pictures of them.

　　B They do not reflect light that reaches them.

　　C They float through space giving off visible light.

　　D They are invisible to ordinary cameras.

　　答案：C

　　45. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that brown dwarfs.

　　A give off infrared radiation.

　　B are power stars like the sun.

　　C become massive and active

　　D are invisible to the WISE telescope.

　　答案：A

　　五、补全短文

　　The Mysteries of Nazca

　　In the desert of Peru, 300 kilometers from Lima, one of the most unusual artworks in the world has mystified (迷惑) people for decades. ______F____ (46) But from high above, these marks are huge images of birds, fish, seashells, all beautifully carved into the earth.

　　The Nazca lines are so difficult to see from the ground that they werent discovered until the 1930s, when pilots spotted them while flying over the area. In all, there are about 70 different human and animal figures on the plain, along with 900 triangles, circles, and lines.

　　Researchers have figured out that the lines are at least 1,500 years old, but their purpose is still a mystery. _____D _______(47) However, it would probably be very tricky to xxxxx and a spaceship in the middle of pictures of dogs and monkeys.

　　In the 1940s, an American explorer named Paul Kosok suggested that the drawings are a chronicle (记录) of the movement of the stars and planets.______C____ (48) xxxxx an astronomer tested his theory with a computer, but he couldnt find any relation between the lines and movements in space.

　　Another explanation is that the lines may have been made for religious reasons. xxxxx researcher Tony Morrison investigated the customs of people in the Andes xxxxx and learned that they sometimes pray by the side of the road. Its possible that xxxxx, the lines of Nazca were created for a similar purpose._______B___ (49) But xxxxx people have never constructed anything this big.

　　Recently, two other scientists, David Johnson and Steve Mabee, have speculated xxxxx lines could have been related to water. Nazca is one of the driest places in the xxxxx receives only 2cm of rain every year. While Johnson was searching for xxxxx water sources in the area, he noticed that some waterways built ancient xxxxx were connected with the lines. Johnson believes that the Nazca lines are a giant xxxxx underground water in the area.______ E__ (50)

　　A.. Scholars differ in interpreting the purpose of the designs.

　　B. The largest picture may have been the sites for special ceremonies.

　　C. He called Nazca the largest astronomy book in the world

　　D. A Swiss writer named Erich von Daniken wrote that the Nazca lines were designed as a landing place for UFOs.

　　E. Other scientists are now searching for evidence to prove this.

　　F. Seen from the ground, it looks like lines scratched into the earth.

　　六、完型填空

　　Solar Power without Solar Cells

　　A dramatic and surprising magnetic effect of light discovered by University of Michigan1researchers could lead to solar power without traditional semiconductor-based solar cells.

　　The researchers found a way to make an optical 51 , said Stephen Rand, a professor in the departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Physics and Applied Physics.

　　Light has electric and magnetic 52 . Until now, scientists thought the effect of the magnetic field were so weak that they could be 53 . What Rand and his colleagues found is that at the right intensity, when light is traveling through a material that does not 54 electricity, the light field can generate magnetic effects that are 100 million times stronger than previously expected. Under these circumstances, the magnetic effects develop strength 55 to a strong electric effect.

　　This could lead to a new kind of solar cell without semiconductors and without absorption to produce charge separation, Rand said. In solar cells, the 56 goes into a material, gets absorbed and creates heat. Here, we expect to have a very low heat load2. Instead of the light being absorbed, energy is stored in the magnetic moment3. Intense magnetization can be induced by intense light and then it is ultimately capable of providing a capacitive power 57 What makes this possible is a previously undetected brand of optical rectification, says William Fisher, a doctoral student in applied physics. In traditional optical rectification, lights electric field causes a charge separation, or a pulling 58 of the positive and negative charges in a material. This sets up a voltage, similar to 59 in a battery.

　　Rand and Fisher found that under the right circumstances and in right types of materials, the lights magnetic field can also create optical rectification. The light must be shone through a 60 that does not conduct electricity, such as glass. And it must be focused to an intensity of 10 million watts per square centimeter8. Sunlight isnt this 61 on its own, but new materials are being sought that would work at lower intensities, Fisher said.

　　In our most recent paper, we show that incoherent light9 like sunlight is theoretically almost 62 effective in producing charge separation as laser light is, Fisher said.

　　This new 63 could make solar power cheaper, the researchers say. They predict that with improved materials they could achieve 10 percent efficiency in converting solar power to useable energy. Thats equivalent to todays commercial-grade solar cells.

　　To manufacture modem solar cells, you have to do 64 semiconductor processing, Fisher said. All we would need are lenses to focus the light and a fiber to guide it. Glass works for 65 .Its already made in bulk, and it doesnt require as much processing. Transparent ceramics might be even better.

　　51. A. disc B. fiber C. instrument D. battery

　　答案：D

　　52. A. applications B. components C. resources D. differences

　　答案：B

　　53. A. concerned B. ignored C. expected D. noticed

　　答案：B

　　54. A. conduct B. produce C. use D. consume

　　答案：A

　　55. A. reactive B. preferable C. due D. equivalent

　　答案：D

　　56. A. light B. electricity C. chemical D. gas

　　答案：A

　　57. A. plant B. source C. equipment D. line

　　答案：B

　　58. A. up B. down C. apart D. together

　　答案：C

　　59. A. this B. those C. that D. these

　　答案：C

　　60. A. material B. device C. detector D. meter

　　答案：A

　　61. A. bright B. faint C. visible D. intense

　　答案：D

　　62. A. more B. as C. much D. such

　　答案：B

　　63. A. skill B. technology C. miracle D. prototype

　　答案：B

　　64. A. extensive B. interactive C. selective D. intensive

　　答案：A

　　65. A. all B. some C. others D. both

　　答案：D