2000年全国英语专业四级考试试题(10)

专四

and turn on the TV to watch a program me that is being channelled into millions of homes.

Communication is no longer merely concerned with the transmission of information . The modem

communication industry influences the way people live in society and broadens their horizons by

allowing access to information, education and entert ainment. The printing, broadcasting and

advertising industries are all involved with informing, educating and entertaining.

Although a great deal of the material communicated by the mass media is very val uable to

the individual and to the society of which he is a part, the vast modem network of

communications is open to abuse. However, the mass media are with us for better, for worse,

and there is no turning back.

66. In the first paragraph the writer emphasizes the___ of face-t o-face contact in social

settings.

A. nature B. limitation C. usefulness D. creativity 

67. It is implied in the passage that___.

A. local news used to be the only source of information.

B. local news still takes a significant place.

C. national news is becoming more popular.

D. international news is the fastest transmitted news. 

68. Which of the following statements is INCORRECT?

A. To possess information used to be a privilege.

B. Public libraries have replaced private libraries.

C. Communication means more than transmission.

D. Information influences ways of life and thinking. 

69. From the last paragraph we can infer that the writer is___.

A. indifferent to the harmful influence of the mass media

B. happy about the drastic changes in the mass media

C. pessimistic about the future of the mass media

D. concerned about the wrong use of the mass media 

TEXT B

The men and women of Anglo-Saxon England normally bore one name only. Distinguis hing

epithets were rarely added. These might be patronymic, descriptive or occup ational. They were,

however, hardly surnames. Heritable names gradually became g eneral in the three centuries

following the Norman Conquest in 1066. It was not until the 13th and 14th centuries that

surnames became fixed, although for many years after that, the degree of stability in family names

varied considerably in different parts of the country.

British surnames fall mainly into four broad categories: patronymic, occupationa l, descriptive and

local. A few names, it is true, will remain puzzling: foreign names, perhaps, crudely translated,