2008年_武汉大学_博士研究生入学_英语试题及详解详解.docVIP

2008年 武汉大学 博士研究生入学 英语试题及详解 Part I Reading Comprehension (40%, 1=2 points) Directions: There are 5 reading passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice and mark your answer on the ANSWER SHEET by blackening the corresponding letter in the brackets. Questions 1 to 4 are based on the following passage: Auctions are public sales of goods, conducted by an officially approved auctioneer. He asks the crowd assembled in the auction-room to make offers, or bids, for the various items on sale. He encourages buyers to bid higher figures and finally names the highest bidder as the buyer of the goods. This is called knocking down the goods, for the bidding ends when the auctioneer bangs a small hammer on a table at which he stands. This is often set on a raised platform called a rostrum. （definition）? what The ancient Romans probably invented sales by auction, and the English word comes from the Latin Autcio, meaning increase. The Romans usually sold in this way the spoils taken in war; these sales were called sub hasta, meaning under the spear, a spear being stuck in the ground as a signal for a crowd to gather. In England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, goods were often sold by the candle: a short candle was lit by the auctioneer, and bids could be made while it stayed alight. （history）? how Practically all goods whose qualities vary are sold by auction. Among these are coffee, hides, skins, wool, tea, cocoa, furs, spices, fruit and vegetables and wines. Auction sales are also usual for land and property, antique furniture, pictures, rare books, old china and similar works of art. The auction-rooms as Christies and Sothebys in London and New York are world-famous. （goods/items）? how An auction is usually advertised beforehand with full particulars of the articles to be sold and where and when they can be viewed by prospec