博士研究生入学考试英语试题.pdfVIP

2007 年博士研究生入学考试英语试题 Part I. Reading Comprehension (60%) Directions: In this part of the test, there are four short passages for you to read. Read each passage carefully, and then do the questions that follow. Choose the best answer A), B), C), or D) and mark the corresponding letter on your Answer Sheet I. Passage 1 We live in southern California growing grapes, a first generation of vintners, our home adjacent to the vineyards and the winery. It’s a very pretty place, and in order to earn the money to realize our dream of making wine, we worked for many years in a business that demanded several household moves, an incredible amount of risk-taking and long absences from my husband. When it was time, we traded in our old life, cinched up our belts and began the creation of the winery. We make small amounts of premium wine, and our lives are dictated by the rhythm of nature and the demands of the living vines. The vines start sprouting tiny green tendrils in March and April, and the baby grapes begin to form in miniature, so perfect that they can be dipped in gold to form jewelry. The grapes swell and ripen in early fall, and when their sugar content is at the right level, they are harvested carefully by hand and crushed in small lots. The wine is fermented and tended until it is ready to be bottled. The vineyards shed their leaves, the vines are pruned and made ready for the dormant months and the next vintage. It sounds nice, doesn’t it? Living in the country, our days spent in the ancient routine of the vineyard, knowing that the course of our lives as vintners was choreographed long age and that if we practiced diligently, our wine would be good and we’d be successful. From the start we knew there was a price for the privilege of becoming a wine- making family, connected to the land and the caprices of nature. We work hard at something we love, we are slow to panic over the daily emerge