清华大学2008年博士研究生入学考试英语试题
Part I Vocabulary (20%)
Directions: There are forty incomplete sentences in this part. For each sentence there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the best one that completes the sentence, and then mark the corresponding letter on the ANSWER SHEET with a single line through the center.
1. The European Union countries were once worried that they would not have______.
A. sufficient
B. efficient
C. potential
D. proficient
2. We'd like to______a table for five for dinner this evening.
A. reserve
B. prosperity
C. sustain
D. retain
3. Britain has the highest______of road traffic in the world—over 60cars for every mile of road.
A. popularity
B. prosperity
C. intensity
D. density
4. I would never have______a court of law if I hadn't been so desperate.
A. sought for
B. accounted for
C. turned up
D. resorted to
5. The energy______by the chain reaction is transformed into heat.
A. transferred
B. released
C. conveyed
D. delivered
6. It is required that during the process great care has to be taken to protect the______silk from damage.
A. sensitive
B. sensible
C. tender
D. delicate
7. To our______, Geoffrey's illness proved not to be as serious as we had feared.
A. relief
B. view
C. anxiety
D. judgment
8. The government will take some action to______the two big quarreling companies.
A. jigsaw
B. jot
C. impulse
D. reconcile
9. As automation became popular in most factories, labor was made______.
A. destined
B. redundant
C. diverse
D. discontent
10. They have______her unreasonable request for her annual salary.
A. destined
B. chorded
C. repelled
D. commenced
11. When you prepare for your speech, be sure to cite______qualified sources of information and examples.
A. unbiased
B. manipulated
C. distorted
D. conveyed
12. It is apparent that winning the scholarship is______of one's intelligence in the field of physics.
A. parallelism
B. alliteration
C. testimony
D. rhythm
13. In court he repeated his______that he was not guilty in front of the jury.
A. impressions
B. alliterations
C. clauses
D. assertions
14. Shopping malls have some advantage in suffering from shorter periods of______business.
A. stale
B. slack
C. ferrous
D. abundant
15. According to the Geneva______no prisoners of war shall be subject to abuse.
A. Customs
B. Congresses
C. Conventions
D. Routines
16. Before the general election many senior citizens signed the______against the spreading of nuclear arms.
A. contract
B. petition
C. supplication
D. potential
17. Scientists believe that there is not enough oxygen in the Moon's atmosphere to______plant life.
A. adapt
B. personalize
C. sustain
D. describe
18. I can't remember exactly what triggered the explosion but it was pretty______.
A. estimating
B. devastating
C. reprocessing
D. preferring
19. The industry has pumped______amounts of money into political campaigns, making it less and less likely that politicians will deal with the issue sensibly.
A. potential
B. substantial
C. massive
D. traditional
20. I was entrusted to______to a newspaper article making predictions for the New Year.
A. contribute
B. detract
C. convert
D. entail
21. After 1989 the external______vanished, but the danger to American civilization remained.
A. disruption
B. menace
C. liability
D. emergence
22. The government is trying to help these enterprises out of the______by various means.
A. flight
B. plight
C. delight
D. twilight
23. An archaeologist has to pay much attention to______details of an unearthed object.
A. miserable
B. punched
C. minute
D. moist
24. The girl______her tablemate's arm to see if she was fast asleep at class.
A. pinched
B. punched
C. pitched
D. preached
25. Most of the local people involved in the affair have been______and dismissed.
A. smuggled
B. prosecuted
C. saluted
D. preached
26. I can respect someone who is______for their actions, but I cannot respect someone who is always pointing the finger.
A. millennium
B. dominant
C. accountable
D. commercial
27. All the products mead in China are sold and distributed in______with the U.S. Export Administration Regulations and also local country rules.
A. compliance
B. prosperity
C. merchandise
D. intersection
28. One of the main reasons is that the university's______attracts students and faculty staff all over the world.
A. fraud
B. respondent
C. misconduct
D. prestige
29. Even though the investigation has been going on for two months, the police have______no further details about the accident.
A. comprised
B. formulated
C. released
D. incorporated
30. They want to stimulate economic growth in the region by offering______to foreign investors.
A. incentives
B. abundances
C. warriors
D. outnumbers
31. Why be______about that old coat? There's no point in keeping it just because you were wearing it when you first met me.
A. sensitive
B. sensible
C. sentimental
D. sensational
32. ______and hard work are the cornerstones of this company.
A. Mutilation
B. Innovation
C. Empire
D. Strength
33. The protests were part of their______against the proposed building development in the area.
A. commission
B. commitment
C. convention
D. campaign
34. Some people seem to______on the pressure of working under a deadline.
A. render
B. evolve
C. prevail
D. thrive
35. There changes have not been sufficient to______the losses.
A. stem
B. stimulate
C. cause
D. compensate
36. Psychologists believe that children are easily influenced by their______.
A. conditions
B. combinations
C. peers
D. granaries
37. Several______for global warming have been suggested by climate researchers.
A. systems
B. sentences
C. fallacies
D. hypotheses
38. These natural resources will be______sooner or later if the present rate of exploitation goes on.
A. depleted
B. deployed
C. inclined
D. mingled
39. The military operations______yesterday were targeted at the military installations.
A. propelled
B. commenced
C. plagued
D. modulated
40. Artificial intelligence deals partly with the______between the computer and the human brain.
A. profile
B. mighty
C. analogy
D. leakage
Part II Reading Comprehension (40%)
Directions: In this part of the test, there are five short passages. Read each passage carefully, and then do the questions that follow. Choose the best answer from the four choices given and mark the corresponding letter with a single bar across the square brackets on your machine scoring ANSWER SHEET.
Passage One
There are over 6,000 different computer and online games in the world now. A segment of them are considered to be both educational and harmlessly entertaining. One such game teaches geography and another trains pilots. Others train the player in logical thinking and literate, which is more important in this technology-driven era.
But the dark side of the computer games has become more and more obvious.“A segment of games features anti-social themes of violence, sex and crude language,” says David Walsh, president of the National Institute on Media and Family.“Unfortunately. It's a segment that seems particularly popular with kids aged from eight to fifteen.”
One study showed that almost 90 percent of the computer and online games young people preferred contained violence. The investigators said,“There are not just games anymore. These are learning machines. We're teaching kids in the most incredible manner what it's like to pull the trigger. What they are not learning are the real-life consequences.
They also said, “The new and more sophisticated games are even worse, because they have better graphics and allow the player to participate in even more realistic violent acts.”In the game Carmageddon, for example, the player will have driven over and killed up to 33,000 people by the time all levels are compelled. A description of the outcome of the game says: “Your victims not only squish under your tires and splatter blood on the windshield, they also get on their knees and beg for mercy, or commit suicide. If you like, you can also dismember them.”
Is all this simulated violence harmful? Approximately 3,000 different studies have been conducted on this subject. Many have suggested that there is a connection between violence in games and increased aggressiveness in the players.
Some specialists downplay the influence of the games, saying that other factors must be taken into consideration, such as the possibility that kids who already have violent tendencies are choosing such games. But could it be that violent games still play a contributing role? It seems unrealistic to insist that people are not influenced by what they see. If that were true, why would the commercial world spend billions of dollars annually for television advertising?
41. Which of the following computer games are NOT mentioned as educational and harmlessly entertaining?
A. Those that teach how to fly an airplane.
B. Those that teach the features of the earth.
C. Those that help people use computer language.
D. Those that teach computer technology.
42. According to the investigators,______.
A. the new and more sophisticated games allow the players to take parting real violent acts
B. the new and more sophisticated games teach the players how to kill other people
C. most computer and online games male the players forget the real life results
D. most computer and online games may cultivate young people with bad manners
43. It can be inferred from the passage that______.
A. more and more young people enjoy cruel computer games
B. it is hard to find evidence of a link between violence and computer games
C. there are now more incidents of violence because of computer games
D. simulated violence in computer games is different from real violence
44. The author uses“television advertising”as an example to show that______.
A. the commercial world is contributing to the increased violence in real life
B. computer and online games are not the only cause of increased violence in real life
C. there is little link between computer games and increased violence in real life
D. other factors must be considered as possible causes of violence in real life
Passage Two
The collapse of the Earth's magnetic field—which guards the planet and guides many of its creatures—appears to have started about 150 years ago, the New York Times reported last week.
The field's strength has decreased by 10 or 15 percent so far and this has increased the debate over whether it signals a reversal of the planet' s lines of magnetic force.
During a reversal, the main field weakens, almost vanishes, and reappears with opposite polarity（极）. The transition would take thousands of years. Once completed, compass needles that had pointed north would point south. A reversal could cause problems for both that rely on the magnetic field for navigation would find migration confusing. But experts links between past field reversals and species extinctions.
Although a total transition may be hundreds or thousands of years away, the rapid decline in magnetic strength is already affecting satellites. Last month, the European Space Agency approved the world's largest effort at tracking the field's shifts. A group of new satellites called Swarm is to monitor the collapsing field with far greater precision. “We want to get some idea of how this would evolve in the near future, just like people trying to predict the weather,”said Gauthier Hulot, a French geophysicist working on the satellite plan.“I'm personally quite convinced we should be able to work out the first predictions by the end of the mission.”
No matter what the new findings, the public has no reason to panic. Even if a transition is coming on its way, it might take 2,000 years to mature. The last one took place 780,000 years ago, when early humans were learning how to make stone tools. Deep inside the Earth flow hot currents of melted iron. This mechanical energy creates electromagnetism. This process is known as the geophysical generator. In a car's generator, the same principle turns mechanical energy into electricity.
No one knows precisely why the field periodically reverses. But scientists say the responsibility probably lies with changes in the disorderly flows of melted iron, which they see as similar to the gases that make up the clouds of Jupiter.
45. According to the passage, the Earth's magnetic field has______.
A. misguided many a man and animals
B. begun to change to its opposite direction
C. caused the changes on the polarities
D. been weakening its strength for a long time
46. During the transition of the Earth's magnetic field______.
A. compass will become useless
B. man and animals will be confused in directions
C. the magnetic strength of the Earth will disappear
D. the magnetic strength of the Earth will be stronger
47. The author says“…the public has no reason to panic”because______.
A. the transition is still thousands of years from now
B. the transition can be precisely predicted by scientists
C. the process of the transition will take a very long time to finish
D. the new transition will come 780,000 years later
48. The cause of the transition of the Earth's magnetic field comes from______.
A. the movement deep inside the Earth
B. the periodically reverses of the Earth
C. the force coming from outer space
D. the mechanical movement of the Earth
Passage Three
The terrorist attacks in London Thursday served as a jarring reminder that in today's world, you never know what you might see when you pick up the newspaper or turn on the TV. Disturbing images of terror can trigger a visceral response no matter how close or far away from home the event happened.
Throughout history, every military conflict has involved psychological warfare in one way or another as the enemy sought to break the morale of their opponent. But thanks to advances in technology, the popularity of the Internet, and proliferation of news coverage, the rules of engagement in this type of mental battle have changed.
Whether it's a massive attack or a single horrific act, the effects of psychological warfare aren't limited to the physical damage inflicted. Instead, the goal of these attacks is to instill a sense of fear that is much greater than the actual threat itself.
Therefore, the impact of psychological terror depends largely on how the acts are publicized and interpreted. But that also means there are ways to defend yourself and your loved ones by putting these fears into perspective and protecting your children from horrific images.
What is psychological terror?“The use of terrorism as a tactic is predicated upon inducing a climate of fear that is incommensurate with the actual threat,” says Middle Eastern historian Richard Bulliet of Columbia University.“Every time you have an act of violence. Publicizing that violence becomes an important part of the act itself.”
“There are various ways to have your impact. You can have your impact by the magnitude of what you do, by the symbolic character of target, or the horrific quality of what you do to a single person,”Bulliet tells WebMD.“The point is that it isn't what you do, but it's how it's covered that determines the effect.”For example, Bulliet says the Iranian hostage crisis, which began in 1979and lasted for 444 days, was actually one of the most harmless things that happened in the Middle East in the last 25 years. All of the U.S. hostages were eventually released unharmed, but the event a psychological scar for many Americans who watched helplessly as each evening's newscast counted the days the hostages were being held captive.
Bulliet says terrorists frequently exploit images of a group of masked individuals exerting total power over their captives to send the message that the act is a collective demonstration of the group's power rather than an individual criminal act. “You don't have the notion that a certain person has taken a hostage.‘It's an image of group power, and the force becomes generalized rather than personalized,” says Bulliet. “The randomness and the ubiquity of the threat give the impression of vastly greater capacities.”
Psychiatrist Ansar Haroun, who served in the U.S. Army Reserves in the first Gulf War and more recently in Afghanistan, says that terrorist groups often resort to psychological warfare because it's the only tactic they have available to them. “They don't have M-16s, and we have M-16s, they don't have the mighty military power that we have, and they only have access to things like kidnapping,” says Haroun, who is also a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego.
“In psychological warfare, even one beheading can have the psychological impact that might be associated with killing 1,0000 of the enemy,”Haroun tells WebMD.“You haven't really harmed the enemy very much by killing one person on the other side, but in terms of inspiring fear, anxiety, terror, and making us all feel bad, you've achieved a lot of demoralization.
49. Which of the following statement is NOT among the reasons that change the rules of psychological warfare?
A. Break the morale of their opponent.
B. Advances in technology.
C. The popularity of the Internet.
D. Prosperity of media.
50. According to Richard Bulliet, why does“publicizing that violence become an important part of the act itself”?
A. Because psychological terrorism is a tactic.
B. Because terrorism depends on a climate of fear rather than on the actual threat.
C. Because the use of terrorism is to inspire fear that is inappropriate to the actual threat.
D. Because publicizing the violence can make more people know the actual threat.
51. The Iranian hostage crisis shows that______.
A. the impact of psychological terror relies largely on how the acts are publicized
B. there are various ways to have the impact of psychological terror
C. the American media is effective
D. the ways determines the effect
52. The randomness and the ubiquity of the terrorist acts bring to the public the impression that______.
A. the terrorists are exerting total power over their captives
B. the threat is a collective demonstration of the group's power
C. the terrorists are powerful and pervasive
D. the force becomes generalized rather than personalized
Passage Four
In a year marked by uncertainty and upheaval, officials at New Orleans universities that draw applicants nationwide are not following the usual rules of thumb when it comes to colleges admissions. The only sure bet, they say, is that this fall's entering classes—the first since Katrina—will be smaller than usual.
In typical years, most college admissions officials can predict fairly accurately by this point in the admissions cycle how many high school seniors will commit to enrolling in their institutions. Many of the most selective schools require students—who increasingly are applying to multiple institutions—to make their choices by May 1. Loyola University, whose trustees will vote May 19 on whether to drop several degree programs and eliminate 17 faculty positions, received fewer applications—about 2,900 to date, compared with 3,500 in recent years. The school hopes to enroll 700 freshmen, down from 850 in the past few years. Historically black Dillard University, which is operating out of a hotel and was forced to cancel its annual March open house, also saw drops, as did Xavier University, a historically black Catholic institution that fell behind its recruitment schedule. Dillard won't release numbers, but spokeswoman Maureen Larkins says applications were down and enrollments are expected to be lower than in the past, Xavier admissions dean Winston Brown says its applicant pool fell by about half of last year's record 1,014;he hopes to enroll 500 freshman.
In contrast, Tulane University, which is the most selective of the four and developed an aggressive recruitment schedule after the hurricane, enjoyed an 11% increase in applications this year, to a record 20,715. Even so, officials predict that fewer admitted students will enroll and are projecting a smaller-than-usual freshman class—1,400, compared with a more typical 1,600. Tulane officials announced in December that they would eliminate some departments and faculty positions.
Like Tulane, other schools are taking extra steps this year to woo admitted students, often by enlisting help from alumni around the country and reaching out to students with more e-mail, phone calls or web-based interactions such as blogs. In addition, Loyola is relaxing deadlines, sweetening the pot with larger scholarships and freezing tuition at last year's level. Dillard, too, is freezing tuition. It's also hosting town meetings in target cities and regions nationwide, and moved its academic calendar back from August to mid-September “to avert the majority of the hurricane season.” Larkins says, Xavier extended its application deadline and stepped up its one-on-one contact with accepted students. And Tulane, among other things, has doubled the number of on-campus programs for accepted students and hosted a community service weekend program.
While the schools expect applicants to be apprehensive, the admissions officials also see encouraging signs of purposefulness among applicants. “A lot of students who are choosing to come to this city are saying,‘I want to be a part of the action,’”says Stieffl, noting that Loyola's transfer applications were up 30%. And while applications to Xavier are down, Brown is betting that students who do apply are serious, “The ones who are applying, we feel, are more likely to come,”he says.
53. It can be inferred from the passage that______.
A. many of the students require smaller classes than usual in the institutions
B. most college admissions officials cannot predict how many students will commit to enrolling in their institutions by May 1 this year
C. many of the students are increasingly applying to multiple institutions to make their choices by May 1 this year
D. in typical years, most colleges require students to apply and commit to their institutions
54. The following statements are all false other than______.
A. Tulane University also saw drops in applications this year
B. Xavier University, as a historically black Catholic institution, fell behind the recruitment schedule of Dillard University
C. Xavier admissions dean Winston Brown says the total number that he hopes to enroll is about 1,500 freshmen
D. Loyola University will vote on whether to eliminate 17 faculty positions due to receiving fewer applications of students
55. In order to attract applicants, Loyola University and Dillard University are______.
A. reducing the tuition respectively
B. hosting meetings
C. increasing the scholarships respectively
D. extending the application deadline
56. The passage mainly concentrates on the subject of______.
A. the drops of the applicants of the universities
B. the dilemma of the admission officials
C. the usual rules of college admissions
D. the effects of the hurricanes
Passage Five
The difference between avian flu and human flu that should be commanding our rapt attention today is that avian influenza, specifically the H5N1 strain known as bird flu, threatens to become the young people's plague. And it is a growing contender to cause a devastating worldwide pandemic in the next few years.
We are too used to thinking of flu as an annual annoyance that kills only the frail and elderly. But that just isn't the case for H5N1. With a mortality rate of over 50 percent, this bird flu has killed over 110 people, striking the young and able-bodied the hardest. Its victims cluster predominantly among 5-to-30-year-olds, a pattern that has held up in the 34 known to have died from bird flu so far this year.
This vulnerability may stem from the robust and fast-responding immune systems of the young. The victims overreact to the alien virus, triggering a massive immune response called a cytokine storm, turning healthy lungs into a sodden mass of dying tissues congested with blood, toxic fluid, and rampaging inflammatory cells. As air spaces choke off, the body loses oxygen and other organs fail.
Scientists have recently shown that H5N1 has ominous parallels with the devastating 1918 flu pandemic, which also jumped directly to humans from birds and disproportionately attacked the young and the strong. With a pattern highly suggestive of a cytokine storm, death sometimes come within just hours, turning many World War I troop ships into death ships.
Now imagine hundreds of thousands of young people laboring on respirators, or lying alone in corridors and makeshift hospital rooms, too sick to be helped when the supply of beds, equipment, and trained staff run out. Seem like hype? Not to the medical experts who discussed these scenarios during last week's U.S. News Health Summit on emergency preparedness.
This picture puts a face on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' projections that, if H5N1 mutates into a readily human-transmissible form, 209,000 to 1.9 million Americans could die. Part of our readiness thinking should be to heed the blunt words of HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt at the summit;any family or community that fails to prepare for the worst, with the expectation that the federal or state government will come to the rescue, will be“tragically wrong”. In a pandemic, the government's medical resources will be stretched thin, and it won' be able to guarantee first-line help to any hometown, local hospital, or college campus. Even the national stockpile of Tamiflu, the antiviral that is the best we have to prevent or lessen the impact of the illness, has its limits. If a college student is hospitalized with a possible H5Nl infection, the feds will provide drugs. But they will not make it available to fend off the virus in the many others who may have come in close contact with the infected student. In the existing federal guidance on H5Nl, the young and healthy fall into the lowest-priority group for antiviral drugs and vaccines. Student health centers or other providers had better scrounge up their own stockpiles. Containing possible outbreaks on college campuses may be all but impossible. Social distancing—avoiding close contact with other people with air kisses instead of smooches, or even by donning masks and gloves—will be tough to enforce.
The threat poses a uniquely difficult challenge. In the best of all scenarios, the virus will lose its fury and leave in its wake a new culture of individual and community preparedness. But we need to get ready now, and not for the best scenario but for the best scenario but for the worst.
57. The difference between avian flu and human flu is that______.
A. the avian flu should be commanding our rapt attention
B. the avian flu mainly threatens the young people
C. the avian flu is to cause a devastating worldwide pandemic in the next few years
D. the avian flu is an annual annoyance that kills only the frail and elderly
58. The reason that bird flu strikes the young and able-bodied the hardest may be______.
A. the body loses oxygen and other organs fail
B. a sodden mass of dying tissues
C. the enthusiastic immune systems of the young
D. the overreaction of blood, toxic fluid, and rampaging inflammatory cells
59. According to the author, which is the best source that college students can rely upon if there are outbreaks of bird flu on college campuses?
A. The national stockpile of Tamiflu.
B. The government's medical resources.
C. Drugs provided by the feds.
D. The stockpile of the students health centers.
60. We can learn from the passage that______.
A. it is impossible that bird flu outbreaks on college campuses
B. the reason that bird flu may impossibly outbreak on college campuses is that social distancing will be tough to enforce there
C. both individuals and communities should be prepared for the threat
D. we need to get ready now for the worst scenario prepared for the fury of bird flu
Part III Cloze (10%)
Directions: there are twenty blanks in the following passage. For each blank there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should choose the ONE that best fits into the passage. Then mark the corresponding letter on the ANSWER SHEET.
The changes in globally averaged temperature that have occurred at the Earth's surface over the past century are similar in size and timing to those 61 by models that take into account the combined influences of human factors and solar variability.
To 62 the question of attribution requires the 63 of more powerful and complex methods, beyond the use of global averages alone. New studies have focused on 64 maps or patterns of temperature change in 65 and in models. Pattern analysis is the climatologically equivalent of the more comprehensive tests in the medical analogy mentioned 66 , and makes it possible to achieve more definitive 67 of observed climate changes to a particular cause or causes.
The expected influence of human activities is thought to be much more complex than uniform warming over the entire surface of the Earth and over the whole 68 cycle. Patterns of change over space and time therefore provide a more powerful 69 technique. The basic idea 70 pattern-based approaches is that different 71 causes of climate change have different characteristic patterns of climate response or fingerprints. Attribution studies seek to 72 a fingerprint match between the patterns of climate change 73 by models and those actually observed.
The most recent assessment of the science suggests that human activities have led to a discernible 74 on global climate and that these activities will have and increasing influence on future climate. The burning of coal, oil and natural gas, as well as various agricultural and industrial practices, are 75 the composition of the atmosphere and contributing to climate change. These human activities have led to increased atmospheric 76 of a number of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane and so on in the lower atmosphere.
Human activities, such as the burning of fossil, have also increased the 77 of small particles in the atmosphere. These particles can change the 78 of energy that is absorbed and reflected by the atmosphere. They are also believed to modify the 79 of air and clouds, changing the amount of energy that they absorb and reflect. Intensive studies of the climatic effects of these particles began only recently and the overall 80 is uncertain. It is likely that the net effect of these small particles is to cool the climate and to partially offset the warming of increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases.
61. A. incensed
B. personify
C. interact
D. predicted
62. A. array
B. ascertain
C. probe
D. perturb
63. A. application
B. integration
C. avenge
D. intervene
64. A. conforming
B. comparing
C. biding
D. budgeting
65. A. junctions
B. junctures
C. obligations
D. observations
66. A. optionally
B. ornamentally
C. previously
D. predicatively
67. A. attribution
B. autonomy
C. indication
D. induction
68. A. immune
B. seasonal
C. formidable
D. perceptible
69. A. analysis
B. disposal
C. antigen
D. disincentive
70. A. avenging
B. underestimating
C. ascending
D. underlying
71. A. potential
B. respectable
C. secretive
D. sturdy
72. A. weary
B. obtain
C. wink
D. retard
73. A. oriented
B. kenned
C. predicted
D. lapsed
74. A. modification
B. nomination
C. penetration
D. influence
75. A. paving
B. altering
C. retreating
D. saluting
76. A. stabilities
B. popularities
C. concentrations
D. hierarchies
77. A. abundance
B. hemisphere
C. fixture
D. distress
78. A. burial
B. argumentation
C. legislation
D. amount
79. A. disposals
B. properties
C. certainties
D. blends
80. A. calculation
B. assignment
C. budget
D. effect
Part IV Translation (10%)
Directions: There is an English passage below. Translate it into Chinese. And put it on the ANSWER SHEET.
For most of human history, the dominant concerns about energy have centered on the benefit side. Inadequacy of energy resources of the technologies for harvesting, converting, and distributing those resources has meant insufficient energy benefits to human beings and hence inconvenience, and constraints on its growth. The 1970's, then, represented an turning point. Energy was seen to be getting costlier in all respects. It began to be believable that excessive energy costs could pose threats on a par with those of insufficient supply. It also became possible to think that expanding some forms of energy supply could create costs exceeding the benefits.
The crucial question at the beginning of the 1990's is whether the trend that began in the 1970's will prove to be temporary or permanent. Is the era of cheap energy really over, or will a combination of new resources, new technology and changing geopolitics bring it back? One key determinant of the answer is the staggering scale of energy demand brought forth by 100 years of population growth and industrial demand.
Except for the huge pool of oil underlying the Middle East, the cheapest oil and gas are already gone. Even if a few more giant oil fields are discovered, they will make little difference against consumption on today's scale. Oil and gas will have to come increasingly, for most countries, from deeper in the earth and from imports whose reliability and affordability cannot be guaranteed.
Part V Writing (20%)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 50 minutes to write a composition of no less than 300 words under the title of “Advantages and Disadvantages of Doing Research Online”. Your composition should be based on the following outline.
1) Present situation about doing research online
2) Advantages for online research
3) Disadvantages for online research