全国2009年10月高等教育自学考试语言与文化试题

课程代码：00838

I. Each of the following incomplete statements is followed by four alternatives. Read each statement and the four alternatives carefully and decide which of the four alternatives best completes the statement. (20%)

1. “A Chauvinist pig” refers to a person who believes that women are ______.(  )

A. prone to tears  B. sociable

C. frail  D. inferior

2. A hot, freshly cooked sausage sandwiched in a split roll of bread is called ______.(  )

A. hamburger  B. sandwich

C. hot dog  D. pudding

3. Language is ______.(  )

A. the product of the human brain  B. rule governed

C. independent of culture  D. the result of social institutions

4. Language is used for communication in that communication is the ____ function of language.(  )

A. primary  B. peripheral

C. medium  D. personal

5. Which of the following statements is NOT true?(  )

A. English is a language with explicit grammar and Chinese is a language with implicit grammar.

B. Compared with Chinese, English has more grammatical morphemes that are used more frequently in either speech or writing.

C. Chinese has no grammatical morphemes.

D. Grammatical explicitness and consistency are required in English.

6. English is the language which ______.(  )

A. demonstrates more hypotactic relations than Chinese does

B. demonstrates more paratactic relations than Chinese does

C. demonstrates only hypotactic relations

D. only relies on conjunctions for sentence construction

7. ____ can be used as a title for an English woman whose marital status is unknown or is not indicated.(  )

A. Mrs.  B. Ms.

C. Miss  D. Madam

8. “To kick the bucket” means “to _____ ” (  )

A. die  B. work

C. play  D. study

9. “Marry in May, repent always.” is related to ______.(  )

A. geography  B. Christianity

C. individualism  D. Greco-Roman civilization

10. “A Cleopatra” is an allusion from______.(  )

A. mythology  B. religion

C. literature  D. sports

11. A simile is a direct _____ between two or more unlike things, normally introduced by “like” or “as”.(  )

A. meaning  B. comparison

C. link  D. way

12. Terms of colours can be used either literally to refer to different colours or metaphorically to convey their ______ meanings.(  )

A. direct  B. implied

C. associative  D. comparative

13. ______ are pleasant, polite or harmless sounding words or expressions used to mask harsh, rude or infamous truths.(  )

A. Terms of humility  B. Honourifics

C. Similes and metaphors  D. Euphemisms

14. Honourifics are used to show respect to one’s interlocutors and persons mentioned in conversations, while ______ are used to show the speaker’s modesty.(  )

A. honourifics  B. compliments

C. terms of humility  D. euphemisms

15. The term “text” refers to any piece of spoken or written language, which expresses a(n) ______ meaning.(  )

A. complete  B. incomplete

C. regular  D. irregular

16. A: Do you mind my smoking here ?(  )

B: This is non-smoking area.

There is ______between the above two sentences.

A. logic  B. lexical

C. cohesion  D. coherence

17. Which of the following words is a coinage, which is often used in the advertisements or brand names?(  )

A. homely  B. package

C. smoothness  D. home office

18. The Chinese meaning of “Mars” is ______ .(  )

A. 水星  B. 金星

C. 火星 D.木星

19. What does punctuality mean to Americans and Englishmen?(  )

A. in time  B. on time if not a little before

C. a couple of minutes late  D. half an hour late

20. ______ communication is communication without words.(  )

A. Action  B. Gestures

C. Verbal  D. Nonverbal

II. Each of the following incomplete statements is followed by four alternatives. Read each statement and the four alternatives carefully and decide which alternatives can complete the statement. There might be more than one correct answer. (10%)

21. Affective meaning is communicated when ______ are expressed directly or indirectly in language.(  )

A. communicative values  B. attitudes

C. feelings  D. referential meanings

22. Many English words refer to the historical aspects of English culture, such as ______. (  )

A. reformation  B. lynch

C. cocktail  D. scalp

23. Which of the following statements is right?(  )

A. Hypotactic language is unambiguous and paratactic language is ambiguous.

B. Hypotactic language like English relies on conjunctions for sentence construction.

C. Paratactic language like Chinese never relies on conjunctions for sentence construction.

D. Hypotactic and paratactic relations can be found in both English and Chinese.

24. “ ______ ”is an appropriate reply to an expression of gratitude.(  )

A. Don’t mention it  B. Don’t say that

C. It’s my pleasure  D. It’s my duty

25. ______ is an allusion from a historical event.(  )

A. Newcastle  B. Marathon

C. Waterloo  D. Paris

26. In English, green is usually associated with ______.(  )

A. jealousy  B. lacking experience

C. authoritative permission  D. profit

27. In English, we can use such euphemisms as ______ for “die”.(  )

A. “go”  B. “depart”

C. “go to a better world”  D. “go the way of all flesh”

28. The logical relationships between adjoining sentences can be classified into ______. (  )

A. additive  B. adversative

C. causal   D. temporal

29. A news report normally consists of ______.(  )

A. a headline  B. a lead

C. a subtitle  D. a story

30. Thumbing one’s nose is used to show one’s ______.(  )

A. defiance  B. greeting others

C. arousing other’s interest  D. contempt

III. Fill in each underlined space with a proper expression. (20%)

31. Language is the carrier and ______ of culture.

32. Each culture develops a particular way of ______ favoured by a particular population.

33. The prefix “super-” and suffices “-logy”, “-ics” are all from______.

34. ______ is used to talk about a person or event that attracts a lot of notice and is the subject of much talk for a short time but is soon forgotten.

35. If the person calling is a stranger and does not tell who he or she is, English speakers normally ask“ ______ ”

36. Which of the following words in the sentence “There are too many facts here for me to digest them all” is a metaphor?______

37. In English a developing country is used to refer to a poor country. Here a developing country is a______.

38. A: Are you from China?

B: Yes, I am.

The sentences in the above dialogue are connected by both grammatical and lexical means, so we say that they exhibit ______.

39. In American English, the letters “er” in the word “clerk” are pronounced as______.

40. “ ______ ”is signified by moving several times the hand whose forefinger touches one’s own cheek.

IV. Answer the following questions briefly.(12%)

41. Could you say something about the language features of English advertising?

42. How is nonverbal communication related to culture?

43. What does abstract thinking refer to?

44. How would you explain the fact that “greenhouse” and its equivalent in Chinese “温室” are formed differently?

V. Translation.(18%)

45．趁热打铁。

46．称呼语用于招呼别人，引起其注意。

47．敬请指正。

48. He is as strong as a horse.

49. pink elephants

50.Request the honour of your presence.

VI. Discuss the following topics.(20%)

51. Are “please” in English and “请” in Chinese used in the same way in communication? If they are not, what differences can you find between them?

52. What cross-cultural differences can you find between English and Chinese thanks?