自考本科可以考英语专八吗？

What does the cancellation of the 16-day flight mean?

A．The scientists on the ground are pursuing only their most important experiments.

B．The shuttle team will be disappointed at the curtailment of the science mission.

C．The science will complete the experiments on a later shuttle flight.

D．The remaining generators are sufficient.

Telecommunications stand for devices and systems that transmit electronic or optical signals across long distances. Telecommunications enables people around the world to contact one another, to access information instantly, and to communicate from remote areas. Telecommunications usually involves a sender of information and one or more recipients linked by a technology, such as a telephone system, that transmits information from one place to another. Telecommunications enables people to sand and receive personal messages across town, between countries, and to and from outer space. It also provides the key medium for delivering news, data, information, and entertainment.

Telecommunications devices convert different types of information, such as sound and video, into electronic or optical signals. Electronic signals typically travel along a medium such as copper wire or are carried over the air as radio waves. Optical signals typically travel along a medium such as strands of glass fibers. When a signal reaches its destination, the device on the receiving end converts the signal back into an understandable message, such as sound over a telephone, moving images on a television, or words and pictures on a computer screen.

Telecommunications messages can be sent in a variety of ways and by a wide range of devices. The messages can be seat from one sender to a single receiver (point-to-point) or from one sender to many receivers (point-to-multipoint). Personal communications, such as a telephone conversation between two people or a facsimile (fax) message (see Facsimile Transmission), usually involve point-to-point transmission. Point-to-multipoint telecommunications, often called broadcasts, provide the basis for commercial radio and television programming.

Telecommunications begin with messages that are converted into electronic or optical signals. Some signals, such as those that carry voice or music, are created in an analog or wave format, but may be converted into a digital or mathematical format for faster and more efficient transmission. The signals are then sent over a medium to a receiver, where they are decoded back into a form. that the person receiving the message can understand. There are a variety of ways to create and decode signals, and many different ways to transmit signals.

Individual people, businesses, and governments use many different types of telecommunications systems. Some systems, such as the telephone system, use a network of cables, wires, and switching stations for point-to-point communication. Other systems, such as radio and television, broadcast radio signals over the air that can be received by anyone who has a device to receive them. Some systems make use of several types of media to complete a transmission. For example, a telephone call may travel by means of copper wire, fiber-optic cable, and radio waves as the call is sent from sender to receiver. All telecommunications systems are constantly evolving as telecommunications technology improves. Many recent improvements, for example, offer high-speed broadband connections that are needed to send multimedia information over the Internet.

Personal computers have pushed the limits of the telephone system as more and more complex computer messages are being sent over telephone lines, and at rapidly increasing speeds. This need for speed has encouraged the development of digital transmission technology. The growing use of personal computers for telecommunications has increased the need for innovations in fiber-optic technology.

Telecommunications and information technologies are merging and converging. This means that many of the devices now associated with only one function may evolve into more versatile equipment. This convergence is already happening in various fields. Some telephones and pagers are able to store not only phone numbers but also names and personal information abo

A．Current development.

B．Transmission of message.

C．Computer networking.

D．Government regulation.

SECTION A MINI-LECTURE

Directions: In this section you sill hear a mini-lecture. You will hear the lecture ONCE ONLY. While listening, take notes on the important points. Your notes will not be marked, but you will need them to complete a gap-filling task after the mini-lecture. When the lecture is over, you will be given two minutes to check your notes, and another ten minutes to complete the gap-filling task on ANSWER SHEET ONE. Use the blank sheet for note-taking.

听力原文： Good morning, everyone. First about your second assignment. I'd like to remind you that your second assignment should be in by next Fri day. You can either put it in my pigeon hole, or leave it with the Department's secretary. Now, let's get down to the lecture.

Today, the lecture is on credit, er, or to be more specific, on credit cards. I'm sure you must have heard of some credit cards, like the VI SA card, which is an internationally used card, or the Great Wall card issued by the Bank of China, In order to give a better understanding, we'll discuss it in some detail.

Many businesses, such as department stores, restaurants, hotels and airline companies, use a credit system for selling their products and services. In a credit system, the seller agrees to sell something to the buyer without immediately receiving cash. He receives the goods or ser vices immediately and promises to pay for them later. This buy-now-pay later credit system is quite old.

There are two types of credit cards. One type is issued directly by a store to a customer. Many large department stores issue credit cards to their customers. The store credit card can be used to make purchases only at a particular store. For example, if you have a credit card from Store A, then you can only buy things in that store. Other stores would not accept it. The other kind of credit card is issued by a credit company. Credit cards from credit companies can be used to buy things almost anywhere. If you have a major credit card, you can buy airplane tickets, stay at hotels and eat at restaurant with it. Most large credit companies are connected to large banks. So if you want a credit card from a credit company, you generally have to make an application at a bank. After an applicant receives a credit card, he or she can make purchases using the

card.

The credit company sends the customer a statement of purchases at the end of each month. Generally the customer has to pay 25--50% of their credit hill every month. The customer pays directly to the credit company and the credit company pays to the store or hotel or restaurant.

There are some advantages and some disadvantages to using credit cards. The biggest advantage for the consumer is expressed by the phrase "buy now, pay later". This means that the consumer can purchase what he wants when he wants it. There is no need to save up money in advance. Another advantage of having a credit card is that it protects the owner, ff a credit card is lost or stolen, the owner only has to call the credit company and the credit company will stop the credit card number. No one else can use it. So the owner doesn't have to worry about losing the card. Another advantage of the credit card system is that the consumer receives a record of his or her purchases. Every month the credit customer receives a bill. The bill has a list of all purchases from that month. This makes it easier to remember when and where purchases are made. And another advantage is that credit cards can be used when something unexpected happens. Many kinds of professional people—plumbers, taxidrivers, doctors and dentists—will accept credit cards in an emergency. This is very important if you don't have any cash with you.

However, having said all that, using credit cards has one major disadvantage. That is, consumers tend to overspend their money. They spend more than they make. If a consumer buys a lot of th

SECTION B INTERVIEW

Directions: In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Questions 1 to 5 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following five questions.

Now listen to the interview.

听力原文：Interviewer: Well Charles, I must say that your shop is pretty remarkable. Um, it's basically a sweetshop, but you also do stationery and greeting cards and tobacco and fireworks

Shopkeeper: And newspapers.

Interviewer: And newspapers. Ah. And apart from all that, you've got photocopiers...

Shopkeeper: That's right.

Interviewer: And a fax machine.

Shopkeeper: Indeed.

Interviewer: Yes. How did. I mean, why the photocopiers?

Shopkeeper: Everything that's happened in my shop has almost happened by accident. But when I got into Clifton, I needed a photocopy one day and no one could tell me where to go. So it struck me that if I didn't know where to go, other people were in the same situation, so that's why I started it. And then I added on a facsimile machine because it seemed like a natural progression at the time. And all sorts of people use it.

Interviewer: Yes, who, what sort of people do use it?

Shopkeeper: Um, a lot of professional people —surveyors, engineers — particularly people who need to send plans. Because in the past you could send messages via telex, but a telex can't express a plan, whereas facsimile has that dimension, the added dimension.

Interviewer: Right. And do people send these fax messages abroad, or is it just to this country?

Shopkeeper: Well, it's surprising because when I started, I thought I'd be sending things to London and maybe Birmingham but, in fact, a high percentage of it is sent abroad, because it's immediate, it's very speedy. You can send a message and get an answer back very quickly.

Interviewer: And how much would it cost, for example, if I wanted to send a fax to the United States?

Shopkeeper: Well, a fax to the United States would cost you five pounds for a page. And when you think that in England by the Royal Mail, it would cost you twelve pounds to send a page by special delivery, it's actually a good value.

Interviewer: OK. What about your hours? How long do you have to spend actually in the shop?

Shopkeeper: Well, the shop is open from, essentially from eight in the morning until six at night, six days a week, and then a sort of fairly flexible morning on a Sunday. Um, and of those hours, I'm in it quite a lot.

Interviewer: And how long have you actually had the shop?

Shopkeeper: I started to have my shop in 1982, the 22nd of December, oh, sorry, the 22nd of November. It sticks in my brain.

Interviewer: And did you enjoy it?

Shopkeeper: Yes, overall I enjoy it. Running a business by yourself is jolly hard work and you never quite like every aspect all the time. 95% of the customers I love. Uh, 2% I really, you know, I'm not too bothered about. And 3% I positively hate.

Interviewer: What, What's the problem with those? Are they people who stay around and talk to you when you're busy or complain or what?

Shopkeeper: Um, it's bard to categorize really. I find people who are just totally rude, urn, unnecessary, and I don't really need their custom. And I suppose they form. the volume of the people that I don't like. But it's a very, very, very small percentage.

Interviewer: But is there a danger that shops like yours will disappear, more and more?

Shopkeeper" I think there's a very, very great danger that the majority of them will disappear.

Interviewer: Why's that?

Shopkeeper: Simply because costs of running a shop have just become very, very high. To give you some example, in the time that I've been there, my rent has quadrupled, the local property tax have doubled, other costs have gone up proportionately. And at the end of the day it is a little bit hard to try to keep u

A．cigarettes

B．exercise books

C．photocopiers

D．chocolates