全国2005年1月高等教育自学考试英语写作试题

Ⅰ.Supply the missing topic sentence in the underlined part of each of the following paragraphs.20%
1. _______________________. People in life are like runers in a hurdle race. They have to overcome difficulties as the runners have to jump over the hurdles on the track. Some runners can not pass hurdles.They fall to the ground and lose the race. It is also true of people in life.People may be defeated by difficulties and setbacks and become losers too. How they react to failure and what attitudes they adopt determine their meaning of life.
2._________________________________________.
Dogs are particularly valuable in guiding the blind, protecting property, finding lost people, and hunting criminals. Horses are used in guarding herds, carrying men in lands where there are no roads, and helping farmers work their land. Pigeons have long been used to carry messages. Wild animals from the jungles, forests and seas are very popular performers in circuses and moving pictures.
3. _________________________________________.
 Consumers may be convinced to buy a product of poor quality or high price because of an advertisement. For example, some advertisers have appealed to people’s desire for better fuel economy for their cars by advertising automotive products that improve gasoline mileage. Some of the products work. Others are worthless and a waste of consumers’ money.
4.__________________________________________.
The early trains were impractical curiosities, and for a long time the railroad companies met with troublesome mechanical problems. The most serious ones were the construction of rails able to bear load, and the development of a safe, effective stopping system. Once these were solved, the railroad was established as the best means of land transportation. By 1870 there were thousands of miles of railroads crossing the eastern mountain ranges and reaching western lines.
Ⅱ. Write an outline.20%
Read the following passage carefully and then write a “sentence outline” or a “topic outline” for it.
Ice Cream
The history of ice cream is a mystery. No one knows exactly how and when people began to eat it. There is one story that the Roman Emperor Nero(A.D.37-68) sent slaves to the mountains to bring back snow. The snow was served to him sweetened with honey and fruit pulp. Marco Polo(1254-1324) tasted flavored ices, too, during his famous travels in the Far East. He brought the recipes back to Italy.
Recipes for ices spread from Italy to the rest of Europe in the 1500’s. the chefs of kings constantly experimented with new combinations to please their masters, and at some point cream and butter were added to the recipes for ices. The new dish was called cream ice. Cream ice,molded into amusing shapes, began to be served on the tables of kings across Europe. Louis XII(1638-1715) surprised his court with a dessert of eggs in cups of silver and gilt. The eggs, of course, were really cream ice.
Gradually cream ice took the name it has today. One of the earliest advertisements for ice cream was put in a New York paper in 1786. The ad announced that“Ladies and gentlemen may be supplied with ice cream every day at the City Tavern by their humble servant, Joseph Crowe.” But ice cream was still not an everyday event. It was usually presented in fancy shapes at the end of dinner parties. Dolley Madison (1768-1849) was famous for her imaginative dinners, and she was the first to serve ice cream at the White House. When her guests came into the dining room, they found a table covered with delicious dishes, and in the center of the table, a huge mound of pink ice cream on a silver platter.
Ice cream was such a delicacy because it was so hard to make. At first it was beaten and then shaken by hand in a pan of salt and ice until it became firm. A freezer that was cranked by hand was developed around 1846. Making ice cream was still a chore, but cranking the freezer was much easier and faster than shaking the mixture in a pan.
“Ice-cream socials” became a popular way to entertain friends. Everyone helped turn the crank of the freezer, and homemade peach or strawberry ice cream was the reward. The development of the continuous freezer in the 1920’s made the manufacture of ice cream very quick and economical. It soon was easier to buy packaged ice cream than to make it at home. Eskimo pies and Popsicles began to be sold at the same time.
Possibly ice-cream cones began with the World’s Fair in 1893. Vendors there sold Fried Ice Cream. The ice cream was covered with a fritter batter and then quickly dipped in very hot lard or olive oil. Putting the ice cream in an already prepared cone was the next step. Today there are many novelty products, from frozen drumsticks to ice-cream pies.
Ⅲ.Composition 60%
Some university students want to live in a room alone. Others prefer having roommates.
Which do you like better, living alone or living with roommates¡ Write an essay, with specific examples, of about 300 words to support your answer.