考研考研英语模拟试题(2015-11-4) |
第1题:Economists often like to speak of Homo economicus—rational economic man. In practice, human economic behaviour is not quite as rational as the relentless logic of theoretical economics suggests it ought to be. When buying things in a straight exchange of money for goods, people often respond to changes in price in exactly the way that theoretical economics predicts. But when faced with an exchange whose outcome is predictable only on average, most people prefer to avoid the risk of making a loss than to take the chance of making a gain in circumstances when the average expected outcome of the two actions would be the same. There has been a lot of discussion about this discrepancy in the economic literature—in particular, about whether it is the product of cultural experience or is a reflection of a deeper biological phenomenon. So Keith Chen, of the Yale School of Management, and his colleagues decided to investigate its evolutionary past. They reasoned that if they could find similar behaviour in another species of primate (none of which has yet invented a cash economy) this would suggest that loss aversion evolved in a common ancestor. They chose the capuchin monkey, Cebus apella, a South American species often used for behavioral experiments. First, the researchers had to introduce their monkeys to the idea of a cash economy. They did this by giving them small metal discs while showing them food. The monkeys quickly learned that humans valued these inedible discs so much that they were willing to trade them for scrumptious pieces of apple, grapes and jelly. Preliminary experiments established the amount of apple that was valued as much as either a grape or a cube of jelly, and set the price accordingly, at one disc per food item. The monkeys were then given 12 discs and allowed to trade them one at a time for whichever foodstuff they preferred. Once the price had been established, though, it was changed. The size of the apple portions was doubled, effectively halving the price of apple. At the same time, the number of discs a monkey was given to spend fell from 12 to nine. The result was that apple consumption went up in exactly the way that price theory (as applied to humans) would predict. Indeed, averaged over the course of ten sessions it was within 1% of the theory’s prediction. One up to Cebus economicus. The experimenters then began to test their animals’ risk aversion. They did this by offering them three different trading regimes in succession. Each required choosing between the wares of two experimental “salesmen”. In the first regime one salesman offered one piece of apple for a disc, while the other offered two. However, half the time the second salesman only handed over one piece. Despite this deception, the monkeys quickly worked out that the second salesman offered the better overall deal, and came to prefer him. 21. The capuchin monkey was chosen for the experiments because____________ [A] it is from South America. [B] it doesn’t understand the concept of money. [C] it is often used in behavioral experiments. [D] it is cute and friendly. 22. How were the monkeys introduced to the idea of a cash economy? [A] They were told that metal discs could be traded for food. [B] They were given metal discs if they gave the researchers food. [C] They were shown the different values of three different kinds of food. [D] They were given some discs which researchers would exchange for food. 23. The researchers reduce the “cost” of apples in order to_________________ [A] see if the monkeys would “buy” more apples, as humans would. [B] see if the monkeys understood the idea of a cash economy. [C] see if the monkeys preferred apples or another kind of food. [D] see what the monkeys would buy with only nine metal discs. 24. The first trading regime mentioned in the final paragraph revealed that ___________ [A] monkeys don’t mind being deceived. [B] monkeys like to take risks. [C] monkeys don’t really understand the concept of a cash economy. [D] monkeys will “buy” from a deceptive person if they offer a better deal. 25. What is the next paragraph likely to cover? [A] A comparison of the way the monkeys behaved and real economic behaviour. [B] A second trading regime. [C] An explanation of the monkeys’ behaviour. [D] A conclusion on how this might affect theoretical economics. |
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第2、3、4、5、6题: FEW people, except conspiracy theorists, would have expected so public a spat as the one this week between the two ringmasters of Formula One (F1) motor racing. Bernie Ecclestone, a fabulously wealthy British motor sport entrepreneur, is at odds, it would seem, with his longstanding associate, Max Mosley, president of F1's governing body, the Federation International de l'Automobile (FIA). Ostensibly, the dispute has broken out over what looked like a done deal. Last June, the FIA voted unanimously to extend Mr. Ecclestone's exclusive rights to stage and broadcast F1 racing, which expire in 2010, by 100 years. For these lucrative rights, Mr. Ecclestone was to pay the FIA a mere $360m in total, and only $60m immediately. The FIA claims that Mr. Ecclestone has not made the payment of $60m, a claim denied by Mr. Ecclestone, who insists the money has been placed in an escrow account. Mr. Mosley has asked Mr. Ecclestone to pay up or risk losing the deal for the F1 rights after 2010, perhaps to a consortium of car makers that own F1 teams. For his part, Mr. Ecclestone has, rather theatrically, accused Mr. Mosley of "trying to do some extortion". What is going on? Only three things can be stated with confidence. First, the idea that Mr. Ecclestone cannot find the $60m is ludicrous: his family trust is not exactly short of cash, having raised around $2 billion in the past two years. Second, it would not be in Mr. Ecclestone's long-term financial interest to forgo a deal which could only enhance the value of his family's remaining 50% stake in SLEC, the holding company for the group of companies that runs the commercial side of F1. Third, the timing of the dispute is very interesting. Why? Because the other 50% stake in SLEC, owned by EM. TV, a debt- ridden German media company, is up for sale. EM. TV badly needs to sell this stake in the near future to keep its bankers at bay. The uncertainty created by the dispute between Mr. Ecclestone and Mr. Mosley might depress the value of EM. TV's holding. Could that work to Mr. Ecclestone's advantage? Quite possibly. The lower the value of EM. TV's stake, the higher the relative value of an option Mr. Ecclestone holds to sell a further 25% of SLEC to EM. TV for around $1 billion--and the better the deal Mr. Ecclestone might be able to extract for surrendering the option. Whoever buys EM. TV's stake in SLEC will have to negotiate with Mr. Ecclestone over this instrument. The Economist understands that Mr. Ecclestone has the right to veto a plan proposed last December by Kirch, a privately owned German media group, to buy half of EM. TV's holding for $550m. In the coming weeks, Mr. Ecclestone will doubtless be deploying his formidable negotiating skills to best advantage. It would be rash to bet against his securing a good deal out of EM. TV's difficulties. His dispute with the FIA may then be easily resolved. As usual, he holds all the cards. 36. FIA would give its partner the right to stage the racing till A.Mr. Ecclestone gave all the money. B.The contract time is reached. C.The 100th year after 2010. D.Mr. Ecclestone gave it 60m$. 37. The word “extortion”(last line, para 2 ) means A.abjection B.negotiation C.cheating D.racketeering 38. Which statement is probably true? A.Mr. Ecclestone just wanted to get more benefits through the EM.TV sale. B.Mr. Ecclestone wanted to give up the benefits from the contract. C.The timing of the dispute is very improper. D.Mr. Ecclestone cannot afford the money. 39. The last sentence of the passage implies A.Mr. Ecclestone can win at cards. B.Mr. Ecclestone will achieve great success in the negotiation. C.Mr. Ecclestone cheated all his partners. D.Mr. Eccestone will lose the whole contract with FIA. 40. According to the last paragraph, “he holds all the cards” as A. he deploys to best advantage B. he wins all the cards C. he never fails himself D. he takes the cards in hand |
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第7题:The BBC, Britain’s mammoth public-service broadcaster, has long been a cause for complaint among its competitors in television, radio and educational and magazine publishers. Newspapers, meanwhile, have been protected from it because they published in a different medium. That’s no longer the case. The internet has brought the BBC and newspapers in direct competition—and the BBC looks like coming off best. The improbable success online of Britain’s lumbering giant of a public service broadcaster is largely down to John Birt, a former director general who “got” the internet before any of the other big men of British media. He launched the corporation’s online operations in 1998, saying that the BBC would be a trusted guide for people bewildered by the variety of online services. The BBC now has 525 sites. It spends £15m ($27m) a year on its news website and another £51m on others ranging from society and culture to science, nature and entertainment. But behind the websites are the vast newsgathering and programme making resources, including over 5,000 journalists, funded by its annual £2.8 billion public subsidy. For this year’s Chelsea Flower Show, for instance, the BBC’s gardening micro site made it possible to zoom around each competing garden, watch an interview with the designer and click on “leaf hotspots” about individual plants. For this year’s election, the news website offered a wealth of easy-to-use statistical detail on constituencies, voting patterns and polls. This week the BBC announced free downloads of several Beethoven symphonies performed by one of its five in-house orchestras. That particularly annoys newspapers, whose online sites sometimes offer free music downloads—but they have to pay the music industry for them. It is the success of the BBC’s news website that most troubles newspapers. Its audience has increased from 1.6m unique weekly users in 2000 to 7.8m in 2005; and its content has a breadth and depth that newspapers struggle to match. Newspapers need to build up their online businesses because their offline businesses are flagging. Total newspaper readership has fallen by about 30% since 1990 and readers are getting older as young people increasingly get their news from other sources—principally the internet. In 1990, 38% of newspaper readers were under 35. By 2002, the figure had dropped to 31%. Just this week, Dominic Lawson, the editor of the Sunday Telegraph, was sacked for failing to stem its decline. Some papers are having some success in building audiences online—the Guardian, which has by far the most successful newspaper site, gets nearly half as many weekly users as the BBC—but the problem is turning them into money. 36. What does “John Birt … ‘got’ the internet before any of the other big men of British media” mean? [A] John Birt was connected to the internet before his competitors. [B] John Birt launched the BBC website before his competitors launched theirs. [C] John Birt understood how the internet could be used by news media before his competitors did. [D] John Birt understood how the internet worked before his competitors did. 37. Why does the text state that the BBC’s success in the field of internet news was “improbable”? [A] Because the BBC is a large organisation. [B] Because the BBC is not a private company. [C] Because the BBC is not a successful media organisation. [D] Because the BBC doesn’t make a profit. 38. The author cites the examples in paragraph 3 in order to demonstrate that [A] the BBC’s websites are innovative and comprehensive. [B] the BBC’s websites are free and wide-ranging. [C] the BBC spends its money well. [D] the BBC uses modern technology. 39. The BBC needn’t to pay the music industry to provide classical music downloads for users of its websites because [A] the BBC is Britain’s state-owned media organisation. [B] the BBC has a special copyright agreement with the big music industry companies. [C] the BBC produces classical music itself. [D] the BBC lets the music industry use its orchestras for free. 40. According to the final paragraph, the main advantage that the BBC has over newspapers is that [A] more people use the BBC website. [B] the BBC doesn’t need to make a profit. [C] the BBC has more competent managers. [D] young people are turning to the internet for news coverage. |
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第8题:Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese. Your translation should be written clearly on ANSWER SHEET 2. The “standard of living” of any country means the average persons share of the goods and services which the country produces. A country’s standard of living, therefore, depends first and foremost on its capacity to produce wealth. 46) “Wealth” in this sense is not money, for we do not live on money but on things that money can buy: “goods” such as food and clothing, and “services” such as transport and entertainment. A country’s capacity to produce wealth depends upon many factors, most of which have an effect on one another. Wealth depends to a great extent upon a country’s natural resources, such as coal, gold, and other minerals, water supply and so on. 47) Some regions of the world are well supplied with coal and minerals, and have a fertile soil and a favorable climate; other regions possess none of them. Next to natural resources comes the ability to turn them to use. 48) Some countries are perhaps well off in natural resources, but suffered for many years from civil and external wars, and for this and other reasons have been unable to develop their resources. Sound stable political conditions, and freedom from foreign invasion, enable a country to develop its natural resources peacefully and steadily, and to produce more wealth than another country equally well served by nature but less well ordered. Another important factor is the technical efficiency of a country’s people. Industrialized countries that have trained numerous skilled workers and technicians are better placed to produce wealth than countries whose workers are largely unskilled. 49) A country’s standard of living does not only depend upon the wealth that is produced and consumed within its own borders, but also upon what is indirectly produced through international trade. For example, Britain’s wealth in foodstuffs and other agricultural products would be much less if she had to depend only on those grown at home. Trade makes it possible for her surplus manufactured goods to be traded abroad for the agricultural products that would otherwise be lacking. 50) A country’s wealth is, therefore, much influenced by its manufacturing capacity, provided that other countries can be found ready to accept its manufactures. |
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第9题: We can learn a good deal about the nature of business by comparing it with poker. While both have a large element of chance, in the long run the winner is the man who plays with steady skill. In both games ultimate victory requires intimate knowledge of the rules, insight into the psychology of the other players, self-confidence, a considerable amount of self-discipline, and the ability to respond swiftly and effectively to opportunities provided by chance. No one expects poker to be played on the ethical principles preached in churches. Poker has its special ethics, and here I am not referring to rules against cheating. The man who keeps an ace up his sleeve or who marks the cards is more than unethical; he is a crook, and can be punished as such—kicked out of the game or, in the Old West, shot. In contrast to the cheat, the unethical poker player is one who, while abiding by the letter of the rules, finds ways to put the other players at an unfair disadvantage. Perhaps he bothers them with loud talk. Or he tries to get them drunk. Ethical poker players frown on such tactics. Poker’s own brand of ethics is different from the ethical ideals of civilized human relationships. The game calls for distrust of the other fellow. It ignores the claim of friendship. Cunning deception and concealment of one’s strength and intentions, not kindness and openheartedness, are vital in poker. No one thinks any the worse of poker on that account. And no one should think any the worse of the game of business because its standards of right and wrong differ from the prevailing traditions of morality in our society. That most businessmen are not indifferent to ethics in their private lives, everyone will agree. My point is that in their office lives they cease to be private citizens; they become game players who must be guided by a somewhat different set of ethical standards. The point was forcefully made to me by a Midwestern executive who has given a good deal of thought to the question: “So long as a businessman complies with the laws of the land and avoids telling harmful lies, he is ethical. If the law as written gives a man wide-open chance to make a killing, he would be a fool not to take advantage of it. If he doesn’t, somebody else will. There is no obligation on him to stop and consider who is going to get hurt. If the law says he can do it, that’s all the justification he needs. There is nothing unethical about that. It’s just plain business sense.” I think it is fair to sum up the prevailing attitude of businessmen on ethics as follows: We live in what is probably the most competitive of the world’s civilized societies. Our customs encourage a high degree of aggression in the individual’s striving for success. Business is our main area of competition, and it has been made into a game of strategy. The basic rules of the game have been set by the government, which attempts to detect and punish business frauds. But as long as a company does not break the rules of the game set by law, it has the legal right to shape its strategy without reference to anything but its profits. Decisions in this area are, finally, decisions of strategy, not of ethics. 36. According to the author, one of the common features of poker winners is . A. a quick response to chances B. extensive knowledge of games C. familiarity with the other players D. chancy response strategies 37. In terms of poker’s ethics, the author believes that . A. a player who keeps an ace up his sleeve violates poker’s ethics B. it is unethical for a player not to annoy the other players with noise C. a player who doesn’t observe poker’s special ethics can be punished D. poker has its own type of ethics different than those of social morality 38. The fifth paragraph implies that . A. nothing should prevent a businessman from making big money legally B. every businessman should give considerable thought to business ethics C. law grants businessmen the right to hurt others when necessary D. business sense simply approves anything unethical 39. It can be concluded from the passage that . A. companies may neglect laws when making their strategies B. deceptions in business might be thought of as reasonable strategies C. laws are especially tolerant of businessmen and their actions D. business ethics can be applied to solve moral problems in society 40. The game ethics as described in the passage might apply to which of the following? A. Medicine. B. Sports. C. Diplomacy. D. Finance. |
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第10、11、12、13、14题: JOY WILLIAMS'S quirky fourth novel "The Quick and the Dead" follows a trio of 16-yearold misfits in a warped "Charlie's Angels" set in the American south-west. Driven hazily to defend animal rights, the girls accomplish little beyond diatribe: they rescue a putrefied ram and hurl stones at stuffed elephants. In what is structurally a road novel that ends up where it began, the desultory threesome stumbles upon both cruelty to animals and unlikely romance. A mournful dog is strangled by an irate neighbor, a taxidermist falls in love with an 8-year-old direct-action firebrand determined that he atone for his sins. A careen across the barely tamed Arizona prairie, this peculiar book aims less for a traditional storyline than a sequence of jangled (often hilarious) conversations, ludicrous circumstances, and absurdist tableaux. The consequent long-walk-to-nowhere is both the book's limitation and its charm. All three girls are motherless. Fiercely political Alice discovers that her erstwhile parents are her grandparents, who thereupon shrivel: "Deceit had kept them young whereas the truth had accelerated them practically into decrepitude." Both parents of the doleful Corvus drowned while driving on a flooded interstate off-ramp. The mother of the more conventional Annabel ("one of those people who would say, `We'll get in touch soonest' when they never wanted to see you again") slammed her car drunkenly into a fish restaurant. Later, Annabel's father observes to his wife's ghost, "You didn't want to order what I ordered, darling." The sharp-tongued wraith snaps back: "That's because you always ordered badly and wanted me to experience your miserable mistake." Against a roundly apocalyptic world view, the great pleasures of this book are line-by-line. Ms Williams can lacerate setting and character alike in a few slashes: "It was one of those rugged American places, a remote, sad-ass, but plucky downwind town whose citizens were flawed and brave." Alice's acerbity spits little wisdoms: putting lost teeth under a pillow for money is "a classic capitalistic consumer ploy, designed to wean you away at an early age from healthy horror and sensible dismay to greedy, deluded, sunny expectancy." Whether or not the novel, like Alice, expressly advocates animal rights, an animal motif crops up in every scene, as flesh-and blood "critters" (usually dead) or insipid decoration on crockery. If Ms Williams does not intend to induce human horror at a pending bestial Armageddon, she at least invokes a future of earthly loneliness, where animals appear only as ceramic-hen butter dishes and endangered-species Elastoplasts. One caution: when flimsy narrative superstructure begins to sag, anarchic wackiness can grow wearing. While "The Quick and the Dead" is edgy from its first page, the trouble with starting at the edge is there is nowhere to go. Nevertheless, Ms Williams is original, energetic and viscously funny: Carl Hiaasen with a conscience. 31. The girls in the novel A.did nothing about reflecting the society facts.? B.protected animals successfully. C.were cruel to the animals. D.murdered their neighbor’s dog. 32. This novel is attentive to each of the following except A.backgrounds B.conversations C.traditional storyline D.scenes 33. The main idea of the novel is A.care about the children B.how to make crockery C.fight with the animal-killers D.animal protection 34. The second paragraph tells us A.the miserable life of the girls. B.the girls’ parents are growing old. C.society contradiction and circumstances the girls live in. D.the backgrounds of the story and the heroines. 35. For Alice, putting lost teeth under a pillow for money is not A.just a beautiful dream. B.a way to be away the cheating.? C.a way to be away the lust .? D.a way to prevent one from illness. |
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第15题:Survey results indicate that smoking and alcohol and marijuana use increased among residents of Manhattan during the 5~8 weeks after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center which took place on September 11, 2001. Almost onethird of the nearly 1,000 persons interviewed reported an increased use of alcohol, marijuana, or cigarettes following the September 11th attacks. The largest increase was in alcohol use. About onefourth of the respondents said they were drinking more alcohol in the weeks after September 11; about 10% reported an increase in smoking, and 3.2% said they had increased their use of marijuana. The investigators found survey participants by randomly dialing New York City phone numbers and screened potential respondents for Manhattan residents living in areas close to the World Trade Center. Interviews were conducted with 988 individuals between October 16 and November 15, 2001. Participants were asked about their cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, and marijuana use habits before and after September 11. During the week prior to September 11, 2001, 22.6% of the participants reported smoking cigarettes, 59.1% drinking alcohol, and 4.4% using marijuana. After September 11th, 23.4% reported smoking cigarettes, 64.4% drinking alcohol, and 5.7% smoking marijuana. Among those who smoked, almost 10% reported smoking at least an extra pack of cigarettes a week and among those who drank alcohol, more than 20% reported imbibing at least one extra drink a day. The researchers found that people who reported an increase in substance abuse were more likely to suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and from depression. People who reported an increase in cigarette smoking or marijuana use were also more likely to have both PTSD and depression, while those who reported an increase in alcohol use were more likely to have depression only. Persons who were living closer to the World Trade Center were more likely to increase their cigarette smoking, but other factors such as being displaced from home, losing possessions during the attacks, or being involved in the rescue efforts were not consistently associated with increased substance use. Symptoms of panic attack were associated with an increase in the use of all substances. Increase in substance abuse did not differ significantly between men and women or among racial or ethnic groups. Demographic factors such as age, marital status, and income seemed to play a more critical role in determining if the events of September 11th led to an increase in substance use. 26. The survey results suggest that the largest increase in substance use was . A alcoholB marijuanaC cigarettesD cocaine 27. The survey participants were . A randomly selected United States citizens B randomly selected New York City citizens C randomly selected Manhattan residents who live close to the World Trade Center D randomly selected American citizens who witnessed the terrorist attack 28. The author is trying to show that . A use of substances may vary from time to time B abuse of certain substances is harmful for health C the attack of september 11th has left incurable harm to peoples mental health D terrorist attack increase anxiety and sense of insecurity among residents 29. What can be said about substance abuse after September 11? A People who reported an increase in alcohol use were more likely to have PTSD. B People who were living closer to World Trade Center were most likely to increase cigarette smoking. C Displacement from home and involvement in rescue efforts were consistently associated with increased substance use. D Symptoms of panic attach were unrelated with increased use of substances. 30. What can be inferred from the last paragraph? A Demographic information such as gender, race and marital status was not collected. B Gender and race do not have much effect on the amount of substance abuse. C Age and marital status do not make any difference on substance abuse. D Income is a better predictor of substance abuse than age. |
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第16题:Text 3 European farm ministers have ended three weeks of negotiations with a deal which they claim represents genuine reform of the common agricultural policy(CAP). Will it be enough to kickstart the Doha world trade negotiations? On the face of it, the deal agreed in the early hours of Thursday June 26th looks promising. Most subsidies linked to specific farm products are, at last, to be broken—the idea is to replace these with a direct payment to farmers, unconnected to particular products. Support prices for several key products, including milk and butter, are to be cut—that should mean European prices eventually falling towards the world market level. Cutting the link between subsidy and production was the main objective of proposals put forward by Mr Fischler, which had formed the starting point for the negotiations. The CAP is hugely unpopular around the world. It subsidises European farmers to such an extent that they can undercut farmers from poor countries, who also face trade barriers that largely exclude them from the potentially lucrative European market. Farm trade is also a key feature of the Doha round of trade talks, launched under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in November 2001. Developing countries have lined up alongside a number of industrial countries to demand an end to the massive subsidies Europe pays its farmers. Several Doha deadlines have already been missed because of the EU’s intransigence, and the survival of the talks will be at risk if no progress is made by September, when the world's trade ministers meet in Cancùn, Mexico. But now even the French seem to have gone along with the deal hammered out in Luxembourg. Up to a point, anyway. The package of measures gives the green light for the most eager reformers to move fast to implement the changes within their own countries. But there is an escape clause of sorts for the French and other reform-averse nations. They can delay implementation for up to two years. There is also a suggestion that the reforms might not apply where there is a chance that they would lead to a reduction in land under cultivation. These let-outs are potentially damaging for Europe’s negotiators in the Doha round. They could significantly reduce the cost savings that the reforms might otherwise generate and, in turn, keep European expenditure on farm support unacceptably high by world standards. More generally, the escape clauses could undermine the reforms by encouraging the suspicion that the new package will not deliver the changes that its supporters claim. Close analysis of what is inevitably a very complicated package might confirm the sceptics' fears. 31. The deal agreed on Thursday looks promising in that _____. [A] European farm ministers finally reached a consensus [B] the link between farm products and subsidies is removed [C] farmers would definitely accept the direct payment to them [D] European farm products will reach a lower price level than the world 32. It can be inferred from the third paragraph that ____. [A] farmers from poor countries were put at a disadvantage by CAP [B] the deal will be a key subject of debate in Doha round of trade talks [C] the deal was probably a result of pressure from other countries [D] the world’s trade ministers will resist the new deal reached recently 33. In what case might the escape clauses apply in reform-averse nations ? [A] Farmers lose their interest in farming. [B] Reforms have to be delayed for up to two years. [C] Implementation of the measures goes too eagerly. [D] The measures damage the reformers’ confidence. 34. The new package of measures is inevitably a complicated one due to ____. [A] Europe’s negotiators’ loss of confidence [B] European expenditure on farm support [C] escape clauses for some European countries [D] suspicion of the new package 35. What is the passage mainly about ? [A] a promising new deal [B] Doha world trade negotiations [C] world’s anger against Europe [D] doomed reforms of CAP |
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第17题:Americans have always been excessive worshippers of what William James called “the bitch goddess success”. Self-help gurus have topped the bestseller lists since Benjamin Franklin published his autobiography. Americans are much more likely than Europeans to believe that people can get ahead in life so long as they are willing to work hard. And they are much more likely to choose a high-paying job that carries a risk of redundancy than a lower-paid job that guarantees security. But you can’t have winners without losers (or how would you know how well you are doing?). And you can’t broaden opportunity without also broadening the opportunity to fail. For instance, until relatively recently, blacks could not blame themselves for their failure in the “race of life”, in Abraham Lincoln’s phrase, because they were debarred from so many parts of it. Now the barriers are lifted, the picture is more complicated. All of which creates a huge problem: how exactly should a hyper-competitive society deal with its losers? It’s all very well to note that drunkards and slackers get what they deserve. But what about the honest toilers? One way to deal with the problem is to offer people as many second chances as possible. In his intriguing new book “Born Losers: A History of Failure in America”, Scott Sandage argues that the mid-nineteenth century saw a redefinition of failure—from something that had described a lousy business to something that defined a whole life. Yet one of the striking things about America is how valiantly it has resisted the idea that there is any such thing as a born loser. American schools resist streaming their pupils much longer than their European counterparts: the whole point is to fit in rather than stand out. American higher education has numerous points of entry and reentry. And the American legal system has some of the most generous bankruptcy rules in the world. In Europe, a bankrupt is often still a ruined man; in America, he is a risk-taking entrepreneur. American history—not to mention American folklore—is replete with examples of people who tried and tried again until they made a success of their lives. Lincoln was a bankrupt storekeeper. Henry Ford was a serial failure. At 40, Thomas Watson, the architect of IBM, faced prison. America’s past is also full of people who came back from the brink. A second way to deal with losers is to celebrate them. Perhaps in reaction to the relentless boosterism of business life, American popular culture often sympathises with losers. But even in the loser-loving bits of popular culture, the American obsession with success has a habit of winning through. More often than not, born losers turn out to be winners in disguise. 31. According to paragraph 1, why are Americans “much more likely to choose a high-paying job that carries a risk of redundancy than a lower-paid job that guarantees security”? [A] Because they don’t mind taking risks. [B] Because Americans believe in the idea of “no pain, no gain”. [C] Because Americans rely a lot on self瞙elp books written by famous people. [D] Because a having high瞤aying job is how many Americans view success. 32. Paragraph 2 suggests that ________________ [A] America was once a racist country. [B] black Americans now have equal rights. [C] if you give someone the chance to succeed, you also give them the chance to fail. [D] you can know how successful you are by seeing how many people are failing. 33. The “honest toilers” mentioned in paragraph 3 refer to__________________ [A] lazy people and alcoholics. [B] trustworthy workers. [C] people who fail even though they try hard. [D] born losers—people who need lots of second chances in order to succeed. 34. We can learn from paragraph 4____________ [A] that the United States is better than Europe. [B] that American society is designed to give people many opportunities. [C] that the American system is better for children and businessmen. [D] that Scott Sandage’s book is largely irrelevant to modern American society. 35. According to paragraph 5, which of these is NOT an example of why Americans might like losers? [A] They often succeed in the end. [B] Losers often have legal problems. [C] There is sometimes a dislike of people who enthusiastically promote business. [D] Some very famous Americans were once losers. |
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第18题: The U.S. may so far have enjoyed good luck in escaping a direct SARS hit, but officials aren’t leaving anything to chance. The best hope for averting a SARS epidemic at home will be to keep SARS out at the nation’s borders. Federal immigration laws authorize immigration authorities to exclude non-citizens who are determined to have a “communicable disease of public health significance”. Immigration law also authorizes the President by proclamation to suspend the entry of any group of aliens whose entry he deems to be detrimental to the interests of the United States. This little-used power could be deployed to exclude all aliens from affected areas, a policy Taiwan has recently implemented. Under the Public Health Service Act, any individual (citizens included) may be quarantined at an international port of entry if they are reasonably believed to be carrying a designated communicable disease. As of an April 4 Executive Order by President Bush, SARS is now a designated disease. Thus, in tandem with airline screening, federal health authorities are carefully monitoring travelers from affected areas in Asia for SARS symptoms. With an estimated 25,000 individuals entering the country legally from Asia on a daily basis, that is a tall order. A single SARS- infected person getting through the net could bring down the border strategy. The U.S. government might also frontend the border strategy through restrictions on travel by American citizens to affected areas. In a series of Cold War era decisions, the Supreme Court upheld international travel restrictions for national security reasons, and one can imagine the same rationale applying to a public health emergency. How practical it would be to prohibit—and police—a travel ban to countries such as China is another question. The initial SARS defense, then, hinges on effective border control. But U.S. borders are far from under control. There are an estimated 8~9 million undocumented aliens now in the United States, a figure growing by as many as 500,000 per year. Asia is the largest contributor to undocumented immigration outside the western hemisphere, funneling illegal aliens into the United States through elaborate smuggling networks. SARS could just as easily make serious inroads into the U.S. through this backdoor rather than the front. 26. From the first three paragraphs, we learn that . A. American officials dont see any chance of escaping an immediate SARS hit B. noncitizens with a disease will be quarantined at the international airport C. foreigners with a communicable disease may legally be denied entry into the U.S. D. immigration officers are empowered to keep aliens out of the U.S. 27. Which of the following statements is true according to the text? A. The President rarely declares a rejection of noncitizens from infected areas. B. The U.S. is the only lucky country to have kept safe from a SARS attack. C. The interests of the U.S. are given more legal protection than public health. D. The Public Health Service Act has been brought into effect since April 4. 28. The phrase “a tall order” most probably means . A. an ambitious plan B. a difficult task C. a careful arrangement D. an illegal decision 29. The author would probably agree that . A. a SARS hit could be escaped by means of strict monitoring of international travel B. undocumented immigrants poses a serious threat to national security of U.S. C. illegal aliens come into the U.S. with the help of complicated smuggling networks D. American border strategy may fail to attain its goal of avoiding a SARS epidemic 30. The passage is primarily concerned with . A. the threat of SARS to the national security of U.S. B. the U.S. border strategy against SARS C. the problems in U.S. national security D. the crisis of a public health emergency |
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第19、20、21、22、23题: JOSEPH RYKWERT entered his field when post-war modernist architecture was coming under fire for its alienating embodiment of outmoded social ideals. Think of the UN building in New York, the city of Brasilia, the UNESCO building in Paris, the blocks of housing "projects" throughout the world. These tall, uniform boxes are set back from the street, isolated by windswept plazas. They look inward to their own functions, presenting no "face" to the inhabitants of the city, no "place" for social interaction. For Mr. Rykwert, who rejects the functionalist spirit of the Athens Charter of 1933, a manifesto for much post-war building, such facelessness destroys the human meaning of the city. Architectural form should not rigidly follow function, but ought to reflect the needs of the social body it represents. Like other forms of representation, architecture is the embodiment of the decisions that go into its making, not the result of impersonal forces, market or historical. Therefore, says Mr. Rykwert, adapting Joseph de Maistre's dictum that a nation has the government it deserves, our cities have the faces they deserve, In this book, Mr. Rykwert, a noted urban historian of anthropological bent, offers a flaneur's approach to the city's exterior surface rather than an urban history from the conceptual inside out. He does not drive, so his interaction with the city affords him a warts-and-all view with a sensual grasp of what it is to be a "place". His story of urbanization begins, not surprisingly, with the industrial revolution when populations shifted and increased, exacerbating problems of housing and crime. In the 19th century many planning programs and utopias (Ebenezer Howard's garden city and Charles Fourier's “phalansteries" among them) were proposed as remedies. These have left their mark on 20th-century cities, as did Baron Hausmann's boulevards in Paris, Eugene Viollet-le-Duc's and Owen Jones's arguments for historical style, and Adolf Loos's fateful turn-of-the-century call to abolish ornament which, in turn, inspired Le Corbusier's austere modem functionalism. The reader will recognize all these ideas in the surfaces of the cities that hosted them: New York, Paris, London, and Vienna. Cities changed again after the Second World War as populations grew, technology raced and prosperity spread. Like it or not, today's cities are the muddled product, among other things, of speed, greed, outmoded social agendas and ill-suited postmodern aesthetics. Some bemoan the old city's death; others welcome its replacement by the electronically driven "global village". Mr. Rykwert has his worries, to be sure, but he does not see ruin or anomie everywhere. He defends the city as a human and social necessity. In Chandigarh, Canberra and New York he sees overall success; in New Delhi, Paris and Shanghai, large areas of failing. For Mr. Rykwert, a man on foot in the age of speeding virtual, good architecture may still show us a face where flaneurs can read the story of their urban setting in familiar metaphors. 26. An argument made by supporters of functionism is that A. post-war modernist architecture was coming under fire B. UN building in New York blocks the housing projects C. windswept plazas present “face” to the inhabitants of the city D. functionism reflects the needs of the social body 27. According to Mr Rykwert, “dictum” can serve as A. book B. market C. form D. words 28.The word “exacerbating”(line 3, para 4) means A.deteriorating B.inspiring C. encouraging D. surprising 29.According to Mr Rykwert, he A. sees damage here and there B. is absolutely a functionist C. is completely disappointed with the city’s death D. is objectively commenting the city ? 30. The author associates the issue of functionism with post-war modernist architecture because A. they are both Mr Rykwert’s arguments B. it is a comparison to show the importance of post-war modernist architecture C. functionism and post-war modernism architecture are totally contradictory D. Mr Rykwert supports functionism |
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第24、25、26、27、28题: "MAKING money is a dirty game," says the Institute of Economic Affairs, summing up the attitude of British novelists towards business. The IEA, a free market think-tank, has just published a collection of essays ("The Representation of Business in English Literature") by five academics chronicling the hostility of the country's men and women of letters to the sordid business of making money. The implication is that Britain's economic performance is retarded by an anti-industrial culture. Rather than blaming recalcitrant workers and incompetent managers for Britain's economic worries, then, we can put George Orwell and Martin Amis in the dock instead. From Dickens's Scrooge to Amis’s John Self in his 1980s novel "Money", novelists have conjured up a rogue's gallery of mean, greedy, amoral money-men that has alienated their impressionable readers from the noble pursuit of capitalism. The argument has been well made before, most famously in 1981 by Martin Wiener, an American academic, in his "English Culture and the Decline of the Industrial Spirit". Lady Thatcher was a devotee of Mr. Wiener's, and she led a crusade to revive the "entrepreneurial culture" which the liberal elite had allegedly trampled underfoot. The present Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, sounds as though he agrees with her. At a recent speech to the Confederation of British Industry, he declared that it should be the duty of every teacher in the country to "communicate the virtues of business and enterprise". Certainly, most novelists are hostile to capitalism, but this refrain risks scapegoating writers for failings for which they are not to blame. Britain's culture is no more anti-business than that of other countries. The Romantic Movement, which started as a reaction against the industrial revolution of the century, was born and flourished in Germany, but has not stopped the Germans from being Europe's most successful entrepreneurs and industrialists. Even the Americans are guilty of blackening business's name. SMERSH and SPECTRE went out with the cold war. James Bond now takes on international media magnates rather than Rosa Kleb. His films such as "Erin Brockovich" have pitched downtrodden, moral heroes against the evil of faceless corporatism. Yet none of this seems to have dented America's lust for free enterprise. The irony is that the novel flourished as an art form only after, and as a result of, the creation of the new commercial classes of Victorian England, just as the modern Hollywood film can exist only in an era of mass consumerism. Perhaps the moral is that capitalist societies consume literature and film to let off steam rather than to change the world. 21. In the first paragraph, the author introduces his topic by A. posing a contract B. justifying an assumption C. making a comparison D. explaining a phenomenon 22. The word “sordid”(line 6, para 1)implies A. holy B. dirty C. sainty D. pure 23. George Orwell and Martin Amis are defendants because A. no accusation of the inefficient management B. the decline of the country’s economy C. the novelists are in favor of them D. novelists depict them as merciful people 24. American academic Martin Wiener’s argument A. sides with the liberal elite B. is neutral about the virtue of business and enterprise C. inclines towards the revival of the entrepreneurial culture D. is hostile to the industrial spirit 25. What can we infer from the last paragraph? A. the novel existed after the creation of the new commercial classes B. capital doesn’t pollute social morality C. capitalist societies change the world D. the modern holy world has nothing to do with consumers |
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第29题:From Southeast Asia to the Black Sea, fishing nets have become deathtraps for thousands of whales, dolphins and porpoises—species whose survival will be threatened unless fishing methods change. The World Wildlife Fund, a U.S. based environmental group, lists species threatened by accidental catch, and recommends low cost steps to reduce their entanglement in fishing gear. (41) . Dolphins in the Philippines, India and Thailand are urgent priorities. Threatened populations include Irrawaddy dolphins in Malampyaya Sound off the Philippines’ Palawan island, about 220 miles south of Manila. Only 77 remain. Dolphins also face the threat of traders who sell them to aquariums, especially in Asia. (42) . The WWF report said up to 3,000 Spinner dolphins may be caught each year in gillnets, which stretch from the sea floor to the surface and are hard for dolphins to see or detect with their sonar. (43). Dolphins are also under threat in Indonesia, Myanmar, India’s Chilka Lake and Thailand’s Songkhla Lake. Fishing gear kills thousands of porpoises each year in the Black Sea. Atlantic humpback dolphins face the same fate off the coasts of Ghana and Togo in Africa, as do Franciscana dolphins in Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. Indo Pacific humpback and bottlenose dolphins often die in nets off the south coast of Zanzibar. (44) .U.S. fisheries in 1993 2003 introduced changes that reduced by a third the number of dolphins accidentally killed by fishing, or bycatch. But few other countries have followed that example and in much of the rest of the world, progress on bycatch mitigation has been slow to nonexistent. (45). Slight modifications in fishing gear can mean the difference between life and death for dolphins. |
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第30题:Part A 51. Directions: You have stayed with your friend Cathy for a whole week. Now you are going home. Write a message to her to 1) express your gratitude 2) show your appreciation of the good days you’ve had together 3) say goodbye You should write about 100 words on Answer Sheet 2. Do not sign your own name at the end of the letter. Use “Susan” instead. You do not need to write the address. ( 10 points ) Part B 52. Directions: Assuming that a manager is going to interview some job applicants and one of his friends gives him a piece of advice that the first impression is not a reliable basis for judgment. This manager wants to hear more from others and decides to have a wall newspaper put up for more views on that topic. 1. You are going to write an article to offer your opinion about it. 2.You should write about 160-200 words neatly on ANSWER SHEET 2.( 20 points ) |
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第31题:Text 1 New figures from France,Germany and Italy—the three biggest economies in the 12 country Eurozone —suggest the continent’s economic woes may have been exaggerated.In France, evidence emerged that consumer spending remained solid in July and August,rising 1.4%and 0.6%respectively.Forecasters had generally expected the July figure to show a 0.1% slippage,with August unchanged.But the figures were flattered slightly by a down grade to the June figure,to 0.7% from1.5%. With manufacturing in the doldrums across Europe and the US,consumer spending has been increasingly seen as the best hope of stopping the global economic slowdown from turning into a recession.The French government said the news proved that the economy was holding up to the strain of the slowdown. Meanwhile in Germany,new regional price figures went someway towards calming fears about inflation in Europe’s largest economy—a key reason for the European Central Bank’s reluctance to cut interest 15 states said consumer prices were broadly stable,with inflation falling year on year.The information backed economists’ expectations that inflation for the country as a whole is set to fall back to a yearly rate of 2.1%,compared to a yearly rate of 2.6% in August,closing in on the Eurowide target of 2%.The drop is partly due to last year’s spike in oil prices dropping out of the yearonyear calculation. The icing on the cake was news that Italy’s job market has remained buoyant.The country’s July unemployment rate dropped to 9.4% from 9.6% the month before,its lowest level in more than eight years.And a business confidence survey from quasigovernmental research group ISAE told of a general pickup in demand in the six weeks to early September.But the news was tempered by an announcement by Alitalia,the country’s biggest airline,that it will have to get rid of 2,500 staff to cope with the expected contraction as well as selling 12 aeroplanes. And industrial group Confindustria warned that the attacks on US targets meant growth will be about 1.9% this year,well short of the government’s 2.4% target. And it said the budget deficit will probably be about 1.5%,nearly twice the 0.8% Italy’s government has promised its European Union partners. 21We know from the first paragraph that. Anew figures from the three European countries show the prediction of forecasters is exactly right BEuropean economy gets on better than forecasters have predicted Call of the forecasters expect the fully figure to show a reduction Din three European countries the consumer spending continues to rise 22The term“in the doldrums”in Paragraph 2 refers to . Ain the process of rising Bexperiencing a sharp turning Cin the recessionDrising rapidly 23Which of the following statements is true according to the text?. AThe reason for the ECB’s unwilling to cut interest rates is inflation was actually expected to fall in Germany BIn Germany consumer prices were falling CLast year’s oil prices dropping out of the yearonyear calculation directly leads to the drop of inflation DThe European Central Bank is willing to cut interest rate 24ln this passage,the word“buoyant” in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to the word. AdepressingBgloomyCactiveDcalm 25lndustrial group Confindustria warned that. Athe attacks on US targets lead to the comparatively lower growth Bthe growth had been well short of the government’s target Cthe budget deficit must be about 1.5% Dthe budget deficit will probably be great different from the country’s promise |
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第32题:In the following article, some sentences have been removed. For Questions 41—45, choose the most suitable one from the list A—G to fit into each of the numbered blank. There are two extra choices, which do not fit in any of the gaps. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1.(10 points) A young man left hometown 22 years ago, and turned out to be a poor correspondent. After a while his letters dried up, and for six years the family had hear nothing from him. Then his sister entered his name in the Google search engine on the Web and, as she says, “There he was on a bowling league in Brazil!” Now they’re exchanging catchup letters and photos. Who knew Brazilian bowling leagues had Web sites? Google knew, because Google knows everything, or nearly. 41) . Google started in 1998, when two 26-year-olds, Sergei Brin and Larry Page, set up shop in a tiny office. Today they operate out of a building in Mountain View, Calif., and regional offices all over the world. Google has become the best and most successful search engine. If you need a map of a region, Google will oblige. If you rip the rotator cuff in your shoulder, Google finds drawings that show you how it works. 42) . An epidemiologist or social psychologist studying reactions to a phenomenon like the West Nile virus might well come here often, to learn what people are saying about it. 43) . A story gets on if enough newspapers run it and give it prominence. Every minute, the computers update the page and compile related stories while dropping others. No human editors decide what’s to be emphasized. It sounds ridiculous, but it’s not bad at all. However Google is boastful. It can’t keep itself from telling you how inconceivably fast it is. Ask it for information on Chinese archaeology and it compiles 29,400 links, adding: “search took 0-14 seconds.” 44) . It needs help distinguishing between Francis Bacon, the 20th-century painter, and Francis Bacon, the 17th-century philosopher. Sometimes Google looks a little foolish. 45) . A woman wrote to Randy Cohen, the New York Times ethicist, about a friend who had gone out with a doctor and then Googled him when she got home, discovering that he had been involved in several malpractice suits. Cohen was asked whether this was a decent thing to do. He said it was and that he had done it himself. The woman’s Googling, Gohen said, was benign, just like asking her friends about this fellow. |
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第33题: "My Early Life", by Winston Churchill. Eland, pounds 9.99 Winston Churchill on peacekeeping among the Pathans Winston Churchill, who fought on the Afghan border in 1897, warned of the dangers of peacekeeping among the Pathans, and of mixing politics and war (46)"EXCEPT at harvest-time, when self-preservation enjoins a temporary truce, the Pathan tribes are always engaged in private or public war. Every man is a warrior, a politician and a theologian. Every large house is a real feudal fortress...with battlements, turrets [and] drawbridges. Every village has its defence. Every family cultivates its vendetta; every clan, its feud. "The numerous tribes and combinations of tribes all have their accounts to settle with one another. Nothing is ever forgotten, and very few debts are left unpaid...(47)The life of the Pathan is thus full of interest; and his valleys, nourished alike by endless sunshine and abundant water, are fertile enough to yield with little labour the modest material requirements of a sparse population. "Into this happy world the nineteenth century brought two new facts: the breech-loading rifle and the British government. The first was an enormous luxury and blessing; the second an unmitigated nuisance. The convenience of the breech-loading, and still more of the magazine rifle, was nowhere more appreciated than in the Indian highlands.(48) A weapon which would kill with accuracy at fifteen hundred yards opened a whole new vista of delights to every family or clan which could acquire it. One could actually remain in one's own house and fire at one's neighbour nearly a mile away... "The action of the British government on the other hand was entirely unsatisfactory. The great organising, advancing, absorbing power to the southward seemed to be little better than a monstrous spoil-sport. "No one would have minded these expeditions if they had simply come, had a fight and then gone away again...But towards the end of the nineteenth century these intruders began to make roads through many of the valleys...All along the road people were expected to keep quiet, not to shoot one another, and, above all, not to shoot at travellers along the road. (49)It was too much to ask, and a whole series of quarrels took their origin from this source... "The Political Officers who accompanied the force...were very unpopular with the army officers...(50)They were accused of the grievous crime of 'shilly-shallying', which being interpreted means doing everything you possibly can before you shoot. We had with us a very brilliant political officer...who was much disliked because he always stopped military operations. Just when we were looking forward to having a splendid fight and all the guns were loaded and everyone keyed up, [he] would come along and put a stop to it." |
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第34题:What’s your earliest childhood memory? Can you remember learning to walk? Or talk? The first time you 21 thunder or watched a television program? Adults seldom 22 events much earlier than the year or so before entering school, just as children younger than three of four 23 retain any specific, personal experiences. A variety of explanations have been 24 by psychologists for this “Childhood amnesia” (儿童失忆症). One argues that the hippocampus, the region of the brain which is responsible for forming memories, does not mature 25 about the age of two. But the most popular theory 26 that, since adults do not think like children, they cannot 27 childhood memories. Adults think in words, and their life memories are like stories or 28 –one event follows 29 as in a novel or film. But when they search through their mental 30 for early childhood memories to add to this verbal life story, they don’t find any that fits the 31 . It’s like trying to find a Chinese word in an English Dictionary. Now psychologist Annette Simmons of the New York State University offers a new 32 for childhood amnesia. She argues that there simply 33 any early childhood memories to recall. According to Dr. Simms, children need to learn to use 34 spoken description of their personal experiences in order to turn their own short–term, quickly 35 impressions of them into long-term memories. In other 36 , children have to talk about their experiences and hear others talk about 37 ——Mother talking about the afternoon 38 looking for seashells at the beach or Dad asking them about their day at Ocean Park. Without this 39 reinforcement, says Dr. Simms, children cannot form 40 memories of their personal experiences. 1. A. listened B. felt C. touched D. heard 2. A. involve B. interpret C. recall D. resolve 3. A. largely B. rarely C. merely D. really 4. A. canceled B. figured C. proposed D. witnessed 5. A. until B. once C. after D. since 6. A. magnifies B. intervenes C. contains D. maintains 7. A. reflect B. attain C. access D. refer 8. A. narratives B. forecasts C. regulations D. descriptions 9. A. the rest B. another C. the other D. others 10. A. outputs B. dreams C. flashes D. files 11. A. footstep B. pattern C. frame D. landscape 12. A. emphasis B. arrangement C. explanation D. factor 13. A. aren’t B. weren’t C. isn’t D. wasn’t 14. A. anyone else B. anyone else’s C. some else D. someone else’s 15. A. forgotten B. remembered C. forgetting D. remembering 16. A. senses B. cases C. words D. means 17. A. him B. theirs C. it D. them 18. A. used B. chosen C. taken D. spent 19. A. habitual B. verbal C. pretty D. mutual 20. A. permanent B. conscious C. subordinate D. spiritual Section II Reading Comprehension |
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第35题:Text 1 St. Paul didn’t like it. Moses warned his people against it. Hesiod declared it “ mischievious” and “ hard to get rid of it,” but Oscar Wilder said, “ Gossip is charming.” “ History is merely gossip,” he wrote in one of his famous plays. “ But scandal is gossip made tedious by morality.” In times past, under Jewish law, gossipmongers might be fined or flogged. The Puritans put them in stocks or ducking stools, but no punishment seemed to have the desired effect of preventing gossip, which has continued uninterrupted across the back fences of the centuries. Today, however, the much-maligned human foible is being looked at in a different light. Psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, even evolutionary biologists are concluding that gossip may not be so bad after all. Gossip is “ an intrinsically valuable activity,” philosophy professor Aaron Ben-Ze’ev states in a book he has edited, entitled Good Gossip. For one thing, gossip helps us acquire information that we need to know that doesn’t come through ordinary channels, such as: “ What was the real reason so-and-so was fired from the office?” Gossip also is a form of social bonding, Dr. Ben-Ze’ev says. It is “ a kind of sharing” that also “ satisfies the tribal need---namely, the need to belong to and be accepted by a unique group.” What’s more, the professor notes, “ Gossip is enjoyable.” Another gossip groupie, Dr. Ronald De Sousa, a professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto, describes gossip basically as a form of indiscretion and a “saintly virtue”, by which he means that the knowledge spread by gossip will usually end up being slightly beneficial. “ It seems likely that a world in which all information were universally available would be preferable to a world where immense power resides in the control of secrets,” he writes. Still, everybody knows that gossip can have its ill effects, especially on the poor wretch being gossiped about. And people should refrain from certain kinds of gossip that might be harmful, even though the ducking stool is long out of fashion. By the way, there is also an interesting strain of gossip called medical gossip, which in its best form, according to researchers Jerry M. Suls and Franklin Goodkin, can motivate people with symptoms of serious illness, but who are unaware of it, to seek medical help. So go ahead and gossip. But remember, if ( as often is the case among gossipers) you should suddenly become one of the gossipees instead, it is best to employ the foolproof defense recommended by Plato, who may have learned the lesson from Socrates, who as you know was the victim of gossip spread that he was corrupting the youth of Athens: When men speak ill of thee, so live that nobody will believe them. Or, as Will Rogers said, “ Live so that you wouldn’t be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip.” (500 words ) 21. Persons’ remarks are mentioned at the beginning of the text to ____. [ A ] show the general disapproval of gossip [ B ] introduce the topic of gossip [ C ] examine gossip from a historical perspective [ D ] prove the real value of gossip 22. By “Gossip also is a form of social bonding” (Para. 5), Professor Aaron Ben-Ze’ev means gossip ____. [ A ] is a valuable source of social information [ B ] produces a joy that most people in society need [ C ] brings people the feel of being part of a group [ D ] satisfies people’s need of being unusual 23. Which of the following statements is true according to the text? [ A ] everyone involved will not benefit from gossip [ B ] philosophers may hold different attitudes toward gossip [ C ] Dr. Ronald De Sousa regards gossips as perfectly advantageous [ D ] people are generally not conscious of the value of medical gossip 24. We learn from the last paragraph that ____. [ A ] gossipers will surely become gossipees someday [ B ] Socrates was a typical example of a gossiper becoming a gossipee [ C ] Plato escaped being a victim of gossip by no gossiping [ D ] an easy way to confront gossip when subjected to it is to live as usual 25. The author’s attitude toward “ gossip” can be best described as ____. [ A ] neutral [ B ] positive [ C ] negative [ D ] indifferent |
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第36题:Directions: In the following article, some sentences have been removed. For Questions 41—45, choose the most suitable one from the list A—G to fit into each of the numbered blank. There are two extra choices, which do not fit in any of the gaps. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points) The place is a lovely meadow surrounded by deep woods on a hilltop overlooking a beautiful lake in the Catskill Mountains 120 miles from New York. It is quarter past eight in the morning, and you are about to commute to your office in the city. Yet there is no paved highway nearer than fifteen miles, and it is fifty to a railroad station. 41) __________________________________________. The aircraft, looking oddly like a horizontal electric fan, drones toward you. When the pilot is directly overhead, all forward movement of the machine ceases and it descends vertically until the cabin door is within a foot of the ground. On the machine’s gray side is painted Helicopter Express to New York. The door opens and you step inside. Fifty minutes later the helicopter bus hovers over a midtown New York building, descends slowly to alight on a roof space some sixty yards square. You go into the building, take the elevator to the street below, and walk half a block to your office. Not quite an hour has elapsed since you drank your morning coffee in your home. 42) ______________________________________. In the air age of tomorrow, the manufacture, sale, and upkeep of the direct—lift machine will become a billion—dollar industry just as the automobile industry. There will be many startling changes in our way of life. 43) ________________________________________________. A cheap, swift helicopter bus service will ferry these people to and from their work. Suburbs will include ten thousand or more square miles. Real estate values will come within the reach of average incomes, and the people will literally return to the good earth. 44) _________________________________________________. But the short haul of less than 1000 miles is equally the task of the helicopter, which can do it with the greatest efficiency. Express and air mail will be carried from the airports to final destination by helicopter. There will be a direct—lift machine service to take airliner passengers from the airport to the city in a few minutes. There will be special delivery of perishable food to your door. The winter growth of fresh vegetables such as beans and tomatoes, celery and lettuce, in the warm South and the Far West has been hitherto restricted because of cost and time or transportation to market. The airline and helicopter freight service will speed such healthy foods to the ends of the nation. 45) __________________________________________________________.. [A] Most important is that hundreds of thousands of people can return to the health and beauty of the countryside. Millions of acres of hitherto inaccessible land will be developed with small homes for medium-or low-income groups. [B] And a new type of architecture-perhaps a house with a flat roof and a pleasantly designed helicopter hangar to one side of it, so that you have only to wheel the machine a few feet to take off. [C] Does this sound like a fantasy imagined by science fiction writers? If so, I can assure you, as a practical aeronautical engineer, that such a trip is neither fantastic nor impractical. I am convinced that a helicopter bus service is not only practicable but, in fact, inevitable. [D] Hence our eating habits will change perhaps more than we realize. Strawberries in January, as it were, available for all. The airline and helicopter freight service render all this possible. [E] Private and bus helicopters will make possible vacations at seashore or mountain for countless thousands. The helicopter will destroy space for millions of people. Nothing is more delightful than touring in a helicopter. To hover and fill one’s eyes with an enchanting vista is to bring joy to the soul. [F] Now you hear a low hum, and over the horizon appears a flying machine. You press the button of a box nearby and a radio signal flashes to the machine. [G] Long-distance transportation of passengers and freight over land and sea will definitely remain the job for the large airplane. |
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