Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)
The ethical judgments of the Supreme Court justices have become an important issue recently. The court cannot 1 its legitimacy as guardian of the rule of law 2 justices behave like politicians. Yet, in several instances, justices acted in ways that 3 the court’s reputation for being independent and impartial.
A deal is a deal—except, apparently, when Entergy is involved. The company, a major energy supplier in New England, provoked justified outrage in Vermont last week when it announced it was reneging on a longstanding commitment to abide by the strict nuclear regulations.
Instead, the company has done precisely what it had long promised it would not: challenge the constitutionality of Vermont’s rules in the federal court, as part of a desperate effort to keep its Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant running. It’s a stunning move.
The conflict has been surfacing since 2002, when the corporation bought Vermont’s only nuclear power plant, an aging reactor in Vernon. As a condition of receiving state approval for the sale, the company agreed to seek permission from state regulators to operate past 2012.In 2006, the state went a step further, requiring that any extension of the plant’s license be subject to Vermont legislature’s approval. Then, too, the company went along。
…
26. The phrase “reneging on” (Line 3, Para.1) is closest in meaning to
［A］condemning. ［B］reaffirming。
［C］dishonoring. ［D］securing。
27. By entering into the 2002 agreement, Entergy intended to
［A］obtain protection from Vermont regulators。
［B］seek favor from the federal legislature。
［C］acquire an extension of its business license。
［D］get permission to purchase a power plant。
…
【答案解析】
26. 答案：C 【考点：猜测生词】
分析：本题要求考生根据上下文信息猜测生词reneging on的意思。四个选项如下：
［A］谴责。 ［B］ 重申。
［C］不遵守。 ［D］ 获得。
文章首段一开始，作者就暗示安特吉公司将不遵守交易规则：“交易就是交易——除非涉及到安特吉公司”。由此可知该公司违约的事实，并且就此还引起轩然大波：这家新英格兰的主要电力供应商上周宣称将……严格遵守核能规定的长期承诺时，这在佛蒙特州激起了合情合理的愤怒。因此，reneging on 的意思应为“不履行，不遵守”，［C］dishonoring是正确答案。
27. 答案：D 【考点：识别正确信息】
分析：本题要求考生根据文意判断，安特吉公司签署2002年的协议时的意图。四个选项如下：
［A］从佛州营监管部门获得保护。
［B］寻求联邦立法机关的支持。
［C］获得蒙特业执照的延期。
［D］获得批准去收购一个电厂。
文章第三段提到，“这个冲突在2002年就开始显现了，那时该公司收购了佛蒙特州唯一的核电厂，位于弗农的一个老旧的核反应堆。作为获得州政府批准该交易的条件，公司承诺如果2012年后继续运营需获得州监管部门的许可。”显然，该公司在2002年作出承诺，如果在2012年后继续运营，必须获得批准，承诺的目的是为了让州政府批准它收购那里的一座核电厂。因此［D］get permission to purchase a power plant是正确答案。
……
本节内容选自外研社出版的新书《张剑考研10年真题5套模拟》
考研命题人张剑教授解析2012年考研真题(三)
第三部分：阅读理解(Part B 选择匹配)
2012年全国硕士研究生入学考试英语试题分析
Part B
Directions:
In the following text, 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 blanks. There are two extra choices, which do not fit in any of the blanks. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)
Think of those fleeting moments when you look out of an aeroplane window and realise that you are flying, higher than a bird. Now think of your laptop, thinner than a brown-paper envelope, or your cellphone in the palm of your hand. Take a moment or two to wonder at those marvels. You are the lucky inheritor of a dream come true.
The second half of the 20th century saw a collection of geniuses, warriors, entrepreneurs and visionaries labour to create a fabulous machine that could function as a typewriter and printing press, studio and theatre, paintbrush and gallery, piano and radio, the mail as well as the mail carrier. 41.
The networked computer is an amazing device, the first media machine that serves as the mode of production, means of distribution, site of reception, and place of praise and critique. The computer is the 21st century’s culture machine。
But for all the reasons there are to celebrate the computer, we must also tread with caution. 42.
I call it a secret war for two reasons. First, most people do not realise that there are strong commercial agendas at work to keep them in passive consumption mode. Second, the majority of people who use networked computers to upload are not even aware of the significance of what they are doing。
…
[A] Of course, it is precisely these superfluous things that define human culture and ultimately what it is to be human. Downloading and consuming culture requires great skills, but failing to move beyond downloading is to strip oneself of a defining constituent of humanity.
[B] Applications like tumblr.com, which allow users to combine pictures, words and other media in creative ways and then share them, have the potential to add stickiness by amusing, entertaining and enlightening others.
[C] Not only did they develop such a device but by the turn of the millennium they had also managed to embed it in a worldwide system accessed by billions of people every day。
[D] This is because the networked computer has sparked a secret war between downloading and uploading — between passive consumption and active creation — whose outcome will shape our collective future in ways we can only begin to imagine.
[E] The challenge the computer mounts to television thus bears little similarity to one format being replaced by another in the manner of record players being replaced by CD players。
[F] One reason for the persistence of this pyramid of production is that for the past half-century, much of the world’s media culture has been defined by a single medium — television — and television is defined by downloading.
[G] The networked computer offers the first chance in 50 years to reverse the flow, to encourage thoughtful downloading and, even more importantly, meaningful uploading.
Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese. Your translation should be written clearly on ANSWER SHEET 2. (10 points)
…
Gray and his colleagues have put them to the test by examining four family trees that between them represent more than 2,000 languages. (50) Chomsky’s grammar should show patterns of language change that are independent of the family tree or the pathway tracked through it, whereas Greenbergian universality predicts strong co-dependencies between particular types of word-order relations. Neither of these patterns is borne out by the analysis, suggesting that the structures of the languages are Line age — specific and not governed by universals。
【注释】 本句是whereas引导的并列句，前后是转折关系。1)主句的结构是“简单句 + 定语从句”。 patterns of language change that are independent of…，可译为“独立于……的语言变化模式”。其中，family tree指“语言谱系”，而不是“族谱”；pathway指的是语言的“发展路径”。2)后半句中的whereas译为 “而……”，co-dependencies意为“紧密互依性”。Particular types of word-order relations意为“特定的语法词序关系类型”。总体上讲，文章的话题较偏，涉及语言学和语言史。对于学习语言学的同学比较有利，因为他们知道乔姆斯基和格林堡等人，以及他们的理论。而对于广大理工科学生而言，可能文章有一定难度。
本节内容选自外研社出版的新书《张剑考研10年真题5套模拟》
考研命题人张剑教授解析2012年考研真题(五)
第五部分：写作(Part A 应用文)
2012年全国硕士研究生入学考试英语试题分析
Part A
Directions:
Some international students are coming to your university. Write them an email in the name of the Students’ Union to
1) extend your welcome and
2) provide some suggestions for their campus life here。
You should write about 100 words on ANSWER SHEET 2.
Do not sign your own name at the end of the letter. Use “Li Ming” instead。
Congratulations on your admission to this university. On behalf of the Students’ Union, I extend a warm welcome to you and look forward to your safe arrival at the beginning of the new term。
I’d like to offer you some information about life in this university. After paying the tuition fee and getting registered, you will need to check into your dormitory. The university canteen is probably the best place to have meals during the term, because food is tasty and inexpensive. If you prefer Western food, there is a cafeteria where you can get sandwiches and spaghetti. You will need to get a student card, which is identity card as well as cash card. You can use it to borrow books, pay for shop purchases, etc. The orientation for new students will probably take a whole week.
In advance I send you our best wishes and hope you will become a member of the Students’ Union。
Sincerely yours,
Li Ming
本节内容选自外研社出版的新书《张剑考研10年真题5套模拟》
考研命题人张剑教授解析2012年考研真题(六)
第六部分：写作(Part B 议论文)
2012年全国硕士研究生入学考试英语试题分析
Part B
Directions:
Write an essay of 160 ~ 200 words based on the following drawing. In your essay, you should
1) describe the drawing briefly,
2) explain its intended meaning, and
3) give your comments。
You should write neatly on ANSWER SHEET 2. (20 points)
In the picture, a bottle falls to the ground and a liquid spills out. Two men witness the accident and respond differently to it. One sadly holds his head with his hand, saying, “Everything is spoiled!” The other gladly notices the half of the oil that still remains in the bottle and rushes to pick it up, saying, “Fortunately, we still have some left。”
The picture is not just showing us a small accident, but it intends to tell us a matter of greater significance. The two men’s different responses to the accident actually show two different attitudes to life, or two different perspectives to view tragedy in life。
Life is full of ups and downs, which are part of one’s life journey in this world. The question is how we are going to take life’s pains or tragedies. Pessimists feel like the end of the world is coming, while optimists believe they can overcome them and become stronger. A girl student jumped from a tall building after she was abandoned by her boyfriend. A mother drowned her two mentally-handicapped twin sons because she could not see the end of her own suffering. While we are sympathetic for these unfortunate people, we sigh for their desperate actions.
No one’s life is plain sailing. But hard labour will make a person physically strong; hardships will make a person mentally strong. We sigh because one man did not see the bright side of life, “the half of the liquid that still remains”. The girl student did not understand that life could begin anew and happiness could be achieved elsewhere. The mother did not realize that the society and the government were willing to offer help. If they were more optimistic, things could be different. If we are all optimistic, the world will be changed。