[连载]70天攻克考研英语阅读[1--70]

林の声音 · 发表于 2005-12-7 00:27:49

希望给07考研的朋友提供一个练兵的机会，所有试题都有详细的解答，即使做错了也没有关系，对照解答认真的查找出错的原因！！

　　2004年全国硕士研究生入学考试英语试题（阅读部分）

　　Section IIIReading Comprehension

　　Part ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your mowers on ANSWER SNEET 1. (40 points)

　　Text 1

　　Hunting for a job late last year, lawyer Gant Redmon stumbled across Career Builder, a job database on the Internet. He searched it with no success but was attracted by the sites “personal search agent”. Its an interactive feature that lets visitors key in job criteria such as location, title, and salary, then Emails them when a matching position is posted in the database. Redmon chose the keywords legal, intellectual property, and Washington, D.C. Three weeks later, he got his first notification of an opening. “I struck gold,” says Redmon, who Emailed his resume to the employer and won a position as inhouse counsel for a company.

　　With thousands of careerrelated sites on the Internet, finding promising openings can be timeconsuming and inefficient. Search agents reduce the need for repeated visits to the databases. But although a search agent worked for Redmon, career experts see drawbacks. Narrowing your criteria, for example, may work against you: “Every time you answer a question you eliminate a possibility.” says one expert.

　　For any job search, you should start with a narrow concept — what you think you want to do — then broaden it. “None of these programs do that,” says another expert. “Theres no career counseling implicit in all of this.” Instead, the best strategy is to use the agent as a kind of tip service to keep abreast of jobs in a particular database; when you get Email, consider it a reminder to check the database again. “I would not rely on agents for finding everything that is added to a database that might interest me,” says the author of a jobsearching guide.

　　Some sites design their agents to tempt job hunters to return. When Career Sites agent sends out messages to those who have signed up for its service, for example, it includes only three potential jobs — those it considers the best matches. There may be more matches in the database; job hunters will have to visit the site again to find them — and they do. “On the day after we send our messages, we see a sharp increase in our traffic,” says Seth Peets, vice president of marketing for Career Site.

　　Even those who arent hunting for jobs may find search agents worthwhile. Some use them to keep a close watch on the demand for their line of work or gather information on compensation to arm themselves when negotiating for a raise. Although happily employed, Redmon maintains his agent at Career Builder. “You always keep your eyes open,” he says. Working with a personal search agent means having another set of eyes looking out for you.

　　41. How did Redmon find his job?

　　A. By searching openings in a job database.

　　B. By posting a matching position in a database.

　　C. By using a special service of a database.

　　D. By Emailing his resume to a database.

　　42. Which of the following can be a disadvantage of search agents?

　　A. Lack of counseling. B. Limited number of visits.

　　C. Lower efficiency. D. Fewer successful matches.

　　43. The expression “tip service” (Lines 3-4, Paragraph 3) most probably means

　　A. advisory. B. compensation.

　　C. interaction. D. reminder.

　　44. Why does Career Sites agent offer each job hunter only three job options?

　　A. To focus on better job matches.

　　B. To attract more returning visits.

　　C. To reserve space for more messages.

　　D. To increase the rate of success.

　　45. Which of the following is true according to the text?

　　A. Personal search agents are indispensable to jobhunters.

　　B. Some sites keep Emailing job seekers to trace their demands.

　　C. Personal search agents are also helpful to those already employed.

　　D. Some agents stop sending information to people once they are employed.

　　Text 2

　　Over the past century, all kinds of unfairness and discrimination have been condemned or made illegal. But one insidious form continues to thrive: alphabetism. This, for those as yet unaware of such a disadvantage, refers to discrimination against those whose surnames begin with a letter in the lower half of the alphabet.

　　It has long been known that a taxi firm called AAAA cars has a big advantage over Zodiac cars when customers thumb through their phone directories. Less well known is the advantage that Adam Abbott has in life over Zo Zysman. English names are fairly evenly spread between the halves of the alphabet. Yet a suspiciously large number of top people have surnames beginning with letters between A and K.

　　Thus the American president and vicepresident have surnames starting with B and C respectively; and 26 of George Bushs predecessors (including his father) had surnames in the first half of the alphabet against just 16 in the second half. Even more striking, six of the seven heads of government of the G7 rich countries are alphabetically advantaged (Berlusconi, Blair, Bush, Chirac, Chrétien and Koizumi). The worlds three top central bankers (Greenspan, Duisenberg and Hayami) are all close to the top of the alphabet, even if one of them really uses Japanese characters. As are the worlds five richest men (Gates, Buffett, Allen, Ellison and Albrecht).

　　Can this merely be coincidence? One theory, dreamt up in all the spare time enjoyed by the alphabetically disadvantaged, is that the rot sets in early. At the start of the first year in infant school, teachers seat pupils alphabetically from the front, to make it easier to remember their names. So shortsighted Zysman junior gets stuck in the back row, and is rarely asked the improving questions posed by those insensitive teachers. At the time the alphabetically disadvantaged may think they have had a lucky escape. Yet the result may be worse qualifications, because they get less individual attention, as well as less confidence in speaking publicly.

　　The humiliation continues. At university graduation ceremonies, the ABCs proudly get their awards first; by the time they reach the Zysmans most people are literally having a ZZZ. Shortlists for job interviews, election ballot papers, lists of conference speakers and attendees: all tend to be drawn up alphabetically, and their recipients lose interest as they plough through them.

　　46. What does the author intend to illustrate with AAAA cars and Zodiac cars?

　　A. A kind of overlooked inequality. B. A type of conspicuous bias.

　　C. A type of personal prejudice. D. A kind of brand discrimination.

　　47. What can we infer from the first three paragraphs?

　　A. In both East and West, names are essential to success.

　　B. The alphabet is to blame for the failure of Zo Zysman.

　　C. Customers often pay a lot of attention to companies names.

　　D. Some form of discrimination is too subtle to recognize.

　　48. The 4th paragraph suggests that

　　A. questions are often put to the more intelligent students.

　　B. alphabetically disadvantaged students often escape form class.

　　C. teachers should pay attention to all of their students.

　　D. students should be seated according to their eyesight.

　　49. What does the author mean by “most people are literally having a ZZZ” (Line 2, Paragraph 5)?

　　A. They are getting impatient. B. They are noisily dozing off.

　　C. They are feeling humiliated. D. They are busy with word puzzles.

　　50. Which of the following is true according to the text?

　　A. People with surnames beginning with N to Z are often illtreated.

　　B. VIPs in the Western world gain a great deal from alphabetism.

　　C. The campaign to eliminate alphabetism still has a long way to go.

　　D. Putting things alphabetically may lead to unintentional bias.

　　Text 3

　　When it comes to the slowing economy, Ellen Spero isnt biting her nails just yet. But the 47yearold manicurist isnt cutting, filling or polishing as many nails as shed like to, either. Most of her clients spend $12 to $50 weekly, but last month two longtime customers suddenly stopped showing up. Spero blames the softening economy. “Im a good economic indicator,” she says. “I provide a service that people can do without when theyre concerned about saving some dollars.” So Spero is downscaling, shopping at middlebrow Dillards department store near her suburban Cleveland home, instead of Neiman Marcus. “I dont know if other clients are going to abandon me, too” she says.

　　Even before Alan Greenspans admission that Americas redhot economy is cooling, lots of working folks had already seen signs of the slowdown themselves. From car dealerships to Gap outlets, sales have been lagging for months as shoppers temper their spending. For retailers, who last year took in 24 percent of their revenue between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the cautious approach is coming at a crucial time. Already, experts say, holiday sales are off 7 percent from last years pace. But dont sound any alarms just yet. Consumers seem only concerned, not panicked, and many say they remain optimistic about the economys longterm prospects, even as they do some modest belttightening.

　　Consumers say theyre not in despair because, despite the dreadful headlines, their own fortunes still feel pretty good. Home prices are holding steady in most regions. In Manhattan, “theres a new gold rush happening in the $4 million to $10 million range, predominantly fed by Wall Street bonuses,” says broker Barbara Corcoran. In San Francisco, prices are still rising even as frenzied overbidding quiets. “Instead of 20 to 30 offers, now maybe you only get two or three,” says john Deadly, a Bay Area realestate broker. And most folks still feel pretty comfortable about their ability to find and keep a job.

　　Many folks see silver linings to this slowdown. Potential home buyers would cheer for lower interest rates. Employers wouldnt mind a little fewer bubbles in the job market. Many consumers seem to have been influenced by stockmarket swings, which investors now view as a necessary ingredient to a sustained boom. Diners might see an upside, too. Getting a table at Manhattans hot new Alain Ducasse restaurant need to be impossible. Not anymore. For that, Greenspan & Co. may still be worth toasting.

　　51. By “Ellen Spero isnt biting her nails just yet”(Line 1, Paragraph 1), the author means

　　A. Spero can hardly maintain her business.B. Spero is too much engaged in her work.

　　C. Spero has grown out of her bad habit.D. Spero is not in a desperate situation.

　　52. How do the public feel about the current economic situation?

　　A. Optimistic.B. Confused.

　　C. Carefree.D. Panicked.

　　53. When mentioning “the $4 million to $10 million range” (Line 3, Paragraph 3) the author is talking about.

　　A. gold market.B. real estate.

　　C. stock exchange.D. venture investment.

　　54. Why can many people see “silver linings” to the economic slowdown?

　　A. They would benefit in certain ways.

　　B. The stock market shows signs of recovery.

　　C. Such a slowdown usually precedes a boom.

　　D. The purchasing power would be enhanced.

　　55. To which of the following is the author likely to agree?

　　A. A now boom, on the horizon.B. Tighten the belt, the single remedy.

　　C. Caution all right, panic not.D. The more ventures, the more chances.

　　Text 4

　　Americans today dont place a very high value on intellect. Our heroes are athletes, entertainers, and entrepreneurs, not scholars. Even our schools are where we send our children to get a practical education — not to pursue knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Symptoms of pervasive antiintellectualism in our schools arent difficult to find.

　　“Schools have always been in a society where practical is more important than intellectual,” says education writer Diane Ravitch. “Schools could be a counterbalance.” Razitchs latest book, Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms, traces the roots of antiintellectualism in our schools, concluding they are anything but a counterbalance to the American distaste for intellectual pursuits.

　　But they could and should be. Encouraging kids to reject the life of the mind leaves them vulnerable to exploitation and control. Without the ability to think critically, to defend their ideas and understand the ideas of others, they cannot fully participate in our democracy. Continuing along this path, says writer Earl Shorris, “We will become a secondrate country. We will have a less civil society.”

　　“Intellect is resented as a form of power or privilege,” writes historian and professor Richard Hofstadter in AntiIntellectualism in American life, a Pulitzer Prize winning book on the roots of antiintellectualism in US politics, religion, and education. From the beginning of our history, says Hofstadter, our democratic and populist urges have driven us to reject anything that smells of elitism. Practicality, common sense, and native intelligence have been considered more noble qualities than anything you could learn from a book.

　　Ralph Waldo Emerson and other Transcendentalist philosophers thought schooling and rigorous book learning put unnatural restraints on children:“We are shut up in schools and college recitation rooms for 10 or 15 years and come out at last with a bellyful of words and do not know a thing.” Mark Twains Huckleberry Finn exemplified American antiintellectualism. Its hero avoids being civilized — going to school and learning to read — so he can preserve his innate goodness.

　　Intellect, according to Hofstadter, is different from native intelligence, a quality we reluctantly admire. Intellect is the critical, creative, and contemplative side of the mind. Intelligence seeks to grasp, manipulate, reorder, and adjust, while intellect examines, ponders, wonders, theorizes, criticizes and imagines.

　　School remains a place where intellect is mistrusted. Hofstadter says our countrys educational system is in the grips of people who “joyfully and militantly proclaim their hostility to intellect and their eagerness to identify with children who show the least intellectual promise.”

　　56. What do American parents expect their children to acquire in school?

　　A. The habit of thinking independently.B. Profound knowledge of the world.

　　C. Practical abilities for future career.D. The confidence in intellectual pursuits.

　　57. We can learn from the text that Americans have a history of

　　A. undervaluing intellect.B. favoring intellectualism.

　　C. supporting school reform.D. suppressing native intelligence.

　　58. The views of Ravish and Emerson on schooling are

　　A. identical.B. similar.

　　C. complementary.D. opposite.

　　59. Emerson, according to the text, is probably

　　A. a pioneer of education reform.B. an opponent of intellectualism.

　　C. a scholar in favor of intellect.D. an advocate of regular schooling.

　　60. What does the author think of intellect?

　　A. It is second to intelligence.B. It evolves from common sense.

　　C. It is to be pursued.D. It underlies power.41.

　　【C】问题是：Redmon是怎样找到工作的？

　　文章第一段便指出Redmon是在一个名叫Career Builder的网上工作数据库中试图寻找合适他的工作。第二段又提到就在他要放弃时他被一家中介所吸引。第一段后几句又接着说这是一颇有互动色彩的寻工网点。Redmon提供所需的个人资料后，果然得到了称心的工作。段中所提到的“personal search agent” 很显然是这个数据库提供的一项服务，即C项内容。

　　42. 【A】问题是：以下哪一项是搜索中介的弊端？

　　文章第二段最后一句作者引用专家关于搜索中介讲到， “当你每回答一个问题时，这也意味着一个可能会被排除。”言外之义便是搜索中介的弊端在于它缺乏询问辅助性，这也正是A项内容。

　　43. 【D】问题是：“tip service” (第三段第三四行) 的意思可能是

　　文章第三段前几句作者引用另外专家的话讲到，“所有的这些项目都不具询问辅助性。”（专家的话轻易地排除了A,B,C项内容）随后作者说道：最好的策略是把这些工作搜索中介当作 “tip service” 来掌握数据库中关于工作信息的最新动态。只有D项内容符合上下文。“reminder” 的意思是 “起提醒某事作用的东西”。

　　44. 【B】问题是：为什么 Career Site每次只给寻找工作的人三个工作选择？

　　文章第四段第一句作者便给出答案。“一些网点特意设计他们的中介以便吸引寻找工作的人再次登录他们的网点。”即B项内容。

　　45. 【C】问题是：根据文章内容，以下哪项是正确的？

　　文章第二段作者引用了一位专家关于中介弊端的一句话，由此可见 A项内容不是文中提到的。B 项和D项内容文章从未提到。惟有C项内容作者在最后一段有暗示。在最后一段里讲到Redman虽然很满意这份工作，但他还是和那中介保持联系。可见中介对于那些已经找到工作的人还是有用的。

　　去年下半年在寻职时，一位名叫Grant Redmon的律师步入了Career Builder —— 一个网上工作数据库。几经寻找都毫无结果，但他却被一个名叫“personal search agent”所吸引。这个网站颇带互动色彩，它允许访问者键入工作要求，比如地点、职位，及工薪要求，如在数据库中有合适的工作，此站将向访问者发送电子邮件。Redmon选择了像“法律”、“知识产权”和“华盛顿特区”这样的关键词。三星期后，他收到了他面试的第一份通知。“我挖到金矿了！”Redmon说道。他随即将他的个人简历寄给雇主，而且得到了为一家公司做inhouse顾问的这样一个职位。

　　在网上有着数以千计的和工作有关的站点，要找到有保证的良机有时既花时间也无效率。搜索网站便降低了在数据库的重复访问。但即使像这样一个对Redmon有用的搜索网站，专家还是看到了它的弊处。比如说，缩小你的要求，可能会对你带来不利。一位专家讲到：“每当你回答一个问题，那将意味着你也排除了一个可能性。”

　　寻找任何工作，你应当以小的概念开始——你认为你想做的——然后再对此扩展。“没有一个程序做到了这一点，”另外一位专家提到，“也没有一家求职询问对此给予暗示。”事实上，最好的办法是把这类站点当作一种信息服务来随时掌握数据库所提供的工作信息。当你收到邮件时，把它当作提醒你再查数据库的东西。“我可不愿依赖这些网点来寻找那些新加到数据库使我感兴趣的东西，”一位寻找工作指南的作者说到。

　　一些网站则特意设计他们的中介以便吸引寻找工作的人再次登录他们的站点。例如，当Career Site向那些登录用户发送信息时，它只发送三个潜在的工作——那些它认为是最好的选择。在数据库中可能有更多的选择；寻找工作的人也不得不重新访问这些网点——而且他们也是确实这样做的。“在我们发出信息的第二天，我们也注意到了访问有明显的增加。”Career Site市场部附理，Seth Peets说道。

　　即使对于那些不找工作的人搜索中介同样有用。部分人用它来关注他们同行业的需求，或用它来搜索有关补偿金的信息以便用来在加薪谈判中保护自己。虽然工作得很开心，Redmon仍保持着与Career Builder的联系。“你应当睁大眼，时常留心。”他说。当然与个人搜索中介同步也就意味着有一双眼为你留心。

　　46. 【A】问题是：作者借用AAAA cars和Zodiac cars想要阐明什么？

　　在第一段作者引出了“字母歧视”这个概念后，接着便举出AAAA cars和Zodiac cars的例子用来阐明到底什么是“字母歧视”。记住，作者认为这个所谓的“字母歧视”实属不平等和歧视的一种（all kinds of unfairness and discrimination）。即，A项内容。

　　47. 【D】问题是：从前三段我们可以推断出什么？

　　文章第一段作者引出了“字母歧视”这个概念。第二段和第三段全部是作者从不同的角度和方面对这种歧视做进一步的阐明。选项 B和C的内容在这三段中作者是直接给出的。A项内容文章既没提及也与文章主题毫无关联。D项意为：一些歧视如此微妙以至无法察觉。这正是这三段暗示而没有直接提出的。选D。

　　48. 【C】问题是：文中第四段告诉我们什么？

　　文章的第四段作者提出了对“字母歧视”这一现象理论上的解释。即，学校的老师们倾向于按学生姓名的开头字母顺序来排列学生座位的前后。这一做法的结果是一些名字出现在字母表后半部的学生没有得到足够和应有的在学习上的关注。在这里作者实际上告诉读者老师应该注意他所有的学生，而不是名字靠前的一部分。即，C项内容。

　　49. 【B】问题是：作者写到 “most people are literally having a ZZZ” (第五段2行)是什么意思？

　　文章第五段仍是对“字母歧视”进一步的阐明。在这里，学生们都大学毕业了。但这种歧视仍然存在。 ABC们自豪地上台领取他们的毕业书，轮到Zysmans 时（指受“字母歧视”的学生），大家都真的开始有ZZZ了。在这里作者运用了一点小幽默。“ZZZ” 是人们打瞌睡时发出声音的符号。即，B项内容。

　　50. 【D】问题是：根据文章内容，以下哪一项是正确的？

　　A项的内容是：姓名以N到Z开头的人经常受到虐待。作者虽然谈到了“字母歧视”可以给某些人带来不利，但文章没有一处提到姓名以N到Z开头的人经常受到虐待。B项内容文中也不曾提到。作者谈过“字母歧视”问题后并未号召大家更改自己的姓名，而是呼吁老师们在早期教育不要忽视受“字母歧视”的学生。因为无心的忽视很有可能会导致无心的 “歧视”。即，D项内容。

　　在过去的几世纪里，所有的不平等和歧视都会受到谴责或视为触犯法律。但有一种暗中为害的形式仍然繁荣：字母顺序化。这个，对于那些还没有意识到它危险的人，就是所提到的对于那些名字的开头一个字母出现在字母表的后半部分的人的歧视。

　　众所周知，当顾客翻开他们的电话簿时，一个名叫AAAA的出租车公司会比一个名为Zodiac的公司更具优势。但是，更少的人才会注意到一个叫Adam Abbott（男人名）的人在生活中要比一个叫Zo(女人名)的人更为优势。英文名平均分布在字母表的两半。但有相当一部分大人物，他们的名字开头一个字母都在A到K之间。

　　因此美国总统和副总统的名字各以B和C开头；而且26位乔治·布什的前辈（包括他的父亲），他们名字的开头字母都出现在字母表前半部，但只有16位总统的名字在后一半可以找到。更惊人的是，七位G7政府首脑中的六位要员在这点上名字都占有优势（Berlusconi ， Blair，Bush，Chirac，Chrtien和Koizumi）。世界三位首席中央银行家的名字（Greenspan，Duisenberg和Hayami），全出现在字母表前部，即使他们中的一位用的还是日本名。还有世界前五位首富也是如此（Gates，Buffett，Allen，Ellison和Albrecht）。

　　这一切仅仅是巧合吗？一种理论在空闲时间做梦的字母劣势者们认为这样的劣势在早期就已形成了。在学前班第一年的开始，老师便按照字母表顺序从前到后给学生排座，以便记住学生姓名。这样一来戴近视的小Zysman在最后一排被卡住了，从此也极少被麻木不仁老师提问。在那时，字母劣势者可能觉得自己幸运的解脱了（老师的关注）。但结果可能是更差的学习质量，因为他们得到的注意会越来越少，在公众表现的自信也会越来越弱。

　　这样的羞辱还在继续。在大学毕业典礼上，ABC们自豪地领取他们的毕业证书，当点到Zysmans时大多数人也开始有ZZZ了。面试人员名单，选举投票，国会发言者和参加者名单：这些都是按字母顺序排列，到人们深入查看时，他们早已丧失兴趣。

　　51. 【D】问题是：“Ellen Spero isnt biting her nails just yet” (第一段第一行)，作者是什么意思？

　　文章第一段第一句作者说道，当经济疲软时，Ellen Spero还没有到啃自己指头的地步。我们从第二句得知Ellen Spero所从事的职业是帮人修指甲。“biting ones nails” 是一个双关语。除了“啃自己指头”，它还有“身处绝境”的意思。在这里是指虽然经济疲软，但Ellen Spero还没有到绝望的地步。此题选D。

　　52. 【A】问题是：公众如何看待现今的经济状况？

　　文章第二段最后一句，作者讲到，消费者似乎只是关注而并无惊慌，而且许多人还说他们对现今经济状况的展望是乐观的。即，A项内容。

　　53. 【B】问题是：当提到 “the $4 million to $10 million range”（第三段3行），作者在谈什么？

　　文章的第三段主要讲的是公众乐观态度的具体表现。这主要体现在买卖住房上。作者提到，曼哈顿，在四百万到一千万这个价位的住房上出现了“淘金热”。在这里作者谈到的是房地产买卖。即， B项内容。

　　54. 【A】问题是：为什么还有许多人看到经济萧条发光的一面？

　　文章最后一段的第一句是本段的中心句。作者指出，还有许多人看到经济萧条发光的一面。以下几句全是萧条给老百姓所带来的好处。即，A项内容。

　　55. 【C】问题是：以下哪一项作者可能同意？

　　参阅第52题答案。

　　当经济萧条时，Ellen Spero还不至于到咬自己指甲的地步。但这位47岁的修指工也没有足够多的指甲给她修、添、磨。她的大多数顾客每星期总会花上12到50美元，但上个月两位常客却没露面。Spero把这些怪罪于萧条的经济。“我是经济的晴雨表，”她说，“我所提供的服务是人们在考虑省钱时所不需要的。”所以Spero也缩减了工作比例，在靠她郊外家附近的一个百货商场逛街。Neiman Marcus却不像她，“我不知道其他的顾客会不会也同样离开我。”她说。

　　即使在Alan Greenspan承认美国热火朝天的经济正在降温之前，许多人就看到了萧条的迹象。从汽车交易到Gapoutlets，因为购物者缓和花费的缘故，销售这几月来一直落后。对于零售商们，他们去年在感恩节和圣诞节之间就获得了24%的利润，他们也需在关键时刻有所措施。专家讲节假日的销售与去年相比已经降了7%，但还够不上拉警报。消费者似乎只是关心而不至于惊慌，而且许多还说他们对经济未来的长期展望持乐观态度，即使他们还是勒紧裤带。

　　尽管报纸的头版头条是如此的可怕，消费者们说他们还不绝望，这是因为他们对自己的前景感觉不错。房屋价格在大多地区还很坚硬。曼哈顿，“在400万和1000万的价位上有一股新的淘金热，主要来自于华尔街。”经纪人Barbara Corcoran讲道。在旧金山市，价格仍在上扬，即使有的出价已经过高。“现在你可能只有2到3次出价机会，而不是20到30次了。”一位Bay地区的房地产经纪人Joho Deadly说。而且仍有许多人对自己找到并保住工作的能力大有信心。

　　许多人都看到了萧条闪光的一面。潜在的房屋购买者为低价而欢呼。雇主们也不在意市场上的几个气泡。许多消费者也似乎被股市的波动所影响，这也被投资者们视为迅速增长的重要因素。就连吃饭的也可受益。要在地处曼哈顿生意兴隆的Alan Ducasse 餐厅订到位子已经不是不可能的事了。光凭那个，Greenspan 还是值得庆祝的。

　　56. 【C】问题是：美国的父母亲期望他们的孩子在学校中获得什么？

　　文章第一段第一、二句作者提到，如今的美国人倒不是很重视才智的培养。我们崇拜的是运动员、演员和企业家们，而不是学者。本题答案在第三句：即使我们的学校也是如此，我们将我们的孩子送去学校不是为了知识本身去求知，而是为了获得有实用性的教育。这与选项C是同一个意思。选C。

　　57. 【A】问题是：我们可以从文中得知美国有一个的历史。

　　文章的第二段，作者引用教育作家Diane Ravitch书中的一句话后，简短地对那本书的主题进行了一番扼要的描述。即，此书主要是对美国人的反才智主义的追溯。第四段中，作者又提及另外一本关于类似题材的书，书中说到美国人的反才智主义其实是个历史遗留问题。准确来说第四段主要讲述的就是这个主题，即不重视才智——C项内容。

　　58. 【D】问题是：Ravitch和 Emerson对学校所持的观点是。

　　文章第二段Ravitch在他所著书中提到，“面临这个问题时（反才智主义）学校应当起一个平衡的作用。”这表明Ravitch对于美国人反才智主义是不给予支持的。而超越主义哲学家Emerson却认为学习和教育会给孩子们加上不自然的枷锁。这表明Emerson在这一点上与Ravitch所持观点恰恰相反。即，D项内容。

　　59. 【B】问题是：根据文章内容，Emerson有可能是

　　参阅第58题答案。

　　60. 【C】问题是：对于才智作者是怎样认为的？

　　文章倒数第二段，作者直截了当地列出了自己对于才智的看法（详见下面译文）。C项内容符合作者本意。

　　当今的美国人不够重视才智。我们的英雄全是运动员、演员和企业家，而不是学者。就连我们的学校都成了我们送孩子接受应用教育的地方——不是为知识而去求知。大面积反才智主义的症状并非难以找到。

　　“学校总是处于一个实用比才智更重要的社会里，”教育作家Diane Ravitch 说，“其实面临这个问题时学校可以起一个平衡的作用。”《左后卫：一个学校改革失败的世纪》，Ravitch 最新的一本书，追溯了在我们学校中反才智主义的根源，结论是这些改革都没有把学校当作美国人对知识才智厌恶的平衡力。

　　但他们可以并且应当这样。鼓励孩子们厌弃理性的生活只会使他们暴露于剥削和控制的伤害。没有严密的思维能力来维护，懂得自己和别人的思想，他们根本不能完全参与我们的民主。像这样继续下去，作家Earl Shorris 说，“我们将会成为一个次等国家。我们社会的文明也会倒退。”

　　“才智被憎恨视为力量与特权的象征，”历史学家，教授Richard Hofstadter 在《美国人生活中的反才智主义》一书中写道。这本关于美国在政治、宗教和教育上反才智主义根源的书获得了Pulitzer 的奖项。从我们历史的开始，Hofstadter 讲道，我们的民主便鼓励我们离弃一切带有精英论的东西。实用性、常识和本土的智慧则被视为比任何书本上读来的东西更加高尚。

　　Ralh Waldo Emerson 及其他的超越主义哲学家们认为思维教育和艰辛的书本学习给孩子们上了不自然的枷锁：“我们被关进学校和大学的背阅室10年或15年，出校门时满腹文字却什么也不知道。”Mark Twain 所著的Huckleberry Finn 充分代表了美国人的反才智主义。书本中的主人公避免被教化——上学读书——以便保留他与生俱来的善良。

　　根据Hofstadter的理论,才智不同于本土智慧，是一种我们极少赞赏的特质。才智是我们大脑具评判力、创造力和竞争力的一面。智慧试图去理解、操纵、重组织和适应，而才智是去仔细考虑、深思、疑惑、理论、批判和幻想。

　　学校仍然是才智不受信任的地方。Hofstadter说我们国家的教育系统仍受掌于一些人，他们“愉快地激进地宣扬他们对才智的敌意，同时也不忘向那些对才智没有诚诺的孩子们表示他们的殷勤。”

林の声音 · 发表于 2005-12-7 00:28:57

DAY2
　　2003年全国硕士研究生入学考试英语试题（阅读部分）
　　Section IIIReading Comprehension
 　　Directions: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A,B,C or D. Mark your answers on ANAWER SHEET 1（40 points）
　　Text 1
　　Wild Bill Donovan would have loved the Internet. The American spymaster who built the Office of Strategic Services in the World War II and later laid the roots for the CIA was fascinated with information. Donovan believed in using whatever tools came to hand in the “great game” of espionage — spying as a “profession”. These days the Net, which has already remade pastimes as buying books and sending mail, is reshaping Donovans vocation as well.
　　The last revolution isnt simply a matter of gentlemen reading other gentlemens email. That kind of electronic spying has been going on for decades. In the past three or four years, the world wide web has given birth to a whole industry of pointandclick spying. The spooks call it “open source intelligence”, and as the Net grows, it is becoming increasingly influential. In 1995 the CIA held a contest to see who could compile the most data about Burundi. The winner, by a large margin, was a tiny Virginia company called OpenSource Solutions，whose clear advantage was its mastery of the electronic world.
　　Among the firms making the biggest splash in the new world is Straitford, Inc., a private intelligenceanalysis firm based in Austin, Texas. Straitford makes money by selling the results of spying（covering nations from Chile to Russia）to corporations like energyservices firm McDermott International. Many of its predictions are available online at <a href="http://www.straitford.com" target="_blank" >www.straitford.com</A>.
　　Straifford president George Friedman says he sees the online world as a kind of mutually reinforcing tool for both information collection and distribution, a spymasters dream. Last week his firm was busy vacuuming up data bits from the far corners of the world and predicting a crisis in Ukraine.“As soon as that report runs, well suddenly get 500 new internet signups from Ukraine,” says Friedman, a former political science professor. “And well hear back from some of them.” Opensource spying does have its risks, of course, since it can be difficult to tell good information from bad. That s where Straitford earns its keep.
　　Friedman relies on a lean staff in Austin. Several of his staff members have militaryintelligence backgrounds. He sees the firms outsider status as the key to its success. Straitfords briefs dont sound like the usual Washington back and forthing, whereby agencies avoid dramatic declarations on the chance they might be wrong. Straitford, says Friedman, takes pride in its independent voice.
　　41. The emergence of the Net has
　　A. received support from fans like Donovan. B. remolded the intelligence services.
　　C. restored many common pastimes. D. revived spying as a profession.
　　42. Donovans story is mentioned in the text to
　　A. introduce the topic of online spying.B. show how he fought for the U.S.
　　C. give an episode of the information war. 　D. honor his unique services to the CIA.
　　43. The phrase “making the biggest splash”（line 1,paragraph 3）most probably means
　　A. causing the biggest trouble. B. exerting the greatest effort.
　　C. achieving the greatest success. 　 D. enjoying the widest popularity.
　　44. It can be learned from paragraph 4 that
　　A. Straitfords prediction about Ukraine has proved true.
　　B. Straitford guarantees the truthfulness of its information.
　　C. Straitfords business is characterized by unpredictability.
　　D. Straitford is able to provide fairly reliable information.
　　45. Straitford is most proud of its
　　A. official status. 　　B. nonconformist image.
　　C. efficient staff. D. military background.
　　Text 2
　　To paraphrase 18thcentury statesman Edmund Burke,“all that is needed for the triumph of a misguided cause is that good people do nothing.” One such cause now seeks to end biomedical research because of the theory that animals have rights ruling out their use in research. Scientists need to respond forcefully to animal rights advocates, whose arguments are confusing the public and thereby threatening advances in health knowledge and care. Leaders of the animal rights movement target biomedical research because it depends on public funding, and few people understand the process of health care research. Hearing allegations of cruelty to animals in research settings, many are perplexed that anyone would deliberately harm an animal.
　　For example, a grandmotherly woman staffing an animal rights booth at a recent street fair was distributing a brochure that encouraged readers not to use anything that opposed immunizations, she wanted to know if vaccines come from animal research. When assured that they do, she replied,“Then I would have to say yes.” Asked what will happen when epidemics return, she said,“Dont worry, scientists will find some way of using computers.” Such wellmeaning people just dons understand.
　　Scientists must communicate their message to the public in a compassionate, understandable wayin human terms, not in the language of molecular biology. We need to make clear the connection between animal research and a grandmothers hip replacement, a fathers bypass operation, a babys vaccinations, and even a pets shots. To those who are unaware that animal research was needed to produce these treatments, as well as new treatments and vaccines, animal research seems wasteful at best and cruel at worst.
　　Much can be done. Scientists could “adopt” middle school classes and present their own research. They should be quick to respond to letters to the editor, lest animal rights misinformation go unchallenged and acquire a deceptive appearance of truth. Research institutions could be opened to tours, to show that laboratory animals receive humane care. Finally, because the ultimate stakeholders are patients, the health research community should actively recruit to its cause not only wellknown personalities such as Stephen Cooper, who has made courageous statements about the value of animal research, but all who receive medical treatment. If good people do nothing there is a real possibility that an uninformed citizenry will extinguish the precious embers of medical progress.
　　46. The author begins his article with Edmund Burkes words to
　　A. call on scientists to take some actions.
　　B. criticize the misguided cause of animal rights.
　　C. warn of the doom of biomedical research.
　　D. show the triumph of the animal rights movement.
　　47. Misled people tend to think that using an animal in research is
　　A. cruel but natural. B. inhuman and unacceptable.
　　C. inevitable but vicious. 　　D. pointless and wasteful.
　　48. The example of the grandmotherly woman is used to show the publics
　　A. discontent with animal research. 　B. ignorance about medical science.
　　C. indifference to epidemics. 　D. anxiety about animal rights.
　　49. The author believes that, in face of the challenge from animal rights advocates, scientists should
　　A. communicate more with the public. 　B. employ hitech means in research.
　　C. feel no shame for their cause. D. strive to develop new cures.
　　50. From the text we learn that Stephen Cooper is
　　A. a wellknown humanist. 　B. a medical practitioner.
　　C. an enthusiast in animal rights. D. a supporter of animal research.
　　Text 3
　　In recent years, railroads have been combining with each other, merging into super systems, causing heightened concerns about monopoly. As recently as 1995,the top four railroads accounted for under 70 percent of the total tonmiles moved by rails. Next year, after a series of mergers is completed, just four railroads will control well over 90 percent of all the freight moved by major rail carriers.
　　Supporters of the new super systems argue that these mergers will allow for substantial cost reductions and better coordinated service. Any threat of monopoly, they argue, is removed by fierce competition from trucks. But many shippers complain that for heavy bulk commodities traveling long distances, such as coal, chemicals, and grain, trucking is too costly and the railroads therefore have them by the throat.
　　The vast consolidation within the rail industry means that most shippers are served by only one rail company. Railroads typically charge such “captive” shippers 20 to 30 percent more than they do when another railroad is competing for the business. Shippers who feel they are being overcharged have the right to appeal to the federal governments Surface Transportation Board for rate relief, but the process is expensive, time consuming, and will work only in truly extreme cases.
　　Railroads justify rate discrimination against captive shippers on the grounds that in the long run it reduces everyones cost. If railroads charged all customers the same average rate, they argue, shippers who have the option of switching to trucks or other forms of transportation would do so, leaving remaining customers to shoulder the cost of keeping up the line. Its theory to which many economists subscribe, but in practice it often leaves railroads in the position of determining which companies will flourish and which will fail. “Do we really want railroads to be the arbiters of who wins and who loses in the marketplace?” asks Martin Bercovici, a Washington lawyer who frequently represents shipper.
　　Many captive shippers also worry they will soon be hit with a round of huge rate increases. The railroad industry as a whole, despite its brightening fortuning fortunes, still does not earn enough to cover the cost of the capital it must invest to keep up with its surging traffic. Yet railroads continue to borrow billions to acquire one another, with Wall Street cheering them on. Consider the 10.2 billion bid by Norfolk Southern and CSX to acquire Conrail this year. Conrails net railway operating income in 1996 was just 427 million, less than half of the carrying costs of the transaction. Whos going to pay for the rest of the bill? Many captive shippers fear that they will, as Norfolk Southern and CSX increase their grip on the market.
　　51. According to those who support mergers railway monopoly is unlikely because
　　A. cost reduction is based on competition.
　　B. services call for crosstrade coordination.
　　C. outside competitors will continue to exist.
　　D. shippers will have the railway by the throat.
　　52. What is many captive shippers attitude towards the consolidation in the rail industry?
　　A. Indifferent. 　　B. Supportive.
　　C. Indignant. D. Apprehensive.
　　53. It can be inferred from paragraph 3 that
　　A. shippers will be charged less without a rival railroad.
　　B. there will soon be only one railroad company nationwide.
　　C. overcharged shippers are unlikely to appeal for rate relief.
　　D. a government board ensures fair play in railway business.
　　54. The word “arbiters”（line 7,paragraph 4）most probably refers to those
　　A. who work as coordinators. 　　B. who function as judges.
　　C. who supervise transactions. D. who determine the price.
　　55. According to the text, the cost increase in the rail industry is mainly caused by
　　A. the continuing acquisition. B. the growing traffic.
　　C. the cheering Wall Street. D. the shrinking market.
　　Text 4
　　It is said that in England death is pressing, in Canada inevitable and in California optional small wonder. Americans life expectancy has nearly doubled over the past century. Failing hips can be replaced, clinical depression controlled, cataracts removed in a 30minuts surgical procedure. Such advances offer the aging population a quality of life that was unimaginable when I entered medicine 50 years ago. But not even a great healthcare system can cure death — and our failure to confront that reality now threatens this greatness of ours.
　　Death is normal; we are genetically programmed to disintegrate and perish, even under ideal conditions. We all understand that at some level, yet as medical consumers we treat death as a problem to be solved. Shielded by thirdparty payers from the cost of our care, we demand everything that can possibly be done for us, even if its useless. The most obvious example is latestage cancer care. Physicians — frustrated by their inability to cure the disease and fearing loss of hope in the patient — too often offer aggressive treatment far beyond what is scientifically justified.
　　In1950, the U.S. spent 1.27 billion on health care. In 2002, the cost will be 154 billion. Anyone can see this trend is unsustainable. Yet few seem willing to try to reverse it. Some scholars conclude that a government with finite resources should simply stop paying for medical care that sustains life beyond a certain age — say 83 or so. Former Colorado governor Richard Lamm has been quoted as saying that the old and infirm “have a duty to die and get out of the way”, so that younger, healthier people can realize their potential.
　　I would not go that far. Energetic people now routinely work through their 60s and beyond, and remain dazzlingly productive. At 78,Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone jokingly claims to be 53.Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day OConnor is in her 70s,and former surgeon general C. Everett Koop chairs an Internet startup in his 80s.These leaders are living proof that prevention works and that we can manage the health problems that come naturally with age. As a mere 68yearold,I wish to age as productively as they have.
　　Yet there are limits to what a society can spend in this pursuit. As a physician, I know the most costly and dramatic measures may be ineffective and painful. I also know that people in Japan and Sweden countries that spend far less on medical care, have achieved longer, healthier lives than we have. As a nation, we may be over funding the quest for unlikely cures while under funding research on humbler therapies that could improve peoples lives.
　　56. What is implied in the first sentence?
　　A. Americans are better prepared for death than other people.
　　B. Americans enjoy a higher life quality than ever before.
　　C. Americans are overconfident of their medical technology.
　　D. Americans take a vain pride in their long life expectancy.
　　57. The author uses the example of caner patients to show that
　　A. medical resources are often wasted.
　　　B. doctors are helpless against fatal diseases.
　　C. some treatments are too aggressive.
　　　D. medical costs are becoming unaffordable.
　　58. The authors attitude to ward Richard Lamms remark is one of
　　A. strong disapproval. B. reserved consent.
　　C. slight contempt. 　　D. enthusiastic support.
　　59. In contrast to the U.S., Japan and Sweden are funding their medical care
　　A. more flexibly. B. more extravagantly.
　　C. more cautiously. D. more reasonably.
　　60. The text intends to express the idea that
　　A. medicine will further prolong peoples lives.
　　B. life beyond a certain limit is not worth living.
　　C. death should be accepted as a fact of life.
　　D. excessive demands increase the cost of health care.
　　41. 【B】问题是：网络的出现
　　文章第一段最后一句，简化后便是 “Net is reshaping Donovans vocation.” 句中 “reshape” 和B项中的 “remold” 属同义词，在句中意思是翻新。 “Donovans vocation”在上下文中指的也正是前句所提到的 “spying as a profession” 和 “great game of espionage” 这又与B项中的 “intelligent service”是一个意思，故选B。文章第一段第一句用的是虚拟语气, 这表明Bill Donovan 在Internet 问世前就已经去世了,故不能选A; C项内容只是对Net 附带的描绘，不是作者要讲关于它出现的主要意图; D 项中用了 “revive” 这个词, 但常识告诉我们,间*这一行从问世以来,一直就没有中停过,又何谈 “revive”？
　　42. 【A】问题是：在文中Donovan 故事的提起,是用来
　　Donovan这个名字在作者展开文章后,就从此消失。很显然作者提到他的目的是引导读者接触到本文的主要话题,即on line spying。C、B项文章没有提到；D项内容不是文章重点。
　　43. 【C】问题是：文章第三段第一行中 “making the biggest splash” 的意思有可能是
　　文章在谈过“net spying” 这一行业在美国欣欣向荣后，第三段第一句作者讲到 “Among the firms making the biggest splash in the new world is Straitford.”。这句话到底是什么意思？下一句——“Straitford makes money by selling the results of spying”。可见，“making the biggest splash” 和 “making money” 在上下文中指的是同一个意思。这也正是C项内容（achieving the greatest success）。
　　44. 【D】问题是：文中第四段我们可以推断出
　　文章第四段最后两句中提到 “opensource spying” 也有它的风险，因为判断信息的真假往往十分困难。这也正是Straitford 在这种情况下还能赚到钱的原因所在。换句话说，Straitford 可以提供来源可靠的信息，即D项内容。 “earn ones keep” 意思是赚钱。
　　45. 【B】问题是：Straitford 最以为自豪。
　　文章最后一段讲到Straitford以他独立的声音而自豪。而这 “independent voice” 是与前句中 “usual Washington back and forth”形成对比，来显示Straitford 的 “unusual”。这与B项内容相符。Nonconformist的意思是“不遵守常规者”。
　　Wild Bill Donovan应该会爱上网络。这位在二战期间建立了战略业务部，并且随后为中央情报局打下根基的美国间*头子总是为信息所神往。Donovan坚信在谍报（间*作为职业）活动中，应当运用任何可利用的（来进行谍报活动）。如今的网络，不仅再造了像买书和发邮件这样的消遣，也正在翻新Donovan的老本行。
　　这一次的革命已不仅仅是一位绅士窃读另一位绅士的邮件那么简单了。像那样的电子特5都问世好几十年了。在过去约三四年中，从环球网（万维网）产生了一个完善的“点击”式间*产业。间*们称之为“开放资源情报业”，而随着网络的发展，它变得越来越有影响。1995年间，中央情报局举行了一个看谁能收集到最多关于Burundi情报的这样一个竞赛。一个来自弗吉尼亚的名叫OpenSource Solutions 的小小情报公司以大比分优势最终成为赢家，而这家公司的显著优势便是它对网络世界的精通。
　　Straitford，一个在得克萨斯Austin的情报分析公司,是在这个新兴行业中取得巨大成功的公司之一。Straitford通过将获得的情报（覆盖面从Chile到Russia）卖给像McDermott International 这样的能源服务公司来赚钱。它的许多预报都可以从<a href="http://www.straitford.com" target="_blank" >www.straitford.com</A> 上得到。
　　Straitford 总裁George Friedman 讲到他把网络世界视为信息获取和散发的工具，这也正是一个间*头子的梦。上周，他的公司从世界各地收集来情报，并预告了Ukraine的一次危机。“报告一发出，我们便收到了500名来自Ukraine的网民登录我们的网站。”Fredman, 一位前政治学教授讲道，“他们还将会与我们联系。”当然，由于很难辨别真假情报，开放资源间*业具有它的冒险性。但这正是Straitford 维持其生计之处。
　　Friedman 在Austin 仅依靠几个雇员而已。其中有几位还有军事情报背景。他认为公司的外在形象是它成功的关键。Straitford 的理念却不像华府那样扭扭捏捏；在对外公开情报时，他们总会担心出错。 “Straitford 以它独立的声音而骄傲。”Friedman 说道。
　　46. 【A】问题是：作者引用Edmund Burke 的话展开全文，其目的是
　　Edmaund 的这句话意思是 “一个造就愚蠢的事业胜利所需的，正是人们对它的开始无动于衷。”紧接着，下一句作者便指出 “one such cause”正在试图结束生物医学的研究。很明显，作者在文章开头引用名言，一是为了吸引读者注意，更重要的是呼吁科学家们对现今的这个 “one such cause”马上采取行动，即A项内容
　　47. 【B】问题是：受误导的民众倾向于认为在研究中使用动物这种行为是
　　文章第一段的最后两句作者讲到动物权利运动的领导人将目标锁定在生物医学研究上，原因是研究主要经费来自于民众，而且很少人了解研究的过程（这表明攻击生物医学研究是蓄意的）。在下一句里，作者指出这样攻击的结果便是流传研究所内虐待动物。许多人（指民众）大为疑惑，为什么研究人员要故意伤害动物。可见，受误导的民众认为研究人员的行为（指在研究中使用动物）是野蛮、无法接受的，即B项内容。
　　48. 【B】问题是：老奶奶的例子在文中是用来表明公众
　　文章第二段作者举老奶奶的例子来说明上段中提到很多人受了误导是因为“few people understand the process of health care research”(第一段第六～七行)。这个例子非常有趣，讲的是一个老奶奶发传单，鼓励人们不要接受任何和动物研究有关的免疫注射。当问到如果流行病又开始蔓延怎么办，她回答说：“不用担心，科学家们会通过电脑找到办法的。”对于这个例子，作者感叹道：“such wellmeaning people just dont understand.”。这个例子充分说明了大众对医学研究还缺乏认识，即B项内容。
　　49. 【A】问题是：作者认为在面临来自动物权利创导者的挑战中，科学家们应该
　　在讲完外因后，作者从文章第三段起开始指出科学家们也有责任向公众宣传科学研究这方面的知识。而且宣传的方式一定要让人觉得他们同样富有同情心，表达方式简单易懂（因为前面提到造成公众误解的原因是他们根本不知道研究过程）。这表明科研工作者对动物研究和人类医学之间关系的宣传力度本来就不够，他们与大众接触也不多，即A项内容。
　　50. 【D】问题是：从文中我们可以得出Stephen Cooper 是
　　文章最后一段六到七行作者提到像Stephen cooper这样的名人也对动物研究的价值作了勇敢声明。可见，不管Stephen是做什么出名的，他一定是动物研究的支持者，即D项内容。
　　引用18世纪演说家Edmund Burke 的话：“一个造就愚蠢的事业胜利所需的，正是人们对它的开始无动于衷。” 一个像这样的事业现在正试图结束生物医学上的研究，原因是动物具有的权利可中止它在研究中的使用。科学家们需要给动物权利鼓吹者以猛烈的还击，他们的诡辩正使公众困惑，从而危及了我们在健康知识和护理上的进步。动物权利运动的领导者将目标锁定在生物医学研究上，因为它依赖于公众的拨款，而且很少有人了解健康保健研究的过程。听到动物在研究所中受到残忍待遇的宣传，许多人怀疑动物被故意伤害。
　　比如说，一位老大娘在动物权利者的小亭子里散发鼓励人们不要用疫苗。她想搞清楚疫苗是否来源于动物研究。当问到她是否也反对免疫治疗法时，她的回答是肯定的。她又被问到：如果流行病又开始蔓延怎么办？她回答说：“不用担心，科学家们会通过电脑想出办法来的。”像这样出于好心的人们，根本就搞不懂。
　　科学家们必须以富有同情心和可以理解的方式与公众交流信息，使用具有人情味的言语而不是分子生物学的术语。我们必须向公众清楚地表明奶奶臀部替换，爸爸的分流手术，一个男孩的疫苗，甚至一个宠物的预防针，它们与动物研究之间的关系。对于那些不了解动物研究是这些治疗和新的治疗与疫苗的必需，动物研究似乎是轻则浪费，重则残忍。
　　有很多可以做。科学家们可以借用中学课堂来展示他们的研究。他们应当及时回复报编的来信，以免动物权利保护者的使人受误导的信息，逃脱人们的视线，从而披上“真理”的外衣。研究所也可以为游人开放，证明实验室的动物是受到人道的对待。最后，因为事情最终关系到病人，健康研究应当主动积极地吸收到Stephen Cooper 这样的名人，他就动物研究的价值发表了鼓舞人心的声明。如果我们还是无动于衷，那么不了解情况的大众将很有可能扑灭医学进步上宝贵的余烬。
　　51. 【C】问题是：根据那些支持铁路货运产业合并的人，垄断可能性不大因为
　　文章第一段讲述了铁路货运近几年来发生的重大变化，即众多铁路货运公司合为一个超级系统。第二段提到对于这种新型超级系统（铁道货运产业的合并）支持者，他们的理由是这样可以大量削减成本，提供更加协调的服务。至于任何垄断的危险，他们说，都会被来自公路货运的激烈竞争所排除，即C项内容。
　　52. 【C】问题是：对于铁路货运合并，多数被动托运人的态度是
　　文章第二段在合并支持者给出他们合并理由后，作者指出但许多托运人还在抱怨。可见，他们对于合并的态既不 “indifferent” 也不 “support”。因为像运 “coal，chemicals, grain” 这样的大件时，他们到头来还是成为铁路货运的盘中餐（have them by the throat）。这也是为什么文章后面称这样的被动托运人为 “captive” ，即俘虏。所以C项中的 “indignant” （愤怒）要比D项中 “apprehensive”（理解）更好形容托运人在面对这种情况时的心情。
　　53. 【C】问题是：文章第三段我们可以推断出
　　文章第三段主要讲的是铁路货运后所产生的对于托运人利益的侵犯。受害者是可以寻求政府帮助的。但费用昂贵而且耗时，只有在非常特殊的情况下才会有作用。这说明托运人是不太可能上诉的，即C项内容。
　　54. 【B】问题是：文中第四段第七行中的 “arbiters” 有可能指的是那些
　　文章第四段第六行也就是 “arbiters” 出现的那行的前一行，作者讲到在实际操作中，铁路货运所处的地位决定了哪个公司的兴或亡（in the position of determining）。对于这种局势，Martin Berocovici 问了这样一个问题：“我们真的希望他们成为决定市场上谁胜谁负的arbiters吗？” 很显然，无论 “arbiter”是什么样的人，他一定是 “in the position of determining”, 即与B项内容相同。
　　55. 【A】问题是：根据文章铁路货运投资成本的提高是由于
　　文章最后一段2至3行作者指出铁路货运产业总体上来说，虽然有着他光辉的业绩，但他的盈利仍跟不上收购和合并所需的成本投资。第三行中的 “keep up with its surging traffic” 在上下文中指的正是下句中提到的铁道货运不断地 “acquire one another”。很明显，投资成本的提高，是由 “continues acquisition” 直接造成的，即A项内容。
　　近几年来，铁路货运公司相互合并形成超级货运系统从而导致了人们对垄断的关注。早在1995年，最大的四家货运公司只占吨级铁路货运总量的不到70%。到明年，经过一系列的合并后，4个货运公司便可以控制超过90%的市场。
　　新超级系统的支持者们认为，这些兼并将使成本发生实质性的降低，并提供更协调的服务。他们认为，任何垄断的威胁都将被来自卡车的激烈竞争所解除。但许多托运人都抱怨说如长途运输像炭、化学物品和粮食这样的大件时，卡车显然成本太高，最后还是铁路获利。
　　铁路系统内部广泛的合并意味着大多数托运者将只能由一家铁路公司服务。在没有另外公司竞争的情况下，这样的铁路公司通常从高出平常收费的20%到30%来对托运者收费。发现被高收费的托运者有权上诉到联邦政府的地面运输委员会，请求降低收费，但上诉费用昂贵，同时耗时，只有在非常特殊的情况下才会有作用。
　　铁路公司认为他们收取托运人的收费标准是合理的，理由是从长久来看，所有方的成本将会降低。他们认为，如铁路还是按照前标准收费，那么一部分托运人将会选择像卡车或其他的货运方式，从而让剩下的托运人承担这个费用。许多经济学家都支持这个理论，但事实上，这使铁路公司处于决定其他公司兴或亡的地位。一位名叫Martin Bercovici 来自华盛顿专为托运公司打官司的律师问道：“难道我们真正想要铁路来裁决谁在市场中赢或输吗？”
　　许多受束缚的托运者同样担心他们不久将遭受一系列的收费提价。铁路工业总的来说，尽管有着光明的前景，但它所赚的还是不够用来持平它在兼并中所花的成本。然而，铁路继续借款几十亿美元来收购其他公司，华尔街也大肆吹捧。想一想今年南方Norfolk公司和CSX公司出价102亿购买Conraid吧。而Conraid公司1996年的纯经营收入才4.27亿美元，不到交易运输成本的一半。谁来付剩下的账单？随着南方Norfolk和CSX 对市场控制的增加，许多受束缚的托运者都变得不安起来。
　　56. 【D】问题是：文章的第一句暗示了什么？
　　文章第一段开头作者讲到：“人们都说死亡在英国视为迫切的；在加拿大视为不可避免的；而在加州（即美国）却被视为一个小小而随意的惊奇。”由此可见，美国人对于死亡乐观洒脱的态度是众所周知的。但在本段最后两句作者却指出，再好的健康医疗体制都不能治愈死亡。而且美国人在面临这个现实（指死亡）的失败时，也正威胁着我们的建树（即美国人对死亡乐观的态度），这与D项内容一致。
　　57. 【A】问题是：作者用癌症病人的这个例子来说明
　　文章第二段第四行作者讲到 “its useless”。而 “it” 所指的正是同句中的 “everything that can possibly done”( 一切可行的办法)。而对这 “everything”的支持，又是来自于美国健康医疗体制。可见，作者举这个晚期癌症病人的意图是用来说明事实上一部分的医疗开销是 “useless”，这与A项中的 “wasted” 在上下文中同义。
　　58. 【B】问题是：作者对于Richard Lamm所说的态度是
　　文章第三段是第二段的延伸，作者继续举例说明政府在健康医疗上的开销过于庞大。随后，在本段末，作者引用了前科罗拉多州州长Richard Lamm 对于这个问题的看法。他说， “老弱病残的应该有死的责任，不要挡在路上，这样更年轻更健康的才可以实现他们的潜力。” 对于Richard 粗糙的发言，作者讲道: “I would not go that far.”。接着列出许多高龄并且对社会做出巨大贡献的人。表明作者不完全同意州长所说的。B项 “reserved consent”,带保留性的同意，符合作者本意。
　　59. 【D】问题是：和美国不同, 日本和瑞典医护拨款
　　文章最后一段作者指出，任何社会中，在这方面（指health and care）所花销的应该有个节制。作为一个医护人员，作者深知昂贵和戏剧性医疗措施的后果有时是无效甚至痛苦的。日本和瑞典作为正面的例子，证明了要使一个国家的人民过得更长、更健康生活的关键，不在于这个国家在医护方面开销的大小。这也暗示了日本和瑞典在 “medical care”上的拨款是科学合理的, 即D项内容。
　　60. 【C】问题是：文章试图表达的观点是
　　文章第一段作者便暗示了美国在健康医疗体制上巨大花费的原因还是“our failure to confront that reality(death)”。接着作者陈述了自己的（也就是文章要表达的）观点—— “death is normal”，死亡是正常的，他也是生命的一部分，即C项内容。A项与文章呈现观点相反，B项不是作者观点，D项是现象，而问题问的是本质。
　　据说，死亡在英国是急迫之事，在加拿大是不可避免之事，而在加利福尼亚它却是一个小小而随意的惊奇。美国人在过去的一个世纪以来寿命延长了几乎一倍。脱节的臂部可被替换，住院的沮丧感得到了控制，30分钟的手术便可清楚白内障。这些先进的医疗为老年人口提供了一个我50年前进入医疗界时不敢想象的高质量生活。但是再优秀的保健系统还是不可以治愈死亡，而我们对于面临这个现实的失败也正在威胁着我们的建树。
　　死亡是正常的，即使是在最理想的条件下，我们基因还是注定被瓦解和消亡。这在不同程度上，我们都可以理解；但作为医药消费者，我们却试图把死亡当作问题来解决。用第三方作为我们医护经费的支持，我们要求可能为我们做到的每一件事，即使它毫无作用。最明显的例子是晚期癌症治疗。医生为他们无法治疗这样的疾病而感到苦恼，同时又害怕病人会失去希望，他们常常提供远远超出医学允许范围的过度治疗方案。
　　1950年内美国在保健护理上的花费就高达12.7亿美元，2002年里，这个数目将上升到1540亿。任何人都可以看出这种趋势是令人无法支撑的。但似乎没人愿意改变这种趋势。一些专家们认为一个有限资源的政府应当停止负担超过一定岁数国民的医护费用——比如说83岁。前科罗拉多州长Richard Lamm的话被引用，他说，老年和病弱者“有义务死去并让出路来”，这样年轻人、健康者才能发挥出自己的潜力。
　　我不会到这个地步。即使超过60岁的具有活力的老人还是可以保持他们工作的效率：78岁高龄的Summer Redstone 主席Viacom 开玩笑说他自己只有53岁；高级法院院长Sandra Day OConnor 也是古稀之人；前外科专家C. Everett Koop 在他80多岁时还主持Internet。这些领袖们都是活生生的例子，证明了预防有效而且我们可以自然地处理老龄问题。作为一名68岁的老人，我但愿我和他们一样老得有益处。
　　一个社会在这方面的花费是有限度的。作为一个医生，我深知昂贵而带戏剧性的医疗措施往往是无效甚至是痛苦的。我也同样了解日本和瑞典人，这些国家在医疗保健上的花费少得多，但却享有此我们更长的寿命和更健康的生活。作为一个国家，我们也许对几乎没有可能的疗法过于花费，而忽视了在可以提高人民健康更简单疗法上的研究。

林の声音 · 发表于 2005-12-7 00:29:28

DAY3
　　2002年全国硕士研究生入学考试英语试题（阅读部分）
　　Section IIIReading Comprehension
 　　Directions: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. （40 points）
　　Text 1
　　If you intend using humor in your talk to make people smile, you must know how to identify shared experiences and problems. Your humor must be relevant to the audience and should help to show them that you are one of them or that you understand their situation and are in sympathy with their point of view. Depending on whom you are addressing, the problems will be different. If you are talking to a group of managers, you may refer to the disorganized methods of their secretaries; alternatively if you are addressing secretaries, you may want to comment on their disorganized bosses.
　　Here is an example, which I heard at a nurses convention, of a story which works well because the audience all shared the same view of doctors. A man arrives in heaven and is being shown around by St. Peter. He sees wonderful accommodations, beautiful gardens, sunny weather, and so on. Everyone is very peaceful, polite and friendly until, waiting in a line for lunch, the new arrival is suddenly pushed aside by a man in a white coat, who rushes to the head of the line, grabs his food and stomps over to a table by himself. “Who is that?” the new arrival asked St. Peter. “Oh, thats God,” came the reply, “but sometimes he thinks hes a doctor.”
　　If you are part of the group which you are addressing, you will be in a position to know the experiences and problems which are common to all of you and itll be appropriate for you to make a passing remark about the inedible canteen food or the chairmans notorious bad taste in ties. With other audiences you mustnt attempt to cut in with humor as they will resent an outsider making disparaging remarks about their canteen or their chairman. You will be on safer ground if you stick to scapegoats like the post office or the telephone system.
　　If you feel awkward being humorous, you must practice so that it becomes more natural. Include a few casual and apparently offthecuff remarks which you can deliver in a relaxed and unforced manner. Often its the delivery which causes the audience to smile, so speak slowly and remember that a raised eyebrow or an unbelieving look may help to show that you are making a lighthearted remark.
　　Look for the humor. It often comes from the unexpected. A twist on a familiar quote “If at first you dont succeed, give up” or a play on words or on a situation. Search for exaggeration and understatements. Look at your talk and pick out a few words or sentences which you can turn about and inject with humor.
　　41. To make your humor work, you should
　　A. take advantage of different kinds of audience.
　　B. make fun of the disorganized people.
　　C. address different problems to different people.
　　D. show sympathy for your listeners.
　　42. The joke about doctors implies that, in the eyes of nurses, they are
　　A. impolite to new arrivals.B. very conscious of their godlike role.
　　C. entitled to some privileges.D. very busy even during lunch hours.
　　43. It can be inferred from the text that public services
　　A. have benefited many people.B. are the focus of public attention.
　　C. are an inappropriate subject for humor.D. have often been the laughing stock.
　　44. To achieve the desired result, humorous stories should be delivered
　　A. in wellworded language.B. as awkwardly as possible.
　　C. in exaggerated statements.D. as casually as possible.
　　45. The best title for the text may be
　　A. Use Humor Effectively.B. Various Kinds of Humor.
　　C. Add Humor to Speech.D. Different Humor Strategies.
　　Text 2
　　Since the dawn of human ingenuity, people have devised ever more cunning tools to cope with work that is dangerous, boring, burdensome, or just plain nasty. That compulsion has resulted in robotics — the science of conferring various human capabilities on machines. And if scientists have yet to create the mechanical version of science fiction, they have begun to come close.
　　As a result, the modern world is increasingly populated by intelligent gizmos whose presence we barely notice but whose universal existence has removed much human labor. Our factories hum to the rhythm of robot assembly arms. Our banking is done at automated teller terminals that thank us with mechanical politeness for the transaction. Our subway trains are controlled by tireless robodrivers. And thanks to the continual miniaturization of electronics and micromechanics, there are already robot systems that can perform some kinds of brain and bone surgery with submillimeter accuracy — far greater precision than highly skilled physicians can achieve with their hands alone.
　　But if robots are to reach the next stage of laborsaving utility, they will have to operate with less human supervision and be able to make at least a few decisions for themselves — goals that pose a real challenge. “While we know how to tell a robot to handle a specific error,” says Dave Lavery, manager of a robotics program at NASA, “we cant yet give a robot enough ‘common sense’ to reliably interact with a dynamic world.”
　　Indeed the quest for true artificial intelligence has produced very mixed results. Despite a spell of initial optimism in the 1960s and 1970s when it appeared that transistor circuits and microprocessors might be able to copy the action of the human brain by the year 2010, researchers lately have begun to extend that forecast by decades if not centuries.
　　What they found, in attempting to model thought, is that the human brains roughly one hundred billion nerve cells are much more talented and human perception far more complicatedthan previously imagined. They have built robots that can recognize the error of a machine panel by a fraction of a millimeter in a controlled factory environment. But the human mind can glimpse a rapidly changing scene and immediately disregard the 98 percent that is irrelevant, instantaneously focusing on the monkey at the side of a winding forest road or the single suspicious face in a big crowd. The most advanced computer systems on earth cant approach that kind of ability, and neuroscientists still dont know quite how we do it.
　　46. Human ingenuity was initially demonstrated in
　　A. the use of machines to produce science fiction.
　　B. the wide use of machines in manufacturing industry.
　　C. the invention of tools for difficult and dangerous work.
　　D. the elites cunning tackling of dangerous and boring work.
　　47. The word “gizmos” （line 1, paragraph 2） most probably means
　　A. programs. B. experts.
　　C. devices. D. creatures.
　　48. According to the text, what is beyond mans ability now is to design a robot that can
　　A. fulfill delicate tasks like performing brain surgery.
　　B. interact with human beings verbally.
　　C. have a little common sense.
　　D. respond independently to a changing world.
　　49. Besides reducing human labor, robots can also
　　A. make a few decisions for themselves.
　　B. deal with some errors with human intervention.
　　C. improve factory environments.
　　D. cultivate human creativity.
　　50. The author uses the example of a monkey to argue that robots are
　　A. expected to copy human brain in internal structure.
　　B. able to perceive abnormalities immediately.
　　C. far less able than human brain in focusing on relevant information.
　　D. best used in a controlled environment.
　　Text 3
　　Could the bad old days of economic decline be about to return? Since OPEC agreed to supplycuts in March, the price of crude oil has jumped to almost $26 a barrel, up from less than $10 last December. This near tripling of oil prices calls up scary memories of the 1973 oil shock, when prices quadrupled, and 197980, when they also almost tripled. Both previous shocks resulted in doubledigit inflation and global economic decline. So where are the headlines warning of gloom and doom this time?
　　The oil price was given another push up this week when Iraq suspended oil exports. Strengthening economic growth, at the same time as winter grips the northern hemisphere, could push the price higher still in the short term.
　　Yet there are good reasons to expect the economic consequences now to be less severe than in the 1970s. In most countries the cost of crude oil now accounts for a smaller share of the price of petrol than it did in the 1970s. In Europe, taxes account for up to fourfifths of the retail price, so even quite big changes in the price of crude have a more muted effect on pump prices than in the past.
　　Rich economies are also less dependent on oil than they were, and so less sensitive to swings in the oil price. Energy conservation, a shift to other fuels and a decline in the importance of heavy, energyintensive industries have reduced oil consumption. Software, consultancy and mobile telephones use far less oil than steel or car production. For each dollar of GDP （in constant prices） rich economies now use nearly 50% less oil than in 1973. The OECD estimates in its latest Economic Outlook that, if oil prices averaged $22 a barrel for a full year, compared with $13 in 1998, this would increase the oil import bill in rich economies by only 0.25-0.5% of GDP. That is less than onequarter of the income loss in 1974 or 1980. On the other hand, oilimporting emerging economies — to which heavy industry has shifted — have become more energyintensive, and so could be more seriously squeezed.
　　One more reason not to lose sleep over the rise in oil prices is that, unlike the rises in the 1970s, it has not occurred against the background of general commodityprice inflation and global excess demand. A sizable portion of the world is only just emerging from economic decline. The Economists commodity price index is broadly unchanging from a year ago. In 1973 commodity prices jumped by 70%, and in 1979 by almost 30%. 51. The main reason for the latest rise of oil price is .
　　A. global inflation. B. reduction in supply.
　　C. fast growth in economy. D. Iraqs suspension of exports.
　　52. It can be inferred from the text that the retail price of petrol will go up dramatically if .
　　A. price of crude rises. B. commodity prices rise.
　　C. consumption rises. D. oil taxes rise.
　　53. The estimates in Economic Outlook show that in rich countries .
　　A. heavy industry becomes more energyintensive.
　　B. income loss mainly results from fluctuating crude oil prices.
　　C. manufacturing industry has been seriously squeezed.
　　D. oil price changes have no significant impact on GDP.
　　54. We can draw a conclusion from the text that .
　　A. oilprice shocks are less shocking now.
　　B. inflation seems irrelevant to oilprice shocks.
　　C. energy conservation can keep down the oil prices.
　　D. the price rise of crude leads to the shrinking of heavy industry.
　　55. From the text we can see that the writer seems .
　　A. optimistic. B. sensitive.
　　C. gloomy. D. scared.
　　Text 4
　　The Supreme Courts decisions on physicianassisted suicide carry important implications for how medicine seeks to relieve dying patients of pain and suffering.
　　Although it ruled that there is no constitutional right to physicianassisted suicide, the Court in effect supported the medical principle of “double effect”, a centuriesold moral principle holding that an action having two effects — a good one that is intended and a harmful one that is foreseen — is permissible if the actor intends only the good effect.
　　Doctors have used that principle in recent years to justify using high doses of morphine to control terminally ill patients pain, even though increasing dosages will eventually kill the patient.
　　Nancy Dubler, director of Montefiore Medical Center, contends that the principle will shield doctors who “until now have very, very strongly insisted that they could not give patients sufficient mediation to control their pain if that might hasten death”.
　　George Annas, chair of the health law department at Boston University, maintains that, as long as a doctor prescribes a drug for a legitimate medical purpose, the doctor has done nothing illegal even if the patient uses the drug to hasten death. “Its like surgery,” he says. “We dont call those deaths homicides because the doctors didnt intend to kill their patients, although they risked their death. If youre a physician, you can risk your patients suicide as long as you dont intend their suicide.”
　　On another level, many in the medical community acknowledge that the assistedsuicide debate has been fueled in part by the despair of patients for whom modern medicine has prolonged the physical agony of dying.
　　Just three weeks before the Courts ruling on physicianassisted suicide, the National Academy of Science （NAS） released a twovolume report, Approaching Death: Improving Care at the End of Life. It identifies the under treatment of pain and the aggressive use of “ineffectual and forced medical procedures that may prolong and even dishonor the period of dying” as the twin problems of endoflife care.
　　The profession is taking steps to require young doctors to train in hospices, to test knowledge of aggressive pain management therapies, to develop a Medicare billing code for hospitalbased care, and to develop new standards for assessing and treating pain at the end of life.
　　Annas says lawyers can play a key role in insisting that these wellmeaning medical initiatives translate into better care. “Large numbers of physicians seem unconcerned with the pain their patients are needlessly and predictably suffering,” to the extent that it constitutes “systematic patient abuse”. He says medical licensing boards “must make it clear...that painful deaths are presumptively ones that are incompetently managed and should result in license suspension.”
　　56. From the first three paragraphs, we learn that
　　A. doctors used to increase drug dosages to control their patients pain.
　　B. it is still illegal for doctors to help the dying end their lives.
　　C. the Supreme Court strongly opposes physicianassisted suicide.
　　D. patients have no constitutional right to commit suicide.
　　57. Which of the following statements its true according to the text?
　　A. Doctors will be held guilty if they risk their patients death.
　　B. Modern medicine has assisted terminally ill patients in painless recovery.
　　C. The Court ruled that highdosage painrelieving medication can be prescribed.
　　D. A doctors medication is no longer justified by his intentions.
　　58. According to the NASs report, one of the problems in endoflife care is
　　A. prolonged medical procedures.B. inadequate treatment of pain.
　　C. systematic drug abuse.D. insufficient hospital care.
　　59. Which of the following best defines the word “aggressive” （line 3, paragraph 7）?
　　A. Bold. B. Harmful.
　　C. Careless. D.Desperate.
　　60. George Annas would probably agree that doctors should be punished if they
　　A. manage their patients incompetently.
　　B. give patients more medicine than needed.
　　C. reduce drug dosages for their patients.
　　D. prolong the needless suffering of the patients.
　　41. 【C】问题是：要使你的幽默有效果，你应该
　　文章第二三行指出，你的幽默必须与观众的经历相关 (your humor must be relevant to the audience)。第四行进一步对二三行所述的给以说明，针对不同的人谈论不同的问题(Depending on whom you are addressing, the problems will be different)，即选项C所说的内容。选项A，D中的内容文章没有提到；选项B的内容与文章内容不相符。
　　42. 【D】问题是：关于医生的那个笑话暗示，在护士的眼里，医生
　　在故事中当上帝认为自己是医生的时候，举止很不礼貌，插队、推人、拿了东西就吃，这是一个反讽幽默，比喻医生往往认为他们自己是上帝。在护士眼里医生自以为是，目中无人，所以答案选B。不能选C，因为题干是护士如何认为。医生自认为自己有特权，而护士不这么认为，否则就不会有这则幽默了。
　　43. 【D】问题是：由文章可以推断出public services
　　文章第三段说到如果你不是听众的一员，千万不要贸然开玩笑。因为这样会引起听众的反感。接着提到“you will be on safer ground if you stick to scapegoats like the post office or the telephone system”(如果你拿像邮政或电信这样的作替罪羊，会更安全一些)。“Common sense” 告诉我们 “post office” 和 “telephone system” 都属于 “public services”。我们从这里也可以得出 “public services” 也常常被人当成笑柄，即D项内容。选项A，B的内容文中没有提到，选项C与正确答案恰恰相反。
　　44. 【D】问题是：要达到最佳的效果，表达幽默时应当
　　文章第四段第一句指出，如果你在表达幽默时觉得不自在，你必须多练习使你的表达更自然（if you feel awkward being humorous, you must practice so that it becomes more natural）。可见，表达越自然，幽默效果越好，即D项内容。A，C项内容文中没有提到，B项内容与作者所讲相反。
　　45. 【A】问题是：给本文最好的标题可能是
　　文章第一段便道明了全文的中心思想，即如何更有效地使用幽默。第二到四段全部都是对第一段的阐明和举例。选项B，C，D的内容都不可以概括全文。
　　如果你想在谈话中用幽默来博得人们的笑声，就必须了解如何发现共同的经历和问题。你的幽默感必须和听众联系起来，让他们知道你是他们中的一员，你了解他们的处境，赞同他们的观点。你谈话的对象不同，问题也会不同。如果和一群经理人谈话，你就可以提到他们的秘书做事缺乏条理；相反，如果你在和秘书们聊天，不妨评论一下他们乱糟糟的经理。
　　举个例子，我在一次护士大会上听到一个幽默的故事，它之所以成功，正是因为听众对医生都有一致的看法。故事说：一个人来到天堂，圣彼得带他四处参观。他看到了舒适的住所，美丽的花园，晴朗的天气。每个人都很平和、有礼貌，非常友好。但是在排队吃午饭时，新来的人突然被一个穿白大褂的人推到一边，这个穿白大褂的人挤到队伍最前面，抓起食物，“咚咚咚”跑到桌边自顾自地吃了起来。新来的人问圣彼得：“那是谁？”回答是：“噢，那是上帝，但有时候他认为自己是个医生。”
　　如果你和你的听众都是一个团体的成员，你就能够知道你们共同的经历和问题，你也可以漫不经心地评论一下餐厅的食物多难吃，或者领导选领带的品味有多差。但是和其他人谈话，你就不能插入这样的幽默，因为他们会反感一个外人对他们的餐厅和领导说这样不恭敬的话。你还是继续拿邮局和电话服务做替罪羊比较保险。
　　如果你不善于幽默，那就必须练习一下使它能够更自然。包括准备一些随意的、看上去像是即兴的评论，以便你能够轻松自然地说出来。通常，说话的方式会使听众笑，所以说的时候要不紧不慢，记住：抬抬眉毛或露出难以置信的表情都能使你显得像是在轻松地评论。
　　要善于发现幽默，它经常来自让人意想不到的地方。比如改变一下人们熟知的名言警句“如果一开始没能成功，放弃算了”，或者用文字和当时的情景开开玩笑。寻找可以夸张或者低调处理的地方，在你的谈话中选出一些词句加以改变，添加上幽默的作料。
　　46. 【C】问题是：人类的创造力最初表现在
　　文章第一段第一句指出自人类获得创造力以来，人们便不断创造越来越灵巧的工具来对付危险、乏味、繁重甚至肮脏的工作（Since the dawn of human ingenuity, people have devised ever more cunning tools to cope with work that is dangerous, boring, burdensome, or just plain nasty），即选项C。
　　47. 【C】问题是：“gizmos” (文中第二段第一行)这个词的意思可能是
　　文章第二段第一句和第一段第二句他们之间是因果关系，而第一段第二句和第一段第一句又是一个因果关系。仔细阅读这三句话，我们发现句中的 “intelligent gizmos” 正是第一段第二句中的 “robotics”，而 “robotics”又是同段第一句所提到的“cunning tools”。“gizmos” (或gadget)的意思是小装置、小玩意。许多人对这个词可能还很陌生，但大多数都知道“tool”这个词，而选项C的内容与 “tool”最接近，故选C。
　　48. 【D】问题是：根据本文，目前超出人类能力约束的是设计一个机器人
　　文中第三段Dave Lavery 的话回答这个问题，他讲到：“虽然我们知道如何让机器人处理某个错误，但我们还不能给予他们足够的常识使它们安全可靠地与这样一个动态的世界互动（while we know how to tell a robot to handle a specific error, we cant yet give a robot enough ‘common’ sense to reliably interact with a dynamic world ）。”这就是选项D的内容。A，B与文中内容不相符；C项不可选，因为Lavery提到现在的机器人有一定的常识（enough common sense）。
　　49. 【B】问题是：除了帮助减少劳力，机器人还可以
　　文章第五段第三行作者讲到他们还制造了可以识别错误的机器人（they have built robots that can recognize the error）即B项内容。文章第三段第一句否定了A项，C项与本文内容不相关，Lavery 的话否定了D。
　　50. 【C】问题是：作者借用猴子的例子来证明机器人
　　文章第五段4至7行作者举出猴例，阐明人脑识别力的精确性。“但是，大脑能通过扫一眼快速变化的场景，排除不相关的98%的信息，即刻将注意力集中到位于蜿蜒的森林小径边的一只猴子，或者在一大群人中识别出某个可疑的面孔。”紧接着下一句作者指出：“连世界上最先进的计算机系统也没有这种能力，神经科学家尚不知道人类是怎样做到这一点的。” 很明显，根据上下文，可以得出，作者举例的意图是证明人脑较机器人的优越性，对照的双方是人脑跟机器脑，而不是人脑跟猴脑，即选项C。
　　自从人类开始发现自己的创造力以来，人们设计出越来越聪明的工具来应付那些危险的、乏味的、繁重的，甚至仅仅是脏一些的工作。这种发明的冲动最终导致了机器人技术的出现——就是将各种人类的能力赋予机器的技术。科学家已经开始接近创造出机械版的科学幻想小说了。
　　结果是，越来越多聪明的小玩意儿成为现代社会的居民，人们几乎没有注意到它们，但它们的普遍存在节约了大量的劳力。我们的工厂伴随着机械装配手臂的节奏嗡嗡作响。银行自动出纳终端为我们办理银行业务，并用机械的声音礼貌地感谢我们的交易。我们的地铁由不知疲倦的机器人司机操纵。由于微电子技术和微型机械学的不断发展，已经出现了能够进行各种脑部和骨科手术的机器人系统，它们的精确程度能达到亚毫米的级别，再高明的医生仅靠双手也远远无法达到这种精确程度。
　　但是如果机器人想要进一步实现节省劳力的作用，它们就得减少对人类监督的依赖，至少有些决定得由自己来做——这一目标是一个真正的挑战。NASA负责机器人程序技术的Dave Lavery 说：“尽管我们已经知道如何让机器人处理某个特定的错误，我们还无法让机器人有足够的‘常识’，来与这个动态的世界进行可靠的互动。”
　　的确，对真正的人工智能的探索产生了喜忧参半的结果。20世纪60年代和70年代尽管曾有一段最初的乐观时期，人们认为到2010年，晶体管电路和微处理器似乎就能够复制人类大脑的活动。最近，研究者已经开始把这个期限向后推迟几十年、甚至几个世纪。
　　在试图模仿人工思维的过程中，研究者发现，人类大脑的大约一千亿个神经细胞比以前想象的更聪明，人类的知觉活动也更复杂。科学家已经造出了在受控制的环境下能够识别极小误差的机器人。但是人类的头脑能对一个迅速改变的场景在一瞥之下，迅速抛弃其中98%的无关信息，瞬间定位在蜿蜒的林间小路旁的那只猴子或人群中那张可疑的面孔上。世界上最先进的电脑系统也无法达到这种能力，而神经系统科学家目前还不知道人类是怎样做到这一点的。
　　51. 【B】问题是：最近油价上涨的主要原因是
　　文章第一段1、2行指出，自从3月OPEC达成协议减少原油供应，原油价从去年12月不到10美元一桶，上升至约26美元一桶（Since OPEC agreed to supplycuts in March, the price of crude oil has jumped to almost $26 a barrel, up from less than $10 last December）。句中“supplycuts” 与B项内容 “reduction in supply” 同义，故选B。A、C项内容本文未提。D项内容与第二段第一句相符，即推动油价上涨的另外因素是这个星期伊拉克停止原油出口，显然这不够成为油价上升三倍的主要（main）原因。
　　52. 【D】问题是：根据文中内容可以推断出汽油零售价将会大幅度增长，如果
　　第三段提到，有足够的理由相信，（石油供应量的减少）对经济产生的影响比70年代要轻。与70年代相比，在多数国家，原油价格现在只占汽油价格的一小部分。在欧洲，税占零售价格的的4/5，所以，即使原油价格大幅度增长，与过去相比对汽油价格（pump prices指出现在加油站计量器上的价格，此处当然指汽油价格）的影响要小。本题是一个推理题，由以上的陈述做出推理，汽油价格高主要是税造成的，增加税则价格就高，减少税则会降低价格。这是本文作者论述的重要论据之一。
　　53. 【D】问题是：“Economic outlook”的预测表明了在富有国家里
　　文章第四段5至8行 “Economic outlook”的预测，是为进一步说明本段第一句的内容（富有国家的经济不大受油价浮动的影响），即D项内容。A，C 项内容是发展中国家存在的问题；B项内容文中没有提到。GDP—gross domestic product(国民生产总值)是一个国家经济的晴雨表。
　　54. 【A】问题是：从本文我们可以得出的结论是
　　文中第一二段以原油价大幅度上涨作开场白，第三段第一句道出本文旨在说明的观点，其关键词在句首，即 “yet”, 转折了一二段所述的内容，然后分别在3至5段展开论证，为什么“there are good reasons to expect the economic consequences now to be less severe”，作者主要的意图是证明石油价格的冲击不是想像中那么可怕，即A项内容。55. 【A】问题是：根据文章内容，作者的态度是
　　参阅54题解。optimistic意为“乐观的”。
　　曾经发生过的经济衰退的一幕会重新上演吗？自从三月份石油输出国组织同意削减供应以来，原油价格已经从去年12月份的不到10美元一桶上涨到几乎要26美元一桶，几乎是原来的三倍。这使人想起1973年那场可怕的石油恐慌，当时油价涨到四倍，还有1979—1980年度，油价也几乎涨到了三倍。这两次油荒都导致了两位数的通货膨胀率以及全球经济衰退。那么这一次危机的警告讯号在哪里呢？
　　本周伊拉克暂停了石油出口，这又把油价向上推了一把。同时，稳定的经济增长，北半球进入冬季，这些因素会在短期内导致石油价格的进一步上涨。
　　但是，我们有理由期盼这次的结果不会像70年代那么严重。和70年代相比，现在在大多数国家里，原油价格在汽油价格中只占一小部分。在欧洲，油税能占到零售价格的五分之四，所以即使原油价格出现了比较大的变化，它对销售价格的影响也比过去要弱。
　　同时，富裕国家现在对石油的依赖也比以前要小，所以它们对油价的摇摆也不像以前那样敏感了。节约能源，转向其他燃料，以及重工业、能源密集型工业的重要性下降，这些都减少了石油的消耗。与钢铁和汽车生产相比，软件业、咨询业以及移动电话产业需要的石油要少得多。（按一般价格计算）富裕国家现在每生产一美元的GDP所需要的石油比1973年时减少了50%。国际经合组织在最近的经济前景展望中表示，如果22美元一桶的平均油持续一年，那么和1998年的13美元一桶相比，富裕国家用于石油进口的费用大约只会增加国民生产总值的0.25%到0.5%。这个数字还不到1974年或1980年收入损失的四分之一。另一方面，那些靠石油进口的新兴国家——重工业也已经转向这些国家了——对能源的需求越大，因此它们的压力会更大。
　　我们不必对这次的油价上涨过分担心的另一个原因是，和70年代的油价上涨不同，这次并没有普遍的物价上涨和全球需求过度作背景。世界上相当大一部分国家刚刚摆脱经济衰退。《经济学家》杂志的物价指数统计和一年以前并没有太大改变，而1973年商品价格上涨了70%，1979年也上涨了30%。
　　56. 【B】问题是：从文中前三段我们得出
　　文章第二段第一行便提到宪法没有给医生帮助病人结束生命的权力（it ruled that there is no constitutional right to physicianassisted suicide），即B项内容。“common sense”告诉我们凡没有 “constitutional right” 的便是 “illegal”。
　　57. 【C】问题是：根据文章内容，以下哪一项是正确的？
　　根据全文，文章第二段指出最高法院的裁决对于带有双重效果的医疗原则给予肯定。第三段又讲到近几年来医生一直遵循此项原则行医，而他们可以合法遵守此项原则的原因正是法院裁决的结果，即C项内容。
　　58. 【B】问题是：根据NAS的报告，垂死病人护理中出现问题之一是
　　文中第7段第3至4行NAS报道给出了“endoflife”护理中出现的问题，即 “under treatment of pain”(对疼痛处理不当)和 “aggressive use of ineffectual of forced medical procedures”(过分使用无效、强制性的医疗手段)。B项内容正是这两个问题中的第一个，即对疼痛不当处理。
　　59. 【A】问题是：以下哪一个词可以替换第7段3行中的 “aggressive”？
　　参阅58题解。
　　60. 【D】问题是：George Annas认为，医生应受到惩罚，如果他们
　　George Annas 的话在文章最后一段，他所关心的显然是，那些病人本来就没有必要遭受可以避免的痛苦（needless predictable suffering）。而造成这些痛苦的正是那些漠不关心的医生们（physicians who seem unconcerned）。在句尾，George又提到吊销行医执照，作为对这些没必要地延长病人痛苦的医生的惩罚，即D项内容。
　　最高法院对医生协助安乐死这一事件的决定，对医学界应该怎样帮助垂死的病人减轻痛苦有很重要的意义。
　　尽管法院裁定宪法并没有规定医生有帮助病人自杀的权力，但是它实际上支持了一条医学界古老的道德准则——“双重效果”原则，即：一个行为有两重效果，一个是想要达到的好的结果，一个是可以预见的坏的结果。只要采取这个行为的人的本意是为了达到好的结果，那么这个行为就是允许的。
　　近年来，医生们已经在用这个原则来为自己使用大剂量的吗啡控制晚期病人的疼痛开脱了，即使增大剂量会最终导致病人的死亡。
　　Montefiore 医疗中心的院长Nancy Dubler 称，这条原则能保护那些直到现在仍强烈坚持如果大剂量药物会加速死亡，那么他们就无法给病人足够的药来控制疼痛的医生。
　　波士顿大学卫生法系的主任George Annas 主张，只要一个医生开的药是为了合法的医疗目的，那么他就没做任何非法的事情，即使病人用他开的药来加速自己的死亡。他说：“这就像动手术一样。我们不把手术中的死亡叫做谋杀，因为医生并不想杀死自己的病人，尽管他们冒着病人死亡的危险。如果你是个医生，你也可以冒病人自杀的危险，只要你并不想造成他们的自杀。”
　　另一方面，医学界许多人士承认激起这一场关于医生协助自杀的讨论的部分原因是病人的绝望情绪。对他们来说，现代医学只是延长了他们等待死亡、忍受肉体疼痛的时间而已。
　　在法院对医生协助自杀做出判决的三个星期之前，国家科学院（NAS）公布了一份两卷本的报告《临近死亡：改善临终关怀的质量》。报告认为临终关怀的两个重要问题是：对疼痛的治疗不够和过分使用“强制的、无效的医疗手段来延长、甚至玷辱死亡的过程”。
　　医学界正在采取措施，要求年轻医生在收容所里面实习，来考验他们用大胆的方法来治疗疼痛的知识，在医院中开展临终关怀制定医疗保险制度的收费原则，以及建立新的准则来评定和治疗临终前的疼痛。
　　Annas 说在坚持使这些医学界自发的、本意很好的举动转变成对临终病人更好的关怀方面，律师可以起到很重要的作用。“很多医生对他们的病人所遭受的可以想象的巨大痛苦无动于衷”，甚至到了“有系统地虐待病人”的程度。他说行医执照的管理部门“必须明确……痛苦的死亡是治疗不得力造成的，应该暂停医生的行医执照。”

林の声音 · 发表于 2005-12-7 00:30:04

DAY4
　　2001年全国硕士研究生入学考试英语试题（阅读部分）
　　Part IIIReading Comprehension
 　　Directions: Each of the passages below is followed by some questions. For each question there are four answers marked A, B, C and D. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each of the questions. Then mark your answer on ANSWER SHEET 1 by blackening the corresponding letter in the brackets with a pencil.（40 points）
　　Passage 1
　　Specialization can be seen as a response to the problem of an increasing accumulation of scientific knowledge. By splitting up the subject matter into smaller units, one man could continue to handle the information and use it as the basis for further research. But specialization was only one of a series of related developments in science affecting the process of communication. Another was the growing professionalisation of scientific activity.
　　No clearcut distinction can be drawn between professionals and amateurs in science: exceptions can be found to any rule. Nevertheless, the word ‘amateur does carry a connotation that the person concerned is not fully integrated into the scientific community and, in particular, may not fully share its values. The growth of specialization in the nineteenth century, with its consequent requirement of a longer, more complex training, implied greater problems for amateur participation in science. The trend was naturally most obvious in those areas of science based especially on a mathematical or laboratory training, and can be illustrated in terms of the development of geology in the United Kingdom.
　　A comparison of British geological publications over the last century and a half reveals not simply an increasing emphasis on the primacy of research, but also a changing definition of what constitutes an acceptable research paper. Thus, in the nineteenth century, local geological studies represented worthwhile research in their own right; but, in the twentieth century, local studies have increasingly become acceptable to professionals only if they incorporate, and reflect on, the wider geological picture. Amateurs, on the other hand, have continued to pursue local studies in the old way. The overall result has been to make entrance to professional geological journals harder for amateurs, a result that has been reinforced by the widespread introduction of refereeing, first by national journals in the nineteenth century and then by several local geological journals in the twentieth century. As a logical consequence of this development, separate journals have now appeared aimed mainly towards either professional or amateur readership. A rather similar process of differentiation has led to professional geologists coming together nationally within one or two specific societies, whereas the amateurs have tended either to remain in local societies or to come together nationally in a different way.
　　Although the process of professionalisation and specialization was already well under way in British geology during the nineteenth century, its full consequences were thus delayed until the twentieth century. In science generally, however, the nineteenth century must be reckoned as the crucial period for this change in the structure of science.
　　51. The growth of specialization in the 19th century might be more clearly seen in sciences such as .
　　A. sociology and chemistry B. physics and psychology
　　C. sociology and psychology D. physics and chemistry
　　52. We can infer from the passage that .
　　A. there is little distinction between specialization and professionalisation
　　B. amateurs can compete with professionals in some areas of science
　　C. professionals tend to welcome amateurs into the scientific community
　　D. amateurs have national academic societies but no local ones
　　53. The author writes of the development of geology to demonstrate .
　　A. the process of specialization and professionalisation
　　B. the hardship of amateurs in scientific study
　　C. the change of policies in scientific publications
　　D. the discrimination of professionals against amateurs
　　54. The direct reason for specialization is .
　　A. the development in communicationB. the growth of professionalisation
　　C. the expansion of scientific knowledgeD. the splitting up of academic societies
　　Passage 2
　　A great deal of attention is being paid today to the so called digital divide — the division of the world into the info（information） rich and the info poor. And that divide does exist today. My wife and I lectured about this looming danger twenty years ago. What was less visible then, however, were the new, positive forces that work against the digital divide. There are reasons to be optimistic.
　　There are technological reasons to hope the digital divide will narrow. As the Internet becomes more and more commercialized, it is in the interest of business to universalize access — after all, the more people online, the more potential customers there are. More and more governments, afraid their countries will be left behind, want to spread Internet access. Within the next decade or two, one to two billion people on the planet will be netted together. As a result, I now believe the digital divide will narrow rather than widen in the years ahead. And that is very good news because the Internet may well be the most powerful tool for combating world poverty that weve ever had.
　　Of course, the use of the Internet isnt the only way to defeat poverty. And the Internet is not the only tool we have. But it has enormous potential.
　　To take advantage of this tool, some impoverished countries will have to get over their outdated anticolonial prejudices with respect to foreign investment. Countries that still think foreign investment is an invasion of their sovereignty might well study the history of infrastructure （the basic structural foundations of a society） in the United States. When the United States built its industrial infrastructure, it didnt have the capital to do so. And that is why Americas Second Wave infrastructure — including roads, harbors, highways, ports and so on — were built with foreign investment. The English, the Germans, the Dutch and the French were investing in Britains former colony. They financed them. Immigrant Americans built them. Guess who owns them now? The Americans. I believe the same thing would be true in places like Brazil or anywhere else for that matter. The more foreign capital you have helping you build your Third Wave infrastructure, which today is an electronic infrastructure, the better off youre going to be. That doesnt mean lying down and becoming fooled, or letting foreign corporations run uncontrolled. But it does mean recognizing how important they can be in building the energy and telecom infrastructures needed to take full advantage of the Internet.
　　55. Digital divide is something .
　　A. getting worse because of the Internet B. the rich countries are responsible for
　　C. the world must guard against D. considered positive today
　　56. Governments attach importance to the Internet because it .
　　A. offers economic potentials B. can bring foreign funds
　　C. can soon wipe out world poverty D. connects people all over the world
　　57. The writer mentioned the case of the United States to justify the policy of .
　　A. providing financial support overseas B. preventing foreign capitals control
　　C. building industrial infrastructureD. accepting foreign investment
　　58. It seems that now a countrys economy depends much on .
　　A. how well developed it is electronically
　　B. whether it is prejudiced against immigrants
　　C. whether it adopts Americas industrial pattern
　　D. how much control it has over foreign corporations
　　Passage 3
　　Why do so many Americans distrust what they read in their newspapers? The American Society of Newspaper Editors is trying to answer this painful question. The organization is deep into a long selfanalysis known as the journalism credibility project.
　　Sad to say, this project has turned out to be mostly lowlevel findings about factual errors and spelling and grammar mistakes, combined with lots of headscratching puzzlement about what in the world those readers really want.
　　But the sources of distrust go way deeper. Most journalists learn to see the world through a set of standard templates （patterns） into which they plug each days events. In other words, there is a conventional story line in the newsroom culture that provides a backbone and a readymade narrative structure for otherwise confusing news.
　　There exists a social and cultural disconnect between journalists and their readers, which helps explain why the “standard templates” of the newsroom seem alien to many readers. In a recent survey, questionnaires were sent to reporters in five middlesize cities around the country, plus one large metropolitan area. Then residents in these communities were phoned at random and asked the same questions.
　　Replies show that compared with other Americans, journalists are more likely to live in upscale neighborhoods, have maids, own Mercedeses, and trade stocks, and theyre less likely to go to church, do volunteer work, or put down roots in a community.
　　Reporters tend to be part of a broadly defined social and cultural elite, so their work tends to reflect the conventional values of this elite. The astonishing distrust of the news media isnt rooted in inaccuracy or poor reportorial skills but in the daily clash of world views between reporters and their readers.
　　This is an explosive situation for any industry, particularly a declining one. Here is a troubled business that keeps hiring employees whose attitudes vastly annoy the customers. Then it sponsors lots of symposiums and a credibility project dedicated to wondering why customers are annoyed and fleeing in large numbers. But it never seems to get around to noticing the cultural and class biases that so many former buyers are complaining about. If it did, it would open up its diversity program, now focused narrowly on race and gender, and look for reporters who differ broadly by outlook, values, education, and class.
　　59. What is the passage mainly about?
　　A. needs of the readers all over the world
　　B. causes of the public disappointment about newspapers
　　C. origins of the declining newspaper industry
　　D. aims of a journalism credibility project
　　60. The results of the journalism credibility project turned out to be .
　　A. quite trustworthy B. somewhat contradictory
　　C. very illuminating D. rather superficial
　　61. The basic problem of journalists as pointed out by the writer lies in their .
　　A. working attitude B. conventional lifestyle
　　C. world outlook D. educational background
　　62. Despite its efforts, the newspaper industry still cannot satisfy the readers owing to its .
　　A. failure to realize its real problem B. tendency to hire annoying reporters
　　C. likeliness to do inaccurate reporting D. prejudice in matters of race and gender
　　Passage 4
　　The world is going through the biggest wave of mergers and acquisitions ever witnessed. The process sweeps from hyperactive America to Europe and reaches the emerging countries with unsurpassed might. Many in these countries are looking at this process and worrying: “Wont the wave of business concentration turn into an uncontrollable anticompetitive force?”
　　Theres no question that the big are getting bigger and more powerful. Multinational corporations accounted for less than 20% of international trade in 1982.Today the figure is more than 25% and growing rapidly. International affiliates account for a fastgrowing segment of production in economies that open up and welcome foreign investment. In Argentina, for instance, after the reforms of the early 1990s,multinationals went from 43% to almost 70% of the industrial production of the 200 largest firms. This phenomenon has created serious concerns over the role of smaller economic firms, of national businessmen and over the ultimate stability of the world economy.
　　I believe that the most important forces behind the massive M&A wave are the same that underlie the globalization process: falling transportation and communication costs, lower trade and investment barriers and enlarged markets that require enlarged operations capable of meeting customers demands. All these are beneficial, not detrimental, to consumers. As productivity grows, the worlds wealth increases.
　　Examples of benefits or costs of the current concentration wave are scanty. Yet it is hard to imagine that the merger of a few oil firms today could recreate the same threats to competition that were feared nearly a century ago in the U.S., when the Standard Oil trust was broken up. The mergers of telecom companies, such as WorldCom, hardly seem to bring higher prices for consumers or a reduction in the pace of technical progress. On the contrary, the price of communications is coming down fast. In cars, too, concentration is increasing — witness Daimler and Chrysler, Renault and Nissan — but it does not appear that consumers are being hurt.
　　Yet the fact remains that the merger movement must be watched. A few weeks ago, Alan Greenspan warned against the megamergers in the banking industry. Who is going to supervise, regulate and operate as lender of last resort with the gigantic banks that are being created? Wont multinationals shift production from one place to another when a nation gets too strict about infringements to fair competition? And should one country take upon itself the role of “defending competition” on issues that affect many other nations, as in the U.S. vs. Microsoft case?
　　63. What is the typical trend of businesses today?
　　A. to take in more foreign funds B. to invest more abroad
　　C. to combine and become bigger D. to trade with more countries
　　64. According to the author, one of the driving forces behind M&A wave is .
　　A. the greater customer demands B. a surplus supply for the market
　　C. a growing productivity D. the increase of the worlds wealth
　　65. From paragraph 4 we can infer that .
　　A. the increasing concentration is certain to hurt consumers
　　B. WorldCom serves as a good example of both benefits and costs
　　C. the costs of the globalization process are enormous
　　D. the Stanard Oil trust might have threatened competition
　　66. Toward the new business wave, the writers attitude can be said to be .
　　A. optimisticB. objective C. pessimistic D. biased
　　Passage 5
　　When I decided to quit my full time employment it never occurred to me that I might become a part of a new international trend. A lateral move that hurt my pride and blocked my professional progress prompted me to abandon my relatively high profile career although, in the manner of a disgraced government minister, I covered my exit by claiming “I wanted to spend more time with my family”.
　　Curiously, some twoandahalf years and two novels later, my experiment in what the Americans term “downshifting” has turned my tired excuse into an absolute reality. I have been transformed from a passionate advocate of the philosophy of “having it all”, preached by Linda Kelsey for the past seven years in the page of She magazine, into a woman who is happy to settle for a bit of everything.
　　I have discovered, as perhaps Kelsey will after her muchpublicized resignation from the editorship of She after a build up of stress, that abandoning the doctrine of “juggling your life”, and making the alternative move into “downshifting” brings with it far greater rewards than financial success and social status. Nothing could persuade me to return to the kind of life Kelsey used to advocate and I once enjoyed:12 hour working days, pressured deadlines, the fearful strain of office politics and the limitations of being a parent on “quality time”.
　　In America, the move away from juggling to a simpler, less materialistic lifestyle is a wellestablished trend. Downshifting — also known in America as “voluntary simplicity” — has, ironically, even bred a new area of what might be termed anticonsumerism. There are a number of bestselling downshifting selfhelp books for people who want to simplify their lives; there are newsletters, such as The Tightwad Gazette, that give hundreds of thousands of Americans useful tips on anything from recycling their clingfilm to making their own soap; there are even support groups for those who want to achieve the mid90s equivalent of dropping out.
　　While in America the trend started as a reaction to the economic decline — after the mass redundancies caused by downsizing in the late80s — and is still linked to the politics of thrift, in Britain, at least among the middleclass downshifters of my acquaintance, we have different reasons for seeking to simplify our lives.
　　For the women of my generation who were urged to keep juggling through the80s,downshifting in the mid90s is not so much a search for the mythical good life — growing your own organic vegetables, and risking turning into one — as a personal recognition of your limitations.
　　67. Which of the following is true according to paragraph 1?
　　A. Fulltime employment is a new international trend.
　　B. The writer was compelled by circumstances to leave her job.
　　C. “A lateral move” means stepping out of fulltime employment.
　　D. The writer was only too eager to spend more time with her family.
　　68. The writers experiment shows that downshifting .
　　A. enables her to realize her dream
　　B. helps her mold a new philosophy of life
　　C. prompts her to abandon her high social status
　　D. leads her to accept the doctrine of She magazine
　　69. “Juggling ones life” probably means living a life characterized by .
　　A. nonmaterialistic lifestyle B. a bit of everything
　　C. extreme stress D. anticonsumerism
　　70. According to the passage, downshifting emerged in the U.S. as a result of .
　　A. the quick pace of modern life B. mans adventurous spirit
　　C. mans search for mythical experiences D. the economic situation
　　51. 【D】问题是：在19世纪中专业化的增长尤其在的学科中更明显。
　　文章第二段6至7行作者指出在特别是以数学和实验为基础的学科领域中，这一倾向表现更为明显（The trend was naturally most obvious in those areas of science based especially on a mathematical or laboratory training,...）。这一倾向（the trend）与前一句的主语是同义，即the growth of specialization in the nineteenth century。四项中只有D项内容，即physics and chemistry都是以数学和实验为基础的学科。A，B，C中的 “sociology”和 “psychology”均属社会科学与人文学范畴。
　　52. 【B】问题是：从本文可以推断出
　　文章第二段第一行作者便指出：“在科学领域中专业者和业余者的区别并不是十分鲜明（no clearcut distinction can be drawn between professionals and amateurs in science）。”紧接着作者又指出任何规则都有例外（exceptions can be found to any rule）。换句话说，“amateur”中也有真正的 “professional”，即B项内容。A，D与文中内容不相符；C项内容文章没有提到。
　　53. 【A】问题是：作者提起地质学的主要目的是
　　文章第二段最后一句，作者指出英国地质学的发展是来阐明 (illustrate)这一倾向（the trend）。“这一倾向” 也就是前一句的主语，即 “the growth of specialization in the nineteenth century”。只有A项内容与作者提起地质学发展目的相符。
　　54. 【C】问题是：专门化的直接原因是
　　文章第一段第一句便给出了答案：专门化可以看作是对日益增加的科学知识的应对之策(specialization can be seen as a response to the problem of an increasing accumulation of scientific knowledge)，即C项内容。
　　专业化可以视为是对科学知识不断增加的应对之策。把一个课题分解成小的单元，这样一个人就能够处理这些信息，并把它们作为进一步深入研究的基础。但是专业化还只是影响交流的过程中产生出的一系列相关现象之一。另外一个现象是科学研究的日益职业化。
　　在科学研究中，职业和业余之间并没有非常清楚的界限，就像对任何规则都能找到例外情况一样。但是，“业余”一词的确有这样的含义：就是这个人并没有完全融入科学研究的圈子，尤其是，他与这个圈子里的人的价值观可能并不相同。19世纪职业化的发展要求训练更加复杂，训练时间也更长，这给业余科学研究提出了更大的问题。这种趋势在那些需要以数学或实验为基础的学科中尤其明显，这一点可以从英国的地质学发展中看出来。
　　对过去150年间英国出版的地质学刊物做一个比较，我们不但可以发现对研究的重视加强了，而且对什么是合格的论文的定义也改变了。19世纪，地方上的地质学研究主要做一些力所能及的有价值的研究；但是，到了20世纪时，地方上的研究只有融合了或者反映了更广阔的地质学问题，才会被专业人士接受。而另一方面，业余研究人员继续走着地方研究的老路。结果是，业余研究者的论文想进入专业的地质杂志是越来越难了，尤其是在广泛引入审阅制度之后，这种制度最初在19世纪被引入全国性杂志，然后在20世纪时进入几家地方性的地质学杂志。结果是，现在不同的杂志分别面向不同的读者群，专业人士有专业人士的杂志，业余人士有业余人士的杂志。同样，全国范围内专业的地质学家都集中在一两个社团内，而业余研究者或者加入当地社团，或者也在全国范围内组织起来。
　　尽管英国地质学研究的职业化和专业化在19世纪就已经在进行了，但是它的结果一直延迟到20世纪才完全显现。然而总的来说，在科学领域里，科学结构的这种转变的关键性时期是在19世纪。
　　55. 【C】问题是：数字分化是
　　文章第一段第一句便对 “digital divide”下的定义。同段第三行作者随后提到早在二十年前，他和他妻子就对这种随时将至的危险作了有关演讲。 “This looming danger”很明显在上下文中指的就是“digital divide”，并且在第一句中作者已经指出这种危险所及的范围是全球性的。C项内容符合作者本意。
　　56. 【A】问题是：政府十分重视互联网是因为
　　文章第二段二三句作者指出随着互联网越来越趋于商业化，上网的人越多，潜在的顾客就越多，所以网络全球化对商家是很有利的。然后第四句中讲到越来越多的政府惟恐落后于其他国家，也大力推广互联网。二三句和第四句是因果关系，可见，政府重视网络是因为网络有很大的经济潜力，即A项内容。
　　57. 【D】问题是：作者用美国的例子来说明
　　文章第四段开始作者引用美国的例子来证明，拒绝外资的投入是一种过时的观念，即D项内容。A，C项与问题不相关，B项与作者所讲的相反。
　　58. 【A】问题是：一个国家的经济取决于
　　文章第四段作者引用美国的例子说明了一个国家的经济与它的基础设施建设（infrastructure）有着密切的关系。而将来会是一个electronic infrastructure（第四段十一行）。可见，其电子工业的发展直接影响到一个国家的经济，即A项内容。
　　当今有很多人在关注所谓的“信息分化”的问题——也就是把世界上的人分化为信息富有和信息贫困两大类。这种分化确实是存在着的。我和妻子在二十年前就对这一迫近的危险状况作了有关演讲。但在那时，有一件事我们看得还不是那么清楚，这就是一种积极的力量正在对信息分化做出反击。因此我们有理由感到乐观。
　　技术上的原因有希望能够缩小这种信息分化。随着互联网变得越来越商业化，商业会使互联网的使用更普遍化——毕竟，上网的人越多，潜在的顾客就越多。越来越多的政府，因为害怕自己的国家会被甩在后面，也会扩大互联网的覆盖。在未来的十到二十年里，这个星球上十到二十亿的人会被网络连接在一起。因此，我相信，在未来这种信息分化会缩小而不是扩大。这会是一个好消息，因为互联网是打击世界范围内贫穷的最强大的工具。
　　当然，网络并不是打击贫穷的惟一方法，互联网也不是我们惟一拥有的工具，但是它具有无比强大的潜力。
　　为了利用这一工具，一些贫困国家必须克服他们对外国投资的那种过时的反殖民偏见。那些仍然认为外国投资是侵犯其主权的国家，不妨学习一下美国的基础设施建设史（基础设施是指一个社会的基础结构）。美国在进行工业基础设施建设时，并没有足够的资金。因此美国的第二批基础设施——包括公路、海港、高速路、码头等等——都是利用外国投资修建的。英国、德国、荷兰和FaGuo都在这块英国的前殖民地上投资，由他们来资助，美国的移民来建造。猜猜如今谁拥有这一切？是美国人民。我相信同样的事情也可以发生在巴西或其他任何地方。有越多的外国资金来帮助你修建第三批基础设施，也就是今天的电子设施，你将来的生活就会越好。这并不意味着躺着什么不干受人的欺骗，也不意味着让外国公司自由行动不受约束。但这确实意味着你必须意识到为了能够充分利用互联网，让他们修建必需的能源和通讯设施是多么的重要。
　　59. 【B】问题是：本文主要讲述的是什么？
　　文章第一句便道出文章旨在说明的问题：为什么那么多的美国人都不相信自己在报上所读到的内容（why do so many Americans distrust what they read in their newspapers?）? 第二段作者否认了一些肤浅的解释。从第三段开始，作者展开了具体分析，关于不相信的源头或原因“the sources of distrust”。这也是写这篇文章的主要目的, 故选B。
　　60. 【D】问题是：报业信任度测试项目的结果是
　　文章第二段第一句讲到项目的结果是一些低级的（lowlevel）发现，如报道失真、文章拼写和语法错误等。而无信任度的源头是更深入的（第3段第1句），这与D项内容相符。superficial，“肤浅的”，“表面的”。
　　61. 【C】问题是：正如作者所指出的，新闻工作者的主要问题是他们的
　　文章第三段作者指出，多数记者通过一套统一的模式来看世界，将每天的消息嵌入这个模式中。紧接着在下一段作者又指出，记者传统的对世界展望，加上他们与读者、文化和社会上的脱节更加疏远了他们之间的距离（第4段第1句）。
　　62. 【A】问题是：尽管努力，报业仍不能使读者满意，这是因为
　　第4行起作者暗示了，他们还没有找到问题的所在，所以无法对症下药解决问题。选A。
　　为什么有那么多美国人不相信报纸上的内容？美国报纸编辑协会试图回答这一令人痛苦的问题。他们正在进行深入的自我检查，也就是大家知道的新闻可信度调查。
　　说起来让人伤心，这一调查只发现一些低级的问题，例如事实错误、拼写和语法错误，再就是关于读者究竟需要什么，提出了一大堆让人挠头的问题。
　　但是究竟是什么原因导致了读者的不信任，这属于更深层次的问题。大多数的新闻新者用一种既定的模式来看待这个世界，把每天发生的事件往这个模式里套。换句话说，编辑部里有一种传统的新闻写作方法，为新闻报道提供现成的结构和骨架，即使是对于那些复杂的新闻事件也一样。
　　在新闻记者和读者之间存在着一种社会和文化上的断层，这解释了为什么编辑部里的“标准模块”在读者那里行不通。在最近的一次调查中，对全国五个中等城市和一个大城市的记者进行了问卷调查，同时就问卷中的问题，也随机对这些地区的居民进行了电话访问。
　　从回答中可以看出，和其他美国人相比，记者一般住高级社区，有佣人，开豪华轿车，交易股票，较少去教堂，较少做志愿者工作，较少在一个社区里扎根。
　　记者属于广义上说的“社会文化精英”群体的一部分，因此他们的作品倾向于反映这个精英群体的传统价值观念。读者对新闻媒介不信任这一惊人的现实，其根源并不在于报道不准确或者报道的技术不高明，而是在于记者和读者对这个世界的观点总是在冲突着。
　　这种情况对任何一个产业，尤其是一个正在衰退的产业来说，都是非常危险的。它一方面不断雇用职员，而这些职员的态度又大大惹恼了顾客。然后，它又举行大量的研讨会和一次信任度调查，去研究为什么众多顾客掉头而去。但它似乎从来没有注意到那么多以前的顾客所抱怨的文化和阶级偏见的问题，如果它注意到了这一点，就应该广开言路，增加丰富多彩的栏目，而不是仅仅把注意力集中在种族和性别上，雇用那些有不同的价值观、见解、教育背景和社会阶层的记者。
　　63. 【C】问题是：当前贸易的典型倾向是什么？
　　文章第1段第1行便指出，当今世界正在经历有史以来最大的并购热潮，即C项内容。 “combining”, “merging”, “acquisitions”, “business concentration”在文中都表达同一概念。
　　64. 【A】问题是：根据作者看法，M&A浪潮的动力之一是
　　文章第3段道出了M and A浪潮的原因。在作者看来，这些因素和造成日趋全球化的原因是一样的。作者举出几个全球化的例子如“falling transportation and communication costs”, “lower trade and investment barriers”。作者接着总结说“所有这些都对顾客有益而无害。”从而暗示了顾客的需求是全球化的根本动力。这也正是M&A浪潮的动力之一，即A项内容。
　　65. 【D】问题是：根据第4段内容，我们可以推断出
　　本文第4段第1、2句，作者指出现行合并热潮带来的利益或降低成本的例子还很少，但如果现在有几个石油公司合并，很难想象会再次出现近乎100年前的威胁。文中没有直接讲“Standard Oil” 的破产是因为他的竞争对手，但我们可以从句2得出，几个公司合并将会对竞争构成威胁 (更强大的竞争对手)。而100年前“Standard Oil” 的破产正是因为 “the same threats”, 指更强大的竞争对手，即D项内容。
　　66. 【B】问题是：对于这种新浪潮，作者的态度是
　　文章重于给读者提供事实数据和资料。作者没有对于某点或任何一点，给予过多的评论，或发表个人意见。文章结尾作者也提到了合并新潮可能带来的负面影响。可见作者的态度是客观、审慎的。
　　当今世界正经历着一场有史以来最大的并购浪潮。这股潮流以无与伦比的力量席卷美国、欧洲乃至新兴国家。看到这一切，这些国家的人们担心地问：“这种商业集中化的潮流会不会演变成无法控制的反竞争的力量？”
　　毫无疑问，大公司正变得更大更强。1982年时，跨国公司在国际贸易中所占的比重不到20%，而今天这个数字已经超过了25%，而且在迅速增长着。在那些对外开放、欢迎外国投资的国家里，跨国公司的子公司所占的比例快速增加。例如在阿根廷，在20世纪90年代早期的改革之后，在工业生产企业200家最大的公司里，跨国公司所占的比例从43%上升到将近70%。这一现象使人们对小公司、民族企业和世界经济的稳定等问题产生了深深的忧虑。
　　我认为造成大规模并购浪潮的最重要的原因与造成全球一体化进程的原因是一样的，那就是：运输和通讯费用的减少，贸易和投资门槛的降低，以及扩大的市场规模需要扩大的经营规模以迎合消费者的需求。这些对消费者来说，都是有利而无害的。随着生产力的发展，全球的财富也在增加。
　　现在能证明目前的并购浪潮是有利还是有害的例子还很少。但是我们很难想象，今天几个石油公司的合并就会给竞争再次带来一个世纪前，当美国的Standard Oil 企业联合会解散时，美国人所担心的那种威胁。像WorldCom这样的电信公司的合并，并没有给消费者造成更高的价格，或是减缓科技进步的步伐。相反，通讯费用很快下降了。在汽车行业中，合并也在增加——看看戴姆勒和克莱斯勒，再看看雷诺和尼桑——但是，消费者并没有受到损害。
　　但是实际上，我们必须留心注视这场并购运动。几周以前，Alan Greenspan 提醒人们注意银行业的大型合并。面对新生的巨型银行，谁将作为最终的监督、规范和管理者？当某个国家对侵害自由竞争的行为过于严厉时，那些跨国公司是否会从这个国家撤走，转到别的国家去？当面对一个影响很多国家的问题时，是否应该由一个国家把“维护竞争”的担子挑上，就像美国对抗微软一样？
　　67. 【B】问题是：根据文章第1段以下哪一项正确的？
　　文章第1段2至3行，作者讲述了她放弃工作的原因。“一次始料未及的变动伤害了我的自尊，阻碍了我在工作上的发展，促使我放弃了相对来说地位较高的工作。”这与B项内容相吻合。 A项内容与第1段第1句刚好相反，“A lateral move”是作者 “stepping out of fulltime employment”原因，而并非等同于“stepping out of fulltime employment”，故不选C。第1段最后部分，作者提到“I wanted to spend more time with my family” 但要注意的是，此句出现在双引号中，表明了“wanted to spend more time with my family”不是作者辞掉工作的真正原因，而是她以此作借口，自己安慰自己。从这句话无法得出作者是要否工作太忙而无法和家人更多的在一起。
　　68. 【B】问题是：作者的实验表明，downshifting。
　　文章第2段第1句作者讲到，奇怪的是，经过了约两年半的时间并发表了两部小说后，作者在美国人称之为 “downshifting” 的生活方式上的实验，却不期将她那乏味的借口（指第一段最后一句掩饰性的话）转为现实。紧接着下一句，作者具体指明是怎样的转变，她从一个“havingitall” 的哲学，转变为一个乐于随遇而安的女人。很明显，“随遇而安”（settle for a bit of everything）是作者新的生活哲学，与2年前的“havingitall” 哲学形成对比。只有B项内容符合作者本意。
　　69. 【C】问题是：“Juggling ones life”的意思是过一种的生活。
　　不难看出，第3段第2行中的 “the doctrine juggling your life” 和 “the philosophy of having it all”是一个意思，同出于作者Linda Kelsey。另外，在文章第4段第1句作者将“juggling”与“simpler” 和 “less materialistic” 作比较。很明显，在词义上它们的关系是相反的，故选C项。
　　70. 【D】问题是：根据本文，downshifting最初出现在美国是因为。
　　文章第5段第1行已明确指出，最初这种趋势（downshifting）的出现是对经济衰退的一种反应。A，B，C都可能是一个人选择 “downshifting”这种生活方式的原因，但这里所提出的问题是针对 “downshifting”在美国出现的历史性（注意，问题中emerge是过去式）。选D。
　　当我决定辞去全职工作的时候，完全没有想到自己有可能成为一股席卷全球的潮流中的一员。一次既伤害了我的自尊又妨碍了我的前程的调动，促成我放弃了地位相对较高的工作。但是在离开前，我用一种失宠的政府大臣的口气宣布：“我想多一些时间和家人呆在一起。”
　　奇怪的是，当我在两年半的时间里完成了两部小说之后，我的这种美国人叫做“放慢生活节奏”的体验，已经把我当初干巴巴的借口变成了现实。Linda Kelsey和她主编的《她》杂志在过去的7年里一直在宣扬“做个面面俱到的女人”，我也曾是这种哲学观的狂热支持者。但是，两年半的“放慢生活节奏”之后，我已经变成了一个“容易满足”的女人。
　　放弃“平衡好生活中的方方面面”，而转为“放慢生活节奏”，我发现这样做带来的好处要比经济上的成功和社会地位的提高重要得多。既然Kelsey已经因为压力过大而辞去了《她》杂志主编的职务——这件事受到了公众的广泛关注——我想，离职后的她也会产生和我一样的想法。再也没有任何事情能使我重新回到Kelsey过去倡导的，也是我曾经非常享受的那种生活方式了：一天工作12小时，让人倍感压力的最后期限，办公室里可怕的政治斗争，和孩子在一起的时间有限。
　　在美国，抛开“面面俱到”，转向一种更简单、更少注意物质利益的生活方式，已逐渐形成风尚。放慢生活节奏——在美国也叫做“返朴归真”——甚至为所谓的“反消费主义”开辟了新阵地。对那些想使自己的生活简单化的人，有一些非常畅销的自助书籍；还有一些报刊，例如《小气鬼报》，教成千上万的美国人有用的生活小窍门，像怎样重复利用食品保鲜膜，怎样自己做肥皂等；甚至有专门的互助组织帮助那些希望回到90年代中期的简单生活的人。
　　虽然在美国，这种潮流开始时是对经济衰退的一种反应——80年代末期的缩小经营规模，造成了大量的人员富余——当然也和提倡节约的政策有关。但是在英国，至少在我认识的中产阶级“放慢生活节奏者”中，我们有不同的原因去选择简单的生活。
　　对我这一代的妇女来说，在80年代我们总是被迫去平衡生活中的方方面面，到了90年代中期，我们选择放慢生活节奏，并不是为了寻求那种传说中的幸福生活——自己种种绿色蔬菜，搞不好自己也变得像蔬菜一样——而是意识到自己承受压力的能力有限。

林の声音 · 发表于 2005-12-7 00:30:35

DAY5
　　2000年全国硕士研究生入学考试英语试题（阅读部分）
　　Part IIIReading Comprehension
 　　Directions: Each of the passages below is followed by some questions. For each question there are four answers marked A， B, C and D. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each of the questions. Then mark your answer on ANSWER SHEET 1 by blackening the corresponding letter in the brackets with a pencil.（40points）
　　Passage 1
　　A history of long and effortless success can be a dreadful handicap, but, if properly handled, it may become a driving force. When the United States entered just such a glowing period after the end of the Second World War, it had a market eight times larger than any competitor, giving its industries unparalleled economies of scale. Its scientists were the worlds best, its workers the most skilled. America and Americans were prosperous beyond the dreams of the Europeans and Asians whose economies the war had destroyed.
　　It was inevitable that this primacy should have narrowed as other countries grew richer. Just as inevitably, the retreat from predominance proved painful. By the mid1980s Americans had found themselves at a loss over their fading industrial competitiveness. Some huge American industries, such as consumer electronics, had shrunk or vanished in the face of foreign competition. By 1987 there was only one American television maker left, Zenith.（Now there is none: Zenith was bought by South Koreas LG Electronics in July.）Foreignmade cars and textiles were sweeping into the domestic market. Americas machinetool industry was on the ropes. For a while it looked as though the making of semiconductors, which America had which sat at the heart of the new computer age, was going to be the next casualty.
　　All of this caused a crisis of confidence. Americans stopped taking prosperity for granted. They began to believe that their way of doing business was failing, and that their incomes would therefore shortly begin to fall as well. The mid1980s brought one inquiry after another into the causes of Americas industrial decline. Their sometimes sensational findings were filled with warnings about the growing competition from overseas.
　　How things have changed! In 1995 the United States can look back on five years of solid growth while Japan has been struggling. Few Americans attribute this solely to such obvious causes as a devalued dollar or the turning of the business cycle. Selfdoubt has yielded to blind pride.“American industry has changed its structure, has gone on a diet, has learnt to be more quickwitted,” according to Richard Cavanagh, executive dean of Harvards Kennedy School of Government.“It makes me proud to be an American just to see how our businesses are improving their productivity,” says Stephen Moore of the Cato Institute, a thinktank in Washington, DC. And William Sahlman of the Harvard Business School believes that people will look back on this period as “a golden age of business management in the United States.”
　　51. The U.S. achieved its predominance after World War Ⅱ because .
　　A. it had made painstaking efforts towards this goal
　　B. its domestic market was eight times larger than before
　　C. the war had destroyed the economies of most potential competitors
　　D. the unparalleled size of its workforce had given an impetus to its economy
　　52. The loss of U.S. predominance in the world economy in the 1980s is manifested in the fact that the American .
　　A. TV industry had withdrawn to its domestic market
　　B. semiconductor industry had been taken over by foreign enterprises
　　C. machinetool industry had collapsed after suicidal actions
　　D. auto industry had lost part of its domestic market
　　53. What can be inferred from the passage?
　　A. It is human nature to shift between selfdoubt and blind pried.
　　B. Intense competition may contribute to economic progress.
　　C. The revival of the economy depends on international cooperation.
　　D. A long history of success may pave the way for further development.
　　54. The author seems to believe the revival of the U.S. economy in the 1990s can be attributed to the .
　　A. turning of the business cycleB. restructuring of industry
　　C. improved business managementD. success in education
　　Passage 2
　　Being a man has always been dangerous. There are about 105 males born for every 100 females, but this ratio drops to near balance at the age of maturity, and among 70yearolds there are twice as many women as men. But the great universal of male mortality is being changed. Now, by babies survive almost as well as girls do. This means that, for the first time, there will be an excess of boys in those crucial years when they are searching for a mate. More important, another chance for natural selection has been removed. Fifty years ago, the chance of a baby（particularly a boy baby）surviving depended on its weight. A kilogram too light or too heavy meant almost certain death. Today it makes almost no difference. Since much of the variation is due to genes one more agent of evolution has gone.
　　There is another way to commit evolutionary suicide: stay alive, but have fewer children. Few people are as fertile as in the past. Except in some religious communities, very few women has 15 children. Nowadays the number of births, like the age of death, has become average. Most of us have roughly the same number of offspring. Again, differences between people and the opportunity for natural selection to take advantage of it have diminished. India shows what is happening. The country offers wealth for a few in the great cities and poverty for the remaining tribal peoples. The grand mediocrity of today everyone being the same in survival and number of offspring means that natural selection has lost 80% of its power in uppermiddleclass India compared to the tribes.
　　For us, this means that evolution is over; the biological Utopia has arrived. Strangely, it has involved little physical change. No other species fills so many places in nature. But in the pass 100,000 years even the pass 100 years our lives have been transformed but our bodies have not. We did not evolve, because machines and society did it for us. Darwin had a phrase to describe those ignorant of evolution: they “look at an organic being as average looks at a ship, as at something wholly beyond his comprehension.” No doubt we will remember a 20th century way of life beyond comprehension for its ugliness. But however amazed our descendants may be at how far from Utopia we were, they will look just like us.
　　55. What used to be the danger in being a man according to the first paragraph?
　　A. A lack of mates. B. A fierce competition.
　　C. A lower survival rate. D. A defective gene.
　　56. What does the example of India illustrate?
　　A. Wealthy people tend to have fewer children than poor people.
　　B. Natural selection hardly works among the rich and the poor.
　　C. The middle class population is 80% smaller than that of the tribes.
　　D. India is one of the countries with a very high birth rate.
　　57. The author argues that our bodies have stopped evolving because .
　　A. life has been improved by technological advance
　　B. the number of female babies has been declining
　　C. our species has reached the highest stage of evolution
　　D. the difference between wealth and poverty is disappearing
　　58. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
　　A. Sex Ration Changes in Human Evolution
　　B. Ways of Continuing Mans Evolution
　　C. The Evolutionary Future of Nature
　　D. Human Evolution Going Nowhere
　　Passage 3
　　When a new movement in art attains a certain fashion, it is advisable to find out what its advocates are aiming at, for, however farfetched and unreasonable their principles may seem today, it is possible that in years to come they may be regarded as normal. With regard to Futurist poetry, however, the case is rather difficult, for whatever Futurist poetry may be even admitting that the theory on which it is based may be right, it can hardly be classed as Literature.
　　This, in brief, is what the Futurist says; for a noise and violence and speed. Consequently, our feelings, thoughts and emotions have undergone a corresponding change. This speeding up of life, says the Futurist, requires a new form of expression. We must speed up our literature too, if we want to interpret modern stress. We must pour out a large stream of essential words, unhampered by stops, or qualifying adjectives, of finite verbs. Instead of describing sounds we must make up words that imitate them; we must use many sizes of type and different colored inks on the same page, and shorten or lengthen words at will.
　　Certainly their descriptions of battles are confused. But it is a little upsetting to read in the explanatory notes that a certain line describes a fight between a Turkish and a Bulgarian officer on a bridge off which they both fall into the river and then to find that the line consists of the noise of their falling and the weights of the officers: “Puff! Puff! A hundred and eightyfive kilograms.”
　　This, though it fulfills the laws and requirements of Futurist poetry, can hardly be classed as Literature. All the same, no thinking man can refuse to accept their first proposition: that a great change in our emotional life calls for a change of expression. The whole question is really this: have we essentially changed?
　　59. This passage is mainly .
　　A. a survey of new approaches to artB. a review of Futurist poetry
　　C. about merits of the Futurist movementD. about laws and requirements of literature
　　60. When a novel literary idea appears, people should try to .
　　A. determine its purposes B. ignore its flaws
　　C. follow the new fashions D. accept the principles
　　61. Futurists claim that we must .
　　A. increase the production of literature B. use poetry to relieve modern stress
　　C. develop new modes of expression D. avoid using adjectives and verbs
　　62. The author believes that Futurist poetry is .
　　A. based on reasonable principles
　　B. new and acceptable to ordinary people
　　C. indicative of basic change in human nature
　　D. more of a transient phenomenon than literature
　　Passage 4
　　Aimlessness has hardly been typical of the postwar Japan whose productivity and social harmony are the envy of the United States and Europe. But increasingly the Japanese are seeing a decline of the traditional workmoral values. Ten years ago young people were hardworking and saw their jobs as their primary reason for being, but now Japan has largely fulfilled its economic needs, and young people dont know where they should go next.
　　The coming of age of the postwar baby boom and an entry of women into the maledominated job market have limited the opportunities of teenagers who are already questioning the heavy personal sacrifices involved in climbing Japans rigid social ladder to good schools and jobs. In a recent survey, it was found that only 24.5 percent of Japanese students were fully satisfied with school life, compared with 67.2 percent of students in the United States. In addition, far more Japanese workers expressed dissatisfaction with their jobs than did their counterparts in the 10 other countries surveyed.
　　While often praised by foreigners for its emphasis on the basics, Japanese education tends to stress test taking and mechanical learning over creativity and selfexpression.“Those things that do not show up in the test scores personality, ability, courage or humanity are completely ignored,” says Toshiki Kaifu, chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Partys education committee.“Frustration against this kind of thing leads kids to drop out and run wild.” Last year Japan experienced 2, 125 incidents of school violence, including 929 assaults on teachers. Amid the outcry, many conservative leaders are seeking a return to the prewar emphasis on moral education. Last year Mitsuo Setoyama, who was then education minister, raised eyebrows when he argued that liberal reforms introduced by the American occupation authorities after World WarⅡhad weakened the “Japanese morality of respect for parents”.
　　But that may have more to do with Japanese lifestyles.“In Japan,” says educator Yoko Muro, “its never a question of whether you enjoy your job and your life, but only how much you can endure.” With economic growth has come centralization; fully 76 percent of Japans 119 million citizens live in cities where community and the extended family have been abandoned in favor of isolated, twogeneration households. Urban Japanese have long endured lengthy commutes（travels to and from work）and crowded living conditions, but as the old group and family values weaken, the discomfort is beginning to tell. In the past decade, the Japanese divorce rate, while still well below that of the United States, has increased by more than 50 percent, and suicides have increased by nearly onequarter.
　　63. In the Westerners eyes, the postwar Japan was .
　　A. under aimless development B. a positive example
　　C. a rival to the West D. on the decline
　　64. According to the author, what may chiefly be responsible for the moral decline of Japanese society?
　　A. Womens participation in social activities is limited.
　　B. More workers are dissatisfied with their jobs.
　　C. Excessive emphasis has been placed on the basics.
　　D. The lifestyle has been influenced by Western values.
　　65. Which of the following is true according to the author?
　　A. Japanese education is praised for helping the young climb the social ladder
　　B. Japanese education is characterized by mechanical learning as well as creativity.
　　C. More stress should be placed on the cultivation of creativity.
　　D. Dropping out leads to frustration against test taking.
　　66. The change in Japanese lifestyle is revealed in the fact that .
　　A. the young are less tolerant of discomforts in the fact that
　　B. the divorce rate in Japan exceeds that in the U.S.
　　C. the Japanese endure more than ever before
　　D. the Japanese appreciate their present life
　　Passage 5
　　If ambition is to be well regarded, the rewards of ambition health, distinction, control over ones destiny must be deemed worthy of the sacrifices made on ambitions behalf. If the tradition of ambition is to have vitality, it must be widely shared; and it especially must be highly regarded by people who are themselves admired, the educated not least among them. In an odd way, however, it is the educated who have claimed to have give up on ambition as an ideal. What is odd is that they have perhaps most benefited from ambition — if not always their own then that of their parents and grandparents. There is heavy note of hypocrisy in this, a case of closing the barn door after the horses have escaped with the educated themselves riding on them.
　　Certainly people do not seem less interested in success and its signs now than formerly. Summer homes, European travel, BMWs. The locations, place names and name brands may change, but such items do not seem less in demand today than a decade or two years ago. What has happened is that people cannot confess fully to their dreams, as easily and openly as once they could, lest they be thought pushing, acquisitive and vulgar. Instead, we are treated to fine hypocritical spectacles, which now more than ever seem in ample supply: the critic of American materialism with a Southampton summer home; the publisher of radical books who takes his meals in threestar restaurants; the journalist advocating participatory democracy in all phases of life, whose own children are enrolled in private schools. For such people and many more perhaps not so exceptional, the proper formulation is,“Succeed at all costs but avoid appearing ambitious.”
　　The attacks on ambition are many and come from various angles; its public defenders are few and unimpressive, where they are not extremely unattractive. As a result, the support for ambition as a healthy impulse, a quality to be admired and fixed in the mind of the young, is probably lower than it has ever been in the United States. This does not mean that ambition is at an end, that people no longer feel its stirrings and promptings, but only that, no longer openly honored, it is less openly underground, or made sly. Such, then, is the way things stand: on the left angry critics, on the right stupid supporters, and in the middle, as usual, the majority of earnest people trying to get on in life.
　　67. It is generally believed that ambition may be well regarded if .
　　A. its returns well compensate for the sacrifices
　　B. it is rewarded with money, fame and power
　　C. its goals are spiritual rather than material
　　D. it is shared by the rich and the famous
　　68. The last sentence of the first paragraph most probably implies that it is .
　　A. customary of the educated to discard ambition in words
　　B. too late to check ambition once it has been let out
　　C. dishonest to deny ambition after the fulfillment of the goal
　　D. impractical for the educated to enjoy benefits from ambition
　　69. Some people do not openly admit they have ambition because .
　　A. they think of it as immoral
　　B. their pursuits are not fame or wealth
　　C. ambition is not closely related to material benefits
　　D. they do not want to appear greedy and contemptible
　　70. From the last paragraph the conclusion can be drawn that ambition should be maintained .
　　A. secretly and vigorouslyB. openly and enthusiastically
　　C. easily and momentarilyD. verbally and spiritually
　　51. 【C】问题是：二战后美国取得了优势是因为
　　文章第1段第2句指出二战后，美国进入一个欣欣向荣的时期，它拥有8倍于其他任何一个竞争国家的市场，工业经济发展到空前规模，它拥有世界上最优秀的科学家和最熟练的工人。下一句作者又指出美国的繁荣和美国人富裕水平是欧洲人和亚洲人做梦也想不到的，因为战争摧毁了他们的经济。从这句可以推断出美国之所以有这么大的优势，是因为在经历了二战之后惟有它的经济毫无损伤。这与C项内容相符。A，D项文中没有提到，B项内容是美国取得优势的一个特征，而不是取得优势的原因。
　　52. 【D】问题是：在80年代，美国在世界经济竞争中失去她的优势，这主要表现在美国
　　文章第2段第1、2句作者讲到面临着其他国家经济复苏，在对手面前，美国逐渐失去她的优势。随后作者在不同工业领域中一一给出例子，先是电视。到1987年为止，美国仅存的电视制造商只有Zenith一家了（现在已荡然无存：Zenith于7月份被韩国LG公司收购）。这里并没有提到美国电视失去国际市场。事实上，它连国内市场也无法保证。B项不对，因为第2段最后一句，作者提到半导体制造业似乎将会成为最后一个受害者。C项也不对，因为第2段提到了机床制造业也在走钢丝（on the ropes）。这表明，他正在失去国内外市场，并没有提到其自取灭亡。
　　53. 【B】问题是：从本文可以推断出
　　第3段提到，严峻的现实使美国人失去了自信，他们不再认为繁荣是自然而然的事，他们开始认识到自己的经营方式存在严重的问题。在80年代中期，他们开始探讨美国经济衰退的原因。他们有时有些惊人的发现，其中往往提示人们警惕外来竞争。第4段提到了90年代的经济复苏。其中的含义是：在竞争的压力下，美国人在80年代进行了自我反思和产业结构调整，因此带来了90年代的经济复苏。因此选B：高度竞争导致经济成功。
　　54. 【A】问题是：作者似乎认为90年代美国经济复苏可以归功于
　　文章第4段第2句，作者讲到，对于90年代美国经济复苏，美国人不认为这是美元贬值或经济周期所直接带来的。紧接着在下一句，作者对这种看法给予了批评，盲目骄傲战胜了自疑。很明显，对于90年代经济复苏原因的这个问题，作者肯定了大多数美国人所否定的，即A项内容。
　　长期而轻而易举取得的成功有可能是一种缺陷，但是如果处理得当，它也可能变成一种动力。二战后美国就进入了这样一段辉煌的时期：它的市场比竞争对手的要大八倍，为它的工业提供了无法比拟的集约效应。它拥有全世界最好的科学家和最熟练的技术工人。美国和美国人民的繁荣是欧洲和亚洲那些经济被战争严重摧毁的国家做梦都想象不到的。
　　当然，不可避免的，随着其他国家逐渐富强起来，美国的这种领先优势在逐渐缩小，而领先优势的丧失不免会令人痛苦。到了80年代中期，美国人发现他们在工业上的竞争力日益减少，而他们也无计可施。一些美国工业的巨头，例如电子工业，在外国的竞争之下缩小或消失。到1987年只剩下Zenith一家美国电视制造商（现在连这一家也没有了，韩国LG电子公司在7月份收购了Zenith）。外国生产的汽车和纺织品席卷美国内市场；美国的机床产业岌岌可危；半导体，这种由美国发明并处于电脑时代核心位置的产业，一度也似乎即将成为下一个牺牲者。
　　这些情况导致了美国人的信心危机：他们不再认为繁荣是理所当然。他们开始认为自己做生意的方式失败了，因此他们的收入会很快开始减少。80年代中期，对美国工业滑坡原因的探讨一个接着一个，偶尔出现的惊闪发现都充斥着对外国不断增强的竞争力的警告。
　　世事真是变化无常！到了1995年，美国回顾着过去五年的持续增长，而日本开始了挣扎。很少有美国人把这仅仅归结于向美元贬值或商业周期变化这样显而易见的原因。不自信变成了盲目自大。哈佛大学肯尼迪学院院长Richard Cavanagh认为：“美国的工业结构发生了变化，精简了机构，头脑也更灵活了。”华盛顿智囊团的一员，Cato机构的Stephen Moore说：“看到我们不断提高的生产力，我为自己身为其中一员而自豪。”哈佛商学院的William Sahlman认为，在人们回顾这段历史时，会认为它是“美国经济管理的黄金时代”。
　　55. 【C】问题是：过去身为男人的危险是什么
　　从第一段我们知道，在过去男人的死亡率要比女人高,所以答案是C。
　　56. 【B】问题是：文中那个印度的例子说明了什么？
　　这道题主要是考察对文中第二段最后一句话的理解（请参看译文）。选项B意思为自然选择在穷人和富人之间几乎发挥不了什么作用了。
　　57. 【A】问题是：作者认为我们的身体停止了进化是因为什么？
　　最后一段三、四行的一句话是答案的关键——“We did not evolve, because machines and society did it for us”。这句话的意思是我们没有进化，是因为机器和社会的进化替代我们的进化。故此题选A,意为生活被技术革新所改善。
　　58. 【D】问题是：哪一个是本文最恰当的标题？
　　本文在开头由过去男性的死亡率高的问题引入到现在的男性死亡率已下降，试图说明人类进化的一个手段已消失（第一段最后一句话）；第二段从人们养育子女的热情逐步走向低潮，从另外一个角度说明人类已放缓进化（第二段第一句话）。而最后一段则集中讨论了为什么人类自身会停止进化，原因在于机器和社会取代了我们的进化。所以此题的答案是D(人类进化原地止步)。
　　身为男人一直是一件危险的事情。出生时，男女婴儿的比例是105∶100，但到接近成年时，这个比例已经下降到接近平等了，而到了70多岁的时候，女人的数量是男人的两倍。但是男性死亡这一普遍现象已经得到了改变。现在，男婴和女婴的存活率是一样高的。这就意味着，到了婚配年龄时，男人的数量会第一次多于女人的数量。更重要的一点是，自然选择的另一个机会已经不存在了。五十年前，婴儿（尤其是男婴）的存活主要取决于它的体重。比正常体重一公斤或轻一公斤几乎都意味着死亡，而今天体重已经没有什么意义了。由于体重的差别主要是由基因决定的，进化的一个手段已经丧失了。
　　人们生存下去，但养育的子女减少了，这也是停止进化的又一个表现。现在人的生育欲望不如以前的人。除非是在一些宗教团体中，很少有女人会生15个孩子。如今新生儿的数目就像死亡年龄一样已经趋向平均了。我们大多数人的子女数目都差不多。因此，人于人之间的不同，以及因此而导致的自然选择的机会也缩小了。印度发生的事情就是很好的例子。在印度的大城市里，有少数的富裕阶层，但其他的部落人群还处于贫困之中。可是在今天，一切都是平等的——每个人存活的机会相同，生育子女的数目也相同——这意味着，相对于部落人群来说，在印度的中上层阶层中自然选择已经丧失了80%的力量。
　　对我们来说，这意味着自然选择已经不起作用了，生物界的乌托邦时代到来了。但奇怪的是，我们的身体却没发生什么变化。自然界里再没有别的生物能占据如此广阔的空间。但是在过去的十万年中——即使是在过去的一百年里——我们的生活方式虽然发生了改变，但我们的身体却没有变化。我们没有进化，这是因为我们的社会和机器代替我们进化了。达尔文有一句话形容那些对进化无知的人，说：他们“看待一个有机生命体就好像野人看待一条船，好像看待一件他们完全无法理解的事情。”毫无疑问，我们会记得20世纪的生活方式，而不用理解它丑陋的一面。我们的后代也许会惊异于我们离理想社会如此之远，但不论他们如何吃惊，他们长的和我们还是完全一样。
　　59. 【B】问题是：本篇文章主要讲的是。
　　文章第1段的最后一句作者便开门见山地指出，“无论未来派诗歌是什么东西——即使承认其理论根据是正确的，还是很难将它归入文学作品。”第2段作者对什么是未来派诗歌和它倡导者所提倡的作了一番叙说。第3段和第4段作者举实例对它进行批评。本文不难看出是一篇文学评论，即B项内容。“Review”有“analysis, examining, critique”等意思。
　　60. 【A】问题是：当新的文学思想出台时，人们应当试着去。
　　文章第一段第一句指出，每当一个新艺术思潮达到一定流行程度时，（在评价它之前）最好先找出倡导者的目的，因为，无论其（创作）原则在今天看来可能是多么不着边际，多么荒谬，但是在未来它也许会被看做是正常的东西。B项文中没有提到；C，D项内容与作者意图刚好相反。
　　61. 【C】问题是：未来派声称我们必须。
　　文章第2段简述了什么是未来派和他们所提倡的，如诗中不注入大量关键词汇，不带标点符号，没有修饰形容词和限定动词；还有与其形容声音，干脆不如造象声词，在同一页面随意写上不同大小、不同颜色的字。D项内容，是这种新表达方式的具体表现。C项内容包括了全部，故选C
　　62. 【D】问题是：作者认为未来派诗歌是。
　　文章第1段作者便指出，未来派诗歌属不正常的（not normal）的东西，而且不可以被视为文学作品。在第3段作者举例引证了未来派所提倡的“新表达方式”的可笑（Puff! Puff! A hundred and eightyfive kilograms）。文章结尾，作者指出，我们情感生活的巨大变化的确要求我们表达方式的变化。但问题是：我们本质上来说真的发生了变化吗？这是一个反问句，其目的是强调作者的立场。很显然，作者认为未来派诗歌与其说是文学，不如说是一种短暂的现象，即D项。
　　当艺术领域内的一项新的运动开始形成风尚的时候，人们应该留心一下倡导者的用意何在。因为不论现在看来它的原则是多么的牵强和不可理喻，很有可能几年后它就变成了很正常的东西。但是，对于未来派诗歌，事情就很难办了，因为不论怎样——即使承认它的理论基础是正确的——我们也很难把这种东西称之为文学。
　　下面就简单介绍一下未来派诗人的观点：一个世纪以来，人类的生活状况被加速了，我们现在生活在一个充满喧嚣、暴力和速度的世界里。因此，我们的感觉、思想和情感也经受了相应的变化，而加速了的生活需要一种新的表达方式。如果想诠释现代社会的压力，那么我们的文学也必须加速。我们必须尽情倾吐最能表示我们感觉的词句，中间没有停顿，没有修饰性的形容词和限定动词。我们必须创造出新的词语来模拟声音，而不是描绘声音；在同一书页上，我们要使用不同的字体、不同的颜色，随意加长或缩短单词。
　　这些诗人对战争的描写是混乱的。有一首诗的注解说，诗中有一句话描写的是一位土耳其军官和一位保加利亚军官在一座桥上的战斗，最后他们都掉进了桥下的河里。结果在读这句话的时候，发现描写了他们掉进河里的声音和两位军官的重量：“啪啦哧！啪啦哧（创造出的模拟声音的词）！一百八十五公斤！”
　　这首诗尽管符合未来派诗歌的要求和原则，但我们很难把它称为文学。同样，尽管任何有思想的人都无法拒绝他们的主张：我们的感情生活起了巨大的变化，因此我们的表达方式也应有所改变，但问题是：我们真的变了吗？
　　63. 【B】问题是：在西方人眼中，战后的日本是。
　　文章第1段第1句，作者便指出“战后，日本的目标明确，生产率与和谐的社会状态是美国和欧洲所羡慕的。” 即B项内容。“a positive example”，一个好的榜样。A，D项内容与第1段内容刚好相反；C项内容文中没有提及。
　　64. 【D】问题是：根据作者，造成日本社会道德价值观沦丧的主要原因是。
　　文章第3段作者指出，日本教育界对道德教育的忽视，从而造成了日本青年辍学和目无法纪等现象。此外，作者还引用了去年案例来进行补充说明。第3段，6～7行，“许多人在大声疾呼；许多保守派领袖试图回到战前日本对道德教育极其重视的老路。” 作者最后引用了Mitsuo Setoyama教育部长的一句话。很明显，根据Mitsuo Setoyama，日本社会道德价值观沦丧，这一切很大程度上归因于生活方式受西方价值观的影响，即D项内容。
　　65. 【C】问题是：根据作者，以下哪一项是正确的？
　　文章第3段第1、2句，作者引用自民党教育委员会主席Toshiki Kaifu的话，指出日本单方面的过于强调考试和机械化的学习，而忽略了创造力、自我表达方面的培养，并且个性、能力、勇气、仁爱等在试卷中是看不出来的，只有C项内容是正确的。
　　66. 【A】问题是：日本人生活方式的变化显现在。
　　文章第4段作者举例，城市居民长期以来，一直承受着上下班时间长和生活环境拥挤的折磨；但是随着旧有的团体和家庭价值观的瓦解，困难开始表面化了。以此可以推出，现在的日本人比起以前的日本人更难以忍受生活中的艰苦，即A项内容。
　　战后的日本目标明确，生产力水平和社会融洽的程度都令美国和欧洲国家羡慕。但是现在，日本人那种“劳动是美德”的传统观念逐渐退化了。十年前，年轻人把工作视为生活的主要原因，但现在日本已经基本满足了经济上的需要，年轻人也不知道下一步该做些什么了。
　　战后生育高峰时期诞生的婴儿都已经到了工作年龄，再加上妇女如今也进入了本来由男性统治的职业市场，这使得青少年的机会大大缩小了。他们本来就已经抱怨在日本社会里要想上好学校、取得好工作就必须要爬上森严的社会阶梯，所以个人必须做出很多牺牲。在最近的一次调查统计中，只有24.5%的日本学生对学校生活完全满意，而在美国有67.2%的学生表示满意。而且，和其他10个被调查的国家的工人相比，太多的日本工人表示对自己的工作不满意。
　　尽管外国人经常表扬日本人重视基础教育，但是日本的教育倾向于重视考试和机械式的学习，而不重视培养创造性和表达自己的见解。执政的自民党教育委员会主席Toshiki Kaifu说：“那些没有反映在考试成绩上的东西——性格、能力、勇气和仁爱——都被忽略了。由于在这些方面受到挫折，很多孩子辍学或学坏了。”去年日本就发生了2125起校园暴力事件,其中包括929起攻击教师的事件。现在许多人在大声疾呼；很多保守党领袖试图回到战前那种重视德育的情况。去年，当时的教育部长Mitsuo Setoyama大为光火，认为二战后由美国占领引入的自由改革削弱了“日本人尊重父母的道德观”。
　　但这可能和日本人的生活方式关系更大。教育家Yoko Muro说：“在日本，你是否喜欢你的工作和生活从来不是问题，问题是你究竟能忍受多少。”随着经济发展的集中化，在日本的一亿一千九百万国民中，有76%的人住在城市里，几代同堂的大家庭和社区已经被独立的、主要由两代人组成的小家庭所取代。城市居民长期以来一直承受着上下班时间长和环境拥挤的折磨。但是随着旧有的团体和家庭观念的削弱，这些不便之处也开始显现出来。在过去十年中，日本的离婚率虽然仍远远低于美国的离婚率，但已经增长了50%还多，自杀的比率也增长了将近25%。
　　67. 【A】问题是：大多数人认为 “野心”可被看作是好事，如果。
　　文章第一段作者暗示到（言外之意），只有树立雄心壮志，并为实现雄心壮志作出努力和牺牲，收到的回报就会大于做出的牺牲，使你感到没有白白地做出牺牲。这与选项A基本同义。B，C，D都有片面之处，不可以总结作者对这个问题的表述。
　　68. 【A】问题是：文章第1段最后一句，很有可能暗示。
　　文章第一段最后一句的前半句指责这些人都是虚伪的，后半句是一个比喻。意为：他是野心的受益者，但又虚伪地否认拥有野心的重要性。这与A项相同。
　　69. 【D】问题是：有一些人从不公开承认他们有 “野心”是因为。
　　文章根据第2段第3句，事实是：人们不坦陈自己的梦想，不像从前一样容易公开承认梦想，以防被人看作是爱出风头的、贪婪庸俗的人。B，C项与作者所持观点相反。事实上，在第1-2段中，作者多处指出，物质利益或名望是大多数人“野心”的动机和目的。A项中 “immoral”，“不道德”这个词太重，不适合表达作者本意。
　　70. 【B】问题是：从最后一段可以得出的结论是： “野心”应当保持。
　　文章以人们对自己或他人的“野心”不健康的处理、开始、发展到结束。在最后一段4至5句，作者点明由于人们不公开表达自己的野心，就产生一些不良后果，有些野心就成为暗中拥有的东西，使人变得狡黠。由此得出，作者的结论是：对于“野心”，我们应该保持一个积极的心态而不是刻意地去隐瞒它，即B项内容。
　　如果想使人们对野心产生好感，那么必须认为野心获得的回报——财富、名望、对自己命运的主宰——都是值得为其做出牺牲的。如果想使野心这一传统获得活力，那么它必须得到众多人的认可，尤其是得到那些本身就受人羡慕的人的尊敬，特别是其中受过教育的人。然而，令人奇怪的是，正是这些受过教育的人宣称他们放弃了野心。而正是他们从野心中获益最多——也许不是他们亲身获益，那也是他们的父母或祖父母从中获益。他们的宣称有很重要的虚伪成分，就好像等马都跑光了才去关上马厩的门，而骑在马背上的，正是那些受过教育的人。
　　当然，今天的人们和过去相比，对成功及其标志的兴趣并没有减少。度假别墅、欧洲之旅、宝马轿车——这些场所、地名和品牌的名字可能会改变，但对类似东西的需求，在今天和在十年前或者两年前相比，并没有减少。事实是，人们再也无法像以前那样轻易地、坦白地承认自己的梦想，因为怕别人说他们有野心、追求物质、粗俗。于是，我们戴上了精致的伪君子的眼镜，这种眼镜现在比以前更多了。例如：批评美国人过于追求物质利益的批评家，在南安浦顿有座度假别墅；出版激进书籍的出版商经常在三星级饭店用餐；鼓吹在生活各方面都应人人共享民主的记者，却把孩子送进了私立学校。对这些人，还有其他很多更平常一些的人来说，合适的表达应该是，“不惜一切获得成功，但不要表现得太有野心。”
　　从各个不同的角度对野心进行的攻击很多，但在公开场合支持它的很少，也没有给人留下什么印象，虽然这些支持的声音并不是完全没有吸引力。结果，那些支持野心的人，认为它是一种健康的推动力，一种值得钦佩的品质，应该深深地印在年轻人的脑海里的人，比美国历史上的任何时期都要少。这并不意味着野心已经走到了终点，人们再也感觉不到它的激励和鼓动了，只是现在人们再也不公开对它表示敬意，再也不公开承认了。当然，这带来的结果是，野心被赶入了地下，变得偷偷摸摸。于是，事情就变成了这样：左面站着愤怒的批评家，右面站着愚蠢的支持者，而就像通常一样，站在中间的是大多数人，热切地盼望着发迹的那一天。

林の声音 · 发表于 2005-12-7 00:31:03

DAY6
　　1999年全国硕士研究生入学考试英语试题（阅读部分）
　　Part IIIReading Comprehension
 　　Directions: Each of the passages below is followed by some questions. For each question there are four answers marked A, B, C and D. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each of the questions. Then mark your answer on the ANSWER SHEET I by blackening the corresponding letter in the brackets. （40 points）
　　Passage 1
　　Its a rough world out there. Step outside and you could break a leg slipping on your doormat. Light up the stove and you could burn down the house. Luckily, if the doormat or stove failed to warn of coming disaster, a successful lawsuit might compensate you for your troubles. Or so the thinking has gone since the early 1980s, when juries began holding more companies liable for their customers misfortunes.
　　Feeling threatened, companies responded by writing everlonger warning labels, trying to anticipate every possible accident. Today, stepladders carry labels several inches long that warn, among other things, that you mightsurprise! — Fall off. The label on a child  s Batman cape cautions that the toy “does not enable user to fly”.
　　While warnings are often appropriate and necessary — the dangers of drug interactions, for example — and many are required by state or federal regulations, it isnt clear that they actually protect the manufacturers and sellers from liability if a customer is injured. About 50 percent of the companies lose when injured customers take them to court.
　　Now the tide appears to be turning. As personal injury claims continue as before, some courts are beginning to side with defendants, especially in cases where a warning label probably wouldnt have changed anything. In May, Julie Nimmons, president of Schutt Sports in Illinois, successfully fought a lawsuit involving a football player who was paralyzed in a game while wearing a Schutt helmet. “We re really sorry he has become paralyzed, but helmets arent designed to prevent those kinds of injuries, ” says Nimmons. The jury agreed that the nature of the game, not the helmet, was the reason for the athletes injury. At the same time, the American Law Institute — a group of judges, lawyers, and academics whose recommendations carry substantial weightissued new guidelines for tort law stating that companies need not warn customers of obvious dangers or bombard them with a lengthy list of possible ones. “Important information can get buried in a sea of trivialities,” says a law professor at Cornell law School who helped draft the new guidelines. If the moderate end of the legal community has its way, the information on products might actually be provided for the benefit of customers and not as protection against legal liability.
　　51. What were things like in 1980s when accidents happened?
　　A. Customers might be relieved of their disasters through lawsuits.
　　B. Injured customers could expect protection from the legal system.
　　C. Companies would avoid being sued by providing new warnings.
　　D. Juries tended to find fault with the compensations companies promised.
　　52. Manufacturers as mentioned in the passage tend to .
　　A. satisfy customers by writing long warnings on products
　　B. become honest in describing the inadequacies of their products
　　C. make the best use of labels to avoid legal liability
　　D. feel obliged to view customers safety as their first concern
　　53. The case of Schutt helmet demonstrated that .
　　A. some injury claims were no longer supported by law
　　B. helmets were not designed to prevent injuries
　　C. product labels would eventually be discarded
　　D. some sports games might lose popularity with athletes
　　54. The author s attitude towards the issue seems to be .
　　A. biased B. indifferent C. puzzling D. objective
　　Passage 2
　　In the first year or so of Web business, most of the action has revolved around efforts to tap the consumer market. More recently, as the Web proved to be more than a fashion, companies have started to buy and sell products and services with one another. Such businesstobusiness sales make sense because businesspeople typically know what product theyre looking for.
　　Nonetheless, many companies still hesitate to use the Web because of doubts about its reliability. “Businesses need to feel they can trust the pathway between them and the supplier,” says senior analyst Blane Erwin of Forrester Research. Some companies are limiting the risk by conducting online transactions only with established business partners who are given access to the companys private Internet.
　　Another major shift in the model for Internet commerce concerns the technology available for marketing. Until recently, Internet marketing activities have focused on strategies to “pull” customers into sites. In the past year, however, software companies have developed tools that allow companies to “push” information directly out to consumers, transmitting marketing messages directly to targeted customers. Most notably, the Pointcast Network uses a screen saver to deliver a continualityupdated stream of news and advertisements to subscribers computer monitors. Subscribers can customize the information they want to receive and precede directly to a companys Web site. Companies such as Virtual Vineyards are already starting to use similar technologies to push messages to customers about special sales, product offerings, or other events. But push technology has earned the contempt of many Web users. Online culture thinks highly of the notion that the information flowing onto the screen comes there by specific request. Once commercial promotion begins to fill the screen uninvited, the distinction between the Web and television fades. Thats a prospect that horrifies Net purists.
　　But it is hardly inevitable that companies on the Web will need to resort to push strategies to make money. The examples of Virtual Vineyards, Amazon.com, and other pioneers show that a Web site selling the right kind of products with the right mix of interactivity, hospitality, and security will attract online customers. And the cost of computing power continues to free fall, which is a good sign for any enterprise setting up shop in silicon. People looking back 5 or 10 years from now may well wonder why so few companies took the online plunge.
　　55. We learn from the beginning of the passage that Web business .
　　A. has been striving to expand its market
　　B. intended to follow a fanciful fashion
　　C. tried but in vain to control the market
　　D. has been booming for one year or so
　　56. Speaking of the online technology available for marketing, the author implies that .
　　A. the technology is popular with many Web users
　　B. businesses have faith in the reliability of online transactions
　　C. there is a radical change in strategy
　　D. it is accessible limitedly to established partners
　　57. In the view of Net purists, .
　　A. there should be no marketing messages in online culture
　　B. money making should be given priority to on the Web
　　C. the Web should be able to function as the television set
　　D. there should be no online commercial information without requests
　　58. We learn from the last paragraph that .
　　A. pushing information on the Web is essential to Internet commerce
　　B. interactivity, hospitality and security are important to online customers
　　C. leading companies began to take the online plunge decades ago
　　D. setting up shops in silicon is independent of the cost of computing power
　　Passage 3
　　An invisible border divides those arguing for computers in the classroom on the behalf of students career prospects and those arguing for computers in the classroom for broader reasons of radical educational reform. Very few writers on the subject have explored this distinction — indeed, contradiction — which goes to the heart of what is wrong with the campaign to put computers in the classroom.
　　An education that aims at getting a student a certain kind of job is a technical education, justified for reasons radically different from why education is universally required by law. It is not simply to raise everyones job prospects that all children are legally required to attend school into their teens. Rather, we have a certain conception of the American citizen, a character who is incomplete if he cannot competently assess how his livelihood and happiness are affected by things outside of himself. But this was not always the case; before it was legally required for all children to attend school until a certain age, it was widely accepted that some were just not equipped by nature to pursue this kind of education. With optimism characteristic of all industrialized countries, we came to accept that everyone is fit to be educated. Computereducation advocates forsake this optimistic notion for a pessimism that betrays their otherwise cheery outlook. Banking on the confusion between educational and vocational reasons for bringing computers into schools, computered advocates often emphasize the job prospects of graduates over their educational achievement.
　　There are some good arguments for a technical education given the right kind of student. Many European schools introduce the concept of professional training early on in order to make sure children are properly equipped for the professions they want to join. It is, however, presumptuous to insist that there will only be so many jobs for so many scientists, so many businessmen, so many accountants. Besides, this is unlikely to produce the needed number of every kind of professional in a country as large as ours and where the economy is spread over so many states and involves so many international corporations.
　　But, for a small group of students, professional training might be the way to go since well developed skills, all other factors being equal, can be the difference between having a job and not. Of course, the basics of using any computer these days are very simple. It does not take a lifelong acquaintance to pick up various software programs. If one wanted to become a computer engineer, that is, of course, an entirely different story. Basic computer skills take — at the very longest — a couple of months to learn. In any case, basic computer skills are only complementary to the host of real skills that are necessary to becoming any kind of professional. It should be observed, of course, that no school, vocational or not, is helped by a confusion over its purpose.59. The author thinks the present rush to put computers in the classroom is .
　　A. farreaching B. dubiously oriented
　　C. selfcontradictory D. radically reformatory
　　60. The belief that education is indispensable to all children .
　　A. is indicative of a pessimism in disguise
　　B. came into being along with the arrival of computers
　　C. is deeply rooted in the minds of computered advocates
　　D. originated from the optimistic attitude of industrialized countries
　　61. It could be inferred from the passage that in the author s country the European model of professional training is .
　　A. dependent upon the starting age of candidates
　　B. worth trying in various social sections
　　C. of little practical value
　　D. attractive to every kind of professional
　　62. According to the author, basic computer skills should be .
　　A. included as an auxiliary course in school
　　B. highlighted in acquisition of professional qualifications
　　C. mastered through a lifelong course
　　D. equally emphasized by any school, vocational or otherwise
　　Passage 4
　　When a Scottish research team startled the world by revealing 3 months ago that it had cloned an adult sheep. President Clinton moved swiftly. Declaring that he was opposed to using this unusual animal husbandry technique to clone humans, he ordered that federal funds not be used for such an experiment although no one had proposed to do so — and asked an independent panel of experts chaired by Princeton President Harold Shapiro to report back to the White House in 90 days with recommendations for a national policy on human cloning. That group — the National Bioethics Advisory Commission （NBAC） — has been working feverishly to put its wisdom on paper, and at a meeting on 17 May, members agreed on a nearfinal draft of their recommendations.
　　NBAC will ask that Clintons 90day ban on federal funds for human cloning be extended indefinitely, and possibly that it be made law. But NBAC members are planning to word the recommendation narrowly to avoid new restrictions on research that involves the cloning of human DNA or cells — routine in molecular biology. The panel has not yet reached agreement on a crucial question, however, whether to recommend legislation that would make it a crime for private funding to be used for human cloning.
　　In a draft preface to the recommendations, discussed at the 17 May meeting, Shapiro suggested that the panel had found a broad consensus that it would be “morally unacceptable to attempt to create a human child by adult nuclear cloning.” Shapiro explained during the meeting that the moral doubt stems mainly from fears about the risk to the health of the child. The panel then informally accepted several general conclusions, although some details have not been settled.
　　NBAC plans to call for a continued ban on federal government funding for any attempt to clone body cell nuclei to create a child. Because current federal law already forbids the use of federal funds to create embryos （ the earliest stage of human offspring before birth） for research or to knowingly endanger an embryo s life, NBAC will remain silent on embryo research.
　　NBAC members also indicated that they will appeal to privately funded researchers and clinics not to try to clone humans by body cell nuclear transfer. But they were divided on whether to go further by calling for a federal law that would impose a complete ban on human cloning. Shapiro and most members favored an appeal for such legislation, but in a phone interview, he said this is sue was still “up in the air”.
　　63. We can learn from the first paragraph that .
　　A. federal funds have been used in a project to clone humans
　　B. the White House responded strongly to the news of cloning
　　C. NBAC was authorized to control the misuse of cloning technique
　　D. the White House has got the panels recommendations on cloning
　　64. The panel agreed on all of the following except that .
　　A. the ban on federal funds for human cloning should be made a law
　　B. the cloning of human DNA is not to be put under more control
　　C. it is a crime to use private funding for human cloning
　　D. it would be against ethical values to clone a human being
　　65. NBAC will leave the issue of embryo research undisguised because .
　　A. embryo research is just a current development of cloning
　　B. the health of the child is not the main concern of embryo research
　　C. an embryo s life will not be endangered in embryo research
　　D. the issue is explicitly stated and settled in the law
　　66. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that .
　　A. some NBAC members hesitate to ban human cloning completely
　　B. a law banning human cloning is to be passed in no time
　　C. privately funded researchers will respond positively to NBAC s appeal
　　D. the issue of human cloning will soon be settled
　　Passage 5
　　Science, in practice, depends far less on the experiments it prepares than on the preparedness of the minds of the men who watch the experiments. Sir Isaac Newton supposedly discovered gravity through the fall of an apple. Apples had been falling in many places for centuries and thousands of people had seen them fall. But Newton for years had been curious about the cause of the orbital motion of the moon and planets. What kept them in place? Why didnt they fall out of the sky? The fact that the apple fell down toward the earth and not up into the tree answered the question he had been asking himself about those lager fruits of the heavens, the moon and the planets.
　　How many men would have considered the possibility of an apple falling up into the tree? Newton did because he was not trying to predict anything. He was just wondering. His mind was ready for the unpredictable. Unpredictability is part of the essential nature of research. If you dont have unpredictable things, you don t have research. Scientists tend to forget this when writing their cut and dried reports for the technical journals, but history is filled with examples of it.
　　In talking to some scientists, particularly younger ones, you might gather the impression that they find the “scientific method” a substitute for imaginative thought. Ive attended research conferences where a scientist has been asked what he thinks about the advisability of continuing a certain experiment. The scientist has frowned, looked at the graphs, and said, “The data are still inconclusive.” “We know that,” the men from the budget office have said, “but what do you think? Is it worthwhile going on? What do you think we might expect?” The scientist has been shocked at having even been asked to speculate.
　　What this amounts to, of course, is that the scientist has become the victim of his own writings. He has put forward unquestioned claims so consistently that he not only believes them himself, but has convinced industrial and business management that they are true. If experiments are planned and carried out according to plan as faithfully as the reports in the science journals indicate, then it is perfectly logical for management to expect research to produce results measurable in dollars and cents. It is entirely reasonable for auditors to believe that scientists who know exactly where they are going and how they will get there should not be distracted by the necessity of keeping one eye on the cash register while the other eye is on the microscope. Nor, if regularity and conformity to a standard pattern are as desirable to the scientist as the writing of his papers would appear to reflect, is management to be blamed for discriminating against the “odd balls” among researchers in favor of more conventional thinkers who “work well with the team”.
　　67. The author wants to prove with the example of Isaac Newton that .
　　A. inquiring minds are more important than scientific experiments
　　B. science advances when fruitful researches are conducted
　　C. scientists seldom forget the essential nature of research
　　D. unpredictability weighs less than prediction in scientific research
　　68. The author asserts that scientists .
　　A. shouldnt replace “scientific method” with imaginative thought
　　B. shouldnt neglect to speculate on unpredictable things
　　C. should write more concise reports for technical journals
　　D. should be confident about their research findings
　　69. It seems that some young scientists .
　　A. have a keen interest in predictionB. often speculate on the future
　　C. think highly of creative thinkingD. stick to “scientific method”
　　70. The author implies that the results of scientific research .
　　A. may not be as profitable as they are expected
　　B. can be measured in dollars and cents
　　C. rely on conformity to a standard pattern
　　D. are mostly underestimated by management
　　51. 【B】问题是：在20世纪80年代里, 当意外发生时会出现什么情形？
　　文章第1段最后一句，作者指出，自80年代初以来，陪审团开始认为，更多的公司应该对其顾客遭受的不幸负责。句中 “misfortune”与问题 “accident” 是同一概念，即顾客不幸的意外。很明显从句中可以得出，陪审团的这一决定实际上是对发生意外的顾客提供法律上的保护，即B项内容。
　　52. 【C】问题是：在本文提到，制造商们倾向于。
　　文章第2段作者讲到公司感到很大威胁，它们通过撰写比以前更长的警示标签保护自己，试图预料各种可能发生的事故。作者又在第3段第2、3行明确指出，制造商和卖家们充分利用标签来保护自己，避免承担对受伤用户的法律责任，即C项内容。
　　53. 【A】问题是：Schutt头盔的案例说明了。
　　文章第4段第一句， “现在潮流似乎扭转过来了。”（Now the tide appears to be turning.）是本段的中心句。以下Schutt头盔的案例是作者用来证明现在事态的新情况，即不像从前，某些因伤害提出的索赔不再受法律保护了，即A项内容。
　　54. 【D】问题是：作者对于这个问题的态度似乎是。
　　全文据实报道，文体平实，有足够的信息量。但几乎没有作者主观意见的发表，可以说作者的态度是客观的。
　　外面的世界很危险：迈出门去，你有可能被门口的垫子滑倒摔断腿；生个炉子，你有可能把房子烧毁。幸好，如果门垫和炉子忘了提醒你可能的危险，一场成功的诉讼就会赔偿你的损失。大约从20世纪80年代初开始，陪审员开始越来越多地裁定公司必须为其顾客的不幸负责。
　　公司方面感觉到了危险，于是警告标签越写越长，力图预见各种可能发生的事故。现在，梯子上贴的标签有几英寸长，令人吃惊的是，它警告的内容甚至包括你有可能摔下来。孩子们玩的蝙蝠侠玩具斗篷则警告“这件玩具不能用来飞行”。
　　尽管警告通常是合理的也是必要的——比如说，警告某些药物会相互作用——而且联邦和地方法律也要求很多产品要有警告标签。但是一旦顾客受到损害，它们却无法保护生产者和商家免于责任。一旦被告上法庭，在50%的情况下公司方面会输掉官司。
　　现在，这种情况似乎有所改变。随着人身伤害索赔事件不断发生，一些法庭开始站在被告一方，尤其是在即使贴了警告标签也没有用的情况下。五月份，依利诺伊州Schutt 运动器械公司经理Julie Nimmons 成功地打赢了一场官司。一位佩带他们生产的头盔的橄榄球运动员在比赛中瘫痪了，Nimmons 说：“得知他瘫痪了我们很难过，但是头盔并不能防止这样的损伤。”陪审员同意了他的说法，认为是比赛而不是头盔导致了这位运动员受伤。与此同时，美国法律协会——一个由法官、律师和学者组成的、说话相当有分量的群体——起草了新的民事法指导方针，认为公司不需要提醒顾客显而易见的危险，或是列出一长串所有可能的危险。康奈尔大学法学院的一位帮助起草这项指导方针的教授说：“重要信息可能被淹没在一大堆细枝末节之中。”如果这个法律协会的目的能够得以实现，那么产品信息就真正是用来服务于消费者，而不是商家用来对付法律诉讼的了。
　　55. 【A】问题是：我们从文章的开始得知，网络贸易。
　　文章第一段指出，在网络公司创办的最初一两年中，大部分措施是围绕着开拓消费者市场。第2句便告诉我们网上贸易的发展由开始的 “tap the consumer” 到 “businesstobusiness”。这证明网络贸易一直在开拓市场，即A项内容。
　　56. 【C】问题是：在提到可利用网上技巧营销时，作者暗示了。
　　根据第3段，这里所说的变化是从“推”到“拉”的变化。两种营销策略迥然不同。
　　57. 【D】问题是：在网络 “纯正主义者”看来，。
　　根据第3段后4句，“推”的策略受到了许多网上用户的厌弃，在线用户们极力推崇这种用法：信息应根据特定要求载入屏幕。商业信息一旦在没有要求的情况下就被推入用户的屏幕，那么，网络和电视的区别就不存在了，这种前景正是Net pursists所惧怕的。 “purist”的意思是“纯粹主义者”，“力求纯正的人”，在这里指那些不愿自己电脑受到不请自来的商业信息侵扰的人。因此选D。
　　58. 【B】问题是：我们从最后一段得出。
　　在最后一段作者指出，网上的公司不使用“推”的策略也肯定能赚钱，作者举出例子来表明，销售对路产品的网址加上互动、礼貌、安全等特点，将同样会吸引网上客户。选B。A项与文章内容相反；C，D项与问题不相干。
　　在互联网经济的第一个年头，大多数的行动还只是围绕着开发消费者市场开展的。最近，随着逐渐证明网络不仅仅是一种时尚，公司之间开始互相购买产品和服务。因为商人大都知道他们需要什么样的产品，所以这种BtoB的销售模式是行得通的。
　　但是，许多公司对使用互联网仍然心存疑虑，因为他们对网络的可靠性仍不放心。Forrester Researcher 的资深分析家Blane Erwin 说：“商家需要觉得对连接他们和供货商之间的渠道完全值得信赖。”一些公司只和长期的业务伙伴进行网上交易，以此减少风险，只有固定的业务伙伴才能进入公司的内部网络。
　　网络经济模式的另外一个主要的变化是销售技术的进步。以前，网上销售主要集中于把顾客“拉”进某个站点里。而最近几年里，软件公司研发出了能让公司把信息直接“推”到顾客面前的工具，使市场信息能够直接到达既定顾客群。其中最有名的有Pointcast 网络公司，他们使用一种屏幕保护程序，不断将最近的信息和广告传送到订阅者的电脑上。订阅者可以定制希望接受的信息，并直接进入公司的网站。像Virtual Vineyards 这样的公司已经开始使用类似的技术，把促销、产品推广和其他活动的信息直接推向顾客。但是这种推销手段受到很多互联网用户的轻视。因为网上文化非常看重这样一个理念，那就是电脑屏幕上出现的信息应该是应邀而来的。一旦商业促销任意充斥屏幕，网络和电视就没有什么区别了。这对网络纯正主义者来说是可怕的事情。
　　但是，互联网上的公司并不一定要靠向顾客强行推销来赚钱。Virtual Vineyards, Amazon和其他一些先驱者的例子表明，一个网络，如果卖的产品对路，再加上适当的互动性、热情的服务和良好的安全性，就会吸引网上客户。而且计算机的价格不断下降，这对那些在网上开店的企业来说，是个好兆头。五年或十年以后，人们再回头看看今天，一定会奇怪为什么只有那么少的公司上网了。
　　59. 【B】问题是：作者认为现今急促地将电脑放到教室里是。
　　文章第一段指出，有人主张为学生的未来工作而进行计算机课堂教学，有人则主张为教育而进行计算机课堂教学；在这两种人之间存在一条看不见的界线。可见，在这两句中已经提到了计算机教学的目的不清的问题。
　　60. 【D】问题是：教育对所有孩子们来说是必不可少的，这样的信念是。
　　文章第2段8至9行，作者明确地指出，“随着所有工业化国家都以乐观主义为特点，我们开始认为每一个人都适于教育。” 在前面几句作者曾提到，“如果没有必要的教育，（上下文中指国家义务教育）一个人的个性不能得以完整（a character who is incomplete），从而无法充分地评价外在因素对其生活和幸福的影响。”由此可见教育对所有的孩子们来说是必不可少的。而这种信念又是根深于工业主义国家的乐观主义态度，即D项内容。
　　61. 【C】问题是：可从文章中推断出，欧洲学校的职业培训模式在作者的国家中是。
　　文章第3段作者提到许多欧洲国家学校采用了职业培训模式。但下一句中，作者对此作法给予否定（its however presumptuous...）。随后第3句指出，这种做法（指欧洲式的职业教育）很难培养出所需要的各类专业人员。即C项内容。
　　62. 【A】问题是：根据作者的观点，基础的电脑技能应当被。
　　文章第4段第三句指出，无论如何，在成为任何一类专业人员所需要的众多真才实学中，计算机基础技能只是一种辅助技能。这里的complementary和选项A中的auxiliary是同义词。
　　对于课堂上进行计算机教育的问题有两派不同的意见，一种是站在学生未来工作的角度考虑，一种是站在教育改革的大背景下考虑。这两派意见之间存在一种无形的界限。很少有人探讨过这一区别——实际上，是一矛盾——它直指计算机教育运动错误的核心。
　　目的在于为学生找到一份工作的教育是职业教育，进行职业教育的原因和为什么教育普遍受法律保护的原因有天壤之别。法律规定每个孩子上学必须上到十多岁，这并不仅仅是为了提高个人的就业机会。事实是，我们对美国公民有一种特定的期望，那就是如果一个人无法了解外界的力量如何影响他的生活和幸福，那么他的人生就是不完整的。但实际情况并不总是这样，在法律规定孩子到了一定年龄必须入学之前，人们普遍认为有些人的资质太差，不适合接受教育。但是和其他工业国家一样，我们有乐观的性格，我们认为所有的人都适合接受教育。但是计算机教育的支持者放弃了这一乐观的态度，即使表面上看起来令人振奋，但他们的态度实际上是悲观的。在计算机教育的教育目的和职业训练目的之间，计算机教育的支持者强调的总是学生毕业后的工作前景，而忽略了教育的成果。
　　有人支持为学生提供适合他们类型的技术教育。很多欧洲的学校在早期引入职业训练的概念，就是为了确保为孩子将来能够从事他们希望的职业提供合适的训练。然而，你很难说就有那么多的工作机会提供给那么多的科学家、商人和会计。此外，在一个像我们这么大的国家里，在我们这样一个经济扩展到那么多国家、有那么多跨国公司的国家里，很难保证为各行各业提供数量刚好合适的从业人员。
　　但是，对人数不多的一群学生来说，职业训练可能是行得通的，因为在其他条件相同的情况下，良好的职业技能决定一个人是否可以得到工作。当然，使用电脑的基础知识很简单，人们并不需要花很长时间来学习使用不同的软件。当然，如果你想成为一名电脑工程师，那就另当别论了。电脑的基本技能最多几个月就能掌握。不论如何，相对于能使人胜任各种职业的真正技能来说，电脑的基本技能只是一个补充。因此，不论是职业学校还是普通学校，都不能混淆电脑教育的目的。
　　63. 【B】问题是：从文章第1段我们可以得出。
　　文章第一段讲到克林顿总统立即作出反应，他宣布反对用这种特殊的畜牧技术克隆人，要求禁止使用联邦基金进行这样的研究，即B项内容。A，C，D项均与文中内容不符。
　　64. 【C】问题是：专家小组一致同意以下几点，除了。
　　文章第2段第3句，专家还没有在一个关键问题上达成一致，即：是否建议立法，规定私人出资研究克隆人技术是犯罪行为，即C项内容。
　　65. 【D】问题是：NBAC将不会对胚胎研究问题进行讨论因为。
　　根据第4段第2句，因为现行联邦法律已经禁止使用联邦基金创造供研究用的胚胎，或有意识危害胚胎的性命，NBAC的建议将不再涉及胚胎的研究。即D项内容。
　　66. 【A】问题是：从本文最后一段可以推断出。
　　文章最后一段第2句，在是否进一步呼吁制定联邦法律彻底禁止克隆人技术研究方面，NBAC成员意见不一。虽然Shapiro和多数成员都赞成呼吁制定这样的立法，但是，在一次电话采访中，他称这一问题仍然“悬而未决”。可见某些NBAC成员仍对彻底禁止克隆技术的研究表示犹豫不决，即A项内容。
　　三个月前，一支苏格兰的研究小组公布了一条让全世界震惊的消息：他们克隆了一头成年绵羊。对此克林顿总统立刻做出了反应，宣布反对利用这项非同寻常的畜牧技术来克隆人体，他同时下令禁止政府资助这种试验——尽管目前还没有人提出要这样做——并命令一个由普林斯顿大学校长Harold Shapiro 带领的独立专家小组在90天内向白宫汇报，对制定人体克隆方面的政策提供建议。这个小组——国家生物伦理学顾问委员会（NBAC）以极大的热情投入工作，将意见写成报告，并在5月17日的会议上，形成几乎是最终的草案。
　　NBAC将要求无限期地延长克林顿总统做出的90天内不允许政府资助人体克隆的决定，并有可能将这一决定立法。但NABC的成员会注意控制其建议的措辞，以免出现新的条令禁止克隆人类DNA和细胞的试验——这类试验在分子生物学中是很常见的。然而，在一个非常重要的问题上，也就是是否建议立法将私人赞助人体克隆视为犯罪这一问题上，小组的意见还未达成一致。
　　在5月17日会议讨论的建议草案的前言中，Shapiro 建议说，“试图通过克隆成人细胞来产生儿童，这是人类道德无法接受的”，这一点在小组成员中取得了广泛的共识。Shapiro 解释说，这种道德上的忧虑主要来源于担心孩子的健康遭到损害。小组非正式地形成了几条广泛的结论，但一些细节问题还有待解决。
　　NBAC打算呼吁长期禁止政府资助任何企图通过克隆细胞来产生婴儿的行为。由于现行的联邦法律已经禁止了政府资助为研究目的制造胚胎（婴儿出生前的最初阶段）或故意危害胚胎的生命，因此在胚胎试验方面NBAC将不发表意见。
　　NBAC的成员还表示，他们将呼吁由私人赞助的研究机构和医院不要试图利用体细胞移植来克隆人体。但是在是否进一步要求联邦立法以完全禁止人体克隆的问题上，小组内部还存在分歧。Shapiro 和大多数成员赞成制定类似的法律，但在一次电话采访中，他透露说这一问题“仍悬而未决”。
　　67. 【A】问题是：作者借用Isaac Newton的例子来证明。
　　文章第1句作者便指出，在实践中，科学发现更多地取决于实验观察者，思维上得有所准备, 而更少的依赖于实验本身。紧接着作者借用Isaac Newton的例子来阐明这一点。而这个 “preparedness of the minds” 在Newton的例子上具体表现在 “he was just wondering”（第2段第2行）。这与A项内容相符。
　　68. 【B】问题是：作者坚信，科学家们。
　　文章第2段指出，不可预测性是科学研究的本质内容（不可缺少）的一部分。如果没有不可预测性，就无所谓研究。科学家们在为科学杂志写作千篇一律的报告时往往忘记这一点，但是历史上充满了这样的例子（指像牛顿一样通过预测没有预料到的现象获得重大发现的例子）。
　　69. 【D】问题是：一些年轻的科学家似乎。
　　文章第3段第1句中，作者把 “scientific method” 和 “imaginative thought” 放在一起形成鲜明对比。 “Imaginative thought” 正是前段中作者认为大多数科学家所欠缺的。而科学家们，特别是年轻的却热衷于与之相反的 “scientific method”（注意这两个词在文中出现于引号中）。
　　70. 【A】问题是：作者暗示科学研究成果。
　　文章第4段在比较完“想象思维”和“科学方法”后，作者指出，遵循这种不科学的科学方法（scientific method）的结果是科学家们倒成为自己研究成果的牺牲品。第4段第3句指出，假如科学实验像科学杂志登载的论文所显示的那样完全按事先的计划设计完成，那么，管理者如果期望实现会产生可以用美元和美分测量的结果就会是完全符合逻辑的。言外之意，科学实验中总是会存在一些难以预测的现象，因此所产生的结果有时难以预测到，因此，不能肯定地说某项实验必定会产生经济效益。
　　在实际生活中，科学对实验的依赖，远远不如它对有备而来的实验观察者的依赖。人们认为牛顿是因为看到苹果落下而发现了地心引力。但是很久以来很多地方都有苹果落下，成千上万的人都曾看到过苹果落下。但只有牛顿，他有一直都对月亮和其他星球沿轨道运行的原因感到好奇：是什么力量使它们总是处在原位？它们为什么不会从天空中落下来？苹果向地面掉落而不向树上掉落这一现象，回答了这个他一直在思考的问题，也就是关于天空中那些大个儿的苹果：月亮和星星的问题。
　　有多少人会想到苹果向树上掉落的可能性呢？牛顿就想到了，因为他没有试图去预见任何事情，他只是觉得好奇。他的思想准备好了接受不可预测的事件。不可预见性正是实验研究的一个重要性。没有不可预测的事件就没有研究。科学家在为科学杂志写那些老掉牙的报告时，经常会忘记这一点，但是历史上有的是这样的例子。
　　在和一些科学家交谈，尤其是和年轻科学家交谈时，你可能会得到这样的印象，就是他们认为“科学的方法”替代了想象力。我曾参加过一个研讨会，会上一位科学家被问及他是否认为某项试验应该继续下去，他皱着眉头，看着曲线图，然后说“数据仍然不够完全。”负责预算的人问道：“这我们知道。但你是怎么看的？试验值得进行下去吗？你觉得会有什么样的结果呢？”这位科学家因为被要求做出推测而大为惊骇。
　　这说明了什么？它说明这位科学家已经成为自己写的报告的牺牲品。他经常重复那些不被质疑的论调，以至于不仅他自己对这些论调深信不疑，而且还说服了工商业的管理者们。如果实验都是分毫不差地按照科学杂志的报告所写的那样计划和进行的，那么管理者们期望知道这些实验究竟能产生多少经济效益也是合理的。审计账务的人也完全有理由相信，那些清楚地知道自己的目的、也知道该如何去实现的科学家，在做实验的同时也可以分心关注一下经济收入。如果真像他们的科学报告中反映的那样，规律性和符合规定对科学家非常重要的话，也不必批评管理者歧视研究者中的“异类”，而倾向于那些“擅长团队工作”的传统型思想家了。

林の声音 · 发表于 2005-12-7 00:31:29

DAY7
　　1998年全国硕士学位研究生入学考试英语试题
　　Part IIIReading Comprehension
 　　Directions: Each of the passages below is followed by some questions. For each question there are four answers marked A, B, C and D. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each of the questions. Then mark your answer on the ANSWER SHEET 1 by blackening the corresponding letter in the brackets. （40 points）
　　Passage 1
　　Few creations of big technology capture the imagination like giant dams. Perhaps it is humankinds long suffering at the mercy of flood and drought that makes the ideal of forcing the waters to do our bidding so fascination. But to be fascinated is also, sometimes, to be blind. Several giant dam projects threaten to do more harm than good.
　　The lesson from dams is that big is not always beautiful. It doesnt help that building a big, powerful dam has become a symbol of achievement for nations and people striving to assert themselves. Egypts leadership in the Arab world was cemented by the Aswan High Dam. Turkeys bid for First World status includes the giant Ataturk Dam.
　　But big dams tend not to work as intended. The Aswan Dam, for example， stopped the Nile flooding but deprived Egypt of the fertile silt that floods left — all in return for a giant reservoir of disease which is now so full of silt that it barely generates electricity.
　　And yet, the myth of controlling the waters persists. This week, in the heart of civilized Europe, Slovaks and Hungarians stopped just short of sending in the troops in their contention over a dam on the Danube. The huge complex will probably have all the usual problems of big dams. But Slovakia is bidding for independence from the Czechs, and now needs a dam to prove itself.
　　Meanwhile, in India, the World Bank has given the go ahead to the even more wrong headed Narmada Dam. And the bank has done this even though its advisors say the dam will cause hardship for the powerless and environmental destruction. The benefits are for the powerful, but they are far from guaranteed.
　　Proper, scientific study of the impacts of dams and of the cost and benefits of controlling water can help to resolve these conflicts. Hydroelectric power and flood control and irrigation are possible without building monster dams. But when you are dealing with myths, it is hard to be either proper, or scientific. It is time that the world learned the lessons of Aswan. You dont need a dam to be saved.
　　51. The third sentence of paragraph 1 implies that .
　　A. people would be happy if they shut their eyes to reality
　　B. the blind could be happier than the sighted
　　C. over excited people tend to neglect vital things.
　　D. fascination makes people lose their eyesight
　　52. In paragraph 5, “the powerless” probably refers to .
　　A. areas short of electricity B. dams without power stations
　　C. poor countries around India D. common people in the Narmada Dam area
　　53. What is the myth concerning giant dams?
　　A. They bring in more fertile soil. B. They help defend the country.
　　C. They strengthen international ties. D. They have universal control of the waters.
　　54. What the author tries to suggest may best be interpreted as .
　　A. “Its no use crying over spilt milk” B. “More haste, less speed”
　　C. “Look before you leap” D. “He who laughs last laughs best”
　　Passage 2
　　Well, no gain without pain, they say. But what about pain without gain? Everywhere you go in America, you hear tales of corporate revival. What is harder to establish is whether the productivity revolution that businessmen assume they are presiding over is for real.
　　The official statistics are mildly discouraging. They show that, if you lump manufacturing and services together, productivity has grown on average by 1.2% since 1987. That is somewhat faster than the average during the previous decade. And since 1991, productivity has increased by about 2% a year, which is more than twice the 1978-87 average. The trouble is that part of the recent acceleration is due to the usual rebound that occurs at this point in a business cycle, and so is not conclusive evidence of a revival in the underlying trend. There is, as Robert Rubin, the treasury secretary, says, a “disjunction” between the mass of business anecdote that points to a leap in productivity and the picture reflected by the statistics.
　　Some of this can be easily explained. New ways of organizing the workplace — all that reengineering and downsizing — are only one contribution to the overall productivity of an economy, which is driven by many other factors such as joint investment in equipment and machinery, new technology, and investment in education and training. Moreover, most of the changes that companies make are intended to keep them profitable, and this need not always mean increasing productivity: switching to new markets or improving quality can matter just as much.
　　Two other explanations are more speculative. First, some of the business restructuring of recent years may have been ineptly done. Second, even if it was well done, it may have spread much less widely than people suppose.
　　Leonard Schlesinger, a Harvard academic and former chief executive of Au Bong Pain, a rapidly growing chain of bakery cafes, says that much “reengineering” has been crude. In many cases, he believes, the loss of revenue has been greater than the reductions in cost. His colleague, Michael Beer, says that far too many companies have applied reengineering in a mechanistic fashion, chopping out costs without giving sufficient thought to longterm profitability. BBDOs Al Rosenshine is blunter. He dismisses a lot of the work of reengineering consultants as mere rubbish — “the worst sort of ambulance cashing.”
　　55. According to the author, the American economic situation is .
　　A. not as good as it seems B. at its turning point
　　C. much better than it seems D. near to complete recovery
　　56. The official statistics on productivity growth .
　　A. exclude the usual rebound in a business cycle
　　B. fall short of businessmens anticipation
　　C. meet the expectation of business people
　　D. fail to reflect the true state of economy
　　57. The author raises the question “what about pain without gain?” because .
　　A. he questions the truth of “no gain without pain”
　　B. he does not think the productivity revolution works
　　C. he wonders if the official statistics are misleading
　　D. he has conclusive evidence for the revival of businesses
　　58. Which of the following statements is NOT mentioned in the passage?
　　A. Radical reforms are essential for the increase of productivity.
　　B. New ways of organizing workplaces may help to increase productivity.
　　C. The reduction of costs is not a sure way to gain long term profitability.
　　D. The consultants are a bunch of good for nothigns.
　　Passage 3
　　Science has long had an uneasy relationship with other aspects of culture. Think of Gallileos 17th century trial for his rebelling belief before the Catholic Church or poet William Blakes harsh remarks against the mechanistic worldview of Isaac Newton. The schism between science and the humanities has, if anything, deepened in this century.
　　Until recently, the scientific community was so powerful that it could afford to ignore its critics — but no longer. As funding for science has declined, scientists have attacked “antiscience” in several books, Notably Higher Superstition, by Paul R. Gross, a biologist at the University of Virginia, and Norman Levitt, a mathematician at Rutgers University; and The DemonHaunted World, by Carl Sagan of Cornell University.
　　Defenders of science have also voiced their concerns at meetings such as “The Flight from Science and Reason,” held in New York City in 1995, and “Science in the Age of （Mis)information,” which assembled last June near Buffalo.
　　Antiscience clearly means different things to different people. Gross and Levitt find fault primarily with sociologists, philosophers and other academics who have questioned sciences objectivity. Sagan is more concerned with those who believe in ghosts, creationism and other phenomena that contradict the scientific worldview.
　　A survey of news stories in 1996 reveals that the antiscience tag has been attached to many other groups as well, from authorities who advocated the elimination of the last remaining stocks of smallpox virus to Republicans who advocated decreased funding for basic research.
　　Few would dispute that the term applies to the Unabomber, those manifesto, published in 1995, scorns science and longs for return to a pretechnological utopia. But surely that does not mean environmentalists concerned about uncontrolled industrial growth are antiscience, as an essay in US News & World Report last May seemed to suggest.
　　The environmentalists, inevitably, respond to such critics. The true enemies of science, argues Paul Ehrlich of Stanford University, a pioneer of environmental studies, are those who question the evidence supporting global warming, the depletion of the ozone layer and other consequences of industrial growth.
　　Indeed, some observers fear that the antiscience epithet is in danger of becoming meaningless. “The term ‘antiscience’ can lump together too many, quite different things,” notes Harvard University philosopher Gerald Holton in his 1993 work Science and Anti Science. “They have in common only one thing that they tend to annoy or threaten those who regard themselves as more enlightened.”
　　59. The word “schism”（Line 3, Paragraph 1) in the context probably means .
　　A. confrontation B. dissatisfaction
　　C. separation D. contempt
　　60. Paragraphs 2 and 3 are written to .
　　A. discuss the cause of the decline of sciences power
　　B. show the authors sympathy with scientists
　　C. explain the way in which science develops
　　D. exemplify the division of science and the humanities
　　61. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
　　A. Environmentalists were blamed for antiscience in an essay.
　　B. Politicians are not subject to the labeling of antiscience.
　　C. The “more enlightened” tend to tag others as antiscience
　　D. Tagging environmentalists as “antiscience” is justifiable
　　62. The authors attitude toward the issue of “science vs. antiscience” is .
　　A. impartial B. subjective
　　C. biased D. puzzling
　　Passage 4
　　Emerging from the 1980 census is the picture of a nation developing more and more regional competition, as population growth in the Northeast and Midwest reaches a near standstill.
　　This development — and its strong implications for US politics and economy in years ahead — has enthroned the South as Americas most densely populated region for the first time in the history of the nations head counting.
　　Altogether, the US population rose in the 1970s by 23.2 million people — numerically the third largest growth ever recorded in a single decade. Even so, that gain adds up to only 11.4 percent, lowest in American annual records except for the Depression years.
　　Americans have been migrating south and west in larger number since World War II, and the pattern still prevails.
　　Three sun belt states — Florida, Texas and California — together had nearly 10 million more people in 1980 than a decade earlier. Among large cities, San Diego moved from 14th to 8th and San Antonio from 15th to 10th — with Cleveland and Washington. DC, dropping out of the top 10.
　　Not all that shift can be attributed to the movement out of the snow belt, census officials say. Nonstop waves of immigrants played a role, too — and so did bigger crops of babies as yesterdays “baby boom” generation reached its child bearing years.
　　Moreover, demographers see the continuing shift south and west as joined by a related but newer phenomenon: More and more, Americans apparently are looking not just for places with more jobs but with fewer people, too. Some instances —
　　● Regionally, the Rocky Mountain states reported the most rapid growth rate — 37.1 percent since 1970 in a vast area with only 5 percent of the US population.
　　● Among states, Nevada and Arizona grew fastest of all: 63.5 and 53.1 percent respectively. Except fro Florida and Texas, the top 10 in rate of growth is composed of Western states with 7.5 million people — about 9 per square mile.
　　The flight from overcrowded ness affects the migration from snow belt to more bearable climates.
　　Nowhere do 1980 census statistics dramatize more the American search for spacious living than in the Far West. There, California added 3.7 million to its population in the 1970s, more than any other state.
　　In that decade, however, large numbers also migrated from California, mostly to other parts of the West. Often they chose — and still are choosing — somewhat colder climates such as Oregon, Idaho and Alaska in order to escape smog, crime and other plagues of urbanization in the Golden State.
　　As a result, Californias growth rate dropped during the 1970s, to 18.5 percent — little more than two thirds the 1960s growth figure and considerably below that of other Western states.
　　63. Discerned from the perplexing picture of population growth the 1980 census provided, America in 1970s .
　　A. enjoyed the lowest net growth of population in history
　　B. witnessed a southwestern shift of population
　　C. underwent an unparalleled period of population growth
　　D. brought to a standstill its pattern of migration since World War II
　　64. The census distinguished itself from previous studies on population movement in that .
　　A. it stresses the climatic influence on population distribution
　　B. it highlights the contribution of continuous waves of immigrants
　　C. it reveals the Americans new pursuit of spacious living
　　D. it elaborates the delayed effects of yesterdays “baby boom”
　　65. We can see from the available statistics that .
　　A. California was once the most thinly populated area in the whole US
　　B. the top 10 states in growth rate of population were all located in the West
　　C. cities with better climates benefited unanimously from migration
　　D. Arizona ranked second of all states in its growth rate of population
　　66. The word “demographers” （Line 1, Paragraph 7） most probably means .
　　A. people in favor of the trend of democracy
　　B. advocates of migration between states
　　C. scientists engaged in the study of population
　　D. conservatives clinging to old patterns of life
　　Passage 5
　　Scattered around the globe are more than 100 small regions of isolated volcanic activity known to geologists as hot spots. Unlike most of the worlds volcanoes, they are not always found at the boundaries of the great drifting plates that make up the earths surface; on the contrary, many of them lie deep in the interior of a plate. Most of the hot spots move only slowly, and in some cases the movement of the plates past them has left trails of dead volcanoes. The hot spots and their volcanic trails are milestones that mark the passage of the plates.
　　That the plates are moving is not beyond dispute. Africa and South America, for example, are moving away from earth other as new material is injected into the sea floor between them. The complementary coastlines and certain geological features that seem to span the ocean are reminders of where the two continents were once joined. The relative motion of the plates carrying these continents has been constructed in detail, but the motion of one plate with respect to another cannot readily be translated into motion with respect to the earths interior. It is not possible to determine whether both continents are moving in opposite directions or whether one continent is stationary and the other is drifting away from it. Hot spots, anchored in the deeper layers of the earth, provide the measuring instruments needed to resolve the question. From an analysis of the hot spot population it appears that the African plate is stationary and that it has not moved during the past 30 million years.
　　The significance of hot spots is not confined to their role as a frame of reference. It now appears that they also have an important influence on the geophysical processes that propel the plates across the globe. When a continental plate come to rest over a hot spot, the material rising from deeper layer creates a broad dome. As the dome grows, it develops seed fissures（cracks）; in at least a few cases the continent may break entirely along some of these fissures, so that the hot spot initiates the formation of a new ocean. Thus just as earlier theories have explained the mobility of the continents, so hot spots may explain their mutability（inconstancy）。
　　67. The author believes that .
　　A. the motion of the plates corresponds to that of the earths interior
　　B. the geological theory about drifting plates has been proved to be true
　　C. the hot spots and the plates move slowly in opposite directions
　　D. the movement of hot spots proves the continents are moving apart
　　68. That Africa and South America were once joined can be deduced from the fact that
　　A. the two continents are still moving in opposite directions
　　B. they have been found to share certain geological features
　　C. the African plates has been stable for 30 million years
　　D. over 100 hot spots are scattered all around the globe
　　69. The hot spot theory may prove useful in explaining .
　　A. the structure of the African plates B. the revival of dead volcanoes
　　C. the mobility of the continents D. the formation of new oceans
　　70. The passage is mainly about .
　　A. the features of volcanic activities
　　B. the importance of the theory about drifting plates
　　C. the significance of hot spots in geophysical studies
　　D. the process of the formation of volcanoes 51. 【C】问题是：本文第一段第3句暗示了。
　　文章第1段第1句作者讲到在重大技术所创造的东西中，很少有比大坝更能体现人的幻想的。第二句讲到也许是因为人类长期遭受洪水和干旱的袭击，使人类（通过筑坝）制服洪水的愿望更加兴奋不已。第1句作者陈述了一个事实，第2句作者给出自己对第1句的解释。但是第3句笔锋突变：But to be fascinated is also, sometimes, to be blind. 第4句作者指出问题所在：“Several giant dam projects threaten to do more harm than good.”。 A项与文中内容相反；B项文中没有提及。而D项是为第1段第3句直接讲叙的，并不是它所暗示的。
　　52. 【D】问题是：第5段中的 “the powerless”很有可能指的是。
　　文章第5段，“the powerless”出现的那句话翻译出来是“一个银行顾问指出大坝将会对 ‘powerless’带来痛苦。给环境带来破坏。” A，B项内容使句子变得可笑，无逻辑，显然不可选。C项内容中没有给予提示。只有D，住在Normada dam地区的贫民, 符合作者意图。与之相对应的是下句中提到的 “the powerful”, 有权势者。此外，形容词可作名词用，指具有这样的特征的人，通常前面加定冠词 “the”。如：the poor, the rich, the hungry, the thirsty等。
　　53. 【D】问题是：关于巨坝的神话到底是什么？
　　文章第4段第1句作者指出“the myth of controlling the waters”,制服洪水的神话。或者，我们可以换个角度理解这个短句，——“the myth which is controlling the waters”，即D项内容。注意 “waters”在文中是以复数形式出现，意思是全世界所有地方的洪水。
　　54. 【C】问题是：作者试图给出的建议最好可以概括为。
　　文章第1段作者便指出，对于修建大坝的兴奋有时候也会表现为盲目。随后几段里，也都给了具体例子加以说明。在最后一段结尾处作者暗示了在针对建设大坝这个问题上，我们应该保持一个正确、科学的态度，即三思而后行，C项内容。
　　没有什么技术发明像大型水坝这样能体现人的想象力。也许是因为人类长期遭受洪水和干旱的折磨，所以让水听命于人类这个想法特别令人着迷。但有时，令人着迷的东西也会使人盲目。几个大型水坝项目对人们的威胁似乎都要大于它们的益处。
　　水坝给我们的一个教训是，大的并不总是美的。建造一个大型水坝，结果却变成国家和人民展示自己的权威和成就的象征，这样做并没有什么好处。阿斯旺大坝坚固了埃及在阿拉伯世界的领袖地位；土耳其则将阿塔特克大坝当作一个争取第一世界国家地位的砝码。
　　但是大水坝经常起不到预期作用。以阿斯旺水坝为例，它阻止了尼罗河的洪水，但埃及再也得不到洪水留下的富含养料的淤泥；与此同时，大坝里却因为积满了淤泥，几乎已经无法发电了。
　　然而，对水的控制仍然具有神奇的吸引力。就在这个星期，在欧洲文明的中心，斯洛伐克和匈牙利因为在多瑙河修筑水坝问题上的争端差一点兵戎相见。这一巨型工程可能也会有大型水坝所有的问题，但是斯洛伐克正在和捷克讨论独立，所以需要用一座水坝来证明自己的力量。
　　与此同时，在印度，世界银行批准了甚至更加执迷不悟的Narmada大坝工程,尽管银行的顾问认为建这座大坝会给平民带来苦难,也会给环境造成破坏。大坝的益处很难保证,但即使有利,也是对那些有权有势的人来说的。
　　对大坝可能带来的影响,对治水的成本和收益进行合理的、科学的分析，这样做有利于解决这些矛盾。不用建如此巨型大坝也可以实现水力发电、控制洪水和灌溉农田。但是当你面临神话般的吸引力时，你就无法进行合理、科学的分析。现在，全世界都应该从阿斯旺大坝身上得到教训。你并不需要一座大坝来拯救自己。
　　55. 【A】问题是：根据作者，美国的经济状况。
　　第一段第三、四句指出，美国到处都在谈论所谓公司的振兴（tales of corporate revival）,但是，商界自认为正在进行的所谓生产力革命究竟是否名副其实（for real），这一点却很难确定。该句实际上是全文的主旨，从反面提出了下文旨在回答的问题，所谓生产力革命根本不存在，官方的统计数字也并不怎么乐观。该段第四句指出，问题是：最近显示出的增长部分是由商业领域里此时出现的政策的反弹（rebound）造成的，因此，不能将它看作是更深层的（当指生产力）振兴的证据。
　　56. 【B】问题是：关于生产力增长的官方统计。
　　第二段指出，官方的统计数字也并不怎么乐观，如果将制造业和服务业算在一起（lump...together），1989年以来生产力平均增长了1.2%，比前十年的平均指数略有增长；1991年后，生产率每年增长约2%，是1978年至1987年这十年平均指数的一倍多。然而问题是：最近显示出的增长部分是由商业领域里此时出现的正常的反弹造成的，因此，不能将他看作是更深层的（当指生产力）振兴的证据。正如财政部长鲁宾所说的那样，一方面，大量的商业神话似乎表明生产力的激增（leap），另一方面，（官方的）统计数字又是另一番景象，二者之间存在着一个“差距”（disjunction）。
　　57. 【B】问题是：作者提出，“那么没有收获的痛苦又怎样呢？”这个问题是因为。
　　第一段指出，人们常说：不劳则无所获，但是，要是劳而无获呢？美国到处都在谈论所谓公司的振兴，但是，商界自认为正在进行的所谓生产力革命究竟是否名副其实，这一点却很难确定。作者的观点在此其实已表达得很清楚。
　　另外，从第三段来看，所谓的生产力革命包括了改组企业（business restructuring, reengineering）等一系列措施，正如第四段所指出的，近年所进行的一些重组措施也许并未奏效，而且，即使有所成效，效果也没有人们想象的那样广泛。在最后一段，作者应用了几个专家的评价，这几位专家对目前进行的促进生产力发展的措施更是持否定态度。作者的引用当然带有很大的倾向性，用以支持自己的观点。
　　58. 【A】问题是：以下哪一句文中没有提到？
　　这是本文所未提到的，作者只指出促进生产力革命的措施并未奏效，未达到人们想象的效果，而并未提到应该如何应对。
　　人们常说不劳而获，这话不错。但是假如努力了也没有收获那又怎么样呢？在美国，到处都流传着公司起死回生的故事。但是我们难以确定，生意人认为的他们在经历的生产力革命是否是真实的。
　　政府的统计数据有些令人失望：如果将生产部门和服务部门算在一起，劳动生产力自1987年以来以1.25%的平均速度增长，这比前十年的速度要快。自从1991年以来，生产力每年增长2%，这个速度比1978—1987的两倍还多。问题是，造成目前加速增长的原因部分在于经济循环过程中正常的反弹，并无实质性的证据证明复苏是潜在的趋势。正如财政部长Robert Rubin 所说，众多商界传闻显示的生产力大幅度提高和统计数据显示的结果明显不符。
　　有些现象很好解释。对工厂进行调查——例如企业重组和缩小规模——只是改变整个经济中劳动生产力的一个方面，影响生产力的还有其他很多因素，例如对机器设备的投资、新的科学技术、对教育和培训的投资等。而且，公司所做的调整大部分都是为了获利，而并不总能带来生产力的提高：转向新的市场和提高产品质量同样也是十分重要的。
　　另外两种解释比较没有事实依据。第一种是近年来开展的企业改组方法不对；第二种是，即使改组是正确的，它所涉及的面也没有人们想象的那么广。
　　Leonard Schlesinger 是一位哈佛大学的学者，并曾担任过一家增长迅速的连锁饮食店Au Bong Pain的执行长官，他说很多企业进行的重组都是十分粗糙的，在很多情况下，重组造成的财政损失大于成本的削减。他的同事Michael Beer说，很多的公司在重组中只是一味地削减成本，而没有足够地考虑长期效益。BBDO公司的Al Rosenshine 说话更加坦率，他认为许多企业重组顾问的工作纯粹是一堆垃圾——就知道浪费客户的钱，什么用也没有。
　　59. 【C】问题是：文章第1段第3行中 “schism”这个词在上下文中有可能意思是。
　　文中出现 “schism”一词的句子可翻译为“如果本世纪有什么变化的话，那就是科学与人文学科的‘schism’加深了。”B，D项可以马上排除，因它们使句子与文章文体不符；A，C项看似意思差不多，但要注意，“confrontation”的形式所需过程一般很短，且突然。“separation”则暗示了一个漫长演变的过程。这也正是为什么作者举几世纪前的例子，告诉读者这个 “schism”实际上是个历史遗留问题。
　　60. 【D】问题是：第二段和第三段的目的是。
　　第二段指出，直到近期，科学界（the scientific community）力量壮大，没有必要理睬其批评者。现在情况不同了（but no longer）。由于科学经费减少，科学家开始著书抨击“反科学”倾向。第三段指出，科学的维护者也在聚会上表达他们的担忧。这两种表现都是二者矛盾公开化、加深的表现。
　　61. 【A】问题是：根据文章内容以下哪一项是正确的？
　　第六段第二句指出：但是，这当然不意味着为工业的无限制的扩展而担忧的环境保护者都是反科学者，《美国新闻与世界报道》五月刊的一篇文章似乎是想把他们归为反科学者。对该句的理解可以在第七段第一句中找到线索，该句可译为：环境保护者当然对这种批评进行了还击。如果没受到攻击，当然也没有必要还击。
　　62. 【A】问题是：作者对于科学VS反科学这个问题的态度是。
　　作者似乎只是客观地叙述了科学和人文学科之间的分歧，而并未评价孰是孰非。
　　科学与其他文化领域的关系一向不睦。比如你可以回想一下17世纪伽利略因为其叛逆思想而在天主教堂受到审判，或者是诗人William Blake 对牛顿的机械论世界观的猛烈抨击。到了本世纪，科学和人文学科之间的裂痕愈加扩大了。
　　以前科学界的势力曾经非常强大，以至于可以忽略它的批评者，但是近来情况发生了变化。随着对科学研究资助的减少，科学家开始写书批判“反科学”，例如比较有名的书有：弗吉尼亚大学生物学家Paul R .Gross和Rutgers 大学数学家 Norman Levitt 所著的《更高级的迷信》，以及康奈尔大学的Carl Sagan 所著的《鬼魂出没的世界》。
　　科学的维护者还在一些会议上表达他们的关切，例如1995年在纽约召开的“科学与理性的方向”会议，和去年6月在布法罗附近召开的主题为“信息/错误信息时代的科学”的会议。
　　反科学对于不同的人来说，意义也不同。Gross 和 Levitt 批判的对象主要是社会学家、哲学家和其他对科学的客观性提出质疑的学者。Sagan 反对的对象则主要是那些相信鬼魂、创世论及相信其他与科学观点背道而驰的现象的人。
　　1996年进行的一次对新书的调查显示，“反科学”的标签也被贴在了很多别的人群的身上，包括提倡根除残余的天花病毒的权威机构，以及提倡削减基础科学研究资金的共和党人。
　　将“反科学”的标签使用在Unabomber组织身上是无可非议的。他们在1995年发表的宣言中嘲笑科学，并希望回到一个没有科学技术的乌托邦。但是去年五月《美国新闻和世界报道》上的一篇文章称那些对无控制的工业增长表示关切的环境主义为“反科学”，这显然是没有道理的。
　　对于这样的批评，不用说，环境主义者当然反击。斯坦福大学环境研究的先锋Paul Ehrlich评论说：科学的真正敌人，是那些对全球变暖、臭氧层损耗和其他工业增长导致的恶果不愿相信的人。
　　实际上，观察家们担心“反科学”的头衔正面临着推动意义的危险。哈佛大学的哲学教授Gerald Hilton在他1993年出版的《科学和反科学》一书中指出：“反科学一词包含那么多不同的内容，这些内容只有一点是共同的，就是它们能够激怒或者威胁到那些自认为比别人更有知识的人。”
　　63. 【B】问题是：从1980年人口调查所提供人口增长来观察，美国在70年代里。
　　第二段指出，在人口统计史上，美国南部第一次成为人口最稠密的地区，这一变化对美国未来几年（in years ahead）的政治和经济都有很大影响；第四段指出，自第二次世界大战以来，美国人一直有南迁和西迁的趋向，现在还是如此（and the pattern prevails）。所谓西迁，主要是指向位于西南部的加利福尼亚州迁移（见第五、九段）；另外，本文所提到的人口增长速度较快的加利福尼亚、亚利桑那、内华达等州都在美国西南部。
　　64. 【C】问题是：这次人口普查与以往关于人口流动调查不同的是。
　　第七段指出，除了继续的南迁和西迁趋向外，人口统计学家还发现了一个相关的新现象：美国人迁移的目的不仅是寻找工作，而是越来越明显地寻找人口稀少的地区居住；第八段指出，离开拥挤的地区同时也改变了过去美国人一味逃离寒带、迁向气候温和地带（morebearable climates）的作法；第九段也指出，1980年的统计最清楚地表明：美国人迁向最西部地区，是因为他们想寻找宽阔的生存空间（spacious living）。
　　65. 【D】问题是：我们从可提供的统计中看出。
　　第七段第二例子指出，在所有州中，内华利州和亚利桑那州人口增长最多，分别为63.5%和53.1%。可见亚利桑那州位居人口增长第二，选D。
　　66. 【C】问题是：第7段第1行中 “demographers” 这个词的意思很有可能是。
　　该词意为：人口统计学家。A，B，D项内容都与文章内容不相关。1980年的人口普查显示，在国内，各地区之间的竞争愈演愈烈，东北部和中西部地区的人口增长几乎处于停顿状态。
　　这一发展态势表明，在美国的人口普查历史上，南方第一次成为美国人口最稠密的地区，这对美国未来的政治和经济都有很重要的指导作用。
　　20世纪70年代美国的人口总数增加了2320万，从绝对人数上来说，是有记录以来，10年内人口增长位于第三位的。即使是这样，增加的人口只占总人口的11.4%，是除了经济衰退时期之外，年增长率最低的。
　　第二次世界大战以后,大批的美国人开始向南部和西部移民,这种趋势现在仍在继续。
　　佛罗里达、得克萨斯和加利福尼亚，三个位于阳光地带的州加起来，在1980年的人口总数比10年前增加了大约一千万。在大城市中，圣地亚哥从第14位上升到第8位，圣安息东尼奥从第15位上升到第10位，而克利夫兰和华盛顿则被挤出了前10位。
　　人口普查员说，这种种变化并不完全是因为人们搬离冰雪地带造成的。还有其他原因，比如不断到来的外国移民浪潮，还有在前一次生育高峰诞生的婴儿又到达了生育年龄，因此又有大批新生儿出生。
　　在人口不断向南和向西迁移的同时，人口统计学家也发现了一个新的现象，那就是：越来越多的美国人不光在寻找有更多工作机会的地方，而且也在寻找人口更稀少的地方，下面几个例子可以证明：
　　——从地区上来看，洛基山脉附近几个州的人口增长率最快：1970年，在这片广大土地上的居民只占美国人口总数的5%，而这里现在的人口速度增长却达到了37.1%。
　　——在所有的州里,内华达和亚利桑纳的增长速度最快,分别是63.5%和53.1%。除了佛罗里达和得克萨斯，人口增长最快的前10个州都位于西部，这些州的人口增长了750万，大约每平方英里增长9个人。
　　逃离拥挤的人群，这也影响着从冰雪地带迁移气候和地区的迁移模式。根据1980年人口普查结果，美国人追求生活这一现象在美国西部得以最充分的体现。加利福尼亚在70年代人口增加了370万，比其他任何州的增长都要多。
　　然而，也是在70年代，大批人口也在离开加州，大多数人搬到了西部的其他地区。这些人通常会选择（而且仍在选择）相对比较寒冷的地方，比如俄勒冈、艾达荷和阿拉斯加，这样做是为了逃离烟雾污染、犯罪和城市中的其他烦恼。
　　其结果是，70年代加州的人口增长率下降至18.5%，这个数字仅仅是60年代的三分之二，比西部其他各州的比率都要低。
　　67. 【B】问题是：作者相信什么。
　　第二段的第一句话就说“That the plates are moving is now beyond dispute”, beyond dispute 意思是毋庸置疑，所以作者相信关于板块漂移的地质学的理论。
　　68. 【B】问题是：非洲和南美大陆曾经相连是基于的事实。
　　在第二段的第三句话中说到，互补的海岸线和某些相似的地质特征能证明它们曾经相连。所以选择B——它们有一些地理上的共性。69. 【D】问题是：关于热点地区的理论为解释提供了有力的证据。
　　在第三段的倒数第二句话说到了hotspots 导致了新的大洋的产生。所以选D。
　　70. 【C】问题是：全文的主旨大意是。
　　全文三个段落各介绍了热点地区某一方面的内容，使读者了解了热点地区的性质、特点和对地球物理学研究的意义。
　　在地球上散布着一百多处小范围的火山活动地区，地质学家称它们为热点地区。和其他大多数火山不同，它们并不总是处在构成地表的大型漂移板块的边缘，相反，它们之中有很多深深地潜伏在板块的内部。大多数的热点地区运动得非常缓慢，有时板块运动经过它们，会留下死火山的踪迹。这些热点地区及其火山踪迹标志出板块的运动情况。
　　板块是运动的，这一点现在已经无需质疑了。比如，由于新的物质不断加入非洲和南美洲之间的大洋底部，这两块大陆正在越漂越远。互补的海岸线和似乎跨越大洋的某些地质特征提醒着人们这两块大陆曾经一度是相连的。大陆板块的相对运动被人们详细地复制出来，但是板块之间的相对运动并不能看成是板块相对于地球内部的运动。很难判定到底是两块大陆同时向相反方向移动，还是一块大陆是静止的，而另一块正在逐渐漂离。热点地区牢牢扎根于地球的深处，为解决这一问题提供了依据。从对热点地区的数量分析可以看出，非洲板块是静止的，在过去的三千万年中没有移动过。
　　热点地区的重要性并不仅仅局限于作为参考依据，它们对推动全球板块的物理变化也有重要影响。当大陆板块停在一个热点地区上时，地球深处涌出的物质就形成了一个宽阔的穹顶，随着穹顶不断生长，就会产生深深的裂缝。有些时候，大陆会沿着某些这样的裂缝完全裂开，这样热点地区就导致了新的大洋的诞生。就像早期理论解释了大陆的可移动性一样，热点地区能够解释大陆的不稳定性。

林の声音 · 发表于 2005-12-7 00:31:53

DAY8
　　1997年全国硕士学位研究生入学考试英语试题
　　Part IIIReading Comprehension
 　　Directions: Each of the passages below is followed by some questions. For each question there are four answers marked A, B, C and D. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each of the questions. Then mark your answer on the ANSWER SHEET 1 by blackening the corresponding 　letter in the brackets. （40 points）
　　Passage 1
　　It was 3:45 in the morning when the vote was finally taken. After six months of arguing and final 16 hours of hot parliamentary debates, Australias Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die. The measure passed by the convincing vote of 15 to 10. Almost immediately word flashed on the Internet and was picked up, half a world away, by John Hofsess, executive director of the Right to Die Society of Canada. He sent it on via the groups on line service, Death NET. Says Hofsess: “We posted bulletins all day long, because of course this isnt just something that happened in Australia. Its world history.”
　　The full import may take a while to sink in. The NT Rights of the Terminally III law has left physicians and citizens alike trying to deal with its moral and practical implications. Some have breathed sighs of relief, others, including churches, right to life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the bill and the haste of its passage. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australia — where an aging population, life extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part — other states are going to consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia. In the US and Canada, where the right to die movement is gathering strength, observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling.
　　Under the new Northern Territory law, an adult patient can request death — probably by a deadly injection or pill — to put an end to suffering. The patient must be diagnosed as terminally ill by two doctors. After a “cooling off” period of seven days, the patient can sign a certificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met. For Lloyd Nickson, a 54 year old Darwin resident suffering from lung cancer, the NT Rights of Terminally III law means he can get on with living without the haunting fear of his suffering: a terrifying death from his breathing condition. “Im not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view, but what I was afraid of was how Id go, because Ive watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks,” he says.
　　51. From the second paragraph we learn that .
　　A. the objection to euthanasia is slow to come in other countries
　　B. physicians and citizens share the same view on euthanasia
　　C. changing technology is chiefly responsible for the hasty passage of the law
　　D. it takes time to realize the significance of the laws passage
　　52. When the author says that observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling, he means .
　　A. observers are taking a wait and see attitude towards the future of euthanasia
　　B. similar bills are likely to be passed in the US, Canada and other countries
　　C. observers are waiting to see the result of the game of dominoes
　　D. the effect taking process of the passed bill may finally come to a stop
　　53. When Lloyd Nickson dies, he will .
　　A. face his death with calm characteristic of euthanasia
　　B. experience the suffering of a lung cancer patient
　　C. have an intense fear of terrible suffering
　　D. undergo a cooling off period of seven days
　　54. The authors attitude towards euthanasia seems to be that of .
　　A. opposition B. suspicion
　　C. approval D. indifference
　　Passage 2
　　A report consistently brought back by visitors to the US is how friendly, courteous, and helpful most Americans were to them. To be fair, this observation is also frequently made of Canada and Canadians, and should best be considered North American. There are, of course, exceptions. Small minded officials, rude waiters, and ill mannered taxi drivers are hardly unknown in the US. Yet it is an observation made so frequently that it deserves comment.
　　　For a long period of time and in many parts of the country, a traveler was a welcome break in an otherwise dull existence. Dullness and loneliness were common problems of the families who generally lived distant from one another. Strangers and travelers were welcome sources of diversion, and brought news of the outside world.
　　The harsh realities of the frontier also shaped this tradition of hospitality. Someone traveling alone, if hungry, injured, or ill, often had nowhere to turn except to the nearest cabin or settlement. It was not a matter of choice for the traveler or merely a charitable impulse on the part of the settlers. It reflected the harshness of daily life: if you didnt take in the stranger and take care of him, there was no one else who would. And someday, remember, you might be in the same situation.
　　Today there are many charitable organizations, which specialize in helping the weary traveler. Yet, the old tradition of hospitality to strangers is still very strong in the US, especially in the smaller cities and towns away from the busy tourist trails. “I was just traveling through, got talking with this American, and pretty soon he invited me home for dinner — amazing.” Such observations reported by visitors to the US are not uncommon, but are not always understood properly. The casual friendliness of many Americans should be interpreted neither as superficial nor as artificial, but as the result of a historically developed cultural tradition.
　　As is true of any developed society, in America a complex set of cultural signals, assumptions, and conventions underlies all social interrelationships. And, of course, speaking a language does not necessarily mean that someone understands social and cultural patterns. Visitors who fail to “translate” cultural meanings properly often draw wrong conclusions. For example, when an American uses the word “friend”, the cultural implications of the word may be quite different from those it has in the visitors language and culture. It takes more than a brief encounter on a bus to distinguish between courteous convention and individual interest. Yet, being friendly is a virtue that many American value highly and expect from both neighbors and strangers.
　　55. In the eyes of visitors from the outside world, .
　　A. rude taxi drivers are rarely seen in the US
　　B. small minded officials deserve a serious comment
　　C. Canadians are not so friendly as their neighbors
　　D. most Americans are ready to offer help
　　56. It could be inferred from the last paragraph that .
　　A. culture exercises an influence over social interrelationship
　　B. courteous convention and individual interest are interrelated
　　C. various virtues manifest themselves exclusively among friends
　　D. social interrelationships equal the complex set of cultural conventions
　　57. Families in frontier settlements used to entertain strangers .
　　A. to improve their hard lifeB. in view of their long distance travel
　　C. to add some flavor to their own daily lifeD. out of a charitable impulse
　　58. The tradition of hospitality to strangers .
　　A. tends to be superficial and artificial
　　B. is generally well kept up in the United States
　　C. is always understood properly
　　D. was something to do with the busy tourist trails
　　Passage 3
　　Technically, any substance other than food that alters our bodily or mental functioning is a drug. Many people mistakenly believe the term drug refers only to some sort of medicine or an illegal chemical taken by drug addicts. They dont realize that familiar substances such as alcohol and tobacco are also drugs. This is why the more neutral term substance is now used by many physicians and psychologists. The phrase “substance abuse” is often used instead of “drug abuse” to make clear that substances such as alcohol and tobacco can be just as harmfully misused as heroin and cocaine.
　　We live a society in which the medicinal and social use of substances （drugs) is pervasive: an aspirin to quiet a headache, some wine to be sociable, coffee to get going in the morning, a cigarette for the nerves. When do these socially acceptable and apparently constructive uses of a substance become misuses? First of all, most substances taken in excess will produce negative effects such as poisoning or intense perceptual distortions. Repeated use of a substance can also lead to physical addiction or substance dependence. Dependence is marked first by an increased tolerance, with more and more of the substance required to produce the desired effect, and then by the appearance of unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the substance is discontinued.
　　Drugs （substances） that affect the central nervous system and alter perception, mood, and behavior are known as psychoactive substances. Psychoactive substances are commonly grouped according to whether they are stimulants, depressants, or hallucinogens. Stimulants initially speed up or activate the central nervous system, whereas depressants slow it down. Hallucinogens have their primary effect on perception, distorting and altering it in a variety of ways including producing hallucinations. These are the substances often called psychedelic （from the Greek word meaning “mindmanifesting”） because they seemed to radically alter ones state of consciousness.
　　59. “Substance abuse” （Line 5, Paragraph 1） is preferable to “drug abuse” in that .
　　A. substances can alter our bodily or mental functioning if illegally used
　　B. “drug abuse” is only related to a limited number of drug takers
　　C. alcohol and tobacco are as fatal as heroin and cocaine
　　D. many substances other than heroin or cocaine can also be poisonous
　　60. The word “pervasive” （Line 1, Paragraph 2) might mean .
　　A. widespreadB. overwhelming
　　C. piercingD. fashionable
　　61. Physical dependence on certain substances results from .
　　A. uncontrolled consumption of them over long periods of time
　　B. exclusive use of them for social purposes
　　C. quantitative application of them to the treatment of diseases
　　D. careless employment of them for unpleasant symptoms
　　62. From the last paragraph we can infer that .
　　A. stimulants function positively on the mind
　　B. hallucinogens are in themselves harmful to health
　　C. depressants are the worst type of psychoactive substances
　　D. the three types of psychoactive substances are commonly used in groups
　　Passage 4
　　No company likes to be told it is contributing to the moral decline of a nation. “Is this what you intended to accomplish with your careers?” Senator Robert Dole asked Time Warner executives last week. “You have sold your souls, but must you corrupt our nation and threaten our children as well?” At Time Warner, however, such questions are simply the latest manifestation of the soul searching that has involved the company ever since the company was born in 1990. Its a self examination that has, at various times, involved issues of responsibility, creative freedom and the corporate bottom line.
　　At the core of this debate is chairman Gerald Levin, 56, who took over for the late Steve Ross in 1992. On the financial front, Levin is under pressure to raise the stock price and reduce the companys mountainous debt, which will increase to 17.3 billion after two new cable deals close. He has promised to sell off some of the property and restructure the company, but investors are waiting impatiently.
　　The flap over rap is not making life any easier for him. Levin has consistently defended the companys rap music on the grounds of expression. In 1992, when Time Warner was under fire for releasing Ice Ts violent rap song Cop Killer. Levin described rap as a lawful expression of street culture, which deserves an outlet. “The test of any democratic society,” he wrote in a Wall Streel Journal column, “lies not in how well it can control expression but in whether it gives freedom of thought and expression the widest possible latitude, however disputable or irritating the results may sometimes be. We wont retreat in the face of any threats.”
　　Levin would not comment on the debate last week, but there were signs that the chairman was backing off his hard line stand, at least to some extent. During the discussion of rock singing verses at last months stockholders meeting, Levin asserted that “music is not the cause of societys ills” and even cited his son, a teacher in the Bronx, New York, who uses rap to communicate with students. But he talked as well about the “balanced struggle” between creative freedom and social responsibility, and he announced that the company would launch a drive to develop standards for distribution and labeling of potentially objectionable music.
　　The 15 member Time Warner board is generally supportive of Levin and his corporate strategy. But insiders say several of them have shown their concerns in this matter. “Some of us have known for many, many years that the freedoms under the First Amendment are not totally unlimited,” says Luce. “I think it is perhaps the case that some people associated with the company have only recently come to realize this.”
　　63. Senator Robert Dole criticized Time Warner for .
　　A. its raising of the corporate stock price B. its selfexamination of soul
　　C. its neglect of social responsibility D. its emphasis on creative freedom
　　64. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
　　A. Luce is a spokesman of Time Warner.
　　B. Gerald Levin is liable to compromise.
　　C. Time Warner is united as one in the face of the debate.
　　D. Stever Ross is no longer alive
　　65. In face of the recent attacks on the company, the chairman .
　　A. stuck to a strong stand to defend freedom of expression
　　B. softened his tone and adopted some new policy
　　C. changed his attitude and yielded to objection
　　D. received more support from the 15member board
　　66. The best title for this passage could be .
　　A. A Company under Fire B. A Debate on Moral Decline
　　C. A Lawful Outlet of Street Culture D. A Form of Creative Freedom
　　Passage 5
　　Much of the language used to describe monetary policy, such as “steering the economy to a soft landing” or “a touch on the brakes”, makes it sound like a precise science. Nothing could be further from the truth. The link between interest rates and inflation is uncertain. And there are long, variable lags before policy changes have any effect on the economy.Hence the analogy that likens the conduct of monetary policy to driving a car with a blackened windscreen, a cracked rear view mirror and a faulty steering wheel.
　　Given all these disadvantages, central bankers seem to have had much to boast about of late. Average inflation in the big seven industrial economies fell to a mere 2.3% last year, close to its lowest level in 30 years, before rising slightly to 2.5% this July. This is a long way below the double digit rates which many countries experienced in the 1970s and early 1980s.
　　It is also less than most forecasters had predicated. In late 1994 the panel of economists which The Economist polls each month said that Americas inflation rate would average 3.5% in 1995. In fact, it fell to 2.6% in August, and expected to average only about 3% for the year as a whole. In Britain and Japan inflation is running half a percentage point below the rate predicted at the end of last year. This is no flash in the pan; over the past couple of years, inflation has been consistently lower than expected in Britain and America.
　　Economists have been particularly surprised by favorable inflation figures in Britain and the United States, since conventional measures suggest that both economies, and especially Americas, have little productive slack. Americas capacity utilization, for example, his historically high levels earlier this year, and its jobless rate （5.6% in August） has fallen bellow most estimates of the natural rate of unemployment — the rate below which inflation has taken off in the past.
　　Why has inflation proved so mild? The most thrilling explanation is, unfortunately, a little defective. Some economists argue that powerful structural changes in the world have up ended the old economic models that were based upon the historical link between growth and inflation.
　　67. From the passage we learn that .
　　A. there is a definite relationship between inflation and interest rates
　　B. economy will always follow certain models
　　C. the economic situation is better than expected
　　D. economists had foreseen the present economic situation
　　68. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
　　A. Making monetary policies is comparable to driving a car
　　B. An extremely low jobless rate will lead to inflation
　　C. A high unemployment rate will result from inflation
　　D. Interest rates have an immediate effect on the economy
　　69. The sentence “This is no flash in the pan” （Line 5, Paragraph 3) means that .
　　A. the low inflation rate will last for some time
　　B. the inflation rate will soon rise
　　C. the inflation will disappear quickly
　　D. there is no inflation at present
　　70. The passage shows that the author is the present situation.
　　A. critical ofB. puzzled by
　　C. disappointed atD. amazed at
　　51. 【D】问题是：从第二段我们可知。
　　第二段第一句是解答本题的关键。“The full import may take a while to sink in.”意思为：整个事情的重要性还需要一段时间才能被人了解。选D。
　　52. 【B】问题是：当作者说到“observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling”是什么意思？
　　该题是一道句意解释题，关键在于前半句话的褒贬。前半句话说美国和加拿大，争取死亡权利的运动在不断发展壮大，潜台词就是安乐死的合法化是迟早的事。“domino”的意思是多米诺骨牌。
　　53. 【A】问题是：当Lloyd Nickson死的时候，他会怎么样？
　　文章的最后一段话之所以列举这个例子，是为了说明安乐死能帮患者化解对死亡痛苦的忧虑，从容的死去。所以选择A——他会从容地面对死亡，这是接受安乐死病人的特征。
　　干扰选项D是原文的意思，但不是发生在死的那一刻，而是决定采取安乐死的方式。
　　54. 【C】问题是：作者对安乐死的态度是。
　　从最后一段列举的例子来看，是支持安乐死的，否则会举一个反对安乐死的患者的例子。
　　投票最终进行是在凌晨3点45分。在经过了6个月的讨论和议会16个小时的激烈辩论之后，最终澳大利亚的北部地区成为世界上第一个允许医生合法帮助无药可治的病人进行安乐死的地区。这项法案最终是以15比10的多数票通过。这个消息立刻就在互联网上传开了，在地球的另一边，加拿大死亡权利协会执行主席John Hofsess 马上把这个消息发到了该组织的网站Death NET 上。Hofsess 说：“我们整天都在贴子，因为这件事并不只是澳大利亚的事，这是整个世界历史上的大事。”
　　人们还需要一段时间才能了解这整个事件的重要性。澳大利亚北部地区制定的这项关于晚期病人的法律使得医生和普通公民都在考虑它在道德和实际生活方面的意义。有些人放心地松了一口气，有些人，包括教会、生存权利组织和澳大利亚医药协会，则猛烈抨击这项法案，认为它的通过太草率。但是潮流不可能再逆转了。在澳大利亚——那里的人口老龄化问题，生命延长技术，和社会态度的转变，都在分别施加各自的影响——其他地区也将考虑通过类似的有关安乐死的法案。在美国和加拿大，随着死亡权利运动不断发展壮大，观察家们正静候着连锁反应的发生。
　　新的北部地区法律规定，成年患者可以要求用注射或药片结束自己的痛苦。患者必须由两位医生诊断为患有不治之症，并且在冷静七天之后，病人就可以签署申请书。这之后的48小时之后，病人的愿望就可以实现。对于54岁身患肺癌的达尔文市居民Lloyd Nickson 来说，这项法案意味着他不用再成天担心因为窒息而痛苦地死去了。他说：“从精神上来说，我并不害怕死亡；但我担心的是将会怎样死去，因为我曾看到过医院里的病人因为喘不上气来，抓着氧气面具痛苦地死去。”
　　55. 【D】问题是：在来自外界游客的眼里。
　　文章第一段第一句指出，去过美国的人所带回来的印象总是：大多数美国人表现为友好、礼貌、乐于助人，即D项内容。
　　56. 【A】问题是：本文最后一段，可以推断出。
　　文章最后一段第1句是本段中心句，像其他发达社会一样，在美国构成社会人际关系的是一系列复杂的文化符号、信念和习俗。句中的“cultural signals, assumptions, conventions” 全都是属于 “culture” (文化范畴)。由此我们可推断文化大可影响社会人际关系, 即A项内容。
　　57. 【C】问题是：边疆地区的家庭过去一直招待陌生人。
　　文章第2段指出，在美国历史的很长一段时期（即所谓“拓荒”时代），对许多地区来说，一个旅行者的到来是很受欢迎的，因为它可以对平时单调的生活起一个调节(break) 作用。离群索居的家庭共同的问题是日常生活的单调与寂寞，陌生人或旅行者的到来可以使他们暂时摆脱这种生活状况。另外，他们也可以因此获得外界信息。
　　58. 【B】问题是：这种对陌生人友善客观的传统。
　　文章第4段第2句便给出了答案，“友善好客的老传统在美国仍根深蒂固”，即B项内容：在美国得以广泛的保持。
　　旅游者对美国做出的评价经常是：友好、礼貌和乐于助人。公平地说，这一评价对加拿大人也适用，因此可以说游客对整个北美地区的印象都是这样。当然，也有例外的情况。比如说美国官员的心胸狭窄，饭店服务员的态度粗鲁，出租车司机没有礼貌，这些都是众所周知的。然而，既然美国人得到了那么多良好的评价，这就值得我们说上两句。
　　曾经有很长一段时间，在美国的很多地方，旅行者的来访能打破往日沉闷的生活，因此是很受欢迎的。对于那些居住得比较分散的家庭来说，沉闷和孤独是很普遍的问题。陌生人和旅行者带来了外面世界的信息，解除了生活的烦闷。
　　同时，边疆地区生活的严酷性也造成了这种好客的传统。当独自旅行的人受到饥饿和伤病的威胁时，只有到最近的小屋和居民点求助。这并不是说旅行者选择这样做，或者边疆居民一时发了善心。它反应了日常生活的严酷性：如果你不接纳和照顾陌生人，就没有人去管他们。而且，记住，总有一天你也会处在和他们一样的处境。
　　今天，有很多慈善组织专门帮助疲劳的旅行者。但是美国仍然有很强的对陌生人好客的传统，尤其是在远离旅游区的小城镇里。经常可以听到游客对美国这样的评论：“我在旅行中碰到一个美国人，只和他谈了几句，他就邀请我回家吃晚饭了，真奇怪。”旅行者对这种现象的理解往往不正确，很多美国人随意的友善表示，并不应该理解成肤浅或做作的举动，而应该看成是有历史根源的文化传统。
　　正如在任何发达社会中一样，在美国的一切社会关系背后也有一套复杂的文化符号和传统。当然，会说一门语言并不意味着了解其社会文化。旅游者曲解文化含义往往得出错误的结论。例如当一个美国人使用“朋友”这个词时，其文化含义与旅游者的语言文化中这个词的含义是不一样的。公共汽车上的简短一晤，你是无法分辨出礼貌的客气和个人的真正兴趣的。然而，对人友好是很多美国人很看重的一个优点，他们也期望从邻居和陌生人身上看到这种品质。
　　59. 【D】问题是：“物质滥用”（第1段第5行）这个词比 “药物滥用” 更可取是因为。
　　文章第一段最后一句作者指出，许多医生（physician）和心理学家常使用“物质滥用”而不是“药物滥用”这一概念，他们想以此说明：滥用像烟酒这样的物质与滥用海洛因和可卡因一样有害。常识告诉我们 “heroin”和 “cocaine”对人体是有害的，而像 “alcohol” 和 “tobacco” 这样的物质可以同它们划等号（作者用as... as 句型）。可见，除 “heroin” 和 “cocaine”外，还有许多物质是有害的，即D项内容。
　　60. 【A】问题是：“pervasive” 这个词（第2段第1行）的意思可能是。
　　文章 “pervasive” 出现那一句的翻译是“在我们生活的社会里，物质的医用和社交用广泛存在，如：用阿司匹林制止头痛，用酒交际，早晨用咖啡振作一下精神，抽支烟定定神。”只有A项内容广泛普遍，才是作者举例要说明的。
　　61. 【A】问题是：造成对某种物质心理上依赖的原因是。
　　用药量和用药时间是造成药物依赖的两个重要因素。文中“tolerance” 一词指的是长时间无节制地对于某物质的撮取，即A项内容。
　　62. 【B】问题是：从文章最后一段我们可以推断出。
　　文章第三段第四、五句，迷幻剂主要影响人的知觉，以各种方式（包括产生幻觉）将它扭曲、改变。它们被称作“引起幻觉的药物”，因为它们似乎从根本上改变了人的意识状态。这是个常识问题。作者没有直接在文中指出，但我们都知道，幻觉剂本身就对人体有害，即B项内容。
　　从技术角度来讲，除了食物之外，任何能够改变我们的身体和思维功能的物质都是药物。很多人错误地认为“药物”这个词指的就是某种药或者瘾君子们服用的非法化学药品。他们没有意识到很多熟悉的物质如烟、酒也是药物，这也是为什么医生和心理学者使用“滥用”这个比较中性的词。现在人们经常用“滥用物质”来代替“滥用药物”，以便能够清楚地说明像烟和酒这样的物质如果滥用，能和海洛因和可卡因一样有害。
　　我们居住的社会里，不论是医疗用还是日常生活中，滥用物质（药物）的现象都十分普遍：吃片阿司匹林来缓解头痛，喝杯酒来促进交际，早起喝杯咖啡来打起精神，抽支烟来缓解紧张。使用这些物质是被社会认可的，而且明显对我们有帮助，怎么会变成滥用了呢？首先，大部分的物质，一旦使用过量，就会产生负面影响，比如中毒或导致知觉扭曲。反复使用一种物质会导致上瘾或对该物质的依赖。这种依赖首先表现为耐药性增强，要想达到预期的效果就需要越来越多的这种物质；然后当一旦终止使用这种物质，就会出现停药后的不适症状。
　　能影响中枢神经系统，改变人们的知觉、情绪和行为的药物（物质）被称作“作用于精神的物质”。人们通常把这些物质区分为兴奋剂、镇静剂和迷幻剂。兴奋剂会加速或刺激中枢神经系统，而镇静剂减慢神经系统的工作。迷幻剂主要作用于人的知觉上，使其扭曲变形，产生幻觉等。这些物质通常被称为“迷幻药”（这个词来自希腊语，意思是“展示思想的”），因为它们似乎能够很快改变一个人的意识状态。
　　63. 【C】问题是：参议员Robert Dole谴责Time Warner公司是因为。
　　文章第一段指出，没有哪个公司喜欢别人说它导致了全国道德的败坏。多尔参议员所指责时代华纳公司的正是这一点。他说：难道这就是你们的经营目标吗？你们出卖了自己的灵魂，难道你们也想毁了国家、危及我们的孩子吗？这种行为当然属于对社会责任的忽视。
　　64. 【D】问题是：根据文中内容，以下哪一项是正确的？
　　“late”除其他意思外，该词有“前”，“已故的”等意思。一般来讲，该词加在人名或称呼前时译作“已故的”，如：the late Mr.Green已故格林先生，her late husband她的前夫（已故）。若加在头衔前，则要据情况而译，如：the late president前总统（也可能已故，也可能仅指刚刚卸职）。
　　65. 【B】问题是：面对近期外界对公司的攻击，主席。
　　文章第3段讲到公司主席Levin持强硬立场，他还辩护说，街头音乐不过是一种文化，是值得推广的。但第4段作者指出，Levin对上周的争议拒绝评价，但有迹象表明他正在放弃自己的强硬立场——至少在某种程度上可以这样说。即B项内容。
　　66. 【A】问题是：本文最佳的标题可能是。
　　从以上的分析可以看出，本文主要是评述了时代华纳公司因发行新音乐专辑而受到的责难及其反应。B题目太广泛，C和D都不可能概括文章内容。没有一家公司希望被指责为导致了国家道德水平的堕落。Robert Dole参议员在上周的会议中向时代华纳公司的执行长官发问：“你们的事业就是为了达到这样的结果吗？你们已经出卖了自己的灵魂，难道还要腐化我们的国家，危及我们的孩子吗？”在时代华纳，这自我反省的一幕自从公司1990年创建时就在不断上演，而这次的这个问题只是一种最新的发问形式而已。在不同时期，这种自我检查涉及的内容包括责任、创作自由和公司能容忍的底线。
　　处于这场争论中心位置的是公司主席，56岁的Gerald Levin，他于1992年从已故主席Steve Ross 手中接过这个重任。在财政问题上，Levin 的压力很大，他必须提高公司的股价，并减少公司的巨额债务，而这一债务在购买两条电缆的交易完成之后将达到一百七十三亿美元。他承诺出售公司的一些产业，并对公司进行重组，但是投资者已经等得不耐烦了。
　　人们关于rap 音乐的抨击使Levin 的日子更加不好过。Levin 一直以rap 音乐只是一种表达方式来维护该公司的rap 音乐。1992年，华纳公司因为出品了IceT 乐队充满暴力的rap 歌曲《警察杀手》，而受到了猛烈的指责。这时，Levin把rap音乐描述成街头文化的一种合法表现形式，因为街头文化也需要宣泄。他在《华尔街时报》的专栏中写道：“任何民主社会面临的考验并不是它是否能控制言论，而是它是否能给予思想和言论最大限度的自由，尽管有时这样做的结果是非常令人争议和不快的，但是我们不会在任何威胁面前退缩。”
　　Levin不愿对上周进行的这次争论发表评论，但是种种迹象显示这位主席的强硬立场有所减弱，至少是在某种程度上的减弱。在上周股东会议讨论摇滚音乐内容时，Levin强调说“音乐并不是社会弊端的根源”，他甚至还举了儿子的例子。他的儿子是纽约Bronx的一名教师，曾用rap音乐来和学生进行交流。但是在会议上，他也谈到了要在“创作自由”和“社会责任”之间努力保持平衡，他还宣布华纳公司将开始制定标准，对可能引起非议的音乐予以标记，并对其发行进行控制。
　　时代华纳董事会的15名成员基本上支持Levin和他的策略。但内部人士透露，董事会中有些人表达了对此事的关注。Luce说：“我们有些人多年以来一直知道第一修正案授予的自由并不是完全没有限制的，但我想可能有些人直到最近才意识到这一点。”
　　67. 【C】问题是：从文中我们可以得出。
　　第三段指出，它（指平均通货膨胀率）也比多数预测者预测的低。《经济学家》杂志每月调查的经济学家小组称：1995年美国平均通货膨胀率会达3.5%左右，但是，8月份它实际降至2.6%，全年也不过3%左右；在英国和日本，平均通货膨胀率比上年底预测的低0.5百分点（或：半个百分点）。而且，在过去几年里一直是如此（this is no flash in the pan）：在英美两国，平均通货膨胀率一直比预测的要低。
　　68. 【B】问题是：根据本文内容，以下哪一项是正确的？
　　第四段指出，从传统的（衡量）标准来看，英美两国（特别是美国）的经济生产并没有滑坡（productive slack）,例如：美国的设备（能力）利用率（capacity utilization）今年初达到历史最高水平，其失业率已低于多数正常失业率所允许的数字——过去认为：失业率低于正常失业率时通货膨胀率就开始上升（take off）
　　69. 【A】问题是：第3段第5行中“this is no flash the pan” 这句话的意思是。
　　a flash in the pan意为：昙花一现，偶然出现的情况。“this is no flash the pan”意为“不是昙花一现”，结合上文，就是低通胀会持续，即A项内容。
　　70. 【D】问题是：文章表明了作者对于现今的局势。
　　本文主要评述了目前良好的经济形势，它是由持续低的通货膨胀率造成的，是始料未及的。因此作者的态度是“惊奇的”，即D项内容。
　　有很多这样的语言被用来形容货币政策，例如“引导经济软着陆”或者“踩刹车”，这使它听上去像是一门精确的科学。但事实远非如此。利率和通货膨胀之间的联系无法确定，政策调整对经济的影响既滞后又难以确定。因此有人将货币政策的作用比喻成：开着一辆挡风玻璃漆黑、反光镜破碎、方向盘失灵的车。
　　尽管有这些不足之处，主要银行家对近来的局势似乎相当自豪。去年七个主要工业国的通货膨胀率下降至2.3%，接近30年来的最低水平；到今年7月，这个数字略微上升到2.5%。这远远低于七八十年代很多国家曾经经历过的两位数的通货膨胀率。
　　这个数字也低于大多数观察家的预期。1994年末《经济学家》杂志每月调查的经济学家小组预测，1995年美国的通货膨胀率将是3.5%。实际上，到8月份时，这个数字降至2.6%，全年的平均水平也不会超过3%。在英国和日本，通货膨胀都比上一年的预期要低半个百分点。这种情况并不是昙花一现。在过去的几年中，英国和美国的通货膨胀率一直低于预期水平。
　　经济学家对英国和美国的这种乐观的通货膨胀数据感到尤为吃惊，因为传统的计算方法显示，这两个国家，尤其是美国，已经没有太大的生产弹性。例如，美国的生产能力利用率年初达到了历史最高水平，而它的失业率（8月份为5.6%）已经低于了大多数人预计的自然失业率——在过去，当这种情况出现时，通货膨胀就要发生了。
　　为什么通货膨胀的情况如此轻微呢？不幸的是，即使是最令人振奋的解释也有一些缺陷。一些经济学家认为传统的经济模式是建立在分析增长与通货膨胀的历史联系的基础之上的，而当今世界格局的巨大变化已经彻底颠覆了这种旧的经济模式。

林の声音 · 发表于 2005-12-7 00:32:20

DAY9
　　1996年全国硕士学位研究生入学考试英语试题
　　Part　IIIReading Comprehension
 　　Directions: Each of the passages below is followed by some questions. For each question there are four answers marked A, B, C and D. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each of the questions. Then mark your answer on the ANSWER SHEET 1 by blackening the corresponding letter in the brackets. （40 points）
　　Passage 1
　　Tightlipped elders used to say, “Its not what you want in this world, but what you get.”
　　Psychology teaches that you do get what you want if you know what you want and want the right things.
　　You can make a mental blueprint of a desire as you would make a blueprint of a house, and each of us is continually making these blueprints in the general routine of everyday living. If we intend to have friends to dinner, we plan the menu, make a shopping list, and decide which food to cook first, and such planning is an essential for any type of meal to be served.
　　Likewise, if you want to find a job, take a sheet of paper, and write a brief account of yourself. In making a blueprint for a job, begin with yourself, for when you know exactly what you have to offer, you can intelligently plan where to sell your services.
　　This account of yourself is actually a sketch of your working life and should include education, experience and references. Such an account is valuable. It can be referred to in filling out standard application blanks and is extremely helpful in personal interviews. While talking to you, your couldbe employer is deciding whether your “wares” and abilities must be displayed in an orderly and reasonably connected manner.
　　When you have carefully prepared a blueprint of your abilities and desires, you have something tangible to sell. Then you are ready to hunt for a job. Get all the possible information about your couldbe job. Make inquiries as to the details regarding the job and the firm. Keep your eyes and ears open, and use your own judgment. Spend a certain amount of time each day seeking the employment you wish for, and keep in mind: Securing a job is your job now.
　　51. What do the elders mean when they say, “Its not what you want in this world, but what you get.”?
　　A. Youll certainly get what you want.
　　B. Its no use dreaming.
　　C. You should be dissatisfied with what you have.
　　D. Its essential to set a goal for yourself.
　　52. A blueprint made before inviting a friend to dinner is used in this passage as .
　　A. an illustration of how to write an application for a job
　　B. an indication of how to secure a good job
　　C. a guideline for job description
　　D. a principle for job evaluation
　　53. According to the passage, one must write an account of himself before starting to find a job because .
　　A. that is the first step to please the employer
　　B. that is the requirement of the employer
　　C. it enables him to know when to sell his services
　　D. it forces him to become clearly aware of himself
　　54. When you have carefully prepared a blueprint of your abilities and desires, you have something .
　　A. definite to offer B. imaginary to provide
　　C. practical to supply D. desirable to present
　　Passage 2
　　With the start of BBC World Service Television, millions of viewers in Asia and America can now watch the Corporations news coverage, as well as listen to it.
　　And of course in Britain listeners and viewers can tune in two BBC television channels, five BBC national radio services and dozens of local radio station. They are brought sport, comedy, drama, music, news and current affairs, education, religion, parliamentary coverage, childrens programmers and films for an annual license fee of 83 pounds per household.
　　It is a remarkable record, stretching back over 70 years — yet the BBC s future is now in doubt. The Corporation will survive as a publiclyfunded broadcasting organization, at least for the time being, but its role, its size and its programmers are now the subject of a nationwide debate in Britain.
　　The debate was launched by the Government, which invited anyone with an opinion of the BBC — including ordinary listeners and viewers — to say what was good or bad about the Corporation, and even whether they thought it was worth keeping. The reason for its inquiry is that the BBC s royal charter runs out in 1996 and it must decide whether to keep the organization as it is, or to make changes.
　　Defenders of the Corporation — of whom there are many — are fond of quoting the American slogan “If it arent broke, dont fix it.” The BBC “arent broke”, they say, by which they mean it is not broken （as distinct from the word ‘broke’, meaning having no money）, so why bother to change it?
　　Yet the BBC will have to change, because the broadcasting world around it is changing. The commercial TV channels — TV and Channel 4 — were required by the Thatcher Governments Broadcasting Act to become more commercial, competing with each other for advertisers, and cutting costs and jobs. But it is the arrival of new satellite channels — funded partly by advertising and partly by viewers subscriptions — which will bring about the biggest changes in the long term.
　　55. The world famous BBC now faces .
　　A. the problem of new coverage B. an uncertain prospect
　　C. inquiries by the general public D. shrinkage of audience
　　56. In the passage, which of the following about the BBC is not mentioned as the key issue?
　　A. Extension of its TV service to Far East.
　　B. Programmers as the subject of a nationwide debate.
　　C. Potentials for further international cooperations.
　　D. Its existence as a broadcasting organization.
　　57. The BBCs “royal charter” （Line 4, Paragraph 3) stands for .
　　A. the financial support from the royal family
　　B. the privileges granted by the Queen
　　C. a contract with the Queen
　　D. a unique relationship with the royal family
　　58. The foremost reason why the BBC has to readjust itself is no other than .
　　A. the emergence of commercial TV channels
　　B. the enforcement of Broadcasting Act by the government
　　C. the urgent necessity to reduce costs and jobs
　　D. the challenge of new satellite channels
　　Passage 3
　　In the last half of the nineteenth century “capital” and “labor” were enlarging and perfecting their rival organizations on modern lines. Many an old firm was replaced by a limited liability company with a bureaucracy of salaried managers. The change met the technical requirements of the new age by engaging a large professional element and prevented the decline in efficiency that so commonly spoiled the fortunes of family firms in the second and third generation after the energetic founders. It was moreover a step away from individual initiative, towards collectivism and municipal and stateowned business. The railway companies, though still private business managed for the benefit of shareholders, were very unlike old family business. At the same time the great municipalities went into business to supply lighting, trams and other services to the taxpayers .
　　The growth of the limited liability company and municipal business had important consequences. Such large, impersonal manipulation of capital and industry greatly increased the numbers and importance of shareholders as a class, an element in national life representing irresponsible wealth detached from the land and the duties of the landowners; and almost equally detached from the responsible management of business. All through the nineteenth century, America, Africa, India, Australia and parts of Europe were being developed by British capital, and British shareholders were thus enriched by the worlds movement towards industrialization. Towns like Bournemouth and Eastboume sprang up to house large “comfortable” classes who had retired on their incomes, and who had no relation to the rest of the community except that of drawing dividends and occasionally attending a shareholders meeting to dictate their orders to the management. On the other hand “shareholding” meant leisure and freedom which was used by many of the later Victorians for the highest purpose of a great civilization.
　　The “shareholders” as such had no knowledge of the lives, thoughts or needs of the workmen employed by the company in which he held shares, and his influence on the relations of capital and labor was not good. The paid manager acting for the company was in more direct relation with the men and their demands, but even he had seldom that familiar personal knowledge of the workmen which the employer had often had under the more patriarchal system of the old family business now passing away. Indeed the mere size of operations and the numbers of workmen involved rendered such personal relations impossible. Fortunately, however, the increasing power and organization of the trade unions, at least in all skilled trades, enabled the workmen to meet on equal terms the managers of the companies who employed them. The cruel discipline of the strike and lockout taught the two parties to respect each other s strength and understand the value of fair negotiation.
　　59. Its true of the old family firms that .
　　A. they were spoiled by the younger generations
　　B. they failed for lack of individual initiative
　　C. they lacked efficiency compared with modem companies
　　D. they could supply adequate services to the taxpayers
　　60. The growth of limited liability companies resulted in .
　　A. the separation of capital from management
　　B. the ownership of capital by managers
　　C. the emergence of capital and labor as two classes
　　D. the participation of shareholders in municipal business
　　61. According to the passage, all of the following are true except that .
　　A. the shareholders were unaware of the needs of the workers
　　B. the old firm owners hand a better understanding of their workers
　　C. the limited liability companies were too large to run smoothly
　　D. the trade unions seemed to play a positive role
　　62. The author is most critical of .
　　A. family film owners B. landowners
　　C. managers D. shareholders
　　Passage 4
　　What accounts for the great outburst of major inventions in early Americabreakthroughs such as the telegraph, the steamboat and the weaving machine?
　　Among the many shaping factors, I would single out the countrys excellent elementary schools; a labor force that welcomed the new technology; the practice of giving premiums to inventors ; and above all the American genius for nonverbal, “spatial” thinking about things technological .
　　Why mention the elementary schools? Because thanks to these schools our early mechanics, especially in the New England and Middle Atlantic states, were generally literate and at home in arithmetic and in some aspects of geometry and trigonometry.
　　Acute foreign observers related American adaptiveness and inventiveness to this educational advantage. As a member of a British commission visiting here in 1853 reported, “With a mind prepared by thorough school discipline, the American boy develops rapidly into the skilled workman.”
　　A further stimulus to invention came from the “premium” system, which preceded our patent system and for years ran parallel with it. This approach, originated abroad, offered inventors medals, cash prizes and other incentives.
　　In the United States, multitudes of premiums for new devices were awarded at country fairs and at the industrial fairs in major cities. Americans flocked to these fairs to admire the new machines and thus to renew their faith in the beneficence of technological advance.
　　Given this optimistic approach to technological innovation, the American worker took readily to that special kind of nonverbal thinking required in mechanical technology. As Eugene Ferguson has pointed out, “A technologist thinks about objects that cannot be reduced to unambiguous verbal descriptions; they are dealt with in his mind by a visual, nonverbal process... The designer and the inventor... are able to assemble and manipulate in their minds devices that as yet do not exist.”
　　This nonverbal “spatial” thinking can be just as creative as painting and writing. Robert Fulton once wrote, “The mechanic should sit down among levers, screws, wedges, wheels, etc., like a poet among the letters of the alphabet, considering them as an exhibition of his thoughts, in which a new arrangement transmits a new idea.”
　　When all these shaping forces — schools, open attitudes, the premium system, a genius for spatial thinking — interacted with one another on the rich U. S. mainland, they produced that American characteristic, emulation. Today that word implies mere imitation. But in earlier times it meant a friendly but competitive striving for fame and excellence.
　　63. According to the author, the great outburst of major inventions in early America was in a large part due to
　　A. elementary schools B. enthusiastic workers
　　C. the attractive premium system D. a special way of thinking
　　64. It is implied that adaptiveness and inventiveness of the early American mechanics
　　A. benefited a lot from their mathematical knowledge
　　B. shed light on disciplined school management
　　C. was brought about by privileged home training
　　D. owed a lot to the technological development
　　65. A technologist can be compared to an artist because
　　A. they are both winners of awardsB. they are both experts in spatial thinking
　　C. they both abandon verbal descriptionD. they both use various instruments
　　66. The best title for this passage might be
　　A. Inventive Mind B. Effective Schooling
　　B. Ways of Thinking D. Outpouring of Inventions
　　Passage 5
　　Rumor has it that more than 20 books on creationism/evolution are in the publishers pipelines. A few have already appeared. The goal of all will be to try to explain to a confused and often unenlightened citizenry that there are not two equally valid scientific theories for the origin and evolution of universe and life. Cosmology, geology, and biology have provided a consistent, unified, and constantly improving account of what happened. “Scientific” creationism, which is being pushed by some for “equal time” in the classrooms whenever the scientific accounts of evolution are evil, is based on religion, not science. Virtually all scientists and the majority of nonfundamentalist religious leaders have come to regard “scientific” creationism as bad science and bad religion.
　　The first four chapters of Kitchers book give a very brief introduction to evolution. At appropriate places, he introduces the criticisms of the creationists and provides answers. In the last three chapters, he takes off his gloves and gives the creationists a good beating. He describes their programmes and tactics, and, for those unfamiliar with the ways of creationists, the extent of their deception and distortion may come as an unpleasant surprise. When their basic motivation is religious, one might have expected more Christian behavior.
　　Kitcher is a philosopher, and this may account, in part, for the clarity and effectiveness of his arguments. The nonspecialist will be able to obtain at least a notion of the sorts of data and argument that support evolutionary theory. The final chapter on the creationists will be extremely clear to all. On the dust jacket of this fine book, Stephen Jay Gould says: “This book stands for reason itself.”And so it does — and all would be well were reason the only judge in the creationism/evolution debate.
　　67. “Creationism” in the passage refers to
　　A. evolution in its true sense as to the origin of the universe
　　B. a notion of the creation of religion
　　C. the scientific explanation of the earth formation
　　D. the deceptive theory about the origin of the universe
　　68. Kitchers book is intended to .
　　A. recommend the views of the evolutionists
　　B. expose the true features of creationists
　　C. curse bitterly at this opponents
　　D. launch a surprise attack on creationists
　　69. From the passage we can infer that
　　A. reasoning has played a decisive role in the debate
　　B. creationists do not base their argument on reasoning
　　C. evolutionary theory is too difficult for nonspecialists
　　D. creationism is supported by scientific findings
　　70. This passage appears to be a digest of
　　A. a book review B. a scientific paper
　　C. a magazine feature D. a newspaper editorial
　　51. 【B】问题是：当他们说“its not what you want in this world, but what you get.”老者们是什么意思？
　　这句话出现在文章的第一段，是个谚语，意思是你所想的不算数，重要的是你所得到的。不知道这个谚语的，也可以通过第2段推出这句话的意思。不难看出，第二段与第一段的关系是转折，心理学家认为你定（do表示强调）得到你所想的，如果你知道你所想的是什么，并且合理。很显然，不管那句谚语讲的是什么，它绝对否认了一个人所想的，即B项内容。
　　52. 【A】问题是：邀请朋友吃饭之前脑海中打好的这个蓝图在文中用来。
　　illustration意为“实例”，“说明”。为了更充分地说明第四段所阐明的道理，文章在第三段举了几方面例子。正像盖房子要设计图纸一样，你也可以在头脑中为自己的愿望绘制一幅蓝图（blueprint）。实际上，在日常生活中，我们不断为自己的行动策划。例如：如果想请朋友吃饭，我们首先要开列一个菜单，决定买什么东西，还要决定买什么东西，还要决定先炒什么菜，等等。这种计划对请客成功与否至关重要。第四段指出，如果你想找份工作，应该取一张纸，简要地描述一下自己。因为，只有当你明确地知道自己的特长（what you have to offer可直译为：你可以提供的东西）后，才能为自己的工作选择做出理智的决断。第四段中所举的例子仅用以说明第二、四段说明的道理。
　　53. 【D】问题是：根据文章内容，在一个人找工作之前，他必须把自己的情况写下来这是因为。
　　文章第4段第2句中的 “making a blueprint for a job”实际上就是前一句提到的，将自己情况写在纸上。这样做的目的是什么呢？ “For (表原因) when you know exactly what will have to offer, you can intelligently plan where to sell your service .” 可见, “making a blueprint” 的直接效果便是明确地（exactly）知道自身特长，即D项内容。
　　54. 【A】问题是：当你仔细地对自己的能力和愿望作出一份蓝图时。
　　参阅53题题解。
　　说话谨慎的老一辈人过去常说：“在这个世界上不是你想要什么就能得到什么。”
　　心理学告诉我们：只要你知道自己想要什么，并且这种愿望是合适的，你就能得到你想要的东西。
　　你可以在脑海中勾画一张自己愿望的蓝图，就像盖房子时画的设计图一样。我们每个人在每天的生活中，都在不断地勾画这样的蓝图。如果我们要请朋友来吃晚餐，我们就会设计菜单，列出需要买的东西，决定先做什么菜，这些计划工作对任何一顿饭来说都是必要的。
　　同样的，如果你想找一份工作，那么拿出一张纸，简单地介绍一下自己。在为工作设计蓝图时，先从自己开始，因为只有明确地知道自己的能力，才能聪明地推销自己。
　　这份个人简历实际上是对自己职业生涯的简单介绍，它的内容应该包括教育背景、以往的经历和别人的推荐。这样的一份简历是很有价值的。在填写标准的职业申请表时可以用它来参考，而且在面试时也极有帮助。在和你谈话时，你的未来老板就在考虑你的教育、经历和其他资质是否值得他来聘用你，而你的这些能力必须清楚地展示在简历上，并且内容要前后一致。
　　当你已经精心设计好了符合你的能力和愿望的蓝图时，你要推销的就是很实际的内容了，这时你就可以去寻找一个职位。搜集有关你未来可能的职业的一切信息，打听关于这份工作和这个公司的有关细节。用眼去看，用耳去听，然后用自己的头脑来判断。每天花一定时间去寻找自己希望的工作，同时要记住：找工作就是你现在的工作。
　　55. 【B】问题是：世界有名的BBC现在正面临着。
　　文章前1、2段讲叙了BBC 70多年来的光辉历史和成就。第3段作者指出，然而（yet），目前其前景不明（in doubt）。句中的 “doubtful future” 和B项中的 “uncertain prospect”属同义词组。
　　56. 【C】问题是：在本文中，以下哪一项关于BBC作为主要问题没有提到?
　　文章第一段第一句提到A项内容; 第3段最后一句提到B项；同句中又提到D项内容；惟有C，即进一步进行国际合作的潜力，文章只字未提。
　　57. 【C】问题是：文章第4段第4行中，BBC的 “royal charter”指的是。
　　文章第4段第4行中的“royal charter”（皇家授权许可证）与C项中的与女王签约契约是同一意思。本题涉及常识，英国是君主立宪制，国王代表国家。此外，当 “queen” 大写时，它指代英国皇室。因此与皇室签约就等于说BBC是国家扶持产业（a publiclyfounded broadcast station）。
　　58. 【D】问题是：BBC需重新调整的主要原因正是。
　　文章最后一段作者讲到BBC必须重新调整，因为电视广播业在不断革新。最后一句又指出带来最大变化的，无疑是卫星电视频道的开播，即D项内容。
　　随着BBC全球电视网的开通，数以万计的亚洲和美洲人现在可以收看和收听到BBC的新闻节目了。
　　当然，英国的观众和听众可以享受两个BBC电视频道，5个BBC全国广播台和几十个地方广播电台。人们可以收听收看到体育、喜剧、戏剧、音乐、新闻时事、教育、宗教、国家政治、儿童节目等，每个家庭在交纳了每年83英镑的有线电视费后，还可以收看到电影。
　　在过去的70年里，这是一项相当了不起的成绩。但是BBC的未来却前景不明。至少目前，BBC公司还是由政府资助的。但是现在它的职能、它的规模和它的节目内容在英国上下引起了广泛的争议。
　　这场争论是由英国政府引起的，政府邀请任何人——包括普通的听众和观众——对BBC发表意见，评论它的长处和短处，甚至人们是否认为BBC还值得保留。政府之所以这样做，是因为BBC和女皇签订的协约在1996年就要到期了，所以国家必须决定是否要对它做出调整，还是最好维持原状。
　　BBC众多支持者喜欢引用一句美国人的口号“如果它还没有‘坏’，就不用去修它”。而他们认为BBC还没有坏，那干嘛这么麻烦去改变它呢？
　　但是BBC必须改变，因为整个广播电视界都在改变。比如，撒切尔政府的广播电视法案要求商业电视频道——TV和4频道——变得更加商业化，竞争广告赞助商，削减成本，减少工作人员。但是从长远来说，最大的改变是随着新的卫星电视频道而来的，卫星频道的资金部分来自广告赞助，部分来自观众交纳的费用。
　　59. 【C】问题是：事实上，老家族公司。
　　第一段第二、三句指出，许多老公司被拥有各级拿薪水的经理的有限（责任）公司所取代。这一变化通过一大批专业人员的使用，适应了新时代技术的要求、防止了效率的下降。而效率的下降使许多家族公司破产，因为第二、三代继承人已不像公司的创立者那样精力充沛了。因此说老公司与现代公司比缺乏效率，即C选项。
　　60. 【A】问题是：有限公司的发展产生的结果是。
　　第二段指出，有限公司及市改企业的发展引起了重大变化。对资本与企业的如此大规模的非个人操纵大大地增加了作为一个阶级的持股人的数量及其地位的重要性。国民生活中这一现象的出现代表了与土地及土地所有者相分离的不由个人负责的财富的出现，而且这也意味着（不由个人负责的财富）几乎在同等程度上与由个人负责的商业管理的分离。在整个19世纪，美洲、非洲、印度、澳大利亚及欧洲的部分国家的发展靠的是英国的资本，因此，在世界走向工业化的过程中英国的股东们大发其财。从以上的论述可以看出，作者认为：有限公司的发展引起了资本与经营的分离，投资者（股东）并不实际参加经营，而是坐吃红利（dividends）或有时参加些间接管理；而真正的管理者未必再是公司的拥有者。这一点从第三段的论述也同样可以看出。句中“impersonal manipulation of capital” 与A项中的“separation of capital from management”实际上是一个概念。
　　61. 【C】问题是：根据本文，以下不正确的是。
　　文章最后一段第一句正是A项内容；第2句可以找到B项内容；同段第4句又提到D项内容。C项，即有限公司太大以至于经营艰难，文中没有给出支持它的迹象。
　　62. 【D】问题是：作者对持批评态度。
　　文章中几处在提及大股东阶层人时，作者用词造句上显然注入批评色彩，如：irresponsible (第2段第4行)；detached from the responsible(第2段第5行)；打上引号的comfortable 和shareholders；had no knowledge of the lives (第3段第1行)；his influence... was not good (第2、3行)。
　　二十世纪后期，“资本”和“劳动力”两大敌对阵营在更加现代化的条件下，在不断地发展壮大。许多老式的公司被有限责任公司所代替，这些新型公司雇用拿薪水的经理人来进行管理。这种变化是符合新时代的工业需要的，它将职业化元素引入企业，防止了那种在老式家族企业中经常出现的在第一代创始人之后的两三代人中工作效率下降，从而妨害公司前途的现象发生。这种机制逐渐摆脱了依靠个人的积极性，而转向集体制和由国家、市政掌管的企业。尽管铁路公司仍然是为股东牟利的私有企业，但和那些老式的家族企业有很大的区别。同时，市政当局入主企业，为纳税人提供电力、交通和其他服务。
　　有限责任公司的发展壮大和市政企业的介入产生了重要的影响。这种大规模、非个人性质的资金运作大大增加了股东这一社会阶层的人数和重要性。而股东阶层在社会生活中象征着财富，与土地及土地拥有者的责任分离开来；同时，财富也和企业经营管理责任分离开来。整个二十世纪，美洲、非洲、印度、澳大利亚以及欧洲的部分国家都是在英国的资金扶持下发展起来的，因此英国的股票持有者的腰包就在全球工业化的浪潮中充实了起来。Bournemouth和Eastboume等城市就居住了一大批“闲适”阶层。他们有收入，又不用工作，除了拿红利和偶尔出席一次股东会议把他们的命令传达给管理人之外，他们和社会上的其他人几乎没有什么联系。另一方面，“持有股票”意味着闲适和自由，这也是维多利亚时代很多人对社会文明的最高期望。
　　这些“股东”并不了解那些在他们持有股份的公司里劳动的工人们的生活、想法和需要，而且他们对资方和劳方之间的关系也没有什么好的影响。经理人受雇替公司工作，他们和工人的接触更直接一些。但即使是这样，现代经理人对工人的了解和过去那种老式家族企业中用家长制进行管理的企业主相比，也远远不如。确实，现代企业的规模和和工人的数量也使得这种熟悉和了解不可能实现。然而幸运的是，至少在所有技术行业中，工会的组织和力量不断发展壮大，使工人和公司的管理者能在平等的条件下对话。罢工和停工的严重后果使双方谁也不能小看对方的力量，同时也理解了公平谈判的作用。
　　63. 【D】问题是：根据作者看法，在美国早期的大量主要发明的涌现很大程度上归功于。
　　文章第2段，作者列出美国早期出现的发明创造热的几个因素。在讲到“空间思维”能力时，作者用了“above all”，这表明了“spatial thinking” 较其他几个因素更为重要。此外，spatial在文中是在引号中出现。可见这种思维方式是不一般的，即D项内容。A，B，C项内容均是促成因素，但不是主要原因。
　　64. 【A】问题是：文章暗示了早期美国机械学中的适应性和创造性。
　　文章第4段第1句，讲到美国人的适应力和创造力与他们教育优势有关。句中 “教育优势”（education and advantage）指的正是前段所述内容。文章并没有谈到B选项出现的学校严格管理的问题。
　　65. 【B】问题是：一个技术工作人员可以用艺术家相比，那是因为。
　　第八段指出，这种非语言的“空间”思维在创造力方面可以与绘画和写作相比。正如Fulton指出的：“正像诗人坐在字母中一样，技工应该坐在杠杆、螺钉、楔子、轮子等中间，把它们看作自己思想的展现。在这个展现过程中，每一个新的排列方式都传达一种新的思路。”可见，进行形象的空间思维是这两种人的共同特征。
　　66. 【A】问题是：本文最好的题目可能是。
　　文章第一、二段是自问自答，提出了本文旨在论证的问题；第三、四段指出了教育的影响；第五、六段指出了奖励制度带来的鼓励的影响；第七、八段探讨了早期美国人特有的思维方式所起的决定性作用；最后一段是全文的总结。可见，本文主要探讨了早期美国人的创造热情及其根源。B，D项只是文章涉及的内容，并非重点。C项概念太大，也与作者意图脱轨。
　　是什么造成了美国早期涌现出来的大量的发明创造，比如电视、蒸汽船和织布机？
　　在众多的原因中，我特意指出以下几个：美国优秀的小学教育；欢迎新技术的劳动力；为发明人提供奖金的政策；其中最重要的是，美国人的那种非文字的，空间的思维方式。
　　我为什么要提到小学教育？因为正是这些学校使得我们早期的机械师，尤其是在新英格兰和大西洋中部地区，都具有了读写能力，精通算术，对几何学和三角学也有所了解。
　　敏锐的外国观察家把美国人的高度适应性和创造性与这种教育上的优势联系起来。1853年访问过美国的一位英国人说：“经过学校严密的训练，美国的男孩子很快就能成长为熟练的工人。”
　　发明创造的另外一个动力来源于“奖金”制度，它出现于我们的专利制度之前，并且一度和专利制度并行。这一政策发源于国外，它为发明人提供奖章、奖金和其他一些奖励。
　　在美国的全国博览会和各大城市举办的工业博览会上，大量的奖金被颁发给新发明的设备。美国人蜂拥而去欣赏这些新的发明，这也更坚定了他们对科技进步带来的益处的信心。
　　有了这种对科技创新的乐观看法，美国工人很自然地就喜欢上了在机械技术中特别需要的那种独特的非文字性的思考方法。正如Eugene Ferguson指出的那样：“技术专家对物体的思考是不能被抽象成清晰的文字叙述的；在他们脑海中进行的是图像化，而非文字化的过程……设计师和发明家……能在大脑里组装和操纵其实并不存在的设备。”
　　这种非文字性的“空间思维”方式和绘画、写作一样富有创造性。Robert Fulton 曾经写道：“机械师应当坐在一堆杠杆、螺丝、楔子、轮子中间，就像诗人坐在一堆字母中间一样，把这些工具看成是他思想的展示，每一种新的组合方式就表达了他的一个新想法。”
　　当所有这些因素——教育，开放的态度，奖金制度，空间思考的才能——在美国富饶的土地上相互作用时，就产生了美国特有的性格：效仿。今天，这个词只意味着模仿，但是在早些时候，它意味着友好但充满竞争地努力去争取名誉和成功。
　　67. 【D】问题是：文中“creationism”指的是。
　　关键在于注意到作者对于“creationism”使用的几个修饰词，bad religion, bad science。具有deception(欺骗性)。所以选择D。
　　68. 【B】问题是：Kitchers 的书作用或目的在于。
　　只要把这本书的内容搞清楚即可。前四章简单介绍创世论，并不失时机的批判；而最后三章深刻揭露痛批创世论，所以选B——“暴露创世论者的真实嘴脸”。并不是C中的“狠狠咒骂”（curse bitterly），和D的“出其不意的袭击”（surprise attak）
　　69. 【B】问题是：从文中可以推理。
　　A选项扭曲了短文最后一句话中reason的意思，reason是“理智”或“理性”，而A选项中的reasoning是推理的意思。
　　C的意思于原文相反——对于非专业的人士来说进化论太难了。而文中最后一段的第二句话即提到由于论证清楚明白，所以非专业人士也能对进化论有个大概的了解。
　　D项显然有违常理。
　　B选项的意思是创世论不是基于推理论证的基础之上的，符合题意。
　　70. 【A】问题是：文章显然是的摘要。
　　详见译文，本文介绍了Kitcher的一书。
　　传闻说出版商筹划的二十多本关于创世论和进化论的书中有一些已经出版面世了。这些书的目的都是为了向糊涂无知的大众解释一个问题，那就是在关于宇宙和生命的起源和进化的问题上，没有两种同样正确的科学理论。宇宙学、地质学和生物学构成了一个连贯而统一的体系，不断完善对过去发生的事情的解释。一些人试图在课堂里推行“科学”创世论，每当对进化进行科学解释的时候，他们就开始讲这种理论、科学创世论是建立在宗教的基础上的，并非科学。实际上，无论是科学家还是大多数非原教旨主义宗教领袖都开始认为“科学”创世论既不是科学也不是宗教。
　　Kitcher的书在前四章中对进化做了简单的介绍。在合适的地方，他介绍了对创世论者的批判并给出了回答。在最后三章中，他终于显露出本意，给创世纪一顿痛击。他描述了这些的伎俩，对那些不熟悉创世论者的人来说，这些人对真相的欺骗和歪曲程度让人不快和震惊。因为既然这些人的最初动机是宗教，他们本应该采取更加符合基督教徒的行为。
　　Kitcher是位哲学家，这也许部分解释了他的论证为何如此清晰和有效。普通读者至少能够了解什么样的数据和论证是支持进化理论的。他书中最后几章对创世论者的批判非常清楚，所有人都能读懂。在这本书的封面上，Stephen Jay Gould 写道：“这本书是理性的代表。”确实如此，在创世论和进化论辩论中，理性是惟一合格的评判。

林の声音 · 发表于 2005-12-7 00:32:54

DAY10
 　　1995年全国硕士学位研究生入学考试英语试题
　　Part IIIReading Comprehension

以下内容为程序代码: <SCRIPT language=javascript> document.write("");ad_dst = ad_dst+1; </script>
 　　Directions: Each of the passages below is followed by some questions. For each question there are four answers marked A, B, C and D. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each of the questions. Then mark your answer on the ANSWER SHEET 1 by blackening the corresponding letter in the brackets. （40 points）
　　Passage 1
　　Money spent on advertising is money spent as well as any I know of. It serves directly to assist a rapid distribution of goods at reasonable price, thereby establishing a firm home market and so making it possible to provide for export at competitive prices. By drawing attention to new ideas it helps enormously to raise standards of living. By helping to increase demand it ensures an increased need for labor, and is therefore an effective way to fight unemployment. It lowers the costs of many services: without advertisements your daily newspaper would cost four times as much, the price of your television license would need to be doubled, and travel by bus or tube would cost 20 per cent more.
　　And perhaps most important of all, advertising provides a guarantee of reasonable value in the products and services you buy. Apart from the fact that twentyseven acts of Parliament govern the terms of advertising, no regular advertiser dare promote a product that fails to live up to the promise of his advertisements. He might fool some people for a little while through misleading advertising. He will not do so for long, for mercifully the public has the good sense not to buy the inferior article more than once. If you see an article consistently advertised, it is the surest proof I know that the article does what is claimed for it, and that it represents good value.
　　Advertising does more for the material benefit of the community than any other force I can think of.
　　There is one more point I feel I ought to touch on. Recently I heard a wellknown television personality declare that he was against advertising because it persuades rather than informs. He was drawing excessively fine distinctions. Of course advertising seeks to persuade.
　　If its message were confined merely to information — and that in itself would be difficult if not impossible to achieve, for even a detail such as the choice of the color of a shirt is subtly persuasive — advertising would be so boring that no one would pay any attention. But perhaps that is what the wellknown television personality wants.
　　51. By the first sentence of the passage the author means that .
　　A. he is fairly familiar with the cost of advertising
　　B. everybody knows well that advertising is money consuming
　　C. advertising costs money like everything else
　　D. it is worthwhile to spend money on advertising
　　52. In the passage, which of the following is NOT included in the advantages of advertising?
　　A. Securing greater fame. B. Providing more jobs.
　　C. Enhancing living standards. D. Reducing newspaper cost.
　　53. The author deems that the wellknown TV personality is .
　　A. very precise in passing his judgment on advertising
　　B. interested in nothing but the buyers attention
　　C. correct in telling the difference between persuasion and information
　　D. obviously partial in his views on advertising
　　54. In the authors opinion, .
　　A. advertising can seldom bring material benefit to man by providing
　　B. advertising informs people of new ideas rather than wins them over
　　C. there is nothing wrong with advertising in persuading the buyer
　　D. the buyer is not interested in getting information from an advertisement
　　Passage 2
　　There are two basic ways to see growth: one as a product, the other as a process. People have generally viewed personal growth as an external result or product that can easily be identified and measured. The worker who gets a promotion, the student whose grades improve, the foreigner who learns a new languageall these are examples of people who have measurable results to show for their efforts.
　　 By contrast, the process of personal growth is much more difficult to determine, since by definition it is a journey and not the specific signposts or landmarks along the way. The process is not the road itself, but rather the attitudes and feelings people have, their caution or courage, as they encounter new experiences and unexpected obstacles. In this process, the journey never really ends; there are always new ways to experience the world, new ideas to try, new challenges to accept .
　　 In order to grow, to travel new roads, people need to have a willingness to take risks, to confront the unknown, and to accept the possibility that they may “fail”at first. How we see ourselves as we try a new way of being is essential to our ability to grow. Do we perceive ourselves as quick and curious? If so, then we tend to take more chances and to be more open to unfamiliar experiences. Do we think were shy and indecisive? Then our sense of timidity can cause us to hesitate, to move slowly, and not to take a step until we know the ground is safe. Do we think were slow to adapt to change or that we re not smart enough to cope with a new challenge? Then we are likely to take a more passive role or not try at all.
　　 These feelings of insecurity and selfdoubt are both unavoidable and necessary if we are to change and grow. If we do not confront and overcome these internal fears and doubts, if we protect ourselves too much, then we cease to grow. We become trapped inside a shell of our own making.
　　55. A person is generally believed to achieve personal growth when .
　　A. he has given up his smoking habit
　　B. he has made great efforts in his work
　　C. he is keen on learning anything new
　　D. he has tried to determine where he is on his journey
　　56. In the author s eyes, one who views personal growth as a process would .
　　A. succeed in climbing up the social ladder
　　B. judge his ability to glow from his own achievements
　　C. face difficulties and take up challenges
　　D. aim high and reach his goal each time
　　57. When the author says “a new way of being” （line 3, Para. 3） he is referring to .
　　A. a new approach to experiencing the world
　　B. a new way of taking risks
　　C. a new method of perceiving ourselves
　　D. a new system of adaptation to change
　　58. For personal growth, the author advocates all of the following except .
　　A. curiosity about more chances B. promptness in selfadaptation
　　C. openmindedness to new experiencesD. avoidance of internal fears and doubts
　　Passage 3
　　In such a changing, complex society formerly simple solutions to informational needs become complicated. Many of lifes problems which were solved by asking family members, friends or colleagues are beyond the capability of the extended family to resolve. Where to turn for expert information and how to determine which expert advice to accept are questions facing many people today.
　　 In addition to this, there is the growing mobility of people since World War Ⅱ. As families move away from their stable community, their friends of many years, their extended family relationships, the informal flow of information is cut off, and with it the confidence that information will be available when needed and will be trustworthy and reliable. The almost unconscious flow of information about the simplest aspects of living can be cut off. Thus, things once learned subconsciously through the casual communications of the extended family must be consciously learned .
　　 Adding to societal changes today is an enormous stockpile of information. The individual now has more information available than any generation, and the task of finding that one piece of information relevant to his or her specific problem is complicated, timeconsuming and sometimes even overwhelming .
　　 Coupled with the growing quantity of information is the development of technologies which enable the storage and delivery of more information with greater speed to more locations than has ever been possible before. Computer technology makes it possible to store vast amounts of data in machinereadable files, and to program computers to locate specific information . Telecommunications developments enable the sending of messages via television, radio, and very shortly, electronic mail to bombard people with multitudes of messages. Satellites have extended the power of communications to report events at the instant of occurrence. Expertise can be shared world wide through teleconferencing, and problems in dispute can be settled without the participants leaving their homes and/or jobs to travel to a distant conference site. Technology has facilitated the sharing of information and the storage and delivery of information, thus making more information available to more people.
　　 In this world of change and complexity, the need for information is of greatest importance. Those people who have accurate, reliable uptodate information to solve the daytoday problems, the critical problems of their business, social and family life, will survive and succeed. “Knowledge is power” may well be the truest saying and access to information may be the most critical requirement of all people.
　　59. The word “it” （line 3, Para. 2）most probably refers to .
　　A. the lack of stable communities
　　B. the breakdown of informal information channels
　　C. the increased mobility of families
　　D. the growing number of people moving from place to place
　　60. The main problem people may encounter today arises form the fact that .
　　A. they have to learn new things consciously
　　B. they lack the confidence of securing reliable and trustworthy information
　　C. they have difficulty obtaining the needed information readily
　　D. they can hardly carry out casual communications with an extended family.
　　61. From the passage we can infer that .
　　A. electronic mail will soon play a dominant role in transmitting messages
　　B. it will become more difficult for people to keep secrets in an information era
　　C. people will spend less time holding meetings or conferences
　　D. events will be reported on the spot mainly through satellites
　　62. We can learn from the last paragraph that .
　　A. it is necessary to obtain as much
　　B. people should make the best use of the information
　　C. we should realize the importance of accumulating information.
　　D. it is of vital importance to acquire needed information efficiently
　　Passage 4
　　Personality is to a large extent inherent — Atype parents usually bring about Atype offspring. But the environment must also have a profound effect, since if competition is important to the parents, it is likely to become a major factor in the lives of their children.
　　 One place where children soak up Acharacteristics is school, which is, by its very nature, a highly competitive institution. Too many schools adopt the ‘win at all costs’ moral standard and measure their success by sporting achievements. The current passion for making children compete against their classmates or against the clock produces a twolayer system, in which competitive A types seem in some way better than their Btype fellows. Being too keen to win can have dangerous consequences: remember that Pheidippides, the first marathon runner, dropped dead seconds after saying: ‘Rejoice, we conquer!’
　　 By far the worst form of competition in schools is the disproportionate emphasis on examinations. It is a rare school that allows pupils to concentrate on those things they do well. The merits of competition by examination are somewhat questionable, but competition in the certain knowledge of failure is positively harmful.
　　 Obviously, it is neither practical nor desirable that all Ayoungsters change into Bs. The world needs A types, and schools have an important duty to try to fit a childs personality to his possible future employment . It is top management.
　　 If the preoccupation of schools with academic work was lessened, more time might be spent teaching children surer values. Perhaps selection for the caring professions, especially medicine, could be made less by good grades in chemistry and more by such considerations as sensitivity and sympathy. It is surely a mistake to choose our doctors exclusively from Atype stock. Bs are important and should be encouraged.
　　63. According to the passage, Atype individuals are usually .
　　A. impatientB. considerate C. aggressiveD. agreeable
　　64. The author is strongly opposed to the practice of examinations at schools because .
　　A. the pressure is too great on the students
　　B. some students are bound to fail
　　C. failure rates are too high
　　D. the results of exanimations are doubtful
　　65. The selection of medical professionals are currently based on .
　　A. candidates sensitivity B. academic achievements
　　C. competitive spiritD. surer values
　　66. From the passage we can draw the conclusion that .
　　A. the personality of a child is well established at birth
　　B. family influence dominates the shaping of one s characteristics.
　　C. the development of one s personality is due to multiple factors
　　D. Btype characteristics can find no place in competitive society
　　Passage 5
　　That experiences influence subsequent behavior is evidence of an obvious but nevertheless remarkable activity called remembering. Learning could not occur without the function popularly named memory. Constant practice has such as effect on memory as to lead to skillful performance on the piano, to recitation of a poem, and even to reading and understanding these words. Socalled intelligent behavior demands memory, remembering being a primary requirement for reasoning. The ability to solve any problem or even to recognize that a problem exists depends on memory. Typically, the decision to cross a street is based on remembering many earlier experiences.
　　 Practice （or review） tends to build and maintain memory for a task or for any learned material. Over a period of no practice what has been learned tends to be forgotten; and the adaptive consequences may not seem obvious. Yet, dramatic instances of sudden forgetting can seem to be adaptive. In this sense, the ability to forget can be interpreted to have survived through a process of natural selection in animals. Indeed, when ones memory of an emotionally painful experience leads to serious anxiety, forgetting may produce relief. Nevertheless, an evolutionary interpretation might make it difficult to understand how the commonly gradual process of forgetting survived natural selection.
　　 In thinking about the evolution of memory together with all its possible aspects, it is helpful to consider what would happen if memories failed to fade. Forgetting clearly aids orientation in time, since old memories weaken and the new tend to stand out, providing clues for inferring duration. Without forgetting, adaptive ability would suffer, for example, learned behavior that might have been correct a decade ago may no longer be. Cases are recorded of people who （by ordinary standards） forgot so little that their everyday activities were full of confusion. This forgetting seems to serve that survival of the individual and the species.
　　 Another line of thought assumes a memory storage system of limited capacity that provides adaptive flexibility specifically through forgetting. In this view, continual adjustments are made between learning or memory storage （ input） and forgetting （output） . Indeed, there is evidence that the rate at which individuals forget is directly related to how much they have learned. Such data offers gross support of contemporary models of memory that assume an inputoutput balance.
　　67. From the evolutionary point of view, .
　　A. forgetting for lack of practice tends to be obviously in adaptive .
　　B. if a person gets very forgetful all of a sudden he must be very adaptive
　　C. the gradual process of forgetting is an indication of an individual s adaptability
　　D. sudden forgetting may bring about adaptive consequences
　　68. According to the passage, if a person never forgot, .
　　A. he would survive best B. he would have a lot of trouble
　　C. his ability to learn would be enhancedD. the evolution of memory would stop
　　69. From the last paragraph we know that .
　　A. forgetfulness is a response to learning
　　B. the memory storage system is an exactly balanced inputoutput system
　　C. memory is a compensation for forgetting
　　D. the capacity of a memory storage system is limited because forgetting occurs
　　70. In this article, the author tries to interpret the function of .
　　A. remembering B. forgetting
　　C. adapting D. experiencing
　　51. 【D】问题是：本文的第一句话，作者的意思是
　　该句的非比较级形式为：Money spent on advertising is money spent well.在该句中，any指任何一种好的花钱方式（any money spent well）; know of意为：知道，所了解到的。其实，该句所陈述的内容不仅是第一段的主题思想，也是全文旨在说明的问题。在第一段的其他部分，作者就列举了合理的广告带来的诸多方面的益处。
　　52. 【A】问题是：在本文中，以下哪一项没有被列为广告的优点?
　　文章第一段作者列出了广告所带来的诸多益处。B，提供更多工作机会（4至5行）；C, 提高生活标准（第4行）; D, 降低报纸成本（第6至8行）。这些在第一段都有提到。但A项，获得更大知名度文章没有提及。
　　53. 【D】问题是：作者认为那位著名的电视节目主持人。
　　文章第四段和第五段讨论了一个反对广告的著名电视工作者（television personality）的看法。他反对广告的理由是：广告是劝诱性的（persuade）,而不是客观地提供信息（inform）。但是，作者认为：作这种区别有些过于细微了（excessively fine），广告当然要劝诱人们。即使在很小的方面，也很难作到只局限于（confine...to）客观地提供信息。而且，那样的话，广告就失去了吸引力，没人会注意它。由此可见，在作者看来，广告的这两方面很难严格地区别开来，二者是有机地结合在一起的，不能顾此失彼。
　　54. 【C】问题是：在作者看来,。
　　作者认为，毫无疑问，广告会劝诱消费者。它不仅是这样，而且应该是这样，否则，广告便失去了吸引力而没人看了。参阅第53题题解。
　　花钱做广告是非常好的花钱方式。它直接帮助货物以合理的价格快速地配送出去，以此在国内市场站稳脚跟，并可能以有竞争力的价格提供出口。广告能吸引人们关注新的概念，从而提升生活品质；广告能刺激需求，从而保证对劳动力的需求不断提高，这不失为对抗失业的有效方法。同时，它也降低了许多服务的费用：没有广告，报纸的价格会提高三倍，有线电视费会翻番，公共汽车和地铁的费用会上涨20%。
　　最重要的一点是，广告对你所购买的产品和服务提供了一种保障。国会有27项法案是针对广告的，此外，正式的广告公司不敢推销那些无法兑现承诺的商品。这些的商品也许在短时间通过歧义在愚弄人们，但不会长久，因为公众的眼光是敏锐的，他们决不会再上劣质商品的当。如果你看到一个商品一直在做广告，这就是它名副其实的最好证明，证明它的质量很好。
　　广告对社会物质利益的贡献比我所知道的其他任何东西的贡献都要大。
　　还有一点需要指出的是，最近我听说一位著名的电视人宣称他反对广告，因为他认为广告并不是提供信息，而是劝人去购买。他的区分过分精细了，广告当然是劝人买东西的。
　　如果广告仅仅是用来提供信息——即使这一点能够做到，那也是很困难的。因为即使是一个细节，比如衬衫的颜色，也有劝人购买的因素在里面——那么这样的广告就太乏味了，没有人会注意，但也许那位著名的电视人要的就是这种乏味。
　　55. 【A】问题是：通常认为一个人达到他个人成长，当。
　　第一段指出，人们对成长有两种基本看法：有人将之视为结果（product），有人将之视为一个过程（process）。一般来讲，人倾向于将个人的成长（或发展）看做是一个易于识别和测量的外在的结果，如工人晋职，学生成绩（grades）好，学会一门外语。这都是他们做出努力（efforts）之后所取得的可衡量的结果。［A］表达的内容原文虽未提到，但我们可以做一个简单的类推。一旦形成习惯，戒烟是很不易的，是需要决心与毅力的，正像一个学生要取得好成绩必须做出努力一样。
　　56. 【C】问题是：在作者看来，将个人成长视为过程的人会。
　　在第二段，作者指出，将发展看作是一个过程的人关心的不是结果，他们更多的注重人面对新的体验（experiences）与不期而至的障碍时所表现出的态度与感受：是谨慎还是表示出勇气。发展永无止境，对外部世界的体验不止一种，总是有新的思路需要检验，新的挑战（challenges）去接受。这正是C项的内容。
　　57. 问题是：当作者提到 “a new way of being” （第3段第3行）他指的是。
　　在该句中，being在此意为“生存，存在”，第三段第二句指出，当我们用新的方式生存（或体验世界）时，我们对自己的看法对我们能否发展至关重要。下文举了几个例子来阐述这一观点：如果我们认为自己行动敏捷，喜欢刨根问底，在实际的行动上，我们就会倾向于冒险（take more chances），更欢迎（be more open to）新的体验。如果我们自认为天生怯懦并优柔寡断，我们就会遇事犹豫不前，行动迟缓，只有感到安全可靠时才会挪动一步。如果我们自认为适应变化很慢或不够精明，无法对付新的挑战，那么，我们很可能做事被动或干脆不做。可见，我们的态度决定了我们的生活方式。
　　58. 【D】问题是：为了个人成长，作者不提倡项。
　　在最后一段，作者指出，不安全感与自我怀疑不仅是无法避免的（unavoidable），而且是必要的，否则，我们就无法变化、发展。关键是要敢于面对（confront）并克服这种心理。如果我们一味地求安全，就不会有所长进，就等于是作茧自缚（We become trapped inside a shell of our own making）。
　　对成长的看法基本上有两种：一种把成长看成是结果，一种把它看成是过程。人们大多把个人成长看成是容易识别和衡量的结果，比如工人得到了提升，学生的学业有了进步，外国人学会了一门新语言：这些例子都是人们取得了能显示出他们努力的结果。
　　而在另一方面，个人成长的过程却比较难以确定，因为从定义上可以看出，它是一个旅程，而不是旅程中特定的标志或里程碑。而且，这个过程指的并不是脚下的道路，而是人们在遭遇新的体验和预料不到挫折时的态度和情感、勇气和忧虑。这一旅程永远没有终点，总是有新的体验、新的尝试、新的挑战。
　　为了实现个人成长，探索新的道路，人们需要有愿意冒风险的精神，要勇于面对未知的世界，敢于接受开始时可能会碰到的失败。我们在探索新路的时候如何看待自己，这对我们的成长能力是至关重要的。我们是否认为自己头脑灵活、好奇心强？如果是这样，我们会更愿意冒风险，更愿意尝试不熟悉的体验。我们是否认为自己羞怯而缺乏主见？那么胆怯会使我们犹豫，在迈出一步之前总是先要确定路况是否安全。我们是否认为自己不善于应变，或认为自己不够聪明，无法迎接新的挑战？这样的话，我们可能会采取比较被动的态度，或者根本就不去尝试新的事物。
　　在我们成长和改变的过程中，对自己不确信或缺乏安全感这样的感觉是不可避免的，也是必经的。如果无法面对和克服这些恐惧和疑虑，如果我们对自己过分保护，那我们就会停止成长，就会作茧自缚。
　　59. 【B】问题是：文中第2段第3行中的 “it” 很有可能指的是。
　　第二段指出，第二次世界大战以后，人口的流动性（mobility）变大，一个家庭离开了自己原来的居住区，离开了多年的朋友，不再住在大家庭里（extended family指：三世或四世同堂的家庭），这样，对这个家庭来说，日常的（informal）信息交流没有了（is cut off）。随着日常的信息交流渠道的消失（the breakdown of informal information channels），人们的信心也没有了（他们过去相信需要时总能得到可信可靠的信息）。
　　60. 【C】问题是：人们今天面临的主要问题，是由于。
　　readily在此不是“有准备地”之意，而是“随时随地”之意。原文第二段指出，随着社会的流动性，人们间的日常的信息交流不存在了。过去一些生活的最基本方面（the simplest aspects）的信息交流几乎是不自觉（或无意识）地（unconscious）进行的，但是现在却不行了，过去下意识地（subconsciously）——随处随时地——可以通过大家庭内部的日常（casual）交流所了解到的（learn）信息现在必须有意识地去了解（或获得）。第二段指出，除了社会的变化以外，现代社会信息的积累量（stockpile）大增，这使得寻找相关信息的过程变得更繁琐，更花时间（timeconsuming）,有时也很迫切。第三段的最后一句在总结全段时也指出：技术使更多的人可以利用更多的信息。这里强调的是信息量，并非信息随时随处可得。
　　61. 【A】问题是：从本文我们可以推断出。
　　第四段第三句指出，随着电信事业的发展，通过电视、无线电并将在不久的将来（very shortly）通过电子邮件的方式所传递的信息数以千计地送到人们手上。该句中，bombard一词原义为“轰炸”、“连珠炮式地落向”，这里用于比喻量大。multitudes of也指“大量的”。
　　62. 【D】问题是：从文章最后一段我们可以推断出。
　　在最后一段作者指出，当今世界是一个多变、复杂的世界，信息对人至关重要（of greatest importance）。人们要学会利用准确、可靠、最新的（uptodate）信息来解决的日常（daytoday）问题以及他们工作和社会交往、家庭生活中的重大（critical）问题，只有这样的人才能生存，才能成功。“知识就是力量”这样的说法再正确不过了，学会掌握信息（access to information）是对所有人的一个最重要要求。D意为：有效地掌握所需信息至关重要。
　　在当今这个复杂多变的社会里，以前对信息需要的那种简单的解决办法已经变得复杂化了。以前生活中的许多问题都是靠征求家庭成员、朋友或同事的意见来解决的，但现在这些问题已经不是一大家子人能解决的了。去哪里征求专家的意见，如何决定采纳哪个专家的意见，这是当今许多人面临的问题。
　　除此之外，第二次世界大战以后，人口的流动性越来越大。随着一个家庭搬离原来的社区，离开多年的朋友和亲戚，那种串门聊天式的信息流动方式被切断了，随之被切断的是人们对这种信息来源的信心，人们无法确信这种信息还是否能够及时得到，或者这样的信息还是否可靠。这种在不知不觉中进行的关于生活琐事的信息的传递可能被中断，而一旦中断后，原来那些在大家庭的闲聊中不知不觉得到的信息，现在就必须要有意识地去寻找了。
　　除了社会变化之外，当今的信息量巨大也是一个方面。现代人能获得的信息比以往任何一个时代都要多。要找出一条恰好能解决自己问题的信息也是一件复杂的事，既费时又费力。
　　随着信息量的不断增加，科学技术的发展使得更多的信息得以储存，并能更快地传送到更多地方。电脑技术能够将大量的数据储存在机器可以阅读的文件里，程序使电脑能够找到某种特定的信息。电讯技术的发展使信息可以通过电视、收音机来传送，很快电子邮件的出现会让人们受到无数信息的狂轰乱炸。卫星使通讯具有了报道即时发生事件的能力。通过电视会议全球可以共享专家的意见，参与解决问题和争端的各方无需离开家庭和工作岗位长途旅行去开会。科学技术便利了信息的储存、传送和共享，使得更多的人能够得到更多的信息。
　　在这个复杂多变的社会里，对信息的需要占有举足轻重的地位。谁拥有了及时、准确、可靠的信息来解决每天遇到的问题，谁的事业、家庭和社交生活就会取得成功。“知识就是力量”是真知灼见，获得信息是人们最重要的需求。
　　63. 【C】问题是：根据文章内容，A型性格的人通常。
　　文章第一、二、三段都提到：A型性格的人在竞争的环境中成长，形成了他们的性格特征。第二段第三句直接用competitive（争强好胜的，爱竞争的）一词描述A型性格的人。aggresive意为“好斗的，敢作敢为的”。
　　64. 【B】问题是：作者强烈反对学校举行考试的作法是因为。
　　be bound to意为：肯定，注定。问题中be opposed意为“反对”。第三段指出，学校中最糟糕的竞争方式（by far用于强调最高级形式）是极力强调考试（disproportionate意为：不相称的，过分的），很少有学校让学生集中精力做自己善于做的事情。通过考试来竞争有无益处（merits）是个值得探讨的问题（questionable），但是，明知道自己会失败还去竞争的做法肯定（对人的心理，如：自信心、自我认识等）是有害的。
　　65. 【B】问题是：现今对于医护人员的选择主要根据。
　　原文最后一段指出，如果学校不过多地注重于（preoccupation...with）学习结果，就可以花更多的时间教些更有价值的东西。选择护理方面的人——尤其是医疗护理人员——也许应该看他们是否心细、是否有同情心，而不应看他们的化学成绩如何。只从A型性格的人总选择医生的做法是不可取的，B型性格的人也是社会所需要的，应该受到相应的鼓励。在这段里，作者对现在人的培养及选择标准进行了批评。B意为：学习成绩（或学术成就）。问题中currently意为：目前，当前。
　　66. 【C】问题是：从本文，我们可以得出的结论是。
　　文章第一段指出，个性在很大程度上是先天形成的（inherent），但是，环境对它也有深刻影响，环境包括社会、学校与家庭。本文主要谈论了学校教育对学生的性格形成的影响。C意为：个性的发展受多种(multiple)因素的影响。
　　性格从很大程度上来说是遗传的——A性格的父母通常养育的女儿也是A性格的。但是，环境的影响也很重要，因为如果竞争对父母是重要的，那么它在子女的生活中也是一个重要的因素。
　　学校是对孩子性格造成影响的一个场所。从本质上来说，这是一个竞争相当激烈的地方。很多学校把“不惜一切取得胜利”作为道德标准，并用体育活动中的成绩来衡量这种胜利。现在，学校热情地鼓动孩子们和同学竞赛，或者和时间竞赛，这种行为导致学生两极分化，其中有竞争意识的A性格学生似乎在很多方面都优于B性格学生。但是，对胜利太热衷也会导致危险的后果，比如第一个马拉松运动员Pheidippides，在说完“欢庆吧，我们胜利了！”之后，就倒下死掉了。
　　到目前为止，学校竞争中最糟糕的形式是对考试的过分强调。很少有学校允许学生专注于自己擅长的事情。用考试来竞争，这样做的价值值得怀疑，但是明知道会失败还要参加竞争，这对学生的影响绝对是有害的。
　　显然，让A性格的年轻人全都转变成B性格的，这样做既不切实际，也不值得。这个世界需要各种各样的性格，学校的重要职责是使学生的性格能适合他们将来可能的职业，这才是管理的最高境界。
　　如果学校对学业的关注少一些，或会多花些时间来培养孩子的价值观。也许，挑选某些行业的从业人员时，比如说医护人员时，应少考虑些化学课的成绩，而多考虑些诸如细心、同情心这样的因素。只从A性格的人里挑选医生，这显然不对，B性格的人也很重要，也要加以鼓励。
　　67. 【D】问题是：从进化的角度来看，。
　　D意为：突然失去记忆力会导致生存适应问题。
　　文章第一段指出，人生许多问题的解决依赖于我们对过去经历过的事情的记忆。第二段第二、三句指出，如果我们不及时复习或练习已学过的东西的话，过一段时间，我们可能忘记它，这种情况所造成的适应性（adaptive）后果也许不太明显。然而，突然失去记忆力却会对适应带来明显后果。举个例子来说，假如你一觉醒来，发觉自己失去了一切记忆，那样会发生什么呢？
　　68. 【B】问题是：根据本文，如果一个人从来不会忘记，。
　　第三段第三、四句指出，没有遗忘过程，人就无法适应。例如，十年前正确的做法现在未必合适，所以应忘记它。对遗忘很少的人的调查也表明：他们的日常活动缺乏头绪。这与B项吻合。
　　69. 【A】问题是：从最后一段，我们可以得知。
　　文章最后一段指出，对记忆力也可以做另一种解释：记忆的储存系统总储量有限，遗忘使这一系统具有了灵活性。这种看法认为：在学习或存储（输入）与遗忘（输出）之间有一个不断调整过程。事实上，有证据表明：遗忘率与学习的东西的量直接相关，这对现代记忆模式——输入—输出保持平衡——提供了证据。
　　70. 【B】问题是：在这篇文章里，作者试图解释的作用。
　　本文主要谈的是遗忘过程的作用（function），它是人生适应机制的一个很重要的过程，这是文章的第二、三、四段旨在说明的。对照而言，第一段所谈的内容（remembering）只不过是这个讨论的引子。
　　过去的经历能够影响随后的行为，这种显而易见但却十分重要的行为就叫做记忆。如果没有记忆这种功能，学习行为就不可能发生。不断的练习对记忆产生影响，使我们能熟练地演奏钢琴，背诵诗歌，阅读和理解文字。所谓的智力行为需要记忆，记忆也是推理的基础。解决问题的能力，甚至识别问题的能力，都要依靠记忆。例如，做出穿越马路的决定就是建立在对以前类似经历的记忆的基础之上的。
　　练习（或者复习）能够建立和巩固对事情或对学到的知识的记忆。如果一段时间没有练习，学到的东西就有可能忘掉，这种适应的结果可能并不明显。但是突然性的遗忘就可以看作是适应的结果了。从这个意义上来说，遗忘的能力可以理解成是在动物的自然选择过程中保留下来的。确实如此，一段令人痛苦的记忆会导致严重的焦虑不安，这时遗忘可以缓解痛苦。然而，这种解释很难真正让人了解普通的缓慢遗忘的过程是怎样从自然选择的过程中保留下来的。
　　在考虑记忆的进化问题时，可以思考一下，如果记忆永远不会淡忘，那会出现什么情况呢？很显然，遗忘有助于时间上的调整，因为旧的记忆会褪色，而新的记忆变得更加明显，使我们能够推测事情发生的时间先后。如果不遗忘，人的适应能力就会受到破坏，比如：十年前正确的行为十年后可能已经不正确了。在一些病例中，有的人遗忘的太少（和普通人相比），以至于他们的行为充满了混淆。这样看来，遗忘似乎有助于个人和整个人类的生存。
　　另一种猜想是存储记忆的系统的容量是有限的，因此通过遗忘灵活地进行调整。在学习或者记忆存储（输入）和遗忘（输出）之间不断进行着调整。实际上，有证据表明一个人遗忘的速度和他学习新知识的速度是直接相关的。这些数据完全证明了当代的输入—输出平衡的记忆模式。

[此贴子已经被作者于2005-12-7 0:33:49编辑过]

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