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华中科技大学2012年考博英语真题及答案
完形填空 原文 （由于记忆能力有限，只能记起出题的地方，选项大家只有等到拿到真题才知道了）
Cloud Storage Basics
­Comedian George Carlin has a routine in which he talks about how humans seem to spend their lives accumulating "stuff." Once they've gathered enough stuff, they have to find places to store all of it. If Carlin were to update that routine today, he could make the same observation about computer information. It seems that everyone with a computer spends a lot of time acquiring data and then trying to find a way to store it.
For some computer owners, finding enough storage space to hold all the data they've acquired is a real challenge. Some people invest in larger hard drives. Others prefer external storage devices like thumb drives or compact discs. Desperate computer owners might delete entire folders worth of old files in order to make space for new information. But some are choosing to rely on a growing trend: cloud storage.
While cloud storage sounds like it has something to do with weather fronts and storm systems, it really refers to saving data to an off-site storage system maintained by a third party. Instead of storing information to your computer's hard drive or other local storage device, you save it to a remote database. The Internet provides the connection between your computer and the database.
On the surface, cloud storage has several advantages over traditional data storage. For example, if you store your data on a cloud storage system, you'll be able to get to that data from any location that has Internet access. You wouldn't need to carry around a physical storage device or use the same computer to save and retrieve your information. With the right storage system, you could even allow other people to access the data, turning a personal project into a collaborative effort.­
So cloud storage is convenient and offers more flexibility, but how does it work? Find out in the next section.
There are hundreds of different cloud storage systems. Some have a very specific focus, such as storing Web e-mailmessages or digital pictures. Others are available to store all forms of digital data. Some cloud storage systems are small operations, while others are so large that the physical equipment can fill up an entire warehouse. The facilities that house cloud storage systems are called data centers.
At its most basic level, a cloud storage system needs just one data server connected to the Internet. A client (e.g., a computer user subscribing to a cloud storage service) sends copies of files over the Internet to the data server, which then records the information. When the client wishes to retrieve the information, he or she accesses the data server through a Web-based interface. The server then either sends the files back to the client or allows the client to access and manipulate the files on the server itself.
Cloud storage systems generally ­rely on hundreds of data servers. Because computers occasionally require maintenance or repair, it's important to store the same information on multiple machines. This is called redundancy. Without redundancy, a cloud storage system couldn't ensure clients that they could access their information at any given time. Most systems store the same data on servers that use different power supplies. That way, clients can access their data even if one power supply fails.
Not all cloud storage clients are worried about running out of storage space. They use cloud storage as a way to create backups of data. If something happens to the client's computer system, the data survives off-site. It's a digital-age variation of "don't put all your eggs in one basket."
Passage 1
Recent years have brought minority-owned businesses in the United States unprecedented opportunities - as well as new and significant risks. Civil rights activists have long argued that one of the principal reasons why Blacks, Hispanics, and other minority groups have difficulty establishing themselves in business is that they lack access to the sizable orders and subcontracts that are generated by large companies. Now Congress, in apparent agreement, has required by law that businesses awarded federal contracts of more than $500,000 do their best to find minority subcontractors and record their efforts to do so on forms filed with the government. Indeed, some federal and local agencies have gone so far as to set specific percentage goals for apportioning parts of public works contracts to minority enterprises.
Corporate response appears to have been substantial. According to figures collected in 1977, the total of corporate contracts with minority businesses rose from $77 million in 1972 to $1.1 billion in 1977. The projected total of corporate contracts with minority businesses for the early 1980's is estimated to be over 53 billion per year with no letup anticipated in the next decade. Promising as it is for minority businesses, this increased patronage poses dangers for them, too. First, minority firms risk expanding too fast and overextending themselves financially, since most are small concerns and, unlike large businesses, they often need to make substantial investments in new plants, staff, equipment, and the like in order to perform work subcontracted to them. If, thereafter, their subcontracts are for some reason reduced, such firms can face potentially crippling fixed expenses. The world of corporate purchasing can be frustrating for small entrepreneurs who get requests for elaborate formal estimates and bids. Both consume valuable time and resources, and a small company's efforts must soon result in orders, or both the morale and the financial health of the business will suffer.
A second risk is that White-owned companies may seek to cash in on the increasing apportionments through formation of joint ventures with minority-owned concerns. Of course, in many instances there are legitimate reasons for joint ventures; clearly, White and minority enterprises can team up to acquire business that neither could acquire alone. But civil rights groups and minority business owners have complained to Congress about minorities being set up as “fronts (a person, group, or thing used to mask the identity or true character or activity of the actual controlling agent)” with White backing, rather than being accepted as full partners in legitimate joint ventures.
Third, a minority enterprise that secures the business of one large corporate customer often runs the danger of becoming-and remaining-dependent. Even in the best of circumstances, fierce competition from larger, more established companies makes it difficult for small concerns to broaden their customer bases: when such firms have nearly guaranteed orders from a single corporate benefactor, they may truly have to struggle against complacency arising from their current success.
1. The primary purpose of the text is to
[A] present a commonplace idea and its inaccuracies.
[B] describe a situation and its potential drawbacks.
[C] propose a temporary solution to a problem.
[D] analyze a frequent source of disagreement.
2. The text suggests that the failure of a large business to have its bids for subcontracts result quickly in orders might causes it to
[A] experience frustration but not serious financial harm.
[B] face potentially crippling fixed expenses.
[C] have to record its efforts on forms filed with the government.
[D] increase its spending with minority subcontractors.
3.The author would most likely agree with which of the following statements about corporate response to working with minority subcontractors?
[A] Annoyed by the proliferation of “front” organizations, corporations are likely to reduce their efforts to work with minority-owned subcontractors in the near future.
[B] Although corporations showed considerable interest in working with minority businesses in the 1970’s, their aversion to government paperwork made them reluctant to pursue many government contracts.
[C] The significant response of corporations in the 1970’s is likely to be sustained and conceivably be increased throughout the 1980’s.
[D] Although corporations are eager to cooperate with minority-owned businesses, a shortage of capital in the 1970’s made substantial response impossible
4 According to the text, civil rights activists maintain that one disadvantage under which minority-owned businesses have traditionally had to labor is that they have
[A] been especially vulnerable to government mismanagement of the economy.
[B] been denied bank loans at rates comparable to those afforded larger competitors.
[C] not had sufficient opportunity to secure business created by large corporations.
[D] not been able to advertise in those media that reach large numbers of potential customers.
5 The author implies that a minority-owned concern that does the greater part of its business with one large corporate customer should
[A] avoid competition with larger, more established concerns by not expanding.
【B】 concentrating on securing even more business from that corporation.
[C] use its influence with the corporation to promote subcontracting with other minority concerns.
[D] try to expand its customer bases to avoid becoming dependent on the corporation.
Passage 2
Years of research had educated me about how sugar, fat, and salt change the brain. I understood some of the parallels between hyperpalatable foods and drugs of abuse, and about the links among sensory stimulation, cues, and memory. I'd met enough people like Claudia and Maria to understand how even the thought of food could cause them to lose control.
But I wasn't fully prepared for the discoveries I made about irresistibility and whoosh, the Monster Thickburger and Baked! Cheetos Flamin' Hot, about indulgence and purple cows. Without necessarily understanding the underlying science, the food industry has discovered what sells.
I was sitting at Chili's Grill & Bar in Chicago's O'Hare Airport waiting for a late-night flight. At a nearby table a couple in their early forties was deep into a meal. The woman was overweight, with about 180 pounds on her five-foot-four-inch frame. The Southwestern Eggrolls she had ordered were listed as a starter course, but the enormous platter in front of her had been heaped with food. The dish was described on the menu as "smoked chicken, black beans, corn, jalape?o Jack cheese, red peppers, and spinach wrapped inside a crispy flour tortilla," and it was served with a creamy avocado-ranch dipping sauce. Despite its name, the dish looked more like a burrito than an egg roll, an only-in-America fusion approach.
I watched as the woman attacked her food with vigor and speed. She held the egg roll in one hand, dunked it into the sauce, and brought it to her mouth while using the fork in her other hand to scoop up more sauce. Occasionally she reached over and speared some of her companion's french fries. The woman ate steadily, working her way around the plate with scant pause for conversation or rest. When she finally paused, only a little lettuce was left.
Had she known someone was watching her, I'm sure she would have eaten differently. Had she been asked to describe what she had just eaten, she probably would have substantially underestimated her consumption. And she would probably have been surprised to learn what the ingredients in her meal really were.
The woman might have been interested in how my industry source, who had called sugar, fat, and salt the three points of the compass, described her entree. Deep-frying the tortilla drives down its water content from 40 percent to about 5 percent and replaces the rest with fat. "The tortilla is really going to absorb a lot of fat," he said. "It looks like an egg roll is supposed to look, which is crispy and brown on the outside."
The food consultant read through other ingredients on the label, keeping up a running commentary as he did. "Cooked white meat chicken, binder added, smoke flavor. People like smoky flavor — it's the caveman in them."
"There's green stuff in there," he said, noting the spinach. "That makes me feel like I'm eating something healthy."
"Shredded Monterey Jack cheese.... The increase in per-capita consumption of cheese is off the chart."
The hot peppers, he said, "add a little spice, but not too much to kill everything else off." He believed the chicken had been chopped and formed much like a meat loaf, with binders added, which makes those calories easy to swallow. Ingredients that hold moisture, including autolyzed yeast extract, sodium phosphate, and soy protein concentrate, further soften the food. I noticed that salt appeared eight times on the label and that sweeteners were there five times, in the form of corn-syrup solids, molasses, honey, brown sugar, and sugar.
"This is highly processed?" I asked.
"Absolutely, yes. All of this has been processed such that you can wolf it down fast...chopped up and made ultrapalatable.... Very appealing looking, very high pleasure in the food, very high caloric density. Rules out all that stuff you have to chew."
By eliminating the need to chew, modern food processing techniques allow us to eat faster. "When you're eating these things, you've had 500, 600, 800, 900 calories before you know it," said the consultant. "Literally before you know it." Refined food simply melts in the mouth.
1. It can be inferred from the author's description of the woman eating in paragraph four that
(A) The woman prefers to eat at Chili's vs. other restaurants.
(B) The woman truly enjoys the foods that she chooses to eat.
(C) The woman's efficiency at cleaning her plate adds to her dining experience.
(D) The author is disgusted by the woman's consumption.
(E) The author believes the woman should take a course in healthy eating.
2. According to the passage, the main reason people overeat is
(A) because salt and sweeteners, like corn-syrup solids and brown sugar, are added to the food.
(B) because we don't have to chew our food very much
(C) because people like smoky flavor
(D) because sugar, fat and salt change the brain
(E) because we are used to eating quickly in this modern society
3. The following are all ingredients in the egg rolls, EXCEPT
(A) salt
(B) binders
(C) honey
(D) spinach
(E) dark meat chicken
4. Which of the following statements best describes the main idea of the passage?
(A) If you eat too much food too quickly, you'll gain weight and become unhealthy.
(B) Because refined food is irresistible and easy to eat, it masks how unhealthy it is, leaving people unaware of the poor food choices they're making.
(C) Chili's is one of the restaurants in the U.S. serving unhealthy food to consumers today.
(D) Food consultants and authors are making Americans aware of their unhealthy eating habits, thus, creating healthier generations for years to come.
(E) Refined foods, with salt, sugar, and fat hidden inside, are less nutritious and more damaging than whole foods.
5. In the first sentence of paragraph four, the word "vigor" most nearly means
(A) pleasure
(B) flamboyance
(C) lethargy
(D) energy
(E) craftiness
Passage 3
No very satisfactory account of the mechanism that caused the formation of the ocean basins has yet been given.The traditional view supposes that the upper mantle of the earth behaves as a liquid when it is subjected to small forces for long periods and that differences in temperature under oceans and continents are sufficient to produce convection in the mantle of the earth with rising convection currents under the mid-ocean ridges and sinking currents under the continent. Theoretically， this convection would carry the continental plates along as though they were on a （conveyer belt） and would provide the forces needed to produce the split that occurs along the ridge.
This view may be correct： it has the advantage that the currents are driven by temperature differences that themselves depend on the position of the continents.On the other hand， the theory is implausible because convection does not normally occur along lines， and it certainly does not occur long lines broken by frequent offsets or changes in direction， as the ridge is.
It has the advantage that the currents are driven by temperature differences that themselves depend on the position of the continents.Such a backoupling， in which the position of the moving plate has an impact on the forces that move it， could produce complicated and varying motions
Also it is difficult to see how the theory applies to the plate between the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the ridge in the Indian Ocean.This plate is growing on both sides， and since there is no intermediate trench， the two ridges must be moving apart. It would be odd if the rising convection currents kept exact pace with them.
An alternative theory is that the sinking part of the plate， which is denser than the hotter surrounding mantle， pulls the rest of the plate after it. Again it is difficult to see how this applies to the ridge in the South Atlantic， where neither the African nor the American plate has a sinking part.
Another possibility is that the sinking plate cools the neighboring mantle and produces convection currents that move the plates. This last theory is attractive because it gives some hope of explaining the enclosed seas， such as the Sea of apan. These seas have a typical oceanic floor， except that the floor is overlaid by several kilometers of sediment. Their floors have probably been sinking for long periods.
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发表于 2012-5-7 22:39:59
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