2021黑龙江大学英语考试真题卷（1）.docx

2021黑龙江大学英语考试真题卷（1）本卷共分为1大题50小题，作答时间为180分钟，总分100分，60分及格。一、单项选择题（共50题，每题2分。每题的备选项中，只有一个最符合题意） 1.Passage TwoQuestions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.Eleven summers ago I was sent to a management program at the Wharton School to be prepared for bigger things. Along with lectures on finance and entrepreneurship and the like, the program included a delightfully out-of-place session with Al Filreis, an English professor at the University of Pennsylvania, on poetry.For three hours he talked us through "The Red Wheelbarrow" and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." The experience-especially when contrasted with the horrible prose of our other assigned reading-sent me fleeing to the campus bookstore, where I resumed a long-interrupted romance with meter and rhyme（韵）.Professor Filreis says that he is "a little shocked" at how intensely his Wharton students respond to this unexpected deviation from the businesslike, not just as a relief but as a kind of stimulus. Many write afterward asking him to recommend books of poetry. Especially now,"The grim economy seems to make the participants keener than ever to think out of the box in the way poetry encourages," he told me.Which brings me to Congress, an institution stuck deeper inside the box than just about any other these days. You have probably heard that up on Capitol Hill（美国国会山）,theyre very big on prayer breakfasts, where members gather over scrambled eggs and ask God for wisdom. You can judge from the agonizing debt spectacle weve watched this summer how well thats working. Well, maybe its time to add some poetry readings to the agenda.Im not suggesting that poetry will guide our legislators to wisdom any more than prayer has. Just that it might make them a little more human. Poetry is no substitute for courage or competence, but properly applied, it is a challenge to self-certainty, which we currently have in excess. Poetry serves as a spur to creative thinking, a reproach to dogma and habit, a remedy to the current fashion for pledge signing.The poet Shelley, in defense of poetry nearly two centuries ago, wrote, "A man. to be greatly good, must imagine intensely and comprehensively; he must put himself in the place of another and of many others; the pains and pleasures of his species must become his own."Shelley concludes that essay by calling poets "the unacknowledged legislators of the world, "because they bring imagination to the realm of "reasoners and mechanists."The relevance of poetry was declared more concisely in five lines from the love poem "Asphodel. That Greeny Flower," by William Carlos Williams:It is difficultto get the news form poemsyet men die miserably every day for lackof what is found thereWhat do we learn from Shelleys essayAPoetry can relieve people of pains and sufferings.BIt takes poetic imagination to become a legislator.CLegislators should win public acknowledgement.DIt is important to be imaginative and sympathetic. 2.Questions 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.Whos poor in America Thats a question hard to answer. Hard because theres no conclusive definition of poverty. Low income matters, though how low is unclear. Poverty is also a state of mind that fosters self-defeating behavior-bad work habits, family breakdowns, and addictions. Finally, poverty results from bad luck: accidents, job losses, disability.Despite povertys messiness, weve measured progress against it by a single statistic: the federal poverty line. By this measure, we havent made much progress. But the apparent lack of progress is misleading for two reasons.First, it ignores immigration. Many immigrants are poor and low-skilled. They add to the poor. From 1989 to 2007, about three quarters of the increase in the poverty population occurred among Hispanics（西班牙裔美国人）-mostly immigrants and their children.Second, the poors material well-being has improved. The official poverty measure obscures this by counting only pre-tax cash income and ignoring other sources of support, including food stamps and housing subsidies. Although many poor live from hand to mouth, theyve participated in rising living standards. In 2005, 91% had microwaves. 79% air-conditioning, and 48% cell phones.The existing poverty line could be improved by adding some income sources and subtracting some expenses. Unfortunately, the administrations proposal for a "supplemental poverty measure" in 2011 goes beyond that. The new poverty number would compound public confusion. It also raises questions about whether the statistic is tailored to favor a political agenda.The "supplemental measure" ties the poverty threshold to what the poorest third of Americans spend on food, housing, clothing, and utilities. The actual threshold will probably be higher than todays poverty line. Many Americans would find this weird: people get richer, but "poverty" stays stuck.What produces this outcome is a different view of poverty. The present concept is an absolute one: the poverty threshold reflects the amount estimated to meet basic needs. By contrast, the new measure embraces a relative notion of poverty: people are automatically poor if theyre a given distance from the top, even if their incomes are increasing.The new indicator is a "propaganda device" to promote income redistribution by showing that poverty is stubborn or increasing. The Census Bureau has estimated statistics similar to the administrations proposal. In 2008, the traditional poverty rate was 13.2%; estimates of the new statistic range up to l7%. The new poverty statistic exceeds the old, and the gap grows larger over time.As senator Daniel Moynihan said, the administration is defining poverty up. Its legitimate to debate how much we should aid the poor or reduce economic inequality. But the debate should not be swayed by misleading statistics that few Americans could possibly understand. Government statistics should strive for political neutrality（中立）.This one fails.What is characteristic of the new measure of povertyAIt defines poverty by the gap between the rich and the poor.BIt raises the threshold for the poor to get welfare benefits.CIt is more accurate and scientific in terms of statistics.DIt truly reflects the practical needs of the poor. 3.Rates are low, but consumers wont borrowThe US Federal Reserve(Fed)s announcement last week that it intended to keep credit cheap for at least two more years was a clear invitation to Americans: Go out and borrow.But many economists say it will take more than low interest rates to persuade consumers to take on more debt. There are already signs that the recent stock market fluctuations, turbulence in Europe and the US deficit have scared consumers. On Friday, preliminary data showed that the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index had fallen this month to lower than it was in November 2008, when the United States was deep in recession.Under normal circumstances, the Feds announcement might have attracted new home and car buyers and prompted credit card holders to rack up fresh charges. But with unemployment high and those with jobs worried about keeping them, consumers are more concerned about paying off the loans they already have than adding more debt. And by showing its hand for the next two years, the Fed may have thoughtlessly invited prospective borrowers to put off large purchases.Lenders, meanwhile, are still dealing with the effects of the boom-gone-bust and are forcing prospective borrowers to go to extraordinary lengths to prove their creditworthiness."I dont think lenders are going to be interested in extending a lot of debt in this environment," said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moodys Analytics, a macroeconomic consulting firm. "Nor do I think households are going to be interested in taking on a lot of debt."In housing, consumers have already shown a slow response to low rates. Applications for new mortgages have decreased this year to a 10-year low, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Sales of furniture and furnishings remain 22% below their pre-recession peak, according to Spending Pulse, a research report by MasterCard Advisors.Credit card rates have actually gone up slightly in the past year. The one bright spot in lending is the number of auto loans, which is up from last year. But some economists say that confidence among car buyers is hitting new lows.For Xavier Walter, a former mortgage banker who with his wife, Danielle, accumulated$20 000 in credit card debt, low rates will not change his spending habits.As the housing market topped out five years ago, he lost his six-figure income. He and his wife were able to modify the mortgage on their four-bedroom house in Medford, New Jersey, as well as negotiate lower credit card payments.Two years ago, Mr. Walter, a 34-year-old father of three, started an energy business. He has sworn off credit. "Im not going to go back in debt ever again," he said. "If I cant pay for it in cash, I dont want it."Until now, one of the biggest restraints on consumer spending has been a debt aftereffect. Since August 2008, when household debt peaked at$12.41 trillion, it has declined by about$1.2 trillion, according to an analysis by Moodys Analytics of data from the Federal Reserve and Equifax, the credit agency. A large portion of that, though, was simply written off by lenders as borrowers defaulted on loans.By other measures, households have improved their position. The proportion of after-tax income that households spend to remain current on loan payments has fallen.Still, household debt remains high. That presents a paradox: many economists argue that the economy cannot achieve true health until debt levels decline. But credit, made attractive by low rates, is a time-tested way to increase consumer spending.With new risks of another downturn, economists worry that it will take years for debt to return to manageable levels. If the economy contracts again, said George Magnus, senior adviser at UBS, then "you could find a lot of households in a debt trap which they probably can never get out of."Mortgage lenders, meanwhile, burned by the housing crash, are extra careful about approving new loans. In June, for instance, Fannie Mae, the largest mortgage buyer in the United States, said that borrowers whose existing debt exceeded 45 to 50% of their income would be required to have stronger "compensating" factors, which might include higher savings.Even those borrowers in strong financial positions are asked to provide unusual amounts of paperwork. Bobby and Katie Smith have an extremely good credit record, tiny student debt and a combined six-figure income. For part of their down payment, they planned to use about$5 000 they had received as wedding gifts in February.But the lender would not accept that money unless the Smiths provided a certified letter from each of 14 guests, stating that the money was a gift, rather than a loan."We laughed for a good 15 or 20 minutes." recalled Mr. Smith. 34.Mr. Smith, a program director for a radio station in Orlando, Florida, said they ended up using other savings for their down payment to buy a$300 000 four-bedroom house in April.For those not as creditworthy as the Smiths, lowAConsumers unwillingness to spend.BBanks inability to recover debt.CThe ever-lowering interest rates.DThe unmanageable debt levels. 4.Questions 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.Whos poor in America Thats a question hard to answer. Hard because theres no conclusive definition of poverty. Low income matters, though how low is unclear. Poverty is also a state of mind that fosters self-defeating behavior-bad work habits, family breakdowns, and addictions. Finally, poverty results from bad luck: accidents, job losses, disability.Despite povertys messiness, weve measured progress against it by a single statistic: the federal poverty line. By this measure, we havent made much progress. But the apparent lack of progress is misleading for two reasons.First, it ignores immigration. Many immigrants are poor and low-skilled. They add to the poor. From 1989 to 2007, about three quarters of the increase in the poverty population occurred among Hispanics（西班牙裔美国人）-mostly immigrants and their children.Second, the poors material well-being has improved. The official poverty measure obscures this by counting only pre-tax cash income and ignoring other sources of support, including food stamps and housing subsidies. Although many poor live from hand to mouth, theyve participated in rising living standards. In 2005, 91% had microwaves. 79% air-conditioning, and 48% cell phones.The existing poverty line could be improved by adding some income sources and subtracting some expenses. Unfortunately, the administrations proposal for a "supplemental poverty measure" in 2011 goes beyond that. The new poverty number would compound public confusion. It also raises questions about whether the statistic is tailored to favor a political agenda.The "supplemental measure" ties the poverty threshold to what the poorest third of Americans spend on food, housing, clothing, and utilities. The actual threshold will probably be higher than todays poverty line. Many Americans would find this weird: people get richer, but "poverty" stays stuck.What produces this outcome is a different view of poverty. The present concept is an absolute one: the poverty threshold reflects the amount estimated to meet basic needs. By contrast, the new measure embraces a relative notion of poverty: people are automatically poor if theyre a given distance from the top, even if their incomes are increasing.The new indicator is a "propaganda device" to promote income redistribution by showing that poverty is stubborn or increasing. The Census Bureau has estimated statistics similar to the administrations proposal. In 2008, the traditional poverty rate was 13.2%; estimates of the new statistic range up to l7%. The new poverty statistic exceeds the old, and the gap grows larger over time.As senator Daniel Moynihan said, the administration is defining poverty up. Its legitimate to debate how much we should aid the poor or reduce economic inequality. But the debate should not be swayed by misleading statistics that few Americans could possibly understand. Government statistics should strive for political neutrality（中立）.This one fails.What does the author want to say by quoting Daniel MoynihanAEconomic equality is but an empty dream.BPolitical neutrality can never be achieved.CThe administrations statistics are biased.DThe debate over poverty will get nowhere. 5.Rates are low, but consumers wont borrowThe US Federal Reserve(Fed)s announcement last week that it intended to keep credit cheap for at least two more years was a clear invitation to Americans: Go out and