2013年硕士研究生入学考试英语试题.doc

2013年硕士研究生入学考试英语试题Section I Use of EnglishDirections:Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on the ANSWER SHEET. (10 points)People are, on the whole, poor at considering background information when making individual decisions. At first glance this might seem like a strength that 1 the ability to make judgments which are unbiased by 2 factors. But Dr. Uri Simonsohn speculated that an inability to consider the big 3 was leading decision-makers to be biased by the daily samples of information they were working with. 4 , he theorised that a judge 5 of appearing too soft 6 crime might be more likely to send someone to prison 7 he had already sentenced five or six other defendants only to forced community service on that day.To 8 this idea, he turned to the university-admissions process. In theory, the 9 of an applicant should not depend on the few others 10 randomly for interview during the same day, but Dr Simonsohn suspected the truth was 11 .He studied the results of 9,323 MBA interviews 12 by 31 admissions officers. The interviewers had 13 applicants on a scale of one to five. This scale 14 numerous factors into consideration. The scores were 15 used in conjunction with an applicants score on the Graduate Management Admission Test, or GMAT, a standardised exam which is 16 out of 800 points, to make a decision on whether to accept him or her.Dr Simonsonh found if the score of the previous candidate in a daily series of interviewees was 0.75 points or more higher than that of the one 17 that, then the score for the next applicant would 18 by an average of 0.075 points. This might sound small, but to 19 the effects of such a decrease a candidate would need 30 more GMAT points than would otherwise have been 20 .1. A grants B submits C transmits D delivers2. A minor B objectiveC crucialD external3. A issue B visionC pictureD moment4. A For example B On average C In principleD Above all5. A fond B fearfulC capableD thoughtless6. A in B onC toD for7. A if B until C thoughD unless8. A promote B emphasizeC share D test9. A decision B quality C status D success10. A chosen B studied C found D identified11. A exceptional B defensible C replaceable D otherwise12. A inspired B expressed C conducted D secured13. A assigned B rated C matched D arranged14. A put B got C gave D took15. A instead B then C ever D rather16. A selected B passed C marked D introduced17. A before B after C above D below18. A jump B float C drop D fluctuate19. A achieve B undo C maintain D disregard20. A promising B possibleC necessary D helpfulSection II Reading ComprehensionPart ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)Text 1In the 2006 film version of The Devil Wears Prada, Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep, scold her unattractive assistant for imagining that high fashion doesnt affect her. Priestly explains how the deep blue color of the assistants sweater descended over the years from fashion shows to department stores and to the bargain bin in which the poor girl doubtless found her garment.This top-down conception of the fashion business couldnt be more out of date or at odds with feverish world described in Overdressed, Elizabeth Clines three-year indictment of “fast fashion”. In the last decades or so, advances in technology have allowed mass-market labels such as Zara, H&M, and Uniqlo to react to trends more quickly and anticipate demand more precisely. Quicker turnarounds mean less wasted inventory, more frequent releases, and more profit. Those labels encourage style-conscious consumers to see clothes as disposablemeant to last only a wash or two, although they dont advertise thatand to renew their wardrobe every few weeks. By offering on-trend items at dirt-cheap prices, Cline argues, these brands have hijacked fashion cycles, shaking an industry long accustomed to a seasonal pace.The victims of this revolution, of course, are not limited to designers. For H&M to offer a $5.95 knit miniskirt in all its 2,300-plus stores around the world, it must rely on low-wage, overseas labor, order in volumes that strain natural resources, and use massive amounts of harmful chemicals.Overdressed is the fashion worlds answer to consumer-activist bestsellers like Michael Pollans The Omnivores Dilemma. “Mass-produced clothing, like fast food, fills a hunger and need, yet is non-durable, and wasteful,” Cline argues. Americans, she finds, buy roughly 20 billion garments a yearabout 64 items per personand no matter how much they give away, this excess leads to waste. Towards the end of Overdressed, Cline introduced her ideal, a Brooklyn woman named Sarah Kate Beaumont, who since 2008 has made all of her own clothesand beautifully. But as Cline is the first to note, it took Beaumont decades to perfect her craft; her example cant be knocked off.Though several fast-fashion companies have made efforts to curb their impact on labor and the environmentincluding H&M, with its green Conscious Collection LineCline believes lasting change can only be effected by the customer. She exhibits the idealism common to many advocates of sustainability, be it in food or in energy. Vanity is a constant; people will only start shopping more sustainably when they cant afford not to.21. Priestly criticizes her assistant for herA poor bargaining skill.B insensitivity to fashion.C obsession with high fashion.D lack of imagination.22. According to Cline, mass-market labels urge consumers toA combat unnecessary waste.B shut out the feverish fashion world.C resist the influence of advertisements.D shop for their garments more frequently.23. The word “indictment” (Line 3, Para.2) is closest in meaning toA accusation.B enthusiasm.C indifference.D tolerance.24. Which of the following can be inferred from the last paragraph?A Vanity has more often been found in idealists.B The fast-fashion industry ignores sustainability.C People are more interested in unaffordable garments.D Pricing is vital to environment-friendly purchasing.25. What is the subject of the text?A Satire on an extravagant lifestyle.B Challenge to a high-fashion myth.C Criticism of the fast-fashion industry.D Exposure of a mass-market secret.Text 2An old saying has it that half of all advertising budgets are wastedthe trouble is, no one knows which half. In the internet age, at least in theory, this fraction can be much reduced. By watching what people search for, click on and say online, companies can aim “behavioural” ads at those most likely to buy.In the past couple of weeks a quarrel has illustrated the value to advertisers of such fine-grained information: Should advertisers assume that people are happy to be tracked and sent behavioural ads? Or should they have explicit permission?In December 2010 Americas Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed adding a “do not track” (DNT) option to internet browsers, so that users could tell advertisers that they did not want to be followed. Microsofts Internet Explorer and Apples Safari both offer DNT; Googles Chrome is due to do so this year. In February the FTC and the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) agreed that the industry would get cracking on responding to DNT requests.On May 31st Microsoft set off the row. It said that Internet Explorer 10, the version due to appear with windows 8, would have DNT as a default.Advertisers are horrified. Human nature being what it is, most people stick with default settings. Few switch DNT on now, but if tracking is off it will stay off. Bob Liodice, the chief executive of the Association of National Advertisers, says consumers will be worse off if the industry cannot collect information about their preferences. People will not get fewer ads, he says. “Theyll get less meaningful, less targeted ads.”It is not yet clear how advertisers will respond. Getting a DNT signal does not oblige anyone to stop tracking, although some companies have promised to do so. Unable to tell whether someone really objects to behavioural ads or whether they are sticking with Microsofts default, some may ignore a DNT signal and press on anyway.Also unclear is why Microsoft has gone it alone. After all, it has an ad business too, which it says will comply with DNT requests, though it is still working out how. If it is trying to upset Google, which relies almost wholly on advertising, it has chosen an indirect method: There is no guarantee that DNT by default will become the norm. DNT does not seem an obviously huge selling point for windows 8though the firm has compared some of its other products favourably with Googles on that count before. Brendon Lynch, Microsofts chief privacy officer, blogged: “We believe consumers should have more control.” Could it really be that simple?26. It is suggested in Paragraph 1 that “behavioural” ads help advertisers to A ease competition among themselves.B lower their operational costs.C avoid complaints from consumers.D provide better online services.27. “The industry” (Line 6, Para.3) refers toA online advertisers.B e-commerce conductors.C digital information analysis.D internet browser developers.28. Bob Liodice holds that setting DNT as a default.A may cut the number of junk ads.B fails to affect the ad industry.C will not benefit consumers.D goes against human nature.29. Which of the following is true according to Paragraph 6?A DNT may not serve its intended purpose.B Advertisers are willing to implement DNT.C DNT is losing its popularity among consumers.D Advertisers are obliged to offer behavioural ads.30. The authors attitude towards what Brendon Lynch said in his blog is one of A indulgence.B understanding.C appreciation.D skepticism.Text 3Up until a few decades ago, our visions of the future were largely though by no means uniformly glowingly positive. Science and technology would cure all the ills of humanity, leading to lives of fulfillment and opportunity for all.Now utopia has grown unfashionable, as we have gained a deeper appreciation of the range of threats facing us, from asteroid strike to epidemic flu to climate change. You might even be tempted to assume that humanity has little future to look forward to.But such gloominess is misplaced. The fossil record shows that many species have endured for millions of years so why shouldnt we? Take a broader look at our species place in the universe, and it becomes clear that we have an excellent chance of surviving for tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of years. Look up Homo sapiens in the “Red List” of threatened species of the International Union for the Conversation of Nature (IUCN), and you will read: “Listed as Least Concern as the species is very widely distributed, adaptable, currently increasing, and there are no major threats resulting in an overall population decline.”So what does our deep future hold? A growing number of researchers and organisations are now thinking seriously about that question. For example, the Long Now Foundation has as its flagship project a mechanical clock that is designed to still be marking time thousands of years hence.Perhaps willfully, it may be easier to think about such lengthy timescales than about the more immediate future. The potential evolution of todays technology, and its social consequences, is dazzlingly complicated, and its perhaps best left to science fiction writers and futurologists to explore the many possibilities we can envisage. Thats one reason why we have launched Arc, a new publication dedicated to the near future.But take a longer view and there is a surprising amount that we can say with considerable assurance. As so often, the past holds the key to the future: we have now identified enough of the long-term patterns shaping the history of the planet, and our species, to make evidence-based forecasts about the situations in which our descendants will find themselves.This long perspective makes the pessimistic view of our prospects seem more likely to be a passing fad. To be sure, the future is not all rosy. But we are now knowledgeable enough to reduce many of the risks that threatened the existence of earlier humans, and to improve the lot of those to come.31. Our vision of the future used to be inspired by A our desire for lives of fulfillment.B our faith in science and technology.C our awareness of potential risks.D our belief in equal opportunity.32. The IUCNs “Red List” suggests that human beings areA a sustained species.B a threat to the environment. C the worlds dominant power.D a misplaced race.33. Which of the following is true according to Paragraph 5?A Arc helps limit the scope of futurological studies.B Technology offers solutions to social problem.C The interest in science fiction is on the rise.D Our immediate future is hard to conceive.34. To ensure the future of mankind, it is crucial toA explore our planets abundant resources.B adopt an optimistic view of the world.C draw on our experience from the past.D curb our ambition to reshape history.35. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?A Uncertainty about Our FutureB Evolution of the Human SpeciesC The Ever-bright Prospects of MankindD Science, Technology and HumanityText 4On a five to three vote, the Supreme Court knocked out much of Arizonas immigration law Mondaya modest policy victory for the Obama Administration. But on the more important matter of the Constitution, the decision was an 8-0 defeat for the Administrations effort to upset the balance of power between the federal government and the states.In Arizona v. United States, the majority overturned three of the four contested provisions of Arizonas controversial plan to have state and local police enforce federal immigration law. The Constitutional principles that Washington alone has the power to “establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization” and that federal laws precede state laws are noncontroversial. Arizona had attempted to fashion state policies that ran parallel to the existing federal ones.