《试卷》2011英语二考研英语真题.doc

2011年全国硕士研究生招生考试英语二试题Section I Use of EnglishDirection:Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)The Internet affords anonymity to its users, a blessing to privacy and freedom of speech. But that very anonymity is also behind the explosion of cyber-crime that has 1 across the Web.Can privacy be preserved 2 bringing safety and security to a world that seems increasingly 3 ?Last month, Howard Schmidt, the nations cyber-czar, offered the federal government a 4 to make the Web a safer placea “voluntary trusted identity” system that would be the high-tech 5 of a physical key, a fingerprint and a photo ID card, all rolled 6 one. The system might use a smart identity card, or a digital credential 7 to a specific computer, and would authenticate users at a range of online services.The idea is to 8 a federation of private online identity systems. Users could 9 which system to join, and only registered users whose identities have been authenticated could navigate those systems. The approach contrasts with one that would require an Internet drivers license 10 by the government.Google and Microsoft are among companies that already have these “single sign-on” systems that make it possible for users to 11 just once but use many different services. 12 , the approach would create a “walled garden” in cyberspace, with safe “neighborhoods” and bright “streetlights” to establish a sense of a 13 community.Mr. Schmidt described it as a “voluntary ecosystem” in which “individuals and organizations can complete online transactions with 14 , trusting the identities of each other and the identities of the infrastructure 15 which the transaction runs.”Still, the administrations plan has 16 privacy rights activists. Some applaud the approach; others are concerned. It seems clear that such a scheme is an initiative push toward what would 17 be a compulsory Internet “drivers license” mentality.The plan has also been greeted with 18 by some computer security experts, who worry that the “voluntary ecosystem” envisioned by Mr. Schmidt would still leave much of the Internet 19 . They argue that all Internet users should be 20 to register and identify themselves, in the same way that drivers must be licensed to drive on public roads.1. A sweptB skippedC walkedD ridden2. A forB withinC whileD though3. A carelessB lawlessC pointlessD helpless4. A reasonB reminderC compromiseD proposal5. A informationB interferenceC entertainmentD equivalent6. A byB intoC fromD over7. A linkedB directedC chainedD compared8. A dismissB discoverC createD improve9. A recallB suggestC selectD realize10.A releasedB issuedC distributedD delivered11.A carry onB linger onC set inD log in12.A In vainB In effectC In returnD In contrast13.A trustedB modernizedC thrivingD competing14.A cautionB delightC confidenceD patience15.A onB afterC beyondD across16.A dividedB disappointedC protectedD united17.A frequentlyB incidentallyC occasionallyD eventually18.A skepticismB toleranceC indifferenceD enthusiasm19.A manageableB defendableC vulnerableD invisible20.A invitedB appointedC allowedD forcedSection Reading ComprehensionPart ADirections:Read the following four texts. Answer the questions after each text by choosing A, B, C, or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)Text 1Ruth Simmons joined Goldman Sachss board as an outside director in January 2000; a year later she became president of Brown University. For the rest of the decade she apparently managed both roles without attracting much criticism. But by the end of 2009 Ms. Simmons was under fire for having sat on Goldmans compensation committee; how could she have let those enormous bonus payouts pass unremarked? By February the next year Ms. Simmons had left the board. The position was just taking up too much time, she said.Outside directors are supposed to serve as helpful, yet less biased, advisers on a firms board. Having made their wealth and their reputations elsewhere, they presumably have enough independence to disagree with the chief executives proposals. If the sky, and the share price, is falling, outside directors should be able to give advice based on having weathered their own crises. The researchers from Ohio University used a database that covered more than 10,000 firms and more than 64,000 different directors between 1989 and 2004. Then they simply checked which directors stayed from one proxy statement to the next. The most likely reason for departing a board was age, so the researchers concentrated on those “surprise” disappearances by directors under the age of 70. They found that after a surprise departure, the probability that the company will subsequently have to restate earnings increases by nearly 20%. The likelihood of being named in a federal class-action lawsuit also increases, and the stock is likely to perform worse. The effect tended to be larger for larger firms. Although a correlation between them leaving and subsequent bad performance at the firm is suggestive, it does not mean that such directors are always jumping off a sinking ship. Often they “trade up,” leaving riskier, smaller firms for larger and more stable firms.But the researchers believe that outside directors have an easier time of avoiding a blow to their reputations if they leave a firm before bad news breaks, even if a review of history shows that they were on the board at the time any wrongdoing occurred. Firms who want to keep their outside directors through tough times may have to create incentives. Otherwise outside directors will follow the example of Ms. Simmons, once again very popular on campus.21. According to Paragraph 1, Ms. Simmons was criticized for .A gaining excessive profits B failing to fulfill her dutyC refusing to make compromises D leaving the board in tough times22. We learn from Paragraph 2 that outside directors are supposed to be .A generous investors B unbiased executivesC share price forecasters D independent advisers23. According to the researchers from Ohio University, after an outside directors surprise departure, the firm is likely to .A become more stable B report increased earningsC do less well in the stock market D perform worse in lawsuits24. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that outside directors .A may stay for the attractive offers from the firmB have often had records of wrongdoings in the firmC are accustomed to stress-free work in the firmD will decline incentives from the firm25. The authors attitude toward the role of outside directors is .A permissive B positive C scornful D criticalText 2Whatever happened to the death of newspapers? A year ago the end seemed near. The recession threatened to remove the advertising and readers that had not already fled to the internet. Newspapers like the San Francisco Chronicle were chronicling their own doom. Americas Federal Trade Commission launched a round of talks about how to save newspapers. Should they become charitable corporations? Should the state subsidize them? It will hold another meeting soon. But the discussions now seem out of date.In much of the world there is little sign of crisis. German and Brazilian papers have shrugged off the recession. Even American newspapers, which inhabit the most troubled corner of the global industry, have not only survived but often returned to profit. Not the 20% profit margins that were routine a few years ago, but profit all the same.It has not been much fun. Many papers stayed afloat by pushing journalists overboard. The American Society of News Editors reckons that 13,500 newsroom jobs have gone since 2007. Readers are paying more for slimmer products. Some papers even had the nerve to refuse delivery to distant suburbs. Yet these desperate measures have proved the right ones and, sadly for many journalists, they can be pushed further. Newspapers are becoming more balanced businesses, with a healthier mix of revenues from readers and advertisers. American papers have long been highly unusual in their reliance on ads. Fully 87% of their revenues came from advertising in 2008, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD). In Japan the proportion is 35%. Not surprisingly, Japanese newspapers are much more stable. The whirlwind that swept through newsrooms harmed everybody, but much of the damage has been concentrated in areas where newspapers are least distinctive. Car and film reviewers have gone. So have science and general business reporters. Foreign bureaus have been savagely cut off. Newspapers are less complete as a result. But completeness is no longer a virtue in the newspaper business.26. By saying “Newspapers like.their own doom” (Para. 1), the author indicates that newspapers . A neglected the sign of crisis B failed to get state subsidiesC were not charitable corporations D were in a desperate situation27. Some newspapers refused delivery to distant suburbs probably because .A readers threatened to pay lessB newspapers wanted to reduce costsC journalists reported little about these areasD subscribers complained about slimmer products28. Compared with their American counterparts, Japanese newspapers are much more stable because they .A have more sources of revenue B have more balanced newsroomsC are less dependent on advertising D are less affected by readership29. What can be inferred from the last paragraph about the current newspaper business?A Distinctiveness is an essential feature of newspapers.B Completeness is to blame for the failure of newspapers.C Foreign bureaus play a crucial role in the newspaper business.D Readers have lost their interest in car and film reviews. 30. The most appropriate title for this text would be .A American Newspapers: Struggling for SurvivalB American Newspapers: Gone with the WindC American Newspapers: A Thriving BusinessD American Newspapers: A Hopeless StoryText 3We tend to think of the decades immediately following World War II as a time of prosperity and growth, with soldiers returning home by the millions, going off to college on the G. I. Bill and lining up at the marriage bureaus. But when it came to their houses, it was a time of common sense and a belief that less could truly be more. During the Depression and the war, Americans had learned to live with less, and that restraint, in combination with the postwar confidence in the future, made small, efficient housing positively stylish.Economic condition was only a stimulus for the trend toward efficient living. The phrase “less is more” was actually first popularized by a German, the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who like other people associated with the Bauhaus, a school of design, emigrated to the United States before World War II and took up posts at American architecture schools. These designers came to exert enormous influence on the course of American architecture, but none more so than Mies. Miess signature phrase means that less decoration, properly organized, has more impact than a lot. Elegance, he believed, did not derive from abundance. Like other modern architects, he employed metal, glass and laminated woodmaterials that we take for granted today but that in the 1940s symbolized the future. Miess sophisticated presentation masked the fact that the spaces he designed were small and efficient, rather than big and often empty. The apartments in the elegant towers Mies built on Chicagos Lake Shore Drive, for example, were smallertwo-bedroom units under 1,000 square feetthan those in their older neighbors along the citys Gold Coast. But they were popular because of their airy glass walls, the views they afforded and the elegance of the buildings details and proportions, the architectural equivalent of the abstract art so popular at the time. The trend toward “less” was not entirely foreign. In the 1930s Frank Lloyd Wright started building more modest and efficient housesusually around 1,200 square feetthan the spreading two-story ones he had designed in the 1890s and the early 20th century.The “Case Study Houses” commissioned from talented modern architects by California Arts & Architecture magazine between 1945 and 1962 were yet another homegrown influence on the “less is more” trend. Aesthetic effect came from the landscape, new materials and forthright detailing. In his Case Study House, Ralph Rapson may have mispredicted just how the mechanical revolution would impact everyday lifefew American families acquired helicopters, though most eventually got clothes dryersbut his belief that self-sufficiency was both desirable and inevitable was widely shared. 31. The postwar American housing style largely reflected the Americans .A prosperity and growthB efficiency and practicality C restraint and confidenceD pride and faithfulness32. Which of the following can be inferred from Paragraph 3 about the Bauhaus?A It was founded by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.B Its designing concept was affected by World War II.C Most American architects used to be associated with it.D It had a great influence upon American architecture.33. Mies held that elegance of architectural design .A was related to large spaceB was identified with emptinessC was not reliant on abundant decorationD was not associated with efficiency34. What is true about the apartments Mies built on Chicagos Lake Shore Drive?A They ignored details and proportions.B They were built with materials popular at that time.C They were more spacious than neighboring buildings. D They shared some characteristics of abstract art.35. What can we learn about the design of the “Case Study Houses”?A Mechanical devices were widely used.B Natural scenes were taken into consideration.C Details were sacrificed for the overall effect.D Eco-friendly materials were employed.Text 4Will the European Union make it? The question would have sounded strange not long ago. Now even the projects greatest cheerleaders talk o