2014——2022年全国硕士研究生入学统一考试英语（二）试题（附答案）.docx

20142022年全国硕士研究生入学统一考试英语（二）试题（附答案）2014年全国硕士研究生入学统一考试英语（二）试题Section IUse 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)Thinner isn't always better. A number of studies have 1 that normal-weight people are in fact at higher risk of some diseases compared to those who are overweight. And there are health conditions for which being overweight is actually 2 . For example, heavier women are less likely to develop calcium deficiency than thin women. 3 among the elderly, being somewhat overweight is often an 4 of good health.Of even greater 5 is the fact that obesity turns out to be very difficult to define. It is often defined 6 body mass index, or BMI. BMI 7 body mass divided by the square of height. An adult with a BMI of 18 to 25 is often considered to be normal weight. Between 25 and 30 is overweight. And over 30 is considered obese. Obesity, 8 , can be divided into moderately obese, severely obese, and very severely obese.While such numerical standards seem 9 , they are not. Obesity is probably less a matter of weight than body fat. Some people with a high BMI are in fact extremely fit, 10 others with a low BMI may be in poor 11 . For example, many collegiate and professional football players 12 as obese, though their percentage body fat is low. Conversely, someone with a small frame may have high body fat but a 13 BMI.Today we have a(n) 14 to label obesity as a disgrace. The overweightare sometimes15in the media with their faces covered. Stereotypes16 with obesity include laziness, lack of will power, and lower prospects for success. Teachers, employers, and health professionals have been shown to harbor biases against the obese.17very young children tend to look down on the overweight, and teasing about body build has long been a problem in schools.Negative attitudes toward obesity,18in health concerns, have stimulated a number of anti-obesity19. My own hospital system has banned sugary drinks from its facilities. Many employers have instituted weight loss and fitness initiatives. Michelle Obama has launched a high-visibility campaign20 childhood obesity, even claiming that it represents our greatest national security threat.1.AJ denied2.AJ protective3.AJ Instead4.AJ indicator5.AJ impact6.AJ in terms of7.AJ measures8.AJ in essence9.AJ complicated10.AJ so11.AJ shape12.AJ start13.AJ strange14.AJ option15.AJ employed16.AJ compared17.AJ Even18.AJ despised19.AJ discussions20.AJ forBJ concludedCJ doubtedDJ ensuredBJ dangerousCJ sufficientD troublesome BJ HoweverCJ LikewiseDJ Therefore BJ objectiveCJ originDJ exampleBJ relevanceCJ assistanceD concernB in case ofCJ in favor ofDJ in respects of BJ determinesCJ equalsDJ modifiesB in contrastC in tumD in partB conservativeCJ variableD straightforward BJ whileCJ sinceDJ unlessBJ spiritCJ balanceDJ tasteB qualifyC retireD stayBJ changeableC normalD constant BJ reasonCJ opportunityDJ tendencyBpicturedCJ imitatedD monitored BJ combinedCJ settledD associated BJ StillCJ YetDJ OnlyBJ correctedCJ ignoredDJ grounded BJ businessesCJ policiesDJ studies BJ againstCJ withDJ withoutSection IIReading ComprehensionPartA Directions:Read the following four texts. Answer the questions after each text by choosing A,B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)Text 1What would you do with $590m? This 1s now a question for Gloria MacKenzie, an 84-year-old widow who recently emerged from her small, tin-roofed house in Florida to collect the biggest undivided lottery jackpot in history. If she hopes her new-found fortune will yield lasting feelings of fulfilment, she could do worse than read Happy Money by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton.These two academics use an array of behavioral research to show that the most rewarding ways to spend money can be counterintuitive. Fantasies of great wealih often involve visions of fancy cars and extravagant homes. Yet satisfaction with these material purchases wears off fairly quickly. What was once exciting and new becomes old-hat; regret creeps in. It is far better to spend money on experiences, say Ms Dunn and Mr Norton, like interesting trips, unique meals or even going to the cinema. These purchases often become more valuable with time- as stories or memories - particularly if they involve feeling more connected to others.This slim volume is packed with tips to help wage slaves as well as lottery winners get the most "happiness bang for your buck." It seems most people would be better off if they could shorten their commutes to work, spend more time with friends and family and less of it watching television (something the average American spends a whopping two months a year doing, and is hardly jollier for it). Buying gifts or giving to charity is often more pleasurable than purchasing things for oneself, and luxuries are most enjoyable when they are consumed sparingly. This is apparently the reason McDonald's restricts the availability of its popular McRib - a marketing trick that has turned the pork sandwich into an object of obsession.Readers of Happy Money are clearly a privileged lot, anxious about fulfilment, not hunger. Money may not quite buy happiness, but people in wealthier countries are generally happier than those in poor ones. Yet the link between feeling good and spending money on others can be seen among rich and poor people around the world, and scarcity enhances the pleasure of most things for most people. Not everyone will agree with the authors' policy ideas, which range from mandating more holiday time to reducing tax incentives for American homebuyers. But most people will come away from this book believing it was money well spent.21.According to Dunn and Norton, which of the following is the most rewarding purchase?AJ A big house.BJ A special tour. CJ A stylish car. DJ A rich meal.22.The author's attitude toward Americans' watching TV isAJ critical BJ supportiveCJ sympathetic DJ ambiguous23.McRib is mentioned in Paragraph 3 to show thatAJ consumers are sometimes irrational BJ popularity usually comes after quality CJ marketing tricks are often effective DJ rarity generally increases pleasure24.According to the last paragraph, Happy Money -AJ has left much room for readers' criticism BJ may prove to be a worthwhile purchaseCJ has predicted a wider income gap in the US DJ may give its readers a sense of achievement25.This text mainly discusses how toAJ balance feeling good and spending money BJ spend large sums of money won in lotteries CJ obtain lasting satisfaction from money spentDJ become more reasonable in spending on luxuriesText2An article in Scientific American has pointed out that empirical research says that, actually, you think you're more beautiful than you are. We have a deep-seated need to feel good about ourselves and we naturally employ a number of self-enhancing strategies to achieve this. Social psychologists have amassed oceans of research into what they call the "above average effect", or "illusory superiority", and shown that, for example, 70% of us rate ourselves as above average in leadership, 93% in driving and 85% at getting on well with others - all obviously statistical impossibilities.We rose-tint our memories and put ourselves into self-afifirming situations. We become defensive when criticised, and apply negative stereotypes to others to boost our own esteem. We stalk around thinking we're hot stuff.Psychologist and behavioural scientist Nicholas Epley oversaw a key study into self-enhancement and attractiveness. Rather than have people simply rate their beauty compared with others, he asked them to identify an original photograph of themselves from a lineup including versions that had been altered to appear more and less attractive. Visual recognition, reads the study, is "an automatic psychological process, occurring rapidly and intuitively with little or no apparent conscious deliberation". If the subjects quickly chose a falsely flattering image - which most did - they genuinely believed it was really how they looked.Epley found no significant gender difference in responses. Nor was there anyevidence that those who self-enhanced the most (that is, the participants who thought the most positively doctored pictures were real) were doing so to make up for profound insecurities. In fact, those who thought that the images higher up the attractiveness scale were real directly corresponded with those who showed other markers for having higher self-esteem. "I don't think the findings that we have are any evidence of personal delusion," says Epley. "It's a reflection simply of people generally thinking well of themselves." If you are depressed, you won't be self-enhancing.Knowing the results of Epley's study, it makes sense that many people hatephotographs of themselves viscerally - on one level, they don't even recognise the person in the picture as themselves. Facebook, therefore, is a self-enhancer's paradise, where people can share only the most flattering photos, the cream of their wit, style, beauty, intellect and lifestyles. It's not that people's profiles are dishonest, says Catalina Toma of Wisconsin-Madison University, "but they portray an idealised version of themselves."26.According to the first paragraph, social psychologists have found thatAour self-ratings are unrealistically high BJ illusory superiority is a baseless effect CJ our need for leadership is unnaturalDJ self-enhancing strategies are ineffective27.Visual recognition is believed to be people'sAJ rapid matching BJ conscious choiceCintuitive responseDJ automatic self-defence28.Epley found that people with higher self-esteem tended toAJ underestimate their insecurities BJ believe in their attractiveness CJ cover up their depressionsDJ oversimplify their illusions29.The word "viscerally" (Line 2, Para.5) is closest in meaning toAJ instinctively BJ occasionally CJ particularly DJ aggressively30.It can be inferred that Facebook is a self-enhancer's paradise because people can -AJ present their dishonest profilesBJ define their traditional lifestylesC share their intellectual pursuits DJ withhold their unflattering sidesText3The concept of man versus machine is at least as old as the industrial revolution, but this phenomenon tends to be most acutely felt during economic downturns and fragile recoveries. And yet, it would be a mistake to think we are right now simply experiencing the painful side of a boom and bust cycle. Certain jobs have gone away for good, outmoded by machines. Since technology has such an insatiable appetite for eating up human jobs, this phenomenon will continue to restructure our economy in ways we cannot immediately foresee.When there is rapid improvement in the price and performance of technology, jobs that were once thought to be immune from automation suddenly become threatened. This argument has attracted a lot of attention, via the success of the book Race A gainst the Machine, by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, who both hail from MIT's Center for Digital Business.This is a powerful argument, and a scary one. And yet, John Hagel, author of The Power of Pull and other books, says Brynjolfsson and McAfee miss the reason why these jobs are so vulnerable to technology in the first place.Hagel says we have designed jobs in the U.S. that tend to be "tightly scripted" and "highly standardized" ones that leave no room for "individual initiative or creativity". In short, these are the types of jobs that machines can perform much better at than human beings. That is how we have put a giant target sign on the backs of American workers, Hagel says.It's time to reinvent the formula for how work is conducted, since we are still relying on a very 20th century notion of work, Hagel says. In our rapidly changing economy, we more than ever need people in the workplace who can take initiative and exercise their imagination "to respond to unexpected events". That is not something machines are good at. They are designed to perform very predictable activities.As Hagel notes, Brynjolfsson and McAfee indeed touched on this point in their book. We need to reframe race against the machine as race with the machine. In other words, we need to look at the ways in which machines can augment human labor rather than replace it. So then the problem is not really about technology, but rather, "how do we innovate our institutions and our work practices?"31.According to the first paragraph, economic downturns would_Aease the competition of man vs. machine BJ highlight machines' threat to human jobs CJ provoke a painful technological revolution DJ outmode our current economic structure32.The authors of Race A gainst the Machine argue that_ AJ technology is diminishing man's job opportunitiesBJ automation is accelerating technological development CJ certain jobs will remain intact after automationDJ man will finally win the race against machine33.Hagel argues that jobs in the U.S. are often_ AJ performed by innovative mindsBJ scripted with an individual style CJ standardized without a clear target DJ designed against human creativity34.According to the last paragraph, Brynjolfsson and McAfee discussed AJ the predictability of machine behavior in practiceBJ the formula for how work is conducted efficientlyCJ the ways machines replace human labor in modem times DJ the necessity of human involvement in the workplace_35.Which of the following could be the most appropriate title for the text? AJ How to Innovate Our Work Practices?BJ Machines Will Replace Human Labor CJ Can We Win the Race Against Machines?DJ Economic Downturns Stimulate InnovationsText4When the government talks about infrastructure contributing to the economy the focus is usually on roads, railways, broadband and energy. Housing is seldom mentioned.Why is that? To some extent the housing sector must shoulder the blame. We have not been good at communicating the real value that housing can contribute to economic growth. Then there is the scale of the typical housing project. It is hard to shove for attention among multibillion-pound infrastructure projects, so it is inevitable that the attention is focused elsewhere. But perhaps the most significant reason is that the issue has always been so politically charged.Nevertheless, the afifordable housing situation is desperate. Waiting lists increase all the time and we are simply not building enough new h