2023年考研外语冲刺密卷6.docx

考研外语冲刺密卷6一、Use of English1、 Niagara is an Indian word which means "roaring water”. Indeed, the roar of the falling water of Niagara can be heard (1)a distance of 5 kms. Imagine (2)of water flowing over a cliff 90 feet high and you will get an idea of that terrible noise. And (3)tremendous power the Niagara River has! It moves big rocks about and throws them into the boiling water below. (4)ago an old ship without single person on board was put in mid-stream. It sailed down the river (5)a toy boat with great speed. Having reached the fall, the ship dropped into the boiling water, never (6) again. There were some people who wanted to become famous (7)swimming across the most dangerous part of the Niagara River. One of them was Captain Webb who said that he would try to swim cross the Niagara, which (8)crowds of people. On the evening of July 1st, 1893, Captain Webb came up to the river and (9) a plunge. His having jumped into the water (10)many people with horror. Soon, he appeared in the middle of the river. A loud shout went up from the crowd, but a moment later there wasfinancial markets,C.Inflation rises above 4%一record high level.D. Remarks by the Fed chairman can sway the world financial markets.5、The author mentions a housing bubble" in the last paragraph so as toA.clarify the fact that Alan Greenspan will retire as Fed chairmanB. exemplify the rumor that Mr. Bush has a penchant for picking his pals to fill top jobsC. illustrate the notion that the present situations for a handover are hardly idealD.refute the theory that American economy has never looked so unbalanced6、“The essential qualities of a true Pan-Americanism/z, remarked Franklin Roosevelt in 1933, “must be the same as those which constitute a good neighbour, namely mutual understanding and. a sympathetic appreciation of the other's point of view. /z That is advice which the United States would do well to heed in its relations with its immediate neighbours, Canada and Mexico. Most Americans may not be aware of it, but frustrationsand resentments are building just across their borders to both south and north.Of course, neighbourly ties in North America are closer than in Roosevelt's day. Under the North American Free-Trade Agreement (NAFTA), trade among the three countries has more than doubled since 1994 and cross-border investment climbed even faster. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2022, the United States moved quickly to sign /zsmart border agreements with both Canada and Mexico, to try to ensure that the demands of security did not interrupt trade. By the standards of much of the 20th century, political ties between the United States and Mexico are warm.Yet go to either border and you wouldn't know all this. Fed up with the flow of illegal migrants from the south, the governors of Arizona and New Mexico this month declared a state of emergency. Violence between drug gangs recently led the United States temporarily to close its consulate in Nuevo Laredo, the busiest border-crossing point. The American ambassador bluntly criticises Mexico for its failure to prevent drug-related violence along the border. That has prompted retaliatory verbal blasts from Mexican officials.Canada's mood is not much more cordial. Since September 11th,Canadians and Americans alike have become less keen on popping over what they liked to call the world's longest undefended border for shopping or recreation. Canadians increasingly disagree with Americans over matters as varied as the Iraq war and gay marriage. They are disillusioned with NAFTA, claiming it has failed to prevent the United States from unlawfully punishing their exports of, for example, lumber.So what? Friction is in the nature of international relations, and the problems on the northern border are different from those in the south. Yet there is a common denominator. Americans tend to see security, migration, drugs, even trade, as domestic political issues. But so they are for Canada and Mexico too. Like it or not, Americans rely on their neighbours for prosperity, energy and help with security. It behooves all three countries to show some sympathetic understanding'".It can be inferred from the first paragraph that .A.the essential qualities of a true Pan Americanism were defined by Franklin RooseveltB. mutual understanding is one of the most far-reaching elements in North AmericaC. Few Americans may be aware of others' point of viewD. America's friendship with Canada and Mexico risks goingsourPolitical relationship is discussed in the text so as toA. illustrate Canada's cordial mood toward Mexico and AmericaB. interpret the improved neighbourly ties in North AmericaC. foretell the prospect of international relationsD. gauge the flow of illegal migrants from MexicoThe term "the south in the third paragraph most probably refers to .A.the Southern part of AmericaB. MexicoC.the Southern hemisphereD.the South AfricaAccording to the text, America and Canada have yet to reach consensus on .A.lumber exportB.the Iraq reconstructionC.homo marriageD.defense of the world's longest borderIn the last paragraph of the text, the author intends to defineA.the friction of the northern borderB.the significance of international tiesC.the difference between Canadians and MexicansD. the importance of being good neighbours11> It has long been the subject of speculation among the police and criminologists: what would happen if all the officers who now spend so much of their time taking statements, profiling criminals and moving pieces of paper around were suddenly put on the streets? Crime figures released by London's Metropolitan Police this week provide the best answer yet. Following the bombings of July 7th and 21st, thousands of police officers materialised on London's pavements, many of them sporting brightly coloured jackets. Drawn from all over the city, they were assigned to guard potential targets such as railway stations. The police presence was especially heavy in the bombed boroughs: Camden (which was struck three times), Hammersnrith and Fulham, Lamheth, Tower Hamlets, Westminster and the City of London.The show of force did not just scare off terrorists. There was less crime in July than in May or June, which as unusual: the warmer month tends to bring out criminal tendencies, as windows are left open and alcohol is imbibed alfresco. But the chilling effect was much stronger in the six boroughs that were targeted by terrorists. There, overall crime was down by 12% compared with July 2022. In inner London as a whole, crime fell by 6%. But in outer London, where the blue line was thinner, it went up slightly.Simon Foy, who tracks such trends at the Metropolitan Police, says that crime fell particularly steeply on the days of the attacks, partly because of the overwhelming police presence and partly because "even criminals were watching their televisions. What is significant is that crime barely rose thereafter. That was a change from the aftermath of September 11th 2022, when crime quickly soared just about everywhere一possibly because officers were deployed only in the very centre of London.“The received wisdom among criminologists is that marginal changes in visible patrolling have little or no effect on crime, zz says Mike Hough, a criminologist at King's College London. July's experiment should put that argument to rest. Even if offenders do not make rational calculations about the odds of being caughtwhich was low both before and after thebombingsthey will be moved by a display of overwhelming force.What does the word "materialise" mean in the second paragraph?A. bombB. investigateC.provokeD.appearWhich of the following facts, according to third paragraph of the text, will be taken for granted by British?A.The warmer month tends to result in criminal tendencies.B. Crime went up slightly in July 2022.C. The show of force did put an end to terrorists.D. Bombings are inevitable in outer London.It can be inferred from the text that the crime occurrence may be associated with .A. the trends which can be tracksB.the deployment of the blue lineC. the overwhelming presence of criminals in LondonD. the number of the days of terrorist attacksThe author's attitude toward Mike Hough's remark is .A.consentB. ambivalentC.denialD. approvalWhich of the following would be the best title for the text?A.London Bombings Are Severe.B.Terrorists Are Scared Off.C.Terrorism Cuts Crime.D. Marginal Changes Take Place.16> Last weekend, sportsmen and women of an unusually hardy disposition descended on Sherborne, a pretty Dorset town. There, they swam twice around Sherborne Castle's lake, cycled 180kin and then ran a marathon. The winners of this gruelling race一Britain's inaugural Ironman triathlon一were rewarded with a spot in a prestigious race in Hawaii, where yet more pain awaits.For a sport barely known in Britain five years ago, triathlon has grown at a sprinter5 s pace. This year the British Triathlon Association, the governing body, will sanction some 450 triathlons, duathlons (running and biking) and aquathlons (running and swimming). These vary from tough races aimed atendurance junkies to shorter events designed to lure newcomers.By far the most successful is the London triathlon, which, three weeks ago, brought 8,000一half of them first-timers一to the Royal Victoria Dock in east London. That made it the world's biggest.There are echoes of the jogging craze of the early 1980s. Both sports are American exports; both have grown partly thanks to television coverage. Inclusion in the Olympic and Commonwealth games has conferred credibility and state funding on triathlon. Even better, Britain's professional triathletes are doing rather well on the international circuit.There are practical reasons for the growth of the sport, too. Nick Rusling, event director of the London triathlon, points out that established events such as the London marathon and Great North Run are hugely over-subscribed (this year the marathon received 98,500 applications for 36,000 places). Triathlon offers a more reliable route to exhaustion, and a fresh challenge to athletes who are likely to cross-train anyway.The sport will not soon supplant the great suburban Everest”, as Chris Brasher, founder of the London marathon, described his event. The sport's tripartite nature means that putting onevents is fiendishly complex, a fact reflected in high entry fees: competitors at last weekend's Ironman race forked out £ 220. Shorter events are cheaper, but participants must still provide their own bicycles and wetsuits and pay for training. Compared with the inhabitants of Newham, the London borough where this year s London triathlon was held, competitors appeared overwhelmingly white and middle class.Another drag on growth is a shortage of suitable venues in a small island一a problem exacerbated by safety fears. But that ought to be less of a hindrance in future. Two court decisions, in 2022 and earlier this year, have firmly established that the owners of large bodies of water may not be held responsible when adults injure themselves as a result of extravagant sporting actions.The meaning of the word "grueHing in the first paragraph is most close to .A. competitiveB. exhaustingC. grandD. gruesome17、It can be learned from the second paragraph of the text that(11) silence. The man had disappeared under the water. Thousands of eyes (12) on the river, but the man was drowned. In 1902, a certain Miss Taylor decided to go over the falls in a barrel. There were different kinds of pillows inside the barrel to prevent her from (13). Having examined the barrel carefully, Miss Taylor got in. The barrel was closed and then (14) into the water. Having reached the falls, it overturned and was shot down by the terrible (15)of the water. When the barrel was finally caught and opened, Miss Taylor came out alive (16)with a frightened look in her eyes. Once a crowd of visitors saw a rope (17) over from one bank of the river to the other. Then they saw a man (18) the rope. The man was an actor, Blondin (19). He managed to cross Niagara Falls on a tight rope. The people on the bank were surprised at his (20) it so well.A. withinB. insideC. atD. on2、A. muchB. a great numberA.triathlon is a fast-growing sport in UKC. Britain used to be barely knownD. triathlon is a prestigious race in USAE. Hawaii used to be a spot of painsTriathlon, according to the text, originated in .A.BritainB.GreeceC. USAD. BrazilThe third arid fourth paragraphs concentrate on.A. the practical reasons for the growth of swimmingB.the echoes of jogging craze of the early 1980sC. the reasons for the wide television coverageD.the driving forces behind the development of triathlon 20、The elaboration in the last but one paragraph concernsA.one drag on the development of triathlonB. the rapid supplant of triathlonC.one notion advanced by Chris BrasherD.the emergence of overwhelmingly white and middle class21、 Part B (10 points)The following paragraphs are given in a wrong order. For Questions 41-45, you are required to reorganize these paragraphs into a coherent article by choosing from the list A-G. Some of the paragraphs have been placed for you. (10 points) A. Dr. Daniel Stanley, an oceanographer, has found volcanic shards in Egypt that he believes are linked to the explosion. Computer simulations by Mike Rampino, a climate modeler from New York University, show that the resulting ash cloud could have plunged the area into darkness, as well as generating lightning and hail, two of the 10 plagues.B. The cloud could have also reduced the rainfall, causing a drought. If the Nile had then been poisoned by the effects of the eruption, pollution could have turned it red, as happened in a recent environmental disaster in America. The same pollution could have driven millions of frogs on to the land, the second plague. On land the frogs would die, removing the only obstacle to an explosion of flies and lice一the third and fourth plagues. The flies could have transmitted fatal diseases to cattle (the fifth plague) and boils and blisters to humans (the sixth plague).C. Moses, which will be broadcast in December 2022, will suggest that much of the Bible story can be explained by a single natural disaster, a huge volcanic eruption on the Greek island of Santorini in the 16th century B. C.D. The hour long documentary argues that even the story of the parting of the Red Sea, which allowed Moses to lead the Hebrews to safety while the pursuing Egyptian army was drowned, may have its origins in the eruption. It repeats the theory that Red Sea is a mistranslation of the Sea of Reeds, a much shallower swamp.E. The programme tells the story of how Mose