2021湖北考研英语二真题及答案.docx
2021湖北考研英语二真题及答案Section Use of English Directions: 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) It's not difficult to set targets for staff . It is much harder, 1 ,to understand their negative consequences. Most work-related behaviors have multiple components. 2 one and the others become distorted. Travel on a London bus and you'll 3 see how this works with drivers. Watch people get on and show their tickets. Are they carefully inspected? Never. Do people get on without paying? Of course ! Are there inspectors to 4 that people have paid? Possibly, but very few. And people who run for the bus? They are 5 . How about jumping lights? Buses do so almost as frequently as cyclists. Why? Because the target is 6 . People complained that buses were late and infrequent. 7 , the number of buses and bus lanes were increased, and drivers were 8 or punished according to the time they took. And drivers hit these targets. But they 9 hit cyclists. If the target was changed to 10 , you would have more inspectors and more sensitive pricing. If the criterion changed to safety, you would get more 11 drivers who obeyed traffic laws. But both these criteria would be at the expense of time. There is another 12 : people became immensely inventive in hitting targets. Have you 13 that you can leave on a flight an hour late but still arrive on time? Tailwinds? Of course not! Airlines have simply changed the time a 14 is meant to take. A one-hour fight is now ballad as a two-hour flight. The 15 of the story is simple. Most jobs are multidimensional, with multiple criteria. Choose one criterion and you may well 16 others. Everything Can be done faster and made cheaper, but there is a 17 . Setting targets can and does have unforeseen negativeconsequences. This is not an argument against target-setting. But it is an argument for exploring consequences first. All good targets should have multiple criteria 18 critical factors such as time, money, quality and customer feedback. The trick is not only to 19 just one or even two dimensions of the objective, but also to understand how to help people better 20 the objective.1. A therefore B however C again D moreover 2 .A Emphasizes B Identify C Asses D Explain 3. A nearly B curiously C eagerly D quickly 4. A claim B prove C check D recall 5. A threatened B ignored C mocked D blamed 6. A punctuality B hospitality C competition D innovation 7. A Yes B So C Besides D Still 8. A hired B trained C rewarded D grouped 9. A only B rather C once D also 10. A comfort Brevenue C efficiency D security 11. A friendly B quiet C cautious D diligent 12. A purpose B problem C prejudice D policy 13. A reported B revealed C admitted D noticed 14. A break B trip C departure D transfer 15. A moral B background C style D form 16. A interpret B criticize C sacrifice D tolerate 17. A task Bsecret C product D cast 18. A leading to B calling for C relating to D accounting for 19. A specify B predict C restore D create 20. A modify Breview C present Dachieve参考答案: 1.B however 2.A Emphasize 3. D quickly 4. C check 5. B ignored 6. A punctuality 7. BSo 8. C rewarded 9. D also 10.B revenue 11.C cautious 12.B problem 13.D noticed 14. B trip 15.B background 16.C sacrifice 17.D cost 18. C relating to 19.Aspecify 20. D achieveSection II Reading Comprehension Part A Directions: 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 1Reskilling is something that sounds like a buzzword but is actually a requirement if we plan to have a future where a lot of would-be workers do not get left behind. We know we are moving into a period where the jobs in demand will change rapidly, as will the requirements of the jobs that remain Research by the WEF detailed in the Harvard Business Review, finds that on average 42 percent of the “core skills " within job roles will change by 2022. That is a very short timeline, so we can only imagine what the changes will be further in the future.The question of who should pay for reskilling is a thorny one. For individual companies, the temptation is always to let go of workers whose skills are no longer in demand and replace them with those whose skills are. That does not always happen. AT&T is often given as the gold standard of a company who decided to do a massive reskilling program rather than go with a fire-and-hire strategy. Other companies had also pledged to create their own plans. When the skills mismatch is in the broader economy. Though, the focus usually tums to government to handle. Efforts in Canada and elsewhere have been arguably languid at best. And have given us a situation where we frequently hear of employers begging for workers. Even at times and in regions where unemployment is high. With the pandemic, unemployment is very high indeed. In February at 3.5 per cent and 5.5 P.C. respectively, unemployment rates in Canada and the United States were at generational lows and worker shortages were everywhere. As of May, those rates had spiked up to 13.3 per centand 13.7 per cent, and although many worker shortages had disappeared, not all had done so. In the medical field, to take an obvious example, the pandemic meant that there were still clean shortages of doctors, nurses and other medical personnel. Of course, it is not like you can take an unemployed waiter and train him to be a doctor in a few weeks, no matter who pays for it. But even if you cannot close the gap, maybe you can close others and doing so would be to the benefit of all concern. That seems to be the case in Sweden: when forced to furlough 90 PC. of their cabin staff. Scandinavian Airline decided to start up a short retaining program that reskilled the laid-off workers to support hospital staff. The effort was a collective one and involved other companies as well as a Swedish university. 21. Research by the World Economic Forum suggests . A an increase in full time employment Ban urgent demand for new job sills Ca steady growth of job opportunities Da controversy re about the“ core skills” 22. AT&T is cited to show . A an alternative to the fire-and-hire strategy B an immediate need for government support C the importance of staff appraisal standards Dthe characteristics of res- killing programs 23. Eflor1s to resolve the skills mismatch in Canada A have driven up labour costs B have proved to be inconsistent C have met with fierce opposition D have appeared to be insufficient 24. We can learn from Paragraph 3 that there was A a call for policy adjustment B a change in hiring practices C a lack of medical workers Da sign of economic recovery25. Scandinavian Airlines decided to . A create job vacancies for the unemployed B prepare their laid of workers for other jobs C retrain their cabin staff for better services D finance their staff" s college education 参考答案: 21、B an urgent demand for new job skills 22、Aan alternative to the fire and hire strategy 23、D have appeared to be insufficient 24、Ca lack of medical workers 25、B prepare their laid-off workers for other jobs Text2With the global population predicted to hit close to 10 billion by 2050, and forecasts that agricultural production in some regions will need to nearly double to keep pace, food security is increasingly making headlines. In the UK, it has become a big talking point recently too, for a rather particular reason: Brexit. Brexit is seen by some as an opportunity to reverse a recent trend towards the UK importing food. The country produces only about 60 per cent of the food it eats, down from almost three-quarters in the late 1980s. A move back to self-sufficiency, the argument goes, would boost the farming industry, political sovereignty and even the nation's health. Sounds great 一 but how feasible is this vision? According to a report on UK food production from the University of Leeds, UK, 85 per cent of the country's total land area is associated with meat and dairy production. That supplies 80 per cent of what is consumed, so even covering the whole country in livestock farms wouldn't allow us to cover all our meat and dairy needs.There are many caveats to those figures, but they are still grave. To become much more self-sufficient, the UK would need to drastically reduce its consumption of animal foods, and probably also farm more intensively 一 meaning fewer green fields, and more factory-style production. But switching to a mainly plant-based diet wouldn't help. There is a good reason why the UK is dominated by animal husbandry: most of its terrain doesn't have the right soil or climate to grow crops on a commercial basis. Just 25 per cent of the country's land is suitable for crop-growing, most of which is already occupied by arable fields. Even if we converted all the suitable land to fields of fruit and veg - which would involve taking out all the nature reserves and removing thousands of people from their homes - we would achieve only a 30 per cent boost in crop production. Just 23 per cent of the fruit and vegetables consumed in the UK are currently home-grown, so even with the most extreme measures we could meet only 30 per cent of our fresh produce needs. That is before we look for the space to grow the grains, sugars, seeds and oils that provide us with the vast bulk of our current calorie intake. 26. Some people argue that food self-sufficiency in the UK would_. A. be hindered by its population growth B. contribute to the nation's well-being C. become a priority of the government D. pose a challenge to its farming industry 27. The report by the University of Leeds shows that in the UK_. A. farmland has been inefficiently utilized B. factory-style production needs reforming C. most land is used for meat and dairy production D. more green fields will be converted for farming 28. Crop-growing in the UK is restricted due to_. A. its farming technology B. its dietary tradition C. its natural conditions D. its commercial interests 29. It can be learned from the last paragraph that British people_. A. rely largely on imports for fresh produce B. enjoy a steady rise in fruit consumption C. are seeking effective ways to cut calorie intake D. are trying to grow new varieties of grains 30. The author's attitude to food self-sufficiency in the UK is_. A. defensive B. doubtful C. tolerant D. Optimistic 参考答案 26.B contribute to the nation's well. being 27.C most land is used for meat and dairy production 28. C its natural conditions 29. A rely largely on imports for fresh produce 30. B doubtful Text 3When Microsoft bought task management app Wunderlist and mobile calendar Sunrise in 2015, it picked two newcomers that were attracting considerable buzz in Silicon Valley. Microsoft's own Office dominates the market for "productivity” software, but the start-ups represented a new wave of technology designed from the ground up for the smartphone world. Both apps, however, were later scrapped after Microsoft said it had used their best features in its own products. Their teams of engineers stayed on, making them two of the many“acqui-hires" that the biggest companies have used to feed their great hunger for tech talentTo Microsoft's critics, the fates of Wunderlist and Sunrise are examples of a remorseless drive by Big Tech to chew up any innovative companies that lie in their path. "They bought the seedlings and closed them down," complained Paul Arnold, a partner at San Francisco-based Switch Ventures, putting an end to businesses that might one day turn into competitors. Microsoft declined to comment. Like other start-up investors, Mr Arnold's own business often depends on selling start: ups to larger tech companies, though he admits to mixed feelings about the result:“I think these things are good for me, if I put my selfish hat on. But are they good for the American economy? I don't know."The US Federal Trade Commission says it wants to find the answer to that question. This week, it asked the five most valuable US tech companies for information about their many small acquisitions over the past decade. Although only a rescarch project at this stage, the request has raised the prospect of regulators wading into early-stage tech markets that until now have been beyond their reach. Given their combined market value of more than 5.5 trillion, rifling through such small Deals - many of them much less prominent than Wunderlist and Sunrise- might seem beside the point. Between them, the five biggest tech companies have spent an average of only 3.4 billion a year on sub-$1 billion acquisitions over the past five years- a drop in the ocean compared with their massive financial reserves, and the more than 130 billion of venture capital that was invested in the Us last year. However, critics say the big companies use such deals to buy their most threatening potential competitors before their businesses have a chance to gain momentum, in some cases as part of a "buy and kill tactic to simply close them down. 31. What is true about Wunderlist and Sunrise after their acquisitions? A. Their engineers were retained. B. Their market values declined. C. Their tech features improved. D. Their products were re priced. 32. Microsoft's critics believe that the big tech companies tend to _A exaggerate their product quality B. eliminate their potential competitors C. treat new tech talent unfairly D. ignore public opinions 33. Paul Arnold is concerned that small acquisitions might . A. weaken big tech companies B. worsen market competition C. harm the national economy D. discourage start-up investors 34. The US Federal Trade Commission intends to _. A. limit Big Tech's expansion B. encourage research collaboration C. examine small acquisitions D. supervise start-ups operations 35. For the five biggest tech companies, their small acquisitions have . A. brought little financial pressure B. raised few management challenges C. set a example for future deals D. generated considerable profits 参考答案: 31. A Their engineers were retained. 32