2014考研英语真题英语一阅读部分(共9页).doc

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1、精选优质文档-倾情为你奉上Text 1 In order to “change lives for the better” and reduce “dependency,” George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced the “upfront work search” scheme. Only if the jobless arrive at the jobcentre with a CV, register for online job search, and start looking for work will they

2、 be eligible for benefit and then they should report weekly rather than fortnightly. What could be more reasonable? More apparent reasonableness followed. There will now be a seven-day wait for the jobseekers allowance. “Those first few days should be spent looking for work, not looking to sign on,”

3、 he claimed. “Were doing these things because we know they help people stay off benefits and help those on benefits get into work faster.” Help? Really? On first hearing, this was the socially concerned chancellor, trying to change lives for the better, complete with “reforms” to an obviously indulg

4、ent system that demands too little effort from the newly unemployed to find work, and subsidises laziness. What motivated him, we were to understand, was his zeal for “fundamental fairness” protecting the taxpayer, controlling spending and ensuring that only the most deserving claimants received the

5、ir benefits.Losing a job is hurting: you dont skip down to the jobcentre with a song in your heart, delighted at the prospect of doubling your income from the generous state. It is financially terrifying, psychologically embarrassing and you know that support is minimal and extraordinarily hard to g

6、et. You are now not wanted; you are now excluded from the work environment that offers purpose and structure in your life. Worse, the crucial income to feed yourself and your family and pay the bills has disappeared. Ask anyone newly unemployed what they want and the answer is always: a job.But in O

7、sborneland, your first instinct is to fall into dependency permanent dependency if you can get it supported by a state only too ready to indulge your falsehood. It is as though 20 years of ever-tougher reforms of the job search and benefit administration system never happened. The principle of Briti

8、sh welfare is no longer that you can insure yourself against the risk of unemployment and receive unconditional payments if the disaster happens. Even the very phrase “jobseekers allowance” is about redefining the unemployed as a “jobseeker” who had no fundamental right to a benefit he or she has ea

9、rned through making national insurance contributions. Instead, the claimant receives a time-limited “allowance,” conditional on actively seeking a job; no entitlement and no insurance, at 71.70 a week, one of the least generous in the EU.21.George Osbornes scheme was intended to_.A provide the unemp

10、loyed with easier access to benefitsB encourage jobseekers active engagement in job seekingC motivate the unemployed to report voluntarilyD guarantee jobseekers legitimate right to benefits22.The phrase “to sign on”（Line 2, Para. 2）most probably means_.A to check on the availability of jobs at the j

11、obcentreB to accept the governments restrictions on the allowanceC to register for an allowance from the governmentD to attend a governmental job-training program23.What promoted the chancellor to develop his scheme?A A desire to secure a better life for all.B An eagerness to protect the unemployed.

12、C An urge to be generous to the claimants.D A passion to ensure fairness for taxpayers.24.According to Paragraph 3, being unemployed makes one feel_.A uneasyB enragedC insultedD guilty25.To which of the following would the author most probably agree?A The British welfare system indulges jobseekers l

13、aziness.B Osbornes reforms will reduce the risk of unemployment.C The jobseekers allowance has met their actual needs.D Unemployment benefits should not be made conditional.Text 2All around the world, lawyers generate more hostility than the members of any other profession with the possible exceptio

14、n of journalism. But there are few places where clients have more grounds for complaint than America.During the decade before the economic crisis, spending on legal services in America grew twice as fast as inflation. The best lawyers made skyscrapers-full of money, tempting ever more students to pi

15、le into law schools. But most law graduates never get a big-firm job. Many of them instead become the kind of nuisance-lawsuit filer that makes the tort system a costly nightmare.There are many reasons for this. One is the excessive costs of a legal education. There is just one path for a lawyer in

16、most American states: a four-year undergraduate degree in some unrelated subjects, then a three-year law degree at one of 200 law schools authorized by the American Bar Association and an expensive preparation for the bar exam. This leaves todays average law-school graduate with $100,000 of debt on

17、top of undergraduate debts. Law-school debt means that many cannot afford to go into government or non-profit work, and that they have to work fearsomely hard.Reforming the system would help both lawyers and their customers. Sensible ideas have been around for a long time, but the state-level bodies

18、 that govern the profession have been too conservative to implement them. One idea is to allow people to study law as an undergraduate degree. Another is to let students sit for the bar after only two years of law school. If the bar exam is truly a stern enough test for a would-be lawyer, those who

19、can sit it earlier should be allowed to do so. Students who do not need the extra training could cut their debt mountain by a third.The other reason why costs are so high is the restrictive guild-like ownership structure of the business. Except in the District of Columbia, non-lawyers may not own an

20、y share of a law firm. This keeps fees high and innovation slow. There is pressure for change from within the profession, but opponents of change among the regulators insist that keeping outsiders out of a law firm isolates lawyers from the pressure to make money rather than serve clients ethically.

21、In fact, allowing non-lawyers to own shares in law firms would reduce costs and improve services to customers, by encouraging law firms to use technology and to employ professional managers to focus on improving firms efficiency. After all, other countries, such as Australia and Britain, have starte

22、d liberalizing their legal professions. America should follow.26.A lot of students take up law as their profession due to_.A the growing demand from clientsB the increasing pressure of inflationC the prospect of working in big firmsD the attraction of financial rewards27.Which of the following adds

23、to the costs of legal education in most American states?A Higher tuition fees for undergraduate studies.B Admissions approval from the bar association.C Pursuing a bachelors degree in another major.D Receiving training by professional associations.28.Hindrance to the reform of the legal system origi

24、nates from_.A lawyers and clients strong resistanceB the rigid bodies governing the professionC the stern exam for would-be lawyersD non-professionals sharp criticism29.The guild-like ownership structure is considered “restrictive” partly because it_.A bans outsiders involvement in the professionB k

25、eeps lawyers from holding law-firm sharesC aggravates the ethical situation in the tradeD prevents lawyers from gaining due profits30.In this text, the author mainly discusses_.A flawed ownership of Americas law firms and its causesB the factors that help make a successful lawyer in AmericaC a probl

26、em in Americas legal profession and solutions to itD the role of undergraduate studies in Americas legal educationText 3The US$3-million Fundamental Physics Prize is indeed an interesting experiment, as Alexander Polyakov said when he accepted this years award in March. And it is far from the only o

27、ne of its type. As a News Feature article in Nature discusses, a string of lucrative awards for researchers have joined the Nobel Prizes in recent years. Many, like the Fundamental Physics Prize, are funded from the telephone-number-sized bank accounts of Internet entrepreneurs. These benefactors ha

28、ve succeeded in their chosen fields, they say, and they want to use their wealth to draw attention to those who have succeeded in science.Whats not to like? Quite a lot, according to a handful of scientists quoted in the News Feature. You cannot buy class, as the old saying goes, and these upstart e

29、ntrepreneurs cannot buy their prizes the prestige of the Nobels. The new awards are an exercise in self-promotion for those behind them, say scientists. They could distort the achievement-based system of peer-review-led research. They could cement the status quo of peer-reviewed research. They do no

30、t fund peer-reviewed research. They perpetuate the myth of the lone genius.The goals of the prize-givers seem as scattered as the criticism. Some want to shock, others to draw people into science, or to better reward those who have made their careers in research.As Nature has pointed out before, the

31、re are some legitimate concerns about how science prizes both new and old are distributed. The Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, launched this year, takes an unrepresentative view of what the life sciences include. But the Nobel Foundations limit of three recipients per prize, each of whom must s

32、till be living, has long been outgrown by the collaborative nature of modern research as will be demonstrated by the inevitable row over who is ignored when it comes to acknowledging the discovery of the Higgs boson. The Nobels were, of course, themselves set up by a very rich individual who had dec

33、ided what he wanted to do with his own money. Time, rather than intention, has given them legitimacy.As much as some scientists may complain about the new awards, two things seem clear. First, most researchers would accept such a prize if they were offered one. Second, it is surely a good thing that

34、 the money and attention come to science rather than go elsewhere. It is fair to criticize and question the mechanism that is the culture of research, after all but it is the prize-givers money to do with as they please. It is wise to take such gifts with gratitude and grace.31.The Fundamental Physi

35、cs Prize is seen as_.A a symbol of the entrepreneurs wealthB a possible replacement of the Nobel PrizesC an example of bankers investmentD a handsome reward for researchers32.The critics think that the new awards will most benefit_.A the profit-oriented scientistsB the founders of the new awardsC th

36、e achievement-based systemD peer-review-led research33.The discovery of the Higgs boson is a typical case which involves_.A controversies over the recipients statusB the joint effort of modern researchersC legitimate concerns over the new prizesD the demonstration of research findings34.According to

37、 Paragraph 4, which of the following is true of the Nobels?A Their endurance has done justice to them.B Their legitimacy has long been in dispute.C They are the most representative honor.D History has never cast doubt on them.35.The author believes that the new awards are_.A acceptable despite the c

38、riticismB harmful to the culture of researchC subject to undesirable changesD unworthy of public attentionText 4“The Heart of the Matter,” the just-released report by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences（AAAS）, deserves praise for affirming the importance of the humanities and social sciences t

39、o the prosperity and security of liberal democracy in America. Regrettably, however, the reports failure to address the true nature of the crisis facing liberal education may cause more harm than good.In 2010, leading congressional Democrats and Republicans sent letters to the AAAS asking that it id

40、entify actions that could be taken by “federal, state and local governments, universities, foundations, educators, individual benefactors and others” to “maintain national excellence in humanities and social scientific scholarship and education.” In response, the American Academy formed the Commissi

41、on on the Humanities and Social Sciences. Among the commissions 51 members are top-tier-university presidents, scholars, lawyers, judges, and business executives, as well as prominent figures from diplomacy, filmmaking, music and journalism.The goals identified in the report are generally admirable.

42、 Because representative government presupposes an informed citizenry, the report supports full literacy; stresses the study of history and government, particularly American history and American government; and encourages the use of new digital technologies. To encourage innovation and competition, t

43、he report calls for increased investment in research, the crafting of coherent curricula that improve students ability to solve problems and communicate effectively in the 21st century, increased funding for teachers and the encouragement of scholars to bring their learning to bear on the great chal

44、lenges of the day. The report also advocates greater study of foreign languages, international affairs and the expansion of study abroad programs.Unfortunately, despite 14-06 years in the making, “The Heart of the Matter” never gets to the heart of the matter: the illiberal nature of liberal educati

45、on at our leading colleges and universities. The commission ignores that for several decades Americas colleges and universities have produced graduates who dont know the content and character of liberal education and are thus deprived of its benefits. Sadly, the spirit of inquiry once at home on cam

46、pus has been replaced by the use of the humanities and social sciences as vehicles for publicizing “progressive,” or left-liberal propaganda.Today, professors routinely treat the progressive interpretation of history and progressive public policy as the proper subject of study while portraying conse

47、rvative or classical liberal ideas such as free markets or self-reliance as falling outside the boundaries of routine, and sometimes legitimate, intellectual investigation.The AAAS displays great enthusiasm for liberal education. Yet its report may well set back reform by obscuring the depth and bre

48、adth of the challenge that Congress asked it to illuminate.36.According to Paragraph 1, what is the authors attitude toward the AAASs report?A Critical.B Appreciative.C Contemptuous.D Tolerant.37.Influential figures in the Congress required that the AAAS report on how to _.A retain peoples interest in liberal ed