2000-2012年考研英语历年真题.docx

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1、2012年考研英语试题Section I Use of EnglishDirections: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 ethical judgments of the Supreme Court justices have become an important issue recently. The court cannot _1_ its legitimacy

2、 as guardian of the rule of law _2_ justices behave like politicians. Yet, in several instances, just ices acted in ways that _3_ the court5 s reputation for being independent and impartial.Justice Antonin Scalia, for example, appeared at political events. That kind of activity makes it less likely

3、that the court5 s decisions wi11 be _4_ as impartial judgments. Part of the problem is that the justices are not _5_by an ethics code. At the very least, the court should make itself _6_to the code of conduct that _7_to the rest of the federa1 judiciary.This and other similar cases _8_the question o

4、f whether there is still a -9-between the court and politics.The f ramers of the Consti tut ion envisioned law _10_having authority apart from politics. They gave justices permanent positions -ll-they would be free to _12_ those in power and have no need to _13一 political support. Our legal system w

5、as designed to set law apart from politics precisely because they are so closely _14_.Constitutional law is political because it results from choices rooted in fundamenta1 social _15_ 1 ike 1 iberty and property. When the court deals with social pol icy decisions, the law i t _16_ is inescapably pol

6、 it ical-which is why decisions split along ideological lines are so easily _17_ as unjust.The justices must _18_ doubts about the court5 s legitimacy by making themselves _19_ to the code of conduct. That would make rulings more likely to be seen as separate from politics and, _20_, convincing as l

7、aw.1. A emphasize Bmaintain Cmodify D recognize2. A when B lest C before D unless3. A restored Bweakened C established D el iminated4. Acha1lenged Bcompromised Csuspected D accepted5. A advanced B caught C bound D founded6. A resistant B subject C immune D prone7. A resorts B sticks C loads Dappl ie

8、s8. A evade B raise C deny D set tle9. A line B barrier C similari ty Dconf 1 ict10. A by B as C though D towards11. A so B since C provided D though12.13.14.15.16.17.18.19.A serve B sat isfy C upset D replaceAconfirm Bexpress Ccultivate DofferAguarded Bfollowed Cstudied Dt iedAconcepts Btheories Cd

9、ivisions Dconcept ionsAexcludes Bquestions Cshapes DcontrolsAdismissed Breleased Cranked DdistortedA suppress B exploit C address D ignore20. A by al 1 mesns B ata 11Section 11 Reading Comprehensioncosts C in a word D as a resultAaccessible Bamiable Cagreeable DaccountablePart ADirect ions:Read the

10、following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choos ing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points) Text 1Come on - Everybody5 s doing it. That whispered message, half invitation and half forcing, is what most of us think of when we hear the words peer pressure. It

11、 usually leads to no good-drinking, drugs and casual sex. But in her new book Join the Club, Tina Rosenberg contends that peer pressure can also be a positive force through what she calls the social cure, in which organizations and officials use the power of group dynamics to help individuals improv

12、e their 1ives and possibly the word.Rosenberg, the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, offers a host of example of the social cure in action: In South Carolina, a state-sponsored antismoking program cal led Rage Against the Haze sets out to make cigarettes uncool. In South Africa, an HIV-prevention initi

13、ative known as LoveLife recruits young people to promote safe sex among their peers.The idea seems promising, and Rosenberg is a perceptive observer. Her critique of the lameness of many pubic-hea 1th campaigns is spot-on: they fail to mobi 1 ize peer pressure for hea 1 thy habits, and they demonstr

14、ate a seriously flawed understanding of psychology.w Dare to be different, please don t smoke! pleads one bi 11 board campaign aimed at reducing smoking among teenagers-teenagers, who desire nothing more than fitting in. Rosenberg argues convincingly that public-hea1 th advocates ought to take a pag

15、e from advertisers, so skilled at applying peer pressure.But on the general effectiveness of the social cure, Rosenberg is less persuas ive. Join the Club is f i 1 led with too much irrelevant detai 1 and not enough exploration of the social and biological factors that make peer pressure so powerful

16、. The most glaring flaw of the social cure as it s presented here is that it doesn t work very well for very long. Rage Against the Haze failed once state funding was cut. Evidence that the LoveLife program produces lasting changes is 1imited and mixed.There s no doubt that our peer groups exert eno

17、rmous influence on our behavior. An emerging body of research shows that posit ive hea 1th habits-as well as negative ones-spread through networks of friends via social communication. This is a subtle form of peer pressure: we unconsciously imitate the behavior we see every day.Far less certain, how

18、ever, is how successfully experts and bureaucrats can select our peer groups and steer their activities in virtuous directions. 11 s like the teacher who breaks up the troublemakers in the back row by pairing them with better-behaved classmates. The tactic never real ly works. And that s the problem

19、 with a social cure engineered from the outside: in the real world, as in school, we insist on choosing our own friends.21. According to the first paragraph, peer pressure often emerges asA a supplement to the social cureB a st imulus to group dynamicsC an obstacle to school progressD a cause of und

20、esirable behaviors22. Rosenberg holds that public advocates shouldA recruit professional advertisersB learn from advertisets5 experienceC stay away from commercial advertisersD recognize the 1imi tat ions of advert i sements23. In the author, s view, Rosenberg5 s book fails toA adequately probe soci

21、al and biological factorsB effectively evade the flaws of the social cureC i1 lustrate the functions of state fundingDproduce a long-lasting social effect24. Paragraph 5shows that our imi tat ion of behaviorsA is harmful to our networks of friendsB wi11 mislead behaviora1 studiesC occurs without our

22、 realizing itD can produce negative hea1th habits25. The author suggests in the last paragraph that the effect of peer pressure isA harmfulB desirableC profoundD questionableText 2A deal is a deal-except, apparently , when Entergy is involved. The company, a major energy supplier in New England, pro

23、voked justified outrage in Vermont last week when it announced it was reneging on a longstanding commitment to abide by the strict nuclear regulations.Instead, the company has done precisely what it had long promised it would not chailenge the constitutionality of Vermont5 s rules in the federal cou

24、rt, as part of a desperate effort to keep its Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant running. It5 s a stunning move.The conf 1ict has been surfacing since 2002, when the corporation bought Vermont5 s only nuclear power plant, an aging reactor in Vernon. As a condition of receiving state approva 1 for th

25、e sale, the company agreed to seek permission from state regulators to operate past 2012. In 2006, the state went a step further, requiring that any extension of the plant5 s license be subject to Vermont legislature5 s approval. Then, too, the company went along.Either Entergy never really intended

26、 to 1 ive by those commitments, or it simply didn5 t foresee what would happen next. A string of accidents, including the partial col lapse of a cooling tower in 207 and the discovery of an underground pipe system leakage, raised serious questions about both Vermont Yankee5 s safety and Entergy5 s m

27、anagementespecially after the company made misleading statements about the pipe. Enraged by Entergy, s behavior, the Vermont Senate voted 26 to 4 last year against allowing an extension.Now the company is suddenly claiming that the 2002 agreement is invalid because of the 2006 legislation, and that

28、only the federa1 government has regulatory power over nuclear issues. The legal issues in the case are obscure: whereas the Supreme Court has ruled that states do have some regulatory authority over nuclear power, legal scholars say that Vermont case wi11 offer a precedent-setting test of how far th

29、ose powers extend. Certainly, there are valid concerns about the patchwork regulations that could result if every state sets its own rules. But had Entergy kept its word, that debate would be beside the point.The company seems to have concluded that its reputation in Vermont is already so damaged th

30、at i t has not ing lef t to lose by going to war with the state. But there should be consequences. Permission to run a nuclear plant is a poblic trust. Entergy runs 11 other reactors in the Uni ted States, including PiIgrim Nuclear station in Plymouth. Pledging to run Pilgrim safely, the company has

31、 applied for federa1 permission to keep it open for another 20 years. But as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reviews the company5 s application, it should keep it mind what promises from Entergy are worth.26. The phrase “reneging on” (Line 3. para. 1) is closest in meaning toA condemning.B r

32、eaffirming.C dishonoring.D securing.27. By entering into the 2002 agreement, Entergy intended toA obtain protection from Vermont regulators.B seek favor from the federal legislature.C acquire an extension of its business 1icense .D get permission to purchase a power plant.28. According to Paragraph

33、4, Entergy seems to have problems with itsA managerial practices.B technical innovativeness.C financial goals.D business vision29. In the author5 s view, the Vermont case wi 11 testA Entergy5 s capacity to fulfill al 1 its promises.B the mature of states5 patchwork regulations.C the federal authorit

34、y over nuclear issues .D the 1imits of states5 power over nuclear issues.30. 11 can be inf erred f rom the last paragraph thatA Entergy5 s business elsewhere might be affected.B the authority of the NRC wi11 be defied.C Entergy wi11 withdraw its Plymouth application.D Vermont5 s reputation might be

35、damaged.Part BDirect ions:In the following text, some sentences have been removed. For Questions 41-45, choose the most suitable one from the list A-G to fit into each of the numbered blanks. There are two extra choices, which do not f i t in any of the blanks. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET1. (1

36、0 point s)Think of those fleeting moments when you look out of an aeroplane window and rea 1 ise that you are flying, higher than a bird. Now think of your laptop, thinner than a brown-paper envelope, or your ce1Iphone in the pa Im of your hand. Take a moment or two to wonder at those marvels. You a

37、re the lucky inheritor of a dream come true.The second half of the 20th century saw a col lection of geniuses, warriors, entrepreneurs and visionaries labour to create a fabulous machine that could function as a typewriter and printing press, studio and theatre, paintbrush and ga1lery, piano and rad

38、io, the mai1 as well as the mai 1 carrier. (41)The networked computer is an amazing device, the first media machine that serves as the mode of production, means of distribution, site of reception, and place of praise and critique. The computer is the 21st centurys culture machine.But for all the rea

39、sons there are to celebrate the computer, we must also tread with caution. (42) I ca 11 it a secret war for two reasons. First, most people do not realise that there are strong commercial agendas at work to keep them in passive consumpt ion mode. Second, the majority of people who use networked comp

40、uters to upload are not even aware of the significance of what they are doing.Al 1 animals download, but only a few upload. Beavers buiId dams and birds make nests. Yet for the most part, the animal kingdom moves through the world downloading. Humans are unique in their capacity to not only make too

41、ls but then turn around and use them to create superfluous material goods - paintings, sculpture and architecture - and superfluous experiences - music, 1iterature, religion and phi losophy. (43)For a 11 the poss ibi 1 i ties of our new cul ture machines, most people are still stuck in download mode

42、. Even after the advent of widespread social media, a pyramid of production remains, with a sma11 number of people uploading material, a slightly larger group commenting on or modifying that content, and a huge percentage remaining content to just consume. (44)Television is a one-way tap flowing int

43、o our homes. The hardest task that television asks of anyone is to turn the power off after he has turned i t on.(45)What counts as meaningful uploading? My def ini t ion revolves around the concept of stickiness - creations and experiences to which others adhere.A Of course, it is precisely these s

44、uperfluous things that define human culture and ultimately what it is to be human. Downloading and consuming culture requires great skills, but failing to move beyond downloading is to strip oneself of a defining constituent of humanity.B Applications like tumblr. com, which allow users to combine p

45、ictures, words and other media in creat ive ways and then share them, have the potential to add stickiness by amusing, entertaining and enlightening others.C Not only did they develop such a device but by the turn of the mil lennium they had also managed to embed it in a worldwide system accessed by

46、 bill ions of people every day.D This is because the networked computer has sparked a secret war between downloading and uploading - between passive consumption and active creat ion - whose outcome will shape our collect ive f uture in ways we can only begin to imagine.E The cha1lenge the computer m

47、ounts to television thus bears little s imi lar i ty to one format being replaced by another in the manner of record players being replaced by CD players.F One reason for the persistence of this pyramid of production is that for the past half-century, much of the worldz s media culture has been defi

48、ned by a single medium - television - and television is defined by downloading.GThe networked computer offers the first chance in 50 years to reverse the flow, to encourage thoughtful downloading and, even more importantly, meaningful uploading.Part CDirect ions:Read the following text careful ly and then translate the under 1 ined segments into Chinese. Your translation shoul