考研英语阅读.pdf

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1、2005Text 2Do you remember all those years when scientists argued that smoking would kill us butthe doubters insisted that we didnt know for sure?That the evidence was inconclusive,thescience uncertain?That the antismoking lobby was out to destroy our way of life and thegovernment should stay out of

2、the way?Lots of Americans bought that nonsense,and overthree decades,some 10 million smokers went to early graves.There are upsetting parallels today,as scientists in one wave after another try to awakenus to the growing threat of global warming.The latest was a panel from the NationalAcademy of Sci

3、ences,enlisted by the White House,to tell us that the Earths atmosphere isdefinitely warming and that the problem is largely man-made.The clear message is that weshould get moving to protect ourselves.The president of the National Academy,BruceAlberts,added this key point in the preface to the paneF

4、s report:Science never has all theanswers.But science does provide us with the best available guide to the future,and it iscritical that our nation and the world base important policies on the best judgments thatscience can provide concerning the future consequences of present actions.Just as on smo

5、king,voices now come from many quarters insisting that the scienceabout global warming is incomplete,that its OK to keep pouring fumes into the air until weknow for sure.This is a dangerous game:by the time 100 percent of the evidence is in,itmay be too late.With the risks obvious and growing,a prud

6、ent people would take out aninsurance policy now.Fortunately,the White House is starting to pay attention.But its obvious that amajority of the presidents advisers still dont take global warming seriously.Instead of aplan of action,they continue to press for more research-a classic case of“paralysis

7、 byanalysis/5To serve as responsible stewards of the planet,we must press forward on deeperatmospheric and oceanic research.But research alone is inadequate.If the Administrationwont take the legislative initiative,Congress should help to begin fashioning conservationmeasures.A bill by Democratic Se

8、nator Robert Byrd of West Virginia,which would offerfinancial incentives for private industry,is a promising start.Many see that the country isgetting ready to build lots of new power plants to meet our energy needs.If we are evergoing to protect the atmosphere,it is crucial that those new plants be

9、 environmentally sound.26.An argument made by supporters of smoking was that.A there was no scientific evidence of the correlation between smoking and deathB the number of early deaths of smokers in the past decades was insignificantC people had the freedom to choose their own way of lifeD antismoki

10、ng people were usually talking nonsense27.According to Bruce Alberts,science can serve as,A a protector B a judgeC a critic D a guide28.What does the author mean by paralysis by analysis(Last line,Paragraph 4)?A Endless studies kill action.B Careful investigation reveals truth.C Prudent planning hin

11、ders progress.D Extensive research helps decision-making.29.According to the author;what should the Administration do about global warming?A Offer aid to build cleaner power plants.B Raise public awareness of conservation.C Press for further scientific research.D Take some legislative measures.30.Th

12、e author associates the issue of global warming with that of smoking because _.A they both suffered from the governments negligenceB a lesson from the latter is applicable to the formerC the outcome of the latter aggravates the formerD both of them have turned from bad to worse2Text 4Americans no lo

13、nger expect public figures,whether in speech or in writing,tocommand the English language with skill and gift.Nor do they aspire to such commandthemselves.In his latest book,Doing Our Own Thing:The Degradation of Language andMusic and Why We Should,Like,Care,John McWhorter,a linguist and controversi

14、alist ofmixed liberal and conservative views,sees the triumph of 1960s counter-culture asresponsible for the decline of formal English.Blaming the permissive 1960s is nothing new,but this is not yet another criticismagainst the decline in education.Mr.McWhorter?s academic speciality is language hist

15、oryand change,and he sees the gradual disappearance of“whom J for example,to be naturaland no more regrettable than the loss of the case-endings of Old English.But the cult of the authentic and the personal,“doing our own thing,“has spelt thedeath of formal speech,writing,poetry and music.While even

16、 the modestly educated soughtan elevated tone when they put pen to paper before the 1960s,even the most well regardedwriting since then has sought to capture spoken English on the page.Equally,in poetry,thehighly personal,performative genre is the only form that could claim real liveliness.In bothor

17、al and written English,talking is triumphing over speaking,spontaneity over craft.Illustrated with an entertaining array of examples from both high and low culture,thetrend that Mr.McWhorter documents is unmistakable.But it is less clear,to take thequestion of his subtitle,why we should,like,care.As

18、 a linguist,he acknowledges that allvarieties of human language,including non-standard ones like Black English,can bepowerfully expressive there exists no language or dialect in the world that cannot conveycomplex ideas.He is not arguing,as many do,that we can no longer think straight becausewe do n

19、ot talk proper.Russians have a deep love for their own language and carry large chunks of memorizedpoetry in their heads,while Italian politicians tend to elaborate speech that would seemold-fashioned to most English-speakers.Mr.McWhorter acknowledges that formal language3is not strictly necessary,a

20、nd proposes no radical education reforms he is really grievingover the loss of something beautiful more than useful.We now take our English“on paperplates instead of china.A shame,perhaps,but probably an inevitable one.36.According to McWhorter,the decline of formal Eng l i s h.AJ is inevitable in r

21、adical education reformsfB is but all too natural in language developmentC has caused the controversy over the counter-culture|D brought about changes in public attitudes in the 1960s37.The word“talking”(Line 6,Paragraph 3)d e n o t e s.IAJ modesty BJ personalityC liveliness D informality38.To which

22、 of the following statements would McWhorter most likely agree?AJ Logical thinking is not necessarily related to the way we talk.fB Black English can be more expressive than standard English.C Non-standard varieties of human language are just as entertaining.D Of all the varieties,standard English c

23、an best convey complex ideas.39.The description of Russians9 love of memorizing poetry shows the a u t h o r s.A interest in their language B appreciation of their effortsC admiration for their memory D contempt for their old-fashionedness40.According to the last paragraph,upaper plates”is to“china”

24、as.A temporary is to permanent”B radical”is to“conservative”C functional”is to“artistic”D humble”is to“noble42006Text 1In spite of“endless talk of difference,American society is an amazing machine forhomogenizing people.There is“the democratizing uniformity of dress and discourse,andthe casualness a

25、nd absence of deference“characteristic of popular culture.People areabsorbed into“a culture of consumption launched by the 19thcentuiy department stores thatoffered“vast arrays of goods in an elegant atmosphere.Instead of intimate shops catering toa knowledgeable elite,“these were stores“anyone coul

26、d enter,regardless of class orbackground.This turned shopping into a public and democratic act.The mass media,advertising and sports are other forces for homogenization.Immigrants are quickly fitting into this common culture,which may not be altogetherelevating but is hardly poisonous.Writing for th

27、e National Immigration Forum,GregoryRodriguez reports that todays immigration is neither at unprecedented levels nor resistant toassimilation.In 1998 immigrants were 9.8 percent of population;in 1900,13.6 percent.Inthe 10 years prior to 1990,3.1 immigrants arrived for every 1,000 residents;in the 10

28、 yearsprior to 1890,9.2 for every 1,000.Now,consider three indices of assimilation-language,home ownership and intermarriage.The 1990 Census revealed that“a majority of immigrants from each of the fifteen mostcommon countries of origin spoke English well or very well after ten years of residence.The

29、 children of immigrants tend to be bilingual and proficient in English.By the thirdgeneration,the original language is lost in the majority of immigrant families.Hence thedescription of America as a“graveyard for languages.By 1996 foreign-born immigrantswho had arrived before 1970 had a home ownersh

30、ip rate of 75.6 percent,higher than the69.8 percent rate among native-born Americans.Foreign-bom Asians and Hispanics“have higher rates of intermarriage than doU.S.-born whites and blacks.By the third generation,one third of Hispanic women aremarried to nonHispanics,and 41 percent of Asian-American

31、women are married tonon-Asians.5Rodriguez notes that children in remote villages around the world are fans of superstarslike Arnold Schwarzenegger and Garth Brooks,yet“some Americans fear that immigrantsliving within the United States remain somehow immune to the nations assimilative power.”Are ther

32、e divisive issues and pockets of seething anger in America?Indeed.It is bigenough to have a bit of everything.But particularly when viewed against Americasturbulent past,todays social indices hardly suggest a dark and deteriorating socialenvironment.21.The word“homogenizing”(Line 2,Paragraph 1)most

33、probably me ans.AJ identifying BJ associatingC assimilating D monopolizing22.According to the author,the department stores of the 19th c e n t u r y,A played a role in the spread of popular culturefB became intimate shops for common consumersCJ satisfied the needs of a knowledgeable eliteD owed its

34、emergence to the culture of consumption23.The text suggests that immigrants now in the U.S.AJ are resistant to homogenizationB exert a great influence on American cultureCJ are hardly a threat to the common cultureD constitute the majority of the population24.Why are Arnold Schwarzenegger and Garth

35、Brooks mentioned in Paragraph 5?A To prove their popularity around the world.B To reveal the publics fear of immigrants.C To give examples of successful immigrants.D To show the powerful influence of American culture.25.In the authors opinion,the absorption of immigrants into American society is_.AJ

36、 rewarding BJ successfulC fruitless D harmful6Text 4Many things make people think artists are weird.But the weirdest may be this:artists*only job is to explore emotions,and yet they choose to focus on the ones that feel bad.This wasnt always so.The earliest forms of art,like painting and music,are t

37、hose bestsuited for expressing joy.But somewhere from the 19th century onward,more artists beganseeing happiness as meaningless,phony or,worst of all,boring,as we went fromWordsworth daffodils to Baudelaire flowers of evil.You could argue that art became more skeptical of happiness because modern ti

38、meshave seen so much misery.But its not as if earlier times didn,t know perpetual war,disasterand the massacre of innocents.The reason,in fact,may be just the opposite:there is toomuch damn happiness in the world today.After all,what is the one modern form of expression almost completely dedicated t

39、odepicting happiness?Advertising.The rise of anti-happy art almost exactly tracks theemergence of mass media,and with it,a commercial culture in which happiness is not justan ideal but an ideology.People in earlier eras were surrounded by reminders of misery.They worked untilexhausted,lived with few

40、 protections and died young.In the West,before masscommunication and literacy,the most powerful mass medium was the church,whichreminded worshippers that their souls were in danger and that they would someday be meatfor worms.Given all this,they did not exactly need their art to be a bummer too.Toda

41、y the messages the average Westerner is surrounded with are not religious butcommercial,and forever happy.Fast-food eaters,news anchors,text messengers,all smiling,smiling,smiling.Our magazines feature beaming celebrities and happy families in perfecthomes.And since these messages have an agenda to

42、lure us to open our wallets-theymake the very idea of happiness seem unreliable.4Celebrate!commanded the ads for thearthritis drug Celebrex,before we found out it could increase the risk of heart attacks.But what we forget what our economy depends on us forgetting is that happiness7is more than plea

43、sure without pain.The things that bring the greatest joy carry the greatestpotential for loss and disappointment.Today,surrounded by promises of easy happiness,weneed art to tell us,as religion once did,Memento mori:remember that you will die,thateverything ends,and that happiness comes not in denyi

44、ng this but in living with it.Its amessage even more bitter than a clove cigarette,yet,somehow,a breath of fresh air.36.By citing the examples of poets Wordsworth and Baudelaire,the author intends toshow that.AJ poetry is not as expressive of joy as painting or musicB|art grows out of both positive

45、and negative feelingsC poets today are less skeptical of happinessD artists have changed their focus of interest37.The word“bummer”(Line 5,paragraph 5)most probably means something_.AJreligious B unpleasantC entertaining D commercial38.In the authors opinion,a d v e r t i s i n gIAJ emerges in the w

46、ake of the anti-happy artB is a cause of disappointment for the general publicC replaces the church as a major source of informationD creates an illusion of happiness rather than happiness itself39.We can iearn from the last paragraph that the author b e l i e v e s,AJ happiness more often than not

47、ends in sadnessB|the anti-happy art is distasteful but refreshingCl misery should be enjoyed rather than denied|D the anti-happy art flourishes when economy booms40.Which of the following is true of the text?A Religion once functioned as a reminder of misery.B Art provides a balance between expectat

48、ion and reality.C People feel disappointed at the realities of modern society.DJ Mass media are inclined to cover disasters and deaths.82007Text 1If you were to examine the birth certificates of every soccer player in 2006s World Cuptournament,you would most likely find a noteworthy quirk:elite socc

49、er players are morelikely to have been born in the earlier months of the year than in the later months.If youthen examined the European national youth teams that feed the World Cup and professionalranks,you would find this strange phenomenon to be even more pronounced.What might account for this str

50、ange phenomenon?Here are a few guesses:a)certainastrological signs confer superior soccer skills;b)winter-born babies tend to have higheroxygen capacity,which increases soccer stamina;c)soccer-mad parents are more likely toconceive children in springtime,at the annual peak of soccer mania;d)none of