英语阅读考研2.pdf

《英语阅读考研2.pdf》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《英语阅读考研2.pdf（36页珍藏版）》请在淘文阁 - 分享文档赚钱的网站上搜索。

1、Pa s s a g e 1I n 193 9 t w o b r o t h e r s,Ma c a n d D i c k Mc D o n a ld,s t a r t e d a d r i v e-i n r e s t a ur a n t i nS a n B e r n a d i n o,C a li f o r n i a.T h e y c a r e f ully c h o s e a b us y c o r n e r f o r t h e i r lo c a t i o n.T h e y h a d r un t h e i r o w n b us i

2、 n e s s e s f o r y e a r s,f i r s t a t h e a t e r,t h e n a b a r b e c ue （烤肉）r e s t a ur a n t,a n d t h e n a n o t h e r d r i v e-i n.B ut i n t h e i r n e w o pe r a t i o n,t h e y o f f e r e da n e w,s h o r t e n e d me n u:F r e n c h f r i e s,h a mb ur g e r s,a n d s o d a s.T o

3、 t h i s s ma ll s e le c t i o nt h e y a d d e d o n e n e w c o n c e pt:q ui c k s e r v i c e,n o w a i t e r s o r w a i t r e s s e s,a n d n o t i ps.T h e i r h a mb ur g e r s s o ld f o r f i f t e e n c e n t s.C h e e s e w a s a n o t h e r f o ur c e n t s.T h e i rF r e n c h f r i e

4、 s a n d h a mb ur g e r s h a d a r e ma r ka b le un i f o r mi t y,f o r t h e b r o t h e r s h a dd e v e lo pe d a s t r i c t r o ut i n e f o r t h e pr e pa r a t i o n o f t h e i r f o o d,a n d t h e y i n s i s t e d o nt h e i r c o o ks，s t i c ki n g t o t h e i r r o ut i n e.T h e

5、i r n e w d r i v e-i n b e c a me i n c r e d i b ly po pula r,pa r t i c ula r ly f o r lun c h.Pe o ple d r o v e up b y t h e h un d r e d s d ur i n g t h e b us y n o o n t i me.T h e s e lf-s e r v i c e r e s t a ur a n t w a s s o po pula r t h a t t h e b r o t h e r s h a d a llo w e d t

6、e n c o pi e so f t h e i r r e s t a ur a n t t o b e o pe n e d.T h e y w e r e c o n t e n t w i t h t h i s mo d e s t s uc c e s s un t i lt h e y me t Ra y K r o c.K r o c w a s a s a le s ma n w h o me t t h e Mc D o n a ld b r o t h e r s i n 195 4,w h e n h e w a s s e lli n gmi lk s h a ke

7、-mi x i n g ma c h i n e s.H e q ui c kly s a w t h e un i q ue a ppe a l o f t h e b r o t h e r s，f a s t-f o o d r e s t a ur a n t s a n d b o ug h t t h e r i g h t t o f r a n c h i s e （特许经营）o t h e r c o pi e s o ft h e i r r e s t a ur a n t s.T h e a g r e e me n t s t r uc k i n c lud e d

8、 t h e r i g h t t o d upli c a t e t h e me n u.T h e e q ui pme n t,e v e n t h e i r r e d a n d w h i t e b ui ld i n g s w i t h t h e g o ld e n a r c h e s （拱门）.T o d a y Mc D o n a ld s i s r e a lly a h o us e h o ld n a me.I t s n a me s f o r i t s s a n d w i c h e s h a v ec o me t o me

9、 a n h a mb ur g e r i n t h e d e c a d e s s i n c e t h e d a y Ra y K r o c w a t c h e d pe o ple r us hup t o o r d e r f i f t e e n-c e n t h a mb ur g e r s.I n 197 6,Mc D o n a ld,s h a d o v e r$1 b i lli o n i nt o t a l s a le s.I t s f i r s t t w e n t y-t w o y e a r s i s o n e o f

10、t h e mo s t i n c r e d i b le s uc c e s s s t o r i e si n mo d e r n Ame r i c a n b us i n e s s h i s t o r y.1.T h i s pa s s a g e ma i n ly t a lks a b o utA）t h e d e v e lo pme n t o f f a s t f o o d s e r v i c e sB）h o w Mc D o n a ld s b e c a me a b i lli o n-d o lla r b us i n e s s

11、C）t h e b us i n e s s c a r e e r s o f Ma c a n d D i c k Mc D o n a ldD）Ra y K r o c s b us i n e s s t a le n t2.Mac and Dick managed all of the following businesses e x c e p t.A)a drive-inB)a cinemaC)a theaterD)a barbecue restaurant3.W e may infer from this passage that.A)Mac and Dick McDonald

12、 never became wealthy for they sold their idea to KrocB)The location the McDonalds chose was the only source of the great popularityof their drive-inC)Forty years ago there were numerous fast-food restaurantsD)Ray Kroc was a good businessman4.The passage suggests t hat.A)creativity is an important e

13、lement of business successB)Ray Kroc was the close partner of the McDonald brothersC)Mac and Dick McDonald became broken after they sold their ideas to Ray KrocD)California is the best place to go into business5.As used in the second sentence of the third paragraph,the w orduniquem eans.A)specialB)f

14、inancialC)attractiveD)peculiarPassage2Youre busy filling out the application form for a position you really need;lets assume youonce actually completed a couple of years of college work or even that you completed your degree.Isnt it tempting to lie just a little,to claim on the form that your diplom

15、a represents a Harvarddegree?Or that you finished an extra couple of years back at State University?More and more people are turning to utter deception like this to land their job or to moveahead in their careers,for personnel officers,like most Americans,value degrees from famousschools.A job appli

16、cant may have a good education anyway,but he or she assumes that chances ofbeing hired are better with a diploma from a well-known university.Registrars at mostwell-known colleges say they deal with deceitful claims like these at the rate of about one perweek.Personnel officers do check up on degree

17、s listed on application forms,then.If it turns out thatan applicants lying,most colleges are reluctant to accuse the applicant directly.One Ivy Leagueschool calls them impostors(骗子)；another refers to them asspecial cases.One well-known WestCoast school,in perhaps the most delicate phrase of all,says

18、 that these claims are made by nosuch people.To avoid outright(彳切底的)lies,some job-seekers claim that they attended or were associatedwith a college or university.After carefully checking,a personnel officer may discover thatattending means being dismissed after one semester.It may be that being asso

19、ciated with a collegemeans that the job-seeker visited his younger brother for a football weekend.One school thatkeeps records of false claims says that the practice dates back at least to the turn of thecentury-thats when they began keeping records,anyhow.If you dont want to lie or even stretch the

20、 truth,there are companies that will sell you aphony(假 的)diploma.One company,with offices in New York and on the West Coast,will putyour name on a diploma from any number of non-existent colleges.The price begins at aroundtwenty dollars for a diploma from Smoot State University.The prices increase r

21、apidly for a degreefrom the University of Purdue.As there is no Smoot State and the real school in Indiana properlycalled Purdue University,the prices seem rather high for one sheet of paper.6.The main idea of this passage is that.A)employers are checking more closely on applicants nowB)lying about

22、college degrees has become a widespread problemC)college degrees can now be purchased easilyD)employers are no longer interested in college degrees7.According to the passage,special cases refer to cases wher e.A)students attend a school only part-timeB)students never attended a school they listed on

23、 their applicationC)students purchase false degrees from commercial filmsD)students attended a famous school8.W e can infer from the passage that.A)performance is a better judge of ab ility that a college degreeB)experience is the best teacherC)past work histories influence personnel officers more t

24、han degrees doD)a degree from a famous school enables an applicant to gain advantage overothers in job petition9.This passage implies thatA)buying a false degree is not moralB)personnel officers only consider applicants from famous schoolsC)most people lie on applications because they were dismissed

25、 from schoolD)society should be greatly responsible for lying on applications10.As used in the first line of the second paragraph,the word utter m e a n s.A)addressB)thoroughC)ultimateD)decisivePassage 3Everyone has heard of the San Andreas fault(断 层),which constantly threatensCalifornia and the Wes

26、t Coast with earthquakes.But how many people know about theequally serious New Madrid fault in Missouri?Between December of 1811 and February of 1812,three major earthquakes occurred,all centered around the town of New Madrid,Missouri,on the Mississippi River.Property damage was severe.Buildings in

27、the area were almost destroyed.Wholeforests fell at once,and huge cracks opened in the ground,allowing smell of sulfur(硫 磺)to filter upward.The Mississippi River itself completely changed character,developing suddenrapids and whirlpools.Several times it changed its course,and once,according tosome o

28、bservers,it actually appeared to run backwards.Eew people were killed in theNew Mar id earthquakes,probably simply because few people lived in the area in 1811;but the severity of the earthquakes are shown by the fact that the shock waves rangbells in church towers in Charleston,South Carolina,on th

29、e coast.Buildings shookin New York City,and clocks wer stopped in Washington,D.C.Scientists now knowthat Americas two major faults are essentially different.The San Andreas is ah o r i zo n t a l b o un d a r y b e t w e e n t w o ma jo r la n d ma s s e s t h a t a r e s lo w ly mo v i n g i n o pp

30、o s i t ed i r e c t i o n s.C a li f o r n i a e a r t h q ua ke s r e s ult w h e n t h e mo v e me n t o f t h e s e t w o ma s s e ss ud d e n ly lur c h e s (倾斜)f o r w a r d.T h e N e w Ma d r i d f a ult,o n t h e o t h e r h a n d,i s a v e r t i c a l f a ult;a t s o me po i n t s,po s s i

31、b ly h un d r e d s o f mi lli o n s o f y e a r s a g o,r o c k w a s pus h e d up t o w a r d t h e s ur f a c e,pr o b a b ly b y v o lc a n o e s un d e r t h e s ur f a c e.S ud d e n ly,t h e v o lc a n o e s c o o le d a n d t h e r o c kc o lla ps e d,le a v i n g h ug e c r a c ks.E v e n n

32、 o w,t h e r o c k c o n t i n ue s t o s e t t le d o w n w a r d s,a n d s ud d e n s i n ki n g mo t i o n s t r i g g e r (触发)e a r t h q ua ke s i n t h e r e g i o n.T h e f a ulti t s e lf,a la r g e c r a c k i n t h i s la y e r o f r o c k,w i t h d o ze n s o f o t h e r c r a c ks t h a

33、t s pli to f f f r o m i t,e x t e n d s f r o m n o r t h e a s t Ar ka n s a s t h r o ug h Mi s s o ur i a n d i n t o s o ut h e r nI lli n o i s.S c i e n t i s t s w h o h a v e s t ud i e d t h e N e w Ma d r i d f a ult s a y t h e r e h a v e b e e n n ume r o uss ma lle r q ua ke s i n t h

34、 e a r e a s i n c e 18 11;t h e s e s ma lle r q ua ke s i n d i c a t e t h a t la r g e ro n e s a r e pr o b a b ly c o mi n g,b ut t h e s c i e n t i s t s s a y h a v e n o me t h o d o f pr e d i c t i n g w h e na la r g e e a r t h q ua ke w i ll o c c ur.11.T h i s pa s s a g e i s ma i n

35、 ly a b o ut.A)t h e N e w Ma d r i d f a ult i n Mi s s o ur iB)t h e S a n An d r e a s a n d t h e N e w Ma d r i d f a ult sC)t h e c a us e s o f f a ult sD)c ur r e n t s c i e n t i f i c kn o w le d g e a b o ut f a ult s12.T h e N e w Ma d r i d f a ult is.A)a h o r i zo n t a l f a ultB)a

36、v e r t i c a l f a ultC)a mo r e s e r i o us f a ult t h a n t h e S a n An d r e a s f a ultD)r e s po n s i b le f o r f o r mi n g t h e Mi s s i s s i ppi Ri v e r13.We ma y c o n c lud e f r o m t h e pa s s a g e that.A)i t i s pr o b a b ly a s d a n g e r o us t o li v e i n Mi s s o ur i

37、a s i n C a li f o r n i aB)t h e N e w Ma d r i d f a ult w i ll e v e n t ua lly d e v e lo p a mo un t a i n r a n g e i n Mi s s o ur iC)C a li f o r n i a w i ll b e c o me a n i s la n d i n f ut ur eD)A b i g e a r t h q ua ke w i ll o c c ur t o C a li f o r n i a s o o n14.T h i s pa s s a

38、g e i mpli e s that.A)h o r i zo n t a l f a ult s a r e mo r e d a n g e r o us t h a n v e r t i c a l f a ult s.B)Ve r t i c a l f a ult s a r e mo r e d a n g e r o us t h a n h o r i zo n t a l f a ult sC)E a r t h q ua ke s o c c ur o n ly a r o un d f a ult a r e a sD)C a li f o r n i a w i l

39、l b r e a k i n t o pi e c e s b y a n e v e n t ua l e a r t h q ua ke15.As us e d i n t h e f i r s t s e n t e n c e o f t h e f o ur t h pa r a g r a ph,t h e w o r d e s s e n t i a llyme a n s.A)g r e a t lyC)b a s i c a llyB)e x t r e me lyD)n e c e s s a r i lyPa s s a g e 4Those who welcome

40、d the railway saw it as more than a rapid and comfortable means ofpassing.They actually saw it as afactor in world peace.They did not foresee that the railwaywould be just one more means for the rapid movement of aggressive armies.None of themforesaw that the more weare together-the more chances the

41、re are of war.Any boy or girl who isone of a large family knows that.Whenever any new invention is put forward,those for it and those against it can always findmedical men to approve or condemn.The anti-railway group produced doctors who said thattunnels would be most dangerous to public health:they

42、 would produce colds,catan-hs(粘膜炎)and consumptions.The deafening noise and the glare of the engine fire,would have a bad effecton the nerves.Further,being moved through the air at a high speed would do grave injury todelicate lungs.In those with high blood-pressure,the movement of the train might pr

43、oduceapoplexy(中 风).The sudden plunging of a train into the darkness of a tunnel,and the equallysudden rush into full daylight,would cause great damage to eyesight.But the pro-railway groupwas of course able to produce equally famous medical men to say just the opposite.They said thatthe speed and sw

44、ing of the train would equalize the circulation,promote digestion,tranquilize thenerves,and ensure good sleep.The actual rolling-stock was anything but comfortable.If it was a test of endurance to sit forfour hours outside a coach in rain,or inside in dirty air,the railway offered little more in the

45、 wayof comfort.Certainly the first-class carriages had cushioned seats;but the second-class had onlynarrow bare boards,while the third-class had nothing al all;no seats and no roof;they were justopen trucks.So that third-class passengers gained nothing from the few mode except speed.In thematter of

46、comfort,indeed they lost;they did,on the coaches,have a seat,but now they had tostand all the way,which gave opportunities to the comic(滑稽的)press.This kind of thing:Aman was seen yesterday buying a third-class ticket for the new London and Birmingham Railway.The state of his mind is being enquired i

47、nto.A writer in the early days of railways wrote feelingly of both second-and third-class carnages.He made the suggestion that the directors of the railways must have sent all over the world to findthe hardest possible wood.Of the open third-class trucks he said that they had the peculiarproperty of

48、 meeting the rain from whatever quarter it came.He described them as horizontalshower-baths,from whose searching power there was no escape.16.All boys and girls in large families know that.A)a boy and a girl usually fight when they are togetherB)pe o ple t e n d t o b e t o g e t h e r mo r e t h a

49、n t h e y us e d t o b eC)a lo t o f pe o ple b e i n g t o g e t h e r ma ke s f i g h t s li ke lyD)Ra i lw a y le a d s t h e w o r ld t o pe a c e17.Ac c o r d i n g t o t h o s e w h o w e lc o me d t h e r a i lw a y,t h e r a i lw a y i t s e lf s h o uldi n c lud e a ll t h e f o llo w i n g

50、 e x c e pt.A)t h e r a i lw a y e n a b le s pe o ple t r a v e l f a s tB)t h e r a i lw a y b r i n g s c o mf o r t t o pe o pleC)t h e r a i lw a y ma ke s t h e w o r ld pe a c e f ulD)t h e r a i lw a y le a d s t h e w o r ld t o w a r a s w e ll.18.Ac c o r d i n g t o t h e a n t i-r a i l