[考研类试卷]考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷163及答案与解析.doc

1、考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 163 及答案与解析Part CDirections: Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese. (10 points) 0 The season of “capital P“ politics is upon us in the United States. To most scientists and engineers, the vapid debates and tawdry verbal tit for tat from

2、 the candidates define politics and politicians.【F1】When empty slogans and tricky statistics win out over sound analysis and quantitative reasoning, many members of the scientific community retreat to the comfort of their laboratories or lecture halls.“Little P“ politics is also a derisive term to m

3、any scientists. It is used to describe a process that operates on influence, opinion, and conflicted interest rather than merit, honesty, integrity and data. Many scientists and engineers believe life in academia is rife with “politics,“ especially when decisions are made that they disagree with!Sci

4、ence is about building intellectual consensus. In this respect, it is politics. Understanding how to connect with and influence others is a critical skill in science, especially in an environment of scarce resources.In science, making decisions about how to allocate finite resources(research and dev

5、elopment dollars, journal pages, tenure-track positions)inevitably involve dialog, consensus building, and compromisethe fundamental tools of politics.【F2 】The culture of science is rooted in the belief that data, rational argument, and logic constitute the foundation upon which all decisions should

6、 be based. But scientists would be the first to admit that it is rare that a set of data is so complete and compelling that all counter-arguments can be laid to rest. Most of the time, scientists are working on subjects for which the answers remain unclearthats why they are investigating them in the

7、 first place! So the need for persuasion lies even within the heart of scientific inquiry.【F3】Scientists believe that they are, collectively and individually, engaged in an endeavor that merits public support. In the extreme, there is bred in our culture of science a level of entitlement to public f

8、inancial support for research. When members of Congress fail to pass funding increase upon funding increase, year after year, the scientific community reacts with disbelief and indignation.Firstand most central to their careeris the political process of doing science and influencing the opinions of

9、their scientific peers.【F4 】The foundation of this political process is good scientific workbut to ensure that their science flourishes, they have to engage the scientific community smartly and effectively, with honor and integrity.But being at their most effective as a scientist also requires const

10、ant engagement in a broader sense, not just with the politicians in Washington, D. C. , but with the people around them who vote them into office. Given the intense and busy nature of most scientific careers, it is easy to feel that one simply has no time for such constructive engagement. Furthermor

11、e, most scientists are given no guidance about the most effective and time-efficient methods of civic engagement.【F5】But rather than look down on the process of politics, the successful scientists and engineers of the future will find ways of understanding and participating in “politics“ while not l

12、osing sight of the higher ideals of their scientific community.1 【F1】2 【F2】3 【F3】4 【F4】5 【F5】5 【F1】A once-discarded idea about how life started on our planet has been given a new life of its own, thanks to an unexpected find.【F2】The story traces back to the early 1950s, when chemists Stanley Miller

13、and Harold Urey of the University of Chicago tried to recreate the building blocks of life under conditions they thought resembled those on the young Earth. The duo filled a closed loop of glass chambers and tubes with water and different mixes of hydrogen, ammonia, and methane-gases presumed at the

14、 time to be the main constituents of the atmosphere billions of years ago. Then, in an attempt to confirm a hypothesis that lightning may have triggered the origin of life, they zapped the mixture with an electrical current. The researchers then analyzed the gunk that began to collect after a few ho

15、urs.The residue contained traces of some of the amino acids that make up proteins. Their presence suggested that the molecular precursors of life could form through a simple electrochemical process.【F3】The problem was that theoretical models and analyses of ancient rocks eventually convinced scienti

16、sts that Earths earliest atmosphere was not rich in hydrogen.Last year, after Millers death, two of his former graduate studentsgeochemists Jim Cleaves of the Carnegie Institution of Washington(CIW)in Washington, D. C. , and Jeffrey Bada of Indiana University, Bloomingtonwere examining samples left

17、in their mentors lab.【 F4】They discovered the bottles of products from the original experiment and decided to take a second look with updated technology. Using extremely sensitive mass spectrometers at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, Cleaves, Bada, and colleagues found trac

18、es of 22 amino acids in the experimental residues. That is about double the number originally reported by Miller and Urey and includes all of the 20 amino acids found in living things, the scientists report tomorrow in Science.So could lightning have helped jump-start life on Earth? Possibly, Cleave

19、s says. Although Earths primordial atmosphere was not hydrogen-rich, as were the chambers in the Miller-Urey experiment, gas clouds from volcanic eruptions did contain the right combination of molecules.【F5】It is possible that volcanoes, which were much more active early in Earths history, seeded ou

20、r planet with lifes ingredients. The big question is what happened nexthow did those molecules turn into self-replicating organic compounds? “Thats the frontier,“ Cleaves says, “and were sort of stuck there. “The new study “highlights how easy it is to make the building blocks of life in plausible p

21、eriodic conditions,“ says geochemist Robert Hazen of CIW, who was not involved in the research. At the same time, he says, the findings reinforce “the pioneering insight and experiments of Stanley Miller and Harold Urey. “6 【F1】7 【F2】8 【F3】9 【F4】10 【F5】10 【F1】 For more than a century, a few scientis

22、ts have occasionally daydreamed of transforming much of the Sahara desert green, with a lush inland sea or vast tracts of farmland. Now researchers say they have actually found a way to make such a scheme work with forests across the desertand to slow climate change in the process. The idea is the t

23、hought of Leonard Orn-stein, a cell biologist at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, who partnered with climate modelers David Rind and Igor Aleinov of NASAs Goddard Institute for Space Studies, all in New York City. They envision desalinating(removing salt)seawater from the neighboring oceans and b

24、ringing it inland using aqueducts(a pipe that carries a water supply).and pumps. Drip irrigationplastic tubing to water the trees rootswould minimize the amount of water lost to evaporation and seepage into sandy soils, allowing trees to prosper in areas that are parched today.According to climate s

25、imulations to be published next month in the journal Climatic Change, the forests would cool the Sahara by up to 8 in some areas. “Eucalyptus and a large number of other tropical tree species are heat-tolerant, so long as they have an ample supply of water in the root zone,“ Ornstein says. The schem

26、e could also work for the arid Australian outback, the team reports.【F2 】Ornstein says that if most of the Sahara and Australian outback were planted with fast-growing trees like eucalyptus(桉树), the forests could draw down about 8 billion tons of carbon a yearnearly as much as people emit from burni

27、ng fossil fuels and forests today. As the forests matured, they could continue taking up this much carbon for decades.The project wouldnt be cheap. The researchers put the price tag at some $2 trillion per year.【 F3】The price would be roughly comparable to that of capturing carbon dioxide at power p

28、lants and storing it underground, which would eventually cost about $200 per ton of carbon, according to a recent study from Harvard Universitys Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, compared with about $400 per ton of carbon for the forests. “Any solution to climate change has to be

29、a multitrillion-dollar project,“ Ornstein says. “The issue is what the payback is. “ In several decades, the forests could be sustainably harvested as a source of fuel for wood-burning power plants, making them a nearly carbon-neutral energy source, Ornstein argues.Planting these forests might have

30、side effects. The increased moisture could trigger plagues of locusts in Africa, just as the odd wet year does now.【F4】It could also dampen existing soils, stopping iron-rich dust from blowing off the Sahara and into the Atlantic Ocean, where it nourishes sea life, the study points out.Despite the d

31、rawbacks, the proposal “is incredibly important and definitely worth taking seriously and looking into further,“ says atmospheric scientist Richard Anthes.【F5】“The benefits could be enormous and go well beyond carbon separation,“ making vast areas far more livable and productive.11 【F1】12 【F2】13 【F3

32、】14 【F4】15 【F5】15 【F1】 When Bush asked Cheney, the head of his vice presidential search team, to actually become his running mate, it was clear that he valued Cheneys Washington experience above all. “If times are good, Im going to need your advice,“ Bush told Cheney, “but not nearly as much as if t

33、imes are bad. Crisis management is an essential part of the job. “ Cheney went on to become the most powerful vice President in history. He was, for example, “a steamroller in pushing war with Iraq as the only way to deal with Saddam Hussein,“ Woodward reports.The DNCs Dean says, “The most dreadful

34、decision he made that hurt him the most was picking Dick Cheney as his running mate. “ He adds that “Cheney became a huge influence and that led to a lot of other bad decisions. “ High on Deans list of negatives was Cheneys convincing Bush that “ once you are elected, you can do whatever you want“ r

35、egardless of the law and the Constitution, an echo of Zelizers analysis about the expansion of executive power.【F2】Deans assessment may be a little exaggerating, but there is no doubt that Cheney was a powerful force pushing the new president to expand his powers.【F3 】Cheney also was a strong voice

36、for conservative policies such as tax cuts, measures to promote business, and proposals to allow more domestic energy production.【F4】Bushs defenders say Cheney was vital, especially in the early years, in guiding the new president through the puzzle of foreign policy, national security, and domestic

37、 issues. Bush had little hands-on experience as a Washington insider. Cheney, by contrast, had been White House chief of staff under President Gerald Ford, a U. S. representative from Wyoming, and defense secretary under President George H. W. Bush. Whether Cheney was given too much power will be de

38、bated by historians for decades.【F5】As his days in office decrease, Bush, 62, finds himself looking ahead to retirement with mixed feelings, as most Presidents do. He plans to write a book and run his presidential library and policy center at Southern Methodist University. But he told ABC: “Im going

39、 to have a lot of time to think. My day is going to go from getting up earlyearly and being at the Oval Office at 6:45 a. m. , and having a lot to do when you get there, to waking up at 6:45 a.m. , getting Momma the coffeeand kind of wandering around tryingWhats next, boss? “ His friends say his new

40、 mission is already clear. He will continue his bid to place the Bush legacy, now widely seen as unpopular and misguided, in the best possible light and to put a positive spin on all the fateful decisions he made as Americas 43 rd President.16 【F1】17 【F2】18 【F3】19 【F4】20 【F5】20 Access to mental-heal

41、th care should soon be cheaper and easier for millions of Americans, thanks to a “mental-health parity“ law signed by President Bush this month.【F1】 After a 10-year battle by mental-health advocates, depression, for example, will reach equal footing with heart disease or cancer on Jan. 1st, 2010.【F2

42、】The new law doesnt cover everyone; most notably, employees of companies with 50 or fewer workers are excluded, as well as people who buy their own policies. But it comes as a great relief to those who will benefit.【F3】Starting in 2010, group health plans will no longer be allowed to impose differen

43、t limitations on mental-health and substance-abuse coverage than they do for medical treatment. In other words, deductibles, copays, covered hospital days, and any limits on outpatient treatments must be identical. And for the first time, employers who self-insure are required to provide equal cover

44、age, a change that brings parity to 82 million people covered through so-called ERISA plans.Since 42 states already have their own form of parity laws and the federal government has required parity from insurers who participate in its benefits plans since 2001, many people wont notice much of a diff

45、erence. Under the federal version, insurers can still require that services be medically necessary and can require preapproval or prior review. They can also require medical evidence that the treatments are effective.Medicare recipients arent affected by this law; a measure adopted earlier this year

46、 already eliminated discriminatory copayments in that program, which had been capped at 50 percent for mental-health treatment, compared with 20 percent for most doctors services. The Medicare change is being phased in gradually and wont be fully in force until 2016.【F4】Access to care will remain an

47、 issue, no matter how good the insurance coverage. Jim Hackett found that out firsthand when he sought psychiatric care for his teenage daughter after she had been sexually assaulted. Hackett is CEO of Anadarko Petroleum in Houston.【F5】Not only did the companys employees already have mental-health e

48、quality, but he could have afforded to pay out of pocket. But the family had to look out of state for an appropriate child psychiatrist. “Now that we have the funding for people to get over the stigma of mental illness, we have to make sure that facilities and doctors will exist for them as well,“ H

49、ackett says. As a business manager, he believes that the increased cost of parity coverage, which was found to be 0.5 percent of premiums in a 2006 study of federal employee insurance, is more than made up for by increased productivity from employees who are ill themselves or caring for a sick relative.21 【F1】22 【F2】23 【F3】24 【F4】25 【F5】考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 163 答案与解析Part CDirections: Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese. (10 points) 【知识模块】 阅读1 【正确答案】 当空洞的口号和骗人的统计数字最后战胜了可靠的分析和定量的推理时，科学界的很多科