[考研类试卷]考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷284及答案与解析.doc

1、考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 284 及答案与解析Part ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. (40 points)0 For decades, ferry boats crossed the cold waters of Michigans Straits of Mackinac, shuttling people and vehicles between the two halves of the split-up

2、state. Since the 1880s, Michigan residents dreamed of a bridge that would span the 4-mile gap between Mackinaw City and St. Ignace, an area that limited tourism in Mackinac Island and disturbed commerce in the remote Upper Peninsula.Because construction would be hard, with high winds and harsh winte

3、rs, some engineers suggested a floating tunnel or a series of small bridges instead. But, by the 1940s, with lines for ferry boats sometimes stretching for 16 miles, the idea of one continuous span won out. And what a span it turned out to be. Five miles long, the “Mighty Mac,“ which opened to traff

4、ic on Nov. 1, 1957, was to become the worlds longest suspension bridge between cable anchorages. Even today, it remains the longest suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere and the third-longest bridge in the world.Designed by engineer David B. Steinman, the bridge was built in just three years,

5、on time and on budget. That was a remarkable feat in itself. But the challenges were so great33 of the bridges 34 pieces had to be built under waterthat five workers perished during construction. One man died diving, one fell in a caisson while welding, another drowned, and two fell from a catwalk.

6、The bridge has seen many tragedies since. On Sept. 10, 1978, three National Guard officers in a private plane got lost in a thick fog and crashed into the cables of the north tower. In 1989, a woman was killed when gale force windsand her excessive speedlifted her 1987 Yugo into the air, sending it

7、150 feet into the water. And in 1997, a sport utility vehicle took the plunge.Although authorities believed the latter incident to have been a suicide, the bridge does not attract jumpers the way, for instance, the Golden Gate does. In 1977, Lawrence Rubin of the Mackinac Bridge Authority shared his

8、 theory on the lack of leapers with the Detroit News: “People who commit suicide like attention. But its peaceful here. you could jump off this bridge, and it might take years before anybody found out.“The bridge authority acknowledges that the prospect of such excitement may be overwhelming for som

9、e, which is why it offers free escorts for gephyrobiacspeople with a fear of crossing bridges. Each year, hundreds of drivers take advantage of the service. 1 According to the first paragraph, Michigans Straits of Mackinac（A）realized Michigan residents dream to have a bridge.（B） became a tourist att

10、raction in Mackinac Island.（C） depressed the ferry service in the State of Michigan.（D）blocked the development of commerce in Upper Peninsula,2 It can be inferred from the text that the reason for building a continuous span is that（A）the construction was dangerous because of severe weather.（B） the e

11、ngineers wanted to build the longest suspension bridge.（C） building a floating tunnel or a series of bridges was impossible.（D）ferry boats covered too many pointless miles and wasted time.3 The tragedy of five construction workers is cited to prove that（A）the bridge is a remarkable feat in itself.（B

12、） the bridge has seen many tragedies.（C） challenges to build the bridge were tremendous.（D）the authority employed unqualified workers.4 Under Lawrence Rubins theory,（A）the Golden Gate Bridge is the best place for suicide.（B） the Mackinac Bridge is much safer than the Golden Gate.（C） the Mackinac Bri

13、dge is too peaceful for suicides.（D）the Mackinac Bridge is not frequently used by the public.5 What is the authors attitude towards the free escorts provided by the bridge authority?（A）It does no good to the people with gephyrobiacs.（B） It reduces the excitement of crossing the bridge.（C） It makes t

14、he bridge a safer place than other bridges.（D）It is well-intentioned but misused by some people.5 When it came to moral “reasoning,“ we like to think our views on right and wrong are rational, but ultimately they are grounded in emotion. Philosophers have argued over this claim for a quarter of a mi

15、llennium without resolution. Times up! Now scientists armed with brain scanners are stepping in to settle the matter. Though reason can shape moral judgment, emotion is often decisive.Harvard psychologist Joshua Greene does brain scans of people as they ponder the so-called trolley problem. Suppose

16、a trolley is rolling down the track toward five people who will die unless you pull a lever that diverts it onto another trackwhere, unfortunately, lies one person who will die instead. An easy call, most people say: minimizing the loss of lifea “utilitarian“ goal, as philosophers put itis the right

17、 thing to do.But suppose the only way to save the five people is to push someone else onto the tracka bystander whose body will bring the trolley to a halt before it hits the others. Its still a one-for-five swap, and you still initiate the action that dooms the onebut now you are more directly invo

18、lved; most people say it would be wrong to do this deal. Why? According to Greenes brain scans, the second scenario more thoroughly excites parts of the brain linked to emotion than does the lever-pulling scenario. Apparently the intuitive aversion to giving someone a deadly push is stronger than th

19、e aversion to a deadly lever pull.Further studies suggest that in both cases the emotional aversion competes for control with more rational parts of the brain. In the second scenario the emotions are usually strong enough to win. And when they lose, it is only after a tough wrestling match. The few

20、people who approve of pushing an innocent man onto the tracks take longer to reach their decision. So too with people who approve of smothering a crying baby rather than catching the attention of enemy troops who would then kill the baby along with other innocents.Princeton philosopher Peter Singer

21、argues that we should re-examine our moral intuitions and ask whether that logic merits respect in the first place. Why obey moral impulses that evolved to serve the “selfish gene“such as sympathy that moves toward kin and friends? Why not worry more about people an ocean away whose suffering we cou

22、ld cheaply alleviate? Isnt it better to save 10 starving African babies than to keep your 90-year-old father on life support? Singers radically utilitarian brand of moral philosophy has its work cut out for it. In the absence of arduous cranial wrestling matches, reason may indeed be “slave of the p

23、assions.“6 From the first two paragraphs, we can learn that（A）moral “reasoning“ is actually based on reason, not on emotion.（B） philosophers have resolved the dilemma between reason and emotion.（C） emotion plays a more important role than reason in moral judgment.（D）most philosophers pursue the util

24、itarian goal in the trolley problem.7 The word “swap“(Line 3, Paragraph 3)is closest in meaning to（A）change.（B） gamble.（C） exchange.（D）choice.8 It is stated in Paragraph 4 that those who support pushing the bystander to stop the trolley（A）are brutal and relentless.（B） display the same emotional aver

25、sion.（C） feel guilty about doing that.（D）have struggled to make the decision.9 Peter Singer seems to suggest that（A）we should cast away our logic and respect emotion in the first place.（B） we should not only concern about ourselves but start help each other.（C） people who live in abundance should gi

26、ve a hand to those in poverty.（D）we should cut off life support for the old to achieve the utilitarian goals. 10 The text intends to tell us that（A）emotion plays the decisive role when we make moral judgment.（B） the struggle between reason and emotion is an antique topic.（C） we always struggle to ma

27、ke life and death decisions in our life.（D）emotion is more important and influential in our life than is reason.10 Those days are long gone when placing a telephone call meant simply picking up the receiver and asking the operator to patch you through. Modern cell phones require users to navigate a

28、series of menus to find numbers, place calls or check messages. Even the most tech-savvy may take weeks to discover some of the more mysterious multimedia functions. Imagine the difficulty for someone unable to read.That is the challenge for mobile communications companies aiming to branch out into

29、developing countries. The prospects seen from the last decade are alluring: only about one tenth of Indias population use cell phones. But selling to poor rural areas is not likely to happen with a marketing version of “plug and play.“ Most potential buyers have little exposure to anything other tha

30、n simple electronics. Reading through a series of hierarchical menus and pushing buttons for multiple purposes would be new concepts for such customers.To come up with a suitable device, Motorola relied on a team of anthropologists, psychologists and designers to study how textually illiterate villa

31、gers use their aging televisions, tape players and phones. The researchers noticed that their subjects would learn each buttons dedicated function. With something more complicated, such as an automated teller machine, users would memorize a set of behaviors in order, which allowed them to move throu

32、gh the machines basic hierarchy without having to read the menu.The research, which lasted three years, led Motorola to craft a cellular phone slimmed down to three essential activities: calling, managing numbers and simple text messaging. “A lot of the functions in a cell phone are not useful to an

33、yone,“ points out Gabriel White, who headed the interactive design team. The icon-based interface also required thought.Not all cell phone companies believe that a design for nonliterate users should start from scratch. Nokias behavioral researchers noticed that “newbies“ rely on friends and relativ

34、es to help them with basic functions. Rather than confronting the challenge of a completely new interface, Nokia chose to provide some audio menus in its popular 1100 model and a preview mode so that people could try out functions without the risk of changing anything important. Mobile phones may ev

35、en become tools for literacy, predicts BJ Fogg, who studies computer-human interaction at Stanford University. Phones might teach the alphabet or tell a story as users read along. “Imagine if it eventually could understand your weak points and drill you on those,“ Fogg proposes. And soon enough, he

36、declares, designs or illiterate users will lead to more straightforward, elegant phones for everyone.11 The difference between modern cell phones and old phones lies in that（A）it requires more intelligence and education to use modem cell phones.（B） it takes more weeks to get familiar with modem cell

37、 phones.（C） modem cell phones are more complicated with many functions.（D）modem cell phones are more mysterious tools for people.12 The sales of mobile phones to poor rural areas may be impossible probably because most potential buyers（A）have difficulty with menus of multiple purposes.（B） cannot acc

38、ept new concepts of mobile phones.（C） only read menus and push buttons of simple electronics.（D）do not like the marketing strategy of “plug and play“.13 The researches held by Motorola showed that the textually illiterate villagers（A）were willing to use old machines with little functions.（B） had to

39、take some lessons to learn the new functions.（C） could remember the major function of each button.（D）would avoid reading the hierarchy menus of the machine.14 The slang term of “newbies“(Line 2, Paragraph 5)most probably means（A）new students.（B） newcomers.（C） newborns.（D）new webs.15 Fogg believes th

40、at the future mobile phones could not（A）teach illiterates to learn alphabets.（B） understand the users ideas and points.（C） help users exercise their languages.（D）become more direct and elegant.15 The money is there. So why is it not being spent? That is the big puzzle about the rich worlds efforts t

41、o improve health in poor countries. In June the leaders of the G8 promised up to $8 billion to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, an umbrella group coordinating health aid. The Global Fund closed its latest round of funding applications this week but much of the money committed

42、 remains unused. Officials at the fund insist that all is fine: disbursements always lag commitments and money can be released only if it will be spent effectively. But experts such as Joseph Dwyer of Management Sciences for Health say that the pitiful state of poor countries health services is the

43、main reason for the gap between what is promised and what is spent. Julian Schweitzer of the World Bank says that physical and human shortages in local health services represent “a huge bottleneck to aid“.Now the aid efforts may be making things worse. Jordan Kassalow of the Scojo Foundation, an Ame

44、rican charity, observes that rich single-issue outfits tend to divert the best medical talent to trendy causes and away from basic medicine against diarrhoea and respiratory infectionsthe chief killers of children.Laurie Garrett of the Council on Foreign Relations has a different worry: those anti-c

45、orruption efforts have pushed donors into an obsession with often meaningless short-term targets. The result is a never-ending stream of documents and meetings. A sharp focus on process and targets ordained from on high makes it harder to be flexible and innovative or to take advantage of enterprisi

46、ng locals. In poor countries, laments Ms Garrett, “we almost spit on the private sector.“But it is the private sector that may offer the most practical chance of progress. Fed up with the costs of an unhealthy workforce, many big local and multinational firms in Africa and Asia are now offering thei

47、r own innovative health schemes. These started as simple anti-AIDS efforts at mining firms such as Anglo American. Now they have spread. HSBC, a London-based international bank, recently started a scheme to improve its suppliers and customers health.In training, too, private-sector and voluntary eff

48、orts may work better than official programmes. The International Centre for Equal Healthcare Access has trained thousands of local health-care workers in South-East Asia. Kenyas HealthStore Foundation has helped nurses and community health workers set up dozens of for-profit clinics that reach patie

49、nts government clinics dont. Such ideas may yet transform the worlds most dilapidated health systems into better and more far-reaching onesif only the current wave of top-down spending does not drown them out.16 According to some experts, Global Fund delays the disbursements because（A）there remains a huge gap between what is promised and what is spent.（B） the $8 billion cant be released until it will be spent effectively.（C） the situation of health-care in poor countries presents a tough barrier.（D）the physical condition of local people imposes a