1、考博英语-202 及答案解析(总分：100.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：0，分数：0.00)二、Passage 1(总题数：1，分数：15.00)Astronaut Jim Voss has enjoyed many memorable moments in his career, including three space flights and one space walk. But he recalls with special fondness a decidedly earthbound (为地球引力所束缚的) experienc
2、e in the summer of 1980,when he participated in the NASA-ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship Program. Voss, then a science teacher at West Point, was assigned to the Marshall Space Flight Center“s propulsion (推进) lab in Alabama to analyze why a hydraulic fuel pump seal on the space shuttle was working so
3、 well when previous seals had failed. It was a seemingly tiny problem among the vast complexities of running the space program. Yet it was important to NASA because any crack in the seals could have led to destructive results for the astronauts who relied on them. “I worked a bit with NASA engineers
4、,“ says Voss, “but I did it mostly by analysis. I used a handheld calculator, not a computer, to do a thermodynamic (热力学) analysis.“ At the end of the summer, he, like the other NASA-ASEE fellows working at Marshall, summarized his findings in a formal presentation and detailed paper. It was a valua
5、ble moment for Voss because the ASEE program gave him added understanding of NASA, deepened his desire to fly in space, and intensified his application for astronaut status. It was not an easy process. Voss was actually passed over when he first applied for the astronaut program in 1978. Over the ne
6、xt nine years he reapplied repeatedly, and was finally accepted in 1987. Since then he has participated in three space missions. The 50 year-old Army officer, who lives in Houston, is now in training for a four-month mission as a crew member on the International Space Station starting in July 2000.
7、Voss says the ASEE program is wonderful for all involved. “It brings in people from the academic world and gives NASA a special property for a particular period of time. It brings some fresh eyes and fresh ideas to NASA, and establishes a link with our colleges and universities,“ Voss explains. “The
8、re is an exchange of information and an exchange of perspectives that is very important.“ For the academic side, Voss says, the ASEE program also “brings institutions of higher learning more insight into new technology. We give them an opportunity to work on real-world problems and take it back to t
9、he classroom.“（分数：15.00）(1).Why was the hydraulic fuel pump seal important for the space shuttle?（分数：3.00）A.Because previous seals all failedB.Because it was very complex in running the space programC.Because great care has to be taken of the hydraulic fuel pump sealingD.Because any crack in the sea
10、ls would cause disastrous results for the astronauts(2).The great significance of Voss“s findings lies in _. . strengthening his determination to join in space flights . furthering his understanding of NASA . consolidating his astronaut status in NASA programs（分数：3.00）A. onlyB. onlyC., and all inclu
11、dedD. and only(3).How many flights will Voss have finished if his four-month mission starting in July 2000 ends up successfully?（分数：3.00）A.ThreeB.TwoC.FourD.Five(4).Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to what Voss said on the ASEE program?（分数：3.00）A.Fresh members from the academic world par
12、ticipate in the programB.The program brings new outlooks to NASA space programsC.It is important for the space scientists to exchange information and perspectivesD.American colleges and universities are a special property of NASA(5).What does Voss want to stress in the last paragraph?（分数：3.00）A.The
13、technological significance of the programB.The educational significance of the programC.The philosophical significance of the programD.The historical significance of the program三、Passage 2(总题数：1，分数：15.00)The current emergency in Mexico City that has taken over our lives is nothing. I could ever have
14、 imagined for me or my children. We are living in an environmental crisis, an air-pollution emergency of unprecedented severity. What it really means is that just to breathe here is to play a dangerous game with your health. As parents, what terrorizes us most is reports that children are at higher
15、risk because they breathe more times per minute. What more can we do to protect them and ourselves? Our pediatrician“s (儿科医师的) medical recommendation was simple: abandon the city permanently. We are foreigners and we are among the small minority that can afford to leave. We are here because of my hu
16、sband“s work. We are fascinated by Mexicoits history and rich culture. We know that for us, this is a temporary danger. However, we cannot stand for much longer the fear we feel for our boys. We cannot stop them from breathing. But for millions, there is no choice. Their lives, their jobs, their fut
17、ures depend on being here. Thousands of Mexicans arrive each day in this city, desperate for economic opportunities. Thousands more are born here each day. Entire families work in the streets and practically live there. It is a familiar sight: as parents hawk goods at stoplights, their children play
18、 in the grassy highway dividers, breathing exhaust fumes. I feel guilty complaining about my personal situation. We won“t be here long enough for our children to form the impression that skies are colored only gray. And yet the government cannot do what it must to end this problem. For any country,
19、especially a developing Third World economy like Mexico, the idea of barring from the capital city enough cars, closing enough factories and spending the necessary billions on public transportation is simply not an option. So when things get bad, as in the current emergency, Mexico takes half measur
20、esprohibiting some more cars from circulating, stopping some factories from producingthat even its own officials concede aren“t adequate. The word “emergency“ implies the unusual. But when daily life itself is an emergency, the concept loses its meaning. It is human nature to try to adapt to that wh
21、ich we cannot change. Or to mislead ourselves into believing we can adapt.（分数：15.00）(1).According to the passage, the current emergency in Mexico City refers to _.（分数：3.00）A.serious air pollutionB.economic crisisC.unemploymentD.natural disaster(2).Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE accord
22、ing to the passage?（分数：3.00）A.Kids are in greater danger than grown-ups in Mexico CityB.The author is not a native MexicanC.The author“s husband is a pediatricianD.The Mexican history and culture appeal to the author(3).The word “hawk“ (Paragraph 3) most probably means _.（分数：3.00）A.sellB.transportC.
23、placeD.deliver(4).The Mexican government takes half measures to solve the pollution problem because _.（分数：3.00）A.Mexican economy depends very much on cars and factoriesB.it is not wise enough to come up with effective measuresC.Mexicans are able to adapt themselves to the current emergencyD.Mexicans
24、 enjoy playing dangerous games with their health(5).The purpose of the passage is to _.（分数：3.00）A.describe the harmful air pollutionB.explain the way to prevent air pollutionC.show the worries about the air pollutionD.recommend a method to avoid air pollution四、Passage 3(总题数：1，分数：15.00)The history of
25、 responds to the work of the artist Sandro Botticelli (1444-1510) suggests that widespread appreciation by critics is a relatively recent phenomenon. Writing in 1550, Vasari expressed an unease with Botticelli“s work, admitting that the artist fitted awkwardly into his evolutionary scheme of the his
26、tory of art. Over the next two centuries, academic art historians defamed Botticelli in favor of his fellows Florentine, Michelangelo. Even when anti-academic art historians of the early nineteenth century rejected many of the standards of evaluation adopted by their predecessors, Botticelli“s work
27、remained outside of accepted taste, pleasing neither amateur observers nor connoisseurs. (Many of his best paintings, however, remained hidden away in obscure churches and private homes.) The primary reason for Botticelli“s unpopularity is not difficult to understand: most observers, up until the mi
28、d-nineteenth century, did not consider him to be noteworthy, because his work, for the most part, did not seem to these observers to exhibit the traditional characteristics of fifteenth-century Florentine art. For example, Botticelli rarely employed the technique of strict perspective and, unlike Mi
29、chelangelo, never used chiaroscuro. Another reason for Botticelli“s unpopularity may have been that his attitude toward the style of classical art was very different from that of his contemporaries. Although he was thoroughly exposed to classical art, he showed little interest in borrowing from the
30、classical style. Indeed, it is paradoxical that a painter of large-scale classical subjects adopted a style that was only slightly similar to that of classical art. In any case, when viewers began to examine more closely the relationship of Botticelli“s work to the tradition of fifteenth-century Flo
31、rentine art, his reputation began to grow. Analyses and assessments of Botticelli made between 1850 and 1870 by the artists of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, as well as by the writer Pater (although he, unfortunately, based his assessment on an incorrect analysis of Botticelli“s personality), inspired
32、 a new appreciation of Botticelli throughout the English-speaking world. Yet Botticelli“s work, especially the Sistine frescoes, did not generate worldwide attention until it was finally subjected to a comprehensive and scrupulous analysis by Home in 1908. Home rightly demonstrated that the frescoes
33、 shared important features with paintings by other fifteenth-century Florentinesfeatures such as skillful representation of anatomical proportions, and of the human figure in motion. However, Home argued that Botticelli did not treat these qualities as ends in themselvesrather, that he emphasized cl
34、ear depletion of a story, a unique achievement and one that made the traditional Florentine qualities less central. Because of Home“s emphasis crucial to any study of art, the twentieth century has come to appreciate Botticelli“s achievements.（分数：15.00）(1).Which of the following would be the best ti
35、tle for the text?（分数：3.00）A.The Role of Standard Art Analyses and AppraisalsB.Sandro Botticelli: From Rejection to AppreciationC.The History of Critics“ Responses to Art WorksD.Botticelli and Florentine: A Comparative Study(2).We can learn from the text that art critics have a history of _.（分数：3.00）
36、A.suppressing painters“ art initiativesB.favoring a Botticelli“s best paintingsC.rejecting traditional art characteristicsD.undervaluing Botticelli“s achievements(3).The views of Vasari and Home on Botticelli“s products are _.（分数：3.00）A.identicalB.complementaryC.oppositeD.similar(4).The word “connoi
37、sseurs“ (Paragraph 1) most probably means _.（分数：3.00）A.representatives in the Pre-Raphaelite MovementB.people who are in favor of FlorentineC.critics who are likely to make assessmentsD.conservatives clinging to classical art(5).What does the author think of Botticelli“s representation skills?（分数：3.
38、00）A.They are to be fully appreciatedB.They evolve from an uncertain sourceC.They underlie his personalityD.They conform to the classical style五、Passage 4(总题数：1，分数：15.00)It is all very well to blame traffic jams, the cost of petrol and the quick pace of modern life, but manners on the roads are beco
39、ming horrible. You might tolerate the rode and inconsiderate driver, but nowadays the well-mannered motorist is the exception to the rule. Perhaps the situation calls for a “Be Kind to Other Drivers“ campaign; otherwise, it may get completely out of hand. Road politeness is not only good manners, bu
40、t good sense. It takes the most cool-headed and good-tempered of drivers to resist the temptation to revenge when subjected to uncivilized behaviors. On the other hand, a little politeness goes a long way towards relieving the tensions of motoring. A friendly nod or a wave of acknowledgement in resp
41、onse to an act of politeness helps to create an atmosphere of goodwill and tolerance so necessary in modern traffic conditions. But such acknowledgements of politeness are all too rare today. Many drivers nowadays don“t even seem able to recognize politeness when they see it. However, improper polit
42、eness can also be dangerous. A typical example is the driver who waves a child across a crossing into the path of oncoming vehicles that may be unable to stop in time. The same goes for encouraging old ladies to cross the road wherever and whenever they care to. A veteran driver, whose manners are f
43、aultless, told me it would help if motorists learn to filter correctly into traffic streams one at a time without causing the total blockages (堵塞) that give rise to bad temper. Unfortunately, modern motorists can not even learn to drive, let alone be well-mannered on the road. Years ago the experts
44、warned us that the car-ownership explosion would demand a lot more give-and take from all road users. It is high time for all of us to take this message to heart.（分数：15.00）(1).According to this passage, troubles on the road are primarily caused by _.（分数：3.00）A.people“s attitude towards driversB.the
45、rhythm of modern lifeC.traffic conditionsD.the behavior of the driver(2).The sentence “You might tolerate the rude and inconsiderate driver, but nowadays the well-mannered motorist is the exception to the rule“ implies that _.（分数：3.00）A.our society is unjust towards well-mannered motoristsB.rude dri
46、vers can be met only occasionallyC.nowadays impolite drivers constitute the majority of motoristsD.the well-mannered motorist cannot tolerate the rude driver(3).By “good sense“ (Paragraph 2), the writer means _.（分数：3.00）A.the driver“s prompt response to difficult conditionsB.the driver“s ability to
47、understand and react reasonablyC.the driver“s tolerance of bad road conditionsD.the driver“s acknowledgement of politeness and regulations(4).Experts have long pointed out that in the face of car-ownership explosion, _.（分数：3.00）A.drivers should be ready to yield to one anotherB.road users should mak
48、e more sacrificesC.drivers should have more communication among themselvesD.drivers will suffer a great loss if they pay no respect to others(5).In the writer“s opinion _.（分数：3.00）A.drivers should apply road politeness properlyB.strict traffic regulations are badly neededC.rude and inconsiderate dri
49、vers should be punishedD.drivers should try their best to avoid traffic jams六、Passage 5(总题数：1，分数：20.00)The most noticeable trend among today“s media companies is vertical integrationan attempt to control several related aspects of the media business at once, each part helping the other. Besides publishing magazines and books, Time Warner, for example, owns Home Box Office (HBO), Warner movie studios, various cable TV systems throughout the United States and CNN as well. The Japanese company Matsushita owns MCA
