1、考博英语-575 及答案解析(总分：98.50，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Part Reading Compr(总题数：5，分数：28.50)We all associate colors with feelings and attitudes. In politics, dark blue often means “tradition“, and red means “social change“. But blue can also mean sadness (Im feeling blue). White is often for purity, although in China wh
2、ite is worn for funerals, and red is used to express the joy of a wedding, in western Europe white is worn at weddings and black for funerals. Advertisers are aware of the importance of selecting colors according to the way people react to them. Soap powders come in white and light blue packets ( cl
3、ean and cold, like ice); cereals often come in brown packets (tike wheat fields), but cosmetics never come in brown jars (dirty).Where do these ideas come from? Max Luscher from the University of Geneva believes that in the beginning life was dictated by two factors beyond our control: night and day
4、. Night brought passivity, and a general slowing down of metabolism; day brought with it the possibility of action, and increased in the metabolic rate, thus providing us with energy and initiative. Dark blue, therefore, is the color of quietness and passivity, bright yellow the color of hope and ac
5、tivity.In prehistoric times, activity as a rule took one of two forms: either we were hunting and at- tacking, or we were being hunted and defending ourselves against attack. Attack is universally re- presented by the color red; serf-preservation by its complement green.（分数：6.00）(1).In Lusehers view
6、, the association of colors with feeling and attitudes can be traced back to_.（分数：1.50）A.the association of day and night with passivity and action in ancient timeB.the association of black with funerals in western EuropeC.the association of white with purity in some countriesD.the association of re
7、d with joy in China(2).Which of the following statements is NOT true?（分数：1.50）A.Dark blue means tradition.B.Dark blue represents night.C.Dark blue brings tragedy.D.Dark blue indicates quietness.(3).Soap powders come in white and light blue packets to_.（分数：1.50）A.resemble iceB.show qualityC.attract c
8、ustomersD.suggest purity(4).According to the passage, what kind of people would probably favor yellow?（分数：1.50）A.People who are passive and conservative.B.People who are hopeful and active.C.People who are creative and aggressive.D.People who are ideal and dreamy.Americans no longer expect public fi
9、gures, whether in speech or in writing, to command the English language with skill and gift. Nor do they aspire to such command themselves. In his latest book, Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should Like, Care, John McWhorter, a linguist and controversialist of
10、mixed liberal and conservative views, sees the triumph of 1960s counter-culture as responsible for the decline of formal English.Blaming the permissive 1960s is nothing new, but this is not yet another criticism against the decline in education. Mr. McWhorters academic specialty is language history
11、and change, and he sees the gradual disappearance of “whom“, for example, to be natural and no more regreuable 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 the death of formal speech, writing, poetry and music. Whil
12、e even the modestly educated sought an elevated tone when they put pen to paper before the 1960s, even the most well regarded writing since then has sought to capture spoken English on the page. Equally, in poetry, the highly personal, per- formative genre is the only form that could claim real live
13、liness. In both oral and written English, talking is triumphing over speaking, spontaneity over craft.Illustrated with an entertaining array of examples from both high and low culture, the trend that Mr. McWhorter documents is unmistakable. But it is less clear, to take the quietist of his subtitle,
14、 Why We Should, Like, Care. As a linguist, he acknowledges that all varieties of human language, including non-standard ones like Black English, can be powerfully expressivethere exists no language or dialect in the world that cannot convey compex ideas, lie is not arguing, as many do, that we can n
15、o longer think straight because we do not talk properly.Russians have a deep love for their own language and carry large chunks of memorized poetry in their heads, while Italian politicians tend to elaborate speech that would seem old-fashioned to most English-speakers. Mr. McWhorter acknowledges th
16、at formal language is not strictly necessary, and proposes no radical education reformshe is really grieving over the loss of something beautiful more than useful. We now take our English “on paper plates instead of china“. A shame, perhaps, but probably an inevitable one.（分数：4.50）(1).To which of th
17、e following statements would McWhorter most likely agree?（分数：1.50）A.Logical thinking is not necessarily related lo the way we talk.B.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
18、 can best convey complex ideas.(2).The description of Russians love of memorizing poetry shows the authors _.（分数：1.50）A.interest in their languageB.contempt for their old-fashioned nessC.admiration for their memoryD.appreciation of their efforts(3).According to the last paragraph, “paper plates“ is
19、to “china“ as _.（分数：1.50）A.“temporary“ is to “permanent“B.“radical“ is to “conservative“C.“functional“ is to “artistic“D.“humble“ is to “noble“Over the past century, all kinds of unfairness and discrimination have been condemned or made illegal. But one insidious form continues to thrive: alphabctis
20、m. This, for those as yet unaware of such a disadvantage, refers to discrimination against those whose surnames begin with a letter in the lower half of the alphabet.It has long been known that a taxi firm called AAAA cars has a big advantage over Zodiac cars when customers thumb through their phone
21、 directories. Less well known is the advantage that Adam Abbott has in life over Zoe Zysman. English names are fairly evenly spread between the halves of the alphabet. Yet a suspiciously large number of top people have surnames beginning with letters between A and K.Thus the American president and v
22、ice-president have surnames starting with B and C respectively; and 26 of George Bushs predecessors ( including his father) had surnames in the first half of the alphabet against just 16 in the second half. Even more striking, six of the seven heads of government of the G7 rich countries are alphabe
23、tically advantaged ( Berlusconi, Blair, Bush, Chirae, Chretien and Koizumi). The worlds three top central bankers ( Greenspan, Duisenberg and Hayami) are all close to the top of the alphabet, even if one of them really uses Japanese characten;. As are the worlds five richest men (Gates, Buffett, All
24、en, Ellison and Albrecht).Can this merely be coincidence? One theory, dreamt up in all the spare time enjoyed by the alphabetically disadvantaged, is that the rot sets in early. At the start of the first year in infant school, teachers seat pupils alphabetically from the front, to make it easier to
25、remember their names. So short-sighted Zysman junior gets stuck in the back row, and is rarely asked the improving questions posed by those insensitive teachers. At the time the alphabetically disadvantaged may think they have had a lucky escape. Yet the result may be worse qualifications, because t
26、hey get less individual attention, as well as less confidence in speaking publicly.The humiliation continues. At university graduation ceremonies, the ABCs proudly get their awards first; by the time they reach the Zysmans most people are literally having a ZZZ. Shortlists for job interviews, electi
27、on ballot papers, lists of conference speakers and attendees: all tend to be drawn up alphabetically, and their recipients lose interest as they plough through them.（分数：6.00）(1).What does the author intend to illustrate with AAAA cars and Zodiac cars?（分数：1.50）A.A kind of overlooked inequality.B.A ty
28、pe of conspicuous bias.C.A type of personal prejudice.D.A kind of brand discrimination.(2).What can we infer from the first three paragraphs?（分数：1.50）A.In both East and West, names are essential to success.B.The alphabet is to blame for the failure of Zoe Zysman.C.Customers often pay a lot of attent
29、ion to companies names.D.Some form of discrimination is too subtle to recogniz(3).The 4th paragraph suggests that_.（分数：1.50）A.questions are often put to the more intelligent studentsB.alphabetically disadvantaged students often escape from classC.teachers should pay attention to all of their student
30、sD.students should be seated according to their eyesights(4).What does the author mean by “most people are literally having a ZZZ“ (Lines 23, Para- graph 5 ) ?（分数：1.50）A.They are getting impatient.B.They are noisily dozing off.C.They are feeling humiliated.D.They are busy with word puzzles.When it c
31、omes to the slowing economy, Ellen Spiro isnt biting her nails just yet. But the 47-year-old manicurist isnt cutting, filing or polish, ag as many nails as shed like to, either. Most of her clients spend $ 12 to $ 50 weekly, but last month two longtime customers suddenly stopped showing up. Spero bl
32、ames the softening economy. “I m a good economic indicator,“ she says. “I provide a service that people can do without when they re concerned about saving some dollars.“ So Spero is downscaling, shopping at middle-brow Dillards department store near her suburban Cleveland home, instead of Neiman Mar
33、cus. “I dont know if other clients are going to abandon me, too,“ she says:Even before Alan Greenspans admission that Americas red-hot economy is cooling, lots of working folks had already seen signs of the slowdown themselves. From car dealerships to gap out- lets, sales have been lagging for month
34、s as shoppers temper their spending. For retailers, who last year took in 24 percent of their revenue between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the cautious approach is coming at a crucial time. Already, experts say, holiday sales are off 7 percent from last years pace. But dont sound any alarms just yet.
35、 Consumers seem only mildly concerned, not panicked, and many say they remain optimistic about the economys long-term prospects even as they do some modest belt-tightening.Consumers say theyre not in despair because, despite the dreadful headlines, their own for- tunes still feel pretty good. Home p
36、rices are holding steady in most regions. In Manhattan, “theres a new gold rush happening in the $4 million to $10 million range, predominantly fed by Wall Street bonuses,“ says broker Barbara Corcoran. to San Francisco, prices are still rising even as frenzied overbidding quiets. “Instead of 20 to
37、30 Offers, now maybe you only get two or three,“ says John Tealdi, a Bay Area real-estate broker. And most folks still feel pretty comfortable about their ability to find and keep a job.Many folks see silver linings to this slowdown. Potential home buyers would cheer for lower interest rates. Employ
38、ers wouldnt mind a little fewer bubbles in the job market. Many consumers seem to have been influenced by stock-market swings, which investors now view as a necessary ingredient to a sustained boom. Diners might see an upside, too. Getting a table at Manhattans hot new Alain Ducasse restaurant used
39、to be impossible. Not anymore. For that, Greenspan cereals often come in brown packets (tike wheat fields), but cosmetics never come in brown jars (dirty).Where do these ideas come from? Max Luscher from the University of Geneva believes that in the beginning life was dictated by two factors beyond
40、our control: night and day. Night brought passivity, and a general slowing down of metabolism; day brought with it the possibility of action, and increased in the metabolic rate, thus providing us with energy and initiative. Dark blue, therefore, is the color of quietness and passivity, bright yello
41、w the color of hope and activity.In prehistoric times, activity as a rule took one of two forms: either we were hunting and at- tacking, or we were being hunted and defending ourselves against attack. Attack is universally re- presented by the color red; serf-preservation by its complement green.（分数
42、：6.00）(1).In Lusehers view, the association of colors with feeling and attitudes can be traced back to_.（分数：1.50）A.the association of day and night with passivity and action in ancient time B.the association of black with funerals in western EuropeC.the association of white with purity in some count
43、riesD.the association of red with joy in China解析：(2).Which of the following statements is NOT true?（分数：1.50）A.Dark blue means tradition.B.Dark blue represents night.C.Dark blue brings tragedy. D.Dark blue indicates quietness.解析：(3).Soap powders come in white and light blue packets to_.（分数：1.50）A.res
44、emble iceB.show qualityC.attract customers D.suggest purity解析：(4).According to the passage, what kind of people would probably favor yellow?（分数：1.50）A.People who are passive and conservative.B.People who are hopeful and active. C.People who are creative and aggressive.D.People who are ideal and drea
45、my.解析：Americans no longer expect public figures, whether in speech or in writing, to command the English language with skill and gift. Nor do they aspire to such command themselves. In his latest book, Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should Like, Care, John McWh
46、orter, a linguist and controversialist of mixed liberal and conservative views, sees the triumph of 1960s counter-culture as responsible for the decline of formal English.Blaming the permissive 1960s is nothing new, but this is not yet another criticism against the decline in education. Mr. McWhorte
47、rs academic specialty is language history and change, and he sees the gradual disappearance of “whom“, for example, to be natural and no more regreuable 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 the death of form
48、al speech, writing, poetry and music. While even the modestly educated sought an elevated tone when they put pen to paper before the 1960s, even the most well regarded writing since then has sought to capture spoken English on the page. Equally, in poetry, the highly personal, per- formative genre i
49、s the only form that could claim real liveliness. In both oral and written English, talking is triumphing over speaking, spontaneity over craft.Illustrated with an entertaining array of examples from both high and low culture, the trend that Mr. McWhorter documents is unmistakable. But it is less clear, to take the quietist of his subtitle, Why We Should, Like, Care. As a linguist, he acknowledges that all varieties of human language, including non-standard ones like Black English, can be powerfully expressivethere exists
