1、考博英语-598 及答案解析(总分：100.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Part Reading Compr(总题数：0，分数：0.00)二、Text 1(总题数：1，分数：20.00)An invisible border divides those arguing for computers in the classroom on the behalf of students career prospects and those arguing for computers in the classroom for broader reasons of radical education
2、al reform. Very few writers on the subject have explored this distinctionindeed, contradictionwhich goes to the heart of what is wrong with the campaign to put computers in the classroom.An education that aims at getting a student a certain kind of job is a technical education, justified for reasons
3、 radically different from why education is universally required by law. It is not simply to raise everyones job prospects that all children are legally required to attend school into their teens. Rather, we have a certain conception of the American citizen, a character who is incomplete if he cannot
4、 competently assess how his livelihood and happiness are affected by things outside of himself. But this was not always the case; before it was legally required for all children to attend school until a certain age, it was widely accepted that some were just not equipped by nature to pursue this kin
5、d of education. With optimism characteristic of all industrialized countries, we came to accept that everyone is fit to be educated. Computer-education advocates forsake this optimistic notion for a pessimism that betrays their otherwise cheery outlook. Banking on the confusion between educational a
6、nd vocational reasons for bringing computers into schools, computer-ed advocates often emphasize the job prospects of graduates over their educational achievement.There are some good arguments for a technical education given the right kind of student. Many European schools introduce the concept of p
7、rofessional training early on in order to make sure children are properly equipped for the professions they want to join. It is, however, presumptuous to insist that there will only be so many jobs for so many scientists, so many businessmen, so many accountants. Besides, this is unlikely to produce
8、 the needed number of every kind of professional in a country as large as ours and where the economy is spread over so many states and involves so many international corporations.But, for a small group of students, professional training might be the way to go since well-developed skills, all other f
9、actors being equal, can be the difference between having a job and not. Of course, the basics of using any computer these days are very simple. It does not take a lifelong acquaintance to pick up various software programs. If one wanted to become a computer engineer, that is, of course, an entirely
10、different story. Basic computer skills takeat the very longesta couple of months to learn. In any case, basic computer skills are only complementary to the host of real skills that are necessary to become any kind of professional. It should be observed, of course, that no school, vocational or not,
11、is helped by a confusion over its purpose.（分数：20.00）(1).The author thinks the present rush to put computers in the classroom is _.A. far-reaching B. dubiously orientedC. self-contradictory D. radically reformatory（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.(2).The belief that education is indispensable to all children _.A. is
12、 indicative of a pessimism in disguiseB. came into being along with the arrival of computersC. is deeply rooted in the minds of computer-ed advocatesD. originated from the optimistic attitude of industrialized countries（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.(3).It could be inferred from the passage that in the authors co
13、untry the European model of professional training is _.A. dependent upon the starting age of candidatesB. worth trying in various social sectionsC. of little practical valueD. attractive to every kind of professional（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.(4).Whats the meaning of the underlined word “presumptuous“ in Para
14、graph 3?A. assumptive B. selfish C. presumable D. worshipful（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.(5).According to the author, basic computer skills should be _.A. included as an auxiliary course in schoolB. highlighted in acquisition of professional qualificationsC. mastered through a life-long courseD. equally emphasi
15、zed by any school, vocational or otherwise（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.三、Text 2(总题数：1，分数：20.00)One of the saddest things about the period in which we live is the growing estrangement between America and Europe. This may be a surprising discovery to those who are over impressed by the speed with which turbojets
16、can hop from New York to Paris. But to anyone who is aware of what America once meant to English libertarian poets and philosophers, to the young Ibsen bitterly excoriating European royalty for the murder of Lincoln, to Italian novelists and poets translating the nineteenth century American classics
17、 as a demonstration against Fascism, there is something particularly disquieting in the way that the European Left, historically “pro-American“ because it identified America with expansive democracy, now punishes America with Europes lack of hope in the future.Although America has obviously not fulf
18、illed the visionary hope entertained for it in the romantic heyday, Americans have, until recently, thought of themselves as an idea, a “proposition“ (in Lincolns word) set up for the enlightenment and the improvement of mankind. Officially, we live by our original principles; we insist on this boas
19、tfully and even inhumanly. And it is precisely this steadfastness to principle that irks Europeans who under so many pressures have had to shift and to change, to compromise and to retreat.Historically, the obstinacy of Americas faith in “principles“ has been staggeringthe sacrament of the Constitut
20、ion, the legacy of the Founding Fathers, the Moral Tightness of all our policies, the invincibility of our faith in the equality and perfectibility of man. From the European point of view, there is something impossibly romantic, visionary, and finally outrageous about an attachment to political form
21、ulas that arose even before a European revolutionary democracy was born of the French Revolution, and that have survived all the socialist Utopias and internationals. Americans honestly insist on the equality of men even when they deny this equality in practice; they hold fast to romantic doctrines
22、of perfectibility even when such doctrines contradict their actual or their formal faithwhether it be as scientists or as orthodox Christians.It is a fact that while Americans as a people are notoriously empirical, pragmatic, and unintellectual, they live their lives against a background of unaltera
23、ble national shibboleths. The same abundance of theory that allowed Walt Whitman to fill out his poetry with philosophical road signs of American optimism allows a president to make pious references to God as an American traditionreferences which, despite their somewhat mechanical quality, are not o
24、nly sincere but which, to most Americans, express the reality of America.（分数：20.00）(1).The writer uses the example of Ibsen and others to maintain that _.A. Europeans do not have the proper appreciation of the United StatesB. Europeans have made a notable shift in attitude toward the United StatesC.
25、 American culture has been rediscovered by EuropeansD. Europeans no longer feel that there should be an exchange of ideas with Americans（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.(2).Judging from the context, “estrangement“ (Line 1, Para. 1) probably means _.A. strange feeling B. remotenessC. loss of affection or interests D
26、. feeling of hostility（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.(3).Until recently, Americans thought of their country as a _.A. source of enlightenment B. leader in technological progressC. recipient of a European heritage D. peacemaker（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.(4).The author states that American democracy in practice sometimes is
27、in conflict with _.A. theoretical notions of equality B. other political systemsC. Europes best interests D. orthodox Christianity（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.(5).Which of the following was NOT mentioned by the author as an American principle?A. Equality of man.B. Moral Tightness as American policy decisions.C.
28、 Mans capacity to become perfect.D. The inviolability of the individuals integrity.（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.四、Text 3(总题数：1，分数：20.00)Works of architecture are so much a part of our environment that we accept them as fixed and scarcely notice them until our attention is summoned. People have long known how to
29、 enclose space for the many purposes of life. The spatial aspect of the arts is most obvious in architecture. The architect makes groupings of enclosed spaces and enclosing masses, always keeping in mind the function of the structure, its construction and materials, and, of course, its designthe cor
30、relative of the other two. We experience architecture both visually and by moving through and around it, so that we perceive architectural space and mass together. The articulation of space and mass in building is expressed graphically in several ways; the principal ones include plans, sections, and
31、 elevations.A plan is essentially a map of floor, showing the placement of the masses of a structure and, therefore, the spaces they bound and enclose. A section, like a vertical plan, shows placement of the masses as if the buildings were cut through along a plane, often along a plane that is a maj
32、or axis of the building. An elevation is a head-on view of an external or internal wall, showing its features and often other elements that would be visible beyond or before the wall.Our response to a building can range from simple contentment to astonishment and awe. Such reactions are products of
33、our experience of a buildings function, construction, and design; we react differently to a church, a gymnasium, and an office building. The very movements we must make to experience one building will differ widely and profoundly from the movements required to experience another. These movements wil
34、l be controlled by the continuity or discontinuity of its axes. For example, in a central planone that radiates from a central point, as in the Pantheon in Romewe perceive the whole spatial entity at once. In the long axial plan of a Christian basilica or a Gothic cathedral, however, our attention t
35、ends to focus on a given pointthe altar at the eastern end of the nave. Mass and space can be interrelated to produce effects of great complexity, as, for example, in the Byzantine Church of the Katholikon. Thus, our experience of architecture will be the consequence of a great number of material an
36、d formal factors, including training, knowledge, and our perceptual and psychological makeup, which function in our experience of any work of art.（分数：20.00）(1).The author thinks architecture is an art of _.A. space B. graphic C. environment D. masses（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.(2).According to the passage, a s
37、ection shows _.A. the horizontal placement of masses in buildingB. the vertical placement of masses in a buildingC. an interior view of the buildingD. an exterior view of the building（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.(3).We react differently to a church, a gymnasium, and an office building because _.A. these buildin
38、gs have different functions, constructions and designsB. they are actually products of our imaginationC. we have a wide range of emotions from simple contentment to astonishment and aweD. we have different experience in life（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.(4).From the last paragraph we can infer that _.A. in the P
39、antheon in Rome our attention tends to focus on the altarB. in a Gothic cathedral mass and space are interrelated to produce effects of great complexityC. a Christian basilica is an example of central planD. in the Byzantine Church of the Katholikon the axes are discontinuous（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.(5).The
40、 author believes that in appreciating a sculpture, the factors that will function include _.A. training B. knowledgeC. perceptual and psychological makeup D. all of the above（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.五、Text 4(总题数：1，分数：20.00)What new research reveals about the adolescent brainfrom why kids bully to how the te
41、en years shape the rest of your life. They say you never escape high school. And for better or worse, science is lending some credibility to that old saw. Thanks to sophisticated imaging technology and a raft of longitudinal studies, were learning that the teen years are a period of crucial brain de
42、velopment subject to a host of environmental and genetic factors. This emerging research sheds light not only on why teenagers act the way they do, but how the experiences of adolescencefrom rejection to binge drinkingcan affect who we become as adults, how we handle stress, and the way we bond with
43、 others.One of the most important discoveries in this area of study, says Dr. Frances Jensen, a neuroscientist at Harvard, is that our brains are not finished maturing by adolescence, as was previously thought. Adolescent brains “are only about 80 percent of the way to maturity,“ she said at the ann
44、ual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in November. It takes until the mid-20s, and possibly later, for a brain to become fully developed.An excess of gray matter (the stuff that does the processing) at the beginning of adolescence makes us particularly brilliant at learningthe reason were so g
45、ood at picking up new languages starting in early childhoodbut also particularly sensitive to the influences of our environment, both emotional and physical. Our brains, processing centers havent been fully linked yet, particularly the parts responsible for helping to check our impulses and consider
46、ing the long-term repercussions of our actions. “Its like a brain thats all revved up not knowing where it needs to go,“ says Jensen.Its partially because of this developmental timeline that a teen can be so quick to conjure a stinging remark, or a biting insult, and so uninhibited in firing it off
47、at the nearest unfortunate targeta former friend, perhaps, or a bewildered parent. The impulse to hurl an insult is there, just as it may be for an adult in a stressful situation, but the brain regions that an adult might rely on to stop himself from saying something cruel just havent caught up.In a
48、 paper published last year in the Journal of the American Academy of Child before it was legally required for all children to attend school until a certain age, it was widely accepted that some were just not equipped by nature to pursue this kind of education. With optimism characteristic of all ind
49、ustrialized countries, we came to accept that everyone is fit to be educated. Computer-education advocates forsake this optimistic notion for a pessimism that betrays their otherwise cheery outlook. Banking on the confusion between educational and vocational reasons for bringing computers into schools, computer-ed advocates often emphasize the job prospects of graduates over their educational achievement.There are some good arguments for a technical education given the right kind of student. M
