1、考博英语-83 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、Text 1(总题数：1，分数：20.00)If ambition is to be well regarded, the rewards of ambition wealth, distinction, control over one“s destiny must be deemed worthy of the sacrifices made on ambition“s behalf. If the tradition of ambition
2、is to have vitality, it must be widely shared; and it especially must be highly regarded by people who are themselves admired, the educated not least among them. In an odd way, however, it is the educated who have claimed to have give up on ambition as an ideal. What is odd is that they have perhaps
3、 most benefited from ambitionif not always their own then that of their parents and grandparents. There is heavy note of hypocrisy in this, a case of closing the barn door after the horses have escaped with the educated themselves riding on them. Certainly people do not seem less interested in succe
4、ss and its signs now than formerly. Summer homes, European travel, BMWs. The locations, place names and name brands may change, but such items do not seem less in demand today than a decade or two years ago. What has happened is that people cannot confess fully to their dreams, as easily and openly
5、as once they could, lest they be thought pushing, acquisitive and vulgar. Instead, we are treated to fine hypocritical spectacles, which now more than ever seem in ample supply: the critic of American materialism with a Southampton summer home; the publisher of radical books who takes his meals in t
6、hree-star restaurants; the journalist advocating participatory democracy in all phases of life, whose own children are enrolled in private schools. For such people and many more perhaps not so exceptional, the proper formulation is, “Succeed at all costs but avoid appearing ambitious.“ The attacks o
7、n ambition are many and come from various angles; its public defenders are few and unimpressive, where they are not extremely unattractive. As a result, the support for ambition as a healthy impulse, a quality to be admired and fixed in the mind of the young, is probably lower than it has ever been
8、in the United States. This does not mean that ambition is at an end, that people no longer feel its stirrings and promptings, but only that, no longer openly honored, it is less openly underground, or made sly. Such, then, is the way things stand: on the left angry critics, on the right stupid suppo
9、rters, and in the middle, as usual, the majority of earnest people trying to get on in life.（分数：20.00）(1).It is generally believed that ambition may be well regarded if _.（分数：5.00）A.its returns well compensate for the sacrificesB.it is rewarded with money, fame and powerC.its goals are spiritual rat
10、her than materialD.it is shared by the rich and the famous(2).The last sentence of the first paragraph most probably implies that it is _.（分数：5.00）A.customary of the educated to discard ambition in wordsB.too late to check ambition once it has been let outC.dishonest to deny ambition after the fulfi
11、llment of the goalD.impractical for the educated to enjoy benefits from ambition(3).Some people do not openly admit they have ambition because _.（分数：5.00）A.they think of it as immoralB.their pursuits are not fame or wealthC.ambition is not closely related to material benefitsD.they do not want to ap
12、pear greedy and contemptible(4).From the last paragraph the conclusion can be drawn that ambition should be maintained _.（分数：5.00）A.secretly and vigorouslyB.openly and enthusiasticallyC.easily and momentarilyD.verbally and spiritually三、Text 2(总题数：1，分数：20.00)It“s a rough world out there. Step outside
13、 and you could break a leg slipping on your doormat. Light up the stove and you could bum down the house. Luckily, if the doormat or stove failed to warn of coming disaster, a successful lawsuit might compensate you for your troubles. Or so the thinking has gone since the early 1980s, when juries be
14、gan holding more companies liable for their customers“ misfortunes. Feeling threatened, companies responded by writing ever-longer warning labels, trying to anticipate every possible accident. Today, stepladders carry labels several inches long that warn, among other things, that you mightsurprisefa
15、ll off. The label on a child“s Barman cape cautions that the toy “does not enable user to fly“. While warnings are often appropriate and necessarythe dangers of drug interactions, for exampleand many are required by state or federal regulations, it isn“t clear that they actually protect the manufact
16、urers and sellers from liability if a customer is injured. About 50 percent of the companies lose when injured customers take them to court. Now the tide appears to be turning. As personal injury claims continue as before, some courts are beginning to side with defendants, especially in cases where
17、a warning label probably wouldn“t have changed anything. In May, Julie Nimmons, president of Schutt Sports in Illinois, successfully fought a lawsuit involving a football player who was paralyzed in a game while wearing a Schutt helmet. “We“re really sorry he has become paralyzed, but helmets aren“t
18、 designed to prevent those kinds of injuries,“ says Nimmons. The jury agreed that the nature of the game, not the helmet, was the reason for the athlete“s injury. At the same time, the American Law Institutea group of judges, lawyers, and academics whose recommendations carry substantial weightissue
19、d new guidelines for tort law stating that companies need not warn customers of obvious dangers or bombard them with a lengthy list of possible ones. “Important information can get buried in a sea of trivialities,“ says a law professor at Cornell Law School who helped draft the new guidelines. If th
20、e moderate demand of the legal community has its way, the information on products might actually be provided for the benefit of customers and not as protection against legal liability.（分数：20.00）(1).What were things like in 1980s when accidents happened?（分数：5.00）A.Customers might be relieved of their
21、 disasters through lawsuits.B.Injured customers could expect protection from the legal system.C.Companies would avoid being sued by providing new warnings.D.Juries tended to find fault with the compensations companies promised.(2).Manufacturers as mentioned in the passage tend to _.（分数：5.00）A.satisf
22、y customers by writing long warnings on productsB.become honest in describing the inadequacies of their productsC.make the best use of labels to avoid legal liabilityD.feel obliged to view customers“ safety as their first concern(3).The case of Schutt helmet demonstrated that _.（分数：5.00）A.some injur
23、y claims were no longer supported by lawB.helmets were not designed to prevent injuriesC.product labels would eventually be discardedD.some sports games might lose popularity with athletes(4).The author“s attitude towards the issue seems to be _.（分数：5.00）A.biasedB.indifferentC.puzzlingD.objective四、T
24、ext 3(总题数：1，分数：20.00)In the first year or so of Web business, most of the action has revolved around efforts to tap the consumer market. More recently, as the Web proved to be more than a fashion, companies have started to buy and sell products and services with one another. Such business-to-busines
25、s sales make sense because business people typically know what product they“re looking for. Nonetheless, many companies still hesitate to use the Web because of doubts about its reliability. “Businesses need to feel they can trust the pathway between them and the supplier,“ says senior analyst Blane
26、 Erwin of Forrester Research. Some companies are limiting the risk by conducting online transactions only with established business partners who are given access to the company“s private internet. Another major shift in the model for Internet commerce concerns the technology available for marketing.
27、 Until recently, Internet marketing activities have focused on strategies to “pull“ customers into sites. In the past year, however, software companies have developed tools that allow companies to “push“ information directly out to consumers, transmitting marketing messages directly to targeted cust
28、omers. Most notably, the Pointcast Network uses a screen saver to deliver a continually updated stream of news and advertisements to subscribers“ computer monitors. Subscribers can customize the information they want to receive and proceed directly to a company“s Web site. Companies such as Virtual
29、Vineyards are already starting to use similar technologies to push messages to customers about special sales, product offerings, or other events. But push technology has earned the contempt of many Web users. Online culture thinks highly of the notion that the information flowing onto the screen com
30、es there by specific request. Once commercial promotion begins to fill the screen uninvited, the distinction between the Web and television fades. That“s a prospect that horrifies Net purists. But it is hardly inevitable that companies on the Web will need to resort to push strategies to make money.
31、 The examples of Virtual Vineyards, A, and other pioneers show that a Web site selling the right kind of products with the right mix of interactivity, hospitality, and security will attract online customers. And the cost of computing power continues to free fall, which is a good sign for any enterpr
32、ise setting up shop in silicon. People looking back 5 or 10 years from now may well wonder why so few companies took the online plunge.（分数：20.00）(1).We learn from the beginning of the passage that Web business _.（分数：5.00）A.has been striving to expand its marketB.intended to follow a fanciful fashion
33、C.tried but in vain to control the marketD.has been booming for one year or so(2).Speaking of the online technology available for marketing, the author implies that _.（分数：5.00）A.the technology is popular with many Web usersB.businesses have faith in the reliability of online transactionsC.there is a
34、 radical change in strategyD.it is accessible limitedly to established partners(3).In the view of Net purists, _.（分数：5.00）A.there should be no marketing messages in online cultureB.money making should be given priority to on the WebC.the Web should be able to function as the television setD.there sh
35、ould be no online commercial information without requests(4).We learn from the last paragraph that _.（分数：5.00）A.pushing information on the Web is essential to Internet commerceB.interactivity, hospitality and security are important to online customersC.leading companies began to take the online plun
36、ge decades agoD.setting up shops in silicon is independent of the cost of computing power五、Text 4(总题数：1，分数：20.00)In recent years many countries of the world have been faced with the problem of how to make their workers more productive. Some experts claim the answer is to make jobs more varied. But d
37、o more varied jobs lead to greater productivity? There is evidence to suggest that while variety certainly makes the workers“ life more enjoyable, it does not actually make them work harder. As far as increasing productivity is concerned, then variety is not an important factor. Other experts feel t
38、hat giving the workers freedom to do their jobs in their own way is important and there is no doubt that this is true. The problem is that this kind of freedom cannot easily be given in the modern factory with its complicated machinery which must be used in a fixed way. Thus while freedom of choice
39、may be important, there is usually very little that can be production lines rather than one large one, so that each worker contributes more to the production of the cars on his line. It would seem that not only is degree of worker contribution an important factor, but it is also one we can do someth
40、ing about. To what extent does more money lead to greater productivity? The workers themselves certainly think this important. But perhaps they want more only because the work they do is so boring. Money just lets them enjoy their spare time more. A similar argument may explain demands for shorter w
41、orking hours. Perhaps if we succeed in making their jobs more interesting, they will neither want more, nor will shorter working hours be so important to them.（分数：20.00）(1).Which of these possible factors leading to greater productivity is NOT true?（分数：5.00）A.To make jobs more varied.B.To give the w
42、orkers freedom to do their jobs in their own way.C.Degree of worker contribution.D.Demands of longer working hours.(2).Why do workers want more money?（分数：5.00）A.Because their jobs are too boring.B.In order to enjoy more spare time.C.To make their jobs more interesting.D.To demand shorter working hou
43、rs.(3).The last sentence in this passage means that if we succeed in making workers“ jobs more interesting _.（分数：5.00）A.they will want more moneyB.they will demand shorter working hours are important factorsC.more money and shorter working hours are important factorsD.more money and shorter working
44、hours will not be so important to them(4).In this passage, the author tells us _.（分数：5.00）A.how to make the workers more productiveB.impossible factors leading to greater efficiencyC.to what extent more money leads to greater productivityD.how to make workers“ jobs more interesting六、Text 5(总题数：1，分数：
45、20.00)When a Scottish research team startled the world by revealing 3 months ago that it had cloned an adult sheep, President Clinton moved swiftly. Declaring that he was opposed to using this unusual animal husbandry technique to clone humans, he ordered that federal funds not be used for such an e
46、xperimentalthough no one had proposed to do soand asked an independent panel of experts chaired by Princeton President Harold Shapiro to report back to the White House in 90 days with recommendations for a national policy on human cloning. That groupthe National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC)h
47、as been working feverishly to put its wisdom on paper, and at a meeting on 17 May, members agreed on a near-final draft of their recommendations. NBAC will ask that Clinton“s 90-day ban on federal funds for human cloning be extended indefinitely, and possibly that it be made law. But NBAC members ar
48、e planning to word the recommendation narrowly to avoid new restrictions on research that involves the cloning of human DNA or cellsroutine in molecular biology. The panel has not yet reached agreement on a crucial question, however, whether to recommend legislation that would make it a crime for pr
49、ivate funding to be used for human cloning. In a draft preface to the recommendations, discussed at the 17 May meeting, Shapiro suggested that the panel had found a broad consensus that it would be “morally unacceptable to attempt to create a human child by adult nuclear cloning.“ Shapiro explained during the meeting that the moral doubt stems mainly from fears about the risk to the health of the child. The panel then informally accepted several general conclusions, although some details have not been settled
