1、考研英语(二)-25 及答案解析(总分：100.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Section Use of Eng(总题数：1，分数：10.00)Everyone complains that corporate America is 1 to hire additional workers. Far 2 attention has been paid to the flip side of the jobless recovery: the 3 improvement in American productivity. When the economy 4 in 2008, there w
2、as little of the fall in labor productivity that normally 5 a recession, and this was not just a one-off “batting average“ effect (in which average productivity rises because the worst performers are fired). Rather, it was a productivity boost that has continued 6 expert predictions that workers can
3、 only be 7 so hard for a short while. In the third quarter of 2011, American labor productivity was 2.3% higher than in the same period a year earlier. Manufacturing productivity in that quarter rose by 2.9% compared with a year earlier. America“s productivity growth has been more 8 than most other
4、rich countries“a feat 9 to its flexible labor market and a culture of enterprise. Two things could keep productivity rising. First, workers are terrified of losing their jobs. This makes it easier to persuade them to put in extra hours or 10 new tasks. Second, tough times are forcing luaus to 11 eve
5、ry brain cell to become more efficient. Sealed Air, for example, has made numerous incremental tweaks, such as 12 a machine that makes absorbent pads for supermarket meat trays so that its output increased from 400 units per hour three years ago to 550with the same number of workers. The 13 of firms
6、 to invest in such enhancements has varied 14 . Some would rather hoard cash or buy back their own shares 15 spend it on more efficient machinery or information technology. Yet there are 16 that leading industrial firms are starting to increase their capital spending, says Jeff Sprague of Vertical R
7、esearch Partners, a research outfit. In particular, he has noticed firms investing in “debottlenecking“ which, 17 its name suggests, means removing hold-ups in production processes, sometimes with an additional production line. 18 short, the recession has forced American firms to become more muscula
8、r. This should help them 19 when the good times realm. It should also give them an edge 20 foreign rivals.（分数：10.00）A.reluctantB.responsibleC.requiredD.resoluteA.muchB.lessC.fewerD.moreA.negligibleB.subtleC.markedD.slowA.slumpedB.stoppedC.soaredD.skyrocketedA.accompaniesB.alliesC.adheresD.attachesA.
9、despiteB.regardlessC.thoughD.defianceA.smashedB.crashedC.squeezedD.spoiledA.robustB.ferociousC.violentD.vitalA.subscribeB.ascribeC.inscribeD.describeA.uploadB.underscoreC.shoulderD.chargeA.expandB.broadenC.strainD.extendA.upgradingB.repairingC.reusingD.recoveringA.efficiencyB.strengthC.abilityD.will
10、ingnessA.differentlyB.enormouslyC.completelyD.impressivelyA.exceptB.butC.thenD.thanA.symbolsB.signsC.marksD.printsA.whatB.thatC.whichD.asA.InB.ByC.OnD.OfA.maintainB.thriveC.surviveD.renewA.inB.aboveC.beyondD.over二、Section Reading Co(总题数：0，分数：0.00)三、Part A(总题数：0，分数：0.00)四、Text 1(总题数：1，分数：10.00)Barack
11、 Obama invited a puzzling group of people into the White House on December 5th: university presidents. Whatever they might be, they are at the heart of a political firestorm. Anger about the cost of college extends from the parents to Occupiers. Mr. Obama is trying to urge universities to address co
12、sts with “much greater urgency“. This sense of urgency is justified: ex-students have debts approaching $1 trillion. But calm reflection is needed too. America“s universities suffer from many maladies besides cost. And rising costs are often symptoms of much deeper problems: problems that were irrit
13、ating during the years of affluence but which are fatal in an age of austerity. The first problem is the inability to say “no“. For decades American universities have been offering more of everythingmore courses for undergraduates, more research students for professors and more athletics for everybo
14、dyon the merry assumption that there would always be more money to pay for it all. The second is Ivy League Envy. The vast majority of American universities are obsessed by rising up the academic hierarchy, becoming a bit less like Yokel-U and a bit more like Yale. Ivy League Envy leads to an obsess
15、ion with research. This can be a problem even in the best universities: students feel short-changed by professors fixated on crawling along the frontiers of knowledge with a magnifying glass. At lower-level universities it causes dysfunction. American professors of literature crank out 70,000 schola
16、rly publications a year, compared with 13,757 in 1959. Most of these simply molder: Mark Bauerlein of Emory University points out that, of the 16 research papers produced in 2004 by the University of Vermont“s literature department, a fairly representative institution, 11 have since received between
17、 zero and two citations. The time wasted writing articles that will never be read cannot be spent teaching. Popular anger about universities“ costs is rising just as technology is shaking colleges to their foundations. The internet is changing the rules. Star academics can lecture to millions online
18、 rather than the chosen few in person. And for-profit companies such as the University of Phoenix are stripping out costs by concentrating on a handful of useful courses as well as making full use of the internet. The Sloan Foundation reports that online enrolments grew by 10% in 2010, against 2% fo
19、r the sector as a whole. Nearly 100 years ago American universities faced similar worries about rising costs and detachment from the rest of society. Lawrence Lowell, the president of Harvard, argued that “Institutions are rarely murdered; they meet their end by suicide. They die because they have o
20、utlived their usefulness, or fail to do the work that the world wants done.“ America“s universities quickly began “the work that the world wants done“ and started a century of American dominance of higher education. They need to repeat the trick if that century is not to end in failure.（分数：10.00）(1)
21、.Which of the following may be one guiding education principle of the University of Phoenix?（分数：2.00）A.Guaranteeing the free access to knowledge.B.Concentrating on the cultivation of comprehensive qualities of students.C.Being committed to practical education.D.Facilitating class-based education wit
22、h advanced internet technology.(2).The word maladies is closest in meaning to _.（分数：2.00）A.disordersB.disabilitiesC.disadvantagesD.disagreement(3).Which of the following statements is true about Ivy League Envy?（分数：2.00）A.Professors are encouraged to publish more literary papers under the Ivy League
23、 Envy.B.Ivy League Envy is a phenomenon specific to second-rate American universities.C.Ivy League Envy stems from an abnormal obsession with academic research.D.The decline of education quality in universities is partly attributed to Ivy League Envy.(4).In order to reduce the cost, American univers
24、ities have to _.（分数：2.00）A.say no to more applications from high school graduatesB.focus on the essential and discard the irrelevantC.make a budget that caters to the interest of most peopleD.give priority to teachers“ rather than students“ needs(5).It can be inferred from the last paragraph that th
25、e credit of American university“s success in the 20th century goes to _.（分数：2.00）A.the adaption to the needs in societyB.the protection of the independence of universitiesC.the persevering exploration in advanced science and technologyD.the active involvement in social movement五、Text 2(总题数：1，分数：10.0
26、0)In an essay, entitled “Making It in America,“ in the latest issue of The Atlantic , the author Adam Davidson relates a joke from cotton country about just how much a modern textile mill has been automated: The average mill has only two employees today, “a man and a dog. The man is there to feed th
27、e dog, and the dog is there to keep the man away from the machines.“ Davidson“s article is one of a number of pieces that have recently appeared making the point that the reason we have such stubbornly high unemployment and sagging middle-class incomes today is largely because of the big drop in dem
28、and because of the Great Recession, but it is also because of the quantum advances in both globalization and the information technology revolution, which are more rapidly than ever replacing labor with machines or foreign workers. Yes, new technology has been eating jobs forever, and always will. As
29、 they say, if horses could have voted, there never would have been cars. But there“s been an acceleration. As Davidson notes, “In the 10 years ending in 2009, factories shed workers so fast that roughly one out of every three manufacturing jobsabout 6 million in totaldisappeared.“ Besides, what the
30、new technology won“t do in an above average way a Chinese worker will. Consider this paragraph from an article in The Times about why Apple does so much of its manufacturing in China: “Apple had redesigned the iPhone“s screen at the last minute, forcing an assembly-line overhaul. New screens began a
31、rriving at the Chinese plant near midnight. A foreman immediately roused 8,000 workers inside the company“s dormitories, according to the executive. Each employee was given a biscuit and a cup of tea, guided to a workstation and within haft an hour started a 12-hour shift. Within 96 hours, the plant
32、 was producing over 10,000 iPhones a day. “The speed and flexibility is breathtaking,“ the executive said. “There“s no American plant that can match that.“ There will always be changenew jobs, new products, new services. But the one thing we know for sure is that with each advance in globalization a
33、nd the I. T. revolution, the best jobs will require workers to have more and better education to make themselves above average. Here are the latest unemployment rates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for Americans over 25 years old: those with less than a high school degree, 13.8 percent; those w
34、ith a high school degree and no college, 8.7 percent; those with some college or associate degree, 7.7 percent; and those with bachelor“s degree or higher, 4.1 percent. In a world where average is officially over, there are many things we need to do to buttress employment, but nothing would be more
35、important than passing some kind of G. I. Bill for the 21st century that ensures that every American has access to post-high school education.（分数：10.00）(1).The joke quoted in Paragraph 1 is used to highlight _.（分数：2.00）A.the interdependence between human being and animalB.the labor redundancy caused
36、 by machinery productionC.the degree of automation in manufacturing industryD.the subordinate role human being played nowadays in manufacturing(2).It can be inferred from Paragraph 2 that _.（分数：2.00）A.some well-recognized economic trend may lead to unexpected resultsB.the globalization progress will
37、 deteriorate the unemployment rate in all countriesC.the drop in demand prompts enterprises to look overseas for cheap foreign laborD.some technological advancement will bring about disastrous consequences(3).What does the author mean by saying “if horses could have voted, there never would have bee
38、n cars“?（分数：2.00）A.History is determined by a series of accidental events.B.The upgrade of technology is accelerating in modern society.C.There is always strong resistance to new advancement in technology.D.It is inevitable that the outdated productive force be replaced by advanced force.(4).The App
39、le“s example in Paragraph 4 is used to _.（分数：2.00）A.describe the working condition of Apple“s manufacturing plant in ChinaB.disclose the secret behind Apple“s successful storyC.sing praises for Chinese workers“ team-work spirit and high productivityD.explain why the cheap labor in developing countri
40、es is a threat for American labor market(5).In the author“s opinion, in order to boost employment, the most important thing to do is _.（分数：2.00）A.stimulate demand inside AmericaB.impose restriction on immigrationC.guarantee access to university educationD.provide more on-the-job training六、Text 3(总题数
41、：1，分数：10.00)The Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum recently set off a debate when he attacked America“s colleges as “indoctrination mills“ from which Americans should keep their distance. Calling President Obama a “snob“ for urging all Americans to go to college, he joined a long tradit
42、ion that runs from Andrew Carnegie, who more than a century ago described colleges as places that prepare students for “life upon another planet,“ to Newt Gingrich, who has claimed that alumni donations are often used “to subsidize bizarre and destructive Visions of reality.“ Mr. Santorum“s remarks
43、have been widely, and justly, rebutted. Yet defenders of college should do more than respond to its critics with contempt. We should seize the opportunity for introspection. Why does the anti-college mantra still touch a nerve among so many Americans? Consider the fact that SAT scores (a big factor
44、in college admissions) correlate closely with family wealth. The total average SAT score of students from families earning more than $100,000 per year is more than 100 points higher than for students in the income range of $50,000 to $60,000. Or consider that a mere 3 percent of students in the top
45、150 colleges come from families in the bottom income quartile of American society. Only a very dogmatic Social Darwinist would conclude from these facts that intelligence closely tracks how much money one“s parents make. A better explanation is that students from affluent families have many advantag
46、estest-prep tutors, high schools with good college counseling, parents with college savvy and so on. Yet once the beneficiaries arrive at college, what do they learn about themselves? It“s a good bet that the dean or president will greet them with congratulations for being the best and brightest eve
47、r to walk through the gates. A few years ago, the critic and essayist William Deresiewicz, who went to Columbia and taught at Yale, wrote that his Ivy education taught him to believe that those who didn“t attend “an Ivy League or equivalent school“ were “beneath“ him. Our oldest and most prestigious
48、 colleges are losing touch with the spirit in which they were founded. To the stringent Protestants who founded Harvard, Yale and Princeton, the mark of salvation was not high self-esteem but humbling awareness of one“s lowliness in the eyes of God. With such awareness came the recognition that thos
49、e whom God favors are granted grace not for any worthiness of their own, but by God“s unmerited mercyas a gift to be converted into working and living on behalf of others. That lesson should always be part of the curriculum. Benjamin Franklin, who founded the University of Pennsylvania, once defined true education as “an Inclination join“d with an Ability to serve Mankind, one“s Country, Friends, and Family; which Ability. should indeed be the great Aim and End of all Learning.“ We would be well served to keep this public-spirited conception of
