1、考研英语-187 及答案解析(总分：100.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、BSection Use o(总题数：1，分数：10.00)It is often observed that the aged spend much time thinking and talking about their past lives,U (1) /Uabout the future. These reminiscences are not simply random or trivial memories,U (2) /Uis their purpose merely to make conversat
2、ion. The old persons recollections of the past help toU (3) /Uan identity that is becoming increasingly fragile:U (4) /Uany role that brings respect or any goal that might provideU (5) /Uto the future, the individual mentions his past as a reminder to listeners, that here was a lifeU (6) /Uliving.U
3、(7) /U, the memories form part of a continuing lifeU (8) /U, in which the personU (9) /Uthe events and experiences of the-years gone by andU (10) /Uon the overall meaning of his or her own almost completed life.As the life cycleU (11) /Uto its close, the aged must also learn to accept the reality of
4、 their own impending death.U (12) /Uthis task is made difficult by the fact that death is almost aU (13) /Usubject in the United States. The mere discussion of death is often regarded asU (14) /U.As adults many of us find the topic frightening and areU (15) /Uto think about it and certainly not to t
5、alk about itU (16) /Uthe presence of someone who is dying. Death has achieved this tabooU (17) /Uonly in the modern industrial societies. There seems to bean important reason for our reluctance toU (18) /Uthe idea of death. It is the very fact that death remainsU (19) /Uour control; it is almost the
6、 only one of the natural processesU (20) /Uis so.（分数：10.00）A.better thanB.rather thanC.less thanD.other thanA.soB.evenC.norD.hardlyA.preserveB.conserveC.resumeD.assumeA.performingB.playingC.undertakingD.lackingA.orientationB.implicationC.successionD.presentationA.worthyB.worthC.worthlessD.worthwhile
7、A.In a wordB.In briefC.In additionD.In particularA.prospectB.impetusC.impressionD.reviewA.integratesB.incorporatesC.includesD.interactsA.reckonsB.countsC.reflectsD.conceivesA.keepsB.drawsC.inclinesD.tendsA.ThereforeB.AndC.YetD.OtherwiseA.tabooB.disputeC.contemptD.neglectA.notoriousB.indecentC.obscur
8、eD.desperateA.readyB.willingC.liableD.reluctantA.atB.onC.withD.inA.statusB.circumstanceC.environmentD.priorityA.encounterB.confrontC.tolerateD.exposeA.underB.aboveC.beyondD.withinA.whichB.whatC.asD.that二、BSection Readi(总题数：4，分数：40.00)BText 1/BPlacing a human being behind the wheel of an automobile o
9、ften has the same curious effect as cutting certain fibres in the brain.The result in either case is more primitive behaviour. Hostile feelings are apt to be expressed in an aggressive way.The same man who will step aside for a stranger at a doorway will, when behind the wheel, risk an accident tryi
10、ng to beat another motorist through an intersection. The importance of emotional factors in automobile accidents is gaining recognition. Doctors and other scientists have concluded that the highway death toll resembles an epidemic and should be investigated as such.Dr. Ross A. McFarland, Associate P
11、rofessor of Industrial Hygiene at the Harvard University School of Public Health, said that accidents “now constitute a greater threat to the safety of large segments of the population than diseases do. ”Accidents are the leading cause of death between the ages of 1 and 35. About one third of all ac
12、cidental deaths and one seventh of all accidental injuries are caused by motor vehicles.Based on the present rate of vehicle registration, unless the accident rate is cut in half, one of every 10 persons in the country will be killed or injured in a traffic accident in the next 15 years.Research to
13、find the underlying causes of accidents and to develop ways to detect drivers who are apt to cause them is being conducted at universities and medical centres. Here are some of their findings so far:A man drives as he lives. If he is often in trouble with collection agencies, the courts, and police,
14、 chances are he will have repeated automobile accidents. Accident repeaters usually are egocentric, exhibitionistic, resentful of authority, impulsive, and lacking in social responsibility. As group, they can be classified as borderline psychopathic personalities, according to Dr. McFarland.The susp
15、icion, however, that accident repeaters could be detected in advance by screening out persons with more hostile impulses is false. A study at the University of Colorado showed that there were just as many overly hostile persons among those who had no accidents as among those with repeated accidents.
16、Psychologists currently are studying Denver high school pupils to test the validity of this concept. They are making psychological evaluations of the pupils to see whether subsequent driving records will bear out their thesis.（分数：10.00）(1).The author believes that, behind the wheel of an automobile,
17、 some people act（分数：2.00）A.as though they were uncivilized.B.as though they should change their attitudes from hostility to amicability.C.as though their brain fibres needed cutting.D.as though they wanted to repress hostile feelings.(2).By saying “The same man .will .risk an accident .”(Line 1-2, P
18、ara. 3), the author means that（分数：2.00）A.a gentle man can change into a rude driver.B.its difficult for a driver to control himself when behind the wheel of an automobile.C.to drive has been a way for some drivers to express their hostile feelings.D.the emotional factors have been the leading cause
19、of automobile accidents.(3).Dr. McFarland emphasizes the great menace of accidents by comparing it to（分数：2.00）A.psychopathic behaviour.B.an epidemic.C.hostile attitudes.D.antisocial behaviour.(4).Which of the following is true about the traffic accidents?（分数：2.00）A.They have threatened the safety of
20、 the population as diseases do.B.They will claim 10 percent lives in the next 15 years.C.One third of victims in them are dead in the end.D.The underlying causes of them are still being detected.(5).According to the text, studies at leading universities have shown that（分数：2.00）A.accident repeaters c
21、an be detected in advance.B.accident repeaters are in trouble with collection agencies.C.accident repeaters cannot be discovered on the basis of generally hostile attitudes.D.accident repeaters drive entirely differently from the way they usually live.BText 2/BWhether to teach young children a secon
22、d language is disputed among teachers, researchers and pushy parents. On the one hand, acquiring a new tongue is said to be far easier when young. On the other, teachers complain that children whose parents speak a language at home that is different from the one used in the classroom sometimes strug
23、gle in their lessons and are slower to reach linguistic milestones. Would a 15-month-old child, they wonder, not be better off going to music classes?A study just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences may help resolve this question by getting to the point of what is going
24、on in a bilingual childs brain, how a second language affects the way he thinks, and thus in what circumstances being bilingual may be helpful. Agnes Kovacs and Jacques Mehler at the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste say that some aspects of the cognitive development of infants ra
25、ised in a bilingual household must be undergoing acceleration in order to manage which of the two languages they are dealing with.The aspect of cognition in question is part of what is termed the brains “executive function”. This allows people to organise, plan, prioritise activity, shift their atte
26、ntion from one thing to another and suppress habitual responses. Bilingualism is common in Trieste which, though Italian, is almost surrounded by Slovenia. So Dr. Kovacs and Dr. Mehler looked at 40 “preverbal” seven-month-olds, half raised in monolingual and half in bilingual households, and compare
27、d their performances in a task that needs control of executive function.First, the babies were trained to expect the appearance of a puppet on a screen after they had heard a set of meaningless words invented by the researchers. Then the words, and the location of the puppet, were changed. When this
28、 was done, the babies who speak only one language had difficulty overcoming their learnt response, even when the researchers gave them further clues that a switch had taken place. The bilingual babies, however, found it far easier to switch their attention counteracting the previously learnt, but no
29、 longer useful response.Monitoring languages and .keeping them separate is part of the brains executive function, so these findings suggest that even before a child can speak, a bilingual environment may speed up that functions development. Before rushing your offspring into bilingual kindergartens,
30、 though, there are a few cautions. For one thing, these extraordinary cognitive benefits have been demonstrated so far only in “crib” bilinguals those living in households where two languages are spoken routinely. The researchers speculate that it might be the fact of having to learn two languages i
31、n the same setting that requires greater use of executive function. So whether those benefits apply to children who learn one language at home, and one at school, remains unclear.（分数：10.00）(1).Who are probably pushing young children to study a new language?（分数：2.00）A.Parents.B.Teachers.C.Researchers
32、.D.Children themselves.(2).What is going on in a bilingual childs brain according to the new study?（分数：2.00）A.The executive function is being developed more slowly.B.The executive function is being developed more rapidly.C.The aural nerve centre is being developed more slowly.D.The aural nerve centr
33、e is being developed more rapidly.(3).How does a second language affect the way a young child behaves according to the new study?（分数：2.00）A.It shortens his focus time on anything learnt.B.It always switches his attention to new information.C.It makes him able to predict the appearance of a person.D.
34、It makes him far easier to overcome his learnt response.(4).The new study concluded that being bilingual is found helpful（分数：2.00）A.only when you use a foreign language to talk with foreigners.B.only when you have to learn two languages in the same setting.C.only when you speak different languages i
35、n school and at home.D.only when you speak foreign languages both in school and at home.(5).According to the author, rushing young children into bilingual kindergartens（分数：2.00）A.may not speed up the executive function.B.is not useful to develop the brain.C.is useful for the executive function.D.may
36、 quicken them to reach linguistic milestones.BText 3/BI came across an old country guide the other day. It listed all the tradesmen in each village in my part of the country, and it was impressive to see the great variety of services which were available on ones own doorstep in the late Victorian co
37、untryside.Nowadays a superficial traveler in rural England might conclude that the only village tradesmen still flourishing were either selling frozen food to the inhabitants or selling antiques to visitors. Nevertheless, this would really be a false impression. Admittedly there has been a contracti
38、on of village commerce, but its vigor is still remarkable.Our local grocers shop, for example, is actually expanding in spite of the competition from supermarkets in the nearest town. Women sensibly prefer to go there and exchange the local news while doing their shopping, instead of queueing up ano
39、nymously at a supermarket. And the proprietor knows well that personal service has a substantial cash value.His prices may be a bit higher than those in the town, but he will deliver anything at any time. His assistants think nothing of bicycling down the village street in their lunch, hour to take
40、a piece of cheese to an old-age pensioner who sent her order by word of mouth with a friend who happened to be passing. The more affluent customers telephone their shopping lists and the goods are on their doorsteps within an hour. They have only to hint at a fancy for some commodity outside the usu
41、al stock and the grocer a red-faced figure, instantly obtains it for them.The village gains from this sort of enterprise, of course. But I also find it satisfactory because a village shop offers one of the few ways in which a modest individualist can still get along in the world without attaching hi
42、mself to the big battalions of industry or commerce.Most of the village shopkeepers I know, at any rate, are decidedly individualist in their ways. For exampie, our shoemaker is a formidable figure: a thick-set, irritable man whom children treat with marked respect, knowing that an ill-judged word c
43、an provoke an angry eruption at any time. He stares with contempt at the pairs of cheap, mass-produced shoes taken to him for repair: has it come to this, he seems to be saying, that he, a craftsman, should have to waste his skills upon such trash? But we all know he will in fact do excellent work u
44、pon them. And he makes beautiful shoes for those who can afford such luxury.（分数：10.00）(1).The services available in villages nowadays are（分数：2.00）A.fewer but still very active.B.less successful than earlier but managing to survive.C.active in providing food and antiques.D.surprisingly energetic cons
45、idering the little demand for them.(2).The local grocers shop is expanding even though（分数：2.00）A.town shops are better at promotion.B.town shops are larger and more convenient.C.town shops enjoy price advantages.D.people get extra service in town shops.(3).Another aspect of personal service availabl
46、e in the village shop is that（分数：2.00）A.there is a wide range of goods available.B.goods not in stock can be especially obtained for the old.C.special attention is given to the needs of wealthier customers.D.goods are always restocked before they run out.(4).The author cited the example of the shoem
47、aker to show that（分数：2.00）A.the village provides a chance for an individual to get along by his own efforts.B.most of the village shopkeepers are bad-tempered.C.village shopkeepers look down upon the poor.D.village shopkeepers are all good craftsmen.(5).In what way is the village shoemaker a “formid
48、able figure”?（分数：2.00）A.He seems to pay little attention to public opinion.B.He refuses to mend cheap, mass-produced shoes.C.He is bad-tempered as well as an excellent craftsman.D.He has very high standards of workmanship.BText 4/BThe first technological revolution in modern biology started when Jam
49、es Watson and Francis Crick described the structure of DNA half a century ago. That established the fields of molecular and cell biology, the basis of the biotechnology industry. The sequencing of the human genome nearly a decade ago set off a second revolution which has started to illuminate the origins of diseases.Now the industry is convinced that a third revolution is under
