1、考研英语-238 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)BDirections:/BRead the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C, and D on ANSWER SHEET 1. What would happen if consumers decided to simplify their lives and spend less on material goods and se
2、rvices? ThisU (1) /Uis taking on a certain urgency as rates of economic growth continue to decelerate throughout the industrialized world, andU (2) /Umillions of consumers appear to beU (3) /Ufor more frugal lifestyle. The Stanford Research Institute, which has done some of the most extensive work o
3、n the frugality phenomenon,U (4) /Uthat nearly five million American adults number “U (5) /Uto and act on some but not all“ of its basic tenets.The frugality phenomenon first achieved prominence as a middle-classU (6) /Uof high-consumption lifestyle in the industrial world during the 50s and 60s. In
4、 the Silent Revolution, Ronald Ingehart of the University of Michingan s Institute of Social Research examined thisU (7) /Uin the United States and 10 Western European nations. He concluded that a change has taken place “from anU (8) /Uemphasis on material well-being and physical securityU (9) /Ugre
5、ater emphasis on the quality of life“, that is, “aU (10) /Ufrom materialism to post-materialism“.Inglehart calls the 60s the “fat year“. Among their more visible trappings were the ragged blue jeans favored by the affluent young. Most of themU (11) /Ufrom materialism; however, this wasU (12) /U. Com
6、fortably fixed Americans were goingU (13) /U,U (14) /Umaking things last longer, sharing things with others, learning to do things for themselves and so on. ButU (15) /Ueconomically significant, it was hardlyU (16) /Uin a US Gross National Product climbing vigorously toward the 2 thousand billion ma
7、rk.U (17) /U, as the frugality phenomenon matured-growing out of the soaring 80s and into the somber 90s-it seemed to undergo aU (18) /Utransformation. American consumers continued to loseU (19) /Uin materialism and were being joined by new converts who were U(20) /Ufrugality because of the darkenin
8、g economic skies they saw ahead.（分数：10.00）A.questionB.problemC.issueD.dilemmaA.thoughB.asC.much asD.ever sinceA.answeringB.makingC.optingD.planningA.predictsB.discoversC.demonstratesD.estimatesA.amountB.attendC.leadD.adhereA.rejectionB.denialC.retentionD.defianceA.adventureB.maturityC.experienceD.ex
9、istenceA.overwhelmingB.imaginaryC.trivialD.apparentA.aboutB.towardC.withD.forA.reliefB.variationC.rangeD.shiftA.sufferB.differC.divergeD.retreatA.soundB.subtleC.superficialD.obscureA.withoutB.offC.aboutD.withA.in generalB.in effectC.for exampleD.in a senseA.whenB.whereasC.whileD.onceA.decisiveB.disc
10、ernibleC.incredibleD.negligibleA.IndeedB.MoreoverC.ThereforeD.HoweverA.elementaryB.fundamentalC.comprehensiveD.primaryA.faithB.doubtC.patienceD.interestA.accommodatingB.discardingC.embracingD.presenting二、BSection Readi(总题数：4，分数：40.00)BPart A/BBDirections:/BReading the following four texts. Answer th
11、e questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. BText 1/BIt is the staff of dreams and nightmares. Where Tony Blairs attempts to make Britain love the euro have fallen on deaf ears, its incarnation as notes and coins will succeed. These will be used not jus
12、t in the euro area but in Britain. As the British become accustomed to the euro as a cash currency, they will warm to itpaving the way for a yes note in a referendum.The idea of euro creep appeals to both sides of the euro argument. According to the pros, as Britons become familiar with the euro, me
13、mbership will start to look inevitable, so those in favor are bound to win. According to the antis, as Britons become familiar with the euro, membership will start to look inevitable, so those opposed must mobilize for the fight.Dream or nightmare, euro creep envisages the single currency worming it
14、s way first into the British economy and then into the affections of voters. British tourists will come back from their European holidays laden with euros, which they will spend not just at airports but in high street shops. So, too, will foreign visitors. As the euro becomes a parallel currency, th
15、ose who make up the current two-to-one majority will change their minds. From there, it will be a short step to decide to dispense with the pound.Neil Kinnock, a European commissioner and former leader of the Labor Party, predicts that the euro will soon become Britains second currency. Hans Eichel,
16、 the German finance minister, also says that it will become a parallel currency in countries like Switzerland and Britain. Peter Hain, the European minister who is acting as a cheerleader for membership, says the euro will become “a practical day-to-day reality and that will enable people to make a
17、sensible decision about it. As many as a third of Britains biggest retailers, such as Marks and Spencer, have said they will take euros in some of their shops. BP has also announced that it will accept euros at some of its garages.But there is less to this than meet the eye. British tourists can now
18、 withdraw money from cashpoint from European holiday destinations, so they are less likely than in the past to end up with excess foreign money. Even if they do, they generally get rid of it at the end of their holidays, says David Southwell, a spokesman for the British Retail Consortium (BRC).（分数：1
19、0.00）(1).The writer seems（分数：2.00）A.to be over-enthusiastic about the success of the euro.B.to launch a vigorous campaign against the euro creep.C.to take a matter-of-fact attitude towards the issue.D.to hold a hostile attitude towards euro expansions .(2).Towards euro s creep into British economy,
20、the views of Neil Kinnock and David Southwell are（分数：2.00）A.homogeneous.B.similar.C.overlapping.D.opposite.(3).What does the writer intend to illustrate with Marks and Spencer?（分数：2.00）A.British affections for euro.B.The success of euro in Britain.C.Europes support for euro.D.The great influence of
21、retailers.(4).The word “cheerleader“ (Paragraph 4) can best be replaced by（分数：2.00）A.“voter.“B.“advocator.“C.“critic.“D.“prophet.“(5).It can be inferred from the text that in Britain euro has been accepted（分数：2.00）A.gradually and substantially.B.noticeably and spiritually.C.inevitably and sensibly.D
22、.verbally and momentarily.BText 2/BScience Fiction can provide students interested in the future with a basic introduction to the concept of thinking about possible futures in a serious way, a sense of the emotional forces in their own culture that are affecting the shape the future may take, and a
23、multitude of predictions regarding the results of present trends.Although SF seems to take as its future social settings nothing more ambiguous than the current status quo or its totally evil variant, SF is actually a more important vehicle for speculative visions about macroscopic social change. At
24、 this level, it is hard to deal with any precision as to when general value changes or evolving social institutions might appear, but it is most important to think about the kinds of societies that could result from the rise of new forms of interaction, even if one cannot predict exactly when they m
25、ight occur.In performing this “what if .“ function, SF can act as a social laboratory as authors ruminate upon the forms social relationships could take if key variables in their own societies were different, and upon what new belief systems or mythologies could arise in the future to provide the ba
26、sic rationalizations for human activities. If it is true that most people find it difficult to conceive of the ways in which their society, or human nature itself, could undergo fundamental changes, then SF of this type may provoke ones imagination-to consider the diversity of paths potentially open
27、 to society.Moreover, if SF is the laboratory of the imagination, its experiments are often of the kind that may significantly alter the subject matter even as they are being carried out. That is, SF has always had a certain cybernetic effect on society, as its visions emotionally engage the future-
28、consciousness of the mass public regarding especially desirable and undesirable possibilities. The shape a society takes in the present is in part influenced by its image of the future; in this way particularly powerful SF images may become self-fulfilling or self-avoiding prophecies for society. Fo
29、r that matter, some individuals in recent years have even shaped their own life styles after appealing models provided by SF stories. The reincarnation and diffusion of SF futuristic images of alternative societies through the media of movies and television may have speeded up and augmented SFs soci
30、al feedback effects. Thus SF is not only change speculator but change agent, send an echo from the future that is becoming into the present that is sculpting it. This fact alone makes imperative in any education system the study of the kinds of works discussed in this section.（分数：10.00）(1).In discus
31、sing the subject matter of SF, the author focuses on（分数：2.00）A.its main functions.B.its great diversity.C.its bold assumptions.D.its social impact.(2).From Paragraph 2, we can infer that（分数：2.00）A.SF is only too powerful to speed up social changes.B.SFs models affect the lifestyles of some individua
32、ls.C.SF serves as a social laboratory for vivid imagination.D.SFs predictions may not so accurate as anticipated.(3).According to the last paragraph, “self-fulfilling“ is to “self-avoiding“ as（分数：2.00）A.“artistic“ to “functional“.B.“material“ to “imaginary“.C.“desirable“ to “undesirable“.D.“rational
33、“ to “emotional“.(4).This text is most likely to be（分数：2.00）A.an excerpt of a book.B.a book review.C.a part of an address.D.a magazine feature.(5).The overall tone of the piece of writing can best be described as（分数：2.00）A.sarcastic.B.persuasive.C.humorous.D.informative.BText 3/BEI Nino is the term
34、used for the period when sea surface temperatures are above normal off the South American coast along the equatorial Pacific, sometimes called the Earths heartbeat, and is a dramatic but mysterious climate system that periodically rages across the Pacific.EI Nino means “the little boy“ or “the Chris
35、t child“ in Spanish, and is so called because its warm current is felt along coastal Peru and Ecuador around Christmas. But the local warming is just part of an intricate set of changes in the ocean and atmosphere across the tropical Pacific, which covers a third of the Earths circumference. Its int
36、ensity is such that it affects temperatures, storm tracks and rainfall around the world.Droughts in Africa and Australia, tropical storms in the Pacific, torrential rains along the Californian coast and lush greening of Peruvian deserts have all been ascribed to the whim of EI Nino. Until recently i
37、t has been returning about every three to five years. But recently it has become more frequent-for the first time on record it has returned for a fourth consecutive year-and at the same time a giant pool of unusually warm water has settled clown in the middle of the Pacific and is showing no signs o
38、f moving.Climatologists dont yet know why, though some are saying these Uaberrations/U may signal a worldwide change in climate. The problem is that nobody really seems sure what causes the EI Nino to start up, and what makes some stronger than others. And this makes it particularly hard to explain
39、why it has suddenly started behaving so differently.In the absence of EI Nino and its cold counterpart, La Nina, conditions in the tropical eastern Pacific are the opposite of those in the west: the east is cool and dry, while the west is hot and wet. In the east, its the winds and currents that kee
40、p things cool. It works like this. Strong, steady winds, called trade winds, blowing west across the Pacific drag the surface water along with them. The varying influence of the Earths rotation at different latitudes, known as the Coriolis effect, causes these surface winds and water to veer towards
41、 the poles, north in the northern hemisphere and south in the southern hemisphere. The surface water is replaced by colder water from deeper in the ocean in a process known as upwelling.The cold surface water in turn chills the air above it. This cold dense air cannot rise high enough for water vapo
42、r to condense into clouds. The dense air creates an area of high pressure so that the atmosphere over the equatorial eastern Pacific is essentially devoid of rainfall.（分数：10.00）(1).The writer begins the text with（分数：2.00）A.a description of a scene.B.a root cause of EI Nino.C.a narrative of an event.
43、D.a definition of EI Nino.(2).Paragraphs 2 and 3 are written to（分数：2.00）A.discuss the causes of climatic irregularities.B.exemplify the abnormal effects of EI Nino.C.explain the way in which EI Nino develops.D.show the recent observations of scientists.(3).The word “aberrations“ (Paragraph 4) can be
44、st be replaced by（分数：2.00）A.irregularities.B.destructions.C.frequencies.D.intensities.(4).It can be inferred that? hen EI Nino and La Nina occurs simultaneously,（分数：2.00）A.the Coriolis effect may bring trade winds to the poles.B.the atmosphere in the Pacific will be cool and dry.C.the conditions in
45、the eastern Pacific would be hot and wet.D.the cold vapor will rise high enough to make for rainfall.(5).In exploring the effect of El Nino, the author mainly focuses on（分数：2.00）A.its violence.B.its conditions.C.its regularityD.its features.BText 4/BThe U.S. Supreme Courts decision Monday to let sta
46、nd a ruling in an online defamation case will make it more difficult to determine correct legal jurisdictions in other Internet eases, legal experts said.By opting not to take the case, the high court effectively endorsed a lower courts decision that a Colorado company that posts ratings of health p
47、lans on the Internet could be sued for defamation in a Washington court. The lower court ruling is one of several that makes it easier for plaintiffs to sue Web site operators in their own jurisdictions, rather than where the operators maintain a physical presence.The case involved a defamation suit
48、 filed by Chehalis, Wash.-based Northwest Healthcare Alliance against Lakewood, Colo. -based H. The Alliance sued in Washington federal court after Healthgrades. com posted a negative ranking of Northwest Healthcares home health services on the Internet. Healthgrades. com argued that it should not b
49、e subject to the jurisdiction of a court in Washington because its publishing operation is in Colorado.Observers said the fact that the Supreme Court opted not to hear the case only clouds the legal situation for Web site operators.Geoff Stewart, a partner at Jones Day in Washington, D. C. , said that the Supreme Cour
