1、考研英语-242 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. (10 points)The evolutionary process culminating in man was finally completed about 35,000 years ago wi
2、th the appearance of Homo Sapiens, or “thinking man.“ U(1) /Uin broadest perspective, this represents the second major turningU (2) /Uin the course ofU (3) /Uon this planet. The first occurred when lifeU (4) /Uout of inorganic matter. After that momentousU (5) /U, all living forms evolved by adaptin
3、gU (6) /Utheir environment, as was evident during the climate turmoil of the Pleistocene. But with theU (7) /Uof man, the evolutionary process wasU (8) /U. No longer did genes adapt to environment. Instead, man adapted by changing the environment toU (9) /Uhis genes. Today, a thirdU (10) /Uturning p
4、oint appearsU (11) /U, as mans growing knowledge of the structure and function of genes may soon enable him toU (12) /Uhis genes as well as his environment.Man, and only man, has been able to create a made-to-order environment, or culture, as it is called. The reason isU (13) /Uonly man can symboliz
5、e, orU (14) /Uthings and concepts divorced from here-and-now reality. Only he laughs, and only he knows that he will die. Only he has wonderedU (15) /Uthe universe and its origins, about his place in it and in the hereafter.With these unique and revolutionizing abilities, man has been able toU (16)
6、/Uwith his environment without alteration. His culture in the new no biological way of having fur in the Arctic, water storage in the desert, and fins in the water. More concretely, cultureU (17) /Utools, clothing, ornaments, institutions, language, art forms, and religious beliefs andU (18) /U. All
7、 these have served to adapt man to his physical environment and to his fellowman. Indeed, story of man is simply the story of aU (19) /Uof cultures that he has created, form his PaleolithicU (20) /Uto the present day.（分数：10.00）A.ReviewedB.ViewedC.ProbedD.ProspectedA.wayB.pointC.markD.momentA.acciden
8、tsB.incidentsC.actionsD.eventsA.originatedB.evolvedC.developedD.grewA.stepB.aspectC.stateD.phaseA.toB.towardsC.forD.atA.appearanceB.disappearanceC.complexionD.featureA.contradictedB.reversedC.contrastedD.returnedA.adaptB.suitC.fitD.agreeA.invalidB.epochalC.periodicalD.ineffectiveA.eminentB.imminentC
9、.prominentD.dominantA.maintainB.modifyC.disposeD.diversifyA.thatB.becauseC.forD.whyA.reviseB.revealC.envisionD.museA.aboutB.onC.atD.inA.copeB.agreeC.cohereD.contendA.consists ofB.conceives ofC.combines withD.shut outA.practicesB.suspicionsC.formalitiesD.thoughtsA.successB.processionC.successionD.con
10、sequenceA.originsB.resourcesC.rootsD.sources二、BSection Readi(总题数：4，分数：40.00)BPart A/BBDirections:/BRead the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)BText 1/BThe news from Americas housing market is getting n
11、o better. As sales declines and defaults and foreclosures climb, pessimists fear that over a million Americans could be driven out of their homes as adjustable-rate mortgages are reset. What should policymakers do? Congress is eager to do more: hence the calls to expand the role of Fannie Mae and Fr
12、eddie Mac, the giant government-sponsored enterprises (GSES) that tower over Americas mortgage market.Fannies and Freddies political allies want two things. The first is the raising of the $417,000 limit on the size of loans that the pair may handle. The second demand is the lifting of caps on the a
13、mount of mortgages they may buy and hold for themselves. Fannie and Freddie could then ride to the rescue of struggling borrowers, injecting liquidity into parts of the market that have seized up. Their arguments are winning support, and opposition from the Bush administration and the GSES regulator
14、 is softening. Unfortunately, the ideas are likely to do more for Fannie and Freddie than for the mortgage market.Start with the $417,000 limit. Lifting this could help if Fannie and Freddie scoured the upper bracket for borrowers who were struggling but viable. But their history suggests that they
15、would cherry-pick those who could get refinanced elsewhere. And the huge-mortgage market may be correcting itself anyway: spreads over GSE-backed loans, though still unusually high, are falling.It is also riskier. When they hold a mortgage, they take on not only credit risk but also interest-rate an
16、d prepayment risk. The loans they guarantee, in contrast, carry only credit risk. So as well as being just as effective, the guarantee business is also saferand thus better for the taxpayer who unwittingly stands behind the GSES.Moreover, even if they grow no more, the mortgage giants pose a clear s
17、ystemic threat. Their portfolios of retained mortgages and mortgage-backed securities add up to no less than $1.4 trillion. It is bad enough that this is concentrated in two institutions. No matter how much risk they take or how they manage it, they can borrow at rock-bottom interest rates. If they
18、got into trouble, banks as well as taxpayers would be on the hook. Banks may hold as much GSE debt as they want. Many have amounts that exceed their regulatory capital.The giants were set up decades ago to help banks pool concentrated regional mortgage risk and to make housing more affordable. But a
19、s the market has grown deeper and more sophisticated, history has left them behindhence their desire to get into any bit of the business that will turn a profit. The eventual aim should be to turn them into normal private-sector companies, by stripping them of the charters that give rise to the impl
20、icit government guarantees, and break them into smaller pieces.（分数：10.00）(1).According to the text, policy makers solve the problems in the housing market in the US by _（分数：2.00）A.Driving millions of people out of their houses.B.Calling on the expansion of GSES roles.C.Planning to stop resetting adj
21、ustable-interest mortgage.D.Doing nothing.(2).What can be inferred about the Fannie and Freddie from Paragraph 2 and 3?（分数：2.00）A.They are companies of normal size for mortgage and loan.B.They are companies supported by the government.C.They are companies functioning as banks.D.They are companies th
22、at have no help to the housing market.(3).If the giant GSES collapse, the most possible result would be _（分数：2.00）A.Borrowers can get their mortgage back.B.Banks may face a debt which they cannot afford.C.Taxpayers would have to borrow money at rock-bottom interest rates.D.The housing market will be
23、come deeper and more sophisticated.(4).According to the author, the proposal of the Congress most probably _（分数：2.00）A.break the giants into small pieces in case of safety.B.endow more power to the two giants for their development.C.rescue those who cannot pay back their loan in the housing market.D
24、.promote the development of the part of market that has been seized up.(5).Which of the following is unlikely to be the risk that the two giants are facing?（分数：2.00）A.They were established for historical purposes which no longer fit the situation.B.The sizes of them are too big to handle.C.The devel
25、opment of housing market is fast and profound:D.They are sponsored by the government and money from taxpayers.BText 2/BThose of us hurrying to finish our taxes by tomorrows deadline will probably be subjected to thoughts of the I.R.S. (Internal Revenue Service) as an all-powerful bully. But the trut
26、h is, the government is not always a match for the tax advisors of wealthy people, so a lot of taxes will go unpaid at the top of the income scale.Lawyers who represent high-income taxpayers earn more than 10 times what senior government lawyers doan obvious disadvantage for the government agencies
27、in attracting and retaining top talent. The lawyers who write our tax rules are overworked and sometimes inexperienced, so that they leave loopholes that are exploited by more experienced private lawyers. And the government always loses cases which it should win, and provides private lawyers with pr
28、ecedents.As this vicious cycle shows, skimping (节约) on tax administration is a false economy. Instead, if we substantially increase government salaries and staffing levels, we can raise more revenue, with lower tax rates and less waste. Four reforms should be adopted immediately.First, the governmen
29、t should focus on hiring talented young lawyers, since the pay disparity with the private sector is narrower for them. These efforts will be more effective if Congress helps new graduates repay student loans, which often are more than $100,000. A loan repayment program would be a powerful recruiting
30、 device.Second, the government should tap another promising talent poolrecent retirees from private practiceto mentor young lawyers. The salary gap is less of an issue for retirees, and the opportunity to give back to the tax system can be quite appealing.Third, the government should retain a small
31、team of a dozen top tax lawyers at salaries closer to the market rate. They can serve as a rapid reaction force, deciding whether to shut down a new aggressive strategy immediately or to let it be evaluated through usual government channels.Fourth, the government should retain private lawyers to hel
32、p with high-priority projects. An important constraint is that lawyers who represent private clients may view it as a conflict to help the government. But this is not always true.Through bar associations, private lawyers already volunteer to review proposed changes in the tax law and offer ways to i
33、mprove them. Tax academics can also be a valuable and conflict-free source of expertise, since they ordinarily do not represent clients. And some tax litigators (诉讼律师) may view it as a prestigious opportunity and a patriotic service to represent the government in a tax case that could set an importa
34、nt precedent.The tax system can be only as strong as the people who run it, so the government has to recruit and retain the most promising talent. A tax system can be fair and efficient only when it is administered soundly.（分数：10.00）(1).The text suggests that the wealthy people in the U.S. _（分数：2.00
35、）A.Seldom pay their taxes.B.Always hurry to finish their taxes by the deadline.C.Employ advisors m avoid tax payments.D.Enjoy the same tax rate as people with ordinary income.(2).The underlined word“ disparity“ (Line 1, Paragraph 4) most probably means _（分数：2.00）A.equity.B.gap.C.quantity.D.accord.(3
36、).Private lawyers can easily exploit advantages in current tax system mainly because _（分数：2.00）A.they earn more than the lawyers working for the government.B.they are more experienced and talented.C.the tax system only suits the poor.D.they want successful precedents to improve their career.(4).Whic
37、h of the following is true of the text?（分数：2.00）A.The U.S. government revenue agencies always bully taxpayers.B.The salary gap between senior government lawyers and private lawyers is smaller.C.Private lawyers are unwilling to help the government make countermeasures against themselves.D.Reforms in
38、tax administration can help reduce waste and tax rate, and collect more revenue.(5).According to the text, the most important factor to perfect tax system is to _（分数：2.00）A.improve tax administration.B.lower the income of private lawyers.C.ask people to pay tax through moral methods.D.change the cur
39、rent tax rate.BText 3/BEven before canaries (特高频噪声) were brought into coal mines to alert workers to the presence of poisonous gas, birds were giving us early warning calls signaling the Earths deteriorating environmental health. Global bird populations have shrunk by up to 25% since preagricultural
40、 (农业社会前的) times. Over the past 300 years, farmland has expanded from six percent of the Earths surface to nearly 33%.Today, three quarters of threatened bird species depend on forests as their principal habitat; each year, however, some 13,000,000 hectares of forests are destroyed, an area the size
41、of Greece. Nearly half the woodlands lost are relatively undisturbed primary forests that are home to a number of sensitive birds and other creatures.Direct exploitation, including hunting for food and capture for the pet trade, is the second greatest danger after habitat loss, while next is the int
42、entional or accidental introduction of non-native species. As people travel to all parts of the globe, so too do the pests and pets that prey on, out-compete, or alter the habitat of native wildlife.Pollution poses an additional risk, affecting 12% of the threatened bird species. In addition to dire
43、ct poisoning from fertilizer and pesticide applications, runoff of chemicals contaminates the wetlands that migrating waterfowl rely on. Persistent organic pollutants accumulate in the food chain and can lead to deformities, reproductive failure, and disease in birds.Worldwide, one-third of plant an
44、d animal species could become extinct by 2050 as a result of climate change, a relatively new threat. Global temperature spikes have brought severe alterations to the migration, breeding, and habitat ranges of some birds.In addition to these looming dangers, seven percent of threatened bird species
45、are at risk from incidental mortality. A rapid decline in seabird populations over the last 15 years corresponds with the growth in commercial longline fisheries. In Europe, Central Asia, and Africa, electrocution on power lines has caused the mass mortality of raptors. Moreover, countless birds die
46、 each year from collisions with windows, the number-one cause of U.S. avian mortality.If birds disappear, so do the economically valuable services they provide. Preventing the extinction of additional bird populations depends largely on protecting the worlds remaining wild spaces and preserving the
47、health of our natural and altered ecosystems.Reports that the ivory-billed woodpecker, long thought to be extinct, is still with us thrilled bird watchers and others, but this sort of second chance seldom occurs in nature. Even with continued habitat protection, once wildlife populations drop dramat
48、ically, a rebound is far from guaranteed. Without stabilizing climate and human numbers, putting fences around all the parks in the world will not lie enough to protect threatened species.（分数：10.00）(1).Which of the following statement has nothing to do with the drastically declining number of birds?
49、（分数：2.00）A.Loss of forests that are home of birds.B.Toxic chemicals that may cause diseases to birds.C.Their habitat area in Greece that has been destroyed.D.Animals from other continents by the process of globalization.(2).Which of the following is not true of the text?（分数：2.00）A.A cat can kill all the birds on an island where
