1、考研英语-试卷 247及答案解析(总分：142.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Use of English(总题数：2，分数：80.00)1.Section I Use of EnglishDirections: Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D.（分数：40.00）_A scientist who does research in economic psychology and who wants to predict the way
2、in which consumers will spend their money must study consumer behavior. He must obtain (1)_ both on resources of consumers and on the motives that (2)_ to encourage or discourage money spending. If an (3)_ were asked which of three groups borrow mostpeople with rising incomes, (4)_ incomes, or decli
3、ning incomeshe would (5)_ answer: those with declining incomes. Actually, in the years 19972000, the answer was: people with rising incomes. People with declining incomes were next and people with stable incomes borrowed the (6)_. This shows us that traditional (7)_ about earning and spending are no
4、t always (8)_ Another traditional assumption is that if people who have money expect prices to go up, they will (9)_ to buy. If they expect prices to go down, they will postpone buying. (10)_ research surveys have shown that this is not always (11)_ The expectations of price increases may not stimul
5、ate buying. One (12)_ attitude was ex-pressed by the wife of a mechanic in an interview at a time of rising prices. Her family had been planning to buy a new car but they postponed this purchase. (13)_, the rise in prices that has al-ready taken place may be resented and buyer“s resistance may be ev
6、oked. The (14)_ mentioned above was carried out in America. Investigations (15)_ at the same time in Great Britain, however, yielded results that were more (16)_ traditional assumptions about saving and spending patterns. The condition most contributive to spending (17)_ to be price stability. If pr
7、ices have been stable and people consider that they are (18)_, they are likely to buy. Thus, it appears that the common (19)_ policy of maintaining stable prices is based on a correct understanding of (20)_ psychology.（分数：40.00）A.dataB.materialsC.moneyD.thingsA.attendB.intendC.tendD.pretendA.educato
8、rB.economistC.artistD.editorA.similarB.soundC.stableD.equalA.especiallyB.particularlyC.approximatelyD.probablyA.mostB.leastC.fewestD.worstA.assumptionsB.ideasC.thoughtsD.conceptsA.comprehensibleB.understandableC.responsibleD.reliableA.delayB.hesitateC.hastenD.hurryA.ButB.HoweverC.SoD.AlthoughA.realB
9、.trueC.actualD.genuineA.radicalB.accidentalC.typicalD.superficialA.NeverthelessB.FurthermoreC.WhereasD.ThereforeA.examinationB.researchC.projectD.investigationA.reducedB.conductedC.producedD.deductedA.in comparison withB.in combination withC.in agreement withD.in company withA.appearsB.occursC.happe
10、nsD.expectsA.availableB.obtainableC.reasonableD.responsibleA.bankB.tradeC.industryD.businessA.consumerB.clientC.customerD.buyer二、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：10，分数：58.00)2.Section II Reading Comprehension_3.Part ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing
11、 A, B, C or D._The American economy, whether in government or private industry, has found retirement a convenient practice for managing the labor force. On the positive side, widespread retirement has meant an expansion of leisure and opportunities for self-fulfillment in later life. On the negative
12、 side, the practice of retirement entails large costs, both in funding required from pension systems and in the loss of the accumulated skills and talents of older people. Critics of retirement as it exists today have pointed to the rigidity of retirement practices: for example, the fact that retire
13、ment is typically an all-or-nothing proposition. Would it not be better to have some form of flexible or phased retirement, in which employees gradually reduce their work hours or take longer vacations? Such an approach might enable older workers to adjust better to retirement, while permitting empl
14、oyers to make gradual changes instead of coping with the abrupt departure of an employee. Retirement could be radically redefined in the future. Earlier criticism of retirement at a fixed age led to legal abolition of the practice, for the most part, in 1996. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act
15、 forbids older workers from being limited or treated in any way that would harm their employment possibilities. Still, most observers admit that age discrimination in the workplace remains widespread. Sometimes such discrimination against older workers is based on mistaken ideas, such as the false b
16、elief that older workers are less productive. In fact, empirical studies have not shown older workers to be less dependable in their job performance, nor are their absenteeism rates higher. There is also much support for the idea of work life extension; that is, adaptations of retirement rules or em
17、ployment practices to enable older people to become more productive. In favor of this idea is the fact that three-quarters of employed people over 65 are in white-collar occupations in service industries, which are less physically demanding than agriculture or manufacturing jobs. As a result, it is
18、sometimes argued, older people can remain in productive jobs now longer than in the past. In addition, some analysts point to declining numbers of young people entering the workforce, thus anticipating a labor shortage later. That development, if it occurred, might stimulate a need for older workers
19、 and a reversal of the trend toward early retirement.（分数：10.00）(1).Opponents of the retirement policy say（分数：2.00）A.it gives more leisure to old people than they know how to use.B.it costs too much money in the form of retirement pensions.C.it is too rigid and flexibility should be integrated into i
20、t.D.retirement should be practiced only in the public sector.(2).What happened in 1996?（分数：2.00）A.Retirement stopped being practiced.B.Age limitation in retirement was abolished.C.Retired people were no longer entitled to pensions.D.Age discrimination was legally abolished.(3).Empirical studies indi
21、cate that old people（分数：2.00）A.are less productive than younger people.B.prefer working to retiring.C.are reliable workers.D.are less dependable.(4).Work life extension might be caused by（分数：2.00）A.retraining of old people in modern skills.B.the trend toward early retirement.C.the expansion of agric
22、ulture and manufacturing industry.D.the declining younger labor force.(5).Why is retirement found to be a convenient practice for managing the labor force?（分数：2.00）A.Because it is believed that to manage an older workforce is challenging.B.Because retirement expands opportunities for self-fulfillmen
23、t in later life.C.Because older workers can adjust to retirement soon.D.Because it is supported by both government and private industry.Something big is happening to the human racesomething that could be called The Great Transformation. The Transformation consists of all the changes that are occurri
24、ng in human life due to advancing technology. For thousands of years such progress occurred slowly. Now, everything is changing so fast that you may find yourself wondering where all this progress is really leading. Fifty years ago, few people could even imagine things like computers and lasers. Tod
25、ay, a host of newly emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and genetic engineering are opening up all kinds of new paths for technologists. Like it or not, our advancing technology has made us masters of the earth. We not only dominate all the other animals, but are reshaping the worl
26、d“s plant life and even its soil and rocks, its waters and surrounding air. Mountains are being dug up to provide minerals and stone for buildings. The very ground under our feet is washing away as we chop down the forests, plow up the fields, and excavate foundations for our buildings. Human junk i
27、s cluttering up not only the land but even the bottom of the sea. And so many chemicals are being released into the air by human activities that scientists worry that the entire globe may warm, causing the polar icecaps to melt and ocean waters to flood vast areas of the land. During the twentieth c
28、entury, advancing technology has enabled man to reach thousands of feet into the ocean depths and to climb the highest mountains. Mount Everest, the highest mountain of all, resisted all climbers until the 1950“s. Now man is reaching beyond Earth to the moon, Mars, and the stars. No one knows what t
29、he Great Transformation means or where it will ultimately lead. But one thing is sure: human life 50 years from now will be very different from what it is today. It“s also worth noting that our amazing technology is posing an increasingly insistent question: When we can do so many things, how can we
30、 possibly decide what we really should do. When humans were relatively powerless, they didn“t have to make the choices they have to make today. Technology gives us the power to build a magnificent new civilizationif we can just agree on what we want it to be. But today, there is little global agreem
31、ent on goals and how we should achieve them. So it remains to be seen what will happen as a result of our technology. Pessimists worry that we will use the technology eventually to blow ourselves up. But they have been saying that for decades, and so far we have escaped. Whether we will continue to
32、do so remains unknownbut we can continue to hope.（分数：10.00）(1).The Great Transformation is caused by（分数：2.00）A.artificial intelligence and genetic engineering.B.the shortage of natural resources.C.the development of practical science.D.unknown reasons.(2).The more chemicals we send into the air, the
33、 less land we will possibly have because（分数：2.00）A.chemicals will wash away fields.B.water levels will go up.C.more and more land will be covered by ice.D.land is turned into water deliberately.(3).Advancing technology could possibly make us（分数：2.00）A.decisive.B.powerless.C.hesitant.D.mysterious.(4)
34、.Why is it impossible for people to build a remarkable new civilization today?（分数：2.00）A.Because nobody is optimistic about the future.B.Because human beings are unable to do so.C.Because people disagree with each other in many ways.D.Because people are not interested in it.(5).According to the pass
35、age, pessimists believe that（分数：2.00）A.the future of the world will be better and better.B.technological advances will destroy the human race at last.C.human technological advances are useless in people“s life.D.there is no need to develop technology.With its common interest in lawbreaking but its i
36、mmense range of subject-matter and widely-varying method of treatment, the crime novel could make a legitimate claim to be regarded as a separate branch of the traditional novel. The detective story is probably the most respectful (at any in the narrow sense of word) of the crime species. Its creati
37、on is often the relaxation of University dons, literary economists, scientists or even poets. Fatalities may occur more frequently and mysteriously than might be expected in polite society, which is familiar to us, if not from our own experience, at least in the newspaper or the lives of friends. Th
38、e characters, though normally realized superficially, are as recognizable human and consistent as our less intimate associates. As story set in a more remote environment, African jungle or Australian bush, ancient China or gas-lit London, appeals to our interest in geography or history, most detecti
39、ve story writers are conscientious in providing a reasonably authentic back-ground. The elaborate, carefully-assembled plot, despised by the modern intellectual critics and creators of significant novels, has found refuge in the murder mystery, with its sprinkling of clues, its spicing with apparent
40、 impossibilities, all with appropriate solutions and explanations at the end. With the guilt of escapism from Real Life nagging gently, we secretly delight in the unmasking of evil by a vaguely super-human detective, who sees through and dispels the cloud of suspicion which has hovered so unjustly o
41、ver the innocent. Though its villain also receives his rightful deserts, the thriller presents a less comfortable and credible world. The sequence of fist fights, revolver duels, car crashes and escaped from gas-filled cellars exhausts the reader far more than the hero, who, suffering from at least
42、two broken ribs, one black eye, uncountable bruises and a hangover, can still chase and overpower an armed villain with the physique of a wrestler. He moves dangerously through a world of merciless gangs, brutality, a vicious lust for power and money and, in contrast to the detective tale, with a gr
43、eat criminal whose defeat seems almost accidental. Perhaps we miss in the thriller the security of being safely led by our calm investigator past a score of red herrings and blind avenues to a final gathering of suspects when an unchallengeable explanation of all that has bewildered us is given just
44、ice and goodness prevail. All that we vainly hope for from life is granted vicariously.（分数：10.00）(1).The crime novel may be regarded as（分数：2.00）A.a not quite respectable form of the conventional novel.B.not a tree novel at all.C.related in some ways to the historical novel.D.an independent developme
45、nt of the novel.(2).The passage suggests that intellectuals write detective stories because（分数：2.00）A.the stories are often in fact very instructive.B.they enjoy writing these stories.C.the creation of these stories demands considerable intelligence.D.detective stories are an accepted branch of lite
46、rature.(3).What is mentioned in the passage as one of the similarities between the detective story and the thriller?（分数：2.00）A.Both have involved plots.B.Both are condemned by modem critics.C.Both are forms of escapist fiction.D.Both demonstrate the triumph of right over wrong.(4).In what way are th
47、e detective story and the thriller unlike?（分数：2.00）A.In introducing violence.B.In providing excitement and suspense.C.In appealing to the intellectual curiosity of the readers.D.In ensuring that everything comes tight in the end.(5).The author presents the passage by（分数：2.00）A.giving a definition an
48、d explaining it in detail.B.countering an argument and making an assumption.C.introducing a general topic and comparing two of its subcategories.D.discussing a problem and arguing in favor of one solution.A recent history of the Chicago meat-packing industry and its workers examines how the industry grew from its appearance in the 1830“s through the early 1890“s. Meat-packers, the author argues, had good wages, working conditions, and prospects from advancement within the packinghouses and did not cooperate with labor agitators since labor r
