1、考研英语-试卷 83 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）_Plastic is the panacea of the ages. Nearly every man-made object (1)_ (2)_ of, or at l
2、east (3)_ its very structure, to this wonder compound. Rain slickers, computer terminals, automobile engine parts, coffee cups (and the sugar stirrers too), breast implants, toy soldiersthey are all made up of plastic, or one of its many (4)_ Since the (5)_ of civilization, humankind bas been experi
3、menting (6)_ a multifunctional materialone that had to be equally strong and lightweightto carry, contain and protect valuables. (7)_ it could carry, contain and protect humans too, even better. Generations of tinkerers and scientists set off (8)_ the challenge, striking gold some 170 years ago. By
4、mixing natural rubber with sulphur they created the world“s most utilized material ever. In developing a (9)_, malleable and durable substance, the most important inventions of the industrial age were to follow shortly thereafter. The automobile and airplane industries, to (10)_ just two, owe their
5、very existence to plastic. And, (11)_ celluloid plastic strips, the Lumiere Brothers would never have brought moving pictures to the big screen. The development of plastic is a story of human (12)_, ingenuity and luck. (13)_ the legend now goes, in 1839, the American inventor Charles Goodyear (the f
6、amous tyre company would later use his name) was experimenting with the sulphur treatment of natural rubber when he dropped a piece of sulphur-treated rubber on a stove. The heat seemed to give rubber (14)_ properties. It was stronger, more (15)_ to abrasions more elastic, much less (16)_ to tempera
7、ture, (17)_ to gases, and highly resistant to chemicals and electric (18)_ Eyeing this as a cheaply and easily reproduced construction material, a whirlwind of work (19)_ and the birth of (20)_ plastic and plastic-derivatives were born from camphor to celluloid to rayon; cellophane, polyvinyl chlori
8、de (or PVC); styrofoam and nylon were soon to follow.（分数：40.00）A.consistsB.comprisesC.constitutesD.composesA.especiallyB.partiallyC.partlyD.entirelyA.ownsB.owesC.thanksD.contributesA.deviationsB.derivatives.C.deprivationsD.depressionsA.drownB.drawnC.dawnD.duskA.forB.onC.inD.withA.IfB.WhenC.UnlessD.U
9、ntilA.ontoB.withC.onD.toA.versatileB.various.C.variantD.variableA.callB.nameC.takeD.bringA.despiteB.withC.withoutD.forA.presentationB.preservationC.perseveranceD.persistenceA.AsB.AfterC.BeforeD.WhileA.enlightenedB.correctedC.progressedD.improvedA.insistentB.consistentC.proofD.resistantA.sensitiveB.a
10、gileC.susceptiveD.acuteA.transparentB.impermeableC.translucentD.inaccessibleA.streamB.torrentC.currentD.flowA.pursuedB.ensuedC.ensuredD.insuredA.numericalB.numerableC.enormousD.numerous二、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：10，分数：58.00)2.Section II Reading Comprehension_3.Part ADirections: Read the following fo
11、ur texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D._The study of law has been recognized for centuries as a basic intellectual discipline in European universities. However, only in recent years has it become a feature of undergraduate programs in English-Canadian universities. T
12、raditionally, legal learning has been viewed in such institutions as the special preserve of lawyers, rather than a necessary part of the intellectual equipment of an educated person. Happily, the older and more continental view of legal education is establishing itself in a number of Canadian unive
13、rsities and some have even begun to offer undergraduate degrees in law. If the study of law is beginning to establish itself as part and parcel of a general education, its aims and methods should appeal directly to journalism educators. Law is a discipline which encourages responsible judgment. On t
14、he one hand, it provides opportunities to analyze such ideas as justice, democracy and freedom. On the other, it links these concepts to everyday realities in a manner which is parallel to the links journalists forge on a daily basis as they cover and comment on the news. For example, notions of evi
15、dence and fact, of basic rights and public interest are at work in the process of journalistic judgment and production just as in courts of law. Sharpening judgment by absorbing and reflecting on law is a desirable component of a journalist“s intellectual preparation for his or her career. But the i
16、dea that the journalist must understand the law more profoundly than an ordinary citizen turns on an understanding of the established conventions and special responsibilities of the news media. Politics or, more broadly, the functioning of the state, is a major subject for journalists. The better in
17、formed they are about the way the state works, the better their reporting will be. In fact, it is difficult to see how journalists who do not have a clear grasp of the basic features of the Canadian Constitution can do a competent job on political stories. Furthermore, the legal system and the event
18、s which occur within it are primary subjects for journalists. While the quality of legal journalism varies greatly, there is an undue reliance amongst many journalists on interpretations supplied to them by lawyers. While comment and reaction from lawyers may enhance stories, it is preferable for jo
19、urnalists to rely on their own notions of significance and make their own judgments. These can only come from a well- grounded understanding of the legal system.（分数：10.00）(1).In the first paragraph, the author is mainly concerned with_.（分数：2.00）A.making several contrastsB.illustrating his opinionC.g
20、iving some criticismsD.making a few comments(2).It is implied in the second paragraph that_.（分数：2.00）A.law education is intended primarily for journalistsB.journalists will comment on the news from the perspective of justiceC.journalists have more opportunities to reflect on democracy and freedomD.t
21、he study of law will encourage journalists to concentrate on the facts(3).According to the passage, sound journalistic judgment _.（分数：2.00）A.represents good production in courts of lawB.depends exclusively on evidence and factC.feeds off a profound understanding of lawD.constitutes an essential part
22、 of a professional“s career(4).Which of the following is the least desirable to a journalist according to the author?（分数：2.00）A.the study of law.B.the conventions of the news media.C.the way the state works.D.the lawyer“s interpretations of law.(5).The author writes this article primarily in order t
23、o _.（分数：2.00）A.celebrate the establishment of legal education in Canadian universitiesB.stress the importance of legal learning to journalistsC.introduce the aims and methods of law educationD.explain the components of a journalist“s intellectual preparationAfter a shaky start, the Martian flotilla
24、that has arrived over the past few weeks is getting down to business. Two of the five craft in it seem to be working perfectly. Two are lost. And a fifth is sick, but undergoing treatment. The most spectacular pictures so far have been provided by Mars Express, the European Space Agency“s contributi
25、on to the fleet. On January 28th this reached its final working orbit (which takes it over both poles, and thus allows it to see the whole of Mars over the course of a few days as the planet revolves beneath it). It has, however, been sending back data since shortly after it arrived, and a few days
26、ago its controllers released a series of beautiful photographs, including a stereo image of Valles Marineris, a huge canyon that may have been formed by flowing water. The most scientifically significant result, though, has come from Opportunity, America“s second Mars rover. One of Opportunity“s cam
27、eras has photographed evidence of stratification in nearby rocks. Such stratification indicates that the rocks concerned are sedimentary. The layers could be repeated wind-blown deposits, or consist of ash from successive volcanic eruptions. But the terrestrial rocks they most resemble are ones that
28、 have formed under water. The reason everyone is getting so excited is because there is a widespread assumption that any form of life which might dwell on Mars would need liquid water to liveor, even if it could now subsist by extracting moisture from ice, would have needed liquid water to evolve to
29、 that stage. Mars has seen more probes launched towards it than all of the other planets put together precisely because of this hope that it might harbour life. So there is a lot riding on the answernot least the funding of future missions. Besides its scientific significance, the success of Opportu
30、nity has also helped to distract attention from the sudden refusal of Spirit, the first American rover to arrive on Mars, to talk to its controllers. This craft had tentatively, but successfully, nosed its way off its landing platform, and was about to drill its way into a nearby rock prior to doing
31、 a spot of chemical analysis, when it went silent. However, the engineers at NASA, America“s space agency, are nothing if not resourceful, and they have a good record of carrying out running repairs on spacecraft that are millions of kilometres away. In the case of Spirit, they think that one of the
32、 craft“s memory chips has got cluttered up with files created on the journey to Mars. That caused another chip, which manages the first, to throw a wobbly and to keep rebooting the computer. They are currently testing this idea by loading a diagnostic program on to the computer. In addition, as a pr
33、ecaution, they have deleted excess files from the equivalent memory chip on Opportunity. Spirit“s spirits may thus revive. As to the failures, the Japanese abandoned their fly-by craft Nozomi in December, and the British team in charge of Beagle 2, which is presumed to have landed on December 25th b
34、ut from which no signal has been received, also seems to have called it quits. Still, a 40460% success rate (depending on whether Spirit is brought back into commission) is not bad by the historical standards of missions to Mars. Now, the real science begins.（分数：10.00）(1).Mars Express is mentioned b
35、ecause_.（分数：2.00）A.it has been sending data back to the EarthB.it illustrates Europe“s contribution to the projectC.it is the first craft to have ever landed on the MarsD.it can help researchers see the whole of the Mars(2).What does the word “they“(Para. 3) refer to?（分数：2.00）A.the layersB.wind-blow
36、n depositsC.volcanic eruptionsD.the terrestrial rocks(3).We can learn from the passage that people“s enthusiasm for Mars_.（分数：2.00）A.could subsist despite the discovery of iceB.is aroused by the wish to find life thereC.depends largely on the funding of these projectsD.might turn out to be a waste o
37、f resources(4).Spirit failed to talk to its controllers probably because of_.（分数：2.00）A.its failure to move down the platformB.its doing too little chemical analysisC.the damage done to its componentsD.the excess files in its memory chips(5).The author of this passage is mainly concerned with_.（分数：2
38、.00）A.the significance of discovery of water on the MarsB.the achievements of U.S. in exploring the MarsC.the performance of five craft launched to MarsD.the fate of the science of Mars explorationSuccess, it is often said, has many fathersand one of the many fathers of computing, that most successf
39、ul of industries, was Charles Babbage, a 19th-century British mathematician. Exasperated by errors in the mathematical tables that were widely used as calculation aids at the time, Babbage dreamed of building a mechanical engine that could produce flawless tables automatically. But his attempts to m
40、ake such a machine in the 1920s failed, and the significance of his work was only rediscovered this century. Next year, at last, the first set of printed tables should emerge from a calculating “difference engine“ built to Babbage“s design. Babbage will have been vindicated. But the realization of h
41、is dream will also underscore the extent to which he was a man born ahead of his time. The effort to prove that Babbage“s designs were logically and practically sound began in 1985, when a team of researchers at the Science Museum in London set out to build a difference engine in time for the 200th
42、anniversary of Babbage“s birth in 1992. The team, led by the museum“s curator of computing, Doron Swade, constructed a monstrous device of bronze, iron and steel. It was 11 feet long, seven feet tall, weighed three tons, cost around $500 000 and took a year to piece together. And it worked perfectly
43、, cranking out successive values of seventh-order polynomial equations to 31 significant figures. But it was incomplete. To save money, an entire section of the machine, the printer, was omitted. To Babbage, the printer was a vital part of design. Even if the engine produced the correct answers, the
44、re was still the risk that a transcription or typesetting error would result in the finished mathematical tables being inaccurate. The only way to guarantee error-free tables was to automate the printing process as well. So his plans included specifications for a printer almost as complicated as the
45、 calculating engine itself, with adjustable margins, two separate fonts, and the ability to print in two, three or four columns. In January, after years of searching for a sponsor for the printer, the Science Museum announced that a backer had been found. Nathan Myhrvold, the chief technology office
46、r at Microsoft, agreed to pay for its construction (which is expected to cost $373,000 with one proviso: that the Science Museum team would build him an identical calculating engine and printer to decorate his new home on Lake Washington, near Seattle). Construction of the printer will beginin full
47、view of the publicat the Science Museum later this month. The full machine will be completed next year. It is a nice irony that Babbage“s plans should be realized only thanks to an infusion of cash from a man who got rich in the computer revolution that Babbage helped to foment. More striking still,
48、 even using 20th-century manufacturing technology the engine will have cost over $830 000 to build. Allowing for inflation, this is roughly a third of what it might have cost to build in Babbage“s day-in contrast to the cost of electronic-computer technology, which halves in price every 18 months. That suggests that, even had Babbage succeeded, a Victorian computer revolution based on mechanical technology would not necessarily have followed.（分数：10.00）(1).Babbage wished to build a mechanical engine b
