1、考研英语（阅读）-试卷 109 及答案解析(总分：60.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：6，分数：60.00)1.Section II Reading Comprehension（分数：10.00）_2.Part ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D.（分数：10.00）_When Congress passed the Age Discrimination in Empl
2、oyment Act, it gave older Americans a broad right to sue for discrimination. But the Supreme Court has narrowed that right with a 5-to-4 ruling that union members cannot file lawsuits when their contracts call for arbitration of age-discrimination claims. The decision, which reversed the court“s pre
3、cedents, sets back antidiscrimination law significantly. A group of New York City building-services workers sued after they were moved from positions like night lobby watchman to less desirable assignments, including cleaning jobs. The workers charged, among oilier claims, that they had been reassig
4、ned based on age. The contract negotiated by the workers“ union required employees to submit claims of discrimination to binding arbitration. The workers sued in federal court, asserting that their job reassignments violated the federal age-discrimination statute and other laws. The employer moved t
5、o dismiss the suit, arguing that the union contract required that the claims be arbitrated. The Federal Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied the motion, citing a 1974 Supreme Court case, Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Company. It held that collective bargaining agreements cannot waive workers
6、“ rights to sue under federal antidiscrimination laws. The Supreme Court reversed, in an opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas. In the majority“s view, the union agreed to the arbitration clause, and it was binding on all of its members. The four dissenters, in an opinion by Justice David Souter, had b
7、y far the better argument. Rights that Congress grants, they argued, cannot be waived in a collective-bargaining contract. Union contracts represent group rightsand unions often sacrifice the interests of a minority of their members for the good of the whole. Laws like the Age Discrimination in Empl
8、oyment Act give individuals a right to sue for discrimination -no matter what deal their union decides to strike for the workers as a group. The dissenters protested that the majority was too quick to abandon the well-established, 35-year-old precedent of Gardner-Denver. The fight over who will hear
9、 these claims matters because workers who have been discriminated against are more likely to get a fair hearing in federal court than in arbitration. That is why employers are eager to arbitrateand it may be why the court “ s most conservative justices voted in favor of compulsory arbitration. When
10、Congress passed the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, it protected Americans from discrimination on the basis of ageand gave them the chance to vindicate that right in federal court. There is no reason to believe that Congress intended this right to sue to be so weak that unions could freely bar
11、gain it away.（分数：10.00）(1).It is implied that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act（分数：2.00）A.fails to effectively protect Americans from discriminationB.calls for arbitration of age-discrimination claimsC.flies in the face of the earlier judicial decisionsD.impedes antidiscrimination law tremend
12、ously(2).The example of a group of building-service workers is cited to show that（分数：2.00）A.cleaning jobs are less desirable for average workersB.workers“ claims of discrimination are subject to arbitrationC.the enforcement of age discrimination law has been hinderedD.job reassignments disregard the
13、 federal age discrimination law(3).Justice Clarence Thomas believes that the Supreme Court（分数：2.00）A.defends the age-discrimination law unswervinglyB.has changed its attitude toward age discrimination lawC.safeguards the interests of both the union and its membersD.adheres to its position of protect
14、ing the majority“s interests(4).In the opinion of Justice David Souter.（分数：2.00）A.the interests of the minority can be sacrificed sometimesB.the deals struck by the union are for the good of the wholeC.group rights are under the full protection of union contractD.it is reasonable to defend the right
15、s granted by the Congress(5).According to the text. Congress（分数：2.00）A.gives workers a chance for a fair hearing in federal courtB.grants Americans the right to sue for age-discriminationC.vindicates the legal rights of Americans in federal courtD.waives the right of Americans to sue for discriminat
16、ionThe 1st Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of the press, takes the view that the people should dictate to the government, not the other way around. But no one told a group of 32 state attorneys general, who have taken it upon themselves to instruct the film industry on the
17、appropriate content of movies. This time, the cause is not raunchy sex, foul language or blood-spattering violence. It“s cigarettes. Many experts think that when actors puff away, they cause teenagers to do likewise. One study went so far as to say that 38 percent of all the kids who acquire the hab
18、it do so because of the influence of films. So all these state government officials want filmmakers to stop depicting tobacco use. It“s hard to fully credit the notion that kids start smoking just because they see Scarlett Johansson doing it. If movies exert such a mammoth influence on impressionabl
19、e youngsters, shouldn“t teen tobacco use be on the rise? The studies themselves are not as damning as they purport to be. They indicate that kids who watch more movies with smoking are more likely to smoke. But a correlation does not necessarily show a cause: Just because there is lots of beer drink
20、ing at baseball games doesn“t mean beer drinking causes baseball. It may be that kids see a star light up and rush out to imitate him. Or it may be that teens who are inclined to smoke anyway are also inclined to see the sort of movies that feature smoking. Michael Siegel, a physician and professor,
21、 believes the studies greatly exaggerate the impact of tobacco in films. “It is simply one of a large number of ways in which youths are exposed to positive images of smoking(which includes advertisements, television movies, television shows, DVDs, Internet, music videos, and a variety of other sour
22、ces),“ he told me in an e-mail interview. “To single out smoking in movies as THE cause of youth smoking initiation for a large percentage of kids is ridiculous. Putting an R rating on smoky movies probably wouldn“t do much to reduce teenagers“ exposure. Some 75 percent of new releases that feature
23、smoking are already rated R and a lot of them are accessible even to preteens. Siegel points out that applying R ratings to films just because they feature full-frontal shots of cigarettes may backfire. Parents anxious about sex and violence may stop paying attention to the rating system once it fac
24、tors in smoking. “ So you could actually end up with more kids seeing films with smoking.（分数：10.00）(1).It is implied in the text that the government _.（分数：2.00）A.has to abide by the 1st Amendment strictlyB.has no right to restrict the content of moviesC.has responsibility to protect freedom of speec
25、hD.knows well about what is inappropriate for movies(2).Some government officials intend to stop the depiction of smoking in movies because they think that_.（分数：2.00）A.children are not immune to the habit of smokingB.smoking is as harmful as blood-spattering violenceC.the harmful influence of smokin
26、g has been confirmedD.the influence of movies is too great for kids to ward off(3).The author believes that_.（分数：2.00）A.the influence of movies on youngsters is substantialB.no kids can get rid of the harmful influence of moviesC.kids start smoking just because they often watch moviesD.smoking in mo
27、vies doesn“t necessarily start kids smoking(4).Some studies claim that if kids watch more movies with smoking, they will_.（分数：2.00）A.admire the star smoking elegantlyB.be interested in illusory smokingC.be more likely to start smokingD.become passionate about them(5).The author suggests that applyin
28、g R ratings to smoky movies would_.（分数：2.00）A.do little to reduce kids“ watching movies with smokingB.end up with more kids watching movies with smokingC.induce parents to pay attention to the harm of smokingD.alleviate the harmful influence of smoking on childrenIt“s bad biology to argue against th
29、e existence of animal emotions. Scientific research in evolutionary biology, cognitive ethology and social neuroscience support the view that numerous and diverse animals have rich and deep emotional lives. Emotions have evolved as adaptations in numerous species and they serve as a social glue to b
30、ond animals with one another. Emotions also catalyze and regulate a wide variety of social encounters among friends and competitors and permit animals to protect themselves adaptively and flexibly using various behavior patterns in a wide variety of venues. Charles Darwin“s well-accepted ideas about
31、 evolutionary continuity, that differences among species are differences in degree rather than kind, argue strongly for the presence of animal emotions, empathy, and even moral behavior. In practice, continuity allows us to connect the “evolutionary dots“ among different species to highlight similar
32、ities in evolved traits including individual feelings and passions. What we have since learned about animal emotions and empathy fits in well with what we know about the lifestyle of different specieshow complex their social interactions and social networks are. Emotions, empathy, and knowing right
33、from wrong are keys to survival, without which animalsboth human and nonhuman-would perish. That“s how important they are. The borders between “them“(animals)and “us“ are murky and permeable. Studying animal emotions addresses a number of big questions concerning how science is conducted. Many skept
34、ics feel that we are so uncertain about whether other animals have any sort of emotional life that they prefer to put off weighing in until we know more. For some, this really means waiting until we are absolutely sure. But science is never as certain as many would like it to be. Climate change rese
35、archer Henry Pollack says it well in his book Uncertain Science. Uncertain World: “Because uncertainty never disappears, decisions about the future, big and small, must always be made in the absence of certainty. Waiting until uncertainty is eliminated is an implicit endorsement of the status quo, a
36、nd often an excuse for maintaining it. . . Uncertainty, far from being a barrier to progress, is actually a strong stimulus for, and an important ingredient of, creativity. “ I often begin my lectures with the question: “Is there anyone in this audience who thinks that dogs don“t have feelings that
37、they don“t experience joy and sadness?“ I“ve never had an enthusiastic response to this question, even in scientific gatherings, although on occasion a hand or two goes up slowly, usually halfway, as the person glances around to see if anyone is watching. But if I ask, “How many of you believe that
38、dogs have feelings?“ then almost every hand waves wildly and people smile and nod in vigorous agreement. Using behavior as our guide, by analogy we map the feelings of other beings onto our own emotional templates, and we do it very reliably.（分数：10.00）(1).It can be inferred from the text that animal
39、 emotions _ .（分数：2.00）A.originate from natural evolutionB.remain uncertain until we are sureC.develop faster in social encountersD.are as rich and deep as human emotions(2).It is implied by the ideas of evolutionary continuity that（分数：2.00）A.the lifestyle of different species is continuous in evolut
40、ionB.there is no clear border between human beings and animalsC.all species depend on complex social interactions to surviveD.more similarities among species have been evolved than dissimilarities(3).Some people maintain a scientific skepticism because they_.（分数：2.00）A.fail to realize what uncertain
41、ty really means to scienceB.are uncertain about whether animals have emotionsC.prefer to put off whatever they do in scienceD.ignore the nature of scientific research(4).According to Henry Pollack, uncertainty _.（分数：2.00）A.hinders scientific progressB.catalyzes creativity in scienceC.means the absen
42、ce of certaintyD.accounts for all our decisions in life(5).By citing the example of the response to his questions, the author shows that _,（分数：2.00）A.people usually prefer positive questions to negative onesB.whether dogs have feelings is a desirable question to askC.whether dogs don“t have feelings
43、 is a silly question to askD.human behavior can serve as a guide to study animal feelingsIn the prevailing paradigm we have been conditioned to believe that power is a scarce commodity)it comes as a by-product of having achieved some sort of status. Whenever we see ourselves(individually, corporatel
44、y, or nationally)as less powerful than some other party, it“s only logical to conclude that we lack whatever it takes to confer sufficient status. It could be wealth, education, good looks, toughness, strength, connections, intelligence, and so on, depending on our particular social milieu. It is na
45、tural to keep trying to get more of that attribute that will elevate you to more power. One consequence of concluding that relative powerlessness is due to a personal deficiency of some kind is the tendency to become preoccupied with pointing the finger of blame, “It“s my parents“ fault,“ “My employ
46、er is to blame,“ “The government did it to me,“ “I didn“t have the appropriate education,“ “I“ve got the wrong genes. “ The list is only limited by our imagination. Another consequence of blaming others or circumstances outside our control for lack of power is that it promotes feelings of self-pity,
47、 jealousy, anxiety, discouragement, resentment, and resignation. It“s not that there are no legitimate limitations to our power; limitations based on gender, physical disability, prejudice, etc. are all too common. It“s that the process of assessing blame keeps us from moving on with our lives. The
48、victim mentality saps resolve and strength. Eventually it becomes a self fulfilling prophesy as people caught up in this mindset do indeed become increasingly powerless. Helping to keep people stuck in this morass are the perceived benefits of being seen as a victim. Not only does the victim get sym
49、pathy and attention, be or she is also able to exploit the sympathetic feelings of others for purposes of manipulation and control. Sometimes we point the finger of blame at ourselves. “If only we had done something differently,“ we reason, “we wouldn“t be in this position. “ We tell ourselves that “we should have known better“ or “only a “loser“ would have let this hap
