1、考研英语（阅读）-试卷 14 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）_Family traditions are very visible signs of our love
2、 for each other. Traditions represent stability in an often very shaky world. Traditions are frequently the security blanket we need to get through tough situations. Those statements may sound like platitudes, or pie-in-the-sky ideals, but they are the truth in our family as we share and grow togeth
3、er. What do pinwheel steaks and ice cream cakes have in common? In our family, food is always a part of our traditional times together. The birthday person always gets to pick a favorite meal, and no one else will complain because that is the way it is. Sometimes it is comforting not to have to give
4、 a reason for everything a teenager questions! We celebrate birthdays with favorite foods be it a carrot cake or apple pie for dessert because that is just the way it is! Growing boys with a craving for meat usually order pinwheel steaks with mashed potatoes. Grandpa always wants an ice cream cake t
5、o celebrate while Grandma wants a strawberry rhubarb pie for dessert. Requests are honored without question or debate so that these times together are filled with love. When someone in the family is having a shaky time in school or at work, everyone gathers to sit around the fireplace and talk. A ho
6、memade chocolate milkshake and a bowl of buttered popcorn add the additional familiarity that can bring comfort to a troubled day and make the problem easier to solve. Sometimes just watching the flames flicker with family surrounding each other can calm a moment and bring solutions to issues. The t
7、radition of gathering together is the beginning of the answer to the problem. Christmas Eve at our house is now filled with growing grandchildren and wonderful in-laws, but the traditions have only grown as new family members are added. For over forty years, Christmas Eve means going to church as a
8、family. There is great comfort in the routine and in having this security blanket to cover us and draw us even closer together. Since we don“t have to worry about how we are going to celebrate, we can just relax and enjoy the evening. Traveling to new vacation spots and sampling different foods are
9、also a part of the tradition our family enjoys. We love the comfortable long-standing traditions, but as new friends and family enter our circle of life, we delight in trying new adventures and ways of sharing. Some of these ideas we know will even become long-standing traditions. Because traditions
10、 are built with love over time, they will continue to bring happiness and make our family bonds even stronger.（分数：10.00）(1).The author believes that family traditions_.（分数：2.00）A.represent our initial elevated idealsB.promote social solidity and balanceC.give us security in the troubled worldD.are i
11、nherited form parents and ancestors(2).What pinwheel steaks and ice cream cakes have in common is that they_.（分数：2.00）A.provide us with pleasure in special occasionsB.serve as traditional meals in family gatheringsC.are favorite foods used to celebrate birthdaysD.are indispensible to teenagers and t
12、he elderly(3).That family gatherings are filled with love is shown in that_.（分数：2.00）A.growing boys usually crave for meatB.people have different tastes for foodC.affection replaces question and debateD.everyone“s demands are well respected(4).The tradition of family gatherings_.（分数：2.00）A.offers an
13、 opportunity to enjoy delicacyB.helps us find solutions to our problemsC.brings joy, peace and comfort to all of usD.enhances mutual understanding and trust(5).It is implied in the text that family traditions _.（分数：2.00）A.instruct us to celebrate Christmas EveB.encourage us to try various adventures
14、C.afford comfort and pleasure to everyoneD.enhance the cohesive affinity of a familyThe first time Tom Kiklas saw an electronic cigarette, he recalls, “I couldn“t stand it . I thought, “I don“t want to be involved in this. “ I“m an anti-smoking kind of guy. “ But after Kiklas realized that electroni
15、c cigarettes, a. k. a. e-cigarettes, deliver nicotine without tobacco or combustion products, thereby eliminating virtually all of the health hazards associated with smoking, he was comfortable becoming media relations director for inLife, one of the companies that sell the devices in the United Sta
16、tes. Unfortunately, many anti-smoking activists and public health officials are stuck in that first stage of visceral antipathy toward anything that resembles cigarettes, an emotional reaction that could prove deadly for smokers. Introduced by the Chinese company Ruyan in 2004, e-cigarettes produce
17、water vapor containing nicotine and the food additive propylene glycol. The tip of the battery-powered “cigarette“ lights up when a user sucks on it, and the vapor looks like smoke, but it dissipates immediately and contains none of the toxins and carcinogens that are generated when tobacco burns. G
18、iven the enormous differences between this vapor and tobacco smoke, the companies that sell e-cigarettes online and from shopping mall kiosks are on firm ground in advertising them as safer alternatives to conventional cigarettes that can be used in places where smoking is banned. The arguments of e
19、-cigarette opponents, by contrast, reek of red herrings . The critics warn that nicotine is addictive, that it may contribute to cardiovascular problems, and that smokers may use e-cigarettes as way of coping with smoking bans, continuing their habits instead of quitting. All of these objections als
20、o apply to the nicotine gum, patches, sprays, and inhalers the FDA has approved as safe and effective smoking cessation tools. E-cigarettes are less expensive than those products and may be more appealing to smokers looking for an experience that“s closer to the real thing. Although they have not be
21、en subject to the sort of rigorous testing the FDA demands for new drugs, the drug they contain is not new. It“s the same one delivered, in a much dirtier manner, by the cigarettes that the government says kill 400,000 Americans every year. “The standard for lower-risk products for use by current sm
22、okers,“ argues the American Association of Public Health Physicians, “should be the hazard posed by cigarettes, not a pharmaceutical safety standard. “ Telling smokers they may not use e-cigarettes until they“re approved by the FDA is like telling a floundering swimmer not to climb aboard a raft bec
23、ause it might have a leak.（分数：10.00）(1).It is evident that Tom Kiklas_.（分数：2.00）A.used to be an enthusiastic anti-smoking activistB.accepted the position of a section director gladlyC.was convinced of the safety of a. k. a. e-cigarettesD.couldn“t stand any kind of new electronic devices(2).The autho
24、r notes that anti-smoking activists_.（分数：2.00）A.are naturally disgusted with any electronic cigarettesB.act in line with the direction of public health officialsC.disbelieve in the harmlessness of electronic cigarettesD.had a stronger emotional reaction than most smokers(3).E-cigarettes are advertis
25、ed as a safe substitute of ordinary cigarettes because they_.（分数：2.00）A.contain harmless food additive propylene glycolB.produce water vapor without harmful substancesC.reduce toxins and carcinogens that are generatedD.create tobacco smoke without addictive chemical(4).By saying “The arguments of e-
26、cigarette opponents . reek of red herrings. “, the author means that people who oppose to e-cigarettes_.（分数：2.00）A.are not on firm ground in their objectionsB.ignore other safe and effective alternativesC.can“t convince smokers of their viewpointsD.overemphasize the harm caused by nicotine(5).The au
27、thor argues that e-cigarettes（分数：2.00）A.may deliver the same drug as ordinary cigarettesB.may be safer than other alternatives to cigarettesC.may not be used until they“re approved by the FDAD.may be used without rigorous testing for new drugsThe overwhelming support on Capitol Hill for legislation
28、that will dramatically increase the fines for broadcasting “indecent“ programming suggests there“s broad agreement that the federal government should get serious about cleaning up TV. But the more closely you examine the justifications for this crackdown, the clearer it becomes that the ban on broad
29、cast indecency either goes too far or does not go far enough. Sen. Sam Brownback says businesses that use “ the nation“ s public airwaves“ have special obligations. “Broadcast spectrum is a very valuable and scarce national resource,“ he says. “In return for a license, each broadcaster must not air
30、indecent content between the hours of 6 a. m.and10 p. m. “ Broadcast spectrum is a “national resource“ only because the government insisted on nationalizing it. There“s no reason in principle why the right to transmit at a certain frequency in a certain area could not be treated the same way as the
31、right to graze cattle or build a skyscraper on a particular piece of land. Broadcast licenses already are de facto property, bought and sold along with stations, except that the Federal Communications Commission occasionally clobbers broadcasters with fines if it does not like what they air. Nor is
32、it clear why using a public resource to send a message should affect the speaker“ s First Amendment rights, making him subject to government content regulation. Newspapers are delivered via “the public roads“, and Web site information travels on wires across public property(sometimes even through “t
33、he public airwaves“), but that doesn“t mean forcing journalists and bloggers to be “decent“ is constitutionally permissible. In any case, for the politicians and activists who want to protect children from the shows their parents let them watch, the “public airwaves“ argument does not go far enough.
34、 Nearly nine out of 10 American households get TV via cable or satellite, modes of transmission that are not subject to indecency rules. As Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens has pointed out, that distinction makes little sense. “Most viewers don“t differentiate between over the air and
35、cable,“ he told the National Association of Broadcasters last year, and “cable is a greater violator in the indecency arena. “ When it upheld the FCC s content rules back in 1978, the Supreme Court said “indecent material presented over the airwaves confronts the citizen . in the privacy of the home
36、“, as if TV were a robber or a rapist. But TV is not a criminal invading our homes; it“s an invited guest. If we think he might misbehave, it“s up to us to keep an eye on him.（分数：10.00）(1).It is generally agreed that broadcasting “indecent“ programming should be_.（分数：2.00）A.dealt promptly withB.clos
37、ely examinedC.sternly forbiddenD.fairly justified(2).The author believes that the ban on broadcast indecency is_.（分数：2.00）A.impartialB.imperativeC.insufficientD.inappropriate(3).The author argues that broadcast spectrum is_.（分数：2.00）A.incontrovertibly a national resourceB.not necessarily a national
38、resourceC.equal to a particular piece of landD.de facto property of a TV company(4).It is implied in the text that a pub ic resource（分数：2.00）A.may be used to send indecent messagesB.may not be used to send indecent messagesC.should be free from indecency regulationsD.should be used to send permissib
39、le messages(5).The author suggests that TV content regulation be_.（分数：2.00）A.dismantledB.improvedC.legalizedD.mendedScience and science funding have enjoyed a good run over the past 20 years or so. During the unusually long economic boom after the end of the cold war, governments of all political st
40、ripes have accepted the argument that it is in their interest to support “the best science“. Something like a global consensus has emerged on the value of curiosity-driven, basic research. The predominant argument behind this consensus has been the belief that excellent scienceof whatever discipline
41、is likely to spur innovation, which will in turn foster economic growth. At the same time, direct government sponsorship of technology development has fallen out of vogue . Considerable expenditure continues, of course, and if the military sphere is included, it still dwarfs the resources devoted to
42、 basic science. But the idea of explicit state support for the development of drugs or circuit boards or civilian airliners has been pretty well driven off the table. There has been an assumptioneven in comparatively centrist nations such as France and Japanthat governments aren“t good at “picking w
43、inners“. This particular era of science and technology policy may now be drawing to a close. Even before last week“s juddering stock markets sparked talk about a possible U. S. , or even global, recession, policymakers in industrialized countries were watching the flight of much industrial productio
44、n to China and India with intensifying alarm. As a result, the word “competitiveness“ is back on the agenda, particularly in the United States. When political leaders look at research budgets in the light of competitiveness, they are always prone to be more drawn to the direct support of innovation
45、through technology programmes, than to its indirect support, through basic science. Asa result, they may start asking questions that are inherently difficult for scientists to answer, such as, what will be the economic spin-off from this work? What are we getting for our money? These questions are c
46、urrently being posed most directly in the United Kingdom, where the research councils, which support most university science, seem to be undergoing a subtle change of direction. Some scientist groups are already nervous about a paper, “Increasing the economic impact of the research councils“, that w
47、as published in January by the councils“ steering group. There is a risk that this process could result in perceived economic relevance displacing scientific merit, to a significant extent, as the determining factor in the selection of research-council grants. Before that happens, it would be reassu
48、ring if the leaders of the research councils emphatically reiterated that their primary function is to promote scientific excellenceand that they will best support Britain“s national interests, economic and otherwise, by doing exactly that.（分数：10.00）(1).Most governments believe that_.（分数：2.00）A.the
49、long economic prosperity is in their ultimate interestsB.the end of the cold war led to the rapid economic growthC.the curiosity-driven, basic scientific research is invaluableD.the research likely to spur innovation should be supported(2).The phrase “out of vogue“(Line 1, Paragraph 2)most probably means_.（分数：2.00）A.obsoleteB.universalC.u
