1、考研英语（阅读）-试卷 47 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）_Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, all
2、owing us to do things more quickly and efficiently. But too often it seems to make things harder. This spiral of complexity, often called “feature creep,“ costs consumers time, but it also costs businesses money. Product returns in the U.S. cost a hundred billion dollars a year, and a recent study b
3、y Elke den Ouden, of Philips Electronics,found that at least half of returned products have nothing wrong with them. Consumers just couldn“t figure out how to use them. Companies now know a great deal about problems of usability and consumer behavior, so why is it that feature creep proves unstoppab
4、le? In part, feature creep is the product of the so-called internal-audience problem: the people who design and sell products are not the ones who buy and use them, and what engineers and marketers think is important is not necessarily what“s best for consumers. The engineers tend not to notice when
5、 more options make a product less usable. And marketing and sales departments see each additional feature as a new selling point, and a new way to lure customers. You might think, then, that companies could avoid feature creep by just paying attention to what customers really want But that“s where t
6、he trouble begins, because although consumers find overloaded gadgets unmanageable, they also find them attractive. It turns out that when we look at a new product in a store we tend to think that the more features there are, the better. It“s only once we get the product home and try to use it that
7、we realize the virtues of simplicity. It seems odd that we don“t anticipate feature fatigue and thus avoid it But, as numerous studies have shown, people are not, in general, good at predicting what will make them happy in the future. As a result, we will pay more for more features because we system
8、atically overestimate how often we“ll use them. We also overestimate our ability to figure out how a complicated product works. The fact that buyers want bells and whistles but users want something clear and simple creates a peculiar problem for companies. A product that doesn“t have enough features
9、 may fail to catch our eye in the store. But a product with too many features is likely to annoy consumers and generate bad word of mouth, as BMWs original iDrive system did.（分数：10.00）(1).In the first paragraph, the author mainly discusses（分数：2.00）A.the benefits brought by the advanced technology.B.
10、the recent study conducted by Elke den Ouden.C.the loss incurred by the feature creep of technology.D.many problems of usability known by the consumers.(2).Which of the following is true according to the second paragraph?（分数：2.00）A.It is the audience problem that leads to feature creep.B.What matter
11、s to designers and marketers is not good for consumers.C.Feature creep brings blessings to the people in marketing and sales.D.The engineers will not pay attention to the quality of the products.(3).Companies find it difficult to avoid feature creep because consumers（分数：2.00）A.find complex gadgets e
12、asy to manage.B.are attracted by gadgets with more features.C.do not like the gadgets featured by simplicity.D.know the virtues of complexity very well.(4).It is stated in Paragraph 4 that the buyers generally（分数：2.00）A.are too confident of their ability to use the complicated products properly.B.ar
13、e deeply convinced that all the products work in a simple way.C.are fed up with the more and more features of the products.D.are quite clear about the products which will make them happy in the future.(5).By saying “buyers want bells and whistles“ (Line 1, Paragraph 5), the author means that they wa
14、nt to buy（分数：2.00）A.a variety of products which they could use to generate loud noises.B.the product which will generate good word of mouth for its features.C.the product which has many features but doesn“t annoy consumers.D.the product with many non-essential but often engaging features.Humanity“s
15、greatest accomplishment of the past five decades, declared Bill Gates this week, is the reduction in the number of deaths among young children by half, to 10 million a year in 2007.The world“s most successful capitalist heaped praise on the World Health Organization (WHO), while unveiling an ambitio
16、us new global scheme to eliminate polio within a few years. For hispart, the agency“s top polio man, Bruce Aylward, described the fight against the disease in the language of markets: “Elimination is the venture capital of public health: the risks are huge but so too are the rewards.“ The use of thi
17、s sort of language captures a change in public health in the past decade. The Gates Foundation, with its pots of money and businesslike approach, has transformed the bureaucratic and disheartened world of public health. It has helped revive ailing campaigns, including the fight against polio. This w
18、ill now get a fresh $600m-plus, from British and German taxpayers, from the Rotary Club International, as well as from the Gates Foundation ($255m). The decline from 350,000 new cases in 1988 (when the goal of rapid polio eradication was first declared) to 2,000 cases now (chiefly in Nigeria, India,
19、 Pakistan and Afghanistan) looks like a near victory. But the final stretch is the hardest. Only one in 200 cases is readily vulnerable to early detection (as opposed to most victims of smallpoxa serious infectious disease that causes spots which leave deep marks on the skin, already eliminated). Po
20、lio is also far more infectious. Other obstacles are that the usual vaccine has not worked well in densely populated, disease-ridden central India. Researchers are now trying to find a vaccine that fits those conditions better. Neal Halsey, of Johns Hopkins University, says the “live“ vaccines used
21、commonly today must be backed up with further doses of “inactivated“ vaccines. These need to become cheaper. The fighting in Afghanistan and Pakistan has hampered vaccination programs there. So have rumors among Muslims in northern Nigeria that the vaccination program was in fact a conspiracy to ste
22、rilize children That allowed the polio virus to strengthen and spread. The Nigerian strain may have now reached a dozen other countries. The final push towards elimination will certainly be costly, though several recent studies suggest that it is cheaper to spend money on a big elimination effort no
23、w than to pay the price later for sustained vigilance and health costs. The prospect of a global revival is concentrating minds. That is why, despite the daunting challenges and potential donor fatigue, the world may end up making a go of elimination this time.（分数：10.00）(1).According to Paragraph, 2
24、, a change in the world of public health refers to the fact that public health（分数：2.00）A.is more businesslike than what it used to be.B.has received pots of money from the Gates Foundation.C.is no longer bureaucratic and demoralized.D.restarts the campaigns which had slim chance of success.(2).It ca
25、n be inferred from the third paragraph that eradication of polio is the hardest in that（分数：2.00）A.there are still as many as 2,000 new cases at present.B.it is very infectious and not easy to be detected earlier.C.there were as many as 350,000 new cases in 1988.D.it is impossible to be detected at a
26、n early stage.(3).Muslims in northern Nigeria is cited as an example to show that（分数：2.00）A.eradication of polio has been hampered by the conspiracy of Muslims.B.eradication of polio met many obstacles there.C.vaccination program was harmful to the children there.D.vaccination program strengthened a
27、nd spread virus.(4).By saying “the world may end up making a go of elimination this time“(Lines 4-5, Paragraph 6), the author implies that the world may（分数：2.00）A.manage to eradicate polio.B.fail to achieve the eradication of polio.C.give up the goal of eradication of polio.D.begin to eliminate poli
28、o.(5).Which of the following would be the best title of the text?（分数：2.00）A.The Success of Eradication of PolioB.The Ambition of Gates FoundationC.The Greatest Accomplishment in Public HealthD.Eradication of Polio so Near, yet So FarNice guys knew it, now two studies have confirmed it: bad boys get
29、the most girls. The finding may help explain why a nasty suite of anti-social personality traits known as the “dark triad“ persists in the human population, despite their potentially grave cultural costs. The traits are the self-obsession of narcissism; the impulsive, thrill-seekingand unfeeling beh
30、avior of psychopaths; and the deceitful and exploitative nature of Machiavellianism. At their extreme, these traits would be highly detrimental for life in traditional human societies. People with these personalities risk being shunned by others and shut out of relationships, leaving them without a
31、mate, hungry and vulnerable to predators. But being just slightly evil could have an upside: a prolific sex life, says Peter Jonason at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. “We have some evidence that the three traits are really the same thing and may represent a successful evolutionary strate
32、gy.“ Jonason and his colleagues subjected 200 college students to personality tests designed to rank them for each of the dark triad traits. They also asked about their attitudes to sexual relationships and about their sex lives, including how many partners they“d had and whether they were seeking b
33、rief affairs. The study found that those who scored higher on the dark triad personality traits tended to have more partners and more desire for short-term relationships. But the correlation only held in males. James Bond epitomizes this set of traits, Jonason says. “He“s clearly disagreeable, very
34、extroverted and likes trying new thingskilling people, new women“ Just as Bond seduces woman after woman, people with dark triad traits may be more successful with a quantity style or shotgun approach to reproduction, even if they don“t stick around for parenting. “The strategy seems to have worked.
35、 We still have these traits,“ Jonason says. This observation seems to hold across cultures. David Schmitt of Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, presented preliminary results at the same meeting from a survey of more than 35,000 people in 57 countries. He found a similar link between the dark tr
36、iad and reproductive success in men. “It is universal across cultures for high dark triad scorers to be more active in short-term mating,“ Schmitt says. “They are more likely to try and poach other people“s partners for a brief affair.“ Matthew Keller of the University of Colorado in Boulder remarks
37、: “They still have to explain why it hasn“t spread to everyone? There must be some cost of the traits.“ One possibility, both Keller and Jonason suggest, is that the strategy is most successful when dark triad personalities are rare. Otherwise, others would become more wary and guarded.（分数：10.00）(1)
38、.Which of the following would be the best title for this text?（分数：2.00）A.Dark Triad Personality TraitsB.Bad Is Good as a Mating StrategyC.Dark Side of Human BeingsD.Being Evil and Lucky(2).Unlike others, people with slight dark triad personalities are more likely to（分数：2.00）A.run the risk of being a
39、voided by others.B.be left atone and attacked by predators.C.enjoy a productive and successful sex lifeD.ruin the good relationship!(3).On which of the following statements would Jonason and his colleagues most probably agree?（分数：2.00）A.Both men and women scoring higher had more partners in life.B.T
40、here is a tie between the dark triad and sex success among all the people.C.Being a monster could bring people a prolific sex life.D.A close tie between the dark triad and sex success could be found in males.(4).The word “epitomize“ (line 1, Paragraph 4) most probably means（分数：2.00）A.enjoy.B.appreci
41、ate.C.typify.D.despise.(5).It can be inferred from the last paragraph that（分数：2.00）A.the dark triad personality traits have spread to both men and women.B.people are extremely cautious about people with dark triad personalities.C.the dark triad personality traits may cost people much sometimes.D.the
42、 strategy is most successful without dark triad personalities.In 1956, when the cold war was at its peak, America deployed a “secret sonic weapon“, as a newspaper headline put it at the time. That weapon was Dizzy Gillespie, a famed jazz musician, who was given the task of changing the world“s view
43、of American culture through rhythm and beat Crowds poured into the street to dance. Cultural diplomacy died down after the cold war ended.But the attacks of September 11th 2001 convinced the State Department to send out America“s musicians once again to woo hearts and minds with melody. Rhythm Road,
44、 a program run by the State Department and a non-profit organization, Jazz at Lincoln Centre, has made informal diplomats out of both musicians and audiences. Since it began in 2005, musicians have travelled to 96 countries. One band went to Mauritania, a country in northwestern Africa, after last y
45、ear“s coup; many depart for countries that have strained relationships with America The musicians travel to places where some people have never seen an American. Jazz, so participants in the program, is well-suited to diplomacy. It is collaborative, allowing individuals both to harmonize and play so
46、lomuch like a democracy, says Ari Roland, who plays bass for a band that left New York to tour the Middle East on March 31st. Jazz is also a reminder of music“s power. It helped break down racial barriers, as enthusiasts of all colors gathered to listen to jazz when segregation was still the law of
47、the land. The State Department spent 10 million US dollars on cultural diplomacy programs in the year to September 30th 2008. But most expect funding for the initiative to increase under Barack Obama, who pledged his support for cultural diplomacy during his campaign. Rhythm Road now sends out hip-h
48、op and bluegrass bands as well. There are some dissenters. Nick Cull, the director of the Public Diplomacy Program at the University of Southern California, thinks that these diplomatic projects would be more productive if they were not administered by the same agency that oversees the country“s for
49、eign-policy agenda. And there is also clamor for Mr. Obama to appoint a secretary of culture in his cabinet. What good, they ask, is sending American culture abroad, when the country is not giving it proper attention at home?（分数：10.00）(1).Why was Dizzy Gillespie regarded as a “secret sonic weapon“ in 1956?（分数：2.00）A.He was deployed to help the U.S. gain the victory of the cold war.B.He was assigned to beat enemies a
