1、同等学历人员申请硕士学位英语-阅读理解(四)及答案解析(总分：30.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、专项练习(总题数：0，分数：0.00)二、Passage One(总题数：1，分数：6.00)The worst thing about television and radio is that they entertain us, saving us the trouble of entertaining ourselves.A hundred years ago, before all these devices were invented, if a person wanted to en
2、tertain himself with a song or a piece of music, he would have to do the singing himself or pick up a violin and play it. Now, all he has to do is turn on the radio or TV. As a result, singing and music have declined.Italians used to sing all the time. Now, they only do it in Hollywood movies. India
3、n movies are mostly a series of songs and dances wrapped around silly stories. As a result, they dont do much singing in Indian villages anymore. Indeed, ever since radio first came to life, there has been a terrible decline in amateur singing throughout the world.There are two reasons for this sad
4、decline: One, human beings are astonishingly lazy. Put a lift in a building, and people would rather take it than climb even two flights of steps. Similarly, invent a machine that sings, and people would rather let the machine sing than sing themselves. The other reason is people are easily embarras
5、sed. When there is a famous, talented musician readily available by pushing a button, which amateur violinist or pianist would want to try to entertain family or friends by himself?These earnest reflections came to me recently when two CDs arrived in the mail: They are historic recordings of famous
6、writers reading their own works. It was thrilling to hear the voices from a long dead past in the late 19th century. But today, reading out loud anything is no longer common. Today, we sing songs to our children until they are about two, we read simple books to them till they are about five, and onc
7、e they have learnt to read themselves, we become deaf. Were alive only to the sound of the TV and the stereo.I count myself extremely lucky to have been born before TV became so common. I was about six before TV appeared. To keep us entertained, my mother had to do a good deal of singing and tell us
8、 endless tales. It was the same in many other homes. People spoke a language; they sang it, they recited it; it was something they could feel.Professional actors performance is extraordinarily revealing. But I still prefer my own reading. Because its mine. For the same reason, people find karaoke li
9、berating. It is almost the only electronic thing that gives them back their own voice. Even if their voices are hoarse and hopelessly out of tune. At least it is meaningful self-entertainment.（分数：6.00）(1).The main idea of this passage is that _. A. TV and radio can amuse us with beautiful songs and
10、musicB. TV and radio have weakened our interest in entertaining ourselvesC. people should not be too lazy or embarrassed to singD. parents should sing songs and read books aloud to their children（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(2).According to the passage, Indians _. A. only sing songs in HollywoodB. are no longer
11、 fond of musicC. only sing and dance in villagesD. dont sing much nowadays（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(3).Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a reason for the decline in amateur singing?A. It is easier for people to please themselves with songs through TV.B. People dont want to take the trouble to sing
12、songs themselves.C. Amateurs feel shy if they cannot sing as well as the professionals.D. Famous and talented musicians are always willing to entertain people.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(4).On hearing the voices of the famous writers of a long time past, the author was _. A. very excitedB. very frightenedC. v
13、ery nervousD. very surprised（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(5).By stating “We are alive only to the sound of the TV and the stereo“ in paragraph 5, the author means _.A. we come back to life at the music provided by the TV and the stereoB. we only perceive the music provided by the TV and the stereoC. we should s
14、ing more than listen to the TV and the stereoD. we should listen to more music on the TV and the stereo（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(6).The authors attitude toward karaoke is _. A. negativeB. positiveC. neutralD. indifferent（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.三、Passage Two(总题数：1，分数：6.00)If those “mad moments“ when you cant recall
15、 what your friend has told you or where you left your keysare becoming more frequent, mental exercises and a healthy brain diet may help.Just as bodies require more maintenance with the passing years, so do brains, which scientists now know show signs of aging as early as the 20s and 30s. “Brain agi
16、ng starts at a very young age, younger than any of us have imagined and these processes continue gradually over the years,“ said Dr. Gary Small, the director of the Center on Aging at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Im convinced that it is never too early to get started on a mental or br
17、ain-fitness program,“ he added.In his book, “The Memory Bible,“ the 51-year-old neuroscientist lists what he refers to as the 10 commandments for keeping the brain young. They include training memory, building skills, minimizing stress, mental exercises, brain food and a healthy lifestyle. Its a gam
18、e plan for keeping brain cells sparking and neural networks in tip-top shape.“Misplacing your keys a couple of times doesnt mean you should start labeling your cabinets. Memory loss is not an inevitable consequence of aging. Our brains can fight back,“ he said.Small provides the weapons for a full-s
19、cale attack. According to him, simple memory tests give an indication of what you are up against and tools such as look, snap and connect are designed to make sure that important things such as names and dates are never forgotten. “So if you want to learn names and faces, for example, you meet Mrs.
20、Beatty and you notice a distinguishing facial feature, maybe a prominent eyebrow,“ said Small. “You associate the first thing that comes to mind. I think of the actor Warren Beatty so I create a mental snapshot of Warren Beatty kissing her brow. “Small admits it may sound a bit strange but he says i
21、t works. “ Mental exercises could be anything from doing crossword puzzles and writing with your left hand if you are right handed or learning a language. It could be anything that is fun that people enjoy doing“, he added.He also recommends physical exercise, a low-fat diet and eating foods rich in
22、 omega-3 fatty acids, such as fish, walnuts and Brazil nuts, and fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants (抗氧化剂) including blueberries and onions in addition to reducing stress.（分数：6.00）(1).By saying “I think of the actor Warren Beatty so I create . . . her brow“ (Paragraph 5), Dr. Small is trying
23、 to explain how to use the memory tool of _.A. impressing rapidlyB. minimizing stressC. connecting related thingsD. observing carefully（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(2).According to Dr. Small, _. A. left-handers may start brain aging later than right-handers doB. learning a foreign language does not help to keep
24、 our brain from getting oldC. doing crossword puzzles is a good way to keep us from memory lossD. mental exercises plus healthy diet alone cannot keep us from brain aging（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(3).The “mad moments“ in the first paragraph refers to when we _. A. have some mental problemsB. have lost our im
25、portant thingsC. dont listen to what our friends tell us to doD. fail to remember what should be remembered（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(4).In this passage, the author mainly tells us that _. A. everyone can be forgetful sometimes regardless of ones ageB. we can prevent our sound mind from aging with certain me
26、thodsC. brain aging starts from the time when we are in our 20s and 30sD. memory loss is a sign that shows we are getting old（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(5).According to this passage, _. A. the game plan for keeping brain cells sparking doesnt work for everyoneB. Dr. Smalls memory tests can show you what to do
27、 about brain agingC. Dr. Smalls advice can help us fight brain aging effectivelyD. our brains can reconstruct memories themselves（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(6).In the fifth paragraph, the author mainly _. A. provides us with the weapons for attacking othersB. introduces the tools that help us fight against me
28、mory lossC. tells us about the important things we should never forgetD. explains the facial features useful for us to remember people（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.四、Passage Three(总题数：1，分数：6.00)Through the years, our view of what leadership is and who can exercise it has changed considerably. Leadership competen
29、cies have remained constant, but our understanding of what it is, how it works, and the ways in which people learn to apply it has shifted. We do have the beginnings of a general theory of leadership, from history and social research and above all from the thoughts of reflective practitioners such a
30、s Moses, Julius Caesar, and James Madison, and in our own time from such disparate sources of wisdom as Gandhi, Winston Churchill, Mao Tse-tung, and Henry Kissinger, who have very little in common except that they have not only been there but tried with some fairness to speculate on paper about it.B
31、ut tales and reflective observation are not enough except to convince us that leaders are physically strong and abnormally hard workers. Today we are a little closer to understanding how and who people lead, but it wasnt easy getting there. Decades of academic analysis have given us more than 350 de
32、finitions of leadership. Literally thousands of empirical investigations of leaders have been conducted in the last seventy-five years alone, but no clear understanding exists as to what distinguishes leaders from non-leaders, and perhaps more important, what distinguishes effective leaders from ine
33、ffective leaders and effective organizations from ineffective organizations.Never have so many labored so long to say so little. Multiple interpretations of leadership exist, each providing a fragment of insight but each remaining an incomplete and wholly inadequate explanation. Most of these defini
34、tions dont agree with each other, and many of them would seem quite remote to the leaders whose skills are being examined. Definitions reflect fashions, political tides and academic trends. They dont always reflect reality and sometimes they just represent nonsense. Its as if what Braque once said a
35、bout art is also true of leadership: “The only thing that matters in art is the part that cannot be explained. “Many theories of leadership have come and gone. Some looked at the leader. Some looked at the situation. None has stood the test of time. With such a track record, it is understandable why
36、 leadership research and theory have been so frustrating as to deserve the label “the La Brea Tar Pits“ of organizational inquiry. Located in Los Angeles, these asphalt pits house the remains of a long sequence of prehistoric animals that came to investigate but never left the area.（分数：6.00）(1).In r
37、egard of leadership competencies, the author suggests that people have _. A. believed in their existenceB. learned to apply them extensivelyC. found it very difficult to acquire themD. been unable to realize their importance（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(2).Several big names are mentioned in the first paragraph
38、mainly to show their _. A. different styles of leadershipB. effective exercise of leadershipC. contributions to the theory of leadershipD. wisdom in applying the theory of leadership（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(3).According to the author, peoples opinions of leadership are on the whole quite _. A. dividedB. or
39、iginalC. misleadingD. sophisticated（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(4).The author thinks that _. A. many people have labored to be leadersB. leaders are beyond our understandingC. the essence of leadership has not been graspedD. the definitions of leadership should vary（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(5).“The La Brea Tar Pits“ i
40、n paragraph 4 probably signifies things that _. A. can be traced back to the prehistoric ageB. are traps for those who want to inquireC. are located in one place foreverD. dont deserve full investigation（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(6).This passage is mainly concerned with _. A. the inconsistent theories of lea
41、dershipB. the famous leaders and their theoriesC. the changes in the trend of leadershipD. the inaccurate definitions of leadership（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.五、Passage Four(总题数：1，分数：6.00)Without question there are plenty of bargains to be had at sales timeparticularly at the top-quality shops whose reputation
42、 depends on having only the best and newest goods in stock each season. They tend, for obvious reasons, to be the fashion or seasonal goods which in due course become the biggest bargains.It is true that some goods are specially brought in for the sales but these too can provide exceptional value. A
43、 manufacturer may have the end of a range left on his hands and be glad to sell the lot off cheaply to shops; or he may have a surplus of a certain material which he is glad to make up and get rid of cheaply; or he may be prepared to produce a special line at low cost merely to keep his employees bu
44、sy during a slack period. He is likely to have a good many “seconds“ available and if their defects are trifling these may be particularly good bargains.Nevertheless, sales do offer a special opportunity for sharp practices and shoppers need to be extra critical. For example the “second“ should be c
45、learly marked as such and not sold as if they were perfect. (The term “substandard“, incidentally, usually indicates a more serious defect than “seconds“.) More serious is the habit of marking the price down from an alleged previous price which is in fact fictitious. Misdescription of this and all o
46、ther kinds is much practiced by the men who run one day sales of carpets in church halls and the like. As the sellers leave the district the day after the sale there is little possibility of redress. In advertising sales, shops may say “only 100 left“ when in fact they have plenty more; conversely t
47、hey may say “10 000 at half-price“ when only a few are available at such a drastic reduction. If ever the warning “let the buyer beware“ were necessary it is during sales.（分数：6.00）(1).Which kind of goods can be among the best bargains?A. Cheapest goods.B. Newest goods.C. Seasonal goods.D. Goods in s
48、tock.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(2).The second paragraph deals with all of the following types of goods EXCEPT _. A. surplus goodsB. low-cost goodsC. the end lot goodsD. exceptionally valued goods（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(3).In order to maintain his business during a bad time, a manufacturer may _. A. have his goods
49、produced at low costB. sell his goods at a very- low priceC. have his employees sell his goodsD. try to produce high quality goods（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(4).The passage suggests that “seconds“ _. A. are of better quality than “substandard goods“B. attract buyers as particularly good bargainsC. are defective but marked as perfectD. are goods with serious defects（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(5).The word “redress“ in paragraph 4 probably means _. A. dressing againB. change of addressC.
