1、2010年 9月国家公共英语（三级）真题试卷（精选）及答案与解析 一、 Section II Use of English (15 minutes) Directions: Read the following text. Choose the best word or phrase for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on ANSWER SHEET 1. 0 What might the house of the future be like? Grace can tell. More formally known as the Mic
2、rosoft Home, her high-tech devices, along with【 C1】 _in design and construction, will change the .【 C2】 _we think about our homes. You enter the house, and Graces【 C3】 _, coming from hidden speakers, passes on your messages. In the kitchen, you set a bag of flour on the intelligently【 C4】_stone coun
3、ter. Grace sees what youre【 C5】 _, and projects a list of flour-based food on the counter.【 C6】 _you choose one, Grace repeats instructions for cooking. She【 C7】 _knows whats in the cupboard. The day when your house will be like a family member is not that far off. This【 C8】_of seamless computing, i
4、n which technology is everywhere yet nowhere(【 C9】_when we want it) , is emphasized in most future-home thinking. Microsoft,【 C10】 _, isnt the only one exploring【 C11】 _technology can make our homes more【 C12】 _and comfortable. At the Georgia Institute of Technology, scientists are【 C13】 _systems th
5、at will allow older people to continue living【 C14】 _. So Grandmas home can be intelligently wired to【 C15】 _her patterns of wake, sleep and movement; family members would be【 C16】 _of any changes via computer. Does spying on Grandma sound【 C17】 _? Director Beth Mynatt says “A good bit of our【 C18】
6、_has been working on how to convey information without【 C19】 _privacy. We also dont want to create【 C20】 _anxiety. Maybe she just took a quiet day to read, and the system would have to recognize that. “ 1 【 C1】 （ A） promotions （ B） applications （ C） practices （ D） advances 2 【 C2】 （ A） way （ B） mann
7、er （ C） style （ D） scope 3 【 C3】 （ A） image （ B） figure （ C） voice （ D） sound 4 【 C4】 （ A） disposed （ B） shaped （ C） engineered （ D） conditioned 5 【 C5】 （ A） saying （ B） feeling （ C） searching （ D） doing 6 【 C6】 （ A） Before （ B） Once （ C） Since （ D） Unless 7 【 C7】 （ A） even （ B） thus （ C） yet （ D） o
8、nly 8 【 C8】 （ A） hope （ B） passion （ C） faith （ D） notion 9 【 C9】 （ A） perhaps （ B） except （ C） provided （ D） especially 10 【 C10】 （ A） therefore （ B） likewise （ C） however （ D） moreover 11 【 C11】 （ A） how （ B） whether （ C） what （ D） why 12 【 C12】 （ A） fashionable （ B） complicated （ C） efficient （ D
9、） attractive 13 【 C13】 （ A） decorating （ B） designing （ C） delivering （ D） debating 14 【 C14】 （ A） independently （ B） enthusiastically （ C） colorfully （ D） satisfactorily 15 【 C15】 （ A） receive （ B） recognize （ C） represent （ D） review 16 【 C16】 （ A） warned （ B） relieved （ C） advised （ D） informed 1
10、7 【 C17】 （ A） interesting （ B） boring （ C） disturbing （ D） appealing 18 【 C18】 （ A） analysis （ B） research （ C） concern （ D） focus 19 【 C19】 （ A） sacrificing （ B） affecting （ C） preventing （ D） losing 20 【 C20】 （ A） unusual （ B） unfortunate （ C） uncertain （ D） unnecessary Part A Directions: Read the
11、 following three texts. Answer the questions on each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. 20 Whenever Catherine Brown, a 37-year-old journalist, and her friends, professionals in their 30s and early 40s, meet at a London cafe, their favorite topic of conversation is re
12、lationships-, mens reluctance to commit, womens independence, and when to have children or, increasingly, whether to have them at all. “With the years passing my chances of having a child go down, but I wont marry anyone just to have a child,“ says Brown. To people like Brown, babies are great if th
13、e timing is right. But theyre certainly not essential. In much of the world, having kids is no longer a given. “Never“before has childlessness been an understandable decision for women and men in so many societies,“ says Frank Hakim at the London School of Economics. Young people are extending their
14、 child-free adulthood by postponing children until they are well into their 30s, or even 40s and beyond. A growing share are ending up with no children at all. Lifetime childlessness in western Germany has hit 30 percent among university-educated women, and is rapidly rising among lower-class men. I
15、n Britain, the number of women remaining childless has doubled in 20 years. The latest trend of childlessness does not follow historic patterns. For centuries it was not unusual for a quarter of European women to remain childless. But in the past, childlessness was usually the product of poverty or
16、disaster, of missing men in times of war. Today the decision to have or not have a child is the result of a complex combination of factors, including relationships, career opportunities, lifestyle and economics. In some cases childlessness among women can be seen as a quiet form of protest. In Japan
17、, support for working mothers hardly exists. Child care is expensive, men dont help out, and some companies strongly discourage mothers from returning to work. “In Japan, its career or child,“ says writer Kaori Haishi. Its not just women who are deciding against children; according to a recent study
18、, Japanese men are even less inclined to marry or want a child. Their motivations, though, may have more to do with economic factors. 21 Catherine Brown and her friends feel that having children is not_. （ A） totally wise （ B） a huge problem （ C） a rational choice （ D） absolutely necessary 22 It can
19、 be inferred that, for many women, having babies nowadays is_. （ A） a hard commitment （ B） helpful to their career （ C） essential for happiness （ D） an understandable decision 23 In the old days, many women remained childless_. （ A） as a quiet form of protest （ B） because of lack of support （ C） bec
20、ause of unfortunate circumstances （ D） because they lacked social responsibility 24 We learn that childlessness at present_. （ A） affects Europe more than it does Asia （ B） produces more benefits than in the past （ C） is more a womans decision than a mans （ D） is more complex in its cause than that
21、in the past 25 According to the text, when a Japanese man decides not to have children, he probably feels unable to_. （ A） help with housework （ B） afford to have a child （ C） be a responsible father （ D） balance work and family 25 Faced with a mission-critical decision, who would you turn to for ad
22、vice? Someone you had great confidence in, surely. But several lines of research show that our instincts about where to turn to for counsel are often not completely correct. My research looks at prejudices that affect how people use advice, including why they often blindly follow recommendations fro
23、m people who as far as they know are as knowledgeable as they are. In studies I conducted with Don Moore of Carnegie Mellon University, for example, I found that people tend to overvalue advice when the problem theyre addressing is hard and to undervalue it when the problem is easy. In our experimen
24、ts, subjects were asked to guess the weight of people in various pictures, some of which were in focus and some of which were unclear. For each picture, subjects guessed twice: the first time without advice and the second time with input from another participant. When the pictures were in focus, we
25、found, subjects tended to discount the advice; apparently, they were confident in their ability to guess correctly. When the pictures were unclear, subjects leaned heavily on the advice of others and seemed less secure about their initial opinion. Because they misjudged the value of the advice they
26、received- consistently overvaluing or undervaluing it depending on the difficulty of the problem our subjects did not make the best guesses overall. They would have done better if theyd considered the advice equally, and to a moderate degree, on both hard and easy tasks. Another advice-related preju
27、dice Ive found compels people to overvalue advice that they pay for. In one study I conducted, subjects answered different sets of questions about American history. Before answering some of the questions, they could get advice on the correct answer from another subject whom they knew was no more exp
28、ert than they were. In one version of the experiment, people could get advice for free, while in another version, they paid for it. When they paid for advice, people tended to have firm belief in it, I suspect, by a combination of sunk-cost prejudice and the nearly instinctual belief that cost and q
29、uality are linked. 26 In the face of a mission-critical decision, people tend to_. （ A） trust their own efforts （ B） rely on research findings （ C） get affected by others opinion （ D） seek help from the more knowledgable 27 Research shows that when faced with difficult problems people often_. （ A） d
30、iscount others advice （ B） overlook others advice （ C） disagree with others advice （ D） over-rely on others advice 28 The first experiment tries to prove how objective conditions_. （ A） strengthen peoples initial opinion （ B） strengthen peoples self-confidence （ C） influence peoples response to advi
31、ce （ D） influence peoples guess of weight loss 29 It can be inferred that people are likely to_. （ A） undervalue free advice （ B） overvalue peers advice （ C） misinterpret specialist advice （ D） misjudge their instinctual belief 30 The two experiments mentioned in the text reveal_. （ A） how to follow
32、 others advice （ B） how to understand others advice （ C） what causes people to seek advice （ D） what affects peoples attitude to advice 30 Top National Health Service (NHS) nurses will be able to earn $ 40,000 a year without leaving frontline patient care in a modification to salary structures. New
33、“ super nurse“ grades will be created to enable the best staff to increase their salaries without having to move into management desk jobs. Currently the most senior NHS nurses can earn a maximum $ 28,000 a year unless they are willing to withdraw from the frontline and become administrators. Hundre
34、ds of experienced and highly-qualified nurses are lost to patient care every year because of this oddity. While only a few thousand of Britains 332,000 NHS nurses will qualify for the $ 40,000-plus salary, fast-track promotion schemes and a simpler grading system will increase the pay of many more.
35、The government announced that a new simplified career structure would see just four grades replacing the existing six. Nurses will begin their careers as healthcare assistants before moving up to registered practitioner grade, followed by senior registered practitioner and ultimately , consultant pr
36、actitioner and a $ 40,000 salary. “Nurses are rising to the challenge of modernisation,“ said a government official. “These proposals will help them improve their professional role further and provide a better service to patients. We do not think that in order to be paid more, nurses should have to
37、move into management. Nurses working at the sharp end of patient care should have a career structure which no longer penalises them for wanting to stay there. “ The Nursing Strategy will include proposals to allow more flexible training courses and improve oppommities for qualified nurses who have l
38、eft the profession to return in part-time roles. The Royal College of Nursing welcomed the reforms. The top salary level falls into line with figures it had presented to ministers. 31 Hundreds of experienced nurses are lost to patient care every year because they_. （ A） dislike the nursing job （ B）
39、are dissatisfied with their pay （ C） are replaced by “ super nurses“ （ D） lack further training for the profession 32 The new system will mostly benefit those who_. （ A） move into management （ B） work on a part time basis （ C） have retired from the nursing job （ D） have reached the top of the system
40、 33 The new career structure is different from the existing one in its_. （ A） quality of nurses services （ B） possibility of a job transfer （ C） opportunities for promotion （ D） simplicity of nurses grades 34 The Nursing Strategy will be adopted in order to_. （ A） provide more consultation to practi
41、tioners （ B） encourage experienced nurses to work part time （ C） enable the most experienced nurses to be paid more （ D） promote the most experienced nurses to management 35 The Royal College of Nursing_ . （ A） proposed similar top salary for nurses （ B） raised the management issue to ministers （ C）
42、 suggested a four-grade system for nurses （ D） put forward the Nursing Strategy to ministers Part B Directions: Read the text, match the items (61-65) to one of the statements (A to G) given below. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. 35 Ankita Agarwal: Your article made me ashamed. Ive always thoug
43、ht of myself as not the typical self-absorbed teenager, but I guess I was wrong. While I sit in my large, warm and cozy house, wishing for the shoes and clothes I see in teen magazines, there are people in the world wishing for something as simple as clean water. Thank you for reminding me about peo
44、ple who would be more than happy with what I have. Janet Tejada: What about the relationship between population, consumption and resources? After all, poverty , most simply defined, is not having enough resources. The steady growth of the global population, overconsumption of resources by developed
45、nations such as the U. S. , and increasing levels of consumption among the growing middle class in many developing nations ensure that there is ever less of the planets already dwindling resources to go around. Tadaship Kawabe: Lixtreme poverty is so tragic. Sudden natural disasters like an earthqua
46、ke mobilize a large number of people and money for a short period of time, while the slow but massive wave of poverty and death in Africa doesnt attract the worlds attention in the same way. When we try to help those affected by disasters and extreme poverty, however, we shouldnt focus on the overwh
47、elming number of the dead but simply try to do something good for others. Jane Thomas: The poor should be trained to organize, set priorities and develop skills and resources to put their own community plans into action. What your article proposes is the conventional top-down way for doing things; o
48、utsiders determine the priorities and solutions, then throw money at them. To actually help, we must first develop our own skills and understanding. We need to find out what the poor want and what the root causes of the problems are. We have to listen to poor people. Sanjay Kathe: Concerned and sens
49、ible peoples endeavors to reduce poverty in underdeveloped countries are deserving of high praise. It is sad, however, that only a small part of the funds raised for the poor actually reach them. The generous people who donate money to reduce poverty would be more successful if they spent time in the poor nations to check first-hand the use of their fu
