1、2012年四川大学考博英语真题试卷及答案与解析 一、 Reading Comprehension 0 There are people in Italy who cant stand soccer. Not all Canadians love hockey. A similar situation exists in America, where there are those individuals you may be one of them who yawn or even frown when somebody mentions baseball. Baseball to them
2、means boring hours watching grown men in funny tight outfits standing around in a field staring away while very little of anything happens. They tell you its a game better suited to the 19th century, slow, quiet, gentlemanly. These are the same people you may be one of them who love football because
3、 theres the sport that glorifies “the hit“. By contrast, baseball seems abstract, cool, silent, still. On TV the game is fractured into a dozen perspectives, replays, close-ups. The geometry of the game, however, is essential to understanding it. You will contemplate the game from one point as a pai
4、nter does his subject; you may, of course, project yourself into the game. It is in this projection that the game affords so much space and time for involvement. The TV wont do it for you. Take, for example, the third baseman. You sit behind the third base dugout and you watch him watching home plat
5、e. His legs are apart, knees flexed. His arms hang loose. He does a lot of this. The skeptic still cannot think of any other sports so still, so passive. But watch what happens every time the pitcher throws: the third baseman goes up on his toes, flexes his arms or brings the glove to a point in fro
6、nt of him, takes a step right or left, backward or forward, perhaps he glances across the field to check his first basemans position. Suppose the pitch is a ball. “Nothing happened,“ you say. “I could have had my eyes closed. “ The skeptic and the innocent must play the game. And this involvement in
7、 the stands is no more intellectual than listening to music is. Watch the third baseman. Smooth the dirt in frontof you with one foot; smooth the pocket in your glove; watch the eyes of the batter, the speed of the bat, the sound of horsehide on wood. If football is a symphony of movement and theatr
8、e, baseball is chamber music, a spacious interlocking of notes, chores and responses. 1 The passage is mainly concerned with_. （ A） the different tastes of people for sports （ B） the different characteristics of sports （ C） the attraction of football （ D） the attraction of baseball 2 Those who dont
9、like baseball may complain that_. （ A） it is only to the taste of the old （ B） it involves fewer players than football （ C） it is not exciting enough （ D） it is pretentious and looks funny 3 The author admits that_. （ A） baseball is too peaceful for the young （ B） baseball may seem boring when watch
10、ed on TV （ C） football is more attracting than baseball （ D） baseball is more interesting than football 4 By stating “I could have had my eyes closed. “(paragraph 4, last sentence), the author means _. （ A） The third baseman would rather sleep than play the game. （ B） Even if the third baseman close
11、d his eyes a moment ago, it could make no different to the result. （ C） The third baseman is so good at baseball that he could finish the game with eyes closed all the time and do his work well. （ D） The consequent was too bad he could not bear to see it. 5 We can safely conclude that the author_. （
12、 A） likes football （ B） hates football （ C） hates baseball （ D） likes baseball 5 Among the more colorful characters of Leadvilles golden age were H. A. W. Tabor and his second wife, Elizabeth McCourt, better known as “Baby Doe“. Their history is fast becoming one of the legends of the Old West. Hora
13、ce Austin Warner Tabor was a school teacher in Vermont. With his first wife and two children he left Vermont by covered wagon in 1855 to homes tread in Kansas. Perhaps he did not find farming to his liking, or perhaps he was lured by rumors of fortunes to be made in Colorado mines. At any rate, a fe
14、w years later he moved west to the small Colorado mining camp known as California Gulch, which he later renamed Leadville when he became its leading citizen. “ Great deposits of lead are sure to be found here. “ he said. As it turned out, it was silver, not lead, that was to make Leadvilles fortune
15、and wealth. Tabor knew little about mining himself, so he opened a general store, which sold everything from boots to salt, flour, and tobacco. It was his custom to “grubstake“ prospective miners, in other words, to supply them with food and supplies, or “ grub“, while they looked for ore, in return
16、 for which he would get a share in the mine if one was discovered. He did this for a number of years, but no one that he aided ever found anything of value. Finally one day in the year 1878, so the story goes, two miners came in and asked for “grub“. Tabor had decided to quit supplying it because he
17、 had lost too much money that way. These were persistent, however, and Tabor was too busy to argue with them. “Oh help yourself. One more time wonts make any difference,“ he said and went on selling shoes and hats to other customers. The two miners took $ 17 worth of supplies, in return for which th
18、ey gave Tabor a one-third interest in their findings. They picked a barren place on the mountainside and began to dig. After nine days they struck a rich vein of silver. Tabor bought the shares of the other two men, and so the mine belonged to him alone. This mine, known as the “Pittsburgh Mine,“ ma
19、de 1, 300, 000 for Tabor in return for his $ 17 investment. Later Tabor bought the Matchless Mine on another barren hillside just outside the town for $ 17,000. This turned out to be even more fabulous than the Pittsburgh, yielding $ 35, 000 worth of silver per day at one time. Leadville grew. Tabor
20、 became its first mayor, and later became lieutenant governor of the state. 6 Leadville got its name for the following reasons EXCEPT_. （ A） because Tabor became its leading citizen （ B） because great deposits of lead is expected to be found mere （ C） because it could bring good fortune to Tabor （ D
21、） because it was renamed 7 The word “grubstake“ in Paragraph 2 means_. （ A） to supply miners with food and supplies （ B） to open a general store （ C） to do ones contribution to the development of the mine （ D） to supply miners with food and supplies and in return get a share in the mine, if one was
22、discovered 8 Tabor made his first fortune_. （ A） by supplying two prospective miners and getting in return a one-third interest in the findings （ B） because he was persuaded by the two miners to quit supplying （ C） by buying the shares of the other （ D） as a land speculator 9 The underlying reason f
23、or Tabors life career is_. （ A） purely accidental （ B） based on the analysis of miners being very poor and their possibility of discovering profitable mining site （ C） through the help from his second wife （ D） he planned well and accomplished targets step by step 10 If this passage is the first par
24、t of an article, who might be introduced in the following part? （ A） Tabors life. （ B） Tabors second wife, Elizabeth McCourt. （ C） Other colorful characters. （ D） Tabors other careers. 10 Open up most fashion magazines and you will see incredibly thin models with impossible hair and wearing unreason
25、ably expensive, impracticably styled clothes. But shouldnt clothes be comfortably durable and make a principle of being simple for the individual who wears them? Why are we constantly told that we need to buy new clothes and add fresh pieces to our collection? Fashions change year after year so lots
26、 of people can make piles of money. If folks are convinced that they need a different look each season, that this years sweaters length and shoes style are important, they can be persuaded to buy. The fashion industry would have you ignore your shortcomings and just make you feel beautiful and happy
27、. In fact it is not only a phenomenon we can find in peoples dressing. Fashion controls our lives. Fashion controls what we wear, what we eat, what we drink, the way we cut our hair, the makeup we buy and use, the color of the cars we drive. Fashion even controls our ideas. You dont believe me? How
28、many of your friends are vegetarians? Why are they vegetarians? Because it is fashionable ! Where does fashion come from? Often the reasons are quite logical. Scientists and historians study the fashions of the past and discover the secrets of each fashion. When girls see an attractive guy, their bl
29、ood pressure rises and their lips become redder. Thats why guys think that girls wearing lipstick are beautiful. Why do guys shave their heads? In the past soldiers shaved their heads to kill the insects that lived in their hair. Now guys shave their heads so that they look strong and masculine, lik
30、e soldiers. People spend a lot of time and money on fashion. But are they wasting their money? Changes in fashion help to develop new technologies. Changes in style create work for people all over the world. Many people work in the fashion industry, particularly in the fashion capitals of London, Ne
31、w York, Paris and Milan. And finally, fashion makes you feel good, doesnt it? When you are dressed in the latest style, dancing to the most fashionable music, after watching the latest hit film, you feel great, dont you? 11 Whats the authors viewpoint about the models and their hairstyles and clothe
32、s? （ A） Unbiased. （ B） Indifferent. （ C） Critical. （ D） Appreciative. 12 It is indicated by the author that clothes should be_. （ A） comfortable and durable （ B） new and fresh （ C） expensive and fashionable （ D） simple and unique 13 The fashion industry makes profits by_. （ A） selling the products a
33、t high prices （ B） creating a need in you （ C） helping you get rid of your shortcomings （ D） making you look more beautiful 14 The author thinks what has been found about fashions by the scientists and the historians is _. （ A） incredible （ B） amazing （ C） reasonable （ D） creative 15 The passage men
34、tions the advantages of fashion EXCEPT that_. （ A） it can help promote technological development （ B） it enables people to remain up-to-date （ C） it can create more job opportunities for people （ D） it can make people achieve a great feeling 15 Sign has become a scientific hot button. Only in the pa
35、st 20 years have specialists in language study realized that signed languages are unique a speech of the hand. They offer a new way to probe how the brain generates and understands language, and throw new light on an old scientific controversy; whether language, complete with grammar, is something t
36、hat we are born with, or whether it is a learned behavior. The current interest in sign language has roots in the pioneering work of one rebel teacher at Gallaudet University in Washington, D. C. , the worlds only liberal arts university for deaf people. When Bill Stokoe went to Gallaudet to teach E
37、nglish, the school enrolled him in a course in signing. But Stokoe noticed something odd: among themselves, students signed differently from his classroom teacher. Stokoe had been taught a sort of gesture code, each movement of the hands representing a word in English. At the time, American Sign Lan
38、guage(ASL)was thought to be on more than a form of pidgin English(混杂英语 ). But Stokoe believed the “hand talk“ his students used looked richer. He wondered: might deaf people actually have a genuine language? And could that language be unlike any other on Earth? It was 1955, when even deaf people dis
39、missed their signing as “substandard“. Stokoes idea was academic heresy(异端邪说 ). It is 37 years later. Stokoe now devoting his time to writing and editing books and journals and to producing video materials on ASL and the deaf culture is having lunch at a cafe near the Gallaudet campus and explaining
40、 how he started a revolution. For decades educators fought his idea that signed languages are natural languages like English, French and Japanese. They assumed language must be based on speech, the modulation(调节 )of sound. But sign language is based on the movement of hands, the modulation of space.
41、 “What I said,“ Stokoe explains, “is that language is not mouth stuff its brain stuff.“ 16 The study of sign language is thought to be_. （ A） an approach to simplifying the grammatical structure of a language （ B） an attempt to clarify misunderstanding about the origin of language （ C） a challenge t
42、o traditional views on the nature of language （ D） a new way to took at the learning of language 17 The present growing interest in sign language was stimulated by_. （ A） a leading specialist in the study of liberal arts （ B） an English teacher in a university for the deaf （ C） some senior experts i
43、n American Sign Language （ D） a famous scholar in the study of the human brain 18 According to Stokoe, sign language is_. （ A） an international language （ B） a substandard language （ C） an artificial language （ D） a genuine language 19 Most educators objected to Stokoes idea because they thought_. （
44、 A） a language should be easy to use and understand （ B） sign language was too artificial to be widely accepted （ C） a language could only exist in the form of speech sounds （ D） sign language was not extensively used even by deaf people 20 Stokoes argument is based on his belief that_. （ A） languag
45、e is a product of the brain （ B） language is a system of meaningful codes （ C） sign language is derived from natural language （ D） sign language is as efficient as any other language 20 Give the lack of fit between gifted students and their schools, it is not surprising that such students often have
46、 little good to say about their school experience. In one study of 400 adults who had achieved distinction in all areas of life, researchers found that three-fifths of these individuals either did badly in school or were unhappy in school. Few MacArthur Prize fellows, winners of the MacArthur Award
47、for creative accomplishment, had good things to say about their precollege schooling if they had not been placed in advanced programs. Anecdotal(名人轶事 )reports support this. Pablo Picasso, Charles Darwin, Mark Twain, Oliver Goldsmith, and William Butler Yeats all disliked school. So did Winston Churc
48、hill, who almost failed out of Harrow, an elite British school. About Oliver Goldsmith, one of his teachers remarked, “Never was so dull a boy. “ Often these children realize that they know more than their teachers, and their teachers often feel that these children are arrogant, inattentive, or unmo
49、tivated. Some of these gifted people may have done poorly in school because their gifts were not scholastic. Maybe we can account for Picasso in this way. But most fared poorly in school not because they lacked ability but because they found school unchallenging and consequently lost interest. Yeats described the lack of fit between his mind and school: “Because I had found it difficult to attend to anything less interesting than my own thoughts, I was diffi
