1、2013年北京大学考博英语真题试卷及答案与解析 一、 Structure and Vocabulary 1 Prince Charles, the longest-waiting_to the throne in British history, has spoken of his impatience to get things done. （ A） heir （ B） heirship （ C） heritage （ D） heiress 2 Love was in the air in a Tokyo park as normally staid Japanese husbands ga
2、thered to scream out their feelings for their wives, promising_and extra tight hugs. （ A） attitude （ B） multitude （ C） gratitude （ D） latitude 3 The number of stay-at-home fathers reached a record high last year, new figures show, as families saw a_in female breadwinners. （ A） raise （ B） rise （ C） a
3、rise （ D） increase 4 The market for dust masks and air purifiers is_in Beijing because the capital has been shrouded for several days in thick fog and haze. （ A） booming （ B） looming （ C） dooming （ D） zooming 5 Traditional fairytales are being ditched by parents because they are too_for their young
4、children, a study found. （ A） scarce （ B） scary （ C） scared （ D） scarred 6 It has been revealed that nearly one in five degree courses has been_since the tripling of tuition fees to 9,000 a year. （ A） scratched （ B） scraped （ C） scrabbled （ D） scrapped 7 Microsoft founder Bill Gates has_about being
5、a parent, stating that 13 is an appropriate age for a childs first cell phone. （ A） opened up （ B） taken up （ C） put up （ D） held up 8 Sales of mushrooms have hit an all-time high as Britons increasingly turn to the cheap and _foodstuff for their cooking. （ A） versatile （ B） multiple （ C） manifold （
6、 D） diverse 9 Gangnam Style, the_popular song from South Korean recording artist PSY has just become the most watched video on YouTube ever. （ A） sanely （ B） insanely （ C） rationally （ D） insatiably 10 The_British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking once said in an interview that heaven is a fairy
7、 story for people afraid of the dark. （ A） imposing （ B） lofty （ C） prominent （ D） eminent 11 Some might consider it an ugly truth that attractive people are often more successful than those _blessed with looks. （ A） less （ B） more （ C） most （ D） least 12 _they think it will come to an end through t
8、he hands of God, or a natural disaster or a political event, whatever the reason, nearly 15 percent of people worldwide think the end of the world is coming, according to a new poll. （ A） Either （ B） Whether （ C） Neither （ D） If 13 The European Parliament has banned the terms Miss and Mrs._they offe
9、nd female members. （ A） as long as （ B） the moment （ C） so that （ D） in case 14 Packed like sardines into sweaty, claustrophobic subway carriages, passengers can barely breathe,_move about freely. （ A） as well as （ B） disregard for （ C） let alone （ D） not mentioning 15 Japan is one of only three cou
10、ntries that now hunt whales and_the government says it is an important cultural tradition. （ A） that （ B） which （ C） whose （ D） where 二、 Cloze 15 Ironically, the intellectual tools currently being used by the political right to such harmful effect originated on the academic left. In the. 1960s and 1
11、970s a philosophical movement called postmodernism developed among humanities professors【 C1】_being deposed by science, which they regarded as right-leaning. Postmodernism【 C2】 _ideas from cultural anthropology and relativity theory to argue that truth is【 C3】 _and subject to the assumptions and pre
12、judices of the observer. Science is just one of many ways of knowing, they argued, neither more nor less【 C4】 _than others, like those of Aborigines, Native Americans or women. 【 C5】 _, they defined science as the way of knowing among Western white men and a tool of cultural【 C6】 _. This argument【 C
13、7】 _with many feminists and civil-rights activists and became widely adopted, leading to the “political correctness“ justifiably【 C8】 _by Rush Limbaugh and the -“mental masturbation“ lampooned by Woody Allen. Acceptance of this relativistic worldview【 C9】 _democracy and leads not to tolerance but to
14、 authoritarianism. John Locke, one of Jeffersons “trinity of three greatest men,“ showed【 C10】 _almost three centuries ago. Locke watched the arguing factions of Protestantism, each claiming to be the one true religion, and asked: How do we know something to be true? What is the basis of knowledge?
15、In 1689 he【 C11】_what knowledge is and how it is grounded in observations of the physical world in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Any claim that fails this test is “but faith, or opinion, but not knowledge.“ It was this idea that the world is knowable and that objective, empirical knowledg
16、e is the most【 C12】 _basis for public policy that stood as Jeffersons foundational argument for democracy. By falsely【 C13】 _knowledge with opinion, postmodernists and antiscience conservatives alike collapse our thinking back to a pre-Enlightenment era, leaving no common basis for public policy. Pu
17、blic discourse is【 C14】 _to endless warring opinions, none seen as more valid than another. Policy is determined by the loudest voices, reducing us to a world in which might【 C15】 _right the classic definition of authoritarianism. 16 【 C1】 （ A） satisfied with （ B） angry with （ C） displeased at （ D）
18、proud of 17 【 C2】 （ A） discounted （ B） doubted （ C） adopted （ D） shared 18 【 C3】 （ A） objective （ B） subjective （ C） cultural （ D） relative 19 【 C4】 （ A） variable （ B） valid （ C） valuable （ D） various 20 【 C5】 （ A） However （ B） Therefore （ C） Otherwise （ D） Furthermore 21 【 C6】 （ A） assimilation （ B
19、） inhibition （ C） representation （ D） oppression 22 【 C7】 （ A） resonated （ B） agreed （ C） appealed （ D） responded 23 【 C8】 （ A） liked （ B） approved （ C） verified （ D） hated 24 【 C9】 （ A） offsets （ B） produces （ C） undermines （ D） strengthens 25 【 C10】 （ A） when （ B） what （ C） why （ D） which 26 【 C11
20、】 （ A） found （ B） defined （ C） dictated （ D） claimed 27 【 C12】 （ A） practical （ B） equal （ C） useful （ D） equitable 28 【 C13】 （ A） identifying （ B） equipping （ C） equating （ D） confusing 29 【 C14】 （ A） deduced （ B） introduced （ C） conduced （ D） reduced 30 【 C15】 （ A） decides （ B） causes （ C） makes （
21、 D） creates 三、 Reading Comprehension 30 A considerable part of Facebooks appeal stems from its miraculous fusion of distance with intimacy, or the illusion of distance with the illusion of intimacy. Our online communities become engines of self-image, and self-image becomes the engine of community.
22、The real danger with Facebook is not that it allows us to isolate ourselves, but that by mixing our appetite for isolation with our vanity, it threatens to alter the very nature of solitude. The new isolation is not of the kind that Americans once idealized, the lonesomeness of the proudly nonconfor
23、mist, independent-minded, solitary stoic, or that of the astronaut who blasts into new worlds. Facebooks isolation is a grind. Whats truly staggering about Facebook usage is not its volume 750 million photographs uploaded over a single weekend but the constancy of the performance it demands. More th
24、an half its users and one of every 13 people on Earth is a Facebook user log on every day. Among 18-to-34-year-olds, nearly half check Facebook minutes after waking up, and 28 percent do so before getting out of bed. The relentlessness is what is so new, so potentially transformative. Facebook never
25、 takes a break. We never take a break. Human beings have always created elaborate acts of self-presentation. But not all the time, not every morning, before we even pour a cup of coffee. Nostalgia for the good old days of disconnection would not just be pointless, it would be hypocritical and ungrat
26、eful. But the very magic of the new machines, the efficiency and elegance with which they serve us, obscures what isnt being served: everything that matters. What Facebook has revealed about human nature and this is not a minor revelation is that a connection is not the same thing as a bond, and tha
27、t instant and total connection is no salvation, no ticket to a happier, better world or a more liberated version of humanity. Solitude used to be good for self-reflection and self-reinvention. But now we are left talking about who we are all the time, without ever really thinking about who we are. F
28、acebook denies us a pleasure whose profundity we had underestimated: the chance to forget about ourselves for a while, the chance to disconnect. 31 Which of the following statements regarding the power of Facebook can be inferred from the passage? （ A） It creates the isolation people want. （ B） It d
29、elivers a more friendly world. （ C） It produces intimacy people lack in the real world. （ D） It enables us to be social while avoiding the mess of human interaction. 32 Which of the following statements about the underside of Facebook is supported by the information contained in this passage? （ A） I
30、t imprisons people in the business of self-presentation. （ B） It causes social disintegration. （ C） It makes people vainer. （ D） It makes people lonelier. 33 Which of the following best states “the new isolation“ mentioned by the author? （ A） It is full of the spirit of adventure. （ B） It is the ext
31、ension of individualism. （ C） It has a touch of narcissism. （ D） It evolves from the appetite for independence. 34 Which of the following belongs to the category of “everything that matters“ according to the passage? （ A） Constant connection （ B） Instant communication （ C） Smooth sociability （ D） A
32、human bond 35 Which of the following conclusions about Facebook does the author want us to draw? （ A） It creates friendship. （ B） It denies us the pleasure of socializing. （ C） It opens a new world for us. （ D） It draws us into a paradox. 35 Most scholars agree that Isaac Newton, while formulating t
33、he laws of force and gravity and inventing the calculus in the late 1600s, probably knew all the science there was to know at the time. In the ensuing 350 years an estimated 50 million research papers and innumerable books have been published in the natural sciences and mathematics. The modern high
34、school student probably now possesses more scientific knowledge than Newton did, yet science to many people seems to be an impenetrable mountain of facts. One way scientists have tried to cope with this mountain is by becoming more and more specialized. Another strategy for coping with the mountain
35、of information is to largely ignore it. That shouldnt come as a surprise. Sure, you have to know a lot to be a scientist, but knowing a lot is not what makes a scientist. What makes a scientist is ignorance. This may sound ridiculous, but for scientists the facts are just a starting place. In scienc
36、e, every new discovery raises 10 new questions. By this calculus, ignorance will always grow faster than knowledge. Scientists and laypeople alike would agree that for all we have come to know, there is far more we dont know. More important, every day there is far more we know we dont know. One cruc
37、ial outcome of scientific knowledge is to generate new and better ways of being ignorant: not the kind of ignorance that is associated with a lack of curiosity or education but rather a cultivated, high-quality ignorance. This gets to the essence of what scientists do: they make distinctions between
38、 qualities of ignorance. They do it in grant proposals and over beers at meetings. As James Clerk Maxwell, probably the greatest physicist between Newton and Einstein, said, “Thoroughly conscious ignorance . is a prelude to every real advance in knowledge.“ This perspective on science-that it is abo
39、ut the questions more than the answers - should come as something of a relief. It makes science less threatening and far more friendly and, in fact, fun. Science becomes a series of elegant puzzles and puzzles within puzzles and who doesnt like puzzles? Questions are also more accessible and often m
40、ore interesting than answers; answers tend to be the end of the process, whereas questions have you in the thick of things. Lately this side of science has taken a backseat in the public mind to what I call the accumulation view of science - that it is a pile of facts way too big for us to ever hope
41、 to conquer. But if scientists would talk about the questions, and if the media reported not only on new discoveries but the questions they answered and the new puzzles they created, and if educators stopped trafficking in facts that are already available on Wikipedia - then we might find a public o
42、nce again engaged in this great adventure that has been going on for the past 15 generations. 36 Which of the following would most scholars agree to about Newton and science? （ A） Newton was the only person who knew all the science in the 1600s. （ B） Newtons laws of force and gravity dominated scien
43、ce for 350 years. （ C） Since Newtons time, science has developed into a mountain of facts. （ D） A high school student probably knows more science than Newton did. 37 Which of the following is best supported in this passage? （ A） A scientist is a master of knowledge. （ B） Knowledge generates better i
44、gnorance. （ C） Ignorance is a sign of lack of education. （ D） Good scientists are thoroughly ignorant. 38 Why is it a relief that science is about the questions more than the answers? （ A） Because people like solving puzzles. （ B） Because questions make science accessible. （ C） Because there are mor
45、e questions than answers. （ D） Because questions point the way to deep answers. 39 The expression “take a backseat“(line 1, paragraph 5)probably means_. （ A） take a back place （ B） have a different role （ C） be of greater priority （ D） become less important 40 What is the authors greatest concern in
46、 the passage? （ A） The involvement of the public in science. （ B） Scientists enjoyment of ignorance. （ C） The accumulation of scientific knowledge. （ D） Newtons standing in the history of science. 40 Information technology that helps doctors and patients make decisions has been around for a long tim
47、e. Crude online tools like WebMD get millions of visitors a day. But Watson is a different beast. According to IBM, it can digest information and make recommendations much more quickly, and more intelligently, than perhaps any machine before it processing up to 60 million pages of text per second, e
48、ven when that text is in the form of plain old prose, or what scientists call “natural language.“ Thats no small thing, because something like 80 percent of all information is “unstructured.“ In medicine, it consists of physician notes dictated into medical records, long-winded sentences published i
49、n academic journals, and raw numbers stored online by public-health departments. At least in theory, Watson can make sense of it all. It can sit in on patient examinations, silently listening. And over time, it can learn and get better at figuring out medical problems and ways of treating them the more it interacts with real cases. Watson even has the ability to convey doubt. When it make
