1、2014年四川大学考博英语真题试卷及答案与解析 一、 Reading Comprehension 0 In general, our society is becoming one of giant enterprises directed by a bureaucratic management in which man becomes a small, well-oiled cog in the machinery. The oiling is done with higher wages, Nell-ventilated factories and piped music, and by
2、 psychologists and “human-relations“ experts; yet all this oiling does not alter the fact that man has become powerless, that he is bored with it. In fact, the blue and the white-collar workers have become economic puppets who dance to the tune of automated machines and bureaucratic management. The
3、worker and employee are anxious, not only because they might find themselves out of a job; they are anxious also because they are unable to acquire any real satisfaction of interesting life. They live and die without ever having confronted the fundamental realities of human existence as emotionally
4、and intellectually independent and productive human beings. Those higher up on the social ladder are no less anxious. Their lives are no less empty than those of their subordinates. They are even more insecure in some respects. They are in a highly competitive race. To be promoted or to fall behind
5、is not a matter of salary but even more a matter of self-respect. When they apply for their first job, they are tested for intelligence as well as for the right mixture of submissiveness and independence. From the moment on they are tested again and again by the psychologists, for whom testing is a
6、big business, and by their superiors, who judge their behavior, sociability, capacity to get along, etc. This constant need to prove that one is as good as or better than ones fellow-competitor creates constant anxiety and stress, the very causes of unhappiness and illness. Am I suggesting that we s
7、hould return to the preindustrial mode of production or to nineteenth-century “free enterprise“ capitalism? Certainly not. Problems are never solved by returning to a stage which one has already outgrown. I suggest transforming our social system form, a bureaucratically managed industrialism in whic
8、h maximal production and consumption are ends in themselves, into a humanist industrialism in which man and full development of his potentialities those of all love and of reason are the aims of social arrangements. Production and consumption should serve only as means to this end and should be prev
9、ented from ruling man. 1 By “well-oiled cog in the machinery“ the author intends to deliver the idea that man is _. （ A） a necessary part of the society though each individuals function is negligible （ B） working in complete harmony with the rest of the society （ C） an unimportant part in comparison
10、 with the rest of the society （ D） a humble component of the society, especially when working smoothly 2 The real cause of the anxiety of the workers and employees is that_. （ A） they are likely to lose their jobs （ B） they have no genuine satisfaction or interest in life （ C） they are faced with th
11、e fundamental realities of human existence （ D） they are deprived of their individuality and independence 3 From the passage we can conclude that real happiness of life belongs to those_. （ A） who are at the bottom of the society （ B） who are higher up in their social status （ C） who prove better th
12、an their fellow-competitors （ D） who could dip far away from this competitive world 4 To solve the present social problems the author puts forward a suggestion that we should_. （ A） resort to the production mode of our ancestors （ B） offer higher wages to the workers and employees （ C） enable man to
13、 fully develop his potentialities （ D） take the fundamental realities for granted 5 The authors attitude towards industrialism might best be summarized as one of_. （ A） approval （ B） dissatisfaction （ C） suspicion （ D） susceptibility 5 The government-run command post in Tunis is staffed around the c
14、lock by military personnel, meteorologists and civilians. On the wall are maps, crisscrossed with brightly colored arrows that painstakingly track the fearsome path of the enemy. What kind of invader gives rise to such high-level monitoring? Not man, not beast, but the lowly desert locust(蝗虫 ). In r
15、ecent moths, billions of the 3-inch-long winged warriors have descended on Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia, blackening the sky and eating up crops and vegetation. The insect invasion, the worst in 30 years, is already creating great destruction in the Middle East and is now treating southern Eur
16、ope. The current crisis began in late 1985 near the Red Sea. Unusually rainy weather moistened the sands of the Sudan, making them ideal breeding grounds for the locust, which lays its eggs in the earth. The insect onslaught threatens to create yet another African famine. Each locust can eat its wei
17、ght(not quite a tenth of an ounce)in vegetation every 24 hours. A good-size swarm of 50 billion insects eats up 100, 000 tons of grass, trees and crops in a single night. All $ 150 million may be needed this year. The U. S. has provided two spraying planes and about 50,000 gal. of pesticide. The Eur
18、opean Community has donated $3.8 million in aid and the Soviet Union, Canada, Japan and China have provided chemical-spraying aircraft to help wipe out the pests. But relief efforts are hampered by the relative mildness of approved pesticides, which quickly lose their deadly punch and require freque
19、nt replications. The most effective locust killer Dieldrin has been linked to cancer and is banned by many Western countries and some of the affected African nations. More than 5 million acres have been dusted with locust-killing chemicals; another 5 million will be treated by the end of June. On Ma
20、y 30, representatives of Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Mauritania will meet in Algiers to discuss tactics to wipe out the ravenous swarms. The move is an important step, but whatever plan is devised, the locust plague promised to get worse before the insects can be brought under control. 6 Th
21、e main idea of the first sentence in the passage is that_. （ A） the command post is stationed with people all the time. （ B） the command post is crowded with people all the time. （ C） there are clocks around the command post. （ D） the clock in the command post is taken care of by the staff. 7 The fa
22、vorable breeding ground for the locust is_. （ A） rich soil. （ B） wet land （ C） spaces covered crops and vegetation （ D） the Red Sea 8 People are alert at the threat of the locust because_. （ A） the insects are likely to create another African famine （ B） the insects may blacken the sky （ C） the numb
23、er of the insects increases drastically （ D） the insects are gathering and moving in great speed 9 Which of the following is true? （ A） Once the pesticides are used, locust will die immediately. （ B） Relief efforts are proved most fruitful due to the effectiveness of certain pesticides. （ C） Dieldri
24、n, the most effective locust killer, has been widely accepted in many countries. （ D） Over 10 million acres of affected area will have been treated with locust-killing chemicals by the end of June. 10 The purpose for affected nations to meet in Algiers on May 30 is_. （ A） to devise anti-locust plans
25、 （ B） to wipe out the swarms in two years （ C） to call out for additional financial aid from other nations （ D） to bring the insects under control before the plague gets worse 10 The London 2012 sustainability watchdog embroiled in a row over the sportsship of the Olympic Stadium by Dow Chemical is
26、to push the International Olympic Committee to appoint an “ ethics champion“ for future Games. The Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 has been bruised by criticism over Dows sponsorship of the wrap that will surround the Olympic stadium, particularly since commissioner Meredith Alexander last
27、month resigned in protest. Campaigners believe that Dow has ongoing liabilities relating to the 1984 Bhopal disaster that resulted in the deaths of an estimated 20,000 people and the serious injury of tens of thousands more. Dow, which bought the owner of the plant in 2001, insists that all liabilit
28、ies have been settled in full. Commission chairman Shaun McCarthy said that its tight sustainability remit did not extend to acting as moral guardian of the Olympic movement but that it would press for such a role to be created when evaluating sponsors for future Games. In addition to sponsoring the
29、 7m pounds wrap that will surround the Olympic Stadium, Dow has a separate 100m dollars sponsorship deal with the IOC that was signed in 2010. But McCarthy also defended the commissions role in evaluating the Dow deal, after Amnesty International wrote to London 2012 chairman Lord Coe to raise the i
30、ssue. “What has been lost in all of this story is that a really excellent, sustainable product has been procured, we looked at Locogs examination of Dow Chemicals current corporate responsibility policies and, again, Dow achieved that highest score in that evaluation. We verified that. “ said McCart
31、hy. “As far as the history is concerned and issues around Bhopal, there is no doubt Bhopal was a terrible disaster and snore injustice was done to the victims. Who is responsible for that injustice is a matter for the courts and a matter for others. We have a specific remit and terms of reference th
32、at we operate under and we have operated diligently under those terms. “ The commission will on Thursday release its annual review. It finds that “good press“ has been made to wands many of Locogs sustainability target, but that “major challenges“ remain. In particular, the commission found that the
33、re was no coherent strategy to achieve a 20% reduction in carbon emissions after an earlier scheme to use renewable energy feel through when a wind turbine on the site proved impractical. “ We had conversations with Locog over a year ago about this and said they had to demonstrate how they were goin
34、g to achieve at least 20% carbon reductions through energy conservation if theyre not going to do it through renewable energy,“ said McCarthy. “There are some good initiatives, but quite frankly they just havent done it. “ 11 Why was Dows sponsorship criticized according to the passage? （ A） The pro
35、ducts are not sustainable. （ B） It was related to Bhopal disaster. （ C） It bribed the London Olympic committee. （ D） It cant reduce 20% of the carbon emission. 12 What is Paragraph 4 mainly about? （ A） Commissions role （ B） Commissions achievements （ C） Commissions complaints （ D） Commissions defens
36、e 13 Which of the following words can best replace the underlined word “row“(Para. 1)? （ A） line （ B） argument （ C） boating （ D） course 14 What is one of the challenges of the sustainability target mentioned in the passage? （ A） Ethic champion of the games. （ B） Reduction in carbon emissions. （ C） T
37、he wind turbine proved to be impractical. （ D） Renewable energy is not available. 15 Which of the following can best summarize the passage? （ A） Commission defends its own role in evaluating controversial. （ B） Dows way to the 2012 London Olympic Games. （ C） Campaign against Dows sponsorship. （ D） I
38、OCs review on the controversy. 15 As Facebook dominates the news with its initial public offering, activists are seizing the moment to pressure the company to add some estrogen and ethnicity to its white-male board. A womens rights group called Ultraviolet, which has been running an online petition
39、that claims to have attracted more than 50,000 signatures, is escalating its push, posting a new YouTube video called “Do Women Have a Future at Facebook?“. The video shows photos of successful women such as Hillary Clinton getting their heads cropped off the replaced with the smiling face of Facebo
40、ok founder Mark Zuckerberg. “Facebook has grown off the backs of women, who make up the majority of its users and are responsible for the majority of sharing and fan activity on the site,“ the group says in a blurb accompanying the video. An all-male board, the group says, is “not just wrong, its ba
41、d for business“. A related campaign, called Face It, criticizes the lack of ethnic diversity on the seven-member board. “Seven white men: Thats ridiculous,“ the group says on its homepage, along side headshots of the men. The campaign, which lists dozens of human-rights groups and corporate executiv
42、es as supporters, also has its own YouTube video. Called “Face it, Facebook“ , the video cites a recent Zuckerberg letter to investors that says: “ Facebook was not originally created to be a company. It was built to accomplish a social mission to make the world more open and connected. “ That messa
43、ge is at odds with the pale-faced board, activists say. Susan Stautberg, co-chairwoman of Women Corporate Directors, an organization for female corporate board members, says Zuckerbergs thinking is flawed. “ If youre trying to expand a company globally, then you want someone on the board who has bui
44、lt a global brand,“ she says. “Most of these guys on Facebooks board all have the same skillstheyre mostly from Silicon Valley and Washington. You want someone who has worked in China and India and rising markets. You want someone who has marketed to women. When youre putting together a board, you d
45、ont want your best friends, you want the best people. “ Having zero female directors does not appear to be a good business plan, research shows. Companies with women on the board perform substantially better than companies with all-mall boards, according to a 2011 study of Fortune 500 companies cond
46、ucted by the research group Catalyst. The study showed that over the course of four to five years, companies with three or more female board members, on average, outperformed companies with no female board members by 84 percent when it came to return on sales and by 60 percent when it came to return
47、 on invested capital. Facebook may secretly be on the lookout for a female board member, according to a recent Bloomberg report. Citing unnamed sources, Bloomberg said Facebook had enlisted the corporate-recruitment firm Spencer Stuart to help seek some diversity. Spencer Stuary says it does not com
48、ment on clients due to confidentiality agreements. 16 Which of the following descriptions is CORRECT about the Ultraviolet Group? （ A） It is a non-government organization. （ B） It is appealing for “more female roles in big corporations like Facebook“ through the Internet. （ C） It has the support of
49、many female celebrities such as Hillary Clinton. （ D） It is getting more and more support from the society. 17 Which of the following descriptions is INCORRECT about the campaign “Face It“? （ A） It pointed out the irrational composition of Facebooks board of directors. （ B） The campaign has plenty of human-rights supporters. （ C） It indicated the original objective of Zuckerbergs establishment of Facebook. （ D） It is constantly using other media devices to support Facebook. 18 The underlined phrase “at odds
