1、GMAT（ VERBAL）阅读模拟试卷 22及答案与解析 0 The number of women directors appointed to corporate boards in the United States has increased dramatically, but the ratio of female to male directors remains low. Although pressure to recruit women directors, unlike that to employ women in the general work force, does
2、 not derive from legislation, it is nevertheless real. Although small companies were the first to have women directors, large corporations currently have a higher percentage of women on their boards. When the chairs of these large corporations began recruiting women to serve on boards, they initiall
3、y sought women who were chief executive officers(CEOs)of large corporations. However, such women CEO s are still rare. In addition, the ideal of six CEOs(female or male)serving on the board of each of the largest corporations is realizable only if every CEO servas on six boards. This raises the spec
4、ter of director overcommitment and the resultant dilution of contribution. Consequently, the chairs next sought women in business who had the equivalent of CEO experience. However, since it is only recently that large numbers of women have begun to rise in management, the chairs began to re- cruit w
5、omen of high achievement outside the business world. Many such women are well known for their contributions in government, education, and the nonprofit sector. The fact that the women from these sectors who were appointed were often acquaintances of the boards chairs seems quite reasonable: chairs h
6、ave always considered it important for directors to interact comfortably in the board room. Although many successful women from outside the business world are unknown to corporate leaders, these women are particularly qualified to serve on boards because of the changing nature of corporations. Today
7、 a companys ability to be responsive to the concerns of the community and the environment can influence that companys growth and sur- vival. Women are uniquely positioned to be responsive to some of these concerns. Although conditions have changed, it should be remembered that most directors of both
8、 sexes are over fifty years old. Women of that generation were often encouraged to direct their attention toward efforts to improve the community. This fact is reflected in the career development of most of the outstanding- ly successful women of the generation now in their fifties, who currently se
9、rve on corporate boards: 25 percent are in education and 22 percent are in government, law, and the nonprofit sector. One organization of women directors is helping business become more responsive to the changing needs of society by raising the level of corporate awareness about social issues, such
10、as prob- lems with the economy, government regulation, the aging population, and the environment. This organization also serves as a resource center of information on accomplished women who are potential candidates for corporate boards. 1 The author of the passage would be most likely to agree with
11、which of the following statements about achievement of the “ideal“ mentioned in line 18? （ A） It has only recently become a possibility. （ B） It would be easier to meet if more CEO s were women. （ C） It is very close to being a reality for most corporate boards. （ D） It might affect the quality of d
12、irectors service to corporations. （ E） It would be more realizable if CEOs had a more extensive range of business experience. 2 According to the passage, the pressure to appoint women to corporate boards differs from the pressure to employ women in the work force in which of the following ways? （ A）
13、 Corporate boards are under less pressure because they have such a small number of openings. （ B） Corporate boards have received less pressure from stockholders, consumers, and workers within companies to include women on their boards. （ C） Corporate boards have received less pressure from the media
14、 and the public to include women on their boards. （ D） Corporations have only recently been pressured to include women on their boards. （ E） Corporations are not subject to statutory penalty for failing to include women on their boards. 3 All of the following are examples of issues that the organiza
15、tion described in the last paragraph would be likely to advise corporations on EXCEPT （ A） long-term inflation. （ B） health and safety regulations. （ C） retirement and pension programs. （ D） the energy shortage. （ E） how to develop new markets. 4 It can be inferred from the passage that, when seekin
16、g to appoint new members to a corporations board, the chair traditionally looked for candidates who （ A） had legal and governmental experience. （ B） had experience dealing with community affairs. （ C） could work easily with other members of the board. （ D） were already involved in establishing polic
17、y for that corporation. （ E） had influential connections outside the business world. 5 According to the passage, which of the following is true about women outside the business world who are currently serving on corporate boards? （ A） Most do not serve on more than one board. （ B） A large percentage
18、 will eventually work on the staff of corporations. （ C） Most were already known to the chairs of the board to which they were appointed. （ D） A larger percentage are from government and law than are from the nonprofit sector. （ E） Most are less than fifty years old. 6 The passage suggests that corp
19、orations of the past differ from modern corporations in which of the following ways? （ A） Corporations had greater input on government policies affecting the business community. （ B） Corporations were less responsive to the financial needs of their employees. （ C） The ability of a corporation to kee
20、p up with changing markets was not a crucial factor in its success. （ D） A corporations effectiveness in coping with community needs was less likely to affect its growth and prosperity. （ E） Corporations were subject to more stringent government regulations. 7 Which of the following best describes t
21、he organization of the passage? （ A） A problem is described, and then reasons why various proposed solutions succeeded or failed are discussed. （ B） A problem is described, and then an advantage of resolving it is offered. （ C） A problem is described, and then reasons for its continuing existence ar
22、e summarized. （ D） The historical origins of a problem are described, and then various measures that have successfully resolved it are discussed. （ E） The causes of a problem are described, and then its effects are discussed. 8 It can be inferred from the passage that factors making women uniquely v
23、aluable members of modern corporate boards would include which of the following? I . The nature of modern corporations. II. The increased number of women CEOs. III. The careers pursued by women currently available to serve on corporate boards. （ A） I only （ B） II only （ C） III only （ D） I and III on
24、ly （ E） I , II and III 8 Increasingly, historians are blaming diseases imported from the Old World for the staggering disparity between the indigenous population of America in 1492 new estimates of which soar as high as 100 million, or approximately one-sixth of the human race at that time and the f
25、ew million full-blooded Native Americans alive at the end of the nineteenth century. There is no doubt that chronic disease was an important factor in the precipitous decline, and it is highly probable that the greatest killer was epidemic dis- ease, especially as manifested in virgin-soil epidemics
26、. Virgin-soil epidemics are those in which the populations at risk have had no previous contact with the diseases that strike them and are therefore immunologically almost defenselass. That virgin-soil epidemics were important in American history is strongly indicated by evidence that a number of da
27、ngerous maladies small pox, measles, malaria, yellow fever, and undoubtedly several more were unknown in the pre-Columbian New World. The effects of their sudden introduction are demonstrated in the early chronicles of America, which contain reports of horrendous epidemics and steep population decli
28、nes, confirmed in many cases by recent quantitative analyses of Spanish tribute records and other sources. The evidence provided by the documents of British and French colonies is not as definitive because the conquerors of those areas did not establish permanent settlements and begin to keep contin
29、uous records until the seventeenth century, by which time the worst epidemics had probably already taken place. Furthermore, the British tended to drive the native populations away, rather than enslaving them as the Spaniards did, so that the epidemics of British America occurred beyond the range of
30、 colonists direct observation. Even so, the surviving records of North America do contain references to deadly epidemics among the indigenous population. In 1616-1619 an epidemic, possibly of bubonic or pneumonic plague, swept coastal New England, killing as many as nine out of ten. During the 1630
31、s smallpox, the disease most fatal to the Native American people, eliminated half the population of the Huron and Iroquois confederations. In the 1820 s fever devastated the people of the Columbia River area, killing eight out of ten of them. Unfortunately, the documentation of these and other epide
32、mics is slight and frequently unreliable, and it is necessary to supplement what little we do know with evidence from recent epidemics among Native Americans. For example, in 1952 an outbreak of measles among the Native American inhabitants of Ungava Bay. Quebec, af- fected 99 percent of the populat
33、ion and killed 7 percent, even though some had the benefit of modern medicine. Cases such as this demonstrate that even diseases that are not normally fatal can have devastating consequences when they strike an immunologically defenseless community. 9 The primary purpose of the passage is to （ A） re
34、fute a common misconception. （ B） provide support for a hypothesis. （ C） analyze an argument. （ D） suggest a solution to a dilemma. （ E） reconcile opposing viewpoints. 10 According to the passage, virgin-soil epidemics can be distinguished from other catastrophic outbreaks of disease in that virgin-
35、soil epidemics （ A） recur more frequently than other chronic diseases. （ B） affect a minimum of one-half of a given population. （ C） involve populations with no prior exposure to a disease. （ D） usually involve a number of interacting diseases. （ E） are less responsive to medical treatment than are
36、other diseases. 11 According to the passage, the British colonists were unlike the Spanish colonists in that the British colonists （ A） collected tribute from the native population. （ B） kept records from a very early date. （ C） drove Native Americans off the land. （ D） were unable to provide medica
37、l care against epidemic disease. （ E） enslaved the native populations in America. 12 Which of the following can be inferred from the passage concerning Spanish tribute records? （ A） They mention only epidemics of smallpox. （ B） They were instituted in 1492. （ C） They were being kept prior to the sev
38、enteenth century. （ D） They provide quantitative and qualitative evidence about Native American populations. （ E） They prove that certain diseases were unknown in the pre-Columbian New World. 13 The author implies which of the following about measles? （ A） It is not usually a fatal disease. （ B） It
39、ceased to be a problem by the seventeenth century. （ C） It is the disease most commonly involved in virgin-soil epidemics. （ D） It was not a significant problem in Spanish colonies. （ E） It affects only those who are immunologically defenseless against it. 14 Which of the following can be inferred f
40、rom the passage about the Native American inhabitants of Ungava Bay? （ A） They were almost all killed by the 1952 epidemic. （ B） They were immunologically defenseless against measles. （ C） They were the last native people to be struck by a virgin-soil epidemic. （ D） They did not come into frequent c
41、ontact with white Americans until the twentieth century. （ E） They had been inoculated against measles. 15 The author mentions the 1952 measles outbreak most probably in order to （ A） demonstrate the impact of modern medicine on epidemic disease. （ B） corroborate the documentary evidence of epidemic
42、 disease in colonial America. （ C） refute the allegations of unreliability made against the historical record of colonial America. （ D） advocate new research into the continuing problem of epidemic disease. （ E） challenge assumptions about how the statistical evidence of epidemics should be interpre
43、ted. 16 Which of the following, if newly discovered, would most seriously weaken the authors argument concerning the importance of virgin-soil epidemics in the depopulation of Native Americans? （ A） Evidence setting the pre-Columbian population of the New World at only 80 million. （ B） Spanish tribu
44、te records showing periodic population fluctuations. （ C） Documents detailing sophisticated Native American medical procedures. （ D） Fossils indicating Native American contact with smallpox prior to 1492. （ E） Remains of French settlements dating back to the sixteenth century. 16 Until recently most
45、 astronomers believed that the space between the galaxies in our universe was a near perfect vacuum. This orthodox view of the universe is now being challenged by astronomers who believe that a heavy “rain“ of gas is falling into many galaxies from the supposedly empty space around them. The gas app
46、arently con- denses into a collection of small stars, each a little larger than the planet Jupiter. These stars vastly outnumber the other stars in a given galaxy. The amount of “ intergalactic rainfall“ into some of these galaxies has been enough to double their mass in the time since they formed.
47、Scientists have begun to suspect that this intergalactic gas is probably a mixture of gases left over from the “big bang“ when the galaxies were formed and gas was forced out of galaxies by supernova explosions. It is well known that when gas is cooled at a constant pressure its volume decreases. Th
48、us, the physicist Fabian reasoned that as intergalactic gas cools, the cooler gas shrinks inward toward the center of the galaxy. Meanwhile its place is taken by hotter intergalactic gas from farther out on the edge of the galaxy, which cools as it is compressed and flows into the galaxy. The net re
49、sult is a continuous flow of gas, starting as hot gases in inter galactic space and ending as a drizzle of cool gas called a “cooling flow,“ falling into the central galaxy. A fairly heretical idea in the 1970s, the cooling-flow theory gained sup- port when Fabian observed a cluster of galaxies in the constellation Perseus and found the central galaxy, NGC 1275, to be a strange-looking object with irregular, thin strands of gas radiating from it. According to previous speculation, these strands were gases that had been blown out by an explosion in the galaxy. Fabian,
