1、同济大学考博英语模拟试卷 1及答案与解析 一、 Reading Comprehension 0 The study of social science is more than the study of the individual social sciences. Although it is true that to be a good social scientist you must know each of those components, you must also know how they interrelate. By specializing too early, man
2、y social scientists can lose sight of the interrelationships that are so essential to understanding modern problems. Thats why it is necessary to have a course covering all the social sciences. In fact, it would not surprise me if one day a news story such as the one above should appear. The precedi
3、ng passage placed you in the future. To understand how and when social science broke up, you must go into the past. Imagine for a moment that youre a student in 1062, in the Italian city of Bologna, site of one of the first major universities in the western world. The university has no buildings. It
4、 consists merely of a few professors and students. There is no tuition fee. At the end of a professors lecture, if you like it, you pay. And if you dont like it, the professor finds himself without students and without money. If we go back still earlier, say to Greece in the sixth century B. C., we
5、can see the philosopher Socrates walking around the streets of Athens, arguing with his companions. He asks them questions, and then other questions, leading these people to reason the way he wants them to reason (this became known as the Socratic method). Times have changed since then; universities
6、 sprang up throughout the world and created colleges within the universities. Oxford, one of the first universities, now has thirty colleges associated with it, and the development and formalization of educational institutions has changed the roles of both students and faculty. As knowledge accumula
7、ted, it became more and more difficult for one person to learn, let alone retain it all. In the sixteenth century one could still aspire to know all there was to know, and the definition of the Renaissance man (people were even more sexist then than they are now) was of one who was expected to know
8、about everything. Unfortunately, at least for someone who wants to know everything, the amount of information continues to grow exponentially while the size of the brain has grown only slightly. The way to deal with the problem is not to try to know everything about everything. Today we must special
9、ize. That is why social science separated from the natural sciences and why it, in turn, has been broken down into various subfields, such as anthropology and sociology. 1 What is the main idea of this text? （ A） Social science is unified. （ B） Social science is a newborn science. （ C） What is socia
10、l science. （ D） Specialization in social science is not good. 2 What can we learn from the second paragraph? （ A） Socrates can be regarded as the first social scientist in the western world. （ B） The universities in Italy have no buildings. （ C） Socrates created the “Socratic method“. （ D） Greece is
11、 not as civilized as Italy. 3 Why does the author say “people were even more sexist then than they are now“? （ A） Because they are so covetous that they want to know all there was to know. （ B） Because it is the Renaissance “Man“, not Renaissance “Woman“ or “human“. （ C） Because no woman was formall
12、y educated at that time. （ D） Because all Renaissance men were men. 4 What does the underlined word “exponentially“ mean in the first sentence of the last paragraph? （ A） Promisingly. （ B） Continuously. （ C） Drastically. （ D） Rapidly. 5 We can infer from the text that_. （ A） social science is a unit
13、ed science, and cannot be divided into subfields （ B） social science may be further divided into smaller parts as the amount of knowledge and information expanding （ C） there may be a Renaissance Man in the future （ D） the best way to deal with the expansion of information is to know everything 5 To
14、 what extent are the unemployed failing in their duty to society to work, and how far has the State an obligation to ensure that they have work to do? It is by now increasingly recognized that workers may be thrown out of work by industrial forces beyond their control, and that the unemployed are in
15、 some sense paying the price of the economic progress of the rest of the community. But concern with unemployment and the unemployed varies sharply. The issues of duty and responsibility were reopened and revitalized by the unemployment scare of 1971-1972. Rising unemployment and increased sums paid
16、 out in benefits to the workless had reawakened controversies which had been inactive during most of the period of fuller employment since the war ended the Depression. It looked as though in future there would again be too little work to go round, so there were arguments about how to produce more w
17、ork, how the available work should be shared out, and who was responsible for unemployment and the unemployed. In 1972 there were critics who said that the States action in allowing unemployment to rise was a faithless act, a breaking of the social contract between society and the worker. Yet in the
18、 main any contribution by employers to unemployment such as lying off workers in order to introduce technological changes and maximize profits tended to be ignored. And it was the unemployed who were accused of failing to honor the social contract, by not fulfilling their duty to society to work. In
19、 spite of general concern at the scale to the unemployment statistics, when the unemployed were considered as individuals, they tended to attract scorn and threats of punishment. Their capacities and motivation as workers and their value as members of society became suspect. Of all the myths of the
20、Welfare State, stories of the work shy and borrowers have been the least well founded on evidence, yet they have proved the most persistent. The unemployed were accused of being responsible for their own workless condition, and doubts were expressed about the States obligation either to provide them
21、 with the security of work or to support them through Social Security. Underlying the arguments about unemployment and the unemployed is a basic disagreement about the nature and meaning of work in society. To what extent can or should work be regarded as a service, not only performed by the worker
22、for society but also made secure for the worker by the State, and supported if necessary? And apart from cash are there social pressures and satisfactions which cause individuals to seek and keep work, so that the workless need work rather than just cash? 6 It is the authors belief that_. （ A） unemp
23、loyment must lead to inevitable depression of national economy （ B） the unemployed are the victims of economical and social development （ C） unemployment should be kept under the control of industrial forces （ D） the unemployed are not entitled to share the benefits from technological progress 7 Wha
24、t the author proposes to examine is_. （ A） how far the unemployed are to blame for their failure in working and how far it is the States fault （ B） to what extent the State should insist on the unemployed working if they fail to do so （ C） whether being at work is a social duty which the State shoul
25、d ensure everybody carries out （ D） whether work should be obligatory, and if so, whether the State or the individual is responsible for enforced obligation 8 The effect of the 1971-1972 unemployment scare was to_. （ A） make people think for the first time about the problem of the availability of wo
26、rk （ B） make concern for unemployment and the unemployed vary （ C） make the subject of unemployment controversial again （ D） show that there would in future be too little work to go round 9 According to the author, in the 1971-1972 crisis_. （ A） the State and the employers were equally to blame for
27、allowing unemployment to rise （ B） the unemployed did not fulfill their social duty to find jobs （ C） the role played by the employers in creating unemployment was not recognized （ D） the state was guilty of breaking the social contract by letting unemployment increase 10 The basic disagreement abou
28、t the nature and meaning of work in society rests on the problem of whether or not_. （ A） the unemployed ought to be supported by society as a whole （ B） the state should recognize that people work for more than just money （ C） it is a service to provide people with work rather than cash （ D） the st
29、ates duty to provide work is as great as the individuals duty to work 10 Successful business tends to continue implementing the ideas that made them successful. But in a rapidly changing world, ideas often become obsolete overnight. What worked in the past wont necessarily work in the future. In ord
30、er to thrive in the future, you must constantly create new ideas for every aspect of your business. In fact, you must continually generate new ideas just to keep your head above water. Businesses that arent creative about their future may not survive. Although Bill Gates is the richest, most success
31、ful man on the planet, he did not anticipate the Internet. Now hes scrambling to catch up. If Bill Gates can miss a major aspect of his industry, it can happen to you in your industry. Your business needs to continually innovate and create its future. Gates is now constantly worried about the future
32、 of Microsoft. Heres what he said in a recent interview in U.S. News World Report: “Will we be replaced tomorrow? No. In a very short time frame, Microsoft is an incredibly strong company. But when you look to the two to three-year time frame, I dont think anyone can say with a straight face that an
33、y technology company has a guaranteed position. Not Intel, not Microsoft, not Compaq, not Dell, take any of your favorites. And thats totally honest.“ You may remember that in 1985 the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls were the best-selling toy on the market. But after Coleco Industries introduced their sens
34、ational line of dolls they became complacent and didnt create any new toys worth mentioning. As a result, Coleco went bankrupt in 1988. The most successful businesses survive in the long term because they constantly reassess their situations and reinvest themselves accordingly. The 3M Company has a
35、15% rule: Employees are encouraged to spend 15% of their time developing new ideas on any project they desire. Its no surprise, then, that 3M has been around since 1902. Most businesses are not willing to tear apart last years model of success and build a new one. Heres a familiar analogy to explain
36、 why they are lulled into complacency; imagine that your business is like a pot of lobsters. To cook lobsters, you put them into a pot of warm water and gradually turn up the heat. The lobsters dont realize theyre being cooked because the process is so gradual. As a result, they become complacent an
37、d die without a struggle. However, if you throw a lobster into the pot when the water is boiling, it will desperately try to escape. This lobster is not lulled by a slowly changing environment. It realizes instantly that its in a bad environment and takes immediate action to change its status. 11 Ju
38、dging from the context, “to keep your head above water“ (Para. 1) probably means_. （ A） to be drown （ B） to keep out of financial difficulty （ C） to keep away from danger （ D） to protect you from water 12 Why is Gates now constantly worried about the future of Microsoft? （ A） Because he is the riche
39、st, most successful man on the planet. （ B） Because his company will be replaced tomorrow. （ C） Because in a very short time frame, Microsoft is an incredibly strong company. （ D） Because he doesnt think that any technology company has a guaranteed position. 13 Coleco Industries case suggests that_.
40、 （ A） the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls were the best selling toy on the market （ B） the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls are sensational line of dolls （ C） complacency and lack of creation will ultimately ruin a business （ D） the most successful businesses survive in the long term 14 According to this passage,
41、the 3M Companys success lies in its （ A） constant reassessment of their situations （ B） reinvention （ C） 15% rule （ D） being around since 1902 15 By using the analogy of “throwing a lobster into a pot“, the author tries to imply that_. （ A） some managers are really foolish people （ B） its cruel to c
42、ook lobsters （ C） people are tend to become complacent （ D） bad environment calls for immediate action 15 The study of philosophies should make our own ideas flexible. We are all of us apt to take certain general ideas for granted, and call them common sense. We should learn that other people have h
43、eld quite different ideas, and that our own have started as very original guesses of philosophers. A scientist is apt to think that all the problems of philosophy will ultimately be solved by science. I think this is true for a great many of the questions on which philosophers still argue. For examp
44、le, Plato thought that when we saw something, one ray of light came to it from the sun, and another from our eyes and that seeing was something like feeling with a stick. We now know that the light comes from the sun, and is reflected into our eyes. We dont know in much detail how the changes in our
45、 eyes give rise to sensation. But there is every reason to think that as we learn more about the physiology of the brain, we shall do so, and that the great philosophical problems about knowledge are going to be pretty fully cleared up. But if our descendants know the answers to these questions and
46、others that perplex us today, there will still be one field of which they do not know, namely the future. However exact our science; we cannot know it as we know the past. Philosophy may be described as argument about things of which we are ignorant. And where science gives us a hope of knowledge it
47、 is often reasonable to suspend judgment. That is one reason why Marx and Engels quite rightly wrote to many philosophical problems that interested their contemporaries. But we have got to prepare for the future, and we cannot do so rationally without some philosophy. Some people say we have only go
48、t to do the duties revealed in the past and laid down by religion, and god will look after the future. Others say that the world is a machine and the course of future events is certain, whatever efforts we may make. Marxists say that the future depends on ourselves, even though we are part of the hi
49、storical process. This philosophical view certainly does inspire people to very great achievements. Whether it is true or not, it is powerful guide to action. We need a philosophy, then, to help us to tackle the future. Agnosticism easily becomes an excuse for laziness and conservatism. Whether we adopt Marxism or any other philosophy, we cannot understand it without knowing something of how it developed. That is why knowledge of the history of philosophy is important to Marxists, even during the present critical
