1、大学英语四级改革适用（阅读）模拟试卷 122及答案与解析 Section A 0 Several years ago, I learned that a physician in a town not too far from where I was practicing had committed suicide. Neither I nor my hospital colleagues knew him, but【 C1】 _to the story we heard, he was the father of young children, was respected by doctor
2、s and【 C2】 _alike and had struggled privately with mental illness since medical school. But it was not the details of his life that haunted us; it was the details of his【 C3】_. He had locked himself in a room in the hospital, placed a large needle in his vein and【 C4】 _himself with a drug that so ef
3、fectively paralyzed his muscles he was unable to breathe or call for help. For days afterward, the doctors death came up【 C5】 _in conversations. We talked about the grief his family must have been experiencing and speculated(猜测 )on the extent of depression he must have experienced, but we dared not
4、speak of, let alone imagine, the【 C6】 _of his final moments. Always, we ended up asking one another the same question: How could a doctor who most likely knew about what he was suffering from and about the treatments availablenever【 C7】 _help? For several decades now, studies have consistently shown
5、 that physicians have higher rates of suicide than the【 C8】 _population. While research has【 C9】 _the beginning of this tragic difference to the years spent in medical school, the【 C10】_factors remain uncertain. A)according F)enduring K)recognized B)contributing G)general L)repeatedly C)correspondin
6、g H)injected M)seek D)death I)patients N)suffering E)decision J)rarely O)traced 1 【 C1】 2 【 C2】 3 【 C3】 4 【 C4】 5 【 C5】 6 【 C6】 7 【 C7】 8 【 C8】 9 【 C9】 10 【 C10】 Section B 10 The New Business Models A)Most emerging countries are fond of highly diversified companies. Indias Tata Group, which accounts
7、 for almost 6% of the countrys GDP, has subsidiaries in car making, agricultural chemicals, hotels, telecommunications and consulting. But such diversification is not confined to giant organizations. Many emerging countries also rely heavily on state-owned enterprises. They are neither the old natio
8、nalized companies run by the government and designed to control a large part of the national economy, nor the classic private-sector companies that sink or swim. Instead they are two sided creatures that shift between sea and land, borrowing money from governments at subsidized rates one moment, plu
9、nging into the global market the next. B)Hybrid(混合体 )organizations are particularly prominent in the energy sector. The worlds 13 largest oil companies, as measured by reserves, are all controlled by governments, and three-quarters of the worlds crude-oil reserves are in the hands of state-owned com
10、panies. Many of high-tech companies are also state-backed. But such organizations are active in lots of other areas, too. Like the developing worlds private giants, they are often diversified. C)In their different ways both of these corporate forms are creative responses to their circumstances. Dive
11、rsified companies can adapt to environments rife with political and financial risks. Tarun Khanna, of the Harvard Business School, argues that they are also good at dealing with shortages of vital resources such as capital and talent. The Tata Group can use capital from established businesses to sup
12、port growth in new ones, and has the resources to attract and train the best people. It can also use its brand name to sell all sorts of products. Indians who have grown up enjoying Tata tea might be more inclined to buy the latest Tata electric car. D)State-owned companies also draw on long traditi
13、ons. Authoritarian governments can use them to direct economic activity(and also to preserve their economic power). Local entrepreneurs can use them to seize business opportunities. And even Western multinationals can use them to gain access to difficult markets. E)How are these companies likely to
14、fare as they compete in a global marketplace? Most Westerners have little time for diversified companies; they expect a “discount“ when they buy such shares on the stock market, and regard them as a primitive corporate form that will tend to disappear as local stock markets improve and investors rat
15、her than companies get to do the diversifying. But the inefficiency of capital markets is only one of the reasons for diversification. Two of the others talent shortages and brand-building are likely to be around for a long time yet. Conglomerates(大型联合企业 )may have an enduring advantage in attracting
16、 and training talent in rapidly growing markets, and in building brands in regions where brand recognition is low and potential consumers are numbered in their billions rather than millions. F)The case for state-owned companies is not so good. Hybrid companies are inherently confused organizations:
17、unclear whether they are responsible to the state or the marketplace, and beaten by contradictory pressures. They are subject to political meddling(干预 ), often called upon to save “strategic“ jobs and regularly used to oil the state patronage machine. Outsiders often find it hard to know whether to
18、treat them as a business or an arm of government. And the OECD says that state-owned enterprises have significantly lower levels of productivity than private firms. G)It would be foolish for Western companies to dismiss these new corporate life forms as evolutionary dead ends, but there is little sc
19、ope for emulating them. The same is not true of many of the business models that the emerging world has come up with. They are not only important innovations in their own right but have serious implications for the way that Western companies run their affairs. H)Three of them are particularly powerf
20、ul. The first concerns rethinking economies of scale, which usually involves scaling up. Companies reduce unit costs by centralizing their manufacturing and producing long runs of standardized items. But centralized production adds expensive layers of bureaucracy, and it is hard to make it work in e
21、merging markets where populations are often widely scattered and distribution systems abysmal. I)The Boston Consulting Group notes that a growing number of entrepreneurs in the emerging world are replacing scaling up with scaling out, which means involving a wider range of people in the process of p
22、roduction and distribution, something that has been made much easier by mobile phones and the Internet. The most successful examples of this are clinics on wheels, but there are plenty of others. Nutriset, a French manufacturer of fortified food for malnourished children, has outsourced production t
23、o local franchises in Africa. The company maintains quality control and the franchises are close enough to the children to make distribution quick and easy. J)A second business model takes an equally opposite approach to production. John Hagel and John Seely Brown, who run Deloittes Centre for Edge
24、Innovation, argue that Western companies have spent the past century perfecting “push“ models of production that allocate resources to areas of expected demand. But in emerging markets, particularly those where the Chinese have a strong influence, a very different “pull“ model often prevails, design
25、ed to help companies mobilize resources when the need arises. K)These pull models fundamentally change the nature of companies. Instead of fixed armies looking for opportunities, firms become loose networks that are forever reconfiguring themselves in response to a rapidly shifting landscape. Such m
26、odels are not peculiar to emerging markets: Dell builds computers to its Western customers specifications, and Western management gurus have been advocating networks for decades. But according to Messrs Hagel and Seely Brown they are far more widespread in emerging countries. L)The developing worlds
27、 most innovative business model may be the application of mass-production techniques to sophisticated services. This started with Indias outsourcing firms, which demonstrated that economies of scale and scope could be reaped from services that used to be highly fragmented and geographically rooted.
28、These outsourcers are still expanding and moving up market. Indian consultancies are now challenging Western ones in complex services, not just dealing with customer complaints. M)Emerging-market entrepreneurs want these techniques beyond IT and the back office. For example, they see a huge market f
29、or legal services requiring a high level of expertise. Dr. Shetty is only one of many Indians who are applying Henry Fords principles to health care. LifeSpring has reduced the cost of giving birth in a private hospital to $ 40 by looking after many more mothers. 11 The example of Tata tea implies t
30、hat a company can use its brand name to sell other products. 12 The second business model refers to the “pull“ model of production. 13 Three-quarters of the worlds crude-oil reserves are controlled by state-owned companies. 14 The state-owned enterprises borrow money from governments at low rates. 1
31、5 Indian consultancies are now not only handling customer complaints but also competing with Western ones in complex services. 16 Many emerging countries are in favour of highly diversified companies and state-owned ones. 17 In their different ways, both the state-owned corporate form and diversifie
32、d one are creative responses to their circumstances. 18 By producing long runs of standardized items, companies can cut unit costs. 19 The most innovative business model in developing countries may be applying mass-production techniques to sophisticated services. 20 State-owned enterprises have lowe
33、r productivity than private ones because they are confused about their roles. Section C 20 Scientists have been interested for years in the observation that ratios of finger lengths differ in men and women. In men, the ring(fourth)finger is usually longer than the index(second); their so-called 2D :
34、 4D ratio is lower than 1. In females, the two fingers are more likely to be the same length. Because of this sex difference, some scientists believe that a low ratio could be a marker for higher prenatal hormone(激素 )levels, although its not clear how the hormone might influence finger development.
35、The 2D:4D ratio has also been fingered in connection with brain-related characteristics most often in males such as depression, left-handedness, musical ability, and homosexuality. In the latest such study, psychologist Mark Brosnan and colleagues at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom phot
36、ocopied the hands of 74 boys and girls aged 6 and 7. They compared the measurements of the second and fourth fingers with the childrens scores on a standard UK test of math and literacy. In boys, the lower the ratio, the better their math scores, the team reports in the May issue of the British Jour
37、nal of Psychology. The boys with the lowest ratios also were the ones whose abilities were most skewed in the direction of math rather than literacy. These differences are small but significant, says Brosnan. With the girls, there was no correlation between finger ratio and numeracy, but those with
38、higher ratios presumably indicating low hormone levels had better scores on verbal abilities. These sex-specific correlations show how tricky it is to define the roles of sex hormones, says psychologist S. Marc Breedlove of Michigan State University in East Lansing. The range of normal levels of the
39、 hormone is different in males and females, so comparable levels would have very different meanings depending on the sex of the individual. And the timing of hormone surges is as important as the levels. Nonetheless, Brosnan believes finger measurements might be useful for predicting cognitive abili
40、ties although he acknowledges that “we are not suggesting that finger length measurements could replace SAT tests.“ Others are more cautious, pointing out that scientists still have not confirmed that finger ratio is a reliable marker for prenatal hormone levels. 21 What can we learn from the first
41、paragraph? （ A） Different kinds of people have the same finger ratios. （ B） Many women have different kinds of fingers. （ C） In males, the ring finger and the index one are the same length. （ D） The ratios of finger lengths are different in men and women. 22 What can we infer from Brosnans research?
42、 （ A） They just measured the length of the second and fourth fingers. （ B） In girls, the lower the ratio, the better their math scores. （ C） There was no relation between finger ratio and numeracy. （ D） With the boys, there was a connection between finger ratio and numeracy. 23 What is the authors a
43、ttitude to Brosnans research? （ A） Supportive. （ B） Positive. （ C） Neutral. （ D） Indifferent. 24 According to the last paragraph, _. （ A） all researchers support Brosnans thoughts （ B） all researchers confirm that finger ratio is a reliable marker （ C） many people believe finger length measurements
44、could replace SAT tests （ D） many people think the result of this research should be proven by further experiments 25 Whats the main idea of this passage? （ A） Finger ratio is critical to peoples future. （ B） Finger length measurements may be useful. （ C） Finger length is related to childrens scores
45、. （ D） Finger ratio may be a reliable maker for prenatal hormone levels. 25 The most noticeable trend among todays media companies is vertical integration an attempt to control several related aspects of the media business at once, each part helping the other. Besides publishing magazines and books,
46、 Time Warner, for example, owns Home Box Office(HBO), Warner movie studios, various cable TV systems throughout the United States and CNN as well. The Japanese company Matsushita owns MCA Records and Universal Studios and manufactures broadcast production equipment. To describe the financial status
47、of todays media is also to talk about acquisitions. The media are buying and selling each other in unprecedented(空前的 )numbers and forming media groups to position themselves in the marketplace to maintain and increase their profits. In 1986, the first time a broadcast network had been sold, two netw
48、orks were sold that year ABC and NBC. Media acquisitions have skyrocketed(飙升 )since 1980 for two reasons. The first is that most big corporations today are publicly traded companies, which means that their stock is traded on one of the nations stock exchanges. This makes acquisitions relatively easy
49、. A media company that wants to buy a publicly owned company can buy that companys stock when the stock becomes available. The open availability of stock in these companies means that anybody with enough money can invest in the American media industries, which is exactly how Rupert Murdoch joined the media business. The second reason for the increase in media alliances is that beginning in 1980, the Federal Communications Commission(FCC)gradually deregulated the broadcast media. Before 1
