1、考博英语模拟试卷 137及答案与解析 一、 Reading Comprehension 0 No one can be a great thinker who does not realize that as a thinker it is his first duty to follow his intellect to whatever conclusions it may lead. Truth gains more even by the errors of one who, with due study and preparation, thinks for himself, tha
2、n by the true opinions of those who only hold them because they do not suffer themselves to think. Not that it is solely, or chiefly, to form great thinkers that freedom of thinking is required. On the contrary, it is as much or even more indispensable to enable average human beings to attain the me
3、ntal stature which they are capable of. There have been, and may again be, great individual thinkers in a general atmosphere of mental slavery. But there never has been, nor ever will be, in that atmosphere an intellectually active people. Where any people has made a temporary approach to such a cha
4、racter, it has been because the dread of heterodox speculation was for a time suspended. Where there is a tacit convention that principles are not to be disputed; where the discussion of the greatest questions which can occupy humanity is considered to be closed, we cannot hope to find that generall
5、y high scale of mental activity which has made some periods of history so remarkable. Never when controversy avoided the subjects which are large and important enough to kindle enthusiasm was the mind of a people stirred up from its foundations and the impulse given which raised even persons of the
6、most ordinary intellect to something of the dignity of thinking beings. He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side; if he does not so mu
7、ch as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion. The rational position for him would be suspension of judgment, and unless he contents himself with that, he is either led by authority, or adopts, like the generality of the world, the side to which he feels the most inclinati
8、on. Nor is it enough that he should hear the arguments of adversaries from his own teachers, presented as they state them, and accompanied by what they offer as refutations. That is not the way to do justice to the arguments, or bring them into real contact with his own mind. He must be able to hear
9、 them from persons who actually believe them; who defend them in earnest, and do their very utmost for them. He must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form: he must feel the whole force of the difficulty which the true view of the subject has to encounter and dispose of; else he will
10、never really possess himself of the portion of truth which meets and removes that difficulty. Ninety-nine in a hundred of what are called educated men are in this condition; even of those who can argue fluently for their opinions. Their conclusion may be true, but it might be false for anything they
11、 know: they have never thrown themselves into the mental position of those who think differently from them and considered what such persons may have to say; and consequently they do not, in any proper sense of the word, know the doctrines which they themselves profess. They do not know those parts o
12、f it which explain and justify the remainder; the considerations which show that a fact which seemingly conflicts with another is reconcilable with it, or that, of two apparently strong reasons, one and not the other ought to be preferred. 1 According to the author, it is always advisable to _. （ A）
13、 have opinions which cannot be refuted （ B） adopt the point of view to which he feels the most inclination （ C） be acquainted with the arguments favoring the point of view with which he disagrees （ D） suspend heterodox speculation 2 The best title for this passage is _. （ A） The Age of Reason （ B） T
14、he Need for Independent Thinking （ C） The Value of Refutation （ D） How People Think 3 According to the author, in a great period such as the Renaissance we may expect to find _. （ A） acceptance of truth （ B） enthusiasm （ C） controversy over principles （ D） a dread of heterodox speculation 4 Accordin
15、g to the author, which of the following statements is true? （ A） Most educated people study both sides of a question. （ B） Heterodox speculation will lead to many errors in thinking. （ C） The vast majority of people who argue fluently are acquainted with only one side of an issue. （ D） It is wise to
16、 get both sides of a debatable issue from ones teachers. 4 The explosion of a star is an awesome event. The most violent of these cataclysms, which produce supernovae, probably destroys a star completely. Within our galaxy of roughly 100 billion stars the last supernova was observed in 1604. Much sm
17、aller explosions, however, occur quite frequently, giving rise to what astronomers call novae and dwarf novae. On the order of 25 novae occur in our galaxy every year, but only two or three are near enough to be observed. About 100 dwarf novae are known altogether. If the exploding star is in a near
18、by part of the galaxy, it may create a “new star“ that was not previously visible to the naked eye. The last new star of this sort that could be observed clearly from the Northern Hemisphere appeared in 1946. In these smaller explosions the star loses only a minute fraction of its mass and survives
19、to explode again. Astrophysicists are fairly well satisfied that they can account for the explosions of supernovae. The novae and dwarf novae have presented more of a puzzle. I shall describe recent investigations that have provided important new information about these two classes of exploding star
20、. The picture that emerges is quite astonishing. It appears that every dwarf nova-and perhaps every nova-is a member of a pair of stars. The two stars are so close together that they revolve around a point that lies barely outside the surface of the larger star. As a result the period of rotation is
21、 usually only a few hours and their velocities range upward to within a two-hundredth the speed of light, Astronomers use the term “cataclysmic variable“ to embrace the three general classes of exploding star: dwarf novae, novae, and supernovae. A cataclysmic variable is defined as a star that sudde
22、nly and unpredictably increases in brightness by a factor of at least 10. Dwarf novae are stars that increase in brightness by factor of 10 to 100 within a period of several hours and decline to their former brightness in two or three days. In this period they emit some 1038 to 1039 ergs of energy.
23、At maximum brilliance a dwarf nova shines about as intensely as our sun, previously it had been only about a hundredth as bright. The number of outbursts ranges anywhere from 3 to 30 a year, but for any one star the intervals have a fairly constant value. Moreover, the maximum bright ness from outbu
24、rst to outburst is the same within a factor of two for a given star. The dwarf novae are often referred to, after their prototypes, as U Geminornm or SS Cygni stars. (The stars of each constellation are designated by letters or numbers.) A subgroup of dwarf novae, called Z Camelopardalis stars, do n
25、ot always descend to minimum bright ness between outbursts but may stay at some intermediate level for several months. 5 The title below that best expresses the main idea of this passage is _. （ A） Cataclysmic Variables （ B） Miracles in the Skies （ C） Exploding Stars （ D） New Stars 6 The explosion o
26、f a supernova _. （ A） occurs about 25 times a year （ B） last occurred in 1946 （ C） results in a new star （ D） last was seen in 1604 7 The reason why dwarf novae explode is _. （ A） not known （ B） a cataclysmic variable （ C） that they are twin stars （ D） that they lose a small part of their mass 8 It
27、is likely that in the paragraph that follows this passage the author will discuss _. （ A） the characteristics of the explosion of a nova （ B） supernovae （ C） our sun as a dwarf nova （ D） how the twin stars revolve 8 Yet the difference in tone and language must strike us, so soon as it is philosophy
28、that speaks: that change should remind us that even if the function of religion and that of reason coincide, this function is performed in the two cases by very different organs. Religions are many, reason one. Religion consists of conscious ideas, hopes, enthusiasms, and objects of worship; it oper
29、ates by grace and flourishes by prayer. Reason, on the other hand, is a mere principle or potential order, on which indeed we may come to reflect but which exists in us ideally only, without variation or stress of any kind. We conform or do not conform to it; it does not urge or chide us, nor call f
30、or any emotions on our part other than those naturally aroused by the various objects which it unfolds in their true nature and proportion. Religion brings some order into life by weighting it with new materials. Reason adds to the natural materials only the perfect order which it introduces into th
31、em. Rationality is nothing but a form, an ideal constitution which experience may more or less embody. Religion is a part of experience itself, a mass of sentiments and ideas. The one is an inviolate principle, the other a changing and struggling force. And yet this struggling and changing force of
32、religion seems to direct man toward something eternal. It seems to make for an ultimate harmony within the soul and for an ultimate harmony between the soul and all that the soul depends upon. Religion, in its intent, is a more conscious and direct pursuit of the Life of Reason than is society, scie
33、nce, or art, for these approach and fill out the ideal life tentatively and piecemeal, hardly regarding the goal or caring for the ultimate justification of the instinctive aims. Religion also has an instinctive and blind side and bubbles up in all manner of chance practices and intuitions; soon, ho
34、wever, it feels its way toward the heart of things, and from whatever quarter it may come, veers in the direction of the ultimate. Nevertheless, we must confess that this religious pursuit of the Life of Reason has been singularly abortive. Those within file pale of each religion may prevail upon th
35、emselves to express satisfaction with its results, thanks to a fond partiality in reading the past and generous draughts of hope for the future; but any one regarding the various religions at once and comparing their achievements with what reason requires, must feel how terrible is the disappointmen
36、t which they have one and all prepared for mankind. Their chief anxiety has been to offer imaginary remedies for mortal ills, some of which are incurable essentially, while others might have been really cured by well-directed effort. The Greek oracles, for instance, pretended to heal our natural ign
37、orance, which has its appropriate though difficult cure, while the Christian vision of heaven pretended to be an antidote to our natural death-the inevitable correlate of birth and of a changing and conditioned existence. By methods of this sort little can be done for the real betterment of life. To
38、 confuse intelligence and dislocate sentiment by gratuitous fictions is a short-sighted way of pursuing happiness. Nature is soon avenged. An unhealthy exaltation and a one-sided morality have to be followed by regrettable reactions. When these come, the real rewards of life may seem vain to a relax
39、ed vitality, and the very name of virtue may irritate young spirits untrained in any natural excellence. Thus religion too often debauches the morality it comes to sanction and impedes the science it ought to fulfill. What is the secret of this ineptitude? Why does religion, so near to rationality i
40、n its purpose, fall so short of it in its texture and in its results? The answer is easy: religion pursues rationality through the imagination. When it explains events or assigns causes, it is an imaginative substitute for science. When it gives precepts, insinuates ideals, or remolds aspiration, it
41、 is an imaginative substitute for wisdom-I mean for the deliberate and impartial pursuit of all good. The condition and the aims of life are both represented in religion poetically, but this poetry tends to arrogate to itself literal truth and moral authority, neither of which it possesses. Hence th
42、e depth and importance of religion becomes intelligible no less than its contradictions and practical disasters. Its object is the same as that of reason, but its method is to proceed by intuition and by unchecked poetical conceits. 9 As used in the passage, the author would define wisdom as _. （ A）
43、 the pursuit of rationality through imagination （ B） an unemotional search for the truth （ C） a purposeful and unbiased quest for that which is best （ D） a short-sighted way of pursuing happiness 10 Which of the following statements is not true, according to the author? （ A） Religion seeks the truth
44、 through imagination; reason, in its search, utilizes the emotions. （ B） Religion has proved an ineffective tool in solving mans problems. （ C） Science seeks a piecemeal solution to mans questions. （ D） The functions of philosophy and reason are the same. 11 According to the author, science differs
45、from religion in that _. （ A） it is unaware of ultimate goals （ B） it is unimaginative （ C） its findings are exact and final （ D） it resembles society and art 12 According to the author, the pursuit of religion has proved to be _. （ A） a vital necessity in answering the problems of mankind （ B） imag
46、inative （ C） a provider of hope for the future （ D） ineffectual 12 It was not until modern scholarship uncovered the secret of reading Middle English that we could understand that Chaucer, far from being a rude versifier, was a perfectly accomplished technician, and that his verse is rich in music a
47、nd elegant to the highest degree. Chaucers own urbane personality is a delight to encounter in his books, He is avowedly a bookworm, yet few poets observe nature with more freshness and delight. He is a master of genial satire but can sympathize with true piety and goodness with as much pleasure as
48、he attacks the hypocritical. It is not an uncommon estimate of Chaucer that he must be counted among the few greatest of English poets. In range of interest he is surpassed only by Shakespeare. He was recognized already in the Renaissance, when it came to England, as the Father of English Poetry. He
49、 was a man of wide learning and wrote with ease on religion, philosophy, ethics, science, rhetoric. No man has more completely summed up an age than Chaucer has his, yet the people of his great poems, are revealed as men and women are in all times. Master of verse, as Chaucer was, he introduced into English poetry many verse forms: the heroic couplet (in which form most of The Canterbury Tales is written), verse written in iambic pentameter, rhyming aa, bb, cc, etc.-a form that was to be very important in the eighteenth century;
