1、考博英语模拟试卷 214及答案与解析 一、 Reading Comprehension 0 The days when the only fender a businessman needed to stave off a midlife crisis was on the end of a Ferrari are gone. This year he needs to dig deep and purchase the Fender Jazz Bass he dreamed of as an acne-ridden youth. Guitars have seen a massive res
2、urgence in the past few years, propping up the music retail industry and overtaking the keyboard. Sales of electric guitars have jumped 30 per cent in two years, bass guitars 11 per cent in the past 12 months. Barry Moorhouse, whose bass and acoustic centre, House of Guitars, has long been a Mecca f
3、or rock stars, recognized the trend and relocated his business to Bmne Street on the edge of the city. The wisdom of the move was evident at the new shops opening when insurance brokers and IT consultants appeared at his door like disciples drawn to a shrine. Silently they stood eyeing the gleaming
4、rainbow of guitars-angular or curvaceous, simple or ostentatious. Charlie Pearch, 46, a customer, explained: “Im having a midlife crisis. First I bought a Harley Davidson and then I thought I would learn to play the guitar. My wife thinks its better to have a motorbike and play the guitar than chase
5、 young girls.“ Seven months ago, Mr. Pearch went into a guitar shop to avoid the rain. A short while later he left with a pounds 800 Fender Stratocaster. Mr. Moorhouse, 49, believes the generation that grew up with guitar bands is now intent on recapturing its youth, with the added bonus that a fath
6、er can share his interest with his son. “Nowadays they can indulge that passion because they have the disposable income,“ Mr. Moorhouse said. “I get fathers and sons in here who listen to the same music.“ Brightly lit and gleaming, the new shop is a far cry from what one might expect of a music love
7、rs haunt. Mr. Moorhouse has already endured accusations of “guitars at Gap“ from his more tradition-al clientele. But when your customers are spending pounds 1,000 or more on an instrument they do not expect grange, he explained. And these guitars are not just toys for the boys. City bankers can exp
8、ect a good in-vestment return from their instruments. Nine years ago Barry McCormack, an IT project manager, spent pounds 400 on a 1955 Gibson Les Paul. It is now worth pounds 5,000. Mr McCormack said: “People like me are recapturing their youth but they are also buying these guitars as an alternati
9、ve investment to a pension.“ 1 Which statement is WRONG according to the opening paragraph? （ A） Ferrari was the only way that helped businessmen beat a midlife crisis before. （ B） Buying guitars becomes another effective way to stave over a middle crisis. （ C） Guitars have gained a renewal because
10、the young people purchased a lot. （ D） Mr. Moorhouse relocated his business because he intended to make more money. 2 How did Charlie Peareh get his first guitar? （ A） A gift presented by shop. （ B） A gift from his wife. （ C） Bought it by himself. （ D） We dont know. 3 According to Mr. Moorhouse what
11、s the reason that middle-aged people bought guitars ? （ A） Because it is the symbol of social status and taste. （ B） Because it helps to communicate with their children. （ C） Because it is a helpful way to regain their lost youth. （ D） Because it fulfills such peoples desire of consuming. 4 The stat
12、ement “guitars at Gap“ (Line , Para. 2) most probably means _ . （ A） the price of guitar is too high （ B） the quality of guitar is too rude （ C） the storage of guitar is too small （ D） the design of guitar is too simple 5 What can we learn from the passage? （ A） Nowadays people in a midlife crisis p
13、refer buying a guitar than a Ferrari. （ B） The middle-aged female also likes buying guitars to beat midlife crisis. （ C） Buying a guitar is popular because it is a way to get an investment return. （ D） Middle-aged people consider the old things as owing the better quality. 5 One year ago we stared a
14、ghast at images of the Southeast Asian tsunami. Video cameras taken on vacation to record the everyday pleasures of the beach were suddenly turned to quivering utility as they documented the panic and mayhem of a natural disaster. Who can forget the disbelief in the recorded voices? This cant be hap
15、pening to us. Human beings are never prepared for natural disasters. There is a kind of optimism built into our species that seems to prefer to live in the comfortable present rather than confront the possibility of destruction, It may happen, we seem to believe, but not now, and not to us. Mount Ve
16、suvius has been erupting since historical records began. The eruption of A. D. 79 both destroyed Pompeii and preserved it for posterity. Pliny the Younger starkly recorded the details in prose that can still be read as a scientific ac-count. Yet houses are still being erected today at vulnerable sit
17、es around Vesuvius, in the face of the geological inevitability of further eruptions. Disasters are described as “acts of God“. Whenever a natural catastrophe occurs, old questions resurface. How can we reconcile tragedy with the idea of a beneficent God? And with that question, the notion of punish
18、ment is never far behind. If classical religions were wont to attribute disasters to the wrath of the gods, even in this scientific age the old explanations still have their attractions. And who might not sneakily still wish to believe that a saint could intercede on our behalf? But there is another
19、 kind of disaster. Many scientists think that the Gulf Coast hurricanes may be a symptom of climate change. Carbon emissions have been accelerating more rapidly within a generation or two: this is not the result of some creeping plate indifferent to the fate of humans; this is our responsibility. Ho
20、wever, there is still the same, almost willful blindness to the dangers of climate change; after all, the sun still rises, the crops still ripen-why worry? Geology tells us that there have been “green-house worlds“ in the distant past. These have been times when seas flooded over continents. Even mo
21、dest sea-level rises would spell the end of densely populated areas of the world like Bangladesh. In such a case, invoking the God to look after us for the best is just pie in the sky. These are not “acts of God“ but acts of man. We should be ashamed of the consequences of our own willing blindness.
22、 6 Human beings are never prepared for natural disasters because _ . （ A） they believe that all preparation is useless for disasters （ B） they believe that disasters will never happen to them （ C） they believe that gods are helpful when disasters happen （ D） none of these 7 The expression of “houses
23、 are still being erected.around Vesuvius“ is used to show _ . （ A） human beings want to remember Pliny the Younger in this way （ B） human beings are optimistic to deal with the possible further eruptions （ C） human beings believe further eruptions wont happen to themselves （ D） human beings are well
24、 prepared for the possible further eruptions 8 Whats the “another kind of disaster“ (Line , Para. 3)? （ A） The disaster caused by some creeping plate. （ B） The disaster caused by the wrath of the gods. （ C） The disaster caused by the over population. （ D） The disaster caused by our willing blindness
25、. 9 The statement “greenhouse worlds“ (Line 7, Para. 3) most probably means _ . （ A） the world with greenhouse effect （ B） the world with rich natural resource （ C） the world without water （ D） the world without plants 10 To which of the following statements would the author most likely agree? （ A）
26、The natural disaster may happen but not now and not to us. （ B） The natural disaster is a punishment we deserve from gods. （ C） It is our responsibility to protect our world and ourselves. （ D） Its miserable to live in such a world with plenty of disasters. 10 Every Thursday evening, I counsel a gro
27、up of teenagers with serious substance abuse problems. None of the youngsters elected to see me. Typically, they were caught using drugs, or worse, by their parents or a police officer and were then referred to my clinic. To be sure, all the usual intoxicants-alcohol, marijuana and cocaine-are invol
28、ved. But a new type of addiction has crept into the mix, controlled prescription drugs, including painkillers. This is hardly unique to my clinic. Several studies report that since 1992, the number of 12-to 17-year-olds abusing controlled prescription drugs has tripled. One of my patients, Mary, ill
29、ustrates this trend all too well. Mary at 16 is a “garbage head“, meaning that she will ingest anything she thinks will give her a high. Last December, she was taken to the hospital for an overdose of alcohol, and ketamine, a chemical cousin of angel dust that doctors sometimes use to anesthetize pa
30、tients and that, more commonly, veterinarians use to sedate large animals. So where does this physically energetic teenager obtain her pills? Weeks earlier, she had an operation, a minor though uncomfortable procedure by any standards. The surgeon wrote a prescription for 80 tablets. Mary spent the
31、next week in the addiction of the drug until her mother confiscated the last 20 tablets. At medical conferences, I hear colleagues fault parents who abuse and obtain these controlled substances but leave them easily accessible in their unlocked medicine chests where teenagers can help themselves. Ot
32、her experts fault the Internet, where al-most anyone can obtain controlled prescription drugs from offshore pharmacies with a few clicks on a home computer. None of these targets come close to the real root of the problem. Many doctors are too quick to write prescriptions for these powerful drugs. T
33、he National Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse recently reported that 43.3 percent of all American doctors did not even ask patients about prescription drug abuse when taking histories; 33 percent did not regularly call or obtain records from a patients previous doctor or from other physicians
34、 before writing such prescriptions; 47.1 percent said their patients pressured them into prescribing these drugs; and only 39.1 percent had had any training in recognizing prescription drug abuse and addiction. No one in pain-physical or psychic-should suffer. But the fact remains that we doctors st
35、ill do the bulk of prescribing of the substances. The search for root causes of the epidemic with controlled substance abuse has to include doctors as active participants. A big part of the solution depends on reserving prescriptions for those who need, rather than de-sire, them. 11 What is RIGHT ac
36、cording to Paragraph ? （ A） Teenagers volunteered to see me for curing drug abusing. （ B） The new type of addiction is unique to the authors clinic. （ C） The author is probably a doctor who works for the police. （ D） The usual intoxicants abuse is getting down since 1992. 12 We can infer from Marys
37、story that _ . （ A） the surgeon offered someone elses medicine to Mary by mistake （ B） teenagers are vulnerable to drug abusing due to their curiosity （ C） the prescription drugs abusing will develop faster in the future （ D） parents play a positive role in preventing childrens drug abusing 13 Accor
38、ding to the author what should be blamed for teenagers abusing controlled _ substance? （ A） Parents carelessness. （ B） Development of net. （ C） Doctors negligence. （ D） Teenagers poor self-restraint. 14 Which one can help improve doctors prescribing controlled drugs according to the passage? （ A） Tr
39、ain doctors handwriting because they are too illegible to recognize. （ B） Train doctors in remembering patients who are controlled drugs abusers. （ C） Give more lectures to doctors about the harm of wrong prescription. （ D） Set up regulations on the procedure of prescribing controlled drugs. 15 The
40、passage intends to express the idea that _ . （ A） doctors should be blamed for teenagers controlled substance abusing （ B） the prescriptions written for the controlled substances increased greatly （ C） more and more teenagers are likely to be addicted to controlled drugs （ D） doctors should reserve
41、the prescriptions for those who really need them 15 Traditionally, women have lagged behind men in adoption of Internet technologies, but a study released yesterday found that women under age 65 now outpace men in Internet usage. The report, “How Women and Men Use the Internet,“ examined use by both
42、 sexes, looking at what men and women are doing online as well as their rate of adopting new Web-based technologies. “I think the real interesting story is the young women, because that is the one age cohort where there are many more women online,“ said Deborah Fallows, who wrote the report based on
43、 findings from surveys conducted over the past five years. “The younger women are just much more comfortable with the Internet.“ The report found that 86 percent of women ages 18 to 29 were online, compared with 80 percent of men in the same age group. Among African Americans, 60 percent of women ar
44、e online, compared with 50 percent of men. In other age groups, the disparity is only slight, with women outpacing men by 3 percentage points. However, among the older group, those age 65 and older, 34 percent of men are online, compared with 21 percent of women. Its enough of a disparity, Fallows s
45、aid, to keep men in the overall lead in Internet usage, 68 percent to 66 percent. Men tend to use the Web for information and entertainment-getting sports scores and stock quotes and downloading music-while women tend to be heavier users of mapping and direction services, and communication services
46、such as e-mail. And, in general, men are more likely to be early adopters of technology than women, the survey found. A separate survey released earlier this week seemed to underscore the finding of the report. Of those who listen to podcasts distributed over the Internet, 78 percent are men and 22
47、percent are women. “With podcasting just over a year old, the current maleness of the podcast audience at the aggregate level is consistent with gender usage trends of the early Web.“ Mark McCrery, cofounder and chief executive of Podtrac, said in a statement. Over time, however, there likely will b
48、e “a more balanced gender composition of the podcast audience,“ he said. Fallows agreed but also said that the disparity between the sexes among younger people was especially interesting because it could shape the way the general population uses technology and the Web in the future. “Its hard to say
49、 where that will settle,“ she said. “I imagine things will even out over time, because there is so much for everyone online.“ 16 What can we learn from Paragraph ? （ A） there is big disparity between the sexes on the Web among African Americans. （ B） Result of the study is shocking because it contrasts to the traditional thinking. （ C） The study found more and more old people spent time and energy in net usage. （ D） The young women are more practical in using the new Web-based technologies. 17 Which group of women spent
