1、考博英语模拟试卷 221及答案与解析 一、 Cloze 0 I have never seen Mrs. Clark before, but I know from her medical chart and the report I received from the preceding shift that tonight she will die. The only light in her room is coming from a piece of medical equipment, which is flashing its red light as if is warning.
2、 As I stand there, the smell hits my nose, and I close my eyes as I remember the smell of decay from past experience. In my mouth I have a sour, vinegar taste coming from the pit of my stomach. I reach for the light switch, and as it silently lights the scene, I return to the bed to observe the pati
3、ent with an unemotional, medical eye. Mrs. Clark is dying. She lies motionless: the head seems unusually large on a skeleton body; the skin is dark yellow and hangs loosely around exaggerated bones that not even a blanket can hide; the right arm lies straight out at the side, taped cruelly to a boar
4、d to secure a needle so that fluid may drip in; the left arm is across the sunken chest, which rises and falls with the uneven breath. I reached for the long, thin fingers that are lying on the chest. They are ice cold, and I quickly move to the wrist and feel for the faint pulse. Mrs. Clarks eyes o
5、pen somewhat as her head turns towards me slightly. I bend close to her and scarcely heat as she whispers, “Water. “ Taking a glass of water from the table, I put my finger over the end of the straw and allow a few drops of the cool moisture to slide into her mouth and ease her thirst. She makes no
6、attempt to swallow; there is just not enough strength. “More,“ the dry voice says, and we repeat the procedure. This time she does manage to swallow some liquid and weakly says, “Thank you. “ She is too weak for conversation. So without asking, I go about providing for her needs. Picking her up in m
7、y arms like a child, I turn her on her side. Naked, except for a light hospital gown, she is so very small and light that she seems like a victim of some terrible famine. I remove the lid from a jar of skin cream and put some on the palm of my hands. Carefully, to avoid injuring her, I rub cream int
8、o the yellow skin, which rolls freely over the bones, feeling perfectly the outline of each bone in the back. Placing a pillow between her legs, I notice that these too are ice cold, and not until I run my hands up over her knees do I feel any of the life-giving warmth of blood. When I am finished,
9、I pull a chair up beside the bed to face her and, taking her free hand between mine, again notice the long, thin fingers, graceful. I wonder briefly if she has any family, and then I see that there are neither flowers, nor pictures of rainbows and butterflies drawn by children, nor cards. There is n
10、o hint in the room anywhere that this is a person who is loved. As though she is a mind reader, Mrs. Clark answers my thoughts and quietly tells me, “I sent. . , my family. . , home. . . tonight. . , didnt want. . , them. . , to see. . . “ Having spent her last ounce of strength she cannot go on, bu
11、t I have understood what she has done. Not knowing what to say, I say nothing. Again she seems to sense my thoughts, “You. . . stay. . . “ Time seems to stand still. In the total silence, I feel my own pulse quicken and hear my breathing as it begins to match hers, breath for uneven breath. Our eyes
12、 meet and somehow, together, we become aware that this is a special moment between two human beings. . . Her long fingers curl easily around my hands and I nod my head slowly, smiling. Without words, through yellowed eyes, I receive my thank you and her eyes slowly close. Some unknown interval of ti
13、me passes before her eyes open again, only this time there is no response in them, just a blank stare. Without warning, her shallow breathing stops, and within a few moments, the faint pulse is also gone. One single tear flows from her left eye, across the cheek and down onto the pillow. I begin to
14、cry quietly. There is a swell of emotion within me for this stranger who so quickly came into rant went from my life. Her suffering is done, yet so is the life. Slowly, still holding her hand, I become aware that I do not mind this emotional battle that in fact, it was a privilege she has allowed me
15、, and I would do it again, gladly. Mrs. Clark spared her family an episode that perhaps they were not equipped to handle and instead shared it with me. She had not wanted to have her family see her die, yet she did not want to die alone. No one should die alone, and I am glad I was there for her. Tw
16、o days later, I read about Mrs. Clark in the newspaper. She was the mother of seven, grandmother of eighteen, an active member of her church, a leader of volunteer associations in her community, a concert piano player, and a piano teacher for over thirty years. Yes, they were long and graceful finge
17、rs. Directions: The passage below summarizes the main points of the passage. Read the summary and then select the best word or phrase from the box blow, according to the passage. You should decide on the best choice. A drip K liquid B secured L famine C decay M jar D preceding N slide E straw O thir
18、st F faint P fluid G pit Q moisture H chart R loosely I palm S hit J lid T indication The medical【 1】 from the【 2】 shift was the first【 3】 I got that Mrs. Clark would die. There was also a smell of【 4】 in the room that【 5】 me in the【 6】 of my stomach. The patients skin hung【 7】 so a needle was【 8】 t
19、o let the【 9】【 10】 in. She had a【 11】 pulse and was thirsty, so I gave her a【 12】 of a few drops of【 13】 to【 14】 into her mouth to ease her【 15】 Having managed to swallow some【 16】 , she said “ Thank you. “ She was so small and light that she looked like a victim of some terrible【 17】 . I removed th
20、e【 18】 of a【 19】 of cream and put some on the【 20】 of my hand. Then I rubbed the cream into her yellow skin to make her feel better. 二、 Reading Comprehension 20 The main idea of these business-school academics is appealing. In a word where companies must adapt to new technologies and source of compe
21、tition, it is much harder than it used to be to offer good employees job security and an opportunity to climb the corporate ladder. Yet it is also more necessary than ever for employees to invest in better skills and sparkle with bright ideas. How can firms get the most out of people if they can no
22、longer offer them protection and promotion? Many bosses would love to have an answer. Sumantrra Ghoshal of the London Business School and Christopher Bartlett of the Harvard Business School think they have one: “Employability. “ If managers offer the right kinds of training and guidance, and change
23、their attitude towards their underlings, they will be able to reassure their employees that they will always have the skills and experience to find a good job-even if it is with a different company. Unfortunately, they promise more than they deliver. Their thoughts on what an ideal organization shou
24、ld accomplish are hard to quarrel with: encourage people to be creative, make sure the gains from creativity are shared with the pains of the business that can make the most of them, keep the organization from getting stale and so forth. The real disappointment comes when they attempt to show how fi
25、rms might actually create such an environment. At its nub is the notion that companies can attain their elusive goals by changing their implicit contract with individual workers, and treating them as a source of value rather than a cog in a machine. The authors offer a few inspiring example of compa
26、nies-they include Motorola, 3M and ABB-that have managed to go some way towards creating such organizations. But they offer little useful guidance on how to go about it, and leave the biggest questions unanswered. How do you continuously train people, without diverting them from their everyday job o
27、f making the business more profitable? How do you train people to be successful elsewhere while still encouraging them to make big commitments to your own firm? How do you get your newly liberated employees to spend their time on ideas that create value, and not simply on those they enjoy? Most of t
28、heir answers are platitudinous, and when they are not they are unconvincing. 21 We can infer from the passage that in the past an employee _. （ A） had job security and opportunity of promotion （ B） had to compete with each other to keep his job （ C） had to undergo training all the time （ D） had no d
29、ifficulty climbing the corporate ladder 22 What does the writer of this passage think of the ideas of Ghoshal and Bartlett? （ A） Very instructive. （ B） Very inspiring. （ C） Hard to implement. （ D） Quite harsh. 23 In their work, Ghoshal and Bartlett discuss _. （ A） changes in business organizations （
30、 B） contracts between employers and employees （ C） employment situation （ D） management ideas 24 This passage seems to be a(n) _. （ A） book review （ B） advertisement （ C） news report （ D） research paper 25 According to Chritopher Bartlett what will improve “employability“. ? （ A） Ability to lay out
31、ones talents to employers. （ B） Skills and knowledge accumulated from school education. （ C） Training opportunity and guidance offered by company. （ D） Being creative and ready to share collective wisdom. 25 To understand the failings of existing farm programs, its important to understand the roots
32、of the current farm crisis. At the heart of the problem is money how much there is and how much it costs to borrow. A farmer is a debtor almost by definition. In my own state, its not unusual for a wheat farmer with 1,000 acres to owe several hundred thousand dollars for land and machinery. In addit
33、ion to making payments on these loans, its common for such a farmer to borrow about $40, 000 each spring to cover fertilizer, diesel fuel, seed, and other operating expenses. The months before the harvest will be anxious ones as the farmer contemplates all the things that could bring: financial hard
34、ship, bad weather, crop disease, insects, falling commodity prices. If he has a good year, the farmer can repay his loans and retain some profit; in a bad one, he can lose his whole farm. Money thus becomes one of the farmers biggest expenses. Most consumers can find some refuge from high interest r
35、ates by postponing large purchases like houses or cars. Farmers have no choice. In 1989, for example, farmers paid $12 billion in interest costs while earning $32 billion; last year they paid $22 billion in interest costs, while earning only $ 20 billion. In a business in which profit margins are sm
36、all, $4,000 more in interest can mean the difference between profit and loss. Since 1985, 100,000 family farms have disappeared, and while interest rates have fallen recently, they still imperil the nations farmers. This is why the most basic part of our nations farm policy is its money and credit p
37、olicy-which is set by Paul Voicker and the Federal Reserve Board. The Federal Reserve Boards responsibility for nearly ruining our economy is well-known. Whats often overlooked is how the boards policies have taken an especially devastating toil on farmers. While high interest rates have increased f
38、arm expenses, theyve also undermined the export market farmers have traditionally relied on. High interest rates, by stalling our economic engines, have been a drag on the entire worlds economy. Developing and third world nations have been particularly hard hit. Struggling just to meet interest paym
39、ents on their loans from multinational banks, they have had little cash left over to buy our farm products. Even those countries that could still afford our farm products abandoned us for other producers. Our interest rates were so high that they attracted multinational bankers, corporations, and ot
40、hers who speculate on currencies of different countries. These speculators were willing to pay more for dollars in terms of pesos, yen, or marks because those rates guaranteed them such a substantial return. 26 This passage is intended to _. （ A） suggest effective means to deal with money crisis （ B
41、） satire the existing farm programs （ C） argue against the current interest rates policy （ D） advocate a modest attitude towards farmers 27 The author believes that _. （ A） high interest rates have an immediate effect on the farming industry （ B） the Federal Reserve Boards policies will stimulate th
42、e export market （ C） reduction of costs is a sure way to gain long-term profitability to the farmers （ D） radical reforms are essential for the increase of productivity 28 Nowadays, developing and third world nations rarely buy American farm products mainly because _. （ A） they rely on their domesti
43、c markets and are self-sufficient on the whole （ B） there are small profit margins in the business （ C） farm products offered by other producers are of higher quality （ D） they have financial difficulty 29 Multinational bankers and corporations were willing to pay more for dollars in terms of pesos
44、and other currencies in the hope of _. （ A） gaining a large profit （ B） helping those poor nations （ C） decreasing interest rates （ D） overcoming financial hardships 30 By “A farmer is a debtor almost by definition. “ is meant that _. （ A） a “farmer“ originally means a “debtor“ （ B） farmers have mor
45、e to buy than workers or whatsoever （ C） farmers have no choice but to pay high interest rates （ D） farmers are vulnerable to natural disasters 30 Among the many ways in which people communicate through speech, public speaking has probably received more study and attracted more attention than any ot
46、her. Politicians campaigning for public office, salespeople presenting products, and preachers delivering sermons all depend upon this form of public communication. Even people who do not make speaking a part of their daily work are often asked to make public speeches: students at graduation, for in
47、stance, or members of churches, clubs, or other organizations. Nearly everyone speaks in public at some time or other, and those who perform the task well often become leaders. There are many reasons for speaking in public. A public speaker may hope to teach an audience about new ideas, for example,
48、 or provide information about some topic. Creating a good feeling or entertaining an audience may be another purpose. Public speakers, however, most often seek to persuade an audience to adopt new opinions, to take certain actions, or to see the world in a new way. Public speakers usually know well
49、in advance when they are scheduled to make an address. Consequently, they are able to prepare their message before they deliver it. Sometimes, though, speakers must deliver the message unprepared, or off the cuff, such as when they are asked to offer a toast at a wedding reception or to participate in a televised debate or interview. When they do not have to speak unprepared, most speakers write their own speeches. Politicians and business executives sometimes employ professional writers who pr
