1、考博英语模拟试卷 276及答案与解析 一、 Reading Comprehension 0 Do you think that all human beings have a “comfort zone“ regulating the distance they stand from someone when they talk? This distance varies in interesting ways among people of different cultures. Greeks, others of the Eastern Mediterranean, and many of
2、 those from South America normally stand quite close together when they talk, often moving their faces even closer as they warm up in a conversation. North Americans find this awkward and often back away a few inches. Studies have found that they tend to feel most comfortable at about 21 inches apar
3、t. In much of Asia and Africa, there is even more space between two speakers in conversation. This greater space subtly lends an air of dignity and respect. This mater of space is nearly always unconscious, but it is interesting to observe. This difference applies also to the closeness with which pe
4、ople sit together, the extent to which they lean over one another in conversation, how they move as they argue or make an emphatic point. In the United States, for example, people try to keep their bodies apart even in a crowded elevator, in Paris they take it as it comes! Although North Americans h
5、ave a relatively wide “comfort zone“ for talking, they communicate a great deal with their hands not only with gesture but also with touch. They put a sympathetic hand on a persons shoulder to demonstrate warmth of feeling or an arm around him in sympathy; they nudge a man in the ribs to emphasize a
6、 funny story; they put an arm in reassurance or stroke a childs head in affection; they readily take someones arm to help him cross a street or direct him along an unfamiliar route. To many people especially those from Asia or the Moslem countries such bodily contact is unwelcome, especially if inad
7、vertently done with the left hand. The left hand carries no special significance in the U. S. Many Americans are simply left-handed and use that hand more. 1 In terms of bodily distance, North Americans_. （ A） are similar to South Americans （ B） stand farthest apart （ C） feel ill at ease when too cl
8、ose （ D） move nearer during conversations 2 It can be inferred from the passage that in a crowded elevator, a Frenchmen_. （ A） would behave in the same way as an American would do （ B） would make no particular effort to distance himself （ C） would be afraid of bodily contact （ D） would do his best t
9、o leave 3 An American puts his hand on another mans shoulder_. （ A） to show apathy （ B） to show passion （ C） to show friendliness （ D） to disguise his feeling 4 The passage mainly concerns_. （ A） distance and contact （ B） body language （ C） cultural differences between the East and the West （ D） han
10、d signals 4 As one works with color in a practical or experimental way, one is impressed by two apparently unrelated facts. Color as seen is a mobile changeable thing depending to a large extent on the relationship of the color to other colors seen simultaneously. It is not fixed in its relation to
11、the direct stimulus which creates it. On the other hand, the properties pf surfaces that give rise to color do not seem to change greatly under a wide variety of illumination colors, usually(but not always)looking much the same in artificial light as in daylight. Both of these effects seem to be due
12、 in large part to the mechanism of color adaptation mentioned earlier. When the eye is fixed on a colored area, there is an immediate readjustment of the sensitivity of the eye to color in and around the area viewed. This readjustment does not immediately affect the color seen but usually does affec
13、t the next area to which the gaze is shifted. The longer the time of viewing, the higher the intensity, and the larger the area, the greater the effect will be in terms of its persistence in the succeeding viewing situation. As indicated by the work of Wright and Shouted, it appears that, at least f
14、or a first approximation, full adaptation takes place over a very brief time if the adapting source is moderately bright and the eye has been in relative darkness just previously. As the stimulus is allowed to act, however, the effect becomes more persistent in the sense that it takes the eye longer
15、 to regain its sensitivity to lower intensities. The net result is that, if the eye is so exposed and then the gaze is transferred to an area of lower intensity, the loss of sensitivity produced by the first area will still be present and appear as an “afterimage“ superimposed on the second. The eff
16、ect not only is present over the actual area causing the “local adaptation“ but also spreads with decreasing strength to adjoining areas of the eye to produce “lateral adaptation. “ Also, because of the persistence of the effect if the eye is shifted around from one object to another, all of which a
17、re at similar brightness or have similar colors, the adaptation will tend to become uniform over the whole eye. 5 This selection is primarily concerned with_. （ A） the eyes adaptation to color （ B） the properties of colored surfaces （ C） the color of colors （ D） the effect of changes in color intens
18、ity 6 Whether a colored object would, on two viewings separated in time, appear to the viewer as similar or different in color would depend mostly on_. （ A） the color mechanism of the eye in use at the time of each viewing （ B） whether the object was seen in artificial or natural light （ C） what kin
19、d of viewing had immediately preceded each of the viewings （ D） the individuals power of lateral adaptation 7 If a persons eye has been looking at an object in bright sunlight for some time, and then shifts to an object not well lit, we can expect_. （ A） a time lag in the focusing ability of the eye
20、 （ B） some inability to see colors of the latter-named objects until loss of sensitivity has been regained （ C） the immediate loss of the “afterimage“ of the first object （ D） the adaptation in the central area of the eye but little adaptation in the lateral areas to the new intensity level 8 The pr
21、esent selection has apparently been preceded by some explanation of_. （ A） some experiments with color pigments （ B） the nature of color （ C） the color properties of various surfaces （ D） the mechanism of the eyes adaptation to color 8 The Greeks lofty attitude toward scientific research and the sci
22、entists contempt of utility was a long time dying. For a millennium after Archimedes, this separation of mechanics from geometry inhibited fundamental technological progress and in some areas repressed it altogether. But there was a still greater obstacle to change until the very end of the middle a
23、ges: the organization of society. The social system of fixed class relationships that prevailed through the Middle Ages(and in some areas much longer)itself hampered improvement. Under this system, the laboring masses, in exchange for the bare necessities of life, did all the productive work, while
24、the privileged few priests, nobles, and kings concerned themselves only with ownership and maintenance of their own position. In the interest of their privileges they did achieve considerable progress in defense, in warmaking, in government, in trade, in the arts of leisure, and in the extraction of
25、 labor from their dependents, but they had no familiarity with the process of production. On the other hand, the laborers, who were familiar with manufacturing techniques, had no incentive to improve or increase production to the advantage of their masters. Thus, with one class possessing the requis
26、ite knowledge and experience, but lacking incentive and leisure, and the other class lacking the knowledge and experience, there was no means by which technical progress could be achieved. The whole ancient world was built upon this relationship a relationship as sterile as it was inhuman. The avail
27、ability of slaves nullified the need for more efficient machinery. In many of the commonplace fields of human endeavor, actual stagnation prevailed for thousands of years. Not all the glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome could develop the windmill or contrive so simple an instrument
28、as the wheelbarrowproducts of the tenth and thirteenth centuries respectively. For about twenty-five centuries, two-thirds of the power of the horse was lost because he wasnt shod, and much of the strength of the ox was wasted because his harness wasnt modified to fit his shoulders. For more than fi
29、ve thousand years, sailors were confined to rivers and coasts by a primitive steering mechanism which required remarkably little alteration(in the thirteenth century)to become a rudder. With any ingenuity at all, the ancient plough could have been put on wheels and the ploughshare shaped to bite and
30、 turn the sod instead of merely scratching it but the ingenuity wasnt forthcoming. And the villager of the Middle Ages, like the men who first had fire, had a smoke hole in the center of the straw and reed thatched roof of his one-room dwelling(which he shared with his animals), while the medieval c
31、harcoal burner(like his Stone Age ancestor)made himself a hut of small branches. 9 Lack of technological progress in the ancient and medieval worlds was primarily due to the absence of_. （ A） natural resources （ B） inventive ability （ C） peoples desire for the “better things of life“ （ D） proper soc
32、ial organization 10 During the Middle Ages, productivity of labor_. （ A） was a primary concern of society （ B） was hampered by class relationships （ C） began to improve over levels reached by the Greeks （ D） was in a period of technical progress 11 We may infer that a change in class relationships a
33、fter the close of the Middle Ages produced greater productivity because_. （ A） freemen had incentive to produce more （ B） masters had greater incentive to work their workers harder （ C） slaves never starved, no matter what they produced （ D） productivity could go in only one direction 12 In supporti
34、ng his contentions about the ancient world, the author relies mainly on illustrations drawn from_. （ A） examples of the separation of mechanics and geometry （ B） case studies of lack of social communication between classes （ C） technology （ D） his concern with the plight of the laboring classes 12 T
35、he evolution of sex ratios has produced, in most plants and animals with separate sexes, approximately equal numbers of males and females. Why should this be so? Two main kinds of answers have been offered. One is couched in terms of advantage to population. It is argued that the sex ratio will evol
36、ve so as to maximize the number of meetings between individuals of the opposite sex. This is essentially a “ group selection“ argument. The other, and in my view correct, type of answer was first put forward by Fisher in 1930. This “genetic“ argument starts from the assumption that genes can influen
37、ce the relative numbers of male and female offspring produced by an individual carrying the genes. That sex ratio will be favored which maximizes the number of descendants an individual will have and hence the number of gene copies transmitted. Suppose that the population consisted mostly of females
38、, then an individual who produced sons only would have more grandchildren. In contrast, if the population consisted mostly of males, it would pay to have daughters. If, however, the population consisted of equal numbers of males and females, sons and daughters would be equally valuable. Thus a one-t
39、o-one sex ratio is the only stable ratio; it is an “evolutionarily stable strategy. “ Although Fisher wrote before the mathematical theory of games had been developed, his theory incorporates the essential feature of a game that the best strategy to adopt depends on what others are doing. Since Fish
40、ers time, it has been realized that genes can sometimes influence the chromosome or gamete in which they find themselves so that the gamete will be more likely to participate in fertilization. If such a gene occurs on a sex-determining(X or Y)chromosome, then highly aberrant sex ratios can occur. Bu
41、t more immediately relevant to game theory are the sex ratios in certain parasitic wasp species that have a large excess of females. In these species, fertilized eggs develop into females and unfertilized eggs into males. A female stores sperm and can determine the sex of each egg she lays by fertil
42、izing it or leaving it unfertilized. By Fishers argument, it should still pay a female to produce equal numbers of sons and daughters. Hamilton, noting that the eggs develop within their host the larva of another insect and that the newly emerged adult wasps mate immediately and disperse, offered a
43、remarkably cogent analysis. Since only one female usually eggs in a given larva, it would pay her to produce one male only, because this one could fertilize all his sisters on emergence. Like Fisher, Hamilton looked for an evolutionarily stable strategy, but he went a step further in recognizing tha
44、t he was looking for a strategy. 13 The author suggests that the work of Fisher and Hamilton was similar in that both scientists_. （ A） conducted their research at approximately the same time （ B） sought to manipulate the sex ratios of some of the animals they studied （ C） sought an explanation of w
45、hy certain sex ratios exist and remain stable （ D） studied reproduction in the same animal species 14 It can be inferred from the passage that the author considers Fishers work to be_. （ A） definitive and thorough （ B） inaccurate but popular, compared with Hamiltons work （ C） accurate, but trivial c
46、ompared with Hamiltons work （ D） admirable, but not as up-to-date as Hamiltons work 15 According to the passage, successful game strategy depends on_. （ A） the ability to adjust ones behavior in light of the behavior of others （ B） the degree of stability one can create in ones immediate environment
47、 （ C） the accuracy with which one can predict future events （ D） the success one achieves in conserving and storing ones resources 16 It can be inferred from the passage that the mathematical theory of games has been_. （ A） developed by scientists with an interest in genetics （ B） useful in explaini
48、ng some biological phenomena （ C） adopted by Hamilton in his research （ D） based on animal studies conducted prior to 1930 16 I am writing this at home because last week my ergonomic(符合人体工程学的 )chair at the office fell apart, unable any longer to bear my weight. I am writing it on a computer that is
49、propped on top of two thick books, because otherwise my neck would be cricked as I peered down at the screen. At 1. 93m and weighing. well, Im not going to say what I weigh, but think second-row rugby union forward.I am not built for this world. We therefore welcome a new report from Professor Tim Hatton at the University of Essex, demonstrating that the average height of men in Europe has increased by 4 inches in the past century and in the UK by a whopping 5 inches. A
