1、考博英语（阅读理解）模拟试卷 119及答案与解析 一、 Reading Comprehension 0 Less than 40 years ago in the United States, it was common to change a one-dollar bill for a dollars worth of silver. That is because the coins were actually made of silver. But those days are gone. There is no silver in todays coins. When the pric
2、e of the precious metal rises above its face value as money, the metal will become more valuable in other uses. Silver coins are no longer in circulation because the silver in coins is worth much more than their face value. A silver firm could find that it is cheaper to obtain silver by melting down
3、 coins than by buying it on the commodity markets. Coins today are made of an alloy of cheaper metals. Greshams Law, named after Sir Thomas Gresham, argues that “good money“ is driven out of circulation by “bad money“. Good money differs from bad money because it has higher commodity value. Gresham
4、lived in the 16th century in England where it was common for gold and silver coins to be debased. Governments did this by mixing cheaper metals with gold and silver. The governments could thus make a profit in coinage by issuing coins that had less precious metal than the face value indicated. Becau
5、se different mixings of coins had different amounts of gold and silver, even though they bore the same face value, some coins were worth more than others as commodities. People who dealt with gold and silver could easily see the difference between the “good“ and the “bad“ money. Gresham observed tha
6、t coins with a higher content of gold and silver were kept rather than being used in exchange, or were melted down for their precious metal. In the mid-1960s when the U.S. issued new coins to replace silver coins, Greshams law went right in action. 1 Why was it possible for Americans to use a one-do
7、llar bill for a dollars worth of silver? （ A） Because there was a lot of silver in the United States. （ B） Because money was the medium of payment. （ C） Because coins were made of silver. （ D） Because silver was considered worthless. 2 Todays coins in the United States are made of _. （ A） some preci
8、ous metals （ B） silver and some precious metals （ C） various expensive metals （ D） some inexpensive metals 3 What is the difference between “good money“ and “bad money“? （ A） They are circulated in different markets. （ B） They are issued in different face values. （ C） They are made of different amou
9、nts of gold and silver. （ D） They have different uses. 4 What was the purpose of the governments issuing new coins by mixing cheaper metals with gold and silver in the 16th century? （ A） They wanted to reserve some gold and silver for themselves. （ B） There was neither enough gold nor enough silver.
10、 （ C） New coins were easier to be made. （ D） They could make money. 4 By the mid-nineteenth century, the term “ice-box“ had entered the American language, but ice was still only beginning to affect the diet of ordinary citizens in the United States: The ice trade grew with the growth of cities. Ice
11、was used in hotels, taverns, and hospitals, and by some forward-looking city dealers in fresh meat, fresh fish, and butter. After the Civil War (1861-1865), as ice was used to refrigerate freight cars, it also came into household use. Even before 1880, half the ice sold in New York, Philadelphia, an
12、d Baltimore, and one-third of that sold in Boston and Chicago, went to families for their own use. This had become possible because a new household convenience, the icebox, a precursor of the modern refrigerator, had been invented. Making an efficient icebox was not as easy as we might now suppose:
13、In the early nineteenth century, the knowledge of heat, which was essential to a science of refrigeration, was rudimentary. The commonsense notion that the best icebox was one that prevented the ice from melting was of course mistaken, for it was the melting of ice that performed the cooling. Nevert
14、heless, early efforts to economize ice included wrapping the ice in blankets, which kept the ice from doing its job. Not until near the end of the nineteenth century did inventors achieve the delicate balance of insulation and circulation needed for an efficient icebox. But as early as 1803, an inge
15、nious Maryland farmer, Thomas Moore, had been on the right track. He owned a farm about twenty miles outside the city of Washington, for which the village of Georgetown was the market center. When he used an icebox of his own design to transport his butter to market, he found that customers would pa
16、ss up the rapidly melting stuff in the tubs of his competitors to pay a premium price for his butter, still fresh and hard in neat, one-pound bricks. One advantage of his icebox, Moore explained, was that farmers would no longer have to travel to market at night in order to keep their produce cool.
17、5 What is the main idea of this passage? （ A） The influence of ice on the diet. （ B） The transportation of goods to market. （ C） The development of refrigeration. （ D） Sources of the term “ice-box“. 6 According to the passage, when did the word “ice-box“ become part of the American language? （ A） In
18、 1803. （ B） Around 1850. （ C） During the Civil War. （ D） Before 1880. 7 The word “rudimentary“ in Para. 2 is closest in meaning to _. （ A） basic （ B） sufficient （ C） necessary （ D） undeveloped 8 The sentence “Thomas Moore, had been on the right track“. (Para. 3) indicates that _. （ A） Moores farm wa
19、s not far away from Washington （ B） Moores farm was on the right road （ C） Moores design was completely successful （ D） Moore was suitable for the job 8 Today, the computer has taken up appliance status in more than 42 percent of households across the United States. And these computers are increasin
20、gly biting wired to the Internet. Online access was up more than 50 percent in just the past year. Now, more than one quarter of all U.S. households can surf in cyberspace. Mostly, this explosive growth has occurred democratically. The online penetration and computer ownership increases extend acros
21、s all the demographic levels by race, geography, income, and education. We view these trends as favorable without the slightest question because we clearly see computer technology as empowering. In fact, personal growth and a prosperous U.S. economy are considered to be the long-range rewards of ind
22、ividual and collective technological power. Now for the not-so-good news. The governments analysis spells out so-called digital divide. That is, the digital explosion is not booming at the same pace for everyone. Yes, it is true that we are all plugged in to a much greater degree than any of us have
23、 been in the past. But some of us are more plugged in than others and are getting plugged in far more rapidly. And this gap is widening even as the pace of the information age accelerates through society. Computer ownership and Internet access are highly classified along lines of wealth, race, educa
24、tion, and geography. The data indicates that computer ownership and online access are growing more rapidly among the most prosperous and well educated: essentially, wealthy white people with high school and college diplomas and who are part of stable, two-parent households. The highest income bracke
25、t households, those earning more than $75,000 annually, are 20 times as likely to have access to the Internet as households at the lowest income levels, under $10,000 annually. The computer-penetration rate at the high-income level is an amazing 76.56 percent, compared with 8 percent at the bottom e
26、nd of the scale. Technology access differs widely by educational level. College graduates are 16 times as likely to be Internet surfers at home as are those with only elementary-school education. If you look at the differences between these groups in rural areas, the gap widens to a twenty-six-fold
27、advantage for the college-educated. From the time of the last study, the information-access gap grew by 29 percent between the highest and lowest income groups, and by 25 percent between the highest and lowest education levels. In the long run, participation in the information age may not be a zero
28、sum game, where if some groups win, others must lose. Eventually, as the technology matures we are likely to see penetration levels approach all groups equally. This was true for telephone access and television ownership, but eventually can be cold comfort in an era when tomorrow is rapidly differen
29、t from today and unrecognizable compared with yesterday. 9 How many U.S. households have linked to Internet today? （ A） More than 25 percent. （ B） By 29 percent. （ C） More than 42 percent. （ D） More than 50 percent. 10 According to the text, the computer used by the high-income level is _ that by th
30、e lowest income levels. （ A） 8 percent more than （ B） 76.56 percent more than （ C） nearly 10 times as many as （ D） about 20 times as many as 11 According to the author, which of the following prevents people from gaining access to the Internet? （ A） Income level. （ B） Poor education and low-income l
31、evel. （ C） Participation in the information age. （ D） Telephone access and television ownership. 12 Judging from the context, what does “digital divide“ (Para. 3) probably mean? （ A） The governments analysis. （ B） The divide between the poor and the rich. （ C） The pace of the information age. （ D） T
32、he gap between peoples access to the computer. 12 Just over a year ago, I foolishly locked up my bicycle outside my office, but forgot to remove the pannier. When I returned the pannier had been stolen. Inside it were about ten of the little red notebooks I take everywhere for jotting down ideas for
33、 articles, short stories, TV shows and the like. When I lost my notebooks, I was devastated; all the ideas Id had over the past two years were contained within their pages. I could remember only a few of them, but had the impression that those I couldnt recall were truly brilliant. Those little book
34、s were crammed with the plots of award-winning novels and scripts for radio comedy shows that were only two-thirds as bad as the ones on at the moment. Thats not all, though. In my reminiscence, my lost notebooks contained sketches for many innovative and incredible machines. In one book there was a
35、 design for a device that could turn sea water into apple cider; in another, plan for an automatic dog; in a third, sketches for a pair of waterproof shoes with television screens built into the toes. Now all of these plans are lost to humanity. I found my notebooks again. It turns out they werent i
36、n the bike pannier at all, but in a bag in my spare room, where I found six months after supposedly losing them. And when I flipped through their pages, ready to run to the patent office in the morning, I discovered they were completely full of rubbish. Discovering the notebooks really shook me up.
37、I had firmly come to believe they were brimming with brilliant, inventive stuff and yet clearly they werent. I had deluded myself. After surveying my nonsense, I found that this halo effect always attaches itself to things that seem irretrievably lost. Dont we all have a sneaking feeling that the we
38、ather was sunnier, TV shows funnier and cake-shop buns bunnier in the not-very-distant pasty. All this would not matter much except that it is a powerful element in reactionary thought, this belief in a better yesterday. After all, racism often stems from a delusion that things have deteriorated sin
39、ce “they“ came. What a boon to society it would be if people could visit the past and see that it wasnt the paradise they imagine but simply the present with different hats. Sadly, time travel is impossible. Until now, that is. Because Ive suddenly remembered I left a leather jacket in an Indonesian
40、 restaurant a couples of years ago, and Im absolutely certain that in the inside pocket there was a sketch Id made. 13 By “only two-thirds as bad as the ones on at the moment“ the author means _. （ A） better than （ B） as bad as （ C） worse than （ D） as good as 14 As soon as the author read the lost n
41、otebooks, he _. （ A） reported the fact （ B） found it valueless （ C） registered the inventions （ D） was very excited 15 Which of the following would the author most probably agree with? （ A） Yesterday is better. （ B） Yesterday is no better than today. （ C） Self-delusion sometimes is necessary. （ D） T
42、hings today have deteriorated. 考博英语（阅读理解）模拟试卷 119答案与解析 一、 Reading Comprehension 1 【正确答案】 C 【试题解析】 本题可参照文章第 1段的 it was common to change a one-dollar bill for a dollars worth of silver。从中可知，以前用 1美金钞票兑换价值 1美元的银币是很平常的事情，紧接着作者给出了原因 银币在当时的确是由银制作的。因此 C项是正确答案。 2 【正确答案】 D 【试题解析】 本题的依据是文章第 l段最后一句： Coins today
43、 are made of an alloy of cheaper metals。因此 D项为正确答案。 3 【正确答案】 C 【试题解析】 本题可参照文章第 2段第 2句，从中可知良币和劣币的差别在于它们有不同的商品价值，而第 3段中又提到政府使用便宜的金属和金银混合以降低货币的实际价值，而且做金银交易的人可以分别出两种货币的不同，因此 C项为正确答案。 4 【正确答案】 D 【试题解析】 本题的依据是文章最后一段的第 3句： The governments could thus make a profit in coinage by issuing coins that had less p
44、recious metal than the face value indicated从中可知 D项为正确答案。 5 【正确答案】 C 【试题解析】 从文中内容可知，作者一开始谈到冰盒在美国出现，逐渐进入美国家庭，后面又提到人们一直都在尝试着更有效的利用冰来保鲜。从中可知 C项为正确答案。 6 【正确答案】 B 【试题解析】 本题的依据句是文章的第 1句： By the mid-nineteenth century, the term“ice-box”had entered the American language，从中可 知 B项为正确答案。 7 【正确答案】 D 【试题解析】 本题可参照
45、第 2段第 2句。这句的意思是 “在 19世纪早期，作为制冷科学关键因素的热学知识还没有 ” ，而紧接着的一句 “那种认为最好的冰盒就是阻止冰融化的常识自然是错误的 ”，从这句话可以判断当时人们对热学并不了解，引申这个意思的话就可以知道 rudimentary的意思肯定是负面的，因此 D项是正确答案。 8 【正确答案】 C 【试题解析】 本题可参照第 3段。从中可知，穆尔是一个天才的农夫，他设计了一个冰盒并应用于黄油的储存上，因而让自己的产 品卖到好价钱，因此 C项为正确答案。 9 【正确答案】 A 【试题解析】 本题的依据是文章第 1段最后一句： Now, more than one qua
46、rter of all U.S. households can surf in cyberspace。据此可知 A项为正确答案。 10 【正确答案】 C 【试题解析】 本题可参照第 5段的 The computer-penetration rate at the high-income level is an amazing 76.56 percent， compared with 8 percent at the bottom end of the scale。从中可知，在高收入阶层中，计算机渗透率是惊人的 76.56，而在这个比例的最底端仅有 8。用前者的 76.56与后者的 8相比，前者
47、正好是后者的将近 10倍，因此 C项是正确答案。 11 【正确答案】 B 【试题解析】 本题的依据是文章第 5段第 1句： Computer ownership and Internet access are highly classified along lines of wealth， race， education， and geography。在接下来的几段里，作者分别从教育和收入的角度对这种差别进行了比较分析，因此 B项是正确答案。 12 【正确答案】 D 【试题解析】 本题可参照文章第 4段。从第 1句中可知，政府的分析清楚地说明了所谓的数字分水岭，即数字爆炸发展的速度对于每个人是
48、不同的。而这里的数字爆炸明显是指计算机的使用，因为在文章第 2段第 l句里就说到了这种爆炸式的增长，如果和第 1段联系起来，爆炸式的增长指的就是计算机的使用。因此正确答案为 D项。 13 【正确答案】 A 【试题解析】 本题可参照文章的第 2段。从中可知，作者在丢失了笔记本之后感到非常可惜，而且认为自己丢失的都是精华，所以题干前面提到的笔记本里记载的广播剧剧本应该是比现在上演的要好，而且题干直译的话就是：只是正在上演的那些剧目的 2 3糟，也就是说过去记载的要稍好一点。因此 A项为正确答案。 14 【正确答案】 B 【试题解析】 本题的依据句是第 4段最后一句： when I flipped
49、through their pages， ready to run to the patent office in the morning， I discovered they were completely full of rubbish，从中可知 B项为正确答案。 15 【正确答案】 B 【试题解析】 本题可参照文章的最后 4段。作者对于自己在丢失笔记本后和重新找到后出现的思想变化进行了分析，从作者的分析中我们可以看出，他已经意识到人类对过去的、丢失的东西特别珍爱，而且与现有的东西比，人们总认为过去的和丢失的好，那么从文章倒数第 3段第 1句：相信过去更好除了在复古思想中是一种强大因素外，在 其他方面都不要紧。从中可知作者并不赞同这一观点，因此 B项为正确答案。
