1、考博英语（阅读理解）模拟试卷 42及答案与解析 一、 Reading Comprehension 0 Hunting for a job late last year, lawyer Gant Redmon stumbled across Career Builder, a job database on the Internet.He searched it with no success but was attracted by the sites “personal search agent“.Its an interactive feature that lets visitors k
2、ey in job criteria such as location, title, and salary, then e-mail them when a matching position is posted in the database.Redmon chose the key words legal, intellectual property, and Washington,D.C.Three weeks later, he got his first notification of an opening.“I struck gold,“ says Redmon, who e-m
3、ailed his resume to the employer and won a position as in-house counsel for a company. With thousands of career-related sites on the Internet, finding promising openings can be time consuming and inefficient.Search agents reduce the need for repeated visits to the databases.But although a search age
4、nt worked for Redmon, career experts see drawbacks.Narrowing your criteria, for example, may work against you, “Every time you answer a question, you eliminate a possibility,“ says one expert. For any job search, you should start with a narrow concept what you think you want to do then broaden it.“N
5、one of these programs do that,“ says another expert.“Theres no career counseling implicit in all of this.“ Instead, the best strategy is to use the agent as a kind of tip service to keep abreast of jobs in a particular database; when you getan e-mail, consider it a reminder to check the database aga
6、in.“I would not rely on agents for finding everything that is added to a database that might interest me,“ says the author of a job-searching guide. Some sites design their agents to tempt job hunters to return.When Career Sites agent sends out messages to those who have signed up for its service, f
7、or example, it includes only three potential jobs those it considers the best matches.There may be more matches in the database; job hunters will have to visit the site again to find them and they do.“On the day after we send our messages, we see a sharp increase in our traffic,“ says Seth Peets, vi
8、ce president of marketing for Career Site. Even those who arent hunting for jobs may find search agents worthwhile.Some use them to keep a close watch on the demand for their line of work or gather information on compensation to arm themselves when negotiating for a raise.Although happily employed,
9、Redmon maintains his agent at Career Builder.“You always keep your eyes open,“ he says.Working with a personal search agent means having another set of eyes looking out for you. 1 How did Redmon find his job? （ A） By searching openings in a job database. （ B） By posting a matching position in a data
10、base. （ C） By using a special service of a database. （ D） By e-mailing his resume to a database. 2 Which of the following can be a disadvantage of search agents? （ A） Lack of counseling. （ B） Limited number of visits. （ C） Lower efficiency. （ D） Fewer successful matches. 3 The expression “tip servic
11、e“ (Line 4, Para.3) most probably means_. （ A） advisory （ B） compensation （ C） interaction （ D） reminder 4 Why does Career Sites agent offer each job hunter only three job options? （ A） To focus on better job matches. （ B） To attract more returning visits. （ C） To reserve space for more messages. （
12、D） To increase the rate of success. 5 Which of the following is true according to the text? （ A） Personal search agents are indispensable to job-hunters. （ B） Some sites keep e-mailing job seekers to trace their demands. （ C） Personal search agents are also helpful to those already employed. （ D） So
13、me agents stop sending information to people once they are employed. 5 In recent years many countries of the world have been faced with the problem of how to make their workers more productive.Some experts claim the answer is to make jobs more varied.But do more varied jobs lead to greater productiv
14、ity? There is evidence to suggest that while variety certainly makes the workers life more enjoyable, it does not actually make them work harder.As far as increasing productivity is concerned, then variety is not an important factor. Other experts feel that giving the workers freedom to do their job
15、s in their own way is important and there is no doubt that this is true.The problem is that this kind of freedom cannot easily be given in the modem factory with its complicated machinery which must be used in a fixed way.Thus while freedom of choice may be important, there is usually very little th
16、at can be done to crente it.Another important consideration is how much worker contri butes to the prodwt he is making.In most factories bosses are now experimenting with having many small production lines rather than one large one, so that each worker contributes more to the production of the cars
17、on his line.It would seem that not only is degree of the workers contribution an important factor, but it is also one we can do something about. To what extent does more money lead to greater productivity? The workers themselves certainly think this important.But perhaps they want more only because
18、the work they do is so boring.Money just lets them enjoy their spare time more.A similar argument may explain demands for shorter working hours.Perhaps if we succeed in making their jobs more interesting, they will neither want more, nor will shorter working hours be so important to them. 6 Which of
19、 these possible factors leading to greater productivity is NOT true ? （ A） To make jobs more varied. （ B） To give the workers freedom to do their jobs in their own way . （ C） Degree of the workers contribution. （ D） Demands of longer working hours . 7 Why do workers want more money? （ A） Because the
20、ir jobs are too boring. （ B） In order to enjoy more spare time. （ C） To make their jobs more interesting. （ D） To demand shorter working hours. 8 The last sentence in this passage means that if we succeed in making workers jobs more interesting_. （ A） they will want more money （ B） they will demand
21、shorter working hours are important factors （ C） more money and shorter working hours are important factors （ D） more money and shorter working hours will not be so important to them 9 In this passage , the author tells us_. （ A） how to make the workers more productive （ B） impossible factors leadin
22、g to greater efficiency （ C） to what extent more money leads to greater productivity （ D） how to make workers jobs more interesting 9 When it comes to the slowing economy, Ellen Spero isnt biting her nails just yet.But the 47-year-old manicurist isnt cutting, filing or polishing as many nails as she
23、d like to, either.Most of her clients spend $12 to $ 50 weekly, but last month two longtime customers suddenly stopped showing up.Spero blames the softening economy.“Im a good economic indicator,“ she says.“I provide a service that people can do without when theyre concerned about saving some dollar
24、s.“ So Spero is downscaling, shopping at middle-brow Dillards department store near her suburban Cleveland home, instead of Neiman Marcus.“I dont know if other clients are going to abandon me, too,“ she says. Even before Alan Greenspans admission that Americas red-hot economy is cooling, lots of wor
25、king folks had already seen signs of the slowdown themselves.From car dealerships to Gap outlets, sales have been lagging for months as shoppers temper their spending.For retailers, who last year took in 24 percent of their revenue between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the cautious approach is coming
26、at a crucial time.Already, experts say, holiday sales are off 7 percent from last years pace.But dont sound any alarms just yet.Consumers seem only mildly concerned, not panicked, and many say they remain optimistic about the economys long-term prospects even as they do some modest belt-tightening.
27、Consumers say theyre not in despair because, despite the dreadful headlines, their own fortunes still feel pretty good.Home prices are holding steady in most regions.In Manhattan, “Theres a new gold rush happening in the $ 4 million to $10 million range, predominantly fed by Wall Street bonuses,“ sa
28、ys broker Barbara Corcoran.In San Francisco, prices are still rising even as frenzied overbidding quiets.“Instead of 20 to 30 offers, now maybe you only get two or three,“ says John Tealdi, a Bay Area real-estate broker.And most folks still feel pretty comfortable about their ability to find and kee
29、p a job. Many folks see silver linings to this slowdown.Potential home buyers would cheer for lower interest rates.Employers wouldnt mind a little fewer bubbles in the job market.Many consumers seem to have been influenced by stock-market swings, which investors now view as a necessary ingredient to
30、 a sustained boom.Diners might see an upside, too.Getting a table at Manhattans hot new Alain Ducasse restaurant used to be impossible.Not anymore.For that, Greenspan “Continuing along this path,“ says writer Earl Shorris.“We will become a second-rate country.We will have a less civil society.“ “Int
31、ellect is resented as a form of power or privilege,“ writes historian and professor Richard Hofstadter in Anti-intellectualism in American Life, a Pulitzer-Prize winning book on the roots of anti-intellectualism in U.S.politics, religion, and education.From the beginning of our history, says Hofstad
32、ter, our democratic and populist urges have driven us to reject anything that smells of elitism.Practicality, common sense, and native intelligence have been considered more noble qualities than anything you could learn from a book. Ralph Waldo Emerson and other Transcendentalist philosophers though
33、t schooling and rigorous book learning put unnatural restraints on children: “We are shut up in schools and college recitation rooms for 10 or 15 years and come out at last with a bellyful of words and do not know a thing.“ Mark Twains Huckleberry Finn exemplified American anti-intellectualism.Its h
34、ero avoids being civilized-going to school and learning to read-so he can preserve his innate goodness. Intellect, according to Hofstadter, is different from native intelligence, a quality we reluctantly admire.Intellect is the critical, creative, and contemplative side of the mind.Intelligence seek
35、s to grasp, manipulate, re-order, and adjust, while intellect examines, ponders, wonders, theorizes, criticizes, and imagines. School remains a place where intellect is mistrusted.Hofstadter says our countrys educational system is in the grips of people who “joyfully and militantly proclaim their ho
36、stility to intellect and their eagerness to identify with children who show the least intellectual promise“. 15 What do American parents expect their children to acquire in school? （ A） The habit of thinking independently. （ B） Profound knowledge of the world. （ C） Practical abilities for future car
37、eer. （ D） The confidence in intellectual pursuits. 16 We can learn from the text that Americans have a history of_. （ A） undervaluing intellect （ B） favoring intellectualism （ C） supporting school reform （ D） suppressing native intelligence 17 The views of Ravitch and Emerson on schooling are_. （ A）
38、 identical （ B） similar （ C） complementary （ D） opposite 18 Emerson, according to the text, is probably_. （ A） a pioneer of education reform （ B） an opponent of intellectualism （ C） a scholar in favor of intellect （ D） an advocate of regular schooling 19 What does the author think of intellect? （ A）
39、 It is second to intelligence. （ B） It evolves from common sense. （ C） It is to be pursued. （ D） It underlies power. 19 Wild Bill Donovan would have loved the Internet.The American spymaster who built the Office of Strategic Services in the World War II and later laid the roots for the CIA was fasci
40、nated with information.Donovan believed in using whatever tools came to hand in the “great game“ of espionage-spying as a “profession“.These days the Net, which has already remade pastimes as buying books and sending mail, is reshaping Donovans vocation as well. The last revolution isnt simply a mat
41、ter of gentlemen reading other gentlemens e-mail.That kind of electronic spying has been going on for decades.In the past three or four years, the World Wide Web has given birth to a whole industry of point-and-click spying.The spooks call it “open source intelligence“, and as the Net grows, it is b
42、ecoming increasingly influential.In 1995 the CIA held a contest to see who could compile the most data about Burundi.The winner, by a large margin, was a tiny Virginia company called Open-Source Solutions, whose clear advantage was its mastery of the electronic world. Among the firms making the bigg
43、est splash in the new world is Straitford, Inc., a private intelligence-analysis firm based in Austin, Texas.Straitford makes money by selling the results of spying (covering nations from Chile to Russia) to corporations like energy-services firm McDermott International.Many of its predictions are a
44、vailable online at . Straiford president George Friedman says he sees the online world as a kind of mutually reinforcing tool for both information collection and distribution, a spymasters dream.Last week his firm was busy vacuuming up data bits from the far corners of the world and predicting a cri
45、sis in Ukraine.“As soon as that report runs, well suddenly get 500 new internet sign-ups from Ukraine,“ says Friedman, a former political science professor.“And well hear back from some of them.“ Open-source spying does have its risks, of course, since it can be difficult to tell good information fr
46、om bad.Thats where Straitford earns its keep. Friedman relies on a lean staff with twenty in Austin.Several of his staff members have military- intelligence backgrounds.He sees the firms outsider status as the key to its success.Straitfords briefs dont sound like the usual Washington back-and-forthi
47、ng, whereby agencies avoid dramatic declarations on the chance they might be wrong.Straitford, says Friedman, takes pride in its independent voice. 20 The emergence of the Net has_. （ A） received support from fans like Donovan （ B） remolded the intelligence services （ C） restored many common pastime
48、s （ D） revived spying as a profession 21 Donovans story is mentioned in the text to_. （ A） introduce the topic of online spying （ B） show how he fought for the U.S. （ C） give an episode of the information war （ D） honor his unique services to the CIA 22 The phrase “making the biggest splash“ (Line 1
49、, Para.3) most probably means_. （ A） causing the biggest trouble （ B） exerting the greatest effort （ C） achieving the greatest success （ D） enjoying the widest popularity 23 It can be learned from Paragraph 4 that_. （ A） Straitfords prediction about Ukraine has proved true （ B） Straitford guarantees the truthfulness of its information （ C） Straitfords business is characterized by unpredictability （ D） Straitford is able to provide fairly reliable information 24 Straitford i
