1、考博英语（阅读理解）模拟试卷 44及答案与解析 一、 Reading Comprehension 0 Could the bad old days of economic decline be about to return? Since OPEC agreed to supply-cuts in March, the price of crude oil has jumped to almost $26 a barrel, up from less than $10 last December.This near-tripling of oil prices calls up scary m
2、emories of the 1973 oil shock, when prices quadrupled, and 1979-1980, when they also almost tripled.Both previous shocks resulted in double-digit inflation and global economic decline.So where are the headlines warning of gloom and doom this time? The oil price was given another push up this week wh
3、en Iraq suspended oil exports.Strengthening economic growth, at the same time as winter grips the northern hemisphere, could push the price higher still in the short term. Yet there are good reasons to expect the economic consequences now to be less severe than in the 1970s.In most countries the cos
4、t of crude oil now accounts for a smaller share of the price of petrol than it did in the 1970s.In Europe, taxes account for up to four-fifths of the retail price, so even quite big changes in the price of crude have a more muted effect on pump prices than in the past. Rich economies are also less d
5、ependent on oil than they were, and so less sensitive to swings in the oil price.Energy conservation, a shift to other fuels and a decline in the importance of heavy, energy-intensive industries have reduced oil consumption.Software, consultancy and mobile telephones use far less oil than steel or c
6、ar production.For each dollar of GDP (in constant prices) rich economies now use nearly 50% less oil than in 1973.The OECD estimates in its latest EconomicOutlook that, it oil prices averaged $22 a barrel for a full year, compared with $13 in 1998, this would increase the oil import bill in rich eco
7、nomies by only 0.25%-0.5% of GDP.That is less than one-quarter of the income loss in 1974 or 1980.On the other hand, oil-importing emerging economies to which heavy industry has shifted have become more energy-intensive, and so could be more seriously squeezed. One more reason not to lose sleep over
8、 the rise in oil prices is that, unlike the rises in the 1970s, it has not occurred against the background of general commodity-price inflation and global excess demand.A sizable portion of the world is only just emerging from economic decline.The Economists commodity price index is broadly unchangi
9、ng from a year ago.In 1973 commodity prices jumped by 70%, and in 1979 by almost 30%. 1 The main reason for the latest rise of oil price is_. （ A） global inflation （ B） reduction in supply （ C） fast growth in economy （ D） Iraqs suspension of exports 2 It can be inferred from the text that the retail
10、 price of petrol will go up dramatically if_. （ A） price of crude rises （ B） commodity prices rise （ C） consumption rises （ D） oil taxes rise 3 The estimates in Economic Outlook show that in rich countries_. （ A） heavy industry becomes more energy-intensive （ B） income loss mainly results from fluct
11、uating crude oil prices （ C） manufacturing industry has been seriously squeezed （ D） oil price changes have no significant impact on GDP 4 We can draw a conclusion from the text that_. （ A） oil-price shocks are less shocking now （ B） inflation seems irrelevant to oil-price shocks （ C） energy conserv
12、ation can keep down the oil prices （ D） the price rise of crude leads to the shrinking of heavy industry 5 From the text we can see that the writer seems_. （ A） optimistic （ B） sensitive （ C） gloomy （ D） scared 5 The Supreme Courts decisions on physician-assisted suicide carry important implications
13、 for how medicine seeks to relieve dying patients of pain and suffering. Although it ruled that there is no constitutional right to physician-assisted suicide, the Court in effect supported the medical principle of “double effect“, a centuries-old moral principle holding that an action having two ef
14、fects-a good one that is intended and a harmful one that is foreseen-is permissible if the actor intends only the good effect. Doctors have used that principle in recent years to justify using high doses of morphine to control terminally ill patients pain, even though increasing dosages will eventua
15、lly kill the patient. Nancy Dubler, director of Montefiore Medical Center, contends that the principle will shield doctors who “until now have very, very strongly insisted that they could not give patients sufficient mediation to control their pain if that might hasten death.“ George Annas, chair of
16、 the health law department at Boston University, maintains that, as long as a doctor prescribes a drug for a legitimate medical purpose, the doctor has done nothing illegal even if the patient uses the drug to hasten death.“Its like surgery,“ he says, “We dont call those deaths homicides because the
17、 doctors didnt intend to kill their patients, although they risked their death.If youre a physician, you can risk your patients suicide as long as you dont intend their suicide.“ On another level, many in the medical community acknowledge that the assisted-suicide debate has been fueled in part by t
18、he despair of patients for whom modern medicine has prolonged the physical agony of dying. Just three weeks before the Courts ruling on physician-assisted suicide, the National Academy of Science (NAS) released a two-volume report, Approaching Death: Improving Care at the End of Life.It identifies t
19、he undertreatment of pain and the aggressive use of “ineffectual and forced medical procedures that may prolong and even dishonor the period of dying“ as the twin problems of end-of-life care. The profession is taking steps to require young doctors to train in hospices, to test knowledge of aggressi
20、ve pain management therapies, and to develop new standards for assessing and treating pain at the end of life. Annas says lawyers can play a key role in insisting that these well-meaning medical initiatives translate into better care.“Large numbers of physicians seem unconcerned with the pain their
21、patients are needlessly and predictably suffering,“ to the extent that it constitutes “systematic patient abuse“.He says medical licensing boards “must make it clear that painful deaths are presumptively ones that are incompetently managed and should result in license suspension“. 6 From the first t
22、hree paragraphs, we learn that_. （ A） doctors used to increase drug dosages to control their patients pain （ B） it is still illegal for doctors to help the dying end their lives （ C） the Supreme Court strongly opposes physician-assisted suicide （ D） patients have no constitutional right to commit su
23、icide 7 Which of the following statements its true according to the text? （ A） Doctors will be held guilty if they risk their patients death. （ B） Modern medicine has assisted terminally ill patients in painless recovery. （ C） The Court ruled that high-dosage pain-relieving medication can be prescri
24、bed. （ D） A doctors medication is no longer justified by his intentions. 8 According to the NASs report, one of the problems in end-of-life care is_. （ A） prolonged medical procedures （ B） inadequate treatment of pain （ C） systematic drug abuse （ D） insufficient hospital care 9 Which of the followin
25、g best defines the word “aggressive“ (Line 3, Para.7)? （ A） Bold. （ B） Harmful. （ C） Careless. （ D） Desperate. 10 George Annas would probably agree that doctors should be punished if they_. （ A） manage their patients incompetently （ B） give patients more medicine than needed （ C） reduce drug dosages
26、 for their patients （ D） prolong the needless suffering of the patients 10 Specialization can be seen as a response to the problem of an increasing accumulation of scientific knowledge.By splitting up the subject matter into smaller units, one man could continue to handle the information and use it
27、as the basis for further research.But specialization was only one of a series of related developments in science affecting the process of communication.Another was the growing professionalisation of scientific activity. No clear-cut distinction can be drawn between professionals and amateurs in scie
28、nce: exceptions can be found to any rule.Nevertheless, the word “amateur“ does carry a connotation that the person concerned is not fully integrated into the scientific community and, in particular, may not fully share its values.The growth of specialization in the nineteenth century, with its conse
29、quent requirement of a longer, more complex training, implied greater problems for amateur participation in science.The trend was naturally most obvious in those areas of science based especially on a mathematical or laboratory training, and can be illustrated in terms of the development of geology
30、in the United Kingdom. A comparison of British geological publications over the last century and a half reveals not simply an increasing emphasis on the primacy of research, but also a changing definition of what constitutes an acceptable research paper.Thus, in the nineteenth century, local geologi
31、cal studies represented worthwhile research in their own right; but, in the twentieth century, local studies have increasingly become acceptable to professionals only if they incorporate, and reflect on, the wider geological picture.Amateurs, on the other hand, have continued to pursue local studies
32、 in the old way.The overall result has been to make entrance to professional geological journals harder for amateurs, a result that has been reinforced by the widespread introduction of refereeing, first by national journals in the nineteenth century and then by several local geological journals in
33、the twentieth century.As a logical consequence of this development, separate journals have now appeared aimed mainly towards either professional or amateur readership.A rather similar process of differentiation has led to professional geologists coming together nationally within one or two specific
34、societies, whereas the amateurs have tended either to remain in local societies or to come together nationally in a different way. Although the process of professionalisation and specialization was already well under way in British geology during the nineteenth century, its full consequences were th
35、us delayed until the twentieth century.In science generally, however, the nineteenth century must be reckoned as the crucial period for this change in the structure of science. 11 The growth of specialization in the 19th century might be more clearly seen in sciences such as_. （ A） sociology and che
36、mistry （ B） physics and psychology （ C） sociology and psychology （ D） physics and chemistry 12 We can infer from the passage that_. （ A） there is little distinction between specialization and professionalisation （ B） amateurs can compete with professionals in some areas of science （ C） professionals
37、 tend to welcome amateurs into the scientific community （ D） amateurs have national academic societies but no local ones 13 The author writes of the development of geology to demonstrate_. （ A） the process of specialization and professionalisation （ B） the hardship of amateurs in scientific study （
38、C） the change of policies in scientific publications （ D） the discrimination of professionals against amateurs 14 The direct reason for specialization is_. （ A） the development in communication （ B） the growth of professionalisation （ C） the expansion of scientific knowledge （ D） the splitting up of
39、 academic societies 14 A great deal of attention is being paid today to the so-called digital divide the division of the world into the info (information) rich and the info poor.And that divide does exist today.My wife and I lectured about this looming danger twenty years ago.What was less visible t
40、hen, however, were the new, positive forces that work against the digital divide.There are reasons to be optimistic. There are technological reasons to hope the digital divide will narrow.As the Internet becomes more and more commercialized, it is in the interest of business to universalize access-a
41、fter all, the more people online, the more potential customers there are.More and more governments, afraid their countries will be left behind, want to spread Internet access.Within the next decade or two, one to two billion people on the planet will be netted together.As a result, I now believe the
42、 digital divide will narrow rather than widen in the years ahead.And that is very good news because the Internet may well be the most powerful tool for combating world poverty that weve ever had. Of course, the use of the Internet isnt the only way to defeat poverty.And the Internet is not the only
43、tool we have.But it has enormous potential. To take advantage of this tool, some impoverished countries will have to get over their outdated anti-colonial prejudices with respect to foreign investment.Countries that still think foreign investment is an invasion of their sovereignty might well study
44、the history of infrastructure (the basic structural foundations of a society) in the United States.When the United States built its industrial infrastructure, it didnt have the capital to do so.And that is why Americas Second Wave infrastructure-including roads, harbors, highways, ports and so on-we
45、re built with foreign investment.The English, the Germans, the Dutch and the French were investing in Britains former colony.They financed them.Immigrant Americans built them.Guess who owns them now? The Americans.I believe the same thing would be true in places like Brazil or anywhere else for that
46、 matter.The more foreign capital you have helping you build your Third Wave infrastructure, which today is an electronic infrastructure, the better off youre going to be.That doesnt mean lying down and becoming fooled, or letting foreign corporations run uncontrolled.But it does mean recognizing how
47、 important they can be in building the energy and telecom infrastructures needed to take full advantage of the Internet. 15 Digital divide is something_. （ A） getting worse because of the Internet （ B） the rich countries are responsible for （ C） the world must guard against （ D） considered positive
48、today 16 Governments attach importance to the Internet because it_. （ A） offers economic potentials （ B） can bring foreign funds （ C） can soon wipe out world poverty （ D） connects people all over the world 17 The writer mentioned the case of the United States to justify the policy of_. （ A） providin
49、g financial support overseas （ B） preventing foreign capitals control （ C） building industrial infrastructure （ D） accepting foreign investment 18 It seems that now a countrys economy depends much on_. （ A） how well developed it is electronically （ B） whether it is prejudiced against immigrants （ C） whether it adopts Americas industrial pattern （ D） how much control it has over foreign corporations 18 Why do so many Americans distrust what they read in their newspapers? The Ame
