1、考博英语（阅读理解）模拟试卷 45及答案与解析 一、 Reading Comprehension 0 The world is going through the biggest wave of mergers and acquisitions never witnessed.The process sweeps from hyperactive America to Europe and reaches the emerging countries with unsurpassed might.Many in these countries are looking at this proce
2、ss and worrying: “Wont the wave of business concentration turn into an uncontrollable anti-competitive force?“ Theres no question that the big are getting bigger and more powerful.Multinational corporations accounted for less than 20% of international trade in 1982.Today the figure is more than 25%
3、and growing rapidly.International affiliates account for a fast-growing segment of production in economies that open up and welcome foreign investment.In Argentina, for instance, after the reforms of the early 1990s, multinationals went from 43% to almost 70% of the industrial production of the 200
4、largest firms.This phenomenon has created serious concerns over the role of smaller economic firms, of national businessmen and over the ultimate stability of the world economy. I believe that the most important forces behind the massive M there are newsletters, such as The Tightwad Gazette, that gi
5、ve hundreds of thousands of Americans useful tips on anything from recycling their cling-film to making their own soap; there are even support groups for those who want to achieve the mid-90s equivalent of dropping out. While in America the trend started as a reaction to the economic decline-after t
6、he mass redundancies caused by downsizing in the late 80s and is still linked to the politics of thrift, in Britain, at least among the middle-class down-shifters of my acquaintance, we have different reasons for seeking to simplify our lives. For the women of my generation who were urged to keep ju
7、ggling through the 80s, downshifting in the mid-90s is not so much a search for the mythical good life-growing your own organic vegetables, and risking turning into one-as a personal recognition of your limitations. 5 Which of the following is true according to Paragraph 1? （ A） Full-time employment
8、 is a new international trend. （ B） The writer was compelled by circumstances to leave her job. （ C） A lateral move means stepping out of full-time employment. （ D） The writer was only too eager to spend more time with her family. 6 The writers experiment shows that downshifting_. （ A） enables her t
9、o realize her dream （ B） helps her mold a new philosophy of life （ C） prompts her to abandon her high social status （ D） leads her to accept the doctrine or She magazine 7 “Juggling ones life“ probably means living a life characterized by_. （ A） non-materialistic lifestyle （ B） a bit of everything （
10、 C） extreme stress （ D） anti-consumerism 8 According to the passage, downshifting emerged in the U.S.as a result of_. （ A） the quick pace of modern life （ B） mans adventurous spirit （ C） mans search for mythical experiences （ D） the economic situation 8 A history of long and effortless success can b
11、e a dreadful handicap, but, if properly handled, it may become a driving force.When the United States entered just such a glowing period after the end of the Second World War, it had a market eight times larger than any competitor, giving its industries unparalleled economies of scale. Its scientist
12、s were the worlds best, its workers the most skilled.America and Americans were prosperous beyond the dreams of the Europeans and Asians whose economies the war had destroyed. It was inevitable that this primacy should have narrowed as other countries grew richer.Just as inevitably, the retreat from
13、 predominance proved painful.By the mid-1980s Americans had found themselves at a loss over their fading industrial competitiveness.Some huge American industries, such as consumer electronics, had shrunk or vanished in the face of foreign competition.By 1987 there was only one American television ma
14、ker left, Zenith.(Now there is none: Zenith was bought by South Koreas LG Electronics in July.) Foreign-made cars and textiles were sweeping into the domestic market.Americas machine-tool industry was on the ropes.For a while it looked as though the making of semiconductors, which America had invent
15、ed and which sat at the heart of the new computer age, was going to be the next casualty. All of this caused a crisis of confidence.Americans stopped taking prosperity for granted.They began to believe that their way of doing business was failing, and that their incomes would therefore shortly begin
16、 to fall as well.The mid-1980s brought one inquiry after another into the causes of Americas industrial decline. Their sometimes sensational findings were filled with warnings about the growing competition from overseas. How things have changed! In 1995 the United States can look back on five years
17、of solid growth while Japan has been struggling.Few Americans attribute this solely to such obvious causes as a devalued dollar or the turning of the business cycle.Self-doubt has yielded to blind pride.“American industry has changed its structure, has gone on a diet, has learnt to be more quick-wit
18、ted,“ according to Richard Cavanagh, executive dean of Harvards Kennedy School of Management, “It makes me proud to be an American just to see how our businesses are improving their productivity,“ says Stephen Moore of the Cato Institute, a think-tank in Washington.And William Sahlman of the Harvard
19、 Business School believes that people will look back on this period as “ a golden age of business management in the United States“. 9 The U.S.achieved its predominance after World War II because_. （ A） it had made painstaking efforts towards this goal （ B） its domestic market was eight times larger
20、than before （ C） the war had destroyed the economies of most potential competitors （ D） the unparalleled size of its workforce had given an impetus to its economy 10 The loss of U.S.predominance in the world economy in the 1980s is manifested in the fact that the American_. （ A） TV industry had with
21、drawn to its domestic market （ B） semiconductor industry had been taken over by foreign enterprises （ C） machine-tool industry had collapsed after suicidal actions （ D） auto industry had lost part of its domestic market 11 What can be inferred from the passage? （ A） It is human nature to shift betwe
22、en self-doubt and blind pried. （ B） Intense competition may contribute to economic progress. （ C） The revival of the economy depends on international cooperation. （ D） A long history of success may pave the way for further development. 12 The author seems to believe the revival of the U.S.economy in
23、 the 1990s can be attributed to the_. （ A） turning of the business cycle （ B） restructuring of industry （ C） improved business management （ D） success in education 12 Being a man has always been dangerous.There are about 105 males born for every 100 females, but this ratio drops to near balance at t
24、he age of maturity, and among 70-year-olds there are twice as many women as men.But the great universal of male mortality is being changed now, by babies survive almost as well as girls do.This means that, for the first time, there will be an excess of boys in those crucial years when they are searc
25、hing for a mate.More important, another chance for natural selection has been removed.Fifty years ago, the chance of a baby (particularly a boy baby) surviving depended on its weight.A kilogram too light or too heavy meant almost certain death.Today it makes almost no difference.Since much of the va
26、riation is due to genes one more agent of evolution has gone. There is another way to commit evolutionary suicide: stay alive, but have fewer children.Few people are as fertile as in the past.Except in some religious communities, very few women has 15 children.Nowadays, the number of births, like th
27、e age of death, has become average.Most of us have roughly the same number of offspring.Again, differences between people and the opportunity for natural selection to take advantage of it have diminished India shows what is happening.The country offers wealth for a few in the great cities and povert
28、y for the remaining tribal peoples.The grand mediocrity of today everyone being the same in survival and number of offspring means that natural selection has lost 80% of its power in upper-middle-class India compared to the tribes. For us, this means that evolution is over; the biological Utopia has
29、 arrived.Strangely, it has involved little physical change.No other species fills so many places in nature.But in the pass 100,000 years-even the pass 100 year our lives have been transformed but our bodies have not.We did not evolve, because machines and society did it for us.Darwin had a phrase to
30、 describe those ignorant of evolution: they “look at an organic being as average looks at a ship, as at something wholly beyond his comprehension.“ No doubt we will remember a 20th century way of life beyond comprehension for its ugliness.But however amazed our descendants may be at how far from Uto
31、pia we were, they will look just like us. 13 What used to be the danger in being a man according to the first paragraph? （ A） A lack of mates. （ B） A fierce competition. （ C） A lower survival rate. （ D） A defective gene. 14 What does the example of India illustrate? （ A） Wealthy people tend to have
32、fewer children than poor people. （ B） Natural selection hardly works among the rich and the poor. （ C） The middle class population is 80% smaller than that of the tribes. （ D） India is one of the countries with a very high birth rate. 15 The author argues that our bodies have stopped evolving becaus
33、e_. （ A） life has been improved by technological advance （ B） the number of female babies has been declining （ C） our species has reached the highest stage of evolution （ D） the difference between wealth and poverty is disappearing 16 Which of the following would be the best title for the passage? （
34、 A） Sex Ration Changes in Human Evolution （ B） Ways of Continuing Mans Evolution （ C） The Evolutionary Future of Nature （ D） Human Evolution Going Nowhere 16 Aimlessness has hardly been typical of the postwar Japan whose productivity and social harmony are the envy of the United States and Europe.Bu
35、t increasingly the Japanese are seeing a decline of the traditional work-moral values.Ten years ago young people were hardworking and saw their jobs as their primary reason for being, but now Japan has largely fulfilled its economic needs, and young people dont know where they should go next. The co
36、ming of age of the postwar baby boom and an entry of women into the male-dominated job market have limited the opportunities of teenagers who are already questioning the heavy personal sacrifices involved in climbing Japans rigid social ladder to good schools and jobs.In a recent survey, it was foun
37、d that only 24.5 percent of Japanese students were fully satisfied with school life, compared with 67.2 percent of students in the United States.In addition, far more Japanese workers expressed dissatisfaction with their jobs than did their counterparts in the 10 other countries surveyed. While ofte
38、n praised by foreigners for its emphasis on the basics, Japanese education tends to stress test taking and mechanical learning over creativity and self-expression.“Those things that do not show up in the test scores personality, ability, courage or humanity are completely ignored,“ says Toshiki Kaif
39、u, chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Partys education committee, “Frustration against this kind of thing leads kids to drop out and run wild.“ Last year Japan experienced 2,125 incidents of school violence, including 929 assaults on teachers.Amid the outcry, many conservative leaders are see
40、king a return to the prewar emphasis on moral education.Last year Mitsuo Setoyama, who was then education minister, raised eyebrows when he argued that liberal reforms introduced by the American occupation authorities after World War II had weakened the “Japanese morality of respect for parents.“ Bu
41、t that may have more to do with Japanese life-styles.“In Japan,“ says educator Yoko Muro, “its never a question of whether you enjoy your job and your life, but only how much you can endure.“ With economic growth has come centralization; fully 76 percent of Japans 119 million citizens live in cities
42、 where community and the extended family have been abandoned in favor of isolated, two generation households.Urban Japanese have long endured lengthy commutes (travels to and from work) and crowded living conditions, but as the old group and family values weaken, the discomfort is beginning to tell.
43、In the past decade, the Japanese divorce rate, while still well below that of the United States, has increased by more than 50 percent, and suicides have increased by nearly one-quarter. 17 In the Westerners eyes, the postwar Japan was_. （ A） under aimless development （ B） a positive example （ C） a
44、rival to the West （ D） on the decline 18 According to the author, what may chiefly be responsible for the moral decline of Japanese society? （ A） Womens participation in social activities is limited. （ B） More workers are dissatisfied with their jobs. （ C） Excessive emphasis has been placed on the b
45、asics. （ D） The life-style has been influenced by Western values. 19 Which of the following is true according to the author? （ A） Japanese education is praised for helping the young climb the social ladder. （ B） Japanese education is characterized by mechanical learning as well as creativity. （ C） M
46、ore stress should be placed on the cultivation of creativity. （ D） Dropping out leads to frustration against test taking. 20 The change in Japanese life-style is revealed in the fact that_. （ A） the young are less tolerant of discomforts （ B） the divorce rate in Japan exceeds that in the U.S. （ C） t
47、he Japanese endure more than ever before （ D） the Japanese appreciate their present life 考博英语（阅读理解）模拟试卷 45答案与解析 一、 Reading Comprehension 1 【正确答案】 C 【试题解析】 从文章的第 1段可知，全世界正在经历一场有史以来最大的合并浪潮；这一合并浪潮从极度活跃的美国传到欧洲，随后，以一种无法抵挡的力量到达那些日渐富裕的国家。从第 2段可知，规模大的企业会愈大，实力会愈强，这是毋庸置疑的。据此可知：当今企业的典型趋势是通过合并使自己变得更大。 C项与文章的意思相
48、符，因此 C项为正确答案。 2 【正确答案】 A 【试题解析】 本题可参照文章的第 3段。从中可知，我认为引发这场合并浪潮的最关键的力量与导致全球一体化的力量是相似的：即运输与通信费用降低，贸易与投资壁垒 减小；市场扩大这一切均需要扩大经营规模以满足消费者的需求；这对消费者来说有百利而无一害。随着生产力的发展，全世界的财富也会增加。据此可知，合并浪潮的推动力就是运输与通信费用降低、贸易与投资壁垒的减少以及市场扩大，这些市场需要能够满足消费者需求的、扩大了的经营规模。 A项与文章的意思相符，因此 A项为正确答案。 3 【正确答案】 D 【试题解析】 本题可参照文章的第 4段。从中可知，目前的这种
49、合并是有利可图还是要付出代价，有关的实例不多；然而，很难想象，今天几家石油公司的合并会再现美国一个世纪以前标准石油 托拉斯解体时对竞争所产生的同样的威胁；像世界电信这类电信公司的合并似乎不会给消费者带来更高的费用，或是减缓技术进步的速度；与之相反，通信费用正在急速下降；汽车行业的合并也在逐渐增加，但是，消费者的利益好像并没有受到损害。据此可知，美国的标准石油托拉斯曾经给竞争带来过威胁。 D项与文章的意思相符，因此 D项为正确答案。 4 【正确答案】 B 【试题解析】 从文章第 1段的内容可知，全世界正在经历一场有史以来最大的合并浪潮；从第 2段的内容可知，毫无疑问，规模大的企业会愈大，实力也会愈强；从第 3段的内容可知， 我认为，引发这场大规模的合并的最重要的原因与导致全球化过程的原因相似；从文章第 4段的内容可知，目前的这股行业集中浪潮是有利可图还是要付出代价，有关的实例不多；消费者的利益似乎并没有受到损害；从文章最后一段的内容可知，不过，存在的事实是我们必须关注这股合并浪潮；当一个国家对违反公平竞争的现象控制过于严格时，跨国公司难道不会把其生产从一个国家转到另一个国家去吗 ? 5 【正确答案】 B 【试题解析】 本题可参照文章
