1、2009年考研英语真题试卷及答案与解析 一、 Section I Use of English Directions: Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D. (10 points) 1 Research on animal intelligence always makes us wonder just how smart humans are. 【 B1】 the fruit-fly experiments described by Car
2、l Zimmer in the Science Times. Fruit flies who were taught to be smarter than the average fruit fly 【 B2】 to live shorter lives. This suggests that 【 B3】 bulbs burn longer, that there is a(n) 【 B4】 in not being too bright. Intelligence, it 【 B5】 , is a high-priced option. It takes more upkeep, burns
3、 more fuel and is slow 【 B6】 the starting line because it depends on learning a(n) 【 B7】 process instead of instinct. Plenty of other species are able to learn, and one of the things theyve apparently learned is when to 【 B8】 . Is there an adaptive value to 【 B9】 intelligence? Thats the question beh
4、ind this new research. Instead of casting a wistful glance 【 B10】 at all the species weve left in the dust I.Q.-wise, it implicitly asks what the real 【 B11】 of our own intelligence might be. This is 【 B12】 the mind of every animal weve ever met. Research on animal intelligence also makes us wonder
5、what experiments animals would 【 B13】 on humans if they had the chance. Every cat with an owner, 【 B14】 , is running a small-scale study in operant conditioning. We believe that 【 B15】 animals ran the labs, they would test us to 【 B16】 the limits of our patience, our faithfulness, our memory for loc
6、ations. They would try to decide what intelligence in humans is really 【 B17】 , not merely how much of it there is. 【 B18】 , they would hope to study a(n) 【 B19】 question: Are humans actually aware of the world they live in? 【 B20】 the results are inconclusive. 1 【 B1】 （ A） Suppose （ B） Consider （ C
7、） Observe （ D） Imagine 2 【 B2】 （ A） tended （ B） feared （ C） happened （ D） threatened 3 【 B3】 （ A） thinner （ B） stabler （ C） lighter （ D） dimmer 4 【 B4】 （ A） tendency （ B） advantage （ C） inclination （ D） priority 5 【 B5】 （ A） insists on （ B） sums up （ C） turns out （ D） puts forward 6 【 B6】 （ A） off （
8、 B） behind （ C） over （ D） along 7 【 B7】 （ A） incredible （ B） spontaneous （ C） inevitable （ D） gradual 8 【 B8】 （ A） fight （ B） doubt （ C） stop （ D） think 9 【 B9】 （ A） invisible （ B） limited （ C） indefinite （ D） different 10 【 B10】 （ A） upward （ B） forward （ C） afterward （ D） backward 11 【 B11】 （ A） f
9、eatures （ B） influences （ C） results （ D） costs 12 【 B12】 （ A） outside （ B） on （ C） by （ D） across 13 【 B13】 （ A） deliver （ B） carry （ C） perform （ D） apply 14 【 B14】 （ A） by chance （ B） in contrast （ C） as usual （ D） for instance 15 【 B15】 （ A） if （ B） unless （ C） as （ D） lest 16 【 B16】 （ A） modera
10、te （ B） overcome （ C） determine （ D） reach 17 【 B17】 （ A） at （ B） for （ C） after （ D） with 18 【 B18】 （ A） Above all （ B） After all （ C） However （ D） Otherwise 19 【 B19】 （ A） fundamental （ B） comprehensive （ C） equivalent （ D） hostile 20 【 B20】 （ A） By accident （ B） In time （ C） So far （ D） Better st
11、ill Part A Directions: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. (40 points) 21 Habits are a funny thing. We reach for them mindlessly, setting our brains on auto-pilot and relaxing into the unconscious comfort of familiar routine. “Net choice, but
12、 habit rules the unreflecting herd,“ William Wordsworth said in the 19th century. In the ever-changing 21st century, even the word “habit“ carries a negative implication. So it seems paradoxical to talk about habits in the same context as creativity and innovation. But brain researchers have discove
13、red that when we consciously develop new habits, we create parallel paths, and even entirely new brain cells, that can jump our trains of thought onto new, innovative tracks. Rather than dismissing ourselves as unchangeable creatures of habit, we can instead direct our own change by consciously deve
14、loping new habits. In fact, the more new things we trythe more we step outside our comfort zonethe more inherently creative we become, both in the workplace and in our personal lives. But dont bother trying to kill off old habits; once those ruts of procedure are worn into the brain, theyre there to
15、 stay. Instead, the new habits we deliberately press into ourselves create parallel pathways that can bypass those old reads. “The first thing needed for innovation is a fascination with wonder,“ says Dawna Markova, author of The Open Mind. “But we are taught instead to decide, just as our president
16、 calls himself the Decider.“ She adds, however, that “to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one. A good innovational thinker is always exploring the many other possibilities.“ All of us work through problems in ways of which were unaware, she says. Researchers in the late 1960a discovered t
17、hat humans are born with the capacity to approach challenges in four primary ways: analytically, procedurally, relationally (or collaboratively) and innovatively. At the end of adolescence, however, the brain shuts down half of that capacity, preserving only those modes of thought that have seemed m
18、ost valuable during the first decade or so of life. The current emphasis on standardized testing highlights analysis and procedure, meaning that few of us inherently use our innovative and collaborative modes of thought. “This breaks the major rule in the American belief system that anyone can do an
19、ything,“ explains M. J. Ryan, author of the 2006 book This Year I Will. and Ms. Markovas business partner. “Thats a lie that we have perpetuated, and it fosters commonness. Knowing what youre good at and doing even more of it creates excellence.“ This is where developing new habits comes in. 21 In W
20、ordsworths view, “habits“ is characterized by being _. （ A） casual （ B） familiar （ C） mechanical （ D） changeable 22 Brain researchers have discovered that the formation of new habits can be _. （ A） predicted （ B） regulated （ C） traced （ D） guided 23 The word “ruts“ (Line 1, Paragraph 4) is closest i
21、n meaning to _. （ A） tracks （ B） series （ C） characteristics （ D） connections 24 Dawns Murkova would most probably agree that _. （ A） ideas are born of a relaxing mind （ B） innovativeness could be taught （ C） decisiveness derives from fantastic ideas （ D） curiosity activates creative minds 25 Ryans
22、comments suggest that the practice of standardized testing _. （ A） prevents new habits from being formed （ B） no longer emphasizes commonness （ C） maintains the inherent American thinking mode （ D） complies with the American belief system 26 It is a wise father that knows his own child, but today a
23、man can boost his paternal (fatherly) wisdom or at least confirm that hes the kids dad. All he needs to do is shell out $30 for paternity testing kit (PTK) at his local drugstoreand another $120 to get the results. More than 60,000 people have purchased the PTKs since they first became available wit
24、hout prescriptions last year, according to Doug Fogg, chief operating officer of Identigene, which makes the over-the-counter kits. More than two dozen companies sell DNA tests directly to the public, ranging in price from a few hundred dollars to more than $ 2,500. Among the most popular: paternity
25、 and kinship testing, which adopted children can use to find their biological relatives and families can use to track down kids put up for adoption. DNA testing is also the latest rage among passionate genealogistsand supports businesses that offer to search for a familys geographic roots. Most test
26、s require collecting cells by swabbing saliva in the mouth and sending it to the company for testing. All tests require a potential candidate with whom to compare DNA. But some observers are skeptical. “There is a kind of false precision being hawked by people claiming they are doing ancestry testin
27、g,“ says Troy Duster, a New York University sociologist. He notes that each individual has many ancestorsnumbering in the hundreds just a few centuries back. Yet most ancestry testing only considers a single lineage, either the Y chromosome inherited through men in a fathers line or mitochondrial DN
28、A, which is passed down only from mothers. This DNA can reveal genetic information about only one or two ancestors, even though, for example, just three generations back people also have six other great-grandparents or, four generations back, 14 other great-great-grandparents. Critics also argue tha
29、t commercial genetic testing is only as good as the reference collections to which a sample is compared. Databases used by some companies dont rely on data collected systematically but rather lump together information from different research projects. This means that a DNA database may have a lot of
30、 data from some regions and not others, so a persons test results may differ depending on the company that processes the results. In addition, the computer programs a company uses to estimate relationships may be patented and not subject to peer review or outside evaluation. 26 In Paragraphs 1 and 2
31、, the text shows PTKs _. （ A） easy availability （ B） flexibility in pricing （ C） successful promotion （ D） popularity with households 27 PTK is used to _. （ A） locate ones birth place （ B） promote genetic research （ C） identify parent-child kinship （ D） choose children for adoption 28 Skeptical obse
32、rvers believe that ancestry testing fails to _. （ A） trace distant ancestors （ B） rebuild reliable bloodlines （ C） fully use genetic information （ D） achieve the claimed accuracy 29 In the last paragraph, a problem commercial genetic testing faces is _. （ A） disorganized data collection （ B） overlap
33、ping database building （ C） excessive sample comparison （ D） lack of patent evaluation 30 An appropriate title for the text is most likely to be _. （ A） Fors and Againsts of DNA Testing （ B） DNA Testing and It Problems （ C） DNA Testing Outside the Lab （ D） Lies Behind DNA Testing 31 The relationship
34、 between formal education and economic growth in poor countries is widely misunderstood by economists and politicians alike. Progress in both areas is undoubtedly necessary for the social, political and intellectual development of these and all other societies; however, the conventional view that ed
35、ucation should be one of the very highest priorities for promoting rapid economic development in poor countries is wrong. We are fortunate that it is, because building new educational systems there and putting enough people through them to improve economic performance would require two or three gene
36、rations. The findings of a research institution have consistently shown that workers in all countries can be trained on the job to achieve radically higher productivity and, as a result, radically higher standards of living. Ironically, the first evidence for this ides appeared in the United States.
37、 Not long ago, with the country entering a recession and Japan at its pre-bubble peak, the U.S. workforce was derided as poorly educated and one of the primary causes of the poor U.S. economic performance. Japan was, and remains, the global leader in automotive-assembly productivity. Yet the researc
38、h revealed that the U.S. factories of Honda, Nissan, and Toyota achieved about 95 percent of the productivity of their Japanese counterpartsa result of the training that U.S. workers received on the job. More recently, while examining housing construction, the researchers discovered that illiterate,
39、 non-English-speaking Mexican workers in Houston, Texas, consistently met best-practice labor productivity standards despite the complexity of the building industrys work. What is the real relationship between education and economic development? We have to suspect that continuing economic growth pro
40、motes the development of education even when governments dont force it. Alter all, thats how education got started. When our ancestors were hunters and gatherers 10,000 years ago, they didnt have time to wonder much about anything besides finding food. Only when humanity began to get its food in a m
41、ore productive way was there time for other things. As education improved, humanitys productivity potential increased as well. When the competitive environment pushed our ancestors to achieve that potential, they could in turn afford more education. This increasingly high level of education is proba
42、bly a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition for the complex political systems required by advanced economic performance. Thus poor countries might not be able to escape their poverty traps without political changes that may be possible only with broader formal education. A lack of formal educat
43、ion, however, doesnt constrain the ability of the developing worlds workforce to substantially improve productivity for the foreseeable future. On the contrary, constraints on improving productivity explain why education isnt developing more quickly there than it is. 31 The author holds in Paragraph
44、 1 that the importance of education in poor countries _. （ A） is subject to groundless doubts （ B） has fallen victim of bias （ C） is conventionally downgraded （ D） has been overestimated 32 It is stated in Paragraph 1 that the construction of a new educational system _. （ A） challenges economists an
45、d politicians （ B） takes efforts of generations （ C） demands priority from the government （ D） requires sufficient labor force 33 A major difference between the Japanese and U. S workforces is that _. （ A） the Japanese workforce is better disciplined （ B） the Japanese workforce is more productive （
46、C） the U. S workforce has a better education （ D） the U. S workforce is more organized 34 The author quotes the example of our ancestors to show that education emerged _. （ A） when people had enough time （ B） prior to better ways of finding food （ C） when people no longer went hungry （ D） as a resul
47、t of pressure on government 35 According to the last paragraph, development or education _. （ A） results directly from competitive environments （ B） does not depend on economic performance （ C） follows improved productivity （ D） cannot afford political changes 36 The most thoroughly studied intellec
48、tuals in the history of the New World are the ministers and political leaders of seventeenth-century New England. According to the standard history of American philosophy, nowhere else in colonial America was “so much importance attached to intellectual pursuits.” According to many books and article
49、s, New Englands leaders established the basic themes and preoccupations of an unfolding, dominant Puritan tradition in American intellectual life. To take this approach to the New Englanders normally means to start with the Puritans theological innovations and their distinctive ideas about the churchimportant subjects that we may not neglect. But in keeping with our examination of southern intellectual life, we may consider the original Puritans as carriers of E
