1、考研英语模拟试卷 171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 Most of us would like to be both (1)_ and creative. Why was Thomas Edison able to invent so many things? Was he simply more intelli
2、gent than most people? Did he spend long hours toiling away in private? Surprisingly, when Edison was a young boy, his teacher told him he was too (2)_ to learn anything. Other famous people whose creative genius went (3)_ when they were young include Walt Disney, who was fired from a newspaper job
3、because he did not have any good ideas and Enrico Caruso, whose music teacher told him that his (4)_ was terrible. Disney, Edison and Caruso were intelligent and creative men; (5)_, experts on creativity believe that intelligence is not the same as creativity. Creativity is the ability to think abou
4、t something in new and unusual ways, and to (6)_ out unique solutions to problems. When creative people are asked what enables them to solve problems in new ways, they say that the ability to find affinities between (7)_ unrelated elements plays a key role. They also say that they have the time and
5、independence in a(an) (8)_ setting to (9)_ a wide range of possible solutions to a problem. How strongly is creativity (10)_ to intelligence? (11)_ most creative people are quite intelligent, the (12)_ is not necessarily true. Many highly intelligent people (13)_ measured by IQ tests) are not very c
6、reative. Some experts remain skeptical that we will ever fully understand the creative process. Others believe that a psychology of creativity is within reach. Most experts agree, (14)_, that the concept of creativity as (15)_ bubbling up from a magical (16)_ is a myth. Momentary (17)_ of insight, (
7、18)_ by images, make up a (19)_ part of the creative process. At the heart of the creative process are ability and experience that (20)_ an individuals effort, often over the course of a lifetime. （ A） imaginative （ B） brilliant （ C） inventive （ D） original （ A） clumsy （ B） awkward （ C） dumb （ D） un
8、tutored （ A） despised （ B） hidden （ C） distorted （ D） unnoticed （ A） accent （ B） tone （ C） sound （ D） voice （ A） although （ B） nevertheless （ C） so （ D） whenever （ A） root （ B） set （ C） come （ D） solve （ A） seemingly （ B） actually （ C） logically （ D） barely （ A） enjoyable （ B） appropriate （ C） speci
9、al （ D） pleased （ A） create （ B） construct （ C） compose （ D） entertain （ A） related （ B） interacted （ C） based （ D） associated （ A） Thereat （ B） Thereof （ C） Whereas （ D） Whereby （ A） inverse （ B） reverse （ C） transverse （ D） diverse （ A） as （ B） which （ C） what （ D） that （ A） however （ B） therefore
10、 （ C） furthermore （ D） ultimately （ A） spontaneously （ B） intermittently （ C） coincidentally （ D） simultaneously （ A） fountain （ B） well （ C） waterfall （ D） hotspring （ A） flashes （ B） flares （ C） glares （ D） glints （ A） accompanied （ B） showed （ C） inspired （ D） formed （ A） small （ B） important （ C
11、） significant （ D） temporary （ A） change （ B） adjust （ C） alter （ D） shape Part A Directions: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. (40 points) 21 More and more people are starting to work from home, re-assessing their “work-life balance“ and c
12、apitalising on what industry calls “remote working“. A recent survey of British companies showed that eight out of ten businesses have now agreed new working arrangements for their personnel. The object of the exercise was to improve the work-life balance of employees and encourage greater levels of
13、 efficiency. During 2003/2004, some 900,000 requests to work flexibly were made under a new Gov-eminent scheme and 800,000 of the applications were granted. Furthermore, seven out of ten businesses said that they also would be prepared to consider flexible working requests from other staff who did n
14、ot qualify under the Government scheme. One of the new technological developments that makes remote working possible is the Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), broadband that can carry both voice and data at high-speed. Re mote workers can connect to their companys Virtual Private Network e
15、ither through Digital Sub scriber Line (DSL) internet, which is permanently connected, or through a Remote Access Service (RAS), which involves having to dial in each time. “People started thinking about remote working back in the Eighties but the technology was not available to consider it a possib
16、ility,“ says Meyrick Vevers, Commercial Director of Telewest Broadband, one of UKs communication and media groups. “However, now with the increased availability and use of DSL to home users, remote working is definitely on the increase. Of course, security is very important and IT directors are unde
17、rstandably cautious. But they are now beginning to feel more comfortable about allowing their staff a higher level of access from home. Telewest Businesss experience in putting together product solutions is based on the companys focus on understanding their customers needs. Because customers needs a
18、re diverse and Telewest Businesss possible solutions are wide-ranging, the company invites businesses seeking further information to visit their web site or call direct. Call centre workers, mobile staff, such as sales executives and local authority social workers or parents at home, are among those
19、 for whom remote working appears to be increasingly attractive. “People in industry in the UK have some of the longest working hours in the world,“ says Vevers. “Doing those hours solely in the office is more disruptive to the personal life of the individual than having the flexibility to work from
20、home. “Remote working is all about personal choice and giving people more flexibility that suits their personal lives. At Telewest Business, we aim to try and help play a part in enabling companies to give their employees that flexibility.“ 21 The phrase “capitalising on“(Para. 1) can be substituted
21、 by （ A） investing money in. （ B） specializing in. （ C） insisting upon. （ D） making use of. 22 According to the passage, remote working （ A） rids people of the work which is required of them in the office. （ B） requires the users to dial into the companys Virtual Private Network. （ C） might be avail
22、able for those not included in the government scheme. （ D） was brought to peoples minds by advancement of broadwidth tech. 23 IT directors feel comfortable because （ A） safeguards are no longer really necessary. （ B） the remote workforce is expanding rapidly. （ C） they are more confident of their ne
23、tworks safety. （ D） their staff get easier access to the internet. 24 The example of Telewest is mentioned to show that （ A） the Business eliminates the unbalance of peoples life. （ B） its hard to please peoples various desires. （ C） the Business is sophisticated in luring customers. （ D） the divers
24、e demands for remote working are being met. 25 The best title for the passage might be （ A） Remote Working Is In. （ B） Telecommunication Tech Is Ever Improving. （ C） Work-Life Balance Needs to Be Kept. （ D） Technology Makes Remote Working a Reality. 26 Scientists have long warned that some level of
25、global warming is a done deal due in large part to heat-trapping greenhouse gases humans already have pumped skyward. Now, however, researchers are fleshing out how much future warming and sea-level rise the world has triggered. The implicit message: “We cant stop this, so how do we live with it?“ s
26、ays Thomas Wigley, a climate researcher at NCAR. One group, led by Gerald Meehl at NCAR, used two state-of-the-art climate models to explore what could happen if the world had held atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases steady since 2000. The results: Even if the world had slammed on the bra
27、kes five years ago, global average temperatures would rise by about 1 degree Fahrenheit by the end of the 21st century. Sea levels would rise by another 4 inches over 20th-century increases. Rising sea-levels would continue well beyond 2100, even without adding water from melting glaciers and ice sh
28、eets. The rise highlights the oceans enormous capacity to absorb heat and its slow reaction to changes in atmospheric conditions. The team ran each model several times with a range of “what if“ concentrations, as well as ob served concentrations, for comparison. Temperatures eventually level out, Dr
29、. Meehl says in reviewing his teams results. “But sea-level increases keep ongoing. The relentless nature of sea-level rise is pretty daunting.“ Dr. Wigley took a slightly different approach with a simpler model. He ran simulations that capped concentrations, at 2000 levels. If concentrations are he
30、ld constant, warming could exceed 1.8 degrees F. by 2400. The two researchers add that far from holding steady, concentrations of greenhouse gases continue to rise. Thus, at best, the results point to the least change people can expect, they say. The idea that some level of global climate change fro
31、m human activities is inevitable is not new. But the word has been slow to make its way into the broader debate. “Many people dont realize we are committed right now to a significant amount of global warming and sea-level rise. The longer we wait, the more climate change we are committed to in the f
32、uture,“ Meehl says. While the concept of climate-change commitment isnt new, these fresh results “tell us whats possible and whats realistic“ and that for the immediate future, “prevention is not on the table,“ says Roger Pielke Jr., director of the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research.
33、 To Pielke and others, this means adaptation should be given a much higher priority that its received to date. “Theres a cultural bias in favor of prevention,“ he says. But any sound policy includes preparation as well, he adds. “We have the scientific and technological knowledge we need to improve
34、adaptation and apply that knowledge globally.“ 26 According to the research of NCAR, if the concentrations were held steady at 2000 levels, （ A） the oceans capacity to absorb heat would decline. （ B） the sea-level would keep on increasing. （ C） the global average temperature would decrease. （ D） sig
35、nificant climate change would not take place. 27 Global warming is something （ A） getting worse because of a culture bias. （ B） caused by the rise of the sea level. （ C） people have to live with. （ D） we dont need to worry about in the future. 28 By “at best, the results point to the least change pe
36、ople can expect“,(Paragraph 3) the researchers try to tell us that （ A） the impact of climate change is relatively minor. （ B） the global warming is inevitable in the near future. （ C） concentrations of greenhouse gases cannot beheld steady. （ D） the atmospheric conditions will be better than people
37、 think. 29 The views of Pielke and Dr. Wigley on how to face global warming are （ A） unrelated. （ B） similar. （ C） complementary. （ D） opposite. 30 The author writes this passage to （ A） call on people to prevent global warming. （ B） present the results from two research models. （ C） appeal to peopl
38、e to take adaptation as priority. （ D） forecast the future trends of global warming. 31 Tom Burke recently tried to print out a boarding pass from home before one of the frequent/lights he takes. He couldnt. His name, or one similar to it, is now on one of the Transportation Security Administrations
39、 terrorist watch lists. Every day, thousands of people like Burke find themselves unable o do things like print a boarding pass and are pulled aside for extensive screening because their name, or a name that sounds like theirs, is on one of the watch lists. From the TSAs perspective, the screening i
40、s just one of the many new layers of increased security that are designed to prevent terrorist activity. The inconvenience is regrettable, but a price that society has to pay for security. And for national security reasons, the FBI and other government agencies responsible for supplying names to the
41、 lists will not disclose the criteria they use. They say that would amount to tipping their hands to the terrorists. But civil libertarians are more concerned about the long-term consequence of the current lists. On Sept. 11, 2001, the no-fly list contained 16 names. Now, the combined lists are esti
42、mated to have as many as 20,000. Internal FBI memos from agents referred to the process as “really confused“ and “not comprehensive and not centralized.“ Burke and others contend that such comments axe disturbing, because it was during the first year after the attacks that the watch lists grew expon
43、entially. “The underlying danger is not that Tom. Burke can no longer get a boarding pass to get on an air line,“ says a lawyer. “Its that the Tom Burkes in the world may forever more be associated (with the terrorist watch list).“ Burke says they do know that the lists axe frequently updated and di
44、stributed internationally, but they dont know how the old lists are destroyed. They also hope to ensure that sometime in the future a person whose name is on the list, but is not a terrorist, does not run into further trouble if, say, law enforcement in another country that theyre visiting comes acr
45、oss their name on one of the old lists. In addition, airlines are concerned that the lists are not updated frequently enough. “Weve been encouraging the TSA to work with all of the other federal law-enforcement agencies to get a regular re view of the names that they submit to TSA, because there hav
46、e been reports that these agencies have said that if there was a review, many of the names could be removed,“ says Diana Cronin of the Air Transport Association. 31 The number of names on the no-fly list increases rapidly from 16 to 20,000 most probably because （ A） terrorist attacks are launched fr
47、equently. （ B） many peoples names are similar to known terrorists. （ C） the screening system is not effective enough. （ D） terrorists are not accurately identified after 9.11. 32 In the eyes of the TSA, the current system is （ A） inconvenient and pointless. （ B） reasonable but imperfect. （ C） effect
48、ive and praiseworthy. （ D） necessary but impractical. 33 The attitudes of FBI and Burke towards the reliability of the no-fly list are （ A） similar. （ B） opposite. （ C） confusing. （ D） ambiguous. 34 According to paragraph 4, Burkes great concern about the current system is that （ A） the system fails
49、 to update internationally. （ B） he is often mistaken for a terrorist. （ C） the damage done by the list cannot be quickly corrected. （ D） getting his boarding pass will often take more time. 35 The airlines may be satisfied if the TSA can （ A） distribute the no-fly lists before a flight. （ B） revise the terrorist watch lists more often. （ C） prevent terrorists from boarding airplanes. （ D） abolish the current terrorist screening system. 36 People, like most animals,
