1、考研英语模拟试卷 31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 The earliest controversies about the relationship between photography and art centered on whether photographers fidelity to appearan
2、ces and dependence on a machine allowed it to be a fine art (1)_ distinctive from merely a practical art. Throughout the nineteenth century, the defense of photography was identical with the (2)_ to establish it as a fine art. (3)_ the charge that photographers was a soulless mechanical duplication
3、of (4)_, photographers (5)_ that it was instead a privileged (6)_ of seeing, a revolt against commonplace vision, and (7)_ worthy an art than painting. Ironically, (8)_ photography is securely established as a fine art, many photographers find it pretentious or (9)_ to label it as such. Serious phot
4、ographers are no longer willing to (10)_ whether photography is not involved with art, (11)_ to proclaim that their own work is not involved with it. This shows the extent (12)_ which they simply take for granted the concept of art imposed by the (13)_ of Modernism: the better the art, the more subv
5、ersive it is of the traditional aims of art. Photographers disclaimers of any interest in making art tell us more about the troubled status of the contemporary (14)_ of art (15)_ about whether photography is or is not art. Photography, (16)_ Pop painting, reassures viewers that art is not hard; phot
6、ography seems to be more about its subjects than about art. Photography, (17)_, has developed all the (18)_ and self-consciousness of a classic Modernist art. Many professionals privately have begun to worry that the (19)_ of photography as an activity subversive of the traditional pretensions of ar
7、t has gone so far that the public will forget that photography is a distinctive and exalted activity (20)_, an art. （ A） for （ B） apart （ C） as （ D） beside （ A） intend （ B） wish （ C） plea （ D） struggle （ A） Against （ B） Above （ C） With （ D） Upon （ A） idea （ B） reality （ C） illusion （ D） truth （ A） c
8、onsented （ B） asserted （ C） complained （ D） assumed （ A） means （ B） style （ C） medium （ D） way （ A） no less （ B） much more （ C） no more （ D） any more （ A） if only （ B） even though （ C） now that （ D） only if （ A） illogical （ B） improbable （ C） improper （ D） irrelevant （ A） rally （ B） debate （ C） esti
9、mate （ D） revision （ A） but （ B） except （ C） only （ D） besides （ A） with （ B） at （ C） to （ D） from （ A） preach （ B） defeat （ C） return （ D） triumph （ A） fashion （ B） swing （ C） motion （ D） image （ A） than （ B） that （ C） which （ D） as （ A） like （ B） such as （ C） excluding （ D） aside from （ A） hence （
10、 B） however （ C） therefore （ D） somewhat （ A） agonies （ B） grievances （ C） passions （ D） anxieties （ A） popularity （ B） assignment （ C） promotion （ D） transfer （ A） in short （ B） for example （ C） in effect （ D） in a sense Part A Directions: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below e
11、ach text by choosing A, B, C or D. (40 points) 21 It is the staff of dreams and nightmares. Where Tony Blairs attempts to make Britain love the euro have fallen on deaf ears, its incarnation as notes and coins will succeed. These will be used not just in the euro area but in Britain. As the British
12、become accustomed to the euro as a cash currency, they will warm to it paving the way for a yes note in a referendum. The idea of euro creep appeals to both sides of the euro argument. According to the pros, as Britons become familiar with the euro, membership will start to look inevitable, so those
13、 in favor are bound to win. According to the antis, as Britons become familiar with the euro, membership will start to look inevitable, so those opposed must mobilize for the fight. Dream or nightmare, euro creep envisages the single currency worming its way first into the British economy and then i
14、nto the affections of voters. British tourists will come back from their European holidays laden with euros, which they will spend not just at airports but in high street shops. So, too, will foreign visitors. As the euro becomes a parallel currency, those who make up the current two-to-one majority
15、 will change their minds. From there, it will be a short step to decide to dispense with the pound. Nell Kinnock, a European commissioner and former leader of the Labor Party, predicts that the euro will soon become Britains second currency. Hans Eichel, the German finance minister, also says that i
16、t will become a parallel currency in countries like Switzerland and Britain. Peter Hain, the European minister who is acting as a cheerleader for membership, says the euro will become “a practical day-to-day reality and that will enable people to make a sensible decision about it“. As many as a thir
17、d of Britains biggest retailers, such as Marks and Spencer, have said they will take euros in some of their shops. BP has also announced that it will accept euros at some of its garages. But there is less to this than meet the eyes. British tourists can now withdraw money from cashpoint from Europea
18、n holiday destinations, so they are less likely than in the past to end up with excess foreign money. Even if they do, they generally get rid of it at the end of their holidays, says David Southwell, a spokesman for the British Retail Consortium(BRC). 21 The writer seems _. （ A） to be over-enthusias
19、tic about the success of the euro. （ B） to launch a vigorous campaign against the euro creep. （ C） to take a matter-of-fact attitude towards the issue. （ D） to hold a hostile attitude towards euro expansions. 22 Towards euros creep into British economy, the views of Neil Kinnock and David Southwell
20、are _. （ A） homogeneous. （ B） similar. （ C） overlapping. （ D） opposite. 23 What does the writer intend to illustrate with Marks and Spencer? （ A） British affections for euro. （ B） The success of euro in Britain. （ C） Europes support for euro. （ D） The great influence of retailers. 24 The word “cheer
21、leader“ (Paragraph 4) can best be replaced by _. （ A） voter. （ B） advocator. （ C） critic. （ D） prophet. 25 It can be inferred from the text that in Britain euro has been accepted _. （ A） gradually and substantially. （ B） noticeably and spiritually. （ C） inevitably and sensibly. （ D） verbally and mom
22、entarily. 26 Science Fiction can provide students interested in the future with a basic introduction to the concept of thinking about possible futures in a serious way, a sense of the emotional forces in their own cultures that are affecting the shape the future may take, and a multitude of predicti
23、ons regarding the results of present trends. Although SF seems to take as its future social settings nothing more ambiguous than the current status quo or its totally evil variant, SF is actually a more important vehicle for speculative visions about macroscopic social change. At this level, it is h
24、ard to deal with any precision as to when general value changes or evolving social institutions might appear, but it is most important to think about the kinds of societies that could result from the rise of new forms of interaction, even if one cannot predict exactly when they might occur. In perfo
25、rming this “what if.“ function, SF can act as a social laboratory as authors ruminate upon the forms social relationships could take if key variables in their own societies were different, and upon what new belief systems or mythologies could arise in the future to provide the basic rationalizations
26、 for human activities. If it is true that most people find it difficult to conceive of the ways in which their society, or human nature itself, could undergo fundamental changes, then SF of this type may provoke ones imagination to consider the diversity of paths potentially open to society. Moreove
27、r, if SF is the laboratory of the imagination, its experiments are often of the kind that may significantly alter the subject matter even as they are being carried out. That is, SF has always had a certain cybernetic effect on society, as its visions emotionally engage the future consciousness of th
28、e mass public regarding especially desirable and undesirable possibilities. The shape a society takes in the present is in part influenced by its image of the future; in this way particularly powerful SF images may become self-fulfilling or self-avoiding prophecies for society. For that matter, some
29、 individuals in recent years have even shaped their own life styles after appealing models provided by SF stories. The reincarnation and diffusion of SF futuristic images of alternative societies through the media of movies and television may have speeded up and augmented SFs social feedback effects
30、. Thus SF is not only change speculator but change agent, send an echo from the future that is becoming into the present that is sculpting it. This fact alone makes imperative in any education system the study of the kinds of works discussed in this section. 26 In discussing the subject matter of SF
31、, the author focuses on _. （ A） its main functions. （ B） its great diversity. （ C） its bold assumptions. （ D） its social impact. 27 From Paragraph 2, we can infer that _. （ A） SF is only too powerful to speed up social changes. （ B） SFs models affect the lifestyles of some individuals. （ C） SF serve
32、s as a social laboratory for vivid imagination. （ D） SFs predictions may not so accurate as anticipated. 28 According to the last paragraph, “self-fulfilling“ is to “self-avoiding“ as _. （ A） artistic to “functional“. （ B） material to “imaginary“. （ C） desirable to “undesirable“. （ D） rational to “e
33、motional“. 29 This text is most likely to be _. （ A） an excerpt of a book. （ B） a book review. （ C） a part of an address. （ D） a magazine feature. 30 The overall tone of the piece of writing can best be described as _. （ A） sarcastic. （ B） persuasive. （ C） humorous. （ D） informative. 31 El Nino is t
34、he term used for the period when sea surface temperatures are above normal off the South American coast along the equatorial Pacific, sometimes called the Earths heartbeat, and is a dramatic but mysterious climate system that periodically rages across the Pacific. El Nino means “the little boy“ or “
35、the Christ child“ in Spanish, and is so called because its warm current is felt along coastal Peru and Ecuador around Christmas. But the local warming is just part of an intricate set of changes in the ocean and atmosphere across the tropical Pacific, which covers a third of the Earths circumference
36、. Its intensity is such that it affects temperatures, storm tracks and rainfall around the world. Droughts in Africa and Australia, tropical storms in the Pacific, torrential rains along the Californian coast and lush greening of Peruvian deserts have all been ascribed to the whim of El Nino. Until
37、recently it has been returning about every three to five years. But recently it has become more frequent for the first time on record it has returned for a fourth consecutive year and at the same time a giant pool of unusually warm water has settled down in the middle of the Pacific and is showing n
38、o signs of moving. Climatologists dont yet know why, though some are saying these aberrations may signal a worldwide change in climate. The problem is that nobody really seems sure what causes the El Nin o to start up, and what makes some stronger than others. And this makes it particularly hard to
39、explain why it has suddenly started behaving so differently. In the absence of El Nino and its cold counterpart, La Nina, conditions in the tropical eastern Pacific are the opposite of those in the west. the east is cool and dry, while the west is hot and wet. In the east, its the winds and currents
40、 that keep things cool. It works like this. Strong, steady winds, called trade winds, blowing west across the Pacific drag the surface water along with them. The varying influence of the Earths rotation at different latitudes, known as the Coriolis effect, causes these surface winds and water to vee
41、r towards the poles, north in the northern hemisphere and south in the southern hemisphere. The surface water is replaced by colder water from deeper in the ocean in a process known as upwelling. The cold surface water in turn chills the air above it. This cold dense air cannot rise high enough for
42、water vapor to condense into clouds. The dense air creates an area of high pressure so that the atmosphere over the equatorial eastern Pacific is essentially devoid of rainfall. 31 The writer begins the text with _. （ A） a description of a scene. （ B） a root cause of El Nino. （ C） a narrative of an
43、event. （ D） a definition of EI Nino. 32 Paragraphs 2 and 3 are written to _. （ A） discuss the causes of climatic irregularities. （ B） exemplify the abnormal effects of EI Nino. （ C） explain the way in which El Nino develops. （ D） show the recent observations of scientists. 33 The word “aberrations“
44、(Paragraph 4) can best be replaced by _. （ A） irregularities. （ B） destructions. （ C） frequencies. （ D） intensities. 34 It can be inferred that when El Nino and La Nina occurs simultaneously, _. （ A） the Coriolis effect may bring trade winds to the poles. （ B） the atmosphere in the Pacific will be c
45、ool and dry. （ C） the conditions in the eastern Pacific would be hot and wet. （ D） the cold vapor will rise high enough to make for rainfall. 35 In exploring the effect of El Nino, the author mainly focuses on _. （ A） its violence. （ B） its conditions. （ C） its regularity （ D） its features. 36 The U
46、.S. Supreme Courts decision Monday to let stand a ruling in an online defamation case will make it more difficult to determine correct legal jurisdictions in other Internet cases, legal experts said. By opting not to take the case, the high court effectively endorsed a lower courts decision that a C
47、olorado company that posts ratings of health plans on the Internet could be sued for defamation in a Washington court. The lower court ruling is one of several that makes it easier for plaintiffs to sue Web site operators in their own jurisdictions, rather than where the operators maintain a physica
48、l presence. The case involved a defamation suit filed by Chehalis, Wash.-based Northwest Healthcare Alliance against Lakewood, Colo.-based H The Alliance sued in Washington federal court after H posted a negative ranking of Northwest Healthcares home health services on the Internet. H argued that it
49、 should not be subject to the jurisdiction of a court in Washington because its publishing operation is in Colorado. Observers said the fact that the Supreme Court opted not to hear the case only clouds the legal situation for Web site operators. Geoff Stewart, a partner at Jones Day in Washington, D.C., said that the Supreme Court eventually must act on the issue, as
