1、2011 年考研英语（二）真题试卷及答案与解析一、Section I Use of EnglishDirections: Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D. (10 points) 0 The Internet affords anonymity to its users, a blessing to privacy and freedom of speech. But that very anonymity is also behind
2、the explosion of cyber-crime that has 1 across the Web.Can privacy be preserved 2 bringing safety and security to a world that seems increasingly 3 ?Last month, Howard Schmidt, the nations cyber-czar, offered the federal government a 4 to make the Web a safer placea “voluntary trusted identity“ syst
3、em that would be the high-tech 5 of a physical key, a fingerprint and a photo ID card, all rolled 6 one. The system might use a smart identity card, or a digital credential 7 to a specific computer, and would authenticate users at a range of online services.The idea is to 8 a federation of private o
4、nline identity systems. User could 9 which system to join, and only registered users whose identities have been authenticated could navigate those systems. The approach contrasts with one that would require an Internet drivers license 10 by the government.Google and Microsoft are among companies tha
5、t already have these “ single sign-on“ systems that make it possible for users to 11 just once but use many different services.12 , the approach would create a “ walled garden“ in cyberspace, with safe “ neighborhoods“ and bright “streetlights“ to establish a sense of a 13 community.Mr. Schmidt desc
6、ribed it as a “voluntary ecosystem“ in which “individuals and organizations can complete online transactions with 14 , trusting the identities of each other and the identities of the infrastructure 15 which the transaction runs. “ Still, the administrations plan has 16 privacy rights activists. Some
7、 applaud the approach; others are concerned. It seems clear that such a scheme is an initiative push toward what would 17 be a compulsory Internet “drives license“ mentality.The plan has also been greeted with 18 by some computer security experts, who worry that the “voluntary ecosystem“ envisioned
8、by Mr. Schmidt would still leave much of the Internet 19 . They argue that all Internet users should be 20 to register and identify themselves, in the same way that drivers must be licensed to drive on public roads.1 【B1 】（A）swept（B） skipped（C） walked（D）ridden2 【B2 】（A）for（B） within（C） while（D）thoug
9、h3 【B3 】（A）careless（B） lawless（C） pointless（D）helpless4 【B4 】（A）reason（B） reminder（C） compromise（D）proposal5 【B5 】（A）information（B） interference（C） entertainment（D）equivalent6 【B6 】（A）by（B） into（C） from（D）over7 【B7 】（A）linked（B） directed（C） chained（D）compared8 【B8 】（A）dismiss（B） discover（C） create（D
10、）improve9 【B9 】（A）recall（B） suggest（C） select（D）realize10 【B10 】（A）released（B） issued（C） distributed（D）delivered11 【B11 】（A）carry on（B） linger on（C） set in（D）log in12 【B12 】（A）In vain （B） In effect（C） In return（D）In contrast13 【B13 】（A）trusted（B） modernized（C） thriving（D）competing14 【B14 】（A）caution
11、（B） delight（C） confidence（D）patience15 【B15 】（A）on（B） after（C） beyond（D）across16 【B16 】（A）divided（B） disappointed（C） protected（D）united17 【B17 】（A）frequently（B） incidentally（C） occasionally（D）eventually18 【B18 】（A）skepticism（B） relerance（C） indifference（D）enthusiasm19 【B19 】（A）manageable（B） defendab
12、le（C） vulnerable（D）invisible20 【B20 】（A）invited（B） appointed（C） allowed（D）forcedPart ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. (40 points)20 Ruth Simmons joined Goldman Sachss board as an outside director in January 2000; a year later
13、she became president of Brown University. For the rest of the decade she apparently managed both roles without attracting much criticism. But by the end of 2009 Ms. Simmons was under fire for having sat on Goldmans compensation committee; how could she have let those enormous bonus payouts pass unre
14、marked? By February the next year Ms. Simmons had left the board. The position was just taking up too much time, she said.Outside directors are supposed to serve as helpful, yet less biased, advisers on a firms board. Having made their wealth and their reputations elsewhere, they presumably have eno
15、ugh independence to disagree with the chief executives proposals. If the sky, and the share price, is falling, outside directors should be able to give advice based on having weathered their own crises.The researchers from Ohio University used a database that covered more than 10, 000 firms and more
16、 than 64, 000 different directors between 1989 and 2004. Then they simply checked which directors stayed from one proxy statement to the next. The most likely reason for departing a board was age, so the researchers concentrated on those “surprise“ disappearances by directors under the age of 70. Th
17、ey found that after a surprise departure, the probability that the company will subsequently have to restate earnings increases by nearly 20% . The likelihood of being named in a federal class-action lawsuit also increases, and the stock is likely to perform worse. The effect tended to be larger for
18、 larger firms. Although a correlation between them leaving and subsequent bad performance at the firm is suggestive, it does not mean that such directors are always jumping off a sinking ship. Often they “trade up, “ leaving riskier, smaller firms for larger and more stable firms.But the researchers
19、 believe that outside directors have an easier time of avoiding a blow to their reputations if they leave a firm before bad news breaks, even if a review of history shows they were on the board at the time any wrongdoing occurred. Firms who want to keep their outside directors through tough times ma
20、y have to create incentives. Otherwise outside directors will follow the example of Ms. Simmons, once again very popular on campus.21 According to Paragraph 1, Ms. Simmons was criticized for_.（A）gaining excessive profits（B） failing to fulfill her duty（C） refusing to make compromises（D）leaving the bo
21、ard in tough times22 We learn from Paragraph 2 that outside directors are supposed to be_.（A）generous investors（B） unbiased executives（C） share price forecasters（D）independent advisers23 According to the researchers from Ohio University, after an outside directors surprise departure, the firm is lik
22、ely to_.（A）become more stable（B） report increased earnings（C） do less well in the stock market（D）perform worse in lawsuits24 It can be inferred from the last paragraph that outside directors_.（A）may stay for the attractive offers from the firm（B） have often had records of wrongdoings in the firm（C）
23、are accustomed to stress-free work in the firm（D）will decline incentives from the firm25 The authors attitude toward the role of outside directors is_.（A）permissive（B） positive（C） scornful（D）critical25 Whatever happened to the death of newspaper? A year ago the end seemed near. The recession threate
24、ned to remove the advertising and readers that had not already fled to the internet. Newspapers like the San Francisco Chronicle were chronicling their own doom. Americas Federal Trade commission launched a round of talks about how to save newspapers. Should they become charitable corporations? Shou
25、ld the state subsidize them? It will hold another meeting soon. But the discussions now seem out of date. In much of the world there is little sign of crisis. German and Brazilian papers have shrugged off the recession. Even American newspapers, which inhabit the most troubled corner of the global i
26、ndustry, have not only survived but often returned to profit. Not the 20% profit margins that were routine a few years ago, but profit all the same.It has not been much fun. Many papers stayed afloat by pushing journalists overboard. The American Society of News Editors reckons that 13, 500 newsroom
27、 jobs have gone since 2007. Readers are paying more for slimmer products. Some papers even had the nerve to refuse delivery to distant suburbs. Yet these desperate measures have proved the right ones and, sadly for many journalists, they can be pushed further.Newspapers are becoming more balanced bu
28、sinesses, with a healthier mix of revenues from readers and advertisers. American papers have long been highly unusual in their reliance on ads. Fully 87% of their revenues came from advertising in 2008, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation Struggling for Survival（B） American Newsp
29、apers: Gone with the Wind（C） American Newspapers: A Thriving Business（D）American Newspapers; A Hopeless Story30 We tend to think of the decades immediately following World War II as a time of prosperity and growth, with soldiers returning home by the millions, going off to college on the G. I. Bill
30、and lining up at the marriage bureaus.But when it came to their houses, it was a time of common sense and a belief that less could truly be more. During the Depression and the war, Americans had learned to live with less, and that restraint, in combination with the postwar confidence in the future,
31、made small, efficient housing positively stylish.Economic condition was only a stimulus for the trend toward efficient living. The phrase “ less is more“ was actually first popularized by a German, the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who like other people associated with the Bauhaus, a school of
32、 design, emigrated to the United States before World War II and took up posts at American architecture schools. These designers came to exert enormous influence on the course of American architecture, but none more so that Mies.Miess signature phrase means that less decoration, properly organized, h
33、as more impact than a lot. Elegance, he believed, did not derive from abundance. Like other modern architects, he employed metal, glass and laminated woodmaterials that we take for granted today buy that in the 1940s symbolized the future. Miess sophisticated presentation masked the fact that the sp
34、aces he designed were small and efficient, rather than big and often empty.The apartments in the elegant towers Mies built on Chicagos Lake Shore Drive, for example, were smallertwo-bedroom units under 1, 000 square feetthan those in their older neighbors along the citys Gold Coast. But they were po
35、pular because of their airy glass walls, the views they afforded and the elegance of the buildings details and proportions, the architectural equivalent of the abstract art so popular at the time.The trend toward “less“ was not entirely foreign. In the 1930s Frank Lloyd Wright started building more
36、modest and efficient housesusually around 1, 200 square feetthan the spreading two-story ones he had designed in the 1890s and the early 20th century.The “ Case Study Houses“ commissioned from talented modern architects by California Arts in the inner core alone, Germany fears, a small majority favo
37、ur French interference.A “southern“ camp headed by French wants something different: “European economic government“ within an inner core of euro-zone members. Translated, that means politicians intervening in monetary policy and a system of redistribution from richer to poorer members, via cheaper b
38、orrowing for governments through common Eurobonds or complete fiscal transfers. Finally, figures close to the French, government have murmured, euro-zone members should agree to some fiscal and social harmonisation: e. g. , curbing competition in corporate-tax rates or labour costs.It is too soon to
39、 write off the EU. It remains the worlds largest trading block. At its best, the European project is remarkably liberal: built around a single market of 27 rich and poor countries, its internal borders are far more open to goods, capital and labour than any comparable trading area. It is an ambitiou
40、s attempt to blunt the sharpest edges of globalisation, and make capitalism benign.36 The EU is faced with so many problems that_.（A）it has more or less lost faith in markets（B） even its supporters begin to feel concerned（C） some of its member countries plan to abandon euro（D）it intends to deny the
41、possibility of devaluation37 The debate over the EUs single currency is stuck because the dominant powers_.（A）are competing for the leading position（B） are busy handling their own crises（C） fail to reach an agreement on harmonisation（D）disagree on the steps towards disintegration38 To solve the euro
42、 problem, Germany proposed that_.（A）EU funds for poor regions be increased（B） stricter regulations be imposed（C） only core members be involved in economic co-ordination（D）voting rights of the EU members be guaranteed39 The French proposal of handling the crisis implies that_.（A）poor countries are mo
43、re likely to get funds（B） strict monetary policy will be applied to poor countries（C） loans will be readily available to rich countries（D）rich countries will basically control Eurobonds40 Regarding the future of the EU, the author seems to feel_.（A）pessimistic（B） desperate（C） conceited（D）hopefulPart
44、 B (10 points) 40 Leading doctors today weigh in on the debate over the governments role in promoting public health by demanding that ministers impose “fat taxes“ on unhealthy food and introduce cigarette-style warnings to children about the dangers of a poor diet.The demands follow comments made la
45、st week by the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, who insisted the government could not force people to make healthy choices and promised to free businesses from public health regulations.But senior medical figures want to stop fast-food outlets opening near schools, restrict advertising of products
46、high in fat, salt or sugar, and limit sponsorship of sports events by fast-food producers such as McDonalds.They argue that government action is necessary to curb Britains addiction to unhealthy food and help halt spiraling rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Professor Terence Stephenson,
47、president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said that the consumption of unhealthy food should be seen to be just as damaging as smoking or excessive drinking.“ Thirty years ago, it would have been inconceivable to have imagined a ban on smoking in the work-place or in pubs, and
48、yet that is what we have now. Are we willing to be just as courageous in respect of obesity? I would suggest that we should be, “said the leader of the UKs childrens doctors.Lansley has alarmed health campaigners by suggesting he wants industry rather than government to take the lead. He said that m
49、anufacturers of crisps and candies could play a central role in the Change 4 Life campaign, the centrepiece of government efforts to boost healthy eating and fitness. He has also criticised the celebrity chef Jamie Olivers high-profile attempt to improve school lunches in England as an example of how “lecturing“ people was not the best way to change their behaviour.Stephenson suggested potential restrictions could include banning TV advertisements for foods high in fat,
