1、2013 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 Given the advantages of electronic money, you might think that we would move quickly to the cashless society in which all payment
2、s are made electronically. 【C1】 _, a true cashless society is probably not around the corner. Indeed, predictions have been【C2】_for two decades but have not yet come to fruition. For example, Business Week predicted in 1975 that electronic means of payment would soon “revolutionize the very【C3 】_of
3、money itself,“ only to【C4】_itself several years later. Why has the movement to a cashless society been so【C5】_in coming?Although electronic means of payment may be more efficient than a payments system based on paper, several factors work【C6】_the disappearance of the paper system. First, it is very
4、【C7】_to set up the computer, card reader, and telecommunications networks necessary to make electronic money the【C8】_form of payment. Second, paper checks have the advantage that they【C9】_receipts, something that many consumers are unwilling to【C10 】_. Third, the use of paper checks gives consumers
5、several days of “float“it takes several days【C11】_a check is cashed and funds are【 C12】_from the issuer s account, which means that the writer of the check can earn interest on the funds in the meantime. 【C13】_electronic payments are immediate, they eliminate the float for the consumer.Fourth, elect
6、ronic means of payment may【C14】_security and privacy concerns. We often hear media reports that an unauthorized hacker has been able to access a computer database and to alter information【C15】_there. The fact that this is not an【C16】_occurrence means that dishonest persons might be able to access ba
7、nk accounts in electronic payments systems and【C17】_from someone else s accounts. The【C18】_of this type of fraud is no easy task, and a new field of computer science is developing to【C19】_security issues. A further concern is that the use of electronic means of payment leaves an electronic【C20】_that
8、 contains a large amount of personal data. There are concerns that government, employers, and marketers might be able to access these data, thereby violating our privacy.1 【C1 】（A）Moreover（B） However（C） Therefore（D）Otherwise2 【C2 】（A）off（B） back（C） over（D）around3 【C3 】（A）power（B） concept（C） history（
9、D）role4 【C4 】（A）reverse（B） resist（C） resume（D）reward5 【C5 】（A）silent（B） sudden（C） slow（D）steady6 【C6 】（A）for（B） against（C） with（D）on7 【C7 】（A）expensive（B） imaginative（C） sensitive（D）productive8 【C8 】（A）similar（B） original（C） temporary（D）dominant9 【C9 】（A）collect（B） copy（C） provide（D）print10 【C10 】（A
10、）give up（B） take over（C） bring back（D）pass down11 【C11 】（A）before（B） after（C） since（D）when12 【C12 】（A）kept（B） borrowed（C） withdrawn（D）released13 【C13 】（A）Unless（B） Because（C） Until（D）Though14 【C14 】（A）hide（B） express（C） ease（D）raise15 【C15 】（A）analyzed（B） shared（C） stored（D）displayed16 【C16 】（A）unsa
11、fe（B） unnatural（C） unclear（D）uncommon17 【C17 】（A）steal（B） choose（C） benefit（D）return18 【C18 】（A）consideration（B） prevention（C） manipulation（D）justification19 【C19 】（A）call for（B） fight against（C） adapt to（D）cope with20 【C20 】（A）chunk（B） chip（C） trail（D）pathPart ADirections: Read the following four t
12、exts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. (40 points)20 In an essay entitled “ Making It in America,“ the author Adam Davidson relates a joke from cotton country about just how much a modern textile mill has been automated: The average mill has only two employees today, “
13、a man and a dog. The man is there to feed the dog, and the dog is there to keep the man away from the machines.“Davidson s article is one of a number of pieces that have recently appeared making the point that the reason we have such stubbornly high unemployment and declining middle-class incomes to
14、day is largely because of the big drop in demand because of the Great Recession, but it is also because of the advances in both globalization and the information technology revolution, which are more rapidly than ever replacing labor with machines or foreign workers.In the past, workers with average
15、 skills, doing an average job, could earn an average lifestyle. But, today, average is officially over. Being average just won t earn you what it used to. It can t when so many more employers have so much more access to so much more above average cheap foreign labor, cheap robotics, cheap software,
16、cheap automation and cheap genius. Therefore, everyone needs to find their extra their unique value contribution that makes them stand out in whatever is their field of employment.Yes, new technology has been eating jobs forever, and always will. But there s been an acceleration. As Davidson notes,
17、“In the 10 years ending in 2009, U. S. factories shed workers so fast that they erased almost all the gains of the previous 70 years; roughly one out of every three manufacturing jobs about 6 million in total disappeared.“There will always be change new jobs, new products, new services. But the one
18、thing we know for sure is that with each advance in globalization and the I.T. revolution, the best jobs will require workers to have more and better education to make themselves above average.In a world where average is officially over, there are many things we need to do to support employment, but
19、 nothing would be more important than passing some kind of G.I. Bill for the 21st century that ensures that every American has access to post-high school education.21 The joke in Paragraph 1 is used to illustrate_.（A）the impact of technological advances（B） the alleviation of job pressure（C） the shri
20、nkage of textile mills（D）the decline of middle-class incomes22 According to Paragraph 3, to be a successful employee, one has to_.（A）adopt an average lifestyle（B） work on cheap software（C） ask for a moderate salary（D）contribute something unique23 The quotation in Paragraph 4 explains that_.（A）gains
21、of technology have been erased（B） job opportunities are disappearing at a high speed（C） factories are making much less money than before（D）new jobs and services have been offered24 According to the author, to reduce unemployment, the most important is_.（A）to accelerate the I.T. revolution（B） to adva
22、nce economic globalization（C） to ensure more education for people（D）to pass more bills in the 21st century25 Which of the following would be the most appropriate title for the text?（A）Technology Goes Cheap.（B） New Law Takes Effect.（C） Recession Is Bad.（D）Average Is Over.25 A century ago, the immigra
23、nts from across the Atlantic included settlers and sojourners. Along with the many folks looking to make a permanent home in the United States came those who had no intention to stay, and who would make some money and then go home. Between 1908 and 1915, about 7 million people arrived while about 2
24、million departed. About a quarter of all Italian immigrants, for example, eventually returned to Italy for good. They even had an affectionate nickname, “uccelli di passaggio,“ birds of passage.Today, we are much more rigid about immigrants. We divide newcomers into two categories: legal or illegal,
25、 good or bad.We hail them as Americans in the making, or brand them as aliens to be kicked out. That framework has contributed mightily to our broken immigration system and the long political paralysis over how to fix it. We don t need more categories, but we need to change the way we think about ca
26、tegories. We need to look beyond strict definitions of legal and illegal. To start, we can recognize the new birds of passage, those living and thriving in the gray areas. We might then begin to solve our immigration challenges.Crop pickers, violinists, construction workers, entrepreneurs, engineers
27、, home health-care aides and physicists are among today s birds of passage. They are energetic participants in a global economy driven by the flow of work, money and ideas. They prefer to come and go as opportunity calls them. They can manage to have a job in one place and a family in another.With o
28、r without permission, they straddle laws, jurisdictions and identities with ease. We need them to imagine the United States as a place where they can be productive for a while without committing themselves to staying forever. We need them to feel that home can be both here and there and that they ca
29、n belong to two nations honorably.Accommodating this new world of people in motion will require new attitudes on both sides of the immigration battle. Looking beyond the culture war logic of right or wrong means opening up the middle ground and understanding that managing immigration today requires
30、multiple paths and multiple outcomes, including some that are not easy to accomplish legally in the existing system.26 “Birds of passage“ refers to those who_.（A）stay in a foreign country temporarily（B） leave their home countries for good（C） immigrate across the Atlantic（D）find permanent jobs overse
31、as27 It is implied in Paragraph 2 that the current immigration system in the US_.（A）needs new immigrant categories（B） has loosened control over immigrants（C） should be adapted to meet challenges（D）has been fixed via political means28 According to the author, today s birds of passage want_.（A）financi
32、al incentives（B） a global recognition（C） the freedom to stay and leave（D）opportunities to get regular jobs29 The author suggests that the birds of passage today should be treated_.（A）as faithful partners（B） with legal tolerance（C） with economic favors（D）as mighty rivals 30 The most appropriate title
33、 for this text would be（A）Come and Go: Big Mistake（B） Living and Thriving: Great Risk（C） With or Without : Great Risk（D）Legal or Illegal: Big Mistake30 Scientists have found that although we are prone to snap overreactions, if we take a moment and think about how we are likely to react, we can reduc
34、e or even eliminate the negative effects of our quick, hard-wired responses.Snap decisions can be important defense mechanisms; if we are judging whether someone is dangerous, our brains and bodies are hard-wired to react very quickly, within milliseconds. But we need more time to assess other facto
35、rs. To accurately tell whether someone is sociable, studies show, we need at least a minute, preferably five. It takes a while to judge complex aspects of personality, like neuroticism or open-mindedness.But snap decisions in reaction to rapid stimuli aren t exclusive to the interpersonal realm. Psy
36、chologists at the University of Toronto found that viewing a fast-food logo for just a few milliseconds primes us to read 20 percent faster, even though reading has little to do with eating. We unconsciously associate fast food with speed and impatience and carry those impulses into whatever else we
37、 re doing. Subjects exposed to fast-food flashes also tend to think a musical piece lasts too long.Yet we can reverse such influences. If we know we will overreact to consumer products or housing options when we see a happy face(one reason good sales representatives and real estate agents are always
38、 smiling), we can take a moment before buying. If we know female job screeners are more likely to reject attractive female applicants, we can help screeners understand their biases or hire outside screeners.John Gottman, the marriage expert, explains that we quickly “thin slice“ information reliably
39、 only after we ground such snap reactions in “thick sliced“ long-term study. When Dr. Gottman really wants to assess whether a couple will stay together, he invites them to his island retreat for a much longer evaluation: two days, not two seconds.Our ability to mute our hard-wired reactions by paus
40、ing is what differentiates us from animals: dogs can think about the future only intermittently or for a few minutes. But historically we have spent about 12 percent of our days contemplating the longer term. Although technology might change the way we react, it hasn t changed our nature. We still h
41、ave the imaginative capacity to rise above temptation and reverse the high-speed trend.31 The time needed in making decisions may_（A）predetermine the accuracy of our judgment（B） prove the complexity of our brain reaction（C） depend on the importance of the assessment（D）vary according to the urgency o
42、f the situation32 Our reaction to a fast-food logo shows that snap decisions_（A）can be associative（B） are not unconscious（C） can be dangerous（D）are not impulsive33 To reverse the negative influences of snap decisions, we should_（A）trust our first impression（B） think before we act（C） do as people usu
43、ally do（D）ask for expert advice34 John Gottman says that reliable snap reactions are based on_（A）critical assessment（B） thin sliced study（C） adequate information（D）sensible explanation35 The author s attitude toward reversing the high-speed trend is_（A）tolerant（B） optimistic（C） uncertain（D）doubtful3
44、5 Europe is not a gender-equality heaven. In particular, the corporate workplace will never be completely family-friendly until women are part of senior management decisions, and Europe s top corporate-governance positions remain overwhelmingly male. Indeed, women hold only 14 per cent of positions
45、on European corporate boards.The European Union is now considering legislation to compel corporate boards to maintain a certain proportion of women up to 60 per cent. This proposed mandate was born of frustration. Last year, European Commission Vice President Viviane Reding issued a call to voluntar
46、y action. Reding invited corporations to sign up for gender balance goals of 40 per cent female board membership. But her appeal was considered a failure: only 24 companies took it up.Do we need quotas to ensure that women can continue to climb the corporate ladder fairly as they balance work and fa
47、mily?“Personally, I don t like quotas,“ Reding said recently. “But I like what the quotas do.“ Quotas get action: they “ open the way to equality and they break through the glass ceiling,“ according to Reding, a result seen in France and other countries with legally binding provisions on placing wom
48、en in top business positions.I understand Reding s reluctance and her frustration. I dont like quotas either; they run counter to my belief in meritocracy, governance by the capable. But, when one considers the obstacles to achieving the meritocratic ideal, it does look as if a fairer world must be
49、temporarily ordered.After all, four decades of evidence has now shown that corporations in Europe as well as the US are evading the meritocratic hiring and promotion of women to top positions no matter how much “soft pressure“ is put upon them. When women do break through to the summit of corporate power as, for example, Sheryl Sandberg recently did at Facebook they attract massive atten
