1、在职艺术硕士（MFA ）全国联考英文阅读理解模拟试卷 14 及答案与解析一、英文阅读理解题0 Sign has become a scientific hot button. Only in the past 20 years have specialists in language study realized that signed languages are uniquea speech of the hand. They offer a new way to probe how the brain generates and understands language, and thro
2、w new light on an old scientific controversy： whether language, complete with grammar, is something that we are born with, or whether it is a learned behavior. The current interest in sign language has roots in the pioneering work of one rebel teacher at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., the
3、 worlds only liberal arts university for deaf people.When Bill Stokoe went to Gallaudet to teach English, the school enrolled him in a course in signing. But Stokoe noticed something odd: among themselves, students signed differently from his classroom teacher.Stokoe had been taught a sort of gestur
4、al code, each movement of the hands representing a word in English. At the time, American Sign Language (ASL) was thought to be no more than a form of pidgin English (混杂英语). But Stokoe believed the “hand talk“ his students used looked richer. He wondered: Might deaf people actually have a genuine la
5、nguage? And could that language be unlike any other on Earth? It was 1955, when even deaf people dismissed their signing as “substandard“. Stokoes idea was academic heresy(异端邪说).It is 37 years later. Stokoenow devoting his time to writing and editing books and journals and to producing video materia
6、ls on ASL and the deaf cultureis having lunch at a cafe near the Gallaudet campus and explaining how he started a revolution. For decades educators fought his idea that signed languages are natural languages like English, French and Japanese. They assumed language must be based on speech, the modula
7、tion (调节 ) of sound. But sign language is based on the movement of hands, the modulation of space. “What I said,“ Stokoe explains, “is that language is not mouth stuffits brain stuff. “ (340 words)1 The study of sign language is thought to be_.（A）a new way to look at the learning of language（B） a ch
8、allenge to traditional views on the nature of language（C） an approach to simplifying the grammatical structure of a language（D）an attempt to clarify misunderstanding about the origin of language2 The present growing interest in sign language was stimulated by_.（A）a famous scholar in the study of the
9、 human brain（B） a leading specialist in the study of liberal arts（C） an English teacher in a university for the deaf（D）some senior experts in American Sign Language3 According to Stokoe, sign language is_.（A）a substandard language（B） a genuine language（C） an artificial language（D）an international la
10、nguage4 Most educators objected to Stokoes idea because they thought_.（A）sign language was not extensively used even by deaf people（B） sign language was too artificial to be widely accepted（C） a language should be easy to use and understand（D）a language could only exist in the form of speech sounds5
11、 Stokoes argument is based on his belief that_.（A）sign language is as efficient as any other language（B） sign language is derived from natural language（C） language is a system of meaningful codes（D）language is a product of the brain5 Reebok executives do not like to hear their stylish athletic shoes
12、 called “footwear for yuppies (雅皮士，少壮高薪职业人士)“. They contend that Reebok shoes appeal to diverse market segments, especially now that the company offers basketball and childrens shoes for the under-18 set and walking shoes for older customers not interested in aerobics (健身操) or running. The executive
13、s also point out that through recent acquisitions they have added hiking boots, dress and casual shoes, and high-performance athletic footwear to their product lines, all of which should attract new and varied groups of customers.Still, despite its emphasis on new markets, Reebok plans few changes i
14、n the upmarket (高档消费人群的) retailing network that helped push sales to $ 1 billion annually, ahead of all other sports shoe marketers. Reebok shoes, which are priced from $27 to $85, will continue to be sold only in better specialty, sporting goods, and department stores, in accordance with the compan
15、ys view that consumers judge the quality of the brand by the quality of its distribution.In the past few years, the Massachusetts-based company has imposed limits on the number of its distributors (and the number of shoes supplied to stores) , partly out of necessity. At times the unexpected demand
16、for Reeboks exceeded supply, and the company could barely keep up with orders from the dealers it already had. These fulfillment problems seem to be distribution now, but the company is still selective about its distributors. At present, Reebok shoes are available in about five thousand retail store
17、s in the United States.Reebok has already anticipated that walking shoes will be the next fitness-related craze, replacing aerobics shoes the same way its brightly colored, soft leather exercise footwear replaced conventional running shoes. Through product diversification and careful market research
18、, Reebok hopes to avoid the distribution problems Nike came across several years ago, when Nike misjudged the strength of the aerobics shoe craze and was forced to unload huge inventories of running shoes through discount stores. (355 words)6 One reason why Reeboks managerial personnel dont like the
19、ir shoes to be called “footwear for yuppies“ is that_.（A）they believe that their shoes are popular with people of different age groups（B） new production lines have been added to produce inexpensive shoes（C） yuppies usually evokes a negative image（D）the term makes people think of prohibitive prices7
20、Reeboks view that “consumers judge the quality of the brand by the quality of its distribution“ (Lines 56, Para. 2) implies that_.（A）the quality of a brand is measured by the service quality of the store selling it（B） the quality of a product determines the quality of its distributors（C） the popular
21、ity of a brand is determined by the stores that sell it（D）consumers believe that first-rate products are only sold by high-quality stores8 Reebok once had to limit the number of its distributors because_.（A）its supply of products fell short of demand（B） too many distributors would cut into its profi
22、ts（C） the reduction of distributors could increase its share of the market（D）it wanted to enhance consumer confidence in its products9 Although the Reebok Company has solved the problem of fulfilling its orders, it（A）does not want to further expand its retailing network（B） still limits the number of
23、 shoes supplied to stores（C） is still particular about who sells its products（D）still carefully chooses the manufacturers of its products10 What lesson has Reebok learned from Nikes distribution problems?（A）A company should not sell its high quality shoes in discount stores.（B） A company should not
24、limit its distribution network.（C） A company should do follow-up surveys of its products.（D）A company should correctly evaluate the impact of a new craze on the market.10 Cars account for half the oil consumed in the U.S., about half the urban pollution and one fourth the greenhouse (温室) gases. They
25、 take a similar toll (损耗) of resources in other industrial nations and in the cities of the developing world. As vehicle use continues to increase in the coming decade, the U.S. and other countries will have to deal with these issues or else face unacceptable economic, health-related and political c
26、osts. It is unlikely that oil prices will remain at their current low level or that other nations will accept a large and growing U.S. contribution to global climatic change.Policymakers, and industry have four options: reduce vehicle use, increase the efficiency and reduce the emissions of conventi
27、onal gasoline-powered vehicles, switch to less harmful fuels, or find less polluting driving systems. The last of thesein particular the introduction of vehicles powered by electricityis ultimately the only sustainable option. The other alternatives are attractive in theory but in practice are eithe
28、r impractical or offer only marginal improvements. For example, reduced vehicle use could solve traffic problems and a host of social and environmental problems, but evidence from around the world suggests that it is very difficult to make people give up their cars to any significant extent. In the
29、U.S., mass-transit ridership and carpooling (合伙用车) have declined since World War II. Even in western Europe, with fuel prices averaging more than $ 1 a liter (about $ 4 a gallon) and with easily accessible mass transit and dense populations, cars still account for 80 percent of all passenger travel.
30、Improved energy efficiency is also appealing, but alternative fuel economy has barely made any progress in 10 years. Alternative fuels such as natural gas, burned in internal-combustion engines, could be introduced at relatively low cost, but they would lead to only marginal reductions in pollution
31、and greenhouse emissions (especially because oil companies are already spending billions of dollars every year to develop less polluting types of gasoline). (337 words)11 From the passage we know that the increased use of cars will_.（A）consume half of the oil produced in the world（B） have serious co
32、nsequences for the well-being of all nations（C） widen the gap between the developed and developing countries（D）impose an intolerable economic burden on residents of large cities12 The U.S. has to deal with the problems arising from vehicle use because_.（A）most Americans are reluctant to switch to pu
33、blic transportation systems（B） the present level of oil prices is considered unacceptable（C） other countries will protest its increasing greenhouse emissions（D）it should take a lead in conserving natural resources13 Which of the following is the best solution to the problems mentioned in the passage
34、?（A）The designing of highly efficient car engines.（B） A reduction of vehicle use in cities.（C） The development of electric cars.（D）The use of less polluting fuels.14 Which of the following is practical but only makes a marginal contribution to solving the problem of greenhouse emissions?（A）The use o
35、f fuels other than gasoline.（B） Improved energy efficiency.（C） The introduction of less polluting driving systems.（D）Reducing car use by carpooling.15 Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?（A）The decline of public transportation accounts for increased car use in western
36、Europe.（B） Cars are popular in western Europe even though fuel prices are fairly high.（C） The reduction of vehicle use is the only sustainable option in densely populated western Europe.（D）Western European oil companies cannot sustain the cost of developing new-type fuels.15 In the 1950s, the pionee
37、rs of artificial intelligence (AI) predicted that, by the end of this century, computers would be conversing with us at work and robots would be performing our housework. But as useful as computers are, theyre nowhere close to achieving anything remotely resembling these early aspirations for humanl
38、ike behavior. Never mind something as complex as conversation: the most powerful computers struggle to reliably recognize the shape of an object, the most elementary of tasks for a ten-month-old kid.A growing group of AI researchers think they know where the field went wrong. The problem, the scient
39、ists say, is that AI has been trying to separate the highest, most abstract levels of thought, like language and mathematics, and to duplicate them with logical, step-by-step programs. A new movement in AI, on the other hand, takes a closer look at the more roundabout way in which nature came up wit
40、h intelligence. Many of these researchers study evolution and natural adaptation instead of formal logic and conventional computer programs. Rather than digital computers and transistors, some want to work with brain cells and proteins. The results of these early efforts are as promising as they are
41、 peculiar, and the new nature-based AI movement is slowly but surely moving to the forefront of the field.Imitating the brains neural (神经的) network is a huge step in the right direction, says computer scientist and biophysicist Michael Conrad, but it still misses an important aspect of natural intel
42、ligence. “People tend to treat the brain as if it were made up of color-coded transistors,“ he explains, “but its not simply a clever network of switches. There are lots of important things going on inside the brain cells themselves. “ Specifically, Conrad believes that many of the brains capabiliti
43、es stem from the pattern-recognition proficiency of the individual molecules that make up each brain cell. The best way to build an artificially intelligent device, he claims, would be to build it around the same sort of molecular skills.Right now, the notion that conventional computers and software
44、 are fundamentally incapable of matching the processes that take place in the brain remains controversial. But if it proves true, then the efforts of Conrad and his fellow AI rebels could turn out to be the only game in town. (384 words)16 The author says that the powerful computers of today_.（A）are
45、 capable of reliably recognizing; the shape of an object（B） are close to exhibiting humanlike behavior（C） are not very different in their performance from those of the 1950s（D）still cannot communicate with people in a human language17 The new trend in artificial intelligence research stems from_.（A）
46、the shift of the focus of study onto the recognition of the shapes of objects（B） the belief that human intelligence cannot be duplicated with logical, step-by-step programs（C） the aspirations of scientists to duplicate the intelligence of a ten-month-old child（D）the efforts made by scientists in the
47、 study of the similarities between transistors and brain cells18 Conrad and his group of AI researchers have been making enormous efforts to（A）find a roundabout way to design powerful computers（B） build a computer using a clever network of switches（C） find out how intelligence developed in nature（D）
48、separate the highest and most abstract levels of thought19 Whats the authors opinion about the new AI movement?（A）It has created a sensation among artificial intelligence researchers but will soon die out.（B） Its breakthrough in duplicating human thought processes.（C） Its more like a peculiar game r
49、ather than a real scientific effort.（D）It may prove to be in the right direction though nobody is sure of its future prospects.20 Which of the following is closest in meaning to the phrase “the only game in town“ (Line 4, Para. 4)?（A）The only approach to building an artificially intelligent computer.（B） The only way for them to win a prize in artificial intelligence research.（C） The only area worth studying in computer science.（D）The only game they would like to play in town.在职艺术硕士（MFA ）全国联考英文阅读理解模拟试
