1、考研英语模拟试卷 323 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 Home prices slid in November, raising questions about whether the housing recovery is robust enough to maintain a sustained turnaroun
2、d. From October to November, home prices fell 0.2% after【1】0.1% in October, according to a report Tuesday by Standard Poors/Case-Shillers home price index.【2】five of the 20 metro areas【 3】by the index saw price increases for the month. On a(n)【4】basis, prices were 5.3% lower in November than in Nove
3、mber 2008. Prices were the same as in late 2003. “What weve seen【5】the past couple of months is that the pace of【6】has fallen down,“ says Maureen Maitland of Standard Poors. “Some markets have【7】Is that because we havent【8】the foreclosure ( 回赎权的取消) cycle? Because of unemployment? Were not seeing the
4、【9】we were seeing in the last summer months. “ Metro areas that have seen a retreat in home prices【10】Seattle, Charlotte, Las Vegas and Tampa. All four【11】gains they made in recent months【12】.【13】, for the 20-metro index, the annual rate of decline is improving. That【14】, with other recent housing r
5、eports that show prices【15】or accelerating, could point to 【16】the housing market is starting to【17】 its footing, some economists say. Existing home sale prices were $178 300 in December, which is 1.5% higher than December 2008, according to a report this week by the National Association of Realtors
6、. That was the first year-over-year【 18】in median price since August 2007. “The most【 19】thing we can say is not only the market is stabilizing, but weve seen that housing demand is strong,“ says Bernard Baumohl, with the Economic Outlook Group. “Housing probably will continue to climb upwards throu
7、gh the summer,【20】it could slip a little as the tax credit expires. “ （A）leading（B） declining（C） holding（D）improving （A）Then（B） Thus（C） Only（D）So （A）documented（B） retraced（C） increased（D）tracked （A）monthly（B） daily（C） weekly（D）annual （A）with（B） over（C） under（D）upon （A）recognition（B） recourse（C） reco
8、very（D）relapse （A）fallen over（B） fallen behind（C） fallen back（D）fallen out （A）worked through（B） worked at（C） looked through（D）passed through （A）improvement（B） wound（C） help（D）advantage （A）consist（B） conclude（C） include（D）enclose （A）watched（B） saw（C） cared（D）overlooked （A）deleted（B） validated（C） fini
9、shed（D）erased （A）Therefore（B） Consequently（C） Moreover（D）Still （A）trend（B） circumstance（C） condition（D）hypothesis （A）fluctuating（B） stabilizing（C） declining（D）inclining （A）signs（B） index（C） news（D）marks （A）retain（B） resign（C） regain（D）reform （A）gain（B） accomplishment（C） achievement（D）success （A）expa
10、nding（B） continuing（C） puzzling（D）encouraging （A）so（B） although（C） hence（D）since Part ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. (40 points)20 Rarely do major diseases have a single cause. They are usually the result of a complex intera
11、ction between many factors, including genetic, environmental and lifestyle components. Many media reports, however, can tead us to believe that if we gave up something that we might otherwise enjoy, we could completely escape that particular affliction. Clearly, this is not the case. Vegetarians die
12、 of cancer of the colon (结肠). Teetotallers die of liver complaints, including cirrhosis (硬化). People who never go out in the sun contract skin melanomas (黑素瘤). Always, there are other factors at work than the single element being examined in a scientific study. Quite often the alleged benefits of a
13、particular nutritional element are the result not so much of the element itself but of the lifestyle and general diet of the people who consume it most. People who eat lots of “healthy“ foods, including fiber, carrots, broccoli etc. , also tend to drink less alcohol, take more exercise, avoid too ma
14、ny fatty foods and smoke less. Only when a study can rule out all of these other factors and often we do not know what these factors might be can we say that there is a causal link between two things. That is not to say that things like fiber and broccoli have no beneficial effects at all. But those
15、 with sedentary lifestyles cannot expect these foods to make them healthy. There is, however, one thing which increases the likelihood of dying relatively young, even when all of the other factors have been taken into account. It is one of the biggest killers even among those who lead lifestyles whi
16、ch, by any criteria, are clearly healthy ones. This single, incontrovertible risk factor is that of being poor. Recent report from the Cancer Research Campaign suggested that 12 700 deaths could have been avoided between 1986 and 1990 if inequalities in cancer care did not exist in England and Wales
17、. Comparing cancer survival rates, the study found that England and Wales fared unfavorably with Europe and the US, but the most affluent regions of these two countries exhibited similar figures to the European average. In an attempt to counter this disparity the government has announced plans for t
18、he provision of Health Action Zones which seek to encourage greater cooperation between health and social services, targeting both rural and inner city areas. The emphasis of this new scheme however appears to focus on inadequacies within health education in these areas, rather than attacking the br
19、oader issues of social inequality.21 According to the first paragraph, what are we likely to read in many media reports?（A）A particular disease is associated with a single cause.（B） We should enjoy as many things as possible.（C） We can never understand how different factors interact to cause a disea
20、se.（D）A disease is caused more by genes than by lifestyles. 22 The fact that a vegetarian can die of colon cancer indicates that _.（A）the colon is sensitive to vegetables（B） people should eat different kinds of vegetables rather than one（C） colon cancer is not tied to a particular food（D）colon cance
21、r is caused by a single unknown cause 23 According to the author, fiber and broccoli are the so-called “healthy“ foods because _.（A）they are only part of a general diet and lifestyle that contribute to good health（B） the benefits of these foods are still unknown（C） the foods do not benefit people wi
22、th sedentary lifestyles（D）people who eat these foods tend to adopt unhealthy lifestyles 24 Cancer survival rates found in the study were lower in Wales than in the US because _.（A）people in Wales eat more unhealthy food than people in the US（B） people in Wales are poorer than people in the US（C） peo
23、ple in Wales are richer than people in the US（D）cancers in Wales are caused by more complex factors than those in the US 25 According to the author, to reduce cancer deaths in England and Wales, the government should _.（A）sponsor more cancer research（B） run health education programs in rural and inn
24、er city areas（C） attack the issues of social inequality（D）advise its people to obtain medical insurance 25 She knew how to make an entrance. Her dark hair cut in a severe pageboy, Ayn Rand would sweep into a room with a long black cape, a dollar-sign pin on her lapel and an ever present cigarette in
25、 an ivory holder. Melodramatic, yes, but Rand didnt have time to be subtle. She had millions of people to convert to objectivism, her philosophy of radical individualism, limited government and avoidance of altruism and religion. Her adoring followers-some called them a cult-revered her as the high
26、priestess of laissez-faire capitalism until her death in 1982 at age 77. The bad economy has been good news for Rands legacy. Her fierce denunciations of government regulation have sent sales of her two best-known novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, soaring. Yet her me-first brand of capita
27、lism has been exccoriated (严厉批评) for fomenting (引发) the recent financial crisis. And her most famous former acolyte-onetime Fed chairman Alan Greenspan-has been blamed for inflating the housing bubble by refusing to intervene in the market. In the midst of the newly rekindled debate, two excellent b
28、iographies have just been published: Ayn Rand and the World She Made, by Anne C. Heller (Doubleday; 592 pages), is a comprehensive study, in novelistic detail, of Rands personal life, and Goddess of the Market : Ayn Rand and the American Right, by Jenniter Burns (Oxford; 369 pages), leans more heavi
29、ly on Rands theories and politics. From her earliest years, Rand was a woman on a mission. Born in 1905 to a bourgeois Jewish family in St. Petersburg, Rand was 12 when the Bolshevik Revolution took place. Her family, suddenly poor, was forced to flee, and Rands hatred of communism and any sort of c
30、ollectivism would guide her life. Arriving in the US in 1926 with a new name, Ayn (rhymes with fine) made her way to Hollywood, where she had modest success as a screenwriter and married an aspiring actor, Frank OConnor. Her politicization came when she and her husband worked on Republican Wendell W
31、illkies losing presidential campaign in 1940. According to Burns, “Before Willkie she had been pro-capitalist yet pessimistic, writing The capitalist world is low, unprincipled, and corrupt. Now she celebrated capitalism as the noblest, cleanest and most idealistic system of all. “ The Fountainhead,
32、 an epic novel chronicling the struggles of an architect named Howard Roark against conventional values, was her breakout work. In her race to get the sprawling 700-page book to press, she began taking the amphetamine Benzedrine (一种兴奋剂的名称) to fuel her efforts. “Rand used it to power her last months
33、of work on the novel, including several 24-hour sessions correcting page proofs,“ writes Burns. The book brought Rand financial security and fame. 26 The word “Melodramatic“ (Line 2, Paragraph 1) most probably means “_“.（A）Exaggerated（B） Melodic（C） Decent（D）Dramatical 27 Ayn Rands standpoint does NO
34、T include _.（A）radical individualism（B） laissez-faire capitalism（C） racial discrimination（D）avoidance of altruism and religion 28 Why is the bad economy good news for Rands legacy?（A）Because it made her books sell well.（B） Because there was excoriation towards her books.（C） Because she was a modest
35、successful writer.（D）Because her viewpoint triggered the recent financial crisis. 29 What do we learn about Ayn Rand?（A）She was born in a proletarian Jewish family.（B） She liked communism and any sort of colleetivism.（C） She and her husband had never worked for Republican.（D）Her original name wasnt
36、Ayn. 30 The best title for the text is _.（A）Ayn Rands Story（B） Ayn Rands Books（C） Ayn Rand: Extremist or Visionary（D）Adoration of Ayn Rand 30 As summer rolls around, lawmakers in Washington are preparing to vote on a jobs bill that would include $1 billion for summer jobs for teens. Much of the urge
37、ncy for the program stems from the private-sector plunge in summer jobs for teenagers over the past few years. Its no secret that the recession walloped teens jobs as much as it did their parents. But some economists find the clamor for public jobs programs a little ironic, given last years midreces
38、sion minimum wage increase, which may have reduced teen employment even beyond the recessionary drop. Before the minimum wage jumped to $ 7.25 an hour last summer, University of California-Irvine economist David Neumark estimated that it would lead to an additional 300 000 job losses for teens and y
39、oung adults. The 2009 wage increase was set in motion in a better labor market in May 2007, when Congress voted to boost the minimum from $ 5.15 an hour to $ 7.25 an hour over the course of the next two years. Its hard to parse the jobs lost because of the recession and those lost because of the min
40、imum wage increase-theres no direct evaluation of the impact of the wage increase yet-but its likely that raising the wage floor contributed to the record-high teen unemployment rates, Neumark says. “Almost everyone accepts that minimum wages decrease employment or likely increase unemployment of th
41、e least-skilled,“ he says. Neumark advocated for delaying last years increase. The unemployment rate for teenagers was 25.4 percent in April, compared with 9.9 percent overall, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Teens generally have higher unemployment rates. In November 2007, the month be
42、fore the start of the recession, the unemployment rate for the overall population was 4. 7 percent, versus 16. 2 percent for workers aged 16 to 19. Teen employment has been declining for some time. The percentage of teens with jobs has fallen from about 57 percent in 1989 to about 40 percent in 2007
43、 (both dates reflect healthy economies). The reasons are diverse. For one thing, increased school enrollment appears to account for about a third of that decline, according to the Economic Policy Institute. “For teens, there has been a remarkable long-term shift from summer employment to summer enro
44、llment,“ reports EPI economist Heidi Shierholz. One of the critical issues for job-seeking teens is the changing face of the competition, which is increasingly skilled. “Not only are they competing with each other for available positions, but they are competing with recent college graduates and job
45、seekers who have two or more years of on-the-job experience and are willing to take almost any position that provides a steady paycheck,“ says John Challenger of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray Christmas. 31 The word “walloped“ (Line 3, Paragraph 1) most probably means “_“.（A）decreased（B） affecte
46、d（C） increased（D）hit 32 Why is it hard to analyze the jobs lost?（A）Because theres no data showing the impact of the wage increase.（B） Because the minimum wages decrease employment rates.（C） Because there are some unstable factors.（D）Because summer employment has shifted to summer enrollment. 33 The
47、most important thing for job-seeking teens is_.（A）having one or more years of on-the-job experience（B） raising the wage floor（C） having a new perspective on competition（D）making a good curriculum vitae 34 What is the main idea of the text?（A）Economic recession would lead to an additional job losses.
48、（B） Washington votes on a jobs bill for increasing teenagers summer jobs.（C） The increase in teen unemployment rates is attributed to the combination of the recession and other factors.（D）Raising the wage floor contributed to the high teen unemployment rates. 35 We can infer that John Challengers at
49、titude towards job-hunting is _.（A）optimistic（B） indifferent（C） neutral（D）worried 35 Rigoberto Padilla, 21, came to the USA from Mexico when he was 6. He went to school in Chicago, joined the honor society and dreamed of becoming a lawyer-all while living here illegally. Padillas status wasnt a problem until he applied for college and couldnt qualify for financial aid without a Social Security number, he says. In January, the University of Illinois-Chicago junior was charged with drunken driv
