1、考研英语（一）模拟试卷 8 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 Americans suffer from an overdose of work.【C1】_who they are or what they do, they spend【C2】_time at work than at any time since Worl
2、d War II . In 1950, the US had fewer working hours than any other【C3】_country. Today, it【C4 】_every country but Japan, where industrial employees log 2,155 hours a year compared【C5】_1, 951 in the US and 1,603【C6】_West employees. Between 1969 and 1989, employed American【C7】 _an average of 138 hours t
3、o their yearly work schedules. The work-week【C8】_at about 40 hours, but people are working more weeks each year. 【C9 】_paid time off holidays, vacations, sick leave 【C10 】_15 percent in the 1990s.As corporations have【C11】_stiffer competition and slower growth in productivity, they would【C12 】_employ
4、ees to work longer. Cost-cutting layoffs in the 1980s【C13】_the professional and managerial ranks, leaving fewer people to get the job done. In lower-paid occupations【C14】_wages have been reduced, workers have added hours【C15 】_overtime or extra jobs to【C16】_their living standard. The government esti
5、mates that more than seven million people hold a second job.For the first time, large【C17】_of people say they want to cut【C18】_on working hours, even if it means earning less money. But most employers are【C19】_to let them do so. The government which has stepped back from its traditional【C20】_as a re
6、gulator of work time, should take steps to make shorter hours possible.1 【C1 】（A）As regards to（B） Regardless of（C） With regard to（D）In regard to2 【C2 】（A）much less（B） abundant（C） a lot more（D）surplus3 【C3 】（A）advanced（B） industrialized（C） developed（D）mechanized4 【C4 】（A）exceeds（B） outnumbers（C） over
7、takes（D）outstrips5 【C5 】（A）with（B） at（C） in（D）on6 【C6 】（A）in the former（B） of the past（C） in the early（D）in the earlier7 【C7 】（A）added（B） increased（C） brought（D）totaled8 【C8 】（A）arrived（B） stopped（C） set（D）remained9 【C9 】（A）However（B） Nevertheless（C） Moreover（D）And10 【C10 】（A）lessened to（B） shrank b
8、y（C） deduced（D）restrained in11 【C11 】（A）suffered（B） experienced（C） undertaken（D）endured12 【C12 】（A）squash（B） squeeze（C） urge（D）oblige13 【C13 】（A）minimized（B） reduced（C） lessened（D）relieved14 【C14 】（A）because（B） though（C） as（D）where15 【C15 】（A）by（B） for（C） to（D）in16 【C16 】（A）preserve（B） conserve（C） i
9、mprove（D）protect17 【C17 】（A）numbers（B） amounts（C） figures（D）plenty18 【C18 】（A）off（B） out（C） back（D）down19 【C19 】（A）discouraged（B） unwilling（C） forbidden（D）inclined20 【C20 】（A）position（B） function（C） task（D）rolePart ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by c
10、hoosing A, B, C or D. (40 points)20 Rebel uprising kills seventy! Plane crash leaves no survivors! Rock star dies of overdose!Evening newscasts and metropolitan newspapers scream the bad news, the sensational, and the action.Audiences of today focus upon the sensational action, the violence, the los
11、s, the terror. Individually, our lives are redirected, our worlds reshaped, and our images changed. While wary of the danger of change, we human beings surrender daily to exploitation of values, opportunities, and sensitivity. The evolution has brought us to the point that we believe little of what
12、is presented to us as good and valuable; instead, we opt for suspicion and disbelief, demanding proof and something for nothing.Therein lies the danger for the writer seeking to break into the market of today. Journalists sell sensationalism. The journalist who loses sight of the simple truth and op
13、ts only for the sensation loses the audience over the long run. Only those seeking a short-term thrill are interested in following the journalistic thinking.How, then do we capture the audience of today and hold it, when the competition for attention is so fierce? The answer is writing to convey act
14、ion, and the way to accomplish this is a simple one action verbs.The writer whose product suspends time for the reader or viewer is the successful writer whose work is sought and reread. Why?Time often will melt away in the face of the reality of lifes little responsibilities for the reader. Instead
15、 of puzzling over a more active and more accurate verb, some journalists often limp through passive voice and useless tense to squeeze the life out of an action-filled world and fill their writing with missed opportunities to appeal to the reader who seeks that moment of suspended time.Recently, a r
16、eporter wrote about observing the buildings in a community robbed by rebel uprising as “thousands of bullet holes were in the hotel. “ A very general observation. Suppose he had written, “The hotel was pocked with bullet holes. “ The visual image conjured up by the latter is far superior to the form
17、er. Here is the reader. comfortable in the easy chair before the fire with the dog at his feet. The verb “pocked“ speaks to him.The journalist missed the opportunity to convey the reality.21 Why do the media always report sensational topics?（A）Journalists of today are excited about conveying these t
18、opics.（B） Newscasts and newspapers pay the utmost attention to these topics.（C） These topics hold greater appeal for the public than any other topics.（D）Audiences of today dont believe what is good and valuable.22 Anxious to capture the readers attention, some journalists（A）attempt to add spice to w
19、riting with invented incidents.（B） utilize events and actions to compete with each other.（C） exploit the short attention span and sensationalize the story.（D）report only the unfamiliar incidents to seek short-term thrill.23 Some works are sought and reread because（A）they save time for the readers an
20、d viewers.（B） they are responsible for the readers.（C） they report international incidents.（D）they are pieces of active writing.24 According to the author, which of the following might be true of the journalists?（A）They seek the easy way out.（B） Language is the tool of them.（C） The truth is never co
21、nveyed in their report.（D）They only want to exploit the readers.25 Which of the following serves as the best title for the text?（A）Return to Vivid Description（B） Audience Distracted by Journalists（C） Journalists: Sensationalism Sellers（D）How to Become a Competent Reporter25 Recent years have brought
22、 minority-owned businesses in the United States unprecedented opportunities as well as new and significant risks. Civil rights activists have long argued that one of the principal reasons why Blacks, Hispanics, and other minority groups have difficulty establishing themselves in business is that the
23、y lack access to the sizable orders and subcontracts that are generated by large companies. Now Congress, in apparent agreement, has required by law that businesses awarded federal contracts of more than $ 1,000,000 do their best to find minority subcontractors and record their efforts to do so on f
24、orms filed with the government. Indeed, some federal and local agencies have gone so far as to set specific percentage goals for apportioning parts of public works contracts to minority enterprises.Corporate response appears to have been substantial. According to figures collected in 1997, the total
25、 of corporate contracts with minority businesses rose from $177 million in 1992 to $2.2 billion in 1997. The projected total of corporate contracts with minority businesses for the early 2000s is estimated to be over 70 billion per year with no letup anticipated in the next decade.Promising as it is
26、 for minority businesses, this increased patronage poses dangers for them, too. First, minority firms risk expanding too fast and overextending themselves financially, since most are small concerns and, unlike large businesses, they often need to make substantial investments in new plants, staff, eq
27、uipment, and the like in order to perform work subcontracted to them. If, thereafter, their subcontracts are for some reason reduced, such firms can face potentially crippling fixed expenses. The world of corporate purchasing can be frustrating for small entrepreneurs who get requests for elaborate
28、formal estimates and bids. Both consume valuable time and resources, and a small companys efforts must soon result in orders, or both the morale and the financial health of the business will suffer.A second risk is that White-owned companies may seek to cash in on the increasing apportionments throu
29、gh formation of joint ventures with minority-owned concerns. Of course, in many instances there are legitimate reasons for joint ventures; clearly, White and minority enterprises can team up to acquire business that neither could acquire alone. But civil rights groups and minority business owners ha
30、ve complained to Congress about minorities being set up as “fronts“ with White backing, rather than being accepted as full partners in legitimate joint ventures.Third, a minority enterprise that secures the business of one large corporate customer often runs the danger of becoming and remaining depe
31、ndent. Even in the best of circumstances, fierce competition from larger, more established companies makes it difficult for small concerns to broaden their customer bases: when such firms have nearly guaranteed orders from a single corporate benefactor, they may truly have to struggle against compla
32、cency arising from their current success.26 Compared with the requirements of law, the percentage goals set by some federal and local agencies are（A）more popular with large corporations.（B） more concrete.（C） less controversial.（D）less expensive to enforce.27 The failure of a large business to make b
33、ids for subcontracts yield orders might cause it to（A）experience frustration but not serious financial harm.（B） face potentially crippling fixed expenses.（C） have to record its efforts on forms filed with the government.（D）increase its spending with minority subcontractors.28 The response of corpora
34、tes to working with minority subcontractors is（A）distressing.（B） indifferent.（C） promising.（D）obscure.29 Which of the following is a danger to minority businesses?（A）Minority businesses may expand too slow to compete with the White-owned companies.（B） Minority businesses may be taken advantage by Wh
35、ite-owned companies.（C） Minority businesses may be too independent to control.（D）Minority businesses may rely too much on government support.30 The primary purpose of the text is to（A）present a commonplace idea and its inaccuracies.（B） describe a situation and its potential drawbacks.（C） propose a t
36、emporary solution to a problem.（D）analyze a frequent source of disagreement.30 When the world was a simpler place, the rich were fat, the poor were thin, and right-thinking people worried about how to feed the hungry. Now, in much of the world, the rich are thin, the poor are fat, and right-thinking
37、 people are worrying about obesity.Evolution is mostly to blame. It has designed mankind to cope with deprivation, not plenty. People are perfectly tuned to store energy in good years to see them through lean ones. But when bad times never come, they are stuck with that energy, stored around their e
38、xpanding bellies.Thanks to rising agricultural productivity, lean years are rarer all over the globe. Modern-day Malthusians, who used to draw graphs proving that the world was shortly going to run out of food, have gone rather quiet lately. According to the UN, the number of people short of food fe
39、ll from 920m in 1980 to 799m 20 years later, even though the worlds population increased by 1. 6 billion over the period. This is mostly a cause for celebration. Mankind has won what was, for most of his time on this planet, his biggest battle: to ensure that he and his offspring had enough to eat.
40、But every silver lining has a cloud, and the consequence of prosperity is a new plague that brings with it a host of interesting policy dilemmas.As a scourge of the modern world, obesity has an image problem. It is easier to associate with Father Christmas than with the four horses of the Apocalypse
41、. But it has a good claim to lumber along beside them, for it is the worlds biggest public-health issue today the main cause of heart disease, which kills more people these days than AIDS, malaria, war; the principal risk factor in diabetes; heavily implicated in cancer and other diseases. Since the
42、 World Health Organisation labeled obesity an “epidemic“ in 2000, reports on its fearful consequences have come thick and fast.Will public-health warnings, combined with media pressure, persuade people to get thinner, just as they finally put them off tobacco? Possibly. In the rich world, sales of h
43、ealthier foods are booming and new figures suggest that over the past year Americans got very slightly thinner for the first time in recorded history. But even if Americans are losing a few ounces, it will be many years before the country solves the health problems caused by half a centurys dining t
44、o excess. And, everywhere else in the world, people are still piling on the pounds. Thats why there is now a consensus among doctors that governments should do something to stop them.31 “Malthusians“ (Line 1-2, Para. 3) probably held that（A）fatness could be attributed to evolution.（B） food wouldnt f
45、eed all the people on the earth.（C） it was harmful for people to be obese.（D）the number of starving people decreased.32 It can be inferred from the text that the biggest problem in history is（A）the rich were fat, the poor were thin.（B） people stored energy in good years.（C） there was not enough food
46、 to eat.（D）people couldnt stop smoking.33 Why does the author mention Father Christmas and the four horses of the Apocalypse!（A）To draw a parallel between the two.（B） To show how fat people on earth are.（C） To introduce the health risks in obesity.（D）To make the text interesting.34 Why does the auth
47、or compare smoking with obesity in this text?（A）They are both problems difficult to settle.（B） They can lead to the same diseases.（C） They are both bad habits.（D）They are both harmful to health.35 What does the author mean by “people are still piling on the pounds“?（A）People are accumulating wealth.
48、（B） People are getting thinner.（C） People are losing ounces.（D）People are gaining weight.35 One of the silliest things in our recent history was the use of “Victorian“ as a term of contempt or abuse. It had been made fashionable by Lytton Strachey with his clever, superficial and ultimately empty bo
49、ok Eminent Victorians, in which he damned with faint praise such Victorian heroes as General Gordon and Florence Nightingale. Stracheys demolition job was clever because it ridiculed the Victorians for exactly those qualities on which they prided themselves their high mindedness, their marked moral intensity, their desire to improve the human condition and their confidence that they had done so.Yet one saw, even before the 100th anniversary of the death of
