1、考研英语（二）模拟试卷 139 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 Aging poses a serious challenge to OECD (Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development) countries, in particular, how to p
2、ay for future public pension liabilities. And early retirement places an【C1】_burden on pension financing. There is no easy solution, but【C2】_retirement could help.Early retirement may seem like a【C3】_individual goal, but it is a socially expensive one, and makes the present public pension system dif
3、ficult to sustain for long. The【C4】_reason is that more people are retiring early and living longer. That means more retirees depending on the funding of those in work for their【C5】_, The【C6】_is worrying. In the next 50 years, low fertility rates and rising life expectancy in OECD countries will cau
4、se this old-age dependency rate to roughly double in size. Public pension payments, which【C7】_30c80 % of total retirement incomes in OECD countries, are【C8 】_to rise, on average, by over three percentage points in GDP and by as much as eight percentage points in some countries.【C9 】_is the pressure
5、on pension funds that there is a danger of todays workers not getting the pensions they expected or felt they【C10】_for.Action is needed,【C11 】_simply aiming to reduce the【C12】_(and cost) of public pensions, or trying to【C13】_the role of privately funded pensions within the system, though necessary s
6、teps, may be【C14】_to deal with the dependency challenge. After years of【C15 】_early retirement schemes to avoid 【C16】_and higher unemployment, many governments are now looking【C17】_persuading people to stay in work until they are older.【C18】_, the thinking goes, if we are healthier now and jobs are
7、physically less【C19】_and unemployment is down, then perhaps the【C20 】_rate should rise a new.1 【C1 】（A）unbelievable（B） unsolvable（C） unwanted（D）unsustainable2 【C2 】（A）hindering（B） delaying（C） prolonging（D）enforcing3 【C3 】（A）inscrutable（B） unpractical（C） worthy（D）undeserved4 【C4 】（A）controversial（B）
8、superficial（C） trivial（D）essential5 【C5 】（A）income（B） expense（C） nursing（D）insurance6 【C6 】（A）outset（B） outcome（C） outbreak（D）outlook7 【C7 】（A）invest（B） deduct（C） afford（D）cost8 【C8 】（A）authorized（B） expected（C） intended（D）conceived9 【C9 】（A）Such（B） As（C） It（D）So10 【C10 】（A）are paid（B） should pay（C）
9、 would pay（D）be paid11 【C11 】（A）for（B） but（C） when（D）and12 【C12 】（A）visibility（B） credibility（C） generosity（D）popularity13 【C13 】（A）augment（B） minimize（C） define（D）assess14 【C14 】（A）inefficient（B） insufficient（C） indispensable（D）inevitable15 【C15 】（A）exploring（B） considering（C） debating（D）advancing1
10、6 【C16 】（A）inflation（B） discrepancies（C） redundancies（D）depression17 【C17 】（A）into（B） at（C） on（D）about18 【C18 】（A）Surely（B） Accordingly（C） Similarly（D）Lately19 【C19 】（A）oppressive（B） turbulent（C） tiresome（D）strenuous20 【C20 】（A）present（B） mortality（C） dependency（D）fertilityPart ADirections: Read the
11、 following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. (40 points)20 Power and water are interconnected and that has serious consequences for the American West as it grapples with climate change. By now, everyone knows you save energy by turning out lights. And you con
12、serve water by taking shorter showers. But its just as true that saving water may be one of the most effective ways to save energyand vice versa. “Its a buy one, get one free deal,“ said Douglas Kenney, a professor at the University of Colorado Law School and the editor of an upcoming book that expl
13、ores the nexus of water and energy.In California today, just delivering water accounts for 20 percent of the states energy consumption. It takes power to gather water, purify water, and distribute water, especially in places like southern California where water is piped hundreds of miles to supply L
14、os Angeles sprawling demands.Nationally, energy production sucks more water from freshwater sources than any other sector except agriculture. It takes water to create the power we use to drive our cars, transport our groceries, and run our toaster ovens. Virtually every source of electricity in a ty
15、pical American home or manufacturing plantwhether it comes from hydroelectricity, coal, natural gas, nuclear, biofuels, or even concentrated solaralso requires water. Lots of water.Thats a growing problem, because in many places, finding water for energy isnt easy and its bound to get tougher as ene
16、rgy demands soar and climate change alters hydrological cycles in already arid regions. The energy sector is the fastest-growing water consumer in the United States, according to a January 2011 Congressional Research Service report. Nationally, thats a challenge, but regionally it could be a calamit
17、y. As the Congressional Research report notes, “much of the growth in the energy sectors water demand is concentrated in regions with already intense competition over water.“ The connection between energy and waterand the precariousness of that link in the western United Statesis exemplified in a gi
18、gantic plug of concrete stopping the muddy Colorado River above Las Vegas, otherwise known as Hoover Dam.At the ceremony inaugurating the Hoover Dam provided the two key ingredientswater and powerthat freed the Southwest and southern California to go on a 75-year growth spurt. Lake Mead now supplies
19、 water to more than 22 million people, and it produces more than four billion kilowatts of electricity per year.The Colorado River, lifeblood of seven western states, is already as overdrawn as the federal treasury. Drought conditions during most of the 21st century have forced water managers to pla
20、n for a day when the region s vast system of dams and reservoirs no longer have enough water to store. Already, utilities have to scramble to respond on days when everybody in Phoenix, Las Vegas and Los Angeles wants to crank their air conditioners during the same heat wave.21 What does “vice versa“
21、 (Line 3, Para. 1) refer to?（A）Saving water and saving energy could happen meanwhile.（B） Wasting water may be one of the fastest ways to waste energy.（C） Saving water may be one of the most effective ways to save energy.（D）Saving energy may be one of the most effective ways to save water.22 Which of
22、 the following statement is TRUE?（A）Energy production sucks water mostly.（B） We fuel our cars and run our toaster ovens with water.（C） Almost every source of electricity in home or factory requires water.（D）Coal, natural gas, nuclear, biofuels require water, however solar does not.23 It can be infer
23、red from the passage that the Congressional Research Service report considers the U. S. energy sector_.（A）efficient（B） praiseworthy（C） insignificant（D）spiny24 Which of the following can substitute for “overdrawn“ (Line 1, Para. 6)?（A）Deficient.（B） Abundant.（C） Significant.（D）Prompt.25 The most appro
24、priate title for this passage could be_.（A）Electricity Needs Water（B） Save the Colorado River（C） How to Save Water（D）Saving Energy and Conserving Water25 The simple act of surrendering a telephone number to a store clerk may seem innocuous so much so that many consumers do it with no questions asked
25、. Yet that one action can set in motion a cascade of silent events, as that data point is acquired, analyzed, categorized, stored and sold over and over again. Future attacks on your privacy may come from anywhere, from anyone with money to purchase that phone number you surrendered. If you doubt th
26、e multiplier effect, consider your e-mail inbox. If its loaded with spam, its undoubtedly because at some point in time you unknowingly surrendered your e-mail to the wrong Web site.Do you think your telephone number or address is handled differently? A cottage industry of small companies with names
27、 youve probably never heard oflike Acxiom or Merlinbuy and sell your personal information the way other commodities like corn or cattle futures are bartered. You may think your cell phone is unlisted, but if youve ever ordered a pizza, it might not be. Merlin is one of many commercial data brokers t
28、hat advertises sale of unlisted phone numbers compiled from various sourcesincluding pizza delivery companies. These unintended, unpredictable consequences that flow from simple actions make privacy issues difficult to grasp, and grapple with.In a larger sense, privacy also is often cast as a tale o
29、f “Big Brother“ the government is watching you or a big corporation is watching you. But privacy issues dont necessarily involve large faceless institutions: A spouse takes a casual glance at her husbands Blackberry, a co-worker looks at e-mail over your shoulder or a friend glances at a cell phone
30、text message from the next seat on the bus. While very little of this is news to anyonepeople are now well aware there are video cameras and Internet cookies everywherethere is abundant evidence that people live their lives ignorant of the monitoring, assuming a mythical level of privacy. People wri
31、te e-mails and type instant messages they never expect anyone to see. Just ask Mark Foley or even Bill Gates, whose e-mails were a cornerstone of the Justice Department s antitrust case against Microsoft.And polls and studies have repeatedly shown that Americans are indifferent to privacy concerns.
32、The general defense for such indifference is summed up a single phrase: “I have nothing to hide.“ If you have nothing to hide, why shouldnt the government be able to peek at your phone records, your wife see your e-mail or a company send you junk mail? Its a powerful argument, one that privacy advoc
33、ates spend considerable time discussing and strategizing over.It is hard to deny, however, that people behave different when theyre being watched. And it is also impossible to deny that Americans are now being watched more than at any time in history.26 The email example in the Paragraphl shows_.（A）
34、email will become an area for potential attacks on privacy（B） the communication via email is replacing that via telephone（C） email has become the predominant means of communication（D）careless surrendering of personal information can be harmful27 Companies like Acxiom or Merlin_.（A）are law firms spec
35、ializing in dealing with privacy issues（B） make a profit by acquiring and selling personal information（C） are agencies whose major mission is to protect privacy（D）compile telephone directories for local business transaction28 It can be inferred from the third paragraph that_.（A）the Justice Departmen
36、t has done nothing about privacy issues so far（B） people are now clearly aware how their privacy can be invaded（C） Bill Gates email messages have been used against him in his lawsuit（D）cases of intrusion on privacy are the most serious in large institutions29 To the popular saying “I have nothing to
37、 hide,“ the authors response is one of_.（A）disapproval（B） puzzlement（C） contempt（D）admiration30 What advice might the author give to the ordinary people?（A）Raise your awareness of self-protection.（B） Use your cell phone and email wisely.（C） Dont respond too readily to telephone messages.（D）Never lea
38、ve your telephone number anywhere.30 Come oneverybodys doing it. That whispered message, half invitation and half forcing, is what most of us thinking of when we hear the words peer pressure. It usually leads to no gooddrinking, drugs and casual sex. But in her new book Join the Club, Tina Rosenberg
39、 contends that peer pressure can also be a positive force through what she calls the social cure, in which organizations and officials use the power of group dynamics to help individuals improve their lives and possibly the world.Rosenberg, the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, offers a host of example
40、s of the social cure in action: In South Carolina, a state-sponsored antismoking program called Rage Against the Haze sets out to make cigarettes uncool. In South Africa, an HIV-prevention initiative known as LoveLife recruits young people to promote safe sex among their peers.The idea seems promisi
41、ng, and Rosenberg is a perceptive observer. Her critique of the lameness of many public-health campaigns is spot-on: they fail to mobilize peer pressure for healthy habits, and they demonstrate a seriously flawed understanding of psychology. “Dare to be different, please dont smoke!“ pleads one bill
42、board campaign aimed at reducing smoking among teenagersteenagers, who desire nothing more than fitting in. Rosenberg argues convincingly that public-health advocates ought to take a page from advertisers, so skilled at applying peer pressure.But on the general effectiveness of the social cure, Rose
43、nberg is less persuasive. Join the Club is filled with too much irrelevant detail and not enough exploration of the social and biological factors that make peer pressure so powerful. The most glaring flaw of the social cure as its presented here is that it doesnt work very well for very long. Rage A
44、gainst the Haze failed once state funding was cut. Evidence that the LoveLife program prodvices lasting changes is limited and mixed.There s no doubt that our peer groups exert enormous influence on our behavior. An emerging body of research shows that positive health habitsas well as negative oness
45、pread through networks of friends via social communication. This is a subtle form of peer pressure: we unconsciously imitate the behavior we see every day.Far less certain, however, is how successfully experts and bureaucrats can select our peer groups and steer their activities in virtuous directio
46、ns. Its like the teacher who breaks up the troublemakers in the back row by pairing them with better-behaved classmates. The tactic never really works. And thats the problem with a social cure engineered from the outside: in the real world, as in school, we insist on choosing our own friends.31 Acco
47、rding to the first paragraph, peer pressure often emerges as_.（A）a stimulus to group dynamics（B） a cause of undesirable behaviors（C） an obstacle to school progress（D）a supplement to the social cure32 Rosenberg holds that public advocates should_.（A）stay away from commercial advertisers（B） recognize
48、the limitations of advertisements（C） learn from advertisers experience（D）recruit professional advertisers33 In the authors view, Rosenbergs book fails to_.（A）effectively evade the flaws of the social cure（B） adequately probe social and biological factors（C） produce a long-lasting social effect（D）ill
49、ustrate the functions of state funding34 We can learn from the Paragraph five that our imitation of behaviors_.（A）occurs without our realizing it（B） is harmful to our networks of friends（C） can produce negative health habits（D）will mislead behavioral studies35 We can infer from the last paragraph that the attitude of the author towards the effect of peer pressure is_.（A）profoun
