1、考研英语（二）模拟试卷 152 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 Any sufficiently advanced technology, noted Arthur C. Clarke, a British science-fiction writer, is indistinguishable from magic. T
2、he fast-emerging technology of voice computing proves his【C1】_Using it is just like casting a spell: say a few words into the air, and a nearby device can【C2】_your wish.The Amazon Echo, a voice-driven cylindrical computer that sits on a table top and answers to the name Alexa, can【C3】_music tracks a
3、nd radio stations, tell jokes, answer trivia questions and control smart【C4】_; even before Christmas it was already resident in about 4% of American households. Voice assistants are【 C5】_in smartphones, too: Apples Siri【C6】_over 2 billion commands a week, and 20% of Google【C7】_on Android powered han
4、dsets in America are input by voice. Dictating e-mails and text messages now works【C8】_enough to be useful. Why type when you can talk?This is a huge shift. Simple【C9】_it may seem, voice has the power to transform computing, by providing a natural means of interaction. Windows, icons and menus, and
5、then touchscreens, were welcomed as more【C10】_ways to deal with computers than entering complex keyboard【C11 】_But being able to talk to computers【C12】_the need for the abstraction of a “user interface“ at all.【C13】_mobile phones were more than existing phones without wires, and cars were more than
6、carriages without horses, so computers without screens and keyboards have the【C14 】_to be more useful and powerful than people can imagine today.Voice will not wholly【C15】_other forms of input and output. Sometimes it will remain more【C16】_to converse with a machine by typing rather than talking. Bu
7、t voice is destined to【C17】_a growing share of peoples interactions with the technology around them, from washing machines that tell you how much of the cycle they have left to virtual assistants in corporate call-centres.【C18】_,to reach its full potential, the technology requires【C19】_breakthroughs
8、and a resolution of the【C20】_questions it raises around the trade-off between convenience and privacy.1 【C1 】（A）spot（B） notice（C） point（D）note2 【C2 】（A）make（B） allow（C） reach（D）grant3 【C3 】（A）call up（B） make up（C） show up（D）take up4 【C4 】（A）implements（B） appliances（C） complement（D）assistance5 【C5 】（
9、A）declining（B） surging（C） merging（D）vanishing6 【C6 】（A）enters（B） dictates（C） handles（D）requires7 【C7 】（A）searches（B） tracks（C） finds（D）issues8 【C8 】（A）possibly（B） necessarily（C） adequately（D）reliably9 【C9 】（A）because（B） though（C） when（D）since10 【C10 】（A）intuitive（B） difficult（C） abstract（D）private11
10、 【C11 】（A）contents（B） comments（C） commands（D）contexts12 【C12 】（A）reduces（B） increases（C） moderates（D）abolishes13 【C13 】（A）Such as（B） Much as（C） Just as（D）As such14 【C14 】（A）potential（B） capability（C） entitlement（D）responsibility15 【C15 】（A）retain（B） replace（C） reform（D）resume16 【C16 】（A）complicated（
11、B） conventional（C） consistent（D）convenient17 【C17 】（A）call for（B） answer for（C） account for（D）take for18 【C18 】（A）Therefore（B） However（C） Likewise（D）Although19 【C19 】（A）further（B） distant（C） instant（D）prompt20 【C20 】（A）strange（B） unique（C） special（D）trickyPart ADirections: Read the following four te
12、xts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. (40 points)20 Cycling in London is less pleasant than in many European cities. Main roads teem with lorries; winding back streets are hard to navigate. The number of bicycle journeys has nonetheless doubled since 2000. Nationally, j
13、ust 2% pedal to work. In Hackney, in Londons East End, fully 9% do. But only 2% of women cycle to work in London, compared with 5% of men. Blacks and other ethnic minorities are reluctant to do it, too.Boris Johnson, Londons mayor, oversaw the introduction of a bike-hiring scheme, which was started
14、by his predecessor but quickly became known as the “Boris bike“. He pushed for bright blue cycle paths on some busy roads. But the new cycle highways are far more ambitious and permanent. One will run east-west through the City and the West End. Another will run two miles from Elephant and Castle in
15、 the south to Farringdon in north London. Four existing routes will also be improved, while around 30 of the citys busiest junctions will be made a bit less dangerous.The new superhighways ought to be much safer than Londons existing cycle lanes. A raised pavement will keep cyclists away from cars a
16、nd lorries. Junctions will be redesigned and some parking baysincluding a few for the disabledwill be removed. Cars will be prevented from turning down certain streets. Similar schemes exist elsewhere: since 2007 around 30 miles of protected cycle lanes have been created in New York. In Amsterdam, w
17、here lanes have existed for decades, old people and women are far more inclined to cycle.Greens have long lobbied for cycle paths on the grounds that moving people out of cars cuts air pollution. A series of highly publicised accidents, including one involving a newspaper journalist, and several dea
18、ths in the city have also put pressure on the mayor to make London safer.And the social transformation of the capital has encouraged officials to smile on cyclists. The population of inner London is rebounding as affluent folk move in. The new inhabitants want cleaner streets and fewer cars, which a
19、re viewed as suburban. Cycling was once a means of transport for the poor. But it has become an important marker of an affluent world city, argues Isabel Dedring, the deputy mayor for transport. “Theres more pressure on cities to be nice places to live,“ she says.21 Riding a bike in London is unplea
20、sant because of the citys_.（A）enormous number of cyclists（B） numerous winding main streets（C） heavy traffic and complex terrain（D）complicated and changeable weather22 According to the text, who is more likely to ride a bike in London?（A）Working males.（B） Senior citizens.（C） Working women.（D）Unemploy
21、ed people.23 Which of the following is true about Boris Johnson?（A）He initiated a bike-hiring scheme called“Boris bike“.（B） He made great effort to build infrastructure for cycling.（C） He is a man with strong ambition and great perseverance.（D）He supervised the construction of the new cycle highway.
22、24 The Green Partys attitude towards cycling is_.（A）optimistic（B） impartial（C） critical（D）favorable25 According to Isabel Dedring, one pressure modern cities face is_.（A）how to be affluent（B） how to be habitable（C） how to boost cycling（D）how to reduce pollution25 Marion Nestles heavyweight criticism
23、 against Coca-Cola and PepsiCo comes at an odd moment for the industry. Americans are drinking fewer sugary sodasin 2012 production was 23% below what it had been a decade earlier. Even sales of diet drinks are losing their fizz, as consumers question the merits of artificial sweeteners. From one an
24、gle, it would seem that health advocates such as Ms Nestle have won. Yet in America companies still produce 30 gallons of regular fizzy drinks per person per year. In many countries, particularly developing ones, consumption is on the rise.Ms Nestle, a professor at New York University, is both inspi
25、red by recent progress and dissatisfied with it. That is no surprise. Her first book, Food Politics, remains a bible for those who complain about the power of food companies. In her new book she attacks the industrys most widely consumed, least healthy product. Soda Politics, she says, is a book “to
26、 inspire readers to action“. As a rallying cry, it is verbose. When readers learn on page 238 that she will pick up a particular subject in chapter 25, it is with no little dismay that they realize they are only on chapter 17. But what the author wants most is to craft a detailed guide to the produc
27、ers alleged violation, and how to stop them.Ms Nestle says she would have no complaint with sweet fizzy drinks if they were sipped occasionally, as a treat. However, for millions of people in many countries, they are not. In Mexico companies sold 372 cans of fizzy drinks per person in 2012. About ha
28、lf of Americans do not drink them regularly, but those who do are disproportionately poor, less educated, male, Hispanic or black. 10% of Americans down more than four cans a day.Drinking a lot of sweet fizzy drinks is plainly unhealthy. Unlike a Big Mac, they have no nutritional value; nor do their
29、 calories satisfy hunger. One large study found that for each can added to a persons daily diet, the risk of diabetes jumped by 22%. There are also links between sugar and heart disease, stroke and cancer. Drinking lots of sodas imposes clear costs on individuals, Ms Nestle argues, but it has a broa
30、der cost, too. American taxpayers subsidize corn production and let the poor use government food vouchers to buy fizzy drinks. More important, taxpayers foot the health bill for those who develop chronic disease.26 Diet drinks become unpopular in America because_.（A）only poor people drink them（B） th
31、ey contain too much sugar（C） people doubt they are unhealthy（D）consumers think they are artificial27 In the book Soda Politics, Marion Nestle_.（A）called for food companies to adopt some measures（B） criticized the food industry and the unwise consumers（C） called on consumers to take action against un
32、healthy food（D）intended to write a detailed guide to the producers violation28 Nestle tends to agree that drinking cola occasionally is_.（A）healthy（B） acceptable（C） harmful（D）questionable29 According to the last paragraph, having too many soda drinks _.（A）can increase the risk of death（B） will inevi
33、tably lead to diabetes（C） may bring the problem of obesity（D）has something to do with certain diseases30 The underlined word “foot“ (Line 6, Para. 4) is closest in meaning to_.（A）pay for（B） kick away（C） look for（D）stay away30 It is a good time to be a fisherman. The global fish-price index of the UN
34、s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) hit a record high in May. Changing consumer diets, particularly in China, explain much of the sustained upward movement. High oil prices, which increase the cost of fishing and transportation, also add to the price of putting fish on the table.Not all fish
35、are created equal, however. There are two types offish production; “capture“ (or wild) and “aquaculture“ (or farmed). And they seem to be on different tracks. Fish such as tuna, the majority of which is caught wild, saw much bigger price increases than salmon, which is easier to farm. Overall, the F
36、AOs price index for wild fish nearly doubled between 1990 and 2012, whereas the one for farmed fish rose by only a fifth. What explains this big difference?The amount of wild fish captured globally has barely changed in the past two decades. The ceiling, of about 90m tonnes a year, seems to have bee
37、n reached at the end of the 1980s. Overfishing is one reason, as is the limited room for productivity growth, particularly if consumers want high quality.Patrice Guillotreau of the University of Nantes tells the story of a fleet in France that decided to trawl, rather than line-catch, its tuna. It b
38、rought more back to shore, but the fish were damaged. It could not be sold as high-value fillets and was only good for canning. The old ways of catching fish are still best if you want the highest profits, says Mr Guillotreau.In contrast, the farmed-fish industry continues to make productivity impro
39、vements. Fish farms have found crafty ways to use lower quantities of fish meal as feed. In the early days of aquaculture, it could take up to ten pounds of wild fish to produce one pound of salmon. Now the number is down to five. That may still be an inefficient use of protein, but the ratio is set
40、 to improve further. Fish farms have also become more energy-efficient, meaning that they are less affected by higher energy prices. And they have learned how to handle diseases better, reducing the quantity of fish that ends up being unsellable.As a result of all these improvements, the global prod
41、uction of farmed fish, measured in tonnes, now exceeds the production of beef. Output is likely to continue growing: the FAO estimates that by 2020 it will reach six times its 1990 level.31 The global fish price is growing because of_.（A）the shortage of fishermen（B） ever-increasing oil prices（C） the
42、 change of Chinese diets（D）high market demand and cost32 Tuna and salmon are mentioned to show that_.（A）salmon is not as expensive as tuna（B） tuna is more popular among consumers（C） wild fish is more precious than farmed fish（D）the prices of fish are in fact decided by FAO33 According to Patrice Gui
43、llotreau, the price of wild fish is decided by its_.（A）quality（B） size（C） quantity（D）popularity34 The production of farmed fish is growing due to the following reasons except_.（A）disease control（B） lower labour cost（C） energy conservation（D）reduction of fish feed35 The most suitable title for the te
44、xt is_.（A）Wild Fish; Demand Decides Price（B） The Rising Price of Rare Wild Fish（C） Farmed Fish: Making Improvements（D）The Prices of Fishes: Rising Differently35 Britains private schools are one of its most successful exports. The children of the well-heeled flock to them, whether from China, Nigeria
45、 or Russia: the number of foreign pupils rose by 1. 4% in the last year alone. One headmaster recently asked a room full of pupils whether they flew business class to Britain. Only a few hands went up, suggesting they were not quite as spoiled as he had thought. Then a boy explained; many of the pup
46、ils fly first class instead.Yet foreign students, whether educated in British private schools or elsewhere, are decreasingly likely to go to English universities. According to the Higher Education Funding Council for England, 307,200 overseas students began their studies in the country in 2012-2013,
47、 down from 312,000 two years earlier and the first drop in 29 years. Student numbers from the rest of the EU fellprobably a result of the increase in annual tuition fees in England from 6,000 a year to 9,000. But arrivals from India and Pakistan declined most sharply.In contrast to the visa regime f
48、or private schools, which is extremely lax (the Home Office counts private schools as favoured sponsors) , student visas have been tightened. Foreign students used to be allowed to work for up to two years after graduating. They now have only four months to find a job paying upwards of 20,600 if the
49、y want to stay in Britain.This change was intended to deal with sham colleges that were in effect offering two-year work visas. But it seems to have put off serious students too. Nick Hillman of the Higher Education Policy Institute says the government has sent unclear messages about the sort of immigration it wants to restrict. An emphasis on holding down net immigration influences young Indians an
