1、考研英语（二）模拟试卷 154 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 In the 20th century the planets population doubled twice. It will not double even once in the【 C1】_century, because birth rates in
2、 much of the world have【C2】_steeply. But the number of people over 65 is set to【C3 】_within just 25 years. This shift in the structure of the population is not as momentous as the【C4】_that came before. But it is more than enough to reshape the world economy.【C5 】_the UNs population【C6】_, the standar
3、d source for demographic estimates, there are a-round 600m people aged 65 or older【C7】_today. That is in itself remarkable; the author Fred Pearce claims it is【C8】_that half of all the humans who have ever been over 65 are alive today. But【C9】_a share of the total population, at 8%, it is not that【C
4、10】_to what it was a few decades ago.By 2035,【C11 】_, more than 1. 1 billion people13% of the populationwill be above the age of 65. This is a【C12】_result of the dropping birth rates that are slowing overall population growth; they mean there are【C13】_fewer young people around. The “old-age dependen
5、cy ratio“the ratio of old people to those of working agewill【C14】_even faster. In 2010 the world had 16 people aged 65 and over for every 100 adults between the ages of 25 and 64,【C15 】_the same ratio it had in 1980. By 2035 the UN【C16】_that number to have risen to 26.In rich countries it will be mu
6、ch higher. Japan will have 69 old people for every 100 of working age by 2035, Germany 66.【C17】_America, which has a relatively high【C18 】_rate, will see its old-age dependency rate rise by more than 70% , to 44. Developing countries,【C19】_todays ratio is much lower, will not see absolute levels ris
7、e that high;【C20】_the proportional growth will be higher. Over the same time period the old-age dependency rate in China will more than double from 15 to 36. Latin America will see a shift from 14 to 27.1 【C1 】（A）previous（B） prosperous（C） current（D）chronic2 【C2 】（A）turned（B） surged（C） changed（D）decl
8、ined3 【C3 】（A）decrease（B） double（C） increase（D）halve4 【C4 】（A）expansion（B） extent（C） diffusion（D）confusion5 【C5 】（A）Compared with（B） Because of（C） According to（D）In spite of6 【C6 】（A）projects（B） projections（C） subjects（D）objections7 【C7 】（A）vivid（B） living（C） survived（D）alive8 【C8 】（A）possible（B） pe
9、culiar（C） impossible（D）impartial9 【C9 】（A）in（B） as（C） about（D）since10 【C10 】（A）similar（B） stable（C） different（D）numerous11 【C11 】（A）whereas（B） however（C） therefore（D）likewise12 【C12 】（A）natural（B） strange（C） unforeseen（D）unbelievable13 【C13 】（A）mainly（B） consequently（C） partly（D）proportionally14 【C1
10、4 】（A）grow（B） drop（C） remain（D）decay15 【C15 】（A）actually（B） certainly（C） almost（D）already16 【C16 】（A）suspects（B） expires（C） proclaims（D）expects17 【C17 】（A）Even if（B） Even（C） If only（D）Only18 【C18 】（A）fertility（B） marriage（C） mortality（D）divorce19 【C19 】（A）which（B） there（C） where（D）that20 【C20 】（A）so
11、（B） and（C） if（D）butPart ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. (40 points)20 With polished stone floors and a plate-glass roof, a shining multi-storey shopping mall has just opened beside a motorway north of Paris. Named Qwartz, and
12、 costing 300m, it houses 165 shops and what developers call “ eating concepts“. Two other American-style shopping malls opened in the greater Paris region last year, and a third, So Ouest, in 2012. A country that prides itself on fashion designer boutiques and artisanal shops seems to be turning int
13、o one of mall rats.Partly this is just catching up. Until recently, strict planning rules stopped big out-of-town shopping centres around the French capital. Most malls that existed, such as Velizy 2 or Rosny 2, dated from the 1970s, when five new towns were built in the Paris suburbs. But a new rel
14、axed attitude has now let more modern projects go ahead.It also points to two features of French society that escape the gaze of historic Paris. One is most shoppers suburban way of life. Only 2. 2m people live in the capital itself. Yet the greater Paris region, excluding the city, counts over four
15、 times more inhabitants, many in small towns and car-dependent suburbs. The new malls, ringed by car parks, are handy, even alluring. Fully 62% of the French told one poll that malls were their favourite places to shop, ahead of the high street or traditional department stores.The other trend is the
16、 global taste of consumers. Besides a huge French hypermarket, Qwartzs big pull is Primark, an Irish cheap-fashion retailer, and Marks they are constrained by geography, family commitments and lack of competition for their skills among a small number of big employers. Zero-hours contracts make it ea
17、sier for employers to abuse their labour-market power. Some use them to avoid statutory obligations such as sick and maternity pay. Workers are penalised for not being available when requested. And some contracts contain exclusivity clauses which prevent workers from taking additional jobs. These ca
18、n harm other employers as well as workers, and actually reduce labour market flexibility. That, at least, is worth doing away with.26 According to Paragraph 1, politicians are concerned about_.（A）the rise of unemployment rate（B） the disorder of market economy（C） the flexibility of the labour market（
19、D）the severity of economic depression27 Zero-hours contracts are characterized by their_.（A）reliability and popularity（B） flexibility and instability（C） stability and sustainability（D）adaptability and universality28 Who may not be satisfied with zero-hours contracts?（A）People with specific goals.（B）
20、 Workers requiring flexibility.（C） Students doing part-time jobs.（D）Pensioners desiring more income.29 Zero-hours contracts may allow employers to_.（A）satisfy their need（B） violate legal provision（C） avoid legal punishment（D）fulfill their responsibility30 The text mainly focuses on zero-hours contra
21、cts_.（A）traits and effects（B） limits and defects（C） merits and impacts（D）features and problems30 West London, Friday night, 9 pm. In the Redemption bar, music hums and candles flicker. A barman shakes cocktails under a neon sign. But the noisy drinking often associated with British pubs at the weeke
22、nd is absent. Although the cocorita is served, it contains no alcohol. Redemption is one of a small but growing number of drinkeries that serve no liquor.Worries about drinking are on the rise. Hospitals complain that alcohol-related admissions are soaring; some police chiefs have called for new pow
23、ers to tackle disorderly drunks. On February 4th the Home Office announced a new plan that ought to stop retailers from selling alcoholic drinks below costsomething they occasionally do to attract shoppers. This, said Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat, would “stop the worst examples of very cheap a
24、nd harmful drink“.Yet Britain is in many ways becoming more abstemious. In 2001 the average household consumed 1. 5 litres of alcoholic drinks a week; by 2011, the figure had fallen to 1. 1 litres. The young in particular seem to be giving up boozing: over the same period, the number of young men dr
25、inking heavily at least once a week fell from 37% to 22%; women became less sozzled, too. Dry bars benefit from this fad: Redemptions customers doubled between December and January.Abstemious bars have also opened in Liverpool and Nottingham. Unlike many cafes, they stay open late. They simulate bar
26、s in other ways, with live music, comedy acts and films to pull in customers. When the lights go down and the DJ plays at Sobar, which opened in Nottingham in Januar-y, it looks like any city bar, hopes Alex Gillmore, the manager. Redemption misses the huge profits made on alcohol, but temperance br
27、ings its own benefits. Business remains steady throughout the week rather than spiking at the weekend, says Catherine Salway, its founder.Sobar is linked to a do-gooding drug and alcohol charity. But ordinary bars are becoming a little drier, too, out of business sense rather than temperance princip
28、le. Pubs can make almost as much selling food as drinkand more are serving it. Both in pubs and at home, less boozy drinks are becoming popular. Total sales of beer by volume dropped slightly in the year to January, but those of the weaker kinds jumped 32%, according to a market-research firm. Sales
29、 of “adult“ sparkling soft drinks are growing too. Perhaps the cafe-culture British politicians have so long yearned for is at last emerging.31 We can learn from the text that Redemption is_.（A）a noisy music bar（B） a bar with no spirits（C） a pub without servers（D）a traditional British pub32 Norman B
30、aker believed that the new plan would_.（A）have some positive effects（B） set a bad example for drinkers（C） totally eliminate heavy drinkers（D）stop retailers from selling liquor33 It can be learned from Paragraph 3 that_.（A）women drink less liquor than men in Britain（B） most young men have totally giv
31、en up drinking（C） drinking less spirits has become a trend in Britain（D）Britons have become money-saving in many aspects34 According to Paragraph 4, dry bars mainly live on_.（A）regular drinkers（B） live performances（C） extravagant customers（D）abstemious consumers35 British politicians attitude toward
32、s drinking may be_.（A）impartial（B） supportive（C） indifferent（D）disapproving35 Visiting Oxford Street, a road filling with tatty shops and overcrowded with people, is plainly a trial. Less plainly, levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) , a noxious gas, have been found to be around three times higher there
33、 than the legal limit. In 2013 the annual mean concentration of NO2 on the street was one of the highest levels found anywhere in Europe. British air is far cleaner than it was a few decades ago. Fewer people use coal-burning stoves; old industrial plants have been decommissioned. But since 2009 lev
34、els of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, coarse or fine particles that are linked to lung cancer and asthma, have fallen more slowly. The exact number of deaths caused by dirty air is unknown. But in 2010 a government advisory group estimated that removing man-made fine particulate matter from
35、 the atmosphere would increase life expectancy for those born in 2008 by an average of six months. Much of the slowdown is the result of fumes from diesel cars, which were championed by successive governments because they use less fuel and thus produce less carbon dioxide than petrol cars. In 2001 o
36、nly 14% of all cars ran on diesel; by 2013 the proportion had increased to 35%. (Greener “hybrid“ and electric cars have increased nine fold since 2006, but account for just 0. 5% of the entire fleet.) Second-hand cars are particularly noxious, but even newer ones have not been as clean as hoped. Ma
37、ny cars that let out few pollutants in tests produced more on the roads. Governments hesitation has not helped. Part of the problem is that several departments are responsible for air pollution. This means nobody has taken a lead on it, complains Joan Walley, a Labour MP who chairs an environmental
38、committee that has released a series of damning reports. And few politicians are keen to fire drivers. However, some improvements have been made. In 2008 a “low-emission zone“ was created in London, which targets large vans and coaches. A smaller “ultra low-emission zone“ has been proposed for 2020,
39、 which would charge all vehicles that are not of a certain standard 12. 50 pounds a day. European Commission fines for breaching limits may encourage cities to do more. But other countries are more ambitious; 60 such zones exist in Germany, targeting private cars as well as vans. In December Anne Hi
40、dalgo, the mayor of Paris, announced that she wanted to ban diesel cars by 2020.36 Oxford Street is mentioned in the opening paragraph to_.（A）describe the busy streets in Britain（B） discuss the problem of air pollution（C） stress the improvement of air quality（D）show the link between car and pollutio
41、n37 According to Paragraph 2, life span may be related to_.（A）air quality（B） eating habit（C） living standard（D）medical condition38 Successive governments have advocated diesel cars because_.（A）they are much cheaper than petrol cars（B） they use less fuel and save more money（C） they are more environme
42、ntally friendly（D）they produce less carbon dioxide than all cars39 Governments try to reduce air pollution by_.（A）imposing extra taxes on vehicles（B） setting “no-emission zone“ for cars（C） cutting tail gas emission of vehicles（D）encouraging people not to drive cars 40 Considering the role that gover
43、nment plays, the author seems to be_.（A）sympathetic（B） pessimistic（C） concerned（D）objectivePart B (10 points) 40 Kentish Town Road is a humdrum high street in north London. It contains pawnbrokers, pound shops, hairdressers and some long-in-the-tooth hardware stores. Unlike Camden Town to the south,
44、 full of bars and tattoo parlours, or Hampstead to the west, with its bistros and boutique clothing shops, little seems to have changed on the street for the past three decades. “Its never quite got going , “ admits Gary McLaren, a local bookseller. Yet the lack of change is oddand hints at some of
45、the strangeness of London. Kentish Town has excellent transport links to central London, and plenty of residents prepared to pay good money for that. Off the high street stretch rows of pretty Victorian terraced houses, which sell for as much as 2m a piece. Between 2007 and 2014 property prices in t
46、he postcode area surrounding the main Tube and railway station more than doubled. An influx of French parents, drawn by a school that opened in 2011, is pushing prices even higher. Yet Kentish Towns shops and cafes are almost invariably untrendy and in some cases mouldering. A hair salon, a butcher
47、and a sportswear shop have each been owned by the same men for more than a quarter of a century. Why? One explanation is that, in common with other parts of London, Kentish Town has lots of social housing as well as costly Victorian terraces, Camden Council, the local authority, is building even mor
48、e in the borough. This helps cheaper shops survive, suggests Tony Travers of the London School of Economics; council tenants are less likely to drive and so rely more on local outlets. And the sheer volume of car and lorry traffic on the busy high street, which is a main road into the city, might de
49、ter shoppers from visiting and swanky businesses from setting up in the area. Demography plays a part, too. Fully 72% of the population of Kentish Town is white, including a good number of Irish residentshigher than the proportion in London as a whole, at 60%. Unlike the high streets around Peckham and Brixton in south London, which cater for African shoppers who may travel far to reach them, few spec
