1、考研英语（二）模拟试卷 155 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 Retrofitting houses to use less energy should be a no-brainer for homeowners.【C1】_time, money spent on ways to reduce heat loss fr
2、om draughty houses should produce a【C2】_return in lower fuel bills. In practice, many are cautious. Some improvements, such as solid-wall insulation and solar panels, can take over 25 years to【C3】_their initial cost. Few owners are willing to wait that long; by then many are likely to have【C4】_and m
3、oved on.Several governments have started finance schemes designed to【C5】_this problem. Since 2008 PACE programmes have offered American homeowners loans to【C6 】_improvements, repaid through higher local taxes on the property,【C7】_it belongs to. In Britain, the Green Deal offers loans over a 25-year
4、period, with repayments added to energy bills. Countries including France and Canada have similar【C8 】_.In theory, these schemes should boost investment in common energy-saving measures, such as extra insulation and new boilers,【C9】_the first owner does not have to pay all the costs in advance. But
5、enrolment rates have【C10】_, according to Sean Kidney at the Climate Bonds Initiative, a think-tank. In Britain, just 1% of those assessed for the Green Deal have signed up. In Berkeley, California , home of the first PACE scheme, the【C11 】_rate is similarly low.Homeowners are【C12】_chiefly because th
6、e interest rates on the loans look high. The Green Deal charges 7%; some PACE schemes a hefty 8%. As these rates are fixed for decades, they will【C13】_look unattractive when (as now) short-term interest rates are low.Many people also【C14 】 _they will save enough on their energy bills to cover the re
7、payments. For instance,【C15 】_in Britain that installing loft insulation can cut energy bills by 20% have been dented by a government study that found it【C16 】_gas consumption by only 1.7% on average. Others fear that green loans may reduce the value of their home. In America, firms that underwrite
8、mortgages are【 C17】_PACE loans.Green loans have not been a failure everywhere. Around 250,000 households in Germany【C18】_for them each year. They do so【C19】_they need pay only 1% interest on them each year, thanks to an annual public subsidy of 1.5 billion. Whether that is a (an)【C20】_use of taxpaye
9、rs money is another question.1 【C1 】（A）On（B） In（C） Over（D）At2 【C2 】（A）handsome（B） delicate（C） splendid（D）trivial3 【C3 】（A）estimate（B） spend（C） evaluate（D）cover4 【C4 】（A）taken off（B） sold up（C） turned around（D）shut down5 【C5 】（A）raise（B） arouse（C） deal（D）address6 【C6 】（A）finance（B） make（C） support（D）
10、expend7 【C7 】（A）whatever（B） whenever（C） whoever（D）however8 【C8 】（A）problems（B） initiatives（C） situations（D）circumstances9 【C9 】（A）while（B） though（C） when（D）as10 【C10 】（A）appointed（B） worried（C） disappointed（D）surprised11 【C11 】（A）take-up（B） send-off（C） make-up（D）turn-off12 【C12 】（A）unhappy（B） unimpr
11、essed（C） unsurprised（D）unsustainable13 【C13 】（A）indefinitely（B） extremely（C） inevitably（D）remarkably14 【C14 】（A）contend（B） doubt（C） conclude（D）debate15 【C15 】（A）proofs（B） reasons（C） theses（D）claims16 【C16 】（A）reduced（B） produced（C） increased（D）declined17 【C17 】（A）favorable to（B） interested in（C） hos
12、tile to（D）conscious of18 【C18 】（A）arm with（B） sign up（C） write out（D）call on19 【C19 】（A）because（B） hence（C） although（D）even20 【C20 】（A）proficient（B） sufficient（C） deficient（D）efficientPart ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. (40
13、points)20 What has been described as the largest ever ransomware attacka cyber criminal scheme that locks up computer files until victims pay a ransomholds the paradoxical distinction of being both an outrageous success (in terms of its blast radius) as well as an abject failure (in terms of its hau
14、l). The malicious software spread so far and wide, jammed up so many IT networks and generated so much panic and chaos that the wrongdoers effectively undid themselves.On May 12, the world awoke to the beginnings of hundreds of thousands of old Microsoft Windows based computers seizing up as they su
15、bjected to a malicious software, appropriately called WannaCry. Within hours, the digital epidemic circled the globe like the Spanish flu, infecting machines running outdated operating systems in some 150 countries, spreading across numerous homes and corporate networks. The attack, which relied on
16、powerful tools believed to have been developed by the NSA and leaked online in April by a group of hackers known as the Shadow Brokers, wormed its way through businesses, hospitals and governments, all of which found themselves suddenly locked out of their own systems.Researchers detected the wave q
17、uickly, and it wasnt long before they picked up on the criminals self-defeating mistakes. The attackers failed to assign each victim a separate Bitcoin wallet , researchers noted, a critical error that meant they would not be able to easily track ransom payments. They neglected to automate the money
18、 collection in a way that would scale. And then there was the matter of the kill switch.No one is quite certain why the attackers coded a self-destruct button into their software, yet thats precisely what they did. Marcus Hutchins, a 22-year-old security researcher based in England who goes by Malwa
19、reTech, stumbled on the power plug largely by accident. After taking lunch on that Friday afternoon, he inspected the malware and noticed a specific web address encoded within. Curious, he registered the domain for less than $ 11. This simple act stopped the malware, killing the virus ability to spr
20、ead and buying time for organizations to upgrade their software and deploy protections.21 The ransomware attack has been considered a victory because it_.（A）cancels a number of computer files（B） successfully blackmails many users（C） affects numerous users worldwide（D）causes panic and chaos at local2
21、2 According to Paragraph 2, which of the following is true about WannaCry?（A）It spread only through domestic networks.（B） It was a software developed by the NSA.（C） It infected computers in few countries.（D）It was deliberately created by some hackers.23 Researchers held that the attack was_.（A）criti
22、cal（B） flawless（C） defective（D）invulnerable24 Marcus Hutchins prevented the malware from spreading by_.（A）pushing the self-destruct button in the software（B） purchasing its domain name accidentally（C） pulling the power plug found by chance（D）finding its web address intentionally25 The most suitable
23、title for the text is_.（A）An Unsuccessful Malware Attack（B） Cyber Crime: Hard to Prevent（C） A Widespread Computer Virus（D）WannaCry: New Malicious Software25 In a former leather factory just off Euston Road in London, a hopeful firm is starting up. BenevolentAIs main room is large and open-plan. In i
24、t, scientists and coders sit busily on benches, plying their various trades. The firms star, though, has a private, temperature-controlled office. That star is a powerful computer that runs the software which sits at the heart of BenevolentAIs business. This software is an artificial-intelligence sy
25、stem.AI, as it is known for short, comes in several forms. But BenevolentAIs version of it is a form of machine learning that can draw inferences about what it has learned. In particular, it can process natural language and formulate new ideas from what it reads. Its job is to sift through vast chem
26、ical libraries, medical databases and conventionally presented scientific papers, looking for potential drug molecules.Nor is BenevolentAI a one-off. More and more people and firms believe that AI is well placed to help unpick biology and advance human health. Indeed, as Chris Bishop of Microsoft Re
27、search, in Cambridge, England, observes, one way of thinking about living organisms is to recognize that they are, in essence, complex systems which process information using a combination of hardware and software.That thought has consequences. Whether it is the new Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI)
28、, from the founder of Facebook and his wife, or the biological subsidiaries being set up by firms such as Alphabet (Googles parent company), IBM and Microsoft, the new Big Idea in Silicon Valley is that in the worlds of biology and disease there are problems its software engineers can solve.The disc
29、overy of new drugs is an early test of the belief that AI has much to offer biology and medicine. Pharmaceutical companies are finding it increasingly difficult to make headway in their search for novel products. The conventional approach is to screen large numbers of molecules for signs of relative
30、 biological effect, and then weed out the useless partin a series of more and more expensive tests and trials, in the hope of coming up with a golden nugget at the end. This way of doing things is, however, declining in productivity and rising in cost.26 The phrase “plying their various trades“ (Lin
31、e 3, Para. 1) most probably means_.（A）running their own business（B） being engaged with their work（C） working with different companies（D）being busy with their private affairs27 According to Paragraph 2, BenevolentAIs version of AI can_.（A）make some inferences（B） think like human beings（C） teach machi
32、nes to learn（D）learn complex language28 A growing number of companies believe that AI can be used to _.（A）exploit human potential（B） impair physical health（C） solve social problems（D）benefit human beings29 According to the last paragraph, which of the following is true?（A）AI has made a great contrib
33、ution to biology and medicine.（B） Whether AI can serve much to medicine is not yet clear.（C） Drug firms find it unaffordable to discover new products.（D）Pharmaceutical companies hope to find real gold in the tests.30 The traditional way to find new drugs can be characterized by being_.（A）hopeful（B）
34、expensive（C） inefficient（D）productive30 When education fails to keep pace with technology, the result is inequality. Without the skills to stay useful as innovations arrive, workers sufferand if enough of them fall behind, society starts to fail apart. That fundamental insight seized reformers in th
35、e Industrial Revolution, promoting state-funded universal schooling. Later, automation in factories and offices called forth a surge in college graduates. The combination of education and innovation, spread over decades, led to a remarkable flowering of prosperity.Today robotics and artificial intel
36、ligence call for another education revolution. This time, however, working lives are so lengthy and so fast-changing that simply cramming more schooling in at the start is not enough. People must also be able to acquire new skills throughout their careers.Unfortunately, as our special report in this
37、 issue sets out, the lifelong learning that exists today mainly benefits high achievers and is therefore more likely to aggravate inequality than diminish it. If 21st-century economies are not to create a massive underclass, policymakers urgently need to work out how to help all their citizens learn
38、 while they earn. So far, their ambition has fallen pitifully short.The classic model of educationa burst at the start and top-ups through company trainingis breaking down. One reason is the need for new, and constantly updated, skills. Manufacturing increasingly calls for brain work rather than phy
39、sical work. The share of the American workforce employed in routine office jobs declined from 25. 5% to 21% between 1996 and 2015. The single, stable career has gone the way of the Rolodex.Pushing people into ever-higher levels of formal education at the start of their lives is not the way to cope.
40、Just 16% of Americans think that a four-year college degree prepares students very well for a good job. Although a vocational education promises that vital first hire, those with specialized training tend to withdraw from the labour force earlier than those with general educationperhaps because they
41、 are less adaptable.At the same time on-the-job training is shrinking. In America and Britain it has fallen by roughly half in the past two decades. Self-employment is spreading, leaving more people to take responsibility for their own skills. Taking time out later in life to pursue a formal qualifi
42、cation is an option, but it costs money and most colleges are geared towards youngsters.31 We can infer from Paragraph 1 that_.（A）society will collapse without innovation（B） education is the only way to social prosperity（C） inequality may originate from poor education（D）most workers in factories are
43、 college graduates32 The author believes that in face of education revolution, workers need_.（A）high goals in their careers（B） more schooling at the start（C） new skills at the beginning（D）persistent effort in their lives33 According to Paragraph 3, todays lifelong learning can_.（A）increase the numbe
44、r of the underclass（B） benefit people with high career goals（C） eliminate inequality once and for all（D）be helpful to the majority of people34 The traditional educational pattern becomes outdated because_.（A）manufacturing requires more brain work（B） technique should be continually renewed（C） more sk
45、illed workers are urgently needed（D）company training is becoming out of date35 The authors attitude towards on-the-job training is_.（A）objective（B） favorable（C） pessimistic（D）contradictory35 The Big Mac index is built on the idea of purchasing-power parity, the theory that in the long run currencies
46、 will converge until the same amount of money buys the same amount of goods and services in every country. A Big Mac currently costs $ 5.06 in America but just 10. 75 lira ($ 2.75) in Turkey , implying that the lira is undervalued.However, other currencies are even cheaper. In Big Mac terms, the Mex
47、ican peso is undervalued by 55. 9% against the greenback. Last week it also hit a record low as Mr Trump restated some of his campaign threats against Mexico. The peso has lost a tenth of its value against the dollar since November. Of big countries, only Russia offers a cheaper Big Mac, in dollar t
48、erms, even though the rouble has strengthened over the past year.The euro zone is also prey to political uncertainty. Elections are scheduled this year in the Netherlands, France and Germany, and possible in Italy. The euro recently fell to its lowest level since 2003. Britains Brexit vote has had a
49、n even bigger effect on the pound, which has fallen to $ 1. 21, a 31-year low. According to the Big Mac index, the euro and the pound are undervalued against the dollar by 19.7% and 26. 3%, respectively.One of the drawbacks of the Big Mac index is that it takes no account of labour costs. It should surprise no one that a Big Mac costs less in Shanghai than it does in San Francisco, since Chinese work
