1、考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 128 及答案与解析Part ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. (40 points)0 “Has Enron become a risky place to work?“ That was a pretty dumb thing to ask at Enron in August 2001. Risky? The firm was apparently flying high. Its s
2、tated goal, which could still be asserted with a straight face, was to become “the worlds greatest company“. But that dumb question was the very first line in Enron accountant Sherron Watkinss famous memo to Ken Lay. The answer was clearly yes, and the implication equally clear: Fix the mounting dis
3、aster ASAP. But no one in authority had the courage to follow where that seemingly dumb question led.If anyone had, he would have discovered a powerful insight into business success, one that applies to every industry on every continent in every era: Dumb questions lead to smart decisions. Were talk
4、ing about the dumb questions of organizational life, the ones no one will ask in a meeting because they sound heretical or disrespectful or just . stupid. The dumb question is none of those things. Instead, it can cut to the heart of the matter, posing a blunt challenge to someone or somethingan aut
5、hority, a policy, the established order.As an example of how penetrating such questions can be, and why theyre so difficult to ask, consider the most famous dumb question in all of business, created by Peter Drucker more than 50 years ago: What business are you in? If you ask that question as an ord
6、inary employee at your company, the response would not likely be welcoming, and the odds would be long against your even getting to ask, let alone get answered, any of Druckers famous follow-ups.(Hows business? Who are your customers?)Yet for decades companies paid Drucker impressive sums to visit t
7、hem and ask those questions. So heres another insight into dumb questions: Theyre asked much more easily by outsiders.Can you risk asking dumb questions? Can you risk not asking them? Which will you regret more? You know the answer. So heres how you do it. Dont apologize in advance or allow as how t
8、his is probably unimportant or say any of the other things that sap the dumb question of its power. Just step up and ask it. The shorter the better. Dont be intimidated by the stunned silence that follows. Wait it out. The payoff is on its way. In that brief eternity, youll understand more acutely t
9、han ever why dumb questions require courage. Just remind yourself that if they didnt, they wouldnt be worth asking.1 From the first three paragraphs, we learn that_.（A）its more difficult for outsiders than insiders to ask dumb questions（B） dumb questions are usually asked by dumb people（C） though du
10、mb questions arent easy to ask, they can be useful（D）most people dont need courage to ask dumb questions2 Which of the following statements is true according to the text?（A）Peter Drucker is considered old-fashioned in todays business world.（B） Sherron Watkins was more than likely fired shortly after
11、 her memo to Ken Lay.（C） Sherron Watkins was brave enough to ask what appeared to be a stupid question.（D）Peter Drucker was paid too much to question employees about their company.3 The author cites the example of Peter Drucker in order to_.（A）show who finds it easy to ask dumb questions（B） introduc
12、e Peter Drucker（C） explain dumb questions in detail（D）demonstrate that employees dont know much about the company they work for4 Which of the following best describes the word “sap“(line 3, para. 4)?（A）Drain.（B） Destroy.（C） Ruin.（D）Multiply.5 The main purpose of the text is_.（A）to demonstrate how th
13、e collapse of Enron could have been avoided（B） to help businesses avoid problems by having people ask dumb questions（C） to define and identify dumb questions（D）to encourage companies to hire consultants(like Drucker)to ask dumb questions5 The shiny black Mercedes limos left early this morning for th
14、e Vienna airport, whisking the OPEC ministers attending the cartels meeting this week back to their jets for long rides home to Saudi Arabia, the Gulf, Africa and Venezuela. But despite the usual media circus surrounding the pronouncements of the cartel and its various oil chieftains, OPEC lately se
15、ems to have lost its power to control surging crude prices.Despite the cartels promise at Wednesdays meeting to add a half-million barrels a day(to 28 million)in new production by July 1 and another half-million, if necessary, by years end, crude oil prices stayed comfortably above the $55-a-barrel
16、mark on the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday. The market shrugged off OPECs announcement partly because members are already pumping flat outthe International Energy Agency puts actual production by the 10 quota-bound OPEC members at 28 million alreadyand because few of them aside from Saudi Ara
17、bia have the ability to produce much more crude in the near future.Besides, the real story behind the buoyancy of oil prices is limited refining capacity, especially in the U.S. With supplies tight, traders have been bidding up prices of gasoline, heating oil and other refined products, which in tur
18、n has caused crude to keep moving higher. So OPEC has had to watch the tail wag the dog in the energy markets, with traders paying more attention to U.S. inventories of gasoline and other end-products than to the amount of crude OPEC has been pumping out of the ground. Dont take our word for itjust
19、listen to Sheikh Ahmad Fahad Al-Sabah, OPECs president as well as Kuwaits energy minister. “Everyone should invest in refining,“ Sheikh Ahmad noted that while everyone was focused on geopolitics in 2004, “in 2005 we have to speak about refining.“ And increasing refining capacity wasnt just a job for
20、 OPEC, but for private oil companies, non-OPEC countries, and governments.The sheikhs comments are an admission that in the midst of surging demand for energy from the U.S. and China, and little new supply, OPEC is as powerless as the rest of us. The U.S. hasnt built a new refinery in decades, and a
21、ny future plants wont come online for years. At this point, the only relief for drivers will come from conservation measures and other government-led efforts. But thats not likely to happen under the current administration. Of course, if oil prices stay high enough to cause real economic pain, deman
22、d will cool offbut thats a remedy few of us want to come to pass.6 OPECs announcement about the cartels promise to add more barrels to production_（A）is not only good news for OPEC, but good news for the New York Mercantile Exchange as well（B） has been dismissed by the Market（C） is the main reason th
23、e OPEC ministers took jets back home（D）proves that OPEC has lost its power to control the Market7 The problem with OPECs promise to increase production lies in that_.（A）OPEC is running out of oil（B） OPEC members are quota-bound（C） OPEC is already producing at near full capacity（D）the IE A controls p
24、roduction, not OPEC8 According to the text, oil prices are kept high because_.（A）only a little oil is being refined（B） refineries take a long time to build（C） people are driving too much（D）supplies of refined oil are limited9 It can be learned from Paragraph 4 that_.（A）private oil companies, non-OPE
25、C countries and governments are powerless（B） OPEC needs to increase the refining capacity（C） everyone should be more focused on geopolitics（D）OPEC can not be solely responsible for increasing refining capacity10 What does the writer suggest in the final sentence of the text?（A）That more oil needs to
26、 be refined immediately.（B） That a reduction in demand for oil could lead to economic problems.（C） That OPEC is powerless to control oil prices.（D）That the US and China should reduce demand for oil.10 East Africa, one-and-a-half million years ago: a group of women sit with their young children. They
27、 are heavy-browed with small skullsnot quite human, but almost. Some are checking their children for ticks, others teaching them how to dig tubers out of the ground. Not far off, a gaggle of teenage girls lounge under a tree, sniggering and pointing at some young men who are staging fights nearby. T
28、he older women beckon: “Come and help us dig out this rootit will make a great meal,“ they seem to say. But the girls reply with grunts and slouch off, sulkily.Could this really have happened? Our immediate ancestors, Homo erectus, may not have had large brains, high culture or even language, but co
29、uld they have boasted the original teenage rebels? That question has been hotly contested in the past few years, with some anthropologists claiming to have found evidence of an adolescent phase in fossil hominids, and others seeing signs of a more apelike pattern of development, with no adolescent g
30、rowth spurt at all. This is not merely an academic debate. Humans today are the only animals on Earth to have a teenage phase, yet we have very little idea why. Establishing exactly when adolescence first evolved and finding out what sorts of changes in our bodies and lifestyles it was associated wi
31、th could help us understand its purpose.We humans take twice as long to grow up as our nearest relatives, the great apes. Instead of developing gradually from birth to adulthood, our growth rate slows dramatically over the first three years of life, and we grow just a few centimetres a year for the
32、next eight years or so. Then suddenly, at puberty, growth accelerates again to as much as 12 centimetres a year. Over the following three years adolescents grow an astonishing 15 percent in both height and width. Though the teenage years are most commonly defined by raging hormones, the development
33、of secondary sexual characteristics and attitude problems, what is unique in humans is this sudden and rapid increase in body size following a long period of very slow growth. No other primate has a skeletal growth spurt like this so late in life. Why do we?Until recently, the dominant explanation w
34、as that physical growth is delayed by our need to grow large brains and to learn all the complex behaviour patterns associated with humanityspeaking, social interaction and so on. While such behaviour is still developing, humans cannot easily fend for themselves, so it is best to stay small and look
35、 youthful. That way you do not eat too much, and your parents and other members of the social group are motivated to continue looking after you. Whats more, studies of mammals show a strong relationship between brain size and the rate of development, with larger-brained animals taking longer to reac
36、h adulthood. Humans are at the far end of this spectrum.11 The first paragraph intends to_.（A）paint a vivid picture of human society 1.5 million years ago（B） outline the daily activities teenage humans took part in 1.5 million years ago（C） show that teenagers have probably always been insubordinate（
37、D）console people who find it hard to communicate with teenagers12 The key characteristic of adolescence in apes is_.（A）an increase in body size（B） sexual development（C） sudden growth after a period of slow growth（D）apes dont go through adolescence13 What has been generally accepted as the reason for
38、 adolescence?（A）To allow humans to become sexually mature.（B） To give us an extended childhood during which to learn.（C） To allow us to grow to our relatively large size, compared with other primates.（D）So that parents will take more care of their children.14 It is advantageous to look youthful beca
39、use_.（A）other members of society rarely attack younger looking members（B） young people eat less（C） older members of society do not usually consider younger people to be threats（D）humans have a natural instinct to take care of younger members of society15 How does the text probably continue?（A）By exp
40、ounding on the advantages of looking youthful.（B） By challenging the generally accepted reason for adolescence.（C） By explaining in more details the relationship between brain size and development.（D）By discussing the behavioural problems of teenagers.15 What else can so enjoyably exercise the heart
41、 and boost the mood? What else can serve so well as both a social signal and a conversational lubricant? What else can bond parents to children, siblings to one another and teach powerful lessons about staying alive in a tooth-and-claw world? Laughter may seem like little more than evolutions whoope
42、e cushion, but if scientists studying it are right, we owe it an awful lot of thanks for some surprisingly serious things.One thing researchers notice about laughter is that its something we seldom do alone. “Laughter is 30 times more frequent in social than solitary situations,“ says Robert Pro vin
43、e, psychologist and neuroscientist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Thats not just because its devilishly hard to tell yourself a joke and convincingly respond, “No, no, I really havent heard that one before.“ Rather, its because most of the time laughter is more a tool of communicat
44、ion than anything else.Typically, Provine says, a laugh is what he calls social play vocalization, something we use instinctively to send disarming cues, hold a listeners attention and offeror seekencouragement to go on. “In conversation,“ he says, “speakers are often more likely to laugh than liste
45、ners.“In the course of his research, Provine has gone on discreet tours of his campus eavesdropping on the kinds of remarks speakers make before laughter occurs. Among the nonsidesplitters he has collected are “Ive gotta go now,“ “I see your point“ and the always rib tickling “Ill see you guys later
46、.“ In each case, the laughter seemed merely a bit of audible punctuation.Whether or not what the speaker says is genuinely funny, any reciprocal laughter from the listener serves as a powerful reward pellet, reinforcing the direction of the conversation. It also flatters the speaker, which can be a
47、potent card to play when a conversation becomes flirtatious. “Women laugh most in the presence of men they find attractive,“ Provine says. “Men are the leading laugh getters; women are the leading laughers.“Just why the pleasure we take in wordplay or pratfalls elicits the noise we recognize as laug
48、hter is uncertain, but Provine says it has roots in the physical play of other primates. The human ha-ha, he believes, is very similar to the simian pant-pant, something that occurs a lot when apes wrestle and chase. “Laughter is basically the sound of labored breathing,“ he says.While laughing adds
49、 a level of communication to conversation, it can also create a wordless bond across a room. As much as we might dread an attack of the giggles in the middle of a poetry reading or a eulogy, it can also be a lot of subversive funparticularly when the bug spreads to the person sitting next to you.16 Paragraph 2 suggests that_.（A）we always laugh with other people（B） laughter is a form of communication（C） Robert Provine often laughs more frequently than the average person（D）tha
