1、考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 136 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 The media made a big deal of the fact that the DJIA rose above 9,000 for the first time in nearly eight months. The index(a number or formula expressing
2、 some property, ratio, etc. , of something indicated)was under 6,550 in early March, do the advance has been 38% since then, but the index is still well below 14,000 which it hit in October 2007. The Dow would have to rise 54% to get back to that point. That is an extraordinarily depressing figure g
3、iven how far the market has already come and how hard it will be for it to rise to that number in what is still a harsh economic environment.There are obviously a number of good reasons for the run-up, but there are an equal number of reasons that it has gone too far. Housing has begun to make what
4、could only be called a most modest recovery, or, at least it has created a credible mirage(illusion). Earnings have been better than expected. A great deal of that improvement is because of expense reductions. Millions of people have been fired and capital spending cut to unprecedented levels. The s
5、timulus package may take hold as the year goes by, at least according to many economists, the Treasury Secretary, and the chairman of the Fed.Housing is still as badly off as it has been in two or three generations even with a tiny improvement. The fact that the supply of homes on the market is just
6、 above nine months may be considered a slight jump over that figure three months ago, but it still means that it could take several years to burn off that inventory with a simultaneous improvement in prices. Unemployment will move above 10% soon, and the shrinking base of consumers will continue to
7、hurt businesses which rely on consumer spending and banks that are facing rising credit card default rates.Earnings probably will not improve as much in the third and fourth quarter as they did in the quarter that just ended. A lot of the positive news about earnings at firms including Starbucks, Ca
8、terpillar, and The New York Times was due to layoffs and debt reductions. Many of the layoffs occurred late last year, so the comparisons are going to stop being beneficial as 2009 wears on.The major challenge to the stock markets health could end up being the speed at which the $787 billion stimulu
9、s package is helping the economy. Even the government admits that much of it benefit from programs will not take effect until 2010. That leaves a number of businesses and industries in a position where they will have to stand on their own without a “federally improved“ GDP growth rate. The market mo
10、ve over the last four months has been swift and relatively easy. The drum beat of good news got a bit louder as the weeks went by. The pace at which good news will be coming is likely to slow considerably.1 According to the first paragraph, the index of DJIA（A）rose above 9,000 for the first time in
11、history.（B） has increased 38% since October 2007.（C） indicates the end of the harsh economic environment.（D）is still 54% lower than the highest point in history.2 According to the passage, the index has gone too far because（A）housing has lost its credible mirage.（B） expense reductions have been stop
12、ped.（C） there is a great rise of unemployment.（D）the stimulus package has to be canceled.3 The condition of housing by now tells us that（A）there has been no improvement in this field.（B） the need of homes is still far below the supply.（C） the prices of homes will need three years to recover.（D）the s
13、upply of homes on the market is not enough.4 The improvement of earnings may slowdown in the following two quarters because（A）the improvement depends on the layoffs in 2008.（B） the positive news only comes from a few firms.（C） there will be more layoffs in 2009.（D）many big firms have cut down their
14、earnings.5 The recovery of stock market depends on（A）the speed of stimulus packages helping to the economy.（B） the governments admission of stimulus package.（C） self-improvement of businesses and industries.（D）a GDP growth rate improved by the government.5 Add CO2 to the atmosphere and the climate w
15、ill get warmerthat much is well established. But climate change and carbon arent in a one-to-one relationship. If they were, climate modeling would be a cinch. How much the globe will warm if we put a certain amount of CO2 into the air depends on the sensitivity of the climate. How vulnerable is the
16、 polar sea ice; how rapidly might the Amazon dry up; how fast could the Greenland ice cap disintegrate? Thats why models like those from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change spit out a range of predictions for future warming, rather than a single neat number. One of the biggest questions in
17、 climate sensitivity has been the role of low-level cloud cover. Low-altitude clouds reflect some of the suns radiation back into the atmosphere, cooling the earth. Its not yet known whether global warming will dissipate clouds, which would effectively speed up the process of climate change, or incr
18、ease cloud cover, which would slow it down. But a new study published in the July 24 issue of Science is clearing the haze. A group of researchers from the University of Miami and the Scripps Institute of Oceanography studied cloud data of the northeast Pacific Oceanboth from satellites and from the
19、 human eyeover the past 50 years and combined that with climate models. They found that low-level clouds tend to dissipate as the ocean warmswhich means a warmer world could well have less cloud cover. “That would create positive feedback, a reinforcing cycle that continues to warm the climate,“ say
20、s Amy Clement, a climate scientist at the University of Miami and the lead author of the Science study. Getting data on cloud cover isnt easy. There is reliable information from satellites, but those only go back a few decadesnot long enough to provide a reliable forecast for the future. Clement and
21、 her colleagues combined recent satellite data with human observationsliterally, from sailors scanning the skythat go back to 1952, and found the two sets were surprisingly in sync(harmony or harmonious relationship). “Its pretty remarkable,“ says Clement. “We were almost shocked by the degree of co
22、ncordance. “ The data showed that as the Pacific Ocean has warmed over the past several decades part of the gradual process of global warminglow-level cloud cover has lessened. That might be due to the fact that as the earths surface warms, the atmosphere becomes more unstable and draws up water vap
23、or from low altitudes to form deep clouds high in the sky. Those types of high-altitude clouds dont have the same cooling effect. The Science study also found that as the oceans warmed, the trade windsthe easterly surface winds that blow near the equatorweakened, which further dissipated the low clo
24、uds. The question now is whether this process will continue in the future, as the world keeps warming.6 The word “cinch“(Line3, Para.1)most probably means（A）a very easy thing.（B） a very complex thing.（C） a great challenge.（D）an extremely hard problem.7 It can be inferred from the second paragraph th
25、at（A）low-altitude clouds are the main causes of global warming.（B） increase of cloud cover can slow down the climate change.（C） global warming will increase cloud cover.（D）increase of cloud cover can speed up the global warming.8 The new study published in Science indicates that（A）low-level clouds t
26、end to warm the ocean.（B） more cloud cover means a warmer world.（C） the warming of ocean is a threat to the low-level clouds.（D）the Pacific Ocean has more low-level clouds than before.9 Its hard to get data on cloud cover because（A）the information from satellites is useless.（B） recent satellite data
27、 is not enough.（C） human observations are less acute than satellite data.（D）satellite data cant be combined with human observations.10 We can conclude from the last paragraph that（A）trade winds are harmful to the low clouds.（B） deep clouds are helpful to cool the earth.（C） global warming can result
28、in more low clouds.（D）global warming can destroy the form of atmosphere.10 In a disaster such as an earthquake or terrorist attack, nearly two-thirds of U. S. parents would disregard orders to evacuate and would rush to pick up their kids from school, according to a new survey. The survey found that
29、 63% of parents would ignore orders to evacuate and instead attempt to reunite with their children, possibly hindering rescue efforts by adding to traffic congestion.The authors of the study, released Thursday on the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks , said that despite years of government
30、 efforts to enhance disaster preparedness, schools need to do more to plan for disasters and parents need to be made aware of the plans. The report was commissioned by the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia Universitys Mailman School of Public Health and the Childrens Health Fund.
31、 Among parents of school-age children, 45 percent said they do not know the location where their children would be evacuated as part of the schools disaster plan. “There should be an outcry from parents to push their schools and their school districts to develop a plan that makes sense,“ said Irwin
32、Redlener, president of the Childrens Health Fund.The federal Department of Homeland Security has allocated billions of dollars to help state and local governments set up disaster contingency plans. But just 44% of the U. S. residents surveyed this year said they have all or some of the basic element
33、s of a disaster preparedness plan, including food, water, a flashlight with extra batteries and a meeting place in case of evacuation. The survey has been administered annually since 2002 by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. The telephone survey of 1,579 adults was conducted between J
34、uly 25 and Aug. 9. The margin of error for the entire survey was 2. 5% points. The margin of error for the subset of households with children was 4% points.Parents said Thursday they were not surprised by the finding that most of them would disregard evacuation orders and pick up their children. Dia
35、na Ennen, of Margate, Fla. , is the author of The Home Office Recovery Plan-. Disaster Preparedness for Your Home-Based Business and a mother of three. “As a mom, you wouldnt be able to keep me away from picking up my children,“ she said in an e-mail. “My first instinct would be to get them at all c
36、osts. I would literally run the entire distance to get them. I believe most parents would feel the same. “11 Which of the following is true according to the first two paragraphs?（A）The U. S. schools dont want the parents know their plans for disasters.（B） Parents should push schools to make reasonab
37、le plans for disasters.（C） The U. S. schools have done too little to prepare for disasters.（D）Most U. S. parents do not know the disaster preparedness plan of their childrens schools.12 According to the second paragraph,（A）schools should do more in their disaster preparedness.（B） the government has
38、been well prepared for disasters.（C） parents do not care about their children enough.（D）schools former plans for disasters do not make sense at all.13 Which of the following is necessary in a disaster preparedness plan?（A）Food, water, a telephone with extra batteries.（B） Food, water, a flashlight wi
39、th extra batteries.（C） Food, a telephone with extra batteries and a meeting place in case of evacuation.（D）Water, a telephone with extra batteries and a meeting place in case of evacuation.14 This passage suggests that the U. S. parents（A）do not respect orders.（B） do not trust their schools.（C） shou
40、ld pick up their children first in case of evacuation.（D）will protect their children at all cost.15 This passage mainly tells us that（A）parents love for their children is great.（B） it is dangerous for parents to reunite with their children in a disaster.（C） we should develop reasonable plans for dis
41、asters.（D）the U. S. government has been well prepared for disasters.15 Immigrants arent seeking U. S. citizenship as often these daysnot since the American dream became more expensive.Following a 69 percent increase last summer in citizenship fees, about 281,000 immigrants have applied to become U.
42、S. citizens in the first half of 2008less than half the number of applicants in the same period last year, according to the U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The decline follows a rush of applications when immigrants hurried to get their paperwork filed before fees shot up at the end of Ju
43、ly 2007. In that month alone, more than 460,000 immigrants applied for citizenship. They paid $400. The new fee is $675a price some people believe is a barrier to citizenship.Thu Tran, director of a citizenship program at Catholic Charities of Orange County, said she helped more than 100 people a mo
44、nth fill out citizenship papers in the last few years. This year she helps about 50 a month. “I have people who make appointments and cancel,“ Tran said. “We follow up and they say they dont have the money to pay for that. “While immigrant advocates blame higher fees and a wobbly economy, a federal
45、official said a variety of reasons could have caused the decline. “For everyone, its different,“ said Sharon Rummery, a spokeswoman for U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The agency has not had so few applicants to open a year since 2003, when nearly 270,000 people applied for U. S. citizen
46、ship. Flavia Jimenez, director of the citizenship program at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said some immigrants in Chicago are taking out loans to pay the fees or designating one family member who gets to apply for citizenship.Helen Ravasdy, a 30-year-old who immigrated to
47、 Southern California from China, said she wished she could have applied when it was cheaper but she hadnt lived in the U. S. long enough. Shes now applying because she wants to vote. “I have to do it nownot later,“ said Ravasdy, who is taking classes at a community college in Orange to prepare for h
48、er citizenship test.Herminia Kindelan, a program specialist at a citizenship program at Santa Ana College, said she is worried that applications could decline further. She said more immigrants might be discouraged about upcoming revisions to the U. S. citizen test, which they must pass before becomi
49、ng citizens. The changes, which aim to gauge immigrants understanding of concepts in U. S. citizen and avoid rote memorization, take effect for applications received after Sept. 30.16 According to the federal official, the decline of application for citizenship was caused by（A）the increase of citizenship fee.（B） unstable economy.（C） various reasons.（D）the upcoming revisions to the U. S. citizen test.17 According to the passage, Helen Ravasdy（A）immigrated to Southern California when she was 30 years old.（B） would have applied if it were cheaper.（
