1、考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 146 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 Figuring out if millions of American workers are at risk from on-the-job exposure to hazardous chemicals has long been a thorny scientific problem. Last
2、 week, it became a prickly political issue too. Two senior Democrats in Congress demanded that the Bush Administration kill a proposal to change how the Department of Labor conducts the risk assessments that underpin worker safety regulations. Senator Edward Kennedy(D-MA)and Representative George Mi
3、ller(D-CA), who lead Congresss labor committees, charged that a leaked draft of the proposal shows that the Administration is rushing to “ slip through a rule that may have profound negative impacts on worker safety“ before leaving office in January.Labor Department officials reject the charge, sayi
4、ng that the changes theyre proposingincluding one that could reduce a workers estimated exposure to dangerous substancesare designed to make risk assessments more “consistent, reliable, and transparent.“ And they say that if the new guidelines move forward, there will be plenty of time to hash out s
5、cientific issues.Critics are skeptical. “There certainly could be an interesting and worthwhile debate about the technical assumptions that go into risk assessment, but you dont do that by shoving new guidelines out at the last minute,“ says David Michaels, an epidemiologist and worker safety advoca
6、te at George Washington University in Washington, D. C.The Administration had not publicly released the proposal as Science went to press. But the draft leaked to The Washington Post calls for several changes in how two agencies, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration(OSHA)and the Mine Sa
7、fety and Health Administration, approach risk assessments. One is bureaucratic: It would require the agencies to do more to notify the publica move critics claim is designed to entangle new rules in red tape.Another more controversial section calls for altering how regulators calculate a key risk me
8、asure called “working life.“ Currently, in most cases the agencies assume that a person works for 45 years(from age 20 to 65)and use that span to calculate potential total exposure to hazardous substances. From that, they estimate how many workers might get sick or die.But that approach likely overs
9、tates risks, the draft says, because few workers stay in the same job for 45 years. To back that view, it includes statistics showing that less than 5% of American workers stay with the same employer for even 35 years. “Thus, the actual exposure of the overwhelming majority of workers will likely be
10、 substantially less“ than current methods estimate, according to the proposal. Instead, it calls for basing assessments on studies of how long workers actually work each day, and how long they stay in the same industry.That may not be a bad ideabut its not good enough to dump the 45-year assumption,
11、 says Adam Finkel, a former OSHA regulator who now teaches at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Piscataway. For one thing, regulators often dont have the time or money to collect such detailed informationif it actually exists, he says. And just because workers change jobs doe
12、snt necessarily mean that their exposure risks go down, he adds.1 From the first paragraph, we can know that（A）Edward Kennedy is leaving office in January.（B） the proposal was submitted by George Miller.（C） the Bush Administration will kill the proposal.（D）Edward Kennedy is a leader of the Congresss
13、 labor committees.2 The proposal was submitted to the Administration by（A）David Michaels.（B） George Bush.（C） Labor Department.（D）the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.3 The word “controversial“(Line 1,Para.5)probably means（A）eligible.（B） feeble.（C） debatable.（D）durable.4 We may infer fro
14、m Paragraphs 5-7 that（A）Adam Finkel agrees with the idea of the proposal.（B） it is not feasible to get detailed data of the workers actual working hours.（C） the way to calculate the risk measure should be changed now.（D）the proposal assumes that one works for 45 years for the same employer.5 Which o
15、f the following is true according to the passage?（A）The proposal deemed that the risks of the workers exposure to hazardous substances may be over-estimated.（B） It is a good idea to let the OSHA do more to inform the public.（C） The Washington Post demanded the changes in risk evaluation.（D）David Mic
16、haels supported the proposals idea of changing.5 In 1960, Ethiopian marathoner Abebe Bikila earned an Olympic gold medal without wearing any shoes. But bare feet on the Olympic track these days are passe, as athletes slip into ever more high-tech gear. Shoes, swimsuits, and clothing are getting ligh
17、ter and stronger, adhering like glue to athletes bodies and moving more fluidly through air and water.In Beijing, U. S. track and field athletes will be wearing Nike shoes and clothing that incorporate threads made of Vectran, a superstrong liquid crystal polymer that withstands high temperatures. T
18、he result, according to Nike, is lighter, stiffer shoes to reduce friction and clothes that reduce drag by 7% compared with the Nike outfits worn at the 2004 games in Athens.Sprinters will also benefit from even tighter compression garments. In theory, these improve performance because of propriocep
19、tion, that unconscious ability that enables you to pinpoint your nose when your eyes are closed. Physiologist Russ Tucker of the University of Cape Town, South Africa, says that because runners need to contract muscles preciselyat the proper angle, velocity, and timetight-fitting garments help the b
20、rain identify where in space the limb is poised so they know when to activate the muscle.In the water, the Speedo LZR Racer suit, which debuted in March 2008, is all the buzz. Swimmers donning the suit have broken 46 world records so far. The suit includes polyurethane panels placed strategically ar
21、ound parts of the torso, abdomen, and lower back that experience high amounts of drag in the pool. It also incorporates a corset-like structure that keeps the body in a streamlined position. Raul Arellano, a biomechanist at the University of Granada, Spain, says the LZR Racer suit could benefit olde
22、r athletes like 41-year-old Dara Torres of the United States, especially in areas where fat tends to accumulate.Some of the technologies needed to develop the suit “ didnt really exist 10 years ago,“ says Jason Rance, head of Aqualab in Nottingham, U. K. , the division of Speedo that designed the su
23、it. Those include ultrasonic welding that eliminated the need for seams, and technology that allowed parts of the suit to be finely sanded and a waterrepellent substance added to prevent water from leaking in.But the suit has raised eyebrows. “Whos going to win the gold medal, the swimmer or the tec
24、hnician?“ asks Huub Toussaint, a biomechanist at the Free University in Amsterdam, who worries that the suit gives swimmers an unfair edge, although the international body governing the sport approved it.For all the hype surrounding space-age shoes and clothing, theres a flip side: Any boost to perf
25、ormance could just be psychological. South Africas Tucker, who races for fun, says the compression garments make him feel powerful and secure. Such a superhero aura might give any competitor a mental edge. “ It doesnt really matter if the advantages are physically real or not,“ he says, “as long as
26、the athlete gets some benefit. “ 6 Abebe Bikila is mentioned in Paragraph 1 to（A）show how poor the people then were.（B） tell us that he was from an undeveloped country.（C） introduce the topic of the passage.（D）remind us of the past time.7 We may infer from the second and third paragraphs that（A）the
27、weather in Beijing is hotter than that in Athens.（B） Nikes shoes for the 2004 games in Athens were all a failure.（C） tight clothes are helpful for the players to relax their muscles.（D）tight clothes are also beneficial for the short-distance runners.8 Swimmers can benefit from Speedo LZR Racer suit
28、because（A）this kind of suit can increase the drag in the poll.（B） it can offer the minimum resistance to the flow of water.（C） it can make the swimmers feel more younger.（D）it is the product of a world famous company.9 Which of the following is true of Huub Toussaints view on the suit with technolog
29、ies?（A）He holds a supportive view on this change.（B） He thinks its unfair to the technician.（C） He fears its not fair to the players.（D）He agrees with the international organization of swimming.10 The expression “flip side“(Line 1, Para.7)probably means（A）either of the two surfaces of a flat object.
30、（B） another, less familiar aspect of a person or thing.（C） a surface or part of an object that extends vertically.（D）either of two parts into which an object, surface, area, etc. , can be divided.10 As the oil industry gears up for the ongoing offshore-oil boom, scientists who study the sea floor sa
31、y competition for scarce drilling resources is leaving them high and dry. “Funding goes down, oil goes up,“ laments paleoceanographer Henk Brinkhuis of Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Facing soaring costs and lengthening delays, the United States component of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Pro
32、gram(IODP)the current phase of the cooperative international investigation beneath the sea floorhas been literally stuck in dry dock, leading to an unprecedented 3-year hiatus in U.S. drilling. Japanese and European components of IODP are not faring much better. “I am very concerned about the long-t
33、erm future of IODP,“ says marine geologist Craig Fulthorpe of the University of Texas, Austin.Perhaps the worst blow came when the United States set out several years ago to refurbish and modernize its drilling platform, the JOIDES Resolution, or more familiarly, the JR. The $130 million renovation
34、job had a fixed cost in a Singapore shipyard, but as the rising cost of oil spurred a surge of offshore drilling, the yard shunted the scientific ship to the side to focus on building and refurbishing drilling platforms for well-heeled oil companies.Under the resulting schedule pressure, the JRorigi
35、nally programmed to resume drilling in October 2007will be leaving the yard in early March 2009. This delay pushed two 8-week drilling cruises led by Fulthorpe and by Brinkhuis back a full year on less than 2 months notice. “It is a disruption,“ says Fulthorpe. Meanwhile, the competition with the oi
36、l industry hit the Europeans even harder. They had signed a short-term contract for onetime use of a special-purpose drill ship, but the owner of the vessel broke the contract to lease it to a higher paying oil company, Brinkhuis says. The European component of IODP has not drilled in 2 years.With w
37、ork on the JR nearing completion, researchers now fear that budget cuts may curtail scientific drilling for years to come. U. S. operations are being funded well below expectations of a few years ago, says James Allan of the U. S. National Science Foundation(NSF), which funds the U. S. component of
38、IODP. NSF funding amounts to almost a 20% cut in inflation-adjusted dollars, he says. Scientists also face three-to four-fold increases in the cost of drilling consumables such as steel liners for drill holes and a recently estimated $ 1-million-per-month rise in the cost of fueling the JR.As a resu
39、lt of the soaring costs, NSF now plans for the JR to devote only 70% of its time to IODP drilling. The Japanese behemoth ship Chikyu is likewise drilling for IODP only 60% to 70% of the time. Yet, theres plenty of science to be done. “There are now 30 drilling proposals(in the pipeline)that have bee
40、n highly ranked,“ says Brinkhuis. With the reschedulings plus the cutbacks in operating time, much of that science will be delayed and some never tackled at all, scientists worry.11 The expression “leaving them high and dry“(Line 2, Para. 1)probably means（A）making them disappointed.（B） leaving them
41、helpless.（C） making them angry.（D）making them sad.12 We may infer from the second paragraph that（A）the Singapore shipyard benefits more from working for the oil companies.（B） the Singapore shipyard will resume the renovation of JR in the near future.（C） JOIDES Resolution is a law by the U. S. govern
42、ment.（D）the oil companies are supporting the renovation of JR.13 Which of the following is true according to the third paragraph?（A）The European Component of IODP betrayed its promise.（B） The owner of the vessel was eager to let the IODP use its drill ship.（C） Fulthorpe felt disappointed at the dela
43、y of the research.（D）The JR was originally programmed to restart drilling in March 2009.14 We may infer from the fourth paragraph that（A）U. S operations are being funded well.（B） it is estimated that the JR will cost more than $12 million on fuel per year.（C） James Allan is a member of IODP.（D）the J
44、R will get more money for their research.15 Which of the following is true of IODP according to the passage?（A）Its an investigation of the deep sea by the United States.（B） IODP means International Ocean Drilling Program.（C） The Japanese Component of IDOP has not drilled in 2 years.（D）IODP is now fa
45、cing a setback.15 Once, Plant Breeders dreamed of plumper tomatoes, heartier soybeans, and juicier corn kernels. These days, visions of squat poplars and earless corn stalks are dancing in their heads. They are hoping their new fangled crops will make cost-effective biofuels.The dominant method of m
46、aking biofuels today, converting sugars from crops such as corn or sugarcane to ethanol, threatens the food supply and imposes environmental costs. Ultimately, processing cellulose from the cell walls of stems and leaves, which are generally discarded, would make better use of agricultural acreage,
47、as would increasing the oil content of oil-producing crops. In the United States, both government-supported genomicists and privately funded plant scientists are expanding plant genomics research and field studies to figure out the species with the best biofuel potential and how to wring more energy
48、 out of each acre planted.Many researchers are looking at well-known species whose genomes have already been sequenced for clues to making other plants better energy crops: Arabidopsis, rice, poplar, and now, corn. Others plan to tackle sequencing projects for species few had card about until a few
49、years ago. These include perennials such as switch grass and Miscanthus, both considered good candidates for energy crops because of their high cellulose content. And some scientists are breeding a wide variety of candidate crops around the world, hoping to find optimal varieties. “The spotlight is on this underdeveloped field,“ says plant biochemist Kenneth Keegstra of Michigan State University in East Lansing, part of the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center.Humans have been growing food crops for 10,000 years, but the effort to produce fuel down o
