1、考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 149 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 When U. S. News started the college and university rankings 25 years ago, no one imagined that these lists would become what some consider to be the 800
2、-pound gorilla of American higher education, important enough to be the subject of doctoral dissertations, academic papers and conferences, endless debate, and constant media coverage. What began with little fanfare has spawned imitation college rankings in at least 21 countries, including Canada, C
3、hina, Britain, Germany, Poland, Russia, Spain, and Taiwan.Today, its hard to imagine there ever was a void of information to help people make direct comparisons between colleges, but such was the case in 1983 when we first ventured into the field. The editors back then, led by Marvin L. Stone, thoug
4、ht the project was worth attempting because a college education is one of the most importantand most costlyinvestments that people ever make.(Of course, that perspective is even more relevant today when the price of an undergraduate education at some private universities hovers in the $200,000 range
5、.)So the magazine designed a survey and sent it out to 1,308 college presidents to get their opinions of which schools offered the best education. The winners: Stanford(National Universities)and Amherst(National Liberal Arts Colleges).That academic-reputation-only method was repeated in 1985 and 198
6、7. In 1988, we started to use statistical data as part of the ranking methodology, evaluating those numbers along with the results of the survey. In 1997, in another pioneering step, the Americas Best Colleges rankings made the leap online at usnews. com. The online version, viewed by millions, has
7、substantially more information and extended rankings than there is room for in the magazine.Of course, weve changed the ranking formula over the years to reflect changes in the world of higher education. In general, the biggest shift has been the move toward evaluating colleges less by the quality o
8、f the students they attract(inputs)and more by the success the school has in graduating those students(outputs). We operate under the guiding principle that the methodology should be altered only if the change will better help our readers compare schools as theyre making decisions about where to app
9、ly and enroll.Higher educations response. It helps to have this principle to focus on when the inevitable criticisms of the rankings and their influence arise. Chief among the criticisms is the idea that it is impossible to reduce the experience that any given college has to offer to a number on a l
10、ist. A fair enough observation, but one that does little to help the student who will have to choose just one to attend. Another criticism of the rankings is that they often substitute as a sort of performance evaluation measure for the school and its employees. U. S. News is keenly aware that the h
11、igher education community is also a major audience and consumer of our rankings. We understand how seriously academics, administrators, and governing boards study and analyze our rankings and how they use them in various ways, including benchmarking, alumni fundraising, and advertising to attract st
12、udents.1 After the birth of the college rankings,（A）most of the people believed it would become important in the future.（B） it became one of the subjects in academic fields.（C） only a few countries imitated the college rankings.（D）less than 21 countries imitated the college ranking, including Canada
13、 and Italy.2 From the second paragraph we can know that（A）in 1983, it was still unknown whether there was a void of information to help people make direct comparisons between colleges.（B） the editors led by Marvin L. Stone doubted about the value of attempting the project of college rankings.（C） the
14、 survey designed by the magazine was to get the opinions of which is the most important in college rankings.（D）Amherst(National Liberal Arts Colleges)was one of the winners in the survey.3 The biggest shift of the ranking formula is the move toward evaluating colleges（A）more by using statistical dat
15、a as part of the ranking methodology.（B） less by using the online version in the ranking as a pioneering step.（C） more by the success the school has in getting the students better graduated.（D）less by the diligence of the students the school attract.4 What can be inferred from the last paragraph?（A）
16、It is likely to reduce the experience that the list should contain the name of any given college.（B） The college rankings do a lot to help the student who will have to choose just one to attend.（C） The college rankings always substitute as a sort of performance evaluation measure for the school and
17、its employees.（D）U.S. News has deep understanding on the response of the college rankings in various aspects.5 Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?（A）How “Best Colleges“ Became the Top Source for Information on Higher Education（B） How the College Rankings Came out in the H
18、istory（C） The Effect of the Birth of the College Rankings（D）The Response of the Birth of the College Rankings5 Is America headed for a “lost decade“ of tiny growth like Japan suffered during its banking and real estate meltdown in the 1990s? Thats the big debate right now on Wall Street. Yet, in Was
19、hington, the common wisdom holds that America is already waist deep into a lost decade, one marked by stagnating wages, growing income inequality, and deteriorating economic fundamentals. That has been the liberal narrative of the Bush years, and now some conservatives have begun to buy into the cri
20、tique. “Even before the Wall Street crisis, the American economy had underperformed from the point of view of the average worker,“ former Bush speechwriter and critic David Frum wrote recently.At best, this narrative is historical fiction. Take the bit about wage stagnation. Indeed, the real average
21、 hourly wage for workers, as calculated by the Labor Department, is just 1.2 percent more than it was at the end of 2000. Yet many economists, including those at the Federal Reserve, think the government is overestimating inflation by nearly a full percentage point. If true, then workers have actual
22、ly seen wages rise by about 10 percent since 2000. And you dont even have to tweak the inflation data if you combine wages, salaries, and benefits, as does economic analyst Ed Yardeni. Doing that, he finds that workers are 11 percent to the better since January 2001.Consumption equality. Of course,
23、averages may mask growing income inequality, where middle incomes are flat, lower incomes falling, and higher incomes surging. And assuredly there are loads of data showing that people with high-skill, high-education careers(like engineers and attorneys)and careers that benefit from globalization(NB
24、A players, CEOs)have been raking it in.But how rich you are depends on both how much you make and how much the goods you buy cost, note economists John Romalis and Christian Broda of the University of Chicago. And they recently found that official income inequality statistics fail to take into accou
25、nt that lower-income Americans tend to consume more inexpensive, Asian-produced goods. The China price doesnt rise as fast as the Prada price. In short, Wal-Mart bargain hunters have a lower inflation rate than the reality-show celebrities pillaging the stores on Rodeo Drive. Those differing inflati
26、on rates negate “almost all the rise in wage inequality,“says Romalis.Now, none of this upbeat number crunching about the 00s means the next president wont inherit a awful short-term economic situation. But the long-term fundamentals continue to be solid. The World Economic Forum recently ranked the
27、 U. S. economy as the worlds most competitive, thanks to our innovation, flexible labor markets, and higher education.(Our biggest weaknesses included tax ratesnumero unoand an inefficient government bureaucracy.)Those high-return assets, along with what economist Tim Kane calls our “entrepreneurial
28、 culture“ , give America what the Japanese call sokojikara, or “deep strength. “ And that reserve poweralong with some timely financial action by the bailout firm of Paulson in addition to the possible influence of vitamin E and selenium(for reasons unknown), theres a mounting pile of studies associ
29、ating increased intake of vitamin D with a lower risk of cancer, perhaps because it plays a role in controlling the expression of genes regulating cell division. More research is needed before vitamin D is recommended specifically for cancer prevention, but some researchers say that because of its p
30、otential to prevent other conditions, a target of 2,000 lUs a day is reasonable.Looking for clues. Beyond nutrients, recent focus has turned toward obesity and lack of exercise as culprits. Anne McKiernan, a cancer prevention researcher at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, is trying
31、 to identify the mechanisms that might make the obese and inactive more susceptible. Perhaps the bodywide inflammation that is elevated in the obese, for example, encourages the cancer to grow. If the mechanism is known, it would be easier to figure out whether exercising and losing weight lower ris
32、k and, if so, the proper dose of each, she says. “ If someone weighs 200 pounds now, we dont know if he or she should lose 50 pounds or 10 pounds. If theyre inactive, we dont know if they should exercise for 30 minutes a day or an hour.“ Based on available research, the government recently recommend
33、ed a weekly 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise, plus strength training, to help prevent diseases.While links between household products and other environmental contaminants have been tough to tease out and neglected in research, that may be changing; environmental onc
34、ology is an increasingly vibrant field. Recently, bisphenol A, a compound found in certain hard, clear plastics, has raised widespread concerns that it may be associated with a higher risk of breast and prostate cancer.(A number of BPA-free baby bottles and other storage containers are now on the ma
35、rket.)One thing is for sure: The single best unevadable action is to quit smoking. The World Health Organization estimates tobacco use is responsible for 30 percent of cancer deaths in the developed worldmostly from lung but also from cancers of the head and neck, pancreas, and other organs. A pill
36、that could save nearly a third of patients lives would be the greatest success the field has ever seen.16 What do we know about Carrel Smith?（A）He is a 63-year-old doctor studying the preventing of cancer.（B） He is working at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and taking part in the trial.（C） He is wonder
37、ing about taking selenium and vitamin E supplements in preventing cancer.（D）His ex-brother-in-law was diagnosed to have prostate cancer.17 Which of the following statements is true about increased intake of vitamin D?（A）It cant help to reduce the risk of getting cancer.（B） It can control the express
38、ion of genes regulating cell division.（C） It has been recommended specifically for cancer prevention.（D）It is good to intake vitamin D as much as possible.18 What can be inferred from the third paragraph?（A）Obesity and lack of exercise have only a little to do with cancer.（B） Anne McKiernan has prov
39、ed that the obese and inactive are more susceptible in the trial.（C） The bodywide inflammation has nothing to do with the growing of cancer.（D）The government also plays its part in helping prevent diseases.19 What can we know from the last two paragraphs?（A）Bisphenol A may cause breast and prostate
40、cancer.（B） Smoking is only a small factor in the causing of cancer deaths.（C） Smoking only causes the cancer deaths from lung.（D）A more easy way to quit smoking is impossible to find.20 Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?（A）The Thinking on Preventing Cancer（B） The Harm in
41、 Tobacco Use（C） The Nutrients of Preventing Cancer（D）The Risk of Cancer Deaths20 Why mixing two strangers together isnt necessarily a recipe for disaster?Ryan Costello, a freshman majoring in criminal justice at St. Johns University in Queens, N. Y. , says he had a naked-roommate problem in his firs
42、t year, “ Its as if he doesnt own clothes,“ says Costello, who reports that he often found his roomie in the buff. In his first semester he aired his frustration by posting to a Facebook group called “ The Naked Roommate: And Everything Else You Might Run Into in College“and he found plenty of compa
43、ny online.Welcome to life in a college dorm. Even in tamer schools, having teens live in close quarters without parental supervisionoften for the first timeis bound to make for bizarre situations. The frenetic scene in freshman dorms can make them quite a blast, and youll most likely meet friends yo
44、ull never forget. But all that intense social interaction can also make dorms pressure cookers: Think back-stabbing cliques, noisy neighbors, group kitchens overflowing with dirty dishes, and nasty vomit in the bathroom sinks.One key to survival is to scope out what to expect before you get there. S
45、pend some time in a dorma night, if possibleaway from parents and the organized tour. If you cant make the trip in person, consider sending Facebook or MySpace messages to current residents, or post to a campuswide housing forum. Find out what it is really like to live there: Depending on your prefe
46、rences, itll be helpful to know how much drunkenness, debauchery, and illicit drug use go on during the typical Saturday night, and whether your resident adviser is likely to help you or spurn you.“Sometimes it can be kind of an Animal House situation,“ says M. J. Smith, coauthor of The Smart Studen
47、ts Guide to Healthy Living: How to Survive Stress, Late Nights & the College Cafeteria, “mostly because anything goes anytime“even if its as innocuous as a slice of pizza at 2 a. m. or an all-night bowling extravaganza.Should you live in a dorm at all? Students and residential life experts who have
48、gone through it all before say yes: People who start college off campus graduate at lower rates, dont perform as well academically, and report less satisfaction with their college experiences. Studies also report greater satisfaction among students who research housing options before they enroll.Don
49、t assume that colleges fall into stereotypes: Some large universities have “living-learning communities“ that combine academics and residential life to make big campuses feel small. The University of Maryland, for example, has 11 different learning communities clustered around academic interests such as foreign languages, writing, and engineering.On a personal level, respect your roommate, and speak up quickly if you find a behavior disturbing(most people are respectful at first but have trouble changing once a routine sets in). But unless you ar
