1、考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 195 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 Writing for an historical series is tricky, and the outcome is not always a success. The best overall European history in English is the old Fontana His
2、tory of Europe, but it was uneven in quality, and it suffered because the volumes appeared so far apart in time. The new Penguin History of Europe has only recently begun. But judging by this second volume in a projected eight-volume series, it is going to be a smashing success.Tim Blanning, a Cambr
3、idge history professor brings to his period knowledge, experience, sound judgment and a colorful narrative style. His broad range is evident from the start when, in place of the usual recitation of politics and battles, he expounds on such themes as communications, transport, demography and farming.
4、 Indeed, much of what might be seen as traditional history is pushed back to the fourth and final part of the book. Not the least of Mr. Blannings achievements is his integrated approach to the entire continent. He jumps nimbly from Spain to the Low Countries, from Russia to Austria, from Prussia to
5、 Turkey. Many of Europes royal families were related, after all.The author also expertly places the history of the two greatest rivals of the day, England and France, in its wider European context. Any British Eurosceptic who thinks his countrys history is detached from continental Europes would rea
6、lize from even the most inadequate reading of this book how bound up with the continent it has in fact always been.The 17th and 18th centuries in Europe were, above all, a period of war. Indeed, it seemed at times as if France and Austria, the leading martial powers in 1648, did little else but figh
7、t. Sometimes war helped to stimulate economic and commercial development. But it is striking that it fell to Britain, which enjoyed at least a few years of peace, to pioneer Europes industrialization.The book is stronger on the 18th century than on the second half of the 17th, reflecting the authors
8、 own historical bias. Another weakness is that, though there is a reasonable bibliography, it has no footnotes citing sources, a scandalous omission in a work with serious academic pretensions. It also sometimes takes for granted a basic grounding in the history of the period, which may be problemat
9、ic for students at whom it is presumably in part aimed. But overall Mr. Blanning has produced a triumphant success.1 Which of the following is true about the old Fontana History of Europe?（A）Some parts are good, while others not.（B） It is an eight-volume historical series.（C） It is not a successful
10、historical series.（D）It becomes less famous as time goes by.2 In the second volume, Tim Blanning wrote the History of Europe（A）in a traditional way.（B） in an unconventional way.（C） in a separate way.（D）in a funny way.3 France and Austria are mentioned in Paragraph 4 to show that（A）they were the lead
11、ing European military powers in the 17th century.（B） war between these two countries failed to spur economic and commercial development.（C） war was quite a common thing in the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe.（D）the war between them made them lag behind England in development.4 The author thinks Mr
12、. Blannings work is flawed because（A）it is ethnically biased.（B） it is uneven in quality.（C） it lacks bibliography.（D）it omits the footnotes.5 We can learn from the text that the second volume of the Penguin History of Europe（A）is the best book on overall European history.（B） overtly criticized Brit
13、ish Euroscepticism.（C） explored the European history separately.（D）is an overall success despite certain flaws.5 Theres a huge hoo-ha in America about an article published on the business website F. It starts off like this: “Guys: a word of advice. Marry pretty women or ugly ones. Short ones or tall
14、 ones. Just, whatever you do, dont marry a woman with a career.“ The writer, Michael Noer cites a piece in Social Forces, a US research journal that has apparently found marrying a working woman dramatically ups the risk of having a difficult marriage. Even those with a “feminist“ outlook are happie
15、r when their husband is the primary breadwinner.You can imagine the outcry the article has caused. Women readers arent happy. What is interesting about all of this is that I suspect Noers central pointthat working women are trouble and that youre better off with an obedient little breeder or, indeed
16、, a trophy wifeis more widely held by men than you or I might imagine.It stems in part from a sweet but inane desire for first class malehood-me man, me provide, me gain big-eyed gratitude for ace wage-earning skillsand from chronic sexual insecurity. If your nice little wife is safely at home all d
17、ay, instead of running around the boardroom with men who might be somewhat much better than you, shes more likely to admire your manly skills and talents when you come home at night, and not realize what shes missing.Thats the theory, anyway. The practice, I have observed over the years, is somewhat
18、 different. Men love nothing more than coming home to an ordered house, sleeping children, dinner in the oven and a cocktail waiting on the table, but they dont necessarily go a whole hog on the conversation that goes with it: “Such a funny thing happened at playgroup“; “Ive found that if I puree th
19、e broccoli, they dont really notice theyre eating it“. And so on. Then women are all surprised when men seem not to listen, or to be distracted.She doesnt want to talk about broccoli either but her brain seems to be withering more and more with the birth of each child. She wants to watch Newsnight b
20、ut shes too tired. How can she be tired, the husband wonders, when shes at home all day? What does she do? I dont want to get drawn into the unproductive name calling that passes for debate on the question of working versus stay-at-home women. The point, surely, is that women should have the freedom
21、 to do exactly what they wish to do with their lives, and that very freedom is only real if it originates from women themselves. Marry a man who is happy for you to be you, happy whether you do or dont work.6 In Michael Noers view, marrying a career woman is risky because（A）career women will usually
22、 get unhappy.（B） career women are feminists and demanding.（C） its more likely to lead to an unhappy marriage.（D）the marriage is bound to be difficult.7 The word “outcry“ (line 1, Paragraph 2) is closest in meaning to（A）controversy.（B） consequence.（C） a loud cry.（D）protest.8 According to the author,
23、many men prefer trophy wives to working women because（A）they feel working women are trouble.（B） they desire first class malehood and sexual security.（C） they feel working women are not safe at home.（D）they love the comfortable home their wives have made.9 The two quoted sentences in Lines 4-5, Parag
24、raph 4 are used to show that（A）housewives like to talk about trivial things in life.（B） men like to have light conversations with their wives when they arrive at home.（C） men like the feeling of a comfortable home but not necessarily the trivial conversations.（D）women are energetic and talkative bec
25、ause they dont have to work outside.10 The author holds in the last paragraph that women should（A）give birth to fewer babies and do less housework.（B） find someone who supports their decisions about their lives.（C） talk with their husbands and then decide what to do with their own lives.（D）break up
26、with their husband and get the freedom they want.10 You wrinkle your nose and narrow your eyelids if you see a dead rat in the road, but you open your eyes and mouth wide if you see a live one in your bedroom. Why is that? Facial expressions are usually thought of as simple tools of communication, b
27、ut in his book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals Charles Darwin proposed that they may prepare us to reactto situations when he noticed that some expressions seemed to be used across cultures and even species. Now Joshua Susskind and his colleagues at the University of Toronto, Canad
28、a, have put that idea to the test.Susskinds team wondered whether the characteristic expressions of feareyes wide open, eyebrows raised and mouth agapemight improve how sensory information is acquired and so increase alertness. Conversely disgustwith the face all squeezed upmight blunt the senses, s
29、hielding us from unpleasant sights and smells.The researchers asked subjects to complete various tests while holding a fearful, disgusted or neutral expression. In one they had to identify when a spot entered their field of view. In another they were required to shift their focus as quickly as possi
30、ble between two targets on a computer screen. How much air the volunteers breathed in while expressing fear and disgust was also measured.In each case the wide-eyed Home Alone (the movie series starring Macaulay Culkin) face let significantly more of the world in. Subjects with wide-open eyes detect
31、ed peripheral objects more quickly and performed side-to-side eye movements faster. They also took in more air with each breath without exerting any extra effort. An Magnetic Resonance Imaging scan showed the nasal cavity was enlarged while subjects held this expression, which the team suggest could
32、 be linked with a greater ability to absorb odors.“These changes are consistent with the idea that fear, for example, is a posture towards vigilance, and disgust a posture towards sensory rejection,“ says Susskind. His team is already at work on experiments to explore to what extent the brain can us
33、e this extra information to enhance performance. “What was nice was the number of different ways they got at this question,“ says Elizabeth Phelps at New York University. “They were very creative.“ She thinks the work could open up a whole new way of thinking about facial expressions.11 Charles Darw
34、ins The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals proposed that facial expressions might（A）act as a simple tool of cross-cultural communication.（B） get people ready to the changes of circumstances.（C） be difficult to understand in different cultures.（D）equip people with the knowledge of other sp
35、ecies.12 In Joshua Susskinds research, the researchers（A）wondered whether there existed other expressions of fear.（B） wanted subjects to use facial expressions to complete tests.（C） wanted to test how much air subjects breathed in normally.（D）wondered whether expressions of disgust blunted our sense
36、s.13 By saying “In each case the wide-eyed Home Alone face let significantly more of the world in“ (Lines 1-2, Paragraph 4), the author means that（A）wide-eyed expressions would help you understand the world better.（B） facial expressions might result in faster eye movements.（C） wide-eyed expressions
37、would help people breathe in more air.（D）facial expressions might help people notice more things around.14 In the last paragraph, what might be the new thinking of facial expressions?（A）They might tell the brain how to make use of the superficial information.（B） They might explain why people conside
38、r fear as a posture towards vigilance.（C） They might provide extra information to brains thus refining performance.（D）They might clarify the relationship between brain and environments.15 Elizabeth Phelps would most probably agree that（A）researchers on facial expressions are always creative.（B） the
39、brain can use extra information to enhance performance dramatically.（C） people are likely to renew their knowledge of facial expressions.（D）the function of the brain will be changed by facial expressions.15 Human language is the subject of endless scientific investigation, but the gestures that acco
40、mpany speech are a surprisingly neglected area. It is sometimes jokingly said that the way to render an Italian speechless is to tie his wrists together, but almost everyone moves their hands in meaningful ways when they talk. Susan Goldin-Meadow of the University of Chicago, however,studies gesture
41、s carefullyand not out of idle curiosity. Introspection suggests that gesturing not only helps people communicate but also helps them to think. She set out to test this, and specifically to find out whether gestures might be used as an aid to childrens learning. It turns out, as she told the America
42、n Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), that they can.The experiment she conducted involved balancing equations. Presented with an equation of the form 2+3+4=x+4, written on a blackboard, a child is asked to calculate the value of x. In the equations Dr Goldin-Meadow always made the las
43、t number on the left the same as the last on the right; so x was the sum of the first two numbers. Commonly, however, children who are learning arithmetic will add all three of the numbers on the left to arrive at the value of x.In her previous work Dr Goldin-Meadow had noted that children often use
44、 spontaneous gestures when explaining how they solve mathematical puzzles. So to see if these hand-movements actually help a child to think, or are merely descriptive, she divided a group of children into two and asked them to balance equations. One group was asked to gesture while doing so. A.secon
45、d was asked not to. Both groups were then given a lesson in how to solve problems of this sort.As Dr Goldin-Meadow suspected, the first group learnt more from the lesson than the second. By observing their gestures she refined the experiment. Often, a child would touch or point to the first two numb
46、ers on the left with the first two fingers of one hand. Dr Goldin-Meadow therefore taught this gesture explicitly to another group of children. Or, rather, she taught a third of them, taught another third to point to the second and third numbers this way, and told the remainder to use no gestures. W
47、hen all were given the same lesson it was found those gesturing “correctly“ learnt the most. But those gesturing “incorrectly“ still outperformed the non-gesturers.Gesturing, therefore, clearly does help thought. Indeed, it is so thought-provoking that even the wrong gestures have some value. Perhap
48、s this helps to explain why the arithmetic-intensive profession of banking was invented in Italy.16 We can learn from the first paragraph that（A）Italians cannot talk with others if they dont move their hands in meaningful ways.（B） gesturing going with speech is rarely chosen as the subject of the sc
49、ientific investigation.（C） human language is much more important than meaningful gestures.（D）meaningful gestures are considered to be of help to childrens learning.17 Dr. Goldin-Meadow found that when explaining how they solve mathematical problems, children use gestures（A）purposefully.（B） automatically.（C） suddenly.（D）naturally.18 Dr. Goldin-Meadow conducted the experiment so as to（A）help children to learn how to communicate with others effectively.（B） prove that gestures might be used as an aid to childrens learning.（C） figure out th
