1、考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 204 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 Those days are long gone when placing a telephone call meant simply picking up the receiver and asking the operator to patch you through. Modem cell pho
2、nes require users to navigate a series of menus to find numbers, place calls or check messages. Even the most tech-savvy may take weeks to discover some of the more mysterious multimedia functions. Imagine the difficulty forsomeone unable to read.That is the challenge for mobile communications compa
3、nies aiming to branch out into developing countries. The prospects seen from the last decade are alluring: only about one third of Chinas vast population and about one tenth of Indias use cell phones. But selling to poor rural areas is not likely to happen with a marketing version of “plug and play.
4、“ Most potential buyers have little exposure to anything other than simple electronics. Reading through a series of hierarchical menus and pushing buttons for multiple purposes would be new concepts for such customers.To come up with a suitable device, Motorola relied on a team of anthropologists, p
5、sychologists and designers to study how textually illiterate villagers use their aging televisions, tape players and phones. The researchers noticed that their subjects would learn each buttons dedicated function With something more complicated, such as an automated teller machine, users would memor
6、ize a set of behaviors in order, which allowed them to move through the machines basic hierarchy without having to read the menu.The research, which lasted three years, led Motorola to craft a cellular phone slimmed down to three essential activities: calling, managing numbers and simple text messag
7、ing. “A lot of the functions in a cell phone are not useful to anyone,“ points out Gabriel White, who headed the interactive design team.The icon-based interface also required thought.Not all cell phone companies believe that a design for nonliterate users should start from scratch. Nokias behaviora
8、l researchers noticed that “newbies“ rely on friends and relatives to help them with basic functions. Rather than confronting the challenge of a completely new interface, Nokia chose to provide some audio menus in its popular 1100 model and a preview mode so that people could try out functions witho
9、ut the risk of changing anything important. Mobile phones may even become tools for literacy, predicts BJ Fogg, who studies computer-human interaction at Stanford University. Phones might teach the alphabet or tell a story as users read along. “Imagine if it eventually could understand your weak poi
10、nts and drill you on those,“ Fogg proposes. And soon enough, he declares, designs or illiterate users will lead to more straightforward, elegant phones for everyone.1 The difference between modern cell phones and old phones lies in that（A）it requires more intelligence and education to use modern cel
11、l phones.（B） it takes more weeks to get familiar with modern cell phones.（C） modem cell phones are more complicated with many functions.（D）modern cell phones are more mysterious tools for people.2 The sales of mobile phones to poor rural areas may be impossible probably because most potential buyers
12、（A）have difficulty with menus of multiple purposes.（B） cannot accept new concepts of mobile phones.（C） only read menus and push buttons of simple electronics.（D）do not like the marketing strategy of “plug and play“.3 The researches held by Motorola showed that the textually illiterate villagers （A）w
13、ere willing to use old machines with little functions.（B） had to take some lessons to learn the new functions.（C） could remember the major function of each button.（D）would avoid reading the hierarchy menus of the machine.4 The slang term of “newbies“ (Line 2, Paragraph 5) most probably means（A）new s
14、tudents.（B） newcomers.（C） newborns.（D）new webs.5 Fogg believes that the future mobile phones could not（A）teach illiterates to learn alphabets.（B） understand the users ideas and points.（C） help users exercise their languages.（D）become more direct and elegant.5 When it came to moral “reasoning,“ we li
15、ke to think our views on right and wrong are rational, but ultimately they are grounded in emotion. Philosophers have argued over this claim for a quarter of a millennium without resolution. Times up! Now scientists armed with brain scanners are stepping in to settle the matter. Though reason can sh
16、ape moral judgment, emotion is often decisive.Harvard psychologist Joshua Greene does brain scans of people as they ponder the so-called trolley problem. Suppose a trolley is rolling down the track toward five people who will die unless you pull a lever that diverts it onto another trackwhere, unfor
17、tunately, lies one person who will die instead. An easy call, most people say: minimizing the loss of lifea “utilitarian“ goal, as philosophers put itis the right thing to do.But suppose the only way to save the five people is to push someone else onto the tracka bystander whose body will bring the
18、trolley to a halt before it hits the others. Its still a one-for-five swap, and you still initiate the action that dooms the onebut now you are more directly involved; most peoplesay it would be wrong to do this deal.Why? According toGreenes brain scans,the second scenario more thoroughly excites pa
19、rts of the brain linked to emotion than does the lever-pulling scenario. Apparently the intuitive aversion to giving someone a deadly push is stronger than the aversion to a deadly lever pull.Further studies suggest that in both cases the emotional aversion competes for control with more rational pa
20、rts of the brain. In the second scenario the emotions are usually strong enough to win. And when they lose, it is only after a tough wrestling match. The few people who approve of pushing an innocent man onto the tracks take longer to reach their decision. So too with people who approve of smotherin
21、g a crying baby rather than catching the attention of enemy troops who would then kill the baby along with other innocents.Princeton philosopher Peter Singer argues that we should re-examine our moral intuitions and ask whether that logic merits respect in the first place. Why obey moral impulses th
22、at evolved to serve the “selfish gene“such as sympathy that moves toward kin and friends? Why not worry more about people an ocean away whose suffering we could cheaply alleviate? Isnt it better to save 10 starving African babies than to keep your 90-year-old father on life support? Singers radicall
23、y utilitarian brand of moral philosophy has its work cut out for it. In the absence of arduous cranial wrestling matches, reason may indeed be “slave of the passions.“6 From the first two paragraphs, we can learn that（A）moral “reasoning“ is actually based on reason, not on emotion.（B） philosophers h
24、ave resolved the dilemma between reason and emotion.（C） emotion plays a more important role than reason in moral judgment.（D）most philosophers pursue the utilitarian goal in the trolley problem.7 The word “swap“ (line 3, Paragraph 3) is closest in meaning to（A）change.（B） gamble.（C） exchange.（D）choic
25、e.8 It is stated in Paragraph 4 that those who support pushing the bystander to stop the trolley（A）are brutal and relentless.（B） display the same emotional aversion.（C） feel guilty about doing that.（D）have struggled to make the decision.9 Peter Singer seems to suggest that（A）we should cast away our
26、logic and respect emotion in the first place.（B） we should not only concern about ourselves but start help each other.（C） people who live in abundance should give a hand to those in poverty.（D）we should cut off life support for the old to achieve the utilitarian goals.10 The text intends to tell us
27、that（A） emotion plays the decisive role when we make moral judgment.（B） the struggle between reason and emotion is an antique topic.（C） we always struggle to make life and death decisions in our life.（D）emotion is more important and influential in our life than is reason.10 For decades, ferry boats
28、crossed the cold waters of Michigans Straits of Mackinac, shuttling people and vehicles between the two halves of the split-up state. Since the 1880s, Michigan residents dreamed of a bridge that would span the 4-mile gap between Mackinaw City and St. Ignace, an area that limited tourism in Mackinac
29、Island and disturbed commerce in the remote Upper Peninsula.Because construction would be hard, with high winds and harsh winters, some engineers suggested a floating tunnel or a series of small bridges instead. But, by the 1940s, with lines for ferry boats sometimes stretching for 16 miles, the ide
30、a of one continuous span won out. And what a span it turned out to be. Five miles long, the “Mighty Mac,“ which opened to traffic on Nov. 1, 1957, was to become the worlds longest suspension bridge between cable anchorages. Even today, it remains the longest suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphe
31、re and the third-longest bridge in the world.Designed by engineer David B.Steinman, the bridge was built in just three years, on time and on budget. That was a remarkable feat in itself. But the challenges were so great-33 of the bridges 34 pieces had to be built under waterthat five workers perishe
32、d during construction. One man died diving, one fell in a caisson while welding, another drowned, and two fell from a catwalk. The bridge has seen many tragedies since. On Sept. 10, 1978, three National Guard officers in a private plane got lost in a thick fog and crashed into the cables of the nort
33、h tower. In 1989, a woman was killed when gale force windsand her excessive speedlifted her 1987 Yugo into the air, sending it 150 feet into the water. And in 1997, a sport utility vehicle took the plunge.Although authorities believed the latter incident to have been a suicide, the bridge does not a
34、ttract jumpers the way, for instance, the Golden Gate does. In 1977, Lawrence Rubin of the Mackinac Bridge Authority shared his theory on the lack of leapers with the Detroit News: “People who commit suicide like attention. But its peaceful here. you could jump off this bridge, and it might take yea
35、rs before anybody found out.“The bridge authority acknowledges that the prospect of such excitement may be overwhelming for some, which is why it offers free escorts for gephyrobiacspeople with a fear of crossing bridges. Each year, hundreds of drivers take advantage of the service.11 According to t
36、he first paragraph, Michigans Straits of Mackinac（A）realized Michigan residents dream to have a bridge.（B） became a tourist attraction in Mackinac Island.（C） depressed the ferry service in the State of Michigan.（D）blocked the development of commerce in Upper Peninsula.12 It can be inferred from the
37、text that the reason for building a continuous span is that（A）the construction was dangerous because of severe weather.（B） the engineers wanted to build the longest suspension bridge.（C） building a floating tunnel or a series of bridges was impossible.（D）ferry boats covered too many pointless miles
38、and wasted time.13 The tragedy of five construction workers is cited to prove that（A）the bridge is a remarkable feat in itself.（B） the bridge has seen many tragedies.（C） challenges to build the bridge were tremendous.（D）the authority employed unqualified workers.14 Under Lawrence Rubins theory,（A）th
39、e Golden Gate Bridge is the best place for suicide.（B） the Mackinac Bridge is much safer than the Golden Gate.（C） the Mackinac Bridge is too peaceful for suicides.（D）the Mackinac Bridge is not frequently used by the public.15 What is the authors attitude towards the free escorts provided by the brid
40、ge authority?（A）It does no good to the people with gephyrobiacs.（B） It reduces the excitement of crossing the bridge.（C） It makes the bridge a safer place than other bridges.（D）It is well-intentioned but misused by some people.15 As long as people have looked up at the night sky, they have wondered
41、whether humanity is alone in the universe. of places close enough for people to visit, Mars is the only one that anybody seriously thinks might support life. The recent confirmation of a five-year-old finding that there is methane (a colorless gas with no smell) in the Martian atmosphere has therefo
42、re excitedthe hopes of those scientists who study the outer space. These sources are probably geological but they might, just, prove to be biological.The possibility of life on Mars is too thrilling for mankind to ignore. But how should we explore such questionswith men, or machines? George Bushs ad
43、niinistration strongly supported manned exploration, but the new administration is likely to have different prioritiesand so it should.Michael Griffin, the boss of NASA, a physicist and aerospace engineer who supported Mr. Bushs plan to return to the moon and then push on to Mars, has gone. Mr.Obama
44、s transition team had already been asking difficult questions of NASA, in particular about the cost of scrapping parts of the successor to the ageing and old-fashioned space shuttles that now form Americas manned space program. That successor system is also designed to return humans to the moon by 2
45、020, as a stepping stone to visiting Mars. Meanwhile, Mr. Obamas administration is wondering about spending more money on lots of new satellites designed to look down at the Earth, rather than outward into space.These are sensible priorities. In space travel, as in politics, domestic policy should u
46、sually by far outweigh foreign adventures. Moreover, cash is short and space travel costly. Yet it would be a shame if man were to give up exploring celestial bodies, especially if there is a possibility of meeting life formseven ones as lowly as microbesas a result.Luckily, technology means that ma
47、n can explore both the moon and Mars more fully without going there himself. Robots are better and cheaper than they have ever been. They can work tirelessly for years, beaming back data and images, and returning samples to Earth. They can also be made germless, which germ-infected humans, who risk
48、spreading disease around the solar system, cannot.Humanity, some will argue, is driven by a yearning to boldly go to places far beyond its crowded corner of the universe. If so, private efforts will surely carry people into space. In the meantime, Mr. Obamas promise in his inauguration speech to “re
49、store science to its rightful place“ sounds like good news for the sort of curiosity-driven research that will allow us to find out whether those columns of methane are signs of life.16 According to the first paragraph, men want to explore Mars because they（A）have found columns of gas in the Martian atmosphere.（B） think it is the nearest place for men to go in the universe.（C） are convinced that Mars have something biological.（D）want to figure out whether there is life beyond earth.17 To which of the following statements would Mr. Obamas adminis
