1、考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 217 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 How stupid does one need to be to get a job reading the television news? Is it actually beneficial for TV newsreaders to have, instead of a brain, a pla
2、te of lemon jelly? Last week the debate was raging once again about the controversial and important point as to whether the newsreaders write their own copy, read someone elses or simply make it up as they go along. Angela Rippon reckonedthat she had never heard of a newsreader writing stuff, but he
3、r modern counterpart, the beautiful Sophie Raworth, claims that they do the writing and adds that she has a postgraduate degree in journalism.This is the core of the issue: what on earth is there to learn about journalism at postgraduate level? The point and purpose of our lowly, occasionally useful
4、, trade could be scribbled on the back of a postage stamp and would easily be comprehended by a 14-year-old boy with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). Who has decided that it must be dignified with a doctoral thesis?Nor is reading the news even what one might call “journalism“. It is
5、an even simpler business called “reading“. All that the BBC demands of its female newsreaders is an ability to read in an impartial way words like “Israel has murdered more Lebanese children again today“ from the teleprompter without belching or lisping. It helps if they have the eminently presentab
6、le manner of a girl guide leader from Esher. They are forbidden to express an opinion. They are not required to go undercover, analyze the news or add witty asides. They are required to be that which they are known as in the trade“a gob on a stick“.A penetrating intelligence is not merely unnecessar
7、y, it is counterproductive.Newsreaders who are too intelligent soon stop being newsreaders, much as John Humphrys did, stifled by the commonplace of their duties. Or they give the game away by doing what that German newsreader did and end the programme, shaking their heads sadly, muttering, “its all
8、 lies, all lies“.Which is not to say BBC newsreaders are bad at their jobs: quite the reverse. But we should not confuse competence with intelligence. Newsreaders believe that because they are reading out serious stuff and everybody is listening to them, they must therefore be creatures possessed of
9、 a high IQ. They are confusing the message with the medium.1 The author holds in the first two paragraphs that a postgraduate degree in journalism _.（A）is quite unnecessary for newsreaders（B） is vital for a newsreader to write stuff（C） matters quite a lot for a newsreader（D）involves no learning abou
10、t journalism2 The author cites the example of BBC in Paragraph 3 to show that _.（A）it is concerned about international affairs and widely reports them（B） reading the news mainly involves required reading capability（C） it has laid down a lot of dos and donts for its newsreaders（D）reading the news is
11、an easy job that most people are qualified for3 By saying “a gob on a stick“ (Para. 3), the author means _.（A）a newsreader is like a magician with a magic stick（B） a newsreader only says what he/she is directed to say（C） a newsreader possesses penetrating intelligence（D）a newsreader does not usually
12、 express his/her opinion4 If the newsreaders are too intelligent, they are likely to _.（A）be fired by the TV stations and start all over again（B） keep telling lies until they shut the programs（C） be cynical about life and discontent with work（D）suffer from a sense of guilt and dissatisfaction5 It ca
13、n be inferred from the last paragraph that_.（A）sometimes competence and intelligence are unrelated（B） some newsreaders are at a loss as to how they should perform better（C） newsreaders have to possess a high IQ to handle difficult stuff（D）mass media have imposed great pressure on newsreaders5 Parent
14、s of children who happily eat whats put in front of them might assume their kids are well nourished. But two new studies drive home the importance of varying that diet. Deficiencies of vitamin D, omega-3 fats, and other healthful compounds are common; it turns outand consequential.Growing evidence l
15、inks vitamin D deficiency not only to weak bones but al-so to impaired immunity, asthma, and diabetes among other problems. And some of the latest research finds that rates of asthma and related respiratory problems climb in kids who are short on other commonly missing essentials, including vitamins
16、 C and E and omega-3 fatty acids.A team at the Harvard School of Public Health evaluated the diet and respiratory (relating to the process of breathing) health of some 2,000 North American high school seniors and found that teens who lack of fruit, vegetables, and other healthful foods were most lik
17、ely to have problems such as coughing, panting, episodes of bronchitis, and asthma.Vitamins C and E, which are abundant in fruit and dark-green vegetables, may “protect the lung from stress,“ says Harvard research fellow and study leader Jane Burns. Omega-3 reduces inflammation, a key feature of ast
18、hma, in which airways swell and make breathing difficult. Oily fish like salmon, mackerel, and tunaas well as cod-liver oilare rich in both omega-3 and vitaminD Vitamin D can also be obtained from multivitamin milk and sunshineand many kids should be getting more of both.In another new study, resear
19、chers found that 55 percent of outwardly healthy children and teenagers they tested didnt have enough vitamin D to grow healthy bones. Dark-skinned children were particularly likely to be short of the bone-building vitamin, according to Babette Zemel, an author of the study and director of the Nutri
20、tion and Growth Laboratory at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. The melanin (a natural dark brown colour in human skin, hair, and eyes) that makes their skin dark also blocks ultraviolet rays, which the body uses to make vitaminD In winter, when the sun was weakest, more than 90 percent of blacks
21、in the study were vitamin D deficient.Researchers suggest pointing kids outside, and waiting a few minutes before putting on sun block; 10 minutes of midday summer sun provides 10,000 international units of the vitaminmore than enough for a day. Like melanin, sunblock prevents the skin from making v
22、itamin D, so a bit of lotion-free exposure is necessary to grab the benefit.6 What can we infer from the first paragraph?（A）Parents will always feed their children well.（B） Kids who eat more are less likely to suffer from malnutrition.（C） Kids should have access to diets of healthful nutrients.（D）De
23、ficiencies of certain compounds are harmful or even deadly.7 Vitamin D deficiency will probably result in _.（A）less bone fractures（B） dark-colored skins（C） suppressed immunity（D）inability to breathe8 The study on the relationship between diet and respiratory health is to verify that teens _.（A）will
24、fall ill for the lack of fruits or vegetables intake（B） will be guarded against lung stress and other similar problems（C） are most likely to become the victims of respiratory illness（D）are not easily affected in terms of cough and asthma9 According to the text, dark-skinned kids are particularly sho
25、rt of vitamin D in that the dark skin_.（A）has more melanin that consumes more vitamin D（B） absorbs more ultraviolet rays, thus killing the melanin（C） can only produce units of the vitamin when the sun was strong（D）has more melanin that blocks ultraviolet rays, reducing vitamin D production10 Which o
26、f the following would be the best title for the text?（A）Kids Lacking in Nutrients（B） Malnourished Families（C） More Sunblock, Less Vitamin D（D）Health and Nature10 The clean-energy business is turning into the next big investment boom, in which risks are lightly ignored. Until recently, recalls Charli
27、e Gay, a 30-year veteran of the solar-power business, venture capitalists were far too busy catering to captains of the information-technology industry to waste time on “hippy-dippy tree-huggers“ like himself. But now the tree-huggers are in the ascendant and theIT barons are busy investing in clean
28、-energy technology.Investors are falling over themselves to finance start-ups in clean technology, especially in energy. Venture Business Research reckons that investment in the field by venture capitalists and private-equity firms has quadrupled in the past two years, from some $500m in 2004 to alm
29、ost $2 billion so far this year. The share of venture capital going into clean energy is rising rapidly.Clean-energy fever is being fuelled by three things: high oil prices, fears over energy security and a growing concern about global warming. The provision of energy, the industrys cheerleaders say
30、, will change radically over the coming decades. Polluting coal- and gas-fired power stations will give way to cleaner alternatives such as solar and wind; fuels derived from plants and waste will replace petrol and diesel; and small, local forms of electricity generation will replace big power stat
31、ions feeding far-flung grids. Eventually, it is hoped, fuel cells running on hydrogen will take the place of the internal combustion engine which is available everywhere. It is a bold vision, but if it happens very slowly, or only to a limited extent, boosters argue that it will still prompt tremend
32、ous growth for firms in the business.Analysts confidently predict the clean-energy business will grow by 20-30% a year for a decade. Jef-feries, an investment bank that organized a recent conference on the industry in London, asked participants how soon solar power would become competitive with old-
33、fashioned generation technologies: in 2010, 2015 or 2020. About three-quarters of those present, one visitor happily observed, were “cheque-writers“. This “megatrend“, the keynote speaker advocated, “may be the biggest job- and wealth-creation opportunity of the 21st century.“Such exaggeration might
34、 remind people of dotcom bubble. But clean-energy advocates insist growth is sustainable because of the likes of Mr. Schwarzenegger. The Governor is a hero in green circles because of his enthusiasm for environmental regulation. He easily won re-election partly because he seized on global warming as
35、 a concern and signed into lawAmericas first wide-ranging scheme to cap greenhouse-gas emissions.11 According to the first two paragraphs, we can learn that _.（A）clean energy business is booming while the risks are totally overlooked（B） venture capitalists have wasted much money on “hippy-dippy tree
36、 hungers“（C） clean energy business is surging and changes the venture capital market（D）the information-technology industry is correspondingly shrinking fast12 Which of the following is true of Paragraph 3?（A）Clean energy fever is fuelled mainly by human psychological weakness.（B） The energy provisio
37、n for the coming decades will undergo rapid changes.（C） Hydrogen as a new energy will replace traditional energy forms like coal, and gas.（D）Supporters of clean energy business are pretty optimistic about its future.13 The word “cheque-writers“ (Para. 4) is closest in meaning to _.（A）tycoons（B） dona
38、tors（C） investors（D）celebrities14 It can be inferred from the last paragraph that_.（A）clean energy industry and the dotcom industry have the same business model（B） the dotcom industry might have undergone a rapid but unsustainable development（C） Schwarzenegger has insisted that growth in clean energ
39、y business is sustainable（D）global warming has become a popular and decisive issue in political elections15 What is the authors attitude towards clean energy business?（A）Optimistic.（B） Enthusiastic.（C） Objective.（D）Subjective.15 The Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn is notoriously toxic. Since 1869, the mil
40、e-long waterway has been a dumping ground for garbage, industrial waste, guns and body partsits waters once too dirty to search. Today you can still stand on a bridge over the canal and see underwear floating on the water.The odor, once almost unbearable, has softened into an occasional summerstink,
41、 thanks to a flushing tunnel installed 10 years ago.A growing number of artists and young people have moved into the industrial lofts and row houses nearby. Some of the most oblivious have been spotted on the canal in canoes, their paddles stirring 140 years worth of detritus (small pieces of rubbis
42、h) from leather factories, chemical plants and more.Now, these Gowanus pioneers want somebody to finally detoxify their hazardous neighborhood. They imagine it as Brooklyns little Venice, although a bit cleaner. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering naming the Gowanus an official
43、Superfund site. That would bring in a slow but steady federal cleanup with money and the legal influence to force polluters to help pay.The present Mayor of the New York City also wants a cleaner Gowanus, but he wants to do it his way. At a community board meeting Tuesday night, about 200 people lis
44、tened as the mayors experts argued against a Superfund listing. It was a hard crowd to move. Many wore a button that said it all: “Gowanus Canal: Superfund Me.“The mayor and his team are particularly worried about how a Superfund site would affect the real estate market, especially a few possibiliti
45、es for larger developments in the area. Instead of being “stigmatized“ by the Superfund label, as they put it, they favor the “Superfund Alternative“ plan. Although there are few details at this point, that effort would be run by the city and overseen by the EPA Every year, the city would rush to co
46、llect funds from the Corps of Engineers and other agencies to help clean up the area to the EPAs satisfaction. The city could only plead with polluters to help pay.With so many pollutants and so many polluters, this looks like a job for Superfund. Brooklyn can handle the label. Residents already enj
47、oy boasting about their survival or joking about living near the canals dark humors. Why else have a popular bar called the Gowanus Yacht Club? They just want the cleanup done and done right.16 In the opening paragraph, the author introduces his topic by_.（A）presenting an assumption（B） narrating a s
48、tory（C） depicting a phenomenon（D）making a comparison17 The phrase “Some of the most oblivious“ (Para. 2) here means _.（A）people who randomly pollute the canal（B） people who care little about the odor（C） people who try to neglect the smell（D）people who wish to clean the canal18 The EPAs proposal of l
49、isting the Gowanus an official Superfund site will _.（A）bring in efficient and continuous cleanup on Gowanus Canal（B） raise fund from the federal government, the New York City and the polluters（C） turn the community into a cleaner, larger and healthier settlement（D）be cheerfully welcomed by the current residents in the community19 The present New York mayor would be most likely to agree that _.（A）the treatment of Gowanus Canal shouldnt hamper future development（B） the city should shoulder more responsibi
