1、考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 231 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 Since the pre-historic times, man has had an urge to satisfy his needs. Be it hunger, shelter or search for a mate, he has always manipulated the circum
2、stances to the best of his advantages. Probably this might be the reason why we human are the most developed of all living species on the earth, and probably also in the universe. As we climbed the steps of evolution with giant leaps, wesomehow left behind common sense and logical thinkingwe forgot
3、that we have stopped thinking ahead of times.If you are hungry, what do you do? Grab a piece of your favorite meal and stay quiet after that? Just like your stomach, even your mind is hungry. But it never lets you know, because you keep it busy thinking about your dream lover, favorite star and many
4、 such absurd things. So it silently began to heed to your needs and never let itself grow. When mind loses its freedom to grow, creativity gets a full stop. This might be the reason why we all sometimes think “What happens next?“, “Why cant I think?“, “Why am I always given the difficult problems?“
5、Well this is the aftermath of our own karma of using our brain for flunking of not-so-worthy things.Hunger of the mind can be actually satiated through extensive reading. Now why reading and not watching TV? Because reading has been the most educative tool used by us right from the childhood. Just l
6、ike that to develop other aspects of our life, we have to take help of reading. You have innumerable number of books in this world which will answer all your “How to?“ questions. Once you read a book, you just dont run your eyes through the lines, but even your mind decodes it and explains it to you
7、. The interesting part of the book is stored in your mind as a seed. Now this seed is unknowingly used by you in your future to develop new ideas. The same seed if used many times, can help you link and relate a lot of things, of which you would have never thought of in your wildest dreams! This is
8、nothing but creativity. More the number of books you read, your mind will open up like never before. Also this improves your oratory skills to a large extent and also makes a significant contribution to your vocabulary. Within no time you start speaking English or any language fluently with your fri
9、ends or other people and you never seem to run out of the right words at the right time.1 According to Paragraph 1, the human are the most developed of all living species most probably because we have _.（A）had needs and desires to satisfy（B） been able to think ahead of times（C） taken advantage of th
10、e environment（D）had common sense and logical thinking2 When you are busy thinking about your dream lover, _.（A）you are not actually thinking（B） your mind is no longer hungry（C） your mind doesnt let itself grow（D）you are not aware of what you need3 The author most probably agrees that thinking about
11、“What happens next?“ is _.（A）uncreative（B） unreliable（C） worthless（D）thoughtless4 The word “satiated“ (Para. 3) can best be replaced by “_“.（A）expressed（B） satisfied（C） enhanced（D）aroused5 Oratory skills will be improved when _.（A）your vocabulary is powerful（B） you can link and relate things（C） your
12、 creativity grows（D）you read extensively5 Divorce doesnt necessarily make adults happy. But toughing it out in an unhappy marriage until it turns around just might do, a new study says.The research identified happy and unhappy spouses, culled from a national database. Of the unhappy partners who div
13、orced, about half were happy five years later. But unhappy spouses who stuck it out often did better. About two-thirds were happy five years later. Study results contradict what seems to be common sense, says David Blankenhorn of the Institute for American Values, a think-tank on the family. The ins
14、titute helped sponsor the research team based at the University of Chicago. Findings will be presented in Arlington, Va., at the “Smart Marriage“ conference, sponsored by the Coalition for Marriage, Families and Couples Education.The study looked at data on 5,232 married adults from the National Sur
15、vey of Families and Households. It included 645 who were unhappy. The adults in the national sample were analyzed through 13 measures of psychological well-being. Within the five years, 167 of the unhappy were divorced or separated and 478 stayed married.Divorce didnt reduce symptoms of depression,
16、raise self-esteem or increase a sense of mastery compared with those who stayed married, the report says. Results were controlled for factors including race, age, gender and income. Staying married did not tend to trap unhappy spouses in violent relationships. What helped the unhappy married turn th
17、ings around? To supplement the formal study data, the research team asked professional firms to recruit focus groups totaling 55 adults who were “marriage survivors“. All had moved from unhappy to happy marriages. These 55 once-discontented married felt their unions got better via one of three route
18、s, the report says:Marital endurance. “With time, job situations improved, children got older or better, or chronic ongoing problems got put into new perspective.“ Partners did not work on their marriages.Marital work. Spouses actively worked “to solve problems, change behavior or improve communicat
19、ion“.Personal change. Partners found “alternative ways to improve their own happiness and build a good and happy life despite a mediocre marriage.“ In effect, the unhappy partner changed.6 According to David Blankenhorn, people commonly believe that _.（A）divorce is a better solution to an unhappy ma
20、rriage than staying together（B） divorce is not necessarily the only solution to an unhappy marriage（C） keeping an unhappy marriage needs much courage and endurance（D）to end an unhappy marriage or not is a tough decision for the spouses7 Which of the following is true about the research under discuss
21、ion?（A）It was conducted by the Institute for the American Values headed by David Blankenhorn.（B） It was sponsored by the Coalition for Marriage, Families and Couples Education.（C） Its subjects were chosen from a national database based at the University of Chicago.（D）Its report will be included in t
22、he schedule of the “Smart Marriage“ conference.8 The 13 measures of psychological well-being mentioned in Paragraph 3 are used to _.（A）serve as the standards for choosing the subjects of the research（B） serve as the ways to help adults to get over their unhappy marriage（C） examine all the 5, 232 mar
23、ried adults（D）examine all the adults in the database9 The authors attitude toward divorce may best be described as “_“.（A）critical（B） impersonal（C） arbitrary（D）scornful10 According to the report, those unhappily-wedded may not survive their marriage by _.（A）waiting for the living conditions to get i
24、mproved（B） achieving childrens understanding（C） changing their own attitude towards mediocre marriages（D）working on their problems and strengthening communication10 A recent case in Australia shows how easily fear can frustrate an informants good intentions. In December, a woman wrote anonymously to
25、 the countrys antitrust watchdog, the ACCC, alleging that her employer was colluding with others in breach of the Trade Practices Act. Her evidence was sufficient to suggest to the ACCC that fines of A$10m could be imposed on “a large company“. But theagency needed more details. So just before Chris
26、tmas it advertised extensively to try and persuade the woman to come forward again. Some days later her husband rang the ACCC, but he hung up before disclosing vital information. Now the agency is trying to contact the couple again.In America, there is some evidence that the events of September 11th
27、 have made people more public-spirited and more inclined to blow the whistle. The Government Accountability Project, a Washington based group, received 27 reproaches from potential informants in the three months before September 11th, and 66 in the three months after. Many of these complaints were a
28、bout security issues. They included a Federal Aviation Adininistration employee who claimed that the agency had repeatedly failed to respond to known cases of security violations at airports.Legislation to give greater protection to people who expose corporate or government misbehavior externally (a
29、fter having received no satisfaction internally) is being introduced in a number of countries. In America, it focuses on informants among federal employees. According to Billy Garde, a lawyer who was a member of BPs Alaska inquiry team, they “have less rights than prisoners“.A bill introduced last y
30、ear by Senator Daniel Akaka to improve protection for them is currently stuck in congressional committees.In Britain, the Public Interest Disclosure Act came fully into force last year. Described by one American as “the most far-reaching informant protection in the world“, it treats informants as wi
31、tnesses acting in the public interest. This separates them from people who are merely pursuing a personal grievance. But even in Britain, the protection is limited. Rupert Walker, a fund manager, was fired by Govett Investments in September 2001 for expressing concerns in the Financial Times about a
32、 group of people of investment trusts that invest in each other.11 What does the author most probably think about what the ACCC did to the woman?（A）Inconsistent.（B） Disheartening.（C） Reasonable.（D）Bureaucratic.12 By saying “more inclined to blow the whistle“ (Para 2), the author means that people ar
33、e more_.（A）eager to disclose secrets（B） willing to report wrongdoings（C） alert to hidden dangers to the country（D）ready to cooperate with the administration13 We can infer from Paragraph 2 that the Federal Aviation Administration employee_.（A）had repeatedly complained to his employer（B） did not get
34、any response from his employer（C） was concerned about public security（D）became brave after the 9.11 disaster14 According to Paragraph 3, informants among the American federal employees_.（A）disclose misbehavior externally when they are disappointed internally（B） get more protection than people who di
35、sclose misbehavior externally（C） have less rights than prisoners（D）get as much protection as before15 Britains protection to informants is not perfect in that _.（A）the Public Interest Disclosure Act came fully into force only last year（B） it treats informants as witnesses acting in the public intere
36、st（C） informants are threatened with the possibility of losing their jobs（D）informants are considered as merely pursuing a personal complaint15 In the first year or so of Web business, most of the action has revolved around efforts to tap the consumer market. More recently, as the Web proved to be m
37、ore than a fashion, companies have started to buy and sell products and services with one another. Such business-to-business sales make sense because business people typically know what product theyre looking for.Nonetheless, many companies still hesitate to use the Web because of doubts about its r
38、eliability. “Businesses need to feel they can trust the pathway between them and the supplier,“ says senior analyst Blane Erwin of Forrester Research. Some companies are limiting the risk by conducting online transactions only with established business partners who are given access to the companys p
39、rivate intranet.Another major shift in the model for Internet commerce concerns the technology available for marketing. Until recently, Internet marketing activities have focused on strategies to “pull“ customers into sites. In the past year, however, software companies have developed tools that all
40、ow companies to “push“ information directly out to consumers, transmitting marketing messages directly to targeted customers. Most notably, the PointCast Network uses a screen saver to deliver a continually updated stream of news and advertisements to subscribers computer monitors. Subscribers can c
41、ustomize the information they want to receive and proceed directly to a companys Web site. Companies such as Virtual Vineyards are already starting to use similar technologies to push messages to customers about special sales, product offering, or other events. But push technology has earned the con
42、tempt of many Web users. Online culture thinks highly of the notion that the information flowing onto the screen comes there by specific request. Once commercial promotion begins to fill the screen uninvited, the distinction between the Web and television fades. Thats a prospect that horrifies Net p
43、urists.But it is hardly inevitable that companies on the Web will need to resort to push strategies to make money. The examples of Virtual Vineyards, A, and other pioneers show that a Web site selling the right kind of products with the right mix of interactivity, hospitality, and security will attr
44、act online customers. And the cost of computing power continues to free fall, which is a good sign for any enterprise setting up shop in silicon. People looking back 5 or 10 years from now may well wonder why so few companies took the online plunge.16 According to Paragraphs 1 and 2, what do we lear
45、n about the present web business?（A）Web business is no longer in fashion.（B） Business-to-business sales are the trend.（C） Web business is prosperous in the consumer market.（D）Many companies still lack confidence in web business.17 Established business partners are preferred in web business because _
46、.（A）they are more creditable than others（B） they specify the products they want（C） they have access to the companys private intranet（D）they are capable of conducting online transactions18 PointCast Network in Paragraph 3 is most probably _.（A）a company that develops the latest push software（B） a too
47、l that promotes a companys online marketing（C） the first company that used an online push software（D）the most popular software that helps a company push19 Net purists are most worried that _.（A）only the requested information comes to the screen（B） the Net is filled with commercial promotion（C） the d
48、ifference between the Web and TV will fade（D）push technology will dominate the screen20 What can be inferred from the last paragraph about A?（A）Its success is attributed to push strategies.（B） It is prosperous without push strategies.（C） It is highly concerned about the cost of computing power.（D）It
49、 is a good example of the flourishing online business.20 On August 18th US News & World Report released its 2007 rankings of Americas top colleges. The survey began in 1983 as an unofficial opinion poll, when the magazine asked 662 college presidents to identify the countrys best places of learning. It has since changed into an annually frightening experience for reputable universities.A strong showing in the rankings spurs student interestand alumni giving while a slip has grave co
