1、考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 233 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 In George Orwells Animal Farm the mighty cart-horse, Boxer, inspires the other animals with his heroic cry of “I will work harder“. He gets up at the cr
2、ack of dawn to do a couple of hours extra ploughing. He even refuses to take a day off. And his reward for all this effort? As soon as he collapses on the job he is sent to the knackers yard to be turned into glue and bone-meal.Animal Farm looks ever more like an allegory about capitalism as well as
3、 socialism. Everybody knows about the plague of unemployment. But unemployment is bringing another plague in its wake-overwork. The Hay Group, a British consultancy which recently surveyed 1,000 people, says that two-thirds of workers report they are putting in unpaid overtime. The reward for all th
4、is effort is frozen pay and shrinking perks. The only difference between these overstretched workers and Boxer is that they can see the knackers van coming.So far workers have borne all this with remarkable perseverancepartly because they feel lucky to keep their jobs and partly because they want to
5、 save their firms from going under. But the Dunkirk spirit is beginning to fade. The Hay survey notes that 63% of workers say that their employers do not appreciate their extra effort. Half report that their current level of work is unsustainable. People are wearying of frantic reorganization as wel
6、l as the added toil-floods of memos and meetings, endless reshuffles, earnest persuasions to do more with less.For their part, companies are beginning to notice the downside of all this overstretching. Absenteeism is on the rise. Corporate loyalty is on the wane. And the biggest danger for companies
7、 is if workers head for the door as the economy picks up. Most problematic of all is when star employees decide to look for work elsewhere. These “high-potentials“ (HiPos) are doubly frustrated: they have been asked to shoulder a disproportionate share of the growing burden of work and they have see
8、n senior jobs dry up as older managers try to cling to their positions.What can organizations do to cope with this new era of overwork? Most obviously they can redouble efforts to make staff feel valued. Cash-strapped companies are making more use of symbolic rewards.A second strategy is to make mor
9、e use of that old favorite, “empowerment“. This means trying harder to explain why companies are acting as they are.A third strategy is to pay particular attention to high performers.A striking number of companies have introduced “HiPo schemes“ to identify and nurture potential stars. Yet this appro
10、ach is less divisive than it sounds because some animals are more equal than others.1 By citing the book Animal Farm, the author intends to _.（A）show the suffering of the cart-horse Boxer（B） discuss the issue of unemployment（C） introduce the issue of overwork（D）illustrate the harm of overwork2 It is
11、 indicated in Paragraph 2 that workers nowadays _.（A）have less and less bonus（B） can see their dim future（C） work overtime without payment（D）can see the chance of promotion3 By saying “the Dunkirt spirit is beginning to fade“ (Para. 3), the author means that _.（A）employees are becoming less loyal to
12、 their company（B） employees are becoming less patient with their working condition（C） employees are becoming less devoted to their company（D）more and more employees are absent from work4 From Paragraph 4 we can learn that _.（A）overwork has a negative impact on company（B） star employees are promoted
13、to senior jobs（C） HiPos left their company due to overwork（D）companies do not appreciate the star employees5 According to the author, the “HiPo schemes“ introduced by many companies are _.（A）very useful（B） not that popular（C） not that decisive（D）not that effective5 If you go down to the woods today,
14、 you may meet high-tech treesgenetically modified to speed their growth or improve the quality of their wood. Genetically-engineered food crops have become increasingly common, albeit controversial, over the past ten years. But genetic engineering of trees has lagged behind.Part of the reason is tec
15、hnical. Understanding, and then altering, the genes of a big pine tree are more complex than creating a better tomato. While tomatoes sprout happily, and rapidly, in the laboratory, growing a whole tree from a single, genetically altered cell in a test tube is a tricky process that takes years, not
16、months. Moreover, little is known about tree genes. Some trees, such as pine trees, have a lot of DNAroughly ten times as much as human. And, whereas the Human Genome Project is more than halfway through its task of isolating and sequencing the estimated 100,000 genes in human cells, similar efforts
17、 to analyze tree genes are still just saplings.Given the large number of tree genes and the little that is known about them, tree engineers are starting with a search for genetic “markers“. The first step is to isolate DNA from trees with desirable properties such as insect resistance. The next step
18、 is to find stretches of DNA that show the presence of a particular gene. Then, when you mate two trees with different desirable properties, it is simple to check which offspring contain them all by looking for the genetic markers. Henry Amerson, at North Carolina State University, is using genetic
19、markers to breed fungal resistance into southern pines. Billions of these are grown across America for pulp and paper, and outbreaks of disease are expensive. But not all individual trees are susceptible. Dr. Amersons group has found markers that distinguish fungus-resistant stock from disease-prone
20、 trees. Using traditional breeding techniques, they are introducing the resistance genes into pines on test sites in America.Using genetic markers speeds up old-fashioned breeding methods because you no longer have to wait for the tree to grow up to see if it has the desired traits. But it is more a
21、 sophisticated form of selective breeding. Now, however, interest in genetic tinkering is also gaining ground. To this end, Dr. Amerson and his colleagues are taking part in the Pine Gene Discovery Project, an initiative to identify and sequence the 50,000-odd genes in the pine trees genome. Knowing
22、 which gene does what should make it easier to know what to alter.6 Compared with genetic engineering of food crops, genetic engineering of trees _.（A）began much later（B） has developed more slowly（C） is less useful（D）is less controversial7 The author thinks that the genetic engineering of pine trees
23、 is _.（A）time-consuming（B） worthwhile（C） significant（D）technically impossible8 Which of the following can be learned from Paragraph 2 about the research on tree genes?（A）The research methods are the same as the analysis of human genes.（B） The findings are expected to be as fruitful as the analysis o
24、f human genes.（C） It will take as much time and effort as the analysis of human genes.（D）The research has been mainly concentrated on the genes of young trees.9 It is discovered by Henry Amersons team that _.（A）southern pines cannot resist fungus（B） all southern pines are not susceptible（C） the gene
25、tic marker in southern pines was the easiest to identify（D）fungus-resistant genes came originally from outside the U.S.A10 What is the primary objective of carrying out the Pine Gene Discovery Project?（A）To speed up old-fashioned breeding methods.（B） To identify all the genes in the pine trees genom
26、e.（C） To find out what desired traits the pine trees have.（D）To make it easier to know which gene needs altering.10 Google must be the most ambitious company in the world. Its stated goal, “to organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful,“ deliberately omits the word
27、 “web“ to indicate that the company is reaching for absolutely all information everywhere and in every form. From books to health records and videos, from your friendships to your click patterns and phys-ical location, Google wants to know. To some people this sounds uplifting, with promises of free
28、 access to knowledge and help in managing our daily lives. To others, it is somewhat like another Big Brother, no less frightening than its totalitarian ancestors for being in the private information.Randall Stross, a journalist at the New York Times, does a good job of analyzing this unbounded ambi
29、tion in his book “Planet Google“. One chapter is about the huge data centers that Google is building with a view to storing all that information, another about the sets of rules at the heart of its web search and advertising technology, another about its approach to information bound in books, its v
30、ision for geographical information and so forth. He is at his best when explaining how Googles mission casually but fatally smashes into long-existing institutions such as, say, copyright law or privacy norms.And yet, its puzzling that he mostly omits the most fascinating component of Google, its pe
31、ople. Google is what it is because of its two founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who see themselves as kindly elites and embody the limitless optimism about science, technology and human nature that is native to Silicon Valley. The world is perfectible, and they are the ones who will do much of t
32、he perfecting, provided you let them.Brin and Page set out to create a company and an entire culture in their image. From the start, they professed that they would innovate as much in managingrewarding, feeding, motivating, entertaining and even transporting (via Wi-Fi-enabled free shuttle buses) th
33、eir employeesas they do in internet technology. If Google is in danger of becoming a caricature, this is first apparent herein the over-engineered day-care centers, the Shiatsu massages and kombucha teas. In reality Googlers are as prone to power struggle and office politics as anyone else.None of t
34、hat makes it into Mr Stross account, which at times reads like a diligent summary of news articles. At those moments, “Planet Google“ takes a risk similar to trying to board a speeding train: the Google story changes so fast that no book can stay up to date for long. Even so, a sober description of
35、this moment in Googles quest is welcome. Especially since Google fully expects, as its chief executive, Eric Schmidt, says at the end of the book, to take 300 years completing it.11 By describing Google as a “Big Brother“, people think that Google _.（A）is a pioneer in IT industry（B） is an invader of
36、 privacy（C） breaks its promise of free access（D）overestimates its own influence12 According to Randall Stross, Googles influence on copyright law or privacy norms is _.（A）inevitable（B） undeniable（C） long-lasting（D）unintentional13 The author thinks that Googles two founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Pag
37、e, _.（A）are the most crucial component of Google（B） are deliberately omitted in the book “Planet Google“（C） bring Silicon Valley the most advanced science and technology（D）are the persons who never stop pursuing a better world14 What can be learned from Paragraph 4 about the Google employees in real
38、ity?（A）They intrigue against each other in the office.（B） They are all hard-working and talented.（C） They appreciate the managing techniques.（D）They feel encouraged by the companys benefits.15 By saying “Planet Google takes a risk. train“ (Para. 5), the author implies that _.（A）Planet Google will be
39、 in danger if it stays up to date for long（B） Planet Google have to take 300 years to catch the speeding train（C） the board of Google welcomes Randall Stross to cover Google story（D）a written book can only cover a little part of the on-going technology15 We sometimes think humans are uniquely vulner
40、able to anxiety, but stress seems to affect the immune defenses of lower animals too. In one experiment, for example, behavioral immunologist Mark Laudenslager, at the University of Denver, gave mild electric shocks to 24 rats. Half the animals could switch off the current by turning a wheel in thei
41、r enclosure, while the other half could not.The rats in the two groups were paired so that each time one rat turned the wheel it protected both itself and its helpless partner from the shock. Laudenslager found that the immune response was depressed below normal in the helpless rats but not in those
42、 that could turn off the electricity. What he has demonstrated, he believes, is that lack of control over an event, not the experience itself, is what weakens the immune system.Other researchers agree. Jay Weiss, a psychologist at Duke University School of Medicine, has shown that animals who are al
43、lowed to control unpleasant stimuli dont develop sleep disturbances or changes in brain chemistry typical of stressed rats. But if the animals are confronted with situations they have no control over, they later behave passively when faced with experiences they can control. Such findings reinforce p
44、sychologists suspicions that the experience or perception of helplessness is one of the most harmful factors in depression.One of the most startling examples of how the mind can alter the immune response was discovered by chance. In 1975 psychologist Robert Ader at the University of Rochester School
45、 of Medicine conditioned mice to avoid saccharin by simultaneously feeding them the sweetener and injecting them with a drug that while suppressing their immune systems caused stomach upsets. Associating the saccharin with the stomach pains, the mice quickly learned to avoid the sweetener. In order
46、to extinguish this dislike for the sweetener, Ader reexposed the animals to saccharin, this time without the drug, and was astonished to find that those mice that had received the highest amounts of sweetener during their earlier conditioning died. He could only speculate that he had so successfully
47、 conditioned the rats that saccharin alone now served to weaken their immune systems enough to kill them.16 Laudenslagers experiment showed that the immune system of those rats who could turn off the electricity _.（A）was strengthened（B） was not affected（C） was altered（D）was weakened17 According to P
48、aragraph 2, the experience of helplessness causes rats to _.（A）try to control unpleasant stimuli（B） turn off the electricity（C） behave passively in controllable situations（D）become abnormally suspicious18 The reason why the mice in Aders experiment avoided saccharin was that _.（A）they disliked its t
49、aste（B） it affected their immune systems（C） it led to stomach pains（D）they associated it with stomachaches19 According to Paragraph 3, the most probable reason for the death of the mice in Aders experiment was that _.（A）they had been weakened psychologically by the saccharin（B） the sweetener was poisonous to them（C） their immune systems had been altered by the mind（D）they had taken too much sweetener during earlier conditioning20 It can be concluded from the passage that the immune systems of a
