1、考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 245 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 We maintain that in general a focus on positive information benefits well-being. However, there are probably conditions when a chronic tendency to focus
2、 on positive material is maladaptive. One such context, we presumed, is decision-making, especially when options include both positive and negative features. When making decisions, negative features of options often have higher diagnostic value. If a person who is deciding whether to renew a health
3、care plan remembers that she likes her physician but forgets that the plan does not pay for the hip surgery she needs, a suboptimal decision could be made. Corinna and I designed another study with two primary aims: to see whether in a decision context older people would review positive features of
4、options more than negative features; and if this was the case, to see if we could eliminate the effect by modifying goals with instructions. Using computer-based decision scenarios, 60 older and 60 younger adults were presented with positive, negative, and neutral information about ostensible health
5、 care options. Some scenarios presented characteristics of physicians. Others presented features of health care plans. The information was hidden behind colored squares, and participants had to click on the square to see the information. They were told that positive information was behind white squa
6、res and negative information was behind black squares. We then observed how often participants examined the positive information versus the negative information. Later we tested their memory for the information. As we predicted, older adults reviewed and recalled a greater proportion of positive inf
7、ormation than did younger adults. Most important, participants in one group were repeatedly reminded to “focus on the facts“ and in this group the preference for positive information disappeared.Human need is the basis for virtually all of science. If we rise to the challenge of an aging population
8、by systematically applying science and technology to questions that improve quality of life in adulthood and old age, longer-lived populations will inspire breakthroughs in the social, physical, and biological sciences that will improve the quality of life at all ages. Longevity science will reveal
9、ways to improve learning from birth to advanced ages and to deter age-related slowing in cognitive processing. Longevity science will draw enormously on insights about individuals genomic predispositions and the environmental conditions that trigger the onset of disease. Longevity science will help
10、us understand how stress slowly but surely affects health. Most of the challenges of longer-lived populations will require interdisciplinary collaborations. Psychological science must be a part of this process.1 The author holds that when making decisions, _.（A）positive information should be focused
11、B） all options should be carefully diagnosed（C） negative information should be considered（D）maladaptive information should be avoided2 It can be inferred from the text that _.（A）a suboptimal decision originates from negative information（B） an optimal decision primarily results from positive informa
12、tion（C） negative information is less beneficial than positive information（D）both positive and negative information is needed for decision making3 The study made by the author and Corrinna shows that _.（A）older people focus more on positive information（B） there are more positive features than negativ
13、e ones（C） younger people focus more on negative information（D）it is easier for positive information to be remembered4 The author argues that longevity science_.（A）improves the quality of life for both old and young（B） contributes to the improvement of biological functions（C） meets the challenge of l
14、onger life in developed nations（D）inspires breakthroughs in various disciplines of sciences5 According to the text, it is advisable to be aware of_.（A）the negative features of options（B） the dark side of the positive effect（C） the challenge of an aging population（D）the typical process of decision ma
15、king5 DNA testing has become something our society relies on very heavily for identification purposes. Everyone has different DNA so it is a unique way to identify an individual. It is the equivalent of a signature only in a genetic form that cant be altered or hidden. One of the most common uses of
16、 DNA testing is to track down criminals who have left hair, skin, or semen at the scene of a crime.A use for DNA testing that is less familiar to most individuals is for tracking down a persons heritage. It can be hard to determine a persons heritage without the help of DNA testing. Each person is c
17、lassified into one of four main groups when it comes to ancestry. Those groups arc East Asian, Native American, African, or European.Many people have some identifying features or skin colors that help to identify their particular line of ancestry. The trouble is that many people have parents from tw
18、o different ancestry lines. This makes the diversification very hard to track as you start looking back on generations of mixed ancestry. With ancestry DNA it is possible to determine the dominant one for that individual.The testing involved in the ancestry DNA process is done with the technology av
19、ailable today. Ancestry DNA testing involves the process of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism so that the dominant ethnic group can be identified. The Single Nucleotide Polymorphism also tells the percentage of the different ancestry groups that make up the individuals DNA.While you may wonder why ance
20、stry is so important to some people, the reality is that it does matter. It is interesting to know where your heritage lies and for some people not knowing gives them a void they really want to have filled. This is more important to them than simply fitting into society because of their race or colo
21、r.There is plenty of debate surrounding the concept of ancestry DNA. Many experts claim it is not a reliable way to determine ones heritage. They also believe it causes issues with cultural beliefs rather than instilling a sense of their role in society. Others find these claims to be completely rid
22、iculous and place plenty of merit in ancestry DNA test results. There are many good ancestry DNA test locations in the world that do offer individuals the opportunity to find out where their true heritage lies. Meanwhile an independent validation method still has to be adopted before the scientific
23、field is going to accept it.6 According to the text, DNA testing_.（A）is a highly accurate, reliable and confidential way（B） can differentiate a person from all the other people（C） is an indispensible tool for verifying ones signature（D）helps to distinguish a criminals hair, skin, or semen7 A persons
24、 heritage_.（A）might be discovered with the help of DNA testing（B） consists mainly of two types: cultural and national（C） is something passed down from preceding generations（D）is revealed by the color of his hair, eyes, and complexion8 The ancestry DNA testing_.（A）tests your DNA passed down from your
25、 parents（B） discovers where your male ancestry line is from（C） gives you percentages of your ancestral makeup（D）identifies a persons cultural and biological feature 9 Ancestry is an important concept in that _.（A）it helps people to discover their family stories（B） everyone is extremely interested in
26、 his heritage（C） one can hardly fit into society without knowing it（D）the ignorance of ones heritage may cause emptiness10 The author argues that ancestry DNA（A）can scarcely determine a persons heritage（B） justifies the role a person plays in society（C） only gives an estimate of genetic ancestry（D）i
27、s a disputable concept in scientific field10 Why do we along with 75 other countriesalternate between standard time and daylight time? Although many people believe it has an agricultural provenance, daylight time has always been a policy meant to save energy. As Benjamin Franklin argued, if people m
28、oved up their summer schedules by an hour, they could live by “sunshine rather than candles“ in the evenings.Energy conservation was the motivation for daylight time during World Wars I and II and the oil embargo of the 1970s, and it remains so todayeven though there has been little scientific evide
29、nce to suggest daylight time actually helps us cut back on electricity use. Recently, however, we were able to conduct a study in Indiana, where daylight time was instituted statewide only in 2006. Before that year, daylight time was in effect in just a handful of counties. This change of policy off
30、ered a unique, natural experiment to measure the overall effect on residential electricity consumption. We could compare the amount of energy used by households in the late-adopting counties during the two years before they switched to daylight time with the amounts they used during the year afterwa
31、rdwhile using counties that always practiced daylight time as a control group. We found that daylight time caused a 1 percent overall increase in residential electricity use, though the effect varied from month to month. The greatest increase occurred in late summer and early fall, when electricity
32、use rose by 2 percent to 4 percent.Daylight time costs Indiana households an average of $3. 29 a year in higher electricity bills, or about $ 9 million for the whole state. We also calculated the health and other social costs of increased pollution emissions at $1.7 million to $5.5 million per year.
33、What explains this unexpected result? While daylight time reduces demand for household lighting, it increases demand for heating in the early spring and late fall(in the mornings)and, even more important, for cooling on summer evenings. Benjamin Franklin was right about candles, in other words, but
34、he did not consider air-conditioners.In regions of the United States where demand for air-conditioning is greater than in Indiana, this spike in cooling costs is likely to be even greater. Arizona, one of the hottest states, may have it right; it does not practice daylight time.Eliminating daylight
35、time would thus accord with President-elect Barack Obamas stated goals of conserving resources, saving money, promoting energy security and reducing climate change. At the very least, we should abandon the notion that we are saving energy while enjoying the extra hour of sunlight on hot summer eveni
36、ngs.11 Daylight time is used in many countries because_.（A）it is an acceptable alternative for standard time（B） it is a special convention in agricultural society（C） it is considered an effective way to save energy（D）it is a practice to make best use of solar energy12 According to the text, the moti
37、vation for adopting daylight time_.（A）was the desire to reduce energy consuming（B） was much stronger in wartime than in peace（C） was inseparable from global economic crisis（D）was to slightly cut the impact of oil embargo13 It was in Indiana that a study was conducted because_ .（A）only a few counties
38、 there adopted daylight time before 2006（B） the effect of daylight time on electricity use could be measured（C） it was the only state in America to adopt daylight time statewide（D）the late-adopting counties consumed less electricity than before14 Daylight time in Indiana failed to cut back on electr
39、icity use since_.（A）its effect varied from month to month（B） it led to slightly higher electricity bills（C） it increased the use of air-conditioners（D）it raised the costs of pollution emissions15 It is implied in the text that President Barack Obama would_.（A）live up to his promise to reduce climate
40、 change（B） promote the use of daylight time in more states（C） accomplish his stated goals at his inauguration（D）give support to the exclusion of daylight time15 In recent years, reformers have sought to improve our failing public education system by tightening and standardizing the measures we use t
41、o judge performance. From the numerical requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act to Californias increased focus on assessment and accountability, theres been a conscious attempt to use hard data to measure success at every level of the education system. But one group does not have its performanc
42、e measured this way: teachers. Determining the effectiveness of individual teachersare they helping our kids learn or not? remains a mostly subjective judgment. Yet theres no reason why teachers shouldnt also be evaluated against objective measures of student performance just as are schools, distric
43、ts and states. Teacher evaluations focus on what they do in the classroomthe input of the learning process. In most school districts, principals show up at prearranged times to observe teachers work, and then write their observations. In doing this, they typically use a checklist to guide their asse
44、ssments. Evaluations usually consist of one or two written observations.This superficial and largely subjective approach to evaluating teachers is something of a farce. In many instances, principals can only rate teachers “satisfactory“ or “unsatisfactory“. Multiple unsatisfactory evaluations can le
45、ad to dismissal. But faced with the prospect of battling the local teachers union to prove that a teachers unsatisfactory evaluation is valid, most principals capitulate and rate virtually all teachers as satisfactory.This rubber-stamp routine may make things easier for administrators, but not for t
46、he kids. Several researchers, among them Eric Hanushek of the Hoover Institution of Stanford University and Jonah Rockoff of Columbia University, have shown that teachers are not interchangeable when it comes to student learning. Given a year with an effective teacherone whose pupils previously show
47、ed test-score gainsstudents can advance their learning by a grade level or more, according to research done by William Sanders while he was at the University of Tennessee. He also found that under a weak teacher, kids progress can stall, and they can fall behind.So why not include student test score
48、sthe output of the learning process -in teachers evaluations? Besides giving the evaluation process a much-needed shot of objectivity and rigor, this change could help administrators target assistance for struggling teachers and recognize those who are most effective in the classroom. In its report
49、this month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneggers nonpartisan committee of education experts agreed. Among other things, it recommended that teacher evaluations should be based in part on student achievement.16 It is generally believed that public education system can be improved by_.（A）focusing on teachers integrity（B） issuing No Child Left Behind Act（C） improving educational assessment（D）using hard data to measure success17 The author argues that the performance of teachers should_.
