1、考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 256 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 The Energy Department has recommended expanding the amount of nuclear waste that could he stored in an underground repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevad
2、a to avoid the need for a second dump. It is a sensible proposal that also is an urgent reminder of how little progress has been made in solving one of the most vexing problems of the nuclear age.Tens of thousands of tons of spent fuel and military waste have been piling up at temporary storage site
3、s around the country while the federal government has struggled, unsuccessfully, to find a long-term solution. Expert groups have long recommended that the nuclear waste should be buried deep underground in a stable, leak-resistant geological formation that would keep it bottled up for many millenni
4、ums. Yucca Mountain, the only site now under consideration, has run into so many technical problems and so much political opposition that its future is uncertain. The site is still awaiting licensing from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.In the 1980s when Congress ordered the Energy Department to l
5、ook for places to bury long-lived radioactive wastes, it visualized two underground repositories one in the West and one in the Eastto spread the burden fairly. Congress eventually chose one site in Nevada, which lacked the political clout at the time to push it elsewhere.The only concession to Neva
6、da was that no more than 70,000 metric tons could be stored at Yucca Mountain until a second repository was in operation. The amount of spent reactor fuel and military waste now stored at production sites and waiting for permanent disposal is expected to reach that limit by 2010.The Energy Departmen
7、t now has recommended that the statutory limit be eliminated so that consideration of a second repository can be deferred. Without specifying any particular capacity, the report notes that Yucca Mountain could physically accommodate at least three times the statutory limit.It would make sense to exp
8、and Yucca Mountain rather than undertake the arduous and controversial process of evaluating sites in other states. The political tides are running against the Yucca Mountain site. During a primary debate in Las Vegas, Barack Obama pledged to Nevada voters that he would “end the notion of Yucca Moun
9、tain“.A currently powerful Nevada Congressional delegation also is pushing to kill off the project.Our hope is that opponents of the repository will wait for a verdict from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission before prejudging the site as unacceptable. Nuclear waste is piling up and the country needs
10、to find a safe place to store it.1 The Energy Department is inclined to_.（A）restrict the amount of nuclear waste produced（B） store more nuclear waste in Nevadas repository（C） seek another repository for increased nuclear waste（D）remind us of the difficulty to build a new repository2 According to the
11、 text, Yucca Mountain is_.（A）only a temporary site for storing nuclear waste（B） a desirable site in the U. S. to store nuclear waste（C） a geologically suitable site to store nuclear waste（D）no longer a proper place for storing nuclear waste3 Nevada was chosen as one site for storing nuclear waste on
12、 account of（A）the urgent need for a repository（B） few technical problems it ran into（C） the absence of suitable substitutes（D）little political opposition it met with4 It seems that Barack Obama objected to_.（A）waiving the statutory limit for Nevadas repository（B） evaluating other sites for storing r
13、adioactive waste（C） considering a second repository for nuclear waste（D）specifying a limit for Yucca Mountain repository5 The author is anxious about_.（A）the pledge of Obama to Nevada voters（B） the uncertain future of Yucca Mountain（C） the permanent disposal of nuclear waste（D）the limited storage ca
14、pacity of a repository5 Several weeks ago. three of the countrys most respected institutions of higher learning, Harvard, Princeton, and the University of Virginia, announced that they were embarking on a nationwide campaign to recruit more poor students.Consider the efforts to recruit poor students
15、. Harvard, Princeton, and U. Va. are reacting to a troubling pattern; The percentage of low-income students at elite colleges and universities is quite low. Precise figures are hard to come by, but a 2004 report indicated that at the most selective colleges, only 3 percent of the students were from
16、the poorest sector of society, and only 10 percent from the bottom half. Perhaps even more troubling, the percentage of low-income students on some campuses has declined over the last decade. Ten years ago at the University of Virginia, for example, more than 10 percent of the students came from low
17、-income households; today, less than 7 percent do. Many college campuses are becoming the province of the economic elite, where the very essence of the American Dreamthat a child from a modest home can, by dint of hard work, climb as far as talent will take him or herseems to be fading from view. Th
18、e effort by these three institutions to recruit more poor students is laudable, but its also like treating the symptom rather than the disease. The real problem is not that there are bus loads of qualified poor students every year who just decide to give Harvard a pass. Its that there are far too fe
19、w poor students who are even remotely prepared to attend Harvard. Stepping up the recruitment of poor students might create a more diverse campus and therefore benefit colleges and universities, as well as the lucky few poor students who attend them. But why dont college presidents also talk publicl
20、y about the fact that so few poor students seem prepared to attend college, let alone an elite university? Better still, why not talk about what to do about that fact?The failure of college and university presidents to speak out on this issue is symptomatic of a broader problem: These leaders are pr
21、etty much invisible in the public sphere and, most jarringly, in the debates and discussions about K12 education. To be sure, college presidents are busy people, with complicated institutions to guide and plenty of problems of their own. But they are also leaders in the larger enterprise of educatio
22、n, and they are in an unparalleled position to make a valuable contribution to the discussion of what should happen to students before they graduate from high school. Perhaps instead of just focusing on the bottom line, they should be thinking more about the broader picture.6 It is_ for prestigious
23、universities to recruit more poor students.（A）normal（B） sensible（C） incredible（D）admirable7 It seems that the American Dream_.（A）is nothing but an illusion（B） means little to poor children（C） is cherished by all Americans（D）keeps on inspiring poor children8 The “disease“ in “treating the symptom rat
24、her than the disease“ refers to the fact that_.（A）there are few qualified poor students for universities to recruit（B） poor students value most the opportunity of attending universities（C） some prestigious universities decide to recruit more poor students（D）some elite universities are not well-prepa
25、red to recruit poor students9 Recruiting more poor students is beneficial to_.（A）the realization of American Dream（B） the discussion about K-12 education（C） the creation of a diverse student body（D）the prestige of colleges and universities10 fn the authors opinion, college presidents should_ .（A）con
26、tribute more to the guidance of their institutions（B） focus on the rapid improvement of higher education（C） be concerned about the performance of poor students（D）participate in the discussion of fundamental education10 One of the oft-repeated mantras of the global warming crowd is that there is no l
27、onger any debate in the scientific community about the threat of global warming. That is just not true. While there are many scientists who firmly believe global warming is real and it is a threat, there are many other scientists who have serious reservations about that judgment.One who sticks out i
28、n the debate on global warming is Danish statistician Bjorn Lomborg. Five years ago, Lomborg who views himself as an environmentalist, ignited a firestorm of controversy with his book The Skeptical Environmentalist. In it, Lomborg pointed out, as he has continued to explain since, “that actually a l
29、ot of the things we are doing to the environment are making it better“. On global warming, he told the online site TechCentralStation; “Global warming is an important issue and one which we should address. But there is no sense of proportion either in environmental terms, or indeed in terms of the o
30、ther issues facing the world.“According to Lomborg, millions die each year from lack of clean drinking water and proper sanitation and indoor air pollution kills millions more, but a warmer world poses no such threat. “One of the top climate change economists has modelledand several papers that came
31、 out a couple of weeks ago essentially point out -that climate change will probably mean fewer deaths, not more deaths. It is estimated that climate change by about 2050 will mean about 800,000 fewer deaths. “Another critic of the standard model of global warming is MIT professor of meteorology Rich
32、ard S. Lindzen. A giant in climate science, Lindzen has published literally hundreds of scientific papers. In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal in 2001, writing about a National Academy of Sciences report on climate change in which he participated, Lindzen noted: “We are quite confident(1)that glo
33、bal mean temperature is about 0. 5 degrees Celsius higher than it was a century ago;(2)that atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide have risen over the past two centuries; and(3)that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas whose increase is likely to warm the earth(one of many, the most important being wate
34、r vapor and clouds). Butand I cannot stress this enough we are not in a position to confidently attribute past climate change to carbon dioxide or to forecast what the climate will be in the future. That is to say, contrary to media impressions, agreement with the three basic statements tells us alm
35、ost nothing relevant to policy discussions. “11 The author argues that the debate over the threat of global warming_.（A）is going to be closed spontaneously（B） is neither conclusive nor disappearing（C） has become more violent than ever before（D）has been provoked by the skeptics of global warming12 By
36、 saying “But there is no sense of proportion either . . . or . . . “, Lomborg means that_.（A）the threat posed by global warming is nothing but a nonsense（B） the issue of global warming has attained important proportions（C） there are issues assuming larger proportions than global warming（D）the propor
37、tion assumed by the issue of global warming is improper13 Lomborg argues that global warming_.（A）may be something beneficial to human beings（B） should be addressed by environmental scientists（C） has ignited a heated controversy among scientists（D）is important both statistically and environmentally14
38、 The top climate change economist mentioned in the third paragraph_.（A）challenges Lomborg with his optimistic prediction about future（B） is inclined to disagree with Lomborgs view of global warming（C） is as skeptical of the threat of global warming as Lomborg（D）confirms his agreement with Lomborg on
39、 global warming 15 It can be inferred from the text that Lindzen_.（A）is much skeptical of the threat of global warming（B） is skeptically critical of the view held by Lomborg（C） takes a hopeful view on the issue of global warming（D）attributes climate change exclusively to human activities15 If the id
40、ea of duty was obsolete, how would society function? Nobody would report for work, nobody would bother about paying their bills, and no one would even bother about their friends or loved ones. Without duty, there would be no commitments, no boundaries, and no relationships! and if this ever happens,
41、 if duty ever vanishes completely from the earth, what the heck would happen to humanity, to civilization?Well, first things first. What is duty? Duty, I believe, is a desire to work, to keep a commitment. Duly is to commitment what conscience is to morals; duty is the basic instinct and need to ful
42、fil an earlier promise and commitment, and failure to do so would result in a sharp pang of guilt, just the same as conscience. Duty is what makes people honour their commitments, whether in their relationships, jobs, verbal promises, or self-set goals.Therefore, this argument can be explained in tw
43、o levels: firstly, duty cannot be obsolete as it is a primal emotion, and secondly, if it was obsolete, we wouldnt even be having this debate as society would degenerate rapidly.Right. Firstly, duty can never be obsolete. Why? Duty is an emotion, just like your conscience. It is similar, and in fact
44、 probably can be considered a variation of guilt. Duty is basically the desire to fulfill commitments, and the ensuing guilt that occurs upon failure to do so. Therefore, as duty is a contextual variation of guilt, and guilt is an emotion, duty can then be considered an emotion. And can emotions eve
45、r become obsolete? Can anger be obsolete? Or happiness? Or maybe youve heard of obsolete sadness? Emotions are a primal attribute of humans, just like any other physical or mental attributes unique to not only humans, but any sentient being, albeit maybe on a larger or smaller scale depending on int
46、elligence. And as a primal force, emotions can NEVER become obsolete.Secondly, assuming that duty is obsolete, how can we even hold a proper debate? Duty is what causes humans to honour commitments, commitments are what cause humans to work on a daily routine, and work is what makes society progress
47、.“ Without commitment, whether monetary or obligatory, no one would even bother working a day in their lives. And without any productive work occurring in our society, civilization would soon degenerate into its primordial states and theres the end of life as we know it.16 In the absence of duty,_.（
48、A）the society would be unable to function normally（B） a good work ethic would be quite empty of meaning（C） the freedom of speech and action would be removed（D）human relationship would remain natural and normal17 The author argues that duty_.（A）is a trait inherited from predecessors（B） is likely to c
49、ause a sharp pang of guilt（C） makes people pledge to his normal life（D）means respecting previous commitment 18 Duty will never be eliminated since_.（A）it is a primal necessity to human survival（B） everyone is born with some natural traits（C） it is a mental attribute possessed at birth（D）society will become morally degenerate19 Duty can be regarded as an emotion because_.（A）it is an experience as subjective as conscious（B） failure to perform it produces a feeling of guilt（C） ever
