1、考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 25 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 Welfare Conditions and Commitment to Work of British CitizensThat mythical beast, homo economicus, otherwise called Economic man, is utterly clear ab
2、out the purpose of work: to get paid. He is keener on leisure than on work, and if money can be got without effort, he downs tools. If real people feel the same, then bountiful out-of-work benefits should be found in the same places as work-shy citizens.Yet a cross-country comparison of benefits and
3、 attitudes to work published on January 28th finds precisely the opposite pattern. Researchers ranked 13 countries according to their generosity (measured by comparing typical benefits to those out of work with the average wage of a production worker) and their citizens commitment to work gauged by
4、asking whether they would work if they did not need the cash, and whether they regarded a job as merely a way to earn a living. They found that the more generous a state is the keener on work its people are.Britons, whose benefits were the stingiest (most ungenerous) after those that Americans get,
5、were least keen of all on work.One reason may be the skills make-up of the British workforce. The researchers found, logically enough, that professionals and graduates were more positive about work than the unskilled and non-graduates. Fewer Britons than Norwegians (who came top on work commitment)
6、have professional jobs or degrees. But this does not entirely explain their comparative immunity to the attractions of toil: Britons of every social class and level of education were less keen on work than their counterparts elsewhere.Could the “ dependency culture “ currently exercising British pol
7、iticians be solved by raising benefits? Unlikely, says Alison Park, editor of the annual British Social Attitudes Report, in which the study appeared: attitudes to work vary from country to country for many reasons. The report states that the lavishness of what the report terms “encompassing“ states
8、, all Nordic with Lutheran traditions, may have been made possible by a strong work ethic, rather than a stronger commitment to work having emerged as a result of it.And work incentives are affected by features of welfare systems other than overall generosity: “ corporatist “ states such as Germany,
9、 which pay higher benefits to those with a longer work history, may be encouraging positive attitudes to work by such condtionality. Britains poor benefits, by contrast, are largely independent of previous employment, which may mean they are seen as an alternative to work, rather than as one of the
10、good things that flow from it.1 Homo economicus is characterized as_.（A）economical（B） workaholic（C） leisure-obsessed（D）benefits-driven2 What can be inferred from the second paragraph?（A）The keener on work its people are,the more generous a state is.（B） People who are keen on work will make state gen
11、erous.（C） The benefits which Britons get were the stingiest.（D）Americans get stingier benefits than Britons did.3 By saying “their comparative immunity to the attractions of toil“ (Line 910, Para. 3), the author means_.（A）britons are healthy enough not to feel ill（B） britons have good immune system（
12、C） britons are not keen on work（D）britons are afraid of hard work4 According to the British Social Attitudes Report, “encompassing“ states are generous due to_.（A）the dependency cultur.（B） a strong work ethic（C） the rise of benefits（D）various working attitudes5 Germany is mentioned in the last parag
13、raph to show that_.（A）germany pays higher benefits to those with a longer work history（B） corporatist states like Germany provide better benefits than Britain（C） welfare system is more likely to influence work incentives（D）Germany encourages positive work attitudes by paying higher benefits5 The Imp
14、ortance of American Business Information ProtectionIt never rains but it pours, Just as bosses and boards have finally sorted out their worst accounting and compliance troubles, and improved their feeble corporation governance, a new problem threatens to earn themespecially in Americathe sort of nas
15、ty headlines that inevitably lead to heads rolling in the executive suite: data insecurity. Left, until now, to odd, low level IT staff to put right, and seen as a concern only of data-rich industries such as banking, telecoms and air travel, information protection is now high on the bosss agenda in
16、 businesses of every variety.Several massive leakages of customer and employee data this yearfrom organizations as diverse as Time Warner, the American defense contractor Science Applications International Corp and even the University of California, Berkeleyhave left managers hurriedly peering into
17、their intricate IT systems and business processes in search of potential vulnerabilities.“Data is becoming an asset which needs to be guarded as much as any other asset,“ says Haim Mendelson of Stanford Universitys business school. “The ability to guard customer data is the key to market value, whic
18、h the board is responsible for on behalf of shareholders.“ Indeed, just as there is the concept of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), perhaps it is time for GASP, Generally Accepted Security Practices, suggested Eli Noam of New Yorks Columbia Business School. “Setting the proper invest
19、ment level for security, redundancy , and recovery is a management issue, not a technical one,“ he says.The mystery is that this should come as a surprise to any boss. Surely it should be obvious to the dim most executive that trust, that most valuable of economic assets, is easily destroyed and hug
20、ely expensive to restoreand that few things are more likely to destroy trust than a company letting sensitive personal data get into the wrong hands.The current state affairs may have been encouragedthough not justifiedby the lack of legal penalty (in America, but not Europe) for data leakage. Until
21、 California recently passed a law, American firms did not have to tell anyone, even the victim, when data went astray. That may change fast; lots of proposed data-security legislation is now doing the rounds in Washington, D. C. Meanwhile, the theft of information about some 40 million credit-card a
22、ccounts in America, disclosed on June 17th, overshadowed a hugely important decision a day earlier by Americas Federal Trade Commission (FTC), that puts corporate America on notice that regulators will act if firms fail to provide adequate data security.6 The statement “it never rains but it pours“
23、is used to introduce_.（A）the fierce business competition（B） the feeble boss-board relations（C） the threat from news reports（D）the severity of data leakage7 According to Para. 2, some organizations check their systems to find out_.（A）whether there is any weak point（B） what sort of data has been stole
24、n（C） who is responsible for the leakage（D）how the potential spies can be located8 In bringing up the concept of GASP the author is making the point that_.（A）shareholders interests should be properly attended to（B） information protection should be given due attention（C） business should enhance their
25、level of accounting security（D）the market value of customer data should be emphasized9 According to Para. 4, what puzzles the author is that some bosses fail to_.（A）see the link between trust and data protection（B） perceive the sensitivity of personal data（C） realize the high cost of data restoratio
26、n（D）appreciate the economic value of trust10 It can be inferred from Para. 5 that_.（A）data leakage is more severe in Europe（B） FTCs decision is essential to data security（C） California takes the lead in security legislation（D）legal penalty is a major solution to data leakage10 Alphabetism: An Insidi
27、ous Form of DiscriminationOver the past century, all kinds of unfairness and discrimination have been condemned or made illegal. But one insidious form continues to thrive, alphabetism. This, for those as yet unaware of such a disadvantage, refers to discrimination against those whose surnames begin
28、 with a letter in the lower half of the alphabet.It has long been known that a taxi firm called AAAA cars has a big advantage over Zodiac cars when customers thumb through their phone directories. Less well known is the advantage that Adam Abbott has in life over Zoe Zysman. English names are fairly
29、 evenly spread between the halves of the alphabet. Yet a suspiciously large number of top people have surnames beginning with letters between A and K.Thus the American president and vice-president have surnames starting with B and C respectively; and 26 of George Bushs predecessors (including his fa
30、ther) had surnames in the first half of the alphabet against just 16 in the second half. Even more striking, six of the seven heads of government of the G7 rich countries are alphabetically advantaged (Berlusconi, Blair, Bush, Chirac, Chretien and Koizumi). The worlds three top central bankers (Gree
31、nspan, Duisenberg and Hayami) are all close to the top of the alphabet, even if one of them really uses Japanese characters. As are the worlds five richest men (Gates, Buffett, Allen, Ellison and Albrecht).Can this merely be coincidence? One theory, dreamt up in all the spare time enjoyed by the alp
32、habetically disadvantaged, is that the rot sets in early. At the start of the first year in infant school, teachers seat pupils alphabetically from the front, to make it easier to remember their names. So shortsighted Zysman junior gets stuck in the back row, and is rarely asked the improving questi
33、ons posed by those insensitive teachers. At the time the alphabetically disadvantaged may think they have had a lucky escape. Yet the result may be worse qualifications, because they get less individual attention, as well as less confidence in speaking publicly.The humiliation continues. At universi
34、ty graduation ceremonies, the ABCs proudly get their awards first; by the time they reach the Zysmans most people are literally having a ZZZ. Shortlists for job interviews, election ballot papers, lists of conference speakers and attendees,all tend to be drawn up alphabetically, and their recipients
35、 lose interest as they plough through them.11 What does the author intend to illustrate with AAAA cars and Zodiac cars?（A）A kind of overlooked inequality.（B） A type of conspicuous bias.（C） A type of personal prejudice.（D）A kind of brand discrimination.12 What can we infer from the first three paragr
36、aphs?（A）In both East and West names are essential to success.（B） The alphabet is to blame for the failure of Zoe Zysman.（C） Customers often pay a lot of attention to companies names.（D）Some form of discrimination is too subtle to recognize. 13 The 4th Paragraph suggests that_.（A）questions are often
37、put to the more intelligent students（B） alphabetically disadvantaged students often escape from class（C） teachers should pay attention to ail of their students（D）students should be seated according to their eyesight14 What does the author mean by “most people are literally having a 777“ (Line 45,Par
38、a. 5)?（A）They are getting impatient.（B） They are noisily dozing off.（C） They are feeling humiliated.（D）They are busy with word puzzles.15 Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?（A）People with surnames beginning with N to Z are often ill-treated.（B） VIPs in the Western world gain a grea
39、t deal from alphabetism.（C） The campaign to eliminate alphabetism still has a long way to go.（D）Putting things alphabetically may lead to unintentional bias.15 New Changes in Academic Journel PublishingIt used to be so straightforward. A team of researchers working together in the laboratory would s
40、ubmit the results of their research to a journal. A journal editor would then remove the authors names and affiliations from the paper and send it to their peers for review. Depending on the comments received, the editor would accept the paper for publication or decline it. Copyright rested with the
41、 journal publisher, and researchers seeking knowledge of the results would have to subscribe to the journal.No longer. The Internetand pressure from funding agencies, who are questioning why commercial publishers are making money from government-funded research by restricting access to itis making a
42、ccess to scientific results a reality. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has just issued a report describing the far-reaching consequences of this. The report, by John Houghton of Victoria University in Australia and Graham Vickery of the OECD, makes heavy reading for
43、publishers who have, so far, made handsome profits. But it goes further than that. It signals a change in what has, until now, been a key element of scientific endeavor.The value of knowledge and the return on the public investment in research depends, in part, upon wide distribution and ready acces
44、s. It is big business. In America, the core scientific publishing market is estimated at between $ 7 billion and $11 billion. The International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publisher says that there are more than 2000 publishers world-wide specializing in these subjects. They pub
45、lish more than 1.2 million articles each year in some 16000 journals.This is now changing. According to the OECD report, some 75% of scholarly journals are now online. Entirely new business models are emerging: three main ones were identified by the reports authors. There is the so-called big deal,
46、where institutional subscribers pay for access to a collection of online journal titles through site-licensing agreements. There is open-access publishing, typically supported by asking the author (or his employer) to pay for the paper to be published. Finally, there are open-access archives, where
47、organizations such as universities or international laboratories support institutional repositories. Other models exist that are hybrids of these three, such as delayed open-access, where journals allow only subscribers to read a paper for the first six months, before making it freely available to e
48、veryone who wishes to see it. All this could change the traditional form of the peer-review process, at least for the publication of papers.16 In the first paragraph, the author discusses_.（A）the background information of journal editing（B） the publication routine of laboratory reports（C） the relati
49、ons of authors with journal publishers（D）the traditional process of journal publication17 Which of the following is TRUE of the OECD report?（A）It criticizes government-funded research.（B） It introduces an effective means of publication.（C） It upsets profit-making journal publishers.（D）It benefits scientific research considerably.18 According to the text, online publication is significant in that_.（A）it provides an easier access to scientific results（B） it brings huge profits to scie
