1、考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 279 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 “It keeps you grounded, puts you in a situation that keeps you out of trouble, and puts you with a group that has the same mind-set,“ says Molly Skinner
2、, a sophomore at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, appraising the nonathletic benefits she experienced while playing soccer in high school. According to one new study, suiting up for the high school team does seem to give girls a boost when it comes to getting a college diploma.The recen
3、t study, conducted by professors from Brigham Young University(BYU)and West Chester University of Pennsylvania(WCUP), found that women who played sports in high school were 73 percent more likely to earn a bachelors degree within six years of graduating from high school than those who did not.(The s
4、tudy did not look at male athletes.)Their analysis of data from 5,103 women collected as part of a U.S. Department of Education study found that even among girls who face statistical challenges finishing college based on socioeconomic background, the athletes still had more than 40 percent higher co
5、llege completion rates than nonathletes, regardless of whether they played at the college level.“In times when we worry about improving academic performance or outcomes, we wonder should we be devoting time and money to extracurricular activities?“ asks BYU Prof. Mikaela Dufur, one of the studys aut
6、hors. “These are important arenas forin our casegirls to make connections with others and adults who help encourage them to succeed.“At the collegiate level, though, the measure of womens sports remains as murky(unclear)as ever, thanks to the politics of Title IX. Enacted in 1972, Title IX guarantee
7、s women equal opportunity in collegiate sports, but its critics contend that many schools reach that balance by cutting mens teams rather than adding womens. A July report on Title IX from the Government Accountability Office(GAO)has done little to settle the debate. That study found increases in st
8、udent participation in college athletics on both sides of the gender line, though the growth rate was higher for womens teams and female athletes.Title IX critics say that the GAO report relies too heavily on National Collegiate Athletic Association(NCAA)data, which can obscure the number of mens te
9、ams cut from particular schools as more colleges join the NCAA overall.While the political debate continues, female athletes themselves seem to be focusing on the finish line. “I think that sports teaches you to persevere,“ says Virginia Tech-bound Rachel Plumb, who raced on her high schools cross c
10、ountry team. “It teaches you to keep an eye on a goal.“1 According to the first paragraph,（A）Molly Skinner is playing soccer on the university team.（B） playing soccer contributed to Mollys nonathletic life.（C） playing sports helps girls to enroll at universities.（D）playing sports grants girls extra
11、credits at universities.2 Which of the following is true about the recent study by professors from BYU and WCUP?（A）Women athletes are more likely to finish college than nonathletes.（B） Female athletes have more chance to get diplomas than male athletes.（C） Statistical challenges reduce the chance fo
12、r female athletes to get degrees.（D）Playing sports in high school matters more than playing at colleges.3 BYU Prof. Mikaela Dufur found that extracurricular activities（A）exert adverse effects to girls academic performance.（B） can improve girls academic outcomes directly.（C） bring people who are wort
13、h knowing to girls.（D）may consume too much money and time of girls.4 It can be inferred from the text that（A）Title IX realizes womens equal opportunity in collegiate sports.（B） Title IX balances mens and womens sports in many schools.（C） Title IX isnt successful in achieving its goal for womens righ
14、ts.（D）GAO report proves the success of Title IX in college sports.5 We can conclude from the text that（A）girls who played sports in high schools are better college students.（B） girls with high school sports experience are mentally stronger.（C） athletic girls are more likely to get college degrees th
15、anks to Title IX.（D）athletic girls always perform better at colleges than nonathletes.5 “Ah, yes, divorce“, Robin Williams once mused, “from the Latin word meaning to rip out a mans genitals through his wallet“. The derivation may not be found in dictionaries, but he was on well-trodden ground in li
16、nking divorce to money. This month a survey conducted among financial analysts, stockbrokers and hedge-fund managers by Mishcon de Reya, a law firm, suggested that the economic downturn will prompt an upsurge in divorces among high-earners in Londons financial centre.This pattern is not without prec
17、edent; Sandra Davis, who commissioned the study, says that the recession of the early 1990s led to a wave of divorces among the Citys wealthy people. A third of current inquiries to lawyers by those deciding to break the knot, she claims, are linked to the credit crunch.One explanation is that the d
18、efecting spouses of high earners are getting out before the crunch reduces the potential for profitable settlements. As the City boom turns to bust, redundancies are becoming commonplace and huge bonuses a distant dream. Since recent earnings are one of the factors taken into account in divorce sett
19、lements, it makes sense to divorce sooner rather than later. Others argue that money and the distractions it buys allow couples to avoid addressing difficulties in their relationship, which come to the fore in more financially-distressed times.For middle earners, the link between divorce rates and e
20、conomic conditions is less clear-cut, not least since the main marital asset is houses rather than spouses. Rising inflation and falling house prices put pressure on marriages and might thus contribute to higher divorce rates. Yet the same factors also make splitting up more complicated. Falling pro
21、perty prices mean that selling the family home may not provide sufficient funds for two separate homes, especially now that lenders have become much more choosy. “A flagging economy clearly leads to an increase in misery; whether or not it causes a rise in the divorce rate is a debatable point,“ sum
22、s up Stephen Jenkins, director of the Institute for Social and Economic Research.One consequence is that more couples are living together after divorce, which raises its own problems. Godfrey Freeman, chairman of Resolution, an association of family lawyers, points out that the lower-earning partner
23、s in such couples may find it harder to claim benefits. They are usually refused help, he says, on the grounds that their mortgage is being paid, even if they have no cash of their own to cover everyday expenses.6 In the opening paragraph, the author introduces his topic by providing（A）a well-known
24、definition of divorce in the dictionary.（B） a downright fact that divorce is linked to economy.（C） an interesting quote of a famous person about divorce.（D）a statistic survey that was conducted a long time ago.7 According to Sandra Davis, recession of the early 1990s is regarded to have（A）affected t
25、he whole society in their life style.（B） caused some changes in family structures.（C） encouraged more lawyers to consider divorce cases.（D）resulted from the divorce trends.8 The statement “it makes sense to divorce sooner rather than later“(Line 4, Paragraph 3)is used to show that（A）the relationship
26、 between divorce and economy is well-grounded.（B） the divorce wave will finally calm down and disappear.（C） wealthy couples are encouraged to settle down as soon as possible.（D）people would like to protect their own earnings.9 By referring to the middle earners, the author intends to show that（A）som
27、e couples would like to spend life together even if they break up.（B） they are forced to consider economic situations after the divorce.（C） the link between divorce and money is as evident as in the cases of rich couples.（D）they are faced with different problems compared with wealthy classes.10 Whic
28、h of the following is true of the text?（A）There should be some correlations between economy and family.（B） Economic depression is sure to have caused the social instability.（C） If the economy grows fast, the lower-earning partners will claim more help.（D）Economic growth depends upon the happy relati
29、onship between social members.10 Mothers interfere with their childrens lives even more than most offspring realize. That they nag about eating habits is well known. What goes unnoticed is that mothers leave cells inside their childrens bodies, which may help with repairs when a childs own cells go
30、disorderly.This form of maternal interference is called microchimerismthe presence of a small number of cells that originate from another individual and therefore genetically distinct from the cells of the host individual. A mothers cells can endure until a child reaches adulthood and perhaps throug
31、hout life. But scientists do not know exactly how common microchimerism is. It is detected more often in people with autoimmune conditions, which has led to the suggestion that the maternal cells could trigger those diseases. But healthy people have them too, seemingly with no ill effects.Lee Nelson
32、, of the University of Washington, suspects that everybody has a few maternal cells. Her most recent work argues that, at least in some cases, they help rather than harm. Dr Nelson and her colleagues took blood samples from three groups of young volunteers and their mothers. The first group comprise
33、d 94 young volunteers who had type 1 diabetes; the second were 54 of their healthy siblings(brothers or sisters); and a further 24 were children without diabetes who were not related to anyone else in the study. The researchers then compared DNA from the mothers and their children.Because mothers pa
34、ss copies of about half their genes to their children, some genes in any child-mother pairs will be unique to the motherthose that the child has not inherited from her. Othersversions of genes that came from dadwill be unique to the child. Dr Nelson used the uniquely maternal genes to find mothers c
35、ells in the volunteers blood. The technique found maternal cells in about half the diabetics samples, but in only about one-third of the healthy siblings samples and in less than one-fifth of those from the unrelated volunteers. Moreover, the microchimerism was not only more common but also more pro
36、nounced in diabetics.Dr Nelson also looked for signs that the maternal cells had caused the diabetes but found no evidence. So, contrary to established opinion, she believes maternal cells can do children good. These cells may help any bodily organ work better, she says, apart from the reproductive
37、kind. Mothers protective interference goes onseen and unseen.11 “Microchimerism“ refers to a form of maternal interference in which mothers（A）keep telling their children what they should eat all day long.（B） help sick children with their own cells left inside childrens bodies.（C） interfere with chil
38、drens lives in an all-round way.（D）leave all of their own cells, good or bad, inside their childrens bodies.12 It is stated in Paragraph 2 that microchimerism could（A）only be detected in people with autoimmune conditions.（B） be found in people of all ages and of all races.（C） also be found in people
39、 who enjoy good health.（D）be detected in people with all unhealthy conditions.13 Some genes in child-mother pairs will be unique to the mother in that（A）these genes havent been passed to the child.（B） less than half of the genes have been passed to the child.（C） these genes come from the father.（D）t
40、he child is not willing to inherit these genes.14 According to Dr Nelson in the last paragraph, maternal cells would（A）lead to the diabetes.（B） trigger various diseases.（C） exert positive impact on children.（D）harm rather than help.15 What is the authors attitude towards maternal interference?（A）Sup
41、portive.（B） Biased.（C） Impartial.（D）Ironic.15 With Japans welfare system buckling under the demands of an ageing society, the worlds oldest man apologized yesterday for his longevity.As Tomoji Tanabe, 111, received his certificate from Guinness World Records, the former engineer, who never touches a
42、lcohol, said that his feat of survival was nothing special. “I have been around too long,“ he joked, “I am sorry.“ Mr. Tanabe added his customary explanation of how he has managed to reach such a ripe old age: “Not drinking alcohol is the best formula for keeping myself healthy,“ he said.Other resid
43、ents of his village attributed Mr. Tanabes long life to a diet that consists chiefly of vegetables and very little fried food. His explanation fuels a continuing mystery about the ideal formula for longevityas each new holder of the title is crowned, each attributes his or her success to diets, life
44、styles and habits that differ widely. Some have said that fresh air is the key, others have been heavy smokers. Some have taken vigorous exercise, others have sworn by periods of inactivity.The Mayor of Miyakonojo, the village where Mr. Tanabe lives with his family, presented the certificate to its
45、famous resident after nearly five months of birthdate verification by the Guinness World Records team. Mr. Tanabe unofficially inherited the title when its previous record-holder, Emiliano Mer-cado del Toro, of Puerto Rico, died in January, aged 115. The crowning of Mr. Tanabe, who was born in the s
46、outhern island of Kyushi in 1895, brings the desired “double trophy“ back to Japan. Yone Minagawa, who lives in the same area, is 114 and holds the title of worlds oldest woman.Japans population of the centenarians is the largest in the world. Most of the 28,000 Japanese who have made it beyond 100
47、are women and the highest concentration of the very elderly is in the southern part. The area around Hiroshima and the island of Okinawa are especially rich in former “worlds oldest“ title holders. The number of centenarians has risen 160-fold since records began in the 1960s. Although Japan is prou
48、d of its record-breaking longevity, the success of Mr. Tanabe comes as the country is running short of ideas for how to solve its ageing crisis. With the fertility rate still at record lows, government and private sector efforts to stimulate the birthrate have met with little success. As the number
49、of children decreases, the future welfare burden for working-age Japanese may become intolerably large.16 The word “buckling“(Line 1, Paragraph 1)most probably means（A）shrinking.（B） collapsing.（C） expanding.（D）diminishing.17 According to Mr. Tanabe, what contributes to his longevity?（A）A specially designed diet.（B） The fresh air in southern Japan.（C） An alcohol-free diet.（D）A mysterious reason.18 The statement “bring the desired double trophy back to Japan“ most probably implies that（A）the worlds oldest woman is also Japanese.（B） Mr. Ta
