1、考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 33 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 New Tools to Research EarthquakeOn December 16th, 1811, the residents of New Madrid, Missouri, were startled out of their beds by a huge earthquake, whic
2、h was quickly followed by a second. Those who survived the catastrophe reported that cracks opened in the earths surface, that the ground rolled visibly in waves and that large areas of land sank downwards. People in places as far away as Boston declared that they heard church bells ringing at the t
3、ime the earthquake happened.That huge earthquakes occur in parts of North America outside their traditional habitat on the Pacific margin is well known from accounts like those from New Madrid. Such records, however, have been kept only since Europeans arrived, so it has been hard to work out how ac
4、tive the faults that cause them are. Now it is a little easier. A study carried out by Samuel Panno of the Illinois State Geological Survey and his colleagues has revealed that nearby caves store the dates of past earthquakes in stone.Dr. Panno and his team found their recording angel in the form of
5、 stalagmites, the conical projections that grow on the floors of limestone caves. They made their discovery when using a radioactive dating technique to check the ages of small stalagmites occupying a number of caves in the Midwest. Many of these stalagmites had come into existence at about the same
6、 moment, and that moment coincided with the New Madrid earthquake.This makes sense. Stalagmites form when water trickles through crevices in a caves ceiling and drips to the floor. Each drop carries with it a quantity of dissolved calcium carbonate that it has picked up while flowing through the roc
7、k above. When a drop lands, some of this mineral is deposited at the landing site, where it accumulates, forming a stalagmite. A paper to be presented at a meeting of the Geological Society of America in Houston on October 5th by Dr. Pannos colleague Keith Hackley suggests that when large earthquake
8、s shake the ground, new cracks in cave ceilings open. The result is the formation of a new generation of stalagmites.Like trees, stalagmites are often composed of concentric layers that represent annual growth periods. Counting the layers is one way of assessing how old a stalagmite is. But radioact
9、ive dating provides a second, and sometimes more accurate, assessment.In this case the geologists drilled into the stalagmites and estimated their age from the way that uranium decays into an isotope of thorium. Many, they found, dated back to 1811, while others began life in 1917, the date of anoth
10、er nearby earthquake.Subsequent investigation has confirmed a further seven big earthquakes previously suspected to have happened over the course of the past 18, 000 years. An average interval between quakes of 2,500 years is a hopeful sign for New Madrids immediate future. But if the technique can
11、be tried out in other places it might reveal areas now thought safe, precisely because there has not been a recent earthquake, that are actually under threat.1 We can infer from the first two paragraphs that_.（A）a huge earthquake occurred on December 16th, 1811 in Spain（B） cracks opened in the earth
12、s surface in Boston during the quake（C） huge earthquakes in traditional habitat on the Pacific margin are famous（D）records concerning the quakes were not gathered until Europeans arrived2 The dates of past earthquakes are most probably stored in_.（A）angels（B） stalagmites（C） limestone caves（D）radioac
13、tive materials3 According to para. 4, what do people think of the technique concerning stalagmites?（A）Nonsense.（B） Believable.（C） Questionable.（D）Out-of-date.4 Which of the following is true according to para. 5?（A）Stalagmites are often composed of concentric tree layers that represent annual growth
14、 periods.（B） Counting the layers is the only way of assessing how old a stalagmite is up to now.（C） Radioactive dating is a more accurate assessment concerning the age of stalagmite.（D）With radioactive dating, age of stalagmite comes from the relation between uranium and thorium.5 Which of the follo
15、wing statement suits New Madrid the best in the immediate future?（A）There will only be huge earthquakes.（B） There will only be small earthquakes.（C） There will be both huge and small earthquakes.（D）There will be no huge earthquakes.5 How to Cope With the Bookstore Crisis ?These are not easy times fo
16、r booksellers. Borders, a big American one, ditched its boss in January and has closed stores, but is still at risk of collapse, some analysts say. The British chain of the same name, which it once owned, failed last year. Barnes if there were not five times as many blacks behind bars as whites, the
17、 figures would look even worse.There is no shortage of explanations for the gap. States with weaker labour markets, like South Carolina and Michigan, also tend to have larger black populations than low-unemployment states like Iowa and Montana. Predominantly black neighbourhoods are often a long way
18、 from where jobs are concentrated, in largely white suburbs, so those without cars cannot get to them. Blacks are also at a disadvantage when it comes to relying on friends and family connections to find jobs; there is not the same network of family businesses that whites and Latinos have. Some stud
19、ies have found that this factor may explain as much as 70% of the difference in black and white unemployment rates, and may also explain the difference between black and Latino jobless rates. Among young men, for instance, the near-20% Hispanic unemployment rate is much closer to that for whites (17
20、%)than blacks (30%). And discrimination, too, plays a part.What is clear is that the unemployment problem in black communities will not end with the recession. The employment-to-population ratio among black adults is only just above 50% , and it is closer to a shocking 40% for young black men; for a
21、dult whites it is 59 % . Black workers are also unemployed for about five weeks longer, on average, than the rest of the population. Some 45% of unemployed blacks have been out of work for 27 weeks or longer, compared with just 36% of unemployed whites. That means continued loss of skills, and a lon
22、ger and harder road back into the workforce.21 In the passage, the author mainly discusses about_.（A）the situation of a “post-racial“ America brought by Obama（B） the influence of racial discrimination on U.S. employment（C） the impact of the economic recession on U.S. employment（D）the employment gap
23、between blacks and whites in America22 What does the author mean by “mancession“ (Line 3, Para. 2)?（A）Gap between blacks and whites.（B） The rate of male employment.（C） The economic recession.（D）The male unemployment.23 According to the passage, the unemployment rate of the blacks might be higher if_
24、.（A）female blacks are counted in（B） there were more jailed blacks（C） the blacks in jail are counted in（D）well-educated blacks are included24 What is the main reason for the gap between black and white unemployment rates?（A）Blacks live far away from job concentrated places.（B） Most of blacks do not f
25、inish high-school education.（C） BIacks have no reliable network of family businesses.（D）Racial discrimination impacts the employment of blacks.25 What does the author think of the prospect of black employment?（A）The current umemployment will last for a long time and be worse.（B） If blacks can acquir
26、e kills their employment rate will be higher.（C） The umemployment rate will be lessened after the recession.（D）The unemployment of blacks might never be improved.考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 33 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 p
27、oints)【知识模块】 阅读1 【正确答案】 D【试题解析】 推理判断题。根据题干提示定位至前两段。根据第一段“1811 年 10月 16 日，密苏里州新马德里发生了大地震”可知，A误把新马德里作为西班牙的领地，因而不正确；文中说到地震时“波士顿等地的人们听到了教堂的钟声”，因而B“地震时波士顿的地面裂开了”也不正确；根据第二段“在太平洋沿岸传统居住区之外的一些地方发生的大地震非常有名。”可知C说法不符合;D 与原文“那些记录是直到欧洲人到来之后才收集的”相符，因而是正确答案。【知识模块】 阅读2 【正确答案】 B【试题解析】 事实细节题。根据题干提示定位至第三段。本题主要考查对第三段前两句
28、，尤其是第一句的理解。原文指出“派诺博士和他的团队所发现的记录天使是以石笋的形式存在的”，可知B正确。A中的天使取自原文的 recording angel，这里的天使其实是一种比喻，反映发现者的欣喜； C是作为记录的石笋的生长地方；D 是指原文中用于测定作为记录的石笋年龄的一种技术；这三项均可排除。【知识模块】 阅读3 【正确答案】 B【试题解析】 观点态度题。根据题干提示定位至第四段。本段段首第一句说这一发现很有意义，承接了第三段关于这一技术的说明。而且在本段段尾提到这一技术在美国地质学会上也汇报了。由此两点可见，首先是人们认为它有价值，然后才去深入地实验，最后得出令人信服的结果跟同行交流。
29、所以B是正确答案，其他三项均属负面观点，故均可排除。【知识模块】 阅读4 【正确答案】 D【试题解析】 事实细节题。根据题干提示定位至第五段。本段第一句提到“像树木一样，石笋是由很多每年长一层的同中心的层构成”，但这并不等于石笋是由树木的轮构成，所以A 不正确；由 “放射性年代测定技术是第二种 ”，并非唯一的方法，B 不正确；原文提到“放射性年代测定技术有时甚至是更准确的评估方法”，C模糊了“有时 ”这一概念，说法绝对，故排除；D 与原文“通过测量石笋所包含的铀和钍同位素之间的关系估算石笋的年龄”相符，是正确答案。【知识模块】 阅读5 【正确答案】 D【试题解析】 推理判断题。根据题干中关键词
30、 New Madrid 和 the immediate future 定位至最后一段。本题是对本段内容的一个总结性推理，段中提到“推算出的大地震的平均发生频率是 2500 年一次，这对于新马德里不久的未来是个好消息”的说明，段末又提到“这一技术似乎可以说明那些因为最近没发生过地震而被认为目前很安全的地区其实是存在安全隐患的”，综合二者可以得出结论：新马德里因刚经历过一场大的地震，所以，近期内不会再有大的震情，故正确答案是D。【知识模块】 阅读【知识模块】 阅读6 【正确答案】 B【试题解析】 推理判断题。根据题干关键词 Paragraph 1 定位到原文首段第一句：These are note
31、asy times for booksellers对书商来说，这是个艰难的时代。此后作者又列举了几个书店或破产或更换人员的例子，由此可知，作者举出此例的目的在于阐释书商目前处于困难的境地，故选B项。A项“经济萧条对书店的影响”，C项“几大书店人事变动”和D 项“书店对经济萧条做出的反应 ”均错。【知识模块】 阅读7 【正确答案】 D【试题解析】 语义理解题。根据题干关键词 main competitor 定位到原文第二段第二句：More thanhalf of book sales in America take place not in bookshops but at big retail
32、ers such as WalMart and Target美国有超过半数的图书销售不是在书店，而是在大的零售卖场，像沃尔玛和塔吉特超市。由此可知，书店最大的竞争对手是大的零售卖场，故选D项。A 项“独立书店 “和B项“大点的书店”均不正确;C项“网上零售商” 还不是书店的最大竞争对手。【知识模块】 阅读8 【正确答案】 A【试题解析】 推理判断题。根据题干关键词 effort，attract more readers 定位到第三、四段。第三段第一句提到：Booksellers are laboring to raise their profile online and win back th
33、e customersthey have lost为了赢回失去的顾客，各大书店正在提升自己在网上的认知度。并举了巴恩斯诺博的例子；同时第四段又提到一些书店的电子书和免费上网服务等。由此可知，书店的主要措施就是利用网络资源，故选A项。 B项“扩大书店店面 ”和C 项“丰富书目种类”文中均未提及；D项“扩大经营范围”，并非书店采取的主要措施。【知识模块】 阅读9 【正确答案】 A【试题解析】 推理判断题。根据题干关键词 bookshops，survive 定位到第四段第二句：Most arepinning their hopes on giving People more reasons to c
34、ome inside许多书店都寄希望于更多地给出让人们走进书店的理由。下文又列举很多书店为吸引读者采取的新措施，由此可知，书店要生存重在采取措施吸引读者，故选A项。B项“采纳销售电子书建议 “，C项“提供免费上网服务”及D项“举办读书俱乐部或其他社区活动”均不全面。【知识模块】 阅读10 【正确答案】 D【试题解析】 主旨大意题。根据题干关键词 Steve Bercu，independent booksellers 定位到原文最后一段末句：Steve Bercu，the shops coowner，says that independent booksellers can stillthriv
35、e，provided they“reinvent themselves”书店的合伙人史蒂夫博苏说，独立书店仍然能很好地存在，只要它们“重新改造自己”。由此可知，他认为书店需要一些改变，故选D项。A 项“认为独立书店很难存活”，B 项“认为独立书店应该降低价格”和C项“认为独立书店应该举办夏令营”均不正确。【知识模块】 阅读【知识模块】 阅读11 【正确答案】 Jordan【试题解析】 根据题于关键词“The Hurt Locker”，shot，Hollywood 定位到第一段最后一句：“The Hurt Locker” ，however ，was filmed in Jordan，not Ho
36、llywood可知， 拆弹部队 是在约旦拍摄的，而不是好莱坞。【知识模块】 阅读12 【正确答案】 shooting a movie【试题解析】 根据题干关键词 24 countries，American states，cut the cost 定位到第二段第二句：Other places followed，and all but seven American states and territories and 24other countries now offer，or are preparing to offer，rebates，grants or tax credits that cu
37、t thecost of shooting a movie。可知，美国除了 7 个州以外的其他州和另外 24 个国家现在已经或准备提供一些折扣或减税措施以减少拍摄电影的费用。【知识模块】 阅读13 【正确答案】 compare the incentives【试题解析】 根据题干关键词 scripts，producers，different locations 定位到第二段第五句：These days，she says,producers first compare the incentives offered by thedifferent locations and only then lo
38、ok at their scripts to see可知，现在制片人在看剧本之前首先比较不同地区的激励机制。【知识模块】 阅读14 【正确答案】 financial aid【试题解析】 根据题干关键词 Ten feature films，Los Angeles 定位到第三段第二句：Tenfeature filmswere filmed in Los Angeles in the second half of 2009 purely because of thisfinancial aid可知，有 10 部重要电影留在洛杉矶拍摄，纯粹是因为加利福尼亚提供的经济补助。【知识模块】 阅读15 【正确
39、答案】 parking places【试题解析】 根据题干关键词 Los Angeles，crew members，free 定位到第三段最后一句：In a sign of how desperate Los Angeles is becoming，the city is now considering offeringits most treasured resource to crew members at no charge：parking places可知，洛杉矶现在的处境很糟糕：它正考虑免费给剧组人员提供停车位。【知识模块】 阅读【知识模块】 阅读16 【正确答案】 C【试题解析】
40、推理判断题。本题考查电脑普及所带来的后果。第一段提到：it seemed obviousthat more and more documents would be written，distributed and read in electronic form，rather than on paper由此可知，随着技术的进步，纸张的使用量将会减少，而第二段又提到：What actually happened was that global consumption of office paper more than doubled inthe last two decades of the 20t
41、h century事实是全球的办公纸张消费量在 20 世纪的后 20 年翻了两番，因此选C项。B项是人们原以为会发生的现象； A项“技术乌托邦信仰的消亡”和D项“印刷技术的提高”原文没提及。【知识模块】 阅读17 【正确答案】 C【试题解析】 事实细节题。根据题干关键词 second paragraph 和 paper consumption 定位到原文第二段第三句：The webs billions of pages provided a vast new source of fodder for the worldshumming printers数以亿计的网页为全世界轰鸣的印刷机提供了丰
42、富的素材来源。网络即是新技术的一例，因此选C项。【知识模块】 阅读18 【正确答案】 A【试题解析】 事实细节题。根据题干关键词定位到原文第四段。第四段共提到两种技术起死回生的方法。一是：although the technology did not change very much，its users did技术的使用者改变了；二是：In some cases，however，straightforward improvements in technology turnthings around技术进步逆转厄运。随后提到宽带的发展证明了此原因，故选A 项。B项“社会因素比技术因素更重要”，C
43、项“技术使用者有最终发言权 ”和D 项“预言什么时候起死回生也不算晚”都无从体现。【知识模块】 阅读19 【正确答案】 D【试题解析】 主义理解题。根据题干关键词 carmakers 和 petrol-electric hybrid vehicles 定位到原文最后一段。由 A third way in which seemingly dying technologies can be revived is throughan external shock可知，第三个使技术起死回生的力量来自外部的剧变。随后即举了汽车的例子，因此选D项。A 项“混合动力车将成时尚”和B项“混合动力车更先进”C项
44、“混合动力车赚钱更多”均不正确。【知识模块】 阅读20 【正确答案】 B【试题解析】 主旨大意题。根据题干提示纵览全文，全文共分两大部分：第一部分，文章第一、二、三段以“无纸化办公”的预言为例，说明技术乌托邦的幻灭和起死回生；第二部分，第四、五两段分别从内部和外部因素来进行分析，其中第四段又分别阐述了社会原因和技术原因。全文主旨还是在于说明产生变革的原因，故选B项。 A项“技术因素比社会因素更力量 ”，C 项“所有技术预言都是乌托邦”和D项“所有技术预言迟早都会实现”均不正确。【知识模块】 阅读【知识模块】 阅读21 【正确答案】 D【试题解析】 主旨大意题。根据题干要求判断本题目为主旨题，需
45、要在理解全篇的基础上加以概括总结，该类题目的关键是通过抓住各段的主题句。文章第一段结尾提到当前美国黑人和白人的失业率；第二段开头提到白人与黑人之间的差异问题，对比了自人男性和黑人男性的失业情况；第三段和第四段解释了黑人和白人失业率的差异原因；第五段是对黑人就业前景的预测。由此可知，本文主题是美国黑人和白人的就业差异问题，故选D项。A 项“奥巴马带来的美国后种族时代现状 ”，B项“ 种族歧视对美国就业的影响“和C 项“经济衰退对美国就业的影响 ”均非文章主题。【知识模块】 阅读22 【正确答案】 D【试题解析】 推理判断题。根据题干关键词 mancession 定位到原文第二段第二句：The c
46、urrent“mancession”has hit maledominated professions hardest可知，这次男性失业主要打击到的是以男性为主的行业。该段下文主要讲述了白人男性和黑人男性的失业情况，由此可知，mancession 是指男性失业，故选 D项。A项“黑人和白人的差异”，B项“男人就业率”和C项“经济衰退”都非该词的意思。【知识模块】 阅读23 【正确答案】 C【试题解析】 语义理解题。根据题干关键词 unemployment rate，blacks，higher定位到原文第二段最后一句：These rates are based on a labour-force
47、 number which excludes those in prison：Ifthere were not five times as many blacks behind bars as whites，the figures would look even worse可知，这些数据基于劳动力数量之上，并未将在监狱中的人包含在内。如果不是在监狱里的黑人数量是白人的五倍，这个统计看起来会更糟糕。由此可知，如果统计上监狱里的黑人，黑人的失业率还会更高，故选C 项。 A项“如果黑人妇女也统计在内 ”和D项“如果受教育较高的黑人统计在内”原文未提及；B项“如果狱中的黑人数量更多”，如果狱中的黑人数
48、量更多，又不在统计之列，那么失业率应该更低。【知识模块】 阅读24 【正确答案】 C【试题解析】 事实细节题。根据题干关键词 reason，gap，unemployment rates定位到原文第三段，该段提到：Some studies have found that this factor may explain as much as 70 of thedifference in black and white unemployment rates可知，一些研究发现，白人与黑人失业率 70的差异都是由于这个原因，其中的“这个原因”即上文提到的“黑人通常也没有可以依赖的朋友或是家人帮助他们找工
49、作。他们并没有像白人以及拉美人那样的家族生意网”。故选C项。A 项“黑人居住地离工作聚集区太远”，B项“大多数黑人没有完成高中学业”和D项“种族歧视对黑人就业的影响”，均非主要原因。【知识模块】 阅读25 【正确答案】 A【试题解析】 推理判断题。根据题干关键词 prospect，black employment 定位到原文最后一段第一句和最后一句：What is clear is that the unemployment problem in black communities will notend with the recession可以确定的是，黑人聚居区的失业问题不会随着经济衰退的结束而得到解决；That means continued loss of skills，and a longer and harder road back
