1、考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 391 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 Of all the changes that have taken place in English-language newspapers during the past quarter-century, perhaps the most far-reaching has been the inex
2、orable decline in the scope and seriousness of their arts coverage.It is difficult to the point of impossibility for the average reader under the age of forty to imagine a time when high-quality arts criticism could be found in most big-city newspapers. Yet a considerable number of the most signific
3、ant collections of criticism published in the 20th century consisted in large part of newspaper reviews. To read such books today is to marvel at the fact that their learned contents were once deemed suitable for publication in general-circulation dailies.We are even farther removed from the unfocus
4、ed newspaper reviews published in England between the turn of the 20th century and the eve of World War II, at a time when newsprint was dirt-cheap and stylish arts criticism was considered an ornament to the publications in which it appeared. In those far-off days, it was taken for granted that the
5、 critics of major papers would write in detail and at length about the events they covered. Theirs was a serious business, and even those reviewers who wore their learning lightly, like George Bernard Shaw and Ernest Newman, could be trusted to know what they were about. These men believed in journa
6、lism as a calling, and were proud to be published in the daily press. “So few authors have brains enough or literary gift enough to keep their own end up in journalism,“ Newman wrote, “that I am tempted to define journalism as a term of contempt applied by writers who are not read to writers who are
7、.“Unfortunately, these critics are virtually forgotten. Neville Cardus, who wrote for the Manchester Guardian from 1917 until shortly before his death in 1975, is now known solely as a writer of essays on the game of cricket. During his lifetime, though, he was also one of Englands foremost classica
8、l-music critics, a stylist so widely admired that his Autobiography (1947) became a best-seller. He was knighted in 1967, the first music critic to be so honored. Yet only one of his books is now in print, and his vast body of writings on music is unknown save to specialists.Is there any chance that
9、 Carduss criticism will enjoy a revival? The prospect seems remote. Journalistic tastes had changed long before his death, and postmodern readers have little use for the richly upholstered Vicwardian prose in which he specialized. Moreover, the amateur tradition in music criticism has been in headlo
10、ng retreat.1 It is indicated in Paragraphs 1 and 2 that（A）arts criticism has disappeared from big-city newspapers.（B） English-language newspapers used to carry more arts reviews.（C） high-quality newspapers retain a large body of readers.（D）young readers doubt the suitability of criticism on dailies.
11、2 Newspaper reviews in England before World War II were characterized by（A）free themes.（B） casual style.（C） elaborate layout.（D）radical viewpoints.3 Which of the following would Shaw and Newman most probably agree on?（A）It is writers duty to fulfill journalistic goals.（B） It is contemptible for writ
12、ers to be journalists.（C） Writers are likely to be tempted into journalism.（D）Not all writers are capable of journalistic writing.4 What can be learned about Cardus according to the last two paragraphs?（A）His music criticism may not appeal to readers today.（B） His reputation as a music critic has lo
13、ng been in dispute.（C） His style caters largely to modern specialists.（D）His writings fail to follow the amateur tradition.5 What would be the best title for the text?（A）Newspapers of the Good Old Days（B） The Lost Horizon in Newspapers（C） Mournful Decline of Journalism（D）Prominent Critics in Memory5
14、 In 1784, five years before he became president of the United States, George Washington, 52, was nearly toothless. So he hired a dentist to transplant nine teeth into his jawhaving extracted them from the mouths of his slaves.Thats a far different image from the cherry-tree-chopping George most peop
15、le remember from their history books. But recently, many historians have begun to focus on the roles slavery played in the lives of the founding generation. They have been spurred in part by DNA evidence made available in 1998, which almost certainly proved Thomas Jefferson had fathered at least one
16、 child with his slave Sally Hemings. And only over the past 30 years have scholars examined history from the bottom up. Works of several historians reveal the moral compromises made by the nations early leaders and the fragile nature of the countrys infancy. More significantly, they argue that many
17、of the Founding Fathers knew slavery was wrongand yet most did little to fight it.More than anything, the historians say, the founders were hampered by the culture of their time. While Washington and Jefferson privately expressed distaste for slavery, they also understood that it was part of the pol
18、itical and economic bedrock of the country they helped to create.For one thing, the South could not afford to part with its slaves. Owning slaves was “like having a large bank account,“ says Wiencek, author of An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America. The southern
19、 states would not have signed the Constitution without protections for the “peculiar institution,“ including a clause that counted a slave as three fifths of a man for purposes of congressional representation.And the statesmens political lives depended on slavery. The three-fifths formula handed Jef
20、ferson his narrow victory in the presidential election of 1800 by inflating the votes of the southern states in the Electoral College. Once in office, Jefferson extended slavery with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803; the new land was carved into 13 states, including three slave states.Still, Jefferson
21、 freed Hemingss childrenthough not Hemings herself or his approximately 150 other slaves. Washington, who had begun to believe that all men were created equal after observing the bravery of the black soldiers during the Revolutionary War, overcame the strong opposition of his relatives to grant his
22、slaves their freedom in his will. Only a decade earlier, such an act would have required legislative approval in Virginia.6 George Washingtons dental surgery is mentioned to（A）show the primitive medical practice in the past.（B） demonstrate the cruelty of slavery in his days.（C） stress the role of sl
23、aves in the U.S. history.（D）reveal some unknown aspect of his life.7 We may infer from the second paragraph that（A）DNA technology has been widely applied to history research.（B） in its early days the U.S. was confronted with delicate situations.（C） historians deliberately made up some stories of Jef
24、fersons life.（D）political compromises are easily found throughout the U.S. history.8 What do we learn about Thomas Jefferson?（A）His political view changed his attitude towards slavery.（B） His status as a father made him free the child slaves.（C） His attitude towards slavery was complex.（D）His affair
25、 with a slave stained his prestige.9 Which of the following is true according to the text?（A）Some Founding Fathers benefit politically from slavery.（B） Slaves in the old days did not have the right to vote.（C） Slave owners usually had large savings accounts.（D）Slavery was regarded as a peculiar inst
26、itution.10 Washington s decision to free slaves originated from his（A）moral considerations.（B） military experience.（C） financial conditions.（D）political stand.10 Stratford-on-Avon,as we all know, has only one industryWilliam Shakespearebut there are two distinctly separate and increasingly hostile b
27、ranches. There is the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), which presents superb productions of the plays at the Shakespeare MemorialTheatre on the Avon. And there are the townsfolk who largely live off the tourists who come, not to see the plays, but to look at Anne Hathaways Cottage, Shakespeare s bir
28、thplace and the other sights.The worthy residents of Stratford doubt that the theatre adds a penny to their revenue. They frankly dislike the RSCs actors, them with their long hair and beards and sandals and noisiness. Its all deliciously ironic when you consider that Shakespeare, who earns their li
29、ving, was himself an actor (with a beard) and did his share of noise-making.The tourist streams are not entirely separate. The sightseers who come by busand often take in Warwick Castle and Blenheim Palace on the sidedont usually see the plays, and some of them are even surprised to find a theatre i
30、n Stratford. However, the playgoers do manage a little sight-seeing along with their playgoing. It is the playgoers, the RSC contends, who bring in much of the towns revenue because they spend the night (some of them four or five nights) pouring cash into the hotels and restaurants. The sightseers c
31、an take in everything and get out of town by nightfall.The townsfolk dont see it this way and local council does not contribute directly to the subsidy of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Stratford cries poor traditionally. Nevertheless every hotel in town seems to be adding a new wing or cocktail lou
32、nge. Hilton is building its own hotel there, which you may be sure will be decorated with Hamlet Hamburger Bars, the Lear Lounge, the Banquo Banqueting Room, and so forth, and will be very expensive.Anyway, the townsfolk cant understand why the Royal Shakespeare Company needs a subsidy. (The theatre
33、 has broken attendance records for three years in a row. Last year its 1,431 seats were 94 percent occupied all year long and this year theyll do better.) The reason, of course, is that costs have rocketed and ticket prices have stayed low.It would be a shame to raise prices too much because it woul
34、d drive away the young people who are Stratfords most attractive clientele. They come entirely for the plays, not the sights. They all seem to look alike (though they come from all over)lean, pointed, dedicated faces, wearing jeans and sandals, eating their buns and bedding down for the night on the
35、 flagstones outside the theatre to buy the 20 seats and 80 standing-room tickets held for the sleepers and sold to them when the box office opens at 10:30 a.m11 From the first two paragraphs, we learn that（A）the townsfolk deny the RSCs contribution to the town s revenue.（B） the actors of the RSC imi
36、tate Shakespeare on and off stage.（C） the two branches of the RSC are not on good terms.（D）the townsfolk earn little from tourism.12 It can be inferred from Paragraph 3 that（A）the sightseers cannot visit the Castle and the Palace separately.（B） the playgoers spend more money than the sightseers.（C）
37、the sightseers do more shopping than the playgoers.（D）the playgoers go to no other places in town than the theater.13 By saying “Stratford cries poor traditionally“ (Para. 4), the author implies that（A）Stratford cannot afford the expansion projects.（B） Stratford has long been in financial difficulti
38、es.（C） the town is not really short of money.（D）the townsfolk used to be poorly paid.14 According to the townsfolk, the RSC deserves no subsidy because（A）ticket prices can be raised to cover the spending.（B） the company is financially ill-managed.（C） the behavior of the actors is not socially accept
39、able.（D）the theatre attendance is on the rise. 15. From the text we can conclude that the author15 From the text we can conclude that the author（A）is supportive of both sides.（B） favors the townsfolk s view.（C） takes a detached attitude.（D）is sympathetic to the RSC.15 We tend to think of the decades
40、 immediately following World War II as a time of prosperity and growth, with soldiers returning home by the millions, going off to college on the G. I. Bill and lining up at the marriage bureaus.But when it came to their houses, it was a time of common sense and a belief that less could truly be mor
41、e. During the Depression and the war, Americans had learned to live with less, and that restraint, in combination with the postwar confidence in the future, made small, efficient housing positively stylish.Economic condition was only a stimulus for the trend toward efficient living. The phrase “less
42、 is more“ was actually first popularized by a German, the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who like other people associated with the Bauhaus, a school of design, emigrated to the United States before World War II and took up posts at American architecture schools. These designers came to exert en
43、ormous influence on the course of American architecture, but none more so than Mies.Mies s signature phrase means that less decoration, properly organized, has more impact than a lot. Elegance, he believed, did not derive from abundance. Like other modern architects, he employed metal, glass and lam
44、inated woodmaterials that we take for granted today but that in the 1940s symbolized the future. Mies s sophisticated presentation masked the fact that the spaces he designed were small and efficient , rather than big and often empty.The apartments in the elegant towers Mies built on Chicagos Lake S
45、hore Drive, for example, were smallertwo-bedroom units under 1,000 square feetthan those in their older neighbors along the citys Gold Coast. But they were popular because of their airy glass walls, the views they afforded and the elegance of the buildings details and proportions, the architectural
46、equivalent of the abstract art so popular at the time.The trend toward “less“ was not entirely foreign. In the 1930s Frank Lloyd Wright started building more modest and efficient housesusually around 1,200 square feetthan the spreading two-story ones he had designed in the 1890s and the early 20th c
47、entury.The “Case Study Houses“ commissioned from talented modern architects by California Arts & Architecture magazine between 1945 and 1962 were yet another homegrown influence on the “less is more“ trend. Aesthetic effect came from the landscape, new materials and forthright detailing. In his Case
48、 Study House, Ralph Rapson may have mispredicted just how the mechanical revolution would impact everyday lifefew American families acquired helicopters, though most eventually got clothes dryersbut his belief that self-sufficiency was both desirable and inevitable was widely shared.16 The postwar A
49、merican housing style largely reflected the Americans（A）prosperity and growth.（B） efficiency and practicality.（C） pride and faithfulness.（D）restraint and confidence.17 Which of the following can be inferred from Paragraph 3 about the Bauhaus?（A）It was founded by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.（B） Its designing concept was affected by World War II.（C） Most American architects used to be associated with it.（D）It had a great influence upon American architecture.18 Mies held that elegance of architectural design（A）was related to large space.（B） wa
