1、考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 392 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 King Juan Carlos of Spain once insisted “kings dont abdicate, they die in their sleep.“ But embarrassing scandals and the popularity of the republican l
2、eft in the recent Euro-elections have forced him to eat his words and stand down. So, does the Spanish crisis suggest that monarchy is seeing its last days? Does that mean the writing is on the wall for all European royals, with their magnificent uniforms and majestic lifestyles?The Spanish case pro
3、vides arguments both for and against monarchy. When public opinion is particularly polarised, as it was following the end of the Franco regime, monarchs can rise above “mere“ politics and “embody“ a spirit of national unity.It is this apparent transcendence of politics that explains monarchs, contin
4、uing popularity as heads of state. And so, the Middle East excepted, Europe is the most monarch-infested region in the world, with 10 kingdoms (not counting Vatican City and Andorra). But unlike their absolutist counterparts in the Gulf and Asia, most royal families have survived because they allow
5、voters to avoid the difficult search for a non-controversial but respected public figure.Even so, kings and queens undoubtedly have a downside. Symbolic of national unity as they claim to be, their very historyand sometimes the way they behave todayembodies outdated and indefensible privileges and i
6、nequalities. At a time when Thomes Piketty and other economists are warning of rising inequality and the increasing power of inherited wealth, it is bizarre that wealthy aristocratic families should still be the symbolic heart of modern democratic states.The most successful monarchies strive to aban
7、don or hide their old aristocratic ways. Prince and princesses have day-jobs and ride bicycles, not horses (or helicopters). Even so, these are wealthy families who party with the international 1%, and media intrusiveness makes it increasingly difficult to maintain the right image.While Europe s mon
8、archies will no doubt be smart enough to survive for some time to come, it is the British royals who have most to fear from the Spanish example.It is only the Queen who has preserved the monarchy s reputation with her rather ordinary (if well-heeled) granny style. The danger will come with Charles,
9、who has both an expensive taste of lifestyle and a pretty hierarchical view of the world. He has failed to understand that monarchies have largely survived because they provide a serviceas non-controversial and non-political heads of state. Charles ought to know that as English history shows, it is
10、kings, not republicans, who are the monarchy s worst enemies.1 According to the first two paragraphs, King Juan Carl of Spain（A）used to enjoy high public support.（B） was unpopular among European royals.（C） ended his reign in embarrassment.（D）eased his relationship with his rivals.2 Monarchs are kept
11、 as heads of state in Europe mostly（A）owing to their undoubted and respectable status.（B） to achieve a balance between tradition and reality.（C） to give voters more public figures to look up to.（D）due to their everlasting political embodiment.3 Which of the following is shown to be odd, according to
12、 Paragraph 4?（A）Aristocrats excessive reliance on inherited wealth.（B） The simple lifestyle of the aristocratic families.（C） The role of the nobility in modern democracies.（D）The nobility s adherence to their privileges.4 The British royals “have most to fear“ because Charles（A）takes a tough line on
13、 political issues.（B） fails to change his lifestyle as advised.（C） takes republicans as his potential allies.（D）fails to adapt himself to his future role.5 Which of the following is the best title of the text?（A）Carlos, Glory and Disgrace Combined（B） Carlos, a Lesson for All European Monarchs（C） Cha
14、rles, Slow to React to the Coming Threats（D）Charles, Anxious to Succeed to the Throne5 If you were to examine the birth certificates of every soccer player in 2006s World Cup tournament, you would most likely find a noteworthy quirk: elite soccer players are more likely to have been born in the earl
15、ier months of the year than in the later months. If you then examined the European national youth teams that feed the World Cup and professional ranks, you would find this strange phenomenon to be even more pronounced.What might account for this strange phenomenon? Here are a few guesses: a) certain
16、 astrological signs confer superior soccer skills; b) winter-born babies tend to have higher oxygen capacity, which increases soccer stamina; c) soccer-mad parents are more likely to conceive children in springtime, at the annual peak of soccer mania; d) none of the above.Anders Ericsson, a 58-year-
17、old psychology professor at Florida State University, says he believes strongly in “none of the above.“ Ericsson grew up in Sweden, and studied nuclear engineering until he realized he would have more opportunity to conduct his own research if he switched to psychology. His first experiment, nearly
18、30 years ago, involved memory: training a person to hear and then repeat a random series of numbers. “With the first subject, after about 20 hours of training, his digit span had risen from 7 to 20,“ Ericsson recalls. “He kept improving, and after about 200 hours of training he had risen to over 80
19、numbers.“This success, coupled with later research showing that memory itself is not genetically determined, led Ericsson to conclude that the act of memorizing is more of a cognitive exercise than an intuitive one. In other words, whatever inborn differences two people may exhibit in their abilitie
20、s to memorize, those differences are swamped by how well each person “encodes“ the information. And the best way to learn how to encode information meaningfully, Ericsson determined, was a process known as deliberate practice. Deliberate practice entails more than simply repeating a task. Rather, it
21、 involves setting specific goals, obtaining immediate feedback and concentrating as much on technique as on outcome.Ericsson and his colleagues have thus taken to studying expert performers in a wide range of pursuits, including soccer. They gather all the data they can, not just performance statist
22、ics and biographical details but also the results of their own laboratory experiments with high achievers. Their work makes a rather startling assertion: the trait we commonly call talent is highly overrated. Or put another way, expert performerswhether in memory or surgery, ballet or computer progr
23、ammingare nearly always made, not born.6 The birthday phenomenon found among soccer players is mentioned to（A）stress the importance of professional training.（B） spotlight the soccer superstars in the World Cup.（C） introduce the topic of what makes expert performance.（D）explain why some soccer teams
24、play better than others.7 The word “mania“ (Para. 2) most probably means（A）fun.（B） craze.（C） hysteria.（D）excitement.8 According to Ericsson, good memory（A）depends on meaningful processing of information.（B） results from intuitive rather than cognitive exercises.（C） is determined by genetic rather th
25、an psychological factors.（D）requires immediate feedback and a high degree of concentration.9 Ericsson and his colleagues believe that（A）talent is a dominating factor for professional success.（B） biographical data provide the key to excellent performance.（C） the role of talent tends to be overlooked.
26、（D）high achievers owe their success mostly to nurture.10 Which of the following proverbs is closest to the message the text tries to convey?（A）Faith will move mountains.（B） One reaps what one sows.（C） Practice makes perfect.（D）Like father, like son.10 Many things make people think artists are weird.
27、 But the weirdest may be this: artists only job is to explore emotions, and yet they choose to focus on the ones that feel bad.This wasnt always so. The earliest forms of art, like painting and music, are those best suited for expressing joy. But somewhere from the 19th century onward, more artists
28、began seeing happiness as meaningless, phony or, worst of all, boring, as we went from Wordsworths daffodils to Baudelaires flowers of evil.You could argue that art became more skeptical of happiness because modern times have seen so much misery. But its not as if earlier times didnt know perpetual
29、war, disaster and the massacre of innocents.The reason, in fact, may be just the opposite: there is too much damn happiness in the world today.After all, what is the one modern form of expression almost completely dedicated to depicting happiness? Advertising. The rise of anti-happy art almost exact
30、ly tracks the emergence of mass media, and with it, a commercial culture in which happiness is not just an ideal but an ideology.People in earlier eras were surrounded by reminders of misery. They worked until exhausted, lived with few protections and died young. In the West, before mass communicati
31、on and literacy, the most powerful mass medium was the church, which reminded worshippers that their souls were in danger and that they would someday be meat for worms. Given all this, they did not exactly need their art to be a bummer too.Today the messages the average Westerner is surrounded with
32、are not religious but commercial, and forever happy. Fast-food eaters, news anchors, text messengers, all smiling, smiling, smiling. Our magazines feature beaming celebrities and happy families in perfect homes. And since these messages have an agendato lure us to open our walletsthey make the very
33、idea of happiness seem unreliable. “Celebrate!“commanded the ads for the arthritis drug Celebrex, before we found out it could increase the risk of heart attacks.But what we forgetwhat our economy depends on us forgettingis that happiness is more than pleasure without pain. The things that bring the
34、 greatest joy carry the greatest potential for loss and disappointment. Today, surrounded by promises of easy happiness, we need art to tell us, as religion once did, Memento mori: remember that you will die, that everything ends, and that happiness comes not in denying this but in living with it. I
35、ts a message even more bitter than a clove cigarette, yet, somehow, a breath of fresh air.11 By citing the examples of poets Wordsworth and Baudelaire, the author intends to show that（A）poetry is not as expressive of joy as painting or music.（B） art grows out of both positive and negative feelings.（
36、C） poets today are less skeptical of happiness.（D）artists have changed their focus of interest.12 The word “bummer“ (Para. 5) most probably means something（A）religious.（B） unpleasant.（C） entertaining.（D）commercial.13 In the authors opinion, advertising（A）emerges in the wake of the anti-happy art.（B）
37、 is a cause of disappointment for the general public.（C） replaces the church as a major source of information.（D）creates an illusion of happiness rather than happiness itself.14 We can learn from the last paragraph that the author believes（A）happiness more often than not ends in sadness.（B） the anti
38、-happy art is distasteful but refreshing.（C） misery should be enjoyed rather than denied.（D）the anti-happy art flourishes when economy booms.15 Which of the following is true of the text?（A）Religion once functioned as a reminder of misery.（B） Art provides a balance between expectation and reality.（C
39、） People feel disappointed at the realities of modern society.（D）Mass media are inclined to cover disasters and deaths.15 Homework has never been terribly popular with students and even many parents, but in recently years it has been particularly scorned. School districts across the country, most re
40、cently Los Angeles Unified, are revising their thinking on this educational ritual. Unfortunately, L.A. Unified has produced an inflexible policy which mandates that with the exception of some advanced courses, homework may no longer count for more than 10% of a students academic grade.This rule is
41、meant to address the difficulty that students from impoverished or chaotic homes might have in completing their homework. But the policy is unclear and contradictory. Certainly, no homework should be assigned that students cannot complete on their own or that they cannot do without expensive equipme
42、nt. But if the district is essentially giving a pass to students who do not do their homework because of complicated family lives, it is going riskily close to the implication that standards need to be lowered for poor children.District administrators say that homework will still be a part of school
43、ing; teachers are allowed to assign as much of it as they want. But with homework counting for no more than 10% of their grades, students can easily skip half their homework and see very little difference on their report cards. Some students might do well on state tests without completing their home
44、work, but what about the students who performed well on the tests and did their homework? It is quite possible that the homework helped. Yet rather than empowering teachers to find what works best for their students, the policy imposes a flat, across-the-board rule.At the same time, the policy addre
45、sses none of the truly thorny questions about homework. If the district finds homework to be unimportant to its students academic achievement, it should move to reduce or eliminate the assignments, not make them count for almost nothing. Conversely, if homework matters, it should account for a signi
46、ficant portion of the grade. Meanwhile, this policy does nothing to ensure that the homework students receive is meaningful or appropriate to their age and the subject, or that teachers are not assigning more than they are willing to review and correct.The homework rules should be put on hold while
47、the school board, which is responsible for setting educational policy, looks into the matter and conducts public hearings. It is not too late for L.A. Unified to do homework right.16 It is implied in Paragraph 1 that nowadays homework（A）is receiving more criticism.（B） is no longer an educational rit
48、ual.（C） is not required for advanced courses.（D）is gaining more preferences.17 L.A. Unified has made the rule about homework mainly because poor students（A）tend to have moderate expectations for their education.（B） have asked for a different educational standard.（C） may have problems finishing their
49、 homework.（D）have voiced their complaints about homework.18 According to Paragraph 3, one problem with the policy is that it may（A）discourage students from doing homework.（B） result in students indifference to their report cards.（C） undermine the authority of state tests.（D）restrict teachers power in education.19 As mentioned in Paragraph 4, a key question unanswered about homework is whether（A）it should be eliminated.（B） it counts much in schooling.（C） it places extra burdens on teachers.（D）it is important for grades.20 A suitable title for this text could
