1、考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 406 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 Man is born free but is everywhere in debt. In the rich world, getting hold of your first credit card is a rite of passage far more important for your d
2、aily life than casting your first vote. Buying your first home normally requires taking on a debt several times the size of your annual income. And even if you shun the temptation of borrowing to indulge yourself, you are still saddled with your portion of the national debt.Throughout the 1980s and
3、1990s a rise in debt levels accompanied the “great moderation“, when growth was steady and unemployment and inflation remained low. No longer did Western banks have to raise rates to halt consumer booms. By the early 2000s a vast international scheme of vendor financing had been created. Those who c
4、autioned against rising debt levels were dismissed as doom-mongers; after all, asset prices were rising even faster, so balance-sheets looked healthy. And with the economy advancing, debtors could afford to meet their interest payments. In short, it paid to borrow and it paid to lend. Like alcohol,
5、a debt boom tends to induce euphoria. Traders and investors saw the asset-price rises as proof of their brilliance; central banks and governments thought that rising markets and higher tax revenues attested to the soundness of their policies.The answer to all problems seemed to be more debt. Depress
6、ed? Use your credit card for a shopping spree “because youre worth it“. Want to get rich quick? Work for a private-equity or hedge-fund firm, using borrowed money to enhance returns. Looking for faster growth for your company? Borrow money and make an acquisition. And if the economy is in recession,
7、 let the government go into deficit to bolster spending.Debt increased at every level, from consumers to companies to banks to whole countries. The effect varied from country to country, but a survey by the McKinsey Global Institute found that average total debt(private and public sector combined)in
8、 ten mature economies rose from 200% of GDP in 1995 to 300% in 2008. There were even more startling rises in Iceland and Ireland, where debt-to-GDP ratios reached 1,200% and 700% respectively. The burdens proved too much for those two countries, plunging them into financial crisis. Such turmoil is a
9、 sign that debt is not the instant solution it was made out to be.From early 2007 onwards there were signs that economies were reaching the limit of their ability to absorb more borrowing. The growth-boosting potential of debt seemed to peter out. According to Leigh Skene of Lombard Street Research,
10、 each additional dollar of debt was associated with less and less growth.1 It can be inferred from Paragraph 1 that a credit card may（A）symbolize adulthood.（B） replace voting right.（C） encourage loaning.（D）reduce inflation.2 We know from Paragraph 2 that debt boom in the last decades has（A）halted co
11、nsumer booms.（B） won universal welcome.（C） promoted economic growth.（D）confronted strong suspicions.3 “Like alcohol, a debt boom tends to induce euphoria“(Line 7, Para 2)indicates a debt boom（A）is beneficial to both borrowers and lenders.（B） seems to inspire self-satisfaction.（C） is hard to control
12、like strong wine.（D）has much potential to create profits.4 The examples of Iceland and Ireland are intended to show that（A）the effect of debt differs in each country.（B） the two countries have the highest debt rise.（C） debt isnt always an instant solution as believed.（D）debt rise is the origin of th
13、e financial crisis.5 According to this text, the author is likely to agree that（A）debt is unavoidable as well as necessary.（B） a booming economy always follows a debt rise.（C） more debt has been related to less growth.（D）debt is reaching its limit to boost economy.5 Labor is not just a meaningful ex
14、perienceits also a marketable one. When instant cake mixes were introduced, in the 1950s, housewives were initially resistant: The mixes were too easy, suggesting that their labor was undervalued. When manufacturers changed the recipe to require the addition of an egg, adoption rose dramatically. Ir
15、onically, increasing the labor involvedmaking the task more arduousled to greater liking.Research conducted with my colleagues Daniel Mochon, of Yale University, and Dan Ariely, of Duke University, shows that labor enhances affection for its results. When people construct products themselves, from b
16、ookshelves to Build-a-Bears, they come to overvalue their(often poorly made)creations. We call this phenomenon the IKEA effect, in honor of the wildly successful Swedish manufacturer whose products typically arrive with some assembly required.In one of our studies we asked people to fold origami(the
17、 Japanese art of folding paper into shapes representing objects)and then to bid on their own creations along with other peoples. They were consistently willing to pay more for their own origami. In fact, they were so fond of their amateurish creations that they valued them as highly as origami made
18、by experts.We also investigated the limits of the IKEA effect, showing that labor leads to higher valuation only when the labor is fruitful: When participants failed to complete an effortful task, the IKEA effect dissipated. Our research suggests that consumers may be willing to pay a premium for do
19、-it-yourself projects, but theres an important caution: Companies hoping to persuade their customers to assume labor costs for example, by nudging them toward self-service through internet channelsshould be careful to create tasks difficult enough to lead to higher valuation but not so difficult tha
20、t customers cant complete them.Finally, the IKEA effect has broader implications for organizational dynamics: It contributes to the sunk cost effect, whereby managers continue to devote resources to(sometimes failing)projects in which they have invested their labor, and to the not-invented-here synd
21、rome, whereby they discount good ideas developed elsewhere in favor of their(sometimes inferior)internally developed ideas. Managers should keep in mind that ideas they have come to love because they invested their own labor in them may not be as highly valued by their coworkersor their customers.6
22、Instant cake mixes is mentioned to（A）highlight the lifestyle in the 1950s.（B） demonstrate how peoples labor was undervalued.（C） stress the markets effect on human labor.（D）illustrate that labor leads to love for its results.7 Which of the following is true of the IKEA effect?（A）It refers to the phen
23、omenon that people usually undervalue their creations.（B） It is put forward by the honorable and successful manufacturer IKEA.（C） It explains why the participants think highly of their own origami.（D）It accounts for the popularity of do-it-yourself among youngsters. 8 We know from Paragraph 4 that t
24、he IKEA effect would disappear（A）as long as the labor is fruitful and effortful.（B） as the difficulty of the tasks heightens.（C） if the customers are unwilling to pay a premium.（D）when the task is beyond his/her ability.9 It is indicated in the last paragraph that（A）the IKEA effect has been broadly
25、employed in organizational building.（B） the sunk cost effect and the not-invented-here syndrome are the same.（C） managers should guard against the negative influence of the IKEA effect.（D）the not-invented-here syndrome will cause enormous economic losses.10 An appropriate title for the text is most
26、likely to be（A）Labor and Market.（B） The IKEA Effect.（C） A Labor of Love.（D）Problems with the IKEA Effect.10 Neuroscientists have long understood that the brain can rewire itself in response to experiencea phenomenon known as neuroplasticity. But until recently, they didnt know what causes gray matte
27、r to become plastic, to begin changing. Breakthrough research by a team at MITs Picower Institute for Learning and Memory has documented one type of environmental feedback that triggers plasticity: success. Equally important and somewhat surprising: Its opposite, failure, has no impact.Earl Miller,
28、the lead researcher on the study, says understanding the link to environmental feedback is crucial to improving how people teach and motivate because its a big part of how we learn. But we absorb more from success than from failure, according to the study.Millers researchers gave monkeys a simple le
29、arning task: They presented one of two pictures. If it was Picture A, the monkeys were supposed to look to the left; if Picture B, to the right. When the monkeys looked in the correct direction, they were rewarded with a drop of juice. All the while the team recorded brain function.“Neurons(cells sp
30、ecialized to conduct nerve impulses)in the prefrontal cortex and striatum, where the brain tracks success and failure, sharpened their tuning after success,“ says Miller. Whats more, those changes lingered for several seconds, making brain activity more efficient the next time the monkey did the tas
31、k. Thereafter, each success was processed more efficiently. That is, the monkey had learned. “But after failure,“ Miller points out, “there was little change in brain activity.“ In other words, the brain didnt store any information about what went wrong and use it the next time. The monkey just trie
32、d, tried again.Miller says this means that on a neurological level, success is actually a lot more informative than failure. If you get a reward, the brain remembers what it did right. But with failure(unless there is a clear negative consequence, like the shock a child feels when she sticks somethi
33、ng in an electrical outlet), the brain isnt sure what to store, so it doesnt change at all.Does this research confirm the management tenet of focusing on yourand your teamsstrengths and successes? Miller cautions against making too tidy a connection between his findings and an environment like the w
34、orkplace, but he offers this suggestion: “Maybe the lesson is to know that the brain will learn from success, and you dont need to dwell on that. You need to pay more attention to failures and challenge why you fail.“11 Which of the following is true of Earl Millers research?（A）It discovers neuropla
35、sticity.（B） It is the first study of this kind.（C） It studies one environmental feedback.（D）It attests to one cause of neuroplasticity.12 According to Millers study, failure as an environmental feedback（A）has a great impact on our neuro-system.（B） can cause gray matter to become plastic.（C） plays a
36、more important role in learning than success.（D）provides less benefits than success.13 During the experiment each failure made the monkey（A）repeat the task fruitlessly.（B） realize the right way to do the task.（C） give up trying eventually.（D）become more efficient and closer to success.14 The example
37、 of an electric shock to a child in Paragraph 5 is given to show（A）success is much more informative than failure.（B） failure is instructive if it is impressive.（C） failure confuses the storing process of the brain.（D）failure is stored only when it brings obvious negative outcomes.15 In the last para
38、graph, Miller suggests that we should（A）apply his findings to the workplace.（B） be cautious while pursuing success.（C） not think about the satisfaction of success.（D）strive to learn from failures as well.15 Newspapers are becoming more balanced businesses, with a healthier mix of revenues from reade
39、rs and advertisers. American papers have long been highly unusual in their reliance on ads. Fully 87% of their revenues came from advertising in 2006, according to the OECD. In Japan the proportion is 35%. Not surprisingly, Japanese newspapers are much more stable.The whirlwind that swept through ne
40、wsrooms harmed everybody, but much of the damage has been concentrated in areas where newspapers are least distinctive. Car and film reviewers have gone. So have science and general business reporters. Foreign bureaus have been savagely pruned. Newspapers are less complete as a result. But completen
41、ess is no longer a virtue in the newspaper business. Just look at the fate of Otis Chandlers creation.Thanks to family connections, Chandler ended up in control of the Los Angeles Times in 1960. The paper he inherited was parochial and conservative, reflecting the city it served. Chandler abandoned
42、the anti-union dogma and set about building a west-coast rival to the New York Times. His paper was heavy on foreign news and serious, objective reporting. The result was hugely impressivebut not, as it turned out, suited to the internet era. In the past few years the paper has suffered repeated sta
43、ff cuts. In 2007 it was acquired by a property magnate and in 2008 filed for bankruptcy protection.The problem with such newspapers is that, although they do much that is excellent, they do little that is distinctive enough for people to pay for it. The Los Angeles Times foreign reporting is extreme
44、ly good. But it is hard to argue that it is better than the stuff supplied by the New York Times or foreign papers. Similarly, it has never been clear why each major newspaper needs its own car reviewer a Corolla is a Corolla, whether it is driven in Albuquerque or Atlanta. Papers should concentrate
45、 on what they do best, which means, in many cases, local news and sport. If the rest is bought in from wire services or national organizations, readers are unlikely to complainas long as there is enough competition between those larger providers to keep up standards. Specialization generally means h
46、igher quality.It is grim to forecast still more writers losing their jobs. But whether newspapers are thrown onto doorsteps or distributed digitally, they need to deliver something that is distinctive. New technologies like Apples iPad only make this more true. The mere acquisition of a smooth block
47、 of metal and glass does not magically persuade people that they should start paying for news. They will pay for news if they think it has value. Newspapers need to focus relentlessly on that.16 From Paragraph 1 we learn that American newspapers（A）are balanced businesses now.（B） are more stable than
48、 Japanese ones.（C） get most revenues from readers.（D）have been heavily relying on ads.17 Newspapers in America are becoming less complete in that（A）newspaper industry is in depression.（B） newsrooms have suffered a whirlwind.（C） many columns and foreign agencies are cut.（D）Otis Chandlers creation has
49、 failed.18 Los Angeles Times managed by Chandler（A）is narrow and conservative.（B） now is a rival to New York Times.（C） once was very successful.（D）is serious and subjective.19 According to the author, Los Angeles Times failure is due to its（A）focus on foreign report.（B） lack of unique features.（C） ignorance of wire service.（D）ignorance of complaints.20 The author would most likely agree that（A）newspaper industry will disappear soon.（B） newspapers should strive to attract people.（C） no more writers would lose their jobs in future.（D）technology helps n
