1、考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 425 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 Public health officials grappling with the obesity epidemic have debated a wide range of approaches to helping slim the American waistline. To some degr
2、ee, everything from building more sidewalks to banning chocolate milk has been explored. Yet few tactics have been as polarizing as the possibility of introducing tariffs on treats. Despite endorsement from several respected obesity researchers and politicians, soda taxes, for example, have been sub
3、ject to severe scrutiny, as critics protested that implementing a tax before verifying that it would achieve the end result was shortsighted and potentially overreaching. So, in attempt to determine just how sin taxes might impact peoples food choices, psychologists from the University of Buffalo de
4、cided to put junk food levies to the testin the lab.Researchers recruited shoppers to examine the aisles of a mock supermarket filled with 68 common foods labeled with nutritional information. Participants were given a predetermined amount of cash, and were told to use that money to purchase a weeks
5、 worth of groceries for a family. The first time, all of the products on the shelves were priced in keeping with local supermarkets. In subsequent trips, however, junk food was taxedan additional 12.5%, then 25%or healthier foods were subsidized to reduce cost.The study, published in the journal Psy
6、chological Science, revealed that taxes were more effective at getting people to avoid certain products than subsidies were at prompting healthier food purchases. In scenarios where junk foods were taxed, study participants generally came away with a lower caloric total for their groceries, and a hi
7、gher ratio of protein to fats and carbohydrates. Yet, in situations where healthy foods were subsidized, the savings were often spent on additional junk food. That is, instead of stocking up on more fruits and vegetables because they were cheaper, the studys shoppers bought their vegetables, and the
8、n used the leftover cash to bring home extra treats like chips and soda. In the end, the subsidiesonly scenarios resulted in higher total calorie counts, and didnt result in overall nutritional improvement on the weeks groceries.Because the scenario is hypothetical,; the findings certainly shouldnt
9、be taken as the final word in the sin tax debate, the researchers stress, but should instead be used to inform the ongoing discussion about practical ways to battle obesity. To that end, they say, the next step should be research to determine whether these results would be replicated in the real wor
10、ld. 1 It is suggested in the first paragraph that obesity has（A）aroused extensive concern.（B） affected infrastructure nationwide.（C） been analyzed from political aspect.（D）led to many polarizing opinions.2 Psychologists from the University of Buffalo decided to experiment on junk food tax in order t
11、o（A）test whether it would interfere with food option.（B） find the best way to curb the obesity epidemic.（C） determine how polarizing the solution was.（D）examine various possibilities of food choices.3 Which of the following is true of the experiment?（A）Participants were asked to choose from 68 nutri
12、tional items.（B） Participants were recruited to buy things from a local supermarket.（C） Junk foods were taxed; meanwhile healthier ones were subsidized.（D）There were different scenarios for subjects to participate in.4 The study published in Psychological Science showed that（A）subsidies would promot
13、e healthier food purchases.（B） compared with subsidies, taxes seemed to operate more effectively.（C） both taxes and subsidies would greatly affect peoples food choice.（D）taxes will help shoppers to stock up on more fruits and vegetables.5 To which of the following statements would the researchers mo
14、st likely agree?（A）Results of the experiment played a vital role in the sin tax debate.（B） More subjects should be included in similar researches.（C） Though hypothetical, the research was still meaningful.（D）The real situation will provide better ways to tackle obesity.5 Suicide, proclaimed Albert C
15、amus, a French Algerian author, philosopher, and journalist, in “The Myth of Sisyphus“, is the only serious philosophical problem. In France at the moment it is also a serious management problem. A series of attempted and successful suicides at France Telecommany of them explicitly prompted by troub
16、les at workhas sparked a national debate about life in the modern corporation.There are some insular reasons for this melancholy trend. France Telecom is making the difficult transition from state monopoly to multinational company. It has shed 22,000 jobs since 2006, but two-thirds of the remaining
17、workers enjoy civil-service-like job-security. This is forcing it to pursue a toxic strategy: teaching old civil servants new tricks while at the same time putting new hires on short-term contracts. Yet the problem is not confined to France. And suicide is only the tip of an iceberg of work-related
18、unhappiness.The most obvious reason for the rise in unhappiness is the recession, which is destroying jobs at a startling rate and spreading anxiety throughout the workforce. But the recession is also highlighting longer-term problems. Unhappiness seems to be particularly common in car companies, wh
19、ich suffer from global overcapacity, and telecoms companies, which are being strongly impacted by a technological revolution.A second source of misery is the drive to improve productivity, which is typically accompanied by an obsession with measuring performance. Giant retailers use “workforce manag
20、ement“ software to monitor how many seconds it takes to scan the goods in a grocery cart, and then reward the most diligent workers with prime working hours. The public sector, particularly in Britain, is brimming with inspectorates and performance targets. Taylorism, which Charlie Chaplin mocked so
21、 memorably in “Modern Times“, has spread from the industrial to the post-industrial economy. In Japan some firms even monitor whether their employees smile frequently enough at customers.A more subtle problem lies in the mixed messages that companies send about loyalty and commitment. Many firmspart
22、icularly successful onesdemand extraordinary dedication from their employees. Some provide fringe benefits that are intended to make the office feel like a second home. But companies also reserve the right to trim their workforce at the first sign of trouble. Most employees understand that their fir
23、ms do not feel much responsibility to protect jobs. But they nevertheless find it wrenching to leave a post that has consumed so much of their lives.6 Albert Camus is mentioned to（A）show suicide is the only serious philosophical problem.（B） indicate that France is now suffering from a high suicidal
24、rate.（C） introduce the topic of unhappiness at work by starting with suicide.（D）show that suicide has prompted great debates among philosophers. 7 According to Paragraph 2, “a toxic strategy“ denotes（A）the training of the remaining workers to take up civil-service-like jobs.（B） the old and new emplo
25、yees differentiating working contract.（C） the difficult transition from state monopoly to international company.（D）the cruel dismissal of one-third of its original working forces.8 In the authors opinion, recession is（A）only the tip of an iceberg of the cause of suicide.（B） the cause of some serious
26、 longer-term problems.（C） greatly impacted by global economic changes.（D）the evident cause of increased working unhappiness.9 The word “Taylorism“(line 5, Paragraph 4)most probably means（A）improving productivity through performance evaluation.（B） setting performance targets based on workforce manage
27、ment software.（C） providing extra stimulation to employees during working hours.（D）monitoring whether employees smile frequently enough.10 Which of the following is true of the text?（A）Suicide might be an easy solution to some working problems.（B） Firms demand devotion from workers while reserving t
28、he right to fire.（C） Most workers know that their companies will protect their job security.（D）Employees may leave their original posts to seek more happiness.10 Starting this month, roughly one quarter of the worlds population will lose sleep and gain sunlight as they set their clocks ahead for day
29、light saving. People may think that with the time shift, they are conserving electricity otherwise spent on lighting. But recent studies have cast doubt on the energy argumentsome research has even found that it ultimately leads to greater power use.Benjamin Franklin is credited with conceiving the
30、idea of daylight saving in 1784 to conserve candles, but the U.S. did not institute it until World War I as a way to preserve resources for the war effort. The first comprehensive study of its effectiveness occurred during the oil crisis of the 1970s, when the U.S. Department of Transportation found
31、 that daylight saving trimmed national electricity usage by roughly 1 percent compared with standard time.Scant research had been done since, during which time U.S. electricity usage patterns have changed as air conditioning and household electronics have become more pervasive, observes economist Ma
32、tthew Kotchen of the University of California, Santa Barbara. But lately, changes to daylight saving policies on state and federal levels have presented investigators new chances to explore the before-and-after impacts of the clock shift.In 2006 Indiana instituted daylight saving statewide for the f
33、irst time. Examining electricity usage and billing since the statewide change, Kotchen and his colleague Laura Grant unexpectedly found that daylight time led to a 1 percent overall rise in residential electricity use, costing the state an extra $9 million. Although daylight time reduces demand for
34、household lighting, the researchers suggest that it increased demand for cooling on summer evenings and heating in early spring and late fall mornings.Not all recent analyses suggest that daylight saving is counterproductive. Instead of studying the impact daylight saving changes had on just one sta
35、te, senior analyst Jeff Dowd and his colleagues at the U.S. Department of Energy investigated what effect it might have on national energy consumption, looking at 67 electric utilities across the country. In their report to Congress, they conclude that the four-week extension of daylight time saved
36、about 0.5 percent of the nations electricity per day, or 1.3 trillion watt-hours in total. That amount could power 100,000 households for a year. The study did not just look at residential electricity use but commercial use as well, Dowd says. The disparities between regional and national results co
37、uld reflect climate differences between states. “The effect we saw could be even worse in Florida, where air conditioning is used heavily,“ Kotchen suggests.11 According to the first two paragraphs, daylight saving（A）means to set the clock ahead worldwide.（B） was proposed to save materials for war e
38、ffort.（C） leads to sleeplessness of millions of people.（D）trimmed electricity usage during the oil crisis of the 1970s.12 The study of the effectiveness of daylight saving（A）was started by the U.S. Department of Transportation.（B） was initiated by Benjamin Franklin in 1784 to save electricity.（C） wa
39、s rarely done as the electricity usage patterns changed.（D）needs to be done to help the government change its policies.13 What effect did daylight saving have on the energy consumption of Indiana?（A）It saved 1.3 trillion watt-hours in four weeks.（B） It reduced demand for household lighting only in s
40、pring.（C） It resulted in an extra $9 million cost on electricity.（D）It reduced demand for cooling and heating all year around.14 Jeff Dowd would most probably agree that（A）daylight saving has negative effects on energy saving.（B） the four-week extension of daylight time saves much electricity.（C） fo
41、cusing on the effect of daylight saving on one state is enough.（D）a comprehensive study of daylight time nationwide is unnecessary.15 The text intends to tell us that（A）daylight saving actually contributes to nationwide electricity conservation.（B） as states differ in climate, different daylight sav
42、ing policies are necessary.（C） whether daylight saving can save energy or not still needs further study.（D）study of effectiveness of daylight saving policies should be conducted regularly.15 Parents looking to steer their teens away from drugs may want to encourage them stay in bed longer. Lack of s
43、leep seems to lead to increased drug usenot the other way around, as many researchers previously concludedand this is likely to be a pattern of behaviour that teenagers acquire from their friends.Establishing whether one behaviour leads to another usually requires an experiment in which a particular
44、 variable is controled. But in the first analysis of its kind, Mednick and her team used changes in the friendship networks of 90,000 teens during the course of a school year as a “natural experiment“ to discover what influences led them to use cannabis. They say their analysis showed not only that
45、cannabis and poor sleep spread together, but also that lack of sleep was causing marijuana use.Having one friend who had less than 7 hours of shut-eye a night increased the likelihood that a teenager had also used marijuana by 20 per cent, the team found. Also, the more sleep-deprived friends the te
46、enager had, the more likely it was that he or she smoked dope. The team also found that the most popular teenagers were the ones most likely to sleep poorly, do drugs and pass these behaviours on.To reduce the possibility that a shared environmental factor may explain these connections, Med-nicks te
47、am took into account differences between teenagers, including race, sex, parents income and education. Another complication is that teenagers tend to pick friends based on a mutual interest, be it football or French or recreational drug use.But Mednick says that the pattern of changes in the social
48、networks show the teens are not simply picking like-minded friends, but that friends are driving each others behaviour. Mutual friends had more influence on the sleep habits and drug use of one another than pairs where only one person named the other as a friend. Teens whose friendship was not mutua
49、lly felt by a classmate they named had little or no effect on that friends behaviour.Susan Tapert, a psychologist also at UC San Diego who was not involved in the study, agrees that poor sleep may lead to drug use, but also says the two behaviours probably reinforce one another. Mednick hopes to use a similar approach to find out if sleeping badly is related to gambling and other impulsive acts. Team member James Fowler sees social networks as a useful tool for teasing out cause and effect. He and Mednick write: “People are connected, and so their health behav
