1、考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 442 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 In 1956, when the cold war was at its peak, America deployed a “secret sonic weapon“, as a newspaper headline put it at the time. That weapon was Dizzy
2、Gillespie, a famed jazz musician, who was given the task of changing the worlds view of American culture through rhythm and beat. Crowds poured into the street to dance. Cultural diplomacy died down after the cold war ended. But the attacks of September 11th 2001 convinced the State Department to se
3、nd out Americas musicians once again to woo hearts and minds with melody.Rhythm Road, a program run by the State Department and a non-profit organization, Jazz at Lincoln Centre, has made informal diplomats out of both musicians and audiences. Since it began in 2005, musicians have travelled to 96 c
4、ountries. One band went to Mauritania, a country in northwestern Africa, after last years coup; many depart for countries that have strained relationships with America. The musicians travel to places where some people have never seen an American.Jazz, so participants in the program, is well-suited t
5、o diplomacy. It is collaborative, allowing individuals both to harmonize and play solomuch like a democracy, says Ari Roland, who plays bass for a band that left New York to tour the Middle East on March 31st. Jazz is also a reminder of musics power. It helped break down racial barriers, as enthusia
6、sts of all colors gathered to listen to jazz when segregation was still the law of the land.The State Department spent 10 million US dollars on cultural diplomacy programs in the year to September 30th 2008. But most expect funding for the initiative to increase under Barack Obama, who pledged his s
7、upport for cultural diplomacy during his campaign. Rhythm Road now sends out hip-hop and bluegrass bands as well.There are some dissenters. Nick Cull, the director of the Public Diplomacy Program at the University of Southern California, thinks that these diplomatic projects would be more productive
8、 if they were not administered by the same agency that oversees the countrys foreign-policy agenda. And there is also clamor for Mr. Obama to appoint a secretary of culture in his cabinet. What good, they ask, is sending American culture abroad, when the country is not giving it proper attention at
9、home?1 Why was Dizzy Gillespie regarded as a “secret sonic weapon“ in 1956?（A）He was deployed to help the U.S. gain the victory of the cold war.（B） He was assigned to beat enemies at the peak of the cold war.（C） He had the power to influence the world during the cold war.（D）He could help to reshape
10、a new image of American culture to the world. 2 What is the position of cultural diplomacy in American politics?（A）It has always been highly valued throughout history.（B） It was a vital weapon in the second half of the 20th century.（C） It was neglected for decades after oace being successful.（D）It w
11、as welcomed by American citizens during the war.3 The word “well-suited“(Line 1, Paragraph 3)most probably implies（A）the participants of the program are all well dressed.（B） jazz music is collaborative as well as individual.（C） the participants are suitable for the program.（D）jazz music best represe
12、nts the democratic spirit.4 The Rhythm Road program（A）only involves professional musicians.（B） is a cultural and political program.（C） aims at Americas opponent countries.（D）sends out mainly bands of Jazz music.5 The last paragraph suggests that（A）the cultural democracy programs are not successful a
13、nd productive at all.（B） Barack Obama fails to realize his pledges for support to cultural democracy.（C） the government should emphasize American culture only at home.（D）authorities should give more attention to American culture domestically.5 Nice guys knew it, now two studies have confirmed it: ba
14、d boys get the most girls. The finding may help explain why a nasty suite of anti-social personality traits known as the “dark triad“ persists in the human population, despite their potentially grave cultural costs.The traits are the self-obsession of narcissism; the impulsive, thrill-seeking and un
15、feeling behavior of psychopaths; and the deceitful and exploitative nature of Machiavellianism. At their extreme, these traits would be highly detrimental for life in traditional human societies. People with these personalities risk being shunned by others and shut out of relationships, leaving them
16、 without a mate, hungry and vulnerable to predators.But being just slightly evil could have an upside: a prolific sex life, says Peter Jonason at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. “We have some evidence that the three traits are really the same thing and may represent a successful evolution
17、ary strategy.“ Jonason and his colleagues subjected 200 college students to personality tests designed to rank them for each of the dark triad traits. They also asked about their attitudes to sexual relationships and about their sex lives, including how many partners theyd had and whether they were
18、seeking brief affairs. The study found that those who scored higher on the dark triad personality traits tended to have more partners and more desire for short-term relationships. But the correlation only held in males.James Bond epitomizes this set of traits, Jonason says. “Hes clearly disagreeable
19、, very extroverted and likes trying new thingskilling people, new women.“ Just as Bond seduces woman after woman, people with dark triad traits may be more successful with a quantity style or shotgun approach to reproduction, even if they dont stick around for parenting. “The strategy seems to have
20、worked. We still have these traits,“ Jonason says.This observation seems to hold across cultures. David Schmitt of Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, presented preliminary results at the same meeting from a survey of more than 35,000 people in 57 countries. He found a similar link between the d
21、ark triad and reproductive success in men. “It is universal across cultures for high dark triad scorers to be more active in short-term mating,“ Schmitt says. “They are more likely to try and poach other peoples partners for a brief affair.“ Matthew Keller of the University of Colorado in Boulder re
22、marks: “They still have to explain why it hasnt spread to everyone? There must be some cost of the traits.“ One possibility, both Keller and Jonason suggest, is that the strategy is most successful when dark triad personalities are rare. Otherwise, others would become more wary and guarded.6 Unlike
23、others, people with slight dark triad personalities are more likely to（A）run the risk of being avoided by others.（B） be left alone and attacked by predators.（C） enjoy a productive and successful sex life.（D）ruin the good relationship.7 On which of the following statements would Jonason and his colle
24、agues most probably agree?（A）Both men and women scoring higher had more partners in life.（B） There is a tie between the dark triad and sex success among all the people.（C） Being a monster could bring people a prolific sex life.（D）A close tie between the dark triad and sex success could be found in m
25、ales. 8 The word “epitomize“(Line 1, Paragraph 4)most probably means（A）enjoy.（B） appreciate.（C） typify.（D）despise.9 It can be inferred from the last paragraph that（A）the dark triad personality traits have spread to both men and women.（B） people are extremely cautious about people with dark triad per
26、sonalities.（C） the dark triad personality traits may cost people much sometimes.（D）the strategy is most successful without dark triad personalities.10 Which of the following would be the best title for this text?（A）Dark Triad Personality Traits（B） Bad Is Good as a Mating Strategy（C） Dark Side of Hum
27、an Beings（D）Being Evil and Lucky10 Humanitys greatest accomplishment of the past five decades, declared Bill Gates this week, is the reduction in the number of deaths among young children by half, to 10 million a year in 2007. The worlds most successful capitalist heaped praise on the World Health O
28、rganization(WHO), while unveiling an ambitious new global scheme to eliminate polio within a few years. For his part, the agencys top polio man, Bruce Aylward, described the fight against the disease in the language of markets: “Elimination is the venture capital of public health: the risks are huge
29、 but so too are the rewards.“The use of this sort of language captures a change in public health in the past decade. The Gates Foundation, with its pots of money and businesslike approach, has transformed the bureaucratic and disheartened world of public health. It has helped revive ailing campaigns
30、, including the fight against polio. This will now get a fresh $600m-plus, from British and German taxpayers, from the Rotary Club International, as well as from the Gates Foundation($255m).The decline from 350,000 new cases in 1988(when the goal of rapid polio eradication was first declared)to 2,00
31、0 cases now(chiefly in Nigeria, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan)looks like a near victory. But the final stretch is the hardest. Only one in 200 cases is readily vulnerable to early detection(as opposed to most victims of smallpoxa serious infectious disease that causes spots which leave deep marks
32、on the skin, already eliminated). Polio is also far more infectious.Other obstacles are that the usual vaccine has not worked well in densely populated, disease-ridden central India. Researchers are now trying to find a vaccine that fits those conditions better. Neal Halsey, of Johns Hopkins Univers
33、ity, says the “live“ vaccines used commonly today must be backed up with further doses of “inactivated“ vaccines. These need to become cheaper.The fighting in Afghanistan and Pakistan has hampered vaccination programs there. So have rumors among Muslims in northern Nigeria that the vaccination progr
34、am was in fact a conspiracy to sterilize children. That allowed the polio virus to strengthen and spread. The Nigerian strain may have now reached a dozen other countries.The final push towards elimination will certainly be costly, though several recent studies suggest that it is cheaper to spend mo
35、ney on a big elimination effort now than to pay the price later for sustained vigilance and health costs. The prospect of a global revival is concentrating minds. That is why, despite the daunting challenges and potential donor fatigue, the world may end up making a go of elimination this time.11 Ac
36、cording to Paragraph 2, a change in the world of public health refers to the fact that public health（A）is more businesslike than what it used to be.（B） has received pots of money from the Gates Foundation.（C） is no longer bureaucratic and demoralized.（D）restarts the campaigns which had slim chance o
37、f success.12 It can be inferred from the third paragraph that eradication of polio is the hardest in that（A）there are still as many as 2,000 new cases at present.（B） it is very infectious and not easy to be detected earlier.（C） there were as many as 350,000 new cases in 1988.（D）it is impossible to b
38、e detected at an early stage.13 Muslims in northern Nigeria is cited as an example to show that（A）eradication of polio has been hampered by the conspiracy of Muslims.（B） eradication of polio met many obstacles there.（C） vaccination program was harmful to the children there.（D）vaccination program str
39、engthened and spread virus.14 By saying “the world may end up making a go of elimination this time“(Lines 4-5, Paragraph 6), the author implies that the world may（A）manage to eradicate polio.（B） fail to achieve the eradication of polio.（C） give up the goal of eradication of polio.（D）begin to elimina
40、te polio.15 Which of the following would be the best title of the text?（A）The Success of Eradication of Polio（B） The Ambition of Gates Foundation（C） The Greatest Accomplishment in Public Health（D）Eradication of Polio so Near, yet So Far15 Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, allowing us
41、to do things more quickly and efficiently. But too often it seems to make things harder. This spiral of complexity, often called “feature creep,“ costs consumers time, but it also costs businesses money. Product returns in the U.S. cost a hundred billion dollars a year, and a recent study by Elke de
42、n Ouden, of Philips Electronics, found that at least half of returned products have nothing wrong with them. Consumers just couldnt figure out how to use them. Companies now know a great deal about problems of usability and consumer behavior, so why is it that feature creep proves unstoppable?In par
43、t, feature creep is the product of the so-called internal-audience problem: the people who design and sell products are not the ones who buy and use them, and what engineers and marketers think is important is not necessarily whats best for consumers. The engineers tend not to notice when more optio
44、ns make a product less usable. And marketing and sales departments see each additional feature as a new selling point, and a new way to lure customers.You might think, then, that companies could avoid feature creep by just paying attention to what customers really want. But thats where the trouble b
45、egins, because although consumers find overloaded gadgets unmanageable, they also find them attractive. It turns out that when we look at a new product in a store we tend to think that the more features there are, the better. Its only once we get the product home and try to use it that we realize th
46、e virtues of simplicity.It seems odd that we dont anticipate feature fatigue and thus avoid it. But, as numerous studies have shown, people are not, in general, good at predicting what will make them happy in the future. As a result, we will pay more for more features because we systematically overe
47、stimate how often well use them. We also overestimate our ability to figure out how a complicated product works.The fact that buyers want bells and whistles but users want something clear and simple creates a peculiar problem for companies. A product that doesnt have enough features may fail to catc
48、h our eye in the store. But a product with too many features is likely to annoy consumers and generate bad word of mouth, as BMWs original iDrive system did.16 In the first paragraph, the author mainly discusses（A）the benefits brought by the advanced technology.（B） the recent study conducted by Elke
49、 den Ouden.（C） the loss incurred by the feature creep of technology.（D）many problems of usability known by the consumers.17 Which of the following is true according to the second paragraph?（A）It is the audience problem that leads to feature creep.（B） What matters to designers and marketers is not good for consumers.（C） Feature creep brings blessings to the people in marketing and sales.（D）The engineers will not pay attention to the quality of the products.18 Companies find it difficult to avoid feature creep because consumers（A）find complex gadgets easy to mana
