1、考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 5 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 The Notion and Operation that the Population Raise FundsPoliticians do it. Charities too. And now for-profit entrepreneurs are tapping the Internet to get
2、 small amounts of money from lots and lots of supporters. One part social networking and one part capital accumulation, crowdfunding websites seek to harness the enthusiasm and pocket money of virtual strangers, promising them a cut of the returns.CatwalkGenius. com helps the common people to financ
3、e designers. British documentary filmmaker Franny Armstrong raised more than 450, 000 ( $815, 000) to finance “ The Age of Stupid“, which she hopes will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January. People who gave 20 quids ( $ 35) got a credit on the films website; those who gave fF 5,000 ( $9
4、, 000) and up will get a percentage of the profits, if there are any.The term crowdfunding derives from another neologism: crowdsourcing, i. e. , outsourcing to the public jobs typically performed by employees. Want to start a T-shirt business? Why not have the masses submit designs (crowdsourcing)
5、and finance the ones they like (crowdfunding)? Thats what Cameesa. com is doing, in a fashion-forward knockoff of Threadless. com which generated $ 17 million in revenues in 2006 by having the crowd choose T-shirt designs. “If you put money down to support a design, thats a strong indicator of actua
6、l demand,“ says Cameesa founder Andrew Cronk, a programmer in Chicago.Likewise, SellaBand. com connects music lovers with unsigned artists looking to record albums. Musicians have profiles with bios and songs, and as soon as they sell 5,000 shares, at $ 10 a pop, its time to head to the recording st
7、udio. In two years, more than 30, 000 people have ponied up more than $2.5 million, and 25 musicians have cut or are cutting albums. So far, the average return on each $ 10 investment is about $2. 50 from CD sales and ads. The money gets split among the artist, SellaBand and the artists “ believers“
8、an apt description for those who contributed. “People become emotionally invested as part of a team,“ says Mark Maclaine, bassist in the British band Second Person, which in six months raised $ 50, 000 from 741 investors and has since had its video featured on VH1 UK and MTV UK. “Right now things ar
9、e going really well,“ says Maclaine, who is wholeheartedly pursuing music full time. “Maybe Ill be working in Wal-Mart in a few months. “ But at least 741 people are betting he wont be.1 Which of the following is true about crowdfunding according to the first paragraph?（A）It collects money from poli
10、ticians.（B） It collects money from charities.（C） Entrepreneurs invest in the Internet to get supporters.（D）It is a kind of capital accumulation.2 What can we learn from the second paragraph?（A）CatwalkGenius. com financed Franny, Armstrong to make her new movie.（B） Franny Armstrong hopes to attend th
11、e Sundance Film Festival.（C） People who gave 20 quids ( $ 35) can get a ticket to watch the film.（D）All those who financed the film will get a percentage of the profits.3 It can be inferred from the last paragraph that_.（A）mark Maclaine hopes to work in Wal-Mart in a few months（B） if things goes wel
12、l, Mark Maclaine will work in Wal-Mart in a few months（C） mark Maclaine does not want to work in Wal-Mart actually（D）mark Maclaine does not want to pursue music any more4 According to this passage,_.（A）crowdfunding means outsourcing to the public jobs typically performed by employees（B） more and mor
13、e people begin to use crowdfunding as a great help to their careers（C） C generated $ 17 million in revenues in 2006（D）Cameesa. com helps to connect music lovers with unsigned artists looking to record albums5 Which of the following is the best title for this passage?（A）Crowdfunding.（B） How to Suppor
14、t the Artists?（C） To Gain Profits from the Internet.（D）Lets Invest!5 The South Pole Travels of StabilityIt is not quite Benidorm yet, but Antarctica has become an increasingly popular destination for the more adventurous tourist. In this years southern hemisphere summer season, running from November
15、 to March, as many as 39, 000 visitors are expected to make the trip from Tierra del Fuego, the nearest jumping-off point to the worlds emptiest continent. That amounts to a fourfold increase in a decade. Officials in both Chile and Argentina are getting increasingly worried about the risk of a fata
16、l accident“a new Titanic“ as one Chilean naval officer puts it.Nobody has died so far, but there have been some near-collisions. In 2007 more than 150 people were evacuated when their ship, the Explorer, sank after hitting an iceberg near the South Shetland Islands. They were “very lucky with the we
17、ather“, says Chiles deputy minister for the navy,Carolina Echeverrla. That was one of only two accidents last season, with a similar number the previous year and one so far this season.Help is usually not far away. Although cruise ships plan their route so as to keep out of each others sight, there
18、are generally 20 to 30 boats heading to or from the Antarctic Peninsula on anyone day. Even so, surviving an accident is something of a lottery. It depends partly on the weather: Not all the ships have the covered lifeboats recommended for polar conditions. Small boats, like the Explorer, have a bet
19、ter chance of being able to transfer their passengers if they get into difficulties. But some cruise ships visiting Antarctica now carry almost 3,000 passengersmore than ten times the limit that offers a reasonable chance of timely rescue, according to Chiles navy.The navy is annoyed about the cost
20、of patrols, rescue operations and cleaning up fuel spills. It wants legally binding rules, backed by penalties, for Antarctic cruise ships. But that is hard to achieve. Under the 1959 Antarctic Treaty no country can exercise sovereignty over any part of the continent and its waters are international
21、. Some rules on tourism have been written under the treaty: cruise ships carrying over 500 passengers cannot make landings, for example. But these are not legally enforceable. Neither will be rules being debated by the United Nations International Maritime Organization on safety requirements.Some to
22、ur operators say they would welcome tighter regulation and higher safety standards. Others insist that safety is already adequate. The world recession may place a temporary brake on the trade. But Chilean officials reckon that the trend to big cruise ships, with their cheaper fares, will resume once
23、 recovery comes. If so, a tragedy may be only a matter of time.6 We learn from the first paragraph that Antarctica has_.（A）become a Benidorm-like tourist destination（B） witnessed more fatal accidents than before（C） attracted more bold guests than before（D）experienced a new Titanic period7 The Explor
24、er is mentioned in Para. 2 to show that_.（A）its perfectly safe to visit Antarctica（B） the weather will help people survive（C） nobody has died from accidents so far（D）accidents occur occasionally in this area8 “Help is usually not far away“ (Line 1, Para. 3) suggests that_.（A）cruise ships plan to kee
25、p themselves away from other boats（B） surviving an accident depends largely on the weather（C） boats sail frequently around the visiting area of the cruise ships（D）cruise ships are equipped with lifeboats for passengers9 According to the Antarctic Treaty,_.（A）the navy should rescue as many survivors
26、as possible in spite of high cost（B） no country is entitled to the rights of Antarctic continent and its waters（C） Antarctica should be open to the world without any form of restrictions（D）rules concerning Antarctica should be approved by the United Nations10 It can be inferred from the last paragra
27、ph that_. .（A）tour operators are eager to see more regulations concerning Antarctica（B） safety issues should not be worded about no matter how many cruise ships come（C） the world recession helps tour operators to reduce their fares（D）when more and more visitors come to Antarctica, a tragedy is fores
28、eeable10 The Finance Instability Causes a Huge HazardSince the Great Recession began in December 2007, Deere, the worlds largest maker of farm equipment and a major builder of construction machinery, has watched earnings plummet by hall Construction sales worldwide fell by 45% last year alone, and a
29、gricultural sales sank more than 15% .It is no small feat, then, that Deere earned $ 873 million in 2009 on sales of $ 23 billion. Thats because the manufacturer today is more focused on making profits than on just making tractors. “Deeres competitive advantage has always been a superior product and
30、 tremendous brand loyalty“, says Morgan Joseph & Co. analyst Charles Rentschler. “But it performed better this down cycle than ever before because of the tight cost controls and excellent execution it already had in place. “Deere operates in two of the most cyclic industries. The $ 87 billion agribu
31、siness sector, is about as predictable as the weather. Still, Deere can count on the fact that people need to eat. Construction remains troubled. Volumes shrank as much as 80% during the downturns lowest point. Still, housing starts showing some signs of life in January, and after such a prolonged d
32、rop, the $30 billion construction-machinery business can “expect a bounce people simply need to replace equipment again“, says Morgan Stanley analyst Robert Wertheimer. “So we do think there is a recovery at hand, though it could be in 2011, not 2010.“Yet Deeres strong performance in the most recent
33、 downturn is hitched to CEO Bob Lane, who stepped down in June. Lane diligently cut costs and unprofitable businesses. He also added a novel profit driver: a capital charge of about 1 % a month that managers must “pay“ before they can report any gain internallyin other words, 12% annual profit befor
34、e break-even. During Lanes tenure, Deere saw record earnings, soaring free cash flow and a quintupling of its stock price.When the housing bubble burst, an efficient and effective Deere was ready. Despite collapsing sales, it was able, to avoid major staff reductionsmost of the 1,500 workers Deere l
35、aid off or on holiday are already back on the job. “Deere was ahead of the curve when it came to cost controls and data collection, so as soon as demand started to drop, it could shut down production and keep inventories low,“ says Alex Blanton, an analyst at Ingalls & Snyder. “That also means there
36、 will be little lag time in its recovery.“11 What do we know about Deere according to the passage?（A）Its the worlds largest maker of farm equipment & construction machinery.（B） It suffered from the great recession and in the face of going bankrupt.（C） The earning of its Construction sales is less th
37、an that of agricultural sales.（D）Deere does not have competitive advantage in products and brand.12 Which of the following doesnt contribute to Deeres earnings in 2009?（A）The manufacturer attaches importance to the way of making profits.（B） A superior product and tremendous brand loyalty is Deeres c
38、ompetitive advantage.（C） The company carries out tight cost controls and excellent management.（D）Deere operates in two of the most cyclic industries, which minimize its loss.13 Which one is NOT true about Deeres two industries?（A）The agribusiness sector can still make profit for people need to eat.（
39、B） Construction sector still suffers trouble and needs time to recovery.（C） The sign of recovery in housing brings good news to Construction sector.（D）Its agribusiness sector earns Deere company $ 87 billion every year.14 Why does Robert Wertheimer say “we do think there is a recovery at hand. . .“?
40、（A）Housing has recovered from rescission in January.（B） People need new equipment to resume production.（C） Deere has abundant resources and experiences.（D）CEO Bob Lane will put new measures into practice.15 Deers strong performance in the downturn benefits from the following measurements except_.（A）
41、superior product and excellent brand loyalty（B） always being well-prepared beforehand（C） Deeres leading position in the world（D）CEO Bob Lanes great contribution15 The Excrement PollutesNearly 40 years after the first Earth Day, this is irony: The United States has reduced the manmade pollutants that
42、 left its waterways dead, discolored and occasionally flammable . But now, it has managed to smother the same waters with the most natural stuff in the world. Animal manure, a byproduct as old as agriculture, has become a modern pollution problem, scientists and environmentalists say. The country si
43、mply has more dung than it can handle: Crowded together at a new breed of big farms, livestock produce three times as much waste as people, more than can be recycled as fertilizer for nearby fields.That excess manure gives off air pollutants, and it is the countrys fastest-growing large source of me
44、thane, a greenhouse gas. And it washes down with the rain, helping to cause the 230 oxygen-deprived “dead zones“ that have boosted along the U.S. coast. In the Chesapeake Bay, about one-fourth of the pollution that leads to dead zones can be traced to the back ends of cows, pigs, chickens and turkey
45、s. The reasons for manures rise as a pollutant have to do, environmentalists say, with a shift in agriculture and a soft spot in the law.In recent decades, livestock raising has shifted to a smaller number of large farms. At these places, with thousands of hogs or hundreds of thousands of chickens,
46、the old self-contained cycle of farming-manure feeds the crops, then the crops feed the animals is overwhelmed by the large amount of waste. The result in farming heavy places has been too much manure and too little to do with it. In the air, that extra manure can dry into dust, forming a “brown fog
47、“. It can emit substances that contribute to climate change. And it can give off a smell like a punch to the stomach. “You have to cover your face just to go from the house to the car,“ said Lynn Henning, 52, a farmer in rural Clayton, Mich. , who said she became an environmental activist after smok
48、e from huge new dairies gave her family headaches and burning sinuses.In the water, the chemicals in manure dont poison life, like pesticides or spilled oil. Instead, they create too much life, and the wrong kinds. The chemicals in manure serve as fertilizer for unnatural algae blooms. They drain aw
49、ay oxygen as they decompose. resulting increasing number of suffocating dead zones.16 Manmade pollutants have been taken the place of by _as a modern pollution problem.17 The rise of manure as a pollutant is due to_and a soft spot in the law.18 The overwhelming amount of manure has almost broken the old self-contained_.19 “Brown fog“ is formed by_drying into dust in the air.20 The chemicals in manure in the water contribute to_.20 The Rea
