1、考博英语（阅读理解）练习试卷 2（无答案）一、Reading Comprehension0 In science, a theory is a reasonable explanation of observed events that are related. A theory often involves an imaginary model that helps scientists picture the way an observed event could be produced. A good example of this is found in the kinetic mol
2、ecular theory, in which gases are pictured as being made up of many small particles that are in constant motion.A useful theory, in addition to explaining past observations, helps to predict events that have not as yet been observed. After a theory has been publicized, scientists design experiments
3、to test the theory. If observations confirm the scientists predictions, the theory is supported. If observations do not confirm the predictions, the scientists must search further. There may be a fault in the experiment, or the theory may have to be re-vised or rejected.Science involves imagination
4、and creative thinking as well as collecting information and performing experiments. Facts by themselves are not science. As the mathematician Jules Henri Poincare said: “science is built with facts just as a house is built with bricks, but a collection of facts cannot be called science any more than
5、 a pile of bricks can be called a house. “Most scientists start an investigation by finding out what other scientists have learned about a particular problem. After known facts have been gathered, the scientist comes to the part of the investigation that requires considerable imagination. Possible s
6、olutions to the problem are formulated. These possible solutions are called hypotheses.In a way, any hypothesis is a leap into the unknown. It extends the scientists thinking beyond the known facts. The scientist plans experiments, performs calculations, and makes observations to test hypotheses. Fo
7、r without hypotheses, further investigation lacks purpose and direction. When,hypotheses are confirmed, they are incorporated into theories. (296 words)1 What does Jules Henri Poincare mean in the third paragraph?（A）A science is difficult to form.（B） Building a house is like performing experiments.（
8、C） Science is more than a collection of facts.（D）Scientific experiments have led to improved technology.2 In the fourth paragraph, the author implies that imagination is most important to scientists when they（A）evaluate previous work on a problem（B） formulate possible solutions to a problem（C） gathe
9、r known facts（D）close an investigation3 The reason the author considers “hypothesis“ as “a leap into the unknown“ is that_.（A）it is not reliable（B） it is a kind of adventure（C） it goes beyond gathered facts（D）it requires too much unrealistic effort to formulate 4 What is the definition of a “theory“
10、?（A）Its a reasonable explanation of known knowledge related.（B） It is the product of a scientists imagination.（C） It results from previous theories.（D）It cant predict events that have not as yet been observed.5 What is NOT required to be a scientist?（A）Professional.（B） Creative.（C） Imaginative.（D）Hy
11、pocritical.5 Ours has become a society of employees. A hundred years or so ago only one out of every five Americans at work was employed, i. e. , working for somebody else. Today only one out of five is not employed but working for himself. And wrhen fifty years ago “being employed“ meant working as
12、 a factory laborer or as a farmhand, the employee of today is increasingly a middle-class person with a substantial formal education, holding a professional or management job requiring intellectual and technical skills. Indeed, two things have characterized American society during these last fifty y
13、ears: middle class and upper-class employees have been the fastest-growing groups in our working population growing so fast that the industrial worker, that oldest child of the Industrial Revolution,has been losing in numerical importance despite the expansion of industrial production.Yet you will f
14、ind little of anything written on what it is to he an employee. You can find a great deal of very dubious advice on how to get a job or how to get a promotion. You can find a great deal of work in a chosen field, whether it is the mechanists trade or bookkeeping. Every one of these trades requires d
15、ifferent skills, set different standards, and requires a different preparation. Yet they all have employeeship in common. And increasingly, especially in the large business or in government, employeeship is more important to success than the special professional knowledge or skill. Certainly more pe
16、ople fail because they do not know the requirements of being an employee than because they do not adequately possess the skills of their trade; the higher you climb the ladder, the more you get into administrative or executive work, the greater the emphasis on ability to work within the organization
17、 rather than on technical ability or professional knowledge. (301 words)6 It is implied that fifty years ago（A）American working people were employed only in factories（B） the majority of American intellectuals were employees（C） the percentage of intellectuals employed was almost the same as that of o
18、rdinary workers（D）most employees were less formally educated 7 According to the passage, who is the oldest child of the Industrial Revolution?（A）Intellectuals.（B） Rich people.（C） Bosses.（D）Factory workers.8 The word “dubious“ (Line 2, Para. 2) in the second paragraph most probably means_.（A）valuable
19、（B） useful（C） doubtful（D）helpful9 According to the writer, what is the most important requirement of being an employee?（A）Professional knowledge.（B） Technical ability.（C） Cooperation with other colleagues.（D）Independence.10 From the passage it can be seen that employeeship helps one_.（A）to be more s
20、uccessful in his career（B） to solve technical problems（C） to be more specialized in his field（D）to develop his professional skill10 In a perfectly free and open market economy, the type of employergovernment or private- -should have little or no impact on the earnings differentials between women and
21、 men. However if there is discrimination against one sex, it is unlikely that the degree of discrimination by government and private employers will be the same. Differences in the degree of discrimination would result in earnings differentials associated with the type of employer. Given the nature o
22、f government and private employers, it seems most likely that discrimination by private employers would be greater. The results of a study by Fuchs support this assumption. Fuchss results suggest that the earnings of women in an industry composed of government employees would by 14. 6 percent greate
23、r than the earnings of women in an industry composed exclusively of private employees, other things being equal.In addition, both Fuchs and Sanborn have suggested that the effect of discrimination by consumers on the earnings of self-employed women may be greater than the effect of either government
24、 or private employer discrimination on the earnings of women employees. To test this hypothesis, Brown made an experiment. His results suggest that men and women are not treated the same by employers and consumers. For men, self-employment is the highest earnings category, with private employment ne
25、xt, and government lowest. For women, this order is reversed.One can infer from Browns results that consumers discriminate against self-employed women. In addition, self-employed women may have more difficulty than men in getting good employees and may encounter discrimination from suppliers and fro
26、m financial institutions.Browns results do not prove that government does not discriminate against women. They do, however, demonstrate that if government is discriminating against women, its discrimination is not having as much effect on womens earnings as is discrimination in the private sector. (
27、302 words)11 Which of the following titles best describes the content of the passage as a whole?（A）The Necessity for Earnings Differentials in a Free Market Economy.（B） How Discrimination Affects Womens Choice of Type of Employment.（C） Why Women Are Discriminated by Government Employers, Private Emp
28、loyers and Consumers.（D）The Relative Effect of Discrimination by Government Employers, Private Employers, and Consumers on Womens Earnings.12 The passage mentions all of the following as difficulties that self-employed women may encounter EXCEPT_.（A）discrimination from suppliers（B） discrimination fr
29、om consumers（C） discrimination from financial institutions（D）problems in obtaining government assistance13 Which of the following statements is true?（A）Both private, employers and government employers discriminate with equal effects on womens earnings.（B） Both private employers and government employ
30、ers discriminate, hut the discrimination by private employers has a greater effect on womens earnings.（C） Both private employers and government employers discriminate, hut the discrimination by government employers has a greater effect on womens earnings.（D）Private employers discriminate, while gove
31、rnment employers do not.14 According to Browns study, what earnings categories do women have, from highest to lowest?（A）Government employment, self-employment, private employment.（B） Government employment, private employment, self-employment.（C） Private employment, self-employment, government employ
32、ment.（D）Private employment, government employment, self-employment.15 What is the authors intention to write this article?（A）To protest against the discrimination against women.（B） To show how much she has suffered as a woman.（C） To further prove Fuchs and Sanborns studies.（D）To call for women to take immediate actions to defend themselves.
