加载中…1996,1997考研英语真题阅读理解和参考答案
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1996年硕士研究生入学考试英语试题
Section
Ⅱ
Part A
Text 1
Tight—lipped elders used to say，“It's not what you want in this world， but what you get．”
Psychology teaches that you do get what you want if you know what you want and want the right things．
51.What do the elders mean when they say，“It’s not what you want in this world，but what you get．”? __
A. You’ll certainly get what you want
B. It’s no use dreaming
C. You should be dissatisfied with what you have
D. It’s essential to set a goal for yourself
52. A blueprint made before inviting a friend to dinner is used in this passage as__.
A. an illustration of how to write an application for a job
B. an indication of how to secure a good job
C. a guideline for job description
D. a principle for job evaluation
53. According to the passage, one must write an account of himself before starting to find a job because__.
A. that is the first step to please the employer
B. that is the requirement of the employer
C. it enables him to know when to sell his services
D. it forces him to become clearly aware of himself
54. When you have carefully prepared a blueprint of your abilities and desires, you have something__.
A. definite to offer
C. practical to supply
Text 2
With the start of BBC World service Television, millions of viewers in Asia and America can now watch the Corporation’s news coverage, as well as listen to it.
And of course in Britain listeners and viewers can tune in to two BBC television channels, five BBC national radio services and dozens of local radio stations. They are brought sport, comedy, drama, music, news and current affairs, education, religion, parliamentary coverage, children’s programmes and films for an annual license fee of £83 per household.
It is a remarkable record, stretching back over 70 years--yet the BBC’s future is now in doubt. The corporation will survive as a publicly-funded broadcasting organization, at least for the time being, but its role, its size and its programmes are now the subject of a nation-wide debate in Britain.
The debate was launched by the government which invited anyone with an opinion of the BBC--including ordinary listeners and viewers--to say what was good or bad about the Corporation, and even whether they thought it was worth keeping. The reason for its inquiry is that the BBC’s royal charter runs out in 1996 and it must decide whether to keep the organization as it is, or to make changes.
Defenders of the corporation--of whom there are many--are fond of quoting the American slogan “if ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The BBC “ain’t broke”, they say, by which they mean it is not broken (as distinct form the word “broke”, meaning having no money), so why bother to change it?
Yet the BBC will have to change, because the broadcasting world around it is changing. The commercial TV channels--ITV and channel 4-were required by the Thatcher Government’s Broadcasting Act to become more commercial, competing with each other for advertisers, and cutting costs and jobs. But it is the arrival of new satellite channels--funded partly by advertising and partly by viewers subscriptions --which will bring about the biggest changes in the long term.
55. The world famous BBC now faces__.
A. the problem of new coverage
C. inquiries by the general public
56. In the passage, which of the following about the BBC is not mentioned as the key issue?
A. Extension of its TV service to Far East.
B. Programmes as the subject of a nation-wide debate.
C. Potentials for further international co-operations.
D. Its existence as a broadcasting organization.
57. The BBC’s “royal charter” (line4, paragraph 3) stands for__.
A. the financial support from the royal family
B. the privileges granted by the Queen
C. a contract with the Queen
D. a unique relationship with the royal family
58. The foremost reason why the BBC has to readjust itself is no other than __
A. the emergence of commercial TV channels
B. the enforcement of broadcasting Act by the government
C. the urgent necessity to reduce costs and jobs
D. the challenge of new satellite channels
Text 3
In the last half of the nineteenth century “capital” and “labor” were enlarging and perfecting their rival organizations on modern lines. Many an old firm was replaced by a limited liability company with a bureaucracy of salaried managers. The change met the technical requirements of the new age by engaging a large professional element and prevented the decline in efficiency that so commonly spoiled the fortunes of family firms in the second and third generation after the energetic founders. It was moreover a step away from individual initiative, towards collectivism and municipal and state-owned business. The railway companies, though still private business managed for the benefit of shareholders, were very unlike old family business. At the same time the great municipalities went into business to supply lighting, trams and other services to the taxpayers.
The growth of the limited liability company and municipal business had important consequences. Such large, impersonal manipulation of capital and industry greatly increased the numbers and importance of shareholders as a class, an element in national life representing irresponsible wealth detached from the land and the duties of the landowners; and almost equally detached from the responsible management of business. All through the nineteenth century, America, Africa, India, Australia and parts of Europe were being developed by British capital, and British shareholders were thus enriched by the world’s movement towards industrialization. Towns like Bournemouth and Eastbourne sprang up to house large “comfortable” classes who had retired on their incomes, and who had no relation to the rest of the community except that of drawing dividends and occasionally attending a shareholders’ meeting to dictate their orders to the management. On the other hand “shareholding” meant leisure and freedom which was used by many of the later Victorians for the highest purpose of a great civilization.
The “shareholders” as such had no knowledge of the lives, thoughts or needs of the workmen employed by the company in which he held shares, and his influence on the relations of capital and labour was not good. The paid manager acting for the company was in more direct relation with the men and their demands, but even he had seldom that familiar personal knowledge of the workmen which the employer had often had under the more patriarchal system of the old family business now passing away. Indeed the mere size of operations and the numbers of workmen involved rendered such personal relations impossible. Fortunately, however, the increasing power and organization of the trade unions, at least in all skilled trades, enabled the workmen to meet on equal terms the managers of the companies who employed them. The cruel discipline of the strike and lockout taught the two parties to respect each other’s strength and understand the value of fair negotiation.
59. It’s true of the old family firms that __
A. they were spoiled by the younger generations
B. they failed for lack of individual initiative
C. they lacked efficiency compared with modern companies
D. they could supply adequate services to the taxpayers
60. The growth of limited liability companies resulted in __
A. the separation of capital from management
B. the ownership of capital by managers
C. the emergence of capital and labor as two classes
D. the participation of shareholders in municipal business
61. According to the passage, all of the following are true except that__
A. the shareholders were unaware of the needs of the workers
B. the old firm owners had a better understanding of their workers
C. the limited liability companies were too large to run smoothly
D. the trade unions seemed to play a positive role
62. The author is most critical of __
A. family firm owners
C. managers
Text 4
What accounts for the great outburst of major inventions in early America --breakthroughs such as the telegraph, the steamboat and the weaving machine?
Among the many shaping factors, I would single out the country’s excellent elementary schools; a labor force that welcomed the new technology; the practice of giving premiums to inventors; and above all the American genius for nonverbal, “spatial” thinking about things technological.
Why mention the elementary schools? Because thanks to these schools our early mechanics, especially in the New England and Middle Atlantic states, were generally literate and at home in arithmetic and in some aspects of geometry and trigonometry.
Acute foreign observers related American adaptiveness and inventiveness to this educational advantage. As a member of a British commission visiting here in 1853 reported, “With a mind prepared by thorough school discipline, the American boy develops rapidly into the skilled workman.”
A further stimulus to invention came from the “premium” system, which preceded our patent system and for years ran parallel with it. This approach, originated abroad, offered inventors medals, cash prizes and other incentives.
In the United States, multitudes of premiums for new devices were awarded at country fairs and at the industrial fairs in major cities. Americans flocked to these fairs to admire the new machines and thus to renew their faith in the beneficence of technological advance.
Given this optimistic approach to technological innovation, the American worker took readily to that special kind of nonverbal thinking required in mechanical technology. As Eugene Ferguson has pointed out, “A technologist thinks about objects that cannot be reduced to unambiguous verbal descriptions; they are dealt with in his mind by a visual, nonverbal process… The designer and the inventor are able to assemble and manipulate in their minds devices that as yet do not exist. ”
This nonverbal “spatial” thinking can be just as creative as painting and writing. Robert Fulton once wrote, “The mechanic should sit down among levers, screws, wedges, wheels, etc., like a poet among the letters of the alphabet, considering them as an exhibition of his thoughts, in which a new arrangement transmits a new idea.”
When all these shaping forces-schools, open attitudes, the premium system, a genius for spatial thinking-interacted with one another on the rich U.S. mainland, they produced that American characteristic, emulation. Today that word implies mere imitation. But in earlier times it meant a friendly but competitive striving for fame and excellence.
63. According to the author, the great outburst of major inventions in early America was in a large part due to __.
A. elementary schools
C. the attractive premium system
64. It is implied that adaptiveness and inventiveness of the early American mechanics__
A. benefited a lot from their mathematical knowledge
B. shed light on disciplined school management
C. was brought about by privileged home training
D. owed a lot to the technological development
65. A technologist can be compared to an artist because__.
A. they are both winners of awards
B. they are both experts in spatial thinking
C. they both abandon verbal description
D. they both use various instruments
66. The best title for this passage might be __.
A. Inventive Mind
C. Ways of Thinking
Text 5
Rumor has it that more than 20 books on creationism/evolution are in the publisher’s pipelines. A few have already appeared. The goal of all will be to try to explain to a confused and often unenlightened citizenry that there are not two equally valid scientific theories for the origin and evolution of universe and life. Cosmology, geology, and biology have provided a consistent, unified, and constantly improving account of what happened. “Scientific” creationism, which is being pushed by some for “equal time” in the classrooms whenever the scientific accounts of evolution are given, is based on religion, not science. Virtually all scientists and the majority of nonfundamentalist religious leaders have come to regard “scientific” creationism as bad science and bad religion.
The first four chapters of Kitcher’s book give a very brief introduction to evolution. At appropriate places, he introduces the criticisms of the creationists and provides answers. In the last three chapters, he takes off his gloves and gives the creationists a good beating. He describes their programmes and tactics, and, for those unfamiliar with the ways of creationists, the extent of their deception and distortion may come as an unpleasant surprise. When their basic motivation is religious, one might have expected more Christian behavior.
Kitcher is a philosopher, and this may account, in part, for the clarity and effectiveness of his arguments. The nonspecialist will be able to obtain at least a notion of the sorts of data and argument that support evolutionary theory. The final chapter on the creationists will be extremely clear to all. On the dust jacket of this fine book, Stephen jay Gould says: “This book stands for reason itself.” And so it does-and all would be well were reason the only judge in the creationism/evolution debate.
67.”Creationism” in the passage refers to __.
A. evolution in its true sense as to the origin of the universe
B. a notion of the creation of religion
C. the scientific explanation of the earth formation
D. the deceptive theory about origin of the universe
68. Kitcher’s book is intended to __
A. recommend the views of the evolutionists
B. expose the true features of creationists
C. curse bitterly at his opponents
D. launch a surprising attack on creationists
69. From the passage we can infer that __
A. reasoning has played a decisive role in the debate
B. creationists do not base their argument on reasoning
C. evolutionary theory is too difficult for non-specialists
D. creationism is supported by scientific findings
70. This passage appears to be a digest of __
A. a book review
C. a magazine feature
1997年硕士研究生入学考试英语试题
Section
Ⅱ
Part A
Text 1
It was 3:45 in the morning when the vote was finally taken. After six months of arguing and final 16 hours of hot parliamentary debates, Australia’s Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die .The measure passed by the convincing vote of 15 to 10. Almost immediately word flashed on the Internet and was picked up, half a world away, by John Hofsess, executive director of the Right to Die Society of Canada. He sent it on via the group’s on-line service, Death NET. Says Hofsess. “We posted bulletins all day long, because of course this isn’t just something that happened in Australia. It’s world history.”
The full import may take a while to sink in .The NT Rights of the Terminally Ill law has left physicians and citizens alike trying to deal with its moral and practical implications. Some have breathed sighs of relief, others, including churches, right–to-life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the bill and the haste of its passage. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australia--where an aging population, life-extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part--other states are going to consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia. In the US and Canada ,where the right-to-die movement is gathering strength ,observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling .
Under the new Northern Territory law, an adult patient can request death---probably by a deadly injection or pill--to put an end to suffering .The patient must be diagnosed as terminally ill by two doctors .After a “cooling off” period of seven days ,the patient can sign a certificate of request .After 48 hours the wish for death can be met .For Lloyd Nickson, a 54-year-old Darwin resident suffering from lung cancer ,the NT Rights of Terminally Ill law means he can get on with living without the haunting fear of his suffering: a terrifying death from his breathing condition. “I’m not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view, but that I was afraid of was how I’d go, because I’ve watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks,” he says.
1. From the second paragraph we learn that__
A.
B.
C.
D.
2. When the author says that observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling, he means__
A. observers are taking a wait-and-see attitude
towards the future of euthanasia
B. similar bills are likely to be passed in the US, Canada and other countries
C. observers are waiting to see the result of the game of dominoes
D. the effect-taking process of the passed bill may finally come to a stop
3. When Lloyd Nickson dies, he will__
A.
B.
C.
D.
4. The author’s attitude towards euthanasia seems
to be that of ___
A. opposition
C. approval
Text 2
A report consistently brought back by visitors to the US is how friendly, courteous, and helpful most Americans were to them .To be fair ,this observation is also frequently made of Canada and Canadians, and should best be considered North American .There are, of course, exceptions. Small-minded officials, rude waiters, and ill-mannered taxi drivers are hardly unknown in the US. Yet it is an observation made so frequently that it deserves comment.
For a long period of time and in many parts of the country, a traveler was a welcome break in an otherwise dull existence. Dullness and loneliness were common problems of the families who generally lived distant from one another. Strangers and travelers were welcome sources of diversion, and brought news of the outside world.
The harsh realities of the frontier also shaped this tradition of hospitality .Someone traveling alone, if hungry, injured, or ill, often had nowhere to turn except to the nearest cabin or settlement. It was not a matter of choice for the traveler or merely a charitable impulse on the part of the settlers. It reflected the harshness of daily life: if you didn’t take in the stranger and take care of him, there was no one else who would. And someday, remember; you might be in the same situation.
Today there are many charitable organizations which specialize in helping the weary traveler. Yet, the old tradition of hospitality to strangers is still very strong in the US, especially in the smaller cities and towns away from the busy tourist trails. “I was just traveling through, got talking with this American, and pretty soon he invited me home for dinner—amazing.” Such observations reported by visitors to the US are not uncommon, but are not always understood properly. The casual friendliness of many Americans should be interpreted neither as superficial nor as artificial, but as the result of a historically developed cultural tradition.
As is true of any developed society, in America a complex set of cultural signals, assumptions, and conventions underlies all social interrelationships. And, of course, speaking a language does not necessarily mean that someone understands social and cultural patterns .Visitors who fail to “translate” cultural meanings properly often draw wrong conclusions .For example, when an American uses the word “friend”, the cultural implications of the word may be quite different from those it has in the visitor’s language and culture .It takes more than a brief encounter on a bus to distinguish between courteous convention and individual interest. Yet, being friendly is a virtue that many Americans value highly and expect from both neighbors and strangers.
1. In the eyes of visitors from the outside world___
A.
B.
C.
D.
2. It could be inferred from the last paragraph that___
A.
B.
C.
D.
3. Families in frontier settlements used to entertain strangers___
A.
B.
C.
D.
4. The tradition of hospitality to strangers___.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Text 3
We live in a society in which the medicinal and social use of substances (drugs) is pervasive: an aspirin to quiet a headache, some wine to be sociable, coffee to get going in the morning, a cigarette for the nerves, When do these socially acceptable and apparently constructive uses of a substance become misuses? First of all, most substances taken in excess will produce negative effects such as poisoning or intense perceptual distortions. Repeated use of a substance can also lead to physical addiction or substance dependence. Dependence is marked first by an increased tolerance, with more and more of the substance required to produce the desired effect, and then by the appearance of unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the substance is discontinued.
Drugs (substances) that affect the central nervous system and alter perception, mood，and behavior are known as psychoactive substances. Psychoactive substances are commonly grouped according to whether they are stimulants, depressants, or hallucinogens. Stimulants initially speed up or activate the central nervous system, whereas depressants slow it down. Hallucinogens have their primary effect on perception, distorting and altering it in a variety of ways including producing hallucinations. These are the substances often called psychedelic (from the Greek word meaning “mind-manifestation”) because they seemed to radically alter one’s state of consciousness.
1. “Substance abuse” (Line 5, Paragraph 1) is preferable to “drug abuse” in that___.
[A] substances can alter our bodily or mental functioning if illegally used
[B] “drug abuse” is only related to a limited number of drug takers
[C] alcohol and tobacco are as fatal as heroin and cocaine
[D] many substances other than heroin or cocaine can also be poisonous
2. The word “pervasive” (Line 1, Paragraph 2) might mean______.
[A] widespread
[C] piercing
3. Physical dependence on certain substances results from_____.
[A] uncontrolled consumption of them over long periods of time
[B] exclusive use of them for social purposes
[C] quantitative application of them to the treatment of diseases
[D] careless employment of them for unpleasant symptoms
4. From the last paragraph we can infer that_______.
[A] stimulants function positively on the mind
[B] hallucinogens are in themselves harmful to health
[C] depressants are the worst type of psychoactive substances
[D] the three types of psychoactive substances are commonly used in groups
Text 4
No company likes to be told it is contributing to the moral decline of a nation. “Is this what you intended to accomplish with your careers?” Senator Robert Dole asked Time Warner executives last week. “You have sold your souls, but must you corrupt our nation and threaten our children as well?” At Time Warner, however, such questions are simply the latest manifestation of the soul-searching that has involved the company ever since the company was born in 1990. It’s a self-examination that has, at various times, involved issues of responsibility, creative freedom and the corporate bottom line.
At the core of this debate is Chairman Gerald Levin, 56, who took over for the late Steve Ross in 1992. On the financial front, Levin is under pressure to raise the stock price and reduce the company’s mountainous debt, which will increase to $ 17.3 billion after two new cable deals close. He has promised to sell off some of the property and restructure the company, but investors are waiting impatiently.
The flap over rap is not making life any easier for him. Levin has consistently defended the company’s rap music on the grounds of expression. In 1992, when Time Warner was under fire for releasing Ice-T’s violent rap song Cop Killer, Levin described rap as a lawful expression of street culture, which deserves an outlet. “The test of any democratic society,” he wrote in a Wall Street Journal column, “lies not in how well it can control expression but in whether it gives freedom of thought and expression the widest possible latitude, however disputable or irritating the results may sometimes be. We won’t retreat in the face of any threats.”
Levin would not comment on the debate last week, but there were signs that the chairman was backing off his hard-line stand, at least to some extent. During the discussion of rock singing verses at last month’s stockholders’ meeting, Levin asserted that “music is not the cause of society’s ills” and even cited his son, a teacher in the Bronx, New York, who uses rap to communicate with students. But he talked as well about the “balanced struggle” between creative freedom and social responsibility, and he announced that the company would launch a drive to develop standards for distribution and labeling of potentially objectionable music.
The 15-member Time Warner board is generally supportive of Levin and his corporate strategy. But insiders say several of them have shown their concerns in this matter. “Some of us have known for many, many years that the freedoms under the First Amendment are not totally unlimited,” says Luce. “I think it is perhaps the case that some people associated with the company have only recently come to realize this.”
1. Senator Robert Dole criticized Time Warner for_______.
[A] its raising of the corporate stock price
[B] its self-examination of soul
[C] its neglect of social responsibility
[D] its emphasis on creative freedom
2. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
[A] Luce is a spokesman of Time Warner
[B] Gerald Levin is liable to compromise
[C] Time Warner is united as one in the face of the debate
[D] Steve Ross is no longer alive
3. In face of the recent attacks on the company, the chairman_____.
[A] stuck to a strong stand to defend freedom of expression
[B] softened his tone and adopted some new policy
[C] changed his attitude and yielded to objection
[D] received more support from the 15-member board
4. The best title for this passage could be_______.
[A] A Company under Fire
[B] A Debate on Moral Decline
[C] A Lawful Outlet of Street Culture
[D] A Form of Creative Freedom
Text 5
Given all these disadvantages, central bankers seem to have had much to boast about of late. Average inflation in the big seven industrial economies fell to a mere 2.3% last year, close to its lowest level in 30 years before rising slightly to 2.5% this July. This is a long way below the double-digit rates which many countries experienced in the 1970s and early 1980s.
It is also less than most forecasters had predicated. In late 1994 the panel of economists which The Economist polls each month said that America’s inflation rate would average 3.5% in 1995. In fact, it fell to 2.6% in August, and is expected to average only about 3% for the year as a whole. In Britain and Japan inflation is running half a percentage point below the rate predicted at the end of last year. This is no flash in the pan; over the past couple of years, inflation has been consistently lower than expected in Britain and America.
Economists have been particularly surprised by favorable inflation figures in Britain and the United States, since conventional measures suggest that both economies, and especially America’s, have little productive slack. America’s capacity utilization, for example, hit historically high levels earlier this year, and its jobless rate (5.6% in August) has fallen below most estimates of the natural rate of unemployment-the rate below which inflation has taken off in the past.
Why has inflation proved so mild? The most thrilling explanation is, unfortunately, a little defective. Some economists argue that powerful structural changes in the world have up-ended the old economic models that were based upon the historical link between growth and inflation.
1. From the passage we learn that_______.
[A] there is a definite relationship between inflation and interest rates
[B] economy will always follow certain models
[C] the economic situation is better than expected
[D] economists had foreseen the present economic situation
2. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
[A] Making monetary policies is comparable to driving a car.
[B] An extremely low jobless rate will lead to inflation.
[C] A high unemployment rate will result from inflation.
[D] Interest rates have an immediate effect on the economy.
3. The sentence “This is no flash in the pan” (Line 5, Paragraph 3) means that_______.
[A] the low inflation rate will last for some time
[B] the inflation rate will soon rise
[C] the inflation will disappear quickly
[D] there is no inflation at present
4. The passage shows that the author is ______ the present situation
[A] critical of
[C] disappointed at
1996：Section III: Reading Comprehension (40 points)
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1997：Section III: Reading Comprehension (40 points)
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