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section ⅰ use of english
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read the following text. choose the best word (s) for each numbered blank and mark a, b, c or d on answer sheet 1. (10 points)
responsibilities. we all have them; most of us have more than we’d like. that doesn’t change the reality that, sooner or later, we all have to 1____ up to them. but perhaps it does explain our __2___ to add to the ever-growing list. there’s already so much to do in a day, why tack on an 3_____ burden?
unfortunately, it’s this kind of defeatist mentality 4 __keeps people from enhancing their lives through proper 5 and exercise. here is the salient point, though: the health and fitness benefits you’ll derive from 6_____ the necessary work are worth whatever sacrifices you must make 7______ the way.
i can’t count how many times i’ve heard the same 8 . each time, i always give the same response: yes, i say, working out is work. so is taking the 9 to eat right. 10 yourself on the couch or having drinks with friends after work is a lot easier than exercising, and hitting the mcdonald’s drive thru takes a lot less time than cooking a 11 at home. but channel surfing, margaritas and a quarter pounder. with cheese aren’t going to produce some of the things worth having—a low cholesterol level or the 12____ to go shirtless on the beach. those benefits demand a ___13____ effort.
i’m not saying you should eschew the ___14__ night on the town or gourmet meal at a five-star restaurant. both have their ___15____ and are components of a well-rounded life. i’ve enjoyed my ___16____ of revelry and fine ___17___ and look forward to those special opportunities to experience more of the good life. but i’ve managed to find a balance between those ___18 pleasures and a permanent ___19____ to a regular workout and a healthy diet. BECause, __20____, it is the latter that will have a lasting improvement on the overall quality of my life.
1. [a] come [b] catch [c] confront [d] face
2. [a] resistance [b] reluctance [c] persistence [d] existence
3. [a] exact [b] external [c] extra [d] extensive
4. [a] that [b] which [c] what [d] who
5. [a] food [b] nutrition [c] diet [d] recreation
6. [a] setting in [b] putting in [c] getting in [d] cutting in
7. [a] along [b] by [c] on [d] in
8. [a] reasons [b] questions [c] doubts [d] excuses
9. [a] chance [b] effort [c] time [d] interest
10. [a] throwing [b] planting [c] sitting [d] placing
11. [a] dish [b] dinner [c] meal [d] hamburger
12. [a] pride [b] confidence [c] enthusiasm [d] inspiration
13. [a] long time [b] long range [c] long term [d] long distance Xy�61
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14. [a] additional [b] emotional [c] occasional [d] sensational
15. [a] place [b] position [c] location [d] attraction
16. [a] share [b] part [c] portion [d] section
17. [a] meal [b] diet [c] dining [d] eating
18. [a] short dated [b] short lived [c] short legged [d] short tempered
19. [a] coherence [b] experience [c] adherence [d]remembrance
20. [a] in a word [b] in the end [c] in the future [d] in a nutshell
section ⅱ reading comprehension
part a
directions:
read the following four texts. answer the questions below each text by choosing a, b, c or d. mark your answers on answer sheet 1. (40 points )
text 1
economists often like to speak of homo economicus—rational economic man. in practice, human economic behaviour is not quite as rational as the relentless logic of theoretical economics suggests it ought to be. when buying things in a straight exchange of money for goods, people often respond to changes in price in exactly the way that theoretical economics predicts. but when faced with an exchange whose outcome is predictable only on average, most people prefer to avoid the risk of making a loss than to take the chance of making a gain in circumstances when the average expected outcome of the two actions would be the same.
there has been a lot of discussion about this discrepancy in the economic literature—in particular, about whether it is the product of cultural experience or is a reflection of a deeper biological phenomenon. so keith chen, of the yale school of management, and his colleagues decided to investigate its evolutionary past. they reasoned that if they could find similar behaviour in another species of primate (none of which has yet invented a cash economy) this would suggest that loss aversion evolved in a common ancestor. they chose the capuchin monkey, cebus apella, a south american species often used for behavioral experiments.
first, the researchers had to introduce their monkeys to the idea of a cash economy. they did this by giving them small metal discs while showing them food. the monkeys quickly learned that humans valued these inedible discs so much that they were willing to trade them for scrumptious pieces of apple, grapes and jelly. preliminary experiments established the amount of apple that was valued as much as either a grape or a cube of jelly, and set the price accordingly, at one disc per food item. the monkeys were then given 12 discs and allowed to trade them one at a time for whichever foodstuff they preferred.
once the price had been established, though, it was changed. the size of the apple portions was doubled, effectively halving the price of apple. at the same time, the number of discs a monkey was given to spend fell from 12 to nine. the result was that apple consumption went up in exactly the way that price theory (as applied to humans) would predict. indeed, averaged over the course of ten sessions it was within 1% of the theory’s prediction. one up to cebus economicus.
the experimenters then began to test their animals’ risk aversion. they did this by offering them three different trading regimes in succession. each required choosing between the wares of two experimental “salesmen”. in the first regime one salesman offered one piece of apple for a disc, while the other offered two. however, half the time the second salesman only handed over one piece. despite this deception, the monkeys quickly worked out that the second salesman offered the better overall deal, and came to prefer him.
21. the capuchin monkey was chosen for the experiments because____________
[a] it is from south america.
[b] it doesn’t understand the concept of money.
[c] it is often used in behavioral experiments.
[d] it is cute and friendly.
22. how were the monkeys introduced to the idea of a cash economy?
[a] they were told that metal discs could be traded for food.
[b] they were given metal discs if they gave the researchers food.
[c] they were shown the different values of three different kinds of food.
[d] they were given some discs which researchers would exchange for food.
23. the researchers reduce the “cost” of apples in order to_________________
[a] see if the monkeys would “buy” more apples, as humans would.
[b] see if the monkeys understood the idea of a cash economy.
[c] see if the monkeys preferred apples or another kind of food. |U2=.? !,iU-8r6 [[本_文_来_源_于_我_的_学_习_网考研一方考研英语 http://Www.GZU521.Com ]|U2=.? !,iU-8r6 [
[d] see what the monkeys would buy with only nine metal discs.
24. the first trading regime mentioned in the final paragraph revealed that ___________
[a] monkeys don’t mind being deceived.
[b] monkeys like to take risks.
[c] monkeys don’t really understand the concept of a cash economy.
[d] monkeys will “buy” from a deceptive person if they offer a better deal.
25. what is the next paragraph likely to cover?
[a] a comparison of the way the monkeys behaved and real economic behaviour.
[b] a second trading regime.
[c] an explanation of the monkeys’ behaviour.
[d] a conclusion on how this might affect theoretical economics.
text 2
more and more, it seems, the same tech tools we depend on to get through the day are often the source of our frustrations. gadgets have gotten better: they do more, are smaller, and cost less. but they don’t work quite the way we want them too, do they? text-messaging and camera phone features that obscure access to your voice mail. camcorder batteries that die in the middle of your sister’s wedding. the sick pc that sends copies of its virus to everyone in your e-mail address book.
but there is reason for renewed hope. more companies are discovering that one key to reining in unruly tech is simplicity itself; that is, less is actually more. a few years ago, it seemed only a sprinkling of companies offered products that in their design emphasized ease of use and dependability over frilly, rarely used features. now analysts report that whole industries—among them cellphones, consumer electronics, and, yes, even computers—seem to be shifting back to basics, with a few companies taking the lead. the downside to this switch for now is that simplicity and reliability oddly enough tend to cost extra. an apple macintosh, widely considered user-friendly, costs at least several hundred dollars more than a windows-based pc. verizon wireless, rated by many the most reliable cellphone service, generally costs more than sprint, cingular, or t-mobile. but that effective surcharge could fade if brand loyalty surges for companies that prioritize efficient, friendly design.
so how did we go from the days of small, color tvs and bricklike mobile phones to high definition home theaters and smart phones that are too clever by half? the blame for the personal tech mess goes both ways. companies are eager to crank out new products with new features. it’s a quick way to get attention, distancing a product from competitors and dusting upstarts in a cutthroat arena. shoppers, meanwhile, are routinely seduced by the new bells and whistles. consumer electronics tend to be among the more expensive purchases people make during the year, so why not get the gizmo that does more? “we’re all trapped in an economic myth that more is better,” says john maeda, a media arts and sciences professor at the massachusetts institute of technology.
haddon fisher’s motorola phone locks up a couple of times a day, says the syracuse university sophomore. he has also had to put up with a pc that would spontaneously reboot while he slept or attended class. “you learn to live with a certain level of pain,” he says. such vexations, repeated across the country, have eroded confidence in tech manufacturers. a recent survey conducted for royal philips electronics found that two thirds of american consumers have lost interest in a tech product because it looks too complex—and half think the manufacturers are just guessing at what will sell, rather than listening to their customers.
26.in paragraph 1, the author cites the examples in order to demonstrate that__________
[a] gadgets do not function as we would like.
[b] gadgets work, but we do not use them properly.
[c] gadgets are smaller and cost less.
[d] people need clear instructions on how to use new gadgets.
27. why might less mean more as far as modern gadgets are concerned?
[a] gadgets cost less and do more things.
[b] simple gadgets cost more than complex ones.
[c] gadgets with fewer features are less likely to let you down.
[d] most people prefer simple gadgets.
28. “dusting upstarts in a cutthroat arena” in paragraph 3 means________________
[a] matching your competitors in the marketplace.
[b] introducing new features in gadgets that are on the market.
[c] defeating competitors in a competitive market.
[d] competing effectively with companies that introduce new, unnecessary features. =Y}{9q,*/~4 P!SFiDG [此资料转贴于学习网考研一方考研英语 ]http://www.Gzu521.Com=Y}{9q,*/~4 P!SFiDG
29. why do people buy products that do more, even if they are less efficient or less user friendly?
[a] because people usually purchase brand-name products, regardless of actual quality.
[b] because we live in a consumer society.
[c] because we think we are getting a better deal.
[d] because people are unaware of what exactly they are purchasing.
30. american consumers losing interest in tech products because__________________
[a] the products are too difficult to use.
[b] the companies don’t listen to consumer complaints.
[c] us-made electronics are unreliable.
[d] consumers are losing faith in products that don’t do what they want them to do.
text 3
americans have always been excessive worshippers of what william james called “the ***** goddess success”. self-help gurus have topped the bestseller lists since benjamin franklin published his autobiography. americans are much more likely than europeans to believe that people can get ahead in life so long as they are willing to work hard. and they are much more likely to choose a high-paying job that carries a risk of redundancy than a lower-paid job that guarantees security.
but you can’t have winners without losers (or how would you know how well you are doing?). and you can’t broaden opportunity without also broadening the opportunity to fail. for instance, until relatively recently, blacks could not blame themselves for their failure in the “race of life”, in abraham lincoln’s phrase, because they were debarred from so many parts of it. now the barriers are lifted, the picture is more complicated.
all of which creates a huge problem: how exactly should a hyper-competitive society deal with its losers? it’s all very well to note that drunkards and slackers get what they deserve. but what about the honest toilers? one way to deal with the problem is to offer people as many second chances as possible. in his intriguing new book “born losers: a history of failure in america”, scott sandage argues that the mid-nineteenth century saw a redefinition of failure—from something that had described a lousy business to something that defined a whole life.
yet one of the striking things about america is how valiantly it has resisted the idea that there is any such thing as a born loser. american schools resist streaming their pupils much longer than their european counterparts: the whole point is to fit in rather than stand out. american higher education has numerous points of entry and reentry. and the american legal system has some of the most generous bankruptcy rules in the world. in europe, a bankrupt is often still a ruined man; in america, he is a risk-taking entrepreneur.
american history—not to mention american folklore—is replete with examples of people who tried and tried again until they made a success of their lives. lincoln was a bankrupt storekeeper. henry ford was a serial failure. at 40, thomas watson, the architect of ibm, faced prison. america’s past is also full of people who came back from the brink. a second way to deal with losers is to celebrate them. perhaps in reaction to the relentless boosterism of business life, american popular culture often sympathises with losers. but even in the loser-loving bits of popular culture, the american obsession with success has a habit of winning through. more often than not, born losers turn out to be winners in disguise.
31. according to paragraph 1, why are americans “much more likely to choose a high-paying job that carries a risk of redundancy than a lower-paid job that guarantees security”?
[a] because they don’t mind taking risks.
[b] because americans believe in the idea of “no pain, no gain”.
[c] because americans rely a lot on self瞙elp books written by famous people.
[d] because a having high瞤aying job is how many americans view success.
32. paragraph 2 suggests that ________________
[a] america was once a racist country.
[b] black americans now have equal rights.
[c] if you give someone the chance to succeed, you also give them the chance to fail.
[d] you can know how successful you are by seeing how many people are failing.
33. the “honest toilers” mentioned in paragraph 3 refer to__________________
[a] lazy people and alcoholics.
[b] trustworthy workers.
[c] people who fail even though they try hard.
[d] born losers—people who need lots of second chances in order to succeed.
34. we can learn from paragraph 4____________
[a] that the united states is better than europe.
[b] that american society is designed to give people many opportunities.
[c] that the american system is better for children and businessmen.
[d] that scott sandage’s book is largely irrelevant to modern american society.
35. according to paragraph 5, which of these is not an example of why americans might like losers?
[a] they often succeed in the end.
[b] losers often have legal problems.
[c] there is sometimes a dislike of people who enthusiastically promote business.
[d] some very famous americans were once losers.
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few things say “forget i’m here” quite so eloquently as the pose of the shy—the averted gaze, the hunched shoulders, the body pivoted away from the crowd. shyness is a state that can be painful to watch, worse to experience and, in survival terms at least, awfully hard to explain. in a species as hungry for social interaction as ours, a trait that causes some individuals to shrink from the group ought to have been snuffed out pretty early on. yet shyness is commonplace. “i think of shyness as one end of the normal range of human temperament,” says professor of pediatrics william gardner of ohio state university.
but normal for the scientist feels decidedly less so for the painfully shy struggling merely to get by, and that’s got a lot of researchers looking into the phenomenon. what determines who’s going to be shy and who’s not? what can be done to treat the problem? just as important, is it a problem at all? are there canny advantages to being socially averse that the extroverts among us never see? with the help of behavioral studies, brain scans and even genetic tests, researchers are at last answering some of those questions, coming to understand what a complex, and in some ways favorable, state shyness can be.
for all the things shyness is, there are a number of things it’s not. for one, it’s not simple introversion. if you stay home on a friday night just because you prefer a good book to a loud party, you’re not necessarily shy—not unless the prospect of the party makes you so anxious that what you’re really doing is avoiding it. “shyness is a greater than normal tension or uncertainty when we’re with strangers,” says psychologist jerome kagan of harvard university. “shy people are more likely to be introverts, but introverts are not all shy.”
still, even by that definition, there are plenty of shy people to go around. more than 30% of us may qualify as shy, says kagan, a remarkably high number for a condition many folks don’t even admit to. there are a lot of reasons we may be so keyed up. one of them, new research suggests, is that we may simply be confused.
in a study published early this year, dr. marco battaglia of san raffaele university in milan, italy, recruited 49 third-and fourth-grade children and administered questionnaires to rank them along a commonly accepted shyness scale. he showed each child a series of pictures of faces exhibiting joy, anger or no emotion at all and asked them to identify the expressions. the children who scored high on the shyness meter, it turned out, had a consistently hard time deciphering the neutral and the angry faces.
36. in paragraph 2, the writer intends to _______________
[a] introduce paragraph 3.
[b] illustrate the questions scientists are asking and how they can find answers to them.
[c] contrast the ideas raised in paragraph 1.
[d] show us the writer\'s field of interest and expertise.
37. why is it considered strange that there are so many shy people?
[a] because it is considered by psychologists to be an undesirable trait.
[b] because it is not a trait associated with social animals.
[c] because our ancestors were not shy, so we should be like them.
[d] because shy people could not have survived in early human society.
38. which of the following people would psychologists certainly consider to be shy?
[a] a person who prefers to study alone rather than spend time with friends.
[b] a person who is afraid to talk to an attractive person of the opposite sex.
[c] a person who isn’t good at introducing themselves to new people.
[d] a person who feels exceptionally nervous when around unfamiliar people.
39. it is suggested that shy people might be confused because ________________
[a] they misinterpret other people’s facial expressions.
[b] they have problems recognising certain facial expressions.
[c] they are extremely introverted.
[d] they are unable to admit to being shy.
40. which of the following would best replace the word “canny” used in paragraph 2?
[a] clever. [b] distinct.
[c] unknown. [d] surprising.
part b
directions:
the following paragraphs are given in the wrong order. for questions 41-45, you are required to reorganize these paragraphs into a coherent article by choosing from the list a-g to fill in each numbered box. the third and fifth paragraphs have been placed for you in boxes. mark your answers on answer sheet 1 (10 points).
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［a］kids who watched the least tv—especially between the ages of 5 and 11—had the highest probability of graduating from university by the age of 26, regardless of iq or socioeconomic status. while those who watched the most tv, more than 3 hours per day, had the highest chance of dropping out of school without qualifications. furthermore, the effects seemed to be strongest for those who had a median iq level, probably because the outcomes for the children at either iq extreme are less likely to be affected by tv watching.
［b］frederick zimmerman and dimitri christakis at the university of washington in seattle, found that kids who watched the most tv before the age of 3 performed poorest on reading and mathematics tests at ages 6 and 7. but there did seem to be some benefit for tv watching in 3 to 5 year olds, possibly because of the large number of educational programs targeted at this age category, such as sesame street. for the duration of this study—1990 to 1996—very little educational programming for under-threes was available in the us.
［c］in an accompanying editorial, ariel chernin and deborah linebarger at the university of pennsylvania, u.s., points out that all three studies do not separate the effects of educational versus entertainment programming. one proposed mechanism of how tv harms educational achievement is that tv takes time away from creative play, reading or doing homework. but, the editorial notes, research specifically examining this suggests “it is not the amount of viewing that matters but the content of what is viewed”.
［d］but results from studies on cognitive abilities and tv watching have been mixed. some researchers have found that high quality, educational tv programmes are a boon for learning. others have shown that the negative effects of hours in front of the tv disappear when confounding factors—such as iq or socioeconomic status—are included. so robert hancox at the university of otago in new zealand and colleagues studied nearly 1000 children born in dunedin, nz, in 1972 and 1973. the researchers gathered data from both parents and children on how many hours a day were each spent watching tv at age 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15. the team then re-evaluated participants at the age of 26.
［e］they suggest that parents should encourage kids to watch quality, educational programming. but barry milne, a co-author on the new zeland study and now at the institute of psychiatry in london, uk, points out this may be simpler said than done: “content could well be a confounding factor. but what we did find is that the type of tv kids actually do watch is not good for them.”
［f］two other studies, also published in the july issue of archives of pediatric and adolescent medicine found similar results. dina borzekowski at johns hopkins bloomberg school of public health and colleagues found that northern californian third-graders—aged about 8—with a tv in their bedroom watched more tv and performed worse on standardised tests than classmates without a bedroom tv.
［g］too much time in front of the tv reduces children’s learning abilities, academic achievement, and even the likelihood of their graduating from university, suggest three new studies. but it may be the quality, not quantity, of the programmes that really matters. decades of studies have linked childhood hours in front of the tv with aggressive behaviour, earlier sexual activity, smoking, obesity, and poor school performance. the research has led the american academy of pediatrics to suggest children watch no more than 2 hours of tv per day and that children under 2 years old watch none at all.
order:
41→42→a→43→b→44→45
part c
directions:
read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into chinese. your translation should be written neatly on answer sheet 2. (10 points)
specialists in numerous fields, including library science and web design, are now calling themselves information architects, but the roles they have assumed are diverse. (46)as with any newly developing profession, there is a need to refine and clarify the role of the information architect and the accompanying job description. i have a formal education in architecture, have worked with numerous architects as an architectural signage designer and am now working as an information and interaction designer.
(47)in the traditional profession, an architect’s first responsibility on any building project is to meet with the client to determine the goals and requirements for the building, as well as the overall vision of the building. the architect works with the client to develop a set of requirements for the building called the program. the program spells out each major function and the detailed requirements for each function, such as size and access requirements, as well as the general overall requirements.
similarly, an information architect is responsible for meeting with the client to help determine the overall goals of the project and what the client wishes to accomplish.(48) an example in website design might be determining that a site should include a product catalog, a calendar of events and a newsletter, that it must be accessible by all people with version 3.x browsers and above, and that it must be optimized for an 800x600 size screen. in some instances, a strategist might be hired as a consultant to assist in this development.
the reality is that all traditional architects must be competent in many different roles.(49) some are better at the design aspects and may choose to concentrate their efforts there, while others are better at the coordination roles or the communication roles. however, traditional architects must pass a rigorous nine-part exam that proves competency in each of these roles in order to be called an architect.(50) because of this broad range of expertise and the difficult nature of playing all of these roles, these architects have earned a certain respect in our society that we must be careful not to encroach on unfairly. as information specialists, we all know the power of language, and we must be careful how we use it. if we are to use the word architect in our job titles and the description of our profession, we must ensure that we are justified in doing so.
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