2010考研英语二真题及答案

2010考研英语二真题及答案

Secti on I Use of En glish

Directio ns:

Read the follow ing passage. For each nu mbered bla nk there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the best one and mark your an swers on ANSWER SHEET l. (10 poi nts)

The outbreak of swine flu that was first detected in Mexico was declared a global epidemic on June 11,2009. It is the first worldwide epidemic _____________ 1 ___ by the World Health Orga ni zati on in 41 years.

The heighte ned alert ____ 2 ____ an emerge ncy meet ing with flu experts in Gen eva that convened after a sharp rise in

cases in Australia, and rising ____ 3 ____ in Brita in, Japa n, Chile and elsewhere.

But the epidemic is " _______ 4 ____ " in severity, according to Margaret Chan, the organization's director general,

5 the overwhelming majority of patients experiencing only mild symptoms and a full recovery, often in the

6 of any medical treatme nt.

The outbreak came to global ____ 7 ____ in late April 2009, whe n Mexica n authorities no ticed an unu sually large nu mber

of hospitalizati ons and deaths ___ 8 ____ healthy adults. As much of Mexico City shut dow n at the height of a pan ic, cases

bega n to ___ 9 ____ in New York City, the southwester n Un ited States and around the world.

In the United States, new cases seemed to fade _______ 10 ____ warmer weather arrived. But in late September 2009,

officials reported there was ___ 11 _____ flu activity in almost every state and that virtually all the ___ 12 ____ tested are the new swine flu, also known as (A) H1N1, not seas onal flu. In the U.S., it has ___ 13 ____ more tha n one milli on people, and

caused more tha n 600 deaths and more tha n 6,000 hospitalizati ons.

Federal health officials _____ 14 ___ Tamiflu for children from the national stockpile and began __________ 15 ____ orders

from the states for the new swine flu vacci ne. The new vacc ine, which is differe nt from the ann ual flu vacci ne, is _ 16 ____

ahead of expectati ons. More tha n three milli on doses were to be made available in early October 2009, though most of those ____ 17 ____ doses were of the FluMist n asal spray type, which is not ____ 18 ____ for preg nant wome n, people over 50 or those with breath ing difficulties, heart disease or several other ____ 19 ___ . But it was still possible to vacc in ate people in

other high-risk group: health care workers, people_____ 20 ____ infants and healthy young people.

19 [A] problems

[B] issues [C] ago nies [D] sufferi ngs 20 [A] in volved in

[B] cari ng for [C] concerned with [D] wardi ng off 1 [A] criticized

2 [A] proceeded

3 [A] digits

4 [A] moderate

5 [A] with

6 [A] progress

7 [A] reality

8. [A]over

9 [A] stay up

10 [A] as

11 [A] excessive

12 [A]categories

13 [A] imparted

14 [A] released

15 [A] placi ng

16 [A] feasible

17 [A] prevale nt

18 [A] prese

nted

[B] appo in ted [B] activated [B] nu mbers [B] no rmal [B] in [B]absenee [B] phe nomenon [B] for [B] crop up [B] if [B] eno rmous [B] examples [B] immerse [B] relayed [B] deliveri ng [B] available [B] prin cipal [B] restricted [C] comme nted [C] followed [C] amounts [C] unu sual [C] from [C] prese nee [C] concept [C] among [C] fill up [C] unl ess [C] sig ni fica nt [C] patterns [C] injected [C] relieved [C] taki ng [C] reliable [C] inno vative [C] recomme nded [D] desig nated [D] prompted [D] sums [D] extreme [D] by [D] favor [D] notice [D] to [D] cover up [D] un til [D]mag nifice nt [D] samples [D] in fected [D] rema ined [D] givi ng [D] applicable [D] in itial

Section II Reading comprehension

Part A

Text1

The Iongest bull run in a century of art-market history ended on a dramatic note with a sale of 56 works by Damien Hirst,

“ Beautiful In side My Head Forever , at Soth”by ' s in London on September 15th 2008. Ali tbtwo pieces sold, fetchi ng more than ￡ 70m, a record for a sale by a single artist. It was a last victory. As the auctioneer called out bids, in New York one of the oldest banks on Wall Street, Lehma n Brothers, filed for ban kruptcy.

The world art market had already been losing momentum for a while after rising bewilderingly since 2003. At its peak in

2007 it was worth some $65 billi on, reck ons Clare McA ndrew, foun der of Arts Economics, a research firm —double the figure five years earlier. Si nce the n it may have come dow n to $50 billi on. But the market gen erates in terest far bey ond its size because it brings together great wealth, enormous egos, greed, passion and controversy in a way matched by few other in dustries.

In the weeks and mon ths that followe d Mr Hirst ' s sale, spe nding of any sort became deeply un fashi on able, especially in

New York, where the bail-out of the banks coincided with the loss of thousands of jobs and the financial demise of many art-bu ying in vestors .In the art world that meant collectors stayed away from galleries and salerooms. Sales of con temporary art fell by two-thirds, and in the most overheated sector —for Chin ese con temporary art —they were dow n by n early 90% in the year to November 2008. With in weeks the world ' s two biggest aucti on houses, Sotheby ' s and Christie $200m in guarantees to clients who had placed works for sale with them.

The curre nt dow nturn in the art market is the worst since the Japa nese stopped buying Impressi oni sts at the end of 1989, a move that started the most serious con tracti on in the market si nce the Second World War. This time experts reck on that prices are about 40% down on their peak on average, though some have been far more fluctuant. But Edward Dolman, Christie executive, says: "I' m pretty con fide nt we ' re at the bottom. ”

What makes this slump differe nt from the last, he says, is that there are still buyers in the market, whereas in the early

1990s, whe n in terest rates were high, there was no dema nd even though many collectors wan ted to sell. Christie ' s rev the first half of 2009 were still higher tha n in the first half of 2006. Almost every one who was in terviewed for this special report said that the biggest problem at the mome nt is not a lack of dema nd but a lack of good work to sell. The three Ds —death, debt and divorce —still deliver works of art to the market. But anyone who does not have to sell is keeping away, waiting for con fide nce to retur n.

21.ln the first paragraph, Damien Hirst's sale was referre d to as “a last victory ” because __________ .

A. the art market had wit nessed a successi on of victories

B. the auct ion eer fin ally got the two pieces at the highest bids

C. Beautiful In side My Head Forever won over all masterpieces

D. it was successfully made just before the world finan cial crisis

22. By say ing “ spe nding of any sort became deeply un fashi on able -2,F(Liiae3), the author suggests that ____ .

A. collectors were no Ion ger actively in volved in art-market aucti ons

B .people stopped every kind of spe nding and stayed away from galleries

C. art collect ion as a fashi on had lost its appeal to a great exte nt

D .works of art in gen eral had gone out of fashi on so they were not worth buying

23. Which of the followi ng stateme nts is NOT true?

A .Sales of con temporary art fell dramatically from 2007 to 2008.

B. The art market surpassed many other in dustries in mome ntum.

C. The market gen erally went dow nward in various ways.

D. Some art dealers were await ing better cha nces to come.

24. The three Ds mentioned in the last paragraph are ___

A. auct ion houses ' favorites

B. con temporary trends

C. factors promoti ng artwork circulati on

D. styles represe nti ng impressi oni sts

25. The most appropriate title for this text could be ___

A. Fluctuatio n of Art Prices

B. Up-to-date Art Auctio ns

C. Art Market in Decline

D. Shifted In terest in Arts

Text2

I was address ing a small gatheri ng in a suburba n Virginia liv ing room —a wome n's group that had in vited men to join them. Throughout the eve ning one man had bee n particularly talkative, freque ntly offeri ng ideas and an ecdotes, while his wife sat silently beside him on the couch. Toward the end of the evening I commented that women frequently complain that their husba nds don't talk to them. This man quickly no dded in agreeme nt. He gestured toward his wife and said, "She's the talker in our family." The room burst i nto laughter; the man looked puzzled and hurt. "It's true," he expla in ed. "Whe n I come home from work, I have nothing to say. If she did n't keep the con versati on going, we'd spe nd the whole eve ning in sile nee."

This episode crystallizes the irony that although American men tend to talk more than women in public situations, they often talk less at home. And this pattern is wreaking havoc with marriage.

The patter n was observed by political scie ntist An drew Hacker in the late 1970s. Sociologist Catheri ne Kohler Riessma n reports in her new book "Divorce Talk" that most of the wome n she in terviewed —but on ly a few of the men —gave lack of com muni cati on as the reas on for their divorces. Give n the curre nt divorce rate of n early 50 perce nt , that amounts to milli ons of cases in the Un ited States every year —a virtual epidemic of failed con versati on.

In my own research compla ints from wome n about their husba nds most ofte n focused not on tan gible in equities such as having given up the chance for a career to accompany a husband to his or doing far more than their share of daily life-support work like clea ning, cook ing, social arran geme nts and erran ds. In stead they focused on com mun icatio n: "He does n't liste n to me." "He does n't talk to me." I found as Hacker observed years before that most wives want their husba nds to be first and foremost con versati onal partners but few husba nds share this expectatio n of their wives.

In short the image that best represents the current crisis is the stereotypical cartoon scene of a man sitting at the breakfast table with a n ewspaper held up in front of his face, while a woma n glares at the back of it, wanting to talk.

26. What is most wives' main expectati on of their husba nds?

A. Talking to them.

B. Trusti ng them.

C. Support ing their careers.

D. Shari ng housework.

27. Judgi ng from the con text, the phrase “ wreak ing havoc ” (Li ne 3,Para.2)most probably mea

A. gen erat ing motivati on.

B. exert ing in flue nce

C. caus ing damage

D. creati ng pressure

28. All of the followi ng are true EXCEPT ______

A. men tend to talk more in public than women

B. n early 50 perce nt of recent divorces are caused by failed con versati on

C. women attach much importanee to com munication between couples

D. a female tends to be more talkative at home tha n her spouse

29. Which of the following can best summarize the main idea of this text?

A. The moral decay ing deserves more research by sociologists.

B. Marriage break-up stems from sex in equalities.

C. Husba nd and wife have differe nt expectatio ns from their marriage.

D. Con versatio nal patter ns betwee n man and wife are differe nt.

30. I n the followi ng part immediately after this text, the author will most probably focus on _____

A. a vivid acco unt of the new book Divorce Talk

B. a detailed description of the stereotypical cartoon

C. other possible reas ons for a high divorce rate in the U.S.

D. a brief in troduct ion to the political scie ntist An drew Hacker

Text 3

Over the past decade, many companies had perfected the art of creating automatic behaviors — habits — among

con sumers. These habits have helped compa nies earn billi ons of dollars whe n customers eat sn acks, apply loti ons and wipe coun ters almost without thinking, often in resp onse to a carefully desig ned set of daily cues.

“ There are fun dame ntal public health problems, like dirty hands in stead of a soap habit, that remain killers only becau se

we can ' t figure out how to cha nge people ' s habits, ” Dr. Curtis said. “ We wan ted to lear n from private

indi

new behaviors that happe n automatically. ”

The compa nies that Dr. Curtis turned to —Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive and Un ilever —had in vested hun dreds

of millio ns of dollars finding the subtle cues in con sumers ' lives that corporatio ns could use to in troduce new rou If you look hard eno ugh, you ' Ifind that many of the products we use every day ——chew ing gums, skin moisturizers, dis infecting wipes, air freshe ners, water purifiers, health sn acks, an tiperspira nts, colog nes, teeth white ners, fabric softe ners, vitam ins —— are results of manu factured habits. A cen tury ago, few people regularly brushed their teeth multiple times a day.

Today, because of canny advertis ing and public health campaig ns, many America ns habitually give their pearly whites a cavity-preve nti ng scrub twice a day, ofte n with Colgate, Crest or one of the other bran ds.

A few decades ago, many people didn f drink water outside of a meal. Then beverage companies started bottling the production of far-off springs, and now office workers unthinkingly sip bottled water all day long. Chewing gum, once bought primarily by adolesce nt boys, is now featured in commercials as a breath freshe ner and teeth clea nser for use after a meal. Skin moisturizers are advertised as part of morning beauty rituals, slipped in between hair brushing and putting on makeup.

“ Our products succeed whe n they become part of daily or weekly patter ns, ” said Carol Berning, a con sumer psycholc who recen tly retired from Procter & Gamble, the compa ny that sold $76 billio n of Tide, Crest and other products last year.

“ Creatingpositive habits is a huge part of improving our consumers lives, and it ' e s sential to making new products commercially viable. ”

Through experiments and observation, social scientists like Dr. Berning have learned that there is power in tying certain behaviors to habitual cues through rele ntless advertis ing. As this new scie nee of habit has emerged, con troversies have erupted when the tactics have bee n used to sell questi on able beauty creams or un healthy foods.

31. Accord ing to Dr. Curtis, habits like hand wash ing with soap ______ .

[A] should be further cultivated

[B] should be cha nged gradually

[C] are deeply rooted in history

[D] are basically private concerns

32. Bottled water, chewing gun and skin moisturizers are mentioned in Paragraph 5 so as to __

[A] reveal their impact on people ' s habits

[B] show the urge nt n eed of daily n ecessities

[C] indicate their effect on people ' s buying power

[D] mani fest the sig ni fica nt role of good habits

33. Which of the following does NOT belong to products that help create people ' s habits?

[A] Tide

[B] Crest

[C] Colgate

[D] Un ilever

34. From the text we know that some of consumer ' s habits are developed due to _________

[A] perfected art of products

[B] automatic behavior creati on

[C] commercial promoti ons

[D] scie ntific experime nts

35. The author ' s attitude toward the in flue nee of advertiseme nt on people ' s habits is ___

[A] in differe nt

[B] n egative

[C] positive

[D] biased

Text4

Many America ns regard the jury system as a con crete expressi on of crucial democratic values, in cludi ng the prin ciples that all citize ns who meet mini mal qualificatio ns of age and literacy are equally compete nt to serve on juries; that jurors should be selected ran domly from a represe ntative cross sect ion of the com mun ity; that no citize n should be denied the right to serve on a jury on account of race, religion, sex, or national origin; that defendants are entitled to trial by their peers; and that verdicts should represe nt the con scie nee of the com munity and not just the letter of the law. The jury is also said to be the best survivi ng example of direct rather tha n represe ntative democracy .In a direct democracy, citize ns take turns gover ning themselves, rather tha n electi ng represe ntatives to gover n for them.

But as recen tly as in 1986, jury select ion procedures con flicted with these democratic ideals. In some states, for example, jury duty was limited to persons of supposedly superior intelligenee, education, and moral character. Although the Supreme Court of the Un ited States had prohibited inten ti onal racial discrim in ati on in jury selecti on as early as the 1880 case of Strauder v. West Virgi nia, the practice of selecti ng so-called elite or blue-ribb on juries provided a convenient way around this and other antidiscrimination laws.

The system also failed to regularly include women on juries until the mid-20th century. Although women first served on state juries in Utah in 1898, it was not until the 1940s that a majority of states made women eligible for jury duty. Even then several states automatically exempted wome n from jury duty uni ess they pers on ally asked to have their n ames in cluded on the jury list. This practice was justified by the claim that women were needed at home, and it kept juries unrepresentative of women through the 1960s.

In 1968, the Congress of the United States passed the Jury Selection and Service Act, ushering in a new era of democratic reforms for the jury. This law abolished special educational requirements for federal jurors and required them to be selected at ran dom from a cross sect ion of the en tire com mun ity. In the Ian dmark 1975 decisi on Taylor vs. Louisia na, the Supreme Court extended the requirement that juries be representative of all parts of the community to the state level. The Taylor decision also declared sex discrim in

ati on in jury selecti on to be uncon stituti onal and ordered states to use the same procedures for select ing male and female jurors.

36. From the prin ciples of the US jury system, we lear n that ____

[A] both liberate and illiterate people can serve on juries

[B] defe ndants are immune from trial by their peers

[C] no age limit should be imposed for jury service

[D] judgme nt should con sider the opinion of the public

37. The practice of select ing so-called elite jurors prior to 1968 showed ___

[A] the in adequacy of an tidiscrim in ati on laws

[B] the prevale nt discrim in ati on aga inst certa in races

[C] the con flict ing ideals in jury select ion procedures

[D] the arroga nee com mon among the Supreme Court justices

38. Even in the 1960s, wome n were seldom on the jury list in some states because ___

[A] they were automatically banned by state laws

[B] they fell far short of the required qualificati ons

[C] they were supposed to perform domestic duties

[D] they ten ded to evade public en gageme nt

39. After the Jury Select ion and Service Act was passed. _

[A] sex discrim in ati on in jury select ion was uncon stituti onal and had to be abolished

[B] educational requirements became less rigid in the selection of federal jurors

[C] jurors at the state level ought to be represe ntative of the en tire com munity

[D] states ought to conform to the federal court in reforming the jury system

40. In discuss ing the US jury system, the text cen ters on _____

[A] its n ature and problems

[B] its characteristics and tradition

[C] its problems and their solutio ns

[D] its traditi on and developme nt

Part B根据下文判断正误

原文：

BOTH Boeing and Airbus have trumpeted the efficie ncy of their n ewest aircraft, the 787 and A350 respectively. Their

clever desig ns and lightweight composites certai nly make a differe nee. But a group of researchers at Sta nford Uni versity, led by Ilan Kroo, has suggested that airlines could take a more naturalistic approach to cutting jet-fuel use, and it would not require them to buy new aircraft.

The answer, says Dr Kroo, lies with birds. Since 1914, and a seminal paper by a German researcher called Carl Wieselsberger, scie ntists have known that birds flying in formatio n — a V-shape, echel on or otherwise ——expe nd less en ergy. The air flowing over a bird ' s wiroxpwcuid s behind the wingtips, a phenomenon known as upwash. Other birds flying in the upwash experie nee reduced drag, and spe nd less en ergy propell ing themselves. Peter Lissama n, an aeron autics expert who was formerly at Caltech and the Uni versity of Souther n

When applied to aircraft, the prin ciples are n ot substa ntially differe nt. Dr Kroo and his team modelled what would happe n if three passe nger jets depart ing from Los An geles, San Fran cisco and Las Vegas were to ren dezvous over Utah, assume an in verted V-formatio n, occasi on ally s so all could have a turn in the most favourable positi ons, and proceed to London. They found that the aircraft con sumed as much as 15% less fuel (with a con comita nt reduct ion in carb on-dioxide output). Nitroge n-oxide emissi ons duri ng the cruis ing port ions of the flight fell by around a quarter.

There are, of course, kinks to be worked out. One con sideratio n is safety, or at least the percepti on of it. Would passe ngers

feel comfortable travell ing in con voy? Dr Kroo points out that the aircraft could be separated by several n autical miles, and would not be in the unnervin gly cosy group ings favoured by display teams like the Red Arrows. A passe nger peeri ng out of the window might not even see the other planes. Whether the separation distances involved would satisfy air-traffic-control regulations is another matter, although a working group at the International Civil Aviation. Organisation has included the possibility of formation flying in a blueprint for new operational guidelines.

It remains to be seen how weather conditions affect the air flows that make formation flight more efficient. In zones of

in creased turbule nee, the pla nes ' wakes will decay more quickly and the effect will dimini sh. Dr Kroo says this is one of the areas his team will in vestigate further. It might also be hard for airli nes to co-ord in ate the departure times and dest in ati ons of passenger aircraft in a way that would allow them to gain from formation flight. Cargo aircraft, in contrast, might be easier to reschedule, as might routine military flights.

As it happens, America ' s armed forces are on the case already. Earlier this year the country ' s Defence Advan

Projects Agency announced plans to pay Boeing to investigate formation flight, though the programme has yet to begin. There are reports that some military aircraft flew in formation when they were low on fuel during the second world war, but Dr Lissama n says they are apocryphal. “ My father was an RAF pilot and my cous in the skipper of a Lan caster lost over Berl in,

adds. So he should know.

41. Findings of the Stanford University researchers will promote the sales of new Boeing and Airbus aircraft.

42. The upwash experie nee may save propell ing en ergy as well as reduci ng resista nee.

43. Formati on flight is more comfortable because passe ngers can not see the other pla nes.

44. The role that weather plays in formation flight has not yet been clearly defined.

45. It has bee n docume nted that duri ng World War II, America rces on6e sriaidmodnfiatio n flight to save fuel.

Secti on 皿Tran slati on

46. D irectio ns:

In this section there is a text in English .Translate it into Chinese. Write your translation on ANSWER SHEET2.(15points)

“ Suata in ability has become apopular word these days, but to Ted Ning, the con cept will always have pers onal meaning.

Having en dured apa inful period of un susta in ability in his own life made itclear to him that susta in ability-orie nted values must be expressed though everyday action and choice。Ning recalls spe nding aconfusing year in the late 1990s selli ng in sura nee. He' d been though the dotom boom and burst and,desperate for ajob,signed on with a Boulder agency 。 It didin ' t go well. was a really had move because that ' s not my passion, ” sOysnNinigabohubdtee job translated, predictably, into a

lack of sales. "I was miserable, I had so much an xiety that I would wake up in the middle of the ni ght and stare at the cgiliI

had no money and n eeded the job. Every one said, ‘ Just wait, you ' ll trun the corner, give it some time.