考研英语阅读理解标准90篇+提高30篇unit-13

Unit 13Wisdom in the mind is better than money in the hand.脑中有知识，胜过手中有金钱。

P art ADirections：Read the following texts. Answer the questions blow each text by choosing [A],[B],[C] or [D].T ext 1What is sports violence? The distinction between unacceptable viciousness and a game’s normal rough-and-tumble is impossible to make, so the argument runs. This position may appeal to our inclination for legalism, but the truth is most of us know quite well when an act of needless savagery has been committed, and sports are little different from countless other activities of life. The distinction is as apparent as that between a deliberately aimed blow and the arm failing of the losing his balance. When a player balls his hand into a fist, when he drives his helmet into an unsuspecting opponent in short, when he crosses the boundary between playing hard and playing to hurt—he can only intend an act of violence.Admittedly, rough acts in sports are difficult to police. But here, too, we find reflected the conditions of everyday life. Ambiguities in the law, confusion at the scene, and the reluctance of witnesses cloud almost any routine assault case. Such uncertainties, however, have not prevented society from arresting people who strike their fellow citizens on the street.Perhaps our troubles stem not from the games we play but rather from how we play them. The 1979 meeting between hockey stars from the Soviet Union and the National Hockey League provided a direct test of two approaches to sport—the emphasis on skill, grace, and technique by the Russians and the stress on brutality and violence by the NHL. In a startling upset, the Russians embarrassed their rough-playing opponents and exploded a long-standing myth: that success in certain sports requires excessive violence.Violence apologists cite two additional arguments. First, they say, sports always have been rough; today things are no different. But arguments in American’s Old West were settled on Main Street with six guns, and early cave dwellers chose their women with a club. Civilizing influences ended those practices; yet we are told sports violence should be tolerated. The second contention is that athletes accept risk as part of the game, and, in the case of professionals, are paid handsomely to do so. But can anyone seriously argue that being an athlete should require the acceptance of unnecessary physical abuse? And, exaggerated as it may seem, the pay of professional athletes presumably reflects their abilities, not a payment againstcombat injuries.“Clearly we are in deep trouble,”says perplexed former football player AL DeRogatis. “But how and w hy has it gotten so bad?‖1. According to the author,deliberate violence in sports is[A] impossible to tell from paying hard.[B] ambiguous in any circumstances.[C] too apparent to escape observation.[D] evident if enough attention is paid to.2. A violence apologist probably thinks that[A] violence in sports is a rare occurrence.[B] violence in sports is not necessary.[C] athletes are paid enough for their injuries.[D] professional athletes enjoy violence.3. In the last paragraph the author indicates that[A] nothing can be done about violence in sports.[B] football players are concerned about violence in sports.[C] violence in sports is worse now than it ever was.[D] athletes are confused about what should be allowed in sports.4. According to the author,which of the following is true？[A] athletes’ personalities have effects on the inclination for violent.[B] athletes who emphasis on skill,grace and technique will win.[C] athletes should not have to accept unnecessary physical abuse[D] athletes need higher salaries to compensate for their injuries.5. We can infer from the text that[A] violence in sports is illegal.[B] skill is more important than aggression.[C] athletes should not be injured in sports.[D] violence in sports is not necessary.T ext 2Bruno Lundby, 39, was one of the ranks of typically low-paid, low-status workers who fill supermarket shelves, serve fast food, change hotel beds or empty office waste bins, often at unsocial hours and with little expectation of anything better. Lacking formal qualifications, he drifted from the army into odd cleaning jobs. Then, unexpectedly, he found the opportunity for advancement in a management training program offered by ISS, the Danish support services group. Today he sits in a spotless, air-conditioned office supervising all ISS damage control operations in the greater Copenhagen area.“I couldn’t have imagined getting to where I am today when I started,”he says.“I was surprised to be offered a future at ISS in 1993 when I became a supervi sor.‖ In the past three years, he has been promoted three times.ISS, which employs 272,000 people in 36 countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America in cleaning and other contract work, still appears to be an exception in the services sector in offering career progression to workers.The pursuit of customer satisfaction is a strong feature of companies that treat blue-collar staff as more than a commodity. Tesco, the supermarket group that is the UK’s largest private sector employer with 210,000 employees, recently formalized a practice of nurturing management potential among shelf-stackers and check-out staff.“The ones who respect customers are the oneswho get on,”says Clare Chapman, human resources director. In the past five months, 245 employees have been promoted from general store assistant to section manager, 149 from section manager to senior store team and 33 from senior team to store manager. These staff are coached, assessed and then trained for their new responsibilities. The talent-spotting program applies to all staff, including 45,700 in Tesco’s overseas stores.ISS acknowledges that by offering career progression it has changed the nature of its contract with blue-collar employees, raising expectations on both sides that may not always be met.④For Mr. Lundby, career progress has induced loyalty to his employer and greater self-esteem.“Personal skills are often more important than high educational qualifications if you have to deal with people every day,”he says. “I’m a practical, not an academic person. I know the business from the bottom. I know the loopholes and the hardships.”6. It can be infered from paragraph 1 that Mr. Lundby[A] has anticipated his condition would be improved.[B] works hard but still has no chance to get improved.[C] has been promoted for he has formal qualifications.[D] had some of the toughest, dirtiest jobs before.7. Which of the following is true about the service sector?[A] Blue-collar workers in it have little chance to be promoted.[B] Companies in it always pursue customer satisfaction.[C] Companies in it always treat blue-collar staff as a commodity.[D] Workers in it have more chance to be promoted than in others8. In Tesco, employees will have chance to be promoted if[A] they are loyal to their employer.[B] they join management training program.[C] they make their customers satisfied.[D] they work as hard as they’re expected.9. By offering career progression to blue-collars,companies[A] will have more managers.[B] will be more competitive.[C] will have high expectations.[D] will have less responsibility.10. Which of the following is the best title of this passage?[A] The Story of Bruno Lundby.[B] Management Training Program.[C] Career Progression Inducing Self-esteem.[D] From Dead-end Job to Bright Career.T ext 3The Internet, e-commerce and globalization are making a new economic era possible. By the middle of the 21st century, capitalist markets will largely be replaced by a new kind of economic system based on networked relationships, contractual arrangements and access rights.Has the quality of our lives at work, at home and in our communities increased in direct proportion to all the new Internet and business-to-business Intranet services being introduced intoour lives? I have asked this question of hundreds of CEOs and corporate executives in Europe and the United States. Surprisingly, virtually everyone has said, ―No, quite the contrary.‖ The very people responsible for ushering in what some have called a ―technological renaissance‖ say they are working longer hours, feel more stressed, are more impatient, and are even less civil in their dealings with colleagues and friends — not to mention strangers. And what’s more revealing, they place much of the blame on the very same technologies they are so aggressively championing.The techno gurus promised us that access would make life more convenient and give us more time. Instead, the very technological wonders that were supposed to liberate us have begun to enslave us in a web of connections from which there seems to be no easy escape.If an earlier generation was preoccupied with the quest to enclose a vast geographic frontier, the dotcom generation, it seems, is more caught up in the colonization of time. Every spare moment of our time is being filled with some form of commercial connection, making time itself the most scarce of all resources. Our e-mail, voice mail and cell phones, our 24-hour electronic trading markets, online banking services, all-night e-commerce, and 24-hour Internet news and entertainment all holler for our attention.And while we have created every kind of labor-and-time-saving device to service our needs, we are beginning to feel like we have less time available to us than any other humans in history. That is because the great proliferation of labor-and-time-saving services only increases the diversity, pace and flow of commodified activity around us. For example, e-mail is a great convenience. However, we now find ourselves spending much of our day frantically responding to each other’s electronic messages. The cell phone is a great time-saver. Except now we are always potentially in reach of someone else who wants our attention.Social conservatives talk about the decline in civility and blame it on the loss of a moral compass and religious values. Has anyone bothered to ask whether the hyper-speed culture is making all of us less patient and less willing to listen and defer, consider and reflect?Maybe we need to ask what kinds of connections really count and what types of access really matter in the e-economy era. If this new technology revolution is only about hyper efficiency, then we risk losing something even more precious than time —our sense of what it means to be a caring human being.11.The author suggests that the most valuable resource in today’s society is[A] technology. [B] economic assets. [C] access to information. [D] time.12.According to the text, many corporate executives feel that[A] technological advances are essential to today’s economic system.[B] technology has actually led to a decline in their quality of life.[C] longer hours are making their workers more impatient and uncivil.[D] technology can be blamed for many of today’s social problems.13.The phrase ―the colonization of time‖ (Line 2, Para.4) refers to[A] the filling of every moment of our time.[B] the quest for efficiency in the workplace.[C] the growing use of time-saving services.[D] the impact of technology on our sense of time.14.In the sixth paragraph, the author suggests that[A] new technologies may make people more impatient.[B] social conservatives do not understand the importance of technology.[C] the speed of modern culture may impact our moral and religious values.[D] people in the technology sector are less civil than those in other fields.15.The best title for this text could be[A] The Failure of the Technological Renaissance.[B] Even Corporate Executives Get the Blues.[C] The New Internet Economy.[D] The Disadvantages of Too Much Access.T ext 4The Net success of ―Lazy Sunday‖ represents a defining moment for the film and television business. Advances in digital video and broadband have vastly lowered the cost of production and distribution. Filmmakers are now following the path blazed by bloggers and musicians, cheaply creating and uploading their work to the Web. If it appeals to any of the Net’s niches, millions of users will pass along their films through e-mail, downloads or links. It’s the dawn of the democratization of the TV and film business—even unknown personalities are being propelled by the enthusiasm of their fans into pop-culture prominence, sometimes without even traditional intermediaries like talent agents or film festivals.―This is like bypass surgery,‖ says Dan Harmon, a filmmaker whose mo nthly L.A.–based film club and Web site, Channel 101, lets members submit short videos, such as the recent 70s’ music mockumentary ―Y acht Rock,‖ and vote on which they like best. ―Finally we have a new golden age where the artist has a direct connection to the audience.‖The directors behind ―Lazy Sunday‖ embody the phenomenon.When the shaggy-haired Samberg, 27, graduated from NYU Film School in 2001, he faced the conventional challenge of crashing the gates of Hollywood. With his two childhood friends Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, he came up with an unconventional solution: they started recording music parodies and comic videos, and posting them to their Web site, .The material got the attention of producers at the old ABC sitcom ―Spin City‖, where Samberg and Taccone worked as low-level assistants; the producers sent a compilation to a talent agency. The friends got an agent, made a couple of pilot TV sketch shows for Comedy Central and Fox, featuring themselves hamming it up in nearly all the roles, and wrote jokes for the MTV Movie A wards. Even when the networks passed on their pilots, Samberg and his friends simply posted the episodes online and their fan base—at 40,000 unique visitors a month earlier this year —grew larger. Last August, Samberg joined the ‖S NL‖ cast, and Schaffer and Taccone became writers. Now they share an office in Rockefeller Center and ―are a little too cute for everyone,‖ Samberg says, ―We are friends living our dream.‖Short, funny videos like ―Lazy Sunday‖ happen to translate online, but not everything works as well. Bite-size films are more practical than longer ones; comedy plays better than drama. But almost everything is worth trying, since the tools to create and post video are now so cheap, and ad hoc audiences can form around any sensibility, however eccentric.16. The sentence ―It’s dawn of the democratization of…‖(Line 5-6, Para.1) shows that[A] film and television business is enjoying an unprecedented success[B] the general public are playing an active role in pop-culture[C] filmmakers are showing great enthusiasm for success on the Web[D] e-mail, downloads or links are now the main means of film distribution17. Which of the following is true according to the text?[A] ―Lazy Sunday‖ is the representative of realizing dream by the Net.[B] Artists should develop a direct relationship with the public.[C] Short videos on the Web would prove to be the most popular productions[D] The film and television business can be compared to a bypass surgery18. Samberg’s solution was unconventional because[A] newcomers were usually denied access to Hollywood[B] he and his two childhood friends got accepted into Hollywood[C] he recorded music parodies and comic videos all by himself[D] he and his friends created and uploaded their productions to their Web site19. Which of the following plays a key role in the Net success of ―Lazy Sunday‖?[A] Producers at the old ABC sitcom ―Spin City‖.[B] Conventions of Hollywood.[C] Comic nature of the video.[D] Eccentricity of audiences online.20. The text intends to tell us[A] the unexpected success of Samberg.[B] a new direction for TV and film business.[C] the reasons behind Sambeig’s su ccess.[D] a new phenomenon in pop-culture.Part BDirections: In the article, following sentences have been removed. For Questions 21-25, choose the most suitable one from the list [A]—[G] to fit into each of the numbered blank. There are two extra choices, which do not fit in any of the gaps.Many of the philosophers we have been reading in class seem to me to be hopelessly dated．Of course, it’s easy to become trapped in writing only for the period a person lives in, and a philosophy is necessarily dependent on the historical situation and the extent of man’s knowledge. 21.However, Victor Hugo said that if he were writing for his own time only, he would have to break his pen and throw it away. 22. And it seems to me that the most frequent objections to modern and pre modern philosophers come from the incompatibility of their philosophies with what is considered to be established scientific fact. For instance, Plato’s theory of forms does not, to me, seem to jibe with modern physics and cosmology. And although I can only vaguely glimpse, the psychology which underlies Kant, it seems to be highly questionable.23.After all, physics can give us insights into metaphysics, since both seek different ways to do the same thing；psychology, sociology, anthropology, and archeology can give us insights into epistemology；various “soft”sciences dealing with comparative cultures can provide food for thought in ethics, and so on.24. Sartre, although he developed some of his ideas from Nietzsche andKierkegaard, probably could not have expounded those same ideas of existentialism in their times; Nietzsche, who popularized the idea that “God is dead”, could not have written in the time of Descartes; and Descartes could not have expressed his radically individualist ideas during the time of Plato.I suppose that my point, which I am being exceedingly long-winded about, is that philosophy does not (and should not, and must not) stand apart from the rest of the sciences.25. Although the other sciences can provide us with data, observations, and theories, only philosophy can integrate those into a coherent whole, tell us what to do with them, or provide a meaningful context for using these facts in our daily lives.[A] In my view, application of Kant s epistemology and metaphysics could never produce an artificial intelligence capable of passing a Turing test.[B] Rather, Philosophy should be integrated with the rest of the sciences through a method of rational judgment. Rather than sailing behind, or next to but away from, the rest of the sciences, philosophy should be the flagship of the group.[C] And many of the philosophers who have existed over the course of the centuries have necessarily had to worry about governmental, church, or societal disapproval, censorship, or punishment.[D] History is, of course, necessary to any understanding of a philosophy: how it came about, what people did with it, etc.[E] Although some philosophical people are not necessarily considered as philosophers today —but whose work was influential and instrumental in developing one of the social sciences (psychology, sociology, political science, education) or in advancing theoretical science (what is now called philosophy of science).[F] And so, it seems to me, the best way that a philosopher can keep from being dated is to be aware of scientific knowledge, and integrate it into philosophy. Of course, this necessitates an independent evaluation of the merits and drawbacks of a given scientific idea, which necessitates, in turn, a thorough knowledge of that theory.[G] And so, it seems to me that, in order for a philosopher to be relevant for the future as well as the present，he must take into account all of the objections to his philosophy which can be anticipated at the present time．Part CDirections:Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese.What are feelings for? Most nonscientists will find this a strange question. Feelings just are. They justify themselves. Emotions give meaning and depth to life. They need serve no other purpose in order to exist. 26)On the other hand, many evolutionary biologists, in contrast to animal behaviorists, acknowledge some emotions primarily for their survival function. For both animals and humans, fear motivates the avoidance of danger, love is necessary to care for young, and anger prepares one to hold ground. 27)But the fact that a behavior functions to serve survival need not mean that that is why it is done. Other scientists have attributed the same behavior to conditioning, to learned responses. Certainly reflexes and fixed action patterns can occur without feeling or conscious thought. A gull chick pecks at a red spot above it. The parent has a red spot on its bill; the chick pecks the parent’s bill. The gull parent feeds its chick when pecked on the bill. The baby gets fed. The interaction need have no emotional content.At the same time, there is no reason why such actions cannot have emotional content. In mammals, including humans, that have given birth, milk is often released automatically when a new baby cries. This is not under voluntary control; it is reflex. Y et this does not mean that feeding a new baby is exclusively reflex and expresses no feeling like love. Humans have feeling about their behavior even if it is conditioned or reflexive. 28)Y et since reflexes exist, and conditioned behavior is widespread, measurable, and observable, most scientists try to explain animal behavior using only these concepts. It is simpler.29)Pref erring to explain behavior in ways that fit science’s methods most easily, scientists have refused to consider any causes for animal behavior other than reflexive and conditioned ones. Scientific orthodoxy holds that what cannot be readily measured or tested cannot exist, or is unworthy of serious attention. But emotional explanations for animal behavior need not be impossibly complex or unstable. 30)They are just more difficult for the scientific method to verify in the usual ways, cleverer and more sophisticated approaches are called for. Most branches of science are more willing to make successive approximations to what may prove ultimately unknowable, rather than ignoring it altogether.做题点拨与全文翻译Part AT ext 1语境词汇1.viciousness n.恶意, 邪恶2.tumble n.混乱；跌倒v.被绊倒3. inclination n. 倾斜，倾向；爱好4.legalism n.墨守成规；法律术语，条文5.ball v.把…捏成球n.球；舞会6.deliberately adv.故意地；慎重地7.police v.监督；守卫n.警察部门；警察8.ambiguity n.含糊不清；模棱两可的话9.cloud vt.使模糊；笼罩n.云；一群；阴影10.assault n. 攻击，突袭vt.殴打，袭击；强暴难句突破1. [In a startling upset], the Russians embarrassed their rough-playing opponents and exploded a long-standing myth: {that success in certain sports requires excessive violence}.【分析】复合句。