考研英语阅读理解标准90篇+提高30篇unit-7

Unit 7Man proposes, God disposes.谋事在人，成事在天。

P art ADirections：Read the following texts. Answer the questions blow each text by choosing [A],[B],[C] or [D].Text 1A new malady is running rampantly in corporate America: management phobia. Many people don’t want to be manager, and many people who are managers are itching to jump off the management track—or have already. “I hated all the meetings,”says a 10-year award-winning manager, “And I found the more you did for people who worked for you, the more they expected.I was a counselor, motivator, financial adviser and psychologist.”With technology changing in a wink, we can never slack off these days if we’re on the technical side. It’s a rare person who can manage to keep up on the technical side and handle a management job, too. In addition, with Scott Adams’ popular cartoon character as well as many television situation comedies routinely portraying managers as morons or enemies, they just don’t get much respect anymore.Supervising others was always a tough task, but in the past that stress was offset by hopes for career mobility and financial rewards. Along with a sizable pay raise, people chosen as managers would begin a nearly automatic climb up the career ladder to lucrative executive perks: stock options, company cars, club memberships, plus the key to executive washroom. But in today’s global, more competitive arena, a manager sits on an insecure perch.Restructuring have eliminated layer after layer of management as companies came to view their organizations as collections of competencies rather than hierarchies. There are far fewer rungs on the corporate ladder for managers to climb. In addition, managerial jobs demand more hours and headaches than ever before but offer slim financial paybacks and perks.In an age of entrepreneurship, when the most praised people in business are those launching something new, management seems like an invisible, thankless role. Employers are looking for people who can do things, not for people who make other people do things. Management layoffs have done much to erode interest in managerial jobs.With more people wary of joining management, are corporations being hurt or worrying about developing future leaders? No many are. While employers have dismissed a lot of managers, they believe a surplus lingers on at many companies. “Another reason companies aren’t short ofmanagers”, contends Robert Kelley, a Carnegie Mellon University business professor, “is that so many workers today are self-managed, either individually or via teams, you don’t need a manager.”1. The words of 10-year award-winning manager implies that[A] managerial jobs demand more hours and offer more headaches.[B] managers should not do too much beyond the scope of his job.[C] being a manager requires many other skills besides management.[D] a person can get a lot of development in a management role.2. The word “perk” (Line 3, Para. 3) probably means[A] privileges. [B] status.[C] mobility. [D] rungs.3. Which one of the following statements applies to today’s managers?[A] Their stress can be reduced by the financial and emotional rewards.[B] They begin to neglect their development on the technical side.[C] They don’t feel secure in their positions because of the reduction in company hierarchies.[D] They are not respected any more by the media despite of their hard efforts.4. Which skill do employers value most in this age of entrepreneurship?[A] Management. [B] Creativity.[C] Cooperation. [D] Diligence.5. The last paragraph suggests that[A] the loss of interest in the managerial jobs would damage American corporate culture.[B] more and more managers would be laid off in order to relieve the financial burden.[C] those who are still lingering on managerial jobs are not foresighted.[D] many employees are to some extent a manager of themselves.Text 2Man’s puzzlement and preoccupation with time both derive ultimately from his unique relationship to it. All animals exist in time and are changed by it; only man can manipulate it.Like Proust, the French author whose experiences became his literary capital, man can recapture the past. He can also summon up things to come, displaying imagination and foresight along with memory. It can be argued, indeed, that memory and foresightedness are the essence of intelligence; that man’s ability to manipulate time, to employ both past and future as guides to present action, is what makes him human.To be sure, many animals can react to time after a fashion. A rat can learn to press a lever that will, after a delay of some 25 seconds, reward it with a bit of food. But if the delay stretches beyond 30 seconds, the animal is stumped. It can no longer associate reward to “far” in the future with present lever-pressing.Monkeys, more intelligent than rats, are better able to deal with time. If one of them is allowed to see food being hidden under one of two cups, it can pick out the right cup even after 90 seconds have passed. But after that time interval, the monkey’s hunt for the food is no better than chance predicts.With the apes, man’s nearest cousins, “time sense”takes a big step forward. Even under laboratory conditions, quite different from those they encounter in the wild, apes sometimes showremarkable ability to manipulate the present to obtain a future goal. A chimpanzee, for example, can learn to stack four boxes, one atop the other, as a platform from which it can reach a hanging banana. Chimpanzees, indeed, carry their ability to cope with the future to the threshold of human capacity: they can make tools. And it is by the making of tools—physical tools as crude as a stone chopper, mental tools as subtle as a mathematical equation—that man characteristically prepares for future contingencies.Chimpanzees in the wild have been seen to strip a twig of its leaves to make a probe for extracting termites from their hole. Significantly, however, the ape does not make this tool before setting out on a termite hunt, but only when it actually sees the insects or their nest. Here, as with the banana and the crates, the ape can deal only with a future that is immediate and visible—and thus halfway into the present.6. The sentence “Like Proust, …recapture the past”(Line 1, Para. 2) shows that[A] Proust wrote about past experiences.[B] Proust described man’s development of time sense.[C] Proust discovered things about the future by reliving the past.[D] Proust wrote primarily to improve his future life.7.Which of the following is true according to the text?[A] Monkeys and apes are almost as intelligent as man.[B] Memory and foresight contribute to intelligence.[C] Man developed from apes.[D] Chimpanzees’ sense of time is as good as man’s.8. The word “stump”(Line 3, Para. 3) most probably means[A] confuse.[B] inspire.[C] frighten.[D] disappoint.9. It is significant that chimpanzees make tools, but it is more important that[A] the tools they make are crude.[B] they stack items to make platforms.[C] they can make up simple equations.[D] they never make tools before they need them.10. Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of the text?[A] How apes understand time relationships.[B] Man’s preoccupation with past and future events.[C] How man’s time sense separates him from animals.[D] Time sense in animals.Text 3Children are in need of adoption because some birth parents are unable or unavailable to provide adequately for the needs of their child. There are numerous reasons for making an adoption plan. Birth parents may feel they cannot take on the responsibility of an unplanned child because they are too young or because they are financially or emotionally unable to provide proper care. They do not feel ready or able to be good parents.In other cases children are in need of adoption because courts have decided that their birthparents are unable to function adequately. Many of these children are victims of abuse or neglect. Regardless of how children come to need adoption, they are put with adoptive parents through private or public social service agencies. Other adoptions may be arranged independently, as when birth parents and adoptive parents come to know each other outside of an agency and then complete the adoption according to the laws and regulations of their states of residence.In the early 1970s there was a dramatic increase in the number of families seeking to adopt, a condition which persists today. For this reason, the number of those who wish to adopt regularly exceeds the number of infants available. Reasons for this dramatic increase are varied. A major factor has been the choice of many people to delay the start of a family until later in life. Many of these people, in turn, have found themselves to be less fertile at that time, and so they have decided that their desire to have children might best be fulfilled through adoption.In every state, however, there are children who are legally free to be adopted but are desperately waiting for parents. The children in this group are usually older and often have special needs. They may require additional care from a parent because of their physical, emotional, or mental disabilities which may have been caused by abuse, neglect, or medical or genetic factors. Because of their special needs, these children are challenging to rear. In fact, adoption experts believe that people who adopt these children need special training and preparation in order to successfully rear the child and to integrate the child into the family and eventually into society.In cases of international adoption, Americans have adopted orphaned children from places like India, and Latin America. United States immigration laws allow such children to reside in the United States through a special visa under which the children are classified as immediate relatives of the adopting family. The laws, regulations, and attitudes toward international adoption vary a great deal from one country to another. Because of this, people wishing to adopt should use experienced agencies or organizations in order to adopt a child from another country successfully.11. In the author’s opinion, adopting children is basically[A] illegal.[B] unethical.[C] unavoidable.[D] necessary.12. What is the most important reason for the adoption boom in the 1970s?[A] In the early 1970s, adoption came into vogue among young American couples.[B] Many women chose adoption for fear that their figure might be adversely affected.[C] Many people who married late found they were less fertile and had to adopt children.[D] Due to the baby boom, the American government carried out family planning.13. By saying “…children who are…parents”(Line1-2, Para. 4), the author means that[A] few people would like to adopt these children for they are hard to rear.[B] the children were eager to be loved by their birth parents.[C] these children wait for their birth parents desperately.[D] their birth parents abandoned them but these children still loved them.14. According to the text, international adoption[A] occurs more often than adoptions of American infants.[B] mostly involves European orphans.[C] should be done through experienced agencies.[D] should be banned right away.15.The text intends to tell us[A] how to adopt a child.[B] why and how Americans adopt children.[C] the history of child adoption.[D] the significance of adopting children.Text 4Aristotle wrote that men come together in cities to live, but stay in them to live the good life. It was the Greeks who invented the idea of the city, and urbanity continues as a thriving tradition. But in the first decade of the 21st century, urban life is changing. “Cities are now junctions in the flows of people, information, finance and freight,” says Nigel Harris, a professor of development planning. “They’re less and less places where people live and work.”The enlargement of the European Union in December in 2002 has given residents of up to 13 new member nations freedom of movement within its borders. At the same time, an additional 13.5 million immigrants a year will be needed in the EU just to keep a stable ratio between workers and pensioners over the next half century. All this mobility will make Europe’s cities nodes of nomadism, linked to each other by high-speed trains and cheap airline flights. The bustle around airports and train stations will make the crowds in Europe’s great piazza look thin by comparison. Urban designers, with a freshly pricked interest in transience rather than stasis, are even now dreaming up cityscapes that focus on flows of people and fungible uses for buildings.Public spaces are due for a revamp. Earlier architects conceived of train stations as single buildings; today’s desig ners are thinking of them as transit zones that link to the city around them, pouring travelers into bus stations and surrounding shops. In Amsterdam, urban planner Ben van Berkel, co-director of the design firm of UN Studio, has developed what he calls Deep Planning Strategy, which inverts the traditional “top-down” approach: the creation of a space comes before the flow of people through it. With 3-D modeling and animation, he’s able to look at different population groups use public spaces at different times of the day. He uses the data to design spaces that accommodate mobs at rush hour and sparser crowds at other times.The growing mobility of Europe has inspired a debate about the look and feel of urban sprawl. “Up until now, all our cultural heritage has been concentrated in the city center,” notes Prof. Heinrich Moding of the German Institute of Urban Affairs. “But we’ve got to imagine how it’s possible to have joyful vibrancy in these outlying parts, so that they’re not just about garages, highways an d gasoline tanks.”The designs of new building are also changing to anticipate the emerging city as a way station. Buildings have been seen as disconnecting, isolating, defining. But increasingly, the quality of space that’s in demand is movement.16. What can be inferred from the second paragraph?[A] People belonging to the E.U. member states can travel freely within borders.[B] Immigration to the European Union will benefit the nation’s welfare.[C] The flow of people among European nations will cause troubles to transportation.[D] The mobility of cities in Europe will put urban designers in a dilemma.17. The word “revamp” (Line 1, Para. 3) probably means[A] revival. [B] revelation.[C] renewal. [D] recovery.18. According to Ben van Berkel, the creation of public spaces should[A] base on information about the flow of people.[B] come before the people move into the city.[C] make full use of 3-D animation technology.[D] take into account the working hours of the inhabitants.19. Prof. Heinrich Moding indicates that[A] the lifestyle and culture of a city should change because of people’s mobility.[B] the suburbs will no longer be the places for garages and highways in the future.[C] the cultural environment will be more attractive than the locational factors.[D] the suburbs will be more prosperous in the future than the city center20. The main idea of the text is[A] the modern cities won’t be places to live the good life so much as way stations.[B] Aristotle’s idea about urban life is no longer applicable in the 21st century.[C] locational factors will not be so important in the 21st century as in Aristotle’s time.[D] there will be no fixed buildings in the future and the culture of architecture will change.Part BDirections: You are going to read a list of headings and a text about Safe Courses for Your Computer. Choose the most suitable heading from the list [A]-[F] for each numbered paragraph (21-25). The first and last paragraphs of the text are not numbered. There is one extra heading which you do not need to use.[A] Check virus promptly[B] Various virus-checking software available in market[C] Don’t take candy from strangers[D] Postpone the upgrade[E] Use good virus-checking software[F] Back up your dataViruses have been around longer than PCs, and are not without a certain mathematical and scientific interest. Indeed, not all viruses are malignant. Used properly, viral techniques are a valuable programming tool. Used improperly, they are pestilentially destructive. There’s no perfect cure. Like the flu, computer viruses evolve. Last year’s immunization isn’t any good for this year’s disease because every time someone invents a new medication, someone else invents a malady. Nonetheless, a few simple precautions will buffer you against all but the cleverest hacker.21.Outfits like Network Associates McAfee and Symantec sell strong virus medicine, keeping their cures up-to-date by posting revisions at their Web sites—which you should check often. Further, there are more than a dozen public-domain virus checkers that you can download for free. is a good place to find them. You can also get virus repellents from services like America Online. But a word of caution: not every program fixes every virus, and when a new bug hits, the remedy takes a while to reach the market.22.Anyone who doesn’t have a backup drive is begging for trouble，and not just because of viruses. I keep a spare 6.2-gigabyte disk drive hooked to my PC, religiously saving redundantcopies of everything but only after performing a virus check. Storage is cheap, and I’d rather be safe than sorry.23.Whenever you load a new file or application onto your computer, immediately pass it through anti-virus software. Most viruses aren’t activated —and will not spread —until you use the stuff in which they’re hiding. You can catch them and kill them before they do any harm. If you get zapped by a virus and don’t have an uncorrupted spare hard drive to reboot from, then use a friend’s computer to search the Web for a cure. If the virus has exploited a weakness in a major software vendor’s products, that vendor will have a remedy at its Web site.24.These days most viruses and their cousins, network-infecting worms, are spread through files attached to e-mail or downloaded from the Web. If you receive mail with a file hooked to it from someone you don’t know, then do not open that file. By the same token, avoid downloading anything from dubious Web sites. Even the most innocuous-seeming document can be a viral carrier. But don’t be paranoid, either; Web sites run by reputable outfits generally can be trusted.25.New versions of the most popular operating systems and application software attract virus writers like sugar attracts flies. I haven’t upgraded email program since 1995 or my word processor since 1996; they work just fine and are too old to attract hackers.Where viruses are concerned, what grandma used to tell you is extremely relevant: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.Part CDirections:Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese.Why does the Foundation concentrate its support on basic rather than applied research?26)Basic research is the very heart of science, and its cumulative product is the capital of scientific progress, a capital that must be constantly increased as the demands upon it rise. The goal of basic research is understanding, for its own sake. Understanding of the structure of the atom or the nerve cell, the explosion of a spiral nebula or the distribution of cosmic dust, the causes of earthquakes and droughts, or of man as a behaving creature and of the social forces that are created wherever two or more human beings come into contact with one another — the scope is staggering, but the commitment to truth is the same. 27)If the commitment were to a particular result, conflicting evidence might be overlooked or, with the best will in the world, simply not appreciated. Moreover, the practical applications of basic research frequently cannot be anticipated. When Roentgen, the physicist, discovered X-rays he had no idea of their usefulness to medicine.Much of the prestige accorded to basic research results from its purity; it is thought to be an intellectual venture from political, organizational and economic constraints. 28)The insulation of scientists from the demands of their patrons confers a sense of higher ethical standards; scientists are indebted to nothing but the internal demands of science.Applied research, undertaken to solve specific practical problems, has an immediate attractiveness because the results can be seen and enjoyed. For practical reasons, the sums spent on applied research in any country always far exceed those for basic research, and the proportions are more unequal in the less developed countries. 29)Leaving aside the fund devoted to researchby industry — which is naturally far more concerned with applied aspects because those increase profits quickly — the funds the US government allots to basic research currently amount to about 7 percent of its overall research and development funds. Unless adequate safeguards are provided, applied research invariably tends to drive out basic. Then, as Dr. Waterman has pointed out, “Developments will inevitab ly be undertaken prematurely, career incentive will gravitate strongly toward applied science, and the opportunities for making major scientific discoveries will be lost.30)Unfortunately, pressures to emphasize new developments, without corresponding emphasis upon pure science, tend to degrade the quality of the nation’s technology in the long run, rather than to improve it.做题点拨与全文翻译Part AText 1语境词汇1.malady n.疾病2.rampantly ad.猖獗地；粗暴地3.phobia n.恐惧症4.wink n.瞬间；眨眼示意；闪烁，闪亮v.眨眼；闪烁，明灭5.slack off 松懈；放松6.moron n.白痴7.offset v.弥补，抵消8.lucrative a.赚钱的9.perk n.特权；额外补贴10.hierarchy n.等级，层次11.rung n.梯级yoff n.(尤指临时)解雇难句突破1.[In addition], [with Scott Adams’ popular cartoon character as well as many television situation comedies routinely portraying managers as morons or enemies], they just don’t get (much) respect [anymore].【分析】简单句。