2012年考研英语语法专项突破训练及解析-英语试题
2012年考研英语（二）真题及答案
Section 1 Use of EninglishDirections :Millions of Americans and foreigners see GI.Joe as a mindless war toy ,the symbol o f American military adventurism, but that‘s not how it used to be .To the men and wome n who 1 )in World War II and the people they liberated ,the GI.was the 2) man grown i nto hero ,the pool farm kid torn away from his home ,the guy who 3) all the burdens of battle ,who slept in cold foxholes,who went without the 4) of food and shelter ,who stuc k it out and drove back the Nazi reign of murder .this was not a volunteer soldier ,not s omeone well paid ,5) an average guy ,up 6 )the best trained ,best equipped ,fiercest ,most brutal enemies seen in centuries. His name is not much.GI. is just a military abbreviation 7) Government Issue ,and it was on all of the article 8) to soldiers .And Joe? A common name for a guy who never 9) it to the top .Joe Blow ,Joe Magrac …a working class name.The United States has 1 0) had a president or vicepresident or secretary of state Joe. GI .joe had a (11)career fighting German ,Japanese , and Korean troops . He appers as a character ,or a (12 ) of american personalities, in the 1945 movie The Story of GI. Joe, based on the last days of war correspondent Ernie Pyle. Some of the soldiers Pyle(13) portrayde themselves in the film. Pyle was famous for covering the (14)side of the warl, writing about the dirt-snow –and-mud soldiers, not how many miles were(15)or what town s were captured or liberated, His reports(16)the ―willieǁ cartoons of famed Stars and Strip es artist Bill Maulden. Both men(17)the dirt and exhaustion of war, the (18)of civilization that the soldiers shared with each other and the civilians: coffee, tobacco, whiskey, shelter, sleep. (19)Egypt, France, and a dozen more countries, G.I. Joe was any American soldi er,(20)the most important person in their lives. 1.[A] performed [B]served [C]rebelled [D]betrayed 2.[A] actual [B]common [C]special [D]normal 3.[A]bore [B]cased [C]removed [D]loaded 4.[A]necessities [B]facilitice [C]commodities [D]propertoes 5.[A]and [B]nor [C]but [D]hence 6.[A]for [B]into [C] form [D]against 7.[A]meaning [B]implying [C]symbolizing [D]claiming 8.[A]handed out [B]turn over [C]brought back [D]passed down 9.[A]pushed [B]got [C]made [D]managed 10.[A]ever [B]never [C]either [D]neither 11.[A]disguised [B]disturbed [C]disputed [D]distinguished 12.[A]company [B]collection [C]community [D]colony 13.[A]employed [B]appointed [C]interviewed [D]questioned 14.[A]ethical [B]military [C]political [D]human 15.[A]ruined [B]commuted [C]patrolled [D]gained 16.[A]paralleled [B]counteracted [C]duplicated [D]contradicted 17.[A]neglected [B]avoided [C]emphasized [D]admired 18.[A]stages [B]illusions [C]fragments [D]advancea 19.[A]With [B]To [C]Among [D]Beyond 20.[A]on the contrary [B] by this means [C]from the outset [D]at that point Section II Resdiong Comprehension Part ADirections:Read the following four texts. answer the question after each text by choosing A,B,C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1.(40 points) Text 1Homework has never been terribly popular with students and even many parents, but in recent years it has been particularly scorned. School districts across the country, most r ecently Los Angeles Unified, are revising their thinking on his educational ritual. Unfortun ately, L.A. Unified has produced an inflexible policy which mandates that with the excepti on of some advanced courses, homework may no longer count for more than 10% of a st udent‘s academic grade.This rule is meant to address the difficulty that students from impoverished or chaotic homes might have in completing their homework. But the policy is unclear and contradictory. Certainly, no homework should be assigned that students cannot do without expensiv e equipment. But if the district is essentially giving a pass to students who do not do the ir homework because of complicated family lives, it is going riskily close to the implicati on that standards need to be lowered for poor children. District administrators say that homework will still be a pat of schooling: teachers are allowed to assign as much of it as they want. But with homework counting for no more than 10% of their grades, students can easily skip half their homework and see vey little difference on their report cards. Some students might do well on state tests without com pleting their homework, but what about the students who performed well on the tests and did their homework? It is quite possible that the homework helped. Yet rather than empo wering teachers to find what works best for their students, the policy imposes a flat, acro ss-the-board rule. At the same time, the policy addresses none of the truly thorny questions about hom ework. If the district finds homework to be unimportant to its students‘ academic achieve ment, it should move to reduce or eliminate the assignments, not make them count for al most nothing. Conversely, if homework does nothing to ensure that the homework students are not assigning more than they are willing to review and correct. The homework rules should be put on hold while the school board, which is responsi ble for setting educational policy, looks into the matter and conducts public hearings. It is not too late for L.A. Unified to do homework right. 21.It is implied in paragraph 1 that nowadays homework_____. [A] is receiving more criticism [B]is no longer an educational ritual [C]is not required for advanced courses [D]is gaining more preferences 22.L.A.Unified has made the rule about homework mainly because poor students____ _. [A]tend to have moderate expectations for their education [B]have asked for a different educational standard [C]may have problems finishing their homework [D]have voiced their complaints about homework 23.According to Paragraph 3,one problem with the policy is that it may____. [A]discourage students from doing homework [B]result in students' indifference to their report cards [C]undermine the authority of state tests [D]restrict teachers' power in education 24. As mentioned in Paragraph 4, a key question unanswered about homework is whe ther______. [A] it should be eliminated [B]it counts much in schooling [C]it places extra burdens on teachers [D]it is important for grades 25.A suitable title for this text could be______. [A]Wrong Interpretation of an Educational Policy [B]A Welcomed Policy for Poor Students [C]Thorny Questions about Homework [D]A Faulty Approach to Homework Text2Pretty in pink: adult women do not rememer being so obsessed with the colour, yet i t is pervasive in our young girls‘ lives. Tt is not that pink is intrinsicall y bad, but it is s uch a tiny slice of the rainbow and, though it may celebrate girlhood in one way, it also repeatedly and firmly fuses girls‘ identity to appearance. Then it presents that connection, even among two-year-olds, between girls as not only innocent but as evidence of innocen ce. Looking around, I despaired at the singular lack of imagination about girls‘ lives and interests. Girls‘ attraction to pink may seem unavoidable, somehow encoded in their DNA, but according to Jo Paoletti, an associate professor of American Studies, it is not. Children w ere not colour-coded at all until the early 20th century: in the era before domestic washing machines all babies wore white as a practical matter, since the only way of getting clothes clean was to boil them. What‘s more, both boys and girls wore what were thought ofas gender-neutral dresses.When nursery colours were introduced, pink was actually consid ered the more masculine colour, a pastel version of red, which was associated with strengt h. Blue, with its intimations of the Virgin Mary, constancy and faithfulness, symbolised femininity. It was not until the mid-1980s, when amplifying age and sex differences becamea dominant children‘s marketing strategy, that pink fully came into its own, when it bega n to seem inherently attractive to girls, part of what defined them as female, at least for the first few critical years. I had not realised how profoundly marketing trends dictated our perception of what is natural to kins, including our core beliefs about their psychological development. Take the toddler. I assumed that phase was something experts developed after years of research into children‘s behaviour: wrong. Turns out, acdording to Daniel Cook, a historian of childhood consumerism, it was popularised as a marketing trick by clothing manufacrurers in the 1930s. Trade publications counselled department stores that, in order to increase sales, they sstepping stoneǁ between infant wear and older kids‘ clothes. Tt was hould create a ―third s tepping only after ―toddlerǁbecame a common shoppers‘ term that it evolved into a broadly accepted developmental stage. Splitting kids, or adults,into ever-tinier categories has proved a sure-fire way to boost profits. And one of the easiest ways to segment a market is to magnify gender differences –or invent them where they did not previously exist. 26.By saying "it is...the rainbow"(Line 3, Para.1),the author means pink______. [A]should not be the sole representation of girlhood [B]should not be associated with girls' innocence [C]cannot explain girls' lack of imagination [D]cannot influence girls' lives and interests 27.According to Paragraph 2, which of the following is true of colours? [A]Colours are encoded in girls' DNA. [B]Blue used to be regarded as the colour for girls. [C]Pink used to be a neutral colour in symbolising genders. [D]White is prefered by babies. 28.The author suggests that our perception of children's psychological development wa s much influenced by_____. [A]the marketing of products for children [B]the observation of children's nature [C]researches into children's behavior [D]studies of childhood consumption 29.We may learn from Paragraph 4 that department stores were advised to_____. [A]focus on infant wear and older kids' clothes [B]attach equal importance to different genders [C]classify consumers into smaller groups [D]create some common shoppers' terms 30.It can be concluded that girls' attraction to pink seems to be____. [A] clearly explained by their inborn tendency [B]fully understood by clothing manufacturers [C] mainly imposed by profit-driven businessmen [D]well interpreted by psychological experts Text3In2010.afederaljudgeshookAmerica'panieshadwonpatentsforis olatedDNAfordecades-by2005some20%ofhumangeneswereparented.ButinMarch2010ajudgeruledt hatgeneswereunpatentable.Executiveswereviolentlyagitated.TheBiotechnologyIndustryOrganisatio n(BIO),atradegroup,assuredmembersthatthiswasjusta―preliminarystepǁinalongerbattle.OnJuly29ththeywererelieved,atleasttemporarily.Afederalappealscourtoverturnedthepriordecis ion,rulingthatMyriadGeneticscouldindeedholbpatentstotwogenssthathelpforecastawoman'sriskofbr eastcancer.ThechiefexecutiveofMyriad,acompanyinUtah,saidtherulingwasablessingtofirmsandpati entsalike. Butascompaniescontinuetheirattemptsatpersonalisedmedicine,thecourtswillremainratherbusy.TheMyriadcaseitselfisprobablynotoverCriticsmakethreemainargumentsagainstgenepatents:ageneis aproductofnature,soitmaynotbepatented;genepatentssuppressinnovationratherthanrewardit;andpatents'monopoliesrestrictaccesstogenetictestssuchasMyriad'styearafederaltask-forceurgedreformforpatentsrelatedtogenetictests.InOctobertheDepartmentofJusticefiledabriefintheMyriadcas e,arguingthatanisolatedDNAmolecule―isnolessaproductofnature...thanarecot tonfibresthathavebeenseparatedfromcottonseeds.ǁDespitetheappealscourt'sdecision,bigquestionsremainunanswered.Forexample,itisunclearwhet herthesequencingofawholegenomeviolatesthepatentsofindividualgeneswithinit.Thecasemayyetreac htheSupremeCourt. AS the industry advances ,however,other suits may have an even greater p anies are unlikely to file many more patents for human DNA molecules-most are already patented or in the public domain .firms are now studying how genes intcract,looking for c orrelations that might be used to determine the causes of disease or predict a drug‘s effic acy,companies are eager to win patents for ‗connecting the dits‘,expaainshanssauer,alawyer for the BIO. Their success may be determined by a suit related to this issue, brought by the May o Clinic, which the Supreme Court will hear in its next term. The BIO rtcently held a co nvention which included seddions to coach lawyers on the shifting landscape for patents. Each meeting was packed. 31.itcanbe learned from paragraph I that the biotech companies would like----- A.their executives to be active B.judges to rule out gene patenting C.genes to be patcntablc D.the BIO to issue a warning 32.those who are against gene patents believe that---- A.genetic tests are not reliable B.only man-made products are patentable C.patents on genes depend much on innovatiaon D.courts should restrict access to gene tic tests 33.according to hanssauer ,companies are eager to win patents for---- A.establishing disease comelations B.discovering gene interactions C.drawing pictures of genes D.identifying human DNA meeting was packedǁ(line4,para6)the author means that ----- 34.By saying ―each m eeting A.thesupreme court was authoritative B.the BIO was a powerful organization C.gene patenting was a great concern wyers were keen to attend conventiongs 35.generally speaking ,the author‘s attitude toward gene patenting is---- A.critical B.supportive C.scornful D.objective Text 4The great recession may be over, but this era of high joblessness is probably beginni ng. Before it ends, it will likely change the life course and character of a generation of young adults. A nd ultimately, it is likely to reshape our politics,our culture, and the character of our soci ety for years. No one tries harder than the jobless to find silver linings in this national economic d isaster. Many said that unemployment, while extremely painful, had improved them in som e ways; they had become less materialistic and more financially prudent; they were more aware of the struggles of others. In limited respects, perhaps the recession will leave socie ty better off. At the very least, it has awoken us from our national fever dream of easy r iches and bigger houses, and put a necessary end to an era of reckless personal spending. But for the most part, these benefits seem thin, uncertain, and far off. In The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth, the economic historian Benjamin Friedman argues thatboth inside and outside the U.S. ,lengthy periods of economic stagnation or decline have almost always left society more mean-spirited and less inclusive, and have usually stopped or reversed the advance of rights and freedoms. Anti-immigrant sentiment typically increases, as does conflict between races and classes. Income inequality usually falls during a recession, but it has not shrunk in this one,. Indeed, this period of economic weakness may reinforce class divides, and decrease opport unities to cross them--- especially for young people. The research of Till V on Wachter, th e economist in Columbia University, suggests that not all people graduating into a recessi on see their life chances dimmed: those with degrees from elite universities catch up fairl y quickly to where they otherwise would have been if they had graduated in better times; it is the masses beneath them that are left behind. In the internet age, it is particularly easy to see the resentment that has always been hidden winthin American society. More difficult, in the moment , is discerning precisely h ow these lean times are affecting society‘s character. In many respects, the U.S. was more socially tolerant entering this resession than at any time in its history, and a variety of n ational polls on social conflict since then have shown mixed results. We will have to wait and see exactly how these hard times will reshape our social fabric. But they certainly it, and all the more so the longer they extend. find silver liningsǁ(Line 1,Para.2)the author suggest that the jobless 36.By saying ―to f ind try to___. [A]seek subsidies from the govemment [B]explore reasons for the unermployment [C]make profits from the troubled economy [D]look on the bright side of the recession 37.According to Paragraph 2,the recession has made people_____. [A]realize the national dream [B]struggle against each other [C]challenge their lifestyle [D]reconsider their lifestyle 38.Benjamin Friedman believe that economic recessions may_____. [A]impose a heavier burden on immigrants [B]bring out more evils of human nature [C]Promote the advance of rights and freedoms [D]ease conflicts between races and classes 39.The research of Till V on Wachther suggests that in recession graduates from elite universities tend to _____. [A]lag behind the others due to decreased opportunities [B]catch up quickly with experienced employees [C]see thei r life chances as dimmed as the others‘[D]recover more quickly than the others 40.The author thinks that the influence of hard times on society is____. [A]certain Part BDirections:Read the following text and answer the questions by finding information from the leftcolumn that corresponds to each of the marked details given in the right column. There are two extra choices in the right column. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEERT 1. (10 points) history, the history of what man has a ccomplished in this world, is at bott ―Universal h istory, om the History of the Great Men who have worked here,ǁ wrote the Victorian sage Tho mas Carlyle. Well, not any more it is not. Suddenly, Britain looks to have fallen out with its favourite historical form. This coul d be no more than a passing literary craze, but it also points to a broader truth about ho w we now approach the past: less concerned with learning from forefathers and more inte rested in feeling their pain. Today, we want empathy, not inspiration. From the earliest days of the Renaissance, the writing of history meant recounting theexemplary lives of great men. In 1337, Petrarch began work on his rambling writing De VirisIllustribus –On Famous Men, highlighting the virtus (or virtue) of classical heroes. Petrarch celebrated their greatness in conquering fortune and rising to the top. This was th e biographical tradition which Niccolo Machiavelli turned on its head. In The Prince, the championed cunning, ruthlessness, and boldness, rather than virtue, mercy and justice, as t he skills of successful leaders. Over time, the attributes of greatness shifted. The Romantics commemorated the leadi ng painters and authors of their day, stressing the uniqueness of the artist's personal experience rather than public glory. By contrast, the Victorian author Samual Smiles wrote Self -Help as a catalogue of the worthy lives of engineers , industrialists and explores . "The valuable examples which they furnish of the power of self-help, if patient purpose, resolut e working and steadfast integrity, issuing in the formulation of truly noble and many char acter, exhibit,"wroteSmiles."what it is in the power of each to accomplish for himself"His biographies of James Walt, Richard Arkwright and Josiah Wedgwood were held up as bea cons to guide the working man through his difficult life. This was all a bit bourgeois for Thomas Carlyle, who focused his biographies on the truly heroic lives of Martin Luther, Oliver Cromwell and Napoleon Bonaparte. These epo chal figures represented lives hard to imitate, but to be acknowledged as possessing higher authority than mere mortals. Communist Manifesto. For them, history did nothing, it possessed no immense wealth nor waged battles:―It i s is man, real, living man who does all that.ǁ And history should be the story of the masses and their record of struggle. As such, it needed to appreciate the economic realities, the social contexts and power relations in which each epoch stood. Fo make their own history, but they do not make it just as the y please; they do not r:―Men m ake make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly found, given and transmitted from the past.ǁThis was the tradition which revolutionized our appreciation of the past. In place of Thomas Carlyle, Britain nurtured Christopher Hill, EP Thompson and Eric Hobsbawm. His tory from below stood alongside biographies of great men. Whole new realms of understa nding —from gender to race to cultural studies —were opened up as scholars unpickedthe multiplicity of lost societies. And it transformed public history too: downstairs became just as fascinating as upstairs. [A] emphasized the virtue of classical heroes. 41. Petrarch [B] highlighted the public glory of the leading artists. 42. NiccoloMachiavellli [C] focused on epochal figures whose lives were hard to imitate. 43. Samuel Smiles [D] opened up new realms of understanding the great men in history. 44. Thomas Carlyle [E] held that history should be the story of the masses and their record of struggle. 45. Marx and Engels [F] dismissed virtue as unnecessary for successful leaders. [G] depicted the worthy lives of engineer industrialists and explorers Section III Translation46.Directions:Translate the following text from English into Chinese.Write your translation on ANS WER SHEET2.(15 points) When people in developing countries worry about migration,they are usually concerned at the prospect of ther best and brightest departure to Silicon Valley or to hospitals and universities in the developed world ,These are the kind of workers that countries like Bri tian ,Canada and Australia try to attract by using immigration rules that privilege college graduates . Lots of studies have found that well-educated people from developing countries are p articularly likely to emigrate .A big survey of Indian households in 2004 found that nearly 40%of emigrants had more than a high-school education,compared with around 3.3%of all Indians over the age of 25.This "brain drain "has long bothered policymakers in poor c ountries ,They fear that it hurts their economies ,depriving them of much-needed skilled w orkers who could have taught at their universities ,worked in their hospitals and come up with clever new products for their factories to make . Section IV Writing Part A 47.Directions Suppose you have found something wrong with the electronic dictionary that you bou ght from an onlin store the other day ,Write an email to the customer service center to 1)make a complaint and 2)demand a prompt solution You should write about 100words on ANSERE SHEET 2 Do not sign your own name at the end of the letter ,Use "zhangwei "instead . 48、write an essay based on the following table .In your writing you should 1)describe the table ,and 2)give your comments You should write at least 150 words(15points) 某公司员工工作满意度调查年龄-------满意度满意不清楚不满意小于等于40岁16.7% 50.0% 33．3% 41-50岁0.0% 36.0% 64.0% 大于50岁40.0 50.0% 10.0% 完形填空：1.B 2.B 3.A 4.A 5.C 6.B 7.C 8.A 9.D 10.B 11.D 12.B 13.C 14.D 15.B 16.A 17.C 18.B 19.B 20.D TEXT1：21. A 22.C 23.A 24.B 25.D TEXT2：26.A 27.B 28.A 29.C 30.C TEXT3：31.C 32.B 33.A 34.D 35.D TEXT4：36.D 37.D 38.B 39.D 40.A 新题型：41-45：AFGCE 小作文范文：Dear Sir or Madame, As one of the regular customers of your online store, I am writing this letter to exp ress my complaint against the flaws in your product—an electronic dictionary I bought in your shop the other day. The dictionary is supposed to be a favorable tool for my study. Unfortunately, I fou nd that there are several problems. To begin with, when I opened it, I detected that the a ppearance of it had been scratched. Secondly, I did not find the battery promised in the a dvertisement posted on the homepage of your shop, which makes me feel that you have n ot kept your promise. What is worse, some of the keys on the keyboard do not work. I strongly request that a satisfactory explanation be given and effective measures sho uld be taken to improve your service and the quality of your products. You can either se nd a new one to me or refund me my money in full. I am looking forward to your reply at your earliest convenience. Sincerely yours, Zhang Wei [B]positive [C]trivial [D]destructive 。
2012年考研英语一真题原文及答案解析完整版
2012年考研英语一真题原文及答案解析完整版Section I Use of EnglishDirections: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）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)The ethical judgments of the Supreme Court justices have become an important issue recently。
The court cannot _1_ its legitimacy as guardian of the rule of law _2_ justices behave like politicians. Yet, in several instances, justices acted in ways that _3_ the court’s reputation for being independent and impartial.Justice Antonin Scalia，for example, appeared at political events。
That kind of activity makes it less likely that the cour t’s decisions will be _4_ as impartial judgments. Part of the problem is that the justices are not _5_by an ethics code。
2012考研(英语一)真题及其答案
2012考研(英语一)真题及其答案2012考研(英语一)真题及其答案近年来，考研成为越来越多大学生选择的途径之一，而英语一则是众多考生当中选择最多的科目之一。
为了帮助考生更好地备战2012年考研英语一科目，本文将针对2012年考研英语一真题进行详细解析。
Part ASection I: Error Identification此部分共有10个句子，每个句子中均有一个错误。
考生需要在每个句子中将错误的部分找出并进行修改。
1. 错误部分：改为which将句子修正为：I’ll always remember the day on which I first came to the college.2. 错误部分：将arrive后的to删除修正为：It was the first time that I had arrived in a foreign country.3. 错误部分：将flying后的for改为with修正为：I am quite familiar with flying on business trips.4. 错误部分：将have后的escaped改为escape修正为：Nowhere else have I seen such natural wonders as I have in Yunnan.5. 错误部分：将deposit后的much改为many修正为：There are many new deposits of oil and natural gas being discovered every year.6. 错误部分：将the后的from删除修正为：The local government has taken actions to prevent the price of houses from soaring.7. 错误部分：将raising后的prices改为price修正为：The rising price of daily necessities has put a great burden on the local residents.8. 错误部分：将tried后的to删除修正为：Whispering is not allowed in the museum, as I have tried many times.9. 错误部分：将otherwise后的standing改为stand修正为：You need to take your seat, otherwise, the bus driver won't continue driving.10. 错误部分：将to后的made删除修正为：Having made the decision to start my own business, I worked hard day and night.Section II: Reading Comprehension此部分分为三篇阅读材料，每篇材料后有5个选择题。
2012年考研英语一真题-答案及详解
2012年考研英语一真题-答案及详解2012年考研英语一答案详解Section I Use of EnglishDirections: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)The ethical judgments of the Supreme Court justices have become an important issue recently. The court cannot _1_ its legitimacy as guardian of the rule of law _2_ justices behave like politicians. Yet, in several instances, justices acted in ways that _3_ the court’s reputation for being independent and impartial.Justice Antonin Scalia, for example, appeared at political events. That kind of activity makes it less likely that the court’s decisions will be _4_ as impartial judgments. Part of the problem is that the justices are not _5_by an ethics code. At the very least, the court should make itself _6_to the code of conduct that _7_to the rest of the federal judiciary.This and other similar cases _8_the question of whether there is still a _9_between the court and politics.The framers of the Constitution envisioned law _10_having authority apart from politics. They gave justices permanent positions _11_they would be free to _12_ those in power and have no need to _13_ political support. Our legal system was designed to set law apart from politics precisely because they are so closely _14_.Constitutional law is political because it results from choices rooted in fundamental social _15_ like liberty and property. When the court deals with social policy decisions, the law it _16_ isinescapably political-which is why decisions split along ideological lines are so easily _17_ as unjust.The justices must _18_ doubts about the court’s legitimacy by making themselves _19_ to the code of conduct. That would make rulings more likely to be seen as separate from politics and, _20_, convincing as law.1. [A]emphasize [B]maintain [C]modify [D] recognize2. [A]when [B]lest [C]before [D] unless3. [A]restored [B]weakened [C]established [D] eliminated4. [A]challenged [B]compromised [C]suspected [D] accepted5. [A]advanced [B]caught [C]bound [D]founded6. [A]resistant [B]subject [C]immune [D]prone7. [A]resorts [B]sticks [C]loads [D]applies8. [A]evade [B]raise [C]deny [D]settle9. [A]line [B]barrier [C]similarity [D]conflict10. [A]by [B]as [C]though [D]towards11. [A]so [B]since [C]provided [D]though12. [A]serve [B]satisfy [C]upset [D]replace13. [A]confirm [B]express [C]cultivate [D]offer14. [A]guarded [B]followed [C]studied [D]tied15. [A]concepts [B]theories [C]divisions [D]conceptions16. [A]excludes [B]questions [C]shapes [D]controls17. [A]dismissed [B]released [C]ranked [D]distorted18. [A]suppress [B]exploit [C]address [D]ignore19. [A]accessible [B]amiable [C]agreeable [D]accountable20. [A]by all mesns [B]atall costs [C]in a word [D]as a resultSection II Reading ComprehensionPart ADirections:Read the following four texts. Answer the questions beloweach text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)Text 1Come on –Everybody’s doing it. That whispered message, half invitation and half forcing, is what most of us think of when we hear the words peer pressure. It usually leads to no good-drinking, drugs and casual sex. But in her new book Join the Club, Tina Rosenberg contends that peer pressure can also be a positive force through what she calls the social cure, in which organizations and officials use the power of group dynamics to help individuals improve their lives and possibly the word.Rosenberg, the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, offers a host of example of the social cure in action: In South Carolina, a state-sponsored antismoking program called Rage Against the Haze sets out to make cigarettes uncool. In South Africa, an HIV-prevention initiative known as LoveLife recruits young people to promote safe sex among their peers.The idea seems promising，and Rosenberg is a perceptive observer. Her critique of the lameness of many pubic-health campaigns is spot-on: they fail to mobilize peer pressure for healthy habits, and they demonstrate a seriously flawed understanding of psychology.” Dare to be different, please don’t smoke!” pleads one billboard campaign aimed at reducing smoking among teenagers-teenagers, who desire nothing more than fitting in. Rosenberg argues convincingly that public-health advocates ought to take a page from advertisers, so skilled at applying peer pressure. But on the general effectiveness of the social cure, Rosenberg is less persuasive. Join the Club is filled with too much irrelevant detail and not enough exploration of the social and biological factors that make peerpressure so powerful. The most glaring flaw of the social cure as it’s presented here is that it doesn’t work very well for very long. Rage Against the Haze failed oncestate funding was cut. Evidence that the LoveLife program produces lasting changes is limited and mixed.There’s no doubt that our peer groups exert enormous influence on our behavior. An emerging body of research shows that positive health habits-as well as negative ones-spread through networks of friends via social communication. This is a subtle form of peer pressure: we unconsciously imitate the behavior we see every day.Far less certain, however, is how successfully experts and bureaucrats can select our peer groups and steer their activities in virtuous directions. It’s like the teacher who breaks up the troublemakers in the back row by pairing them with better-behaved classmates. The tactic never really works. And that’s the prob lem with a social cure engineered from the outside: in the real world, as in school, we insist on choosing our own friends.21. According to the first paragraph, peer pressure often emerges as[A] a supplement to the social cure[B] a stimulus to group dynamics[C] an obstacle to school progress[D] a cause of undesirable behaviors22. Rosenberg holds that public advocates should[A] recruit professional advertisers[B] learn from advertisers’ experience[C] stay away from commercial advertisers[D] recognize the limitations of advertisements23. In the author’s view, Rosenberg’s book fails to[A] adequately probe social and biological factors[B] effectively evade the flaws of the social cure[C] illustrate the functions of state funding[D]produce a long-lasting social effect24. Paragraph 5shows that our imitation of behaviors[A] is harmful to our networks of friends[B] will mislead behavioral studies[C] occurs without our realizing it[D] can produce negative health habits25. The author suggests in the last paragraph that the effect of peer pressure is[A] harmful[B] desirable[C] profound[D] questionableText 2A deal is a deal-except, apparently ,when Entergy is involved. The company, a major energy supplier in New England, provoked justified outrage in Vermont last week when it announced it was reneging on a longstanding commitment to abide by the strict nuclear regulations. Instead, the company has done precisely what it had long promised it would not challenge the constitutionality of Vermont’s rules in the f ederal court, as part of a desperate effort to keep its Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant running. It’s a stunning move.The conflict has been surfacing since 2002, when the corporatio n bought Vermont’s only nuclear power plant, an aging reactor in Vernon. As a condition of receiving state approval for the sale, the company agreed to seek permission from state regulators to operate past 2012. In 2006, the statewent a step further, requ iring that any extension of the plant’s license be subject to Vermont legislature’s approval. Then, too, the company went along.Either Entergy never really intended to live by those commitments, or it simply didn’t foresee what would happen next. A string of accidents, including the partial collapse of a cooling tower in 207 and the discovery of an underground pipe system leakage, raised serious questions about both Vermont Yankee’s safety and Entergy’s management–especially after the company made misle ading statements about the pipe. Enraged by Entergy’s behavior, the Ver mont Senate voted 26 to 4 last year against allowing an extension.Now the company is suddenly claiming that the 2002 agreement is invalid because of the 2006 legislation, and that only the federal government has regulatory power over nuclear issues. The legal issues in the case are obscure: whereas the Supreme Court has ruled that states do have some regulatory authority over nuclear power, legal scholars say that Vermont case will offer a precedent-setting test of how far those powers extend. Certainly, there are valid concerns about the patchwork regulations that could result if every state sets its own rules. But had Entergy kept its word, that debate would be beside the point.The company seems to have concluded that its reputation in Vermont is already so damaged that it has noting left to lose by going to war with the state. But there should be consequences. Permission to run a nuclear plant is a poblic trust. Entergy runs 11 other reactors in the United States, including Pilgrim Nuclear station in Plymouth. Pledging to run Pilgrim safely, the company has applied for federal permission to keep it open for another 20 years. But as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reviewsth e company’s application, it shou ld keep it mind what promises from Entergy are worth.26. The phrase “reneging on”(Line 3.para.1) is closest in meaning to[A] condemning.[B] reaffirming.[C] dishonoring.[D] securing.27. By entering into the 2002 agreement, Entergy intended to[A] obtain protection from Vermont regulators.[B] seek favor from the federal legislature.[C] acquire an extension of its business license .[D] get permission to purchase a power plant.28. According to Paragraph 4, Entergy seems to have problems with its[A] managerial practices.[B] technical innovativeness.[C] financial goals.[D] business vision29. In the author’s view, the Vermont case will test[A] Entergy’s capacity to fulfill all its pro mises.[B] the mature of states’ patchwork regulations.[C] the federal authority over nuclear issues .[D] the limits of states’ power over nuclear issues.30. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that[A] Entergy’s business elsewhere migh t be affected.[B] the authority of the NRC will be defied.[C] Entergy will withdraw its Plymouth application.[D] Vermont’s reputation might be damaged.Text 3In the idealized version of how science is done, facts about the world are waiting to be observed and collected by objective researchers who use the scientific method to carry out their work. But in the everyday practice of science, discovery frequently follows an ambiguous and complicated route. We aim to be objective, but we cannot escape the context of our unique life experience. Prior knowledge and interest influence what we experience, what we think our experiences mean, and the subsequent actions we take. Opportunities for misinterpretation, error, and self-deception abound.Consequently, discovery claims should be thought of as protoscience. Similar to newly staked mining claims, they are full of potential. But it takes collective scrutiny and acceptance to transform a discovery claim into a mature discovery. This is the credibility process, through which the individual researcher’s me, here, now becomes th e community’s anyone, anywhere, anytime. Objective knowledge is the goal, not the starting point.Once a discovery claim becomes public, the discoverer receives intellectual credit. But, unlike with mining claims, the community takes control of what happens next. Within the complex social structure of the scientific community, researchers make discoveries; editors and reviewers act as gatekeepers by controlling the publication process; other scientists use the new finding to suit theirown purposes; and finally, the public (including other scientists) receives the new discovery and possibly accompanying technology. As a discovery claim works it through the community, the interaction and confrontation between shared and competing beliefs about the science and thetechnology involved transforms an individual’s discovery claim into the community’s credible discovery.Two paradoxes exist throughout this credibility process. First, scientific work tends to focus on some aspect of prevailing Knowledge that is viewed as incomplete or incorrect. Little reward accompanies duplication and confirmation of what is already known and believed. The goal is new-search, not re-search. Not surprisingly, newly published discovery claims and credible discoveries that appear to be important and convincing will always be open to challenge and potential modification or refutation by future researchers. Second, novelty itself frequently provokes disbelief. Nobel Laureate and physiologist Albert Azent-Gyorgyi once described discovery a s “seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.” But thinking what nobody else has thought and telling others what they have missed may not change their views. Sometimes years are required for truly novel discovery claims to be accepted and appreciated.In the end, credibility “happens” to a discovery claim –a process that corresponds to what philosopher Annette Baier has described as the commons of t he mind. “We reason together, challenge, revise, and complete each other’s reasonin g and each other’s conceptions of reason.”31. According to the first paragraph, the process of discovery is characterized by its[A] uncertainty and complexity.[B] misconception and deceptiveness.[C] logicality and objectivity.[D] systematicness and regularity.32. It can be inferred from Paragraph 2 that credibilityprocess requires[A] strict inspection.[B]shared efforts.[C] individual wisdom.[D]persistent innovation.33.Paragraph 3 shows that a discovery claim becomes credible after it[A] has attracted the attention of the general public.[B]has been examined by the scientific community.[C] has received recognition from editors and reviewers.[D]has been frequently quoted by peer scientists.34. Albert Szent-Gy?rgyi would most likely agree that[A] scientific claims will survive challenges.[B]discoveries today inspire future research.[C] efforts to make discoveries are justified.[D]scientific work calls for a critical mind.35.Which of the following would be the best title of the test?[A] Novelty as an Engine of Scientific Development.[B]Collective Scrutiny in Scientific Discovery.[C] Evolution of Credibility in Doing Science.[D]Challenge to Credibility at the Gate to Science.Text 4If the trade unionist Jimmy Hoffa were alive today, he would probably represent civil servant. When Hoffa’s Teamsters were in their prime in 1960, only one in ten American govern ment workers belonged to a union; now 36% do. In 2009 the number of unionists in America’s public sector passed that of their fellow members in the private sector. In Britain, more than half of public-sector workers but only about 15% of private-sector ones are unionized.There are three reasons for the public-sector unions’ thriving. First, they can shut things down without suffering much in the way of consequences. Second, they are mostly bright and well-educated. A quarter of America’s public-sector workers have a university degree. Third, they now dominate left-of-centre politics. Some of their ties go back a long way. Britain’s La bor Party, as its name implies, has long been associated with trade unionism. Its current leader, Ed Miliband, owes his position to votes from public-sector unions.At the state level their influence can be even more fearsome. Mark Baldassare of the Public Policy Institute of California points out that much of the state’s budget is patrolled by unions. The teachers’ unions k eep an eye on schools, the CCPOA on prisons and a variety of labor groups on health care.In many rich countries average wages in the state sector are higher than in the private one. But the real gains come in benefits and work practices. Politicians hav e repeatedly “backloaded” public-sector pay deals, keeping the pay increases modest but adding to holidays and especially pensions that are already generous.Reform has been vigorously opposed, perhaps most egregiously in education, where charter schools, academies and merit pay all faced drawn-out battles. Even though there is plenty of evidence that the quality of the teachers is the most important variable, teachers’ unions have fought against getting rid of bad ones and promoting good ones.As the cost to everyone else has become clearer, politicians have begun to clamp down. In Wisconsin the unions have rallied thousands of supporters against Scott Walker, the hardline Republican governor. But many within the public sector sufferunder the current system, too. John Donahue at Harvard’s Kennedy School points out that the norms of culture in Western civil services suit those who want to stay put but is bad for high achievers. The only American public-sector workers who earn well above $250,000 a year are university sports coaches and the president of the United States. Bankers’ fat pay packets have attracted much criticism, but a public-sector system that does not reward high achievers may be a much bigger problem for America.36. It can be learned from the first paragraph that[A] Teamsters still have a large body of members.[B] Jimmy Hoffa used to work as a civil servant.[C] unions have enlarged their public-sector membership.[D]the government has improved its relationship with unionists.37. Which of the following is true of Paragraph 2?[A] Public-sector unions are prudent in taking actions.[B] Education is required for public-sector union membership.[C] Labor Party has long been fighting against public-sector unions.[D]Public-sector unions seldom get in trouble for their actions.38. It can be learned from Paragraph 4 that the income in the state sector is[A] illegally secured.[B] indirectly augmented.[C] excessively increased.[D]fairly adjusted.39. The example of the unions in Wisconsin shows thatunions[A]often run against the current political system.[B]can change people’s political attitudes.[C]may be a barrier to public-sector reforms.[D]are dominant in the government.40. John Donahue’s a ttitude towards the public-sector system is one of[A]disapproval.[B]appreciation.[C]tolerance.[D]indifference.Part BDirections:In the following text, some sentences have been removed. For Questions 41-45, choose the most suitable one from the list A-G to fit into each of the numbered blanks. There are two extra choices, which do not fit in any of the blanks. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET1.(10 points)Think of those fleeting moments when you look out of an aeroplane window and realise that you are flying, higher than a bird. Now think of your laptop, thinner than a brown-paper envelope, or your cellphone in the palm of your hand. Take a moment or two to wonder at those marvels.You are the lucky inheritor of a dream come true.The second half of the 20th century saw a collection of geniuses, warriors, entrepreneurs and visionaries labour to create a fabulous machine that could function as a typewriter and printing press, studio and theatre, paintbrush and gallery, piano and radio, the mail as well as the mail carrier. (41)The networked computer is an amazing device, the firstmedia machine that serves as the mode of production, means of distribution, site of reception, and place of praise and critique. The computer is the 21st century's culture machine.But for all the reasons there are to celebrate the computer, we must also tread with caution.(42)I call it a secret war for two reasons. First, most people do not realise that there are strong commercial agendas at work to keep them in passive consumption mode. Second, the majority of people who use networked computers to upload are not even aware of the significance of what they are doing.All animals download, but only a few upload. Beavers build dams and birds make nests. Yet for the most part, the animal kingdom moves through the world downloading. Humans are unique in their capacity to not only make tools but then turn around and use them to create superfluous material goods - paintings, sculpture and architecture - and superfluous experiences - music, literature, religion and philosophy. (43) For all the possibilities of our new culture machines, most people are still stuck in download mode. Even after the advent of widespread social media, a pyramid of production remains, with a small number of people uploading material, a slightly larger group commenting on or modifying that content, and a huge percentage remaining content to just consume. (44)Television is a one-way tap flowing into our homes. The hardest task that television asks of anyone is to turn the power off after he has turned it on.(45)What counts as meaningful uploading? My definition revolves around the concept of "stickiness" - creations and experiences to which others adhere.[A] Of course, it is precisely these superfluous things that define human culture and ultimately what it is to be human. Downloading and consuming culture requires great skills, but failing to move beyond downloading is to strip oneself of a defining constituent of humanity.[B] Applications like /doc/4513395479.html, which allow users to combine pictures, words and other media in creative ways and then share them, have the potential to add stickiness by amusing, entertaining and enlightening others.[C] Not only did they develop such a device but by the turn of the millennium they had also managed to embed it in a worldwide system accessed by billions of people every day.[D] This is because the networked computer has sparked a secret war between downloading and uploading - between passive consumption and active creation - whose outcome will shape ourcollective future in ways we can only begin to imagine.[E] The challenge the computer mounts to television thus bears little similarity to one format being replaced by another in the manner of record players being replaced by CD players.[F] One reason for the persistence of this pyramid of production is that for the past half-century, much of the world's media culture has been defined by a single medium - television - and television is defined by downloading.[G]The networked computer offers the first chance in 50 years to reverse the flow, to encourage thoughtful downloading and, even more importantly, meaningful uploading.Part CDirections:Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese. Your translation should be written clearly on ANSWER SHEET 2. (10 points)Since the days of Aristotle, a search for universal principles has characterized the scientific enterprise. In some ways, t his quest for commonalities defines science. Newton’s laws of motion and Darwinian evolution each bind a host of different phenomena into a single explicatory frame work.(46)In physics, one approach takes this impulse for unification to its extreme, and seeks a theory of everything—a single generative equation for all we see.It is becoming less clear, however, that such a theory would be a simplification, given the dimensions and universes that it might entail, nonetheless, unification of sorts remains a major goal.This tendency in the natural sciences has long been evident in the social sciences too. (47)Here, Darwinism seems to offer justification for it all humans share common origins it seems reasonable to suppose that cultural diversity could also be traced to more constrained beginnings. Just as the bewildering variety of human courtship rituals might all be considered forms of sexual selection, perhaps the world’s languages, music, social and religious customs and even history are governed by universal features. (48)T o filter out what is unique from what is shared might enable us to understand how complex cultural behavior arose and what guides it in evolutionary or cognitive terms.That, at least, is the hope. But a comparative study of linguistic traits published online today supplies a reality check. Russell Gray at the University of Auckland and his colleagues consider the evolution of grammars in the light of two previous attempts to find universality in language.The most famous of these efforts was initiated by Noam Chomsky, who suggested that humans are born with an innate language—acquisition capacity that dictates a universal grammar.A few generative rules are then sufficient to unfold the entire fundamental structure of a language, which is why children can learn it so quickly.(49)The second, by Joshua Greenberg, takes a more empirical approach to universality identifying traits (particularly in word order) shared by many language which are considered to represent biases that result from cognitive constraints Gray and his colleagues have put them to the test by examining four family trees that between them represent more than 2,000 languages.(50)Chomsky’s grammar should show patterns of language change that are independent of the family tree or the pathway tracked through it. Whereas Greenbergian universality predicts strong co-dependencies between particular types of word-order relations. Neither of these patterns is borne out by the analysis, suggesting that the structures of the languages are lire age-specific and not governed by universals[NxtPage]Section III WritingPart A51. Directions:Some internationals students are coming to your university. Write them an email in the name of the Students’ Union to1) extend your welcome and2) provide some suggestions for their campus life here.You should write about 100 words on ANSWER SHEET2.Do not sign your name at the end of the letter. Use “Li Ming”instead.Do not write the address(10 points)Part B52. Directions: write an essay of 160-200 words based on the following drawing. In your essay you should1) describe the drawing briefly2) explain its intended meaning, and3) give your commentsYou should write neatly on ANSWER SHEET2.(20 points)Section Ⅰ Use of English2012年的完型填空是有关美国司法官伦理和政治关系的一篇文章，出自New York Times, June, 30th , 2011的“Ethics, Politics and the Law”一文。
2012年考研英语二-真题及答案
2012年考研英语二真题Section I USE of EnglishDirections :Read the following text. Choose the best word(s)for each numbered blank and mark A,B,C or D on ANSWER SHEET1.(10 points)Millions of Americans and foreigners see GI.Joe as a mindless war toy ,the symbo l of American military adventurism, but that’s not how it used to be .To the men and women who 1 in World War II and the people they liberated ,the GI.was the 2 man grown into hero ,the pool farm kid torn away from his home ,the guy who 3 all the burdens of battle ,who slept in cold foxholes，who went without the 4 of food and shelter ,who stuck it out and drove back the Nazi reign of murder .this was not a volunteer soldier ,not someone well paid , 5 an average guy ,up 6 the best trained ,best equipped ,fiercest ,most brutal enemies seen in centuries.His name is not much.GI. is just a military abbreviation 7 Government Issue ,and it was on all of the article 8 to soldiers .And Joe? A common name for a guy who never 9 it to the top .Joe Blow ,Joe Magrac …a working class name.The United States has 10 had a president or vicepresident or secretary of state Joe.GI .joe had a 11 career fighting German ,Japanese , and Korean troops . He appers as a character ,or a 12 of american personalities, in the 1945 movie The Story of GI. Joe, based on the last days of war correspondent Ernie Pyle. Some of the soldiers Pyle 13 portrayde themselves in the film. Pyle was famous for covering the 14 side of the warl, writing about the dirt-snow –and-mud soldiers, not how many miles were 15 or what towns were captured or liberated, His reports 16 the “willie” cartoons of famed Stars and Stripes artist Bill Maulden. Both men 17 the dirt and exhaustion of war, the 18 of civilization that the soldiers shared with each other and the civilians: coffee, tobacco, whiskey, shelter, sleep. 19 Egypt, France, and a dozen more countries, G.I. Joe was any American soldier, 20 the most important person in their lives.1. [A] performed [B]served [C]rebelled [D]betrayed2. [A] actual [B]common [C]special [D]normal3. [A]bore [B]cased [C]removed [D]loaded4. [A]necessities [B]facilitice [C]commodities [D]propertoes5. [A]and [B]nor [C]but [D]hence6. [A]for [B]into [C] form [D]against7. [A]meaning [B]implying [C]symbolizing [D]claiming8. [A]handed out [B]turn over [C]brought back [D]passed down9. [A]pushed [B]got [C]made [D]managed10. [A]ever [B]never [C]either [D]neither11. [A]disguised [B]disturbed [C]disputed [D]distinguished12. [A]company [B]collection [C]community [D]colony13. [A]employed [B]appointed [C]interviewed [D]questioned14. [A]ethical [B]military [C]political [D]human15. [A]ruined [B]commuted [C]patrolled [D]gained16. [A]paralleled [B]counteracted [C]duplicated [D]contradicted17. [A]neglected [B]avoided [C]emphasized [D]admired18. [A]stages [B]illusions [C]fragments [D]advancea19. [A]With [B]To [C]Among [D]Beyond20. [A]on the contrary [B] by this means [C]from the outset [D]at that pointSection Ⅱ Reading comprehensionPart ADirections:Read the following four texts. answer the question after each text by choosing A,B,C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1.(40 points)Text 1Homework has never been terribly popular with students and even many parents, but in recent years it has been particularly scorned. School districts across the country, most recently Los Angeles Unified, are revising their thinking on his educational ritual. Unfortunately, L.A. Unified has produced an inflexible policy which mandates that with the exception of some advanced courses, homework may no longer count for more than 10% of a student’s academic grade.This rule is meant to address the difficulty that students from impoverished or chaotic homes might have in completing their homework. But the policy is unclear and contradictory. Certainly, no homework should be assigned that students cannot do without expensive equipment. But if the district is essentially giving a pass to students who do not do their homework because of complicated family lives, it is going riskily close to the implication that standards need to be lowered for poor children.District administrators say that homework will still be a pat of schooling: teachers are allowed to assign as much of it as they want. But with homework counting for no more than 10% of their grades, students can easily skip half their homework and see vey little difference on their report cards. Some students might do well on state tests without completing their homework, but what about the students who performed well on the tests and did their homework? It is quite possible that the homework helped. Yet rather than empowering teachers to find what works best for their students, the policy imposes a flat, across-the-board rule.At the same time, the policy addresses none of the truly thorny questions about homework. If the district finds homework to be unimportant to its students’ academic achievement, it should move to reduce or eliminate the assignments, not make them count for almost nothing. Conversely, if homework does nothing to ensure that the homework students are not assigning more than they are willing to review and correct.The homework rules should be put on hold while the school board, which is responsible for setting educational policy, looks into the matter and conducts public hearings. It is not too late for L.A. Unified to do homework right.21. It is implied in paragraph 1 that nowadays homework_____.[A] is receiving more criticism[B]is no longer an educational ritual[C]is not required for advanced courses[D]is gaining more preferences22. L.A.Unified has made the rule about homework mainly because poorstudents_____.[A]tend to have moderate expectations for their education[B]have asked for a different educational standard[C]may have problems finishing their homework[D]have voiced their complaints about homework23. According to Paragraph 3,one problem with the policy is that it may____.[A]discourage students from doing homework[B]result in students' indifference to their report cards[C]undermine the authority of state tests[D]restrict teachers' power in education24. As mentioned in Paragraph 4, a key question unanswered about homework iswhether______. [A] it should be eliminated[B]it counts much in schooling[C]it places extra burdens on teachers[D]it is important for grades25. A suitable title for this text could be______.[A]Wrong Interpretation of an Educational Policy[B]A Welcomed Policy for Poor Students[C]Thorny Questions about Homework[D]A Faulty Approach to HomeworkText2Pretty in pink: adult women do not rememer being so obsessed with the colour, yet it is pervasive in our young girls’ lives. Tt is not that pink is intrinsically bad, but it is such a tiny slice of the rainbow and, though it may celebrate girlhood in one way, it also repeatedly and firmly fuses girls’ identi ty to appearance. Then it presents that connection, even among two-year-olds, between girls as not only innocent but as evidence of innocence. Looking around, I despaired at the singular lack of imagination about girls’ lives and interests.Girls’ attracti on to pink may seem unavoidable, somehow encoded in their DNA, but according to Jo Paoletti, an associate professor of American Studies, it is not. Children were not colour-coded at all until the early 20th century: in the era before domestic washing machines all babies wore white as a practical matter, since the only way of getting clothes clean was to boil them. What’s more, both boys and girls wore what were thought of as gender-neutral dresses.When nursery colours were introduced, pink was actually considered the more masculine colour, a pastel version of red, which was associated with strength. Blue, with its intimations of the Virgin Mary, constancy and faithfulness, symbolised femininity. It was not until the mid-1980s, when amplifying age and sex dif ferences became a dominant children’s marketing strategy, that pink fully came into its own, when it began to seem inherently attractive to girls, part of what defined them as female, at least for the first few critical years.I had not realised how profoundly marketing trends dictated our perception of what is natural to kins, including our core beliefs about their psychological development. Take the toddler. I assumed that phase was something experts developed after years of research into children’s behav iour: wrong. Turns out, acdording to Daniel Cook, a historian of childhood consumerism, it was popularised as a marketing trick by clothing manufacrurers in the 1930s.Trade publications counselled department stores that, in order to increase sales, they s hould create a “third stepping stone” between infant wear and older kids’ clothes. Tt was only after “toddler”became a common shoppers’ term that it evolved into a broadly accepted developmental stage. Splitting kids, or adults,into ever-tiniercategories has proved a sure-fire way to boost profits. And one of the easiest ways to segment a market is to magnify gender differences – or invent them where they did not previously exist.26. By saying "it is...the rainbow"(Line 3, Para.1),the author means pink______.[A]should not be the sole representation of girlhood[B]should not be associated with girls' innocence[C]cannot explain girls' lack of imagination[D]cannot influence girls' lives and interests27.According to Paragraph 2, which of the following is true of colours？[A]Colours are encoded in girls' DNA.[B]Blue used to be regarded as the colour for girls.[C]Pink used to be a neutral colour in symbolising genders.[D]White is prefered by babies.28. The author suggests that our perception of children's psychological developmentwas much influenced by_____.[A]the marketing of products for children[B]the observation of children's nature[C]researches into children's behavior[D]studies of childhood consumption29. We may learn from Paragraph 4 that department stores were advised to_____.[A]focus on infant wear and older kids' clothes[B]attach equal importance to different genders[C]classify consumers into smaller groups[D]create some common shoppers' terms30. It can be concluded that girls' attraction to pink seems to be____.[A] clearly explained by their inborn tendency[B]fully understood by clothing manufacturers[C] mainly imposed by profit-driven businessmen[D]well interpreted by psychological expertsText 3In 2010. a federal judge shook America's biotech industry to its core. Companies had won patents for isolated DNA for decades-by 2005 some 20% of human genes were parented. But in March 2010 a judge ruled that genes were unpatentable. Executives were violently agitated. The Biotechnology Industry Organisation (BIO)，a trade group，assured members that this was just a “preliminary step” in a longer battle.On July 29th they were relieved，at least temporarily. A federal appeals court overturned the prior decision，ruling that Myriad Genetics could indeed holb patents to two genss that help forecast a woman's risk of breast cancer. The chief executive of Myriad，a company in Utah，said the ruling was a blessing to firms and patients alike.But as companies continue their attempts at personalised medicine，the courts will remain rather busy. The Myriad case itself is probably not over Critics make three main arguments against gene patents：a gene is a product of nature，so it may not be patented；gene patents suppress innovation rather than reward it；and patents' monopolies restrict access to genetic tests such as Myriad's. A growing number seem to st year a federal task-force urged reform for patents related to genetic tests. In October the Department of Justice filed a brief in the Myriad case，arguing that anisolated DNA molecule “is no less a product of nature... than are cotton fibres that have been separated from cotton seeds. ”Despite the appeals court's decision，big questions remain unanswered. For example，it is unclear whether the sequencing of a whole genome violates the patents of indivi dual genes within it. The case may yet reach the Supreme Court.AS the industry advances ,however,other suits may have an even greater panies are unlikely to file many more patents for human DNA molecules-most are already patented or in the public domain .firms are now studying how genes intcract,looking for correlations that might be used to determine the causes of disease or predict a drug’s efficacy,companies are eager to win pat ents for ‘connecting the dits’,expaains hans sauer,alawyer for the BIO.Their success may be determined by a suit related to this issue, brought by the Mayo Clinic, which the Supreme Court will hear in its next term. The BIO rtcently held a convention which included seddions to coach lawyers on the shifting landscape for patents. Each meeting was packed.31. it canbe learned from paragraph I that the biotech companies would like-----A. their executives to be activeB. judges to rule out gene patentingC. genes to be patcntablcD. the BIO to issue a warning32. those who are against gene patents believe that----A. genetic tests are not reliableB. only man-made products are patentableC. patents on genes depend much on innovatiaonD. courts should restrict access to gene tic tests33. according to hans sauer ,companies are eager to win patents for----A. establishing disease comelationsB. discovering gene interactionsC. drawing pictures of genesD. identifying human DNA34．By saying “each meeting was packed”(line4,para6)the author means that -----A. the supreme court was authoritativeB. the BIO was a powerful organizationC. gene patenting was a great concernD. lawyers were keen to attend conventiongs35. generally speaking ,the author’s attitude toward gene patenting is----A. criticalB. supportiveC. scornfulD. ObjectiveText 4The great recession may be over, but this era of high joblessness is probably beginning. Before it ends, it will likely change the life course and character of a generation of young adults. And ultimately, it is likely to reshape our politics, our culture, and the character of our society for years.No one tries harder than the jobless to find silver linings in this national economic disaster. Many said that unemployment, while extremely painful, had improved them in some ways; they had become less materialistic and more financially prudent; they were more aware of the struggles of others. In limited respects, perhaps the recession will leave society better off. At the very least, it has awoken us from ournational fever dream of easy riches and bigger houses, and put a necessary end to an era of reckless personal spending.But for the most part, these benefits seem thin, uncertain, and far off. In The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth, the economic historian Benjamin Friedman argues that both inside and outside the U.S. ,lengthy periods of economic stagnation or decline have almost always left society more mean-spirited and less inclusive, and have usually stopped or reversed the advance of rights and freedoms. Anti-immigrant sentiment typically increases, as does conflict between races and classes.Income inequality usually falls during a recession, but it has not shrunk in this one,. Indeed, this period of economic weakness may reinforce class divides, and decrease opportunities to cross them--- especially for young people. The research of Till Von Wachter, the economist in Columbia University, suggests that not all people graduating into a recession see their life chances dimmed: those with degrees from elite universities catch up fairly quickly to where they otherwise would have been if they had graduated in better times; it is the masses beneath them that are left behind.In the internet age, it is particularly easy to see the resentment that has always been hidden winthin American society. More difficult, in the moment , is discerning precisely how these lean times are affecting society’s character. In many respects, the U.S. was more socially tolerant entering this resession than at any time in its history, and a variety of national polls on social conflict since then have shown mixed results. We will have to wait and see exactly how these hard times will reshape our social fabric. But they certainly it, and all the more so the longer they extend.36.By saying “to find silver linings”（Line 1,Para.2）the author suggest that the joblesstry to___.[A]seek subsidies from the govemment[B]explore reasons for the unermployment[C]make profits from the troubled economy[D]look on the bright side of the recession37. According to Paragraph 2,the recession has made people_____.[A]realize the national dream[B]struggle against each other[C]challenge their lifestyle[D]reconsider their lifestyle38. Benjamin Friedman believe that economic recessions may_____.[A]impose a heavier burden on immigrants[B]bring out more evils of human nature[C]Promote the advance of rights and freedoms[D]ease conflicts between races and classes39. The research of Till Von Wachther suggests that in recession graduates from eliteuniversities tend to _____.[A]lag behind the others due to decreased opportunities[B]catch up quickly with experienced employees[C]see their life chances as dimmed as the others’[D]recover more quickly than the others40. The author thinks that the influence of hard times on society is____.[A]certain [B]positive[C]trivial [D]destructivePart BDirections: Read the following text and answer the questions by finding information from the left column that corresponds to each of the marked details given in the right column. There are two extra choices in the right column. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEERT 1.(10 points)“Universal history, the history of what man has accomplished in this world, is at bo ttom the History of the Great Men who have worked here,” wrote the Victorian sage Thomas Carlyle. Well, not any more it is not.Suddenly, Britain looks to have fallen out with its favourite historical form. This could be no more than a passing literary craze, but it also points to a broader truth about how we now approach the past: less concerned with learning from forefathers and more interested in feeling their pain. Today, we want empathy, not inspiration.From the earliest days of the Renaissance, the writing of history meant recounting the exemplary lives of great men. In 1337, Petrarch began work on his rambling writing De Viris Illustribus –On Famous Men, highlighting the virtus (or virtue) of classical heroes. Petrarch celebrated their greatness in conquering fortune and rising to the top. This was the biographical tradition which Niccolo Machiavelli turned on its head. In The Prince, the championed cunning, ruthlessness, and boldness, rather than virtue, mercy and justice, as the skills of successful leaders.Over time, the attributes of greatness shifted. The Romantics commemorated the leading painters and authors of their day, stressing the uniqueness of the artist's personal experience rather than public glory. By contrast, the Victorian author Samual Smiles wrote Self-Help as a catalogue of the worthy lives of engineers , industrialists and explores . "The valuable examples which they furnish of the power of self-help, if patient purpose, resolute working and steadfast integrity, issuing in the formulation of truly noble and many character, exhibit," wrote Smiles." what it is in the power of each to accomplish for himself" His biographies of James Walt, Richard Arkwright and Josiah Wedgwood were held up as beacons to guide the working man through his difficult life.This was all a bit bourgeois for Thomas Carlyle, who focused his biographies on the truly heroic lives of Martin Luther, Oliver Cromwell and Napoleon Bonaparte. These epochal figures represented lives hard to imitate, but to be acknowledged as possessing higher authority than mere mortals.Communist Manifesto. For them, history did nothing, it possessed no immense wealth nor waged battles: “It is man, real, living man who does all that.” And history should be the story of the masses and their record of struggle. As such, it needed to appreciate the economic realities, the social contexts and power relations in which each epoch stood. For: “Men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly found, given and transmitted from the past.”This was the tradition which revolutionized our appreciation of the past. In place of Thomas Carlyle, Britain nurtured Christopher Hill, EP Thompson and Eric Hobsbawm. History from below stood alongside biographies of great men. Whole new realms of understanding —from gender to race to cultural studies —were opened up as scholars unpicked the multiplicity of lost societies. And it transformed public history too: downstairs became just as fascinating as upstairs.46.Directions:Translate the following text from English into Chinese.Write your translation on ANSWER SHEET2.(15 points)When people in developing countries worry about migration,they are usually concerned at the prospect of ther best and brightest departure to Silicon Valley or to hospitals and universities in the developed world ,These are the kind of workers that countries like Britian ,Canada and Australia try to attract by using immigration rules that privilege college graduates .Lots of studies have found that well-educated people from developing countries are particularly likely to emigrate .A big survey of Indian households in 2004 found that nearly 40%of emigrants had more than a high-school education,compared with around 3.3%of all Indians over the age of 25.This "brain drain "has long bothered policymakers in poor countries ,They fear that it hurts their economies ,depriving them of much-needed skilled workers who could have taught at their universities ,worked in their hospitals and come up with clever new products for their factories to make .Section Ⅳ WritingPart A47.Directions:Suppose you have found something wrong with the electronic dictionary that you bought from an onlin store the other day ,Write an email to the customer service center to1) make a complaint and2) demand a prompt solutionYou should write about 100words on ANSERE SHEET 2Do not sign your own name at the end of the letter ,Use "zhang wei "instead .Part B48. Directions:write an essay based on the following table .In your writing you should1) describe the table ,and2) give your commentsYou should write at least 150 words(15points)某公司员工工作满意度调查。
2012年硕士研究生入学考试英语真题及答案
2012年全国硕士研究生入学考试英语试题SectionⅠ Use of EnglishDirections: 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)The ethical judgments of the Supreme Court justices became an important issue recently. The court cannot__1___ its legitimacy as guardian of the rule of law___2___ justices behave like politicians. Yet, in several instances, justices acted in ways that__3___ the court’s reputation for being independent and impartial.Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito Jr., for example, appeared at political events. That kind of activity makes it less likely that the court’s decisions will be__4__ as impartial judgments. Part of the problem is that the justices are not ___5__ by an ethics code. At the very least, the court should make itself____6___ to the code of conduct that __7____to the rest of the federal judiciary.This and other cases ___8___the question of whether there is still a ___9__ between the court and politics.The framers of the Constitution envisioned law__10__ having authority apart from politics. They gave justices permanent positions __11__ they would be free to __12__those in power and have no need to__13___ political support. Our legal system was designed to set law apart from politics precisely because they are so closely __14___.Constitutional law is political because it results from choices rooted in fundamental social ___15___like liberty and property. When the court deals with social policy decisions, the law it __16___is inescapably political — which is why decisions split along ideological lines are so easily ___17__ as unjust.The justices must __18___doubts about the court’s legitim acy by making themselves __19___to the code of conduct. That would make their rulings more likely to be seen as separate from politics and, __20___, convincing as law.1. [A] emphasize [B] maintain [C] modify [D] recognize2. [A] when [B] best [C] before [D] unless3. [A] restored [B] weakened [C] established [D] eliminated4. [A] challenged [B] compromised [C] suspected [D] accepted5. [A] advanced [B] caught [C] bound [D] founded6. [A] resistant [B] subject [C] immune [D] prone7. [A] resorts [B] sticks [C] leads [D] applies8. [A] evade [B] raise [C] deny [D] settle9. [A] line [B] barrier [C] similarity [D] conflict10. [A] by [B] as [C] through [D] towards11. [A] so [B] since [C] provided [D] though12. [A] serve [B] satisfy [C] upset [D] replace13. [A] confirm [B] express [C] cultivate [D] offer14. [A] guarded [B] followed [C] studied [D] tied15. [A] concepts [B] theories [C] divisions [D] convenience16. [A] excludes [B] questions [C] shapes [D] controls17. [A] dismissed [B] released [C] ranked [D] distorted18. [A] suppress [B] exploit [C] address [D] ignore19. [A] accessible [B] amiable [C] agreeable [D] accountable20. [A] by all means [B] at all costs [C] in a word [D] as a resultSection ⅡReading ComprehensionPart ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing [A], [B], [C] or[D]. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET1. (40 points)Text 1Come on –Everybody’s doing it. That whispered message, half invitation and half forcing, is what most of us think of when we hear the words peer pressure. It usually leads to no good-drinking, drugs and casual sex. But in her new book Join the Club, Tina Rosenberg contends that peer pressure can also be a positive force through what she calls the social cure, in which organizations and officials use the power of group dynamics to help individuals improve their lives and possibly the word.Rosenberg, the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, offers a host of example of the social cure in action: In South Carolina, a state-sponsored antismoking program called Rage Against the Haze sets out to make cigarettes uncool. In South Africa, an HIV-prevention initiative known as LoveLife recruits young people to promote safe sex among their peers.The idea seems promising and Rosenberg is a perceptive observer. Her critique of the lameness of many pubic-health campaigns is spot-on: they fail to mobilize peer pressure for healthy habits, and they demonstrate a seriously flawed understan ding of psychology.” Dare to be different, please don’t smoke!” pleads one billboard campaign aimed at reducing smoking among teenagers-teenagers, who desire nothing more than fitting in. Rosenberg argues convincingly that public-health advocates ought to take a page from advertisers, so skilled at applying peer pressure. But on the general effectiveness of the social cure, Rosenberg is less persuasive. Join the Club is filled with too much irrelevant detail and not enough exploration of the social and biological factors that make peer pressure so powerful. The most glaring flaw of the social cure as it’s presented here is that it doesn’t work very well for very long. Rage Against the Haze failed once state funding was cut. Evidence that the LoveLife program produces lasting changes is limited and mixed. There’s no doubt that our peer groups exert enormous influence on our behavior. An emerging body of research shows that positive health habits-as well as negative ones-spread through networks of friends via social communication. This is a subtle form of peer pressure: we unconsciously imitate the behavior we see every day.Far less certain, however, is how successfully experts and bureaucrats can select our peer groups and steer their activities in virtuous d irections. It’s like the teacher who breaks up the troublemakers in the back row by pairing them with better-behaved classmates. The tactic never really works. And that’s the problem with a social cure engineered from the outside: in the real world, as in school, we insist on choosing our own friends.21. According to the first paragraph, peer pressure often emerges as[A] a supplement to the social cure[B] a stimulus to group dynamics[C] an obstacle to school progress[D] a cause of undesirable behaviors22. Rosenberg holds that public advocates should[A] recruit professional advertisers[B] learn from advertisers’ experience[C] stay away from commercial advertisers[D] recognize the limitations of advertisements23. In the author’s view, Rosenberg’s book fails to[A] adequately probe social and biological factors[B] effectively evade the flaws of the social cure[C] illustrate the functions of state funding[D]produce a long-lasting social effect24. Paragraph 5shows that our imitation of behaviors[A] is harmful to our networks of friends[B] will mislead behavioral studies[C] occurs without our realizing it[D] can produce negative health habits25. The author suggests in the last paragraph that the effect of peer pressure is[A] harmful[B] desirable[C] profound[D] questionableText 2A deal is a deal-except, apparently, when Entergy is involved. The company, a major energy supplier in New England, provoked justified outrage in Vermont last week when it announced it was reneging on a longstanding commitment to abide by the strict nuclear regulations.Instead, the company has done precisely what it had long promised it would not challenge the constitutionality of Vermont’s rules in the federal court, as part of a desperate ef fort to keep its Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant running. It’s a stunning move.The conflict has been surfacing since 2002, when the corporation bought Vermont’s only nuclear power plant, an aging reactor in Vernon. As a condition of receiving state approval for the sale, the company agreed to seek permission from state regulators to operate past 2012. In 2006, the state went a step further, requiring that any extension of the plant’s license be subject to Vermont legislature’s approval. Then, too, the company went along.Either Entergy never really intended to live by those commitments, or it simply didn’t foresee what would happen next. A string of accidents, including the partial collapse of a cooling tower in 207 and the discovery of an underground p ipe system leakage, raised serious questions about both Vermont Yankee’s safety and Entergy’s management–especially after the company made misleading statements about the pipe. Enraged by Entergy’s behavior, the Vermont Senate voted 26 to 4 last year against allowing an extension.Now the company is suddenly claiming that the 2002 agreement is invalid because of the 2006 legislation, and that only the federal government has regulatory power over nuclear issues. The legal issues in the case are obscure: whereas the Supreme Court has ruled that states do have some regulatory authority over nuclear power, legal scholars say that Vermont case will offer a precedent-setting test of how far those powers extend. Certainly, there are valid concerns about the patchwork regulations that could result if every state sets its own rules. But had Entergy kept its word, that debate would be beside the point.The company seems to have concluded that its reputation in Vermont is already so damaged that it has noting left to lose by going to war with the state. But there should be consequences. Permission to run a nuclear plant is a poblic trust. Entergy runs 11 other reactors in the United States, including Pilgrim Nuclear station in Plymouth. Pledging to run Pilgrim safely, the company has applied for federal permission to keep it open for another 20 years.But as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reviews the company’s application, it should keep it mind what promises from Entergy are worth.26. The phrase “reneging on”(Line 3.para.1) is closest in meaning to[A] condemning.[B] reaffirming.[C] dishonoring.[D] securing.27. By entering into the 2002 agreement, Entergy intended to[A] obtain protection from Vermont regulators.[B] seek favor from the federal legislature.[C] acquire an extension of its business license .[D] get permission to purchase a power plant.28. According to Paragraph 4, Entergy seems to have problems with its[A] managerial practices.[B] technical innovativeness.[C] financial goals.[D] business vision29. In the author’s view, the Vermont case will test[A] Entergy’s capacity to fulfill all its promises.[B] the mature of states’ patchwork regulations.[C] the federal authority over nuclear issues .[D] the limits of states’ power over nuclear issues.30. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that[A] Entergy’s business elsewhere might be affected.[B] the authority of the NRC will be defied.[C] Entergy will withdraw its Plymouth application.[D] Vermont’s reputation might be damaged.Text 3In the idealized version of how science is done, facts about the world are waiting to be observed and collected by objective researchers who use the scientific method to carry out their work. But in the everyday practice of science, discovery frequently follows an ambiguous and complicated route. We aim to be objective, but we cannot escape the context of our unique life experience. Prior knowledge and interest influence what we experience, what we think our experiences mean, and the subsequent actions we take. Opportunities for misinterpretation, error, and self-deception abound.Consequently, discovery claims should be thought of as protoscience. Similar to newly staked mining claims, they are full of potential. But it takes collective scrutiny and acceptance to transform a discovery claim into a mature discovery. This is the credibility process, through which the individual researcher’s me, here, now becomes the community’s anyone, anywhere, anytime. Objective knowledge is the goal, not the starting point.Once a discovery claim becomes public, the discoverer receives intellectual credit. But, unlike with mining claims, the community takes control of what happens next. Within the complex social structure of the scientific community, researchers make discoveries; editors and reviewers act as gatekeepers by controlling the publication process; other scientists use the new finding to suit their own purposes; and finally, the public (including other scientists) receives the new discovery and possibly accompanying technology. As a discovery claim works itthrough the community, the interaction and confrontation between shared and competing beliefs about the science and the technology involved transforms an individual’s discovery claim into the community’s credib le discovery.Two paradoxes exist throughout this credibility process. First, scientific work tends to focus on some aspect of prevailing Knowledge that is viewed as incomplete or incorrect. Little reward accompanies duplication and confirmation of what is already known and believed. The goal is new-search, not re-search. Not surprisingly, newly published discovery claims and credible discoveries that appear to be important and convincing will always be open to challenge and potential modification or refutation by future researchers. Second, novelty itself frequently provokes disbelief. Nobel Laureate and physiologist Albert Azent-Gyorgyi once described discovery as “seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.” But thinking what nobody else has thought and telling others what they have missed may not change their views. Sometimes years are required for truly novel discovery claims to be accepted and appreciated.In the end, credibility “happens” to a discovery claim – a process that corresponds to what philosopher Annette Baier has described as the commons of the mind. “We reason together, challenge, revise, and complete each other’s reasoning and each other’s conceptions of reason.”31. According to the first paragraph, the process of discovery is characterized by its[A] uncertainty and complexity.[B] misconception and deceptiveness.[C] logicality and objectivity.[D] systematicness and regularity.32. It can be inferred from Paragraph 2 that credibility process requires[A] strict inspection.[B]shared efforts.[C] individual wisdom.[D]persistent innovation.33.Paragraph 3 shows that a discovery claim becomes credible after it[A] has attracted the attention of the general public.[B]has been examined by the scientific community.[C] has received recognition from editors and reviewers.[D]has been frequently quoted by peer scientists.34. Albert Szent-Györgyi would most likely agree that[A] scientific claims will survive challenges.[B]discoveries today inspire future research.[C] efforts to make discoveries are justified.[D] scientific work calls for a critical mind.35. Which of the following would be the best title of the test?[A] Novelty as an Engine of Scientific Development.[B] Collective Scrutiny in Scientific Discovery.[C] Evolution of Credibility in Doing Science.[D]Challenge to Credibility at the Gate to Science.Text 4If the trade unionist Jimmy Hoffa were alive today, he would probably represent civil servant. When H offa’s Teamsters were in their prime in 1960, only one in ten American government workers belonged to a union; now 36% do. In 2009 the number of unionists in America’s public sector passed that of their fellow members in theprivate sector. In Britain, more than half of public-sector workers but only about 15% of private-sector ones are unionized.There are three reasons for the public-sector unions’ thriving. First, they can shut things down without suffering much in the way of consequences. Second, they are mostly bright and well-educated. A quarter of America’s public-sector workers have a university degree. Third, they now dominate left-of-centre politics. Some of their ties go back a long way. Britain’s Labor Party, as its name implies, has long been a ssociated with trade unionism. Its current leader, Ed Miliband, owes his position to votes from public-sector unions.At the state level their influence can be even more fearsome. Mark Baldassare of the Public Policy Institute of California points out tha t much of the state’s budget is patrolled by unions. The teachers’ unions keep an eye on schools, the CCPOA on prisons and a variety of labor groups on health care.In many rich countries average wages in the state sector are higher than in the private one. But the real gains come in benefits and work practices. Politicians have repeatedly “backloaded” public-sector pay deals, keeping the pay increases modest but adding to holidays and especially pensions that are already generous.Reform has been vigorously opposed, perhaps most egregiously in education, where charter schools, academies and merit pay all faced drawn-out battles. Even though there is plenty of evidence that the quality of the teachers is the most important variable, teachers’ unions have fo ught against getting rid of bad ones and promoting good ones.As the cost to everyone else has become clearer, politicians have begun to clamp down. In Wisconsin the unions have rallied thousands of supporters against Scott Walker, the hardline Republican governor. But many within the public sector suffer under the current system, too.John Donahue at Harvard’s Kennedy School points out that the norms of culture in Western civil services suit those who want to stay put but is bad for high achievers. The only American public-sector workers who earn well above $250,000 a year are university sports coaches and the president of the United States. Bankers’ fat pay packets have attracted much criticism, but a public-sector system that does not reward high achievers may be a much bigger problem for America.36. It can be learned from the first paragraph that[A] Teamsters still have a large body of members.[B] Jimmy Hoffa used to work as a civil servant.[C] unions have enlarged their public-sector membership.[D]the government has improved its relationship with unionists.37. Which of the following is true of Paragraph 2?[A] Public-sector unions are prudent in taking actions.[B] Education is required for public-sector union membership.[C] Labor Party has long been fighting against public-sector unions.[D]Public-sector unions seldom get in trouble for their actions.38. It can be learned from Paragraph 4 that the income in the state sector is[A] illegally secured.[B] indirectly augmented.[C] excessively increased.[D]fairly adjusted.39. The example of the unions in Wisconsin shows that unions[A]often run against the current political system.[B]can change people’s political attitudes.[C]may be a barrier to public-sector reforms.[D]are dominant in the government.40. John Donahue’s attitude towards the public-sector system is one of[A]disapproval.[B] appreciation.[C]tolerance.[D]indifference.Part BDirections: In the following text, some sentences have been removed. For Questions 41-45, choose the most suitable one from the list A-G to fit into each of the numbered blanks. There are two extra choices, which do not fit in any of the blanks. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET1.(10 points)Think of those fleeting moments when you look out of an aeroplane window and realise that you are flying, higher than a bird. Now think of your laptop, thinner than a brown-paper envelope, or your cellphone in the palm of your hand. Take a moment or two to wonder at those marvels. You are the lucky inheritor of a dream come true.The second half of the 20th century saw a collection of geniuses, warriors, entrepreneurs and visionaries labour to create a fabulous machine that could function as a typewriter and printing press, studio and theatre, paintbrush and gallery, piano and radio, the mail as well as the mail carrier. (41) _____________________________________________________The networked computer is an amazing device, the first media machine that serves as the mode of production, means of distribution, site of reception, and place of praise and critique. The computer is the 21st century's culture machine.But for all the reasons there are to celebrate the computer, we must also tread with caution. (42) _____________________________________________________ I call it a secret war for two reasons. First, most people do not realise that there are strong commercial agendas at work to keep them in passive consumption mode. Second, the majority of people who use networked computers to upload are not even aware of the significance of what they are doing.All animals download, but only a few upload. Beavers build dams and birds make nests. Yet for the most part, the animal kingdom moves through the world downloading. Humans are unique in their capacity to not only make tools but then turn around and use them to create superfluous material goods - paintings, sculpture and architecture - and superfluous experiences - music, literature, religion and philosophy. (43) _______________________________________ ______________For all the possibilities of our new culture machines, most people are still stuck in download mode. Even after the advent of widespread social media, a pyramid of production remains, with a small number of people uploading material, a slightly larger group commenting on or modifying that content, and a huge percentage remaining content to just consume. (44) __________ ___________________________________________Television is a one-way tap flowing into our homes. The hardest task that television asks of anyone is to turn the power off after he has turned it on.(45) _____________________________________________________What counts as meaningful uploading? My definition revolves around the concept of "stickiness" - creations and experiences to which others adhere.[A] Of course, it is precisely these superfluous things that define human culture and ultimately what it is to behuman. Downloading and consuming culture requires great skills, but failing to move beyonddownloading is to strip oneself of a defining constituent of humanity.[B] Applications like , which allow users to combine pictures, words and other media in creativeways and then share them, have the potential to add stickiness by amusing, entertaining and enlightening others.[C] Not only did they develop such a device but by the turn of the millennium they had also managed to embedit in a worldwide system accessed by billions of people every day.[D] This is because the networked computer has sparked a secret war between downloading and uploading -between passive consumption and active creation - whose outcome will shape our collective future in ways we can only begin to imagine.[E] The challenge the computer mounts to television thus bears little similarity to one format being replaced byanother in the manner of record players being replaced by CD players.[F] One reason for the persistence of this pyramid of production is that for the past half-century, much of theworld's media culture has been defined by a single medium - television - and television is defined by downloading.[G] The networked computer offers the first chance in 50 years to reverse the flow, to encourage thoughtfuldownloading and, even more importantly, meaningful uploading.Part CDirections: Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese. Your translation should be written clearly on ANSWER SHEET 2. (10 points)Since the days of Aristotle, a search for universal principles has characterized the scientific enterprise. In some ways, this quest for commonalities defines science. Newton's laws of motion and Darwinian evolution each bind a host of different phenomena into a single explicatory framework.(46)In physics, one approach takes this impulse for unification to its extreme, and seeks a theory of everything — a single generative equation for all we see. It is becoming less clear, however, that such a theory would be a simplification, given the proliferation of dimensions and universes that it might entail. Nonetheless, unification of sorts remains a major goal.This tendency in the natural sciences has long been evident in the social sciences too. (47)Here, Darwinism seems to offer justification, for if all humans share common origins, it seems reasonable to suppose that cultural diversity could also be traced to more constrained beginnings. Just as the bewildering variety of human courtship rituals might all be considered to be forms of sexual selection, perhaps the world's languages, music, social and religious customs and even history are governed by universal features. (48)To filter out what is unique from what is shared might enable us to understand how complex cultural behaviour arose and what guides it in evolutionary or cognitive terms.That, at least, is the hope. But a comparative study of linguistic traits published online today supplies a reality check. Russell Gray at the University of Auckland and his colleagues consider the evolution of grammars in the light of two previous attempts to find universality in language.The most famous of these efforts was initiated by Noam Chomsky, who postulated that humans are born with an innate language-acquisition capacity that dictates a universal grammar. A few generative rules are then sufficient to unfold the entire fundamental structure of a language, which is why children can learn it so quickly.(49)The second, by Joshua Greenberg, takes a more empirical approach to universality, identifying traits (particularly in word order) shared by many languages, which are considered to represent biases that result from cognitive constraints.Gray and his colleagues have put them to the test by examining four family trees that between them represent more than 2,000 languages. (50) Chomsky’s grammar should show patterns of language change that are independent of the family tree or the pathway tracked through it, whereas Greenbergian universality predicts strong co-dependencies between particular types of word-order relations. Neither of these patterns is borne out by the analysis, suggesting that the structures of the languages are lineage-specific and not governed by universals.Section Ⅲ WritingPart A51. Directions: Some internationals students are coming to your university. Write them an email in the name of the Students’ Union to1) extend your welcome and2) provide some suggestions for their campus life here.You should write about 100 words on ANSWER SHEET2. Do not sign your name at the end of the letter. Use “Li Ming” instead.Do not write the address (10 points)Part B52. Directions: write an essay of 160-200 words based on the following drawing. In your essay you should1) describe the drawing briefly2) explain its intended meaning, and3) give your commentsYou should write neatly on ANSWER SHEET2.(20 points)2012年全国硕士研究生入学考试英语试题一答案Section I: Use of English (10 points)1. [B] maintain2. [A] when3. [B] weakened4. [D] accepted5. [C] bound6. [B] subject7. [D] applies8. [B] raise9. [A] line10. [B] as 11. [A] so12. [C] upset13. [C] cultivate14. [D] tied15. [A] concepts 16. [C] shapes17. [A] dismissed18. [C] address19. [D] accountable20. [D] as a resultSection II: Reading Comprehension (60 points)Part A (40 points)21. DBACC CDADA 31. ADBDD CDBAAPart B (10 points)41. CDAFGPart C (10 points)46. 在物理学上，一种方法是将这种冲动完美发挥到极点并且导找到一种万能的理论---一条我们都可以看的见，明白的普遍公式。
2012年考研英语（一）真题及答案详解
Section I Use of English Directions: 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) 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) The ethical judgments of the Supreme Court justices have become an important issue recently. The court cannot _1_ its legitimacy as guardian of the rule of law _2_ justices behave like politicians. Yet, in several instances, justices acted in ways that _3_ the court’s reputation for being independent and impartial. Justice Antonin Scalia, for example, appeared at political events. That kind of activity makes s impartial judgments. Part of the problem is it less likely that the court’s decisions will be _4_ athat the justices are not _5_by an ethics code. At the very least, the court should make itself _6_to the code of conduct that _7_to the rest of the federal judiciary. This and other similar cases _8_the question of whether there is still a _9_between the court and politics. The framers of the Constitution envisioned law _10_having authority apart from politics. They gave justices permanent positions _11_they would be free to _12_ those in power and have no need to _13_ political support. Our legal system was designed to set law apart from politics precisely because they are so closely _14_. Constitutional law is political because it results from choices rooted in fundamental social _15_ like liberty and property. When the court deals with social policy decisions, the law it _16_ is inescapably political-which is why decisions split along ideological lines are so easily _17_ as unjust. emselves _19_ to the The justices must _18_ doubts about the court’s legitimacy by making thcode of conduct. That would make rulings more likely to be seen as separate from politics and, _20_, convincing as law. 1. [A]emphasize [B]maintain [C]modify [D] recognize 2. [A]when [B]lest [C]before [D] unless 3. [A]restored [B]weakened [C]established [D] eliminated 4. [A]challenged [B]compromised [C]suspected [D] accepted 5. [A]advanced [B]caught [C]bound [D]founded 6. [A]resistant [B]subject [C]immune [D]prone 7. [A]resorts [B]sticks [C]loads [D]applies 8. [A]evade [B]raise [C]deny [D]settle 9. [A]line [B]barrier [C]similarity [D]conflict 10. [A]by [B]as [C]though [D]towards 11. [A]so [B]since [C]provided [D]though 12. [A]serve [B]satisfy [C]upset [D]replace 13. [A]confirm [B]express [C]cultivate [D]offer 14. [A]guarded [B]followed [C]studied [D]tied 15. [A]concepts [B]theories [C]divisions [D]conceptions 16. [A]excludes [B]questions [C]shapes [D]controls 17. [A]dismissed [B]released [C]ranked [D]distorted 18. [A]suppress [B]exploit [C]address [D]ignore 19. [A]accessible [B]amiable [C]agreeable [D]accountable 20. [A]by all mesns [B]atall costs [C]in a word [D]as a result 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 –Everybody’s doing it. That whispered message, half invitation and half forcing, is Come on –Everybody’s doing it. That whispered message, half invitation and half forcing, is what most of us think of when we hear the words peer pressure. It usually leads to no good-drinking, drugs and casual sex. But in her new book Join the Club, Tina Rosenberg contends that peer pressure can also be a positive force through what she calls the social cure, in which organizations and officials use the power of group dynamics to help individuals improve their lives and possibly the word. Rosenberg, the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, offers a host of example of the social cure in action: In South Carolina, a state-sponsored antismoking program called Rage Against the Haze sets out to make cigarettes uncool. In South Africa, an HIV-prevention initiative known as LoveLife recruits young people to promote safe sex among their peers. The idea seems promising，and Rosenberg is a perceptive observer. Her critique of the lameness of many pubic-health campaigns is spot-on: they fail to mobilize peer pressure for healthy habits, and they demonstrate a seriously flawed understanding of psychology.ǁ Dare to be different, please don’t smoke!ǁ pleads one billboard campaign aimed at reducing smoking among teenagers-teenagers, who desire nothing more than fitting in. Rosenberg argues convincingly that public-health advocates ought to take a page from advertisers, so skilled at applying peer pressure. But on the general effectiveness of the social cure, Rosenberg is less persuasive. Join the Club is filled with too much irrelevant detail and not enough exploration of the social and biological factors that make peer pressure so powerful. The most glaring flaw of the social cure as it’s presented here is that it doesn’t work very well for very long. Rage Against the Haze failed once state funding was cut. Evidence that the LoveLife program produces lasting changes is limited and mixed. mous influence on our behavior. An There’s no doubt that our peer groups exert enoremerging body of research shows that positive health habits-as well as negative ones-spread through networks of friends via social communication. This is a subtle form of peer pressure: we unconsciously imitate the behavior we see every day. Far less certain, however, is how successfully experts and bureaucrats can select our peer groups and steer their activities in virtuous directions. It’s like the teacher who breaks up the troublemakers in the back row by pairing them with better-behaved classmates. The tactic never really works. And that’s the problem with a social cure engineered from the outside: in the real world, as in school, we insist on choosing our own friends. 21. According to the first paragraph, peer pressure often emerges as [A] a supplement to the social cure [B] a stimulus to group dynamics [C] an obstacle to school progress [D] a cause of undesirable behaviors 22. Rosenberg holds that public advocates should [A] recruit professional advertisers [B] learn from advertisers’ experience[C] stay away from commercial advertisers [D] recognize the limitations of advertisements 23. In the author’s view, Rosenberg’s book fails to[A] adequately probe social and biological factors [B] effectively evade the flaws of the social cure [C] illustrate the functions of state funding [D]produce a long-lasting social effect 24. Paragraph 5shows that our imitation of behaviors [A] is harmful to our networks of friends [B] will mislead behavioral studies [C] occurs without our realizing it [D] can produce negative health habits25. The author suggests in the last paragraph that the effect of peer pressure is [A] harmful [B] desirable [C] profound [D] questionable Text 2 A deal is a deal-except, apparently ,when Entergy is involved. The company, a major energy supplier in New England, provoked justified outrage in Vermont last week when it announced it was reneging on a longstanding commitment to abide by the strict nuclear regulations. Instead, the company has done precisely what it had long promised it would not challenge the constitutionality of Vermont’s rules in the federal court, as part of a desperate effort to keep its It’s a stunning move.Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant running. The conflict has been surfacing since 2002, when the corporation bought Vermont’s only nuclear power plant, an aging reactor in Vernon. As a condition of receiving state approval for the sale, the company agreed to seek permission from state regulators to operate past 2012. In 2006, the state went a step further, requiring that any extension of the plant’s license be subject to Vermont legislature’s approval. Then, too, the company went along.o live by those commitments, or it simply didn’t foresee Either Entergy never really intended twhat would happen next. A string of accidents, including the partial collapse of a cooling tower in 207 and the discovery of an underground pipe system leakage, raised serious questions about both V e rmont Yankee’s safety and Entergy’s management– especially after the company made misleading statements about the pipe. Enraged by Entergy’s behavior, the Vermont Senate voted 26 to 4 last year against allowing an extension.Now the company is suddenly claiming that the 2002 agreement is invalid because of the 2006 legislation, and that only the federal government has regulatory power over nuclear issues. The legal issues in the case are obscure: whereas the Supreme Court has ruled that states do have some regulatory authority over nuclear power, legal scholars say that Vermont case will offer a precedent-setting test of how far those powers extend. Certainly, there are valid concerns about the patchwork regulations that could result if every state sets its own rules. But had Entergy kept its word, that debate would be beside the point. The company seems to have concluded that its reputation in Vermont is already so damaged that it has noting left to lose by going to war with the state. But there should be consequences. Permission to run a nuclear plant is a poblic trust. Entergy runs 11 other reactors in the United States, including Pilgrim Nuclear station in Plymouth. Pledging to run Pilgrim safely, the company has applied for federal permission to keep it open for another 20 years. But as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reviews the company’s application, it should keep it mind what promises from Entergy are worth. 26. The phrase ―reneging onǁ(Line 3.para.1) is closest in meaning to[A] condemning. [B] reaffirming. [C] dishonoring. [D] securing. 27. By entering into the 2002 agreement, Entergy intended to [A] obtain protection from Vermont regulators. [B] seek favor from the federal legislature. [C] acquire an extension of its business license . [D] get permission to purchase a power plant. 28. According to Paragraph 4, Entergy seems to have problems with its [A] managerial practices. [B] technical innovativeness. [C] financial goals. [D] business vision 29. In the author’s view, the Vermont case will test[A] Entergy’s capacity to fulfill all its promises.[B] the mature of states’ patchwork regulations.[C] the federal authority over nuclear issues . [D] the limits of states’ power over nuclear issues.30. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that [A] Entergy’s business elsewhere might be affected.[B] the authority of the NRC will be defied. [C] Entergy will withdraw its Plymouth application. [D] Vermont’s reputation might be damaged.Text 3 In the idealized version of how science is done, facts about the world are waiting to be observed and collected by objective researchers who use the scientific method to carry out their work. But in the everyday practice of science, discovery frequently follows an ambiguous and complicated route. We aim to be objective, but we cannot escape the context of our unique life experience. Prior knowledge and interest influence what we experience, what we think our experiences mean, and the subsequent actions we take. Opportunities for misinterpretation, error, and self-deception abound. Consequently, discovery claims should be thought of as protoscience. Similar to newly staked mining claims, they are full of potential. But it takes collective scrutiny and acceptance to transform a discovery claim into a mature discovery. This is the credibility process, through which the individual researcher’s me, here, now becomes the community’s anyone, anywhere, anytime. Objective knowledge is the goal, not the starting point. Once a discovery claim becomes public, the discoverer receives intellectual credit. But, unlike with mining claims, the community takes control of what happens next. Within the complex social structure of the scientific community, researchers make discoveries; editors and reviewers act as gatekeepers by controlling the publication process; other scientists use the new finding to suit their own purposes; and finally, the public (including other scientists) receives the new discovery and possibly accompanying technology. As a discovery claim works it through the community, the interaction and confrontation between shared and competing beliefs about the science and the technology involved transforms an individual’s discovery claim into the community’s credible discovery. Two paradoxes exist throughout this credibility process. First, scientific work tends to focus on some aspect of prevailing Knowledge that is viewed as incomplete or incorrect. Little reward accompanies duplication and confirmation of what is already known and believed. The goal is new-search, not re-search. Not surprisingly, newly published discovery claims and credible discoveries that appear to be important and convincing will always be open to challenge and potential modification or refutation by future researchers. Second, novelty itself frequently provokes disbelief. Nobel Laureate and physiologist Albert Azent-Gyorgyi once described discovery as ―seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.ǁ But thinking what nobody else has thought and telling others what they have missed may not change their views. Sometimes years are required for truly novel discovery claims to be accepted and appreciated. In the end, credibility ―happensǁ to a discovery claim – a process that corresponds to what philosopher Annette Baier has described as the commons of the mind. ―We reason together, challenge, revise, and complete each other’s reasoning and each other’s conceptions of reason.ǁ31. According to the first paragraph, the process of discovery is characterized by its [A] uncertainty and complexity.[B] misconception and deceptiveness. [C] logicality and objectivity.[D] systematicness and regularity. 32. It can be inferred from Paragraph 2 that credibility process requires [A] strict inspection. [B]shared efforts. [C] individual wisdom. [D]persistent innovation. 33.Paragraph 3 shows that a discovery claim becomes credible after it[A] has attracted the attention of the general public. [B]has been examined by the scientific community. [C] has received recognition from editors and reviewers. [D]has been frequently quoted by peer scientists. rgyi would most likely agree that 34. Albert Szent-Györ gyi would most likely agree that [A] scientific claims will survive challenges. [B]discoveries today inspire future research. [C] efforts to make discoveries are justified. [D]scientific work calls for a critical mind.35.Which of the following would be the best title of the test? [A] Novelty as an Engine of Scientific Development. [B]Collective Scrutiny in Scientific Discovery. [C] Evolution of Credibility in Doing Science. [D]Challenge to Credibility at the Gate to Science. Text 4 If the trade unionist Jimmy Hoffa were alive today, he would probably represent civil servant. When Hoffa’s Teamsters were in their prime in 1960, only one in ten American government workers belonged to a union; now 36% do. In 2009 the number of unionists in America’s public sector passed that of their fellow members in the private sector. In Britain, more than half of public-sector workers but only about 15% of private-sector ones are unionized. There are three reasons for the public-sector unions’ thriving. First, they can shut things down without suffering much in the way of consequences. Second, they are mostly bright and well-educated. A quarter of America’s public-sector workers have a university degree. Third, they now dominate left-of-centre politics. Some of their ties go back a long way. Britain’s Labor Party, as its name implies, has long been associated with trade unionism. Its current leader, Ed Miliband, owes his position to votes from public-sector unions. At the state level their influence can be even more fearsome. Mark Baldassare of the Public Policy Institute of Califo rnia points out that much of the state’s budget is patrolled by unions. The teachers’ unions keep an eye on schools, the CCPOA on prisons and a variety of labor groups on health care. In many rich countries average wages in the state sector are higher than in the private one. But the real gains come in benefits and work practices. Politicians have repeatedly ―backloadedǁ public-sector pay deals, keeping the pay increases modest but adding to holidays and especially pensions that are already generous. Reform has been vigorously opposed, perhaps most egregiously in education, where charter schools, academies and merit pay all faced drawn-out battles. Even though there is plenty of teachers’ unions have evidence that the quality of the teachers is the most important variable, fought against getting rid of bad ones and promoting good ones. As the cost to everyone else has become clearer, politicians have begun to clamp down. In Wisconsin the unions have rallied thousands of supporters against Scott Walker, the hardline Republican governor. But many within the public sector suffer under the current system, too. John Donahue at Harvard’s Kennedy School points out that the norms of culture in Western civil services suit those who want to stay put but is bad for high achievers. The only American public-sector workers who earn well above $250,000 a year are university sports coaches and the president of the United States. Bankers’ fat pay packets have attracted much criticism, but a public-sector system that does not reward high achievers may be a much bigger problem for America. 36. It can be learned from the first paragraph that [A] Teamsters still have a large body of members. [B] Jimmy Hoffa used to work as a civil servant. [C] unions have enlarged their public-sector membership. [D]the government has improved its relationship with unionists. 37. Which of the following is true of Paragraph 2? [A] Public-sector unions are prudent in taking actions. [B] Education is required for public-sector union membership. [C] Labor Party has long been fighting against public-sector unions. [D]Public-sector unions seldom get in trouble for their actions. 38. It can be learned from Paragraph 4 that the income in the state sector is [A] illegally secured. [B] indirectly augmented. [C] excessively increased. [D]fairly adjusted. 39. The example of the unions in Wisconsin shows that unions [A]often run against the current political system. [B]can change people’s political attitudes.[C]may be a barrier to public-sector reforms. [D]are dominant in the government. -sector system is one of 40. John Donahue’s attitude towards the public[A]disapproval. [B]appreciation. [C]tolerance. [D]indifference. Part B Directions: In the following text, some sentences have been removed. For Questions 41-45, choose the most suitable one from the list A-G to fit into each of the numbered blanks. There are two extra HEET1.(10 choices, which do not fit in any of the blanks. Mark your answers on ANSWER Spoints) Think of those fleeting moments when you look out of an aeroplane window and realise that you are flying, higher than a bird. Now think of your laptop, thinner than a brown-paper envelope, or your cellphone in the palm of your hand. Take a moment or two to wonder at those marvels. You are the lucky inheritor of a dream come true. The second half of the 20th century saw a collection of geniuses, warriors, entrepreneurs and visionaries labour to create a fabulous machine that could function as a typewriter and printing press, studio and theatre, paintbrush and gallery, piano and radio, the mail as well as the mail carrier. (41) The networked computer is an amazing device, the first media machine that serves as the mode of production, means of distribution, site of reception, and place of praise and critique. The computer is the 21st century's culture machine. But for all the reasons there are to celebrate the computer, we must also tread with caution. (42)I call it a secret war for two reasons. First, most people do not realise that there are strong commercial agendas at work to keep them in passive consumption mode. Second, the majority of people who use networked computers to upload are not even aware of the significance of what they are doing. All animals download, but only a few upload. Beavers build dams and birds make nests. Yet for the most part, the animal kingdom moves through the world downloading. Humans are unique in their capacity to not only make tools but then turn around and use them to create superfluous material goods - paintings, sculpture and architecture - and superfluous experiences - music, literature, religion and philosophy. (43) k in download For all the possibilities of our new culture machines, most people are still stucmode. Even after the advent of widespread social media, a pyramid of production remains, with a small number of people uploading material, a slightly larger group commenting on or modifying that content, and a huge percentage remaining content to just consume. (44) Television is a one-way tap flowing into our homes. The hardest task that television asks of anyone is to turn the power off after he has turned it on. (45) What counts as meaningful uploading? My definition revolves around the concept of "stickiness" - creations and experiences to which others adhere. [A] Of course, it is precisely these superfluous things that define human culture and ultimately what it is to be human. Downloading and consuming culture requires great skills, but failing to move beyond downloading is to strip oneself of a defining constituent of humanity. [B] Applications like , which allow users to combine pictures, words and other media in creative ways and then share them, have the potential to add stickiness by amusing, entertaining and enlightening others. [C] Not only did they develop such a device but by the turn of the millennium they had also managed to embed it in a worldwide system accessed by billions of people every day. [D] This is because the networked computer has sparked a secret war between downloading and uploading - between passive consumption and active creation - whose outcome will shape our collective future in ways we can only begin to imagine. [E] The challenge the computer mounts to television thus bears little similarity to one format being replaced by another in the manner of record players being replaced by CD players. [F] One reason for the persistence of this pyramid of production is that for the past half-century, much of the world's media culture has been defined by a single medium - television - and television is defined by downloading. [G]The networked computer offers the first chance in 50 years to reverse the flow, to encourage thoughtful downloading and, even more importantly, meaningful uploading. Part C Directions: Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese. Your translation should be written clearly on ANSWER SHEET 2. (10 points) Since the days of Aristotle, a search for universal principles has characterized the scientific enterprise. In some ways, this quest for commonalities defines science. Newton’s laws of motion and Darwinian evolution each bind a host of different phenomena into a single explicatory frame work. (46)In physics, one approach takes this impulse for unification to its extreme, and seeks a theory of everything—a single generative equation for all we see.It is becoming less clear, however, that such a theory would be a simplification, given the dimensions and universes that it might entail, nonetheless, unification of sorts remains a major goal. This tendency in the natural sciences has long been evident in the social sciences too. (47)Here, Darwinism seems to offer justification for it all humans share common origins it seems reasonable to suppose that cultural diversity could also be traced to more constrained beginnings. Just as the bewildering variety of human courtship rituals might all be considered forms of sexual selection, perhaps the world’s languages, music, social and religious customs and even history are governed by universal features. (48)To filter out what is unique from what is shared might enable us to understand how complex cultural behavior arose and what guides it in evolutionary or cognitive terms. That, at least, is the hope. But a comparative study of linguistic traits published online today supplies a reality check. Russell Gray at the University of Auckland and his colleagues consider the evolution of grammars in the light of two previous attempts to find universality in language. The most famous of these efforts was initiated by Noam Chomsky, who suggested that humans —acquisition capacity that dictates a universal grammar. A few are born with an innate languagegenerative rules are then suffi cient to unfold the entire fundamental structure of a language, which is why children can learn it so quickly. (49)The second, by Joshua Greenberg, takes a more empirical approach to universality identifying traits (particularly in word order) shared by many language which are considered to represent biases that result from cognitive constraints Gray and his colleagues have put them to the test by examining four family trees that between them represent more than 2,000 languages.(50)Chomsky’s grammar should show patterns of language change that are independent of the family tree or the pathway tracked through it. Whereas Greenbergian universality predicts strong co-dependencies between particular types of word-order relations. Neither of these patterns is borne out by the analysis, suggesting that the structures of the languages are lire age-specific and not governed by universals [NxtPage] Section III Writing Part A 51. Directions: Some internationals students are coming to your university. Write them an email in the name of the Students’ Union to1) extend your welcome and 2) provide some suggestions for their campus life here. You should write about 100 words on ANSWER SHEET2.Do not sign your name at the end of the letter. Use ―Li Mingǁ instead.Do not write the address(10 points) Part B 52. Directions: write an essay of 160-200 words based on the following drawing. In your essay you should 1) describe the drawing briefly 2) explain its intended meaning, and 3) give your comments You should write neatly on ANSWER SHEET2.(20 points)1.B2.A3.B4.D5.C6.B7.D8.B9.A 10.B11.A 12.C 13.C 14.D 15.A16.C 17.A 18.C 19.D 20.D21.D 22.D 23.A 24.C 25.D26.C 27.A 28.A 29.B 30.B31.A 32.D 33.B 34.D 35.D36.C 37.D 38.B 39.A 40.A41.C 42.D 43.A 44.F 45.G1.【答案】B 【解析】从空后信息可以看出，这句表达的是―_ _法官表现得像政治家ǁ的情况下，法庭就不能保持其作为法律法规的合法卫士的形象，所以应该选C,maintain―维持，保持ǁ，其他显然语义不通。
2012年考研英语二真题全文翻译答案超详解析
2012 年全国硕士研究生入学统一考试英语（二）试题答案与解析Section I Use of English一、文章题材结构分析本文是一篇关于人物介绍的说明性文章，主要讲述了G. I. Joe 由普通人成长为英雄，是美国特种兵敢死队的象征。
二、试题解析1．【答案】B【解析】本段开篇提出主题：G. I. Joe 这个名字对于参加过第二次世界大战的人来说意义非凡。
空格中需要填动词，在定语从句中做谓语，其主语是who（指代men and women），动作发生的地点是in World War II；空后的句子“the people they liberated”中 they也指代 men and women，他们有 liberate的动作，由此推断“the men and women”指的应该是参加了第二次大战的男人和女人，即服役的军人。
只有serve 有“服兵役”的意思，所以选 B。
A 项 perform 意为“表现；执行；表演”；C 项 rebel 意为“造反，反抗”；D 项 betray 意为”背叛，出卖”，皆不符合文意，为干扰项。
2．【答案】B【解析】空格处所指的人与下文的 the poor farm kid 和 the guy 在含义上呼应，同时与空格后的“grown intohero”逻辑含义应保持一致，因此空内信息应该是与hero“英雄”意思相对，后面的分句说他背井离乡，经历了很多苦难，显然这里应该是说由普通人平凡人（common man）成长为英雄，所以选 B。
A 项actual 意为“实际上，事实上的”；C 项special 意为“特殊的，专门的”；D 项normal 意为“正常的，常态的”；皆不符合上下文语意，为干扰项。
3．【答案】A【解析】本题考查的是词语的搭配关系，需要填入动词在定语从句中做谓语，先行词是who（the guy），宾语是all the burdens of battle，要表达“承担战争带来的负担，应该用动词bear 或shoulder，所以这里选 A，bore。
2012年考研英语全真模拟题及答案解析汇总11
2012年考研英语全真模拟题及答案解析汇总11Part CDirections:Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese. Your translation should be written clearly on ANSWER SHEET 2. (10 points)46) A recent phenomenon in present-day science and technology is the increasing trend toward “directed” or “programmed” research; i. e. research whose scope and objectives are predetermined by private or government organizations rather than researchers themselves. Any scientist working for such organizations and investigating ina given field therefore tends to do so in accordance with a plan or program designed beforehand.At the beginning of the century, however, the situation was quite different. At that time there were no industrial /kcnet1480//kcnet1480/research organizations in the modern sense: the laboratory unit consisted of a few scientists at the most, assisted by one or two technicians. 47) Nevertheless, the scientist, often working with inadequate equipment in unsuitable rooms, was free to choose any subject for investigation he liked, since there was no predetermined program to which he had to conform.48) As the century developed, the increasing magnitude and complexity of the problems to be solved made it impossible, in many cases, for the individual scientist to deal with the huge mass of new data, techniques and equipment that were required for carrying out research accurately and efficiently. The increasing scale and scope of the experiments needed to test new hypotheses and develop new techniques and industrial processes led to the setting up of research groups or teams using highly-complicated equipment in elaborately-designed laboratories. 49) Owing to the large sums of money involved, it was then felt essential to direct these human and material resources into specific channels with clearly-defined objectives. In this way it was considered that the quickest and most practical results could be obtained. This, then, was programmed (programmatic) research.One of the effects of this organized and standardized investigation is to cause the scientist to become increasingly involved in applied research (development), especially in the branches of science which seem most likely to have industrial applications. Private industry and even government departments tend to concentrate on immediate results and show comparatively little interest in long-range investigations. 50) In consequence, there is a steady shift of scientists from the pure to the applied field, where there are more jobs available, frequently more highly-paid and with better technical facilities than jobs connected with pure research in a university.Owing to the interdependence between pure and applied science, it is easy to see that this system, if extended too far, carries considerable dangers for the future of science—and not only pure science, but applied science as well. (409 words)Section Ⅲ WritingPart A51. Directions:A chemical plant should be responsible for the water pollution in a nearby river. Write a letter to the City Environment Protection Agency to1) state the present situation,2) suggest ways to deal with the problem and3) express your sincere hope.You should write about 100 words on ANSWER SHEET 2.Do not sign your own name at the end of the letter. Use “Li Ming” instead.Do not write the address. (10 points)Part B52. Directions:Write an essay of 160—200 words based on the following picture. In your essay,you should1) describe the cartoon briefly,2) interpret its intended meaning, and3) give your view on the issue.You should write it neatly on ANSWER SHEET 2. (20 points)Section ⅠUse of English参考译文世人普遍认为发生在伊拉克的第二次海湾战争是对高速网络的一个至关重要的考验。
2012年考研英语模拟测试题及参考答案四
Section Ⅰ Use of English Directions：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） All Sumerian cities recognized a number of gods in common， including the sky god， the lord of storms， and the morning and evening star.__1__the Sumerian worshipped the goddess of fertility， love， and war， she was evidently lower__2__status than the male gods， indicating that in a more urbanized society the__3__that the peoples of previous times had paid to the earth mother goddess had__4__. The gods seemed hopelessly violent and __5__， and one‘s life a period of slavery at their easy will. The epic poem The Creation emphasizes that__6__were created to enable the godsto__7__ up working. Each city moreover had its own god， who was considered to__8__ the temple literally and who was in theory the owner of all property within the city.__9__the priests who interpreted the will of the god and controlled the__10__ of the economic produce of the city were favored__11__ their supernatural and material functions __12__. When， after3，000 B. C.， growing warfare among the cities made military leadership__13__， the head of the army who became king assumed a（n）__14__position between the god， whose agent he was， and the priestly class， whom he had both to use and to __15__. Thus king and priests represented the upper class in a hierarchical society.__16__them were the scribes， the secular attendants of the temple， who__17__every aspect of the city’s economic life and who developed a rough judicial system.__18__the temple officials， society was divided among an elite or__19__ group of large landowners and military leaders； a mixed group of merchants， artisans， and craftsmen， free peasants who__20__ the majority of the population； and slaves. 1. ［A］ Unless ［B］ As ［C］ Lest ［D］ Although 2. ［A］ on ［B］ in ［C］ with ［D］about 3. ［A］ worship ［B］ reverence ［C］ admiration ［D］ gratitude 4. ［A］ vanished ［B］ recovered ［C］declined ［D］ attained 5. ［A］ unpredictable［B］ unforgivable［C］ unlimited ［D］ unlikely 6. ［A］ creatures ［B］animals ［C］ men ［D］ mortals 7. ［A］ use ［B］ turn ［C］ give ［D］ back 8. ［A］ inhabit ［B］ live ［C］ reside ［D］ lodge 9. ［A］ Hence ［B］ Thereafter ［C］ Somehow ［D］ Incidentally 10. ［A］ introduction［B］ transaction ［C］ distribution［D］ provision 11. ［A］ as ［B］ for ［C］ under ［D］ of 12. ［A］ along ［B］ anyway ［C］afterwards ［D］ alike 13. ［A］ additional ［B］ vital ［C］ singular ［D］ exceptional 14. ［A］ alternative ［B］secondary ［C］ intermediate［D］ fundamental 15. ［A］ pacify ［B］ tempt ［C］ suppress ［D］ manipulate 16. ［A］Beside ［B］ Beyond ［C］ Below ［D］ Before 17. ［A］ supervised ［B］ held ［C］ managed ［D］ presided 18.［A］ Around ［B］ Under ［C］ Above ［D］ Outside 19. ［A］ leading ［B］ noble ［C］ controlling ［D］ principal 20. ［A］ consist ［B］ compose ［C］ compile ［D］ consume 答案1. D2. B3. B4. C5. A6. D7.C8.A9. A 10. C 11. B 12. D 13.B 14.C 15. A 16. C 17. A 18. D 19. B 20. B 总体分析 本⽂介绍了苏美尔⼈对神的崇拜及由此引起的社会阶层的划分。
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2012年考研英语语法专项突破训练及解析-英语试题
早准备早复习，考试吧整理“2012年考研英语语法专项突破训练及解析”供2012考研考生
备考使用。
2012年考研英语语法专项突破训练及解析(6)
76. After people have learned that magnets attract things, centuries passed ____ they took
note of the fact that magnets sometimes also repel things.
A. before B. until C. after D. since
77. He is off to Paris again tomorrow. He tells me that, with this journey, he ________ there
and back twenty times.
A.will be B. will have been
C.will go D. will have gone
78. Many ways have been found_____small and simple machine to process large and
complicated machine parts.
A. by using B. to use C. using D. used
79. I walked down the corridor, my footsteps_______frighteningly through the empty
deserted building.
A. echoing B. echoed C. to echo D. having echoed
80. Apart from personal preferences, social context also affects—both directly and
indirectly—the media and the media content to which you become exposed. For example, other
members of the family often select media content that you _____, and you become exposed to it.
A. would not have selected B. should not have selected
C. must not select D. cannot have selected
76. Abefore应该理解成“(几百年过去了,人们) 才……”; 如果用after应该是…after
centuries passed they took note of the fact…; 如果用until, 应该是they didn’t take note of the
fact that…until centuries passed。
77. B此句意为：“他明天去巴黎,加上这次, 他就去了二十次了。”根据句意,应用将来完
成时态。句中有back一词, 故D不合适。
78. Bto use…, 不定式短语做way的定语, 只是因为定语太长,故将谓语前移,使句子避免
头重脚轻。by using表示方式, 做状语用; using为动名词, 不能做way 的定语, way要求不定
式做定语; used, 无论从语法结构上还是从意义上都讲不通。
79. A分词短语做伴随状语, my footsteps与echo的关系是主动的,因此用现在分词。另外,
分词做伴随状语表示与谓语动词的动作同时发生, 所以用其一般式。
80. A本句意为:“除了个人喜好外, 社会环境也会直接或间接地影响你使用的媒体和媒
体的内容。例如, 家庭的其他成员常常选择的媒体内容你就未必选, 可是你也得使用。”句中
暗含了 “如果是你, 你就不会选” 的意思, 所以用虚拟语气合适。should not have selected表
示“本不应该选”; must not select表示“一定不要选”; cannot have selected表示“一定不能选”,
过于绝对。只有would not have selected 符合句意。