2011年考研英语全真冲刺模拟题:朱泰祺系列(1)

Section ⅡReading 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)

Text1

We have known for a long time that the organization of any particular society is influenced by the definition of the sexes and the distinction drawn between them. But we have realized only recently that the identity of each sex is not so easy to pin down, and that definitions evolve in accordance with different types of culture known to us, that is, scientific discoveries and ideological revolutions. Our nature is not considered as immutable, either socially or biologically. As we approach the beginning of the 21st century, the substantial progress made in biology and genetics is radically challenging the roles, responsibilities and specific characteristics attributed to each sex, and yet, scarcely twenty years ago, these were thought to be “beyond dispute”.

We can safely say, with a few minor exceptions, that the definition of the sexes and their respective functions remained unchanged in the West from the beginning of the 19th century to the 1960s. The role distinction, raised in some cases to the status of uncompromising dualism on a strongly hierarchical model, lasted throughout this period, appealing for its justification to nature, religion and customs alleged to have existed since the dawn of time. The woman bore children and took care of the home. The man set out to conquer the world and was responsible for the survival of his family, by satisfying their needs in peacetime and going to war when necessary.

The entire world order rested on the divergence of the sexes. Any overlapping or confusion between the roles was seen as a threat to the time-honored order of things. It was felt to be against nature, a deviation from the norm.

Sex roles were determined according to the “place”appropriate to each. Women's place was, first and foremost, in the home. The outside world, i.e. workshops, factories and business firms, belonged to men. This sex-based division of the world (private and public) gave rise to a strict dichotomy between the attitudes, which conferred on each its special identity. The woman, sequestered at home, “cared, nurtured and conserved”. To do this, she had no need to be daring, ambitious, tough or competitive. The man, on the other hand, competing with his fellow men, was caught up every day in the struggle for survival, and hence developed those characteristics which were thought natural in a man.

Today, many women go out to work, and their reasons for doing so have changed considerably. Besides the traditional financial incentives, we find ambition and personal fulfillment motivating those in the most favorable circumstances, and the wish to have a social life and to get out of their domestic isolation influencing others. Above all, for all women, work is invariably connected with the desire for independence. (454 words)

Notes: pin down 把…讲明确；确定。immutable不可改变的。dualism双重论。divergence分歧，偏离。overlapping部分巧合、一致。time-honored 由来已久的。dichotomy 一分为二，对立。sequester使隔离。be caught up in 被缠住于，如：He is caught up in the trivia (琐事) of everyday things. unduly过度地，不恰当地。

21. It is only in recent years that we have recognized that

〔A〕there is almost no clue to the identity of both sexes.

〔B〕the role distinction between different sexes is conspicuous.

〔C〕the different definitions of sexes bears on the development of culture.

〔D〕the progress of civilization greatly influences the role definitions of sexes.

22. From paragraph 1 we can infer that it is now possible for women to embark on a career because

〔A〕the change in sex roles is out of the question.

〔B〕women's lib has been going on for many years.

〔C〕ideas about the roles of women have been changing.

〔D〕the expansion of sciences scarcely remolds the women's roles.

23. The author believes that sex discrimination in the West before the 1960s was

〔A〕preferable.

〔B〕prevalent.

〔C〕presumable.

〔D〕precedent.

24. According to the fourth paragraph, the author seems to think that

〔A〕female passivity is natural.

〔B〕men and women are physically identical.

〔C〕men are born competitive and aggressive.

〔D〕some different sex identity is acquired.

25. According to the author, which of the following is the most important reason for women to go to work?

〔A〕Wish to claim their rights and freedom.

〔B〕Ambition and self-fulfillment.

〔C〕Financial incentives.

〔D〕Desire for a social life.

Text2

The domestic economy in the United States expanded in a remarkably vigorous and steady fashion. The revival in consumer confidence was reflected in the higher proportion of incomes spent for goods and services and the marked increase in consumer willingness to take on installment debt. A parallel strengthening in business psychology was manifested in a stepped-up rate of plant and equipment spending and a gradual pickup in expenses for inventory. Confidence in the economy was also reflected in the strength of the stock market and in the stability of the bond market. For the year as a whole, consumer and business sentiment benefited from the ease in East-West tensions.

The bases of the business expansion were to be found mainly in the stimulative monetary and fiscal policies that had been pursued. Moreover, the restoration of sounder liquidity positions and tighter management control of production efficiency had also helped lay the groundwork for a strong expansion. In addition, the economic policy moves made by the President had served to renew optimism on the business outlook while boosting hopes that inflation would be brought under more effective control. Finally, of course, the economy was able to grow as vigorously as it did because sufficient leeway existed in terms of idle men and machines.

The United States balance of payments deficit declined sharply. Nevertheless, by any other test, the deficit remained very large, and there was actually a substantial deterioration in our trade account to a sizable deficit, almost two-thirds of which was with Japan. While the overall trade performance proved disappointing, there are still good reasons for expecting the delayed impact of devaluation to produce in time a significant strengthening in our trade picture. Given the size of the Japanese component of our trade deficit, however, the outcome will depend importantly on the extent of the corrective measures undertaken by Japan. Also important will be our own efforts in the United States to fashion internal policies consistent with an improvement in our external balance.

The underlying task of public policy for the year ahead—and indeed for the longer run—remained a familiar one: to strike the right balance between encouraging healthy economic growth and avoiding inflationary pressures. With the economy showing sustained and vigorous growth, and with the currency crisis highlighting the need to improve our competitive posture internationally, the emphasis seemed to be shifting to the problem of inflation. The Phase Three program of wage and price restraint can contribute to reducing inflation. Unless productivity growth is unexpectedly large, however, the expansion of real output must eventually begin to slow down to the economy's larger run growth potential if generalized demand pressures on prices are to be avoided. (449 words)

Notes:  inventory 存货。East-West tensions 东西方紧张局势。fiscal (与国库的钱有关的)财务的(常指税收)。liquidity 周转率，清偿力。leeway 余地。given 鉴于，由于。the Phase Three program 第三阶段计划。

26. The author mentions increased installment debt in the first paragraph in order to show

〔A〕the continuing expansion of the economy.

〔B〕the growth of consumer purchasing power.

〔C〕the consumers'confidence in the economy.

〔D〕the soaring consumer incomes for spending.

27. Paragraph 2 mainly deals with

〔A〕the revival of stronger liquidity positions.

〔B〕the stimulative monetary and fiscal policies.

〔C〕the causes of business development for the period.

〔D〕economic policy measures suggested by the President.

28. It can be inferred from the third paragraph that the author's attitude toward the reduction of the international payments deficit seems

〔A〕bitter-sweet.

〔B〕optimistic.

〔C〕sympathetic

〔D〕depressing.

29. Part of the public policy task, as outlined in the text, is to

〔A〕prevent payments deficit.

〔B〕avoid inflationary pressures.

〔C〕devalue the dollar.

〔D〕increase the balance of trade.

30. It can be learned from the last paragraph that the Phase Three program contained

〔A〕reduced government spending.

〔B〕devaluation of the dollar.

〔C〕productivity measures.

〔D〕wage and price controls.

Text3

Shopping has always been something of an impulse activity, in which objects that catch our fancy while strolling are immediately bought on a whim. Advertisers and sellers have taken advantage of this fact, carefully positioning inexpensive but attractive items on paths that we are most likely to cross, hoping that our human nature will lead to a greater profit for them. With the dawn of the Internet and its exploding use across the world, the same tactics apply.

Advertisers now place “banners”, links to commercial web sites decorated with attractive pictures designed to catch our eyes while browsing the webs, on key web sites with heavy traffic. They pay top dollar for the right, thus creating profits for the hosting web site as well. These actions are performed in the hopes that during the course of our casual and leisurely web surfing, we'll click on that banner that sparks our interest and thus, in theory, buy the products advertised.

Initial results have been positive. Web sites report a huge inflow of cash, both from the advertisers who tempt customers in with the banners and the hosting web sites, which are paid for allowing the banners to be put in place. As trust and confidence in Internet buying increases and information security is heightened with new technology, the volume of buying is increasing, leading to even greater profits.

The current situation, however, is not quite as optimistic. Just as magazine readers tend to unconsciously ignore advertisements in their favorite periodicals, web browsers are beginning to allow banners to slip their notice as well. Internet users respond to the flood of banners by viewing them as annoyances, a negative image that is hurting sales, since users are now less reluctant to click on those banners, preferring not to support the system that puts them in place. If Internet advertising is to continue to be a viable and profitable business practice, new methods will need to be considered to reinvigorate the industry.

With the recent depression in the technology sector and slowing economy, even new practices may not do the trick. As consumers are saving more and frequenting traditional real estate businesses over their Internet counterparts, the fate of Internet business is called into question. The coming years will be the only reliable indication of whether shopping on the world wide web is the wave of the future or simply an impulse activity whose whim has passed. (404 words)

Notes:  on a whim 心血潮。surf v. 冲浪。in theory在理论上，顺理成章。hosting访问率高的。call...into question质疑，对…提出疑问。

31. It can be learned from the first paragraph that Internet advertising

[A] has taken the place of more traditional methods of advertising.

[B] is one of the most effective ways to make profits on the web.

[C] is paralleling advertising methods in traditional business settings.

[D] seeks to tempt customers through impulse shopping methods.

32. The second and third paragraphs are written in order to illustrate

[A] the policy Internet advertisers design to lure clientele and its outcome.

[B] the process and mixed consequences of Internet advertising and shopping.

[C] the biggest splash Internet advertisers have recently made in sales promotions.

[D] the banners Internet advertisers take advantage of to arouse customers'interest.

33. Analyzing the current state of the online advertising in paragraph 4, the author implies that

[A] it has to be modified over time to remain effective.

[B] for all its current profits, it will fade in the long run.

[C] banners are beginning to lose their advertising efficiency.

[D] Internet advertising methods will continue to decrease sales.

34.The expression “do the trick” in the last paragraph most probably means

[A] come to the point.

[B] fulfill their purpose.

[C] fail of their success.

[D] live up to their promise.

35. The author's attitude toward online advertising can be summarized as

[A] reserved consent but discontent.

[B] objective analysis void of opinions.

[C] enthusiastic support but slight contempt.

[D] approval so far but uncertainty in the future.

Text4

Picture-taking is a technique both for reflecting the objective world and for expressing the singular self. Photographs depict objective realities that already exist, though only the camera can disclose them. And they depict an individual photographer's temperament, discovering itself through the camera's cropping of reality. That is, photography has two directly opposite ideals: in the first, photography is about the world and the photographer is a mere observer who counts for little; but in the second, photography is the instrument of fearlessness, questing subjectivity and the photographer is all.

These conflicting ideals arise from uneasiness on the part of both photographers and viewers of photographs toward the aggressive component in “taking” a picture. Accordingly, the ideal of a photographer as observer is attracting because it implicitly denies that picture-taking is an aggressive act. The issue, of course, is not so clear-cut. What photographers do cannot be characterized as simply predatory or as simply, and essentially, benevolent. As a consequence, one ideal of picture-taking or the other is always being rediscovered and championed.

An important result of the coexistence of these two ideals is a recurrent ambivalence toward photography's means. Whatever are the claims that photography might make to be a form of personal expression just like painting, its originality is closely linked to the power of a machine. The steady growth of these powers has made possible the extraordinary informativeness and imaginative formal beauty of many photographs, like Harold Edgerton's high-speed photographs of a bullet hitting its target or of the swirls and eddies of a tennis stroke. But as cameras become more sophisticated, more automated, some photographers are tempted to disarm themselves or to suggest that they are not really armed, preferring to submit themselves to the limit imposed by pre-modern camera technology because a cruder, less high-powered machine is thought to give more interesting or emotive results, to leave more room for creative accident. For example, it has been virtually a point of honor for many photographers, including Walker Evans and Cartier Bresson, to refuse to use modern equipment. These photographers have come to doubt the value of the camera as an instrument of “fast seeing”. Cartier Bresson, in fact, claims that the modern camera may see too fast.

This ambivalence toward photographic means determines trends in taste. The cult of the future (of faster and faster seeing) alternates over time with the wish to return to a purer past when images had a handmade quality. This longing for some primitive state of the photographic enterprise is currently widespread and underlies the present-day enthusiasm for daguerreotypes and the work of forgotten nineteenth-century provincial photographers. Photographers and viewers of photographs, it seems, need periodically to resist their own knowingness. (451 words)

Notes:  crop vt. 播种，修剪（树木），收割。count for little 无关紧要。predatory 掠夺成性的。champion n. 冠军；vt. 支持。benevolent好心肠的，行善的。ambivalence 矛盾心理。make (+不定式)似乎要: He makes to begin. （他似乎要开始了。）swirls and eddies 漩涡。cult狂热崇拜。daguerreotypes （初期的）银板照相法。

36. The two directly opposite ideals of photography differ primarily in the

〔A〕emphasis that each places on the emotional impact of the finished product.

〔B〕degree of technical knowledge that each requires of the photographer.

〔C〕way in which each defines the role of the photographer.

〔D〕extent of the power that each requires of the photographer's equipment.

37. According to paragraph 2, the interest among photographers in each of the photography's two ideals can be described as

〔A〕steadily growing.

〔B〕cyclically recurring.

〔C〕continuously altering.

〔D〕spontaneously occurring.

38. The text states all of the following about photographs EXCEPT:

〔A〕They can display a cropped reality.

〔B〕They can convey information.

〔C〕They can depict the photographer's temperament.

〔D〕They can change the viewer's sensibilities.

39. The author mentions the work of Harold Edgerton in order to provide an example of

〔A〕the relationship between photographic originality and technology.

〔B〕how the content of photographs has changed from the nineteenth century to the twentieth.

〔C〕the popularity of high-speed photography in the twentieth century.

〔D〕how a controlled ambivalence toward photography's means can produce outstanding pictures.

40. The author is primarily concerned with

〔A〕describing how photographers'individual temperaments are reflected in their work.

〔B〕establishing new technical standards for contemporary photography.

〔C〕analyzing the influence of photographic ideals on picture-taking.

〔D〕explaining how the technical limitations affect photographers'work.