1、华中科技大学考博英语 2012 年真题及答案解析(总分：100.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Part Cloze(总题数：1，分数：10.00)Comedian George Carlin has a routine in which he talks about how humans seem to spend their lives accumulating “stuff“. Once they“ve gathered enough stuff, they have to find places to store all of it. If Carlin were to update
2、that routine today, he could make the same 1 about computer information. It seems that everyone with a computer spends a lot of time acquiring data and then trying to find a way to 2 it. For some computer owners, finding enough storage space to hold all the data they“ve acquired is a real challenge.
3、 Some people invest in larger hard drives. Others prefer 3 storage devices like thumb drives or compact discs. Desperate computer owners might delete entire folders worth of old files in order to make space for new information. 4 some are choosing to rely on a growing trend: cloud storage. While clo
4、ud storage sounds like it has something to do with weather 5 and storm systems, it really refers to saving data 6 an off-site storage system maintained by a third party. 7 storing information to your computer“s hard drive or other local storage device, you save it to a remote database. The Internet
5、provides the connection between your computer and the database. On the surface, cloud storage has several advantages 8 traditional data storage. For example, if you store your data on a cloud storage system, you“ll be able to get to that data from any location that has Internet access. You 9 need to
6、 carry around a 10 storage device or use the same computer to save and 11 your information. With the right storage system, you could even allow other people to access the data, turning a personal project into a 12 effort. So cloud storage is convenient and offers more 13 , but how does it work? Ther
7、e are hundreds of different cloud storage systems. Some have a very specific 14 , such as storing Web e-mail messages or digital pictures. Others are 15 to store all forms of digital data. Some cloud storage systems are small operations, while others are so large that the physical equipment can fill
8、 16 an entire warehouse. The facilities that 17 loud storage systems are called data centers. At its most basic level, a cloud storage system needs just one data server 18 to the Internet. A client e. g. , a computer user subscribing to a cloud storage service sends copies of files over the Internet
9、 to the data server, which then records the information. When the client wishes to retrieve the information, he or she accesses the data server through a Web-based interface. The server then either sends the files back to the client or allows the client to access and manipulate the files on the serv
10、er itself. Cloud storage systems generally rely on hundreds of data servers. Because computers 19 require maintenance or repair, it“s important to store the same information on multiple machines. This is called redundancy. Without redundancy, a cloud storage system couldn“t 20 clients that they coul
11、d access their information at any given time. Most systems store the same data on servers that use different power supplies. That way, clients can access their data even if one power supply fails.（分数：10.00）A.examinationB.observationC.inspectionD.acquaintanceA.storeB.updateC.processD.calculateA.inter
12、nalB.portableC.localD.externalA.ButB.WhileC.AndD.SoA.forecastB.reportC.frontsD.systemA.ontoB.toC.inD.uponA.Apart fromB.Other thanC.Instead ofD.Regardless ofA.thanB.exceptC.forD.overA.shouldn“tB.wouldn“tC.mustn“tD.couldn“tA.physicalB.substantialC.tangibleD.localA.storeB.shareC.accessD.retrieveA.compr
13、ehensiveB.collaborativeC.coordinatedD.combiningA.opportunityB.chanceC.convenienceD.favorA.focusB.purposeC.useD.operationA.availableB.capableC.applicableD.desirableA.inB.upC.forD.intoA.holdB.saveC.houseD.runA.connectingB.connectedC.connectD.being connectedA.probablyB.inconvenientlyC.invariablyD.occas
14、ionallyA.ensureB.promiseC.assureD.guarantee二、Part Reading Compr(总题数：0，分数：0.00)三、Passage One(总题数：1，分数：10.00)Recent years have brought minority-owned businesses in the United States unprecedented opportunitiesas well as new and significant risks. Civil rights activists have long argued that one of the
15、 principal reasons why Blacks, Hispanics, and other minority groups have difficulty establishing themselves in business is that they lack access to the sizable orders and subcontracts that are generated by large companies. Now Congress, in apparent agreement, has required by law that businesses awar
16、ded federal contracts of more than $500,000 do their best to find minority subcontractors and record their efforts to do so on forms filed with the government. Indeed, some federal and local agencies have gone so far as to set specific percentage goals for apportioning parts of public works contract
17、s to minority enterprises. Corporate response appears to have been substantial. According to figures collected in 1977, the total of corporate contracts with minority businesses rose from $77 million in 1972 to $1.1 billion in 1977. The projected total of corporate contracts with minority businesses
18、 for the early 1980“s is estimated to be over 53 billion per year with no letup anticipated in the next decade. Promising as it is for minority businesses, this increased patronage poses dangers for them, too. First, minority firms risk expanding too fast and overextending themselves financially, si
19、nce most are small concerns and, unlike large businesses, they often need to make substantial investments in new plants, staff, equipment, and the like in order to perform work subcontracted to them. If, thereafter, their subcontracts are for some reason reduced, such firms can face potentially crip
20、pling fixed expenses. The world of corporate purchasing can be frustrating for small entrepreneurs who get requests for elaborate formal estimates and bids. Both consume valuable time and resources, and a small company“s efforts must soon result in orders, or both the morale and the financial health
21、 of the business will suffer. A second risk is that White-owned companies may seek to cash in on the increasing apportionments through formation of joint ventures with minority-owned concerns. Of course, in many instances there are legitimate reasons for joint ventures; clearly, White and minority e
22、nterprises can team up to acquire business that neither could acquire alone. But civil rights groups and minority business owners have complained to Congress about minorities being set up as “fronts a person, group, or thing used to mask the identity or true character or activity of the actual contr
23、olling agent“ with White backing, rather than being accepted as full partners in legitimate joint ventures. Third, a minority enterprise that secures the business of one large corporate customer often runs the danger of becoming and remaining dependent. Even in the best of circumstances, fierce comp
24、etition from larger, more established companies makes it difficult for small concerns to broaden their customer bases: when such firms have nearly guaranteed orders from a single corporate benefactor, they may truly have to struggle against complacency arising from their current success.（分数：10.00）(1
25、).The primary purpose of the passage is to _.（分数：2.00）A.present a commonplace idea and its inaccuraciesB.describe a situation and its potential drawbacksC.propose a temporary solution to a problemD.analyze a frequent source of disagreement(2).According to the passage, civil rights activists maintain
26、 that one disadvantage under which minority-owned businesses have traditionally had to labor is that they have _.（分数：2.00）A.been especially vulnerable to government mismanagement of the economyB.been denied bank loans at rates comparable to those afforded larger competitorsC.not had sufficient oppor
27、tunity to secure business created by large corporationsD.not been able to advertise in those media that reach large numbers of potential customers(3).The passage suggests that the failure of a large business to have its bids for subcontracts result quickly in orders might causes it to _.（分数：2.00）A.e
28、xperience frustration but not serious financial harmB.face potentially crippling fixed expensesC.have to record its efforts on forms filed with the governmentD.increase its spending with minority subcontractors(4).The author implies that a minority-owned concern that does the greater part of its bus
29、iness with one large corporate customer should _.（分数：2.00）A.avoid competition with larger, more established concerns by not expandingB.concentrate on securing even more business from that corporationC.try to expand its customer bases to avoid becoming dependent on the corporationD.pass on some of th
30、e work to be done for the corporation to other minority-owned concerns(5).The author would most likely agree with which of the following statements about corporate response to working with minority subcontractors?（分数：2.00）A.Annoyed by the proliferation of “front“ organizations, corporations are like
31、ly to reduce their efforts to work with minority-owned subcontractors in the near futureB.Although corporations showed considerable interest in working with minority businesses in the 1970“s, their aversion to government paperwork made them reluctant to pursue many government contractsC.The signific
32、ant response of corporations in the 1970“s is likely to be sustained and conceivably be increased throughout the 1980“sD.Although corporations are eager to cooperate with minority-owned businesses, a shortage of capital in the 1970“s made substantial response impossible四、Passage Two(总题数：1，分数：10.00)N
33、o very satisfactory account of the mechanism that caused the formation of the ocean basins has yet been given. The traditional view supposes that the upper mantle of the earth behaves as a liquid when it is subjected to small forces for long periods and that differences in temperature under oceans a
34、nd continents are sufficient to produce convection in the mantle of the earth with rising convection currents under the mid-ocean ridges and sinking currents under the continents. Theoretically, this convection would carry the continental plates along as though they were on a conveyor belt and would
35、 provide the forces needed to produce the split that occurs along the ridge. This view may be correct: it has the advantage that the currents are driven by temperature differences that themselves depend on the position of the continents. Such a back-coupling, in which the position of the moving plat
36、e has an impact on the forces that move it, could produce complicated and varying motions. On the other hand, the theory is implausible because convection does not normally occur along lines, and it certainly does not occur along lines broken by frequent offsets or changes in direction, as the ridge
37、 is. Also it is difficult to see how the theory applies to the plate between the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the ridge in the Indian Ocean. This plate is growing on both sides, and since there is no intermediate trench, the two ridges must be moving apart. It would be odd if the rising convection current
38、s kept exact pace with them. An alternative theory is that the sinking part of the plate, which is denser than the hotter surrounding mantle, pulls the rest of the plate after it. Again it is difficult to see how this applies to the ridge in the South Atlantic, where neither the African nor the Amer
39、ican plate has a sinking part. Another possibility is that the sinking plate cools the neighboring mantle and produces convection currents that move the plates. This last theory is attractive because it gives some hope of explaining the enclosed seas, such as the Sea of Japan. These seas have a typi
40、cal oceanic floor, except that the floor is overlaid by several kilometers of sediment. Their floors have probably been sinking for long periods. It seems possible that a sinking current of cooled mantle material on the upper side of the plate might be the cause of such deep basins. The enclosed sea
41、s are an important feature of the earth“s surface, and seriously require explanation in because, addition to the enclosed seas that are developing at present behind island arcs, there are a number of older ones of possibly similar origin, such as the Gulf of Mexico, the Black Sea, and perhaps the No
42、rth Sea.（分数：10.00）(1).According to the traditional view of the origin of the ocean basins, which of the following is sufficient to move the continental plates?（分数：2.00）A.Increases in sedimentation on ocean floorsB.Spreading of ocean trenchesC.Movement of mid-ocean ridgesD.Differences in temperature
43、under oceans and continents(2).It can be inferred from the passage that, of the following, the deepest sediments would be found in the _.（分数：2.00）A.Indian OceanB.Black SeaC.Mid-AtlanticD.South Atlantic(3).According to the passage, which of the following are separated by a plate that is growing on bo
44、th sides?（分数：2.00）A.The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of JapanB.The South Atlantic Ridge and the North Sea RidgeC.The Gulf of Mexico and the South Atlantic RidgeD.The Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Indian Ocean Ridge(4).The author refers to a “conveyer belt“ in Sentence 3, Paragraph 1, in order to _.（分数：2.0
45、0）A.illustrate the effects of convection in the mantleB.show how temperature differences depend on the positions of the continentsC.demonstrate the linear nature of the Mid-Atlantic RidgeD.describe the complicated motions made possible by back-coupling(5).Which of the following titles would best des
46、cribe the content of the passage?（分数：2.00）A.A Description of the Oceans of the WorldB.Several Theories of Ocean Basin FormationC.The Traditional View of the OceansD.Convection and Ocean Currents五、Passage Three(总题数：1，分数：10.00)In the eighteenth century, Japan“s feudal overlords, from the shogun to the
47、 humblest samurai, found themselves under financial stress. In part, this stress can be attributed to the overlords“ failure to adjust to a rapidly expanding economy, but the stress was also due to factors beyond the overlords“ control. Concentration of the samurai in castle-towns had acted as a sti
48、mulus to trade. Commercial efficiency, in turn, had put temptations in the way of buyers. Since most samurai had been reduced to idleness by years of peace, encouraged to engage in scholarship and martial exercises or to perform administrative tasks that took little time, it is not surprising that t
49、heir tastes and habits grew expensive. Overlords“ income, despite the increase in rice production among their tenant farmers, failed to keep pace with their expenses. Although shortfalls in overlords“ income resulted almost as much from laxity among their tax collectors (the nearly inevitable outcome of hereditary office-holding) as from their higher standards of living, a misfortune like a fire or flood, bringing an increase in expenses or a drop in revenue, could put a domain in debt to the city rice-brokers who handled its finances. Once in debt, neither t
