1、考研英语-550 (1)及答案解析(总分：100.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Section Use of Eng(总题数：1，分数：10.00)American suffers from an overdose of work. (1) who they are or what they do, they spend (2) time at work than at any time since World War. In 1950, the US had fewer working hours than any other (3) country. Today, it (4) ever
2、y country but Japan, where industrial employees log 2,155 hours a year compared (5) 1,951 in the US and 1,603 (6) West employees. Between 1969 and 1989, employed American (7) an average of 138 hours to their yearly work schedules. The work-week (8) at about 40 hours, but people are working more week
3、s each year. (9) , paid time off holidays, vacations, sick leave (10) 15 percent in the 1990s.As Corporations have (11) stiffer competition and slower growth in productivity, they would (12) employees to work longer. Cost-cutting layoffs in the 1980s (13) the professional and managerial ranks, leavi
4、ng fewer people to get the job done. In lower-paid occupations, (14) wages have been reduced, workers have added hours (15) overtime or extra jobs to (16) their living standard. The Government estimates that more than seven million people hold a second job.For the first time, large (17) of people sa
5、y they want to cut (18) on working hours, even if it means earning less money. But most employers are (19) to let them do so. The government which has stepped back from its traditional (20) as a regulator of work time, should take steps to make shorter hours possible.（分数：10.00）A.As regards toB.Regar
6、dless ofC.With regard toD.In regard toA.much lessB.abundantC.a lot moreD.surplusA.advancedB.industrializedC.developedD.mechanizedA.exceedsB.outnumbersC.overtakesD.outstripsA.withB.toC.inD.onA.in the formerB.of the pastC.in the earlyD.in the earlierA.addedB.increasedC.broughtD.totaledA.arrivedB.stopp
7、edC.setD.remainedA.HoweverB.NeverthelessC.MoreoverD.AndA.lessened toB.shrank byC.deducedD.restrained inA.sufferedB.experiencedC.undertakenD.enduredA.squashB.squeezeC.urgeD.obligeA.minimizedB.reducedC.lessenedD.relievedA.becauseB.thoughC.asD.whereA.byB.forC.toD.inA.preserveB.conserveC.improveD.protec
8、tA.numbersB.amountsC.figuresD.quantitiesA.offB.outC.backD.downA.discouragedB.unwillingC.forbiddenD.inclinedA.positionB.functionC.taskD.role二、Section Reading Co(总题数：0，分数：0.00)三、Part A(总题数：0，分数：0.00)四、Text 1(总题数：1，分数：10.00)In 1957 a doctor in Singapore noticed that hospitals were treating an unusual n
9、umber of influenza-like cases. Influenza is sometimes called “flu” or a “bad cold”. He took samples from the throats of patients in his hospital and was able to find the virus of this influenza.There are three main types of the influenza virus. The most important of these are types A and B, each of
10、them having several sub-groups. With the instruments at the hospital the doctor recognized that the outbreak was due to a virus group A, but he did not know the sub-group. He reported the outbreak to the World Health Organization in Geneva. W. H.O. published the important news alongside reports of a
11、 similar outbreak in Hong Kong, where about 15%20% of the population had become ill.As soon as the London doctors received the package of throat samples, they began the standard tests. They found that by reproducing itself at very high speed, the virus had multiplied more than a million times within
12、 two days. Continuing their careful tests, the doctors checked the effect of drugs used against all the known sub-groups of virus type A. None of them gave any protection. This then, was something new: a new influenza virus against which the people of the world had no ready help whatsoever. Having i
13、solated the virus they were working with, the two doctors now dropped it into the noses of some specially selected animals, which contact influenza in the same way as human beings do. In a short time the usual signs of the disease appeared. These experiments revealed that the new virus spread easily
14、, but that it was not a killer. Scientists, like the general public, called it simply “Asian” flu.The first discovery of the virus, however, was made in China before the disease had appeared in other countries. Various reports showed that the influenza outbreak started in China, probably in February
15、 of 1957. By the middle of March it had spread all over China. The virus was found by Chinese doctors early in March. But China was not a member of the World Health Organization and therefore did not report outbreaks of disease to it. Not until two months later, when travelers carried the virus into
16、 Hong Kong, from where it spread to Singapore, did the news of the outbreak reach the rest of the world. By this time it was started on its way around the world.Thereafter, WHOs Weekly Reports described the steady spread of this virus outbreak, which within four months swept through every continent.
17、（分数：10.00）(1).The Singapore doctor found the influenza was caused by（分数：2.00）A.an influenza virus type B.B.a sub-group of virus type A.C.a virus only existing in Asia.D.a new type of influenza virus.(2).W. H. O, reported the influenza because（分数：2.00）A.a doctor found its virus and reported to it.B.m
18、any people in Hong Kong suffered from it.C.it spread widely in Singapore for the first time.D.the doctor belonged to that organization.(3).London doctors considered（分数：2.00）A.“Asian” flu as a bad cold.B.there were three main types of influenza virus.C.it was necessary to test the other virus groups
19、besides group A.D.the influenza called “Asian” flu a new one.(4).The “Asian” flu virus（分数：2.00）A.was very weak.B.was a killer.C.reproduced very quickly.D.spread very slowly.(5).What can be inferred from the passage?（分数：2.00）A.The influenza could not be cured by any known medicine.B.The people who go
20、t the disease were doomed to death.C.The “Asian” flu first broke out in Singapore.D.China did not take the influenza seriously.五、Text 2(总题数：1，分数：10.00)Teach for America (TFA) was founded by Wendy Kopp in 1990. It is a non-profit organisation that recruits top-notch graduates from elite institutions
21、and gets them to teach for two years in struggling state schools in poor areas.I had thought the programme was about getting more high-quality teachers but that, it appears, is a secondary benefit. “This is about enlisting the energy of our countrys future leaders in its long-term educational needs,
22、 and eliminating inequity,” Wendy explains. Its great if “corps members”, as TFA calls its active teachers, stay in the classroom and many do, and rise quickly through the ranks.But the “alums”, as she calls those who have finished their two-year teaching, who dont stay in schools often go on to lea
23、d in other fields, meaning that increasing numbers of influential people in all walks of life learn that it is possible to teach successfully in low-income communities, and just what it takes. “It means you realise that we can solve this problem.”As she continues to talk I realise that TFA is in the
24、 best possible sense a cult. It has its own language (“corps members”, “alums”), recruits are instilled (“We tell them that it can be done, that we know of hundreds, thousands, of teachers attaining tremendous success”), go through an ordeal (“Everyone hits the wall in week three in the classroom”),
25、 emerge transformed by privileged knowledge (“Once you know what we know that kids in poor urban areas can excel you can accomplish different things”) and can never leave (alumni form a growing, and influential, network). I have not seen the same zeal when talking to those on the equivalent programm
26、e in England, Teach First., in which the missionary-style language imported from America had to be toned down, because it just didnt suit the restrained English style. But could that favour be necessary for its success?Chester, an alum, takes me to visit three TFA corps members at a middle school in
27、 the Bronx. They are impressive young people, and their zeal is evident. Two intend to stay in teaching; both want to open charter schools. One, a Hispanic woman, is working out with a friend how to educate migrant Hispanic labourers in Texas; the other would like to open a “green” charter, but in t
28、he meantime he has accepted a job with the KIPP charter group in Newark, New Jersey.All three are tired. Their classrooms are not much like the rest of the school where they work, and their heroic efforts are only supported by Chester and each other, not by their co-workers. “The first year was unbe
29、lievably bad,” one tells me. “So many years with low expectations meant a lot of resistance from the kids. Eventually they saw the power and the growth they were capable of.”（分数：10.00）(1).The primary goal of TFA is（分数：2.00）A.to get more high-quality teachers.B.to help struggling state schools in poo
30、r areas.C.to attract the future leaders to education.D.to improve the low-income communities.(2).Which of the following is true about TFAs “corps members” and “alums”?（分数：2.00）A.The corps members stay in schools after finishing their two-year teaching.B.The alums dont stay in schools after finishing
31、 their two-year teaching.C.A corps member will be an alum after finishing the two-year teaching.D.A corps member becomes an alum if he or she has quitted halfway.(3).What does the author think of the Teach First programme in England?（分数：2.00）A.It lacks the same fervour that TFA has.B.It doesnt suit
32、the British English style.C.It is imported from the USA.D.It is not successful in the UK.(4).TFA teachers（分数：2.00）A.are all impressive young people.B.are tired and unhappy in their work.C.get much resistance from the kids.D.expect high of their students.(5).The author is most likely（分数：2.00）A.a grad
33、uate from elite institutions.B.an education correspondent.C.a TFA teacher.D.a Teach Firster.六、Text 3(总题数：1，分数：10.00)Our visit to the excavation of a Roman fort on a hill near Coventry was of more than archaeological interest. The years dig had been a fruitful one and had assembled evidence of a perm
34、anent military camp much larger than had at first been conjectured. We were greeted on the site by a group of excavators, some of them filling in a trench that had yielded an almost complete pot the day before, others enjoying the last-day luxury of a cigarette in the sun, but all happy to explain a
35、nd talk about their work. If we had not already known it, nothing would have suggested that this was a party of prisoners from the nearby prison. This is not the first time that prison labor has been used in work of this kind, but here the experiment, now two years old, has proved outstandingly sati
36、sfactory.From the archaeologists point of view, prisoners provide a steady force of disciplined labor throughout the entire season, men to whom it is a serious days work, and not the rather carefree holiday job that it tends to be for the amateur archaeologist. Newcomers are comparatively few, and c
37、an soon be initiated by those already trained in the work. Prisoners may also be more accustomed to heavy work like shoveling and carting soil than the majority of students. When Coventrys Keeper of Archaeology went to the prison to appeal for help, he was received cautiously by the men, but when th
38、e importance of the work was fully understood, far more volunteers were forthcoming than could actually be employed. When they got to work on the site, and their efforts produced pottery and building foundations in what until last year had been an ordinary field, their enthusiasm grew till they woul
39、d sometimes work through their lunch hour and tea break, and even carry on in the rain rather than sit it out in the hut. This was undoubtedly because the work was not only strenuous but absorbing, and called for considerable intelligence. The men worked always under professional supervision, but as
40、 the season went on they needed less guidance and knew when an expert should be summoned. Disciplinary problems were negligible: the men were carefully selected for their good conduct and working on a party like this was too valuable a privilege to be thrown away.The Keeper of Archaeology said that
41、this was by far the most satisfactory form of labor that he had ever had, and that it had produced results, in quantity and quality, that could not have been achieved by any other means.（分数：10.00）(1).The visit to the excavation site was（分数：2.00）A.of purely archaeological interest.B.fruitful because
42、a complete pot was discovered.C.interesting in more than one way.D.made by a group of prisoners.(2).It can be assumed that archaeologists（分数：2.00）A.did not like the prisoners carefree attitude to work.B.were willing to take only a few prisoners to work on the site.C.were often forced to discipline t
43、he prisoners.D.found that the prisoners worked far better than amateur archaeologist.(3).How did prisoners demonstrate their attitude to work?（分数：2.00）A.By spending most of their time sitting in a hut.B.By insisting on professional guidance.C.By taking no initiative.D.By working voluntarily.(4).When
44、 prisoners were selected for the work（分数：2.00）A.many of them refused to co-operate.B.their previous behavior was taken into account.C.they were told they must work in all weathers.D.they were warned that there would be no privileges.(5).According to the Keeper of Archaeology, which of the following
45、is true?（分数：2.00）A.He had expected more of the fort to be revealed.B.He had a full understanding of the importance of work.C.The prisoners were too cautious at the beginning.D.Only prison labor could produce such good results.七、Text 4(总题数：1，分数：10.00)Every culture attempts to create a “universe of di
46、scourse” for its members, a way in which people can interpret their experience and convey it to one another. Without a common system of codifying sensations, life would be absurd and all efforts to share meanings doomed to failure. This universe of discourse one of the most precious of all cultural
47、legacies is transmitted to each generation in part consciously and in part unconsciously. Parents and teachers give explicit instruction in it by praising or criticizing certain ways of dressing, of thinking, of gesturing, of responding to the acts of others. But the most significant aspects of any
48、cultural code may be conveyed implicitly, not by rule or lesson but through modeling behavior. A child is surrounded by others who, through the mere consistency of their actions as males and females, mothers and fathers, salesclerks and policemen, display what is appropriate behavior. Thus the gramm
49、ar of any culture is sent and received largely unconsciously, making ones own cultural assumptions and biases difficult to recognize. They seem so obviously right that they require no explanation.In The Open and Closed Mind, Milton Rokeach poses the problem of cultural understanding in its simplest form, but one that can readily demonstrate the complication of communication between cultures. It is called the “Denny Doodlebug Problem”. Readers are given all the rules that govern this culture: Denny is an animal that always faces North, and can move only b
