1、考研英语-555 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)On April 20, 2000, in Accra, Ghana, the leaders of six West African countries declared their intention to proceed to monetary union among the non-CFA franc countries of the region by January 2003, as first step toward a wider mo
2、netary union including all the ECOWAS countries in 2004. The six countries 1 themselves to reducing central bank financing of budget deficits 2 10 percent of the previous years government 3 ; reducing budget deficits to 4 percent of the second phase by 2003; creating a Convergence Council to help 4
3、macroeconomic policies; and 5 up a common central bank. Their declaration 6 that, “Member States 7 the need 8 strong political commitment and 9 to 10 all such national policies 11 would facilitate the regional monetary integration process.“ The goal of a monetary union in ECOWAS has long been an obj
4、ective of the organization, going back to its formation in 1975, and is intended to 12 broader integration process that would include enhanced regional trade and 13 institutions. In the colonial period, currency boards linked sets of countries in the region. 14 independence, 15 , these currency boar
5、ds were 16 , with the 17 of the CFA franc zone, which included the francophone countries of the region. Although there have been attempts to advance the agenda of ECOWAS monetary cooperation, political problems and other economic priorities in several of the region“s countries have to 18 inhibited p
6、rogress. Although some problems remain, the recent initiative has been bolstered by the election in 1999 of a democratic government and a leader who is committed to regional 19 in Nigeria, the largest economy of the region, raising hopes that the long-delayed project can be 20 .（分数：10.00）A.committed
7、B.devotedC.adjustedD.attributedA.byB.toC.withD.untilA.financeB.profitC.incomeD.revenueA.coordinateB.draftC.ordinateD.compromiseA.buildingB.settingC.foundingD.erectingA.saysB.writesC.readsD.statesA.acceptB.understandC.recognizeD.realizeA.forB.ofC.withD.withoutA.commenceB.undertakeC.initiateD.tryA.pur
8、sueB.seekC.questD.exploreA.whichB.thatC.asD.whatA.accompanyB.enforceC.executeD.compelA.separateB.commonC.severalD.publicA.TowardsB.FromC.ByD.OnA.thereforeB.moreoverC.howeverD.thusA.dispelledB.dischargedC.dismissedD.dissolvedA.considerationB.intentionC.exceptionD.regardA.dateB.deterC.hinderD.delayA.d
9、evelopmentB.prosperityC.integrationD.cooperationA.refreshedB.replaceC.restoreD.revived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)Sometimes it“s just hard to choose. You“re in a restaurant and the waiter has his pen at the ready. As you hesitate, he gradually be
10、gins to take a close interest in the ceiling, his fingernails, then in your dining partner. Each dish on the menu becomes a blur as you roll your eyes up and down in a growing panic. Finally, you desperately opt for something that turns out to he what you hate. It seems that we need devices to prote
11、ct us from our hopelessness at deciding between 57 barely differentiated varieties of stuffbe they TV channels, gourmet coffee, downloadable ring tones, or perhaps, ultimately even interchangeable lovers. This thought is opposed to our government“s philosophy, which suggests that greater choice over
12、 railways, electricity suppliers and education will make us happy. In my experience, they do anything but. Perhaps the happiest people are those who do not have much choice and aren“t confronted by the misery of endless choice. True, that misery may not be obvious to people who don“t have a variety
13、of luxuries. If you live in Madagascar, say, where average life expectancy is below 40 and they don“t have digital TV or Starbucks, you might not be impressed by the anxiety and perpetual stress our decision-making paralysis causes. Choice wasn“t supposed to -make people miserable. It was supposed t
14、o be the hallmark of self-determination that we so cherish in modern society. But it obviously isn“t: ever more choice increases the feeling of missed opportunities, and this leads to self-blame when choices fail to meet expectations. What is to be done? A new book by an American social scientist, B
15、arry Schwartz, called The Paradox of Choice, suggests that reducing choices can limit anxiety. Schwartz offers a self-help guide to good decision-making that helps us to limit our choices to a manageable number, and ultimately derive greater satisfaction from the choices we make. But once you realiz
16、e that your Schwartzian filters are depriving you of something you might have found enjoyable, you will experience the same anxiety as before, worrying that you made the wrong decision in drawing up your choice-limiting filters. Arguably, we will always be doomed to buyers“ remorse and the misery it
17、 entails. The problem of choice is perhaps more difficult than Schwartz allows.（分数：10.00）(1).The waiter mentioned in the first paragraph would agree that given a variety of choice _.（分数：2.00）A.it is common for his customer to hesitate in ordering a mealB.it is impolite for his customer to order with
18、 hesitationC.it is difficult for his customer to expect quality foodD.it is possible to get to know his customer“s partner(2).It is implied that it is the government“s intention to _.（分数：2.00）A.improve the quality of TV programsB.try to offer greater choice over public service systemsC.make people r
19、ealize that some lovers are interchangeableD.encourage the downloading of a variety of ring tones(3).We can infer that the author“s attitude towards choice is that _.（分数：2.00）A.the more choice we have, the more freedom we can enjoyB.endless choice has only made us more miserableC.it is easy for peop
20、le to make a wrong decision with few choicesD.before we make decisions, we want as many choices as possible(4).From Barry Schwartz“s book, The Paradox of Choice , we can get recommendation tips on _.（分数：2.00）A.how to handle the situation of capitalist exploitationB.how to deal with your expense budg
21、etC.how to avoid the feeling of missed opportunitiesD.how to save money by making a right choice(5).We may conclude that it is NOT one of the author“s purposes to _.（分数：2.00）A.stress the problem of choiceB.discuss decision-making paralysisC.make an analysis of buyers“ remorseD.promote the new book T
22、he Paradox of Choice五、Text 2(总题数：1，分数：10.00)Many things make people think artists are weirdthe odd hours, the nonconformity, the clove cigarettes. However, the weirdest may be this: artists“ only jobs are to explore emotions, and yet they choose to focus on the ones that feel lousy. This wasn“t alwa
23、ys so. The earliest forms of art, like painting and music, are those best suited for expressing joy. But somewhere in the 19th century, more artists began seeing happiness as insipid, phony or, worst of all, boring. In the 20th century, classical music became more atonal, visual art more unsettling.
24、 Sure, there have been exceptions, but it would not be a stretch to say that for the past century or so, serious art has been at war with happiness. In 1824, Beethoven completed his “Ode to Joy“. In 1962, novelist Anthony Burgess used it in A Clockwork Orange as the favorite music of his ultra-viole
25、nt antihero. You could argue that art became more skeptical of happiness because modem times have seen such misery. But the reason may actually be just the opposite: there is too much happiness in the world today. In the West, before mass communication and literacy, the most powerful mass medium was
26、 the church, which reminded worshippers that their souls were in peril and that they would someday be meat for worms. Today the messages that the average Westerner is bombarded with are not religious but commercial, and relentlessly happy. Since these messages have an agendato pry our wallets from o
27、ur pocketsthey make the very idea of happiness seem bogus. “Celebrate!“ commanded the ads for the arthritis drug Celebrex, before we found out it could increase the risk of heart attack. What we forgetwhat our economy depends on us forgettingis that happiness is more than pleasure without pain. The
28、things that bring the greatest joy carry the greatest potential for loss and disappointment. Today, surrounded by promises of easy happiness, we need someone to tell us that it is OK not to be happy, that sadness makes happiness deeper. As the wine connoisseur movie Sideways tells us, it is the kiss
29、 of decay and mortality that makes grape juice into Pinot Noir. We need art to tell us, as religion once did, that you will die, that everything ends, and that happiness comes not in denying this but in living with it. It“s a message even more bitter than a clove cigarette, yet, somehow, is a breath
30、 of fresh air.（分数：10.00）(1).What is the strangest about artists?（分数：2.00）A.They wear special clothes.B.They rarely work in the daytime.C.They mainly depict distressing things.D.They are liable to take illegal drugs.(2).The example that “Ode to Joy“ was used in Burgess“s novel is meant to illustrate
31、that _.（分数：2.00）A.musicians and novelists share similar artistic tasteB.violent people have a strong desire to be happyC.serious art is often contradictory with happinessD.music is enjoyed by good and bad people alike(3).The word “Celebrex“ in the advertisement _.（分数：2.00）A.misleads people into buyi
32、ng dangerous drugsB.reminds people of a cheerful feelingC.boasts of the effectiveness of a drugD.comes from a religious term(4).How could the economy depend on our forgetting things?（分数：2.00）A.The economy would not be boosted if everybody was satisfied.B.There are many new products designed for the
33、forgetful.C.We pay heavily for forgetting things easily.D.People will spend more money if we believe in easy happiness.(5).What does the author imply with the movie Sideways ?（分数：2.00）A.Happiness can be found through pains and efforts.B.Happiness comes when everything dies.C.Happiness makes sadness
34、deeper.D.Happiness is not a good thing.六、Text 3(总题数：1，分数：10.00)Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln were born in the same year, on the same day: Feb.12, 1809. How“s this for a coincidence? Instinctively, we want to say that they belong together. It“s not just because they were both great men, and not
35、because they happen to be exactly at the same age. Rather, it“s because the scientist and the politician each touched off a revolution that changed the world. Lincoln and Darwin were both revolutionaries, in the sense that both men upended realities that prevailed when they were born. They seemand s
36、oundmodern to us, because the world they left behind them is more or less the one we still live in. So, considering the joint magnitude of their contributionsand the coincidence of their conjoined birthdaysit is hard not to wonder: who was the greater man? It“s an apples and orangesor Superman vs. S
37、antacomparison. But if you limit the question to influence, it bears pondering, all the more if you turn the question around and ask, what might have happened if one of these men had not been born? Very quickly the balance tips in Lincoln“s favor. Great as Darwin“s book on evolution is, it does no h
38、arm to remember that be hurried to publish “The Origin of Species“ because he thought he was about to be scooped(抢先)by his fellow naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, who had independently come up with much the same idea of evolution through natural selection. In other words, there was a certain inevit
39、ability to Darwin“s theory. Ideas about evolution surfaced throughout the first part of the 19th century, and while none of them was as conclusive as Darwin“s, it was not as though he was the only man who had the idea. Lincoln, in contrast, is Unique. Take him out of the picture, and there is no tel
40、ling what might have happened to the country. True, his election to the presidency did provoke secession and, in turn, the war itself, but that war seems inevitablenot a question of if but when. If Darwin were not so irreplaceable as Lincoln, that should not deny his accomplishment. No one could hav
41、e formulated his theory any more elegantlyor anguished more over its implications. Like Lincoln, Darwin was brave. He risked his health and his reputation to advance the idea that we are not over nature but a part of it. Lincoln prosecuted a warand became its ultimate casualtyto ensure that no man s
42、hould have dominion over another. Their identical birthdays afford us a superb opportunity to observe these men in the shared context of their timehow each was shaped by his circumstances, how each reacted to the beliefs that steered the world into which he was born and ultimately how each reshaped
43、his comer of that world and left it irrevocably changed.（分数：10.00）(1).What is the major reason for the author to put Lincoln and Darwin into the same sort?（分数：2.00）A.They both changed the world irrevocably.B.They were born at the same age.C.Their birthdays are coincidently the same.D.They were both
44、great men at their age.(2).Why does the author think Lincoln is greater than Darwin?（分数：2.00）A.Because Lincoln was more high-minded.B.Because Lincoln was more courageous.C.Because Lincoln“s influence is greater.D.Because Lincoln died for the nation.(3).What does the author think of Darwin“s evolutio
45、n theory?（分数：2.00）A.He thinks it was a unique production by Darwin.B.He thinks it should have been published by Wallace.C.He thinks it was as convincing as Wallace“s theory.D.He thinks it was published in pursuit of fame.(4).What does the author think of the role Lincoln played in America history?（分
46、数：2.00）A.Lincoln is famous for his belief that human is a part of nature.B.Without Lincoln the American history might have been rewritten.C.Without Lincoln the American Civil War wouldn“t have broken out.D.Lincoln solved the problem of racial equality in America completely.(5).From the last paragrap
47、h, we can learn that.（分数：2.00）A.Lincoln seemed to have made greater effort for his achievementB.the author makes an objective comment on Darwin“s accomplishmentC.the author holds a strong prejudice against Darwin“s accomplishmentD.Darwin“s accomplishment cannot be compared with that of Lincoln“s七、Te
48、xt 4(总题数：1，分数：10.00)Work looks a better cure for poverty than welfare. Especially as fewer and fewer countries will be able to afford to pay potential workers to stay at home a Victorian idea is back in Favour: many poor people are better off when they are pulled back into the labour market. The ide
49、a revived first in the United States. There, in its harshest form, the unemployed work in exchange for welfare. But countries with governments to the left of America“s, including Labour Australia and Socialist France, are now also exploring ways to link income support and employment policy. Coming from different directions, the right and the left are gradually finding new common ground. For the right, it seems deplorable to encourage the poor to rely on the state for cash, because they get hooked on government help and accustomed to being
