1、考研英语-试卷 255及答案解析(总分：142.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Use of English(总题数：2，分数：80.00)1.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.（分数：40.00）_In an ideal world, the nation“s elite schools would enroll the most qualified students
2、. But that“s not how it (1)_.Applicants whose parents are alums get special treatment, as (2)_ athletes and rich kids. Underrepresented minorities are also given (3)_. Thirty years of affirmative action have changed the character of (4)_ white universities; now about 13 percent of all undergraduates
3、 are black or Latino. (5)_ a recent study by the Century Foundation found that at the nation“s 146 most (6)_ schools, 74 percent of students came from upper middle-class and wealthy families, while only about 5 percent came from families with an annual income of (7)_ $35,000 or less. Many schools sa
4、y diversityracial, economic and geographicis (8)_ to maintaining intellectually (9)_ campuses. But Richard Kahlenberg of the Century Foundation says that even though colleges (10)_ they want poor kids, “they don“t try very hard to find them“. (11)_ rural students, many colleges don“t try at all. “Un
5、fortunately, we go where we can (12)_ a sizable number of potential applicants“, says Tulane admissions chief Richard Whiteside, who (13)_ aggressively and in personfrom metropolitan areas. Kids in rural areas get a glossy (14)_ in the mail. Even when poor rural students have the (15)_ for top colle
6、ges, their high schools often don“t know how to get them there. Admissions officers (16)_ guidance counselors to direct them to promising prospects. In (17)_ high schools, guidance counselors often have personal (18)_ with both kids and admissions officers. In rural areas, a teacher, a counselor or
7、(19)_ an alumnus “can help put a rural student on our radar screen“, says Wesleyan admissions dean Nancy Meislahn. But poor rural schools rarely have college (20)_ with those connections; without them, admission “can be a crapshoot“, says Carnegie Mellon“s Steidel.（分数：40.00）A.promisesB.triesC.worksD
8、.managesA.doB.areC.willD.beA.preferenceB.prejudiceC.prepositionD.preclusionA.strictlyB.mostlyC.generallyD.honestlyA.AndB.ButC.SoD.ThenA.excellentB.wealthyC.popularD.competitiveA.mainlyB.roughlyC.totallyD.exactlyA.accessB.basisC.keyD.solutionA.vitalB.smartC.interactiveD.functionalA.claimB.affirmC.ins
9、istD.declareA.Except forB.As forC.But forD.Just forA.requireB.ensureC.locateD.generateA.admitsB.acceptsC.recallsD.recruitsA.bronzeB.broomC.browserD.brochureA.gutsB.groundsC.gradesD.guaranteesA.call onB.rely onC.try onD.hold onA.affluentB.affiliatedC.alternativeD.advancedA.innovationsB.judgmentsC.rel
10、ationshipsD.suggestionsA.elseB.soC.evenD.ifA.acquaintancesB.executivesC.tutorsD.advisers二、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：10，分数：58.00)2.Section II Reading Comprehension_3.Part ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D._It might take only the t
11、ouch of peach fuzz to make an autistic child howl in pain. The odour of the fruit could be so overpowering that he gags. For reasons that are not well understood, people with autism do not integrate all of their senses in ways that help them understand properly what they are experiencing. By the age
12、 of three, the signs of autisminfrequent eye contact, over-sensitivity or under-sensitivity to the environment, difficulty mixing with others are in full force. There is no cure; intense behavioural therapies serve only to lessen the symptoms. The origins of autism are obscure. But a paper in Brain,
13、 a specialist journal, casts some light. A team headed by Marcel Just, of Carnegie Mellon University, and Nancy Minshew, of the University of Pittsburgh, has found evidence of how the brains of people with autism function differently from those without the disorder. Using a brain-scanning technique
14、called functional magnetic-resonance imaging(FMRI), Dr. Just, Dr. Minshew and their team compared the brain activity of young adults who had “high functioning“ autism (in which an autist“s IQ score is normal) with that of non-autistic participants. The experiment was designed to examine two regions
15、of the brain known to be associated with languageBroca“s area and Wernicke“s areawhen the participants were reading. Three differences emerged. First, Wernicke“s area, the part responsible for understanding individual words, was more active in autists than non-autists. Second, Broca“s areawhere the
16、components of language are integrated to produce meaningwas less active. Third, the activity of the two areas was less synchronised. This research has led Dr. Just to offer an explanation for autism, lie calls it “underconnectivity theory“. It depends on a recent body of work which suggests that the
17、 brain“s white matter (the wiring that connects the main Bodies of the nerve ceils, or grey matter, together) is less dense and less abundant in the brain of an autistic person than in that of a non-autist. Dr. Just suggests that abnormal white matter causes the grey matter to adapt to the resulting
18、 lack of communication. This hones some regions to levels of superior ability, while others fall by the wayside. The team chose to examine Broca“s and Wernieke“s areas because language-based experiments are easy to conduct. But if the underconnectivity theory applies to the rest of the brain, too, i
19、t would be less of a mystery why some people with autism are hypersensitive to their environments, and others are able to do certain tasks, such as arithmetic, so well. And if it is true that underconnectivity is indeed the main problem, then treatments might be developed to stimulate the growth of
20、the white-matter wiring.（分数：10.00）(1).Which of the following is true according to the first paragraph?（分数：2.00）A.The smell of a peach can make an autistic person feel painful.B.Autistic persons have difficulty understanding their environment.C.The signs of autism begin to appear after the age of thr
21、ee.D.Behavioural therapies can be used to cure people of autism.(2).The paper by Dr. Just and Dr. Minshew is meant to examine _.（分数：2.00）A.the functions of different regions of the brainB.the differences of autism from other disordersC.the brains for the origins of autismD.the roles of Broca“s area
22、and Wernicke“s area(3).The “underconneetivity theory“ attributes autism to _.（分数：2.00）A.disproportion of grey matterB.imbalance of brain functionsC.deficiency in white matterD.insufficiency of communication(4).The author“s attitude towards Dr. Just and Dr. Minshew“s work can be described as _.（分数：2.
23、00）A.enthusiastic supportB.absolute neutralityC.slight suspicionD.moderate approval(5).What will the succeeding paragraph, should there be one, most probably discuss?（分数：2.00）A.Efforts to examine other brain areas of autistic persons.B.Ways to stimulate the growth of white matter wiring.C.Other prob
24、lems autistic persons may suffer from.D.Mysteries why white matter is so important.Saudi Arabia, the oil industry“s swing producer, has become its flip-flopper. In February, it persuaded OPEC to cut its total production quotas by lm barrels per day (bpd), to 23.5m, as a precaution against an oil-pri
25、ce crash this spring. That fear has since been replaced by its opposite. The price of West Texas crude hit $40 last week, its highest since the eve of the first Iraq war, prompting concerns that higher oil prices could sap the vigour of America“s recovery and compound the frailty of Europe“s. On Mon
26、day May 10th, Ali al-Naimi, Saudi Arabia“s energy minister, called on OPEC to raise quotas, by at least 1.5m bpd, at its next meeting on June 3rd. Thus far, the high oil price has been largely a consequence of good things, such as a strengthening world economy, rather than a cause of bad things, suc
27、h as faster inflation or slower growth. China“s burgeoning economy guzzled about 6m bpd in the first quarter of this year, 15% more than a year ago, according to Goldman Sachs. Demand was also strong in the rest of Asia, excluding Japan, growing by 5.2% to 8.1m bpd. As the year progresses, the seaso
28、nal rhythms of America“s drivers will dictate prices, at least of the lighter, sweeter crudes. Americans take to the roads en masse in the summer, and speculators are driving up the oil price now in anticipation of peak demand in a few months“ time. Until recently, the rise in the dollar price of oi
29、l was offset outside America and China by the fall in the dollar itself. But the currency has regained some ground in recent weeks, and the oil price has continued to rise. Even so, talk of another oil price shock is premature. The price of oil, adjusted for inflation, is only half what it was in De
30、cember 1979, and the United States now uses half as much energy per dollar of output as it did in the early 1970s. But if oil cannot shock the world economy quite as it used to, it can still give it “a good kick“, warns Goldman Sachs. If average oil prices for the year come in 10% higher than it for
31、ecast, it reckons GDP growth in the Group of Seven (G7) rich nations will be reduced by 0.3%, or $70 billion. The Americans are certainly taking the issue seriously. John Snow, their treasury secretary, called OPEC“s February decision “regrettable“, and the rise in prices since then “not helpful“. W
32、ashington pays close heed to the man at the petrol pump, who has seen the average price of a gallon of unleaded petrol rise by 39 cents in the past year. And the Saudis, some mutter, pay close heed to Washington. Besides, the high oil price may have filled Saudi coffers, but it has also affronted Sa
33、udi pride. Mr. al-Naimi thinks the high price is due to fears that supply might be disrupted in the future. These fears, he says, are “unwarranted“. But the hulking machinery in the Arabian desert that keeps oil flowing round the world presents an inviting target to terrorists should they tire of bo
34、mbing embassies and nightclubs. On May 1st, gunmen killed six people in a Saudi office of ABB Lummus Global, an American oil contractor. Such incidents add to the risk premium factored into the oil price, a premium that the Saudis take as a vote of no confidence in their kingdom and its ability to g
35、uarantee the supply of oil in the face of terrorist threats.（分数：10.00）(1).What does the author mean by “.has become its flip-flopper“ (Para. 1)?（分数：2.00）A.Saudi Arabia reversed its earlier decision.B.Saudi Arabia objected to the rise of oil price.C.Saudi Arabia was concerned about the world economy.
36、D.Saudi Arabia wished to reduce the oil production.(2).It is implied in the second paragraph that _.（分数：2.00）A.high oil price sometimes results from inflation or slow growthB.China“s growth has contributed to the rise of oil priceC.Japan“s demand of oil declined in the past monthsD.economy has much
37、to do with the swing of oil price(3).By “a good kick“, Goldman Sachs suggests that _.（分数：2.00）A.U.S. currency is exerting a positive influence over oil priceB.another oil-price shock is inevitable given its continuing riseC.the rise of oil price could affect world economy negativelyD.Goldman Sachs r
38、emained optimistic about the situation(4).John Snow“s remarks are mentioned in the text to show _.（分数：2.00）A.his reluctance to get involvedB.Americans“ concern about the issueC.Washington“s hatred of the man at the pumpD.his attitude towards the Saudi decision(5).The main concern of the last paragra
39、ph is _.（分数：2.00）A.the hurt of Saudi prideB.the possible disruption of oil supplyC.the next target of terroristsD.the attack on an American oil contractorThe “MyDoom“ virus could presage a generation of computer attacks by organised gangs aiming to extract ransoms from online businesses, experts sai
40、d yesterday. The warning came as the website run by SCO, a company that sells Unix computer software, in effect disappeared from the web under a blizzard of automated attacks from PCs infected by the virus, which first appeared a week ago. The “MyDoom-A“ version of the virus is reckoned to be the wo
41、rst to have hit the internet, in terms of the speed of its spread, with millions of PCs worldwide believed to be infected. Such “zombie“ machines begin to send out hundreds of copies of the virus every hour to almost any e-mail address in their files. On Sunday they began sending automated queries t
42、o SCO“s website, an attack that will continue until 12 February. The attack is the web equivalent of ringing the company“s doorbell and running away a million times a second, leaving its computers unable to deal with standard requests to view its pages. “You have to wonder about the time limit“, sai
43、d Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at the antivirus company Sophos. “Someone could go to SCO after the 12th and say, “If you don“t want this to happen again, here are our demands“. Raimund Genes, European president of the security software firm Trend Micro, said: “Such a programme could t
44、ake out any major website on the internet. It“s not terrorism, but it is somebody who is obviously upset with SCO“ SCO has earned the enmity of computer users through a lawsuit it has filed against IBM. SCO claims ownership of computer code it says IBM put into the free operating system Linux, and i
45、s demanding licence fees and damages of $1bn. Mr. Cluley said: “It might be that whoever is behind this will say to SCO, “if you don“t want the next one to target you, drop the lawsuit“. SCO has offered $250,000 (140,000) for information leading to the arrest of the person or people who wrote and di
46、stributed MyDoom. Nell Barrett, of the security company Information Risk Management, said, “I would give a lot of credence to the idea of gangs using viruses to extort money. It“s hard for law enforcement to track them down, because they“re using machines owned by innocent people“. A second variant
47、of MyDoom will start attacking part of Microsoft“s website later today. The antivirus company MessageLabs said it had blocked more than 16 million copies of the virus in transit over the net so far. But millions more will have reached their targets.（分数：10.00）(1).The onset of a new generation of comp
48、uter attacks was marked by _.（分数：2.00）A.an organization of gangsB.the infection of PCsC.the sale of a softwareD.a website“s vanishing(2).What does the word “they“ (Para. 4) refer toy _.（分数：2.00）A.organized gangs.B.PCs infected.C.copies of the virus.D.their files.(3).It can Be inferred from the text that the purpose of the attack could be _.（分数：2.00）A.to render the doorbell of the company uselessB.to prevent those nonstandard requests to visitC.to make some demands of the companyD.to canc
