1、考研英语-试卷 279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）_Low levels of literacy and numeracy have a damaging impact on almost every aspect of a
2、dults, according to a survey published yesterday, which offers (1)_ of a developing underclass. Tests and (2)_ with hundreds of people born in a week in 1958 graphically illustrated file (3)_ of educational underachievement. The effects can be seen in unemployment, family (4)_, low incomes, depressi
3、on and social inactivity. Those who left school at 16 with poor basic skills had been employed for UP to four years less than good readers (5)_ they reached 37. Professor John Bynner, of City University, who carried the research, said that today“s (6)_ teenagers would even encounter greater problems
4、 because the supply of (7)_ jobs had shrunk. Almost one fifth of the 1,700 people interviewed for yesterday“s report had poor literacy and almost half (8)_ with innumeracy, a proportion (9)_ other surveys for the Basic Skills Agency. Some could not read a child“s book, and most found difficult (10)_
5、 written instruction. Poor readers were twice as likely to be a low wage and four times likely to live in a household where partners worked. Women in this (11)_ were five times as likely to be (12)_ depressed, (13)_ both tended to feel they had no control over their lives, and to trust others (14)_.
6、 Those who had low literacy and numeracy were seldom (15)_ in any community organization and less likely than others to (16)_ in a general election. There had been no (17)_ in the literary level of (18)_. Alan Wells, the agency“s director, said: “The results emphasize the dangers of developing an un
7、derclass people, who were out of work, (19)_ depressed and often labeled themselves as (20)_. There is a circle of marginalization, with the dice against these people and their families.“（分数：40.00）A.proofB.witnessC.testimonyD.evidenceA.investigationsB.interviewsC.conferencesD.communicationsA.defectB
8、.backwardnessC.handicapD.scarcityA.breakdownB.breakoutC.breakawayD.breakinA.the timeB.the instantC.the momentD.the pointA.illiterateB.sufferingC.poorD.unqualifiedA.skilledB.mentalC.manualD.mechanicalA.struggledB.facedC.encounteredD.confrontedA.in light ofB.in line withC.in case ofD.in time ofA.trans
9、latingB.complyingC.followingD.obeyingA.postB.conditionC.statusD.positionA.classifiedB.thoughtC.believedD.labeledA.andB.whileC.forD.butA.moreB.muchC.lessD.littleA.revolvedB.dissolvedC.resolvedD.involvedA.claimB.joinC.voteD.winA.improvementB.advancementC.developmentD.increaseA.employeesB.intervieweesC
10、.participantsD.researchersA.hardlyB.seriouslyC.increasinglyD.potentiallyA.failuresB.winnersC.successorsD.patients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.
11、_If you have ever longed for a meat substitute that smelt and tasted like the real thing, but did not involve killing an animal, then your order could be ready soon. Researchers believe it will soon be possible to grow cultured meat in quantities large enough to offer the meat industry an alternativ
12、e source of supply. Growing muscle cells (the main component of meat) in a nutrient broth is easy. The difficulty is persuading those cells to form something that resembles real meat. Paul Kosnik, the head of engineering at a firm called Tissue Genesis, is hoping to do it by stretching the cells wit
13、h mechanical anchors. This encourages them to form small bundles surrounded by connective tissue, an arrangement similar to real muscle. Robert Dennis, a biomedical engineer at the University of North Carolina, believes the secret of growing healthy muscle tissue in a laboratory is to understand how
14、 it interacts with its surroundings. In nature, tissues exist as elements in a larger system and they depend on other tissues for their survival. Without appropriate stimuli from their neighbours they degenerate. Dr Dennis and his team have been working on these neighbourly interactions for the past
15、 three years and report some success in engineering two of the most importantthose between muscles and tendons, and muscles and nerves. At the Touro College School of Health Sciences in New York, Morris Benjaminson and his team are working on removing living tissue from fish, and then growing it in
16、culture. This approach has the advantage that the tissue has a functioning system of blood vessels to deliver nutrients, so it should be possible to grow tissue cultures more than a millimetre thickthe current limit. Henk Haagsman, a meat scientist at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, is
17、 trying to make minced pork from cultured stem cells with the backing of Stegeman, a sausage company. It could be used in sausages, burgers and sauces. But why would anyone want to eat cultured meat, rather than something freshly slaughtered and just off the bone? One answer, to mix metaphors, is th
18、at it would allow vegetarians to have their meatloaf and eat it too. But the sausage-meat project suggests another reason: hygiene. As Ingrid Newkirk of PETA, an animal-rights group, puts it, “no one who considers what“s in a meat hot dog could genuinely express any reluctance at eating a clean clon
19、ed meat product.“ Cultured meat could be grown in sterile conditions, avoiding Salmonella, E. coli and other nasties. It could also be made healthier by adjusting its compositionintroducing heart-friendly omega-3 fatty acids, for example. You could even take a cell from an endangered animal and, wit
20、hout threatening its extinction, make meat from it.（分数：10.00）(1).From the first two paragraphs, we know that（分数：2.00）A.meat grown in lab, rather than in the form of animals, could soon be on the menu.B.cultured meat may taste as they are newly produced.C.it is hard to culture the main component of m
21、eat into the form of cells.D.by stretching the cells with mechanical anchors, we can get connective tissues.(2).Robert Dennis thinks that（分数：2.00）A.being elements in a larger system, tissues can hardly live with others“ dependence.B.the key to grow healthy muscle tissues is to learn the influence be
22、tween different tissues.C.the most important success of their study is to find out tissue engineering.D.tissues will decline in quality if they are affected by their neighbours.(3).The research method of Morris Benjaminson and his team（分数：2.00）A.is to culture living tissue in fish.B.is similar with
23、the work at the University of North Carolina.C.enables tissue cultures to grow beyond the thickness limited for now.D.makes it possible to use cultured meat in sausages, burgers and sauces.(4).What can be the reason of people eating cultured meat instead of the real thing?（分数：2.00）A.meat that is jus
24、t off the bone is not tasty enough for some people.B.vegetarians may consume meat product from the sausage-meat project.C.cloned meat product is more hygienic and healthier.D.cultured meat can be eaten to get rid of certain diseases.(5).According to the last sentence, we can infer that（分数：2.00）A.som
25、e endangered animals may survive for a long time.B.giant-panda steak is possible to be cooked in the future.C.we can change the composition of meat as we like.D.the new technology will not reduce the quantity of cells.If Bill Gates ever had reason to doubt that the brash young billionaires of Google
26、 were out to get him, the time for such uncertainty is now officially over. Last month“s dramatically revised version of its program Google Desktop is a glove slap across the face of Microsoft“s fabled chief software architect. Obviously Google“s update to a previous tool that searched people“s hard
27、 drives in addition to the usual lightning-quick survey of the entire World Wide Web, Google Desktop 2 turns out to be a not-so-stealthy attempt to hijack the desktop from Microsoft. And in a move that must be particularly galling to Gates, the program does it in a way that directly steals thunder f
28、rom Microsoft“s upcoming Windows update, Vista. Specifically, I“m talking about Google“s feature called Sidebar, a stack of small windows that sit on the side of the screen and dynamically draw on Web and personal information to track things like weather, stock prices, your e-mail, your photos, rece
29、ntly opened documents and Web destinations. Several years ago, demonstrating an early version of Vista, Microsoft proudly showed a column of on-screen “tiles“ that did the same kinds of things. Microsoft“s name for this upcoming feature (which it still plans to include in Vista when it ships in late
30、 2006): Sidebar. That“s not all. Google product manager Nakhil Bhatla explains that another purpose of Desktop is to use the search box to quickly locate programs and files that you want to openbypassing the Windows way of clicking on an icon or using the Start menu. Clearly, Google is squatting on
31、Microsoft“s turf, asking users to live in its environment as opposed to Bill“s. Microsoft still believes that the central point of personal computing is productivity. That“s why the desktop search in Vista will limit itself to probing the user“s hard disk. Microsoft“s explanation for this approach i
32、s that mixing Web-search results with hits from your own information is just too confusing. Things go more efficiently, the theory goes, when your personal data pond is segregated from the ocean of information data located elsewhere in the world. (Microsoft offers Web search as a separate program.)
33、In contrast, Google Desktop searches bring results from everywhereyour hard disk, your email and billions of Web sites. That“s because the Google mission is organizing and managing all the world“s information. “You shouldn“t have to think about where the information comes from,“ says Google VP Susan
34、 Wojcicki. Though Google-sites acknowledge difficulties in merging the personal with the public, their core belief is that the essence of 21st-century computing springs from the connectivity that allows all human knowledge, from books to instant messages, to be potentially shared. As Google tries to
35、 annex new information flows, it increasingly runs smack against issues of privacy, copyright and censorship. That“s one part of Google“s challenge. The other will be fending off Bill Gates, undoubtedly determined to prove that his vision of computing still dominates.（分数：10.00）(1).From the first sen
36、tence we can infer that（分数：2.00）A.the managers of Google are impolite.B.there is no longer uncertainty about Microsoft“s precedence.C.it is true that now Google is surpassing Microsoft.D.Bill Gates begins to think Google as his opponent.(2).According to the first paragraph, what is most annoying to
37、Gates?（分数：2.00）A.Google introduced the new program of Google Desktop.B.Google Desktop 2 competes directly with Windows“ Vista.C.Google“s update can also search the hard drives now.D.Google Desktop 2 is not stealthy enough in rivaling with Microsoft.(3).Which of the following is true about Sidebar?（分
38、数：2.00）A.It is a pile of small icons in the middle of the screen in Google.B.Everything can be searched with the Microsoft“s sidebar now.C.Microsoft has Sidebar, so does Google.D.Microsoft“s sidebar is made up of a pile of “tiles“.(4).By saying “squatting on Microsoft“s turf“, the author means that（
39、分数：2.00）A.Google is taking up the market share of Microsoft.B.Microsoft is not as efficient as Google.C.for Microsoft, everything develops more quickly.D.the mixture of Google“s information brings confusion.(5).Which one is true about Google Desktop search?（分数：2.00）A.It is a separate program.B.The p
40、rogram is easy to merge the personal with the public.C.It only probes the user“s hard disk.D.It tries to manage information from all over the world.The mythology of a culture can provide some vital insights into the beliefs and values of that culture. By using fantastic and sometimes incredible stor
41、ies to create an oral tradition by which to explain the wonders of the natural world and teach lessons to younger generations, a society exposes those ideas and concepts held most important. Just as important as the final lesson to be gathered from the stories, however, are the characters and the ro
42、les they play in conveying that message. Perhaps the epitome of mythology and its use as a tool to pass on cultural values can be found in Aesop“s Fables, told and retold during the era of the Greek Empire. Aesop, a slave who won the favor of the court through his imaginative and descriptive tales,
43、almost exclusively used animals to fill the roles in his short stories. Humans, when at all present, almost always played the part of bumbling fools struggling to learn the lesson being presented. This choice of characterization allows us to see that the Greeks placed wisdom on a level slightly beyo
44、nd humans, implying that deep wisdom and understanding is a universal quality sought by, rather than stealing from, human beings. Aesop“s fables illustrated the central themes of humility and self-reliance, reflecting the importance of those traits in early Greek society. The folly of humans was use
45、d to contrast against the ultimate goal of attaining a higher level of understanding and awareness of truths about nature and humanity. For example, one notable fable features a fox repeatedly trying to reach a bunch of grapes on a very high vine. After failing at several attempts, the fox gives up,
46、 making up its mind that the grapes were probably sour anyway. The fable“s lesson, that we often play down that which we can“t achieve so as to make ourselves feel better, teaches the reader or listener in an entertaining way about one of the weaknesses of the human psyche. The mythology of other cu
47、ltures and societies reveal the underlying traits of their respective cultures just as Aesop“s fables did. The stories of Roman gods, Aztec ghosts and European elves all served to train ancient generations those lessons considered most important to their community, and today they offer a powerful lo
48、oking glass by which to evaluate and consider the contextual environment in which those culture existed.（分数：10.00）(1).The author appears to view fables as（分数：2.00）A.the most interesting and valuable form of mythology.B.an entertaining form with serious subjects.C.a tool of past civilizations, but not often used in the modern age.D.an essential method by which ancient values were transmitted between generations.(2).The way that fables were used in the past is most similar to today“s（分数：2.00）A.fairy tales that entertain children at home.B.stori
