1、考研英语（阅读）-试卷 144 及答案解析(总分：70.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：7，分数：70.00)1.Section II Reading Comprehension（分数：10.00）_2.Part ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D.（分数：10.00）_Shortly before he died of lymphoma, the great write
2、r and physician Lewis Thomas, whose books turned science into a way of appreciating the grandeur of the world, told me he thought the true measure of a life was that it be useful. He wondered in those last days if his own life had been useful, and many thousands of readers assured him that it had. “
3、Grow old along with me! The best isyet to be,“ cried Robert Browning“s Rabbi Ben Ezra. Not always. Poetry replies to Rabbi Ben with A.E. Housman“s “To an Athlete Dying Young“ and comes up with no more startling a conclusion than that a life is what one makes of it. Celebrity is hardly a precondition
4、. Kennedy“s life would have been just as valuable had he been, to use another poet“s phrase, a “mute, inglorious Milton“.A beloved colleague at TIME died recently who was unknown to most of the world, except the friends she cherished. The measure of a life is often taken in the smallest units. On te
5、levision, a parking attendant in the garage that Kennedy used mentioned that Kennedy came over personally to wish the man a merry Christmas every year.A middle aged African American woman with whom he worked in one of the programs he supported was in tears at the recollection of continuous small act
6、s of kindness. The sudden garden that has developed on the front steps of Kennedy“s loft building began simply with neighbors paying respect to a neighbor. From such fragments of evidence a whole life is constructed, or reconstructed. When a man dies, a civilization dies with him. Everything dies bu
7、t the reverberation of his works in the lives of others; and so, while an individual civilization dies, the greater one profits. We call such deaths tragedies because the force of the life has been of great magnitude; yet tragedy from the point of view of the audience is high art, and one is filled
8、with as much admiration as grief. Keats chose as his epitaph “Here lies one whose name was writ in water.“ He believed that his life would be viewed as without consequence, and that he would debut one more transitory figure among the yearning and striving masses. Kennedy, too, I think, would have ha
9、d his name writ in water, thus the appropriateness of his sea burial, because the best public servants disappear into the world, whose pain they feel. Every name is writ in water, which flows through us all.（分数：10.00）(1).We can infer from Paragraph 1 that Lewis Thomas believes that _.（分数：2.00）A.your
10、 life is important if it is meaningful for othersB.you can build meaning into your life if it is longC.work while alive is the most important thingD.usefulness of one“s life is hard to measure(2).Which of the following statements is TRUE of Robert Browning?（分数：2.00）A.He believes that longer life is
11、no good thing.B.He believes that true life lies in how one makes of it.C.He is identical with Lewis Thomas, regarding the life issue.D.He is opposite to AE.Housman, regarding the death issue.(3).What message does the author mainly want to convey in Paragraph 2?（分数：2.00）A.The importance of one“s life
12、 is not related with his reputation or fame.B.Poets and politicians make the same contribution to society.C.Statesmen are always ready to do small things for people around them.D.The beloved colleague at TIME is as respectable as Kennedy.(4).By saying “The measure of a life is often taken in the sma
13、llest units“ (Para. 2), the author means that _.（分数：2.00）A.Kennedy was most respected by the ordinary peopleB.Kennedy“s life can be reflected by the small deeds he has doneC.Kennedy has done many small deeds for the people around himD.Kennedy devoted his life to serving the people from the lower cla
14、ss(5).Which of the following can be inferred from the last paragraph about the Keats?（分数：2.00）A.He finally drowned in the seawater.B.His dream of his great popularity came true finally.C.He didn“t predict the importance of his life.D.He held that life is transitory, so don“t waste it.Time was, old p
15、eople knew their place. Power was passed to sons and daughters, crowns placed on younger heads. Not any more. The elderly are no longer a sidelined sliver of society, but its mainstream. During the next two generations, the number of the world“s people older than 60 will quadruple, rising from 606 m
16、illion now to 2 billion in 2050. For the first time in human history,the elderly will outnumber children. More and more, it“s not the children who are our future, it“s the seniors. The graying of the globe is quite simply the “most significant population shift in history,“ says Ann Pawliczko of the
17、United Nations Population Fund. And growing old doesn“t mean what it used to. Better medical care has increased the average global life expectancy by two decadesto 66in as many generations. “One hundred is the new 60,“ says Marty Davis, of the American Association of Retired People. In the West, tec
18、hnology and wealth are empowering the aged. They are an increasingly vocal political lobby and muscular consumers. The portfolio of Senioragency, Europe“s only ad agency aimed at the 50-plus market, used to consist of hearing aids and insurance. Now mainstream companies like Coca-Cola and Siemens ar
19、e approaching the firm. “We“re used to thinking of a 60-year-old who looks like“ Whistler“s Mother, “but we should be thinking about someone who looks like Tina Turner,“ says Gloria Gutman, president of the International Association of Gerontology. The rapidly shifting demographics are forcing a rad
20、ical rethinking of many facets of our lives. Two billion elderly will need new systems of care and support. The growing number of old people who want to live independently will need housing, streets and cityscapes that will accommodate their slower pace. Smart technology will have to plug nursing sh
21、ortages; architects and social planners will have to start catering for populations with dementia and failing eyesight or hearing. In contrast to the youth-driven culture of the last half century, the elderly will set the agenda for how the late-21st century lives. Already societies have begun facin
22、g the pension crisis, the scariest specter haunting Western treasuries. For one thing, 80 percent of the world already can“t afford to retire. Even in Western Europe and the United States, say experts, the very concept of retirement may soon be viewed as a historical aberrational social curiosity fr
23、om the era between World War II and the war on terror. And paying for the elderly is just a fraction of the massive upheaval underway. What“s been dubbed “the silent revolution“ is changing everything from politics to tax structures to the width of the world“s doorways (for wheelchairs).（分数：10.00）(1
24、).In the opening paragraph, the author introduces his topic by_.（分数：2.00）A.giving an exampleB.showing a trendC.justifying an assumptionD.explaining a phenomenon(2).Mainstream companies like Coca-Cola and Siemens are approaching the Europe-based Senioragencybecause _.（分数：2.00）A.Europe has the highest
25、 proportion of aged populationB.Coca-Cola and Siemens are still unfamiliar with the majority of the elderlyC.the aged are considered to be important potential consumersD.the two companies are developing elderly-targeted products(3).We may safely assume that_.（分数：2.00）A.existing pension system needs
26、reformB.problems brought by population aging will be solved soonC.people have to slow their pace downD.people are living longer and better(4).The phrase “the silent revolution“ (Para. 4) implies that population aging will _.（分数：2.00）A.be a violent processB.take the world by surpriseC.make the world
27、differentD.happen unnoticed(5).We can conclude from this article that _.（分数：2.00）A.growing old is inevitableB.population aging is changing the societyC.the elderly will show rapid physical and mental declineD.global aging is a disasterWhen one of his employees phoned in sick last year, Scott McDonal
28、d, CEO of Monument Security in Sacramento, California., decided to investigate. He had already informed his staff of 400 security guards and patrol drivers that he was installing Xora, a software program that tracks workers“ whereabouts through GPS technology on their company cell phones.A Web-based
29、 “geo-fence“ aroundwork territories would alert the boss if workers strayed or even drove too fast. It also enabled him to route workers more efficiently. So when McDonald logged on, the program told him exactly where his worker wasand it wasn“t in bed with the sniffles. “How come you“re eastbound o
30、n 80 heading to Reno right now if you“re sick?“ asked the boss. There was a long silencethe sound of a job endingfollowed by, “You got me.“ Learn that truth, and learn it well: what you do at work is the boss“s business. Xora is just one of the new technologies from a host of companies that have spr
31、ung up in the past two years peddling products and servicesoftware, GPS, video and phone surveillance, even investigatorsthat let managers get to know you really well. “Virtually nothing you do at work on a computer can“t be monitored,“ says Jeremy Gruber, legal director of the National Workrights I
32、nstitute, which advocates workplace privacy. Nine out of 10 employers observe your electronic behavior, according to the Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College.A study by the American Management Association and the ePolicy Institute found 76% of employers watch you surf the Web and 36% track
33、content, keystrokes and time spent at the keyboard. You can“t really blame companies for watching our Web habits, since 45% of us admit that surfing is our favorite time waster, according to a joint survey by S and AOL.A Northeast technology company found that several employees who frequently compla
34、ined of overwork spent all day on MyS-. Businesses argue that their snooping is justified. Not only are they trying to guard trade secrets and intellectual property, but they also must ensure that workers comply with government regulations, such as keeping medical records and credit-card numbers pri
35、vate. And companies are liable for allowing a hostile work environmentsay, one filled with porn-filled computer screensthat may lead to lawsuits. “People write very loosely with their e-mails, but they can unintentionally reach thousands, like posters throughout a work site,“ says Charles Spearman o
36、f diversity-management consultants Tucker Spearman and so, while an individual civilization dies, the greater one profits. We call such deaths tragedies because the force of the life has been of great magnitude; yet tragedy from the point of view of the audience is high art, and one is filled with a
37、s much admiration as grief. Keats chose as his epitaph “Here lies one whose name was writ in water.“ He believed that his life would be viewed as without consequence, and that he would debut one more transitory figure among the yearning and striving masses. Kennedy, too, I think, would have had his
38、name writ in water, thus the appropriateness of his sea burial, because the best public servants disappear into the world, whose pain they feel. Every name is writ in water, which flows through us all.（分数：10.00）(1).We can infer from Paragraph 1 that Lewis Thomas believes that _.（分数：2.00）A.your life
39、is important if it is meaningful for others B.you can build meaning into your life if it is longC.work while alive is the most important thingD.usefulness of one“s life is hard to measure解析：解析：推理判断题。根据题干中的人名 Lewis Thomas 可定位至文章第一段开头两句。第一段第一句末尾表明了 Lewis Thomas 对生命的看法，其中 useful 一词是关键，A 项中的 meaningful
40、表达了此义，因此正确。(2).Which of the following statements is TRUE of Robert Browning?（分数：2.00）A.He believes that longer life is no good thing.B.He believes that true life lies in how one makes of it.C.He is identical with Lewis Thomas, regarding the life issue.D.He is opposite to AE.Housman, regarding the de
41、ath issue. 解析：解析：事实细节题。根据题干中的人名 Robert Browning 可定位至第一段最后三句。第一段倒数第二句的 Not always 连接了上下文两种不同的意见，即表明倒数第三句中的 Robert Browning 和最后一句中的 A.E.Housman 看法相反，因此 D 项为本题答案。(3).What message does the author mainly want to convey in Paragraph 2?（分数：2.00）A.The importance of one“s life is not related with his reputat
42、ion or fame. B.Poets and politicians make the same contribution to society.C.Statesmen are always ready to do small things for people around them.D.The beloved colleague at TIME is as respectable as Kennedy.解析：解析：主旨大意题。本题主要考查对第二段主旨的理解。该段第一句就是该段的主题句，其他句子提到的如 Kennedy 和时代周刊的同事都是为了支持该段第一句的看法，A 项是对该句的近义解
43、析，因此正确。(4).By saying “The measure of a life is often taken in the smallest units“ (Para. 2), the author means that _.（分数：2.00）A.Kennedy was most respected by the ordinary peopleB.Kennedy“s life can be reflected by the small deeds he has done C.Kennedy has done many small deeds for the people around
44、himD.Kennedy devoted his life to serving the people from the lower class解析：解析：语义理解题。原文第二段第四句之后举了几个关于 Kennedy 的例子，用以说明该句的观点，表明；Kennedy 的生命价值可以从他所做的小事反映出来，因此本题答案为 B 项。(5).Which of the following can be inferred from the last paragraph about the Keats?（分数：2.00）A.He finally drowned in the seawater.B.His
45、dream of his great popularity came true finally.C.He didn“t predict the importance of his life. D.He held that life is transitory, so don“t waste it.解析：解析：推理判断题。通过题干中的 Keats 可定位到最后一段开头两句。由最后一段第二句中的without consequence 可推断 Keats 认为自己的一生无足轻重。实际上，伟大诗人济慈是被大家永远记住并深深怀念的。这说明他没有预测到自己生命的重要性，因此 C 项为本题答案。Time w
46、as, old people knew their place. Power was passed to sons and daughters, crowns placed on younger heads. Not any more. The elderly are no longer a sidelined sliver of society, but its mainstream. During the next two generations, the number of the world“s people older than 60 will quadruple, rising f
47、rom 606 million now to 2 billion in 2050. For the first time in human history,the elderly will outnumber children. More and more, it“s not the children who are our future, it“s the seniors. The graying of the globe is quite simply the “most significant population shift in history,“ says Ann Pawliczk
48、o of the United Nations Population Fund. And growing old doesn“t mean what it used to. Better medical care has increased the average global life expectancy by two decadesto 66in as many generations. “One hundred is the new 60,“ says Marty Davis, of the American Association of Retired People. In the
49、West, technology and wealth are empowering the aged. They are an increasingly vocal political lobby and muscular consumers. The portfolio of Senioragency, Europe“s only ad agency aimed at the 50-plus market, used to consist of hearing aids and insurance. Now mainstream companies like Coca-Cola and Siemens are approaching the firm. “We“re used to thi
