1、考研英语（阅读）-试卷 146 及答案解析(总分：60.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：6，分数：60.00)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）_Overfishing of one of the ocean“s top predators has
2、 triggered a lethal chain reaction that threatens to decimate populations of bay scallops, oysters, and clams, warns a new study. Plunging populations of 11 large shark species have caused a spike in the numbers of their prey, including smaller sharks, rays, and skates. These creatures in turn are w
3、iping out other marine organisms and may be destroying sea grass habitat, which serves as a nursery for many species. Sharks have had a rough few decades. Demand for their fins and meat has resulted in increasing exploitation, and the creatures are often accidentally captured by swordfish and tuna f
4、ishers. As many as 73 million sharks are killed annually, and past studies have indicated many populations have been cut by half. Nonetheless, scientists have had difficulty gauging the decline in several shark species over the years because of a lack of data. The effect of this decline on ocean eco
5、systems has also proven hard to measure. To get a better grip on the problem, marine biologist Julia Baum of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, and colleagues trawled 35 years of marine surveys and fisheries data to document declines in large sharks off the eastern seaboard of the U. S. The nu
6、mbers, reported today in Science, are stark: The blacktip shark population has plummeted 93% since 1972, with similar declines for tiger, bull, and smooth hammerhead sharks. Simultaneously, the abundance of 12 of the 14 species that these sharks prey onincluding the little skate, the chain catshark,
7、 and the cownose rayincreased dramatically. The latter has seen its numbers swell ten fold. The jump in ray numbers is especially troubling, notes co author and marine biologist Charles Peterson of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, because the fish shred the sea grass that houses crab
8、s and clams. In fact, he notes, by 2004 ray predation had shut down North Carolina“s century-old bay scallop fishery. The 11 other shark prey species whose populations rose over the 35-year period could be having similar impacts to that of the cownose ray, says Baum. “The result is profound“ because
9、 the high diversity of fishes in the northwest Atlantic has been thought to minimize catastrophic changes in the food web, says marine scientist Kenneth Frank of the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Dartmouth, Canada. Sharks are only part of the puzzle, however, Frank warns. People“s appetites f
10、or oysters, clams, and scallops are likely having a more direct impact on these populations, he says.（分数：10.00）(1).The overfishing of sharks may result in_.（分数：2.00）A.the abundance of sea grass habitatB.the ruin of nursery for many marine speciesC.the obvious increase of most marine speciesD.the hug
11、e decline of the populations of their prey(2).What contributes most to the overfishing of sharks is _,（分数：2.00）A.the sharks accidentally captured by tuna fishersB.the rough few decades that sharks have sufferedC.the ever-increasing demand for their fins and meatD.the millions of sharks killed delibe
12、rately each year(3).Julia Baum studied marine surveys and fisheries data in order to_,（分数：2.00）A.prove the fact that shark populations have fallen sharplyB.cast light on the effect of shark decline on ocean ecosystremsC.document the shark species which have declined most rapidlyD.understand the subt
13、le relationship between predators and prey(4).The rapid increase of the cownose ray results from_.（分数：2.00）A.the ten fold increase of its numbers in a short timeB.the abundance of the 12 species that sharks prey onC.the tremendous decline of the number of its predatorsD.the decline of sharks off the
14、 eastern seaboard of America(5).The populations of bay scallops, oysters, and clams are threatened directly by_.（分数：2.00）A.the high diversity of fishes in the northwest AtlanticB.the catastrophic changes in the food web in the AtlanticC.the lethal reaction triggered by the overfishing of sharksD.the
15、 strong desire of many people for them as their delicious foodDeane Brown started her legal career at a high-powered firm that tops many new lawyers“ lists of best places to work. But when her daughter Morgan was born in 1996, the Boston University Law School grad worked nights and weekends to meet
16、the billing requirements, leaving her feeling cheated. “At that point, I knew I needed to go to a smaller firm,“ she says. In 2002, she joined Beermann Swerdlove, working in commercial litigation and employment law. “We appreciate that people have lives outside of the office here,“ she says. Law is
17、a notoriously demanding profession for those with ambition. To become a partner, associates typically have to charge clients for at least 2,000 hours of work a year, though that minimum can rise to 2,400 hours at top-tier outfitsor 46 billable hours each and every week of the year. The burden falls
18、especially hard on mothers who have got kids to tend to and households to manage. Little wonder that while half of all law school grads are women, only 17. 2% of partners are, according to the Project for Attorney Retention. Beermann Swerdlove lies on the outer slope of this bell curve. Fully half o
19、f the Chicago firm“s 30 attorneys are women, including eight of its 19 partners. The firm -started 50 years ago by four DePaul University College of Law grads in the Swerdlove family“s sewing-machine shop in Bucktowndidn“t set out to be so egalitarian. Rather, says partner Miles Beermann, it happene
20、d because he and the other founders had a different attitude about work. “I didn“t ever want to be involved in running a sweatshop. “ says Beermann, 73. “I want people to want to come here in the morning. “ A timely trend in the legal business helped, too. Many women who entered law in the early 197
21、0s specialized in family law, which was becoming one of the firm“ s specialties. Today about half of Beermann Swerdlove“s business is in divorce. Its clients are mostly hoi polloi, but it has represented such headliners as Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan, Pamela Hutul, a family lawyer, joined Be
22、ermann Swerdlove as its first female partner in 1996. Brown came next. To put its philosophy into practice the firm requires associates to bill a relatively modest minimum of 1,800 hours a year. Attorneys may work on a flexible schedule or from home as long as the work gets done and the client is ha
23、ppy. There is a tradeoff; Starting salaries for associates are about half of the big firms“ $ 150,000 or so, and partners rarely make the $ 1 million or more that a partner might earn at a much larger firm.（分数：10.00）(1).According to the text, Deane Brown_.（分数：2.00）A.was ambitious for success in her
24、careerB.preferred to work in a less famous companyC.could hardly meet the challenge of a top firmD.was both competent and hardworking as a lawyer(2).The author believes that most girl grads from law schools _.（分数：2.00）A.are not competent enough to succeed in the law businessB.will fail to become a p
25、artner however energetic they areC.will inevitably sacrifice their career for their family lifeD.are reluctant to give up law though it is much demanding(3).According to one of its founders, Beermann Swerdlove_.（分数：2.00）A.intended to equally treat its female and male employeesB.used to employ DePaul
26、 University College of Law gradsC.specialized in commercial litigation and employment lawD.was established to be less demanding than most other firms(4).“Hoi polloi“most probably refers to _.（分数：2.00）A.the populaceB.professionalsC.legendary figuresD.people seeking divorce(5).According to the text, B
27、eermann Swerdlove_.（分数：2.00）A.eagerly puts its philosophy into practiceB.initiates a timely trend in the legal businessC.lets mothers work humane, flexible schedulesD.suits woman lawyers contented with lower salariesMany philosophers have argued that people make decisions about what“s right and wron
28、g based on moral principles and rational thought. But other philosophersand more recently, some psychologists and neuroscientistshave argued that there“s more to the story. When faced with a moral dilemma, these scholars say, we rely on emotional reactions as well as our powers of reasoning. In a st
29、udy of brain damage, published today, neuroscientists report evidence that emotions indeed exert a powerful influence on moral judgments. In the new study, Antonio Damasio of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and colleagues examined moral reasoning in six people who had damage to
30、the ventromedial prefrontal cortex(VMPC), a brain region that regulates emotions. The researchers presented the patients with moral dilemmas that forced them to decide whether it was acceptable to sacrifice one person“s life to save several others. For example, participants had to decide whether to
31、flip a switch that diverts a runaway trolley from a track leading to five workers to a track leading to just one worker. The researchers also gauged the decisions of 12 people without brain damage and 12 patients with damage to brain regions unconnected to emotions. In the trolley scenario, most peo
32、ple in all three groups said it was okay to flip the switch. However, the VMPC patients“ decisions diverged when the scenario required inflicting direct personal harm on one person to save several otherssuch as shoving a large person off a bridge to slow a trolley headed for five people. From a stri
33、ctly rational point of view, it“s better to save five people instead of one, but the thought of pushing an innocent person to his death is emotionally wrenching. That may explain why only about 20% of people in the control groups said they“d push. The VMPC patients, on the other hand, made the utili
34、tarian choice about twice as often, the researchers report online today in Nature. The findings fit nicely with other evidence that moral judgments often involve a conflict between emotion and reason and that those two competing influences rely on different networks of brain regions, says Joshua Gre
35、ene, a philosopher and cognitive neuroscientist at Harvard University. But Jordan Grafman, a cognitive neuroscientist at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in Bethesda, Maryland, isn“t convinced that extreme moral dilemmas like the trolley problem evoke the same cognitive pr
36、ocessesand involve the same brain regions as moral judgments in the real world involve. Even so, he says, the study “emphasizes that disciplines other than philosophy can contribute to issues related to moral behavior. “（分数：10.00）(1).Many philosophers believe that_.（分数：2.00）A.most decisions are made
37、 morallyB.few decisions are made irrationallyC.decisions are much influenced by emotionsD.moral judgments are usually made rationally(2).The trolley problem is presented to illustrate that_.（分数：2.00）A.VMPC is a brain region that regulates emotionsB.moral judgments may be influenced by emotionsC.even
38、 patients with brain damage can deal with moral dilemmasD.it“s a tragedy to sacrifice an innocent person to save several others(3).In the trolley scenario, most participants believe that _.（分数：2.00）A.it“s right to flip the switch to save more peopleB.it“s wrong to push an innocent person to his deat
39、hC.it“s better to save five people without hurting anyone elseD.it“s ridiculous for them to decide whether to flip the switch(4).Jordan Grafman thinks that _.（分数：2.00）A.philosophy helps little to account for moral behaviorB.the same brain regions are involved in moral judgmentsC.moral issues have no
40、thing to do with philosophical studyD.moral issues usually lead to the same cognitive processes(5).The best title for the text should be_.（分数：2.00）A.The VMPC Patients with a Moral DilemmaB.The Conflict between Emotion and ReasonC.How the Heart Can Rule the HeadD.How to Face a Moral DilemmaRecently a
41、nti patent arguments have been advanced with regards to HIV and AIDS drugs. Governments and companies in Brazil, India, Thailand and Uganda have started to challenge patents monopolies on medicine, arguing that human lives are more important than patents, copyright, international trade laws, and the
42、 economic interest of the pharmaceutical industry. Anti-retroviral therapy has long been unaffordable for people suffering from HIV/AIDS in developing countries, and proponents of generic antiviral drugs argue that the human need justifies the breach of patent law. When the Thai Government Pharmaceu
43、tical Organization started producing generic antiviral drugs in March 2002 the cost of a monthly treatment for one person plummeted from $ 500- $ 750 to $ 30, hence making treatment more affordable. In response the US government placed Thailand on the list of “copyright violators“ despite the fact t
44、hat the production of antiviral drugs is not subject to copyright, even in the United States. In 2007 the government of Brazil declared Merck“s efavirenz anti-retroviral drug a “public interest“ medicine, and challenged Merck to negotiate lower prices with the government or have Brazil strip the pat
45、ent by issuing a compulsory license. It is reported that Ghana, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia have similar plans to produce generic antiviral drugs. Western pharmaceutical companies initially responded with legal challenges, but some have now promised to introduce alternati
46、ve pricing structures for developing countries and NGOs. Campaigns for affordable access to medicines, such as Oxfam, argue that developing countries are dependent on foreign pharmaceutical companies. Quoting a recent World Health Organisation report, Trevor Jones argues that patent monopolies do no
47、t create monopoly pricing. He argues that the companies given monopolies “set prices largely on the willingness/ability to pay, also taking into account the country, disease and regulation“ instead of receiving competition from legalized generics. Under World Trade Organization(WTO)rules, a developi
48、ng country has options for obtaining needed medications under compulsory licensing or importation of cheaper versions of the drugs, even before patent expiration. In July 2008 Nobel Prize-winning scientist Sir John Sulston criticised the “moral corruption“ of the medical industry. Amongst others Sul
49、ston said that the world is at a crisis point in terms of getting medicines to sick people, particularly in the developing world, Sulston called for an international biomedical treaty to clear up issues over patents. In response to these criticisms against pharmaceutical patents it has been pointed out that less than 5% of medicines on t
