1、考研英语（阅读）-试卷 83 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）_In George Orwell“s Animal Farm the mighty cart-horse
2、, Boxer, inspires the other animals with his heroic cry of “I will work harder“. He gets up at the crack of dawn to do a couple of hours“ extra ploughing. He even refuses to take a day off. And his reward for all this effort? As soon as he collapses on the job he is sent to the knacker“s yard to be
3、turned into glue and bone-meal. Animal Farm looks ever more like an allegory about capitalism as well as socialism. Everybody knows about the plague of unemployment. But unemployment is bringing another plague in its wake-overwork. The Hay Group, a British consultancy which recently surveyed 1,000 p
4、eople, says that two-thirds of workers report they are putting in unpaid overtime. The reward for all this effort is frozen pay and shrinking perks. The only difference between these overstretched workers and Boxer is that they can see the knacker“s van coming. So far workers have borne all this wit
5、h remarkable perseverancepartly because they feel lucky to keep their jobs and partly because they want to save their firms from going under. But the Dunkirk spirit is beginning to fade. The Hay survey notes that 63% of workers say that their employers do not appreciate their extra effort. Half repo
6、rt that their current level of work is unsustainable. People are wearying of frantic reorganization as well as the added toil-floods of memos and meetings, endless reshuffles, earnest persuasions to do more with less. For their part, companies are beginning to notice the downside of all this overstr
7、etching. Absenteeism is on the rise. Corporate loyalty is on the wane. And the biggest danger for companies is if workers head for the door as the economy picks up. Most problematic of all is when star employees decide to look for work elsewhere. These “high-potentials“ (HiPos) are doubly frustrated
8、: they have been asked to shoulder a disproportionate share of the growing burden of work and they have seen senior jobs dry up as older managers try to cling to their positions. What can organizations do to cope with this new era of overwork? Most obviously they can redouble efforts to make staff f
9、eel valued. Cash-strapped companies are making more use of symbolic rewards.A second strategy is to make more use of that old favorite, “empowerment“. This means trying harder to explain why companies are acting as they are.A third strategy is to pay particular attention to high performers.A strikin
10、g number of companies have introduced “HiPo schemes“ to identify and nurture potential stars. Yet this approach is less divisive than it sounds because some animals are more equal than others.（分数：10.00）(1).By citing the book Animal Farm, the author intends to _.（分数：2.00）A.show the suffering of the c
11、art-horse BoxerB.discuss the issue of unemploymentC.introduce the issue of overworkD.illustrate the harm of overwork(2).It is indicated in Paragraph 2 that workers nowadays _.（分数：2.00）A.have less and less bonusB.can see their dim futureC.work overtime without paymentD.can see the chance of promotion
12、(3).By saying “the Dunkirt spirit is beginning to fade“ (Para. 3), the author means that _.（分数：2.00）A.employees are becoming less loyal to their companyB.employees are becoming less patient with their working conditionC.employees are becoming less devoted to their companyD.more and more employees ar
13、e absent from work(4).From Paragraph 4 we can learn that _.（分数：2.00）A.overwork has a negative impact on companyB.star employees are promoted to senior jobsC.HiPos left their company due to overworkD.companies do not appreciate the star employees(5).According to the author, the “HiPo schemes“ introdu
14、ced by many companies are _.（分数：2.00）A.very usefulB.not that popularC.not that decisiveD.not that effectiveIf you go down to the woods today, you may meet high-tech treesgenetically modified to speed their growth or improve the quality of their wood. Genetically-engineered food crops have become inc
15、reasingly common, albeit controversial, over the past ten years. But genetic engineering of trees has lagged behind. Part of the reason is technical. Understanding, and then altering, the genes of a big pine tree are more complex than creating a better tomato. While tomatoes sprout happily, and rapi
16、dly, in the laboratory, growing a whole tree from a single, genetically altered cell in a test tube is a tricky process that takes years, not months. Moreover, little is known about tree genes. Some trees, such as pine trees, have a lot of DNAroughly ten times as much as human. And, whereas the Huma
17、n Genome Project is more than halfway through its task of isolating and sequencing the estimated 100,000 genes in human cells, similar efforts to analyze tree genes are still just saplings. Given the large number of tree genes and the little that is known about them, tree engineers are starting with
18、 a search for genetic “markers“. The first step is to isolate DNA from trees with desirable properties such as insect resistance. The next step is to find stretches of DNA that show the presence of a particular gene. Then, when you mate two trees with different desirable properties, it is simple to
19、check which offspring contain them all by looking for the genetic markers. Henry Amerson, at North Carolina State University, is using genetic markers to breed fungal resistance into southern pines. Billions of these are grown across America for pulp and paper, and outbreaks of disease are expensive
20、. But not all individual trees are susceptible. Dr. Amerson“s group has found markers that distinguish fungus-resistant stock from disease-prone trees. Using traditional breeding techniques, they are introducing the resistance genes into pines on test sites in America. Using genetic markers speeds u
21、p old-fashioned breeding methods because you no longer have to wait for the tree to grow up to see if it has the desired traits. But it is more a sophisticated form of selective breeding. Now, however, interest in genetic tinkering is also gaining ground. To this end, Dr. Amerson and his colleagues
22、are taking part in the Pine Gene Discovery Project, an initiative to identify and sequence the 50,000-odd genes in the pine tree“s genome. Knowing which gene does what should make it easier to know what to alter.（分数：10.00）(1).Compared with genetic engineering of food crops, genetic engineering of tr
23、ees _.（分数：2.00）A.began much laterB.has developed more slowlyC.is less usefulD.is less controversial(2).The author thinks that the genetic engineering of pine trees is _.（分数：2.00）A.time-consumingB.worthwhileC.significantD.technically impossible(3).Which of the following can be learned from Paragraph
24、2 about the research on tree genes?（分数：2.00）A.The research methods are the same as the analysis of human genes.B.The findings are expected to be as fruitful as the analysis of human genes.C.It will take as much time and effort as the analysis of human genes.D.The research has been mainly concentrate
25、d on the genes of young trees.(4).It is discovered by Henry Amerson“s team that _.（分数：2.00）A.southern pines cannot resist fungusB.all southern pines are not susceptibleC.the genetic marker in southern pines was the easiest to identifyD.fungus-resistant genes came originally from outside the U.S.A(5)
26、.What is the primary objective of carrying out the Pine Gene Discovery Project?（分数：2.00）A.To speed up old-fashioned breeding methods.B.To identify all the genes in the pine tree“s genome.C.To find out what desired traits the pine trees have.D.To make it easier to know which gene needs altering.Googl
27、e must be the most ambitious company in the world. Its stated goal, “to organize the world“s information and make it universally accessible and useful,“ deliberately omits the word “web“ to indicate that the company is reaching for absolutely all information everywhere and in every form. From books
28、to health records and videos, from your friendships to your click patterns and phys-ical location, Google wants to know. To some people this sounds uplifting, with promises of free access to knowledge and help in managing our daily lives. To others, it is somewhat like another Big Brother, no less f
29、rightening than its totalitarian ancestors for being in the private information. Randall Stross, a journalist at the New York Times, does a good job of analyzing this unbounded ambition in his book “Planet Google“. One chapter is about the huge data centers that Google is building with a view to sto
30、ring all that information, another about the sets of rules at the heart of its web search and advertising technology, another about its approach to information bound in books, its vision for geographical information and so forth. He is at his best when explaining how Google“s mission casually but fa
31、tally smashes into long-existing institutions such as, say, copyright law or privacy norms. And yet, it“s puzzling that he mostly omits the most fascinating component of Google, its people. Google is what it is because of its two founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who see themselves as kindly eli
32、tes and embody the limitless optimism about science, technology and human nature that is native to Silicon Valley. The world is perfectible, and they are the ones who will do much of the perfecting, provided you let them. Brin and Page set out to create a company and an entire culture in their image
33、. From the start, they professed that they would innovate as much in managingrewarding, feeding, motivating, entertaining and even transporting (via Wi-Fi-enabled free shuttle buses) their employeesas they do in internet technology. If Google is in danger of becoming a caricature, this is first appa
34、rent herein the over-engineered day-care centers, the Shiatsu massages and kombucha teas. In reality Googlers are as prone to power struggle and office politics as anyone else. None of that makes it into Mr Stross“ account, which at times reads like a diligent summary of news articles. At those mome
35、nts, “Planet Google“ takes a risk similar to trying to board a speeding train: the Google story changes so fast that no book can stay up to date for long. Even so, a sober description of this moment in Google“s quest is welcome. Especially since Google fully expects, as its chief executive, Eric Sch
36、midt, says at the end of the book, to take 300 years completing it.（分数：10.00）(1).By describing Google as a “Big Brother“, people think that Google _.（分数：2.00）A.is a pioneer in IT industryB.is an invader of privacyC.breaks its promise of free accessD.overestimates its own influence(2).According to Ra
37、ndall Stross, Google“s influence on copyright law or privacy norms is _.（分数：2.00）A.inevitableB.undeniableC.long-lastingD.unintentional(3).The author thinks that Google“s two founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, _.（分数：2.00）A.are the most crucial component of GoogleB.are deliberately omitted in the b
38、ook “Planet Google“C.bring Silicon Valley the most advanced science and technologyD.are the persons who never stop pursuing a better world(4).What can be learned from Paragraph 4 about the Google employees in reality?（分数：2.00）A.They intrigue against each other in the office.B.They are all hard-worki
39、ng and talented.C.They appreciate the managing techniques.D.They feel encouraged by the company“s benefits.(5).By saying “Planet Google“ takes a risk. train“ (Para. 5), the author implies that _.（分数：2.00）A.Planet Google will be in danger if it stays up to date for longB.Planet Google have to take 30
40、0 years to catch the speeding trainC.the board of Google welcomes Randall Stross to cover Google storyD.a written book can only cover a little part of the on-going technologyWe sometimes think humans are uniquely vulnerable to anxiety, but stress seems to affect the immune defenses of lower animals
41、too. In one experiment, for example, behavioral immunologist Mark Laudenslager, at the University of Denver, gave mild electric shocks to 24 rats. Half the animals could switch off the current by turning a wheel in their enclosure, while the other half could not.The rats in the two groups were paire
42、d so that each time one rat turned the wheel it protected both itself and its helpless partner from the shock. Laudenslager found that the immune response was depressed below normal in the helpless rats but not in those that could turn off the electricity. What he has demonstrated, he believes, is t
43、hat lack of control over an event, not the experience itself, is what weakens the immune system. Other researchers agree. Jay Weiss, a psychologist at Duke University School of Medicine, has shown that animals who are allowed to control unpleasant stimuli don“t develop sleep disturbances or changes
44、in brain chemistry typical of stressed rats. But if the animals are confronted with situations they have no control over, they later behave passively when faced with experiences they can control. Such findings reinforce psychologists“ suspicions that the experience or perception of helplessness is o
45、ne of the most harmful factors in depression. One of the most startling examples of how the mind can alter the immune response was discovered by chance. In 1975 psychologist Robert Ader at the University of Rochester School of Medicine conditioned mice to avoid saccharin by simultaneously feeding th
46、em the sweetener and injecting them with a drug that while suppressing their immune systems caused stomach upsets. Associating the saccharin with the stomach pains, the mice quickly learned to avoid the sweetener. In order to extinguish this dislike for the sweetener, Ader reexposed the animals to s
47、accharin, this time without the drug, and was astonished to find that those mice that had received the highest amounts of sweetener during their earlier conditioning died. He could only speculate that he had so successfully conditioned the rats that saccharin alone now served to weaken their immune
48、systems enough to kill them.（分数：10.00）(1).Laudenslager“s experiment showed that the immune system of those rats who could turn off the electricity _.（分数：2.00）A.was strengthenedB.was not affectedC.was alteredD.was weakened(2).According to Paragraph 2, the experience of helplessness causes rats to _.（
49、分数：2.00）A.try to control unpleasant stimuliB.turn off the electricityC.behave passively in controllable situationsD.become abnormally suspicious(3).The reason why the mice in Ader“s experiment avoided saccharin was that _.（分数：2.00）A.they disliked its tasteB.it affected their immune systemsC.it led to stomach painsD.they associated it with stomachaches(4
