1、考研英语（阅读）-试卷 9 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）_Organizations and societies rely on fines and rewards
2、 to harness people“s self-interest in the service of the common good. The threat of a ticket keeps drivers in line, and the promise of a bonus inspires high performance. But incentives can also backfire, diminishing the very behavior they“re meant to encourage. A generation ago, Richard Titmuss clai
3、med that paying people to donate blood reduced the supply. Economists were skeptical, citing a lack of empirical evidence. But since then, new data and models have prompted a sea change in how economists think about incentivesshowing, among other things, that Titmuss was right often enough that busi
4、nesses should take note. Experimental economists have found that offering to pay women for donating blood decreases the number willing to donate by almost half, and that letting them contribute the payment to charity reverses the effect. Dozens of recent experiments show that rewarding self-interest
5、 with economic incentives can backfire when they undermine what Adam Smith called “the moral sentiments.“ The psychology here has escaped blackboard economists, but it will be no surprise to people in business: When we take a job or buy a car, we are not only trying to get stuffwe are also trying to
6、 be a certain kind of person. People desire to be esteemed by others and to be seen as ethical and dignified. And they don“t want to be taken for suckers. Rewarding blood donations may backfire because it suggests that the donor is less interested in being altruistic than in making a dollar. Incenti
7、ves also run into trouble when they signal that the employer mistrusts the employee or is greedy. Close supervision of workers coupled with pay for performance is textbook economicsand a prescription for sullen employees. Perhaps most important, incentives affect what our actions signal, whether we“
8、re being self-interested or civic-minded, manipulated or trusted, and they can implysometimes wronglywhat motivates us. Fines or public rebukes that appeal to our moral sentiments by signaling social disapproval(think of littering)can be highly effective. But incentives go wrong when they offend or
9、diminish our ethical sensibilities. This does not mean it“s impossible to appeal to self-interested and ethical motivations at the same timejust that efforts to do so often fail. Ideally, policies support socially valued ends not only by harnessing self-interest but also by encouraging public-spirit
10、edness. The small tax on plastic grocery bags enacted in Ireland in 2002 that resulted in their virtual elimination appears to have had such an effect. It punished offenders monetarily while conveying a moral message. Carrying a plastic bag joined wearing a fur coat in the gallery of anti-social ana
11、chronisms.（分数：10.00）(1).From the first two paragraphs, we know that（分数：2.00）A.organizational and social progresses depend on economic incentives.B.economic incentives actually discourage people to behave well.C.economists didn“t agree with Titmuss for the lack of empirical evidenceD.economists now p
12、rompt businesses to note down Titmuss“s claim.(2).According to experimental economists,（分数：2.00）A.more money is offered, fewer people donate blood.B.economic incentives may run in the opposite direction.C.a decreasing number of people donate blood for charity.D.economic incentives clash with “the mo
13、ral sentiments“.(3).We know from the text that incentives are characterized as（分数：2.00）A.counterproductive.B.manipulating.C.implicative.D.effective.(4).The small tax on plastic grocery bags in Ireland is mentioned to show that（分数：2.00）A.Ireland is determined to eliminate plastic pollution.B.incentiv
14、e policies by the government are more effective.C.incentives can harness egoism and inspire altruism.D.monetary punishments usually have moral implications.(5).The text intends to tell us that（分数：2.00）A.businesses might as well put economic incentives to fuller play.B.incentives have more negative i
15、nfluences than positive ones.C.money is not everything, instead, there is always something else.D.incentives may go wrong when they clash with “the moral sentiments“.Superior customer service can be an essential source of strength as companies emerge from the recession, but managers need to understa
16、nd the extent to which the consumer landscape has shifted. Weakened brands, customers“ easy access to information about vendors, and the erosion of barriers to switching a-mong competitors have combined to create a much more challenging environment for service, whether it“s outsourced or delivered i
17、n-house. Evidence shows that customers will no longer tolerate the rushed and inconvenient service that has become all too common. Instead, they are looking for a satisfying experience. Companies that provide it will win their loyalty. Our recent research demonstrates that when customers contact com
18、panies for service, they care most about two things: Is the frontline employee knowledgeable? And is the problem resolved on the first call? Yet those factors often aren“t even on customer-service managers“ dashboards. Most service centers continue to measure time on hold and minutes per call, as th
19、ey have for decades. Such metrics encourage agents to hurry through callsresulting in just the kind of experience customers dislike. More than half of the customers we surveyed across industries say they“ve had a bad service experience, and nearly the same fraction think many of the companies they i
20、nteract with don“t understand or care about them. On average, 40% of customers who suffer through bad experiences stop doing business with the offending company. To get a better understanding of what customers experience, managers should draw on a variety of information sources, including customer s
21、atisfaction surveys, behavioral data collected through self-service channels, and recorded customer-agent conversations. In addition, companies must revise processes to give agents the leeway and authority to meet individual customers“ needs and provide positive, satisfying experiences. In evaluatin
22、g service, managers should measure across all channels the percentage of customer problems resolved within the first contact, determine what is at the root of problems that aren“t settled in one call, and make any necessary changes. They should also aim to have consistently high-quality interactions
23、 between customers and frontline employees. That may sound costly, but knowledge-management systems, speech recognition for automated calls, and other technologies can help to substantially offset the expense. Some executives believe that irritated customers will forgive vendors and come back for mo
24、re. Our research indicates that, on the contrary, alienated customers often disappear without the slightest warning. And as companies rebuild themselves after the recession, this silent attrition represents a host of lost opportunities for future sales and positive word of mouth.（分数：10.00）(1).Provid
25、ing superior customer service now is more challenging mainly because（分数：2.00）A.companies have just recovered from the economic recession.B.consumers can easily change vendors thanks to the Internet.C.customers prefer services delivered in-house to outsourced ones.D.consumers have come to demand sati
26、sfying customer services.(2).It is indicated in Paragraph 2 that（分数：2.00）A.customers today are demanding and hasty.B.most customer-service managers are lazy.C.customer service need change with the times.D.customers surveyed don“t care about the service.(3).We can infer from Paragraph 3 that companie
27、s（分数：2.00）A.did not understand what customers experienced.B.did not record customer-agent conversations.C.did not allow agents to provide individualized service.D.did not have enough money to collect information.(4).High-quality interactions between customers and frontline employees（分数：2.00）A.can se
28、ttle the problems at the first shot.B.call for a radical change within the company.C.should be one of managers“ consistent pursuits.D.are too expensive for a company to implement.(5).According to the author, offended customers are most likely to（分数：2.00）A.tolerate the vendors“ bad service.B.continue
29、 business with the vendors.C.warn and accuse the vendors.D.leave and switch to another vendor.Man is born free but is everywhere in debt. In the rich world, getting hold of your first credit card is a rite of passage far more important for your daily life than casting your first vote. Buying your fi
30、rst home normally requires taking on a debt several times the size of your annual income. And even if you shun the temptation of borrowing to indulge yourself, you are still saddled with your portion of the national debt. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s a rise in debt levels accompanied the “great mo
31、deration“, when growth was steady and unemployment and inflation remained low. No longer did Western banks have to raise rates to halt consumer booms. By the early 2000s a vast international scheme of vendor financing had been created. Those who cautioned against rising debt levels were dismissed as
32、 doom-mongers; after all, asset prices were rising even faster, so balance-sheets looked healthy. And with the economy advancing, debtors could afford to meet their interest payments. In short, it paid to borrow and it paid to lend. Like alcohol, a debt boom tends to induce euphoria. Traders and inv
33、estors saw the asset-price rises as proof of their brilliance; central banks and governments thought that rising markets and higher tax revenues attested to the soundness of their policies. The answer to all problems seemed to be more debt. Depressed? Use your credit card for a shopping spree “becau
34、se you“re worth it“. Want to get rich quick? Work for a private-equity or hedge-fund firm, using borrowed money to enhance returns. Looking for faster growth for your company? Borrow money and make an acquisition. And if the economy is in recession, let the government go into deficit to bolster spen
35、ding. Debt increased at every level, from consumers to companies to banks to whole countries. The effect varied from country to country, but a survey by the McKinsey Global Institute found that average total debt(private and public sector combined)in ten mature economies rose from 200% of GDP in 199
36、5 to 300% in 2008. There were even more startling rises in Iceland and Ireland, where debt-to-GDP ratios reached 1,200% and 700% respectively. The burdens proved too much for those two countries, plunging them into financial crisis. Such turmoil is a sign that debt is not the instant solution it was
37、 made out to be. From early 2007 onwards there were signs that economies were reaching the limit of their ability to absorb more borrowing. The growth-boosting potential of debt seemed to peter out. According to Leigh Skene of Lombard Street Research, each additional dollar of debt was associated wi
38、th less and less growth.（分数：10.00）(1).It can be inferred from Paragraph 1 that a credit card may（分数：2.00）A.symbolize adulthood.B.replace voting right.C.encourage loaning.D.reduce inflation.(2).We know from Paragraph 2 that debt boom in the last decades has（分数：2.00）A.halted consumer booms.B.won unive
39、rsal welcome.C.promoted economic growth.D.confronted strong suspicions.(3).“Like alcohol, a debt boom tends to induce euphoria“(Line 7, Para 2)indicates a debt boom（分数：2.00）A.is beneficial to both borrowers and lenders.B.seems to inspire self-satisfaction.C.is hard to control like strong wine.D.has
40、much potential to create profits.(4).The examples of Iceland and Ireland are intended to show that（分数：2.00）A.the effect of debt differs in each country.B.the two countries have the highest debt rise.C.debt isn“t always an instant solution as believed.D.debt rise is the origin of the financial crisis
41、.(5).According to this text, the author is likely to agree that（分数：2.00）A.debt is unavoidable as well as necessary.B.a booming economy always follows a debt rise.C.more debt has been related to less growth.D.debt is reaching its limit to boost economy.Labor is not just a meaningful experienceit“s al
42、so a marketable one. When instant cake mixes were introduced, in the 1950s, housewives were initially resistant: The mixes were too easy, suggesting that their labor was undervalued. When manufacturers changed the recipe to require the addition of an egg, adoption rose dramatically. Ironically, incr
43、easing the labor involvedmaking the task more arduousled to greater liking. Research conducted with my colleagues Daniel Mochon, of Yale University, and Dan Ariely, of Duke University, shows that labor enhances affection for its results. When people construct products themselves, from bookshelves to
44、 Build-a-Bears, they come to overvalue their(often poorly made)creations. We call this phenomenon the IKEA effect, in honor of the wildly successful Swedish manufacturer whose products typically arrive with some assembly required. In one of our studies we asked people to fold origami(the Japanese ar
45、t of folding paper into shapes representing objects)and then to bid on their own creations along with other people“s. They were consistently willing to pay more for their own origami. In fact, they were so fond of their amateurish creations that they valued them as highly as origami made by experts.
46、 We also investigated the limits of the IKEA effect, showing that labor leads to higher valuation only when the labor is fruitful: When participants failed to complete an effortful task, the IKEA effect dissipated. Our research suggests that consumers may be willing to pay a premium for do-it-yourse
47、lf projects, but there“s an important caution: Companies hoping to persuade their customers to assume labor costs for example, by nudging them toward self-service through internet channelsshould be careful to create tasks difficult enough to lead to higher valuation but not so difficult that custome
48、rs can“t complete them. Finally, the IKEA effect has broader implications for organizational dynamics: It contributes to the sunk cost effect, whereby managers continue to devote resources to(sometimes failing)projects in which they have invested their labor, and to the not-invented-here syndrome, w
49、hereby they discount good ideas developed elsewhere in favor of their(sometimes inferior)internally developed ideas. Managers should keep in mind that ideas they have come to love because they invested their own labor in them may not be as highly valued by their coworkersor their customers.（分数：10.00）(1).Instant cake mixes is mentioned to（分数：2.00）A.highlight the lifestyle in the 1950s.B.demonstrate how peop
