1、全国硕士研究生入学统一考试英语一真题 2014 年及答案解析(总分：100.00，做题时间：120 分钟)一、Section Use of (总题数：1，分数：20.00)As many people hit middle age, they often start to notice that their memory and mental clarity are not what they used to be. We suddenly cant remember 1 we put the keys just a moment ago, or an old acquaintances na
2、me, or the name of an old band we used to love. As the brain 2 , we refer to these occurrences as “senior moments.“ 3 seemingly innocent, this loss of mental focus can potentially have a(an) 4 impact on our professional, social, and personal 5 . Neuroscientists, experts who study the nervous system,
3、 are increasingly showing that theres actually a lot that can be done. It 6 out that the brain needs exercise in much the same way our muscles do, and the right mental 7 can significantly improve our basic cognitive 8 . Thinking is essentially a 9 of making connections in the brain. To a certain ext
4、ent, our ability to 10 in making the connections that drive intelligence is inherited. 11 , because these connections are made through effort and practice, scientists believe that intelligence can expand and fluctuate 12 mental effort. Now, a new Web-based company has taken it a step 13 and develope
5、d the first “brain training program“ designed to actually help people improve and regain their mental 14 . The Web-based program 15 you to systematically improve your memory and attention skills. The program keeps 16 of your progress and provides detailed feedback 17 your performance and improvement
6、. Most importantly, it 18 modifies and enhances the games you play to 19 on the strengths you are developing-much like a(n) 20 exercise routine requires you to increase resistance and vary your muscle use. （分数：20.00）A.whereB.whenC.thatD.whyA.improvesB.fadesC.recoversD.collapsesA.IfB.UnlessC.OnceD.Wh
7、ileA.unevenB.limitedC.damagingD.obscureA.wellbeingB.environmentC.relationshipD.outlookA.turnsB.findsC.pointsD.figuresA.roundaboutsB.responsesC.workoutsD.associationsA.genreB.functionsC.circumstancesD.criterionA.channelB.conditionC.sequenceD.processA.persistB.believeC.excelD.featureA.ThereforeB.Moreo
8、verC.OtherwiseD.HoweverA.according toB.regardless ofC.apart fromD.instead ofA.backB.furtherC.asideD.aroundA.frameworkB.stabilityC.flexibilityD.sharpnessA.remindsB.hurriesC.allowsD.forcesA.holdB.trackC.orderD.paceA.toB.withC.forD.onA.irregularlyB.habituallyC.constantlyD.unusuallyA.putB.carryC.buildD.
9、takeA.riskyB.idleC.effectiveD.familiar二、Section Reading(总题数：4，分数：20.00)Text 1 In order to “change lives for the better” and reduce “dependency,” George Osbome, Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced the “upfront work search” scheme. Only if the jobless arrive at the job centre with a CV register fo
10、r online job search, and start looking for work will they be eligible for benefit-and then they should report weekly rather than fortnightly. What could be more reasonable? More apparent reasonableness followed. There will now be a seven-day wait for the jobseekers allowance. “Those first few days s
11、hould be spent looking for work, not looking to sign on.” he claimed. “Were doing these things because we know they help people say off benefits and help those on benefits get into work faster” Help? Really? On first hearing, this was the socially concerned chancellor, trying to change lives for the
12、 better, complete with “reforms” to an obviously indulgent system that demands too little effort from the newly unemployed to find work, and subsides laziness. What motivated him, we were to understand, was his zeal for “fundamental fairness”-protecting the taxpayer, controlling spending and ensurin
13、g that only the most deserving claimants received their benefits. Losing a job is hurting: you dont skip down to the jobcentre with a song in your heart, delighted at the prospect of doubling your income from the generous state. It is financially terrifying psychologically embarrassing and you know
14、that support is minimal and extraordinarily hard to get. You are now not wanted; you support is minimal and extraordinarily hard to get. You are now not wanted; you are now excluded from the work environment that offers purpose and structure in your life. Worse, the crucial income to feed yourself a
15、nd your family and pay the bills has disappeared. Ask anyone newly unemployed what they want and the answer is always: a job. But in Osborneland, your first instinct is to fall into dependency- permanent dependency if you can get it-supported by a state only too ready to indulge your falsehood. It i
16、s as though 20 years of ever- tougher reforms of the job search and benefit administration system never happened. The principle of British welfare is no longer that you can insure yourself against the risk of unemployment and receive unconditional payments if the disaster happens. Even the very phra
17、se jobseekers allowance-invented in 1996- is about redefining the unemployed as a “jobseeker” who had no mandatory right to a benefit he or she has earned through making national insurance contributions. Instead, the claimant receives a time-limited “allowance,” conditional on actively seeking a job
18、; no entitlement and no insurance, at 71.70 a week, one of the least generous in the EU.（分数：5.00）(1).George Osbornes scheme was intended to _. （分数：1.00）A.provide the unemployed with easier access to benefits.B.encourage jobseekers active engagement in job seeking.C.motivate the unemployed to report
19、voluntarily.D.guarantee jobseekers legitimate right to benefits.(2).The phrase “to sign on” (Line 3,Para.2) most probably means （分数：1.00）A.to check on the availability of jobs at the jobcentre.B.to accept the governments restrictions on the allowance.C.to register for an allowance from the governmen
20、t.D.to attend a governmental job-training program.(3).What promoted the chancellor to develop his scheme? （分数：1.00）A.A desire to secure a better life for all.B.An eagerness to protect the unemployed.C.An urge to be generous to the claimants.D.A passion to ensure fairness for taxpayers.(4).According
21、to Paragraph 3, being unemployed makes one feel （分数：1.00）A.uneasyB.enragedC.insultedD.guilty(5).To which of the following would the author most probably agree? （分数：1.00）A.The British welfare system indulges jobseekers laziness.B.Osbornes reforms will reduce the risk of unemployment.C.The jobseekers
22、allowance has met their actual needs.D.Unemployment benefits should not be made conditional.Text 2 All around the world, lawyers generate more hostility than the members of any other profession-with the possible exception of journalism. But there are few places where clients have more grounds for co
23、mplaint than America. During the decade before the economic crisis, spending on legal services in America grew twice as fast as inflation. The best lawyers made skyscrapers-full of money, tempting ever more students to pile into law schools. But most law graduates never get a big-firm job. Many of t
24、hem instead become the kind of nuisance-lawsuit filer that makes the tort system a costly nightmare. There are many reasons for this. One is the excessive costs of a legal education. There is just one path for a lawyer in most American states: a four-year undergraduate degree at one of 200 law schoo
25、ls authorized by the American Bar Association and an expensive preparation for the bar exam. This leaves todays average law-school graduate with $100,000 of debt on top of undergraduate debts. Law-school debt means that they have to work fearsomely hard. Reforming the system would help both lawyers
26、and their customers. Sensible ideas have been around for a long time, but the state-level bodies that govern the profession have been too conservative to implement them. One idea is to allow people to study law as an undergraduate degree. Another is to let students sit for the bar after only two yea
27、rs of law school. If the bar exam is truly a stern enough test for a would-be lawyer, those who can sit it earlier should be allowed to do so. Students who do not need the extra training could cut their debt mountain by a third. The other reason why costs are so high is the restrictive guild-like ow
28、nership structure of the business. Except in the District of Columbia, non-lawyers may not own any share of a law firm. This keeps fees high and innovation slow. There is pressure for change from within the profession, but opponents of change among the regulators insist that keeping outsiders out of
29、 a law firm isolates lawyers from the pressure to make money rather than serve clients ethically. In fact, allowing non-lawyers to own shares in law firms would reduce costs and improve services to customers, by encouraging law firms to use technology and to employ professional managers to focus on
30、improving firms efficiency. After all, other countries, such as Australia and Britain, have started liberalizing their legal professions. America should follow.（分数：5.00）(1).A lot of students take up law as their profession due to （分数：1.00）A.the growing demand from clients.B.the increasing pressure o
31、f inflation.C.the prospect of working in big firms.D.the attraction of financial rewards.(2).Which of the following adds to the costs of legal education in most American states? （分数：1.00）A.Higher tuition fees for undergraduate studies.B.Admissions approval from the bar association.C.Pursuing a bache
32、lors degree in another major.D.Receiving training by professional associations.(3).Hindrance to the reform of the legal system originates from （分数：1.00）A.lawyers and clients strong resistance.B.the rigid bodies governing the profession.C.the stem exam for would-be lawyers.D.non-professionals sharp c
33、riticism.(4).The guild-like ownership structure is considered “restrictive” partly because it （分数：1.00）A.bans outsiders involvement in the profession.B.keeps lawyers from holding law-firm shares.C.aggravates the ethical situation in the trade.D.prevents lawyers from gaining due profits.(5).In this t
34、ext, the author mainly discusses （分数：1.00）A.flawed ownership of Americas law firms and its causes.B.the factors that help make a successful lawyer in America.C.a problem in Americas legal profession and solutions to it.D.the role of undergraduate studies in Americas legal education.Text 3 The US$3-m
35、illion Fundamental physics prize is indeed an interesting experiment, as Alexander Polyakov said when he accepted this years award in March. And it is far from the only one of its type. As a News Feature article in Nature discusses, a string of lucrative awards for researchers have joined the Nobel
36、Prizes in recent years. Many, like the Fundamental Physics Prize, are funded from the telephone-number-sized bank accounts of Internet entrepreneurs. These benefactors have succeeded in their chosen fields, they say, and they want to use their wealth to draw attention to those who have succeeded in
37、science. Whats not to like? Quite a lot, according to a handful of scientists quoted in the News Feature. You cannot buy class, as the old saying goes, and these upstart entrepreneurs cannot buy their prizes the prestige of the Nobels. The new awards are an exercise in self-promotion for those behin
38、d them, say scientists. They could distort the achievement-based system of peer-review-led research. They could cement the status quo of peer-reviewed research. They do not fund peer-reviewed research. They perpetuate the myth of the lone genius. The goals of the prize-givers seem as scattered as th
39、e criticism. Some want to shock, others to draw people into science, or to better reward those who have made their careers in research. As Nature has pointed out before, there are some legitimate concerns about how science prizesboth new and oldare distributed. The Breakthrough Prize in Life Science
40、s, launched this year, takes an unrepresentative view of what the life sciences include. But the Nobel Foundations limit of three recipients per prize, each of whom must still be living, has long been outgrown by the collaborative nature of modern researchas will be demonstrated by the inevitable ro
41、w over who is ignored when it comes to acknowledging the discovery of the Higgs boson. The Nobels were, of course, themselves set up by a very rich individual who had decided what he wanted to do with his own money. Time, rather than intention, has given them legitimacy. As much as some scientists m
42、ay complain about the new awards, two things seem clear. First, most researchers would accept such a prize if they were offered one. Second, it is surely a good thing that the money and attention come to science rather than go elsewhere, It is fair to criticize and question the mechanismthat is the
43、culture of research, after allbut it is the prize-givers money to do with as they please. It is wise to take such gifts with gratitude and grace.（分数：5.00）(1).The Fundamental Physical Prize is seen as （分数：1.00）A.a symbol of the entrepreneurs wealth.B.a possible replacement of the Nobel Prize.C.an exa
44、mple of bankers investment.D.a handsome reward for researchers.(2).The critics think that the new awards will most benefit （分数：1.00）A.the profit-oriented scientists.B.the founders of the new award.C.the achievement-based system.D.peer-review-led research.(3).The discovery of the Higgs boson is a typ
45、ical case which involves （分数：1.00）A.controversies over the recipients status.B.the joint effort of modern researchers.C.legitimate concerns over the new prizes.D.the demonstration of research findings.(4).According to Paragraph 4, which of the following is true of the Nobels? （分数：1.00）A.Their endura
46、nce has done justice to them.B.Their legitimacy has long been in dispute.C.They are the most representative honor.D.History has never cast doubt on them.(5).The author believed that the new awards are （分数：1.00）A.acceptable despite the criticism.B.harmful to the culture of research.C.subject to undes
47、irable changes.D.unworthy of public attention.Text 4 “The Heart of the Matter,” the just-released report by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS), deserves praise for affirming the importance of the humanities and social sciences to the prosperity and security of liberal democracy in Amer
48、ica. Regrettably, however, the reports failure to address the true nature of the crisis facing liberal education may cause more harm than good. In 2010, leading congressional Democrats and Republicans sent letters to the AAAS asking that it identify actions that could be taken by “federal, state and
49、 local governments, universities, foundations, educators, individual benefactors and others“ to “maintain national excellence in humanities and social scientific scholarship and education.“In response, the American Academy formed the Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences. Among the commissions 51 members are top-tier-university presidents, scholars, lawyers, judges, and business executives, as well as prominent figures from diplomacy, filmmaking, music and journalism. The goals identified in the report are generally admirabl
