1、全国硕士研究生入学统一考试英语真题 2009 年及答案解析(总分：100.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、BSection Use o(总题数：1，分数：10.00)Research on animal intelligence always makes us wonder just how smart humans are. U(1) /Uthe fruit-fly experiments described by Carl Zimmer in the Science Times. Fruit flies who were taught to be smarter than the aver
2、age fruit flyU (2) /Uto live shorter lives. This suggests thatU (3) /Ubulbs burn longer, that there is a(n)U (4) /Uin not being too bright.Intelligence, itU (5) /U, is a high-priced option. It takes more upkeep, burns more fuel and is slowU (6) /Uthe starting line because it depends on learning a(n)
3、U (7) /Uprocess instead of instinct. Plenty of other species are able to learn, and one of the things theyve apparently learned is when toU (8) /U.Is there an adaptive value toU (9) /Uintelligence? Thats the question behind this new research. Instead of casting a wistful glanceU (10) /Uat all the sp
4、ecies weve left in the dust I.Q.-wise, it implicitly asks what the realU (11) /Uof our own intelligence might be. This isU (12) /Uthe mind of every animal weve ever met.Research on animal intelligence also makes us wonder what experiments animals wouldU (13) /Uon humans if they had the chance. Every
5、 cat with an owner, U(14) /U, is running a small-scale study in operant conditioning. We believe thatU (15) /Uanimals ran the labs, they would test us toU (16) /Uthe limits of our patience, our faithfulness, our memory for locations. They would try to decide what intelligence in humans is reallyU (1
6、7) /U, not merely how much of it there is. U(18) /U, they would hope to study a(n)U (19) /Uquestion: Are humans actually aware of the world they live in? U(20) /Uthe results are inconclusive.（分数：10.00）A.SupposeB.ConsiderC.ObserveD.ImagineA.tendedB.fearedC.happenedD.threatenedA.thinnerB.stablerC.ligh
7、terD.dimmerA.tendencyB.advantageC.inclinationD.priorityA.insists onB.sums upC.turns outD.puts forwardA.offB.behindC.overD.alongA.incredibleB.spontaneousC.inevitableD.gradualA.fightB.doubtC.stopD.thinkA.invisibleB.limitedC.indefiniteD.differentA.upwardB.forwardC.afterwardD.backwardA.featuresB.influen
8、cesC.resultsD.costsA.outsideB.onC.byD.acrossA.deliverB.carryC.performD.applyA.by chanceB.in contrastC.as usualD.for instanceA.ifB.unlessC.asD.lestA.moderateB.overcomeC.determineD.reachA.atB.forC.afterD.withA.Above allB.After allC.HoweverD.OtherwiseA.fundamentalB.comprehensiveC.equivalentD.hostileA.B
9、y accidentB.In timeC.So farD.Better still二、BSection Readi(总题数：4，分数：40.00)BText 1/BHabits are a funny thing. We reach for them mindlessly, setting our brains on auto-pilot and relaxing into the unconscious comfort of familiar routine. “Net choice, but habit rules the unreflecting herd,“ William Words
10、worth said in the 19th century. In the ever-changing 21st century, even the word “habit“ carries a negative implication.So it seems paradoxical to talk about habits in the same context as creativity and innovation. But brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously develop new habits, we
11、 create parallel paths, and even entirely new brain cells, that can jump our trains of thought onto new, innovative tracks.Rather than dismissing ourselves as unchangeable creatures of habit, we can instead direct our own change by consciously developing new habits. In fact, the more new things we t
12、rythe more we step outside our comfort zonethe more inherently creative we become, both in the workplace and in our personal lives.But dont bother trying to kill off old habits; once those ruts of procedure are worn into the brain, theyre there to stay. Instead, the new habits we deliberately press
13、into ourselves create parallel pathways that can bypass those old reads.“The first thing needed for innovation is a fascination with wonder,“ says Dawna Markova, author of The Open Mind. “But we are taught instead to decide, just as our president calls himself the Decider.“ She adds, however, that “
14、to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one. A good innovational thinker is always exploring the many other possibilities.“All of us work through problems in ways of which were unaware, she says. Researchers in the late 1960a discovered that humans are born with the capacity to approach chall
15、enges in four primary ways: analytically, procedurally, relationally (or collaboratively) and innovatively. At the end of adolescence, however, the brain shuts down half of that capacity, preserving only those modes of thought that have seemed most valuable during the first decade or so of life.The
16、current emphasis on standardized testing highlights analysis and procedure, meaning that few of us inherently use our innovative and collaborative modes of thought. “This breaks the major rule in the American belief system that anyone can do anything,“ explains M. J. Ryan, author of the 2006 book Th
17、is Year I Will. and Ms. Markovas business partner. “Thats a lie that we have perpetuated, and it fosters commonness. Knowing what youre good at and doing even more of it creates excellence.“ This is where developing new habits comes in.（分数：10.00）(1).In Wordsworths view, “habits“ is characterized by
18、being _.（分数：2.00）A.casualB.familiarC.mechanicalD.changeable(2).Brain researchers have discovered that the formation of new habits can be _.（分数：2.00）A.predictedB.regulatedC.tracedD.guided(3).The word “ruts“ (Line 1, Paragraph 4) is closest in meaning to _.（分数：2.00）A.tracksB.seriesC.characteristicsD.c
19、onnections(4).Dawns Murkova would most probably agree that _.（分数：2.00）A.ideas are born of a relaxing mindB.innovativeness could be taughtC.decisiveness derives from fantastic ideasD.curiosity activates creative minds(5).Ryans comments suggest that the practice of standardized testing _.（分数：2.00）A.pr
20、events new habits from being formedB.no longer emphasizes commonnessC.maintains the inherent American thinking modeD.complies with the American belief systemBText 2/BIt is a wise father that knows his own child, but today a man can boost his paternal (fatherly) wisdom or at least confirm that hes th
21、e kids dad. All he needs to do is shell out $30 for paternity testing kit (PTK) at his local drugstoreand another $120 to get the results.More than 60,000 people have purchased the PTKs since they first became available without prescriptions last year, according to Doug Fogg, chief operating officer
22、 of Identigene, which makes the over-the-counter kits. More than two dozen companies sell DNA tests directly to the public, ranging in price from a few hundred dollars to more than $ 2,500.Among the most popular: paternity and kinship testing, which adopted children can use to find their biological
23、relatives and families can use to track down kids put up for adoption. DNA testing is also the latest rage among passionate genealogistsand supports businesses that offer to search for a familys geographic roots.Most tests require collecting cells by swabbing saliva in the mouth and sending it to th
24、e company for testing. All tests require a potential candidate with whom to compare DNA.But some observers are skeptical. “There is a kind of false precision being hawked by people claiming they are doing ancestry testing,“ says Troy Duster, a New York University sociologist. He notes that each indi
25、vidual has many ancestorsnumbering in the hundreds just a few centuries back. Yet most ancestry testing only considers a single lineage, either the Y chromosome inherited through men in a fathers line or mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down only from mothers. This DNA can reveal genetic informati
26、on about only one or two ancestors, even though, for example, just three generations back people also have six other great-grandparents or, four generations back, 14 other great-great-grandparents.Critics also argue that commercial genetic testing is only as good as the reference collections to whic
27、h a sample is compared. Databases used by some companies dont rely on data collected systematically but rather lump together information from different research projects. This means that a DNA database may have a lot of data from some regions and not others, so a persons test results may differ depe
28、nding on the company that processes the results. In addition, the computer programs a company uses to estimate relationships may be patented and not subject to peer review or outside evaluation.（分数：10.00）(1).In Paragraphs 1 and 2, the text shows PTKs _.（分数：2.00）A.easy availabilityB.flexibility in pr
29、icingC.successful promotionD.popularity with households(2).PTK is used to _.（分数：2.00）A.locate ones birth placeB.promote genetic researchC.identify parent-child kinshipD.choose children for adoption(3).Skeptical observers believe that ancestry testing fails to _.（分数：2.00）A.trace distant ancestorsB.re
30、build reliable bloodlinesC.fully use genetic informationD.achieve the claimed accuracy(4).In the last paragraph, a problem commercial genetic testing faces is _.（分数：2.00）A.disorganized data collectionB.overlapping database buildingC.excessive sample comparisonD.lack of patent evaluation(5).An approp
31、riate title for the text is most likely to be _.（分数：2.00）A.Fors and Againsts of DNA TestingB.DNA Testing and It ProblemsC.DNA Testing Outside the LabD.Lies Behind DNA TestingBText 3/BThe relationship between formal education and economic growth in poor countries is widely misunderstood by economists
32、 and politicians alike. Progress in both areas is undoubtedly necessary for the social, political and intellectual development of these and all other societies; however, the conventional view that education should be one of the very highest priorities for promoting rapid economic development in poor
33、 countries is wrong. We are fortunate that it is, because building new educational systems there and putting enough people through them to improve economic performance would require two or three generations. The findings of a research institution have consistently shown that workers in all countries
34、 can be trained on the job to achieve radically higher productivity and, as a result, radically higher standards of living.Ironically, the first evidence for this ides appeared in the United States. Not long ago, with the country entering a recession and Japan at its pre-bubble peak, the U.S. workfo
35、rce was derided as poorly educated and one of the primary causes of the poor U.S. economic performance. Japan was, and remains, the global leader in automotive-assembly productivity. Yet the research revealed that the U.S. factories of Honda, Nissan, and Toyota achieved about 95 percent of the produ
36、ctivity of their Japanese counterpartsa result of the training that U.S. workers received on the job.More recently, while examining housing construction, the researchers discovered that illiterate, non-English-speaking Mexican workers in Houston, Texas, consistently met best-practice labor productiv
37、ity standards despite the complexity of the building industrys work.What is the real relationship between education and economic development? We have to suspect that continuing economic growth promotes the development of education even when governments dont force it. Alter all, thats how education g
38、ot started. When our ancestors were hunters and gatherers 10,000 years ago, they didnt have time to wonder much about anything besides finding food. Only when humanity began to get its food in a more productive way was there time for other things.As education improved, humanitys productivity potenti
39、al increased as well. When the competitive environment pushed our ancestors to achieve that potential, they could in turn afford more education. This increasingly high level of education is probably a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition for the complex political systems required by advanced e
40、conomic performance. Thus poor countries might not be able to escape their poverty traps without political changes that may be possible only with broader formal education. A lack of formal education, however, doesnt constrain the ability of the developing worlds workforce to substantially improve pr
41、oductivity for the foreseeable future. On the contrary, constraints on improving productivity explain why education isnt developing more quickly there than it is.（分数：10.00）(1).The author holds in Paragraph 1 that the importance of education in poor countries _.（分数：2.00）A.is subject to groundless dou
42、btsB.has fallen victim of biasC.is conventionally downgradedD.has been overestimated(2).It is stated in Paragraph 1 that the construction of a new educational system _.（分数：2.00）A.challenges economists and politiciansB.takes efforts of generationsC.demands priority from the governmentD.requires suffi
43、cient labor force(3).A major difference between the Japanese and U. S workforces is that _.（分数：2.00）A.the Japanese workforce is better disciplinedB.the Japanese workforce is more productiveC.the U. S workforce has a better educationD.the U. S workforce is more organized(4).The author quotes the exam
44、ple of our ancestors to show that education emerged _.（分数：2.00）A.when people had enough timeB.prior to better ways of finding foodC.when people no longer went hungryD.as a result of pressure on government(5).According to the last paragraph, development or education _.（分数：2.00）A.results directly from
45、 competitive environmentsB.does not depend on economic performanceC.follows improved productivityD.cannot afford political changesBText 4/BThe most thoroughly studied intellectuals in the history of the New World are the ministers and political leaders of seventeenth-century New England. According t
46、o the standard history of American philosophy, nowhere else in colonial America was “so much importance attached to intellectual pursuits.” According to many books and articles, New Englands leaders established the basic themes and preoccupations of an unfolding, dominant Puritan tradition in Americ
47、an intellectual life.To take this approach to the New Englanders normally means to start with the Puritans theological innovations and their distinctive ideas about the churchimportant subjects that we may not neglect. But in keeping with our examination of southern intellectual life, we may conside
48、r the original Puritans as carriers of European culture, adjusting to New World circumstances. The New England colonies were the scenes of important episodes in the pursuit of widely understood ideals of civility and virtuosity.The early settlers of Massachusetts Bay included men of impressive education and influence in England. Besides the ninety or so learned ministers who came to Massachusetts churches in the decade after 1629, there were political leaders like John Winthrop, an educated gentleman, lawyer, and official of the Crown before he journeyed to Boston. T
