1、同济大学考博英语-2 及答案解析(总分：100.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、BPart Reading (总题数：4，分数：40.00)BPassage One/BThe study of social science is more than the study of the individual social sciences. Although it is true that to be a good social scientist you must know each of those components, you must also know how they interre
2、late. By specializing too early, many social scientists can lose sight of the interrelationships that are so essential to understanding modern problems. Thats why it is necessary to have a course covering all the social sciences. In fact, it would not surprise me if one day a news story such as the
3、one above should appear.The preceding passage placed you in the future. To understand how and when social science broke up, you must go into the past. Imagine for a moment that youre a student in 1062, in the Italian city of Bologna, site of one of the first major universities in the western world.
4、The university has no buildings. It consists merely of a few professors and students. There is no tuition fee. At the end of a professors lecture, if you like it, you pay. And if you dont like it, the professor finds himself without students and without money. If we go back still earlier, say to Gre
5、ece in the sixth century B. C., we can see the philosopher Socrates walking around the streets of Athens, arguing with his companions. He asks them questions, and then other questions, leading these people to reason the way he wants them to reason (this became known as the Socratic method).Times hav
6、e changed since then; universities sprang up throughout the world and created colleges within the universities. Oxford, one of the first universities, now has thirty colleges associated with it, and the development and formalization of educational institutions has changed the roles of both students
7、and faculty. As knowledge accumulated, it became more and more difficult for one person to learn, let alone retain it all. In the sixteenth century one could still aspire to know all there was to know, and the definition of the Renaissance man (people were even more sexist then than they are now) wa
8、s of one who was expected to know about everything.Unfortunately, at least for someone who wants to know everything, the amount of information continues to grow Uexponentially/U while the size of the brain has grown only slightly. The way to deal with the problem is not to try to know everything abo
9、ut everything. Today we must specialize. That is why social science separated from the natural sciences and why it, in turn, has been broken down into various subfields, such as anthropology and sociology.（分数：10.00）(1).What is the main idea of this text?（分数：2.00）A.Social science is unified.B.Social
10、science is a newborn science.C.What is social science.D.Specialization in social science is not good.(2).What can we learn from the second paragraph?（分数：2.00）A.Socrates can be regarded as the first social scientist in the western world.B.The universities in Italy have no buildings.C.Socrates created
11、 the “Socratic method“.D.Greece is not as civilized as Italy.(3).Why does the author say “people were even more sexist then than they are now“?（分数：2.00）A.Because they are so covetous that they want to know all there was to know.B.Because it is the Renaissance “Man“, not Renaissance “Woman“ or “human
12、“.C.Because no woman was formally educated at that time.D.Because all Renaissance men were men.(4).What does the underlined word “exponentially“ mean in the first sentence of the last paragraph?（分数：2.00）A.Promisingly.B.Continuously.C.Drastically.D.Rapidly.(5).We can infer from the text that_.（分数：2.0
13、0）A.social science is a united science, and cannot be divided into subfieldsB.social science may be further divided into smaller parts as the amount of knowledge and information expandingC.there may be a Renaissance Man in the futureD.the best way to deal with the expansion of information is to know
14、 everythingBPassage Two/BTo what extent are the unemployed failing in their duty to society to work, and how far has the State an obligation to ensure that they have work to do?It is by now increasingly recognized that workers may be thrown out of work by industrial forces beyond their control, and
15、that the unemployed are in some sense paying the price of the economic progress of the rest of the community. But concern with unemployment and the unemployed varies sharply. The issues of duty and responsibility were reopened and revitalized by the unemployment scare of 1971-1972. Rising unemployme
16、nt and increased sums paid out in benefits to the workless had reawakened controversies which had been inactive during most of the period of fuller employment since the war ended the Depression. It looked as though in future there would again be too little work to go round, so there were arguments a
17、bout how to produce more work, how the available work should be shared out, and who was responsible for unemployment and the unemployed.In 1972 there were critics who said that the States action in allowing unemployment to rise was a faithless act, a breaking of the social contract between society a
18、nd the worker. Yet in the main any contribution by employers to unemployment such as lying off workers in order to introduce technological changes and maximize profits tended to be ignored. And it was the unemployed who were accused of failing to honor the social contract, by not fulfilling their du
19、ty to society to work. In spite of general concern at the scale to the unemployment statistics, when the unemployed were considered as individuals, they tended to attract scorn and threats of punishment. Their capacities and motivation as workers and their value as members of society became suspect.
20、 Of all the myths of the Welfare State, stories of the work shy and borrowers have been the least well founded on evidence, yet they have proved the most persistent. The unemployed were accused of being responsible for their own workless condition, and doubts were expressed about the States obligati
21、on either to provide them with the security of work or to support them through Social Security.Underlying the arguments about unemployment and the unemployed is a basic disagreement about the nature and meaning of work in society. To what extent can or should work be regarded as a service, not only
22、performed by the worker for society but also made secure for the worker by the State, and supported if necessary? And apart from cash are there social pressures and satisfactions which cause individuals to seek and keep work, so that the workless need work rather than just cash?（分数：10.00）(1).It is t
23、he authors belief that_.（分数：2.00）A.unemployment must lead to inevitable depression of national economyB.the unemployed are the victims of economical and social developmentC.unemployment should be kept under the control of industrial forcesD.the unemployed are not entitled to share the benefits from
24、technological progress(2).What the author proposes to examine is_.（分数：2.00）A.how far the unemployed are to blame for their failure in working and how far it is the States faultB.to what extent the State should insist on the unemployed working if they fail to do soC.whether being at work is a social
25、duty which the State should ensure everybody carries outD.whether work should be obligatory, and if so, whether the State or the individual is responsible for enforced obligation(3).The effect of the 1971-1972 unemployment scare was to_.（分数：2.00）A.make people think for the first time about the probl
26、em of the availability of workB.make concern for unemployment and the unemployed varyC.make the subject of unemployment controversial againD.show that there would in future be too little work to go round(4).According to the author, in the 1971-1972 crisis_.（分数：2.00）A.the State and the employers were
27、 equally to blame for allowing unemployment to riseB.the unemployed did not fulfill their social duty to find jobsC.the role played by the employers in creating unemployment was not recognizedD.the state was guilty of breaking the social contract by letting unemployment increase(5).The basic disagre
28、ement about the nature and meaning of work in society rests on the problem of whether or not_.（分数：2.00）A.the unemployed ought to be supported by society as a wholeB.the state should recognize that people work for more than just moneyC.it is a service to provide people with work rather than cashD.the
29、 states duty to provide work is as great as the individuals duty to workBPassage Three/BSuccessful business tends to continue implementing the ideas that made them successful. But in a rapidly changing world, ideas often become obsolete overnight. What worked in the past wont necessarily work in the
30、 future. In order to thrive in the future, you must constantly create new ideas for every aspect of your business. In fact, you must continually generate new ideas just to keep your head above water. Businesses that arent creative about their future may not survive.Although Bill Gates is the richest
31、, most successful man on the planet, he did not anticipate the Internet. Now hes scrambling to catch up. If Bill Gates can miss a major aspect of his industry, it can happen to you in your industry. Your business needs to continually innovate and create its future. Gates is now constantly worried ab
32、out the future of Microsoft. Heres what he said in a recent interview in U.S. News World Report: “Will we be replaced tomorrow? No. In a very short time frame, Microsoft is an incredibly strong company. But when you look to the two to three-year time frame, I dont think anyone can say with a straigh
33、t face that any technology company has a guaranteed position. Not Intel, not Microsoft, not Compaq, not Dell, take any of your favorites. And thats totally honest.“You may remember that in 1985 the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls were the best-selling toy on the market. But after Coleco Industries introduc
34、ed their sensational line of dolls they became complacent and didnt create any new toys worth mentioning. As a result, Coleco went bankrupt in 1988.The most successful businesses survive in the long term because they constantly reassess their situations and reinvest themselves accordingly. The 3M Co
35、mpany has a 15% rule: Employees are encouraged to spend 15% of their time developing new ideas on any project they desire. Its no surprise, then, that 3M has been around since 1902.Most businesses are not willing to tear apart last years model of success and build a new one. Heres a familiar analogy
36、 to explain why they are lulled into complacency; imagine that your business is like a pot of lobsters. To cook lobsters, you put them into a pot of warm water and gradually turn up the heat. The lobsters dont realize theyre being cooked because the process is so gradual. As a result, they become co
37、mplacent and die without a struggle. However, if you throw a lobster into the pot when the water is boiling, it will desperately try to escape. This lobster is not lulled by a slowly changing environment. It realizes instantly that its in a bad environment and takes immediate action to change its st
38、atus.（分数：10.00）(1).Judging from the context, “to keep your head above water“ (Para. 1) probably means_.（分数：2.00）A.to be drownB.to keep out of financial difficultyC.to keep away from dangerD.to protect you from water(2).Why is Gates now constantly worried about the future of Microsoft?（分数：2.00）A.Beca
39、use he is the richest, most successful man on the planet.B.Because his company will be replaced tomorrow.C.Because in a very short time frame, Microsoft is an incredibly strong company.D.Because he doesnt think that any technology company has a guaranteed position.(3).Coleco Industries case suggests
40、 that_.（分数：2.00）A.the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls were the best selling toy on the marketB.the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls are sensational line of dollsC.complacency and lack of creation will ultimately ruin a businessD.the most successful businesses survive in the long term(4).According to this passage,
41、the 3M Companys success lies in its（分数：2.00）A.constant reassessment of their situationsB.reinventionC.15% ruleD.being around since 1902(5).By using the analogy of “throwing a lobster into a pot“, the author tries to imply that_.（分数：2.00）A.some managers are really foolish peopleB.its cruel to cook lo
42、bstersC.people are tend to become complacentD.bad environment calls for immediate actionBPassage Four/BThe study of philosophies should make our own ideas flexible. We are all of us apt to take certain general ideas for granted, and call them common sense. We should learn that other people have held
43、 quite different ideas, and that our own have started as very original guesses of philosophers.A scientist is apt to think that all the problems of philosophy will ultimately be solved by science. I think this is true for a great many of the questions on which philosophers still argue. For example,
44、Plato thought that when we saw something, one ray of light came to it from the sun, and another from our eyes and that seeing was something like feeling with a stick. We now know that the light comes from the sun, and is reflected into our eyes. We dont know in much detail how the changes in our eye
45、s give rise to sensation. But there is every reason to think that as we learn more about the physiology of the brain, we shall do so, and that the great philosophical problems about knowledge are going to be pretty fully cleared up.But if our descendants know the answers to these questions and other
46、s that perplex us today, there will still be one field of which they do not know, namely the future. However exact our science; we cannot know it as we know the past. Philosophy may be described as argument about things of which we are ignorant. And where science gives us a hope of knowledge it is o
47、ften reasonable to suspend judgment. That is one reason why Marx and Engels quite rightly wrote to many philosophical problems that interested their contemporaries.But we have got to prepare for the future, and we cannot do so rationally without some philosophy. Some people say we have only got to d
48、o the duties revealed in the past and laid down by religion, and god will look after the future. Others say that the world is a machine and the course of future events is certain, whatever efforts we may make. Marxists say that the future depends on ourselves, even though we are part of the historic
49、al process. This philosophical view certainly does inspire people to very great achievements. Whether it is true or not, it is powerful guide to action.We need a philosophy, then, to help us to tackle the future. Agnosticism easily becomes an excuse for laziness and conservatism. Whether we adopt Marxism or any other philosophy, we cannot understand it without knowing something of how it developed. That is why knowledge of the history of philosophy is important to Marxists, ev
