1、考研英语（阅读）历年真题试卷汇编 1 及答案与解析Part ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. (40 points)0 （2006 年考试真题）On the north bank of the Ohio river sits Evansville, Ind., home of David Williams, 52, and of a riverboat casino (a place where gambling g
2、ames are played). During several years of gambling in that casino, Williams, a state auditor earning $35, 000 a year, lost approximately $ 175, 000. He had never gambled before the casino sent him a coupon for $ 20 worth of gambling.He visited the casino, lost the $ 20 and left. On his second visit
3、he lost $ 800. The casino issued to him, as a good customer, a “Fun Card“, which when used in the casino earns points for meals and drinks, and enables the casino to track the users gambling activities. For Williams, those activities became what he calls “electronic heroin“.(41)_In 1997 he lost $21,
4、 000 to one slot machine in two days. In March 1997 he lost $72, 186. He sometimes played two slot machines at a time, all night, until the boat docked at 5 a. m. , then went back aboard when the casino opened at 9 a. m. Now he is suing the casino, charging that it should have refused his patronage
5、because it knew he was addicted. It did know he had a problem.In March 1998 a friend of Williamss got him involuntarily confined to a treatment center for addictions, and wrote to inform the casino of Williamss gambling problem. The casino included a photo of Williams among those of banned gamblers,
6、 and wrote to him a “cease admissions“ letter. Noting the “medical/psychological“ nature of problem gambling behavior, the letter said that before being readmitted to the casino he would have to present medical/psychological information demonstrating that patronizing the casino would pose no threat
7、to his safety or well-being.(42) _The Wall Street Journal reports that the casino has 24 signs warning: “Enjoy the fun .and always bet with your head, not over it.“ Every entrance ticket lists a toll-free number for counseling from the Indiana Department of Mental Health. Nevertheless, Williamss sui
8、t charges that the casino, knowing he was “helplessly addicted to gambling“, intentionally worked to “lure“ him to “engage in conduct against his will“. Well.(43)_The fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders says “pathological gambling“ involves persistent, recurri
9、ng and uncontrollable pursuit less of money than of the thrill of taking risks in quest of a windfall.(44) _Pushed by science, or what claims to be science, society is reclassifying what once were considered character flaws or moral failings as personality disorders akin to physical disabilities.(45
10、)_Forty-four states have lotteries, 29 have casinos, and most of these states are to varying degrees dependent onyou might say addicted torevenues from wagering. And since the first Internet gambling site was created in 1995, competition for gamblers dollars has become intense. The Oct. 28 issue of
11、Newsweek reported that 2 million gamblers patronize 1, 800 virtual casinos every week. With $3.5 billion being lost on Internet wagers this year, gambling has passed pornography as the Webs most profitable business.A Although no such evidence was presented, the casinos marketing department continued
12、 to pepper him with mailings. And he entered the casino and used his Fun Card without being detected.B It is unclear what luring was required, given his compulsive behavior. And in what sense was his will operative?C By the time he had lost $ 5, 000 he said to himself that if he could get back to ev
13、en, he would quit. One night he won $ 5, 500, but he did not quit.D Gambling has been a common feature of American life forever, but for a long time it was broadly considered a sin, or a social disease. Now it is a social policy: the most important and aggressive promoter of gambling in America is t
14、he government.E David Williamss suit should trouble this gambling nation. But dont bet on it.F It is worrisome that society is medicalizing more and more behavioral problems, often defining as addictions what earlier, sterner generations explained as weakness of will.G The anonymous, lonely, undistr
15、acted nature of online gambling is especially conducive to compulsive behavior. But even if the government knew how to move against Internet gambling, what would be its grounds fox doing so?5 （2007 年考试真题）A Set a Good Example for Your KidsB Build Your Kids Work SkillsC Place Time Limits on Leisure Ac
16、tivitiesD Talk about the Future on a Regular BasisE Help Kids Develop Coping StrategiesF Help Your Kids Figure Out Who They AreG Build Your Kids Sense of ResponsibilityHow can a Parent Help?Mothers and fathers can do a lot to ensure a safe landing in early adulthood for their kids. Even if a jobs st
17、arting salary seems too small to satisfy an emerging adults need for rapid content, the transition from school to work can be less of a setback if the startup adult is ready for the move. Here are a few measures, drawn from my book Ready or Not, Here Life Comes, that parents can take to prevent what
18、 I call “work-life unreadiness“:41.You can start this process when they are 11 or 12. Periodically review their emerging strengths and weaknesses with them and work together on any shortcomings, like difficulty in communicating well or collaborating. Also, identify the kinds of interests they keep c
19、oming back to, as these offer clues to the careers that will fit them best.42.Kids need a range of authentic role modelsas opposed to members of their clique, pop stars and vaunted athletes. Have regular dinner-table discussions about people the family knows and how they got where they are. Discuss
20、the joys and downsides of your own career and encourage your kids to form some ideas about their own future. When asked what they want to do, they should be discouraged from saying “I have no idea“. They can change their minds 200 times, but having only a foggy view of the future is of little good.4
21、3.Teachers are responsible for teaching kids how to learn; parents should be responsible for teaching them how to work. Assign responsibilities around the house and make sure homework deadlines are met. Encourage teenagers to take a part-time job. Kids need plenty of practice delaying gratification
22、and deploying effective organizational skills, such as managing time and setting priorities.44.Playing video games encourages immediate content. And hours of watching TV shows with canned laughter only teaches kids to process information in a passive way. At the same time, listening through earphone
23、s to the same monotonous beats for long stretches encourages kids to stay inside their bubble instead of pursuing other endeavors. All these activities can prevent the growth of important communication and thinking skills and make it difficult for kids to develop the kind of sustained concentration
24、they will need for most jobs.45.They should know how to deal with setbacks, stresses and feelings of inadequacy. They should also learn how to solve problems and resolve conflicts, ways to brainstorm and think critically. Discussions at home can help kids practice doing these things and help them ap
25、ply these skills to everyday life situations.What about the son or daughter who is grown but seems to be struggling and wandering aimlessly through early adulthood? Parents still have a major role to play, but now it is more delicate. They have to be careful not to come across as disappointed in the
26、ir child. They should exhibit strong interest and respect for whatever currently interests their fledging adult (as naive or ill conceived as it may seem) while becoming a partner in exploring options for the future. Most of all, these new adults must feel that they are respected and supported by a
27、family that appreciates them.10 （2008 年考试真题）The time for sharpening pencils, arranging your desk, and doing almost anything else instead of writing has ended. The first draft will appear on the page only if you stop avoiding the inevitable and sit, stand up, or lie down to write. (41)_Be flexible. Y
28、our outline should smoothly conduct you from one point to the next, but do not permit it to railroad you. If a relevant and important idea occurs to you now, work it into the draft. (42)_Grammar, punctuation, and spelling can wait until you revise. Concentrate on what you are saying. Good writing mo
29、st often occurs when you are in hot pursuit of an idea rather than in a nervous search for errors.(43)_Your pages will be easier to keep track of that way, and, if you have to clip a paragraph to place it elsewhere, you will not lose any writing on the other side.If you are working on a word process
30、or, you can take advantage of its capacity to make additions and deletions as well as move entire paragraphs by making just a few simple keyboard commands. Some software programs can also check spelling and certain grammatical elements in your writing. (44)_ These printouts are also easier to read t
31、han the screen when you work on revisions.Once you have a first draft on paper, you can delete material that is unrelated to your thesis and add material necessary to illustrate your points and make your paper convincing. The student who wrote “The A wholesale demand from the food service sector is
32、growing quickly as more Europeans eat out more often; and changes in the competitive dynamics of this fragmented industry are at last making it feasible for wholesalers to consolidate.G However, none of these requirements should deter large retailers (and even some large food producers and existing
33、wholesalers) from trying their hand, for those that master the intricacies of wholesaling in Europe stand to reap considerable gains.Order:25 （2011 年考试真题）A No disciplines have seized on professionalism with as much enthusiasm as the humanities. You can, Mr Menand points out, became a lawyer in three
34、 years and a medical doctor in four. But the regular time it takes to get a doctoral degree in the humanities is nine years. Not surprisingly, up to half of all doctoral students in English drop out before getting their degrees.B His concern is mainly with the humanities: Literature, languages, phil
35、osophy and so on. These are disciplines that are going out of style: 22% of American college graduates now major in business compared with only 2% in history and 4% in English. However, many leading American universities want their undergraduates to have a grounding in the basic canon of ideas that
36、every educated person should possess. But most find it difficult to agree on what a “general education“ should look like. At Harvard, Mr Menand notes, “the great books are read because they have been read“they form a sort of social glue.C Equally unsurprisingly, only about half end up with professor
37、ships for which they entered graduate school. There are simply too few posts. This is partly because universities continue to produce ever more PhDs. But fewer students want to study humanities subjects: English departments awarded more bachelors degrees in 1970-71 than they did 20 years later. Fewe
38、r students requires fewer teachers. So, at the end of a decade of theses-writing, many humanities students leave the profession to do something for which they have not been trained.D One reason why it is hard to design and teach such courses is that they can cut across the insistence by top American
39、 universities that liberal-arts educations and professional education should be kept separate, taught in different schools. Many students experience both varieties. Although more than half of Harvard undergraduates end up in law, medicine or business, future doctors and lawyers must study a non-spec
40、ialist liberal-arts degree before embarking on a professional qualification.E Besides professionalizing the professions by this separation, top American universities have professionalised the professor. The growth in public money for academic research has speeded the process: federal research grants
41、 rose fourfold between 1960 and 1990. but faculty teaching hours fell by half as research took its toll. Professionalism has turned the acquisition of a doctoral degree into a prerequisite for a successful academic career: as late as 1969 a third of American professors did not possess one. But the k
42、ey idea behind professionalization, argues Mr Menand, is that “the knowledge and skills needed for a particular specialization are transmissible but not transferable“. So disciplines acquire a monopoly not just over the production of knowledge, but also over the production of the producers of knowle
43、dge.F The key to reforming higher education, concludes Mr Menand, is to alter the way in which “the producers of knowledge are produced“. Otherwise, academics will continue to think dangerously alike, increasingly detached from the societies which they study, investigate and criticize. “Academic inq
44、uiry, at least in some fields, may need to become less exclusionary and more holistic.“ Yet quite how that happens, Mr Menand dose not say. G The subtle and intelligent little book The Marketplace of Ideas: Reform and Resistance in the American University should be read by every student thinking of
45、applying to take a doctoral degree. They may then decide to go elsewhere. For something curious has been happening in American Universities, and Louis Menand, a professor of English at Harvard University, captured it skillfully.Order:30 （2012 年考试真题）A Of course, it is precisely these superfluous thin
46、gs that define human culture and ultimately what it is to be human. Downloading and consuming culture requires great skills, but failing to move beyond downloading is to strip oneself of a defining constituent of humanity.B Applications like , which allow users to combine pictures, words and other m
47、edia in creative ways and then share them, have the potential to add stickiness by amusing, entertaining and enlightening others.C Not only did they develop such a device but by the turn of the millennium they had also managed to embed it in a worldwide system accessed by billions of people every da
48、y.D This is because the networked computer has sparked a secret war between downloading and uploadingbetween passive consumption and active creationwhose outcome will shape our collective future in ways we can only begin to imagine.E The challenge the computer mounts to television thus bears little
49、similarity to one format being replaced by another in the manner of record players being replaced by CD players.F One reason for the persistence of this pyramid of production is that for the past half-century, much of the worlds media culture has been defined by a single mediumtelevisionand television is defined by downloading.G The networked computer offers the first chance in 50 years to reverse the flow, to encourage thoughtful downloading and, even more im
