2014考研英语模拟测试题七
Section I Use of EnglishDirections:
Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on
ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)
It is often observed that the aged spend much time thinking and talking about their past lives, rather than about
the future. These reminiscences are not simply random or trivial memories, 1 is their purpose merely to
make conversation. The old person’s recollections of the past help to 2 an identity that is becoming
increasingly fragile: 3 any role that brings respect or any goal that might provide 4 to the future, the
individual mentions their 5 as a reminder to listeners, that here was a life 6 living. 7 , the
memories form part of a continuing life 8 , in which the old person 9 the events and experiences of the
years gone by and 10 on the overall meaning of his or her own almost completed life.
As the life cycle 11 to its close, the aged must also learn to accept the reality of their own impending
death. 12 this task is made difficult by the fact that death is almost a 13 subject in the United States. The
mere discussion of death is often regarded as 14 . As adults, many of us find the topic frightening and are
15 to think about it and certainly not to talk about it 16 the presence of someone who is dying. Death
has achieved this taboo 17 only in the modern industrial societies. There seems to be an important reason
for our reluctance to 18 the idea of death. It is the very fact that death remains 19 our control; it is
almost the only of the natural processes 20 is so.
Notes: reminiscence n.回忆。 fragile adj. 脆弱的。 Impending adj.即将发生的。
1. so even nor hardly
2. preserve conserve resume assume
3. performing playing undertaking lacking
4. orientation implication succession presentation
5. present past experience fate
6. worthy worth worthless worthwhile
7. In a word In brief In addition In particular
8. prospect impetus impression review
9. integrates incorporates includes interacts
10. reckons counts reflects conceive
11. keeps draws inclines tends
12. Therefore And Yet Otherwise
13. taboo dispute contempt neglect
14. notorious indecent obscure desperate
15. ready willing liable reluctant
16. at on with in
17. status circumstance environment priority
18. encounter confront tolerate expose
19. under above beyond within
20. which what as that
Section II Reading Comprehension
Part A
Directions:
Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D.
Text 1
Those who welcomed the railway saw it as more than a rapid and comfortable means of passing. They actually
saw it as a factor in world peace. They did not foresee that the railway would be just one more means for the
rapid movement of aggressive armies. None of them foresaw that the more we are together, the more chances
there are of war. Any boy or girl who is one of a large family knows that.
Whenever any new invention is put forward, those for it and those against it can always find medical men to
approve or condemn. The anti-railway group produced doctors who said that tunnels would be most dangerous to
public health: they would produce colds, catarrhs and consumptions. The deafening noise and the glare of the
engine fire would have a bad effect on the nerves. Further, being moved through the air at a high speed would do
grave injury to delicate lungs. In those with high blood-pressure, the movement of the train might produce
apoplexy(中风). The sudden plunging of a train into the darkness of a tunnel, and the equally sudden rush into
full daylight, would cause great damage to eyesight. But the pro-railway group was of course able to produce
equally famous medical men to say just the opposite. They said that the speed and swing of the train would
equalize the circulation, promote digestion, tranquilize the nerves, and ensure good sleep.
The actual rolling-stock was anything but comfortable. If it was a test of endurance to sit for four hours outside
a coach in rain, or inside in dirty air, the railway offered little more in the way of comfort. Certainly the
first-class carriages had cushioned seats; but the second-class had only narrow bare boards, while the third-class
had nothing at all; no seats and no roof; they were just open trucks. So that third-class passengers gained nothing
from the few mode except speed. In the matter of comfort, indeed they lost; they did, on the coaches, have a seat,
but now they had to stand all the way, which gave opportunities to the comic press. This kind of thing:” A man
was seen yesterday buying a third-class ticket for the new London and Birmingham Railway. The state of his
mind is being enquired into.”
A writer in the early days of railways wrote feelingly of both second-and third-class carriages. He made the
suggestion that the directors of the railways must have sent all over the world to find the hardest possible wood.
Of the open third-class trucks he said that they had the peculiar property of meeting the rain from whatever
quarter it came. He described them as horizontal shower-baths, from whose searching power there was no
escape.
21. All boys and girls in large families know that .
a boy and a girl usually fight when they are together
people tend to be together more than they used to be
a lot of people being together makes fights likely
railway leads the world to peace
22. Those who wanted railways .
claimed the railways would make people nervous
said people would sleep well if they traveled in trains
found the trucks as comfortable as the coaches
said sleeping well would become impossible without railways
23. The anti-railway group think that .
tunnels are certain to cause colds
the noise and the glare of the engine fire may affect people’s nerves
it is a convenient way of making a change
to those with high blood-pressure, the rapid speed of the train causes them to die
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35. The author’s suggestion to the problem is .
to make elementary schools an extension of the home for children
to make classrooms look better
to employ more men to teach in elementary schools
men should be encouraged to teach in elementary schools with more pay
Text 4
The simple act of surrendering a telephone number to a store clerk may seem innocuous---so much so that
many consumers do it with no questions asked. Yet that one action can set in motion a cascade of silent events,
as that data point is acquired, analyzed, categorized, stored and sold over and over again. Future attacks on your
privacy may come from anywhere, from anyone with money to purchase that phone number you surrendered. If
you doubt the multiplier effect, consider your e-mail inbox. If it’s loaded with spam, it’s undoubtedly because at
some point in time you unknowingly surrendered your e-mail to the wrong Web site.
Do you think your telephone number of address are handled differently? A cottage industry of small
companies with names you’ve probably never heard of---like Acxiom or Merlin---buy and sell your personal
information the way other commodities like corn or cattle futures are bartered. You may think your cell phone is
unlisted, but if you’ve ever ordered a pizza, it might not be. Merlin is one of many commercial data brokers that
advertises sale of unlisted phone numbers compiled from various sources---including pizza delivery companies.
These unintended, unpredictable consequences that flow from simple actions make privacy issues difficult to
grasp, and grapple with.
In a larger sense, privacy also is often cast as a tale of “Big Brother”---the government is watching you or a
big corporation is watching you. But privacy issues don’t necessarily involve large faceless institutions: A spouse
takes a casual glance at her husband’s Blackberry, a co-worker looks at e-mail over your shoulder or a friend
glances at a cell phone text message from the next seat on the bus. While very little of this is news to
anyone---people are now well aware there are video cameras and Internet cookies everywhere---there is abundant
evidence that people live their lives ignorant of the monitoring, assuming a mythical level of privacy. People
write e-mails and type instant messages they never expect anyone to see. Just ask Mark Foley or even Bill Gates,
whose e-mails were a cornerstone of the Justice Department’s antitrust case against Microsoft.
And polls and studies have repeatedly shown that Americans are indifferent to privacy concerns. The general
defense for such indifference is summed up a single phrase: ”I have nothing to hide.” If you have nothing to hide,
why shouldn’t the government be able to peek at your phone records, your wife see your e-mail or a company
send you junk mail? It’s a powerful argument, one that privacy advocates spend considerable time discussing and
strategizing over.
It is hard to deny, however, that people behave different when they’re being watched. And it is also
impossible to deny that Americans are now being watched more than at any time in history.
36. The email example shows
email has become the predominant means of communication.
careless surrendering of personal information can be harmful.
the communication via email is replacing that via telephone.
email will become an area for potential attacks on privacy.
37. Companies like Acxiom or Merlin
make a profit by acquiring and selling personal information.
compile telephone directories for local business transaction.
are law firms specializing in dealing with privacy issues.
are agencies whose major mission is to protect privacy.
38. We can infer from the third paragraph that
cases of intrusion on privacy the most serious in large institutions.
people are now clearly aware how their privacy can be invaded.
the Justice Department has done nothing about privacy issues so far.
Bill Gates’ email messages have been used against him in his lawsuit.
39. To the popular saying “I have nothing to hide”, the author’s response is one of
admiration. contempt.
disapproval. puzzlement.
40. What advice might the author give to the ordinary people?
Never leave your telephone number anywhere.
Raise your awareness of self-protection.
Use your cell phone and email wisely.
Don’t respond too readily to telephone messages.
Part B
Directions:
In the following article, some sentences have been removed. For questions 41-45, choose the most
suitable one from the list A-G to fit into each of the numbered blanks. There are two extra choices, which do
not fit in any of the blanks.
We’ve all seen the headlines about mobile phones. If you believed everything you read, you’d throw your
mobile away immediately for fear of everything from cancer to infertility. And that’s before we even start to
think about mobile phone base stations. 40 percent of people surveyed believed that masts are likely to cause
health problems. So what’s the truth? Should we worry about our mobile phones?
A vast amount of research has been done into mobile phone handsets. A few studies have claimed that
some phones can cause higher raters of brain tumors.
(41)
In 1999, the government commissioned an independent group of experts to look into the potential risks
of phones. The result was the “Stewart Report”, published in April 2000. This report advised that gaps in our
current knowledge mean we should take a “precautionary approach” to phone use.
(42)
In 2000, the Department of Health published a leaflet summarizing the recommendations from the
“Stewart Report”. This leaflet is supposed to be distributed by every mobile phone retailer. Sadly not all of the
retailers are doing this.
(43)
However, the dispute is still out on mobile phone handsets, especially the mobile phone base stations.
Is there any clearer evidence that they cause health problems? Again there is conflicting information. The
“Stewart Report” does not state implicitly any adverse health effects when exposed to a mobile phone. However,
many people up and down the country are suspicious.
(44)
The Should I Worry About team decided to carry out a test. They put ten students in a house for ten
days and erected a mobile mast in the garden. They weren’t entirely honest with them though; they told the
students the mast was on at the start of the experiment and off at the end. In fact it was off at the start and on at
the end. What’s interesting is that the only time any of the students felt ill was when the mast was OFF but they
thought it was ON.
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