2016考研英语阅读基础班讲义
（适合英语一及英语二考生）
陈正康博士编讲
1994 Passage 2
One hundred and thirteen million Americans have at least one bank-issued credit card. They give their owners automatic credit in stores, restaurants, and hotels, at home, across the country, and even abroad, and they make many banking services available as well. More and more of these credit cards can be read automatically, making it possible to withdraw or deposit money in scattered locations, whether or not the local branch bank is open. For many of us, the "cashless society" is not on the horizon — it's already here.
While computers offer these conveniences to consumers, they have many advantages for sellers too. Electronic cash registers can do much more than simply ring up sales. They can keep a wide range of records, including who sold what, when, and to whom. This information allows businessmen to keep track of their list of goods by showing which items are being sold and how fast they are moving. Decisions to reorder or return goods to suppliers can then be made. At the same time these computers record which hours are busiest and which employees are the most efficient, allowing personnel and staffing assignments to be made accordingly. And they also identify preferred customers for promotional campaigns. Computers are relied on by manufacturers for similar reasons. Computer-analyzed marketing reports can help to decide which products to emphasize now, which to develop for the future, and which to drop. Computers keep track of goods in stock, of raw materials on hand, and even of the production process itself.
Numerous other commercial enterprises, from theaters to magazine publishers, from gas and electric utilities to milk processors, bring better and more efficient services to consumers through the use of computers.
55. According to the passage, the credit card enables its owner to ________.
[A] withdraw as much money from the bank as he wishes
obtain more convenient services than other people do
[C] enjoy greater trust from the storekeeper
[D] cash money wherever he wishes to
56. From the last sentence of the first paragraph we learn that ________.
[A] in the future all the Americans will use credit cards
credit cards are mainly used in the United State today
[C] nowadays many Americans do not pay in cash
[D] it is now more convenient to use credit cards than before
57. The phrase "ring up sales" (line 2, paragraph 2) most probably means "________".
[A] make an order of goods
record basic sales on a cash register
[C] call the sales manager
[D] keep track of the goods in stock
58. What is this passage mainly about?
[A] Approaches to the commercial use of computers.
Conveniences brought about by computers in business.
[C] Significance of automation in commercial enterprises.
[D] Advantages of credit cards in business.
1995text 4
Personality is to a large extent inherent — A-type parents usually bring about A-type offspring. But the environment must also have a profound effect, since if competition is important to the parents, it is likely to become a major factor in the lives of their children.
One place where children soak up A characteristics is school, which is, by its very nature, a highly competitive institution. Too many schools adopt the "win at all costs" moral standard and measure their success by sporting achievements. The current passion for making children compete against their classmates or against the clock produces a two-layer system, in which competitive A-types seem in some way better than their B-type fellows. Being too keen to win can have dangerous consequences: remember that Pheidippides, the first marathon runner, dropped dead seconds after saying: "Rejoice, we conquer!"
By far the worst form of competition in schools is the disproportionate emphasis on examinations. It is a rare school that allows pupils to concentrate on those things they do well. The merits of competition by examination are somewhat questionable, but competition in the certain knowledge of failure is positively harmful.
Obviously, it is neither practical nor desirable that all A youngsters change into B's. The world needs types, and schools have an important duty to try to fit a child's personality to his possible future employment. It is top management.
If the preoccupation of schools with academic work was lessened, more time might be spent teaching children surer values. Perhaps selection for the caring professions, especially medicine, could be made less by good grades in chemistry and more by such considerations as sensitivity and sympathy. It is surely a mistake to choose our doctors exclusively from A- type stock. B's are important and should be encouraged.
63. According to the passage, A-type individuals are usually ________.
[A] impatient
considerate
[C] aggressive
[D] agreeable
64. The author is strongly opposed to the practice of examinations at schools because ________.
[A] the pressure is too great on the students
some students are bound to fail
[C] failure rates are too high
[D] the results of examinations are doubtful
65. The selection of medical professionals is currently based on ________.
[A] candidates' sensitivity
academic achievements
[C] competitive spirit
[D] surer values
66. From the passage we can draw the conclusion that ________.
[A] the personality of a child is well established at birth
family influence dominates the shaping of one's characteristics
[C] the development of one's personality is due to multiple factors
[D] B-type characteristics can find no place in a competitive society
1997text 1
It was 3:45 in the morning when the vote was finally taken. After six months of arguing and final 16 hours of hot parliamentary debates, Australia's Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die. The measure passed by the convincing vote of 15 to 10. Almost immediately word flashed on the Internet and was picked up, half a world away, by John Hofsess, executive director of the Right to Die Society of Canada. He sent it on via the group's on-line service, Death NET. Says Hofsess: "We posted bulletins all day long, because of course this isn't just something that happened in Australia. It's world history."
The full import may take a while to sink in. The NT Rights of the Terminally Ill law has left physicians and citizens alike trying to deal with its moral and practical implications. Some have breathed sighs of relief, others, including churches, right-to-life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the bill and the haste of its passage. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australia — where an aging population, life-extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part — other states are going to consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia. In the US and Canada, where the right-to-die movement is gathering strength, observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling.
Under the new Northern Territory law, an adult patient can request death — probably by a deadly injection or pill — to put an end to suffering. The patient must be diagnosed as terminally ill by two doctors. After a "cooling off" period of seven days, the patient can sign a certificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met. For Lloyd Nickson, a 54-year-old Darwin resident suffering from lung cancer, the NT Rights of Terminally Ill law means he can get on with living without the haunting fear of his suffering: a terrifying death from his breathing condition. "I'm not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view, but what I was afraid of was how I'd go, because I've watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks," he says.
51. From the second paragraph we learn that ________.
[A] the objection to euthanasia is slow to come in other countries
physicians and citizens share the same view on euthanasia
[C] changing technology is chiefly responsible for the hasty passage of the law
[D] it takes time to realize the significance of the law's passage
52. When the author says that observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling, he means ________.
[A] observers are taking a wait-and-see attitude towards the future of euthanasia
similar bills are likely to be passed in the US, Canada and other countries
[C] observers are waiting to see the result of the game of dominoes
[D] the effect-taking process of the passed bill may finally come to a stop
53. When Lloyd Nickson dies, he will ________.
[A] face his death with calm characteristic of euthanasia
experience the suffering of a lung cancer patient
[C] have an intense fear of terrible suffering
[D] undergo a cooling off period of seven days
54. The author's attitude towards euthanasia seems to be that of ________.
[A] opposition
suspicion
[C] approval
[D] indifference
1997 Passage 5
Much of the language used to describe monetary policy, such as "steering the economy to a soft landing" or "a touch on the brakes", makes it sound like a precise science. Nothing could be further from the truth. The link between interest rates and inflation is uncertain. And there are long, variable lags before policy changes have any effect on the economy. Hence the analogy that likens the conduct of monetary policy to driving a car with a blackened windscreen, a cracked rearview mirror and a faulty steering wheel.
Given all these disadvantages, central bankers seem to have had much to boast about of late. Average inflation in the big seven industrial economies fell to a mere 2.3% last year, close to its lowest level in 30 years, before rising slightly to 2.5% this July. This is a long way below the double-digit rates which many countries experienced in the 1970s and early 1980s.
It is also less than most forecasters had predicted. In late 1994 the panel of economists which The Economist polls each month said that America's inflation rate would average 3.5% in 1995. In fact, it fell to 2.6% in August, and is expected to average only about 3% for the year as a whole. In Britain and Japan inflation is running half a percentage point below the rate predicted at the end of last year. This is no flash in the pan; over the past couple of years, inflation has been consistently lower than expected in Britain and America.
Economists have been particularly surprised by favourable inflation figures in Britain and the United States, since conventional measures suggest that both economies, and especially America's, have little productive slack. America's capacity utilisation, for example, hit historically high levels earlier this year, and its jobless rate (5.6% in August) has fallen below most estimates of the natural rate of unemployment — the rate below which inflation has taken off on the past.
Why has inflation proved so mild? The most thrilling explanation is, unfortunately, a little defective. Some economists argue that powerful structural changes in the world have upended the old economic models that were based upon the historical link between growth and inflation.
67. From the passage we learn that ________.
[A] there is a definite relationship between inflation and interest rates
economy will always follow certain models
[C] the economic situation is better than expected
[D] economists had foreseen the present economic situation
68. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
[A] Making monetary policies is comparable to driving a car.
An extremely low jobless rate will lead to inflation.
[C] A high unemployment rate will result from inflation.
[D] Interest rates have an immediate effect on the economy.
69. The sentence "This is no flash in the pan" (line 5, paragraph 3) means that ________.
[A] the low inflation rate will last for some time
the inflation rate will soon rise
[C] the inflation will disappear quickly
[D] there is no inflation at present
70. The passage shows that the author is ________ the present situation.
[A] critical of
puzzled by
[C] disappointed at
[D] amazed at
2000 Passage 1
A history of long and effortless success can be a dreadful handicap, but, if properly handled, it may become a driving force. When the United States entered just such a glowing period after the end of the Second World War, it had a market eight times larger than any competitor, giving its industries unparalleled economies of scale. Its scientists were the world's best, its workers the most skilled. America and Americans were prosperous beyond the dreams of the Europeans and Asians whose economies the war had destroyed.
It was inevitable that this primacy should have narrowed as other countries grew richer. Just as inevitably, the retreat from predominance proved painful. By the mid-1980s Americans had found themselves at a loss over their fading industrial competitiveness. Some huge American industries, such as consumer electronics, had shrunk or vanished in the face of foreign competition. By 1987 there was only one American television maker left, Zenith. (Now there is none: Zenith was bought by South Korea's LG Electronics in July.) Foreign-made cars and textiles were sweeping into the domestic market. America's machine-tool industry was on the ropes. For a while it looked as though the making of semiconductors, which America had which sat at the heart of the new computer age, was going to be the next casualty.
All of this caused a crisis of confidence. Americans stopped taking prosperity for granted. They began to believe that their way of doing business was failing, and that their incomes would therefore shortly begin to fall as well. The mid-1980s brought one inquiry after another into the causes of America's industrial decline. Their sometimes sensational findings were filled with warnings about the growing competition from overseas.
How things have changed! In 1995 the United States can look back on five years of solid growth while Japan has been struggling. Few Americans attribute this solely to such obvious causes as a devalued dollar or the turning of the business cycle. Self-doubt has yielded to blind pride. "American industry has changed its structure, has gone on a diet, has learnt to be more quick-witted," according to Richard Cavanaugh, executive dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. "It makes me proud to be an American just to see how our businesses are improving their productivity," says Stephen Moore of the Cato Institute, a think-tank in Washington, D.C. And William Sahlman of the Harvard Business School believes that people will look back on this period as "a golden age of business management in the United States."
51. The US achieved its predominance after World War Ⅱ because________.
[A] it had made painstaking efforts towards this goal
its domestic market was eight times larger than before
[C] the war had destroyed the economies of most potential competitors
[D] the unparalleled size of its workforce had given an impetus to its economy
52. The loss of US predominance in the world economy in the 1980s is manifested in the fact that the American________.
[A] TV industry had withdrawn to its domestic market
semiconductor industry had been taken over by foreign enterprises
[C] machine-tool industry had collapsed after suicidal actions
[D] auto industry had lost part of its domestic market
53. What can be inferred from the passage?
[A] It is human nature to shift between self-doubt and blind pride.
Intense competition may contribute to economic progress.
[C] The revival of the economy depends on international cooperation.
[D] A long history of success may pave the way for further development.
54. The author seems to believe the revival of the US economy in the 1990s can be attributed to the________.
[A] turning of the business cycle
restructuring of industry
[C] improved business management
[D] success in education
2000 Passage 2
Being a man has always been dangerous. There are about 105 males born for every 100 females, but this ratio drops to near balance at the age of maturity, and among 70-year-olds there are twice as many women as men. But the great universal of male mortality is being changed. Now, boy babies survive almost as well as girls do. This means that, for the first time, there will be an excess of boys in those crucial years when the are searching for a mate. More important, another chance for natural selection has been removed. Fifty years ago, the chance of a baby (particularly a boy baby) surviving depended on its weight. A kilogram too light or too heavy meant almost certain death. Today it makes almost no difference. Since much of the variation is due to genes one more agent of evolution has gone.
There is another way to commit evolutionary suicide: stay alive, but have fewer children. Few people are as fertile as in the past. Except in some religious communities, very few women has 15 children. Nowadays the number of births, like the age of death, has become average. Most of us have roughly the same number of offspring. Again, differences between people and the opportunity for natural selection to take advantage of it have diminished. India shows what is happening. The country offers wealth for a few in the great cities and poverty for the remaining tribal peoples. The grand mediocrity of today — everyone being the same in survival and number of offspring — means that natural selection has lost 80% of its power in upper-middle-class India compared to the tribes.
For us, this means that evolution is over; the biological Utopia has arrived. Strangely, it has involved little physical change. No other species fills so many places in nature. But in the past 100,000 years — even the past 100 years — our lives have been transformed but our bodies have not. We did not evolve, because machines and society did it for us. Darwin had a phrase to describe those ignorant of evolution: they "look at an organic being as savage looks at a ship, as at something wholly beyond his comprehension." No doubt we will remember a 20th century way of life beyond comprehension for its ugliness. But however amazed our descendants may be at how far from Utopia we were, they will look just like us.
55. What used to be the danger in being a man according to the first paragraph?
[A] A lack of mates.
A fierce competition.
[C] A lower survival rate.
[D] A defective gene.
56. What does the example of India illustrate?
[A] Wealthy people tend to have fewer children than poor people.
Natural selection hardly works among the rich and the poor.
[C] The middle class population is 80% smaller than that of the tribes.
[D] India is one of the countries with a very high birth rate.
57. The author argues that our bodies have stopped evolving because________.
[A] life has been improved by technological advance
the number of female babies has been declining
[C] our species has reached the highest stage of evolution
[D] the difference between wealth and poverty is disappearing
58. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
[A] Sex Ration Changes in Human Evolution.
Ways of Continuing Man's Evolution.
[C] The Evolutionary Future of Nature.
[D] Human Evolution Going Nowhere.
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2015考研英语真题超精读基础篇（1994到2004年真题超精解）
