05年英語考研真題閱讀理解部分

2005年passage1

Everybodylovesafatpayrise.Yetpleasureatyourowncanvanishifyoulearnthatacolleaguehasbeengivenabiggerone.Indeed,ifhehasareputationforslacking,youmightevenbeoutraged.Suchbehaviourisregardedas“alltoohuman”,withtheunderlyingassumptionthatotheranimalswouldnotbecapableofthisfinelydevelopedsenseofgrievance.ButastudybySarahBrosnanandFransdeWaalofEmoryUniversityinAtlanta,passage2Doyourememberallthoseyearswhenscientistsarguedthatsmokingwouldkillusbutthedoubtersinsistedthatwedidn'tknowforsure?Thattheevidencewasinconclusive,thescienceuncertain?Thattheantismokinglobbywasouttodestroyourwayoflifeandthegovernmentshouldstayoutoftheway?LotsofAmericansboughtthatnonsense,andoverthreedecades,some10millionsmokerswenttoearlygraves.

Thereareupsettingparallelstoday,asscientistsinonewaveafteranothertrytoawakenustothegrowingthreatofglobalwarming.ThelatestwasapanelfromtheNationalAcademyofSciences,enlistedbytheWhiteHouse,totellusthattheEarth'satmosphereisdefinitelywarmingandthattheproblemislargelyman-made.Theclearmessageisthatweshouldgetmovingtoprotectourselves.ThepresidentoftheNationalAcademy,BruceAlberts,addedthiskeypointintheprefacetothepanel'sreport“Scienceneverhasalltheanswers.Butsciencedoesprovideuswiththebestavailableguidetothefuture,anditiscriticalthatoutnationandtheworldbaseimportantpoliciesonthebestjudgmentsthatsciencecanprovideconcerningthefutureconsequencesofpresentactions.”

Justasonsmoking,voicesnowcomefrommanyquartersinsistingthatthescienceaboutglobalwarmingisincomplete,thatit'sOktokeeppouringfumesintotheairuntilweknowforsure.Thisisadangerousgame:bythe100percentoftheevidenceisin,itmaybetoolate.Withtherisksobviousandgrowing,aprudentpeoplewouldtakeoutaninsurancepolicynow.

Fortunately,theWhiteHouseisstartingtopayattention.Butit'sobviousthatamajorityofthepresident'sadvisersstilldon'ttakeglobalwarmingseriously.Insteadofaplanofaction,theycontinuetopressformoreresearch-aclassiccaseof“paralysisbyanalysis”.

Toserveasresponsiblestewardsoftheplanet,wemustpressforwardondeeperatmosphericandoceanicresearchButresearchaloneisinadequate.IftheAdministrationwon'ttakethelegislativeinitiative,Congressshouldhelptobeginfashioningconservationmeasures.AbillbyDemocraticSenatorRobertByrdofWestVirginia,whichwouldofferfinancialincentivesforprivateindustryisapromisingstartManyseethatthecountryisgettingreadytobuildlotsofnewpowerplantstomeetourenergyneeds.Ifweareevergoingtoprotecttheatmosphere,itiscrucialthatthosenewplantsbeenvironmentallysound.26.Anargumentmadebysupportersofsmokingwasthat

[A].therewasnoscientificevidenceofthecorrelationbetweensmokinganddeath.

[B].thenumberofearlydeathsofsmokersinthepastdecadeswasinsignificant.

[C].peoplehadthefreedomtochoosetheirownwayoflife.

[D].antismokingpeoplewereusuallytalkingnonsense.27.AccordingtoBruceAlberts,sciencecanserveas

[A].aprotector.

[B].ajudge.

[C].acritic.

[D].aguide.28.Whatdoestheauthormeanby“paralysisbyanalysis”(Lastline,paragraph4)

[A].Endlessstudieskillaction.

[B].Carefulinvestigationrevealstruth.

[C].prudentplanninghinders.

[D].Extensiveresearchhelpsdecision-making.29.Accordingtotheauthor,whatshouldtheAdministrationdoabout

[A].Offeraidtobuildcleanerpowerplants.

[B].Raisepublicawarenessofconservation.

[C].Pressforfurtherscientificresearch.

[D].Takesomelegislativemeasures.30.Theauthorassociatestheissueofglobalwarmingwiththatofsmokingbecause

[A].theybothsufferedfromthegovernment'snegligence.

[B].alessonfromthelatterisapplicabletotheformer.

[C].theoutcomeofthelatteraggravatestheformer.

[D].bothofthemhaveturnedfrombadtoworse.passage3

Ofallthecomponentsofagoodnight'ssleep,dreamsseemtobeleastwithinourcontrol.Indreams,awindowopensintoaworldwherelogicissuspendedanddeadpeoplespeak.Acenturyago,Freudformulatedhisrevolutionarytheorythatdreamswerethedisguisedshadowsofourunconsciousdesiresandrears,bythelate1970s.neurologistshadswitchedtothinkingofthemasjust“mentalnoise”therandombyproductsoftheneural-repairworkthatgoesonduringsleep.Nowresearcherssuspectthatdreamsarepartofthemind'semotionalthermostat,regulatingmoodswhilethebrainis“off-line”Andoneleadingauthoritysaysthattheseintenselypowerfulmentaleventscanbenotonlyharnessedbutactuallybroughtunderconsciouscontrol,tohelpussleepandfeelbetter,“It'syourdream”saysRosalindCartwright,chairofpsychologyatChicago'sMedicalCenter.“Ifyoudon'tlikeit,changeit.”

Evidencefrombrainimagingsupportsthisview.ThebrainisasactiveduringREM(rapideyemovement)sleep-whenmostvividdreamsoccur-asitiswhenfullyawake,saysDr,EricNofzingerattheUniversityofPittsburghpassage4

Americannolongerexpectpublicfigures,whetherinspeechorinwriting,tocommandtheEnglishlanguagewithskillandgift.Nordotheyaspiretosuchcommandthemselves.Inhislatestbook,DoingOurOwnThing.TheDegradationoflanguageandMusicandwhyweshouldlike,care,JohnMcWhorter,alinguistandcontroversialistofmixedliberalandconservativeviews,seesthetriumphof1960scounter-cultureasresponsibleforthedeclineofformalEnglish.

Blamingthepermissive1960sisnothingnew,butthisisnotyetanothercriticismagainstthedeclineineducation.Mr.McWhorter’sacademicspecialityislanguagehistoryandchange,andheseesgradualdisappearanceof“whom”,forexample,tobenaturalandnomoreregranttablethanthelossofthecase-endingsofOldEnglish

Butthecultoftheauthenticandthepersonal,“doingourownthing”,hasspeltthedeathofformalspeech,writing,poetryandmusic.Whileeventhemodestlyeducatedsoughtanelevatedtonewhentheyputpentopaperbeforethe1960s,eventhemostwellregardedwritingsincethenhassoughttocapturespokenEnglishonthepage.Equally,inpoetry,thehighlypersonal,performativegenreistheonlyformthatcouldclaimrealliveliness.InbothoralandwrittenEnglish,talkingistriumphingoverspeaking,spontaneityovercraft.

Illustratedwithanentertainingarrayofexamplesfrombothhighandlowculture,thetrendthatMr.McWhorterdocumentsisunmistakable.Butitislessclear,totakethequestionofhissubtitle,whyweshould,likecare.Asalinguist,heacknowledgesthatallvarietiesofhumanlanguage,includingnon-standardoneslikeBlackEnglish,canbepowerfullyexpressive-thereexistsnolanguageordialectintheworldthatcannotconveycomplexideas.Heisnotarguing,asmanydo,thatwecannolongerthinkstraightbecausewedonottalkproper.

Russianshaveadeeplovefortheirownlanguageandcarrylargechunksofmemorizedpoetryintheirheads,whileItalianpoliticianstendtoelaboratespeechthatwouldseemold-fashionedtomostEnglish-speakers.Mr.McWhorteracknowledgesthatformallanguageisnotstrictlynecessary,andproposesnoradicaleducationreforms-heisreallygrievingoverthelossofsomethingbeautifulmorethanuseful.WenowtakeourEnglish“onpaperplatesinsteadofchina”.Ashame,perhaps,butprobablyaninevitableone.

36.AccordingtoMcWhorter,thedeclineofformalEnglish

[A].isinevitableinradicaleducationreforms.

[B].isbutalltoonaturalinlanguagedevelopment.

[C].hascausedthecontroversyoverthecounter-culture.

[D].broughtaboutchangesinpublicattitudesinthe1960s.

37.Theword“talking”(Linge6,paragraph3)denote