英语一试题
2010年全国硕士研究生招生考试
英语一试题
Section I Use of English
Directions:
Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank and nark A, B, C or D on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)
①In 1924 America's National Research Council sent two engineers to supervise a series of experiments at a telephone-parts factory called the Hawthorne Plant near Chicago. ②It hoped they would learn how shop-floor lighting 1 workers' productivity. ③Instead, the studies ended 2 giving their name to the “Hawthorne effect,” the extremely influential idea that the very 3 of being experimented upon changed subjects' behavior.
①The idea arose because of the 4 behavior of the women in the plant. ②According to 5 of the experiments, their hourly output rose when lighting was increased, but also when it was dimmed. ③It did not 6 what was done in the experiment; 7 something was changed, productivity rose. ④A (n) 8 that they were being experimented upon seemed to be 9 to alter workers’ behavior 10 itself.
①After several decades, the same data were 11 to econometric analysis. ②The Hawthorne experiments had another surprise in store. 12 the descriptions on record, no systematic 13 was found that levels of productivity were related to changes in lighting. ①It turns out that peculiar way of conducting the experiments may have led to 14 interpretations of what happened. ② 15 , lighting was always changed on a Sunday. ③When work started again on Monday, output 16 rose compared with the previous Saturday and 17 to rise for the next couple of days. ④ 18 , a comparison with data for weeks when there was no experimentation showed that output always went up on Mondays. ⑤Workers 19 to be diligent for the first few days of the week in any case, before 20 a plateau and then slackening off. ⑥ This suggests that the alleged “Hawthorne effect” is hard to pin down. 1. [A] affected 2. [A] at 3. [A] truth 4. [A] controversial 5. [A] requirements 6. [A] conclude
[B] achieved [B] up [B] sight [B] perplexing [B] explanations [B] matter
[C] extracted [C] with [C] act [C] mischievous [C] accounts [C] indicate
[D] restored [D] off [D] proof
[D] ambiguous [D] assessments [D] work
7. [A] as far as 8. [A] awareness 9. [A] suitable 10. [A] about 11. [A] compared 12. [A] Contrary to 13. [A] evidence 14. [A] disputable 15. [A] In contrast 16. [A] duly 17. [A] failed 18. [A] Therefore 19. [A] attempted 20. [A] breaking [B] for fear that [B] expectation [B] excessive [B] for [B] shown [B] Consistent with [B] guidance [B] enlightening [B] For example [B] accidentally [B] ceased [B] Furthermore [B] tended [B] climbing [C] in case that
[C] sentiment [C] enough [C] on [C] subjected [C] Parallel with [C] implication [C] reliable [C] In consequence [C] unpredictably [C] started [C] However [C] chose [C] surpassing [D] so long as
[D] illusion [D] abundant [D] by
[D] conveyed [D] Peculiar to [D] source [D] misleading [D] As usual [D] suddenly [D] continued [D] Meanwhile [D] intended [D] hitting
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. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)
Text 1
①Of all the changes that have taken place in English-language newspapers during the past quarter-century, perhaps the most far-reaching has been the inexorable decline in the scope and seriousness of their arts coverage.
①It is difficult to the point of impossibility for the average reader under the age of forty to imagine a time when high-quality arts criticism could be found in most big-city newspapers. ②Yet a considerable number of the most significant collections of criticism published in the 20th century consisted in large part of newspaper reviews. ③To read such books today is to marvel at the fact that their learned contents were once deemed suitable for publication in general-circulation dailies.
①We are even farther removed from the unfocused newspaper reviews published in England between the turn of the 20th century and the eve of World War II, at a time when newsprint was dirt-cheap and stylish arts criticism was considered an ornament to the publications in which it appeared. ②In those far-off days, it was taken for granted that the critics of major papers would write in detail and at length about the events they covered. ③Theirs was a serious business, and even those reviewers who wore their learning lightly, like George Bernard Shaw and Ernest Newman, could be trusted to know what they were about. ④These men believed in journalism as a calling, and were proud to be published in the daily press. ⑤ “So few authors have brains enough or literary gift enough to keep their own end up in journalism,” Newman wrote, “that I am tempted to define ‘journalism’ as ‘a term of contempt applied by writers who are not read to writers who are’.”
①Unfortunately, these critics are virtually forgotten. ②Neville Cardus, who wrote for the Manchester Guardian from 1917 until shortly before his death in 1975, is now known solely as a writer of essays on the game of cricket. ③During his lifetime, though, he was also one of England’s
foremost classical-music critics, and a stylist so widely admired that his Autobiography (1947) became a best-seller. ④He was knighted in 1967, the first music critic to be so honored. ⑤Yet only one of his books is now in print, and his vast body of writings on music is unknown save to specialists.
①Is there any chance that Cardus’s criticism will enjoy a revival? ②The prospect seems remote. ③Journalistic tastes had changed long before his death, and postmodern readers have little use for the richly upholstered Vicwardian prose in which he specialized. ④Moreover, the amateur tradition in music criticism has been in headlong retreat. 21. It is indicated in Paragraphs 1 and 2 that
[A] arts criticism has disappeared from big-city newspapers
[B] English-language newspapers used to carry more arts reviews [C] high-quality newspapers retain a large body of readers [D] young readers doubt the suitability of criticism on dailies
22. Newspaper reviews in England before World War II were characterized by
[A] free themes [B] casual style [C] elaborate layout [D] radical viewpoints
23. Which of the following would Shaw and Newman most probably agree on?
[A] It is writers’ duty to fulfill journalistic goals. [B] It is contemptible for writers to be journalists. [C] Writers are likely to be tempted into journalism. [D] Not all writers are capable of journalistic writing.
24. What can be learned about Cardus according to the last two paragraphs?
[A] His music criticism may not appeal to readers today. [B] His reputation as a music critic has long been in dispute. [C] His style caters largely to modern specialists. [D] His writings fail to follow the amateur tradition. 25. What would be the best title for the text?
[A] Newspapers of the Good Old Days [B] The Lost Horizon in Newspapers [C] Mournful Decline of Journalism [D] Prominent Critics in Memory Text 2
①Over the past decade, thousands of patents have been granted for what are called business methods. ②Amazon.com received one for its “one-click” online payment system. ③Merrill Lynch got legal protection for an asset allocation strategy. ④One inventor patented a technique for lifting a box.
①Now the nation’s top patent court appears completely ready to scale back on business-method patents, which have been controversial ever since they were first authorized 10 years ago. ②In a move that has intellectual-property lawyers abuzz, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said it would use a particular case to conduct a broad review of business-method patents. ③In re Bilski, as the case is known, is “a very big deal,” says Dennis D. Crouch of the University of Missouri School of Law. ④It “has the potential to eliminate an entire class of patents.”
①Curbs on business-method claims would be a dramatic about-face, because it was the Federal Circuit itself that introduced such patents with its 1998 decision in the so-called State Street Bank case, approving a patent on a way of pooling mutual-fund assets. ②That ruling produced an explosion in business-method patent filings, initially by emerging Internet companies trying to stake out exclusive rights to specific types of online transactions. ③Later, more established companies raced to add such patents to their files, if only as a defensive move against rivals that might beat them to the punch. ④In 2005, IBM noted in a court filing that it had been issued more than 300 business-method patents, despite the fact that it questioned the legal basis for granting them. ⑤Similarly, some Wall Street investment firms armed themselves with patents for financial products, even as they took positions in court cases opposing the practice.
①The Bilski case involves a claimed patent on a method for hedging risk in the energy market. ②The Federal Circuit issued an unusual order stating that the case would be heard by all 12 of the court’s judges, rather than a typical panel of three, and that one issue it wants to evaluate is whether it should “reconsider” its State Street Bank ruling.
①The Federal Circuit’s action comes in the wake of a series of recent decisions by the Supreme Court that has narrowed the scope of protections for patent holders. ②Last April, for example, the justices signaled that too many patents were being upheld for “inventions” that are obvious. ③The judges on the Federal Circuit are “reacting to the anti-patent trend at the Supreme Court,” says Harold C. Wegner, a patent attorney and professor at George Washington University Law School. 26. Business-method patents have recently aroused concern because of
[A] their limited value to businesses. [B] their connection with asset allocation. [C] the possible restriction on their granting. [D] the controversy over their authorization. 27. Which of the following is true of the Bilski case?
[A] Its ruling complies with the court decisions. [B] It involves a very big business transaction. [C] It has been dismissed by the Federal Circuit. [D] It may change the legal practices in the U.S. 28. The word “about-face” (Para. 3) most probably means
[A] loss of goodwill. [B] increase of hostility. [C] change of attitude.
[D] enhancement of dignity.
29. We learn from the last two paragraphs that business-method patents
[A] are immune to legal challenges. [B] are often unnecessarily issued.
[C] lower the esteem for patent holders. [D] increase the incidence of risks.
30. Which of the following would be the subject of the text?
[A] A looming threat to business-method patents. [B] Protection for business-method patent holders. [C] A legal case regarding business-method patents. [D] A prevailing trend against business-method patents.
Text 3
①In his book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell argues that “social epidemics” are driven in large part by the actions of a tiny minority of special individuals, often called influentials, who are unusually informed, persuasive, or well connected. ②The idea is intuitively compelling, but it doesn’t explain how ideas actually spread.
①The supposed importance of influentials derives from a plausible-sounding but largely untested theory called the “two-step flow of communication” : Information flows from the media to the influentials and from them to everyone else. ②Marketers have embraced the two-step flow because it suggests that if they can just find and influence the influentials, those select people will do most of the work for them. ③The theory also seems to explain the sudden and unexpected popularity of certain looks, brands, or neighborhoods. ④In many such cases, a cursory search for causes finds that some small group of people was wearing, promoting, or developing whatever it is before anyone else paid attention. ⑤Anecdotal evidence of this kind fits nicely with the idea that only certain special people can drive trends.
①In their recent work, however, some researchers have come up with the finding that influentials have far less impact on social epidemics than is generally supposed. ②In fact, they don’t seem to be required at all.
①The researchers’ argument stems from a simple observation about social influence: With the exception of a few celebrities like Oprah Winfrey—whose outsize presence is primarily a function of media, not interpersonal, influence—even the most influential members of a population simply don’t interact with that many others. ②Yet it is precisely these non-celebrity influentials who, according to the two-step-flow theory, are supposed to drive social epidemics, by influencing their friends and colleagues directly. ③For a social epidemic to occur, however, each person so affected must then influence his or her own acquaintances, who must in turn influence theirs, and so on; and just how many others pay attention to each of these people has little to do with the initial influential. ④If people in the network just two degrees removed from the initial influential prove resistant, for example, the cascade of change won’t propagate very far or affect many people.
①Building on the basic truth about interpersonal influence, the researchers studied the dynamics of social influence by conducting thousands of computer simulations of populations, manipulating a number of variables relating to people’s ability to influence others and their tendency to be influenced. ②They found that the principal requirement for what is called “global cascades” —the widespread propagation of influence through networks—is the presence not of a few influentials but, rather, of a critical mass of easily influenced people. 31. By citing the book The Tipping Point, the author intends to
[A] analyze the consequences of social epidemics. [B] discuss influentials’ function in spreading ideas.
[C] exemplify people’s intuitive response to social epidemics. [D] describe the essential characteristics of influentials. 32. The author suggests that the “two-step-flow theory”
[A] serves as a solution to marketing problems. [B] has helped explain certain prevalent trends. [C] has won support from influentials. [D] requires solid evidence for its validity.
33. What the researchers have observed recently shows that
[汇总]2010-2018考研英语真题
