2012年全国硕士研究生入学统一考试英语试题
Section Ⅰ Use of English
Directions:
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)
The ethical judgments of the Supreme Court justices have become an important issue recently. The court cannot 1 its legitimacy as guardian of the rule of law 2 justices behave like
politicians. Yet, in several instances, justices acted in ways that 3 the court's reputation for being independent and impartial.
Justice Antonin Scalia, for example, appeared at political events. That kind of activity makes it less likely that the court's decisions will be 4 as impartial judgments. Part of the problem is
that the justices are not 5 by an ethics code. At the very least, the court should make itself
6 to the code of conduct that 7 to the rest of the federal judiciary.
This and other similar cases 8 the question of whether there is still a 9 between the
court and politics.
The framers of the Constitution envisioned law 10 having authority apart from politics. They gave justices permanent positions 11 they would be free to 12 those in power and
have no need to 13 political support. Our legal system was designed to set law apart from politics precisely because they are so closely 14 .
Constitutional law is political because it results from choices rooted in fundamental social 15 like liberty and property. When the court deals with social policy decisions, the law it 16 is
inescapably political—which is why decisions split along ideological lines are so easily 17 as unjust.
The justices must 18 doubts about the court's legitimacy by making themselves 19 to
the code of conduct. That would make ruling more likely to be seen as separate from politics and, 20 , convincing as law.
1. [A] emphasize [B] maintain [C] modify [D] recognize 2. [A] when [B] lest [C] before [D] unless 3. [A] restored [B] weakened [C] established [D] eliminated 4. [A] challenged [B] compromised [C] suspected [D] accepted 5. [A] advanced [B] caught [C] bound [D] founded 6. [A] resistant [B] subject [C] immune [D] prone 7. [A] resorts [B] sticks [C] loads [D] applies 8. [A] evade [B] raise [C] deny [D] settle 9. [A] line [B] barrier [C] similarity [D] conflict 10. [A] by [B] as [C] though [D] towards 11. [A] so [B] since [C] provided [D] though 12. [A] serve [B] satisfy [C] upset [D] replace 13. [A] confirm [B] express [C] cultivate [D] offer 14. [A] guarded [B] followed [C] studied [D] tied 15. [A] concepts [B] theories [C] divisions [D] conceptions [D] controls [C] shapes [B] questions 16. [A] excludes 17. [A] dismissed [B] released [C] ranked [D] distorted 18. [A] suppress [B] exploit [C] address [D] ignore 19. [A] accessible [B] amiable [C] agreeable [D] accountable 20. [A] by all means [B] at all costs [C] in a word [D] as a result
Section Ⅰ 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
Come on—Everybody's doing it. That whispered message, half invitation and half forcing, is what most of us think of when we hear the words peer pressure. It usually leads to no good—drinking, drugs and casual sex. But in her new book Join the Club, Tina Rosenberg contends that peer pressure can also be a positive force through what she calls the social cure, in which
organizations and officials use the power of group dynamics to help individuals improve their lives and possibly the world.
Rosenberg, the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, offers a host of examples of the social cure in
action: In South Carolina, a state-sponsored antismoking program called Rage Against the Haze sets out to make cigarettes uncool. In South Africa, an HIV-prevention initiative known as LoveLife recruits young people to promote safe sex among their peers.
The idea seems promising, and Rosenberg is a perceptive observer. Her critique of the lameness of many pubic-health campaigns is spot-on: they fail to mobilize peer pressure for healthy habits, and they demonstrate a seriously flawed understanding of psychology. “Dare to be different, please don't smoke!”pleads one billboard campaign aimed at reducing smoking among teenagers-teenagers, who desire nothing more than fitting in. Rosenberg argues convincingly that public-health
advocates ought to take a page from advertisers, so skilled at applying peer pressure. But on the general effectiveness of the social cure, Rosenberg is less persuasive. Join the Club is filled with too much irrelevant detail and not enough exploration of the social and biological factors that make peer pressure so powerful. The most glaring flaw of the social cure as it's presented here is that it doesn't work very well for very long. Rage Against the Haze failed once state funding was cut. Evidence that the LoveLife program produces lasting changes is limited and mixed. There's no doubt that our peer groups exert enormous influence on our behavior. An emerging body of research shows that positive health habits—as well as negative ones—spread through networks of friends via social communication. This is a subtle form of peer pressure: we unconsciously imitate the behavior we see every day.
Far less certain, however, is how successfully experts and bureaucrats can select our peer groups and steer their activities in virtuous directions. It's like the teacher who breaks up the troublemakers in the back row by pairing them with better-behaved classmates. The tactic never really works. And that's the problem with a social cure engineered from the outside: in the real world, as in school, we insist on choosing our own friends.
21. According to the first paragraph, peer pressure often emerges as .
[A] a supplement to the social cure [B] a stimulus to group dynamics [D] a cause of undesirable behaviors [C] an obstacle to social progress 22. Rosenberg holds that public-health advocates should .
[A] recruit professional advertisers [B] learn from advertisers' experience [C] stay away from commercial advertisers [D] recognize the limitations of advertisements 23. In the author' s view, Rosenberg' s book fails to . [A] adequately probe social and biological factors [B] effectively evade the flaws of the social cure [C] illustrate the functions of state funding [D] produce a long-lasting social effect
24. Paragraph 5 shows that our imitation of behaviors .
[A] is harmful to our networks of friends [B] will mislead behavioral studies [C] occurs without our realizing it [D] can produce negative health habits 25. The author suggests in the last paragraph that the effect of peer pressure is .
[A] harmful [B] desirable [C] profound [D] questionable Text 2
A deal is a deal—except, apparently, when Entergy is involved. The company, a major energy supplier in New England, provoked justified outrage in Vermont last week when it announced it was reneging on a longstanding commitment to abide by the state's strict nuclear regulations.
Instead, the company has done precisely what it had long promised it would not: challenge the constitutionality of Vermont's rules in the federal court, as part of a desperate effort to keep its Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant running. It's a stunning move.
The conflict has been surfacing since 2002, when the corporation bought Vermont's only
2012年考研英语试题及答案
