2009 年全国硕士研究生入学统一考试英语试题 Section I Use of English
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)
Research on animal intelligence always makes me wonder just how smart humans are. 1 the fruit-fly experiments described in Carl Zimmer’s piece in the Science Times on Tuesday. Fruit flies who were taught to be smarter than the average fruit fly 2 to live shorter lives. This suggests that 3 bulbs burn longer, that there is an 4 in not being too terrifically bright. Intelligence, it 5 out, is a high-priced option. It takes more upkeep, burns more fuel and is slow 6 the starting line because it depends on learning — a gradual 7 — instead of instinct. Plenty of other species are able to learn, and one of the things they’ve apparently learned is when to 8 .
Is there an adaptive value to 9 intelligence? That’s the question behind this new research. I like it. Instead of casting a wistful glance 10 at all the species we’ve left in the dust I.Q.- wise, it implicitly asks what the real 11 of our own intelligence might be. This is 12 the mind of every animal I’ve ever met.
Research on animal intelligence also makes me wonder what experiments animals would 13 on humans if they had the chance. Every cat with an owner, 14 , is running a small-scale study in operant conditioning. we believe that 15 animals ran the labs, they would test us to 16 the limits of our patience, our faithfulness, our memory for terrain. They would try to decide what intelligence in humans is
really 17 , not merely how much of it there is. 18 , they would hope to study a 19 question: Are humans actually aware of the world they live
in? 20 the results are inconclusive.
1. [A] Suppose [B] Consider [C] Observe [D] Imagine 2. [A] tended [B] feared [C] happened [D] threatened 3. [A] thinner [B] stabler [C] lighter [D] dimmer
4. [A] tendency [B] advantage [C] inclination [D] priority 5. [A] insists on [B] sums up [C] turns out [D] puts forward 6. [A] off [B] behind [C] over [D] along
7. [A] incredible [B] spontaneous [C]inevitable [D] gradual 8. [A] fight [B] doubt [C] stop [D] think
9. [A] invisible [B] limited [C] indefinite [D] different 10. [A] upward [B] forward [C] afterward [D] backward 11. [A] features [B] influences [C] results [D] costs 12. [A] outside [B] on [C] by [D] across 13. [A] deliver [B] carry [C] perform [D] apply
14. [A] by chance [B] in contrast [C] as usual [D] for instance 15. [A] if [B] unless [C] as [D] lest
16. [A] moderate [B] overcome [C] determine [D] reach 17. [A] at [B] for [C] after [D] with
18. [A] Above all [B] After all [C] However [D] Otherwise 19. [A] fundamental [B] comprehensive [C] equivalent [D] hostile
20. [A] By accident [B] In time [C] So far [D] Better still 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) Text1
Habits are a funny thing. We reach for them mindlessly, setting our brains on auto-pilot and relaxing into the unconscious comfort of familiar routine. “Not choice, but habit rules the unreflecting herd,” William Wordsworth said in the 19th century. In the ever-changing 21st century, even the word “habit” carries a negative connotation. So it seems antithetical to talk about habits in the same context as creativity and innovation. But brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously develop new habits, we create parallel synaptic paths, and even entirely new brain cells, that can jump our trains of thought onto new, innovative tracks.
But don’t bother trying to kill off old habits; once those ruts of procedure are worn into the hippocampus, they’re there to stay. Instead, the new habits we deliberately ingrain into ourselves create parallel pathways that can bypass those old roads.
“The first thing needed for innovation is a fascination with wonder,” says Dawna Markova, author of “The Open Mind” and an executive change consultant for Professional Thinking Partners. “But we are taught instead to ‘decide,’
2009年全国硕士研究生入学统一考试英语考研英语一考试真题
