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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 rulings 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
16. [A]excludes [B]questions [C]shapes [D]controls
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 mesns [B]atall costs [C]in a word [D]as a result
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 word.
Rosenberg, the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, offers a host of example 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
[C] an obstacle to school progress
[D] a cause of undesirable behaviors
22. Rosenberg holds that public 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 5shows 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
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 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 nuclear power plant, an aging reactor in Vernon. As a condition of receiving state approval for the sale, the company agreed to seek permission from state regulators to operate past 2012. In 2006, the state went a step further, requiring that any extension of the plant’s license be subject to Vermont legislature’s approval. Then, too, the company went along.
Either Entergy never really intended to live by those commitments, or it simply didn’t foresee what would happen next. A string of accidents, including the partial collapse of a cooling tower in 207 and the discovery of an underground pipe system leakage, raised serious questions about both Vermont Yankee’s safety and Entergy’s management– especially after the company made misleading statements about the pipe. Enraged by Entergy’s behavior, the Vermont Senate voted 26 to 4 last year against allowing an extension.
Now the company is suddenly claiming that the 2002 agreement is invalid because of the 2006 legislation, and that only the federal government has regulatory power over nuclear issues. The legal issues in the case are obscure: whereas the Supreme Court has ruled that states do have some regulatory authority over nuclear power, legal scholars say that Vermont case will offer a precedent-setting test of how far those powers extend. Certainly, there are valid concerns about the patchwork regulations that could result if every state sets its own rules. But had Entergy kept its word, that debate would be beside the point.
The company seems to have concluded that its reputation in Vermont is already so damaged that it has noting left to lose by going to war with the state. But there should be consequences. Permission to run a nuclear plant is a poblic trust. Entergy runs 11 other reactors in the United States, including Pilgrim Nuclear station in Plymouth. Pledging to run Pilgrim safely, the company has applied for federal permission to keep it open for another 20 years. But as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reviews the company’s application, it should keep it mind what promises from Entergy are worth.
26. The phrase “reneging on”(Line 3.para.1) is closest in meaning to
[A] condemning.[B] reaffirming.[C] dishonoring.[D] securing.
27. By entering into the 2002 agreement, Entergy intended to
[A] obtain protection from Vermont regulators.
[B] seek favor from the federal legislature.
[C] acquire an extension of its business license .
[D] get permission to purchase a power plant.
28. According to Paragraph 4, Entergy seems to have problems with its
[A] managerial practices. [B] technical innovativeness.
[C] financial goals. [D] business vision
29. In the author’s view, the Vermont case will test
[A] Entergy’s capacity to fulfill all its promises.
[B] the mature of states’ patchwork regulations.
[C] the federal authority over nuclear issues .
[D] the limits of states’ power over nuclear issues.
30. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that
[A] Entergy’s business elsewhere might be affected.
[B] the authority of the NRC will be defied.
[C] Entergy will withdraw its Plymouth application.
[D] Vermont’s reputation might be damaged.
In the idealized version of how science is done, facts about the world are waiting to be observed and collected by objective researchers who use the scientific method to carry out their work. But in the everyday practice of science, discovery frequently follows an ambiguous and complicated route. We aim to be objective, but we cannot escape the context of our unique life experience. Prior knowledge and interest influence what we experience, what we think our experiences mean, and the subsequent actions we take. Opportunities for misinterpretation, error, and self-deception abound.
Consequently, discovery claims should be thought of as protoscience. Similar to newly staked mining claims, they are full of potential. But it takes collective scrutiny and acceptance to transform a discovery claim into a mature discovery. This is the credibility process, through which the individual researcher’s me, here, now becomes the community’s anyone, anywhere, anytime. Objective knowledge is the goal, not the starting point.
Once a discovery claim becomes public, the discoverer receives intellectual credit. But, unlike with mining claims, the community takes control of what happens next. Within the complex social structure of the scientific community, researchers make discoveries; editors and reviewers act as gatekeepers by controlling the publication process; other scientists use the new finding to suit their own purposes; and finally, the public (including other scientists) receives the new discovery and possibly accompanying technology. As a discovery claim works it through the community, the interaction and confrontation between shared and competing beliefs about the science and the technology involved transforms an individual’s discovery claim into the community’s credible discovery.
Two paradoxes exist throughout this credibility process. First, scientific work tends to focus on some aspect of prevailing Knowledge that is viewed as incomplete or incorrect. Little reward accompanies duplication and confirmation of what is already known and believed. The goal is new-search, not re-search. Not surprisingly, newly published discovery claims and credible discoveries that appear to be important and convincing will always be open to challenge and potential modification or refutation by future researchers. Second, novelty itself frequently provokes disbelief. Nobel Laureate and physiologist Albert Azent-Gyorgyi once described discovery as “seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.” But thinking what nobody else has thought and telling others what they have missed may not change their views. Sometimes years are required for truly novel discovery claims to be accepted and appreciated.
In the end, credibility “happens” to a discovery claim – a process that corresponds to what philosopher Annette Baier has described as the commons of the mind. “We reason together, challenge, revise, and complete each other’s reasoning and each other’s conceptions of reason.”
31. According to the first paragraph, the process of discovery is characterized by its
[A] uncertainty and complexity.
[B] misconception and deceptiveness.
[C] logicality and objectivity.
[D] systematicness and regularity.
32. It can be inferred from Paragraph 2 that credibility process requires
[A] strict inspection. [B]shared efforts.
[C] individual wisdom. [D]persistent innovation.
33.Paragraph 3 shows that a discovery claim becomes credible after it
[A] has attracted the attention of the general public.
[B]has been examined by the scientific community.
[C] has received recognition from editors and reviewers.
[D]has been frequently quoted by peer scientists.
34. Albert Szent-Györgyi would most likely agree that
[A] scientific claims will survive challenges.
[B]discoveries today inspire future research.
[C] efforts to make discoveries are justified.
[D]scientific work calls for a critical mind.
35.Which of the following would be the best title of the test?
[A] Novelty as an Engine of Scientific Development.
[B]Collective Scrutiny in Scientific Discovery.
[C] Evolution of Credibility in Doing Science.
[D]Challenge to Credibility at the Gate to Science.
If the trade unionist Jimmy Hoffa were alive today, he would probably represent civil servant. When Hoffa’s Teamsters were in their prime in 1960, only one in ten American government workers belonged to a union; now 36% do. In 2009 the number of unionists in America’s public sector passed that of their fellow members in the private sector. In Britain, more than half of public-sector workers but only about 15% of private-sector ones are unionized.
There are three reasons for the public-sector unions’ thriving. First, they can shut things down without suffering much in the way of consequences. Second, they are mostly bright and well-educated. A quarter of America’s public-sector workers have a university degree. Third, they now dominate left-of-centre politics. Some of their ties go back a long way. Britain’s Labor Party, as its name implies, has long been associated with trade unionism. Its current leader, Ed Miliband, owes his position to votes from public-sector unions.
At the state level their influence can be even more fearsome. Mark Baldassare of the Public Policy Institute of California points out that much of the state’s budget is patrolled by unions. The teachers’ unions keep an eye on schools, the CCPOA on prisons and a variety of labor groups on health care.
In many rich countries average wages in the state sector are higher than in the private one. But the real gains come in benefits and work practices. Politicians have repeatedly “backloaded” public-sector pay deals, keeping the pay increases modest but adding to holidays and especially pensions that are already generous.
Reform has been vigorously opposed, perhaps most egregiously in education, where charter schools, academies and merit pay all faced drawn-out battles. Even though there is plenty of evidence that the quality of the teachers is the most important variable, teachers’ unions have fought against getting rid of bad ones and promoting good ones.
As the cost to everyone else has become clearer, politicians have begun to clamp down. In Wisconsin the unions have rallied thousands of supporters against Scott Walker, the hardline Republican governor. But many within the public sector suffer under the current system, too.
John Donahue at Harvard’s Kennedy School points out that the norms of culture in Western civil services suit those who want to stay put but is bad for high achievers. The only American public-sector workers who earn well above $250,000 a year are university sports coaches and the president of the United States. Bankers’ fat pay packets have attracted much criticism, but a public-sector system that does not reward high achievers may be a much bigger problem for America.
36. It can be learned from the first paragraph that
[A] Teamsters still have a large body of members.
[B] Jimmy Hoffa used to work as a civil servant.
[C] unions have enlarged their public-sector membership.
[D]the government has improved its relationship with unionists.
37. Which of the following is true of Paragraph 2?
[A] Public-sector unions are prudent in taking actions.
[B] Education is required for public-sector union membership.
[C] Labor Party has long been fighting against public-sector unions.
[D]Public-sector unions seldom get in trouble for their actions.
38. It can be learned from Paragraph 4 that the income in the state sector is
[A] illegally secured. [B] indirectly augmented.
[C] excessively increased. [D]fairly adjusted.
39. The example of the unions in Wisconsin shows that unions
[A]often run against the current political system.
[B]can change people’s political attitudes.
[C]may be a barrier to public-sector reforms.
[D]are dominant in the government.
40. John Donahue’s attitude towards the public-sector system is one of
[A]disapproval.[B]appreciation.[C]tolerance.[D]indifference.
Think of those fleeting moments when you look out of an aeroplane window and realise that you are flying, higher than a bird. Now think of your laptop, thinner than a brown-paper envelope, or your cellphone in the palm of your hand. Take a moment or two to wonder at those marvels. You are the lucky inheritor of a dream come true.
The second half of the 20th century saw a collection of geniuses, warriors, entrepreneurs and visionaries labour to create a fabulous machine that could function as a typewriter and printing press, studio and theatre, paintbrush and gallery, piano and radio, the mail as well as the mail carrier. (41)
The networked computer is an amazing device, the first media machine that serves as the mode of production, means of distribution, site of reception, and place of praise and critique. The computer is the 21st century's culture machine.
But for all the reasons there are to celebrate the computer, we must also tread with caution. (42)I call it a secret war for two reasons. First, most people do not realise that there are strong commercial agendas at work to keep them in passive consumption mode. Second, the majority of people who use networked computers to upload are not even aware of the significance of what they are doing.
All animals download, but only a few upload. Beavers build dams and birds make nests. Yet for the most part, the animal kingdom moves through the world downloading. Humans are unique in their capacity to not only make tools but then turn around and use them to create superfluous material goods - paintings, sculpture and architecture - and superfluous experiences - music, literature, religion and philosophy. (43)
For all the possibilities of our new culture machines, most people are still stuck in download mode. Even after the advent of widespread social media, a pyramid of production remains, with a small number of people uploading material, a slightly larger group commenting on or modifying that content, and a huge percentage remaining content to just consume. (44)
Television is a one-way tap flowing into our homes. The hardest task that television asks of anyone is to turn the power off after he has turned it on.
(45)
What counts as meaningful uploading? My definition revolves around the concept of "stickiness" - creations and experiences to which others adhere.
[A] Of course, it is precisely these superfluous things that define human culture and ultimately what it is to be human. Downloading and consuming culture requires great skills, but failing to move beyond downloading is to strip oneself of a defining constituent of humanity.
[B] Applications like tumblr.com, which allow users to combine pictures, words and other media in creative ways and then share them, have the potential to add stickiness by amusing, entertaining and enlightening others.
[C] Not only did they develop such a device but by the turn of the millennium they had also managed to embed it in a worldwide system accessed by billions of people every day.
[D] This is because the networked computer has sparked a secret war between downloading and uploading - between passive consumption and active creation - whose outcome will shape our collective future in ways we can only begin to imagine.
[E] The challenge the computer mounts to television thus bears little similarity to one format being replaced by another in the manner of record players being replaced by CD players.
[F] One reason for the persistence of this pyramid of production is that for the past half-century, much of the world's media culture has been defined by a single medium - television - and television is defined by downloading.
[G]The networked computer offers the first chance in 50 years to reverse the flow, to encourage thoughtful downloading and, even more importantly, meaningful uploading.
Part C
Since the days of Aristotle, a search for universal principles has characterized the scientific enterprise. In some ways, this quest for commonalities defines science. Newton’s laws of motion and Darwinian evolution each bind a host of different phenomena into a single explicatory frame work.
(46)In physics, one approach takes this impulse for unification to its extreme, and seeks a theory of everything—a single generative equation for all we see.It is becoming less clear, however, that such a theory would be a simplification, given the dimensions and universes that it might entail, nonetheless, unification of sorts remains a major goal.
This tendency in the natural sciences has long been evident in the social sciences too. (47)Here, Darwinism seems to offer justification for it all humans share common origins it seems reasonable to suppose that cultural diversity could also be traced to more constrained beginnings. Just as the bewildering variety of human courtship rituals might all be considered forms of sexual selection, perhaps the world’s languages, music, social and religious customs and even history are governed by universal features. (48)To filter out what is unique from what is shared might enable us to understand how complex cultural behavior arose and what guides it in evolutionary or cognitive terms.
That, at least, is the hope. But a comparative study of linguistic traits published online today supplies a reality check. Russell Gray at the University of Auckland and his colleagues consider the evolution of grammars in the light of two previous attempts to find universality in language.
The most famous of these efforts was initiated by Noam Chomsky, who suggested that humans are born with an innate language—acquisition capacity that dictates a universal grammar. A few generative rules are then sufficient to unfold the entire fundamental structure of a language, which is why children can learn it so quickly.
(49)The second, by Joshua Greenberg, takes a more empirical approach to universality identifying traits (particularly in word order) shared by many language which are considered to represent biases that result from cognitive constraints
Gray and his colleagues have put them to the test by examining four family trees that between them represent more than 2,000 languages.(50)Chomsky’s grammar should show patterns of language change that are independent of the family tree or the pathway tracked through it. Whereas Greenbergian universality predicts strong co-dependencies between particular types of word-order relations. Neither of these patterns is borne out by the analysis, suggesting that the structures of the languages are lire age-specific and not governed by universals
Section III Writing
Some internationals students are coming to your university. Write them an email in the name of the Students’ Union to
1) extend your welcome and
2) provide some suggestions for their campus life here.
You should write about 100 words on ANSWER SHEET2.Do not sign your name at the end of the letter. Use “Li Ming” instead.
Do not write the address(10 points)
Part B
52. Directions: write an essay of 160-200 words based on the following drawing. In your essay you should
1) describe the drawing briefly
2) explain its intended meaning, and
3) give your comments
You should write neatly on ANSWER SHEET2.(20 points)
1.【答案】B【解析】从空后信息可以看出,这句表达的是“_ _法官表现得像政治家”的情况下,法庭就不能保持其作为法律法规的合法卫士的形象,所以应该选C,maintain“维持,保持”,其他显然语义不通。
2.【答案】A【解析】从第三段可以看出,文章认为法院和政治之间应该是有界限的。所以这里应该是当法官像政治家一样行事,模糊了二者之间的区别时,就失去了其作为法律卫士的合法性。只有B,when表示这个意思。
3.【答案】B【解析】第二段给的具体事例说明,法官出现在政治活动中会使法官形象受损,影响他们独立、公正的名声。只有B,weaken能表示这个意思。
4.【答案】D【解析】空前信息显示,法官出席政治活动会让法院的审判收到影响,人们就会认为其审判不公正,所以选D,be accepted as...“被认为是”。
5.【答案】C【解析】空所在的语境为:产生这样的问题,部分原因在于“法官没有_ _道德规范”。后一句话说,至少法院应该遵守行为规范,这显然是进一步说明上一句话。所以上一句是说法官没有受到道德规范的约束,选C,bound。
6.【答案】B【解析】根据解析5可以看出,这里应该是说遵守行为规范,subject与to连用,表示“服从某物,受…支配”。故本题选B。
7.【答案】D【解析】分析句子结构可知,这里是由that引导的定语从句修饰说明前面的行为规范,是说法院也应当遵守适用于其他联邦司法部的行为规范。apply to “适用于”符合题意。resort to “求助于”;stick to “坚持(原则等)”语意不通。
8.【答案】B【解析】空所在的语境为,类似这样的案例提出了这样一个问题:法院和政治之间是否还存在着界限。提出问题,产生问题用只能选raise。
9.【答案】A【解析】根据第8题可知,空内应填line,“界限”。 barrier “障碍”,similarity“相似性”,conflict“冲突”都不合题意。
10.【答案】B【解析】根据句意,宪法的起草者们预想的是将司法从政治中分出来,让其享有独立的权力。envision as “将…想象成…”。所以选B。
11.【答案】A【解析】本题考察逻辑搭配。本选项答案的确定需结合前句意思,制宪者旨在使法律不受政治的任何影响,这样一来,法官就可以免受掌权者的影响了。此空就是考察由此所带来的结果,故选[A]。
12.【答案】C【解析】此题承接上题,可知法律不受政治的影响,从而法官也不用担心掌权者(those in power)。
13.【答案】C【解析】此题承接上题, 结合句意, 可知该半句主要表达“法官也无需政治支持了。”选项C最符题意。
14.【答案】D【解析】此题考察词意辨析。原句表达“我们的法律体系是法律完全不受政治的影响,是因为这两者是紧密。。。”。结合句意思,[D]最合题意.
15.【答案】A【解析】此题考察词意辨析。文中说“宪法具有政治性,是因其的选择都是植根于诸如自由,财产之类的基本社会。。。中。”自由,财产是西方社会的一些基本社会理念或概念,故选[A]。
16.【答案】C【解析】此题考察词意辨析。首先分析该句,可知空白处添加上一动词可构成一定语从句,限定“the law”。其次,文中语境表达“当法律处理社会政策决策问题时,。。。的法律不可避免的具有政治性。四个选项中,[C]为最佳答案。
17.【答案】A【解析】此题考察词意辨析。可由文中语境得知,该半句主要表达“这也就解释了为何背离思想路线的决策被看作是不公正的,从而被轻易的….”。结合语境,以及四个选项的意思,可知[A]最佳。
18.【答案】C【解析】此题考察词意辨析。由文中语境可知该句主要表达“法官必须。。。有关法庭(裁决的)公正合理的质疑。”四个选项中,仅[C]符合题意。
19.【答案】D【解析】本题考察短语搭配及相似短语辨析。四个选项均可与连用,其中accessible to 易接近的;可归属的;可得到的可归因的amiable to可亲,多指人和蔼可亲,易于接近agreeable to欣然同意的;适合的,适宜的accountable to对…负责
此题的理解需承接整个句, 首先此空所在后半句乃一方式状语,承接前半句说明法官怎样来解决有关法庭(裁决的)公正合理的质疑。将此四个选项分别代入,可得出正确答案[D],法官只有对对行为准则负责,也即是遵循一定的行为准则才可确保其裁决的公正与合理。
20.【答案】D【解析】此题考察逻辑搭配。此句承接上句,旨在说明由此带来的结果,也即是文中所说的“。。。使得裁决看起来完全不受政治的影响,如法律一般令人信服。” 结合四个选项意思,可知选[D]。
21.【答案】D【解析】文章首段包含了两方面的内容,作者先简单介绍Peer pressure,再引出Tina Rosenberg在她的新书Join the Club中对于peer pressure的看法,这篇文章是以一篇书评的形式出现。而题目“根据第一段,同伴压力的出现常常是…”问的仅仅是同伴压力,并无涉及到Tina Rosenberg或者她的新书,因此答案则应主要涉及文章对于peer pressure的介绍,而非Tina对于peer pressure的看法。首段第三句说“(同伴压力)通常引起不好的事情,如酗酒,嗑药,乱交”,故答案选D,说明同伴压力出现导致的结果,这里的答案使用了同义替换的方式。
22.【答案】B【解析】根据题干关键词“public-health advocates”可以定位到第三段最后一句话“Rosenberg argues convincingly that public-health advocates ought to take a page from advertisers, so skilled at applying peer pressure”,即应该向广告商学习,这里主要是对于短语“take a page from”的理解,答案选B
23.【答案】A【解析】根据题干“在作者看来,Rosenberg的书没能…”,所选答案是要找出作者看来这本书的缺点是什么。文章第四段第一句话说“但是,在…方面,Rosenberg不太有说服力”,紧接着说“Join the Club中太多无关的细节,而对于使同伴压力能产生如此大作用的社会和生物因素并未做足够的探究”,这句话充分说明了在作者心目中这本书的不足在哪儿,故答案选A
24.【答案】C【解析】这是一道细节题。文章第五段首句告诉我们peer groups确实会对行为产生很大的影响,第二句具体说明影响的内容,即好的习惯和不好的习惯都会通过社会交际在朋友圈中传递,最后一句则对这种影响进行了总结,“这是同伴压力的细微表现,我们无意识地模仿日常所见到的行为”。而分析题干和选项,我们发现该题是对“imitation of behavior”进行归纳,回到原文,找到“我们无意识地模仿日常所见到的行为”,答案即刻清晰,这里是对unconsciously一词进行了释义,因此C选项正确。
25.【答案】D【解析】这道题考查作者对于peer pressure所能带来的影响的态度,作者通过最后一段第一句话首先向我们表明他对“专家和其他官方人员是否能成功选择同伴来引导他们的行为朝好的方向发展”的不肯定,接下来以教师指导学生的例子为说明,得出结论“The tactic never really works.”(这个策略从来没有真正起作用)。通过作者的这样一番描述,可以看出,作者对于peer pressure是否能有效果是质疑的,故答案选D。
26.【答案】C【解析】reneging 的原形是renege,本议是“食言”“否认”之意,为反向意义词。而四个选项中A 中的condemning 意为“谴责”“处刑”B中的reaffirming 意为“重申”“再肯定,再断言”,C中的dishonoring的意为“拒付,不兑付”,在意思和方向上都符合,D中securing 意为“保证,使保险”的含义。本文主要在说Entergy这个公司不兑现自己的诺言,所以应选C项。
27.【答案】D本题答案定位在文中第三段每二句话,As a condition of receiving state approval for the sale , the company agreed to seek permission from state regulators to operate past 2012. “as a condition of”可以理解为“为了”,D 项中的“purchase ”一词就是对文中“sale”的替换。
28.【答案】A题干:“根据第四段Entergy公司似乎在它的····上存在着问题”,题目中已清晰把答案范围确定在第四段,通过阅读第四段我们可以看到Entergy公司出现了一系列的事故“a string of accidents”,而后面的这句“raised serious questions about both Vermont Yankee’s safety and Entergy’s management”就是本题的答案所在了。其中 “managerial” “management”仍是同一单词的变形。
29.【答案】D首先从题干知道考查的是作者的观点。 “佛蒙特州事件”和will test在文章中的定位是在第5段第5句话,“Vermont case will offer a precedent-setting test of how far those powers extend”意思是“佛蒙特州事件将会检验是这些权利延伸多远的先例”。这句话是legal scholars的观点。重点是理解certainly和but后面的意思。虽然作者承认担忧如果每个周各行其是的后果是合理的,但是But后面是个虚拟语气,与事实相反。所以作者的真正态度是支持legal scholars的观点,即佛蒙特州事件是对州法规的权限的考验。How far those power extended与D选项的the limits of states’ power与选项D“各州在核问题上的权限”是相匹配的,因此正确答案为D。其他选项与“佛蒙特州事件”带来的检验,文中并未直接提及。
30.【答案】A最后一段主要讲的是“Entergy公司的名誉已严重受创。该公司向联邦申请:许可Pilgrim核电站获得另外20年的开放权。但是作者认为,核管理委员会在审核该公司的申请的时候,务必要考虑下该公司的信誉问题。”A选项“Entergy公司在其它地方的生意将会受到影响”由最后一段的第一句话“Entergy公司的名誉已严重受创”就可以推断出来;B“核管理委员会的权威将会被藐视”最后一段没给出任何要藐视核管理委员会的暗含信息,因此B选项错误;C “Entergy公司将会撤回关于Pilgrim核电站的申请”,最后一段同样没给出类似的暗含信息;D “Vermont的名声将会受到破坏” 同样,从最后一段,根本无法推断出。因此,最佳答案是A。
31.【答案】A这篇文章选自The Scientist,文章题目是The Evolution of Credibility。文章第一段第二句话提到“But in the everyday practice of science, discovery frequently follows an ambiguous and complicated route.",即在每天的科学实践中,发现所遵循的规律是模棱两可和复杂的。A项uncertainty and complexity 是对文中ambiguous and complicated的同义替换,所以为正确答案。
B项是利用文中最后一句话的干扰“Opportunities for misinterpretation, error, and self-deception abound”,这句话是说“有误解和自我欺骗的可能”,从而导致了科学发现的模棱两可和复杂性;C项和D项是受文章第一句话的干扰,但是第一句同时提出只有“在理想中(in the idealized version of ...),科学发现才能够很客观。
32.【答案】B第二段第二句中提到“But it takes collective scrutiny and acceptance to...”,其中it指的是将科学发现获得公众可信度的过程。接下来的第四句话具体讲到了这个过程:“through which the individual researcher's me, here, now becomes the community's anyone, anywhere, anytime.”,即要经历从个人到集体的过程,需要每个人共同的努力,故答案为B。
33.【答案】B本段第三句话中提到“Within the complex social structure of the scientific community, researchers make discoveries”,即“研究者需要在科学团体复杂的社会结构中实现科学发现”,在这句话的后面有一个分号,分号后面的三个短句分别解释了在科学团体中不同身份的人所做的不同工作,如新闻编辑者和评论家需要控制科学发现公开的过程,而另外一些科学家需要同过新的发现来证明已有的发现等。除此之外,最后一句话“transform an individual's discovery claim into the community's credible discovery”即将个人的发现转换为集体可信的科学发现,故答案为B,即科学发现获得公众的可信度需要集体的努力和验证。
答案A是利用本段首句设置的干扰,属于主观臆断;答案C为干扰项目,以偏概全;答案D文中没有提及。
34.【答案】D第四段主要讲到了科学发现获得大众可信度的过程中面临的两个矛盾。Albert Szent-Gyorygi的观点主要针对第二个矛盾,即创新本身经常会引起怀疑。同时他认为科学发现需要“seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought”,即看到每个人都已经看到的,并想到别人没有想到的。这句话暗示了科学发现的过程需要有评判性思维,即我们应该去探求事物。故答案为D。
答案A与本段中讲到的第一个矛盾有关;答案B的过渡推断来自本段最后一句话,这句话的意思是,真正有创新的发现需要时间的验证来得到公众的认可。答案C文中没有提到,属于主观臆断。
35.【答案】C此题考察对全文主旨大意的准确归纳。从整个文章脉络来看,文章第一段指出任何发现最终的目标是使之客观化,然而此过程或多或少会受到不同的生活环境的影响;第二段指出这个过程需要公众共同的努力;第三段具体论述了不同的人在这个过程中需要完成的工作;第四段则提出了使科学发现获得可信度的过程中所遇到的两个矛盾;最后一段用Annette Baier的一句话总结了这个过程。由此可知,C项统领全文,为正确答案。答案A项与原文不符;答案B 是第二段中提到的一部分;而答案D只是对第四段的概括
36.【答案】C根据题干定位于第一段When …were in their prime in 1960, only one in ten American government workers belonged to a union; now 36% do. 意思是1960年时,美国政府部门只有1/10的人是工会成员,但是现在比例是36%。所以C选项正确:工会增加了政府部门成员。A选项:Teamster 仍然拥有很多成员。文中只提到了比例,并没有讲具体人数;B:吉米过去是一个公仆。而文中第一句是一个虚拟语气的句子,“如果他还活着的话,他今天可能代表一名公仆”,曲解文意;D:政府改善了与社团的关系。文中并未提及。
37.【答案】D该题很容易根据题干定位于第二段。第二段中有很明显的first, second, third这些词,属于典型的列举处,最容易出细节题。只需要将各选项与这三点仔细比对即可。A 公共部门组织在采取行动时很谨慎文中并示提及,是对“they now dominate left-of-centre politics”这句话设置的干扰项,“左派”为激进派,不可能谨慎;而B错在教育不是需要的,而是公务员社团成员受教育程度普遍偏高,并非必需;C工党长期与公务员社团争斗,该段倒数第二句指出工会与社团一直有联系,最后一句讲到工会领导Miliband荣登宝座正是因为公务员社团的大力支持,因此与原文相悖;D选项为First, they can shut things down without suffering much in the way of consequences.这句话的同义改写。意思是“他们可以息事宁人并不用遭受不好的后果”。
38.【答案】B该题很容易定位于文章的第四段。题干是“国家部门人员的工资状况是”。做这道题要把第四段整体理解。注意But后面的内容,尤其是keeping the pay increases modest but adding to holidays and especially pensions that are already generous。大意是公共部门员工的工资涨幅很小,但是节假日福利津贴很多。B选项的indirectly augment意思是“间接地增加”。和原文意思“公有部门人员的收入是来源于福利等间接收入,而非正常的工资收入”符合。A 通过非法得来文中只提到了国家部门人员的工资比私人企业的要高,整段都未提及来源,故该选项属于过度推理;C 过度地增长文中并未提及增长的幅度,提到只是通过“暗厢操作”的方式,容易使考生产生误解;D 很公正地调整与“backloaded”不符。
39.【答案】C题干的意思是“举威斯康辛社团为例,表明社团_______”。该题根据题干中的专有名词Wisconsin定位于倒数第二段。由题干可知这是一个例证题,所以需要看文章的第五段。第五段首句Reform has been vigorously opposed。从第六段Wisconsin的例子可以看出,工会集合众人反对共和党领导人Scott Walker,正是为了反对改革。所以可以知道工会可能是公共部门改革的一个障碍,C为正确选项。A 经常与当前政治体系对抗文中并未反映often这个程度。B 能够改变人们的政治态度文中并示提及,D 在政府中占统治地位文中第二句讲到社团得到了成千上万人的支持来对付强硬的共和党州长,并不能推出该选项之意。
40.【答案】A文中人物的观点态度题。该题定位于最后一段,第一句话指出John认为西方公共服务中的文化准则适用于想维持原状的人们而对于有比较高成就的人们就不利了,很明显持否定态度,最后再次指出不能造福于高成就人们的公共服务系统对于美国可能是一个更大的麻烦,也再次证实了作者的观点是不支持的即A选项。disapproval“反对”,appreciation“欣赏”,tolerance“宽容”,indifference“冷漠”。
41.【答案】C略读第一自然段得知这篇文章的主题是科技给人们的生活带来的便利,重点论述了媒介。此题空在末尾,那么通读空前的内容,可以找到特征词或者中心词“creat a fabulous machine”浏览七个选项,C项中的“develop such a device”刚好与此对应
42.【答案】D此题空在了段落的中间,需要在空前和空后找关联词,空前出现了“reason”这个特征词,而空后出现了“war”这个特征词,浏览七个选项,D项的“because”和“war”刚好与此对应,所以答案选D.
43.【答案】A此题空在段末,因此要在空前以及下一自然段的段首找关联词,浏览空前可以找到“superfluous material goods” ,而浏览下一自然段的句首可找到“download”这个词;那么浏览七个选项,答案A出现了“these superfluous things”,接下来也提及到了“download”,因此可以锁定答案A.
44.【答案】F此题空在句末,所以需要浏览下空前以前下一个自然段的句首,通读空前的内容可以找到关联词“a pyramid of production remains,”,而下一个自然段的段首提到了“television”,那么浏览七个选项,跟此关联的有两项E和F,再继续分析,E项只有“television”这个词与空后对应,而F项不仅出现了“television”这个词,而且出现了“this pyramid of production”这个特征词,所以,答案为F.
45.【答案】G此题空在段末,那么需要浏览下空前的句子,寻找关联词,在B和G之间进行选择,通读可知,空前的“flow”与G项的“the flow”是相对应的,B项的“applications”在文中没有提及,所以此题锁定答案G
46. 【解析】本句结构比较简单,它是一个简单句,句子主干结构是one approach takes…and seeks…。破折号后面的部分是对前面提到的理论的进一步解释。1)take …to extreme…把……发挥到极致,把。。。推至极限2)theory of everything万有理论。或者也可以一个短语翻译出来“适用于任何事物的理论”3)generative equation生成等式、生成方程。
【参考译文】物理学中的一个理论把这种归一的冲动发挥到了极致,它探寻一种万有理论----一个关于我们能看到的一切的生成方程式。
47. 【解析】对本句话的理解关键在于对for引导的句子的正确理解。因为有两个逗号,有的同学在考场比较紧急的时间和紧张的状态下容易把两个逗号间的部分理解为插入语,那么这句话就很难理解了。1)for 引导的句子表原因与前句是并列关系,for原因并列句中又包含一个if引导的条件状语从句2)“it seems reasonable to suppose that”对这句话的翻译可以翻译成一个长句,也可以分开翻译成“那么假设文化差异也能够追溯到更有限的源头, 这种假设看上去便是合理的了。”3)对于 “cultural diversit”的理解,我们容易受到之前在备考中经常遇到的“cultural diversity”的影响,直接翻译成“文化多样性”,但在本文,前文很多次提到了共性,所以这里我们翻译为“文化差异”更合适。
【参考译文】在这里,达尔文主义似乎提供了有力的理由,因为如果全人类有共同的起源,那么假设文化差异也能够追溯到更有限的源头好像就是合理的了。
48. 【解析】这句话结构主要在于对三个“what”从句的理解。本题是三个what引导的从句第一个是what引导的宾语从句,做filter out 的宾语。第二个what是介词from的宾语,from 是固定搭配中的介词filter out A from B。第三个what是understand的宾语,和how并列1)句子主干可以看做:To filter out A from B enables us to understand C and D
A指的是“what is contingent and unique”
B指的是“what is shared” how complex cultural behaviour arose”
C指的是“how complex cultural behaviour arose”
D指的是“what guides it in evolutionary or cognitive terms”
2)Filter out词组本意是滤掉,。这个单词可能有同学会不熟悉,但是如果对本句结构理解清楚,看到from这个介词,加之对前文大意的理解,我们可以猜出这个词的意思,或者理解为“区分”等也不影响全句的理解。以避免我们有的同学看到第一个单词不认识立马生出的胆怯情绪,影响下文判断。
【参考译文】把差异性和独特性从共性中过滤出来也许能让我们理解复杂的文化行为是如何产生的,是什么从进化或认知领域指导着它。
49. 【解析】本句结构比较明朗,关键是句子前部分单独很难理解,需要结合前文。这也恰恰说明了考研英语中的翻译首先是阅读理解的一部分,不是单独的翻译而已。
1)这里的the second与上文的“The most famous of these efforts was initiated by Noam Chomsky,”,所里这里应该翻译成“第二种理论”所以这句话需要根据上下文和逻辑解释清楚。而不能单纯的翻译成第二。。。
2)对于括号内部的处理,我们可以直接放在括号中即可。
【参考译文】约书亚格林伯格为寻找语言的共性而付出努力提出了第二种理论。他采用了一个更实用的共性理论,做法是辨认出众多语言的共有特征(尤其是按照词序排列),这些特征被认为代表了由认知局限导致的偏差。
50. 【解析】这句话的结构比较简单,复杂的是其中大量的术语和不熟悉的词汇。对于这些词汇我们根据直译即可。
本句结构:Chomsky’s grammar should show…, whereas Greenbergian….
1)That引导的定语从句修饰patterns
2)这里的“grammar”是指是上文的生成语法,所以这里可以把生成语法翻译出来。
3)co-dependencies 这个词需要根据上下词义加之词根词缀来猜测出词义,因为下文指出是两者关系,所以可以翻译为“共存性”。
【参考译文】乔姆斯基生成语法应该表明语言变化的模式,这些模式独立于族谱或贯穿其中的路径,然而格林伯格的共性理论预测词序关系的特殊类别之间(而不是其他)有着强烈的共存性。
【参考范文】
Dear international students,
I am the chairman of the Students’ Union. I’ve just received the emails from you and got the news that you will come to our university. Firstly, I’d like to show our warm welcome. On behalf of our university and all the students here, I really look forward to your coming.
In order to make all of you feel at home, here are some conductive suggestions. Firstly, you’d better take some warm clothes with you because it is winter in China now and it is very cold in Beijing. Secondly, I advise you to prepare some relevant knowledge about Chinese culture for better understanding in class.
I really hope you’ll find these proposals useful. And I’m looking forward to your coming!
Yours sincerely,
Li Ming
【参考范文】
As can be clearly seen from the vivid picture, in front of a toppled bottel of which most water in it has flowed out, a man says “there is none left , how unlucky I am” looking rather upset, while another man quickly picked this bottle up, saying “I’m such a lucky dog, there is still some left”. How vivid the cartoon it is! The two men show quite different perspectives toward the same situation.
The implication conveyed in this cartoon is that different perspectives we take to exam problems we confront lead to different attitutes or answers to these problems. In the first place, we’ll find the problem is very difficult to handle from the pessimistic perspective. However, if we change our way of observing problems, we may find that we can make some remedial work even to turn something bad into good. In this way, we can find solutions for any difficulties. Every coin has two sides. So why not change an angel to observe the problem we encounter?
Whenever we face with the situation like the cartoon,what we should do is to observe it positively, especially when we are experiencing and encountering setbacks, only if we have the optimistic attitude, can we be bound to live a life of happiness

文章来源:2012考研英语2真题