2014年全国硕士研究生招生考试

英语（二）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 the ANSWER SHEET. (10 points)

①Thinner isn’t always better. ②A number of studies have 1 that normal-weight people are in fact at higher risk of some diseases compared to those who are overweight. ③And there are health conditions for which being overweight is actually 2 . ④ For example, heavier women are less likely to develop calcium deficiency than thin women. ⑤ 3 , among the elderly, being somewhat overweight is often an 4 of good health.

①Of even greater 5 is the fact that obesity turns out to be very difficult to define. ②It is often defined 6 body mass index, or BMI. ③BMI 7 body mass divided by the square of height. ④An adult with a BMI of 18 to 25 is often considered to be normal weight. ⑤Between 25 and 30 is overweight. ⑥And over 30 is considered obese. ⑦Obesity, 8 , can be divided into moderately obese, severely obese, and very severely obese.

①While such numerical standards seem 9 , they are not. ②Obesity is probably less a matter of weight than body fat. ③Some people with a high BMI are in fact extremely fit, 10 others with a low BMI may be in poor 11 . ④For example, many collegiate and professional football players 12 as obese, though their percentage body fat is low. ⑤Conversely, someone with a small frame may have high body fat but a 13 BMI.

①Today we have a(n) 14 to label obesity as a disgrace. ②The overweight are sometimes 15 in the media with their faces covered. ③Stereotypes 16 with obesity include laziness, lack of will power, and lower prospects for success. ④Teachers, employers, and health professionals have been shown to harbor biases against the obese. ⑤ 17 very young children tend to look down on the overweight, and teasing about body build has long been a problem in schools.

①Negative attitudes toward obesity, 18 in health concerns, have stimulated a number of anti-obesity 19 . ②My own hospital system has banned sugary drinks from its facilities. ③Many employers have instituted weight loss and fitness initiatives. ④Michelle Obama has launched a high-visibility campaign 20 childhood obesity, even claiming that it represents our greatest national security threat.

1. [A] denied [B] concluded [C] doubted [D] ensured

2. [A] protective [B] dangerous [C] sufficient [D] troublesome

3. [A] Instead [B] However [C] Likewise [D] Therefore

4. [A] indicator [B] objective [C] origin [D] example

5. [A] impact [B] relevance [C] assistance [D] concern

6. [A] in terms of [B] in case of [C] in favor of [D] in respects of

7. [A] measures [B] determines [C] equals [D] modifies

8. [A] in essence [B] in contrast [C] in turn [D] in part

9. [A] complicated [B] conservative [C] variable [D] straightforward

10. [A] so [B] while [C] since [D] unless

11. [A] shape [B] spirit [C] balance [D] taste

12. [A] start [B] qualify [C] retire [D] stay

13. [A] strange [B] changeable [C] normal [D] constant

14. [A] option [B] reason [C] opportunity [D] tendency

15. [A] employed [B] pictured [C] imitated [D] monitored

16. [A] compared [B] combined [C] settled [D] associated

17. [A] Even [B] Still [C] Yet [D] Only

18. [A] despised [B] corrected [C] ignored [D] grounded

19. [A] discussions [B] businesses [C] policies [D] studies

20. [A] for [B] against [C] with [D] without

Section Ⅱ Reading Comprehension

Part A

Directions:

Read the following four texts. Answer the questions after each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)

Text 1

①What would you do with $590m? ②This is now a question for Gloria MacKenzie, an 84-year-old widow who recently emerged from her small, tin-roofed house in Florida to collect the biggest undivided lottery jackpot in history. ③If she hopes her new-found fortune will yield lasting feelings of fulfilment, she could do worse than read Happy Money by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton.

①These two academics use an array of behavioral research to show that the most rewarding ways to spend money can be counterintuitive. ②Fantasies of great wealth often involve visions of fancy cars and extravagant homes. ③Yet satisfaction with these material purchases wears off fairly quickly. ④What was once exciting and new becomes old-hat; regret creeps in. ⑤It is far better to spend money on experiences, say Ms Dunn and Mr Norton, like interesting trips, unique meals or even going to the cinema. ⑥These purchases often become more valuable with time—as stories or memories—particularly if they involve feeling more connected to others.

①This slim volume is packed with tips to help wage slaves as well as lottery winners get the most “happiness bang for your buck.” ②It seems most people would be better off if they could shorten their commutes to work, spend more time with friends and family and less of it watching television (something the average American spends a whopping two months a year doing, and is hardly jollier for it). ③Buying gifts or giving to charity is often more pleasurable than purchasing things for oneself, and luxuries are most enjoyable when they are consumed sparingly. ④This is apparently the reason McDonald’s restricts the availability of its popular McRib—a marketing trick that has turned the pork sandwich into an object of obsession.

①Readers of Happy Money are clearly a privileged lot, anxious about fulfilment, not hunger. ②Money may not quite buy happiness, but people in wealthier countries are generally happier than those in poor ones. ③Yet the link between feeling good and spending money on others can be seen among rich and poor people around the world, and scarcity enhances the pleasure of most things for most people. ④Not everyone will agree with the authors’ policy ideas, which range from mandating more holiday time to reducing tax incentives for American homebuyers. ⑤But most people will come away from this book believing it was money well spent.

21. According to Dunn and Norton, which of the following is the most rewarding purchase?

[A] A big house. [B] A special tour. [C] A stylish car. [D] A rich meal.

22. The author’s attitude toward Americans’ watching TV is_____.

[A] critical [B] supportive [C] sympathetic [D] ambiguous

23. McRib is mentioned in Paragraph 3 to show that_____.

[A] consumers are sometimes irrational

[B] popularity usually comes after quality

[C] marketing tricks are often effective

[D] rarity generally increases pleasure

24. According to the last paragraph, Happy Money_____.

[A] has left much room for readers’ criticism

[B] may prove to be a worthwhile purchase

[C] has predicted a wider income gap in the US

[D] may give its readers a sense of achievement

25. This text mainly discusses how to____.

[A] balance feeling good and spending money

[B] spend large sums of money won in lotteries

[C] obtain lasting satisfaction from money spent

[D] become more reasonable in spending on luxuries

Text 2

①An article in Scientific America has pointed out that empirical research says that, actually, you think you’re more beautiful than you are. ②We have a deep-seated need to feel good about ourselves and we naturally employ a number of self-enhancing strategies to achieve this. ③Social psychologists have amassed oceans of research into what they call the “above average effect,” or “illusory superiority,” and shown that, for example, 70% of us rate ourselves as above average in leadership, 93% in driving and 85% at getting on well with others—all obviously statistical impossibilities.

①We rose-tint our memories and put ourselves into self-affirming situations. ②We become defensive when criticised, and apply negative stereotypes to others to boost our own esteem. ③We stalk around thinking we’re hot stuff.

①Psychologist and behavioural scientist Nicholas Epley oversaw a key study into self-enhancement and attractiveness. ②Rather than have people simply rate their beauty compared with others, he asked them to identify an original photograph of themselves from a lineup including versions that had been altered to appear more and less attractive. ③Visual recognition, reads the study, is “an automatic psychological process, occurring rapidly and intuitively with little or no apparent conscious deliberation.” ④If the subjects quickly chose a falsely flattering image—which most did—they genuinely believed it was really how they looked.

①Epley found no significant gender difference in responses. ②Nor was there any evidence that those who self-enhanced the most (that is, the participants who thought the most positively doctored pictures were real) were doing so to make up for profound insecurities. ③In fact, those who thought that the images higher up the attractiveness scale were real directly corresponded with those who showed other markers for having higher self-esteem. ④“I don’t think the findings that we have are any evidence of personal delusion,” says Epley. “It’s a reflection simply of people generally thinking well of themselves.” ⑤If you are depressed, you won’t be self-enhancing.

①Knowing the results of Epley’s study, it makes sense that many people hate photographs of themselves viscerally—on one level, they don’t even recognise the person in the picture as themselves. ②Facebook, therefore, is a self-enhancer’s paradise, where people can share only the most flattering photos, the cream of their wit, style, beauty, intellect and lifestyles. ③It’s not that people’s profiles are dishonest, says Catalina Toma of Wisconsin-Madison University, “but they portray an idealised version of themselves. ”

26. According to the first paragraph, social psychologists have found that ____.

[A] our self-ratings are unrealistically high

[B] illusory superiority is a baseless effect

[C] our need for leadership is unnatural

[D] self-enhancing strategies are ineffective

27. Visual recognition is believed to be people’s_____.

[A] rapid matching [B] conscious choice

[C] intuitive response [D] automatic self-defence

28. Epley found that people with higher self-esteem tended to_____.

[A] underestimate their insecurities [B] believe in their attractiveness

[C] cover up their depressions [D] oversimplify their illusions

29. The word “viscerally” (Para. 5) is closest in meaning to_____.

[A] instinctively [B] occasionally [C] particularly [D] aggressively

30. It can be inferred that Facebook is a self-enhancer’s paradise because people can_____.

[A] present their dishonest profiles [B] define their traditional lifestyles

[C] share their intellectual pursuits [D] withhold their unflattering sides

Text 3

①The concept of man versus machine is at least as old as the industrial revolution, but this phenomenon tends to be most acutely felt during economic downturns and fragile recoveries. ②And yet, it would be a mistake to think we are right now simply experiencing the painful side of a boom and bust cycle. ③Certain jobs have gone away for good, outmoded by machines. ④Since technology has such an insatiable appetite for eating up human jobs, this phenomenon will continue to restructure our economy in ways we cannot immediately foresee.

①When there is rapid improvement in the price and performance of technology, jobs that were once thought to be immune from automation suddenly become threatened. ②This argument has attracted a lot of attention, via the success of the book Race Against the Machine, by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, who both hail from MIT’s Center for Digital Business.

①This is a powerful argument, and a scary one. ②And yet, John Hagel, author of The Power of Pull and other books, says Brynjolfsson and McAfee miss the reason why these jobs are so vulnerable to technology in the first place.

①Hagel says we have designed jobs in the U.S. that tend to be “tightly scripted” and “highly standardized” ones that leave no room for “individual initiative or creativity.” ②In short, these are the types of jobs that machines can perform much better at than human beings. ③That is how we have put a giant target sign on the backs of American workers, Hagel says.

①It’s time to reinvent the formula for how work is conducted, since we are still relying on a very 20th century notion of work, Hagel says. ②In our rapidly changing economy, we more than ever need people in the workplace who can take initiative and exercise their imagination “to respond to unexpected events.” ③That is not something machines are good at. ④They are designed to perform very predictable activities.

①As Hagel notes, Brynjolfsson and McAfee indeed touched on this point in their book. ②We need to reframe race against the machine as race with the machine. ③In other words, we need to look at the ways in which machines can augment human labor rather than replace it. ④So then the problem is not really about technology, but rather, “how do we innovate our institutions and our work practices?”

31. According to the first paragraph, economic downturns would_____.

[A] ease the competition of man vs. machine

[B] highlight machines’ threat to human jobs

[C] provoke a painful technological revolution

[D] outmode our current economic structure

32. The authors of Race Against the Machine argue that_____.

[A] technology is diminishing man’s job opportunities

[B] automation is accelerating technological development

[C] certain jobs will remain intact after automation

[D] man will finally win the race against machine

33. Hagel argues that jobs in the U.S. are often_____.

[A] performed by innovative minds

[B] scripted with an individual style

[C] standardized without a clear target

[D] designed against human creativity

34. According to the last paragraph, Brynjolfsson and McAfee discussed_____.

[A] the predictability of machine behavior in practice

[B] the formula for how work is conducted efficiently

[C] the ways machines replace human labor in modern times

[D] the necessity of human involvement in the workplace

35. Which of the following could be the most appropriate title for the text?

[A] How to Innovate Our Work Practices?

[B] Machines Will Replace Human Labor

[C] Can We Win the Race Against Machines?

[D] Economic Downturns Stimulate Innovations

Text 4

①When the government talks about infrastructure contributing to the economy the focus is usually on roads, railways, broadband and energy. ②Housing is seldom mentioned.

①Why is that? ②To some extent the housing sector must shoulder the blame. ③We have not been good at communicating the real value that housing can contribute to economic growth. ④Then there is the scale of the typical housing project. ⑤It is hard to shove for attention among multibillion-pound infrastructure projects, so it is inevitable that the attention is focused elsewhere. ⑥But perhaps the most significant reason is that the issue has always been so politically charged.

①Nevertheless, the affordable housing situation is desperate. ②Waiting lists increase all the time and we are simply not building enough new homes.

①The comprehensive spending review offers an opportunity for the government to help rectify this. ②It needs to put historical prejudices to one side and take some steps to address our urgent housing need.

①There are some indications that it is preparing to do just that. ②The communities minister, Don Foster, has hinted that George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, may introduce more flexibility to the current cap on the amount that local authorities can borrow against their housing stock debt. ③Evidence shows that 60,000 extra new homes could be built over the next five years if the cap were lifted, increasing GDP by 0.6%.

①Ministers should also look at creating greater certainty in the rental environment, which would have a significant impact on the ability of registered providers to fund new developments from revenues.

①But it is not just down to the government. ②While these measures would be welcome in the short term, we must face up to the fact that the existing £4.5bn programme of grants to fund new affordable housing, set to expire in 2015, is unlikely to be extended beyond then. ③The Labour party has recently announced that it will retain a large part of the coalition’s spending plans if it returns to power. ④The housing sector needs to accept that we are very unlikely to ever return to the era of large-scale public grants. ⑤We need to adjust to this changing climate.

①While the government’s commitment to long-term funding may have changed, the very pressing need for more affordable housing is real and is not going away.

36. The author believes that the housing sector_____.

[A] has attracted much attention

[B] has lost its real value in economy

[C] shoulders too much responsibility

[D] involves certain political factors

37. It can be learned that affordable housing has_____.

[A] suffered government biases

[B] increased its home supply

[C] offered spending opportunities

[D] disappointed the government

38. According to Paragraph 5, George Osborne may_____.

[A] prepare to reduce housing stock debt

[B] release a lifted GDP growth forecast

[C] allow greater government debt for housing

[D] stop local authorities from building homes

39. It can be inferred that a stable rental environment would_____.

[A] lower the costs of registered providers

[B] relieve the ministers of responsibilities

[C] contribute to funding new developments

[D] lessen the impact of government interference

40. The author believes that after 2015, the government may_____.

[A] implement more policies to support housing

[B] stop generous funding to the housing sector

[C] renew the affordable housing grants programme

[D] review the need for large-scale public grants

Part B

Directions:

Read the following text and match each of the numbered items in the left column to its corresponding information in the right column. There are two extra choices in the right column, Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (10 points)

Emerging in the late Sixties and reaching a peak in the Seventies, Land Art was one of a range of new forms, including Body Art, Performance Art, Action Art and Installation Art, which pushed art beyond the traditional confines of the studio and gallery. Rather than portraying landscape, land artists used the physical substance of the land itself as their medium.

The British land art, typified by Richard Long’s piece, was not only more domestically scaled, but a lot quirkier than its American counterpart. Indeed, while you might assume that an exhibition of Land Art would consist only of records of works rather than the works themselves, Long’s photograph of his work is the work. Since his “action” is in the past, the photograph is its sole embodiment.

That might seem rather an obscure point, but it sets the tone for an exhibition that contains a lot of black-and-white photographs and relatively few natural objects.

Long is Britain’s best-known Land Artist and his Stone Circle, a perfect ring of purplish rocks from Portishead beach laid out on the gallery floor, represents the elegant, rarefied side of the form. The Boyle Family, on the other hand, stand for its dirty, urban aspect. Comprising artists Mark Boyle and Joan Hills and their children, they recreated random sections of the British landscape on gallery walls. Their Olaf Street Study, a square of brick-strewn waste ground, is one of the few works here to embrace the commonplaceness that characterises most of our experience of the landscape most of the time.

Parks feature, particularly in the earlier works, such as John Hilliard’s very funny Across the Park, in which a long-haired stroller is variously smiled at by a pretty girl and unwittingly assaulted in a sequence of images that turn out to be different parts of the same photograph.

Generally however British land artists preferred to get away from towns, gravitating towards landscapes that are traditionally considered beautiful such as the Lake District or the Wiltshire Downs. While it probably wasn’t apparent at the time, much of this work is permeated by a spirit of romantic escapism that the likes of Wordsworth would have readily understood. Derek Jarman’s yellow-tinted film Towards Avebury, a collection of long, mostly still shots of the Wiltshire landscape, evokes a tradition of English landscape painting stretching from Samuel Palmer to Paul Nash.

In the case of Hamish Fulton, you can’t help feeling that the Scottish artist has simply found a way of making his love of walking pay. A typical work, such as Seven Days, consists of a single beautiful black-and-white photograph taken on an epic walk, with the mileage and number of days taken listed beneath. British Land Art as shown in this well selected, but relatively modestly scaled exhibition wasn’t about imposing on the landscape, more a kind of landscape-orientated light conceptual art created passing through. It had its origins in the great outdoors, but the results were as gallery-bound as the paintings of Turner and Constable.

	[A] originates from a long walk that the artist took.
41. Stone Circle	[B] illustrates a kind of landscape-orientated light conceptual art.
42. Olaf Street Study	[C] reminds people of the English landscape painting tradition.
43. Across the Park	[D] represents the elegance of the British land art.
44. Towards Avebury	[E] depicts the ordinary side of the British land art.
45. Seven days	[F] embodies a romantic escape into the Scottish outdoors.
	[G] contains images from different parts of the same photograph.

Section III Translation

46. Directions:

Translate the following text into Chinese. Write your translation on ANSWER SHEET . (15 points)

Most people would define optimism as being endlessly happy, with a glass that’s perpetually half full. But that’s exactly the kind of false cheerfulness that positive psychologists wouldn’t recommend. “Healthy optimism means being in touch with reality,” says Tal Ben-Shahar, a Harvard professor. According to Ben-Shahar, realistic optimists are those who make the best of things that happen, but not those who believe everything happens for the best.

Ben-Shahar uses three optimistic exercises. When he feels down—say, after giving a bad lecture—he grants himself permission to be human. He reminds himself that not every lecture can be a Nobel winner; some will be less effective than others. Next is reconstruction. He analyzes the weak lecture, learning lessons for the future about what works and what doesn’t. Finally, there is perspective, which involves acknowledging that in the grand scheme of life, one lecture really doesn’t matter.

Section IV Writing

Part A

47. Directions:

Suppose you are going to study abroad and share an apartment with John, a local student. Write him an email to

1) tell him about your living habits, and

2) ask for advice about living there.

You should write about 100 words on the ANSWER SHEET.

Do not use your own name. Use “Li Ming” instead.

Do not write your address. (10 points)

Part B

48.Directions:

Write an essay based on the following chart. In your writing, you should