考研英语真题.docx

1、考研英语真题2009年全国硕士研究生招生考试英语（一）试题Section I Use of EnglishDirections: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 us wonder just how smart humans are.1the fruit-fly experiments des

2、cribed by Carl Zimmer in theScience Times. Fruit flies who were taught to be smarter than the average fruit fly2to live shorter lives. This suggests that3bulbs burn longer, that there is a(n)4innot being too bright.Intelligence, it5, is a high-priced option. It takes more upkeep, burns more fuel and

3、 is slow6the starting line because it depends on learning a(n)7process instead of instinct. Plenty of other species are able to learn, and one of the things theyve apparently learned is when to8.Is there an adaptive value to9intelligence? Thats the question behind this new research. Instead of casti

4、ng a wistful glance10at all the species weve left in the dust I.Q.-wise, it implicitly asks what the real11of our own intelligence might be. This is12the mind of every animal weve ever met.Research on animal intelligence also makes us wonder what experiments animals would13on humans if they had the

5、chance. Every cat with an owner,14, is running a small-scale study in operant conditioning. We believe that15animals ran the labs, they would test us to16the limits of our patience, our faithfulness, our memory for locations. They would try to decide what intelligence in humans is really17, not mere

6、ly how much of it there is.18, they would hope to study a(n)19question: Are humans actually aware of the world they live in?20the results are inconclusive.1.A Suppose B Consider C Observe D Imagine2.A tended B feared C happened D threatened3.A thinner B stabler C lighter D dimmer4.A tendency B advan

7、tage C inclination D priority5.A insists on B sums up C turns out D puts forward6.A off B behind C over D along7.A incredible B spontaneous C inevitable D gradual8.A fight B doubt C stop D think9.A invisible B limited C indefinite D different10.A upward B forward C afterward D backward11.A features

8、B influences C results D costs12.A outside B on C by D across13.A deliver B carry C perform D apply14.A by chance B in contrast C as usual D for instance15.A if B unless C as D lest16.A moderate B overcome C determine D reach17.A at B for C after D with18.A Above all B After all C However D Otherwis

9、e19.A fundamental B comprehensive C equivalent D hostile20.A By accident B In time C So far D Better stillSection II Reading ComprehensionPart ADirections: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)Tex

10、t 1Habits 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 wor

11、d “habit” carries a negative connotation.So it seems paradoxical to talk about habits in the same contextas creativity and innovation. But brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously develop new habits, we create parallel paths, and even entirely new brain cells, that can jump our tra

12、ins of thought onto new, innovative tracks.Rather than dismissing ourselves as unchangeable creatures of habit, we can instead direct our own change by consciously developing new habits. In fact, the more new things we trythe more we step outside our comfort zonethe more inherently creative we becom

13、e, both in the workplace and in our personal lives.But dont bother trying to kill off old habits; once thoserutsof procedure are worn into the brain, theyre there to stay. Instead, the new habits we deliberately press into ourselves create parallel pathways that can bypass those old roads.“The first

14、 thing needed for innovation is a fascination with wonder,” says Dawna Markova, author ofThe Open Mind. “But we are taught instead to decide, just as our president calls himself the Decider. ” She adds, however, that “to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one. A good innovational thinker is

15、 always exploring the many other possibilities.”All of us work through problems in ways of which were unaware, she says. Researchers in the late 1960 discovered that humans are born with the capacity to approach challenges in four primary ways: analytically, procedurally, relationally (or collaborat

16、ively) and innovatively. At the end of adolescence, however, the brain shuts down half of that capacity, preserving only those modes of thought that have seemed most valuable during the first decade or so of life.The current emphasis on standardized testing highlights analysis and procedure, meaning

17、 that few of us inherently use our innovative and collaborative modes of thought. “This breaks the major rule in the American belief system that anyone can do anything,” explains M. J. Ryan, author of the 2006 bookThis Year I Will.and Ms. Markovas business partner. “Thats a lie that we have perpetua

18、ted, and it fosters commonness. Knowing what youre good at and doing even more of it creates excellence.” This is where developing new habits comes in.21. In Wordsworths view, “habits” is characterized by being .A casualB familiarC mechanicalD changeable.22. Brain researchers have discovered that th

19、e formation of habit can be .A predictedB regulatedC tracedD guided23. “ruts”(Line 1, Paragraph 4) is closest in meaning to .A tracksB seriesC characteristicsD connections24. Dawna Markova would most probably agree that .A ideas are born of a relaxing mindB innovativeness could be taughtC decisivene

20、ss derives from fantastic ideasD curiosity activates creative minds25. Ryans comments suggest that the practice of standardized testingA prevents new habits from being formedB no longer emphasizes commonnessC maintains the inherent American thinking modelD complies with the American belief systemTex

21、t 2It is a wise father that knows his own child, but today a man can boost his paternal (fatherly) wisdomor at least confirm that hes the kids dad. All he needs to do is shell out $30 for paternity testing kit (PTK) at his local drugstoreand another $120 to get the results.More than 60,000 people ha

22、ve purchased the PTKs since theyfirst become available without prescriptions last years, according to Doug Fogg, chief operating officer of Identigene, which makes the over-the-counter kits. More than two dozen companies sell DNA tests directly to the public, ranging in price from a few hundred doll

23、ars to more than $2500.Among the most popular: paternity and kinship testing, which adopted children can use to find their biological relatives and families can use to track down kids put up for adoption. DNA testing is also the latest rage among passionate genealogistsand supports businesses that o

24、ffer to search for a familys geographic roots .Most tests require collecting cells by swabbing saliva in the mouth and sending it to the company for testing. All tests require a potential candidate with whom to compare DNA.But some observers are skeptical. “There is a kind of false precision being h

25、awked by people claiming they are doing ancestry testing,” says Troy Duster, a New York University sociologist. He notes that each individual has many ancestorsnumbering in the hundreds just a few centuries back. Yet most ancestry testing only considers a single lineage, either the Y chromosome inhe

26、rited through men in a fathers line or mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down only from mothers. This DNA can reveal genetic information about only one or two ancestors, even though, for example, just three generations back people also have six other great-grandparents or, four generations back, 14

27、 other great-great-grandparents.Critics also argue that commercial genetic testing is only as good as the reference collections to which a sample is compared. Databases used by some companies dont rely on data collected systematically but rather lump together information from different research proj

28、ects. This means that a DNA database may have a lot of data from some regions and not others, so a persons test results may differ depending on the company that processes the results. In addition, the computer programs a company uses to estimate relationships may be patented and not subject to peer

29、review or outside evaluation.26. In paragraphs 1 and 2, the text shows PTKs _.A easy availabilityB flexibility in pricingC successful promotionD popularity with households27. PTK is used to _.A locate ones birth placeB promote genetic researchC identify parent-child kinshipD choose children for adop

30、tion28. Skeptical observers believe that ancestry testing fails to_.A trace distant ancestorsB rebuild reliable bloodlinesC fully use genetic informationD achieve the claimed accuracy29. In the last paragraph, a problem commercial genetic testing faces is _.A disorganized data collectionB overlappin

31、g database buildingC excessive sample comparisonD lack of patent evaluation30. An appropriate title for the text is most likely to be_.A Fors and Againsts of DNA TestingB DNA Testing and Its ProblemsC DNA Testing Outside the LabD Lies Behind DNA TestingText 3The relationship between formal education and economic growth in poor countries is widely misunderstood by economists and politicians alike. Progress in both area