考研英语阅读.docx

考研英语阅读.docx

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考研英语阅读

2009年

Text1

●Habitsareafunnything.Wereachforthemmindlessly,settingourbrainsonauto-pilotandrelaxingintotheunconsciouscomfortoffamiliarroutine.

“Notchoice,buthabitrulestheunreflectingherd,”WilliamWordsworthsaidinthe19thcentury.Intheever-changing21stcentury,eventheword“habit”carriesanegativeconnotation.

●Soitseemsparadoxicaltotalkabouthabitsinthesamecontextascreativityandinnovation.Butbrainresearchershavediscoveredthatwhenweconsciouslydevelopnewhabits,wecreateparallelpaths,andevenentirelynewbraincells,thatcanjumpourtrainsofthoughtontonew,innovativetracks.

●Ratherthandismissingourselvesasunchangeablecreaturesofhabit,wecaninsteaddirectourownchangebyconsciouslydevelopingnewhabits.

Infact,themorenewthingswetry——themorewestepoutsideourcomfortzone——themoreinherentlycreativewebecome,bothintheworkplaceandinourpersonallives.

●Butdon’tbothertryingtokilloffoldhabits;oncethoserutsofprocedurearewornintothebrain,they’retheretostay.

Instead,thenewhabitswedeliberatelypressintoourselvescreateparallelpathwaysthatcanbypassthoseoldroads.

●“Thefirstthingneededforinnovationisafascinationwithwonder,”saysDawnaMarkova,authorofTheOpenMind.“Butwearetaughtinsteadto‘decide,’justasourpresidentcallshimself‘theDecider.’”Sheadds,however,that“todecideistokilloffallpossibilitiesbutone.Agoodinnovationalthinkerisalwaysexploringthemanyotherpossibilities.”

●Allofusworkthroughproblemsinwaysofwhichwe'reunaware,shesays.Researchersinthelate1960discoveredthathumansarebornwiththecapacitytoapproachchallengesinfourprimaryways:

analytically,procedurally,relationally（orcollaboratively）andinnovatively.

Attheendofadolescence,however,thebrainshutsdownhalfofthatcapacity,preservingonlythosemodesofthoughtthathaveseemedmostvaluableduringthefirstdecadeorsooflife.

●Thecurrentemphasisonstandardizedtestinghighlightsanalysisandprocedure,meaningthatfewofusinherentlyuseourinnovativeandcollaborativemodesofthought.

“ThisbreaksthemajorruleintheAmericanbeliefsystem——thatanyonecandoanything,”explainsM.J.Ryan,authorofthe2006bookThisYearIWill...andMs.Markova'sbusinesspartner.

“That’saliethatwehaveperpetuated,anditfosterscommonness.Knowingwhatyou’regoodatanddoingevenmoreofitcreatesexcellence.”Thisiswheredevelopingnewhabitscomesin.

21.InWordsworth’sview，“habits”ischaracterizedbybeing___________.

[A]casual

[B]familiar

[C]mechanical

[D]changeable

22.Brainresearchershavediscoveredthattheformationofnewhabitscanbe___________.

[A]predicted

[B]regulated

[C]traced

[D]guided

23.Theword“ruts”（line1,paragraph4）isclosestinmeaningto__________.

[A]tracks

[B]series

[C]characteristics

[D]connections

24.DawnaMarkovawouldmostprobablyagreethat__________.

[A]ideasarebornofarelaxingmind

[B]innovativenesscouldbetaught

[C]decisivenessderivesfromfantasticideas

[D]curiosityactivatescreativeminds

25.Ryan’scommentssuggestthatthepracticeofstandardtesting__________.

[A]preventsnewhabitsformbeingformed

[B]nolongeremphasizescommonness

[C]maintainstheinherentAmericanthinkingmodel

[D]complieswiththeAmericanbeliefsystem

Text2

●Itisawisefatherthatknowshisownchild,buttodayamancanboosthispaternal（fatherly）wisdom——oratleastconfirmthathe’sthekid’sdad.

Allheneedstodoisshellout$30forpaternitytestingkit（PTK）athislocaldrugstore——andanother$120togettheresults.

●Morethan60,000peoplehavepurchasedthePTKssincetheyfirstbecomeavailablewithoutprescriptionslastyear,accordingtoDougFog,chiefoperatingofficerofIdentigene,whichmakestheover-the-counterkits.

MorethantwodozencompaniessellDNAtestsdirectlytothepublic,ranginginpricefromafewhundreddollarstomorethan$2500.

●Amongthemostpopular:

paternityandkinshiptesting,whichadoptedchildrencanusetofindtheirbiologicalrelativesandfamiliescanusetotrackdownkidsputupforadoption.

DNAtestingisalsothelatestrageamongpassionategenealogists——andsupportsbusinessesthatoffertosearchforafamily’sgeographicroots.

●Mosttestsrequirecollectingcellsbywebbingsalivainthemouthandsendingittothecompanyfortesting.AlltestsrequireapotentialcandidatewithwhomtocompareDNA.

●Butsomeobserversareskeptical.“Thereisakindoffalseprecisionbeinghawkedbypeopleclaimingtheyaredoingancestrytesting,”saysTreyDuster,aNewYorkUniversitysociologist.

Henotesthateachindividualhasmanyancestors——numberinginthehundredsjustafewcenturiesback.Yetmostancestrytestingonlyconsidersasinglelineage,eithertheYchromosomeinheritedthroughmeninafather’slineormitochondrialDNA,whichispasseddownonlyfrommothers.

ThisDNAcanrevealgeneticinformationaboutonlyoneortwoancestors,eventhough,forexample,justthreegenerationsbackpeoplealsohavesixothergreat-grandparentsor,fourgenerationsback,14othergreat-great-grandparents.

●Criticsalsoarguethatcommercialgenetictestingisonlyasgoodasthereferencecollectionstowhichasampleiscompared.

Databasesusedbysomecompaniesdon’trelyondatacollectedsystematicallybutratherlumptogetherinformationfromdifferentresearchprojects.ThismeansthataDNAdatabasemayhavealotofdatafromsomeregionsandnotothers,soaperson’stestresultsmaydifferdependingonthecompanythatprocessestheresults.

Inaddition,thecomputerprogramsacompanyusestoestimaterelationshipsmaybepatentedandnotsubjecttopeerrevieworoutsideevaluation.

26.Inparagraphs1and2,thetextshowsPTK’s__________.

[A]easyavailability.

[B]flexibilityinpricing.

[C]successfulpromotion.

[D]popularitywithhouseholds.

27.PTKisusedto__________.

[A]locateone’sbirthplace.

[B]promotegeneticresearch.

[C]identifyparent-childkinship.

[D]choosechildrenforadoption.

28.Skepticalobserversbelievethatancestrytestingfailsto__________.

[A]tracedistantancestors.

[B]rebuildreliablebloodlines.

[C]fullyusegeneticinformation.

[D]achievetheclaimedaccuracy.

29.Inthelastparagraph,aproblemcommercialgenetictestingfacesis__________.

[A]disorganizeddatacollection.

[B]overlappingdatabasebuilding.

[C]excessivesamplecomparison.

[D]lackofpatentevaluation.

30.Anappropriatetitleforthetextismostlikelytobe__________.

[A]ForsandAgainstsofDNATesting

[B]DNATestingandIt’sProblems

[C]DNATestingOutsidetheLab

[D]LiesbehindDNATesting

Text3

●Therelationshipbetweenformaleducationandeconomicgrowthinpoorcountriesiswidelymisunderstoodbyeconomistsandpoliticiansalike.

Progressinbothareasisundoubtedlynecessaryforthesocial,politicalandintellectualdevelopmentoftheseandallothersocieties;however,theconventionalviewthateducationshouldbeoneoftheveryhighestprioritiesforpromotingrapideconomicdevelopmentinpoorcountriesiswrong.

Wearefortunatethatitis,becausebuildingneweducationalsystemsthereandputtingenoughpeoplethroughthemtoimproveeconomicperformancewouldrequiretwoorthreegenerations.

Thefindingsofaresearchinstitutionhaveconsistentlyshownthatworkersinallcountriescanbetrainedonthejobtoachieveradicalhigherproductivityand,asaresult,radicallyhigherstandardsofliving.

●Ironically,thefirstevidenceforthisideaappearedintheUnitedStates.Notlongago,withthecountryenteringarecessingandJapanatitspre-bubblepeak,theU.S.workforcewasderidedaspoorlyeducatedandoneofprimarycauseofthepoorU.S.economicperformance.

Japanwas,andremains,thegloballeaderinautomotive-assemblyproductivity.YettheresearchrevealedthattheU.S.factoriesofHonda,Nissan,andToyotaachievedabout95percentoftheproductivityoftheirJapanesecounterparts---aresultofthetrainingthatU.S.workersreceivedonthejob.

●Morerecently,whileexamininghousingconstruction,theresearchersdiscoveredthatilliterate,non-English-speakingMexicanworkersinHouston,Texas,consistentlymetbest-practicelaborproductivitystandardsdespitethecomplexityofthebuildingindustry’swork.

●Whatistherealrelationshipbetweeneducationandeconomicdevelopment?

Wehavetosuspectthatcontinuingeconomicgrowthpromotesthedevelopmentofeducationevenwhengovernmentsdon’tforceit.

Afterall,that’showeducationgotstarted.Whenourancestorswerehuntersandgatherers10,000yearsago,theydidn’thavetimetowondermuchaboutanythingbesidesfindingfood.Onlywhenhumanitybegantogetitsfoodinamoreproductivewaywastheretimeforotherthings.

●Aseducationimproved,humanity’sproductivitypotentialincreasedaswell.Whenthecompetitiveenvironmentpushedourancestorstoachievethatpotential,theycouldinturnaffordmoreeducation.

Thisincreasinglyhighlevelofeducationisprobablyanecessary,butnotasufficient,conditionforthecomplexpoliticalsystemsrequiredbyadvancedeconomicperformance.

Thuspoorcountriesmightnotbeabletoescapetheirpovertytrapswithoutpoliticalchangesthatmaybepossibleonlywithbroaderformaleducation.

Alackofformaleducation,however,doesn’tconstraintheabilityofthedevelopingworld’sworkforcetosubstantiallyimproveproductivityfortheforeseeablefuture.Onthecontrary,constraintsonimprovingproductivityexplainwhyeducationisn’tdevelopingmorequicklytherethanitis.

31.Theauthorholdsinparagraph1thattheimportantofeducationinpoorcountries__________.

[A]issubjecttogroundlessdoubts

[B]hasfallenvictimofbias

[C]isconventional