2009考研英语(一)真题及答案解析

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2009

考研英语（一）真题及答案 解析

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

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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

‘

’

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 always exploring the many other possibilities.

”

All of us work through problems in ways of which we

’

re unaware, she says. Researchers in

the

late

1960

covered

that

humans

are

born

with

the

capacity

to

approach

challenges

in

four

primary

ways:

analytically,

procedurally,

relationally

(or

collaboratively)

and

innovatively.

At

puberty,

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 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 book

“

This Year I Will...

”

and Ms. Markova

’

s business partner.

“

That

’

s

a lie that we have perpetuated, and it fosters commonness. Knowing what you

’

re good at and

doing even more of it creates excellence.

”

This is where developing new habits comes in.

21. The view of Wordsworth habit is claimed by being

A. casual B. familiar C. mechanical D. changeable.

22. The researchers have discovered that the formation of habit can be

A. predicted B. regulated C. traced D. guided

23.

”

ruts

”

(in line one, paragraph 3) has closest meaning to

A. tracks B. series C. characteristics D. connections

24. Ms. Markova

’

s comments suggest that the practice of standard testing ?

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A, prevents new habits form being formed

B, no longer emphasizes commonness

C, maintains the inherent American thinking model

D, complies with the American belief system

25. Ryan most probably agree that

A. ideas are born of a relaxing mind

B. innovativeness could be taught

C. decisiveness derives from fantastic ideas

D. curiosity activates creative minds

Text 2

It is a wise father that knows his own child, but today a man can boost his paternal (fatherly)

wisdom

–

or at least confirm that he

’

s the kid

’

s dad. All he needs to do is shell our $$30 for

paternity testing kit (PTK) at his local drugstore

–

and another $$120 to get the results.

More than 60,000 people have purchased the PTKs since they first become available without

prescriptions

last

years,

according

to

Doug

Fog,

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 dollars to more than $$2500.

Among the most popular : paternity and kinship testing , which adopted children can use to

find

their

biological

relatives

and

latest

rage

a

many

passionate

genealogists-and

supports

businesses that offer to search for a family

’

s geographic roots .

Most

tests

require

collecting

cells

by

webbing

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 hawked by people

claiming they are doing ancestry testing,

”

says Trey Duster, a New York University sociologist.

He notes that each individual has many ancestors-numbering in the hundreds just a few centuries

back. Yet most ancestry testing only considers a single lineage, either the Y chromosome inherited

through men in a father

’

s line or mitochondrial DNA, which a 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 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 don

’

t rely on data collected

systematically but rather lump together information from different research projects. This means

that a DNA database 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 review or outside evaluation.

paragraphs 1 and 2 , the text shows PTK

’

s ___________.

[A]easy availability

[B]flexibility in pricing

[C] successful promotion

[D] popularity with households

27. PTK is used to __________.

[A]locate one

’

s birth place

[B]promote genetic research

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[C] identify parent-child kinship

[D] choose children for adoption

28. Skeptical observers believe that ancestry testing fails to__________.

[A]trace distant ancestors

[B] rebuild reliable bloodlines

[C] fully use genetic information

[D] achieve the claimed accuracy

29. In the last paragraph ,a problem commercial genetic testing faces is __________.

[A]disorganized data collection

[B] overlapping database building

30. An appropriate title for the text is most likely to be__________.

[A]Fors and Againsts of DNA testing

[B] DNA testing and It

’

s problems

[C]DNA testing outside the lab

[D] lies behind DNA testing

Text 3

The relationship between formal education and economic growth in poor countries is widely

misunderstood by economists and politicians alike progress in both area is undoubtedly necessary

for the social, political and intellectual development of these and all other societies; however, the

conventional view that education should be one of the very highest priorities for promoting rapid

economic

development

in

poor

countries

is

wrong.

We

are

fortunate

that

is

it,

because

new

educational

systems

there

and

putting

enough

people

through

them

to

improve

economic

performance would require two or three generations. The findings of a research institution have

consistently shown that workers in all countries can be trained on the job to achieve radical higher

productivity and, as a result, radically higher standards of living.

Ironically, the first evidence for this idea appeared in the United States. Not long ago, with

the country entering a recessing and Japan at its pre-bubble peak. The U.S. workforce was derided

as poorly educated and one of primary cause of the poor U.S. economic performance. Japan was,

and remains, the global leader in automotive-assembly productivity. Yet the research revealed that

the U.S. factories of Honda Nissan, and Toyota achieved about 95 percent of the productivity of

their Japanese countere pants a result of the training that U.S. workers received on the job.

More recently, while examing housing construction, the researchers discovered that illiterate,

non- English- speaking Mexican workers in Houston, Texas, consistently

met best-practice labor

productivity standards despite the complexity of the building industry

’

s work.

What

is

the

real

relationship

between

education

and

economic

development?

We

have

to

suspect

that

continuing

economic

growth

promotes

the

development

of

education

even

when

governments don

’

t force it. After all, that

’

s how education got started. When our ancestors were

hunters and gatherers 10,000 years ago, they didn

’

t have time to wonder much about anything

besides finding food. Only

when humanity began to get its food in a more productive way was

there time for other things.

As education improved, humanity

’

s productivity potential, they could in turn afford more

education. This increasingly high level of education is probably a necessary, but not a sufficient,

condition

for

the

complex

political

systems

required

by

advanced

economic

performance.

Thus

poor countries might not be able to escape their poverty traps without political changes that may

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be possible only with broader formal education. A lack of formal education, however, doesn

’

t

constrain the ability of the developing world

’

s workforce to substantially improve productivity for

the forested future. On the contrary, constraints on improving productivity explain why education

isn

’

t developing more quickly there than it is.

31.

The

author

holds

in

paragraph

1

that

the

important

of

education

in

poor

countries

___________.

[A] is subject groundless doubts

[B] has fallen victim of bias

[C] is conventional downgraded

[D] has been overestimated

32. It is stated in paragraph 1 that construction of a new education system __________.

[A]challenges economists and politicians

[B]takes efforts of generations

[C] demands priority from the government

[D] requires sufficient labor force

33.A major difference between the Japanese and U.S workforces is that __________.

[A] the Japanese workforce is better disciplined

[B] the Japanese workforce is more productive

[C]the U.S workforce has a better education

[D] ]the U.S workforce is more organize

34.

The

author

quotes

the

example

of

our

ancestors

to

show

that

education

emerged

__________.

[A] when people had enough time

[B] prior to better ways of finding food

[C] when people on longer went hung

[D] as a result of pressure on government

35. According to the last paragraph , development of education __________.

[A] results directly from competitive environments

[B] does not depend on economic performance

[C] follows improved productivity

[D] cannot afford political changes

Text 4

The most thoroughly studied in the history of the new world are the ministers and political

leaders

of

seventeenth-century

New

England.

According

to

the

standard

history

of

American

philosophy, nowhere else in colonial America was

“

So much important attached to intellectual

pursuits

”

According to many books and articles, New England

’

s leaders established the basic

themes

and

preoccupations of

an unfolding,

dominant Puritan

tradition

in American

intellectual

life.

To

take

this

approach

to

the

New

Englanders

normally

mean

to

start

with

the

Puritans

’

theological

innovations

and

their

distinctive

ideas

about

the

church- important

subjects

that

we

may

not

neglect.

But

in

keeping

with

our

examination

of

southern

intellectual

life,

we

may

consider

the

original

Puritans

as

carriers

of

European

culture

adjusting

to

New

world

circumstances. The New England colonies were the scenes of important episodes in the pursuit of

widely understood ideals of civility and virtuosity.

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The early settlers of Massachusetts Bay included men of impressive education and influence

in England. `Besides the ninety or so learned ministers who came to Massachusetts church in the

decade after 1629,There were political leaders like John Winthrop, an educated gentleman, lawyer,

and

official

of

the

Crown

before

he

journeyed

to

Boston.

There

men

wrote

and

published

extensively,

reaching

both

New

World

and

Old

World

audiences,

and

giving

New

England

an

atmosphere of intellectual earnestness.

We should not forget , however, that most New Englanders were less well educated. While

few

crafts

men

or

farmers,

let

alone

dependents

and

servants,

left

literary

compositions

to

be

analyzed, The in thinking often had a traditional superstitions quality. A tailor named John Dane,

who emigrated in the late 1630s, left an account of his reasons for leaving England that is filled

with

signs.

sexual

confusion,

economic

frustrations

,

and

religious

hope-all

name

together

in

a

decisive moment when he opened the Bible, told his father the first line he saw would settle his

fate, and read the magical words:

“

come out from among them, touch no unclean thing , and I

will be your God and you shall be my people.

”

One wonders what Dane thought of the careful

sermons explaining the Bible that he heard in puritan churched.

Mean

while

,

many

settles

had

slighter

religious

commitments

than

Dane

’

s,

as

one

clergyman learned in confronting folk along the coast who mocked that they had not come to the

New world for religion .

“

Our main end was to catch fish.

”

36. The author notes that in the seventeenth-century New England___________.

[A] Puritan tradition dominated political life.

[B] intellectual interests were encouraged.

[C] Politics benefited much from intellectual endeavors.

[D] intellectual pursuits enjoyed a liberal environment.

37. It is suggested in paragraph 2 that New Englanders__________.

[A] experienced a comparatively peaceful early history.

[B] brought with them the culture of the Old World

[C] paid little attention to southern intellectual life

[D] were obsessed with religious innovations

38. The early ministers and political leaders in Massachusetts Bay__________.

[A] were famous in the New World for their writings

[B] gained increasing importance in religious affairs

[C] abandoned high positions before coming to the New World

[D] created a new intellectual atmosphere in New England

39.

The

story

of

John

Dane

shows

that

less

well-educated

New

Englanders

were

often

__________.

[A] influenced by superstitions

[B] troubled with religious beliefs

[C] puzzled by church sermons

[D] frustrated with family earnings

40. The text suggests that early settlers in New England__________.

[A] were mostly engaged in political activities

[B] were motivated by an illusory prospect

[C] came from different backgrounds.

[D] left few formal records for later reference

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Part B

Directions:

Directions:

In

the

following

text,

some

sentences

have

been

removed.

For

Questions

(41-45), choose the most suitable one from the list A-G to fit into each of the numbered blank.

There

are

two

extra

choices,

which

do

not

fit

in

any

of

the

your

answers

on

ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)

Coinciding

with

the

groundbreaking

theory

of

biological

evolution

proposed

by

British

naturalist Charles Darwin in the 1860s, British social philosopher Herbert Spencer put forward his

own

theory

of

biological

and

cultural

evolution.

Spencer

argued

that

all

worldly

phenomena,

including human societies, changed over time, advancing toward perfection. 41.____________.

American

social

scientist

Lewis

Henry

Morgan

introduced

another

theory

of

cultural

evolution

in

the

late

1800s.

Morgan,

along

with

Tylor,

was

one

of

the

founders

of

modern

anthropology. In his work, he attempted to show how all aspects of culture changed together in the

evolution of societies.42._____________.

In

the

early

1900s

in

North

America,

German-born

American

anthropologist

Franz

Boas

developed

a

new

theory

of

culture

known

as

historical

particularism.

Historical

particularism,

which

emphasized

the

uniqueness

of

all

cultures,

gave

new

direction

to

anthropology.

43._____________ .

Boas felt that the culture of any society must be understood as the result of a unique history

and

not

as

one

of

many

cultures

belonging

to

a

broader

evolutionary

stage

or

type

of

culture.

44._______________.

Historical

particularism

became

a

dominant

approach

to

the

study

of

culture

in

American

anthropology,

largely

through

the

influence

of

many

students

of

Boas.

But

a

number

of

anthropologists

in

the

early

1900s

also

rejected

the

particularist

theory

of

culture

in

favor

of

diffusionism. Some attributed virtually every important cultural achievement to the inventions of a

few,

especially

gifted

peoples

that,

according

to

diffusionists,

then

spread

to

other

cultures.

45.________________.

Also

in

the

early

1900s,

French

sociologist ?mile

Durkheim

developed

a

theory

of

culture

that would greatly influence anthropology. Durkheim proposed that religious beliefs functioned to

reinforce

social

solidarity.

An

interest

in

the

relationship

between

the

function

of

society

and

culture

—

known

as

functionalism

—

became

a

major

theme

in

European,

and

especially

British,

anthropology.

[A] Other anthropologists believed that cultural innovations, such as inventions, had a single

origin and passed from society to society. This theory was known as diffusionism.

[B]

In

order

to

study

particular

cultures

as

completely

as

possible, Boas became

skilled

in

linguistics, the study of languages, and in physical anthropology, the study of human biology and

anatomy.

[C] He argued that human evolution was characterized by a struggle he called the

“

survival

of the fittest,

”

in which weaker races and societies must eventually be replaced by stronger, more

advanced races and societies.

[D]

They

also

focused

on

important

rituals

that

appeared

to

preserve

a

people

’

s

social

structure, such as initiation ceremonies that formally signify children

’

s entrance into adulthood.

[E] Thus, in his view, diverse aspects of culture, such as the structure of families, forms of

marriage,

categories

of

kinship,

ownership

of

property,

forms

of

government,

technology,

and

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