考研英语二真题

for each numbered black and mark A

，

B

，

C or D on ANSWER SHEET 1.

（

10 points

）

The Internet affords anonymity to its users

，

a blessing to privacy and freedom of speech.

But that very anonymity is also behind the explosion of cyber-crime that has 1 across the Web.

Can privacy be preserved 2 bringing safety and security to a world that seems increasingly

3

？

Last month

，

Howard Schmidt

，

the nation‘s cyber

-czar

，

offered the federal government a

4 to make the Web a safer place-

a “voluntary trusted identity” system that would be the high

-tech

5 of a physical key

，

a fingerprint and a photo ID card

，

all rolled 6 one. The system might use a

smart identity card

，

or a digital credential 7 to a specific computer .and would authenticate users

at a range of online services.

The idea is to 8 a federation of private online identity systems. User could 9 which system to

join

，

and only registered users whose identities have been authenticated could navigate those

systems. The approach contrasts with one that would require an Internet driver‘s license

10 by the

government.

Google and Microsoft are among companies that already have t

hese“single sign

-

on” systems

that make it possible for users to 11 just once but use many different services.

12 .

the approach would create a “walled garden” n cyberspace

，

with safe “neighborhoods”

and bright “streetlights” to establish a sense of a

13 community.

Mr. Schmidt described it as a “voluntary ecosystem” in which “individuals and organizations

can complete online transactions with 14

，

trusting the identities of each other and the identities of

the infrastructure 15 which the transaction runs

”

。

Still

，

the administration‘s plan has

16 privacy rights activists. Some applaud the approach

；

others are concerned. It seems clear that such a scheme is an initiative push toward what would 17

be a compulsory Internet “drive’s license” mentality.

The plan has also been greeted with 18 by some computer security experts

，

who worry that

the “voluntary ecosystem” envisioned by Mr. Schmidt would still leave much of the Internet

19 .They argue that all Internet users should be 20 to register and identify themselves

，

in the

same way that drivers must be licensed to drive on public roads.

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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 ANSWER SHEET 1.

（

40points

）

Text 1

Ruth Simmons joined Goldman Sachs‘s board as an outside director in January 2000

：

a year

later she became president of Brown University. For the rest of the decade she apparently

managed both roles without attracting much eroticism. But by the end of 2009 Ms. Simmons was

under fire for having sat on Goldman’s compensation committee

；

how could she have let those

enormous bonus payouts pass unremarked

？

By February the next year Ms. Simmons had left the

board. The position was just taking up too much time

，

she said.

Outside directors are supposed to serve as helpful

，

yet less biased

，

advisers on a firm‘s

board. Having made their wealth and their reputations elsewhere

，

they presumably have enough

independence to disagree with the chief executi

ve’s proposals. If the sky

，

and the share price is

falling

，

outside directors should be able to give advice based on having weathered their own

crises.

The researchers from Ohio University used a database hat covered more than 10

，

000 firms

and more than 64

，

000 different directors between 1989 and 2004. Then they simply checked

which directors stayed from one proxy statement to the next. The most likely reason for departing

a board was age

，

so the researchers concentrated on those “surprise” disappearance

s by directors

under the age of 70. They fount that after a surprise departure

，

the probability that the company

will subsequently have to restate earnings increased by nearly 20%. The likelihood of being

named in a federal class- action lawsuit also increases

，

and the stock is likely to perform worse.

The effect tended to be larger for larger firms. Although a correlation between them leaving and

subsequent bad performance at the firm is suggestive

，

it does not mean that such directors are

always jumping of

f a sinking ship. Often they “trade up.” Leaving riskier

，

smaller firms for

larger and more stable firms.

But the researchers believe that outside directors have an easier time of avoiding a blow to

their reputations if they leave a firm before bad news breaks

，

even if a review of history shows

they were on the board at the time any wrongdoing occurred. Firms who want to keep their outside

directors through tough times may have to create incentives. Otherwise outside directors will

follow the example of Ms. Simmons

，

once again very popular on campus.

21. According to Paragraph 1

，

Ms. Simmons was criticized for .

[A]gaining excessive profits

[B]failing to fulfill her duty

[C]refusing to make compromises

[D]leaving the board in tough times

22. We learn from Paragraph 2 that outside directors are supposed to be .

[A]generous investors

[B]unbiased executives

[C]share price forecasters

[D]independent advisers

23. According to the researchers from Ohio University after an outside

director‘s surprise

departure

，

the firm is likely to .

[A]become more stable

[B]report increased earnings

[C]do less well in the stock market

[D]perform worse in lawsuits

24. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that outside directors .

[A]may stay for the attractive offers from the firm

[B]have often had records of wrongdoings in the firm

[C]are accustomed to stress-free work in the firm

[D]will decline incentives from the firm

25. The author‘s attitude toward the role

of outside directors is .

[A]permissive

[B]positive

[C]scornful

[D]critical

Text 2

Whatever happened to the death of newspaper

？

A year ago the end seemed near. The

recession threatened to remove the advertising and readers that had not already fled to the internet.

Newspapers like the San Francisco Chronicle were chronicling their own doom. America‘s

Federal Trade commission launched a round of talks about how to save newspapers. Should they

become charitable corporations

？

Should the state subsidize them

？

It will hold another

meeting soon. But the discussions now seem out of date.

In much of the world there is the sign of crisis. German and Brazilian papers have shrugged

off the recession. Even American newspapers

，

which inhabit the most troubled come of the

global industry

，

have not only survived but often returned to profit. Not the 20% profit margins

that were routine a few years ago

，

but profit all the same.

It has not been much fun. Many papers stayed afloat by pushing journalists overboard. The

American Society of News Editors reckons that 13

，

500 newsroom jobs have gone since 2007.

Readers are paying more for slimmer products. Some papers even had the nerve to refuse delivery

to distant suburbs. Yet these desperate measures have proved the right ones and

，

sadly for many

journalists

，

they can be pushed further.

Newspapers are becoming more balanced businesses

，

with a healthier mix of revenues from

readers and advertisers. American papers have long been highly unusual in their reliance on ads.

Fully 87% of their revenues came from advertising in 2008

，

according to the Organization for

Economic Cooperation Development

（

OEC D

）。

In Japan the proportion is 35%. Not

surprisingly

，

Japanese newspapers are much more stable.

The whirlwind that swept through newsrooms harmed everybody

，

but much of the damage

has been concentrated in areas where newspaper are least distinctive. Car and film reviewers have

gone. So have science and general business reporters. Foreign bureaus have been savagely cut off.

Newspapers are less complete as a result. But completeness is no longer a virtue in the newspaper

business.

26. By saying “Newspapers like … their own doom”

（

Lines 3-4

，

Para. 1

），

the author

indicates that newspaper .

[A]neglected the sign of crisis

[B]failed to get state subsidies

[C]were not charitable corporations

[D]were in a desperate situation

27. Some newspapers refused delivery to distant suburbs probably because .

[A]readers threatened to pay less

[B]newspapers wanted to reduce costs

[C]journalists reported little about these areas

[D]subscribers complained about slimmer products

28. Compared with their American counterparts

，

Japanese newspapers are much more stable

because they .

[A]have more sources of revenue

[B]have more balanced newsrooms

[C]are less dependent on advertising

[D]are less affected by readership

29. What can be inferred from the last paragraph about the current newspaper business

？

[A]Distinctiveness is an essential feature of newspapers.

[B]Completeness is to blame for the failure of newspaper.

[C]Foreign bureaus play a crucial role in the newspaper business.

[D]Readers have lost their interest in car and film reviews.

30. The most appropriate title for this text would be .

[A]American Newspapers

：

Struggling for Survival

[B]American Newspapers

：

Gone with the Wind

[C]American Newspapers

：

A Thriving Business

[D]American Newspapers

：

A Hopeless Story

Text 3

We tend to think of the decades immediately following World War II as a time of prosperity

and growth

，

with soldiers returning home by the millions

，

going off to college on the G. I. Bill

and lining up at the marriage bureaus.

But when it came to their houses

，

it was a time of common sense and a belief that less could

truly be more. During the Depression and the war

，

Americans had learned to live with less

，

and

that restraint

，

in combination with the postwar confidence in the future

，

made small

，

efficient

housing positively stylish.

Economic condition was only a stimulus for the trend toward efficient living. The phrase

“less is more” was actually first popularized by a German

，

the architect Ludwig Mies van der

Rohe

，

who like other people associated with the Bauhaus

，

a school of design

，

emigrated to the

United States before World War II