2012年华中科技大学考博英语真题

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Part I Cloze (0.5 x 20 = 10%)

Directions: In this part you are asked to choose the best word( s) for each blank in the passage. Write your answers on the ANSWER SHEET.

Comedian George Carlin has a routine in which he talks about how humans seem to spend their lives accumulating “stuff”. Once they’ve gathered enough stuff, they have to find places to store all of it. If Carlin were to update that routine today, he could make the same 1 about computer information. It seems that everyone with a computer spends a lot of time acquiring data and then trying to find a way to 2 it.

For some computer owners, finding enough storage space to hold all the data they’ve acquired is a real challenge. Some people invest in larger hard drives. Others prefer 3 storage devices like thumb drives or compact discs. Desperate computer owners might delete entire folders worth of old files in order to make space for new information. 4 some are choosing to rely on a growing trend: cloud storage.

While cloud storage sounds like it has something to do with weather 5 and storm systems, it really refers to saving data 6 an off-site storage system maintained by a third party. 7 storing information to your computer’s hard drive or other local storage device, you save it to a remote database. The Internet provides the connection between your computer and the database. On the surface, cloud storage has several advantages 8 traditional data storage. For example, if you store your data on a cloud storage system, you’ll be able to get to that data from any location that has Internet access. You 9 need to carry around a 10 storage device or use the same computer to save and 11 your information. With the right storage system, you could even allow other people to access the data, turning a personal project into a 12 effort. So cloud storage is convenient and offers more 13 , but how does it work?

There are hundreds of different cloud storage systems. Some have a very specific 14 , such as storing Web e-mail messages or digital pictures. Others are 15 to store all forms of digital data. Some cloud storage systems are small operations, while others are so large that the physical equipment can fill 16 an entire warehouse. The facilities that 17 loud storage systems are called data centers. At its most basic level, a cloud storage system needs just one data server 18 to the Internet. A client, e. g. a computer user subscribing to a cloud storage service sends copies of files over the Internet to the data server, which then records the information. When the client wishes to retrieve the information, he or she accesses the data server through a Web-based interface. The server then either sends the files back to the client or allows the client to access and manipulate the files on the server

itself. Cloud storage systems generally rely on hundreds of data servers. Because computers 19 require maintenance or repair, it’s important to store the same information on multiple machines. This is called redundancy. Without redundancy, a cloud storage system couldn’t 20 clients that they could access their information at any given time. Most systems store the same data on servers that use different power supplies. That way, clients can access their data even if one power supply fails.

1. A. examination B. observation C. inspection D. acquaintance

2. A. store B. update C. process D. calculate

3. A. internal B. portable c. local D. external

4. A. But B. While c. And D. So

5. A. forecast B. report c. fronts D. system

6. A. onto B. to c. in D. upon

7. A. Apart from B. Other than c. Instead of D. Regardless of

8. A. than B. except c. for D. over

9. A. shouldn’t B. wouldn’t c. mustn’t D. couldn’t

10. A. physical B. substantial c. tangible D. local

11. A. store B. share c. access D. retrieve

12. A. comprehensive B. collaborative c. coordinated D. combining

13. A. opportunity B. chance c. convenience D. favor

14. A. focus B. purpose c. use D. operation

15. A. available B. capable c. applicable D. desirable

16. A. in B. up c. for D. into

17. A. hold B. save c. house D. run

18. A. connecting B. connected c. connect D. being connected

19. A. probably B. inconveniently c. invariably D. occasionally

20. A. ensure B. promise c. assure D. guarantee

Part II Reading Comprehension (2x20=40%)

Directions: There are four passages in this part. After each passage, there are five questions. You are to choose the best answer for each question. Write your answers on the ANSWER SHEET.

Passage One

Recent years have brought minority-owned businesses in the United States unprecedented opportunities — as well as new and significant risks. Civil rights activists have long argued that one of the principal reasons why Blacks, Hispanics, and other minority groups have difficulty establishing themselves in business is that they lack access to the sizable orders and subcontracts that are generated by large companies. Now Congress, in apparent agreement, has required by law that businesses awarded federal contracts of more than $ 500, 000 do their best to find minority subcontractors and record their efforts to do so on forms filed with the government. Indeed, some federal and local agencies have gone

so far as to set specific percentage goals for apportioning parts of public works contracts to minority enterprises.

Corporate response appears to have been substantial. According to figures collected in 1977, the total of corporate contracts with minority businesses rose from $ 77 million in 1972 to $1.1 billion in 1977. The projected total of corporate contracts with minority businesses for the early 1980’s is estimated to be over 53 billion per year with no letup anticipated in the next decade. Promising as it is for minority businesses, this increased patronage poses dangers for them, too. First, minority firms risk expanding too fast and overextending themselves financially, since most are small concerns and, unlike large businesses, they often need to make substantial investments in new plants, staff, equipment, and the like in order to perform work subcontracted to them. If, thereafter, their subcontracts are for some reason reduced, such firms can face potentially crippling fixed expenses. The world of corporate purchasing can be frustrating for small entrepreneurs who get requests for elaborate formal estimates and bids. Both consume valuable time and resources, and a small company’s efforts must soon result in orders, or both the morale and the financial health of the business will suffer.

A second risk is that White-owned companies may seek to cash in on the increasing apportionments through formation of joint ventures with minority-owned concerns. Of course, in many instances there are legitimate reasons for joint ventures ； clearly, White and minority enterprises can team up to acquire business that neither could acquire alone. But civil rights groups and minority business owners have complained to Congress about minorities being set up as “fronts a person, group, or thing used to mask the identity or true character or activity of the actual controlling agent” with White backing, rather than being accepted as full partners in legitimate joint ventures. Third, a minority enterprise that secures the business of one large corporate customer often runs the danger of becoming and remaining dependent. Even in the best of circumstances, fierce competition from larger, more established companies makes it difficult for small concerns to broaden their customer bases: when such firms have nearly guaranteed orders from a single corporate benefactor, they may truly have to struggle against complacency arising from their current success.

21. The primary purpose of the passage is to .

A. present a commonplace idea and its inaccuracies

B. describe a situation and its potential drawbacks

C. propose a temporary solution to a problem

D. analyze a frequent source of disagreement

22. According to the passage, civil rights activists maintain that one disadvantage under which minority-owned businesses have traditionally had to labor is that they have •

A. been especially vulnerable to government mismanagement of the economy

B. been denied bank loans at rates comparable to those afforded larger competitors

C. not had sufficient opportunity to secure business created by large corporations

D. not been able to advertise in those media that reach large numbers of potential customers

23. The passage suggests that the failure of a large business to have its bids for subcontracts result quickly in orders might cause it to •

A. experience frustration but not serious financial harm

B. face potentially crippling fixed expenses

C. have to record its efforts on forms filed with the government

D. increase its spending with minority subcontractors

24. The author implies that a minority-owned concern that does the greater part of its business with one large corporate customer should .

A. avoid competition with larger, more established concerns by not expanding

B. concentrate on securing even more business from that corporation

C. try to expand its customer bases to avoid becoming dependent on the corporation

D. pass on some of the work to be done for the corporation to other minority-owned concerns

25. The author would most likely agree with which of the following statements about corporate response to working with minority subcontractors?

A. Annoyed by the proliferation of “front” organizations, corporations are likely to reduce their efforts to work with minority-owned subcontractors in the near future.

B. Although corporations showed considerable interest in working with minority businesses in the 1970，s，their aversion to government paperwork made them reluctant to pursue many government contracts.

C. The significant response of corporations in the 1970’s is likely to be sustained and conceivably be increased throughout the 1980’s.

D. Although corporations are eager to cooperate with minority-owned businesses, a shortage of capital in the 1970’s made substantial response impossible.

Passage Two

No very satisfactory account of the mechanism that caused the formation of the ocean basins has yet been given. The traditional view supposes that the upper mantle of the earth behaves as a liquid when it is subjected to small forces for long periods and that differences in temperature under oceans and continents are sufficient to produce convection in the mantle of the earth with rising convection currents under the mid-ocean ridges and sinking currents under the continents. Theoretically, this convection would carry the continental plates along as though they were on a conveyor belt and would provide the forces needed to produce the split that occurs along the ridge. This view may be correct: it has the advantage that the currents are driven by temperature differences that themselves depend on the position of the continents. Such a back-coupling, in which the position of the moving plate has an impact on the forces that move it, could produce complicated and varying motions.

On the other hand, the theory is implausible because convection does not normally occur along lines, and it certainly does not occur along lines broken by frequent offsets or changes in direction, as the ridge is. Also it is difficult to see how the theory applies to the plate between the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the ridge in the Indian Ocean. This plate is growing on both sides, and since there is no intermediate trench, the two ridges must be moving apart. It would be odd if the rising convection currents kept exact pace with them. An alternative theory is that the sinking part of the plate, which is denser than the hotter surrounding mantle, pulls the rest of the plate after it. Again it is difficult to see how this applies to the ridge in the South Atlantic, where neither the African nor the American plate has a sinking part.

Another possibility is that the sinking plate cools the neighboring mantle and produces convection currents that move the plates. This last theory is attractive because it gives some hope of explaining the enclosed seas, such as the Sea of Japan. These seas have a typical oceanic floor, except that the floor is overlaid by several kilometers of sediment. Their floors have probably been sinking for long periods. It seems possible that a sinking current of cooled mantle material on the upper side of the plate might be the cause of such deep basins. The enclosed seas are an important feature of the earth’s surface, and seriously require explanation in because, addition to the enclosed seas that are developing at present behind island arcs, there are a number of older ones of possibly similar origin, such as the Gulf of Mexico, the Black Sea, and perhaps the North Sea.

26. According to the traditional view of the origin of the ocean basins, which of the following is sufficient to move the continental plates?

A. Increases in sedimentation on ocean floors.

B. Spreading of ocean trenches.

C. Movement of mid-ocean ridges.

D. Differences in temperature under oceans and continents.

27. It can be inferred from the passage that, of the following, the deepest sediments would be found in the .

A. Indian Ocean B. Black Sea C. Mid-Atlantic D. South Atlantic

28. According to the passage, which of the following are separated by a plate that is growing on both sides?

A. The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan.

B. The South Atlantic Ridge and the North Sea Ridge.

C. The Gulf of Mexico and the South Atlantic Ridge.

D. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Indian Ocean Ridge.

29. The author refers to 过 “conveyer belt ” in Sentence 3, Paragraph 1，in order to .

A. illustrate the effects of convection in the mantle

B. show how temperature differences depend on the positions of the continents

C. demonstrate the linear nature of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

D. describe the complicated motions made possible by back-coupling

30. Which of the following titles would best describe the content of the passage?

A. A Description of the Oceans of the World

B. Several Theories of Ocean Basin Formation

C. The Traditional View of the Oceans

D. Convection and Ocean Currents

Passage Three

In the eighteenth century, Japan’s feudal overlords, from the shogun to the humblest samurai, found themselves under financial stress. In part, this stress can be attributed to the overlords’ failure to adjust to a rapidly expanding economy, but the stress was also due to factors beyond the overlords’ control. Concentration of the samurai in castle-towns had acted as a stimulus to trade. Commercial efficiency, in turn, had put temptations in the way of buyers. Since most samurai had been reduced to idleness by years of peace, encouraged to engage in scholarship and martial exercises or to perform administrative tasks that took little time, it is not surprising that their tastes and habits grew expensive.

Overlords’ income, despite the increase in rice production among their tenant farmers, failed to keep pace with their expenses. Although shortfalls in overlords’ income resulted almost as much from laxity among their tax collectors (the nearly inevitable outcome of hereditary office-holding) as from their higher standards of living, a misfortune like a fire or flood, bringing an increase in expenses or a drop in revenue, could put a domain in debt to the city rice-brokers who handled its finances. Once in debt, neither the individual samurai nor the shogun himself found it easy to recover. It was difficult for individual samurai over lords to increase their income because the amount of rice that farmers could be made to pay in taxes was not unlimited, and since the income of Japan’s central government consisted in part of taxes collected by the shogun from his huge domain, the government too was constrained. Therefore, the Tokugawa shoguns began to look to other sources for revenue. Cash profits from government-owned mines were already on the decline because the most easily worked deposits of silver and gold had been exhausted, although debasement of the coinage had compensated for the loss. Opening up new farmland was a possibility, but most of what was suitable had already been exploited and further reclamation was technically unfeasible. Direct taxation of the samurai themselves would be politically dangerous. This left the shoguns only commerce as a potential source of government income.

Most of the country’s wealth, or so it seemed, was finding its way into the hands of city merchants. It appeared reasonable that they should contribute part of that revenue to ease the shogun’s burden of financing the state. A means of obtaining such revenue was soon found by levying forced loans, known as goyo-kin； although these were not taxes in the strict sense, since they were irregular in timing and arbitrary in amount, they were high in yield. Unfortunately, they pushed up prices. Thus, regrettably, the Tokugawa shoguns，search for solvency for the government made it increasingly difficult for individual Japanese who lived on fixed stipends to make ends meet.

31. The passage is most probably an excerpt from •

A. an economic history of Japan

B. the memoirs of a samurai warrior

C. a modem novel about eighteenth-century Japan

D. an essay contrasting Japanese feudalism with its Western counterpart

32. Which of the following financial situations is most analogous to the financial situation in which Japan’s Tokugawa shoguns found themselves in the eighteenth century?

A. A small business borrows heavily to invest in new equipment, but is able to pay off its debt early when it is awarded a lucrative government contract.

B. Fire destroys a small business, but insurance covers the cost of rebuilding.

C. A small business is turned down for a loan at a local bank because the owners have no credit history.

D. A small business has to struggle to meet operating expenses when its profits decrease.

33. Which of the following best describes the attitude of the author toward the samurai discussed in Sentence 5, Paragraph 1?

A. Warmly approving. B. Mildly sympathetic.

C. Bitterly disappointed. D. Harshly disdainful.

34. The passage suggests that, in eighteenth-century Japan, the office of tax collector .

A. was a source of personal profit to the officeholder

B. was regarded with derision by many Japanese

C. remained within families

D. existed only in castle-towns

35. The passage implies that which of the following was the primary reason why the Tokugawa shoguns turned to city merchants for help in financing the state?

A. A series of costly wars had depleted the national treasury.

B. Most of the country’s wealth appeared to be in city merchants’ hands.

C. Japan had suffered a series of economic reversals due to natural disasters such as floods.

D. The merchants were already heavily indebted to the shoguns.

Passage Four

Years of research had educated me about how sugar, fat, and salt change the brain. I understood some of the parallels between hyperpalatable foods and drugs of abuse, and about the links among sensory stimulation, cues, and memory. I’d met enough people like Claudia and Maria to understand how even the thought of food could cause them to lose control. But I wasn’t fully prepared for the discoveries I made about irresistibility and whoosh, the Monster Thick burger and Baked! Cheetos Flamin’ Hot, about indulgence and purple cows. Without necessarily understanding the underlying science, the food industry has discovered what sells. I was sitting at Chili’s Grill & Bar in Chicago’s O’Hare Airport waiting for a late-night flight. At a nearby table a couple in their early forties was deep into a meal. The woman was overweight, with about 180 pounds on her five-foot-four-inch frame. The Southwestern Eggrolls she had ordered were listed as a starter course, but the enormous platter in front of her had been heaped with food. The dish was described on the menu as smoked chicken, black beans, com, Jack cheese, red peppers, and spinach wrapped inside a crispy flour tortilla，” and it was served with a creamy avocado-ranch dipping sauce. Despite its name, the dish looked more like a burrito than an egg roll, an only-in-America fusion approach.

I watched as the woman attacked her food with vigor and speed. She held the egg roll in one hand, dunked it into the sauce, and brought it to her mouth while using the fork in her other hand to scoop up more sauce. Occasionally she reached over and speared some of her companion’s French fries. The woman ate steadily, working her way around the plate with scant pause for conversation or rest. When she finally paused, only a little lettuce was left. Had she known someone was watching her, I’m sure she would have eaten differently. Had she been asked to describe what she had just eaten, she probably would have substantially underestimated her consumption. And she would probably have been surprised to learn what the ingredients in her meal really were.

The woman might have been interested in how my industry source, who had called sugar, fat, and salt the three points of the compass, described her entree. Deep-frying the tortilla drives down its water content from 40 percent to about 5 percent and replaces the rest with fat. “ The tortilla is really going to absorb a lot of fat，’’ he said. “It looks like an egg roll is supposed to look, which is crispy and brown on the outside. ”

The food consultant read through other ingredients on the label, keeping up a running commentary as he did. “Cooked white meat chicken, binder added, smoke flavor. People like smoky flavor — it’s the caveman in them. M “There’s green stuff in there,” he said, noting the spinach. “That makes me feel like I’m eating

something healthy. ’’ “Shredded Monterey Jack cheese... The increase in per-capita consumption of cheese is off the chart. ”

The hot peppers, he said, uadd a little spice, but not too much to kill everything else off. v He believed the chicken had been chopped and formed much like a meat loaf, with binders added, which makes those calories easy to swallow. Ingredients that hold moisture, including autolyzed yeast extract, sodium phosphate, and soy protein concentrate, further soften the food. I noticed that salt appeared eight times on the label and that sweeteners were there five times, in the form of com-syrup solids, molasses, honey, brown sugar, and sugar.

“This is highly processed?” I asked.

“Absolutely，yes. All of this has been processed such that you can wolf it down fast... chopped up and made ultrapalatable... Very appealing looking, very high pleasure in the food, very high caloric density. Rules out all that stuff you have to chew. ” By eliminating the need to chew, modem food processing techniques allow us to eat faster. “When you’re eating these things, you’ve had 500 , 600 , 800 , 900 calories before you know it,” said the consultant. “Literally before you know it. ” Refined food simply melts in the mouth.

36. What can be inferred from the author’s description of the woman eating in paragraph four?

A. The woman prefers to eat at Chili’s vs. other restaurants.

B. The woman truly enjoys the foods that she chooses to eat.

C. The woman’s efficiency at cleaning her plate adds to her dining experience.

D. The author is disgusted by the woman’s consumption.

37. According to the passage，the main reason why people overeat is that •

A. salt and sweeteners, like corn-syrup solids and brown sugar, are added to the food

B. we don’t have to chew our food very much

C. people like smoky flavor

D. sugar, fat and salt change the brain

38. The following are all ingredients in the egg rolls EXCEPT .

A. dark meat chicken B. salt C. binders D. honey

39. Which of the following statements best describes the main idea of the passage?

A. If you eat too much food too quickly, you’ll gain weight and become unhealthy.

B. Because refined food is irresistible and easy to eat, it masks how unhealthy it is, leaving people unaware of the poor food choices they’re making.

C. Chili’s is one of the restaurants in the U. S. serving unhealthy food to consumers today.

D. Food consultants and authors are making Americans aware of their unhealthy eating habits, thus, creating healthier generations for years to come.

40. In the first sentence of Paragraph four, the word “vigor” most nearly means •

A. pleasure B. flamboyance C. lethargy D. energy

Part HI Translation (30%)

Section A From Chinese into English (15%)

Directions: Translate the following three underlined parts from Chinese into English and write your translation on the ANSWER SHEET.

Nick Young创立了该刊物，并编辑英文版本，他说，上周多位北京警方和地方统计局的官员告知他该刊物进行了 “未经批准的调查”，因此被认为违反了有关收集统计数据的1983年

法律。杨先生说，在该刊物发行的十几年中，当局并未提供颁布此法令的明确原因。1.他说该刊物并未进行任何投票或调查，该法令非常含糊，因此可以禁止几乎任何需要与当地民众接触的信

息收集。关闭该刊物的决定可能反映了中国对近几年增加的地方和国外资助民间团体的关注持续增加。2.某些民间团体已经降低了中国百姓维护合法权利的门槛，某些中国官员认为这些团体会

导致社会的不安定。如果这些团体受政府资助而且不从事公开的政治活动，那么中国中央政府通常能够忍受。一些官员表示那些团体能够极大地帮助监测和抵制虐工等违法的行为。

3. 《中国发展简报》无权在中国出版，雇员也未注册为新闻记者，这就意味着该刊物未在更大出版社的允许下已经存在较长时间。但杨先生说，当局已经监视他的事务多年，他相信他们理

解向国外扶助机构提供客观信息符合中国利益。

Section B From English into Chinese (15%)

Directions: Translate the following three underlined parts from English into Chinese and write your translation on the ANSWER SHEET.

Brenda Farmer and Willie Blanscet have sat across from each other on the Butterball bagging line for 17 years, 102 cold, raw turkeys sliding by in front of them every minute. “Me and Willie look at each other and say，‘ How in the world can anybody eat this much turkey? ’ ” The odds are good that yours may be one. 1. The women，along with workers at another Butterball plant a 90-minute drive away，help produce about a third of the 43 million turkeys the nation will eat today，according to the National Turkey Federation. This comer of northwest Arkansas is not the land of free-running heritage birds that command $ 16 a pound. A leisurely morning browsing the farmers，market is not how most people spend a Saturday.

2. In this community of 3,000 on the Arkansas River, where everyone is cheering on the Hillbillies，the high school football team that made it to the state playoffs, turkey is an industry. And a job at the Butterball plant is one of the most reliable in town. The median income in Franklin County is just over $ 30, 000 a year. Unemployment is at 7. 3 percent. Every week，a dozen or so people show up at the plant looking for work. Maybe two get hired, plant managers said. It is not easy work. Turkeys need to be stunned and dispatched and gutted. Someone has to cut the oil gland out of the tail. Necks and gizzards and livers have to be cleaned and stuffed into a cavity. 3^ During a six-week period that begins in October，the line runs seven days a week to process fresh turkey. It is a period people in town simply refer to as “fresh”，and it is grueling. “It’s a long battle when we’re working fresh, but I at least got some bills paid and Christmas money,” Mrs. Farmer said. “I just sit there and hum and sing and talk to my friend Willie. We get through it together. ”

Part IV Essay Writing (20%)

Directions: You are required to write about 200 words on the following topic The Bad Aspect of Online Shopping”.

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