2015年考研英语二阅读理解

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 the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)

Text 1

A new study suggests that contrary to most surveys, people are actually more stressed at home than at work. Researchers measured people’s cortisol, which is a stress marker, while they were at work and while they were at home and found it higher at what is supposed to be a place of refuge.

“Further contradicting conventional wisdom, we found that women as well as men have lower levels of stress at work than at home”,writes one of the researchers, Sarah Damske. In fact women even say they feel better at work, she notes. “It is men, not women, who report being happier at home than at work.” Another surprise is that findings hold true for both those with children and without, but more so for nonparents. This is why people who work outside the home have better health.

What the study doesn’t measure is whether people are still doing work when they’re at home, whether it is household work or work brought home from the office. For many men, the end of the workday is a time to kick back. For women who stay home, they never get to leave the office. And for women who work outside the home, they often are playing catch-up-with-household tasks. With the blurring of roles, and the fact that the home front lags well behind the workplace in making adjustments for working women, it’s not surprising that women are more stressed at home.

But it’s not just a gender thing. At work, people pretty much know what they’re supposed to be doing: working, making money, doing the tasks they have to do in order to draw an income. The bargain is very pure: Employee puts in hours of physical or mental labor and employee draws out life-sustaining moola.

On the home front, however, people have no such clarity. Rare is the household in which the division of labor is so clinically and methodically laid out. There are a lot of tasks to be done, there are inadequate rewards for most of them. Your home colleagues—your family—have no clear rewards for their labor; they need to be talked into it, or if they’re teenagers, threatened with complete removal of all electronic devices. Plus, they’re your family. You cannot fire your family. You never really get to go home from home.

So it’s not surprising that people are more stressed at home. Not only are the tasks apparently infinite, the co-workers are much harder to motivate.

21. According to Paragraph 1, most previous surveys found that home ________.

[A] was an unrealistic place for relaxation [B] generated more stress than the workplace

[C] was an ideal place for stress measurement [D] offered greater relaxation than the workplace

22. According to Damaske, who are likely to be the happiest at home?

[A] Working mothers.   [B] Childless husbands.

[C] Childless wives.   [D] Working fathers.

23. The blurring of working women's roles refers to the fact that ________.

[A] they are both bread winners and housewives

[B] their home is also a place for kicking back

[C] there is often much housework left behind

[D] it is difficult for them to leave their office

24. The word “moola”(Line 4, Para. 4) most probably means ________.

[A] energy       [B] skills       [C] earnings   [D] nutrition

25. The home front differs from the workplace in that ________.

[A] home is hardly a cozier working environment

[B] division of labor at home is seldom clear¬cut

[C] household tasks are generally more motivating

[D] family labor is often adequately rewarded

Text 2

For years, studies have found that first-generation college students—those who do not have a parent with a college degree—lag other students on a range of education achievement factors. Their grades are lower and their dropout rates are higher. But since such students are most likely to advance economically if they succeed in higher education, colleges and universities have pushed for decades to recruit more of them. This has created “a paradox” in that recruiting first-generation students, but then watching many of them fail, means that higher education has “continued to reproduce and widen, rather than close” an achievement gap based on social class, according to the depressing beginning of a paper forthcoming in the journalPsychological Science.

But the article is actually quite optimistic, as it outlines a potential solution to this problem, suggesting that an approach (which involves a one-hour, next-to-no-cost program) can close 63 percent of the achievement gap (measured by such factors as grades) between first-generation and other students.

The authors of the paper are from different universities, and their findings are based on a study involving 147 students (who completed the project) at an unnamed private university. First generation was defined as not having a parent with a four-year college degree. Most of the first-generation students (59.1 percent) were recipients of Pell Grants, a federal grant for undergraduates with financial need, while this was true only for 8.6 percent of the students with at least one parent with a four-year degree.

Their thesis—that a relatively modest intervention could have a big impact—was based on the view that first-generation students may be most lacking not in potential but in practical knowledge about how to deal with the issues that face most college students. They cite past research by several authors to show that this is the gap that must be narrowed to close the achievement gap.

Many first-generation students “struggle to navigate the middle-class culture of higher education, learn the ‘rules of the game,’ and take advantage of college resources,” they write. And this becomes more of a problem when colleges don’t talk about the class advantages and disadvantages of different groups of students. “Because US colleges and universities seldom acknowledge how social class can affect students’ educational experiences, many first-generation students lack sight about why they are struggling and do not understand how students ‘like them’ can improve.”

26. Recruiting more first¬ generation students has ________.

[A] reduced their dropout rates [B] narrowed the achievement gap

[C] missed its original purpose [D] depressed college students

27. The author of the research article are optimistic because ________.

[A] the problem is solvable

[B] their approach is costless

[C] the recruiting rate has increased

[D] their findings appeal to students

28. The study suggests that most first¬ generation students ________.

[A] study at private universities [B] are from single¬parent families

[C] are in need of financial support [D] have failed their collage

29. The authors of the paper believe that first-¬generation students ________.

[A] are actually indifferent to the achievement gap

[B] can have a potential influence on other students

[C] may lack opportunities to apply for research projects

[D] are inexperienced in handling their issues at college

30. We may infer from the last paragraph that ________.

[A] universities often reject the culture of the middle¬class

[B] students are usually to blame for their lack of resources

[C] social class greatly helps enrich educational experiences

[D]colleges are partly responsible for the problem in question

Text 3

Even in traditional offices, “the lingua franca of corporate America has gotten much more emotional and much more right-brained than it was 20 years ago,” said Harvard Business School professor Nancy Koehn. She started spinning off examples. “If you and I parachuted back to Fortune 500 companies in 1990, we would see much less frequent use of terms like journey, mission, passion. There were goals, there were strategies, there were objectives, but we didn’t talk about energy; we didn’t talk about passion.”

Koehn pointed out that this new era of corporate vocabulary is very “team”-oriented—and not by coincidence. “Let’s not forget sports—in male-dominated corporate America, it’s still a big deal. It’s not explicitly conscious; it’s the idea that I’m a coach, and you’re my team, and we’re in this together. There are lots and lots of CEOs in very different companies, but most think of themselves as coaches and this is their team and they want to win.”

These terms are also intended to infuse work with meaning—and, as Khurana, another professor, points out, increase allegiance to the firm. “You have the importation of terminology that historically used to be associated with non-profit organizations and religious organizations: terms likevision, values, passion, and purpose,” said Khurana.

This new focus on personal fulfillment can help keep employees motivated amid increasingly loud debates over work-life balance. The “mommy wars” of the 1990s are still going on today, prompting arguments about why women still can’t have it all and books like Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In, whose title has become a buzzword in its own right. Terms like unplug, offline, life-hack, bandwidth, and capacity are all about setting boundaries between the office and the home. But if your work is your “passion,” you’ll be more likely to devote yourself to it, even if that means going home for dinner and then working long after the kids are in bed.

But this seems to be the irony of office speak: Everyone makes fun of it, but managers love it, companies depend on it, and regular people willingly absorb it. As linguist once said, “You can get people to think it’s nonsense at the same time that you buy into it.” In a workplace that’s fundamentally indifferent to your life and its meaning,office speak can help you figure out how you relate to your work—and how your work defines who you are.

31. According to Nancy Koehn, office language has become ________.

[A] more emotional        [B] more objective

[C] less energetic        [D] less strategic

32. “Team”¬oriented corporate vocabulary is closely related to ________.

[A] historical incidents      [B] gender difference

[C] sports culture        [D] athletic executives

33. Khurana believes that the importation of terminology aims to ________.

[A] revive historical terms [B] promote company image

[C] foster corporate cooperation [D] strengthen employee loyalty

34. It can be inferred that Lean In ________.

[A] voices for working women [B] appeals to passionate workaholics

[C] triggers debates among mommies [D] praises motivated employees

35. Which of the following statements is true about office speak?

[A] Managers admire it but avoid it. [B] Linguists believe it to be nonsense.

[C] Companies find it to be fundamental. [D] Regular people mock it but accept it.

Text 4

Many people talked of the 288,000 new jobs the Labor Department reported for June, along with the drop in the unemployment rate to 6.1 percent, as good news. And they were right. For now it appears the economy is creating jobs at a decent pace. We still have a long way to go to get back to full employment, but at least we are now finally moving forward at a faster pace.

However, there is another important part of the jobs picture that was largely overlooked. There was a big jump in the number of people who report voluntarily working part-time. This figure is now 830,000(4.4 percent) above its year ago level.

Before explaining the connection to the Obamacare, it is worth making an important distinction. Many people who work part-time jobs actually want full-time jobs. They take part-time work because this is all they can get. An increase in involuntary part-time work is evidence of weakness in the labor market and it means that many people will be having a very hard time making ends meet.

There was an increase in involuntary part-time in June, but the general direction has been down. Involuntary part-time employment is still far higher than before the recession, but it is down by 640,000(7.9percent) from its year ago level.

We know the difference between voluntary and involuntary part-time employment because people tell us. The survey used by the Labor Department asks people if they worked less than 35 hours in the reference week. If the answer is “yes”, they are classified as working part-time. The survey then asks whether they worked less than 35 hours in that week because they wanted to work less than full time or because they had no choice. They are only classified as voluntary part-time workers if they tell the survey taker they chose to work less than 35 hours a week.

The issue of voluntary part-time relates to Obamacare because one of the main purposes was to allow people to get insurance outside of employment. For many people, especially those with serious health conditions or family members with serious health conditions, before Obamacare the only way to get insurance was through a job that provided health insurance.

However, Obamacare has allowed more than 12 million people to either get insurance through Medicaid or the exchanges. These are people who may previously have felt the need to get a full-time job that provided insurance in order to cover themselves and their families. With Obamacare there is no longer a link between employment and insurance.

36. Which part of the jobs picture was neglected?

[A] The prospect of a thriving job market.

[B] The increase of voluntary part-¬time jobs.

[C] The possibility of full employment.

[D] The acceleration of job creation.

37. Many people work part¬time because they ________.

[A] prefer part¬time jobs to full-¬time jobs

[B] feel that is enough to make ends meet

[C] cannot get their hands on full-¬time jobs

[D] haven't seen the weakness of the market

38. Involuntary part¬time employment in the US ________.

[A] is harder to acquire than one year ago

[B] shows a general tendency of decline

[C] satisfies the real need of the jobless

[D] is lower than before the recession

39. It can be learned that with Obamacare, ________.

[A] it is no longer easy for part-¬timers to get insurance

[B] employment is no longer a precondition to get insurance

[C] it is still challenging to get insurance for family members

[D] full¬time employment is still essential for insurance

40. The text mainly discusses ________.

[A] employment in the US

[B] part-¬timer classification

[C] insurance through Medicaid

[D] Obamacare's trouble

Section II Reading Comprehension

Part A

Text 1

21、【答案】[A] offered greater relaxation than the workplace

【解析】事实细节题。该题干问：之前的研究认为家是……。根据题干，该题答案定位在首段首句。首句大致意思为“一项新的研究表明，与绝大部分研究相反，实际上，人们在家里的压力要大于工作。”由此可知，以往的研究正好跟最新研究相反，即人们在家里的压力小于工作。纵观各选项，选项A意为：与工作场所相比，能提供更多的休闲;与文章表述一致，为正确答案。

22、【答案】[C ] childless husbands

【解析】事实细节题。文章第二段第三句和第四句提到“It is men not women, who report being happier at home than at work…, but more so for nonparents.”即“研究发现是男人，而不是女人，在家比在工作中更高兴。更令人吃惊的是，研究发现，这种情况对于有孩子和没有孩子都是这样，尤其是对于没有孩子的。”所以综合对比后，选择C。

23、【答案】[D] they are both bread winners and housewives

【解析】推理判断题。文章第三段中提到“For many men, the end of the workday is …, with the blurring of role……”. 意思是“对于男人来说，一天的工作结束后，是他们休息的时候，但是对于女人来说，离开办公室之后，还有很多的家务活”。由此可以推出，“The blurring of working women’s roles” 指的是“既要在职场打拼也要做很多家务的女性”。所以综合判定后确定D为正确答案。

24、【答案】[C] earnings

【解析】词义句意题。文章第四段第一句提出“在工作中，大家都知道挣钱，他们做工作就是为了家庭收入”。紧接着第二句给出“这些雇员付出体力和脑力的劳动，就是为了得到能够维持他们生活的必须收入”。结合上下文，moola应该对应原文中的“income”,表示他们挣得的收入。故C正确。

25、【答案】[A] division of labor at home is seldom clear-cut

【解析】事实细节题。根据题干关键词“The home front”可以回文定位在原文最后一段。最后一段第一句指出“然而，人们对于大后方(家庭)就没有那么清楚了”，接下来的一句进一步指出“Rare is the household in which the division of labor is so clinically…”(家务活的分工很少清清楚楚)，A项中的“seldom”同意置换原文中的“Rare”, “clear-cut”同意置换原文的“clinically”，故A项正确。

Text 2

26、【答案】[D] missed its original purpose

【解析】根据题干关键词recruiting more first-generation students回文定位到第一段的第四句，然后一一比对选项，“rather than close an achievement gap based on social class”排除选项B，选项A和C是无关选项，由第四句话中This has created “a paradox” in that recruiting first-generation students…与选项D “missed its original purpose”是同义替换，paradox的意思是“自相矛盾，似是而非的观点”，所以正确答案为D。

27、【答案】[C] the problem is solvable

【解析】根据题干信息“research article are optimistic because……”可以回文定位到文章第二段第一句“But the article is actually quite optimistic, as it outlines a potential solution to this problem”。As引导的原因状语从句是题干答案，跟C选“the problem is solvable”重重合，因此选C。

28、【答案】[C] are in need of financial support

【解析】根据题干信息most first-generation students...定位第三段最后一句中，“most of first-generation students were recipients of Pell Grants(佩尔奖学金)，a federal grant for undergraduates with financial need",可知答案为C，其中in need of和with...need对应，financial support 和financial相对应。

29、【答案】[D] are inexperienced in handling their issues at college

【解析】根据题干关键词the author of the paper回文定位到文章第四段第一句“their thesis ...that face most college students”。这句话中明确说到第一代学生缺乏处理一些问题的实际经验，与选项D语义相符，其中are inexperienced与原文的lacking in practical knowledge对应，handling their issues与how to deal with the issues对应，at college与that face most college students对应。

30、【答案】[B] colleges are partly responsible for the problem in question

【解析】根据题干关键词infer from the last paragraph回文定位到文章最后一段，这是一个段落推理题，可以通过寻找段落中心的方式来解。最后一段第一句和第二句是并列关系，均提出第一代学生中存在的与社会阶层有关的问题。第三句以一个because所引导的原因状语从句点明中心，明确该问题的来源是美国高校未承认社会阶层对学生教育经历的影响，因此总结出来可知，选项B正确，说明出现了相应问题，高校应该担负一部分责任。

Text 3

31、【答案】[A]more emotional

【解析】细节题。题干中的office language对应文章中的lingua franca of corporate(公司通用语)，题干中的has become对应文章中的has gotten，所以答案对应文章中的more emotional and much more right-brained。所以答案A more emotional。本题的易错答案是 more objective。文章中的objectives是名词“目标，话题”的意思。

32、【答案】[C] sports culture

【解析】细节题。本题的答案可以从第二段的第二句到第四句中得出。这几句话都是在举例子，作为论据出现来论证第一句话。第二句话中出现了sports，第三句话中出现了coach和team，第四句话中出现了coach和team，win，所有的这些词都与运动相关，所以答案选C sports culture。

33、【答案】[D] strengthen employee loyalty

【解析】细节题。本题题干中还出现了believe这一观点动词，根据题干中的importation of terminology可以定位到第三段的第二句话，但是这句话属于论据，其论点是第一句话。本句中出现are intended to表示目的，对应题干中的aims to，句子出现了increase allegiance to the firm，对应D strengthen employee loyalty，表示“加强员工的忠诚度”。

34、【答案】[A] voices for working women

【解析】推理题。根据题干中的Lean In可以定位到第四段的第二句话。这句话中出现了1990s和“mommy wars”也是明显的论据，所以推理的核心论点是前面的第一句话。第一句话中出现了work-life balance，第二句话中出现了mommy wars，结合二者可以推理出这句话谈论的是工作中对于女性的不公平。所以答案选voices for working women(为职业女性申辩)。

35、【答案】[D] regular people mock it but accept it

【解析】细节题。根据题干的关键词可以定位到最后一段的第一句话。要注意这句话的结构。本句是一个转折句，尽管大家取笑office speak，但是…。转折之后表示的是人们对它的认可，A Managers …avoid it态度与文章不符。B中的linguists 在文章中没有提到。C中的Companies find it to fundamental,属于推理过度，文章说的是depend on，依靠并不说明fundamental根本的。

Text 4

36、【答案】[B] the increase of part-time jobs

【解析】本题为细节题。根据关键词“job pictures, neglected”可以回文定位到第二段第一句话“the jobs picture ...was largely overlooked”，其中neglected是overlooked的同义替换。并且此句有明显的命题点“however”。第二句具体指出被忽略的部分是“there was a big jump in the number of people who report voluntarily working part-time.”，即有大量的人自愿从事兼职工作。故正确答案为B。其中increase是原文jump的同义替换，voluntary part-time jobs是voluntarily working part-time的同义转述。

37、【答案】[C] cannot get their hands on full-time jobs

【解析】根据题干中的关键词“many people work part-time”可以定位到第二段第五句话“many people who work part-time jobs actually want full-time jobs”。由此句可知，那些从事兼职工作的人实际想拥有全日制工作。接着第六句明确指出他们从事兼职工作的原因：they take part-time because this is all they can get。言外之意是说，人们目前只能得到兼职工作，而无法获得全职工作。故正确答案为C。

38、【答案】[B] shows a general tendency of decline

【解析】通过题干中的involuntary part-time employment可以将该题定位在文章第二段。该段倒数第二句表明“这种非自愿参加兼职工作在六月份是呈现增长的，但是总趋势是下降的”。故B选项(呈现出一种普遍下降的趋势)正确。

39、【答案】[B] employment is no longer a precondition to get insurance

【解析】通过题干中with Obamacare可以将该题定位在全文最后一句。该句表明，就业和保险之间不再有关联。而从上一句可以看出，之前很多人想要找一份提供保险的全职工作来养活自己和家人。可见，之前，就业就意味着能得到保险。而它们之间的关系不复存在，即雇佣不再是得到保险的前提条件。可见，B选项正确。

40、【答案】[A] employment in the US

【解析】该题考察的是文章主旨大意。文章首段指出目前的失业率呈现出下降的趋势，而接下来的第二段提出在这种失业率下降的好现象中，我们忽略了那些自愿(voluntary)参加兼职工作的人。第三段就自愿兼职工作者和非自愿兼职工作者的区别展开描述。最后两段表明，那些自愿参加兼职工作的人是因为有了一项名为Obamacare的政策，该政策旨在使那些没有全职工作的人也有可能获得保险，从而提升就业率。可见，全文都是围绕美国的就业形势展开讨论。故A选项正确。