2014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 ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)

Text 1
What would you do with $590m? This is now a question for Gloria Mackenzie, an 84-­year-­old widow who recently emerged from her small, tin-­roofed house in Florida to collect the biggest undivided lottery jackpot in history. If she hopes her new-­found fortune will yield lasting feelings of fulfillment, she could do worse than read Happy Money by Elizabeth Dumn and Michael Norton.

These two academics use an array of behavioral research to show that the most rewarding ways to spend money can be counterintuitive. Fantasies of great wealth often involve visions of fancy cars and extravagant homes. Yet satisfaction with these material purchases wears off fairly quickly. What was once exciting and new becomes old­hat; regret creeps in. It is far better to spend money on experiences, say Ms. Dumn and Mr. Norton, like interesting trips, unique meals or even going to the cinema. These purchases often become more valuable with time—as stories or memories—particularly if they involve feeling more connected to others.

This slim volume is packed with tips to help wage slaves as well as lottery winners get the most “happiness bang for your buck.” It seems most people would be better off if they could shorten their commutes to work, spend more time with friends and family and less of it watching television (something the average American spends a whopping two months a year doing, and is hardly jollier for it). Buying gifts or giving to charity is often more pleasurable than purchasing things for oneself, and luxuries are most enjoyable when they are consumed sparingly. This is apparently the reason MacDonald's restricts the availability of its popular McRib—a marketing trick that has turned the pork sandwich into an object of obsession.

Readers of Happy Money are clearly a privileged lot, anxious about fulfillment, not hunger. Money may not quite buy happiness, but people in wealthier countries are generally happier than those in poor ones. Yet the link between feeling good and spending money on others can be seen among rich and poor people around the world, and scarcity enhances the pleasure of most things for most people. Not everyone will agree with the authors’ policy ideas, which range from mandating more holiday time to reducing tax incentives for American homebuyers. But most people will come away from this book believing it was money well spent.

21. According to Dumn and Norton, which of the following is the most rewarding purchase?

[A] A big house.    [B] A special tour.      [C] A stylish car.       [D] A rich meal.

22. The author's attitude toward Americans’ watching TV is ________.

[A] critical            [B] supportive           [C] sympathetic         [D] ambiguous

23. McRib is mentioned in Paragraph 3 to show that ________.

[A] consumers are sometimes irrational                     [B] popularity usually comes after quality

[C] marketing tricks are after effective                      [D] rarity generally increases pleasure

24. According to the last paragraph, Happy Money ________.

[A] has left much room for readers’ criticism           

[B] may prove to be a worthwhile purchase

[C] has predicted a wider income gap in the US        

[D] may give its readers a sense of achievement

25. This text mainly discusses how to ________.

[A] balance feeling good and spending money          

[B] spend large sums of money won in lotteries

[C] obtain lasting satisfaction from money spent       

[D] become more reasonable in spending on luxuries

Text 2
An article in Scientific America has pointed out that empirical research says that, actually, you think you’re more beautiful than you are. We have a deep­seated need to feel good about ourselves and we naturally employ a number of self­enhancing strategies to research into what they call the “above average effect”, or “illusory superiority”, and shown that, for example, 70% of us rate ourselves as above average in leadership, 93% in driving and 85% at getting on well with others—all obviously statistical impossibilities.

We rose tint our memories and put ourselves into self­affirming situations. We become defensive when criticized, and apply negative stereotypes to others to boost our own esteem, we stalk around thinking we’re hot stuff.

Psychologist and behavioral scientist Nicholas Epley oversaw a key studying into self­enhancement and attractiveness. Rather that have people simply rate their beauty compress with others, he asked them to identify an original photograph of themselves’ from a lineup including versions that had been altered to appear more and less attractive. Visual recognition, reads the study, is “an automatic psychological process occurring rapidly and intuitively with little or no apparent conscious deliberation”. If the subjects quickly chose a falsely flattering image—which must did—they genuinely believed it was really how they looked.

Epley found no significant gender difference in responses. Nor was there any evidence that, those who self­enhance the must (that is, the participants who thought the most positively doctored picture were real) were doing so to make up for profound insecurities. In fact those who thought that the images higher up the attractiveness scale were real directly corresponded with those who showed other makers for having higher self­esteem. “I don't think the findings that we having have are any evidence of personal delusion”, says Epley. “It's a reflection simply of people generally thinking well of themselves’. If you are depressed, you won't be self­enhancing.

Knowing the results of Epley's study, it makes sense that why people heat photographs of themselves viscerally—on one level, they don't even recognize the person in the picture as themselves. Facebook therefore, is a self­enhancer's paradise, where people can share only the most flattering photos, the cream of their wit, style, beauty, intellect and lifestyles. “It's not that people's profiles are dishonest”, says Catalina Toma of Wiscon—Madison university,” but they portray an idealized version of themselves.

26. According to the first paragraph, social psychologists have found that ________.

[A] our self­ratings are unrealistically high             

[B] illusory superiority is a baseless effect

[C] our need for leadership is unnatural               

[D] self-­enhancing strategies are ineffective

27. Visual recognition is believed to be people's ________.

[A] rapid watching                                   [B] conscious choice  

[C] intuitive response                               [D] automatic self-­defence

28. Epley found that people with higher self­esteem tended to ________.

[A] underestimate their insecurities            [B] believe in their attractiveness

[C] cover up their depressions               [D] oversimplify their illusions

29. The word “viscerally” (Line 2, Para. 5) is closest in meaning to ________.

[A] instinctively    [B] occasionally        [C] particularly              [D] aggressively

30. It can be inferred that Facebook is self-­enhancer’s paradise because people can ________.

[A] present their dishonest profiles          [B] define their traditional life styles

[C] share their intellectual pursuits           [D] withhold their unflattering sides

Text 3
The concept of man versus machine is at least as old as the industrial revolution, but this phenomenon tends to be most acutely felt during economic downturns and fragile recoveries. And yet, it would be a mistake to think we are right now simply experiencing the painful side of a boom and bust cycle. Certain jobs have gone away for good, outmoded by machines. Since technology has such an insatiable appetite for eating up human jobs, this phenomenon will continue to restructure our economy in ways we can't immediately foresee.

When there is rapid improvement in the price and performance of technology, jobs that were once thought to be immune from automation suddenly become threatened. This argument has attracted a lot of attention, via the success of the book Race Against the Machine, by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, who both hail from MIT's Center for Digital Business.

This is a powerful argument, and a scary one. And yet, John Hagel, author of The Power of Pull and other books, says Brynjolfsson and McAfee miss the reason why these jobs are so vulnerable to technology in the first place.

Hagel says we have designed jobs in the U. S. that tend to be “tightly scripted” and “highly standardized” ones that leave no room for “individual initiative or creativity.” In short, these are the types of jobs that machines can perform much better at than human beings. That is how we have put a giant target sign on the backs of American workers, Hagel says.

It's time to reinvent the formula for how work is conducted, since we are still relying on a very 20th century notion of work, Hagel says. In our rapidly changing economy, we more than ever need people in the workplace who can take initiative and exercise their imagination “to respond to unexpected events.” That's not something machines are good at. They are designed to perform very predictable activities.

As Hagel notes, Brynjolfsson and McAfee indeed touched on this point in their book. We need to reframe race against the machine as race with the machine. In other words, we need to look at the ways in which machines can augment human labor rather than replace it. So then the problem is not really about technology, but rather, “how do we innovate our institutions and our work practices?”

31. According to the first paragraph, economic downturns would ________.

[A] ease the competition of man vs. Machine             [B] highlight machines' threat to human jobs

[C] provoke a painful technological revolution           [D] outmode our current economic structure

32. The authors of Race Against the Machine argue that ________.

[A] technology is diminishing man's job opportunities [B] automation is accelerating technological development

[C] certain jobs will remain intact after automation    [D] man will finally win the race against machine

33. Hagel argues that jobs in the U. S. are often ________.

[A] performed by innovative minds                      [B] scripted with an individual style

[C] standardized without a clear target                [D] designed against human creativity

34. According to the last paragraph, Brynjolfsson and McAfee discussed ________.

[A] the predictability of machine behavior in practice

[B] the formula for how work is conducted efficiently

[C] the ways machines replace human labor in modern times 

[D] the necessity of human involvement in the workplace

35. Which of the following could be the most appropriate title for the text?

[A] How to Innovate Our Work Practices?            [B] Machines will Replace Human Labor

[C] Can We Win the Race Against Machines?          [D] Economic Downturns Stimulate Innovations

Text 4
When the government talks about infrastructure contributing to the economy the focus is usually on roads, railways, broadband and energy. Housing is seldom mentioned.

Why is that? To some extent the housing sector must shoulder the blame. We have not been good at communicating the real value that housing can contribute to economic growth. Then there is the scale of the typical housing project. It is hard to shove for attention among multibillion­pound infrastructure project, so it is inevitable that the attention is focused elsewhere. But perhaps the most significant reason is that the issue has always been so politically charged.

Nevertheless, the affordable housing situation is desperate. Waiting lists increase all the time and we are simply not building enough new homes.

The comprehensive spending review offers an opportunity for the government to help rectify this. It needs to put historical prejudices to one side and take some steps to address our urgent housing need.

There are some indications that it is preparing to do just that. The communities minister, Don Foster, has hinted that George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, may introduce more flexibility to the current cap on the amount that local authorities can borrow against their housing stock debt. Evidence shows that 60, 000 extra new homes could be built over the next five years if the cap were lifted, increasing GDP by 0.6%.

Ministers should also look at creating greater certainty in the rental environment, which would have a significant impact on the ability of registered providers to fund new developments from revenues.

But it is not just down to the government. While these measures would be welcome in the short term, we must face up to the fact that the existing ￡4.5bn programme of grants to fund new affordable housing, set to expire in 2015，is unlikely to be extended beyond then. The Labour party has recently announced that it will retain a large part of the coalition's spending plans if returns to power. The housing sector needs to accept that we are very unlikely to ever return to era of large-­scale public grants. We need to adjust to this changing climate.

36. The author believes that the housing sector ________.

[A] has attracted much attention                     [B] involves certain political factors

[C] shoulders too much responsibility                [D] has lost its real value in economy

37. It can be learned that affordable housing has ________.

[A] increased its home supply                      [B] offered spending opportunities

[C] suffered government biases                    [D] disappointed the government

38. According to Paragraph 5, George Osborne may ________.

[A] allow greater government debt for housing      

[B] stop local authorities from building homes

[C] prepare to reduce housing stock debt           

[D] release a lifted GDP growth forecast

39. It can be inferred that a stable rental environment would ________.

[A] lower the costs of registered providers            

[B] lessen the impact of government interference

[C] contribute to funding new developments        

[D] relieve the ministers of responsibilities

40. The author believes that after 2015, the government may ________.

[A] implement more policies to support housing    

[B] review the need for large-­scale public grants

[C] renew the affordable housing grants programme

[D] stop generous funding to the housing sector

Section II Reading Comprehension

Part A

Text 1

21、【答案】B A special tour

【解析】细节题。答案定位在第二段的“it is far better to spend money on experiences„like interesting trips„”，意思是“花钱消费在经历方面更好„„，比如说有趣的旅行„„”，由此可以得知答案是 B 选项“一场特别的旅行”。

22、【答案】A critical

【解析】观点态度题。答案定位在第三段的“something the average American spends a whopping twomonths a year doing, and is hardly jollier for it”，意思是“普通美国人一年花两个月的时间看电视，并且看电视几乎不可能更愉快”，因此可以得知作者对于看电视的态度是 A 选项“批判的”。

23、【答案】D rarity generally increases pleasure

【解析】观点例证题。答案定位在第三段，文章中提到 Mc Rib 这个例子，用这个例子证明的论点是“luxuries are most enjoyable when they are consumed sparingly”，大意是“有节制地消费奢侈品最令人愉悦”，D 选项正是这句论点句的同义替换。

24、【答案】B may prove to be a worthwhile purchase

【解析】细节题。答案定位在最后一段的最后一句“most people will come away from this book believing it was money well spent”，大意是“大多数人看完这本书后，认为物有所值”，因此可以推知 B 选项是正确答案。

25、【答案】A balance feeling good and spending money

【解析】主旨题。纵观全文可知，全文主要谈论花钱消费和心情愉悦之间的关系，因此答案定位在 A选项。

Text 2

26、【答案】A our self-ratings are unrealistically high

【解析】题目问“根据第一段，社会心理学家发现了什么?”对应于文章第一段第三句“社会心理学家对所谓的‘高于均数效应’或者‘虚幻的优越感’进行大量的研究，发现我们中 70%的人认为自己的领导力在平均水平之上„„—这些数据明显都是不可能的。”由此可知，我们对自己评价过高。故答案为[A] our self-ratings are unrealistically high。

27、【答案】C intuitive response

【解析】题目问“视觉识别被认为是人们的什么?”对应于文章第三段第三句“视觉识别是自动的心理过程，这个过程依靠直觉快速发生，且并不是故意的。”由此可知，视觉识别被认为是人们的直觉反应。故答案为[C] intuitive response。

28、【答案】B believe in their attractiveness

【解析】题目问“Epley发现有更高自尊的人倾向于怎样”。对应到第四段，第二句讲到“没有证据显示那些自我提升最多的人这样做是为了掩饰自己的不安全，接着讲到：事实上，那些认为自己的形象高于吸引力标准的人就是那些表现出更高自尊的人，故答案为[B] believe in their attractiveness。

29、【答案】[A] instinctively

【解析】题目问“最接近 viscerally 的意思的是?”。对应到第五段，viscerally 所在句讲到“许多人讨厌照片中的自己，从某种层面上说，他们甚至不承认照片中的人是他们自己。”而下文又讲到 facebook是自我拔高者的天堂，在那里人们可以分享最满意的的照片。”由此可知，viscerally 在本句中是“本质上地”意思，故答案为[A] instinctively。

30、【答案】[D]withhold their unflattering sides

【解析】题干问“我们可以推理出脸书(facebook)之所以是一个自我拔高者的天堂，是因为人们可以做什么?”对应于文章最后一段的第二句，该句讲到“在脸书(facebook)中，人们可以分享最满意的照片。”下文接着讲到“不是人们不诚实，而是人们展示了自己最理想的形象。”故答案为[D]withhold their unflattering sides。

Text 4

36、【答案】[B] involves certain political factors

【解析】根据本题题干中的关键词 housing sector 可以对应到文章的第二段，中间说的很多，我们注意到最后有 but 出现，最后应该是作者真正想要表达的观点，另外这里用了 the most significant 较高级，所以最后这个是最重要的一个原因，politically charged 和选项 B 的 political factors 有对应关系，故选 B involves certain political factors。A 项的吸引注意没有提及，C 项的承担太多责任，原文说的 shoulder the blame，D 项说的丧失价值，原文说的是不善于表明真正价值，两者不一致，故排除。

37、【答案】[C] suffered government biases

【解析】经济适用房曾受到政府的偏见。答案定位到文章第三段最后一句话 It needs to put historical prejudices to one side and take some steps to address our urgent housing need. 政府需要把历史的偏见放在一边并且采取一些策略解决我们迫切的住房需求。Suffered 是过去式，是对于原文 history 的同义反复，biases 是对原文prejudices 的同义反复。

38、【答案】[A] allow greater government debt for housing

【解析】根据人名 George Osborne 定位得知，此人将会让当地政府用来偿还建房借贷的限额变得更加宽松，并在借贷限额放宽的情况下，将会另有 60,000 所房屋在未来的五年中建立，并由此拉动国内生产总值的百分之零点六。因此 A(允许更大的政府的建房借贷)是正确的，而 B(禁止当地政府建房)，C(准备减少建房借贷)，D(发布国内生产总值增长的预报)都与原文意思不符。

39、【答案】[C] contribute to funding new developments

【解析】推断题。根据文章题干定位到第五段，题干考察的是对稳定的租赁环境的理解。A 项的意思是“减少注册供应者的成本”，其中“成本一词”并未在文中出现，属于无中生有。B项的意思是“减少政府接介入的影响”，其中“政府介入”并未在文中出现，属于无中生有。B 项的意思是“有助于为新发展提供资金支持”，其中“为新发展提供资金持”对应文中的“fund new developments”;C选项中的“contribute to”(意思是有助于)对英文中的have a significant impact(意思是有重要影响)，符合正解的同义复现原则，所以是正确选项。

40、【答案】[D] stop generous funding to the housing sector

【解析】推断题。根据题干定位到最后一段第三行。考察的是 2015 年以后政府的可能性动作。A 项的意思是“推行更多的政策来支持住房”与原文意义相反。B 项的意思是重新审视大规模公共拨款的需求，与原文倒数第二段意义相违背。C 项的意思是更新可负担的住房拨款项目并没有提到 renew 一词。D 项的意思是停止对住房部门的大额资助，与原文的倒数第二句相匹配，故为正确选项。