2007年考研《英语模拟考场》模拟试题(1)及答案

Text 3

Whoever said that victory has many fathers and defeat is an orphan， surely had never     heard of the World Trade Organization （WTO）.In the case of the hapless multilateral trade   body and its long suffering representatives， the total failure of the opening meeting of the   so-called Millennium trade round has lots of people boasting of their role in the violent   physical struggle. Well. That's just brilliant. They are proud of being part of a movement that wants to wreck the most important engine of economic growth， prosperity and overall global rising living standards we have—the freedom of trade and movement of people and goods between nations. 

The 135-member WTO is composed of sovereign governments wishing to further this   goal and ease the settlement of international trade disputes. From the sounds emanating from Seattle， though， it would now seem the WTO has now replaced the Trilateral Commission and the Freemasons as candidate No.1 to take over the world. 

Everybody has his favorite Seattle story. The city's police chief will have plenty of   time to think about his， having now resigned in disgrace over the loss of control of   downtown Seattle. The Seattle business community may be more inclined to brood over   theirs; the poor fools invested ＄9 million to attract the meeting to their fine city. What   stands out more? I would nominate the union of steel workers who were marching in   protest. It's an image that will boggle the mind for years to come. 

The debate now is over just how effective this anti-globalist coalition will turn out to be. In the heat of the moment， it always looks as though the world as we know it is coming to an end. But the overwhelming likelihood is that we have not actually seen a replay of the   anti-Vietnam War movement， which had much clearer focus， obviously，though its   consequences were far-reaching. How long，after all，can you protest against cheap imports when those same imports are all over your house? 

No， the real reason for the disaster in Seattle is political， and reports coming out of the meeting point to President Clinton as a major culprit. Which may be both good and bad. Taking the long view， other trade rounds have had difficult beginnings，too. It took years to get the Uruguay Round under way， which finally happened in 1986. Thankfully，we will soon be   electing another president， and it should be someone whose actions match his rhetoric. 

Still，it is a disgrace that the world's greatest trading nation，i.e. the United States，is currently led by a man whose motivations are so narrowly political and egocentric that he has now wrecked any chance of entering the history books as a champion of free trade.  

31. According to the passage， the failure of the Seattle meeting is chiefly caused by  

［A］ anti-globalist and pro-globalist conflicts. 

［B］ President Clinton's wrong initiatives. 

［C］ the strong protests from diverse groups. 

［D］ the police's failure to maintain order. 

32. We can learn from the beginning of the passage that  

［A］ different forces contributed to the failure of the Millennium trade round. 

［B］ many people bragged of their presence at the Millennium trade round. 

［C］ there existed a range of violent debates as to the prospects of the WTO. 

［D］ only a few members were proud of their membership of the WTO. 

33. One of the WTO's goals as mentioned in the passage is to  

［A］ serve as arbiters in international trade disputes. 

［B］ ensure cheap export and import of goods unnecessarily. 

［C］ bring about the globalization of world's trades. 

［D］ encourage free trade and goods exchanges worldwide. 

34. By saying that “It's an image that will boggle the mind for years to come，”（the last   sentence in Paragraph 3） the author means that  

［A］ the WTO is likely to have a negative image in people's mind in the future. 

［B］ the WTO will have trouble changing people's way of thinking in the future. 

［C］ the startling scene will probably linger in people's mind in the years to come. 

［D］ people will lose whatever confidence they hold in the future of the WTO. 

35. The author is obviously critical of President Clinton for  

［A］ his failing to match his words with his actions. 

［B］ his handling the matter in a wrong perspective. 

［C］ his lacking historical knowledge about the WTO. 

［D］ his overemphasizing the economic role of the WTO.   

Text 4

“Popular art” has a number of meanings，impossible to define with any precision，   which range from folklore to junk. The poles are clear enough， but the middle tends to blur. The Hollywood Western of the 1930's for example， has elements of folklore， but is closer to junk than to high art or folk art. There can be great trash， just as there is bad high art. The musicals of George Gershwin are great popular art， never aspiring to high art. Schubert and Brahms， however， used elements of popular music—folk themes—in works clearly intended as high art. The case of Verdi is a different one: he took a popular genre—bourgeois melodrama set to music （an accurate definition of nineteenth-century opera）and，without altering its fundamental nature， transmuted it into high art. This remains one of the greatest achievements in music，and one that cannot be fully appreciated without recognizing the essential trashiness of the genre. 

As an example of such a transmutation，consider what Verdi made of the typical political elements of nineteenth-century opera. Generally in the plots of these operas，a hero or heroine—usually portrayed only as an individual， unfettered by class—is caught between the immoral corruption of the aristocracy and the doctrinaire rigidity or secret greed of the leaders of the proletariat. Verdi transforms this naive and unlikely formulation with music of extraordinary energy and rhythmic vitality，music more subtle than it seems at first  hearing. There are scenes and arias that still sound like calls to arms and were clearly understood as such when they were first performed. Such pieces lend an immediacy to the otherwise veiled political message of these operas and call up feelings beyond those of the opera itself. 

Or consider Verdi's treatment of character. Before Verdi， there were rarely any characters at all in musical drama， only a series of situations which allowed the singers to express a series of emotional states. Any attempt to find coherent psychological portrayal in these operas is misplaced ingenuity. The only coherence was the singer's vocal technique: when the cast changed， new arias were almost always substituted，generally adapted from other operas. Verdi's characters，on the other hand， have genuine  consistency and integrity. Even if， in many cases， the consistency is that of pasteboard melodrama，the integrity of the character is achieved through the music: once he had become established. Verdi did not rewrite his music for different singers or countenance   alterations or substitutions of somebody else's arias in one of his operas，as every eighteenth-century composer had done. When he revised an opera，it was only for dramatic economy and effectiveness. 

36. By referring to Schubert and Brahms， the author suggests that  

［A］ the works produced in the 18th century can be all considered as trash. 

［B］ the achievements of the two artists overshadow that of Verdi. 

［C］ popular music could be applied to compositions intended as high art. 

［D］ the term of popular music is susceptible to many definitions. 

37. According to the passage， the immediacy of the political message in Verdi's operas   stems from the  

［A］ audience's familiarity with earlier operas. 

［B］ vitality and subtlety of the music employed. 

［C］ portrayal of heightened emotional outlets. 

［D］ individual talents and skills of the singers. 

38. It can be concluded from the passage that the author regards Verdi's revisions to his operas with  

［A］ approval for the intentions that motivated the revisions. 

［B］ regret that the original musicals and texts were altered.

［C］ concern that the revisions changed plots of the originals. 

［D］ disappointment， for the revisions seem largely irrelevant. 

39. It can be inferred that the author views the independence from social class of the heroes and heroines of 19th century operas as  

［A］ a plot refinement which could be the achievement only by Verdi. 

［B］ an idealized but accurate portrayal of bourgeois lifestyles. 

［C］ a plot convention with no real connection to political reality. 

［D］ a symbolic representation of the social position of aristocrats. 

40. Which of the following best describes the relationship of the first paragraph of the   passage as a whole? 

［A］ It compares and contrasts several achievements that are thoroughly examined later in the passage. 

［B］ It defines terms and relationships that are challenged in an argument later in the passage.  ［C］ It provides a host of concrete examples from which generalizations are drawn later in the passage. 

［D］ It leads to an assertion that is supported by examples and manifestations later in the passage.