[真题]2014年考研英语真题

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　　Section II Reading Comprehension

　　Part A

　　Directions: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C, D. Mark your choice on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)

　　Text 1

　　In order to “change lives for the better” and reduce “dependency,” George Orbome, Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced the “upfront work search” scheme. Only if the jobless arrive at the jobcentre with a CV register for online job search, and start looking for work will they be eligible for benefit-and then they should report weekly rather than fortnightly. What could be more reasonable?

　　More apparent reasonableness followed. There will now be a seven-day wait for the jobseeker’s allowance. “Those first few days should be spent looking for work, not looking to sign on.” he claimed. “We’re doing these things because we know they help people say off benefits and help those on benefits get into work faster” Help? Really? On first hearing, this was the socially concerned chancellor, trying to change lives for the better, complete with “reforms” to an obviously indulgent system that demands too little effort from the newly unemployed to find work, and subsides laziness. What motivated him, we were to understand, was his zeal for “fundamental fairness”-protecting the taxpayer, controlling spending and ensuring that only the most deserving claimants received their benefits.

　　Losing a job is hurting: you don’t skip down to the jobcentre with a song in your heart, delighted at the prospect of doubling your income from the generous state. It is financially terrifying, psychologically embarrassing and you know that support is minimal and extraordinarily hard to get. You are now not wanted; you support is minimal and extraordinarily hard to get. You are now not wanted; you are now excluded from the work environment that offers purpose and structure in your life. Worse, the crucial income to feed yourself and your family and pay the bills has disappeared. Ask anyone newly unemployed what they want and the answer is always: a job.

　　But in Osborneland, your first instinct is to fall into dependency —permanent dependency if you can get it — supported by a state only too ready to indulge your falsehood. It is as though 20 years of ever-tougher reforms of the job search and benefit administration system never happened. The principle of British welfare is no longer that you can insure yourself against the risk of unemployment and receive unconditional payments if the disaster happens. Even the very phrase “jobseeker’s allowance” — invented in 1996 — is about redefining the unemployed as a “jobseeker” who had no mandatory right to a benefit he or she has earned through making national insurance contributions.Instead, the claimant receives a time-limited “allowance,” conditional on actively seeking a job; no entitlement and no insurance, at £71.70 a week, one of the least generous in the EU.

　　真题解析：文章概括：政府大臣Grorge Osbome提出了一个项目帮助失业的人找工作。

　　21.George Osborne’s scheme was intended to

　　[A]provide the unemployed with easier access to benefits.

　　[B]encourage jobseekers’ active engagement in job seeking.

　　[C]motivate the unemployed to report voluntarily.

　　[D]guarantee jobseekers’ legitimate right to benefits.

　　答案：B 细节题。本道题的关键是intended to问的是目的，所以我们也应该去寻找体现目的性的词汇，所以在首段首句看到了in order to ,则后面的内容即为本题答案，结合后面找工作的内容则选择B选项。

　　22.The phrase “to sign on”(Line 3,Para.2) most probably means

　　[A]to check on the availability of jobs at the jobcentre.

　　[B]to accept the government’s restrictions on the allowance.

　　[C]to register for an allowance from the government.

　　[D]to attend a governmental job-training program.

　　答案： C 词义句意题。先根据题干定位到第二段第三行，to sign on前面有一个很明显的not，则我们可以推知，这一定是前面的反义，我们只要读懂前面半部分就可以了，前面说应该spend looking for work，正好和A选项相符，所以我们只要选择一个相反的选项即可，则选择C选项。

　　23.What promoted the chancellor to develop his scheme?

　　[A]A desire to secure a better life for all.

　　[B]An eagerness to protect the unemployed.

　　[C]An urge to be generous to the claimants.

　　[D]A passion to ensure fairness for taxpayers.

　　答案:A 细节题。本道题的关键是题目中的prompted和chancellor，根据chancellor能定位到二段第五行，再向下寻找则可发现motivate和prompt是对应的，所以看本句即可发现和A选项是对应的。

　　24.According to Paragraph 3, being unemployed makes one one feel

　　[A]uneasy.

　　[B]enraged.

　　[C]insulted.

　　[D]guilty.

　　答案: A 细节题。本道题根据unemployed回到文中定位在第三段的最后一句，没有感觉相关内容，所以需要向前找答案，再根据本段第一句话中的losing a job即可判定答案在第二句，因此选择A选项。另我们会发现BCD三个选项趋于强烈和负面，所以，我们选择A选项。

　　25.To which of the following would the author most probably agree?

　　[A]The British welfare system indulges jobseekers’ laziness.

　　[B]Osborne’s reforms will reduce the risk of unemployment.

　　[C]The jobseekers’ allowance has met their actual needs.

　　[D]Unemployment benefits should not be made conditional.

　　答案:B 细节题。本题题根据选项定位。A选项根据大写字母The British welfare system定位到最后一段的第三句，原文是“no longer”，选项与原文反向干扰。B选项根据Osborne’s reforms

　　定位到第一段第二句，可以得出该项目可减少失业危险，所以B为正确答案。C选项根据题干“the jobseekers’ allowance”定位到最后一段倒数第二句，该句提到“no fundamental right”，恰与C选项表意相反，所以C是反向干扰。D选项根据题干“conditional”定位到最后一段最后一句，其中只提到“conditional on actively seeking a job…”，并没有要说以后应该怎样，所以属于无中生有。

　　Text 2

　　All around the world, lawyers generate more hostility than the members of any other profession---with the possible exception of journalism. But there are few places where clients have more grounds for complaint than America.

　　During the decade before the economic crisis, spending on legal services in America grew twice as fast as inflation. The best lawyers made skyscrapers-full of money, tempting ever more students to pile into law schools. But most law graduates never get a big-firm job. Many of them instead become the kind of nuisance-lawsuit filer that makes the tort system a costly nightmare.

　　There are many reasons for this. One is the excessive costs of a legal education. There is just one path for a lawyer in most American states: a four-year undergraduate degree at one of 200 law schools authorized by the American Bar Association and an expensive preparation for the bar exam. This leaves today’s average law-school graduate with $100,000 of debt on top of undergraduate debts. Law-school debt means that they have to work fearsomely hard.

　　Reforming the system would help both lawyers and their customers. Sensible ideas have been around for a long time, but the state-level bodies that govern the profession have been too conservative to implement them. One idea is to allow people to study law as an undergraduate degree. Another is to let students sit for the bar after only two years of law school. If the bar exam is truly a stern enough test for a would-be lawyer, those who can sit it earlier should be allowed to do so.Students who do not need the extra training could cut their debt mountain by a third.The other reason why costs are so high is the restrictive guild-like ownership structure of the business. Except in the District of Columbia, non-lawyers may not own any share of a law firm. This keeps fees high and innovation slow. There is pressure for change from within the profession, but opponents of change among the regulators insist that keeping outsiders out of a law firm isolates lawyers from the pressure to make money rather than serve clients ethically.

　　In fact,allowing non-lawyers to own shares in law firms would reduce costs and improve services to customers, by encouraging law firms to use technology and to employ professional managers to focus on improving firms’ efficiency. After all, other countries, such as Australia and Britain, have started liberalizing their legal professions. America should follow.

　　26.a lot of students take up law as their profession due to

　　[A]the growing demand from clients.

　　[B]the increasing pressure of inflation.

　　[C]the prospect of working in big firms.

　　[D]the attraction of financial rewards.

　　答案：D。该题是因果细节题，考察细节。首先，根据段落定位原则模糊定位，定位到前几段。其次，再精确定位，题干中有关键词“students”“law”“profession”，回到原文寻找相关信息。第一段未发现相关信息，然后到第二段看到“The best lawyers made skyscrapers-full of money, tempting ever more students to pile into law schools.”与题干有重合之处，选项D是该句的同义替换。A、B、C三个选项根据原文个别词汇“clients”“inflation”“big-firm”等进行干扰。注意，第一段的But是个假转折词，并非答案处。

　　27.Which of the following adds to the costs of legal education in most American states?

　　[A]Higher tuition fees for undergraduate studies.

　　[B]Admissions approval from the bar association.

　　[C]Pursuing a bachelor’s degree in another major.

　　[D]Receiving training by professional associations.

　　答案：C。该题是细节题，考察细节。首先根据段落定位原则定位到第三段。其次，根据题干关键词“the costs of legal education”精确定位到第三段第二句话“One is the excessive costs of a legal education.”问题是“which of the following adds to the costs of legal education”，因此定位句的下一句就是答案，即“There is just one path for a lawyer in most American states: a four-year undergraduate degree in some unrelated subject, then a three-year law degree at one of 200 law schools accredited by the American Bar Association and an expensive preparation for the bar exam.”分析选项可知，选项C恰当概况了该句子的涵义。A选项利用三段末尾的“This leaves today’s average law-school graduate with $100,000 of debt on top of undergraduate debts.”进行干扰。B选项无中生有。D选项根据四段最后一句出现的“training”个别词汇进行干扰。

　　28.Hindrance to the reform of the legal system originates from

　　[A]lawyers’ and clients’ strong resistance.

　　[B]the rigid bodies governing the profession.

　　[C]the stem exam for would-be lawyers.

　　[D]non-professionals’ sharp criticism.

　　答案：B。该题是原因细节题，问来源。首先段落定位原则定位到第四段。其次，根据题干关键词“the reform of the legal system”定位到第二句“Sensible ideas have been around for a long time, but the state-level bodies that govern the profession have been too conservative to implement them.”选项B即为该句的同义替换。

　　29.The guild-like ownership structure is considered “restrictive” partly because it

　　[A]bans outsiders’ involvement in the profession.

　　[B]keeps lawyers from holding law-firm shares.

　　[C]aggravates the ethical situation in the trade.

　　[D]prevents lawyers from gaining due profits.

　　答案：A。该题为因果细节题，问原因。根据段落定位原则定位至倒数第二段。其次，题干中出现“the guild-like ownership structure”，精确定位到第二句“Except in the District of Columbia, non-lawyers may not own any share of a law firm. This keeps fees high and innovation slow.”此外，在该段最后一句提到“…keeping outsiders out of a law firm isolates lawyers from the pressure to make money rather than serve clients ethically.”从而可以得出答案选A。

　　30.In this text, the author mainly discusses

　　[A]flawed ownership of America’s law firms and its causes.

　　[B]the factors that help make a successful lawyer in America.

　　[C]a problem in America’s legal profession and solutions to it.

　　[D]the role of undergraduate studies in America’s legal education.

　　答案：C。该题为文章主旨题，考察文章中心。该篇文章属于问题解决型文章，前5段均在说美国法律职业存在的问题，最后一段提出了解决措施“allowing non-lawyers to own shares in law firms would reduce costs and improve services to customers, by encouraging law firms to use technology and to employ professional managers to focus on improving firms’ efficiency.”。因此，该篇属于问题解决型文章，选C。其他几个选项均为文中的个别细节，以偏概全。

　　Text 3

　　The US$3-million Fundamental physics prize is indeed an interesting experiment, as Alexander Polyakov said when he accepted this year’s award in March. And it is far from the only one of its type. As a News Feature article in Nature discusses, a string of lucrative awards for researchers have joined the Nobel Prizes in recent years. Many, like the Fundamental Physics Prize, are funded from the telephone-number-sized bank accounts of Internet entrepreneurs. These benefactors have succeeded in their chosen fields, they say, and they want to use their wealth to draw attention to those who have succeeded in science.

　　What’s not to like? Quite a lot, according to a handful of scientists quoted in the News Feature. You cannot buy class, as the old saying goes, and these upstart entrepreneurs cannot buy their prizes the prestige of the Nobels, The new awards are an exercise in self-promotion for those behind them, say scientists. They could distort the achievement-based system of peer-review-led research. They could cement the status quo of peer-reviewed research. They do not fund peer-reviewed research. They perpetuate the myth of the lone genius.

　　The goals of the prize-givers seem as scattered as the criticism.Some want to shock, others to draw people into science, or to better reward those who have made their careers in research.

　　As Nature has pointed out before, there are some legitimate concerns about how science prizes—both new and old—are distributed. The Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, launched this year, takes an unrepresentative view of what the life sciences include.But the Nobel Foundation’s limit of three recipients per prize, each of whom must still be living, has long been outgrown by the collaborative nature of modern research—as will be demonstrated by the inevitable row over who is ignored when it comes to acknowledging the discovery of the Higgs boson. The Nobels were, of course,themselves set up by a very rich individual who had decided what he wanted to do with his own money. Time, rather than intention, has given them legitimacy.

　　As much as some scientists may complain about the new awards, two things seem clear. First, most researchers would accept such a prize if they were offered one. Second, it is surely a good thing that the money and attention come to science rather than go elsewhere, It is fair to criticize and question the mechanism—that is the culture of research, after all—but it is the prize-givers’ money to do with as they please. It is wise to take such gifts with gratitude and grace.

　　真题解析：

　　文章主题及背景知识：此篇阅读的主题内容为“基础物理学奖”，如果对于这一背景信息有所了解，这篇文章便可轻松看懂，做题更是十拿九稳!与2013年相比，2014考研阅读文章同样注重时效性，Text3便是反应了2013年3月份的一次实时事件：基础物理学基金会于3月20日晚在瑞士日内瓦揭晓了2013年基础物理学奖!所以2015考研的同学们一定要多多关注社会热点话题，拓展视野，丰富自己的文化背景知识，这样才能取得事半功倍的效果!

　　文章讲到的是关于和诺贝尔奖一样的奖金丰厚的奖项出现，这些奖项就是由一些网络的公司或者是一些新贵们他们得出这样大量的钱，当然会遭出一些批评，这些奖项还是没法和诺贝尔奖相比的，阶级是没法改变的，名望是没法购买的。当然这一系列的东西，在前三段当中谈到之后，到了最后一段，作者表明他的观点，纵然这些对科学家的奖励在奖项上存在着一些瑕疵，存在着一些不合理的地方。但是对于科学家来说，有人给你钱支持你的研究，终归是好的。也就是说从31到35题基本上没有难题，也没有可以去争议的，也是既所得的文章。

　　31.The Fundamental Physical Prize is seen as

　　[A]a symbol of the entrepreneurs’s wealth.

　　[B]a possible replacement of the Nobel Prize.

　　[C]an example of bankers’ investment.

　　[D]a handsome reward for researchers.

　　答案：A为细节题。根据题干中的Fundamental Physics Prize可以定位到第一段，但除此之外就没有其他细节提示信息了，所以我们只能根据几个选项去定位，分别根据选项中的entrepreneurs、Nobel Prize、investment、reward去定位，在第一段末句找到了与A选项相一致的句子，则判定A选项正确。

　　32.The phrase “to sign on”(Line 3,Para.2) most probably means

　　[A]the profit-oriented scientists.

　　[B]the founders of the new award.

　　[C]the achievement-based system.

　　[D]peer-review-led research.

　　答案：B 为细节题。根据题干中的critics定位到第三段，可知第二段没有出题，从第三段第二句可以得出本道题的正确选项，who have made their careers in research即为B选项中的The founders。

　　33.What promoted the chancellor to develop his scheme?

　　[A]controversies over the recipients’ status.

　　[B]the joint effort of modern researchers.

　　[C]legitimate concerns over the new prize.

　　[D]the demonstration of research findings.

　　答案： D 为细节题。本道题如果从题干中看更像是例证题，但题目中说道the case involves即问例子本身，所以为一道细节题。我们在第四段倒数第三句中找到了Higgs boson，定位到本句可以得知nature of modern research---as well as demonstrated by……即为本道题正确答案。

　　34.According to Paragraph 3, being unemployed makes one one feel

　　[A]Their endurance has done justice to them.

　　[B]Their legitimacy has long been in dispute.

　　[C]They are the most representative honor.

　　[D]History has never cast doubt on them.

　　答案： A 为判断题。此类题型是考试中的一个难点，在题干中提示信息非常少，所以我们需要根据每个选项分别定位。A选项的durance定位到本段最后一句time。B选项根据legitimacy定位到第一句。C选项没有提到。D选项从最后一段可以验证确实是收到了质疑，B选项和原文不符，可以得知答案为A。

　　35.To which of the following would the author most probably agree?

　　[A]acceptable despite the criticism.

　　[B]harmful to the culture of research.

　　[C]subject to undesirable changes.

　　[D]unworthy of public attention.

　　答案： A 为主旨题。本题属于作者观点，出在最后一段则说明更多体现了文章的主旨，因为还有一个段落对应，则我们可以在最后一段找答案，根据题干中的award我们可以得知全文的最后一句明确体现了作者的观点，故选A。

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