考研英语-2013-Text-1

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1、2013 Text 1In the 2006 film version of The Devil Wears Prada ,Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep, scolds her unattractive assistant for imagining that high fashion doesnt affect her, Priestly explains how the deep blue color of the assistants sweater descended over the years from fashion shows

2、 to departments stores and to the bargain bin in which the poor girl doubtless found her garment.This top-down conception of the fashion business couldnt be more out of date or at odds with the feverish would described in Overdressed, Eliazabeth Clines three-year indictment of “fast fashion”. In the

3、 last decade or so ,advances in technology have allowed mass-market labels such as Zara ,H&M, and Uniqlo to react to trends more quickly and anticipate demand more precisely. Quicker turnarounds mean less wasted inventory, more frequent release, and more profit. These labels encourage style-consciou

4、s consumers to see clothes as disposable-meant to last only a wash or two, although they dont advertise that and to renew their wardrobe every few weeks. By offering on-trend items at dirt-cheap prices, Cline argues, these brands have hijacked fashion cycles, shaking an industry long accustomed to a

5、 seasonal pace.The victims of this revolution , of course ,are not limited to designers. For H&M to offer a $5.95 knit miniskirt in all its 2,300-pius stores around the world, it must rely on low-wage overseas labor, order in volumes that strain natural resources, and use massive amounts of harmful

6、chemicals.Overdressed is the fashion worlds answer to consumer-activist bestsellers like Michael Pollans The Omnivores Dilemma. “Mass-produced clothing ,like fast food, fills a hunger and need, yet is non-durable and wasteful,” Cline argues. Americans, she finds, buy roughly 20 billion garments a ye

7、ar about 64 items per person and no matter how much they give away, this excess leads to waste.Towards the end of Overdressed, Cline introduced her ideal, a Brooklyn woman named Sarah Kate Beaumont, who since 2008 has made all of her own clothes and beautifully. But as Cline is the first to note, it

8、 took Beaumont decades to perfect her craft; her example cant be knocked off.Though several fast-fashion companies have made efforts to curb their impact on labor and the environment including H&M, with its green Conscious Collection line Cline believes lasting change can only be effected by the cus

9、tomer. She exhibits the idealism common to many advocates of sustainability, be it in food or in energy. Vanity is a constant; people will only start shopping more sustainably when they cant afford not to.21. Priestly criticizes her assistant for herA poor bargaining skill.B insensitivity to fashion

10、.C obsession with high fashion.D lack of imagination.22. According to Cline, mass-maket labels urge consumers toA combat unnecessary waste.B shut out the feverish fashion world.C resist the influence of advertisements.D shop for their garments more frequently.23. The word “indictment” (Line 3, Para.

11、2) is closest in meaning toA accusation.B enthusiasm.C indifference.D tolerance.24. Which of the following can be inferred from the lase paragraph?A Vanity has more often been found in idealists.B The fast-fashion industry ignores sustainability.C People are more interested in unaffordable garments.

12、D Pricing is vital to environment-friendly purchasing.25. What is the subject of the text?A Satire on an extravagant lifestyle.B Challenge to a high-fashion myth.C Criticism of the fast-fashion industry.D Exposure of a mass-market secret.2013 Text 2An old saying has it that half of all advertising b

13、udgets are wasted the trouble is, no one knows which half. In the internet age, at least in theory, this fraction can be much reduced. By watching what people search for, click on and say online, companies can aim “behavioural” ads at those most likely to buy.In the past couple of weeks a quarrel ha

14、s illustrated the value to advertisers of such fine-grained information: Should advertisers assume that people are happy to be tracked and sent behavioural ads? Or should they have explicit permission?In December 2010 Americas Federal Trade Cornmission (FTC) proposed adding a “do not track ” (DNT) o

15、ption to internet browsers, so that users could tell advertisers that they did not want to be followed. Microsofts Internet Explorer and Apples Safari both offer DNT; Googles Chrome is due to do so this year. In February the FTC and Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) agreed that the industry would g

16、et cracking on responding to DNT requests.On May 31st Microsoft set off the row. It said that Internet Explorer 10, the version due to appear with windows 8, would have DNT as a default.Advertisers are horrified. Human nature being what it is, most people stick with default settings. Few switch DNT

17、on now, but if tracking is off it will stay off. Bob Liodice, the chief executive of the Association of National Adertisers, says consumers will be worse off if the industry cannot collect information about their preferences. People will not get fewer ads, he says. “Theyll get less meaningful, less

18、targeted ads.”It is not yet clear how advertisers will respond. Geting a DNT signal does not oblige anyone to stop tracking, although some companies have promised to do so. Unable to tell whether someone really objects to behavioural ads or whether they are sticking with Microsofts default, some may

19、 ignore a DNT signal and press on anyway.Also unclear is why Microsoft has gone it alone. After all, it has an ad business too, which it says will comply with DNT requests, though it is still working out how. If it is trying to upset Google, which relies almost wholly on advertising, it has chosen a

20、n indirect method: there is no guarantee that DNT by default will become the norm. DNT does not seem an obviously huge selling point for windows 8 though the firm has compared some of its other products favourably with Googles on that count before. Brendon Lynch, Microsofts chief privacy officer, bl

21、oggde: “we believe consumers should have more control.” Could it really be that simple? 433 words26. It is suggested in Paragraph 1 that “behavioural” ads help advertisers to _.A provide better online servicesB ease competition among themselvesC avoid complaints from consumersD lower their operation

22、al costs27. “the industry” (Line 6, Para.3) refers to _.A internet browser developers B digital information analystsC e-commerce conductorsD online advertisers28. Bob Liodice holds that setting DNT as a default _.A may cut the number of junk adsB fails to affect the ad industryC will not benefit con

23、sumersD goes against human nature29. which of the following is ture according to Paragraph 6?A Advertisers are willing to implement DNT.B DNT may not serve its intended purpose.C DNT is losing its popularity among consumers.D Advertisers are obliged to offer behavioural ads.30. The authors attitude

24、towards what Brendon Lynch said in his blog is one of:A indulgenceB understandingC appreciactionD skepticism2013 Text 3Now utopia has grown unfashionable, as we have gained a deeper appreciation of the range of threats facing us, from asteroid strike to pandemic flu to climate change. You might even

25、 be tempted to assume that humanity has little future to look forward to.But such gloominess is misplaced. The fossil record shows that many species have endured for millions of years - so why shouldnt we? Take a broader look at our species place in the universe, and it becomes clear that we have an

26、 excellent chance of surviving for tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of years (see 100,000 AD: Living in the deep future). Look up Homo sapiens in the IUCNs Red List of threatened species, and you will read: Listed as Least Concern as the species is very widely distributed, adaptable, currently in

27、creasing, and there are no major threats resulting in an overall population decline.So what does our deep future hold? A growing number of researchers and organisations are now thinking seriously about that question. For example, the Long Now Foundation, based in San Francisco, has created a forum w

28、here thinkers and scientists are invited to project the implications of their ideas over very long timescales. Its flagship project is a mechanical clock, buried deep inside a mountain in Texas, that is designed to still be marking time thousands of years hence.Then there are scientists who are givi

29、ng serious consideration to the idea that we should recognise a new geological era: the Anthropocene. They, too, are pulling the camera right back and asking what humanitys impact will be on the planet - in the context of stratigraphic time.Perhaps perversely, it may be easier to think about such le

30、ngthy timescales than about the more immediate future. The potential evolution of todays technology, and its social consequences, is dazzlingly complicated, and its perhaps best left to science-fiction writers and futurologists to explore the many possibilities we can envisage. Thats one reason why

31、we have launched Arc, a new publication dedicated to the near future.But take a longer view and there is a surprising amount that we can say with considerable assurance. As so often, the past holds the key to the future: we have now identified enough of the long-term patterns shaping the history of

32、the planet, and our species, to make evidence-based forecasts about the situations in which our descendants will find themselves.This long perspective makes the pessimistic view of our prospects seem more likely to be a passing fad. To be sure, the future is not all rosy: while our species may flour

33、ish, a great many individuals may not. But we are now knowledgeable enough to mitigate many of the risks that threatened the existence of earlier humans, and to improve the lot of those to come. Thinking about our place in deep time is a good way to focus on the challenges that confront us today, an

34、d to make a future worth living in.31. Our vision of the future used to be inspired byA our desire for ares of fulfillmentB our faith in science and techedC our awareness of potential risksD our bdief in equal opportunity32. The IUCN“Rod List”suggest that human beings onA a sustained speciesB the wo

35、rds deminant powerC a threat to the environmentD a misplaced race33. Which of the following is true according to Paragraph 5?A Arc helps limit the scope of futurological studies.B Technology offers solutions to social problem.C The interest in science fiction is on the rise.D Our Immediate future is

36、 hard to conceive.34. To ensure the future of mankind, it is crucial toA explore our planets abundant resources.B adopt an optimistic view of the world.C draw on our experience from the past.D curb our ambition to reshape history.35. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?A Unce

37、rtainty about Our FutureB Evolution of the Human SpeciesC The Ever-bright Prospects of Mankind.D Science, Technology and Humanity.2013 Text 4On a five to three vote, the Supreme Court knocked out much of Arizonas immigration law Monday-a modest policy victory for the Obama Administration. But on the

38、 more important matter of the Constitution,the decision was an 8-0 defeat for the Administrations effort to upset the balance of power between the federal government and the states.In Arizona v. United States, the majority overturned three of the four contested provisions of Arizonas controversial p

39、lan to have state and local police enforce federal immigration law. The Constitutional principles that Washington alone has the power to “establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization ”and that federal laws precede state laws are noncontroversial . Arizona had attempted to fashion state policies that r

40、an parallel to the existing federal ones.Justice Anthony Kennedy, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and the Courts liberals, ruled that the state flew too close to the federal sun. On the overturned provisions the majority held the congress had deliberately “occupied the field” and Arizona had th

41、us intruded on the federals privileged powers.However,the Justices said that Arizona police would be allowed to verify the legal status of people who come in contact with law enforcement.Thats because Congress has always envisioned joint federal-state immigration enforcement and explicitly encourage

42、s state officers to share information and cooperate with federal colleagues.Two of the three objecting Justice-Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas-agreed with this Constitutional logic but disagreed about which Arizona rules conflicted with the federal statute.The only major objection came from Justice

43、 Antonin Scalia,who offered an even more robust defense of state privileges going back to the alien and Sedition Acts.The 8-0 objection to President Obama turns on what Justice Samuel Alito describes in his objection as “a shocking assertion assertion of federal executive power”.The White House argu

44、ed that Arizonas laws conflicted with its enforcement priorities,even if state laws complied with federal statutes to the letter.In effect, the White House claimed that it could invalidate any otherwise legitimate state law that it disagrees with .Some powers do belong exclusively to the federal gov

45、ernment, and control of citizenship and the borders is among them. But if Congress wanted to prevent states from using their own resources to check immigration status, it could. It never did so. The administration was in essence asserting that because it didnt want to carry out Congresss immigration

46、 wishes, no state should be allowed to do so either. Every Justice rightly rejected this remarkable claim.36. Three provisions of Arizonas plan were overturned because theyA deprived the federal police of Constitutional powers.B disturbed the power balance between different states.C overstepped the

47、authority of federal immigration law.D contradicted both the federal and state policies.37. On which of the following did the Justices agree,according to Paragraph4?A Federal officers duty to withhold immigrantsinformation.B States independence from federal immigration law.C States legitimate role i

48、n immigration enforcement.D Congresss intervention in immigration enforcement.38. It can be inferred from Paragraph 5 that the Alien and Sedition ActsA violated the Constitution.B undermined the states interests.C supported the federal statute.D stood in favor of the states.39. The White House claim

49、s that its power of enforcementA outweighs that held by the states.B is dependent on the states support.C is established by federal statutes.D rarely goes against state laws.40. What can be learned from the last paragraph?A Immigration issues are usually decided by Congress.B Justices intended to check the power of the Administrstion.C Justices wanted to strengthen its coordination with Congress.D The Administration is dominant over immigration issues.