2012年考研英语二真题与答案

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1、20XX全国硕士研究生入学统一考试英语二试题Section I Use of EnglishDirections:Read the following text. Choose the best word for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on ANSWER SHEET 1. Millions of Americans and foreigners see GI. Joe as a mindless war toy, the symbol of American military adventurism, but thats not h

2、ow it need to be. To the men and women who 1 in World War and the people they liberated, the GI was the 2 man grown into hero, the poor farm kid torn away from his home, the guy who 3 all the burdens of battles, who slept in cold foxholes, who went without the 4 of food and shelter, who stuck it out

3、 and drove back the Nazi reign of murder. This was not a volunteer soldier, not someone well paid, 5 an average guy up 6 the best trained, best equipped, fiercest, most brutal enemies in centuries.His name isnt much.GI. is just a military abbreviation 7 Government Issue, and it was on all of the art

4、icles 8 to soldiers. And Joe? A common name for a guy who never 9 it to the top. Joe Blow, Joe Palooka, Joe Magraca working class name. The United States has 10 had a president or vice- president or secretary of state Joe.GI. Joe had a 11 career fighting German, Japanese, and Korean troops. He appea

5、rs as a character or a 12 of American personalities, in the 1945 movie The Story of GI. Joe, based on the last days of war correspondent Emie Pyle. Some of the soldiers Poly 13 portrayed themselves in the film. Pyle was famous for covering the 14 side of the war, writing about the dirt-snow-and-mud

6、soldiers, not how many miles were 15 or what towns were captured or liberated. His reports 16 the Willie cartoons of famed Stars and Stripes artist Bill Maulden. Both men 17 the dirt and exhaustion of war, the 18 of civilization that the soldiers shared with each other and the civilians: coffee, tob

7、acco, whiskey, shelter, sleep.19 Egypt, France, and a dozen more countries, GI. Joe was American soldiers, 20 the most important person in their lives.1. AperformedBservedCrebelledDbetrayed2. AactualBcommonCspecialD normal3. AboreBcausedCremovedD loaded4. AnecessitiesBfacilitiesCcommoditiesD propert

8、ies5. AandBnorCbutDhence6. AforBintoCfromDagainst7. AmeaningBimplyingCsymbolizingDclaiming8. Ahanded outBturned overCbrought backDpassed down9. ApushedBgotCmadeDmanaged10. AeverBneverCeitherDneither11. AdisguisedBdisturbedCdisputedDdistinguished12. AcompanyBcollection CcommunityDcolony13. AemployedB

9、appointedCinterviewedDquestioned14. AethicalBmilitaryCpoliticalDhuman15. A ruinedB commutedC patrolledD gained16. AparalleledB counteractedC duplicatedD contradicted17. A neglectedB avoidedCemphasizedD admired18. A stagesBillusionsC fragmentsD advances19. A With B ToC AmongD Beyond20. A on the contr

10、aryB by this meansC from the outsetD at that point Section II Reading ComprehensionPart ADirections:Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. Text 1Homework has never been terribly popular with students and even

11、 many parents, but in recently years it has been particularly scorned. School districts across the country, most recently Los Angeles Unified, are revising their thinking on this educational ritual. Unfortunately, L.A. Unified has produced an inflexible policy which mandates that with the exception

12、of some advanced courses, homework may no longer count for more than 10% of a students academic grade.This rule is meant to address the difficulty that students from impoverished or chaotic homes might have in completing their homework. But the policy is unclear and contradictory. Certainly, no home

13、work should be assigned that students cannot complete on their own or that they cannot do without expensive equipment. But if the district is essentially giving a pass to students who do not do their homework because of complicated family lives, it is going riskily close to the implication that stan

14、dards need to be lowered for poor children.District administrators say that homework will still be a part of schooling; teachers are allowed to assign as much of it as they want. But with homework counting for no more than 10% of their grades, students can easily skip half their homework and see ver

15、y little difference on their report cards. Some students might do well on state tests without completing their homework, but what about the students who performed well on the tests and did their homework? It is quite possible that the homework helped. Yet rather than empowering teachers to find what

16、 works best for their students, the policy imposes a flat, across-the-board rule.At the same time, the policy addresses none of the truly thorny questions about homework. If the district finds homework to be unimportant to its students academic achievement, it should move to reduce or eliminate the

17、assignments, not make them count for almost nothing. Conversely, if should account for a significant portion of the grade. Meanwhile, this policy does nothing to ensure that the homework students receive is meaningful or appropriate to their age and the subject, or that teachers are not assigning mo

18、re than they are willing to review and correct.The homework rules should be put on hold while the shool board, which is responsible for setting educational policy, looks into the matter and conducts public hearings. It is not too late for L.A. Unified to do homework right.21. It is implied in paragr

19、aph 1 that nowadays homework_.A is receiving more criticismBis no longer an educational ritualCis not required for advanced coursesDis gaining more preferences22. L.A.Unified has made the rule about homework mainly because poor students_.A tend to have moderate expectations for their educationBhave

20、asked for a different educational standardCmay have problems finishing their homeworkDhave voiced their complaints about homework23. According to Paragraph 3one problem with the policy is that it may_.Adiscourage students from doing homeworkBresult in students indifference to their report cardsCunde

21、rmine the authority of state testsDrestrict teachers power in education24. As mentioned in Paragraph 4 a key question unanswered about homework is_.A it should be eliminatedB it counts much in schoolingC it places extra burdens on teachersD it is important for grades25. A suitable title for this tex

22、t could be_.A wrong Interpretations of an Educational PolicyB A Welcomed Policy for Poor StudentsC Thorny Questions about HomeworkD A Faulty Approach to HomeworkText 2Pretty in pink: adult women do not remember being so obsessed with the colour, yet it is pervasive in our young girls lives. It is no

23、t that pink is intrinsically bad, but it is such a tiny slice of the rainbow and, though it may celebrate girlhood in one way, it also repeatedly and firmly fuses girls identity to appearance. Then it presents that connection, even among two-year-olds, between girls as not only innocent but as evide

24、nce of innocence. Looking around, I despaired at the singular lack of imagination about girls lives and interests.Girls attraction to pink may seem unavoidable, somehow encoded in their DNA, but according to Jo Paoletti, an associate professor of American Studies, it is not. Children were not colour

25、-coded at all until the early 20th century, in the era before domestic washing machines all babies wore white as a practical matter, since the only way of getting clothes clean was to boil them. Whats more, both boys and girls wore what were thought of as gender-neutral dresses. When nursery colours

26、 were introduced, pink was actually considered the more masculine colour, a pastel version of red, which was associated with strength. Blue, with its intimations of the Virgin Mary, constancy and faithfulness, symbolized femininity. It was not until the mid-1980s,when amplifying age and sex differen

27、ces became a dominant childrens marketing strategy, that pink fully came into its own, when it began to seem inherently attractive to girls, part of what defined them as female, at least for the first few critical years.I had not realized how profoundly marketing trends dictated our perception of wh

28、at is natural to kids, including our core beliefs about their psychological development. Take the toddler. I assumed that phase was something experts developed after years of research into childrens behavior: wrong. Turns out, according to Daniel Cook, a historian of childhood consumerism, it was po

29、pularized as a marketing trick by clothing manufacturers in the 1930s.Trade publications counseled department stores that, in order to increase sales, they should create a third stepping stone between infant wear and older kids clothes. It was only after toddler became a common shoppers term that it

30、 evolved into a broadly accepted developmental stage. Splitting kids, or adults, into ever-tinier categories has proved a sure-fire way to boost profits. And one of the easiest ways to segment a market is to magnify gender differences-or invent them where they did not previously exist.26.By saying i

31、t is the rainbow , the author means pink_.Ashould not be the sole representation of girlhoodBshould not be associated with girls innocenceCcannot explain girls lack of imaginationDcannot influence girls lives and interests27. According to paragraph 2, which of the following is true of colours?A Colo

32、urs are encoded in girls DNA.B Blue used to be regarded as the colour for girls.C Pink used to be a neutral colour in symbolising genders.D White is preferred by babies.28. The author suggests that our perception of childrens psychological development was much influenced by_.Athe marketing of produc

33、ts for childrenBthe observation of childrens natureCresearches into childrens behaviourDstudies of childhood consumption29. We may learn from paragraph 4 that department stores were advised to_.Afocus on infant wear and older kids clothesBattach equal importance to different gendersCclassify consume

34、rs into smaller groupsDcreate some common shoppers terms30. It can be concluded that girls attraction to pink seems to be_.Aclearly explained by their inborn tendencyBfully understood by clothing manufacturersCmainly imposed by profit-driven businessmenDwell interpreted by psychological experts Text

35、 3In2010, a federal judge shook Americas biotech industry to its core. Companies had won patents for isolated DNA for decades-by 2005 some 20% of human genes were patented .But in March 2012 a judge ruled that genes were unpatentable. Executives were violently agitated. The Biotechnology Industry Or

36、ganisation , a trade group, assured members that this was just a preliminary step in a longer battleOn July 29th they were relieved, at least temporarily. A federal appeals court overturned the prior decision, ruling that Muriad Genetics could indeed hold patents to two genes that help forecast a wo

37、mans risk of breast cancer .The chief executive of Mytiad, a company in Utah, said the ruling was a blessing to firms and patients alike.But as companies continue their attempts at personalised medicine, the courts will remain rather busy. The Myriad case itself is probably not over. Critics make th

38、ree main arguments against gene patents: a gene is a product of nature, so it may not be patented; gene patents suppress innovation rather than reward it; and patents monopolies restrict access to genetic tests such as Myriads A growing number seem to agree. Last year a federal task-force urged refo

39、rm for patents related to genetic tests. In October the Department of Justice filed a brief in the Myriad case, arguing that an isolated DNA molecule is no less a product of naturethan are cotton fibres that have been separated from cotton seeds.Despite the appeals courts decision, big questions rem

40、ain unanswered. For example, it is unclear whether the sequencing of a whole genome violates the patents of individual genes within it. The case may yet reach the Supreme Court.As the industry advances, however, other suits may have an even greater impact. Companies are unlikely to file many more pa

41、tents for human DNA molecules-most are unlikely patented or in the public domain. Firms are now studying how genes interact, looking for correlations that might be used to determine the causes of disease or predict a drugs efficacy. Companies are eager to win patents for connecting the dots, explain

42、s Hans Sauer, a lawyer for the BIO.Their success may be determined by a suit related to this issue, brought by the Mayo Clinic, which the Supreme Court will hear in its next term. The BIO recently held a convention which included sessions to coach lawyer on the shifting landscape for patents. Each m

43、eeting was packed.31. It can be learned from Paragraph 1 that the biotech companies would like_.A their executives to be activeB judges to rule out gene patentingC genes to be patentableD the BIO to issue a warning32. Those who are against gene patents believe that_.A genetic tests are not reliableB

44、 only man-made products are patentableC patants on genes depend much on innovationD courts should restrict access to genetic tests33. According to Hans Sauer , companies are eager to win patents for_.A establishing disease correlationsB discovering gene interactionsC drawing pictures of genesD ident

45、ifying human DNA34. By sayingEach meeting was packed, the author means that_.A the supreme court was authoritativeB the BIO was a powerful organisationC gene patenting was a great concernD lawyers were keen to attend conventions35. Generally speaking, the authors attitude toward gene patenting is_.A

46、 criticalB supportiveC scornfulD objectiveText 4The great recession may be over, but this era of high joblessness is probably beginning. Before it ends, it will likely change the life course and character of a generation of young adults. And ultimately, it is likely to reshape our politics, our cult

47、ure, and the character of our society for years.No one tries harder than the jobless to find silver linings in this national economic disaster. Many said that unemployment, while extremely painful, had improved them in some ways: they had become less materialistic and more financially prudent; they

48、were more aware of the struggles of others. In limited respects, perhaps the recession will leave society better off. At the very least, it has awoken us from our national fever dream of easy riches and bigger houses, and put a necessary end to an era of reckless personal spending.But for the most p

49、art, these benefits seem thin, uncertain, and far off. In The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth, the economic historian Benjamin Friedman argues that both inside and outside the U.S., lengthy periods of economic stagnation or decline have almost always left society more mean-spirited and less in

50、clusive, and have usually stopped or reversed the advance of rights and freedoms. Anti-immigrant sentiment typically increases, as does conflict between races and classes.Income inequality usually falls during a recession, but it has not shrunk in this one. Indeed, this period of economic weakness m

51、ay reinforce class divides, and decrease opportunities to cross them - especially for young people. The research of Till Von Wachter, the economic at Columbia University, suggests that not all people graduating into a recession see their life chances dimmed: those with degrees from elite universitie

52、s catch up fairly quickly to where they otherwise would have been if they had graduated in better times; it is the masses beneath them that are left behind.In the Internet age, it is particularly easy to see the resentment that has always been hidden within American society. More difficult, in the m

53、oment, is discerning precisely how these lean times are affecting societys character. In many respects, the U.S. was more socially tolerant entering this recession than at any time in its history, and a variety of national polls on social conflict since then have shown mixed results. We will have to

54、 wait and see exactly how these hard times will reshape our social fabric. But they certainly will reshape it, and all the more so the longer they extend.36. By saying to find silver liningsthe author suggests that the jobless try to _.A seek subsidies from the governmentB explore reasons for the un

55、employmentC make profit from the troubled economyD look on the bright side of the recession37. According to Paragraph 2, the recession has made people_.A realize the national dreamB struggle against each otherC challenge their prudenceD reconsider their lifestyle38. Benjamin Friedman believes that e

56、conomic recessions may_.A impose a heavier burden on immigrantsB bring out more evils of human natureC promote the advance of rights and freedomsD ease conflicts between races and classes39. The research of Till Von Wachter suggests that in the recession graduates from elite universities tend to_.A

57、lag behind the others due to decreased opportunitiesB catch up quickly with experienced employeesC see their life chances as dimmed as the othersD recover more quickly than the others40. The author thinks that the influence of hard times on society is _.A certainB positiveC trivialD destructive Part

58、 BDirections:Read the following text and answer the questions by reading information from the left column that corresponds to each of the marked details given in the right column. There are two extra choices in the right column. Make your answer on ANSWER SHEET 1. University history, the history of

59、what man has accomplished in the world, is at bottom the History of the Great Men who have worked here, wrote the Victorian Thomas Carlyle Well, not any more it is not.Suddenly, Britain looks to have fallen out with its favorite historical form. This could be no more than a passing literary craze, b

60、ut it also points to a broader truth about how we now approach the past: less concerned with learning from our forefathers and more interested in feeling their pain. Today, we want empathy, not inspiration.From the earliest days of the Renaissance, the writing of history meant recounting the exempla

61、ry lives of great men. In 1337, Petrarch began work on his rambling writing Debins Illustribus-on Famous Men, highlighting the virtus of classical heroes. Petrarch celebrated their greatness in conquering fortune and rising to the top. This was the biographical tradition which Niccolo Machiavelli tu

62、rned on its head. In The Prince, he championed cunning, ruthlessness, and boldness, rather than virtue, mercy and justice, as the skills of successful leaders.Over time, the attributes of greatness shifted. The Romantics commemorated the leading painters and author of their day, stressing the unique

63、ness of the artists person experience rather than public glory. By contrast, the Victorian author Samuel Smile wrote self-Help as a catalogue of the worthy lives of engineers, industrialists and explorers. The valuable examples which they furnish of the power of self -help, of patient purpose resolute working and steadfast integrity, issuing in the formation of truly noble and manly character, exhibit. wrote Smile, what it is in the power of each to accomplish for himself. His biographies of James Watt, Richard Arkwright an