2009年全国硕士研究生招生考试英语（一）
Section Ⅰ  Use of English
Directions:
Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)
Research on animal intelligence always makes me wonder just how smart humans are.  1  the fruit-fly experiments described by Carl Zimmer in the Science Times. Fruit flies who were taught to be smarter than the average fruit fly 2  to live shorter lives. This suggests that  3   bulbs burn longer, that there is a(n)  4  in not being too bright.
Intelligence, it  5  , is a high priced option. It takes more upkeep, burns more fuel and is slow  6  the starting line because it depends on learning — a(n)   7  process— instead of instinct. Plenty of other species are able to learn, and one of the things they've apparently learned is when to   8  .
Is there an adaptive value to  9  intelligence? That's the question behind this new research. Instead of casting a wistful glance  10  at all the species we've left in the dust IQ wise, it implicitly asks what the real  11  of our own intelligence might be. This is  12  the mind of every animal we've ever met.
Research on animal intelligence also makes me wonder what experiments animals would  13  on humans if they had the chance. Every cat with an owner,  14  , is running a small-scale study in operant conditioning. We believe that  15  animals ran the labs, they would test us to  16  the limits of our patience, our faithfulness, our memory for locations. They would try to decide what intelligence in humans is really  17  , not merely how much of it there is.    18  , they would hope to study a(n)  19  question: Are humans actually aware of the world they live in?  20  the results are inconclusive.
1.    [A] Suppose            [B] Consider                [C] Observe            [D] Imagine
2.    [A] tended            [B] feared                [C] happened        [D] threatened
3.    [A] thinner            [B] stabler                [C] lighter            [D] dimmer
4.    [A] tendency            [B] advantage            [C] inclination        [D] priority
5.    [A] insists on        [B] sums up                [C] turns out            [D] puts forward
6.    [A] off                [B] behind                [C] over                [D] along
7.    [A] incredible        [B] spontaneous            [C] inevitable        [D] gradual
8.    [A] fight            [B] doubt                [C] stop                [D] think
9.    [A] invisible            [B] limited                [C] indefinite        [D] different
10.    [A] upward            [B] forward                [C] afterward        [D] backward
11.    [A] features            [B] influences            [C] results            [D] costs
12.    [A] outside            [B] on                    [C] by                [D] across
13.    [A] deliver            [B] carry                [C] perform            [D] apply
14.    [A] by chance        [B] in contrast            [C] as usual            [D] for instance
15.    [A] if                [B] unless                [C] as                [D] lest
16.    [A] moderate        [B] overcome            [C] determine        [D] reach
17.    [A] at                [B] for                    [C] after                [D] with
18.    [A] Above all        [B] After all                [C] However            [D] Otherwise
19.    [A] fundamental        [B] comprehensive        [C] equivalent        [D] hostile
20.    [A] By accident        [B] In time                [C] So far            [D] Better still
Section Ⅱ Reading Comprehension
Part A
Directions：
Read the following four texts. Answer the questions after each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)
Text 1
Habits are a funny thing. We reach for them mindlessly, setting our brains on auto-pilot and relaxing into the unconscious comfort of familiar routine. "Not choice, but habit rules the unreflecting herd," William Wordsworth said in the 19th century. In the ever-changing 21st century, even the word "habit" carries a negative implication.
So it seems paradoxical to talk about habits in the same context as creativity and innovation. But brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously develop new habits, we create parallel parallel paths, and even entirely new brain cells, that can jump our trains of thought onto new, innovative tracks.
Rather than dismissing ourselves as unchangeable creatures of habit, we can instead direct our own change by consciously developing new habits. In fact, the more new things we try—the more we step outside our comfort zone—the more inherently creative we become, both in the workplace and in our personal lives.
But don't bother trying to kill off old habits; once those ruts of procedure are worn into the brain, they're there to stay. Instead, the new habits we deliberately press into ourselves create parallel pathways that can bypass those old roads.
"The first thing needed for innovation is a fascination with wonder," says Dawna Markova, author of The Open Mind. "But we are taught instead to 'decide,' just as our president calls himself 'the Decider.' " She adds, however, that "to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one. A good innovational thinker is always exploring the many other possibilities."
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