2009年全国硕士研究生招生考试英语试题
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)
①Research on animal intelligence always makes us wonder just how smart humans are. ②
1  the fruit-fly experiments described by Carl Zimmer in the Science Times. ③Fruit flies who were taught to be smarter than the average fruit fly
2  to live shorter lives. ④This suggests that
3  bulbs burn longer, that there is a(n)
4  in not being too bright.
①Intelligence, it  5  , is a high-priced option. ②It 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.
③Plenty of other species are able to learn, and one of the things they’ve apparently learned is when to  8  .
①Is there an adaptive value to  9  intelligence? ②That’s the question behind this new research. ③Instead of casting a wistful glance  10  at all the species we’ve left in the dust I.Q.-wise, it implicitly asks what the real  11  of our own intelligence might be. ④This is  12  the mind of every animal we’ve ever met.
①Research on animal intelligence also makes us wonder what experiments animals would
13  on humans if they had the chance. ②Every cat with an owner,  14  , is running a small-scale study in operant conditioning. ③We believe that  15  animals ran the labs, they would test us to  16  the limits of our patience, our faithfulness, our memory for locations. ④They would try to decide what intelligence in humans is really  17  , not merely how much of it there is. ⑤  18  , they would hope to study a(n)  19  question: Are humans actually aware of the world they live in?
⑥  20  the results are inconclusive.
1. [A] Suppose        [B] Consider          [C] Observe      [D] Imagine
swabbing2. [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 below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)
Text 1
①Habits are a funny thing.②We reach for them mindlessly, setting our brains on auto-pilot and relaxing into the unconscious comfort of familiar routine.③“Not choice, but habit rules the unreflecting herd,” William Wordsworth said in the 19th century.④In the ever-changing 21st century, even the word “habit” carries a negative implication.
①So it seems paradoxical to talk about habits in the same context as creativity and innovation.②But brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously develop new habits, we create parallel paths, and even entirely new brain cells, that can jump our trains of thought onto new, innovative tracks.
①Rather than dismissing ourselves as unchangeable creatures of habit, we can instead direct our own change by consciously developing new habits.②In 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.
①But don’t bother trying to kill off old habits; once those ruts of procedure are worn into the brain, they’re there to stay.②Instead, the new habits we deliberately press into ourselves create parallel pathways that can bypass those old roads.
①“The first thing needed for innovation is a fascination with wonder,” says Dawna Markova, author of The Open Mind.②“But we are taught instead to ‘decide,’ just as our president calls himself ‘the Decider’.”③She adds, however, that “to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one. ④A good innovational thinker is always exploring the many other possibilities.”
①All of us work through problems in ways of which we’re unaware, she says.②Researchers in the late 1960s discovered that humans are born with the capacity to approach challenges in four primary ways: analytically, procedurally, relationally (or collaboratively) and innovatively.③At the end of adolescence, however, the brain shuts down half of that capacity, preserving only those modes of thought that have seemed most valuable during the first decade or so of life.
①The current emphasis on standardized testing highlights analysis and procedure, meaning that few of us inherently use our innovative and collaborative modes of thought.②“This breaks
the major rule in the American belief system—that anyone can do anything,” explains M.J. Ryan, author of the 2006 book This Year I Will …and Ms. Markova’s business partner. ③“That’s a lie that we have perpetuated, and it fosters commonness. ④Knowing what you’re good at and doing even more of it creates excellence.”⑤This is where developing new habits comes in.
21. In Wordsworth’s view, “habits” is characterized by being__________.
[A] casual [B] familiar
[C] mechanical [D] changeable
22. Brain researchers have discovered that the formation of new habits can be__________
[A] predicted. [B] regulated.
[D]
guided.
traced.
[C]
23. The word “ruts” (Para. 4) is closest in meaning to__________
[A] tracks.    [B] series.
[C] characteristics. [D] connections.
24. Dawna Markova would most probably agree that__________
[A] ideas are born of a relaxing mind.
[B] innovativeness could be taught.
[C] decisiveness derives from fantastic ideas.
[D] curiosity activates creative minds.
25. Ryan’s comments suggest that the practice of standard testing__________
[A] prevents new habits form being formed.
[B] no longer emphasizes commonness.
[C] maintains the inherent American thinking mode.
[D] complies with the American belief system.
Text 2
①It is a wise father that knows his own child, but today a man can boost his paternal (fatherly) wisdom—or at least confirm that he’s the kid’s dad. ②All he needs to do is shell out $30 for a paternity testing kit(PTK) at his local drugstore—and another $120 to get the results.
①More than 60,000 people have purchased the PTKs since they first become available
without prescriptions last year, according to Doug Fogg, chief operating officer of Identigene, which ma
kes the over-the-counter kits. ②More than two dozen companies sell DNA tests directly to the public, ranging in price from a few hundred dollars to more than $2,500.
①Among the most popular: paternity and kinship testing, which adopted children can use to find their biological relatives and families can use to track down kids put up for adoption. ②DNA testing is also the latest rage among passionate genealogists—and supports businesses that offer to search for a family’s geographic roots.
①Most tests require collecting cells by swabbing saliva in the mouth and sending it to the company for testing. ②All tests require a potential candidate with whom to compare DNA.
①But some observers are skeptical.②“There is a kind of false precision being hawked by people claiming they are doing ancestry testing,” says Troy Duster, a New York University sociologist. ③He notes that each individual has many ancestors—numbering in the hundreds just a few centuries back. ④Yet most ancestry testing only considers a single lineage, either the Y chromosome inherited through men in a father’s line or mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down only from mothers. ⑤This DNA can reveal genetic information about only one or two ancestors, even though, for example, just three generations back people also have six other great-grandparents or, four generations back, 14 other great-great-grandparents.
①Critics also argue that commercial genetic testing is only as good as the reference collections to which a sample is compared. ②Databases used by some companies don’t rely on data collected systematically but rather lump together information from different research projects.
③This means that a DNA database may have a lot of data from some regions and not others, so
a person’s test results may differ depending on the company that processes the results. ④In addition, the computer programs a company uses to estimate relationships may be patented and not subject to peer review or outside evaluation.
26. In paragraphs 1 and 2, the text shows PTK’s___________.
[A] easy availability
[B] flexibility in pricing
[C] successful promotion
[D] popularity with households
27. PTK is used to___________.

版权声明：本站内容均来自互联网，仅供演示用，请勿用于商业和其他非法用途。如果侵犯了您的权益请与我们联系QQ:729038198，我们将在24小时内删除。