2013年全国硕士研究生入学统一考试英语（二）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)
Given the advantages of electronic money, you might think that we would move quickly to the cashless society in which all payments are made electronically. __1__, a true cashless society is probably not around the corner. Indeed, predictions have been __2__ for two decades but have not yet come to fruition. For example, Business Week predicted in 1975 that electronic means of payment would soon “revolutionize the very __3__ of money itself,” only to __4__ itself several years later. Why has the movement to a cashless society been so __5__ in coming?
Although electronic means of payment might be more efficient than a payments system based on paper, several factors work __6__ the disappearance of the paper system. First, it is very __7__ to set up the computer, card reader, and telecommunications networks necessary to make electronic money the __8__ form of payment. Second, paper checks have the advantage that they __9__ receipts, something that many consumers are unwilling to __10__. Third, the use of paper checks gives consumers several days of “float”—it takes several days __11__ a check is cashed and funds are __12__ from the issuer’s account, which means that the writer of the check can cam interest on the funds in the meantime. __13__ electronic payments are immediate, they eliminate the float for the consumers.
Forth, electronic means of payment may __14__ security and privacy concerns. We often hear media reports that an unauthorized hacker has been able to access a computer database and to alter information __15__ there. The fact that this is not an __16__ occurrence means that dishonest persons might be able to access bank accounts in electronic payments systems and __17__ from someone else’s accounts. The __18__ of this type of fraud is no easy task, and a new field of computer science is developing to __19__ security issues. A further concern is that the use of electronic means of payment leaves an electronic __20__ that contains a large amount of personal d
ata. There are concerns that government, employers, and marketers might be able to access these data, thereby violating our privacy.
1. [A] However [B] Moreover [C] Therefore [D] Otherwise
2. [A] off [B] back [C] over [D] around
3. [A] power [B] concept [C] history [D] role
4. [A] reward [B] resist [C] resume [D] reverse
5. [A] silent [B] sudden [C] slow [D] steady
6. [A] for [B] against [C]with [D] on
7. [A] imaginative [B] expensive [C] sensitive [D] productive
8. [A] similar [B] original [C] temporary [D] dominant
9. [A] collect [B] provide [C] copy [D] print
10. [A] give up [B] take over [C] bring back [D] pass down
11. [A] before [B] after [C] since [D] when
12. [A] kept [B] borrowed [C] released [D] withdrawn
13. [A] Unless [B] Until [C] Because [D] Though
14. [A] hide [B] express [C] raise [D]ease
15. [A] analyzed [B] shared [C] stored [D] displayed
16. [A] unsafe [B] unnatural [C] uncommon [D] unclear
17. [A] steal [B] choose [C] benefit [D] return
18. [A] consideration [B] prevention [C] manipulation [D] justification
19. [A] cope with [B] fight against [C] adapt to [D] call for
20. [A] chunk [B] chip [C] path [D] trail
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
In an essay entitled “Making It in America,”, the author Adam Davidson relates a joke from cotton country about just how much a modern textile mill has been automated: The average mill has only two employees today, “a man and a dog. The man is there to feed the dog, and the dog is there to keep the man aw ay from the machines.”
Davidson’s article is one of a number of pieces that have recently appeared making the point that the reason we have such stubbornly high unemployment and declining middle-class incomes today is largely because of the big drop in demand because of the Great Recession, but it is also because of the advances in both globalization and the information technology revolution, which are more rapidly
than ever replacing labor with machines or foreign workers.
In the past, workers with average skills, doing an average job, could earn an average lifestyle. But, today, average is officially over. Being average just won’t earn you what it used to. It can’t when so many more employers have so much more access to so much more above average cheap foreign labor, cheap robotics, cheap software, cheap automation and cheap genius. Therefore, everyone needs to find their extra — their unique value contribution that makes them stand out in whatever is their field of employment.
Yes, new technology has been eating jobs forever, and always will. But there’s been an acceleration. As Davidson notes, “In the 10 years ending in 2009, U.S. factories shed workers so fast that they erased almost all the gains of the previous 70 years; roughly one out of every three manufacturing jobs — about 6 million in total —disappeared.”
There will always be change — new jobs, new products, new services. But the one thing we know for sure is that with each advance in globalization and the I.T. revolution, the best jobs will require workers to have more and better education to make themselves above average.
In a world where average is officially over, there are many things we need to do to support employme
nt, but nothing would be more important than passing some kind of G. I. Bill for the 21st century that ensures that every American has access to post-high school education.
21. The joke in Paragraph 1 is used to illustrate_______.
[A] the impact of technological advances
[B] the alleviation of job pressure
[C] the shrinkage of textile mills
[D] the decline of middle-class incomes
22. According to Paragraph 3, to be a successful employee, one has to______.
[A] work on cheap software
[B] ask for a moderate salary
[C] adopt an average lifestyle
[D] contribute something unique
23. The quotation in Paragraph 4 explains that ______.
[A] gains of technology have been erased
[B] job opportunities are disappearing at a high speed
[C] factories are making much less money than before
[D] new jobs and services have been offered
24. According to the author, to reduce unemployment, the most important is_____.
[A] to accelerate the I.T. revolution
[B] to ensure more education for people
[C] to advance economic globalization
[D] to pass more bills in the 21st century
25. Which of the following would be the most appropriate title for the text?
[A] New Law Takes Effect
[B] Technology Goes Cheap
[C] Average Is Over
[D] Recession Is Bad
Text 2
A century ago, the immigrants from across the Atlantic included settlers and sojourners. Along with the many folks looking to make a permanent home in the United States came those who had no intention to stay, and 7 million people arrived while about 2 million departed. About a quarter of all Italian immigrants, for example, eventually returned to Italy for good. They even had an affectionate nickname, "uccelli di passaggio," birds of passage.
Today, we are much more rigid about immigrants. We divide newcomers into two categories: legal or illegal, good or bad. We hail them as Americans in the making, or our broken immigration system and the long political paralysis over how to fix it. We don't need more categories, but we need to change the way we think about categories. We need to look beyond strict definitions of legal and illegal. To start, we can recognize the new birds of passage, those living and thriving in the gray areas. We might then begin to solve our immigration challenges.
Crop pickers, violinists, construction workers, entrepreneurs, engineers, home health-care aides and physicists are among today's birds of passage. They are energetic participants in a global economy driven by the flow of work, money and ideas. They prefer to come and go as opportunity calls them. They can manage to have a job in one place and a family in another.
With or without permission, they straddle laws, jurisdictions and identities with ease. We
need them to imagine the United States as a place where they can be productive for a while without committing themselves to staying forever. We need them to feel that home can be both here and there and that they can belong to two nations honorably.
Accommodating this new world of people in motion will require new attitudes on both sides of the immigration battle. Looking beyond the culture war logic of right or wrong means opening up the middle ground and understanding that managing immigration today requires multiple paths and multiple outcomes. Including some that are not easy to accomplish legally in the existing system.
26. “Birds of passage” refers to those who____.
[A] immigrate across the Atlantic
[B] leave their home countries for good
[C] stay in a foreign temporarily
[D]find permanent jobs overseas
27. It is implied in paragraph 2 that the current immigration system in the US____.
[A] needs new immigrant categories
[B] has loosened control over immigrants
[C] should be adopted to meet challenges
[D]has been fixed via political means
28. According to the author, today’s birds of passage want___.
[A] financial incentives
[B] a global recognition
[C] opportunities to get regular jobs
[D]the freedom to stay and leave
29. The author suggests that the birds of passage today should be treated __.
[A] as faithful partners
[B] with economic favors
[C] with legal tolerance
[D]as mighty rivals
30 which of the following would be the most appropriate title for the text?
[A] Come and Go: Big Mistake
[B] Living and Thriving: Great Risk
[C] With or Without: Great Risk
[D]Legal or Illegal: Big Mistake
Text 3
Scientists have found that although we are prone to snap overreactions, if we take a moment and think about how we are likely to react, we can reduce or even eliminate the negative effects of our quick, hard-wired responses.
Snap decisions can be important defense mechanisms; if we are judging whether someone is dangerous, our brains and bodies are hard-wired to react very quickly, within milliseconds. But we
need more time to assess other factors. To accurately tell whether someone is sociable, studies show, we need at least a minute, preferably five. It takes a while to judge complex aspects of perso nality, like neuroticism or open-mindedness.
But snap decisions in reaction to rapid stimuli aren’t exclusive to the interpersonal realm. Psychologists at the University of Toronto found that viewing a fast-food logo for just a few milliseconds primes us to read 20 percent faster, even though reading has little to do with eating. We unconsciously associate fast food with speed and impatience and carry those impulses into whatever else we’re doing. Subjects exposed t o fast-food flashes also tend to think a musical piece lasts too long.
today
Yet we can reverse such influences. If we know we will overreact to consumer products or housing options when we see a happy face (one reason good sales representatives and real estate agents are always smiling), we can take a moment before buying. If we know female job screeners are more likely to reject attractive female applicants, we can help screeners understand their biases — or hire outside screeners.
John Gottman, the marriage expert, explains that we quickly “thin slice” information reliably only after we ground such snap reactions in “thick sliced” long-term study. When Dr. Gottman really wants to assess whether a couple will stay together, he invites them to his island retreat for a much longer evaluation: two days, not two seconds.
Our ability to mute our hard-wired reactions by pausing is what differentiates us from animals: dogs can think about the future only intermittently or for a few minutes. But historically we have spent about 12 percent of our days contemplating the longer term. Although technology might change the way we react, it hasn’t changed our nature. We still have the imaginative capacity to rise above temptation and reverse the high-speed trend.
31. The time needed in making decisions may____.
[A] vary according to the urgency of the situation
[B] prove the complexity of our brain reaction
[C] depend on the importance of the assessment
[D] predetermine the accuracy of our judgment
32. Our reaction to a fast-food logo shows that snap decisions____.
[A] can be associative
[B] are not unconscious
[C] can be dangerous
[D] are not impulsive
33. To reverse the negative influences of snap decisions, we should____.
[A] trust our first impression
[B] do as people usually do
[C] think before we act
[D] ask for expert advice
34. John Gottman says that reliable snap reactions are based on____.

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