2012年考研英语(二)真题及答案
Section 1 Use of Eninglish
Directions :
Millions of Americans and foreigners see GI.Joe as a mindless war toy ,the symbol of American
military adventurism, but that’s not how it used to be .To the men and women who 1 )in World War II
and the people they liberated ,the GI.was the 2) man grown into hero ,the pool farm kid torn away
from his home ,the guy who 3) all the burdens of battle ,who slept in cold foxholes,who went without
the 4) of food and shelter ,who stuck it out 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 seen in centuries。
His name is not much.GI. is just a military abbreviation 7) Government Issue ,and it was on all
of the article 8) to soldiers .And Joe? A common name for a guy who never 9) it to the top .Joe Blow ,
Joe Magrac …a working class name.The United States has 10) had a president or vicepresident or
secretary of state Joe。
GI .joe had a (11)career fighting German ,Japanese , and Korean troops . He appers 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 Ernie Pyle. Some of the soldiers Pyle(13)portrayde themselves in
the film. Pyle was famous for covering the (14)side of the warl, writing about the dirt-snow –and-mud
soldiers, not how many miles were(15)or what towns were captured or liberated, His reports(16)the
“willie” cartoonsof famed Stars and Stripes artist Bill Maulden. Both men(17)the dirt and exhaustion
of war, the (18)ofcivilization that the soldiers shared with each other and the civilians: coffee, tobacco,
whiskey, shelter, sleep.(19)Egypt, France, and a dozen more countries, G.I. Joe was any American
soldier,(20)the most important person in their lives。
1.[A] performed [B]served [C]rebelled [D]betrayed
2.[A] actual [B]common [C]special [D]normal
3.[A]bore [B]cased [C]removed [D]loaded
4.[A]necessities [B]facilitice [C]commodities [D]propertoes
5.[A]and [B]nor [C]but [D]hence
6.[A]for [B]into [C] form [D]against
7.[A]meaning [B]implying [C]symbolizing [D]claiming
8.[A]handed out [B]turn over [C]brought back [D]passed down
9.[A]pushed [B]got [C]made [D]managed
10.[A]ever [B]never [C]either [D]neither
11.[A]disguised [B]disturbed [C]disputed [D]distinguished
12.[A]company [B]collection [C]community [D]colony
13.[A]employed [B]appointed [C]interviewed [D]questioned
14.[A]ethical [B]military [C]political [D]human
15.[A]ruined [B]commuted [C]patrolled [D]gained
16.[A]paralleled [B]counteracted [C]duplicated [D]contradicted
17.[A]neglected [B]avoided [C]emphasized [D]admired
18.[A]stages [B]illusions [C]fragments [D]advancea
19.[A]With [B]To [C]Among [D]Beyond
20.[A]on the contrary [B] by this means [C]from the outset [D]at that point
Section II Resdiong Comprehension
Part A
Directions:
Read the following four texts. answer the question after each text by choosing A,B,C or D. Mark
your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1.(40 points)
Text 1
Homework has never been terribly popular with students and even many parents, but in recent
years it has been particularly scorned. School districts across the country, most recently Los Angeles
Unified, are revising their thinking on his educational ritual. Unfortunately, L.A. Unified has produced
an inflexible policy which mandates that with the exception of some advanced courses, homework may
no longer count for more than 10% of a student’s 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
homework should be assigned that students 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 standards need to be lowered for poor children。
District administrators say that homework will still be a pat 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 vey 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 thanempowering teachers to find what 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 assignments, not make them count for almost nothing. Conversely, if homework
does nothing to ensure that the homework students are not assigning more than they are willing to
review and correct。
The homework rules should be put on hold while the school 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 paragraph 1 that nowadays homework_____。
[A] is receiving more criticism
[B]is no longer an educational ritual
[C]is not required for advanced courses
[D]is gaining more preferences
22.L.A.Unified has made the rule about homework mainly because poor students_____。
[A]tend to have moderate expectations for their education
[B]have asked for a different educational standard
[C]may have problems finishing their homework
[D]have voiced their complaints about homework
23.According to Paragraph 3,one problem with the policy is that it may____。
[A]discourage students from doing homework
[B]result in students' indifference to their report cards
[C]undermine the authority of state tests
[D]restrict teachers' power in education
24. As mentioned in Paragraph 4, a key question unanswered about homework is whether______.
[A] it should be eliminated
[B]it counts much in schooling
[C]it places extra burdens on teachers
[D]it is important for grades
25.A suitable title for this text could be______。
[A]Wrong Interpretation of an Educational Policy
[B]A Welcomed Policy for Poor Students
[C]Thorny Questions about Homework
[D]A Faulty Approach to Homework
Text2
Pretty in pink: adult women do not rememer being so obsessed with the colour, yet it is pervasive
in our young girls’ lives. Tt is not 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 evidence 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-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. What’s more, both boys
and girls wore what were thought of as gender-neutral dresses.When nursery colours 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, symbolised
femininity. It was not until the mid-1980s, when amplifying age and sex differences became a dominant
children’s 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 realised how profoundly marketing trends dictated our perception of what is natural to kins,
including our core beliefs about their psychological development. Take the toddler. I assumed that phase
was something experts developed after years of research into children’s behaviour: wrong. Turns out,
acdording to Daniel Cook, a historian of childhood consumerism, it was popularised as a marketing trick
by clothing manufacrurers in the 1930s。
Trade publications counselled department stores that, in order to increase sales, they should create
a “third stepping stone” between infant wear and older kids’ clothes. Tt was only after “toddler”became a
common shoppers’ term that it 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 "it is...the rainbow"(Line 3, Para.1)，the author means pink______。
[A]should not be the sole representation of girlhood
[B]should not be associated with girls' innocence
[C]cannot explain girls' lack of imagination
[D]cannot influence girls' lives and interests
27.According to Paragraph 2, which of the following is true of colours？
[A]Colours 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 prefered by babies。
28.The author suggests that our perception of children's psychological development was much
influenced by_____。
[A]the marketing of products for children
[B]the observation of children's nature
[C]researches into children's behavior
[D]studies of childhood consumption
29.We may learn from Paragraph 4 that department stores were advised to_____。
[A]focus on infant wear and older kids' clothes
[B]attach equal importance to different genders
[C]classify consumers into smaller groups
[D]create some common shoppers' terms
30.It can be concluded that girls' attraction to pink seems to be____。
[A] clearly explained by their inborn tendency
[B]fully understood by clothing manufacturers
[C] mainly imposed by profit-driven businessmen
[D]well interpreted by psychological experts
Text 3
In 2010. a federal judge shook America's biotech industry to its core. Companies had won patents for
isolated DNA for decadesby 2005 some 20% of human genes were parented. But in March 2010 a
judge ruled that genes were unpatentable. Executives were violently agitated. The Biotechnology
Industry Organisation (BIO)， a trade group, assured members that this was just a “preliminary step”
in a longer battle. On July 29th they were relieved, at least temporarily. A federal appeals court
overturned the prior decision, ruling that Myriad Genetics could indeed holb patents to two genss
that help forecast a woman's risk ofbreast cancer. The chief executive of Myriad, a company in Utah,
said the ruling was a blessing to firms and patients alike. But ascompanies continue their attempts
at personalised medicine, the courts will remain rather busy. The Myriad case itself is probably not
over Critics make three 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 testssuch as Myriad's. A growing number seem to agree.Last year a federal
taskforce urged reform 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 nature... than
are cotton fibres that have been separated from cotton seeds. ” Despite the appeals court's decision,
big questions remainunanswered. For example, it is unclear whether the sequencing of a whole genome
violates the patents of indivi dual 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 patents for human DNA molecules-most are already patented or in the public
domain .firms are now studying how genes intcract,looking for correlations that might be used to determine
the causes of disease or predict a drug’s efficacy,companies are eager to win patents for ‘connecting the
dits’,expaains hans sauer,alawyer 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 rtcently held a convention which included seddions
to coach lawyers on the shifting landscape for patents. Each meeting was packed。
31.it canbe learned from paragraph I that the biotech companies would like-----
A.their executives to be active
B.judges to rule out gene patenting
C.genes to be patcntablc
D.the BIO to issue a warning
32.those who are against gene patents believe that----
A.genetic tests are not reliable
B.only man-made products are patentable
C.patents on genes depend much on innovatiaon
D.courts should restrict access to gene tic tests
33.according to hans sauer ,companies are eager to win patents for----
A.establishing disease comelations
B.discovering gene interactions
C.drawing pictures of genes
D.identifying human DNA
34.By saying “each meeting was packed”(line4,para6)the author means that -----
A.the supreme court was authoritative
B.the BIO was a powerful organization
C.gene patenting was a great concern
D.lawyers were keen to attend conventiongs
35.generally speaking ,the author’s attitude toward gene patenting is----
A.critical
B.supportive
C.scornful
D.objective
Text 4
The 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 culture, 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 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 part, 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 inclusive, 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 may reinforce class divides, and decrease opportunities to cross them
--- especially for young people. The research of Till Von Wachter, the economist in Columbia University,
suggests that not all people graduating into a recession see their life chances dimmed: those with
degrees from elite universities 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 winthin
American society. More difficult, in the moment , is discerning precisely how these lean times are affecting
society’s character. In many respects, the U.S. was more socially tolerant entering this resession 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 wait and see exactly how these hard times will reshape our social fabric. But they certainly it,
and all the more so the longer they extend。
36.By saying “to find silver linings”(Line 1,Para.2)the author suggest that the jobless try to___。
[A]seek subsidies from the govemment
[B]explore reasons for the unermployment
[C]make profits from the troubled economy
[D]look on the bright side of the recession
37.According to Paragraph 2,the recession has made people_____。
[A]realize the national dream
[B]struggle against each other
[C]challenge their lifestyle
[D]reconsider their lifestyle
38.Benjamin Friedman believe that economic recessions may_____。
[A]impose a heavier burden on immigrants
[B]bring out more evils of human nature
[C]Promote the advance of rights and freedoms
[D]ease conflicts between races and classes
39.The research of Till Von Wachther suggests that in recession graduates from elite universities
tend to _____。
[A]lag behind the others due to decreased opportunities
[B]catch up quickly with experienced employees
[C]see their life chances as dimmed as the others’
[D]recover more quickly than the others
40.The author thinks that the influence of hard times on society is____。
[A]certain
[B]positive
[C]trivial
[D]destructive
Part B
Directions:
Read the following text and answer the questions by finding 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. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEERT 1.(10 points)
“Universal history, the history of what man has accomplished in this world, is at bottom the History
of the Great Men who have worked here,” wrote the Victorian sage Thomas Carlyle. Well, not any more
it is not。
Suddenly, Britain looks to have fallen out with its favourite historical form. This could be no more
than a passing literary craze, but it also points to a broader truth about how we now approach the past:
less concerned with learning from 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 exemplary
lives of great men. In 1337, Petrarch began work on his rambling writing De Viris Illustribus – On Famous
Men, highlighting the virtus (or virtue) of classical heroes. Petrarch celebrated their greatness in
conquering fortune and rising to the top. This was the biographical tradition which Niccolo Machiavelli
turned on its head. In The Prince, the 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 authors of their day, stressing the uniqueness of the artist's personal experience rather than public
glory. By contrast, the Victorian author Samual Smiles wrote Self-Help as a catalogue of the worthy lives
of engineers , industrialists and explores . "The valuable examples which they furnish of the power of
self-help, if patient purpose, resolute working and steadfast integrity, issuing in the formulation of truly
noble and many character, exhibit,"wrote Smiles."what it is in the power of each to accomplish for
himself"His biographies of James Walt, Richard Arkwright and Josiah Wedgwood were held up as
beacons to guide the working man through his difficult life。
This was all a bit bourgeois for Thomas Carlyle, who focused his biographies on the truly heroic
lives of Martin Luther, Oliver Cromwell and Napoleon Bonaparte. These epochal figures represented
lives hard to imitate, but to be acknowledged as possessing higher authority than mere mortals。
Communist Manifesto. For them, history did nothing, it possessed no immense wealth nor waged
battles:“It is man, real, living man who does all that。” And history should be the story of the masses
and their record of struggle. As such, it needed to appreciate the economic realities, the social contexts
and power relations in which each epoch stood. For:“Men make their own history, but they do not make
it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under
circumstances directly found, given and transmitted from the past。”
This was the tradition which revolutionized our appreciation of the past. In place of Thomas Carlyle,
Britain nurtured Christopher Hill, EP Thompson and Eric Hobsbawm. History from below stood alongside
biographies of great men. Whole new realms of understanding — from gender to race to cultural studies
— were opened up as scholars unpicked the multiplicity of lost societies. And it transformed public history
too: downstairs became just as fascinating as upstairs。
Section III Translation
46.Directions:
Translate the following text from English into Chinese.Write your translation on ANSWER
SHEET2.(15 points)
When people in developing countries worry about migration,they are usually concerned at the
prospect of ther best and brightest departure to Silicon Valley or to hospitals and universities in the
developed world ,These are the kind of workers that countries like Britian ,Canada and Australia try
to attract by using immigration rules that privilege college graduates 。
Lots of studies have found that well-educated people from developing countries are particularly
likely to emigrate .A big survey of Indian households in 2004 found that nearly 40%of emigrants had
more than a high-school education,compared with around 3.3%of all Indians over the age of 25.This
"brain drain "has long bothered policymakers in poor countries ,They fear that it hurts their economies ,
depriving them of much-needed skilled workers who could have taught at their universities ,worked in
their hospitals and come up with clever new products for their factories to make 。
Section IV Writing
Part A
47.Directions
Suppose you have found something wrong with the electronic dictionary that you bought from an
onlin store the other day ,Write an email to the customer service center to
1)make a complaint and
2)demand a prompt solution
You should write about 100words on ANSERE SHEET 2
Do not sign your own name at the end of the letter ,Use "zhang wei "instead 。
48、write an essay based on the following table .In your writing you should
1)describe the table ,and
2)give your comments
You should write at least 150 words(15points)
某公司员工工作满意度调查
参考答案：
完形填空： 1.B 2.B 3.A 4.A 5.C 6.B 7.C 8.A 9.D 10.B 11.D 12.B 13.C 14.D 15.B 16.A 17.C 18.B 19.B 20.D
TEXT1： 21. A 22.C 23.A 24.B 25.D
TEXT2： 26.A 27.B 28.A 29.C 30.C
TEXT3： 31.C 32.B 33.A 34.D 35.D
TEXT4： 36.D 37.D 38.B 39.D 40.A
新题型： 41-45：AFGCE
小作文范文： Dear Sir or Madame, As one of the regular customers of your online store, I am
writing this letter to express my complaint against the flaws in your product—an electronic dictionary
I bought in your shop the other day. The dictionary is supposed to be a favorable tool for my study.
Unfortunately, I found that there are several problems. To begin with, when I opened it, I detected
that the appearance of it had been scratched. Secondly, I did not find the battery promised in the
advertisement posted on the homepage of your shop, which makes me feel that you have not kept
your promise. What is worse, some of the keys on the keyboard do not work. I strongly request that
a satisfactory explanation be given and effective measures should be taken to improve your service
and the quality of your products. You can either send a new one to me or refund me my money in full.
I am looking forward to your reply at your earliest convenience。
Sincerely yours,
Zhang Wei
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