1、全国硕士研究生入学统一考试英语试题及参考答案2014年全国硕士研究生入学统一考试英语试题Section I Use of EnglishDirections: Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on the ANSWER SHEET. (10 points)As many people hit middle age, they often start to notice that their memory and mental clarit
2、y are not what they used to be. We suddenly cant remember 1 we put the keys just a moment ago, or an old acquaintances name, or the name of an old band we used to love. As the brain 2 , we refer to these occurrences as senior moments. 3 seemingly innocent, this loss of mental focus can potentially h
3、ave a (n) 4 impact on our professional, social, and personal 5 .Neuroscientists, experts who study the nervous system, are increasingly showing that theres actually a lot that can be done. It 6 out that the brain needs exercise in much the same way our muscles do, and the right mental 7 can signific
4、antly improve our basic cognitive 8 . Thinking is essentially a 9 of making connections in the brain. To a certain extent, our ability to 10 in making the connections that drive intelligence is inherited. 11 , because these connections are made through effort and practice, scientists believe that in
5、telligence can expand and fluctuate 12 mental effort.Now, a new Web-based company has taken it a step 13 and developed the first brain training program designed to actually help people improve and regain their mental 14 .The Web-based program 15 you to systematically improve your memory and attentio
6、n skills. The program keeps 16 of your progress and provides detailed feedback 17 your performance and improvement. Most importantly, it 18 modifies and enhances the games you play to 19 on the strengths you are developingmuch like a(n) 20 exercise routine requires you to increase resistance and var
7、y your muscle use.1. Awhere2. AimprovesBwhenBfadesCthatCrecoversDwhyDcollapses3. AIfBUnlessCOnceDWhile4. AunevenBlimitedCdamagingDobscure5. AwellbeingBenvironmentCrelationshipDoutlook6. AturnsBfindsCpointsDfigures7. AroundaboutsBresponsesCworkoutsDassociations8. AgenreBfunctionsCcircumstancesDcriter
8、ion9. AchannelBconditionCsequenceDprocess10. ApersistBbelieveCexcelDfeature11. A ThereforeB MoreoverC OtherwiseD However12. Aaccording toBregardless ofCapart fromDinstead of13. AbackBfurtherCasideDaround14. AsharpnessBstabilityCframeworkDflexibility15. AforcesBremindsChurriesDallows16. AholdBtrackCo
9、rderDpace17. AtoBwithCforDon18. AirregularlyBhabituallyCconstantlyDunusually19. AcarryBputCbuildDtake20. AriskyBeffectiveCidleDfamiliarSection ： Reading ComprehensionPart A .Directions: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on
10、 the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)Text 1In order to change lives for the better and reduce dependency, George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced the upfront work search scheme. Only if the jobless arrive at the jobcentre with a CV, register for online job search, and start looking for work
11、 will they be eligible for benefit and then they should report weekly rather than fortnightly. What could be more reasonable?More apparent reasonableness followed. There will now be a seven-day wait for the jobseekers allowance. Those first few days should be spent looking for work, not looking to s
12、ign on. he claimed. Were doing these things because we know they help people stay off benefits and help those on benefits get into work faster. Help? Really? On first hearing, this was the socially concerned chancellor, trying to change lives for the better, complete with reforms to an obviously ind
13、ulgent system that demands too little effort from the newly unemployed to find work, and subsidises laziness. What motivated him, we were to understand, was his zeal for fundamental fairness protecting the taxpayer, controlling spending and ensuring that only the most deserving claimants received th
14、eir benefits.Losing a job is hurting: you dont skip down to the jobcentre with a song in your heart, delighted at the prospect of doubling your income from the generous state. It is financially terrifying, psychologically embarrassing and you know that support is minimal and extraordinarily hard to
15、get. You are now not wanted; you are now excluded from the work environment that offers purpose and structure in your life. Worse, the crucial income to feed yourself and your family and pay the bills has disappeared. Ask anyone newly unemployed what they want and the answer is always: a job.But in
16、Osborneland, your first instinct is to fall into dependency permanent dependency if you can get it supported by a state only too ready to indulge your falsehood. It is as though 20 years of ever-tougher reforms of the job search and benefit administration system never happened. The principle of Brit
17、ish welfare is no longer that you can insure yourself against the risk of unemployment and receive unconditional payments if the disaster happens. Even the very phrase jobseekers allowance is about redefining the unemployed as a jobseeker who had no fundamental right to a benefit he or she has earne
18、d through making national insurance contributions. Instead, the claimant receives a time-limited allowance, conditional on actively seeking a job; no entitlement and no insurance, at 71.70 a week, one of the least generous in theEU.21. George Osbornes scheme was intended to . Aprovide the unemployed
19、 with easier access to benefits Bencourage jobseekers active engagement in job seeking Cmotivate the unemployed to report voluntarily Dguarantee jobseekers legitimate right to benefits22. The phrase, to sign on (Line 2, Para. 2) most probably means . Ato check on the availability of jobs at the jobc
20、entreBto accept the governments restrictions on the allowance Cto register for an allowance from the governmentDto attend a governmental job-training program23. What prompted the chancellor to develop his scheme? AA desire to secure a better life for all.BAn eagerness to protect the unemployed. CAn
21、urge to be generous to the claimants. DA passion to ensure fairness for taxpayers.24. According to Paragraph 3, being unemployed makes one feel . AuneasyB enraged. Cinsulted. Dguilty.25. To which of the following would the author most probably agree? AThe British welfare system indulges jobseekers l
22、aziness. BOsbornes reforms will reduce the risk of unemployment.C The jobseekers allowance has met their actual needs. DUnemployment benefits should not be made conditional.Text 2All around the world, lawyers generate more hostility than the members of any other professionwith the possible exception
23、 of journalism. But there are few places where clients have more grounds for complaint than America.During the decade before the economic crisis, spending on legal services in America grew twice as fast as inflation. The best lawyers made skyscrapers-full of money, tempting ever more students to pil
24、e into law schools. But most law graduates never get a big-firm job. Many of them instead become the kind of nuisance-lawsuit filer that makes the tort system a costly nightmare.There are many reasons for this. One is the excessive costs of a legal education. There is just one path for a lawyer in m
25、ost American states: a four-year undergraduate degree in some unrelated subject, then a three-year law degree at one of 200 law schools authorized by the American Bar Association and an expensive preparation for the bar exam. This leaves todays average law-school graduate with $100,000 of debt on to
26、p of undergraduate debts. Law-school debt means that they have to work fearsomely hard.Reforming the system would help both lawyers and their customers. Sensible ideas have been around for a long time, but the state-level bodies that govern the profession have been tooconservative to implement them.
27、 One idea is to allow people to study law as an undergraduate degree. Another is to let students sit for the bar after only two years of law school. If the bar exam is truly a stern enough test for a would-be lawyer, those who can sit it earlier should be allowed to do so. Students who do not need t
28、he extra training could cut their debt mountain by a third.The other reason why costs are so high is the restrictive guild-like ownership structure of the business. Except in the District of Columbia, non-lawyers may not own any share of a law firm. This keeps fees high and innovation slow. There is
29、 pressure for change from within the profession, but opponents of change among the regulators insist that keeping outsiders out of a law firm isolates lawyers from the pressure to make money rather than serve clients ethically.In fact, allowing non-lawyers to own shares in law firms would reduce cos
30、ts and improve services to customers, by encouraging law firms to use technology and to employ professional managers to focus on improving firms efficiency. After all, other countries, such as Australia and Britain, have started liberalizing their legal professions. America should follow.26.A lot of
31、 students take up law as their profession due to . Athe growing demand from clientsBthe increasing pressure of inflation Cthe prospect of working in big firms Dthe attraction of financial rewards27. Which of the following adds to the costs of legal education in most American states? AHigher tuition fees for undergraduate studies.BAdmissions approval from the bar association. CPursuing a bachelors degree in ano
