北京中科院 2013 年考博英语真题
Part I Vocabulary (10%)
1.Between 1981 and 1987, the number of permanent jobs had increased by only 1,000,
although training has been substantiallyby the corporation.
A.boostedB. curtailedC. plungedD. expended
2.It is a touching scene that every parent can immediatelybecause they have gone
through the same ritual with their own children.
A.come throughB. identify with C. take upD. refer to
3.In ancient mythology there was no impassableseparating the divine from the human
beings.
A.polarityB. splitC. gulfD. void
4.Guarantees and warranties tell buyers the repairs for which a mamifacturer is
A. qualifiedB. agreeableC. compatibleD.liable
5. The oil spill had aeffect on seabirds and other wildlife.
A. reluctantB. mischievousC. devastatingD.malignant
6. A friend is
a second self.
A. as it isB. as it wereC. as well asD.as though
7. He leaned out of anupstairs window and felt a current of warm airfrom the street.
A. exaltingB. ascendingC. swayingD. fluctuating
8. In a market economy, it is impractical tobig banks to reduce the qualification
to provide financial support for small and medium-sized enterprises.
A. take onB. bear onC. hold onD.count on
9. The authorus as consistently fair and accurate about the issues.
A. dismissedB. agitatedC. struckD.seized
10. The new system is similar to the old onethere is stilla strong central government.
A. now thatB. so thatC. in case thatD.in that
11. In the final analysis,it is ourof death which decidesour answers to ; all the
questions that life puts to us.
A. conceptionB. deceptionC. receptionD.presentation
12. The great tragedy of life is not that men, but that they cease to love.
A.terminateB. expireC. perishD. wither
13.His doctor has told him he mustn’t drink, but he still has the occasional brandy.
A.on the spotB. on the slyC. in natureD. in short
14.In some African countries, the cost of treating an AIDS patient mayhis or her
entire annual income.
A.exploitB.expelC.expireD.exceed
15.The currentwith exam results is actually harming children’s education.
A.interventionB.manipulationC.obsessionD.domination
16.Sometimes certain families adheredthe same religious beliefs for several
generations.
A.toB.forC.afterD.with
17.He knew that the area’s rich plant life had been severelyby the huge herds of
cows grazing the land.
A. depletedB. decomposedC. corruptedD. corroded
18.The long wait for news of my exam results has already set my nerves.
A. on fireB. on edgeC. on earthD. on impulse
19.A solution must be found that doesn’ttoo many people in this group, otherwise
it cannot work.
A. arouseB. offendC. spurD. violate
20.The Federal Governmentfarmers by buying their surplus crops at prices above the
market value.
A. piratesB. mediatesC. supplementsD. Subsidizes
Part n Cloze (15%)
Parents who believe that playing video games is less harmful to their kids’attention
spans than watching TV may want to reconsider. Some researchers 21 more than 1,300
children in different grades for a year. They asked both the kids and their parents
to estimate how many hours per week the kids spent watching TV and playing video
games, and they 22 the children’s attention spans by 23 their schoolteachers. 24
studies have examined the effect of TV or video games on attention problems, but
not both. By looking at video-game use 25 TV watching, these scientists were able
to show for the first time that the two activities have a similar relationship 26
attention problems. Shawn Green, a psychologist at the University of Minnesota,
points out that the study doesn’t distinguish between the type of 27 required to
excel at a video game and that required to excel in school.
“A child who is capable of playing a video game for hours 28 obviously does not
have a 29 problem with paying attention,” says Green. “30 are they able to pay
attention to a game but not in school? What expectancies have the games set up that
aren’t being delivered in a school 31?” Modem TV shows are so exciting and fast
paced that they make reading and schoolwork seem 32 by comparison, and the same may
be true 33 video games, the study notes.“We weren’t able to break the games down
by educational versus non-educational 34 nonvio-lent versus violent,” says Swing,
35 that the impact that different types of games may have on at-tention is a ripe
area for future research.
21. A. followedB. trainedC.questionedD.challenged
22. A. provokedB. speculatedC.formulatedD.assessed
23. A. surveyingB. consideringC.persuadingD.guiding
24. A. ContinuedB. PreviousC.LaterD.Ongoing
25. A. far fromB. except forC.as well asD.instead of
26. A. forB. toC.onD.of
27. A. competitionB. techniqueC.attentionD.strategy
28. A. on endB. at lengthC.now and thenD.in and out
29. A. similarB. relevantG.seriousD.tricky
30. A. WhatB. WhyC.WhenD.Where
31. A. settingB. sceneC.frameD.platform
32. A. industriousB. limitedC.dullD.funny
33. A. onB. atC.inD.for
34. A. orB. againstC.whileD.with
35. A. addingB. addsC.addedD.having added
Part III Reading Comprehension (40% )
Section A (30%)
Passage 1
Ever since the early days of modem computing in the 1940s, the biological metaphor
has been irresistible. The first computers — room-size behemoths — were referred
to as “giant brains” or uelectronic brains," in headlines and everyday speech.
As computers improved and became capable of some tasks familiar to humans, like
playing chess, the term used was “artificial intelligence”. DNA,it is said, is
the original software.
For the most part, the biological metaphor has long been just that — a simplifying
analogy rather than a blueprint for how to do computing. Engineering, not biology,
guided the pursuit of artificial intelligence. As Frederick Jelinek, a pioneer in
speech recognition, put it, “airplanes don’t flap theirwings. “Yet the principles
of biology are gaining ground as a tool in computing. The shift in thinking results
from advances in neuroscience and computer science, and from the push of
necessity.The physical limits of conventional computer designs are within sight —
not today or tomorrow,but soon enough. Nanoscale circuits cannot shrink much further.
Today’s chips are power hogs, running hot, which curbs how much of a chip’s circuitry
can be used. These limits loom as demand is accelerating for computing capacity to
make sense of a surge of new digital data from sensors, online commerce, social
networks, video streams and corporate and government databases.
To meet the challenge, without gobbling the world’s energy supply, a different
approach will be needed. And biology, scientists say, promises to contribute more
than metaphors. “Every time we look at this, biology provides a clue as to how we
should pursue the frontiers of computing,” said John E. Kelly, the director of
research at I. B. M.
Dr. Kelly points to Watson, the question — answering computer that can play
“Jeopardy!” and beat two human champions earlier this year. The I. B. M. ’s clever
machine consumes 85,000 watts of electricity, while the human brain runs on just
20 watts. “Evolution figured this out, ” Dr. Kelly said.
Several biologically inspired paths are being explored by computer scientists in
universities and corporate laboratories worldwide. One project, a collaboration of
computer scientists and neuroscientists begun three years ago, has been encouraging
enough that in August it won a $21 million round of government financing. In recent
months, the team has developed prototype “neurosynaptic” microprocessors ,or chips
that operate more like neurons and synapses than like conventional semiconductors.
36.Paragraph 1 mainly tells.
A.what the biological metaphor isB. how computers have improved
C . when modem computing beganD. why DNA is the original software
37.Frederick Jelinek’s quotation implies that.
A.technology is created by humans rather than by God
B.airplanes differ from birds when using their wings
C.computers can hardly match human brains
D.biology can barely serve to explain computing
38.To meet growing demands computers need to be.
A.more complex in circuitryB.smaller in chip size
C.more energy efficientD.more heat-sensitive
39.The boldfaced word “frontiers”(in Para. 5) refers to.
A.computing problemsB.networking regulations
C.streaming restrictionsD.online shopping benefits
40.The human brain is superior to Watson in.
A.question generationB.power consumption
C.event organizationD.speech recognition
41.In pushing the boundaries of computing, biology serves as a ( n) .
A. initiator
B. director
C. accelerator
D. contributor
Part III Reading Comprehension (40% )
Section A (30%)
Passage 2
South Korea’s hagwon ( private tutoring academies) crackdown is one part of a larger
quest to tame the country’s culture of educational masochism. At the national and
local levels, politicians are changing school testing and university admissions
policies to reduce student stress and reward softer qualities like creativity.
One-size-fits-all,government-led uniform curriculums and an education system that
is locked only onto the college-entrance examination are not acceptable,” President
Lee Myung-bak vowed at his inauguration in 2008. But cramming is deeply embedded
in Asia, where top grades — and often nothing else — have long been prized as
essential for professional success. Modem-day South Korea has taken this competition
to new extremes. In 2010, 74% of all students engaged in some kind of private after-
school instruction ,sometimes called shadow education, at an average cost of $2,
600 per student for the year. There are more private instructors in South Korea than
there are schoolteachers, and the most popular of them make millions of dollars a
year from online and in-person classes. When Singapore’Education Minister was asked
last year about his nation’s reliance on private tutoring, he found one reason for
hope: “ We’re not as bad as the Koreans."
In Seoul, large numbers of students who fail to get into top universities spend the
entire year after high school attending hagwons to improve their scores on university
admissions exams. And they must compete even to do this. At the prestigious Daesung
Institute, admission is based on students’ test scores. Only 14% of applicants are
accepted. After a year of 14-hour days, about 70% gain entry to one of the nation’
s top three universities.
From a distance, South Korea’s results look enviable. Its students consistently
outperform their counterparts in almost every country in reading and math. In the
U. S. , Barack Obama and his Education Secretary speak glowingly of the enthusiasm
South Korean parents have for educating their children ,and they lament how far the
U. S. students are falling behind. Without its education obsession, South Korea could
not have been transformed into the economic powerhouse that it is today. But the
country’s leaders worry that unless its rigid, hierarchical system starts to nurture
more innovation, economic growth will stall — and fertility rates will continue
to decline as families feel the pressure of paying for all that tutoring. “You
Americans see a bright side of the Korean system. ” Education Minister Lee Ju-ho
tells me, but Koreans are not happy with it. ”
42.South Korea’s educational system.
A.gives much weight to exams
B.stresses students’ creativity
C.shames the country’s culture
D.offers easy admissions
43.Shadow education .
A.casts a shadow in students’ minds
B.makes the students’ scores level
C.stimulates competition among teachers
D.takes the form of private tutoring
44.In Seoul, students who fail to get into top universities.
A.can only go to private universities
B.must spend one more year in high schools
C.may choose any hagwon they like
D.need to fight for good private tutoring
45.Parents in South Korea.
A.usually supervise their children from a distance
B.only focus on their kids’ reading and math
C.devote much of their energy to their kids’ education
D.lament the way the US parents educate their children
46.South Korea’s education obsession.
A.has failed to nurture any creative students
B.has contributed to the country’s economic growth
C.has led to an increase in the nation’s fertility rates
D.has won world notoriety for South Korean parents
47.With respect to the future of the educational system, South Korean politicians.
A.are concerned about its rigidity
B.see it as a model for other cultures
G. wish to encourage the birth of more children
D. hope to expand the scope of private tutoring
Part III Reading Comprehension (40% )
Section A (30%)
Passage 3
A dispute that, according to Members of Parliament (MPs) , threatens the very
survival of London Metropolitan University (London Met) , the capital’s biggest
higher education institution, is spilling over onto London’s streets. Last week
lorry drivers on Holloway Road in Islington watched as a group of students and staff
marched in protest against a meeting of London Met’s governors.“ Save our Staff”
and London Met on the Roper”,a reference to the university’s vicechancellor,
Professor Brian Roper, screamed the banners.
The university, which has 34,000 students, has long attracted controversy for the
militancy of its staff and students, but the latest row is a more serious matter.
This crisis is over an attempt by the Higher Education Funding Council ( Hefc) to
claw back more than £ 50m that London Met should not have received. It is believed
that as many as 500 jobs could go as a result of the university having been overpaid