1995年全国硕士研究生入学统一考试英语一试题及解析

Born to win

1995年全国硕士研究生入学统一考试英语试题

Section III Reading Comprehension

Directions:

Each of the passages below is followed by some questions. For each question there are four answers marked [A], [B], [C] and [D]. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each of the questions. Then mark your answer on ANSWER SHEET 1 by blackening the corresponding letter in the brackets with a pencil. (40 points)

Text 1

Money spent on advertising is money spent as well as any I know of. It serves directly to assist a rapid distribution of goods at reasonable prices, thereby establishing a firm home market and so making it possible to provide for export at competitive prices. By drawing attention to new ideas it helps enormously to raise standards of living. By helping to increase demand it ensures an increased need for labour, and is therefore an effective way to fight unemployment. It lowers the costs of many services: without advertisements your daily newspaper would cost four times as much, the price of your television license would need to be doubled and travel by bus or tube would cost 20 per cent more.

And perhaps most important of all, advertising provides a guarantee of reasonable value in the products and services you buy. Apart from the fact that twenty-seven Acts of Parliament govern the terms of advertising, no regular advertiser dare promote a product that fails to live up to the promise of his advertisements. He might fool some people for a little while through misleading advertising. He will not do so for long, for mercifully the public has the good sense not to buy the inferior article more than once. If you see an article consistently advertised, it is the surest proof I know that the article does what is claimed for it, and that it represents good value.

Advertising does more for the material benefit of the community than any other force I can think of.

There is one point I feel I ought to touch on. Recently I heard a well-known television personality declare that he was against advertising because it persuades rather than informs. He was drawing excessively fine distinctions. Of course advertising seeks to persuade.

If its message were confined merely to information -- and that in itself would be difficult if not impossible to achieve, for even a detail such as the choice of the colour of a shirt is subtly persuasive -- advertising would be so boring that no one would pay any attention. But perhaps that is what the well-known television personality wants.

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51. By the first sentence of the passage the author means that ________.

[A] he is fairly familiar with the cost of advertising

[B] everybody knows well that advertising is money consuming [C] advertising costs money like everything else [D] it is worthwhile to spend money on advertising

52. In the passage, which of the following is NOT included in the advantages of

advertising?

[A] Securing greater fame. [B] Providing more jobs. [C] Enhancing living standards. [D] Reducing newspaper cost.

53. The author deems that the well-known TV personality is ________.

[A] very precise in passing his judgment on advertising [B] interested in nothing but the buyers’ attention

[C] correct in telling the difference between persuasion and information [D] obviously partial in his views on advertising 54. In the author’s opinion, ________.

[A] advertising can seldom bring material benefit to man by providing

information [B] advertising informs people of new ideas rather than wins them over [C] there is nothing wrong with advertising in persuading the buyer [D] the buyer is not interested in getting information from an advertisement

Text 2

There are two basic ways to see growth: one as a product, the other as a process. People have generally viewed personal growth as an external result or product that can easily be identified and measured. The worker who gets a promotion, the student whose grades improve, the foreigner who learns a new language -- all these are examples of people who have measurable results to show for their efforts.

By contrast, the process of personal growth is much more difficult to determine, since by definition it is a journey and not the specific signposts or landmarks along the way. The process is not the road itself, but rather the attitudes and feelings people have, their caution or courage, as they encounter new experiences and unexpected obstacles. In this process, the journey never really ends; there are always new ways to experience the world, new ideas to try, new challenges to accept.

In order to grow, to travel new roads, people need to have a willingness to take

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risks, to confront the unknown, and to accept the possibility that they may “fail” at first. How we see ourselves as we try a new way of being is essential to our ability to grow. Do we perceive ourselves as quick and curious? If so, then we tend to take more chances and to be more open to unfamiliar experiences. Do we think we’re shy and indecisive? Then our sense of timidity can cause us to hesitate, to move slowly, and not to take a step until we know the ground is safe. Do we think we’re slow to adapt to change or that we’re not smart enough to cope with a new challenge? Then we are likely to take a more passive role or not try at all.

These feelings of insecurity and self-doubt are both unavoidable and necessary if we are to change and grow. If we do not confront and overcome these internal fears and doubts, if we protect ourselves too much, then we cease to grow. We become trapped inside a shell of our own making.

55. A person is generally believed to achieve personal growth when ________.

[A] he has given up his smoking habit [B] he has made great efforts in his work [C] he is keen on leaning anything new

[D] he has tried to determine where he is on his journey

56. In the author’s eyes, one who views personal growth as a process would

________.

[A] succeed in climbing up the social ladder

[B] judge his ability to grow from his own achievements [C] face difficulties and take up challenges [D] aim high and reach his goal each time

57. When the author says “a new way of being” (Line 2~3, Para. 3) he is referring to

________.

[A] a new approach to experiencing the world [B] a new way of taking risks

[C] a new method of perceiving ourselves [D] a new system of adaptation to change

58. For personal growth, the author advocates all of the following EXCEPT

________.

[A] curiosity about more chances [B] promptness in self-adaptation [C] open-mindedness to new experiences [D] avoidance of internal fears and doubts

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Text 3

In such a changing, complex society formerly simple solutions to informational needs become complicated. Many of life’s problems which were solved by asking family members, friends or colleagues are beyond the capability of the extended family to resolve. Where to turn for expert information and how to determine which expert advice to accept are questions facing many people today.

In addition to this, there is the growing mobility of people since World War II. As families move away from their stable community, their friends of many years, their extended family relationships, the informal flow of information is cut off, and with it the confidence that information will be available when needed and will be trustworthy and reliable. The almost unconscious flow of information about the simplest aspects of living can be cut off. Thus, things once learned subconsciously through the casual communications of the extended family must be consciously learned.

Adding to societal changes today is an enormous stockpile of information. The individual now has more information available than any generation, and the task of finding that one piece of information relevant to his or her specific problem is complicated, time-consuming and sometimes even overwhelming.

Coupled with the growing quantity of information is the development of technologies which enable the storage and delivery of more information with greater speed to more locations than has ever been possible before. Computer technology makes it possible to store vast amounts of data in machine-readable files, and to program computers to locate specific information. Telecommunications developments enable the sending of messages via television, radio, and very shortly, electronic mail to bombard people with multitudes of messages. Satellites have extended the power of communications to report events at the instant of occurrence. Expertise can be shared worldwide through teleconferencing, and problems in dispute can be settled without the participants leaving their homes and/or jobs to travel to a distant conference site. Technology has facilitated the sharing of information and the storage and delivery of information, thus making more information available to more people.

In this world of change and complexity, the need for information is of greatest importance. Those people who have accurate, reliable up-to-date information to solve the day-to-day problems, the critical problems of their business, social and family life, will survive and succeed. “Knowledge is power” may well be the truest saying and access to information may be the most critical requirement of all people. 59. The word “it” (Line 3, Para. 2) most probably refers to ________.

[A] the lack of stable communities

[B] the breakdown of informal information channels [C] the increased mobility of families

[D] the growing number of people moving from place to place

Born to win

60. The main problem people may encounter today arises from the fact that

________.

[A] they have to learn new things consciously

[B] they lack the confidence of securing reliable and trustworthy information [C] they have difficulty obtaining the needed information readily

[D] they can hardly carry out casual communications with an extended family 61. From the passage we can infer that ________.

[A] electronic mail will soon play a dominant role in transmitting messages [B] it will become more difficult for people to keep secrets in an information era [C] people will spend less time holding meetings or conferences [D] events will be reported on the spot mainly through satellites 62. We can learn from the last paragraph that ________.

[A] it is necessary to obtain as much knowledge as possible [B] people should make the best use of the information accessible [C] we should realize the importance of accumulating information [D] it is of vital importance to acquire needed information efficiently

Text 4

Personality is to a large extent inherent -- A-type parents usually bring about A-type offspring. But the environment must also have a profound effect, since if competition is important to the parents, it is likely to become a major factor in the lives of their children.

One place where children soak up A-characteristics is school, which is, by its very nature, a highly competitive institution. Too many schools adopt the “win at all costs” moral standard and measure their success by sporting achievements. The current passion for making children compete against their classmates or against the clock produces a two-layer system, in which competitive A-types seem in some way better than their B-type fellows. Being too keen to win can have dangerous consequences: remember that Pheidippides, the first marathon runner, dropped dead seconds after saying: “Rejoice, we conquer!”

By far the worst form of competition in schools is the disproportionate emphasis on examinations. It is a rare school that allows pupils to concentrate on those things they do well. The merits of competition by examination are somewhat questionable, but competition in the certain knowledge of failure is positively harmful.

Obviously, it is neither practical nor desirable that all A youngsters change into B’s. The world needs A types, and schools have an important duty to try to fit a child’s personality to his possible future employment. It is top management.

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