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)
The ethical judgments of the Supreme Court justices have become an important issue recently. The court cannot 1 its legitimacy as guardian of the rule of law 2 justices behave like politicians. Yet, in several instances, justices acted in ways that 3 the court’s reputation for being independent and impartial.
A deal is a deal—except, apparently, when Entergy is involved. The company, a major energy supplier in New England, provoked justified outrage in Vermont last week when it announced it was reneging on a longstanding commitment to abide by the strict nuclear regulations.
Instead, the company has done precisely what it had long promised it would not: challenge the constitutionality of Vermont’s rules in the federal court, as part of a desperate effort to keep its Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant running. It’s a stunning move.
The conflict has been surfacing since 2002, when the corporation bought Vermont’s only nuclear power plant, an aging reactor in Vernon. As a condition of receiving state approval for the sale, the company agreed to seek permission from state regulators to operate past 2012.In 2006, the state went a step further, requiring that any extension of the plant’s license be subject to Vermont legislature’s approval. Then, too, the company went along。
…
26. The phrase “reneging on” (Line 3, Para.1) is closest in meaning to
[A]condemning.。跙]reaffirming。
[C]dishonoring. [D]securing。
27. By entering into the 2002 agreement, Entergy intended to
[A]obtain protection from Vermont regulators。
[B]seek favor from the federal legislature。
[C]acquire an extension of its business license。
[D]get permission to purchase a power plant。
…
【答案解析】
26. 答案:C 【考點:猜測生詞】
分析:本題要求考生根據上下文信息猜測生詞reneging on的意思。四個選項如下:
[A]譴責。 [B] 重申。
[C]不遵守。 [D] 獲得。
文章首段一開始,作者就暗示安特吉公司將不遵守交易規則:“交易就是交易——除非涉及到安特吉公司”。由此可知該公司違約的事實,并且就此還引起軒然大波:這家新英格蘭的主要電力供應商上周宣稱將……嚴格遵守核能規定的長期承諾時,這在佛蒙特州激起了合情合理的憤怒。因此,reneging on 的意思應為“不履行,不遵守”,[C]dishonoring是正確答案。
27. 答案:D 【考點:識別正確信息】
分析:本題要求考生根據文意判斷,安特吉公司簽署2002年的協議時的意圖。四個選項如下:
[A]從佛州營監管部門獲得保護。
[B]尋求聯邦立法機關的支持。
[C]獲得蒙特業執照的延期。
[D]獲得批準去收購一個電廠。
文章第三段提到,“這個沖突在2002年就開始顯現了,那時該公司收購了佛蒙特州唯一的核電廠,位于弗農的一個老舊的核反應堆。作為獲得州政府批準該交易的條件,公司承諾如果2012年后繼續運營需獲得州監管部門的許可。”顯然,該公司在2002年作出承諾,如果在2012年后繼續運營,必須獲得批準,承諾的目的是為了讓州政府批準它收購那里的一座核電廠。因此[D]get permission to purchase a power plant是正確答案。
……
本節內容選自外研社出版的新書《張劍考研10年真題5套模擬》
考研命題人張劍教授解析2012年考研真題(三)
第三部分:閱讀理解(Part B 選擇匹配)
2012年全國碩士研究生入學考試英語試題分析
Part B
Directions:
In the following text, some sentences have been removed. For Questions 41-45, choose the most suitable one from the list A-G to fit into each of the numbered blanks. There are two extra choices, which do not fit in any of the blanks. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)
Think of those fleeting moments when you look out of an aeroplane window and realise that you are flying, higher than a bird. Now think of your laptop, thinner than a brown-paper envelope, or your cellphone in the palm of your hand. Take a moment or two to wonder at those marvels. You are the lucky inheritor of a dream come true.
The second half of the 20th century saw a collection of geniuses, warriors, entrepreneurs and visionaries labour to create a fabulous machine that could function as a typewriter and printing press, studio and theatre, paintbrush and gallery, piano and radio, the mail as well as the mail carrier. 41.
The networked computer is an amazing device, the first media machine that serves as the mode of production, means of distribution, site of reception, and place of praise and critique. The computer is the 21st century’s culture machine。
But for all the reasons there are to celebrate the computer, we must also tread with caution. 42.
I call it a secret war for two reasons. First, most people do not realise that there are strong commercial agendas at work to keep them in passive consumption mode. Second, the majority of people who use networked computers to upload are not even aware of the significance of what they are doing。
…
[A] Of course, it is precisely these superfluous things that define human culture and ultimately what it is to be human. Downloading and consuming culture requires great skills, but failing to move beyond downloading is to strip oneself of a defining constituent of humanity.
[B] Applications like tumblr.com, which allow users to combine pictures, words and other media in creative ways and then share them, have the potential to add stickiness by amusing, entertaining and enlightening others.
[C] Not only did they develop such a device but by the turn of the millennium they had also managed to embed it in a worldwide system accessed by billions of people every day。
[D] This is because the networked computer has sparked a secret war between downloading and uploading — between passive consumption and active creation — whose outcome will shape our collective future in ways we can only begin to imagine.
[E] The challenge the computer mounts to television thus bears little similarity to one format being replaced by another in the manner of record players being replaced by CD players。
[F] One reason for the persistence of this pyramid of production is that for the past half-century, much of the world’s media culture has been defined by a single medium — television — and television is defined by downloading.
[G] The networked computer offers the first chance in 50 years to reverse the flow, to encourage thoughtful downloading and, even more importantly, meaningful uploading.
Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese. Your translation should be written clearly on ANSWER SHEET 2. (10 points)
…
Gray and his colleagues have put them to the test by examining four family trees that between them represent more than 2,000 languages. (50) Chomsky’s grammar should show patterns of language change that are independent of the family tree or the pathway tracked through it, whereas Greenbergian universality predicts strong co-dependencies between particular types of word-order relations. Neither of these patterns is borne out by the analysis, suggesting that the structures of the languages are Line age — specific and not governed by universals。
【注釋】 本句是whereas引導的并列句,前后是轉折關系。1)主句的結構是“簡單句 + 定語從句”。 patterns of language change that are independent of…,可譯為“獨立于……的語言變化模式”。其中,family tree指“語言譜系”,而不是“族譜”;pathway指的是語言的“發展路徑”。2)后半句中的whereas譯為 “而……”,co-dependencies意為“緊密互依性”。Particular types of word-order relations意為“特定的語法詞序關系類型”?傮w上講,文章的話題較偏,涉及語言學和語言史。對于學習語言學的同學比較有利,因為他們知道喬姆斯基和格林堡等人,以及他們的理論。而對于廣大理工科學生而言,可能文章有一定難度。
本節內容選自外研社出版的新書《張劍考研10年真題5套模擬》
考研命題人張劍教授解析2012年考研真題(五)
第五部分:寫作(Part A 應用文)
2012年全國碩士研究生入學考試英語試題分析
Part A
Directions:
Some international students are coming to your university. Write them an email in the name of the Students’ Union to
1) extend your welcome and
2) provide some suggestions for their campus life here。
You should write about 100 words on ANSWER SHEET 2.
Do not sign your own name at the end of the letter. Use “Li Ming” instead。
Congratulations on your admission to this university. On behalf of the Students’ Union, I extend a warm welcome to you and look forward to your safe arrival at the beginning of the new term。
I’d like to offer you some information about life in this university. After paying the tuition fee and getting registered, you will need to check into your dormitory. The university canteen is probably the best place to have meals during the term, because food is tasty and inexpensive. If you prefer Western food, there is a cafeteria where you can get sandwiches and spaghetti. You will need to get a student card, which is identity card as well as cash card. You can use it to borrow books, pay for shop purchases, etc. The orientation for new students will probably take a whole week.
In advance I send you our best wishes and hope you will become a member of the Students’ Union。
Sincerely yours,
Li Ming
本節內容選自外研社出版的新書《張劍考研10年真題5套模擬》
考研命題人張劍教授解析2012年考研真題(六)
第六部分:寫作(Part B 議論文)
2012年全國碩士研究生入學考試英語試題分析
Part B
Directions:
Write an essay of 160 ~ 200 words based on the following drawing. In your essay, you should
1) describe the drawing briefly,
2) explain its intended meaning, and
3) give your comments。
You should write neatly on ANSWER SHEET 2. (20 points)
In the picture, a bottle falls to the ground and a liquid spills out. Two men witness the accident and respond differently to it. One sadly holds his head with his hand, saying, “Everything is spoiled!” The other gladly notices the half of the oil that still remains in the bottle and rushes to pick it up, saying, “Fortunately, we still have some left。”
The picture is not just showing us a small accident, but it intends to tell us a matter of greater significance. The two men’s different responses to the accident actually show two different attitudes to life, or two different perspectives to view tragedy in life。
Life is full of ups and downs, which are part of one’s life journey in this world. The question is how we are going to take life’s pains or tragedies. Pessimists feel like the end of the world is coming, while optimists believe they can overcome them and become stronger. A girl student jumped from a tall building after she was abandoned by her boyfriend. A mother drowned her two mentally-handicapped twin sons because she could not see the end of her own suffering. While we are sympathetic for these unfortunate people, we sigh for their desperate actions.
No one’s life is plain sailing. But hard labour will make a person physically strong; hardships will make a person mentally strong. We sigh because one man did not see the bright side of life, “the half of the liquid that still remains”. The girl student did not understand that life could begin anew and happiness could be achieved elsewhere. The mother did not realize that the society and the government were willing to offer help. If they were more optimistic, things could be different. If we are all optimistic, the world will be changed。