北京师范大学考博英语历年真题及详解



2015年北京师范大学考博英语真题及详解PartIReading

Comprehension(45%)

Directions:Read

thefollowingpassagescarefullyandthenselectthebestanswerfromthefour

choicesmarkedA,B,CandDbymarkingthecorrespondingletterontheANSWER

SHEETwithasinglelinethroughthecenter.

1

ThePacificNorthwestcoastofnorthAmericaistemperaterainforest,wheretrees

liketheredcedargrowstraighttrunksmorethantwometersthickatthebase

andsixtymetershigh.Westernredcedarisoftencalledthecanoecedar

becauseitsuppliedthenativepeopleoftheregionwiththerawmaterialfor

theirseagoingdugoutcanoes.Theseextraordinarycrafts,asmuchastwenty

metersinlength,werefashionedfromasingletreetrunkandcarriedasmany

asfortyonfishingandwhalingexpeditionsintotheopenocean.

The

HaidapeoplefromtheQueenCharlottesIslandsoffBritishColumbiawerenoted

fortheirskillincanoebuilding.Afterfellingagianttreewithcontrolled

burning,thecanoemakerssplitthelogintolengthwisesectionswithstone

wedges.Theyburnedawaysomeoftheheartwood,leavingaroughbutstrong

cedarshell.Theythencarved

awaywoodfromtheinside,keepingthesectionsbelowthewaterlinethickest

andheaviesttohelpkeepthecanoeuprightinstormyseas.Tofurther

enhancethecanoe’sstability,theyfilledthehullwithwaterandheateditto

boilingbydroppinginhotstones.Thisrenderedthewoodtemporarilyflexible,

sothesidesofthehullcouldbeforcedapartandheldwithsturdywooden

thwarts,whichservedasbothcrossbracesandseats.Thecanoeswereoftenpaintedwithelaboratedesignsof

culturalsignificancetothetribe.

The

Haidaraisedcanoebuilding

toahighart,designingboatsofsuchbeautyandutilitythatneighboringtribeswerewillingto

exchangequantitiesofhides,meats,andoilsforaHaidacanoe.These

gracefulvesselsbecamethetribe’schiefitemofexport.Intheirswiftandstaunch

canoes,

thefirstpeopleoftheNorthwestwereabletotakefulladvantageofthe

richesprovidedbythesea.Withharpoonsofyewwood,baitedhooksofred

cedar,andlinesoftwistedandbraidedbarkfibers,theyfishedforcod,

sturgeon,andhalibut,andhuntedwhales,seals,andseaotters.

1

Whydidthecanoemakerskeepthesectionsofthecanoebelowthewaterline

thickestandheaviest?

A.

Topreventthecanoefromoverturninginroughwater.

B.

Toshortentheworkofcarvingwoodfromtheinside.

C.

Toavoidhavingtopaintthebottomofthecanoe.

D.

Tomakethecanoestrongenoughtoholdfortypeople.

2

Whichofthefollowingcanbeinferredfromparagraphtwo?

A.

Carvingchangedthetextureandstrengthofthewood.

B.

Ittookthecanoemakersseveralmonthstobuildacanoe.

C.

Thewoodwasbeatenwithstonetoolstomakeitflexible.

D.

CanoeswereimportantculturalartifactsoftheHaida.

3

Thewordstaunchinparagraphthreeiscloseinmeaningto_____.

A.

silent

B.

strong

C.

scented

D.

severe

4It

canbeinferredfromparagraphthreethat_____.

A.

canoesweretheHaida’sonlyknownartform

B.

theHaidadominatedtradeamonglocaltribes

C.

thepeopleusedupallofthenaturalresources

D.

treesprovidedessentialtoolsforobtainingfood

5Which

ofthefollowingstatementscanbeinferredfromthepassage?

A.

Thewesternredcedarthrivesinavarietyofclimates.

B.

TheskilloftheHaidacanoemakershasneverbeencopied.

C.

Haidacanoeswereofgreatvalueintheregionaleconomy.

D.

Peoplenolongerusecedarcanoesforfishingandwhaling.

【答案与解析】

1A 细节理解题。根据题干可定位至第二段。该段第四句提到“Theythencarvedawaywoodfrom

theinside,keepingthesectionsbelowthewaterlinethickestandheaviestto

helpkeepthecanoeuprightinstormyseas.”，由此可知，海达人将水平面以下的独木舟部分造得最厚最重，是为了让船只能够在波涛汹涌的海上平稳前行，不被海浪掀翻。A项表述与此相符。故选A项。

2D 推理判断题。第二段最后一句提到“Thecanoeswereoftenpaintedwith

elaboratedesignsofculturalsignificancetothetribe.”，由此可知，海达人在独木舟上面绘制对本部落具有文化意义的精巧图案，因此独木舟也是海达人重要的文化产品。故D项正确。雕刻并不会改变木头的纹理和受压情况，故A项错误；B项文中没有提及；文中提到往船身灌水并通过丢热石头将水加热至沸腾，并不是用石头敲打，故C项错误。

3B 语义判断题。第三段第三句提到“Intheirswiftandstaunchcanoes”，此处staunch和swift都用于形容独木舟的特征，第二段介绍独木舟的制作方法时强调了独木舟的结实，浏览四个选项，B项strong（结实的）符合原文意思，故B项正确。其余三项均不符合文章意思。

4D 推理判断题。文章最后一句提到“Withharpoonsofyewwood,baitedhooks

ofredcedar,andlinesoftwistedandbraidedbarkfibers,theyfishedfor

cod,sturgeon,andhalibut,andhuntedwhales,seals,andseaotters.”，由此可知，木材为海达人提供了重要的捕食工具，故D项正确。A项过于绝对；B、C两项文中没有提及。

5C 推理判断题。文章最后一段第一句提到“...neighboringtribeswerewillingto

exchangequantitiesofhides,meats,andoilsforaHaidacanoe.”，由此可知，周围的部落都愿意用许多兽皮、肉和油来交换海达独木舟，因此海达人的独木舟对当地经济起着重要作用。故C项正确。

2

Nothing

inthehistoryofmodernastronomyhasexcitedasmuchspeculationasthe

object,orevent,knownasablackhole.Blackholeshaveprovidedendlessimaginativefodderforsciencefictionwritersandendlesstheoretical

fodderforastrophysicists.Theyareoneofthemoreexotic

manifestationsofthetheoryofgeneralrelativity,andtheirfascinationslies

inthewaytheirtremendousgravityaffectsnearbyspaceandtime.

A

blackholeisverysimpleinstructure:ithassurface—theeventhorizon—anda

center—thesingularity.Everythingelseisgravity.Thestandardmodelforthe

formationofablackholeinvolvesthecollapseofalargestar.Theimaginaryspherical

surface

surroundingthecollapsedstaristheeventhorizon—anartificialboundaryin

spacethatmarksapointofnoreturn.Outsidetheeventhorizon,gravityis

strongbutfinite,anditispossibleforobjectstobreakfreeofitspull.

However,oncewithintheeventhorizon,anobjectwouldneedtotravelfaster

thanlighttoescape.

For

extremelymassivestars,the

exclusionprinciple—theresistancebetweenthemolecularparticleswithinthe

starastheyarecompressed—willnotbestrongenoughtooffsetthegravity

generatedbythestar’sownmass.Thestar’sincreasingdensitywilloverwhelm

theexclusionprinciple.Whatfollowsisrunawaygravitationalcollapse.With

nointernalforcetostopit,thestarwillsimplycontinuetocollapseinon

itself.Onceacollapsingstarhascontractedthroughitseventhorizon,

nothingcanstopitfromcollapsingfurtheruntilitsentiremassiscrushed

downtoasinglepoint—apointofinfinitedensityandzerovolume—thesingularity.

Thestarnowdisappearsfromthe

perceivableuniverse,likeacartooncharacterthatjumpsintoaholeandpulls

theholeinafterhim.Whatthisprocessleavesbehindisa

differentkindofhole—aprofounddisturbanceinspace-time,aregionwhere

gravityissointensethatnothingcanescapefromit.Anyobjectfalling

withintheboundaryofablackholehasnochoicebuttomoveinwardtowardthe

singularityanddisappearfromouruniverseforever.Moreover,ablackholecan

neverbepluggeduporfilledinwithmatter,themorematterthatispoured

intoablackhole,thebiggeritgets.

What

wouldhappentoobjects,suchasastronauts,astheyvanishedintoablack

hole?Physicistshavebeenamusingthemselveswiththisquestionforyears,and

mostbelievethattheintensegravitational

forceswouldripaparttheastronautslongbeforetheywerecrushedatthesingularity.

Theoretically,anyastronautswhomanagedtosurvivethepassagewould

encountersomeverystrangethings.Forinstance,theywouldexperienceacutetimedistortion,whichwould

enablethemtoknow,inafewbriefseconds,theentirefutureoftheuniverse.

Inside

ablackhole,spaceandtimearesowarpedthatthedistancefromtheevent

horizontothesingularityisnotadistanceintime.Thetimeittakesto

reachthesingularityfromtheeventhorizon—asmeasuredbysomeonefallingin—is

proportionaltothemassoftheblackhole.

The

onlywaythatastronautswouldknowwhethertheyhadcrossedtheeventhorizon

wouldbeiftheytriedtohalttheirfallandclimboutagainbyfiringtheir

enginesenoughtopushthemselvesbackfromthecenterofthehole.However,

becauseofthetimewarp,iftheastronautstriedtodothis,theywouldreach

thesingularityfasterthaniftheyhadlefttheirenginesoff.Moreover,sincetheycouldgetnofartheronce

theyhadreachedthesingularity,thispointwould

marktheendoftimeitself.

6

Thewordfodderinparagraphoneisclosestinmeaningto_____.

A.

material

B.

stories

C.

support

D.

problems

7Theopposingforcebetweenthe

molecularparticlesinsideastariscalled_____.

A.

generalrelativity

B.

theexclusionprinciple

C.

infinitedensity

D.

thesingularity

8

Whydoestheauthormentionacartooncharacterinparagraphfour?

A.

Toillustratethecompletedisappearanceofacollapsingstar.

B.

Towarnofthedangerofbeingsuckedintoablackhole.

C.

Topointoutahumorousphenomenoninastrophysics.

D.

Toannouncethecreationofacartoonaboutblackholes.

9

Astronautswhofellintoablackholewouldprobablyexperienceallofthe

followingEXCEPT______.

A.

distortionofspaceandtime

B.

travellingfasterthanlight

C.

knowledgeoftheuniverse

D.

stronggravitationalforces

10

Thephrasethispointinparagraphsevenrefersto_____.

A.

Theeventhorizon

B.

Firingtheirengines

C.

Thetimewarp

D.

Thesingularity

【答案与解析】

6A 语义判断题。文章首段第二句提到“Blackholeshaveprovidedendless

imaginativefodderforsciencefictionwritersandendlesstheoretical

fodderforastrophysicists.”，由此可以推断，黑洞丰富了科幻小说作家的科幻小说以及天体物理学家的理论，为其提供了创作的源泉，故fodder（饲料，草料；弹药）在此处表示“素材，材料”，因此A项正确。

7B 细节理解题。文章第三段第一句提到“...theexclusionprinciple—the

resistancebetweenthemolecularparticleswithinthestarastheyare

compressed”，由此可知，相斥理论表示星体内部分子颗粒之间的斥力，故B项正确。

8A 推理判断题。第四段第一句提到“Thestarnowdisappearsfromthe

perceivableuniverse,likeacartooncharacterthatjumpsintoaholeandpulls

theholeinafterhim.”，作者将星体的消失比作卡通人物的消失，以此来更加形象地阐述星体的消失。故A项正确。

9B 细节理解题。由题干可定位至倒数第三段。由该段最后一句“theywouldexperienceacutetime

distortion,whichwouldenablethemtoknow,inafewbriefseconds,theentire

futureoftheuniverse.”可知，在黑洞中人们会经历时间的扭曲，而时间的扭曲会让他们在简短的几秒钟之内知道宇宙的未来，故A、C项正确；由该段第二句“most

believethattheintensegravitationalforceswouldripaparttheastronauts”可知，在黑洞中人们会受到重力影响，故D项正确。只有B项与黑洞无关，故选B。

10D细节理解题。文章最后一句提到“since

theycouldgetnofartheroncetheyhadreachedthesingularity,

thispointwouldmarktheendoftimeitself.（由于他们在到达奇点之后便无法继续前行，奇点也意味着时间的结束）”，由此可以推断，thispoint指的是奇点。故D项正确。

3

The

geologyoftheEarth'ssurfaceisdominatedbytheparticularpropertiesof

water.PresentonEarthinsolid,liquid,andgaseousstates,wateris

exceptionallyreactive.Itdissolves,transports,andprecipitatesmany

chemicalcompoundsandisconstantlymodifyingthefaceoftheEarth.

Evaporated

fromtheoceans,watervaporformsclouds,someofwhicharetransported

bywindoverthecontinents.Condensationfromthecloudsprovides

theessentialagentofcontinentalerosion:rain.Precipitatedontotheground,

thewatertricklesdowntoformbrooks,streams,andrivers,constitutingwhat

iscalledthehydrographicnetwork.Thisimmensepolarizednetworkchannelsthe

watertowardasinglereceptacle:anocean.Gravitydominatesthisentirestep

inthecyclebecausewatertendstominimizeitspotentialenergybyrunning

fromhighaltitudestowardthereferencepointthatissealevel. 

The

rateatwhichamoleculeofwaterpassesthroughthecycleisnotrandombutis

ameasureoftherelativesizeofthevariousreservoirs.Ifwedefine

residencetimeastheaveragetimeforawatermoleculetopassthroughoneof

thethreereservoirs—atmosphere,continent,andocean—weseethatthetimesare

verydifferent.Awatermoleculestays,onanaverage,elevendaysinthe

atmosphere,onehundredyearsonacontinentandfortythousandyearsinthe

ocean.Thislastfigureshowstheimportanceoftheoceanastheprincipal

reservoirofthehydrospherebutalsotherapidityof

watertransportonthecontinents. 

A

vastchemicalseparationprocesstakesplaceduringtheflowofwateroverthe

continents.Solubleionssuchascalcium,sodium,

potassium,andsomemagnesiumaredissolvedandtransported.Insolubleions

suchasaluminum,iron,andsiliconstaywheretheyareandformthethin,

fertileskinofsoilonwhichvegetationcangrow.Sometimessoilsare

destroyedandtransportedmechanicallyduringflooding.Theerosionofthe

continentsthusresultsfromtwocloselylinkedandinterdependentprocesses,

chemicalerosionandmechanicalerosion.Theirrespectiveinteractionsand

efficiencydependondifferentfactors. 

11

Theword“which”inline4refersto_____.

A.

clouds

B.

oceans

C.

continents

D.

compounds

12

Accordingtothepassage,cloudsareprimarilyformedbywater______. 

A.

precipitatingontotheground 

B.

changingfromasolidtoaliquidstate 

C.

evaporatingfromtheoceans 

D.

beingcarriedbywind 

13

Thepassagesuggeststhatthepurposeofthe“hydrographicnetwork”isto

______.

A.

determinethesizeofmoleculesofwater 

B.

preventsoilerosioncausedbyflooding 

C.

movewaterfromtheEarth'ssurfacetotheoceans 

D.

regulatetherateofwaterflowfromstreamsandrivers 

14Whatdeterminestherateatwhicha

moleculeofwatermovesthroughthecycle,asdiscussedinthethird

paragraph? 

A.

Thepotentialenergycontainedinwater. 

B.

Theeffectsofatmosphericpressureonchemicalcompounds. 

C.

Theamountsofrainfallthatfallonthecontinents. 

D.

Therelativesizeofthewaterstorageareas. 

15

Theword“rapidity”inparagraph3isclosestinmeaningto_____.

 

A.significance

 

B.method

C.

swiftness

D.

reliability

【答案与解析】

11A 语义判断题。第二段第一句提到“Evaporatedfrom

theoceans,watervaporformsclouds,someofwhicharetransportedbywind

overthecontinents.”，其中some

ofwhich为非限制性定语从句，修饰clouds，故which指代的内容应为clouds。因此A项正确。

12C 

细节理解题。根据关键词clouds可定位至第二段。由该段第一句中的“Evaporated

fromtheoceans,watervaporformsclouds”可知，从海洋蒸发的水蒸气形成云。因此答案为C项。

13C 

细节理解题。根据关键词hydrographic

network定位至第二段。由该段倒数第二句中的“This…networkchannelsthewatertowarda

singlereceptacle:anocean”可知，水纹网是为了将水汇集到大海。因此答案为C项。

14D 

细节理解题。根据题干定位至第三段。由该段第一句中的“therateatwhich...isameasureofthe

relativesizeofthevariousreservoirs”可知，水分子穿越的速度是由不同水库的相对大小决定的。因此答案为D项。

15C 语义判断题。rapidity词根为形容词rapid，表示“迅速的，快速的”，rapidity为名词，表示“迅速，快速”，与swiftness（速度，迅速）意思相近，故C项正确。

4

Our

culturehascausedmostAmericanstoassumenotonlythatourlanguageis

universalbutthatthegesturesweuseareunderstoodbyeveryone.Wedonot

realizethatwavinggood-byeisthewaytosummonapersonfromthePhilippines

toone'sside,orthatinItalyandsomeLatin-Americancountries,curlingthe

fingertooneselfisasignoffarewell.

Those

privatecitizenswhosentpackagestoourtroopsoccupyingGermanyafterWorld

WarIIandmarkedthemGIFTtoescapedutypaymentsdidnotbothertofindout

that“Gift”meanspoisoninGerman.Moreover,weliketothinkofourselvesas

friendly,yetweprefertobeatleast3feetoranarm'slengthawayfrom

others.LatinsandMiddleEasternersliketocomecloserandtouch,whichmakes

Americansuncomfortable.

Our

linguisticandculturalblindnessandthecasualnesswithwhichwetakenotice

ofthedevelopedtastes,gestures,customsandlanguagesofothercountries,arelosingusfriends,businessand

respectintheworld.

Even

hereintheUnitedStates,wemakefewconcessionstotheneedsofforeign

visitors.Therearenoinformationsignsinfourlanguagesonourpublic

buildingsormonuments;wedonothavemultilingualguidetours.Veryfew

restaurantmenushavetranslations,andmultilingualwaiters,bankclerksand

policemenarerare.OurtransportationsystemshavemapsinEnglishonlyand

oftenweourselveshavedifficultyunderstandingthem. 

When

wegoabroad,wetendtoclusterinhotelsandrestaurantswhereEnglishis

spoken.Theattitudesandinformationwepickupareconditionedbythose

natives—usuallythericher—whospeakEnglish.Ourbusinessdealings,aswellas

thenation'sdiplomacy,areconductedthroughinterpreters.

For

manyyears,AmericaandAmericanscouldgetbywithculturalblindnessand

linguisticignorance.AfterallofAmericawasthemostpowerfulcountryofthe

freeworld,thedistributorofneededfundsandgoods.

But

allthatispast.Americandollarsnolongerbuyallgoodthings,andweareslowlybeginningtorealize

thatourproperroleintheworldischanging.A1979Harrispollreported

that55percentofAmericanswantthiscountrytoplayamoresignificantrole

inworldaffairs;wewanttohaveahandintheimportantdecisionsofthenext

century,eventhoughitmaynotalwaysbetheupperhand.

16Itcanbe

inferredthatAmericansbeingapproachedtoocloselybyMiddleEasternerswould

mostprobably____.

A.

standstill 

B.

jumpaside

C.

stepforward 

D.

drawback

17The

authorgivesmanyexamplestocriticizeAmericansfortheir____.

A.

culturalself-centeredness

B.

casualmanners

C.

indifferencetowardsforeignvisitors

D.

arrogancetowardsothercountries

18In

countriesotherthantheirownmostAmericans____.

A.

areisolatedbythelocalpeople

B.

arenotwellinformedduetothelanguagebarrier

C.

tendtogetalongwellwiththenatives

D.

needinterpretersinhotelsandrestaurants

19According

totheauthor,Americans'culturalblindnessandlinguisticignorancewill____.

A.

affecttheirimageinthenewera

B.

cutthemselvesofffromtheoutsideworld

C.

limittheirroleinworldaffairs

D.

weakenthepositionoftheUSdollar

20The

author'sintentioninwritingthisarticleistomakeAmericansrealizethat

____.

A.

itisdangeroustoignoretheirforeignfriends

B.

itisimportanttomaintaintheirleadingroleinworldaffairs

C.

itisnecessarytouseseverallanguagesinpublicplaces

D.

itistimetogetacquaintedwithothercultures 

【答案与解析】

16D 

语义推理题。根据关键词Middle

Easterners可定位至文章第二段。由该段最后一句“Latins

andMiddleEasternersliketocomecloserandtouch,whichmakesAmericans

uncomfortable”可知，中东人喜欢靠得很近甚至会有接触，美国人会觉得这样令人不舒服。不舒服的话可能会下意识地后退，draw

back表示“后退”，因此答案为D项。stand

still站着不动。jumpaside快速侧身。stepforward向前走。

17A 

主旨大意题。通读全文可知，文章在批评美国忽视他国的语言文化。第一、二段提出问题并举例表明一些不同国家与美国之间不同的行为习惯；第三段说美国人对他国语言和文化的无视以及散漫的态度，导致“…are

losingusfriends,businessandrespectintheworld”，也就是说，美国人正在失去这个世界上的友谊、商务机会和尊重；第四、五段描述了一系列具体的例子，比如美国的餐馆中菜单很少有翻译，服务员只会英语，而美国人出国后也多选择住进可以说英语的酒店等等；第六段说之前美国是强国，因此可以无视文化和语言差异；最后一段回到现在，提醒美国不要太自我，唯有兼容并包才能巩固美国的地位。因此答案为A项。

18B 

语义推理题。根据题干可定位至第五段。该段第一句说美国人在国外倾向于扎堆在可以说英语的酒店和饭馆；第二句说美国人在国外得到的态度和信息取决于讲英语的本地人。容易被本地人误导。因此答案为B项。

19C 

推理判断题。结合文章第三段中提到的“…are

losingusfriends,businessandrespectintheworld”和最后一段中提到的“weareslowlybeginningto

realizethatourproperroleintheworldischanging”可知，美国人在文化和语言上的茫然和无知会限制美国在国际事务中的作用。因此答案为C项。

20D 

主旨大意题。根据对全文的分析，可知作者希望美国人能重视对其他文化的了解。因此答案为D项。

5

Historians

haveonlyrecentlybeguntonotetheincreaseindemandofluxurygoodsand

servicesthattookplaceineighteenth-centuryEngland.McKendrickhasexplored

theWedgwoodfirm’sremarkablesuccessinmarketingluxurypottery;Plumbhas

writtenabouttheproliferationofprovincialtheaters,musicalfestivals,and

children’stoysandbooks.Whilethefactofthisconsumerrevolutionishardly

indoubt,threekeyquestionsremain:Whoweretheconsumers?Whatweretheir

motives?Andwhatweretheeffectsofthenewdemandforluxuries? 

An

answertothefirstofthesehasbeendifficulttoobtain.Althoughithasbeen

possibletoinferfromthegoodsandservicesactuallyproducedwhat

manufacturesandservingtradesthoughttheircustomerswanted,onlyastudyof

relevantpersonaldocumentswrittenbyactualconsumerswillprovideaprecise

pictureofwhowantedwhat.Westillneedtoknowhowlargethisconsumer

marketwasandhowfardownthesocialscaletheconsumerdemandforluxury

goodspenetrated.Withregardtothislastquestion,wemightnoteinpassing

thatThompson,whilerightlyrestoringlaboringpeopletothestageof

eighteenth-centuryEnglishhistory,hasprobablyexaggeratedtheoppositionof

thesepeopletotheinroadsofcapitalistconsumerismingeneral;forexample,

laboringpeopleineighteenth-centuryEnglandreadilyshiftedfromhome-brewed

beertostandardizedbeerproducedbyhuge,heavilycapitalizedurban

breweries.

To

answerthequestionofwhyconsumersbecamesoeagertobuy,somehistorians

havepointedtotheabilityofmanufacturerstoadvertiseinrelatively

uncensoredpress.This,however,hardlyseemsasufficientanswer.McKendrickfavorsaVeblenmodelof

conspicuousconsumptionstimulatedbycompetitionforstatus.The“middling

sort”boughtgoodsandservicesbecausetheywantedtofollowfashionssetby

therich.Again,wemaywonderwhetherthisexplanationissufficient.Donot

peopleenjoybuyingthingsasaformofself-gratification?Ifso,consumerism

couldbeseenasaproductoftheriseofnewconceptsofindividualismand

materialism,butnotnecessarilyofthefrenzyforconspicuouscompetition.

Finally,

whatweretheconsequencesofthisconsumerdemandforluxuries?McKendrick

claimsthatitgoesalongwaytowardexplainingthecomingoftheIndustrial

Revolution.Butdoesit?What,forexample,doestheproductionofhighquality

potteryandtoyshavetodowiththedevelopmentofironmanufactureortextile

mills?Itisperfectlypossibletohavethepsychologyandrealityofa

consumersocietywithoutaheavyindustrialsector. 

That

futureexplorationofthesekeyquestionsisundoubtedlynecessaryshouldnot,

however,diminishtheforceoftheconclusionofrecentstudies:theinsatiable

demandineighteenth-centuryEnglandforfrivolousaswellasusefulgoodsand

servicesforeshadowsourownworld. 

21

Inthefirstparagraph,theauthormentionsMcKendrickandPlumbmostprobably

inorderto_____. 

A.

contrasttheirviewsonthesubjectofluxuryconsumerismineighteenth-century

England 

B.

indicatetheinadequacyofapproachestoeighteenth-centuryEnglish

history 

C.giveexamplesofhistorianswhohave

helpedtoestablishthefactofgrowingconsumerismineighteenth-century

England 

D.supportthecontentionthatkey

questionsabouteighteenth-centuryconsumerismremaintobeanswered 

22AccordingtoThompsonwhatkindofattitude

didlaboringpeopleineighteenth-centuryEnglandhavetowardcapitalist

consumerism?

A.

Enthusiasm.

B.

Curiosity.

C.

Stubbornness.

D.

Hostility.

23

Inthethirdparagraph,theauthorisprimarilyconcernedwith_____. 

A.

contrastingtwothesesandofferingacompromise 

B.

questioningtwoexplanationsandproposingapossiblealternativetothem 

C.

paraphrasingtheworkoftwohistoriansandquestioningtheirassumptions

D.

raisingseveralquestionsbutimplyingthattheycannotbeanswered

24Accordingtothepassage,aVeblen

modelofconspicuousconsumptionhasbeenusedto_____.

A.

explainthemotivationofeighteenth-centuryconsumerstobuyluxurygoods

B.

classifythekindsofluxurygoodsdesiredbyeighteenth-centuryconsumers

C.investigatetheextentofthedemand

forluxurygoodsamongsocialclassesineighteenth-centuryEngland

D.compareluxuryconsumerismin

eighteenth-centuryEnglandwithsuchconsumerisminthe20thcentury

25Accordingtotheauthor,

eighteenth-centuryEnglandandthecontemporaryworldofthepassage’sreaders

are_____. 

A.

dissimilarintheextenttowhichluxuryconsumerismcouldbesaidtobe

widespreadamongthesocialclasses 

B.

dissimilarintheirdefinitionsofluxurygoodsandservices 

C.dissimilarintheextenttowhichluxury

goodscouldbesaidtobestimulantofindustrialdevelopment 

D.

similarintheirstrongdemandforavarietyofgoodsandservices 

【答案与解析】

21C 推理判断题。根据关键词McKendrickandPlumb定位至第一段。该段第二句举例是为了说明第一句话“Historianshave

onlyrecentlybeguntonotetheincreaseindemandforluxurygoodsand

servicesthattookplaceineighteenth-centuryEngland”，即历史学家发现十八世纪的英格兰对奢侈商品和服务的需求增加。因此答案为C项。 

22D 

细节理解题。根据关键词Thompson可定位至第二段。由该段中间部分的“Thompson…has

probablyexaggeratedtheoppositionofthesepeopletotheinroadsof

capitalistconsumerismingeneral”可知，Thompson可能夸大了劳工对资本主义消费侵略的敌对情绪。enthusiasm热情。curiosity好奇。stubbornness倔强。hostility敌对。因此答案为D项。

23B 段落大意题。第三段的第一、二句将消费者们的强烈的购买归因于商家做广告的能力，但这种解释不充分。第三、四、五句是对此问题的另一种解释，即：they

wantedtofollowfashionssetbytherich（他们想跟随那些富人的潮流），但作者仍然质疑这种解释的充分性。第六、七句是作者本人针对前面两个解释所提出的另外一种解释，即：Do

notpeopleenjoybuyingthingsasaformofself-gratification?（人们是不是为了获得自我满足而爱上购物”。因此本段主要针对购买欲现存的两个理论提出质疑，并提出新的理论，故答案为B。

24A 细节理解题。由关键词“Veblenmodel”可定位至倒数第三段。该段第三句提到“McKendrick

favorsaVeblenmodelof

conspicuousconsumptionstimulatedbycompetitionforstatus.”，由此可以推断，凡勃伦模型可用来解释社会地位竞争所激发的明显消费增长，也就是说，可以解释18世纪消费者购买奢侈品的动机。故A项正确。

25D 

细节理解题。根据关键词thecontemporary

worldofthetextreaders可定位至最后一段。由该段中的“demandineighteenth-centuryEnglandfor…goods

andservices…foreshadowsourownworld”可知，十八世纪英格兰对奢侈商品的需求也预示出了当今社会的状况。因此答案为D项。

6

Pity

thosewhoaspiretoputtheinitialsPhDaftertheirnames.After16yearsof

closelysupervisededucation,prospectivedoctorsofphilosophyareleftmore

orlessalonetowriteth