2023年考研英语二历年真题及答案解析.doc

考研英语二真题
Section I Use of English
Directions: Read the following passage. For each numbered blank there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the best one and mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET l. (10 points)
The outbreak of swine flu that was first detected in Mexico was declared a global epidemic on June 11, . It is the first worldwide epidemic__1__ by the World Health Organization in 41 years. The heightened alert__2__an emergency meeting with flu experts in Geneva that convened after a sharp rise in cases in Australia, and rising__3__in Britain, Japan, Chile and elsewhere. But the epidemic is "__4__" in severity, according to Margaret Chan, the organization's director general, __5__ the overwhelming majority of patients experiencing only mild symptoms and a full recovery, often in the __6__ of any medical treatment. The outbreak came to global __7__ in late April , when Mexican authorities noticed an unusually large number of hospitalizations and deaths __8__ healthy adults. As much of Mexico City shut down at the height of a panic, cases began to __9__ in New York City, the southwestern United States and around the world. In the United States, new cases seemed to fade __10__ warmer weather arrived. But in late September , officials reported there was __11__ flu activity in almost every state and that virtually all the__12__ tested are the new swine flu, also known as (A) H1N1, not seasonal flu. In the U.S., it has __13__ more than one million people, and caused more than 600 deaths and more than 6,000 hospitalizations. Federal health officials __14__Tamiflu for children from the national stockpile and began__15__orders from the states for the new swine flu vaccine. The new vaccine, which is different from the annual flu vaccine, is __16__ ahead of expectations. More than three million doses were to be made available in early October , though most of those __17__doses were of the FluMist nasal spray type, which is not__18__for pregnant women, people over 50 or those with breathing difficulties, heart disease or several other __19__. But it was still possible to vaccinate people in other high-risk group: health care workers, people __20__ infants and healthy young people.
1 [A] criticized [B] appointed [C]commented [D] designated
2 [A] proceeded [B] activated [C] followed [D] prompted
3 [A] digits [B] numbers [C] amounts [D] sums
4 [A] moderate [B] normal [C] unusual [D] extreme
5 [A] with [B] in [C] from [D] by
6 [A] progress [B] absence [C] presence [D] favor
7 [A] reality [B] phenomenon [C] concept [D] notice
8. [A]over [B] for [C] among [D] to
9 [A] stay up [B] crop up [C] fill up [D] cover up
10 [A] as [B] if [C] unless [D] until
11 [A] excessive [B] enormous [C] significant [D]magnificent
12 [A]categories [B] examples [C] patterns [D] samples
13 [A] imparted [B] immerse [C] injected [D] infected
14 [A] released [B] relayed [C] relieved [D] remained 2
15 [A] placing [B] delivering [C] taking [D] giving
16 [A] feasible [B] available [C] reliable [D] applicable
17 [A] prevalent [B] principal [C] innovative [D] initial
18 [A] presented [B] restricted [C] recommended [D] introduced
19 [A] problems [B] issues [C] agonies [D] sufferings
20 [A] involved in [B] caring for [C] concerned with [D] warding off Section
Section Ⅱ Reading comprehension
Part A
Directions: Read the following four passages. Answer the questions below each passage by choosing A, B ,C and D.Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1.(40 points)
Text1
The longest bull run in a century of art-market history ended on a dramatic note with a sale of 56 works by Damien Hirst, “Beautiful Inside My Head Forever”, at Sotheby’s in London on September 15th (see picture). All but two pieces sold, fetching more than ā70m, a record for a sale by a single artist. It was a last hurrah. As the auctioneer called out bids, in New York one of the oldest banks on Wall Street, Lehman Brothers, filed for bankruptcy.
The world art market had already been losing momentum for a while after rising vertiginously since . At its peak in it was worth some $65 billion, reckons Clare McAndrew, founder of Arts Economics, a research firm—double the figure five years earlier. Since then it may have come down to $50 billion. But the market generates interest far beyond its size because it brings together great wealth, enormous egos, greed, passion and controversy in a way matched by few other industries.
In the weeks and months that followed Mr Hirst’s sale, spending of any sort became deeply unfashionable, especially in New York, where the bail-out of the banks coincided with the loss of thousands of jobs and the financial demise of many art-buying investors. In the art world that meant collectors stayed away from galleries and salerooms. Sales of contemporary art fell by two-thirds, and in the most overheated sector—for Chinese contemporary art—they were down by nearly 90% in the year to November . Within weeks the world’s two biggest auction houses, Sotheby’s and Christie’s, had to pay out nearly $200m in guarantees to clients who had placed works for sale with them.
The current downturn in the art market is the worst since the Japanese stopped buying Impressionists at the end of 1989, a move that started the most serious contraction in the market since the second world war. This time experts reckon that prices are about 40% down on their peak on average, though some have been far more volatile. But Edward Dolman, Christie’s chief executive, says: “I’m pretty confident we’re at the bottom.”
What makes this slump different from the last, he says, is that there are still buyers in the market, whereas in the early 1990s, when interest rates were high, there was no demand even though many collectors wanted to sell. Christie’s revenues in the first half of were still higher than in the first half of . Almost everyone who was interviewed for this special report said that the biggest problem at the moment is not a lack of demand but a lack of good work to sell. The three Ds—death, debt and divorce—still deliver works of art to the market. But anyone who does not have to sell is keeping away, waiting for confidence to return.
21. In the first paragraph, Damien Hirst's sale was referred to as “a last victory” because ____.
A. the art market had witnessed a succession of victoryies
B. the auctioneer finally got the two pieces at the highest bids
C. Beautiful Inside My Head Forever won over all masterpieces
D. it was successfully made just before the world financial crisis
22. By saying “spending of any sort became deeply unfashionable”(Line 1-2,Para.3),the author suggests that_____ .
A. collectors were no longer actively involved in art-market auctions
B. people stopped every kind of spending and stayed away from galleries
C. art collection as a fashion had lost its appeal to a great extent
D. works of art in general had gone out of fashion so they were not worth buying
23. Which of the following statements is NOT ture?
A .Sales of contemporary art fell dramatically from to .
B. The art market surpassed many other industries in momentum.
C. The market generally went downward in various ways.
D. Some art dealers were awaiting better chances to come.
24. The three Ds mentioned in the last paragraph are ____
A. auction houses ' favorites
B. contemporary trends
C. factors promoting artwork circulation
D. styles representing impressionists
25. The most appropriate title for this text could be ___
A. Fluctuation of Art Prices
B. Up-to-date Art Auctions
C. Art Market in Decline
D. Shifted Interest in Arts
Text2
I was addressing a small gathering in a suburban Virginia living room -- a women's group that had invited men to join them. Throughout the evening one man had been particularly talkative frequently offering ideas and anecdotes while his wife sat silently beside him on the couch. Toward the end of the evening I commented that women frequently complain that their husbands don't talk to them. This man quickly concurred. He gestured toward his wife and said "She's the talker in our family." The room burst into laughter; the man looked puzzled and hurt. "It's true" he explained. "When I come home from work I have nothing to say. If she didn't keep the conversation going we'd spend the whole evening in silence."
This episode crystallizes the irony that although American men tend to talk more than women in public situations they often talk less at home. And this pattern is wreaking havoc with marriage.
The pattern was observed by political scientist Andrew Hacker in the late '70s. Sociologist Catherine Kohler Riessman reports in her new book "Divorce Talk" that most of the women she interviewed -- but only a few of the men -- gave lack of communication as the reason for their divorces. Given the current divorce rate of nearly 50 percent that amounts to millions of cases in the United States every year -- a virtual epidemic of failed conversation.
In my own research complaints from women about their husbands most often focused not on tangible inequities such as having given up the chance for a career to accompany a husband to his or doing far more than their share of daily life-support work like cleaning cooking social arrangements and errands. Instead they focused on communication: "He doesn't listen to me" "He doesn't talk to me." I found as Hacker observed years before that most wives want their husbands to be first and foremost conversational partners but few husbands share this expectation of their wives.
In short the image that best represents the current crisis is the stereotypical cartoon scene of a man sitting at the breakfast table with a newspaper held up in front of his face while a woman glares at the back of it wanting to talk.
26. What is most wives' main expectation of their husbands?
A. Talking to them.
B. Trusting them.
C. Supporting their careers.
D. Shsring housework.
27. Judging from the context ,the phrase “wreaking havoc”(Line 3,Para.2)most probably means ___ .
A. generating motivation.
B. exerting influence
C. causing damage
D. creating pressure
28. All of the following are true EXCEPT_______
A. men tend to talk more in public tan women
B. nearly 50percent of recent divorces are caused by failed conversation
C. women attach much importance to communication between couples
D. a female tends to be more talkative at home than her spouse
29. Which of the following can best summarize the mian idea of this text ?
A. The moral decaying deserves more research by sociologists .
B. Marriage break_up stems from sex inequalities.
C. Husband and wofe have different expectations from their marriage.
D. Conversational patterns between man and wife are different.
30. In the following part immediately after this text,the author will most probably focus on ______
A. a vivid account of the new book Divorce Talk
B. a detailed description of the stereotypical cartoon
C. other possible reasons for a high divorce rate in the U.S.
D. a brief introduction to the political scientist Andrew Hacker
Txet3
over the past decade, many companies had perfected the art of creating automatic behaviors — habits — among consumers. These habits have helped companies earn billions of dollars when customers eat snacks, apply lotions and wipe counters almost without thinking, often in response to a carefully designed set of daily cues.
“There are fundamental public health problems, like hand washing with soap, that remain killers only because we can’t figure out how to change people’s habits,” Dr. Curtis said. “We wanted to learn from private industry how to create new behaviors that happen automatically.”
The companies that Dr. Curtis turned to — Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive and Unilever — had invested hundreds of millions of dollars finding the subtle cues in consumers’ lives that corporations could use to introduce new routines.
If you look hard enough, you’ll find that many of the products we use every day — chewing gums, skin moisturizers, disinfecting wipes, air fresheners, water purifiers, health snacks, antiperspirants, colognes, teeth whiteners, fabric softeners, vitamins — are results of manufactured habits. A century ago, few people regularly brushed their teeth multiple times a day. Today, because of canny advertising and public health campaigns, many Americans habitually give their pearly whites a cavity-preventing scrub twice a day, often with Colgate, Crest or one of the other brands.
A few decades ago, many people didn’t drink water outside of a meal. Then beverage companies started bottling the production of far-off springs,and now office workers unthinkingly sip bottled water all day long. Chewing gum, once bought primarily by adolescent boys, is now featured in commercials as a breath freshener and teeth cleanser for use after a meal. Skin moisturizers are advertised as part of morning beauty rituals,slipped in between hair brushing and putting on makeup.
“Our products succeed when they become part of daily or weekly patterns,” said Carol Berning, a consumer psychologist who recently retired from Procter & Gamble, the company that sold $76 billion of Tide, Crest and other products last year. “Creating positive habits is a huge part of improving our consumers’ lives, and it’s essential to making new products commercially viable.”
Through experiments and observation, social scientists like Dr. Berning have learned that there is power in tying certain behaviors to habitual cues through relentless advertising. As this new science of habit has emerged, controversies have erupted when the tactics have been used to sell questionable beauty creams or unhealthy foods.
31. According to Dr.Curtis,habits like hand washing with soap________.
[A] should be further cultivated
[B] should be changed gradually
[C] are deepiy rooted in history
[D] are basically private concerns
32. Bottled water,chewing gun and skin moisturizers are mentioned in Paragraph 5 so as to____
[A] reveal their impact on people’habits
[B] show the urgent need of daily necessities
[C]indicate their effect on people’buying power
[D]manifest the significant role of good habits
33. which of the following does NOT belong to products that help create people’s habits?
[A]Tide
[B]Crest
[C]Colgate
[D]Unilver
34. From the text wekonw that some of consumer’s habits are developed due to _____
[A]perfected art of products
[B]automatic behavior creation
[C]commercial promotions
[D]scientific experiments
35. the author’sattitude toward the influence of advertisement on people’s habits is____
[A]indifferent
[B]negative
[C]positive
[D]biased
Text4
Many Americans regard the jury system as a concrete expression of crucial democratic values, including the principles that all citizens who meet minimal qualifications of age and literacy are equally competent to serve on juries; that jurors should be sele