考研阅读真题——栋哥出品
10. The growth of limited liability companies resulted in ________. (A) the separation of capital from management (B) the ownership of capital by managers
(C) the emergence of capital and labour as two classes (D) the participation of shareholders in municipal business
11. According to the passage, all of the following are true except that ________. (A) the shareholders were unaware of the needs of the workers (B) the old firm owners had a better understanding of their workers (C) the limited liability companies were too large to run smoothly (D) the trade unions seemed to play a positive role 12. The author is most critical of ________.
(A) family firm owners (B) landowners (C) managers (D)shareholders
Passage 4
What accounts for the great outburst of major inventions in early America — breakthroughs such as the telegraph, the steamboat and the weaving machine?
Among the many shaping factors, I would single out the country's excellent elementary schools; a labor force that welcomed the new technology; the practice of giving premiums to inventors; and above all the American genius for nonverbal, \
Why mention the elementary schools? Because thanks to these schools our early mechanics, especially in the New England and Middle Atlantic states, were generally literate and at home in arithmetic and in some aspects of geometry and trigonometry.
Acute foreign observers related American adaptiveness and inventiveness to this educational advantage. As a member of a British commission visiting here in 1853 reported, \by thorough school discipline, the American boy develops rapidly into the skilled workman.\
A further stimulus to invention came from the \system, which preceded our patent system and for years ran parallel with it. This approach, originated abroad, offered inventors medals, cash prizes and other incentives.
In the United States, multitudes of premiums for new devices were awarded at country fairs and at the industrial fairs in major cities. Americans flocked to these fairs to admire the new machines and thus to renew their faith in the beneficence of technological advance.
Given this optimistic approach to technological innovation, the American worker took readily to that special kind of nonverbal thinking required in mechanical technology. As Eugene Ferguson has
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考研阅读真题——栋哥出品
pointed out, \technologist thinks about objects that cannot be reduced to unambiguous verbal descriptions; they are dealt with in his mind by a visual, nonverbal process … The designer and the inventor … are able to assemble and manipulate in their minds devices that as yet do not exist.\
This nonverbal \wrote, \letters of the alphabet, considering them as an exhibition of his thoughts, in which a new arrangement transmits a new idea.\
When all these shaping forces — schools, open attitudes, the premium system, a genius for spatial thinking — interacted with one another on the rich U.S. mainland, they produced that American characteristic, emulation. Today that word implies mere imitation. But in earlier times it meant a friendly but competitive striving for fame and excellence.
13. According to the author, the great outburst of major inventions in early America was in a large part due to ________.
(A) elementary schools (B) enthusiastic workers (C) the attractive premium system (D) a special way of thinking
14. It is implied that adaptiveness and inventiveness of the early American mechanics ________. (A) benefited a lot from their mathematical knowledge (B) shed light on disciplined school management (C) was brought about by privileged home training (D) owed a lot to the technological development
15. A technologist can be compared to an artist because ________. (A) they are both winners of awards (B) they are both experts in spatial thinking (C) they both abandon verbal description (D) they both use various instruments
16. The best title for this passage might be ________.
(A) Inventive Mind (B) Effective Schooling (C) Ways of Thinking (D) Outpouring of Inventions
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考研阅读真题——栋哥出品
Passage 5
Rumor has it that more than 20 books on creationism/evolution are in the publisher's pipelines. A few have already appeared. The goal of all will be to try to explain to a confused and often unenlightened citizenry that there are not two equally valid scientific theories for the origin and evolution of universe and life. Cosmology, geology, and biology have provided a consistent, unified, and constantly improving account of what happened. \the classrooms whenever the scientific accounts of evolution are given, is based on religion, not science. Virtually all scientists and the majority of nonfunda mentalist religious leaders have come to regard \
The first four chapters of Kitcher's book give a very brief introduction to evolution. At appropriate places, he introduces the criticisms of the creationists and provides answers. In the last three chapters, he takes off his gloves and gives the creationists a good beating. He describes their programmes and tactics, and, for those unfamiliar with the ways of creationists, the extent of their deception and distortion may come as an unpleasant surprise. When their basic motivation is religious, one might have expected more Christian behavior.
Kitcher is a philosopher, and this may account, in part, for the clarity and effectiveness of his arguments. The nonspecialist will be able to obtain at least a notion of the sorts of data and argument that support evolutionary theory. The final chapter on the creationists will be extremely clear to all. On the dust jacket of this fine book, Stephen Jay Gould says: \— and all would be well were reason the only judge in the creationism/evolution debate.
17. \
(A) evolution in its true sense as to the origin of the universe (B) a notion of the creation of religion
(C) the scientific explanation of the earth formation (D) the deceptive theory about the origin of the universe 18. Kitcher's book is intended to ________. (A) recommend the views of the evolutionists (B) expose the true features of creationists (C) curse bitterly at his opponents (D) launch a surprise attack on creationists 19. From the passage we can infer that ________.
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考研阅读真题——栋哥出品
(A) reasoning has played a decisive role in the debate (B) creationists do not base their argument on reasoning (C) evolutionary theory is too difficult for non-specialists (D) creationism is supported by scientific findings 20. This passage appears to be a digest of ________.
(A) a book review (B) a scientific paper (C) a magazine feature (D) a newspaper editorial
Unit 4（1997）
Passage 1
It was 3:45 in the morning when the vote was finally taken. After six months of arguing and final 16 hours of hot parliamentary debates, Australia's Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die. The measure passed by the convincing vote of 15 to 10. Almost immediately word flashed on the Internet and was picked up, half a world away, by John Hofsess, executive director of the Right to Die Society of Canada. He sent it on via the group's on-line service, Death NET. Says Hofsess: \of course this isn't just something that happened in Australia. It's world history.\
The full import may take a while to sink in. The NT Rights of the Terminally Ill law has left physicians and citizens alike trying to deal with its moral and practical implications. Some have breathed sighs of relief, others, including churches, right-to-life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the bill and the haste of its passage. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australia — where an aging population, life-extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part — other states are going to consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia. In the US and Canada, where the right-to-die movement is gathering strength, observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling.
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考研阅读真题——栋哥出品
Under the new Northern Territory law, and adult patient can request death — probably by a deadly injection or pill — to put an end to suffering. The patient must be diagnosed as terminally ill by two doctors. After a \hours the wish for death can be met. For Lloyd Nickson, a 54-year-old Darwin resident suffering from lung cancer, the NT Rights of Terminally Ill law means he can get on with living without the haunting fear of his suffering: a terrifying death from his breathing condition. \not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view, but what I was afraid of was how I'd go, because I've watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks,\
1. From the second paragraph we learn that ________.
[A] the objection to euthanasia is slow to come in other countries [B] physicians and citizens share the same view on euthanasia
[C] changing technology is chiefly responsible for the hasty passage of the law [D] it takes time to realize the significance of the law's passage
2. When the author says that observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling, he means ________. [A] observers are taking a wait-and-see attitude towards the future of euthanasia [B] similar bills are likely to be passed in the US, Canada and other countries [C] observers are waiting to see the result of the game of dominoes [D] the effect-taking process of the passed bill may finally come to a stop 3. When Lloyd Nickson dies, he will ________.
[A] face his death with calm characteristic of euthanasia [B] experience the suffering of a lung cancer patient [C] have an intense fear of terrible suffering [D] undergo a cooling off period of seven days
4. The author's attitude towards euthanasia seems to be that of ________. [A] opposition [B] suspicion [C] approval [D] indifference
Passage 2
A report consistently brought back by visitors to the US is how friendly, courteous, and helpful most Americans were to them. To be fair, this observation is also frequently made of Canada and Canadians, and should best be considered North American. There are, of course, exceptions. Small-minded officials, rude waiters, and ill-mannered taxi drivers are hardly unknown in the US. Yet it
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