苏州大学2014年考博英语真题

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　　Section I Reading Comprehension (共 50 分，每个选择 2 分，共 25 选择)

　　Directions: Read the following six texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing [A], [B], [C] or [D]. Mark your answers on Answer Sheet.

　　Text 1

　　Here in the US, before agricultural activities destroyed the natural balance, there were great migrations of Rocky Mountain locusts. Great migrating hordes of these insects once darkened the skies on the plains east of the Rockies where crops were often destroyed; the worst years were those from 1874 to 1877. One of these migrating swarms was estimated to contain 124 million locusts. During another migration in Nebraska it was estimated the swarm of locusts averaged half a mile high and was 100 miles wide and 300 miles long. Usually, these swarms take off from the ground against the wind, but, once airborne, they turn and fly with it. Warm convection currents help to lift them often to great heights. During the great locust plagues the situation became so serious that the original state constitution had to be rewritten to take care of the economic problems. The new document was known as “Grasshopper Constitution”. It is now believed that these locusts were a migratory form or phase of the lesser migratory locust, which is still common there. In this respect, the North American migratory locusts resemble their African relatives. In both regions the migratory forms arise as a result of crowding and climatic factors. Migratory forms are apparently natural adaptations which bring about dispersal when locust populations become too crowded. Fortunately for our farmers, the migratory form, the so-called spretus species, no longer seems to occur regularly, although there was a serious outbreak as late as 1938 in mid-western United States and Canada. Actually, there is no reason why the destructive migratory form might not again appear if circumstances should become favorable.

　　1. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

　　A. The Life Cycle of Locusts.

　　B. Migratory Locusts in the US.

　　C. Locust Plagues in Nebraska.

　　D. The Reproductive Capability of the Locust.

　　2. It can be inferred from the passage that the state constitution of Nebraska was rewritten in order to __________.

　　A. make the constitution more understandable to the public

　　B. encourage the farmers to leave the state

　　C. provide for a regular census of the locus population

　　D. solve difficulties that resulted from loss of crops

　　3. According to the passage, North American and African migratory locusts are similar in that ________.

　　A. they always travel toward mountainous regions

　　B. their destructive activities occur only in plain areas

　　C. climates affect their development

　　D. they are both mentioned in state constitutions

　　4. The passage supports which of the following conclusions?

　　A. The outbreak of locusts in 1938 was more serious than any other in history.

　　B. Nebraska farmers had no locust problems in the years 1874 - 1877.

　　C. There is a possibility that crops in the US might be destroyed by locusts in the future.

　　D. There is a chance that African migratory locusts may make their way to the US.

　　1. B 2. D 3. C 4. C

　　Text 2

　　Science has long had an uneasy relationship with other aspects of culture. Think of Galileo’s 17th century trial for his rebelling belief before the Catholic Church or poet William Blake’s harsh remarks against the mechanistic worldview of Isaac Newton. The schism between science and the humanities has, if anything, deepened in this century.

　　Until recently, the scientific community was so powerful that it could afford to ignore its critics--- but no longer. As funding for science has declined, scientists have attacked “antiscience” in several books, notably Higher Superstition, by Paul R. Gross, a biologist at the University of Virginia, and Norman Levitt, a mathematician at Rutgers University; and The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan of Cornell University.

　　Defenders of science have also voiced their concerns at meetings such as “The Flight from Science and Reason，” held in New York City in 1995, and “Science in the Age of (Mis) information,” which assembled last June near Buffalo.

　　Antiscience clearly means different things to different people. Gross and Levitt find fault primarily with sociologists，philosophers and other academics who have questioned science’s objectivity. Sagan is more concerned with those who believe in ghosts, creationism and other phenomena that contradict the scientific worldview.

　　A survey of news stories in 1996 reveals that the antiscience tag has been attached to many other groups as well, from authorities who advocated the elimination of the last remaining stocks of smallpox virus to Republicans who advocated decreased funding for basic research.

　　Few would dispute that the term applies to the Unabomber, whose manifesto, published in 1995, scorns science and longs for return to a pre-technological utopia. But surely that does not mean environmentalists concerned about uncontrolled industrial growth are antiscience, as an essay in US News & Worm Report last May seemed to suggest.

　　The environmentalists, inevitably, respond to such critics. The true enemies of science, argues Paul Ehrlich of Stanford University, a pioneer of environmental studies, are those who question the evidence supporting global warming, the depletion of the ozone layer and other consequences of industrial growth.

　　Indeed, some observers fear that the antiscience epithet is in danger of becoming meaningless. “The term ‘antiscience’ can lump together too many, quite different things,” notes Harvard University philosopher Gerald Holton in his 1993 work Science and Anti-Science. “They have in common only one thing that they tend to annoy or threaten those who regard themselves as more enlightened?”

　　5. The word “schism” (Line 3, Paragraph 1) in the context probably means ________.

　　A. confrontation B. dissatisfactionC. separation D. contempt

　　6. Paragraph 2 and 3 are written to ________.

　　A. discuss the cause of the decline of science’s power

　　B. show the author’s sympathy with scientists

　　C. explain the way in which science develops

　　D. exemplify the division of science and the humanities

　　7. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

　　A. Environmentalists were blamed for antiscience in an essay.

　　B. Politicians are not subject to the labeling of antiscience.

　　C. The “more enlightened” tend to tag others as antiscience.

　　D. Tagging environmentalists as “antiscience” is justifiable.

　　8. The author’s attitude toward the issue of “science vs. antiscience’’ is ________.

　　A. impartial B. subjective C. biased D. puzzling

　　5. C 6. D 7. A 8. A

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