考研英语阅读理解思路透析和真题揭秘(25)

1996年Passage 2
　　With the start of BBC World Service Television, millions of viewers in Asia and America can now watch the Corporation’s news coverage, as well as listen to it. And of course in Britain listeners and viewers can tune in to two BBC television channels, five BBC national radio services and dozens of local radio station. They are brought sport, comedy, drama, music, news and current affairs, education, religion, parliamentary coverage, children’s pragrammes and films for an annual license fee of 83 pounds per household.
　　It is a remarkable record, stretching back over 70 years--yet the BBC’s future is now in doubt. The Corporation will survive as a publicly-funded broadcasting organization, at least for the time being, but its role, its size and its programmes are now the subject of a nation-wide debate in Britain.
　　The debate was launched by the Government, which invited anyone with an opinion of the BBC-including ordinary listeners and viewers--to say what was good or bad about the Corporation, and even whether they thought it was worth keeping. The reason for its inquiry is that the BBC’s royal charter runs out in 1996 and it must decide whether to keep the organization as it is, or to make changes.
　　Defenders of the Corporation-of whom there are many---are fond of quoting the American slogan If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The BBC ain’t broke, they say, by which they mean it is not broken (as distinct from the word ‘broke’, meaning having no money), so why bother to change it?
　　Yet the BBC will have to change, because the broadcasting world around it is changing. The commercial TV channels---TV and Channel 4-were required by the Thatcher Government’s Broadcasting Act to become more commercial, competing with each other for advertisers, and cutting costs and jobs. But it is the arrival of new satellite channels--funded partly by advertising and partly by viewers’ subscriptions-which will bring about the biggest changes in the long term.
　　57. The BBC`s royal charter (Line 4, Paragraph 3) stands for__
　　[A] the financial support from the royal family
　　[B] the privileges granted by the Queen
　　[C] a contract with the Queen
　　[D] a unique relationship with the royal family
　　[答案] C
　　[解题思路]
　　文章第三段的最后一句话指出 The reason for its inquiry is that the BBC’s royal charter runs out in 1996 and it must decide whether to keep the organization as it is, or to make changes(这样征求民意的原因在于BBC持有的皇家许可证到了1996年就会到期，政府必须决定继续使公司维持现状，抑或做出一些改变)，royal charter即皇家协议，也就是指BBC与英国女王签订的合约或协议，C选项符合题意。A和B选项都与原文无关，而D选项意思含糊，没有传达出charter的含义，因此也是错误的。事实上royal charter指的是与女王签订的规定一个组织享有的权利、义务和目标等的协议。
　　[题目译文]
　　BBC的 royal charter(第四段第三行)代表的意思是__ 。
　　[A] 皇室的经济资助
　　[B] 女王授予的权利
　　[C] 与女王签订的合同
　　[D] 与皇室的独特关系 1996年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. Scientific creationism, which is being pushed by some for equal time in the classrooms whenever the scientific accounts of evolution are evil, is based on religion, not science. Virtually all scientists and the majority of nonfunda mentalist religious leaders have come to regard scientific creationism as bad science and bad religion.
　　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: This book stands for reason itself. And so it does-and all would be well were reason the only judge in the creationism/evolution debate.
　　67. Creationism in the passage refers to__
　　[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
　　[答案] D
　　[解题思路]
　　文章第一段第三句话指出creationism的目的 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( 所有这些书的都是试图告诉那些疑虑重重、且常常愚昧无知的广大老百姓：关于宇宙和生命的起源与进化，不可能存在两种同时有效成立的科学理论)，说明这是一种关于the origin and evolution of universe and life的理论。而文章最后一段最后一句话指出这种理论是bad science and bad religion，第二段倒数第二句还指出这种理论具有deception and distortion，可见作者对其持负面态度，因此D为正确选项。A和C的说法都与原文相反，B选项对该理论的解释有误，该理论并不是关于宗教起源。
　　[题目译文]
　　文中的 创世纪论指的是__ 。
　　[A] 关于宇宙起源的真正的进化论
　　[B] 关于宗教创立的思想
　　[C] 地球形成的科学解释
　　[D] 关于宇宙起源的欺骗性学说1997年Passage 3
　　Technically, any substance other than food that alters our bodily or mental functioning is a drug. Many people mistakenly believe the term drug refers only to some sort of medicine or an illegal chemical taken by drug addicts. They don’t realize that familiar substances such as alcohol and tobacco are also drugs. This is why the more neutral term substance is now used by many physicians and psychologists. The phrase substance abuse is often used instead of drug abuse to make clear that substances such as alcohol and tobacco can be just as harmfully misused as heroin and cocaine.
　　We live a society in which the medicinal and social use of substances (drugs) is pervasive: an aspirin to quiet a headache, some wine to be sociable, coffee to get going in the morning, a cigarette for the nerves. When do these socially acceptable and apparently constructive uses of a substance become misuses? First of all, most substances taken in excess will produce negative effects such as poisoning or intense perceptual distortions. Repeated use of a substance can also lead to physical addiction or substance dependence. Dependence is marked first by an increased tolerance, with more and more of the substance required to produce the desired effect, and then by the appearance of unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the substance is discontinued.
　　Drugs (substances) that affect the central nervous system and alter perception, mood, and behavior are known as psychoactive substances. Psychoactive substances are commonly grouped according to whether they are stimulants, depressants, or hallucinogens. Stimulants initially speed up or activate the central nervous system, whereas depressants slow it down. Hallucinogens have their primary effect on perception, distorting and altering it in a variety of ways including producing hallucinations. These are the substances often called psychedelic (from the Greek word meaning mind-manifesting) because they seemed to radically alter one’s state of consciousness.
　　60. The word pervasive (Line 1, Paragraph 2) might mean _____.
　　[A] widespread
　　[B] overwhelming
　　[C] piercing
　　[D] fashionable
　　[答案] A
　　[解题思路]
　　文章第二段第一句话指出 We live a society in which the medicinal and social use of substances (drugs) is pervasive: an aspirin to quiet a headache, some wine to be sociable, coffee to get going in the morning, a cigarette for the nerves(在我们生活的这个社会中，物质(药物)在医疗和社交方面的使用都很广泛：服用阿斯匹林可以缓解头痛，应酬时要喝酒，早晨醒来喝咖啡来提神，抽一支香烟可以稳定情绪等等)，从冒号后面的内容可以判断这里指的是各种物质的使用非常广泛，因此即使不知道pervasive这个词语的意思也可以判断出正确答案为A。其它几个选项与文章上下文的意思不符合。
　　[题目译文]
　　persuasive(第二段第一行)的意思可能是_____。
　　[A] 普遍的
　　[B] 势不可挡的
　　[C] 敏锐的
　　[D] 时尚的