考研英语二(阅读)模拟试卷18

考研英语二（阅读）模拟试卷18

(总分：40.00，做题时间：90分钟)

一、Part ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below

each text by choosing A, B, C or D.(总题数：4，分数：40.00)

What's the engine that drives American business? Innovation? Sweat? Capital? Try coffee. From

the shop floor to the boardroom, Java—and I don't mean the soft ware—fuels workers and shapes

office culture. What's more, a steaming cup of coffee may be as good for your health as it is

for the bottom line. Many people take their coffee with a small dose of guilt, worried that it

isn't good for the body. That's a misunderstanding from studies done in the 1950s and 1960s showing

that coffee drinkers were prone to heart disease and other sufferings. These studies failed to

account for cigarette smoking, which once went hand in cup with coffee drinking. Since then, the

medical community has done a gradual turn on the health effects of coffee. Large, long-term studies

show that coffee doesn't promote cancer and may even protect against some types. It's safe for

the heart—so safe that the American Heart Association says it's OK for heart attack survivors

to have a cup or two a day even as they recover in the coronary care unit. Results from the

long-running Health Professionals Follow-Up and Nurses' Health studies show that drinking coffee

cuts the risk of dying early from a heart attack or stroke. It's possible that the bean improves

productivity, too. A bit of caffeine wakes up millions of workers in the morning. Controlled

laboratory experiments indicate that it causes feelings of well-being and increases energy,

alertness, and motivation. Functional MRI scans show that coffee activates parts of the brain

involved in short-term memory, the kind that helps focus attention on tasks at hand. For all that,

a word of warning is in order. The average cup of coffee serves up about 100 milligrams of caffeine,

and a large specialty coffee can deliver five times that much. If you aren't used to caffeine,

it can make you restless, boost your blood pressure, and dehydrate you. But the biggest health

hazard is the extra stuff that drinkers add to coffee. Taken black, coffee is a nearly calorie-free

beverage full of antioxidants and other vegetable nutrients. Add cream, sugar, fresh cream, and

flavorings, and it turns into a fat- and calorie-laden dessert, which can add pounds that offset

any possible health benefits. For most people, though, the health and social benefits of coffee

outweigh the hazards, and the daily grind keeps American business spreading.（分数：10.00）

(1).It can be inferred from Paragraph 1 that coffee _____.（分数：2.00）

to the prosperity of US business

office culture along with software

workers more innovative and efficient

beneficial to both workers and companies √

解析：解析：根据题干定位到第一段。文章首句以问句形式激起读者的思考，从而引出咖啡的话题。其中⑦句讲到咖啡既有利于你的身体健康，又能帮助企业盈利(as good…as…)，D项的beneficial to

both．．．and．．．与此意思相近，“(咖啡)对员工和企业都有利”是对原文语义的概括，故D项为正确答案。

(2).The studies in the 1950s and 1960s misunderstood coffee because they _____.（分数：2.00）

rated the harmful effects of coffee

oked other factors of drinking coffee √

to arouse a sense of guilt in coffee drinkers

ed to reduce cigarette smoking in this way

解析：解析：根据1950s and 1960s定位到文章第二段。该段②句讲到了咖啡对身体有害只不过是二十世纪五六十年代一系列研究的误解(misunderstanding)，而③句则表明这些研究没有解释一边喝咖啡一边吸烟的情况，说明它们忽视了吸烟也是影响身体健康的因素，因此B项符合题意。

(3).According to Paragraph 4, the benefits of caffeine include _____.（分数：2.00）

uate hours of sleep

an addictive property

ng about refreshment √

ging duration of attention

解析：解析：根据题干中的关键词caffeine定位到文章第四段。第三段提到，咖啡不会诱发癌症，而且可能还帮助预防某些类型的癌症，以及降低因心脏病或中风早逝的风险。第四段承接上一段，进一步说明咖啡所带来的益处，其中②至④句描述了咖啡因的好处，③句谈到咖啡因增强活力(energy)，C项中的refreshment与此相吻合，故C项为正确答案。

(4).The word "offset" (Line 6, Para. 5) is closest in meaning to _____.（分数：2.00）

rid of

e out √

gh

解析：解析：根据题干及offset可直接定位到第五段，即文章最后一段。第三、第四段提到了咖啡能给我们带来的很多益处，而该段语义一转，表示要对其害处有所警惕。其中该段④句就表明最大的健康危害(biggest health hazard)是往咖啡中额外添加的材料。结合该词所在的⑥句来理解，前半句Add cream，sugar．．．flavorings正是上文提到的危害，加了奶油、糖、鲜乳酪及调味料之后，咖啡就成了高脂高热的甜食，从而导致体重增加，offset了咖啡本身可能给身体带来的好处。根据前后句，可猜想offset有前后相抵之意，即B项balance out“抵消”。

(5).It can be learned from the last paragraph that_____.（分数：2.00）

should not encourage drinking coffee

coffee is healthy and caffeine-free

is regarded as a high-fat food

extra stuff added to coffee does much harm √

解析：解析：根据题干定位到文章最后一段。该段主要谈论咖啡的害处。其中③句描述咖啡对于咖啡过敏人士可能带来的伤害，而④句用表转折的but一词进一步表明最大的健康危害其实是人们往咖啡中额外添加的材料(the extra stuff that drinkers add to coffee)，D项与此相符。

What happens when you combine product design skills, high-powered market research techniques,

and abundant customer data? Too often, the result is devices that suffer from "feature creep"

or the return of billions of dollars' worth of merchandise by customers who wanted something

different after all. That kind of waste is bad enough in normal times, but in a downturn it can

take a fearsome toll. The trouble is that most customer-preference rating tools used in product

development today are blunt instruments, primarily because consumers have a hard time articulating

their real desires. Asked to rate a long list of product attributes on a scale of 1 ("completely

unimportant") to 10 ("extremely important"), customers are apt to say they want many or even most

of them. To solve that problem, companies need a way to help customers sharpen the distinction

between "nice to have" and "gotta have." Some companies are beginning to pierce the fog using

a research technique called "Maxdiff" (Maximum Difference Scaling), which was pioneered in the

1990s. It requires customers to make a sequence of explicit trade-offs. Researchers begin by

amassing a list of product or brand attributes that represent potential benefits. Then they present

respondents with sets of four or so attributes at a time, asking them to select which attribute

of each set they prefer most and least. Subsequent rounds of mixed groupings enable the researchers

to identify the standing of each attribute relative to all the others by the number of times

customers select it as their most or least important consideration. A popular restaurant chain

recently used MaxDiff to understand why its expansion efforts were failing. In a series of focus

groups and preference surveys, consumers agreed about what they wanted: more healthful meal

options and updated decoration. But when the chain's heavily promoted new menu was rolled out,

the marketing team was dismayed by the results. Customers found the complex new choices confusing,

and sales were sluggish in the more contemporary new outlets. The company's marketers decided

to cast the range of preferences more broadly. Using MaxDiff, they asked customers to compare

eight attributes and came to a striking realization. The results showed that prompt service of

hot meals and a convenient location were far more important to customers than healthful items

and modern furnishings. The ability to predict how customers will behave can be extremely powerful.

Companies planning cross-border product rollouts need a tool that is free of cultural bias. And

as customer tastes fragment, product development teams need reliable techniques for drawing bright

lines between customer segments based on the features that matter most to each group. Companies

are starting to apply MaxDiff analysis to those issues as well.（分数：10.00）

(1).The result of the combination of the three things mentioned in Paragraph 1 is _____.（分数：2.00）

possibility of billions of dollars' profit

customers suffer from "feature creep"

ing economic situation, or even downturn

D.a waste of products different from customers' need √

解析：解析：根据the result定位到第一段②句。该段①句以What happens…?提问，引起读者思考，其中谈到了产品设计技巧、强大的市场研究技术和丰富的客户数据，此即为题干中所提到的三件事。②句的the result is后的内容为本题答案，is后接两个表语，用连词or连接，而后半部分说的return，是由于与顾客需求不同而导致的(who wanted something different)，D项所说与文章意思一致，为本题答案。

(2).Most customer-preference rating tools are _____.（分数：2.00）

te because of the numerical rating scale

ive in distinguishing customer needs

blunt to measure customers' real desires √

ult to manipulate in actual measurement

解析：解析：根据题干中的customer-preference rating tools定位到第二段①句。该句表示客户偏好评价工具是较为迟钝的工具(blunt instruments)，其从句部分则表示主要原因是顾客很难确切表达他们的真正需求，意即该工具在测量顾客的真正需求方面还比较迟钝，C项符合文意，为本题答案。

(3).Compared with traditional preference rating tools, "Maxdiff" ____.（分数：2.00）

es more product attributes for options

better at distinguishing customers' needs √

es more customers to participate in

a much more easier rating method

解析：解析：由题干中标有双引号的Maxdiff一词可定位到第三段。该段介绍有别于偏好评估工具的另一种评估技术。上一段提到传统方法要求客户给一系列的属性打分，而新的方法是对其中代表潜在利益的属性进行选择，并通过选项混合分类的几轮选择，确定每个属性相对于其他属性的重要性名次，由此可知，这种方式避免了消费者在传统评估方式中认为大部分属性他们都需要从而给分不准确的情况，更有针对性且更能清晰地区分顾客的需求。所以答案为B项。

(4).The restaurant chain fails in expansion for the lack of_____.（分数：2.00）

y options

B.a modern decoration

C.a convenient access √

menus

解析：解析：根据题干中的关键词The restaurant chain可定位到第四段。该段讲到一家餐饮店通过新的评估技术得出之前店面扩张失败的原因。该段②句提到传统方法得出客户需要更健康的饮食选择和不断翻新的装潢，而⑦句使用新的评价方式得出的结果是及时的上菜服务和方便的位置更重要(were far more

important)，因此可知此餐饮连锁店扩张失败的原因就在于这两点。C项为其中一项内容，故为本题答案。

(5).Which of the following would be the most appropriate title of the text?（分数：2.00）

Do Customers Really Want √

to Use Preference Rating Tools

Maxdiff is Better in Measurement

to Run a Successful Restaurant Chain

解析：解析：文章一直围绕客户的需求来展开。首先说现在所用到的大多数客户偏好评价工具不好，因为它们不能体现客户到底需要什么，接着介绍一种能够测出客户真正需求的新方法——最大差异量表，并以一个“连锁餐饮企业扩张店面失败”的实际案例来分析其应用，最后说这种方法很有用，所以文章题目最可能为A项的内容——顾客真正想要什么。

Understanding what distinguishes people who battle with Alzheimer's as they age from those whose

mental acuteness remains strong well into their 80s, 90s and even older, is a major focus of current

psychiatric research Previous studies have pointed to the potentially protective value of exercise,

social support and even language skills. And other studies have also shown that having a strong

sense of purpose in life is, unsurprisingly, associated with greater overall mental health,

happiness, and even longevity. A study published recently in the Archives of General Psychiatry

expands on that research, finding that people who reported feeling a greater sense of purpose

in life were less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than those who reported feeling less

fulfilled. The study, conducted by researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago,

analyzed medical records and life outlook among 951 participants from the Rush Memory and Aging

Project. At the beginning of the study, participants' overall sense of purpose in life was measured

by assessing their level of agreement with 10 statements—such as, "I have a sense of direction

and purpose in life,"—derived from a psychological well-being scale. After an average of four

years of follow-up, 16.3% (155) participants had developed Alzheimer's disease. When researchers

analyzed the relationship between the psychological well-being scale and risk of Alzheimer's,

they found that participants who reported higher levels of fulfillment were significantly less

likely to have developed the degenerative mental disease than those who expressed less sense of

validation in life. In fact, participants with high scores on the life purpose test were 2.4 times

less likely to develop Alzheimer's compared with those who had the lowest scores. Researchers

say that what drives the correlation between reduced risk and heightened sense of purpose is not

clear, and should be explored with future research Still, they expressed optimism at the findings,

which add to studies that have linked sense of fulfillment in life everything from better sleep

to improved psychological health. What's more, because a sense of purpose is something that can

be cultivated, researchers say that these findings could point toward new treatments designed

to improve sense of fulfillment in older adults. If these findings are replicated, they say, "the

implications could be far-reaching, and efforts to increase purpose in life may help reduce the

rapidly increasing burden of cognitive impairment in old age." Perhaps Marlow and Frances Cowan

can offer some insight into how to make the most of life as you age. It's hard to watch the elderly

couple's playful—and off-hand—piano performance in a lobby at the Mayo Clinic without admiring

their sense of fulfillment, and breaking into a grin.（分数：10.00）

(1).It can be learned from Paragraph 1 that_____.（分数：2.00）

who speak two languages do not develop Alzheimer's

people do not develop Alzheimer's in their 80s and 90s

C.a strong sense of purpose contributes to mental health √

D.a strong sense of purpose in life makes people feel unhappy

解析：解析：根据题干可直接定位到第一段。该段①句通过谈精神病学研究的着重点引出关于老年痴呆症的话题。②③句谈到一些研究表示的对保持心智灵敏的有利因素，④句则通过最近的研究发现验证③句的观点：强烈的目标感对整体心理健康有积极的作用(associated with．．．mental health)，C项与此吻合。

(2).Researchers measure participants' overall sense of purpose in life by _____.（分数：2.00）

ing their medical records and life outlook

their level of agreement with 10 statements √

ing psychological well-being scale

ng their attitude towards everyday life

解析：解析：根据题干中的关键词participants’overall sense of purpose in life可定位到第二段。该段谈及芝加哥的拉什大学医疗中心所做的一项研究及其目的和内容。其中②句measured后by的内容即为测量参与者整体生活目标感的方法，assessing their level of agreement with 10 statements表示“用10项声明的同意程度来测量”，B项与之对应，故为正确答案。

(3).According to the study, participants with high levels of life fulfillment_____.（分数：2.00）

t for 16.3% of those who developed Alzheimer's

generally less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease √

more likely to develop degenerative mental disease

less healthy than those who have less sense of validation

解析：解析：根据题干中的关键词high levels of life fulfillment可定位到第三段。该段承接上一段内容，进一步分析该研究的结果。其中②句将心理幸福感和患老年痴呆症风险联系起来，而③句表明在人生目标感测试中得分高的参与者比得分最低的参与者患老年痴呆症的可能性低2．4倍，B项与之基本吻合。

(4).Researchers' attitude toward their study result is _____.（分数：2.00）

ve

istic

ul

stic √

解析：解析：根据题干中的关键词Researchers’attitude可定位到第四段。该段①句表明还不清楚(is not

clear)造成老年痴呆症患病风险和目标感之间呈现反比例关系的原因，而②句中的Still表转折，表态说依然对研究结果乐观(they expressed optimism at the findings)，给出了本题的答案，故D项为正确选择。

(5).It can be inferred from the last paragraph that _____.（分数：2.00）

and Frances Cowan's performances are ridiculous

benefit from Marlow and Frances Cowan's study

people should learn from Marlow and Frances Cowan √

Clinic can help old people maintain mental health

解析：解析：根据题干可直接定位到最后一段。上一段提出也许可以通过增强人生目标感来提高老年人的满足感，从而减少老年痴呆症引发的危险。本段给出实例，其中谈到Marlow and Frances Cowan可以提供一些关于怎样在年老过程中充分利用人生的见解，说明其他人在年老时应该向他们学习如何make the most

of life，由此C项符合文意。

When George Price died in January 1975, his funeral in London was attended by five homeless men:

untidy, smelly and cold. Alongside them were Bill Hamilton and John Maynard Smith, both

distinguished British evolutionary biologists. All seven men had come to mourn an American

scientist who helped to unpick the riddle of why people should ever be kind to one another, who

had chosen to give away his clothes, his possessions and his home, and who, when his generosity

was exhausted, slashed his own throat with a pair of scissors, aged 52. Ever since Charles Darwin

had published his theory of evolution in 1859, scientists have pondered whether it can explain

the existence of altruism: behavior that decreases an individual's fitness but which increases

the average fitness of the group to which he belongs. Such kindness is not unique to humans but

exists also in complex insect societies. Bees, for example, live in colonies headed by a queen

and populated by sterile workers. One reading of Darwin's theory says that, because the workers

do not breed, evolution should result in their elimination. Yet this is not what happens in nature.

In the 1960s, Hamilton proposed that evolution acts on characteristics that favor the survival

of close relatives of a certain individual. The bee colonies that survive are those in which sterile

workers provide the "fittest" service to their mother. Each worker thus strives to favor the

reproductive success of the queen, even at the price of her own reproductive failure. Price wanted

to describe mathematically how a genetic predisposition to altruism could evolve. He devised a

formula, now called the Price equation, that describes how characteristics that can, in some cases,

prove disadvantageous, nevertheless persist in the population By slightly changing the variables,

he was able to describe populations in which kindness was widespread, everyone benefited and

altruism was passed down the generations, and other, more brutal worlds, where charity was abused

and kindness died out. Ultimately, Price ended up in such a place. In 1967 he moved to London,

where he hooked up with Hamilton and derived the equation for which he is famed. At the same time,

his interest in altruism blossomed into something less kin-based and more practical: he began

to seek out needy strangers. At one stage, he had four homeless men staying in his flat, while

he slept in his office. As he became increasingly unwell, both physically and mentally, he

redoubled his efforts to help the poor, moving into a dirty cabin where, one freezing night, he

committed suicide. Price ultimately became one of the homeless he had set out to save.（分数：10.00）

(1).It can be learned that George Price _____.（分数：2.00）

a famous British evolutionary biologist

away his possessions after he died

to describe altruism in theory and practice √

ted suicide because of mental disorder

解析：解析：由于全文均与George Price有关，故本题需根据各选项内容，各自定位。C项中的altruism出现在第二段①句，该句对该词作了解释，可知该词大概是指“有利于他人及团队的行为”，从第一段末的give away his possessions“捐赠财产”可知，这是对altruism的实践(in practice)。而第一段③句中的helped to unpick the riddle of why…to one another，以及倒数第二段②句提到的他设计了有关altruism的the Price equation“普莱斯方程式”，均可看作是对altruism的理论研究(in theory)，因而C项所述正确。

(2).Darwin's theory of evolution is mentioned in Paragraph 2 to _____.（分数：2.00）

n why altruism exists

its inability to explain altruism √

survival of the fittest

altruism also exists in insect societies

解析：解析：根据题干可直接定位到第二段。该段谈到科学家们对进化论能否解释利他主义的疑惑，然后以蜜蜂为例，按照达尔文的理论，工蜂由于没有繁殖能力，应该会消失，然而事实不是这样，所以达尔文的进化论并不能解释利他主义为什么能存在，B项的inability to explain与此对应，故B项为答案。

(3).According to Hamilton's proposal, sterile bees survive because _____.（分数：2.00）

biological characteristics are similar to the queen's

do not breed, but provide food for the queen

favor the reproductive process of the queen √

are close relatives of a certain individual

解析：解析：根据题干中的关键词Hamilton和sterile可定位到第三段。题干中问的Hamilton’s proposal对应该段①句里proposed后接的宾语从句的内容，②③句将Hamilton这一看法应用到了蜜蜂的例子中，③句中的strives to favor the reproductive success of the queen“尽最大努力确保蜂后能顺利地繁殖后代”，指出了工蜂的作用，也对应①句中Hamilton的理论favor the survival of close relatives

of a certain individual“有利于某个特定个体近亲的生存”，C项内容复现③句的内容，为本题答案。

(4).According to Paragraph 4, the Price Equation is _____.（分数：2.00）

atically devised to show how altruism evolves √

on the mutual efforts of Price and Hamilton

C.a formula which has many disadvantages, but persists

to describe the conditions where altruism endures

解析：解析：根据题干定位到第四段。该段①②句提到“普莱斯曾想用数学公式表现出利他主义的基因倾向是可进化的”，因而他设计了这个Price Equation，所以倒过来说这个方程式就是为了用数学的方式来表现利他主义是可进化的，A项正好与此相对应，故为答案。

(5).It can be inferred that Price's motivation to help strangers is_____.（分数：2.00）

ss personality

iastic pursuit of science

on to charity and donation

st in his field of study √

解析：解析：根据出题顺序的原则定位到最后一段。根据题干的help strangers定位到③句“他对利他主义的兴趣延伸到了更没什么血缘关系的人，……他开始寻找需要帮助的陌生人”，这一想法是源自于他对利他主义的兴趣，D项与文意相符。