全国硕士研究生入学考试英语试题及答案1996年(3)

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 , "spatial"thinking about things technological .
         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 invelltiveness to this educational
advantage. As a member of a British commission visiting here in 1853 reported, "With a mind prepared by thorough school discipline, the American boy develops rapidly into the skilled workman. "
         A further stimulus to invention came from the "premium" system, which preceded our patent system and for years ran parallel with it. "fhis 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 thess 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 thinklng required in mechanical technology. As Eugene Ferguson has pointed out , "A 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 "spatial" thinking can be just as creative as painting and writing. Robert Fulton once wrote, "The mechanic should sit down among levers, screws, wedges, wheels, etc. ,like a poet among the 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.
63. According to the author, the great outburst of major inventions in early America was in a
large part due to__
(A) elemental'y schools ( B) enthusiastic workers
(C) the attractive premium system (D) a special way of thinking
64 . 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
65 . 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
66. The best title for this passage might be__
(A) Inventive Mind (B) Effective Schooling
(B) Ways of Thinking (D) Outpouring of Inventions

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 eivel, is based on religion, not science. Virtually all scientists and the majority of nonfundamentalist 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 ap-
propriate 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 non-specialist wiU 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 creation-
ism/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
68. Kitcher's book is intended to __.
(A) recommend the views of the evolutionists
(B) expose the true features of creationists
(C) curse bitterly at this opponents
(D) launch a surprise attack on creationists
69 From the passage we can infer that__
(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
70. This passage appears to be a digest of__
(A) a book review (B) a scientific paper
(C) a magazine feature (D) a newspaper editorial

Part Ⅳ English-Chinese Translation
         The differences in relative growth of various areas of scientific research have several causes.
71 )Some of these causes are completely reasonable results of social needs. Others are reasonable
consequences of particular advances in science being to some extent self-accelerating. Some , how-
ever , are less reasonable processes of different growth in which preconception of the form scientif-
ic theory ought to take, by persons in authority, act to alter the growth pattern of different areas.
This is a new problem probably not yet unavoidable; but it is a frightening trend. 72)This trend
began during the Second World War, when several govemments came to the conclusion that the
specific demands that a government wants to make of its scientific establishment cannot generally
be foreseen in detail. It can be predicted, however, that from time to time questions will arise
which will require specific scientific answers. It is therefore generally valuable to treat the scien-
tific establishment as a resource or machine to be kept in functional order. 73)This seems mostly
effectively done by supporting a certain amount of research not related to immediate goals but of
possible consequence in the future.
         This kind of support , like all government support , requires decisions about the appropriate
recipients of funds. Decisions based on utility as opposed to lack of utility are straightforward. But
a decision among projects none of which has immediate utility is more difficult. The goal of the
supporting agencies is the praisable one of supporting "good " as opposed to "bad" science, but a
valid determination is difficult to make. Generally, the idea of good science tends to become con-
fused with the capacity of the field in question to generate an elegant theory. 74)However, the
world is so made that elegant systems are in principle unable to deal with some of the world's
more fascinating and delightful aspects. 75) New forms of thought as well as new subjects for
thought must arise in the future as they have in the past, giving rise to new standards of elegance.

Part V Writing (15 points)
76. DIRECTIONS :
A. Title : GOOD HEALTH
B. Time limit :40 minutes
C. Word limit : 120-150 words ( not including the given opening sentence)
D. Your composition should be based on the OUTLINE below and should start with the
given opening sentence : "The desire for good health is universal. "
E. YOur composition should be written neatly on the ANSWER SHEET.
OUTLINE:
1. Importance of good health
2. Ways to keep fit
3. My own practices

1996年全国硕士研究生入学考试英语试题答案
答案:
l. A 3. D 5. D 7. D 9. A
2. C 4. B 6. C 8. B IO. C
11. A, went 12. B, psychologically
13. A, allowing 14. C, he
15. B, are more likely 16. C, are
17. C, when 18. B, two spacecraft
19. D, taken 20. C, it
21. D 23. D 25. A 27. D 29. A
22. B 24. C 26. B 28. B 30. C
31. D 33. C 35. C 37. D 39. A
32. A 34. D 36. B 38. B 40. D
41. C 43. A 45. C 47. D 49. C
42. D 44. B 46. A 48. B 50. A
51. B 53. D 55. B 57. C 59. C
52. A 54. A 56. C 58. D 60. A
61. C 63. D 65. B 67. D 69. B
62. D 64. A 66. A 68. B 70. A
71．在这些原因中，有些完全是自然而然地来自社会需求；另一些则是由于科学在一定程度上自我加速而产生某些特定发展的必然结果。
72．这种趋势始于第二次世界大战期间，当时一些国家的政府得出结论：政府要向科研机构提出的具体要求通常是无法详尽预见的。
73．给某些与当前目标无关但将来可能产生影响的科研以支持，看来通常能有效地解决这个问题。
74．然而，世界就是如此，完美的体系一般而言是无法解决世上某些更加引人人胜的课题的。
75．同过去—样，将来必然会出现新的思维方式和新的思维对象，给完美以新的标准。
(责任编辑：泉水)

搜索

热门标签:

全国硕士研究生入学考试英语试题及答案1996年(3)