考研英语(阅读)模拟试卷222(题后含答案及解析)

考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷222 (题后含答案及解析)

全部题型 2. Reading Comprehension

Section II Reading Comprehension

Part ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. (40 points)

Organizations and societies rely on fines and rewards to harness people’s self-interest in the service of the common good. The threat of a ticket keeps drivers in line, and the promise of a bonus inspires high performance. But incentives can also backfire, diminishing the very behavior they’re meant to encourage. A generation ago, Richard Titmuss claimed that paying people to donateblood reduced the supply. Economists were skeptical, citing a lack of empirical evidence. But since then, new data and models have prompted a sea change in how economists think about incentives—showing, among other things, that Titmuss was right often enough that businesses should take note. Experimental economists have found that offering to pay women for donating blood decreases the number willing to donate by almost half, and that letting them contribute the payment to charity reverses the effect. Dozens of recent experiments show that rewarding self-interest with economic incentives can backfire when they undermine what Adam Smith called “the moral sentiments.” The psychology here has escaped blackboard economists, but it will be no surprise to people in business: When we take a job or buy a car, we are not only trying to get stuff—we are also trying to be a certain kind of person. People desire to be esteemed by others and to be seen as ethical and dignified. And they don’t want to be taken for suckers. Rewarding blood donations may backfire because it suggests that the donor is less interested in being altruistic than in making a dollar. Incentives also run into trouble when they signal that the employer mistrusts the employee or is greedy. Close supervision of workers coupled with pay for performance is textbook economics—and a prescription for sullen employees. Perhaps most important, incentives affect what our actions signal, whether we’re being self-interested or civic-minded, manipulated or trusted, and they can imply—sometimes wrongly—what motivates us. Fines or public rebukes that appeal to our moral sentiments by signaling social disapproval (think of littering) can be highly effective. But incentives go wrong when they offend or diminish our ethical sensibilities. This does not mean it’s impossible to appeal to self-interested and ethical motivations at the same time—just that efforts to do so often fail. Ideally, policies support socially valued ends not only by harnessing self-interest but also by encouraging public-spiritedness. The small tax on plastic grocery bags enacted in Ireland in 2002 that resulted in their virtual elimination appears to have had such an effect. It punished offenders monetarily while

conveying a moral message. Carrying a plastic bag joined wearing a fur coat in the gallery of anti-social anachronisms.

1． From the first two paragraphs, we know that _____.

A．organizational and social progresses depend on economic incentives B．economic incentives actually discourage people to behave well

C．economists didn’t agree with Titmuss for the lack of empirical evidence D．economists now prompt businesses to note down Titmuss’s claim

正确答案：C

解析：事实细节题。根据题干定位到文章开头两段。第二段明确提到“那时经济学家对这种说法(理查德关于献血者的说法)持怀疑态度，认为其缺少经验证据”，故C项为答案。

2． According to experimental economists, _____. A．more money is offered, fewer people donate blood B．economic incentives may run in the opposite direction C．a decreasing number of people donate blood for charity D．economic incentives clash with “the moral sentiments”

正确答案：B

解析：事实细节题。根据experimental econornists定位到第三段。该段列举献血者的例子，说明当“道德情操”被破坏时用经济奖励去激励自愿行为会带来反效果，故不难推断B项为答案。

3． We know from the text that incentives are characterized as _____. A．counterproductive B．manipulating C．implicative D．effective

正确答案：C

解析：推理判断题。考查全文。本文提到激励在很多情况下给人们的行为带来暗示，比如可能会暗示捐血的人是为了钱而不是为了帮助别人等，故C项implicative(有暗示性的)为正确答案。

4． The small tax on plastic grocery bags in Ireland is mentioned to show that _____.

A．Ireland is determined to eliminate plastic pollution B．incentive policies by the government are more effective C．incentives can harness egoism and inspire altruism D．monetary punishments usually have moral implications

正确答案：C

解析：推理判断题。根据plastic grocery bags或Ireland定位到第五段。该段提到，政策不仅通过遏制自我利益，而且通过鼓励公益精神来支持社会价值取向，C项符合文意，故为正确答案。

5． The text intends to tell us that _____.

A．businesses might as well put economic incentives to fuller play B．incentives have more negative influences than positive ones C．money is not everything, instead, there is always something else

D．incentives may go wrong when they clash with “the moral sentiments”

正确答案：D

解析：推理判断题。考查全文。本文讨论的是当“道德情操”因素被削弱，经济激励有时会产生反效果，故D项为答案。

Those days are long gone when placing a telephone call meant simply picking up the receiver and asking the operator to patch you through. Modern cell phones require users to navigate a series of menus to find numbers, place calls or check messages. Even the most tech-savvy may take weeks to discover some of the more mysterious multimedia functions. Imagine the difficulty forsomeone unable to read. That is the challenge for mobile communications companies aiming to branch out into developing countries. The prospects seen from the last decade are alluring: only about one tenth of India’s population use cell phones. But selling to poor rural areas is not likely to happen with a marketing version of “plug and play.” Most potential buyers have little exposure to anything other than simple electronics. Reading through a series of hierarchical menus and pushing buttons for multiple purposes would be new concepts for such customers. To come up with a suitable device, Motorola relied on a team of anthropologists, psychologists and designers to study how textually illiterate villagers use their aging televisions, tape players and phones. The researchers noticed that their subjects would learn each button’s dedicated function. With something more complicated, such as an automated teller machine, users would memorize a set of behaviors in order, which allowed them to move through the machine’s basic hierarchy without having to read the menu. The research, which lasted three years, led Motorola to craft a cellular phone slimmed down to three essential activities: calling, managing numbers and simple text messaging. “A lot of the functions in a cell phone are not useful to anyone,” points out Gabriel White, who headed the interactive design team. The icon-based interface also required thought. Not all cell phone companies believe that a design for nonliterate users should start from scratch. Nokia’s behavioral researchers noticed that “newbies” rely on friends and relatives to help them with basic functions. Rather than confronting the challenge of a completely new interface, Nokia chose to provide some audio menus in its popular 1100 model and a preview mode so that people could try out functions without the risk of changing anything important. Mobile phones may even become tools for literacy, predicts BJ Fogg, who studies computer-human

interaction at Stanford University. Phones might teach the alphabet or tell a story as users read along. “Imagine if it eventually could understand your weak points and drill you on those,” Fogg proposes. And soon enough, he declares, designs or illiterate users will lead to more straightforward, elegant phones for everyone.

6． The difference between modem cell phones and old phones lies in that _____.

A．it requires more intelligence and education to use modern cell phones B．it takes more weeks to get familiar with modern cell phones C．modern cell phones are more complicated with many functions D．modern cell phones are more mysterious tools for people

正确答案：C

解析：事实细节题。答案在第一段。该段主要就是介绍了过去的老式电话和现代手机使用方式上的不同，突出了现代手机纷繁复杂的功能及其对用户造成的困扰，故选C项。

7． The sales of mobile phones to poor rural areas may be impossible probably because most potential buyers _____.

A．have difficulty with menus of multiple purposes B．cannot accept new concepts of mobile phones

C．only read menus and push buttons of simple electronics D．do not like the marketing strategy of “plug and play”

正确答案：A

解析：事实细节题，考查因果细节及转折细节。根据poor rural areas定位到第二段，段中But信号词提示新信息出现的地方，这段内容提到一些营销策略在贫困的农村地区行不通，因为那里的大多数潜在买家没有接触过复杂的电子产品，也就无法理解复杂菜单和按钮操作，故选A项。

8． The researches held by Motorola showed that the textually illiterate villagers _____.

A．were willing to use old machines with little functions B．had to take some lessons to learn the new functions C．could remember the major function of each button

D．would avoid reading the hierarchy menus of the machine

正确答案：D

解析：推理判断题。根据Motorola定位到第三段。文中提到不识字的乡下人在遇到使用复杂电器的情况时，往往按部就班记下操作流程而不看具体操作流程，故选D项。

9． The slang term of “newbies” (Para. 5) most probably means ._____.

A．new students B．newcomers C．newborns D．new webs

正确答案：B

解析：词义推断题。原文该处提到是在亲人朋友的帮助下学会基本操作，由此可推断newbies有“新手”之义，B项正确。

10． Fogg believes that the future mobile phones could not _____. A．teach illiterates to learn alphabets B．understand the user’s ideas and points C．help users exercise their languages D．become more direct and elegant

正确答案：B

解析：观点态度题。B项中谈到手机能了解人的想法，而文中提到的则是手机能了解人的阅读弱点，显然B项张冠李戴了。

Dieting, according to an old joke, may not actually make you live longer, but it sure feels that way. Nevertheless, evidence has been accumulating since the 1930s that calorie restriction—reducing an animal’s energy intake below its energy expenditure—extends lifespan and delays the onset of age-related diseases in rats, dogs, fish and monkeys. Such results have inspired thousands of people toput up with constant hunger in the hope of living longer, healthier lives. They have also led to a search for drugs that mimic the effects of calorie restriction without the pain of going on an actual diet. Amid the hype (intensive publicity), it is easy to forget that no one has until now shown that calorie restriction works in humans. That omission, however, changed this month, with the publication of the initial results of the first systematic investigation into the matter. This study, known as CALERIE (Comprehensive Assessment of Long-term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy), was sponsored by America’s National Institutes of Health. It took 48 men and women aged between 25 and 50 and assigned them randomly to either a control group or a calorie-restriction regime. Those in the second group were requir ed to cut their calorie intake for six months to 75% of that needed to maintain their weight. The CALERIE study is a landmark in the history of the field, because its subjects were either of normal weight or only slightly overweight. Previous projects have used individuals who were clinically obese, thus confusing the unquestionable benefits to health of reducing obesity with the possible advantages of calorie restriction to the otherwise healthy. At a molecular level, CALERIE suggests these advantages are real. For example, those on restricted diets had lower insulin resistance and lower levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. They showed drops in body temperature and blood-insulin levels—both phenomena that have been seen in long-lived, calorie-restricted animals. They also suffered less oxidative damage to their DNA.

Eric Ravussin, of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, who is one of the study’s authors, says that such results provide support for the theory that calorie restriction produces a metabolic adaptation over and above that which would be expected from weight loss alone. Nevertheless, such metabolic adaptation could be the reason why calorie restriction is associated with longer lifespans in other animals—and that is certainly the hope of those who, for the past 15 years, have been searching for ways of triggering that metabolic adaptation by means other than semi-starvation.

11． The evidence since the 1930s has inspired people to _____. A．live longer and healthier

B．invent a calorie-restricting drug C．believe in calorie restriction D．get rid of constant hunger

正确答案：C

解析：推理判断题。根据1930s定位文章第一段，其中提到人们忍受饥饿，以期换得长寿和健康。而挨饿的本质即是减少卡路里摄入量，因此选C项。

12． Which of the following is true about the CALERIE study? A．It proves that calorie restriction works in humans.

B．It has 24 male subjects and the same number of female ones. C．It is the first investigation into the effects of calorie restriction. D．It lasted for six months and had the final results published.

正确答案：A

解析：事实细节题，考查是非细节。文章第二段提到之前无人证明限制卡路里摄人量对人类同样有效，而CALERIE填补了之前的研究空白，意即此项研究证明了限制卡路里摄人量对人类有效，A项符合文意。

13． What makes the CALERIE study a significant one in the field? A．It used the subjects of both genders and different ages. B．It selected people of normal weight as the subjects. C．It rectified the misconception of dieting.

D．It was systematic in research method and based on evidence.

正确答案：B

解析：事实细节题，考查例证细节。第三段首句指出，CALERIE研究之所以是一座里程碑是因为选取的研究个体为体重正常或轻微偏重的个体，B项符合。

14． By saying “CALERIE suggests these advantages are real (Para. 4)”, the author is dealing with the results of the study from a _____.

A．general view B．subjective view C．macro view D．micro view

正确答案：D 解析：语义理解题。本题实质上考查的是引述内容前面的At a molecular level这一说法的含义。molecular意为“分子的”，因此这句话是从微观的角度阐述的，故选D项。

15． It can be inferred from the last paragraph that _____. A．the metabolic adaptation solely resulted from weight loss B．the metabolic adaptation can be achieved by dieting

C．semi-starvation was seen as an effective means for weight loss

D．people had no idea about the metabolic adaptation before CALERIE

正确答案：B

解析：判断推理题，考查是非细节。文章最后一段提到一些人寻找能够引发新陈代谢调节能力的新方法，而不仅仅是通过节食导致的半饥饿状态来引发；可见节食可以引发新陈代谢调节能力，因此选B项。

Labor is not just a meaningful experience—it’s also a marketable one. When instant cake mixes were introduced, in the 1950s, housewives were initially resistant: The mixes were too easy, suggesting that their labor was undervalued. When manufacturers changed the recipe to require the addition of an egg, adoption rose dramatically. Ironically, increasing the labor involved—making thetask more arduous—led to greater liking. Research conducted with my colleagues Daniel Mochon, of Yale University, and Dan Ariely, of Duke University, shows that labor enhances affection for its results. When people construct products themselves, from bookshelves to Build-a-Bears, they come to overvalue their (often poorly made) creations. We call this phenomenon the IKEA effect, in honor of the wildly successful Swedish manufacturer whose products typically arrive with some assembly required. In one of our studies we asked people to fold origami (the Japanese art of folding paper into shapes representing objects) and then to bid on their own creations along with other people’s. They were consistently willing to pay more for their own origami. In fact, they were so fond of their amateurish creations that they valued them as highly as origami made by experts. We also investigated the limits of the IKEA effect, showing that labor leads to higher valuation only when the labor is fruitful: When participants failed to complete an effortful task, the IKEA effect dissipated. Our research suggests that consumers may be willing to pay a premium for do-it-yourself projects, but there’s an important caution: Companies hoping to persuade their customers to assume labor costs—for example, by nudging them toward self-service through internet channels—should be careful to create tasks difficult enough to lead to higher valuation but not so difficult that customers can’t complete them. Finally,

the IKEA effect has broader implications for organizational dynamics: It contributes to the sunk cost effect, whereby managers continue to devote resources to (sometimes failing) projects in which they have invested their labor, and to the not-invented-here syndrome, whereby they discount good ideas developed elsewhere in favor of their (sometimes inferior) internally developed ideas. Managers should keep in mind that ideas they have come to love because they invested their own labor in them may not be as highly valued by their coworkers—or their customers.

16． Instant cake mixes is mentioned to _____. A．highlight the lifestyle in the 1950s

B．demonstrate how people’s labor was undervalued C．stress the market’s effect on human labor D．illustrate that labor leads to love for its results

正确答案：D 解析：例证细节题。根据instant cake mixes定位到第一段。此段以instant cake mixes为例，说明“增加劳动量……赢得了更多喜爱”，即本文主题——Labor leads to love，该主题在第二段有进一步说明，故D项为答案。

17． What is true about the IKEA effect?

A．It refers to the phenomenon that people usually undervalue their creations. B．It is put forward by the honorable and successful manufacturer IKEA C．It explains why the participants think highly of their own origami. D．It accounts for the popularity of do-it-yourself among youngsters.

正确答案：C

解析：是非细节题。根据题干和选项定位到第二、三段。C项中的origami在第三段有提及，该段用人们更愿给自己参与设计的作品出高价的调查结果论证宜家效应，C项与此意思相符，故为正确答案。

18． We know from Paragraph 4 that the IKEA effect would disappear_____. A．as long as the labor is fruitful and effortful B．as the difficulty of the tasks heightens

C．if the customers are unwilling to pay a premium D．when the task is beyond his/her ability

正确答案：D

解析：推理判断题。根据题干定位到第四段。该段讨论宜家效应的局限性，第一句说到如果参与者不能完成任务，该效应就不复存在了，D项与此相符，故为答案。

19． It is indicated in the last paragraph that_____.

A．the IKEA effect has been broadly employed in organizational building

B．the sunk cost effect and the not-invented-here syndrome are the same C．managers should guard against the negative influence of the IKEA effect D．the not-invented-here syndrome will cause enormous economic losses

正确答案：C

解析：推理判断题。根据题干直接定位到最后一段。该段提到宜家效应可能会引起“沉没成本效应”和导致“非我发明症”，该段末句还提出企业管理者应该对此加以警惕，C项与此相符，故为答案。

20． An appropriate title for the text is most likely to be _____. A．Labor and Market B．The IKEA Effect C．A Labor of Love

D．Problems with the IKEA Effect

正确答案：B

解析：主旨大意题。考查全文。本文主题是介绍“劳动带来热爱”的宜家效应，并举例说明劳动使人们更加珍爱劳动成果，还能给商家带来额外利润；同时也谈到该效应的局限和在企业组织动态学的应用。故B项“宜家效应”为答案。

You wrinkle your nose and narrow your eyelids if you see a dead rat in the road, but you open your eyes and mouth wide if you see a live one in your bedroom. Why is that? Facial expressions are usually thought of as simple tools of communication, but in his book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals Charles Darwin proposed that they may prepare us to react to situa-tions when he noticed that some expressions seemed to be used across cultures and even species. Now Joshua Susskind and his colleagues at the University of Toronto, Canada, have put that idea to the test. Susskind’s team wondered whether the characteristic expressions of fear—eyes wide open, eyebrows raised and mouth agape—might improve how sensory information is acquired and so increase alertness. Conversely disgust—with the face all squeezed up—might blunt the senses, shielding us from unpleasant sights and smells. The researchers asked subjects to complete various tests while holding a fearful, disgusted or neutral expression. In one they had to identify when a spot entered their field of view. In another they were required to shift their focus as quickly as possible between two targets on a computer screen. How much air the volunteers breathed in while expressing fear and disgust was also measured. In each case the wide-eyed Home Alone (the movie series starring Macaulay Culkin) face let significantly more of the world in. Subjects with wide-open eyes detected peripheral objects more quickly and performed side-to-side eye movements faster. They also took in more air with each breath without exerting any extra effort. An Magnetic Resonance Imaging scan showed the nasal cavity was enlarged while subjects held this expression, which the team suggest could be linked with a greater ability to absorb odors. “These changes are consistent with the idea that fear, for example, is a posture towards vigilance, and disgust a posture towards

sensory rejection,” says Susskind. His team is already at work on experiments to explore to what extent the brain can use this extra information to enhance performance. “What was nice was the number of different ways they got at this question,” says Elizabeth Phelps at New York University. “They were very creative.” She thinks the work could open up a whole new way of thinking about facial expressions.

21． Charles Darwin’s The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals proposed that facial expressions might _____.

A．act as a simple tool of cross-cultural communication B．get people ready to the changes of circumstances C．be difficult to understand in different cultures D．equip people with the knowledge of other species

正确答案：B

解析：观点态度题。根据The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals定位到第一段。该段中出现该书名的语句中有一转折信号词but，进一步表明这是重要信息出现的地方。该句指出达尔文认为面部表情可以帮助我们及时对周围形势做出反应，故选B项。

22． In Joshua Susskind’s research, the researchers _____. A．wondered whether there existed other expressions of fear B．wanted subjects to use facial expressions to complete tests C．wanted to test how much air subjects breathed in normally D．wondered whether expressions of disgust blunted our senses

正确答案：B 解析：事实细节题。根据Joshua Susskind及research定位到第二、三、四段。第三段提到研究人员要求

23． By saying “In each case the wide-eyed Home Alone face let significantly more of the world in” (Para. 4), the author means that _____.

A．wide-eyed expressions would help you understand the world better B．facial expressions might result in faster eye movements

C．wide-eyed expressions would help people breathe in more air D．facial expressions might help people notice more things around

正确答案：D 解析：语义理解题。这句话提到”眼睛睁大的脸总能获得更广阔的视野范围”，即面部表情可以帮助人们观察到周围更多的事物，故选D项。

24． In the last paragraph, what might be the new thinking of facial expressions? A．They might tell the brain how to make use of the superficial information.

B．They might explain why people consider fear as a posture towards vigilance. C．They might provide extra information to brains thus refining performance. D．They might clarify the relationship between brain and environments.

正确答案：C 解析：推理判断题。该段中提到苏斯金德的团队已经开始着手探索大脑究竟能在多大程度上利用这些额外信息来提高其运作能力，该句中的experiment和explore都提示了考生这一探索是实验性的，是新的研究思路，故选C项。

25． Elizabeth Phelps would most probably agree that _____. A．researchers on facial expressions are always creative

B．the brain can use extra information to enhance performance dramatically C．people are likely to renew their knowledge of facial expressions D．the function of the brain will be changed by facial expressions

正确答案：C

解析：观点态度题。根据Elizabeth Phelps定位到第五段。伊丽莎白表示这项工作能为面部表情的研究开辟一条全新的途径。故选C项。