2014年考研英语二命题人偏好预测试卷（八）

　　2014年考研英语二命题人偏好预测试卷（八）答案解析

　　Section I Use of English

　　Directions:

　　Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) from each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)

　　The Treasury could pocket 20 million a year in extra fines once the country’s speed camera network is expanded. Motoring organizations warned that the ___1___ could become a poll tax on wheels, ___2___ huge number of drivers. There could be many more incidents of vandalism ___3___ cameras. The warnings came __­­_4___ a Daily Mail survey found almost all the 23 police forces in England and Wales were either ___5___ to expansion plans or considering ___6___.

　　Nationwide, the number of speeding tickets is expected to treble, ___7___ 90 million a year. __8___ the scheme, police keep some of the cash from fines to ___9___ the costs of fitting and maintaining extra cameras and___10___ that existing ones always have film in them. The rest will go to the Treasury. Both Ministers and police insist the scheme is aimed ___11___ at making roads safer. They point to trials in eight areas which cut collisions by a quarter and deaths and serious injuries by ___12___ a half.

　　But motoring organizations fear cameras will be sited on relatively safe ___13___ fast stretches to catch as many drivers as possible. Some forces are also expected to ___14___ the “threshold” speeds at which cameras are ___15___ to the absolute legal minimum-15 mph in a 10 mph limit, and 26 mph in a 20 mph zone. This could encourage drivers to stare at their speedometers instead of concentrating on the road, and ___16___ to more accidents. Sue Nicholson, head of campaigns at the RAC, said, “We don’t have a problem with speed cameras ___17___. But we do have concerns about ___18___they are sited. Police risk losing credibility___19____ motorists if cameras are seen as revenue-raising __20___ safety devices.”

　　1. A. promotions B. punishments C. penalties D. payments

　　2. A. isolating B. separating C. alienating D. detaching

　　3. A. towards B. against C. before D. over

　　4. A. so B. once C. as D. where

　　5. A. subjected B. engaged C. intended D. committed

　　6. A. taking part B. keeping silence

　　C. making exception D. paying respect

　　7. A. financing B. profiting C. funding D. netting

　　8. A. From B. Under C. On D. With

　　9. A. hide B. cover C. conceal D. veil

　　10. A. pledging B. assuring C. confirming D. ensuring

　　11. A. essentially B. strongly C. wholeheartedly D. purely

　　12. A. in all B. fewer than C. at most D. up to

　　13. A. but B. whereas C. though D. while

　　14. A. fit B. put C. set D. fix

　　15. A. levered B. geared C. handled D. triggered

　　16. A. lead B. add C. contribute D. resort

　　17. A. any less B. by itself C. after all D. as such

　　18. A. who B. when C. where D. which

　　19. A. in B. with C. against D. for

　　20. A. in spite of B. far from C. rather than D. by means of

　　SectionⅡ Reading Comprehension

　　Part A

　　Directions:

　　There are 4 passages in this part .Each of the passages is followed by 5 questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are 4 choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the best one and mark your answer on the ANSWER SHEET。(40points)

　　Text 1

　　Some of the concerns surrounding Turkey’s application to join the European Union, to be voted on by the EU’s Council of Ministers on December 17th, are economic-in particular, the country’s relative poverty. Its GDP per head is less than a third of the average for the 15 pre-2004 members of the EU. But it is not far off that of one of the ten new members which joined on May 1st 2004 (Latvia), and it is much the same as those of two countries, Bulgaria and Romania, which this week concluded accession talks with the EU that could make them full members on January 1st 2007.

　　Furthermore, the country’s recent economic progress has been, according to Donald Johnston, the secretary-general of the OECD, "stunning". GDP in the second quarter of the year was 13.4% higher than a year earlier, a rate of growth that no EU country comes close to matching. Turkey’s inflation rate has just fallen into single figures for the first time since 1972, and this week the country reached agreement with the IMF on a new three-year, $10 billion economic programme that will, according to the IMF’s managing director, Rodrigo Rato, "help Turkey... reduce inflation toward European levels, and enhance the economy’s resilience".

　　Resilience has not historically been the country’s economic strong point. As recently as 2001, GDP fell by over 7%. It fell by more than 5% in 1994, and by just under 5% in 1999. Indeed, throughout the 1990s growth oscillated like an electrocardiogram recording a violent heart attack. This irregularity has been one of the main reasons (along with red tape and corruption) why the country has failed dismally to attract much-needed foreign direct investment.

　　Its stock of such investment (as a percentage of GDP) is lower now than it was in the 1980s, and annual inflows have scarcely ever reached $1 billion (whereas Ireland attracted over $25 billion in 2003, as did Brazil in every year from 1998 to 2000).

　　One deterrent to foreign investors is due to disappear on January 1st 2005. On that day, Turkey will take away the right of virtually every one of its citizens to call themselves a millionaire. Six noughts will be removed from the face value of the lira; one unit of the local currency will henceforth be worth what 1m are now- i.e., about €0.53 ($0.70). Goods will have to be priced in both the new and old lira for the whole of the year, but foreign bankers and investors can begin to look forward to a time in Turkey when they will no longer have to juggle mentally with indeterminate strings of zeros.

　　21. What is Turkey’s economic situation now?

　　[A] Its GDP per head is far lagging behind that of the EU members.

　　[B] Its inflation rate is still rising.

　　[C] Its economy grows faster than any EU member.

　　[D] Its economic resilience is very strong.

　　22. We can infer from the second paragraph that__________.

　　[A] Turkey will soon catch the average GDP level of the 15 pre-2004 EU members

　　[B] inflation rate in Turkey used to be very high

　　[C] Turkey’s economy will keep growing at present rate

　　[D] IMF’s economic program will help Turkey join the EU

　　23. The word “oscillated” (Line 3, Paragraph 3) most probably means_________.

　　[A] fell

　　[B] climbed

　　[C] developed

　　[D] swang

　　24. Speaking of Turkey’s foreign direct investment, the author implies that_________.

　　[A] it’s stock is far less than that of other countries

　　[B] it does not have much influence on Turkey’s economic progress

　　[C] steady GDP growth will help Turkey attract more foreign direct investment

　　[D] Turkey’s economic resilience relies on foreign direct investment

　　25. We can draw a conclusion from the text that__________.

　　[A] foreign investment environment in Turkey will become better

　　[B] Turkey’s citizens will suffer heavy loss due to the change of the face value of the lira

　　[C] the local currency will depreciate with the removal of six noughts from the face value

　　[D] prices of goods will go up

　　Text 2

　　The train was running late, but the 35 aboriginal children who had traveled for two hours through the South Australian desert to meet it did not seem to mind. It was, after all, Australia’s and one of the world’s most unusual train journeys. When the Indian Pacific passenger train finally ground to a halt at Watson, a siding on Australia’s transcontinental line, the children burst into a rendition of a Spanish Christmas song, "Feliz Navidad", as Father Christmas disembarked to distribute gifts.

　　Watson is a red desert moonscape on the Nullarbor Plain at the eastern end of the world’s longest stretch of straight rail track, 478km (297 miles). This is a mere one-tenth of the 4,352km, three-day journey the train was making between Sydney on Australia’s east coast and Perth on the west coast. The Indian Pacific and its predecessors, such as the Tea and Sugar Train that took provisions to isolated outback communities, were once symbols of Australia’s conquest of its vast distances. But by the 1990s, air travel and the neglect of Australia’s railways by their federal and state-government owners almost killed the last east-west passenger train.

　　After threatening to close the loss-making Indian Pacific, the federal government in Canberra sold it and the Ghan, another outback passenger train, to Great Southern Railway (GSR), a British-owned private consortium, in 1997. GSR has now turned a first-year loss of A$20m ($15m) into a small operating profit by restoring rolling stock, hiring young, multi-skilled, non-unionized crews and re-marketing the trains to locals and tourists alike. One innovation was to send the Indian Pacific on a whistle-stop Christmas run taking gifts and music to the outback. This year’s journey, the fifth, with impromptu concerts at remote sidings by Jimmy Barnes, an Australian rock star, drew the biggest crowds so far. Broken Hill, a town in western New South Wales struggling since its big silver, lead and zinc mine started winding down, now relies on the Indian Pacific’s tourist passengers for economic lifeblood.

　　The Ghan’s revival on the north-south transcontinental line has been even more remarkable. The 65,000-plus passengers it carried through the Northern Territory in 2004 were 60% more than in the previous year. Public interest grew after the opening of a new line between Alice Springs and Darwin, allowing people to make the two-day journey from Adelaide by rail for the first time. GSR plans to double the Ghan’s frequency in 2005.

　　The railway revival still has inefficiencies to overcome. The Indian Pacific competes for space on the single track with trains that carry 80% of the freight between Australia’s east and west coasts. Though most of the line is straight and flat, speed limitations mean this is not a journey for anyone in a hurry.

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