1、考生注意事项1.考生必须严格遵守各项考场规则。(1)考生在考试开考 15 分钟后不得入场。(2)交卷出场时间不得早于考试结束前 30 分钟。(3)交卷结束后，不得再进考场续考，也不得在考场附近逗留或交谈。2.答题前，应按准考证上的有关内容填写答题卡上的“考生姓名”“报考单位”“考生编号” 等信息。3.答案必须按要求填涂或写在指定的答题卡上。(1)填涂部分应该按照答题卡上的要求用 2B 铅笔完成。如要改动，必须用橡皮擦干净。(2)书写部分必须用(蓝)黑色字迹钢笔、圆珠笔或签字笔在答题卡上作答。字迹要清楚。4.考试结束后，将答题卡装入原试卷袋中，试卷交给监考人员。Section Use of En
2、glishDirections:Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on the ANSWER SHEET. (10 points)While western governments worry over the threat of Ebola, a more pervasive but far less harm-ful 1 is spreading through their populations like a winter sniff
3、le: mobile personal technology.The similarity between disease organisms and personal devices is 2 . Viruses and other para- sites control larger organisms, 3 resources in order to multiply and spread. Smartphones and other gadgets do the same thing, 4 ever-increasing amounts of human attention and e
4、lectricity sup- plied 5 wire umbilici.It is tempting to 6 a “strategy” to both phages and phablets, neither of which is sentient. 7 , the process is evolutionary, consisting of many random evolutions, 8 experimented with by many product designers. This makes it all the more powerful.Tech 9 occurs th
5、rough actively-learnt responses, or “operant conditioning” as animal be haviourists call it. The scientific parallel here also involves a rodent, typically a rat, which occupies a 10 cage called a Skinner Box. The animal is 11 with a food pellet for solving puzzles and punished with an electric shoc
6、k when it fails.“Are we getting a positive boost of hormones when we 12 look at our phone, seeking re- wards?” asks David Shuker, an animal behaviourist at St Andrews university, sounding a little like a man withholding serious scientific endorsement 13 an idea that a journalist had in the shower. R
7、e- search is needed, he says. Tech tycoons would meanwhile 14 that the popularity of mobile devices is attributed to the brilliance of their designs. This is precisely what people whose thought processes have been 15 by an invasive pseudo-organism would believe.16 , mobile technology causes symptoms
8、 less severe than physiological diseases. There are even benefits to 17 sufferers for shortened attention spans and the caffeine overload triggered by visits to Starbucks for the free Wi-Fi. Most importantly, you can 18 the Financial Times in places as remote as Alaska or Sidcup. In this 19 , a mobi
9、le device is closer to a symbiotic organism than a parasite. This would make it 20 to an intestinal bacterium that helps a person to stay alive, rather than a virus that may kill you.1. A phenomenon B epidemic C issue D event2. A striking B obscure C interesting D mysterious3. A relying B choosing C
10、 grabbing D using4. A taking over B feeding on C catching up D allowing for5. A with B over C to D via6. A point B turn C attribute D prefer7. A Instead B Moreover C Therefore D Otherwise8. A which B as C that D where9. A progress B term C crisis D addiction10. A dangerous B special C large D funny1
11、1. A rewarded B resisted C resumed D reversed12. A anxiously B occasionally C happily D endlessly13. A within B from C about D through14. A support B approve C argue D insist15. A formed B separated C classified D modified16. A Surprisingly B Importantly C Fortunately D Regrettably17. A compensate B
12、 help C comfort D improve18. A share B obtain C subscribe D observe19. A part B sense C level D way20. A adaptive B careful C similar D capt Section Reading ComprehensionPart ADirections:Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers o
13、n the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)Text 1Rarely have the Christmas results for Britains supermarkets been awaited with such anxiety. Most of them, especially the market leader, Tesco, struggled in 2014. The hard-discount stores, Aldi and Lidl, continued to undercut them, gobbling up market share, while
14、falling food prices ate into their profits.Asdas boss, Andrew Clarke, has warned of more challenging times ahead. Yet the lesson from these results is clear. Grocers with a clearly defined position in the market will continue to prosper, but for those without one there is more pain to come. Thus Wai
15、trose, for instance, has remained res- olutely and distinctly posh. It has refused to chase the upstart discounters by reducing prices, as mid-market rivals have done.Natalie Berg of Planet Retail, a research organization argues that the key to survival in a fero- ciously competitive groceries marke
16、t is to offer the customer a brand that is “clear, targeted and con- sistent.” Waitrose, at the top end of the market, does this well, as do Lidl and Aldi at the bottom. The rest are stranded in the middle, trying to be all things to all people. This week, for instance, As da, Sainsburys and Tesco a
17、nnounced further price cuts. That might fend off the discounters for a bit. It will also muddy perceptions of who their target customers really are.But it is not all gloom for the supermarkets. A more clement economic environment should help all of them. Tumbling fuel prices anda novelty, thisrising
18、 real wages will put more money in shoppers pockets. The results also demonstrate that supermarkets are rewarded for a strong inter- net presence. Again, Waitrose has done well here: grocery sales through its online service grew by 26% over the Christmas period compared with a year ago. Most of the
19、supermarkets are trying out new digital gizmos to make shopping easier. Waitrose is experimenting with a home-scanning de- vice called Hiku. This will allow people to scan barcodes on Waitrose products at home to add them to their online shopping basket.There are grounds for optimism even at Tesco,
20、argues Bryan Roberts, an analyst at Kantar Re- tail. For a couple of years its stores in London have done better than those in the rest of the country. Store managers in the capital have enjoyed more autonomy to fill their shelves with products suited to the people who live or work in the local area
21、. Devolution seems simple, but effective.21. Which of the following is NOT Aldi and Lidi have done to most of Britains supermarkets?A Undercut them.B Ate into their profits.C Gobbled up their market share.D Made their food costs increase.22. The clear lessen in Paragraph 2 means grocers should _ .A
22、chase the upstart discountersB have target marketC reduce pricesD have middle-market rivals23. We can learn from Paragraph 3 that _ .A Asda is at the top end of the marketB Lidi and Aldi are in the middle of the marketC Waitrose will muddy its target customersD Tesco is stranded in the middle of the
23、 market24. The word “gizmos” (Para. 4) probably means _ .A technologies B meansC devices D products25. It can be concluded from the last paragraph that _ .A devolution is an effective way to increase salesB there is no reason for Tesco to be pessimisticC Tesco should merge its stores in the rest of
24、the countryD Tescos stores in London miss local trendsText 2For the past few months, artificial intelligence (AI) has been a much talked about topic in the worlds of both pop culture and science. Last November saw the release of Oscar-nominated and winning biopic, “The Imitation Game”, about the fat
25、her of the modern computer, Alan Turing. Last month, another Hollywood film about clever robots, Chappie, hit theaters.Is artificial intelligence a boon or does it spell doom for humans? In their book, authors Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, both of whom hail from MIT, US, could barely hide the
26、ir excite- ment toward the rise of machines.According to the authors, we are entering an age of accelerated development of artificial and robotic technology. “Digital machines have escaped their narrow confines and started to demonstrate broad abilities in pattern recognition, complex communication,
27、 and other domains that used to be exclusively human,” write the authors. “Weve recently seen great progress in natural language pro- cessing, machine learning, computer vision, simultaneous localization and mapping, and many other areas.“Were going to see artificial intelligence do more and more, a
28、nd as this happens costs will go down, outcomes will improve, and our lives will get better.” Already AI can help blind people see and deaf people hear. And wheelchairs have been invented that can be controlled by thoughts. We are going to witness more innovations and wonders made possible by AI, ac
29、cording to the authors.However, not all are equally enthusiastic about AI. A February report from the Global Chal- lenges Foundation listed AI, alongside extreme climate change, nuclear war and ecological catastro- phe, as “risks that threaten human civilization”. Many preeminent scientists share th
30、e same concern. Stephen Hawking told the BBC last December that “the development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.” “It would take off on its own, and redesign itself at an ever increasing rate,” he said: “Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, cou
31、ldnt compete, and would be replaced.”Hawkings worry echoed that of Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk, who said in last October at an MIT conference that “we should be very careful about artificial intelligence. If I had to guess at what our biggest existential threat is, its probably that”.26. It can
32、be learned from Paragraph 1 that “The Imitation Game” _ .A is a science fiction movieB is not a Hollywood filmC won Oscar-nominationD is about clever robots27. Which is NOT the ability of digital machines, according to Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee?A Natural language processing. B Intelligence
33、 production.C Fingerprint recognition. D Simultaneous localization.28. It cannot be inferred that artificial intelligence will _ .A complete more choresB help cut down costsC help deaf people hearD control peoples thought29. According to Stephen Hawking, _ .A AI is one of the risks that threaten hum
34、an civilizationB the development of AI cannot threaten human raceC AI might be substituted for humans in the futureD AI would redesign itself at a slow rate30. A suitable title for this text would be _ .A Bleak Future of AIB Digital Future: UncertainC Bright Future of Digital MachinesD Doom for Huma
35、ns in the FutureText 3In his “Odyssey”, Homer immortalized the idea of resisting temptation by having the protago nist tied to the mast of his ship, to hear yet not succumb to the beautiful, dangerous songs of the Sirens. Researchers have long been intrigued as to whether this ability to avoid, or d
36、efer, gratifica- tion is related to outcomes in life. The best-known test is the “marshmallow” experiment, in which children who could refrain from eating the confection for 15 minutes were given a second one. Chil- dren who could not wait tended to have lower incomes and poorer health as adults. Ne
37、w research suggests that kids who are unable to delay rewards are also more likely to become criminals later.Recently, four researchers used data from a Swedish survey in which more than 13,000 children aged 13 were asked whether they would prefer to receive $140 now or $1,400 in five years time. Ab
38、out four-fifths of them said they were prepared to wait.Unlike previous researchers, the authors were able to track all the children and account for their parental background and cognitive ability. They found that the 13-year-olds who wanted the smaller sum of money at once were 32% more likely to b
39、e convicted of a crime during the next 18 years than those children who said they would rather wait for the bigger reward. Individuals who are impatient, they believe, prefer instant benefits and are therefore less likely to be deterred by potential punish- ments.But those who fret that a persons cr
40、iminal path is set already as a teenager should not despair. The four researchers offer a remedy. When the respondents education was included in the analysis, they found that higher educational attainment was linked to a preference for delayed gratification.Educational attainment and patience are re
41、lated either because patience helps students to do better or because schooling makes people more likely to postpone rewards. Fortunately, there is evidence in support of the latter theory. Francisco Perez-Arce of the RAND Corporation, a think-tank, interviewed around 2,000 applicants for Mexican uni
42、versities. The students had similar credentials but some obtained admission through a lottery to a university that did not charge tuition fees, where- as the rest had to apply elsewhere. As a result, a higher proportion of lottery-winners than losers went to college. After a year, Mr. Perez-Arce fou
43、nd, the lottery-winners were more patient than the losers. Since the process was random, he concluded that higher education can make people place more weight on the future.31. The “marshmallow” experiment is a test about_ .A accepting temptationB avoiding outcomesC deferring gratificationD eating th
44、e confection32. All of the following make the new research differ from the previous ones EXCEPT _ .A the researchers tracked all the subjectsB the researchers surveyed a much wider range of childrenC the researchers explained the childrens parental backgroundD the researchers considered the parents
45、cognitive ability33. It is believed that individuals who are impatient_ .A tend to get benefits at onceB are able to delay rewardsC would rather wait for the bigger rewardD are probably deterred by potential punishments34 . People who fret that a person s criminal path is set already can take the re
46、medial action of _ .A keeping healthyB attaining higher incomesC receiving higher educationD avoiding punishments35. It is concluded that educational attainment and patience are related because_ .A patience helps students to do betterB gratification is delayed by receiving higher educationC schoolin
47、g makes people less likely to postpone rewardsD higher education can make people value the future moreText 4Ever since Muzak started serenading patrons of hotels and restaurants in the 1930s, piped-in music has been part of the consumer experience. Without the throb of a synthesiser or a guitars twa
48、ng, shoppers would sense something missing as they tried on jeans or filled up trolleys. Special- ists like Mood Media, which bought Muzak in 2011, devise audio programmes to influence the feel of shops and cater to customers tastes. The idea is to entertain, and thereby prolong the time shop-pers spend in stores, says Claude Nahon, the
