1、1999 年阅读真题精解(2011-05-30 10:22:15)转载标签： 黄涛考研真题答案教育 分类： 阅读篇 1999 Text 1Its a rough world out there. Step outside and you could break a leg slipping on your doormat. Light up the stove and you could burn down the house. Luckily, if the doormat or stove failed to warn of coming disaster, a successful la
2、wsuit might compensate you for your troubles. Or so the thinking has gone since the early 1980s, when juries began holding more companies liable for their customers misfortunes.Feeling threatened, companies responded by writing ever-longer warning labels, trying to anticipate every possible accident
3、. Today, stepladders carry labels several inches long that warn, among other things, that you might surprise! fall off. The label on a childs Batman cape cautions that the toy “does not enable user to fly.“While warnings are often appropriate and necessary the dangers of drug interactions, for examp
4、le and many are required by state or federal regulations, it isnt clear that they actually protect the manufacturers and sellers from liability if a customer is injured. About 50 percent of the companies lose when injured customers take them to court.Now the tide appears to be turning. As personal i
5、njury claims continue as before, some courts are beginning to side with defendants, especially in cases where a warning label probably wouldnt have changed anything. In May, Julie Nimmons, president of Schutt Sports in Illinois, successfully fought a lawsuit involving a football player who was paral
6、yzed in a game while wearing a Schutt helmet. “Were really sorry he has become paralyzed, but helmets arent designed to prevent those kinds of injuries,“ says Nimmons. The jury agreed that the nature of the game, not the helmet, was the reason for the athletes injury. At the same time, the American
7、Law Institute a group of judges, lawyers, and academics whose recommendations carry substantial weight issued new guidelines for tort law stating that companies need not warn customers of obvious dangers or bombard them with a lengthy list of possible ones. “Important information can get buried in a
8、 sea of trivialities,“ says a law professor at Cornell Law School who helped draft the new guidelines. If the moderate end of the legal community has its way, the information on products might actually be provided for the benefit of customers and not as protection against legal liability.51. What we
9、re things like in 1980s when accidents happened?A Customers might be relieved of their disasters through lawsuits.B Injured customers could expect protection from the legal system.C Companies would avoid being sued by providing new warnings.D Juries tended to find fault with the compensations compan
10、ies promised.52. Manufacturers as mentioned in the passage tend to _.A satisfy customers by writing long warnings on productsB become honest in describing the inadequacies of their productsC make the best use of labels to avoid legal liabilityD feel obliged to view customers safety as their first co
11、ncern53. The case of Schutt helmet demonstrated that _.A some injury claims were no longer supported by lawB helmets were not designed to prevent injuriesC product labels would eventually be discardedD some sports games might lose popularity with athletes54. The authors attitude towards the issue se
12、ems to be _.A biased B indifferentC puzzling D objective核心词汇1. rough 粗糙的，不平坦的；粗野的； tough 艰巨的；艰难的2. step 走3. slip 滑到4. light up 点燃5. burn down 烧毁6. fail to 没有7. lawsuit=suit 起诉；诉讼8. compensate for 为作出补偿9. jury 陪审团10. hold sb. liable for 让对负责11. misfortune 不幸12. respond 做出反应13. warning labels 警告标识14.
13、caution 警告15. while 尽管，而，当时候16. appropriate 合适的17. interaction 相互作用18. regulation 规则19. claim 索赔20. side with 支持21. defendant 被告；22. involving 涉及到23. paralyze 瘫痪24. nature 本质；by nature 天性25. carry substantial weight 具有相当的分量26. issue 发布了；发行了27. bombard with 大量提供28. a sea of 大量的29. trivialities 琐事30.
14、end 目的31. have ones way 得以实现32. legal liability 法律责任33. misfortune难句精解While warnings are often appropriate and necessary the dangers of drug interactions, for example and many are required by state or federal regulations, it isnt clear that they actually protect the manufacturers and sellers from li
15、ability if a customer is injured.在这个主从复合句中，前一个分句是由 while 引导的让步从句，这个从句由两个并列句组成，中间用 and 连接。破折号之间的部分是举例说明 warnings 的内容，and 后面的many 省略了 warnings，state 与 federal 共用 regulations。主句部分本身也是一个主从复合句，主句用了一个形式主语 it，真正的主语是 that 引导的从句，注意这个从句中有个动词短语protect. from.，后面是一个 if 引导的条件从句。首先要把握这个句子的主旨，那就是主句中所阐明的 warnings 对
16、manufacturers and sellers 的保护作用还很不明朗。注意破折号之间的部分对 warnings 的解释作用以及 it 作为形式主语的替代作用。As personal injury claims continue as before, some courts are beginning to side with defendants, especially in cases where a warning label probably wouldnt have changed anything.在这个主从复合句中，前一个分句是由 as 引导的伴随状语从句，注意这里的 clai
17、ms是个名词；主句的时态用的是现在进行时，表示的这种状况正在开始。这个主句有一个较长的状语短语，原因是 cases 后面跟了一个 where 引导的定语从句修饰 cases，这个定语从句的主干是 warning label not change anything，解释的是什么样的 cases。主句依然是抓住句子大意的关键，该句所要表达的就是 some courts beginning to side with defendants，再者要注意 cases 后面定语从句指出了哪类 cases 尤为如此。In May, Julie Nimmons, president of Schutt Spor
18、ts in Illinois, successfully fought a lawsuit involving a football player who was paralyzed in a game while wearing a Schutt helmet.这个句子的主干是. president. successfully fought a lawsuit.。句子的主语是 Julie Nimmons，后面逗号之间的部分是她的职位，宾语部分 a lawsuit 有一个较长的动词现在分词 involving 所引导的短语，involving 的宾语是 a football player，后面
19、跟了一个 who 引导的定语从句，这个定语从句中有一个 while 引导的时间状语，还原成句子就是 while he was wearing a Schutt helmet。找出其中的关键部分： . president of Schutt. successfully fought a lawsuit involving a football player. paralyzed. while wearing a Schutt helmet。At the same time, the American Law Institute a group of judges, lawyers, and ac
20、ademics whose recommendations carry substantial weight issued new guidelines for tort law stating that companies need not warn customers of obvious dangers or bombard them with a lengthy list of possible ones.这个看起来很长的句子其实是一个简单句，主干是. the. Institute. issued new guidelines for tort law.。其中破折号之间的内容说明的是这
21、个 Institute 的人员构成，并且用一个 whose 引导的定语从句说明了这些成员的权威。law 后面跟的现在分词 stating 有一个相当长的宾语从句，这个从句的主语是 companies，而谓语有两个动词结构，一个是 warn. of.，另一个是 bombard. with.，叙述了 guidelines 的内容。这个句子的要点是在 stating 后面的 that 从句，对其中两个动词结构 warn. of.和bombard. with.的正确理解决定了对整个句子的理解。If the moderate end of the legal community has its way,
22、 the information on products might actually be provided for the benefit of customers and not as protection against legal liability.在这个复合句中，if 引导的是一个条件从句，主句部分的谓语用了被动形式，谓语动词 provide for 有两个宾语，一个是 the benefits of customers，另一个是 protection against legal liability，not 决定了两者的取舍关系：取前者，舍后者。从句给出了前提条件，注意 has
23、its way 的意思是 can be achieved；理解主句部分的关键在于 provide for 的两个宾语的取舍关系。补充: Or so the thinking has gone since the early 1980s 中的 thinking 是一种思想的意思，指的是上面所说过的人们对于通过法律获得赔偿的思想。gone 本意是消失，这里可以意译为改变，就是说这种思想已经改变。但是我个人觉得，从前后文看，这个 gone 不是否定，所以应该是开始的意思，也就是说应该翻译成这种思想已经形成了。试题解析51. B 意为：受伤的顾客可望得到法律制度的保护。第一段指出，外面是个危险的世界，
24、如果你走出去，可能会滑倒在门垫上，摔伤一条腿；如果点燃炉灶，可能烧毁整栋房屋。可幸的是，如果门垫或炉灶没有警告你可能发生的危害，你可以就自己所受的伤害诉诸法律，成功地获得赔偿。或者，更确切地说，自 80年代初以来人们一直这样认为，从那时起，陪审团开始认为更多的公司应该对其顾客遭受的不幸负责。第二段提到，为了保护自己，公司开始撰写冗长的标签，但是，正如第三段第二句所指出的那样，这种做法无济于事，因为，如果顾客与公司对簿公堂，大约一半的情况是公司败诉。然而，第四段第一句指出，这种潮流似乎正发生逆转。A顾客可以通过诉讼免除自己的灾难。relieve sb. of sth.意为“免除某人某事；解除某人
25、某事；使某人摆脱某事” 。relieve 的意思与原文表达的内容不相符，根据对选择项 B 的分析，顾客通过法律获得的是对损失的赔偿。看原文，顾客都已经是出事后才找诉讼，事情既然发生了怎么能够免除呢？所以说无论从原文还是从常理都是不对的。C公司将会通过提供新的警示标签避免被起诉。该选择项有两处主要错误：一是 avoid 的使用，二是 new 的使用，这两个词的使用使 C 与原文表达的内容很不一致。这句话用了would avoid 这个词，这就是说能够逃避的意思。但是原文根本没有提到是否这么做能否逃避法律的制裁。更何况，从常理考虑也不应该是这样。还有，这句话用了 new 这个词，原文中也找不到根据
26、。所以C是不对的。D陪审团倾向于对公司所承诺的赔偿严加挑剔。这个与原文中“when juries began holding more companies liable for their customers misfortunes”比较相象，但是原文的这句话意思是：当时陪审团已开始认为更多的公司应对其顾客所遭受的不幸负责。可以看出，这两句的意思还是不同的。一句是有关赔偿的严谨性，一句是有关赔偿的执行度。52. C 意为：充分利用标签避免法律责任。第二段指出，公司感到很大威胁，它们通过撰写比以前更长的警示标签保护自己，企图预料各种可能发生的事故。结果，现在的梯子上的标签有几英寸长，除了警告你其
27、他可能发生的意外之外，还警告说你可能摔下来这种警告真是莫名其妙！孩子的蝙蝠侠玩具的斗篷上也警告说：本玩具“并不能使拥有者飞行” 。在作者看来，这样的警示语都是多余的、不必要的。A通过在产品上写长长的警示语满足顾客。根据上文对选择项 C 的分析，他们这样做的目的主要是避免承担责任，而不是满足顾客的需要。B意为：在描述自己的产品的不足上表现得更诚实。这个其实肯定不是商人们的本意，毕竟无奸不商，有哪个商人会这么诚实，把自己产品的缺点告诉别人？D意为：不得不将顾客的安全看作头等重要的事。这个问题嘛，其实想一下，商人的目的就是赚钱，头等重要的事怎么可能是从文章第二段可以看出，Feeling threat
28、ened, companies responded by writing ever-longer warning labels, trying to anticipate every possible accident。公司是因为受了威胁所以才开始贴标签的，但是文章并未说是因为考虑到顾客安全才这么做的。而且，从常理推断，公司应该是考虑到自身利益才这么做的。因此 D 选项应该是偷梁换柱大法。53. A 意为：某些因伤害提出的索赔再也受不到法律的保护了。第三段指出，潮流似乎正发生逆转，虽然因人身伤害引起的索赔案像以往一样不断出现，某些法庭正逐渐开始站到被告一边(side with)，特别是在有警示
29、标签也可能无济于事的案件中。在 Schutt Sports 的案件中，Schutt Sports 公司被告生产了不安全的头盔，造成一名橄揽球队员(football player)的瘫痪，但是，陪审团认为，造成球员受伤的不是头盔，而是橄榄球这种运动本身的危险性(the nature of the game)。公司因此胜诉。这一例子用于说明第四段第一、二句提到的现象。B头盔不是设计来防止损伤的。戴头盔的目的当然是防止伤害，但是，头盔不可能是万能的。B 答案是表面的意思，一般考研命题中不会把答案设定给这种选项的。因为“头盔不是设计来防止损伤的”这个即使从常理来讲也不正确，头盔本来就是用来防止损伤的。
30、而且原文中也没提到这点。C产品标签最终将会被淘汰。discard 意为：弃而不用。D运动员可能不再会热衷于某些体育运动项目。这个从常理上来说就不太对，再对照原文，原文只是说了一次事故引发的关于体育用品的争论，但是没有任何地方可以看出运动员会不再热衷于某些项目。只是一次单纯的事故而已，没有理由就夸张到放弃这一层，因此这个选项明显是用了夸张的手法。54. D 意为：客观的。这里所说的“问题”指索赔案中孰是孰非这一问题。文章探讨了索赔案所涉及的顾客（原告） 、公司（被告）和陪审团三方的反应，重点指出陪审团态度的转变。文章叙述客观，作者没有表达个人观点。关于态度题有很多偏方，基本上说，ABC 三项这三
31、个词基本不可能成为任何题的答案。而 D 这个词，绝对是首选项，基本上出现了选它就没错。因为，所有的选中文章讨论的大多是客观问题，作者的态度更是客观的。如果是主观的话根本就犯了主观主义错误A有偏见的。这个单词在考研英语阅读中很难会成为正确答案的，毕竟你想，既然能当选全国研究生入学考试试题，没有鲜明的中心思想是不可能的，像有偏见的这种态度基本是不可能出现的。反过来说，客观的这种态度基本是放之四海而皆准的。B冷漠的。C迷惑不解的。如果对于问题是迷惑不解的，那么整篇文章就是说没有表明鲜明的立场。但是这种文章是不可能入选研究生入学考试的。更何况从原文来看，作者的态度相当明显，因此是客观的。参考译文外面是
32、一个危险的世界。如果你走出去，可能会滑倒在门垫上，摔伤一条腿。如果你点燃炉灶，可能会把房子烧掉。但是假如门垫或炉灶上没有警示语告诉你可能发生的危害，那么你或许可以就自己所受的伤害通过法律诉讼，成功地获得赔偿。大约自 80 年代初以来人们就不再（guangxian 注：此处“不再”二字应删除！）这样认为了，当时陪审团已开始认为更多的公司应对其顾客所遭受的不幸负责。公司因此感到了威胁，便做出了反应，写出越来越长的警示标识语，力图预先标明种种可能发生的事故。现在，梯子上警告标签有几英寸长，除了警告你其他可能发生的意外情况外，还警告你可能会摔下来，简直是莫名其妙！印在儿童蝙蝠侠披风上的标识语竟然也告诫
33、说，本玩具“无法让用户飞行” 。虽然警示语常常是合理而必要的，如对药物副作用而产生的危险的警示语，并且很多是州或联邦法规所要求的，但是当消费者受伤，这些警示语能否真正保护制造商和销售商使之免于责任，这还很难说。被受伤的消费者告上法庭的公司中，大约一半的情况是公司败诉。现在看来这种趋势正在转变。尽管个人伤害的指控一如既往地继续着，但有些法庭已开始站到被告一方，特别是在处理那些有警示语也无法避免伤害的案件时。五月份，伊利诺斯州的 Shutt 体育公司总裁朱利 尼蒙斯就成功地打赢了这样一场官司。一名橄榄球队员戴着该公司的头盔在一场比赛中受伤瘫痪，遂将该公司告上法庭。公司总裁朱利尼蒙斯说：“他成了瘫痪
34、，我们非常难过，但头盔的设计不是为了预防这类伤害的。 ”陪审团也认为造成该运动员受伤的是这项运动本身的危险性，而不是头盔。与此同时，美国法学会该学会由一群举足轻重的法官、律师、学者所组成签署了新的民事侵害法纲要，宣布公司不必警示顾客那些显而易见的危险，或者给顾客列出一份冗长的可能造成的危险的清单。康奈尔大学法学院一位参与起草新纲要的教授说， “重要的信息会淹没在细枝末节的汪洋之中” 。如果该法律团体的这一适中的目的能够实现，产品上提供的警示信息实际上是用来保护消费者利益的，而不是为了避免公司承担法律责任的。1999 Text 2In the first year or so of Web bu
35、siness, most of the action has revolved around efforts to tap the consumer market. More recently, as the Web proved to be more than a fashion, companies have started to buy and sell products and services with one another. Such business-to-business sales make sense because business people typically k
36、now what product theyre looking for.Nonetheless, many companies still hesitate to use the Web because of doubts about its reliability. “Businesses need to feel they can trust the pathway between them and the supplier,“ says senior analyst Blane Erwin of Forrester Research. Some companies are limitin
37、g the risk by conducting online transactions only with established business partners who are given access to the companys private intranet.Another major shift in the model for Internet commerce concerns the technology available for marketing. Until recently, Internet marketing activities have focuse
38、d on strategies to “pull“ customers into sites. In the past year, however, software companies have developed tools that allow companies to “push“ information directly out to consumers, transmitting marketing messages directly to targeted customers. Most notably, the Pointcast Network uses a screen s
39、aver to deliver a continually updated stream of news and advertisements to subscribers computer monitors. Subscribers can customize the information they want to receive and proceed directly to a companys Web site. Companies such as Virtual Vineyards are already starting to use similar technologies t
40、o push messages to customers about special sales, product offerings, or other events. But push technology has earned the contempt of many Web users. Online culture thinks highly of the notion that the information flowing onto the screen comes there by specific request. Once commercial promotion begi
41、ns to fill the screen uninvited, the distinction between the Web and television fades. Thats a prospect that horrifies Net purists.But it is hardly inevitable that companies on the Web will need to resort to push strategies to make money. The examples of Virtual Vineyardsa. A, and other pioneers sho
42、w that a Web site selling the right kind of products with the right mix of interactivity, hospitality, and security will attract online customers. And the cost of computing power continues to free fall, which is a good sign for any enterprise setting up shop in silicon. People looking back 5 or 10 y
43、ears from now may well wonder why so few companies took the online plunge. 55. We learn from the beginning of the passage that Web business _.A has been striving to expand its marketB intended to follow a fanciful fashionC tried but in vain to control the marketD has been booming for one year or so5
44、6. Speaking of the online technology available for marketing, the author implies that _.A the technology is popular with many Web usersB businesses have faith in the reliability of online transactionsC there is a radical change in strategyD it is accessible limitedly to established partners57. In th
45、e view of Net purists, _.A there should be no marketing messages in online cultureB money making should be given priority to on the WebC the Web should be able to function as the television setD there should be no online commercial information without requests58. We learn from the last paragraph tha
46、t _.A pushing information on the Web is essential to Internet commerceB interactivity, hospitality and security are important to online customersC leading companies began to take the online plunge decades agoD setting up shops in silicon is independent of the cost of computing power核心词汇1. or so 左右，2
47、. web=website 网络3. revolve around 围绕4. tap 轻打；开发；水龙头5. more than 不仅仅是；不只是6. make sense 有道理；有意义7. nonetheless 尽管如此8. reliability 可靠性9. pathway 小径，通路，路径10. supplier 供应商11. limit 限制12. conduct 进行，做13. online transaction 在线交易14. established 确定的；已有的15. access to 进入；有权利做16. intranet 局域网；internet 互联网17. sh
48、ift 转变，变化18. model 模式，方式19. concern 与有关20. available 可以用来；可以得到的21. focus on 关注；集中22. strategy 策略；方法23. transmit 传递；发送24. targeted 目标的；有针对性的25. notably 明显地26. deliver 发送27. update 更新；upload 上传28. a stream of 大量的29. sunscriber 订阅者；订购者；用户； subscribe to 向订阅；同意30. monitor 监控器31. customize 定制32. proceed t
49、o 继续做；precede 在之前33. contempt 蔑视34. think highly of 高度称赞35. notion 观点36. commercial promotion 商业促销37. uninvited 不请自来38. distinction 区别；区分39. fade=disappear=vanish=perish 消失，不存在40. prospect=future 将来41. horrify 让感到恐怖42. purist 净化者43. inevitable 不可避免的44. resort to 求助于45. right 合适的；正确的；右边的；权力46. interactivity 互动47. hospitality 热情好客；inhospitality 冷漠48. p
