2012年全國碩士研究生入學考試英語試題

 　　2012年全國碩士研究生入學考試英語試題

　　National Entrance Test of English for MA/MS

　　Candidates (NETEM)

　　Section Ⅰ Use of English

　　Directions:

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

　　The ethical judgments of the Supreme Court justices became an important issue recently. The court cannot__1___ its legitimacy as guardian of the rule of law___2___ justices behave like politicians. Yet, in several instances, justices acted in ways that__3___ the court’s reputation for being independent and impartial.

　　Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito Jr., for example, appeared at political events. That kind of activity makes it less likely that the court’s decisions will be__4__ as impartial judgments. Part of the problem is that the justices are not ___5__ by an ethics code. At the very least, the court should make itself____6___ to the code of conduct that __7____to the rest of the federal judiciary.

　　This and other cases ___8___the question of whether there is still a ___9__ between the court and politics.

　　The framers of the Constitution envisioned law__10__ having authority apart from politics. They gave justices permanent positions __11__ they would be free to __12__those in power and have no need to__13___ political support. Our legal system was designed to set law apart from politics precisely because they are so closely __14___.

　　Constitutional law is political because it results from choices rooted in fundamental social ___15___like liberty and property. When the court deals with social policy decisions, the law it __16___is inescapably political — which is why decisions split along ideological lines are so easily ___17__ as unjust.

　　The justices must __18___doubts about the court’s legitimacy by making themselves __19___to the code of conduct. That would make their rulings more likely to be seen as separate from politics and, __20___, convincing as law.

　　1. [A] emphasize [B] maintain [C] modify [D] recognize 2. [A] when [B] best [C] before [D] unless

　　3. [A] restored [B] weakened [C] established [D] eliminated

　　4. [A] challenged [B] compromised [C] suspected [D] accepted 5. [A] advanced [B] caught [C] bound [D] founded 6. [A] resistant [B] subject [C] immune [D] prone 7. [A] resorts [B] sticks [C] leads [D] applies 8. [A] evade [B] raise [C] deny [D] settle 9. [A] line [B] barrier [C] similarity [D] conflict 10. [A] by [B] as [C] through [D] towards 11. [A] so [B] since [C] provided [D] though 12. [A] serve [B] satisfy [C] upset [D] replace 13. [A] confirm [B] express [C] cultivate [D] offer 14. [A] guarded [B] followed [C] studied [D] tied

　　15. [A] concepts [B] theories [C] divisions [D] convenience16. [A] excludes [B] questions [C] shapes [D] controls17. [A] dismissed [B] released [C] ranked [D] distorted18. [A] suppress [B] exploit [C] address [D] ignore 19. [A] accessible [B] amiable [C] agreeable [D] accountable20. [A] by all means [B] at all costs [C] in a word [D] as a result

　　Section Ⅱ Reading Comprehension

　　Part A

　　Directions:

　　Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing [A], [B], [C] or [D]. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET1. (40 points)

　　Text 1

　　Come on –Everybody’s doing it. That whispered message, half invitation and half forcing, is what most of us think of when we hear the words peer pressure. It usually leads to no good-drinking, drugs and casual sex. But in her new book Join the Club, Tina Rosenberg contends that peer pressure can also be a positive force through what she calls the social cure, in which organizations and officials use the power of group dynamics to help individuals improve their lives and possibly the word.

　　Rosenberg, the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, offers a host of example of the social cure in action: In South Carolina, a state-sponsored antismoking program called Rage Against the Haze sets out to make cigarettes uncool. In South Africa, an HIV-prevention initiative known as LoveLife recruits young people to promote safe sex among their peers.

　　The idea seems promising，and Rosenberg is a perceptive observer. Her critique of the lameness of many pubic-health campaigns is spot-on: they fail to mobilize peer pressure for healthy habits, and they demonstrate a seriously flawed understanding of psychology.” Dare to be different, please don’t smoke!” pleads one billboard campaign aimed at reducing smoking among teenagers-teenagers, who desire nothing more than fitting in. Rosenberg argues convincingly that public-health advocates ought to take a page from advertisers, so skilled at applying peer pressure.

　　But on the general effectiveness of the social cure, Rosenberg is less persuasive. Join the Club is filled with too much irrelevant detail and not enough exploration of the social and biological factors that make peer pressure so powerful. The most glaring flaw of the social cure as it’s presented here is that it doesn’t work very well for very long. Rage Against the Haze failed once state funding was cut. Evidence that the LoveLife program produces lasting changes is limited and mixed.

　　There’s no doubt that our peer groups exert enormous influence on our behavior. An emerging body of research shows that positive health habits-as well as negative ones-spread through networks of friends via social communication. This is a subtle form of peer pressure: we unconsciously imitate the behavior we see every day.

　　Far less certain, however, is how successfully experts and bureaucrats can select our peer groups and steer their activities in virtuous directions. It’s like the teacher who breaks up the troublemakers in the back row by pairing them with better-behaved classmates. The tactic never really works. And that’s the problem with a social cure engineered from the outside: in the real world, as in school, we insist on choosing our own friends.