中公考研终很卷：2016年考研英语（二）

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　　2016 年国硕士研究生招生考试英语(二)

　　冲刺密押试卷

　　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 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 sniffle: 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 electricity 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 through 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 shock 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. Re- 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 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 mobile 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.

 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 the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)

　　Text 1

　　Rarely have the Christmas results for Britain’s 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 falling food prices ate into their profits.

　　Asda’s 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 Waitrose, 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 market 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, Sainsbury’s and Tesco announced 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 and—a novelty, this—rising 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 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, 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. Devolution seems simple, but effective.

　　21. Which of the following is NOT Aldi and Lidi have done to most of Britain’s 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] chase the upstart discounters

　　[B] have target market

　　[C] reduce prices

　　[D] have middle-market rivals

　　23. We can learn from Paragraph 3 that  _______ .

　　[A] Asda is at the top end of the market

　　[B] Lidi and Aldi are in the middle of the market

　　[C] Waitrose will muddy its target customers

　　[D] Tesco is stranded in the middle of the market

　　24. The word “gizmos” (Para. 4) probably means _______ .

　　[A] technologies [B] means

　　[C] devices [D] products

　　25. It can be concluded from the last paragraph that _______ .

　　[A] devolution is an effective way to increase sales

　　[B] there is no reason for Tesco to be pessimistic

　　[C] Tesco should merge its stores in the rest of the country

　　[D] Tesco’s stores in London miss local trends
Text 2

　　For 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 father 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 their 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, and other domains that used to be exclusively human,” write the authors. “We’ve recently seen great progress in natural language pro- cessing, machine learning, computer vision, simultaneous localization and mapping, and many other areas.

　　“We’re going to see artificial intelligence do more and more, and 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, according to the authors.