历年考研英二真题阅读理解

历年考研英二真题阅读理解1 Text 1

It is curious that Stephen Koziatek feels almost as though he has to justify his efforts to give his students a better future. Mr. Koziatek is part of something pioneering. He is a teacher at a New Hampshire high school where learning is not something of books and tests and mechanical memorization, but practical. When did it become accepted wisdom that students should be able to name the 13th president of the United States but be utterly overwhelmed by a broken bike chain?

As Koziatek knows, there is learning in just about everything. Nothing is necessarily gained by forcing students to learn geometry at a graffitied desk stuck with generations of discarded chewing gum. They can also learn geometry by assembling a bicycle. But he’s also found a kind of insidious prejudice. Working with your hands is seen as almost a mark of inferiority. Schools in the family of vocational education “have that stereotype...that it’s for kids who can’t make it academically,”he says.

On one hand, that viewpoint is a logical product of America’s evolution. Manufacturing is not the economic engine that it once was. The job security that the US economy once offered to high school graduates has largely evaporated. More education is the new principle. We want more for our kids, and rightfully so. But the headlong push into bachelor’s degrees for all – and the subtle devaluing of anything less – misses an important point: That’s not the only thing the American economy need. Yes, a bachelor’s degree opens more doors. But even now, percent of the jobs in the country are middle-skill jobs, such as construction and high-skill manufacturing. But only 44 percent of workers are adequately trained.

In other words, at a time when the working class has turned the country on its political head, frustrated that the opportunity that once defined America is vanishing, one obvious solution is staring us in the face. There is a gap in working-class jobs, but the workers who need those jobs most aren’t equipped to do them. Koziatek’s Manchester school of Technology High School is trying to fill that gap.

Koziatek’s school is a wake-up call. When education becomes one-size-fits-all, it risks overlooking a nation’s diversity of gifts.

21. A broken bike chain is mentioned to show students’ lack of .

[A] practical ability [B] academic training [C] pioneering spirit [D] mechanical memorization

22. There exists the prejudice that vocational education is for kids who .

[A] have a stereotyped mind [B] have no career motivation [C] are not academically successful [D] are financially disadvantaged

23. We can infer from Paragraph 5 that high school graduates . [A] used to have big financial concerns [B] used to have more job opportunities [C] are reluctant to work in manufacturing [D] are entitled to more educational privileges

24. The headlong push into bachelors degrees for all . [A] helps create a lot of middle-skill jobs [B] may narrow the gap in working-class jobs [C] is expected to yield a better-trained workforce [D] indicates the overvaluing of higher education 25. The authors attitude toward Koziatek’s school can be described as . [A] supportive [B] tolerant [C] disappointed [D] cautious

历年考研英二真题阅读理解2 Text 1

A new study suggests that contrary to most surveys. People art actually more stressed at home than at work. Researchers measured peoples cortntlol. Which is it at stress marker. While they were at work and while they were at home and found it higher at what is supposed to be a place of refuge.

\"Further contradicting conventional wisdom, we found that women as well as men have lower levels of stress at work than at home,\" writes one of the researchers. Sarah Damaske, In fact women say they feel better at work. She notes. \"it is men not women. Who report being bappicr at home than at work,\" Another surprise is that the findings hold true for both those with childrcn and without, but more so for nonparents. This is why pcoplc who work outside the home have better health.

What the study doesnt measure is whether people are still doing work when they re at home, whether it is household work or work brought home from the office. For many men, the end of the workday is a time to kick back. For women who stay home, they never get to leave the office. And for women who work outside the home, they often are playing catch-up-with-household tasks. With the blurring of roles, and the fact that the home front lags well behind the workplace in making adjustments for working women, it s not surprising that women are more stressed at home. But its not just a gender thing. At work, people pretty much know what theyre supposed to be doing: working, making money, doing the tasks they have to do in order to draw an income. The

bargain is very pure: Employee puts in hours of physical or mental labor and employee draws out life-sustaining moola.

On the home front, however, people have no such clarity. Rare is the household in which the division of labor is so clinically and methodically laid out. There are a lot of tasks to be done, there are inadequate rewards for most of them. Your home colleagues-your family-have no clear rewards for their labor; they need to be talked into it, or if they re teenagers, threatened with complete removal of all electronic devices. Plus, they re your family. You cannot fire your family. You never really get to go home from home.

So its not surprising that people are more stressed at home. Not only are the tasks apparently infinite, the co-workers are much harder to motivate.

21.According to Pa ragraph 1，most previous su rveys found that home___________

[A]was an un realistic place for relaxation [B]generated more stress than the workplace [C]was an ideal place for stress measurement [D]offered greater relaxation than the workplace

22.According to Damaske， who are likely to be the happiest at home?

[A]Working mothers [B]Childless husbands [C] Childless wives [D]Working fathers

23 The blurring of working womens roles refers to the fact thay___________

[A]they are both bread winners and housewives [B]their home is also a place for kicking back [C]there is often much housework left behind [D]it is difficult for them to leave their office 24.The word\"moola\"(Line 4，Para 4)most probably means___________ [A]energy [B]skills [C]earnings

[D]nutrition

25.The home front differs from the workplace in that_____________

[A]home is hardly a cozier working environment [B]division of labor at home is seldom clear-cut [C]household tasks are generally more motivating [D]family labor is often adequately rewarded 历年考研英二真题阅读理解3 Text 1

In an essay entitled “Making It in America”, the author Adam Davidson relates a joke from cotton about just how much a modern textile mill has been automated: The average mill only two employees today,” a man and a dog. The man is there to feed the dog is there to keep the man away from the machines.” Davidson’s article is one of a number of pieces that have recently appeared making the point that the reason we have such stubbornly high unemployment and declining middle-class incomes today is also because of the advances in both globalization and the

information technology revolution, which are more rapidly than ever replacing labor with machines or foreign worker.

In the past, workers with average skills, doing an average job，could earn an average lifestyle ,But ,today ,average is officially over. Being average just won’t earn you what it used to. It can’t when so many more employers have so much more access to so much more above average cheap foreign labor, cheap robotics, cheap software, cheap automation and cheap genius. Therefore, everyone needs to find their extra-their unique value contribution that makes them stand out in whatever is their field of employment.

Yes, new technology has been eating jobs forever, and always will. But there’s been an acceleration. As Davidson notes,” In the 10 years ending in 20XX, [U.S.] factories shed workers so fast that they erased almost all the gains of the previous 70 years; roughly one out of every three manufacturing jobs-about 6 million in total -disappeared.

There will always be changed-new jobs, new products, new services. But the one thing we know for sure is that with each advance in globalization and the I.T. revolution, the best jobs will require workers to have more and better education to make themselves above average.

In a world where average is officially over, there are many things we need to do to support employment, but nothing would be more important than passing some kind of G.I.Bill for the 21st century that ensures that every American has access to poet-high school education.

21. The joke in Paragraph 1 is used to illustrate_______ [A] the impact of technological advances [B] the alleviation of job pressure [C] the shrinkage of textile mills [D] the decline of middle-class incomes

22. According to Paragraph 3, to be a successful employee, one has to______

[A] work on cheap software [B] ask for a moderate salary [C] adopt an average lifestyle [D] contribute something unique

23. The quotation in Paragraph 4 explains that ______ [A] gains of technology have been erased

[B] job opportunities are disappearing at a high speed [C] factories are making much less money than before [D] new jobs and services have been offered

24. According to the author, to reduce unemployment, the most important is_____

[A] to accelerate the I.T. revolution [B] to ensure more education for people [C] ro advance economic globalization [D] to pass more bills in the 21st century

25. Which of the following would be the most appropriate title for the text?

[A] New Law Takes Effect [B] Technology Goes Cheap [C] Average Is Over [D] Recession Is Bad

历年考研英二真题阅读理解4 Text 1

What would you do with 590m? This is now a question for Gloria Mackenzie, an 84-year-old widow who recently emerged from her small, tin-roofed house in Florida to collect the biggest undivided lottery jackpot in history. If she hopes her new-found for tune will yield lasting feelings of fulfillment, she could do worse than read Happy Money by Elizabeth Dumn and Michael Norton. These two academics use an array of behavioral research to show that the most rewarding ways to spend money can be counterintuitive. Fantasies of great wealth often involve visions of fancy cars and extravagant homes. Yet satisfaction with these material purchases wears off fairly quickly what was once exciting and new becomes old-hat; regret creeps in. It is far better to spend money on experiences, say Ms Dumn and Mr Norton, like interesting trips, unique meals or even going to the cinema. These purchases often become more valuable with time-as stories or memories-particularly if they involve feeling more connected to others.

This slim volume is packed with tips to help wage slaves as well as lottery winners get the most \"happiness bang for your buck.\" It seems most people would be better off if they could shorten their commutes to work, spend more time with friends and family and

less of it watching television (something the average American spends a whopping two months a year doing, and is hardly jollier for it).Buying gifts or giving to charity is often more pleasurable than purchasing things for oneself, and luxuries are most enjoyable when they are consumed sparingly. This is apparently the reason MacDonalds restricts the availability of its popular McRib - a marketing trick that has turned the pork sandwich into an object of obsession.

Readers of “HappyMoney” are clearly a privileged lot, anxious about fulfillment, not hunger.Money may not quite buy happiness, but people in wealthier countries are generally happier than those in poor ones. Yet the link between feeling good and spending money on others can be seen among rich and poor people around the world, and scarcity enhances the pleasure of most things for most people. Not everyone will agree with the authors’ policy ideas, which range from mandating more holiday time to reducing tax incentives for American homebuyers. But most people will come away from this book believing it was money well spent。 21.According to Dumn and Norton,which of the following is the most rewarding purchase? [A]A big house

[B]A special tour [C]A stylish car [D]A rich meal

22.The author’s attitude toward Americans’ watching TV is [A]critical [B]supportive [C]sympathetic [D]ambiguous

23.Macrib is mentioned in paragraph 3 to show that [A]consumers are sometimes irrational [B]popularity usually comes after quality [C]marketing tricks are after effective [D]rarity generally increases pleasure

24.According to the last paragraph,Happy Money [A]has left much room for readers’criticism [B]may prove to be a worthwhile purchase

[C]has predicted a wider income gap in the us [D]may give its readers a sense of achievement 25.This text mainly discusses how to [A]balance feeling good and spending money [B]spend large sums of money won in lotteries [C]obtain lasting satisfaction from money spent [D]become more reasonable in spending on luxuries