北京理工大学考博英语-2
| At the fall 2001 Social Science History Association
convention in Chicago, the Crime and Justice network sponsored a forum on the
history of gun ownership, gun use, and gun violence in the United States. Our
purpose was to consider how social science history might contribute to the
public debate over gun control and gun rights. To date, we have had little
impact on that debate. It has been dominated by mainstream social scientists and
historians, especially scholars such as Gary Kleck, John Lott, and Michael
Bellesiles, whose work, despite profound flaws, is politically congenial to
either opponents or proponents of gun control. Kleck and Mark Gertz, for
instance, argue on the basis of their widely cited survey that gun owners
prevent numerous crimes each year in the United States by using firearms to
defend themselves and their property. If their survey respondents are to be
believed, American gun owners shot 100, 000 criminals in 1994 in self-defense —
a preposterous number. Lott claims on the basis of his statistical analysis of
recent crime rates that laws allowing private individuals to carry concealed
firearms deter murders, rapes, and robberies, because criminals are afraid to
attack potentially armed victims. However, he biases his results by confining
his analysis to the year between 1977 and 1992, when violent crime rates had
peaked and varied little from year to year. He reports only regression models
that support his thesis and neglects to mention that each of those models find a
positive relationship between violent crime and real income, and an inverse
relationship between violent crime and unemployment. Contrary to Kleck and Lott, Bellesiles insists that guns and America's "gun culture" are responsible for America's high rates of murder. In Belleville's opinion, relatively few Americans owned guns before the 1850s or know how to use, maintain, or repair them. As a result, he says, guns contributed little to the homicide rate, especially among white, which was low everywhere, even in the South and on the frontier, where historians once assume guns and murder went hand in hand. According to Bellesiles, these patterns changed dramatically after the Mexican War and especially after the Civil War, when gun ownership became widespread and cultural changes encouraged the use of handguns to command respect and resolve personal and political disputes. The result was an unprecedented wave of gun-related homicides that never truly abated. To this day, the United States has the highest homicide rate of any industrial democracy. Belleville's low estimates of gun ownership in early America conflict, however, with those of every historian who has previously studied the subject and have thus far proven irreproducible. Every homicide statistic he presents is either misleading or wrong. Given the influence of Kleck, kott, Bellesiles and other partisan scholars on the debate over gun control and gun rights, we felt a need to pull together what social science historians have learned to date about the history of gun ownership and gun violence in America, and to consider what research methods and projects might increase our knowledge in the near future. |
1.Which of following statements is true about the public debate over gun network?
A It has little influence on the forum sponsored by the Crime and Justice network.
B Neither supporters nor opponents of gun control cite the works of scholars.
C The works of mainstream social scientists have great impact on it.
D Many social science historians have so far failed to take part in it.
2.The author mentions Kleck, kott, and Bellesiles mainly to ______.
A illustrate the influence they have on the issue of gun control
B refute the claim that private ownership of firearms will deter violent crimes
C support the thesis that gun ownership leads to more violence
D demonstrate why research methods should be improved in the study of the gun ownership history
3.The author's main criticism of John kott is that he ______.
A advocates private ownership of firearms
B is not objective in his analysis
C has analyzed a wrong period
D has cited dubious statistics
4.With which of the following will Bellesiles most probably agree?
A Gun control should be tightened.
B Guns have little to do with murder.
C "Gun culture" was the result of high homicide rates in America.
D The statistics that earlier historians produced of gun ownership is reliable.
5.The passage is primarily concerned with ______.
A resolving a public dispute over gun control
B describing the effects of earlier studies on gun control
C analyzing the flaws in the previous theories about gun control
D summarizing the recent development in the studies of gun control
| Fear and its companion pain are two of the most
useful things that men and animals possess, if they are properly used. If fire
did not hurt when it burnt, children would play it until their hands were burnt
away. Similarly, if pain existed but fear did not, a child would burn itself
again and again, because fear would not warn it to keep away from the fire that
had burn it before. A really fearless soldier-and some do exist-is not a good
soldier because he is soon killed; and a dead soldier is of no use to his army.
Fear and pain are therefore two guards without which men and animals might soon
die out. In our first sentence we suggested that fear ought to be properly used. if, for example, you never go out of your house because of the danger of being knocked down and killed in the street by a car, you are letting fear rule you too much. Even in your house you are not absolutely safe: an airplane may crash on your house, or ants may eat away some of the beams in your roof so that the latter falls on you, or you may get cancer! The important thing is not to let fear rule you, but instead to use fear as your servant and guide. Fear will warn you of dangers; then you have to decide what action to take. In many cases, you can take quick and successful action to avoid the danger. For example, you see a car coming straight towards you; fear warns you, you jump out of the way, and all is well. In some cases, however, you decide that there is nothing that you can do to avoid the danger. For example, you cannot prevent an airplane crashing onto your house. In this case, fear has given you its warning; you have examined it and decided on your course, of action, so fear of this particular danger is no longer of any use to you, and you have to try to overcome it. |
6.Children would play with fire until their hands were burnt away if ______.
A they were given no warning beforehand
B they had never burnt themselves
C they had no sense of pain
D they were fearful of the fare
7.A really fearless soldier ______.
A is of little use to the army
B is without equal
C is nothing but a dead soldier
D easily gets killed in a battle
8.Fear should be used properly because ______.
A an airplane may crash on your house
B you may get cancer
C fear can only be used as a servant and guide
D men are now letting fear rule them too much
9.People sometimes succeed in timely avoiding danger because ______.
A they have gained experience
B they jump out of the way in time
C they are calm in face of danger
D they are warned of the danger and can take quick action
10.Implied but not stated: ______.
A Fear is always something helpful.
B Too much fear is harmful.
C Fear ought to be used as a servant and guide.
D Fear is something unprofitable.
| Thirty-one million Americans are over 60 years of
age, and twenty-nine million of them are healthy, busy, productive citizens. By
the year 2030, one in every five people in the United States will be over 60.
People are members of the fastest-growing minority in this country. Many call
this the "graying of America". In D73, a group called the "Gray Panthers" was organized. This group is made up of young and old citizens. They are trying to deal with the special problems of growing old in America. The Gray Panthers know that many elderly people have health problems; some cannot walk well, others cannot see or hear well. Some have financial problems; prices are going up so fast that the elderly can't afford the food, clothing, and housing they need. Some old people are afraid and have safety problems. Others have emotional problems. Many elderly are lonely because of the death of a husband or a wife. The Gray Panthers know another fact, too. Elderly people want to be as independent as possible. So, the Gray Panthers are looking for ways to solve the special problems of the elderly. The president of the Gray Panthers is Maggie Kuhn, an active woman in her late 70s. She travels across the United States, educating both young and old about the concerns of elders. One of the problems she talks about is where and how elders live. She says that Americans do not encourage elders to live with younger people. As far as Maggie Kuhn is concerned, only elders who need constant medical care should be in nursing homes. Maggie Kuhn knows that elders need education, too. She spends lots of time talking to groups of older Americans. She encourages them to continue to live in their own houses if it is possible. She also tells them that it is important to live with younger people and to have children around them. This helps elders to stay young at heart. |
11.What health problems do many elderly have?
A They feel lonely.
B They are suffering from cancer.
C They cannot walk or see or hear well.
D They have got heart problems.
12.Nursing homes ______.
A are good for elders who need constant medical care
B help keep elders young
C are set up for training nurses
D are places where small children are taken care of
13.Maggie Kuhn travels across the United States in order to ______ elders.
A collect money for
B show concerns for
C find houses for
D educate people to help
14.One of the problems Maggie Kuhn talks about is ______.
A why elders should be taken care of
B where and how elders live
C who needs medical care
D how to improve education in the USA
15.Maggie Kuhn encourages elders to ______.
A live in nursing homes
B travel more
C live with younger people
D do some house work
| How men first learnt to invent words is unknown; in
other words, the origin of language is a mystery. All we really know is that
men, unlike animals, somehow invented certain sound to express thoughts and
feelings, actions and things, so that they could communicate with each other;
and that later they agreed upon certain signs, called letters, which could be
combined to represent those sounds, and which could be written down. Those
sounds, whether spoken or written in letters, we call words. The power of words, then, lies in their associations-the things they bring up before our minds. Words become filled with meaning for us by experience; and the longer we live, the more certain words recall to us the glad and sad events of our past; and the more we read and learn, the more the number of words that mean something to us increases. Great writers are those who not only have great thoughts but also express these thoughts in words which appeal powerfully to our minds and emotions. This charming use of words is what we call literary style. Above all, the real poet is a master of words. He can convey his meaning in words which sing like music, and which by their position and association can move men to tears. We should therefore learn to choose our words carefully and use them accurately, or they will make our speech silly and dull. |
16.The origin of language is ______.
A a legend handed down from the past
B a matter that is hidden secretly
C a question difficult to answer
D a problem not vet solved
17.One of the reasons why men invented certain sounds to express thoughts and actions was that ______.
A they could agree upon certain signs
B they could write them down
C they could communicate with each other
D they could combine them
18.What is true about the words?
A They are used to express feelings only.
B They can not be written down.
C They are simply sounds.
D They are mysterious.
19.In expressing their thoughts, great writers are able ______.
A to confuse the readers
B to move men to tears
C to move our actions
D to puzzle our feelings
20.Which of the following statements about the real poet is NOT true.?
A He is no more a master of words than an ordinary person.
B He can convey his ideas in words which sing like music.
C He can move men to tears.
D His style is always charming.
21.The recovery of the US economy during the first quarter of this year has been so spectacular that it is creating a new set of risks for financial markets. The great new risks now facing the US economy center on monetary policy and the oil market.
22.The current federal funds interest rate of only 1.75 percent has clearly become unsustainable in view of the economy's resilience. The Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by at least 0.25 percentage points during the second quarter and could increase short-term interest rates to at least 3 percent before the autumn-the level they were at before September 11.
23.Such tightening would probably cause refinancing to slump to about $ 300 billion at annual rates late this year, which would eliminate capital gains as a prop for consumer spending. Rising interest rates could also clamp the rally likely to occur in the equity market as corporate profits recover. If investment spending fails to revive, the economy' s annual growth rate could slide back to the 2 ～ 3 percent.
24.The oil price is also a big risk, mainly because the Bush administration appears determined to attack Iraq. The probability of war could easily push the oil price back into the $ 35 ～ $ 40 a barrel range for at least a few months. In effect, that would impose a big new tax on consumer spending and corporate profits. The prospect of monetary tightening and a sharp increase in the oil price suggests that late 2002 and early 2003 could be a period of great volatility for the US economy.
25.陆地交通的形式，与其说取决于技术，不如说取决于政治、经济和环境方面的考虑。我们现在就可以建造更坚固、更安静、更防滑的道路，但却不建，因为费用太高。我们可以在高速公路两旁安装隔音板并且设计出尾气少、轮胎噪音低的卡车，从而使交通噪音减半，但我们不愿意掏这笔钱。环保游说者们已对汽车厂商产生了巨大影响，对尾气排放的控翩已经严格了许多，但是在控制空气污染方面仍然任重而道远。
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