96-97年考研英语真题(编辑修改稿)

96-97年考研英语真题(编辑修改稿)内容摘要：

needs of the workers ［ B］ the old firm owners had a better understanding of their workers ［ C］ the limited liability panies were too large to run smoothly ［ D］ the trade unions seemed to play a positive role 22. The author is most critical of . ［ A］ family firm owners ［ B］ landowners ［ C］ managers ［ D］ shareholders Passage 4 What accounts for the great outburst of major inventions in early America— breakthroughs such as the telegraph, the steamboat and the weaving machine? Among the many shaping factors, I would single out the country‟s excellent elementary schools。 a labor force that weled the new technology。 the practice of giving premiums to inventors。 and above all the American genius for nonverbal, “spatial” thinking about things technological. Why mention the elementary schools? Because thanks to these schools our early mechanics, especially in the New England and Middle Atlantic states, were generally literate and at home in arithmetic and in some aspects of geometry and trigonometry. Acute foreign observers related American adaptiveness and inventiveness to this educational advantage. As a member of a British mission visiting here in 1853 reported, “With a mind prepared by thorough school discipline, the American boy develops rapidly into the skilled workman.” A further stimulus to invention came from the “premium” system, which preceded our patent system and for years ran parallel with it. This approach, originated abroad, offered inventors medals, cash prizes and other incentives. In the United States, multitudes of premiums for new devices were awarded at country fairs and at the industrial fairs in major cities. Americans flocked to these fairs to admire the new machines and thus to renew their faith in the beneficence of technological advance. Given this optimistic approach to technological innovation, the American worker took readily to that special kind of nonverbal thinking required in mechanical technology. As Eugene Ferguson has pointed out, “A technologist thinks about objects that cannot be reduced to unambiguous verbal descriptions。 they are dealt with in his mind by a visual, nonverbal process … The designer and the inventor … are able to assemble and manipulate in their minds devices that as yet do not exist.” This nonverbal “spatial” thinking can be just as creative as painting and writing. Robert Fulton once wrote, “The mechanic should sit down among levers, screws, wedges, wheels, etc, like a poet among the letters of the alphabet, considering them as an exhibition of his thoughts, in which a new arrangement transmits a new idea.” When all these shaping forces—schools, open attitudes, the premium system, a genius for spatial thinking —interacted with one another on the rich . mainland, they produced that American characteristic emulation. Today that word implies mere imitation. But in earlier times it meant a friendly but petitive striving for fame and excellence. 23. According to the author, the great outburst of major inventions in early America was in a large part due to . ［ A］ elementary schools ［ B］ enthusiastic workers ［ C］ the attractive premium system ［ D］ a special way of thinking 24. It is implied that adaptiveness and inventiveness of the early American mechanics . ［ A］ benefited a lot from their mathematical knowledge. ［ B］ shed light on disciplined school management. ［ C］ was brought about by privileged home training. ［ D］ owed a lot to the technological development. 25. A technologist can be pared to an artist because . ［ A］ they are both winners of awards. ［ B］ they are both experts in spatial thinking. ［ C］ they both abandon verbal description ［ D］ they both use various instruments 26. The best title for this passage might be . ［ A］ Inventive Mind ［ B］ Effective Schooling ［ C］ Ways of Thinking ［ D］ Outpouring of Inventions Passage 5 Rumor has it that more than 20 books on creationism/evolution are in the publisher‟s pipelines. A few have already appeared. The goal of all will be to try to explain to a confused and often unenlightened citizenry that there are not two equally valid scientific theories for the origin and evolution of universe and life. Cosmology, geology, and biology have provided a consistent, unified, and constantly improving account of what happened. “Scientific” creationism, which is being pushed by some for “equal time” in the classrooms whenever the scientific accounts of evolution are given, is based on religion, not science. Virtually all scientists and the majority of nonfundamentalist religious leaders have e to regard “scientific” creationism as bad science and bad religion. The first four chapters of Kitcher‟s book give a very brief introduction to evolution. At appropriate places, he introduces the criticisms of the creationists and provides answers. In the last three chapters, he takes off his gloves and gives the creationists a good beating. He describes their programmes and tactics, and, for those unfamiliar with the ways of creationists, the extent of their deception and distortion may e as an unpleasant surprise. When their basic motivation is religious, one might have expected more Christian behavior. Kitcher is a philosopher, and this may account, in part, for the clarity and effectiveness of his arguments. The nonspecialist will be able to obtain at least a notion of the sorts of data and argument that support evolutionary theory. The final chapters on the creationists will be extremely clear to all. On the dust jacket of this fine book, Stephen Jay Gould says: “ This book stands for reason itself.” And so it does and all would be well were reason the only judge in the creationism/evolution debate. 27. “Creationism” in the passage refers to . ［ A。