2017年考研英语(二)真题及答案解析
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)
People have speculated for centuries about a future without work .Today is no different, with academics, writers, and activists once again _1_ that technology be replacing human workers. Some imagine that the coming work-free world will be defined by _2_ . A few wealthy people will own all the capital, and the masses will struggle in an impoverished wasteland.
A different and not mutually exclusive _3_ holds that the future will be a wasteland of a different sort, one _4 _by purposelessness: Without jobs to give their lives _5_ , people will simply become lazy and depressed. _6_ , today's unemployed don't seem to be having a great time. One Gallup poll found that 20 percent of Americans who have been unemployed for at least a year report having depression, double the rate for _7_ Americans. Also, some research suggests that the _8_ for rising rates of mortality, mental-health problems, and addicting _9_ poorly-educated middle-aged people is shortage of well-paid jobs. Perhaps this is why many __10_ the agonizing dullness of a jobless future.
But it doesn't __11__ follow from findings like these that a world without work would be filled with unease. Such visions are based on the __12__ of being unemployed in a society built on the concept of employment. In the __13__ of work, a society designed with other ends in mind could __14__ strikingly different circumstanced for the future of labor and leisure. Today, the __15__ of work may be a bit overblown. "Many jobs are boring, degrading, unhealthy, and a waste of human potential," says John Danaher, a lecturer at the National University of Ireland in Galway.
These days, because leisure time is relatively __16__ for most workers, people use their free time to counterbalance the intellectual and emotional __17__ of their jobs. "When I come home from a hard day's work, I often feel __18__ ," Danaher says, adding, "In a world in which I don't have to work, I might feel rather different"—perhaps different enough to throw himself __19__ a hobby or a passion project with the intensity usually reserved for __20__ matters.
1.[A] boasting [B] denying [C] warning [D] ensuring
动词词义辨析。作家学者警示人们技术会代替人类劳动。boast吹嘘、自负。deny否认。ensure确保。Warning警示，警告。因此答案为C选项。
2.[A] inequality [B] instability [C] unreliability [D] uncertainty
上下文理解。根据后文富人会拥有所有资产，贫困地区也会扎堆，可以看出此处想表达不平等的意思。Inequality不平等，instability不稳定性，unreliability不可靠性，uncertainty不确定性。因此答案为A选项。
3.[A] policy [B]guideline [C] resolution [D] prediction
词义辨析。policy政策，guideline指导方针，resolution决心，prediction预测。该句意为另外一种预测认为…。因此答案为D选项。
4.[A] characterized [B]divided [C] balanced [D]measured
动词词义辨析。该句意为未来社会的特点是无目的性。因此答案为A选项
5.[A] wisdom [B] meaning [C] glory [D] freedom
词义辨析，上下文理解。没有了工作富裕生活的意义，人们会变得懒散沮丧。其他几项不符合题意。因此答案为B选项。
6.[A] Instead [B] Indeed [C] Thus [D] Nevertheless
考查副词。Indeed实际上，那些失业者生活并不美好。因此答案为B选项。
7.[A] rich [B] urban [C]working [D] educated
上下文理解。前面提到失业的美国人在和工作的美国人做对比。因此答案为C选项。
8.[A] explanation [B] requirement [C] compensation [D] substitute
词义辨析。死亡率升高，心理健康问题等是因为没有工资待遇较好的工作，这就解释了原因问题。Explanation符合题意，因此答案为A选项。
9.[A] under [B] beyond [C] alongside [D] among
介词辨析。没有受到良好教育的中年人中间这些问题比较严重。因此答案为D选项。
10.[A] leave behind [B] make up [C] worry about [D] set aside
固定搭配意思辨析。Worry about担心，leave behind丢弃，使落后make up 组成，set aside 留出，把…放在一旁。该句意为这就是为什么人们担心未来无工作的无聊。因此答案为C选项。
11.[A] statistically [B] occasionally [C] necessarily [D] economically
副词词义辨析。Necessarily必然地，statistically统计地，occasionally偶然地，economically经济上地。该句想表达并不必然的意思。因此答案为C选项。
12.[A] chances [B] downsides [C] benefits [D] principles
理解上下文。前面说没有工作会导致不安，这些观念是来源于在职业概念的社会中失业的消极面。
13.[A] absence [B] height [C] face [D] course
固定搭配。In absence of 缺乏，in height of 在…高度，in face of 面临，in course of 在…中。该句意为如果没有工作，也就是in absence of job.因此答案为A选项。
14.[A] disturb [B] restore [C] exclude [D] yield
动词词义辨析。没有工作的社会能为人们带来放松。Yield 有获得，带来的意思，disturb打扰，妨碍，restore恢复，交还，exclude排斥。因此答案为D选项。
15.[A] model [B] practice [C] virtue [D] hardship
词义辨析。根据后面工作的缺点可以推测此处想表达工作的优点被过分夸大了。Virtue优点，好处。因此答案为C选项。
16.[A] tricky [B] lengthy [C] mysterious [D] scarce
词义辨析和上下文理解。休闲时间对工作人来说相对较少。因此答案为D选项。
17.[A] demands [B] standards [C] qualities [D] threats
词义辨析。闲暇时间来平衡人们的智力和情感需求。因此答案为A选项。
18.[A] ignored [B] tired [C] confused [D] starved
词义理解。下班回到家感觉到疲惫。Starved饥饿的。因此答案为B选项。
19.[A] off [B] against [C] behind [D] into
固定搭配和介词使用。Throw into投身于， throw off摆脱，throw against扔掉，throw behind抛开。投身到自己的爱好之中。因此答案为D选项。
20.[A] technological [B] professional [C] educational [D] interpersonal
词义辨析。一些需要专业技能的项目。因此答案为B选项。
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
Every Saturday morning, at 9 am, more than 50,000 runners set off to run 5km around their local park. The Parkrun phenomenon began with a dozen friends and has inspired 400 events in the UK and more abroad. Events are free, staffed by thousands of volunteers. Runners range from four years old to grandparents; their times range from Andrew Baddeley's world record 13 minutes 48 seconds up to an hour.
Parkrun is succeeding where London's Olympic "legacy" is failing. Ten years ago on Monday, it was announced that the Games of the 30th Olympiad would be in London. Planning documents pledged that the great legacy of the Games would be to level a nation of sport lovers away from their couches. The population would be fitter, healthier and produce more winners. It has not happened. The number of adults doing weekly sport did rise, by nearly 2 million in the run—up to 2012—but the general population was growing faster. Worse, the numbers are now falling at an accelerating rate. The opposition claims primary school pupils doing at least two hours of sport a week have nearly halved. Obesity has risen among adults and children. Official retrospections continue as to why London 2012 failed to "inspire a generation." The success of Parkrun offers answers.
Parkun is not a race but a time trial: Your only competitor is the clock. The ethos welcomes anybody. There is as much joy over a puffed-out first-timer being clapped over the line as there is about top talent shining. The Olympic bidders, by contrast, wanted to get more people doing sports and to produce more elite athletes. The dual aim was mixed up: The stress on success over taking part was intimidating for newcomers.
Indeed, there is something a little absurd in the state getting involved in the planning of such a fundamentally "grassroots", concept as community sports associations. If there is a role for government, it should really be getting involved in providing common goods—making sure there is space for playing fields and the money to pave tennis and netball courts, and encouraging the provision of all these activities in schools. But successive governments have presided over selling green spaces, squeezing money from local authorities and declining attention on sport in education. Instead of wordy, worthy strategies, future governments need to do more to provide the conditions for sport to thrive. Or at least not make them worse.
21. According to Paragraph1, Parkrun has ____.
[A] gained great popularity
[B] created many jobs
[C] strengthened community ties
[D] become an official festival
解析： [A] gained great popularity.意思是很受欢迎。通过题干可以定位在第一段，可以通过，每天超过五万人跑步、引发了400场运动在英国和在国外等信息得知，公园跑很受欢迎。
22. The author believes that London's Olympic"legacy" has failed to ____.
[A] boost population growth
[B] promote sport participation
[C] improve the city's image
[D] increase sport hours in schools
解析：[B] promote sport participation表示提升运动参与度。通过题干伦敦和奥林匹克遗产可以定位到第二段，题目问的是伦敦奥运会的遗产没有做成什么事，题干中的failed to可以对应第二段即使看到了failing，但并没有答案。再往下看，伦敦奥运会承诺，人口将会更健康、更多冠军，但这并没有发生，not happed才真正对应failed to.
23. Parkrun is different from Olympic games in that it ___.
[A] aims at discovering talents
[B] focuses on mass competition
[C] does not emphasize elitism
[D] does not attract first-timers
解析：[C] does not emphasize elitism，公园跑步和奥运会不同在于，它并不强调精英主义。这道题定位在第三段的中间，奥林匹克的倡导者相反，想要更多的参与运动创造更多的精英。
24. With regard to mass sport, the author holds that governments should .
[A] organize "grassroots" sports events
[B] supervise local sports associations
[C] increase funds for sports clubs
[D] invest in public sports facilities
解析：[D] invest in public sports facilities，提到大众体育，作者认为政府应该投资公共的体育设施。政府在第四段的中间，讲到政府应该训练的空间、用钱去铺设网球场。这里是答案的同意转换。
25. The author's attitude to what UK governments have done for sports is .
[A] tolerant
[B] critical
[C] uncertain
[D] sympathetic
解析：[B] critical作者对英国政府对体育的态度是批判的。最后一段but转折后说，继任的政府卖绿地、减少本地政府的预算同时减少在体育方面的关注度，所以持批判态度。
Text 2
With so much focus on children's use of screens, it's easy for parents to forget about their own screen use. "Tech is designed to really suck on you in," says Jenny Radesky in her study of digital play, "and digital products are there to promote maximal engagement. It makes it hard to disengage, and leads to a lot of bleed-over into the family routine. "
Radesky has studied the use of mobile phones and tablets at mealtimes by giving mother-child pairs a food-testing exercise. She found that mothers who sued devices during the exercise started 20 percent fewer verbal and 39 percent fewer nonverbal interactions with their children. During a separate observation, she saw that phones became a source of tension in the family. Parents would be looking at their emails while the children would be making excited bids for their attention.
Infants are wired to look at parents' faces to try to understand their world, and if those faces are blank and unresponsive—as they often are when absorbed in a device—it can be extremely disconcerting foe the children. Radesky cites the "still face experiment" devised by developmental psychologist Ed Tronick in the 1970s. In it, a mother is asked to interact with her child in a normal way before putting on a blank expression and not giving them any visual social feedback; The child becomes increasingly distressed as she tries to capture her mother's attention. "Parents don't have to be exquisitely parents at all times, but there needs to be a balance and parents need to be responsive and sensitive to a child's verbal or nonverbal expressions of an emotional need," says Radesky.
On the other hand, Tronick himself is concerned that the worries about kids' use of screens are born out of an "oppressive ideology that demands that parents should always be interacting" with their children: "It's based on a somewhat fantasized, very white, very upper-middle-class ideology that says if you're failing to expose your child to 30,000 words you are neglecting them." Tronick believes that just because a child isn't learning from the screen doesn't mean there's no value to it—particularly if it gives parents time to have a shower, do housework or simply have a break from their child. Parents, he says, can get a lot out of using their devices to speak to a friend or get some work out of the way. This can make them feel happier, which lets then be more available to their child the rest of the time.
26. According to Jenny Radesky, digital products are designed to ______.
[A] simplify routine matters
[B] absorb user attention
[C] better interpersonal relations
[D] increase work efficiency
解析：[B] absorb user attention。根据JR，数码产品被设计为了吸引用户的注意。根据JR定位在第一段，他说了一句话：科技被设计去suck on you in. suck和absorb是同意转换词。
27. Radesky's food-testing exercise shows that mothers' use of devices ______.
[A] takes away babies' appetite
[B] distracts children's attention
[C] slows down babies' verbal development
[D] reduces mother-child communication
解析：[D] reduces mother-child communication.R的食品测试展示了妈妈使用设备会降低妈妈和孩子间的交流。是原文第二段fewerverbal and 39% fewer nonverbal interaction的同意转换。
28. Radesky's cites the "still face experiment" to show that _______.
[A] it is easy for children to get used to blank expressions
[B] verbal expressions are unnecessary for emotional exchange
[C] children are insensitive to changes in their parents' mood
[D] parents need to respond to children's emotional needs
解析：[D] parents need to respond to children’s emotional needs。R引用这句话的意思是父母需要对儿童的情感需求做出反应。是因为第三段第一句说婴儿看到父母的脸去理解这个世界，如果父母没有表情或回应会对孩子产生不好的影响。那么这里就需要父母对儿童的情感需求做出回应。
29. The oppressive ideology mentioned by Tronick requires parents to_______.
[A] protect kids from exposure to wild fantasies
[B] teach their kids at least 30,000 words a year
[C] ensure constant interaction with their children
[D] remain concerned about kid's use of screens
解析：[C] ensure constant interaction with their children。被T所提到的压抑的理论需要父母去确保一直和他们的孩子继续沟通。通过oppressive ideology可以定位在第四段的第二句，这里提到这种压抑的理论要求父母应该一直和孩子保持沟通和交流。这里always和选项中的constant是同义转换。
30. According to Tronick, kid's use of screens may_______.
[A] give their parents some free time
[B] make their parents more creative
[C] help them with their homework
[D] help them become more attentive
解析：[A] give their parents some free time。根据T,孩子使用喊叫可能是他们父母一些自由的时间。通过Tronick和screen我们可以定位在第四段的中后部分，T认为，因为孩子并不是从尖叫中学会什么，也就意味着孩子尖叫并不意味着要吸引别人的重视，相反是尖叫孩子让父母去洗澡、做家务或就是别打扰孩子。这几句话对应选项里的free time，所以做题千万别靠自己的臆测而一定要根据原文。
Text 3
Today, widespread social pressure to immediately go to college in conjunction with increasingly high expectations in a fast-moving world often causes students to completely overlook the possibility of taking a gap year. After all, if everyone you know is going to college in the fall, it seems silly to stay back a year, doesn't it? And after going to school for 12 years, it doesn't feel natural to spend a year doing something that isn't academic.
But while this may be true, it's not a good enough reason to condemn gap years. There's always a constant fear of falling behind everyone else on the socially perpetuated "race to the finish line," whether that be toward graduate school, medical school or lucrative career. But despite common misconceptions, a gap year does not hinder the success of academic pursuits—in fact, it probably enhances it.
Studies from the United States and Australia show that students who take a gap year are generally better prepared for and perform better in college than those who do not. Rather than pulling students back, a gap year pushes them ahead by preparing them for independence, new responsibilities and environmental changes—all things that first-year students often struggle with the most. Gap year experiences can lessen the blow when it comes to adjusting to college and being thrown into a brand new environment, making it easier to focus on academics and activities rather than acclimation blunders.
If you're not convinced of the inherent value in taking a year off to explore interests, then consider its financial impact on future academic choices. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly 80 percent of college students end up changing their majors at least once. This isn't surprising, considering the basic mandatory high school curriculum leaves students with a poor understanding of themselves listing one major on their college applications, but switching to another after taking college classes. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but depending on the school, it can be costly to make up credits after switching too late in the game. At Boston College, for example, you would have to complete an extra year were you to switch to the nursing school from another department. Taking a gap year to figure things out initially can help prevent stress and save money later on.