2024年6月16日发(作者：)

2021年考研英语真题（含答案解析）

Directions:

Section I Use of English

Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank

and mark A, B, C or

D on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)

Research on animal intelligence always makes me wonder just how smart

humans are. 1 the fruit-fly experiments described in Carl Zimmer's piece in the

Science Times on Tuesday. Fruit flies who were taught to be smarter than the

average fruit fly 大2家 to live shorter lives. This suggests that 大3家 bulbs burn

longer, that there is an 大4家 in not being too terrifically bright.

Intelligence, it 大5家 out, is a high-priced option. It takes more upkeep,

burns more fuel and is slow 大6家 the starting line because it depends on

learning ― a gradual 大7家 ― instead of instinct. Plenty of other species are able to

learn, and one of the things they've apparently learned is when to 大8家.

Is there an adaptive value to 大9家 intelligence? That's the question behind

this new research. I like it. Instead of casting a wistful glance 大10家 at all the

species we've left in the dust I.Q.-wise, it implicitly asks what the real 大11家 of

our own intelligence might be. This is 大12家 the mind of every animal I've ever

met. Research on animal intelligence also makes me wonder what experiments

animals would 大13家 on humans if they had the chance. Every cat with an

owner, 大14家, is running a small-scale study in operant conditioning. we believe

that 大15家 animals ran the labs, they would test us to 大16家 the limits of our

patience, our faithfulness, our memory for terrain. They would try to decide what

intelligence in humans is really 17 , not merely how much of it there is.大18家,

they would hope to study a 大19家 question: Are humans actually aware of the

world they live in? 大20家 the results are inconclusive. 1. [A] Suppose [B]

Consider [C] Observe [D] Imagine 2. [A] tended [B] feared [C] happened [D]

threatened 3. [A] thinner [B] stabler [C] lighter [D] dimmer 4. [A] tendency [B]

advantage [C] inclination [D] priority 5. [A] insists on [B] sums up [C] turns out [D]

puts forward 6. [A] off [B] behind [C] over [D] along 7. [A] incredible [B]

spontaneous [C] inevitable [D] gradual 8. [A] fight [B] doubt [C] stop [D] think 9.

[A] invisible [B] limited [C] indefinite [D] different 10. [A] upward [B] forward [C]

afterward [D] backward 11. [A] features [B] influences [C] results [D] costs 12. [A]

outside [B] on [C] by [D] across 13. [A] deliver [B] carry [C] perform [D] apply

14. [A] by chance [B] in contrast [C] as usual [D] for instance 15. [A] if [B]

unless [C] as [D] lest 16. [A] moderate [B] overcome [C] determine [D] reach 17. [A]

at [B] for [C] after [D] with 18. [A] Above all [B] After all [C] However [D]

Otherwise 19. [A] fundamental [B] comprehensive[C] equivalent [D] hostile 20. [A]

By accident [B] In time [C] So far [D] Better still

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 ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)

Text 1

Habits are a funny thing. We reach for them mindlessly, setting our brains on

auto-pilot and relaxing into the unconscious comfort of familiar routine. the

unreflecting herd,William Wordsworth said in the 19th century. In the ever-

changing 21st century, even the word

So it seems antithetical to talk about habits in the same context as creativity

and innovation. But brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously

develop new habits, we create parallel synaptic paths, and even entirely new brain

cells, that can jump our trains of thought onto new, innovative tracks.

But don't bother trying to kill off old habits; once those ruts of procedure are

worn into the hippocampus, they're there to stay. Instead, the new habits we

deliberately ingrain into ourselves create parallel pathways that can bypass those

old roads.

for innovation is a fascination with wonder,Markova, author of Open

Mindand an executive change consultant for Professional Thinking Partners.

She adds, however, that decide is to kill off all possibilities but one. A good

innovational thinker is always exploring the many other possibilities.

All of us work through problems in ways of which we're unaware, she says.

Researchers in the late 1960 covered that humans are born with the capacity to

approach challenges in four primary ways: analytically, procedurally, relationally

(or collaboratively) and innovatively. At puberty, however, the brain shuts down

half of that capacity, preserving only those modes of thought that have seemed

most valuable during the first decade or so of life.

The current emphasis on standardized testing highlights analysis and

procedure, meaning that few of us inherently use our innovative and

collaborative modes of thought. breaks the major rule in the American belief

system ― that anyone can do anything,Ryan, author of the 2021 book Year I

and Ms. Markova's business partner. a lie that we have perpetuated, and it

fosters commonness. Knowing what you're good at and doing even more of it

creates excellence.21. The view of Wordsworth habit is claimed by being ________.

A. casual B. familiar C. mechanical D. changeable

22. The researchers have discovered that the formation of habit can be

________

A. predicted B. regulated C. traced D. guided 23.

A. tracks B. series C. characteristics D. connections

24. Ms. Markova's comments suggest that the practice of standard testing

________?

A, prevents new habits form being formed B, no longer emphasizes

commonness

C, maintains the inherent American thinking model D, complies with the

American belief system 25. Ryan most probably agree that

A. ideas are born of a relaxing mind B. innovativeness could be taught

C. decisiveness derives from fantastic ideas D. curiosity activates creative

minds

Text 2

It is a wise father that knows his own child, but today a man can boost his

paternal (fatherly) wisdom �C or at least confirm that he's the kid's dad. All he

needs to do is shell our $30 for paternity testing kit (PTK) at his local drugstore

�C and another $120 to get the results. More than 60,000 people have

purchased the PTKs since they first become available without prescriptions last

years, according to Doug Fog, chief operating officer of Identigene, which makes

the over-the-counter kits. More than two dozen companies sell DNA tests Directly

to the public , ranging in price from a few hundred dollars to more than $2500.

Among the most popular : paternity and kinship testing , which adopted

children can use to find their biological relatives and latest rage a many

passionate genealogists-and supports businesses that offer to search for a

family's geographic roots .

Most tests require collecting cells by webbing saliva in the mouth and

sending it to the company for testing. All tests require a potential candidate with

whom to compare DNA. But some observers are skeptical, is a kind of false

precision being hawked by people claiming they are doing ancestry testing,says

Trey Duster, a New York University sociologist. He notes that each individual has

many ancestors-numbering in the hundreds just a few centuries back. Yet most

ancestry testing only considers a single lineage, either the Y chromosome

inherited through men in a father's line or mitochondrial DNA, which a passed

down only from mothers. This DNA can reveal genetic information about only

one or two ancestors, even though, for example, just three generations back

people also have six other great-grandparents or, four generations back, 14 other

great-great-grandparents.

Critics also argue that commercial genetic testing is only as good as the

reference collections to which a sample is compared. Databases used by some

companies don't rely on data collected systematically but rather lump together

information from different research projects. This means that a DNA database

may differ depending on the company that processes the results. In addition, the

computer programs a company uses to estimate relationships may be patented

and not subject to peer review or outside evaluation. 26. In paragraphs 1 and 2,

the text shows PTK's ___________.

[A] easy availability

[B] flexibility in pricing [C] successful promotion

[D] popularity with households 27. PTK is used to __________.

[A] locate one's birth place [B] promote genetic research

[C] identify parent-child kinship [D] choose children for adoption

28. Skeptical observers believe that ancestry testing fails to__________.