1、2022 考研英语一冲刺课程阅读(陈正康)第 1 页 共 27 页2022 考研英语一冲刺阅读考研英语一冲刺阅读2020 年英语一阅读年英语一阅读Section IIReading ComprehensionPartADirections:Read the following four texts.Answer the questions after each text by choosing A,B,C orD.Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET.(40 points)Text 1A group of Labour MPs,among them Yve
2、tte Cooper,are bringing in the new year with a callto institute a UK“town of culture”award.The proposal is that it should sit alongside the existingcity of culture title,which was held by Hull in 2017,and has been awarded to Coventry for 2021.Cooper and her colleagues argue that the success of the c
3、rown for Hull,where it brought in220m of investment and an avalanche of arts,ought not to be confined to cities.Britains towns,it is true,are not prevented from applying,but they generally lack the resources to put together abid to beat their bigger competitors.A town of culture award could,it is ar
4、gued,become anannual event,attracting funding and creating jobs.Some might see the proposal as a booby prize for the fact that Britain is no longer able toapply for the much more prestigious title of European capital of culture,a sought-after awardbagged by Glasgow in 1990 and Liverpool in 2008.A cy
5、nic might speculate that the UK is on theverge of disappearing into an endless fever of self-celebration in its desperation to reinvent itselffor the post-Brexit world:after town of culture,who knows what will follow village of culture?Suburb of culture?Hamlet of culture?It is also wise to recall th
6、at such titles are not a cure-all.A badly run“year of culture”washesin and out of a place like the tide,bringing prominence for a spell but leaving no lasting benefitsto the community.The really successful holders of such titles are those that do a great deal morethan fill hotel bedrooms and bring i
7、n high-profile arts events and good press for a year.They2022 考研英语一冲刺课程阅读(陈正康)第 2 页 共 27 页transform the aspirations of the people who live there;they nudge the self-image of the city into abolder and more optimistic light.It is hard to get right,and requires a remarkable degree of vision,as well as
8、cooperation between city authorities,the private sector,community groups and culturalorganisations.But it can be done:Glasgows year as European capital of culture can certainly beseen as one of a complex series of factors that have turned the city into the powerhouse of art,music and theatre that it
9、 remains today.A“town of culture”could be not just about the arts but about honouring a townspeculiaritieshelping sustain its high street,supporting local facilities and above all celebratingits people.Jeremy Wright,the culture secretary,should welcome this positive,hope-filledproposal,and turn it i
10、nto action.21.Cooper and her colleagues argue that a“town of culture”award could _.A consolidate the town city tiles in BritainB promote cooperation among Britains townsC increase the economic strength of Brains townsD focus Brains limited resources on cultural events.22.According to paragraph 2,the
11、 proposal might be regarded by some as _.A a sensible compromiseB a self-deceiving attemptC an eye-catching bonusD an inaccessible target23.The author suggests that a title holder is successful only if it _.A endeavor to maintain its imageB meets the aspiration of its peopleC brings its local arts t
12、o prominenceD commits to its long-term growth24.Glasgow is mentioned in Paragraph 3 to present _.A a contrasting caseB a supporting exampleC a background storyD a related topic2022 考研英语一冲刺课程阅读(陈正康)第 3 页 共 27 页25.What is the authors attitude towards the proposal?_A Skeptical.B Objective.C Favorable.D
13、 Critical.Text 2Scientific publishing has long been a license to print money.Scientists need journals inwhich to publish their research,so they will supply the articles without monetary reward.Otherscientists perform the specialised work of peer review also for free,because it is a central elementin
14、 the acquisition of status and the production of scientific knowledge.With the content of papers secured for free,the publisher needs only to find a market for itsjournal.Until this century,university libraries were not very price sensitive.Scientific publishersroutinely report profit margins approa
15、ching 40%on their operations,at a time when the rest of thepublishing industry is in an existential crisis.The Dutch giant Elsevier,which claims to publish 25%of the scientific papers produced inthe world,made profits of more than 900m last year,while UK universities alone spent morethan 210m in 201
16、6 to enable researchers to access their own publicly funded research;bothfigures seem to rise unstoppably despite increasingly desperate efforts to change them.The most drastic,and thoroughly illegal,reaction has been the emergence of Sci-Hub,a kindof global photocopier for scientific papers,set up
17、in 2012,which now claims to offer access toevery paywalled article published since 2015.The success of Sci-Hub,which relies on researcherspassing on copies they have themselves legally accessed,shows the legal ecosystem has lostlegitimacy among its users and must be transformed so that it works for
18、all participants.In Britain the move towards open access publishing has been driven by funding bodies.Insome ways it has been very successful.More than half of all British scientific research is nowpublished under open access terms:either freely available from the moment of publication,orpaywalled f
19、or a year or more so that the publishers can make a profit before being placed ongeneral release.Yet the new system has not worked out any cheaper for the universities.Publishers haveresponded to the demand that they make their product free to readers by charging their writers2022 考研英语一冲刺课程阅读(陈正康)第
20、4 页 共 27 页fees to cover the costs of preparing an article.These range from around 500 to$5,000.A reportlast year pointed out that the costs both of subscriptions and of these“article preparation costs”had been steadily rising at a rate above inflation.In some ways the scientific publishing modelrese
21、mbles the economy of the social internet:Labour is provided free in exchange for the hope ofstatus,while huge profits are made by a few big firms who run the market places.26.Scientific publishing is seen as“a licence to print money”partly because _.A its funding has enjoyed a steady increaseB its m
22、arketing strategy has been successfulC its payment for peer review is reducedD its content acquisition costs nothing27.According to Paragraphs 2 and 3,scientific publishers like Elsevier have _.A thrived mainly on university librariesB gone through an existential crisisC revived the publishing indus
23、tryD financed researchers generously28.How does the author feel about the success of Sci-Hub?_A Relieved.B Puzzled.C Concerned.D Encouraged.29.It can be learned from Paragraphs 5 and 6 that open access terms _.A allow publishers some room to make moneyB render publishing much easier for scientistsC
24、reduce the cost of publication substantiallyD free universities from financial burdens30.Which of the following characterises the scientific publishing model?_A Trial subscription is offered.B Labour triumphs over status.C Costs are well controlled.D The few feed on the many.2022 考研英语一冲刺课程阅读(陈正康)第 5
25、 页 共 27 页Text 3Progressives often support diversity mandates as a path to equality and a way to level theplaying field.But all too often such policies are an insincere form of virtue-signaling that benefitsonly the most privileged and does little to help average people.A pair of bills sponsored by M
26、assachusetts state Senator Jason Lewis and House Speaker ProTempore Patricia Haddad,to ensure“gender parity”on boards and commissions,provide a case inpoint.Haddad and Lewis are concerned that more than half the state-government boards are lessthan 40 percent female.In order to ensure that elite wom
27、en have more such opportunities,theyhave proposed imposing government quotas.If the bills become law,state boards andcommissions will be required to set aside 50 percent of board seats for women by 2022.The bills are similar to a measure recently adopted in California,which last year became thefirst
28、 state to require gender quotas for private companies.In signing the measure,CaliforniaGovernor Jerry Brown admitted that the law,which expressly classifies people on the basis of sex,is probably unconstitutional.The US Supreme Court frowns on sex-based classifications unless they are designed toadd
29、ress an“important”policy interest.Because the California law applies to all boards,evenwhere there is no history of prior discrimination,courts are likely to rule that the law violates theconstitutional guarantee of“equal protection.”But are such government mandates even necessary?Female participati
30、on on corporateboards may not currently mirror the percentage of women in the general population,but so what?The number of women on corporate boards has been steadily increasing without governmentinterference.According to a study by Catalyst,between 2010 and 2015 the share of women on theboards of g
31、lobal corporations increased by 54 percent.Requiring companies to make gender the primary qualification for board membership willinevitably lead to less experienced private sector boards.That is exactly what happened whenNorway adopted a nationwide corporate gender quota.Writing in The New Republic,
32、Alice Lee notes that increasing the number of opportunitiesfor board membership without increasing the pool of qualified women to serve on such boards hasled to a“golden skirt”phenomenon,where the same elite women scoop up multiple seats on a2022 考研英语一冲刺课程阅读(陈正康)第 6 页 共 27 页variety of boards.Next ti
33、me somebody pushes corporate quotas as a way to promote gender equity,rememberthat such policies are largely self-serving measures that make their sponsors feel good but do littleto help average women.31.The author believes that the bills sponsored by Lewis and Haddad will _.A help little to reduce
34、gender biasB pose a threat to the state governmentC raise womens position in politicsD greatly broaden career options32.Which of the following is true of the California measure?_A It has irritated private business owners.B It is welcomed by the Supreme Court.C It may go against the Constitution.D It
35、 will settle the prior controversies.33.The author mentions the study by Catalyst to illustrate _.A the harm from arbitrary board decisionsB the importance of constitutional guaranteesC the pressure on women in global corporationsD the needlessness of government interventions34.Norways adoption of a
36、 nationwide corporate gender quota has led to _.A the underestimation of elite womens roleB the objection to female participation on boardsC the entry of unqualified candidates into the boardD the growing tension between labor and management35.Which of the following can be inferred from the text?_A
37、Womens needs in employment should be considered.B Feasibility should be a prime concern in policymaking.C Everyone should try hard to promote social justice.D Major social issues should be the focus of legislation.2022 考研英语一冲刺课程阅读(陈正康)第 7 页 共 27 页Text 4Last Thursday,the French Senate passed a digita
38、l services tax,which would impose anentirely new tax on large multinationals that provide digital services to consumers or users inFrance.Digital services include everything from providing a platform for selling goods andservices online to targeting advertising based on user data,and the tax applies
39、 to gross revenuefrom such services.Many French politicians and media outlets have referred to this as a“GAFAtax,”meaning that it is designed to apply primarily to companies such as Google,Apple,Facebook andAmazonin other words,multinational tech companies based in the United States.The digital serv
40、ices tax now awaits the signature of President Emmanuel Macron,who hasexpressed support for the measure,and it could go into effect within the next few weeks.But ithas already sparked significant controversy,with the United States trade representative opening aninvestigation into whether the tax dis
41、criminates against American companies,which in turn couldlead to trade sanctions against France.The French tax is not just a unilateral move by one country in need of revenue.Instead,thedigital services tax is part of a much larger trend,with countries over the past few years proposingor putting in
42、place an alphabet soup of new international tax provisions.These have includedBritains DPT(diverted profits tax),Australias MAAL(multinationalantiavoidance law),andIndias SEP(significant economic presence)test,to name but a few.At the same time,theEuropean Union,Spain,Britain and several other count
43、ries have all seriously contemplated digitalservices taxes.These unilateral developments differ in their specifics,but they are all designed to taxmultinationals on income and revenue that countries believe they should have a right to tax,evenif international tax rules do not grant them that right.I
44、n other words,they all share a view that theinternational tax system has failed to keep up with the current economy.In response to these many unilateral measures,the Organization for Economic Cooperationand Development(OECD)is currently working with 131 countries to reach a consensus by theend of 20
45、20 on an international solution.Both France and the United States are involved in theorganizations work,but Frances digital services tax and the American response raise questionsabout what the future holds for the international tax system.Frances planned tax is a clear warning:Unless a broad consens
46、us can be reached on2022 考研英语一冲刺课程阅读(陈正康)第 8 页 共 27 页reforming the international tax system,other nations are likely to follow suit,and Americancompanies will face a cascade of different taxes from dozens of nations that will proveburdensome and costly.36.The French Senate has passed a bill to_.A re
47、gulate digital services platformsB impose a levy on tech multinationalsC protect French companiesinterestsD curb the influence of advertising37.It can be learned from Paragraph 2 that the digital services tax _.A will prompt the tech giants to quit FranceB aims to ease international trade tensionsC
48、is apt to arouse criticism at home and abroadD may trigger countermeasures against France38.The countries adopting the unilateral measures share the opinion that _.A the current international tax system needs upgradingB redistribution of tech giantsrevenue must be ensuredC tech multinationalsmonopol
49、y should be preventedD all countries ought to enjoy equal taxing rights39.It can be learned from Paragraph 5 that the OECDs current work_.A is being resisted by US companiesB is faced with uncertain prospectsC needs to be readjusted immediatelyD needs to involve more countries40.Which of the followi
50、ng might be the best title for this text?_A France Leads the Charge on Digital TaxB France Is Confronted with Trade SanctionsC France Demands a Role in the Digital EconomyD France Says“No”to Tech Multinationals2022 考研英语一冲刺课程阅读(陈正康)第 9 页 共 27 页2021 年英语一阅读年英语一阅读Section IIReading ComprehensionPartADire