2008考研英語沖刺試題解析(4)

字號:

Part B
    Directions:
    The following paragraphs are given in a wrong order. For Questions 41~45,you are required to reorganize these paragraphs into a coherent article by choosing from the list A—G to fill in each numbered box. The first and last paragraphs have been placed for you in Boxes. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)
    [A] These difficulties are compounded by question-marks caused by government policy proposals,for example,concerning moves from direct to indirect taxation or regulations concerning the introduction of lead-free petrol. Increasingly,consumers may find that structural changes in the world economy are undermining expectations about employment and promotion prospects that they have long taken for granted; yet new opportunities may not instantly stand out. Added to these worries are new puzzles arising from social changes such as the rise of the Women’s Movement—for example,how a couple might carve out two careers as a joint future without these endangering each other. Given this,one might expect that economists would devote a good deal of attention to the ways in which consumers set about making up their minds in situations of uncertainty and complexity.
    [B] Unfortunately,this has not been the case. The typical economist proceeds to analyze consumer behavior in a way which makes the problem of choice trivial. The individual consumer is portrayed as if she already has a completely specified set of preferences and seeks to maximize her utility subject to three constraints: her accumulated human and non-human capital,the state of technology,and the prevailing set of relative prices. The consumer’s prior investments in her own skills,coupled with her initial endowment of human capital,determine her employment opportunities. The latter,in turn,constrain her in respect of the commodities she will be able and inclined to purchase,given the prevailing set of prices.
    [C] If opportunities are not to be thrown needlessly away,the consumer must be a skilled spectator and strategist. Instability in exchange rates and inflation rates,and the unevenness with which inflationary forces feed through the system,makes it difficult to assess trends in respect to relative prices,including real wages.
    [D] Having assumed that the consumer is able to rank hypothetical bundles of consumption goods and employment obligations in order of preference,it is not surprising that the typical economist comes to think of the consumer simply as if she selects the highest-ranking bundle from her feasible set. What we have is an example of what Herbert Simon calls “substantive rationality”: the achievement of given goals within the limits imposed by given conditions.
    [E] Technological change results in flux in the qualities and varieties of goods on offer,while the increasing complexity of modern products opens up scope for expensive errors when consumer durables are being purchased: the modern consumer cannot hope to be an expert buyer in all markets.
    [F]How the consumer works out what these “given conditions” might be is not discussed. The economist theories as if the consumer has defined her problem in advance in a way that makes its solution transparent,and then allows her on to the stage seemingly to solve it.
    [G]Being a consumer is not an easy role to play successfully,even in an affluent society. Consumers have to act in a complex,unsettled world where surprises are commonplace and not more deviations around a trend,a world full of novelty and obsolescence,a world that is,in short,turbulent.
    Order:
    G →41. →42. →43. →44. →45. →F
    Part C
    Directions:
    Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese. Your translation must be written neatly on ANSWER SHEET 2. (10 points)
    Justice in society must include both a fair trial to the accused and the selection of an appropriate punishment for those proven guilty. Because justice is regarded as one form of equality,we find in its earlier expressions the idea of a punishment equal to the crime. Recorded in the Bible is the expression “an eye for an eye,and a tooth for a tooth.” That is,the individual who has done wrong has committed an offense against society. 46) To make repayment for this offense,society must get equally balanced,which can be done only by imposing an equal injury upon him. 47) This conception of deserved-punishment justice is reflected in many parts of the legal codes and procedures of modern times,which is illustrated when we demand the death penalty for a person who has committed murder. This philosophy of punishment was supported by the German idealist Hegel,who believed that society owed it to the criminal to put into operation a punishment equal to the crime he had committed. 48) The criminal had by his own actions denied his true self and it is necessary to do something that will eliminate this denial and restore the self that has been denied. To the murderer nothing less than giving up his own life will pay his debt. The demand for the death penalty is a right the state owes the criminal and it should not deny him what he deserves.
    Modern jurists have tried to replace deserved-punishment justice with the notion of corrective justice. The aim of the latter is not to abandon the concept of equality but to find a more adequate way to express it. It tries to preserve the idea of equal opportunity for each individual to realize the best that is in him. 49) The criminal is regarded as being socially ill and in need of treatment that will enable him to become a normal member of society. Before a treatment can be put into operation,the cause of his antisocial behavior must be found. If the cause can be removed,provisions must be made to have this done. Only those criminals who are incurable should be permanently separated from the rest of society. This does not mean that criminals will escape punishment or be quickly returned to take up careers of crime. It means that justice is to heal the individual,not simply to get even with him. If severe punishment is the only adequate means for accomplishing this,it should be administered. 50) However,the individual should be given every opportunity to assume a normal place in society,and his conviction of crime must not deprive him of the opportunity to make his way in the society of which he is a part.
    Section Ⅲ Writing
    Part A
    51. Directions:
    Write a letter to your professor, making an apology for the delayed return of the issues of U.S. business magazine you borrowed from him a month ago.
    You should write about 100 words on ANSWER SHEET 2.
    Do not sign your own name at the end of the letter. Use “Li Ming” instead.
    Do not write the address.(10 points)
    Part B
    52. Directions:
    Study the following cartoon carefully and write an essay in which you should
    1) describe the cartoon,
    2) interpret its main idea,and
    3) propose possible solutions.You should write about 160~200 words neatly on ANSWER SHEET 2.(20 points)