试题库在线考试题库-历年真题模拟试题及答案-考博英语在线试题测试中心-希赛网

清华大学

The terrorist attacks in London Thursday served as a jarring reminder that in today’s world, you never know what you might see when you pick up the newspaper or turn on the TV. Disturbing images of terror can trigger a visceral response no matter how close or far away from home the event happened.Throughout history, every military conflict has involved psychological warfare in one way or another as the enemy sought to break the morale of their opponent. But thanks to advances in technology, the popularity of the Internet, and proliferation of news coverage, the rules of engagement in this type of mental battle have changed.Whether it’s a massive attack or a single horrific act, the effects of psychological warfare aren’t limited to the physical damage inflicted. Instead, the goal of these attacks is to instill a sense of fear that is much greater than the actual threat itself.Therefore, the impact of psychological terror depends largely on how the acts are publicized and interpreted. But that also means there are ways to defend yourself and your loved ones by putting these fears into perspective and protecting your children from horrific images.What Is Psychological Terror? "The use of terrorism as a tactic is predicated upon inducing a climate of fear that is incommensurate with the actual threaten," says Middle Eastern historian Richard Bulliet of Columbia University. “Every time you have an act of violence, publicizing that violence becomes an important part of the act itself.”“There are various ways to have your impact. You can have your impact by the magnitude of what you do, by the symbolic character of target, or the horrific quality of what you do to a single person ” Bulliet tells WebMD. “The point is that it isn’t what you do, but it’s how it’s covered that determines the effect.” For example, Bulliet says the Iranian hostage crisis, which began in 1979 and lasted for 444 days, was actually one of the most harmless things that happened in the Middle East in the last 25 years. All of the U. S. hostages were eventually released unharmed，but the event remains a psychological scar for many Americans who watched helplessly as each evening’s newscast counted the days the hostages were being held captive.Bulliet says terrorists frequently exploit images of a group of masked individuals exerting total power over their captives to send the message that the act is a collective demonstration of the group’s power rather than an individual criminal act. “You don’t have the notion that a certain person has taken a hostage. It’s an image of group power, and the force becomes generalized rather than personalized,” says Bulliet. “ The randomness and the ubiquity of the threat give the impression of vastly greater capacities. ’’Psychiatrist Ansar Haroun, who served in the U. S. Army Reserves in the first Gulf War and more recently in Afghanistan, says that terrorist groups often resort to psychological warfare because it’s the only tactic they have available to them. “They don’t have M-16s, and we have M-16s. They don’t have the mighty military power that we have, and they only have access to things like kidnapping," says Haroun, who is also a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego.“In psychological warfare, even one beheading can have the psychological impact that might be associated with killing 1,000 of the enemy," Haroun tells WebM D. “You haven’t really harmed the enemy very much by killing one person on the other side. But in terms of inspiring fear, anxiety, terror, and making us all feel bad, you’ve achieved a lot of demoralization."1.Which of the following statements is NOT among the reasons that change the rules of psychological warfare?（）2.According to Richard Bulliet, why does "publicizing an act of violence becomes an important part of terrorism itself”?（）3.The Iranian hostage crisis shows that（） .4.The randomness and the ubiquity of the terrorist acts bring to the public the impression that（）.

The collapse of the Earth’s magnetic field — which guards the planet and guides many of its creatures — appears to have started seriously about 150 years ago, the New York Times reported last week.The field’s strength has decreased by 10 or 15 percent so far and this has increased the debate over whether it signals a reversal of the planet’s lines of magnetic force.During a reversal, the main field weakens, almost vanishes, and reappears with opposite polarity （极）.The transition would take thousands of years. Once completed, compass needles that had pointed north would point south. A reversal could cause problems for both man and animals. Astronauts and satellites would have difficulties. Birds, fish and animals that rely on the magnetic field for navigation would find migration confusing. But experts said the effects would not be a big disaster, despite claims of doom and vague evidence of links between past field reversals and species extinctions.Although a total transition may be hundreds or thousands of years away, the rapid decline in magnetic strength is already affecting satellites. Last month, the European Space Agency approved the world’s largest effort at tracking the field’s shifts. A group of new satellites, called Swarm, is to monitor the collapsing field with far greater precision. “ We want to get some idea of how this would evolve in the near future, just like people trying to predict the weather，” said Gauthier Hulot, a French geophysicist working on the satellite plan. “I’m personally quite convinced we should be able to work out the first predictions by the end of the mission. ’’No matter what the new findings, the public has no reason to panic. Even if a transition is coming on its way, it might take 2, 000 years to mature. The last one took place 780,000 years ago, when early humans were learning how to make stone tools. Deep inside the Earth flow hot currents of melted iron. This mechanical energy creates electromagnetism. This process is known as the geophysical generator. In a car’s generator, the same principle turns mechanical energy into electricity.No one knows precisely why the field periodically reverses. But scientists say the responsibility probably lies with changes in the disorderly flows of melted iron, which they see as similar to the gases that make up the clouds of Jupiter.1.According to the passage, the Earth’s magnetic field has（） .2.During the transition of the Earth’s magnetic field （）.3.The author says the public has no reason to panic” because（） .4.The cause of the transition of the Earth’s magnetic field comes from（） .

There are over 6, 000 different computer and online games in the world now. A segment of them are considered to be both educational and harmlessly entertaining. One such game teaches geography, and another trains pilots. Others train the player in logical thinking and problem solving. Some games may also help young people to become more computer literate, which is more important in this technology-driven era.But the dark side of the computer games has become more and more obvious. “A segment of games features anti-social themes of violence, sex and crude language,” says David Walsh, president of the National Institute on Media and Family. “Unfortunately, it’s a segment that seems particularly popular with kids aged eight to fifteen.”One study showed that almost 80 percent of the computer and online games young people preferred contained violence. The investigators said, “These are not just games anymore. These are learning machines. We’re teaching kids in the most incredible manner what it’s like to pull the trigger. What they are not learning are the real-life consequences. ’’They also said, "The new and more sophisticated games are even worse, because they have better graphics and allow the player to participate in even more realistic violent acts. ” In the game Carmageddon, for example, the player will have driven over and killed up to 33, 000 people by the time all levels are completed. A description of the outcome of the game says: “Your victims not only squish under your tires and splatter blood on the windshield. They also get on their knees and beg for mercy, or commit suicide. If you like, you can also dismember them. ”Is all this simulated violence harmful? Approximately 3, 000 different studies have been conducted on this subject. Many have suggested that there is a connection between violence in games and increased aggressiveness in the players.Some specialists downplay the influence of the games, saying that other factors must be taken into consideration, such as the possibility that kids who already have violent tendencies are choosing such games. But could it be that violent games still play a contributing role? It seems unrealistic to insist that people are not influenced by what they see. If that were true, why would the commercial world spend billions of dollars annually for television advertising?1.Which of the following computer games are NOT mentioned as educational and harmlessly entertaining?（）2.According to the investigators,（）.3.It can be inferred from the passage that （）. 4.The author uses “television advertising” as an example to show that （）.

Artificial intelligence deals partly with the （）between the computer and the human brain.

The military operations（）yesterday were targeted at the military installations.

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