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

湘潭大学

At the heart of the debate over illegal immigration lies one key question: are immigrants good or bad for the economy? The American public overwhelmingly thinks they’re bad. Yet the consensus among most economists is that immigration, both legal and illegal, provides a small net boost to the economy. Immigrants provide cheap labor, lower the prices of everything from farm produce to new homes, and leave consumers with a little more money in their pockets. So why is there such a discrepancy between the perception of immigrants’ impact on the economy and the reality?There are a number of familiar theories. Some argue that people are anxious and feel threatened by an inflow of new workers. Others highlight the strain that undocumented immigrants place on public services, like schools, hospitals, and jails. Still others emphasize the role of race, arguing that foreigners add to the nation’s fears and insecurities. There’s some truth to all these explanations, but they aren’t quite sufficient.To get a better understanding of what’s going on; consider the way immigration’s impact is felt. Though its overall effect may be positive, its costs and benefits are distributed unevenly. David Card, an economist at UC Berkeley, notes that the ones who profit most directly from immigrants’ low-cost labor are businesses and employers — meatpacking plants in Nebraska, for instance, or agricultural businesses in California. Granted, these producers’ savings probably translate into lower prices at the grocery store, but how many consumers make that mental connection at the checkout counter? As for the drawbacks of illegal immigration, these, too, are concentrated. Native low-skilled workers suffer most from the competition of foreign labor. According to a study by George Boras, a Harvard economist, immigration reduced the wages of American high-school dropouts by 9% between1980-2000.1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?2. In what way does the author think ordinary Americans benefit from immigration?3. Why do native low-skilled workers suffer most from illegal immigration?

Apparently everyone knows that global warming only makes climate more extreme. A hot, dry summer has triggered another flood of such claims. And, while many interests are at work, one of the players that benefits the most from this story are the media: the notion of “extreme” climate simply makes for more compelling news.Consider Paul Krugman writing breathlessly in The New York Times about the “rising incidence of extreme events,” He claims that global warming caused the current drought in America’s Midwest, and that supposedly record-high corn prices could cause a global food crisis.But the United Nations climate panel’s latest assessment tells us precisely the opposite. For “North America there is medium confidence that there has an overall slight tendency toward less dryness” Moreover, there is no way that Krugman could have identified this drought as being caused by global warming without a time machine; Climate models estimate that such detection will be possible by 2048, at the earliest.And, fortunately, this year’s drought appears unlikely to cause a food crisis, as global rice and wheat supplies retain plentiful. Moreover, Krugman overlooks inflation: Prices have increased six-fold since 1969. So, while corn futures (期货) did set a record of about $8 per bushel (葡式耳) in late July, the inflation-adjusted price of corn was higher throughout most of the 1970s, reaching 516 in 1974.Finally, Krugman conveniently forgets that concerns about global warming are the main reason that corn prices have skyrocketed since 2005. Nowadays 40 percent of corn grown in the United States is used to produce ethanol (乙醇), which does absolutely nothing for the climate, but certainly distorts the price of corn — at the expense of many of the world’s poorest people.1. In what way do the media benefit from extreme weather?2. What is the author’s comment on Krugman’s claim about the current drought in America’s Midwest?3. What is the chief reason for the rise in corn prices according to the author?

In the early 20th century, few things were more appealing than the promise of scientific knowledge. In a world struggling with rapid industrialization, science and technology seemed to offer solutions to almost every problem. Newly created state colleges and universities devoted themselves almost entirely to scientific, technological, and engineering fields. Many Americans came to believe that scientific certainty could not only solve scientific problems, but also reform politics, government, and business. Two world wars and a Great Depression rocked the confidence of many people that scientific expertise alone could create a prosperous and ordered world. After World War Ⅱ, the academic world turned with new enthusiasm to humanistic studies, which seemed to many scholars the best way to ensure the survival of democracy. American scholars fanned out across much of the world — with support from the Ford Foundation, the Fulbright program, etc. — to promote the teaching of literature and the arts in an effort to make the case for democratic freedoms.In the America of our own time, the great educational challenge has become an effort to strengthen the teaching of what is now known as the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and math). There is considerable and justified concern that the United States is falling behind much of the rest of the developed world in these essential disciplines. India, China, Japan, and other regions seem to be seizing technological leadership.At the same time, perhaps inevitably, the humanities — while still popular in elite colleges and universities — have experienced a significant decline. Humanistic disciplines are seriously underfunded, not just by the government and the foundations but by academic institutions themselves. Humanists are usually among the lowest-paid faculty members at most institutions and are often lightly regarded because they do not generate grant income and because they provide no obvious credentials (资质) for most nonacademic careers.Undoubtedly American education should train more scientists and engineers. Much of the concern among politicians about the state of American universities today is focused on the absence of “real world” education — which means preparation for professional and scientific careers. But the idea that institutions or their students must decide between humanities and science is false. Our society could not survive without scientific and technological knowledge. But we would be equally impoverished (贫困的) without humanistic knowledge as well. Science and technology teach us what we can do. Humanistic thinking helps us understand what we should do.It is almost impossible to imagine our society without thinking of the extraordinary achievements of scientists and engineers in building our complicated world. But try to imagine our world as well without the remarkable works that have defined our culture and values. We have always needed, and we still need, both.1. In the early 20th century Americans believed science and technology could（）.2. Why did many American scholars become enthusiastic about humanistic studies after World War Ⅱ?3. Why are American scholars worried about education today?4. What accounts for the significant decline in humanistic studies today?5. Why does the author attach so much importance to humanistic studies?

Air pollution is deteriorating in many places around the world. The fact that public parks in cities become crowded as soon as the sun shines proves that people long to breathe in green, open spaces. They do not all know what they are seeking but they flock there, nevertheless. And, in these surroundings, they are generally both peaceful and peaceable. It is rare to see people fighting in a garden. Perhaps struggle unfolds first, not at an economic or social level, but over the appropriation of air, essential to life itself.If human beings can breathe and share air, they don’t need to struggle with one another. Unfortunately, in our western tradition, neither materialist nor idealist theoreticians give enough consideration to this basic condition for life. As for politicians, despite proposing curbs on environmental pollution, they have not yet called for it to be made a crime. Wealthy countries are even allowed to pollute if they pay for it.But is our life worth anything other than money? The plant world shows us in silence what faithfulness to life consists of. It also helps us to a new beginning, urging us to care for our breath, not only at a vital but also at a spiritual level. The interdependence to which we must pay the closest attention is that which exists between ourselves and the plant world. Often described as “the lungs of the planet”, the woods that cover the earth offer us the gift of breathable air by releasing oxygen. But their capacity to renew the air polluted by industry has long reached its limit. If we lack the air necessary for a healthy life, it is because we have filled it with chemicals and undercut the ability of plants to regenerate it. As we know, rapid deforestation combined with the massive burning of fossil fuels is an explosive recipe for an irreversible disaster.The fight over the appropriation of resources will lead the entire planet to hell unless humans learn to share life, both with each other and with plants. This task is simultaneously ethical and political because can be discharged only when each takes it upon herself or himself and only when it is accomplished together with others. The lesson taught by plants is that sharing life expands and enhances the sphere of the living, while dividing life into so-called natural or human resources diminishes it. We must come to view the air, the plants and ourselves as the contributors to the preservation of life and growth, rather than a web of quantifiable objects or productive potentialities at our disposal. Perhaps then we would finally begin to live, rather than being concerned with bare survival.1. What does the author assume might be the primary reason that people would struggle with each other?2. What does the author accuse western politicians of?3. What does the author try to draw our closest attention to?4. How can human beings accomplish the goal of protecting the planet according to the author?5. What does the author suggest we do in order not just to survive?

Organized volunteering and work experience has long been a vital companion to university degree courses. Usually it is left to（1）to deduce the potential from a list of extracurricular adventures on a graduate’s resume,（2）now the University of Bristol has launched an award to formalize the achievements of students who（3）time to activities outside their courses. Bristol Plus aims to boost students in an increasingly（4）job market by helping them acquire work and life skills alongside（5）qualifications.“Our students are a pretty active bunch, but we found that they didn’t（6）appreciate the value of what they did（7）the lecture hall,” says Jeff Goodman, director of careers and employability at the university. “Employers are much more（8）than they used to be. They used to look for（9）and saw it as part of their job to extract the value of an applicant’s skills. Now they want students to be able to explain why those skills are（10）to the job.”Students who sign（11）for the award will be expected to complete 50 hours of work experience or（12）work, attend four workshops on employ-ability skills, take part in an intensive skills-related activity（13）, crucially, write a summary of the skills they have gained.（14）efforts will gain an Outstanding Achievement Award. Those who（15）best on the sports field can take the Sporting plus Award which fosters employer-friendly sports accomplishments.The experience does not have to be（16）organized. “We’re not just interested in easily identifiable skills,” says Goodman. “（17）, one student took the lead in dealing with a difficult landlord and so（18）negotiation skills. We try to make the experience relevant to individual lives.”Goodman hopes the（19）will enable active students to fill in any gaps in their experience and encourage their less-active（20）to take up activities outside their academic area of work.

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