2009年全国硕士研究生招生考试英语试题Section I Use of EnglishDirections: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.1the fruit-fly experiments described by Carl Zimmer in theScience Times. Fruit flies who were taught to be smarter than the average fruit fly2to live shorter lives. This suggests that3bulbs burn longer, that there is a(n)4innot being too bright. Intelligence, it5, is a high-priced option. It takes more upkeep, burns more fuel and is slow6the starting line because it depends on learning a(n)7process instead of instinct. Plenty of other species are able to learn, and one of the things theyve apparently learned is when to8.Is there an adaptive value to9intelligence? Thats the question behind this new research. Instead of casting a wistful glance10at all the species weve left in the dust I.Q.-wise, it implicitly asks what the real11of our own intelligence might be. This is12the mind of every animal weve ever met.Research on animal intelligence also makes us wonder what experiments animals would13on humans if they had the chance. Every cat with an owner,14, is running a small-scale study in operant conditioning. We believe that15animals ran the labs, they would test us to16the limits of our patience, our faithfulness, our memory for locations. They would try to decide what intelligence in humans is really17, not merely how much of it there is.18, they would hope to study a(n)19question: Are humans actually aware of the world they live in?20the results are inconclusive.1.A Suppose B Consider C Observe D Imagine2.A tended B feared C happened D threatened3.A thinner B stabler C lighter D dimmer4.A tendency B advantage C inclination D priority5.A insists on B sums up C turns out D puts forward6.A off B behind C over D along7.A incredible B spontaneous C inevitable D gradual8.A fight B doubt C stop D think9.A invisible B limited C indefinite D different10.A upward B forward C afterward D backward11.A features B influences C results D costs12.A outside B on C by D across13.A deliver B carry C perform D apply14.A by chance B in contrast C as usual D for instance15.A if B unless C as D lest16.A moderate B overcome C determine D reach17.A at B for C after D with18.A Above all B After all C However D Otherwise19.A fundamental B comprehensiveC equivalent D hostile20.A By accident B In time C So far D Better stillSection II Reading ComprehensionPart ADirections: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 1Habits are a funny thing. We reach for them mindlessly, setting our brains on auto-pilot and relaxing into the unconscious comfort of familiar routine. “Not choice, but habit rules the unreflecting herd,” William Wordsworth said in the 19th century. In the ever-changing 21st century, even the word “habit” carries a negative implication.So it seems paradoxical 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 paths, and even entirely new brain cells, that can jump our trains of thought onto new, innovative tracks.Rather than dismissing ourselves as unchangeable creatures of habit, we can instead direct our own change by consciously developing new habits. In fact, the more new things we trythe more we step outside our comfort zonethe more inherently creative we become, both in the workplace and in our personal lives.But dont bother trying to kill off old habits; once thoserutsof procedure are worn into the brain, theyre there to stay. Instead, the new habits we deliberately press into ourselves create parallel pathways that can bypass those old roads.“The first thing needed for innovation is a fascination with wonder,” says Dawna Markova, author ofThe Open Mind. “But we are taught instead to decide, just as our president calls himself the Decider. ” She adds, however, that “to 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 were unaware, she says. Researchers in the late 1960s discovered that humans are born with the capa