Text 3

　　When a new movement in art attains a certain fashion, it is advisable to find out what its advocates are aiming at, for, however farfetched and unreasonable their principles may seem today, it is possible that in years to come they may be regarded as normal. With regard to Futurist poetry, however, the case is rather difficult, for whatever Futurist poetry may be -- even admitting that the theory on which it is based may be right -- it can hardly be classed as Literature.

　　This, in brief, is what the Futurist says: for a century, past conditions of life have been conditionally speeding up, till now we live in a world of noise and violence and speed. Consequently, our feelings, thoughts and emotions have undergone a corresponding change. This speeding up of life, says the Futurist, requires a new form of expression. We must speed up our literature too, if we want to interpret modern stress. We must pour out a large stream of essential words, unhampered by stops, or qualifying adjectives, or finite verbs. Instead of describing sounds we must make up words that imitate them; we must use many sizes of type and different colored inks on the same page, and shorten or lengthen words at will.

　　Certainly their descriptions of battles are confused. But it is a little upsetting to read in the explanatory notes that a certain line describes a fight between a Turkish and a Bulgarian officer on a bridge off which they both fall into the river -- and then to find that the line consists of the noise of their falling and the weights of the officers: "Pluff! Pluff! A hundred and eighty-five kilograms."

　　This, though it fulfills the laws and requirements of Futurist poetry, can hardly be classed as Literature. All the same, no thinking man can refuse to accept their first proposition: that a great change in our emotional life calls for a change of expression. The whole question is really this: have we essentially changed?

　　59. This passage is mainly ________.

　　[A] a survey of new approaches to art

　　[B] a review of Futurist poetry

　　[C] about merits of the Futurist movement

　　[D] about laws and requirements of literature

　　60. When a novel literary idea appears, people should try to ________.

　　[A] determine its purposes

　　[B] ignore its flaws

　　[C] follow the new fashions

　　[D] accept the principles

　　61. Futurists claim that we must ________.

　　[A] increase the production of literature

　　[B] use poetry to relieve modern stress

　　[C] develop new modes of expression

　　[D] avoid using adjectives and verbs

　　62. The author believes that Futurist poetry is ________.

　　[A] based on reasonable principles

　　[B] new and acceptable to ordinary people

　　[C] indicative of basic change in human nature

　　[D] more of a transient phenomenon than literature

　　Text 4

　　Aimlessness has hardly been typical of the postwar Japan whose productivity and social harmony are the envy of the United States and Europe. But increasingly the Japanese are seeing a decline of the traditional work-moral values. Ten years ago young people were hardworking and saw their jobs as their primary reason for being, but now Japan has largely fulfilled its economic needs, and young people don't know where they should go next.

　　The coming of age of the postwar baby boom and an entry of women into the male-dominated job market have limited the opportunities of teenagers who are already questioning the heavy personal sacrifices involved in climbing Japan's rigid social ladder to good schools and jobs. In a recent survey, it was found that only 24.5 percent of Japanese students were fully satisfied with school life, compared with 67.2 percent of students in the United States. In addition, far more Japanese workers expressed dissatisfaction with their jobs than did their counterparts in the 10 other countries surveyed.

　　While often praised by foreigners for its emphasis on the basics, Japanese education tends to stress test taking and mechanical learning over creativity and self-expression. "Those things that do not show up in the test scores -- personality, ability, courage or humanity -- are completely ignored," says Toshiki Kaifu, chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's education committee. "Frustration against this kind of thing leads kids to drop out and run wild." Last year Japan experienced 2,125 incidents of school violence, including 929 assaults on teachers. Amid the outcry, many conservative leaders are seeking a return to the prewar emphasis on moral education. Last year Mitsuo Setoyama, who was then education minister, raised eyebrows when he argued that liberal reforms introduced by the American occupation authorities after World War II had weakened the "Japanese morality of respect for parents."

　　But that may have more to do with Japanese life-styles. "In Japan," says educator Yoko Muro, "it's never a question of whether you enjoy your job and your life, but only how much you can endure." With economic growth has come centralization; fully 76 percent of Japan's 119 million citizens live in cities where community and the extended family have been abandoned in favor of isolated, two generation households. Urban Japanese have long endured lengthy commutes (travels to and from work) and crowded living conditions, but as the old group and family values weaken, the discomfort is beginning to tell. In the past decade, the Japanese divorce rate, while still well below that of the United States, has increased by more than 50 percent, and suicides have increased by nearly one-quarter.

　　63. In the Westerner's eyes, the postwar Japan was ________.

　　[A] under aimless development

　　[B] a positive example

　　[C] a rival to the West

　　[D] on the decline

　　64. According to the author, what may chiefly be responsible for the moral decline of Japanese society?

　　[A] Women's participation in social activities is limited.

　　[B] More workers are dissatisfied with their jobs.

　　[C] Excessive emphasis his been placed on the basics.

　　[D] The life-style has been influenced by Western values.

　　65. Which of the following is true according to the author?

　　[A] Japanese education is praised for helping the young climb the social ladder.

　　[B] Japanese education is characterized by mechanical learning as well as creativity.

　　[C] More stress should be placed on the cultivation of creativity.

　　[D] Dropping out leads to frustration against test taking.

　　66. The change in Japanese Life-style is revealed in the fact that ________.

　　[A] the young are less tolerant of discomforts in life

　　[B] the divorce rate in Japan exceeds that in the U.S.

　　[C] the Japanese endure more than ever before

　　[D] the Japanese appreciate their present life

　　Text 5

　　If ambition is to be well regarded, the rewards of ambition -- wealth, distinction, control over one's destiny -- must be deemed worthy of the sacrifices made on ambition's behalf. If the tradition of ambition is to have vitality, it must be widely shared; and it especially must be highly regarded by people who are themselves admired, the educated not least among them. In an odd way, however, it is the educated who have claimed to have given up on ambition as an ideal. What is odd is that they have perhaps most benefited from ambition -- if not always their own then that of their parents and grandparents. There is heavy note of hypocrisy in this, a case of closing the barn door after the horses have escaped -- with the educated themselves riding on them.

　　Certainly people do not seem less interested in success and its signs now than formerly. Summer homes, European travel, BMWs -- the locations, place names and name brands may change, but such items do not seem less in demand today than a decade or two years ago. What has happened is that people cannot confess fully to their dreams, as easily and openly as once they could, lest they be thought pushing, acquisitive and vulgar. Instead, we are treated to fine hypocritical spectacles, which now more than ever seem in ample supply: the critic of American materialism with a Southampton summer home; the publisher of radical books who takes his meals in three-star restaurants; the journalist advocating participatory democracy in all phases of life, whose own children are enrolled in private schools. For such people and many more perhaps not so exceptional, the proper formulation is, "Succeed at all costs but avoid appearing ambitious."

　　The attacks on ambition are many and come from various angles; its public defenders are few and unimpressive, where they are not extremely unattractive. As a result, the support for ambition as a healthy impulse, a quality to be admired and fixed in the mind of the young, is probably lower than it has ever been in the United States. This does not mean that ambition is at an end, that people no longer feel its stirrings and promptings, but only that, no longer openly honored, it is less openly professed. Consequences follow from this, of course, some of which are that ambition is driven underground, or made sly. Such, then, is the way things stand: on the left angry critics, on the right stupid supporters, and in the middle, as usual, the majority of earnest people trying to get on in life.

　　67. It is generally believed that ambition may be well regarded if ________.

　　[A] its returns well compensate for the sacrifices

　　[B] it is rewarded with money, fame and power

　　[C] its goals are spiritual rather than material

　　[D] it is shared by the rich and the famous

　　68. The last sentence of the first paragraph most probably implies that it is ________.

　　[A] customary of the educated to discard ambition in words

　　[B] too late to check ambition once it has been let out

　　[C] dishonest to deny ambition after the fulfillment of the goal

　　[D] impractical for the educated to enjoy benefits from ambition

　　69. Some people do not openly admit they have ambition because ________.

　　[A] they think of it as immoral

　　[B] their pursuits are not fame or wealth

　　[C] ambition is not closely related to material benefits

　　[D] they do not want to appear greedy and contemptible

　　70. From the last paragraph the conclusion can be drawn that ambition should be maintained ________.

　　[A] secretly and vigorously

　　[B] openly and enthusiastically

　　[C] easily and momentarily

　　[D] verbally and spiritually

　　Section IV English-Chinese Translation

　　Directions:

　　Read the following passage carefully and then translate underlined sentences into Chinese. Your translation must be written neatly on ANSWER SHEET 2. (15 points)

　　Governments throughout the world act on the assumption that the welfare of their people depends largely on the economic strength and wealth of the community. 71) Under modern conditions, this requires varying measures of centralized control and hence the help of specialized scientists such as economists and operational research experts. 72) Furthermore, it is obvious that the strength of a country's economy is directly bound up with the efficiency of its agriculture and industry, and that this in turn rests upon the efforts of scientists and technologists of all kinds. It also means that governments are increasingly compelled to interfere in these sectors in order to step up production and ensure that it is utilized to the best advantage. For example, the may encourage research in various ways, including the setting up of their own research centers; they may alter the structure of education, or interfere in order to reduce the wastage of natural resources or tap resources hitherto unexploited; or they may cooperate directly in the growing number of international projects related to science, economics and industry. In any case, all such interventions are heavily dependent on scientific advice and also scientific and technological manpower of all kinds.

　　73) Owing to the remarkable development in mass-communications, people everywhere are feeling new wants and are being exposed to new customs and ideas, while governments are often forced to introduce still further innovations for the reasons given above. At the same time, the normal rate of social change throughout the world is taking place at a vastly accelerated speed compared with the past. For example, 74) in the early industrialized countries of Europe the process of industrialization -- with all the far-reaching changes in social patterns that followed -- was spread over nearly a century, whereas nowadays a developing nation may undergo the same process in a decade or so. All this has the effect of building up unusual pressures and tensions within the community and consequently presents serious problems for the governments concerned. 75) Additional social stresses may also occur because of the population explosion or problems arising from mass migration movements -- themselves made relatively easy nowadays by modern means of transport. As a result of all these factors, governments are becoming increasingly dependent on biologists and social scientists for planning the appropriate programs and putting them into effect.

　　Section V Writing

　　76. Directions:

　　[A] Study the following two pictures carefully and write an essay of at least 150 words.

　　[B] Your essay must be written neatly on ANSWER SHEET 2. (15 points)

　　[C] Your essay should meet the requirements below:

　　1. Describe the pictures.

　　2. Deduce the purpose of the drawer of the pictures

　　3. Suggest counter-measures.

　　以上就是2000年考研英语真题，希望考生能够对每一道真题都吃透，这样再碰到类似题型时即可知道如何解答，最后文都教育预祝各位考生2018考研成功。

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