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1、2021年全国硕士研究生招生考试英语（二）试题Section IUse of EnglishDirections:Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on the ANSWER SHEET. (10 points)Its not difficult to set targets for staff. It is much harder, 1 , to understand their negative consequences. Most w
2、ork-related behaviors have multiple components. 2 one and the others become distorted.Travel on a London bus and youll 3 see how this works with drivers. Watch people get on and show their tickets. Are they carefully inspected? Never. Do people get on without paying? Of course! Are there inspectors
3、to 4 that people have paid? Possibly, but very few. And people who run for the bus? They are 5 . How about jumping lights? Buses do so almost as frequently as cyclists.Why? Because the target is 6 . People complained that buses were late and infrequent. 7 , the number of buses and bus lanes were inc
4、reased, and drivers were 8 or punished according to the time they took. And drivers hit these targets. But they 9 hit cyclists. If the target was changed to 10 , you would have more inspectors and more sensitive pricing. If the criterion changed to safety, you would get more 11 drivers who obeyed tr
5、affic laws. But both these criteria would be at the expense of time.There is another 12 : people became immensely inventive in hitting targets. Have you13 that you can leave on a flight an hour late but still arrive on time? Tailwinds? Of course not! Airlines have simply changed the time a 14 is mea
6、nt to take. A one-hour flight is now billed as a two-hour flight.The 15 of the story is simple. Most jobs are multidimensional, with multiple criteria. Choose one criterion and you may well 16 others. Everything can be done faster and made cheaper, but there is a 17 . Setting targets can and does ha
7、ve unforeseen negative consequences.This is not an argument against target-setting. But it is an argument for exploring consequences first. All good targets should have multiple criteria 18 critical factors such as time, money, quality and customer feedback. The trick is not only to 19 just one or e
8、ven two dimensions of the objective, but also to understand how to help people better 20 the objective.1.A thereforeB howeverC againDmoreover2.A EmphasizeB IdentifyC AccessD Explain3.A nearlyB curiouslyC eagerlyD quickly4.A claimB proveC checkDrecall5.A ignoredB threatenedC mockedD blamed6.A punctua
9、lityB hospitalityC competitionD innovation7.A YetB SoC BesidesD Still8.A hiredB trainedC rewardedD grouped9.A onlyB ratherC onceD also10. A comfortB revenueC efficiencyD security11. A friendlyB quietC cautiousD diligent12. ApurposeB problemC prejudiceD policy13. A reportedB revealedC admittedD notic
10、ed14. A breakB tripC departmentD transfer15. A moralB backgroundC styleD form16. A interpretB criticizeC sacrificeD tolerate17. A taskB secretC protectD cost18. A leading toB calling forC relating toD accounting for19. A specifyB predictC restoreD create20. A modifyB reviewC presentD achieveSection
11、IIReading ComprehensionPart ADirections:Read the following four texts. Answer the questions after each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)Text 1“Reskilling” is something that sounds like a buzzword but is actually a requirement if we plan to have a futur
12、e where a lot of would-be workers do not get left behind. We know we are moving into a period where the jobs in demand will change rapidly, as will the requirements of the jobs that remain. Research by WEF detailed in the Harvard Business Review, finds that on average 42 per cent of the “core skills
13、” within job roles will change by 2022. That is a very short timeline, so we can only imagine what the changes will be further in the future.The question of who should pay for reskilling is a thorny one. For individual companies, the temptation is always to let go of workers whose skills are no long
14、er in demand and replace them with those whose skills are. That does not always happen. AT&T is often given as the gold standard of a company who decided to do a massive reskilling program rather than go with a fire-and-hire strategy, ultimately retraining 18,000 employers. Prepandemic, other compan
15、ies including Amazon and Disney had also pledged to create their own plans. When the skills mismatch is in the broader economy though, the focus usually turns to government to handle. Efforts in Canada and elsewhere have been arguably languid at best, and have given us a situation where we frequentl
16、y hear of employers begging for workers, even at times and in regions where unemployment is high.With the pandemic, unemployment is very high indeed. In February, at 3.5 per cent and 5.5 per cent respectively, unemployment rates in Canada and the United States were at generational lows and worker sh
17、ortages were everywhere. As of May, those rates had spiked up to 13.3 per cent and 13.7 per cent, and although many worker shortages had disappeared, not all had done so. In the medical filed, to take an obvious example, the pandemic meant that there were still clear shortages of doctors, nurses and
18、 other medical personnel.Of course, it is not like you can take an unemployed waiter and train him to be a doctor in a few weeks, no matter who pays for it. But even if you cannot close that gap, maybe you can close others, and doing so would be to the benefit of all concerned. That seems to be the
19、case in Sweden: when forced to furlough 90 per cent of their cabin staff, Scandinavian Airlines decided to start up a short retraining program that reskilled the laid-off workers to support hospital staff. The effort was a collective one and involved other companies as well as a Swedish university.2
20、1. Research by the World Economic Forum suggests .A a controversy about the “core skills”B an increase in full-time employmentC an urgent demand for new job skillsD a steady growth of job opportunities22. AT&T is cited to show .A an immediate need for government supportB an alternative to the fire-a
21、nd-hire strategyC the characteristics of reskilling programsD the importance of staff appraisal standards23. Efforts to resolve the skills mismatch in Canada .A have appeared to be insufficientB have driven up labour costsC have proved to be inconsistentD have met with fierce opposition24. We can le
22、arn from Paragraph 3 that there was .A a sign of economic recoveryB a call for policy adjustmentC a change on hiring practicesD a lack of medical workers25. Scandinavian Airlines decided to .A create job vacancies for the unemployedB retrain their cabin staff for better servicesC prepare their laid-
23、off workers for other jobsD finance their staffs college educationText 2With the global population predicted to hit close to 10 billion by 2050, and forecasts that agricultural production in some regions will need to nearly double to keep pace, food security is increasingly making headlines. In the
24、UK, it has become a big talking point recently too, for a rather particular reason: Brexit.Brexit is seen by some as an opportunity to reverse a recent trend towards the UK importing food. The country produces only about 60 per cent of the food it eats, down from almost three-quarters in the late 19
25、80s. A move back to self-sufficiency, the argument goes, would boost the farming industry, political sovereignty and even the nations health. Sounds great but how feasible is this vision?According to a report on UK food production from the University of Leeds, UK, 85 per cent of the countrys total l
26、and area is associated with meat and dairy production. That supplies 80 per cent of what is consumed, so even covering the whole country in livestock farms wouldnt allow us to cover all our meat and dairy needs.There are many caveats to those figures, but they are still grave. To become much more se
27、lf-sufficient, the UK would need to drastically reduce its consumption of animal foods, and probably also farm more intensively meaning fewer green fields, and more factory-style production.But switching to a mainly plant-based diet wouldnt help. There is a good reason why the UK is dominated by ani
28、mal husbandry: most of its terrain doesnt have the right soil or climate to grow crops on a commercial basis. Just 25 per cent of the countrys land is suitable for crop-growing, most of which is already occupied by arable fields. Even if we converted all the suitable land to fields of fruit and veg
29、which would involve taking out all the nature reserves and removing thousands of people from their homes we would achieve only a 30 per cent boost in crop production.Just 23 per cent of the fruit and vegetables consumed in the UK are currently home-grown, so even with the most extreme measures we co
30、uld meet only 30 per cent of our fresh produce needs. That is before we look for the space to grow the grains, sugars, seeds and oils that provide us with the vast bulk of our current calorie intake.26. Some people argue that food self-sufficiency in the UK would .A be hindered by its population gro
31、wthB contribute to the nations well-beingC become a priority of the governmentD pose a challenge to its farming industry27. The report by the University of Leeds shows that in the UK .A farmland has been inefficiently utilizedB factory-style production needs reformingC most land is used for meat and
32、 dairy productionD more green fields will be converted for farming28. Crop-growing in the UK is restricted due to .A its farming technologyB its dietary traditionC its natural conditionsD its commercial interests29. It can be learned from the last paragraph that British people .A rely largely on imp
33、orts for fresh produceB enjoy a steady rise in fruit consumptionC are seeking effective ways to cut calorie intakeD are trying to grow new varieties of grains30. The authors attitude to food self-sufficiency in the UK is .A defensiveB doubtfulC tolerantD optimisticText 3When Microsoft bought task ma
34、nagement app Wunderlist and mobile calendar Sunrise in 2015. It picked up two newcomers that were attracting considerable buzz in Silicon Valley. Microsofts own Office dominates the market for “productivity” software, but the start-ups represented a new wave of technology designed from the ground up
35、 for the smartphone world.Both apps, however, were later scrapped, after Microsoft said it had used their best features in its own products. Their teams of engineers stayed on, making them two of the many “acqui-hires” that the biggest companies have used to feed their insatiable hunger for tech-tal
36、ent.To Microsofts critics, the fates of Wunderlist and Sunrise are examples of a remorseless drive by Big Tech to chew up any innovative companies that lie in their path. “They bought the seedlings and closed them down,” complained Paul Arnold, a partner at San Francisco-based Switch Ventures, putti
37、ng paid to businesses that might one day turn into competitors. Microsoft declined to comment.Like other start-up investors. Mr. Arnolds own business often depends on selling start-ups to larger tech companies, though he admits to mixed feelings about the result: “I think these things are good for m
38、e, if I put my selfish hat on. But are they good for the American economy? I dont know.”The US Federal Trade Commission says it wants to find the answer to that question. This week, it asked the five most valuable US tech companies for information about their many small acquisitions over the past de
39、cade. Although only a research project at this stage, the request has raised the prospect of regulators wading into early-stage tech markets that until now have been beyond their reach.Given their combined market value of more than $5.5tn, rifling through such small dealsmany of them much less promi
40、nent than Wunderlist and Sunrisemight seem beside the point. Between them, the five companies (Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Facebook) have spent an average of only $3.4bn a year on sub-$1bn acquisitions over the past five yearsa drop in the ocean compared with their massive financial reserve
41、s, and the more than $130bn of venture capital that was invested in the US last year.However, critics say that the big companies use such deals to buy their most threatening potential competitors before their businesses have a chance to gain momentum, in some cases as part of a “buy and kill” tactic
42、 to simply close them down.31. What is true about Wunderlist and Sunrise after their acquisitions?A Their engineers were retained.B Their market values declined.C Their tech features improved.D Their products were re-priced.32. Microsofts critics believe that the big tech companies tend to .A exagge
43、rate their product qualityB eliminate their potential competitorsC treat new tech talent unfairlyD ignore public opinions33. Paul Arnold is concerned that small acquisitions might .A weaken big tech companiesB worsen market competitionC harm the national economyD discourage start-up investors34. The
44、 US Federal Trade Commission intends to .A limit Big Techs expansionB encourage research collaborationC examine small acquisitionsD supervise start-ups operations35. For the five biggest tech companies, their small acquisitions have .A brought little financial pressureB raised few management challen
45、gesC set an example for future dealsD generated considerable profitsText 4Were fairly good at judging people based on first impressions, thin slices of experience ranging from a glimpse of a photo to a five-minute interaction, and deliberation can be not only extraneous but intrusive. In one study o
46、f the ability she dubbed “thin slicing,” the late psychologist Nalini Ambady asked participants to watch silent 10-second video clips of professors and to rate the instructors overall effectiveness. Their ratings correlated strongly with students end-of-semester ratings. Another set of participants had to count backward from 1,000 by nines as they watched the clips, occupying their conscious working memory. Their ratings were just as accurate, demonstrating the intuitive nature of the social processing.Crit