2018年可锐考研英语阅读精选及讲解

2018年可锐考研英语阅读经典文章内容讲解（三）一．Eli Broad埃利·布罗德Few businessmen have achieved as much as Eli Broad. Not only did he develop two Fortune500 businesses from scratch , he has also been a serial entrepreneur inthe arts. Mr Broad backed Jeff Koons and Cindy Sherman, and founded the Museum ofContemporary Art in Los Angeles . This son of the Bronx now calls the City of Angelshome and has set out to give it a new heart by driving the development of a downtown areawith a strong emphasis on culture. He has also been a significant and controversialphilanthropist, funding scientific research and failing schools.埃利·布罗德的成就在商人中几乎无人可敌。

不仅在于他从零开始创办了两家世界500强的企业，而且他还多次投资艺术类项目。

布罗德先生是杰夫·昆斯和辛迪·舍曼的资助人，还建立了洛杉矶当代艺术博物馆。

出生在布朗克斯的他如今已视洛杉矶为家，并着手开发这座城市的一片闹市区，着重发展文化主题，打造一个新的城市中心。

他曾一度是位举足轻重又饱受争议的慈善家，成功建立科研机构但筹建学校却差强人意。

Mr Broad s straight-to-the-point narrative—165 pages of text with a 12-page appendix ofhis “career highlights”and just the minimum colour necessary to illustrate the importantlessons that life has taught him—is part of what he is trying to convey about himself. Where,say, Jack Welch spews out hundreds of pages in “Jack: Straight From the Gut”andRichard Branson spares no detail as he explains how he has spent his life trying to “ScrewBusiness As Usual”, Mr Broad has delivered a book that is as brief as he likes to keepeverything else in life .布罗德先生的文章开门见山，直击主题。

2018年可锐考研英语优秀阅读文章赏析（五）Businesses and cyber-security商业活动与网络安全A spook speaks.鬼魅之声。

Its cost may be hard to count, but cybercrime hascompanies worried.网络犯罪损失难料，公司企业忧心忡忡。

LIKE blooms on a peculiar plant, speeches by thehead of the British security service are rare; andwhen they do appear, they draw attention. On June 25th Jonathan Evans, the director-general of MI5, burst into oratorical flower for the first time in 21 months. After commentingon preparations for the Olympic Games and on counter-terrorism, Mr Evans turned to cyber-security-where the front line…is as much in business as it is in government. States as wellas criminals were up to no good, he said: in particular, a major London listed company withwhich we have worked had lost revenue of some ￡800m to state-sponsoredcyber-attack. The firm in question had lost intellectual property and had been put at adisadvantage in commercial negotiations.英国安全局的发言就如铁树开花一般罕见，而一旦他们发话了，便立即吸引众人目光。

2018年可锐考研英语经典阅读试题（一）[经济学类]Recent years have brought minority-owned businesses in the United States unprecedented opportunities —as well as new and significant risks. Civil rights activists have long argued that one of the principal reasons why Blacks, Hispanics, and other minority groups have difficulty establishing themselves in business is that they lack access to the sizable orders and subcontracts that are generated by large companies. Now Congress, in apparent agreement, has required by law that businesses awarded federal contracts of more than $500,000 do their best to find minority subcontractors and record their efforts to do so on forms filed with the government. Indeed, some federal and local agencies have gone so far as to set specific percentage goals for apportioning parts of public works contracts to minority enterprises.Corporate response appears to have been substantial. According to figures collected in 1977, the total of corporate contracts with minority businesses rose from $77 million in 1972 to $1.1 billion in 1977. The projected total of corporate contracts with minority businesses for the early 1980’s is estimated to be over 53 billion per year with no letup anticipated in the next decade.Promising as it is for minority businesses, this increased patronage poses dangers for them, too. First, minority firms risk expanding too fast and overextending themselves financially, since most are small concerns and, unlike large businesses, they often need to make substantial investments in new plants, staff, equipment, and the like in order to perform work subcontracted to them. If, thereafter, their subcontracts are for some reason reduced, such firms can face potentially crippling fixed expenses. The world of corporate purchasing can be frustrating for small entrepreneurs who get requests for elaborate formal estimates and bids. Both consume valuable time and resources, and a small company’s efforts must soon result in orders, or both the morale and the financial health of the business will suffer.A second risk is that White-owned companies may seek to cash in on the increasing apportionments through formation of joint ventures with minority-owned concerns. Of course, in many instances there are legitimate reasons for joint ventures; clearly, White and minority enterprises can team up to acquire business that neither could acquire alone. But civil rights groups and minority business owners have complained to Congress about minorities being set up as “fronts”with White backing, rather than being accepted as full partners in legitimate joint ventures.Third, a minority enterprise that secures the business of one large corporate customer often run the danger of becoming- and remaining-dependent. Even in the best of circumstances, fierce competition from larger, more established companies makes it difficult for small concerns to broaden their customer bases: when such firms have nearly guaranteed orders from a single corporate benefactor, they may truly have to struggle against complacency arising from their current success.1. The primary purpose of the text is to[A] present a commonplace idea and its inaccuracies.[B] describe a situation and its potential drawbacks.[C] propose a temporary solution to a problem.[D] analyze a frequent source of disagreement.2. The text suggests that the failure of a large business to have its bids for subcontracts result quickly in orders might causes it to[A] experience frustration but not serious financial harm.[B] face potentially crippling fixed expenses.[C] have to record its efforts on forms filed with the government.[D] increase its spending with minority subcontractors.3. It can be inferred from the text that, compared with the requirements of law, the percentage goals set by “some federal and local agencies”are[A] more popular with large corporations.[B] more concrete.[C] less controversial.[D] less expensive to enforce.4. Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the author’s assertion that, in the 1970’s, corporate response to federal requirements was substantial?[A] Corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses totaled $2 billion in 1979.[B] Between 1970 and 1972, corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses declined by 25 percent.[C] The figures collected in 1977 underrepresented the extent of corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses.[D] The $1.1 billion represented the same percentage of total corporate spending in 1977 asdid $77 million in 1972.5. The author would most likely agree with which of the following statements about corporate response to working with minority subcontractors?[A] Annoyed by the proliferation of “front”organizations, corporations are likely to reduce their efforts to work with minority-owned subcontractors in the near future.[B] Although corporations showed considerable interest in working with minority businesses in the 1970’s, their aversion to government paperwork made them reluctant to pursue many government contracts.[C] The significant response of corporations in the 1970’s is likely to be sustained and conceivably be increased throughout the 1980’s.[D] Although corporations are eager to cooperate with minority-owned businesses, a shortage of capital in the 1970’s made substantial response impossible.二．The fossil remains of the first flying vertebrates, the pterosaurs, have intrigued paleontologists for more than two centuries. How such large creatures, which weighed in some cases as much as a piloted hang-glider and had wingspans from 8 to 12 meters, solved the problems of powered flight, and exactly what these creatures were —reptiles or birds —are among the questions scientists have puzzled over.Perhaps the least controversial assertion about the pterosaurs is that they were reptiles. Their skulls, pelvises, and hind feet are reptilian. The anatomy of their wings suggests that they did not evolve into the class of birds. In pterosaurs a greatly elongated fourth finger of each forelimb supported a winglike membrane. The other fingers were short and reptilian, with sharpclaws. In birds the second finger is the principal strut of the wing, which consists primarily of feathers. If the pterosaurs walked on all fours, the three short fingers may have been employed for grasping. When a pterosaur walked or remained stationary, the fourth finger, and with it the wing, could only turn upward in an extended inverted V shape along each side of the animal’s body.The pterosaurs resembled both birds and bats in their overall structure and proportions. This is not surprising because the design of any flying vertebrate is subject to aerodynamic constraints. Both the pterosaurs and the birds have hollow bones, a feature that represents a savings in weight. In the birds, however, these bones are reinforced more massively by internal struts.Although scales typically cover reptiles, the pterosaurs probably had hairy coats. T. H. Huxley reasoned that flying vertebrates must have been warm-blooded because flying implies a high rate of metabolism, which in turn implies a high internal temperature. Huxley speculated that a coatof hair would insulate against loss of body heat and might streamline the body to reduce drag in flight. The recent discovery of a pterosaur specimen covered in long, dense, and relatively thick hairlike fossil material was the first clear evidence that his reasoning was correct.Efforts to explain how the pterosaurs became airborne have led to suggestions that they launched themselves by jumping from cliffs, by dropping from trees, or even by rising into light winds from the crests of waves. Each hypothesis has its difficulties. The first wrongly assumes that the pterosaurs’hind feet resembled a bat’s and could serve as hooks by which the animal could hang in preparation for flight. The second hypothesis seems unlikely because large pterosaurs could not have landed in trees without damaging their wings. The third calls for high waves to channel updrafts. The wind that made such waves however, might have been too strong for the pterosaurs to control their flight once airborne.1. It can be inferred from the text that scientist now generally agree that the[A] enormous wingspan of the pterosaurs enabled them to fly great distances.[B] structure of the skeleton of the pterosaurs suggests a close evolutionary relationship to bats.[C] fossil remains of the pterosaurs reveal how they solved the problem of powered flight.[D] pterosaurs were reptiles.2. The author views the idea that the pterosaurs became airborne by rising into light winds created by waves as[A] revolutionary.[B] unlikely.[C] unassailable.[D] probable.3. According to the text, the skeleton of a pterosaur can be distinguished from that of a bird by the[A] size of its wingspan.[B] presence of hollow spaces in its bones.[C] anatomic origin of its wing strut.[D] presence of hooklike projections on its hind feet.4. The ideas attributed to T. H. Huxley in the text suggest that he would most likely agree with which of the following statements?[A] An animal’s brain size has little bearing on its ability to master complex behaviors.[B] An animal’s appearance is often influenced by environmental requirements and physical capabilities.[C] Animals within a given family group are unlikely to change their appearance dramatically over a period of time.[D] The origin of flight in vertebrates was an accidental development rather than the outcome of specialization or adaptation.5. Which of the following best describes the organization of the last paragraph of the text?[A] New evidence is introduced to support a traditional point of view.[B] Three explanations for a phenomenon are presented and each is disputed by means of specific information.[C] Three hypotheses are outlined and evidence supporting each is given.[D] Recent discoveries are described and their implications for future study are projected.。

2018年可锐考研英语优秀阅读文章赏析（十）Top of his game游戏业的顶尖玩家Bobby Kotick of Activision Blizzard has helped thevideo-game industry grow up;动视暴雪的鲍比·科迪克带动了电子游戏的茁壮成长;Like many teenagers, Bobby Kotick was drawn tovideo games when they first appeared in the 1970s.He had an Atari, with its chunky plug-in cartridgesand blocky graphics, and he liked to play“Defender”at the arcade. The young Mr Kotick alsohad an entrepreneurial streak: he sold bagels and soft drinks to people waiting in line forpetrol during the 1979 energy crisis. How appropriate, then, that he has ended up as theboss of Activision Blizzard, the world’s largest publisher of video games.当电子游戏在上个世纪70年代问世的时候，鲍比·科迪克和许多年轻人一样深深地被它所吸引。

他有一款雅达利游戏机，里面有小型的子弹盒插件还有些块状图形，他喜欢在拱廊里面做“防守方”。

年轻的科迪克也拥有企业家的素质：在1979年能源危机的时候，他向排队等着加油的人们出售面包圈和软饮料。

到头来，他成了世界最大的电子游戏发行商——动视暴雪的老板，也算是十分合理的。

2018年可锐考研英语阅读经典文章内容讲解（二）一．Business-process outsourcing业务流程外包At the front of the back office走在后台服务的前沿How the Philippines beat India in call centres菲律宾的呼叫中心是怎样打败印度的IT S midnight in Manila, and the capital is justwaking up to the start of another working day. Atthe Worldwide Corporate Centre office block,thousands of young Filipinos are crowding into endless open-plan offices. Once seated, theyquickly start answering the questions and calming the frustrations of vexed Americanconsumers beginning their own day on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.在马尼拉的午夜12点，这座首都城市正慢慢步入第二天工作日。

此时世界管理中心的办公大楼里，数千名菲律宾年轻人涌入无数的开放式办公室。

一坐下，他们就迅速开始工作，对太平洋彼岸正开始新的一天的愤怒的美国消费者提出的咨询做出回答，并安抚他们的情绪。

These Filipinos are call-centre workers. To outsiders it is hardly a glamorous profession, yetdespite the antisocial hours these men and women have every reason to be as well-motivated and cheerful as they seem. They are well paid and know that they work at theheart of their country s most dynamic industry.这些菲律宾人都是呼叫中心的员工。

2018年可锐考研英语优秀阅读文章赏析（三）Qatar s culture queen卡塔尔的艺术女王At 29, Sheikha Mayassa Al Thani is the art world smost powerful woman. Is she using her moneywell?年仅29岁，Sheikha Mayassa Al Thani已经成为了艺术界中最有权的女人。

她能支配好手中的钱吗?The starkly beautiful Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, is a fine setting for adinner. Last month 200 dealers, collectors and curators gathered there for the opening of thefirst showing in the Middle East of work by Takashi Murakami. The hostess of the evening satlaughing with the pony-tailed Japanese artist on her right. On her left was Dakis Joannou, aGreek-Cypriot industrialist and avid collector of the work of Jeff Koons, an Americansculptor. Larry Gagosian, whom many regard as the most powerful art dealer in the world,was placed at a table nearby, with the other art dealers.位于卡塔尔多哈的伊斯兰艺术博物馆美丽绝伦，是个很适宜举办晚宴的地方。

2018年可锐考研英语阅读模拟试题及名师解析第一篇：2018年可锐考研英语阅读模拟试题及名师解析2018年可锐考研英语阅读模拟试题及名师解析（七）Do you rememberall those years when scientists argued that smoking would kill us but thedoubters insisted that we didn’t know for sure? That the evidence was inconclusive, the scienceuncertain? That the antismoking lobby was out to destroy our way of life andthe government should stay out of the way? Lots of Americans bought thatnonsense, and over three decades, some 10 million smokers went to early graves。

There are upsetting parallels today, as scientists in one waveafter another try to awaken us to the growing threat of global warming.Thelatest was a panel from the National Academy of Sciences, enlisted by the WhiteHouse, to tell us that the Earth’s atmosphere is definitely warming and that the problem is largelyman-made.The clear message is that we should get moving to protest ourselves.The president of the National Academy, Bruce Alberts, added this key point inthe preface to the panel’s report: “Science never has all the answers。

2018年可锐考研英语优秀阅读文章赏析（九）Recruitment人才招聘Work and play工作兼娱乐The gamification of hiring.招聘游戏化。

THE rules of Happy Hour are deceptively simple. You are a bartender. Your challenge is totell what sort of drink each of a swelling mob of customers wants by the expressions on theirfaces. Then you must make and serve each drink and wash each used glass, all within a shortperiod of time. Play this video game well and you might win a tantalising prize: a job in thereal world.游戏Happy Hour的规则看起来十分简单。

你是一位酒保，你的挑战是察言观色，一群趾高气扬的黑帮客户进入酒吧，你需要根据他们的面部表情判断每个人要喝何种酒，然后斟酒擦酒杯。

所有这一切都需要在短时间内完成，如果玩这个游戏表现出色的话，你诱人的奖励是在真实世界获得工作。

Happy Hour, which will be unveiled to the public on May 28th, is one of several video gamesdeveloped by Knack, a start-up founded by Guy Halfteck, an Israeli entrepreneur. Thegames include a version of Happy Hour in which sushi replaces booze, Words of Wisdom and Balloon Brigade .They are designed to test cognitive skills that employers might want, drawing on some ofthe latest scientific research. These range from pattern recognition to emotionalintelligence, risk appetite and adaptability to changing situations.由一位以色列企业家Guy halfteck新创始的公司Knack开发的众多视频游戏中的一款Happy Hour预计在5月28日发布。

2018年可锐考研英语阅读真题解析（一）一、从鸡蛋中培养流感疫菌Modern technology has put men on the moon and deciphered the human genome. But when it comes to brewing up flu to make vaccines, science still turns to the incredible edible egg. Ever since the 1940s, vaccine makers have grown large batches of virus inside chicken eggs. But given that some 36,000 Americans die of flu each year, it’s remarkable that our first line of defense is still what Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson calls “the cumbersome and archaic egg-based production.”New cell-based technologies are in the pipeline, however, and may finally get the support they need now that the United States is faced with a critical shortage of flu vaccine. Although experts disagree on whether new ways of producing vaccine could have prevented a shortage like the one happening today, there is no doubt that the existing system has serious flaws.Each year, vaccine manufacturers place advance orders for millions of specially grown chicken eggs. Meanwhile, public-health officials monitor circulating strains of flu, and each March they recommend three strains—two influenza A strains and one B strain—for manufacturers to include in vaccines. In the late spring and summer, automated machines inject virus into eggs and later suck out the influenza-rich goop. Virus from the eggs’innards gets killed and processed to remove egg proteins and other contaminants before being packaged into vials for fall shipment.Why has this egg method persisted for six decades? The main reason is that it’s reliable. But even though the eggs are reliable, they have serious drawbacks. One is the long lead time needed to order the eggs. That means it’s hard to make more vaccine in a hurry, in case of a shortage or unexpected outbreak. And eggs may simply be too cumbersome to keep up with the hundreds of millions of doses required to handle the demand for flu vaccine.What’s more, some flu strains don’t grow well in eggs. Last year, scientists were unable to include the Fujian strain in the vaccine formulation. It was a relatively new strain, and manufacturers simply couldn’t find a quick way to adapt it so that it grew well in eggs. “We knew the strain was out there,”recalls Theodore Eickhoff of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, “but public-health officials were left without a vaccine—and, consequently, a more severe flu season.”Worse, the viruses that pose the greatest threat might be hardest to grow in eggs. That’s because global pandemics like the one that killed over 50 million people between 1918 and 1920 are thought to occur when a bird influenza changes in a way that lets it cross the species barrier and infect humans. Since humans haven’t encountered the new virus before, they have little protective immunity. The deadly bird flu circulating in Asia in 1997 and 1998, for example,worried public-health officials because it spread to some people who handled birds and killed them—although the bug never circulated among humans. But when scientists tried to make vaccine the old-fashioned way, the bird flu quickly killed the eggs.1.The moon-landing is mentioned in the first paragraph to illustrate_____.[A] technology cannot solve all of our human problems[B] progress in vaccine research for influenza has lagged behind[C] great achievements have been made by men in exploring the unknown[D] the development of vaccine production methods can not be stopped2.What step is essential to the traditional production of flu vaccine?[A] Manufacturers implant the vaccine into ordered chicken eggs.[B] Scientists identify the exact strain soon after a flu pandemic starts.[C] Public health measures are taken as an important pandemic-fighting tool.[D] Viruses are deadened and made clean before being put into vaccine use.3.The foremost reason why the egg-based method is defective lies in_____.[A] the complex process of vaccine production [B] its potential threat to human being[C] the low survival rate for new flu vaccines [D] its contribution to the flu vaccine shortage4.Which of the following is true according to the passage?[A] Flu vaccines now mainly use egg-based technology.[B] A bird influenza has once circulated among humans.[C] Safety can be greatly improved with cell-culture vaccines.[D] Modern vaccine production methods are to replace egg-based methods.5.In the author’s view, the new vaccine production method seems to be_____.[A] remarkable [B] criticized [C] efficient [D] accepted答案：1.B 2.D 3.C 4.A 5.D核心词汇与超纲词汇decipher破译，辨认genome基因组，染色体组brew酿制，沏，煮;~ up酝酿;即将来临cumbersome大而笨重的;繁琐的，复杂的archaic过时的，陈旧的;古代的，早期的in the pipeline在准备中; 在完成中; 在进行中; 运输中; 即将送递circulate循环;传播，流传;传递，传阅strain系，品系，品种innards内脏，内部结构pandemic广泛流传的，普遍的，流行的;传染病的;全国[全世界]性的流行病lead time 前置时间，指完成一个程序或作业所需要的一段时间。

2018年可锐考研英语阅读经典文章内容讲解（九）Trademark bullying商标欺诈Shut your kale-hole闭上你的臭嘴What s in a name, anyway?无论如何，商标中能有什么呢?CHICK-FIL-A sells an average of nine sandwiches per second at its roughly 1,600 restaurants.托莱多的约1600家餐厅每秒平均卖出9个三明治。

Bo Muller-Moore paints T-shirts in the garage next to his house in Montpelier, Vermont.家在蒙彼利埃的Bo Muller-Moore在其车库里染印T恤衫。

In 2011 Chick-fil-A s sales were more than $4 billion; Mr Muller-Moore estimatesthat his were $40,000.托莱多2001年的销售额超过40亿美元;而Muller-Moore估计其销售额仅有40000美元。

Nonetheless, the slogan screened on his shirts- Eat More Kale , initially made in 2001 as afavour for a local farmer, whose kale crop had a bumper year-caught the humourless eyes ofChick-fil-A s lawyers.尽管如此，Muller-Moore染印在T恤衫上的短语Eat More Kale 还是为托莱多无趣的律师们所关注。

They had sent him a cease-and-desist letter in 2006, claiming his slogan was too close totheir client s Eat Mor Chikin .他们向Muller-Moore发出了勒令停止通知函，声称Muller-Moore的宣传语同托莱多的宣传语Eat MorChikin 意思太相近。

2018年可锐考研英语阅读经典文章内容讲解（五）一．Combating addiction打击吸毒Can a vaccine stop drug abuse?是否有种疫苗能对付毒品滥用?It may be possible to vaccinate people against addictive drugs向吸毒者接种疫苗防止毒瘾将成为可能THE idea of vaccinating drug addicts against their affliction is an intriguing one.如何消除吸毒者的毒瘾折磨，是个有挑战性的命题。

In principle, it should not be too hard.从理论上来讲，这并不难。

The immune system works, in part, by making antibodies that are specific to particularsorts of hostile molecule.只要让免疫系统，产生某种针对这种恶性分子的抗体便可。

Such antibodies recognise and attach themselves to these molecules, rendering themharmless.这种抗体能识别并紧紧附在毒品分子上，尽可能消灭它们。

Vaccines work by presenting the immune system with novel targets, so that it can learn toreact to them if it comes across them again.疫苗让免疫系统有了明确的对付目标，系统便能在下次遇到该种病毒时有所反应，将其及时消灭The problem is that the molecules antibodies recognise and react to are the big ones, suchas proteins, that are characteristic of bacteria, viruses and other infectious agents.问题是，抗体能够识别出较大的分子，比如以蛋白质形式表现出来的，像细菌，病毒，或者别的感染物质。

2018年可锐考研英语阅读分析详解（八）Historians have only recently begun to note the increase in demand for luxury goods and services that took place in eighteenth-century England. McKendrick has explored the Wedgwood firm’s remarkable success in marketing luxury pottery; Plumb has written about the proliferation of provincial theater, musical festivals, and children’s toys and books. While the fact of this consumer revolution is hardly in doubt, three key questions remain: Who were the consumers? What were their motives? And what were the effects of the new demand for luxuries?An answer to the first of these has been difficult to obtain. Although it has been possible to infer from the goods and services actually produced what manufacturers and servicing trades thought their customers wanted, only a study of relevant personal documents written by actual consumers will provide a precise picture of who wanted what. We still need to know how large this consumer market was and how far down the social scale the consumer demand for luxury goods penetrated. With regard to this last question, we might note in passing that Thompson, while rightly restoring laboring people to the stage of eighteenth-century English history, has probably exaggerated the opposition of these people to the inroads of capitalist consumerism in general; for example, laboring people in eighteenth-century England readily shifted from home-brewed beer to standardized beer produced by huge, heavily capitalized urban breweries.To answer the question of why consumers became so eager to buy, some historians have pointed to the ability of manufacturers to advertise in a relatively uncensored press. This, however, hardly seems a sufficient answer. Mckendrick favors a Veblem model of conspicuous consumption stimulated by competition for status. The “middling sort”bought goods and services because they wanted to follow fashions set by the rich. Again, we may wonder whether this explanation is sufficient. Do not people enjoy buying things as a form of self-gratification? If so, consumerism could be seen as a product of the rise of new concepts of individualism and materialism, but not necessarily of the frenzy for conspicuous competition.Finally, what were the consequences of this consumer demand for luxuries? McKendrickclaims that it goes a long way toward explaining the coming of the Industrial Revolution. But does it? What, for example, does the production of high-quality pottery and toys have to do with the development of iron manufacture or textile mills? It is perfectly possible to have the psychology and reality of a consumer society without a heavy industrial sector.That future exploration of these key questions is undoubtedly necessary should not, however, diminish the force of the conclusion of recent studies: the insatiable demand in eighteenth-century England for frivolous as well as useful goods and services foreshadows our own world.1. In the first paragraph, the author mentions McKendrick and Plumb most probably in order to[A] contrast their views on the subject of luxury consumerism in eighteenth-century England.[B] indicate the inadequacy of historiographical approaches to eighteenth-century English history.[C] give examples of historians who have helped to establish the fact of growing consumerism in eighteenth-century England.[D] support the contention that key questions about eighteenth-century consumerism remain to be answered.2. Which of the following items, if preserved from eighteenth-century England, would provide an example of the kind of documents mentioned in lines 3-4, paragraph 2?[A] A written agreement between a supplier of raw materials and a supplier of luxury goods.[B] A diary that mentions luxury goods and services purchased by its author.[C] A theater ticket stamped with the date and name of a particular play.[D] A payroll record from a company that produced luxury goods such as pottery.3. According to the text, Thompson attributes to laboring people in eighteenth-century England which of the following attitudes toward capitalist consumerism?[A] Enthusiasm.[B] Curiosity.[C] Ambivalence.[D] Hostility.4. In the third paragraph, the author is primarily concerned with[A] contrasting two theses and offering a compromise.[B] questioning two explanations and proposing a possible alternative to them.[C] paraphrasing the work of two historians and questioning their assumptions.[D] examining two theories and endorsing one over the other.5. According to the text, eighteenth-century England and the contemporary world of the text readers are[A] dissimilar in the extent to which luxury consumerism could be said to be widespread among the social classes.[B] dissimilar in their definitions of luxury goods and services.[C] dissimilar in the extent to which luxury goods could be said to be stimulant of industrial development.[D] similar in their strong demand for a variety of goods and services.[答案与考点解析]1. 【答案】C【考点解析】本题是一道例(举)证题型。

2018年可锐考研英语阅读真题解析（三）五、胚胎研究BBC ‘s Casualty programme on Saturday evening gave viewers a vote as to which of two patients should benefit from a donation. But it failed to tell us that we would not need to make so many life-and-death decisions if we got to grip with the chronic organ shortage. Being pussyfooting around in its approach to dead bodies, the Government is giving a kicking to some of the most vulnerable in our society. One depressing consequence of this is that a significant number of those on the waiting list take off to foreign countries to purchase an organ from a living third-world donor, something that is forbidden in the United Kingdom. The poor have no option but to wait in vain.The Human Tissue Authority’s position on the retention of body parts for medical research after a post-mortem examination is equally flawed. The new consent forms could have been drafted by some evil person seeking to stop the precious flow of human tissue into the pathological laboratory. The forms are so lengthy that doctors rarely have time to complete them and, even if they try, the wording is so graphic that relatives tend to leg it before signing. In consequence, the number of post mortems has fallen quickly.The wider worry is that the moral shortsightedness evident in the Human Tissue Act seems to infect every facet of the contemporary debate on medical ethics. Take the timid approach to embryonic stem cell research. The United States, for example, refuses government funding to scientists who wish to carry out potentially ground-breaking research on the surplus embryos created by IVF treatment.Senators profess to be worried that embryonic research fails to respect the dignity of “potential persons”. Rarely can such a vacuous concept have found its way into a debate claming to provide enlightenment. When is this “potential”supposed to kick in? In case you were wondering, these supposedly precious embryos are at the same stage of development as those that are routinely terminated by the Pill without anyone crying. Thankfully, the British Government has refused the position of the United States and operates one of the most liberal regimes in Europe, in which licences have been awarded to researchers to create embryos for medical research. It is possible that, in years to come, scientists will be able to grow organs in the lab and find cures for a range of debilitating diseases.The fundamental problem with our approach to ethics is our inability to separate emotion from policy. The only factor that should enter our moral and legal deliberations is that of welfare, a concept that is meaningless when applied to entities that lack self-consciousness. Never forget that the research that we are so reluctant to conduct upon embryos and dead bodies is routinely carried out on living, pain-sensitive animals.1. What has caused the chronic organ shortage?[A] a decrease in donation rates. [B] inefficient governmental policy.[C] illegal trade in human organs. [D] news media’s indifference.2. The expression “pussyfooting around”might mean______.[A] unfair [B] hesitant [C] secret [D] strict3. The moral shortsightedness is revealed in the fact that _____.[A] the government has stopped the experiment on human tissue[B] the donation consent forms are difficult to understand[C] the Human Tissues Act is an obstacle to important medical research[D] embryonic research shows disregard for human life4. To which of the following is the author most likely to agree?[A] the rich and the poor are equal in the face of death. [B] more scientists are needed for the medical advancement.[C] there is a double standard in medical ethics. [D] the dead deserve the same attention as the living.5. The author is most critical of_____.[A] the media [B] doctors [C] U. S. Legislators [D] the British government答案:1.B 2.B 3.C 4.C 5.C核心词汇和超纲词汇get to grips with认真处理chronic慢性的，长期的，延续很长的pussyfoot谨慎的，顾虑重重的approach 方式、方法、态度，如The school has decided to adopt a different ~ to discipline vulnerable易受攻击的，脆弱的，敏感的retention保留，保持;retainleg it逃跑purport自称，标榜;主要意思，大意，主旨kick in开始生效regime统治方式，统治制度，政权，政体;组织方法，管理体制deliberation熟思，考虑，商议全文翻译英国广播公司的“急诊服务处”节目于周六晚上让电视观众投票，决定两个病人之中哪一个应该受益于器官捐赠。

2018年可锐考研英语阅读经典文章内容讲解（六）The spread ofdisease;Germs and money疾病传播;细菌与金钱Where and when will the next pandemic emerge?下一次大范围流行病将于何时在哪里爆发?Contagion: How Commerce Has Spread Disease. ByMark Harrison.《疫病蔓延：商业行为是如何传播疾病的》，马克·哈里森著。

Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic. By David Quammen.《溢出效应：动物传染病和下一场人类流行病》，大卫·奎曼著。

On October 2nd a British traveller, flying home to Glasgow from Afghanistan, began to feel ill.Within hours he was diagnosed with Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever, a virus nastyenough for him to be put onto a military transport aircraft for transfer to an isolationhospital in London. Less than 24 hours later he was dead.10月2号，一名英国旅行者从阿富汗乘飞机返回故乡格拉斯哥。

在旅途中，他突然感到有些不适。

几个小时以后他被诊断出患有克里米亚-刚果出血热——这种疾病的病毒特别危险，足以让他被送上一架军用运输机并转移到伦敦的一家隔离医院里。

他没撑过24小时就病发身亡了。

This outbreak, on top of another death last month in Saudi Arabia from a previouslyunknown virus, a cousin of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome , has set globalhealth agencies on edge. Ten years ago the deaths of a couple of travellers from foreign partsmight not have been news at all. But the fright of the SARS outbreak in 2003 has left alasting impression, and scientists and public-health officials now tend to see any putativedisease threat through its lens.上个月，在沙特阿拉伯有一种此前未知的病毒的类似病毒)导致一人死亡，再加上本次克里米亚-刚果出血热的爆发，这两起事件让全球各卫生机构紧张起来了。

2018年可锐考研英语阅读文章精选（二）Fabricating fabric虚拟面料How to generate more realistic images of clothes如何生成更逼真的衣物图像FILMS like Captain America , Tron Legacy and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button haveshown that it is possible to use computer-generated imagery to make actors lookyounger, older or wimpier than they actually are, in a surprisingly realistic manner.电影《美国上尉》、《创战记》和《本杰明?巴顿奇事》表明计算机图像生成技术能以惊人的逼真手法使演员看上去比实际更年轻、老态或懦弱。

At least, it is possible if those altered actors are kept at a suitable distance from theviewer.这种效果至少在那些被改造过的演员与观众保持合适距离时能够实现。

The difficulty of recreating the textures of both skin and fabric means the effect is lessconvincing when seen close up.皮肤和面料纹理重建的困难在于它们被放大观看时，效果并不理想。

The reason is that, whereas it is possible to simulate realistically the forces which makevirtual skin and fabric hang, bend, flap and stretch, recreating the subtle ways theyreflect light has so far proved extremely tricky.原因在于尽管计算机能够真实地模拟使虚拟皮肤及面料产生悬挂、弯曲、飘动和拉伸的外力，但迄今为止想要找到构建反射光的精妙方法仍是极为困难的事情。

2018年可锐考研英语阅读真题解析（二）三、英学业间断期Talk to any parent of a student who took an adventurous gap year and a misty look will come into their eyes. There are some disasters and even the most motivated, organised gap student does require family back-up, financial, emotional and physical. The parental mistiness is not just about the brilliant experience that has matured their offspring; it is vicarious living. We all wish pre-university gap years had been the fashion in our day. We can see how much tougher our kids become; how much more prepared to benefit from university or to decide positively that they are going to do something other than a degree.Gap years are fashionable, as is reflected in the huge growth in the number of charities and private companies offering them. Pictures of Prince William toiling in Chile have helped, but the trend has been gathering steam for a decade. The range of gap packages starts with backpacking, includes working with charities, building hospitals and schools and, very commonly, working as a language assistant, teaching English. With this trend, however, comes a danger. Once parents feel that a well-structured year is essential to their would-be undergraduate’s progress to a better university, a good degree, an impressive CV and well paid employment, as the gap companies’blurbs suggest it might be, then parents will start organising—and paying for—the gaps.Where there are disasters, according to Richard Oliver, director of the gap companies’umbrella organisation, the Year Out Group, it is usually because of poor planning. That can be the fault of the company or of the student, he says, but the best insurance is thoughtful preparation. “When people get it wrong, it is usually medical or, especially among girls, it is that they have not been away from home before or because expectation does not match reality.”The point of a gap year is that it should be the time when the school leaver gets to do the thing that he or she fancies. Kids don’t mature if mum and dad decide how they are going to mature. If the 18-year-old’s way of maturing is to slob out on Hampstead Heath soaking up sunshine or spending a year working with fishermen in Cornwall, then that’s what will be productive for that person. The consensus, however, is that some structure is an advantage and that the prime mover needs to be the student.The 18-year-old who was dispatched by his parents at two weeks’notice to Canada to learn to be a snowboarding instructor at a cost of ￡5,800, probably came back with little more than a hangover. The 18-year-old on the same package who worked for his fare and spent the rest of his year instructing in resorts from New Zealand to Switzerland, and came back to apply for university, is the positive counterbalance.1. It can be inferred from the first paragraph that parents of gap students may_____.[A] help children to be prepared for disasters [B] receive all kinds of support from theirchildren[C] have rich experience in bringing up their offspring [D] experience watching children grow up2. According to the text, which of the following is true?[A] the popularity of gap years results from an increasing number of charities.[B] Prince William was working hard during his gap year.[C] gap years are not as fashionable as they were ten years ago.[D] a well-structured gap year is a guarantee of university success.3. The word “packages”means_____.[A] parcels carried in travelling [B] a comprehensive set of activities[C] something presented in a particular way [D] charity actions4. What can cause the disasters of gap years?[A] Intervention of parents. [B] Careful planning. [C] Good health. [D] Realistic expectation.5. An 18-year-old is believed to take a meaningful gap year when he/she_____.[A] lives up to his/her parents’expectations [B] spends time being lazy and doing nothing[C] learns skills by spending parents’money [D] earns his or her living and gains working experience答案：1.D 2.B 3.B 4.A 5.D核心词汇和超纲词汇a gap year学业间断的一年，间断年vicarious间接感受到的，如He got a ~ thrill out of watching his son score the winning goalpackage包，盒，袋;一套东西，一套建议，一揽子交易，如a benefits ~一套福利措施an aid ~综合援助计划backpack背包旅行go ~ingumbrella综合体，总体，整体，如an ~ group/fund综合团体/基金fork out大量花钱，大把掏钱slob懒惰而邋遢的人slob out/around游手好闲，无所事事structure结构，构造;精心组织，周密安排，体系dispatch派遣，调遣，派出;发出，发送at short notice随时，没有提前很长时间通知，at two week’s notice提前两周通知hangover遗留的感觉，如the insecure feeling that was a ~ from her childhoodcounterbalance抗衡，抵消;对……起平衡作用;平衡抵消物，抗衡全文翻译与度过了新奇的学业间断年的孩子的父母交谈，他们的眼神中会有一种含糊不清的东西。

2018年可锐考研英语阅读文章精选（一）LSD Acid tests麦角酸二乙基酰胺迷幻药之考验Research into hallucinogenic drugs begins to shake off decades of taboo迷幻药物的研究开始摆脱几十年来的禁忌THE psychedelic era of the 1960s is remembered for its music, its art and, of course, itsdrugs.20世纪60年代是一个让人产生迷幻的年代，这个时代因它的音乐，它的艺术，当然还有它的毒品而被人记得。

Its science is somewhat further down the list.而那个时候的科学在某种程度上则不太被人们熟知。

But before the rise of the counterculture, researchers had been studying LSD as a treatmentfor everything from alcoholism to obsessive-compulsive disorder , with promisingresults.不过在反传统文化兴趣之前，随着有价值的研究成果的出现，研究者们则正在研究LSD 作为一种治疗从酗酒到强迫症的方法。

Timothy Leary, a psychologist at Harvard University, was one of the best-known workers inthe field, but it was also he who was widely blamed for discrediting it, by his unconventionalresearch methods and his lax handling of drugs.哈佛大学的心理学家蒂莫西?利瑞就是该领域最为知名的人士之一，不过他也因为其非传统的研究方法和他对对药物不严格的处理而让这个药物声名狼藉，进而广受诟病。