1999年全国硕士研究生入学考试英语试题与参考答案

1999年全国硕士研究生入学考试英语试题与参考答案
Part One:
l . Anyone with half an eye on the unemployment figures knew that the assertion about economic
recovery __ just around the corner was untrue.
[A]wouLd be [B]to be [C]was [D]being
2. Smoking is so harmful to personal health that it kills __ people each year than automo-
bile accidents.
[A]seven more times [B]seven times more [C]over seven times [D]seven times
3. It' s easy to blame the decline of conversation on the pace of modern life and on the vague
changes __ place in our ever-changing world.
[A] taking [B]to take [C]take [D]taken
4. This is an exciting area of study, and one __ which new applications are being discov-
ered almost daily.
[A] from [B]by [C] in [D] through
5 . __ can be seen from the comparison of these figures, the principle involves the active
participation of the patient in the modification of his condition.
[A]As [B]What [C]That [D] It
6. Although I had been invited to the opening ceremony , I was unable to attend __ such
short notice.
[A]to [B]in [C]with [D]on
7. California has more light than it knows __ to do with but everything else is expensive.
[A] how [ B] what [ C] which [D] where
8. The solution works only for couples who are self-employed, don' t have small children and get
along __ to spend most of their time together.
[A]so well [B]too well [C]well as [D]well enough
9. Marlin is a young man of independent thinking who is not about __ compliments to his
political leaders .
[A]paying [B]having paid [C]to pay [D] to have paid
10. These proposals sought to place greater restrictions on the use and copying of digital informa-
tion than __ in traditional media.
[A]exist [B]exists [ C]existing [D]to exist
11. Your math instructor would have been happy to give you a makeup examination
[A]
had you gone and explained that your parents had been ill at the time.

[B] [C] [D]
12. As the children become financially independent of the family, the emphasis on family fi-
[A] [B] [C]
nancial security will shift from protection to save for the retirement years.
[D]
13. Were the Times Co. to purchase another major media company, there is no doubt that it
[A]
could dramatically transform a family-ran enterprise that still gets 90% of its revenues
[B] [C] [D]
from newspapers .
14. Symposium talks will cover a wide range of subjects from overfishing to physical and
[A] [B]
environment factors that affect the populations of different species.
[C] [D]
15 . Convenation calls for a willingness to alternate the role of speaker with one of listener , and
[A] [B] [C]
it calls for occasional ' digestive pauses' by both.
[D]
16. If two theories are equal to their ability to account for a body of data, the theory that
[A] [B]
does so with the smaller nomber of assumptions is to be preferred.
[c] [D]
17. The Committee adopted a resolution requiring the seven automakers selling the most cars in
[A] [B]
the state making 2 percent of those vehicles emissions-free by 1998.
[C] [D]
18. As long as poor people, who in general are colored, are in conflict with richer people, who in
[A] [B]
general are lighter skin, there' s going to be a constant racial conflict in the world.
[C] [D]
19 . All those left undone may sound greatly in theory, but even the trust believer has great dif-
[A] [B] [C]
ficulty when it comes to specifics.
[D]
20 . Even if automakers modify commercially produced cars to run on alternative fuels, the cars
[A] [B] [C]
won' t catch on in a big way when drivers can fill them up at the gas station.
[D]
21 . An important property of a scientific theory is its ability to ___ further research and fur-
ther thinking about a particular topic.
[ A] stimulate [ B] renovate [ C] arouse [ D] advocate

22 . Although architecture has artistic qualities, it must also satisfy a number of important practi-
cal __.
[ A] obligations [B] regulations [ C ] observations [ D] considerations
23 . Life insurance is financial protection for dependents against loss __ the bread-winner' s
death .
[A]at the cost of [B]on the verge of [C]as a result of [D]for the sake of
24. In education there should be a good __ among the branches of knowledge that con-
tribute to effective thinking and wise judgment .
[ A] distribution [ B] balance [ C] combination [ D] assignment
25 . The American dream is most __ during the periods of productivity and wealth generat-
ed by American capitalism.
[A] plausible [B] patriotic [ C] primitive [D] partial
26 . Poverty is not __ in most cities although, perhaps because of the crowded conditions in
certain areas, it is more visible there.
[ A] rare [ B] temporary [ C] prevalent [ D] segmental
27. People who live in small towns often seem more friendly than those living in __ popu-
lated areas.
[A] densely [ B] intensely [ C] abundantly [D] highly
28. As a way of __ the mails while they were away, the Johnsons asked the cleaning lady
to send little printed slips asking the senders to write again later.
[A]picking up [B]coping with [C]passing out [D]getting across
29 . Tom' s mother tried hard to persuade him to __ from his intention to invest his savings
in stock market .
[A]pull out [B]give up [C]draw in [D]back down
30. An increasing proportion of our population, unable to live without advanced medical
__ , will become progressively more reliant on expensive technology.
[ A] interference [ B] interruption [ C] intervention [ D] interaction
31 . These causes produced the great change in the country that modernized the __ of high-
er education from the mid-1860's to the mid-1880's.
[ A] branch [ B]category t C] domain [D] scope
32 . Nobody yet knows how long and how seriously the __ in the financial system will drag

down the economy.
[ A] shallowness [ B] shakiness [ C] scantiness [ D] stiffness
33 . Crisis would be the right term to describe the __ in many animal species. .
[ A] minimization [ B] restriction [ C] descent [ D] decline
34 . The city is an important railroad __ and industrial and convention center.
[A] conjunction [ B] network [ C]junction [D] link
35. Prof. White, my respected tutor, frequently reminds me to __ myself of every chance
to improve my English.
[ A] assure [ B] inform [ C] avail [D] notify
36. Researchers discovered that plants infected with a virus give off a gas that __ disease
resistance in neighboring plants.
[ A.] contracts [ B] activates [ C] maintains [ D] prescribe
37 . Corporations and labor unions have __ great benefits upon their employees and mem-
bers as well as upon the general pubtic.
[A] conferred [ B]granted [ C] flung [D] submitted
38. The movement of the moon conveniently provided the unit of month, which was __
from one new moon to the next.
[ A] measured [ B] reckoned [ C]judged [ D] assessed
39. The judge ruled that the evidence was inadmissible on the grounds that it was __ to
the issue at hand.
[ A] irrational [ B] unreasonable [ C] invalid [ D] irrelevant
40. Fuel scarcities and price increases __ automobile designers to scale down the largest
models and to develop completely new lines of small cars and trucks.
[ A] persuaded [ B] prompted [ C] imposed [ D] enlightened

Part two: Cloze Test

Industrial safety does not just happen.Companies _41__ low accident rates plan their safety
programs, work hard to organize them,and continue working to keep them 42 and active. When the
work is well done, a 43 of accident-free operations is established _44__ time lost due to injuries
is kept at a minimum.
Successful safety programs may 45 greatly in the emphasis placed on certain aspects of the program.
Some place great emphasis on mechanical guarding. Others stress safe work practices by _46__ rules

or regulations._47_ others depend on an emotional appeal to the worker. But, there are certain basic
ideas that must be used in every progr8m if maximum results are to be obtained.
There can be no question about the value of a safety program. From a financial stand-point alone,
safety _48__. The fewer the injury 49,the better the workman's insurance rate. This may mean the diff-
erence between operating at _50__or at a loss.
41. [A]at [B]in [C]on [D]with
42. [A]alive [B]vivid [ C]mobile [D] diverse
43. [A]regulation [B]climate [C]circumstance [D]requirement
44. [A]where [B]how [ C]what [D]unless
45. [A]alter [B]differ [ C] shift [D] distinguish
46. [A] constituting [ B] aggravating [ C]observing [D]justifying
47. [A]Some [B]Many [C]Even [D]Still
48. [A]comes off [B]turns up [C]pays off [D]holds up
49. [A]claims [B]reports [ C] declarations [ D] proclamations
50. [A]an advantage [B]a benefit [C]an interest [D]a profit

Part three:

Passage l
It's a rough world out there. Step outside and you could break a leg slipping on your door-
mat. Light up the stove and you could burn down the house. Luckily, if the doormat or stove
failed to warn of coming disaster, a successful lawsuit might compensate you for your troubles. Or
so the thinking has gone since the early 1980s, when juries began holding more companies liable
for their customers' misfortunes.
Feeling threatened , companies responded by writing ever-longer warning labels, trying to
anticipate every possibLe accident. Today, stepladders carry labels several inches long that warn ,
among other things, that you might-surprise! --fall off. The label on a child ' s Batman cape
cautions that the toy "does not enable user to fly. "
While warnings are often appropriate and necessary--the dangers of drug interactions, for
example--and many are required by state or federal regulations, it isn't clear that they actually

protect the manufacturers and sellers from liability if a customer is injured. About 50 percent of
the companies lose when injured customers take them to court.
Now the tide appears to be turning. As personal injury claims continue as before, some
courts are beginning to side with defendants, especially in cases where a warning label probably
wouldn't have changed anything. In May , Julie Nimmons, president of Schutt Sports in Illinois,
successfully fought a lawsuit involving a football player who was paralyzed in a game while wear-
ing a Schutt helmet. "We' re really sorry he has become paralyzed , but helmets aren' t designed to
prevent those kinds of injuries , " says Nimmons. The jury agreed that the nature of the game, not
the helmet, was the reason for the athlete's injury. At the same time, the American Law Insti-
tute--a group of judges, lawyers, and academics whose recommendations carry substantial
weight-issued new guidelines for tort law stating that companies need not warn customers of ob-
vious dangers or bombard them with a lengthy list of possible ones. " Important information can
get buried in a sea of trivialities, " says a law professor at Cornell law School who helped draft the
new guidelines. If the moderate end of the legal community has its way, the information on prod-
ucts might actually be provided for the benefit of customers and not as protection against legal lia-
bility. .
51 . What were things like in 1980s when accidents happened?
[A] Customers might be relieved of their disasters through lawsuits.
[B] Injured customers could expect protection from the legal system.
[C]Companies would avoid being sued by providing new warnings.
[D]Juries tended to find fault with the compensations companies promised.
52. Manufacturers as mentioned in the passage tend to__
[A]satisfy customers by writing long warnings on products
[B]become honest in describing the inadequacies of their products

[C]make the best use of labels to avoid legal liability
[D]feel obliged to view customers' safety as their first concern
53. The case of Schutt helmet demonstrated that__
[A]some injury claims were no longer supported by law
[B]helmets were not designed to prevent injuries
[C]product labels would eventually be discarded
[D]some sports games might lose popularity with athletes
54. The author' s attitude towards the issue seems to be__
[A] biased [ B] indifferent [ C] puzzling [D]objective

Passage 2
In the first year or so of Web business, most of the action has revolved around efforts to tap
the consumer market. More recently, as the Web proved to be more than a fashion, companies
have started to buy and sell products and services with one another. Such business-to-business
sales make sense because businesspeople typically know what product they're looking for.
Nonetheless, many companies still hesitate to use the Web because of doubts about its relia-
bility. "Businesses need to feel they can trust the pathway between them and the supplier, " says
senior analyst Blane Erwin of Forrester Research. Some companies are limiting the risk by con-
ducting online transactions only with established business partners who are given access to the
company ' s private internet .
Another major shift in the model for Internet commerce concerns the technology available for
marketing. Until recently, Internet marketing activities have focused on strategies to "pull" cus-
tomers into sites. In the past year, however, software companies have developed tools that allow
companies to "push" information directly out to consumers , transmitting marketing messages di-
rectly to targeted customers. Most notably, the Pointcast Network uses a screen saver to deliver a
continualiy updated stream of news and advertisements to subscribers' computer monitors. Sub-
scribers can customize the information they want to receive and proceed directly to a company ' s

Web site. Companies such as Virtual Vineyards are already starting to use similar technologies to
push messages to customers about special sales, product offerings, or other events. But push tech-
nology has earned the contempt of many Web users. Online culture thinks highly of the notion
that the information flowing onto the screen comes there by specific request. Once commercial
promotion begins to fill the screen uninvited, the distinction between the Web and television
fades. That's a prospect that horrifies Net purists.
But it is hardly inevitable that companies on the Web will need to resort to push strategies to
make money. The examples of Virtual Vineyards, Amazon.com, and other pioneers show that a
Web site selling the right kind of products with the right mix of interactivity, hospitality, and se-
curity will attract online customers. And the cost of computing power continues to free fall,
which is a good sign for any enterprise setting up shop in silicon. People looking back 5 or 10
years from now may well wonder why so few companies took the online plunge.
55 . We learn from the beginning of the passage that Web business__
[A] has been striving to expand its market
[B]intended to follow a fanciful fashion
[C]tried but in vain to control the market
[D]has been booming for one year or so
56. Speaking of the online technology available for marketing, the author implies that__
[A] the technology is popular with many Web users
[B]businesses have faith in the reliability of online transactions
[C]there is a radical change in strategy
[D] it is accessible limitedly to established partners
57. In the view of Net purists,__
[A]there should be no marketing messages in online culture
[ B]money making should be given priority to on the Web
[C]the Web should be able to function as the television set
[D] there should be no online commercial information without requests
58. We learn from the last paragraph that __

[A]pushing information on the Web is essential to Internet commerce
[ B] interactivity , hospitality and security are important to online customers
[ C]leading companies began to take the online plunge decades ago
[D]setting up shops in silicon is independent of the cost of computing power