2020研究生考试《英语二》真题_第3页

　　Text 3

　　Madrid was hailed as a public health beacon last November when it rolled out ambitious

　　restrictions on the most polluting cars. Seven months and one election day later, a new

　　conservative city council suspended enforcement of the clean air zone, a first step toward its

　　possible demise.

　　Mayor Jose Luis Martínez -Almeida made opposition to the zone a centrepiece of his election

　　campaign, despite its success in improving air quality. A judge has now overruled the city's

　　decision to stop levying fines, ordering them reinstated. But with legal battles ahead, the zone's

　　future looks uncertain at best.

　　Among other weaknesses, the measures cities must employ when left to tackle dirty air on

　　their own are politically contentious, and therefore vulnerable. That’s because they inevitably put

　　the costs of cleaning the air on to individual drivers—who must pay fees or buy better vehicles—

　　rather than on to the car manufacturers whose cheating is the real cause of our toxic pollution.

　　It’s not hard to imagine a similar reversal happening in London. The new ultra-low emission

　　zone (Ulez) is likely to be a big issue in next year's mayoral election. And if Sadiq Khan wins and

　　extends it to the North and South Circular roads in 2021 as he intends, it is sure to spark intense

　　opposition from the far larger number of motorists who will then be affected.

　　It's not that measures such as London’s Ulez are useless. Far from it. Local officials are using

　　the levers that are available to them to safeguard residents' health in the face of a serious threat.

　　The zones do deliver some improvements to air quality, and the science tells us that means real

　　health benefits - fewer heart attacks, stokes and premature births, less cancer, dementia and asthma.

　　Fewer untimely deaths.

　　But mayors and councilors can only do so much about a problem that is far bigger than any

　　one city or town. They are acting because national governments — Britain’s and others across

　　Europe—have failed to do so.

　　Restrictions that keep highly polluting cars out of certain areas—city centres,“school streets”,

　　even individual roads-are a response to the absence of a larger effort to properly enforce existing

　　regulations and require auto companies to bring their vehicles into compliance. Wales has

　　introduced special low speed limits to minimise pollution. We re doing everything but insist that

　　manufacturers clean up their cars.

　　31. Which of the following is true about Madrid’s clean air zone?

　　[A] Its effects are questionable

　　[B] It has been opposed by a judge

　　[C] It needs tougher enforcement

　　[D] Its fate is yet to be decided

　　32. Which is considered a weakness of the city-level measures to tackle dirty air?

　　[A] They are biased against car manufacturers.

　　[B] They prove impractical for city councils.

　　[C] They are deemed too mild for politicians.

　　[D] They put too much burden on individual motorists.

　　33. The author believes that the extension of London’s Ulez will .

　　[A] arouse strong resistance.

　　[B] ensure Khan’s electoral success.

　　[C] improve the city’s traffic.

　　[D] discourage car manufacturing.

　　34. Who does the author think should have addressed the problem?

　　[A] Local residents

　　[B] Mayors.

　　[C] Councilors.

　　[D] National governments.

　　35. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that auto companies .

　　[A] will raise low-emission car production

　　[B] should be forced to follow regulations

　　[C] will upgrade the design of their vehicles

　　[D] should be put under public supervision

　　Text 4

　　Now that members of Generation Z are graduating college this spring—the most

　　commonly- accepted definition says this generation was born after 1995, give or take a year—the

　　attention has been rising steadily in recent weeks. GenZs are about to hit the streets looking for

　　work in a labor market that’s tighter than its been in decades. And employers are planning on

　　hiring about 17 percent more new graduates for jobs in the U.S. this year than last, according to a

　　survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. Everybody wants to

　　know how the people who will soon inhabit those empty office cubicles will differ from those who

　　came before them.

　　If “entitled” is the most common adjective, fairly or not, applied to millennials (those born

　　between 1981 and 1995), the catchwords for Generation Z are practical and cautious. According to

　　the career counselors and experts who study them, Generation Zs are clear-eyed, economic

　　pragmatists. Despite graduating into the best economy in the past 50 years, Gen Zs know what an

　　economic train wreck looks like. They were impressionable kids during the crash of 2008, when

　　many of their parents lost their jobs or their life savings or both. They aren’t interested in taking

　　any chances. The booming economy seems to have done little to assuage this underlying

　　generational sense of anxious urgency, especially for those who have college debt. College loan

　　balances in the U.S. now stand at a record $1.5 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve.

　　One survey from Accenture found that 88 percent of graduating seniors this year chose their

　　major with a job in mind. In a 2019 survey of University of Georgia students, meanwhile, the

　　career office found the most desirable trait in a future employer was the ability to offer secure

　　employment (followed by professional development and training, and then inspiring purpose). Job

　　security or stability was the second most important career goal (work-life balance was number

　　one), followed by a sense of being dedicated to a cause or to feel good about serving the greater

　　good.

　　36. Generation Zs graduating college this spring________.

　　[A] are recognized for their abilities

　　[B] are in favor of job offers

　　[C] are optimistic about the labor market

　　[D] are drawing growing public attention

　　37. Generation Zs are keenly aware________.

　　[A] what a tough economic situation is like

　　[B] what their parents expect of them

　　[C] how they differ from past generations

　　[D] how valuable a counselor’s advice is

　　38. The word“assuage”(line 9, para 2) is closet in meaning to________.

　　[A] define

　　[B] relieve

　　[C] maintain

　　[D] deepen

　　39. It can be learned from Paragraph 3 that Generation Zs________.

　　[A] care little about their job performance

　　[B] give top priority to professional training

　　[C] think it hard to achieve work-life balance

　　[D] have a clear idea about their future job

　　40. Michelsen thinks that compared with millennials, Generation Zs are________.

　　[A] less realistic

　　[B] less adventurous

　　[C]more diligent

　　[D] more generous