考研英语-40
(总分100,考试时间90分钟)
Section Ⅰ Use of English
  We all know whether we are left-handed or right-handed; hardly any of us know whether we are leftfaced. Yet according to Professor Karl Smith of the University of Wisconsin we are all almost    1    one or the other. Right-faced people are more    2    than left-faced people, and there is a striking    3    between left-facedness and musical talent. Beethoven was left-faced.    4    were Brahms, Schubert, Wagner, Tchaikovsky and the    5    of other well-known living performers of all kinds of music.
    The idea of facedness    6    from many years of computerized study of people's lip, tongue and jaw movement    7    they were talking. Smith and his colleagues found that in most people one side of the face was more    8    than the other. There are other    9    of facedness, some of which can be    10    in static pictures; in tight-faced people the right-side
of the face is    11    compressed between jaw and brow; the right eyebrow tends to be higher; dimples and wrinkles are less    12    than on the left.
    From a study of more than 500 people Smith found that the    13    of right-faced people    14    about nine in ten among Americans to two in three among Acapulco Mexicans. The fact that    15    twins were always both right-faced or left-faced suggests a    16    origin for facedness.
    Those talented musical artists-"singers and instrumentalists who perform classical, operatic, country and jazz music are almost without exception left-faced."  Smith's findings    17    with theories that the fight hemisphere of the brain  (which controls the left side of the face) is    18    for musical performance, the left hemisphere for    19    . The idea of facedness, he says,  "suggests new    20    to the study of all aspects of cerebral dominance and its relation to handedness and speech disabilities".
1. A. hardly                B. certainly            C. accordingly          D. possibly
2. A. indispensable          B. preferable            C. common              D. desirable
3. A. association            B. similarity            C. agreement            D. comparison
4. A. So                  B. Also                C. But                D. And
5. A. majority              B. influence            C. names                D. celebrities
6. A. emerged              B. aroused              C. dated                D. rose
7. A. as                  B. before              C. while              D. since
8. A. attractive              B. active                C. graceful              D. particular
9. A. aspects                B. shapes              C. ideas                D. signs
10. A. tested                B. recognized            C. interpreted            D. limited
11. A. more                  B. less                  C. little                D. much
12. A. marked                B. remarkable          C. plain                D. unusual
13. A. number                B. amount              C. proportion            D. total
14. A. turned out            B. consisted of          C. added up to          D. ranged from
15. A. variable              B. similar              C. identical            D. inheritable
16. A. environmental          B. genetic              C. biological            D. inherent
17. A. fit out              B. fill up              C. put up              D. fit in
18. A. separated            B. revealed            C. specialized          D. tamed
19. A. sensitivity            B. language            C. symmetry            D. knowledge
20. A. approaches            B. trends                C. features              D. methodsodds
Section Ⅱ Reading Comprehension
Part A
Text 1
  What makes a great high school? Americans think a lot of things do, from outstanding academics or a supportive environment for students to a great football or basketball team. Still, pretty much everyone agrees teaching and learning are central to the mission. High schools are expected to prepare students for further education, work, or the military and eliminate the large gaps in achievement separating different ethnic and income groups of students. These are sensible goals.
    While there are many great high schools among the nearly 22,000 across the country, too many are still not getting the job done. Only about half of African-American and Hispanic students finish high school on time. Meanwhile, the National Assessment of Education Progress tests, often referred to as "the nation's report card," show significant achievement gaps separating white students from black and Hispanic high school students.