南京航空航天大学2018年246英语初试考研真题

　　people, I must confess, so unsympathetic and peculiar that I do not know how to argue with them. If their case

　　were sound, the world should be full of madmen attempting to fly from New York to Philadelphia on a

　　broomstick or covering a telephone with kisses in the belief that it was their enchanted girlfriend.

　　No fairy story ever claimed to be a description of the external world and no sane child has ever believed that

　　it was.

　　21. The author considers that a fairy story is more effective when it is ________.

　　A. repeated without variation B. treated with reverence

　　C. adapted by the parent D. set in the past

　　22. The word “overt” (paragraph 2) means ________.

　　A. acute B. authentic

　　C. apparent D. artificial

　　23. According to the passage, great fear can be stimulated in a child when a story is ____.

　　A. filled with excitement B. heard only once

　　C. repeated too often D. read out of a book

　　24. According to the passage, the advantage claimed for repeating fairy stories to young children is that it

　　_______.

　　A. makes them come to terms with their fears

　　B. develops their power of memory

　　C. convinces them there is something to be afraid of

　　D. encourages them not to have ridiculous beliefs

　　25. The author‟s mention of broomsticks and telephones is meant to suggest that ______.

　　A. fairy stories are still being vividly made up

　　B. children do not easily accept fairy tales as they are

　　C. people try their best to modernize old fairy stories

　　D. there is more concern for children's fears nowadays

　　Passage 2

　　Psychologists have found that privately made confidential resolutions are rarely followed, whereas a

　　public commitment to achieve some goal, such as losing weight or giving up smoking is likely to be much more

　　effective. This is because the approval of others for doing something desirable is valued. In contrast,

　　disapproval for failure can lead to feelings of shame.

　　Advertising agencies have designed studies bearing out the truth of this observation. In this research, a

　　group of strangers was bombarded with information about the qualities of a particular product. They were then

　　asked to either announce out loud or write down privately whether they intended to buy the product. It was later

　　discovered that those who publicly declared their intention to buy were considerably more likely to do so than

　　those who affirmed their intentions in private.

　　In another study, an experimenter claiming to represent a local utility company interviewed house owners

　　telling them he was investigating ways in which energy consumption could be reduced. Half the subjects,

　　randomly selected, were told that if they agreed to conserve energy their names would be mentioned in an

　　article published in the local newspaper; the remaining half were told their names would not be used. All those

　　interviewed agreed to cooperate and signed a form either giving consent for their names to be used or stating

　　that their names would not be used. Later in the year, the amount of gas consumed in each house was recorded.

　　The owners who had agreed to their names being published had used significantly less gas than those who

　　remained anonymous.

　　26. It can be inferred that all of the following help motivate a person to achieve a goal EXCEPT_________.

　　A. a desire for approval B. a fear of disapproval

　　C. a fear of failure D. a sense of non-commitment

　　27. Why were advertising agencies interested in conducting their study?

　　A. They wanted to introduce a new way of promoting products.

　　B. They wanted to demonstrate the quality of their products.

　　C. They wanted to know if people intended to purchase their products.

　　D. They wanted to find the best way to get people to buy their products.

　　28. According to the passage, the anonymous subjects in the energy-consumption experiment

　　A. didn‟t cooperate

　　B. didn‟t sign a form

　　C. didn‟t want their names published

　　D. didn‟t use significantly less gas

　　29. How did the experimenter find out the amount of gas the subjects used?

　　A. By recording the amount of gas used

　　B. By stating the amount of gas in the contract

　　C. By publishing the amount of gas consumed in each house

　　D. By giving people a limited amount of gas to use

　　30. This passage supports which of the following conclusions?

　　A. Commitments made in private are more likely to fail.

　　B. Disapproval for failure makes people less willing to make public commitments.

　　C. Intentions affirmed in private are more effective than those published in newspapers.

　　D. Well-informed people are more likely to publicly declare their intentions.

　　Passage 3

　　The danger of misinterpretation is greatest, of course, among speakers who actually speak different native