2012年西南政法大学外语学院211翻译硕士英语考研真题及详解I. Reading Comprehension (Total 20 points, 1 point for each)Directions:There are 4 passages followed by some questions or unfinished statements, you should answer the questions or decide on the best choice on the Answer Sheet.Passage 1Although it is mankind’s inevitable fate to continually progress on the path of technology, there will always be the obstacle of resistance to overcome. Be it in the form of a protester who deplores implementation of the latest gadget or a dissenting scientist who disagrees with his colleagues’ methods of rese arch, it is an unavoidable fact that every step toward the future must be a hard-fought one. The latest battleground is one that has to do with the essence of nature itself: the bioengineering of certain plant species for human consumption.By learning about, isolating and finally manipulating the individual genes and strings of DNA that compose a plant species, geneticists are able to create new breeds of plants in the laboratory. These plants are able to live longer in harsher environments, provide better nutrition, and sustain themselves with a minimum of human care. By changing the composition of the plants at a cellular level and chemically combining elements of different plants that don’t normally cross-pollinate in nature, science is ushering in a wave of new food items that earthhas seen before. Many argue that they are achieving best of both worlds, the best that each individual species has to offer conveniently contained within one product. Some scientists even go so far as to argue that these foods are better for human than anything nature itself has ever created.The opposition has its own theories, however. Due to the relatively new nature of these experiments, it is questionable whether these items are truly safe for human consumption, despite government approval. Taking a broader view, they contend that by combining species that normally do not go together, we may be achieving the WORST of both worlds, meaning that diseases that normally contained within one species will combine as well. Thus, they may be made stringer by mutation, possibly endangering earth’s agricultural food supply if unleashed upon helpless natural species that have never had to deal with such enemies before.The possibilities that come with such a warning are frightening. A bio-engineered disease could wreak havoc on the delicate balance created by nature, possibly decimating the plant population of earth and depriving mankind of its food source. Clearly, the words of those opposed to progress must be considered on this issue, for the stakes are simply too high to be taken without an extreme degree of caution.1. The word “cross-pollinate” (paragraph2) in the context probably means _____.A. co-existB. thrive in the same environmentC. reproduce togetherD. survive under the same conditions2. Paragraph 2 and 3 are written to _____.A. be used in conjunction in order to dearly evaluate the current situationB. lead the reader to agree to with one side of the argumentC. complement one another by countering each other’s pointsD. present the respective arguments of each side on the issue3. Which of the following is definitely true according to the text?A. Biologically engineered foods are safe for human consumption.B. Genetically combining different plant species results in new developments,both good and bad.C. Genetically engineering foods are capable of unleashing destructive diseaseson the environment.D. science can execute the task of bio-engineering foods, but not fully evaluate itsresults at the present time.4. The author’s attitude toward the issue of genetically engineering foods is _____.A. impartialB. subjectiveC. biasedD. puzzling5. The last paragraph of the text is mainly utilized to _____.A. indicate the author’s opinion o f the issueB. present convincing arguments in favor of one sideC. warn about the possible outcome of one course of actionD. provide a previously unconsidered perspective on the situation【答案与解析】1. C 根据第二段第三句话“By changing the composition of the plants at a cellularlevel and chemica lly combining elements of different plants that don’t normally cross-pollinate in nature, science is ushering in a wave of new food items that earth has seen before.”科学家们能够改变植物的细胞组成，将不同植物的元素结合起来，创造出地球上没有的食物。

cross-pollinate，cross交叉的，pollinate对……授粉，plants th at don’t normally cross-pollinate in nature的意思就是两种植物的花粉不会自然地影响彼此，自然也就没法产生结合体，所以该题答案是C，一起繁殖。