Passage 4
Aimlessness has hardly been typical of the postwar Japan (1) whose productivity and social harmony are the envy of the United States and Europe. But increasingly the Japanese are seeing a decline of the traditional work-moral values. Ten years ago young people were hard-working and saw their jobs as their primary reason for being, but now Japan has largely fulfilled its economic needs, and young people don't know where they should go next.
(2) The coming of age of the postwar baby boom and an entry of women into the male-dominated job market have limited the opportunities of teen-agers (3) who are already questioning the heavy personal sacrifices involved in climbing Japan's rigid social ladder to good schools and jobs. In a recent survey, it was found that only 24.5 percent of Japanese students were fully satisfied with school life, (4) compared with 67.2 percent of students in the United States. In addition, far more Japanese workers expressed dissatisfaction with their jobs than did their counterparts in the 10 other countries surveyed.
While often praised by foreigners for its emphasis on the basics, Japanese education tends to (5) stress test taking and mechanical learning over creativity and self-expression." Those things (6) that do not show up in the test scores —— personality, ability, courage or humanity —— are completely ignored," says Toshiki Kaifu, chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's education committee.”Frustration against this kind of thing leads kids to drop out and run wild." Last year Japan experienced 2,125 incidents of school violence, including 929 assaults on teachers. Amid the outcry, many conservative leaders are seeking a return to the prewar emphasis on moral education. Last year Mitsuo Setoyama, who was then education minister, raised eyebrows when he argued (7) that liberal reforms introduced by the American occupation authorities after World WarⅡhad weakened the "Japanese morality of respect for parents."
But that may have more to do with Japanese life-styles." In Japan," says educator Yoko Muro, "its (8) never a question of whether you enjoy your job and your life, but only how much you can endure." With economic growth has come centralization; fully 76 percent of Japan's 119 million citizens live in cities (9) where community and the extended family have been abandoned in favor of isolated, two-generation households. Urban Japanese have long endured lengthy commutes (travels to and from work) and crowded living conditions, but as the old group and family values weaken, the discomfort is beginning to tell. (10) In the past decade, the Japanese divorce rate, while still well below that of the United States, has increased by more than 50 percent, and suicides have increased by nearly one-quarter.
(1)定语从句，修饰Japan
(2)由and连接两个并列结构，做主语
(3)定语从句，修饰teenager
(4)动词过去分词短语作补充说明状语
(5)stress…over… 相比……更强调……
(6)定语从句，修饰those things
(7)argue的宾语从句，introduc -ed……World War II为后置定语，修饰liberal reforms
(8)never…but…, 并列结构做表语
(9)定语从句，修饰cities
(10)由and连接的两个句子。while引导第一句的补充说明状语
63. In the Westerner's eyes, the postwar Japan was_____ .
A.under aimless development
B.a positive example
C.a rival to the West
D.on the decline
64. According to the author, what may chiefly be responsible for the moral decline of Japanese society?
A.Women's participation in social activities is limited.
B.More workers are dissatisfied with their jobs.
C.Excessive emphasis his been placed on the basics.
D.The life-style has been influenced by Western values.
65. Which of the following is true according to the author?
A.Japanese education is praised for helping the young climb the social ladder
B.Japanese education is characterized by mechanical learning as well as creativity.
C.More stress should be placed on the cultivation of creativity.
D.Dropping out leads to frustration against test taking.
66. The change in Japanese Life-style is revealed in the fact that____.
A.the young are less tolerant of discomforts
B.the divorce rate in Japan exceeds that in the U.S.
C.the Japanese endure more than ever before
D.the Japanese appreciate their present life
63.在西方人眼中，战后的日本：
A.在漫无目的地发展
B.是一个正面例子
C.是西方的敌人
D.在衰落
64.作者认为什么应该对日本社会的道德衰败负主要责任？
A.妇女对社会活动的参与受限制
B.更多的工人对工作不满
C.过多强调基础
D.生活方式受到西方影响
65.根据作者观点，以下哪个正确？
A.日本教育因其能帮助青年人变得更有地位而受到赞扬
B.日本教育以机械式学习同时也以创造性为特点
C.应该更多强调创造性的培养
D.辍学导致对考试的反感
66.日本人生活方式的改变从以下事实得以体现：
A.年轻人相对不能容忍不舒适
B.日本的离婚率超过美国
C.日本人比过去更能忍耐了
D.日本人赞许他们目前的生活
【答案】BDCA
Passage 5
If ambition is to be well regarded, the rewards of ambition —— health, distinction, control over one's destiny —— must be deemed worthy of (1) the sacrifices made on ambition's behalf. If the tradition of ambition is to have vitality, it must be widely shared; and it especially must be highly regarded by people who are themselves admired, (2) the educated not least among them. In an odd way, however, it is the educated who have claimed to have given up on ambition as an ideal. (3) What is odd is (4) that they have perhaps most benefited from ambition-if not always their own then that of their parents and grandparents. There is heavy note of hypocrisy in this, a case of closing the barn door after the horses have escaped —— with the educated themselves riding on them.
Certainly people do not seem less interested in success and its signs now than formerly. Summer homes, European travel, BMWs——the locations, place names and name brands may change, but such items do not seem (5) less in demand today than a decade or two years ago. What has happened is (6) that people cannot confess fully to their dreams, as easily and openly as once they could, lest they be thought pushing, acquisitive and vulgar. Instead, we are treated to fine hypocritical spectacles, (7) which now more than ever seem in ample supply: the critic of American materialism with a Southampton summer home; the publisher of radical books who takes his meals in three-star restaurants; the journalist (8) advocating participatory democracy in all phases of life, (9) whose own children are enrolled in private schools. For such people and many more perhaps not so exceptional, the proper formulation is," Succeed at all costs but avoid appearing ambitious."
The attacks on ambition are many and come from various angles; its public defenders are few and unimpressive, where they are not extremely unattractive. As a result, the support for ambition as a healthy impulse, a quality (10) to be admired and fixed in the mind of the young is probably lower than it has ever been in the United States. This does not mean (11) that ambition is at an end, that people no longer feel its stirrings and promptings, but only that, no longer openly honored, it is less openly underground, or made sly. Such, then, is the way things stand: on the left angry critics, on the right stupid supporters, and in the middle, as usual, the majority of earnest people trying to (12) get on in life.
(1)为抱负做出的牺牲
(2)特别是那些收到良好教育的人。among them, 其中them指people who are themselves admired
(3)what引导的主语从句
(4)表语从句
(5)需求上减少
(6)表语从句。其中，lest引导状语从句，lest + should do, should可省略
(7)定语从句，修饰hypocritical spectacles
(8)动词现在分词做后置定语
(9)定语从句，修饰the journalist
(10)动词不定式做后置定语
(11)mean的宾语从句
(12)成功
67. It is generally believed that ambition may be well regarded if _____.
A.its returns well compensate for the sacrifices
B.it is rewarded with money, fame and power
C.its goals are spiritual rather than material
D.it is shared by the rich and the famous
68. The last sentence of the first paragraph most probably implies that it is____.
A.customary of the educated to discard ambition in words
B.too late to check ambition once it has been let out
C.dishonest to deny ambition after the fulfillment of the goal
D.impractical for the educated to enjoy benefits from ambition
69. Some people do not openly admit they have ambition because____.
A.they think of it as immoral
B.their pursuits are not fame or wealth
C.ambition is not closely related to material benefits
D.they do not want to appear greedy and contemptible
70. From the last paragraph the conclusion can be drawn that ambition should be maintained_____.
A.secretly and vigorously
B.openly and enthusiastically
C.easily and momentarily
D.verbally and spiritually
67.人们普遍认为抱负能被认可，如果：
A.它的回报能够抵补为它做出的牺牲
B.它能以金钱、名望和力量作为奖赏
C.它的目标是精神化的而非物质化的
D.富人和名人都有抱负
68、第一段的最后一句话最有可能意味着：
A.受教育者口头上放弃抱负是普遍的
B.一旦抱负泄漏，对其进行反省就太晚了
C.目标达到后还拒绝承认有抱负是不诚实的
D.受教育者想从抱负中受益是不实际的
69.一些人不公开承认他们有抱负是因为：
A.他们认为这是不道德的
B.他们追求的不是名望或金钱
C.抱负与物质利益不紧密相关
D.他们不愿意显得贪婪和可鄙
70.从最后一段可以得出结论：抱负必须_____被保持：
A.秘密而且模糊地
B.公开并且充满热情地
C.轻松而且即刻地
D.口头而且精神上地
【答案】ACDB
2000年考研英语阅读理解真题原文翻译
第一篇（Passage 1）
持续而毫不费力的成功经历有可能成为—种可怕的障碍，但是如果处理得当，它也许会成为一股动力。二战结束后，美国进入的恰好是这样一个辉煌时期，当时它拥有的市场是任何竞争者的八倍，这使得美国经济发展到了前所未有的规模。美国拥有世界上最优秀的科学家和技术最为高超的技术工人。美国繁荣的程度超出了那些经济遭到战争破坏的欧亚诸国的梦想。
随着其他国家日益富裕，美国世界之首的优势地位不可避免要下降。从优势地位上退出的痛苦感也在所难免。到了80年代中期，美国人对工业竞争力的逐步下降感到不知所措。—些大型美国工业，如消费电子产业，在国际竞争中缩小规模甚至消亡了。到1987年，Zenith成为硕果仅存的唯一—家美国电视制作商。(现在家电领域已经是一片空白：Zenith 7月份被南韩LG电器公司收购。)外国生产的汽车和纺织品正大规模进军国内市场。美国的机床工业命悬一线。有一段时间，半导体制造甚至也快要成为下一个受害者——美国人认为半导体在计算机新时代发挥核心作用。
所有这一切动摇了美国人的信心。美国人不再认为繁荣是理所当然的。他们开始觉得自己的商业经营方式正在失效，而他们的收入不久就会因此而开始下降。80年代中期，对美国工业衰退成因的探究层出不穷。有时，他们耸人听闻的结论充斥着关于海外竞争的警告。
世界变化真快！1995年，美国已经平稳发展了5年，而日本却在苦苦挣扎。没有几个美国人会将这些变化仅仅归因于美元贬值或经济周期变化这些显而易见的原因。人们不再自我怀疑，而转变为盲目自大了。“美国已经调整了工业结构，精简了机构，变得更明智”，这是Harvard大学Kennedy管理学院行政院长Richard Cavanagh的看法。 “我为我是一个美国人而自豪，因为我们的企业提高劳动生产率的速度惊人。”华盛顿特区的智囊团——Cato研究院的Stephen Moore这样说。而Harvard商学院的William Sahlman则相信，人们将来回顾这一时期时，会将其视为“美国商业管理的黄金时期”。
第二篇（Passage 2）
做男人总是危险的。出生时男女比例大约是105：100。到成年时，男女比例就下降到基本持平了，而在70岁的老人中，女性人数是男性的两倍。但是现在男性死亡率普遍偏高的情况正在改变。如今男婴存活率几乎同女婴一样。这就是说当男孩到了寻找伴侣的关键年龄时将出现男孩过剩，这种现象还是首次出现。更重要的是，另一个自然选择的机会没有了。50年前，婴儿(尤其是男婴)存活的可能取决于体重，轻一公斤或重一公斤就几乎必死无疑。而如今请一公斤或者重一公斤已经没有什么区别了。因为许多差异是由基因决定的，又一个影响进化的因素已不复存在了。
人类进化自杀行为还有另外一种方式：活着，但是生更少的孩子。现在几乎没有人像过去那样具有极强的生育能力。除了在某些宗教团体外，没有几个妇女会生15个小孩。如今生育的数量趋于平均，就如同死亡年龄趋于平均一样。我们中的大多数人有大致相同数量的后代。而且，人们之间的差异和利用差异进行自然选择的机会也已经消失。印度就能说明正在发生的一切。在这个国家里，生活在大城市里的少数人富有，其余剩下的部落种族却与贫困相伴。相对于部落来说，目前这种极为显著的变化——每个人的生存机会和子女数量都相同——意味着自然选择在印度上层社会已经失去了80％的效力。
对我们来说，这意味着进化的结束和生物学意义的乌托邦的降临。奇怪的是，这一过程几乎没有涉及到自然界的变化。没有其他物种占据了广袤的自然空间。但在过去的十万年——甚至过去的—百年中，我们的生活被改变了，而我们的身体却没有。我们没有进化，因为机器和社会已经替我们实现了这种进化。达尔文有一句话描述那些不了解进化的人，他们“看一个有机生命体就如同野人看船一样，好像是在看某种超出他的理解能力的东西。”毫无疑问，我们将记住20世纪的生活方式，尽管它的丑态让人难以理解。但是，不管我们的子孙后代多么惊讶于我们与乌托邦的理想境界相去甚远，他们看起来将和我们没有两样。
第三篇（Passage 3）
当一场新的艺术运动成为某种时尚时，明智的做法是弄清其倡导者的目的所指，因为无论他们的原则在今天看来是多么牵强附会和不切实际，将来都有可能被人们视为正常。然而，对未来派诗歌而言，却相当困难，因为不管未来派诗歌为何物——即使我们肯定其依据理论可能是正确的，它也很难被列入文学的范畴。
简而言之，未来派诗人所宣称的是：—个世纪以来，过去的生活条件一直在持续不断地变化，如今我们生活在一个充满噪音和暴力、高速运转的世界之中。因此，我们的感觉、思想和情绪都经历了相应的变化。未来派诗人认为，随着生活节奏的不断加快，需要一种新的表现形式。对现代生活的压力进行诠释要求加速发展文学。我们必须大量使用精炼词汇，摆脱标点、修饰形容词及限定动词的束缚；我们应该造出新词语模仿声音，而不是去描绘它们；我们必须在同一页纸上用不同大小的字，选择不同的颜色，并且任意缩短或加长词语。
未来主义诗人对战斗的描述肯定是令人费解的。而看了他们的注解则令人沮丧：某一行诗描述—位土耳其军官和一位保加利亚军官在—座桥上打架，结果双双从桥上掉进河中，而该行竟是由他们落水的声音和军官的体重而写成：“扑通！扑通！一百八十五公斤。”
尽管这种写法符合未来主义诗歌的创作规则和要求，但是很难把它纳入文学的范畴。同样的，任何有头脑的人都不会拒绝接受未来派艺术家的主张：我们情感生活的巨大变化要求我们的表达方式也相应改变。最终的问题实际上在于：我们发生了实质上的变化吗？
第四篇（Passage 4）
没有目标绝对不是战后日本的典型特征：美国和欧洲都对日本的生产力发展水平和社会和谐程度羡慕不已。然而日本人传统的工业道德价值观在逐渐淡化。十年前，日本年轻人工作勤奋，将工作视为他们生存的首要动因，而如今日本已经满足了其经济发展的要求，于是年轻人就失去了他们生活的目标。
随着战后生育高峰出生的婴儿如今都步入成年，加上妇女进入曾经以男性为主导的就业市场，青少年的发展机遇减少，而他们已经怀疑，为了上好学校、找好工作、攀升日本等级森严的社会阶梯，有没有必要做出巨大的个人牺牲。最近的—次调查发现，相对于美国的62.7%，日本只有24．5％的学生对学校生活完全满意。此外，与其他十个被调查的国家相比，日本有更多的工人对他们的工作感到不满。
虽然日本在强调基础知识教育方面经常受到国外的赞扬，但是日本教育往往强调应试和机械学习，而不重视培养创新和自我表现。“考分无法体现的那些东西——个性、能力、勇气或人性，完全被忽视了，”执政的自民党教育委员会主席Toshiki Kaifu说，“由于对这种情况感到失望，很多小孩都辍学，变得放荡不羁。”去年日本发生了2，125起校园暴力事件，包括929起袭击老师事件。在人们的强烈抗议声中，许多保守党领导人力图恢复战前重视道德教育的情况。去年，在任教育大臣Mitsuo Setoyama对此表示批评，他认为战后美国占领当局引入的自由改革淡化了“日本人尊敬父母的道德观”。
但是这也许和日本的生活方式更有关系。教育家YokoMuro说，“在日本，是否喜欢自己的工作和生活从来都不是问题，唯一的问题是你能够忍受到何种程度。”随着经济的发展，集中随之产生，在日本119百万的公民中，有76%居住在城市当中。在这些城市，人们逐渐放弃了社区和大家庭的观念，追求建立独立的、两代人的家庭。日本的城市居民已经长期忍受漫长的乘车上下班和拥挤的生活环境，而随着传统的群体观念和家庭观念的淡化，这种不便日益显露出来。在过去十年间，日本的离婚率尽管仍然远远低于美国，但是已经上升了50%多，而自杀率也增加了近四分之一。
第五篇（Passage 5）
如果人们高度重视个人抱负，那么抱负的回报——财富、声誉、对命运的掌握——就应该被认为值得为它做出牺牲。如果个人抱负的传统具有生命力，那么它就应该被广泛推崇，尤其应该受到那些受人羡慕的人的高度重视，当然也包括那些受过良好教育的人。然而，奇怪的是，恰恰是那些受过良好教育的人声称：他们已经不把个人抱负当作理想了。奇怪的是，这些人从个人抱负中受益很有可能最多—一即使不是从自己的个人抱负，也是从他们的父母亲或者祖辈的抱负。他们的话有浓厚的虚伪色彩，就像是马跑了以后就关上马厩的门，而受过良好教育的人却正骑在马上。
当然，与从前相比，如今人们一如既往地对成功及其标志有兴趣。避暑别墅，欧洲旅行、宝马车——别墅的位置、旅行的目的地以及名车的品牌可能会改变，但其需求似乎并未比一二十年前减少。有所改变的是，人们不再像从前那样从容而公开的坦陈自己的梦想，惟恐会被认为爱出风头、贪婪和粗俗。于是，我们看到了比从前任何时候都多的虚伪现象：批评美国实利主义的批评家在Southampton拥有避暑别墅；激进书籍的出版商在三星级宾馆就餐；鼓吹在生命的任何阶段都要共享民主政治的记者把自己的孩子送入私人学校。对于这样的人，以及那些还不是很出色的人而言，形象的说法是：“不惜一切获得成功，但不要显得有抱负。”
出自不同角度的对个人抱负的攻击非常多，而公开为个人抱负辩解的却少之又少，并且不能给人留下深刻印象，尽管不能说他们完全没有吸引力。因此，在美国，人们不再像从前那样把个人抱负看成一种健康的动力、一种应该受人羡慕并且扎根于青年人心中的品质，因而它获得的支持比任何时候都少。这并不意味个人抱负已经日落西山，人们不再受其鼓动和激励，它仅仅意味着人们不再为拥有个人抱负而公开地引以为荣，更不愿意公开地坦白了。当然，这样就带来了很多不良后果，个人抱负被迫转入地下或是被暗藏于胸就是后果之一。于是就成了这种情况：左边是愤怒的批评家，右边是愚蠢的支持者，而居中的通常是大多数执着地努力追求成功的人。
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