2013年全国硕士研究生入学统一考试英语二试题(答案解析版)
Section I Use of English
Directions: Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)
Given the advantages of electronic money, you might think that we would move quickly to the cashless society in which all payments are made electronically. ___1___, a true cashless society is probably not around the corner. Indeed, predictions of such a society have been ___2___ for two decades but have not yet come to fruition. For example, Business Week predicted in 1975 that electronic means of payment “would soon revolutionize the very ___3___ of money itself,” only to ___4___ itself several years later. Why has the movement to a cashless society been so ___5___ in coming?
Although e-money might be more convenient and may be more efficient than a payments system based on paper, several factors work __6___ the disappearance of the paper system. First, it is very ___7___ to set up the computer, card reader, and telecommunications networks necessary to make electronic money the ___8___ form of payment. Second, paper checks have the advantage that they ___9___ receipts, something that many consumers are unwilling to ___10___. Third, the use of paper checks gives consumers several days of "float"-it takes several days ___11___ a check is cashed and funds are ___12___ from the issuer's account, which means that the writer of the check can earn interest on the funds in the meantime. ___13___ electronic payments are immediate, they eliminate the float for the consumer. Fourth, electronic means of payment ___14___ security and privacy concerns. We often hear media reports that an unauthorized hacker has been able to access a computer database and to alter information ___15___ there.
Because this is not an ___16___ occurrence, unscrupulous persons might be able to access bank accounts in electronic payments systems and ___17___ funds by moving them from someone else’s accounts into their own. The ___18___ of this type of fraud is no easy task, and a whole new field of computer science has developed to ___19___ security issues. A further concern is that the use of electronic means of payment leaves an electronic ___20___ that contains a large amount of personal data on buying habits. There are worries that government, employers, and marketers might be able to access these data, thereby encroaching on our privacy.
1. [A] However [B] Moreover [C] Therefore [D] Otherwise
2. [A] off [B] back [C] over [D] around
3. [A] power [B] concept [C] history [D] role
4. [A] reward [B] resist [C] resume [D] reverse
5. [A] silent [B] sudden [C] slow [D] steady
6. [A] for [B] against [C]with [D] on
7. [A] imaginative [B] expensive [C] sensitive [D] productive