2022年考博英语-浙江工业大学考试名师点拨押题密卷42（含答案详解）

2022年考博英语-浙江工业大学考试名师点拨押题密卷（含答案详解）1. 单选题Scientists are already looking（21）the possibility of using some of the（22）ice in the Arctic and Antarctic. In these（23）there are vast ice-caps formed by snow that has fallen over the past 50,000 years. Layer（24）layer of deep snow means that,（25）melted, the snow water would be pure, not salty as sea-ice would be. There is so much（26）pure water here that it would need only a（27）of it to turn much of the desert or poorly irrigated parts of the world（28）rich farmland. And what useful packages it would come in! It should be possible to cut off a bit of ice and（29）it! Alternatively perhaps a（30）iceberg could be captured. They are always breaking away from the main caps and floating（31）, pushed by currents,（32）they eventually melt and are wasted. Many icebergs are, of course,（33）too small to be towed any distance, and would（34）before they reached a country that needed them（35）. It would be necessary to（36）one that was manageable and that was big enough to provide a good （37）of ice when it reached us. Engineers think that an iceberg up to 11 kilometers long and 2 kilometers（38）could be transported if the tug pulling it was as big as a supertanker! Even then they would cover only 32 kilometers every day.（39）, once the iceberg was at its（40）, more that 7,000 million cubic meters of water could be taken from it!问题1选项A.forB.toC.inD.into问题2选项A.probableB.niceC.availableD.possible问题3选项A.partsB.regionsC.countriesD.oceans问题4选项A.ofB.onC.uponD.and问题5选项A.whenB.asC.afterD.before问题6选项A.goodB.possibleC.perpetualD.potential问题7选项A.factorB.fractionC.frameworkD.foundation问题8选项A.toB.inC.intoD.at问题9选项A.transportB.transmitC.transplantD.transcribe问题10选项A.passB.passingC.pastD.passed问题11选项A.aroundB.aboveC.everywhereD.again问题12选项A.whenB.afterC.beforeD.until问题13选项A.allB.moreC.everyD.much问题14选项A.meltB.resolveC.vaporizeD.disappear问题15选项A.whereB.somewhereC.anywhereD.nowhere问题16选项A.drawB.useC.pullD.harness问题17选项A.supplyB.usageC.potentialD.storage问题18选项A.tallB.broadC.highD.wide问题19选项A.ThereforeB.HoweverC.ThusD.Although问题20选项A.terminalB.endC.stopD.destination【答案】第1题:D第2题:C第3题:B第4题:C第5题:A第6题:D第7题:B第8题:C第9题:A第10题:B第11题:A第12题:D第13题:D第14题:A第15题:C第16题:D第17题:A第18题:D第19题:B第20题:D【解析】21.考查固定搭配。A选项for“为了”；B选项to“给”；C选项in“在里面”；D选项into“到里面”。句意：科学家们已经在_利用北极和南极的一些可用冰的可能性。look into是固定搭配，意为“调查，研究”，而原文中表达的就是科学家在调查研究可用冰，因此D选项符合题意。22.考查形容词辨析。A选项probable“很可能的，可信的（用来指有根据，合情理，值得相信的事物，带有“大概，很可能”的意味）”；B选项nice“很好的”；C选项available“可利用的，可获得的，可找到的”；D选项possible“合理的，合适的（强调客观上有可能性,但常常带有实际可能性很小的含义）”。句意：科学家们已经在研究利用北极和南极的一些_冰的可能性。而本句强调的应该是“可以利用的冰”，因此C选项符合题意。23.考查名词辨析。A选项parts“零件，部件”；B选项regions“地区，地域”；C选项countries“国家”；D选项oceans“海洋”。句意：这些_有巨大的冰帽由过去5万年的降雪形成。而我们根据常识知道，北极和南极只能算是地区，因为那边并没有国家，因此B选项符合题意。24.考查介词辨析。A选项of“的”；B选项on“在上”；C选项upon“在上”；D选项and“和，以及”。句意：一层又一层的厚厚的积雪意味着。B选项和C选项在多数场合下是可以互换的，但是layer upon layer意为“层层”，是固定用法，因此C选项符合题意。25.考查时间状语从句。A选项when“当时”；B选项as“作为”；C选项after“在之后”；D选项before“在之前”。句意：一层又一层的厚厚的积雪意味着，_雪融化，雪水将是纯净的，而不是像海冰那样含盐。这里引导的是一个时间状语从句，意为“当雪融化时，”只有A选项可以引导时间状语从句，因此A选项符合题意。26.考查形容词辨析。A选项good“好的”；B选项possible“可能的，合理的”；C选项perpetual“永久的，不断的”；D选项potential“潜在的，可能的”。句意：这里有如此多的_纯净水，只需一小部分就能将世界上大部分沙漠或灌溉不足的地区变成肥沃的农田。本句可以通过推理得出答案，雪水是需要冰山融化才能获得，也就是说并不是已经存在的，而是需要经过一些步骤才能得到，因此它应该是“潜在的纯净水”，因此D选项符合题意。27.考查名词辨析。A选项factor“因素，要素”；B选项fraction“分数，部分”；C选项framework“框架，结构”；D选项foundation“基础，地基”。句意：这里有如此多的潜在纯净水，只需_就能将世界上大部分沙漠或灌溉不足的地区变成肥沃的农田。本题表达的是，这里的纯净水多到只需一小部分就能帮助很多地区，因此B选项符合题意。28.考查介词辨析。A选项to“对”；B选项in“在上”；C选项into“到里面，转变成”；D选项at“在时”。句意：这里有如此多的潜在纯净水，只需一小部分就能将世界上大部分沙漠或灌溉不足的地区_肥沃的农田。本句表达的是“将沙漠变成肥沃的农田”，只有C选项有“转变”之意，因此C选项符合题意。29.考查动词辨析。A选项transport“运输，流放”；B选项transmit“传输，传播，发射”；C选项transplant“移植，移栽”；D选项transcribe“转录，抄写”。句意：应该可以砍下一点冰，然后把它_！前文说到的是将融化的纯净水分给一些缺水地区，那么这里不难得出，应该是将这些冰“运过去”，给缺水地区使用，因此A选项符合题意。30.考查修饰语。A选项pass“通过（v.）”；B选项passing“经过的（adj.）”；C选项past“过去的，之前的（adj.）”；D选项passed“已经通过的”。句意：或者，也可以捕捉路过的冰山。本句表达的是“捕捉路过的冰山”，需要填入一个形容词，并且没有表示过去时的含义，因此B选项符合题意。31.考查副词辨析。A选项around“在四周，在附近”；B选项above“在上，超过”；C选项everywhere“到处”；D选项again“又一次，此外”。句意：它们总是脱离主帽，_漂浮。这句所表达的意思是，它们会脱离主帽，四处漂浮，因此A选项符合题意。32.考查时间状语。A选项when“当时候”；B选项after“在之后”；C选项before“在之前”；D选项until“直到”。句意：它们总是脱离主冰帽，在洋流的推动下四处漂浮，_最终融化并被浪费掉。而根据句子的逻辑，表达的应该是：它一直四处漂浮，直到最终被融化掉。因此D选项符合题意。33.考查固定搭配。A选项all“所有的”；B选项more“更多的”；C选项every“每一个”；D选项much“大量的”。句意：当然，许多冰山_，无法被拖到远的地区。这里考查much too固定搭配，意为“太，非常”，而本句要表达的是冰山太小，因此D选项符合题意。34.考查动词辨析。A选项melt“融化，溶解”；B选项resolve“决定，使分解”；C选项vaporize“蒸发”；D选项disappear“消失”。句意：当然，许多冰山太小，无法被拖到远的地区，它会在到达那些需要它的国家之前就_。前文有提到过冰山很容易融化，而此处也不难推断出，表达的是“它会在到达之前就融化”，因此A选项符合题意。35.考查副词辨析。A选项where“在哪里”；B选项“在某处”；C选项anywhere“在任何地方”；D选项nowhere“无处，任何地方都不”。句意：当然，许多冰山太小，无法被拖到远的地区，在到达_需要它们的国家之前就会融化。由于它们太容易融化，因此应该是到达任何需要它们的国家之前就会融化，因此C选项符合题意。36.考查动词辨析。A选项draw“拉，拖（通常指拖或拉向自己,多指拖拉较轻的物体，不太费力，有持续平稳地“拉”）”；B选项use“使用”；C选项pull“拉，拖（指用力“拉”，但不强调力的大小和“拉”的方式，用得比较广泛）”；D选项harness“治理，利用”。句意：有必要_一个易于管理的，而且足够大的（物件），保证当它（冰山）到达我们这里之前能够提供充足的供应。这句表达的是，“利用一个这样的物体，来帮助冰山不融化”，其他选项代入均不符合原意，因此D选项符合题意。37.考查名词辨析。A选项supply“供给，补充”；B选项usage“使用，用法”；C选项potential“潜能，可能性”；D选项storage“存储，储存”。句意：有必要利用一个易于管理的，而且足够大的（物件），保证当它（冰山）到达我们这里之前能够提供充足的_。这句话表达的是“在冰山到达需要它的地方之前要能够有东西提供充足的供应（让冰山不融化）”，而其他几个选项代入可发现与原意并不相符，因此A选项符合题意。38.考查名词辨析。A选项tall“高度（多指由顶到底的长度，尤其指比较细长的东西，如人、树、建筑物等，一般用于口语）”；B选项broad“宽度（侧重于幅面的宽广）”；C选项high“高度（形容高出地面或其他物体的东西，也可修饰任何比普通或一定标准高的事物，一般用于书面语）”；D选项wide“宽度（侧重于一边到另一边的距离）”。句意：工程师们认为，一个长11千米、宽2千米的冰山，如果拖船像超级油轮那么大，就可以运输。根据前面的“长为11千米”，可以判断出此处空格处要表示的是“宽为”，而英语中一般用wide来形容，因此D选项符合题意。39.考查连词辨析。A选项Therefore“因此，所以”；B选项However“然而”；C选项Thus“因此，从而”；D选项Although“尽管，虽然”。句意：_，冰山一旦到达目的地，就可以从其中抽取超过70亿立方米的水！本句需要把握前后两句的逻辑关系，前面一直都在说冰山搬运的困难程度，而这一句却说道“山一旦到达目的地，就可以从其中抽取超过70亿立方米的水”，两句之间有明显得转折关系，因此B选项符合题意。40.考查名词辨析。A选项terminal“航空站”；B选项end“结束，末端”；C选项stop“停止，车站”；D选项destination“目的地”。句意：然而，冰山一旦到达_，就可以从其中抽取超过70亿立方米的水！根据前文的描述，不难得出这句表达的是“冰山一旦到达目的地（需要它的国家）”，因此D选项符合题意。2. 单选题In a sudden（ ）of anger, the man tore up everything within reach.问题1选项A.attackB.burstC.splitD.blast【答案】B【解析】考查名词辨析。A选项attack“攻击，抨击”；B选项burst“爆炸，猝发，突然爆发”；C选项split“劈开，裂缝”；D选项blast“冲击波，一阵”。句意：那人_，把伸手可及的一切东西都撕碎了。这句话表达的意思是“那人勃然大怒”，因此B选项符合题意。3. 单选题The young performers captured and held the audiences attention from the moment the curtain went up.问题1选项A.gatheredB.caughtC.grabbedD.trapped【答案】C【解析】考查动词辨析。A选项gathered“聚集”；B选项caught“捕捉”；C选项grabbed“抓住”；D选项trapped“诱捕”。句意：年轻的演员们从幕布升起的那一刻起就吸引住了观众的注意力。根据句意，C选项与划线词意思贴近，因此C选项符合题意。4. 单选题His consciousness of the urgency of the situation encouraged him to hurry.问题1选项A.identificationB.recognitionC.comprehensionD.awareness【答案】D【解析】考查名词辨析。A选项identification“鉴定，识别（具体的，外在的可以看到信息）”；B选项recognition“识别，承认（其他人眼中是怎样的看法）”；C选项comprehension “理解，包含”；D选项awareness“意识，认识”。句意：他对形势紧急的意识促使他赶快行动。原句表达的意思是，他的意识在督促他行动，因此D选项符合题意。5. 单选题The British political system has evolved over several centuries.问题1选项A.improvedB.developedC.involvedD.survived【答案】B【解析】考查动词辨析。A选项improved“改进，增加”；B选项developed“发展，发达”；C选项involved“涉及，使参与”；D选项survived“幸存，存活”。句意：英国的政治制度是经过几个世纪的演变而成的。此处只有B选项可以最佳贴近“演变”这个含义，因此B选项符合题意。6. 单选题Nerve signals may travel through nerve or muscle fibers at speeds as high as two hundred miles per hour.问题1选项A.velocitiesB.impulsesC.ratiosD.atrocities【答案】A【解析】考查名词辨析。A选项velocities“速度”；B选项impulses“脉冲”；C选项ratios“比率”；D选项atrocities“暴行，残忍”。句意：神经信号通过神经纤维或肌肉纤维的速度可达每小时200英里。句子中的划线部分含义 “速度”，与A选项最为接近，因此A选项符合题意。7. 单选题Cases involving young people under 18 are heard in specially constituted children courts.问题1选项A.juniorB.youthC.infantileD.juvenile【答案】D【解析】考查名词辨析。A选项junior“年轻人（是一个相对的概念，比年轻/低一等级）”；B选项youth“青年，青春（一般指10岁到20岁多一点的男青年）”；C选项infantile“婴儿的”；D选项juvenile“青少年的，幼稚的（是法律用语）”。句意：涉及18岁以下青少年的案件由专门设立的儿童法庭审理。由于原句是涉及到法庭案件，并且儿童是年纪稍小的，因此D选项符合题意。8. 单选题The joys of travel, having long（ ）the disabled, are opening up to virtually anyone who has the means.问题1选项A.omittedB.missedC.neglectedD.discarded【答案】C【解析】考查动词辨析。A选项omitted“遗漏，省略”；B选项missed“错过，投偏”；C选项neglected“忽视，疏忽”；D选项discarded“丢弃”。句意：长期以来被忽视的残疾人旅行的乐趣正在向任何有办法的人开放。这里表示的是“之前残疾人士的旅行乐趣被忽视了”，因此C选项符合题意。9. 单选题Traditionally, the woman has held a low position in marriage partnerships. While her husband went his way, she had to wash, stitch and sew. Today the move is to liberate the woman, which may in the end strengthen the marriage union.Perhaps the greatest obstacle to friendship in marriage is the amount a couple usually see of each other. Friendship in its usual sense is not tested by the strain of daily, year-long cohabitation. Couples need to take up separate interests (and friendship) as well as mutually shared ones, if they are not to get used to the more attractive elements of each others personalities.Married couples are likely to exert themselves for guestsbeing amusing, discussing with passion and point and then to fall into dull exhausted silence when the guests have gone.As in all friendship, a husband and wife must try to interest each other, and to spend sufficient time sharing absorbing activities to give them continuing common interests. But at the same time they must spend enough time on separate interests with separate people to preserve and develop their separate personalities and keep their relationship fresh.For too many highly intelligent working women, home represents chore obligations, because the husband only tolerates her work and does not participate in household chores. For too many highly intelligent working men, home represents dullness and complaintsfrom an over-dependent wife who will not gather courage to make her own life.In such an atmosphere, the partners grow further and further apart, both love and liking disappearing. For too many couples with children, the children are allowed to command all time and attention, allowing the couple no time to develop liking and friendship, as well as love, allotting them exclusive parental roles.41. According to the passage, which of the following statements is correct?42. The passage suggests that married couples become（ ）.43. The passage seems to indicate at the end that children（ ）.问题1选项A.Friendship in marriage means daily, year-long cohabitation.B.Friendship can be kept fresh by both separate and shared interests.C.Friendship in marriage is based on developing similar interests.D.Friendship in marriage is based on developing separate interests.问题2选项A.unfriendly with guestsB.uninterested in guestsC.hostile when guests have leftD.quiet when guest have left问题3选项A.help couples reinforce their friendshipB.make no impact on the quality of friendshipC.may pose obstacles in marital friendshipD.command less time and care than expected【答案】第1题:B第2题:D第3题:C【解析】41.判断推理题。根据选项定位到第四段As in all friendship, a husband and wife must try to interest each other, and to . interests with separate people to preserve and develop their separate personalities and keep their relationship fresh.（就像所有的友谊一样，丈夫和妻子必须努力使对方感兴趣，并花足够的时间分享有趣的活动，以使他们保持共同的兴趣。但同时，他们必须花足够的时间和不同的人在不同的兴趣上，以保持和发展他们不同的个性，保持他们的关系新鲜。）而B选项“无论是单独的还是共同的兴趣爱好都能使友谊保持新鲜感”与文段最相符，因此B选项正确。A选项“婚姻中的友谊意味着每天、一年的同居生活”，与原文并不符；C选项“婚姻中的友谊是建立在发展相似的兴趣上的”；D选项“婚姻中的友谊是建立在发展各自的兴趣上的”，文章认为应该是要两者结合才是最好。42.事实细节题。根据题干定位到第三段Married couples are likely to exert themselves for guestsbeing amusing, discussing with passion and pointand then to fall into dull exhausted silence when the guests have gone.（已婚夫妇很可能会为客人竭尽全力逗乐，激情而有意义地讨论然后当客人走后陷入沉闷而疲惫的沉默。）也就是说客人在的时候他们会尽力去交谈，而客人走后却无话可说，因此D选项“客人走后他们会保持安静”正确。A选项“对待客人并不友好”，与原文不符；B选项“对客人不感兴趣”，原文完全没有提到；C选项“在客人离开后，双方变得敌对”，无关项。43.事实细节题。根据题干信息定位到最后一段In such an atmosphere,the partners grow further and further apart, both love . allowing the couple no time to develop liking and friendship, as well as love,allotting them exclusive parental roles.（在这样的氛围中，伴侣之间的距离越来越远，爱和喜欢都消失了。对于太多有孩子的夫妇来说，孩子被允许支配所有的时间和注意力，让夫妇没有时间去发展喜欢、友谊和爱，给他们分配了唯一的父母角色。）通过这句话可以得出，孩子占用了夫妇大部分的时间，成了婚姻关系中的障碍，因此C信息“可能对婚姻友谊造成障碍”正确；A选项“帮助夫妇巩固他们的友谊”；B选项“不影响夫妻关系”；D选项“比预期要求更少的时间和照顾”都与文章不符。10. 单选题“In every known human society the males needs for achievement can be recognized. In a great number of human societies mens sureness of their sex role is tied up with their right, or ability, to practice some activity that women are not allowed to practice. Their maleness in fact has to be underwritten by preventing women from entering some field or performing some feat.”This is the conclusion of the anthropologist Margaret Mead about the way in which the roles of men and women in society should be distinguished.If talk and print are considered it would seem that the formal emancipation of women is far from complete. There is a flow of publications about the continuing domestic bondage of women and about the complicated system of defences which men have thrown up around their hitherto accepted advantages, taking sometimes the obvious form of exclusion from types of occupation and sociable groupings, and sometimes the more subtle form of automatic doubt of the seriousness of womens pretensions to the level of intellect and resolution that men, it is supposed, bring to the business of running the world.There are a good many objective pieces of evidence for the erosion of mens status. In the first place, there is the widespread postwar phenomenon of the woman Prime Minister, in India, Sri Lanka and Israel.Secondly, there is the very large increase in the number of women who work, especially married women and mothers of children. More diffusely there are the increasingly numerous convergences between male and female behavior: the approximation to identical styles in dress and coiffure, the sharing of domestic tasks, and the admission of women to all sorts of hitherto exclusively male leisure-time activities.Everyone carries round with him a fairly definite idea of the primitive or natural conditions of human life. It is acquired more by the study of humorous cartoons than of archaeology, but that does not matter since it is not significant as theory but only as an expression of inwardly felt expectations of peoples sense of what is fundamentally proper in the differentiation between the roles of the two sexes. In this rudimentary natural society men go out to hunt and fish and to fight off the tribe next door while women keep the fire going. Amorous initiative is firmly reserved to the man, who sets about courtship with a club.52. The phrase “mens sureness of their sex role” in the first paragraph suggests that they（ ）.53. The third paragraph does NOT claim that men（ ）.54. The third paragraph（ ）.55. At the end of the last paragraph the author uses humorous exaggeration in order to（ ）.问题1选项A.are confident in their ability to charm womenB.take the initiative in courtshipC.have a clear idea of what is considered “manly”D.tend to be more immoral than women are问题2选项A.prevent women from taking up certain professionsB.secretly admire womens intellect and resolutionC.doubt whether women really mean to succeed in businessD.forbid women to join certain clubs and societies问题3选项A.generally agrees with the first paragraphB.has no connection with first paragraphC.repeats the argument of the second paragraphD.contradicts the last paragraph问题4选项A.show that men are stronger than womenB.carry further the ideas of the earlier paragraphsC.support the first.sentence of the same paragraphD.disown the ideas he is expressing【答案】第1题:C第2题:C第3题:A第4题:C【解析】52.判断推理题。根据文章关键词定位到第一段mens sureness of their sex role is tied up with their right, or ability, to practice some activity that women are not allowed to practice（男子对其性别角色的确定与他们从事某些妇女不允许从事的活动的权利或能力有关）。从此句可知，男人们很清楚自己的“大男人”的角色，并且通过一些方式来把握和巩固这个地位，因此C选项“清楚地知道什么才是男子汉气概”正确。A选项“对自己吸引女性的能力有信心”，没有提及；B选项“在求爱中采取主动”，亦没有提及；D选项“往往比女人更不道德”，文章没有具体说明。53.事实细节题。根据题干关键词定位到第三段There is a flow of publications about the continuing domestic bondage of women and about the complicated system of . doubt of the seriousness of womens pretensions to the level of intellect and resolution that men, it is supposed, bring to the business of running the world. （有大量的出版物是关于持续的对妇女的家庭束缚，关于男性为他们迄今所接受的优势建立的复杂的防御体系，有时以排除在各种职业和社交团体之外的明显形式出现，有时，更微妙的形式是，对女性自命不凡的严肃程度的自动怀疑，就像人们认为的，男性在管理世界时所具有的智慧和决心。）从这段话中可以看到A选项“阻止妇女从事某种职业”；B选项“暗自羡慕女人的智慧和决心”以及D选项“禁止妇女参加某些俱乐部和社团”都是文段中有提到的，只有C选项“怀疑女性是否真的想在商业上取得成功”是没有提及的，因此C选项当选。54.判断推理题。第一段讲述的是男性会通过阻止妇女进入某个领域或从事某项壮举来保证他们的男子气概，而第三段说There is a flow of publications about the continuing domestic bondage of . occupation and sociable groupings. （关于妇女继续受到家庭奴役和男子围绕其迄今为止公认的优势所建立的复杂的防御体系的出版物层出不穷，有时采取明显的形式，将妇女排除在各种职业和社交团体之外。）和第一段说的几乎都是同样的主题，因此A选项“大致同意第一段”正确。B选项“和第一段没有关系”；C选项“重复第二段的论点”以及D选项“与最后一段矛盾”，最后一段并没有谈到这方面的信息，都不正确。55.判断推理题。根据题干关键词定位到最后一段，在文章最后一段结尾处作者用比较夸张的方式提到，在原始社会里，男人和女人的分工，以及扮演的角色。而本段第一句话Everyone carries round with him a fairly definite idea of the primitive or natural conditions of human life.（人们都持着那种从人类最原始的状态时就有的关于男人和女人社会角色的观点。）因此最后两句话形象而具体地解释了那种观点到底是什么。因此C选项“支持同一段的第一句话”正确。A选项“表明男人比女人更强大”，并没有明确说明；B选项“进一步表达最初段落的意思”，最后一段并没有继续讲述第一段的信息；D选项“否认他所表达的观点”，不正确。11. 单选题The company recommended that a new petrol station be built in the valley.问题1选项A.suggestedB.orderedC.demandedD.insisted【答案】A【解析】考查动词辨析。A选项suggested“建议，推荐”；B选项ordered“命令，要求”；C选项demanded“要求，需求”；D选项insisted“坚持”。句意：公司建议在山谷里建一个新的加油站。A选项与划线词词义最近。因此A选项符合题意。12. 单选题While typing, Helen has a habit of stopping（ ）to give her long and flowing hair a smooth.问题1选项A.occasionallyB.simultaneouslyC.eventuallyD.promptly【答案】A【解析】考查副词辨析。A选项occasionally“偶尔，间或”；B选项simultaneously“同时”；C选项eventually“最后，终于”；D选项promptly“迅速地，立即地”。句意：海伦打字时，习惯_停下来梳理一下她那飘逸的长发。这里表示的是“偶尔停下来”，因此A选项符合题意。13. 翻译题The average person sees tens of thousands of images a day-images on television, in newspapers and magazines, and on the sides of buses. Images also grace soda cans and T-shirts, and Internet search engines can instantly procure images for any word you type. Today, anyone with a digit camera and a PC can produce and alter an image. As a result, the power of the image has been diluted in one sense, but strengthened in another. It has been dilute by the ubiquity of images and the many popular technologies that give almost everyone the power to create, distort, and transit images. But it has been strengthened by the gradual surrender of the printed word to pictures.We love images and the democratizing power of technologies that give us the capability to make and manipulate images. What we are less eager to consider are broader cultural effects of a society devoted to the image. Historians have explored the story of mankinds movement from an oral-based culture to a written culture, and later to a printed one. But in the past several decades, we have begun to move from a culture based on the printed word to one based largely on images. In making images rather than texts our guide, are we opening up new vistas for understanding and expression, creating a new form of communication that is “better than print,” as some scholars have argued? Or are we merely making a peculiar and unwelcome return to forms of communication once ascendant in preliterate societies? Two things in particular are at stake in our contempor