目录
Passage 1 .......................................................................................................................................... 1
Passage 2 .......................................................................................................................................... 5
Passage 3 .......................................................................................................................................... 8
Passage 4 ........................................................................................................................................ 10
Passage 5 ........................................................................................................................................ 12
Passage 6 ........................................................................................................................................ 15
Passage 7 ........................................................................................................................................ 17
Passage 8 ........................................................................................................................................ 19
Passage 9 ........................................................................................................................................ 22
Passage 10 ...................................................................................................................................... 23
Passage 11 ...................................................................................................................................... 25
Passage 12 ...................................................................................................................................... 27
Passage 13 ...................................................................................................................................... 29
Passage 14 ...................................................................................................................................... 31
Passage 15 ...................................................................................................................................... 33
Passage 16 ...................................................................................................................................... 35
Passage 17 ...................................................................................................................................... 37
Passage 18 ...................................................................................................................................... 39
Passage 19 ...................................................................................................................................... 42
Passage 20 ...................................................................................................................................... 44
Passage 21 ...................................................................................................................................... 46
Passage 22 ...................................................................................................................................... 48
Passage 23 ...................................................................................................................................... 50
Passage 24 ...................................................................................................................................... 52
Passage 25 ...................................................................................................................................... 55
Passage 26 ...................................................................................................................................... 57
Passage 27 ...................................................................................................................................... 60
Passage 28 ...................................................................................................................................... 62
Passage 29 ...................................................................................................................................... 64
Passage 30 ...................................................................................................................................... 66
Passage 31 ...................................................................................................................................... 69
Passage 32 ...................................................................................................................................... 72
Passage 33 ...................................................................................................................................... 74
Passage 34 ...................................................................................................................................... 76
Passage 35 ...................................................................................................................................... 78
Passage 36 ...................................................................................................................................... 80
Passage 37 ...................................................................................................................................... 82
Passage 38 ...................................................................................................................................... 85
Passage 39 ...................................................................................................................................... 87
Passage 40 ...................................................................................................................................... 89
i
Extensive Reading Materials for Advanced English Learners
高级英语课后阅读材料
Passage 1
Still, the image of any city has a half-life of many years. (So does its name,
officially changed in 2001 from Calcutta to Kolkata, which is closer to what the word
sounds like in Bengali. Conversing in English, I never heard anyone call the city
anything but Calcutta.) To Westerners, the conveyance most identified with Kolkata is
not its modern subway—a facility whose spacious stations have art on the walls and
cricket matches on television monitors—but the hand-pulled rickshaw. Stories and
films celebrate a primitive-looking cart with high wooden wheels, pulled by someone
who looks close to needing the succor of Mother Teresa. For years the government
has been talking about eliminating hand-pulled rickshaws on what it calls
humanitarian grounds—principally on the ground that, as the mayor of Kolkata has
often said, it is offensive to see “one man sweating and straining to pull another man.”
But these days politicians also lament the impact of 6,000 hand-pulled rickshaws on a
modern city’s traffic and, particularly, on its image. “Westerners try to associate
beggars and these rickshaws with the Calcutta landscape, but this is not what Calcutta
stands for,” the chief minister of West Bengal, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, said in a
press conference in 2006. “Our city stands for prosperity and development.” The chief
minister—the equivalent of a state governor—went on to announce that hand-pulled
rickshaws soon would be banned from the streets of Kolkata.
Rickshaws are not there to haul around tourists. (Actually, I saw almost no
tourists in Kolkata, apart from the young backpackers on Sudder Street, in what used
to be a red-light district and is now said to be the single place in the city where the
services a rickshaw puller offers may include providing female company to a
gentleman for the evening.) It’s the people in the lanes who most regularly use
rickshaws—not the poor but people who are just a notch above the poor. They are
people who tend to travel short distances, through lanes that are sometimes
1
inaccessible to even the most daring taxi driver. An older woman with marketing to do,
for instance, can arrive in a rickshaw, have the rickshaw puller wait until she comes
back from various stalls to load her purchases, and then be taken home. People in the
lanes use rickshaws as a 24-hour ambulance service. Proprietors of cafés or corner
stores send rickshaws to collect their supplies. (One morning I saw a rickshaw puller
take on a load of live chickens—tied in pairs by the feet so they could be draped over
the shafts and the folded back canopy and even the axle. By the time he trotted off, he
was carrying about a hundred upside-down chickens.) The rickshaw pullers told me
their steadiest customers are schoolchildren. Middle-class families contract with a
puller to take a child to school and pick him up; the puller essentially becomes a
family retainer.
From June to September Kolkata can get torrential rains, and its drainage system
doesn’t need torrential rain to begin backing up. Residents who favor a touch of
hyperbole say that in Kolkata “if a stray cat pees, there’s a flood.” During my stay it
once rained for about 48 hours. Entire neighborhoods couldn’t be reached by
motorized vehicles, and the newspapers showed pictures of rickshaws being pulled
through water that was up to the pullers’ waists. When it’s raining, the normal
customer base for rickshaw pullers expands greatly, as does the price of a journey. A
writer in Kolkata told me, “When it rains, even the governor takes rickshaws.”
While I was in Kolkata, a magazine called India Today published its annual
ranking of Indian states, according to such measurements as prosperity and
infrastructure. Among India’s 20 largest states, Bihar finished dead last, as it has for
four of the past five years. Bihar, a couple hundred miles north of Kolkata, is where
the vast majority of rickshaw pullers come from. Once in Kolkata, they sleep on the
street or in their rickshaws or in a dera—a combination garage and repair shop and
dormitory managed by someone called a sardar. For sleeping privileges in a dera,
pullers pay 100 rupees (about $2.50) a month, which sounds like a pretty good deal
until you’ve visited a dera. They gross between 100 and 150 rupees a day, out of
which they have to pay 20 rupees for the use of the rickshaw and an occasional 75 or
more for a payoff if a policeman stops them for, say, crossing a street where rickshaws
2
are prohibited. A 2003 study found that rickshaw pullers are near the bottom of
Kolkata occupations in income, doing better than only the ragpickers and the beggars.
For someone without land or education, that still beats trying to make a living in
Bihar.
There are people in Kolkata, particularly educated and politically aware people,
who will not ride in a rickshaw, because they are offended by the idea of being pulled
by another human being or because they consider it not the sort of thing people of
their station do or because they regard the hand-pulled rickshaw as a relic of
colonialism. Ironically, some of those people are not enthusiastic about banning
rickshaws. The editor of the editorial pages of Kolkata’s Telegraph—Rudrangshu
Mukherjee, a former academic who still writes history books—told me, for instance,
that he sees humanitarian considerations as coming down on the side of keeping
hand-pulled rickshaws on the road. “I refuse to be carried by another human being
myself,” he said, “but I question whether we have the right to take away their
livelihood.” Rickshaw supporters point out that when it comes to demeaning
occupations, rickshaw pullers are hardly unique in Kolkata.
When I asked one rickshaw puller if he thought the government’s plan to rid the
city of rickshaws was based on a genuine interest in his welfare, he smiled, with a
quick shake of his head—a gesture I interpreted to mean, “If you are so naive as to
ask such a question, I will answer it, but it is not worth wasting words on.” Some
rickshaw pullers I met were resigned to the imminent end of their livelihood and pin
their hopes on being offered something in its place. As migrant workers, they don’t
have the political clout enjoyed by, say, Kolkata’s sidewalk hawkers, who, after
supposedly being scaled back at the beginning of the modernization drive, still clog
the sidewalks, selling absolutely everything—or, as I found during the 48 hours of
rain, absolutely everything but umbrellas. “The government was the government of
the poor people,” one sardar told me. “Now they shake hands with the capitalists and
try to get rid of poor people.”
But others in Kolkata believe that rickshaws will simply be confined more
strictly to certain neighborhoods, out of the view of World Bank traffic consultants
3
and California investment delegations—or that they will be allowed to die out
naturally as they’re supplanted by more modern conveyances. Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee, after all, is not the first high West Bengal official to say that rickshaws
would be off the streets of Kolkata in a matter of months. Similar statements have
been made as far back as 1976. The ban decreed by Bhattacharjee has been delayed
by a court case and by a widely held belief that some retraining or social security
settlement ought to be offered to rickshaw drivers. It may also have been delayed by a
quiet reluctance to give up something that has been part of the fabric of the city for
more than a century. Kolkata, a resident told me, “has difficulty letting go.” One day a
city official handed me a report from the municipal government laying out options for
how rickshaw pullers might be rehabilitated.
“Which option has been chosen?” I asked, noting that the report was dated
almost exactly a year before my visit.
“That hasn’t been decided,” he said.
“When will it be decided?”
“That hasn’t been decided,” he said.
1. According to the passage, rickshaws are used in Kolkata mainly for the following
EXCEPT _____
A. taking foreign tourists around the city.
B. providing transport to school children.
C. carrying store supplies and purchases
D. carrying people over short distances.
2. Which of the following statements best describes the rickshaw pullers from
Bihar?
A. They come from a relatively poor area.
B. They are provided with decent accommodation.
C. Their living standards are very low in Kolkata.
D. They are often caught by policemen in the streets.
3. That “For someone without land or education, that still beats trying to make a
living in Bihar” (4 paragraph) means that even so, ____
4
A. the poor prefer to work and live in Bihar.
B. the poor from Bihar fare better than back home.
C. the poor never try to make a living in Bihar.
D. the poor never seem to resent their life in Kolkata.
4. We can infer from the passage that some educated and politically aware people
___
A. hold mixed feelings towards rickshaws.
B. strongly support the ban on rickshaws.
C. call for humanitarian actions fro rickshaw pullers.
D. keep quiet on the issue of banning rickshaws.
5. Which of the following statements conveys the author’s sense of humor?
A. “…not the poor but people who are just a notch above the poor.” (2 paragraph)
B. “…,.which sounds like a pretty good deal until you’ve visited a dera.” (4
paragraph)
C. Kolkata, a resident told me, “ has difficulty letting go.” (7 paragraph).
D.“…or, as I found during the 48 hours of rain, absolutely everything but
umbrellas.” (6 paragraph)
6. The dialogue between the author and the city official at the end of the passage
seems to suggest _____
A. the uncertainty of the court’s decision.
B. the inefficiency of the municipal government.
C. the difficulty of finding a good solution.
D. the slowness in processing options.
Passage 2
Depending on whom you believe, the average American will, over a lifetime,
wait in lines for two years (says National Public Radio) or five years (according to
customer-loyalty experts).
The crucial word is average, as wealthy Americans routinely avoid lines
altogether. Once the most democratic of institutions, lines are rapidly becoming the
5
exclusive province of suckers (people who still believe in and practice waiting in
lines). Poor suckers, mostly.
Airports resemble France before the Revolution: first-class passengers enjoy
“élite” security lines and priority boarding, and disembark before the unwashed in
coach, held at bay by a flight attendant, are allowed to foul the Jet way.
At amusement parks, too, you can now buy your way out of line. This summer I
haplessly watched kids use a $52 Gold Flash Pass to jump the lines at Six Flags New
England, and similar systems are in use in most major American theme parks, from
Universal Orlando to Walt Disney World, where the haves get to watch the
have-mores breeze past on their way to their seats.
Flash Pass teaches children a valuable lesson in real-world economics: that the
rich are more important than you, especially when it comes to waiting. An NBA
player once said to me, with a bemused chuckle of disbelief, that when playing in
Canada--get this—“we have to wait in the same customs line as everybody else. ”
Almost every line can be breached for a price. In several U.S. cities this summer,
early arrivers among the early adopters waiting to buy iPhones offered to sell their
spots in the lines. On Craigslist, prospective iPhone purchasers offered to pay
“waiters” or “placeholders” to wait in line for them outside Apple stores.
Inevitably, some semi-populist politicians have seen the value of sort-of waiting
in lines with the ordinary people. This summer Philadelphia mayor John Street waited
outside an AT&T store from 3:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. before a stand-in from his office
literally stood in for the mayor while he conducted official business. And billionaire
New York mayor Michael Bloomberg often waits for the subway with his fellow
citizens, though he’s first driven by motorcade past the stop nearest his house to a
station 22 blocks away, where the wait, or at least the ride, is shorter.
As early as elementary school, we’re told that jumping the line is an unethical act,
which is why so many U.S. lawmakers have framed the immigration debate as a kind
of fundamental sin of the school lunch line. Alabama Senator Richard Shelby, to cite
just one legislator, said amnesty would allow illegal immigrants “to cut in line ahead
of millions of people.”
6
Nothing annoys a national lawmaker more than a person who will not wait in
line, unless that line is in front of an elevator at the U.S. Capitol, where Senators and
Representatives use private elevators, lest they have to queue with their constituents.
But compromising the integrity of the line is not just antidemocratic, it’s
out-of-date. There was something about the orderly boarding of Noah’s Ark, two by
two, that seemed to restore not just civilization but civility during the Great Flood.
How civil was your last flight? Southwest Airlines has first-come, first-served
festival seating. But for $5 per flight, an unaffiliated company called BoardFirst.com
will secure you a coveted “A” boarding pass when that airline opens for online
check-in 24 hours before departure. Thus, the savvy traveler doesn’t even wait in line
when he or she is online.
Some cultures are not renowned for lining up. Then again, some cultures are too
adept at lining up: a citizen of the former Soviet Union would join a queue just so he
could get to the head of that queue and see what everyone was queuing for.
And then there is the U.S., where society seems to be cleaving into two groups:
Very Important Persons, who don’t wait, and Very Impatient Persons, who do
unhappily.
For those of us in the latter group-- consigned to coach, bereft of Flash Pass, too
poor or proper to pay a placeholder --what do we do? We do what Vladimir and
Estragon did in Waiting for Godot: “We wait. We are bored.”
1. What does the following sentence mean? “Once the most democratic of
institutions, lines are rapidly becoming the exclusive province of suckers…Poor
suckers, mostly.” (2 paragraph)
A. Lines are symbolic of America’s democracy.
B. Lines still give Americans equal opportunities.
C. Lines are now for ordinary Americans only.
D. Lines are for people with democratic spirit only.
2. Which of the following is NOT cited as an example of breaching the line?
A. Going through the customs at a Canadian airport.
B. Using Gold Flash Passes in amusement parks.
7
C. First-class passenger status at airports.
D. Purchase of a place in a line from a placeholder.
3. We can infer from the passage that politicians (including mayors and
Congressmen)
A. prefer to stand in lines with ordinary people.
B. advocate the value of waiting in lines.
C. believe in and practice waiting in lines.
D. exploit waiting in lines for their own good.
4. What is the tone of the passage?
A. Instructive.
B. Humorous.
C. Serious.
D. Teasing.
Passage 3
A bus took him to the West End, where, among the crazy coloured fountains of
illumination, shattering the blue dusk with green and crimson fire, he found the café
of his choice, a tea-shop that had gone mad and turned. Babylonian, a while palace
with ten thousand lights. It towered above the other building like a citadel, which
indeed it was, the outpost of a new age, perhaps a new civilization, perhaps a new
barbarism; and behind the thin marble front were concrete and steel, just as behind the
careless profusion of luxury were millions of pence, balanced to the last halfpenny.
Somewhere in the background, hidden away, behind the ten thousand lights and acres
of white napery and bewildering glittering rows of teapots, behind the thousand
waitresses and cash-box girls and black-coated floor managers and temperamental
long-haired violinists, behind the mounds of cauldrons of stewed steak, the vanloads
of ices, were a few men who went to work juggling with fractions of a farming, who
knew how many units of electricity it took to finish a steak-and-kidney pudding and
how many minutes and seconds a waitress( five feet four in height and in average
health) would need to carry a tray of given weight from the kitchen life to the table in
8
the far corner. In short, there was a warm, sensuous, vulgar life flowering in the upper
storeys, and a cold science working in the basement, such as the gigantic tea-shop into
which Turgis marched, in search not of mere refreshment but of all the enchantment
of unfamiliar luxury. Perhaps he knew in his heart that men have conquered half the
known world, looted whole kingdoms, and never arrived in such luxury. The place
was built for him.
It was built for a great many other people too, and, as usual, they were all there.
It seemed with humanity. The marble entrance hall, piled dizzily with bonbons and
cakes, was as crowded and bustling as a railway station. The gloom and grime of the
streets, the raw air, all November, were at once left behind, forgotten: the atmosphere
inside was golden, tropical, belonging to some high mid-summer of confectionery.
Disdaining the lifts, Turgis, once more excited by the sight, sound, and smell of it all,
climbed the wide staircase until he reached his favourite floor, where an orchestra, led
by a young Jewish violinist with wandering lustrous eyes and a passion for tremolo
effects, acted as a magnet to a thousand girls, scented air, the sensuous clamour of the
strings; and, as he stood hesitating a moment, half dazed, there came, bowing, s sleek
grave man, older than he was and far more distinguished than he could ever hope to
be, who murmured deferentially: “ For one, sir? This way, please,” Shyly, yet proudly,
Turgis followed him.
1. That “behind the thin marble front were concrete and steel” suggests that____
A. modern realistic commercialism existed behind the luxurious appearance.
B. there was a fundamental falseness in the style and the appeal of the café..
C. the architect had made a sensible blend of old and new building materials.
D. the café was based on physical foundations and real economic strength.
2. The following words or phrases are somewhat critical of the tea-shop EXCEPT
_____
A. “…turned Babylonian”.
B. “perhaps a new barbarism’.
C. “acres of white napery”.
D. “balanced to the last halfpenny”.
9
3. In its context the statement that “ the place was built for him” means that the café
was intended to _______
A. please simple people in a simple way.
B. exploit gullible people like him.
C. satisfy a demand that already existed.
D. provide relaxation for tired young men.
4. Which of the following statements about the second paragraph is NOT true?
A. The café appealed to most senses simultaneously.
B. The café was both full of people and full of warmth.
C. The inside of the café was contrasted with the weather outside.
D. It stressed the commercial determination of the café owners.
5. The following are comparisons made by the author in the second paragraph
EXCEPT that _______
A. the entrance hall is compared to a railway station.
B. the orchestra is compared to a magnet.
C. Turgis welcomed the lift like a conquering soldier.
D. the interior of the café is compared to warm countries.
6. The author’s attitude to the café is ______
A. fundamentally critical.
B. slightly admiring.
C. quite undecided.
D. completely neutral.
Passage 4
I Now elsewhere in the world, Iceland may be spoken of, somewhat breathlessly,
as western Europe’s last pristine wilderness. But the environmental awareness that is
sweeping the world had bypassed the majority of Icelanders. Certainly they were
connected to their land, the way one is complicatedly connected to, or encumbered by,
family one can’t do anything about. But the truth is, once you’re off the beat-en paths
of the low-lying coastal areas where everyone lives, the roads are few, and they’re all
10
bad, so Iceland’s natural wonders have been out of reach and unknown even to its
own inhabitants. For them the land has always just been there, something that had to
be dealt with and, if possible, exploited—the mind-set being one of land as
commodity rather than land as, well, priceless art on the scale of the “Mona Lisa.”
When the opportunity arose in 2003 for the national power company to enter into
a 40-year contract with the American aluminum company Alcoa to supply
hydroelectric power for a new smelter, those who had been dreaming of some-thing
like this for decades jumped at it and never looked back. Iceland may at the moment
be one of the world’s richest countries, with a 99 percent literacy rate and long life
expectancy. But the project’s advocates, some of them getting on in years, were more
emotionally attuned to the country’s century upon century of want, hardship, and
colonial servitude to Denmark, which officially had ended only in 1944 and whose
psychological imprint remained relatively fresh. For the longest time, life here had
meant little more than a sod hut, dark all winter, cold, no hope, children dying left and
right, earthquakes, plagues, starvation, volcanoes erupting and destroying all
vegetation and livestock, all spirit—a world revolving almost entirely around the
welfare of one’s sheep and, later, on how good the cod catch was. In the outlying
regions, it still largely does.
Ostensibly, the Alcoa project was intended to save one of these dying
regions—the remote and sparsely populated east—where the way of life had steadily
declined to a point of desperation and gloom. After fishing quotas were imposed in
the early 1980s to protect fish stocks, many individual boat owners sold their
allotments or gave them away, fishing rights ended up mostly in the hands of a few
companies, and small fishermen were virtually wiped out. Technological advances
drained away even more jobs previously done by human hands, and the people were
seeing every-thing they had worked for all their lives turn up worthless and their
children move away. With the old way of life doomed, aluminum projects like this
one had come to be perceived, wisely or not, as a last chance. “Smelter or death.”
The contract with Alcoa would infuse the region with foreign capital, an
estimated 400 jobs, and spin-off service industries. It also was a way for Iceland to
11
develop expertise that potentially could be sold to the rest of the world; diversify an
economy historically dependent on fish; and, in an appealing display of Icelandic
can-do verve, perhaps even protect all of Iceland, once and for all, from the
unpredictability of life itself.
“We have to live,” Halldór & Aacutesgrímsson said in his sad, sonorous voice.
Halldór, a former prime minister and longtime member of parliament from the region,
was a driving force behind the project. “We have a right to live.”
1. According to the passage, most Icelanders view land as something of _____
A. environmental value.
B. commercial value.
C. potential value for tourism.
D. great value for livelihood.
2. What is Iceland’s old-aged advocates’ feeling towards the Alcoa project?
A. Iceland is wealthy enough to reject the project.
B. The project would lower life expectancy.
C. The project would cause environmental problems.
D. The project symbolizes and end to the colonial legacies.
3. The disappearance of the old way of life was due to all the following EXCEPT
___
A. fewer fishing companies.
B. fewer jobs available.
C. migration of young people.
D. imposition of fishing quotas.
4. The 4 paragraph in the passage ______
A. sums up the main points of the passage.
B. starts to discuss an entirely new point.
C. elaborates on the last part of the 3 paragraph.
D. continues to depict the bleak economic situation.
Passage 5
12
In the early 20th century, few things were more appealing than the promise of
scientific knowledge. In a world struggling with rapid industrialization, science and
technology seemed to offer solutions to almost every problem. Newly created state
colleges and universities devoted themselves almost entirely to scientific,
technological, and engineering fields. Many Americans came to believe that scientific
certainty could not only solve scientific problems, but also reform politics,
government, and business. Two world wars and a Great Depression rocked the
confidence of many people that scientific expertise alone could create a prosperous
and ordered world. After World War Ⅱ, the academic world turned with new
enthusiasm to humanistic studies, which seemed to many scholars the best way to
ensure the survival of democracy. American scholars fanned out across much of the
world—with support from the Ford Foundation, the Fulbright program, etc.—to
promote the teaching of literature and the arts in an effort to make the case for
democratic freedoms.
In the America of our own time, the great educational challenge has become an
effort to strengthen the teaching of what is now known as the STEM disciplines
(science, technology, engineering, and math). There is considerable and justified
concern that the United States is falling behind much of the rest of the developed
world in these essential disciplines. India, China, Japan, and other regions seem to be
seizing technological leadership.
At the same time, perhaps inevitably, the humanities—while still popular in elite
colleges and universities—have experienced a significant decline. Humanistic
disciplines are seriously underfunded, not just by the government and the foundations
but by academic institutions themselves. Humanists are usually among the
lowest-paid faculty members at most institutions and are often lightly regarded
because they do not generate grant income and because they provide no obvious
credentials (资质) for most nonacademic careers.
Undoubtedly American education should train more scientists and engineers.
Much of the concern among politicians about the state of American universities today
is focused on the absence of “real world” education—which means preparation for
13
professional and scientific careers. But the idea that institutions or their students must
decide between humanities and science is false. Our society could not survive without
scientific and technological knowledge. But we would be equally impoverished (贫困
的) without humanistic knowledge as well. Science and technology teach us what we
can do. Humanistic thinking helps us understand what we should do.
It is almost impossible to imagine our society without thinking of the
extraordinary achievements of scientists and engineers in building our complicated
world. But try to imagine our world as well without the remarkable works that have
defined our culture and values. We have always needed, and we still need, both.
1. In the early 20th century Americans believed science and technology could
_______
A. solve virtually all existing problems.
B. quicken the pace of industrialization.
C. help raise people’s living standards.
D. promote the nation’s social progress.
2. Why did many American scholars become enthusiastic about humanistic studies
after World WarⅡ?
A. They wanted to improve their own status within the current education system.
B. They believed the stability of a society depended heavily on humanistic studies.
C. They could get financial support from various foundations for humanistic
studies.
D. They realized science and technology alone were no guarantee for a better
world.
3. Why are American scholars worried about education today?
A. The STEM subjects are too challenging for students to learn.
B. Some Asian countries have overtaken America in basic sciences.
C. America is lagging behind in the STEM disciplines.
D. There are not enough scholars in humanistic studies.
4. What accounts for the significant decline in humanistic studies today?
A. Insufficient funding.
14
B. Shrinking enrollment.
C. Shortage of devoted faculty.
D. Dim prospects for graduates.
5. Why does the author attach so much importance to humanistic studies?
A. They promote the development of science and technology.
B. They help prepare students for their professional careers.
C. Humanistic thinking helps define our culture and values.
D. Humanistic thinking helps cultivate students’ creativity.
Passage 6
Will there ever be another Einstein? This is the undercurrent of conversation at
Einstein memorial meetings throughout the year. A new Einstein will emerge,
scientists say. But it may take a long time. After all, more than 200 years separated
Einstein from his nearest rival, Isaac Newton.
Many physicists say the next Einstein hasn’t been born yet, or is a baby now.
That’s because the quest for a unified theory that would account for all the forces of
nature has pushed current mathematics to its limits. New math must be created before
the problem can be solved.
But researchers say there are many other factors working against another
Einstein emerging anytime soon.
For one thing, physics is a much different field today. In Einstein’s day, there
were only a few thousand physicists worldwide, and the theoreticians who could
intellectually rival Einstein probably would fit into a streetcar with seats to spare.
Education is different, too. One crucial aspect of Einstein’s training that is
overlooked is the years of philosophy he read as a teenager—Kant, Schopenhauer and
Spinoza, among others. It taught him how to think independently and abstractly about
space and time, and it wasn’t long before he became a philosopher himself.
“The independence created by philosophical insight is—in my opinion—the
mark of distinction between a mere artisan (工匠) or specialist and a real seeker after
truth,” Einstein wrote in 1944.
15
And he was an accomplished musician. The interplay between music and math is
well known. Einstein would furiously play his violin as a way to think through a
knotty physics problem.
Today, universities have produced millions of physicists. There aren’t many jobs
in science for them, so they go to Wall Street and Silicon Valley to apply their
analytical skills to more practical—and rewarding—efforts.
“Maybe there is an Einstein out there today,” said Columbia University physicist
Brian Greene, “but it would be a lot harder for him to be heard.”
Especially considering what Einstein was proposing.
“The actual fabric of space and time curving? My God, what an idea!” Greene
said at a recent gathering at the Aspen Institute. “It takes a certain type of person who
will bang his head against the wall because you believe you’ll find the solution.”
Perhaps the best examples are the five scientific papers Einstein wrote in his
“miracle year” of 1905. These “thought experiments” were pages of calculations
signed and submitted to the prestigious journal Annalen der Physik by a virtual
unknown. There were no footnotes or citations.
What might happen to such a submission today?
“We all get papers like those in the mail,” Greene said. “We put them in the junk
file.”
1. What do scientists seem to agree upon, judging from the first two paragraphs?
A. Einstein pushed mathematics almost to its limits.
B. It will take another Einstein to build a unified theory.
C. No physicist is likely to surpass Einstein in the next 200 years.
D. It will be some time before a new Einstein emerges.
2. What was critical to Einstein’s success?
A. His talent as an accomplished musician.
B. His independent and abstract thinking.
C. His untiring effort to fulfill his potential.
D. His solid foundation in math theory.
3. What does the author tell us about physicists today?
16
A. They tend to neglect training in analytical skills.
B. They are very good at solving practical problems.
C. They attach great importance to publishing academic papers.
D. They often go into fields yielding greater financial benefits.
4. What does Brian Greene imply by saying “... it would be a lot harder for him to be
heard” (Lines 1-2, Para. 9)?
A. People have to compete in order to get their papers published.
B. It is hard for a scientist to have his papers published today.
C. Papers like Einstein’s would unlikely get published today.
D. Nobody will read papers on apparently ridiculous theories.
5. When he submitted his papers in 1905, Einstein _______
A. forgot to make footnotes and citations.
B. was little known in academic circles.
C. was known as a young genius in math calculations.
D. knew nothing about the format of academic paper.
Passage 7
Despite Denmark’s manifest virtues, Danes never talk about how proud they a re
to be Danes. This would sound weird in Danish. When Danes talk to foreigners about
Denmark, they always begin by commenting on its tininess, its unimportance , the
difficulty of its language, the general small-mindedness and self-indulgence of their
countrymen and the high taxes. No Dane would look you in the eye and say,
“Denmark is a great country.” You’re supposed to figure this out for yourself.
It is the land of the silk safety net, where almost half the national budget goes
toward smoothing out life’s inequalities, and there is plenty of money for schools, day
care, retraining programmes, job seminars-Danes love seminars: three days at a study
centre hearing about waste management is almost as good as a ski trip. It is a culture
bombarded by English, in advertising, pop music, the Internet, and despite all the
English that Danish absorbs—there is no Danish Academy to defend against it —old
dialects persist in Jutland that can barely be understood by Copenhageners. It is the
17
land where, as the saying goes, “Few have too much and fewer have too little, ”and a
foreigner is struck by the sweet egalitarianism that prevails, where the lowliest clerk
gives you a level gaze, where Sir and Madame have disappeared from common
usage, even Mr. and Mrs. It’ s a nation of recyclers—about 55 % of Danish garbage
gets made into something new— and no nuclear power plants. It’s a nation of tireless
planner. Trains run on time. Things operate well in general.
Such a nation of overachievers — a brochure from the Ministry of Business and
Industry says, “Denmark is one of the world’s cleanest and most organize d countries,
with virtually no pollution, crime, or poverty. Denmark is the most corruption-free
society in the Northern Hemisphere. ”So, of course, one’s heart lifts at any sighting of
Danish sleaze: skinhead graffiti on buildings (“Foreigners Out of Denmark! ”), broken
beer bottles in the gutters, drunken teenagers slumped in the park.
Nonetheless, it is an orderly land. You drive through a Danish town, it comes to
an end at a stone wall, and on the other side is a field of barley, a nice clean line: town
here, country there. It is not a nation of jay-walkers. People stand on the curb and wait
for the red light to change, even if it’s 2 a.m. a n d there’s not a car in sight. However,
Danes
don’t
think
of
themselves
as
awainting-at-2-a.m.-for-the-green-light
people——that’s how they see Swedes and Ger mans. Danes see themselves as jazzy
people, improvisers, more free spirited than Swedes, but the truth is ( though one
should not say it)that Danes are very much like Germans and Swedes. Orderliness is a
main selling point. Denmark has few natural resources, limited manufacturing
capability; its future in Europe will be as a broker, banker, and distributor of goods.
You send your goods by container ship to Copenhagen, and these bright, young,
English-speaking, utterly honest, highly disciplined people will get your goods around
to Scandinavia, the Baltic States, and Russia. Airports, seaports, highways, and rail
lines are ultramodern and well-maintained.
The orderliness of the society doesn’t mean that Danish lives are less messy or
lonely than yours or mine, and no Dane would tell you so. You can hear plenty about
bitter family feuds and the sorrows of alcoholism and about perfectly sensible people
who went off one day and killed themselves. An orderly society c an not exempt its
18
members from the hazards of life.
But there is a sense of entitlement and security that Danes grow up with. Certain
things are yours by virtue of citizenship, and you shouldn’t feel bad for taking what
you’re entitled to, you’re as good as anyone else. The rules of the welfare system are
clear to everyone, the benefits you get if you lose your job, the steps you take to get a
new one; and the orderliness of the system makes it possible for the country to
weather high unemployment and social unrest without a sense of crisis.
1. The author thinks that Danes adopt a ___ attitude towards their country.
A. boastful
B. modest
C. deprecating
D. mysterious
2. Which of the following is NOT a Danish characteristic cited in the passage?
A. Fondness of foreign culture.
C. Linguistic tolerance.
D. Persistent planning.
3. The author’s reaction to the statement by the Ministry of Business and Industry is
___.
A. disapproving
B. approving
D. doub
4. According to the passage, Danish orderliness ___.
A. sets the people apart from Germans and Swede.
B. spares Danes social troubles besetting other people.
C. is considered economically essential to the country.
D. prevents Danes from acknowledging existing troubles.
5. At the end of the passage the author states all the following EXCEPT that
___.
A. Danes are clearly informed of their social benefits.
B. Danes take for granted what is given to them.
C. the open system helps to tide the country over.
D. orderliness
Passage 8
But if language habits do not represent classes, a social stratification into
something as bygone as “aristocracy” and “commons”, they do still of course serve to
identify social groups. This is something that seems fundamental in the use of
19
language. As we see in relation to political and national movements, language is used
as a badge or a barrier depending on which way we look at it. The new boy at school
feels out of it at first because he does not know the fight words for things, and
awe-inspiring pundits of six or seven look down on him for not being aware that
racksy means “dilapidated”, or hairy “out first ball”. The miner takes a certain pride in
being “one up on the visitor or novice who calls the cage a “lift” or who thinks that
men working in a warm seam are in their “underpants” when anyone ought to know
that the garments are called hoggers. The “insider” is seldom displeased that his
language distinguishes him from the “outsider”.
Quite apart from specialized terms of this kind in groups, trades and professions,
there are all kinds of standards of correctness at which mast of us feel more or less
obliged to aim, because we know that certain kinds of English invite irritation or
downright condemnation. On the other hand, we know that other kinds convey some
kind of prestige and bear a welcome cachet.
In relation to the social aspects of language, it may well be suggested that
English speakers fall into three categories: the assured, the anxious and the in
different. At one end of this scale, we have the people who have “position” and
“status”, and who therefore do not feel they need worry much about their use of
English. Their education and occupation make them confident of speaking an
impeachable form of English: no fear of being criticized or corrected is likely to cross
their minds, and this gives their speech that characteristically unself-conscious and
easy flow which is often envied.
At the other end of the scale, we have an equally imperturbable band, speaking
with a similar degree of careless ease, because even if they are aware that their
English is condemned by others, they are supremely indifferent to the fact. The Mrs.
Mops of this world have active and efficient tongues in their heads, and if we
happened not to like their ways of saying things, well, we “can lump it”. That is their
attitude. Curiously enough, writers are inclined to represent t he speech of both these
extreme parties with -informing. On the one hand, “we’re going hunting, my dear sir”;
on the other, “we’re going racing, mate.”
20
In between, according to this view, we have a far less fortunate group, the
anxious. These actively try to suppress what they believe to be bad English and
assiduously cultivate what they hope to be good English. They live their lives in some
degree of nervousness over their grammar, their pronunciation, and their choice of
words: sensitive, and fearful of betraying themselves. Keeping up with the Joneses is
measured not only in houses, furniture, refrigerators, cars, and clothes, but also in
speech.
And the misfortune of the “anxious” does not end with their inner anxiety. Their
lot is also the open or veiled contempt of the “assured” on one side of them and of the
“indifferent” on the other.
It is all too easy to raise an unworthy laugh at the anxious. The people thus
uncomfortably stilted on linguistic high heels so often form part of what is, in many
ways, the most admirable section of any society: the ambitious, tense, inner-driven
people, who are bent on“ going places and doing things”. The greater the pity, then, if
a disproportionate amount of their energy goes into what Mr. Sharpless called “this
shabby obsession” with variant forms of English— especially if the net result is(as so
often)merely to sound affected and ridiculous. “Here”, according to Bacon, “is the
first distemper of learning, when men study words and not matter …. It seems to me
that Pygmalion’s frenzy is a good emblem …of this vanity: for words axe but the
images of matter; and except they have life of reason and invention, to fall in love
with them is to fall in love with a picture.”
1. The attitude held by the assured towards language is ___.
A. critical
B. anxious
C. self-conscious
2. The anxious are considered a less
A. they feel they are socially loo
B. they suffer from interna
C. they are inherently
D. they are unable to m
3. The author thinks that the efforts made by the anxious to cultivate what they
21
bel
A. worthwhile
B. meaningless
C. praiseworthy
D. irrational
Passage 9
Fred Cooke of Salford turned 90 two days ago and the world has been beating a
path to his door. If you haven’t noticed, the backstreet boy educated at Blackpool
grammar styles himself more grandly as Alastair Cooke, broadcaster extraordinaire.
An honorable KBE, he would be Sir Alastair if he had not taken American citizenship
more than half a century ago.
If it sounds snobbish to draw attention to his humble origins, it should be reflected
that the real snob is Cooke himself, who has spent a lifetime disguising them. But the
fact that he opted to renounce his British passport in 1941 — just when his country
needed all the wartime help it could get-is hardly a mat
Cooke has made a fortune out of his love affair with America, entrancing listeners
with a weekly monologue that has won Radio 4 many devoted adherents. Part of the
pull is the developed drawl. This is the man who gave the world “mid-Atlantic”, the
language of the disc jockey and public relations man.
He sounds American to us and English to them, while in reality he has for decades
belonged to neither. Cooke’s world is an America that exists largely in the imagination.
He took ages to acknowledge the disaster that was Vietnam and even longer to wake
up to Watergate. His politics have drifted to the right with age, and most of his
opinions have been acquired on the golf course with fellow celebrities.
He chased after stars on arrival in America, Fixing up an interview with Charlie
Chaplin and briefly becoming his friend. He told Cooke he could turn him into a fine
light comedian; instead he is an impressionist’s dream.
Cooke liked the sound of his first wife’s name almost as much as he admired her
good looks. But he found bringing up baby difficult and left her for the wife of his
landlord. Women listeners were unimpressed when, in 1996, he declared on air that
the fact that 4% of women in the American armed forces were raped showed
22
remarkable self-restraint on the part of Uncle Sam’s soldiers. His arrogance in not
allowing BBC editors to see his script in advance worked, not for the first time, to his
detriment. His defenders said he could not help living with the 1930s values he had
acquired and somewhat dubiously went on to cite “gallantry” as chief among them.
Cooke’s raconteur style encouraged a whole generation of BBC men to think of
themselves as more important than the story. His treacle tones were the model for the
regular World Service reports From Our Own Correspondent, known as FOOCs in the
business. They may yet be his epitaph.
1. At the beginning of the passage the writer sounds critical of ___.
A. Cooke’s obscure origins
C. Cook
D
2. The following adjectives can be suitably
A. old-fashioned
C. arrogant
3. The writer comments on Cooke’s life and c
A. ironic
B. detached
C. scathing
D. indifferent
Passage 10
Mr. Duffy raised his eyes from the paper and gazed out of his window on the
cheerless evening landscape. The river lay quiet beside the empty distillery and from
time to time a light appeared in some house on Lucan Road. What an end! The whole
narrative of her death revolted him and it revolted him to think that he had ever
spoken to her of what he held sacred. The cautious words of a reporter won over to
conceal the details of a commonplace vulgar death attacked his stomach. Not merely
had she degraded herself, she had degraded him. His soul’s companion! He thought of
the hobbling wretches whom he had seen carrying cans and bottles to be filled by the
barman. Just God, what an end! Evidently she had been unfit to live, without any
strength of purpose, an easy prey to habits, one of the wrecks on which civilization
23
has been reared. But that she could have sunk so low! Was it possible he had deceived
himself so utterly about her? He remembered her outburst of that night and interpreted
it in a harsher sense than he had ever done. He had no difficulty now in approving of
the course he had taken.
As the light failed and his memory began to wander he thought her hand touched
his. The shock which had first attacked his stomach was now attacking his nerves. He
put on his overcoat and hat quickly and went out. The cold air met him on the
threshold; it crept into the sleeves of his coat. When he came to the public house at
Chapel Bridge he went in and ordered a hot punch.
The proprietor served him obsequiously but did not venture to talk. There were
five or six working-men in the shop discussing the value of a gentleman’s estate in
County Kildare. They drank at intervals from their huge pint tumblers, and smoked,
spitting often on the floor and sometimes dragging the sawdust over their heavy boots.
Mr. Duffy sat on his stool and gazed at them, without seeing or hearing them. After a
while they went out and he called for another punch. He sat a long time over it. The
shop was very quiet. The proprietor sprawled on the counter reading the newspaper
and yawning. Now and again a tram was heard swishing along the lonely road
outside.
As he sat there, living over his life with her and evoking alternately the two
images on which he now conceived her, he realized that she was dead, that she had
ceased to exist, that she had become a memory. He began to feel ill at ease. He asked
himself what else he could have done. He could not have lived with her openly. He
had done what seemed to him best. How was he to blame? Now that she was gone he
understood how lonely her life must have been, sitting night after night alone in that
room. His life would be lonely too until he, too, died, ceased to exist, became a
memory-if anyone remembered him.
1. Mr. Duffy’s immediate reaction to the report of the woman’s death was that of ___.
A. disgust
B. guilt
C. grief
D. compassion
2. It can be inferred from the passage that the reporter wrote about the woman’s
24
A. detailed B. provocative
C. discreet
3. We can infer from the last paragraph that
A. angry
B. fretful
C. irritable
4. According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT t rue?
A. Mr. Duff
B. Mr. Duffy fe
C. The woman wanted
D. They became estranged probably after a quarrel.
Passage 11
I remember meeting him one evening with his pushcart. I had managed to sell all
my papers and was coming home in the snow. It was that strange hour in downtown
New York when the workers were pouring homeward in the twilight. I marched
among thousands of tired men and women whom the factory whistles had unyoked.
They flowed in rivers through the clothing factory districts, then down along the
avenues to the East Side.
I met my father near Cooper Union. I recognized him, a hunched, frozen figure
in an old overcoat standing by a banana cart. He looked so lonely; the tears came to
my eyes. Then he saw me, and his face lit with his sad, beautiful smile -Charlie
Chaplin’s smile.
“Arch, it’s Mikey,” he said. “So you have sold your papers! Come and eat a
banana.”
He offered me one. I refused it. I felt it crucial that my father sell his bananas,
not give them away. He thought I was shy, and coaxed and joked with me, and made
me eat the banana. It smelled of wet straw and snow.
“You haven’t sold many bananas today, pop,” I said anxiously.
He shrugged his shoulders.
“What can I do? No one seems to want them.”
It was true. The work crowds pushed home morosely over the pavements. The
rusty sky darkened over New York building, the tall street lamps were lit, innumerable
25
trucks, street cars and elevated trains clattered by. Nobody and nothing in the great
city stopped for my father’s bananas.
“I ought to yell,” said my father dolefully. “I ought to make a big noise like other
peddlers, but it makes my throat sore. Anyway, I’m ashamed of yelling, it makes me
feel like a fool. ”
I had eaten one of his bananas. My sick conscience told me that I ought to pay
for it somehow. I must remain here and help my father.
“I'll yell for you, pop,” I volunteered.
“Arch, no,” he said, “go home; you have worked enough today. Just tell momma
I'll be late.”
But I yelled and yelled. My father, standing by, spoke occasional words of praise,
and said I was a wonderful yeller. Nobody else paid attention. The workers drifted
past us wearily, endlessly; a defeated army wrapped in dreams of home. Elevated
trains crashed; the Cooper Union clock burned above us; the sky grew black, the wind
poured, the slush burned through our shoes. There were thousands of strange, silent
figures pouring over the sidewalks in snow. None of them stopped to buy bananas. I
yelled and yelled; nobody listened.
My father tried to stop me at last. “Nu,” he said smiling to console me, ‘that was
wonderful yelling, Mikey. But it’s plain we are unlucky today! Let’s go home.”
I was frantic, and almost in tears. I insisted on keeping up my desperate yells.
But at last my father persuaded me to leave with him.
1. “unyoked” in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to____
A. sent out.
B. released.
C. dispatched.
D. removed.
2. Which of the following in the first paragraph does NOT indicated crowds of
people?
A. Thousands of
B. Flowed
26
C. Pouring
D. Unyoked
3. Which of the following is intended to be a pair of contrast in the passage?
A. Huge crowds and lonely individuals.
B. Weather conditions and street lamps.
C. Clattering trains and peddlers' yells.
D. Moving crowds and street traffic.
4. Which of the following words is NOT suitable to describe the character of the son?
A. Compassionate
B. Responsible
C. Shy
D. Determined
5. What is the theme of the story?
A. The misery of the factory workers.
B. How to survive in a harsh environment.
C. Generation gap between the father and the son.
D. Love between the father and the son.
6. What is the author’s attitude towards the father and the son?
A. Indifferent
B. Sympathetic
C. Appreciative
D. Difficult to tell
Passage 12
It came as something of a surprise when Diana, Princess of Wales, made a trip to
Angola in 1997, to support the Red Cross’s campaign for a total ban on all
anti-personnel landmines. Within hours of arriving in Angola, television screens
around the world were filled with images of her comforting victims injured in
explosions caused by landmines. “I knew the statistics,” she said. “But putting a face
to those figures brought the reality home to me; like when I met Sandra, a 1327
year-old girl who had lost her leg, and people like her.”
The Princess concluded with a simple message: “We must stop landmines”. And
she used every opportunity during her visit to repeat this message. But, back in
London, her views were not shared by some members of the British government,
which refused to support a ban on these weapons. Angry politicians launched an
attack on the Princess in the press. They described her as “very ill-informed” and a
“loose cannon” (乱放 跑的人 ). The Princess responded by brushing aside the
Criticisms: “This is a distraction ( 干扰) we do not need. All I’m trying to do is
help.” Opposition parties, the media and the public immediately voiced their support
for the Princess. To make matters worse for the government, it soon emerged that the
Princess’ trip had been approved by the Foreign Office, and that she was in fact very
well-informed about both the situation in Angola and the British government’s policy
regarding landmines.
The result was a severe embarrassment for the government. To try and limit the
damage, the Foreign Secretary, Malcolm Rifkidnd, claimed that the Princess’ views
on landmines were not very different from government policy, and that it was
“working towards’ a worldwide ban. The Defense Secretary, Michael Portillo,
claimed the matter was “a misinterpretation or misunderstanding.” For the Princess,
the trip to this war-torn country was an excellent opportunity to use her popularity to
show the world how much destruction and suffering landmines can cause. She said
that the experience had also given her the chance to get closer to people and their
problems.
1. Princess Diana paid a visit to Angola in 1997
A. to clarify the British government’s stand on landmines
B. to establish her image as a friend ’of landmine victims
C. to investigate the sufferings of landmine victims there
D. to voice her support for a total ban of landmines
2. What did Diana mean when she said “... putting a face to those figures brought the
reality home to me” (Line 5, Para. 1)?
A. Meeting the landmine victims in person made her believe the statistics.
28
B. She just couldn’t bear to meet the landmine victims face to face.
C. The actual situation in Angola made her feel like going back home.
D. Seeing the pain of the victims make her realize the seriousness of the situation.
3. Some members of the British government criticized Diana because______
A. she had not consulted the government before the visit.
B. she was ill-informed of the government’s policy.
C. they were actually opposed to banning landmines.
D. they believed that she had misinterpreted the situation in Angola.
4. How did Diana respond to the criticisms?
A. She made more appearances on TV.
B. She paid no attention to them.
C. She rose to argue with her opponents.
D. She met the 13-year-old girl as planned.
5. What did Princess Diana think of her visit to Angola?
A. It had caused embarrassment to the British government.
B. It had greatly promoted her popularity.
C. It had brought her closer to the ordinary people.
D. It had affected her relations with the British government.
Passage 13
Hostility to Gypsies has existed almost from the time they first appeared in
Europe in the 14th century. The origins of the Gypsies, with little written history, were
shrouded in mystery. What is known now from clues in the various dialects of their
language, Romany, is that they came from northern India to the Middle East a
thousand years ago, working as minstrels and mercenaries, metal-smiths and servants.
Europeans misnamed them Egyptians, soon shortened to Gypsies. A clan system,
based mostly on their traditional crafts and geography, has made them a deeply
fragmented and fractious people, only really unifying in the face of enmity from
non-Gypsies, whom they call gadje. Today many Gypsy activists prefer to be called
Roma, which comes from the Romany word for “man”. But on my travels among
29
them, most still referred to themselves as Gypsies.
In Europe their persecution by the gadje began quickly, with the church seeing
heresy in their fortune-telling and the state seeing anti-social behaviour in their
nomadism. At various times they have been forbidden to wear their distinctive bright
clothes, to speak their own language, to travel, to marry one another, or to ply their
traditional crafts. In some countries they were reduced to slavery it wasn’t until the
mid-1800s that Gypsy slaves were freed in Romania. In more recent times the
Gypsies were caught up in Nazi ethnic hysteria, and perhaps half a million perished in
the Holocaust. Their horses have been shot and the wheels removed from their
wagons, their names have been changed, their women have been sterilized, and their
children have been forcibly given for adoption to non-Gypsy families.
But the Gypsies have confounded predictions of their disappearance as a distinct
ethnic group and their numbers have burgeoned. Today there are an estimated 8 to 12
million Gypsies scattered across Europe, making them the continent’s largest minority.
The exact number is hard to pin down. Gypsies have regularly been undercounted,
both by regimes anxious to downplay their profile and by Gypsies themselves,
seeking to avoid bureaucracies. Attempting to remedy past inequities, activist groups
may overcount. Hundreds of thousands more have emigrated to the Americas and
elsewhere. With very few exceptions Gypsies have expressed no great desire for a
country to call their own -unlike the Jews, to whom the Gypsy experience is often
compared. “Romanestan” said Ronald Lee, the Canadian Gypsy writer, “is where my
two feet stand.”
1. Gypsies are united only when they______
A. are engaged in traditional crafts.
B. call themselves Roma.
C. live under a clan system.
D. face external threats.
2. In history hostility to Gypsies in Europe resulted in their persecution by all the
following EXCEPT__________
A. the Egyptians.
30
B the state.
C. the church.
D. the Nazis.
3. According to the passage, the main difference between the Gypsies and the Jews
lies in their concepts of __________
A. language.
B. culture.
C. identity.
D. custom.
Passage 14
I was just a boy when my father brought me to Harlem for the first time, almost
50 years ago. We stayed at the Hotel Theresa, a grand brick structure at 125th Street
and Seventh Avenue. Once, in the hotel restaurant, my father pointed out Joe Louis.
He even got Mr. Brown, the hotel manager, to introduce me to him, a bit paunchy but
still the champ as far as I was concerned.
Much has changed since then. Business and real estate are booming. Some say a
new renaissance is under way. Others decry what they see as outside forces running
roughshod over the old Harlem.
New York meant Harlem to me, and as a young man I visited it whenever I could.
But many of my old haunts are gone. The Theresa shut down in 1966. National chains
that once ignored Harlem now anticipate yuppie money and want pieces of this prime
Manhattan real estate. So here I am on a hot August afternoon, sitting in a Starbucks
that two years ago opened a block away from the Theresa, snatching at memories
between sips of high-priced coffee. I am about to open up a piece of the old Harlemthe New York Amsterdam News—when a tourist asking directions to Sylvia’s, a
prominent Harlem restaurant, penetrates my daydreaming. He’s carrying a book:
Touring Historic Harlem.
History. I miss Mr. Michaux’s bookstore, his House of Common Sense, which
was across from the Theresa. He had a big billboard out front with brown and black
31
faces painted on it that said in large letters: “World History Book Outlet on
2,000,000,000 Africans and Nonwhite Peoples.” An ugly state office building has
swallowed that space.
I miss speaker like Carlos Cooks, who was always on the southwest comer of
125th and Seventh, urging listeners to support Africa. Harlem’s powerful political
electricity seems unplugged-although the sweets are still energized, especially by
West African immigrants.
Hardworking southern newcomers formed the bulk of the community back in the
1920s and 30s, when Harlem renaissance artists, writers, and intellectuals gave it a
glitter and renown that made it the capital of black America. From Harlem, W.E.B.
DuBois, Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson, Zora Neal Hurston, and others helped
power America’s cultural influence around the world.
By the 1970s and 80s drugs and crime had ravaged parts of the community. And
the life expectancy for men in Harlem was less than that of men in Bangladesh.
Harlem had become a symbol of the dangers of inner-city life.
Now, you want to shout “Lookin’ good!” at this place that has been neglected for
so long. Crowds push into Harlem USA, a new shopping centre on 125th, where a
Disney store shares space with HMV Records, the New York Sports Club, and a
nine-screen Magic Johnson theatre complex. Nearby, a Rite Aid drugstore also opened.
Maybe part of the reason Harlem seems to be undergoing a rebirth is that it is finally
getting what most people take for granted.
Harlem is also part of an “empowerment zone”—a federal designation aimed at
fostering economic growth that will bring over half a billion in federal, state, and local
dollars. Just the shells of once elegant old brownstones now can cost several hundred
thousand dollars. Rents are skyrocketing. An improved economy, tougher law
enforcement, and community efforts against drugs have contributed to a 60 percent
drop in crime since 1993.
1. At the beginning the author seems to indicate that Harlem
A. has remained unchanged all these years.
B. has undergone drastic changes.
32
C. has become the capital of Black America.
D. has remained a symbol of dangers of inner-city life.
2. When the author recalls Harlem in the old days, he has a feeling of ______
A. indifference.
B, discomfort.
C. delight.
D. nostalgia.
3. Harlem was called the capital of Black America in the 1920s and 30s mainly
because of its ________
A. art and culture.
B. immigrant population.
C. political enthusiasm.'
D. distinctive architecture.
4. From the passage we can infer that, generally speaking, the author _______
A. has strong reservations about the changes.
B. has slight reservations about the changes,
C. welcomes the changes in Harlem.
D. is completely opposed to the changes.
Passage 15
The senior partner, Oliver Lambert, studied the resume for the hundredth time
and again found nothing he disliked about Mitchell Y. McDeere, at least not on paper.
He had the brains, the ambition, the good looks. And he was hungry; with his
background, he had to be. He was married, and that was mandatory. The firm had
never hired an unmarried lawyer, and it frowned heavily on divorce, as well as
womanizing and drinking. Drug testing was in the contract. He had a degree in
accounting, passed the CPA exam the first time he took it and wanted to be a tax
lawyer, which of course was a requirement with a tax firm. He was white, and the
firm had never hired a black. They managed this by being secretive and cubbish and
never soliciting job applications. Other firms solicited, and hired blacks. This firm
33
recruited, and remained lily white. Plus, the firm was in Memphis, and the top blacks
wanted New York or Washington or Chicago. McDeere was a male, and there were no
women in the firm. That mistake had been made in the mid-seventies when they
recruited the number one grad from Harvard, who happened to be a she and a wizard
at taxation. She lasted four turbulent years and was killed in a car wreck.
He looked good, on paper. He was their top choice. In fact, for this year there
were no other prospects. The list was very short. It was McDeere, or no one.
The managing partner, Royce McKnight, studied a dossier labeled “Mitchell Y.
McDeere-Harvard.” An inch thick with small print and a few photographs; it had been
prepared by some ex-CIA agents in a private intelligence outfit in Bethesda. They
were clients of the firm and each year did the investigating for no fee. It was easy
work, they said, checking out unsuspecting law students. They learned, for instance,
that he preferred to leave the Northeast, that he was holding three job offers, two in
New York and one in Chicago, and that the highest offer was $76,000 and the lowest
was $68,000. He was in demand. He had been given the opportunity to cheat on a
securities exam during his second year. He declined, and made the highest grade in
the class. Two months ago he had been offered cocaine at a law school party. He said
no and left when everyone began snorting. He drank an occasional beer, but drinking
was expensive and he had no money. He owed close to $23,000 in student loans. He
was hungry.
Royce McKnight flipped through the dossier and smiled. McDeere was their
man.
Lamar Quin was thirty-two and not yet a partner. He had been brought along to
look young and act young and project a youthful image for Bendini, Lambert &
Locke, which in fact was a young firm, since most of the partners retired in their late
forties or early fifties with money to bum. He would make partner in this firm. With a
six-figure income guaranteed for the rest of his life, Lamar could enjoy the
twelve-hundred-dollar tailored suits that hung so comfortably from his tall, athletic
frame. He strolled nonchalantly across the thousand-dollar-a-day suite and poured
another cup of decaf. He checked his watch. He glanced at the two partners sitting at
34
the small conference table near the windows.
Precisely at two-thirty someone knocked on the door. Lamar looked at the
parmers, who slid the resume and dossier into an open briefcase. All three reached for
their jackets. Immar buttoned his top button and opened the door.
1. Which of the following is NOT the firm’s recruitment requirement?
A. Marriage.
B. Background.
C. Relevant degree.
D. Male.
2. The details of the private investigation show that the firm _____
A. was interested in his family background.
B. intended to check out his other job offers.
C. wanted to know something about his preference.
D. was interested in any personal detail of the man.
3. According to the passage, the main reason Lama Quin was there at the interview
was that __________
A. his image could help impress McDereer.
B. he would soon become a partner himself.
C. he was good at interviewing applicants.
D. his background was similar to MeDereer's.
4. We get the impression from the passage that in job recruitment the firm was NOT
_____
A. selective.
B. secretive.
C. perfunctory.
D. racially biased.
Passage 16
Like most people, I’ve long understood that I will be judged by my occupation,
that my profession is a gauge people use to see how smart or talented I am. Recently,
35
however, I was disappointed to see that it also decides how I’m treated as a person.
Last year I left a professional position as a small-town reporter and took a job
waiting tables, as someone paid to serve food to people. I had customers say and do
things to me I suspect they’d never say or do to their most casual acquaintances. One
night a man talking on his cell phone waved me away, then beckoned (示意) me back
with his finger minute later, complaining he was ready to order and asking where I’d
been.
I had waited tables during summers in college and was treated like a peon (勤杂
工) plenty of people. But at 19 years old, I believed I deserved inferior treatment from
professional adults. Besides, people responded to me differently after I told them I
was in college. Customers would joke that one day I’d be sitting at their table, waiting
to be served.
Once I graduated I took a job at a community newspaper. From my first day, I
heard a respectful tone from everyone who called me. I assumed this was the way the
professional world worked — cordially.
I soon found out differently. I sat several feet away from an advertising sales
representative with a similar name. Our calls would often get mixed up and someone
asking for Kristen would be transferred to Christie. The mistake was immediately
evident. Perhaps it was because money was involved, but people used a tone with
Kristen that they never used with me.
My job title made people treat me with courtesy. So it was a shock to return to
the restaurant industry.
It’s no secret that there’s a lot to put up with when waiting tables, and fortunately,
much of it can be easily forgotten when you pocket the tips. The service industry, by
definition, exists to cater to others’ needs. Still, it seemed that many of my customers
didn’t get the difference between server and servant.
I’m now applying to graduated school, which means someday I’ll return to a
profession where people need to be nice to me in order to get what they want, I think
I’ll take them to dinner first, and see how they treat someone whose only job is to
serve them.
36
1. The author was disappointed to find that _______.
A. one’s position is used as a gauge to measure one’s intelligence
B. talented people like her should fail to get a respectable job
C. one’s occupation affects the way one is treated as a person
D. professionals tend to look down upon manual workers
2. What does the author intend to say by the example in the second paragraph?
A. Some customers simply show no respect to those who serve them.
B. People absorbed in a phone conversation tend to be absent-minded.
C. Waitresses are often treated by customers as casual acquaintances.
D. Some customers like to make loud complaints for no reason at all.
3. How did the author feel when waiting tables at the age of 19?
A. She felt it unfair to be treated as a mere servant by professional.
B. She felt badly hurt when her customers regarded her as a peon.
C. She was embarrassed each time her customers joked with her.
D. She found it natural for professionals to treat her as inferior.
4. What does the author imply by saying “…many of my customers didn’t get the
difference between server and servant”(Lines 3-4, Para.7)?
A. Those who cater to others’ needs are destined to be looked down upon.
B. Those working in the service industry shouldn’t be treated as servants.
C. Those serving others have to put up with rough treatment to earn a living.
D. The majority of customers tend to look on a servant as server nowadays.
5. The author says she’ll one day take her clients to dinner in order to ________.
A. see what kind of person they are
B. experience the feeling of being served
C. show her generosity towards people inferior to her
D. arouse their sympathy for people living a humble life
Passage 17
What’s hot for 2007 among the very rich? A $7.3million diamond ring. A trip to
Tanzania to hunt wild animals. Oh, and income inequality.
37
Sure, some leftish billionaires like George Soros have been railing against
income inequality for years. But increasingly, centrist and right-wing billionaires are
staring to worry about income inequality and the fate of the middle class.
In December, Mortimer Zuckerman wrote a column in U.S. News & World
Report, which he owns. “our nation’s core bargain with the middle class is
disintegrating,” lamented (哀叹) the 117th-richest man in America. “Most of our
economic gains have gone to people at the very top of the income ladder. Average
income for a household of people of working age, by contrast, has fallen five years in
a raw.” He noted that “Tens of millions of Americans live in fear that a major health
problem can reduce them to bankruptcy.”
Wilbur Ross Jr. has echoed Zuckerman’s anger over the bitter struggles faced by
middle-class Americans. “It’s an outrage that any American’s life expectancy should
be shortened simply because the company they worked for went bankrupt and ended
health-care coverage,” said the former chairman of the International Steel Group.
What’s happening? The very rich are just as trendy as you and I, and can be so
when it comes to politics and policy. Given the recent change of control in Congress,
the popularity of measures like increasing the minimum wage, and efforts by
California’s governor to offer universal health care, these guys don’t need their own
personal weathermen to know which way the wind blows.
It’s possible that plutocrats (有钱有势的人) are expressing solidarity with the
struggling middle class as part of an effort to insulate themselves from confiscatory
(没收性的) tax policies. But the prospect that income inequality will lead to higher
taxes on the wealthy doesn’t keep plutocrats up at night. They can live with that.
No, what they fear was that the political challenges of sustaining support for
global economic integration will be more difficult in the United States because of
what has happened to the distribution of income and economic insecurity.
In other words, if middle-class Americans continue to struggle financially as the
ultrawealthy grow ever wealthier, it will be increasingly difficult to maintain political
support for the free flow of goods, services, and capital across borders. And when the
United States places obstacles in the way of foreign investors and foreign goods, it’s
38
likely to encourage reciprocal action abroad. For people who buy and sell companies,
or who allocate capital to markets all around the world, that’s the real nightmare.
1. What is the current topic of common interest among the very rich in America?
A. The fate of the ultrawealthy people.
B. The disintegration of the middle class.
C. The inequality in the distribution of wealth.
D. The conflict between the left and the right wing.
2. What do we learn from Mortimer Zuckerman’s lamentation?
A. Many middle-income families have failed to make a bargain for better welfare.
B. The American economic system has caused companies to go bankrupt.
C. The American nation is becoming more and more divided despite its wealth.
D. The majority of Americans benefit little from the nation’s growing wealth.
3. From the fifth paragraph we can learn that ________.
A. the very rich are fashion-conscious
B. the very rich are politically sensitive
C. universal health care is to be implemented throughout America
D. Congress has gained popularity by increasing the minimum wage
4. What is the real reason for plutocrats to express solidarity with the middle class?
A. They want to protect themselves from confiscatory taxation.
B. They know that the middle class contributes most to society.
C. They want to gain support for global economic integration.
D. They feel increasingly threatened by economic insecurity.
5. What may happen if the United States places obstacles in the way of foreign
investors and foreign goods?
A. The prices of imported goods will inevitably soar beyond control.
B. The investors will have to make great efforts to re-allocate capital.
C. The wealthy will attempt to buy foreign companies across borders.
D. Foreign countries will place the same economic barriers in return.
Passage 18
39
Imagine waking up and finding the value of your assets has been halved. No,
you’re not an investor in one of those hedge funds that failed completely. With the
dollar slumping to a 26-year low against the pound, already-expensive London has
become quite unaffordable. A coffee at Starbucks, just as unavoidable in England as it
is in the United States, runs about $8.
The once all-powerful dollar isn’t doing a Titanic against just the pound. It is
sitting at a record low against the euro and at a 30-year low against the Canadian
dollar. Even the Argentine peso and Brazilian real are thriving against the dollar.
The weak dollar is a source of humiliation, for a nation’s self-esteem rests in part
on the strength of its currency. It’s also a potential economic problem, since a
declining dollar makes imported food more expensive and exerts upward pressure on
interest rates. And yet there are substantial sectors of the vast U.S. economy-from
giant companies like Coca-Cola to mom-and-pop restaurant operators in Miami-for
which the weak dollar is most excellent news.
Many Europeans may view the U.S. as an arrogant superpower that has become
hostile to foreigners. But nothing makes people think more warmly of the U.S. than a
weak dollar. Through April, the total number of visitors from abroad was up 6.8
percent from last year. Should the trend continue, the number of tourists this year will
finally top the 2000 peak? Many Europeans now apparently view the U.S. the way
many Americans view Mexico-as a cheap place to vacation, shop and party, all while
ignoring the fact that the poorer locals can’t afford to join the merrymaking.
The money tourists spend helps decrease our chronic trade deficit. So do exports,
which thanks in part to the weak dollar, soared 11 percent between May 2006 and
May 2007. For first five months of 2007, the trade deficit actually fell 7 percent from
2006.
If you own shares in large American corporations, you’re a winner in the
weak-dollar gamble. Last week Coca-Cola’s stick bubbled to a five-year high after it
reported a fantastic quarter. Foreign sales accounted for 65 percent of Coke’s
beverage business. Other American companies profiting from this trend include
McDonald’s and IBM.
40
American tourists, however, shouldn’t expect any relief soon. The dollar lost
strength the way many marriages break up- slowly, and then all at once. And
currencies don’t turn on a dime. So if you want to avoid the pain inflicted by the
increasingly pathetic dollar, cancel that summer vacation to England and look to New
England. There, the dollar is still treated with a little respect.
1. Why do Americans feel humiliated?
A. Their economy is plunging
B. They can’t afford trips to Europe
C. Their currency has slumped
D. They have lost half of their assets.
2. How does the current dollar affect the life of ordinary Americans?
A. They have to cancel their vacations in New England.
B. They find it unaffordable to dine in mom-and-pop restaurants.
C. They have to spend more money when buying imported goods.
D. They might lose their jobs due to potential economic problems.
3. How do many Europeans feel about the U.S with the devalued dollar?
A. They feel contemptuous of it
B. They are sympathetic with it.
C. They regard it as a superpower on the decline.
D. They think of it as a good tourist destination.
4. What is the author’s advice to Americans?
A. They treat the dollar with a little respect
B. They try to win in the weak-dollar gamble
C. They vacation at home rather than abroad
D. They treasure their marriages all the more.
5. What does the author imply by saying “currencies don’t turn on a dime” (Line 2,
Para 7)?
A. The dollar’s value will not increase in the short term.
B. The value of a dollar will not be reduced to a dime
41
C. The dollar’s value will drop, but within a small margin.
D. Few Americans will change dollars into other currencies.
Passage 19
In the college-admissions wars, we parents are the true fights. We are pushing
our kids to get good grades, take SAT preparatory courses and build resumes so they
can get into the college of our first choice. I’ve twice been to the wars, and as I survey
the battlefield, something different is happening. We see our kids’ college background
as e prize demonstrating how well we’ve raised them. But we can’t acknowledge that
our obsession(痴迷) is more about us than them. So we’ve contrived various
justifications that turn out to be half-truths, prejudices or myths. It actually doesn’t
matter much whether Aaron and Nicole go to Stanford.
We have a full-blown prestige panic; we worry that there won’t be enough
prizes to go around. Fearful parents urge their children to apply to more schools than
ever. Underlying the hysteria(歇斯底里) is the belief that scarce elite degrees must be
highly valuable. Their graduates must enjoy more success because they get a better
education and develop better contacts. All that is plausible——and mostly wrong. We
haven’t found any convincing evidence that selectivity or prestige matters. Selective
schools don’t systematically employ better instructional approaches than less selective
schools. On two measures——professors’ feedback and the number of essay
exams——selective schools do slightly worse.
By some studies, selective schools do enhance their graduates’ lifetime earnings.
The gain is reckoned at 2-4% for every 100-poinnt increase in a school’s average SAT
scores. But even this advantage is probably a statistical fluke(偶然). A well-known
study examined students who got into highly selective schools and then went
elsewhere. They earned just as much as graduates from higher-status schools.
Kids count more than their colleges. Getting into Yale may signify intelligence,
talent and ambition. But it’s not the only indicator and, paradoxically, its significance
is declining. The reason: so many similar people go elsewhere. Getting into college is
not life only competition. Old-boy networks are breaking down Princeton economist
42
Alan Krueger studied admissions to one top Ph. D. program. High scores on the GRE
helped explain who got in degrees of prestigious universities didn’t.
So, parents, lighten up the stakes have been vastly exaggerated up to a point, we
can rationalize our pushiness. America is a competitive society; our kids need to
adjust to that. But too much pushiness can be destructive. The very ambition we
impose on our children may get some into Harvard but may also set them up for
disappointment. One study found that other things being equal, graduates of highly
selective schools experienced more job dissatisfaction. They may have been so
conditioned to being on top that anything less disappoints.
1. Why dose the author say that parents are the true fighters in the college-admissions
wars?
A. They have the final say in which university their children are to attend.
B. They know best which universities are most suitable for their children.
C. they have to carry out intensive surveys of colleges before children make an
application.
D. they care more about which college their children go to than the children
themselves.
2. Why do parents urge their children to apply to more school than ever?
A. They want to increase their children chances of entering a prestigious college.
B. They hope their children can enter a university that offers attractive
scholarships.
C. Their children will have a wider choice of which college to go to.
D. Elite universities now enroll fewer students than they used to.
3. What does the author mean by kids count more than their college(Line1,para.4?
A. Continuing education is more important to a person success.
B. A person’s happiness should be valued more than their education.
C. Kids actual abilities are more important than their college background.
D. What kids learn at college cannot keep up with job market requirements.
4. What does Krueger study tell us?
A. Getting into Ph. d. programs may be more competitive than getting into
43
college.
B. Degrees of prestigious universities do not guarantee entry to graduate
programs.
C. Graduates from prestigious universities do not care much about their GRE
scores.
D. Connections built in prestigious universities may be sustained long after
graduation.
5. One possible result of pushing children into elite universities is that______
A. they earn less than their peers from other institutions.
B. they turn out to be less competitive in the job market.
C. they experience more job dissatisfaction after graduation.
D. they overemphasize their qualifications in job application.
Passage 20
sustainable development is applied to just about everything from energy to clean
water and economic growth, and as a result it has become difficult to question either
the basic assumptions behind it or the way the concept is put to use. This is especially
true in agriculture, where sustainable development is often taken as the sole measure
of progress without a proper appreciation of historical and cultural perspectives.
To start with, it is important to remember that the nature of agriculture has
changed markedly throughout history, and will continue to do so. Medieval
agriculture in northern Europe fed, clothed and sheltered a predominantly rural
society with a much lower population density than it is today. It had minimal effect on
biodiversity, and any pollution it caused was typically localized in terms of energy use
and the nutrients captured in the product it was relatively inefficient.
Contrast this with farming since the start of the industrial revolution competition
from overseas led farmers to specialize and increase yields. Throughout this period
food became cheaper, safe and more reliable. However, these changes have also led to
habitat loss and to diminishing biodiversity.
What’s more, demand for animal products in developing countries is growing so
44
fast that meeting it will require an extra 300 million tons of grain a year by 2050. Yet
the growth of cities and industry is reducing the amount of water available for
agriculture in many regions.
All this means that agriculture in the 21st century will have to be very different
from how it was in the 20th. This will require radical thinking, for example, we need
to move away from the idea that traditional practices are inevitably more sustainable
than new ones. We also need to abandon the notion that agriculture can be “zero
impact”. The key will be to abandon the rather simple and static measures of
sustainability, which centre on the need to maintain production without increasing
damage. Instead we need a more dynamic interpretation one that looks at the pros and
cons of all the various way land is used. There are many different ways to measure
agricultural performance besides food yield, energy use, environmental costs, water
purity, carbon footprint and biodiversity. It is clear, for example, that the carbon of
transporting tomatoes from Spain to the UK.
Is less than that of producing them in the UK with additional heating and lighting?
But we do not know whether lower carbon footprints will always be better for
biodiversity.
What is crucial is recognizing that sustainable agriculture is not just about
sustainable food production.
1. How do people often measure progress in agriculture?
A. By its productivity
B. By its sustainability
C. By its impact on the environment
D. By its contribution to economic growth
2. Specialization and the effort to increase yields have resulted in________
A. localized pollution.
B. the shrinking of farmland.
C. competition from overseas.
D. the decrease of biodiversity.
3. What does the author think of traditional farming practices?
45
A. They have remained the same over the centuries
B. They have not kept pace with population growth
C. They are not necessarily sustainable
D. They are environmentally friendly
4. What will agriculture be like in the 21st century?
A. It will go through radical changes
B. It will supply more animal products
C. It will abandon traditional farming practices
D. It will cause zero damage to the environment
5. What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage?
A. To remind people of the need of sustainable development
B. To suggest ways of ensuring sustainable food production
C. To advance new criteria for measuring farming progress
D. To urge people to rethink what sustainable agriculture is
Passage 21
The percentage of immigrants(including those unlawfully present) in the United
states has been creeping upward for years. At 12.6 percent, it is now higher than at
any point since the mid1920s.
We are not about to go back to the days when Congress openly worried about
inferior races polluting America’s bloodstream. But once again we are wondering
whether we have too many of the wrong sort of newcomers. Their loudest cites argue
that the new wave of immigrants cannot and indeed do not want to, fit in as previous
generations did.
We now know that these racist views were wrong. In time, Italians, Romanians
and members of other so-called inferior races became exemplary Americans and
contributed greatly, in ways too numerous to detail, to the building of this magnificent
nation. There is no reason why these new immigrants should not have the same
success.
Although children of Mexican immigrants do better, in terms of educational and
46
professional attainment, than their parents UCLA sociologist Edward Telles has found
that the gains don’t continue. Indeed, the fourth generation is marginally worse off
than the third. James Jackson of the University of Michigan has food a similar rend
among black Caribbean immigrants. Tells fears that Mexican-Americans may be fated
to follow in the footsteps of American blacks-that large parts of the community may
become mired in a seemingly state of poverty and Underachievement.Like
African-Americans,
Mexican-Americans
are
increasingly relegated
to
( 降
入)segregated, substandard schools, and their dropout rate is the highest for any nick
group (儿童会)in the country.
We have learned much about the foolish idea of excluding people on the
presumption of the ethnic/racial inferiority. But what we have not yet learned is how
to make the process of Americanization work for all. I am not talking about requiring
people to learn English or to adopt American ways; those things happen pretty much
on their own, but as arguments about immigration hear up the campaign trail, we also
ought to ask some broader question about assimilation, about how to ensure that
people , once outsiders , don’t forever remain marginalized within these shores.
That is a much larger question than what should happen with undocumented
workers, or how best to secure the border, and it is one that affects not only
newcomers but groups that have been here for generations. It will have more impact
on our future than where we decide to set the admissions bar for the latest ware of
would-be Americans. And it would be nice if we finally got the answer right.
1. How were immigrants viewed by U.S. Congress in early days?
A. They were of inferior races.
B. They were a Source of political corruption.
C. They were a threat to the nation’s security.
D. They were part of the nation’s bloodstream.
2. What does the author think of the new immigrants?
A. They will be a dynamic work force in the U.S.
B, They can do just as well as their predecessors.
C. They will be very disappointed on the new land.
47
D. They may find it hard to fit into the mainstream.
3. What does Edward Telles’ research say about Mexican-Americans?
A. They may slowly improve from generation to generation.
B. They will do better in terms of education attainment.
C. They will melt into the African-American community.
D. They may forever remain poor and underachieving.
4. What should be done to help the new immigrants?
A. Rid them of their inferiority complex.
B. Urge them to adopt American customs.
C. prevent them from being marginalized.
D. Teach them standard American English.
5. According to the author, the burning issue concerning immigration is_______
A. how to deal with people entering the U.S. without documents.
B. how to help immigrants to better fit into American society.
C. how to stop illegal immigrants from crossing the Border.
D. how to limit the number of immigrants to enter the U.S.
Passage 22
For hundreds of millions of years, turtles (海龟) have struggled out of the sea to
lay their eggs on sandy beaches, long before there were nature documentaries to
celebrate them, or GPS satellites and marine biologists to track them, or volunteers to
hand-carry the hatchlings ( 幼 龟 ) down to the water’s edge lest they become
disoriented by headlights and crawl towards a motel parking lot instead. A formidable
wall of bureaucracy has been erected to protect their prime nesting on the Atlantic
coastlines. With all that attention paid to them, you’d think these creatures would at
least have the gratitude not to go extinct.
But Nature is indifferent to human notions of fairness, and a report by the Fish
and Wildlife Service showed a worrisome drop in the populations of several species
of North Atlantic turtles, notably loggerheads, which can grow to as much as 400
pounds. The South Florida nesting population, the largest, has declined by 50% in the
48
last decade, according to Elizabeth Griffin, a marine biologist with the environmental
group Oceana. The figures prompted Oceana to petition the government to upgrade
the level of protection for the North Atlantic loggerheads from “threatened” to
“endangered”—meaning they are in danger of disappearing without additional help.
Which raises the obvious question: what else do these turtles want from us,
anyway? It turns out, according to Griffin, that while we have done a good job of
protecting the turtles for the weeks they spend on land (as egg-laying females, as eggs
and as hatchlings), we have neglected the years spend in the ocean. “The threat is
from commercial fishing,” says Griffin. Trawlers (which drag large nets through the
water and along the ocean floor) and long line fishers (which can deploy thousands of
hooks on lines that can stretch for miles) take a heavy toll on turtles.
Of course, like every other environmental issue today, this is playing out against
the background of global warming and human interference with natural ecosystems.
The narrow strips of beach on which the turtles lay their eggs are being squeezed on
one side by development and on the other by the threat of rising sea levels as the
oceans warm. Ultimately we must get a handle on those issues as well, or a creature
that outlived the dinosaurs (恐龙) will meet its end at the hands of humans, leaving
our descendants to wonder how creature so ugly could have won so much affection.
1. We can learn from the first paragraph that ________.
A．human activities have changed the way turtles survive
B．efforts have been made to protect turtles from dying out
C．government bureaucracy has contributed to turtles’ extinction
D．marine biologists are looking for the secret of turtles’ reproduction
2. What does the author mean by “Nature is indifferent to human notions of fairness”
(Line 1, Para. 2)?
A．Nature is quite fair regarding the survival of turtles.
B．Turtles are by nature indifferent to human activities.
C．The course of nature will not be changed by human interference.
D．The turtle population has decreased in spite of human protection.
3. What constitutes a major threat to the survival of turtles according to Elizabeth
49
Griffin?
A．Their inadequate food supply.
B．Unregulated commercial fishing.
C．Their lower reproductively ability.
D．Contamination of sea water
4. How does global warming affect the survival of turtles?
A．It threatens the sandy beaches on which they lay eggs.
B．The changing climate makes it difficult for their eggs to hatch.
C．The rising sea levels make it harder for their hatchlings to grow.
D．It takes them longer to adapt to the high beach temperature.
5. The last sentence of the passage is meant to ________.
A．persuade human beings to show more affection for turtles
B．stress that even the most ugly species should be protected
C．call for effective measures to ensure sea turtles’ survival
D．warn our descendants about the extinction of species
Passage 23
There are few more sobering online activities than entering data into
college-tuition calculators and gasping as the Web spits back a six-figure sum. But
economists say families about to go into debt to fund four years of partying, as well as
studying, can console themselves with the knowledge that college is an investment
that, unlike many bank stocks, should yield huge dividends.
A 2008 study by two Harvard economists notes that the “labor-market premium
to skill”—or the amount college graduates earned that’s greater than what high-school
graduate earned—decreased for much of the 20th century, but has come back with a
vengeance (报复性地) since the 1980s. In 2005, The typical full-time year-round U.S.
worker with a four-year college degree earned $50,900, 62% more than the $31,500
earned by a worker with only a high-school diploma.
There’s no question that going to college is a smart economic choice. But a look
at the strange variations in tuition reveals that the choice about which college to attend
50
doesn’t come down merely to dollars and cents. Does going to Columbia University
(tuition, room and board $49,260 in 2007-08) yield a 40% greater return than
attending the University of Colorado at Boulder as an out-of-state student ($35,542)?
Probably not. Does being an out-of-state student at the University of Colorado at
Boulder yield twice the amount of income as being an in-state student ($17,380) there?
Not likely.
No, in this consumerist age, most buyers aren’t evaluating college as an
investment, but rather as a consumer product—like a car or clothes or a house. And
with such purchases, price is only one of many crucial factors to consider.
As with automobiles, consumers in today’s college marketplace have vast
choices, and people search for the one that gives them the most comfort and
satisfaction in line with their budgets. This accounts for the willingness of people to
pay more for different types of experiences (such as attending a private liberal-arts
college or going to an out-of-state public school that has a great marine-biology
program). And just as two auto purchasers might spend an equal amount of money on
very different cars, college students (or, more accurately, their parents) often show a
willingness to pay essentially the same price for vastly different products. So which is
it? Is college an investment product like a stock or a consumer product like a car? In
keeping with the automotive world’s hottest consumer trend, maybe it’s best to
characterize it as a hybrid (混合动力汽车); an expensive consumer product that, over
time, will pay rich dividends.
1. What’s the opinion of economists about going to college?
A．Huge amounts of money is being wasted on campus socializing.
B．It doesn’t pay to run into debt to receive a college education.
C．College education is rewarding in spite of the startling costs.
D．Going to college doesn’t necessarily bring the expected returns.
2. The two Harvard economists note in their study that, for much of the 20th century,
________.
A．enrollment kept decreasing in virtually all American colleges and universities
51
B．the labor market preferred high-school to college graduates
C．competition for university admissions was far more fierce than today
D．the gap between the earnings of college and high-school graduates narrowed
3. Students who attend an in-state college or university can ________.
A．save more on tuition
B．receive a better education
C．take more liberal-arts courses
D．avoid traveling long distances
4. In this consumerist age, most parents ________.
A．regard college education as a wise investment
B．place a premium on the prestige of the College
C．think it crucial to send their children to college
D．consider college education a consumer product
5. What is the chief consideration when students choose a college today?
A．Their employment prospects after graduation.
B．A satisfying experience within their budgets.
C．Its facilities and learning environment.
D．Its ranking among similar institutions.
Passage 24
In the first year or so of Web business, most of the action has revolved around
efforts to tap the consumer market. More recently, as the Web proved to be more than
a fashion, companies have started to buy and sell products and services with one
another. Such business-to-business sales make sense because business people
typically know what product they’re looking for.
Nonetheless, many companies still hesitate to use the Web because of doubts
about its reliability. “Businesses need to feel they can trust the pathway between them
and the supplier,” says senior analyst Blane Erwin of Forrester Research. Some
52
companies are limiting the risk by conducting online transactions only with
established business partners who are given access to the company’s private internet.
Another major shift in the model for Internet commerce concerns the technology
available for marketing. Until recently, Internet marketing activities have focused on
strategies to “pull” customers into sites. In the past year, however, software
companies have developed tools that allow companies to “push” information directly
out to consumers, transmitting marketing messages directly to targeted customers.
Most notably, the PointCast Network uses a screen saver to deliver a continually
updated stream of news and advertisements to subscribers’ computer monitors. Subscribers can customize the information they want to receive and proceed directly to a
company’s Web site. Companies such as Virtual Vineyards are already starting to use
similar technologies to push messages to customers about special sales, product
offerings, or other events. But push technology has earned the contempt of many Web
users. Online culture thinks highly of the notion that the information flowing onto the
screen comes there by specific request. Once commercial promotion begins to fill the
screen uninvited, the distinction between the Web and television fades. That's a
prospect that horrifies Net purists.
But it is hardly inevitable that companies on the Web will need to resort to push
strategies to make money. The examples of Virtual Vineyards, Amazon.com, and
other pioneers show that a Web site selling the right kind of products with the right
mix of interactivity, hospitality, and security will attract online customers. And the
cost of computing power continues to fall free, which is a good sign for any enterprise
setting up shop in silicon. People looking back 5 or 10 years from now may well
wonder why so few companies took the online plunge.
1. We learn from the beginning of the passage that Web business__________.
A. has been striving to expand its market
B. intended to follow a fanciful fashion
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C. tried but in vain to control the market
D. has been booming for one year or so
2. Speaking of the online technology available for marketing, the author implies
that___________.
A. the technology is popular with many Web users
B. businesses have faith in the reliability of online transactions
C. there is a radical change in strategy
D. it is accessible limitedly to established partners
3. In the view of Net purists,___________.
A. there should be no marketing messages in online culture
B. money making should be given priority to on the Web
C. the Web should be able to function as the television set
D. there should be no online commercial information without requests
4. We can best interpret the word “push” in the third paragraph as to _________.
A. attract potential customers with beautifully designed on-line advertisements
B. deliver a continually updated stream of advertisements to targeted customers
C. customize the information of customers directly to a company's Web site
D. collect data of potential customers and computerize them
5. We learn from the last paragraph that ___________.
54
A. pushing information on the Web is essential to Internet commerce
B. interactivity, hospitality and security are important to online customers
C. leading companies began to take the online plunge decades ago
D. setting up shops in silicon is independent of the cost of computing power
Passage 25
In some countries where racial prejudice is acute, violence has so come to be
taken for granted as a means of solving difference, that it is not even questioned.
There are countries where the white man imposes his rule by brute force; there are
countries where the black man protests by setting fire to cities and by looting (stealing)
and pillaging (robbing). Important people on both sides, who would in other respects
appear to be reasonable men, get up and calmly argue in favor of violence – as if it
were a legitimate solution, like any other. What is really frightening, what really fills
you with despair, is the realization that when it comes to the crunch (a critical moment
or situation), we have made no actual progress at all. We may wear collars and ties
instead of war-paint, but our instincts remain basically unchanged. The whole of the
recorded history of the human race, that tedious documentation of violence, has taught
us absolutely nothing. We have still not learnt that violence never solves a problem
but makes it more acute. The sheer horror, the bloodshed and the suffering mean
nothing. No solution ever comes to light the morning after when we dismally
contemplate the smoking ruins and wonder what hit us.
The truly reasonable men who know where the solutions lie are finding it
harder and harder to get a hearing. They are despised, mistrusted and even persecuted
by their own kind because they advocate such apparently outrageous things as law
enforcement. If half the energy that goes into violent acts were put to good use, if our
efforts were directed at cleaning up the slums and ghettos, at improving
living-standards and providing education and employment for all, we would have
gone a long way to arriving at a solution. Our strength is sapped by having to mop up
55
the mess that violence leaves in its wake. In a well-directed effort, it would not be
impossible to fulfill the ideals of a stable social program. The benefits that can be
derived from constructive solutions are everywhere apparent in the world around us.
Genuine and lasting solutions are always possible, providing we work within the
framework of the law.
Before we can even begin to contemplate peaceful co-existence between the
races, we must appreciate each other’s problems. And to do this, we must learn about
them: it is a simple exercise in communication, in exchanging information. “Talk, talk,
talk,” the advocates of violence say, “all you ever do is talk, and we are none the
wiser.” It’s rather like the story of the famous barrister who painstakingly explained
his case to the judge. After listening to a lengthy argument the judge complained that
after all this talk, he was none the wiser. “Possible, my lord,” the barrister replied,
“none the wiser, but surely far better informed.” Knowledge is the necessary
prerequisite to wisdom: the knowledge that violence creates the evils it pretends to
solve.
1. What is the best title for this passage?
A. Advocating Violence
B. Violence Can Do Nothing to Diminish Race Prejudice
C. Important People on Both Sides See Violence As a Legitimate Solution
D. The Instincts of Human Race Are Thirsty for Violence
2. Recorded history has taught us_____________.
A. violence never solves anything
B. nothing
C. the bloodshed means nothing
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D. everything
3. It can be inferred that truly reasonable men_____________.
A. can’t get a hearing
B. are looked down upon
C. are persecuted
D. have difficulty in advocating law enforcement
4. “He was none the wiser” means _____________.
A. he was not at all wise in listening
B. He was not at all wiser than nothing before
C. He gains nothing after listening
D. He makes no sense of the argument
5. According the author the best way to solve race prejudice is_____________.
A. law enforcement
B. knowledge
C. nonviolence
D. Mopping up the violent mess
Passage 26
“WHAT are Papa and I doing here?”
These words, instant-messaged by my mother in a suburb of Washington, D.C.,
57
whizzed through the deep-ocean cables and came to me in the village where I’m now
living, in the country that she left.
It was five years ago that I left America to come live and work in India. Now, in
our family and among our Indian-American friends, other children of immigrants are
exploring motherland opportunities. As economies convulse in the West and jobs dry
up, the idea is spreading virally in émigré homes.
Which raises a heart-stirring question: If our parents left India and trudged
westward for us, if they manufactured from scratch a new life there for us, if they
slogged, saved, sacrificed to make our lives lighter than theirs, then what does it mean
when we choose to migrate to the place they forsook?
If we are here, what are they doing there?
They came of age in the 1970s, when the “there” seemed paved with possibility
and the “here” seemed paved with potholes. As a young trainee, my father felt
frustrated in companies that awarded roles based on age, not achievement. He looked
at his bosses, 20 years ahead of him in line, and concluded that he didn’t want to
spend his life becoming them.
My parents married in India and then embarked to America on a lonely, thrilling
adventure. They learned together to drive, shop in malls, paint a house. They decided
who and how to be. They kept reinventing themselves, discarding the invention,
starting anew. My father became a management consultant, an entrepreneur, a
human-resources executive, then a Ph.D. candidate. My mother began as a
homemaker, learned ceramics, became a ceramics teacher and then the head of the art
department at one of Washington’s best schools.
It was extraordinary, and ordinary: This is what America did to people, what it
always has done.
My parents brought us to India every few years as children. I relished time with
relatives; but India always felt alien, impenetrable, frozen.
Perhaps it was the survivalism born of scarcity: the fierce pushing to get off the
plane, the miserliness even of the rich, the obsession with doctors and engineers and
the neglect of all others. Perhaps it was the bureaucracy, the need to know someone to
58
do anything. Or the culture shock of servitude: a child’s horror at reading “Uncle
Tom’s Cabin” in an American middle school, then seeing servants slapped and
degraded in India.
My firsthand impression of India seemed to confirm the rearview immigrant
myth of it: a land of impossibilities. But history bends and swerves, and sometimes
swivels fully around.India, having fruitlessly pursued command economics, tried
something new: It liberalized, privatized, globalized. The economy boomed, and hope
began to course through towns and villages shackled by fatalism and low expectations.
America, meanwhile, floundered. In a blink of history came 9/11, outsourcing,
Afghanistan, Iraq, Katrina, rising economies, rogue nuclear nations, climate change,
dwindling oil, a financial crisis.
Pessimism crept into the sunniest nation. A vast majority saw America going
astray. Books heralded a “Post-American World.” Even in the wake of a historic
presidential election, culminating in a dramatic change in direction, it remained
unclear whether the United States could be delivered from its woes any time soon.
“In the U.S., there’s a crisis of confidence,” said Nandan Nilekani, co-chairman
of Infosys Technologies, the Indian software giant. “In India,” he added, “for the first
time after decades or centuries, there is a sense of optimism about the future, a sense
that our children’s futures can be better than ours if we try hard enough.”
My love for the country of my birth has never flickered. But these new times
piqued interest in my ancestral land. Many of us, the stepchildren of India, felt its
change of spirit, felt the gravitational force of condensed hope. And we came.
1. The author tells his parents’ story as a way to______
A. demonstrate that they had lived a typical American-immigrant life.
B. demonstrate their love of America and why they will not return to India.
C. demonstrate the difference between his own and his parents’ American
experiences.
D. demonstrate the changes of the American economy over 50 years.
2. In paragraph 3, “dry up,” means_______
A. the quality of jobs is decreasing.
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B. the demand for jobs is decreasing.
C. jobs in the West are decreasing their salaries.
D. jobs in the West are not as exciting as those elsewhere.
3. As a child, the author found India alienating because______
A. the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin revealed and criticized the corruption of India’s
society.
B. although he looked Indian, his background was American and he didn’t speak
the local language.
C. the choice between doctors and lawyers as a way to be higher in society was
foreign to him.
D. the lack of choice in the established system completely opposed what he knew
in America.
4. The author’s main feeling toward America is_______
A. hopelessness. The US has become weak and the author says people should move
back to their original countries.
B. resent. The author doesn’t like how America changed his family’s traditions.
C. appreciation. Even though the author is in India, he still loves the US for the
opportunities it gave his parents.
D. loneliness. The author found himself alone as an Indian growing up.
5. The main change in the Indian economy came from_______
A. the dwindling power of the US because of many disasters.
B. changing religious views on fate in small Indian villages.
C. the evolution from a command economy to a market economy.
D. success in economic education in traditional villages.
Passage 27
These is a new type of advertisement becoming increasingly common in
newspaper classified columns. It is sometimes placed among “situations vacant”,
although it doesn’t offer anyone job, and sometimes it appears “situations wanted”,
although it is not placed by someone looking for a job either. What it does is to offer
60
help in applying for a job.
“Contact us before writing your application”, or “Make use of our long
experience in preparing your curriculum vitae (工作简历) or job history”, is how it is
usually expressed. The growth and apparent success of such a specialized service is,
of course, a reflection on the current high levels of unemployment. It is also an
indication of the growing importance of the curriculum vitae (or job history), with the
suggestion that it may now qualify as an art form in its own right.
There was a time when job seeker simply wrote letters of application. “Just put
down your name, address, age and whether you have passed any exams”, was about
the average level of advice offered to young people applying for their first jobs when
they left school. The letter was really just for openers, it was explained, everything
else could and should be saved for the interview. And in those days of full
employment the technique worked. The letter proved that you could write and were
available for work, your eager face and intelligent replies did the rest.
Later, as you moved up the ladder, something slightly more sophisticated was
called for. The advice then was to put something in the letter which would distinguish
you from the rest. It might be the aggressive approach. “Your search is over. I am the
person you are looking for,” was a widely used trick that occasionally succeeded. Or
it might be some feature specially designed for the job interview.
There is no doubt, however, that it is the increasing number of applicants with
university education at all points in the process of engaging staff that has led to the
greater importance of the curriculum vitae.
1. The new type of advertisement which is appearing in newspaper columns _____.
A. informs job hunters of the opportunities available
B. promises useful advice to those looking for employment
C. divides available jobs into various types
D. informs employers that people are available for work
2. Nowadays a demand for this specialized type of service has been created because
_____.
A. there is a lack of jobs available for artistic people
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B. there are so many top-level job available
C. there are so many people out of work
D. the job history is considered to be a work of art
3. In the past it was expected that first-job hunters would _____.
A. write a initial letter giving their life history
B. pass some exams before applying for a job
C. have no qualifications other than being able to read and write
D. keep any detailed information until they obtained an interview
4. Later, as one went on to apply for more important jobs, one was advised to include
in the letter _____.
A. something that would attract attention to one's application
B. a personal opinion about the organization one was trying to join
C. something that would offend the person reading it
D. a lie that one could easily get away with telling
5. The job history has become such an important document because _____.
A. there has been an increase in the number of jobs advertised
B. there has been an increase in the number of applicants with degrees
C. jobs are becoming much more complicated nowadays
D. the other processes of applying for jobs are more complicated
Passage 28
When it comes to singling out those who have made a difference in all our lives,
you cannot overlook Henry Ford. A historian a century from now might well conclude
that it was Ford who most influenced all manufacturing, everywhere, even to this day,
by introducing a new way to make cars—one, strange to say, that originated in
slaughterhouses.
Back in the early 1900’s, slaughterhouses used what could have been called a
“disassembly line”. Ford reversed this process to see if it would speed up production
of a part of an automobile engine called a magneto. Rather than have each worker
completely assemble a magneto, one of its elements was placed on a conveyer, and
62
each worker, as it passed, added another component to it, the same one each time.
Professor David Hounshell of the University of Delaware, an expert on industrial
development, tells what happened.
“The previous day, workers carrying out the entire process had averaged one
assembly every 20 minutes. But on that day, on the line, the assemble team averaged
one every 13 minutes and 10 seconds per person.”
Within a year, the time had been reduced to five minutes. In 1913, Ford went all
the way. Hooked together by ropes, partially assembled vehicles were towed(拖，拉)
past workers who completed them one piece at a time. It hasn’t long before Ford was
turning out several hundred thousand cars a year, a remarkable achievement then. And
so efficient and economical was this new system that he cut the price of his cars in half,
to $260, putting them within reach of all those who, up until that time, could not
afford them. Soon, auto makers the world over copied him. In fact, he encouraged
them to do so by writing a book about all of his innovations, entitled Today and
Tomorrow. The Age of the Automobile has arrived. Today, aided by robots and other
forms of automation, everything from toasters to perfumes is made on assembly lines.
1. Which of the following statements about Henry Ford is NOT true?
A. He introduced a new way of production.
B. He influenced all manufacturing.
C. He inspired other auto makers.
D. He changed a historian’s mind.
2. The writer mentions" slaughterhouses" because they were the places where
A. Ford’s assembly line originated
B. Ford made his first car
C. Ford readjusted the assembly line
D. Ford innovated the disassembly line
3. A magneto is a technical term for
.
A. an automobile
B. a production line
C. a part of an automobile engine
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D. a disassembly line
4. The phrase “turning out” in the last paragraph could be best replaced by
.
A. “producing”
B. “selling”
C. “buying”
D. “fixing”
5. The invention of the assembly line enabled Henry Ford
.
A. to create more jobs for the unemployed
B. to write a book on history
C. to reduce the price of his cars to $260
D. to cut the production of his cars by 50%
Passage 29
Failure is probably the most fatiguing experience a person ever has. There is
nothing more enervating than not succeeding—being blocked, not moving ahead. It is
a vicious circle. Failure breeds fatigue, and the fatigue makes it harder to get to work,
which compounds the failure. We experience this tiredness in two main ways: as
start-up fatigue and performance fatigue. In the former case, we keep putting off a
task that we are under some compulsions to discharge. Either because it is too tedious
or because it is too difficult, we shirk it. And the longer we postpone it, the more tired
we feel.
Such start-up fatigue is very real, even if not actually physical, not something in
our muscles and bones. The remedy is obvious, though perhaps not easy to apply, an
exertion of will power. The moment I find myself turning away from a job, or putting
it under a pile of other things I have to do, I clear my desk of every thing else and
attach the objectionable item first. To prevent start-up fatigue, always tackle the most
difficult job first.
Performance fatigue is more difficult to handle. Here we are not reluctant to get
started but we cannot seem to do the job right. Its difficulties appear insurmountable
and however hard we work, we fail again and again. The mounting experience of
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failure carries with it an ever-increasing burden of mental fatigue. In such a situation,
I work as hard as I can—then let the unconscious take over.
1. Which of the following can be called a vicious circle?
A. Success-zeal-success-zeal
B. Failure-tiredness-failure-tiredness
C. Failure-zeal-failure-zeal
D. Success-exhaustion-success-exhaustion
2. According to the passage, when we keep putting off a task, we can
experience______.
A. tiredness
B. performance fatigue
C. start-up fatigue
D. unconsciousness
3. To overcome start-up fatigue, we need ______.
A. toughness
B. prevention
C. muscles
D. strong willpower
4. The word “insurmountable” in the last paragraph probably means ______.
A. that cannot be solved
B. that cannot be understood
C. that cannot be imagined
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D. that cannot be objected
5. According to the passage, which of the following statement is not true?
A. It is easier to overcome start-up fatigue
B.
Performance fatigue occurs when the job we are willing to take gets
blocked.
C.
One will finally succeed after experiencing the vicious circle
D.
Fatigue often accompanies failure
Passage 30
For much of the world, the death of Richard Nixon was the end of a complex
public life. But researchers who study bereavement wondered if it didn’t also signify
the end of a private grief. Had the former president merely run his allotted fourscore
and one, or had he fallen victim to a pattern that seems to afflict longtime married
couples: one spouse quickly following the other to the grave?
Pat, Nixon’s wife of 53 years, died last June after a long illness. No one knows
for sure whether her death contributed to his. After all, he was elderly and had a
history of serious heart disease. Researchers have long observed that the death of a
spouse particularly a wife is sometimes followed by the untimely death of the
grieving survivor. Historian Will Durant died 13 days after his wife and collaborator,
Ariel; Buckminster Fuller and his wife died just 36 hours apart. Is this more than
coincidence?
“Part of the story, I suspect, is that we men are so used to ladies feeding us and
taking care of us,” says Knud Helsing, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins School
of Public health, “that when we lose a wife we go to pieces. We don’t know how to
take care of ourselves.” In one of several studies Helsing has conducted on
bereavement, he found that widowed men had higher mortality rates than married
men in every age group. But, he found that widowers who remarried enjoyed the same
lower mortality rate as men who'd never been widowed.
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Women’s health and resilience may also suffer after the loss of a spouse. In a
1987 study of widows, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles,
and UC, San Diego, found that they had a dramatic decline in levels of important
immune-system cells that fight off disease. Earlier studies showed reduced immunity
in widowers.
For both men and women, the stress of losing a spouse can have a profound
effect. “All sorts of potentially harmful medical problems can be worsened,” says
Gerald Davison, professor of psychology at the University of Southern California.
People with high blood pressure, for example, may see it rise. In Nixon's case,
Davison speculates, “the stroke, although not caused directly by the stress, was
probably hastened by it.” Depression can affect the surviving spouse’s will to live;
suicide are elevated in the bereaved, along with accidents not involving cars.
Involvement in life helps prolong it. Mortality, says Duke University psychiatrist
Daniel Blazer, is higher in older people without a good social-support-system, who
don't feel they’re part of a group or a family, that they “fit in” somewhere. And that's
a more common problem for men, who tend not to have as many close friendships as
women. The sudden absence of routines can also be a health hazard, says Blazer.
While earlier studies suggested that the first six months to a year - or even the first
week -- were times of higher mortality for the bereaved, some newer studies find no
special vulnerability in this initial period. Most men and women, of course do not die
as a result of the loss of a spouse. And there are ways to improve the odds. A strong
sense of separate identity and lack of over-dependency during the marriage are helpful.
Adult sons and daughters, siblings and friends need to pay special attention to a newly
widowed parent. They can make sure that he or she is socializing, getting proper
nutrition and medical care, expressing emotion and, above all, feeling needed and
appreciated.
1. According to researchers, Richard Nixon’s death was ____.
A. caused by his heart problems.
B. indirectly linked to his wife’s death.
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C. the inevitable result of old age.
D. an unexplainable accident.
2. The research reviewed in the passage suggest that ____.
A. remarried men live healthier lives.
B. unmarried men have the longest life spans.
C. widowers have the shortest life spans.
D. widows are unaffected by their mates' death.
3. One of the results of grief mentioned in the passage is ____.
A. loss of friendships.
B. diminished socializing.
C. vulnerability to disease.
D. loss of appetite.
4. The passage states that while married couples can prepare for grieving by ____.
A. being self-reliant.
B. evading intimacy.
C. developing habits.
D. avoiding independence.
5. Helsing speculates that husbands suffer from the death of a spouse because they are
____.
A. unprepared for independence.
B. incapable of cooking.
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C. unwilling to talk.
D. dissatisfied with themselves.
6. The author suggests that ___________.
A. a newly widowed parent should go out more often than not
B. a newly widowed parent should live with their children
C. family members should respect their newly widowed parent
D. family members should also pay attention to a newly widowed parent
7. The main idea of this article is __________.
A. how to save the newly widowed spouse
B. the loss of a spouse may influence the life span of the widowed one
C. the life of the newly widowed spouse
D. not clear
Passage 31
Not often in the story of mankind does a man arrive on earth who is both steel
and velvet, who is as hard as rock and soft as drifting fog, who knows in his heart and
mind the paradox of terrible storm and peace unspeakable and perfect. Here and there
across centuries come reports of men alleged to have these contrasts and the
incomparable Abraham Lincoln, born 150 years ago this day, is an approach if not a
perfect realization of this character. In the time of the April lilacs in the year 1865,
Lincoln’s death, the casket with his body was carried northwest a thousand miles and
the American people wept as never before. During the four years he was President, he
at times, especially in the first three months, took to himself the powers of a dictator.
He commanded the most powerful armies then assembled in modern warfare. He
enforced and cruised conscription of soldiers for the first time in American history.
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And under imperative necessity, he abolished the writ of habeas corpus. He
directed politically and spiritually the wild, massive turbulent forces let loose in Civil
War, a war truly as time has shown, of brothers. He argued and pleaded for
compensated emancipation of the slaves. The slaves were property. They were on the
tax books along with horses and cattle, the valuation of each slave written next to his
name on the tax assessor's books. And failing to get action of compensated
emancipation; he took the only other course. As a Chief Executive having war powers
he issued the paper by which he declared the slaves to be free under military. People,
people in many other countries take Lincoln now for their own. He belongs to them.
He stands for decency, honest dealing, plain talk and funny stories. Look where he
came from, don’ you know he was a struggler and wasn't he a kind of tough struggler?
All his life right up to the finish. Something like that you can hear in a nearby
neighborhood and across the seas. Millions there are who take Lincoln as a personal
treasure. He had something they would like to see spread everywhere all over the
world. Democracy we can't find the words to say exactly what it is, but he had it. In
his blood and bones he carried it. In the breath of his speeches and writings it is there.
Popular government, republican institutions government where the people had the say
so, one way or another telling there elected leaders what they want. He had the idea,
he embodied it. It's there in the lights and shadows of his personality. A mystery that
can be lived but never fully spoken in words.
Today, when we say perhaps that well assured and most enduring memory onto
Lincoln is invisibly there today, tomorrow and for a long time yet to come. It is there
in the hearts of the lovers of liberty. Men and women this country has always had
them in crises. Men and women who understand that wherever there is freedom, there
have been those who have fought, toiled and sacrificed for it. I thank you.
1. What does the author suggest as far as Abraham Lincoln's characteristics are
concerned?
A. indefinable peace
B. admirable perfect
C. paradox of extremes
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D. stern but approachable
2. Why do millions of people take Lincoln as a personal treasure?
A. He embodies decency, honest dealing, plain talk and a lot of other admirable
qualities.
B. He is the kind of tough strugglers whom common people respect and love.
C. He stands for democracy.
D. all of the above.
3. Which of the following statements can NOT be deduced from this passage?
A. He declared to free the slaves when he was a Chief Executive.
B. He persistently carried out ideas in his mind.
C. He is beloved as the embodiment of freedom and democracy.
D. Though admired by people, he took high-handed measures as a dictator.
4. Which of the following descriptions of Lincoln is true according to the passage?
A. He argued and pleaded for unconditional emancipation of the slaves.
B. He stands for decency, honest dealing, plain talk, tyranny and funny stories.
C. He enforced the compulsory enrollment for the armed forces for the first time
in American History.
D. He was a man of contradiction.
5. It is most likely that you can find this kind of passage in _______.
A. a speech
B. an autobiography
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C. a story
D. a biography
Passage 32
For the Eskimos who roam icy Canada’s northern frontier, carving snow and ice
into an instant houses is a technique handed down from generation to generation, to
survive winters that drive temperature down to thirty degrees below zero.
To feed their families, the Eskimos depend on their skills as hunters. Moving out
together across the frozen landscape, the men seek a likely hunting area. Then
accompanied by their dogs, they proceed alone.
The object they search for is totally invisible, lurking in the water beneath the ice.
The dog, however, will be able to detect the presence of the prey. Somewhere beneath
the snow, there is a break in the ice, an opened hole where the seal comes to breathe.
The surface snow, however, can not be removed for fear of frightening away the prey.
A small hole penetrating to the water below, coupled with a hair-like filament torn
from a bit of swan’s down, will provide the hunter with the only evidence that a seal
is beneath the snow. Mounted on a piece of animal sinew, the filament is all but
invisible. If a seal comes to breathe, the filament will move. Then with a barked point
on his spear, the hunter will strike into his hidden prey. Until then, he must wait,
silently, patiently, in below freezing weather. Now he notices a subtle movement of
the sinew. With a lightening speed, he strikes the spear into the seal.
By developing such specialized survival skills, the Eskimos can transform the
hostile environment into a familiar home.
1. What does the passage tell the readers?
A. How the Eskimos survive winters and hunt seals.
B. How the Eskimos feed their families.
C. How the Eskimos develop their hunting skills.
D. How the Eskimos carve snow the ice into home.
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2.
When hunting a seal, the hunter could detect he invisible filament’s subtle
movement by _________.
A. lurking in the water beneath ice
B. a small hole penetrating to the water below
C. noticing a subtle movement of the sinew
D. waiting silently, patiently
3. It is implied by the author that the hole in the ice is made by ________.
A. Eskimos hunters
B. hunting dogs
C. under-water seals
D. none of the above
4. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A. The Eskimo hunters need teamwork and accompanying dogs to search their
prey.
B. From time to time, the seal comes out of water through the opened hole to
breathe.
C. The hunter must dig out the surface snow so that he may be able to stand firm on
ice.
D. The dogs help the hunter a great deal by detecting and driving the hidden seals.
5. Which of the following statements is NOT mentioned?
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A. To survive freezing winters, the Eskimos depend on special skills of carving
snow and ice to build houses.
B. To feed their families, the Eskimos depend on special skill of hunting seals.
C. To share the prey among the hunters is a traditional custom for Eskimos.
D. To transform hostile environment, the Eskimos have to develop special skills.
Passage 33
Clothes play a critical part in the conclusion we reach by providing clues to who
people are, who they are not, and who they would like to be. They tell us a good deal
about the wearer’s background, personality, status, mood and social outlook.
Since clothes are such an important source of social information, we can use
them to manipulate people’s impression of us. Our appearance assumes particular
significance in the initial phases of interaction that is likely to occur. An elderly
middle-class man or woman may be alienated by a young adult who is dressed in an
unconventional manner, regardless of the person’s education, background, or
interests.
People tend to agree on what certain types of clothes mean. Adolescent girls can
easily agree on the lifestyle of girls who wear certain outfits, including the number of
boyfriends they likely have had and whether they smoke or drink. Newscasters, or the
announcers who read the news on TV, are considered to be more convincing, honest,
and competent when they are dressed conservatively. And college students who view
themselves as taking an active role in their interpersonal relationships say they are
concerned about the costumes they must wear to play these roles successfully.
Moreover, many of us can relate instances in which the clothing we wore changed the
way we felt about ourselves and how we acted. Perhaps you have used clothing to
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gain confidence when you anticipated a stressful situation, such as a job interview, or
a court appearance.
In the workplace, men have long had well-defined precedents and role models
for achieving success. It has been otherwise for women. A good many women in the
business world are uncertain about the appropriate mixture of “masculine” and
“feminine” attributes they should convey by their professional clothing. The variety of
clothing alternatives to women has also been greater than that available for men. Male
administrators tend to judge women more favorably for managerial positions when
the women display less “feminine” grooming –shorter hair, moderated use of make-up,
and plain tailored clothing. As one male administrator confessed, “An attractive
woman is definitely going to get a longer interview, but she won’t get a job.”
1. According to the passage, they way we dress _______________.
A. provides clues for people who are critical of us
B. indicates our likes and dislikes in choosing a career
C. has a direct influence on the way people regard us
D. is of particular importance when we get on in age
2. From the third paragraph of the passage, we can conclude that young adults tend to
believe that certain type of clothing can _____________.
A. change people’s conservative attitudes toward their lifestyle
B. help young people make friends with the opposite sex
C. make them competitive in the job market
D. help them achieve success in their interpersonal relationships
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3. The word “precedent” in paragraph 4 probably refers to ________.
A. early acts for men to follow as examples
B. particular places for men to occupy especially because of their importance
C. things that men should agree upon
D. men’s beliefs that everything in the world has already been decided
4. According to the passage, many career women find themselves in difficult
situations because ________.
A. the variety of professional clothing is too wide for them to choose
B. women are generally thought to be only good at being fashion models
C. men are more favorably judged for managerial positions
D. they are not sure to what extent they should display their feminine qualities
through clothing
5. What is the passage mainly about?
A. Dressing for effect
B. How to dress appropriately
C. Managerial positions and clothing
D. Dressing for the occasion
Passage 34
People living on parts of the south coast of England face a serious problem. In
1993, the owners of a large hotel and of several houses discovered, to their horror,
that their gardens had disappeared overnight. The sea had eaten into the soft limestone
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cliffs on which they had been built. While experts were studying the problem, the
hotel and several houses disappeared altogether, sliding down the cliff and into the
sea.
Erosion（侵蚀）of the white cliffs along the south coast of England has always
been a problem but it has become more serious in recent years. Dozens of homes have
had to be abandoned as the sea has crept farther and farther inland. Experts have
studied the areas most affected and have drawn up a map for local people, forecasting
the year in which their homes will be swallowed up by the hungry sea.
Angry owners have called on the Government to erect sea defenses to protect
their homes. Government surveyors have pointed out that in most cases, this is
impossible. New sea walls would cost hundreds of millions of pounds and would
merely make the waves and currents go further along the coast, shifting the problem
from one area to another. The danger is likely to continue, they say, until the waves
reach an inland area of hard rock which will not be eaten as limestone is. Meanwhile,
if you want to buy a cheap house with an uncertain future, apply to a house agent in
one of the threatened areas on the south coast of England. You can get a house for a
knockdown price but it may turn out to be a knockdown home.
1. What is the cause of the problem that people living on parts of the south coast of
England face?
A. The disappearance of hotels, houses and gardens.
B. The experts’ lack of knowledge.
C. The rising of the sea level.
D. The washing-away of limestone cliffs.
2. The erosion of the white cliffs in the south of England ________.
A. will soon become a problem for people living in central England
B. has now become a threat to the local residents
C. is quickly changing the map of England
D. can be stopped if proper measures are taken
3. The experts’ study on the problem of erosion can ________.
A. lead to its eventual solution
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B. provide an effective way to slow it down
C. help to prevent it from worsening
D. warn people whose homes are in danger
4. It is not feasible to build sea defenses to protect against erosion because ________.
A. it is too costly and will endanger neighboring areas
B. the government is too slow in taking action
C. they will be easily knocked down by waves and currents
D. house agents along the coast do not support the idea
5. According to the author, when buying a house along the south coast of England,
people should ________.
A. be aware of the potential danger involved
B. guard against being cheated by the house agent
C. take the quality of the house into consideration
D. examine the house carefully before making a decision
Passage 35
Unless we spend money to spot and prevent asteroids (小行星) now, one might
crash into Earth and destroy life as we know it, say some scientists.
Asteroids are bigger versions of the meteoroids (流星) that race across the night
sky. Most orbit the sun far from Earth and don’t threaten us. But there are also
thousands of asteroids whose orbits put them on a collision course with Earth.
Buy $50 million worth of new telescopes right now. Then spend $10 million a
year for the next 25 year5s to locate most of the space rocks. By the time we spot a
fatal one, the scientists say, we’ll have a way to change its course.
Some scientists favor pushing asteroids off course with nuclear weapons. But the
cost wouldn’t be cheap.
Is it worth it? Two things experts consider when judging any risk re: 1) How
likely the event is; and 2) How bad the consequences if the event occurs. Experts
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think an asteroid big enough to destroy lots of life might strike Earth once every
500,000 years. Sounds pretty rare—but if one did fall, it would be the end of the
world. “If we don’t take care of these big asteroids, they’ll take care of us,” says one
scientist. “It’s that simple.”
The cure, though, might be worse than the disease. Do we really want fleets of
nuclear weapons sitting around on Earth? “The world has less to fear from doomsday
(毁灭性的) rocks than from a great nuclear fleet set against them,” said a New York
Times article.
1. What does the passage say about asteroids and meteoroids?
A. They are heavenly bodies different in composition.
B. They are heavenly bodies similar in nature.
C. There are more asteroids than meteoroids.
D. Asteroids are more mysterious than meteoroids.
2. What do scientists say about the collision of an asteroid with Earth?
A. It is very unlikely but the danger exists.
B. Such a collision might occur once every 25 years.
C. Collisions of smaller asteroids with Earth occur more often than expected.
D. It is still too early to say whether such a collision might occur.
3. What do people think of the suggestion of using nuclear weapons to alter the
courses of asteroids?
A. It sounds practical but it may not solve the problem.
B. It may create more problems than it might solve.
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C. It is a waste of money because a collision of asteroids with Earth is very
unlikely.
D. Further research should be done before it is proved applicable.
4. We can conclude from the passage that
________.
A. while pushing asteroids off course nuclear weapons would destroy the world
B. asteroids racing across the night sky are likely to hit Earth in the near future
C. the worry about asteroids can be left to future generations since it is unlikely to
happen in our lifetime
D. workable solutions still have to be found to prevent a collision of asteroids with
Earth
5. Which of the following best describes the author’s tone in this passage?
A. Optimistic.
B. Critical.
C. Objective.
D. Arbitrary.
Passage 36
The collapse of the Earth’s magnetic field — which guards the planet and guides
many of its creatures — appears to have started seriously about 150 years ago, the
New York Times reported last week.
The field’s strength has decreased by 10 or 15 per cent so far and this has
increased the debate over whether it signals a reversal of the planet's lines of magnetic
force.
During a reversal, the main field weakens, almost vanishes, and reappears with
opposite polarity. The transition would take thousands of years. Once completed,
80
compass needles that had pointed north would point south. A reversal could cause
problems for both man and animals. Astronauts and satellites would have difficulties.
Birds, fish and animals that rely on the magnetic field for navigation would find
migration confusing. But experts said the effects would not be a big disaster, despite
claims of doom and vague evidence of links between past field reversals and species
extinctions.
Although a total transition may be hundreds or thousands of years away, the
rapid decline in magnetic strength is already affecting satellites. Last month, the
European Space Agency approved the world's largest effort at tracking the field's
shifts. A group of new satellites, called Swarm, is to monitor the collapsing field with
far greater precision. “We want to get some idea of how this would evolve in the near
future, just like people trying to predict the weather,” said Gauthier Hulot, a French
geophysicist working on the satellite plan. “I'm personally quite convinced we should
be able to work out the first predictions by the end of the mission.”
No matter what the new findings, the public has no mason to panic. Even if a
transition is coming on its way, it might take 2,000 years to mature. The last one took
place 780,000 years ago, when early humans were learning how to make stone tools.
Deep inside the Earth flow hot currents of melted iron. This mechanical energy
creates electromagnetism. This process is known as the geophysical generator. In a
car’s generator, the same principle turns mechanical energy into electricity.
No one knows precisely why the field periodically reverses. But scientists say
the responsibility probably lies with changes in the disorderly flows of melted iron,
which they see as similar to the gases that make up the clouds of Jupiter.
1. According to the passage, the Earth's magnetic field has_________.
A. begun to change in the opposite direction
B. been weakening in strength for a long time
C. caused the changes on the polarities
D. misguided many a man and animal
2. During the transition of the Earth's magnetic field_________.
A. the compass will become useless
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B. man and animals will be confused as to directions
C. the magnetic strength of the Earth will disappear
D. the magnetic strength of the Earth will be stronger
3. According to the passage, _________.
A. we should not worry about the transition of the Earth's magnetic field
B. the Earth's magnetic field will not change for at least 2,000 years
C. the Earth's magnetic field has decreased its strength rapidly
D. the transition of the Earth's magnetic field can be controlled by modem science
4. The author says “...the public has no reason to panic”because_________.
A. the transition is still thousands of years away
B. the new transition will come 780,000 years from now
C. the transition can be precisely predicted by scientists
D. the process of the transition will take a very long time to finish
5. The transition of the Earth's magnetic field is possibly caused by _________.
A. the flows of melted iron inside the Earth
B. the periodical movement of the Earth
C. the mechanical energy of the solar system
D. the force coming from outer space
Passage 37
Students of United States history, seeking to identify the circumstances that
encouraged the emergence of feminist movements, have thoroughly investigated the
mid-nineteenth-century American economic and social conditions that affected the
status of women. These historians, however, have analyzed less fully the development
of specifically feminist ideas and activities during the same period. Furthermore, the
ideological origins of feminism in the United States have been obscured because,
even when historians did take into account those feminist ideas and activities
occurring within the United States, they failed to recognize that feminism was then a
truly international movement actually centered in Europe. American feminist activists
who have been described as “solitary” and “individual theorists” were in reality
connected to a movement -utopian socialism—— which was already popularizing
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feminist ideas in Europe during the two decades that culminated in the first women's
rights conference held at Seneca Falls. New York, in 1848. Thus, a complete
understanding of the origins and development of nineteenth-century feminism in the
United States requires that the geographical focus be widened to include Europe and
that the detailed study already made of social conditions be expanded to include the
ideological development of feminism.
The earliest and most popular of the utopian socialists were the Saint-Simonians.
The specifically feminist part of Saint-Simonianism has, however, been less studied
than the group's contribution to early socialism. This is regrettable on two counts. By
1832 feminism was the central concern of Saint-Simonianism and entirely absorbed
its adherents’ energy; hence, by ignoring its feminism. European historians have
misunderstood Saint-Simonianism. Moreover, since many feminist ideas can be traced
to Saint-Simonianism, European historians' appreciation of later feminism in France
and the United States remained limited.
Saint-Simon’s followers, many of whom were women, based their feminism on
an interpretation of his project to reorganize the globe by replacing brute force with
the rule of spiritual powers. The new world order would be ruled together by a male,
to represent reflection, and a female, to represent sentiment. This complementarity
reflects the fact that, while the Saint-Simonians did not reject the belief that there
were innate differences between men and women, they nevertheless foresaw an
equally important social and political role for both sexes in their Utopia.
Only a few Saint-Simonians opposed a definition of sexual equality based on
gender distinction. This minority believed that individuals of both sexes were born
similar in capacity and character, and they ascribed male-female differences to
socialization and education. The envisioned result of both currents of thought,
however, was that women would enter public life in the new age and that sexual
equality would reward men as well as women with an improved way of life.
1. It can be inferred that the author considers those historians who describe early
feminists in the Unrated States as "solitary" to be _________.
A. insufficiently familiar with the international origins of nineteenth-century
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American feminist thought
B. overly concerned with the regional diversity of feminist ideas in the period
before 1848
C. not focused narrowly enough in their geographical scope
D. insufficiently aware of the ideological consequences of the Seneca Falls
conference
2. According to the passage, which of the following is true of the Seneca Falls
conference on women’s rights?
A. It was primarily a product of nineteenth century Saint-Simonian feminist
thought.
B. It was the work of American activists who were independent of feminists
abroad.
C. It was the culminating achievement of the Utopian socialist movement.
D. It was a manifestation of an international movement for social change and
feminism
3. The author’s attitude toward most European historians who have studied the
Saint-Simonians is primarily one of_________.
A. approval of the specific focus of their research
B. disapproval of their lack of attention to the issue that absorbed most of the
Saint-Simonians' energy after 1832
C. approval of their general focus on social conditions
D. disapproval of their lack of attention to links between the Saint-Simonians and
their American counterparts
4. It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes that study of
Saint-Simonianism is necessary for historians of American feminism because such
study_________
A. would clarify the ideological origins of those feminist ideas that influenced
American feminism
B. would increase understanding of a movement that deeply influenced the Utopian
socialism of early American feminists
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C. would focus attention on the most important aspect of Saint-Simonian thought
before 1832
D. promises to offer insight into a movement that was a direct outgrowth of the
Seneca Falls conference of 1848
5. According to the passage, which of the following would be the most accurate
description of the society envisioned by most Saint-Simonians?
A. A society in which women were highly regarded for their extensive
education
B. A society in which the two genders played complementary roles and had
equal status
C. A society in which women did not enter public life
D. A social order in which a body of men and women would rule together on
the basis of their spiritual power
Passage 38
No woman can be too rich or too thin. This saying often attributed to the late
Duchess (公爵夫人) of Windsor embodies much of the odd spirit of our times. Being
thin is deemed as such a virtue.
The problem with such a view is that some people actually attempt to live by it. I
myself have fantasies of slipping into narrow designer clothes. Consequently, I have
been on a diet for the better — or worse — part of my life. Being rich wouldn’t be
bad either, but that won’t happen unless an unknown relative dies suddenly in some
distant land, leaving me millions of dollars.
Where did we go off the track? When did eating butter become a sin, and a little
bit of extra flesh unappealing, if not repellent? All religions have certain days when
people refrain from eating and excessive eating is one of Christianity’s seven deadly
sins. However, until quite recently, most people had a problem getting enough to eat.
In some religious groups, wealth was a symbol of probable salvation and high morals,
and fatness a sign of wealth and well-being.
Today the opposite is true. We have shifted to thinness as our new mark of virtue.
The result is that being fat — or even only somewhat overweight — is bad because it
85
implies a lack of moral strength.
Our obsession (迷恋) with thinness is also fueled by health concerns. It is true
that in this country we have more overweight people than ever before, and that, in
many cases, being over-weight correlates with an increased risk of heart and blood
vessel disease. These diseases, however, many have as much to do with our way of
life and our high-fat diets as with excess weight. And the associated risk of cancer in
the digestive system may be more of a dietary problem — too much fat and a lack of
fiber — than a weight problem.
The real concern, then, is not that we weigh too much, but that we neither
exercise enough nor eat well. Exercise is necessary for strong bones and both heart
and lung health. A balanced diet without a lot of fat can also help the body avoid
many diseases. We should surely stop paying so much attention to weight. Simply
being thin is not enough. It is actually hazardous if those who get (or already are) thin
think they are automatically healthy and thus free form paying attention to their
overall life-style. Thinness can be pure vainglory (虚荣).
1. In the eyes of the author, an odd phenomenon nowadays is that ______.
A. the Duchess of Windsor is regarded as a woman of virtue.
B. looking slim is a symbol of having a large fortune
C. being thin is viewed as a much desired quality
D. religious people are not necessarily virtuous
2. Swept by the prevailing trend, the author ______.
A. had to go on a diet for the greater part of her life
B. could still prevent herself from going off the track
C. had to seek help from rich distant relatives
D. had to wear highly fashionable clothes
3. In human history, people’s views on body weight ______.
A. were closely related to their religious beliefs
B. changed from time to time
C. varied between the poor and the rich
D. led to different oral standards
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4. The author criticizes women’s obsession with thinness ______.
A. from an economic and educational perspective
B. from sociological and medical points of view
C. from a historical and religious standpoint
D. in the light of moral principles
5. What’s the author’s advice to women who are absorbed in the idea of thinness?
A. They should be more concerned with their overall lifestyle.
B. They should be more watchful for fatal diseases.
C. They should gain weight to look healthy.
D. They should rid themselves of fantasies about designer clothes.
Passage 39
Crying is hardly an activity encouraged by society. Tears, be they of sorrow,
anger, on joy, typically make Americans feel uncomfortable and embarrassed. The
shedder of tears is likely to apologize, even when a devastating (毁灭性的) tragedy
was the provocation. The observer of tears is likely to do everything possible to put an
end to the emotional outpouring. But judging form recent studies of crying behavior,
links between illness and crying and the chemical composition of tears, both those
responses to tears are often inappropriate and may even be counterproductive.
Humans are the only animals definitely known to shed emotional tears. Since
evolution has given rise to few, if any, purposeless physiological responses, it is
logical to assume that crying has one or more functions that enhance survival.
Although some observers have suggested that crying is a way to elicit assistance from
others (as a crying baby might from its mother), the shedding of tears is hardly
necessary to get help. Vocal cries would have been quite enough, more likely than
tears to gain attention, so it appears, there must be something special about tears
themselves.
Indeed, the new studies suggest that emotional tears may play a direct role in
alleviating stress, University of Minnesota researchers who are studying the chemical
composition of tears have recently isolated two important chemicals from emotional
tears. Both chemicals are found only in tears that are shed in response to emotion.
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Tears shed because of exposure to =cut onion would contain no such substance.
Researchers at several other institutions are investigating the usefulness of tears
as a means of diagnosing human ills and monitoring drugs.
At Tulane University’s Teat Analysis Laboratory Dr.Peter Kastl and his
colleagues report that they can use tears to detect drug abuse and exposure to
medication(药物), to determine whether a contact lens fits properly of why it may be
uncomfortable, to study the causes of “dry eye” syndrome and the effects of eye
surgery, and perhaps even to measure exposure to environmental pollutants.
At Columbia University Dt.Liasy Faris and colleagues are studying tears for
clues to the diagnosis of diseases away from the eyes. Tears can be obtained
painlessly without invading the body and only tiny amounts are needed to perform
highly refined analyses.
1. It is known from the first paragraph that ________.
A. shedding tears gives unpleasant feelings to American
B. crying may often imitate people or even result in tragedy
C. crying usually wins sympathy from other people
D. one who sheds tears in public will be blamed
2. What does “both those responses to tears”(Line 6-7, Para, 1) refer to?
A. Crying out of sorrow and shedding tears for happiness.
B. The embarrassment and unpleasant sensation of the observers.
C. The tear shedder’s apology and the observer’s effort to stop the crying.
D. Linking illness with crying and finding the chemical composition of tears.
3. “Counterproductive” (Lines 7, Para,1) very probably means “________”.
A. having no effect at all
B. leading to tension
C. producing disastrous impact
D. harmful to health
4. What does the author say about crying?
A. It is a pointless physiological response to the environment.
B. It must have a role to play in man’s survival.
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C. It is meant to get attention and assistance.
D. It usually produces the desired effect.
5. What can be inferred from the new studies of tears?
A. Emotional tears have the function of reducing stress.
B. Exposure to excessive medication may increase emotional tears.
C. Emotional tears can give rise to “dry eye” syndrome in some cases.
D. Environmental pollutants can induce the shedding of emotional tears.
Passage 40
It is no secret among athletes that in order to improve performance you’ve got to
work hard. However, hard training breaks you down and makes you weaker, It is rest
that makes you stronger. Improvement only occurs during the rest period following
hard training. This adaptation is accomplished by improving efficiency of the heart
and certain systems within the muscle cells. During recovery periods these systems
build to greater levels to compensate for the stress that you have applied. The result is
that you are now at a higher level of performance.
If sufficient rest is not included in a training program, imbalance between excess
training and inadequate rest will occur, and performance will decline. The
“overtraining syndrome(综合症)” is the name given to the collection of emotional,
behavioral, and physical symptoms due to overtraining that has persisted for weeks to
months. It is marked by cumulative exhaustion that persists even after recovery
periods.
The most common symptom is fatigue. This may limit workouts and may be
present at rest. The athlete may also become moody, easily imitated, have altered
sleep patterns, become depressed, or lose the competitive desire and enthusiasm for
the sport. Some will report decreased appetite and weight loss. Physical symptoms
include persistent muscular soreness, increased frequency of viral ( 病 毒 性 的 )
illnesses, and increased incidence of injuries.
The treatment for the overtraining syndrome is rest. The longer the overtraining
has occurred, the more rest required, Therefore, early detection is very important, If
the overtraining has only occurred for a short period of time (e.g. 3-4 weeks) then
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interrupting training for 3-5 days is usually sufficient rest. It is important that the
factors that lead to overtraining be identified and corrected. Otherwise, the
overtraining syndrome is likely to recur. The overtraining syndrome should be
considered in any athlete who manifests symptoms of prolonged fatigue and whose
performance has leveled off or decreased. It is important to exclude any underlying
illness that may be responsible for the fatigue.
1. The first paragraph of the passage tells us that ________.
A. the harder an athlete trains, the better his performance will be
B. rest after vigorous training improves an athlete’s performance
C. strict systematic training is essential to an athlete’s top performance
D. improvement of an athlete’s performance occurs in the course of training
2. By “overtraining” the author means ________.
A. a series of physical symptoms that occur after training
B. undue emphasis on the importance of physical exertion
C. training that is not adequately compensated for by rest
D. training that has exceeded an athlete’s emotional limits
3. What does the passage tell us about the “overtraining” syndrome?
A. It occurs when athletes lose interest in sports.
B. It appears right after a hard training session.
C. The fatigue it results in is unavoidable in the athlete’s training process.
D. It manifests itself in fatigue which lingers even after a recovery period.
4. What does the phrase “level off” (Line 7, Para,4)most probably mean?
A. Slow down.
B. Become dull.
C. Stop improving.
D. Be on the decline.
5. The author advises at the end of the passage that ________.
A. overtraining syndrome should be treated as a serious illness
B. overtraining syndrome should be prevented before it occurs
C. an athlete with overtraining syndrome should take a lengthy rest
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D. illness causing fatigue should not be mistaken for overtraining syndrome
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参考答案:
Passage 1:
AC BAD C
Passage 2:
C AD B
Passage 3:
A B B BCA
Passage 4:
D DAC
Passage 5:
AD CAC
Passage 6:
DBDDB
Passage 7:
BAD C D
Passage 8:
DBD
Passage 9:
CBC
Passage 10:
AC D C
Passage 11:
BDAC D B
Passage 12;
DDCBC
Passage 13;
DAC
Passage 14:
BDAC
Passage 15:
BDAC
Passage 16”
CAD BA
Passage 17:
CCBCD
Passage 18:
AD CAC
Passage 19:
DBDDB
Passage 20:
BD CAD
Passage 21:
AB D C B
Passage 22:
BD BAC
Passage 23:
C D DAB
Passage 24:
AC D BB
Passage 25:
B BD CA
Passage 26:
ABD CC
Passage 27:
BC DAB
Passage 28:
DACAC
Passage 29:
BC DAC
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Passage 30:
B C C AA D B
Passage 31:
CDDCD
Passage 32:
AC C BC
Passage 33:
C DADA
Passage 34:
D B D AA
Passage 35:
BAB D C
Passage 36:
B BC DA
Passage 37:
AD BAB
Passage 38:
CAA B A
Passage 39:
AC D BA
Passage 40:
AD B C D
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