Part Ⅰ Listening Comprehension (40 min)
In Sections A, B and C you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Mark the correct response to each question on your Coloured Answer Sheet.
SECTION A TALK
Questions 1 to 5 refer to the talk in this section. At the end of the talk you w ill be given 15 seconds to answer each of the following five questions. Now list en to the talk.
1. The technology to make machines quieter ___.
A. has been in use since the 1930’s
B. has accelerated industrial production
C. has just been in commercial use
D. has been invented to remove all noises
2. The modern electronic anti-noise devices ___.
A. are an update version of the traditional methods
B. share similarities with the traditional methods
C. are as inefficient as the traditional methods
D. are based on an entirely new working principle
3. The French company is working on anti-noise techniques to be used in a ll EXCEPT ___.
A. streets B. factories C. aircraft D. cars
4. According to the talk, workers in “zones of quiet” can ___.
A. be more affected by noise
B. hear talk from outside the zone
C. work more efficiently
D. be heard outside the zone
5. The main theme of the talk is about ___.
A. noise-control technology
B. noise in factories
C. noise-control regulations
D. noise-related effects
SECTION B INTERVIEW
Questions 6 to 10 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you wil l be given 15 seconds to answer each of the following five questions. Now listen to the interview.
6. Employees in the US are paid for their time. This means that they are supposed to ___.
A. work hard while their boss is around
B. come to work when there is work to be done
C. work with initiative and willingness
D. work through their lunch break
7. One of the advantages of flexible working hours is that ___.
A. pressure from work can be reduced
B. working women can have more time at home
C. traffic and commuting problems can be solved
D. personal relationships in offices can be improved
8. On the issue of working contracts in the US, which statement is NOT co rrect?
A. Performance at work matters more than anything else.
B. There are laws protecting employees’ working rights.
C. Good reasons must be provided in order to fire workers.
D. Working contracts in the US are mostly short-term ones.
9. We can be assumed from the interview that an informal atmosphere might be found in ___.
A. small firms B. major banks C. big corporations D. law offices
10. The interview is mainly about ___ in the USA.
A. office hierarchies B. office conditions C. office roles D. office life
SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST
Question 11 is based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you wil l be given 15 seconds to answer the question. Now listen to the news.
11. Senator Bob Dole’s attitude towards Clinton’s anti-crime policy is that of ___.
A. opposition B. support C. ambiguity D . indifference
Questions 12 and 13 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item , you will be given 30 seconds to answer the questions . Now listen to the news.
12. Japan and the United States are now ___.
A. negotiating about photographic material
B. negotiating an automobile aGREement
C. facing serious problems in trade
D. on the verge of a large-scale trade war
13. The news item seems to indicate that the aGREement ___.
A. will end all other related trade conflicts
B. is unlikely to solve the dispute once and for all
C. is linked to other trade aGREements
D. is the last of its kind to be reached
Questions 14 and 15 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 30 seconds to answer the questions . Now listen to the news.
14. According to the news, the ice from GREenland provides information ab out ___.
A. oxygen B. ancient weather C. carbon dioxide D. temperature
15. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?
A. Drastic changes in the weather have been common since ancient times.
B. The change in weather from very cold to very hot lasted over a century.
C. The scientists have been studying ice to forecast weather in the future.
D. The past 10,000 years have seen minor changes in the weather.
SECTION D NOTE-TAKING AND GAP-FILLING
Fill in each of the gaps with ONE word. You may refer to your notes. Make sure the word you fill in is both grammatically and semantically acceptable.
At present companies and industries like to sponsor sports events. Two reasons are put forward to explain this phenomenon. The first reason is that they get (1)___ throughout the world. 1.___
The second reason is that companies and industries(2)___ money, 2.___ as they get reductions in the tax they owe if they sponsor sports or arts activities.
As sponsorship is (3)___, careful thinking is required in deciding 3.___ which events to sponsor.
It is important that the event to be sponsored(4)___ the product(s) 4.___ to be promoted. That is, the right(5)___ and maximum product coverage 5.___ must be guaranteed in the event.
Points to be considered in sports sponsorship. Popularity of the event
International sports events are big(6)___ events, which get extensive 6.___ coverage on TV and in the press.
Smaller events attract fewer people. Identification of the potential audience
Aiming at the right audience is most important for smaller events.
The right audience would attract manufacturers of other related products like(7)___ , etc. 7.___ Advantages of sponsorship
Advantages are longer-term.
People are expected to respond (8)___ to the products promoted. 8.___ And be more likely to buy them.
Advertising is (9)___ the mind. 9.___
Sponsorship is better than straight advertising: a)less(10) ___ 10.___
b)tax-free
改错
Part Ⅱ Proofreading and Error Correction (15 min)
The following passage contains TEN errors. Each line contains a maximum of ONE error. In each case, only ONE word is involved. You should proofread the passage and correct it in the following way. For a wrong word, underline the wrong word and wri te the correct one in the blank provided at the end of the line. For a missing word, mark the position of the missing word with a “∧” sign and write the word you believe to be missing in the blank provided at the end of the line. For an unnecessary word cross out the unnecessary word with a slash “/’ and put the word in the blank provided at the end of the line.
Example
When∧art museum wants a new exhibit, (1) an
it never／ buys things in finished form and hangs (2) never
them on the wall. When a natural history museum
wants an exhibition, it must often build it. (3) exhibit
The hunter-gatherer tribes that today live as our prehistoric 1.___
human ancestors consume primarily a vegetable diet supplementing 2.___
with animal foods. An analysis of 58 societies of modem hunter-
gatherers, including the Kung of southern Africa, revealed that one
half emphasize gathering plant foods, one-third concentrate on fishing
and only one-sixth are primarily hunters. Overall, two-thirds
and more of the hunter-gatherer’s calories come from plants. Detailed 3.___
studies of the Kung by the food scientists at the University of
London, showed that gathering is a more productive source of food
than is hunting. An hour of hunting yields in average about 100 4.___
edible calories, as an hour of gathering produces 240. 5.___
Plant foods provide for 60 percent to 80 percent of the Kung 6.___
diet, and no one goes hungry when the hunt fails. Interestingly, if
they escape fatal infections or accidents, these contemporary
aborigines live to old ages despite of the absence of medical care. 7.___
They experience no obesity, no middle-aged spread, little dental
decay, no high blood pressure, on heart disease, and their blood
cholesterol levels are very low( about half of the average American 8.___
adult), if no one is suggesting what we return to an aboriginal life 9.___
style, we certainly could use their eating habits as a model for 10.___
healthier diet.
阅读 A
Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension (40 min)
SECTION A READING COMPREHENSION (30 min )
In this section there are four reading passages followed by a total of fifteen m ultiple-choice questions. Read the passages carefully and then mark your answers on your Coloured Answer Sheet.
TEXT A
Ricci’s “Operation Columbus”
Ricci, 45, is now striking out on perhaps his boldest venture yet. He plan s to market an English language edition of his elegant monthly art magazine, FMR , in the United States. Once again the skeptice are murmuring that the successfu l Ricci has headed for a big fall. And once again Ricci intends to prove them wr ong.
Ricci is so confident that he has christened his quest “Operation Columbu s ” and has set his sights on discovering an American readership of 300,000. That goal may not be too far-fetched. The Italian edition of FMR — the initials, of course, stand for Franco Maria Ricci-is only 18 months old. But it is already the second largest art magazine in the world, with a circulation of 65,000 and a profit margin of US $ 500,000. The American edition will be patterned after th e Italian version, with each 160-page issue carrying only 40 pages of ads and no more than five articles. But the contents will often differ. The English-langua ge edition will include more American works, Ricci says, to help Americans get o ver “an inferiority complex about their art.” He also hopes that the magazine will become a vehicle for a two -way cultural exchange — what he likes to think of as a marriage of brains, culture and taste from both sides of the Atlantic.
To realize this vision, Ricci is mounting one of the most lavish, enterpris ing — and expensive-promotional campaigns in magazine — publishing history. Between November and January, eight jumbo jets will fly 8 million copies of a sample 16-page edition of FMR across the Atlantic. From a warehouse in Michigan, 6.5 million copies will be mailed to American subscribers of various cultural, art and business magazines. Some of the remaining copies will circulate as a spe cial Sunday supplement in the New York Times. The cost of launching Operation Co lumbus is a staggering US $ 5 million, but Ricci is hoping that 60% of the price tag will be financed by Italian corporations.“ To land in America Columbus had to use Spanish sponsors,” reads one sentence in his promotional pamphlet. “We would like Italians.”
Like Columbus, Ricci cannot know what his reception will be on foreign shor es. In Italy he gambled — and won — on a simple concept: it is more important to show art than to write about it. Hence, one issue of FMR might feature 32 fu ll-colour pages of 17th-century tapestries, followed by 14 pages of outrageous e yeglasses. He is gambling that the concept is exportable. “I don’t expect that more than 30% of my reader... will actually read FMR,” he says. “The magazine is such a visual delight that they don’t have to.” Still, he is lining up an impr es sive stable of writers and professors for the American edition , including Noam Chomsky, Anthony Burgess, Eric Jong and Norman Mailer. In addition, he seems to be pursuing his won eclectic vision without giving a moment’s thought to such e s tablished competitors as Connosisseur and Horizon. “The Americans can do almost everything better than we can,” says Rieci, “But we(the Italians)have a 2,000 year edge on them in art.”
16. Ricci intends his American edition of FMR to carry more American art works in order to___.
A. boost Americans’ confidence in their art
B. follow the pattern set by his Italian edition
C. help Italians understand American art better
D. expand the readership of his magazine
17. Ricci is compared to Columbus in the passage mainly because___.
A. they both benefited from Italian sponsors
B. they were explorers in their own ways
C. they obtained overseas sponsorship
D. they got a warm reception in America
18. We get the impression that the American edition of FMR will probably ___.
A. carry many academic articles of high standard
B. follow the style of some famous existing magazines
C. be mad by one third of American magazine readers
D. pursue a distinctive editorial style of its own
TEXT B
My mother’s relations were very different from the Mitfords. Her brother, Uncle Geoff, who often came to stay at Swimbrook, was a small spare man with th oughtful blue eyes and a rather silent manner. Compared to Uncle Tommy, he was a n intellectual of the highest order, and indeed his satirical pen belied his mil d demeanor. He spent most of his waking hours composing letters to The Times and other publications in which he outlined his own particular theory of the develo pment of English history. In Uncle Geoff’s view, the GREatness of England had r isen and waned over the centuries in direct proportion to the use of natural man ure in fertilizing the soil. The Black Death of 1348 was caused by gradual loss of the humus fertility found under forest trees. The rise of the Elizabethans tw o centuries later was attributable to the widespread use of sheep manure.
Many of Uncle Geoff’s letters-to-the-editor have fortunately been preserv ed in a privately printed volume called Writings of a Rebel. Of the collection, one letter best sums up his views on the relationship between manure and freedom
. He wrote:
Collating old records shows that our GREatness rises and falls with the li ving fertility of our soil. And now, many years of exhausted and chemically murd ered soil, and of devitalized food from it, has softened our bodies and still wo rse, softened our national character. It is an actual fact that character is lar gely a product of the soil. Many years of murdered food from deadened soil has m ade us too tame. Chemicals have had their poisonous day. It is now the worm’s t urn to reform the manhood of England. The only way to regain our punch, our char acter, our lost virtues, and with them the freedom natural to islanders, is to c o mpost our land so as to allow moulds, bacteria and earthworms to remake living s oil to nourish Englishmen’s bodies and spirits.
The law requiring pasteurization of milk in England was a particular targe t of Uncle Geoff’s. Fond of alliteration, he dubbed it “Murdered Milk Measure ”, and established the Liberty Restoration League, with headquarters at his house i n London, for the specific purpose of organizing a counteroffensive. “Freedom n o t Doctordom” was the League’s proud slogan. A subsidiary, but nevertheless imp or tant, activity of the League was advocacy of a return to the “unsplit, slowly s m oked fish” and bread made with “English stone-ground flour, yeast, milk, sea s alt and raw cane-sugar.”
19. According to Uncle Geoff, national strength could only be regained by ___.
A. reforming the manhood of England
B. using natural manure as fertilizer
C. eating more bacteria-free food
D. granting more freedom to Englishmen
20. The tone of the passage can most probably be described as___.
A. facetious B. serious C. nostal gic D. factual
TEXT C
Interview
So what have they taught you at college about interviews? Some courses go t o town on it, others do very little. You may get conflicting advice. Only one th ing is certain: the key to success is preparation.
There follow some useful suggestions from a teacher training course co-ordi nator, a head of department and a headteacher. As they appear to be in complete harmony with one another despite never having met, we may take their advice seri ously.
Oxford Brookes University’s approach to the business of application and in t erview focuses on research and rehearsal. Training course co-ordinator Brenda St evens speaks of the value of getting students “to deconstruct the advertisement , see what they can offer to that school, and that situation, and then write the letter, do their CVs and criticize each other’s.” Finally, they role play inte rviewer and interviewee.
This is sterling stuff, and Brookes students spend a couple of weeks on it. “The better prepared students won’t be thrown by nerves on the day, ”says Ms St evens. “They’ll have their strategies and questions worked out. ” She also sa ys, a trifle disconcertingly, “the better the student, the worse the interviewee. ” She believes the most capable students are less able to put themselves forward. Even if this were tree, says Ms Stevens, you must still make your own case.
“Beware of infernality,” she advises. One aspirant teacher, now a head of d epartment at a smart secondary school, failed his first job interview because he took his jacket off while waiting for his appointment. It was hot and everyone in the staffroom was in shirtsleeves but at the end of the day they criticized h is casual attitude, which they had deduced from the fact that he took his jacket off in the staffroom, even though he put it back on for the interview.
Incidentally, men really do have to wear a suit to the interview and women really cannot wear jeans, even if men never wear the suit again and women teach most days in jeans. Panels respond instantly to these indicators. But beware: it will not please them any better if you are too smart.
Find out about the people who will talk to you. In the early meetings they are likely to be heads of departments or heads of year. Often they may be concer ned with pastoral matters. It makes sense to know their priorities and let them hear the things about you that they want to hear.
During preliminary meetings you may be seen in groups with two or three oth er applicants and you must demonstrate that you know your stuff without putting your companions down. The interviewers will be watching how you work with a team
. But remember the warning about informality: however friendly and co-operat ive the other participants are, do not give way to the idea that you are there j ust to be friends.
Routine questions can be rehearsed, but “don’t go on too long,” advises th e department head. They may well ask: “What have been your worst/best moments w h en teaching?”, or want you to “talk about some good teaching you have done. ” The experts aGREe you should recognize your weaknesses and offer a strategy for over coming them. “I know I’ve got to work on classroom management — I would hope fo r some help,” perhaps. No one expects a new teacher to know it all, but they ho pe for an objective appraisal of capabilities.
Be warned against inexpert questioning. You may be asked questions in such a way that it seems impossible to present your best features. Some questions may be plain silly, asked perhaps by people on the panel who are from outside the s ituation. Do not be thrown, have ways of circumnavigating it, and never, ever le t them see that you think they have said something foolish.
You will almost certainly be asked how you see the future and it is import ant to have a good answer prepared. Some people are put off by being asked what they expect to be doing in five or ten years’ time. On your preliminary visit, s ays the department head, be sure to give them a bit of an interview of your own, to see the direction the department is going and what you could contribute to i t.
The headteacher offers his thoughts in a nine-point plan. Iron the application form! Then it stands out from everyone else’s, which have been folded and battered in the post. It gives an initial impression which may get your application to the top of the pile. Ensure that your application is tailored to the particular school. Make the hea d feel you are writing directly to him or her. Put yourself at ease before you meet the interviewing panel: if you are nervous , you will talk too quickly. Before you enter the room remember that the people are human beings too; take away the mystique of their roles. Listen. There is a danger of not hearing accurately what is being said. Make ey e contact with the speakers, and with everyone in the room. Allow your warmth and humanity to be seen. A sense of humour is very important.
Have a portfolio of your work that can link theory to practice. Many schools wa nt you to show work. For a primary appointment, give examples from the range of the curriculum, not just art. (For this reason, taking pictures on your teaching practice is important. ) Prepare yourself in case you are asked to give a talk. Have prompt cards ready, and don’t waffle.
Your speech must be clear and articulate, with correct grammar. This is importa nt: they want to hear you and they want to hear how well you can communicate wit h children. Believe in yourself and have confidence.
Some of the people asking the questions don’t know much about what you do. B e ready to help them.
Thus armed, you should have no difficulty at all. Good luck and keep your jac ket on!
21. Ms. Brenda Stevens suggests that before applying job applicants shoul d ___.
A. go through each other’s CVs
B. rehearse their answers to questions
C. understand thoroughly the situations
D. go to town to attend training course
22. Is it wise to admit some of your weaknesses relating to work?
A. Yes, but you should have ideas for improvement in the future.
B. Yes, because it is natural to be weak in certain aspects.
C. No, admitting weaknesses may put you at a disadvantage.
D. No, it will only prompt the interviewees to reject you.
23. The best way to deal with odd questions from the interviewers is to ___.
A. remain smiling and kindly point out the inaccuracies
B. keep calm and try to be tactful in your answers
C. say frankly what you think about the issues raised
D. suggest something else to get over your nervousness
24. The suggestions offered by the headteacher are ___.
A. original B. ambiguousC. practical D. co ntroversial
TEXT D
Family Matters
This month Singapore passed a bill that would give legal teeth to the moral obligation to support one’s parents. Called the Maintenance of Parents Bill, i t received the backing of the Singapore Government.
That does not mean it hasn’t generated discussion. Several members of the P arliament opposed the measure as un-Asian. Others who acknowledged the problem o f the elderly poor believed it a disproportionate response. Still others believe it will subvert relations within the family: cynics dubbed it the “Sue Your So n” law.
Those who say that the bill does not promote filial responsibility, of cour se, are right. It has nothing to do with filial responsibility. It kicks in wher e filial responsibility fails. The law cannot legislate filial responsibility an y more than it can legislate love. All the law can do is to provide a safety net where this morality proves insufficient. Singapore needs this bill not to repla ce morality, but to provide incentives to shore it up.
Like many other developed nations, Singapore faces the problems of an incre asing proportion of people over 60 years of age. Demography is inexorable. In 19 80, 7.2% of the population was in this bracket. By the end of the century that fi gure will grow to 11%. By 2030, the proportion is projected to be 26%. The probl em is not old age per se. It is that the ratio of economically active people to economically inactive people will decline.
But no amount of government exhortation or paternalism will completely elim inate the problem of old people who have insufficient means to make ends meet. S ome people will fall through the holes in any safety net.
Traditionally, a person’s insurance against poverty in his old age was his family, lifts is not a revolutionary concept. Nor is it uniquely Asian. Care an d support for one’s parents is a universal value shared by all civilized societ ies.
The problem in Singapore is that the moral obligation to look after one’s parents is unenforceable. A father can be compelled by law to maintain his child ren. A husband can be forced to support his wife. But, until now, a son or daugh ter had no legal obligation to support his or her parents.
In 1989, an Advisory Council was set up to look into the problems of the ag ed. Its report stated with a tinge of complacency that 95% of those who did not have their own income were receiving cash contributions from relations. But what about the 5% who aren’t getting relatives’ support? They have several options : (a) get a job and work until they die; (b) apply for public assistance(you hav e to be destitute to apply); or(c) starve quietly. None of these options is soci ally acceptable. And what if this 5% figure grows, as it is likely to do, as soc iety ages?
The Maintenance of Parents Bill was put forth to encourage the traditional virtues that have so far kept Asian nations from some of the breakdowns encounte red in other affluent societies. This legislation will allow a person to apply t o the court for maintenance from any or all of his children. The court would hav e the discretion to refuse to make an order if it is unjust.
Those who deride the proposal for opening up the courts to family lawsuits miss the point. Only in extreme cases would any parent take his child to court. If it does indeed become law, the bill’s effect would be far more subtle.
First, it will reaffirm the notion that it is each individual’s—not soci ety’s—responsibility to look after his parents. Singapore is still conservativ e enough that most people will not object to this idea. It reinforces the tradit ional values and it doesn’t hurt a society now and then to remind itself of its core values.
Second, and more important, it will make those who are inclined to shirk th eir responsibilities think twice. Until now, if a person asked family elders, cl ergymen or the Ministry of Community Development to help get financial support f rom his children, the most they could do was to mediate. But mediators have no t eeth, and a child could simply ignore their pleas.
But to be sued by one’s parents would be a massive loss of face. It would be a public disgrace. Few people would be so thick-skinned as to say, “Sue and be damned”. The hand of the conciliator would be immeasurably strengthened. It is far more likely that some sort of amicable settlement would be reached if th e recalcitrant son or daughter knows that the alternative is a public trial.
It would be nice to think Singapore doesn’t need this kind of law. But th at belief ignores the clear demographic trends and the effect of affluence itsel f on traditional bends. Those of us who pushed for the bill will consider ourselv es most successful if it acts as an incentive not to have it invoked in the firs t place.
25. The Maintenance of Parents Bill ___.
A. received unanimous support in the Singapore Parliament
B. was believed to solve all the problems of the elderly poor
C. was intended to substitute for traditional values in Singapore
D. was passed to make the young more responsible to the old
26. By quoting the growing percentage points of the aged in the populatio n, the author seems to imply that ___.
A. the country will face mounting problems of the old in future
B. the social welfare system would be under GREat pressure
C. young people should be given more moral education
D. the old should be provided with means of livelihood
27. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?
A. Filial responsibility in Singapore is enforced by law.
B. Fathers have legal obligations to look after their children.
C. It is an acceptable practice for the old to continue working.
D. The Advisory Council was dissatisfied with the problems of the old.
28. The author seems to suggest that traditional values ___.
A. play an insignificant role in solving social problems
B. are helpful to the elderly when they sue their children
C. are very important in preserving Asian uniqueness
D. are significant in helping the Bill get approved
29. The author thinks that if the Bill becomes law, its effect would be ___.
A. indirect B. unnoticed C. apparent D. straightforward
30. At the end of the passage, the author seems to imply that success of the Bill depends upon ___.
A. strict enforcement B. public support C. government assurance D. filial awareness
阅读 B
SECTION B SKIMMING AND SCANNING (10 min)
In this section there are seven passages with ten multiple-choice questions. Ski m or scan them as required and then mark your answers on your Coloured Answer Sheet.
TEXT E
First read the question.
31. The primary purpose of the letter is to ___.
A. illustrate the World Bank’s efforts in poverty-relief programmes
B. call for further efforts by nations in sustainable development
C. provide evidence for the World Bank’s aid to the private sectors
D. clear up some misunderstanding about the World Bank
Now go through TEXT E quickly to answer question 31.
August 18th 199
Dear Sir,
In your July 28th article you noted that the Bank’s own internal analysis r ated one third of the projects completed in 1991 as unsatisfactory. But that sta tement fails to take account of the Bank’s criteria for ‘success’, which are exc eptionally strict. For instance, before a project can be considered successful, it must have at least a 10% rate of return. This rate is far higher than the min imum demanded by many bilateral aid donors, many of which require a return of on ly 5% or 6%. Thus, projects rated unsatisfactory under the Bank’s standards sti ll yield many benefits.
You imply that, because it deals mainly with governments, the Bank does not sufficiently support private sector development. Here are the facts. The World
Bank has:
supported reforms in mere than 80 countries aimed at opening up trade, making p rices realistic and dismantling state monopolies which stifle individual enterpr ise nvested in infrastructure to facilitate business activity; assisted and advised over 200 privatization-related operations involving nearly US $ 25 billion in loans; provided mere than US $ 12 billion through an affiliate, the International Fina nce Corp. over the last 30 years to mere than 1,000 private companies in the dev eloping world; and through another affiliate, the Multi lateral Investment Guara ntee Agency, offered insurance against non-commercial risk to encourage foreign investment in poor countries.
The record shows that, over the past generation, more proGREss has been mad e in reducing poverty and raising living standards than during any other compara ble period in history. In the developing countries: life expectancy has been increased from 40 to 63 years; infant mortality has been reduced by 50% ;and per capita income has doubled.
The World Bank consistently stresses that most of the credit for these adva nces should go to the countries themselves. Nevertheless, the Bank and organizat ions with which it collaborates-bilateral and international agencies and non-gov ernmental organizations-have played a valuable role in this proGREss. In the fut ure the Bank will continue to do its utmost to support its member countries in t heir efforts to achieve sustainable development.
(LEANDRO V. CORONEL
Public Affairs
The Worm Bank
Washington)
TEXT F
First read the question.
32. The author’s main argument is that ___.
A. most farmers in developing countries face unemployment
B. developing countries need agricultural aid to boost economy
C. agricultural aid hints the economy in developing countries
D. a well-developed agricultural sector provides a domestic market
Now go through TEXT F quickly to answer question 32.
Ours is an agrarian economy. We must become serf-sufficient in food to feed a rapidly growing population at an annual growth rate of more than 3 million pe ople. A well-developed agricultural sector would offset the need for food import and play an important role in the development process by providing a home marke t for the products of the industrial sector. This implies that the rate of indus trialization itself depends upon how fast agricultural incomes are rising. Devel opment in the agricultural sector in our country means a rise in the income leve l of 70 percent of the population who are related to this sector. Their increase d income in turn will give us mere voluntary savings and investment and thus a s ource of revenue through taxation and potential capital formation by the governm ent plus reduction in income inequalities between the urban population and rural masses. In this sense, aid received in the form of agricultural commodities hur ts the developing countries and benefits developed countries mere than proportio nately. Because most of the farmers in developing countries are already at a mer e subsistence level with a high rate of unemployment, disguised-unemployment and underemployment.
The Chinese experience with rural development has demonstrated that agricu ltural modernization via labour-intensive techniques is a highly promising way t o create extra jobs without extensive geographic displacement of the farmers. Re garding the impact of transfer of agricultural commodities on the long-term grow th rate in the recipient country, it can be said that transfer of agricultural c ommodities under confessional terms may resuit in an ultimate lowering of the re cipient countries long-term growth rate.
TEXT G
First read the question.
33. The passage is most probably from ___.
A. a review of a book on cowboys
B. a study of cowboy work culture
C. a novel about cowboy life and culture
D. a school textbook on the cowboy history
Now go through TEXT G quickly to answer question 33.
A cowboy is defined by the work that he does. Any man can lay claim to that name if he lives on a ranch and works—— drives, brands, castrates, or murmurs ——a cattleman’s herd. In addition, working accounts for ways in which cowboy s portray themselves in their art: in 19th-century poems that they orally compose d and sang on the ranch, in 20th-century poems that they write, in books that th ey publish, and in art objects that they fashion, cowboys always represent thems elves as engaging in some form of labour. This book’s three fold purpose is, fi r st, to look at art that cowboys produce——art, that has never been studied befo re——and, second, to demonstrate that cowboy art values historically document l abour routines that cowboys have traditionally acted out in their work culture.
I use the term work culture not only to suggest that cowboys are defined b y the work that they do, but also to argue that they are serf-represented in cul ture by poems, prose, and art that ail reveal cowboys to be men who are cultural ly unified by engaging in labour routines that they think of as cowboy work. Art deals with cowboy work, as well as with concerns about economics, gender, relig ion, and literature, even though these thoughts sometimes express themselves as concerns about cattle branding, livestock castration, and other tasks. The book ’ s third and most important function is, therefore, to show that artistic self-re presentations of labour also formulate systems of thought which cowboys use as a metaphor for discussing economies, gender, religion, and literature, sometimes equating branding with religious salvation, at other t imes defining spur making as freedom, and so on.
TEXT H
First read the question.
34. The writer of this letter attempts to ___ the views in the editorial.
A. refute B. illustrate C. support D. substantiate
Now go through TEXT H quickly to answer question 34.
October 3rd 199
Dear Sir,
In your editorial on August 31st, there seems to be some confused thinking in attempting to establish a direct relationship between the desire of the OAA airlines to negotiate more equitable aGREements with the United States for air-t raffic rights and the cost of air travel for the public.
It is simply untrue that the Asian carriers are not looking for increased access to the U.S. market, including its domestic market; they are, as part of b alanced aGREements that provide equality of opportunity. So long as the U. S. ta kes the inequitable arrangements enshrined in current agreements as a starting p oint for negotiation, however, there is no chance that U.S. carriers will be gra nted more regional rights which further unbalance the economic opportunities ava ilable to each side. Most importantly from the consumer viewpoint, it has yet to be demonstrated that in those regional sectors where U.S. carriers currently op erate-such as Hong Kong/Tokyo-they have added anything in terms of price, qualit y of service, innovation or seat availability in peak seasons.
Turning to cost, I am not sure to which Merrill Larrych study you are referri ng, but it would be simplistic to compare seat-mile costs of narrow-body operati on over U. S. domestic sectors with wide-body operation over international secto rs; comparative studies of seat-mile costs are valid only if they compare simila r aircraft operating over identical sectors. On this basis, International Civil Aviation Organization figures show that Asian carriers are highly competitive. O f course, given its operating environment Japan Air Lines will have high seat-mi le costs, while a carrier based in Southeast Asia, such as Singapore Airlines, w ill have relatively low costs. But it is a fallacy to assume this means ‘higher ticket prices or higher taxes’ for the ‘hapless Asian air traveller’ if he travels on JAL.
The Japanese carriers have to compete in the Asian marketplace with others, and costs cannot simply be passed on to the consumer or taxpayer. The people wh o really pay the price or reap the reward of differing cost levels are the share holders.
(RICHARD. T. STIRLAND
Director General
Orient Airlines Association
TEXT I
First read the questions.
35. Today’s computers can process data ___ times faster than the 1952 model, ILLIAC.
A. 4 B. 100 C. 200 D. 4, 000
36. NCSA aims to develop ___.
A. a new Internet browser
B. a more powerful national system
C. human-computer intelligence interaction
D. a new global network
Now go through TEXT I quickly to answer questions 35 and 36.
URBANA, Illinois. Welcome to Cyber City, USA, where scientists are developi ng the next-generation Internet and leading ground-breaking research in artifici al intelligence. The University of Illinois at Urbana, which has a student body of 36,100, has a proud computing tradition. In 1952, it became the first educational institution to build and own its own computer.
That computer, ILLIAC, was four metres tall, four metres long and sixty cen timetres deep. Its processing speed was about 50 kilohertz compared with 200 meg ahertz-that’s 200,000 kilohertz for today’s computers.
At the state-of-the-art Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technolo gy, researchers from disciplines as far-ranging as psychology, computer science and biochemistry are focusing on biological intelligence and human-computer inte lligence interaction.
Beckman also houses the National Centre for Supercomputing Application (NCS A), which played a key role in the development of the Internet global network. I t was NCSA that developed Mosaic, the graphically driven programme that first ma de surfing on the Internet possible.
Mosaic, introduced in 1992, has been replaced by much more powerful Interne t browsers such as its successor Netscape or Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.
NCSA officials say they are now trying to bring more advanced computing and communication to research scientists, engineers and ultimately the public.
“What we’re looking for is a national system in which the networks are 10 0 times GREater than the Internet today, and the supercomputers are 100 times more powerful,” said NCSA Director Larry Smart.
A proposed joint project would develop a prototype or demonstration model f or the “21st century national information infrastructure” in line with an init iative announced by President Bill Clinton last October.
If funded by the National Science Foundation, the new structure would take effect on October 1st.
NCSA, one of the four operational federal supercomputer centres in the coun try, is awaiting a decision from the Foundation’s board late this month on a co mpetition for US $ 16 million in continued annual federal funding.
NCSA, which employs 200 people and has a yearly budget of US $ 31 million, is expected to be one of two winners along with its counterpart in San Diego.
“The University has put a GREat deal of effort into this competition. We r emain hopeful about the outcome, but we will have no comment until the National Science Foundation Board’s decision,” Smart said.
TEXT J
First read the questions.
37. In Japanese the work depato refers to ___.
A. traditional Japanese stores
B. modern stores in cities
C. special clothing stores
D. railway stores
38. During the Meiji era depato was regarded by Japanese customers as a(n ) ___ shopping place.
A. cheap B. traditional C. fashionable D. attractive
Now go through TEXT J quickly to answer questions 37 and 38.
The Japanese have two words for the modern department stores that abound in large urban areas. The older word, hyakkaten, which is seldom used in daily spee ch, can usually be found engraved in ideographs in a building cornerstone, and i t is part of a store’s official rifle. Literally “a store with one hundred ite ms ,” this word was coined during the late Meiji era( 1868 - 1912), when clothing s tores began to expand their product lines and railroads began to build shops at major train crossings. The more recent and more commonly used word is depato (fr om the English ‘department store’ ).
These words reflect the dual nature of Japanese department stores. Words wr itten in ideographs can impart an aura of antiquity and tradition. Frequently, a s in the case of the word hyakkaten, they suggest indigenous origin. In contrast , foreign borrowed words often give a feeling of modernity and foreignness. Many Japanese department stores actually originated in Japan several hundred years a go as dry goods stores that later patterned themselves after foreign department stores. Even the trendiest and most avant-garde of these stores practise pattern s of merchandising and retain forms of prepaid credit, customer service, and spe cial relationships with suppliers characteristic of merchandising during the Tok ygawa era (1600 — 1868). To many Japanese these large urban stores may seem lik e a direct import from the West, but like the word depato, they have undergone a transformation in the process of becoming Japanese.
Throughout the Tokygawa era, Japan was closed by decree to foreign influen ces. During the Meiji era, however, Japan reopened to the western world; concurr ently, depato emerged as large-scale merchandisers in Japan. The Meiji depato we re soon perceived by Japanese customers as glamorous places to shop because of t heir Western imports, which the Japanese were eager to see and buy. Depato also sold Japanese goods but often followed practices that people of the time conside red foreign, such as letting customers wear their shoes while shopping in the st ore.
A representative of the Japan Department Store Association told me that th roughout their history depato have played on the Japanese interest in foreign pl aces, cultures and objects, and that to a GREat extent these were introduced to Japan through department stores. I suggest that in addition to this role of cult ural importer depato have also been involved in the creation of domestic cultura l meanings. They have made foreign customs, ideas and merchandise familiar by gi ving them meanings consistent with Japanese cultural practice.
TEXT K
First read the questions.
39. The Agency for International Development is a ___ organization.
A. new B. regional C. UN D. US
40. According to NDS’s statistics, the number of babies the average Phil ipino woman bears dropped by ___ between 1960 and 1993.
A.4.1 B.6.4 C.2.3 D.2.9
Now go through TEXT K quickly to answer questions 39 and 40.
When representatives from 170 nations gather in Cairo next month for the th ird International Conference on Population and Development, they will vote on th e largest population-control plan in history. It is ambitious. Not only does it call for a host of “reproductive fights” and aim to freeze world population at 7 2 billion people by 2050; it also calls for billions of dollars in new governme nt spending on the issue-US $ 13.2 billion by the end of the century.
Some of the plan’s provisions have already aroused opposition, most notabl y from Pope John Paul II. All this has been gleefully covered by the newspapers. Yet scant attention has been paid to many of the dubious social and economic ass umptions that underlie the plan. In particular, it is interesting to see how the se programmes are being sold in places like the Philippines, on the front lines of the population debate. For the way the proponents of population control have gone about pushing their programmes raises serious doubts about the integrity of their studies, their ultimate value to development, and the role of foreign-aid groups.
Although population-control measures in the Philippines never reached the coercive levels they did in India, they were not popular. This time, proponents have learned their lesson. For the past few years, they have been quietly laying the groundwork for Cairo. Rather than attack the issue head-on, it has been red efined in terms of a host of new“reproductive rights”to which the solution is invariably a government-funded initiative.
We have just had a good taste of this in the Philippines. The National Sta tistics Office recently published the results of the 1993 National Demographic S urvey(NDS),which happens to have been funded by the U.S. Agency for Internationa l Development. It is probably mere coincidence, but the NDS report, published on the eve of the Cairo meeting, nicely supports the thrust of the Cairo Declarati on. That is, it has found a connection between mothers’ and children’s health an d fertility behaviour. The implication is that large-scale government family-pla nning programmes are essential if health issues are to be addressed.
But the demographic survey seems to have been selective about what facts i t would report and connections it would make. Take the health issue. The documen t concludes that the high risk of infant, child and maternal mortality is associ ated with pregnancies where mothers are too young, too old, or have already had several children. But a discussion of poverty is missing from the list of factor s related to health. It would be difficult to deny that poverty, lack of access to safe water, poor housing, poor hygiene and unsanitary conditions all have a s trong bearing on the health of the mother and child. Although the NDS collected data on housing characteristics, it did not include any data on income.
A closer look at the fertility behaviour of the poor is important because of the extensive literature on the “replacement effect” of high infant mortali ty . Statistical studies in various countries show high fertility among the poor as a rational desire to have children who will survive into adulthood to help take care of them. This helps to explain why many poor women have babies at such sho rt intervals. The 1993 NDS would have been a good opportunity to verify the vali dity of this behaviour in the Philippines.
The NDS avoided collecting data on socio-economic variables that would have a serious effect on these health issues. But, in one area, it made painstaking efforts to quantify fertility preference to derive figures for planned and unpla nned pregnancies. It concluded that “if all unwanted births were avoided, the t o tal fertility rate would be 2.9 children, which is almost 30% less than the obse rved rate. ”This, too, was used to establish an “unmet” need requiring a gove rnment programme.
Yet the NDS’s own numbers suggest that Filipinos are aware of their option s . The total fertility rote——the number of babies the average woman bears over her lifetime——has dropped to 4.1 in 1993 from 6.4 in 1960. Some 61% used contr aceptives, just a few percentage points short of the 65-80% rate prevailing in E urope, North America and most of East Asia. The delay of marriage by Filipinos t o the age of 23 years represents a reduction of the risk of pregnancy by 19% giv en the 35 years of their reproductive life.
In short, the Philippines has its problems but its people are not as ignor ant as the population-control lobby would suppose. Unfortunately, this lobby has development dollars, organizational muscle and support of the media. “We’ve b ui lt a consensus about population as a global issue and family planning as a healt h issue,” says the UN’s Naris Sadik, host of the conference. Yes, they have. A nd now we know how.
翻译
Section A原 文：
加拿大的温哥华1986年刚刚度过百岁生日，但城市的发展令世界瞩目。以港立市，以港兴市，是许多港口城市生存发展的道路。经过百年开发建设，有着天然不冻良港的温哥华，成为举世闻名的港口城市，同亚洲、大洋洲、欧洲、拉丁美洲均有定期班轮，年货物吞吐量达到8，000万吨，全市就业人口中有三分之一从事贸易与运输行业。
温哥华（Vancouver）的辉煌是温哥华人智慧和勤奋的结晶，其中包括多民族的贡献。加拿大地广人稀，国土面积比中国还大，人口却不足3000万。吸收外来移民，是加拿大长期奉行的国策。可以说，加拿大除了印第安人外，无一不是外来移民，不同的只是时间长短而已。温哥华则更是世界上屈指可数的多民族城市。现今180万温哥华居民中，有一半不是在本地出生的，每4个居民中就有一个是亚洲人。而25万华人对温哥华的经济转型起着决定性的作用。他们其中有一半是近5年才来到温哥华地区的，使温哥华成为亚洲以外最大的中国人聚居地。
Section B原 文：
In some societies people want children for what might be called familial reasons: to extend the family line or the family name, to propitiate the ancestors; to enable the proper functioning of religious rituals involving the family. Such reasons may seem thin in the modern, secularized society but they have been and are powerful indeed in other places.
In addition, one class of family reasons shares a border with the following category, namely, having children in order to maintain or improve a marriage: to hold the husband or occupy the wife; to repair or rejuvenate the marriage; to increase the number of children on the assumption that family happiness lies that way. The point is underlined by its converse: in some societies the failure to bear children (or males) is a threat to the marriage and a ready cause for divorce.
Beyond all that is the profound significance of children to the very institution of the family itself. To many people, husband and wife alone do not seem a proper family —they need children to enrich the circle, to validate its family character, to gather the redemptive influence of offspring. Children need the family, but the family seems also to need children, as the social institution uniquely available, at least in principle, for security, comfort, assurance, and direction in a changing, often hostile, world. To most people, such a home base, in the literal sense, needs more than one person for sustenance and in generational extension.
