Section III Reading Comprehension??
(60 minutes)???
Part A?
Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A,B,C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. ??
Text 1?
One hundred and thirteen million Americans have at least one bank _ issued credit card. They give their owners automatic credit in stores, restaurants, and hotels, at home, across the country, and even abroad, and they make many banking services available as well. More and more of these credit cards can be read automatically, making it possible to withdraw or deposit money in scattered locations, whether or not the local branch bank is open. For many of us the"cashless society"is not on the horizon-it's already here.?
While computers offer these conveniences to consumers, they have many advantages for sellers too. Electronic cash registers can do much more than simply ring up sales. They can keep a wide range of records, including who sold what, when, and to whom. This information allows businessmen to keep track of their list of goods by showing which items are being sold and how fast they are moving. Decisions to reorder or return goods to suppliers can then be made. At the same time these computers record which hours are busiest and which employees are the most efficient, allowing personnel and staffing assignments to be made accordingly. And they also identify preferred customer for promotional campaigns. Computers are relied on by manufacturers for similar reasons. Computer analyzed marketing reports can help to decide which products to emphasize now, which to develop for the future, and which to drop. Computers keep track of goods in stock, of raw materials on hand, and even of the production process itself.?
Numerous other commercial enterprises, from theaters to magazine publishers, from gas and electric utilities to milk processors, bring better and more efficient
services to consumers through the use of computers.??
41. According to the passage, the credit card enables its owner to .?
[A]withdraw as much money from the bank as he wishes?
[B]obtain more convenient services than order people do?
[C]enjoy greater trust from the storekeeper?
[D]cash money where he wishes to?
42. From the last sentec of the first paragraph we learn that.?
[A]in the future all the Americans will use credit cards?
[B]credit cards are mainly used in the United States today
[C]nowadays many Americans did not pay in cash?
[D]it is now more convenient or use credit cards than before?
43. The phrase"ring up sales"most probably means .?
[A]make an order of goods?
[B]record sales on a cash register?
[C]call the sages manager?
[D]keep track of the goods in stock?
44. What is this passage mainly about??
[A]Approaches to the commercial use of computers.?
[B]Conveniences brought about by computers in business.?
[C]Significance of automation in commercial enterprises.?
[D]Advantage of credit cards in business.?
45. It can be inferred that?
[A] Computers will bring disaster.?
[B] Computer industry will not develop faster.?
[C] Computers will bring about more convenience to people's life.?
[D] None.??
Text 2
Studies of the effect that makes many of us slumber or feel sleepy during the queen's Speech on Christmas Day have revealed that changes may be required in Britain's drink drive legislation.?
Dr James Horne, director of the Sleep Research Laboratory at Loughborough University, is investigating pose _ lunch sleepiness."We humans are designed to sleep twice a day, once at night and a short nap after lunch, but in this part of the world we tend to repress that."?
It is a remnant of the same primeval programming that makes all animals in the bush rest in the hot afternoon sun to conserve energy.?
"Hot environments make it worse and many cultures living near the equator", says Dr Horne,"have conceded to the inevitable, where the afternoon siesta is the way of life."?
In this studies Dr Horne has been investigating the role of alcohol."The theory is that if you are more sleepy after lunch then it figures that alcohol will be more potent after lunch. One would figure then that a pint of beer at lunchtime has more effect than in the evening, when people are more alert. Indeed, we find that it has about twice the effect."?
This has more sinister implications."If people take alcohol up to the legal driving limit, their performance is seriously impaired after lunch." He said.?
It seems that alcohol interacts with the circadian rhythm of sleep to cause afternoon sleepiness, so that one pint at lunch _ time is equivalent, in effect, to a quart in the evening.?
"For this reason, most drivers ought not to drink at all at lunchtime and the legal blood alcohol limit is no guide to 'safe'driving here,"said Dr Horne.?
For those who wish to enjoy the Queen's speech, Dr Horne recommends mild exercise, a splash of cold air or cold water on the face, or a cup of coffee. Otherwise, take a cat nap. But this should be less than 15 minutes,"otherwise, sleep really sets in and one can wake up feeling very groggy and far sleepier than to ??? be in with."
46. It is implied that British people
[A]like to take a short nap after lunch.
[B]don't take a short nap after lunch.
[C]don't feel sleepy after lunch.
[D]like to sleep twice a day.
47. take a rest in the hot afternoon sun.
[A]All animals in the bush
[B]The remnant of the same primeval programming
[C]The same primeval programming
[D]All animals in the world
48. Most drivers ought not to drink at all at lunch time because
[A]alcohol will be less potent after lunch.
[B]a pint of beer at lunchtime is equivalent to a quart in the evening, it cause afternoon sleepiness.?
[C]people are more alert at lunchtime.
[D]it is not legal to drink at lunchtime.
49. According to the passage, if you sleep more than 15 minutes after lunch
[A]you will be refreshed.
[B]you will be waken up.
[C]you will feel far sleepier.
[D]you will take a cat nap.
50. It can be inferred that
[A] People are not allowed to drive after they drink one quarter in the evening.
[B] People are still allowed to drive after they drink one quarter in the evening.
[C] People are still allowed to drive after they drink out pint at lunch _ time.
[D] None.
Text 3
Society was fascinated by science and things scientific in the nineteenth century. Great breakthroughs in engineering, the use of steam power, and electricity were there for all to see, enjoy, and suffer. Science was fashionable and to it is not surprising that, during this great period of industrial development, scientific methods should be applied to the activities of man, particularly to those involved in the processes of production. Towards the end of the nineteenth century international competition began to make itself felt. The three industrial giants of the day, Germany, America, and Great Britain, began to find that there was a limit to the purchasing power of the previously apparently inexhaustible markets. Science and competition therefore provided the means and the need to improve industrial efficiency.?
Frederick Winslow Taylor is generally acknowledged as being the father of the scientific management approach, as a result of the publication of his book. The Principles of Scientific Management, published in 1911. However, numerous other academics and practitioners had been actively applying such approaches since the beginning of the century. Charles Babbage, and English academic, well _ known for his invention of the mechanical computer (with the aid of a government grant as long as 1820) applied himself to the costing of processes, using scientific methods, and indeed might well be recognized as one of the fathers of cost accounting.
Taylor was of well _ to _ do background and received an excellent education but, partly owing to troubles with his eyesight, decided to become an engineering apprentice. He spent some twenty _ five years in the tough, sometimes brutal, environment of the US steel industry and carefully studied methods of work when he eventually attained supervisory status. He made various significant innovations in the area of steel processing, but his claim to fame is through his application of methods of science to methods of work, and his personal efforts that proved they could succeed in a hostile environment.?
In 1901, Taylor left the steel industry and spent the rest of his life trying to promote the principles of managing scientifically and emphasizing the human aspects of the method, over the slave _ driving methods common in his day. He died in 1915, leaving a huge school of followers to promote his approach worldwide.??
51. According to the passage, what was badly needed to improve industrial efficiency?
[A]Great breakthroughs.
[B]Unlimited purchasing power.
[C]Science and competition.
[D]International competition.
52. Taylor is most famous for.
[A]his application of scientific methods to work
[B]his book"The Principles of Scientific Management"
[C]his various innovations in steel processing
[D]The spreading of his scientific management method
53. Charles Babbage, an English academic,.
[A]tried to use computers in production processes
[B]first used computers in the area of cost accounting
[C]was the father of modern computers
[D]tried a scientific management approach
54. Taylor's scientific management method was described as .
[A]scientific and human
[B]efficient but slave _ driving
[C]academic but practicable
[D]brutal but highly successful
55. When he died in 1905, Taylor
[A] purchased a steel mill.
[B] sold a steel mill.
[C] started to protect environment.
[D] left a huge school of followers.
Text 4?
This is the weather Scobie loves. Lying in bed he touches his telescope lovingly, turning a wistful eye on the blank wall of rotting mud _ bricks which shuts off his view of the sea.?
Scobie is getting on for seventy and still afraid to die; his one fear is that he will awake one morning and find himself dead-Lieutenant _ Commander Scobie, O.B.E. Consequently it gives him a severe shock every morning when the water _ carriers shriek under his window before dawn, waking him up. For a moment, he says, he dares not open his eyes. Keeping them fast shut (for fear they might open on the heavenly host) he gropes along the cake _ stand beside his bed and grabs his pipe. It is always loaded from the night before and an open matchbox stands beside it. The first whiff of tobacco restores both his composure and his eyesight. He breathes deeply, grateful for reassurance. He smiles. He gloats. Then, drawing the heavy sheepskin which serves him as a bed _ cover up to his ears, he sings a little triumphal song to the morning.
Taking stock of himself he discovers that he has the inevitable headache. His tongue is raw from last night's brandy. But against these trifling discomforts the prospect of another day in life weighs heavily. He pauses to slip in his false teeth. He places his wrinkled fingers to his chest and is comforted by the sound of his heart at work. He is rather proud of his heart. If you ever visit him when he is in bed he is almost sure to grasp your hand in his and ask you to feel it. Swallowing a little, you shove your hand inside his cheap night _ jacket to experience those sad, blunt, far _ away humps-like those of an unborn baby. He buttons up his pajamas with touching pride and give his imitation roar of animal health-"Bounding from my bed like a lion"-that is another of his phrases. You have not experienced the full charm of the man unless you have actually seen him, bent double with rheumatism, crawling out from between his coarse cotton sheets like a ruin. Only in the warmest months of the year do his bones thaw out sufficiently to enable him to stand erect. In the summer afternoons he walks in the park, his little head glowing like a minor sun, his jaw set in a violent expression of health.?
His tiny nautical pension is hardly enough to pay for one cockroach _ infested room; he ekes it out with an equally small salary from the Egyptian government, which carries with it the proud title of Bimbashi in the Police Force. Origins he h
as none. His past spreads over a dozen continents like a true subject of myth. And his presence is so rich with imaginary health that he needs nothing more-except perhaps an occasional trip to Cairo during Ramadhan, when his office is close
d and presumably all crime comes to a standstill because of the past.??
56. Scobie liked to have his telescope in bed because
[A]he enjoyed looking at the passers _ by, even if he could see the sea.
[B]he refused touching it and looking through it at the wall.
[C]he refused to accept the fact that he could not see the sea.?
[D]he enjoyed looking at he passers _ by, even if he could not see the sea.
57. Every morning Scobie
[A]refused to open his eyes until he had had his first cigarette.?
[B]according to himself, did not open his eyes in case he had died in the night.
[C]denied that he opened his eyes until he had had his first died in the night.
[D]could not see anything when the first noises in the street woke him.?
58. Scobie's morning discovery that he was still alive made him feel
[A]delighted with his success in surviving the night.
[B]delightful because of his achievement in living.
[C]satisfied with his victory over life.
[D]satisfying with his victory over death.
59. When he got out of bed, Scobie?
[A]jumped out like a young man, to show how healthy he was.
[B]got out slowly because he was too busy talking.
[C]could hardly get out although he suffered badly from rheumatism.
[D]got out with difficulty because his homes were stiff and painful.
60. What can his pension enough to pay for??
[A] one big apartment?
[B] a Two _ room apartment?
[C] one cockroach _ infested room?
[D] his well _ being life
Part B?
Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese. Your translation should be written clearly on ANSWER SHEET
2.??
61)The main impression growing out of twelve years on the faculty of a medical school is that the No.1 health problem in the U?S. today, even more than AIDS or cancer, is that Americans don't know how to think about health and illness.
62)Our reactions are formed on the terror level. We fear the worst, expect the worst, thus invite the worst. 63)The result is that we are becoming a nation of weaklings and hypochondriacs, a self _ medicating society incapable of distinguishing between casual, everyday symptoms and those that require professional attention.?
Somewhere in our early education we become addicted to the notion that pain means sickness. We fail to learn that pain is the body's way of informing the mind that we are doing something wrong, not necessarily that something is wrong. We don't understand that pain may be telling us that we are eating too much or the wrong things; or that we are smoking too much or drinking too much; or that there is too much emotional congestion in our lives; or that we are being worn down by having to cope daily with overcrowded streets and highways, the pounding noise of garbage grinders, or the cosmic distance between the entrance to the airport and the departure gate. We get the message of pain all wrong. Instead of addressing ourselves to the cause, we become pushovers for pills, driving the pain underground and inviting it to return with increased authority.?
64)Early in life, too, we become seized with the bizarre idea that we are constantly assaulted by invisible monsters called germs, and that we have to be on constant alert to protect ourselves against their fury.65)Equal emphasis, however, is not given to the presiding fact that our bodies are superbly equipped to deal with the little demons and the best way of forestalling an attack is to maintain a sensible life _ style.
