Passage 3
In the course of my reading I had come across a case where, many years ago, some hunters on our Great Plains organized a buffalo hunt for the entertainment of an English earl (伯爵) and to provide some fresh meat for his use. They had charming sport. They killed seventy-two of those great animals; and ate part of one of them and left the seventy-one to rot. In order to determine the difference between an anaconda and an earl, I had several lambs turned into the anaconda’s cage. The grateful snake immediately crushed one of them and swallowed it, then lay back satisfied. It showed no further interest in the lambs, and no inclination to harm them. I tried this experiment with other anacondas; always with the same result. The fact stood proven that the difference between an earl and an anaconda is that the earl is cruel and the anaconda isn’t; and the earl wantonly (肆无忌惮地) destroyed what he has no use for, but the anaconda doesn’t. This seemed to suggest that the anaconda was not descended from the earl. It also seemed to suggest that the earl was descended from the anaconda, and had lost a good deal in the transition.
I was aware that many men who have accumulated more money than they can ever use have shown a hunger for more, and have not hesitated to cheat the ignorant and the helpless out of their poor servings in order to partially satisfy that appetite. I furnished a hundred different kinds of wild and domestic animals the opportunity to accumulate vast stores of food but none of them would do it. The squirrels and bees and certain birds made accumulations, but stopped when they gathered a winter’s supply, and could not be persuaded to add to it either honestly or by trickery. These experiments convinced me that there is this difference between man and the higher animals: he is greedy, they are not.
In the course of my experiments I convinced myself that among the animals man is the only one that harbors insults and injuries, broods over (默默沉思) them, waits till a chance offers, then takes revenge. The passion of revenge is unknown to the higher animals.
11. By describing the buffalo hunting and his experiment with the anaconda, the author mainly wants to tell his readers that ______
a) the anaconda is easily satisfied
b) the earl is capable of committing wanton cruelty
c) the earl’s ancestor turned out to be the anaconda
d) the anaconda does not harm other animals except when it is hungry
12. According to the author, in human society, the rich _____.
a) tend to accumulate vast stores of food
b) are inclined to gather more riches
c) are ready to help the poor
d) are mostly cheaters
13. The author’s experiments with different kinds of animals seem to prove that _______.
a) man is the highest animal
b) man is superior to animals
c) man is the lowest animal
d) man is inferior to animals in certain respects
14. We learn from the last paragraph that ______.
a) love of revenge is a unique characteristic of man
b) man is the only animal capable of thinking
c) human beings are capable of insulting and injuring each other
d) man is better at taking chances than animals
15. In this passage, the author writes in a(n)_____.
a) serious tone
b) angry tone
c) ironic tone
d) matter-of-fact tone
Part IV. Translation 15%
Directions: Translate the following sentences into Chinese
1. I told him on a cold night like this he’d ought to bundle up so the whole inside of his face would not catch cold.
2. These are vulnerable to weather problems and provide less accurate measurements, but they do not require special roadway installations, other than well-maintained lane markings.
3. Of course, one who does not work must not eat unless one can get married, which is called: “being settled at last.”
4. Time is not a thing we have lost. It is not a thing we ever had. It is what we live in.
5. When you force your mind to summon them, the Indians appear rather doll-like in the radiance of the present moment.
Part V. Writing 15%
Directions: For this part you are allowed thirty minutes to write a composition on the topic: Coping with Stress. You should write about 120 words and base your composition on the outline (given in Chinese) below:
1. 随着生活节奏的加快，人们的生活节奏越来越紧张。
2. 紧张会对个人和社会造成危害
3. 学会应对现代生活的紧张
