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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 multiple-choice questions. Read the passages and then mark your answers on your Colored Answer Sheet.??
TEXT A
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 f or 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 land where, as the saying goes,“ Fe w 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. and there’s not a car in sight. However, Danes don’ t think of themselves as a wai nting-at-2-a.m.-for-the-green-light people——that’s how they see Swedes and Germans. 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 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 f o r 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.?
16. The author thinks that Danes adopt a ___ attitude towards their country.
A. boastful B. modest C. deprecating D. mysterious?
17. Which of the following is NOT a Danish characteristic cited in the passage??
A. Fondness of foreign culture. B. Equality in society.
C. Linguistic tolerance. D. Persistent planning.
18. The author’s reaction to the statement by the Ministry of Business and Industry is ___.
A. disapproving B. approving C. noncommittal D. doubtful?
19. According to the passage, Danish orderliness ___.?
A. sets the people apart from Germans and Swedes?
B. spares Danes social troubles besetting other people?
C. is considered economically essential to the country?
D. prevents Danes from acknowledging existing troubles?
20. 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 has alleviated unemployment?
TEXT B
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 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 no t 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 indifferent. At one end of this scale, we have the people who have “position” an d “status”, and who therefore do not feel they need worry much about their use o f English. Their education and occupation make them confident of speaking an unimpeachable form of English: no fear of being criticized or corrected is likely t o cross their minds, and this gives their speech that characteristically unselfconscious 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 the/r ways of saying things, well, we “can lump i t ”. That is their attitude. Curiously enough, writers are inclined to represent t he speech of both these extreme parties with -in’ for ing. On the one hand, “we’re goin ’ huntin’, my dear sir”; on the other,“we’re goin ’ racin’ , mate.”?
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.”?
21. The attitude held by the assured towards language is ___.?
A. critical B. anxious C. self-conscious D. nonchalant?
22. The anxious are considered a less fortunate group because ___.?
A. they feel they are socially looked down upon?
B. they suffer from internal anxiety and external attack?
C. they are inherently nervous and anxious people?
D. they are unable to meet standards of correctness?
23. The author thinks that the efforts made by the anxious to cultivate w hat they believe is good English are ___.?
A. worthwhile B. meaningless C. praiseworthy D. irrational?
TEXT C
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 extraor dinaire. 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 matter for congratulation.?
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. Pa rt of the pull is the developed drawl. This is the man who gave the world “midatlantic”, 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 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 treacly tones were the mo del for the regular World Service reports From Our Own Correspondent, known as FOOCs in the business. They may yet be his epitaph.?
24. At the beginning of the passage the writer sounds critical of ___.?
A. Cooke’s obscure origins?
B. Cooke’s broadcasting style?
C. Cooke’s American citizenship?
D. Cooke’s fondness of America?
25. The following adjectives can be suitably applied to Cooke EXCEPT ___.?
A. old-fashioned B. sincere C. arrogant D. popular?
26. The writer comments on Cooke’s life and career in a slightly ___ tone.?
A. ironic B. detached C. scathing D. indifferent
TEXT D
?
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 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 e state 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 o r 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 s he had ceased to exist, that she had become a memory. He began to feel ill at ea se. He asked himself what else could he 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 s he 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.?
27. Mr Duffy’s immediate reaction to the report of the woman’s death was that of ___.
A. disgust B. guilt C. grief D. compassion?
28. It can be inferred from the passage that the reporter wrote about the woman’s death in a ___ manner.?
A. detailed B. provocative C. discreet D. sensational?
29. We can infer from the last paragraph that Mr Duffy was in a(n) ___ mood.?
A. angry B. fretful C. irritable D. remorseful?
30. According to the passage , which of the following statements is NOT t rue??
A. Mr Duffy once confided in the woman.?
B. Mr Duffy felt an intense sense of shame.?
C. The woman wanted to end the relationship.?
D. They became estranged probably after a quarrel.
SECTION B SKIMMING AND SCANNING (10 min)?
In this section there are seven passages followed by ten multiple -choice questions. Skim or scan them as required and then mark your answers on the Color ed Answer Sheet.?
TEXT E
First read the following question.?
31. In the passage Bill Gates mainly discusses ___.?
A. a person’s opportunity of a lifetime?
B. the success of the computer industry?
C. the importance of education?
D. high school education in the US?
Now go through TEXT E quickly and answer question 31.?
Hundreds of students send me e-mail each year asking for advice about education. They want to know what to study, or whether it’s OK to drop out of college since that’s what I did.?
My basic advice is simple and heartfelt.“Get the best education you can. Take advantage of high school and college. Learn how to learn.”?
It’s true that I dropped out of college to start Microsoft, but I was at Harvard for three years before dropping out-and I’d love to have the time to go b a ck. As I’ve said before, nobody should drop out of college unless they believe they face the opportunity of a lifetime. And even then they should reconsider.
The computer industry has lots of people who didn’t finish college, but I ‘m not aware of any success stories that began with somebody dropping out of high school. I actually don’t know any high school dropouts, let alone any successful ones.?
In my company’s early years we had a bright part-time programmer who threatened to drop out of high school to work full-time. We told him no.?
Quite a few of our people didn’t finish college, but we discourage dropping out.?
College isn’t the only place where information exist. You can learn in a library. But somebody handing you a book doesn’t automatically foster learning. Y o u want to learn with other people, ask questions, try out ideas and have a way t o test your ability. It usually takes more than just a book.?
Education should be broad, although it’s fine to have deep interests, too.
?
In high school there were periods when I was highly focused on writing soft ware, but for most of my high school years I had wide-ranging academic interests . My parents encouraged this, and I’m grateful that they did.?
One parent wrote me that her 15-year old son “lost himself in the hole of t he computer. ”He got an A in Web site design, but other grades were sinking, she said.?
This boy is making a mistake. High school and college offer you the best chance to learn broadly-math, history, various sciences-and to do projects with other kids that teach you firsthand about group dynamics. It’s fine to take a deep interest in computers, dance, language or any other discipline, but not if it jeopardizes breadth.?
In college it’s appropriate to think about specialization. Getting real expertise in an area of interest can lead to success. Graduate school is one way to get specialized knowledge. Choosing a specialty isn’t something high school students should worry about. They should worry about getting a strong academic start.?
There’s not a perfect correlation between attitudes in high school and success in later life, of course. But it’s a real mistake not to take the opportunity to learn a huge range of subjects, to learn to work with people in high school, and to get the grades that will help you get into a good college.?
