S “ S “ ëJr « VÔ»: :2Øt bt?vÐ M « Vùî 3 ÆÐ I k k k5 “ S “ : S “ ë : Jr « VÔ ¡s : s ÿi æ ªs5¼ ¥ÿi Y ç îµsÃA¶s5¼ ' k5¼¤à¼ (ír è' k5¼¶ Ûs5¼B Æ k5Ïí I. Vocabulary and Structure (15 points) Directions: There are 15 incomplete sentences in this part. For each sentence there are four choices marked A., B., C. and D. Choose the ONE answer that best completes the sentence. Then write down your answer on the Answer Sheet. 1. Keep up good state of mind even if you_ fail plenty of times. A. must B. will C. can D. should 2. Sandy could do nothing but _ to his teacher that he was wrong. A. admit B. admitted C. admitting D. to 3. I know nothing about the young lady _ she is from Beijing. A. except B. except for C. except that D. besides 4. -Have you any oranges and apples? -_ A. Yes, madam, on the second shelf over there B. The oranges are very cheap. C. You like apples, dont you? D. Of course, we have some fruits. 5. -You don't look so well, Mary. What's the matter with you? -Why?_. A. I'm quite myself B. Fine, think you C. I felt bad D. I'm not myself 6. As he was getting old, his memory of the past began to _. A. reduce B. lessen C. remember D. fade 7. As they cant afford to let the situation get worse, they will take some necessary _. A. decisions B. ideas C. directions D. steps 8. Many difficulties have _ as a result of the change to a new type of fuel. A. risen B. reached C. arisen D. arrived 9. It is clear that there will be little chance that mankind would _ a nuclear war. S “ S “ ëJr « VÔ»: :A. retain B. maintain C. endure D. survive 10. She was _ of having asked such a silly question at a formal meeting. A. sorry B. ashamed C. confident D. miserable 11. The governor was expected to _ on this event openly to the public. A. command B. handle C. comment D. grant 12. These workers are now busy _ the bags of rice onto the truck over there. A. filling B. accepting C. loading D. adjusting 13. The institution will provide to her all the research _ she can desire. A. applications B. apartments C. assignments D. facilities 14. We are very _ to Jessica for her help and kindness. A. impatient B. dependent C. objective D. grateful 15. We _ that it would take four hours to weed the garden. A. estimated B. exceeded C. escaped D. excluded II. Reading Comprehension (40 points) Directions: There are 5 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A., B., C. and D. You should decide on the best choice and write down your answer on the Answer Sheet. Passage 1 The United States is on the verge of losing its leading place in the world's technology. So says more than one study in recent years. One of the reasons for this decline is the parallel decline in the number of U.S. scientists and engineers. Since 1976, employment of scientists and engineers is up 85 percent. This trend is expected to continue. However, the trend shows that the number of 22-year-olds-the near term source of future PH.D.s-is declining. Further adding to the problem is the increased competition for these candidates from other fields-law, medicine, business, etc. While the number of U.S. PH.D.s in science and engineering declines, the award of PH.D.s to foreign nationals is increasing rapidly. Our inability to motivate students to pursue science and engineering careers at the graduate level is compounded because of the intense demand industry has for bright Bachelor's and Master's degree holders. Too often, promising PH.D. candidates, confronting the cost and financial sacrifice of pursuing their education, find the attraction of industry irresistible. 16. The US will come to lose its leading place in technology probably because _. A. the number of PH.D. degree holders is declining B. the number of scientists and engineers is decreasing C. the number of 22-year-olds is declining D. scientists and engineers are not employed S “ S “ ëJr « VÔ»: :17. The field of science and engineering is facing a competition from _ . A. technology B. foreign nationals C. such fields as law, medicine and business D. postgraduates 18. Large-scale enterprises now need _. A. bright graduates and postgraduates B. new inventions C. advanced technology D. engineers 19. Many promising postgraduates are unwilling to pursue a PH.D. degree because _. A. they are not encouraged to be engaged in science B. industry does not require PH.D. holders C. they have financial difficulties D. they will spend much time and energy completing PH.D. Passage 2 Many people believe the glare from snow causes snowblindness. Yet, dark glasses or not , they find themselves suffering from headaches and watering eyes, and even snowblindness, when exposed to several hours of “snow light“ . The United States Army has now determined that glare from snow does not cause snowblindness in troops in a snow-covered country. Rather, a man's eyes frequently find nothing to focus on in a broad expanse of barren snow-covered terrain. So his gaze continually shifts and jumps back and forth over the entire landscape in search of something to look at. Finding nothing, hour after hour, the eyes never stop searching and the eyeballs become sore and the eye muscles ache. Nature offsets this irritation by producing more and fluid which covers the eyeball. The fluid covers the eyeball in increasing quantity until vision blurs, then is obscured, and the result is total, even though temporary, snowblindness. Experiments led the Army to a simple method of overcoming this problem. Scouts ahead of a main body of troops are trained to shake snow from evergreen bushes, creating a dotted line as they cross completely snow-covered landscape. Even the scouts themselves throw lightweight, dark colored objects ahead on which they too can focus. The men following can then see something. Their gaze is arrested. Their eyes focus on a bush and having found something to see, stop scouring the snow-blanketed landscape. By focusing their attention on one object at a time, the men can cross the snow without becoming hopelessly snowblind or lost. In this way the problem of crossing a solid white terrain is overcome. 20. When the eyes are sore tears are produced to _. A. clear the vision B. remedy snowblindness C. ease the irritation D. loosen the muscles S “ S “ ëJr « VÔ»: :21. Snowblindness may be avoided by_. A. concentrating to the solid white terrain B. searching for something to look at in snow-covered terrain C. providing the eyes with something to focus on D. covering the eyeballs with fluid 22. The scouts shake snow from evergreen bushes in order to _. A. give the men behind something to see B. beautify the landscape C. warm themselves in the cold D. prevent the men behind from losing their way 23. A suitable title for this passage would be _. A. snowblindness and how to overcome it B. natures cure for snowblindness C. soldiers in the snow D. snow vision Passage 3 The blues was born on the Mississippi River Delta in the early 1900s. After the Civil War, the slaves were free but life was still not easy. They had to find new work. In the South, work camps were formed. Black people from these camps worked on farms and on building up the Mississippi River banks. During the week the people worked long and hard. They often lived alone, without their families, far from home. On the weekends, the workers got together at picnics or drinking places. Traveling black musicians with guitars entertained them. The musicians sang songs about the difficult life of the workers. These songs were called the blues. If you have the blues it means you feel very sad. You can have the blues because you have no money, no job, no lover, no home, or no friend. You can have the St. Louis blues, the Memphis blues, or the Monday morning blues. Maybe you have had the homework blues or the examination blues. But blues songs were not always sad. Some of them were happy and may of them were funny. Blues was a new kind of music. In blues songs some notes were flattened (ö¥ ) These notes were called “blue notes”. They made the music sound sad and different. Early blues singers often had very interesting names like Blind Lemon Jefferson, Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters, and Leadbelly. Sometimes the blues singers had song contests. Each singer sang new words or a new style of the blues song. They made up the music as they played. In this way they created new music. This is called improvisation ('= ). Later, improvisation became a very important part of jazz music. Blues began in the country in the South. As blacks moved into the big cities to work, the blues went with them. There, they sang about life in the cities. W.C. Handy, a black band leader from Memphis made the blues popular all over America. In 1914 he wrote the most famous blues song of all, “The St. Louis Blues”. 24. This passage is mainly concerned with _. A. the birth of American country music B. the birth of jazz music S “ S “ ëJr « VÔ»: :C. the birth of American popular music D. the birth of the blues 25. Blues songs were often about _. A. the hard life of black people B. the lonely life of black people C. the happy and funny life of black people D. the hard life of slaves 26. In the early 1900s, black people often got together at some drinking places on weekends mainly because _. A. they had found new work B. they had worked long and hard during weekdays C. they often lived alone, without their families D. they were good at singing and dancing 27. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true? A. After the Civil War, most black people found jobs in factories. B. No blues songs were about life in the cities. C. The blues was popular only in the country. D. The blues was born in the country in the south. Passage 4 Personal computers and the Internet give people new choices about how to spend their time. Some may use this freedom to share less time with certain friends or family members, but new technology will also let them stay in closer touch with those they care most about. I know this from personal experience. E-mail makes it easy to work at home, which is where I now spend most weekends and evenings. My working hours arent necessarily much shorter than they once were but I spend fewer of them at the office. This lets me share more time with my young daughter than I might have if shed been born before electronic mail became such a practical tool. The Internet also makes it easy to share thoughts with a group of friends. Say you do something fun see a great movie perhaps-and there are four or five friends who might want to hear about it. If you call each one, you may tire of telling the story. With E-mail, you just write one note about your experience, at your convenience, and address it to all the friends you think might be interested. They can read your message when they have time, and read only as much as they want to. They can reply at their convenience, and you can read what they have to say at your convenience. E-mail is also an inexpensive way stay in close touch with people who live far away. More than a few parents use E-mail to keep in touch, even daily touch, with their children off at college. S “ S “ ëJr « VÔ»: :We just have to keep in mind that computers and the Internet offer another way of staying in touch. They dont take the place of any of the old ways. 28. The purpose of this passage is to _. A. explain how to use the Internet B. describe the writers joy of keeping up with the latest technology C. tell the merits and usefulness of the Internet D. introduce the reader to basic knowledge about personal computers and the Internet 29. The use of E-mail has made it possible for the writer to _. A. spend less time working B. have more free time with his child C. work at home on weekends D. work at a speed comfortable to him 30. According to the writer, E-mail has an obvious advantage over the telephone because the former helps one _. A. reach a group of people at one time conveniently B. keep ones communication as personal as possible C. pass on much more information than the later D. get in touch with ones friends faster than the later 31. The best title for this passage is _. A. Computer: New Technological Advances B. Internet: New Tool to Maintain Good Friendship C. Computers Have Made Life Easier D. Internet: a Convenient Tool for Communication Passage 5 The economy of the United States after 1952 was the economy of a well-fed, almost fully employed people. Despite occasional alarms, the country escaped any postwar depression and lived in a state of boom. An economic survey of the year 1955, a typical year of the 1950s, may be typical as illustrating the rapid economic growth of the decade. The national output was value at 10 percent above that of 1954 (1955 output was estimated at 392 billion dollars). The production of manufacturers was about 40 percent more than it had averaged in the years immediately following World War 2. The countrys business spent about 30billion dollars for new factories and machinery. National income available for spending was almost a third greater than it had been in 1950. Consumers spent about 256 billion dollars; that is about 700 million dollars a day, or about twenty-five million dollars every hour, all round the clock. Sixty-five million people held jobs and only a little more than two million wanted jobs but could not find them. Only agriculture complained that it was not sharing in the room. To some observers this was an ominous echo of the mid-1920s. As farmers share of their products declined, marketing costs rose. But there were, among the observers of the national economy, a few who were not as confident as the majority. Those few seemed to fear that the boom could not last and would eventually lead to the opposite-depression. 32. What is the best title of the passage? S “ S “ ëJr « VÔ»: :A. The Agricultural Trends of 1950s B. The Unemployment Rate of 1950s C. U.S. Economy in the 50s D. The Federal Budget of 1952 33. In Line 3, the word “boom” could best be replaced by_. A. nearby explosion B. thunderous noise C. general public support