Part A Read the following texts and answer the questions which accompany them by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1.
Text 1 When he died in 1885 at the age of 83, Victor Hugo was beyond question the most famous man of letters in France, and perhaps the world -his only rival being Charles Dickens. The English put up memorials to show where their literary celebrities lived or were born, and sometimes grant them burial in Westminster Abbey. Hugo, however, is the only writer to have stone to mark his place of conception. His parents' epochal embrace took place in a forest 3,000 feet up on Mount Donon, overlooking the Rhineland, in May 1801, though it's typical Of Hugo's own overstating habit that in adult life he claimed it happened 3,000 feet higher still, and on Mount Blanc. In his life he was compared to (often by himself) an eagle, a titan, a monster; to Homer, Shakespeare, Dante and Cervantes. He wrote enormous, turbulent, dark novels, two of which (Les Miserable and The Hunchback of Notre Dame) in our own day have been turned, respectively, into a musical and a Disney film. Few read the originals, at least in English, though they are of course more disturbing and entertaining than their modern imitations. He wrote 21 plays, which transformed the French Theater, raising it out of the noble lifelessness of Corneille and Racine. One of them Hernani, was the symbolic starting point of the Romantic movement in France and is sometimes credited with helping provoke the 1830 Revolution. With his poetry reckoned in, Hugo's effect on French literature exceeded anything short of the Bible itself. Flaubert and other French writers all stood in his shadow, along with foreigners like Dostoyevsky and Conrad. In the words of English scholar Graham Robb, whose brilliant new biography, Victor Hugo, does for this sublime windbag what George Painter did for Proust 30 years ago, Hugo was "a oneman education system through which every writer had to pass...The story of Hugo's influence after all is the story of a river after it reaches the sea. It was so pervasive that he was sometimes thought not to have had an influence at all." At the peak of his fame several streets in Paris were named after him. Larger than life, he was almost larger than death: half a million people, the biggest funeral attendance since the death of Napoleon, followed his coffin to the freshly deconsecrated Pantheon. "Victor Hugo was a madman who thought he was Victor Hugo," so went a comment several decades later.
1. Which of the following is true of the first paragraph?
A.The English like to set up memorials for themselves.
B.Victor Hugo was born on the French Mount Donon.
C.Charles Dickens was not on good terms with Hugo.
D.The French writer liked to overstate his experience.
A B C D
D
2. It can be inferred from the text that the writer's attitude towards Hugo is one of
A.mild cynicism.
B.adverse criticism.
C.extreme admiration.
D.great disgust.
A B C D
A
3. The phrase "short of" (line 2, paragraph 3) is closest in meaning to which of the following?
A.Except.
B.Without.
C.Including.
D.Besides.
A B C D
A
4. According to the text, it can be said that
A.Hugo's influence mainly concentrated on his great novels.
B.Dramas had been pnncipally about aristocrats before Hugo.
C.France was the cradle of the Romantic Movement in Europe.
D.Many readers feel uneasy about Hugo's works they read.
A B C D
B
5. The statement that"Victor Hugo was a madman who thought he was Victor Hugo" indicates that
A.Victor Hugo was mentally unhealthy.
B.the speaker was hostile toVictor Hugo.
C.Victor Hugo was more than a human.
D.there were otherVictor Hugoes in France.
A B C D
C
Text 2 It is a matter worthy of consideration, that the accounts of similar phenomena of culture, recurring in different parts of the world, actually supply incidental proof of their own authenticity. Some years since, a question which brings out this point was put to me by a great historian: "How can a statement as to customs, myths, beliefs, etc., of a savage tribe be treated as evidence where it depends on the testimony of some traveler or missionary, who may be a superficial observer, more or less ignorant of the native language, a careless retailer of unfiltered talk, a man prejudiced or even willfully deceitful?" This question is, indeed, one which we ought to keep clearly and constantly in mind. Of course we are bound to use our best judgment as to the reliability of all authors we quote, and if possible to obtain several accounts to certify each point in each locality. But it is over and above these measures of precaution that the test of recurrence comes in. If two independent visitors to different countries, say a medieval Mohammedan in Tarytary and a modern Englishman in Dahome, or a Jesuit missionary in Brazil and a Wesleyan in the Fiji Islands, agree in describing some analogous art or rite or myth among the people they have visited, it becomes difficult or impossible to set down such correspondence to accident or willful fraud. A story by someone who lived in the bush of Australia may, perhaps, be objected to as a mistake or an invention, but did a Methodist minister in Guinea conspire with him to cheat the public by telling the same story there? The possibility of intentional or unintentional mystification is often barred by such a state of things as that a similar statement is made in two remote lands, by.two witnesses, of whom A lived a century before B, and B appears never to have heard of A. How distant are the countries, how wide apart the dates, how different the creeds and characters of the observers, in the catalogue of facts of civilisation, needs no farther showing to any one who will even glance at the footnotes of the present work. And the more odd the statement, the less likely that several people in several places should have made it wrongly. This being so, it seems reasonable to judge that the statements are in the main truly given, and that their close and regular coincidence is due to the accidental occurrence of similar facts in various districts of culture.
1. Which of the following statements best retell the ideas of the sentence "It is a matter ... their own authenticity"?
A.Cultural recurrences may really be of certain significance.
B.The truthfulness of some phenomena is highly questionable.
C.Comparability between cultures frequently invites admiration.
D.We can't expect much significance in cultural studies.
A B C D
A
2. According to the author, the chief difference between the two pairs of people (in paragraph 2) lies in
A.culture and religion.
B.time and religion.
C.culture and space.
D.time and space.
A B C D
D
3. According to the text, the historian's remarks served, functionally, chiefly as
A.a memorandum.
B.a comfort.
C.an advice.
D.a prompt.
A B C D
D
4. When we want to cite other people's conclusions, we tend to be A. harsh. B. prudent.C. mechanical.D. encouraging.
A B C D
B
5. Which of the following is true of the main idea of the text?
A.Cultural comparisons are often dangerous.
B.We need to be very cautious with cultural studies.
C.Cultural recurrence is truly worth attention,
D.Primitive and civilized people may share lifestyles.
A B C D
C
Text 3 Throughout the 20th century, historians have argued about the reasons for the unprecedented drive for colonial expansion that seized Europe and, to a lesser extent, the United States, in the last decades of the 19th century. The majority of those engaged in this often heated debates have tended to join one of two camps: those who favor a political explanation for the outburst of territorial enlargement, and those who argue that it was fundamentally economic concerns when deciding to intervene in disputes or to involve in Africa, Asia, or the South Pacific. The British preoccupation with protection strategic overseas naval stations, such as those in Malaya and in South Africa, for example, was linked to an underlying perception of growing threat to their Indian Empire. That empire was in turn more than just their "garrison in the east" and largest colonial possession. It was a major source of raw materials for British industries and a key outlet for both British manufactured good and British overseas investment. Thus, political and economic motives were often impossible to separate; doing so unnecessarily oversimplifies and distorts our understanding of the forces behind the haste for empire in the late 19th century. It would also be a mistake to see a complete break between the pattern of European colonial expansion before and after 1870. Though a good deal more territory was added per year after that date, there were numerous colonial wars and additions to both the British and French empires all through the middle decades of the 19th century. One of the key differences between the two periods was that before 1870, Britain had only a weak France with which to compete in the outside world. This meant that the British were less likely than at the end of the century to be pushed into full-scale invasions and annexations because they feared that another European power was about to seize potentially valuable colonies. It also allowed the British to rely heavily on threats and gunboat raids rather than outright conquest to bring African kings or Asian Emperors into line. With its "white" settler colonies (Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) and India, plus enclaves in Africa and Southeast Asia, the British already had all the empire they could handle. Most British politicians were cautious about or firmly opposed to adding more colonies. The British were watchful to French advance in various parts of the globe, which were usually made to restore France's great-power standing following setbacks in Europe. But the French were far too weak economically and too politically divided to contest Britain's naval mastery or its standing as the greatest colonial power.
1. Which of the following is the best summary for paragraph 1 ?
A.Often simplified understanding does more harm than good.
B.The cause of the late 19th century expansion is not very clear.
C.The reason for colonial expansion is quite a mixed one.
D.In many cases economy distorts politics in international affairs.
A B C D
C
2. Which of the following is true of paragraph 2?
A.Fear of a French invasion caused Britain to build up an empire.
B.The position of France used to be better in the area of Europe.
C.Priorto 1870 France had no place in discussing European affairs.
D.The British were all overtaken by the idea of global expansion.
A B C D
B
3. The word "outright" (line 12, paragraph 2) is closest in meaning to A. complete.B. reasonable.C. righteous.D. constant.
A B C D
A
4. It can be inferred that the mentality of the British in late 19th century invasion was one of
A.shamefulness.
B.satisfaction.
C.inquisitiveness.
D.contradiction.
A B C D
D
5. Which of the following sentences in the text is an idea rather than a fact?
A."The majority of those engaged in this often ..." (lines 4-5, paragraph 1)
B."It would also be a mistake to see a complete ..." (lines 1-2, paragraph 2)
C."One of the key differences between the two ..." (lines 6-7, paragraph 2)
D."The British politicians were cautious about ..." (lines 16-17, paragraph 2)
A B C D
B
Part B The place seemed as unlikely as the coming together of the two principals. In June 1995, Princess Diana went to visit Mother Teresa in New York City's South Bronx, where the founder of the Missionaries of Charity was recovering from an illness at one of her order's residences. 16. ______ So they met and chatted about the work they loved, for no more than an hour. Diana helped Mother Teresa rise from her wheelchair, and the two of them emerged from a private conversation holding hands, to be greeted by squealing children in a crowd. Diana, in a cream-colored linen suit, stood over her companion. 17. ______ Now they are dead, within a week, and one wonders how to grasp what has been lost. In a way, their deaths are the ending to two stories. 18. ______ When she was killed, her story was curtailed, and the silence that followed was overwhelming. One reason that masses stood in lines all over the world is that they knew a story they yearned to hear, and thought would go on, was over. Mother Teresa's story was more of process and had fewer elements with which the audience could easily identify. For most of the years of her life, no cameras followed her when she bent down in the wretched streets of Calcutta to take dying people in her arms or when she touched the open wounds of the poor, the discarded and alone. When the Nobel Committee blasted her with fame, she had already written most of the tale of her life, which was without much plot, was propelled by a main character who never changed direction, yet had a great theme. The end of Mother Teresa's story is not the end of her order's work, which is one reason (her age is another) that her death makes one sad without shock. The two women were united by an impulse toward charity, and charity is tricky way to live. A nun I know in Brooklyn, Sister Mary Paul, who has worked with the down-and-nearly-out all her life, once told me, "People in the helping professions are curious. I think they may feel something is missing in their lives. There can be a lot of ego, a lot of indirect fulfillment. One wants to see oneself as a good and giving person. There is nothing wrong in that, but it can't be the goal. The ultimate goal must be a change in the system in which both the giver and taker live." 19. The idea behind such thinking is that life is a journey and one catches others on the way. Mother Teresa must have felt this. Within whatever controversies arose about her work, the central gesture of her life was to bend toward the suffering and recall them to the world of God's province. The people she inclined toward had been chewed by rats and had magots in their skin. 20. ______ The public mourning for Diana has so outrun the importance of the event that it has taken on the cast of an international grieving unrelated to any particular cause. It is as if the world has felt the need to be moved, to feel sympathy itself, and if that feeling of sympathy is fleeting, it will still have brought a general catharsis. Perhaps this is counterfeit emotion, aroused by television, and fueled and sustained by itself. That would not be true of the emotion shown at the death of Mother Teresa, who will draw fewer mourners to her funeral but more in the long run of history. A. She doesn't like the word charity except in the sense of caritas, love."Love," she said, "is not based on marking people up by assets and virtues. Love is based on the mystery of the person, who is immeasurable and is going somewhere I will never know." B. That is why the princess came to meet the nun, to pay her respect to the woman whose devotion to the poor and dying she was begin'ning to absorb. Surrounding the world's two most recognizable women were the dusty tenements and deserted cars of the not yet revived area. The Saint of the Gutters was in her element, Which more recently had become Diana's too. C. Princess Diana's was the less significant but the more enthralling, a royal soap opera played by real people suffering real pain. D. All she wanted for them was the dignity of being human. E. Like Mother Teresa, the princess addressed to the children she came across, and nurseries, kindergartens and schools were the places where she was most frequently spotted. F. They were affectionate to each other. MotherTeresa clasped her palms together in the Indian namaste, signifying both hello and farewell.The princess got into her silver car And that was that.
1.
B
2.
F
3.
C
4.
A
5.
D
Part C Note: When more than one answer is required, these may be given in any order. Some choices may be required more than once. A = G. W. Leibniz B = George Berkeley C = David Hume Who ... · had applied John Locke's theory in his studies of philosophy? 21. ______ · was interested in both philosophy and mathematics? 22. ______ 23. ______ · came from a noble family? 24. ______ · tried to do something in the NewWorld but failed in the end? 25. ______ · believed in the treatment of philosophy in a scientific way? 26. ______ 27. ______ · is a philosopher whose achievement in science is still referred to? 28. ______ · wrote some philosophical works which was met with little · welcome but later proved successful? 29. ______ · established his theoretical system late in his life? 30. ______ G.W.Leibniz Leibniz was a German philosopher who belonged to the Rationalist school of philosophers, to which also belonged Descartes and Spinoza. But Leibniz was not only a philosopher, he was also a considerable authority on law, a diplomat, a historian and an outstanding mathematician as is proved by his discovery in 1676, independently of Newton, of the Differential Calculus. Leibniz was the son of a Professor of Philosophy of Leipzig University, who died when his son was only 6, but who left behind a fine collection of books which the young Leibniz read eagerly. Leibniz studied law at the University, and then, while in the service of the Elector of Mainz, he visited Paris and London and became acquainted with the learned men of his time. When he was 30 he became official librarian of the Brunswich family at Hanover, where he remained till he died. His philosophy is set out in a short paper, The Mondadology, which he wrote two years before his death. Otherwise, except for one or two famous essays, his philosophical and scientific ideas have had to be assembled from his various papers and letters which, fortunately, have survived. They show Leibniz's brilliant intellect, especially in his attempt to relate mathematics and logic so that problems of philosophy could be exactly calculated and no longer be under dispute. He held that everything from a table to man's soul, and even to God himself, is made up of "monads" atoms, each of which is a simple, indivisible, imperishable unit, different from every other monad and constantly changing. George Berkeley Berkeley was born of an aristocratic Irish family and educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he remained as fellow and tutor. All his best work was written very early, and by the age of 27 he had made a reputation as a writer on philosophy. In 1712 Berkeley went to London and associated with the literary men of the day, among whom he was warmly welcomed. Berkeley travelled widely in Italy and France, and then spent a few years in the English colonies of North America and the West Indians, where he had hoped to found a missionary college. When his hope failed, he returned to Ireland, and in 1734 was appointed Bishop of Cloyne. He spent 18 years administrating his diocese, living a happy family life with his wife and children, and writing books on both philosophical and practical subject. In 1752 he retired to Oxford, where he died the next year at the age of 68. Berkeley's claim to fame rests on his philosophy. His views are in contrast, deliberately, to those of John Locke. As an idealist he believes that mind comes before matter, while a Materialist holds everything depends Upon matter. Beyond his strictly philosophical works, Berkeley was interested in natural science and mathematics. He wrote an Essay towards a New Theory of Vision, in which he attempted to explain how we are able to judge the distance of objects from us. Though science has made great advances since Berkeley's day, his essay is still of value. David Hume aume is a celebrated Scottish philosopher and historian. In 1739, after a period of study in Paris, when he was only 28, he published one of the most influential books of English philosophy of modern times the Treatise of Human Nature. It excited little interest, however, when it first appeared, and Hume turned to writing admirable Essays on a variety of topics. In 1752 he returned to Edinburgh as librarian of Advocates Library, and began to compose A History of England, the final volume of which was published in 1761. From 1761 to 1765, he was secretary to the British Embassy in Paris, where he was sought after by the cultured society. For the rest of his life he lived in his native Edinburgh, the central figure of a distinguished group of writers. Hume's chief fame as a philosopher rests on the strict and logical way in which he applied the principle of John Locke, that all thought is built up from simple and separate elements, which Hume calls impressions. He believed that even a human being is a bundle of different perceptions, and has no permanent identity. His criticism of man's belief that everything has a cause seemed to deny what we assume, not merely from ordinary experience, but from a scientific knowledge; and since he wrote, philosophers have been trying to find answers to his penetrating doubts. Indeed he has had more influence upon recent discussion in England about the principles of knowledge than any other philosopher of the past.