Passage One The potential of computers for increasing the control of organizations or society over their members and for invading the privacy of those members has caused considerable concern. The privacy issue has been raised most insistently with respect to the creation and maintenance of data files that assemble information about persons from a multitude of sources. Files of this kind would be highly valuable for many kinds of economic and social research, but they are bought at too high a price if they endanger human freedom or seriously enhance their opportunities of blackmailers. While such dangers should not be ignored, it should be noted that the lack of comprehensive data files has never before been the limiting barrier to the suppression of human freedom. Making the computer the villain in the invasion of privacy or encroachment on civil liberties simply divers attention from the real dangers. Computer data bank files can and must be given the highest degree of protection from abuse. But we must be careful also, that we do not employ such crude methods of protection as to deprive our society of important data it needs to understand its down social processes and to analyze its problems. Perhaps the most important question of all about the computer is what it has come and will do to man's view of himself and his place in the universe. The most heated attacks on the computer are not focused on its possible economic effects, its presumed destruction of job satisfaction, or its threat to privacy and liberty, but upon the claim that it causes people to be viewed, and to view themselves, as machines. What the computer and progress in artificial intelligence challenge are an ethic that rests on man's apartness from the rest of nature. An alternative ethic, of course, views man as a part of nature, governed by nature law, subject to the forces of gravity and the demands of his body. The debate about artificial intelligence and the simulation of man's thinking is, in considerable part, a confrontation of these two views of man's place in the universe.
1. Why is it important to prevent the abuse of computer data bands?
A.To protect the right of the individual.
B.To maintain discipline in society.
C.To encourage economic and social research.
D.To collect wide-ranging information.
A B C D
A
[解析] 根据文章第一段“The potential of computers for increasing the control of organizations or society over their members and for invading the privacy of those members has caused considerable concern.”可知,文章开门见山地指出:一些组织或团体利用计算机加强对其成员的监控,并侵犯其隐私权,这种现象已经引起了人们的高度重视。因此,为保护个人权利,防止计算机数据库的滥用变得至关重要。据此判断,答案是A。
2. Which of the following is not true about data files?
A.It may cause invasion of privacy.
B.Dangers caused by it should be paid much attention to.
C.Computer data files should be protected from abuse.
D.It is reasonable to cancel data files in order to protect privacy.
A B C D
D
[解析] 根据文章第三段第二句“Computer data bank files can and must be given the highest degree of protection form abuse. But we must be careful also, that we do not employ such crude methods of protection as to deprive our society of important data it needs to understand its down social processes and to analyze its problems.”可知,为了防止利用计算机资料库来限制人身自由和敲诈勒索等恶性犯罪行为,我们必须对其给予高度保护,防止滥用。但是也不能采用一些不成熟的方法。比如:限制某些团体为进行社会研究而使用它的权利。那么,同理,为了保护个人隐私就将其删除的行为同样是不成熟的行为。据此判断,答案是D。
3. Too much caution in the use of computers will ______.
A.prevent the solution of economic problems
B.cause more suppression of human freedom
C.lead to clumsy methods of protection
D.interfere with our study of society
A B C D
C
[解析] 本题考查计算机数据的过度保护会导致什么。根据文章第三段第二、三句“But we must be careful also, that we do not employ such crude methods of protection as to deprive our society of important data it needs to understand its down social processes and to analyze its problems.”可知,对计算机数据资料使用的过度小心谨慎产生一些不成熟的、笨拙的保护方法。据此判断,答案是C。
4. What lessons can be learned from the past in this decade?
A.Private issue has always been associated with data collection.
B.Attacks on freedom are new.
C.The accumulation of data encourages oppression.
D.Privacy has been a neglected issue.
A B C D
D
[解析] 根据文章第一段“The potential of computers for increasing the control of organizations or society over their members and for invading the privacy of those members has caused considerable concern.”可知,文章开门见山地指出,一些组织或团体利用计算机加强对其成员的监控,并侵犯其隐私权的社会现象已经引起了广泛的关注。言外之意,这一问题一直被忽略了。据此推断,D项符合题意。
5. The arrival of the computer has made man ______.
A.have more difficulty understanding himself
B.think more like a machine
C.look at himself in a different way
D.gain less satisfaction from his work
A B C D
B
[解析] 根据文章第四段第二句“The most heated attacks on the computer are not focused on its possible economic effects, its presumed destruction of job satisfaction, or its threat to privacy and liberty, but upon the claim that it causes people to be viewed, and to view themselves, as machines.”可知,文章指出对计算机最猛烈的抨击没有集中在经济上,也没有聚焦在可能对工作满意度的破坏或者它可能对隐私和自由产生的危险上,而是集中在人类被看做像机器一样,并且使得人类自身也把自己看作像机器一样。据此推断,B项符合题意。
Passage Two World Trade Organization Director-general Renato Ruggiero predicted that the WTO would boost global incomes by $1 trillion in the next ten years. The pact paves the way for more foreign investment and competition in telecom markets. Many governments are making telecom deregulation a priority and making it easier for outsiders to enter the telecommunication business. The pace varies widely. The U. S. and Britain are well ahead of the pack, while Thailand won't be fully open until 2006. Only 20% of the $601 billion world market is currently open to competition. That should jump to about 75% in a couple of years—largely due to the Telecom Act in the U.S. last year that deregulated local markets, the opening up of the European Union's markets from Jan. 1, 1998 and the deregulation in Japan. The WTO deal now provides a forum for the inevitable disputes along the way. It is also symbolic: the first major trade agreement of the post-industrial age. Instead of being obsessed with textile quotas, the WTO pact is proof that governments are realizing that in an information age, telecom is the oil and steel of economies in the future. Businesses around the world are already spending more in total on telecom services than they do on oil. Consumers, meanwhile, can look forward to a future of lower prices—by some estimates, international calling rates should drop 80% over several years—and better service. Thanks in part to the vastly increased call volume carded by the fiber-optic cables that span the globe today, calling half a world away already costs little more than telephoning next door. The monopolies can no longer set high prices for international calls in many countries. In the U.S., the world's most fiercely competitive long distance market, frequent callers since last year have been paying about 12 cents a minute to call Britain, a price not much more than domestic rates. The new competitive environment on the horizon means more opportunities for companies from the U.S. and U.K. in particular because they have plenty of practice at the rough-and-tumble of free markets. The U.S. lobbied hard for the WTO deal, confident that its firms would be big beneficiaries of more open markets. Britain has been deregulated since 1984 but will see even more competition than before: in December, the government issued 45 new international licenses to join British Telecom so that it will become a strong competitor in the international market. However, the once-cosseted industry will get rougher worldwide. Returns on capital will come down. Risks will go up. That is how free markets work. It will look like any other business.
1. Which of the following statements can best describe the main theme of the passage?
A.There is a great potential in the world telecom market.
B.The WTO pact has boosted a rapid development of telecom all over the world.
C.The WTO pact has opened up bigger telecom markets to competition.
D.Governments have realized the importance of telecommunication.
2. What does "well ahead of the pack" mean in respect of the U.S. and Britain?
A.Their telecom technology is much more advanced.
B.Their telecom markets are much more open.
C.They have more money invested in foreign telecom business.
D.They have more competition in the telecom markets.
A B C D
B
[解析] 细节题。根据第二段第二句“The U.S. and Britain are well ahead of the pack, while Thailand won't be fully open until 2006.”可知,“well ahead of the pack”是指美国和英国的市场更开放,故正确答案为B。
3. We can reasonably conclude from the passage that ______.
A.the world telecom market has been fully explored since the signing of the WTO pact
B.telecom companies of the U. S. and U. K. will undoubtedly dominate the world telecom market
C.many governments have granted a great investment in their telecom business
D.the WTO pact means tougher competition for telecom companies and gentler price for callers
4. In the last paragraph the word "lobby" probably means "______."
A.persuade
B.approve
C.separate
D.imitate
A B C D
A
[解析] 词汇题。persuade意为“劝说,说服”,approve意为“赞同”,separate意为“分开,割开”,imitate意为“模仿,仿效”。根据后面的“for the WTO deal”可知,只有选项A能有很好的搭配。另外,根据后半句中的“...would be big beneficiaries of more open markets...”也可知,美国是在做游说。故正确答案为A。
5. The tone of this passage can be described as ______.
Passage Three Within hours of appearing on television to announce the end of conscription, President Jacques Chirac moved quickly to prevent any dissent from within the military establishment. Addressing more than 500 military staff officers at the military academy in Paris yesterday, Mr. Chirac said clearly that he "expected" their loyalty in the work of rebuilding France's national defense. He understood their "legitimate concerns, questions and emotions" at the reforms, but added. "You must understand that there is not and never has been any rigid model for French defense. Military service has been compulsory for less than a century. Realism required that our armed forces should now be professional." The president's decision to abolish conscription over a period of six years removes a rite of passage for young Frenchmen that has existed since the Revolution, even though obligatory national service only became law in 1905. As recently as 1993, an opinion poll showed that more than 60% of French people said they feared the abolition of conscription could endanger national security. A poll conducted this month, however, showed that 70% of those asked favored ending of practice, and on the streets and in offices yesterday, the response to Mr. Chirac's announcement was generally positive. Among people who completed their 10-month period of national service in the last few years or were contemplating the prospect, there was almost universal approval, tempered by a sense that something hard to define—mixing with people from other backgrounds, a formative experience, a process that encouraged national or social cohesion—might be lost. Patrick, who spent his year in the French city of Valance assigning and collecting uniforms, and is now a computer manager, said he was in tears for his first week, and hated most of his time. He thought it was "useless" as a form of military training—"I only fired a rifle twice"—but, in retrospect, useful for learning how to get on with people and instilling patriotism. As many as 25% of those liable for military service in France somehow avoid it—the percentage is probably much greater in the more educated and higher social classes. According to Geoffroy, a 26-year-old reporter, who spent his time in the navy with the information office in central Paris, the injustice is a good reason for abolishing it. People with money or connections, he said, can get well-paid assignments abroad. "It's not fair: some do it, some don't." Several expressed support for the idea of a new socially-oriented voluntary service that would be open to both men and women. But the idea seemed less popular among women. At present, women have the option of voluntary service and a small number choose to take it.
1. President Chirac's decision, announced on TV, on ending conscription seemed to ______.
5. When Patrick considered his time in the army "in retrospect," he ______.
A.regretted his waste of time serving in the army
B.corrected his previous view on military service
C.still felt sorrow for those under a forced service
D.revealed his failure to get on with people
A B C D
B
[解析] 本题可参照第五段。从中可知,Patrick一开始认为服兵役是“useless”,但后来回想起来是“useful for learning how to get on with people and instilling patriotism”,因此B项“纠正了他以前对兵役的看法”是正确答案。
6. We learn from the passage that French women ______.
A.are greeting the reform with enthusiasm
B.are not eligible to serve in the army
C.do not face compulsory military service
D.hate to be exempted from military service
A B C D
C
[解析] 本题的依据句是文中的“women have the option of voluntary service”,从中可知C项“没有面临强制兵役”是正确答案。
7. Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
Passage Four For years, studies have found that first-generation college students—those who do not have a parent with a college degree—lag other students on a range of education achievement factors. Their grades are lower and their dropout rates are higher. But since such students are most likely to advance economically if they succeed in higher education, colleges and universities have pushed for decades to recruit more of them. This has created "a paradox" in that recruiting first-generation students, but then watching many of them fail, means that higher education has "continued to reproduce and widen, rather than close" achievement gap based on social class, according to the depressing beginning of a paper forthcoming in the journal Psychological Science. But the article is actually quite optimistic, as it outlines a potential solution to this problem, suggesting that an approach (which involves a one-hour, next-to-no-cost program) can close 63 percent of the achievement gap (measured by such factors as grades) between first-generation and other students. The authors of the paper are from different universities, and their finding are based on a study involving 147 students (who completed the project) at an unnamed private university. First generation was defined as not having a parent with a four-year college degree. Most of the first-generation students (59.1 percent) were recipients of Pell Grants, a federal grant for undergraduates with financial need, while this was true only for 8.6 percent of the students with at least one parent with a four-year degree. Their thesis—that a relatively modest intervention could have a big impact—was based on the view that first-generation students may be most lacking not in potential but in practical knowledge about how to deal with the issues that face most college students. They cite past research by several authors to show that this is the gap that must be narrowed to close the achievement gap. Many first-generation students "struggle to navigate the middle-class culture of higher education, learn the 'rules of the game,' and take advantage of college resources," they write. And this becomes more of a problem when colleges don't talk about the class advantage and disadvantages of different groups of students. "Because US colleges and universities seldom acknowledge how social class can affect students' educational experience, many first-generation students lack insight about why they are struggling and do not understand how students 'like them' can improve."
1. Recruiting more first-generation students has ______.
A.reduced their dropout rates
B.narrowed the achievement ago
C.missed its original purpose
D.depressed college students
A B C D
C
[解析] 此题细节信息要到第一段第四句话中去寻找:This has created "a paradox" in that recruiting first-generation students...对比四个选项可知,选项A、B、D均与句意无关,而C项“missed its original purpose”是“paradox”(意为“自相矛盾,似是而非的观点”)的同义替换,也就是说计划的结果与初衷相矛盾,因此选择C。
2. The authors of the research article are optimistic because ______.
A.the problem is solvable
B.their approach is costless
C.the recruiting rate has increased
D.their finding appeal to students
A B C D
A
[解析] 此题细节信息要到第二段第一句话中去寻找——“But the article is actually quite optimistic, as it outlines a potential solution to this problem”,可知“the problem is solvable”与“as”引导的原因状语从句相符,因此选择A。
3. The study suggests that most first-generation students ______.
A.study at private universities
B.are from single-parent families
C.are in need of financial support
D.have failed their college
A B C D
C
[解析] 此题细节信息要到第三段最后一句话中去寻找:Most of the first-generation students (59.1 percent) were recipients of Pell Grants (佩尔助学金), a federal grant for undergraduates with financial need... “...are in need of financial support”与“with...financial need”相对应,因此选择C。
4. The author of the paper believe that first-generation students ______.
A.are actually indifferent to the achievement gap
B.can have a potential influence on other students
C.may lack opportunities to apply for research projects
D.are inexperienced in handling their issues at college
A B C D
D
[解析] 此题细节信息要到第四段第一句话中去寻找:“Their thesis...that face most college students.”即第一代学生缺乏处理问题的实际经验,所以,“first-generation students are inexperienced in handling their issues at college”与“lacking in practical knowledge”相对应,因此选择D。
5. We may infer from the last paragraph that ______.
A.universities often reject the culture of the middle-class
B.students are usually to blame for their lack of resources
C.social class greatly helps enrich educational experiences
D.colleges are partly responsible for the problem in question
1. Directions: You are asked to write a composition in no less than 150 words according to the chart given below. Remember to write clearly on ANSWER SHEET.
In the developing countries great changes took place in life expectancy and infant mortality in the period from 1960 to 1990. In 1960 life expectancy was very low, while infant mortality was very high. However, in 1990 life expectancy increased, whereas infant mortality declined. There are many reasons for the changes, but in general, they come down to three major ones. First, their living conditions were improved. In the old days people in the developing countries suffered hunger and were exposed to the elements. Now they are well fed and housed. Naturally they live longer than before. Second, the medical condition was also improved and so the adequate medical care ensures the adults' health and reduces infant mortality. Most important of all, in the early 60s there were constant wars in some developing countries because of the colonial rule and so a lot of people were killed in wars. Nowadays most developing countries have become independent countries and their people live a peaceful life. In conclusion, better medical care, national independence and social stability are responsible for these changes.