英语试题（一）
Section Ⅰ Use of English
Directions:
Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D
on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)
There is virtually no limit to how one can serve community interests, from spending a few
hours a week with some charitable organization to practically full-time work for a social agency.
Just as there are opportunities for voluntary service 1 (VSO) for young people before they take up
full-time employment, 2 there are opportunities for overseas service for 3 technicians in
developing countries. Some people, 4 those who retire early, 5 their technical and business skills
in countries 6 there is a special need.
So in considering voluntary or 7 community service, there are more opportunities than there
8 were when one first began work. Most voluntary organizations have only a small full-time 9 ,
and depend very much on volunteers and part-timers. This means that working relationships are
different from those in commercial organizations, and values may be different. 10 some ways they
may seem more casual and less efficient, but one should not 11 them by commercial criteria. The
people who work with them do so for different reasons and with different 12 , both personal and
13 . One should not join them 14 to arm them with professional experience; they must be joined
with commitment to the 15 , not business efficiency. Because salaries are 16 or non-existent many
voluntary bodies offer modest expense. But many retired people take part in community service
for 17 , simply because they enjoy the work.
Many community activities possible 18 retirement were also possible during one’s working
life but they are to be undertaken 19 seriously for that. Retired people who are just looking for
something different or unusual to do should not consider 20 community service.
1. [A] oversea [B] over sea[C] over seas [D] overseas
2. [A] as [B] so [C] then [D] that
3. [A] quantity [B] qualifying [C] quality [D] qualified
4. [A] partially [B] partly [C] particularly [D] passionately
5. [A] order [B] operate [C] offer [D] occupy
6. [A] which [B] where [C] as [D] that
7. [A] paying [B] paid [C] to be paid [D] pay
8. [A] before [B] lately [C] never [D] ever
9. [A] team [B] number [C] staff [D] crowd
10. [A] In [B] By [C] With [D] Through
11. [A] look at [B] comment [C] enjoy [D] judge
12. [A] subjective [B] subject [C] objectives [D] objects
13. [A] organization [B] organizational [C] organized [D] organizing
14. [A] expecting [B] to expect [C] being expected [D] expected
15. [A] course [B] cause [C] case [D] caution
16. [A] little [B] small [C] large [D] big
17. [A] free [B] freedom [C] money [D] something
18. [A] before [B] on [C] in [D] at
19. [A] much [B] very much [C] no more [D] no less
20. [A] to be taken [B] to take [C] taking [D] being taken
Section ⅡReading Comprehension
Part A
Directions:
Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D.
Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)
Text 1
A class action lawsuit has been filed against a prominent Toronto doctor, by patients who
allege he injected a banned substance into their faces for cosmetic purposes. The doctor had
already been investigated more than three years ago for using the liquid silicone, a product not
authorized for use in Canada.
Some patients say they are now suffering health problems and think the liquid silicone may
be to blame. One of those patients is Anna Barbiero. She says her Toronto dermatologist told her
he was using liquid silicone to smooth out wrinkles. What she says he didn’t tell her is that it isn’t
approved for use in Canada. “I didn’t know what liquid silicone was and he just called it ‘liquid
gold’.” Barbiero remembers. After her last treatment, Anna discovered Dr. Sheldon Pollack had
been ordered to stop using the silicone two years earlier by Health Canada. Experts say silicone
can migrate through the body, and cause inflammation and deformities.
“My upper lip is always numb and it burns,” Barbiero says. Barbiero is spearheading a
lawsuit against the doctor, who her lawyer thinks might involve up to 100 patients injected with
the same material. “The fact, a physician of his stature would use an unauthorized product on a
patient because he thought it was okay, is really very disturbing, ”says lawyer Douglas Elliott.
Ontario’ s College of Physicians and Surgeons （OCPS） is also investigating Dr. Pollack to
see if, in fact, he continued to use the silicone after agreeing to stop and whether he wrote in
patient records that he used another legal product when he had used silicone. However, in a letter
to the College, Dr. Pollack wrote that he had always told patients that the silicone was not
approved for sale in Canada, and had warned them of the risks. And in Barbiero’s case, “... at the
time of her first visit, prior to her ever receiving IGLS treatment, I specifically informed her that
the material was not approved for sale in Canada by the Health Protection Branch and that I did
receive the material from outside the country ... I would like to emphasize that, as is evident on Ms.
Barbiero’s chart, I drew a specific diagram on the chart which I carefully discussed with and
explained to Ms. Barbiero as I do with every other patient to explain the nature and likelihood of
possible complications and the reasons and consequences of those possible complications.”
Dr. Pollack declined to speak to CTV News, or to have his lawyer discuss the case. None of
the allegations have been proven in court. But the case raises questions about the ability of
governing bodies to monitor doctors. “There’s a larger message and that is: buyer beware,” says
Nancy Neilsen of Cosmetic Surgery Canada. “It’s incumbent on consumers to do their research.”
21. Doctor Sheldon Pollack was charged that　
［A］ he had prescribed wrong medicine for patients by mistake
［B］ he had treated his patients with something illegal, causing bad result
［C］ he had pretended to be a prominent surgeon
［D］ he had sold an unauthorized product in large amount
22. It can be learned from the second paragraph that “dermatologist” must be a doctor dealing
with.
［A］ heart disease［B］ eye disease
［C］ breathing disorder ［D］ disorder and disease of the skin
23. The investigation of OCPS is to find　
［A］ whether he still has illegal treatment on his patients
［B］ how many patients have been abused
［C］ if he told his patients about the risk
［D］ how much money he got from his illegal treatment
24. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
［A］ Barbiero took the treatment after being told the risk.
［B］ Dr. Sheldon Pollack started his work with the patients’ agreement to accept the potential
risk.
［C］ A famous doctor should be authorized to use something he thinks okay on patients.
［D］ Barbiero is suffering a lot.
25. From the ending part of the passage, we can conclude that　
［A］ Barbiero will winthe lawsuit
［B］ Dr. Sheldon Pollack will win the lawsuit
［C］ the cases have been dismissed
［D］ governing bodies to monitor doctor will be charged
Text2
What our society suffers from most today is the absence of consensus about what it and life
in it ought to be; such consensus cannot be gained from society’s present stage, or from fantasies
about what it ought to be. For that the present is too close and too diversified, and the future too
uncertain, to make believable claims about it. A consensus in the present hence can be achieved
only through a shared understanding of the past, as Homer’s epics informed those who lived
centuries later what it meant to be Greek, and by what images and ideals they were to live their
lives and organize their societies.
Most societies derive consensus from a long history, a language all their own, a common
religion, common ancestry. The myths by which they live are based on all of these. But the United
States is a country of immigrants, coming from a great variety of nations. Lately, it has been
emphasized that an asocial, narcissistic personality has become characteristic of Americans, and
that it is this type of personality that makes for the lack of well-being, because it prevents us from
achieving consensus that would counteract a tendency to withdraw into private worlds. In this
study of narcissism, Christopher Lash says that modern man, “tortured by self-consciousness,
turns to new therapies not to free himself of his personal worries but to find meaning and purpose
in life, to find something to live for”. There is widespread distress because national morale has
declined, and we have lost an earlier sense of national vision and purpose.
Contrary to rigid religions or political beliefs, as are found in totalitarian societies, our culture
is one of the great individual differences, at least in principle and in theory; but this leads to
disunity, even chaos. Americans believe in the value of diversity, but just because our is a society
based on individual diversity, it needs consensus about some dominating ideas more than societies
based on uniform origin of their citizens. Hence, if we are to have consensus, it must be based on a
myth—a vision about a common experience, a conquest that made us Americans, as the myth
about the conquest of Troy formed the Greeks. Only a common myth can offer relief from the fear
that life is without meaning or purpose. Myths permit us to examine our place in the world by
comparing it to a shared idea. Myths are shared fantasies that form the tie that binds the individual
to other members of his group. Such myths help to ward off feelings of isolations, guilt, anxiety,
and purposelessness—in short, they combat isolation and the breakdown of social standards and
values.
26.In the eyes of the author, the greatest trouble with the US society may lie in　
[A] the non-existence of consensus on the forms of the society should take
[B] the lack of divergence over the common organizations of social life
[C] the non-acceptance of a society based on individual diversity
[D] the pervasive distress caused by national morale decline
27.The asocial personality of Americans may stem from　
[A] the absence of a common religion and ancestry
[B] the multiracial constituents of the US society
[C] the want of a shared myths they possess in life
[D] the counterbalance to narcissistic personality
28.Homer’s epics is mentioned in Paragraph 1 in order to　
[A] exemplify the contributions made by ancient poets
[B] illustrate the role of shared fantasies about society
[C] show an ideal stage of eternal social progress
[D] make known myths of what a society ought to be
29.The author concludes that only shared myths can help Americans　
[A] to bring about the uniformity of their culture
[B] to regain their consensus about a common experience
[C] to stay away from negative feelings in their life
[D] to counteract the effects of consensus about society
30.It can be inferred from Paragraph 2 that Christopher Lash is most probably　
[A] a reform advocate[B] a senior psychologist
[C] a reputed poet[D] a social historian
Text 3
Earthquake survivors trapped in rubble could one day be saved by an unlikely rescuer：a
robotic caterpillar that burrows its way through debris. Just a few centimeters wide, the robot
relies on magnetic fields to propel it through the kind of tiny crevices that would foil the wheeled
or tracked search robots currently used to locate people trapped in collapsed buildings.
The caterpillar’s inventor, Norihiko Saga of Akita Prefectural University in Japan, will
demonstrate his new method of locomotion at a conference on magnetic materials in Seattle. In
addition to lights and cameras, a search caterpillar could be equipped with an array of sensors to
measure other factors—such as radioactivity or oxygen levels—that could tell human rescuers if
an area is safe to enter.
The magnetic caterpillar is amazingly simple. It moves by a process similar to peristalsis, the
rhythmic contraction that moves food down your intestine. Saga made the caterpillar from a series
of rubber capsules filled with a magnetic fluid consisting of iron particles, water, and a
detergent-like surfactant, which reduces the surface tension of the fluid. Each capsule is linked to
the next by a pair of rubber rods. The caterpillar’s guts are wrapped in a clear, flexible polymer
tube that protects it from the environment.
To make the caterpillar move forwards, Saga moves a magnetic field backwards along the
caterpillar. Inside the caterpillar’s “head” capsule, magnetic fluid surges towards the attractive
magnetic field, causing the capsule to bulge out to the sides and draw its front and rear portions up.
As the magnetic field passes to the next capsule, the first breaks free and springs forward and the
next capsule bunches up. In this way, the caterpillar can reach speeds of 4 centimeters per second
as it crawls along.
Moving the magnetic field faster can make it traverse the caterpillar before all the capsules
have sprung back to their original shapes. The segments then all spring back, almost but not quite
simultaneously.
Saga plans to automate the movement of the caterpillar by placing electromagnets at regular
intervals along the inside of its polymer tube. By phasing the current flow to the electromagnets,
he’ll be able to control it wirelessly via remote control. He also needs to find a new type of rubber
for the magnetic capsules, because the one he’s using at the minute eventually begins to leak.
But crawling is not the most efficient form of locomotion for robots, says Robert Full of the
University of California at Berkeley, an expert in animal motion who occasionally advises robotics
designers. “If you look at the energetic cost of crawling, compared to walking, swimming or
flying, crawling is very expensive,” he says. Walking, on the other every step, energy is conserved
in the foot and then released to help the foot spring up.
Saga acknowledges this inefficiency but says his caterpillar is far more stable than one that
walks, rolls on wheels or flies. It has no moving parts save for a few fluid-filled rubber capsules.
Biped robots and wheeled robots require a smooth surface and are difficult to miniaturize, and
flying robots have too many moving parts. “My peristaltic crawling robot is simple—and it
works,” he says.
31. From this passage, we can learn that　
[A] A robotic caterpillar can crawl by a pair of rubber rods
[B] When a caterpillar moves, the magnetic field moves backwards along it
[C] The environment couldn’t influence a robotic caterpillar’s guts, which are wrapped in a
capsule
[D] Crawling is very stable and efficient, and when it moves, only a few elements are needed
32. According to this passage, which is not TRUE about the construction of the robotic caterpillar?
[A] A robotic caterpillar is made from a series of rubber capsules filled with a magnetic fluid.
[B] Iron particles, water, and a detergent-like surfactant form a magnetic fluid.
[C] Each capsule filled with a magnetic fluid is linked to a pair of rubber rods.
[D] In order to keep stable condition, the caterpillar’s guts are wrapped in a clear, flexible polymer
tube.
33. The meaning of the word “peristalsis” in paragraph three is similar to.
[A] swimming [B] flying [C] crawling [D] walking
34. Comparing the robotic caterpillar and the other robots, which of the following is not true?
[A] A smooth surface is indispensable to biped robots and wheeled robots.
[B] Flying robots are very inconvenient when moving, because they have too many moving parts.
[C] The robotic caterpillar only has rubber capsules filled with a magnetic fluid.
[D] It’s incapable for wheeled robots to locate trapped people because they are impossible to
miniaturize.
35. The passage is mainly about　
[A] why a robotic caterpillar can find trapped people
[B] how a robotic caterpillar work
[C] the instruction of the magnetic caterpillar
[D] how a robotic caterpillar peristalsis
Text 4
When a disease of epidemic proportions rips into the populace, scientists immediately get to
work, trying to locate the source of the affliction and find ways to combat it. Oftentimes, success
is achieved, as medical science is able to isolate the parasite, germ or cell that causes the problem
and finds ways to effectively kill or contain it. In the most serious of cases, in which the entire
population of a region or country may be at grave risk, it is deemed necessary to protect the entire
population through vaccination, so as to safeguard lives and ensure that the disease will not
spread.
The process of vaccination allows the patient’s body to develop immunity to the virus or
disease so that, if it is encountered, one can ward it off naturally. To accomplish this, a small weak
or dead strain of the disease is actually injected into the patient in a controlled environment, so
that his body’s immune system can learn to fight the invader properly. Information on how to
penetrate the disease’s defenses is transmitted to all elements of the patient’s immune system in a
process that occurs naturally, in which genetic information is passed from cell to cell. This makes
sure that, should the patient later come into contact with the real problem, his body is well
equipped and trained to deal with it, having already done so before.
There are dangers inherent in the process, however. On occasion, even the weakened version
of the disease contained in the vaccine proves too much for the body to handle, resulting in the
immune system succumbing, and, therefore, the patient’s death. Such is the case of the smallpox
vaccine, designed to eradicate the smallpox epidemic that nearly wiped out the entire Native
American population and killed massive numbers of settlers. Approximately 1 in 10,000 people
who receives the vaccine contract the smallpox disease from the vaccine itself and dies from it.
Thus, if the entire population of the United States were to receive the Smallpox Vaccine today,
3000 Americans would be left dead.
Fortunately, the smallpox virus was considered eradicated in the early 1970s, ending the
mandatory vaccination of all babies in America. In the event of a re-introduction of the disease,
however, mandatory vaccinations may resume, resulting in more unexpected deaths from
vaccination. The process, which is truly a mixed blessing, may indeed hide some hidden curses.
36.The best title for the text maybe　
[A] “Vaccinations: A Blessing or A Curse”
[B] “Principles of Vaccinations”
[C] “Vaccines: Methods and Implications”
[D] “A Miracle Cure Under Attack”
37.What does the example of the Smallpox Vaccine illustrate?
[A] The possible negative outcome of administering vaccines.
[B] The practical use of a vaccine to control an epidemic disease.
[C] The effectiveness of vaccines in eradicating certain disease.
[D] The method by which vaccines are employed against the disease.
38.The phrase “ward it off naturally” (Paragraph 2) most probably means　
[A] dispose of it naturally [B] fight it off with ease
[C] see to it reluctantly [D] split it up properly
39.Which of the following is true according to the text?
[A] Saving the majority would necessarily justify the death of the minority.
[B] The immune system can be trained to fight weaker versions of a disease.
[C] Mandatory vaccinations are indispensable to the survival of the populace.
[D] The process of vaccination remains a mystery to be further resolved.
40.The purpose of the author in writing this passage is　
[A] to comment and criticize [B] to demonstrate and argue
[C] to interest and entertain[D] to explain and inform
Part B
Sample one
Directions:
In the following text, some sentences have been removed. For Questions 41-45, choose the most
suitable one from the list A-G to fit into each of the numbered blanks. There are two extra choices,
which do not fit in any of the blanks. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)
We are seeing a series of paradoxes at the turn of the millennium. On the one hand,
globalization means that national frontiers are becoming increasingly meaningless, but on the
other, we are being swept by a wave of parochialism, with countries clinging to the notion of
sovereignty.41）　But there are so many factors in the world that make this position increasingly
meaningless. Governments no longer have complete control over their economic and monetary
policies, and many multinationals now have greater profits than individual country’s GDP.
The end of the cold war has brought its own dangers and we need to find a new balance of power
in the world. It has also spawned many conflicts. Governments must be prepared to surrender
some authority to global and regional institutions or we risk world disorder. It is tragic that, just
when we need a strong international organization, the United Nations is starved of funds and often
sidelined by its own member states. What happened in East Timor was unforgivable because it
was foreseeable. Angola has beenanother sad instance of international vacillation. 42）　
I do think world war is less likely for the present, although I worry about the proliferation of
nuclear weapons at one end and lethal small arms at the other. 43）　
Another worry stems from the huge economic imbalances in a world where the richest 20 per cent
have 86 per cent of global GDP, and the 20 poorest countries only one per cent.
Humanitarian aid is no more than a palliative. 44）　The international implications of, for
example, the collapse of Africa are unthinkable. There must be a new concept of security based
not just on military and defense matters but on economic and social concerns too. 45）　
The global pendulum has swung too far towards a total dependence on market forces, but finding
some point of balance in the middle is extremely difficult. I am by nature optimistic, but in my
gloomier moments I sometimes think the only solution will be an invasion from outer space-then
at last everyone would unite!
［A］ As long as more than a million people continue to live in direct poverty we can never hope to
achieve national or international stability.
［B］We need an international body with teeth-morally and in action. Perhaps the UN should be
given its own force.
［C］ Many members of the UN have only become nation states in the last few decades, so I can
understand why they are so keen to hang on to their independence.
［D］It is terrifying the way that power is increasingly disseminated to small, completely ruthless
groups like terrorists, drug traffickers and local warlords. The great imponderable is that some nut
could create a nuclear explosion. Or that some essentially local conflict could escalate out of
control. You cannot isolate instability: it gets exported.
［E］The mainly purpose of founding the United Nations is preventing aggressions and wars. It is
hard to attribute the success to the United Nations although no new world war broke out since its
establishment. The United Nations is always helpless of preventing the regional wars.
［F］The notion of sovereignty is more and more strong while the influence of the United Nations
is weaker and weaker.
［G］Western countries must increase their development aid programmes, not out of charity but
for reasons of self-interest.
Sample Two
Directions:
The following paragraphs are given in a wrong order. For Questions 41-45, you are required to
reorganize these paragraphs into a coherent text by choosing from the list A-G to fill in each
numbered box. The first and the last paragraphs have been placed for you in Boxes. Mark your
answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)
[A] But the latest big revision to the statistics, published by the Commerce Department at the end
of July, told a different story. It showed that personal savings rates are still on a downward trend,
and have fallen particularly sharply in the past 18 months.
[B] Bill Clinton likes to boast that America’s economy is in its best shape for 30 years. In many
ways he is right: the expansion has hummed along for more than six years, inflation is low, and
unemployment has tumbled to 4.8%, a level not seen since the 1960s. Yet there is one glaring
difference between today’s economy and the glory days of a generation ago: saving, or rather the
lack of it.
[C] Personal saving is only one factor in America’s overall rate of thrift. Firms make a
contribution through corporate saving (in fact, many economists reckon the distinction between
household and corporate saving is a rather arbitrary one), and the government, too, plays a big role.
The bigger the deficit, the more it drags down overall savings rates.
[D] At one level, this revision cleared up a bit of a mystery. Economists had been surprised at the
lack of a “wealth effect”: people did not seem to be spending much more, despite huge
appreciation in the value of their stock market assets. The new statistics show much higher
consumption.
[E] The picture is not pretty. Since the mid-1970s the long-trend in household saving has been
downwards. Recently it appeared that this picture might be changing: personal saving rates in the
mid-1990s appeared flat, or even on a slightly upward trend.
[F] Last year Americans put only 4.3% of their disposable income in the piggy bank, just about
half as much as their parents salted away in 1967. Unless this trend towards profligacy is stemmed,
and preferably reversed, America’s “miracle economy” will rest on shaky foundations. Less
obvious, however, is how to do it.
[G] A decade ago, America’s abysmal savings rates could be explained to a large extent by
government profligacy. But now that the big and deficit has been tamed, and which the prospect of
a balanced budget by 2002, it is time to turn attention to Americans themselves.
Order:
B→
41　→
42　→
43　→
44　→
45　→
D
Sample Three
Directions:
You are going to read a text about stupidity for dummies, followed by a list of examples. Choose
the best example from the list A　F for each numbered subheading (41　45). There is one extra
example which you do not need to use. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)
Sternberg, an expert in intelligence testing, contends that, contrary to public belief, stupidity
is not the opposite of smartness. He points out that many of the singularly idiotic acts that come to
public attention are the work of people who are, in fact, highly intelligent. He argues instead that
stupidity is more properly viewed as the opposite of wisdom-which he sees as the ability to apply
knowledge to achieve a common good. His “imbalance theory of foolishness” suggests that there
are aspects of life as a smart person that actually foster stupidity. Which is to say, it sometimes
takes a really smart person to do something truly stupid. Sternberg recently took the time to
answer some of our stupid questions.
（41）What attracted you to the study of stupidity?
The roots of the book were in my wondering about what’s up with people who have very high
intelligence in the traditional sense, but seem to be out to lunch in another sense.
（42）The difference between stupidity, foolishness, dumbness and, say, plain boneheadedness:
The book is really about foolishness, which is the opposite of wisdom. There are many smart
people who are unwise.
（43）Do you see stupidity as an objective behavior or ,as one of your contributors does, a
subjective judgment that reflects more on the observer?
Stupidity is not in the behavior, nor in the eyes of the observer. It is in the interaction between the
person and the situation. Different kinds of situations elicit different behavior from people.
（44） “The best way to avoid stupidity is not to be afraid of looking stupid　”
People often fail to learn because they do not want to look stupid. As a result, they make or repeat
mistakes they could have avoided.
（45）Of course, some would suggest that certain stupid behaviors are categorizable as something
else. Some would say philandering or shoplifting, for example, are products of something other
than stupidity.
I think it is a combination of the fallacies I mentioned: Egocentrism, omniscience, omnipotence
and invulnerability. Many smart people are philanderers.
Everyone has weaknesses. The issue in terms of the book is what they do about these
weaknesses—whether they find ways to make up for them or whether they allow them to destroy
their lives.
[A] The foolish part is in the belief that one need only consider one’s own feelings about the
matter and not the feelings of others, especially the partner (egocentrism); that it is not okay for
others but that one knows all about these things so it is all right for oneself (omniscience); that one
can basically do whatever one wants because of who one is (omnipotence); and that, unlike others
suckers, one never will get caught (invulnerability).
[B] How did Richard Nixon ever get involved in Watergate and the subsequent cover　up? What
was Bill Clinton thinking when he kept repeating the same mistakes in his personal life? More
recently, how did the intelligent people who ran Enron think they would get away with a shell
game? There are lots of examples. And the truth is, some of them are in my own life, too. None of
us is immune.
[C] For example, Clinton was very smart in most domains of his life, but in some kinds of
interpersonal situations with women, he appears not to have been. The Enron bloodsuckers may
have been perfectly fine in their home lives, but given the chance to rip off a corporation, they
went for it. Problem is, we may see how sensibly we behave, on average, so that we are not alert
for the kinds of situations where we act foolishly.
[D] Unfortunately, no. It usually takes others to point it out to us. Or, looking back, we often
marvel at how we could have been oblivious to our stupidity. But the problem is that smart people
often use their intelligence to find ways to immunize themselves or isolate themselves from
feedback. For example, they may hire toadies who just tell them what they want to hear.
[E] Also, sometimes when they make mistakes, people try to cover them up so as not to appear to
have been stupid and then look even stupider when the cover　up comes to light. That, of course,
is what happened to Nixon and Clinton, and to many, many others, such as currency traders who
have tried to cover up losses or high-level executives at software companies who have tried to
cover up improprieties.
[F] The book is not about stupidity in the classical sense, which is usually thought of as a very low
IQ. So I would distinguish the “mental retardation” kind of stupidity from the kind of foolishness
this book discusses. The problem is that smart people often do not realize how susceptible they are
to being foolish, as any number of world leaders have gone out of their way to show.
Sample Four
Directions:
You are going to read a list of headings and a text about Backlogs of History. Choose the most
suitable heading from the list A-F for each numbered paragraph (41-45). The first and last
paragraphs of the text are not numbered. There is one extra heading which you do not need to use.
Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)
[A] Passion for personal and familial archival collection.
[B] Reception of a hospital delivery bill.
[C] Overabundance of trivial personal documents.
[D] Explosion of public documents.
[E] It is imperative to put archival policies into perspective.
[F] What tactics should be adopted in document-saving?
One morning a few years ago an envelope arrived from my parents containing the bill from New
Rochelle Hospital for my delivery, in 1952. The contents of a basement or attic were being culled,
and the bill had turned up in one of the many cardboard reliquaries that have long lent a kind of
ballast to my childhood home. The hospital’s total charge for a five-day stay including drugs and
phone calls, came to $187.86. I was amazed at the cost, to be sure. But I was also struck by
something else: that among all those decades’ worth of family documents my parents had looked
through, the delivery bill was the only thing they thought of sufficient interest to pass along.
41　
At some point most of us realize that having a personal archival strategy is an inescapable aspect
of modern life: one has to draw the line somewhere. What should the policy be toward children’s
drawings and report cards? Toward personal letters and magazine clippings? People work out
answers to such questions, usually erring, I suspect, on the side of over-accrual of rubbish
documents. Almost everyone seems to save— or “curate,” as archaeologist says—issues of
National Geographic. That is why in garbage landfills copies of that magazine are rarely found in
isolation; rather, they are found in herds, when an entire collection has been discarded after an
owner has died or moved.
42　
I happen to be an admirer of the archiving impulse and an inveterate archivist at the household
level. Though not quite one of those people whom public-health authorities seem to run across
every few years, with a house in which neatly bundled stacks of newspaper occupy all but narrow
aisles, I do tend to save almost everything that is personal and familial, and even to supplement
this private hoard with oddities of a more public nature—a calling card of Thomas Nast’s, for
instance, and Kim Philby copy of the Joy of Cooking.
43　
I cannot help wondering, though, whether as a nation we are compiling archives at a rate that will
exceed anyone’s ability ever to make sense of them. A number of observers have cited the problem
of “information overload” as if it were a recent development, largely the consequence of
computers. In truth, the archive backlog has been a problem for millennia. Historians obviously
have problems when information is scarce, but it’s not hard to see a very different problem
emerging as source material becomes spectacularly overabundant.
44　
Leave aside the task of assessing an entire epoch and consider what is required in purely physical
terms to preserve even a single prominent person’s lifetime documentary output. Benjamin
Disraeli’s correspondence survived down to the level of what today would be an E-mail message:
“My darling, I shall be home for dinner at 1/2 pt 7. In haste, Your, Dis.”Woodrow Wilson left so
much behind that the historian Arthur S. Link spent his entire career at Princeton University
annotating and publishing Wilson’s personal papers, in sixty-nine volumes.
45　
Is it preposterous to begin thinking of some of our archives as the new tels? Tels are the mounds
that layer upon layer of former cities make; they are everywhere in the Middle East, harboring the
archaeological record of thousands of years of human history. But there are too many of them for
more than a few ever to be excavated systematically and understanding what’s in even those few
takes decades if not centuries.
Don’t get me wrong: I am not proposing that we discard any thing at all. One rarely knows in
advance what will turn out to be of interest or importance and what should have gone directly into
the oubliette. It is always delightful when something is discovered. But information does have its
natural predators, and it may be that sometimes natural processes work out for the best.
Part C
Directions:
Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese. Your
translation should be written neatly on ANSWER SHEET 2. (10 points)
Immigrants adoption of English as their primary language is one measure of assimilation into
the larger United States society. Generally languages define social groups and provide justification
for social structures. Hence, a distinctive language sets a cultural group off from the dominant
language group. (46)Throughout United States history this pattern has resulted in one consistent,
unhappy consequence discrimination against members of the cultural minority Language
differences provide both a way to rationalize subordination and a ready means for achieving it.
Traditionally, English has replaced the native language of immigrant groups by the second or
third generation. Some characteristics of today’s Spanish-speaking population, however, suggest
the possibility of a departure from this historical pattern. Many families retain ties in Latin
America and move back and forth between their present and former communities. (47)This
“revolving door” phenomenon, along with the high probability of additional immigrants from
the south, means that large Spanish-speaking communities are likely to exist in the United States
for the indefinite future.
This expectation underlies the call for national support for bilingual education in
Spanish-speaking communities’ public schools. Bilingual education can serve different purposes.
(48)However, in the 1960s, such programs were established to facilitate the learning of English so
as to avoid disadvantaging children in their other subjects because of their limited English. More
recently, many advocates have viewed bilingual education as a means to maintain children’s native
languages and cultures. The issue is important for people with different pole to separatism at the
other. To date, the evaluations of bilingual education’s impact on learning have been inconclusive.
The issue of bilingual education has, nevertheless, served to unite the leadership of the nation’s
Hispanic communities. (49)Grounded in concerns about status that are directly traceable to the
United States history of discrimination against Hispanics, the demand for maintenance of the
Spanish language in the schools is an assertion of the worth of a people and their culture. If the
United States is truly a multicultural nation—that is, if it is one culture reflecting the contributions
of many—this demand should be seen as a demand not for separation but for inclusion.
More direct efforts to force inclusion can be misguided. For example, movement to declare
English the official language do not truly advance the cohesion of a multicultural nation. They
alienate the twenty million people who do not speak English as their mother tongue. They are
unnecessary since the public’s business is already conducted largely in English. (50)Further, given
the present state of understanding about the effects of bilingual education on learning, it would be
unwise to require the universal use of English. Finally, it is for parents and local communities to
choose the path they will follow, including hoe much of their culture they want to maintain for
their children.
Section Ⅲ Writing
Part A
51. Directions:
You are going to write a letter to your university newspaper editor. And your letter should include
the following points.
1) Introduce the activities of volunteers in your university,
2) State its importance,
3) Your own practice　
You should write about 100 words on ANSWER SHEET 2. Do not sign your own name at the end
of the letter. Use “Li Ming” instead. You do not need to write the address. (10 points)
Part B
52.
The Widening of College Enrollment
Directions:
Study the following graphs and write an essay in 160—200 words　
Your essay must cover these three points　
1)Effect of the country’s rapid growth of GDP on its higher education,
2)Possible reason for the effect,
3)Your prediction of the tendency of the development of China’s higher education　
Chart I Grouth of GDP
（in billion yuan）
Chart 2 Students Studying at College
(in million)
Chart 3 College Enrollment (in million)