2.In the first paragraph the underlined word “conversion” most probably means______

A. adaption

B. transformation

C. continuation

D. subtraction

3.All of the following processes decrease salinity except__________.

A. evaporation

B. precipitation

C. runoff

D. melting

4.What can be inferred about the water near the bottom of oceans?

A. It is relatively warm

B. It contains a large amount of salt

C. It is formed by melting sea ice

D. It does not move much

Passage 2

People in the United States in the nineteenth century were haunted by the prospect that unprecedented change in the nation's economy would bring social chaos. In the years following 1820, after several decades of relative stability, the economy entered a period of sustained and extremely rapid growth that continued to the end of the nineteenth century. With a growth came a structural change that featured increasing economic diversification and a gradual shift in the nation's labor force from agriculture to manufacturing and other non-agricultural pursuits.

Although the birth rate continued to decline from its high level of the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, the population roughly doubled every generation during the rest of the nineteenth century. As the population grew, its makeup also changed. Massive waves of immigration brought new ethnic groups into the country. Geographic and social mobility — downward as well as upward — touched almost everyone. Local studies show that nearly three -quarters of the population---in the North and South, in the emerging cities of the Northeast, and in the restless rural counties of the West---changed their residence each decade. As a result, historian David Donald has written, "Social atomization affected every segment of society," and it seemed to many people that "all the recognized values of orderly civilization were gradually being eroded.

Rapid industrialization and increased geographic mobility in the nineteenth century had special implications for women because these changes tended to magnify social distinctions. As the roles of men and women played in society became more rigidly defined, so did the roles they played in the home. In the context of extreme competitiveness and dizzying social change, the household lost many of its earlier functions and the home came to serve as a haven of tranquility and order. As the size of families decreased, the roles of husband and wife became more clearly differentiated than ever before. In the middle class especially, men participated in the productive economy while women ruled the home and served as the custodians of civility and culture. The intimacy of marriage that was common in earlier periods was broken, and a gulf that at times seemed unbridgeable was created between husbands and wives.

5.What does the passage mainly discuss?

A．the economic development of the United States in the eighteenth century.

B．ways in which economic development led to social changes in the United States.

C．population growth in the western United States.

D．the increasing availability of industrial jobs for women in the United States.

6.According to the passage, the economy of the United States between 1820s and 1900 was ____.

A. expanding

B. on sharp decline

C. unsteady

D. disorganized

7.As the nineteenth century progressed, the people of the United States______

A. emigrated to other countries to seek better jobs

B. often settled in the restless rural countries of the west

C. tended to be mobile and constantly change the place in which they lived

D. had a higher rate of birth than ever before

8.In the second paragraph, the underlined word “eroded” can best be replaced by which of the following words?

A. maintained

B. strengthened

C. integrated

D. weakened

9.According to the passage, which of the following is true?

A. Economic development exerted no influence on the roles men and women played in their homes.

B. Rapid industrialization and increased geographic mobility tended to increase the social distinctions.

C. The home ceased to function as a quiet and safe place when social change occurred in the nineteenth century.

D. Both husband and wives went out to work, increasing the stability and intimacy of their relationship.

Passage 3

As the merchant class expanded in the eighteenth-century North American Colonies, the silversmith and the coppersmith businesses rose to serve it. Only a few silversmiths were available in New York or Boston in the late seventeenth century, but in the eighteenth century they could be found in all major colonial cities. No other colonial artisans rivaled the silversmiths’ prestige. They handled the most expensive materials and possessed direct connections to prosperous colonial merchants. Their products, primarily silver plates and bowls, reflected their exalted status and testified to their customers’ prominence.

Silver stood as one of the surest ways to store wealth at a time before neighborhood banks existed. Unlike the silver coins from which they were made, silver articles were readily identifiable. Often formed to individual specifications, they always carried the silversmith’s distinctive markings and consequently could be traced and retrieved.

Customers generally secured the silver for the silver object they ordered. They saved coins, took them to smiths, and discussed the type of pieces they desired. Silversmiths complied with these requests by melting the money in a small furnace, adding a bit of copper to form a stronger alloy, and casting the alloy in rectangular blocks. They hammered these ingots to the appropriate thickness by hand, shaped them and pressed designs into them for adornment. Engraving was also done by hand. In addition to plates and bowls, some customers sought more intricate products, such as silver teapots. These were made by shaping or casting parts separately and then soldering them together.

Colonial coppersmithing also come of age in the early eighteenth century and prospered in northern cities. Copper’ s ability to conduct heat efficiently and to resist corrosion contributed to its attractiveness. But because it was expensive in colonial America, coppersmiths were never very numerous. Virtually all copper worked by Smiths was imported as sheets or obtained by recycling old copper goods. Copper was used for practical items, but it was not admired for its beauty. Coppersmiths employed it to fashion pots and kettles for the home. They shaped it in much the same manner as silver or melted it in a foundry with lead or tin. They also mixed it with zinc to make brass for maritime and scientific instruments.

10.According to the passage, which of the following eighteenth-century developments had strong impact on silversmiths?

A. a decrease in the cost of silver.

B. the lack of existence of neighborhood banks.

C. the growing economic prosperity of colonial merchants.

D. the development of new tools used to shape silver.

11.The underlined word “exalted” in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ______

A. Unusual

B. Different

C. Suspicious

D. superior

12.In colonial America, where did silversmiths usually obtain the material to make silver articles?

A. From customers.

B. From importers.

C. From other silversmiths.

D. From the mine.

13.The underlined word “ingots” in Paragraph 3 refers to_____

A. coins that people saved

B. blocks of silver mixed with copper

C. tools used to shape silver plates

D. casts in which parts of silver article can be shaped

14. According to the passage, silversmiths and coppersmiths in colonial America were similar in which of the following ways?

A. The amount of social prestige they had.

B. The way they shaped the metal they worked with.

C. The cost of the goods they made.

D. The practicality of the goods they made.

15.Based on the information in Paragraph 4, which of the following was probably true about copper in the colonies?

A. The copper used by colonists was far from effective in conducting heat

B. The copper was abundant in supply

C. The copper from the mine could be exported as sheets

D. The copper items created by colonial coppersmiths were not skillfully made.

Section B. Answering Questions (10%)

There is only one passage in this part. Read the passage carefully and answer the following questions in accordance with the passage.

When formulating business decisions, Japanese business do not depend only on the opinions of a few at the top of the company; rather, reliance is placed on the opinions of opinions of everyone, at all levels. In the United states business people are skilled at handling strong disagreements in meetings. The Japanese, on the other hand, are adroit at avoiding such confrontations.