Reading Comprehension

Section A

Directions: In this section, there is a passage with several blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

A) equipment

B) Exhausted

C) Tiring

D) dragged on

E) retreat

F) hit-and-run

G) nightmare

H) trapped

I) flee

J) at the cost

K) strength

L) limped

M) stroke

N) stuck

O) escaped

​ Napoleon soon realized he could not feed, clothe, and quarter his army in Moscow during the winter. In October 1812, he ordered his Grand Army to 1) from Moscow.
​ The French retreat turned into a 2) . From fields and forests, the Russians launched 3) attacks on the French. A short distance from Moscow, the temperature had already dropped to minus 4 degrees Celsius. On November 3, the winter’s first snow came. 4) horses fell dead in their tracks. Cannon became 5) in the snow. Equipment had to be burned for fuel. Soldiers took ill and froze to death. The French soldiers 6) , leaving the dead along every mile.
​ As the Russian army was gathering its strength, the French had to flee Russia to avoid certain defeat. At the Berezina River, the Russians nearly 7) the retreating French by burning the bridges over the swollen river. But Napoleon, by a 8) of luck, was able to build two new bridges. Thousands of French soldiers escaped, but 9) of fifty thousand dead. Once across the Berezina, the tattered survivors 10) toward Vilna.

Answer：

E G F B N D H M J L

Section B

Directions: There are several passages in this section. 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.

Passage One

Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage.
Terrorism may be viewed as the use of force or violence against persons or property to threaten or coerce (迫使) a government, a formal organization, or a civilian population for political, religious, or social objectives. Since terrorists commonly use violence against civilian targets, their actions are widely condemned as morally unacceptable. In practice, as with a great many other behaviors, what constitutes terrorism is a matter of social definition. When nations resort to violence to further their interests, the results are considered as being legal warfare. In many respects, terrorism is an extension of that approach by people who lack the armies of a state.
For many years the public, government officials, and scholars treated terrorism primarily as a “nuisance.” But recently, we have come to see terrorism as a new mode of warfare with far-reaching implications. Terrorism serves as an avenue of political expression for some militants (好战分子), whether they are motivated by ideology, ethnicity, or religion. However, what distinguishes much contemporary terrorism is not so much its motivation or purpose, but rather the extent of state involvement in carrying out well-planned and highly destructive acts against adversary nations.
Another feature of contemporary terrorism has been the extent to which it has become a media event. Terrorism is usually aimed at a media audience, not the actual victims. The act of media coverage also enhances the importance of “the problem” that led to the terrorist activities. Newspaper readers and television viewers see “the problem” as of much greater importance and as justifying national or international action.

11. According to the passage, terrorism is widely unacceptable ______.
    A) for its illegal actions
    B) because it is often targeted at ordinary people
    C) as it usually leads to death and hatred
    D) for its violence
12. The word “approach” at the end of the first paragraph refers to ______.
    A) legal warfare
    B) establishing a state
    C) furthering one’s interests via violence
    D) terrorism
13. People used to ______.
    A) underestimate the influence of terrorism
    B) pay much attention to terrorism
    C) suffer less from terrorists’ actions
    D) have sympathy with the terrorists
14. Terrorism in the past ______.
    A) had different objectives
    B) had different motivations
    C) was more influential
    D) was less closely related to governments
15. Terrorists use media mainly ______.
    A) to make their aim known to the world
    B) to carry out violent actions
    C) as an avenue of political expression
    D) to condemn the adversary nations

Passage Two

Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage.
Given a good shopping position and the right amount of money available, an educated person ought to be able to make a small, steady living out of a bookshop. It is not a difficult trade to learn and the large chain-stores can never force the small independent bookseller out of existence as they have done to the corner shop and the local milkman. But the hours of work are very long ― I was only a part-time employee, but my employer put in a seventy-hour week, apart from regular journeys out of shopping hours to buy books. It is an unhealthy life too. As a rule a bookshop is very cold in winter, because if it is too warm the windows get steamed up, and a bookseller depends on the display in his windows trying to bring customers into his shop. Books give off more dust and dirtier dust than anything else yet invented, and the top of a book is the place where every fly prefers to die.
But the real reason why I should not like to be back in the book trade for life is that while I was in it, I lost my love of books. A bookseller cannot always tell the truth about his books, and that gives him a dislike for them; still worse is the fact that he is always dusting them and moving them to-and-fro. There was a time when I really did love books ― loved the sight and smell and feel of them ― if they were fifty or more years old, that is. Nothing pleased me quite so much as to buy a bargain lot of them for 50 pence at a country auction sale. There is a peculiar flavor about the knocked-about unexpected books you pick up in that kind of collection; little-known eighteenth-century poets, out-of-date geography books, one or two volumes of forgotten novels. For occasional reading ― in your bath, for instance, or late at night when you are too tired to go to sleep ― there is nothing as good as a very old picture storybook.
But as soon as I went to work in the bookshop I stopped buying books. Seen in a mass, five or ten thousand at a time, books were dull and even a little sickening. Nowadays I do buy one occasionally, but only if it is a book that I want to read and can’ t borrow, and I never buy rubbish.

16. What does the author mean in the first sentence of the passage?
    A) If an educated person wants to make a living, he should run a bookshop.
    B) It is easy for an educated person to earn money by running a bookshop.
    C) When an educated person is given a good shopping position and a certain amount of money he should open a bookshop.
    D) If an educated person has proper money and finds a suitable shopping location, he could open a bookshop for steady income.
17. Running a bookshop is a good way to make a living because ________.
    A) the owner will never be forced out of business by bigger shops
    B) there are many corner shops to help
    C) even the local milkmen come to buy books
    D) the bookseller is independent
18. Bookshops are kept cold in winter because _______.
    A) it is a rule which must be followed
    B) booksellers want customers to see the display clearly through the windows
    C) more customers come to buy books in winter
    D) customers like them kept cold
19. All of the following statements are true EXCEPT ________.
    A) the author was tired of cleaning books and moving them about in the bookshop
    B) his telling lies about the books made him lose his love of them
    C) running a bookshop is not a difficult trade to learn
    D) the author did not like any books
20. The author once took great pleasure in _________.
    A) buying old books and reading them occasionally
    B) taking bath occasionally late at night
    C) buying all kinds of books
    D) buying books quite often which he was unable to borrow

Passage Three

Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
El Nino means “little boy” in Spanish; when capitalized, it refers to the Christ child. This innocent-sounding name originated in the 19th century, when Peruvian sailors noticed that every few years around Christmastime, waters near the coasts warmed up and the current shifted southward. But this “little boy” plays havoc around the globe.
El Nino’s vast impact on humans has often been catastrophic. The El Nino of 1982?1983 inflicted $13 billion in damage and claimed some 2,000 lives. In Australia day turned to night when a dust storm blanketed Melbourne; brush fires raged in its wake. In place of its normal monsoon, Southern India got dried-up crops and the threat of mass starvation. At the same time, violent rainstorms devastated the Western Hemisphere: Peru’s fishing industry once one of the richest in the world was wiped out, and seaside towns were washed into the Pacific.
Is there a good side to El Nino? There can be. Zebiak notes that the number of tropical hurricanes in the Atlantic is reduced during an El Nino year. One theory is that winds created by El Nino shear off the tops of Atlantic hurricanes, aborting them before they reach full force. And a team of scientists in Israel who study tree rings and satellite cloud pictures concluded that El Nino may bring precious moisture to the thirsty Middle East. "It is perhaps fitting that El Nino the Christ child should have a link to the Holy Land,” notes scientist Dan Yakir.
This year, scientists around the world are keeping a sharp eye on El Nino. They know that the greater the temperature rise in Pacific waters off South America, the more powerful the El Nino. And this year’s waters have heated up unusually fast.
El Nino’s effects won’t just be climatic, of course the global economy is sure to suffer as well. Drought in Brazil and flooding in Colombia may result in higher prices for coffee and other crops. And fishing industries from Ecuador to California are already being hurt.
Clearly, the more accurately scientists can forecast El Nino, the more people everywhere can prepare. Insurance companies, farmers, power and irrigation companies, public-safety agencies and even tourist boards could benefit from knowing in advance when El Nino will strike.
“Reliable forecasting is still in its infancy,” states Mark Cane. Someday, perhaps, scientists will be able to predict exactly how El Nino will behave. But for now, batten down the hatches and get ready for some wild weather!

21. The phrase “play havoc” in paragraph 1 means “ _____________________”.
    A) cause trouble, damage or destruction
    B) bring benefit or happiness
    C) play an important role
    D) have greenhouse effect
22. According to one theory mentioned in paragraph 3, _______.
    A) the winds created by El Nino will strengthen Atlantic hurricanes
    B) the winds created by El Nino can stop Atlantic hurricanes from reaching full force
    C) El Nino may bring floods to Middle East which is regarded as the Holy Land
    D) El Nino will not bring disaster to the Holy Land, because it is the Christ child
23. All of the following statements are true EXCEPT ________.
    A) there are both good and bad sides to El Nino
    B) El Nino causes global economy to suffer a lot
    C) El Nino may bring precious moisture to the thirsty Middle East
    D) the El Nino of 1982?1983 caused little damage to Peru’s fishing industry
24. From the phrase “in its infancy” of the last paragraph, we can infer that _________.
    A) the forecasting of El Nino is reliable
    B) insurance companies and farmers benefit a lot from the forecasting of El Nino
    C) the forecasting of El Nino has only just started to develop
    D) scientists can already predict exactly how El Nino will behave now
25. From the passage we can see the author’s attitude toward El Nino is ___________________.
    A) optimistic
    B) pessimistic
    C) supportive
    D) objective

Passage Four

Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
We are all inclined to believe that our generation is more civilized than the generation that preceded ours. From time to time, there is even some substantial evidence that we hold in higher regard such civilized attributes as compassion, pity, remorse (懊悔), intelligence and a respect for the customs of people different from ourselves.
Why war then?
Some pessimistic historians think the whole society of man runs in cycles and that one of the phases is war. The optimists, on the other hand, think war is not like an eclipse (日食) or a flood or a spell of bad weather. They believe that it is more like a disease for which a cure could be found if the causes were known.
Because war is the ultimate drama of life and death stories and pictures of it are more interesting than those about peace. This is so true that all of us, and perhaps those of us in television more than most, are often caught up in the action of war to the exclusion of the ideas of it.
If it is true, as we would like to think it is, that our age is more civilized than ages past, we must all agree that it’s very strange that in the twentieth century, our century, we have killed more than 70 million of our fellowmen on purpose, at war. It is very strange that since 1900 more men have killed more other men than in any other seventy years in history.
Probably the reason we are able to do both, that is, believe on the one hand that we are more civilized and on the other hand wage war to kill ― is that killing is not so personal an affair as it once was. The enemy is invisible. One man doesn’t look another in the eye and run him through with a sword. The enemy dead or alive is largely unseen. He is killed by remote control: a loud noise, a distant puff of smoke and then silence.
The pictures of the victim’s wife and children, which he carries in his breast pocket, are destroyed with him. He is not heard to cry out. The question of compassion or pity or remorse does not enter into it. The enemy is not a man; he is a statistic. It is true, too, that more people are being killed at war now than previously because we’re better at doing it than we used to be. One man with one modern weapon can kill thousands.

26. In modern wars more people get killed because _____.
    A) people are more cruel
    B) people don’t care others’ lives
    C) people have more advanced weapons
    D) people are more civilized
27. In what way are we more civilized than the ancients?
    A) We can kill more people.
    B) We respect those people different from us.
    C) We have more interesting stories of war.
    D) We don’t think of killing as a personal affair anymore.
28. In modern war the enemy is treated as _____.
    A) an animal
    B) a victim
    C) a man
    D) a statistic without life
29. How is the enemy killed in modern war?
    A) By an opponent running him through with a sword.
    B) By a man who knows him well.
    C) By remote control.
    D) By a puff of smoke.
30. What is the attitude of the author toward war?
    A) Negative.
    B) Supportive.
    C) Neutral.
    D) Indifferent.

Vocabulary and Structure

Section A

Directions: There are a number of incomplete sentences in this part. For each sentence there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Choose the ONE that best completes the sentence.

31. Some diseases are ______ by certain water animals.
    A) transplanted
    B) transformed
    C) transported
    D) transmitted
32. The new safety regulations were agreed on after _____ with the workforce.
    A) conference
    B) intervention
    C) consultation
    D) assembly
33. She continued to type as fast as ever, though her thumb was badly swollen ______ a hurt.
    A) in
    B) for
    C) with
    D) from
34. Robert will never _____ anything unless he works harder.
    A) head for
    B) come to
    C) account for
    D) amount to
35. As it had not rained for several months, there was a _____ of water.
    A) waste
    B) drop
    C) loss
    D) shortage
36. A ______ wind was blowing from the water.
    A) staff
    B) stiff
    C) stuff
    D) stuffy
37. Plants _____ their own food by photosynthesis.
    A) promote
    B) manufacture
    C) grow
    D) raise
38. Many of the shopkeepers are poor. There isn’t much _____ in this town.
    A) prosperity
    B) advantage
    C) failure
    D) indigence
39. He went into _______ to escape political imprisonment.
    A) trouble
    B) exit
    C) exile
    D) action
40. Sulphur is _____ in Japan and is found elsewhere in Asia in association with volcanic activity.
    A) sufficient
    B) abundant
    C) numerous
    D) considerable
41. The self-discipline required to ________ myself out of bed eleven minutes earlier than usual was considerable.
    A) draft
    B) drink
    C) drain
    D) drag
42. The Russians were attacked and forced to _____.
    A) advance
    B) retire
    C) retreat
    D) draw
43. Don’t ___________ him. He looks stupid but he has great intelligence.
    A) undertake
    B) underestimate
    C) undergo
    D) underlay
44. I left for the office earlier than usual this morning _____ traffic jam.
    A) in line with
    B) for the sake of
    C) in case of
    D) at the risk of
45. The blow to his head was strong enough to _____ him unable to speak.
    A) become
    B) give
    C) render
    D) asset
46. Children in our country are taught to _____ the right-and-wrong principle through thick and thin.
    A) take to
    B) see to
    C) stick to
    D) live up to
47. You’ll have to _____ the ladder to reach the top shelf.
    A) moor
    B) mount
    C) mound
    D) mould
48. At the first _______ of twelve all the workers in the factory stopped for lunch.
    A) strike
    B) bell
    C) stroke
    D) hit
49. The mechanic said that the work would be done quickly, but he would not _____ himself to a specific time.
    A) admit
    B) permit
    C) commit
    D) submit
50. A tree fallen across the road was a(n) ______ to our car and we had to push it away.
    A) difficulty
    B) stop
    C) help
    D) obstacle
51. Oxford University is to ________ with controversial reforms of the way it is run, including plans to hand more power to business despite growing opposition among some deans.
    A) press upon
    B) press onto
    C) press ahead
    D) press into
52. Greater effort is needed to ______ children in road safety.
    A) conduct
    B) tutor
    C) inform
    D) instruct
53. Napoleon was sent into ______ on an island after his failure at Waterloo.
    A) exile
    B) excess
    C) excel
    D) access
54. The speech which he made ______ the project has bothered me greatly.
    A) being concerned
    B) concerned
    C) concerning
    D) be concerned
55. The changes to the national health system will first be _____ in some provinces for a try next year and carried out all over the country based on the experience later.
    A) fulfilled
    B) popularized
    C) implemented
    D) drafted
56. The 5.12 Earthquake _______ thousands of people homeless in Sichuan.
    A) caused
    B) rendered
    C) leaded
    D) resulted
57. By the time the ________ ended, the citizens were nearly starving.
    A) sieve
    B) saga
    C) sage
    D) siege
58. Having lost our way, we were _____ to spend the night in the forest.
    A) obliged
    B) decided
    C) intended
    D) remained
59. We have to raise our prices because of the increase in the cost of ______ materials.
    A) raw
    B) rough
    C) original
    D) primitive
60. One of the urgent tasks the company managers are faced with at present is to _____ the world market.
    A) export
    B) explode
    C) exploit
    D) expose
61. I know it’s somewhere off Silver Street but I just can’t _____ where it is.
    A) specify
    B) specialize
    C) memorize
    D) realize
62. In each dynasty, the toughest problem the king was facing was to decide which son would be his successor and _____ of the country.
    A) take in charge
    B) take command
    C) take responsibility
    D) take control
63. Before the gases are discharged into the atmosphere they must be _____ harmless.
    A) rendered
    B) disposed
    C) handled
    D) converted
64. This dress material is durable and will _____ repeated washings.
    A) stand up
    B) put up with
    C) withstand
    D) endure
65. The gymnast seemed to _____ to give a performance on the balance beam.
    A) exercise herself
    B) signify her readiness
    C) be poised
    D) be trained
66. The teachers ______ themselves with planning out the work of the coming semester.
    A) employed
    B) involved
    C) occupied
    D) engaged
67. The soldier tried not to show his ______ when he saw the enemy.
    A) anger
    B) frighten
    C) sorrow
    D) fright
68. The basic aim of the establishment of this institution is the _______ of H1N1.
    A) conquest
    B) fight
    C) work
    D) treatment
69. The shock of her daughter’s death _______ her unable to remain calm.
    A) caused
    B) had
    C) enabled
    D) rendered
70. One day the lady met with a real ______ who had been sleeping on the streets for years.
    A) down-and-out
    B) down-to-earth
    C) out-and-out
    D) in-and-out

以上试卷得分为93分，主要是后半部分选择题答案不确定

Reading Comprehension

Section A

Directions: In this section, there is a passage with several blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

A) merchant

B) appearance

C) in accordance with

D) appeared

E) able

F) startled

G) tiny

H) definite

I) indefinite

J) capable

K) occurred

L) startling

M) wrinkled

N) reflections

O) in alliance with

​ These 1) have 2) to me because I read in this morning’s paper that Edward Hyde Burton had died at Kobe. He was a 3) and he had been in business in Japan for many years. I knew him very little, but he interested me because once he gave me a great surprise. Unless I had heard the story from his own lips, I should never have believed that he was 4) of such an action. It was more 5) because both in 6) and manner he suggested a very 7) type. Here if ever was a man all of a piece. He was a 8) little fellow, not much more than five feet four in height, and very slender, with white hair, a red face much 9) , and blue eyes. I suppose he was about sixty when I knew him. He was always neatly and quietly dressed 10) his age and station.

Answer：N K A J L B H G M C

Section B

Directions: There are several passages in this section. 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.

Passage One

Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage.

​ How we look and how we appear to others probably worries us more when are in our teens or early twenties than at any other time in our life. Few of us are content to accept ourselves as we are, and few are brave enough to ignore the trends of fashion.
​ Most fashion magazines or TV advertisements try to persuade us that we should dress in a certain way or behave in a certain manner. If we do, they tell us, we will be able to meet new people with confidence and deal with every situation confidently and without embarrassment. Changing fashion, of course, does not apply just to dress. A barber today does not cut a boy’s hair in the same way as he used to, and girls do not make up in the same way as their mothers and grandmothers did. The advertisers show us the latest fashionable styles and we are constantly under pressure to follow the fashion in case our friends think we are odd or dull.
​ What causes fashions to change? Sometimes convenience or practical necessity or just the fancy of an influential person can establish a fashion. Take hats, for example. In cold climates, early buildings were cold inside, so people wore hats indoors as well as outside. In recent times, the late President Kennedy caused a depression in the American hat industry by not wearing hats: more American men followed his example.
​ Today, society is much freer and easier than it used to be. It is no longer necessary to dress like everyone else. Within reason, you can dress as you like or do your hair the way you like instead of the way you should because it is the fashion. The popularity of jeans and the “untidy” look seems to be a reaction against the increasingly expensive fashion of the top fashion houses.
​ At the same time, appearance is still important in certain circumstances and then we must choose our clothes carefully. It would be foolish to go to an interview for a job in a law firm wearing jeans and a sweater; and it would be discourteous to visit some distinguished scholar looking as if we were going to the beach or a night club. However, you need never feel depressed if you don’t look like the latest fashion photos. Look around you and you’ll see that no one else does either!

11. The author thinks that people are ________.
    A) satisfied with their appearance
    B) concerned about appearance in old age
    C) far from neglecting what is in fashion
    D) reluctant to follow the trends in fashion
12. Fashion magazines and TV advertisements seem to link fashion to ________.
    A) confidence in life
    B) personal dress
    C) personal behavior
    D) personal success
13. Which is NOT the reason that makes fashions change?
    A) Practicality.
    B) Individual affection.
    C) Celebrity effect.
    D) Convenience.
14. Present-day society is much freer and easier because it emphasizes ________.
    A) uniformity
    B) formality
    C) informality
    D) individuality
15. Which is the main idea of the last paragraph?
    A) Care about appearance in formal situations.
    B) Fashion in formal and informal situations.
    C) Ignoring appearance in informal situations.
    D) Ignoring appearance in all situations.

Passage Two

Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage.
Everybody loves a fat pay rise. Yet pleasure at your own can vanish if you learn that a colleague has been given a bigger one. Indeed, if he has a reputation for slacking, you might even be outraged. Such behavior is regarded as “all too human”, with the underlying assumption that other animals would not be capable of this finely developed sense of grievance (抱怨). But a study by Sarah Brosnan and Frans de Waal of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, which has just been published in Nature, suggests that it all too monkey, as well.
The researchers studied the behaviour of female brown capuchin monkeys. They look cute. They are good-natured, co-operative creatures, and they share their food tardily. Above all, like their female human counterparts, they tend to pay much closer attention to the value of “goods and services” than males.
Such characteristics make them perfect candidates for Dr. Brosnan’s and Dr. de waal’s study. The researchers spent two years teaching their monkeys to exchange tokens for food. Normally, the monkeys were happy enough to exchange pieces of rock for slices of cucumber. However, when two monkeys were placed in separate but adjoining chambers (房间), so that each could observe what the other was getting in return for its rock, their behavior became markedly different.
In the world of capuchins grapes are luxury goods (and much preferable to cucumbers). So when one monkey was handed a grape in exchange for her token, the second was reluctant to hand hers over for a mere piece of cucumber. And if one received a grape without having to provide her token in exchange at all, the other either tossed her own token at the researcher or out of the chamber, or refused to accept the slice of cucumber. Indeed, the mere presence of a grape in the other chamber (without an actual monkey to eat it) was enough to induce resentment in a female capuchin.
The researches suggest that capuchin monkeys, like humans, are guided by social emotions. In the wild, they are a co-operative, groupliving species. Such co-operation is likely to be stable only when each animal feels it is not being cheated. Feelings of righteous indignation, it seems, are not the preserve of people alone. Refusing a lesser reward completely makes these feelings abundantly clear to other members of the group. However, whether such a sense of fairness evolved independently in capuchins and humans, or whether it stems from the common ancestor that the species had 35 million years ago, is, as yet, an unanswered question.

16. In the opening paragraph, the author introduces his topic by ________.
    A) posing a contrast
    B) justifying an assumption
    C) making a comparison
    D) explaining a phenomenon
17. The statement “it is all too monkey” (Last sentence, paragraph 1) implies that ________.
    A) monkeys are also outraged by slack rivals
    B) righteous indignation is also monkeys’ nature
    C) monkeys, like humans, tend to complain with each other
    D) no animals other than monkeys can develop such emotions
18. Female capuchin monkeys were chosen for the research most probably because they are ________.
    A) more inclined to weigh what they get
    B) attentive to researchers’ instructions
    C) nice in both appearance and temperament
    D) more generous than their male companions
19. Dr. Brosnan and Dr. de Waal have eventually found in their study that the monkeys ________.
    A) are as selfish as humans
    B) can be taught to exchange things
    C) will not be co-operative if feeling treated unfairly
    D) are unhappy when separated from others
20. What can we infer from the last paragraph?
    A) Monkeys can be trained to develop social emotions.
    B) Human indignation evolved from an uncertain source.
    C) Animals usually show their feelings openly as humans do.
    D) Cooperation among monkeys remains stable only in the wild.

Passage Three

Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
American no longer expect public figures, whether in speech or in writing, to command the English language with skill and gift. Nor do they aspire to such command themselves. In his latest book, Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should, Like, Care, John McWhorter, a linguist and controversialist of mixed liberal and conservative views, sees the triumph of 1960s counter-culture as responsible for the decline of formal English.
Blaming the permissive 1960s is nothing new, but this is not yet another criticism against the decline in education. Mr. McWhorter’s academic speciality is language history and change, and he sees gradual disappearance of “whom”, for example, to be natural and no more regrettable than the loss of the case-endings of Old English.
But the cult of the authentic and the personal, “doing our own thing”, has spelt the death of formal speech, writing, poetry and music. While even the modestly educated sought an elevated tone when they put pen to paper before the 1960s, even the most well regarded writing since then has sought to capture spoken English on the page. Equally, in poetry, the highly personal, performative genre is the only form that could claim real liveliness. In both oral and written English, talking is triumphing over speaking, spontaneity over craft.
Illustrated with an entertaining array of examples from both high and low culture, the trend that Mr. McWhorter documents is unmistakable. But it is less clear, to take the question of his subtitle, “Why We Should, Like, Care”. As a linguist, he acknowledges that all varieties of human language, including non-standard ones like Black English, can be powerfully expressive ― there exists no language or dialect in the world that cannot convey complex ideas. He is not arguing, as many do, that we can no longer think straight because we do not talk proper.
Russians have a deep love for their own language and carry large chunks of memorized poetry in their heads, while Italian politicians tend to elaborate speech that would seem old-fashioned to most English-speakers. Mr. McWhorter acknowledges that formal language is not strictly necessary, and proposes no radical education reforms ― he is really grieving over the loss of something beautiful more than useful. We now take our English “on paper plates instead of china”. A shame, perhaps, but probably an inevitable one.

21. According to McWhorter, the decline of formal English ________.
    A) is inevitable in radical education reforms
    B) is but all too natural in language development
    C) has caused the controversy over the counter-culture
    D) brought about changes in public attitudes in the 1960s
22. The word “talking” (Paragraph 3) denotes ________.
    A) formality
    B) personality
    C) vividness
    D) informality
23. Which of the following statements would McWhorter most likely agree to?
    A) Logical thinking is not necessarily related to the way we talk.
    B) Black English can be more expressive than Standard English.
    C) Non-standard varieties of human language are just as entertaining.
    D) Of all the varieties, Standard English can best convey complex ideas.
24. The description of Russians’ love of memorizing poetry shows the author’s ________.
    A) interest in their language
    B) appreciation of their efforts
    C) struggle against the decline of formal English
    D) contempt for their old-fashionedness
25. According to the last paragraph, “paper plates” is to “china” as ________.
    A) “radical” is to “conservative”
    B) “informal” is to “formal”
    C) “functional” is to “artistic”
    D) “inferior” is to “superior”

Passage Four

Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
How we look and how we appear to others probably worries us more when we are in our teens or early twenties than at any other time in our life. Few of us are content to accept ourselves as we are, and few are brave enough to ignore the trends of fashion.
Most fashion magazines or TV advertisements try to persuade us that we should dress in a certain way or behave in a certain manner. If we do, they tell us, we will be able to meet new people with confidence and deal with every situation confidently and without embarrassment. Changing fashion, of course, does not apply just to dress. A barber today does not cut a boy’s hair in the same way as he used to, and girls do not make up in the same way as their mothers and grandmothers did. The advertisers show us the latest fashionable styles and we are constantly under pressure to follow the fashion in case our friends think we are odd or dull.
What causes fashions to change? Sometimes convenience or practical necessity or just the fancy of an influential person can establish a fashion. Take hats for example. In cold climates, early buildings were cold inside, so people wore hats indoors as well as outside. In recent times, the late President Kennedy caused a depression in the American hat industry by not wearing hats: more American men have followed example.
There is also a cyclical pattern in fashion. In the 1920s in Europe and America, short skirts became fashionable. After World War Ⅱ, they dropped to ankle length. Then they got shorter and shorter until the miniskirt was in fashion. After a few more years, skirts became longer again.
Today, society is much freer and easier than it used to be. It is no longer necessary to dress like everyone else. Within reason, you can dress as you like or do your hair the way you like instead of the way you should because it is the fashion. The popularity of jeans and the “untidy” look seems to be a reaction against the increasingly expensive fashions of the top fashion houses.
At the same time, appearance is still important in certain circumstances and then we must choose our clothes carefully. It would be foolish to go to an interview for a job in a law firm wearing jeans and a sweater; and it would be discourteous to visit some distinguished scholar looking as if we were going to the beach or a night club. However, you need never feel depressed if you don’t look like the latest fashion photo. Look around you and you’ll see that no one else does either!

26. The author thinks that people are _________.
    A) satisfied with their appearance
    B) concerned about appearance in old age
    C) far from neglecting what is in fashion
    D) reluctant to follow the trends in fashion
27. Fashion magazines and TV advertisements seem to link fashion to _________.
    A) confidence in life
    B) personal dress
    C) individual hair style
    D) personal future
28. Causes of fashions are _________.
    A) uniform
    B) varied
    C) unknown
    D) inexplicable
29. Present-day society is much freer and easier because it emphasizes _________.
    A) uniformity
    B) formality
    C) informality
    D) individuality
30. Which is the main idea of the last paragraph?
    A) Care about appearance in formal situations.
    B) Fashion in formal and informal situations.
    C) Ignoring appearance in informal situations.
    D) Ignoring appearance in all situations.

Vocabulary and Structure

Section A

Directions: There are a number of incomplete sentences in this part. For each sentence there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Choose the ONE that best completes the sentence.

31. Let me be quite ______ with you: your work is not good enough.
    A) insincere
    B) unfair
    C) partial
    D) candid
32. Bob seems to have a(n) ______ for knowing which products will sell.
    A) distinction
    B) execution
    C) extinction
    D) instinct
33. He wants the job purely for reasons of ______ and ambition.
    A) humanity
    B) harmony
    C) frequency
    D) vanity
34. It’s ______ ― from the outside the building looks small, but inside it’s quite big.
    A) deceptive
    B) acceptive
    C) receptive
    D) appreciative
35. This mean act of his is quite of a _____ with his conduct generally.
    A) sheet
    B) piece
    C) bit
    D) part
36. I was in a puzzle and _____ to know where he had been.
    A) living
    B) pressing
    C) plucking
    D) dying
37. He is _____ a genius.
    A) part of
    B) something of
    C) much of
    D) handful of
38. He has got _____ stuff ready for building his new house.
    A) heaps of
    B) crowds of
    C) a large quantity of
    D) many a
39. They all have _____ preparing themselves for the coming examination.
    A) set about
    B) set off
    C) set out
    D) set up
40. His parents, _____, are very proud of him as he’s become one of the volunteers of the Shanghai World Expo.
    A) for their parts
    B) by themselves
    C) on their own
    D) of their own
41. There is no easy solution to Japan’s labour _____.
    A) decline
    B) vacancy
    C) rarity
    D) shortage
42. _____ elementary schooling is more important than secondary schooling.
    A) In a way
    B) In the way
    C) On the way
    D) By the way
43. I enjoyed the work at the factory very much, especially in _______ it kept me closely in touch with both workers and management.
    A) which
    B) where
    C) that
    D) the way which
44. She received something ________ a surprise when Robert said that he was coming to New York.
    A) like
    B) in
    C) about
    D) of
45. Class was _____ when the principal came in to tell us the good news.
    A) starting
    B) discussing
    C) suspended
    D) ended
46. The hostess dressed in her finest costume together with the guests of honor _______ comfortably in the living room.
    A) was seated
    B) were seated
    C) was seating
    D) seated
47. Last night his house was broken in, but _____, nothing valuable was stolen.
    A) oddly enough
    B) all in all
    C) in a way
    D) on the whole
48. The boy was late for class over and over again, so Mrs. Smith decided to _______ so that he could get rid of the bad habit. Which of the following is WRONG?
    A) give him a lesson
    B) fail him
    C) discipline him
    D) punish him
49. She loved her father, but his serious crime made her hate him. At that moment, conflicting emotions _______ in her heart.
    A) welled up
    B) flooded up
    C) mounted up
    D) rose up
50. It’s surprising that this innocent-looking person should have _____ such a crime.
    A) performed
    B) made
    C) acted
    D) committed
51. The _______ of the United States says that there must be a presidential election every four years.
    A) Constitution
    B) Law
    C) Legislation
    D) Judicature
52. _______ your opinions are worth considering, the committee finds it unwise to place too much importance on them.
    A) As
    B) Since
    C) Provided
    D) While
53. Everybody is saying how wonderful city life is, but ________ I prefer living in the country.
    A) to my side
    B) for my part
    C) for my side
    D) to my part
54. America will never again have as a nation the spirit of adventure as it ________ before the West was settled.
    A) could
    B) was
    C) would
    D) did
55. She was sitting at the bar ________ a Martini.
    A) sipping
    B) dipping
    C) tipping
    D) licking
56. The car has been well maintained and is in excellent ________.
    A) conclusion
    B) condition
    C) formation
    D) duration
57. The panda is an endangered species, which means that it is very likely to become ________ without adequate protection.
    A) intact
    B) insane
    C) extinct
    D) exempt
58. He was ________ after people told him that sad news.
    A) all of a piece
    B) all a piece
    C) all to pieces
    D) all pieces
59. He was buried in his hometown, ________ his wishes.
    A) according
    B) in accordance to
    C) in accordance with
    D) according with
60. Some of the volcanoes have lain here peacefully for ________ sky-blue lakes have formed in their craters.
    A) as long as
    B) such long as
    C) longer than
    D) so long that
61. In East Asia, a 19 percent average of female representation in parliaments is more than one and a half times ________ of industrial countries.
    A) what
    B) which
    C) much
    D) that
62. I had lost my pen, but she ________ up another one for me from somewhere.
    A) confirmed
    B) confused
    C) conjured
    D) conjectured
63. The US government’s decision to ________ education budget has triggered strong protests from public universities.
    A) slim
    B) trim
    C) trimmer
    D) dim
64. She ________ her shoes with a piece of cloth to make them shine.
    A) rubs
    B) rids
    C) scratches
    D) caresses
65. The weather, which had ________ been sunny and warm, suddenly turned cold again.
    A) thereafter
    B) hitherto（迄今为止）
    C) therefore
    D) hence （因此）
66. Sula seems to have transferred her ______ from Jon to his brother.
    A) affiliations
    B) attractions
    C) affinities
    D) affections
67. You need to demonstrate to the examiners that you have more than a ________ understanding of the text.
    A) liberal（开明的）
    B) figurative（比喻的、形象的）
    C) literal（字面意义的、按照原文的）
    D) comparative（相对的、比较的）
68. He would ________ in Paris every few months and stay a little while; he would get money out of someone or other and then disappear again.
    A) turn to
    B) turn up
    C) turn over
    D) turn down
69. A real man can always smile at any setbacks in life with good ________.
    A) mood
    B) grace
    C) honor
    D) taste
70. This is sheer ________ talk. There is not a word of truth in it.
    A) deceived （欺骗的过去时）
    B) deceptive（欺骗性的）
    C) decent（得体的）
    D) deceit（n. 欺骗; 诡计）

注：以上得分 97 分。