Unit 15
Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension
(35 minutes)
Directions: There are 4 reading passages in this part. 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 and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.
As a wise man once said, we are all ultimately alone. But an increasing number of Europeans are choosing to be so at an ever earlier age. This isn’t the stuff of gloomy philosophical contemplations, but a fact of Europe’s new economic landscape, embraced by sociologists, real-estate developers and ad executives alike. The shift away from family life to solo lifestyle, observes a French sociologist, is part of the “irresistible momentum of individualism” over the last century. The communications revolution, the shift from a business culture of stability to one of mobility and the mass entry of women into the workforce have greatly wreaked havoc on (扰乱) Europeans’ private lives.
Europe’s new economic climate has largely fostered the trend toward independence. The current generation of home-aloners came of age during Europe’s shift from social democracy to the sharper, more individualistic climate of American style capitalism. Raised in an era of privatization and increased consumer choice, today’s tech-savvy (精通技术的) workers have embraced a free market in love as well as economics. Modern Europeans are rich enough to afford to live alone, and temperamentally independent enough to want to do so.
Once upon a time, people who lived alone tended to be those on either side of marriage-twenty something professionals or widowed senior citizens. While pensioners, particularly elderly women, make up a large proportion of those living alone, the newest crop of singles are high earners in their 30s and 40s who increasingly view living alone as a lifestyle choice. Living alone was conceived to be negative-dark and cold, while being together suggested warmth and light. But then came along the idea of singles. They were young, beautiful, strong! Now, young people want to live alone.
.The booming economy means people are working harder than ever. And that doesn’t leave much room for relationships. Pimpi Arroyo, a 35-year-old composer who lives alone in a house in Paris, says he hasn’t got time to get lonely because he has too much work. “I have deadlines which would make life with someone else fairly difficult.” Only an Ideal Woman would make him change his lifestyle, he says. Kaufmann, author of a recent book called “The Single Woman and Prince Charming,” thinks this fierce new individualism means that people expect more and more of mates, so relationships don’t last long-if they start at all. Eppendorf, a blond Berliner with a deep tan, teaches grade school in the mornings. In the afternoon she sunbathes or sleeps, resting up for going dancing. Just shy of 50, she says she’d never have wanted to do what her mother did-give up a career to raise a family. Instead, “I’ve always done what I wanted to do: live a self-determined life.”
52. More and more young Europeans remain single because ________.
A) they are driven by an overwhelming sense of individualism
B) they have entered the workforce at a much earlier age
C) they have embraced a business culture of stability
D) they are pessimistic about their economic future
53. What is said about European society in the passage?
A) It has fostered the trend towards small families.
B) It is getting closer to American-style capitalism.
C) It has limited consumer choice despite a free market.
D) It is being threatened by irresistible privatization.
54. According to Paragraph 3, the newest group of singles are ________.
A) warm and lighthearted
B) on either side of marriage
C) negative and gloomy
D) healthy and wealthy
55. The author quotes Eppendorf to show that ________.
A) some modern women prefer a life of individual freedom
B) the family is no longer the basic unit of society in present-day Europe
C) some professional people have too much work to do to feel lonely
D) most Europeans conceive living a single life as unacceptable
.56. What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
A) To review the impact of women becoming high earners.
B) To contemplate the philosophy underlying individualism.
C) To examine the trend of young people living alone.
D) To stress the rebuilding of personal relationships.
Passage Two
Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.
Supporters of the biotech industry have accused an American scientist of misconduct after she testified to the New Zealand government that a genetically modified (GM) bacterium could cause serious damage if released.
The New Zealand Life Sciences Network, an association of pro-GM scientists and organisations, says the view expressed by Elaine Ingham, a soil biologist at Oregon State University in Corvallis, was exaggerated and irresponsible. It has asked her university to discipline her.
But Ingham stands by her comments and says the complaints are an attempt to silence her. “They’re trying to cause trouble with my university and get me fired,” Ingham told New Scientist.
The controversy began on 1 February, when Ingham testified before New Zealand’s Royal Commission on Genetic Modification, which will determine how to regulate GM organisms. Ingham claimed that a GM version of a common soil bacterium could spread and destroy plants if released into the wild. Other researchers had previously modified the bacterium to produce alcohol from organic waste. But Ingham says that when she put it in soil with wheat plants, all of the plants died within a week.
“We would lose terrestrial (陆生的) plants...this is an organism that is potentially deadly to the continued survival of human beings,” she told the commission. She added that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) canceled its approval for field tests using the organism once she had told them about her research in 1999.
.But last week the New Zealand Life Sciences Network accused Ingham of “presenting inaccurate, careless and exaggerated information” and “generating speculative doomsday scenarios (世界末日的局面) that are not scientifically supportable”. They say that her study doesn’t even show that the bacteria would survive in the wild, much less kill massive numbers of plants. What’s more, the network says that contrary to Ingham’s claims, the EPA was never asked to consider the organism for field trials.
The EPA has not commented on the dispute. But an e-mail to the network from Janet Anderson, director of the EPA’s bio-pesticides (生物杀虫剂) division, says “there is no record of a review and/or clearance to field test” the organism.
Ingham says EPA officials had told her that the organism was approved for field tests, but says she has few details. It’s also not clear whether the organism, first engineered by a German institute for biotechnology, is still in use.
Whether Ingham is right or wrong, her supporters say opponents are trying unfairly to silence her.
“I think her concerns should be taken seriously. She shouldn’t be harassed in this way,” says Ann Clarke, a plant biologist at the University of Guelph in Canada who also testified before the commission. “It’s an attempt to silence the opposition.”
57. The passage centers on the controversy ________.
A) between American and New Zealand biologists over genetic modification
B) as to whether the study of genetic modification should be continued
C) over the possible adverse effect of a GM bacterium on plants
D) about whether Elaine Ingham should be fired by her university
58. Ingham insists that her testimony is based on ________.
A) evidence provided by the EPA of the United States
B) the results of an experiment she conducted herself
C) evidence from her collaborative research with German biologists
D) the results of extensive field tests in Corvallis, Oregon
.59. According to Janet Anderson, the EPA ________.
A) has cancelled its approval for field tests of the GM organism
B) hasn’t reviewed the findings of Ingham’s research
C) has approved field tests using the GM organism
D) hasn’t given permission to field test the GM organism
60. According to Ann Clarke, the New Zealand Life Sciences Network ________.
A) should gather evidence to discredit Ingham’s claims
B) should require that the research by their biologists be regulated
C) shouldn’t demand that Ingham be disciplined for voicing her views
D) shouldn’t appease the opposition in such a quiet way
61. Which of the following statements about Ingham is TRUE?
A) Her testimony hasn’t been supported by the EPA.
B) Her credibility as a scientist hasn’t been undermined.
C) She is firmly supported by her university.
D) She has made great contributions to the study of GM bacteria.
Unit 15
52.A 53.B 54.D 55.A 56.C 57.C 58.B 59.D 60.C 61.A
Unit 16
Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension
(35 minutes)
Directions: There are 4 reading passages in this part. 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 and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.
.Passage One
Questions 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.
In a purely biological sense, fear begins with the body’s system for reacting to things that can harm us—the so-called fight-or-flight response. “An animal that can’t detect danger can’t stay alive,” says Joseph LeDoux. Like animals, humans evolved with an elaborate mechanism for processing information about potential threats. At its core is a cluster of neurons (神经元) deep in the brain known as the amygdale (扁桃核).
LeDoux studies the way animals and humans respond to threats to understand how we form memories of significant events in our lives. The amygdale receives input from many parts of the brain, including regions responsible for retrieving memories. Using this information, the amygdale appraises a situation—I think this charging dog wants to bite me—and triggers a response by radiating nerve signals throughout the body. These signals produce the familiar signs of distress: trembling, perspiration and fast-moving feet, just to name three.
This fear mechanism is critical to the survival of all animals, but no one can say for sure whether beasts other than humans know they’re afraid. That is, as LeDoux says, “if you put that system into a brain that has consciousness, then you get the feeling of fear.”
Humans, says Edward M. Hallowell, have the ability to call up images of bad things that happened in the past and to anticipate future events. Combine these higher thought processes with our hardwired danger-detection systems, and you get a near-universal human phenomenon: worry.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, says Hallowell. “When used properly, worry is an incredible device,” he says. After all, a little healthy worrying is okay if it leads to constructive action—like having a doctor look at that weird spot on your back.
Hallowell insists, though, that there’s a right way to worry. “Never do it alone, get the facts and then make a plan.” He says. Most of us have survived a recession, so we’re familiar with the belt-tightening strategies needed to survive a slump.
Unfortunately, few of us have much experience dealing with the threat of terrorism, so it’s been difficult to get fact about how we should respond. That’s why Hallowell believes it was okay for people to indulge some extreme worries last fall by asking doctors for Cipro (抗炭疽菌的药物) and buying gas masks.
.52. The “so-called fight-or-flight response” (Line 2, Para. 1) refers to “________”.
A) the biological process in which human beings’ sense of self-defense evolves
B) the instinctive fear human beings feel when faced with potential danger
C) the act of evaluating a dangerous situation and making a quick decision
D) the elaborate mechanism in the human brain for retrieving information
53. From the studies conducted by LeDoux we learn that ________.
A) reactions of humans and animals to dangerous situations are often unpredictable
B) memories of significant events enable people to control fear and distress
C) people’s unpleasant memories are derived from their feeling of fear
D) the amygdale plays a vital part in human and animal responses to potential danger
54. From the passage we know that ________.
A) a little worry will do us good if handled properly
B) a little worry will enable us to survive a recession
C) fear strengthens the human desire to survive danger
D) fear helps people to anticipate certain future events
55. Which of the following is the best way to deal with your worries according to Hallowell?
A) Ask for help from the people around you.
B) Use the belt-tightening strategies for survival.
C) Seek professional advice and take action.
D) Understand the situation and be fully prepared.
56. In Hallowell’s view, people’s reaction to the terrorist threat last fall was ________.
A) ridiculous
B) understandable
C) over-cautious
D) sensible
.Passage Two
Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.
Amitai Etzioni is not surprised by the latest headings about scheming corporate crooks (骗子). As a visiting professor at the Harvard Business School in 1989, he ended his work there disgusted with his students’ overwhelming lost for money. “They’re taught that profit is all that matters,” he says. “Many schools don’t even offer ethics (伦理学) courses at all.”
Etzioni expressed his frustration about the interests of his graduate students. “By and large, I clearly had not found a way to help classes full of MBAs see that there is more to life than money, power, fame and self-interest.” He wrote at the time. Today he still takes the blame for not educating these “business-leaders-to-be.” “I really like I failed them,” he says. “If I was a better teacher maybe I could have reached them.”
Etzioni was a respected ethics expert when he arrived at Harvard. He hoped his work at the university would give him insight into how questions of morality could be applied to places where self-interest flourished. What he found wasn’t encouraging. Those would be executives had, says Etzioni, little interest in concepts of ethics and morality in the boardroom—and their professor was met with blank stares when he urged his students to see business in new and different ways.
Etzioni sees the experience at Harvard as an eye-opening one and says there’s much about business schools that he’d like to change. “A lot of the faculty teaching business are bad news themselves,” Etzioni says. From offering classes that teach students how to legally manipulate contracts, to reinforcing the notion of profit over community interests, Etzioni has seen a lot that’s left him shaking his head. And because of what he’s seen taught in business schools, he’s not surprised by the latest rash of corporate scandals. “In many ways things have got a lot worse at business schools, I suspect,” says Etzioni.
Etzioni is still teaching the sociology of right and wrong and still calling for ethical business leadership. “People with poor motives will always exist.” He says. “Sometimes environments constrain those people and sometimes environments give those people opportunity.” Etzioni says the booming economy of the last decade enabled those individuals with poor motives to get rich before getting in trouble. His hope now: that the cries for reform will provide more fertile soil for his long-standing messages about business ethics.
.57. What impressed Amitai Etzioni most about Harvard MBA students?
A) Their keen interest in business courses.
B) Their intense desire for money.
C) Their tactics for making profits.
D) Their potential to become business leaders.
58. Why did Amitai Etzioni say “I really feel like I failed them” (Line 4, Para. 2)?
A) He was unable to alert his students to corporate malpractice.
B) He didn’t teach his students to see business in new and different ways.
C) He could not get his students to understand the importance of ethics in business.
D) He didn’t offer courses that would meet the expectations of the business-leaders-to-be.
59. Most would-be executives at the Harvard Business School believed that ________.
A) questions of morality were of utmost importance in business affairs
B) self-interest should not be the top priority in business dealings
C) new and different principles should be taught at business schools
D) there was no place for ethics and morality in business dealings
60. In Etzioni’s view, the latest rash of corporate scandals could be attributed to ________.
A) the tendency in business schools to stress self-interest over business ethics
B) the executives’ lack of knowledge in legally manipulating contracts
C) the increasingly fierce competition in the modern business world
D) the moral corruption of business school graduates
61. We learn from the last paragraph that ________.
A) the calls for reform will help promote business ethics
B) businessmen with poor motives will gain the upper hand
C) business ethics courses should be taught in all business schools
D) reform in business management contributes to economic growth
Unit 16
52.B 53.D 54.A 55.D 56.B 57.B 58.C 59.D 60.C 61.C
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