Part I Reading Comprehension ( 60 minutes ) Section A 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 1 to 5 are based on the following passage. People in the mass advertising business and other people who study American society have been very interested in the question: What does the American consumer like? Max Lerner, a well-known scholar who has studied American society, has said that American consumers are particularly fond of three things: comfort, cleanliness, and novelty. Lerner believes that the American love of comfort perhaps goes back to the frontier experience. The pioneers had a rough life on the frontier and very few comforts. This experience may have created a strong desire in the pioneers and their children for goods that would make life more comfortable. Today, the Americans' love of comfort is seen in the way they furnish their homes, the way they design their cars, and the way they like to travel. Cleanliness is also highly valued by Americans. There is a strong emphasis on keeping all parts of the body clean. Perhaps the Puritan heritage has played some role in the desire for cleanliness. The Puritans, a strict Protestant church group who were among the first settlers of America, stressed the need to cleanse the body of dirty. Belief of most Americans is that it is important to keep their bodies clean by taking a bath and wearing clean clothes every day. Indeed, many Americans are offended by anyone who does not follow their accepted standards of cleanliness. In addition to cleanliness and comfort, Americans love novelty. They love to have things that are new and different. Perhaps the love of novelty comes from their pride in their inventiveness. Americans have always been interested in inventing new products and improving old ones. They like to see changes in cars, clothing, and products for the home. New models of cars are particularly appealing. Advertisements encourage people to get rid of old cars and try new ones, whether the old ones still work or not. The American economy seems to be based on consumption, not conservation. In addition to the three qualities that Lerner mentions, there is a fourth quality which American consumers like very much — convenience. During the 1960s, for example, there was a dramatic increase in such "laborsaving" devices as automatic washing machines (found in 41 percent of all homes in 1960, rising to 60 percent of all homes in 1970) and automatic clothes dryers (found in 17 percent of American homes in 1960, rising to 42 percent of all homes in 1970). In the 1980s automatic clothes washers and dryers are an expected part of most American homes. 1. The best title for this passage can be "______". A) What American Consumers Like B) American Consumers and Business C) American Consumers and Their Lives D) The Stupidity of the American Consumers 2. The author thinks that the American consumers are fond of the following EXCEPT ____. A) comfort and cleanliness B) clean clothes and fine houses C) thrift and economy D) novelty and convenience 3. Generally speaking, Americans are interested in the following EXCEPT _______. A) creating new goods B) improving old products C) buying things that are unknown before D) buying things that are popular 4. The American love of cleanliness is believed to be related to ____. A) their lifestyle B) their advanced technology C) their body's need D) their religion tradition 5. The American love of convenience can be shown in the way they ____. A) wash their clothes by using machines B) create fast-food restaurants C) are not very busy working D) Both A and B. 2 Passage Two Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage. Culture is the sum total of all the tradition, customs, beliefs, and ways of life of a given group of human being. In this sense, every group has a culture, however savage, undeveloped, or uncivilized it may seem to us. To the professional anthropologists, there is no intrinsic superiority of one culture over another, just as to the professional linguists there is no intrinsic hierarchy among languages. People once thought of the languages of backward groups as savage, undeveloped forms of speech, consisted largely of grunts and groans. While it is possible that language in general began as a series of grunts and groans, it is a fact established by the study of "backward" languages that no spoken tongue answers the description today. Most languages of uncivilized groups are, by our most severe standards, extremely complex, delicate, and ingenious pieces of machinery for the transfer of ideas. They fall behind our western language not in their sound patterns or grammatical structure, which usually are fully adequate for all language needs, but only in their vocabularies, which reflect the objects and activities known to their speakers. Even in this department, however, two things are to be noted: a) All languages seem to possess the machinery for vocabulary expansion, either by putting together words already in existence or by borrowing them from other languages and adapting them to their own system; b) The objects and activities requiring names and distinctions in "backward" languages, while different from ours, are often surprisingly numerous and complicated. A western language distinguished merely between two degrees of remoteness ("this" and "that"); some languages of the American Indians distinguish between what is close to the speaker, or to the person addressed, or removed from both, or out of sight, or in the past, or in the future. This study of language, in turn, casts a new light upon the claim of the anthropologists that all cultures are to be viewed independently, and without ideas of rank or hierarchy. 6. The language of uncivilized groups as compared to western language is limited in _________. A) vocabularies B) sound patterns C) grammatical structures D) both A and B 7.The statement that "every group has a culture" grows out of the author's _________. A) philosophy B) definition of culture C) feeling about human beings D) bias in regard to civilized human 8.According to the author, anthropologists would have all culture viewed _________. A) comparatively B) independently C) intrinsically D) hierarchically 9. According to the author, language whether "civilized or not" has _________. A) the same way to transfer ideas B) the same grammatical structures C) the potential for expanding vocabulary D) the potential for increasing sound patterns 10. Which of the following is implied but not stated? A) The study of languages discredited the anthropological studies. B) The study of language is the same as the study of anthropology. C) The study of language casts a new light upon the claims of anthropologists. D) The study of language has reinforced anthropologists in their view that there is no hierarchy cultures. 3 Passage Three Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage. Even if the word "pop" disappears from the English vocabulary, the influence of pop will remain. Pop has become part of the British — and the American — history. There has always been a close cultural link, or tie, between Britain and English-speaking America, not only in literature but also in the popular area, especially music. Before the Second World War the Americans exported jazz and the blues. During the 1950s they exported rock'n'roll, and star singers like Elvis Presley were idolized by young Britons and Americans alike. Then in the early 1960s a new sound was heard, very different from anything that had so far come from the Americans' side of the Atlantic. This was the Liverpool, or Merseyside, "beat". Until the 1960s Liverpool was known only as one of Britain's largest ports. Then almost overnight, it became world famous as the birthplace of the new pop culture which, in a few years, swept across Britain and America, and across most of the countries of the Western world. The people responsible for the pop revolution were four Liverpool boys who joined together in a group and called themselves The Beatles. They played in small clubs in the back streets of the city. Unlike the famous solo stars who had their songs written for them, the Beatles wrote their own words and music. They had a close personal relationship with their audience, and they expected them to join in and dance to the "beat" of the music. In 1970-1971 the partnership of the Beatles broke up. They still write and record songs separately, but whatever happens to their music, the Beatles will surely have a permanent place in the social history of Britain. 11. Jazz and the blues spread out of America ______. A) before the Second World War B) in the Second World War C) in the 1950s D) in the 1960s 12. Which statement is TRUE according to the passage? A) The word "pop" will soon disappear from the dictionary. B) Presley was not popular in Britain. C) Rock'n'roll originated in the U.S. D) Britain and America haven't a close cultural link. 13. Liverpool became world famous ______. A) for it was the largest port of Britain B) because it was the place where "beat" was born C) because it was a scenic spot D) for the prestigious colleges there 14. " The Beatles" was founded ______. A) in the 1950s B) in the 1960s C) by four American boys D) in London 15. Pop culture is featured by ______. A) active involvement of the audience B) the wide spread of beat C) the use of rock'n'roll D) the close link between Britain and American 4 The strange, close understanding between twins is a familiar enough phenomenon. Often they seem to understand each other and share each other's emotions to such an extent that one suspects some kinds of thought communication. What is not so widely known is that this special relationship often acts as a brake (障碍) on twins' intellectual d