Reading Comprehension (40 minutes) Section A Directions: In this section , there is a passage w ith ten blanks . You are required to select one w ord for each blank from a list of choices gi v en in a w ord bank follo w ing the passage . Read the passage through carefully before making your choices . Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter . Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on the Ans w er Sheet . You may not use any of the w ords in the bank more than once . Questions 36 to 45 are based on the following passage. Social change is more likely to occur in societies where there is a __ 36 __ of different kinds of people than in societies where people are similar in many ways. The simple reason for this is that there are more ideas , more disagreements in interest , and more groups and organizations with different __ 37 __.In addition , there is usually a greater worldly interest and greater tolerance in mixed societies. All these factors tend to promote social change by opening more areas of life to decision. In a society where people are quite similar in many ways , there are fewer __ 38 __ for people to see the need or the opportunity for change , even though conditions may not be __ 39 __. Within a society , social changes is also likely to occur more frequently and more __ 40 __ in the material aspects of the culture than in the non­material , for example , in technology rather than in __ 41 __ ; in what has been learned later in life rather than what was learned early; in the less basic and less __ 42 __ aspects of society than in their opposites; in the simple elements rather than in the complex ones; in form rather than in substance; and in elements that are __ 43 __ to the culture rather than in strange elements. Furthermore , social change is easier if it is __ 44 __.For example , it comes more readily in human relations on a continuous scale rather than one with sharp __ 45 __. A) independent I) provide B) emotional J) gradual C) satisfactory K) acceptable D) mixture L) values E) discovery M) occasions F) difference N) consequence G) readily O) cultivated H) beliefs Section B Directions: In this section , you are going to read a passage w ith ten statements attached to it . Each statement contains information gi v en in one of the paragraphs . Identify the paragraph from w hich the information is deri v ed . You may choose a paragraph more than once . Each paragraph is marked w ith a letter . Ans w er the questions by marking the corresponding letter on the Ans w er Sheet. Cardiff Bay Redevelopment A) Cardiff is a city rooted in history and has undergone many changes and influences over 1500 years; initially with the settlements of the Celts in 500 BC , and over many years Cardiff became a Roman Fort and Norman strong hold. In 1810 Cardiff was just a growing village of less than 2000 inhabitants surrounded by heavily tidal marshland and fed by two rivers , the Taff and the Ely. Laying closely to the south was Butetown , located in the Parish of Saint Mary's. Back then , Cardiff's main industry was the mining and transportation of coal , mainly by big 25 tonne load barges. B) As the Industrial Revolution swept over the British Isles , demand for coal grew considerably. The Glamorganshire canal , which was built in 1794 to transport iron from the Merthyr ironworks to Cardiff , could not cope with the demand and as the iron and coal industry expanded the Taff Vale Railway was opened in 1840 to offer an alternative mode of transport for this and to connect Cardiff and the surrounding steelworks to the coal. C)By this time John Crichton Stewart the 2nd Marquis of Bute had finished his development of the bay and had just opened the West docks. The building of docks continued until around 1907 when the last dock , the Queen Alexandra had been built adding to the previous four. The opening of the West Docks gave Cardiff an advantage over other Welsh ports and soon coal from the nearby South Wales Coalfield was being used and exported along with iron and steel , whilst various products including oils and tin were imported. The city prospered , industry exploded and unemployment was rare. D) The Cardiff docks soon transformed the bay and village in to an important , bustling city attracting big business , hundreds of workers and a whole new close­knit community known as Tiger Bay. In the Coal Exchange building the international price for coal was confirmed and the world's first 1 million deal was struck. At one time at least 50 different nationalities were represented in Tiger Bay , most of these people lived and worked in Butetown aboard the ships , in the steelworks or engineering and repairing. The residents of Tiger Bay certainly felt connected to the rest of the world—it was the economic capital of Wales. Many of the old residents comment on how life in Butetown was “hard but lively” , there was plenty of things to do , the community was exciting and there were many clubs and events run by the residents. E) In the Butetown community there were different noticeable areas; firstly the original housing of Victorian and Edwardian architecture for the wealthy , and later on , the working class homes , closer to the industrial areas. Business peaked in the bay area around 1910 when around 13 million tons of coal were being exported from Cardiff docks. It seemed impossible at the time that the decline of Cardiff Bay could come about so soon , but the possibility of war was looming. F) There were a few reasons behind the dramatic decline of Cardiff bay , it was a decline business prosperity overall wealth and the sense of community. Cardiff had always relied on its coal industry , it was surrounded by steel and ironworks and one of its main exports was coal. The productivity from the South Wales Coalfields had past its prime around 1920 and productivity was dropping constantly , which had a damaging effect on the exporting from Cardiff Bay. This was greatly compounded by the fact that petrol was now being introduced as an alternative means of fuel and demand for petrol and petrol­burning industry superseded that of coal. During the war periods also , exporting lines across the Atlantic to other continents had to be cut off due to the German enemy ships and so forcing other countries who would have received their coal , steel or iron from Cardiff to seek out alternative sources nearby. Most of these countries never came back to Cardiff after the war. G) Cardiff and Butetown were not nearly as prosperous as they once were and this was reflected in the state of the Tiger Bay area. Housing was worsening and the number of slums ( 贫民窟 ) had increased , and there was less and less maintenance on the area , facilities and roads. As time moved on , the old housing was replaced by council housing , high­rise flats and estates in the 60s,70s and 80s extending out west to the village of Penarth. Unemployment was on the increase , the standard of living was declining and the crime rate increasing sharply. H) The housing present in the 80s slowly began to deteriorate further whilst the city of Cardiff grew and prospered , it had a population of over 300,000 , yet became more and more detached from the history of Butetown and the bay area. With the overall decline of standard of living in Butetown , last British government decided to reunite the two areas and regenerate the run­down docks. The Cardiff Bay Redevelopment Corporation was set up , charged with this task , and it set about putting Cardiff back on the world stage. An area over 2,700 acres—1/6 of the whole of Cardiff was deemed , “ripe for development” and was slowly transformed in to ,“ a superb environment in which people want to live , work and play. The plan was set to re­unite the two characters and histories of Cardiff City and Butetown , something which has really made physically possible by the new Lloyd George Avenue , running from the heart of the bay to the city centre resembling something of the Champs­Elysee. I) With the funding from the Government and Europe , re­development has made way for approximately 30,000 new jobs and 419,000 square feet of land to be invested in and constructed upon. The best of the old buildings have been preserved so as to not completely lose touch with the Tiger Bay history , the most famous being the Pierhead Building which will now be used for state occasions and used by the Welsh Assembly. Around this same area , a whole host of new offices , housing and leisure facilities have sprung up attracting big businesses and a boost to the city's economy. Millennium Waterfront has opened up the Cardiff Bay to the new lake and the retail parks alongside , and there is now an “oval basin” which will be used for public events acting as a forum , and you are able to walk right up to the water's edge. There is also a five­star Hotel on the bay , business parks and the educational science centre , Techniquest. 46. Cardiff and the surrounding steelworks used to be connected by a railway system to the coal mines. 47 . Cardiff owed its economic prosperity mainly to the export of the coal mined in South Wales . 48 . The first inhabitants of Cardiff are the Celts over 2000 years. 49 . Tiger Bay which formed after the construction of the Cardiff docks was a community full of so many different nationalities. 50 . Cardiff began to decline in the second decade of the 20th century. 51 . Cardiff replaced its old housing by new buildings starting from the 1960s. 52 . The Pierhead Building in the bay area is now used to house the Welsh Assembly. 53 . The redevelopment of the Cardiff bay is supported by the British government and the Europe. 54 . Bluetown and the bay area were reunited by the British government for the purpose of redevelopment. 55 . Cardiff gained an upper hand over other Welsh port cities with the construction of the West Docks. Section C Directions: There are 2 passages in this section . Each passage is fo