Unit 1

11. Which of the following is true according to the passage? [A] Environmentalists were blamed for antiscience in an essay. [B] Politicians are not subject to the labeling of antiscience. [C] The "more enlightened" tend to tag others as antiscience. [D] Tagging environmentalists as "antiscience" is justifiable 12. The author' attitude toward the issue of "science vs. antiscience" is ________. [A] impartial [B] subjective [C] biased [D] puzzling Passage 4 Emerging from the 1980 census is the picture of a nation developing more and more regional competition, as population growth in the Northeast and Midwest reaches a near standstill. This development — and its strong implications for US politics and economy in years ahead— has enthroned the South as America's most densely populated region for the first time in the history of the nation's head counting. Altogether, the US population rose in the 1970s by 23.2 million people — numerically the third-largest growth ever recorded in a single decade. Even so, that gain adds up to only 11.4 percent, lowest in American annual records except for the Depression years. Americans have been migrating south and west in larger numbers since World War II, and the pattern still prevails. Three sun-belt states — Florida, Texas and California ​​— together had nearly 10 million more people in 1980 than a decade earlier. Among large cities, San Diego moved from 14th to 8th and San Antonio from 15th to 10th — with Cleveland and Washington. DC, dropping out of the top10. Not all that shift can be attributed to the movement out of the snow belt, census officials say. Nonstop waves of immigrants played a role, too ​— and so did bigger crops of babies as yesterday's "baby boom" generation reached its child-bearing years. Moreover, demographers see the continuing shift south and west as joined by a related but newer phenomenon: More and more, Americans apparently are looking not just for places with more jobs but with fewer people, too. Some instances — ● Regionally, the Rocky Mountain states reported the most rapid growth rate ​ ​— 37.1 percent since 1970 in a vast area with only 5 percent of the US population. · Among states, Nevada and Arizona grew fastest of all: 63.5 and 53.1 percent respectively. Except for Florida and Texas, the top 10 in rate of growth is composed of Western states with 7.5 million people ​— about 9 per square mile. The flight from overcrowdedness affects the migration from snow belt to more bearable climates. Nowhere do 1980 census statistics dramatize more the American search for spacious living than in the Far West. There, California added 3.7 million to its population in the 1970s, more than any other state. In that decade, however, large numbers also migrated from California, mostly to other parts of the West. Often they chose ​— and still are choosing — somewhat colder climates such as Oregon, Idaho and Alaska in order to escape smog, crime and other plagues of urbanization in the Golden State. As a result, California's growth rate dropped during the 1970s, to 18.5 percent — little more than two thirds the 1960s' growth figure and considerably below that of other Western states. 13. Discerned from the perplexing picture of population growth the 1980 census provided, America in 1970s [A] enjoyed the lowest net growth of population in history [B] witnessed a southwestern shift of population [C] underwent an unparalleled period of population growth [D] brought to a standstill its pattern of migration since World War II 14. The census distinguished itself from previous studies on population movement in that ________. [A] is stresses the climatic influence on population distribution [B] it highlights the contribution of continuous waves of immigrants [C] it reveals the Americans' new pursuit of spacious living [D] it elaborates the delayed effects of yesterday's "baby boom" 15. We can see from the available statistics that ________. [A] California was once the most thinly populated area in the whole US [B] the top 10 states in growth rate of population were all located in the West [C] cities with better climates benefited unanimously from migration [D] Arizona ranked second of all states in its growth rate of population 16. The word "demographers" (Line 1, Paragraph 7) most probably means ________. [A] people in favor of the trend of democracy [B] advocates of migration between states [C] scientists engaged in the study of population [D] conservatives clinging to old patterns of life Passage 5 Scattered around the globe are more than 100 small regions of isolated volcanic activity known to geologists as hot spots. Unlike most of the world's volcanoes, they are not always found at the boundaries of the great drifting plates that make up the earth's surface; on the contrary, many of them lie deep in the interior of a plate. Most of the hot spots move only slowly, and in some cases the movement of the plates past them has left trails of dead volcanoes. The hot spots and their trails are milestones that mark the passage of the plates. That the plates are moving is now beyond dispute. Africa and South America, for example, are moving away from each other as new material is injected into the sea floor between them. The complementary coastlines and certain geological features that seem to span the ocean are reminders of where the two continents were once joined. The relative motion of the plates carrying these continents has been constructed in detail, but the motion of one plate with respect to another cannot readily be translated into motion with respect to the earth's interior. It is not possible to determine whether both continents are moving in opposite directions or whether one continent is stationary and the other is drifting away from it. Hot spots, anchored in the deeper layers of the earth, provide the measuring instruments needed to resolve the question. From an analysis of the hot-spot population it appears that the African plate is stationary and that it has not moved during the past 30 million years. The significance of hot spots is not confined to their role as a frame of reference. It now appears that they also have an important influence on the geophysical processes that propel the plates across the globe. When a continental plate come to rest over a hot spot, the material rising from deeper layer creates a broad dome. As the dome grows, it develops seed fissures (cracks); in at least a few cases the continent may break entirely along some of these fissures, so that the hot spot initiates the formation of a new ocean. Thus just as earlier theories have explained the mobility of the continents, so hot spots may explain their mutability (inconstancy). 17. The author believes that ________. [A] the motion of the plates corresponds to that of the earth's interior [B] the geological theory about drifting pates has been proved to be true [C] the hot spots and the plates move slowly in opposite directions [D] the movement of hot spots proves the continents are moving apart 18. That Africa and South America were once joined can be deduced from the fact that ________. [A] the two continents are still moving in opposite directions [B] they have been found to share certain geological features [C] the African plates has been stable for 30 million years [D] over 100 hot spots are scattered all around the globe 19. The hot-spot theory may prove useful in explaining ________. [A] the structure of the African plates [B] the revival of dead volcanoes [C] the mobility of the continents [D] the formation of new oceans 20. The passage is mainly about ________. [A] the features of volcanic activities [B] the importance of the theory about drifting plates [C] the significance of hot spots in geophysical studies [D] the process of the formation of volcanoes Unit 4 （1999年真题） Passage 1 It's a rough world out there. Step outside and you could break a leg slipping on your doormat. Light up stove and you could burn down the house. Luckily, if the doormat or stove failed to warn of coming disaster, a successful lawsuit might compensate you for your troubles. Or so the thinking has gone since the early 1980s, when juries began holding more companies liable for their customers' misfortunes. Feeling threatened, companies responded by writing ever-longer warning labels, trying to anticipate every possible accident. Today, stepladders carry labels several inches long that warn, among other things, that you might — surprise! — fall off. The label on a child's Batman cape cautions that the toy "does not enable user to fly." While warnings are often appropriate and necessary — the dangers of drug interactions, for example — and many are required by state or federal regulations, it isn't clear that they actually protect the manufacturers and sellers from liability if a customer is injured. About 50 percent of the companies lose when injured customers take them to court. Now the tide appears to be turning. As personal injury claims continue as before, some courts are beginning to side with defendants, especially in cases where a warning label probably wouldn't have changed anything. In May, Julie Nimmons, president of Schutt Sports in Illinois, successfully fought a lawsuit involving a football player who was paralyzed in a game while wearing a Schutt helmet. "We're really sorry he has become paralyzed, but helmets aren't designed to prevent those kinds of injuries," says Nimmons. The jury agreed that the nature of the game, not the helmet, was the reason for the athlete's injury. At the same time, the American Law Institute — a group of judges, lawyers, and academics whose recommendations carry substantial weight — issued new guidelines for tort law stating that companies need not warn customers of obvious dangers or bombard them with a lengthy list of possible ones. "Important information can get buried in a sea of trivialities," says a law professor at Cornell Law School who helped draft the new guidelines. If the moderate end of the legal community has its way, the information on products might actually be provided for the benefit of customers and not as protection against legal liability. 1. What were things like in 1980s when accidents happened? [A] Customers might be relieved of their disasters through lawsuits. [B] Injured customers could expect protection from the legal system. [C] Companies would avoid being sued by providing new warnings. [D] Juries tended to find fault with the compensations companies promised. 2. Manufacturers as mentioned in the passage tend to ________. [A] satisfy customers by writing long warnings on products [B] become honest in describing the inadequacies of their products [C] make the best use of labels to avoid legal liability [D] feel obliged to view customers' safety as their first concern 3. The case of Schutt helmet demonstrated that ________. [A] some injury claims were no longer supported by law [B] helmets were not designed to prevent injuries [C] product labels would eventually be discarded [D] some sports games might lose popularity with athletes 4. The author's attitude towards the issue seems to be [A] biased [B] indifferent [C] puzzling [D] objective Passage 2 In the first year or so of Wed business, most of the action has revolved around efforts to tap the consumer market. More recently, as the Wed proved to be more than a fashion, companies have started to buy sell products and services with one another. Such business-to-business sales make sense because businesspeople typically know what product they're looking for. Nonetheless, many companies still hesitate to use the Web because of doubts about its reliability. "Businesses need to feel they can trust the pathway between them and the supplier," says senior analyst Blane Erwin of Forrester Research. Some companies are limiting the risk by conducting online transactions only with established business partners who are given access to the company's private intranet. Another major shift in the model for Internet commerce concerns the technology available for marketing. Until recently, Internet marketing activities have focused on strategies to "pull" customers into sites. In the past year, however, software companies have developed tools that allow companies to "push" information directly out to consumers, transmitting marketing messages directly to targeted customers. Most notably, the Pointcast Network uses a screen saver to deliver a continually updated stream of news and advertisements to subscribers' computer monitors. Subscribers can customize the information they want to receive and proceed directly to a company's Web site. Companies such as Virtual Vineyards are already starting to use similar technologies to push messages to customers about special sales, product offerings, or other events. But push technology has earned the contempt of many Web users. Online culture thinks highly of the notion that the information flowing onto the screen comes there by specific request. Once commercial promotion begins to fill the screen uninvited, the distinction between the Web and television fades. That's a prospect that horrifies Net purists. But it is hardly inevitable that companies on the Web will need to resort to push strategies to make money. The examples of Virtual Vineyards, Amazon. com, and other pioneers show that a Web site selling the right kind of products with the right mix of interactivity, hospitality, and security will attract online customers. And the cost of computing power continues to free fall, which is a good sign for any enterprise setting up shop is silicon. People looking back 5 or 10 years from now may well wonder why so few companies took the online plunge. 5. We learn from the beginning of the passage that Wed business ________. [A] has been striving to expand its market [B] intended to follow a fanciful fashion [C] tried but in vain to control the market [D] has been booming for one year or so 6. Speaking of the online technology available for marketing, the author implies that ________. [A] the technology is popular with many Web users [B] businesses have faith in the reliability of online transactions [C] there is a radical change in strategy [D] it is accessible limitedly to established partners 7. In the view of Net purists, ________. [A] there should be no marketing messages in online culture [B] money making should be given priority to on the Web [C] the Web should be able to function as the television set [D] there should be no online commercial information without requests 8. We learn from the last paragraph that ________. [A] pushing information on the Web is essential to Internet commerce [B] interactivity, hospitality and security are important to online customers [C] leading companies began to take the online plunge decades ago [D] setting up shops in silicon is independent of the cost of computing power Passage 3 An invisible border divides those arguing for computers in the classroom on the behalf of students' career prospects and those arguing for computers in the classroom for broader reasons of radical educational reform. Very few writers on the subject have explored this distinction — indeed, contradiction ​— which goes to the heart of what is wrong with the campaign to put computers in the classroom. An education that aims at getting a student a certain kind of job is a technical education, justified for reasons radically different from why education is universally required by law. It is not simply to raise everyone's job prospects that all children are legally required to attend school into their teens. Rather, we have a certain conception of the American citizen, a character who is incomplete if he cannot competently asses how his livelihood and happiness are affected by things outside of himself. But this was not always the case; before it was legally required for all children to attend school until a certain age, it was widely accepted that some were just not equipped by nature to pursue this kind of education. With optimism characteristic of all industrialized countries, we came to accept that everyone is fit to be educated. Computer-education advocates forsake this optimistic notion for a pessimism that betrays their otherwise cheery outlook. Banking on the confusion between educational and vocational reasons for bringing computers into schools, compurter-ed advocates often emphasize the job prospects of graduates over their educational achievement. There are some good arguments for a technical education given the right kind of student. Many European schools introduce the concept of professional training early on in order to make sure children are properly equipped for the professions they want to join. It is, however, presumptuous to insist that there will only be so many jobs for so many scientists, so many businessmen, so many accountants. Besides, this is unlikely to produce the needed number of every kind of professional in a county as large as ours and where the economy is spread over so many states and involves so many international corporations. But, for a small group of students, professional training might be the way to go since well-developed skills, all other factors being equal, can be the difference between having a job and not. Of course, the basics of using any computer these days are very simple. It does not take a lifelong acquaintance to pick up various software programs. If one wanted to become a computer engineer, that is, of course, an entirely different story. Basic computer skills take — at the very longest — a couple of months so learn. In any case, basic computer skills are only complementary to the host of real skills that are necessary to becoming any kind of professional. It should be observed, of course, that no school, vocational or not, is helped by a confusion over its purpose. 9. The author thinks the present rush to put computers in the classroom is ________. [A] far-reaching [B] dubiously oriented [C] self-contradictory [D] radically reformatory 10. The belief that education in indispensable to all children ________. [A] is indicative of a pessimism in disguise [B] came into being along with the arrival of computers [C] is deeply rooted in the minds of computer-ed advocates [D] originated form the optimistic attitude of industrialized countries 11. It could be inferred from the passage that in the author's county the European model of professional training is ________. [A] dependent upon the starting age of candidates [B] worth trying in various social sections [C] of little practical value [D] attractive to every kind of professional 12. According to the author, basic computer skills should be ________. [A] included as an auxiliary course in school [B] highlighted in acquisition of professional qualifications [C] mastered through a life-long course [D] equally emphasized by any school, vocational or otherwise Passage 4 When a Scottish research team startled the world by revealing 3 months ago that it had cloned an adult sheep, President Clinton moved swiftly. Declaring that he was opposed to using this unusual animal husbandry technique to clone humans, he ordered that federal funds not be used for such an experiment — although no one had proposed to do so — and asked an ind