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Part II Reading Comprehension (40 points)

Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each of the passages is followed by 5 questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are 4 choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the best one and mark your answer on the ANSWER SHEET with a single line through the center.

Passage One

Jack Billabong is a stockman. One Friday afternoon he was riding along the track towards the Henderson farm. He was looking for a prize bull which had escaped from the Borrogee paddock. He reached the hills and saw at once that he could not go further. There had been a fire in the forest which had gone out. But the air was still full of smoke and fallen trees had blocked the track. Jack was just going to turn back when he saw something moving in the smoke. He waited. It was a girl on a horse, and she was riding towards him. “There‘s a badly burnt man on the farm,” the girl shouted. “He saved my life. Please help me to save him.”

The girl was Cathy Henderson. She had been on horseback for two hours. She had to jump over fallen trees that were still burning. Her pony had fallen with her twice. She was thirsty and almost dead from want of sleep. But she rode back to the farm with Jack immediately. Joe Brook was unconscious when they reached him. They lifted him onto Jack‘s horse. The ride back to Borrogee was terrible. Cathy was so tired that Jack had to tie her to her pony. The pony was tired too, but its courage was astonishing. It followed Jack right to Borrogee Hospital. Nobody saw them arrive because it was night.“I’ve never seen a horse like that pony,” Jack said. Cathy praised Jack Billabong, but she refused to say anything about the pony, “Joe will write about her in his story,” she said. But she did say one thing: “If flame hadn‘t returned to the farm that afternoon, Joe and I would have died.”

16. Jack Billabong did not turn back because _____________.

A. he hadn‘t found the bull yet

B. he smelt a heavy smoke in the forest

C. he knew there was a burnt man there

D. he saw something moving towards him

17. Why was the ride back to Borrogee terrible?

A. Because Joe was tired out.

B. Because the ride started late at night.

C. Because they didn‘t have enough courage.

D. Because both Cathy and her pony were exhausted.

18. Cathy refused to talk to reporters about the pony when she was in Borrogee Hospital because ____________.

A. she didn’t know what to say

B. Jack asked her not to talk to them

C. she was too weak to say anything

D. Joe would write about it in his writing

19. What does the word “flame” in the last paragraph refer to?

A. Jack. B. The pony. C. Jack‘s horse. D. The fire.

20. Which of the following is the best title of the story?

A. Rescue of Joe Brook.

B. Courage of Jack Billabong.

C. Love of a Young Girl.

D. Heroism of a Lovely Pony.

Passage Two

The faces of elderly, happily-married people sometimes resemble each other. Dr. Aiken studied a number of couples who had been married for at least twenty-five years. Each couple provided four photographs—one photo of each partner at the time of their marriage and another photo of each partner twenty-five or more years later. All background was cut from the photos to remove any clues. The photos were then displayed in groups: a random grouping of the persons at the time of their marriage and another random grouping of the same persons who took photographs later. Some testees were asked to pick out the partners. They failed totally with the first group. Their judgements were no better than chance. But with the photos taken twenty-five or more years after the marriage, the testees were quite successful with the most happily-married couples.Dr. Aiken believes there are several reasons why couples grow alike. One reason has something to do with imitation. One person tends to copy or do the same as someone else without knowing it. He says human begins to imitate the expressions of the faces of their loved ones. “Another possible reason,” he says, “is the common experience of the couples.” There is a tendency for people who have the same life experience to change their faces in similar ways. For example, if a couple have suffered from a lot of sad experiences, their faces are likely to change in a similar way.

21. Dr. Aiken cut the background from the photos for the purpose of __________.

A. imitating the couples’ life B. grouping the couples again

C. leaving no trace for the testees D. giving the testees more chances

22. The underlined sentence “Their judgements were no better than chance” implies that the testees __________.

A. did a good job in making their choices.B. had difficulty in picking out the partners

C. had no chance to make the right judgementsD. did better with the first group than with the second

23. The underlined word “imitate” (in Para. 2) has a similar meaning to __________.

A. copy B. change C. know D. suffer

24. From the passage we can draw the conclusion that ___________.

A. couples who look alike can live longerB. most partners have been proved to grow alike

C. the influence between partners can be quite strongD. happily-married couples are often richer than others

25. The main purpose of the passage is to ___________.

A. explain why couples grow alike B. tell how couples like each other

C. discuss the function of marriage D. describe the life of happily married couples

Passage Three

The three biggest lies in America are: (1) “The check is in the mail”, (2) “Of course I’ll respect you in the morning”, and (3) “It was a computer error.”Of these three little white lies, the worst is the third. It’s the only one that can never be true. Today, if a bank statement cheats you out of $ 900 that way, you know what the clerk is sure to say,” It was a computer error.” Nonsense. The computer is reporting nothing more than what the clerk typed into it.The most annoying case of all is when the computerized cashier in the grocery store shows that an item costs more than it actually does. If the innocent buyer points out the mistake, the checker, bagger, and manager all come together and offer the familiar explanation: “It was a compute error.”It wasn’t, of course that computerized cashier is really nothing more than an electric event. The eye reads the Universal Product Code—chat bar of black and white lines in a corner of the package—and then checks the code against a price list stored in memory. If the price list is right, you’ll be charged accurately.Grocery stores update the price list each day—that is, somebody sits at a keyboard and types in the prices. If the price they type in is too high, there are only two explanations: carelessness or dishonesty. But somehow “a computer error” is supposed to excuse everything.One reason we let people hide behind a computer is the common misperception that huge, modern computers are electric brain with “artificial intelligence.” At some point there might be a machine with intelligence but none exists today. The smartest computer on Earth right now is no more intelligent than your average pen. At this point in the development of computers, the only thing any machine can do is what a human has instructed it to do.

26. Of the three lies, the one about computer is the worst because the computer itself __________.

A. says nonsense B. cheats customersC. cannot make the error D. does not admit its error

27. According to the author, a computerized cashier is really just ___________.

A. a machine to count money B. a machine to receive moneyC. an instrument to print codes D. an instrument to read codes

28. Grocery store price lists are updated by ____________.

A. a computer B. a keyboard C. an employee D. an electric brain

29. The last paragraph of the passage implies that computers ____________.

A. are very clever B. never make mistakesC. have a good memory D. are controlled by men

30. Which of the following describes the main idea of the passage?

A. Computers are stupid and inefficient.B. Computer errors are due to its dishonesty.

C. Computers help stores update the price list.D. Computer errors are actually human errors.

Passage Four

I came across an old country guidebook the other day. It listed all the tradesmen in each village, and it was impressive to see the past variety of services which were available on one’s own doorstep in the late Victorian countryside.Nowadays a traveler in rural England might conclude that the only village tradesmen still flourishing were either selling frozen food to the villagers or selling antiques to visitors. Nevertheless, this would really be a false impression. On the surface, there has been a decline of village commerce, but its power is still remarkable.Our local grocer’s shop, for example, is actually expanding in spite of the competition from supermarkets in the nearest town. Women sensibly prefer to go there and exchange the local news while doing their shopping, instead of queuing up at a supermarket. And the grocer knows well that personal service has a considerable cash value.His prices may be a bit higher than those in the town, but he will deliver anything at any time. His assistants think nothing of bicycling down the village street in their lunch hour to take a piece of cheese to an old retired woman who sent her order by word of mouth with a friend who happened to be passing. The richer customers telephone their shopping lists and the goods are on their doorsteps within an hour. They have only to hint at a fancy for some commodity outside the usual stock and the grocer, a red faced-figure, instantly obtains it for them.

31. Nowadays the commercial services in the village are ____________.

A. still very active B. quickly decliningC. unable to flourish D. personal to visitors

32. The local grocer’s shop is expanding because _____________.

A. the competition there is weak B. it is a place for women to chat

C. it provides good personal service D. the goods there are more valuable

33. Which of the following is true about the supermarkets?

A. Prices there are much higher B. Customers often have to queue up.

C. Customers can order by telephone. D. Their personal services are satisfactory.

34. How do the village grocer’s assistants feel about giving extra service?

A. They don’t think it a trouble. B. They don’t think it worthwhile.

C. They don’t consider it a good deal. D. They don’t consider it a pleasant experience.

35. One special feature of the village shop is that ___________.

A. there is a very wide range of goods available

B. customers can order goods by word of mouth

C. customer have to order goods one hour earlier

D. there is a list of goods to be delivered to doorsteps