For many of us, cartoon strips are simply one of our pastimes. The popular Japanese manga(漫画) provides us with an escape from reality into a world of fantasy, adventure and romance.With much less text and pictures running for pages, it fits perfectly into today’s fast, throwing away city lifestyle.
But Tsai Chih-chung,a famous Taiwanese illustrator (漫画家), doesn’t agree.He believes cartoons can be a bridge connecting traditional Chinese culture and wisdom with the modern world in a much wittier and more acceptable way.
He has interpreted Lao Zi, Confucius, Mencius，Zhuang Zi and Sun Zi and made their works accessible to a global audience. He has also produced two books about Zen (禅宗), introducing oriental philosophy. His cartoons are humorous yet full of wisdom and are admired as an easy way to learn Chinese classics.
After avoiding the public for ten years, Tsai made a comeback in late April with seven new works. But does his age, 61, work as a gap between him and his young readers? Tsai doesn’t think so. The topics he has covered range from philosophy in a time of individuality to the learning and memorizing techniques used at school. “Every child is a genius and has the potential beyond his own imagination, ” he said.
If popular Japanese manga is purely for entertainment, Tsai’s work, to a large extent, is to light the power of thinking in a light-hearted way. Tsai uses differenr forms of water to refer to people. In his eyes some people are like an ocean, some are like vapor, while others may be ice or
rain. But in essence(本质上)they share a similarity-human being’s forever chasing for the true and the good. “The person who thinks over life issues is not necessarily a scholar or a philosopher,” he said. “I’ve dedicated my whole life to thinking and individual freedom, not making a living.”What is the main idea of the first paragraph in the passage?
| A．Japanese manga is a simple way of killing time. |
| B．What Japanese manga is mainly about. |
| C．Japanese manga presents a world of fantasy, adventure and romance. |
| D．Why Japanese manga is so popular. |
The underlined word “it” in paragraph l refers to .
| A．much less text | B．Japanese manga |
| C．pictures running for pages | D．an escape from reality |
In Tsai Chih-chung’s opinion, cartoon .
| A．connects traditional Chinese culture and wisdom |
| B．helps connect Chinese classics with modern world |
| C．uses a wiser and acceptable way to draw cartoons |
| D．builds up a bridge between cartoons and illustration |
Compared to Japanese manga, Tsai’s works are .
| A．mainly designed for a pure time killer for all |
| B．more popular with young readers in China now |
| C．to inspire people to think in a cheerful way |
| D．much more interesting and instructive |
According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE about Tsai Chih-chung?
| A．He values more thinking and personal freedom than making a living. |
| B．He says that one who thinks over life is either a scholar or a philosopher. |
| C．He thinks some people are like ocean, some like vapor, while others like ice cream. |
| D．Tsai devoted his life to creating cartoons in order to make money. |
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每题2分，满分40分）阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
A
Reading poems is not exactly an everyday activity for most people. In fact, many people never read a poem once they get out of high school.
It is worth reminding ourselves that this has not always been the case in America. In the nineteenth century, a usual American activity was to sit around the fireside in the evening and read poems aloud. It is true that there was no television at the time, nor movie theaters, nor World Wide Web, to provide diversion. However, poems were a source of pleasure, of self-education, of connection to other people or to the world beyond one’s own community. Reading them was a social act as well as an individual one, and perhaps even more social than individual. Writing poems to share with friends and relations was, like reading poems by the fireside, another way in which poetry has a place in everyday life.
How did things change? Why are most Americans no longer comfortable with poetry, and why do most people today think that a poem has nothing to tell them and that they can do well without poems?
There are, I believe, three culprits(肇事者)：poets, teachers, and we ourselves. Of these, the least important is the third: the world surrounding the poem has betrayed us more than we have betrayed the poem. Early in the twentieth century, poetry in English headed into directions unfavorable to the reading of poetry. Readers decided that poems were not for the fireside or the easy chair at night, that they belonged where other difficult-to-read things belonged.
Poets failed the readers, so did teachers. They want their students to know something about the skills of a poem, they want their students to see that poems mean something. Yet what usually occurs when teachers push these concerns on their high school students is that young people decide poems are unpleasant crossword puzzles.
56．Reading poems is thought to be a social act in the nineteenth century because___________.
A．it built a link among people B．it helped unite a community
C．it was a source of self-educationD．it was a source of pleasure
57． The underlined word “diversion”(in Paragraph 2) most probably means “________”.
A．concentration B．change C．amusements D．stories
58．According to the passage, what is the main cause of the great gap between readers and poetry?
A．Students are becoming less interested in poetry.
B．Students are poorly educated in high school.
C．TV and the Internet are more attractive than poetry.
D．Poems have become difficult to understand.
59．In the last paragraph, the writer questions_______.
A．the difficulty in studying poems B．the way poems are taught in school
C．students’ wrong ideas about poetry D．the techniques used in writing poems
（D）
Between ten and midnight the United States is politically leaderless——there is no center of information anywhere in the nation except in the New York headquarters of the great broadcasting companies and the two great wire services．No candidate and no party can afford the investment on election night to match the news-gathering resources of the mass media; and so, as every citizen sits in his home watching his TV set or listening to his radio, he is the equal of any other in knowledge．There is nothing that can be done in these hours, for on one can any longer direct the great strike for America’s power; the polls have closed．Good or bad, whatever the decision．America will accept the decision——and cut down any man who goes against it, even though for millions the decision runs contrary to their own votes．The general vote is an expression of national will, the only substitute for violence and blood．Its decision is to be defended as one defends civilization itself．
There is nothing like this American expression of will in England or France, India or Russia or China．Only one other major nation in modern history has ever tried to elect its leader directly by mass, free, popular vote．This was the Weimar Republic of Germany, which modeled its unitary vote for national leaders on the American practice．Out of its experiment with the system it got Hitler．Americans have had Lincoln, Wilson and two Roosevelts．Nothing can be done when the voting returns are flooding in; the White House and its power will move to one or another of the two candidates, and all will know about it in the morning．But for these hours history stops．
76．Between ten p．m．and midnight, the United States has no leader because________．
A．the President has resigned
B．the strike for power has ended
C．the polls have closed and the results are not in
D．there has been a revolution
77．“The great strike for America’s power” in paragraph 1 refers to_________．
A．the strike of the mass media B．the great coal strike
C．striking while the iron is hot D．the election campaign
78．According to the author only one other major modern nation ever tried to elect its leader by mass, free, popular vote．That nation was___________．
A．India B．Germany C．Russia D．England
79．The author believes the decision at the polls will．
A．lead to anarchy B．result in men being cut down
C．cause violence and blood D．be defended by all Americans
（C）
Texas——US President George W．Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to bridge their differences over a key arms control treaty last week, but that didn’t stop them from backslapping（喧闹的狂欢） as they ended a summit．
The two leaders also offered differing interpretations of the fate of nuclear warheads to be removed from missiles under arms reductions they each announced last week．Bush said he intended to destroy the warheads, but Putin said their fate should be negotiated．
The two men untied on the need for Northern Alliance forces——to allow for a broad based government that respects all parties there．
Bush and Putin had spent the night at Bush’s ranch．Despite the rain, the rural environment and friendly company appeared to have worked its magic．They slapped on the back and joked, at one point teasing each other about whether it is better to visit Texas in the heat of August or Siberia in winter．
Analysts say the dramatic warming in US-Russian relation could herald（预示） an era of pragmatism（务实的想法或做法） in global affairs as the two old rivals finally end decades of hostility and become friends．
“Washington and Moscow are no longer playing the ‘big game’ against each other, but with each other,” said Karl Heniz Kamp, an analyst at the Konrad Adenanaer Foundation，a German think tank．
72．It can be concluded that President Bush and President Putin__________．
A．didn’t agree on key arms control treaty
B．offered different explanations of the future of nuclear warheads under arms reductions
C．neither A or B
D．both A and B
73．The reason why the two men joined together is that．
A．they were needed by the Northern Alliance forces
B．they had taken the advice given by Karl Heniz Kamp, an analyst of German think tank．
C．they had already been partners
D．they had no different opinions on everything
74 The warming of US-Russian relations indicates that_______．
A．the two persons end hostility and become friends
B．US can benefit a lot from global affairs
C．there will be an end to all the armies of the world
D．it is a turning point to words being practical in global affairs
75．What the two men teased about shows that___________．
A．they appeared friendly but in fact they didn’t
B．they just made fun of each other
C．they are friendly and humorous
D．they invited each other to their countries in the bad weather
（B）
People have wondered for a long time how their personalities and behaviors are formed．It is not easy to explain why one person is intelligent and another is not, or why one is cooperative and another is competitive．
Social scientists are, of course, extremely interested in these types of questions．They want to explain why we possess certain characteristics and exhibit certain behaviors．There are no clear answers yet, but two distinct schools of thought on the matter have developed．As one might expect, the two approaches are very different from one another, and there is a great deal of debate between proponents of each theory．The controversy is often referred to as “nature/nurture”．
Those who support the “nature” side of the conflict believe that our personalities and behavior patterns are largely determined by biological and genetic factors．That our environment has little, if anything, to do with our abilities, characteristics, and behavior is central to this theory．Taken to an extreme, this theory maintains that our behavior is predetermined to such a degree that we are almost completely governed by our instincts．
Proponents of the “nurture” theory, or, as they are often called, behaviorists, claimed that our environment is more important than our biologically based instincts in determining how we will act．A behaviorist, B．F．Skinner, sees humans as beings whose behavior is almost completely shaped by their surroundings．The behaviorists’ view of the human being is quite mechanistic; they maintain that, like machines, humans’ respond to environmental stimuli as the basis of their behavior．
Either of these theories cannot yet fully explain human behavior．In fact, it is quite likely that the key to our behavior lies somewhere between these two extremes．That the controversy will continue for a long time is certain．
69．Which of the following statements would the supporters of the “nature” theory agree with?
A．A person’s instincts have little effect on his actions．
B．Environment is important in determining a person’s behavior and personality．
C．Biological reasons have a strong influence on how we act．
D．The behaviorists’ view correctly explains how we act．
70．Concerning the nature/nurture controversy, the writer of this article____________．
A．supports the nature theory
B．supports the nurture theory
C．believes both are completely wrong
D．thinks that the correct explanation of human behavior will take ideas from both theories．
71．In the United States, Black people often score below White people on intelligence tests．With this in mind, which of the following statements is NOT true?
A．Nature proponents would say that Whites are genetically superior to Blacks．
B．Supporters of the nature theory would say that Whites score well because they have a superior environment．
C．Behaviorists would say that Blacks often lack the educational and environmental advantages that Whites enjoy．
D．Nurture proponents would disagree that Blacks are biologically inferior to Whites．
Section B
（A）
Taiwan will finalize a plan by the end of June to open up the island to tourists from mainland China, though no date has been fixed for formal implementation（执行）, an official at the Mainland Affairs Council（MAC） said on Monday．
The official said the reports in the local press on Monday that the MAC has decided to postpone its plan to announce the implementation of the new plan on July 1 were inaccurate．
The official said cooperation between different organizations was still underway．The United Daily news quoted the director of the MAC’s legal affairs department, Liu Thehsun, as saying the plan to open up to mainland tourists would not be implemented as scheduled due to a lack of cross-strait communication．
Although relevant authorities, including the Bureau of Immigration and the Tourism Bureau, have complete reports on how to deal with visitors from mainland China, the decision has been taken not to press, ahead with announcement of the plan’s implementation on the first of July, Liu was quoted as saying．
The report also said that while no restrictions would be imposed on the mainland visitors in terms of age or residence in China, the visitors would need to hold a steady job or have more than 50,000RMB（about 6,000, U．S．dollars）in bank savings before they would be eligible（有资格的）to visit Taiwan．
In addition, Taiwan bound mainland tourists would have to come as part of a tour group and would be allowed to stay a maximum of 10 days each time．
The number of mainland tourists allowed to enter the island would also initially be limited to 1,000 people a day．
Although most people from Taiwan are free to travel to China, only a small number of mainland Chinese have been able to visit the island due to restrictions imposed by both sides of the Taiwan Strait after the end of a civil war in 1949．
65．At the moment, according to the passage,．
A．no mainland Chinese can visit Taiwan now
B．any mainland Chinese can visit Taiwan now
C．many mainland Chinese have ever visited Taiwan since 1949
D．a few mainland Chinese have ever visited Taiwan since 1949
66．When Taiwan opens up the island to tourists from mainland China,．
A．there will be no restrictions to mainland visitors
B．mainland visitors who want to travel in Taiwan must have at least ￥50,000 in the bank savings account
C．there will be no age restrictions to the mainland visitors
D．mainland visitors will be free to travel to Taiwan
67．We can infer from the passage that get（s） involved in the implementation of the plan．
A．MAC B．United Daily
C．several organizations D．Bureau of Immigration
68．Which of the following statement is TRUE?
A．The implementation of the plan has not been fixed．
B．It was originally fixed on July 1 to announce the plan’s implementation．
C．For lack of cross-strait communication, the plan will not be officially completed until July．
D．When the plan is finalized, it will be announced immediately．