TAIBEI －Increasing numbers of Taiwanese students are joining the island’s “China rush”, seeking education on the Chinese mainland．
According to official Chinese figures, the number of Taiwanese students admitted into college and postgraduate（研究生）programs on the mainland totaled 461 in 1996, 928 in 1997 and 839 in 1998．Although no latest official numbers were available,” Netbig. Com Said this number had risen between 30 to 50 percent annually in the past two years with well over 1000 entering mainland campuses last year.
The Internet site, based in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, provides education service and information on Chinese mainland college and universities. “Many Taiwanese believe a Chinese education giving more knowledge about the people and culture in the mainland will increase their chances in the Chinese job market, Net. Com vice-president Ingrid Huang said．“I believe it will give me hands-on experience in the business field in the Chinese mainland and a better understanding of the Chinese mainland people,” said Lydia Chang, a 19-year-old majoring in journalism at Shih Shin University. Chang plans to go on to get a master’s degree in business administration in Shanghai, which she says offers the best environment for such studies.
A journalism graduate student, surnamed Lin, at the National Taiwan University said he would like to study law on the Chinese mainland since “there will be better career prospects now that more Taiwanese companies are going there”. “They hope the children could build up connections which could later become useful in their business operations,” said Yang Ching-yao, professor of the Chinese mainland studies. A Netbig. Com survey showed the campuses favored by Taiwan students included Beijing, Qinghua and Renmin universities in Beijing, and Jinan and Zhongshan universities in Guangzhou. The most popular studies were law, business and Chinese medicine.
At present, Chinese Taibei doesn’t recognize diplomas earned in the Chinese mainland nor help with any inquiries about studying there. But recognizing the trend, education authorities are giving a final form to a policy accepting certificates（证书）from selected universities.
31.ore Taiwanese students study on the Chinese mainland because ___________.
A．Taiwan will reunite with the mainland sooner or later
B．the fees asked for are lower than those of Taiwan
C．what they have learned on the mainland will bring them a bright future
D．there are many famous universities for them to choose
32．Some business executives were sending their children to study in the Chinese mainland so that their children ___________.
A．could receive better education B．could learn more about the policy there
C．could do well in the business operations D．could make more friends there
33．The underlined word “it” in the third paragraph refers to __________.
A．Netbig. Com B．a Chinese education on the mainland
C．the Chinese job market D．the university
34．The author wrote the article to tell us ______________.
A．more Taiwanese students are studying on the mainland
B．the number of Taiwanese students going to universities on the mainland had been increasing year after year
C．education on the mainland is more attractive compared with that of Taiwan
D．Taiwan and the mainland should cooperate with each other in every field.
35．Which is true according to the passage?
A．Chinese Taibei recognizes diplomas earned on the Chinese mainland
B．The number of Taiwanese students going to study on the mainland will surely be increasing in the next few years.
C．Chinese Taibei doesn’t help with any inquiries about Taiwanese studying in the mainland
D．Education of Taiwan is far behind the mainland.
A new study has been carried to test the role of story telling in lowering blood pressure. Dr. Thomas Houston, a professor of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, led a group of scientists that researched how pre-recorded videos of hypertension (高血压) patients' talking about their medical histories helped another group of patients with high blood pressure to control their condition over several months.
Houston was surprised by their studies that suggested that communication can be a powerful tool in medicine. They showed that those who had had similar experiences, when talking to someone with a similar background, could help change their behavior to become healthier. Hypertension is difficult to control, since it is dependent on diet, exercise and mental state. Medical treatments with drugs, and lifestyle therapies(疗法) have been relatively ineffective because people find it hard to follow those medical requirements.
In the test, his team carefully chose their story-tellers from 23
0 members of a patients' community with whom they could most easily relate. Next, they divided their study population into two groups. One received three interactive DVDs containing the tellers' stories of their experiences in living with and treating their hypertension. The other were given educational discs on an unrelated health topic. The study volunteers reported that they had listened to the DVDs, and after three months, those who heard the stories of the hypertensive patients lowered their blood pressure.
While the study did not address how the story-telling influenced the patients' behavior, Houston doubts that watching patients of similar backgrounds who had a similar medical experience helped to motivate them to seek medical help to their hypertension. They found that after six months the difference in blood pressure between those who watched the story-tellers and those who observed the unrelated videos remained, suggesting that the story-telling continued to have an effect. We can learn from the text that the pre-recorded videos _________.
| A．tell medical histories of hypertension patients |
| B．introduce some medical treatments of hypertension |
| C．introduce a good lifestyle for hypertensive patients |
| D．tell scientific discoveries of the scientist group |
Houston was surprised to find that _______.
| A．hypertension is really difficult to control |
| B．communication has some medical effects |
| C．medical treatments have no effect at all |
| D．people don't follow the medical requirements |
The underlined word "address" in the last paragraph most probably means _______.
| A．persuade | B．observe | C．attend | D．announce |
Which of the following could be the best title of the text?
| A．The stories of some hypertension patients. |
| B．Medical treatments of blood pressure. |
| C．Storytelling may help lower blood pressure. |
| D．Suggestions about how to lower blood pressure. |
I sometimes wonder if old Finchley has the right personality to be a research scientist. He keeps asking when he’ll be coming back. After all, it was his own fault. Nobody tries out what has just been invented on themselves any more but Finchley. Well, he must have pumped about a thousand cubic centimeters into himself before I noticed he was clearly becoming smaller.
It was funny watching him, because his clothes remained the same in size. They simply piled up around him so that he looked like a small boy in his father’s clothes. But he kept getting smaller and smaller. As my colleague Dawson and I watched him, he disappeared! All we could see was Finchley’s clothes on the floor. They looked so strange, because the lab coat was on top, shirt and trousers inside and, I suppose, underclothes inside again. It gave me a strange feeling, and I think Dawson was a bit shaken, too.
Dawson was sitting on his chair in front of a microscope he’d been using to examine a family of mites(螨虫). He looked through the scope kind of absently again, and was nearly scared to lose awareness when he found old Finchley waving back from the other end.
It seems as if Finchley had taken a free ride on a dust mite and landed on the land of the mite family. Of course, we didn’t know till Finchley told us later. But anyhow, as I said, Dawson nearly passed out. He jumped off his chair and pointed at the microscope, too shocked to speak. Finchley disappeared because ________.
| A．he took something poisonous |
| B．he was changed into a dust mite |
| C．his father’s clothes totally covered him up |
| D．what he and his colleagues invented resulted in his disappearance |
It frightened Dawson to see Finchley _______.
| A．got into his scope by accident | B．was waving through his telescope |
| C．suddenly got lost in his clothes | D．gradually disappeared in the lab |
It can be inferred that Finchley, Dawson and the writer have possibly invented _____.
| A．some kind of medicine | B．a new powerful microscope |
| C．a machine to make people small | D．a new way to make a culture of mite |
It can probably be concluded that Finchley ________.
| A．passed out there and then | B．is not fit to be a scientist |
| C．is a devoted scientist | D．will remain tiny all the time |
The 1980s was called the “Me Decade” because for many this time was marked by a fascination with the self. The idea that each person has a self may seem natural to us, but this concept is actually quite new. The idea that each human life is unique developed between the 11th and 15th centuries in Europe. Before that time, individuals were considered in relation to a group, and even today, many eastern cultures place more emphasis on the importance of a collective self than on a unique and independent self.
Both
eastern and western cultures see the self as divided into an inner, private self and an outer, public self. But where they differ is in terms of which part is seen as the “real you.” Western culture tends to promote the idea of individuality—a self that is separated from other selves. In contrast, many eastern cultures focus on an inter-independent self that gets its diversity in large part from inter-relationship with others.
For example, a Confucian(孔子) idea stresses the importance of “face”—other people’s views of the self and keeping up one’s desired status in their eyes. In the past, some Asian cultures developed clear rules about the specific clothes and even colors that people in certain social classes and occupations were allowed to display, and these live on today in Japanese style manuals. This style of dress is at odds with such western practices as
“casual Fridays,” which encourage employees to dress informally and express their unique selves. According to the passage , what does the author believe about the self?
| A．Many eastern cultures see the self connected with others. |
| B．Those born in the 1980s are generally most self-centered than others. |
| C．The concept that each person has a self may seem strange to eastern cultures |
| D．Western cultures regard the self as an outer, public self while eastern cultures don’t. |
What does the 2nd paragraph mainly talk about?
| A．How eastern and western cultures see the self. |
| B．Eastern cultures contrast sharply with western cultures |
| C．Both eastern and western cultures appreciate the importance of self |
| D．Eastern cultures are as important as western cultures |
A Japanese dress code is mentioned in the last paragraph to _________.
| A．explain the importance of “face” | B．say how traditional the Japanese are |
| C．emphasize the importance of eastern cultures | |
| D．show how eastern cultures see the self in relation to others |
The underlined phrase “at odds with” most probably means_______.
| A．in agreement with | B．in disagreement with |
| C．in comparison with | D．in need of |
One of the most fascinating things about television is the size of the audience. A novel can be on the “bestseller” lists with a sale of up to 100,000 copies, but a popular TV show might have 70 million TV viewers. TV can make anything or anyone well-known overnight.
This is the principle behind “quiz” or “game” shows, which put ordinary people on TV to play a game for prizes and money. A quiz show can make anyone a star, and it can give away thousands of dollars. Charles Van Doren, an English instructor, became rich and famous after winning money on several shows. He even had a career as a television personality. But one of the losers proved that Charles Van Doren was cheating. It turned out that the show’s producers, who were pulling the strings, gave the answers to the most popular competitors in advance. Why? Because if the audience didn’t like the person who won the game, they turned the show off. The result of this cheating was a huge scandal(丑闻). Based on the show off, a movie titled “Quiz Show” is on 40 years later.
Charles Van Doren is no longer involved with TV. But game shows are still here, though they aren’t taken seriously. In fact, some of them try to be as ridiculous as possible. There are shows that send strangers on vacation trips together, or that try to cause newly-married couples to fight on TV, or that punish losers by humiliating(羞辱) them. The entertainment now is to see what people will do just to be on TV. People still win money, but the real prize is to be in front of an audience of millions.What is the most important thing as to television?
| A．How many viewers they can attract | B．Becoming the bestseller on the list |
| C．How much money can be given away | D．The number of people attending shows |
What does the underlined part “pulling the strings” probably mean?
| A．Planning the shows with effort | B．Drawing the curtain on the stage |
| C．Controlling the result secretly | D．Playing “quiz” or “game” openly |
Charles Van Doren stopped his career as a television personality because ________.
| A．he had earned enough wealth and fame. | B．one of the competitors had told the truth |
| C．the film “Quiz Show” was being shown | |
| D．his frequent appearance had bored the audience |
It can be inferred from the passage that _______.
| A．TV Game Shows are more popular than before. |
| B．the scandal was not made known until 40 years later |
| C．getting money is the only purpose of people taking part in shows |
| D．people can make themselves famous by taking part in shows |
While I was in 9th grade, I built a circuit (电路装置) for the traffic system of our city. After getting the first prize, I got this valuable advice from my father: “Do whatever interests you, and don’t let the work challenge you, make sure you are challenging that work.”
I have always preferred the projects which are challenging and related to real life problems. I clearly remember building a shipping program several years ago. I divided the whole project into several small sections. When I understood it clearly, I used my brainstorming skill on it, and gave some basic ideas. Then I asked my professor for help before jumping into coding (编码). At first, I did not know how to ask questions correctly and always asked the question “How do I do it?” As I kept working and discussed with my professor, I became more comfortable and those “how” questions soon turned into “what if I do this and that” types of questions.
It took me four days to write the code. The desire to solve the problem kept me sleepless all nights brainstorming in even greater details. Every time I saw my program running smoothly, I exploded with joy. I still remember the last day of my work. I was getting some problem and didn’t know what to do. At that moment, a man came in to clean. He had headphones, and he was dancing while cleaning the room. Seeing this, I burst out laughing. That moment calmed me. I regained energy and interest and started to work again, and soon I fixed the problem.
My success in the project proved that breaking up a large problem into small parts could help find a possible solution. Discussing the problem with others was also very beneficial. Now I have gained the confidence to attempt any kind of project. According to the passage, the writer was interested in ______.
| A．developing traffic systems | B．doing challenging projects |
| C．winning great prizes | D．writing different codes |
The writer asked the question “how do I do it” at first because ______.
| A．he had no clear idea about his program | B．he was to o shy to express himself |
C．he wa nted to be understood easily |
D．he preferred this kind of question |
We learn from the passage that the writer’s shipping program ______.
A．would ben efit people a lot |
B．was done together with others |
| C．was difficult and needed patience | D．cost much money and energy |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Do It Yourself | B．No Pains, No Gains |
| C．Learning with Interest | D．Practice Makes Perfect |