A woman renewing her driver’s license at the County Clerk’s office was asked to state her occupation．She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself．
“What I mean is,” explained the recorder, “do you have a job, or are you just a …”
“Of course I have a job,” said Emily．“I’m a mother.”
“We don’t list ‘mother’ as an occupation… ‘housewife’ covers it,” said the recorder.
One day I found myself in the same situation．The clerk was obviously a career woman, confident and possessed of a high sounding title．“What is your occupation?” she asked．
The words simply popped out．“I’m a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations.”
The clerk paused, ballpoint pen frozen in midair.
I repeated the title slowly, and then I stared with wonder as my statement was written in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.
“Might I ask, ” said the clerk with new interest, “Just what you do in this field?”
Coolly, without any trace of panic in my voice, I heard myself reply, “I have a continuing program of research (what mother doesn’t）, in the lab and in the field (normally I would have said indoors and out)．Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities (any mother care to disagree?), and I often work 14 hours a day (24 is more like it)．But the job is more challenging than most careers and rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money.”
There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk’s voice as she completed the form, stood up, and showed me out．
As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up (依托) by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants---ages 13, 7, and 3.
Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model (a 6 month old baby), in the child-development program, testing out a new vocal pattern．
I felt proud! I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable (不可缺少的) to mankind than “just another mother.”
Motherhood…What a glorious career! Especially when there’s a title on the door.
What can we infer from the conversation between the woman and the recorder at the beginning of the passage?
| A．The woman felt ashamed to admit what her job was. |
| B．The recorder was impatient and rude. |
| C．The author was upset about the situation that mothers faced. |
| D．Motherhood was not recognized and respected as a job by society. |
How did the female clerk feel at first when the author told her occupation?
| A．curious | B．indifferent | C．puzzled | D．interested |
How did the author feel when describing her job to the clerk?
| A．calm | B．panic-stricken | C．confident | D．cool |
Why did the woman clerk show more respect for the author?
| A．Because the author cared little about rewards. |
| B．Because she admired the author’s research work in the lab. |
| C．Because she thought the author did admirable work. |
| D．Because the writer did something she had little knowledge of. |
What is the author’s purpose of writing the passage?
| A．To show how you describe your job affects your feelings toward it. |
| B．To argue that motherhood is a worthy career and deserves respect. |
| C．To show that the author had a grander job than Emily. |
| D．To show that being a mother is hard and boring work． |
The U.S. Department of Labor statistics (统计) show that there is an oversupply of college-trained workers and that this oversupply is increasing. Already there have been more than enough teachers, engineers, physicists, aerospace experts, and other specialists. Yet colleges and graduate schools continue every year to turn out highly trained people to compete for jobs that aren't there. The result is that graduates cannot enter the professions for which they were trained and must take temporary jobs which do not require a college degree.
On the other hand, there is a great need for skilled workers of all sorts: carpenters, electricians, mechanics, plumbers, TV repairmen.
These people have more work than they can deal with, and their annual incomes are often higher than those of college graduates. The old gap that white-collar workers make a better living than blue-collar workers no longer holds true. The law of supply and demand now favors the skilled workmen.
The reason for this situation is the traditional myth that college degree is a passport to a prosperous future. A large part of American society matches success in life equally with a college degree. Parents begin indoctrinating (灌输) their children with this myth before they are out of grade school. High school teachers play their part by acting as if high school education were a preparation for college rather than for life. Under this pressure the kids fall in line. Whether they want to go to college or not doesn't matter. Everybody should go to college, so of course they must go. And every year college enrollments (入学) go up and up, and more and more graduates are overeducated for the kinds of jobs available to them.
One result of this emphasis on a college education is that many people go to college who do not belong there. Of the sixty percent of high school graduates who enter college, half of them do not graduate with their class. Many of them drop out within the first year. Some struggle on for two or three years and then give up.
45. It's implied but not stated in the passage that .
A. many other countries are facing the same problem
B. white-collar workers in the US used to make more money than blue-collar workers
C. fewer students will prefer to go to college in the future
D. the law of supply and demand has a strong effect on American higher education
46. Which of the following is NOT a reason why college enrollments go up every year?
A. Many people believe that the only way to success is a college education.
B. Many parents want their children to go to college.
C. High school teachers urge their students to go to college.
D. Every young man and woman wants to go to college.
47. By saying that“many people go to college who do not belong there,” the author means that .
A. many people who are not fit for college education go to college
B. many people who do not have enough money go to college
C. many people who go to college drop out within the first year
D. many people who go to college have their hopes destroyed
48. We can infer from the passage that the author believes that .
A. every young man and woman should go to college
B. college education is a bad thing
C. people with a college education should receive higher pay
D. fewer people should go to college while more should be trained for skilled jobs
Let's pretend we're sailing down the Rhine River on a pleasure boat. The Rhine is one of the main waterways of Germany, and the river traffic is heavy. It's interesting to watch the many boats going up and down the river. But the river traffic is not nearly so interesting as the beautiful scenery along the banks and hillsides. The boat is passing many old castles. We can see people working in the vineyards (葡萄园) on the hillsides. There are vineyards as far as the eye can see. Wine from the Rhine Valley is famous all over the world.
Suddenly our boat slows down and begins to turn a little. We are coming to a sharp bend in the river. On our right we can see a rocky cliff over 400 feet high. At first it looks quite ordinary, but there is nothing ordinary about it. There are many stories, poems, and songs about the cliff. We are looking at the Lorelei.
The someone on the boat begins to sing in German, the song of the Lorelei. It is a song about a beautiful siren (美女) who has lured many sailors to their deaths.
The siren is supposed to sit on the rock combing her long golden hair and singing. The sailors who hear her forget to steer, and the current of river hurls their boats on the rocks and dashes them to pieces.
Soon other people on the boat begin to sing. The beautiful song adds to special magic to the moment, and you begin to realize why so many people have made this trip down the Rhine to see the rock of the Lorelei.
41.The more interesting thing to those who are sailing down the Rhine River on a pleasure boat is .
A. to watch many boats going up and down the river
B. to see the beautiful scenery along the banks and hillsides
C. to hear a song about beautiful siren
D. to see a beautiful siren combing her golden hair
42. Which of the following is famous all over the world?
A. The Rhine River. B. The River Traffic.
C. Wine from the Rhine Valley. D. The Lorelei.
43. We can see a rocky cliff over 400 feet high .
A. on our right when coming to a sharp bend B. on the Rhine hillsides
C. from the Rhine Valley D. on the boat
44. The song of the Lorelei is about .
A. The Rhine wine B. a rocky cliff
C. the beautiful scenery along the Rhine River
D. a beautiful and dangerous woman genie
The common cold is the world's most widespread illness, which is plagues (瘟疫) that flesh receives.
The most widespread fallacy (谬误) of all is that colds are caused by cold. They are not. They are caused by viruses passing on from person to person. You catch a cold by coming into contact, directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one. If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them forever. But they do not. And in isolated arctic regions explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contact again with infected people from the outside world by way of packages and mail dropped from airplanes.
During the First World War soldiers who spent long periods in the trenches (战壕) cold and wet, showed no increased tendency to catch colds.
In the Second World War prisoners at the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp (奥斯维辛集中营), naked and starving, were astonished to find that they seldom had colds.
At the Common Cold Research Unit in England, volunteers took part in Experiments in which they gave themselves to the discomforts of being cold and wet for long stretches of time. After taking hot baths, they put on bathing suits, allowed themselves to be dipped with cold water, and then stood about dripping wet in drafty room. Some wore wet socks all day while others exercised in the rain until close to exhaustion. Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose.
If, then, cold and wet have nothing to do with catching colds, why are they more frequent in the winter? Despite the most pains- research, no one has yet found the answer. One explanation offered by scientists is that people tend to stay together indoors more in cold weather than at other times, and this makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on.
No one has yet found a cure for the cold. There are drugs and pain-killer pills such as aspirin, but all they do is relieve the symptoms.
36. The writer offered examples to support his argument.
A. 4 B. 5 C. 6 D. 3
37. Which of the following does not agree with the chosen passage?
A. The Eskimos do not suffer from colds all the time.
B. Colds are not caused by cold.
C. People suffer from colds just because they like to stay indoors.
D. A person may catch a cold by touching someone who already has one.
38. Arctic explorers may catch colds when .
A. they are working in the isolated arctic regions
B. they are writing reports in terribly cold weather
C. they are free from work in the isolated arctic regions
D. they are coming into touch again with the outside world
39. Volunteers taking part in the experiments in the Common Cold Research Unit .
A. suffered a lot B. never caught colds
C. often caught colds D. became very strong
40. The passage mainly discusses .
A. the experiments on the common colds B. the fallacy about the common cold
C. the reason and the way people catch colds
D. the continued spread of common colds
Where to stay in Boswell? The following are some choices for you:
| First Hotel. 222 Edward Road. Tel. 414-6433. Number of Rooms: 120. Price: Single: $ 25; Doulbe $ 35; Special attractions: Airconditioned rooms, French restaurant, Night club, Swimming pool, Shops; Coffee shop and bar, Telephone, Radio and TV in each room, close to the city center. |
| Fairview Hotel. 129 North Road. Tel. 591-5620. Number of Rooms: 50. Price: Single:$ 12; Double: $ 18; Special Attractions: Close to the airport, Telephone in each room, Bar, Restaurant, Garage, Swimming-pool. |
| Orchard Hotel. 233 Edward Road. Tel.641-6641. Number of Rooms: 150. Price: Single: $ 15; Double: $ 20; Special Attractions: Facing First Hotel, European restaurant, Coffee shop, Dry-cleaning, Shops, TV, Night-club. |
| Osaka Hotel. 1264 Venning Road. Tel. 643-8206. Number of Rooms: 180. Price: Single: $ 30; Double: $ 50. Special Attractions: Air-Conditioned rooms, Japanese and Chinese restaurant, Shops, Swimming pool, Large garden. |
49. The number of the room in Osaka Hotel is :
A. 50 B. 120 C. 150 D. 180
50. If a Japanese traveller likes to eat in French restaurant, _______ is the right place for him to go to.
A. 233 Edward RoadB. 1264 Venning Road
C. 222 Edward Road D. 129 North Road
51. Which hotel faces the Orchard Hotel?
A. The First Hotel B. The Osaka Hotel
C. The Fairview HotelD. No Hotel
52. If you want to book a cheapest single room, which number will you call?
A. 414-6433 B. 591-5620 C. 641-6641 D. 643-8206
A gentleman put an advertisement in a newspaper for a boy to work in his office. Out of the nearly fifty men who came to apply, the man selected one and dismissed(解散) the others.
“I should like to know,” said a friend, “the reason you preferred that boy, who brough not a single letter—not a recommendation(介绍信）.”
“You are wrong,” said the gentleman. He had a great many. He wiped his feet at the door and closed the door after him, indicating that he was careful. He gave his seat immediately to the crippled (跛的) old man, showing that he was kind and thoughtful. He took off his cap when he came in and answered my questions immediately, showing that he was polite and gentlemanly.
“All the rest stepped over the book which I had purposely put on the floor. He picked it up and placed it on the table; and he waited quietly for his turn instead of pushing and crowding.
When I talked to him, I noticed his tidy clothing, his neatly brushed hair, and his clean fingernails(指甲). Can’t you see that these things are excellent recommendations? I consider them more significant(明显的) than letters.”
45. A gentleman put an advertisement in a newspaper _____
A. in order to hire an office boy
B. so as to dismiss the others
C. in order to select one among the fifty applicants
D. so as to select one and dismiss the others
46. The underlined word “indicatiing” probably means _______
A. drawing B. saying C. showing D. speaking
47. _______ was the very person the gentleman preferred.
A. He who had many letters
B. He who had no letters
C. He who wiped his feet
D. He who was careful,kind, polite and thoughtful
48. According to the passage, we know that the gentleman hired the boy by________
A. his good manners B. the relationships between them
C. by the feelings D. his letters