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PartIReadingComprehension(2*25=50points)Directions: There are five passages in this section. Each passage isfollowed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them,there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Decide on the bestchoice.Passage1The story that traces life from sea to land then into the multipleniches that exist there for a great variety lo living things is a fascinatingone, but far too detailed for our purposes. One key point for us in thatstory is the emergence of the biological class of animals that are calledmammals.Mammals have a number of features that distinguish them fromthe reptiles from which they developed. They are warm blooded; that is,they have a system of temperature control that keeps the body at aconstant temperature. Mammals have a set of teeth of different shapesthat serve different functions such as cutting, gouging, and grinding.Young mammals spend their earliest days of development shieldedwithin the mothers body and are then born live, rather than hatchingfrom eggs. In addition, after birth they are nourished by milk providedby the mothers mammary glands. The enforced association betweenmother and infant provides an opportunity for learning that does notexist for those kinds of creatures that are hatched from eggs long aftertheir parents have departed from the scene. Young mammals play something that amphibians and reptiles never dowhich providesadditional learning opportunities.The foregoing list leaves little doubt that we are mammals. Thereare, of course, a great many kinds of mammals, most of whichdeveloped after the great extinction of dinosaurs and other reptilesabout 65 million years ago that opened opportunities for the few smallmammals that were already in existence. One of the groups ofmammals that resulted was a biological order called Primates whichincludes monkeys, apes, humans, and some smaller creatures familiaronly to ardent zoogoers. Primates share a number of behavioral featuresthat have played important roles in their evolutionary development.Most primates are arboreal; that is, they spend their lives in and amongtrees. Their tree-climbing and tree-dwelling habits impose needs thatare reflected in primate anatomy. Although diet varies from species tospecies, many primates are largely vegetarian. But they can eat anddigest meat, and some species vary their diets of leaves, shoots, andfruits by eating insects, birds eggs, and even small animals. Primatesare hand-feeders, depending on their hands both to collect food and toget it into their mouths. Perhaps the most important features of theirbehavior is that primates are social animals. Their genetics, habits, andeven their survival are geared to living in groups. Although humanbeings have come to have a way of life very different from that oftypical primates, the basic primate adaption provided prehumans withcapabilities that allowed them to become culture-builders.The anatomical features that separate primates from other kinds ofanimals relate clearly to the way primates behave.1. Where do you think is the passage from?A. Newspaper B. Gazette C. Journal D. Science magazine2. Which of the following is not the features of mammals thatdistinguish them from the reptiles?A. Theyre warm-blooded.B. They have a set of teeth of different shapes.C. The first period of development of young mammals is withintheir mothers body.D. Theres some association between mother and infant.3. Which can be inferred from the passage?A. Mammals developed from the reptiles.B. The animals that are hatched from eggs have no opportunity forlearning.C. Mammals developed at the cost of the extinction of reptiles.D. Not all the primates are mammals.4. Primates are social animals because _.A. they are hand-feedersB. of their anatomical featuresC. they are arborealD. they depend on each other5. What leads to the features of the primate anatomy?A. Their tree-climbing and tree-dwelling lifeB. Their dietC. The way they behaveD. The social emphasis in their lifePassage2Opportunities for rewarding work become fewer for both menand women as they grow older.After age 40, job hunting becomes evenmore difficult. Many workers stay at jobs they are too old for ratherthan face possible rejection. Our youth-oriented, throw-away culturesees little value in older people. In writer Lilian Hellmans words, theyhave “the wisdom that comes with age that we cant make use of. ”Unemployment and economic need for work is higher amongolder women, especially minorities, than among younger white women.A national council reports these findings: though unemployed longerwhen seeking work, older women job-hunt harder, hold a job longerwith less absenteeism, perform as well or better, are more reliable, andare more willing to learn than men or younger women. Yet many olderwomen earn poor pay and face a future of poverty in their retirementyears. “When sexism meets ageism, poverty is no longer on thedoorstep, it moves in,” according to Tish Sommers, director of a specialstudy on older women for the National Organization for Women.Yet a 1981 report on the White House Conference on Agingshows that as a group, older Americans are “the wealthiest, best fed,best housed, healthiest, most self-reliant older population in ourhistory.” This statement is small comfort to those living below thepoverty line, but it does explode some of the old traditional beliefs andfears. Opportunities for moving in and up in a large company mayshrink but many older people begin successful small businesses,volunteer in satisfying activities, and stay active for many years. Theyhave few role models because in previous generations the life span wasmuch shorter and expectations of life were fewer. They are ploughingnew ground.Employers are beginning to recognize that the mature person canbring a great deal of stability and responsibility to a position. Onedoesnt lose ability and experience on the eve of ones 65th or 70thbirthday any more than one grows up instantly at age 21.6. After the age of 40, _.A. most workers are tired of their present jobsB. many workers tend to stick their present jobsC. people find their jobs more rewarding than beforeD. people still wish to hunt for more suitable jobs7. From Heilmans remark, we can see that _.A. full use has been made of the wisdom of older peopleB. the wisdom of older people is not valued by American societyC. older people are no less intelligent than young peopleD. the wisdom of older people is of great value toAmerican society8. Tish Sommers argues that _.A. older women find it hard to escape povertyB. older women usually perform better in their jobsC. the major cause of the poverty of older women is sexismD. more people have come to believe in sexism and ageism9. According to Paragraph Three, it can be seen that older Americans_.A. have more job opportunities than young peopleB. live below the poverty lineC. have new opportunities to remain active in societyD. no longer believe in the promise of a happy life upon retirement10. It can be concluded from the passage that the writer _.A. calls attention to the living conditions of olderAmericansB. believes that value of older people is gaining increasingrecognitionC. attempts to justify the youth-oriented, throw-away culture of theUnited StatesD. argues people should not retire at the age of 65 or 70Passage3Polls can provide important guidance for politicians, but there aretimes when it is foolish and dangerous to rely on a temporarilymisinformed public for a political compass. The current debate overSecurity provides one of the most compelling examples in modernhistory of the pitfalls of poll-driven political strategy.Yesterday two leading Democratic strategies publicly took theirparty to task for their “just say no” approach to President Bushsprogram. “To say there is no problem simply puts Democrats out of theconservation for the great majority of the country that want politicalleaders to secure this very important retirement program,” they warned,“Voters are looking for reform, change, and new ideas, but Democratsseem stuck in concrete.”Stuck, indeed. To be more exact, they are holding their ground andrefusing to surrender to a president who is once again manufacturing a“crisis” for a political purpose. And why should they do otherwise,when this strategy is clearly working?Lets start with the facts. According to President Bush, SocialSecurity can play all promised benefits for the next 37 years withoutany changes at all. Even if nothing were done by 2043, the programwould still pay a higher real benefit than what people receive today.And even looking into the future of 75-year planning period, theshortfall is less than what we fixed in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1980s. Inother words, Social Security is financially stronger today than it hasbeen throughout most of its history.So this attack on Social Security has nothing to do with thesolvency of the program. Nonetheless last week, a QuinnipiacUniversity poll found that Respondents, by a 49 to 42 percent margin,believed that Social Security would not be able to pay them a benefitwhen they retire. But this is a ridiculous idea, based completely onmisinformation. It is even more fetched than the notion, which alsocommanded a majority before the invasion of Iraq, that SaddamHussein was responsible for the massacre of 9/11.In the case of Social Security, there is no dispute about the facts.There are just a few cheap verbal and accounting tricks that have beenused to convince the public that Social Security faces serious problems.These are easily refuted.The same Quinnipiac poll showed that 59 percent of Americansdisapprove of the way the president is handling Social Security, withonly 28 percent approving. It takes no political sense to pretend thatthis attack on our nations most successful and popular governmentprogram is actually an attempt to insure its solvency. Even in politics,there are times when honesty is the best policy.11. What can we know about the Democrats, according to the passage?A. They want to help secure the retirement program.B. They refuse to admit that the Social Security program has beensuccessful.C. They are making efforts to solve the crisis of the Social Securityprogram.D. They organize polls in order to gain political interests.12. The author raises the example of Saddam Hussein in order to showthat _.A. the invasion of Iraq represented the wills of common people.B. no evidence had come up to prove the relationship betweenSaddam Hussein and the massacre of 9/11.C. sometimes the public without proper information will drawfoolish conclusions.D. it was wrong for the government to rely on the public forimportant political decisions.13. According to the author, which of the following is TRUE?A. There is no point in worrying about the solvency of the SocialSecurity program.B. The majority of the public will accept the Social Securityprogram in the near future.C. Only the baby boomers should worry about the future days whenthey grow old.D. The Democrats attack the Social Security program in order toquestion its solvency.14. By saying “honesty is the best policy”, the author seems todisapprove of _.A. the Quinnipiac University who organized the pollB. the Bush administration who initiated the Social SecurityprogramC. the ill-informed public who worried about their futureD. those Democrats who wanted to gain political interests throughthis incident15. The best title for this passage should be _.A. Time to Reconsider Social SecurityB. Lets Be Honest About Social SecurityC. Social Security is an IllusionD. Embrace the Bright Future of Social SecurityPassage4People who are extremely careful and “finish what they start“ mayhave a reduced risk of developing Alzheimers disease, according to astudy involving Catholic nuns and priests.The most conscientious and self-disciplined individuals werefound to be 89% less likely to develop this form ofdementiadeterioration of intellectual faculties, such as memory,concentration, and judgment, resulting from an organic disease or adisorder of the brainthan their peers over the course of the 12-yearstudy.Robert Wilson at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago,Illinois, US, and colleagues followed 997 healthy Catholic nuns, priestsand Christian brothers between 1994 and 2006. Early on in the study,participants completed a personality test to determine howconscientious they were.Based on answers to 12 questions such as “I am a productiveperson who always gets the job done“, they received a score rangingfrom 0 to 48. On average, volunteers scored 34 points in the test.Volunteers also underwent regular neurological examinations andcognitive tests. Over the lifetime of the study, 176 of the 997participants developed Alzheimers disease. However, those with thehighest score on the personality test40 points or abovehad an 89%lower chance of developing the debilitating condition than participantswho received 28 points or lower.“These are people who control impulses, and tend to follow normsand roles,“ Wilson told New Scientist.Previous studies suggest that exercise and intellectual stimulationcan decrease the risk of Alzheimers disease. But the link betweenself-discipline and a reduced risk of the illness remained strong evenafter researchers discounted these factors from their study. Subjects stillhad a 54% lower chance of developing the condition.Exactly why conscientiousness should have an impact onAlzheimers risk remains unclear, says Wilson. He notes that brainautopsies conducted on 324 of the studys participants failed to resolvethe mystery.Earlier work has linked the presence of plaques and proteintangles within the brain to Alzheimer. Yet, in general, the brains ofthose who scored highly on the conscientiousness test had as manyplaques and protein tangles as those of subjects who scored lower.Wilson suggests that more careful and conscientious individualsmay have more active frontal brain regions, an area that is responsiblefor decision-making and planning. Increased activity in this region mayperhaps compensate for a decline in function in other brain regions, hespeculates. Based on the new findings, doctors could perhaps considercertain patients at greater risk of dementia, says Ross Andel at theUniversity of South Florida, US. “This is a study about identifyingpeople at risk,“ he says.16. How did the study evaluate every participants sense ofresponsibility?A. Through a 12-year observation.B. On a neurological examination.C. By a cognitive test.D. By asking a group of questions.17. Previous studies suggest_A. links between physical exercises andAlzheimer.B. links between brain plaque andAlzheimer.C. links between brain autopsies andAlzheimer.D. links between self-discipline andAlzheimer.18. Which one of the following is NOT true about Robert Wilson atRush University?A. He and his co-workers followed 997 healthy Catholic nuns,p
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