Part II Reading Comprehension (30%)
　　Directions: There are 4 reading passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.
　　Passage I
　　Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passages:
　　In 1960s, medical researchers Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe developed a checklist of stressful events. They appreciated the tricky point that any major change can be stressful. Negative events like “serious illness of a family member” were high on the list, but so were some positive life-changing events, like marriage. When you take the Holmes–Rahe test you must remember that the score does not reflect how you deal with stress – it only shows how much you have to deal with. And we now know that the way you handle these events dramatically affects your chances of staying healthy.
　　By the early 1970s, hundreds of similar studies had followed Holmes and Rahe. And millions of Americans who work and live under stress worried over the reports. Somehow, the research got boiled down to a memorable message. Women’s magazines ran headlines like “Stress causes illness!” If you want to stay physically and mentally healthy, the article said, avoid stressful events.
　　But such simplistic advice is impossible to follow. Even if stressful events are dangerous, many – like the death of a loved one – are impossible to avoid. Moreover, any warning to avoid all stressful events is a prescription for staying away from opportunities as well as trouble. Since any change can be stressful, a person who wanted to be completely free of stress would never marry, have a child, take a new job or move.
　　The notion that all stress makes you sick also ignores a lot of what we know about people. It assumes we’re all vulnerable (脆弱的) and passive in the face of adversity. But what about human initiative and creativity? Many come through periods of stress with more physical and mental vigor than they had before. We also know that a long time without change or challenge can lead to boredom, and physical and mental strain.
　　1. The result of Holmes–Rahe medical research tells us ______ .
　　A) the way you handle major events may cause stress
　　B) what should be done to avoid stress
　　C) what kind of event would cause stress
　　D) how to cope with sudden change of life
　　2. The studies on stress in the early 1970’s led to ______.
　　A) widespread concern over its harmful effects　
　　B) great panic over the mental disorder it could cause　
　　C) an intensive research into stress – related illnesses
　　D) popular avoidance of stressful jobs
　　3. The score of the Holmes–Rahe test shows .
　　A) how much pressure you are under
　　B) how positive events can change your life　
　　C) how stressful a major event can be
　　D) how you can deal with life – changing events
　　4. Why is “such simplistic advice” (Line 1, Para. 3) impossible to follow?　
　　A) No one can stay on the same job for long.
　　B) No prescription is effective in relieving stress.
　　C) People have to get married someday.
　　D) You could be missing opportunities as well.
　　5. According to the passage people who have experienced ups and downs may become ________.
　　A) nervous when faced with difficulties
　　B) physically and mentally strained
　　C) more capable of coping with adversity　
　　D) indifferent toward what happens to them
　　Passage II
　　Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage:
　　 The octopus (章鱼)’s reputation as a human-killer isn’t simply an exaggeration – it is a total myth. The octopus can indeed be a deadly hunter, but only of its natural prey. Clams, mussels, crabs, lobsters and an occasional sick or unwary fish have reason to be frightened of this multi-armed predator, but a person is much too large to interest even the biggest octopus. Even a giant among octopuses is much smaller than most people imagine. Far from being large enough to engulf (吞下) a submarine, as monster octopuses in movies have been known to do, the largest octopuses, found on the Pacific coast, weigh around 110 pounds and grow to a diameter of no more than ten feet.
　　The hard, parrot-like beak (嘴) of an octopus is not used for attacking deep-sea divers, but for cutting open crabs and lobsters. Indeed, the octopus possesses such a tiny throat that it cannot swallow large pieces of meat. It feeds instead by pouring digestive juices into its victims, and then sucking up the soupy remains. A clam or scallop (扇贝) that finds itself in the grasp of an octopus has only a short time to live. But human beings are perfectly safe. Still, people rarely care to venture close enough to these timid creatures to get a good look at them.
　　6. This passage is mainly about _________.
　　A) the horrors of the octopus
　　B) the largest octopus in the world
　　C) octopuses and their behaviour
　　D) the octopus’s deadly hunting method
　　7. It is implied but not stated in the passage that _______________.
　　A) people have groundless fears about the octopus
　　B) the octopus is not interested in human beings because they are too large for it
　　C) the octopus is afraid of human beings
　　D) the octopus is a very vicious sea animal
　　8. Which of the following statements is true?
　　A) The octopus usually uses its eight tentacles to tear its prey into pieces before eating it up.
　　B) The octopus always catches sick and careless fish.
　　C) The octopus never attacks people.
　　D) The octopus can engulf submarines.
　　9. The hard beak of the octopus is used for .
　　A) attacking deep-sea divers
　　B) cutting up large pieces of meat
　　C) cutting open its prey
　　D) defending itself
　　10. From the passage, we can conclude that .
　　A) the octopus is not dangerous to man, as many people believe it to be
　　B) people often fear creatures that are not dangerous to them
　　C) the octopus only hunts its natural prey
　　D) things described in movies are not to be believed
　　 Passage III
　　 Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage:
　　 These days there are so many stories about the criminal activities of athletes that sports pages are beginning to look like police reports. What’s going on? American sports fans ask over their morning toast and coffee, What’s happening to our heroes?
　　It’s not difficult to understand our desire for athletes to be heroes. On the surface, at least, athletes display a vital and indomitable spirit; they are gloriously alive inside their bodies. And sports do allow us to witness acts that can legitimately be described as courageous, thrilling, beautiful, even noble. In an increasingly complicated and disorderly world, sports are still an arena in which we can regularly witness a certain kind of greatness.
　　Yet there’s something of a paradox here, for the very qualities a society tends to seek in its heroes – selflessness, social consciousness, and the like – are precisely the opposite of those needed to transform a talented but otherwise unremarkable neighborhood kid into a Michael Jordan. To become a star athlete, you have to have an extremely competitive outlook and you have to be totally focused on the development of our own physical skills. These qualities may well make a great athlete, but they don’t necessarily make a great person. On top of this, our society reinforces these traits by the system it has created to produce athletes – a system characterized by limited responsibility and enormous privilege.
　　The athletes themselves suffer the costs of this system. Trained to measure themselves perpetually against the achievements of those around them, many young athletes develop a sense of what sociologist Walter Schafer has termed “conditional self-worth”. They learn very quickly that they will be accepted by the important figures in their lives – parents, coaches and peers as long as they are perceived as “winners”. Unfortunately they become conceited and behave as if their athletic success will last forever.
　　11. In paragraph 1, we know that when Americans read the sports pages they ______.
　　A) are able to get information about sports games
　　B) know more about athletes’ private lives
　　C) are surprised to find that their heroes are committing various crimes.
　　D) are like reading police reports.
　　12. The author suggests that people want athletes to be heroes because ______.
　　A) athletes don’t display a vital and indomitable spirit
　　B) in sports we can see a certain kind of greatness
　　C) athletes stand for success
　　D) all athletes are courageous and noble
　　13. The author argues that __________.
　　A) the qualities that make a successful athlete don’t necessarily make a great person
　　B) the qualities a society seeks in its heroes are precisely the ones needed to transform a talented child into a great athlete
　　C) our society has created an effective system to transform athletes into heroes
　　D) our society is responsible for reinforcing the qualities of great athletes
　　14. By saying that young athletes develop a sense of “conditional self-worth” (paragraph 4), the author means that _______.
　　A) they are valued by others as long as they win
　　B) young athletes are easily accepted by their parents, coaches and peers
　　C) young athletes are always perceived as winners
　　D) young athletes lack the sense of self-worth
　　15. What is the author’s attitude toward today’s social system characterized by limited responsibility and enormous privilege?
　　 A) Positive. B) Favorable.
　　 C) Critical. D) Ironical.
　　Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage:
　　In 1993, New York State ordered stores to charge a deposit on beverage (饮料) containers. Within a year, consumers had returned millions of aluminum cans and glass and plastic bottles. Plenty of companies were eager to accept the aluminum and glass as raw materials for new products. But because few could figure out what to do with the plastic, much of it wound up buried in landfills (垃圾填埋场). The problem was not limited to New York. Unfortunately, there were too few uses for second-hand plastics.
　　Today, one out of five plastic soda bottles is recycled (回收利用) in the United States. The reason for the change is that now there are dozens of companies across the country buying discarded plastic soda bottles and turning them into fence posts, paint brushes, etc.
　　As the New York experience shows, recycling involves more than simply separating valuable materials from the rest of the rubbish. A discard remains a discard until somebody figures out how to give it a second life – and until economic arrangements exist to give that second life value. Without adequate markets to absorb materials collected for recycling, throwaways actually depress prices for used materials.
　　Shrinking landfill space, and rising costs for burying and burning rubbish are forcing local governments to look more closely at recycling. In many areas, the East Coast especially, recycling is already the least expensive waste–management option. For every ton of waste recycled, a city avoids paying for its disposal, which, in parts of New York, amounts to saving of more than $ 100 per ton. Recycling also stimulates the local economy by creating jobs and trims the pollution control and energy costs of industries that make recycled products by giving them a more refined raw material.
　　16. What regulation was issued by New York State concerning beverage containers?
　　 A) Average companies should be responsible for collecting and reusing discarded plastic soda bottles.
　　 B) Throwaways should be collected by the state for recycling.
　　 C) A fee should be charged on used containers for recycling.
　　 D) Consumers had to pay for beverage containers and could get their money back on returning them.
　　17. The returned plastic bottles in New York used to .
　　 A) end up somewhere underground
　　 B) be turned into raw materials
　　 C) have a second-life value
　　 D) be separated from other rubbish
　　18. The key problem in dealing with returned plastic beverage containers is .
　　A) to sell them in at a profitable price
　　B) how to turn them into useful things
　　C) how to reduce their recycling costs
　　D) to lower the prices for used materials
　　19. Recycling has become the first choice for the disposal of rubbish because .
　　A) local governments find it easy to manage
　　B) recycling has great appeal for the jobless
　　C) recycling causes little pollution
　　D) other methods are more expensive
　　20. It can be concluded from the passage that .
　　A) rubbish is a potential remedy for the shortage of raw materials
　　B) local governments in the U.S. can expect big profits from recycling
　　C) recycling is to be recommended both economically and environmentally
　　D) landfills will still be widely used for waste disposal