Part II Reading Comprehension (40%)
　　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:
　　How men first learned to invent words is unknown. In other words, the origin of language is a mystery. All we really know is that men, unlike animals, somehow invented certain sounds to express thoughts and feelings, actions and thing, so that they could communicate with each other; and that later they agree upon certain signs, called letters which could be combined to represent those sounds, and which could be written down, Those sounds, whether spoken or written in letters, we call words.
　　The power of words, then, lies in their associations --- the things they bring up before our minds. Words become filled with meaning for us by experience; and the longer we live, the more certain words recall to us the glad and sad events of our past; and the more we read and learn, the more the number of words that mean something to us increases.
　　1. How language began is ______.
　　A. a legend handed down from the past
　　B. a matter that is hidden and secret
　　C. a question difficult to answer
　　D. a problem not yet solved
　　2. Why men invented certain sounds to express thoughts and actions was that ______.
　　A. they could agree upon certain things.
　　B. They could communicate with each other
　　C. They could write them down
　　D. They could combine them
　　3. The meaning of words comes from their ______.
　　A. letters
　　B. differences
　　C. sounds
　　D. associations
　　4. By “association”, the author means ______.
　　A. a joining of ideas in the mind
　　B. a special quality
　　C. a strange feature
　　D. an appearance which is puzzling
　　5. Which of the following statements is true?
　　A. The more we read and learn, the more ignorant we are.
　　B. The more we read and learn, the more sensitive we become.
　　C. The more we read and learn, the more learned we are.
　　D. The more we read and learn, the more confused we will be.
　　Passage II
　　Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage:
　　One of the most important weapons used during the Second World War was not a weapon used against people, but rather a drug used against disease. The wartime use of penicillin saved thousands of lives. In the First World War, for example, pneumonia was responsible for eighteen percent of all the deaths in the United States army. In the Second World War the rate went down to less than one percent. In addition, penicillin was useful in keeping wounds from getting infected and in helping to speed the healing process of those wounds that did become infected.
　　6. Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
　　A. A Dangerous Weapon
　　B. Weapons Used in the Second World War
　　C. Death Rates in the Two World Wars
　　D. An Important Drug
　　7. According to the passage, one of the leading causes of death during the First World War was ______.
　　A. gas
　　B. accidents
　　C. disease
　　D. drugs
　　8. Compared with the death rate from pneumonia in the First World War, the rate in the Second World War was ______.
　　A. much higher
　　B. the same
　　C. slightly lower
　　D. significantly lower
　　9. According to the passage, penicillin was useful in the Second World Was for all of the following purposes EXCEPT _______.
　　A. hurting the enemy
　　B. treating pneumonia
　　C. preventing infection
　　D. healing wounds
　　10. The author of this passage is most probably ______.
　　A. an army man
　　B. a doctor
　　C. a weapon producer
　　D. a businessman
　　Passage III
　　Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage:
　　There is a popular belief among parents that schools are no longer interested in spelling. No school I have taught in has ever ignored spelling or considered it unimportant as a basic skill. There are, however, vastly different ideas about how to teach it, or how much priority it must be given over general language development and writing ability. The problem is, how to encourage a child to express himself freely and confidently in writing without holding him back with the complexities of spelling?
　　If spelling becomes the only focal point of his teacher’s interest, clearly a bright child will be likely to “play safe”. He will tend to write only words within his spelling range, choosing to avoid adventurous language. That’s why teachers often encourage the early use of dictionaries and pay attention to content rather than technical ability.
　　I was once shocked to read on the bottom of a sensitive piece of writing about a personal experience: “This work is terrible! There are far too many spelling errors and your writing is illegible.” It may have been a sharp criticism of the pupil’s technical abilities in writing, but it was also a sad reflection on the teacher who had omitted to read the essay, which contained some beautiful expressions of the child’s deep feelings. The teacher was not wrong to draw attention to the error, but if his priorities had centered on the child’s ideas, an expression his disappointment with the presentation would have given the pupil more motivation to seek improvement.
　　11. Teachers differ in their opinions about _____.
　　A. the difficulties in teaching spelling
　　B. the role of spelling in general language development
　　C. the complexities of the basic writing skills
　　D. the necessity of teaching spelling
　　12. The expression “play safe” probably means _____.
　　A. to write carefully
　　B. to do as teachers say
　　C. to use dictionaries frequently
　　D. to avoid using words one is not sure of
　　13. Teachers encourage the use of dictionaries so that _____.
　　A. students will be able to express their ideas more freely
　　B. teachers will have less trouble in correcting mistakes
　　C. students will have more confidence in writing
　　D. students will learn to be independent of teachers
　　14. The writer seems to think that the teacher’s judgment on that sensitive piece of writing is _____.
　　A. reasonable
　　B. unfair
　　C. foolish
　　D. careless
　　15. The major point discussed in the passage is ______.
　　A. the importance of developing writing skills
　　B. the complexities of spelling
　　C. the correct way making compositions
　　D. the relationship between spelling and the content of a composition