C ) The Asian elephant is less popular with tourists.

   D ) The Asian elephant produces ivory of a better quality.

15. A ) From the captured or tamed elephants.

   B ) From the British wildlife protection group.

   C ) From elephant hunters in Thailand and Burma.

   D ) From tourists visiting the Thai-Burmese border.

16. A ) Their taming for circuses and zoos.

   B ) The destruction of their natural homes.

   C ) Man’s lack of knowledge about their behavior.

   D ) Their greater vulnerability to extinction than other species.

Passage3
Questions 17 to 20 are based on the passage you have just heard.

17. A ) They had lost their jobs as a result of the Industrial Revolution.

   B ) They had been suffering from political and religious oppression.

   C ) They wanted to flee from the widespread famine in Northern

Europe.

   D) They wanted to make a fortune there by starting their own

businesses.

18.A) They might lose control of their members because of the increase in

  immigration.

   B) Their members might find it difficult to get along with the

  newcomers.

   C ) The working conditions of their members might deteriorate.

   D ) Their members might lose their jobs to the newcomers.

19. A ) To impose restrictions on further immigration.

   B ) To improve the working conditions of immigrants.

   C ) To set a minimum wage level for new immigrants.

   D ) To put requirements on languages for newcomers.

20. A ) They were looked down upon by European immigrants.

   B ) They had a hard time seeking equal job opportunities.

   C ) They worked very hard to earn a decent living.

   D ) They strongly opposed continued immigration.

Ⅱ. Reading Comprehension ( 50 minutes, 25 points )

Directions: There are five 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 choose the best answer among them.

Questions 21 -25 are based on the following passage:

Passage 1

  If sustainable competitive advantage depends on work-force skills, American firms have a problem. Human resource management is not traditionally seen as central to the competitive survival of the firm in the United States. Skill acquisition is considered an individual responsibility. Labor is simply another factor of production to be hired-rented at the lowest possible cost—much as one buys raw materials or equipment.

   The lack of importance attached to human-resource management can be seen in the corporate hierarchy. In an American firm the chief financial officer is almost always second in command. The post of head of human-resource management is usually a specialized job, off at the edge of the corporate hierarchy. The executive who holds it is never consulted on major strategic decisions and has no chance to move up to Chief Executive Officer (CEO). By way of contrast, in Japan the head of human-resource management is central—usually the second most important executive, after the CEO, in the firm’s hierarchy.

   While American firms often talk about the vast amounts spent on training their work forces, in fact they invest less in the skills of their employees than do either Japanese or German firms. The money they do invest is also more highly concentrated on professional and managerial employees. And the limited investments that are made in training workers are also much more narrowly focused on the specific skills necessary to do the next job rather than on the basic background skills that make it possible to absorb new technologies.

   As a result, problems emerge when new breakthrough technologies arrive. If American workers, for example, take much longer to learn how to operate new flexible manufacturing stations than workers in Germany (as they do), the effective cost of those stations is lower in Germany than it is in the United States. More time is required before equipment is up and running at capacity, and the need for extensive retraining generates costs and creates bottlenecks that limit the speed with which new equipment can be employed. The result is a slower pace of technological change. And in the end the skills of the population affect the wages of the top half. If the bottom half can’t effectively staff the processes that have to be operated, the management and professional jobs that go with these processes will disappear.