Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)
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 One
Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage.
Internet, E-mail and similar electronic connections offer a far wider ground for scholarly communication, because a researcher can post the beginnings of a theory, receive comments on it from peers, incorporate new ideas and alter the details over and over until it is right. Electronic networks enable scholarly publishing to imitate the intellectual process more closely. The unit of transaction will become the idea, not just a collection of articles.
This dynamic, fluid progression of an idea — which is known as “scholarly skywriting” — is possible, Harnad says, because the speed and reach of electronic messaging “more closely match the natural biological speed of human thought.” When he writes a paper, says Harnad, he is able instantly to incorporate the forces of the Net into the creative process. In one part of his computer will be E-mailed comments from colleagues, in another will be his own notes, in yet another his previous papers — and at any time, he can launch into the Net to find a new resource or paper, send off a thought to a commentator or ask a question, all as if they were in the same room. This new form of scholarship could cause problems with copyrights, however. With so many voices involved in production of a new idea, it is more difficult than ever to pin down exactly who should receive credit for it.
Some scholars believe that the storage of documents as disembodied electronic signals will gradually alter the structure of knowledge. “Manuscripts” will increasingly be “live”, changing from day to day as the author returns to the computer and other scholars offer their comments in the margins. It will be possible to update and massage（篡改） documents without increased cost, so that — in some fields, at least — the notion of a bound book could become obsolete. Even the idea of authorship could change.
In the long run, the new information technologies may fundamentally alter creativity itself. Nowadays, much of the process of scholarship — the testing of an idea and the subsequent peer commentary — takes place in private; only the publication of a final manuscript is a public event.
Then, what about scientific journals? At a wider level, there seems to be growing acknowledgement that the main of journals in future will be to provide research papers with a guarantee of quality and added editorial value — in terms of making science more readable, and placing it within a wider perspective for example — while their traditional role as a distribution outlet will become less important.
11. By “scholarly skywriting”, the author means scholars _______.
A) get new ideas from discussions through electronic networks
B) have their scientific papers openly published on the Net
C) are free to express their ideas on the line
D) create, polish and publish their ideas on the line
12. “Scholarly skywriting” has all the following advantages except _______.
A) avoidance of copyright trouble
B) swift transmission of thought
C) utilization of the wisdom of other individuals
D) easy updating of manuscripts
13. According to the passage, it can be concluded that _______.
A) electronic publishing will eventually take the place of traditional journals
B) the process of scholarship will change greatly in a world of electric networks
C) electronic publishing is becoming the predominant means of scholarly communication
D) scholarly skywriting will be the most important skill for most scientists
14. According to the passage, scientific journals _______.
A) have lost their prominent position in the research community
B) will still play their due role in publishing research papers
C) will fail to keep scientific knowledge up-to-date
D) will become obsolete with the development of “scholarly skywriting”
15. From the passage we learn that ______.
A) scholarship will be a sheer private communication among scholars
B) the authorship will have to be shared by many collaborators in the world
C) scholarly writing can be a public event with the involvement of many scholars
D) scholarly writing can be a dynamic process and it will be more difficult to have a final result
Passage Two
Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage.
Ever since Darwin’s theory of evolution, biologists have assumed that environments teeming with complex forms of life served as the nurseries of evolution. But two recent papers in Science magazine have turned that notion on its head. Last month some biologists reported that in the ocean it is the relatively barren areas that serve as “evolutionary crucibles(熔炉),” not regions with great diversity of species. Other researchers announced this summer that the Arctic, not the rain forest, spawned many plants and animals that later migrated to North America. Says John Sepkoski of the University of Chicago, “Harsh environments may be producing the major changes in the history of life.”
These “changes” do not result merely in a longer tail or a bigger claw for an existing species but, rather, in dramatic leaps up the evolutionary ladder — a rare innovation that comes along once in a million years. In the Arctic, reports Leo Hickey of Yale University, the innovations ran to forms never before seen on earth. By dating fossils from many geologic layers, he concluded that large grazing animals first appeared in the Arctic and migrated to temperate places a couple of million years or so later. Among plants, species of redwood and birch originated in polar regions some 18 millions years before they showed up in the south. Examining fossils as old as 570 million years, Chicago’s Sepkoski found that shell-less, soft-bodied creatures were suddenly replaced by trilobites（三叶虫）, then by the more advanced clam-like animals. These changes, he notes, “first become common near shore.” That surprised him — an environment with as few species as exist in the near shore, and with such a poor record of producing new species, seems an unlikely place for biological innovation. But when Jablonski dated fossils of 100 million years ago, he found that during this era, too, the near shore spawned biological breakthroughs — more sophisticated sea creatures that move and find food in ocean sediments instead of passively filtering whatever floats by.
The findings are too new to apply to human evolution, but at first glance they seem to fit the facts. Anthropologists believe that our ancestors became fully human only after they left their secure life in the trees for the harsh world of savanna (plain without trees). There, the demanding conditions triggered that most human of traits, the large brain, and the most profound evolutionary step of all was taken.
16. Two recent papers in Science magazine claim to have found evidence which contradicts the traditional notion that _______.
A) relatively harsh environments are the nurseries of evolution
B) evolution occurred in regions with biological diversity
C) new forms of life come into being in near-shore areas
D) species of birch and redwood originated in the south
17. According to Leo Hickey of Yale University, which of the following may have spawned more advanced species of land animals?
A) The barren ocean floor B) The Arctic
C) The rain forest D) Temperate Zones
18. The word “innovations” in the second paragraph means ________.
A) New theory B) New phenomenon C) Changes D) New inventions
19. How would anthropologists take the new findings?
A) They would look at them dubiously.
B) They would eagerly apply them to the study of human evolution.
C) They would challenge them, though at first glance they tend to look at them favorably.
D) They would most probably think the new findings fit well into their theory.
20. Which of the following may be an appropriate title of the passage ?
A) Darwin’s Theory Modified
B) How Animals Evolve
C) Evolution in Hard Places
D) Where Did Large Sea Animals Originate
Passage Three
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
How we look and how we appear to others probably worries us more when we are in our teens or early twenties than at any other time in our life. Few of us are content to accept ourselves as we are, and few are brave enough to ignore the trends of fashion.
Most fashion magazines or TV advertisements try to persuade us that we should dress in a certain way or behave in a certain manner. If we do, they tell us, we will be able to meet new people with confidence and deal with every situation confidently and without embarrassment. Changing fashion, of course, does not apply just to dress. A barber today does not cut a boy’s hair in the same way as he used to, and girls do not make up in the same way as their mothers and grandmothers did. The advertisers show us the latest fashionable styles and we are constantly under pressure to follow the fashion in case our friends think we are odd or dull.
What causes fashions to change? Sometimes convenience or practical necessity or just the fancy of an influential person can establish a fashion. Take hats, for example, in cold climates, early buildings were cold inside, so people wore hats indoors as well as outside. In recent times, the late President Kennedy caused a depression in the American hat industry by not wearing hats, more American men followed his example.
There is also a cyclical pattern in fashion. In the 1920s in Europe and America, short skirts became fashionable. After World War Two, they dropped to ankle length. Then they got shorter and shorter until the miniskirt was in fashion. After a few more years, skirts became longer again.
Today, society is much freer and easier than it used to be. It is no longer necessary to dress like everyone else. Within reason, you can dress as you like or do your hair the way you like instead of the way you should because it is the fashion. The popularity of jeans and the “untidy” look seems to be a reaction against the increasingly expensive fashions of the top fashion houses.
At the same time, appearance is still important in certain circumstance and then we must choose our clothes carefully. It would be foolish to go to an interview for a job in a law firm wearing jeans and a sweater; and it would be discourteous to visit some distinguished scholar looking as if we were going to the beach or a night club. However, you need never feel depressed if you don’t look like the latest fashion photo. Look around you and you’ll see that no one else does either.
21. The author thinks that people are___________.
A) satisfied with their appearance
B) concerned about appearance in old age
C) far from neglecting what is in fashion
D) reluctant to follow the trends in fashion
22. Fashion magazines and TV advertisements seem to link fashion to_________.
A) confidence in life B) personal dress
C) individual hair style D) personal future
23. Causes of fashions are_______.
A) uniform B) varied C) unknown D) inexplicable
24. Present-day society is much freer and easier because it emphasizes_________.
A) uniformity B) formality C) informality D) individuality
25. Which is the main idea of the last paragraph?
A) Care about appearance in formal situations.
B) Fashion in formal and informal situations.
C) Ignoring appearance in informal situations.
D) Ignoring appearance in all situations.
Passage Four
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
Massive changes in all of the world’s deeply cherished sporting habits are underway. Whether it’s one of London’s parks full of people playing softball, and Russians taking up rugby, or the Superbowl rivaling the British Football Cup Final as a televised spectator event in Britain, the patterns of players and spectators are changing beyond recognition. We are witnessing a globalization of our sporting culture.
That annual bicycle race, the Tour de France, much loved by the French is good case in point. Just a few years back it was a strictly continental affair with France, Belgium and Holland, Spain and Italy taking part. But in recent years it has been dominated by Colombian mountain climbers, and American and Irish riders.
The people who really matter welcome the shift toward globalization. Peugeot, Michelin and Panasonic are multi-national corporations that want worldwide returns for the millions they invest in teams. So it does them literally a world of good to see this unofficial world championship become just that.
This is undoubtedly an economic-based revolution we are witnessing here, one made possible by communications technology, but made to happen because of marketing considerations. Sell the game and you can sell Coca Cola or Budweiser as well.
The skillful way in which American football has been sold to Europe is a good example of how all sports will develop. The aim of course is not really to spread the sport for its own sake, but to increase the number of people interested in the major money-making events. The economics of the Superbowl are already astronomical. With seats at US$125, gate receipts alone were a staggering $10,000,000. The most important statistic of the day, however, was the $100,000,000 in TV advertising fees. Imagine how much that becomes when the eyes of the world are watching.
So it came as a terrible shock, but not really as a surprise, to learn that some people now suggesting that soccer change from being a game of two 45-minute halves, to one of four 25-minute quarters. The idea is unashamedly to capture more advertising revenue, without giving any thought for the integrity of a sport which relies for its essence on the flowing nature of the action.
Moreover, as sports expand into world markets, and as our choice of sports as consumers also grows, so we will demand to see them played at a higher and higher level. In boxing we have already seen numerous, dubious world title categories because people will not pay to see anything less than a “World Title” fight, and this means that the title fights have to be held in different countries around world.
26. Globalization of sporting culture means that_________.
A) more people are taking up sports.
B) traditional sports are getting popular.
C) many local sports are becoming international.
D) foreigners are more interested in local sports.
27. Which of the following is NOT related to the massive changes?
A) Good economic returns. B) Revival of sports.
C) Communications technology. D) Marketing strategies.
28. What is the author’s attitude towards the suggestion to change soccer into one of four 25-minute quarters?
A) Favourable. B) Unclear. C) Reserved. D) Critical.
29. People want to see higher-level sports competitions mainly because________.
A) they become more professional than ever.
B) they regard sports as consumer goods.
C)there exist few world-class championships.
D) sports events are exciting and stimulating.
30. The word “staggering”(line 5, paragraph 5) most probably means________.
A) walking unsteadily B) worrying C) stimulating D) shocking
