Section I Use of English
Directions:
Read the following text. Choose the best word (s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)
Many professions are associated with a particular stereotype. The 1 image of a writer, for instance, is 2 a slightly easy-looking person, locked in an attic, writing 3 furiously for days 4 . Naturally, he has his favorite pen and note-paper, or a beat-up typewriter, 5 which he could not produce a readable word.
Nowadays, we know that such images 6 little resemblance to reality. But are they 7 false? In the case of at least one writer, it would seem not Dame Muriel Spark, who 8 80 in February, in many ways resembles this stereotypical sitter. She is certainly not crazy, and she doesn't work in an attic. But she is rather 9 about the tools of her 10.
She 11 writing with a certain type of pen in a certain type of notebook, which she buys from a certain 12 in Edinburgh called James Thin. In fact, so 13 is she that, if someone uses one of her pens 14 , she immediately throws it away. And she claims she would have enormous difficulty writing in any notebook 15 those sold by James Thin. This could soon be a problem, as the shop no longer 16 them, and Dame Muriel 's 17 of 72-page spiral bound is nearly finished.
As well as her18about writing materials, Muriel Spark 19 one other characteristic with the stereotypical writer : her work is the most important thing in her life. It has stopped her from marrying; 20_ her old friends and made her new ones, and driven her from London to New York to Rome. Today she lives in the Italian province of Tuscany with a friend.
1. [A] historic [B] antique [C]senior [D]classic
2. [A] in [B]of [C]with [D]for
3. [A]away [B]off [C]on [D]down
4. [A] on finish [B]on final [C] on end [D] on stop
5. [A] except [B]without [C]beyond [D] on
6. [A] bear [B]stand [C]hold [D] keep
7. [A] extremely [B] thoroughly [C]likely [D] com??pletely
8. [A]observed [B] entered [C] saw [D] turned
9. [A] particular [B] specific [C] peculiar [D] special
10. [A]business [B]trade [C]vocation [D] career
11. [A]persists in [B] insists on [C] keeps on [D] indulges in
12. [A]grocer [B]chemist [C] stationer [D] baker
13. [A]mysterious [B] conventional [C]superstitious [D] traditional
14. [A] by fortune [B] by accident [C] on purpose [D] by coincidence
15. [A]much as [B] rather than [C] such as [D] other than
16. [A] piles [B] stores [C] stocks [D] conceals
17. [A] supply [B] provision [C] supplement [D] addition
18. [A]devotion [B] preoccupation [C] worship [D] obsession
19. [A] shares [B] agrees [C] sides [D] possesses
20. [A]spent [B] cost [C] exhausted [D] tired
Section II Reading Comprehension
Part A Directions: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)
Text 1
For thousands of Canadians, bad service is neither make-believe nor amusing. It is an aggra??vating and worsening real-life phenomenon that encompasses behavior ranging from indifference and rudeness to naked hostility and even physical violence. Across the country, better business bureaus report a lengthening litany, of complaints about contractors, car dealers, and repair shops, moving companies, airlines and department stores. There is almost an adversarial feeling between businesses and consumers.
Experts say there are several explanations for ill feeling in the marketplace. One is that cus??tomer service was an early and inevitable casualty when retailers responded to brutal competition by replacing employees with technology such as 1 ~ 800 numbers and voice mail. Another factor is that business generally has begun placing more emphasis on getting customers than on keeping them. Still another is that strident, frustrated and impatient shoppers vex shop owners and make them even less hospitable—especially a busier times of the year like Christmas. On both sides, simple courtesy has gone by the board. And for a multitude of consumers, service went with it.
The Better Business Bureau at Vancouver gets 250 complaints a week, twice as many as five years ago. The bureau then had one complaints counselor and now has four. People complain about being insulted, having their intelligence and integrity questioned, and being threatened. One will hear about people being hauled almost bodily out the door by somebody saying things like I don't have to serve you! or this is private property, get out and don't come back!What can customers do? If the bureau's arbitration process fails to settle a dispute, a customer’s only re??course is to sue in call claims court. But because of the costs and time it takes, relatively few ever do.
There is a lot of support for the notion that service has, in part, fallen victim to generational change. Many young people regard retailing as just a bead-end job that you're just going to do temporarily on your way to a real job. Young clerks often lack both knowledge and civility. Employers have to train young people in simple manners because that is not being done at home. Salespeople today, especially the younger ones, have grown up in a television-computer society where they’ve interacted largely with machines. One of the biggest complaints from businesses about graduates is the lack of inter-personal skills.
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