Passage Three

　　“The word ‘protection’ is no longer taboo (禁忌语)”. This short sentence, uttered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy last month, may have launched a new era in economic history. Why? For decades, Western leaders have believed that lowering trade barriers and tariffs was a natural good. Doing so, they reasoned, would lead to greater economic efficiency and productivity, which in turn would improve human welfare. Championing free trade thus became a moral, not just an economic, cause.

　　These leaders, of course, weren’t acting out of unselfishness. They knew their economies were the most competitive, so they’d profit most from liberalization. And developing countries feared that their economies would be swamped by superior Western productivity. Today, however, the tables have turned---though few acknowledge it. The West continues to preach free trade, but practices it less and less. Asian, meanwhile, continues to plead for special protection but practices more and more free trade.

　　That’s why Sarkozy’s words were so important: he finally injected some honesty into the trade debates. The truth is that large parts of the West are losing faith in tree trade, though few leaders admit it. Some economists are more honest. Paul Krugman is one of the few willing to acknowledge that protectionist arguments are returning. In the short run, there will be winners and losers under free trade. This, of course, is what capitalism is all about. But more and more of these losers will be in the West, Economists in the developed world used to love quoting Jonoph Schumpeter, who said that ‘creative destruction” was an essential part of capitalist growth. But they always assumed that destruction would happen over there. When Western workers began losing jobs, suddenly their leaders began to lose faith in their principles, Things have yet to reverse completely. But there’s clearly a negative trend in a Western theory and practice.

　　A little hypocrisy (虚伪) is not in itself a serious problem. The real problem is that Western governments continue to insist that they retain control of the key global economic and financial institutions while drifting away from global liberalization. Lock at what’s happening at the IMF (International Monetary Fund) The Europeans have demanded that they keep the post of managing director. But all too often, Western officials put their own interests above everyone else’s when they dominate these global institutions.

　　The time has therefore come for the Asians-who are clearly the new winners in today’s global economy-to provide more intellectual leadership in supporting free trade: Sadly, they have yet to do so. Unless Asians speak out, however, there’s a real danger that Adam Smith’s principles, which have brought so much good to the world, could gradually die. And that would leave all of us, worse off, in one way or another.

　　43. It can be inferred that “protection” (Line 1, Para.1) means________

　　A. improving economic efficiency.

　　B. ending the free-trade practice

　　C. lowering moral standard

　　D. raising trade tariffs

　　44. The Western leaders preach free trade because________

　　A. it is beneficial to their economies

　　B. it is supported by developing countries

　　C. it makes them keep faith in their principles

　　D. it is advocated by Joseph Schumpeter and Adam Smith

　　45. By “the tables have turned” (Line 3-4,Para.2) the author implies that________

　　A. the Western leaders have turned self-centered

　　B. the Asian leaders have become advocates of free trade

　　C. the developed economies have turned less competitive

　　D. the developing economies have become more independent

　　46. The Western economies used to like the idea of “creative destruction” because it________

　　A. set a long-term rather than short-turn goal

　　B. was an essential part of capitalist development

　　C. contained a positive rather than negative mentality

　　D. was meant to be the destruction of developing economies

　　47. The author uses “IMF” was an example to illustrate the point that_______

　　A. European leaders are reluctant to admit they are hypocritical

　　B. there is an inconsistency between Western theory and practice

　　C. global institutions are not being led by true globalization advocates

　　D. European countries’ interests are being ignored by economic leaders

　　48. Which of the following is true about Asians?

　　A. Asians have to speak out the protection

　　B. Asians have demand that they keep the post of managers

　　C. Asians succeed in today’s global economy

　　D. Asians succeed by Adam Smith’s principles

　　Passage Four

　　We have a crisis on our hands. You mean global warming? The world economy? No, the decline of reading. People are just not doing it anymore, especially the young. Who's responsible? Actually, it's more like, What is responsible? The Interact, of course, and everything that comes with it - Facebook, Twitter (微博). You can write your own list.

　　There's been a warning about the imminent death of literate civilization for a long time. In the 20th century, first it was the movies, then radio, then television that seemed to spell doom for the written world. None did. Reading survived; in fact it not only survived, it has flourished. The world is more literate than ever before - there are more and more readers, and more and more books.

　　The fact that we often get our reading material online today is not something we should worry over. The electronic and digital revolution of the last two decades has arguably shown the way forward for reading and for writing. Take the arrival of e-book readers as an example. Devices like Kindle make reading more convenient and are a lot more environmentally friendly than the traditional paper book.

　　As technology makes new ways of writing possible, new ways of reading are possible. Interconnectivity allows for the possibility of a reading experience that was barely imaginable before. Where traditional books had to make do with photographs and illustrations, an e-book can provide readers with an unlimited number of links: to texts, pictures, and videos. In the future, the way people write novels, history, and philosophy will resemble nothing seen in the past.

　　On the other hand, there is the danger of trivialization. One Twitter group is offering its followers single-sentence-long "digests" of the great novels. War and Peace in a sentence? You must be joking. We should fear the fragmentation of reading. There is the danger that the high-speed connectivity of the Internet will reduce our attention span - that we will be incapable of, reading anything of length or which requires deep concentration.

　　In such a fast-changing world, in which reality seems to be remade each day, we need the ability to focus and understand what is happening to us. This has always been the function of literature and we should be careful not to let it disappear. Our society needs to be able to imagine the possibility of someone utterly in tune with modem technology but able to make sense of a dynamic, confusing world.

　　In the 15th century, Johannes Guttenberg's invention of the printing press in Europe had a huge impact on civilization. Once upon a time the physical book was a challenging thing. We should remember this before we assume that technology is out to destroy traditional culture.

　　49.. Which of the following paragraphs briefly reviews the historical challenges for reading?

　　A. Paragraph One.

　　B. Paragraph Two.

　　C. Paragraph Three.

　　D. Paragraph Four.

　　50. The following are all cited as advantages of e-books EXCEPT

　　A. imaginative design.

　　B. environmental friendliness.

　　C. convenience for readers.

　　D. multimodal content.

　　51. Which of the following can best describe how the author feels toward single-sentence-long novels?

　　A. Ironic.

　　B. Worried.

　　C. Sarcastic.

　　D. Doubtful.

　　52. According to the passage, people need knowledge of modem technology and ________ to survive in the fast-changing society.

　　A. high sensitivity

　　B. good judgment

　　C. good imagination

　　D. the ability to focus

　　53. The author uses the example of Johannes Guttenberg to show that

　　A. Guttenberg’s invention brought about huge impact to civilization.

　　B. Physical books were once a imagination.

　　C. Technology may not necessarily destroy our culture.

　　D. Traditional culture owes a lot to Johannes Guttenberg.

　　85. What is the main idea of the passage?

　　A. Technology pushes the way forward for reading and writing.

　　B. Interconnectivity is a feature of new reading experience.

　　C. Technology offers a greater variety of reading practice.

　　D. Technology is an opportunity and a challenge for traditional reading.

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