Passage One
Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage:
Like many of my generation, I have a weakness for hero worship. At some point, however, we all begin to question our heroes and our need for them. This leads us to ask: What is a hero?
Despite immense differences in cultures, heroes around the world generally share a number of characteristics that instruct and inspire people.
A hero does something worth talking about. A hero has a story of adventure to tell and a community who will listen. But a hero goes beyond mere fame.
Heroes serve powers or principles larger than themselves. Like high-voltage transformers, heroes take the energy of higher powers and step it down so that it can be used by ordinary people.
The hero lives a life worthy of imitation. Those who imitate a genuine hero experience life with new depth, enthusiasm, and meaning. A sure test for would-be heroes is what or whom do they serve? What are they willing to live and die for? If the answer or evidence suggests they serve only their own fame, they may be famous persons but not heroes. Madonna and Michael Jackson are famous, but who would claim that their fans find life more abundant?
Heroes are catalysts (催化剂) for change. They have a vision from the mountaintop. They have the skill and the charm to move the masses. They create new possibilities. Without Gandhi, India might still be part of the British Empire. Without Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., we might still have segregated (隔离的) buses, restaurants, and parks. It may be possible for large-scale change to occur without leaders with magnetic personalities, but the pace of change would be slow, the vision uncertain, and the committee meetings endless.
11. Although heroes may come from different cultures, they ______.
A、generally possess certain inspiring characteristics
B、probable share some weaknesses of ordinary people
C、are often influenced by previous generations
D、all unknowingly attract a large number of fans
12. According to the passage, heroes are compared to high-voltage transformers in that ______.
A、they have a vision from the mountaintop
B、they have warm feelings and emotions
C、they can serve as concrete examples of noble principles
D、they can make people feel stronger and more confident
13. Madonna and Michael Jackson are not considered heroes because ______.
A、they are popular only among certain groups of people
B、their performances do not improve their fans morally
C、their primary concern is their own financial interests
D、they are not clear about the principles they should follow
14. Gandhi and Martin Luther King are typical examples of outstanding leaders who ______.
A、are good at demonstrating their charming characters
B、can move the masses with their forceful speeches
C、are capable of meeting all challenges and hardships
D、can provide an answer to the problems of their people
15. The author concludes that historical changes would_______.
A、be delayed without leaders with inspiring personal qualities
B、not happen without heroes making the necessary sacrifices
C、take place if there were heroes to lead the people
D、produce leaders with attractive personalities
Passage Two
Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage:
Sport is not only physically challenging, but it can also be mentally challenging. Criticism from coaches, parents, and other teammates, as well as pressure to win can create an excessive amount of anxiety or stress for young athletes(运动员). Stress can be physical, emotional, or psychological and research has indicated that it can lead to burnout. Burnout has been described as dropping or quitting of an activity that was at one time enjoyable.
The early years of development are critical years for learning about oneself. The sport setting is one where valuable experiences can take place. Young athletes can, for example, learn how to cooperate with others, make friends, and gain other social skills that will be used throughout their lives. Coaches and parents should be aware, at all times, that their feedback to youngsters can greatly affect their children. Youngsters may take their parents' and coaches' criticisms to heart and find a flaw (缺陷) in themselves.
Coaches and parents should also be cautious that youth sport participation does not become work for children. The outcome of the game should not be more important than the process of learning the sport and other life lessons. In today's youth sport setting. Young athletes may be worrying more about who will win instead of enjoying themselves and the sport. Following a game many parents and coaches focus on the outcome and find fault with youngsters' performances. Positive reinforcement should be provided regardless of the outcome. Research indicates that positive reinforcement motivates and has a greater effect on learning than criticism. Again, criticism can create high levels of stress, Which can lead to burnout.
16. According to the author’s observation, college students______.
A、have never been so materialistic as today
B、have never been so interested in the arts
C、have never been so financially well off as today
D、have never attached so much importance to moral sense
17. The students’ criteria for selecting majors today have much to do with ______- .
A、the influences of their instructors
B、the financial goals they seek in life
C、their own interpretations of the courses
D、their understanding of the contributions of others
18. By saying “While it’s true that… be they scientific or artistic? (Lines 1-3, Para. 5), the author means that ______ .
A、business management should be included in educational programs
B、human wisdom has accumulated at an extraordinarily high speed
C、human intellectual development has reached new heights
D、the importance of a broad education should not be overlooked
19. Studying the diverse wisdom of others can ______ .
A、create varying artistic interests
B、help people see things in their right perspective
C、help improve connections among people
D、regulate the behavior of modern people
20. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A、Businessmen absorbed in their career are narrow-minded.
B、Managers often find it hard to tell right from wrong.
C、People engaged in technical jobs lead a more rewarding life.
D、Career seekers should not focus on immediate interests only.
Passage Three
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage:
Humanity uses a little less than half the water available worldwide. Yet occurrences of shortages and droughts (干旱) are causing famine and distress in some areas, and industrial and agricultural by-products are polluting water supplies. Since the world's population is expected to double in the next 50 years, many experts think we are on the edge of a widespread water crisis.
But that doesn't have to be the outcome. Water shortages do not have to trouble the world-if we start valuing water more than we have in the past. Just as we began to appreciate petroleum more after the 1970s oil crises, today we must start looking at water from a fresh economic perspective. We can no longer afford to consider water a virtually free resource of which we can use as much as we like in any way we want.
Instead, for all uses except the domestic demand of the poor, governments should price water to reflect its actual value. This means charging a fee for the water itself as well as for the supply costs.
Governments should also protect this resource by providing water in more economically and environmentally sound ways. For example, often the cheapest way to provide irrigation(灌溉)water in the dry tropics is through small-scale projects, such as gathering rainfall in depressions(凹地) and pumping it to nearby cropland.
No matter what steps governments take to provide water more efficiently, they must change their institutional and legal approaches to water use. Rather than spread control among hundreds or even thousands of local, regional, and national agencies that watch various aspects of water use, countries should set up central authorities to coordinate water policy.
21. What is the author’s attitude toward high-tech communications equipment?
A、Critical.
B、Prejudiced.
C、Indifferent.
D、Positive.
22. With the increased use of high-tech communications equipment, businesspeople_______ .
A、have to get familiar with modern technology
B、are gaining more economic benefits from domestic operations
C、are attaching more importance to their overseas business
D、are eager to work overseas
23. In this passage, “out of sight and out of mind” (Lines 2-3, Para. 3) probably means ______ .
A、being unable to think properly for lack of insight
B、being totally out of touch with business at home
C、missing opportunities for promotion when abroad
D、leaving all care and worry behind
24. According to the passage, what is an important consideration of international corporations in employing people today?
A、Connections with businesses overseas.
B、Ability to speak the client’s language.
C、Technical know-how.
D、Business experience.
25. The advantage of employees having foreign language skills is that they can ______.
A、better control the whole negotiation process
B、easily find new approaches to met market needs
C、fast-forward their proposals to headquarters
D、easily make friends with businesspeople abroad
Passage Four
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage:
In 1993, New York State ordered stores to charge a deposit on beverage (饮料) containers. Within a year, consumers had returned millions of aluminum cans and glass and plastic bottles. Plenty of companies were eager to accept the aluminum and glass as raw materials for new products, but because few could figure out what to do with the plastic, much of it wound up buried in landfills (垃圾填埋场). The problem was not limited to New York. Unfortunately, there were too few uses for second-hand plastic.
Today, one out of five plastic soda bottles is recycled (回收利用) in the United States. The reason for the change is that now there are dozens of companies across the country buying discarded plastic soda bottles and turning them into fence posts, paint brushes, etc.
As the New York experience shows, recycling involves more than simply separating valuable materials from the rest of the rubbish. A discard remains a discard until somebody figures out how to give it a second life—and until economic arrangements exist to give that second life value. Without adequate markets to absorb materials collected for recycling, throwaways actually depress prices for used materials.
Shrinking landfill space, and rising costs for burying and burning rubbish are forcing local governments to look more closely at recycling. In many areas, the East Coast especially, recycling is already the least expensive waste-management option. For every ton of waste recycled, a city avoids paying for its disposal, which, in parts of New York, amounts to savings of more than $100 per ton. Recycling also stimulates the local economy by creating jobs and trims the pollution control and energy costs of industries that make recycled products by giving them a more refined raw material.
26. It may be inferred from the passage that ______.
A、customer service in Israel is now improving
B、wealthy Israeli customers are hard to please
C、the tourist industry has brought chain stores to Israel
D、Israeli customers prefer foreign products to domestic ones
27. In the author’s view, higher service standards are impossible in Israel ______.
A、if customer complaints go unnoticed by the management
B、unless foreign companies are introduced in greater numbers
C、if there’s no competition among companies
D、without strict routine training of employees
28. If someone in Israel today needs a repairman in case of a power failure, ______.
A、they can have it fixed in no time
B、it’s no longer necessary to make an appointment
C、the appointment takes only half a day to make
D、they only have to wait half an hour at most
29. The example of El Al Airlines shows that ______.
A、revengeful customers are a threat to the monopoly of enterprises
B、an ad campaign is a way out for enterprises in financial difficulty
C、a good slogan has great potential for improving sevice
D、staff retraining is essential for better service
30. Why did Bezaq’s international branch lose 40% of its market share?
A、Because the rates it offered were not competitive enough.
B、Because customers were dissatisfied with its past service.
C、Because the service offered by its competitors was far better.
D、Because it no longer received any support from the government.
