Passage 1

Questions 1 t0 5 are based on the following passage.

   What better occasion than Valentine's Day to ask for your sweetheart's hand? In America,the answer is almost any other. Most love-stuck American men are unaware of the perils of proposal. Many will surprise girlfriends with a diamond engagement ring.

       Suitors(求偶者) would do well to consider what might happen to that expensive rock if the engagement is broken off before the wedding day. Etiquette and common sense dictate that the ring should be returned to the man. In many states, that is what the law requires too.

      But not all. Brian Bix, a law professor at Quinnipiac College in Connecticut, points out that in some parts of America it matters who is responsible for the break-up. In his state, if the man is to blame, legal precedent suggests that the woman keeps the ring. Things are not so clear in neighbouring New York.

      When the ring is given might matter too, for some states could let the finance keep the ring if she can convince a court that it was an "unconditional" gift, rather than one given for possible marriage. Legal scholars say this is a very tricky point. But one thing is clear. A woman could strengthen the argument that the ring was given unconditionally if she had received it on a traditional gift-giving occasion,such as Valentine's Day.

     Luckily for romance, De Beers brought to the market an undisputedly eternal option: the Millennium diamond, which comes with a serial number and an appropriately epochal logo etched (蚀刻) into the stone by lasers. Officials at the diamond cartel are confident that the limited edition of 20,000 gems will go fast.

     No doubt many men will rush to buy these diamonds, which De Beers vows not to issue again until 3,000.  How could any fellow fail to win his girl's heart with such a "once-in-a-millennium" token (信物)?Just to be safe, though, better not give it on her birthday?

According to the passage9 when do most American men propose!

A. On Valentine's Day.

B. On the birthday of his sweetheart.

C. On any other day than Valentine's Day.

D. On the eve of the wedding day.

The phrase "the perils of proposal' ( Para. 1) refers to which of the  following?

A. The proposal may be turned down.

B. The diamond rings may be fake.

C. The diamond ring may not be returned if ken off.

D. The sweetheart may be a tricky person.

According to the author, men should propose

A. on Valentine's Day

B. on the sweetheart's birthday

C. on New Year's Day

D. on a workday the engagement is bro-

The word "millennium" ( Para. 5 ) means

A. one thousand years

B. one hundred years

C. a generation

D. a lifetime

The information contained in the passage is most useful to

A. a man who is about to propose

B. a woman who is about to marry

C. a newly-married couple

D. manufacturers of diamond rings

Passage2

Questions 6 t0 10 are based on the following passage.

     Albert Einstein once attributed the creativity of a famous scientist to the fact that he never went to school, and therefore preserved the rare gift of thinking freely. There is undoubtedly a truth in Einstein's observation;many artists and geniuses seem to view their schooling as a disadvantage. But such a truth is not a criticism of

schools. It is the function of schools to civilize,not to train explorers.The explorer is always a lonely individual whether his or her pioneering be in art, music, science or technology. The creative explorer of unmapped lands shares with the genius what William James described as the "faculty of perceiving in an unhabitual way." In so far as schools teach perceptual patterns they tend to destroy creativity and genius. But if school could somewhat exist solely to cultivate genius, then society would break down. For the social order demands unity and widespread agreement, both traits that are destructive to creativity. There will always be conflict between the demands of society and the impulses of creativity and genius.

Albert Einstein once thought that schools

A. helped develop the creativity of a scientist

B. preserved a rare gift for scientists

C. prevented a scientist from thinking freely

D. contributed a lot to science and technology

to the author’s opinion,schooling meets the need of

A. genius

B. social order

C. faculty of perceiving

D. the impulses of creativity

There will always be contradiction between 

A. the demands of society and schooling

B. cultivation of creativity and faculty of perceiving

C. social unity and schooling

D. creativity and widespread social agreement

Einstein's observation is in accord with

A. the schoolmaster's             

B. the author's

C. that of many artists            

D. both B and C

Which statement best expresses the main idea of the passage?

A. Einstein and artists have said schools limit creativity and gen1US.

B. Schools should be designed to encourage creativity and social order.

C. Explorers and geniuses look at the world differently from the way most people do.

D. Schools can never satisfy the needs of both genius and society as a whole.

 Passage 3

Questions 11 t0 15 are based on the following passage.

      Gopher Prairie, in which the action of Sinclair Lewis' Main Street (1920) takes place, is a town of 3,000 inhabitants, smug,dull people whose one idea is to get on materially. They have no use for anyone who wishes something better for them; they oppose civic reform, cultural and educational projects. The most honored citizens are bankers. Carol,who has been to college and held a position as a librarian, comes to Gopher Prairie to live with her doctor husband.Appalled by the stagnant life of the town,and failing to become adjusted to it,she tries a number of cultural ideas. Her efforts to establish a little theater meet with no encouragement. Indeed,the people merely think she is putting on airs. Her affection for her husband wanes, and she takes up with Erik Valborg, in whom she sees a spirit akin to her own. She leaves the little town for Washington D. C. ,where she works as a government clerk. Later she returns to Gopher Prairie, better equipped than before to understand the forces which shape Main Street.

      At the time of its first appearance,Main Street provoked a storm of protest on the ground that the novelist libeled good Americans.Today, no one thinks of repeating this charge. Indeed, as Lewis Gannett points out, Main Street has in no way changed except externally ; it is the same Main Street;  yet doubtless it reads Sinclair Lewis, novels as eagerly as the rest of the nation. At the time when Main Street was published Lewis was accused of hating dull people. The novelist retorted that he did not hate them. He loved them. The truth is, the world of 1920 could not stand criticism.  The Pulitzer Prize Committee refused to award Main Street a prize. The novelist was to have his revenge six years later, when he rejected the same award for Arrowsmith.

Which of the following is the central preoccupation of the people of Gopher Prairie?

A. Progressive.

B. Material possessions.

C. Cultural activity.

D. Civic reform.

According to the passage, why is Carol unhappy in Gopher Prairie

A. She regrets that her husband is a doctor and not a banker.

B. She dislikes being a housewife and wants to live in Washington D. C.

C. She cannot find a job as a librarian or a theater director.

D. She finds the town residents dull and unreceptive to her ideas.

According to the passage, why was there such adverse reaction to Main Street in 1920?

A. People were reluctant to admit their faults.

B. Sinclair Lewis did not like honorable citizens.

C. Gopher Prairie was portrayed inaccurately.

D. The main character led an unconventional life.

According to Lewis Gannett, how does Main Street today compare to Main Street of 1920? 

A.Its fame has led to a tourist boom.

B.Its people today would take Sinclair Lewis to court

C.Its external appearance has altered.

D.Its residents today are quite different

According to the passage, which of the following statements best explains why Sinclair Lewis rejected the Pulitzer Prize for Arrowsmith? 

A. He thought Arrowsmith was not worthy of the honor.

B. He disapproved of the composition of the Pulitzer Prize Committee.

C. He claimed that the Pulitzer had no status.

D. He felt the committee had unjustly overlooked his previous work.

Passage 4

Questions 16 t0 20 are based on the following passage.

      If you know exactly what you want,the best route to a job is to get specialized training. A recent survey shows that companies like the graduates in such fields as business and health care who can go to work immediately with very little on-the-job training.

     That's especially true of booming fields that are challenging for workers. At Cornell's School of Hotel Administration, for example, bachelor' s degree graduates get an average of four or five job offers with salaries ranging from the high teens to the low 20s and plenty of chances for rapid advancement: Large companies,especially,like a background of formal education coupled with work experience.

      But in the long run, too much specialization doesn't pay off. Business, which has been flooded with MBAs, no longer considers the degree-an automatic stamp of approval. The MBA may open I doors and command a higher salary initially, but the impact of a degree washes out after five years.

     As further evidence of the erosion of corporate faith in specialized degrees, Michigan State's Scheetz cites a pattern in corporate hiring practices. Although companies tend to take on specialists as new hires, they often seek out generalists for middle and upper level management.66They want someone who isn't constrained by nuts and  bolts to look at the big picture,"says Scheetz.

     This sounds suspiciously like a formal statement that you approve of the liberal-arts graduate. Time and again labor-market analysts mention a need for talents that liberal-arts majors are assumed to have: writing and communication skills, organizational skills,open-mindedness and adaptability, and the ability to analyze and solve problems. David Birch claims he does not hire anybody with an MBA or an engineering degree.  I hire only liberal-arts people because they have a less-than-canned way of doing things, says Birch. Liberal-arts means an academically thorough and strict program that includes literature, history, mathematics, economics, science, human behavior plus a computer course or two. With that under your belt,you can feel free to specialize. "A liberal-arts degree coupled with an MBA or some other technical training is a very good combination in the market place," says Scheetz.

What kinds of people are in high demand on the job market?

A. Students with a bachelor's degree in humanities.

B. People with an MBA degree from top universities.

C. People with formal schooling plus work experience.

D. People with special training in engineering.

By saying "... but the impact of a degree washes out after five years" ( Line 4,Para. 3), the author means 

A. most MBA programs fail to provide students with a solid foundation

B. an MBA degree does not help promotion to managerial positions

C. MBA programs will not be as popular in five years' time as they are now

D. in five years people will forget about the degree the MBA graduates have got

According to Scheetz's statement ( Line 5-6, Para. 4),companies prefer 

A. people who have a strategic mind

B. people who are talented in fine arts

C. people who are ambitious and aggressive

D. people who have received training in mechanics

David Birch claims that he only hires liberal-arts people because

A. they are more capable of handling changing situations

B. they can stick to established ways of solving problems

C. they are thoroughly trained in a variety of specialized fields

D. they have attended special programs in management

Which of the following statements does the author support?

A. Specialists are more expensive to hire than generalists.

B. Formal schooling is less important than job training.

C. On-the-job training is, in the long run, less costly.

D. Generalists will outdo specialists in management.

Passage 5

Questions 21 t0 25 are based on the following passage.

    The crew of a clipper ship had to work together smoothly to keep the ship sailing. To help, they sang work songs called sea chanteys.

The chantey man sang out the verses. They set the rhythm for the work to be done. The chantey man made up his own lines, and the men joined in the chorus. The songs were about sailing, fishing,love, war, anything and everything. The men heaved or pulled the ropes on the beat of the chorus.

   Different rhythms were necessary for different shipboard jobs.There were slow capstan chanteys sung while turning the capstan, a large wheel on deck used to pull up the anchor.There were halyard chanteys sung while pulling up the sails. Pumping chanteys were sung, when the sailors manned the pumps amidships, and short-haul chanteys were sung for any job that required quick, sharp pulls.

Sailing a clipper ship called for

A. a great many songs from the sailors

B. smooth action by the crew

C. teamwork on many jobs

D. both B and C   

The underlined "chorus" implies that

A. man, no matter who he is, should work with the spirit of teamwork

B. whatever we are doing,  we can sing a song together

C. only the crew of a clipper ship need to sing a chorus when they are working

D. chorus is a way of entertainment for sailors to relax themselves

The rhythms of the chanteys varied because

A. different jobs required different rhythms

B. some chantey men sang in different rhythms

C. sailors worked at different speeds

D. some jobs required the work of many sailors

According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

A. When turning the capstan, men sang slow capstan chanteys.

B. When pulling up the sails,  pumping chanteys were sung.

C. When the sailors manned the pumps amidships, they sang halyard chanteys.

D. Sailors never sang any chantey when they were working.

Sailors working with sharp, quick pulls would probably have sung a

A. slow capstan chantey

B. halyard chantey

C. short-haul chantey

D. pumping chantey