Passage 1

Questions1 t0 5 are based on the following passage.

       Some time ago I discovered that one of the chairs in my front hall had a broken leg. I didn't foresee any great difficulty in getting it mended, as there are a whole lot of antique shops in the Pimlico Road which is three minutes' walk from my flat,so I set forth one morning carrying the chair with me, I went into the first shop confidently, expecting a friendly reception, with a kindly man saying, "What a charming chair, yes, that's quite a simple job, when would you want it back?" I was quite wrong. The man I approached wouldn't look at it. I wasn't too concerned; after all, it was only the first try and there were many more shops on both sides of the road.

    The reaction at the second shop,though slightly politer, was just the same,and at the third and the fourth so I decided that my approach must be wrong.

      I entered the fifth shop with some confidence because I had concocted a plan.  I placed the chair gently on the floor so as not to disturb the damaged leg and said,"Would you like to buy a chair?" The rather fierce proprietor looked it over carefully and said, "Yes,not a bad little chair, how much do you want for it?" "￡ 20," I said."OK,"he said, "I'll give you￡ 20. " "It's got a slightly broken leg,"I said. "Yes, I saw that,it's nothing, don't worry about it. "

      Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. "What will you do with it?" I asked. "Oh, it will be very saleable once the repair is done. I like the bit of old green velvet on the top. I shall leave that, yes, very saleable. "I'II buy it," I said."What do you mean? You've just sold it to me," he said. "Yes; I know but I've changed my mind; as a matter of fact it is just what I'm looking for. I've got a pair to it at home. I'll give you 27 quid for it. " "You must be crazy,  he said; then suddenly the penny dropped and he smiled and said, "I know what you want, you want me to mend your chair. " "You' re plumb right," I said.

    "And what would you have done if I had walked in and said 'Would you mend this chair for me?''' "I wouldn't have done it," he said, "we don't do repairs, not enough money in it,but I'll mend this for you. Shall we say a fiver?" He was a very nice man and thought the whole episode rather funny.

How did the writer go to the antique shops?

A. By bus.

B. On foot.      

C. By car.       

D. By like.

The writer thought the first shop owner was

A. rude

B. kind

C. polite

D. friendly

The writer entered the fifth shop with some confidence because he

A. knew the owner of the shop

B. had expected the owner to be even politer

C. went to the other side of the street

D. had thought of a plan

Which of the following is true?

A. The writer had another chair like the broken one.

B. The writer had two more chairs like the broken one.

C. The writer was looking for another chair like the broken one.

D. The writer wanted to sell another chair like the broken one.

The fifth owner agreed to repair the broken chair because

A. the writer had paid him the money

B. the writer had shown him the money

C. the writer's approach had amused him

D. the writer's chair was easy to repair

Passage 2

Questions 6 t0 10 are based on the following passage.

     Somebody ought to defend the workaholic. These people are unjustly accused, abused, and defamed,often termed sick or morbid(病态的).

    One third of American business and commerce is carried on the shoulders of workaholics. The ratio might exist in art and science too.Workaholics are achievers. There is a national conspiracy against excellence undue admiration of commonness and mediocrity(平庸). It is as though we are against those who make uncommon sacrifices because they enjoy doing something.

      Some popular psychologists say that the workaholic has an inferiority complex which leads to overcompensation. This is certainly not the case. Inferiority, or low esteem, describes laziness more accurately than it describes dedication.

     We do not seem to realize that very little excellence is achieved by living a well-balanced life. Edison, Ford, Einstein, Freud all had single-minded devotion to work whereby they sacrificed many things,including family and friendship. The accusation is made that workaholics bear guilt by not being good parents or spouses. But guilt can exist in the balanced life also. Consider how many "normal" people find, at middle age, that they have never done anything well they are going to settle for less than what they could have become.

From this passage we know that workaholic is a term referring to those

A. who enjoy work more than anything else

B. who make greater contributions than others

C. who make uncommon sacrifices in their personal life

D. all of the above

The author's main concern in this passage is to

A. point out the role the workaholic plays in the American economy

B. defend people who are addicted to work       .

C. encourage us not to worry about our imperfection

D. consider the difficulties that confront us at middle age

The author of the passage would most likely agree that the workaholic

A. is mentally ill

B. performs an insignificant proportion of American business

C. will not have the regrets that many "normal" people face at middle age

D. suffers from low self esteem

According to this passage

A. Freud led a well balanced life

B. generally speaking, workaholics can be helped

C. workaholics should be admired

D. so called "normal" people are truly the sick people among us

According to the author, one can hardly achieve excellence unless one

A. lives an

C. had total abnormal life       

B. sacrifices friendship and family devotion to work  

D.ignores popular opinions

Passage 3

Questions 11 t0 15 are based on the following passage.

        One of the qualities that most people admire in others is the willingness to admit one's mistakes. It is extremely hard sometimes to say a simple thing like "I was wrong about that," and it is even harder to say,"I was wrong, and you were right about that. "

     I had an experience recently with someone admitting to me that he had made a mistake fifteen years ago. He told me he had been the manager of a certain grocery store in the neighborhood where I grew up, and he asked me if I remembered the egg cartons. Then he related an incident and I began to remember vaguely the incident he was describing.

      I was about eight years old at the time, and I had gone into the store with my mother to do the weekly grocery shopping. On that particular day, I must have found my way to the dairy food department where the incident took place. There must have been a special sale on eggs that day because there was an impressive display of eggs in dozen and half dozen cartons. The cartons were stacked three or four feet high. I must have stopped in front of a display to admire the stacks. Just then a woman came by pushing her grocery cart and knocked off the stacks of cartons. For some reason, I decided it was up to me to put the display back together, so I went to work.

      The manager heard the noise and came rushing over to see what had happened. When he appeared, I was on my knees inspecting some of the cartons to see if any of the eggs were broken, but to him it looked as though I were the culprit. He severely reprimanded me and wanted me to pay for the broken eggs. I protested my innocence and tried to explain,but it did no good. Even though I quickly forgot all about the incident,apparently the manager did not.

How old was the author when he wrote this article7 

A. About 8.   

B. B. About 15.   

C. C. About 18.   

D. D. About 23.

The stacks of cartons were actually knocked off by

A. the author

B. the manager

C. a woman customer

D. the author's mother

When the manager came, the author was

A. inspecting the eggs

B. putting the cartons back

C. paying for the broken eggs

D. pushing the cart for the woman

The word "culprit"(Para. 4)may be replaced by

A. fool

B. clown

C. thief

D. wrongdoer

The author's attitude towards admitting one's mistakes is basically

A. iromc                                                                            

B. critical       

C. indifferent   

D. appreciative

Passage 4

Questions 16 t0 20 are based on the following passage.

       Public relations is management function that creates, develops, and carries out policies and programs to influence public opinion or public reaction about an idea, a product, or an organization. The field of public relations has become an important part of the economic,social and political pattern of life in many nations. That field includes advertising, promotional activities, and press contact. Public relations also exists at the same time in business with marketing and merchandising to create the climate in which all selling functions occur.

Public relations activities in the modern world help institutions to cope successfully with many problems, to build prestige for an individual or a group, to promote products, and to win elections. The majority of public relations workers are staff employees working within a corporate or institutional framework. Others operate in public relations counseling firms.

    In industry, public relations personnel keep management informed of changes in the opinions of various publics (that is,the groups of people whose support is needed) : employees,stockholders, customers, suppliers, dealers, the community, and government. These professionals

counsel management as to the impact of any action or lack of action on the behavior of the target audiences.  Once an organizational decision has been made, the public relations person has the task of communicating this information to the public using methods that promote understanding "consent" and desired behavior.  For example, a hospital merger, an industrial plant closing, or the introduction of a new product all require public relations planning and skill.

    Public relations activities are a major part of the political process in many nations. Politicians seeking office, government agencies seeking acceptance and cooperation, officials seeking support for their policies, and foreign governments seeking aid and allies abroad all make extensive use of counseling services provided by public relations specialists.

     Public relations also plays an important roie in the entertainment inustry.The theaters, motion pictures, sports,restaurants and individuals all use public relations services to increase their business or add to their image. Other public relations clients are educational, social service, and charitable institutions, trade union, religious groups, and professional societies.

     The successful public relations practitioner is a specialist in communication arts and persuasion. Specialized skills are required to handle public opinion research, media relations, direct mail activities,institutional advertising, publications, film and video production, and special events. Public relations services are so far virtually unused in many developing nations,but they are likely to be a future government concern.

In the first paragraph,  the author mainly tells us

A. the methods of public relations

B. the activities of public relations

C. the functions of public relations

D. the definition of public relations

According to the passage,what would a public relations person probably do after a decision is made in industry?

A. Give some suggestions to the decision-maker.

B. Convey the information concerning the decision to the public.

C. Organize press conferences to publicize the decisiom

D. Go about the introduction of a new product.

A11 0f the following are stated in the passage except that

A. all functions are involved in the work of a public relations practitioner

B. the public relations activities play a very important role in political life

C. the entertainment world attaches great importance to public relations activities

D. the field of public relations may cover promotional activities and press conference

In which of the following paragraphs can we draw a conclusion that public relations serwces are only popular in advanced countries?  

A. Second.     

B. Third.         

C. Fourth.      

D. Sixth.

Based on the information from the passage,  which of the following people do you think can benefit most from public relations  services? 

A. Stockholders and bankers.

B. Government officials at all levels.

C. Manufacturers of all kinds.

D. Scholars.

Passage 5

Questions 21 t0 25 are based on the following passage.

   Reading skills are very important.  Experts estimate that it is possible for any normal adult English speaker to read l,000 words a minute and more, with special training. Yet most students read only about 300 words per minute. The following principles might be helpful for Foreign students who wish to increase their reading skills.

     Always read faster than is comfortable. The faster your normal rate of reading becomes, the better your understanding will be.

Keep reading ahead. Do not allow yourself to regress while reading, even when you come across a new word. If some word,:erm or phrase has clouded your understanding, you should reread it only after you have read the entire paragraph through once.

    Read selectively. As you read make a conscious effort to screen he nouns, pronouns, and verbs from the other words, since these are the words that give meaning to what you have read. In effect, you should really read the nouns, pronouns and Verbs and merely see he rest of the words in the sentence.

    Read beyond the lines. As a good reader, you should see ideas implied through the words, and bridge the gap between the obvious and the suggested, thus obtaining much more information. Because he reading assignments in most college courses are very long，students should plan to read every day. If, however, they find that hey cannot complete all the assigned readings in the beginning, they should not panic. Instead, they should ask their classmates how much they are reading and attempt to learn from them what to read first and what to postpone until a later date.

   Because much of the past learning experience of foreign students may have been for the purpose of passing examinations, they might be inclined to put off studying until late in the term.Such behavior can result in failure in the US system, where assignments must be completed on time and done regularly each day.

With special training, a normal adult English speaker may read words per minute.

A. 300

B. Less than l,000

C. 1,000

D.l,000 and more

According to the author, what is the type of vocabulary the reader should not spend much time on while reading?

A. Nouns.

B. Pronouns.

C. Prepositions.

D. Verbs.

What principle should foreign students follow when they come across a new word while reading?

A. Always read faster than is comfortable.

B. Keep reading ahead.

C. Read selectively.

D. Read beyond the lines.

According to the passage, who should the student turn to for advice if he cannot complete all the assigned readings in the beginning?

A. His teacher.

B. His supervisor.

C. His tutor.

D. His classmates.

ln the United States, the foreign students must do their assignments

A. every day reading

B. until late in the term

C. right after their class

D. in the way their teachers have suggested