Passage One

Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage.

     By 1970, according to a World Wildlife Fund report, only about 4,500 tigers survived throughout the world—half of them in India. Mr. Foresters, who followed and counted tiger footprints, estimated that in May 1972 only about 1,800 tigers existed in India. Project Tiger supported by W. W. F. was immediately launched. Nine tiger reserves were created, with armed guards protecting them.

     The project provided opportunities for researchers from India and abroad to study tigers in the reserves and gather previously unavailable information about their habits. Studies show that a male tiger may control a hunting territory of between 10 and 20 sq. kilometers, depending on its age, size and strength. The territory of a male includes the smaller territories of three or four tigresses. A tiger marks the boundaries of its territory by spraying urine and other bodily liquids on bushes. But it tries to avoid territorial fights, being guided by the distinctive body smell of other tigers. Tigers fight to death only when a tigress is defending her young baby, or when a tiger is guarding a tigress from the attention of other males.

     The popular image of the tiger is that of a merciless and unconquerable hunter.But studies show that it catches only one of 20 victims it tries to attack.

    Fears have recently developed that Project Tiger has been too successful. It has enabled the tiger population to double (by mid-80s) but India's human population has also grown out of control. Currently it is 750 million and likely to be 900 million by the end of the century. Land problem is becoming serious and many rural people feel bitter about the fact that some rich forests are reserved for tigers. A growing number of attacks by tigers on man have added to the hostility.

The ultimate aim of Project Tiger is to ______.

A. protect tigers from being killed,

B. study the growth rate of tigers,

C. promote the breeding of young tigers,

D. analyze the behavioral patterns of tigers

Studies have shown that ______.

A. a tigress never attacks until attacked,

B. the tigress is not as fierce as the tiger,

C. the tiger is not an efficient hunter as is commonly described,

D. a tiger usually fights another tiger to defend its own territory

According to the passage, a tiger's territory ______.

A. remains unchanged,

B. is often defended by tigresses,

C. is the cause of most fights,

D. expands as the tiger grows up

Some people are afraid that Project Tiger ______.

A. has failed to achieve its goal,

B. has not received enough attention,

C. has been carried too far,

D. is not worth the money spent on it

The author seems to ______.

A. have a matter-of-fact attitude towards Project Tiger,

B. be enthusiastic about Project Tiger,

C. have a hostile attitude towards Project Tiger,

D. be satisfied with Project Tiger

Passage Two

Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage.

     Central Park, emerging from a period of abuse and neglect, remains one of the most popular attractions in New York City, with half a million out-of-towners among the more than 3 million people who visit the park yearly. About 15 million individual visits are made each year.

     Summer is the season for softball, concerts and Shakespeare; fall is sunning; winter is wonderful for sledding, skating and skiing; and springtime is the loveliest of all. It was all planned that way.

     About 130 years ago Frederic Olmsted and his collaborator Calvert Vaux submitted their landscaping plan for a rectangular parcel two miles north of the town's center. The barren swamp was reported as “a spot where miasmic (瘴气的) odors pollute every breath of air." It took 16 years for workers with pickaxe and shovels to move 5 million cubic feet of earth and rock, and to plant half a million trees and shrubs, making a tribute to nature—a romantic 19th-century perception of nature.

     What exists today is essentially Olmsted and Vaux's plan, with more trees, buildings and roads. Landscape architects still speak reverently of Olmsted's genius and foresight, and the sensitive visitor can see the effects he sought.

The passage is mainly concerned with ______.

A. the lives of Olmsted and Vaux,

B. New York City's tourist industry,

C. examples of nineteenth-century art in New York City,

D. the development of Central Park

According to the passage, ______ is the prettiest time of a year in Central Park.

A. winter,

B. spring,

C. summer,

D. fall

It can be inferred that the “rectangular parcel" mentioned in the third paragraph is ______.

A. the site of Central Park,

B. a gift presented to New York,

C. a skyscraper in New York,

D. the proposed design for Central Park

According to the passage, before Olmsted and Vaux began their work, the area now occupied by Central Park was ______.

A. a romantic place,

B. an infertile, marshy space,

C. a green and hilly park,

D. a baseball field

It can be inferred from the passage that today's landscape architects praise Olmsted for his ______.

A. enthusiasm for sport,

B. skill at designing factories,

C. concern for New York's homeless people,

D. foresight in anticipating New York's urbanization

Passage Three

Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage.

     What does a scientist do when he or she “explains”something? Scientific explanation comes in two forms: generalization and reduction. Most psychologists deal with generalization. They explain particular instances of behavior as examples of general laws. For instance, most psychologists would explain a pathologically (病态的;病理的) strong fear of dogs as an example of classical conditioning. Presumably, the person was frightened earlier in life by a dog. An unpleasant stimulus was paired with the sight of the animal (perhaps the person was knocked down by an irritated dog) and the subsequent sight of dogs evokes the earlier response—fear.

    Most physiologists deal with reduction. Phenomena are explained in terms of simpler phenomena. For example, the movement of a muscle is explained in terms of changes in the membrane (膜) of muscle cells, entry of particular chemicals, and interactions between protein molecules (分子) within these cells. A molecular biologist would “explain”these events in terms of forces that bind various molecules together and cause various parts of these molecules to be attracted to one another.

     The task of physiological  psychology is to  “explain”behavior in physiological terms. Like other scientists, physiological psychologists believe that all natural phenomena—including human behavior—are subject to the laws of physics. Thus, the laws of behavior can be reduced to descriptions of physiological processes.

     How does one study the physiology of behavior? Physiological psychologists cannot simply be reductionists. It is not enough to observe behaviors and correlate them with physiological events that occur at the same time. Identical behaviors, under different conditions, may occur for different reasons and thus be initiated by different physiological mechanisms. This means that we must understand “psychologically” why a particular behavior occurs before we can understand

what physiological events made it occur.

The passage mainly discusses __

A. the difference between “scientific” and “unscientific” explanations,

B. the difference between human and animal behavior,

C. how fear would be explained by the psychologist, physiologist and molecular biologist,

D. how scientists differ in their approaches to explaining natural phenomena

The word “deal” in the first paragraph could best be replaced by ______.

A. study,

B. bargain,

C. are playing,

D. are concerned

Which of the following is most clearly analogous to the example in the passage of the person who fears dogs?

A. A child chokes on a fishbone and as an adolescent is reluctant to eat fish,

B. A person feels lonely and after a while buys a dog for companionship.,

C. A child studies science in school and later grows up to become a teacher.,

D. A person hears that a snowstorm is predicted and in that evening is afraid to drive home.

According to the passage, ______ is important in explaining a muscle movement.

A. the flow of blood to the muscles,

B. classical conditioning,

C. protein interaction,

D. the entry of unpleasant stimuli through the cell membrane

The author implies that ______ is the type of scientific explanation most likely used by a molecular biologist.

A. experimentation,

B. reduction,

C. interaction,

D. generalization

Passage Four

Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage.

    “High tech” and “state of the art” are two expressions that describe very modern technology. High tech is just a shorter way of saying high technology. And high technology describes any invention, system or device that uses the newest ideas or discoveries of science and engineering.

     What is high tech? A computer is high tech. So is a communications satellite. A moderm manufacturing system is surely high tech.

     High tech became a popular expression in the United States during the early 1980's. Because of improvements in technology, people could buy many new kinds of products in American stores, such as home computers, microwave ovens, etc.

     “State of the art” is something that is as modern as possible. It is a product that is based on the very latest methods and technology. Something that is “state of the art” is the newest possible design or product of a business or industry. A state-of-the-art television set, for example, uses the most modern electronic design and parts. It is the best that one can buy.

    “State of the art” is not a new expression. Engineers have used it for years to describe the best and most modern way of doing something.

    Millions of Americans began to use the expression in the late 1970's. The reason was the computer revolution.

    Every computer company claimed that its computers were “state of the art”.

    Computer technology changed so fast that a state-of-the-art computer today might be old tomorrow. The expression “state of the art” became as common and popular as computers themselves. Now all kinds of products are said to be “state of the art”.

The purpose of the passage is to ______.

A. tell how “high tech” and “state of the art” have developed,

B. give examples of high tech,

C. tell what “high tech” and “state of the art” are,

D. describe very modern technology

It can be inferred from the passage that ______.

A. American stores could provide new kinds of products to the people,

B. high tech describes a technology that is not traditional,

C. “state of the art” is not as popular as “high tech”,

D. a wooden plough pulled by oxen is “state of the art”

All the following examples are high tech EXCEPT ______.

A. a microwave oven,

B. a home computer,

C. a hand pump,

D. a satellite

Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. Since the computer revolution, the expression “state of the art” has become popular.,

B. “State of the art” means something that is the best one can buy.,

C. With the rapid development of computer technology, a state-of-the-art computer may easily become out of date.,

D. All kinds of products are “state of the art” nowadays.

The best title for the passage is ______.

A. Computer Technology,

B. High Tech and State of the Art,

C. Most Advanced Technology,

D. Two New Expressions

Passage Five

Questions 21-25 are based on the following passage.

      In the United States, it is important to be on time, or punctual, for an appointment, a class, a meeting, etc. This may not be true in all countries, however. An American professor discovered this difference while teaching a class in a Brazilian university. The two-hour class was scheduled to begin at 10 A.M.. On the first day, when the professor arrived on time, no one was in the classroom. Many students came after 10 A. M.. Several arrived after 10:30 A. M.. Two students came after 11 A. M.. Although all the students greeted the professor as they arrived, few apologized for their lateness. Were these students being rude? He decided to study the students' behavior.

      The professor talked to American and Brazilian students about lateness in both an informal and a formal situation: lunch with a friend, and a university class. He gave them an example and asked them how they would react. If they had a lunch appointment with a friend, the average American students thought of lateness as 19 minutes after the agreed time. On the other hand, the average Brazilian students felt the friend was late after 33 minutes.

      In an American university, students are expected to arrive at the appointed hour. However, in Brazil, neither the teacher nor the students always arrive at the appointed hour. Classes not only begin at the scheduled time in the United States, but they also end at the scheduled time. In the Brazilian class, only a few students left the class at noon; many remained past 12:30 to discuss the class and ask more questions. While arriving late may not be very important in Brazil, neither is

staying late.

     The explanation for these differences is complicated. People from Brazilian and North American cultures have different feelings about lateness. In Brazil, the students believe that a person who usually arrives late is probably more successful than a person who is always on time. If a Brazilian is late for an appointment with a North American, the American may misunderstand the reason for the lateness and become angry.

     As a result of his study, the professor learned that the Brazilian students were not being disrespectful to him. Instead they were simply behaving the natural way for a Brazilian student in Brazil. Later, the professor was able to change his own behavior to feel comfortable in the new culture.

The word “punctual” in the first paragraph means ______ in the passage.

A. to be respectful,

B. to be disrespectful,

C. to be on time,

D. to be late

In Brazil if they have a lunch appointment with a friend, the average Brazilian students will think of lateness as ______.

A. 19 minutes after the agreed time,

B. 33 minutes after the agreed time,

C. after 12:30,

D. after 11

In the Brazilian class, ______ didn't leave the class at noon, but remained to discuss the class and ask more questions.

A. only a few students,

B. many students,

C. more important students,

D. more successful students

In Brazil, the students believe that ______.

A. a person who usually arrives early is probably more successful than a person who is always on time,

B. a person who usually arrives on time is probably more successful than a person who is always early,

C. a person who usually arrives on time is probably more successful than a person who is always late,

D. a person who usually arrives late is probably more successful than a person who is always on time

We can infer from the passage that the professor felt comfortable in Brazil after a period of time because he probably ______.

A. made his students come to class on time,

B. gave up his job and enjoyed his stay there,

C. also went to class late,

D. criticized the students whenever they were late