Questions 41 to 45 are based on the following passage:

Office jobs are among the positions hardest hit by computation (计 算 机 自 动 化). Word processors and typists will lose about 93,000 jobs over the next few years, while 57,000 secretarial jobs will vanish. Blame the PC: Today, many executives type their own memos and carry their “secretaries” in the palms of their hands. Time is also hard for stock clerks, whose ranks are expected to decrease by 68,000. And employees in manufacturing firms and wholesalers are being replaced with computerized systems.
    But not everyone who loses a job will end up in the unemployment line. Many will shift to growing positions within their own companies. When new technologies shook up the telecomm business, telephone operator Judy Dougherty pursued retraining. She is now a communications technician, earning about $ 64,000 per year. Of course, if you've been a tollbooth collector for the past 30 years, and you find yourself replaced by an E¬Z Pass machine, it may be of little consolation(安慰)  to know that the telecomm field is booming.
    And that's just it: The service economy is fading; welcome to the expertise(专门知识) economy. To succeed in the new job market, you must be able to handle complex problems. Indeed, all but one of the 50 highest-paying occupations—air-traffic controller—demand at least a bachelor’s degree.
    For those with just a high school diploma,It's going to get tougher to find a well-paying job. Since fewer factory and clerical jobs will be available, what's left will be the jobs that compumation can’t kill: Computers can’t clean offices, or care for Alzheimer's patients(老年痴呆病人). But, since most people have the skills to fill those positions, the  wages stay painfully low ,meaning computation could drive an even deeper wedge (楔子) between the rich and poor. The best advice now: Never stop learning, and keep up with new technology.
    For busy adults, of course, that can be tough. The good news is that the very technology that's reducing so many jobs is also making it easier to go back to school—without having to sit in a classroom. So-called Internet distance learning is hot, with more than three million students   currently enrolled, and it’s gaining credibility with employers.
    Are you at risk of losing your job to a computer? Check the federal Bureau of Labour Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook, which is available online at bls. gov.

41. From the first paragraph we can infer that all of the following persons are easily thrown into

unemployment EXCEPT         .
   A. secretaries           B. stock clerks                     C. managers           D. wholesalers

42. In the second paragraph the author mentions the tollbooth collector to          .
   A. mean he will get benefits from the telecomm field
   B. show he is too old to shift to a new position
   C. console him on having been replaced by a machine
   D. blame the PC for his unemployment

43. By saying “…compumation could drive an even deeper wedge between the rich and poor” (line 5, Para. 4), the author means        
 A. people are getting richer and richer
 B. there will be a small gap between rich and poor
 C. the gap between rich and poor is getting larger and larger
 D. it’s time to close up the gap between the rich and poor

44. What is the author's attitude towards computers?
A. positive        B. negative           C. neutral          D. prejudiced

45. Which of the following might serve as the best title of passage?
A. Blaming the PC
B. The booming telecomm field 
C. Internet distance leaning 
D. Keeping up with computation

 

Question 46 to 50 are based on the following passage：

Tens of thousands of 18-year-olds will graduate this year and be handed meaningless diplomas. These diplomas won't look any different from those awarded their luckier classmates. Their validity will be questioned only when their employers discover that these graduates are semiliterate(半文盲) 

 Eventually a fortunate few will find their way into educational–repair shops—adult–literacy   programs, such as the one where I teach basic grammar and writing. There, high-school graduates and high-school dropouts pursuing graduate-equivalency certificates will learn the skills they should have learned in school, They will also discover they have been cheated by our educational system.

I will never forget a teacher who got the attention of one of my children by revealing the trump card of failure. Our youngest, a world-class charmer, did little to develop his intellectual talents but always got by Until Mrs. Stifter.

Our son was high-school senior when he had her for English. “He sits in the back of the room talking to his friends.” she told me, “Why don't you move him to the front row?” I urged,   believing the embarrassment would get him to settle down. Mrs. Stifter said, "I don't move seniors. I flunk (使┅不及格) them. " Our son's academic life flashed before my eyes. No teacher had ever threatened him. By the time I got home I was feeling pretty good about this .It was a radical   approach for these times, but, well, Why not? “She's going to flunk you.” I told my son. I did not discuss it any further. Suddenly English became a priority (头等重要) in his life. He finished out the semester with an A.

I know one example doesn't make a case, but at night I see a parade of students who are angry for having been passed along until they could no longer even pretend to keep up. Of average intelligence or better, they eventually quit school, concluding they were too dumb to finish.” I should have been held back,” is a comment I hear frequently. Even sadder are those students who are high-school graduates who say to me after a few weeks of class.” I don’t know how I ever got a high-school diploma.”

Passing students who have not mastered the work cheats them and the employers who expect graduates to have basic skills. We excuse this dishonest behavior by saying kids can't learn if they come from terrible environments. No one seems to stop to think that most kids don't put school first on their list unless they perceive something is at risk. They'd rather be sailing.

Many students I see at night have decided to make education a priority. They are motivated by the desire for a better job or the need to hang on to the one they've got. They have a healthy fear of failure.

People of all ages can rise above their problems, but they need to have a reason to do so. Young people generally don't have the maturity to value education in the same way. My adult students value it. But fear of failure can motivate both.

 

46. What is the subject of this essay?

A. view point on learning

B. a qualified teacher

C. the importance of examination

D. the generation gap

47. How did Mrs. Sifter get the attention of one of the author’s children?

A. flunking him

B. moving his seat

C. blaming him

D. playing card with him

48. The author believes that the most effective way for a teacher is to 

A. purify the teaching environments

B. set up cooperation between teachers and parents

C. hold back student

D. motivate student

49. From the passage we can draw the conclusion that the authors’ attitude toward flunking is        .  

A. negative            B. positive             C. biased        D. indifferent

50. Judging from the content, this passage is probably written for        .  

A. administrators    B. students             C. teachers      D. parents

 

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage:

Names have gained increasing importance in the competitive world of higher education. As colleges strive for market share, they are looking for names that project the image they want or   reflect the changes they hope to make. Trenton State College, for example, became the College of New Jersey nine years ago when it began raising admissions standards and appealing to students   from throughout the state.

“All I hear in higher education is, Brand, brand, brand,” said Tim Westerbeck, who specializes in branding and is managing director of Lipman Hearne, a marketing firm based in Chicago that works with universities and other nonprofit organizations. “There has been a sea change over the last 10 years. Marketing used to be almost a dirty word in higher education.”

Not all efforts at name changes are successful, of course. In 1997, the New School for Social Research became New School University to reflect its growth into a collection of eight colleges, offering a list of majors that includes psychology, music, urban studies and management. But New Yorkers continued to call it the New School.

Now, after spending an undisclosed sum on an online survey and a marketing consultant’s creation of “naming structures,” “brand architecture” and “identity systems,” the university has come up with a new name: the New School. Beginning Monday, it will adopt new logos (标 识)，banners, business cards and even new names for the individual colleges, all to include the words “the New School.”

Changes in names generally reveal significant shifts in how a college wants to be perceived. In altering its name from Cal State, Hayward, to Cal State, East Bay, the university hoped to project its expanding role in two mostly suburban countries east of San Francisco.

The University of Southern Colorado, a state institution, became Colorado State University at Pucblo two years ago, hoping to highlight many internal changes, including offering more graduate programs and setting higher admissions standards.

Beaver College turned itself into Arcadia University in 2001 for several reasons: to break the connection with its past as a women’s college, to promote its growth into a full-fledged(完全成熟的) university and officials acknowledged, to eliminate some jokes about the college’s old name on late-night television and “morning zoo” radio shows.

Many college officials said changing a name and image could produce substantial results. At Arcadia, in addition to the rise in applications, the average student's test score has increased by 60 points, Juli Roebeck, an Arcadia spokeswoman, said.

 

51. Which of the following is NOT the reason for colleges to change their names?

A. They prefer higher education competition 

B. They try to gain advantage in market share.

C. They want to project their image.

D. They hope to make some changes.

52. It is implied that one of the most significant changes in higher education in the past decade is        . 

A. the brand

B. the college names

C. the concept of marketing

D. list of majors

53. The phrase "come up with" (Line 3, Para. 4) probably means        .  

A. catch up with

B. deal with

C. put forward

D. come to the realization

54. The case of name changing from Cal State, Hayward, to Cal State indicates that the university        .

A. is perceived by the society

B. hopes to expand its influence

C. prefers to reform its reaching programs

D. expects to enlarge its campus

55. According to the spokeswoman, the name change of Beaver College 

A. turns out very successful

B. fails to attain its goal

C. has eliminated some jokes

D. has transformed its status

 

Questions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage:

It looked just like another aircraft from the outside .The pilot told his young passengers that it was built in 1964. But appearances were deceptive, and the 13 students from Europe and the USA who boarded the aircraft were in for the flight of their lives.

Inside, the area that normally had seats had become a long white tunnel. Heavily padded(填塞) from floor to ceiling ,it looked a bit strange. There were almost no windows, but lights along the padded walls illuminated it. Most of the seats had been taken out, apart from a few at the back where the young scientists quickly took their places with a look of fear.

For 12 months, science students from across the continents had competed to win a place on the flight at the invitation of the European Space Agency. The challenge had been to suggest   imaginative experiments to be conducted in weightless conditions.

For the next two hours, the flight resembled that of an enormous bird which had lose its reason, shooting upwards towards the heavens before rushing towards Earth. The invention was to achieve weightlessness for a few seconds.

The aircraft took off smoothly enough, but any feelings that I and the young scientists had that we were on anything like a scheduled passenger service were quickly dismissed when the pilot put the plane into a 45 degree climb which lasted around 20 seconds. Then the engines cut out and we became weightless. Everything became confused and left or right, up or down no longer had any meaning. After ten seconds of free-fall descent (下降) the pilot pulled the aircraft out of its  nosedive. The return of gravity was less immediate than its loss, but was still sudden enough to ensure that some students came down with a bump.

Each time the pilot cut the engines and we became weightless, a new team conducted its experiment. First it was the Dutch who wanted to discover how it is that cats always land on their feet. Then the German team who conducted a successful experiment on a traditional building method to see if it could be used for building a future space station. The Americans had an idea to create solar sails that could be used by satellites.

After two hours of going up and down in the lane doing their experiments, the predominant feeling was one of excitement rather than sickness. Most of the students thought it was an unforgettable experience and one they would be keen to repeat.

 

56. What did the writer say about the plane?

A. It had no seats.

B. It was painted white.

C. It had no windows.

D. The outside was misleading.

57.According to the writer，how did the young scientists feel before the flight?

A. sick           B. keen          C. nervous             D. impatient

58. what did the pilot do with the plane after it took off?

A. He quickly climbed and then stopped the engines.

B. He climbed and then made the plane fall slowly.

C. He took off normally and then cut the engines for 20 seconds.

D. He climbed and then made the plane turn over.

59. According to the passage, the purpose of being weightless was to        . 

A. see what conditions are like in space

B. prepare the young scientists for future work in space

C. show the judges of the competition what they could do

D. make the teams try out their ideas

60. This passage was written to        . 

A. encourage young people to take up science 

B. describe the process of a scientific competition

C. show scientists what young people can do

D. report on a new scientific technique