SECTIONⅢ Reading Comprehension
(40 minutes)
Par A
Directions
Read the following three texts. Answer the questions on each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1.
Text 1
In November 1965, New York was blacked out by an electricity failure. The authorities promised that it would not happen again. Pessimists were certain that it would occur again within five years at the latest. In July 1997, there was a repeat performance which produced varying degrees of chaos throughout the city of eight million people. In 1965, the failure occurred in the cool autumn and at a time of comparative prosperity. In 1997, the disaster was much more serious because it came when unemployment was high and the city was suffering form one of its worst heat waves.
In 1965, there was little crime or looting during the darkness, and fewer than a hundred people were arrested. In 1997, hundreds of stores were broken into and looted. Looters smashed shop windows and helped themselves to jewelry, clothes or television sets. Nearly 4,000 people were arrested but far more disappeared into the darkness of the night. The number of policemen available was quite inadequate and they wisely refrained from using their guns against mobs which far outnumbered them and included armed men.
Hospitals had to treat hundreds of people cut by glass from shop windows. Banks and most businesses remained closed the next day. The blackout started at 9:30 p.m., when lightning hit and knocked out vital cables. Many stores were thus caught by surprise.
The vast majority of New Yorkers , however, were not involved in looting. They helped strangers, distributed candles and batteries, and tried to survive in a nightmare world without traffic lights, refrigerator, elevators, water and electrical power. For twenty-four hours, New York realized how helpless it was without electricity.
46. From the first paragraph, we know that _____ were right.
A. the authorities
B. the pessimists
C. both the authorities and the pessimists
D. neither the authorities nor the pessimists
47. In what way was the blackout of 1997 not really a repeat performance?
A. There was much more disorder.
B. This time the electricity supply failed.
C. It was quite unexpected.
D. It did not occur within five years of 1965.
48. As far as maintaining the peace was concerned, conditions in 1997 were comparatively ___________.
A. more favorable
B. less favorable
C. uncharged
D. improved
49. What caused the blackout in July 1997?
A. Excessive heat probably made people switch on too many electrical appliances.
B. Because of unemployment, some machines were not in proper working order.
C. During a storm, lightning damaged supply cables.
D. The passage does not mention the cause.
50. Why did many looters manage to escape?
A. The police could not see them in the dark.
B. Many of the looters were armed with guns.
C. There were not enough policemen to catch them all.
D. They were hidden inside big buildings.
Test 2
Thousands of years ago man used handy rocks for his surgical operations. Later he used sharp bone or horn, metal knives and more recently, rubber and plastic and that was where we stuck, in surgical instrument terms, for many years. In the 1960s a new tool was developed, one which was, first of all, to be of great practical use to the armed forces and industry, but which was also, in time, to revolutionize the art and science of surgery.
The tool is the laser and it is being used by more and more surgeons all over the world, for a year large number of different complaints. The word “laser” means: light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. As we all know, light is hot, any source of light ------- from the sun itself down to a humble match burning ------ will give warmth. But light is usually spread out over a wide area. The light in a laser beam, however, is concentrated. This means that a light with no more power than that produced by an ordinary electric light bulb becomes intensely strong as it is concentrated to a pinpoint-sized beam.
Experiments with these pinpoint beams showed researchers that different energy sources produce beams that have a particular effect on certain living cells. It is now possible for eye surgeons to operate on the back of human eye without harming the front of the eye, simply by passing a laser beam right through the eye-ball. No knives, no stitches, no unwanted damage----a true surgical wonder. Operations which once left patients exhausted and in need of long period of recovery time now leave them feeling relaxed and comfortable. So much more difficult operations can now be tired.
The rapid development of laser techniques in the past ten years has made it clear that the future is likely to be very exciting. Perhaps some cancers will be treated with laser in a way that makes surgery not only safer but also more effective. Altogether, tomorrow may see more and more information coming to light on the diseases which can be treated medically.
51. Which of the following would be appropriate to describe the instruments of surgical operations up until 1960s?
A. Traditional.
B. Complicated
C. Remarkable.
D. Revolutionary
52. What do we find after the development of the laser in the 1960s?
A. Industrial revolution brought surgery changed greatly.
B. Medical help became available for industrial workers.
C. The study of art went through a complete revolution.
D. Human being’s methods in surgery changed greatly.
53. The reason why the laser beam is very strong is that ____________.
A. it is artificially illuminated
B. it is made up of a concentrated beam of light
C. it sends out heat in all directions.
D. its heat is increased by the heat of the sun
54. After the use of the laser beam, surgeons can perform operation which __________.
A. leave their patients with negative effects
B. can treat only human eye diseases
C. do little damage to their patients
D. make their patients need a long time to recover
55. The rapid development of laser techniques has meant that __________.
A. surgery is likely to improve considerably
B. in another ten years we shall be able to cure cancer
C. in future all the diseases can certainly be cured
D. operations will be performed more complicatedly in the future
Text 3
Urban life has always involved a balancing of opportunities and rewards against dangers and stress; its motivating force is, in the broadest sense, money. Opportunities to make money mean competition and competition is stressful; it is often most intense in the larges cities, where opportunities are greatest. The presence of huge numbers of people inevitably involves more conflict, more traveling, the overloading of public services and exposure to those deviants and criminals who are drawn to the rich pickings of great cities. Crime has always flourished in the relative anonymity of urban life, but today’s ease of movement makes its control more difficult than ever; there is much evidence that is extent has a direct relationship to the size of communities. City dwellers may become trapped in their homes by the fear of crime around them.
As a defense against these developments, city dwellers tend to use various strategies to try and reduce the pressures upon themselves; contacts with other people are generally made brief and impersonal; doors are kept locked; telephone numbers may be ex-directory; journeys outside the home are usually hurried, rather than a source of pleasure. There are other strategies, too, which are positively harmful to the individuals, for example, reducing awareness through drugs or alcohol. Furthermore, all these defensive forms of behavior are harmful to society in general; they cause widespread loneliness and destroy the community’s concern for its members. Lack of informal social contact and indifference to the misfortunes of others, if they are not personally known to oneself, are amongst the major causes of urban crime.
