Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15minutes)

　　Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the

　　questions on Answer Sheet 1.

　　For questions 1-4, mark

　　Y (for YES) if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage;

　　N (for NO) if statement contradicts the information given in the passage;

　　NG (for NOT GIVEN) if the information is not given in the passage.

　　For questions 5-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.

　　Our galaxy is a gigantic agglomeration of stars and planets whose numbers will probably never been known. Currently we estimate this number to be about thirty billion. Scientists have estimated that the diameter of our galaxy, if it were to be traveled, would take us about fifty thousand light years and the thickness to be about fifteen to twenty light years.

　　We live in small part of the Milky Way Galaxy, which is referred to as a solar system. Our solar system is made up of nine planets and 31 moons, which orbit the center of galaxy. At the center of our galaxy is our Sun, which is approximately twenty-five thousand light years from our solar system.

　　These nine major planets in order from the center are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.

　　Mercury is the planet nearest to the Sun. As it orbits the Sun, it does not rotate, keeping the same face of the planet toward the Sun at all times. This means that one side of the planet has a continual burning day of 900 °F, and the other side a continual night and a deadly cold of 450° F below zero. Mercury is the fastest traveling of the nine planets making one full orbit around the Sun in only eight days. Life on mercury would be impossible. If you could live where the night meets the day and survive the extreme conditions, you would need dark goggles to protect you eyes from the extreme light. Mercury has little or no atmosphere to diffuse the sunlight. You would also weigh considerable less due to the lack of gravity. A person weighting 100 pounds on Earth would weigh 27 pounds on Mercury.

Looking into the night sky you will notice Venus, the brightest star in the sky, and the second planet from the Sun. Venus can only be seen at certain times of the day either at dawn or at Sunset. In physical characteristics, Venus is most like earth with a diameter of seven thousand six hundred miles, and gravity the same as earth. It is located a distance of sixty-seven million miles from the Sun and makes one complete orbit around the Sun in two hundred twenty five days. A single day on Venus can last up to two hundred and twenty five earth days due to its slow rotation. The atmosphere appears to consist of mostly nitrogen and carbon dioxide. This is due to the lack of life on the planet.

　　The best time to view Venus comes every one hundred and twenty years as it passes between the Earth and the Sun. The last time to best view it was on June 7, 2004.

　　Earth, the third planet form the Sun is our home planet. Earth is the only planet in our solar system known to sustain life. Under the layer of atmosphere that surrounds the planet we are able to provide all the necessary components to make life sustainable. Earth is the fifth larges planet in the solar system. Its diameter is just a few hundred kilometers larger than Venus. Earth rotates on its axis one complete revolution in a twenty-four hour period and orbits the Sun in three hundred and sixty five days.

　　Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is the closest neighbor to earth. Every seventeen years Mars reaches its closest point to earth in its orbit around the Sun at thirty-five million miles.

　　Mars is a small planet that has a red glow. It makes one complete orbit around the Sun in six hundred and eighty seven days. Oxygen and water vapor have been detected in the atmosphere of Mars, and a yellowish fog and clouds move around the planet indicating that the planet has different types of weather and seasons like the earth. A single day on Mars is very much like a day on earth lasting twenty-four hours and thirty-seven minutes, however, a year on Mars is twice as long as one year on earth.

　　Jupiter the fifth planet from the Sun gets its name from the Father of the Greek Gods. Jupiter, which orbits four hundred eighty-three million miles from the Sun, is the biggest of all the planets in our solar system. It has a diameter of eighty-nine thousand miles and a volume of thirteen times that of earth. Jupiter orbits the Sun every twelve years. Its atmosphere is thousands of miles thick and is made up of mainly hydrogen. The surface temperature is about -205°F. There are no seasons on Jupiter, but it has floating clouds of ammonia and methane gas.

　　Jupiter has a bright red distinctive spot that is more than twice as wide as Earth. This mark has astronomers puzzled because there is no reason for the bright spot due to the fact that it does not receive much Sunlight. This spot enables us to see that Jupiter has a very fast rotation. One rotation is completed every ten hours. The forces placed on the planet due to this quick rotation cause the clouds at the equator to bulge like a tire, but due to the gravitational forces of the planet keep the clouds from being cast into space.

Saturn, even though it is the sixth planet form the Sun, it shines so brightly because of its size. Its diameter is seventy-one thousand five hundred miles. The planet itself is golden in color and is the brightest yellow star in the night sky.

　　Saturn makes one complete revolution on its axis every ten hours and takes twenty-nine and one half days to complete one orbit around the Sun. The gravitational pull of this planet is most like that of Jupiter. It has a volume that is eight hundred times that of earth, but has a volume that is one hundred times lighter than earth.

　　Saturn has two rings that surround the planet, but never touch it. They are located outside the atmosphere and above the equator. These rings are only about ten miles thick, which makes them transparent, only being seen with the use of a telescope. The ring closest to the planet is about seven thousand miles and very thin. A black band separates the inner ring from the outer ring, which is wider and brighter. It is believed that the rings are made up of crystals of ice or dust particles.

　　Uranus is the seventh planet form the Sun. The name Uranus comes from Greek mythology. Uranus was the ¨God of the Heavens.〃

　　Uranus is situated one thousand seven hundred and eighty two miles form the Sun and completes one orbit around the Sun every eighty-four years. The size of this planet is four times that of earth, but has the same force of gravity on the surface as earth. There are five moons that orbit this planet. The largest one is Titania.

　　Neptune, the eighth planet from the Sun, is invisible to the naked eye. It is located some two thousand seven hundred and ninety-three million miles form the Sun. A single orbit around the Sun takes one hundred and sixty-five yeas to complete. This planet only receives one nine-hundredth of the heat and Sunlight as the earth.

　　Pluto was the ninth planet from the Sun. The name Pluto comes from the Roman God who was the ruler of the under world. On Thursday, August 24, 2006, however, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) met in Prague voted finalizing the guidelines of planetary classification, thus reorganizing Pluto into a new category of “dwarf planet”.

　　Pluto is located three thousand six hundred and seventy million miles form the Sun. It orbits the Sun in total darkness, and is about the same size as Mars and has a diameter two thirds that of Earth’s moon. Due to the distance and size of Pluto, it can only be seen with the use of a twenty-inch telescope.

　　Pluto disqualified due to its eccentric orbit that crosses with Neptune. In addition to the fact that it is disproportionately smaller than any of its former counterparts in the solar system, it does not qualify as a planet. Otherwise, we might as well qualify Pluto’s moon, Charon as a planet, thus making Pluto and Charon a binary planet system.

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。

　　1. If we are to travel from one end of the galaxy circle to the other at the speed of light, it would take us fifty thousand light years.

　　2. There can not possibly be any form of water in Mercury.

　　3. Venus is sharing with the earth similar diameter, similar gravity and similar rotation.

　　4. The speed with which Mars travels round the Sun is twice as fast as that of the earth.

　　5. Jupiter has an atmosphere, which, unlike that of earth, contains for the most part __________.

　　6. Despite the quick rotation of Jupiter, its clouds are still clinging to the planet with the help of ____________.

　　7. between the inner ring and the outer ring of Saturn there is a ___________________.

　　8. Compared with that of the earth, the gravity force on the surface of Uranus is _____________.

　　9. According to the International Astronomical Union, Pluto is no longer seen as a planet; instead, it should be termed as ________________.

　　10. Its eccentric orbit and its _____________ disqualified Pluto as a planet.

　　Part IV Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)

　　Section A

　　Directions: In this section, there is a short passage with 5 questions or incomplete statements.

　　Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete statements in the fewest possible words. Please write your answers on Answer Sheet 2.

　　Questions 47 to 51 are based on the following passage.

　　Like most other US college students，Eric Rogers knows that submitting a term paper taken off the Internet is plagiarism and cause for suspension or a failing grade.

　　What about using a paragraph? "Just a paragraph?" he said. "Taking a paragraph and changing words，I've done that before; it wasn't a big deal，"he decided finally. "As long as I can manipulate it to be my words，change a few，it's not cheating."

Under the honour code he signed when he entered Duke University last year，it is. But for many college students，the once-clear lines that define cheating have faded. Some colleges and universities have resorted to sophisticated search engines to ferret out cheats. But an increasing number is turning to something decidedly more low-tech: their honour codes. Some campuses are adopting codes for the first time. Others，among them Duke，acknowledging that their codes have existed mostly in name only，are rewriting and more aggressively enforcing them.

　　Cheating has become so common，experts say，that it often goes unreported and unpunished. Surveys show not only that there is more cheating these days but also that students and teachers alike have become more accepting of some practices once considered out of bounds. One such survey was performed for the Centre for Academic Integrity，an organization based at Duke that helps create honour codes. In that survey，27 per cent of students questioned during the 2001-2 academic year said that falsifying laboratory data happened "often or very often" on campus.

　　The new honour codes aim to punish more while also forcing students and faculty members to think about the kinds of offenses that constitute cheating. At large universities and small liberal arts colleges alike，educators talk about restoring a "culture of honour."

　　"It's a psychological effect: if people expect you to be honourable，you are more likely to respond with honourable behavior，"said Nannerl O.Keohane，the president of Duke. At Duke，a new "community standard" for academic integrity will take effect next fall.

　　Under it，the faculty will no longer have to proctor exams，but students will face punishment if they see cheating and do not report it. Faculty members will have greater power to discipline first-time cheats，authority that the university hopes will encourage them to confront offenders.

　　注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

　　47. In the US, the college students will be given a failing grade by __________

　　48. It can be inferred from the passage that one of the students' honour codes might be "__________".

　　49. How to find student cheats in some colleges and universities?

　　50. The phrase "out of bounds"(Para.4) probably means __________ .

　　51. What will Duke University do next fall to solve the problem of cheating next autumn?

　　Section B

　　Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line thought the centre.

Passage One

　　Questions 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.

　　With the possible exception of equal rights, perhaps the most controversial issue across the United States today is the death penalty. Many argue that it is an effective deterrent (威慑) to murder, while others maintain there is no convincing evidence that the death penalty reduces murders.

　　The principal argument advanced by those opposed to the death penalty, basically, is that it is cruel and inhuman punishment, which is the mark of a brutal society, and finally that it is of questionable effectiveness as a deterrent to crime anyway.

　　In our opinion, the death penalty is a necessary evil. Throughout recorded history there have always been those extreme individuals in every society who were capable of terribly violent crimes such as murder. But some are more extreme than others.

　　For example, it is one thing to take the life of another in a fit of blind rage, but quite another to coldly plot and carry out the murder of one or more people in the style of a butcher. Thus, murder, like all other crimes, is a matter of relative degree. While it could be argued with some conviction that the criminal in the first instance should be merely isolated from society, such should not be the fate of the latter type murderer.

　　The value of the death penalty as a deterrent to crime may be open to debate. But the overwhelming majority of citizens believe that the death penalty protects them. Their belief is reinforced by evidence which shows that the death penalty deters murder. For example, from 1954 to 1963, when the death penalty was consistently imposed in California, the murder rate remained between three and four murders for each 100,000 population. Since 1964 the death penalty has been imposed only once, and the murder rate has risen to 10.4 murders for each 100,000 population. The sharp climb in the state’s murder rate, which began when executions stopped, is no coincidence. It is convincing evidence that the death penalty does deter many murderers. If the bill reestablishing the death penalty is vetoed, innocent people will be murdered—some whose lives may have been saved if the death penalty were in effect. This is literally a life or death matter. The lives of thousands of innocent people must be protected.

　　注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

　　52. The principal purpose of this passage is to___________.

　　A) speak for the majority

　　B) initiate a veto

　　C) criticize the government

　　D) argue for the value of the death penalty

　　53. The author’s response to those who urge the death penalty for all is likely to be _________.

　　A) negative

　　B) friendly

　　C) supportive

　　D) hostile

54. According to the Paragraph 4, it can be inferred that___________ .

　　A) the death penalty is the most controversial issue in the United States today

　　B) the second type of murderers should be sentenced to death

　　C) the veto of the bill reestablishing the death penalty is of little importance

　　D) the value of the death penalty as a deterrent to crime is not to be debated

　　55. The passage attempts to establish a relationship between__________ .

　　A) the murder rate and the imposition of the death penalty

　　B) the effects of execution and the effects of isolation

　　C) the importance of equal rights and that of the death penalty

　　D) executions and murders

　　56. The author’s attitude towards “death penalty” is .

　　A) opposing

　　B) supporting

　　C) neutral

　　D) sarcastic

　　Passage Two

　　Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.

　　One positive consequence of our current national crisis may be at least a temporary shadow in Hollywood’s culture of violence. Fearful of offending audiences in the wake of the terrorist attack, some moviemakers have postponed the release of film with terrorist themes. Television writers are delaying scripts with warlike and terrorist scenarios (剧本提纲).It is probably good thinking. My local video store tells me nobody is checking out “disaster” movies. Says the manager, “Currently, people want comedy. They want an escape from stories about violence and terrorism.” Similarly, in the music business, there’s a run on patriotic and inspirational tapes and CDs.

　　According to The New York Times, the self scrutiny among these czars (特权人物) of mass-entertainment taste is unprecedented in scale, sweeping aside hundreds of millions of dollars in projects that no longer seem appropriate. A reasonable concern is that this might be a short term phenomenon. Once life returns to something more normal, will Hollywood return to its bad old ways? The Times offers a glimmer of hope. The industry’s titans (巨头),it suggests, are struggling with much more difficulties, long range questions of what the public will want once the initial shock from the terrorist attacks wears off. Many in the industry admit they do not know where the boundaries of taste and consumer tolerance now lie.

This is an opportunity for some of us to suggest to Hollywood where that boundary of consumer tolerance is, especially those of us who have not yet convinced Hollywood to cease its descent into ever lower of the dumbness of our young.

　　The nonprofit Parents Television Council, which monitors the quality of TV programming, says in its latest report that today’s TV shows are more laced than ever with vulgarities, sexual immorality, crudities, violence, and foul language. The traditional family hour between 8p.m.and 9p.m., when the networks used to offer programs for the entire family, has disappeared. The problem looks like it will get worse.

　　That certainly looked to be the case before the Sept.11th assault. One pre attack New York Times story reported that TV producers were crusading (讨伐) for scripts that include every crude word imaginable. The struggles between net-work censors and producers, according to the report, were “growing more intense”. Producers like Aaron Sorkin of “The West Wing” planned to keep pushing hard. He was quoted as saying, “There’s absolutely no reason why we can’t use the language of adulthood in programs that are about adults”.

　　My guess is that a lot of adults don’t use the language Mr. Sorkin wants to use, and don’t enjoy having their children hear it. At this moment of crisis in our nation’s history, thought has become more thoughtful, prayerful, and spiritual. It may be the time to tell the entertainment industry that we want not a temporary pause in the flow of tastelessness, but a long term clean-up.

　　注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

　　57. Some filmmakers hesitate to release new films with violent content because________ .

　　A) they want to show themselves to be patriots

　　B) they are afraid such films may anger audiences

　　C) films with violence in them are no longer popu1ar

　　D) films with terrorist themes are reflections on violence.

　　58. The “self-scrutiny” in the second paragraph refers to filmmakers attempt to____________ .

　　A) produce appropriate films with no violent content for the audiences

　　B) prevent themselves from slipping into their old bad ways

　　C) understand to what extent their films have contributed to the national crisis

　　D) find out where the boundaries of taste and consumer tolerance lie

　　59. The author thinks that it is time for the general audience to__________ .

　　A) tell filmmakers where the boundaries of their taste lie

　　B) point out to Hollywood how bad their films are

　　C) accuse the filmmakers of desensitizing their children

　　D) ask filmmakers to make films that reflect traditional family life

　　60. Which of the following statements is TRUE about Aaron Sorkin?

　　A) He is strongly against using crude language in films.

　　B) He starts the struggles between network censors and producer.

　　C) He insists no restraint be set to the language used in films.

　　D) He believes that it is time to clean up the entertainment industry.

61. The author’s purpose in writing this passage is_________ .

　　A) to acknowledge the current practice of the entertainment industry

　　B) to show his admiration for the current practice of the entertainment industry

　　C) to accuse the entertainment industry of their current practice

　　D) to show tolerance of the current practice of the entertainment industry

　　参考答案

　　快速阅读

　　1. (Y )

　　2. (NG)

　　3. (N)

　　4. (N)

　　5. (hydrogen)

　　6. (the gravitational forces)

　　7. (black band)

　　8. (the same)

　　9. (dwarf planet)

　　10. (size / small size)

　　阅读理解

　　Section A

　　47. submitting a term paper taken off the Internet

　　48. I will never cheat. / I will not cheat.

　　49. By resorting to sophisticated search engines.

　　50. not permitted / accepted

　　51. It will use a new community standard (for academic integrity).

　　Section B

　　Passage One

　　52. D)　 　53. A)　　54. B)　　55. A)　　56. B)

　　Passage Two

　　57. B )　　 58. D)　　59. A)　　60. C)　　 61. C)