Each of the three passages below is followed by some questions. For each question there are four answers. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each of the questions. Put your choice in the ANSWER SHEET. (20 points)
Text 1
In May 1989, space shuttle “Atlantis” released in outer space the space probe “Megallan,” which is now on her 15-month and one-billion-kilometer flight to Venus. A new phase in space exploration has begun.
The planet Venus is only slightly smaller than Earth; it is the only other object in the solar system, in fact, that even comes close to earth’s size. Venus has a similar density, so it is probably made of approximately the same stuff, and it has an atmosphere, complete with clouds. It is also the closest planet to earth, and thus the most similar in distance from the sun. In short, Venus seems to justify its long-held nickname of “earth’s twin.”
The surface temperature of Venus reaches some 900F. Added to that is an atmospheric pressure about 90 times Earth’s: High overhead in the carbon dioxide (CO2) that passes for air is a layer of clouds, perhaps 10 to 20 miles thick, whose little drops consist mostly of sulfuric acid (H2SO4). Water is all but nonexistent.
Born with so many fundamental similarities to earth, how did Venus get to be so radically different: It is not just an academic matter. For all its extremes, Venus is a valuable laboratory for researchers studying the weather and climate of earth. It has no earth’s oceans, so the heat transport and other mechanisms are greatly simplified. In addition, the planet Venus takes 243 earth-days to turn once on its axis, so incoming heat from the sun is added and distributed at a more leisurely, observable pace.
16.Venus is similar to Earth in ________.
[A] size and density
[B] distance from the sun
[C] having atmosphere（D）
[D] all of the above
17.The greatest value in studying Venus should be to ________.
[A] allow us to visit there
[B] understand Earth better
[C] find a new source of energy（B）
[D] promote a new space program
18.The main idea of this passage is about ________.
[A] problems of space travel
[B] scientific methods in space exploration
[C] the importance of Venus to Earth（C）
[D] conditions on Venus
Text 2
Tourists were surprised to see a woman driving a huge orange tractor down one of Rome’s main avenues. Italy’s political leaders and some of its male union chiefs are said to have been even more puzzled to see that the tractor was followed by about 200,000 women in a parading procession that took more than three hours to snake through central Rome.
Shouting slogans, waving flags and dancing to drumbeats, the women had come to the capital from all over Italy to demonstrate for “a job for each of us, a different type of job, and a society without violence.” So far, action to improve women’s opportunities in employment has been the province of collective industrial bargaining. “But there is a growing awareness that this is not enough,” says a researcher on female labor at the government-funded Institute for the Development of Professional Training for Workers.
Women, who constitute 52 per cent of Italy’s population, today represent only 35 per cent of Italy’s total workforce and 33 per cent of the total number of Italians with jobs. However, their presence in the workplace is growing. The employment of women is expanding considerably in services, next to the public administration and commerce as their principal workplace. Official statistics also show that women have also made significant strides in self-employment. More and more women are going into business for themselves. Many young women are turning to business because of the growing overall in employment. It is also a fact that today many prejudices have disappeared, so that banks and other financial institutes make judgments on purely business considerations without caring if it is a man or a woman.
Such changes are occurring in the professions too. The number of women doctors, dentists, lawyers, engineers and university professors increased two to three fold. Some of the changes are immediately visible. For example, women have appeared on the scene for the first time as state police, railway workers and street cleaner.
However, the present situation is far from satisfactory though some progress has been made. A breakthrough in equal opportunities for women is now demanded.
19.The expression “snake through central Rome” probably means “to move ________
[A] quietly through central Rome.”
[B] violently through central Rome.”
[C] in a long winding line through central Rome.”（C）
[D] at a leisurely pace through central Rome.”
20.Which of the following statements is NOT true?
[A] There are more women than men in Italy.
[B] In Italy, women are chiefly employed in services.
[C] In Italy, women are still at a disadvantage in employment.（B）
[D] In Italy, about two-thirds of the jobs are held by men.
21.About 200,000 women in Rome demonstrated for ________.
[A] more job opportunities
[B] a greater variety of jobs
[C] “equal job, equal pay”（D）
[D] both A and B
22.The best title for this passage would be ________.
[A] The Role of Women is Society
[B] Women Demonstrate for Equality in Employment
[C] Women as Self-employed Professionals（B）
[D] Women and the Jobs Market
Text 3
The old idea that talented children “burn themselves out” in the early years, and, therefore, are subjected to failure and at worst, mental illness is unfounded. As a matter of fact, the outstanding thing that happens to bright kids is that they are very likely to grow into bright adults.
To find this out, l, 500 gifted persons were followed up to their thirty-fifth year with these results:
On adult intelligence tests, they scored as high as they had as children. They were, as a group, in good health, physically and mentally. 84 per cent of their group were married and seemed content with their lives.
About 70 per cent had graduated from college, though only 30 per cent had graduated with honors. A few had even dropped out, but nearly half of these had returned to graduate. Of the men, 80 per cent were in one of the professions or in business management or semiprofessional jobs. The women who had remained single had office, business, or professional occupations.
The group had published 90 books and 1,500 articles in scientific, scholarly, and literary magazines and had collected more than 100 patents.
In a material way they did not do badly either. Average income was considerably higher among the gifted people, especially the men, than for the country as a whole, despite their comparative youth.
In fact, far from being strange, most of the gifted were turning their early promise into practical reality.
23.The old idea that talented children “burn themselves out” in the early years is ________.
[A] true in all senses
[B] refuted by the author
[C] medically proven（B）
[D] a belief of the author
24.The survey of bright children was made to ________.
[A] find out what had happened to talented children when they became adults
[B] prove that talented children “burn themselves out” in the early years
[C] discover the percentage of those mentally ill among the gifted（A）
[D] prove that talented children never burn themselves out
25.Intelligence tests showed that ________.
[A] bright children were unlikely to be mentally healthy
[B] between childhood and adulthood there was a considerable loss of intelligence
[C] talented children were most likely to become gifted adults（C）
[D] when talented children grew into adults, they made low scores
