Ⅰ. Multiple choice. Choose the answer that best fits in the sentence. (10×1’=10’)
1. Flights have been ____________ by the fog.
2. They ______ their reports to the boss yesterday.
3. His lecture was readily ________ to all the students.
4. Her husband is an ________ gambler and stay outside all day long.
5. There has been a ______ lack of communication between the union and the management.
6. During the summer holiday season it is difficult to find a(n) _____ room in the hotels here.
7. Susan is a devoted daughter, always very ________ to the needs of her old parents.
8. The unfair criticism let Norman quite _____ with anger.
9. We are not sure why she didn’t go into the advanced class, but we ______ she failed the English Proficiency Test.
10. Such ______ of the facts cannot be allowed to go unchallenged.
Ⅱ. Figures of speech. Read the following sentences and tell the figure of speeches used in them. (10×2’=20’)
1. He said nothing during my lecture and left as soon as it was over, along with the minuscule audience that I had traveled five hours by car to address.
Figure of speech:
2. The sun has not yet come up.
Figure of speech: ____________
3. He seemed to be an autopilot.
Figure of speech: ____________
4. His skull gives an almost egg-shell impression of fragility, and is supported by a very thin neck.
Figure of speech: ____________
5. Winter brings blizzards, hot tornadic winds arise in the spring, and in summer the prairie is an anvil's edge.
Figure of speech: ____________
6. Descending eastward, the highland meadows are a stairway to the plain.
Figure of speech: ____________
7. The grass turned brittle and brown.
Figure of speech: ____________
8. My father would bring--- whose radiance threw back a brilliance like the sound of bells.
Figure of speech: ____________
9. A white lie is better than a black lie.
Figure of speech: ____________
10. I am somebody. I am a person. I am a man with dignity and honor.
.Figure of speech: ____________
Ⅲ. Paraphrase the following sentences. (6×5’=30’)
1. She was, to be sure, a girl who excited emotions, but I was not one to let my heart rule my head. I wanted Polly for a shrewdly calculated, entirely cerebral reason.
2. Clusters of trees and animals grazing far in the distance cause the vision to reach away and wonder to build upon the mind.
3. Not yet would they veer southward to the caldron of the land that lay below;they must wean their blood from the northern winter and hold the mountains a while longer in their view.
4. The women might indulge themselves; gossip was at once the mark and compensation of their servitude.
5. It felt like worms and toads and slimy things crawling out of my chest, but it also felt good, as if this awful side of me had surfaced, at last.
6. It always troubled me as a boy of eight that the horses had so indifferent a view of their late friend appearing as a warm overcoat on the back of the man who put the iron bit in their mouths.
IV. Reading comprehension (20×2’=40’)
A
(1) It’s 7 pm on a balmy Saturday night in June, and I have just ordered my first beer in Cervejaria, a restaurant in Zambujeira do Mar, one of the prettiest villages on Portugal’s south-west coast. The place is empty, but this doesn’t surprise me at all. I have spent two weeks in this area, driving along empty roads, playing with my son on empty beaches, and staying in B&Bs where we are the only guests.
(2) No doubt the restaurant, run by two brothers for the past 28 years, is buzzing in July and August, when Portuguese holidaymakers descend on the Alentejo coast. But for the other 10 months of the year, the trickle of diners who come to feast on fantastically fresh seafood reflects the general pace of life in the Alentejo: sleepy, bordering on comatose.
(3) One of the poorest, least-developed, least-populated regions in western Europe, the Alentejo has been dubbed both the Provence and the Tuscany of Portugal. Neither is accurate. Its scenery is not as pretty and, apart from in the capital Evora, its food isn’t as sophisticated. The charms of this land of wheat fields, cork oak forests, wildflower meadows and tiny white-washed villages, are more subtle than in France or Italy’s poster regions.
(4) To travel here is to step back in time 40 or 50 years. Life rolls along at a treacly pace; there’s an unnerving stillness to the landscape. But that stillness ends abruptly at the Atlantic Ocean, where there is drama in spades. Protected by the South West Alentejo and Costa Vicentina national park, the 100 km of coastline from Porto Covo in the Alentejo to Burgau in the Algarve is the most stunning in Europe. And yet few people seem to know about it. Walkers come to admire the views from the Fisherman’s Way, surfers to ride the best waves in Europe, but day after day we had spectacular beaches to ourselves.
(5) The lack of awareness is partly a matter of accessibility (these beaches are a good two hours’ drive from either Faro or Lisbon airports) and partly to do with a lack of beachside accommodation. There are some gorgeous, independent guesthouses in this area, but they are hidden in valleys or at the end of dirt tracks.
(6) Our base was a beautiful 600-acre estate of uncultivated land covered in rock-rose, eucalyptus and wild flowers 13km inland from Zambujeira. Our one-bedroom home, Azenha, was once home to the miller who tended the now-restored watermill next to it. A kilometre away from the main house, pool and restaurant, it is gloriously isolated.
(7) Stepping out of the house in the morning to greet our neighbours – wild horses on one side, donkeys on the other – with nothing but birdsong filling the air, I felt a sense of adventure you normally only get with wild camping.
(8) “When people first arrive, they feel a little anxious wondering what they are going to do the whole time,” Sarah Gredley, the English owner of estate, told me. “But it doesn’t usually take them long to realise that the whole point of being here is to slow down, to enjoy nature.”
(9) We followed her advice, walking down to the stream in search of terrapins and otters, or through clusters of cork oak trees. On some days, we tramped uphill to the windmill, now a romantic house for two, for panoramic views across the estate and beyond.
(10) When we ventured out, we were always drawn back to the coast – the gentle sands and shallow bay of Farol beach. At the end of the day, we would head, sandy-footed, to the nearest restaurant, knowing that at every one there would be a cabinet full of fresh seafood to choose from – bass, salmon, lobster, prawns, crabs, goose barnacles, clams … We never ate the same thing twice.
(11) A kilometre or so from I Cervejaria, on Zambujeira’s idyllic natural harbour is O Sacas, originally built to feed the fishermen but now popular with everyone. After scarfing platefuls of seafood on the terrace, we wandered down to the harbour where two fishermen, in wetsuits, were setting out by boat across the clear turquoise water to collect goose barnacles. Other than them, the place was deserted – just another empty beauty spot where I wondered for the hundredth time that week how this pristine stretch of coast has remained so undiscovered.
1. The first part of Para. 4 refers to the fact that ______.
A. life there is quiet and slow
B. the place is little known
C. the place is least populated
D. there are stunning views
2. “The lack of awareness” in Para. 5 refers to ______.
A. different holidaying preferences
B. difficulty of finding accommodation
C. little knowledge of the beauty of the beach
D. long distance from the airports
3. The author uses “gloriously” in Para. 6 to ______.
A. describe the scenery outside the house
B. show appreciation of the surroundings
C. contrast greenery with isolation
D. praise the region’s unique feature
4. The sentence “We never ate the same thing twice” in Para. 10 reflects the ______ of the seafood there.
A. freshness
B. delicacy
C. taste
D. variety
5. Which of the following themes is repeated in both Paras. 1 and 11?
A. Publicity.
B. Landscape.
C. Seafood
D. Accommodation.
B
(1) I can still remember the faces when I suggested a method of dealing with what most teachers of English considered one of their pet horrors, extended reading. The room was full of tired teachers, and many were quite cynical about the offer to work together to create a new and dynamic approach to the place of stories in the classroom.
(2) They had seen promises come and go and mere words weren't going to convince them, which was a shame as it was mere words that we were principally dealing with. Most teachers were unimpressed by the extended reading challenge from the Ministry, and their lack of enthusiasm for the rather dry list of suggested tales was passed on to their students and everyone was pleased when that part of the syllabus was over. It was simply a box ticking exercise. We needed to do something more. We needed a very different approach.
(3) That was ten years ago. Now we have a different approach, and it works. Here’s how it happened (or, like most good stories, here are the main parts. You have to fill in some of yourself employing that underused classroom device, the imagination.) We started with three main precepts:
(4) First, it is important to realize that all of us are storytellers, tellers of tales. We all have our own narratives – the real stories such as what happened to us this morning or last night, and the ones we have been told by others and we haven’t experienced personally. We could say that our entire lives are constructed as narratives. As a result we all understand and instinctively feel narrative structure. Binary opposites – for example, the tension created between good and bad together with the resolution of that tension through the intervention of time, resourcefulness and virtue – is a concept understood by even the youngest children. Professor Kieran Egan, in his seminal book ‘Teaching as Storytelling’ warns us not to ignore this innate skill, for it is a remarkable tool for learning.
(5) We need to understand that writing and reading are two sides of the same coin: an author has not completed the task if the book is not read: the creative circle is not complete without the reader, who will supply their own creative input to the process. Samuel Johnson said: A writer only begins a book. A reader finishes it. In teaching terms, we often forget that reading itself can be a creative process, just as writing is, and we too often relegate it to a means of data collection. We frequently forget to make that distinction when presenting narratives or poetry, and often ask comprehension questions which relate to factual information – who said what and when, rather than speculating on ‘why’, for example, or examining the context of the action.
(6) The third part of the reasoning that we adopted relates to the need to engage the students as readers in their own right, not as simply as language learners; learning the language is part of the process, not the reason for reading. What they read must become theirs and have its own special and secret life in their heads, a place where teachers can only go if invited.
(7) We quickly found that one of the most important ways of making all the foregoing happen was to engage the creative talents of the class before they read a word of the text. The pre-reading activities become the most important part of the teaching process; the actual reading part can almost be seen as the cream on the cake, and the principle aim of pre-reading activities is to get students to want to read the text. We developed a series of activities which uses clues or fragments from the text yet to be read, and which rely on the student’s innate knowledge of narrative, so that they can to build their own stories before they read the key text. They have enough information to generate ideas but not so much that it becomes simply an exercise in guided writing; releasing a free imagination is the objective.
(8) Moving from pre-reading to reading, we may introduce textual intervention activities. ‘Textual Intervention’ is a term used by Rob Pope to describe the process of questioning a text not simply as a guide to comprehension but as a way of exploring the context of the story at any one time, and examining points at which the narrative presents choices, points of divergence, or narrative crossroads. We don’t do this for all texts, however, as the shorter ones do not seem to gain much from this process and it simply breaks up the reading pleasure.
(9) Follow-up activities are needed, at the least, to round off the activity, to bring some sense of closure but they also offer an opportunity to link the reading experience more directly to the requirements of the syllabus. Indeed, the story may have been chosen in the first place because the context supports one of the themes that teachers are required to examine as part of the syllabus – for example, ‘families’, ‘science and technology’, ‘communications’, ‘the environment’ and all the other familiar themes. There are very few stories that can’t be explored without some part of the syllabus being supported. For many teachers this is an essential requirement if they are to engage in such extensive reading at all.
(10) The whole process – pre-, while and post reading – could be just an hour’s activity, or it could last for more than one lesson. When we are designing the materials for exploring stories clearly it is isn’t possible for us to know how much time any teacher will have available, which is why we construct the activities into a series of independent units which we call kits. They are called kits because we expect teachers to build their own lessons out of the materials we provide, which implies that large amounts may be discarded. What we do ask, though, is that the pre-reading activities be included, if nothing else. That is essential for the process to engage the student as a creative reader..
(11) One of the purposes of encouraging a creative reading approach in the language classroom is to do with the dynamics we perceive in the classroom. Strategic theorists tell us of the social trinity, whereby three elements are required to achieve a dynamic in any social situation. In the language classroom these might be seen as consisting of the student, the teacher and the language. Certainly from the perspective of the student – and usually from the perspective of the teacher – the relationship is an unequal one, with the language being perceived as placed closer to the teacher than the student. This will result in less dynamic between language and student than between language and teacher. However, if we replace ‘language’ with narrative and especially if that is approached as a creative process that draws the student in so that they feel they ‘own’ the relationship with the text, then this will shift the dynamic in the classroom so that the student, who has now become a reader, is much closer to the language – or narrative – than previously. This creates a much more effective dynamic of learning. However, some teachers feel threatened by this apparent loss of overall control and mastery. Indeed, the whole business of open ended creativity and a lack of boxes to tick for the correct answer is quite unsettling territory for some to find themselves in.
6. It can be inferred from Paras. 1 and 2 that teachers used to ______.
A. oppose strongly the teaching of extended reading
B. be confused over how to teach extended reading
C. be against adopting new methods of teaching
D. teach extended reading in a perfunctory way
7. The sentence “we all understand and instinctively feel narrative structure” in Para. 4 indicates that ______.
A. we are good at telling stories
B. we all like telling stories
C. we are born story-tellers
D. we all like listening to stories
8. Samuel Johnson regards the relationship between a writer and a reader as ______ (Para. 5).
A. independent
B. collaborative
C. contradictory
D. reciprocal
9. In Para. 7, the author sees “pre-reading” as the most important part of reading because _____.
A. it encourages students’ imagination
B. it lays a good foundation for reading
C. it can attract students’ attention
D. it provides clues to the text to be rea
10. “Textual Intervention” suggested by Rob Pope (in Para. 8) is expected to fulfill all the following functions EXCEPT ______.
A. exploring the context
B. interpreting ambiguities
C. stretching the imagination
D. examining the structure
C
In some countries where racial prejudice is acute, violence has so come to be taken for granted as a means of solving differences, that it is not even questioned. There are countries where the white man imposes his rule by brute force; there are countries where the black man protests by setting fire to cities and by looting and pillaging. Important people on both sides, who would in other respects appear to be reasonable men, get up and calmly argue in favor of violence – as if it were a legitimate solution, like any other. What is really frightening, what really fills you with despair, is the realization that when it comes to the crunch, we have made no actual progress at all. We may wear collars and ties instead of war-paint, but our instincts remain basically unchanged. The whole of the recorded history of the human race, that tedious documentation of violence, has taught us absolutely nothing. We have still not learnt that violence never solves a problem but makes it more acute. The sheer horror, the bloodshed, the suffering mean nothing. No solution ever comes to light the morning after when we dismally contemplate the smoking ruins and wonder what hit us.
The truly reasonable men who know where the solutions lie are finding it harder and herder to get a hearing. They are despised, mistrusted and even persecuted by their own kind because they advocate such apparently outrageous things as law enforcement. If half the energy that goes into violent acts were put to good use, if our efforts were directed at cleaning up the slums and ghettos, at improving living-standards and providing education and employment for all, we would have gone a long way to arriving at a solution. Our strength is sapped by having to mop up the mess that violence leaves in its wake. In a well-directed effort, it would not be impossible to fulfill the ideals of a stable social programme. The benefits that can be derived from constructive solutions are everywhere apparent in the world around us. Genuine and lasting solutions are always possible, providing we work within the framework of the law.
Before we can even begin to contemplate peaceful co-existence between the races, we must appreciate each other’s problems. And to do this, we must learn about them: it is a simple exercise in communication, in exchanging information. “Talk, talk, talk,” the advocates of violence say, “all you ever do is talk, and we are none the wiser.” It’s rather like the story of the famous barrister who painstakingly explained his case to the judge. After listening to a lengthy argument the judge complained that after all this talk, he was none the wiser. “Possible, my lord,” the barrister replied, “none the wiser, but surely far better informed.” Knowledge is the necessary prerequisite to wisdom: the knowledge that violence creates the evils it pretends to solve.
11. What is the best title for this passage?
A. Advocating Violence.
B. Violence Can Do Nothing to Diminish Race Prejudice.
C. Important People on Both Sides See Violence As a Legitimate Solution.
D. The Instincts of Human Race Are Thirsty for Violence.
12. Recorded history has taught us ___________
A. violence never solves anything.
B. nothing.
C. the bloodshed means nothing.
D. everything.
13. It can be inferred that truly reasonable men ___________
A. can’t get a hearing.
B. are looked down upon.
C. are persecuted.
D. Have difficulty in advocating law enforcement.
14. “He was none the wiser” means ___________
A. he was not at all wise in listening.
B. He was not at all wiser than nothing before.
C. He gains nothing after listening.
D. He makes no sense of the argument.
15. According the author the best way to solve race prejudice is ___________
A. law enforcement.
B. knowledge.
C. nonviolence.
D. Mopping up the violent mess.
D
President Clinton’s decision on Apr.8 to send Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji packing without an agreement on China’s entry into the World Trade Organization seemed to be a massive miscalculation. The President took a drubbing from much of the press, which had breathlessly reported that a deal was in the bag. The Cabinet and Whit House still appeared divided, and business leaders were characterized as furious over the lost opportunity. Zhu charged that Clinton lacked “the courage” to reach an accord. And when Clinton later telephoned the angry Zhu to pledge a renewed effort at negotiations, the gesture was widely portrayed as a flip-flop.
In fact, Clinton made the right decision in holding out for a better WTO deal. A lot more horse trading is needed before a final agreement can be reached. And without the Administration’s goal of a “bullet-proof agreement” that business lobbyists can enthusiastically sell to a Republican Congress, the whole process will end up in partisan acrimony that could harm relations with China for years.
THE HARD PART. Many business lobbyists, while disappointed that the deal was not closed, agree that better terms can still be had. And Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin, National Economic Council Director Gene B. Sperling, Commerce Secretary William M. Daley, and top trade negotiator Charlene Barshefsky all advised Clinton that while the Chinese had made a remarkable number of concessions, “we’re not there yet,” according to senior officials.
Negotiating with Zhu over the remaining issues may be the easy part. Although Clinton can signal U.S. approval for China’s entry into the WTO himself, he needs Congress to grant Beijing permanent most-favored-nation status as part of a broad trade accord. And the temptation for meddling on Capital Hill may prove over-whelming. Zhu had barely landed before Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss) declared himself skeptical that China deserved entry into the WTO. And Senators Jesse A. Helms (R-N.C.) and Emest F. Hollings (D-S. C.) promised to introduce a bill requiring congressional approval of any deal.
The hidden message from these three textile-state Southerners: Get more protection for the U. S. clothing industry. Hoping to smooth the way, the Administration tried, but failed, to budge Zhu on textiles. Also left in the lurch: Wall Street, Hollywood, and Detroit. Zhu refused to open up much of the lucrative Chinese securities market and insisted on “cultural” restrictions on American movies and music. He also blocked efforts to allow U. S. auto makers to provide fleet financing.
BIG JOB. Already, business lobbyists are blanketing Capitol Hill to presale any eventual agreement, but what they’ve heard so far isn’t encouraging. Republicans, including Lott, say that “the time just isn’t right” for the deal. Translation: We’re determined to make it look as if Clinton has capitulated to the Chinese and is ignoring human, religious, and labor rights violations; the theft of nuclear-weapons technology; and the sale of missile parts to America’s enemies. Beijing’s fierce critics within the Democratic Party, such as Senator Paul D. Wellstone of Minnesota and House Minority leader Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, won’t help, either.
Just how tough the lobbying job on Capitol Hill will be become clear on Apr. 20, when Rubin lectured 19chief executives on the need to discipline their Republican allies. With business and the White House still trading charges over who is responsible for the defeat of fast-track trade negotiating legislation in 1997, working together won’t be easy. And Republicans—with a wink—say that they’ll eventually embrace China’s entry into the WTO as a favor to Corporate America. Though not long before they torture Clinton. But Zhu is out on a limb, and if Congress overdoes the criticism, he may be forced by domestic critics to renege. Business must make this much dear to both its GOP allies and the Whit House: This historic deal is too important to risk losing to any more partisan squabbling
16. The main idea of this passage is __________.
A. The Contradiction between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.
B. On China’s entry into WTO.
C. Clinton was right.
D. Business Lobbyists Control Capitol Hill.
17. What does the sentence “Also left in the lurch: Wall Street, Hollywood, Detroit” convey?
A. Premier Zhu rejected their requirements.
B. The three places overdid criticism.
C. They wanted more protection.
D. They are in trouble.
18. What was the attitude of the Republican Party toward China’s entry into the WTO?
A. Contradictory.
B. Appreciative.
C. Disapproving.
D. Detestful.
19. Who plays the leading part in the deal in America?
A. White House .
B. Republicans.
C. The Democratic Party.
D. Businessmen.
20. It can be inferred from the passage that __________.
A. America will make concessions.
B. America will hold out for a better WTO
C. Clinton has the right to signal U. S. approval for China’s entry.
D. Democratic party approve China’s entry into the WTO.
