Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)
Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. 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 the Answer Sheet with a single ling through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
A rectal study, published in last week’s Journal of the American Medical Association, offers a picture of how risky it is to get a lift from a teenage driver, Indeed, a 16-year-old driver with three or more passengers is three times as likely to have a fatal accident as a teenager driving alone, By contrast, the risk of death for drivers between 30 and 59 decreases with each additional passenger.
The autboes also found that the death rates for teenage drivers increased dramatically after 10 p.m., and especially after midnight, With passengers in the car, the driver was even more likely to die in a late-night accident.
Robert Foss, a scientist at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, says the higher death rates for teenage drivers have less to do with “really stupid behavior” than with just a lack of driving experience. “The basic issue.” Be says, “is that adults who are responsible for issuing licenses fail to recognize how complex and skilled a task driving is.”
Both he and the author of the study believe that the way to mitigate (使……缓解)the problem is to have states institute so-called graduated licensing systems, in which getting a license is a multistage process. A graduated license requires that a leenager first prove himself capable of driving in the presence of an adult, followed by a period of driving with night of passcager restrictions, before graduating to full driving privileges.
Graduated licensing systems have reduced leenage driver crashes, according to recent studies, About half of the states now have some sort of graduated Hcensing system in place, but only 10 of those states have restrictions on passengers, California is the strictest, with a novice(新手)driver prohibited from carrying any passenger under 20(without the presence of an adult over 25)for the first six months.
21. Which of the following situations is most dangerous according to the passage?
A) Adults giving a lift to teenagers on the highway after 10 p.m.
B) A teenager driving after midnight with passengers in the car.
C) Adults driving with three or more teenage passengers late at night.
D) A teenager getting a lift from a stranger on the highway at midnight.
22. According to Robert Foss. The high death rate of teenage drivers is mainly due to ________
A) their frequent driving at night C) their lack of driving experience
B) their improper way of driving D) their driving with passengers
23. According to Paragraph 3. which of the following statements is TRUE?
A) Teenagers should spend more time learning to drive.
B) Driving is a skill too complicated for teenagers to learn.
C) Restrictions should be imposed on teenagers applying to take driving lessons.
D) The licensing authonties are partly responsible for teenagers' driving accidents.
24. A suggested measure to be taken to reduce teenagers' driving accidents is that ________ .
A) driving in the presence of an adult should be made a rule
B) they should be prohibited from taking on passengers
C) they should not be allowed to drive after 10 p.m.
D) the licensing system should be improved
25. The present situation in about half of the states is that the graduated licensing system ________.
A) is under discussion C) has been put into effect
B) is about to be set up D) has been perfected
Passage Two
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
If you know exactly what you want, the best route to a job is to get specialized training. A recent survey shows that companies the graduates in such fields as business and health care who can go to work immediately with very little on-the-job training.
That's especially true of booing fields that are challenging for workers. At Cornell's School of Hotel Administration, for example, bachelor's degree graduates get an average of four or five job offers with salaries ranging from the high teens to the low 20s and plenty of chances for rapid advancement. Large companies, especially, like a background of formal education coupled with work experience.
But in the long run, too much specialization doesn't pay off. Business, which has been flooded with MBAs, no longer considers the degree an automatic stamp of approval. The MBA may open doors and command a higher salary injtially, but the impact of a degree washes out after five years.
As further evidence of the erosion (销蚀) of corporate(公司的) faith in specialized degrees, Michigan State’s Scheetz cites a pattern in corporate hiring practices, Although companies tend to take on specialists as new hires, they often seek out gencralists for middle and upper-level management. “They want someone who isn’t constrained(限制)by nuts and bolts to look at the big picture,”says Scheetz.
This sounds suspiciously like a formal statement that you approve of the liberal-arts graduate. Time and again labor-market analysts mention a need for talents that liberal-arts majors are assumed to have: writing and communication skills, organizational skills, open-mindedness and adapeability, and the ability to analyze and solve problems, David Birch claims he does not hire anybody with an MBA or an engineering degree, “I hire only liberal-arts people because they have a less-than-canned way of doing things,” says Birch. Liberal-arts means an academically thorough and strict program that includes literature, history, mathematics, economics, science, human behavior—plus a computer course or two. With that under your belt, you can feel free to specialize, “A liberal-arts degree coupled with an MBA or some other technical training is a very good combination in the marketplace,” says Scheetz.
26. What kinds of people are in high demand on the job market?
A) Students with a bachelor's degree in humanities.
B) People with an MBA degree front top universities.
C) People with formal schooling plus work experience.
D) People with special training in engineering
27. By saying “…but the impact of a degree washes out after five years” (Line 3, Para, 3), the author means ________.
A) most MBA programs fail to provide students with a solid foundation
B) an MBA degree does not help promotion to managerial positions
C) MBA programs will not be as popular in five years' time as they are now
D) in five people will forget about the degree the MBA graduates have got
28. According to Scheetz's statement (Lines 4-5. Para. 4), companies prefer ________.
A) people who have a strategic mind
B) people who are talented in fine arts
C) people who are ambitious and aggressive
D) people who have received training in mechanics
29. David Birch claims that he only hires liberal-arts people because ________.
A) they are more capable of handling changing situations
B) they can stick to established ways of solving problems
C) they are thoroughly trained in a variety of specialized fields
D) they have attended special programs in management
30. Which of the following statements does the author support?
A) Specialists are more expensive to hire than generalists.
B) Formal schooling is less important than job training.
C) On-the-job training is, in the long run, less costly.
D) Generalists will outdo specialists in management.
