第十三套题 Part A Directions:
Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points) Text 1 07.8
With medicine, the boon of biotechnology has been obvious. People readily accept it when they see how better drugs and clearer diagnoses improve their lives. Why is it different when biotech is applied to agriculture? The answer is that the clearest gains from the current crop of genetically modified (GM) plants go not to consumers but to producers. Indeed, that was what their developers intended: an appeal to farmers offered the purveyors of GM technology the best hope of a speedy return. For consumers, especially in the rich world, the benefits of super-yielding soybeans are less clear: the world, by and large, already has too much food in its stores; developing countries principally lack money, not food as such. Yet companies still pitch their products as a cure for malnutrition even though little that they are doing can justify such a noble claim. In hyping the technology as the only answer to everything from pest control to world hunger, the industry has fed the popular view that its products are unsafe, unnecessary and bad for the environment.
Of the two main charges against GM crops, by far the weaker is that they are unsafe to eat. Critics assert that genetic engineering introduces into food genes that are not present naturally, can not be introduced through conventional breeding and may have unknown health effects that should be investigated before the food is sold to the public. GM crops such as the maize and soybeans that now blanket America certainly differ from their garden variety neighbours. But there is a broad scientific consensus that the present generation of GM foods is safe. Even so, this does little to reassure consumers. Food frights such as “mad cow”disease and revelations of cancer-causing dioxin (二噁英)in Belgian food have sorely undermined their confidence in scientific pronouncements and regulatory authorities alike. GM food have little future in Europe until this faith can be restored.
The second big worry about GM food is that it may harm the environment. The producers argue that the engineered traits—such as resistance to certain brands of herbicide or types of insects and virus—actually do ecological good by reducing chemical use and improving yields so that less land needs to go under the plough. Opponents retort that any such benefits are far outweighed by the damage such crops might do . They worry that pesticide-resistant genes may spread from plants that should be saved to weeds that have to be killed. They fear a loss of biodiversity. They fret that the in-built resistance to bugs that some GM crops will have may poison insects such as Monarch butterfly, and allow other, nastier bugs to develop a natural resistance and thrive.
Many of the fears are based on results from limited experiments, often in the laboratory. The only way to discover whether they will arise in real life, or whether they will be any more damaging than similar risks posed by conventional crops and farming practice, is to do more research in the field. Banning the experimental growth of GM plants as some protesters want simply deprives scientists of their most fruitful laboratory.［527 words］
1.GM crops are crops that.
［A］ consumers readily accept［B］ does nothing to benefit consumers ［C］ developing countries urgently need［D］ are basically safe to eat
2.Companies introduce GM food to the market as a solution to all these problems EXCEPT. ［A］ world hunger［B］ environment［C］ malnutrition［D］ pest control 3.The author suggests that the public does not accept GM food because. ［A］ biotech already caused problems like mad cow disease ［B］ GM foods are cheap to produce but dear to buy
［C］ the public no longer believes in scientific pronouncements ［D］ consumer confidence collapsed in recent food scares 4.Critics of GM food argue that the pesticide-resistant genes. ［A］ may poison good insects and let bad insects thrive ［B］ may kill the plants instead of the harmful weeds
［C］ have benefits far outweighing the damage they might do ［D］ do ecological good by reducing the use of chemicals
5.By presenting the case of GM food, the author of the passage probably aims to. ［A］ expose its risks［B］ propose an objective attitude to it
［C］ answer various charges against it［D］ exhibit its advantages Text 2 07.8
Parents try it often: more pocket money for good behavior, less for bad. Now the British government wants to introduce a similar scheme for the nation’s teenagers. From 2008, it proposes that everyone aged between 13 and 19 should have an Opportunity Card, loaded with ￡12 ($21)worth of credits. Those from poor backgrounds and engaged in useful activity such as voluntary work, or attending school regularly will get more credits, perhaps another ￡12 per month. Those who misbehave through truancy, vandalism and the like will get fewer, or none. The credits will be redeemable for sessions at sports centers, dancing lessons and other worthy pastimes.
This is prime example of the government’s favourite approach to public policy: interventionist, but delivered through a market mechanism. It sounds tempting, benefiting both the participants and, by keeping them out of trouble, everyone else too. The government cites academic research that shows a correlation between inactivity and misbehaviour. Healthy hobbies such as sport, art and music, by contrast, give young people a sense of purpose.
But there are flaws. If the incentive for good deeds mutates into a mere “payment”, it risks blunting goodwill. To link so tightly doing good to immediate material reward can end up corroding community spirit. As many parents find out, a child paid for being tidy soon learns to expect to be paid for other things, too. And bribing young people into education seems odd. Attending classes should be desirable for its own sake. If British education is so unattractive then perhaps the supply side, rather than the demand, needs attention.
Even if you think good can come of incentives, a system of credits is not the way to reward people. The credits will be easy to create and hard to control. The scheme is supposed to be decentralized—giving lots of local authorities and other government agencies the right to issue what will seem like costless cash. That can lead to inflation and ballooning liabilities.
Worse, the scheme offers limitless scope for government meddling in private lives: will card-holders be allowed to spend their credits on tooth-rotting fizzy drinks, or sweets, or biscuits? Or just certain categories of government-approved food? On all sorts of computer-games and
DVDs, or just wholesome ones? It is easy to imagine the scheme being extended to all the population: the health service could give patients extra credits for keeping fit, or stopping smoking; parents could issue them in exchange for tip-offs. The mind boggles.
The planned credits on the new card are not freely spendable. They are under the control of an arbitrary outside power. They resemble, in fact, the pernicious system of “truck” abolished in Britain in the 19th century, in which factory owners paid their workers in tokens, redeemable only for an overpriced selection of goods on sale at a company shop. The labour movement rightly despised that. It is odd that a Labour government should be introducing a similar scheme for young people.［500 words］
6. We can learn from the text that Opportunity Card .
［A］ encourages teenagers to deposit their pocket money ［B］ is accessible to only poor young people
［C］ can not be obtained by teenagers who behave badly ［D］ enables the young to pay for positive activities 7. The government proposes Opportunity Card in order to . ［A］ give young people greater spending power
［B］ increase youngsters’ likelihood of engaging in constructive activities ［C］ intervene in the economical life of young people
［D］ save parents the trouble of monitoring teenagers’ activities 8. According to the author, Opportunity Card project is likely to . ［A］ reduce the motivation of young people to pursue an education ［B］ increase young people’s involvement in criminal activity ［C］ disrupt the order of the market economy
［D］ result in teenagers’ disobedience to authority
9. The author mentions the abolition of the “truck” system to . ［A］ warn the government to learn from the mistakes of others ［B］ criticize the government’s hypocrisy
［C］ show a money substitute is always inferior to the real thing ［D］ predict the failure of Opportunity Card project
10. The author’s attitude towards the scheme of Opportunity Card seems to be that of. ［A］ opposition［B］ suspicion［C］ approval［D］ indifference Text 3 07.8
Today, the country has gone a long way toward an appearance of classlessness. Americans of all sorts are awash in luxuries that would have dazzled their grandparents. Social diversity has erased many of the old markers. It has become harder to read people’s status in the clothes they wear, the cars they drive, the votes they cast, the god they worship, the color of their skin. The contours of class have blurred; some say they have disappeared.
But class is still a powerful force in American life. Over the past three decades, it has come to play a greater, not lesser, role in important ways. At a time when education matters more than ever, success in school remains linked tightly to class. At a time when the country is increasingly integrated racially, the rich are isolating themselves more and more. At a time of extraordinary advances in medicine, class differences in health and lifespan are wide and appear to be widening. And new research on mobility, the movement of families up and down the economic ladder, shows
there is far less of it than economists once thought and less than most people believe. In fact, mobility, which once supported the working lives of Americans as it rose in the decades after World War II, has lately flattened out or possibly even declined, many researchers say.
Mobility is the promise that lies at the heart of the American dream. It is supposed to take the sting out of the widening gulf between the have-mores and the have-nots. There are poor and rich in the United States, of course, the argument goes; but as long as one can become the other, as long as there is something close to equality of opportunity, the differences between them do not add up to class barriers.
Even as mobility seems to have stagnated, the ranks of the elite are opening. Today, anyone may have a shot at becoming a United States Supreme Court justice or a C.E.O., and there are more and more self-made billionaires. Only 37 members of last year’s Forbes 400, a list of the richest Americans, inherited their wealth, down from almost 200 in the mid-1980’s.
A paradox lies at the heart of this new American meritocracy. Merit has replaced the old system of inherited privilege, in which parents to the manner born handed down the manor to their children. But merit, it turns out, is at least partly class-based. Parents with money, education and connections cultivate in their children the habits that the meritocracy rewards. When their children then succeed, their success is seen as earned. In place of the old system have arisen new ways of transmitting advantage that are beginning to assert themselves.［462 words］
11. American society is characterized by the coexistence of .
［A］ increased input in education and unsatisfactory performance of schools ［B］ racial integration and a narrower gap between the rich and the poor ［C］ medical development and equality in health care
［D］ the rise in living standards and the relative stability in economic status 12. It can be inferred that the social mobility in America .
［A］ has predictably diminished［B］ is only an ambition of workers
［C］ is deeply rooted in American Dream［D］ has removed class barriers 13. The new American meritocracy is class-based because.
［A］ entry into the ranks of the elite has opened solely to the upper class ［B］ the rich and influential can help their children win the social contest ［C］ it has become harder to move up from one economic class to another ［D］ the social class into which one is born determines one’s social status 14. Which of the following is true according to the text? ［A］ U.S. has a less rigid class structure than before. ［B］ The American Dream has lost its original vitality. ［C］ It is easier for the lower class to become wealthy. ［D］ Heritage still plays a key role upon one’s success. 15. The best title for the text may be .
［A］ American Ladder Is Tough to Climb［B］ the Myth of a Classless America ［C］ Is the American Dream Still Possible［D］ How to Cross Class Lines Text 4 07.8
As part of an ambitious attempt to revive CBSNews.com with a broad array of free video news produced just for its Web site, CBS said yesterday that it would also introduce a Web log to comment on CBS newscasts, whether broadcast or online. To be written by Vaughn Ververs, who
had been the editor of The Hotline, a Web site covering politics, the Web log, to be called Public Eye, will assemble questions from viewers and criticism from various sources, and immediately bring in reactions from the CBS newsroom.
The changes more broadly reflect an effort to expand the reach of CBS News, which has been outmatched by its rivals both on television and online. CBS, which is being split off from Viacom, is among the many major media companies expanding their Internet activities, mainly to chase advertising dollars that are moving online. Last year, it bought full control of SportsLine, a sports site in which it had a partial interest. And in March it hired Larry S. Kramer, the creator and former chief executive of MarketWatch.com, to run its Internet unit.
CBS has decided to treat its online news site much the way other networks treat their cable networks. Its correspondents and producers will create video news reports throughout the day that will be distributed only on the Web site. In addition, Web users will be able to see most of the breaking-news reports used on the network’s daily broadcasts, though they will not be able to watch entire programs. CBS’s contracts with its affiliated TV stations prohibit relaying most of its broadcast programs over the Web. To get around that, Bob Schieffer, the anchor of “The CBS Evening News,” will be the host of a somewhat shorter edition for the Web. But the main point of the new service will be to let viewers assemble their own Internet newscasts selecting from dozens of reports at any given time.
In instituting a running online critique of its news operations, CBS is breaking ground. Many news organizations have hired ombudsmen to represent readers and offer an independent commentary on their reports. Still, Gina Lubrano, executive secretary of the Organization of News Ombudsmen, said that none of the major television networks in the United States had ombudsmen who dealt with the public, although some foreign networks and local stations do.
Andrew Heyward, the president of CBS News，said that Mr. Ververs’ charge was not to express his own opinion about CBS News. “I’m calling him the Ombudsman,” Mr. Heyward said. “His job is not to draw his own conclusions about us, but to mediate a dialogue between viewers and CBS News.”Mr. Heyward said the purpose of the new blog was not to criticize CBS but to make the news gathering process more open. Mr. Ververs will have the right to interview CBS correspondents and executives, and even bring cameras into the network’s daily news meetings.［491 words］
16.CBS will introduce a Web log mainly in order to. ［A］ provide free video news on the web site
［B］ assemble and deliver political news to online users ［C］ listen to the viewers and give them responses ［D］ track viewer needs and preferences
17.Attempt to expand the reach of CBS News is revealed in its effort to.
［A］ institute a running online critique ［B］ chase benefits of web advertising ［C］ invest in a new sports site ［D］ start joint venture with MarketWatch.com 18.To present its information, the new CBS news site will.
［A］ distribute its video news report both on television and online ［B］ report breaking-news on the network’s daily broadcasts ［C］ relay most of its broadcast programs with its affiliated stations ［D］ arrange advertisements before or after each video clips