Passage 1
For centuries, the gravel and sand of Georges Bank and the great canyons, muddy basins, and shallow ledges of the Gulf of Maine have supported one of the world’s most productive fishing regions. But big boulders have historically protected a 1050-square-kilometer region at the bank’s northeastern tip from dredging boats in search of scallops and trawlers hunting down groundfish. However, those boulders are becoming less of a deterrent against improved and sturdier gear. So when geologist Page Valentine of the U.S. Geological Survey in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, stood before his colleagues last month and defended his proposal to safeguard this rare, undisturbed gravel bed, he knew that he was also standing at the crossroads of science and politics. Valentine’s presentation was part of a 2-day workshop held at the New England Aquarium here to build support for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), a controversial concept aimed at preserving biodiversity in coastal waters. The meeting, organized by Elliott Norse, founder of the Marine Conservation Biology Institute in Redmond, Washington, featured talks by 21 experts across a range of marine habitats and species and represented the marine community’s biggest push for MPAs.
The discussion generated a map that nominated 29% of the ocean floor off the coast of New England and Canada’s Maritime Province for protection, as well as 25% of pelagic (open-ocean) waters. The next step will come in the fall, when the scientists discuss the plan with government officials, commercial stakeholders, and environmental activists—meetings that are likely to be contentious. “The conservation groups will want to see if various species are covered. And various fishermen will be convinced that their livelihood is threatened,” says Mike Pentony, an analyst for the New England Fishery Management Council, who was an observer at last month’s workshop. The areas could be established by the National Marine Fisheries Service or under existing U.S. and Canadian laws to protect endangered species and habitats.
36. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
A. Fishery Industry in New England.
B. Plan to Protect Coastal waters of New England. C. Restoration of Marine Life in the Gulf of Maine.
D. Problems Critical to Ecological Balance in Georges Bank.
37. The abundance of fish in the area has been a result of ________.
A. the perpetual fishery closure B. the stringent ban on overfishing C. the effective fishery management D. its unique geographic features
38. Boulders used to be a deterrent to ________.
A. scallop B. groundfish C. fishing boats D. improved gear
39. At the two-day workshop, the scientists reached an agreement on ______.
A. the marine areas to be preserved
6
B. how to rescue the endangered species
C. the guarantee of the fishermen’s livelihood D. what to discuss with the government officials
40. Which of the following CANNOT be concluded from the last paragraph?
A. The fishermen will be worried about their livelihood. B. A decision is soon to be made on the protected areas. C. Commercial stakeholders may be at odds with scientists.
D. Conflicting interests will arise between fishermen and scientists.
Passage 2
Some people are accustomed to thinking that facts must either be believed or they must be disbelieved—as if beliefs were like a light switch with only two positions, on or off. My use of the bathtub hoax is intended to illustrate that belief does not have to operate as a simple yes or no choice, all or nothing. Belief can be more conditional; it can be something that we decide to have “up to a point.” And so, the question we might ask ourselves while reading does not have to be “Should I believe it or not?” but instead can be “How much should I believe it?” This later question implies that the belief we have in any given fact, or in any given idea, is not determined by whether it sounds right or whether the source is an authority. It means that our beliefs are determined by the reasons that justify them. Belief is not a mechanical action, brought about by invariable rules of nature. It is a human activity, the exercise of judgment. With this in mind, we might say that we perform this action better when we know what the reasons are that have led to our belief, and why they are good reasons.
These observations do not deprive us of our ability to believe in what we read. They are not intended to transform you from credulous believers into stubborn doubters. The process of weighing beliefs against the quality of reasons is one that you already go through all the time, whether you are aware of it or not. We all do. The practice of critical reading is the exercise of this kind of judgment on purpose. By doing it, we protect ourselves from being led into belief for inadequate reasons, but at the same time we open up our minds to the possibility of arriving at belief for adequate ones. If we decide to grant or withhold consent based on the quality of the reasons that we are given we admit at the same time that two things are possible: We admit that we might consent less in the future if we discover that the reasons are not so good after all; and we admit that we might consent more if we are ever presented with better reasons than we had formerly known. This attitude is not pure skepticism any more than it is pure credulity. It is somewhere in between. It is the attitude of an open-minded thinker, of someone who wishes to be responsible for deciding for herself or himself what to believe.
41. The author’s use of the bathtub hoax is meant to suggest that __________. A. facts must be believed unconditionally
B. belief is more than a simple yes or no choice C. nothing should be believed or disbelieved D. belief is nothing but a light switch
42. To believe or disbelieve what you read should be based on ________. A. the facts that you are given
B. whether the author is an open-minded authority
7
C. the quality of reasons provided by the material D. the assumption that you know everything about it
43. As a human activity, weighing the facts about something is actually _______. A. determined by the rules of nature B. a performance
C. brought about even at birth D. experienced by everyone
44. According to the author, which of the following is true?
A. Our attitude toward what we read may change if we are given better reasons. B. An open-minded thinker is responsible for what he or she says. C. Critical reading can make us believe more in what we read.
D. We ought to question the value of what we read if its source is not authoritative.
45. What is the topic of this passage? A. Judgment and Responsibility. B. Reading and Belief. C. Trust and Faith.
D. Reading and Human Activity.
Passage 3
Things don’t come easily to Matteo, a 4-year-old New Yorker with brown bangs and cowboy bandanna. Afflicted by cerebral palsy, he moves awkwardly. He thinks slowly and doesn’t talk much. Small frustrations upset him terribly. But when Matteo visits Clive Robbins, his music therapist, he bangs gleefully on a snare drum, placing one hand on the rim to steady himself, he uses the other to rap in tempo to Robbins’s improvised song. As the tune progresses, Matteo moves his act to the piano, banging along with one or two fingers and laughing excitedly. By following the rhythm, he is learning to balance his body and coordinate the movement of his limbs. He’s also learning to communicate. “He is grown much more motivated and intent,” says Robbins, the co-founder of New York University’s Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy.
Disabled children aren’t the only ones feeling the therapeutic power of music. A 79-year-old stroke survivor listens to Viennese waltzes on his headphones to help him to relearn to walk. A woman in labor had LeAnn Rimes’ country tunes blaring from a stereo to help her keep in step with her contraction. And, yes, ostensibly healthy people are listening to airy New Age discs, and maybe lighting a candle or two, to lessen stress and promote well-being. They may all be on to something. Mounting evidence suggests that almost any musical stimulus, from Shostakovich to the Spice Girls can have therapeutic effects.
Music therapy isn’t mainstream health care, but recent studies suggest it can have a wide range of benefits. In 1996, researchers at Colorado State University tried giving 10 stroke victims 30 minutes of rhythmic stimulation each day for three weeks. Compared with untreated patients, they shared significant improvements in their ability to walk steadily. People with Parkinson’s disease enjoyed similar benefits. A musical beat from any genre seemed to provide a rhythmic cue, stimulating the brain’s motor systems.
Other body systems seem equally responsive. Scottish researchers have found, for
8
example, that a daily dose of Mozart or Mendelssohn significantly brightens the moods of institutionalized stroke victims. Using psychological tests, the Scottish team showed that patients receiving 12 weeks of daily music therapy were less depressed and anxious, and more stable and sociable, than other patients in the same facility. Music therapy has also proved useful in the management of Alzheimer’s and other neurological diseases. And Deforia Lane, a music therapist at University Hospitals in Cleveland, has shown that music can boost immune function in children. That’s consistent with a 1995 finding by Louisiana researchers that preemies exposed to lullabies in the hospital went home earlier.
46. Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
A. Why Music is Powerful B. Music and Pain Medication C. Music and Disabled Children D. The Medical Power of Music
47. What does the passage say about Matteo?
A. He is suffering a paralysis of the brain. B. He is late in his ability to walk and talk. C. He plays music better by taking the advice.
D. He’s ambitious to become a professional drummer.
48. Paragraph 2 mainly tells that ________________.
A. music helps pregnant women undergo contractions B. music stimulates promotion of people’s well-being C. music seems to have therapeutic effects on all people D. sick people benefit a lot from listening to music
49. By mentioning the Spice Girls, the author gives an example of music
A. which is popular among children. B. which is good for health.
C. which may harm one’s health. D. which is losing popularity.
50. According to the context, the word “preemies” probably means________.
A. sick children coming to see a doctor B. children with infectious diseases C. newly recovered young patients D. premature babies
Passage 4
In terms of lives lost and property destroyed, the Civil War was the most terrible armed conflict Americans have ever known, but that has not prevented them from remembering it with enduring fondness. The Civil War remains the most written-about period in American history, and it provides boundless entertainment in the United States and around the world. Instead of an object lesson in the dangers of political polarization, racial inequality, and human cruelty, fans consider their favorite war an exercise in nobility—a bloodbath that somehow forged the unbreakable bonds of American national
9
identity.
Most Civil War historians were reared in this romantic tradition, and they have yet to fully free themselves from it. They still view the struggle through rose-colored glasses, making excuses for flawed heroes who have the reputations they never deserved. With the publication of While in the Hands of the Enemy: Military Prisons of the Civil War, Charles W. Sanders has distinguished himself as one of the few scholars capable of addressing the Civil War with utter frankness. His brilliantly researched book is a ringing indictment of the prisoner-of-war (POW) systems maintained by both sides of that war, as well as the politicians and soldiers who deliberately sent thousands of men to needless suffering and death. There are no heroes in this study, just too many unnecessary victims.
Sanders sets his study in context by first tracing the evolution of POW policy during the American Revolution, War of 1812, and Mexican War. Americans knew that POWs were vulnerable to mistreatment, and the quickest way to improve their lot was to negotiate exchanges with the enemy. At the outset of the Civil War, neither side was prepared to cope with the many foes their armies captured, and prisoners inevitably suffered from inadequate housing, food, medical care, and other necessities. Abraham Lincoln delayed the implementation of general exchanges until July 1862 for fear it would allow rebellious southerners to claim de facto recognition of the Southern sovereignty. Once implemented, the exchange system quickly emptied prisons in the North and South, but it began breaking down by the end of the year.
51. Most Civil War historians would agree that the Civil War may have A. taught a useful lesson about human nature. B. started political struggles in America. C. raised the awareness of the race issue. D. strengthened American national identity.
52. Civil War historians usually believe that “flawed heroes” A. should be forgiven. B. should be criticized. C. should be studied further.
D. should be evaluated objectively.
53. According to Charles W. Sanders, the Civil War A. created various heroes. B. brought pointless misery. C. started the first POW system. D. was brutal but inevitable.
54. In the early days of the Civil War, A. the POWs were in difficult situations. B. the number of the POWs was small. C. the POW exchanges were frequent.
D. both sides used the POWs for political purposes.
55. What does the passage say about the POW exchange system of 1862? A. It had been postponed deliberately.
10