SECTLON 2: READLNG TEST (30 minutes)

Directions: In this section you will read several passages.Each one is followed by several questions about it.You are to choose ONE best answer,(A),(B),(C) or(D),to each question.Answer all the questions following each passage on the basis of what is started or implied in that passage and write the letter of the answer you have chosen in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.

Question 1~5 //tr.hjenglish.com
   The rise of tourist traffic has brought the relatively recent phenomenon of the tourist attraction pureand simple.It often has no purpose but to attract in the interest of the owner or of the nation.As we might expect,this use of the word "attraction" as "a thing or feature which `draws' people,especially any interesting or amusing exhibition" dates only from about 1862.It is a new species: the most attenuated form of a nation's culture.All over the world now we find these "attractions"--of little significance for the inward life of a people,but wonderfully saleable as tourist commodities: Examples are Madame Tussaud's exhibition of was figures in London (she first became known for her modelled heads of the leaders and victims of the French Revolution) and the Tiger Balm Gardens in Hong Kong; Disneyland in California--the American "attraction" which tourist Khrushchev most wanted to see--is the example to end all examples.Here indeed Nature imitates Art.The visitor to Disneyland encounters not the two-dimensional comic strip of movie originals,but only their three-dimensional facsimiles.

   Tourist attractions serve their purpose best when they are pseudo-events.To be repeatable at will,they must be factitious.Emphasis on the artificial comes from the ruthless truthfulness of tourist agents.What they can really guarantee you are not spontaneous cultural products but only those made especially for tourist consumpiton,for foreign cash customers.Not only in Mexico City and Montreal,but also in the remote Guatemalan tourist Mecca of Chichecastenango and in far-off villages of Japan,earnest honest natives embellish their ancient rites,change,enlarge,and spectacularize their festivals, so that tourists will not be disappointed.In order to satisfy the exaggerated expectations of tour agents and tourists,people everywhere obligingly become dishonest mimics of themselves.To provide a full schedule of events at the best seasons and at convenient hours, they travesty their most solemn rituals, holidays,and folk celebrations--all for the benefit of the tourists.

   In Berlin,in the days before the First World War,legend tells us that precisely at the stroke of noon,just as the imperial military band would begin its daily concert in front of the Imperial Palace,Kaiser Wilhelm used to interrupt whatever he was doing inside the palace.If he was in a council of state he would say: "With your kind forbearance,gentlemen,I must excuse myself now,to appear at the window. You see,it says in Baedeker that at this hour I always do."

   Modern tourist guide-books have helped to raise tourist expectations. And they have provided the natives--from Kaiser Wilhelm down to raise tourist expectations. And they have provided the natives--from Kaiser Wilhelm down to the villagers of Chichecastenango--with a detailed and itemized list of what is expected of them and when.These are the up-to-date scripts for actors on the tourists' stage.

1.Which of the following can be concluded from the first paragraph?
  (A) These tourist attractions do not appeal to the local people spiritually.
  (B) Disneyland is no longer a typical example of tourist attractions.
  (C) Both tourists and local people are equally drawn by these tourist attractions.
  (D) Madam Tussaud's exhibition is not one of saleable tourist commodities.
2. "Nature imitates Art" means that__________ . //tr.hjenglish.com
  (A) Art is two-dimensional and Nature is three-dimensional
  (B) Disney created a two-dimensional art form
  (C) the facsimiles are three-dimensional
  (D) Disneyland is a life-like copy of the original film cartoons
3. To be repeatable at will, a tourist attraction must be __________.
  (A) artificial                (B) attractive
  (C) fictitious               (D) facetious
4. The locals all over the world in order to satisfy the travelling agents and tourists__________.
  (A) make their festivals more material
  (B) adorn and exaggerate their traditional ceremonies
  (C) change into dishonest tourist attractions
  (D) decorate their villages for the tourists
5. According to the passage, modern tourist guide books ___________.
  (A) help make tourists excited
  (B) give VIPs like Kaiser Wilhelm instructions for him to appear
  (C) are also a source of information for the natives
  (D) can be used as scripts for acting on stage

Question 6~10 //tr.hjenglish.com
   New vocational qualifications to provide an alternative to GCSE and transform school life for 14-to 16-year-olds are expected to be announced on Thursday by the Government.

   Ministers have decided to run a pilot next year in 90 of 4,000 secondary schools.Courses for under-16s could be available in all schools by 1997. Vocational courses for over-16s have proved extremely popular,and hundreds of schools are thought to have volunteered for next year's pilot.

   The General National Vocational Qualification courses are not designed as training for a particular job.They are class-room-based,so a pupil taking,for instance,manufacturing,might do work experience in a local factory but would not have to make anything.

   Last week Sir Ron Dearing,chairman of the Schools Curriculum and Assessment Authority,said 40 per cent of the timetable for 14-to 16-year-olds would be freed so that some pupils could pursue vocational courses,while others do the more academic GCSEs.All will continue to do GCSEs in English,math and science, and short courses in modern languages and technology.

   Critics say the arrangements will divide pupils into sheep and goats,and could lead to the creation of specialist academic and vocational schools. Supporters say the new courses will motivate non-academic pupils so that fewer leave school without qualifications.

   The new courses in health and social care,business and manufacturing are being introduced despite fierce criticism of present vocational qualifications for over-16s in reports from school inspectors and academics.The inspectors said the course content was too vague and that assessments,done mainly by teachers, were unreliable.

   However,the GNVQs will be modelled closely on those for over-16s, which have six units.Pupils will study three of the six,and will also have to reach agreed standards in three "core skills" of literacy, numeracy and information technology, which will account for 40 per cent of the marks.

   David Blunkett, Labour's education spokesman, said it was vital that the new qualifications were seen as high-quality.

   Don Foster,the Liberal Democrats' education spokesman,said: "There must be some concern that the recent criticism of the new GNVQs appears not to have been taken on board.It is vital that they are got right first time, given the crucial role they will play in achieving parity of esteem between academic and vocational qualifications."

6. According to the passage, the vocational qualifications ____.
  (A) constitute part of the GCSEs
  (B) serve as a supplement to GCSEs
  (C) are mainly for over-16s
  (D) are designed as training for a particular job
7. The phrase "to run a pilot" (para. 2) can best be paraphrased as which of the following?
  (A) to set up a vocational school
  (B) to continue a training course //tr.hjenglish.com
  (C) to operate an experimental course
  (D) to begin a driving class
8. The critic's view that "the arrangements will divide pupils into sheep and goats" means that pupils ____.
  (A) will be fairly separated and treated
  (B) will be grouped based on their vocational abilities.
  (C) will be placed either in more academic or non academic groups
  (D) will be treated either cruelly or indiscrimitively
9. The last two paragraphs of the passage ____.
  (A) summarize the main idea of the article
  (B) convey the general plan for vocational qualifications
  (C) show the opposition against vocational qualifications
  (D) introduce responses from other parties
10.Which of the following can NOT be found in the passage?
  (A) Courses for vocational qualifications will be modelled on those for over -16s.
  (B) Vocational courses will not be offered in most schools before 1997.
  (C) Courses in health and social care, business and manufacturing meet fierce criticisms from school inspectors.
  (D) Courses in English, math and science are required of all the pupils.

Question 11~15 //tr.hjenglish.com
   One in eight students with a government loan is unlikely ever to repay the debt,a report published today says.The figure is likely to be a further blow to government plans to privatise the loan scheme,announced in the Queen's Speech last week.

   The Student Loans Company has told the National Audit Office that 142 million of outstanding debt is unlikely to be recovered.The loans company admitted  recently that outstanding loans totalled more than 1 billion.

   The report also highlights questions about the loans company's competence, and records the collapse of its telephone system. Out of 1.1 million attempted calls by students in November 1994 only 41,000 were answered.

   Sir Eric Ash,head of the Student Loans Company,has already told ministers that the banks are unlikely to want to take over the scheme.The audit office report is likely to reinforce their reluctance.

   The audit office, the public spending watchdog, found that almost half of all students who had received loans had been   granted a deferment  on repayments because their   income fell beneath the statutory threshold. Students are not required to repay a loan until a year after completing their course and then only if their income reaches 85 per cent of national average earnings.

   The audit office found that of 269,000 students who should be repaying loans,122,000 had been granted deferment.The loans company told the audit office that it recognised "it may be difficult to maintain contact with the large number of repayers in deferment".

   The company admitted that ￡142 million,about 12 per cent of the outstanding loan portfolio of ￡1.178 billion,might not be recovered due to long-term deferment,death and default.

   The audit office report says that the loans company's financial statements do not include any record of nonrecoverable sums "because they are liable to remit to the Education Department only those monies they actually succeed in recovering".As a result of the audit office's objections,the annual accounts will in future include provision for irrecoverable loan debt.

   The report found that the loans company had improved its efficiency in the light of previous criticism and processed 517,000 applications for loans in the last academic year.However,35,000 students experienced significant delay in getting grants.

   The Commons Public Accounts Committee will question officials on the report next month,when the proposed privatisation is expected to come under attack as unrealistic.

   Bryan Davies,Labour's education spokesman,said: "The report shows there is considerable uncertainty in detailed business planning for student loans. The Government has not answered why banks and building societies should want to handle such unpredictable loans,yet it is rushing privatisation through Parliament."The Student Loans Bill will be debated in Parliament on Monday.

11.What does the passage mainly discuss? //tr.hjenglish.com
  (A) The privatisation of the student loan project.
  (B) The debate on the student loan scheme.
  (C) The issue of nonrecoverable student loan debt.
  (D) The development of the Student Loans Company.
12.Which of the following can be concluded from the passage?
  (A) One in eight students receives government loans.
  (B) Fifty percent of students repay government loans.
  (C) Most students apply for government loans.
  (D) Over twelve percent of loan receivers may not repay their loan debts.
13.Which of the following is NOT true about the Student Loans Company?
  (A) Its telephone system is simply not adequate enough.
  (B) The company improved its efficiency greatly.
  (C) It is a privatised company.
  (D) The company has difficulty in keeping contact with loan repayers.
14. All of the following are causes of difficulty in the repayment of student loans EXCEPT that ____.
  (A) the Student Loans Company loses contact with repayers
  (B) some students' income falls beneath 85% of national average earnings
  (C) some students are granted long-term deferment
  (D) banks are not directly involved in student loans
15.Which of the following is not directly stated, but implied in the passage?
  (A) Students should start to repay a loan a year after graduation.
  (B) The Student Loans Company expects banks' involvement in the loan scheme.
  (C) The privatisation of student loans project does not receive much support.
  (D) The Labour Party holds critical view towards the privatisation of the loan scheme.

Question 16~20 //tr.hjenglish.com
   THE Government yesterday unveiled a "new realist" strategy against drugs and acknowledged the failings of previous attempts to stop growing abuse.Four Cabinet ministers announced proposals emphasizing the need to educate and inform young people of the facts and risks, abandoning earlier shock tactics.

   Michael Howard,the Home Secretary,said there was "no magic wand" that would wish away the problem once and for all.Instead, ministers sought to co-ordinate and build on the successes of local initiatives, while targeting suppliers.They pledged to train more teachers to take the anti-drugs message into classrooms,including primary schools,issue guidance to head teachers and launch a national helpline for parents.

   The Home Office estimates that heroin users financing their habit were responsible for thefts and robberies worth up to ￡864 million in 1992. In any one year,some three million people take an illegal drug.Most police forces only caution people caught using soft drugs for the first time.

   Tony Newton,the chairman of the Cabinet sub-committee on the misuse of drugs,highlighted the shift in strategy and publicly recognised the "intractable" nature of the problem."We always want to learn from experience.I think some of the shock tactics that have been used in one or two earlier campaigns have not proved as effective as we would have liked."

   The 114-page Green Paper,Tackling Drugs Together,has jettisoned earlier language about "drug abusers" and the "war on drugs",talking instead of "drug users" while putting a premium on pragmatic,community-led initiatives.

   It concedes that contact with drugs is now part of growing up.The paper says:"As part of adolescence and maturing,young people experiment with different values and behaviours.While this strategy proposes a strong emphasis on preventing young people from misusing drugs in the first place there will still be some who choose to experiment even if they have both the knowledge and the skills to resist peer pressure."

   Eric Forth,the education minister,said that some schools had been inclined to ignore the drugs problem,because even talking about it risked giving them a bad name.He said: "We hope that by acknowledging the need to deal with this problem,saying it's something that all schools should be doing,we will give action against drugs the seal of approval."

16.Which of the following summarizes the main idea of the passage?
  (A) The government admits its failure in fighting against drugs.
  (B) The Home Office will continue its policy to reduce drug-related crime.
  (C) The government plans to change its strategy against drugs.
  (D) Police forces fully support government's policy against drugs.
17. It can be inferred from the passage that shock tactics against drugs ________.
  (A) have never received full support from all parties
  (B) have laid stress on prohibition of drug use and punishment
  (C) have often proved as effective as expected
  (D) have concentrated on preventing people from misusing drugs
18.Which of the following can best replace the word "jettisoned" used in paragraph 5?
  (A) Adopted.             (B) Supported.
  (C) Criticized.          (D) Discarded.
19. The statement that "contact with drugs is now part of growing up" can be paraphrased as _____.
  (A) drug use is a kind of learning process necessary for young people
  (B) most young people have contact with drugs
  (C) young people try to learn certain social values through drugs
  (D) drug abuse is mainly related to the teenagers
20. According to the passage,some schools were inclined to ignore the drugs problem because _____.
  (A) there was no drugs problem in those schools
  (B) the schools fear that their reputation would be damaged
  (C) they felt it should be the government's responsibility to fight drug abuse
  (D) drug abuse is mainly a social problem