Part ⅥREADING COMPREHENSION  ［30 MIN.］

SECTION A READING COMPREHENSION［25 MIN.］

In this section there are four passages followed by questions or unfinished statements, each with four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the best answer.

Mark your answers on your answer sheet.

TEXT A

Clearly if we are to participate in the society in which we live we must communicate with other people. A great deal of communicating is performed on a person-t o-person basis by the simple means of speech. If we travel in buses, buy things in shops, or eat in restaurants, we are likely to have conversations where we give information or opinions, receive news or comment, and very likely have our views challenged by other members of society.’

Face-to-face contact is by no means the only form of communication and during th e last two hundred years the art of mass communication has become one of the dom inating factors of contemporary society. Two things, above others, have caused t he enormous growth of the communication industry. Firstly, inventiveness has led to advances in printing, telecommunications, photography, radio and television.  secondly, speed has revolutionised the transmission and reception of communicate ions so that local news often takes a back seat to national news, which itself i s often almost eclipsed by international news.

No longer is the possession of information confined to a privileged minority. In  the last century the wealthy man with his own library was indeed fortunate, but  today there are public libraries. Forty years ago people used to flock to the cinema, but now far more people sit at home and turn on the TV to watch a program me that is being channeled into millions of homes.’Communication is no longer merely concerned with the transmission of information. The modem communication industry influences the way people live in society and broadens their horizons by allowing access to information, education and entertainment. The printing, broadcasting and advertising industries are all involved with informing, educating and entertaining.’

Although a great deal of the material communicated by the mass media is very valuable to the individual and to the society of which he is a part, the vast modem network of communications is open to abuse. However, the mass media are with us for better, for worse, and there is no turning back.

66.   In the first paragraph the writer emphasizes the___ of face-t o-face contact in social settings.

A. nature       

B. limitation     

C. usefulness   

D. creativity 

67.   It is implied in the passage that___.

A.    local news used to be the only source of information.

B.    local news still takes a significant place.

C.    national news is becoming more popular.

D.    international news is the fastest transmitted news. 

68.   Which of the following statements is INCORRECT?

A.    To possess information used to be a privilege.

B.    Public libraries have replaced private libraries.

C.    Communication means more than transmission.

D.    Information influences ways of life and thinking. 

69.   From the last paragraph we can infer that the writer is___.

A.    indifferent to the harmful influence of the mass media

B.    happy about the drastic changes in the mass media

C.    pessimistic about the future of the mass media

D.    concerned about the wrong use of the mass media 

TEXT B’

The men and women of Anglo-Saxon England normally bore one name only. Distinguishing epithets were rarely added. These might be patronymic, descriptive or occupational. They were, however, hardly surnames. Heritable names gradually became general in the three centuries following the Norman Conquest in 1066. It was not until the 13th and 14th centuries that surnames became fixed, although for many years after that, the degree of stability in family names varied considerably in different parts of the country.’

British surnames fall mainly into four broad categories: patronymic, occupational, descriptive and local. A few names, it is true, will remain puzzling: foreign names, perhaps, crudely translated, adapted or abbreviated; or artificial names. In fact, over fifty per cent of genuine British surnames derive from place names of different kinds, and so they belong to the last of our four main categories. Even such a name as Simpson may belong to this last group, and not to the first, had the family once had its home in the ancient village of that name. Otherwise, Simpson means “the son of Simon”, as might be expected.’

Hundreds of occupational surnames are at once familiar to us, or at least recognisable after a little thought: Archer, Carter, Fisher, Mason, Thatcher, Taylor, to name but a few. Hundreds of others are more obscure in their meanings an d testify to the amazing specialization in medieval arts, crafts and functions. Such are “Day”, (Old English for bread maker) and “Walker” (a fuller whose job it was to clean and thicken newly made cloth).’

All these vocational names carry with them a certain gravity and dignity, w hich descriptive names often lack. Some, it is true, like “Long”, “Short” or “Li ttle”, are simple. They may be taken quite literally. Others require more thinki ng: their meanings are slightly different from the modem ones. “Black” and “White “ implied dark and fair respectively. “Sharp” meant genuinely discerning, alert,  acute rather than quick-witted or clever.Place-names have a lasting interest since there is hardly a town or village in a ll England that has not at some time given its name to a family. They may be pic turesque, even poetical; or they may be pedestrian, even trivial. Among the comm oner names which survive with relatively little change from old-English times ar e “Milton”(middle enclosure) and “Hilton”(enclosure on a hill).

70.  Surnames are said to be ___ in Anglo-Saxon England.

A. common     

B. vocational     

C. unusual     

D. descriptiv e 

71.  We learn from the first paragraph ___ for many years after the 13th and 14th centuries.

A.  family names became descriptive and occupational

B.  people in some areas still had no surnames

C.  some people kept changing their surnames

D.  all family names became fixed in England 

72.  “Patronymic” in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to “forme d from ___.

A.  the name of one’s father”     

B.  the family occupation”

C. one’s family home”     

D.  one’s family history” 

73.  Which of the following sentences is an opinion rather than a fact?

A.  hundreds of occupational names are at once familiar to us.

B.  “Black” and “White” implied “dark” and “fair” respectively.

C.  Vocational names carry with them a certain gravity and dignity.

D.  Every place in England has given its name to a family. 

TEXT C

Since the early 1930s, Swiss banks had prided themselves on their system of banking secrecy and numbered accounts.  Over the years, they had successfully withstood every challenge to this system by their own government who, in turn, ha d been frequently urged by foreign governments to reveal information about the financial affairs to certain account holders.  The result of this policy of secrecy was that a kind of mystique had grown up around Swiss banking.  There was a widely-held belief that Switzerland was irresistible to wealthy foreigners, mainly because of its numbered accounts and bankers’ reluctance to ask awkward questions of depositors. Contributing to the mystique was the view, carefully propagated by the banks themselves, that if this secrecy was ever given up, foreigners would fall over themselves in the rush to withdraw money, and the Swiss banking system would virtually collapse overnight.’

To many, therefore, it came like a bolt out of the blue, when, in 1977, the Swiss banks announced they had signed a pact with the Swiss National Bank (the Central Bank).  The aim of the agreement was to prevent to improper use of the country’s bank secrecy laws, and its effect was to curb severely the system of secrecy.’

The rules which the banks had agreed to observe made the opening of numbere d accounts subject to much closer scrutiny than before.  The banks would be required, if necessary, to identify the origin of foreign funds going into numbered and other accounts.  The idea was to stop such accounts being used for dubious purposes. Also they agreed not to accept funds resulting from tax evasion or from crime.’

The pact represented essentially a tightening up of banking rules. Although the banks agreed to end relations with clients whose identities were unclear or who were performing improper acts, they were still not obliged to inform on a client to anyone, including the Swiss government. To some extent, therefore, the principle of secrecy had been maintained.

74.    Swiss banks took pride in___.

A.    the number of their accounts

B.    withholding client information

C.    being mysterious to the outsiders

D.    attracting wealthy foreign clients 

75.    According to the passage, the widely-held belief that Switzerland w as irresistible to wealthy foreigners was ___ by banks themselves.

A.    denied     

B.      criticized       

C.    reviewed 

D.    defended 

76.    In the last paragraph, the writer thinks that___.

A.    complete changes had been introduced into Swiss banks

B.    Swiss banks could no longer keep client information

C.    changes in the bank policies had been somewhat superficial

D.    more changes need to be considered and made 

TEXT D

Coketown was a town of red brick, or of brick that would have been red if the sm oke and the ashes had allowed it; but as matters stood it was a town of unnatura l red and black like the painted face of a savage. It was a town of machinery an d tall chimneys, out of which smoke trailed themselves for ever and ever. It had a black canal in it, and a river that ran purple with ill-smelling dye, and vas t piles of buildings full of windows where there was a rattling and a trembling all day long, and where the piston of the steam-engine worked monotonously up an d down like the head of an elephant in a state of madness. The town contained se veral large streets all very like one another, and many small streets still more  like one another, inhabited by people equally like one another.’

A sunny midsummer day. There was such a thing sometimes, even in Coketown. Seen from a distance in such weather, Coketown lay covered in a haze of its own. You only knew the town was there, because you knew there could have been no such blo tch upon the view without a town.’

The streets were hot and dusty on the summer day, and the sun was so bright that  it even shone through the haze over Coketown, and could not be looked at steadi ly. Workers emerged from low underground doorways into factory yards, and sat on posts and steps, wiping their faces and contemplating coals. The whole town see med to be frying in oil. There was a stifling smell of hot oil everywhere. The a tmosphere of those places was like the breath of hell, and their inhabitants was ting with heat, toiled languidly in the desert. But no temperature made the mad elephants more mad or more sane. Their wearisome heads went up and down at the s ame rate, in hot weather and in cold, wet weather and dry fair weather and foul.  The measured motion of their shadows on the walls, was the substitute Coketown had to show for the shadows of rustling woods; while for the summer hum of insec ts, it could offer all the year round, from the dawn of Monday to the night of S aturday, the whirr of shafts and wheels.

77.    Which of the following adjectives is NOT appropriate to describe Co ketown?

A. dull  

B. dirty   

C. noisy  

D. savage 

78.    From the passage we know that Coketown was mainly a(n) ___town .

A. industrial    

B. agricultural     

C. residential 

D. commercial 

79.  Only ___ were not affected by weather.

A. the workmen    

B. the inhabitants

C. the steam-engines     

D. the rustling woods 

80.   Which is the author’s opinion of Coketown?

A.    Coketown should be replaced by woods.

B.    The town was seriously polluted.

C.    The town had too much oil in it.

D.    The town’s atmosphere was traditional.

SECTION B SKIMMING AND SCANNING

In this section there are seven passages with a total often multiple-choice ques tions. Skim or scan them as required and then mark your answers on your answer s heet.

TEXT E

First read the following question.

81.  The writer is concerned about___.

A.    budget housekeeping           

B.    the retail trade

C.    computer skills               

D.    mental arithmetic 

Now read Text E quickly and mark your answer on your answer sheet.’

A lot of attention is being given to children who leave school unable to read or  write. I think there should be equal concern for those who are unable to cope w ith simple mental arithmetic -particularly girls.’It is often stated that today’s children are growing up in a computer world and they don’t need the same skills that their grandparents did. But is it any wonde r that many young girls trying to cope with budget housekeeping fail for the sim ple reason they cannot keep accurate checks on their purchases?’Shopping in markets is no source of cheap purchasing unless one is able to keep pace with the apparent mental agility of the vendor.’Must we face the thought that at some time in the distant future everyone will n eed to carry in their handbag or pocket one of the miniature calculators?

TEXT F

First read the following question.

82.    This is a letter of___.

A. reference         

B. application   

C. inquiry     

 D. complaint 

Now read Text F quickly and mark your answer on your answer sheet.

10 Garden Ave.

Essex

The Personnel Officer

Belgian Medico Ltd.

P0 Box 920

Brussels

Belgium

5th May 200___ 

Dear Sir,’

With reference to your advertisement in the “Daily Star”,  I’d like to apply for the position of translator with your firm.’I hold a degree in German and French from the University of London. And I have w orked as a translator for the past three years with Watson & Sons, Ltd., manufac turer of laboratory instruments, translating business correspondence from French  and German into English.’I am 25 years old and unmarried. I enjoy living and working in different countri es and I should welcome the chance of moving to Belgium.                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Yours sincerely,                                                                                                                                                                                                                (Miss) Janet Holbrooke