Part Ⅳ Reading Comprehension(Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)

Section A

Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once. Questions 47 to 56 are based on the following passage.

A coeducational(男女合校的) school offers children nothing less than a tree version of society in miniature(缩影). Boys and girls are given the 47 to get to know each other, to learn to live together from their earliest years. They are put in a position where they can compare themselves with each other in terms of 48 ability, athletic achievement and many of the extracurricular activities which are part of school life. What a practical 49 it is (to give just a small example) to be able to put on a school play in which the male parts will be taken by boys and the female parts by girls! What nonsense coeducation makes of the argument that boys are cleverer than girls or vice versa. When 50 , boys and girls are made to feel that they are a race apart. In a coeducational school, everything falls into its 51 place.

The greatest contribution of coeducation is 52 the healthy attitude to life it encourages. Boys don’t grow up believing that women are 53 creatures. Girls don’t grow up imagining that men are romantic heroes. Years of living together at school remove illusions of this kind. The awkward stage of adolescence brings into sharp focus some of the physical and 54 problems involved in growing up. These can better be 55 in a coeducational environment. When the time comes for the pupils to leave school, they are fully prepared to 56 society as well-adjusted adults. They have already had years of experience in coping with many of the problems that face men and women.

A)advantage

B)proper

C)rewarded

D)emotional

E)opportunity

F)activity

G)overcome

H)academic

I)enter

J)mysterious

K)eventually

L)segregated

M)undoubtedly

N)principle

O)advocate

Section B

Directions:There are 2 passages in this section. 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 Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the center. Passage One

Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.

Romantic love is a culture trait found primarily in industrialized societies. Elsewhere in the world, pragmatic considerations rather than flights of fancy are often used to make a choice of partner, and romantic love is seen as an unfortunate inconvenience that gets in the way of the ordinary, rational process of mate selection. Traces of this attitude persist in the American upper classes, where daughters are expected to marry “well”-----that is, to a male who is eligible by reason of family background and earning potential. Most Americans, however, see romantic love as essential for a successful marriage, and tend to look askance(轻蔑地)at anyone who marries for a more practical reason in which love plays no part.

The phenomenon of romantic love occurs when two young people meet and find one another personally and physically attractive. They become mutually absorbed, start to behave in what appears to be a flighty(充满幻想的), even irrational manner, decide that they are right for one another, and may then enter a marriage whose success is expected to be guaranteed by their enduring love. Behavior of this kind is portrayed and warmly endorsed(赞同)throughout American popular culture, by books, magazines, comics, records, popular songs, movies, and TV. Romantic love is a noble ideal, and it can certainly provide a basis for the spouses to “live happily ever after.” But a marriage can equally well be founded on much more practical considerations”----as indeed they have been in most societies throughout most of history. Why is romantic love of such importance in the modern world? The reason seems to be that it has some basic functions in maintaining the institution of the nuclear family(小家庭).

57. Romantic love is less frequently found in many non-industrial societies because people in these societies_______.

A ) firmly believe that only money can make the world go round

B ) fail to bring the imaginative power of the mind into full play

C ) fondly think that flights of fancy prevent them from making a correct choice of partner

D ) have far more practical considerations to determine who will marry whom

58. The word eligible (in Line5, Para. l), could best be replaced by ____.

A ) qualified

B ) available

C ) chosen

D ) influential

59. According to the passage, most Americans _____.

A) expect their daughters to fall in love with a male at first sight

B) regard romantic love as the basis for a successful marriage

C) look up to those who marry for the sake of wealth

D) consider romantic love to be the most desirable thing in the world

60. What can we learn from the second paragraph about romantic love?

A) It is a common occurrence among the old.

B) It is primarily depicted by books.

C) It is characterized by mutual attraction and absorption.

D) It is rejected as flighty and irrational.

61. The author seems to believe that ___________

A) romantic love makes people unable to think clearly in the process of mate selection

B) only romantic love can make a marriage happy ever after

C) much more practical considerations can also be the basis for a successful marriage

D) romantic love plays an insignificant role in maintaining the institution of the nuclear family