D. take up
With the possible exception of equal rights, perhaps the most controversial issue across the United States today is the death penalty. Many argue that it is an effective deterrent (威慑. to murder, while others maintain there is no convincing evidence that the death penalty reduces the number of murders.
The principal argument advanced by those opposed to the death penalty, basically, is that it is cruel and inhuman punishment, which is the mark of a brutal society, and finally that it is of questionable effectiveness as a deterrent to crime anyway.
In our opinion, the death penalty is a necessary evil. Throughout recorded history there have always been those extreme individuals in every society who were capable of terribly violent crimes such as murder. But some are more extreme than others.
For example, it is one thing to take the life of another in a fit of blind rage, but quite another to coldly plot and carry out the murder of one or more people in the style of a butcher. Thus, murder, like all other crimes, is a matter of relative degree. While it could be argued with some conviction that the criminal in the first instance should be merely isolated from society, such should not be the fate of the latter type murderer.
The value of the death penalty as a deterrent to crime may be open to debate. But the overwhelming majority of citizens believe that the death penalty protects them. Their belief is reinforced by evidence which shows that the death penalty deters murder. For example, from 1954 to 1963, when the death penalty was consistently imposed in California, the murder rate remained between three and four murders for each 100,000 population. Since 1964 the death penalty has been imposed only once, and the murder rate has risen to 10.4 murders for each 100,000 population. The sharp climb in the state’s murder rate, which began when executions stopped, is no coincidence. It is convincing evidence that the death penalty does deter many murderers. If the bill reestablishing the death penalty is vetoed, innocent people will be murdered-some whose lives may have been saved if the death penalty were in effect. This is literally a life or death matter. The lives of thousands of innocent people must be protected.
140.The principal purpose of this passage is to .
A. speak for the majority B. initiate a veto
C. criticize the government D. argue for the value of the death penalty
141.The author’s response to those who urge the death penalty for all is likely to be .
A. negative B. friendly C. supportive D. hostile
142.According to the Paragraph 4, it can be inferred that .
A. the death penalty is the most controversial issue in the United States today
B. the second type of murderers should be sentenced to death
C. the veto of the bill reestablishing the death penalty is of little importance
D. the value of the death penalty as a deterrent to crime is not to be debated
143.The passage attempts to establish a relationship between .
A. the murder rate and the imposition of the death penalty
B. the effects of execution and the effects of isolation
C. the importance of equal rights and that of the death penalty
D. executions and murders
144.The author’s attitude towards “death penalty” is .
A. opposing B. supporting C. neutral D. sarcastic
Passage Four
One positive consequence of our current national crisis may be at least a temporary shadow in Hollywood’s culture of violence. Fearful of offending audiences in the wake of the terrorist attack, some moviemakers have postponed the release of film with terrorist themes. Television writers are delaying scripts with warlike and terrorist scenarios (剧本提纲..It is probably good thinking. My local video store tells me nobody is checking out “disaster” movies. Says the manager, “Currently, people want comedy. They want an escape from stories about violence and terrorism.” Similarly, in the music business, there’s a run on patriotic and inspirational tapes and CDs.
According to The New York Times, the self scrutiny among these czars (特权人物. of mass-entertainment taste is unprecedented in scale, sweeping aside hundreds of millions of dollars in projects that no longer seem appropriate. A reasonable concern is that this might be a short term phenomenon. Once life returns to something more normal, will Hollywood return to its bad old ways? The Times offers a glimmer of hope. The industry’s titans (巨头.,it suggests, are struggling with much more difficulties, long range questions of what the public will want once the initial shock from the terrorist attacks wears off. Many in the industry admit they do not know where the boundaries of taste and consumer tolerance now lie.
This is an opportunity for some of us to suggest to Hollywood where that boundary of consumer tolerance is, especially those of us who have not yet convinced Hollywood to cease its descent into ever lower of the dumbness of our young.
The nonprofit Parents Television Council, which monitors the quality of TV programming, says in its latest report that today’s TV shows are more laced than ever with vulgarities, sexual immorality, crudities, violence, and foul language. The traditional family hour between 8p.m.and 9p.m., when the networks used to offer programs for the entire family, has disappeared. The problem looks like it will get worse.
That certainly looked to be the case before the Sept.11th assault. One pre attack New York Times story reported that TV producers were crusading (讨伐. for scripts that include every crude word imaginable. The struggles between net-work censors and producers, according to the report, were “growing more intense”. Producers like Aaron Sorkin of “The West Wing” planned to keep pushing hard. He was quoted as saying,“There’s absolutely no reason why we can’t use the language of adulthood in programs that are about adults”.
My guess is that a lot of adults don’t use the language Mr. Sorkin wants to use, and don’t enjoy having their children hear it. At this moment of crisis in our nation’s history, thought has become more thoughtful, prayerful, and spiritual. It may be the time to tell the entertainment industry that we want not a temporary pause in the flow of tastelessness, but a long term clean-up.
145.Some filmmakers hesitate to release new films with violent content because .
A. they want to show themselves to be patriots
B. they are afraid such films may anger audiences
C. films with violence in them are no longer popu1ar
D. fil ms with terrorist themes are reflections on violence.
146.The “self-scrutiny” in the second paragraph refers to filmmakers attempt to .
A. produce appropriate films with no violent content for the audiences
B. prevent themselves from slipping into their old bad ways
C. understand to what extent their films have contributed to the national crisis
D. find out where the boundaries of taste and consumer tolerance lie
147.The author thinks that it is time for the general audience to .
A. tell filmmakers where the boundaries of their taste lie
B. point out to Hollywood how bad their films are
C. accuse the filmmakers of desensitizing their children
D. ask filmmakers to make films that reflect traditional family life
148.Which of the following statements is TRUE about Aaron Sorkin?
A. He is strongly against using crude language in films.
B. He starts the struggles between network censors and producer.
C. He insists no restraint be set to the language used in films.
D. He believes that it is time to clean up the entertainment industry.
149.The author’s purpose in writing this passage is .
A. to acknowledge the current practice of the entertainment industry
B. to show his admiration for the current practice of the entertainment industry
C. to accuse the entertainment industry of their current practice
D. to show tolerance of the current practice of the entertainment industry
Passage Five
Imagine waking up and finding the value of your assets has been halved. No, you’re not an investor in one of those hedge funds that failed completely. With the dollar slumping to a 26-year low against the pound, already-expensive London has become quite unaffordable. A coffee at Starbucks, just as unavoidable in England as it is in the United States, runs about $8.
The once all-powerful dollar isn’t doing a Titanic against just the pound. It is sitting at a record low against the euro and at a 30-year low against the Canadian dollar. Even the Argentine peso and Brazilian real are thriving against the dollar.
The weak dollar is a source of humiliation, for a nation’s self-esteem rests in part on the strength of its currency. It’s also a potential economic problem, since a declining dollar makes imported food more expensive and exerts upward pressure on interest rates. And yet there are substantial sectors of the vast U.S. economy-from giant companies like Coca-Cola to mom-and-pop restaurant operators in Miami-for which the weak dollar is most excellent news.
Many Europeans may view the U.S. as an arrogant superpower that has become hostile to foreigners. But nothing makes people think more warmly of the U.S. than a weak dollar. Through April, the total number of visitors from abroad was up 6.8 percent from last year. Should the trend continue, the number of tourists this year will finally top the 2000 peak? Many Europeans now apparently view the U.S. the way many Americans view Mexico-as a cheap place to vacation, shop and party, all while ignoring the fact that the poorer locals can’t afford to join the merrymaking.
The money tourists spend helps decrease our chronic trade deficit. So do exports, which thanks in part to the weak dollar, soared 11 percent between May 2006 and May 2007. For first five months of 2007, the trade deficit actually fell 7 percent from 2006.If you own shares in large American corporations, you’re a winner in the weak-dollar gamble. Last week Coca-Cola’s stick bubbled to a five-year high after it reported a fantastic quarter. Foreign sales accounted for 65 percent of Coke’s beverage business. Other American companies profiting from this trend include McDonald’s and IBM.
American tourists, however, shouldn’t expect any relief soon. The dollar lost strength the way many marriages break up- slowly, and then all at once. And currencies don’t turn on a dime. So if you want to avoid the pain inflicted by the increasingly pathetic dollar, cancel that summer vacation to England and look to New England. There, the dollar is still treated with a little respect.
150.Why do Americans feel humiliated?
A. Their economy is plunging
B.T hey can’t afford trips to Europe
C. Their currency has slumped
D. They have lost half of their assets.
151.How does the current dollar affect the life of ordinary Americans?
A. They have to cancel their vacations in New England.
B. They find it unaffordable to dine in mom-and-pop restaurants.
C. They have to spend more money when buying imported goods.
D. They might lose their jobs due to potential economic problems.
152.How do many Europeans feel about the U.S with the devalued dollar?
A. They feel contemptuous of it
B. They are sympathetic with it.
C. They regard it as a superpower on the decline.
D. They think of it as a good tourist destination.
153.what is the author’s advice to Americans?
A. They treat the dollar with a little respect
B. They try to win in the weak-dollar gamble
C. They vacation at home rather than abroad
D.They treasure their marriages all the more.
154.What does the author imply by saying “currencies don’t turn on a dime” (Line 2,Para 7.?
A. The dollar’s value will not increase in the short term.
B. The value of a dollar will not be reduced to a dime
C. The dollar’s value will drop, but within a small margin.
D. Few Americans will change dollars into other currencies.
Passage Six
It used to be so straightforward. A team of researchers working together in the laboratory would submit the results of their research to a journal. A journal editor would then remove the authors’ names and affiliations from the paper and send it to their peers for review. Depending on the comments received, the editor would accept the paper for publication or decline it. Copyright rested with the journal publisher, and researchers seeking knowledge of the results would have to subscribe to the journal.
No longer. The Internet - and pressure from funding agencies, who are questioning why commercial publishers are making money from government-funded research by restricting access to it - is making access to scientific results a reality. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD.was just issued a report describing the far-reaching consequences of this. The report, by John Houghton of Victoria University in Australia and Graham Vickery of the OECD, makes heavy reading for publishers who have, so far, made handsome profits. But it goes further than that. It signals a change in what has, until now, been a key element of scientific endeavor.
The value of knowledge and the return on the public investment in research depends, in part, upon wide distribution and ready access. It is big business. In America, the core scientific publishing market is estimated at between $7 billion and $11 billion. The International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers says that there are more than 2,000 publishers worldwide specializing in these subjects. They publish more than 1.2 million articles each year in some 16,000 journals.
This is now changing. According to the OECD report, some 75% of scholarly journals are now online. Entirely new business models are emerging; three main ones were identified by the report’s authors. This is the so-called big deal, where institutional subscribers pay for access to a collection of online journal titles through site-licensing agreements. There is open-access publishing, typically supported by asking the author (or his employer. to pay for the paper to be published. Finally, there are open-access archives, where organizations such as universities or international laboratories support institutional repositories. Other models exist that are hybrids of these three, such as delayed open-access, where journals allow only subscribers to read a paper for the first six months, before making it freely available to everyone who wishes to see it. All this could change the traditional form of the peer-review process, at least for the publication of papers.
155.In the first paragraph, the author discusses
A. the background information of journal editing.
B. the publication routine of laboratory reports.
C. the relations of authors with journal publishers.
D. the traditional process of journal publication.
156.Which of the following is true of the OECD report?
A. It criticizes government-funded research.
B. It introduces an effective means of publication.
C. It upsets profit-making journal publishers.
D. It benefits scientific research considerably.
157. According to the text, online publication is significant in that
A. it provides an easier access to scientific results.
B. it brings huge profits to scientific researchers.
C. it emphasizes the crucial role of scientific knowledge.
D. it facilitates public investment in scientific research.
158.With the open-access publishing model, the author of a paper is required to
A .cover the cost of its publication.
B. subscribe to the journal publishing it.
C .allow other online journals to use it freely.
D. complete the peer-review before submission.
159.Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of the passage?
A. The Internet is posing a threat to publishers.
B. A new mode of publication is emerging.
C. Authors welcome the new channel for publication.
D. Publication is rendered easier by online service.
Passage Seven
Americans spend their free time in various ways.
America is a country of sports-of hunting, fishing and swimming, and of team sports like baseball and football. Millions of Americans watch their favorite sports on television. They also like to play in community orchestras(管弦乐队),make their own films or recordings, go camping ,visit museums, attend lectures, travel, garden, read, and join in hundreds of other activities. The people also enjoy building things for their homes, sewing their own clothes, even making their own photographs. They do these things for fun as well as for economy.
But as much as Americans enjoy their free time, the country is at the same time a"self-improvement" country. More than 25 million adults continue their education, chiefly by going to school in the evening, during their own free time, at their own expense. Added to the time spent on personal activities, Americans a1so devote a great amount of their time to the varied needs of their communities. Many hospitals, schools, libraries, museums, parks, community centers, and organizations that assist the poor depend on the many hours citizens devote to these activities, often without any pay. Why do they do it?
There are several answers. The idea of cooperating and sharing responsibility with one another for the benefit of all is as old as the country itself.
When the country was first founded in 1776,it was necessary for the settlers to work together to live. They had crossed dangerous seas and risked all they had in their struggle for political and religious freedom. There remains among many Americans a distrust of central government. People still prefer to do things themselves within their communities, rather than give the government more control.
Sometimes people offer their time because they wish to accomplish something for which no money is paid, to do something that will be of benefit to the entire community. It is true that some people use their leisure because they are truly interested in the work; or they are learning from the experience.
No matter what the reason is, hundreds of thousands of so called leisure hours are put into hard, unpaid work on one or another community need.
160.This passage is mainly about ________ .
A. why America is a country of sports
B. how Americans spend their free time
C. why America is a "self-improvement" country
161.The writer mentions the foundation of the country in order to indicate ________.
A. the early history of America
B. the American people's determination to live
C. the reason for Americans' willingness to cooperate and share responsibility
162.Which of the following best explains the meaning of the underlined word “leisure”
A. work time B. energy C. spare time
163.What can we infer from the text
A. The first settlers left their hometown for political and religious reasons.
B. Many Americans don′t trust the central government.
C. American people enjoy building things for their homes just for fun.
Passage Eight
Personal computers and the Internet give people new choices about how to spend their time.
Some may use this freedom to share less time with certain friends or family members, but new technology will also let them stay in closer touch with those they care most about. I know this from personal experience.
E-mail makes it easy to work at home, which is where I now spend most weekends and evenings. My working hours aren’t necessarily much shorter than they once were but I spend fewer of them at the office. This lets me share more time with my young daughter than I might have if she’d been born before electronic mail became such a practical tool.
The Internet also makes it easy to share thoughts with a group of friends. Say you do something fun see a great movie perhaps-and there are four or five friends who might want to hear about it. If you call each one, you may tire of telling the story.
With E-mail, you just write one note about your experience, at your convenience, and address it to all the friends you think might be interested. They can read your message when they have time, and read only as much as they want to. They can reply at their convenience, and you can read what they have to say at your convenience.
E-mail is also an inexpensive way stay in close touch with people who live far away. More than a few parents use E-mail to keep in touch, even daily touch, with their children off at college.
We just have to keep in mind that computers and the Internet offer another way of staying in touch. They don’t take the place of any of the old ways.
164.The purpose of this passage is to ________.
A. explain how to use the Internet
B. describe the writer’s joy of keeping up with the latest technology
C. tell the merits(价值) and usefulness of the Internet
D. introduce the reader to basic knowledge about personal computers and the Internet
165.The use of E-mail has made it possible for the writer to ________.
A. spend less time working
B. have more free time with his child
C. work at home on weekends
D. work at a speed comfortable to him
166.According to the writer, E-mail has an obvious advantage over the telephone because the former helps one ________.
A. reach a group of people at one time conveniently
B. keep one’s communication as personal as possible
C. pass on much more information than the later
D. get in touch with one’s friends faster than the later
167.The best title for this passage is ________.
A. Computer: New Technological Advances
B. Internet: New Tool to Maintain Good Friendship
C. Computers: Have Made Life Easier
D. Internet: a Convenient Tool for Communication
Passage Nine
A high school history teacher once told us,“If you make one close friend in school, you will be most fortunate.A true friend is someone who stays with you for life.” 1 teaches that he was right.Good friendship is just not easily 2 .
It is possible that we simply do not stay in one place long enough for a 3 friendship to develop.However,there can be no disagreement on the 4 for each of us to think carefully about the 5 of friendship we want.
To most of us,friendships are 6 very important,but we need to have clear in our 7 the kinds of friendship we want.Are they to be close or 8 at arm’s length?Do we want to share ourselves or do we want to walk on the 9 ?For some people,many friendships on the surface are 10 enough and that’s all right.But at some point, 11 to make sure that our expectations are the same as our friends’expectations.The 12 of personal experience including our tears as well as our dark dreams is the 13 way to deepen friendships.But it must be undertaken(进行)slowly and 14 only if there are signs of interest and action in return.
What are some of the 15 of friendship?The greatest is the attraction to expect too much time.Another “ 16 difficulty”is the selfishness to take actions too soon.Deep relationships
17 one“possesses”the other,including his time and attention. 18 ,friendships in return.In other words,you must give as much as you take. 19 there is a question of taking care of them. 20 you spend reasonable time together,talking on the phone,writing letters,doing things together,friendships will die away.
168.A.KnowledgeB.Practice C.Experience D.Success
169.A.understoodB.formed C.realized D.produced
170.A.trueB.common C.short D.whole
171.A.hopeB.difference C.need D.courage
172.A.kindB.length C.warmthD.value
173.A.madeB.considered C.explainedD.reminded
174.A.heartsB.thoughts C.actionsD.minds
175.A.remained B.left C.keptD.stayed
176.A.mudB.surface C.iceD.feet
177.A.longB.easy C.quite D.not
178.A.it needsB.we need C.one needs D.they need
179.A.spreadingB.sharing C.seekingD.showing
180.A.easiestB.latest C.worst D.surest
181.A.watched overB.turned away C.broken downD.carried on
182.A.difficultiesB.differences C.advantagesD.types
183.A.actualB.rough C.upsetD.major
184.A.requireB.request C.dependD.suggest
185.A.SurprisinglyB.Fortunately C.Similarly D.Frequently
186.A.FinallyB.Gradually C.ObviouslyD.Curiously
187.A.ThoughB.Unless C.SinceD.When
