Reading Comprehension
Directions: Read the following passage. Choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D for each question.

（1）Many people believe that taking vitamin supplements is the best safeguard against the dangers of an incomplete diet, but this should be a last resort rather than a way out of a problem. Even if there is a genuine need for extra vitamins, then sooner or later the question arises "which ones do I need, how much of them, and how often?" There is really no simple answer to this question. The Food Standards Committee suggest in their recent report to the government that we do not need any extra vitamins. They say that they are "not necessary for a healthy individual eating a normal diet". Whilst few of us would challenge their authority on the subject of nutrition it is, perhaps, pertinent to ask the question "how many of us are healthy, and what is a normal diet?" There is an element of doubt in many minds about these two aspects and though few people are familiar with the wording of the Food Standards Report they do wonder instinctively if they are eating the right things. The blame for faulty eating habits is often placed at the door of the ubiquitous junk and convenience foods. As we have seen, some of these are not the criminals they are made out to be. White bread is only slightly less nutritious than brown bread and frozen vegetables can be almost as "fresh" as fresh food. There are very few foods which can really be described as pure rubbish. Many pre-packed goods contain too much sugar and we would all benefit by avoiding these, but most tinned, processed and dried foods contain useful amounts of fat, protein, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals. The addition of a small amount of fruit or a side salad to convenience foods such as pizzas or hamburgers can turn a snack into a well-balanced meal. 

（2）“Junk” food is difficult to define. White sugar is probably the nearest contender for the title. It contains plenty of calories for energy but not much else, and is often described as an "empty calorie" food. Alcohol is also high in calories, but beer and wine contain some of the B vitamins and wine is a good source of iron, so even a teetotaler could not describe all alcohol as useless, nutritionally speaking. Calories measure the energy we derive from the food we eat, and sugar and alcohol are sometimes described as having a high energy density. There is a limit to the amount of energy we need each day (2,000-2,200 calories is the average for women and 2,500-3,000 for men) and if we eat too much sugar and alcohol there is no appetite left for the vitamin-rich foods we need — fish, meat, fruit and vegetables. Buying vitamins can be predicted by psychological as well as nutritional motives and it is prudent to investigate why we think we need them and what benefits we expect from them before we rush off to the health shop to make our purchases. 

Reading Comprehension.
Directions: Read the following passage. Choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D for each question.

     Electronic computers are among the fastest and most useful instruments for sorting and comparing in use today. Computers provide the means for greater speed and accuracy in working with ideas than had previously been possible. With the development of these new tools, it is as if man has suddenly become a millionaire of the mind.
     Although man has been growing mentally richer ever since he started to think, the electronic computer allows and will continue to allow him to perform tremendous "mental" tasks in a relatively short time. Great scientists of the past produced ideas which were the basis for great advances, but their ideas sometimes had to wait for years before they were understood sufficiently well to be of practical use. With the computer, the ideas of today's scientists can be studied, tested, distributed, and used more rapidly than ever before.

     Old lines and methods of communication do not work easily or efficiently with as much information as we have now. The repeated actions of preparing, sorting, filling, distributing, and keeping track of records and publications can be as troublesome as calculating. Errors occur because men grow tired and can be distracted.
     The basic job of computers is the processing of information. For this reason computers can be defined as devices which accept information, perform mathematical or logical operations with the information, and then supply the results of these operations as new information.
     Although a sharp dividing line between types of computers is not always easy to see, computers are usually divided into two broad groups: digital and analog. Digital computers work by using specific information which is usually in the form of numbers. Analog computers, on the other hand, usually process continuous information.
     To explain this difference, let us consider two devices which handle information in a manner similar to the two types of computers. A turnstile, which has a counter attached to it, can help to explain the way a digital computer works. Each time a person passes through the turnstile, the indicator quickly jumps from one number to another. Each number registered is separate and specific.
     The continuous change in the level of sand in an hour glass as time passes makes it an analog device. Perhaps the first analog computation was the use of graphs for the solution of surveying problems.

Reading Comprehension
Directions: Read the following passage. Choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D for each question.

（1）At last, unemployment is easing. But the latest low rate — hovering below 6 percent — obscures a deeper，longer-term problem: “skills mismatches” in the labor force, which will only worsen in years to come. According to the most recent figures, 9.3 million Americans are unemployed, but 4.8 million jobs stand empty because employers can't find people to fill them. With new technology transforming work across a range of sectors, more and more businesses are struggling to find workers with the skills to man new machines and manage new processes.
（2）One solution has enchanted employers, educators, and policymakers on both sides of die aisle: European-style apprenticeship.
（3）I’ve just come back from Germany, where I visited some half dozen apprenticeship programs at brand-name companies like Daimler, Siemens, and Bosch, and the metaphor I came away with is a native tree — flourishing, productive, highly adapted to its local climate zone, but unlikely to lake root or grow in a climate as different as the America’s. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t adapt the German model. But it’s not going to be quick or easy.
（4）The U.S. has its own tradition of apprenticeship going back many years. But like most kinds of vocational education, it fell out of fashion in recent decades — a victim of our obsession with college and concern to avoid anything that resembles tracking. Today in America, fewer than 5 percent of young people train as apprentices, the overwhelming majority in the construction trades. In Germany, the number is closer to 60 percent一in fields as diverse as advanced manufacturing, IT, banking, and hospitality. And in Europe, what's often called “dual training” is a highly respected career path.
（5）“Dual training” captures the idea at the heart of every apprenticeship: Trainees split their days between classroom instruction at a vocational school and on-the-job time at a company. The theory they learn in class is reinforced by the practice at work. They also learn work habits and responsibility and, if all goes well, absorb the culture of the company. Trainees are paid for their time, including in class. The arrangement lasts for two to four years, depending on the sector. And both employer and employee generally hope it will lead to a permanent job — for employers, apprentices are a crucial talent pool.
（6）The first thing you notice about German apprenticeships: The employer and the employee still respect practical work. German firms don't view dual training as something for struggling students or at-risk youth. This has nothing to do with corporate social responsibility,” an HR manager at Deutsche Bank told the group I was with, organized by an offshoot of the Goethe Institute. “l do this because l need talent.” So too at Bosch.  

     Disillusionment with government and politics has contributed to the public’s fascination with the media’s increased interest in the character issue. The public’s growing concern with character may be considered instinctual. Too often, in recent past, voters have reached out to candidates with neatly packaged virtues—characteristics they often fail to have in reality.
     There is another reason why the American people have “encouraged” the media to explore the politicians as never before. Political parties have seldom been more interchangeable. Ideological differences have become blurred. And the nation’s social and economic problems are too complicated to submit to clever political slogans. Consequently, most of the candidates now play it safe on the issues，relying on their rhetorical skills to produce the greatest number of sound bites that say as little as possible. The character issue becomes a way to sell candidates and to set them apart from each other.
     The issue of the media and character raises a number of important questions. Has the media gone too far in attempting to define what character is and what role it should play in identifying the differences between political candidates? Are the print media and television really responding to the public’s growing desire for a greater “need to know” their candidates or are they manufacturing everything, no matter how trivial, in hope of selling more newspapers or achieving higher rating points? Is the media being responsible in defining the role of character in a political campaign? The great amount of coverage and the intensifying competition among the news organizations have led to more reports about the candidates’ personal and especially sexual lives，says political science professor Larry Sabato, author of Feeding Frenzy.
     As the bigger more important issues become increasingly more complicated, the media has begun to focus more and more attention on the trifles. Character no longer becomes a question of how a candidate may handle an international crisis or prioritize a domestic agenda but whether the candidate cheated on a college exam years ago or committed adultery. By elevating character as an important element in the presidential election，has the media lost sight of properly defining character and the role it should play in identifying the best candidate?

Reading Comprehension
Directions: Read the following passage. Choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D for each question.

（1）I've known the mother sitting in front of me at this parent-teacher conference for years, and we have been through a lot together. I have taught three of her children, and I like to think we've even become friends during our time together. She's a conscientious mother who obviously loves her children with all of her heart. I've always been honest with her about their strengths and weaknesses, and I think she trusts me to tell her the truth. But when she hits me with the concern that's been bothering her for a while, all I can do is nod, and stall for time.
（2）"Marianna's grades are fine; I'm not worried about that, but she just doesn't seem to love learning anymore.” She’s absolutely right. I’d noticed the same thing about her daughter over the previous two or three years, and I have an answer, right there on the tip of my tongue, for what has gone wrong.
（3）The truth 一 for this parent and so many others 一 is this: Her child has sacrificed her natural curiosity and love of learning at the altar of achievement, and it's our fault. Marianna's parents, her teachers, society at large 一 we are all implicated in this crime against learning. From her first day of school, we pointed her toward that altar and trained her to measure her progress by means of points, scores, and awards. We taught Marianna that her potential is tied to her intellect, and that her intellect is more important than her character. We taught her to come home proudly bearing as championship trophies, and college acceptances, and we inadvertently taught her that we don't really care how she obtains them. We taught her to protect her academic and extracurricular perfection at all costs and that it's better to quit when things get challenging rather than risk marring that perfect record. Above all else, we taught her to fear failure. That fear is what has destroyed her love of learning. 

（4）Marianna is very smart and high-achieving, and her mother reminds her of that on a daily basis. However, Marianna does not get praised for the diligence and effort she puts into sticking with a hard math problem or a convoluted scientific inquiry. If that answer at the end of the page is wrong or if she arrives at a dead end in her research, she has failed — no matter what she has learned from her struggle. And contrary to what she may believe, in these more difficult situations she is learning. She learns to be creative in her problem-solving. She learns diligence. She learns self-control and perseverance. But because she is scared to death of tailing, she has started to take fewer intellectual risks.

Reading Comprehension.
Directions: Read the following passage. Choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D for each question.

     The ups and downs of life may seem to have no predictable plan. But scientists now know there are very definite life patterns that almost all people share. Today, when we live 20 years longer than our great-grandparents, and when women mysteriously outlive men by seven years, it is clearer than ever that the “game of life” is really a game of trade-offs. As we age, we trade strength for ingenuity, speed for thoroughness, and passion for reason. These exchanges may not always seem fair, but at every age, there are some advantages. So it is reassuring to note that even if you’ve passed some of your “prime”, you still have other prime years to experience in the future. Certain important primes seem to peak later in time.

      WHEN ARE YOU HEALTHIEST? For men, from 15 to 25; for women 15 to 30.
     “A man is in his best shape in the decade before age 25,’’ says New York internist Dr. Donald Tomkins. “His muscles are firmest, his resistance to colds and infections is highest, and his body is most efficient in utilizing nutrients.” Women, for reasons scientists do not understand, get a five-year bonus. Peak health begins to decline when the body process called anabolism (cell growth) is overtaken by the opposite process, catabolism (cell death). “Cells have been dying since birth,” says Tomkins, “but in our late 20’s, they start dying faster than they are replaced.” Also, muscle is replaced with fat. 

      Women also get an additional bonus of good health later in life. The figures of National Institute of Health show that the onset of such “old age” diseases as arthritis, rheumatism, and heart ailments denies the generally greater fitness of women: Life expectancy for men is now 68.3; for women 75.9. U.S. aging authority William Kannel says, “Older women with low blood pressure are practically important.” However, psychologists believe that by entering the competitive job market in increasing numbers, women may eventually give up their statistical advantage.
      WHEN ARE YOU MOST CREATIVE? Generally between 30 to 39, but the peak varies with different professions.
      Mozart wrote a symphony and four sonatas by age eight, and Mendelssohn composed his best-known work, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, at 17. Psychologist H. C. Lehman presents the years for peak work in many fields. Though the peak in most fields comes early—most Nobel Prize winners did their top research in their late 20’s and 30’s―creative people continue to produce quality work throughout their lives.

Reading Comprehension.

Directions: Read the following passage. Choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D for each question.

     There must be few questions on which responsible opinion is so utterly divided as on that of how much sleep we ought to have. There are some who think we can leave the body to regulate these matters for itself. "The answer is easy," says Dr. A. Burton. "With the right amount of sleep you should wake up fresh and alert five minutes before the alarm rings." If he is right, many people must be undersleeping, including myself. But we must remember that some people have a greater inertia than others. This is not meant rudely. They switch on slowly, and they are reluctant to switch off. They are alert at bedtime and sleepy when it is time to get up, and this may have nothing to do with how fatigued their bodies are, or how much sleep they must take to lose their fatigue.
     Other people feel sure that the present trend is towards too little sleep. According to one medical opinion, thousands of people drift through life suffering from the effects of too little sleep; the reason is not that they can't sleep. Like advancing colonists, we do seem to be grasping ever more of the land of sleep for our waking needs, pushing the boundary back and reaching, apparently, for a point in our evolution where we will sleep no more. This in itself, of course, need not be a bad thing. What could be disastrous, however, is that we should press too quickly towards this goal, sacrificing sleep only to gain more time in which to jeopardize our civilization by actions and decisions made weak by fatigue. Then, to complete the picture, there are those who believe that most people are persuaded to sleep too much. Dr H. Roberts, writing in Every Man in Health, asserts. "It may safely be stated that, just as the majority eat too much, so the majority sleep too much." One can see the point of this also. It would be a pity to retard our development by holding back those people who are gifted enough to work and play well with less than the average amount of sleep, if indeed it does them no harm. If one of the trends of evolution is that more of the life span is to be spent in gainful waking activity, then surely these people are in the van of this advance.

Reading Comprehension

Directions: Read the following passage. Choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D for each question.

     As the first generations grow up in a wired world，teenagers hardly know a time when computers weren’t around, and they leap at the chance to spend hours online, chatting with friends and searching the web for their interested topics. So what?
     But researchers nationwide are increasingly concerned that teenagers are becoming more isolated，less skillful at interpersonal relationships, and perhaps numb to the small-or-big cheating that is so much a part of the e-mail world. Researchers are asking just how the futures of teenagers are changed when so many of them are spending hours on the Internet each day, replacing face-to-face contact with computer contact.
Teens, who used computers even just a few hours a week, showed increased signs of loneliness and social isolation. These teens have fewer friends to hang around with, possibly because their computer time has replaced the hours they would have spent with others. They don’t see anything strange in the fact that the computer screen occupies a central place in their social lives. They think school is stressful and busy. There’s almost no time to just hang out. Talking online is just catch-up time.
     Many teens acknowledge there’s an unreal quality to their cyberspace communication, including their odd shorthand terms, such as POS (parent over shoulder) or LOL (laughing out loud). This code is considered as part of the exclusive shared language that teenagers love. When it comes to e-mail exchanges, teens also show a remarkable tolerance for each other’s excuses or tricks. Nor are they surprised when a mere acquaintance unloads a personal secret through e-mail. Nobody seems to expect the online world to be the same as the real world.
     Teens say they also appreciate the ability to edit what they say online, or take the time to think about a response. As cowardly as it may seem, some teens admit that asking someone for a date，or breaking up，can be easier in message form. But they insist there’s no harm intended, and cyberspace has become just another medium, like the telephone, in the world of teenagers.

Reading Comprehension.
Directions: Read the following passage. Choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D for each question.

     We were pleased to see the Defense Department finally recognize the power of the Supreme Court over prisoners of the military and order the armed forces to follow the Geneva Conventions requirement of decent treatment for all prisoners, even terrorism suspects. It was a real step forward for an administration that tossed aside the Geneva rules years ago and then tried to place itself beyond the reach of the courts.
     However, the Pentagon memo released yesterday, claimed, falsely, that its prisoner policies already generally complied with the Geneva Conventions — the sole exception being the military commissions created by President Bush and struck down by the high court. That disingenuousness may have simply been an attempt to save face. If so, it was distressing but ultimately not all that significant. What really matters is that Congress bring the military prisons back under the rule of law, and create military tribunals for terrorism suspects that will meet the requirements of the Constitution and the Geneva Conventions.
     The other thing that really matters is that the White House actually agrees to obey the law this time. Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held the first of three hearings scheduled this week on this issue, and the early results were mixed. Most of the senators, including key Republicans, said they were committed to drafting legislation that did more than merely rubber-stamp the way Mr. Bush decided to set up Guantánamo Bay.
     The government’s witnesses, including top lawyers from the Justice and Defense Departments, seemed most interested in arguing that the military commissions were legal. They argued for what would be the worst possible outcome: that Congress just approve what Mr. Bush did and enact exceptions to the Geneva Conventions.
     But Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift of the Navy, who represented Salim Ahmed Hamdan, the prisoner whose case was before the Supreme Court, provided damning evidence about how utterly flawed those commissions were — from military prosecutors. He quoted one, Capt. John Carr of the Air Force (since promoted to major), who condemned “a halfhearted and disorganized effort by a skeleton group of relatively inexperienced attorneys to prosecute fairly the low-level accused in a process that appears to be rigged. ”
     The administration has professed its allegiance to the humane treatment of prisoners and to the rule of law before. But repairing the constitutional balance of powers and America’s profoundly damaged global image demands more than lip service.

Reading Comprehension.
Directions: Read the following passage. Choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D for each question.

     Imagine eating everything delicious you want-with none of the fat. That would be great, wouldn’t it?
     New “fake fat” products appeared on store shelves in the United States recently, but not everyone is happy about it. Makers of the products, which contain a compound called olestra, say food manufacturers can now eliminate fat from certain foods. Critics, however, say the new compound can rob the body of essential vitamins and nutrients and can also cause unpleasant side effects in some people. So it’s up to decide whether the new fat-free products taste good enough to keep eating.
     Chemists discovered olestra in the late 1960s, when they were searching for a fat that could be digested by infants more easily. Instead of finding the desired fat, the researchers created a fat that can’t be digested at all.
     Normally, special chemicals in the intestines “grab” molecules of regular fat and break them down so they can be used by the body. A molecule of regular fat is made up of three molecules of substances called fatty acids.
     The fatty acids are absorbed by the intestines and bring with them the essential vitamins A, D, E, and K. When fat molecules are present in the intestines with any of those vitamins, the vitamins attach to the molecules and are carried into the bloodstream.
     Olestra, which is made from six to eight molecules of fatty acids, is too large for the intestines to absorb. It just slides through the intestines without being broken down. Manufacturers say it’s that ability to slide unchanged through the intestines that makes olestra so valuable as a fat substitute. It provides consumers with the taste of regular fat without any bad effects on the body. But critics say olestra can prevent vitamins A, D, E, and K from being absorbed. It can also prevent the absorption of carotenoids, compounds that may reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, etc.
     Manufacturers are adding vitamins A, D, E, and K as well as carotenoids to their products now. Even so, some nutritionists are still concerned that people might eat unlimited amounts of food made with the fat substitute without worrying about how many calories they are consuming.

Reading Comprehension.
Directions: Read the following passage. Choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D for each question.

       The age of gilded youth is over. Today's under-thirties are the first generation for a century who can expect a lower living standard than their parents.
　　Research into the lifestyles and prospects of people who were born since 1970 shows that they are likely to face a lifetime of longer working hours, lower job security and higher taxes than the previous generation.
　　When they leave work late in the evening, they will be more likely to return to a small rented flat than to a house of their own. When, eventually, they retire, their pensions are far lower in real terms than those of their immediate forebears.
　　These findings are revealed in a study of the way the ageing of Britain's population is affecting different generations.
　　Anthea Tinker, professor of social gerontology at King's College London, who carried out much of the work, said the growth of the proportion of people over 50 had reversed the traditional flow of wealth from older to younger generations.
　　"Today's older middle-aged and elderly are becoming the new winners," she said. "They made relatively small contributions in tax but now make relatively big claims on the welfare system. Generations born in the last three to four decades face the prospect of handing over more than a third of their lifetime's earnings to care for them."
　　The surging number of older people, many living alone, has also increased demand for property and pushed up house prices. While previous generations found it easy to raise a mortgage, today's under-thirties have to live with their parents or rent. If they can afford to buy a home it is more likely to be a flat than a house.
　　Laura Lenox-Conyngham, 28, grew up in a large house and her mother did not need to work. Unlike her wealthy parents, she graduated with student and postgraduate loan debts of ￡13,000. She now earns about ￡20,000 a year, preparing food to be photographed for magazines. Her home is a one-bedroom flat in central London and she sublets the lunge sofa-bed to her brother.
　　"My father took pity and paid off my student debts," she said. "But I still have no pension and no chance of buying a property for at least a couple of years—and then it will be something small in a bad area. My only hope is the traditional one of meeting a rich man."
　　Tinker's research reveals Lenox-Conyngham is representative of many young professionals, especially in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Bristol.