公共英语 题目列表
Text 3Who's to blame? The trail of responsibility goes beyond poor maintenance of British railways, say industry critics. Stingy governments-both Labor and Tory-have cut down on investments in trains and rails.ln the mid-1990s a Conservative government pushed through the sale of the entire subsidy-guzzling rail network. Operating franchises were parceled out among private comparues and a separate firm,Railtrack, was awarded ownership of the tracks and stations. In the future, the theory ran back then, the private sector could pay for any improvements-with a little help from the state-and take the blame for any failings.Today surveys show that travelers believe privatization is one of the reasons for the railways 's failures. They ask whether the pursuit of profits is compatible with guaranteeing safety. Worse, splitting the network between companies has made coordination nearly impossible. "The railway was tom apart at privatization and the structure that was put in place was. . . designed, if we are honest, to maximize the proceeds to the Treasury," said Railtrack boss Gerald Corbett before resigning last month in the wake of the Hatfield crash.Generally, the contrasts with mainland Europe are stark. Over the past few decades the Germans, French and Italians have invested 50 percent more than the British in transportation infrastructure. As a result, a web of high-speed trains now crisscross the Continent, funded by governments willing to commit state funds to major capital projects. Spain is currently planning l,000 miles of new high- speed track.ln France superfast trains already shuttle between all major cities, often on dedicated lines. And in Britain? When the Eurostar trains that link Paris, London and Brussels emerge from the Channel Tunnel onto British soil and join the crowded local network, they must slow down from 186 mph to a maximum of 100 mph-and they usually have to go even slower.For once, the government is listening. After all, commuters are voters, too. In a pre-vote spending spree, the govemment has committed itself to huge investment in transportation, as well as education and the public health service. Over the next 10 years, the railways should get an extra ￡60 billion, partly through higher subsidies to the private companies. As Blair ackoowledged last month, " Britain has been underinvested in and investment is central to Britain's future. " You don't have to tell the 3 million passengers who use the railways every day. Last week trains to Darlington were an hour late-and crawling at Locomotion No.l speeds.51. In the first paragraph, the author tries to[ A] trace the tragedy to its defective origin.[ B] remind people of Britain's glonous past.[ C] explain the failure of Britain's rail network.[ D] call for impartiality in assessing the situation.
Dr Frisoni attributed the patients' changing music taste to[A] man's desire to seek novel experience.[B] the damage to the left part of the brain.[C] the shift of predominance from the right lobe to the left.[D] the weakening of some part of the nervous system.
Frontotemporal dementia is a disease[ A] identified with loss of memory.[ B] causing damage to certain parts of the brain.[ C] whose patients may develop new talents.[ D] whose symptoms are similar to those of Alzheimer's patients.
After contracting frontotemporal dementia, the 68-year-old lawyer[ A] became more dependent on'his family.[ B] grew fond of classical music.[ C] recovered from language incompetence.[ D] enjoyed loud Italian popular music.
The word "regression" in the lst paragraph is best replaced by[ A] backward movement.[ B] uncontrolled inclination.[ C] rapid advancement.[ D] unexpected restoration.
Text 2William Shakespeare described old age as" second childishness"-no teeth, no eyes, no taste. In the case of taste he may, musically speaking, have been more perceptive than he realised. A paper in Neurology by Giovanni Frisoni and his colleagues at the National Centre for Research and Care of Alzheimers's Disease in Italy, shows that frontotemporal dementia can affect musical desires in ways that suggest a regression ,if not to infancy,then at least to a patient's teens.Frontotemporal dementia, a disease usually found with old people, is caused, as its name suggests,by damage to the front and sides of the brain. These regions are concerned with speech, and with such"higher"functions as abstract thinking and judgment.Two of such patients intrigued Dr Frisoni. One was a 68-year-old lawyer, the other a 73-year- old housewife. Both had undamaged memories, but displayed the sorts of defect associated with frontotemporal dementia-a diagnosis that was confrrmed by brain scanning.About two years after he was first diagnosed, the lawyer, once a classical music lover who re-ferred to pop music as"mere noise" , started listening to the Italian pop band "883". As his command of language and his emotional attachments to friends and family deteriorated, he continued to listen to the band at full volume for many hours a day. The housewife had not even had the lawyer's love of classical music, having never enjoyed music of any sort in the past. But about a year after her diagnosis she became very interested in the songs that her ll-year-old granddaughter was listen ing to.This kind of change in musical taste was not seen in any of the Alzheimer's patients, and thus appears to be specific to those with frontotemporal dementia. And other studies have remarked on how frontotemporal-dementia patients sometimes gain new talents. Five sufferers who developed artistic abilities are known. And in another case, one woman with the disease suddenly started composing and singing country and western songs.Dr Frisoni speculates that the illness is causing people to develop a new attitude towards novel experiences, Previous studies of novelty-seeking behaviour suggest that it is managed by the brain'sright frontal lobe. A predominance of the right over the left frontal lobe, caused by damage to thelatter,might thus lead to a quest for new experience. Alternatively, the damage may have affectedsome specific nervous system that is needed to appreciate certain kinds of music. Whether that is again or a loss is a different matter. As Dr Frisoni puts it in his article, there is no accounting fortaste.46. The writer quotes Shakespeare mainly to[A] praise the keen perception of the great English writer.[B] support Dr. Frisoni 's theory about a disease.[C] start the discussion on a brain disease.[D] show the long history of the disease.
Which of the following can serve as a title of this text?[A] Hard Time for the Preschoolers[B] Prosperity of Private Schools[C] The Problem for Public Schools[D] Americans 's N0 1 Concern
From the text, we can infer that the author[ A] favors the idea of putting children on a waiting list.[ B] agrees to test preschooler's cognitive potentials.[ C] thinks children should be better prepared academically[ D] disapproves of the undue pressure on preschoolers.
The text indicates that private schools are very selective because they[A] have no reliable methods to pick students for a class.[B] want a good mixture of boys and girls for classes.[C] encounter more demand than they can cope with.[D] prefer to enroll children of their relatives.
The sentence" We have people. . . down the road" ( Line 4, Paragraph 2)probably means[ A] we have people calling us for parking space two years ahead of time.[ B] people called us for permission to use the places two years ago.[ C] we received calls from people down the road two years ago.[D] people called us for school vacancies two years in advance.
Section III Reading Comprehension(60 minutes)Part ADirections :Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D.Mark your answers on, ANSWER SHEET1.Text 1Competition for admission to the country's top private schools has always been tough, but this year Elisabeth realized it had reached a new level. Her wake-up call came when a man called the Dalton School in Manhattan, where Elisabeth is admissions director, and inquired about the age cutoff for their kindergarten program. After providing the information, she asked about the age of his child. The man paused for an uncomfortably long time before answering. "Well, we don't have a child yet. We're trying to figure out when to conceive a child so the birthday is not a problem. "Worries are spreading from Manhattan to the rest of the country. Precise current data on private schools are unavailable, but interviews with representatives of independent schools all told the same story: an oversupply of applicants, higher rejection rates. "We have people calling us for spots two years down the road," said Marilyn of the Seven Hills School in Cincinnati. " We have grandparents calling for pregnant daughters. " Public opinion polls indicate that Americans' No. 1 concern is edu-cation .Now that the long economic boom has given parents more disposable income, many are tuming to private schools, even at price tags of well over $ 10,000 a year. "We're getting appli-cants from a broader area geographically than we ever have in the past," said Betsy of the Latin School of Chicago, which experienced a 20 percent increase in applications this year.The problem for the applicants is that while demand has increased, supply has not. "Every Year ,there are a few children who do not find places, but this year, for the first time that I know of , there are a significant number without places ,"said Elisabeth.So what can parents do to give their 4-year-old an edge? Schools know there is no easy way to pick a class when children are so young. Many schools give preference to children of their gradu- ates. Some make the choice by drawing lots. But most rely on a mix of subjective and objective measures: tests that at best identify developmental maturity and cognitive potential, interviews with parents and observation of applicants in classroom settings. They also want a diverse mix. Children may end up on a waiting list simply because their birthdays fall at the wrong time of year, or be- cause too many applicants were boys.The worst thing a patent can do is to pressure preschoolers to perform-for example, by push-ing them to read or do math exercises before they're ready. Instead, the experts say, parents should take a breath and look for alternatives. Another year in preschool may be all that's needed.41. From this text we learn that it is[A] harder to make a choice between public and private schools.[B] harder to go to private schools this year than before.[C] more difficult to go to public schools than to private schools.[D] as difficult to go to private schools this year as before.
[A] on[B] in[C] among[D] along