1、Part II Reading ComprehensionDirections: In this part there are 4 passages. Each passage is followed by five questions. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each question. Then, mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.Questions 21

2、to 25 are based on the following passage:After-sales service and guarantee become an integral and essential part of a “good brand” on both local and regional levels, and the provision of such also produces solid ground for customer loyalty.Customers today are a lot more demanding than before. Being

3、able to find after-sales service creates a feeling of convenience and a sense of responsibility from the manufacturer. This is very important to build customer loyalty and explains why more 24-hour hotline centers are available nowadays.Product guarantee is also one of the major factors when a poten

4、tial customer decides to make a purchase. Whether this be in the form of a written guarantee or a guarantee based on reputation, the importance to the consumer is self-evident. A brands research & development, an unavoidable investment, usually back up safety guarantees for marketers nowadays. Produ

5、ct testing and refinement are conducted for both new and existing products. With the help of computerized machinery, quality control has achieved the highest level than ever before to enable consistency in production. For the consumer this means a quality of guarantee for that brand whether it be av

6、ailable at home or abroad.21. After-sales service and guarantee can provide the customers with _.A. solid ground for loyaltyB. sense of responsibilityC. a feeling of convenienceD. sense of satisfaction 22. More 24-hour hotline centers appear because _.A. more and more customers demand after-sales se

7、rvicesB. there are more and more complaints from customersC. more companies come to realize the importance of after-sales services.D. they have become a new type of investment 23. Product guarantee _.A. must be in written formB. can be based on the companys reputationC. is not often provided by the

8、companiesD. often fails to meet in reality 24. Product testing and refinement are conducted for _.A. new products onlyB. quality productsC. dangerous productsD. both new and existing products 25. Which is NOT mentioned concerning product guarantee?A. A brands research & development.B. Product testin

9、g and refinement.C. Quality control.D. Product distribution.Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage:Within fifteen years Britain and other nations should be well on with the building of huge industrial complexes for the recycling of waste. The word rubbish could lose its meaning becaus

10、e everything which goes into the dumps would be made into something useful. Even the most dangerous and unpleasant waste would provide energy if nothing else.The latest project is to take a city around half a million inhabitants and discover exactly what raw materials go into it and what go out. The

11、 aim is to find out how much of these raw materials could be provided if a plant for recycling waste were built just outside the city. This plant would recycle not only metals such as steel, lead and copper, but also paper and rubber as well.Another new project is being set up to discover the best w

12、ays of sorting and separating the rubbish. When this project is complete, the rubbish will be processed like this: first, it will pass through sharp metal bars which will tear open the plastic bags in which rubbish is usually packed; then it will pass through a powerful fan to separate the lightest

13、elements from the heavy solids; after that grounders and rollers will break up everything that can be broken. Finally, the rubbish will pass under magnets, which will remove the bits of iron and steel; the rubber and plastic will then be sorted out in the final stage.The first full-scale giant recyc

14、ling plants are, perhaps, fifteen years away. Indeed, with the growing cost of transporting rubbish to more distant dumps, some big cities will be forced to build their own recycling plants before long.26. The latest project mentioned in paragraph two is meant to find out _.A. what useful materials

15、are being wastedB. how much of the rubbish can be reusedC. how to recycle paper and rubber as wellD. what kind of metal a plant can provide 27. What is NOT mentioned as a part of the recycling process described in paragraph three?A. Breaking what is breakable.B. Separating light elements from heavy

16、onesC. Sorting out small pieces of metal.D. Sharpening metal bars. 28. Whats the main reason for big cities to build their own recycling plants?A. To deal with waste in a better way.B. To protect the environment from pollution.C. To get cheap raw materials.D. To make big profits from those plants. 2

17、9. The first full-scale big recycling plants _.A. have been in operation for fifteen yearsB. were under construction fifteen year agoC. will probably be in operation within fifteen yearsD. will take less than fifteen years to build30. The passage is mainly about _.A. a cheap method to get energyB. t

18、he location of recycling plantsC. a good way of recycling wasteD. the protection of city environmentQuestions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:In Western countries people have been using the installment plan since the first half of the twentieth century. Today, a large number of families

19、in Great Britain buy furniture, household goods and cars by installments. In the U.S., the figure is much higher than in Great Britain, and people there spend over 10 percent of their income on the installment plan. The price of an article bought on installments is always higher than the price that

20、would be paid by cash. There is a charge for interest. The buyer pays one quarter or one third of the price as a down payment when the goods are delivered to him. He then makes regular payments, weekly or monthly, until the full price is paid up. The legal ownership of the goods remains with the sel

21、ler until the final payment has been made.Installment buying has advantages and disadvantages. It can help couples with small incomes to furnish their homes and start housekeeping. It increases the demand for goods, and in this way helps business and employment. There is, however, the danger that wh

22、en business is bad, installment buying may end suddenly, making business much worse. This may result in a great increase in unemployment. If the people on the installment plan lose their jobs, they will probably not be able to make their payments. If great numbers of people are not able to pay their

23、 installment debts there is a possibility that businessmen cannot collect their debts and will therefore lose money. If businessmen lose money or fail to make a satisfactory profit, it becomes more likely to have a depression. This is why, in some countries, the government controls the installment p

24、lan by fixing the amount of the down payment and each of the following installments to discourage people from buying more than they can pay for on the installment plan.31. Which of the following is NOT true about the installment plan?A. A lot of British families use the installment plan.B. More than

25、 10 percent American families buy things on installments.C. Americans depend more on installment than British people do.D. Americans spend one tenth of their income on installment buying.32. Goods bought on installments are more expensive than goods bought by cash because _.A. the buyer has to pay e

26、xtra money as interestB. the delivery of the goods charges extra moneyC. the buyer has to pay a down paymentD. the service offered by installment plan charged extra money33. What will happen to a buyer if he fails to make the full payment for an item bought on installments?A. He might lose his job.B

27、. He will stop owning the item he has bought.C. He will have to sell what he has bought.D. He will go into debt.34. The advantage of installment buying might include all the following EXCEPT that _.A. purchasing power is strengthenedB. employment might be increasedC. people develop a good habit of s

28、aving moneyD. young couples are able to furnish their homes35. In some countries, the governments control the installment plan to _.A. increase employmentB. avoid depressionsC. ensure that businesses make good profitsD. ensure that people can pay for what hey buyQuestions 36 to 40 are based on the f

29、ollowing passage:Testing has replaced teaching in most public schools. My own childrens school week is framed by pretests, drills, tests, and retests. They know that the best way to read a textbook is to look at the questions at the end of the chapter and then skim the text for the answers. I believ

30、e that my daughter Erica, who gets excellent marks, has never read a chapter of any of her school textbooks all the way through. And teachers are often heard to state proudly and openly that they teach to the mandated (訓令的) state test.Teaching to the test is a curious phenomenon. Instead of deciding

31、 what skills students ought to learn, helping students learn them, and then using some sensible methods of assessment to discover whether students have mastered the skills， teachers are encouraged to reverse the process. First one looks at a commercially available test. Then one distills (去除) the sk

32、ills needed not to master reading, say, or math, but to do well on the test. Finally, the test skills are taught.The ability to read or write or calculate might imply the ability to do reasonably well on standardized tests. However, neither reading nor writing develops simply through being taught to

33、 take tests. We must be careful to avoid mistaking preparation for a test of a skill with the acquisition of that skill. Too many discussions of basic skills make this fundamental confusion because people are test obsessed (被著魔的) rather than concerned with the nature and quality of what is taught.Re

34、cently many schools have faced what could be called the crisis of comprehension or, in simple terms, the phenomenon of students with phonic and grammar skills still being unable to understand what they read.These students are competent at test taking and filling in workbooks and ditto (復制品) masters.

35、 However they have little or no experience reading or thinking, and talking about what they read. They know the details but cant see or understand the whole. They are taught to be so concerned with grade that they have no time or ease of mind to think about meaning, and reread things if necessary.36

36、. The author gives an account of Ericas performance in her study in order to _.A) illustrate her cleverness in test-takingB) reveal the incompetence of teachersC) show there is something wrong with current practice in teachingD) demonstrate the best way to read textbooks37. Which of the following is

37、 true according to the passage?A) The phenomenon of teaching to the test has aroused curiosity in many educators.B) Skills in general are not only useless but often lead students astray 迷路的,犯錯誤.C) Ability to read and write is one thing, and ability to do well on standardized tests is quite another.D) Preparation for a test of a skill does not necessarily