Part I Reading Comprehension(40% 35minutes)

　　Directions: In this part there are four passages. Each passage is followed by a number of comprehension questions. Read the passage and choose the best answer to each question. Then, mark your answer by blackening the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.

　　Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage:

　　In 1977, a dead author of detective stories saved the life of a 19-month-old baby in a most unusual way. The author was Agatha Christie, a gentle married lady and one of the most successful writers of detective stories in the world.

　　In June 1977, a baby girl became seriously ill in Qatar, near Saudi Arabia. Doctors were unable to decide the cause of her illness with confidence, so she was flown to London and admitted to Hammersmith Hospital, where specialist help was available (可得到的). She was then only semiconscious (半清醒状态) and on the “Dangerously ill” list. A team of doctors hurried to examine the baby only to discover that they, too, were puzzled by the very unusual symptoms. While they were discussing the baby’s case, a nurse asked to speak to them.

　　“Excuse me.” said Nurse Marsha Maitland, “but I think the baby is suffering from thallium poisoning.”

　　“What makes you think that?” Dr Brown asked. “Thallium poisoning is extremely rare.”

　　“A few days ago, 1 was reading a novel called A Pale Horse by Agatha Christie,” Nurse Maitland explained. “In the book, somebody uses thallium poison, and all the symptoms are described. They’re exactly the same as the baby’s.”

　　“You’re very observant and you may be right,” another doctor said. “We’11 carry out some tests and find out whether it’s thallium or not.”

　　The tests showed that the baby had indeed been poisoned by thallium, a rare metallic substance used in making optical glass. Once they knew the cause of illness, the doctors were able to give the baby the correct treatment. She soon recovered and was sent back to Qatar. Enquiries made people know that the poison might have come from an insecticide used in Qatar.

　　1. Who first suggested the correct cause of the baby’s illness?

　　A. A doctor in Qatar. B . Dr Brown.

　　C. Nurse Maitland D. Agatha Christie

　　2. Why was the baby sent to London?

　　A . Because she was a British girl whose parents were working in Qatar.

　　B . Because the hospitals in Qatar were full at that time.

　　C. Because she was the daughter of a doctor in one of the hospitalsin London.

　　D. Because the Qatar doctors were not sure they could cure her.

　　3. According to the passage, what caused the baby’s illness?

　　A .Contact with a pair of infected spectacles.

　　B. Contact with a harmful substance used to kill insects.

　　C. Contact with machinery used in manufacturing optical glasses.

　　D. Contact with her mother who carried thallium germs in her body.

　　4. When the baby was first admitted to hospital in the U. K. what did

　　the doctors think of her case?

　　A. They thought it was a case needing immediate treatment.

　　B. They thought it was a usual one.

　　C. They thought it was quite a simple one.

　　D. They thought it was the result of thallium poisoning.

　　5. Nurse Maitland spoke to the doctors ___________.

　　A . when she heard them discussing the possibility of thallium poisoning.

　　B. because she could see that the doctors had made a mistake.

　　C. to suggest a possible cause of the patient’s illness.

　　D. after she had read about a horse which had been poisoned.

　　Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage:

　　E-mail systems at thousands of companies and government offices around the world were attacked by a virus (病毒) called “Melissa” that disguises itself as all “important message” from a friend.

　　Even though there was a weekend warning, more than 50,000 companies at about 100 places around the world have been attacked by the virus, computer experts said on Monday.

　　The virus began to show up last Friday and spread rapidly the next first work day by making computers send off dozens of e-mails containing the virus. Although the virus had no long-lasting damage to a computer, its effects were far-reaching.

　　Michael Vatic, a senior US official, said military (军事的) and government computers were damaged, along with thousands of the other institutions’ systems.

　　The body of e-mail message says, “Here is what you ask for . . .” once the user opens it, the virus digs into the user’s address book and sends out messages to the first 50 ad-dresses. The reason the virus spread so rapidly is that you’re getting it from people you know and trust. So any one who gets an unexpected e-mail with the “Important Message” subject line is advised not to open it and to delete (删除) it immediately.

　　6. From the passage we know that the virus attacked thousands of computers on _________.

　　A . Monday B. Saturday

　　C. Friday D. the first day of a month

　　7. The virus spread rapidly because ____________.

　　A. it makes computers work without stop

　　B. it carries a word “Important Message’’

　　C. it sends out messages to dozens of computers at one time

　　D. it attacks military and government offices

　　8. The underlined word ‘‘disguise” most probably means __________.

　　A. dress B. cover up

　　C. paint D. notice

　　9. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

　　A. The computer attacked by the virus won’t work properly.

　　B. Thousands of computers were attacked by the virus one by one.

　　C. The ‘‘Important Message” carries an important message from a friend.

　　D. Any computer with an e-mail system will be attacked by the virus.

　　10. Which of the following is the best title for this passage?

　　A. Stop Using Your Computers

　　B. “Important Message” Is A Virus

　　C. Messages Form Friends Contain Virus

　　D. Virus Strikes Hard And Fast

　　Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage:

　　People like different kinds of vacations. Some go camping. They swim, fish, cook over a fire and sleep outside. Others like to stay at a hotel in an exciting city. They go shopping all day and go dancing all night. Or maybe they go sightseeing to places such as Disneyland, the Tai Mahal or the Louver.

　　Some people are bored with sightseeing trips. They don’t want to be “tourists”. They want to have an adventure-a surprising and exciting trip They want to learn something and maybe help people too. How can they d0 this? Some travel companies and environmental groups are planning special adventures. Sometimes these trips are difficult and full of hardships, but they’re a lot of fun. One organization, Earth watch, sends small groups of volunteers to different parts of the world. Some volunteers spend two weeks and study the environment. Others work with animals Others learn about people of the past.

　　Would you like an adventure in the Far North? A team of volunteers is leaving from Murmansk, Russia. The leader of this trip is a professor from Alaska. He’s worried about chemicals from factories. He and the volunteers will study this pollution in the environment. If you like exercise and cold weather, this is a good trip for you. Volunteers need ski sixteen kilometers every day.

　　Do you enjoy ocean animal? You can spend two to four weeks in Hawaii. There, you can teach language to dolphins. Dolphins can follow orders such as “Bring me the large ball.” They also understand opposites. How much more can they understand? It will be exciting to learn about these intelligent animals. Another study trip goes to Washington State and follows Orcas. We call Orcas “killer Whale”, but they’re really dolphins-the largest kind of dolphin. These beautiful animals travel together in family groups. They move through the ocean with their mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers. Ocean pollution is chasing their lives. Earth watch is studying how this happens.

　　Are you interested in history? Then Greece is the place for your adventure. Thirty-five hundred years ago a volcano exploded there, on Santorini. This explosion was more terrible than Krakatoa or Mount Saint Helens. But today we know a lot about the way of life of the people from that time. There are houses, kitchens, and paintings as interesting as those in Pompei. Today teams of volunteers are learning more about people from the past

　　Do you want a very different vacation? Do you want to travel far, work hard and learn a lot? Then an Earth watch vacation is for you.

　　11. The Tai Mahal may be _________.

　　A. a shopping center B. a hotel

　　C. a dancing hall D. a place of interest

　　12. From the passage, on an adventure trip, people _________.

　　A. may not spend much time on sightseeing

　　B. won’t meet some difficulties or hardships

　　C. can’t enjoy themselves

　　D. can’t learn something

　　13. If you want to learn something about people of the past, you can __________.

　　A. join the team to Hawaii

　　B. join the team to the Far North

　　C. join the team to Washington

　　D, join the team to Greece

　　14. The word ‘‘intelligent” in Paragraph Four means __________.

　　A. exciting B. beautiful

　　C. large D. clever

　　15. Which of the following is false?

　　A .Some people find sightseeing trips boring.

　　B. Earth watch is planning all these special adventures.

　　C. The number of Orcas is decreasing.

　　D. 3 volcano explosions in all broke out 3, 500 years ago in Greece.

　　Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage:

　　It is not 0riv experts in China who are arguing over whether women should work after marriage 0r not. Worldwide this question is being discussed as an increasingly large number of married women enter the workplace.

　　Take the United States for example. Since 1960, the percentage of maⅢed women in the work force has jumped from 31.9 percent to 59. 4 percent.

　　American women first moved into the paid labor force during World War II, when men left their jobs to fight.

　　In the last fifty years, more and more women have worked outside the home. And over these years of developing, Americans have changed their social values as a result. In 1975, women aged 35 and above made up half of all working women. And by 1980, 60 percent were women at the age of 45 and above. Now in Japan, women’ s work group is M-shaped with middle-aged women and those aged 20-25 at the two peaks.

　　According to statistics (统计), 37.7 percent of Japanese women at childbearing age (25-29) still engaged themselves in work in 1980, and the number reached 50 percent the next year.

　　Being a housewife has always been regarded as a “graceful occupation” in Japan. Some young Japanese women believe it is good to be a “professional housewife”. However, old attitudes have been changing everywhere, and sometimes just out of economic necessity. In recent years, a growing number of city housewives have poured out of homes to take part-time jobs.

　　Even the UN has given its support. The 34th Congress of the United Nations in 1979 put forward the decision for formal agreement on the getting rid of discrimination (歧视) against women. So far, most UN members have agreed on it, but some still haven’t, including the United States. The UN aims to get it agreed by a11 members by 2000.

　　16. From the first paragraph, we can learn that ___________.

　　A. experts encourage women to take paying jobs

　　B. men encourage women to take paying jobs

　　C. governments encourage women to take paying jobs

　　D. more and more people begin to care about women’s life

　　17. In the USA ___________.

　　A. married women arc lazier than their husbands

　　B. husbands are lazier than their wives

　　C. fewer married women used to work outside

　　D. more married women used to work outside

　　18. Married women in Japan ___________.

　　A. all work outside their homes

　　B. seldom work outside their homes

　　C. have different opinions on their working outside

　　D. all do housework at their homes

　　19. More and more women have taken jobs outside for the reason that

　　A. they have no children to take care of

　　B. they have no housework to do

　　C. they want to make more friends

　　D. they want to improve their living conditions

　　20. What’s the main idea of this passage?

　　A. Women should stay at home and do housework.

　　B. More women take lobs worldwide.

　　C. The United Nations should pay more attention to women’s rights.

　　D. Women in the poor countries should work outside.