Passage Four

　　I came across an old country guidebook the other day. It listed all the tradesmen in each village, and it was impressive to see the past variety of services which were available on one’s own doorstep in the late Victorian countryside.

　　Nowadays a traveler in rural England might conclude that the only village tradesmen still flourishing were either selling frozen food to the villagers or selling antiques to visitors. Nevertheless, this would really be a false impression. On the surface, there has been a decline of village commerce, but its power is still remarkable.

　　Our local grocer’s shop, for example, is actually expanding in spite of the competition from supermarkets in the nearest town. Women sensibly prefer to go there and exchange the local news while doing their shopping, instead of queuing up at a supermarket. And the grocer knows well that personal service has a considerable cash value. His prices may be a bit higher than those in the town, but he will deliver anything at any time.

　　His assistants think nothing of bicycling down the village street in their lunch hour to take a piece of cheese to an old retired woman who sent her order by word of mouth with a friend who happened to be passing. The richer customers telephone their shopping lists and the goods are on their doorsteps within an hour. They have only to hint at a fancy for some commodity outside the usual stock and the grocer, a red faced-figure, instantly obtains it for them.

　　31. Nowadays the commercial services in the village are ____________.

　　A. still very active B. quickly declining C. unable to flourish D. personal to visitors

　　32. The local grocer’s shop is expanding because _____________.

　　A. the competition there is weak

　　B. it is a place for women to chat

　　C. it provides good personal service

　　D. the goods there are more valuable

　　33. Which of the following is true about the supermarkets?

　　A. Prices there are much higher

　　B. Customers often have to queue up.

　　C. Customers can order by telephone.

　　D. Their personal services are satisfactory.

　　34. How do the village grocer’s assistants feel about giving extra service?

　　A. They don’t think it a trouble.

　　B. They don’t think it worthwhile.

　　C. They don’t consider it a good deal.

　　D. They don’t consider it a pleasant experience.

　　35. One special feature of the village shop is that ___________.

　　A. there is a very wide range of goods available

　　B. customers can order goods by word of mouth

　　C. customer have to order goods one hour earlier

　　D. there is a list of goods to be delivered to doorsteps

　　Part III Vocabulary and Structure (20 points)

　　Directions: There are 40 incomplete sentences in this part. For each sentence there are 4 choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that best completes the sentence, mark your answer on the ANSWER SHEET with a single line through the center.

　　36. During the heavy storm last week, we had to take __________ under a flyover.

　　A. shade B. shelter C. shadow D. shield

　　37. The three men were assigned jobs according to their _________ abilities.

　　A. respectful B. respectable C. respective D. respecting

　　38. Scientists have discovered that many animals seem to be highly _________ to various signals associated with earthquakes.

　　A. sensible B. sensual C. sentimental D. sensitive

　　39. The lost car of the Johnsons’ was found __________ in the woods of the expressway.

　　A. vanished B. scattered C. rejected D. abandoned

　　40. Our guests will be guided to safety _________ fire.

　　A. as a result of B. in case of C. in the sense of D. for the sake of