Passage Four

　　The so-called Americanization phenomenon seems to be a consequence of the recent globalization in our world. If we find American products worldwide, it is also increasingly common to find Asian products in the United States.

　　Going to any country in Asia nowadays, we are going to see a lot of the American icons (图标) everywhere. A few years ago when I was in Ho-Chi-Min City, formerly known as Saigon, I was completely astonished at the number of billboards advertising products from multinational companies, many of them American. It is unforgettable for me—the vision of the spectacular Coca-Cola billboard on a Ho-Chi-Min Street.

　　Living in the United Slates now, I am discovering many Asian products in America, from food to movies. In one day in San Francisco, or Seattle, or Houston, we can buy Sisheido cosmetics from Japan at the Galleria Mall, have sushi(寿司) and sashimi(生鱼片) in one of the many Japanese restaurants in the city, go to the cinema and enjoy the beautiful American-Chinese movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and take home spring rolls from one of the many Chinese restaurants in town.

　　I understand that a great many people would like to hold hack the globalization process in the world because they think they are losing their own culture, but it is very difficult to stop this process. We can only try to be critical and choose what is best for us to have or to buy.

　　However, many people think that young people are not free to choose when they are constantly exposed to attractive advertisements that are specially made to capture the youth market. Peaceful protests could be arranged just to help people to think about the situation, but the tendency in our world is that we want globalization, but we don't want to lose our own culture.

　　16. The Americanization phenomenon is more possible to be the result of ______.C

　　A. the influence of Americanization on the world

　　B. the influence of the West on the East

　　C. the globalization in the world

　　D. American products worldwide

　　17. What was the author in the passage particularly impressed by?D

　　A. The wonderful American-Chinese movie.

　　B. The delicious Japanese food in American cities.

　　C. The high quality of Asian products.

　　D. The fantastic advertisement for an American product.

　　18. We can learn from the passage that one of the consequences of globalization that many people worry about is ______.B

　　A. the spread of culture from one country to another

　　B. the destruction of cultural identities

　　C. the prevalence of American culture

　　D. the resistance to globalization worldwide

　　19. What attitude should we have towards the globalization process?C

　　A. Disapproving.

　　B. Pessimistic.

　　C. Critical.

　　D. Indifferent.

　　20. Young people today can't really choose what they should buy because they _______.D

　　A. are influenced by American culture

　　B. don't know what is suitable for them

　　C. are critical about everything in the world

　　D. are faced with too many powerful advertisements

　　Passage Five

　　Present pension structures no longer work. They were established in a more youthful period with relatively few older people who were often poor and ill, and generally spent only a short time in retirement. In rich countries today, older people are often well-off and in good health, and are spending around 20 years in retirement. Therefore there is the need for reform.

　　This survey has presented the arguments for more private funding and for fairer pensions. Such changes will create motives for individuals to take charge of their own retirement needs rather than leaving the task to the state. This, in turn, will make the provision of public pensions more affordable.

　　Even so, the state will continue to play a leading role in pensions. At a minimum, governments must offer a safety net, probably in the form of a defined benefit financed through taxation, for people who for some reason have not been able to provide for themselves and who would otherwise be miserable in old age. More broadly, there is a use for the state to offer a slimmed-down pay-as-you-go pension system, although as far as possible this should be organized along defined-contributions lines. Such provision widens the range of assets to include human capital because the effective return comes from total wages, and offers a safe in low return.

　　Governments also have to create a suitable framework for effective private pensions. Administrative (行政的) expenses have to be tightly controlled, and appropriate tax motives have to be offered to encourage voluntary pension saving. Where the state provides a generous safety net, private-pension saving may have to be made mandatory (强制的), otherwise many people will not bother.

　　So much for the developed countries, but what of the more youthful populations of the rest of the world? In 1994, the World Bank came down heavily in favor of more funding in private accounts. It thought the state's role should be to provide a smallish first pillar with the limited task of providing protection against old-age poverty, and to command a privately-funded second pillar to provide the bulk of pensions.

　　21. More private funding and fairer pensions _______.C

　　A. can urge people to save more private pensions

　　B. may be financed through tax

　　C. can lessen the burden of the state

　　D. can provide more public pensions

　　22. To create a proper framework for effective private pensions, the government should _______.B

　　A. increase the income to encourage voluntary pension saving

　　B. encourage voluntary pension saving

　　C. make good use of administrative costs

　　D. not command people to save private-pensions

　　23. According to the World Bank, we can learn that _______.D

　　A. the state should provide the majority of pensions

　　B. the state should provide more protection against old-age poverty

　　C. the role that the state plays in pensions is small

　　D. private funding should provide the majority of pensions

　　24. What can we infer from the passage?C

　　A. The state should provide protection for all the old people.

　　B. The state has to create a suitable framework to restrict the private pensions.

　　C. The state should protect those who can't support themselves.

　　D. The state will play a secondary role in pensions due to more private pensions.

　　25. It can be inferred from the passage the author is probably _______.B

　　A. an official engaged in reformation of pension structures

　　B. a sociologist devoting himself to the research of social pension structures

　　C. an economist mastering pension structures in developed countries

　　D. a politician interested in older people