Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by
some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices
marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the
corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the
centre.
Passage One
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
I had an experience some years ago which taught me something about the ways
in which people make a bad situation worse by blaming themselves. One January, I
had to officiate at two funerals on successive days for two elderly women in my
community. Both had died "full of years," as the Bible would say; both yielded
to the normal wearing out of the body after a long and full life. Their homes
happened to be near each other, so I paid condolence (吊唁) calls on the two
families on the same afternoon.
At the first home, the son of the deceased (已故的) woman said to me, "If only
I had sent my mother to Florida and gotten her out of this cold and snow, she
would be alive today. It's my fault that she died." At the second home, the son
of the other deceased woman said, "If only I hadn't insisted on my mother's
going to Florida, she would be alive today. That long airplane ride, the abrupt
change of climate, was more than she could take. It's my fault that she's
dead."
When things don't turn out as we would like them to, it is very tempting to
assume that had we done things differently, the story would have had a happier
ending. Priests know that any time there is a death, the survivors will feel
guilty. Because the course of action they took turned out badly, they believe
that the opposite course - keeping Mother at home, postponing the operation –
would have turned out better. After all, how could it have turned out any
worse?
There seem to be two elements involved in our readiness to feel guilt. The
first is our pressing need to believe that the world makes sense, that there is
a cause for every effect and a reason for everything that happens. That leads us
to find patterns and connections both where they really exist and where they
exist only in our minds.
The second element is the notion that we are the cause of what happens,
especially the bad things that happen. It seems to be a short step from
believing that every event has a cause to believing that every disaster is our
fault. The roots of this feeling may lie in our childhood. Psychologists speak
of the infantile myth of omnipotence (万能). A baby comes to think that the world
exists to meet his needs, and that he makes everything happen in it. He wakes up
in the morning and summons the rest of the world to its tasks. He cries, and
someone comes to attend to him. When he is hungry, people feed him, and when he
is wet, people change him. Very often, we do not completely outgrow that
infantile notion that our wishes cause things to happen.
21. What is said about the two deceased elderly women?
A) They lived out a natural life.
B) They died of exhaustion after the long plane ride.
C) They weren't accustomed to the change in weather.
D) They died due to lack of care by family members.
22. The author had to conduct the two women's funerals probably because
________.
A) he wanted to console the two families
B) he was an official from the community
C) he had great sympathy for the deceased
D) he was priest of the local church
23. People feel guilty for the deaths of their loved ones because
________
A) they couldn't find a better way to express their grief
B) they believe that they were responsible
C) they had neglected the natural course of events
D) they didn't know things often turn out in the opposite direction
24. In the context of the passage, "... the world makes sense" (Line 2,
Para, 4) probably means that ________.
A) everything in the world is predetermined
B) the world can be interpreted in different ways
C) there's an explanation for everything in the world
D) we have to be sensible in order to understand the world
25. People have been made to believe since infancy that ________.
A) everybody is at their command
B) life and death is an unsolved mystery
C) every story should have a happy ending
D) their wishes are the cause of everything that happens
Passage Two
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
Frustrated with delays in Sacramento, Bay Area officials said Thursday they
planned to take matters into their own hands to regulate the region's growing
pile of electronic trash.
A San Jose councilwoman and a San Francisco supervisor said they would
propose local initiatives aimed at controlling electronic waste if the
California law-making body fails to act on two bills stalled in the Assembly~
They are among a growing number of California cities and counties that have
expressed the same intention.
Environmentalists and local governments are increasingly concerned about
the toxic hazard posed by old electronic devices and the cost of safely
recycling those products. An estimated 6 million televisions and computers are
stocked in California homes, and an additional 6,000 to 7,000 computers become
outdated every day. The machines contain high levels of lead and other hazardous
substances, and are already banned from California landfills ( 垃圾填埋场 ).
Legislation by Senator Byron Sher would require consumers to pay a
recycling fee of up to $30 on every new machine containing a cathode ( 阴极 ) ray
tube. Used in almost all video monitors and televisions, those devices contain
four to eight pounds of lead each. The fees would go toward setting up recycling
programs, providing grants to non-profit agencies that reuse the tubes and
rewarding manufacturers that encourage recycling.
A separate bill by Los Angeles-area Senator Gloria Romero would require
high-tech manufacturers to develop programs to recycle so-called e-waste.
If passed, the measures would put California at the forefront of national
efforts to manage the refuse of the electronic age.
But high-tech groups, including the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group and
the American Electronics Association, oppose the measures, arguing that fees of
up to $30 will drive consumers to online, out-of-state retailers.
"What really needs to occur is consumer education. Most consumers are
unaware they're not supposed to throw computers in the trash," said Roxanne
Gould, vice president of government relations for the electronics
association.
Computer recycling should be a local effort and part of residential waste
collection programs, she added.
Recycling electronic waste is a dangerous and specialized matter, and
environmentalists maintain the state must support recycling efforts and ensure
that the job isn't contracted to unscrupulous ( 毫无顾忌的 ) junk dealers who send
the toxic parts overseas.
"The graveyard of the high-tech revolution is ending up in rural China,"
said Ted Smith, director of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition. His group is
pushing for an amendment to Sher's bill that would prevent the export of
e-waste.
26. What step were Bay Area officials going to take regarding e-waste
disposal.'?
A) Exert pressure on manufacturers of electronic devices.
B) Lay down relevant local regulations themselves.
C) Lobby the lawmakers of the California Assembly.
D) Rally support to pass the stalled bills.
27. The two bills stalled in the California Assembly both concern
________.
A) regulations on dumping hazardous substances into landfills
B) the sale of used electronic devices to foreign countries
C) the funding of local initiatives to reuse electronic trash
D) the reprocessing of the huge amounts of electronic waste in the
state
28. Consumers are not supposed to throw used computers in the trash because
__.
A) they contain large amounts of harmful substances
B) this is banned by the California government
C) some parts may be recycled for use elsewhere
D) unscrupulous dealers will retrieve them for profit
29. High-tech groups believe that if an extra $30 is charged on every TV or
computer purchased in California, consumers will _______.
A) abandon online shopping
B) buy them from other states
C) strongly protest against such a charge
D) hesitate to upgrade their computers
30. We learn from the passage that much of California's electronic waste
has been _
精彩生活 
