B.Don’t you think so?

C.What’s to be done with those?

D.What about interpersonal skills?

Part III Cloze(10 marks)

Read the passage and fill in each bank with one word.Choose the word in one of the following three ways:according to the context,by using the correct form of the given word,or by using some given letter of the word.Remember to write the answers on the answer sheet.

Families

Exactly what is a family?Until about 50 years ago,the traditional American family consisted(46)a working husband,a wife at home,and two or more children.Responsibilities were clearly(47)(divide)in an American nuclear family,While the husband was earning a living,the wife was caring for the home and(48)(raise)the children.Of course,these were(49)(except),but this concept of the family was the general rule until the 1960s.

Since the 1960s,(50)how,the family has become more diverse,and changeable.Americans have accepted differingconcepts of families,(51)(include)single-parent,blended,two-paycheck,interracial,childless,and commuter families.

Some critics believe that the American family has suffered(52)(great)because of all the changes in society.According to these critics,the family had been much stronger before it began to struggle with issues such(53)divorce,working mothers,gay couples,and unmarried relationships.Today’s strongest critics feel that the traditional nuclear family will become rare in the 21st(54).

Nationwide,however,most Americans believe that the family is going to survive.In fact,almost all major surveys in recent years have found that the American family is as strong as it has ever been.For most Americans,the family continues to provide their deepest source of satisfaction and meaning in life.Thus,although today’s family is different from(55)it used to be,it seems to be thriving.

Part IV Reading Comprehension(40 marks)

Read the following passages.Each passage is followed by several questions.Respond to the questions according to the passage.Remember to write the answers on the answer sheet.

Section A(10 marks)

Questions 56-60 are based on the following passage.

Are Computer Alive?

The topic of thought is one area of psychology,and many observers have considered this aspect in connection with robots and computers:some of the old worries about AI—artificial intelligence—were closely linked to the question of whether computers could think.The first massive electronic computers,capable of rapid(if often unreliable)computation and little or no creative activity,were soon called“electronic brains.”A reaction to this terminology quickly followed.To put them in their place,computers were called“high—speed idiots,”an effort to protect human vanity.In such a climate,the possibility of computers actually being alive was rarely considered:it was bad enough that computers might be capable of thought.But not everyone realized the implications of the high—speed idiot tag.It has not been pointed out often enough that even the human idiot is one of the most intelligent life forms on Earth.If the early computers were even that intelligent,it was already a remarkable state of affairs.

One consequence of speculation about the possibility of computer thought was that we were forced to examine with new care the idea of thought in general.It soon became clear that we were not sure what we meat by such terms as thought and thinking.We tend to assume that human beings think,some more than others,though we often call people thoughtless or unthinking.Dreams cause a problem,partly because they usually happen outside our control.They are obviously some type of thinking?And the question of nonhuman life forms

adds further problems.Many of us would maintain that some of the higher animals--dogs,cats,apes,and so on--are capable of at least basic thought,but what about fish and insects?It is certainly true that the higher mammals show complex brain activity when tested with the appropriate equipment.If thinking is demonstrated by evident electrical activity in the brain,then many animal species are capable of thought.Once we have formulated clear ideas on what thought is in biological creatures,it will be easier to discuss the question of thought in artifacts（人工制品）.And what is true of thought is also true of many other mental processes.One of the immense benefits of AI research is that we are being forced to check carefully the working of the human mind.

It is already clear that machines have superior mental abilities to many life forms.No fern or oak tree can play chess as well as even the simplest digital computer;nor can frogs weld car bodies as well as robots.The mechanical manipulator is cleverer in some ways than the three-toed sloth(树獭).It seems that,viewed in terms of intellect,the computer should be set well above plants and most animals.Only the higher animals can,it seems,compete with computers with regard to intellect--and even then with diminishing success.(Examples of this are in the games of chess.Some of the word's best players are now computers.)

Questions 56-58:Read the questions and the four choices marked A,B,C and D,and decide which is the best choice according to the passage.

56.The first electronic computers were.

A.Slow and reliable B.large and fast

C.creative and accurate d.Unreliable and small

57.In the author's view,mental activities are characteristic of.

A.All plants and animals B.Some animals

C.human beings alone C.Computers

58.What does the author say about machines thinking?

A.It is somewhat possible.B.It is totally impossible.

C.It will not be realized too soon.D.It may surpass human thinking someday.

Questions 59-60:Complete the following with information given in the passage in a maximum of two words for each blank.

59.The author feels that by calling these early computers“high-speed idiots,”people were really implying that computers would never be capable of.

60.The author believes that such words as thought and thinking might come to be better understood because of research into and computers.

Section B(10 marks)

Questions 61-65 are based on the following passage.

The Life of Jackie Chan

One of the most popular film personalities in the world,Jackie Chan came from a poverty-stricken Hong Kong family—so poor,claims Chan,that he was almost sold in infancy to a wealthy British couple.As it turned out,Chan became his family’s sole support.Enrolled in the Chinese Opera Research Institute at the age of seven,he spent the next decade in rigorous training for a career in the Peking Opera,excelling in martial arts and acrobatics.

Billed as Cheng Lung,Chan entered films in his mid-teens,appearing in 25 productions before his 20th birthday.Starting out as a stunt man,Chan was promoted to stardom as the potential successor to the late Bruce Lee.In his earliest starring films,he was cast as a stone-cold serious type,determined to avenge Lee’s death.Only when he began playing for laughs did Chan truly attain full celebrity status.Frequently referred to as the Buster Keaton of kung-fu,Chan’s outlook on life is a lot more optimistic than Keaton’s,but in his tireless devotion to the most elaborate of sight gags and the most awe-inspiring of stunts(many of which have nearly cost him his life),Chan is Keaton incarnate.

From 1987’s The YoungMaster onward,Chan has usually been his own director and screenwriter.His best Hong Kong-produced films include the nonstop action-fests Project A(1983),Police Story(1985),Armor of God(1986),and the Golden Horse Award-winning Crime Story(1993)—not to mention the multiple sequels of each of the aforementioned titles.Despite his popularity in Europe and Asia,Chan was for many years unable to make a dent in the American market.He tried hard in such films as The Big Brawl(1980)and the first two Cannonball Run flicks,but American filmgoers just weren’t buying.

At long last,Chan mined U.S.box-office gold with 1996’s Rumble in the Bronx,a film so exhilarating that the audience never noticed those distinctly Canadian mountain ranges looming behind the“Bronx”skyline.Chan remained the most popular Asian actor with the greatest potential to cross over into the profitable English-Speaking markets,something he again demonstrated when he co-starred with Chris Tucker in the 1998 box-office hit Rush Hour.Chan had another success on his hands with Shanghai Noon,a comedy Western in which he starred as an Imperial Guard dispatched to the American West to rescue the kidnapped daughter(Lucy Liu)of the Chinese Emperor.

Questions 61-63:Read the passage,and then tell whether the following statements are true(T)or the false(F).