{{I}} Questions 24 and 25 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the questions. Now, listen to the news.{{/I}}

SECTION C MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS In this section there are four passages followed by ten multiple-choice questions. For each multiple choice question, there are four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the best answer. PASSAGE ONE For years, Jorge Del Pinai"s job as assistant chief of the Census Bureau"s Population Division was to fit people into neat, distinct racial and ethnic boxes: white, black, Hispanic, Asian or Native American. As the son of an Anglo mother and a Hispanic father, however, he knew all along that the task was not always possible. The face of America is changing—literally. As President Clinton has said, within 30 or 40 years, when there will be no single race in the majority in the United States,"we had best be ready for it." For his part, Clinton is preparing for that time by talking about racial tolerance and the virtues of multi-culturalism. Others are debating immigration policy. Almost all discussion focuses on the potential divisiveness inherent in a nation that is no longer a predominantly white country with a mostly European ancestry. But afoot behind the scenes is another trend that, if handled carefully, could bring the country closer together rather than drive it apart. This quiet demographic counter-revolution is a dramatic upsurge in intermarriage. Veteran demographer Barry Edmonston"s study projected that by 2050, 21 percent of the U.S. population will be of mixed racial or ethnic ancestry, up from an estimate of seven percent today. A-mong third-generation Hispanic and Asian Americans, exogamy—marriage outside one"s ethnic group or tribe—is at least 50 percent, he and others estimate. Exogamy remains much less prevalent among African Americans, but it has increased enormously, from about 1.5 percent in the 1960s to 8 to 10 percent today. Such a profound demographic shift could take place while no one was watching because, officially, no one was watching. Federal agencies traditionally collected racial data using a formula—one person, one race—similar to the time-honored voting principle. Thus,the Census Bureau could estimate that on census forms no more than two percent of the population would claim to be multiracial. In the absence of a more straightforward count, no one could know for sure what the demographics are. Meanwhile, in the absence of official numbers, with the heightened tension surrounding racial issues, and with the mutual suspicion that exists among competing racial and ethnic interest groups, there"s little agreement on what intermarriage will mean for U.S. society in the future. Some sociologists call Asian-white and Hispanic-Anglo intermarriage simply the latest addition to the melting pot that, since the start of this century, has fused so many Irish, Italian,German and other families of European origin. But despite the rise in black-white marriage, many doubt that African- Americans will be included in this mix. Ramona Douglass, President of the Association of MultiEthnic Americans, enthused, "We"re living proof that people with two different races or ethnic backgrounds can live together in harmony, that (interracial) families actually do function." Douglass"s mother is Italian-American, and her father is a multiracial blend of African-American and Native American. Of course, many portray intermarriage as gradual genocide that will culminate in the disappear- ance of their particular group. That was the traditional view of the Jewish community, which through-out history closely guarded its small numbers from loss through assimilation. But the very high rate of Jewish out-marriage since World War Ⅱ has caused an official rethinking among the progressive elements of American Judaism. These groups still encourage marriage within the faith, but instead of shunning those who do marry non-Jews, they are now courting these intermarried couples. PASSAGE TWO Clearly if we are to participate in the society in which we live we must communicate with other people. A great deal of communicating is performed on a person-to-person basis by the simple means of speech. If we travel in buses, buy things in shops, or eat in restaurants, we are likely to have conversations where we give information or opinions, receive news or comment, and very likely have our views challenged by other members of society. Face-to-face contact is by no means the only form of communication and during the last two hundred years the art of mass communication has become one of the dominating factors of contemporary society. Two things, above others, have caused the enormous growth of the communication industry. Firstly, inventiveness has led to advances in printing, telecommunications, photography, radio and television. Secondly, speed has revolutionized the transmission and reception of communications so that local news often takes a back seat to national news, which itself is often almost eclipsed by international news. No longer is the possession of information confined to a privileged minority. In the last century the wealthy man with his own library was indeed fortunate, but today there are public libraries. Forty years ago people used to flock to the cinema, but now far more people sit at home and turn on the TV to watch a programme that is being channeled into millions of homes. Communication is no longer merely concerned with the transmission of information. The modern communication industry influences the way people live in society and broadens their horizons by allowing access to information, education and entertainment. The printing, broadcasting and advertising industries are all involved with informing, educating and entertaining. Although a great deal of the material communicated by the mass media is very valuable to the individual and to the society of which he is a part, the vast modern network of communications is open to abuse. However, the mass media are with us for better, for worse, and there is no turning back. PASSAGE THREE Job stress and worrying about job security can both take a toll on a woman"s body, although the two issues affect female health differently, according to research presented last month at the American Heart Association"s Annual Meeting in Chicago. But whether chronic work-related stress is eating at your nerves or ballooning your waistline, there are natural solutions with no toxic side effects that you can use to relax the pressure. In a recent study looking at work stress and women, researchers from Harvard and Brigham and Women"s Hospital studied more than 17000 otherwise healthy women, generally in their 50s, enrolled in the Women"s Health Study for 10 years. Women who reported work-related strain, such as having little or no authority over decisions or being unable to contribute creativity and skills to the job, were up to 88 percent more likely to experience a heart attack than women who reported no work strain. Overall, working women reporting high job strain faced a 40 percent higher rate of cardiovascular(心血管的) disease, too. Worrying about losing a job did not appear to increase heart attack risk, but it was linked to obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol(胆固醇), all of which can eventually lead to cardiovascular disease. Previous research out of the University of Oregon has found that you could adopt stress-zapping properties of Integrative Body-Mind Training (IBMT) before the workweek"s out. After practicing it for 20 minutes a day for five days in a row, participants reported reduced stress and increased energy. Prevention suggests this intro IBMT exercise: sit quietly in a comfortable position. Close your eyes and think of your mind as a full cup; as thoughts come and go, keep returning to an image of the cup becoming empty. Repeat for five minutes. Regardless of your meditation style, know this: compared to non-meditators, women who practice meditation enjoy up to a 66 percent drop in stress hormone levels, which can dramatically improve heart wealth. If you"re in need of an emergency quick freak-out fix, reach for a piece of gum. (Avoid artificial sweetened gum, though—some are linked to health issues.) One study found that chewing gum boosts blood flow to the brain by up to 40 percent, helping you stay calm and in the present. This prevents you from pondering over some aggravating office event. You don"t need to be a monk to enjoy the benefits of meditation. In fact, more and more Western integrative medicine practitioners are using it as a nontoxic health improver. PASSAGE FOUR The never-ceasing pace of scientific accomplishment often surpasses the progress of moral thought, leaving people struggling to make sense, initially at least, of whether heart transplants are ethical or test-tube babies desirable. Over the past three decades scientists have begun to investigate a branch of medicine that offers astonishing promise—the ability to repair the human body and even grow new organs—but which destroys early-stage embryos to do so. In "The Stem Cell Hope" Alice Park, a science writer at Time magazine, chronicles the scientific, political, ethical and personal struggles of those involved in the work. Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent(多能性的): they have the ability to change into any one of the 200-odd types of cell that compose the human body; but they can do so only at a very early stage. Once the bundle has reached more than about 150 cells, they start to specialize. Research in-to repairing severed spinal cords or growing new hearts has thus needed a supply of stem cells that come from entities that, given a more favorable environment, could instead grow into a baby. Immediately after the announcement of the birth of Dolly the sheep—the clone of an adult ewe whose mammary(乳腺的) cells Ian Wilmut had tricked into behaving like a developing embryo—American scientists were hauled before the nation"s politicians who were uneasy at the implication that people might also be cloned. Concern at the speed of scientific progress had previously stalled publicly funded research into controversial topics, for example, into in vitro fertilization. But it did not stop the work from taking place: instead the IVF industry blossomed in the private sector, funded by couples desperate for a baby and investors who had spotted a profitable new market. That is also what happened with human stem cells. After a prolonged struggle over whether to ban research outright—which pitted Nancy Reagan, whose husband suffered from Alzheimer"s disease, against a father who asked George Bush"s advisers, "Which one of my children would you kill?"—Mr. Bush blocked the use of government money to fund research on any new human embryonic stem-cell cultures. But research did not halt completely: Geron, a biopharmaceutical(生物制药的) company based in Menlo Park, California, had started "to mop up this orphaned innovation" , as Ms Park puts it, by recruiting researchers whose work brought them into conflict with the funding restrictions. Meanwhile, in South Korea a scientist claimed not only to have cloned human embryos but also to have created patient-specific cultures that could, in theory, be used to patch up brain damage or grow a kidney. Alas, he was wrong. But a Japanese scientist did manage to persuade adult skin cells to act like stem cells. If it proves possible to scale up his techniques, that would remove the source of the controversy over stem-cell research. Three months after he took office, Barack Obama lifted restrictions on federal funding for re-search on new stem-cell cultures, saying that he thought sound science and moral values were consistent with one another. But progress has been slow: the first human trials in America, involving two people with spinal-cord injuries who have been injected with stem cells developed by Geron, are only just under way. The sick children who first inspired scientists to conduct research into stem cells in order to develop treatments that might help them are now young adults. As Ms Park notes, the fight over stem-cell research is not over, and those who might benefit from stem-cell medicine remain in need.

Decide which of the choices given below would best complete the passage if inserted in the corresponding blanks. Mark the best choice for each blank on your ANSWER SHEET. Threats from nomadic people in the north were {{U}}(31) {{/U}} throughout Chinese history. They were continually attacking the Chinese northern {{U}}(32) {{/U}} . With each new emperor, came endless debate about how to {{U}} (33) {{/U}} the barbarians. There were four options: {{U}}(34) {{/U}} offensive campaigns to drive them away or to destroy them; create defensive garrisons; develop diplomatic and {{U}}(35) {{/U}} ties with them, or build a wall to keep them out. All the options were {{U}}(36) {{/U}} at various times. Experience showed that {{U}}(37) {{/U}} campaigns were too costly and very risky, {{U}}(38) {{/U}} defensive garrisons could not respond quickly enough {{U}}(39) {{/U}} lightning attacks along a long border. The third option would seem to be a very {{U}}(40) {{/U}} one and it was in fact tried successfully {{U}}(41) {{/U}} a couple of occasions. Wall building became the most favored option in many dynasties. The three dynasties which {{U}}(42) {{/U}} the most walls were the Qin, the Han and the Ming. The effectiveness of the Great Wall in history is still a controversial {{U}}(43) {{/U}} Historical records show that the wall {{U}}(44) {{/U}} at many times {{U}}(45) {{/U}} repel invaders. Only on two occasions when a dynasty weakened from {{U}}(46) {{/U}} were invaders from the north {{U}}(47) {{/U}} advance and conquer. {{U}}(48) {{/U}} , scholars think the Chinese wall builders were themselves responsible for the unrest on the border. The nomads were people who did not farm, so they {{U}}(49) {{/U}} trade with China for many essentials. When the Chinese refused to trade with them, they had no option {{U}}(50) {{/U}} raid border towns.

Stocks in the United States ______ on Wednesday.

语法与词汇The higher the standard of living and the greater the national wealth, ______

语法与词汇He took me _______ task for not doing it.

语法与词汇He had a bad cold. _______ is why he didn''t come.

语法与词汇By turns I ______ and flush with heat, and Theodora is greatly disturbed about me.

语法与词汇These people once had fame and fortune; now______ is left to them is utter poverty.

语法与词汇Although he has become rich, he is still very_______of his money.

语法与词汇______ classic music, which follows formal European tradition, jazz is a spontaneous and free form.

语法与词汇As soon as he opened the door, a __________ of cold air swept through the house.

语法与词汇______I''d like to, I can''t come.

语法与词汇Doctors sometimes ______old cures when modem medicine doesn''t work.

语法与词汇The chief of surgery became committee chairman by virtue of ________.

语法与词汇These issues were discussed at length during the meeting. The underlined part means ______.

语法与词汇There_______nothing more for discussion, the meeting came to an end half an hour earlier.

语法与词汇His plan is carefully prepared and full of details, so it is a very ______ one.

语法与词汇The local news paper has a ______ of 100,000 copies a day.

语法与词汇The director tried to get the actors to_______to the next scene by hand signals.