Text 1
①Wild Bill Donovan would have loved the Internet. ②The American spymaster who built the Office of Strategic Services in the World War II and later laid the roots for the CIA was fascinated with information. ③Donovan believed in using whatever tools came to hand in the“great game”of espionage—spying as a“profession”. ④These days the Net, which has already re-made such everyday pastimes as buying books and sending mail, is reshaping Donovan's vocation as well.
①The lastest revolution isn't simply a matter of gentlemen reading other gentlemen's e-mail. ②That kind of electronic spying has been going on for decades. ③In the past three or four years, the World Wide Web has given birth to a whole industry of point-and-click spying. ④The spooks call it“open source intelligence”, and as the Net grows, it is becoming increasingly influential. ⑤In 1995 the CIA held a contest to see who could compile the most data about Burundi. ⑥The winner, by a large margin, was a tiny Virginia company called Open-Source Solutions, whose clear advantage was its mastery of the electronic world.
①Among the firms making the biggest splash in the new world is Stratfor, Inc., a private intelligence-analysis firm based in Austin, Texas. ②Stratfor makes money by selling the results of spying (covering nations from Chile to Russia) to corporations like energy-services firm McDermott International. ③Many of its predictions are available online at www.Stratfor.com.
①Stratfor president George Friedman says he sees the online world as a kind of mutually reinforcing tool for both information collection and distribution, a spymaster's dream. ②Last week his firm was busy vacuuming up data bits from the far corners of the world and predicting a crisis in Ukraine. ③“As soon as that report runs, we'll suddenly get 500 new Internet sign-ups from Ukraine,”says Friedman, a former political science professor. ④“And we'll hear back from some of them.”⑤Open-source spying does have its risks, of course, since it can be difficult to tell good information from bad. ⑥That's where Stratfor earns its keep.
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①Friedman relies on a lean staff of 20 in Austin. ②Several of his staff members have military-intelligence backgrounds. ③He sees the firm's outsider status as the key to its success. ④Stratfor's briefs don't sound like the usual Washington back-and-forthing, whereby agencies avoid dramatic declarations on the chance they might be wrong. ⑤Stratfor, says Friedman, takes pride in its independent voice.
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41.The emergence of the Net has __________.
[A] received support from fans like Donovan
[B] remolded the intelligence services
[C] restored many common pastimes
[D] revived spying as a profession
42.Donovan's story is mentioned in the text to __________.
[A] introduce the topic of online spying
[B] show how he fought for the U.S.
[C] give an episode of the information war
[D] honor his unique services to the CIA
43.The phrase“making the biggest splash”(Line 1, Paragraph 3) most probably means __________.
[A] causing the biggest trouble
[B] exerting the greatest effort
[C] achieving the greatest success
[D] enjoying the widest popularity
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44.It can be learned from Paragraph 4 that __________.
[A] Stratfor's prediction about Ukraine has proved true
[B] Stratfor guarantees the truthfulness of its information
[C] Stratfor's business is characterized by unpredictability
[D] Stratfor is able to provide fairly reliable information
45.Stratfor is most proud of its __________.
[A] official status
[B] nonconformist image
[C] efficient staff
[D] military background
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Text 2
①To paraphrase 18th-century statesman Edmund Burke,“all that is needed for the triumph of a misguided cause is that good people do nothing.”②One such cause now seeks to end biomedical research because of the theory that animals have rights ruling out their use in research. ③Scientists need to respond forcefully to animal rights advocates, whose arguments are confusing the public and thereby threatening advances in health knowledge and care. ④Leaders of the animal rights movement target biomedical research because it depends on public funding, and few people understand the process of health care research. ⑤Hearing allegations of cruelty to animals in research settings, many are perplexed that anyone would deliberately harm an animal.
①For example, a grandmotherly woman staffing an animal rights booth at a recent street fair was distributing a brochure that encouraged readers not to use anything that comes from or is tested in animal—no meat, no fur, no medicines. ②Asked if she opposed immunizations, she wanted to know if vaccines come from animal research. ③When assured that they do, she replied,“Then I would have to say yes.”④Asked what will happen when epidemics return, she said,“Don't worry, scientists will find some way of using computers.”⑤Such well-meaning people just don't understand.
①Scientists must communicate their message to the public in a compassionate, understandable way—in human terms, not in the language of molecular biology. ②We need to make clear the connection between animal research and a grandmother's hip replacement, a father's bypass operation, a baby's vaccinations, and even a pet's shots. ③To those who are unaware that animal research was needed to produce these treatments, as well as new treatments and vaccines, animal research seems wasteful at best and cruel at worst.
①Much can be done. ②Scientists could“adopt”middle school classes and present their own research. ③They should be quick to respond to letters to the editor, lest animal rights
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misinformation go unchallenged and acquire a deceptive appearance of truth. ④Research institutions could be opened to tours, to show that laboratory animals receive humane care. ⑤Finally, because the ultimate stakeholders are patients, the health research community should actively recruit to its cause not only well-known personalities such as Stephen Cooper, who has made courageous statements about the value of animal research, but all who receive medical treatment. ⑥If good people do nothing, there is a real possibility that an uninformed citizenry will extinguish the precious embers of medical progress.
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46.The author begins his article with Edmund Burke's words to __________.
[A] call on scientists to take some actions
[B] criticize the misguided cause of animal rights
[C] warn of the doom of biomedical research
[D] show the triumph of the animal rights movement
47.Misled people tend to think that using an animal in research is __________.
[A] cruel but natural
[B] inhuman and unacceptable
[C] inevitable but vicious
[D] pointless and wasteful
48.The example of the grandmotherly woman is used to show the public's __________.
[A] discontent with animal research
[B] ignorance about medical science
[C] indifference to epidemics
[D] anxiety about animal rights
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49.The author believes that, in face of the challenge from animal rights advocates, scientists should __________.
[A] communicate more with the public
[B] employ hi-tech means in research
[C] feel no shame for their cause
[D] strive to develop new cures
50.From the text we learn that Stephen Cooper is __________.
[A] a well-known humanist
[B] a medical practitioner
[C] an enthusiast in animal rights
[D] a supporter of animal research
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Text 3
①In recent years, railroads have been combining with each other, merging into super systems, causing heightened concerns about monopoly. ②As recently as 1995, the top four railroads accounted for under 70 percent of the total ton-miles moved by rails. ③Next year, after a series of mergers is completed, just four railroads will control well over 90 percent of all the freight moved by major rail carriers.
①Supporters of the new super systems argue that these mergers will allow for substantial cost reductions and better coordinated service. ②Any threat of monopoly, they argue, is removed by fierce competition from trucks. ③But many shippers complain that for heavy bulk commodities traveling long distances, such as coal, chemicals, and grain, trucking is too costly and the railroads therefore have them by the throat.
①The vast consolidation within the rail industry means that most shippers are served by only one rail company. ②Railroads typically charge such“captive”shippers 20 to 30 percent more than they do when another railroad is competing for the business. ③Shippers who feel they are being overcharged have the right to appeal to the federal government's Surface Transportation Board for rate relief, but the process is expensive, time-consuming, and will work only in truly extreme cases.
①Railroads justify rate discrimination against captive shippers on the grounds that in the long run it reduces everyone's cost. ②If railroads charged all customers the same average rate, they argue, shippers who have the option of switching to trucks or other forms of transportation would do so, leaving remaining customers to shoulder the cost of keeping up the line. ③It's a theory to which many economists subscribe, but in practice it often leaves railroads in the position of determining which companies will flourish and which will fail. ④“Do we really want railroads to be the arbiters of who wins and who loses in the marketplace?”asks Martin Bercovici, a Washington lawyer who frequently represents shippers.
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①Many captive shippers also worry they will soon be hit with a round of huge rate increases. ②The railroad industry as a whole, despite its brightening fortunes, still does not earn enough to cover the cost of the capital it must invest to keep up with its surging traffic. ③Yet railroads continue to borrow billions to acquire one another, with Wall Street cheering them on. ④Consider the $10.2 billion bid by Norfolk Southern and CSX to acquire Conrail this year. ⑤Conrail's net railway operating income in 1996 was just $427 million, less than half of the carrying costs of the transaction. ⑥Who's going to pay for the rest of the bill? ⑦Many captive shippers fear that they will, as Norfolk Southern and CSX increase their grip on the market.
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51.According to those who support mergers, railway monopoly is unlikely because __________.
[A] cost reduction is based on competition
[B] services call for cross-trade coordination
[C] outside competitors will continue to exist
[D] shippers will have the railway by the throat
52.What is many captive shippers' attitude towards the consolidation in the rail industry?
[A] Indifferent.
[B] Supportive.
[C] Indignant.
[D] Apprehensive.
53.It can be inferred from Paragraph 3 that __________.
[A] shippers will be charged less without a rival railroad
[B] there will soon be only one railroad company nationwide
[C] overcharged shippers are unlikely to appeal for rate relief
[D] a government board ensures fair play in railway business
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54.The word“arbiters”(Line 6, Paragraph 4) most probably refers to those __________.
[A] who work as coordinators
[B] who function as judges
[C] who supervise transactions
[D] who determine the price
55.According to the text, the cost increase in the rail industry is mainly caused by __________.
[A] the continuing acquisition
[B] the growing traffic
[C] the cheering Wall Street
[D] the shrinking market
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Text 4
①It is said that in England death is pressing, in Canada inevitable and in California optional. ②Small wonder. ③Americans' life expectancy has nearly doubled over the past century. ④Failing hips can be replaced, clinical depression controlled, cataracts removed in a 30-minute surgical procedure. ⑤Such advances offer the aging population a quality of life that was unimaginable when I entered medicine 50 years ago. ⑥But not even a great health-care system can cure death—and our failure to confront that reality now threatens this greatness of ours.
①Death is normal; we are genetically programmed to disintegrate and perish, even under ideal conditions. ②We all understand that at some level, yet as medical consumers we treat death as a problem to be solved. ③Shielded by third-party payers from the cost of our care, we demand everything that can possibly be done for us, even if it's useless. ④The most obvious example is late-stage cancer care. ⑤Physicians—frustrated by their inability to cure the disease and fearing loss of hope in the patient—too often offer aggressive treatment far beyond what is scientifically justified.
①In 1950, the US spent $12.7 billion on health care. ②In 2002, the cost will be $1,540 billion. ③Anyone can see this trend is unsustainable. ④Yet few seem willing to try to reverse it. ⑤Some scholars conclude that a government with finite resources should simply stop paying for medical care that sustains life beyond a certain age—say 83 or so. ⑥Former Colorado governor Richard Lamm has been quoted as saying that the old and infirm“have a duty to die and get out of the way”, so that younger, healthier people can realize their potential.
①I would not go that far. ②Energetic people now routinely work through their 60s and beyond, and remain dazzlingly productive. ③At 78, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone jokingly claims to be 53. ④Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is in her 70s, and former surgeon general C. Everett Koop chairs an Internet start-up in his 80s. ⑤These leaders are living proof that prevention
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works and that we can manage the health problems that come naturally with age. ⑥As a mere 68-year-old, I wish to age as productively as they have.
①Yet there are limits to what a society can spend in this pursuit. ②As a physician, I know the most costly and dramatic measures may be ineffective and painful. ③I also know that people in Japan and Sweden, countries that spend far less on medical care, have achieved longer, healthier lives than we have. ④As a nation, we may be overfunding the quest for unlikely cures while underfunding research on humbler therapies that could improve people's lives.
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56.What is implied in the first sentence?
[A] Americans are better prepared for death than other people.
[B] Americans enjoy a higher life quality than ever before.
[C] Americans are over-confident of their medical technology.
[D] Americans take a vain pride in their long life expectancy.
57.The author uses the example of cancer patients to show that __________.
[A] medical resources are often wasted
[B] doctors are helpless against fatal diseases
[C] some treatments are too aggressive
[D] medical costs are becoming unaffordable
58.The author's attitude toward Richard Lamm's remark is one of __________.
[A] strong disapproval
[B] reserved consent
[C] slight contempt
[D] enthusiastic support
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59.In contrast to the US, Japan and Sweden are funding their medical care __________.
[A] more flexibly
[B] more extravagantly
[C] more cautiously
[D] more reasonably
60.The text intends to express the idea that __________.
[A] medicine will further prolong people's lives
[B] life beyond a certain limit is not worth living
[C] death should be accepted as a fact of life
[D] excessive demands increase the cost of health care
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