III.综合能力
Ａ. 阅读
Passage 1
Honeybees cannot live alone. Their body structure and instincts equip them for life in a colony or community, where they have a complex social organization and the various duties are divided among the individuals according to physical fitness and age. An individual worker bee cannot reproduce itself. While it may continue to live if forcibly isolated from its mates, it fails to care for itself adequately, and soon dies. Most insects have the ability to hibernate (冬眠) in winter, but the honeybee seems to have lost this. Since at low temperatures the bee will die, it must have the ability to make its own environment, so far as temperature is concerned. This makes a colony necessary to the bees in winter, so that they may collectively warm each other. Efficiency, if not necessary, demands that the work of the colony be divided, and such a division of labor tends to enhance the need to maintain the colony. The physical structure of the honeybee is further suited for the defense of the entire colony rather than for its own defense. The bee's barbed sting is used only once and is made more effective by the fact that it is left behind in the victim. With the loss of the sting, however, the bee dies. This kind of defensive weapon is not of service to the individual, but to the community.
1. According to the passage, bees are fitted for communal life by virtue of their ________.
A. flexibility and initiative
B. intelligence and sensitivity
C. independence and endurance
D. instincts and form
2. It can be inferred from the passage that at one time bees had the ability to ________.
A. increase their activity in lower temperatures
B. leave cold climates during winter
C. remain inactive through periods of cold weather
D. construct insulated hives
3. According to the passage, bees differ from most other communities of insects in their need to ________.
A. reproduce in large numbers
B. control the temperature where they live
C. divide the work of their colonies
D. have a complex defense system
4. According to the passage, the honeybee's sting is particularly effective because it ________.
A. has many potential uses
B. can kill several victims at once
C. is located in the rear of the bee's body
D. remains with the bee's victim
5. Which of the following is the most appropriate title for the passage?
A. The Communal Life of Bees
B. The Structure of the Bee
C. The Organization of the Insect Colonies
D. The Life of Social Insects
Passage 2
Beauty has always been regarded as something praiseworthy. Almost everyone thinks attractive people are happier and healthier, have better marriages and have more respectable occupations. Personal consultants give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive defendants. But in the executive circle, beauty can become a liability.
While attractiveness is a positive factor for a man on his way up the executive ladder, it is a harmful for a woman.
Handsome male executives were perceived as having more integrity than plainer men; effort and ability were thought to account for their success.
Attractive female executives were considered to have less integrity than unattractive ones; their success was attributed not to ability but to factors such as luck.
All unattractive women executives were thought to have more integrity and to be more capable than the attractive female executives. Interestingly, though, the rise of the attractive female overnight successes was attributed more to personal relationships and less to ability than that of unattractive overnight successes.
Why are attractive women not thought to be able? An attractive woman is perceived to be more feminine(女性)， and an attractive man more masculine(男性的)than the less attractive ones. Thus, an attractive woman has an advantage in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in traditionally masculine position appears to lack the "masculine" qualities required.
This is true even in politics. "When the only clue is how he or she looks, people treat men and women differently." says Anne Bowman, who recently published a study of the effects of attractiveness of political candidates. She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men and one of women in order of attractiveness. The students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices. They were asked to rank them again, in the order they would vote for them.
The results showed that attractive males utterly defeated unattractive men, but the women who had been ranked most attractive invariably received the fewest votes.
1. The word "liability"(Para.1) most probably means________.
A. misfortune B. instability
C. disadvantage D. burden
2. In traditionally female jobs, attractiveness________.
A. reinforces the feminine qualities required
B. make women look more honest and capable
C. is of primary importance to women
D. often enables women to succeed quickly
3. Bowman's experiment reveals that when it comes to politics, attractiveness ______.
A. turns out to be an obstacle to men
B. affects men and women alike
C. has as little effect on men as on women
D. is more of an obstacle than a benefit to women
4. It can be inferred from the passage that people's views on beauty are often ________.
A. practical B. prejudiced
C. old-fashioned D. radical
5. The author writes this passage to ______.
A. discuss the negative aspects of being attractive
B. give advice to job-seekers who are attractive
C. demand equal rights for women
D. emphasize the importance of appearance
Passage 3
It looks like the perfect business opportunity: every house has one and everyone uses them. But Toto, a Japanese company that has the most technologically advanced product of its kind, is finding that selling a better toilet requires more than just a little patience.
Toto made toilet history in 1980 when, improving on an American model that combined a bidet and toilet, it produced the "washlet"-a device that sprayed warm water on the user's bottom after use.
"We did what others were reluctant to try-we brought electronics into the water closet,"said Hiroshi Kobayashi, Toto's general manager of restroom product research.
The washlet is controlled by a wall-mounted panel that is as sleek and complex as that of a stereo system. The buttons on it allow adjustment of the nozzle position, water pressure and type of spray, plus blow-drying, air purification and seat warming for those cold winter mornings.
Toto dominates the Japanese toilet market with 65 per cent of sales. But where Sony's and Toyota's products have both adapted to Western popular culture, Toto's high-tech seats have not travelled well.
Toto officials blame cultural matters for this.
The 100 years of flush toilet history in America and Europe has resulted in many competitors and cheap toilets. And Westerners just aren't used to paying hundreds, or even thousands of dollars, for high-tech lavatories.
But after making some inroads in America with more standard models, Toto's washlets are starting to make an impression. Sales there, which began some eight years ago, have risen to over 1,000 units a month, from 600, two years ago.
Some analysts argue that tackling cultural norms isn't worth the effort and that Toto would be better off pulling its washlets out of the US and Europe and concentrating on Asian markets like China.
China is a key market for Toto, where it makes 1.1 million toilets and sinks annually. It plans to make even more now that a building boom is under way for the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
Help: bidet n.坐浴盆 nozzle n. 喷嘴 tackle vt. 处理 sink n. 洗涤槽
Questions:
1. Toto finds that selling a better toilet not only requires patience but also________.
2.What device has Toto invented?
3.Why do Westerners seem to dislike Toto's products?
4. Besides Japan, what is a potential market for Toto?
5. The word "boom" in the last paragraph probably means________.
B. 写作
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a position on the topic The difference between oral English and written English. You should write at least 100 words and you should base your composition on the outline below.
Outline: 从1）正式与非正式 2）对单词与语法的要求 3）用时的长短等方面进行比较。
