C) To offer counseling to people on how to raise grandchildren.
{D) To discourage people from insisting on having grandchildren. }
22. Planned Grandparenthood would include depressed grandparents on its staff in order to ____.
A) show them the joys of life grandparents may have in raising grandchildren
{B} draw attention to the troubles and difficulties grandchildren may cause }
C) share their experience in raising grandchildren in a more scientific way
D) help raise funds to cover the high expense of education for grandchildren
23. According to the passage, some couples may eventually choose to have children because_____.
{A) they find it hard to resist the carrot-and-stick approach of their parents }
B) they have learn from other parents about the joys of having children
C) they feel more and more lonely ad they grow older
D) they have found it irrational to remain childless
24. By saying “… my parents were putting the grandchild squeeze on me” (Line 2-3, Para. 6), the author means that _________.
{A) her parents kept pressuring her to have a child }
B) her parents liked to have a grandchild in their arms
C) her parents asked her to save for the expenses of raising a child
D) her parents kept blaming her for her child’s bad behavior
25. What does the author really think of the idea of having children?
A) It does more harm than good.
B) It contributes to overpopulation.
{C) It is troublesome but rewarding. }
D) It is a psychological catastrophe
Passage Two
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
Ask most people how they define the American Dream and chances are they’ll say, “Success.” The dream of individual opportunity has been at home in America since Europeans discovered a “new world” in the Western Hemisphere. Early immigrants like Hector St. Jean de Crevecoeur praised highly the freedom and opportunity to be found in this new land. His glowing descriptions of a classless society where anyone could attain success through honesty and hard work fired the imaginations of many European readers: in Letters from an American Farmer (1782) he wrote, “We are all excited at the spirit of an industry which is unfettered(无拘无束的) and unrestrained, because each person works for himself … We have no princes, for whom we toil (干苦力活), starve, and bleed: we are the most perfect society now existing in the world.” The promise of a land where “the rewards of a man’s industry follow with equal steps the progress of his labor” drew poor immigrants from Europe and fueled national expansion into the western territories.
Our national mythology (神化) is full of illustrations of the American success story. There’s Benjamin Franklin, the very model of the self-educated, self-made man, who rose from modest origins to become a well-known scientist, philosopher, and statesman. In the nineteenth century, Horatio Alger, a writer of fiction for young boys, became America’s best-selling author with rags-to-riches tales. The notion of success haunts us: we spend million every year reading about the rich and famous, learning how to “make a fortune in real estate with no money down,” and “dressing for success.” The myth of success has even invaded our personal relationships: today it’s as important to be “successful” in marriage or parenthoods as it is to come out on top in business.
But dreams easily turn into nightmares. Every American who hopes to “make it” also knows the fear of failure, because the myth of success inevitably implies comparison between the haves and the have-nots, the stars and the anonymous crowd. Under pressure of the myth, we become indulged in status symbols: we try to live in the “right” neighborhoods, wear the “right” clothes, eat the “right” foods. These symbols of distinction assure us and others that we are different, that we stand out from the crowd. It is one of the great paradoxes of our culture that we believe strongly in the fundamental equality of all, yet strive as hard as we can to separate ourselves from our fellow citizens.
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But dreams easily turn into nightmares. Every American who hopes to "make it" also knows the fear of failure, because the myth of success inevitably implies comparison between the haves and the have-nots, the achievers and the drones, the stars and the anonymous crowd. Under pressure of the myth, we become engrossed in status symbols: we try to live in the "right" neighborhoods, wear the "right" clothes, eat the "right" foods. These emblems of distinction assure us and others that we are different, that we stand out from the crowd. It is one of the great paradoxes of our culture that we believe passionately in the fundamental equality of all yet strive as hard as we can to separate ourselves from our fellow citizens.
说明：黑体字部分生词较多，所以采用了删除(如the achievers and the drones)或变动单词(如emblems被替换成symbols等)两种手段。
26. What is the essence of the American Dream according to Crevecoeur?
A) People are free to develop their power of imagination.
B) People who are honest and work hard can succeed.
C) People are free from exploitation and oppression.
{D) People can fully enjoy individual freedom. }
27. By saying “the rewards of a man’s industry follow with equal steps the progress of his labor” (Line 10, Para. 1), the author means __________.
{A) the more diligent one is, the bigger his returns}
B) laborious work ensures the growth of an industry
C) a man’s business should be developed step by step
D) a company’s success depends on its employees’ hard work
28. The characters described in Horatio Alger’s novels are people who _______.
A) succeeded in real estate investment
B) earned enormous fortunes by chance
{C) became wealthy after starting life very poor }
D) became famous despite their modest origins
29. It can be inferred from the last sentence of the second paragraph that _________.
A) business success often contributes to a successful marriage
{B) Americans wish to succeed in every aspect of life}
C) good personal relationships lead to business success
D) successful business people provide good care for their children
30. What is the paradox of American culture according to the author?
A) The American road to success is full of nightmares.
B) Status symbols are not a real indicator of a person’s wealth.
C) The American Dream is nothing but an empty dream.
{D) What Americans strive after often contradicts their beliefs. }
Passage Three
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.
Public distrust of scientists stems in part from the blurring of boundaries between science and technology, between discovery and manufacture. Most governments, perhaps all governments, justify public expenditure on scientific research in terms of the economic benefits the scientific enterprise has brought in the past and will bring in the future. Politicians remind their voters of the splendid machines ‘our scientists’ have invented, the new drugs to relieve old ailments(病痛), and the new surgical equipment and techniques by which previously intractable(难治疗的) conditions may now be treated and lives saved. At the same time, the politicians demand of scientists that they tailor their research to ‘economic needs’, that they award a higher priority to research proposals that are ‘near the market’ and can be translated into the greatest return on investment in the shortest time. Dependent, as they are, on politicians for much of their funding, scientists have little choice but to comply. Like the rest of us, they are members of a society that rates the creation of wealth as the greatest possible good. Many have reservations, but keep them to themselves in what they perceive as a climate hostile to the pursuit of understanding for its own sake and the idea of an inquiring, creative spirit.
In such circumstances no one should be too hard on people who are suspicious of conflicts of interest. When we learn that the distinguished professor assuring us of the safety of a particular product holds a consultancy with the company making it, we cannot be blamed for wondering whether his fee might conceivably cloud his professional judgment. Even if the professor holds no consultancy with any firm, some people many still distrust him because of his association with those who do, or at least wonder about the source of some of his research funding.
This attitude can have damaging effects. It questions the integrity of individuals working in a profession that prizes intellectual honesty as the supreme virtue, and plays into the hands of those who would like to discredit scientists by representing them as venal(可以收买的). This makes it easier to dismiss all scientific pronouncements, but especially those made by the scientists who present themselves as ‘experts’. The scientist most likely to understand the safety of a nuclear reactor, for example, is a nuclear engineer, and a nuclear engineer is most likely to be employed by the nuclear industry. If a nuclear engineer declares that a reactor is unsafe, we believe him, because clearly it is not to his advantage to lie about it. If he tells us it is safe, on the other hand, we distrus
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