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Unit 1Passage 1 The American economic system is organized around a basically private-enterprise, market-oriented economy in which consumers largely determine what shall be produced by spending their money in the marketplace for those goods and services that they want most. Private businessmen. striving to make profits, produce these goods and services in competition with other businessmen; and the profit motive, operating under competitive pressures, largely determines how these goods and services are produced. Thus, in the American economic system it is the demand of individual consumers, coupled with the desire of businessmen to maximize profits and the desire of individuals to maximize their incomes, that together determine what shall be produced and how resources are used to produce it. An important factor in a market-oriented economy is the mechanism by which consumer demands can be expressed and responded to by producers. In the American economy, this mechanism is provided by a price system, a process in which prices rise and fall in response to relative demands of consumers and supplies offered by sellerproducers. If the product is in short supply relative to the demand, the price will be bid up and some consumers will be eliminated from the market. If, on the other hand, producing more of a commodity results in reducing its cost, this will tend to increase the supply offered by seller-producers. which in turn will lower the price and permit more consumers to buy the product. Thus, price is the regulating mechanism in the American economic system. The important factor in a private-enterprise economy is that individuals are allowed to own productive resources (private property), and they are permitted to hire labor, gain control over natural resources, and produce goods and services for sale at a profit. In the American economy, the concept of private property embraces not only the ownership of productive resources but also certain rights, including the right to determine the price of a product or to make a free contract with another private individual.51. In Line 7, Para. 1, the desire of individuals to maximize their incomes means _. A Americans are never satisfied with their incomes B Americans tend to overstate their incomes C Americans want to have their incomes increased D Americans want to increase the purchasing power of their incomes52. The first two sentences in the second paragraph tell us that _. A producers can satisfy the consumers by mechanized production B consumers can express their demands through producers C producers decide the prices of products D supply and demand regulate prices53. According to the passage, a private-enterprise economy is characterized by _. A private property and rights concerned B manpower and natural resources control C ownership of productive resources D free contracts and prices54. The passage is mainly about _. A how American goods are produced B how American consumers buy their goods C how American economic system works D how American businessmen make their profitsPassage 2 One hundred and thirteen million Americans have at least one bank-issued credit card. They their owners automatic credit in stores, restaurants, and hotels, at home, across the country, and even abroad, and they make many banking services available as well. More and more of these credit cards can be read automatically, making it possible to withdraw or deposit money in scattered locations, whether or not the local branch bank is open. For many of us the cashless society is not on the horizon its already here. While computers offer these conveniences to consumers. they have many advantages for sellers too. Electronic cash registers can do much more than simply ring up sales. They can keep a wide range of records, including who sold what, when, and to whom. This information allows businessmen to keep track of their list of goods by showing which items are being sold and how fast they are moving. Decisions to reorder or return goods to suppliers can then be made. At the same time these computers record which hours are busiest and which employees are the most efficient, allowing personnel and staffing assignments to be made accordingly. And they also identify preferred customers for promotional campaigns. Computers are relied on by manufacturers for similar reasons. Computer-analyzed marketing reports can help to decide which products to emphasize now, which to develop for the future, and which to drop. Computers keep track of goods in stock, of raw materials on hand, and even of the production process itself. Numerous other commerical enterprises, from theaters to magazine publishers, from gas and electric utilities to milk processors, bring better and more efficient services to consumers through the use of computers.55. According to the passage, the credit card enables its owner to _. A withdraw as much money from the bank as he wishes B obtain more convenient services than other people do C enjoy greater trust from the storekeeper D cash money wherever he wishes to56. From the last sentence of the first paragraph we learn that _. A in the future all the Americans will use credit cards B credit cards are mainly used in the United States today C nowadays many Americans do not pay in cash D it is now more convenient to use credit cards than before57. The phrase ring up sales (Line 2, Para. 2) most probably means _ A make an order of goods B record sales on a cash register C call the sales manager D keep track of the goods in stock58. What is this passage mainly about? A Approaches to the commercial use of computers. B conveniences brought about by computers in business. C Significance of automation in commercial enterprises. D Advantages of credit cards in business.Passage 3 Exceptional children are different in some significant way from others of the same age. For these children to develop to their full adult potential. their education must be adapted to those differences. Although we focus on the needs of exceptional children, we find ourselves describing their environment as well. While the leading actor on the stage captures our attention, we are aware of the importance of the supporting players and the scenery of the play itself. Both the family and the society in which exceptional children live are often the key to their growth and development. And it is in the public schools that we find the full expression of societys understanding the knowledge, hopes, and fears that are passed on to the next generation. Education in any society is a mirror of that society. In that mirror we can see the strengths, the weaknesses, the hopes, the prejudices, and the central values of the culture itself. The great interest in exceptional children shown in public education over the past three decades indicates the strong feeling in our society that all citizens, whatever their special conditions, deserve the opportunity to fully develop their capabilities. All men are created equal. Weve heard it many times, but it still has important meaning for education in a democratic society. Although the phrase was used by this countrys founders to denote equality before the law, it has also been interpreted to mean equality of opportunity. That concept implies educational opportunity for all children the right of each child to receive help in learning to the limits of his or her capacity, whether that capacity be small or great. Recent court decisions have confirmed the right of all children disabled or not to an appropriate education, and have ordered that public schools take the necessary steps to provide that education. In response, schools are modifying their programs, adapting instruction to children who are exceptional, to those who cannot profit substantially from regular programs.59. In paragrah 2 . the author cites the example of the leading actor on the stage to show that _. A the growth of exceptional children has much to do with their family and the society B exceptional children are more influenced by their families than normal children are C exceptional children are the key interest of the family and society D the needs of the society weigh much heavier than the needs of the exceptional children60. The reason that the exceptional children receive so much concern in education is that _. A they are expected to be leaders of the society B they might become a burden of the society C they should fully develop their potentials D disabled children deserve special consideration61. This passage mainly deals with _. A the differences of children in their learning capabilities B the definition of exceptional children in modern society C the special educational programs for exceptional children D the necessity of adapting education to exceptional children62. From this passage we learn that the educational concern for exceptional children _. A is now enjoying legal support B disagrees with the tradition of the country C was clearly stated by the countrys founders D will exert great influence over court decisionsPassage 4 I have great confidence that by the end of the decade well know in vast detail how cancer cells arise, says microbiologist Robert Weinberg, an expert on cancer. But, he cautions, some people have the idea that once one understands the causes, the cure will rapidly follow. Consider Pasteur, he discovered the causes of many kinds of infections, but it was fifty or sixty years before cures were available. This year, 50 percent of the 910,000 people who suffer from cancer will survive at least five years. In the year 2000, the National Cancer Institute estimates, that figure will be 75 percent. For some skin cancers, the five-year survival rate is as high as 90 percent. But other survival statistics are still discouraging 13 percent for lung cancer, and 2 percent for cancer of the pancreas. With as many as 120 varieties in existence, discovering how cancer works is not easy. The researchers made great progress in the early 1970s, when they discovered that oncogenes, which are cancer-causing genes, are inactive in normal cells. Anything from cosmic rays to radiation to diet may activate a dormant oncogene, but how remains unknown. If several oncogenes are driven into action, the cell, unable to turn them off, becomes cancerous. The exact mechanisms involved are still mysterious, but the likelihood that many cancers are initiated at the level of genes suggests that we will never prevent all cancers. Changes are a normal part of the evolutionary process, says oncologist William Hayward, Environmental factors can never be totally eliminated; as Hayward points out, We cant prepare a medicine against cosmic rays. The prospects for cure, though still distant, are brighter. First, we need to understand how the normal cell controls itself, Second, we have to determine whether there are a limited number of genes in cells which are al-ways responsible for at least part of the trouble. If we can understand how cancer works, we can counteract its action.63. The example of Pasteur in the passage is used to _. A predict that the secret of cancer will be disclosed in a decade B indicate that the prospects for curing cancer are bright C prove that cancer will be cured in fifty to sixty years D warn that there is still a long way to go before cancer can be conquered64. The author implies that by the year 2000, _. A there will be a drastic rise in the five-year survival rate of skin-cancer patients B 90 percent of he skin-cancer patients today will still be living C the survival statistics will be fairly even among patients with various cancers D there won t be a drastic increase of survival rate of all cancer patients65. Oncogenes are cancer-causing genes _. A that are always in operation in a healthy person B which remain unharmful so long as they are not activated C that can be driven out of normal cells D which normal cell cant turn off66. The word dormant in the third paragraph most probably means _. A dead B ever-present C inactive D potentialPassage 5 Discoveries in science and technology are thought by untaught minds to come in blinding flasher or as the result of dramatic accidents. Sir Alexander Fleming did not, as legend would have it, look at the mold on a piece of cheese and get the idea for penicillin there and then. He experimented with antibacterial substances for nine years before he made his discovery. Inventions and innovations almost always come out of laborious trial and error. Innovation is like soccer; even the best players miss the goal and have their shots blocked much more frequently than they score. They point is that the players who score most are the ones who take the most shots at the goaland so it goes with innovation in any field of activity. The prime difference between innovators and others is one of approach. Everybody gets ideas, but innovators work consciously on theirs, and they follow them through until they prove practicable or otherwise. What ordinary people see as fanciful abstractions, professional innovators see as solid possibilities. Creative thinking may mean simply the realization that theres no particular virtue in doing things the way they have always been done, wrote Rudolph Flesch, a language authority. This accounts for our reaction so seemingly simple innovations like plastic garbage bags and suitcases on wheels that make life more convenient: How come nobody thought of that before? The creative approach begins with the proposition that nothing is as it appears. Innovators will not accept that there is only one way to do anything. Faced with getting from A to B,