21. By mentioning “the same time crunch” (Line 1, Para. 2) Sandra Hofferth means
________.
A) children have little time to play with their parents
B) children are not taken good care of by their working parents
C) both parents and children suffer from lack of leisure time
D) both parents and children have trouble managing their time
22. According to the author, the reason given by Sandra Hofferth for the time crunch is
________.
A) quite convincing
B) partially true
C) totally groundless
D) rather confusing
23. According to the author a child develops better if ________.
A) he has plenty of time reading and studying
B) he is left to play with his peers in his own way
C) he has more time participating in school activities
D) he is free to interact with his working parents
24. The author is concerned about the fact that American kids ________.
A) are engaged in more and more structured activities
B) are increasingly neglected by their working mothers
C) are spending more and more time watching TV
D) are involved less and less in household work
25. We can infer from the passage that ________.
A) extracurricular activities promote children’s intelligence
B) most children will turn to reading with TV sets switched off
C) efforts to get kids interested in reading have been fruitful
D) most parents believe reading to be beneficial to children
Passage Two
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
Henry Ford, the famous U.S. inventor and car manufacturer, once said, “The
business of America is business.” By this he meant that the U.S. way of life is based on
the values of the business world.
Few would argue with Ford’s statement. A brief glimpse at a daily newspaper
vividly shows how much people in the United States think about business. For example,
nearly every newspaper has a business section, in which the deals and projects, finances
and management, stock prices and labor problems of corporations are reported daily. In
addition, business news can appear in every other section. Most national news has an
important financial aspect to it. Welfare, foreign aid, the federal budget, and the policies
of the Federal Reserve Bank are all heavily affected by business. Moreover, business
news appears in some of the unlikeliest places. The world of arts and entertainment is
often referred to as “the entertainment industry” or “show business.”
The positive side of Henry Ford’s statement can be seen in the prosperity that
business has brought to U.S. life. One of the most important reasons so many people from
all over the world come to live in the United States is the dream of a better job. Jobs are
produced in abundance (大量地) because the U.S. economic system is driven by
competition. People believe that this system crates more wealth, more jobs, and a
materially better way of life.
The negative side of Henry Ford’s statement, however, can be seen when the word
business is taken to mean big business. And the term big business—referring to the
biggest companies, is seen in opposition to labor. Throughout U.S. history working people
have had to fight hard for higher wages, better working conditions, and the fight to form
unions. Today, many of the old labor disputes are over, but there is still some employee
anxiety. Downsizing—the laying off of thousands of workers to keep expenses low and
profits high—creates feelings of insecurity for many.
26. The United States is a typical country ________.
A) which encourages free trade at home and abroad
B) where people’s chief concern is how to make money
C) where all businesses are managed scientifically
D) which normally works according to the federal budget
27. The influence of business in the U.S. is evidenced by the fact that ________.
A) most newspapers are run by big businesses
B) even public organizations concentrate on working for profits
C) Americans of all professions know how to do business
D) even arts and entertainment are regarded as business
28. According to the passage, immigrants choose to settle in the U.S., dreaming that
________.
A) they can start profitable businesses there
B) they can be more competitive in business
C) they will make a fortune overnight there
D) they will find better chances of employment
29. Henry Ford’s statement can be taken negatively because ________.
A) working people are discouraged to fight for their fights
B) there are many industries controlled by a few big capitalists
C) there is a conflicting relationship between big corporations and labor
D) public services are not run by the federal government
30. A company’s efforts to keep expenses low and profits high may result in ________.
A) reduction in the number of employees
B) improvement of working conditions
C) fewer disputes between labor and management
D) a rise in workers’ wages
Passage Three
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.
Professor Smith recently persuaded 35 people, 23 of them women, to keep a diary
of all their absent-minded actions for a fortnight. When he came to analyse their
embarrassing lapses (差错) in a scientific report, he was surprised to find that nearly all of
them fell into a few groupings, Nor did the lapses appear to be entirely random (随机的).
One of the women, for instance, on leaving her house for work one morning threw
her dog her earrings and tried to fix a dog biscuit on her ear. “the explanation for this is
that the brain is like a computer,” explains the professor. “People programme themselves
to do certain activities regularly. It was the woman’s custom every morning to throw her
dog two biscuits and then put on her earrings. But somehow the action got reversed in
the programme,” About one in twenty of the incidents the volunteers reported were these
“programme assembly failures.”
Altogether the volunteers logged 433 unintentional actions that they found
themselves doing—an average of twelve each, There appear to be peak periods in the day
when we are at our zaniest (荒谬可笑的). These are two hours some time between eight
a.m. and noon, between four and six p.m. with a smaller peak between eight and ten p.m.
“Among men the peak seems to be when a changeover in brain ‘programmes’ occurs, as
for instance between going to and from work.” Women on average reported slightly more
lapses—12.5 compared with 10.9 for men—probably because they were more reliable
reporters.
A startling finding of the research is that the absent-minded activity is a hazard of
doing things in which we are skilled. Normally, you would expect that skill reduces the
number of errors we make. But trying to avoid silly slips by concentrating more could
make things a lot worse—even dangerous.
31. In his study Professor Smith asked the subjects ________.
A) to keep track of people who tend to forget things
B) to report their embarrassing lapses at random
C) to analyse their awkward experiences scientifically
D) to keep a record of what they did unintentionally
32. Professor Smith discovered that ________.
A) certain patterns can be identified in the recorded incidents
B) many people were too embarrassed to admit their absent-mindedness
C) men tend to be more absent-minded than women
D) absent-mindedness is an excusable human weakness
33. “Programme assembly failures” (Line 6, Para. 2) refers to the phenomenon that
people ________.
A) often fail to programme their routines beforehand
B) tend to make mistakes when they are in a hurry
C) unconsciously change the sequence of doing things
D) are likely to mess things up if they are too tired
34. We learn from the third paragraph that ________.
A) absent-mindedness tends to occur during certain hours of the day
B) women are very careful to perform actions during peak periods
C) women experience more peak periods of absent-mindedness
D) men’s absent-mindedness often results in funny situations
35. It can be concluded from the passage that ________.
A) people should avoid doing important things during peak periods of lapses
B) hazards can be avoided when people do things they are good at
C) people should be careful when programming their actions
D) lapses cannot always be attributed to lack of concentration
Passage Four
Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.
It’s no secret that many children would be healthier and happier with adoptive
parents than with the parents that nature dealt them. That’s especially true of children
who remain in abusive homes because the law blindly favors biological parents. It’s also
true of children who suffer for years in foster homes (收养孩子的家庭) because of
parents who can’t or won’t care for them but refuse to give up custody (监护) rights.
Fourteen-year-old Kimberly Mays fits neither description, but her recent court
victory could eventually help children who do. Kimberly has been the object of an angry
custody baffle between the man who raised her and her biological parents, with whom
she has never lived. A Florida judge ruled that the teenager can remain with the only
father she’s ever known and that her biological parents have “no legal claim” on her.
The ruling, though it may yet be reversed, sets aside the principle that biology is the
primary determinant of parentage. That’s an important development, one that’s long
overdue.
Shortly after birth in December 1978, Kimberly Mays and another infant were
mistakenly switched and sent home with the wrong parents. Kimberly’s biological parents,
Ernest and Regina Twigg, received a child who died of a heart disease in 1988. Medical
tests showed that the child wasn’t the Twiggs’ own daughter, but Kimt only was, thus
sparking a custody battle with Robert Mays. In 1989, the two families agreed that Mr.
Mays would maintain custody with the Twiggs getting visiting fights. Those rights were
ended when Mr. Mays decided that Kimberly was being harmed.
The decision to leave Kimberly with Mr. Mays rendered her suit debated. But the
judge made clear that Kimberly did have standing to sue (起诉) on her own behalf. Thus
he made clear that she was more than just property to be handled as adults saw fit.
Certainly, the biological link between parent and child is fundamental. But
biological parents aren’t always preferable to adoptive ones, and biological parentage
does not convey an absolute ownership that cancels all the rights of children.
36. What was the primary consideration in the Florida judge’s ruling?