A) They believe that doing so is impractical.
B) They feel that such behavior is unprincipled.
C) They are not good at manipulating colleagues.
D) They think the effort will get them nowhere.
14. The author considers office politics to be ________.
A) unwelcome at the workplace
B) bad for interpersonal relationships
C) indispensable to the development of company culture
D) an important factor for personal advancement
15. It is the author’s view that ________.
A) speaking up for oneself is part of human nature
B) self-promotion does not necessarily mean flattery
C) hard work contributes very little to one’s promotion
D) many employees fail to recognize the need of flattery
Passage Two
Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage.
As soon as it was revealed that a reporter for Progressive magazine had discovered
how to make a hydrogen bomb, a group of firearm (火器) fans formed the National
Hydrogen Bomb Association, and they are now lobbying against any legislation to stop
Americans from owning one.
“The Constitution,” said the association’s spokesman, “gives everyone the right to
own arms. It doesn’t spell out what kind of arms. But since anyone can now make a
hydrogen bomb, the public should be able to buy it to protect themselves.”
“Don’t you think it’s dangerous to have one in the house, particularly where there
are children around?”
“The National Hydrogen Bomb Association hopes to educate people in the safe
handling of this type of weapon. We are instructing owners to keep the bomb in a locked
cabinet and the fuse (导火索) separately in a drawer.”
“Some people consider the hydrogen bomb a very fatal weapon which could kill
somebody.”
The spokesman said, “Hydrogen bombs don’t kill people—people kill people. The
bomb is for self-protection and it also has a deterrent effect. If somebody knows you
have a nuclear weapon in your house, they’re going to think twice about breaking in.”
“But those who want to ban the bomb for American citizens claim that if you have
one locked in the cabinet, with the fuse in a drawer, you would never be able to assemble
it in time to stop an intruder (侵入者).”
“Another argument against allowing people to own a bomb is that at the moment it
is very expensive to build one. So what your association is backing is a program which
would allow the middle and upper classes to acquire a bomb while poor people will be
left defenseless with just handguns.”
16. According to the passage, some people started a national association so as to
________.
A) block any legislation to ban the private possession of the bomb
B) coordinate the mass production of the destructive weapon
C) instruct people how to keep the bomb safe at home
D) promote the large-scale sale of this newly invented weapon
17. Some people oppose the ownership of H-bombs by individuals on the grounds that
________.
A) the size of the bomb makes it difficult to keep in a drawer
B) most people don’t know how to handle the weapon
C) people’s lives will be threatened by the weapon
D) they may fall into the hands of criminals
18. By saying that the bomb also has a deterrent effect the spokesman means that it
________.
A) will frighten away any possible intruders
B) can show the special status of its owners
C) will threaten the safety of the owners as well
D) can kill those entering others’ houses by force
19. According to the passage, opponents of the private ownership of H-bombs are very
much worried that ________.
A) the influence of the association is too powerful for the less privileged to
overcome
B) poorly-educated Americans will find it difficult to make use of the weapon
C) the wide use of the weapon will push up living expenses tremendously
D) the cost of the weapon will put citizens on an unequal basis
20. From the tone of the passage we know that the author is ________.
A) doubtful about the necessity of keeping H-bombs at home for safety
B) unhappy with those who vote against the ownership of H-bombs
C) not serious about the private ownership of H-bombs
D) concerned about the spread of nuclear weapons
Passage Three
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
Sign has become a scientific hot button. Only in the past 20 years have specialists in
language study realized that signed languages are unique—a speech of the hand. They
offer a new way to probe how the brain generates and understands language, and throw
new light on an old scientific controversy: whether language, complete with grammar, is
something that we are born With, or whether it is a learned behavior. The current interest
in sign language has roots in the pioneering work of one rebel teacher at Gallaudet
University in Washington, D. C., the world’s only liberal arts university for deaf people.
When Bill Stokoe went to Gallaudet to teach English, the school enrolled him in a
course in signing. But Stokoe noticed something odd: among themselves, students signed
differently from his classroom teacher.
Stokoe had been taught a sort of gestural code, each movement of the hands
representing a word in English. At the time, American Sign Language (ASL) was thought
to be no more than a form of pidgin English (混杂英语). But Stokoe believed the “hand
talk” his students used looked richer. He wondered: Might deaf people actually: have a
genuine language?