Part III. Reading Comprehension (40 points; 55 minutes)
Section 1
Directions: Each of the following three passages is followed by some questions. For each question there are four choices. Choose the best answer to each question. Then blacken the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.
Passage One
Questions 41 to 45 are based on the following passage.
For the past twenty years, poll-takers (民意测验者) have told us that the vast majority of Americans report that they are "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their jobs. But, when the surveys pose a slightly different question-"If you had to do it over, would you choose the same line of work?"-sixty percent of working Americans say they would choose another occupation. This seems to tell us that Americans feel that they are supposed to like their jobs but, in reality, they don't. Most of us are stuck in jobs we'd prefer not to have. And some of us actually hate what we do.
How does this happen in a land where citizens are presumably free to do, and become, anything they want? First of all, some of us didn't deliberately choose our jobs but simply fell into them. Later, there was never time to find out what we really wanted to do.
Another reason people dislike their jobs is the result of a change in the American economy. A hundred years ago most Americans worked for themselves on farms or in small stores and workshops. Now, less than 10 percent of us are self-employed. Many of us work as cogs (轮牙) in the wheels of giant corporations. We don't make a finished product with our own hands, and we feel that we are totally replaceable parts in the machine. Social scientists say that the happiest workers are the ones who are their own bosses-business owners, executives, and professionals. Working for a big company often results in a sense of powerlessness and malaise. Finally, being a member of the baby boom generation increases the chances of job dissatisfaction. In the struggle for careers among the members of this large population "bulge", many people are losing out in the competition. These individuals may never achieve the standard of living their parents achieved, or go as far up the success ladder as they had hoped. The result is bitterness, and a feeling of being trapped in a "nowhere" job.
41. The best title for this selection is __________.
A. Job Satisfaction
B. Why People Hate Their Jobs
C. Nowhere Jobs
D. A Change in the Workplace
42. Which sentence best expresses the main idea of the selection? __________.
A. Job burnout is a growing problem
B. Large companies provide many benefits for workers
C. Workers are unhappy because they no longer work with their hands
D. There are several reasons why workers are unhappy with their jobs
43. According to the passage, the majority of Americans __________.
A. would choose another occupation if they could begin again
B. are self-employed
C. feel that they are supposed to dislike their jobs
D. work in factories
44. The author implies that __________.
A. job dissatisfaction is a sign of laziness
B. the baby-boomers despise their parents
C. polls can be misleading
D. working for a corporation is very satisfying
45. The word "malaise" (Line7, Para. 3) means __________.
A. depression B. fulfillment
C. contentment D. significance
Passage Two
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
Most forest fires are caused by human carelessness or ignorance. Forest fire prevention, therefore, is mainly a problem of creating better understanding of the importance of forests, an awareness of the danger of fire in the woods, and a sense of personal responsibility to safeguard the forests from danger. This is not an easy job.
Careless smokers are responsible for thousands of forest fires each year. Many of these are started when cigarette butts (烟蒂) and matches are thrown from automobiles. Others are caused by hunters, hikers (徒步旅行者), fishermen, or woods workers who are careless in disposing of their smoking materials. The Forest Service has posted rules in many of the National Forests that prohibit smoking except in certain designated areas. Many of the states have laws against throwing lighted materials from automobiles. The prevention of smoker-caused fires, however, depends upon changing the attitudes and behavior of millions of people who smoke in hazardous areas.
The most important natural cause of fire is lightning (闪电). This accounts for 11 percent of forest fires on protected land for the entire nation. In the Western States, lightning causes a much higher percentage of fires than it does in the East.
Advances in knowledge of fire weather are helping forest protection forces to know when to be alert to lightning-caused fires. Adequate and well-equipped forces can control them quickly and hold the damage to a minimum. Experiments in "seeding" thunder clouds to prevent or control the lightning itself have been in process for many years, but new breakthroughs are needed for any significant reduction in the fires lightning starts.
46. This passage is chiefly about __________.
A. smoking in forests
B. changing the attitudes and behavior of millions of people
C. the chief causes of forest fires and their prevention
