全国硕士研究生入学考试英语试题及答案1997年(2)

　
Part III Reading Comprehension
Directions:Each of the passages below is followed by some questions. For each question there are four answers marked A),B),C) and D). Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each of the questions. Then mark your answer on the ANSWER SHEET by blackening the corresponding letter in the brackets. (40 points)
Passage 1
        It was 3:45 in the morning when the vote was finally taken. After six months of arguing and final 16 hours of hot parliamentary debates, Australia's Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die. The measure passed by the convincing vote of 15 to 10. Almost immediately word flashed on the Internet and was picked up, half a world away, by John Hofsess, executive director of the Right to Die Society of Canada. He sent it on via the group's on line service, Death NET. Says Hofsess: “We posted bulletins all day long, because of course this isn't just something that happened in Australia. It's world history.”
        The full import may take a while to sink in. The NT Rights of the Terminally III law has left physicians and citizens alike trying to deal with its moral and practical implications. Some have breathed sighs of relief, others, including churches, right to life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the bill and the haste of its passage. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australia — where an aging population, life extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part — other states are going to consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia. In the US and Canada, where the right to die movement is gathering strength, observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling.
        Under the new Northern Territory law, an adult patient can request death — probably by a deadly injection or pill — to put an end to suffering. The patient must be diagnosed as terminally ill by two doctors. After a “cooling off” period of seven days, the patient can sign a certificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met. For Lloyd Nickson, a 54 year old Darwin resident suffering from lung cancer, the NT Rights of Terminally III law means he can get on with living without the haunting fear of his suffering: a terrifying death from his breathing condition. “I'm not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view, but what I was afraid of was how I'd go, because I've watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks,” he says.

From the second paragraph we learn that _____ .
A)the objection to euthanasia is slow to come in other countries
B)physicians and citizens share the same view on euthanasia
C)changing technology is chiefly responsible for the hasty passage of the law
D)it takes time to realize the significance of the law's passage

When the author says that observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling, he means _____.
A)observers are taking a wait and see attitude towards the future of euthanasia
B)similar bills are likely to be passed in the US, Canada and other countries
C)observers are waiting to see the result of the game of dominoes
D)the effect?taking process of the passed bill may finally come to a stop

When Lloyd Nickson dies, he will _____.
A)face his death with calm characteristic of euthanasia
B)experience the suffering of a lung cancer patient
C)have an intense fear of terrible suffering
D)undergo a cooling off period of seven days

The author's attitude towards euthanasia seems to be that of _____.
A)opposition
B)suspicion
C)approval
D)indifference
　
Passage 2
        A report consistently brought back by visitors to the US is how friendly, courteous, and helpful most Americans were to them. To be fair, this observation is also frequently made of Canada and Canadians, and should best be considered North American. There are, of course, exceptions. Small minded officials, rude waiters, and ill?mannered taxi drivers are hardly unknown in the US Yet it is an observation made so frequently that it deserves comment.
        For a long period of time and in many parts of the country, a traveler was a welcome break in an otherwise dull existence. Dullness and loneliness were common problems of the families who generally lived distant from one another. Strangers and travelers were welcome sources of diversion, and brought news of the outside world.
        The harsh realities of the frontier also shaped this tradition of hospitality. Someone traveling alone, if hungry, injured, or ill, often had nowhere to turn except to the nearest cabin or settlement. It was not a matter of choice for the traveler or merely a charitable impulse on the part of the settlers. It reflected the harshness of daily life: if you didn't take in the stranger and take care of him, there was no one else who would. And someday, remember, you might be in the same situation.
        Today there are many charitable organizations which specialize in helping the weary traveler. Yet, the old tradition of hospitality to strangers is still very strong in the US, especially in the smaller cities and towns away from the busy tourist trails. “I was just traveling through, got talking with this American, and pretty soon he invited me home for dinner — amazing.” Such observations reported by visitors to the US are not uncommon, but are not always understood properly. The casual friendliness of many Americans should be interpreted neither as superficial nor as artificial, but as the result of a historically developed cultural tradition.
        As is true of any developed society, in America a complex set of cultural signals, assumptions, and conventions underlies all social interrelationships. And, of course, speaking a language does not necessarily meant that someone understands social and cultural patterns. Visitors who fail to “translate” cultural meanings properly often draw wrong conclusions. For example, when an American uses the word “friend”, the cultural implications of the word may be quite different from those it has in the visitor's language and culture. It takes more than a brief encounter on a bus to distinguish between courteous convention and individual interest. Yet, being friendly is a virtue that many American value highly and expect from both neighbors and strangers.

In the eyes of visitors from the outside world, _____.
A)rude taxi drivers are rarely seen in the US
B)small minded officials deserve a serious comment
C)Canadians are not so friendly as their neighbors
D)most Americans are ready to offer help

It could be inferred from the last paragraph that _____.
A)culture exercises an influence over social interrelationship
B)courteous convention and individual interest are interrelated
C)various virtues manifest themselves exclusively among friends
D)social interrelationships equal the complex set of cultural conventions

Families in frontier settlements used to entertain strangers _____.
A)to improve their hard life
B)in view of their long distance travel
C)to add some flavor to their own daily life
D)out of a charitable impulse

The tradition of hospitality to strangers _____.
A)tends to be superficial and artificial
B)is generally well kept up in the United States
C)is always understood properly
D)was something to do with the busy tourist trails
　
Passage 3
        Technically, any substance other than food that alters our bodily or mental functioning is a drug. Many people mistakenly believe the term drug refers only to some sort of medicine or an illegal chemical taken by drug addicts. They don't realize that familiar substances such as alcohol and tobacco are also drugs. This is why the more neutral term substance is now used by many physicians and psychologists. The phrase “substance abuse” is often used instead of “drug abuse” to make clear that substances such as alcohol and tobacco can be just as harmfully misused as heroin and cocaine.
        We live a society in which the medicinal and social use of substances (drugs) is pervasive: an aspirin to quiet a headache, some wine to be sociable, coffee to get going in the morning, a cigarette for the nerves. When do these socially acceptable and apparently constructive uses of a substance become misuses? First of all, most substances taken in excess will produce negative effects such as poisoning or intense perceptual distortions. Repeated use of a substance can also lead to physical addiction or substance dependence. Dependence is marked first by an increased tolerance, with more and more of the substance required to produce the desired effect, and then by the appearance of unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the substance is discontinued.
        Drugs (substances) that affect the central nervous system and alter perception, mood, and behavior are known as psychoactive substances. Psychoactive substances are commonly grouped according to whether they are stimulants, depressants, or hallucinogens. Stimulants initially speed up or activate the central nervous system, whereas depressants slow it down. Hallucinogens have their primary effect on perception, distorting and altering it in a variety of ways including producing hallucinations. These are the substances often called psychedelic (from the Greek word meaning “mind?manifesting”) because they seemed to radically alter one's state of consciousness.
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全国硕士研究生入学考试英语试题及答案1997年(2)