drove past in his big car. He told the driver to stop, and he got out to speak to the girl. He asked her if she would like to go to the film studio to do a test, and at first she thought he was joking. Then she got angry and said she would call the police. It took the producer twenty minutes to tell Connie that he was serious. Then an appointment was made for her to go to the studio the next day. The test was successful. They gave her some necessary lessons and within a few weeks she was playing the leading part opposite one of the most famous actors of the day. Of Course, she was given a more dramatic name, which is now world-famous. But chances like this happen once in a blue moon!
41. According to the passage, the main reason why young people should be discouraged from becoming actors is ______.
[A] actors are very unusual people
[B] the course at the drama school lasts two years [C] acting is really a hard job [D] there are already too many actors
42. An assistant stage manager's job is difficult because he has to ______. [A] do all kinds of stage work [B] work for long hours [C] wait for a better company [D] act well
43. According to the context, the sentence \young actors with the stage in their blood are happy\[A] they don't care if their job is hard [B] they like the stage naturally [C] they are born happy [D] they are easily satisfied
44. Conie Pratt soon became a famous actress after ______. [A] learning some lessons about the art of speaking [B] playing her part in the \[C] successfully matching the most famous actors
[D] acting a leading part with a most famous actor at that time 45. The phrase \ [A] all at once [B] once for a long time [C] once in a while [D] once and for all
Passage Two
Desegregation of higher education has produced significant improvements in education for all Americans. The opening up of segregated colleges and universities to students of all racial and ethnic backgrounds came about only as the result of many forms of prolonged struggle in the courts, in the streets, and on campuses.
The efforts to open up higher educational opportunities for blacks in historically white institutions also led to expanded opportunities for lower- and middle-class white students, especially at institutions that adopted “open admissions” policies of accepting all high school graduates. Between 1960 and 1981, while the number of black students between the ages of
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eighteen and twenty-four enrolled in college increased from 134,000 to over750,000, the number of white students in the same age group grew from just over 2 million to over 6.5 million. In 1960 more than one-half of blacks attending colleges were enrolled at historically black institutions. By 1981 that percentage had declined to just 18 per cent. Most of the blacks enrolled in traditionally white institutions, however, were at two-year community colleges or at four-year public colleges that were becoming or had already become predominantly black.
Desegregation of higher education produced difficult problems for historically black institutions that had always struggled under great hardship to provide higher education for blacks when blacks had been barred from white institutions. Historically black institutions, however, have continued to produce a high percentage of the most educationally and professionally successful blacks in the United States. Meanwhile, blacks in predominantly white institutions have achieved notable progress, but they have also encountered various problems.
College completion rates for young blacks have increased substantially, but they are only about one-half the rate for young whites. In 1981, for example, 11.5 percent of blacks aged twenty-five to twenty-nine and 21.3percent of whites in that age group had completed college.
Blacks continue to be substantially underrepresented in graduate and professional schools in the United States. During the early 1980s blacks comprised about 6 percent of students in graduate school and medical school and about 4 percent of all law school students. Blacks also received about 4 percent of all doctoral degrees, but over half of these degrees were conferred in one discipline—education. In general, since the cry of “reverse discrimination” was raised during the middle of the 1970s, black progress in higher education has been slowed and perhaps even reversed. 46. What is the main idea of the passage?
[A] Desegregation of higher education produced many difficulties for historically black
institutions.
[B] The opening up of higher educational opportunities for blacks led to expanded
opportunities for white students too.
[C] Blacks have been historically repressed in graduate and professional schools in the United States.
[D] Desegregation of higher education has brought more higher educational opportunities for
black and white students alike.
47. What can be inferred about the opening up of segregated colleges and universities?
[A] It came about as the result of a surge in the number of students enrolled in higher
institutions.
[B] It came about as the result of time-long resistance against racial discrimination against
blacks.
[C] It came about when the cry of “reverse discrimination” was raised.
[D] It came about when efforts to expand educational opportunities for lower- and
middle-class black people were intensified.
48. Which of the following is NOT one of the consequences of the opening up of segregated colleges and universities?
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[A] Black students were substantially underrepresented in graduate and professional schools in the United States.
[B] It brought a significant increase in the number of white students. [C] It created thorny problems for historically black institutions.
[D] The number of black students between eighteen to twenty-four years old enrolled in college greatly increased.
49. After the desegregation of higher education black students are still unlikely to . [A] get enrolled in traditionally white colleges [B] get enrolled in traditionally black institutions [C] complete college
[D] get a Doctor’s Degree in science
50. Which of the following is true about historically black institutions?
[A] The students in historically black institutions are no longer predominantly black after the
opening up of segregated institutions. [B] They created many problems for their students.
[C] They achieved notable progress even though they were under great hardship. [D] The number of historically black institutions dropped in the 1960s and 1970s.
Passage Three
What might driving on an automated highway be like? The answer depends on what kind of system is ultimately adopted. Two distinct types are on the drawing board. The first is a special-purpose lane system, in which certain lanes are reserved for automated vehicles. The second is a mixed traffic system: fully automated vehicles would share the road with partially automated or manually driven cars. A special-purpose lane system would require more extensive physical modifications to existing highways, but it promises the greatest gains in freeway capacity.
Under either scheme, the driver would specify the desired destination, furnishing this information to a computer in the car at the beginning of the trip or perhaps just before reaching the automated highway. If a mixed traffic system was in place, automated driving could begin whenever the driver was on suitably equipped roads. If special-purpose lanes were available, the car would enter them and join existing traffic in two different ways. One method would use a special onramp. (入口引道). As the driver approached the point of entry for the highway, devices installed on the roadside would electronically check the vehicle to determine its destination and to ascertain that it had the proper automation equipment in good working order. Assuming it passed such tests, the drive would steer onto the highway and move in normal fashion to a “transition” lane. The vehicle would then shift under computer control onto a lane reserved for automated traffic. (The limitation of these lanes to automated traffic would, presumably, be well respected, because all trespasser(非法进入者)could swiftly identified by authorities.)
Either approach to joining a lane of automated traffic would harmonize the movement of newly entering vehicles with those already traveling. Automated control here should allow for smooth merging, without the usual uncertainties and potential for accidents. And once a vehicle had settled into automated travel, the driver would be free to release the wheel, open the morning paper or just relax.
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51. We learn from the first paragraph that two system of automated highways____ [A] are being planned [B] are being modified [C] are now in wide use [D] are under construction 52. A special-purpose lane system is probably advantageous in that . [A]it would require only minor changes to existing highways [B] it would achieve the greatest highway traffic efficiency [C]it has a lane for both automated and partially automated vehicles [D] it offers more lanes for automated vehicles
53. Which of the following is true about driving on automated highway?
[A]Vehicles traveling on it are assigned different lanes according to their destinations [B] A car can join existing traffic anytime in a mixed lane system
[C] The driver should inform his car computer of his destination before driving onto it [D] The driver should share the automated lane with those of regular vehicles 54. We know from the passage that a car can enter a special-purpose lane— [A] by smoothly merging with cars on the conventional lane [B] by ways of a ramp with electronic control devices [C] through a specially guarded gate
[D] after all trespassers are identified and removed 55. When driving in an automated lane, the driver___ [A] should harmonized with newly entering cars [B] doesn’t have to rely on his computer system [C] should watch out for potential accidents [D] doesn’t have to hold on to the steering wheel
Passage Four
I had an experience some years ago which taught me something about the ways in which people make a bad situation worse by blaming themselves. One January, I had to officiate at two funerals on successive days for two elderly women in my community. Both had died \of years,\full life. Their homes happened to be near each other, so I paid condolence (吊唁) calls on the two families on the same afternoon. At the first home, the son of the deceased (已故的) woman said to me, \mother to Florida and gotten her out of this cold and snow, she would be alive today. It's my fault that she died.\insisted on my mother's going to Florida, she would be alive today. That long airplane ride, the abrupt change of climate, was more than she could take. It's my fault that she's dead.\ When things don't turn out as we would like them to, it is very tempting to assume that had we done things differently, the story would have had a happier ending. Priests know that any time there is a death, the survivors will feel guilty. Because the course of action they took turned out badly, they believe that the opposite course-keeping Mother at home, postponing the operation-would have turned out better. After all, how could it have turned out any worse?
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