Model Test Three

Part Ⅰ                          Writing                    (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled Cloning (克隆) -- a Blessing or a Curse? You should write at least 120 words following the outline given below :

1. 有些人认为克隆是科学上的奇迹，……

2. 有些人对克隆表示忧虑，……

3. 我的看法

注意：在实考中，此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。

Cloning-a Blessing or a Curse?

PartⅡ      Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning)  (15 minutes)

Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer sheet 1.

For question, s 1 - 7, mark

Y (for YES)             if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage;

N (for NO)              if the statement contradicts the information given in the passage;

NG (for NOT GIVEN)    if the information is not given in the passage.

For questions 8 - 10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.

Nuclear waste recycling is costly

    Reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods is being promoted as a better alternative to simply storing the highly radioactive waste from power plants in repositories (贮藏区). But how workable is reprocessing?

    Critics say reprocessing is burdened with economic and safety concerns and that reprocessing carried out in Great Britain caused accidents and radioactive leakage. But the technology also has strong support.

    Reprocessing is an issue in Utah because Energy Solutions, the Salt Lake City—based nuclear cleanup and disposal company formerly known as Envirocare, supports it. Energy Solutions says reprocessing would reduce the volume of nuclear waste that would need to be stored.

    In an April 17 press release, EnergySolutions CEO Steve Creamer said, “recycling is the right thing to do for America and will make the PFS (Private Fuel Storage) proposal for Utah outdated," a point also being made in a current series of EnergySolutions TV ads.

    PFS would store up to 40,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel in an above-ground facility at Skull Valley, Tooele County, for up to 40 years. Meanwhile, the federal government is planning a permanent repository at Yucca Mountain; Nev.

    EnergySolutions noted that in March the U. S. Department of Energy issued a request for parties to submit expressions of interest in a demonstration program for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership. GNEP, supported by President Bush, would have advanced countries supply nuclear fuel to other nations.

    Under GNEP, the United States would develop technologies to recycle nuclear fuel that do not result in separated plutonium(钚)--a key risk of existing recycling technologies.

    EnergySolutions recently purchased the American arm of British Nuclear Group, which carries out reprocessing in the United Kingdom. That gave EnergySolutions the American rights to reprocessing technology. Creamer made it clear that any U.S. reprocessing by the company would not take place in Utah.

An expensive process

    “The main problem is cost,” said Steve Fetter, professor and dean of the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, College Park. “It is expensive to reprocess nuclear fuel.” New uranium is relatively cheap, and plutonium from reprocessing is far more expensive to use in nuclear fuel. With reprocessing the product has "negative economic value.”

    To manufacture the uranium and plutonium from reprocessing and use them in fuel is difficult “because plutonium is hazardous. It requires special equipment, a special facility that's very expensive.” Even if the plutonium were free, the cost of using this reprocessed fuel would be greater than buying fresh uranium for the plants.

Problems in Britain

    Serious accidents have plagued nuclear fuel reprocessing in Great Britain. In May 2005, the British Health Protection Agency's Radiation Protection Division issued a report summing up the risks to the country's population from ionizing (电离) radiation from all sources, including medical X-rays. It concluded that risk from non-medical sources were “at a very low level.”

    The report discusses exposure from nuclear fuel reprocessing. Reprocessing is carried out at a plant called Sellafield, located at Cumbria on the Irish Sea. Sellafield is operated by British Nuclear Group, part of a holding company called BNFL.

“Beach incident”

    In 1983, according to Sellafield's Internet site, a “beach incident” occurred in which “highly radioactive discharges resulted in beach closure.”

    The report says, “although there have been decreases in discharges made by Sellafield in recent years, the environmental levels have not reduced substantially. Liquid wastes from Sellafield are discharged directly to the Irish Sea via a pipeline.” Seafood consumers were believed to take in some radioactive material, and exposure was also possible through handling contaminated fishing gear.

Shutdown of a reprocessing plant

    Later, in April 2005, the thermal oxide reprocessing plant at Sellafield was shut down when a remote-controlled camera showed that a pipe had leaked badly. It turned out that the leak had begun months before, possibly as early as June 2004.

    Britain's Nuclear Decommissioning Agency released a report in March 2006 pointing to metal fatigue as the cause of the failure. A large quantity, about 83 cubic meters, of “highly radioactive and corrosive” liquid ran into a secondary containment p0ol. There it remained, and apparently nobody was exposed to the toxic witch's brew.

Government's requirements

.   Still, the incident raised concern. The government placed 49 requirements on British Nuclear Group Sellafield Ltd. before it could restart the plant.

   Greg Hopkins, senior vice president of EnergySolutions, said that EnergySolutions believes that in the United States, the possibility of such accidents is extremely low.

   “Nevertheless adequate design and operational safeguards have to be put in place and tested to ensure that the public, the environment and workers are fully protected in the event of an accident.” Hopkins added that operational error can never be completely ruled out, and that's why engineering safeguards are required. “Lessons learned through many years of successful operations are constantly being incorporated.”

Repository needed?

   Reprocessing absolutely does not relieve the need for a geologic repository. Reprocessing is not really recycling. The resulting volume of waste is less, but that's irrelevant to the question of whether a repository is needed. The capacity of the government's planned repository at Yucca Mountain is not limited because of the size of the waste containers but by the need to control heat generated by the highly radioactive material. Even though reprocessing reduces the bulk of the waste to be stored, the material that is left, which is not usable in power plants, still generates significant heat. We still need almost the same amount of space even though we've got a smaller volume of waste. So it does virtually nothing to solve our need for a geological repository.

   Fetter, the University of Maryland professor, said fission(裂变) products left over after reprocessing “cannot be recycled” and must be stored in a repository. “Yucca Mountain would be needed even if we reprocessed all the spent nuclear fuel.”

   “It is the heat of the waste that determines how much you can put into the repository.” Reprocessing as practiced in England and France “doesn't reduce the heat of the waste at all.”

    EnergySolutions' Hopkins replied, "Reprocessing does require a long-term storage facility like that proposed for Yucca Mountain. However, recycling used fuels greatly improves the storage facility efficiency. If the U. S. simply continues operating its existing nuclear power plants, without recycling, then more than one repository will be required.” Without recycling, the current stockpile of spent fuel would fill the anticipated capacity at Yucca. Recycling used fuel avoids the need for additional repositories.

1. Reprocessing spent nuclear fuel causes economic and safety problems in spite of the good technology.

2. The US government is planning a permanent repository at Skull Valley, Tooele County.

3. The recent purchase of the US branch of British Nuclear Group gave EnergySolutions the rights to reprocessing technology.

4. It is expensive to reprocess nuclear fuel because reprocessing uranium and plutonium needs special equipment.

5. More serious accidents have plagued nuclear fuel reprocessing in the United States.

6. In 1983, some Irish Sea beaches were closed near Sellafield because liquid wastes were discharged directly into the water through a pipeline.

7. In April 2005, a reprocessing plant at Sellafield was shut down when a remote-controlled camera showed that a pipe suddenly began to leak badly.

8. To efficiently protect the public, the environment and workers in the event of an accident, the government calls for ___________________________.

9. How much nuclear waste we can put into the repository is determined by ___________________.

10. Recycling used fuels does virtually nothing to solve our need for a geological repository, but ____________________________________.

Part Ⅲ                  Listening Comprehension             (35 minutes)

Section A

Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A) , B) , C) and D ) , and decide which is the best answer. Then marked the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.

11.A) An ashtray.  B) Some linen.    C) A table cloth.   D) Cigars.

12.A) Because they are alike.

   B) Because the man's briefcase has a lock.

   C) Because the man's briefcase is smaller.

   D) Because she doesn't have one.

13.A) Changing the photo frames.       B) Choosing some glasses.    

   C) Contacting the boss.             D) Trying some new lessons.

14.A) Five.        B) Seven.      C) Ten.       D) Twenty-five.

15.A) He wonders whether the club is interested.

   B) They can't enter the club without tickets.

   C) They'd like tickets to the game very much.

   D) He's been trying to locate Tom everywhere.

16.A) The Best of Jazz.                      B) Christmas Carols.

   C) Classical-Favorites.                    D) Rock Music Collection.

17.A) They will buy a new house after they return from their vacation.

   B) They will buy a new house although they do not have enough money.

   C) They will not buy a new house because they can find a smaller one.

   D) They will buy a new house that they found while they were on vacation.

18.A) He likes Italian food.

   B) He expected a better dinner.

   C) The dinner was expensive.

   D) He enjoyed the food more than the woman did.

Questions 19 to 21 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

19.A) He gets ill at the same time every year.

   B) He doesn't get enough exercise.

   C) He's sick with influenza throughout the winter.

   D) He often has difficulty sleeping.

20.A) He's unwilling to be immunized.

   B) He doesn't get enough rest.

   C) He forgets to take his medicine.

   D) He doesn't dress warmly enough.

21.A) Physical examinations are given free there.

   B) He'll find literature on nutrition there.

   C) He'll be able to get a prescription for medication there.

   D) He can get an influenza vaccination there.

Questions 22 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

22.A) Practising it in university classes.

   B) Travelling in Spanish speaking countries

   C) Living in European countries.

   D) Starting early in high school classes.

23.A) It is lucky to make new friends in a new country.

   B) Speaking the language makes friends making easy.

   C) It is easy to make friends with friendly people.

   D) It is sometimes not so easy to make friends.

24.A) By seeing films, watching TV and listening to radio.

   B) By meeting and talking with the native people.

   C) By reading books, magazines and newspapers.

   D) By traveling and making friends with native speakers

25.A) Combining traditional method with multi-media.

   B) Travelling is a better way to learn than any other means.

   C) Combining listening, reading, film-watching, traveling and talking.

   D) Newspaper and magazine reading is the best way to practice.

Section B

Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage,you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.

Passage One

Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.

26.A) They help scientists collect data.

   B) They explore the black holes.

   C) They explain the mysteries of space.

   D) They operate the GAVART Telescope.

27.A) How the GAVART Telescope works.

   B) How the students work with the telescope.

   C) What a quasar is.

   D) What some scientists think of energy.

28.A) They can take a break while the students are studying outer space.

   B) This will make their students interested in their classroom study.

   C) Their school may become famous because of some discoveries.

   D) They can finally know the mysteries of the black holes.

Passage Two

Questions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.

29.A) The greater number of AIDS than anywhere else.

   B) The improvement of the refugee camps.

   C) The country's $ 3-billion-a-year tourism industry.

   D) The sight of Langa, Gugulethu and Khyalitsha.

30.A) More hopeful.                    B) More miserable.

   C) As bad as it is now.              D) More amazing.

31.A) The tourism industry.             B) The natural beauty around.

   C) The government's help.            D) The people's amazing luck.

Passage Three

Questions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.

32.A) Sports in the United States.

   B) The most popular sport in the United States.

   C) Three popular sports in the United States.

   D) Sports and the United States.

33.A) From fall, through the winter to the whole spring.

   B) From late fall, to winter.

C) From winter to spring.

   D) From late fall, through the winter to early spring.

34.A) Baseball.        B) Basketball        C) Football.         D) Volleyball.

35.A) Its music, cheering and merry atmosphere.

   B) Its popularity in other parts of the world.

   C) That fact that it's not easily understood.

   D) The fact that it is played on cool and sunny afternoon in the fall.

Section C

Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times, when the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blank numbered from 44 to 46 you are required to fill in the missing information, For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the main points in your own words. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.

    In most cultures, when you meet acquaintances for the first time during a day, it is normal to greet them. The main purpose of this greeting is to build up a good (36) _____________ between the people (37)___________, and each language usually has a number of (38)_____________phrases which can be used for this purpose. Sometimes, though, there can be (39) ______________differences in the type of phrases which can be used, and cultural (40) _____________________ can easily result. The following is a true example.

    A young British woman went to Hong Kong to work, and at the time of her (41) ________ she knew nothing about the Chinese culture of language. On her way to school one day, she went to the bank to (42)___________________ some money. To her surprise, the bank (43)_____________asked her if she had her lunch~ She was extremely surprised at such a question because in the British culture it would be regarded as an indirect invitation to lunch.(44) __________________________________.

    In the following days she was asked the same question again and again, and she spent many hours trying to work out why so many people kept asking her this. (45) ________________________.

She was somewhat underweight at the time, and so she concluded they must be worrying that she was not eating properly! (46) ___________________________________________________________.

    So it is important to consider how greetings are expressed in English and Chinese.

Part Ⅳ         Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth )    (25 minutes)

Section A

Direction: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the center~ You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

Questions 47 to 56 are based on the following passage.

    The past months have seen several comments in different public media about the proposed roundabouts, or traffic circle, on Raymond Avenue.   47   little has been offered in the way of carefully collected data. So here I would like to reveal some information from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

    The institute examined 24 intersections in eight states that were   48   from stop signs or traffic signals between 1992 and 1997. The results are   49   favorable: “Road accidents   50   declined 39 percent; accidents resulting in injuries fell 76 percent; accidents resulting in death or disabling injury   51   90 percent.”

    The reduced speeds help explain roundabouts' safety, but eliminating left turns against   52   traffic and right-angle collisions, and a   53   in rear-end collisions did contribute a lot.

    Raised “splitter” islands that divide the roadway at entrances and exits, provide  54   for people walking on the streets and at the same time separate opposing traffic.

    The institute says that roundabouts may help reduce traffic   55  , vehicle emissions, fuel consumption and noise. They can also save local governments money by avoiding the need to buy,   56   and maintain traffic signals.

    I don't think we have seen any data that suggests these findings do not apply to Raymond Avenue.

Section B

Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.

Passage One

Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.

    Women lawyers in the country say although the current Constitution provides an obligation on the State to adopt policies and legislation to ensure that the environment is managed responsibly, there is no provision on environmental rights for the citizens, most especially women.

    The lawyers' body, Women and Law in Southern Africa Research and Education Trust (WILSA Malawi (马拉维) gives full recognition to the rights of future generations by means of environmental protection and the sustainable development of natural resources as well as conservation and enhancement of the biological diversity of Malawi, but only stops there. “The Constitution should expressly protect everyone's environmental rights as follows: ‘every person shall have the right to an environment, which is not harmful to his or her health or well being’ ”suggests WILSA Malawi handbook authored by women lawyers Seodi White, Tinyade Kachika and Maggie Kathewera Banda.

    The handbook says lack of this particular provision in the Constitution has created serious gaps. “The constitution omits to expressly guarantee its citizens the right to safe environment and this means the protection of such a critical right has to be implied within the context of other rights and this provides the danger that if one has limited ability to analyse rights, he may not be able to claim it,” observes the lawyers in their handbook.

    They say problems for women have been accessing natural resources, which they describe as gender issue. “Women are the first to suffer from environmental change and degradation. Women are hardest hit by the effects of environmental mismanagement because their roles in agriculture, and in the household make them managers and users of natural resources such as soil, water, forest and energy,” they said.

    They further noted that in rural areas, portable water is not readily available and that this water shortage among others is worsened due to extensive deforestation. Most rural area women have to walk long distances to get safe water. This in turn affects their health. According to World Bank estimates, some African women use up to 40% of their daily nutritional intake traveling, to fetch water.

57. The main objection mentioned in the WILSA Malawi handbook is that _________

   A) women should not be allowed to travel so far to fetch fresh water

   B) the Constitution fails to protect everyone's right to safe environment

   C) the current environment is very harmful to citizens' health and well being

   D) the Constitution fails to mention the equal rights between men and women

58. The serious gaps the handbook mentioned in line 1, para. 3 refers to __________________

   A) a serious danger that someone may misunderstands and thus abuses the law

   B) a gender gap in human rights between male citizens and female citizens

   C) a big difference between those who understand the law and those who do not

   D) the constitution's failure to guarantee its citizen the right to safe environment

59. According to the women lawyers, the major problems for women lie in ___________

   A) their access to such daily necessities as water and fuel

   B) their heavy task in agriculture and household keeping

   C) the lack of nutrition in their diet

   D) their bad management of natural resources

60. According to the passage, why are African women more likely to suffer from environmental worsening?

   A) Because their work is more closely related to environmental resources.

   B) Because the Constitution does not guarantee, them equal rights.

   C) Because they often manage the environment in a bad way.

   D) Because they often use the natural resources in a wasteful way.

61. The passage concludes that, as a result of deforestation, ___________________

   A) African women have to do more travelling

   B) water near African families becomes unsafe to drink

   C) African women's health conditions are greatly worsened

   D) water shortage is made more serious and fresh water less available

Passage Two

Questions 62 to 66 are based on the following passage.

    The local morning forecast will be hot, dry, and breezy, and the global forecast could change too if we rely more on large wind farms for electricity, new research shows.

    When power companies started installing towering arrays of white wind turbines(涡轮) as a clean, efficient energy alternative to oil and coal, critics pointed to the farms as noisy, unattractive, and fatal to passing birds. Many of these concerns have since been addressed, but questions still remained about local and global weather impacts.

    Wind power currently supplies about 0. 1 percent of the world's electricity demand, according to analysts. America's current wind energy production each year is the energy equivalent of 6.4 million barrels of oil, according to the Department of Interior. Wind energy output is growing by about 30 percent a year globally.

    To answer the global question, David Keith of the University of Calgary and his colleagues estimated the drag that wind farms, if expanded to cover l0 percent of the Earth's land surface, could have on the planet's circulating atmosphere. The result showed global cooling in polar regions above 60 degrees North latitude and global warming in temperate regions such as North America at about 30 degrees North latitude.

    “The message here is climate change, but that doesn't equal global warming,” Keith said. “It's possible this would have benefits,” by working against the atmospheric effects of fossil fuel consumption on global climate, he said. The results were released yesterday “and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

    Somnath Baidya Roy of Princeton University headed up a related project that studied the impact of simulated, extensive wind farms on local weather and found they could cause a drying and warming effect in the morning when somewhat inefficient turbines end up pushing warm air across moist and cool overnight soil.

    “People treat renewable energy as if it's a free lunch. That is not true,” Baidya Roy said. “You always have to pay a price for any consumption. We have to look at the costs and make a choice.”

62. It is clear that the general attitude implied in the passage towards the wind power production is

   A) indifferent    B) neutral     C) negative     D) enthusiastic

63. Which of the following problems surrounding wind farms for electricity promises to be solved?

   A) The noisiness and danger to flying animals.

   B) The influence on local weather and climate.

   C) The shortage of global energy shortage.

   D) The atmospheric effects of fossil fuel consumption.

64. The word “drag” as used in the 4th paragraph is closest in meaning to

   A) the pulling force of air               B) barrier or obstacle

   C) bore or boredom                        D) effect or impact

65. According to David Keith of the University of Calgary, the effect of wind energy production is __________.

   A) almost equal to global warming

   B) favorable for the global climate

   C) not yet certain whether good or bad

   D) doubtful as that of fossil fuel production

66. The passage seems to be more concerned about the relation between_____________________.

   A) clean natural energy and fossil energy

   B) wind energy production and global climate-

   C) towering wind turbines and wildlife    

   D) wind power farms and noise pollution

Part V                          Cloze                     (15 minutes)

Directions: There are 20 blanks in the following passage. For each blank there are four choices marked A ), B), C) and D) on the right side of the paper. You should choose the ONE that best fits into the passage. Then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the center.

    Politicians and sociologists love to talk about the American family. But teenagers would just

like you not to talk about it too  67  around their friends and acquaintances. Becca has been a   68   for less than a year, and already she has the  69  to keep her distance from her parents when it comes to  70  some social events.

    That was the  71  when we went to the Alison Krauss concert at the Show Me Center. Becca walked into the stadium a few  72  behind us. She, a friend and-our 9-year-old daughter, Bailey, sat several   73  away.

    Becca appeared to like that  74  even if .she did have to keep a(n)   75  on her sister.

So in   76  to being a driver for my teenage daughter and her friends, I'm learning

that it's also the   77   of parents at times to keep their distance--so their teenagers won't   78   social problems.

    I don't know what   79   to teenagers' brains. But when children become teenagers, they suddenly want to   80   that they have morns and dads when stepping out in   81   .

    At home, they still want   82   from morns and dads. But step out the front door,   83   they immediately want to  84  that they even know you. They would   85   people thought they were orphans (孤儿) than   86   having classmates see them anywhere near their parents.

67. A) secretly       B) loudly        C) publicly       D) solemnly

68. A) girl           B) teenager      C) child          D) student

69. A) reason         B) charge        C) ability        D) desire

70. A) attending      B) joining       C) participating  D) engaging

71. A) event          B) view          C) example        D) case

72. A) steps          B) moves         C) stages         D) places

73. A) seats          B) columns       C) rows           D) lines

74. A) isolation      B) independence  C) loneliness     D) quietness

75. A) eye            B) pace          C) track          D) watch

76. A) order          B) view          C) service        D) addition

77. A) profession     B) possession    C) attitude       D) interest

78. A) confront       B) bear          C) suffer         D) experience

79. A) occurs         B) comes         C) amounts        D) happens

80. A) forget         B) notice        C) ignore         D) avoid

81. A) secret         B) public        C) the open       D) the air

82. A) supplies       B) assistance    C) attention      D) protection

83. A) and            B) or            C) so             D) otherwise

84. A) decline        B) deny          C) delay          D) deprive