W: Well, it looks like you are watching television. But we have a linear algebra mid-term tomorrow, so I thought you’d be studying for it and may be I can study with you.
M: Oh, well, I was just taking a break. This linear algebra stuff gives me a headache if I work on it too long.
W: I know what you mean. I’ve been working on it for three hours through it already. I’m beginning to go cross. I’d been theorizing at the sample problems. I just don’t get some of them.
M: But I can’t believe you are coming to me. I mean you do know what I got on the last test, don’t you?
W: Yeah, I know. You told me. l just thought two heads might be better than one.
M: Yeah, that’s a nice idea. But, you know, I wish I knew that person in our class who got a hundred on the last test.
She didn’t miss a Q. Umm, was it Elizabeth?
W: Oh yeah, Elizabeth! She is a friend of mine. She’d be a big help right now. Why don’t I give her a call?
M: What? At this hour? It’s already ten thirty . I don’t wanna impose on her.
W: Yeah, I guess you are right. But you know what, she owes me a big favor. Let’s at least give her a call and see what she says. Maybe going over some of the problems with us would help her review the material.
M: It’s worth a try.
Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
19. What are the speakers mainly discussing?
20. Why is the man watching television?
21. Why is the man surprised that the woman wants to study linear algebra with him?
22. Why doesn’t the man want to call Elizabeth?
Conversation Two
M: Parcel Express. Good morning. How can I help you?
W: Good morning. I’m thinking of sending a parcel to New York next week. Can you tell me what the procedure is,please?
M: Certainly. When you ring us we need the following information: the invoice address, that’s probably your address,isn’t it? And then the pick-up address if that’s different. And a contact phone number.
W: Just a moment. I’m taking notes. Phone number, right.
M: Then we need the full name, address and phone number of the person you are sending the parcel to.
W: OK. Anything else?
M: Yes, the weight and dimensions of the parcel, that’s height, width, and length, and the value of the goods and the full description.
W: Value description.
M: Yes, but don’t seal the parcel. You need to leave it open so that the driver can check the contents when he collects it. After the recent bombing, the airline said that we had to check all parcels. They told us we had to do it.
W: Fine. Now last question. How, long will the parcel take to get to New York?
M: One to two working days. There are daily flights at midday. And if we collect the parcel from you at 10:15, then your parcel catches that flight, and it’ll arrive in 24 hours.
W: Right. Thank you very much. You’ve been very helpful.
M: Not at all. Goodbye.
W: Goodbye.
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
23. Which of the following is NOT needed by Parcel Express?
24. Why must parcels be left open according to the conversation?
25. What’s the woman’s last inquiry mainly concerned with?
Section B
Passage One
Although Henry Ford’s name is closely associated with the concept of mass production, he should receive equal credit for introducing labor practices as early as 1913 that would be considered advanced even by today’s standards.
Safety measures were improved, and the work day was reduced to eight hours, compared with the ten- or twelve-hour day common at that time. In order to accommodate the shorter work day, the entire factory was converted from two to three shifts.
In addition, sick leaves as well as improved medical care for those injured on the job were instituted. The Ford Motor Company was one of the first factories to develop a technical school to train specialized skilled laborers and an English language, school for immigrants. Some efforts were even made to hire the handicapped and provide jobs for former convicts.
The most widely acclaimed innovation was the five-dollar-a-day minimum wage that was offered in order to recruit and retain the best mechanics and to discourage the growth of labor unions. Ford explained the new wage policy in terms of efficiency and profit sharing. He also mentioned the fact that his employees would be able to purchase the automobiles that they produced--in effect creating a market for the product. In order to qualify for the minimum wage,an employee had to establish a decent home and demonstrate good personal habits, including sobriety, thriftiness,
industriousness, and dependability. Although some criticism was directed at Ford for involving himself too much in the personal lives of his employees, there can be no doubt that, at a time when immigrants were being taken advantage of in frightful ways, Henry Ford was helping many people to establish themselves in America.
Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.
26. What is the author’s main purpose in the passage?
27. How many hours did Ford’s employees work per shift in his factory?
28. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as labor practices instituted by Ford?
Passage Two
Too often young people get themselves employed quite by accident, not knowing what lies in the way of opportunity for promotion, happiness and security. As a result, they are employed doing jobs that afford them little or no satisfaction. Our school leavers face so much competition that they seldom care what they do as long as they can earn a living. Some stay long at a job and learn to like it; others quit from one to another looking for something to suit them. The young graduates who leave the university look for jobs that offer a salary up to their expectation.
Very few go out into the world knowing exactly what they want and realizing their own abilities. The reason behind all this confusion is that there never has been a proper vocational guidance in our educational institution. Nearly all grope in the dark and their chief concern when they look for a job is to ask what the salary is like. They never bother to think whether they are suited for the job or, even more important, whether the job suits them. Having a job is more than merely providing yourself and your dependants with daily bread and some money for leisure and entertainment. It sets a pattern of life and, in many ways, determines social status in life, selection of friends, leisure and interest.
In choosing a career you should first consider the type, of work which will suit your interest. Nothing is more pathetic than taking on a job in which you have no interest for it will not only discourage your desire to succeed in life but also ruin your talents and ultimately make you an emotional wreck and a bitter person,
Questions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.
29. Why is it difficult for young people to choose a suitable job?
30. Why are some people unlikely to succeed in life?
31. Which of the following statements is most important according to the passage?
Passage Three
Cheating: The income tax deadline approaches and some taxpayer’s thoughts turn to it. Test time approaches and some students’ thoughts turn to it.
"You want something you can’t get by behaving within the rules, and you want it badly enough you’ll do it Regardless of guilt or deep regret, and you’re willing to run the risk of being caught. " That’s how Ladd Wheeler,
psychology professor at the University of Rochester in New York, defines cheating.
Many experts believe cheating is on the rise. "We’re suffering a moral breakdown. " Pinkard says. We’re seeing more of the kind of person who regards the world as a series of things to be dealt with. Whether to cheat depends on whether it’s the person’s interest. He does, however, see less cheating among the youngest students.
Richard Diensbier. psychology professor at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, believes that society’s attitudes account for much of the increase in cheating.
"Twenty years ago, if a person cheated in college, society said: That is extremely serious, you will be dropped for a term if not kicked out permanently, " he says. "Nowadays, at the University of Nebraska, for example, it is the stated policy of the College of Arts and Sciences that if a student cheats on an exam， the student must receive an ’F’ on what he cheated on, That’s nothing. If you’re going to fail, why not cheat?"
“Cheating is most liely in situations where the vital interests are high and the chances of getting caught are low."
says social psychologist, Lynn Kahle of the University of Oregon in Eugene.
Questions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
32. What does the passage mainly talk about?
33. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
34. What can be inferred from the passage?
35. When does cheating tend to occur?
Section C
Surging growth in international travel is driving revenue increases at the foreign units of U.S. online travel agencies and has spurred heated ( 36 ) competition for a bigger slice of the lucrative and ( 37 ) expanding market.
Companies like Orbitz Worldwide Inc. and Priceline.com Inc. have ramped up efforts to attract customers to their sites (38 ) overseas, and at least one U.S. travel site, Vayama, has (39) devoted itself entirely to international bookings for travel to and from the United States.
Growth in bookings made outside the United States far outpaces the growth in U.S. (40) domestic bookings. That is partly because more people are traveling and partly because travelers are increasingly comfortable trusting their (41) reservations to websites, said Orbitz Chief Executive Steve Bamhart.
"It’s a competitive market place in the United States, and it’s going to be a very competitive marketplace (42) globally , " Bamhart said in an interview on Monday.
Earlier this week Orbitz said it has relaunched ebookers, its online travel company in Europe, with more (43) inventory and user reviews with the goal of attracting more European bookings.
(44) Bookings on European online travel agencies or the European divisions of U.S. agencies are projected to total $62.9 billion in 2007, up from $24.5 billion in 2004, according to travel research company PhoCusWright.
(45) Meanwhile, passenger traffic leaving and returning to the United States on U.S. carriers is on the rise.The number of international passengers on U.S. airlines rose 3.8% in the first five months of 2007 from the comparable
period a year earlier.
Vayama CEO Andre Hesselink said (46) the privately held company sees enough potential in the international air travel market to concentrate on those bookings as well as hotels and ear rentals.