Text 1

　　In contrast to traditional analyses of minority business, the sociological analysis contends that minority business ownership is a group-level phenomenon in that it is largely dependent upon social-group resources for its development. Specifically, this analysis indicates that support networks play a critical role in starting and maintaining minority business enterprises by providing owners with a range of assistance from the informal encouragement of family members and friends to dependable sources of workers and clients from the owner’s ethnic group. Such self-help networks, which encourage and support ethnic minority entrepreneurs, consist of “primary” institutions, those closest to the individual in shaping his or her behavior and beliefs. They are characterized by the face-to-face association and cooperation of persons united by ties of mutual concern. They form an intermediate social level between the individual and larger “secondary” institutions based on impersonal relationships. Primary institutions comprising the support network include relatives, friends, and neighborhood or community subgroups.

　　A major function of self-help networks is financial support. Most scholars agree that minority business owners have depended primarily on family funds and ethnic community resources for investment capital. Personal savings have been accumulated, often through frugal living habits that require sacrifices by the entire family and are thus a product of long-term family financial behavior. Additional loans and gifts from relatives, forthcoming because of group obligation rather than narrow investment calculation, have supplemented personal savings. Individual entrepreneurs do not necessarily rely on their relatives because they cannot obtain financial backing from commercial resources. They may actually avoid banks because they assume the commercial institutions either cannot comprehend the special needs of minority enterprise or charge unreasonably high interest rates.

　　Within the larger ethnic community, rotating credit associations have been used to raise capital. These associations are informal clubs of friends and other trusted members of the ethnic group who make regular contributions to a fund that is given to each contributor in rotation. One author estimates that 40 percent of New York Chinatown firms established during 1900-1950 utilized such associations as their initial source of capital. However, recent immigrants and third or fourth generations of older groups now employ rotating credit associations only occasionally to raise investment funds. Some groups, like black Americans, found other means of financial support for their entrepreneurial efforts. The first Black-operated banks were created in the late nineteenth century as depositaries for dues collected from friendly groups, which themselves had sprung from Black churches. Black banks made limited investments in other Black enterprises. Irish immigrants in American cities organized many building and loan associations to provide capital for home construction and purchase. They, in turn, provided work for many Irish home-building contractor firms. Other ethnic and minority groups followed similar practices in founding ethnic-directed financial institutions. (459 words)

　　Notes: ethnic 民族的。entrepreneurs企業(yè)家。frugal勤儉的。in rotation輪流地。entrepreneurial企業(yè)的。depositary儲存處。due n. 會費。spring from從…派生。contractor firms承包公司。rotating credit associations輪流信貸協(xié)會。

　　1. Which of the following illustrates the working of a self-help support network as described in the text?

　　A. The local government in a city sets up a program that helps teen-agers find jobs.

　　B. A commercial bank offers low-interest loans to those who hope to establish businesses.

　　C. A neighborhood-based organization develops a program of job training for its members and their friends.

　　D. A public high school offers courses in book-keeping and accounting as part of its open adult education program.

　　2. The logical organization of the second paragraph is that _________.

　　A. an argument is stated, followed by a counter argument

　　B. an assertion is made and several examples are provided to illustrate it

　　C. a situation is described and its historical background is then outlined

　　D. an example of a phenomenon is given and then is used as a basis for conclusions

　　3. It can be learned from the text that ________.

　　A. self-help networks have been effective in helping entrepreneurs primarily in the last 50 years

　　B. minority groups have developed a range of alternatives to standard financing of business ventures

　　C. a minority entrepreneur who had no assistance from family members would not be able to start a business

　　D. the financial institutions founded by various ethnic groups owe their success to their unique formal organization

　　4. It can be learned from the last paragraph of the text that rotating credit associations _________.

　　A. were developed exclusively by Chinese immigrants in New York

　　B. were frequently joint endeavors by members of two or three different ethnic groups

　　C. had to be relied on by the Chinese because they could not borrow money from commercial banks

　　D. provided a big portion of the investment capital for Chinese immigrants in New York in the early 20th century

　　5. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that the Irish building and loan associations _________.

　　A. originated as offshoots of church-related groups B. were started by third-or fourth-generation immigrants

　　C. helped employ many Irish construction workers D. enabled Irish entrepreneurs to finance manufacturing

　　Text 2

　　In 1997 the prestigious Ewha Women’s University in Seoul, Korea, announced the opening of the first women’s studies program in Asia. Few academic programs have ever received such public attention. In broadcast debates, critics dismissed the program as a betrayal of national identity, an imitation of Western ideas, and a distraction from the real task of national unification and economic development. Even supporters underestimated the program; they thought it would be merely another of the many Western ideas that had already proved useful in Asian culture, similar to airlines, electricity, and the assembly line. The founders of the program, however, realized that neither view was correct. They had some reservations about the applicability of Western feminist theories to the role of women in Asia and felt that such theories should be closely examined. Their approach has thus far yielded important critiques of Western theory, informed by the special experience of Asian women.

　　For instance, like the Western feminist critique of the Freudian model of the human psyche, the Korean critique finds Freudian theory culture-bound, but in ways different from those cited by Western theorists. The Korean theorists claim that Freudian theory assumes the universality of the Western nuclear, male-headed family and focuses on the personality formation of the individual, independent of society. An analysis based on such assumptions could be valid for a highly competitive, individualistic society. In the Freudian family drama, family members are assumed to be engaged in a Darwinian struggle against each other －father against son and mother against daughter. Such a concept projects the competitive model of Western society onto human personalities. But in the Asian concept of personality there is no ideal attached to individualism or to the independent self. The Western model of personality development does not explain major characteristics of the Korean personality, which is social and group-centered. The “self” is a social being defined by and acting in a group, and the well-being of both men and women is determined by the equilibrium of the group, not by individual self-assertion. The ideal is one of interdependency.

　　In such a context, what is recognized as “dependency” in Western psychiatric terms is not, in Korean terms, an admission of weakness or failure. All this bears directly on the Asian perception of men’s and women’s psychology because men are also “dependent”. In Korean culture, men cry and otherwise easily show their emotions, something that might be considered a betrayal of masculinity in Western culture. In the kinship-based society of Korea, four generations may live in the same house, which means that people can be sons and daughters all their lives, whereas in Western culture, the roles of husband and son, wife and daughter, are often incompatible. (451 words)

　　Notes: prestigious 有聲望的。national identity 民族性。feminist 女權(quán)主義的。thus far 至今。 be informed by 被…貫穿。culture-bound 受文化限制的。psyche 心靈。project … onto 把…投射到…上，使…反映在…上。social being 社會存在。well-being 幸福。equilibrium 平衡。bear on 影響…。masculinity 男子氣。kinship-based 親屬為基礎(chǔ)的。

　　1. Some of the supporters of the Ewha women’s studies program __________.

　　A. assumed that the program would be based on the uncritical adoption of Western theories

　　B. failed to show concern for the issues of national unification and economic development

　　C. were unfamiliar with Western feminist theories and their important roles in social life

　　D. were not themselves scholars in the field of women’s studies and had no idea about them

　　2. According to paragraph 2, the Western feminist critique of Freudian theory __________.

　　A. fails to address the issue of competitiveness in Western society

　　B. recognizes the influence of Western culture on Freudian theory

　　C. acknowledges the universality of the nuclear, male-headed family

　　D. challenges Freudian analysis of the women’s role in Western society

　　3. It can be inferred from the second paragraph that the Ewha women’s studies group holds that __________.

　　A. personality development occurs in identifiable stages from childhood to adulthood

　　B. any theory of personality development, in order to be valid, must be universal

　　C. personality development is influenced by the characteristics of the society a person lives in

　　D. personality development is hindered if a person is not permitted to be independent

　　4. By referring to “dependency” in the last paragraph, the author intends to show .

　　A. the betrayal of masculinity in Western culture

　　B. the characteristics of kinship-based Korean culture

　　C. the compatible attitude of parents towards their children

　　D. the distinction between the Western culture and the Korean culture

　　5. Which of the following best summarizes the content of the text?

　　A. A critique of a particular women’s studies program.

　　B. A brief history of Korean women’s studies program.

　　C. An assessment of a particular women’s studies program.

　　D. A report of work in social theory done by a particular women’s studies program.

　　Word Study

　　1. dismiss (下課)讓走掉，使（會）解散；解雇；打消（想法），不考慮；認(rèn)為（不重要）而不加考慮：1) The teacher dismissed th

　　class ten minutes earlier. (老師提前10分鐘下課了。) 2) No lecturer may be dismissed from his post for misconduct without proper inquiry being held. (沒有進(jìn)行好好的調(diào)查就認(rèn)為行為不端是不可以解聘老師的。) 3) She did her best to dismiss the thoughts. (她盡力打消這些想法。) 4) He dismissed the suggestion with a shake of his head. (他搖搖頭不考慮這項建議。) 5) He just laughed, and dismissed the idea as unimportant. (他只是大笑，認(rèn)為這個主意不重要而不加考慮。) 6) He dismissed the story as mere rumor. (他認(rèn)為這件事是謠言不屑一顧。)

　　同根詞：dismissal 解雇：Martin was not free from a fear of dismissal if he refused to obey. (如果馬丁不肯服從，那他就無法

　　擺脫擔(dān)心被解雇。)

　　2. reserve vt. 保留；預(yù)定；留到以后（再宣布討論等）：1) I reserve the right to make my own decision. (我保留做出我自己決定

　　的權(quán)利。) 2) I will reserve my opinion at this time. (這次我將保留我的看法。) 3) The use of this room is reserved to members of the staff. (這個房間的使用權(quán)留給內(nèi)部人員。) 4) He reserved a table for two.

　　reserve n. 保留或儲備的東西，儲備金，儲量；后備軍人；自然保護(hù)區(qū)：1) As I require money quickly I must draw on my reserve.

　　(當(dāng)我馬上需要錢時，我必須利用我的儲備金。) 2) The old man keeps a large reserve of firewood for cold weather. (這位老人保存了大量生火木柴天冷時用。) 3) the bank’s reserves銀行儲備金；the gold reserve 黃金儲備。4) Animals are kept in reserves lest they should be shot. (動物關(guān)在自然保護(hù)區(qū)以免被射殺。) 5) He is a person of reserve. (他是一個沉默寡言的人。)

　　用于成語：in reserve 保存起來：I still have a little money in reserve. with reserve 有保留地：Clearly, he spoke with reserve,

　　but even so his meaning was quite plain. without reserve 無保留地：We accept your statement without reserve.

　　reserved adj. 沉默寡言的；有保留的：1) He was naturally thoughtful and reserved. 2) reserved consent (有保留的同意)。

　　reservation 保留(意見)；定（票、座）；保留地：1) I have no reservation about hiring him. 2) We make reservations of rooms at a hotel. 3) The government has set apart Indian reservations. (政府已經(jīng)劃出印第安人保留地。

　　Text 3 [2002 RC 2]

　　Since the dawn of human ingenuity, people have devised ever more cunning tools to cope with work that is dangerous, boring, burdensome, or just plain nasty. That compulsion has resulted in robotics – the science of conferring various human capabilities on machines. And if scientists have yet to create the mechanical version of science fiction, they have begun to come close.

　　As a result, the modern world is increasingly populated by intelligent gizmos whose presence we barely notice but whose universal existence has removed much human labor. Our factories hum to the rhythm of robot assembly arms. Our banking is done at automated teller terminals that thank us with mechanical politeness for the transaction. Our subway trains are controlled by tireless robo-drivers. And thanks to the continual miniaturization of electronics and micro-mechanics, there are already robot systems that can perform some kinds of brain and bone surgery with submillimeter accuracy – far greater precision than highly skilled physicians can achieve with their hands alone.

　　But if robots are to reach the next stage of laborsaving utility, they will have to operate with less human supervision and be able to make at least a few decisions for themselves – goals that pose a real challenge. “While we know how to tell a robot to handle a specific error,” says Dave Lavery, manager of a robotics program at NASA, “we can’t yet give a robot enough ‘common sense’ to reliably interact with a dynamic world.”

　　Indeed the quest for true artificial intelligence has produced very mixed results. Despite a spell of initial optimism in the 1960s and 1970s when it appeared that transistor circuits and microprocessors might be able to copy the action of the human brain by the year of 2010, researchers lately have begun to extend that forecast by decades if not centuries.

　　What they found, in attempting to model thought, is that the human brain’s roughly one hundred billion nerve cells are much more talented – and human perception far more complicated – than previously imagined. They have built robots that can recognize the error of a machine panel by a fraction of millimeter in a controlled factory environment. But the human mind can glimpse a rapidly changing scene and immediately disregard the 98 percent that is irrelevant, instantaneously focusing on the monkey at the side of winding forest road or the single suspicious face in a big crowd. The most advanced computer system on Earth can’t approach that kind of ability, and neuroscientists still don’t know quite how we do it. (418 words)

　　Notes: ingenuity 心靈手巧，發(fā)明創(chuàng)造。plain adv. (=simply)簡直是。teller 出納員。confer… on…把…賦予…。for themselves 獨立地。a spell of 一陣。panel控制板；論壇。panel discussion 論壇討論會。

　　1. Human ingenuity was initially demonstrated in ____________.

　　A. the use of machines to produce science fiction B. the wide use of machines in manufacturing industry

　　C. the invention of tools for difficult and dangerous work D. the elite’s cunning tackling of dangerous and boring work

　　2. The word “gizmos” (line 1, paragraph 2) most probably means ____________.

　　A. programs B. experts C. devices D. creatures

　　3. According to the text, what is beyond man’s ability now is to design a robot that can ____________.

　　A. fulfil delicate tasks like performing brain surgery B. interact with human beings verbally

　　C. have a little common sense D. respond independently to a changing world

　　4. Besides reducing human labor, robots can also ____________.

　　A. make a few decisions for themselves B. deal with some errors with human intervention

　　C. improve factory environment D. cultivate human creativity

　　5. The author uses the example of a monkey to argue that robots are ____________.

　　A. expected to copy human brain in internal structure

　　B. able to perceive abnormalities immediately

　　C. far less able than human brain in focusing on relevant information

　　D. best used in a controlled environment

　　Text 4 (課外閱讀) [98年閱讀考試文章，試題重編]

　　Science has long had an uneasy relationship with other aspects of culture. Think of Galileo’s 17th-century trial for his rebelling belief before the Catholic church or poet William Blake’s harsh remarks against the mechanistic worldview of Isaac Newton. The schism between science and the humanities has, if anything, deepened in this century.

　　Until recently the scientific community was so powerful that it could afford to ignore its critics--but no longer. As funding for science has declined, scientists have attacked “anti-science” in several books, notably Higher Superstition, by Paul R. Gross, a biologist at the University of Virginia, and Norman Levitt, a mathematician at Rutgers University; and The Demon-Haunted World, by Carl Sagan of Cornell University.

　　Defenders of science have also voiced their concerns at meetings such as “The Flight from Science and Reason,” held in New York City in 1995, and “Science in the Age of (Mis) information,” which assembled last June near Buffalo.

　　Anti-science clearly means different things to different people. Gross and Levitt find fault primarily with sociologists, philosophers and other academics who have questioned science’s objectivity. Sagan is more concerned with those who believe in ghosts, creationism and other phenomena that contradict the scientific worldview.

　　A survey of news stories in 1996 reveals that the anti-science tag has been attached to many other groups as well, from authorities who advocated the elimination of the last remaining stocks of smallpox virus to Republicans who advocated decreased funding for basic research.

　　Few would dispute that the term applies to the Unabomber, whose manifesto, published in 1995, scorns science and longs for return to a pre-technological utopia. *But surely that does not mean environmentalists concerned about uncontrolled industrial growth are anti-science, as an essay in US News & World Report last May seemed to suggest.

　　The environmentalists, inevitably, respond to such critics. The true enemies of science, argues Paul Ehrlich of Stanford University, a pioneer of environmental studies, are those who question the evidence supporting global warming, the depletion of the ozone layer and other consequences of industrial growth.

　　Indeed, some observers fear that the anti-science epithet is in danger of becoming meaningless. “The term ‘a(chǎn)nti-science’ can lump together too many, quite different things,” notes Harvard University philosopher Gerald Holton in his 1993 work Science and Anti-Science. “They have in common only one thing that they tend to annoy or threaten those who regard themselves as more enlightened.” (399 words)

　　Notes: schism分裂。if anything 甚至于還可能。find fault with 批評，挑剔。creationism 上帝創(chuàng)世說。long for 渴望。utopia 烏托邦，理想主義。epithet 表述。lump together 把…歸并在一起。have … in common 共同點是…。

　　1. The example of Galileo’s 17th-century trial is used to show ___________.

　　A. the hostile attitude of the humanities towards science

　　B. the confusion between science and other aspects of culture

　　C. the conspicuous advantage of science over anti-science

　　D. the harmonious relationship of science with the humanities

　　2. What can we infer from the second and third paragraphs of the text?

　　A. The author sympathizes with scientists in a reasonable way.

　　B. The decline of science’s power is attributed to reduction in funding for science.

　　C. The development of science contributes to its struggle against humanities.

　　D. The division of science and the humanities has considerably grown until recently.

　　3. Which of the following is true according to the text?

　　A. The “more enlightened” tend to tag others as anti-science.

　　B. Politicians and certain authorities are subject to the labeling of anti-science.

　　C. Environmentalists were not blamed at all for anti-science in an essay.

　　D. Sagan does not criticize those who advocate theories contrary to science.

　　4. The last paragraph suggests that __________________.

　　A. some observers are afraid of being accused of anti-science

　　B. Gerald Holton tags many different views he doesn’t agree with as anti-science

　　C. anything that offends the “more enlightened” is now in danger of being listed in “anti-science”

　　D. the “more enlightened” think that the term “anti-science” involves many wrong attitudes towards science

　　5. The author’s attitude toward the issue of “science vs. anti-science” is ___________________.

　　A. detached B. subjective C. biased D. puzzling

　　II. Writing: (提綱漫畫式作文)

　　Directions:

　　In this part, you are to write an essay of 160--200 words within 30--35 minutes. Your essay must meet the requirements below.

　　1. Show your understanding of the meaning of the picture below

　　2. State the harmful effects of fake and inferior products

　　3. Suggest ways to fight against fake and inferior products

　　假冒偽劣產(chǎn)品

　　正如所給的圖畫所描繪的, 我國社會主義市場經(jīng)濟(jì)正在迅速發(fā)展, 就像一輛高速行駛的卡車。但是公眾驚訝地發(fā)現(xiàn), 越來越多的假冒偽劣產(chǎn)品嚴(yán)重地阻礙了我國市場經(jīng)濟(jì)的發(fā)展。消費者必須經(jīng)常謹(jǐn)慎地去購買他們所需的貨物或服務(wù), 否則他們會落入不法制假人所設(shè)的陷阱。

　　毫無疑問, 假冒偽劣產(chǎn)品極其有害。首先, 它們危害人民的健康, 引發(fā)了許多傷害事故。例如，偽劣藥品不僅使病人的病情惡化, 而且往往會威脅病人的生命, 更糟的是, 導(dǎo)致病人的死亡。其次, 假冒偽劣產(chǎn)品通常廉價出售。在許多情況下, 它們又干擾了我國正常的經(jīng)濟(jì)秩序, 影響了許多高質(zhì)量產(chǎn)品的銷路。這在很大程度上阻礙了我國社會主義市場經(jīng)濟(jì)的健康發(fā)展, 并損害了我們國家的利益。 因此, 我們可以說, 假冒偽劣產(chǎn)品是我們健康經(jīng)濟(jì)中的一顆“毒瘤”, 對此必須盡快清除。

　　依我看, 必須采取若干有力措施來與假冒偽劣產(chǎn)品斗爭。一方面, 制假者應(yīng)該依法嚴(yán)懲。另一方面, 消費者應(yīng)該學(xué)會識別真假。只有這樣, 消費者才能維護(hù)他們的合法權(quán)益。

　　www.etestedu.com

　　As the picture given depicts, the socialist market-oriented economy in our country is developing rapidly, just like a truck running at a high speed. But the general public is surprised to find that there are more and more fake and inferior products seriously hampering the expansion of our market economy. Consumers have to be very careful in purchasing goods and services they need; otherwise they will fall into the traps set by the illegal manufacturers.

　　There is no doubt that fake and inferior products are extremely harmful. In the first place, they endanger people’s health, giving rise to a lot of injury accidents. For instance, inferior-quality medicines not only aggravate a patient’s condition, but also tend to threaten his life and, what’s worse, to result in his death. Secondly, fake and inferior products are usually sold on the cheap. In many cases they interfere with the normal economic order in our country, affecting the marketing of many high-quality goods. This, in a great degree, hinders the development of our socialist market economy and harms the interests of our state. Therefore, we can say that fake and inferior products are a dangerous “tumor” in our healthy economy, which must be cut away as soon as possible.

　　In my opinion, several strong measures should be adopted to fight against fake and inferior products. On the one hand, those who make them deserve to be severely punished by the law. On the other hand, consumers should learn to discern between true and false. Only in this way can they defend their own legal rights and interests. (263 words)

　　背記重點詞語漢英對照： 1. 阻礙，妨礙：hamper, hinder, obstruct，interfere with。 2. 引起，造成：give rise to; cause。 3. 使病情加重：aggravate a patient’s condition。 4. 小心謹(jǐn)慎做某事：be careful in doing sth.。 5. 廉價出售某物：sell sth. on the cheap。 6. 干擾某人：interfere with sb.。 7. 損害我們的國家利益：harm the interests of our state。 8. 辨別真?zhèn)危篸iscern between true and false。 9. 維護(hù)某人的合法權(quán)益：defend one’s legal rights and interests。

　　Put the following sentences from Chinese into English:

　　1. 我們前進(jìn)時受到惡劣天氣的阻礙。[ALD]

　　2. 這次交通事故造成了他頭部和雙臂的重傷。

　　3. 無論什么時候我們都不應(yīng)該做任何損害國家利益的事。

　　4. 我們必須采取若干有力措施來與假冒偽劣產(chǎn)品斗爭。

　　5. 只有這樣, 消費者才能維護(hù)他們的合法權(quán)益。

　　家庭作業(yè)：1. 背記作文并改寫(縮短)，注意作文句型的英漢對照； 2. 加強(qiáng)閱讀訓(xùn)練，注意精讀與快讀的區(qū)別。

　　贈言：事業(yè)成功的秘訣是：一個人要有崇高的理想和刻苦的精神，他比較大的業(yè)余愛好就是他所從事的事業(yè), 只有這樣他才能全神貫注，執(zhí)著追求，不畏艱險，不怕失敗，總結(jié)經(jīng)驗，汲取教訓(xùn)，繼續(xù)前進(jìn)。不要追名逐利、斤斤計較, 名利是人民自然給你的公正反饋。