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Part II Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
“There is a senseless notion that children grow up and leave home when they’re 18, and the truth is far from that,” says sociologist Larry Bumpass of the University of Wisconsin. Today, unexpected numbers of young adults are living with their parents, “There is a major shift in the middle class,” declares sociologist Allan Schnaiberg of Northwester University, whose son, 19, moved back in after an absence of eight months.
Analysts cite a variety of reasons for this return to the nest. The marriage age is rising, a condition that makes home and its pleasantness particularly attractive to young people. A high divorce rate and a declining remarriage rate are sending economically pressed and emotionally hurt survivors back to parental shelters. For some, the expense of an away-from-home college education has become so excessively great that many students now attend local schools. Even after graduation, young people find their wings clipped by skyrocketing housing costs.
Living at home, says Knighton, a school teacher, continues to give her security and moral support. Her mother agreed, “It’s ridiculous for the kids to pay all that money for rent. It makes sense for kids to stay at home.” But sharing the family home requires adjustments for all. There are the hassles over bathrooms, telephones and privacy (不受干擾的生活). Some families, however, manage the delicate balancing act. But for others, it proves too difficult. Michelle Del Turco, 24, has been home three times-and left three times. “What I considered a social drink, my dad considered an alcohol problem,” she explains. “He never liked anyone I dated (約會), so I either had to hide away or meet them at friends’ house.”
Just how long should adult children live with their parents before moving on? Most psychologists feel lengthy homecomings are a mistake. Children, struggling to establish separate identities, can end up with “a sense of inadequacy, defeat and failure.” And aging parents, who should be enjoying some financial and personal freedom, find themselves stuck with responsibilities. Many agree that brief visits, however, can work beneficially.
21. According to the author, there was once a trend in the U.S. ________.
A) for young adults to leave their parents and live independently
B) for middle class young adults to stay with their parents
C) for married young adults to move back home after a lengthy absence
D) for young adults to get jobs nearby in order to live with their parents
22. Which of the following does not account for young adults returning to the nest?
A) Young adults find housing costs too high.
B) Young adults are psychologically and intellectually immature.
C) Young adults seek parental comfort and moral support.
D) Quite a number of young adults attend local schools.
23. One of the disadvantages of young adults returning to stay with their parents is that ________.
A) there will inevitably be inconveniences in every day life
B) most parents find it difficult to keep
C) the young adults tend to be overprotected by their parents
D) public opinion is against young adults staying with their parents
24. The word “hassles” in the passage (Line 3, Para. 3) probably means ________.
A) agreements
B) worries
C) disadvantages
D) quarrels
25. According to the passage what is the best for both parents and children?
A) They should adjust themselves to sharing the family expenses.
B) Children should leave their parents when they are grown-up.
C) Adult children should visit their parents from time to time.
D) Parents should support their adult children when they are in trouble.
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
The word conservation has a thrifty (節儉) meaning. To conserve is to save and protect, to leave what we ourselves enjoy in such good condition that others may also share the enjoyment. Our forefathers had no idea that human population would increase faster than the supplies of raw materials; most of them, even until very recently, had the foolish idea that the treasures were “limitless” and “inexhaustible”. Most of the citizens of earlier generations knew little or nothing about the complicated and delicate system that runs all through nature, and which means that, as in a living body, an unhealthy condition of one part will sooner or later be harmful to all the others.
Fifty years ago nature study was not part of the school work; scientific forestry was a new idea; timber was still cheap because it could be brought in any quantity from distant woodlands; soil destruction and river floods were not national problems; nobody had yet studied long-terms climatic cycles in relation to proper land use; even the word “conservation” had nothing of the meaning that it has for us today.
For the sake of ourselves and those who will come after us, we must now set about repairing the mistakes of our forefathers. Conservation should, therefore, be made a part of everyone’s daily life. To know about the water table (水位) in the ground is just as important to us as a knowledge of the basic arithmetic formulas. We need to know why all watersheds (上游源頭森林地帶集水區) need the protection of plant life and why the running current of streams and rivers must be made to yield their full benefit to the soil before they finally escape to the sea. We need to be taught the duty of planting trees as well as of cutting them. We need to know the importance of big, mature trees, because living space for most of man’s fellow creatures on this planet is figured not only in square measure of surface but also in cubic volume above the earth. In brief, it should be our goal to restore as much of the original beauty of nature as we can.
26. The author’s attitude towards the current situation in the exploitation of natural resources is ________.
A) positive
B) neutral
C) suspicious
D) critical
27. According to the author, the greatest mistake of our forefathers was that ________.
A) they had no idea about scientific forestry
B) they had little or no sense of environmental protection
C) they were not aware of the significance of nature study
D) they had no idea of how to make good use of raw materials
28. It can be inferred from the third paragraph that earlier generations didn’t realize ________.
A) the interdependence of water, soil, and living things
B) the importance of the proper use of land
C) the harmfulness of soil destruction and river floods
D) the value of the beauty of nature
29. To avoid correcting the mistake of our forefathers, the author suggests that ________.
A) we plant more trees
B) natural science be taught to everybody
C) environmental education be directed toward everyone
D) we return to nature
30. What does the author imply by saying “living space... is figured... also in cubic volume above the earth” (Lines 7-8, Para. 3)?
A) Our living space on the earth is getting smaller and smaller.
B) Our living space should be measured in cubic volume.
C) We need to take some measure to protect space.
D) We must preserve good living conditions for both birds and animals.
