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Passage Two
A few years ago, Ann and Walter Taylor thought it might be time to move out of their New York City apartment to the suburbs. They had one young son and another child on the way. But after months of looking, they became discouraged and decided to buy an old townhouse right in the middle of Brooklyn, which is a part of New York City. To their delight, they discovered that they weren't the only young couple to have made such a decision. In fact, the entire area in Brooklyn had been settled by young families. And as a result, the neighborhood, which had been declining for years, was now being restored。
Brooklyn isn't the only city in the United States to experience this kind of renewal. So are Philadelphia and St. Louis. And Charleston, South Carolina, has so successfully rebuilt its old central area that it now ranks as one of America's most charming cities. The restoration of the old port city of Savannah, Georgia, is also living proof that downtown areas do not need to die. But encouraging as these developments may be, they are among the few bright spots in a mass of difficulties that today's cities face. Indeed, their woes are so many that it is fair to ask whether or not the inner city, the core of most urban areas will manage to survive at all。
In the 1940a, urban Americans began a mass move to the suburbs in search of fresh air, elbowroom, and privacy. Suburbs began to sprawl out across the countryside. Since most of those making the move were middle-class, they took with them the tax money the cities needed to maintain the neighborhoods in which they had lived. The people left in the cities were often those who were too old or too poor to move. Thus, many cities began to fall into disrepair. Crime began to soar, and public transportation was neglected. (In the past sixty years San Francisco is the only city in the United States to have completed a new mass transit system。) Meanwhile, housing construction costs continued to rise higher and higher. Middle-class housing was allowed to decay, and little new housing was constructed。
Eventually, many downtown areas existed for business only. During the day they would be filled with people working in offices, and at night they would be deserted. Given these circumstances, some business executives began asking, "Why bother with going downtown at all? Why not move the offices to the suburbs so that we can live and work in the same area?" Gradually, some of the larger companies began moving out of the cites, with the result that urban centers declined even further and the suburbs expanded still more. This movement of businesses to the suburbs is not confined to the United States. Businesses have also been moving to the suburbs in Stockholm, Sweden, in Bonn, Germany, and in Brussels, Belgium, as well。
But it may well be that this movement to the suburbs has reached its peak. Some people may be tired of spending long hours commuting, and they may have begun to miss the advantages of culture and companionship provided by city life. Perhaps the decision made by the Taylors is a sign that people will return to the cities and begin to restore them. h begins to look as if suburban sprawl may not have been the answer to man's need to create an ideal environment in which to live and work。
57. The author of the passage suggests that ______。
A) moving to suburbs is not the answer to an ideal environment
B) cities are likely to be replaced by the suburbs
C) downtown areas are too crowded to live
D) American people moves lot in history
58. The word "elbowroom" in Paragraph 3 most probably means" ______。
A) private space B) room to move freely
C) peaceful places D) confined room
59. Which of the following statements is true?
A) There are just old and poor people left in the cities。
B) The movement to the suburbs begins to decline。
C) Downtown areas must die in the future。
D) Suburbs are sure to replace cities。
60. Why have businesses been moving to suburbs?
A) Because the environment is pleasant in the suburbs。
B) Because the suburbs have developed rapidly。
C) Because rich people have moved to suburbs。
D) Because many people work in cites and live in suburbs. 61. Many cities began to fall into disrepair in the 1940s because ______。
A) housing construction costs continued to rise
B) housing was allowed to decay
C) many people moved out of the cities
D) only old and poor people were left in the cities
Part Ⅴ Error Correction (15 minutes)
In the past, women tended to assume that they would be overtaken
by men in the race to the top. And, today's young women are far less 62. ______。
philosophical about their status and are more aggressive in their 63. ______。
resentment in being treated as in some way inferior than men. On the 64. ______。
other hand, since lack of drive is one of the criticisms leveled with 65. ______。
women, perhaps this aggression is a positive advantage. Some young
women, though, find it very difficult to come to term with the feeling that 66. ______。
characteristics of authority which are acceptable in men are often not
acceptable in women. A reason often advanced for women fail to reach the 67. ______。
top is their desire for balance between work and a life outside work。
Employers know this and tend, when a woman with young children
applies for promotion, treat the fact that she has young children as an 68. ______。
important factor and, giving the choice, are more likely to give promotion 69. ______。
to. a man than to her。
What about women whose children are almost grown up? Well, the
writers of the study recommend a far much more positive approach to 70. ______。
women who want to return to their careers before their children are off 71. ______。
their hands。
Part Ⅵ Translation (5 minutes)
72. Due to big floods in the south, ___________________(中央政府不得不動用儲備以渡過糧食危機)。
73. Although my boss is very positive, ___________________(我確信這項所謂的明智的決定，與預期相反，會帶來嚴懲的后果)。
74. To their great astonishment, ___________________(在調查中，他們發現了種種形式的腐敗并揭露了許多貪污的官吏)。
75. As the chief accountant, ___________________(瑪麗的兩難處境在于是把真相告訴老板還是讓他蒙在鼓里而辜負他的信任)。
76. We have every reason to believe Jason for ___________________(他是一位有經驗的老師，知道如何將學生的最佳狀態發揮出來)。
