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Passage 1
It was 3:45 in the morning when the vote was finally taken. After six months of arguing and final 16 hours of hot parliamentary debates, Australia's Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die. The measure passed by the convincing vote of 15 to 10. Almost immediately word flashed on the Internet and was picked up, half a world away, by John Hofsess, executive director of the Right to Die Society of Canada. He sent it on via the group's on-line service, Death NET. Says Hofsess: “We posted bulletins all day long, because of course this isn't just something that happened in Australia. It's world history.”
The full import may take a while to sink in. The NT Rights of the Terminally Ill law has left physicians and citizens alike trying to deal with its moral and practical implications. Some have breathed sighs of relief, others, including churches, right-to-life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the bill and the haste of its passage. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australia—where an aging population, life-extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part—other states are going to consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia. In the US and Canada, where the right-to-die movement is gathering strength, observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling.
Under the new Northern Territory law, an adult patient can request death—probably by a deadly injection or pill—to put an end to suffering. The patient must be diagnosed as terminally ill by two doctors. After a “cooling off” period of seven days, the patient can sign a certificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met. For Lloyd Nickson, a 54-year-old Darwin resident suffering from lung cancer, the NT Rights of Terminally Ill law means he can get on with living without the haunting fear of his suffering: a terrifying death from his breathing condition. “I’m not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view, but what I was afraid of was how I'd go, because I've watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks," he says.


1.From the second paragraph we learn that
[A]the objection to euthanasia is diminishing in some countries
[B]physicians and citizens have the same view on euthanasia
[C]technological changes are chiefly responsible for the new law
[D]it takes time to appreciate the significance of laws passed
2.By saying that "observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling” (Line 7-8, Paragraph 2), the author means that
[A]observers are taking a wait-and-see attitude towards the future of euthanasia
[B]there is a possibility of similar bills being passed in the U.S. and Canada
[C]observers are waiting to see the movement end up in failure
[D]the process of the bill taking effect may finally come to a stop
3.When Lloyd Nickson is close to death, he will
[A]undergo a cooling off period of seven days
[B]experience the suffering of a lung cancer patient
[C]have an intense fear of terrible suffering
[D]face his death with the calm characteristic of euthanasia
4.What is the author's attitude towards euthanasia?
[A]Hostile.
[B]Suspicious.
[C]Approving.
[D]Indifferent.
5.We can {{AUTO_LINK_1800}} from the text that the success of the right-to-die movement is
[A]only a matter of time
[B]far from certain
[C]just an illusion
[D]a fading hope


Passage 2
Much of the language used to describe monetary policy, such as "steering the economy to a soft landing” or “a touch on the brakes”, makes it sound like a precise science. Nothing could be further from the truth. The link between interest rates and inflation is uncertain. And there are long, variable lags before policy changes have any effect on the economy. Hence the analogy that likens the conduct of monetary policy to driving a car with a blackened windscreen, a cracked rearview mirror and a faulty steering wheel.
Given all these disadvantages, central bankers seem to have had much to boast about of late. Average inflation in the big seven industrial economies fell to a mere 2.3% last year, close to its lowest level in 30 years, before rising slightly to 2.5% this July. This is a long way below the double-digit rates which many countries experienced in the 1970s and early 1980s.
It is also less than most forecasters had predicted. In late 1994 the panel of economists which The Economist polls each month said that America's inflation rate would average 3.5% in 1995. In fact, it fell to 2.6% in August, and is expected to average only about 3% for the year as a whole. In Britain and Japan inflation is running half a percentage point below the rate predicted at the end of last year. This is no flash in the pan; over the past couple of years, inflation has been consistently lower than expected in Britain and America.
Economists have been particularly surprised by favourable inflation figures in Britain and the United States, since conventional measures suggest that both economies, and especially America's, have little productive slack. America's capacity utilisation, for example, hit historically high levels earlier this year, and its jobless rate (5.6% in August) has fallen below most estimates of the natural {{AUTO_LINK_1998}} of unemployment—the rate below which inflation has taken off in the past.
Why has inflation proved so mild? The most thrilling explanation is, unfortunately, a little defective. Some economists argue that powerful structural changes in the world have upended the old economic models that were based upon the historical link between growth and inflation.



1.According to the text, making monetary policy changes
[A]is comparable to driving a car
[B]is similar to carrying out scientific work
[C]will not influence the economy immediately
[D]will have an immediate impact on the inflation rate
2.From the text we learn that
[A]there is a clear relationship between inflation and interest rates
[B]the economy always follows particular trends
[C]the current economic problem are entirely predictable
[D]the present economic situation is better than expected
3.The text suggests that
[A]the previous economic models are still applicable
[B]an extremely low jobless rate will lead to inflation
[C]a high unemployment rate will result from inflation
[D]interest rates have an immediate effect on the economy
4.By saying “This is no flash in the pan” (line 5, paragraph 3), the author implies that
[A]the low inflation rate will continue
[B]the inflation rate will rise again
[C]inflation will disappear entirely
[D]there is no inflation at present
5.How does the author feel about the present situation?
[A]Tolerant.
[B]Indifferent.
[C]Disappointed.
[D]Surprised.


Passage 3
In the first year or so of Web business, most of the action has revolved around efforts to tap the consumer market. More recently, as the Web proved to be more than a fashion, companies have started to buy and sell products and services with one another. Such business-to-business sales make sense because business people typically know what product they're looking for.
Nonetheless, many companies still hesitate to use the Web because of doubts about its reliability. "Businesses need to feel they can trust the pathway between them and the supplier," says senior analyst Blane Erwin of Forrester Research. Some companies are limiting the risk by conducting online transactions only with established business partners who are given access to the company's private intranet.
Another major shift in the model for Internet commerce concerns the technology available for marketing. Until recently, Internet marketing activities have focused on strategies to "pull" customers into sites. In the past year, however, software companies have developed tools that allow companies to “push” information directly out to consumers, transmitting marketing messages directly to targeted customers. Most notably, the Pointcast Network uses a screen saver to deliver a continually updated stream of news and advertisements to subscribers' computer monitors. Subscribers can customize the information they want to receive and proceed directly to a company's Web site. Companies such as Virtual Vineyards are already starting to use similar technologies to push messages to customers about special sales, product offerings, or other events. But push technology has earned the contempt of many Web users. Online culture thinks highly of the notion that the information flowing onto the screen comes there by specific request. Once commercial promotion begins to fill the screen uninvited, the distinction between the Web and television fades. That's a prospect that horrifies Net purists.
But it is hardly inevitable that companies on the Web will need to resort to push strategies to make money. The examples of Virtual Vineyards, Amazon.com, and other pioneers show that a Web site selling the right kind of products with the right mix of interactivity, hospitality, and security will attract online customers. And the cost of computing power continues to free fall, which is a good sign for any enterprise setting up shop in silicon. People looking back 5 or 10 years from now may well wonder why so few companies took the online plunge.



1.We learn from the beginning of the passage that Web business
[A]has been striving to expand its market
[B]intended to follow a fanciful fashion
[C]tried but in vain to control the market
[D]has been booming for one year or so
2.Speaking of the online technology available for marketing, the author implies that
[A]the technology is popular with many Web users
[B]businesses have faith in the reliability of online transactions
[C]there is a radical change in strategy
[D]it is accessible limitedly to established partners
3.In the view of Net purists,
[A]there should be no marketing messages in online culture
[B]money making should be given priority to on the Web
[C]the Web should be able to function as the television set
[D]there should be no online commercial information without requests
4.We learn from the last paragraph that
[A]pushing information on the Web is essential to Internet commerce
[B]interactivity, hospitality and security are important to online customers
[C]leading companies began to take the online plunge decades ago
[D]setting up shops in silicon is independent of the cost of computing power
5.The purpose of the author in writing the text is to
[A]urge active participation in online business
[B]elaborate on various marketing strategies
[C]compare web business with traditional commerce
[D]illustrate the transition from the pull to push strategy


Passage 4
In the last half of the nineteenth century “capital” and "labour” were enlarging and perfecting their rival organizations on modern lines. Many an old firm was replaced by a limited liability company with a bureaucracy of salaried managers. The change met the technical requirements of the new age by engaging a large professional element and prevented the decline in efficiency that so commonly spoiled the fortunes of family firms in the second and third generation after the energetic founders. It was moreover a step away from individual initiative, towards collectivism and municipal and state-owned business. The railway companies, though still private business managed for the benefit of shareholders, were very unlike old family business. At the same time the great municipalities went into business to supply lighting, trams and other services to the taxpayers.
The growth of the limited liability company and municipal business had important consequences. Such large, impersonal manipulation of capital and industry greatly increased the numbers and importance of shareholders as a class, an element in national life representing irresponsible wealth detached from the land and the duties of the landowners; and almost equally detached from the responsible management of business. All through the nineteenth century, America, Africa, India, Australia and parts of Europe were being developed by British capital, and British shareholders were thus enriched by the world's movement towards industrialization. Towns like Bournemouth and Eastbourne sprang up to house large “comfortable” classes who had retired on their incomes, and who had no relation to the rest of the community except that of drawing dividends and occasionally attending a shareholders' meeting to dictate their orders to the management. On the other hand “Shareholding” meant leisure and freedom which was used by many of the later Victorians for the highest purpose of a great civilization.
The “shareholders” as such had no knowledge of the lives, thoughts or needs of the workmen employed by the company in which he held shares, and his influence on the relations of capital and labour was not good. The paid manager acting for the company was in more direct relation with the men and their demands, but even he had seldom that familiar personal knowledge of the workmen which the employer had often had under the more patriarchal system of the old family business now passing away. Indeed the mere size of operations and the numbers of workmen involved rendered such personal relations impossible. Fortunately, however, the increasing power and organization of the trade unions, at least in all skilled trades, enabled the workmen to meet on equal terms the managers of the companies who employed them. The cruel discipline of the strike and lockout taught the two parties to respect each other's strength and understand the value of fair negotiation.



1.The author says that old family firms
[A]were ruined by the younger generations
[B]failed for lack of individual initiative
[C]lacked efficiency compared with modern companies
[D]were able to supply adequate services to taxpayers
2.The growth of limited liability companies resulted in
[A]the separation of capital from management
[B]the ownership of capital by managers
[C]the emergence of capital and labour as two classes
[D]the participation of shareholders as land ownership
3.The text indicates that
[A]some countries developed quickly because of their limited liability companies
[B]the tide of industrialisation benefited British shareholders greatly
[C]shareholders contributed a lot to the fast growth of the British economy
[D]the system of shareholding impaired the management of modern companies
4.We learn from the text that
[A]shareholders often cast negative influence on the well-being of workers
[B]owners of traditional firm enjoyed a good relationship with their employees
[C]limited liability companies were too large to run smoothly
[D]trade unions had a positive role between workers and the management
5.The author appears to be very critical of
[A]family firm owners
[B]shareholder
[C]managers
[D]landowners


Passage 5
If you intend using humor in your talk to make people smile, you must know how to identify shared experiences and problems. Your humor must be relevant to the audience and should help to show them that you are one of them or that you understand their situation and are in sympathy with their point of view. Depending on whom you are addressing, the problems will be different. If you are talking to a group of managers, you may refer to the disorganized methods of their secretaries; alternatively if you are addressing secretaries, you may want to comment on their disorganized bosses.
Here is an example, which I heard at a nurses' convention, of a story which works well because the audience all shared the same view of doctors. A man arrives in heaven and is being shown around by St. Peter. He sees wonderful accommodations, beautiful gardens, sunny weather, and so on. Everyone is very peaceful, polite and friendly until, waiting in a line for lunch, the new arrival is suddenly pushed aside by a man in a white coat, who rushes to the head of the line, grabs his food and stomps over to a table by himself. "Who is that?” the new arrival asked St. Peter. “Oh, that's God," came the reply, "but sometimes he thinks he's a doctor."
If you are part of the group which you are addressing, you will be in a position to know the experiences and problems which are common to all of you and it'll be appropriate for you to make a passing remark about the inedible canteen food or the chairman's notorious bad taste in ties. With other audiences you mustn't attempt to cut in with humor as they will resent an outsider making disparaging remarks about their canteen or their chairman. You will be on safer ground if you stick to scapegoats like the Post Office or the telephone system.
If you feel awkward being humorous, you must practice so that it becomes more natural. Include a few casual and apparently off-the-cuff remarks which you can deliver in a relaxed and unforced manner. Often it's the delivery which causes the audience to smile, so speak slowly and remember that a raised eyebrow or an unbelieving look may help to show that you are making a light-hearted remark.
Look for the humor. It often comes from the unexpected. A twist on a familiar quote “If at first you don't succeed, give up" or a play on words or on a situation. Search for exaggeration and understatements. Look at your talk and pick out a few words or sentences which you can turn about and inject with humor.



1.To make your humor work, you should
[A]take advantage of different kinds of audience
[B]make fun of the disorganized people
[C]address different problems to different people
[D]show sympathy for your listeners
2.The joke about doctors implies that, in the eyes of nurses, they are
[A]impolite to new arrivals
[B]very conscious of their godlike role
[C]entitled to some privileges
[D]very busy even during lunch hours
3.It can be inferred from the text that public services
[A]have benefited many people
[B]are the focus of public attention
[C]are an inappropriate subject for humor
[D]have often been the laughing stock
4.To achieve the desired result, humorous stories should be delivered
[A]in well-worded language
[B]as awkwardly as possible
[C]in exaggerated statements
[D]as casually as possible
5.The best title for the text may be
[A]Use Humor Effectively
[B]Various Kinds of Humor
[C]Add Humor to Speech
[D]Different Humor Strategies


6
The Supreme Court's decisions on physician-assisted suicide carry important implications for how medicine seeks to relieve dying patients of pain and suffering.
Although it ruled that there is no constitutional right to physician-assisted suicide, the Court in effect supported the medical principle of "double effect," a centuries-old moral principle holding that an action having two effects—a good one that is intended and a harmful one that is foreseen—is permissible if the actor intends only the good effect.
Doctors have used that principle in recent years to justify using high doses of morphine to control terminally ill patients' pain, even though increasing dosages will eventually kill the patient.
Nancy Dubler, director of Montefiore Medical C{{AUTO_LINK_1629}}, contends that the principle will shield doctors who "until now have very, very strongly insisted that they could not give patients sufficient medication to control their pain if that might hasten death."
George Annas, chair of the health law department at Boston University, maintains that, as long as a doctor prescribes a drug for a legitimate medical purpose, the doctor has done nothing illegal even if the patient uses the drug to hasten death. "It's like surgery," he says. "We don't call those deaths homicides because the doctors didn't intend to kill their patients, although they risked their death. If you're a physician, you can risk your patient's suicide as long as you don't intend their suicide."
On another level, many in the medical community acknowledge that the assisted-suicide debate has been fueled in part by the despair of patients for whom modern medicine has prolonged the physical agony of dying.
Just three weeks before the Court's ruling on physician-assisted suicide, the National Academy of Science (NAS) released a two-volume report, Approaching Death: Improving Care at the End of Life. It identifies the undertreatment of pain and the aggressive use of "ineffectual and forced medical procedures that may prolong and even dishonor the period of dying" as the twin problems of end-of-life care.
The profession is taking steps to require young doctors to train in hospices, to test knowledge of aggressive pain management therapies, to develop a Medicare billing code for hospital-based care, and to develop new standards for assessing and treating pain at the end of life.
Annas says lawyers can play a key role in insisting that these well-meaning medical initiatives translate into better care. "Large numbers of physicians seem unconcerned with the pain their patients are needlessly and predictably suffering," to the extent that it constitutes "systematic patient abuse." He says medical licensing boards "must make it clear... that painful deaths are presumptively ones that are incompetently managed and should result in license suspension."
(2002.4)
1.From the first three paragraphs, we learn that
[A]doctors used to increase drug dosages to control their patients' pain
[B]it is still illegal for doctors to help the dying end their lives
[C]the Supreme Court strongly opposes physician-assisted suicide
[D]patients have no constitutional right to commit suicide
2.Which of the following statements is true according to the text?
[A]Doctors will be held guilty if they risk their patients' death.
[B]Modern medicine has assisted terminally ill patients in painless recovery.
[C]The Court ruled that high-dosage pain-relieving medication can be prescribed.
[D]A doctor's medication is no longer justified by his intentions.
3.According to the NAS's report, one of the problems in end-of-life care is
[A]prolonged medical procedures
[B]inadequate treatment of pain
[C]systematic drug abuse
[D]insufficient hospital care
4.Which of the following best defines the word "aggressive" (line 3, paragraph 7)?
[A]Bold.
[B]Harmful.
[C]Careless.
[D]Desperate.
5.George Annas would probably agree that doctors should be punished if they
[A]manage their patients incompetently
[B]give patients more medicine than needed
[C]reduce drug dosages for their patients
[D]prolong the needless suffering of the patients


7
Wild Bill Donovan would have loved the Internet. The American spymaster who built the Office of Strategic Services in World War II and later laid the roots for the CIA was fascinated with information. Donovan believed in using whatever tools came to hand in the "great game" of espionage—spying as a "profession." These days the Net, which has already re-made such everyday pastimes as buying books and sending mail, is reshaping Donovan's vocation as well.
The latest revolution isn't simply a matter of gentlemen reading other gentlemen's e-mail. That kind of electronic spying has been going on for decades. In the past three or four years, the World Wide Web has given birth to a whole industry of point-and-click spying. The spooks call it "open-source intelligence," and as the Net grows, it is becoming increasingly influential. In 1995 the CIA held a contest to see who could compile the most data about Burundi. The winner, by a large margin, was a tiny Virginia company called Open Source Solutions, whose clear advantage was its mastery of the electronic world.
Among the firms making the biggest splash in this new world is Straitford, Inc., a private intelligence-analysis firm based in Austin, Texas. Straitford makes money by selling the results of spying (covering nations from Chile to Russia) to corporations like energy-services firm McDermott International. Many of its predictions are available online at www.straitford.com.
Straitford president George Friedman says he sees the online world as a kind of mutually reinforcing tool for both information collection and distribution, a spymaster's dream. Last week his firm was busy vacuuming up data bits from the far corners of the world and predicting a crisis in Ukraine. "As soon as that report runs, we'll suddenly get 500 new Internet sign-ups from Ukraine," says Friedman, a former political science professor. "And we'll hear back from some of them." Open-source spying does have its risks, of course, since it can be difficult to tell good information from bad. That's where Straitford earns its keep.
Friedman relies on a lean staff of 20 in Austin. Several of his staff members have military-intelligence backgrounds. He sees the firm's outsider status as the key to its success. Straitford’s briefs don't sound like the usual Washington back-and-forthing, whereby agencies avoid dramatic declarations on the chance they might be wrong. Straitford, says Friedman, takes pride in its independent voice.
(2003.1)



1.The emergence of the Net has
[A]received support from fans like Donovan
[B]remolded the intelligence services
[C]restored many common pastimes
[D]revived spying as a profession
2.Donovan's story is mentioned in the text to
[A]introduce the topic of online spying
[B]show how he fought for the U.S.
[C]give an episode of the information war
[D]honor his unique services to the CIA
3.The phrase "making the biggest splash" (Line 1, Paragraph 3) most probably means
[A]causing the biggest trouble
[B]exerting the greatest effort
[C]achieving the greatest success
[D]enjoying the widest popularity
4.It can be learned from paragraph 4 that
[A]Straitford's prediction about Ukraine has proved true
[B]Straitford guarantees the truthfulness of its information
[C]Straitford's business is characterized by unpredictability
[D]Straitford is able to provide fairly reliable information
5.Straitford is most proud of its
[A]official status
[B]nonconformist image
[C]efficient staff
[D]military background


8
To paraphrase 18th-century statesman Edmund Burke, "all that is needed for the triumph of a misguided cause is that good people do nothing." One such cause now seeks to end biomedical research because of the theory that animals have rights ruling out their use in research. Scientists need to respond forcefully to animal rights advocates, whose arguments are confusing the public and thereby threatening advances in health knowledge and care. Leaders of the animal rights movement target biomedical research because it depends on public funding, and few people understand the process of health care research. Hearing allegations of cruelty to animals in research settings, many are perplexed that anyone would deliberately harm an animal.
For example, a grandmotherly woman staffing an animal rights booth at a recent street fair was distributing a brochure that encouraged readers not to use anything that comes from or is tested in animals—no meat, no fur, no medicines. Asked if she opposed immunizations, she wanted to know if vaccines come from animal research. When assured that they do, she replied, "Then I would have to say yes." Asked what will happen when epidemics return, she said, "Don't worry, scientists will find some way of using computers." Such well-meaning people just don't understand.
Scientists must communicate their message to the public in a compassionate, understandable way—in human terms, not in the language of molecular biology. We need to make clear the connection between animal research and a grandmother's hip replacement, a father's bypass operation, a baby's vaccinations, and even a pet's shots. To those who are unaware that animal research was needed to produce these treatments, as well as new treatments and vaccines, animal research seems wasteful at best and cruel at worst.
Much can be done. Scientists could "adopt" middle school classes and present their own research. They should be quick to respond to letters to the editor, lest animal rights misinformation go unchallenged and acquire a deceptive appearance of truth. Research institutions could be opened to tours, to show that laboratory animals receive humane care. Finally, because the ultimate stakeholders are patients, the health research community should actively recruit to its cause not only well-known personalities such as Stephen Cooper, who has made courageous statements about the value of animal research, but all who receive medical treatment. If good people do nothing, there is a real possibility that an uninformed citizenry will extinguish the precious embers of medical progress.
(2003.2)



1.The author begins his article with Edmund Burke's words to
[A]call on scientists to take some actions
[B]criticize the misguided cause of animal rights
[C]warn of the doom of biomedical research
[D]show the triumph of the animal rights movement
2.Misled people tend to think that using an animal in research is
[A]cruel but natural
[B]inhuman and unacceptable
[C]inevitable but vicious
[D]pointless and wasteful
3.The example of the grandmotherly woman is used to show the public's
[A]discontent with animal research
[B]ignorance about medical science
[C]indifference to epidemics
[D]anxiety about animal rights
4.The author believes that, in face of the challenge from animal rights advocates, scientists should
[A]communicate more with the public
[B]employ hi-tech means in research
[C]feel no shame for their cause
[D]strive to develop new cures
5.From the text we learn that Stephen Cooper is
[A]a well-known humanist
[B]a medical practitioner
[C]an enthusiast in animal rights
[D]a supporter of animal research


9
In recent years, railroads have been combining with each other, merging into supersystems, causing heightened concerns about monopoly. As recently as 1995, the top four railroads accounted for under 70 percent of the total ton-miles moved by rails. Next year, after a series of mergers is completed, just four railroads will control well over 90 percent of all the freight moved by major rail carriers.
Supporters of the new supersystems argue that these mergers will allow for substantial cost reductions and better coordinated service. Any threat of monopoly, they argue, is removed by fierce competition from trucks. But many shippers complain that for heavy bulk commodities traveling long distances, such as coal, chemicals, and grain, trucking is too costly and the railroads therefore have them by the throat.
The vast consolidation within the rail industry means that most shippers are served by only one rail company. Railroads typically charge such "captive" shippers 20 to 30 percent more than they do when another railroad is competing for the business. Shippers who feel they are being overcharged have the right to appeal to the federal government's Surface Transportation Board for rate relief, but the process is expensive, time-consuming, and will work only in truly extreme cases.
Railroads justify rate discrimination against captive shippers on the grounds that in the long run it reduces everyone's cost. If railroads charged all customers the same average rate, they argue, shippers who have the option of switching to trucks or other forms of transportation would do so, leaving remaining customers to shoulder the cost of keeping up the line. It's a theory to which many economists subscribe, but in practice it often leaves railroads in the position of determining which companies will flourish and which will fail. "Do we really want railroads to be the arbiters of who wins and who loses in the marketplace?" asks Martin Bercovici, a Washington lawyer who frequently represents shippers.
Many captive shippers also worry they will soon be hit with a round of huge rate increases. The railroad industry as a whole, despite its brightening fortunes, still does not earn enough to cover the cost of the capital it must invest to keep up with its surging traffic. Yet railroads continue to borrow billions to acquire one another, with Wall Street cheering them on. Consider the 10.2 billion bid by Norfolk Southern and CSX to acquire Conrail this year. Conrail's net railway operating income in 1996 was just 427 million, less than half of the carrying costs of the transaction. Who's going to pay for the rest of the bill? Many captive shippers fear that they will, as Norfolk Southern and CSX increase their grip on the market.
(2003.3)



1.According to those who support mergers, railway monopoly is unlikely because
[A]cost reduction is based on competition
[B]services call for cross-trade coordination
[C]outside competitors will continue to exist
[D]shippers will have the railway by the throat
2.What is many captive shippers' attitude towards the consolidation in the rail industry?
[A]Indifferent.
[B]Supportive.
[C]Indignant.
[D]Apprehensive.
3.It can be inferred from paragraph 3 that
[A]shippers will be charged less without a rival railroad
[B]there will soon be only one railroad company nationwide
[C]overcharged shippers are unlikely to appeal for rate relief
[D]a government board ensures fair play in railway business
4.The word "arbiters" (Line 6, Paragraph 4) most probably refers to those
[A]who work as coordinators
[B]who function as judges
[C]who supervise transactions
[D]who determine the price
5.According to the text, the cost increase in the rail industry is mainly caused by
[A]the continuing acquisition
[B]the growing traffic
[C]the cheering Wall Street
[D]the shrinking market


10
It is said that in England death is pressing, in Canada inevitable and in California optional. Small wonder. Americans' life expectancy has nearly doubled over the past century. Failing hips can be replaced, clinical depression controlled, cataracts removed in a 30-minute surgical procedure. Such advances offer the aging population a quality of life that was unimaginable when I entered medicine 50 years ago. But not even a great health-care system can cure death—and our failure to confront that reality now threatens this greatness of ours.
Death is normal; we are genetically programmed to disintegrate and perish, even under ideal conditions. We all understand that at some level, yet as medical consumers we treat death as a problem to be solved. Shielded by third-party payers from the cost of our care, we demand everything that can possibly be done for us, even if it's useless. The most obvious example is late-stage cancer care. Physicians—frustrated by their inability to cure the disease and fearing loss of hope in the patient—too often offer aggressive treatment far beyond what is scientifically justified.
In 1950, the U.S. spent 12.7 billion on health care. In 2002, the cost will be 1,540 billion. Anyone can see this trend is unsustainable. Yet few seem willing to try to reverse it. Some scholars conclude that a government with finite resources should simply stop paying for medical care that sustains life beyond a certain age—say 83 or so. Former Colorado governor Richard Lamm has been quoted as saying that the old and infirm "have a duty to die and get out of the way," so that younger, healthier people can realize their potential.
I would not go that far. Energetic people now routinely work through their 60s and beyond, and remain dazzlingly productive. At 78, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone jokingly claims to be 53. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is in her 70s, and former surgeon general C. Everett Koop chairs an Internet start-up in his 80s. These leaders are living proof that prevention works and that we can manage the health problems that come naturally with age. As a mere 68-year-old, I wish to age as productively as they have.
Yet there are limits to what a society can spend in this pursuit. As a physician, I know the most costly and dramatic measures may be ineffective and painful. I also know that people in Japan and Sweden, countries that spend far less on medical care, have achieved longer, healthier lives than we have. As a nation, we may be overfunding the quest for unlikely cures while underfunding research on humbler therapies that could improve people's lives.
(2003.4)



1.What is implied in the first sentence?
[A]Americans are better prepared for death than other people.
[B]Americans enjoy a higher life quality than ever before.
[C]Americans are over-confident of their medical technology.
[D]Americans take a vain pride in their long life expectancy.
2.The author uses the example of cancer patients to show that
[A]medical resources are often wasted
[B]doctors are helpless against fatal diseases
[C]some treatments are too aggressive
[D]medical costs are becoming unaffordable
3.The author's attitude toward Richard Lamm's remark is one of
[A]strong disapproval
[B]reserved consent
[C]slight contempt
[D]enthusiastic support
4.In contrast to the U.S., Japan and Sweden are funding their medical care
[A]more flexibly
[B]more extravagantly
[C]more cautiously
[D]more reasonably
5.The text intends to express the idea that
[A]medicine will further prolong people's lives
[B]life beyond a certain limit is not worth living
[C]death should be accepted as a fact of life
[D]excessive demands increase the cost of health care