69．Language is a highly developed system of symbols because human beings _________.

　　　 A．have made use of language for centuries

　　　 B．use our nervous systems to support language

　　　 C．have made various noises stand for any events

　　　 D．can make anything stand for anything by agreement

48．Women join the Red Hat Society because　　　　　 .

　　　 A．they want to stay young

　　　 B．they would like to appear more attractive

　　　 C．they would like to have fun and live for themselves

　　　 D．they want to be more like their parents

答案　 44.D　 45.C　 46.B　 47.A　 48.B

Passage 47

(05·北京D篇)

Language as a System of Symbols

Of all systems of symbols(符号), language is the most highly developed. It has been pointed out that human beings, by agreement, can make anything stand for anything. Human beings have agreed, in the course of centuries of mutual(相互的) dependency, to let the various noises that they can produce with their lungs, throats, tongues, teeth, and lips systematically stand for certain happenings in their nervous systems. We call that system of agreements language.

There is no necessary connection between the symbol and that which it stands for. Just as social positions can be symbolized by feathers worn on the head, by gold on the watch chain, or by a thousand other things according to the culture we live in, so the fact of being hungry can be symbolized by a thousand different noises according to the culture we live in.

However obvious these facts may appear at first glance, they are actually not so obvious as they seem except when we take special pains to think about the subject. Symbols and the things they stand for are independent of each other, yet we all have a way of feeling as if, and sometimes acting as if, there were necessary connections. For example, there are people who feel that foreign languages are unreasonable by nature: foreigners have such funny names for things, and why can’t they call things by their right names? This feeling exhibits itself most strongly in those English and American tourists who seem to believe that they can make the natives of any country understand English if they shout loud enough. Like the little boy who is reported to have said: “Pigs are called pigs because they are such dirty animals,” they feel the symbol is inherently(内在地) connected in some way with the things symbolized.

47．Who set up the Red Hat Society ?

　　　 A．Emily Cornette .

B．Ellen Cooper .

C．Jenny Joseph .

D．Joe Heywood .

46．It could be inferred from the text that members of the Red Hat Society are　　　　　 .

　　　 A．interested in raising money for social work

　　　 B．programmers who can plan well for their future

　　　 C．believers in equality between men and women

　　　 D．good at cooking big meals and taking care of others

45．From the text , we know that the “baby boomers” are a group of people who

　　　 A．have gradually become more noticeable

　　　 B．are worried about getting old too quickly

　　　 C．are enjoying a good life with plenty of money to spend

　　　 D．tried living a different life from their parents when they were young

44．The underlined word “chapter” in paragraph 2 means __________.

　　　 A．one branch of an organization

B．a written agreement of a club

　　　 C．one part of a collection of poems

D．a period in a society’s history

44.The text madtry deal with_________.

A.the　 progress in correspondence

B.the advantage of fax machines

C.the advantage of emails

D.the invention of fas machines

答案　 41.B　 42.A　 43.C　 44.A

Passage 45

(05·全国ⅠB篇)

　MONTREAL (Reuters) – Crossing the US-Canada border(边界)to go to church on a Sunday cost a US citizen ＄10,000 for breaking Washington’s strict new security(安全)rules. 　The expensive trip to church was a surprise for Richard Albert, who lives right on the

Canadian border. Like the other half-dozen people of Township 15, crossing the border is a daily occurrence for Albert. The nearby Quebec village of St. Pamphile is where they shop, eat and go to church. 　　 There are many such situations in these areas along the largely unguarded 5,530-mile border between Canada and the US-which in some cases actually runs down the middle of streets or through buildings. 　　 As a result, Albert says he did not expect any problems three weeks ago when he returned home to the US after attending church in Canada, as usual. The US customs(海关)station in this area is closed on Sundays, so he just drove around the locked gate, as he had done every weekend since the gate appeared last May, following a tightening of border security. Two days later. Albert was told to go to the customs office, where an officer told him he had been caught on carnera crossing the border illegally(非法). 　　 Ottawa has given out special passes to some 300 US citizens in that area so they can enter the country when Canadian customs stations are closed, but the US stopped a similar program last May. That forces the people to a 200-mile detour along hilly roads to get home tountry whrough another border checkpoint. 　　 Albert has requested that the customs office change their decisions on the fine, but he has not attended a Sunday church since. “I feel like I’m living in a prison,” he said. 59. We learn from the text that Richard Albert is ______. A. an American living in Township 15 B. a Canadixacan living in a Quebec village C. a Canadian working in a customs station D. an American working in a Canadian church 60. Albert was fined because he ______. A. failed to obey traffic rules B. broke the American security rules C. worked in St. Pamphile without a pass D. damaged the gate of the customs office 61. The underlined word “detour” in paragraph 5 means　 ______. A. a drive through the town B. a race across the fields C. a roundabout way of traveling D. a journey in the mountain area 62. What would be the best title for the text? A. A Cross-country Trip B. A Special Border Pass C. An Unguarded Border D. An Expensive Church Visit 答案　 59.A　 60.B　 61.C　 62.D

Passage 46

(05·全国Ⅱ、全国ⅢB篇)

The days of elderly women doing nothing but cooking huge meals on holidays are gone. Enter the Red Hat Society －a group holding the belief that old ladies should have fun.

“My grandmothers didn’t do anything but keep house and serve everybody. They were programmed to do that,” said Emils Comette, head of a chapter of the 7-year-old Red Hat Society.

While men have long spent their time fishing and playing golf, women have sometimes seemed to become unnoticed as they age. But the generation now turning 50 is the baby boomers(生育高峰期出生的人), and the same people who refused their parents’ way of being young are now trying a new way of growing old.

If you take into consideration feminism(女权主义), a bit of spare money, and better health for most elderly, the Red Hat Society looks almost inevitable(必然的). In this society, women over 50 wear red hats and purple(紫色的) clothes, while the women under 50 wear pink hats and light purple clothing.

“The organization took the idea from a poem by Jenny Joseph that begins: “When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple. With a red hat which doesn’t go,” said Ellen Cooper, who founded the Red Hat Society in 1998. When the ladies started to wear the red hats, they attracted lots of attention.

“The point of this is that we need a rest from always doing something for someone else,” Cooper said. “Women feel so ashamed and sorry when they do something for themselves.” This is why chapters are discouraged from raising money or doing anything useful. “We’re a ladies’ play group. It couldn’t be more simple,” added Cooper’s assistant Joe Heywood.

43.In the last paragraph,the wrin intentings think before you email”to show then________.

A.you may regret if you than’t your envelope

B.you may regre l before you send something by email

C.you’d better　 not send your email in a hurry

D.you regrse before you on time to send an email

42.It can be inferred from the text that_________.

the fax service had been fully developed by the 1980s

letters have been used in China for about 1,000 years

the fax machine was invented after the 1980s

letters have been used in Egypt for about 2,000 years

41.We can learn from the tex that__________.

email is less popular than the fax service　　

the postal service has over the years become faster

the postal service has over the years become slower

the fax service has a history as long as the postal service does