Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension（40 minutes）

Section A

Directions：In this section，there is a passage with ten blanks.You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage.Read the passage through carefully before making your choices.Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter.Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

Questions 26 to 35 are based on the following passage.

Two groups of scientists demonstrated last week for the first time that the body launches a massive， effective counterattack on the virus soon after infection of HIV begins.If doctors can figure out how to reproduce that early，powerful immune response，they might be able to develop better treatments to 26 stages of the disease.The researchers should be 27 —and more than a bit of luck.After all，to study someone at the beginning of a relatively 28 phase of the HIV infection，they had to find people who did not yet realise they had contracted the virus.It 29 that at least a third of HIV-infected people develop a fever or a severe sore throat within a few weeks to months after first 30 Such signs，which usually clear up in their own， can easily be 31 as a bad flu.In order to identify seven young men suffering from a primary HIV infection， the researchers took this project by 32 in hospital emergency rooms and talking to colleagues.

Using advanced laboratory tests that had been developed only in the past few years，both sets of scientists discovered an 33 growth of virus in the men’s blood streams.Each litre of the men’s blood contained as many as 10 million infectious viruses.

Within days after the virus burst，the researchers measured a rapid increase in the bloodstream of the number of anti-HIV antibodies（抗体）.These Y-shaped bits of protein sought out the virus and targeted it for 34 Once the antibody attack reached full-scale in the seven test subjects，the level of HIV in the bloodstream dropped 35 In the majority of cases，the researchers could detect little or no virus two to three weeks later.In other words，the normal immune system can shut down the AIDS virus.Now researchers must figure out exactly how the body puts together this early effective defense—and how the virus manages，years later，to avoid it.

A）abruptly I）lively

B）destruction J）misdiagnosed

C）exemplified K）persistent

D）exhausting L）residing

E）explosive M）segregation

F）exposure N）silent

G）impair O）testifies

H）interrupt

Section B

Directions：In this section，you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it.Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs.Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived.You may choose a paragraph more than once.Each paragraph is marked with a letter.Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.

We Must Train People to Break the Rules

A）Lay out the entrails，read omens and auguries（前兆，预兆，征兆），study the heavens，and shake your hoary（陈腐的，老掉牙的）locks like an ancient prophet.Signs and portents bring us messages，and we should notice them before civilization crumbles.

B）Off Hope Cove，on the Devon coast，a crew of strong，experienced men has saved a girl’s life with minutes to spare，only to find itself“disciplined”because the only boat available was classified as an “additional facility awaiting inspection”.Earlier and farther inland，two stronger men stood helplessly in their luminous Police Community Support uniforms，wittering（絮叨；啰唆）into radios because they lacked the correct certificates to try to rescue a drowning boy.

C）Elsewhere，a coastguard resigned after saving a 13-year-old dangling from a cliff.He failed to fetch and buckle（用扣环扣住，扣紧）on his own safety harness，and immediately found himself in trouble from bosses droning that they“don’t want dead heroes”.

D）Meanwhile a thousand small habitual practices—from cake stalls to carpentry classes—find themselves under heavy reproof（责备，责怪，指责）and restraint.And in a hospital ward somewhere a dying，fragile old man repeatedly falls out of bed because nurses reckon that they can’t put up the sides of the bed without a“risk assessment”，in case they breach his“human rights”and“unlawfully imprison”him.

E）A frantic family tries to get a telephone line reconnected to a remote Welsh hillside where a man has had a stroke，and meets only call-centre shrugs because they don’t have the account number off the bill；a neighbour phones the weekend“on-call”doctor service about a diseased nonagenarian（90至99岁的人）neighbour，to be told by the doctor that nothing can be done until they give the victim’s correct postcode and date of birth.

F）An amateur dramatic group has to find lock-up storage for two plastic toy swords；and in Huddersfield，citizens have to barricade the road before Binmen will take away rubbish bags that didn’t fit correctly into the wheelie bins，although the surplus is entirely due to the said Binmen having been on strike and omitting the last collection.

G）From distant California，thanks to Times online message boards，comes the echo of a voice from the Ancient World.Jim from El Centro responded to the Hope Cove rescue story at the weekend with a quotation from Marcus Tullius Cicero：“A bureaucrat is the most contemptible of men，though he is needed as vultures（趁火打劫的人，乘人之危的人）are needed，but one hardly admires vultures，which bureaucrats so strangely resemble.I have yet to meet a bureaucrat who was not petty，dull，almost witless，tricky or stupid，an oppressor or a thief，a holder of little authority in which he delights，as a boy delights in possessing a vicious dog.Who can trust such creatures？”

H）Something is wrong.We read too many stories about this craven，inhuman，poltroonish（怯懦的，胆小的） cowering behind rules and routines，and about individuals who get into trouble for momentarily breaching them in the name of humanity or sense.I take issue with Cicero and Jim a little，though—it is too easy to rage at bureaucracy itself and join in thoughtless laughing at“suits”.Even Cicero accepts that efficient administration is necessary：It gets things done and distributed，and is a bulwark against chaos.So I think we have to choose our targets more carefully，and unpick more precisely the evil threads that make us so uneasy and unhappy and desperate to stick to rules in defiance of common sense and kindness.

I）I would diagnose it as insecurity，linked to a misunderstanding of the concept of“training”（which incidentally links straight back to the culture of unintelligent testing in schools）.Depressed，anxious people always prefer to stick to rules rather than think for themselves；at the extreme they lapse（陷入，进入）into obsessive-compulsive disorder（强迫症），forever washing their hands and touching wood.Depressed，anxious institutions such as the Maritime（海事的）and Coastguard Authority，National Health Service（and quite a few call-centres）display this pathology（病理学）on a corporate level.You get the “training”，tick the right multiple-choice boxes and refuse to think that there might be another choice，not listed.You feel safer that way，like a troubled child determined not to colour outside the lines.

J）Yet this is the opposite of real training，as practised for years in real armies，navies，laboratories and institutions.Real training lays down a framework of expertise and safety not to prevent initiative，but to free it.If you really know the rules and understand their purpose，you can judge when to make an exception and break them.

K）A nurse should be able to think（as some no doubt do）：“Right，the patient is confused and rolling about，and might get hurt.I’ll put up the sides of the bed and keep an eye on things，and have a word with the relatives later to explain.”

L）The boat crew should feel free to think（as they did）：“The big lifeboat isn’t going to be in time.We know our own boat’s safe even though it hasn’t got the certificate yet，and if we do get into trouble it’s worth a try to save a life—go for it！”The dustmen should say：“OK，so there are bags lying beside the wheelie bins in violation of council regulations，but that’ll be because of the strike，isn’t it？Chuck（扔掉，丢弃）them in.”

M）The NHS or telecom call-centre staff should be alert not only to the list of correct procedures on the wall，but to the note of panic in the distant voice.

N）Employees should be allowed to be people too；and a good bureaucrat should feel safe to judge which value scored highest at the critical moment.We all see examples of this gentle accommodation every day.But we also know that those who break small rules for human values run a real risk，because of that corporate anxiety and depression.It is brought on by soulless micromanagement from the top and a culture that assumes the citizen is a fool.Keeping the balance is not always easy：But human life is a tightrope and always has been.Certainly the reckless rule-breakers should be curbed or sacked；but so should the stupidly rigid bureaucrats.

O）Can’t leave you on that gloomy note.So rejoice：125 miles out in the dark North Sea，in the excellent Tall Ships Race，13 crew（mainly teenage）have just been rescued from the flooded cutter Clyde Challenger by the crew of a fellow-competitor（mainly teenage），the Norwegian ketch Loyal.I am sure that they all obeyed the rules：Perish the thought that they wouldn’t.But if they had to break a few，good luck to them.

36.A good weapon to prevent chaos is efficient administration.

37.Instead of thinking for themselves，the depressed，anxious people prefer to stick to rules.

38.The purpose of real training is to free，but not to prevent initiative.

39.The stupidly rigid bureaucrats should be curbed or sacked.

40.Marcus Tullius Cicero compared bureaucrats to vultures.

41.The NHS or telecom call-centre staff should help the patient’s panic-stricken family rather than just stick to the correct rules.

42.The weekend“on-call”doctor would not give service to the patient unless the correct postcode and date of birth is given.

43.The nurses think that they shouldn’t put up the sides of the dying old man’s bed without a“risk assessment”.

44.A coastguard successfully saved a child，but he resigned because bosses didn’t want dead heroes.

45.The two men in the uniforms did not rescue the drowning boy as soon as possible because they thought they had no right to rescue him.

Section C

Directions：There are 2 passages in this section.Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements.For each of them there are four choices marked A），B），C）and D）.You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.

Passage One

Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.

Looking in from abroad，much of the world has historically been baffled by America’s gun laws.In no other country can a mentally unstable person access a Glock pistol as easily as suspected Arizona shooter Jared Loughner did.And in no other country is the number of people who own guns as high as in the United States，where there are 90 guns for every 100 people.

The Second Amendment that guarantees the right to bear arms is part of America’s founding fabric.So is senseless violence brought about by guns also American？

That was the question posed at today’s White House press briefing by Russian journalist Andrei Sitov，the Washington Bureau chief for Moscow-based Itar-Tass.Predictably，the question irked（惹恼）many in the room， including White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

“I think there’s agreement on all sides of the political spectrum that violence is never，ever acceptable，”Gibbs said from the podium.What happened in Tucson“was not in keeping with the important bedrock（基础的）values on which this country was founded，”he said.

Several other reporters scoffed（嘲笑）at the suggestion as well.But much more scoffing over the last week came from overseas，where foreign news agencies reacted to the Tucson tragedy with an element of saying“we could have predicted this”.

“The Tucson shooting，in which Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head，is another tragic commentary on the poisonous political climate that has developed in the United States，allied to the country’s pervasive gun culture，”read an editorial published in New Zealand.In The Sydney Morning Herald，journalist Rod Tiffen stated what seems like an obvious point missed over the past week：“There is a strong correlation between the number of guns in a society and deaths resulting from them.”

Ed Pilkington，a writer for the UK’s Guardian asked it more simply，“What is it with guns and America？Why does the most advanced democracy，which prides itself on being a bastion of reason and civilisation in a brutal and ugly world，put up with this carnage in its own backyard？”

Is Sitov right？Is occasional violent tragedy an unpleasantbyproduct of a free society？I walked out of the briefing room with Sitov，who appeared to realise the impact that his question had on the roomful of Americans.“It’s an obvious question and nobody asks that question，”he told me through his thick Russian accent.“This is a cost that your country pays for freedom.”

46.What do we learn from the first paragraph？

A）The use of guns has become a hot topic in the United States now.

B）The US is now the country with the highest rate of privately-owned guns.

C）People with mental disorder are banned to use guns in the US.

D）Many countries have followed America’s example in making their gun laws.

47.Russian journalist Andrei Sitov suggested that.

A）it’s gun users who should be blamed for violence

B）it’s nothing wrong for people to bear private weapons

C）America gun violence is the cost of freedom

D）Americans commit most violent crimes in the world

48.How did Robert Gibbs feel in face of Andrei Sitov’s question？

A）He felt very annoyed. C）He was happy that Sitov raised the question.

B）He thought it’s ridiculous. D）He wasn’t convinced about the answer.

49.What is the view of the New Zealand editorial？

A）It’s impossible for the United States to prevent gun violence.

B）America’s dangerous political situation is connected with its gun culture.

C）Foreign reporters should not comment on the Tucson tragedy thoughtlessly.

D）The Tucson shooting is just an occasional incident in the democratic America.

50.It can be inferred from the context that“carnage”（Line 3，Para.7）refers to.

A）the loss of freedom C）the worsening political climate

B）corruption of democracy D）the deaths resulting from guns

Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.

Western tattooists（文身师）work with a special electrical instrument，something like a dentist’s drill. It holds a number of very fine needles which，for the purpose of reproducing the approved drawing，are dipped in black ink.When the current is switched on，and the instrument passed rapidly over the outline，the action of the needles drives the ink into the skin.The tattooist is constantly wiping away excess ink as he works.This is where skill is so important，for the speed of the instrument means that he must work rapidly over lines which are almost permanently covered over.

The basic drawing then has to be coloured in，using the same method but with non-poisonous paint now replacing the ink.The average tattoo contains four or five colours，each injected with a separate instrument. How many needles are used each time will depend on the area to be covered，but it is possible to use as many as ten or twelve，giving up to 300 injections a minute.Filling-in is a lengthier process than outlining，and since most people find half an hour under the needles quite enough，a major tattoo can take a number of visits to complete.Every visit will leave the skin sore and stinging，and to prevent infection on the area is finally treated with an antiseptic（消毒的，抗菌的）cream and covered with a dressing.After a few days it finally heals over，leaving the new tattoo clearly visible under the skin.

And there it stays，as those who get tattooed and think better of it soon discover that getting rid of the tattoo is a far more difficult business than getting it.The tattooist is powerless to undo what he has done and can only refer unhappy customers to their doctors who，no matter how sympathetic，are able to offer little encouragement.Removing a tattoo，if it can be done at all，has to be by one of two methods，neither of them pleasant or even completely satisfactory.The first is by surgery and skin replacement，an operation which leaves permanent marks.The other possibility is to re-tattoo over the offending design with a special acid-based substance which absorbs the colours as it goes.This is a painful and lengthy process which，though less expensive than private surgery，is still quite costly.

It is such a common event that responsible tattooists refuse to work on areas which cannot normally be covered up.“The trouble is that most people don’t think about it until it’s too late，”says one tattooist who had his own hands tattooed some years ago，and freely admits to regretting it.“I realise now that it looks in bad taste.”

51.What is the effect of using fine needles in the process of tattoo？

A）It can drive the ink into the skin.

B）It can draw paintings.

C）It can cure disease.

D）It can reproduce the approved drawing.

52.Before a large-scale tattoo is finished，the customer may____.

A）have to go to the tattooist several times

B）pay for the work in several times

C）be injected with four or five instruments

D）be operated for several times

53.It’s known from the passage that a dressing is used to____.

A）make colours more distinct

B）cover the outline of the tattoo

C）prevent the skin from infection

D）keep the customers warm

54.Why don’t doctors offer encouragement to the customers who want to get rid of the tattoo？

A）Because doctors themselves do not like tattoos.

B）Because the customers will regret it later.

C）Because no methods are entirely successful.

D）Because doctors are not willing to have operations on them.

55.What is the author’s attitude towards tattoo？

A）Critical. B）Indifferent. C）Positive. D）Neutral.