PART III READING COMPREHENSIONS
In this section there are four reading passages followed by fifteen multiple-choice questions. Read the passages and then mark your answers on your Answer Sheet.
TEXT A Green EFL Stresses the Environment As environment protection becomes a global issue, a new term —— "Green EFL" is working its way into our vocabulary. What does it mean? The Project in the English Country School in southern England gives you some idea and shows how environment protection and language teaching can be combined together. In this school, there are projects on the classification of trees and their leaves, on insects and other invertebrates, pond and river life, flowers and hedgerows. There are air pollution surveys, littler surveys, recycling projects, acid rain surveys, farm visits, countryside walks, sculpture and colleges created from natural materials. It is all backed up in the classroom with EFL materials about the environment —— the rain forests, biological diversity, global warming —— and with materials which concentrate on the students immediate environment under the general heading of "Health": smoking, alcohol and during abuse, diet and exercise. For example, the topic of pollution will involve the students searching the local environment to find out what has been thrown away. This is then classified according to the type of material found and whether it is recyclable or not. The students follow instructions to set up simple experiments to detect air and water pollution. They investigate mosses and lichens, looking up their findings in field guides, to determine the number and quality of species. They compare and collate their findings, producing diagrams, writing up their results and drawing conclusions. They then practice language work on topics such as the Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming. How do the students benefit from this? In common with all project work, leaner autonomy, cooperation and motivation is fostered. The language practice takes place in a natural and enjoyable setting. As a result the students develop an appreciation of and an alertness and sensitivity toward their surroundings. Another advantage of Green EFL is that the environment is a global issue: What happens in one country affects what happens in another. The environment thus spans borders and cultures. We can teach the language, English, through the environment, without teaching "Englishness", or "Americanness", or whatever other culture values we might accidentally or deliberately put across to our students. Finally, through an understanding of the global environment, and the issues which affect it, students will be better able to meet challenges in the future. For the teacher interested in teaching English through environmental studies, there is a surprising amount of material available. The Cambridge Advanced English exam, with its emphasis on scientific/authentic English, had encouraged authors to include texts on various environmental issues. Sue O Connells "Focus on Advanced English", for example, includes a chapter called "Paradise Lost" about the rain forests; "Passport to Cambridge Advanced English" discusses the Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming; "Cambridge Advanced English" by Leo Jones, has a chapter about Green peace and The Antarctic; and so on. Environmental topics in Childrens EFL textbooks are also catching on. Book 3 of Collin "Mode" series is particularly useful.
36. The Green EFL ____.
A) is a teaching program which combines protection and language teaching
B) is practical is southern England
C) is a newly coined term which addresses the global issue of environmental protection
D) All of above
37. How can students detect air and water pollution?
A) They look for mosses and lichens and draw the conclusion according to the number and quality of the species.
B) They go to the fields to measure the quality of air and water.
C) They set up experiments to investigate the substances in air and water.
D) They look for several kinds of species in the field, produce diagrams and draw conclusions.
38. According to the author, the second advantage of Green EFL is that ____.
A) students will not be confined to learn a particular culture value
B) students may develop sensitivity toward their surroundings
C) students can learn values through Green EFL
D) students shall have a better understanding of the global issue
TEXT B What is it that brings about such an intimate connection between language and thinking? Is there no thinking without the use of language, namely in concepts and concept-combinations for which words need not necessarily come to mind? Has not everyone of us struggled for words although the connection between "thing" was already clear? We might be inclined to attribute to the act of thinking complete independence from language if the individual formed or were able to form his concepts without the verbal guidance of his environment. Yet most likely the mental shape of an individual, growing up under such conditions, would be very poor. Thus we may conclude that the mental development of the individual and his way of forming concepts depend to a high degree upon language. This makes us realize to what extent the same language means the same mentality. In this sense thinking and language are linked together. What distinguishes the language of science from language as we ordinarily understand the word? How is it that scientific language is international? What science strives for is an utmost acuteness and clarity of concepts as regards their mutual relation and their correspondence to sensory data. As an illustration, let us take the language of Education geometry and Algebra. They manipulate with a small number of independently introduced concepts, respectively symbols, such as the integral number, the straight line, the point, as well as with signs which designate the fundamental operations, that is the connections between those fundamental concepts. This is the basis for the construction between concepts and statements on the one hand and sensory data on the other hand is established through acts of counting and measuring whose performance is sufficiently well determined. The super-national character of scientific concepts and scientific language is due to the fact that they have been set up by the best brains of all countries and all times. In solitude and yet in cooperative effort as regards the final effect they created the spiritual tools for the technical revolutions which have transformed the life of mankind in the last centuries. Their system of concepts has served as a guide in the bewildering chaos of perceptions so that we learned to grasp general truths from particular observations. What hopes and fears does the scientific method imply for mankind? I do not think that this is the right way to put question. Whatever this tool in the hand of man will produce depends entirely on the goals alive in this mankind. Once these goals exist, the scientific method furnishes means to realize them. Yet it can not furnish the very goals. The scientific method itself would not have led anywhere, it would not even have been born without a passionate striving for clear understanding. Perfections of means and confusion of goals seem —— in my opinion —— to characterize our age. If we desire sincerely and passionately the safety, the welfare and the free development of the talents of all men, we shall not be in want of the means of approach such a state. Even if only a small part of mankind strives for such goals, their superiority will prove itself in the long run.
39. How does the writer draw the conclusion that mental development of an individual depends on much upon language?
A) He studies statistics revealed by researchers.
B) By reasoning.
C) It is consensus.
D) He merely asserts it to be the case.
40. What determines the super-national character of scientific language?
A) Acuteness and clarity of scientific concepts.
B) The fact that it is introduced by the smartest brains.
C) Its correspondence to sensory data.
D) Its function as the spiritual tools.
41. With which of the following statements would the writer probably favor?
A) Scientific method only provide mankind means to attain our goal.
B) Scientific method would lead us to doom and chaos.
C) Scientific method is like a two-edged sword, it can produce welfare as well as warfare.
In this section there are four reading passages followed by fifteen multiple-choice questions. Read the passages and then mark your answers on your Answer Sheet.
TEXT A Green EFL Stresses the Environment As environment protection becomes a global issue, a new term —— "Green EFL" is working its way into our vocabulary. What does it mean? The Project in the English Country School in southern England gives you some idea and shows how environment protection and language teaching can be combined together. In this school, there are projects on the classification of trees and their leaves, on insects and other invertebrates, pond and river life, flowers and hedgerows. There are air pollution surveys, littler surveys, recycling projects, acid rain surveys, farm visits, countryside walks, sculpture and colleges created from natural materials. It is all backed up in the classroom with EFL materials about the environment —— the rain forests, biological diversity, global warming —— and with materials which concentrate on the students immediate environment under the general heading of "Health": smoking, alcohol and during abuse, diet and exercise. For example, the topic of pollution will involve the students searching the local environment to find out what has been thrown away. This is then classified according to the type of material found and whether it is recyclable or not. The students follow instructions to set up simple experiments to detect air and water pollution. They investigate mosses and lichens, looking up their findings in field guides, to determine the number and quality of species. They compare and collate their findings, producing diagrams, writing up their results and drawing conclusions. They then practice language work on topics such as the Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming. How do the students benefit from this? In common with all project work, leaner autonomy, cooperation and motivation is fostered. The language practice takes place in a natural and enjoyable setting. As a result the students develop an appreciation of and an alertness and sensitivity toward their surroundings. Another advantage of Green EFL is that the environment is a global issue: What happens in one country affects what happens in another. The environment thus spans borders and cultures. We can teach the language, English, through the environment, without teaching "Englishness", or "Americanness", or whatever other culture values we might accidentally or deliberately put across to our students. Finally, through an understanding of the global environment, and the issues which affect it, students will be better able to meet challenges in the future. For the teacher interested in teaching English through environmental studies, there is a surprising amount of material available. The Cambridge Advanced English exam, with its emphasis on scientific/authentic English, had encouraged authors to include texts on various environmental issues. Sue O Connells "Focus on Advanced English", for example, includes a chapter called "Paradise Lost" about the rain forests; "Passport to Cambridge Advanced English" discusses the Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming; "Cambridge Advanced English" by Leo Jones, has a chapter about Green peace and The Antarctic; and so on. Environmental topics in Childrens EFL textbooks are also catching on. Book 3 of Collin "Mode" series is particularly useful.
36. The Green EFL ____.
A) is a teaching program which combines protection and language teaching
B) is practical is southern England
C) is a newly coined term which addresses the global issue of environmental protection
D) All of above
37. How can students detect air and water pollution?
A) They look for mosses and lichens and draw the conclusion according to the number and quality of the species.
B) They go to the fields to measure the quality of air and water.
C) They set up experiments to investigate the substances in air and water.
D) They look for several kinds of species in the field, produce diagrams and draw conclusions.
38. According to the author, the second advantage of Green EFL is that ____.
A) students will not be confined to learn a particular culture value
B) students may develop sensitivity toward their surroundings
C) students can learn values through Green EFL
D) students shall have a better understanding of the global issue
TEXT B What is it that brings about such an intimate connection between language and thinking? Is there no thinking without the use of language, namely in concepts and concept-combinations for which words need not necessarily come to mind? Has not everyone of us struggled for words although the connection between "thing" was already clear? We might be inclined to attribute to the act of thinking complete independence from language if the individual formed or were able to form his concepts without the verbal guidance of his environment. Yet most likely the mental shape of an individual, growing up under such conditions, would be very poor. Thus we may conclude that the mental development of the individual and his way of forming concepts depend to a high degree upon language. This makes us realize to what extent the same language means the same mentality. In this sense thinking and language are linked together. What distinguishes the language of science from language as we ordinarily understand the word? How is it that scientific language is international? What science strives for is an utmost acuteness and clarity of concepts as regards their mutual relation and their correspondence to sensory data. As an illustration, let us take the language of Education geometry and Algebra. They manipulate with a small number of independently introduced concepts, respectively symbols, such as the integral number, the straight line, the point, as well as with signs which designate the fundamental operations, that is the connections between those fundamental concepts. This is the basis for the construction between concepts and statements on the one hand and sensory data on the other hand is established through acts of counting and measuring whose performance is sufficiently well determined. The super-national character of scientific concepts and scientific language is due to the fact that they have been set up by the best brains of all countries and all times. In solitude and yet in cooperative effort as regards the final effect they created the spiritual tools for the technical revolutions which have transformed the life of mankind in the last centuries. Their system of concepts has served as a guide in the bewildering chaos of perceptions so that we learned to grasp general truths from particular observations. What hopes and fears does the scientific method imply for mankind? I do not think that this is the right way to put question. Whatever this tool in the hand of man will produce depends entirely on the goals alive in this mankind. Once these goals exist, the scientific method furnishes means to realize them. Yet it can not furnish the very goals. The scientific method itself would not have led anywhere, it would not even have been born without a passionate striving for clear understanding. Perfections of means and confusion of goals seem —— in my opinion —— to characterize our age. If we desire sincerely and passionately the safety, the welfare and the free development of the talents of all men, we shall not be in want of the means of approach such a state. Even if only a small part of mankind strives for such goals, their superiority will prove itself in the long run.
39. How does the writer draw the conclusion that mental development of an individual depends on much upon language?
A) He studies statistics revealed by researchers.
B) By reasoning.
C) It is consensus.
D) He merely asserts it to be the case.
40. What determines the super-national character of scientific language?
A) Acuteness and clarity of scientific concepts.
B) The fact that it is introduced by the smartest brains.
C) Its correspondence to sensory data.
D) Its function as the spiritual tools.
41. With which of the following statements would the writer probably favor?
A) Scientific method only provide mankind means to attain our goal.
B) Scientific method would lead us to doom and chaos.
C) Scientific method is like a two-edged sword, it can produce welfare as well as warfare.