PART III READING COMPREHENSION (40 MIN.)
SECTION A: READING COMPREHENSION (30 MIN.)
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
When imaginative scientists first suggested the possibility that one person cold speak directly to another over a long distance, few people took them seriously. Among the few who did was a Scots born American named Alexander Craham Bell, who was one of the first to develop a telephone in 1876. Now the most common means of voice communication in the world, the telephone of today is infinitely more sophisticated and effective than the crude instrument developed by Bell, and it is being used in ways he could not possibly have foreseen.
Today, communication is being seriously considered a communications service "on the move". Because America is such a highly mobile society -- a society on wheels -- telephones in cars and trucks are becoming as essential as those in homes and offices. Industry have predicted that mobile communications service will soon be comparable in many respects to the service provided by telephones that do not move.
Another area rapidly being expanded is oversea telephone service. In 1927, when overseas telephone service was inaugurated with a radio telephone call between New York and London, the occasion was heralded as thrilling. Today, many, many telephone users regard international calls as routine, and overseas service, thanks largely to undersea cables and communications satellites, has undergone extraordinary improvement. Transmission has been made clearer, charges have been greatly reduced, and dependability has been improved. Overseas telephone service has now been extended to nearly 250 countries and areas throughout the world.
The introduction of direct distance dialing in 1951 was one of the most significant developments in the effort of improving long-distance service. Direct distance dialing is not only fast and convenient for the caller, it has also enabled telephone companies to handle the extraordinary growth of telephone use that has occurred since the 1950s. Between 1950s and 1973, the number of telephones in the United States more than tripled, with the addition of 90 million telephones. For the Bell Telephone System alone long-distance calls in the same period have increased from 1.4 billion to 8.5 billion, and indications are that long-distance traffic will continue to increase significantly in the years ahead. In 1972, 77 percent of the 8.5 billion long-distance messages were dialed by the customer.
Another very significant development in telephone use is in the area of data communications. Here is an example of how medical data are being transmitted. In a small town in the western part of the United States about 300 people gathered in the local school to undergo tests for lung and respiratory diseases such as emphysema. The procedures followed marked a major advance in detecting emphysema and allied diseases by providing almost instantaneous computer diagnosis over long distance telephone lines. First, technicians at the school used touch-tone telephones to send vital statistics on the person being tested to the exhaled into a Spiro meter, which measures volume and rate of air exhalation, and these measurements were automatically transmitted to the computer. The computer instantly calculated the results and within two seconds relayed them back to the testing center. Normally, it takes hours or even weeks to evaluate Spiro meter measurements -- and a lapse of weeks in detecting emphysema can seriously affect the outcome of treatment. By utilizing a computer and communications. However, the time lag is reduced to seconds. Moreover, people in a remote community are put within arm's length of the most up-to-date medical facilities available.
36. What does "communication service on the move" mean?
A. Communication enables the world move more efficiently so that we are living in a mobile society.
B. Communication can be carried on almost anywhere in the world.
C. Mobile communication service.
D. Communication has been upgraded ever since the first telephone was invented.
正確答案是
37. What are the advantages of direct distance dialing?
A. It's fast and convenient for the caller.
B. It's easy to handle either for the caller or the telephone company, as well as (A).
C. It lowers the cost of telephone service.
D. All of the above.
正確答案是
38. The selection can be best categorized as ____.
A. argumentation
B. objective description.
C. exposition.
D. narration.
正確答案是
SECTION A: READING COMPREHENSION (30 MIN.)
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
When imaginative scientists first suggested the possibility that one person cold speak directly to another over a long distance, few people took them seriously. Among the few who did was a Scots born American named Alexander Craham Bell, who was one of the first to develop a telephone in 1876. Now the most common means of voice communication in the world, the telephone of today is infinitely more sophisticated and effective than the crude instrument developed by Bell, and it is being used in ways he could not possibly have foreseen.
Today, communication is being seriously considered a communications service "on the move". Because America is such a highly mobile society -- a society on wheels -- telephones in cars and trucks are becoming as essential as those in homes and offices. Industry have predicted that mobile communications service will soon be comparable in many respects to the service provided by telephones that do not move.
Another area rapidly being expanded is oversea telephone service. In 1927, when overseas telephone service was inaugurated with a radio telephone call between New York and London, the occasion was heralded as thrilling. Today, many, many telephone users regard international calls as routine, and overseas service, thanks largely to undersea cables and communications satellites, has undergone extraordinary improvement. Transmission has been made clearer, charges have been greatly reduced, and dependability has been improved. Overseas telephone service has now been extended to nearly 250 countries and areas throughout the world.
The introduction of direct distance dialing in 1951 was one of the most significant developments in the effort of improving long-distance service. Direct distance dialing is not only fast and convenient for the caller, it has also enabled telephone companies to handle the extraordinary growth of telephone use that has occurred since the 1950s. Between 1950s and 1973, the number of telephones in the United States more than tripled, with the addition of 90 million telephones. For the Bell Telephone System alone long-distance calls in the same period have increased from 1.4 billion to 8.5 billion, and indications are that long-distance traffic will continue to increase significantly in the years ahead. In 1972, 77 percent of the 8.5 billion long-distance messages were dialed by the customer.
Another very significant development in telephone use is in the area of data communications. Here is an example of how medical data are being transmitted. In a small town in the western part of the United States about 300 people gathered in the local school to undergo tests for lung and respiratory diseases such as emphysema. The procedures followed marked a major advance in detecting emphysema and allied diseases by providing almost instantaneous computer diagnosis over long distance telephone lines. First, technicians at the school used touch-tone telephones to send vital statistics on the person being tested to the exhaled into a Spiro meter, which measures volume and rate of air exhalation, and these measurements were automatically transmitted to the computer. The computer instantly calculated the results and within two seconds relayed them back to the testing center. Normally, it takes hours or even weeks to evaluate Spiro meter measurements -- and a lapse of weeks in detecting emphysema can seriously affect the outcome of treatment. By utilizing a computer and communications. However, the time lag is reduced to seconds. Moreover, people in a remote community are put within arm's length of the most up-to-date medical facilities available.
36. What does "communication service on the move" mean?
A. Communication enables the world move more efficiently so that we are living in a mobile society.
B. Communication can be carried on almost anywhere in the world.
C. Mobile communication service.
D. Communication has been upgraded ever since the first telephone was invented.
正確答案是
37. What are the advantages of direct distance dialing?
A. It's fast and convenient for the caller.
B. It's easy to handle either for the caller or the telephone company, as well as (A).
C. It lowers the cost of telephone service.
D. All of the above.
正確答案是
38. The selection can be best categorized as ____.
A. argumentation
B. objective description.
C. exposition.
D. narration.
正確答案是