ENG2002

2002 年度英語読解力考査
This is NOT the actual test.

PART I

Text 1(1)It is often said as a matter of conventional wisdom thatNecessity is the motherof invention . That is, inventions supposedly arise when a society has an unfulfilled
need and imaginative people who, perhaps motivated by the prospect of money or fame,perceive the need and try to meet it. After a time, some inventor comes up with a
5 solution superior to the existing, unsatisfactory technology. (2)Finally, society adopts
the solution, as long as it is compatible with the society s values and other technologies.
(3)Quite a few inventions do conform to this common-sense view of necessity as
leading to invention. Some instances are Eli Whitney s 1794 invention of the cotton gin
to replace the laborious hand cleaning of cotton grown in the U.S. South, and James
10 Watt s 1769 invention of the steam engine to solve the problem of pumping water out ofBritish coal mines. But these familiar examples deceive us into supposing that othermajor inventions were also responses to perceived needs. (4)In fact, many, if not most,inventions are developed by people driven by curiosity or by a love of making new things,
in the absence of any initial demand for the innovation they had in mind. Other devices,
15 invented to serve one purpose, eventually end up being used for other, unforeseen
purposes. These inventions include most of the major technological innovations ofmodern times, ranging from the airplane and automobile to the phonograph andtransistor. Thus, invention is often the mother of necessity, rather than vice versa.
A prime example is the history of Thomas Edison s phonograph, perhaps the most
20 original invention of modern times. When Edison built his first phonograph in 1877, hepublished an article proposing ten uses to which his invention might be put. TheyENG
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included preserving the last words of dying people, recording books for blind people tohear, announcing clock time, and teaching spelling. Depressed by his invention s lack ofimmediate application, Edison told his assistant that the phonograph apparently had
25 no commercial value. Twenty years later, Edison conceded, with reluctance, that themain use of his phonograph was to record and play music―not a very significant use, inhis opinion.
The motor vehicle, another invention whose uses seem obvious today, was notinvented in response to any demand. In 1866 when Nikolaus Otto built his first gas
30 engine―a heavy, inefficient, seven-foot tall monster ― horses had been supplying
peoples land transportation needs for nearly 6,000 years. Between 1885 and 1896

there was no crisis in the availability of horses, but this did not stop Gottfried Daimler
from using the gas engine to invent the motorcycle and the truck. In 1905, even after 40
years of improvements, motor vehicles were still expensive, unreliable toys for the rich.
35 In fact, public satisfaction with horses and steam-driven trains remained high until
World War Ⅰ, when the military concluded that it really did need trucks. It intensive
postwar efforts together with those made by truck manufactures finally convinced thepublic of its own needs and enabled trucks to begin to replace horse-drawn wagons inindustrialized countries. But even in the largest American cities, the changeover took
40 50 years

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46. In the first paragraph, why does the writer use the quotation,mother of invention

Necessity is the?

a． To suggest that one invention necessarily follows from another.
b． To illustrate a widely held belief about inventing.
c． To show that a society s needs are like a mothers need for a child.

d． To indicate that inventions are not guided by conventional wisdom.
47. Which of the numbered sentences in the first two paragraphs best presents thewriter s main point?
a． (1)b． (2)c． (3)
d． (4)
48. The word

drivenunderlined in the second paragraph could best be replaced withwhich of the following?
a． appreciatedb． conceived
c． controlled
d． motivated
49. Which of the words below is closest in meaning to the word

unforeseen

underlined in the second paragraph?
a． hiddenb． irregularc． unanticipatedd． visionary
50. In the last line of the second paragraph, what is meant by the statement
invention is often the mother of necessity ?
a． Inventions are often created to fulfill society s needs.
b． Inventors tend to think of their innovations as theirchildren.

c． Technology leads to more and more technology.
d． Technological innovations frequently create new needs.

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51 What does the wordprime

underlined in line 1 of paragraph three mean?

a． firstb． goodc． primald． prior
52. How did Edison apparently view the use of phonograph for music?
a． With disappointment.
b． With enthusiasm.
c． With pride.
d． With shame.
53. Which of the following is described as aseven-foot tall monster ?

a． The first motor vehicle.
b． The inventor of the truck.
c． The first gas engine.
d． Horses that pull wagons.
54. According to the writer，which of the following is the best example of something
created to meet a need?
a． The phonograph.
b． The gas engine.
c． The transistor.
d． The steam engine.
55. What is the changeover mentioned in the last sentence of the passage?
a． The change from horse-drawn wagons to gas-powered vehicles.
b． The change from steam engines to gas engines.
c． The shift from public transportation to private transportation.
d． The replacing of military vehicles with civilian ones.

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Text 2The three basic strategies underlying writing systems around the world differ
according to the unit of speech that is represented by one written symbol: this symbol
may represent a single sound, a whole syllable, or a whole word. The most commonlyused approach to written language is the alphabet. Ideally, an alphabetic system
5 provides a unique letter for each phoneme, or,sound,of the language. However, mostalphabets consist of approximately 20-30 letters, and most languages have more
phonemes than letters. For example, English represents about 40 phonemes with amere 26 letters. Hence, most alphabetically written languages are forced to assignseveral different phonemes to the same letter and to represent some phonemes by
10 combinations of letters, such as the English two-letter combinations sh and th.
The second strategy uses a sign for each syllable. In practice, most such writing
systems―termed syllabaries―provide distinct signs only for syllables of one consonant
followed by one vowel, such asmaorki.

When necessary, they resort to various

tricks to write other types of syllables by means of those signs. Among the syllabaries in
15 use today, perhaps the Japanese kana syllabaries―hiragana and katakana―are mostimportant.
The third strategy uses logograms, meaning that one written sign, not made up ofphonetic elements, stands for a whole word. That is the function of many of thecharacter signs of Chinese writing, the kanji writing system in Japanese, and the now
20 extinct systems of Egyptian hieroglyphs and Sumerian cuneiform. In fact, before thespread of alphabetic writing, logograms were much more common.
No actual writing system employs one strategy exclusively. Chinese writing is notENG5Edited by www.bucho-net.com

purely logographic, nor is English writing purely alphabetic. Like all alphabetic writingsystems, English uses many logograms, such as $, %, +, and of course all the numerals
25 ―1, 2, 45, etc. The syllabic writing system of Mycenaean Greece had many logograms,
representing whole words, and logographic Egyptian hieroglyphs included manysyllabic signs as well as a virtual alphabet of letters for each consonant.
When linguists today prepare a new writing system for a previously unwritten
language, alphabets are usually adopted because they are the most flexible and widely
30 applicable of the three strategies. Even so, many decisions about what sounds should berepresented by specific symbols can be controversial. For example, the debate overwhether the alphabet for Quechua, a language in Peru, should have three or five vowels
reflected some important social and political divisions in Peruvian society. Even thoughsuch decisions may be complicated by issues that go beyond language, alphabets will
35 probably continue to be used when human languages are recorded in writing for thefirst time.

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56. What is the writer's main purpose in this passage?
a． To show that alphabets should replace other writing strategies.
b． To argue that new approaches to writing systems need to be developed.
c． To introduce the most common strategies used to write the world's languages
d． To prove that most writing systems in the world are combinations of various signs.
57. According to the writer, what is the basis for distinguishing the three different
approaches to writing?
a． The kind of speech unit represented by a written symbol.
b． The relative complexity of the symbols used to represent words.
c． The overall proportion of consonants to vowels.
d． The total number of signs needed to represent a language.
58. What does the word they underlined in the second paragraph refer to?
a． Writing systems in general.
b． Distinct signs in particular.
c． Most syllabaries.
d． Some strategies.
59. Which of the following claims does the writer make about syllabaries?
a． They tend to have separate signs only for "consonant plus vowel" syllables.
b． They are more efficient to write than alphabetic systems.
c． Because they are able to use tricks, they continue to be used today.
d． They are more stable than logographic or alphabetic systems.
60. Which of the following symbols is an illustration of an English logogram?
a. =b.
c.
d.

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61. According to the writer, why was it difficult to decide whether the Quechuaalphabet should have three or five vowels?
a． The decision involved matters that went beyond language.
b． Linguists have little experience changing logographic systems to alphabetic ones.
c． Quechua is too much like other Peruvian languages.
d． There were no longer any native speakers to consult about the decision.
62 The underlined word "employs" in the fourth paragraph could best be replaced withwhich of the following?
a． hiresb． usesc． works
d． develops
63. What do Chinese, English, Mycenaean Greek, and Egyptian hieroglyphic writing
systems have in common?
a． All began as logographic systems.
b． A11 began as syllabaries.
c． A11 employ a combination of writing systems.
d． All can be considered "pure" writing systems.
64. Which of the following sets of words reflects the imbalance between the number ofphonemes and the number of letters in English?
a． car, camel, curtain
b． beat, blue, breakc． cry, try, pryd． ate, father, hat
65. What might the writer of this passage consider the hiragana symbol "つ" as used in
the word "やっぱり" to be an example of?
a． The resistance of a syllabic system to change.
b． Logographic influence in a syllabic writing system.
c． The need for a syllabic trick in Japanese.
d． The superiority of syllabic writing systems.

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PART II

History is about people. We have records of one kind or _(66)_ that extend back_(67)_ five millennia and which _(68)__ countless wars between nations, the rise and fallof kings, natural disasters and great human _(69)_ . The overall impression' is one ofconstant change, with even the greatest rulers _(70)_ so completely that the only
5 evidence of their ever having existed at all is preserved _(71)_ in archeological remains.
_(72)_ the shifting patterns of human history, however, and influencing every subtlevariation, is the guiding force _(73)_ the physical characteristics of the Earth; whatwe_(74)_ the "topographic influence." The British are―and like _(75)_ themselves as―
an island nation. _(76)_ , in the geologically recent past, Britain was joined to Europe by
10 a broad land bridge. How different British history _(77)_ if that bridge had not been
submerged _(78)_ the grey waters of the English Channel!
Topography works on a much finer scale, too, _(79)_ where we live and work. The
city of London grew up where it did _(80)_ , in pre-Roman days, it was the lowest pointon the Thames where the river could _(81)_ be crossed. Although technology has come15 _(82)_ since then, and London has spread enormously, the great gash _(83)_ the Thames
estuary makes into the east coast of Britain _(84)_ a formidable obstacle to travel. In
modern times, the Thames has again been bridged, this time a few kilometers _(85)downstream than in Roman days, and London still exists in the same place.

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66. a． another67. a． into

68. a． determineb． one otherb． on

b． documentc． some otherc． overc． tolerated． the otherd． up

d． torture

69. a． achievements

70. a． arranged for

71. a． by chanceb． conveniences

b． dominant overb． in timec． estimations

c． fading away

c． to saved． predictions

d． hanging on

d． with some

72. a． Applying

73 a． by

74. a． can say

b． Simulating

b． of

b． have saidc． Underlyimg

c． on

c． might calld． Withdrawing

d． to

d． will tell

75. a． as thought of

76. a． Besides

77. a． changed aroundb． thinking byb． Howeverb． had been beforec． to think by

c． In additionc． should be again

d． to think ofd． So

d． would have been

78. a． across

79. a． influenced byb． atopb． influencing

b． because

c． beneathc． influential onc． befored． besided． with influenced． belong

81. a． convenience82. a． a long way

80. a． became

83. a． forb． conveniency

b． far alongb． fromc． convenientc． far away

c． of

d． conveniently

d． on the way

d． that84. a． is constituting

85. a． far

b． it constitutes

b． fartherc． still constitutes

c． furthermost

d． will constituted． furthermore

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