ENG88

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

PART I
Text 1

Shamanism is a religious phenomenon characteristic of Siberian and othernortheastern Asian peoples. Although its practice is preserved in its purest forms in the
Arctic and central Asian regions, shamanism is not limited to those areas. It is met, forexample, in Southeast Asia, Oceania, and among North American native tribes.
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The shaman is a medicine man, priest, and psychopomp; that is to say, he curessickness, he directs the religious sacrifices, and he accompanies the souls of the dead tothe other world. He is able to do all this because of his power to leave his body at will. In
northeastern Asia, a person becomes a shaman, either by inheriting the profession or bybeing selected by supernatural powers. More rarely a person becomes a shaman by his

10 own decision or upon request of the tribe, although the self-made shamans are regarded
as weaker. In North America, the reverse is generally the case. Regardless of how theselection takes place, however, a shaman is recognized as such only after receiving
instruction from qualified masters, followed by a series of trials.
In North and Central Asia, as a rule, these trials take place over an indefinite period
15 of time during which the future shaman is sick, and stays in his tent or wanders in thewilderness, behaving in such a strange way that it may be mistaken for madness.
During this period of 'illness' the future shaman has dreams and visions in which he istortured by demons, his body is cut into pieces, and he descends to the underworld or
ascends to heaven. In the end, the 'chosen' one becomes a shaman only if he can
20 interpret his illness as a religious experience, and succeed in curing himself. When hehas finally been revived, the shaman is thought to have acquired a new mode of being.

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He can now 'see' the spirits, and he himself behaves like a spirit; he is able to leave his
body and to travel anywhere he chooses.
In his relations with the supernatural worlds, however, the shaman's most important
25 function is healing. Since sickness is thought of as a loss of the soul, the shaman has tofind out first whether the soul of the sick man has simply strayed far from the village, orwhether it has been stolen by demons and is imprisoned in the other world. In theformer case the healing is not too difficult: the shaman captures the soul and reunites itwith the body of the sick person. In the latter case he has to descend to the underworld,
30 a complicated and dangerous adventure.
Today, when most medical adventures are taking place in the fields of genetic
engineering and bio-technology, shamanism is one of the last remaining examples of afascinating mix of magic, medicine, and religion.

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Questions for text1
31. From the second sentence we can tell that the practice of shamanism _____.
a. probably does not deal with healing outside of the Arctic and central Asian regions
b. was imported into the Arctic and central Asian regions by outsiders
c. has somehow changed outside the Arctic and central Asian regions
d. is purely a religious phenomenon only in the Arctic and central Asian regions
32. When the shaman accompanies the souls of the dead to the other world he is acting
in his role as _____.
a. medicine manb. messenger
c. priestd. psychopomp
33. In North America, what is the usual way to become a shaman?
a. By election.
b. By self-decision.
c. Through appointment by qualified masters.
d. Through inheritance from his father.
34. Which of the following is most directly responsible for the shaman's ability to act inall his various roles?
a. His ability to separate from his physical being.
b. His capacity for enduring suffering.
c. His knowledge of physical and spiritual cures.
d. His untimely death and revival.
35. Why does the shaman sometimes have to descend to the underworld to heal a sickperson?
a. Because once a soul is in the underworld it is unwilling to be reunited with its body!
b. Because the soul has strayed much farther from the village than usual.
c. Because the soul is being held against its will.
d. Because traveling to the underworld is always a dangerous trip.

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36. The discussion of shamanism in this text may best be described as _____.
a. a criticism of the pre-modern techniques of shamanism
b. a defense of shamanism as an alternative to modern medicine
c. a historical account of the shamanistic movementd. an objective description of shamanism in the 20th century
37. Which of the following statements best reflects the intended message expressed in
the last paragraph?
a. Shamanism and bio-technology are most closely related in their magical aspects.
b. Shamanism is an attractive alternative to modern medical practices.
c. Shamanistic practices led directly to modern medical advances in biotechnology.
d. Shamanistic adventures are not comparable to the adventures of modern medical
doctors.

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Text 2"The entrepreneur," said the French economist J. B. Say around 1800, "shifts
economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity andgreater yield." But Say's definition does not tell us who this 'entrepreneur' is.
Furthermore, since Say invented the term almost two hundred years ago, there has
5been total confusion over the definitions of 'entrepreneur' and 'entrepreneurship.'In the United States, for instance, the entrepreneur is often defined as one whostarts his own, new and small business. Indeed, the courses in 'entrepreneurship' thathave become popular of late in American business schools are the direct descendants ofthe course in starting one's own business that was offered thirty years ago, and in many10

cases, not very different.
Consider the husband and wife who open another Chinese or Mexican restaurant in
the American suburbs. Surely they take a risk. But are they entrepreneurs? All they dois what has been done many times before. They gamble on the increasing popularity ofeating out in their area, but create neither a new kind of satisfaction nor a new

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consumer demand. Seen from this point of view, they are surely not entrepreneurs eventhough theirs is a new venture.
McDonald's, however, was entrepreneurship. It did not invent anything, to be sure.
Its product was what any decent American restaurant had produced years ago. However,
McDonald's developed original management concepts and techniques which were20

designed to streamline the making and selling of hamburgers. They also standardized
the 'product,' by designing new processes and tools. Furthermore, by linking employee
training with the work to be done, and then setting the standards it expected,

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McDonald' both radically upgraded the yield from resources, and created a new market
and a new customer. This was entrepreneurship.

Questions for text2
38. According to the author, Say's explanation of 'entrepreneur' _____.
a. conflicts with modern methods of managementb. does not identify the entrepreneurc. focuses on economic resources
d. is out of date
39. The second paragraph indicates that courses in entrepreneurship in Americanbusiness schools have become popular _____.
a. over timeb. recently
c. laterd. in the past
40. What is the function of the third paragraph?
a. To show the risks that new businesses face.
b. To criticize the American small businessman.
c. To show that not all new and small businessmen are entrepreneurs.
d. To describe entrepreneurship at the local level.
41. In the last paragraph, what does it in "... the standards it expected..." (line 22) referto?
a. linking
b. McDonald'sc. training
d. work

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ENG8842. Which of the following statements best describes the contents of the last paragraph?
a. The history of McDonald's is described in the order in which it occurred .
b. The invention of a new hamburger which has made McDonald's successful isdiscussed.
c. The way McDonald's took an old product and found a better way to market it isdescribed.
d. The reason the author does not believe McDonald's is a new venture is described.
43. Which of the following statements best represents the author's interpretation of
Say's definition of an entrepreneur?
a. One who creates a new kind of satisfaction or new consumer demand.
b. One who starts his own, new and small business.
c. One who gambles on eating out in his local area.
d. One who links employee training with the work to be done.
44. In the last paragraph, what is meant by "...upgraded the yield from resources" (line23)?
a. "... increased profits through the effective use of materials and people"b. "... maximized profits through streamlined sales"c. "... increased the availability of natural resources"d. "... made the application of modern procedures more efficient"

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Text 3Since its completion in 1825, Noah Webster's American Dictionary of the English
Language has been a vital part of American culture. By as early as the mid-nineteenth
century the name 'Webster' had become synonymous with 'dictionary.' Today, theAmerican child who does not come across a Webster's at some point in his or her
5 education is a rare creature.
In attempting to understand Webster's American Dictionary in its entirety, however,
it is important to keep in mind that, while Webster found the making of a dictionary
interesting for its own sake, he also believed the study of language was justified on far
more significant grounds; for language, he maintained, influenced public opinion and
10 behavior. Take, for example, the word 'equal.' In the United States, the ways in which
this word has typically been interpreted, particularly with respect to beliefs about how
broadly the concept was to be applied, have led to such practices as the withholding of
the vote from women until the current century and the failure to extend even basic civilrights to America's non-whites.
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Webster believed that language study would be justified if it could be shown thatmere use of words had led nations into error. While women's voting rights were not an
issue in Webster's day, one area that did particularly concern him was the ever-growing
slave trade industry. A key word, the definition of which he believed could directly affectbehavior, was 'free.' Most Americans believed that all men were free to act according to

20 their own will. The belief that this abstract condition was natural and, above all, a basic
right was widely held. So, if one wished to buy or sell other human beings, the reasoning
went, he would be 'free' to do so. Webster argued that this was absurd; that this

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ENG88understanding of the word violated a universal truth: "No person is born free." Instead,
Webster rightly held that all individuals, from the time of their birth, were subject to
25 the commands of their parents, the laws of their country and the higher morality of
their Maker.
But what really set Webster apart was his realization that language could be subtly
altered, and in so doing, one could affect the lives of millions of people. Although henever explicitly said so, this idea is evident even in Webster's earliest work. It is implicit
30 his attempts to create an 'American tongue' which he hoped would distance Americans
from the British, solidify their independence, and further his own utopian dreams.
Webster envisioned no less than the purification of society through the purification of
language. Thus, through the subtle but powerful force of language, Webster sought in
his writing and lexicology to put into practice his belief that language was something
35 that could be used as a means to a greater end.

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Questions for text3
45. It is clear from the first paragraph that _____.
a. due to its age, Webster's American Dictionary has become vital to U.S. cultureb. most American children do not encounter a Webster's at schoolc. use of Webster's dictionaries has increased over timed. Webster's American Dictionary is the only dictionary officially approved for use in
U.S. classrooms
46. The function of the second paragraph is _____.
a. to explain why most people cannot appreciate the popularity of Webster's American
Dictionary in the modern era
b. to describe how the word 'equal' is an example of language which is interesting for
its own sakec. to persuade the reader that recognizing its popularity is not sufficient for a realappreciation of Webster's American Dictionary
d. to provide the reader with an example of a word that Webster re-interpreted in his
American Dictionary
47. From the author's discussion of the word 'equal' we can tell that Americans
have _____.
a. typically applied the term too broadly
b. finally developed a common sense of equalityc. often been selective about whom to consider equald. never really understood what the word means
48. Which of the following definitions of 'freedom' would Webster most likely agree
with?
a. Freedom is the absence of all obligations.
b. Freedom is the pure and natural condition of man.
c. Freedom is a special gift from God.
d. Freedom is limited by social and moral standards.

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ENG8849. We can tell from the third paragraph that the author ______.
a. agrees that all men are free to act according to their own willb. is sympathetic to Webster's interpretation of 'free'c. is unwilling to indicate his own opinion
d. believes both points of view are appropriate
50. We know what Webster believed about people's ability to alter language
because _____.
a. he clearly wrote down his opinion
b. he expressed his opinions in a speechc. he indicated this idea throughout his workd. he indicated this idea in his definition of language
51. Which of the following statements best represents Webster's opinion of language?
a. Language is primarily interesting for its own sake.
b. Language can change people, but language itself should not be controlled.
c. Not only does language have the power to change people, people can alter language.
d. People need dictionaries because they tend to be lazy about their use of importantwords.

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PART II
Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge. Its _(52)_ is
to find out how the world works, _(53)_ what regularities there _(54)_, to get through tothe connections of things: _(55)_ subnuclear particles, _(56)_ may be the basis of all
matter, to living organisms, the human social community, and _(57)_ the universe as a
5 whole. Our intuition _(58)_ a perfect guide. Our perceptions _(59)_ distorted by training
and prejudice or merely _(60)_ the limitations of our sense organs which, _(61)_,
perceive directly only _(62)_ fraction of the phenomena of the world. _(63)_ sostraightforward a question _(64)_ whether in the absence of air a pound of lead falls
faster _(65)_ a gram of feathers was answered incorrectly _(66)_ Aristotle _(67)_
10 everyone else before the time of Galileo. Science is based _(68)_ experiment, awillingness to challenge old beliefs, and an openness to see the universe as it _(69)_ is.
_(70)_ science sometimes requires courage -----_(71)_ the courage to question theconventional wisdom.

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ENG8852. a. answer

53. a. deciding

b. goalb. in factb. happenc. laboratoryc. searchc. may bed. thinking

d. to seek

d. were55. a. because of

56. a. althoughb. beforeb. whatb. finalc. fromc. wherec. from there tod. sinced. whichd. therefore

59. a. before being

60. a. because ofb. is by no meansb. due tob. howeverc. is certainly

c. may bec. may bed. is ourd. should not be

d. with

58. a. is

54. a. found

57. a. after

61. a. however

62. a. a largeb. of courseb. almostb. Besides

c. on the contrary

c. a smallc. Evend. therefore

d. thed. Then

65. a. by

66. a. after

64. a. as

63. a. Althoughb. if

b. thanb. byc. thatc. that

c. from

d. to

d. to

d. until

68. a. after

69. a. almost

67. a. and almost
b. of course

b. fromb. once

c. to

c. on

c. reallyd. with

d. to

d. thought

70. a. Accordingly

71. a. at lastb. Because

b. at leastc. For example

c. at mostd. Insteadd. most important

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