【正文】 s who might be interested in knowing what people buy. For instance, (S8)an insurance pany might want to know if their clients buy healthy food, or if people buy a lot of medicine from the store. A California Senator, Debra Bowen, wants to make sure there are laws to protect data kept on puters. She says,“(S9)The laws that govern privacy really haven?t caught up with technology. ” Stores that use club cards have promised to keep the information private. (S10)Some people are afraid the stores might change their minds if panies offered enough money. Some people say the information is worth as much as treasure. Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension(35 minutes) Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. 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 the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre. Passage One Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage. The predictability of our mortality rates is something that has long puzzled social scientists. After all, there is no natural reason why 2,500 people should accidentally shoot themselves each year or why 7,000 should drown or 55,000 die in their cars. No one establishes a quota for each type of death. It just happens that they follow a consistent pattern year after year. A few years ago a Canadian psychologist named Gerald Wilde became interested in this phenomenon. He noticed that mortality rates for violent and accidental deaths throughout the Western world have remained oddly static throughout the whole of the century, despite all the technological advances and increases in safety standards that have happened in that time. Wilde developed an intriguing theory called “risk homeostasis”. According to this theory, people instinctively live with a certain level of risk. When something is made safer, people will get around the measure in some way to reassert the original level of danger. If, for instance, they are required to wear seat belts, they will feel safer and thus will drive a little faster and a little more recklessly, thereby statistically canceling out the benefits that the seat belt confers. Other studies have shown that where an intersection is made safer, the accident rate invariably falls there but rises to a pensating level elsewhere along the same stretch of road. It appears, then, that we have an innate need for danger. In all events, it is being clearer and clearer to scientists that the factors influencing our lifespan are far more subtle and plex than had been previously 中國最大的管理資料下載中心 (收集 \整理 . 部分版權(quán)歸原作者所有 ) 第 3 頁 共 32 頁 thought. It now appears that if you wish to live a long life, it isn?t simply a matter of adhering to certain precautions … eating the right foods, not smoking, driving with care. You must also have the right attitude. Scientists at the Duke University Medical Center made a 15year study of 500 persons personalities and found, somewhat to their surprise, that people with a suspicious or mistrustful nature die prematurely far more often than people with a sunny disposition. Looking on the bright side, it seems, can add years to your life span. 11. What social scientists have long felt puzzled about is why . A) the mortality rate can not be predicted B) the death toll remained stable year after year C) a quota for each type of death has not e into being D) people lost their lives every year for this or that reason 12. In his research, Gerald Wilde finds that technological advances and increases in safety standards . A) have helped solve the problem of so high death rate B) have oddly accounted for mortality rates in the past century C) have reduced mortality rates for violent and accidental deaths D) have achieved no effect in bringing down the number of deaths 13. According to the theory of “risk homeostasis”, some traffic accidents result from . A) our innate desire for risk B) our fast and reckless driving C) our ignorance of seat belt benefits D) our instinctive interest in speeding 14. By saying “…statistically canceling out the benefits that the seat belt confers ” (Para. 2),the author means . A) wearing seat belts does not have any benefits from the statistic point of view B) deaths from wearing seat belts are the same as those from not wearing them C) deaths from other reasons counterbalance the benefits of wearing seat belts D) wearing seat belts does not necessarily reduce deaths from traffic accidents 15. Which of the following may contribute to a longer life span? A) Showing adequate trust instead of suspicion of others B) Eating the food low in fat and driving with great care C) Cultivating an optimistic personality and never losing heart D) Looking on the bright side and developing a balanced level of risk Passage Two Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage. In California the regulators, the utilities and the governor all want the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to cap spot (現(xiàn)貨的 ) market prices. The Californians claim it will rein in outrageous prices. Federal regulators have refused. The battle is on. Governor Gray Davis says,“I?m not happy with the Federal Regulatory Commission at all. They?re living in an ivory tower. If their bills were going up like the people in San Diego, they would know that this is a real problem in the real 中國最大的管理資料下載中心 (收集 \整理 . 部分版權(quán)歸原作者所有 ) 第 4 頁 共 32 頁 world.” As part of deregulation, price caps were removed to allow for a free market. Timing is everything?，F(xiàn)在請取出試卷二 。 在第二段中作者引用加拿大心理學(xué)家 Gerald Wilde 的 risk homeostasis（體內(nèi)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)平衡）理論分析了原因 ， 并以交通事故為例 ， 指出如果駕駛時(shí)系了安全帶 ， 這方面原因?qū)е碌能嚨湑?huì)降低 ， 但另一方面駕車人因?yàn)楦械桨踩赡軙?huì)開快車 ， 開魯莽車 ， 從而發(fā)生死亡事故