单项选择题X 纠错
In this section there are four passages followed by
questions or unfinished statements, each with four suggested answers marked [A],
[B], [C] and [D]. Choose the one that you think is the best answer.
Mark your answers on your ANSWER SHEET.
TEXT A
Somehow California is always at the
cutting edge, be it in the flower-power days of the 1960s or the dotcom boom of
the 1990s. As Kevin Starr points out in his History of the State, California has
long been "one of the prisms through which the American people, for better and
for worse, could glimpse their future".
Mr. Starr is too good a
historian to offer any pat explanation; instead, he concentrates on the
extraordinary array of people and events that have led from the mythical land of
Queen Calafia, through the rule of Spain and Mexico, and on to the governorship
of Arnold Schwarzenegger, an iron-pumping film star with an Austrian accent.
Moreover, he does so with such elegance and humor that his book is a joy to
read.
What emerges is not all Californian sunshine and light.
Think back to the savage violence that accompanied the 1849 Gold Rush; or to the
exclusion orders against the Chinese; or to the riots that regularly marked
industrial and social relations in San Francisco. California was very much the
Wild West, having to wait until 1850 before it could force its way to
statehood.
So what tamed it Mr. Starr’s answer is a combination
of great men, great ideas and great projects. He emphasizes the development of
California’s infrastructure, the development of agriculture; the spread of the
railroads and freeways; and, perhaps the most important factor for today’s
hi-tech California, the creation of a superb set of public
universities.
All this, he writes, "began with water, the
sine qua non of any civilization." He goes on cheerfully to note the
"monumental damage to the environment" caused by irrigation projects that were
"plagued by claims of deception, double-dealing and conflict of
interest".
One virtue of this book is its structure. Mr. Start
is never trapped by his chronological framework. In-stead, when the subject
demands it, he manages deftly to flit back and forth among the decades. Less
satisfying is his account of California’s cultural progress in the 19th and 20th
centuries: does he really need to invoke so many long-forgotten writers to
accompany such names as Jack London, Frank Norris, Mark Twain or Raymond
Chandler
But that is a minor criticism for a book that will
become a California classic. The regret is that Mr. Starr, doubtless pressed for
space, leaves so little room--just a brief final chapter--for the implications
of the past for California’s future. He poses the question that most Americans
prefer to gloss over: is California governable "For all its impressive growth,
there remains a volatility in the politics and governance of California, which
became perfectly clear to the rest of the nation in the fall of 2003 when the
voters of California recalled one governor and elected another."
Indeed so, and Mr. Start wisely avoids making any premature judgment on
their choice. Ills such as soaring house prices, grid locked freeways and
"embattled" public schools, combined with the budgetary problems that stem from
the tax revolt of 1978 would test to the limit any governor, even the
Terminator. As Mr. Starr notes, no one should cite California as an unambiguous
triumph: "There has al-ways been something slightly bipolar about California. It
was either utopia or dystopia, a dream or a night-mare, a hope or a broken
promise--and too infrequently anything in
between."
A．the essential elements
B．the premise
C．the contribution
D．the advantage
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A．It became a huge company.
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Questions 4 to 7 are based
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conversation.
A．tomorrow’s work schedule
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In this section, you will hear several passages.
Listen to the passages carefully and then answer the questions that
follow.
Questions 11 to 13 are
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seconds to answer the questions. Now, listen to the
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A．The gathering of small clouds to form large clouds.
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seconds to answer the questions. Now, listen to the
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Listen to them carefully and then answer the questions that
follow.
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based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 15
seconds to answer the questions. Now, listen to the
news.
A．They were celebrating a festival.
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