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.

　　Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage:

　　American Indians played a central role in the war known as the American Revolution. To them, however, the dispute between the colonists and England was peripheral. For American Indians the conflict was a war for American Indian independence, and whichever side they chose, they lost it. Mary Brant was a powerful influence among the Iroquois. She was a Mohawk, the leader of the society of all Iroquois matrons, and the widow of Sir William Johnson, Superintendent of Indian Affairs. Her brother, Joseph Brant, is the bestknown American Indian warrior of the Revolution, yet she may have exerted even more influence in the confederacy than he did. She used her influence to keep the western tribes of Iroquois loyal to the English king, George Ⅲ. When the colonists won the war, she and her tribe had to abandon their lands and retreat to Canada. On the other side, Nancy Ward held positions of authority in the Cherokee nation. She had fought as a warrior in the war against the Creeks and as a reward for her heroism was made “Beloved Woman” of the tribe. This office made her chief of the women’s council and a member of the council of chiefs. She was friendly with the white settlers and supported the Patriots during the Revolution. Yet the Cherokees too lost their land.

　　21.What is the main point the author makes in the passage?

　　A.Siding with the English in the Revolution helped American Indians regain their land.

　　B.At the time of the Revolution the Superintendent of Indian Affairs had little power.

　　C.Regardless of whom they supported in the Revolution, American Indians lost their land.

　　D.The outcome of the Revolution was largely determined by American Indian　women.

　　22.The word “it” in line 5 refers to ____.

　　A.side B.revolution

　　C.dispute D.independence

　　23.How did Ward gain her position of authority?

　　A.By bravery in battle.

　　B.By marriage to a chief.

　　C.By joining the confederacy.

　　D.By being born into a powerful family.

　　24.To which tribe did Nancy Ward belong?

　　A.Mohawk. B.Iroquois. C.Cherokee. D.Creek.

　　25.According to the passage, what did Mary Brant and Nancy Ward had in common?

　　A.Each was called “Beloved Woman” by her tribe.

　　B.Each influenced her tribe’s role in the American Revolution.

　　C.Each lost a brother in the American Revolution.

　　D.Each went to England after the American Revolution.

　　Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.

　　Born in 1830 in rural Amherst, Massachusetts, Emily Dickinson spent her entire life in the household of her parents. Between 1858 and 1862, it was later discovered, she wrote like a person possessed, often producing a poem a day. It was also during this period that her life was transformed into the myth of Amherst. Withdrawing more and more, keeping to her room, sometimes even refusing to see visitors who called, she began to dress only in white—a habit that added to her reputation as an eccentric.

　　In their determination to read Dickinson’s life in terms of a traditional romantic plot, biographers have missed the unique pattern of her life—her struggle to create a female life not yet imagined by the culture in which she lived. Dickinson was not the innocent, lovelorn and emotionally fragile girl sentimentalized by the Dickinson myth and popularized by William Luce’s 1976 play, the Belle of Amherst. Her decision to shut the door on Amherst society in the 1850’s transformed her house into a kind of magical realm in which she was free to engage her poetic genius. Her seclusion was not the result of a failed love affair, but rather a part of a more general pattern of renunciation through which she, in her quest for selfsovereignty, carried on an argument with the puritan fathers, attacking with wit and irony their cheerless Calvinist doctrine, their stern patriarchal God, and their rigid notions of “true womanhood”.

　　26.What’s the author’s main purpose in the passage?

　　A.To interpret Emily Dickinson’s eccentric behavior.

　　B.To promote the popular myth of Emily Dickinson.

　　C.To discuss Emily Dickinson’s failed love affair.

　　D.To describe the religious climate in Emily Dickinson’s time.

　　27.Which of the following is not mentioned as being one of Emily Dickinson’s eccentricities?

　　A.Refusing to eat. B.Wearing only white.

　　C.Avoiding visitors. D.Staying in her room.

　　28.According to the passage, biographers of Emily Dickinson have traditionally ____.

　　A.criticized most of her poems

　　B.ignored her innocence and emotional fragility

　　C.seen her life in romantic terms

　　D.blaming her parents for restricting her activities

　　29.The author implies that many people attribute Emily Dickinson’s seclusion to ____.

　　A.physical illness B.a failed love affair

　　C.religious fervor D.her dislike of people

　　30.It can be inferred from the passage that Emily Dickinson lived in a society that was characterized by ____.

　　A.strong Puritan beliefs

　　B.equality of men and women

　　C.the encouragement of nonconformity

　　D.the appreciation of poetic creativity

　　Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.

　　The railroad industry could not have grown as large as it did without steel. The first rails were made of iron. But iron rails were not strong enough to support heavy trains running at high speeds. Railroad executives wanted to replace them with steel rails because steel was ten or fifteen times stronger and lasted twenty times longer. Before the 1870’s, however, steel was too expensive to be widely used. It was made by a slow and expensive process of heating, stirring and reheating iron ore.

　　Then the inventor Henry Bessemer discovered that directing a blast of air at melted iron in a furnace would burn out the impurities that made the iron brittle. As the air shot through the furnace, the bubbling metal would erupt in showers of sparks. When the fire cooled, the metal had been changed, or converted to steel. The Bessemer converter made possible the mass production of steel. Now three to five tons of iron could be changed into steel in a matter of minutes.

　　Just when the demand for more and more steel developed, prospectors discovered huge new deposits of iron ore in the Mesabi Range, a 120long region in Minnesota near Lake Superior. The Mesabi deposits were so near the surface that they could be mined with steam shovels.

　　Barges and steamers carried the iron ore through Lake Superior to depots on the southern shores of Lake Michigan and Lake Erie. With dizzying speed Gary, Indiana, and Toledo, Youngstown, and Cleveland, Ohio, became major steelmanufacturing centers. Pittsburgh was the greatest steel city of all.

　　Steel was the basic building material of the industrial age. Production skyrocketed from seventyseven thousand tons in 1870 to over eleven million tons in 1900.

　　31.According to the passage, the railroad industry preferred steel to iron because steel was ____.

　　A.cheaper and more plentiful

　　B.lighter and easier to mold

　　C.cleaner and easier to mine

　　D.stronger and more durable

　　32.According to the passage, how did Bessemer method make the mass production of steel possible?

　　A.It directed air at melted iron in a furnace, removing all impurities.

　　B.It slowly heated iron ore then stirred it and heated it again.

　　C.It changed iron ore into iron which was a substitute for steel.

　　D.It could quickly find deposits of iron ore under the ground.

　　33.According to the passage, where were large deposits of iron uncovered?

　　A.In Pittsburgh. B.In the Mesabi Range.

　　C.Near Lake Michigan.D.Near Lake Erie.

　　34.The words “Barges and steamers” could best be replaced by which of the following?

　　A.Trains.B.Planes.C.Boats.D.Trucks.

　　35.It can be inferred from the passage that the mass production of steel caused ____.

　　A.a decline in the railroad industry

　　B.a revolution in the industrial world

　　C.an increase in the price of steel

　　D.a feeling of discontent among steel workers