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Section A |
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1. M: Have you had the brakes and tires checked? And do you have enough money? |
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W: I've taken care of everything and I'm sure it's going to be a wonderful trip. |
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Q: What is the woman going to do? |
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2. M: The new sales manager says he have never met you before. |
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W: We've been introduced about three times. He seems a little forgetful. |
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Q: What do we learn about the new sales manager? |
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3. W: I don't understand why this book for self study doesn't have answers to the questions. |
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M: But it does. You can find them alt the back of the book. |
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Q: What does the man say about the self-study book? |
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4. W: We mean to let everyone know about the charity concert, but we don't have enough money for advertising. |
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M: How about using the school radio station? They broadcast free public-service announcement. |
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Q: What does the man suggest they do? |
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5. M: By the way, Jane, did you talk to the consultant about our health program? |
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W: I contacted his office, but his secretary said he would be out for lunch until two. |
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Q: What does the woman mean? |
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6. M: I don't know whether to ask Joe or Cora to draw the posters. |
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W: What difference does it make? They're both excellent artists. |
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Q: What does the woman imply about Joe and Core? |
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7. M: Mary is in charge of the art and music section; and Charles, the ports page. What about you? |
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W: I'm responsible for the editorials. |
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Q: Where does the woman work? |
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8. M: I ran into our friend Mark yesterday on the street, and he said he hadn't heard from you for two months. |
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W: Yes, I know, but I've been too busy to phone him. |
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Q: What do we learn from the conversation? |
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9. M: I'm really exhausted. but I don't want to miss the film that comes on at 11. |
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W: If I were you, I'd skip it. We both have to get up early tomorrow. and anyway, I've heard it isn't that exciting. |
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Q: What does the woman mean? |
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10. M: I thought the librarian said we could check out as many books as we need without our library cards. |
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W: That's right, but not those reference books. |
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Q: What does the woman mean? |
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Section B |
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Passage One |
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The piano and violin are girls' instruments. |
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Drums and trumpets are for boys. |
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According to psychologists Susan Onco and Michael Balton, children have very clear ideas about which musical instruments they should play. |
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They find that despite the best efforts of teachers these ideas have changed very little over the past decade. |
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They interviewed 153 children aged between 9 and 11 from schools in northwest England. |
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They asked them to identify 4 musical instruments and then to say which they would like to play most and which they would least. |
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They also asked the children for their views on whether boys or girls should not play any of the 4 instruments. |
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The piano and the violin were both ranked favorably by girls more than by boys, while boys prefer the drums and trumpets. |
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There was broad agreement between boys and girls on which instruments each sex should play and the reasons vary. |
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And while almost half of all boys said they avoid certain instruments because they were too difficult to play, only 15% of girls gave that as a reason. |
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Earlier studies indicated that very young school children aged between 5 and 7 showed no bias in choosing musical instruments, |
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but their tastes become more clear between the ages of 8 and 10. |
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One survey of 78 teachers suggested that after that age both boys and girls begin to restrict themselves to the so-called male or female instruments. |
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11. Why did Susan and Michael interview children aged between 9 and 11? |
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12. Why do many of the boys avoid certain instruments? |
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13. Which group of children have a bias when choosing musical instruments? |
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Passage Two |
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In the 1970s, the famous Brazilian football player Pele retired from the national team of Brazil and became a professional player for a team in New York. |
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Football, or soccer, wasn't very popular in the United States at that time. |
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Few North Americans knew anything about this fast-moving sport. |
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There was no money to pay professional players and there was little interest in football in high schools and colleges. |
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When Pele and other international stars began playing in various US cities, people saw how interesting the game was and began to go to the matches. |
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It is now common for important games to have fifty to sixty thousand fans. |
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Support from the fans is important to the football. |
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The fans cheer enthusiastically for their favorite players and teams, who respond by playing better than before. |
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In most World Cups, the home team, or the team from the host country usually plays better than most people expect. |
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In 1966, 1974 and 1978, the home teams of England, West Germany and Argentina all won the World Cup. |
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The World Cup is called that because teams from every continent have played in it. |
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However, since the Cup began, all of the winning teams have been from Europe or South America. |
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Teams from Asia or Africa always do well but they haven't yet won. |
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Mexico played surprisingly well in the 1970 Cup, which it hosted, but it wasn't among the 4 final teams. |
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14. Why wasn't football a popular sport in the U.S. in the 1970s? |
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15. When does a football team have the best chance to win the World Cup? |
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16. How did Mexico do in the 1970 World Cup? |
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Passage Three |
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The world's smartest adolescence in mathematics and science are in Singapore, according to a global survey of educational achievement. |
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In the 3rd International Mathematics and Science Study, 13-year-olds from Singapore achieved the best scores in standardized tests of maths and science that were administered to 287, 896 students in 41 countries in 1994 and 1995. |
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The survey suggests that science and maths education is especially strong in the Far East. |
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While well behind those top scores, students from Australia earned higher marks in maths than their counterparts in England, who in turn did better than American students. |
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The study collected information on the students' teachers and homes. |
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Not surprisingly, the highest-scoring students had well-educated parents or came from homes containing study-aids such as computers, dictionaries or even such elemental facilities as desks. |
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The study shows that boys generally did better than girls in science, but there was little difference between them in maths. |
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Boys scored better than girls in physics and chemistry. |
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There were no sex differences in the life and environmental sciences. |
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In addition to being tested, students in the project were asked how proficient they thought they were in maths and science. |
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Students in some countries, such as Columbia and Kuwait, had an overly optimistic view of their skills. |
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Meanwhile, some of the best students from Japan and Korea for example were needlessly pessimistic even though they did far better in maths than almost all of other students. |
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17. Of the 4 groups of students, who scored the lowest in maths according to the survey? |
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18. What kind of students are most likely to become top scorers? |
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19. In what way do Columbian students differ from Japanese students? |
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20. In which subjects did boys score higher than girls? |