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Home -The New WorkplaceOne of the sources of the modern world is the length of time we take communing to and from work. In large cities this can mean losing three or more hours every day just traveling from home to work and back again. Surely there is an alternative! Well, according to a survey conditioned in the US, 22% of people would much prefer working from home, should circumstances allow. Liz Sewell spoke to several people who have already made the change to this modern-day workplace to try and find out more.Scott Miller is a 40 year-old draughtsman who has been working home for the past two years. He admits that it wasn’t something that he craved for; rather it happened when his wife, Jules, a university lecturer, was offered a full-time position. “She didn’t think that she could take the job. I knew that she really wanted it, but she didn’t want to put our son into full-time cars. I had been working for the same firm for seven years and decided to approach my bosses. My track record probably helped because they accepted the proposition. As long as my productivity was maintained, they didn’t mind where I worked. Also my wife is happy, and her career is blossoming.”“Now I go into the office every Monday afternoon for a meeting and pick up my week’s work. Interestingly, I feel that I work even better from home, so much so that even though our son now at school, I still work there.”However, is working from home as simple as it sounds? Transferring work to a different workplace is only part of the equation for Joanne McCarthy, who until three months ago was a Human Resources Manager for a large public corporation. She has now become a full-time trader on the stock market. She says she loves the freedom that working from home gives her, but she really missed the social interaction.“As my job just involves working for myself, by myself, I find that I have become much more introverted because I don’t have that face-to-face, professional involvement with people any more. I spend all day on the computer checking the prices of my stocks. By evening, I am desperate to talk to my husband—even if it is only about what lie has been doing all clay.”She has realized that this could jeopardize her attempts to work from home. Louise Tate is an accountant and used to commute an hour each way to her office before deciding there had to be a better way. For her, the biggest problem with working from home was distractions. “It was so easy to get distracted by the other things you have to do at home, like wasting and cleaning,” she told us. “I had to force myself to view my study as an office, not part of the house. So I came up with a novel idea—my husband thought I was made, but I had a separate entrance built to the office. At the beginning of my workday, I go out of the front door of our house, lock it, and then walk around to the office. Now I feel that I am really at work, and my productivity has increased as a result. I know it sounds strange, but it works for me.” Twelve months down the track and Louise never wants to face the morning traffic again.People choose to work from home for a multitude of reasons. Take the example of George Mercer, who owns seven cafes within a 7- mile radius of downtown Miami. He has based his office in his Fort Lauderdale beachfront home, and keeps in contact with his various managers by phone, fax and e-mail, “When I started the business four years ago, I couldn’t decide which cafe to have as my main base, so I decided to set up my office at home. With modern telecommunications nowadays, I am always able to contact my premises and order provisions from my suppliers.”“If I get fed up with working from home or if there are problems that have to be dealt with in person. I just jump in the car and drive to the cafes. From time to time, we have meetings at my place, which give the managers a break from their own ‘office’. They get a change of scenery. I still have control but they have a large amount of independence in the day-to-day running of the cafes. I love my job and it’s obvious that my managers respond well to the arrangement. Life’s great at the moment wouldn’t change a thing!”Obviously, not everyone is able to have the type of work that can be done from home, but there are plenty of people just like me—judging by internet sites the more traditional employment vacancy ads—who would jump at the chance.Using information from Reading Passage 2, match the people listed A-F in the box below with their descriptions.NOTE: There are more descriptions than people. You may use any of the choices more than once.List of PeopleA Scott MillerB Joanne McCarthyC Louise TateD George MercerE None of the aboveF All of the aboveDescriptions

Complete these sentences below.USE NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

In Reading Passage I there are several sections. Choose the most suitable heading (I-IX) from the box below which best matches the Sections A-G.NOTE: These are more headings than sections so you will not use all of them. You may use any of the headings more than once.List of HeadingsⅠ A positive aspect of hackingⅡ Tougher punishments for hackersⅢ Response to Internet securityⅣ Growth of the InternetⅤ Responsibilities of managersⅥ Hackers Vs administratorsⅦ Difficulty of detectionⅧ Government agenciesⅨ Common security measure

Computer SecurityIt is believed that the problem of computer security has changed over a period of time as business, through an increased use of information technology (IT), have become more and more dependent on information and the associated information systems (IS). However, at the same time, there has been limited change in the implanted security or safeguards to these information systems. In fact many executives or managers fail to even identify the relevant requirement for security or policies.A: The Internet has been roughly doubling in size every year, and the associated security incidents have been running to parity. Even if the percentage of malicious users is small, the increase in size of the Internet and in the number of incidents of ailed security is significant. The importance of the growth in the Internet can be highlighted by the fact that in July 1991 33% of Internet users were from the commercial sectors, whereas in July 1996 this figure had risen to 50%.B: In 1988, the “worm” was introduced on the Internet to invade, attack and replicate itself on the network. The response was to shut down E-mail and connectivity. However, the “fixes” were to be distributed via E-mail and so the solution was self-defeating. As a result of this worm virus CERT (Computer emergency Response Team) was formed, with the Australian version staring in 1992.C: One of the problems with Internet security is the fact that the incidents are increasing in sophistication. One of the reasons for this has been the increasing availability of toolkits. Although these toolkits are designed to assist computer systems designers to protect and develop their sites, they also allow relatively ignorant intruders to carry out increasingly complex incidents with the utilization of many routers and disguises to reach their “target”. According to a US Development of Defence report, less than 1% of incidents are identified but 65% of these are successful. Another thing to bear in mind with intruders and hackers is that they do not respect geographical or administrative boundaries. Or time zones. They may be geographically disclosed from the point of attack and therefore operation in “off-duty” hours.D: The thing to remember with security is that the system administrations must get it right all the time; the intruder must get it right just once. Evidence of this is easy to find. In 1997, a teenager hacked into a Bell Atlantic network. His backing crashed the computer and resulted in 600 homes, a regional airport and emergency services being without telephone communications for six hours. And what was the punishment for this offence? Two years’ probation community service and a fine of $US 5,000.E: Governments are getting tough on cybercrimes, especially in the wake of September 11th. These crimes are being linked to national security, which in the US is now of major concern to government officials and the general public alike. And the government has been swift to act. In late 2001, the US Patriot Act was introduced. This Act increased the maximum sentence for breaking into a computer from five to ten years. Then in July 2002, the House of representatives approved the Cyber Security Enhancement Act. Now if a cybercrime results in the death of an individual, the offender could face a life sentence. There has been additional fall-out from the September 11th attacks with the FBI and other government security agencies dramatically escalating their monitoring of the Internet. This has pushed some hackers further underground, fearful that what they had previously been doing out of boredom or challenge could now be viewed as an act of terrorism.F: On the other hand, the events of September 11th have led to some ex-hackers using their extensive knowledge and experience to join forces with security forces to aid the fight against terrorism.G: However, even with the increased the threats of punishment, computer viruses and incidents of hacking continue to be widespread. Long-time security measures which have been utilized by companies and individuals are not fail-sale. One of the more IS security measures is the use of firewalls, which “filter” the data entering/leaving the corporate IS. It is true that these firewalls have a number of advantages, nevertheless, they should not be seen as a panacea to all IS security woes, merely an enhancement.They can provide a false sense of security and have limited protection from internal attacks. In short, the corporate world needs to realize that computer security will be an on-going problem and expense.

In recent years, we have all watched the increasing commercialization of the campus. The numerous advertising posters and the golden arches of fast food outlets may be an insult to our aesthetic sensibilities, but they are, arguably, no worse than ugly. Some of the other new features of commercialized campus life do, however: constitute a serious threat to things we rightly respect. “Privatization” and the “business model” are the potential menace.What do these notions mean? To me, they involve an increased dependence on industry and charitable actions for operating the university; an increased amount of our resources being directed to applied or so-called practical subjects, both in teaching and in research; a proprietary (所有权)treatment of research results, with the commercial interest in secrecy overriding the public’s interest in free, shared knowledge, and an attempt to run the university more like a business that treats industry and students as clients and ourselves as service providers with something to sell. We pay increasing attention to the immediate needs and demands of our “customers” and, as the old saying goes, “the customer is always right”.Privatization is particularly frightening from the point of view of public well-being. A researcher employed by a university-affiliated hospital in Canada, working under contract with a medicine-making company, made public her findings that a particular drug was harmful. This violated the terms of her contract, and so she was fired. Her dismissal caused a scandal, and she was subsequently restored to her previous position. The university and hospital in question are now working out something similar to tenure (终身任职) for hospital-based researchers and guidelines for contracts, so that more public exposure of privately funded research will become possible. This is a rare victory and a small step in “the right direction”, but the general trend is the other way. Thanks to profit-driven private funding researchers are not only forced to keep valuable information secret, they are often contractually obliged to keep discovered dangers to public health under wraps, too. Of course, we must not, be too naive about this. Governments can unwisely insist on secrecy, too, as did the British Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food in the work they funded in connection with the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (牛海绵状脑病)epidemic. This prevented others from reviewing the relevant data and pointing out that problems were more serious than government was letting on.1.From the first paragraph we can learn that the campus life has become（）.2.“Privatization” and the “business model” in this passage most probably mean（）.3.The author believes that we should pay（）.4.The researcher mentioned in the third paragraph was fired because（）.5.It is implied in the passage that（）.

The most noticeable trend among today’s media companies is vertical integration—an attempt to control several related aspects of the media business at once, each part helping the other. Besides publishing magazines and books, Time Warner, for example, owns Home Box Office (HBO), Warner movie studios, various cable TV systems throughout the United States and CNN as well. The Japanese company Matsushita owns MCA Records and Universal Studios and manufactures broadcast production equipment.To describe the financial status of today’s media is also to talk about acquisitions. The media are buying and selling each other in unprecedented numbers and forming media groups to position themselves in the marketplace to maintain and increase their profits. In 1986, the first time a broadcast network had been sold, two networks were sold that year—ABC and NBC.Media acquisitions have skyrocketed since 1980 for two reasons. The first is that most big corporations today are publicly traded companies, which means that their stock is traded on one of the nation’s stock exchanges. This makes acquisitions relatively easy.A media company that wants to buy a publicly owned company can buy that company’s stock when the stock becomes available. The open availability of stock in these companies means that anybody with enough money can invest in the American media industries, which is exactly how Rupert Murdoch joined the media business.The second reason for the increase in media alliances is that beginning in 1980, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gradually deregulated the broadcast media. Before 1980, for example, the FCC allowed one company to own only five TV stations, live AM radio stations, and five FM radio stations; Companies also were required to hold onto a station for three years before the station could be sold. The post-1980 FCC eliminated the three-year rule and raised the number of broadcast holdings allowed for one owner. This trend of media acquisitions is continuing throughout the 1990s, as changing technology expands the market for media products.The issue of media ownership is important. If only a few corporations direct the media industries in this country, the outlets for differing political viewpoints and innovative ideas could be limited.1.What do Time Warner and Matsushita have in common?2.It is true about the media mentioned in the passage that they（）.3.According to the passage, which of the following makes acquisitions easier?4.The FCC’s new policy regarding media alliances is that（）.5.The issue of media ownership is important because（）.

Some people say that the best preparation for life is learning to be cooperative. Others take the opposite view and say that learning to be competitive is the best preparation. Write a composition of about 150 words to tell which one you agree and explain why.

感恩是一项重要的处事哲学，是生活的大智慧。人生在世，不可能事事顺通。对于各种失败和不幸，我们要豁达大度，勇敢面对，并想办法解决。面对困难，我们是懊恼抱怨，沮丧气馁，陷入绝望，还是对生活满怀感恩之心，跌倒后再爬起来呢？如果对生活感恩，你的生命将充满灿烂的阳光；如果一味怨恨，终将一无所获。

It is impossible to overemphasize the importance of commercial activity to a country and its people. In almost all developing countries, economic development depends upon growth in export trade, which in turn creates jobs and raises living standards. The increasing import requirements which flow from economic development must somehow be financed, from foreign exchange receipts, derived from export earnings and capital investment. Without dynamic expansion in exports the growth of your country’s economy will almost certainly slacken. Your objective as a commercial representative is obviously to do the best possible job improving your country’s export earnings in the broadest meaning of the term.The time has long since arrived to recognize commercial representation as a profession per se, the successful exercise or which is positively correlated with careful initial selection of commercial representatives, the level and content of their formal education and specialized training, the length and variety of their pertinent experience, and the quality of support they receive from the trade promotion organization (TPO) or ministry at home.

Now custom has not been commonly regarded as a subject of any great importance. The inner workings of our own brains we feel to be uniquely worthy of investigation, but custom, we have a way of thinking, is behavior at its most commonplace. As a matter of fact, it is the other way around. Traditional custom, taken the world over, is a mass of detailed behavior more astonishing than what any one person can ever evolve in individual actions, no matter how aberrant. Yet that is a rather trivial aspect of the matter. The fact of first-rate importance is the predominant role that custom plays in experience and in belief and the very great varieties it may manifest.No man ever looks at the world with pristine eyes. He sees it edited by a definite set of customs and institutions and ways of thinking. Even in his philosophical probing he cannot go behind these stereotypes; his very concepts of the true and the false will still have reference to his particular traditional customs. John Dewey has said in the seriousness that the part played by custom in shaping the behavior of the individual as over against any way in which he can affect traditional custom, is as the proportion of the total vocabulary of his mother tongue over against those words of his own baby talk that are taken lip into the language of his family. When one seriously studies axial orders that have had the opportunity to develop independently, that becomes no more than an exact and matter-of-fact observation. The life history of the individual is first and foremost an adjustment to the patterns and standards traditionally handed down in his community. From the moment of his birth the customs into which lie is born shape his experience and behavior. By the time he can talk, he is the little creature of his culture and by the time he is grown an able to take part in its activities, its habits are his habits, its beliefs his beliefs, its impossibilities his impossibilities.1.The author thinks the reason why custom has been ignored in the academic world is that（）.2.Which of the following is true according to John Dewey?3.The world “custom” in this passage most probably means（）.4.According to the passage a person’s life, from his birth to his death（）.5.The author’s purpose to writing this passage is（）.

In a time of low academic achievement by children in the United States, many Americans are turning to Japan, a country of high academic achievement and economic success, for possible answers. However, the answers provided by Japanese preschools are not the ones Americans expected to find. In most Japanese preschools, surprisingly, little emphasis is put on academic instruction. In one investigation, 300 Japanese and 210 American preschool teachers, child development specialists, and parents were asked about various aspects of early childhood education. Only 2 percent of the Japanese respondents （答问卷者） listed “to give children a good start academically” as one of their top three reasons for a society to have preschools. In contrast, over half the American respondents chose this as one of their top three choices. To prepare children for successful careers in first grade and beyond, Japanese schools do not teach reading, writing, and mathematics, but rather skills such as persistence, concentration, and the ability to function as a member of a group. The vast majority of young Japanese children are taught to read at home by their parents.In the recent comparison of Japanese and American preschool education, 91 percent of Japanese respondents chose providing children with a group experience as one of their top three reasons for a society to have preschools. Sixty-two percent of the more individually oriented （强调个性发展的），Americans listed group experience as one of their top three choices. An emphasis on the importance of the group seen in Japanese early childhood education continues into elementary school education.Like in America, there is diversity in Japanese early childhood education. Some Japanese kindergartens have specific aims, such as early musical training or potential development. In large cities, some kindergartens are attached to universities that have elementary and secondary school. Some Japanese parents believe that if their young children attend a university-based program, it will increase the children’s chances of eventually being admitted to top-rated schools and universities. Several more progressive programs have introduced free play as a way out for the heavy intellectualizing in some Japanese kindergartens.1.We learn from the first paragraph that many American believe（）.2.Most American surveyed believe that preschools should also attach importance to（）.3.In Japan’s preschool education, the focus is on（）.4.Free play has been introduced in some Japanese kindergartens in order to（）.5.Why do some Japanese parents send their children to university-based kindergartens?

The growth strategy is a corporate-level strategy that seeks to increase the level of the organization’s operations. This includes increasing such popular quantitative measures as sales revenues, number of employees, and market share. Growth can be achieved through direct expansion, vertical integration, horizontal integration, or diversification.Growth through direct expansion is achieved by internally increasing a firm’s sales, production capacity, or workforce. No other firms are acquired or merged with; instead, the company chooses to grow by itself through its own business operations. For instance, McDonald’s has pursued a growth strategy by way of direct expansion. The company has grown by awarding franchises (经营许可) to people who are willing to be trained in the McDonald’s way and by opening company-owned outlets.A company might also choose to grow by vertical integration, which is an attempt to gain control of input (backward vertical integration), output (forward vertical integration) or both. In backward vertical integration, the organization attempts to again control of its inputs by becoming its own supplier. For instance, United Airlines had created its own in-flight food service business. In forward vertical integration, the organization gains control of its outputs (products or services) by becoming its own distributor. For example, Gateway Computer’s retail stores are an example or an organization controlling its distribution.In horizontal integration, a company grows by combining with other organizations in the same industry — that is, combining operations with competitors. For instance, H, J, Heinz, Inc., the food-processing company, combined operations with an organic baby food company, Earth’s Best, to help its own Heinz baby foods division become more competitive. Because combining with competitors might decrease the amount of competition in an industry, the U. S. Federal Trade Commission assesses the impact of such proposed growth action and must approve any proposed horizontal integration strategy. Other countries have similar restrictions.Finally, an organization can grow through diversification, either related or unrelated. Related diversification is when a company grows by merging with or acquiring firms in different but related industries. For example, American Standard Cos. is in a variety of businesses including bathroom fixtures, air-conditioning and heating units, plumbing parts, and brakes for trucks. Unrelated diversification is when a company grows by merging with or acquiring firms in different and unrelated industries. For example, Lancaster Colony Corporation makes salad dressing, car mats and candles. These industries are different and unrelated.1.What is this passage mainly about?2.What is “direct expansion”？3.Which of the following is not true of “vertical integration”?4.If a company adopts the method of “horizontal integration”, it attempts to（）.5.Which of the following phrases is closest in meaning to the word“diversification”？

Problems and discouragements will face the leader, but he can overcome them with staying power. It seems as if many of the world’s famous people faced some of the greatest difficulties and discouragements in carrying out their visions.Christopher Columbus, for instance, concluded from the information he acquired from travels and from studying charts and maps, that the earth was round and that he could reach Asia by sailing west. But he needed a patron to finance such an expedition. He first tries John II, King of Portugal, without success, and then, the Count of Medina Celi in Spain. The Count encouraged Columbus for two years, but never actually provided him with the money and supplies he needed. Ferdinand and Isabella, King and Queen of Castile in Spain, were then contacted. A review of Columbus’ plans by a committee appointed by the queen resulted in the conclusion that his ideas were vain and impractical. But they kept talking.After a better part of decade of trying to find a patron, Columbus was in despair, but he didn’t stop. He had staying power. He believed in his mission, but he held out for high terms from Ferdinand and Isabella. He asked that the rank of admiral be bestowed on him right away and that he be made viceroy of all that he should discover. In addition, he would receive one-tenth of all the precious metals discovered within his admiralty. His conditions were rejected and negotiations were again interrupted. Columbus left for France. However, the queen had a change of mind and sent for him. In April, 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella agreed to subsidize the expedition on Columbus’ terms. It wasn’t until 12, October that they landed no North America.Columbus did not visit the Grand Khan of Cathay as he had hoped. But he did discover two new continents. He was successful because he had staying power.1. What was the attitude of the king and queen of Castile toward Columbus’ plan of expedition?2. Who finally patronized Columbus?3. Which of the following statements was not mentioned in the passage?4. The author takes the story of Columbus as an example to show that（）.5. What does the word “vision” in the first paragraph most probably mean?

To what extent is nuclear technology a danger to life on earth? What are the benefits and risks associated with its use?Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge.

Shopping was stressful for men. In some cases, when we looked at heart rate and blood pressure, we saw something you’d expect to see in fighter pilots going into combat or policemen going into dangerous situations.Guy-mode shopping is not compatible with female shopping. Female shopping involves long-term interaction with crowds of people who don’t really know what they want, or where they want to go. No man can stand much of this. We men are all about completion — getting in, getting the job done, and getting out.Here’s how I’ve shopped: 1. Decide on the thing I want. 2. Call around to find a nearly deserted store that has the thing. 3. Go to the store. 4. Walk directly to the thing. 5. Buy it. 6. Get it wrapped. 7. Peel out.Last year, I bought wife Brenda a coffeepot for Christmas. The whole process, door to door，took about 15 minutes. Still，I was shaking when it was over.A guy makes a plan, carries it out and exits. We don’t wander, we don’t browse, and we don’t do a whole lot of comparing. If we say we’re going window shopping, you can expect us to come home with a window. Most of the men admitted that they would choose the first gift they saw, rather than spend time in crowded stores.Let’s see how David buys cars: He calls down to the car lot and tells his salesman to start driving cars by his office window. If David doesn’t like a car, he just waves the salesman on. If a car catches his eye, David holds up his hand. The salesman pulls over. David walks out and examines the car up close. If he still likes the car after five minutes, he writes a check.

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Historically, humans get serious about avoiding disasters only after one has just struck them.（1）that logic, 2006 should have been a breakthrough year for rational behavior. With the memory of 9/11 still（2）in their minds. Americans watched hurricane Katrina, the most expensive disaster in U. S. history, on（3）TV. Anyone who didn’t know it before should have learned that bad things can happen. And they are made（4）worse by our willful blindness to risk as much as our（5）to work together before everything goes to hell.Granted, some amount of delusion is probably part of the（6）condition. In A.D. 63, Pompeii was seriously damaged by an earthquake, and the locals immediately went to work（7）, in the same spot —until they were buried altogether by a volcano eruption 16 years later. But a（8）of the past year in disaster history suggests that modern Americans are particularly bad at（9）themselves from guaranteed threats. We know more than we（10）did about the dangers we face. But it turns（11）that in times of crisis, our greatest enemy is（12）the storm, the quake or the（13）itself. More often, it is ourselves.So what has happened in the year that（14）the disaster on the Gulf Coast? In New Orleans, the Army Corps of Engineer has worked day and night to rebuild the flood walls. They have got the walls to（15）they were before Katrina, more or less. That’s not（16）, we can now say with confidence. But it may be all（17）can be expected from one year of hustle.Meanwhile, New Orleans officials have crafted a plan to use buses and trains to（18）the sick and the disabled. The city estimates that 150,000 people will need a（19）out. However, state officials have not yet determined where these people will be taken. The（20）with neighboring communities are ongoing and difficult.

NumerationOne of the first great intellectual feats of a young child is learning how to talk, closely followed by learning how to count. From earliest childhood we are so bound up with our system of numeration that it is a feat of imagination to consider the problems faced by early humans who had not yet developed this facility. Careful consideration of our system of numeration leads to the conviction that, rather than being a facility that comes naturally to a person, it is one of the great and remarkable achievements of the human race.It is impossible to learn the sequence of events that led to our developing the concept of number. Even the earliest of tribes had a system of numeration that, if not advanced was sufficient for the tasks that they had to perform. Our ancestors had little use for actual numbers; instead their considerations would have been more of the kind Is this enough? Rather than how many? When they were engaged in food gathering, for example. However, when early humans first began to reflect on the nature of things around them, they discovered that they needed an idea of number simply to keep their thoughts in order. As they began to settle, grow plants and herd animals, the need for a sophisticated number system became paramount. It will never be known how and when this numeration ability developed, but it is certain that numeration was well developed by the time humans had formed even semi-permanent settlements.Evidence of early stages of arithmetic and numeration can be readily found. The indigenous peoples of Tasmania were only able to count one, two, many; those of South Africa counted one, two, two and one, two twos, two twos and one, and so on. But in real situations the number and words are often accompanied by gestures to help resolve any confusion. For example, when using the one, two, many type of system, the word many would mean. Look at my hands and see how many fingers I am showing you. This basic approach is limited in the range of numbers that it can express, but this range will generally suffice when dealing with the simpler aspects of human existence.The lack of ability of some cultures to deal with large numbers is not really surprising. European languages, when traced back to their earlier version, are very poor in number words and expressions. The ancient Gothic word for ten, tachund, is used to express the number 100 as tachund tachund. By the seventh century, the word teon had become interchangeable with the tachund or hund of the Anglo-Saxon language, and so 100 was denoted as hund teontig, or ten times ten. The average person in the seventh century in Europe was not as familiar with numbers as we are today. In fact, to qualify as a witness in a court of law a man had to be able to count to nine!Perhaps the most fundamental step in developing a sense of number is not the ability to count, but rather to see that a number is really an abstract idea instead of a simple attachment to a group of particular objects. It must have been within the grasp of the earliest humans to conceive that four birds are distinct from two birds; however, it is not an elementary step to associate the number 4, as connected with four birds, to the number 4, as connected with four rocks. Associating a number as one of the qualities of a specific object is a great hindrance to the development of a true number sense. When the number 4 can be registered in the mind as a specific word, independent of the object being referenced, the individual is ready to take the first step toward the development of a notational system for numbers and, from there, to arithmetic.Traces of the very first stages in the development of numeration can be seen in several living languages today. The numeration system of the Tsimshian language in British Columbia contains seven distinct sets of words for numbers according to the class of the item being counted: for counting flat objects and animals, for round objects and time, for people, for long objects and trees, for canoes, for measures, and for counting when no particular object is being numerated. It seems that the last is a later development while the first six groups show the relics of an older system. This diversity of number names can also be found in some widely used languages such as Japanese.Intermixed with the development of a number sense is the development of an ability to count. Counting is not directly related to the formation of a number concept because it is possible to count by matching the items being counted against a group of pebbles, grains of corn, or the counter’s fingers. These aids would have been indispensable to very early people who would have found the process impossible without some form of mechanical aid. Such aids, while different, are still used even by the most educated in today’s society due to their convenience. All counting ultimately involves reference to something other than the things being counted. At first it may have been grains or pebbles but now it is a memorised sequence of words that happen to be the names of the numbers.Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2? In boxes 28 - 35 on your Answer Sheet.T (true) if the statement agrees with the informationF (false) if the statement contradicts the informationNG (not given) if there is no information on this in the passage

NumerationOne of the first great intellectual feats of a young child is learning how to talk, closely followed by learning how to count. From earliest childhood we are so bound up with our system of numeration that it is a feat of imagination to consider the problems faced by early humans who had not yet developed this facility. Careful consideration of our system of numeration leads to the conviction that, rather than being a facility that comes naturally to a person, it is one of the great and remarkable achievements of the human race.It is impossible to learn the sequence of events that led to our developing the concept of number. Even the earliest of tribes had a system of numeration that, if not advanced was sufficient for the tasks that they had to perform. Our ancestors had little use for actual numbers; instead their considerations would have been more of the kind Is this enough? Rather than how many? When they were engaged in food gathering, for example. However, when early humans first began to reflect on the nature of things around them, they discovered that they needed an idea of number simply to keep their thoughts in order. As they began to settle, grow plants and herd animals, the need for a sophisticated number system became paramount. It will never be known how and when this numeration ability developed, but it is certain that numeration was well developed by the time humans had formed even semi-permanent settlements.Evidence of early stages of arithmetic and numeration can be readily found. The indigenous peoples of Tasmania were only able to count one, two, many; those of South Africa counted one, two, two and one, two twos, two twos and one, and so on. But in real situations the number and words are often accompanied by gestures to help resolve any confusion. For example, when using the one, two, many type of system, the word many would mean. Look at my hands and see how many fingers I am showing you. This basic approach is limited in the range of numbers that it can express, but this range will generally suffice when dealing with the simpler aspects of human existence.The lack of ability of some cultures to deal with large numbers is not really surprising. European languages, when traced back to their earlier version, are very poor in number words and expressions. The ancient Gothic word for ten, tachund, is used to express the number 100 as tachund tachund. By the seventh century, the word teon had become interchangeable with the tachund or hund of the Anglo-Saxon language, and so 100 was denoted as hund teontig, or ten times ten. The average person in the seventh century in Europe was not as familiar with numbers as we are today. In fact, to qualify as a witness in a court of law a man had to be able to count to nine!Perhaps the most fundamental step in developing a sense of number is not the ability to count, but rather to see that a number is really an abstract idea instead of a simple attachment to a group of particular objects. It must have been within the grasp of the earliest humans to conceive that four birds are distinct from two birds; however, it is not an elementary step to associate the number 4, as connected with four birds, to the number 4, as connected with four rocks. Associating a number as one of the qualities of a specific object is a great hindrance to the development of a true number sense. When the number 4 can be registered in the mind as a specific word, independent of the object being referenced, the individual is ready to take the first step toward the development of a notational system for numbers and, from there, to arithmetic.Traces of the very first stages in the development of numeration can be seen in several living languages today. The numeration system of the Tsimshian language in British Columbia contains seven distinct sets of words for numbers according to the class of the item being counted: for counting flat objects and animals, for round objects and time, for people, for long objects and trees, for canoes, for measures, and for counting when no particular object is being numerated. It seems that the last is a later development while the first six groups show the relics of an older system. This diversity of number names can also be found in some widely used languages such as Japanese.Intermixed with the development of a number sense is the development of an ability to count. Counting is not directly related to the formation of a number concept because it is possible to count by matching the items being counted against a group of pebbles, grains of corn, or the counter’s fingers. These aids would have been indispensable to very early people who would have found the process impossible without some form of mechanical aid. Such aids, while different, are still used even by the most educated in today’s society due to their convenience. All counting ultimately involves reference to something other than the things being counted. At first it may have been grains or pebbles but now it is a memorised sequence of words that happen to be the names of the numbers.Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-G, below.Write the correct letter A-G in boxes 23-27 on your Answer Sheet.1. A developed system of numbering（）.2. An additional hand signal（）. 3. In seventh-century Europe, the ability to count to a certain number（）.4. Thinking about numbers as concepts separate from physical objects（）.5. Expressing number differently according to class of item（）.

The graph below shows the different modes of transport used to travel to and from work in one European city in 1950, 1970 and 1990. Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information in the graph and giving possible reasons for the change of the modes.

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