1.　　　　 Unemployment in the Netherlands has affected ______.

　A. about 0.6 million people　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. 250, 000 people

　C. less than half of the population　　　　　　　　　　　 D. one million people

4.　　　　 According to the writer, traditional means of communication will never disappear because _____.

A. they are convenient and popular though they are slow.

B. they help to keep the friendly relationship between people.

C. most people cannot keep up with the development of technology.

　　 　D. modern means of communication does too much harm.

(八)

They are among the 250, 000 people under the age of 25 who are out of work in the Netherlands, a group that explains the cause of 40 percent of the nation’s unemployed. A storm of anger boils up at the government-sponsored(政府资助的)youth center, event among those who are continuing their studies.

　“We study for jobs that don’t exist,” Nicollets Steggerda, 23, said.

　After thirty years of prosperity, unemployment among 10 member nations of the European Community has reached as much as 11 percent, affecting a total of 12.3 million people, and the number is climbing.

　The bitter disappointment long expressed by British youths is spreading across the Continent. The title of a rock song “No Future” can now be seen written on the brick walls of closed factories in Belgium and France.

　Recent surveys have found that the increasing argument in the last few years over the deployment(部署)in Europe of North Atlantic Treaty Organization missiles and the possibility of nuclear war have clouded European youths' confidence in the future.

　One form of protest(反对)tends to put the responsibility for a country’s economic troubles on the large numbers of “guest workers” from Third World nations, people welcomed in Western Europe in the years of prosperity.

　Young Europeans, brought up in an extended period of economic success and general stability, seem to be similar to Americans more than they do their own parents. Material enjoyment has given them a sense of expectation, even the right, to a standard of living that they see around them.

　“And so we pass the days at the discos, or meet people at the cafe, and sit and stare,” said Isabella Cault. “There is usually not much conversation. You look for happiness. Sometimes you even find it.”

3.　　　　 What does the writer think of online communication?

A. It should replace old-fashioned letters completely.

B. It is perfect and always does good to you.

C. It is useful and convenient, but it may be inconvenient or even harmful.

D. It does more harm than good.

2.　　　　 What caused the writer to become interested in E-mail and online communication?

A. The sound of the modem.　　　　　　　 B. His own illness.

C. The changing of his life.　　　　　　　　 D. A sick old man’s experience.

1.　　　　 What is the most probable meaning of the underlined word “junk” in para. 7?

A. Old and useless.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. New and useful.

C. Short but valuable.　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. Long but clear.

4.　　　 The supermarket manager is compared to ______ by the author.

　　　 A. an orchestra conductor　　　　　　　 　　　　　 B. a traffic supervisor

C. a military leader　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　 D. a school inspector

(七)

In an age when technology moves faster than most can keep up with, a small group of people still remain in the time of old-fashioned letters. Frankly speaking, I was once certain that traditional letters could never be replaced by other means of communication.

　　 But a story about online communication changed my mind.

　　 An old man, who suffered a lot from Parkinson’s disease, was not able to talk clearly and could hardly write his name. Living totally alone, he managed to keep in touch with nearly all the members of his family. How did he achieve this? He clicked out words on his computer keyboard.

　　 I, therefore, managed to get an E-mail box as soon as the opportunity came. My life changed.

　　 E-mail, and all online communication, is something truly different. It has capabilities that few other products can match.

　　 E-mail is convenient. It takes less time with its fast speed and 24-hour connection. The slow postal service is no match. If you wouldn’t want to have a face-to-face talk with your manager, you might talk with him through E-mail even if you are in the same office.

　　 Naming all the good things about online communication is not easy. But wait. E-mail can be inconvenient. It can waste time and energy. Just think what may happen when you take a short vacation and return to find your E-mail box filled with 200 unread messages. You could easily spend half a day clearing junk ads.

　　 Then, online communication will keep us staying at our computer while it connects us to distant strangers. Once we throw ourselves into the machine, we may forget the human touches we once held so dear. I’m sure there is and always will be a place for the old-fashioned letter, phone call, and face-to-face meeting… even in the world of modern communication.

　　 As I listen to the sound of the modem, I was excited at stepping out to the outside world but, at the same time, I sensed a loss of control over something valuable in my personal life.

3.　　　 Who are Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Jones mentioned in the first paragraph?

　　　 A. They are friends of the store manager's.

　　　 B. They are shop assistants.

　　　 C. They are both regular customers of the store.

　　　 D. They represent any of the regular customers of the old general store.

2.　　　 In what way has the job of the store manager changed?

　　　 A. He doesn't sell tea and washing-powder any more.

　　　 B. He has a much larger staff to take care of, to say nothing of all the other daily problems of running the store.

　　　 C. He must try hard to remember the names of his regular customers.

　　　 D. He has to give advice and make decisions when problems arise.

1.　　　 In the author's opinion, it is a pity that there are fewer old general stores now because _____.

　　　 A. there is less trading business

　　　 B. there used to be more　social activities in the old days

　　　 C. the supermarket manager has more problems than before

　　　 D. there is less personal contact between manager and customer

5.　　　　 According to this passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. Before SARS, few young and healthy people are thinking about death

　　　 B. There is, now, nothing worse than SARS in the world.

　　　 C. It can be concluded that SARS is only dangerous to medical workers.

D. Doctors and nurses have known how to deal with this kind of disease and they are sure of curing all the patients.

(六)

The old-fashioned general store is fast disappearing. This is, perhaps, a pity, because shopping today seems to lack that personal element which existed when the shopkeeper knew all his regular customers personally. He could, for instance, remember which brand of tea Mrs. Smith usually bought or what sort of washing-powder Mrs. Jones preferred. Not only was the shop a center of buying and selling, but also a social meeting place.

A prosperous general store might have employed four or five assistants, and so there were very few problems in management as far as the staff was concerned. But now that the supermarket has replaced the general store, the job of the manager has changed completely. The modern supermarket manager has to cope with a staff as many as hundred, apart from all the other everyday problems of running a large business.

Every morning, the manager must, like the commander of an army division, carry out an inspection of his store to make sure that everything is ready for the business of the day. He must see that everything is running smoothly. He will have to give advice and make decisions as problems arise, and he must know how to get his huge staff to work efficiently with their respective responsibilities.

No matter what he has to do throughout the day, however, the supermarket manager must be ready for any emergency that may arise. People in the trade say that you are not really an experienced supermarket manager until you have dealt with a flood, a fire, a birth and a death in your store.