Passage Two
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage:
There is no denying that students should learn something about how computers work, just as we expect them at least to
understand that the internal-combustion engine （內燃機） has something to do with burning fuel, expanding gases and pistons （活塞） being driven. For people should have some basic idea of how the things that they use do what they do. Further, students might be helped by a course that considers the computer’s impact on society. But that is not what is meant by computer literacy. For computer literacy is not a form of literacy （讀寫能力）; it is a trade skill that should not be taught as a liberal art.
Learning how to use a computer and learning how to program one are two distinct activities. A case might be made that the competent citizens of tomorrow should free themselves from their fear of computers. But this is quite different from saying that all ought to know how to program one. Leave that to people who have chosen programming as a career. While programming can be lots of fun, and while our society needs some people who are experts at it, the same is true of auto repaid and violin-making.
Learning how to use a computer is not that difficult, and it gets easier all the time as programs become more “user-friendly”. Let us assume that in the future everyone is going to have to know how to use a computer to be a competent citizen. What does the phrase “l(fā)earning to use a computer” mean? It sounds like “l(fā)earning to drive a car”, that is, it sounds as if there is some set of definite skills that, once acquired, enable one to use a computer.
In fact, “l(fā)earning to use a computer” is much more like “l(fā)earning to play a game”, but learning the rules of one game may not help you play a second game, whose rules may not be the same. There is no such a thing as teaching someone how to use a computer. One can only teach people to use this or that program and generally that is easily accomplished.
26. To be the competent citizens of tomorrow, people should ________.
A) try to lay a solid foundation in computer science
B) be aware of how the things that they use do what they do
C) learn to use a computer by acquiring a certain set of skills
D) understand that programming a computer is more essential than repairing a car.
27. In the second paragraph “violin-making” is mentioned to show that _________.
A) programming a computer is as interesting as making a violin
B) our society needs experts in different fields
C) violin-making requires as much skill as computer programming
D) people who can use a computer don’t necessarily have to know computer programming
28. Learning to use a computer is getting easier all the time because _________.
A) programs are becoming less complicated
B) programs are designed to be convenient to users
C) programming is becoming easier and easier
D) programs are becoming readily available to computer users
29. According to the author, the phrase “l(fā)earning to use a computer” (Lines3-4, Para.3) means learning ___________.
A) a set of rules
B) the fundamentals of computer science
C) specific programs
D) general principles of programming
30. The author’s purpose in writing this passage is _________.
A) to stress the impact of the computer on society
B) to explain the concept of the computer literacy
C) to illustrate the requirements for being competent citizens of tomorrow.
D) to emphasize that computer programming is an interesting and challenging job
Passage Three
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:
The way people hold to the belief that a fun-filled, pain free life equals happiness actually reduces their chances of ever attaining real happiness, if fun and pleasure are equal to happiness then pain must be equal to unhappiness. But in fact, the opposite is true: more often than not things that lead to happiness involve some pain.
As a result, many people avoid the very attempts that are the source of true happiness. They fear the pain inevitably brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement, religious commitment（承擔的義務）,
self-improvement.
Ask a bachelor（單身漢） why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying. If he is honest he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment. For commitment is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure, excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most distinguishing features.
Couples with infant children are lucky to get a whole night’s sleep or a three-day vacation. I don’t know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children. But couples who decide not to have children never know the joys of watching a child grow up or of playing with a grandchild.
Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations. It
liberates time: now we can devote more hours to activities that can genuinely increase our happiness. It liberates money:
buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless. And it
liberates us from envy: we now understand that all those who are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all.
31. According to the author, a bachelor resists marriage chiefly because ________.
A) he is reluctant to take on family responsibilities
B) he believes that life will be more cheerful if he remains single
C) he finds more fun in dating than in marriage
D) he fears it will put an end to all his fun adventure and excitement
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage:
There is no denying that students should learn something about how computers work, just as we expect them at least to
understand that the internal-combustion engine （內燃機） has something to do with burning fuel, expanding gases and pistons （活塞） being driven. For people should have some basic idea of how the things that they use do what they do. Further, students might be helped by a course that considers the computer’s impact on society. But that is not what is meant by computer literacy. For computer literacy is not a form of literacy （讀寫能力）; it is a trade skill that should not be taught as a liberal art.
Learning how to use a computer and learning how to program one are two distinct activities. A case might be made that the competent citizens of tomorrow should free themselves from their fear of computers. But this is quite different from saying that all ought to know how to program one. Leave that to people who have chosen programming as a career. While programming can be lots of fun, and while our society needs some people who are experts at it, the same is true of auto repaid and violin-making.
Learning how to use a computer is not that difficult, and it gets easier all the time as programs become more “user-friendly”. Let us assume that in the future everyone is going to have to know how to use a computer to be a competent citizen. What does the phrase “l(fā)earning to use a computer” mean? It sounds like “l(fā)earning to drive a car”, that is, it sounds as if there is some set of definite skills that, once acquired, enable one to use a computer.
In fact, “l(fā)earning to use a computer” is much more like “l(fā)earning to play a game”, but learning the rules of one game may not help you play a second game, whose rules may not be the same. There is no such a thing as teaching someone how to use a computer. One can only teach people to use this or that program and generally that is easily accomplished.
26. To be the competent citizens of tomorrow, people should ________.
A) try to lay a solid foundation in computer science
B) be aware of how the things that they use do what they do
C) learn to use a computer by acquiring a certain set of skills
D) understand that programming a computer is more essential than repairing a car.
27. In the second paragraph “violin-making” is mentioned to show that _________.
A) programming a computer is as interesting as making a violin
B) our society needs experts in different fields
C) violin-making requires as much skill as computer programming
D) people who can use a computer don’t necessarily have to know computer programming
28. Learning to use a computer is getting easier all the time because _________.
A) programs are becoming less complicated
B) programs are designed to be convenient to users
C) programming is becoming easier and easier
D) programs are becoming readily available to computer users
29. According to the author, the phrase “l(fā)earning to use a computer” (Lines3-4, Para.3) means learning ___________.
A) a set of rules
B) the fundamentals of computer science
C) specific programs
D) general principles of programming
30. The author’s purpose in writing this passage is _________.
A) to stress the impact of the computer on society
B) to explain the concept of the computer literacy
C) to illustrate the requirements for being competent citizens of tomorrow.
D) to emphasize that computer programming is an interesting and challenging job
Passage Three
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:
The way people hold to the belief that a fun-filled, pain free life equals happiness actually reduces their chances of ever attaining real happiness, if fun and pleasure are equal to happiness then pain must be equal to unhappiness. But in fact, the opposite is true: more often than not things that lead to happiness involve some pain.
As a result, many people avoid the very attempts that are the source of true happiness. They fear the pain inevitably brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement, religious commitment（承擔的義務）,
self-improvement.
Ask a bachelor（單身漢） why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying. If he is honest he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment. For commitment is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure, excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most distinguishing features.
Couples with infant children are lucky to get a whole night’s sleep or a three-day vacation. I don’t know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children. But couples who decide not to have children never know the joys of watching a child grow up or of playing with a grandchild.
Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations. It
liberates time: now we can devote more hours to activities that can genuinely increase our happiness. It liberates money:
buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless. And it
liberates us from envy: we now understand that all those who are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all.
31. According to the author, a bachelor resists marriage chiefly because ________.
A) he is reluctant to take on family responsibilities
B) he believes that life will be more cheerful if he remains single
C) he finds more fun in dating than in marriage
D) he fears it will put an end to all his fun adventure and excitement