An industrial society, especially one as centralized and concentrated as that of Britain, is heavily dependent on certain essential services: for instance, electricity supply, water, rail and road transport, the harbors. The area of dependency has widened to include removing rubbish, hospital and ambulance services, and, as the economy develops, central computer and information services as well. If any of these services ceases to operate, the whole economic system is in danger.

　　It is this economic interdependency of the economic system which makes the power of trade unions (工會)such an important issue. Single trade unions have the ability to cut off many countries' economic blood supply.

　　This can happen more easily in Britain than in some other countries, in part because the labor force is highly organized. About 55 percent of British workers belong to unions, compared to under a quarter in the United States.

　　For historical reasons, Britain's unions have tended to develop along trade (行業(yè)) and occupational lines, rather than on an industry-by-industry basis, which makes a wages policy, democracy in industry and the improvement of procedures for fixing wage levels difficult to achieve.

　　There are considerable strains and tensions in the trade union movement, some of them arising from their outdated and inefficient structure. Some unions have lost many members because of their industrial changes.

　　Others are involved in arguments about who should represent workers in new trades. Unions for skilled trades are separate from general unions, which means that different levels of wages for certain jobs are often a source of bad feelings between unions. In traditional trades which are being pushed out of existence by advancing technologies,unions can fight for their members' disappointing jobs to the point where the jobs of other union members are threatened or destroyed. The printing of newspapers both in the United States and in Britain has frequently been halted by the efforts of printers to hold on to their traditional highly-paid jobs.

　　Trade unions have problems of internal communication just as managers in companies do, problems which multiply in very large unions or in those which bring workers in very different industries together into a single general union. Some trade union officials have to be re-elected regularly; others are elected, or even appointed, for life. Trade union officials have to work with a system of "shop stewards" (工廠工人代表) in many unions, "shop stewards" being workers elected by other workers as their representatives at factory or work level.

　　56. Why is the trade union power crucial in Britain?

　　A. Because the economy is very interdependent.

　　B. Because the unions have been established a long time.

　　C. Because there are more unions in Britain than elsewhere.

　　D. Because there are many essential services offered by the unions.

　　57. Because of their out-of-date organization, some unions find it difficult to __________.

　　A. bargain for high enough wages

　　B. get new members to join

　　C. learn new technologies

　　D. change as industries change

　　58. Disagreements arise between unions because some of them__________.

　　A. try to win over members of other unions

　　B. ignore agreements

　　C. protect their own members at the expense of others

　　D. take over other unions' jobs

　　59. Why does the author compare the trade unions with managers in companies?

　　A. They are both influential in company affairs.

　　B. They both face problems of internal communication.

　　C. They both work with a system of "shop stewards".

　　D. They both work efficiently.

　　60. The title which best expresses the idea of the text would be __________.

　　A. British Trade Unions and Their Drawbacks

　　B. A Centralized and Concentrated Society

　　C. The Power of Trade Unions in Britain

　　D. The Structure of British Trade Unions

　　Passage Two

　　Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.

　　One of the most interesting paradoxes in America today is that Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, is now engaged in a serious debate about what a university should be, and whether it is measuring up (符合標準).

　　Like the Roman Catholic Church and other ancient institutions, it is asking--still in private rather than in public--whether its past assumptions about faculty, authority, admissions, courses of study, are really relevant to the problems of our society.

　　Should Harvard--or any other university--be an intellectual sanctuary, apart from the political and social revolution of the age, or should it be a laboratory for experimentation with these political and social 　revolutions; or even an engine of the revolution? This is what is being discussed privately in the big clapboard ( 楔形板) houses of faculty members around the Harvard Yard.

　　The issue was defined by Walter Lippmann, a distinguished Harvard graduate, many years ago.

　　"If the universities are to do their work," he said, "they must be independent and they must be disinterested... They are places to which men can turn for unbiased judgments. Obviously, the moment the universities fall under political control, or under the control of private interests, or the moment they themselves take a hand in politics and the leadership of government, their value as independent and disinterested sources of judgment is impaired..."

　　This is part of the argument that is going on at Harvard today. Another part is the argument of the militant and even many moderated students: that a university is the keeper of our ideals and morals, and should not be "disinterested" but activist in bringing the Nation's ideals and actions together.

　　Harvard's men of today seem more troubled and less sure about personal, political and academic purpose than they did at the beginning. They are not even clear about how they should debate and resolve their problems, but they are struggling with them privately, and how they come out is bound to influence American university and political life in the 21st century.

　　61. A "paradox"(Line 1, Paragraph 1 ) is__________.

　　A. an unusual situation

　　B. a parenthetical expression

　　C. a difficult puzzle

　　D. a self-contradiction

　　62. The word "sanctuary", in paragraph 3 refers to __________.

　　A. a holy place dedicated to a certain god

　　B. a temple or nnnnery of the middle age

　　C. a certain place you can hide in and avoid mishaps

　　D. an academy for intelligent people

　　63. The issues in the debate on Harvard's goals are whether the universities should remain independent of our society and its problems, and whether they should __________.

　　A. fight off militarism

　　B. exert greater influence upon the young generation

　　C. take an active part in solving the society's ills

　　D. reconsider the structure of institutes and departments

　　64. In regard to their goals and purposes in life, the author believes that Harward men are becoming __________.

　　A. more sure about them

　　B. less sure about them

　　C. more hopeful of reaching a satisfactory answer

　　D. less interested in them

　　65. In the author's judgment, the ferment going on at Harvard__________.

　　A. will influence the future of America

　　B. will soon be over, because times are bound to change

　　C. is of interest mostly to Harvard men and their friends

　　D. is a sad symbol of our general bewilderment

　　【答案解析】

　　56.A

　　定位：根據(jù)題干信息thetrade union power和crucial可將答案定位到第二段第一句。

　　解析：該句提到：“正是由于經(jīng)濟體系內(nèi)各種經(jīng)濟因素相互依賴(this economic interdependency of the economic system)，才使得工會權(quán)力成為如此重要的問題。”選項A符合題意。

　　57.D

　　定位：根據(jù)題干信息out-of-date organization可將答案定位到第三段第一句。

　　解析：第三段開頭處提到：“工會運動面臨許多限制和壓力，其中一些源于工會本身落后而低效的結(jié)構(gòu)。由于產(chǎn)業(yè)調(diào)整，一些工會已經(jīng)失去了很多成員。另外一些工會則面臨一系列爭論：新的行業(yè)中究竟由誰來代表工人?”可見由于其落后的結(jié)構(gòu)，工會適應(yīng)不了產(chǎn)業(yè)的變化和調(diào)整。故D為正確答案。

　　58.C

　　定位：根據(jù)題干信息disagreements arise between unions可將答案定位到第三段第四句。

　　解析：該句提到：“技術(shù)性行業(yè)的工會跟一般意義上的工會是分離的，這意味著，某些工作薪金水平的不同通常會在各工會之間引發(fā)摩擦。”可見differentlevels ofwagesfor certainjobs是引發(fā)矛盾的一大原因，但在四個選項中找不到意思相近的表述。我們繼續(xù)向下尋讀即可發(fā)現(xiàn)下一句中提到：“傳統(tǒng)的行業(yè)正逐漸被先進的技術(shù)所替代，在這些行業(yè)里，工會會為其成員渺無前景的工作努力抗爭，使其他工會成員的工作也受到威脅或者破壞。”也就是說，一些工會會為了保護自己成員的利益而犧牲其他工會成員的利益。故選項C為正確答案。

　　59.B

　　定位：根據(jù)題干信息managersin companies可將答案定位到最后一段第一句。

　　解析：該句提到：“和公司中的經(jīng)理們一樣，工會內(nèi)部也同樣面，臨著交流問題二在那些大型工會或者聚集了不同行業(yè)工人的工會里，這些問題成倍增加。”可見，工會和經(jīng)理們的共同點就是在其內(nèi)部存在著溝通不暢的問題，故選B。

　　60.A

　　定位：根據(jù)題干信息詞tire可知解答本題需通現(xiàn)全文。

　　解析：本題問選項中最適合做文章題目的是哪一項，考查的是全文的主旨。從全文的內(nèi)容看，文章主要闡述了英國工會的狀況及其存在的問題。故應(yīng)選A。最具迷惑性的是D項The Structure ofBritishTrade Unions，但其只提到英國工會的結(jié)構(gòu)，而沒有概括其存在的問題，故不夠全面。

　　【答案解析】

　　61.D

　　定位：根據(jù)題干信息詞paradox可將答案定位到第一段第一句。

　　解析：paradox意為“person，thingor situationdisplaying contradictoryfeatures(有矛盾特點的人、事物或情況)”。文章第一段提到：“美國現(xiàn)今最有趣的一個——是，作為美國高等教育歷史最悠久的大學(xué)，哈佛大學(xué)正在進行一場嚴峻的爭論，爭論圍繞的中心問題是大學(xué)究竟應(yīng)該是什么樣的，而哈佛大學(xué)又是否符合條件。”作為大學(xué)卻對自身的合理性、存在的意義產(chǎn)生了疑問，不能不說是一種自相矛盾。故答案選D。

　　62.C

　　定位：根據(jù)題干信息“sanctuary”in paragraph 3可將答案定位到第三段第一行。

　　解析：sanctuary本意是“圣殿”，在中世紀一般是指某些教堂或者修道院，可以充當躲避任何政府懲罰’和迫害的避難所。引申義即是：一個人們可以躲進去以避過災(zāi)禍的地方。文中使用的就是這個意思。

　　從該詞后面的apartfromthepolitical and social revolution ofthe age我們也能得出一些線索。故選C。

　　63.C

　　定位：根據(jù)題干信息issuesinthedebateonHarvard’sgoals，andwhetllermeyshould可將答案定位到第三段。

　　解析：關(guān)于哈佛大學(xué)辦學(xué)的宗旨，第三段提出了三種可能：“哈佛大學(xué)(或者其他大學(xué))是否應(yīng)該也是知識分子的避難所;或者，它是否應(yīng)該成為一個進行政治和社會變革實驗的實驗室;或者，它是否甚至應(yīng)該成為改革的動力?”三者在大學(xué)參與社會問題的程度問題上逐漸深入。其實，大學(xué)是應(yīng)該獨立于社會問題之外，保持其公平性，還是應(yīng)該在解決社會問題中起積極作用才是文中人們探討的核心問題，也是貫穿文章始終的主旨。故選C。

　　64.B

　　定位：根據(jù)題干信息goals and purposes in life，Harvard men are becoming可將答案定位到文章最后一段。

　　解析：文章最后提到：“如今，哈佛人似乎今非昔比，他們面臨更多困惑，對自身的定位、政治的和學(xué)術(shù)的目標也沒有當初那么明確了。”不難發(fā)現(xiàn)答案為B。

　　65.A

　　定位：根據(jù)題于信息me author’s judgment可將答案定位到文章最后一段。

　　解析：文章大部分都在轉(zhuǎn)述他人的觀點，作者只在最后對所探討的問題表述了自己的觀點：無論最終的結(jié)果怎樣，都注定將影響21世紀美國的大學(xué)和政治生活。故選A。