</P> <P>Section 1I Cloze (10 points)</P> <P>Directions：For each numbered blank in the following passage．there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the best one and mark your answer on the ANSWER SHEET with a pencil．</P> <P> Advancing age means losing your hair, your waistline and your memory，right ? Dana Denis is just 40 years old，but 2 1 she’s worried about what she calls’ my rolling mental blackouts.” ”I try to remember something and I just blank out，”she says</P> <P> You may 22 about these lapses，calling them ” senior moments ”or blaming "early Alzheimer’s (老年痴呆症)．”Is it an inescapable fact that the older you get，the 23 you remember? Well, sort of．But as time goes by, we tend to blame age 24 problems that are not necessarily age—related．</P> <P>　“When a teenager can’t find her keys，she thinks it's because she’s distracted or disorganized，”says Paul Gold．“A 70-year-old blames her 25 ．”In fact，the 70-year-old may have been 26 things for decades．</P> <P>　In healthy people，memory doesn’t worsen as 27 as many of us think．“As we 28，the memory mechanism isn’t 29 ，”says psychologist Fergus Craik．”It’s just inefficient．”<BR>　The brain’s processing 30 slows down over the years，though no one knows exactly 31. Recent research suggests that nerve cells lose efficiency and 32 there’s less activity in the brain．But，cautions Barry Gordon，”It's not clear that less activity is 33 ．A beginning athlete is winded（气喘吁吁）more easily than a 34 athlete．In the same way, 35 the brain gets more skilled at a task，it expends less energy on it.”</P> <P>　There are 36 you can take to compensate for normal slippage in your memory gears，though it 37 effort．Margaret Sewell says：”We’re a quick-fix culture, but you have to 38 to keep your brain 39 shape．It’s like having a good body．You Can’t go to the gym once a year 40 expect to stay in top form.”</P> <P>21．A. almost B. seldom C. already D. never</P> <P>22．A. joke B. laugh C. blame D. criticize</P> <P>23．A. much B. little C. more D. less</P> <P>24．A. since B. for C. by D. because</P> <P>25．A. memory B. mind C. trouble D. health</P> <P>26．A. disorganizing B. misplacing C. putting D. finding</P> <P>27．A. swiftly B. frequently C. timely D. quickly</P> <P>28．A．mature B. advance C. age D. grow</P> <P>29．A. broken B. poor C. perfect D. working</P> <P>30．A. pattern B. time C. space D. information</P> <P>31．A . why B. how C. what D. when</P> <P>32．A. since B. hence C. that D. although</P> <P>33．A. irregular B. better C. normal D. worse</P> <P>34．A. famous B. senior C. popular D. trained</P> <P>35．A. as B. till C. though D. yet</P> <P>36．A. stages B. steps C. advantages D. purposes</P> <P>37．A. makes B. takes C. does D. spends</P> <P>38．A. rest B. come C. work D. study</P> <P>39．A. to B. for C. on D. in</P> <P>40．A. so B. or C. and D. if</P> <P>Section Ⅲ Reading Comprehension (40 points)</P> <P>Directions: There are 4 passages in this part, Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C, and D. You should decide on the best choice and blacken the corresponding letter on the ANSWER SHEET with a pencil.</P> <P>Questions 41 to 45 are based on the following passage:</P> <P> Prior to the 20th century, many languages with small numbers of speakers survived for centuries. The increasingly interconnected modern world makes it much more difficult for small language communities to live in relative isolation, a key factor in language maintenance and preservation.</P> <P> It remains to be seen whether the world can maintain its linguistic and cultural diversity in the centuries ahead. Many powerful forces appear to work against it :population growth, which pushes migrant populations into the world’s last isolated locations; mass tourism; global telecommunications and mass media; and the spread of gigantic global corporations. All of these forces appear to signify a future in which the language of advertising, popular culture, and consumer products become similar. Already English and a few other major tongues have emerged as global languages of commerce and communication. For many of the world’s peoples, learning one of these languages is viewed as the key to education, economic opportunity, and a better way of life.</P> <P> Only about 3,000 languages now in use are expected to survive the coming century. Are most of the rest doomed in the century after that?</P> <P> Whether most of these languages survive will probably depend on how strongly cultural groups wish to keep their identity alive through a native language. To do so will require an emphasis on bilingualism（mastery of two languages）. Bilingual speakers could use their own language in smaller spheres---at home, among friends, in community settings---and a global language at work, in dealings with government, and in commercial spheres. In this way, many small languages could sustain their cultural and linguistic integrity alongside global languages, rather than yield to the homogenizing（同化的）forces of globalization.</P> <P> Ironically, the trend of technological innovation that has threatened minority languages could also help save them. For example, some experts predict that computer software translation tools will one day permit minority language speakers to browse the Internet using their native tongues. Linguists are currently using computer—aided learning tools to teach a variety of threatened languages.</P> <P> For many endangered languages, the line between revival and death is extremely thin. Language is remarkably resilient（有活力的）,however. It is not just a tool for communicating, but also a powerful way of separating different groups, or of demonstrating group identity. Many indigenous（原生的，土著的）communities have shown that it is possible to live in the modern world while reclaiming their unique identities through language.<BR></P> <P>