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Section II Reading Comprehension Part A Directions:
Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C, or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)

Text 1
It was 3:45 in the morning when the vote was finally taken. After six months of arguing and final 16 hours of hot parliamentary debates, Australia's Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die. The measure passed by the convincing vote of 15 to 10. Almost immediately word flashed on the Internet and was picked up, half a world away, by John Hofsess, executive director of the Right to Die Society of Canada. He sent it on via the group's on-line service, Death NET. Says Hofsess: "We posted bulletins all day long, because of course this isn't just something that happened in Australia. It's world history."

The full import may take a while to sink in. The NT Rights of the Terminally Ill law has left physicians and citizens alike trying to deal with its moral and practical implications. Some have breathed sighs of relief, others, including churches, right-to-life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the bill and the haste of its passage. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australia — where an aging population, life-extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part — other states are going to consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia. In the US and Canada, where the right-to-die movement is gathering strength, observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling.

　　Under the new Northern Territory law, an adult patient can request death — probably by a deadly injection or pill — to put an end to suffering. The patient must be diagnosed as terminally ill by two doctors. After a "cooling off" period of seven days, the patient can sign a certificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met. For Lloyd Nickson, a 54-year-old Darwin resident suffering from lung cancer, the NT Rights of Terminally Ill law means he can get on with living without the haunting fear of his suffering: a terrifying death from his breathing condition. "I'm not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view, but what I was afraid of was how I'd go, because I've watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks," he says.

21. From the second paragraph we learn that
　　[A] the objection to euthanasia is diminishing in some countries.
　　[B] physicians and citizens have the same view on euthanasia.
　　[C] technological changes are chiefly responsible for the new law.
　　[D] it takes time to appreciate the significance of laws passed.

22. By saying that “observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling”(Line 7-8, Paragraph 2), the author means that
　　[A] observers are taking a wait-and-see attitude towards the future of euthanasia.
　　[B] there is a possibility of similar bills being passed in the U.S. and Canada.
　　[C] observers are waiting to see the movement end up in failure.
　　[D] the process of bill taking effect may finally come to a stop.

23. When Lloyd Nickson dies, he will
　　[A] undergo a cooling off period of seven days.
　　[B] experience the suffering of a lung cancer patient.
　　[C] have an intense fear of terrible suffering.
　　[D] face his death with calm characteristic of euthanasia.

24. What is the author’s attitude towards euthanasia?
　　[A] Hostile.
　　[B] Suspicious.
　　[C] Approving.
　　[D] Indifferent.

25. We can infer from the text that the success of the right-to-die movement is
　　[A] one a matter of time.
　　[B] far from certain.
　　[C] just an illusion.
　　[D] a fading hope.

TEXT 2
Much of the language used to describe monetary policy, such as "steering the economy to a soft landing" or "a touch on the brakes", makes it sound like a precise science. Nothing could be further from the truth. The link between interest rates and inflation is uncertain. And there are long, variable lags before policy changes have any effect on the economy. Hence the analogy that likens the conduct of monetary policy to driving a car with a blackened windscreen, a cracked rearview mirror and a faulty steering wheel.

　　Given all these disadvantages, central bankers seem to have had much to boast about of late. Average inflation in the big seven industrial economies fell to a mere 2.3% last year, close to its lowest level in 30 years, before rising slightly to 2.5% this July. This is a long way below the double-digit rates which many countries experienced in the 1970s and early 1980s.

　　It is also less than most forecasters had predicted. In late 1994 the panel of economists which The Economist polls each month said that America's inflation rate would average 3.5% in 1995. In fact, it fell to 2.6% in August, and is expected to average only about 3% for the year as a whole. In Britain and Japan inflation is running half a percentage point below the rate predicted at the end of last year. This is no flash in the pan; over the past couple of years, inflation has been consistently lower than expected in Britain and America.

　　Economists have been particularly surprised by favourable inflation figures in Britain and the United States, since conventional measures suggest that both economies, and especially America's, have little productive slack. America's capacity utilisation, for example, hit historically high levels earlier this year, and its jobless rate (5.6% in August) has fallen below most estimates of the natural rate of unemployment — the rate below which inflation has taken off in the past.

　　Why has inflation proved so mild? The most thrilling explanation is, unfortunately, a little defective. Some economists argue that powerful structural changes in the world have upended the old economic models that were based upon the historical link between growth and inflation.

26. According to the text, making monetary policy changes
　　[A] is comparable to driving a car.
　　[B] is similar to carrying out scientific work.
　　[C] will not influence the economy immediately.
　　[D] will have an immediate impact on the inflation rate.

27. From the text we learn that
　　[A] there is a clear relationship between inflation and interest retes.
　　[B] the economy always follows particular trends.
　　[C] the current economic problem are entirely predictable.
　　[D] the present economic situation is better than expected.

28. The text suggests that
　　[A] the previous economic models are still applicable.
　　[B] an extremely low jobless rate will lead to inflation.
　　[C] a high unemployment rate will result from inflation.
　　[D] interest rates have an immediate effect on the economy.

29. By saying "This is no flash in the pan" (line 5, paragraph 3), the author implies that
　　[A] the low inflation rate will continue.
　　[B] the inflation rate will rise again.
　　[C] inflation will disappear entirely.
　　[D] there is no inflation at present.

30. How does the author feel about the present situation?
　　[A] Tolerant.
　　[B] Indifferent.
　　[C] Disappointed.
　　[D] Surprised.

TEXT 3
In the first year or so of Web business, most of the action has revolved around efforts to tap the consumer market. More recently, as the Web proved to be more than a fashion, companies have started to buy and sell products and services with one another. Such business-to-business sales make sense because business people typically know what product they're looking for.

　　Nonetheless, many companies still hesitate to use the Web because of doubts about its reliability. "Businesses need to feel they can trust the pathway between them and the supplier," says senior analyst Blane Erwin of Forrester Research. Some companies are limiting the risk by conducting online transactions only with established business partners who are given access to the company's private intranet.

　　Another major shift in the model for Internet commerce concerns the technology available for marketing. Until recently, Internet marketing activities have focused on strategies to "pull" customers into sites. In the past year, however, software companies have developed tools that allow companies to "push" information directly out to consumers, transmitting marketing messages directly to targeted customers. Most notably, the Pointcast Network uses a screen saver to deliver a continually updated stream of news and advertisements to subscribers' computer monitors. Subscribers can customize the information they want to receive and proceed directly to a company's Web site. Companies such as Virtual Vineyards are already starting to use similar technologies to push messages to customers about special sales, product offerings, or other events. But push technology has earned the contempt of many Web users. Online culture thinks highly of the notion that the information flowing onto the screen comes there by specific request. Once commercial promotion begins to fill the screen uninvited, the distinction between the Web and television fades. That's a prospect that horrifies Net purists.

　　But it is hardly inevitable that companies on the Web will need to resort to push strategies to make money. The examples of Virtual Vineyards, Amazon.com, and other pioneers show that a Web site selling the right kind of products with the right mix of interactivity, hospitality, and security will attract online customers. And the cost of computing power continues to free fall, which is a good sign for any enterprise setting up shop in silicon. People looking back 5 or 10 years from now may well wonder why so few companies took the online plunge.

31. We learn from the beginning of the passage that Web business
　　[A] has been striving to expand its market.
　　[B] intended to follow a fanciful fashion.
　　[C] tried but in vain to control the market.
　　[D] has been booming for one year or so.

32. Speaking of the online technology available for marketing, the author implies that
　　[A] the technology is popular with many Web users.
　　[B] businesses have faith in the reliability of online transactions.
　　[C] there is a radical change in strategy.
　　[D] it is accessible limitedly to established partners.

33. In the view of Net purists,
　　[A] there should be no marketing messages in online culture.
　　[B] money making should be given priority to on the Web.
　　[C] the Web should be able to function as the television set.
　　[D] there should be no online commercial information without requests.

34. We learn from the last paragraph that
　　[A] pushing information on the Web is essential to Internet commerce.
　　[B] interactivity, hospitality and security are important to online customers.
　　[C] leading companies began to take the online plunge decades ago.
　　[D] setting up shops in silicon is independent of the cost of computing power.

35. The purpose of the author in writing the text is to
　　[A] urge active participation in online business.
　　[B] elaborate on various marketing strategies.
　　[C] compare web business with traditional commerce.
　　[D] illustrate the transition from the pull to push strategy.

TEXT 4
In the last half of the nineteenth century "capital" and "labour" were enlarging and perfecting their rival organizations on modern lines. Many an old firm was replaced by a limited liability company with a bureaucracy of salaried managers. The change met the technical requirements of the new age by engaging a large professional element and prevented the decline in efficiency that so commonly spoiled the fortunes of family firms in the second and third generation after the energetic founders. It was moreover a step away from individual initiative, towards collectivism and municipal and state-owned business. The railway companies, though still private business managed for the benefit of shareholders, were very unlike old family business. At the same time the great municipalities went into business to supply lighting, trams and other services to the taxpayers.

　　The growth of the limited liability company and municipal business had important consequences. Such large, impersonal manipulation of capital and industry greatly increased the numbers and importance of shareholders as a class, an element in national life representing irresponsible wealth detached from the land and the duties of the landowners; and almost equally detached from the responsible management of business. All through the nineteenth century, America, Africa, India, Australia and parts of Europe were being developed by British capital, and British shareholders were thus enriched by the world's movement towards industrialization. Towns like Bournemouth and Eastbourne sprang up to house large "comfortable" classes who had retired on their incomes, and who had no relation to the rest of the community except that of drawing dividends and occasionally attending a shareholders' meeting to dictate their orders to the management. On the other hand "Shareholding" meant leisure and freedom which was used by many of the later Victorians for the highest purpose of a great civilization.

　　The "shareholders" as such had no knowledge of the lives, thoughts or needs of the workmen employed by the company in which he held shares, and his influence on the relations of capital and labour was not good. The paid manager acting for the company was in more direct relation with the men and their demands, but even he had seldom that familiar personal knowledge of the workmen which the employer had often had under the more patriarchal system of the old family business now passing away. Indeed the mere size of operations and the numbers of workmen involved rendered such personal relations impossible. Fortunately, however, the increasing power and organization of the trade unions, at least in all skilled trades, enabled the workmen to meet on equal terms the managers of the companies who employed them. The cruel discipline of the strike and lockout taught the two parties to respect each other's strength and understand the value of fair negotiation.

36. The author says that old family firms
　　[A] were ruined by the younger generations.
　　[B] failed for lack of individual initiative.
　　[C] lacked efficiency compared with modern companies.
　　[D] were able to supply adequate services to taxpayers.

37. The growth of limited liability companies resulted in
　　[A] the separation of capital from management.
　　[B] the ownership of capital by managers.
　　[C] the emergence of capital and labour as two classes.
　　[D] the participation of shareholders as land ownership.

38. The text indicates that
　　[A] some countries developed quickly because of their limited liability companies.
　　[B] the tide of industrialisation benefited British shareholders greatly.
　　[C] shareholders contributed a lot to the fast growth of the British economy.
　　[D] the system of shareholding impaired the management of modern companies.

39. We learn from the text that
　　[A] shareholders often cast negative influence on the well-being workers.
　　[B] owners of traditional firm enjoyed a good relationship with their employees.
　　[C] limited liability companies were too large to run smoothly.
　　[D] trade unions had a positive role between workers and the management.

40. The author appears to be very critical of
　　[A] family firm owners.
　　[B] shareholder.
　　[C] managers.
　　[D] landowners.