【大問2A 読解問題】
Read the following three passages and mark the most appropriate choice (and) for each item (15~24) on the separate answer sheet.
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, many words entered English from languages such as French (e.g. grotesque), Latin (e.g. necessary), Greek (e.g. chaos), Italian (e.g. piano) and Spanish (e.g. canoe). The important consequence is that English spelling contains the spelling conventions of other languages: it is an amalgam of various spelling systems. This process of borrowing from other languages has continued throughout the development of English. More recently, the spelling of the word khaki — the colour — reflects the fact that it is borrowed from Urdu, and the spelling of kamikaze reflects the fact that it is borrowed from Japanese.
Many people in the sixteenth century were highly critical of the tremendous variation in spelling, the addition of superfluous letters and so on. Also, from this time onwards dictionaries started to appear that people could consult for an authoritative spelling. Coupled with printing, all this had the effect of fixing or standardising spellings. In fact, very few spellings have changed since Dr Johnson's Dictionary of 1755. Unfortunately, spellings were fixed at a time of great confusion. Not only was there a great influx of words from other languages, but the language was also experiencing changes in pronunciation — changes that spelling failed to keep up with.
Jonathan Culpeper. History of English.
15. Which of the following contributed to the standardisation of spelling?
(a) changes in accent and intonation
(b) continuous inflow of foreign words
(c) people's overuse of redundant letters
(d) publication of various dictionaries
16. According to the text, which of the following is true?
(a) Current English spelling is the result of adopting words from other languages.
(b) Sixteenth-century people took an inflexible approach to writing letters.
(c) The introduction of printing devices had little impact on spelling.
(d) The standardisation of spelling has contributed to improving pronunciation.
【大問2B 読解問題】
The authority habitually cited in defence of transnational government is Immanuel Kant who, in Perpetual Peace, argued for a League of Nations as the ideal way to secure permanent peace in the civilized world. Under the League, sovereign nations would submit to a common jurisdiction, to be enforced by sanctions. The purpose would be to ensure that disputes were settled by law and not by force, with grievances remedied and injustices punished, in the interests of an order beneficial to all. This is the idea embodied first in the League of Nations, which consciously honoured Kant in its name, and then in the United Nations.
What Kant had in mind, however, was very far from transnational government as it is now conceived. He was adamant that there can be no guarantee of peace unless the powers acceding to the treaty are republics. Republican government, as defined by Kant, means representative rather than non-monarchical government under a territorial rule of law, and although Kant did not emphasize the idea of nationality as its precondition, it is clear from the context that it is self-governing and sovereign nations that he had in mind. Kant went on to argue that the kind of international law that is needed for peace 'presupposes the separate existence of many independent states united under a federal union to prevent hostilities breaking out'. This state of affairs is to be preferred to 'an amalgamation of the separate nations under a single power' And he then gives the principal pragmatic objection to transnational government, namely that 'laws progressively lose their impact as the government increases its range, and a soulless despotism, after crushing the germs of goodness, will finally lapse into anarchy'.
Roger Scruton. A Political Philosophy
17. Which of the following is true, according to the passage?
(a) Advocates of transnational government assume they have a strong supporter in Kant.
(b) Kant wrote his famous book in favour of what we now call transnational government
(c) The United Nations differs from the League of Nations on how to settle disputes.
(d) The United Nations, unlike the League of Nations, xpressed its deep respect for Kant.
18. According to the passage, Kant
(a) argued that a single power should fuse separate nations together.
(b) emphasized the importance of monarchical government.
(c) ignored the existence of self-governing and sovereign nations.
(d) thought that the rule of law becomes less effective the more it is expanded.
19. According to the author, Kant would be best described as
(a) a realistic idealist.
(b) a stubborn nationalist.
(c) a utopian cosmopolitan.
(d) a zealous monarchist.
【大問2C 読解問題】
Mario Capecchi's ninth birthday, on 6 October 1946, was almost his last. He lay in a hospital bed, dying of diseases brought on by the malnutrition he had suffered in the years he had spent as a street child in wartime Italy. A woman came to talk to him, and though Mario did not recognize her, it was his mother, who had been searching for her son for over a year. She was an American poet, named Lucy Ramberg, who had been living in Italy for many years before the war, but she had been involved in political opposition to the Fascist government, and in 1941 was arrested and sent to a German concentration camp. Lucy had made arrangements for her children, and had given money to a family to look after her young son. However, the money had gone quickly, and at the age of four Mario became homeless, alone.
Together again with his mother, Mario regained his health, and they left Italy for America, where they lived with Lucy's extended family near Philadelphia. Mario had not had even one day of school in his life, was almost illiterate, and spoke no English. Nevertheless, with the care and encouragement of his family, teachers and friends, he learned quickly and became an excellent student. As a teenager, he became interested in science, and decided to apply himself to the study of physics. He graduated from Antioch College in Ohio and then entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to undertake further study.
At this point, in the early 1960s, Mario became interested in the newly-developing area of genetics, and he moved from MIT to Harvard, where he could learn and research under James D. Watson, who had played a major part in the discovery of how DNA is constructed. The young Capecchi soon prospered in his new chosen field. His research into the area of molecular biology was outstanding, and he had the opportunity to continue his career at Harvard or any other university.
It was a little surprising therefore that Capecchi decided to take, with Watson's approval, a job offer at the University of Utah. As he himself explained later, this job allowed him to take time over his research and develop the long-term project in genetics he was to follow for the next twenty years. At Harvard or other high-prestige institutions, he would have been required to achieve significant outcomes in a short period of time. His decision was vindicated when he became a recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine in 1987.
There was to be one more amazing event in his life. In Switzerland, one evening in October 1987, a woman named Maria Bonelli was watching the television news and suddenly realized that the Nobel Prize winner was her long-lost brother. Maria as a young child had been adopted by another family and raised in Austria, where she lived for the rest of her life. She had tried to find out more about her birth mother and a step-brother, but did not know his name, and had assumed both had died in the war. Capecchi looked into her account, which showed that she was indeed the sister of the world-famous scientist. Finally, over forty years since they had been separated, brother and sister could meet again.
20. According to the passage,
(a) Mario's existence up till 1946 had mostly been one of privilege and comfort.
(b) Mario's first meeting with his mother after the war happened by accident.
(c) Mario's life had gone from bad to worse during the war years in Italy.
(d) Mario's mother was surprised to find her son desperately ill in hospital.
21. Which of these statements, according to the passage, is true?
(a) Mario did well at school even though his previous existence would have been a major obstacle.
(b) Mario disliked school as he suffered from discrimination because of his poor
background.
(c) Mario found school in America difficult as he could not speak English nor read and write.
(d) Mario hoped one day to become a teacher of science back in his home country.
22. According to the passage, Mario studied
(a) genetics and molecular biology in Ohio and then at MIT.
(b) genetics at Harvard after changing his course of study.
(c) physics but was forced to change to molecular biology.
(d) physics under the direction of James D. Watson at Harvard.
23. Which of these statements is true, according to the passage?
(a) Maria Bonelli felt no surprise that Mario won the Nobel Prize, as she knew that he was an extremely clever person.
(b) Maria Bonelli happened to discover the identity of the man who won the Nobel Prize, when she was watching the news.
(c) Maria Bonelli turned out to be Mario Capecchi's real mother, and found him again through his appearance on television news.
(d) Maria Bonelli was in fact no relation of Mario Capecchi, as was revealed by DNA testing after her claim.
24. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
(a) DNA Testing Can Help Us Find Out Who We Really Are
(b) Professor Capecchi Was Lucky in His Life and Career
(c) “Super” Mario Is Again Reunited with His Family
(d) You Can Win a Nobel Prize If You Wish Hard Enough
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