1997

PartⅠ Cloze Test

Manpower Inc., with 560 000 workers, is the world's largest temporary employment agency. Every morning, its people (1) swarm into the offices and factories of America, seeking a day's working for a day's pay.

One day at a time. (2) As industrial giants like General Motors and IBM struggle to survive (3) by reducing the number of employees, Manpower, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is booming. (4) Even though its economy continues to recover, the US is increasingly becoming a nation of part-timers and temporary workers. This "(5) disposable" work force is the most important (6) trend in American business today, and it is (7) fundamentally changing the relationship between people and their jobs. The phenomenon provides a way for companies to remain globally competitive (8) while avoiding market cycles and the growing burdens (9) imposed by employment rules, health care costs and pension plans. For workers it can mean an end to the security, benefits and sense of (10) importance that came from being a loyal employee.
题目及词汇
题目编号选项A选项B选项C选项D
1swarmstrideseparateslip
2ForBecauseAsSince
3frominonby
4Even thoughNow thatIf onlyProvided that
5durabledisposableavailabletransferable
6approachflowfashiontrend
7instantlyreverselyfundamentallysufficiently
8butwhileandwhereas
9imposedrestrictedillustratedconfined
10excitementconvictionenthusiasmimportance
  • temporary [ˈtemprəri] a. 临时的，暂时的 & n. 临时工
  • swarm [swɔːm] v. 成群地来回移动 & n. 一大群，一大批
  • giant [ˈdʒaɪənt] n. 巨人；大公司；巨兽
  • part-timer [ˌpɑːt ˈtaɪmə(r)] n. 兼职者；部分时间工作的人
  • disposable [dɪˈspəʊzəbl] a. 一次性的；可任意处理的；可自由支配的
  • burden [ˈbɜːdn] n. 负担，重担 & v. 使负担 ，使承受重担
  • impose [ɪmˈpəʊz] v. 把...强加于；推行，采用；强迫
  • pensin ['penʃ(ə)n] n. 养老金，退休金
  • stride [straɪd] v.大步走；阔步行走 & n. 进展，进步；步态
  • durable [ˈdjʊərəbl] a. 耐用的，持久的 & n. 耐用品
  • reversely [rɪˈvɜːsli] ad. 相反地，反向地
  • sufficiently [sə'fɪʃ(ə)ntlɪ] ad. 足以，充分地，最大限度地
  • whereas [ˌweərˈæz] conj. 然而，但是，尽管 & n. 开场白，引言
  • One day at a time. 一天一过。/专注于今天。

Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension

Passage 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.

题目及词汇

parliamentary

territory

incurably

executive

sent on

bulletin

import

sink in

terminally

physician

moral

implication

church

bitterly

bill

haste

passage

haste

tide

euthanasia

domino

certificate

resident

get on with

haunting

claw