TEXT C

It was late in the afternoon, and I was putting the final touch on a piece of writing that I was feeling pretty good about. I wanted to save it, but my cursor had frozen. I tried to shut the computer down, and it seized up altogether. Unsure of what else todo, I yanked (用力猛拉) the battery out.

Unfortunately, Windows had been in the midst of a delicate and crucial undertaking. The next morning, when I turned my computer back on, it informed me that a file had been corrupted and Windows would not load. Then, it offered to repair itself by using the Windows Setup CD.

I opened the special drawer where I keep CDs. But no Windows CD in there. I was forced to call the computer company’s Global Support Centre. My call was answered by a woman in some unnamed, far-off land. I find it annoying to make small talk with someone when I don’t know what continent they’re standing on. Suppose I were to comment on the beautiful weather we’ve been having when there was a monsoon at the other end of the phone? So I got right to the point.

"My computer is telling me a file is corrupted and it wants to fix itself, but I don’t have the Windows Setup CD."

"So you’re having a problem with your Windows Setup CD." She has apparently been dozing and, having come to just as the sentence ended, was attempting to cover for her inattention.

It quickly became clear that the woman was not a computer technician. Her job was to serve as a gatekeeper, a human shield for the technicians. Her sole duty, as far as I could tell, was to raise global stress levels.

To make me disappear, the woman gave me the phone number for Windows’ creator, Microsoft. This is like giving someone the phone number for, I don’t know, North America. Besides, the CD worked; I just didn’t have it. No matter how many times I repeated my story, we came back to the same place. She was calm and resolutely polite.

When my voice hit a certain decibel (分貝), I was passed along, like a hot, irritable potato, to a technician.

"You don’t have the Windows Setup CD, ma’am, because you don’t need it," he explained cheerfully.

"Windows came preinstalled on your computer!"

"But I do need it."

"Yes, but you don’t have it." We went on like this for a while. Finally, he offered to walk me through the use of a different CD, one that would erase my entire system. "Of course, you’d lose all your e-mail, your documents, your photos." It was like offering to drop a safe on my head to cure my headache. "You might be able to recover them, but it would be expensive." He sounded delighted. "And it’s not covered by the warranty (產品保證書)!" The safe began to seem like a good idea, provided it was full.

I hung up the phone and drove my computer to a small, friendly repair place I’d heard about. A smart, helpful man dug out a Windows CD and told me it wouldn’t be a problem. An hour later, he called to let me know it was ready. I thanked him, and we chatted about the weather, which was the same outside my window as it was outside his.

91. Why did the author shut down her computer abruptly?

A. She had saved what she had written.

B. She couldn’t move the cursor.

C. The computer refused to work.

D. The computer offered to repair itself.

92. Which of the following is the author’s opinion about the woman at the Global Support Centre?

A. She sounded helpful and knowledgeable.

B. She was there to make callers frustrated.

C. She was able to solve her computer problem.

D. She was quick to pass her along to a technician.

93. According to the passage, the solution offered by the technician was

A. effective. B. economical. C. unpractical. D. unacceptable.

94. "It was like offering to drop a safe on my head to cure my headache" in the last but one paragraph means that

A. the technician’s proposal would make things even worse.

B. the technician’s proposal could eventually solve the problem.

C. files stored on her computer were like a safe.

D. erasing the entire system was like curing a headache.

95. It can be inferred from the passage that the differences between the Global Support Centre and the local repair shop lie in all the following EXCEPT

A. efficiency. B. location. C. setup CDs. D. attitude.

TEXT D

Not long ago, a mysterious Christmas card dropped through our mail slot. The envelope was addressed to a man named Raoul, who, I was relatively certain, did not live with us. The envelope wasn’t sealed, so I opened it. The inside of the card was blank. Ed, my husband, explained that the card was both from and to the newspaper deliveryman. His name was apparently Raoul, and Raoul wanted a holiday tip. We were meant to put a check inside the card and then drop the envelope in the mail. When your services are rendered at 4 a.m., you can’t simply hang around, like a hotel bellboy expecting a tip. You have to be direct.

So I wrote a nice holiday greeting to this man who, in my imagination, fires The New York Times from his bike aimed at our front door, causing more noise with mere newsprint than most people manage with sophisticated black market fireworks.

With a start, I realized that perhaps the reason for the 4 a.m. wake-up noise was not ordinary rudeness but carefully executed spite: I had not tipped Raoul in Christmases past. I honestly hadn’t realized I was supposed to. This was the first time he’d used the card tactic. So I got out my checkbook. Somewhere along the line, holiday tipping went from an optional thank-you for a year of services to a Mafia-style protection racket (收取保護費的黑社會組織).

Several days later, I was bringing our garbage bins back from the curb when I noticed an envelope taped to one of the lids. The outside of the envelope said MICKEY. It had to be another tip request, this time from our garbage collector. Unlike Raoul, Mickey hadn’t enclosed his own Christmas card from me. In a way, I appreciated the directness. "I know you don’t care how merry my Christmas is, and that’s fine," the gesture said. "I want $30, or I’ll ’forget’ to empty your garbage bin some hot summer day."

I put a check in the envelope and taped it back to the bin. The next morning, Ed noticed that the envelope was gone, though the trash hadn’t yet been picked up: "Someone stole Mickey’s tip!" Ed was quite certain. He made me call the bank and cancel the check.

But Ed had been wrong. Two weeks later, Mickey left a letter from the bank on our steps. The letter informed Mickey that the check, which he had tried to cash, had been cancelled. The following Tuesday morning, when Ed saw a truck outside, he ran out with his wallet. "Are you Mickey?"

The man looked at him with scorn. "Mickey is the garbageman. I am the recycling." Not only had Ed insulted this man by hinting that he was a garbageman, but he had obviously neglected to tip him. Ed ran back inside for more funds. Then he noticed that the driver of the truck had been watching the whole transaction. He peeled off another twenty and looked around, waving bills in the air. "Anyone else?"

Had we consulted the website of the Emily Post Institute, this embarrassing breach of etiquette (禮節) could have been avoided. Under "trash/recycling collectors" in the institute’s Holiday Tipping Guidelines, it says: "$10 to $30 each." You may or may not wish to know that your pet groomer, hairdresser, mailman and UPS guy all expect a holiday tip.

96. The newspaper deliveryman put a blank card inside the envelope because

A. he forgot to write a few words on it.

B. he wanted the couple to send it back.

C. he used it to ask for a Christmas tip.

D. he was afraid of asking for a tip in person.

97. From the passage, we learn that the author

A. didn’t like Raoul’s way of delivering the paper.

B. didn’t realize why Raoul delivered the paper that way.

C. didn’t know that Raoul came very early in the morning.

D. didn’t feel it necessary to meet Raoul when he came.

98. According to the passage, the author felt ____ to give Raoul a holiday tip.

A. excited B. delighted C. embarrassed D. forced

99. Which of the following is CORRECT about Mickey, the garbage collector?

A. He wrote a letter to the couple afterwards.

B. He failed to collect the money from the bank.

C. He wanted the couple to send him a Christmas card.

D. He collected both the cheek and the garbage that day.

100. Ed’s encounter with the recycling team shows that

A. Ed was desperate to correct his mistake.

B. Ed only wanted to give money to Raoul.

C. Ed was unwilling to tip the truck driver.

D. Ed no longer wanted to give them money.

PART VI WRITING [45 MINI]

SECTION A COMPOSITION [35 MIN]

Tourism is a booming business in China. However, some people worry that too many tourists may bring harm to the environment, while others don’t think so. What is your opinion? Write on ANSWER SHEET THREE a composition of about 200 words on the following topic:

Will Tourism Bring Harm to the Environment?

You are to write in three parts.

In the first part, state specifically what your opinion is.

In the second part, provide one or two reasons to support your opinion.

In the last part, bring what you have written to a natural conclusion or make a summary.

Marks will be awarded for content, organization, grammar and appropriateness. Failure to follow the instructions may result in a loss of marks.

SECTION B NOTE-WRITING [10 MIN]

Write on ANSWER SHEET THREE a note of about 50-60 words based on the following situation:

Lily, your roommate, is looking for a part-time job in the coming summer vacation. You saw an ad for a private English tutor for a schoolboy. Write her a note, telling her what the job is and strongly recommending it to her.

Marks will be awarded for content, organization, grammar and appropriateness.

（責任編輯：hbz）

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