Part I Reading Comprehension

Questions 01-05 are based on the following passage:
In managing information resources, the medium may be the key to an effective system. The medium is a vehicle, a tool, or a container for holding information; the information itself is the thing of value.
Three popular categories of information media are paper, film, and electronic storage devices The media choice must not be viewed as a choice among these three, however; it must be viewed a s an opportunity to select from a multitude of media possibilities in combinations that build effective systems. In many instances the person responsible for information-resource management is not the person who determines the medium in which information will be created. In such a case, the manager of a firm s information resources faces a challenge in making a significant contribution to the organization s objectives.
For effective management of information resources, media conversion may be necessary. Examples include keying or scanning paper documents to convert them to electronic media. Other processes convert electronic media from one format to another. For example, disk files created on one system may not be compatible with another system. Various hardware and software combinations can be used to convert files to formats that equipment will accept. For information generated within organizations, this necessity of making systems compatible may be eliminated by cooperative planning. However, very little control can be exercised over the media used to generate information that comes to your organization from the outside.
The medium for information may be selected to satisfy a need that exists when information is created and communicated. For example, a paper record may be created because of its portability and because no special equipment is necessary for later references to that information; electronic transmission may be selected because it is the fastest means of communicating information. A firm may use electronic mail because a network already exists for on-line computer communication. The additional application may cost less than postage to mail paper memos.
01. Which of the following can best sum up the passage?
A. Media Selection in Managing Information Resources.
B. The Importance and Necessity of Media Conversion.
C. Three Categories of Information Media.
D. Various Means of Communicating Information
02. The first paragraph aims at telling the reader ____.
A. the importance of information resources management
B. the relationship between the medium and information
C. the great variety of media for holding information
D. the numerous resources of information
03. According to the author, ____.
A. paper is the best storage device
B. people have three choices in selecting information media
C. it is better to let the person responsible for information-resource management determine the medium
D. the manager should build an effective system by selecting a good combination of different media
04. For effective management of information resources, the manager should ____.
A. convert all paper documents to electronic media
B. make media conversion when necessary
C. control the media used to generate information both inside and outside his organization
D. use one format in processing information
05. The main idea of the last paragraph is ____.
A. paper record is the most convenient medium for later reference
B. electronic mail costs less than postage to mail paper memos
C. different media for information may be selected for different purposes
D. by using different media, a firm can create various information for its objectives

Questions 06-10 are based on the following passage:
Many leading scientists down through the years form Galieo to Einstein have been deeply religious. They have been intrigued by the essential mystery of life and material existence, and have recognized that spiritual as well as scientific understanding is needed.
Two biologists might examine a living cell under a microscope. One will see there the handiwork of God; the other will see only what evolution has chanced to produce. And yet both will agree on the cell s biological history, its composition, its structure, and its function. One physicist will find God in the exquisitely organized and exact laws of the physical universe. Another physicist will not be able to see anything beyond the laws themselves. The religious views of a scientist do not come from his science; they come from his entire philosophy, his whole view of the world. But scientists are not unique in this matter; the same disparity of thinking is to be found among people from all walks of life.
In the modern world, science serves two important functions. One is to provide the basis for a scientific technology. It is in this way that science has the greatest influence on our daily living. Through technology, we advance the structure of civilization and gain increasing domination over the earth and adjoining portions of the universe. The other purpose served by science is one of understanding. Through science, we discover how phenomena occur and, to a limited extent, why they happen the way they do. Vital processes are analysed and studied, that we may know more of how organisms function, and how they have come to be what they are. Through science, we seek to know that a man is - how his body works and why he thinks and dreams. As we search to know ourselves and the workings of our minds, we expect to find solutions to problems of confusion and discontent. Science is a way to understanding, but in some ways it is a narrow path that does not touch on all the questions posed by the facts of human life. Science does not provide a way of life; it does not create a moral order. It is quite obvious that not all human knowledge can be reduced to scientific terms. Interpretations of the ultimate meaning and value of life will, in the final analysis, be made more on the basis of spiritual awareness than on scientific acuity.
06. According to the author, many leading scientists ____.
A. have acknowledged that only religion can explain the mystery of life
B. have been puzzled by the mystery of life and material things
C. have attempted to explain physical life from a religious point of view
D. have engaged in intrigue trying to solve the mystery of life
07. The author suggests in the second paragraph that ____.
A. while some physicists conclude from the laws of nature that there is a God, others draw no such conclusion
B. it is only by studying philosophy that a man can develop religious beliefs
C. by examining a living cell under a microscope biologists can understand the process of evolution
D. there is a disparity of thinking between scientists and people from other walks of life regarding science and religion
08. In the last sentence of the second paragraph, "this matter" refers to ____.
A. the fact that a scientist s religious views derive from his whole outlook on life
B. the fact that some people believe in God while others do not
C. the disparity of thinking between scientists and people from other walks of life
D. the disparity in the religious conclusions drawn from the observation of natural phenomena
09. In the third paragraph "scientific technology" is ____.
A. the application of scientific knowledge to the skills of industry
B. the application of science and industry to daily life
C. science and industry as the basis of progress
D. the use of science and industrial techniques in gaining control of the universe
10. In the third paragraph it is mentioned that by means of science ____ are analyzed and studied.
A. the ways in which cells formed
B. changes in organic life
C. the main ways in which organisms develop
D. processes on which organic life depends

Questions 11-15 are based on the following passage:
Joseph Weizenbaum, professor of computer science at MIT, thinks that the sense of power over the machine ultimately corrupts the computer hacker and makes him into a not very-desirable sort of programmer. The hackers are so involved with designing their program, making it more and more complex and bending it to their will, that they don t bother trying to make it understandable to other users. They rarely keep records of their programs for the benefit of others, and they take rarely time to understand why a problem occurred.
Computer science teachers say they can usually pick out the prospective hackers in their courses because these students make their homework assignments more complex than they need to be. Rather than using the simplest and most direct method, they take joy in adding extra steps just to prove their ingenuity.
But perhaps those hackers know something that we don t about the shape of things to come. "That hacker who had to be literally dragged off his chair at MIT is now a multimillionaire of the computer industry," says MIT professor Michael Dertouzos. "And two former hackers became the founders of the highly successful Apple home computer company."
When seen in this light, the hacker phenomenon may not be so strange after all. If, as many psychiatrists say, play is really the basis for all human activity, then the hacker games are really the preparation for future developments.
Sherry Turkle, a professor of sociology at MIT, has for years been studying the way computers fit into people s lives. She points out that the computer, because it seems to us to be so "intelligent," so "capable," so..."human" affects the way we think about ourselves and our ideas about what we are. She says that computers and computer toys already play an important role in children s efforts to develop an id

[1] [2] [3] 下一页