Passage 1
    Everyone has heard of the San Andreas fault （断层）, which constantly threatens California and the West Coast with earthquakes. But how many people know about the equally serious New Madrid fault in Missouri?
 
    Between December of 1811 and February of 1812, three major earthquakes occurred, all centered around the town of New Madrid, Missouri, on the Mississippi River. Property damage was severe. Buildings in the area were almost destroyed. Whole forests fell at once, and huge cracks opened in the ground, allowing smell of sulfur（硫磺）to filter upward.
 
    The Mississippi River itself completely changed character, developing sudden rapids and whirlpools. Several times it changed its course, and once, according to some observers, it actually appeared to run backwards.Few people were killed in the New Marid earthquakes, probably simply because few people lived in the area in 1811; but the severity of the earthquakes are shown by the fact that the shock waves rang bells in church towers in Charl
eston, South Carolina, on the coast. Buildings shook in New York City, and clocks wer stopped in Washington, D.C. Scientists now know that America's two major faults are essentially different. The San Andreas is a horizontal boundary between two major land masses that are slowly moving in opposite directions. California earthquakes result when the movement of these two masses suddenly lurches （倾斜） forward.
 
    The New Madrid fault, on the other hand, is a vertical fault; at some points, possibly hundreds of millions of years ago, rock was pushed up toward the surface, probably by volcanoes under the surface. Suddenly, the volcanoes cooled and the rock collapsed, leaving huge cracks. Even now, the rock continues to settle downwards, and sudden sinking motions trigger （触发） earthquakes in the region. The fault itself, a large crack in this layer of rock, with dozens of other cracks that split off from it, extends from northeastArkansas through Missouri and into southern lllinois.
 
    Scientists who have studied the New Madrid fault say there have been numerous smalle
r quakes in the area since 1811; these smaller quakes indicate that larger ones are probably coming, but the scientists say have no method of predictingwhen a large earthquake will occur.
 
1. This passage is mainly about    .
  A.the New Madrid fault in Missouri 
　B.the causes of faults 　
　C.the San Andreas and the New Madrid faults     
　D.current scientific knowledge about fault 
2. The New Madrid fault is    　.
 
　A.a vertical fault
　B.a horizontal fault
　C.a more serious fault than the San Andreas fault
　D.responsible for forming the Mississippi River　
　3. We may conclude from the passage that　    .
　A.California will become an island in future
　B.the New Madrid fault will eventually develop a mountain range in Missouri
  C.it is probably as dangerous to live in Missouri as in California 
  D.A big earthquake will occur to California soon　
　4. This passage implies that      .
　A.horizontal faults are more dangerous than vertical faults.
　B.Vertical faults are more dangerous than horizontal faults
　C.California will break into pieces by an eventual earthquake
　D.Earthquakes occur only around fault areas 
  5. As used in the first sentence of the fourth paragraph, the word essentially   
  means    .
　A. greatly 
　B.basically　  
　C.extremely
  D.necessarily
Passage 2
    In 1960-1961, Chad （乍得） harvested 9800 tons of cotton seed for the first time in its history, and put out the flag a little too soon. The efforts of the authorities to get the peasants back to work, as they had slacked off （松懈） a great deal the previous year during independence celebrations, largely contributed to it. Also, rains were well spaced, and continued through the whole month of October. If the 1961-1962 total is back to the reg
ion of 45000 tons, it is mostly because efforts slackened again and sowing was started too late.
 
    The average date of sowing is about July 1st. If this date is simply moved up fifteen or twenty days, 30000 to 60000 tons of cotton are gained, depending on the year. The peasant in Chad sows his millet （小米） first, and it is hard to criticize this instinctive priority given to his daily bread. An essential reason for his lateness with sowing cotton is that at the time when he should leave to prepare the fields he has just barely sold the cotton of the previous season. The work required to sow, in great heat, is psychologically far more difficult if one's pockets are full of money. The date of cotton sales should therefore be moved forward as much as possible, and purchases of equipment and draught animals encouraged.
 
    Peasants should also be encouraged to save money, to help them through the difficult period between harvests. If necessary they should be forced to do so, by having the payme
nts for cotton given to them in installments （分期付款）. The last payment would be made after proof that the peasant has planted before the deadline, the date being advanced to the end of June. Those who have done so would receive extra money whereas the last planters would not receive their last payment until later.
 
    Only the first steps are hard, because once work has started the peasants continue willingly on their way. Educational campaigns among the peasants will play an essential role in this basic advance, early sowing, on which all the others depend. It is not a matter of controlling the peasants. Each peasant will remain master of his fields. One could, however, suggest the need for the time being of kind but firm rule, which, as long as it cannot be realized by the people, should at least be for the people.
 
6. In 1960-1961, Chad had a good harvest of cotton because      .
　A.the government greatly encouraged peasants
　B.rains favored the growth of cotton
　C.Both A）and B）
　D.Chad gained independence in the previous year 
7. We learn from the passage that the date of sowing cotton is usually  　.
　A. on June 15th 
　B. on July 1st   　
　C. on July 15th　
　D.on July 20th 
8. As used in the third sentence of the second paragraph,daily breadrefers tovertical怎么读    　.
　A.breakfast  
　B.bread and butter 
　C.millet 
　D.rice  
9. In order to help them through the difficult time between harvests the peasants have to  　.
　A.be encouraged to save money　
　B.sell cotton in advance 　
　C.sow cotton in time   　
　D.plant millet first　
10. Which of the following is NOT true?
　A.Educational campaigns are very important to early sowing.
　B.Peasants should remain the masters of their fields.
　C.Of all the advances that the writer hopes for, early sowing is the most important.
  D.Government might as well make good and firm rule for peasants.
Passage 3
    For most people learning to drive, the driving test arises ahead as a major barrier. It is also a general source of conversation whenever drivers are gathered together. There are probably more tall stories about the driving test than about any other motoring subjects; the most remarkable thing about those stories is the number of times the old ones appear again, years after they were first heard, in new and exaggerated forms.
    All driving examiners have had to pass a very strict selection process, followed by at least six weeks' training. In the course of this training the Department makes sure that their driving is of a consistently high standard.
    Driving test centers are chosen with equal care. It would be nice to have centers and examiners town by town. But this is just not possible, because the centers have to be at places where there is enough parking space for candidates (考生) and where there are enough test routes. Routes are carefully chosen to make sure that they are all roughly comparable-the proportion of right and left turns, hills, pedestrian (行人) crossings and so on. The object of all this is to make sure, as far as possible, that all candidates in the drivin
g test have to cope with the same sort of conditions whether they take the test in New York or California.

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