Section A

1. M: Have you had the brakes and tires checked? And do you have enough money?

W: I've taken care of everything and I'm sure it's going to be a wonderful trip.

Q: What is the woman going to do?

2. M: The new sales manager says he have never met you before.

W: We've been introduced about three times. He seems a little forgetful.

Q: What do we learn about the new sales manager?

3. W: I don't understand why this book for self study doesn't have answers to the questions.

M: But it does. You can find them at the back of the book.

Q: What does the man say about the self-study book?

4. W: We mean to let everyone know about the charity concert, but we don't have enough money for advertising.

M: How about using the school radio station? They broadcast free public-service announcement.

Q: What does the man suggest they do?

5. M: By the way, Jane, did you talk to the consultant about our health program?

W: I contacted his office, but his secretary said he would be out for lunch until two.

Q: What does the woman mean?

6. M: I don't know whether to ask Joe or Cora to draw the posters.

W: What difference does it make? They're both excellent artists.

Q: What does the woman imply about Joe and Core?

7. M: Mary is in charge of the art and music section; and Charles, the sports page. What about you?

W: I'm responsible for the editorials.

Q: Where does the woman work?

8. M: I ran into our friend Mark yesterday on the street, and he said he hadn't heard from you for two months.

W: Yes, I know, but I've been too busy to phone him.

Q: What do we learn from the conversation?

9. M: I'm really exhausted. but I don't want to miss the film that comes on at 11.

W: If I were you, I'd skip it. We both have to get up early tomorrow. and anyway, I've heard it isn't that exciting.

Q: What does the woman mean?

10. M: I thought the librarian said we could check out as many books as we need without our library cards.

W: That's right, but not those reference books.

Q: What does the woman mean?

Section B

Passage One

The piano and violin are girls' instruments.

Drums and trumpets are for boys.

According to psychologists Susan Onco and Michael Balton, children have very clear ideas about which musical instruments they should play.

They find that despite the best efforts of teachers these ideas have changed very little over the past decade.

They interviewed 153 children aged between 9 and 11 from schools in northwest England.

They asked them to identify 4 musical instruments and then to say which they would like to play most and which they would like play least.

They also asked the children for their views on whether boys or girls should not play any of the 4 instruments.

The piano and the violin were both ranked favorably by girls more than by boys, while boys prefer the drums and trumpets.

There was broad agreement between boys and girls on which instruments each *** should play and the reasons vary.

And while almost half of all boys said they avoid certain instruments because they were too difficult to play, only 15% of girls gave that as a reason.

Earlier studies indicated that very young school children aged between 5 and 7 showed no bias in choosing musical instruments,

but their tastes become more clear between the ages of 8 and 10.

One survey of 78 teachers suggested that after that age both boys and girls begin to restrict themselves to the so-called male or female instruments.

11. Why did Susan and Michael interview children aged between 9 and 11?

12. Why do many of the boys avoid certain instruments?

13. Which group of children have a bias when choosing musical instruments?

Passage Two

In the 1970s, the famous Brazilian football player Pele retired from the national team of Brazil and became a professional player for a team in New York.

Football, or soccer, wasn't very popular in the United States at that time.

Few North Americans knew anything about this fast-moving sport.

There was no money to pay professional players and there was little interest in football in high schools and colleges.

When Pele and other international stars began playing in various US cities, people saw how interesting the game was and began to go to the matches.

It is now common for important games to have fifty to sixty thousand fans.

Support from the fans is important to the football.

The fans cheer enthusiastically for their favorite players and teams, who respond by playing better than before.

In most World Cups, the home team, or the team from the host country usually plays better than most people expect.

In 1966, 1974 and 1978, the home teams of England, West Germany and Argentina all won the World Cup.

The World Cup is called that because teams from every continent have played in it.

However, since the Cup began, all of the winning teams have been from Europe or South America.

Teams from Asia or Africa always do well but they haven't yet won.

Mexico played surprisingly well in the 1970 Cup, which it hosted, but it wasn't among the 4 final teams.

14. Why wasn't football a popular sport in the U.S. in the 1970s?

15. When does a football team have the best chance to win the World Cup?

16. How did Mexico do in the 1970 World Cup?

Passage Three

The world's smartest adolescence in mathematics and science are in Singapore, according to a global survey of educational achievement.

In the 3rd International Mathematics and Science Study, 13-year-olds from Singapore achieved the best scores in standardized tests of maths and science that were administered to 287, 896 students in 41 countries in 1994 and 1995.

The survey suggests that science and maths education is especially strong in the Far East.

While well behind those top scores, students from Australia earned higher marks in maths than their counterparts in England, who in turn did better than American students.

The study collected information on the students' teachers and homes.

Not surprisingly, the highest-scoring students had well-educated parents or came from homes containing study-aids such as computers, dictionaries or even such elemental facilities as desks.

The study shows that boys generally did better than girls in science, but there was little difference between them in maths.

Boys scored better than girls in physics and chemistry.

There were no *** differences in the life and environmental sciences.

In addition to being tested, students in the project were asked how proficient they thought they were in maths and science.

Students in some countries, such as Columbia and Kuwait, had an overly optimistic view of their skills.

Meanwhile, some of the best students from Japan and Korea for example were needlessly pessimistic even though they did far better in maths than almost all of other students.

17. Of the 4 groups of students, who scored the lowest in maths according to the survey?

18. What kind of students are most likely to become top scorers?

19. In what way do Columbian students differ from Japanese students?

20. In which subjects did boys score higher than girls?