SECTION B SKIMMING AND SCANNING［5 MIN.］
In this section there are five passages with a total of ten multiple-choice questions. Skim or scan them as required and then mark your answers on your ANSWER SHEET.
TEXT E
First read the following questions.
81. Which one of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A. By and large, dentists are honest professionals.
B. Because of the large sums of money Americans spend on dental care, their teeth are in excellent condition.
C. Generally speaking, the results of poor dental care do not show up until very late in life.
D. For the most part, dentists think that Americans should assume greater responsibility in maintaining the health of their teeth.
82. The author of this passage states that the average American____.
A. still has the majority of his natural teeth at the age of 70
B. annually spends relatively little on health care
C. has a 50/50 chance of having gum disease by the age of 40
D. may very likely wear a bridge or denture by the age of 25
Now skim the passage below and mark your answers on your ANSWER SHEET.
Oral health care is, these days, a big, booming business. According to Ralph Nader, Americans spend some $5 billion on dental care each year. Yet, despite the tremendous amounts of money, time and energy given over to oral health, dental literature indicates that about half the population in this country has lost all of its teeth by age 65. Nearly half of all people over age 20 wear a bridge or denture, and more than 20 percent have complete upper and lower dentures. By age 50, one out of every two persons has gum disease.
The dental profession blames neglectful Americans themselves. About half the population, it claims, fails to visit the dentist regularly and some 30 million never do. Critics, on the other hand, slam the profession. It can be conservatively estimated that at least 15 percent of United States dentists are incompetent,dishonest, or both, says a former Pennsylvania Commissioner of Insurance. Some have set the figure as high as 50 percent.
TEXT F
First read the following questions.
83. How much of the earth’s water can man really use?
A. He can use nearly 75% of it.
B. He can use about 97% of it.
C. He can use less than 3% of it.
D. He can use exactly 3% of it.
84. How can we avoid a worldwide water shortage in the future?
A. We can develop ways of reusing water.
B. We can invent ways of increasing rainfall.
C. We may use less water.
D. We may build fewer steel plants.
Now skim the passage below and mark your answers on your ANSWER SHEET.
The world is not only hungry, but thirsty for water. That may seem strange to you, since nearly 75% of the earth surface is covered with water. But about 97% of this huge amount is seawater, or salt water. Man can only drink and use the other 3%——the fresh water from rivers, lakes, underground, and other sources. And we cannot even use all of that, because some of it is in the form of icebergs and glaciers. Even worse, some of it has been polluted.
However, this small amount of fresh water is still enough for us. But our need for water is increasing rapidly.Only if we take steps to deal with this problem now can we avoid a severe worldwide water shortage later on.
One of the first steps is to develop ways of reusing it. Today water is used only once and then discharged into a sewer system, and it eventually return to the sea or runs into underground storage tanks. But it is possible to pipe used water to a purifying plant. There it can be filtered and treated with chemicals so that it can be used again.
But even if every large city purified and reused its water, we still would not have enough. All we’d have to do to make use of the seawater in the world is to remove the salt.If we take these steps we’ll be in no danger of drying up!
TEXT G
First read the following question.
85. The main idea of this passage is____.
A. how to raise goldfish
B. where a goldfish of normal size can survive
C. how to feed goldfish
D. we should keep goldfish as pets
Now skim the passage below and mark your answer on your ANSWER SHEET.
Because goldfish can be kept easily in small ponds and aquariums, they make good pets, but like any other pets, they must have proper care and the right place to live.
A two-inch fish requires a minimum of two gallons of water containing sufficient oxygen to support life. Some oxygen will make its way into the water of an aquarium from the air that touches the surface; plants in an aquarium also help to furnish oxygen. Snails help to keep an aquarium clean. Thus, with plenty of plants and snails, the water in an aquarium does not have to be changed frequently.
It is important that goldfish not be overfed. They can be fed such things as dried insects and shrimp in addition to commercially-prepared goldfish food, but they should never be fed more than once a day. Even then, they should not be given more food than can be consumed in about five minutes.