Section B

　　Passage 1

　　Barbie dolls have a particular look to them. They’re thin, tall, long-legged and virtually unlike any real human being. Although over the years Barbie has had more than 180 different careers-including football coach, sign language teacher, ambassador, president and astronaut–her body shape hasn’t changed much.

　　Last year Mattel, the company that makes Barbie dolls, added some Barbies to its line that have different skin tones and hair textures. There are now Barbies with one of seven skin tones, 22 eye colours and 24 hair styles to choose from. Last year Mattel also gave Barbie a flat foot, rather than forcing her to be “in heels” all the time like the original Barbie is.

　　Now they are introducing new Barbies with three slightly different body shapes while the original, tall and thin Barbies will continue to be sold.

　　In a statement on its website, the company says it wants Barbies to look more like real people, and to give girls everywhere infinitely more ways to spark their imagination and play out their stories.

　　Although many people say the new Barbies are a step in the right direction, some people say they don’t go far enough. They say that the new body shapes could be even more different from the original, tall, thin Barbies.

　　Sales of Barbie dolls have been falling “every year since 2012,” according to CBC News.

　　The toys aren’t in stores yet but they will be sold online at the Barbie website, starting this week, for $9.99.

　　Q9. What do we know about the original Barbie dolls?

　　答案: A) They are thin, tall, and unlike real human beings.

　　A) They are thin, tall, and unlike real human beings.

　　B) They have more than twenty different hair textures.

　　C) They have twenty-four different body shapes in total.

　　D) They represent people from virtually all walks of life.

　　Q10. Why do some people feel unsatisfied with the new Barbie dolls?

　　答案: D) Their body shapes have not changed much.

　　A)They do not reflect young girls’ aspirations.

　　B)They are not sold together with the original.

　　C)Their flat feet do not appeal to adolescents.

　　D)Their body shapes have not changed much.

　　Q11. Where will the new Barbie dolls be sold first?

　　答案: C) On the Internet.

　　A)In toy stores.

　　B)In shopping malls.

　　C)On the Internet.

　　D)At Barbie shops.

　　解析：

　　短文1主要描述了芭比娃娃的特點以及最近的變化趨勢。第一題考查文章主旨，后面兩題為文章細節題。第一題為文章開頭的原句。第二題為原文的同義替換，由人們認為新的芭比的形狀可以與以前更不同一些反映出人們的不滿意。最后一題來自短文最后一句原文。

　　Passage 2

　　The earliest printed book we know today appeared in China in the year 868, and metal type was in use in Korea at the beginning of the fifteenth century, but it was in Germany around the year 1450 that a printing press using movable metal type was invented.

　　Capitalism turned printing from an invention into an industry. Right from the start, book printing and publish­ing were organized on capitalist lines. 'The biggest sixteenth- century printer, Plantin of Antwerp, had twenty-four printing presses and employed more than a hundred workers. Only a small fraction of the population was literate, but the pro­duction of books grew at an extraordinary speed. By 1500 some twenty million volumes had already been printed.

　　The immediate effect of printing was to increase the cir­culation of works that were already popular in the handwritten form, while less popular works went out of circulation. Publishers were interested only in books that would sell fairly quickly in sufficient numbers to cover the costs of production and make a profit. Thus, while printing enormously increased access to books by making cheap, high-volume production possible, it also reduced choice.

　　The great cultural impact of printing was that it facili­tated the growth of national languages. Most early books were printed in Latin, but the market for Latin was limited, and in its pursuit of larger markets the book trade soon produced translations into the national languages emerging at the time. Printing indeed played a key role in standardizing and stabilizing these lan­guages by fixing them in print, and producing dictionaries and grammar books.

　　Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　Q12. What happened in Germany around the year of 1450?

　　答案: A) Movable metal type began to be used in printing.

　　A)Moveable metal type began to be used in printing.

　　B)Chinese printing technology was first introduced.

　　C)The earliest known book was published.

　　D)Metal type was imported from Korea.

　　Q13. What does the speaker say about the printer, Plantin of Antwerp?

　　答案: B) It was the biggest printer in the 16th century.

　　A)It had more than a hundred printing presses.

　　B)It was the biggest printer in the 16th century.

　　C)It helped the German people become literate.

　　D)It produced some 20 million volumes in total.

　　Q14. What was the immediate effect of printing?

　　答案: B) It boosted the circulation of popular works.

　　A)It pushed handwritten books out of circulation.

　　B)It boosted the circulation of popular works.

　　C)It make writing a very profitable career.

　　D)It provided readers with more choices.

　　Q15. What was the great cultural impact of printing?

　　答案: D) It promoted the growth of national languages.

　　A)It accelerated the extinction of the Latin language.

　　B)It standardized the publication of grammar books.

　　C)It turned translation into a welcome profession.

　　D)It promoted the growth of national languages.

　　解析：

　　短文2主要講述印刷機的傳播。第12題，在公元868年中國已有第一本印刷成冊的書籍，而德國卻到1450年左右才發明鉛字印刷機。16世紀最大的鉛字印刷機，Plantin of Antwerp由24臺印刷機組合而成，并需要雇用超過百名人員才能運作;對應第13題。而印刷術產生的立即影響就是將原來只能由手寫的書籍文本更加普及并提升知名著作的發行量，對應第14題。除此之外，原來多用拉丁文撰寫的書籍，也因為印刷術的普及，使出版商可以以更低的成本印制營利，出版成一般國家或地區人民能理解的語言，以賺取更大利潤。因此印刷術對歐洲地區能代表各地國家語言的發展有著重大影響;對應第15題。

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