Section C

　　Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered from 44 to 46, you are required to fill in the missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the main points in your own words. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.

　　A group date differs from a (36) date in several ways. First, there are no special relationships in the group. No particular girl and boy are together all the time. Second, the group date may (37) on a weekend, but it may not be (38) in advance. A group of young people may decide on Saturday afternoon that they want to spend Saturday evening together. They may all decide to go to a movie, or to some other events. On a group date, no one is (39) with anyone else. As a result, every person pays for his or her own (40). This means that the girls must pay for themselves. They must pay their own (41) for the movies, for a cup of coffee, or for anything else that(42) money during the date.

　　Many young people find the group date to be a great deal of(43). The young men on a group date are under no pressure. (44) . They do not have to pay for anyone but themselves. They do not have to be especially polite of formal during the date. Everyone can relax and have a good time. Group dates may lead to serious relationships for some members of the group. (45). They may spend more time together, with the group, and with each other. But usually, (46). No one worries about a serious relationship.

　　Part Ⅳ Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)

　　Section A

　　Directions: In this section, there is a short passage with 5 questions or incomplete statements. Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words on Answer Sheet 2.

　　Questions 47 to 51 are based on the following passage.

　　They are people who struggle to make their voice heard, but the world is likely to hear more and more about them. If they all belonged to one nation, it would be a fair size, as big as Chile or Kazakhstan. Yet by definition, they belong to no country at all:they are the world's growing band of stateless people who have no citizenship rights, and are often unable to claim the things that states can provide, like travel documents and education. According to international officials whose job is to cope with human flotsam and jetsam, the problem of statelessness is growing fast, despite a modest decline in the number of refugees in the strict sense.

　　Some people become stateless because they are forced out of one country, and no other nation will accept them, or even grant them the rights which "refugees"-people who seek shelter because of a proven risk of persecution-can claim. Some people never leave home but find they are stranded by the shift in borders. Also being ranked among the stateless are marginal groups who cannot claim civic rights because their births went unrecorded.

　　As a classic case of statelessness, take the Biharis of Bangladesh. They mostly took the West Pakistani side in the 1971 war that led to the creation of Bangladesh, ensuring that they were unwelcome in the new state. Some were moved in organised exchanges-until Pakistan stopped taking them. Perhaps 300 000 remain stateless.

　　In fact, legal limbo(前途未卜) is not an either-or condition; there are degrees of statelessness. Among the Palestinians who fled during the war that followed Israel's creation, some-those in Jordan-were given passports, but in other Arab states, they simply got "refugee travel documents". No Arab state wanted to naturalise the newcomers, but the level of rights has varied from place to place.

　　António Guterres, the current high commissioner for refugees, says more and more countries agree, at least, that statelessness is a problem; and several have taken steps to alleviate it.

　　47. If the stateless people belonged to one nation, their number would equal the population of ______________.

　　48. Why do refugees leave their home country and seek protection somewhere else?

　　49. The situation that people who never leave home become stateless results from______________.

　　50. Why were the Biharis unwelcome in the newly established Bangladesh?

　　51. Arab states' treatments of the fleeing Palestinians are different from place to place in terms of______________.

　　Section B

　　Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.

　　Passage one

　　Questions 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.

　　Getting ready to go back to school in the good old days of, say, 1998 meant a few trips to the mall and a quick check of the bus route. This year, for many parents, there are some new things to remember: The teacher's e-mail address, the school's website and which night online homework helps chat will be offered. "The 1999-2000 school year will be the one when the majority of parents really feel the Internet's influence on their children's education at the everyday level, "says Jonathan Carson, chairman of the Family Education Co. , which offers a parenting website at www. family education. com and a framework for local schools to create and maintain their own sites.