The period of engagement is the time between the marriage proposal and the wedding ceremony. Two people agree to marry when they decide to spend their lives together. The man usually gives the woman a diamond engagement ring? That tradition is said to have started when an Austrian man gave a diamond ring to the woman he wanted to marry. The diamond represented beauty. He placed it on the third finger of her left hand. He chose that finger because it was thought that a blood vessel in that finger went directly to the heart. Today, we know that this is not true. Yet the tradition continues. Americans generally are engaged for a period of about one year if they are planning a wedding ceremony and party. During the time, friends of the bride may hold a party at which women friends and family members give the bride gifts that she will need as a wife. These could include cooking equipment or new clothing. Friends of the man who is getting married may have a bachelor party for him. This usually takes place the night before the wedding. Only men are invited to the bachelor party. During the marriage ceremony, the bride and her would-be husband usually exchange gold rings that represent the idea that their union will continue forever. The wife often wears both the wedding ring and engagement ring on the same finger. The husband wears hi ring on the third finger of his left hand. Many people say the purpose of the engagement period is to permit enough time to plan the wedding .But the main purpose is to let enough time pass so the two people are sure they want to marry each other. Either person may decide to break the engagement. If this happens, the woman usually returns the ring to the man; they also return any wedding gifts they have received.
Questions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard. 29. What was the diamond ring said to represent? 30. Why did the Austrian man place the diamond ring on the third finger of the left hand of his would-be wife? 31. What is the chief advantage of having the engagement period?
Passage Three “Where is the university?” is a question many visitors to Cambridge ask, but no one could point them in any one direction because there is no campus. The university consists of thirty-one self-governing colleges. It has lecture halls, libraries, laboratories, museums and offices throughout the city. Individual colleges choose their own students, who have to meet the minimum entrance requirements set by the university. Undergraduates usually live and study in their colleges, where they are taught in very small groups. Lectures, and laboratory and practical work are organized by the university and held in university buildings. The university has a huge number of buildings for teaching and research. It has more than sixty specialist subject libraries, as well as the University Library, which, as a copyright library, is entitled to a copy of every book published in Britain. Examinations are set and degrees are awarded by the university. It allowed women to take the university exams in 1881, but it was not until 1948 that they ,were a warded degrees.
Questions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard. 32. Why is it difficult for visitors to locate Cambridge University? 33. What does the passge tell us about the colleges of Cambridge University? 34. What can be learned from the passage about the libraries in Cambridge University? 35. What does the passage say about women students in Cambridge University?
Section C Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three . 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. Russia is the largest economic power that is not a member of the World Trade Organization. But that may change. Last Friday, the European Union said it would support Russia’s (36) effort to become a W.T.O. member. Representatives of the European Union met with Russian(37) officials in Moscow. They signed a trade agreement that took six years to (38) negotiate. Russia called the trade agreement (39) balanced. It agreed to slowly increase fuel prices within the country. It also agreed to permit (40) competition.in its communications industry and to remove some barriers to trade. In (41) exchange for European support to join the W.T.O>, Russian President Putin said that Russia would speed up the (42) process to approve the Kyoto Protocol, an international (43) environmental agreement to reduce the production of harmful industrial gases. (44) These “greenhouse gases” trap heat in the atmosphere and are blamed for changing the world’s climate. Russia had signed the Kyoto Protocol, but has not yet approved it. The agreement takes effect when it has been approved by nations that produce at least 55 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases. (45)But currently, nations producing only 44 percent have approved the Protocol. Russia produces about 17 percent of the world’s green-house gases.. The United States, the world’s biggest producer, withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol after President Bush took office in 2001. So, Russia’s approval is required to put the Kyoto Protocol into effect. (46) To join the W.T.O., a country must reach trade agreements with major trading countries that are also W.T.O. members. Russia must still reach agreements with China, Japan, South Korea and the United States.
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