Part B

　　Directions:

　　In the following text, some sentences have been removed. For Questions 41-45, choose the most suitable one from the list A-G to fit into the numbered blank when there are tow extra choices, which do not fit in any of the gaps. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)

　　After its misadventures in 1993, when American marines were driven out of Somalia by skinny gunmen, America has used a long spoon in supping with Somalia's warlords. This, like so much else, changed on September 11th. (41)_________ .

　　Clandestine, up to a point: within hours of the arrival in Baidoa of nine closely cropped Americans sporting matching satellite phones and shades, their activities were broadcast. After meeting various warlords, the group inspected a compound that had apparently been offered to them as their future base. They also saw an old military depot. Neither can have been encouraging: the compound has been taken over by war-displaced families, and the depot by thorn-scrub.

　　America was already convinced of al-Qaeda's presence in Somalia. Its had listed a Somali Islamic group, al-Itihaad al-Islamiya (Islamic Unity), as a terrorist organisation. (42)_________  . It fears that lawless Somalia could become a haven for escapes from Afghanistan. The American navy is currently patrolling the country's long coastline, while spy planes are said to be criss-crossing the heavens.

　　(43)_________  . With a little bit of help, he told his American visitors, he would be ready "to liberate the country from these evil forces". America had already heard as much through its embassies in Nairobi and Addis Ababa, which maintain contact with warlords, and from Ethiopia.

　　The warlords are supported by Ethiopia, which has a historical fear of strong Somalia, in a bid to oppose the government. But their differing views on where to strike at the "terrorists" reveal that their individual ambitions are even sharper than their dislike of the government.

　　Mr. Ismail says that Merca, which is claimed by his Rahanwein clan, is the capital of terror. (44) _________ . The UN says there is only an orphanage there now. But the island is close to Mr. Morgan's home town of Kismaayo, which he failed to capture from a pro-government militia in July, and he is determined not to fail again.

　　None of this looks good for Somalia's official president, Abdiquassim Salad Hassan, Whose government is in control of about half the capital, Mogadishu. He has formed his own anti-terrorism unit, and invited America to send investigators, or even troops. America, armed with stories about the presence of al-Itihaad members held back, but on December 18th sent an envoy to Mogadishu.

　　Both Mr. Hassan and the UN say that al-Itihaad is not a terrorist organisation. It emerged as an armed force in 1991, battling for power in the aftermath of Siad Barre's fall. It had some early successes, briefly taking Kismaayo. But it was always dependent on the blessing of its members' clan elders. When the elders eventually called their fighters back, a hard core of Islamists fled to the Gedo border region where, in 1997, they were crushed by Ethiopian troops (45)_________  .

　　The Baidoa alliance plainly hopes to be supported as proxies in a fight against "terrorism" and the Mogadishu regime. But the latest intelligence leaks suggest that the first reports may have overestimated al-Qaeda's presence in Somalia. Nor would Mr. bin Laden and his henchmen find it easy to lie low in an oral culture that considers rumour-mongering to be a form of manners. Even so, the warlords seem to believe that they have won some promise of help. Soon after the arrival of the American group, they pulled out of the peace talks they had been holding with their government in Nairobi.

　　[A] Al-Itihaad subsequently infiltrated Somalia's business class, and now runs Islamic schools, courts and clinics with the money it has accumulated.

　　[B] According to Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail, the acting chairman of the loose alliance of warlords who control most of Somalia and are based in Baidoa, there are "approximately 20,480 armed extremists" in Somalia and "85% of the government is al-Itihaad".

　　[C] Muhammad Hersi Morgan, known as the "butcher of Hargeisa" because he once razed that town to the ground, says an al-Itihaad camp on Ras Kamboni island, is still active.

　　[D] But since September 11th 2001, western governments anxious to prevent al-Qaeda from using Somalia as a base, have pressed the warlords to make peace.

　　[E] American intelligence officers are working with two warlords to gather information about suspected al-Qaeda people in Somalia.

　　[F] On December 9th America sent a clandestine mission to talk to a collection of Somali warlords, who like to claim that their country, in particular their UN-sponsored government, is overrun with terrorists.

　　[G] It had also forced the closure of Barakaat, Somalia's biggest banking and telecoms company, which handles most of the remittances that somalis working abroad send back to their families.

　　Directions:

　　Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese. Your translation should be written clearly on ANSWER SHEET 2. (10 points)

　　The four girls in "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" make a pact. (46)Having found the magic every woman dreams of, a pair of jeans that fits all four of them perfectly, they vow to share them long-distance during their first summer apart.

　　The jeans must be magic, because the girls' shapes couldn't be more different. Petite Lena (Alexis Bledel) is allergic to boy who see her as a beautiful face. Witty Carmen (America Ferrera) is too curvy to fit into the bridesmaid's gown ordered for her by Lydia (Nancy Travis), the Southern bride-to-be of her divorced father (Bradley Whitford). Bridget (Blake Lively), a lanky star athlete, has never come to terms with her mother's suicide. (47)And Tibby (Amber Tamblyn) is a blue-haired cynic whose summer job at a superstore named Wallman's is paying for video equipment to make her first film.

　　(48)The girls pass the jeans around to bring them luck when they are separated: Lena with relatives on Santorini, where Kostas (Michael Rady) changes her mind about men; Carmen with the father she never sees, whose new family is a shock; Bridget in a Mexican soccer camp, where she sets her sights on Eric (Mike Vogel), forbidden fruit because he's a coach; and Tibby videotaping her co-workers."A documentary," says one interview subject. "That's like a movie, only boring?"

　　Delia Ephron and Elizabeth Chandler's screenplay is nicely served by the direction of a comedy veteran, Ken Kwapis. (49)He creates a fairytale summer world where the girls grapple with real issues: love and family, death, losing your virginity for the wrong reasons, divorce, racism and having an unfashionable body type. (50)The magic, of course, is in the girls, as they help each other achieve insights that few of their elders could manage, gently sprinkled with tears. Ann Brashares, who wrote the novel on which the film is based, has written two more books about the Sisterhood. If this one clicks, Warner Bros may find itself the proud owner of the first summer film franchise for teenage girls.

　　Section III Writing

　　Part A

　　51. Directions:

　　You heard that one of your friends has been accepted by a foreign university. Write a letter of congratulations including (1) your congratulations; (2) some advice; (3) reminding him to keep in touch with you. You should write about 100 words. Do not sign your own name at the end of the letter. Use "Li Ming" instead. You do not need to write the address.

　　Part B

　　52. Directions:

　　Write a report for a university lecturer to

　　1. describe the picture and show your understanding

　　2. give your comment, and

　　3. present you suggestions

　　You should neatly write 160—200 words on ANSWER SHEET 2. (20 points)

　　圖1是某城市1960年的地圖，上面分布著超過一半的耕地，大量的森林和草地還有河流和湖泊，而沙漠只占相對較少的一部分，大約1/4或1/5左右。

　　圖2是此城市2002年的地圖，大面積耕地被沙化，耕地面積占不到1/3，森林和草地還有河流和湖泊也有不同程度的沙化，明顯地是沙漠面積迅速擴大，已占整個城市面積的1/3左右。