SectionⅡ Reading Comprehension（40 minutes）

Part A

Directions:

Read the following three texts. Answer the questions on each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET by drawing a thick line across the corresponding letter in the brackets¹.

Text I

Fifteen years ago, I entered the Boston Globe, which was a temple to me then. It wasn’t easy getting hired. But once you were there, I found, you were in.

Globe jobs were for life-guaranteed until retirement². For 15 years I had prospered³ there — moving from an ordinary reporter to foreign correspondent⁴ and finally to senior editor. I would have a lifetime of security is I struck with it. Instead, I had made a decision to leave. I entered my boss’s office. Would he rage? I wondered. He had a famous temper. “Matt, we have to have a talk,” I began awkwardly⁵. “I came to the Globe when I was twenty-four. Now I’m forty. There’s a lot I want to do in life. I’m resigning.” “To another paper?” he asked. I reached into my coat pocket, but didn’t say anything. I handed him a letter that explained everything. It said that I was leaving to start a new media company. We were at a rare turning point in history. I wanted to be directly engaged in the change. “I’m glad for you,” he said, quite out of my expectation. “I just came from a board of directors meeting and it was seventy-five percent discouraging news. Some of that we can deal with. But much of it we can’t, ” he went on. “I wish you all the luck in the world,” he concluded. “And if it doesn’t work out, remember, your star is always high here.”

Then I went out of his office, walking through the newsroom for more good-byes. Everybody was saying congratulations. Everybody — even though I’d be risking all on an unfamiliar⁶ venture: all the financial security I had carefully built up.

Later, I had a final talk with Bill Taylor, chairman and publisher of the Boston Globe. He had turned the Globe into a billion-dollar property. “I’m resigning, Bill, ”I said. He listened while I gave him the story. He wasn’t looking angry or dismayed⁷ either. After a pause, he said, “Golly, I wish I were in your shoes.”

46. From the passage we know that the Globe is a famous _______.

[A] newspaper [B] magazine

[C]temple [ D ] church

47. If the writer stayed with the Globe _________.

[ A] he would be able to realize his lifetime dreams.

[ B] he would let his long-cherished dreams fade away.

[ C ] he would never have to worry about his future life.

[ D] he would never be allowed to develop his ambitions.

48. The writer wanted to resign because _________.

[A] he had serious trouble with his boss.

[ B ] he got underpaid at his job for the Globe.

[ C ] he wanted to be engaged in the new media industry.

[ D ] he had found a better paid job in a publishing house.

49. When the writer decided⁸ to resign the Globe was faced with _______.

[ A ] a trouble with its staff members

[ B ] a shortage⁹ of qualified¹⁰ reporters

[ C ] an unfavorable business situation

[ D ]an uncontrollable business situation

50. By “:I wish I were in your shoes.” （in the last paragraph） Bill Taylor meant that _______.

[ A ] the writer was to fail.

[ B] the writer was stupid

[ C ] he would do the same if possible

[D] he would reject the writer’s request