题目内容
Nice people do racism too. Liberal commitment to a multi-ethnic Britain is wilting. Some very nice folk have apparently decided that the nation's real problem is too many immigrants of too many kinds. Faced with a daily onslaught against migrants it may be understandable to give in to populist bigotry; but it is not forgivable.
Take this, for example: "National citizenship is inherently exclusionary." So no foreigners need ever apply for naturalisation, then. And" ... public anxiety about migration ... is usually based on a rational understanding of the value of British citizenship and its~ incompatibility with over-porous borders". Straight from the lexicon of the far right. And best of all: "You can have a welfare state provided that you are a homogenous society with intensely shared values."
These are extracts from an article in the Observer, penned by the liberal intellectual Goodhart, who is just one of several liberal thinkers now vigorously making what they consider a progressive argument against immigration. It goes like this: the more diverse a society, the less likely its citizens are to share common values; the fewer common values, the weaker the support for vital institutions of social solidarity, such as the welfare state and the National Health Service.
There are perfectly good reasons to worry about how we respond to immigration, not least the downward pressure on workers' wages; the growth of racial inequality; and the exploitation of illegals. But the answer to these problems is not genteel xenophobia, but trade union rights, backed by equality and employment law.
The xenophobes should come clean. Their argument is not about immigration at all. They are liberal Powellites; what really bothers them is race and culture. If today's immigrants were white people from the old Commonwealth, Goodhart and his friends would say that they pose no threat because they share Anglo-Saxon values.
Unfortunately for liberal Powellites, the real history of the NHS shatters their fundamental case against diversity. The NHS is a world-beating example of the way that ethnic diversity can create social solidarity. Launched by a Welshman, built by Irish: labourers, founded on the skills of Caribbean nurses and Indian doctors, it is now being rescued by an emergency injection of Filipino nurses, refugee ancillaries and antipodean medics. And it remains 100% British.
Virtually all of our public services have depended heavily on immigrants. Powell was forced to admit as much when, as minister for health he advertised for staff in the Caribbean. His new admirers will discover that a rapidly depopulating Europe will have no choice but to embrace diversity.
For the moment, however, the liberal Powellites are gaining support in high places. Their ideas are inspired by the work of the American sociologist Putnam, a Downing Street favourite. He purports to show that dynamic, diverse communities are more fragmented than stable, monoethnic ones. But the policy wonks have forgotten that Putnam's research was conducted in a society so marked by segregation that even black millionaires still live in gated ghettoes.
The prime minister still seems uneasy on the issue. Last week, he wavered uncertainly between backing his pro-immigration home secretary, and a defensive response to Howard's goading that the government was in a mess on the topic.
Oddly enough, this is a place in the arena of world politics where the PM does not stand shoulder to shoulder with Bush. The Spanish-speaking former governor of Texas recently announced that he would "regularise" the status of millions of illegal Mexican immigrants who had slipped across the border to work. It's the kind of massive amnesty that would send the Daily Express into conniptions.
Even more peculiar, the prime minister appears to be ignoring not only Blunkett but also his new best friend, the
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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.
One of the saddest things about the period in which we live is the growing estrangement between America and Europe. This may be a surprising discovery to those who are over impressed by the speed with which turbojets can hop from New York to Paris. But to anyone who is aware of what America once meant to English libertarian poets and philosophers, to the young Ibsen bitterly excoriating European royalty for the murder of Lincoln, to Italian novelists and poets translating the nineteenth century American classics as a demonstration against Fascism, there is something particularly disquieting in the way that the European Left, historically "pro-American" because it identified America with expansive democracy, now punishes America with Europe's lack of hope in the future.
Although America has obviously not fulfilled the visionary hope entertained for it in the romantic heyday, Americans have, until recently, thought of themselves as an idea, a "proposition" (in Lincoln's word) set up for the enlightenment and the improvement of mankind. Officially, we live by our original principles; we insist on this boastfully and even inhumanly. And it is precisely this steadfastness to principle that irks Europeans who under so many pressures have had to shift and to change, to compromise and to retreat.
Historically, the obstinacy of America's faith in "principles" has been staggering—the sacrament of the Constitution, the legacy of the Founding Fathers, the moral Tightness of all our policies, the invincibility of our faith in the equality and perfectibility of man. From the European point of view, there is something impossibly romantic, visionary, and finally outrageous about an attachment to political formulas that arose even before a European revolutionary democracy was born of the French Revolution, and that have survived all the socialist Utopias and internationals. Americans honestly insist on the equality of men even when they deny this equality in practice; they hold fast to romantic doctrines of perfectibility even when such doctrines contradict their actual or their formal faith—whether it be as scientists or as orthodox Christians.
It is a fact that while Americans as a people are notoriously empirical, pragmatic, and unintellectual, they live their lives against a background of unalterable national shibboleths. The same abundance of theory that allowed Walt Whitman to fill out his poetry with philosophical road signs of American optimism allows a president to make pious references to God as an American tradition—references which, despite their somewhat mechanical quality, are not only sincere but which, to most Americans, express the reality of America.
The writer uses the example of Ibsen and others to maintain that ______.
SECTION B INTERVIEW
Directions: In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Questions 1 to 5 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following five questions.
Now listen to the interview.
听力原文：Cole: Good morning, Jack. Take a seat.
Jack: Good morning, Miss Cole. I came to enquire about a grant. You see, this is my last year at high school. I want to take a course leading to a degree or a similar qualification when I leave school. I'd like to know some information about the grants. Where can I get a grant？ And how much will it be？
Cole: I see. Well, the grant system is complex. Let me think about the easiest way to explain it to you.
Jack: Well, what is the difference between an "award" and a "grant"？ People often talk about these two words.
Cole: Yes. The two words are often used interchangeably, but the regulations make a distinction between them. The award comprises of both a fee element and a maintenance element. The grant, represents only the maintenance element.
Jack: What is the fee element of the award？
Cole: The fee element of the award normally covers all tuition and other related courses for which you are liable, and is paid direct to your college or university by the local education authorities. We call these LEAs.
Jack: I see. And what's the maintenance grant？
Cole: The maintenance grant is paid to you, for your support during a term and short vacations. This part of the award is means-tested. So there is a further distinction between the gross grant and the net grant actually paid by the LEA. This of course is after any contributions from your parents or spouse have been deducted.
Jack: How many grants are there？
Cole: There are two types of grant but we deal mainly with mandatory grants. LEAs in England and Wales are required by law to pay these grants, but only to students who are attending designated courses, who are eligible, and who satisfy the qualifying conditions. If you are not eligible for a mandatory grant, or are not taking a designated course, you may still qualify for a discretionary grant. But each local authority decides its own policy on these and there are no general rules and conditions.
Jack: Well, what's the discretionary grant？
Cole: A discretionary grant is for a non-designated course and is determined by the LEA. These grants are sometimes competitive so your examination results may be taken into account. And you may be expected to study locally if a course similar to the one you want to take is available nearer your home. These restrictions do not apply to mandatory grants.
Jack: What courses would I get a grant for？
Cole: Mandatory grants are available for designated courses. In almost all cases these are full-time or sandwich courses.
Jack: Sorry, what ... what are sandwich courses？
Cole: They are the courses combining full-time study with periods of full-time training and experience in industry or commerce. Certain part-time initial teacher training courses may be designated for grant purposes. Designated courses are those leading to a first degree of a university in the UK or the CNAA, a Diploma of Higher Education, a University Certificate or Diploma, and other qualifications if the course is specifically designated as being comparable to a first degree course.
Jack: Who can get a grant？
Cole: To get a mandatory grant you have to be eligible as well as having been admitted to a designated course. The final decision on whether or not you are eligible rests with the LEA, but you will probably qualify if, A) you have been an ordinary resident in the British Islands for the 3 years preceding the academic year in which the course begins; B) you have not previously attended a course of higher education of more than 2 years with a grant. However, if you have previously attended a course
听力原文： In a bid to improve the knowledge of farmers in science and technology, the Ministry of Agriculture will invest about 1.1 billion yuan next year. The figure is a 53 percent increase over this year's 720 million yuan. Deputy Agriculture Minister Wei Chao'an made the pledge yesterday at the Farmer Scientific Literacy Forum held in Beijing. "From next year, the budget will be significantly increased each year," Wei said. The investment will go towards implementing the National Scheme for Science Literacy, which was announced in February this year. The scheme aims to improve scientific literacy in China and make it a policy priority. Wei said the money will be mainly spent in helping farmers develop new technological skills to cope with market fluctuations, as well as industrial skills. So far this year, 8.6 million farmers have received training and education initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture. Wei noted, however, that despite continued efforts to improve farmers' science and technology skills, only 9.1 percent, or about 700 million, have ever participated in various science and technology training programs. The programs are also nm by other governmental and non-governmental organizations such as the Ministry of Science and Technology and the China Association for Science and Technology. The average Chinese farmer only receives 7.3 years of education. CAST, the Ministry of Agriculture and other government departments, will continue to explore ways to combine scientific education and training to improve agricultural production skills, Deng Nan, first secretary of CAST, told the forum.
(30)
听力原文： When Midori was two years old, she often climbed onto the piano bench and reached for the violin that belonged to her mother, a 38-year-old professional musician. "Please don't touch, Midori," her mother scolded. The violin was, after all, worth more than 20, 000 dollars. But Midori persisted. She longed to handle the graceful instrument that made beautiful sounds. Finally, on her third birthday, Midori was handed a package, a tiny violin, about half the normal size. Almost from the moment Midori was born, her mother knew she was sensitive to music. For several years mother and daughter practised together day after day. She was eager to learn. Failure often led to tears, though, she never once turned from the instrument. Instead, She persisted till the problem was overcome. One day, Johnson, an American musician; heard Midori play the violin. He couldn't believe she was just eight years old. "She must make a tape and I will take it to the United States, "the American musician said. A famous American violin teacher heard the tape. He, too, had difficulty believing his ears. The playing was absolutely astonishing. He immediately accepted her as a pupil and recommended her for full scholarship. In 1982, Midori and her mother moved to New York City, leaving behind a comfortable life in Japan.
(33)
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