36.  According to McWhorter, the decline of formal English ________________________.

[A] is inevitable in radical education reforms

[B] is but all too natural in language development

[C] has caused the controversy over the counter-culture（B）

[D] brought about changes in public attitudes in the 1960s

37.  The word “talking” (Line 6, Paragraph 3) denotes ________________________.

[A] modesty

[B] personality

[C] liveliness（D）

[D] informality

38.  To which of the following statements would McWhorter most likely agree?

[A] Logical thinking is not necessarily related to the way we talk.

[B] Black English can be more expressive than standard English.

[C] Non-standard varieties of human language are just as entertaining.（A）

[D] Of all the varieties, standard English can best convey complex ideas.

39.  The description of Russians’ love of memorizing poetry shows the author’s ________________________.

[A] interest in their language

[B] appreciation of their efforts

[C] admiration for their memory（B）

[D] contempt for their old-fashionedness

40.  According to the last paragraph, “paper plates” is to “china” as ________________________.

[A] “temporary” is to “permanent”

[B] “radical” is to “conservative”

[C] “functional” is to “artistic”（C）

[D] “humble” is to “noble”

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 each of the numbered blanks. There are two extra choices, which do not fit in any of the gaps. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)

Canada’s premiers (the leaders of provincial governments), if they have any breath left after complaining about Ottawa at their late July annual meeting, might spare a moment to do something, together, to reduce health-care costs.

They’re all groaning about soaring health budgets, the fastest-growing component of which are pharmaceutical costs.

41.    ____________[E] According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, prescription drug costs have risen since 1997 at twice the rate of overall health-care spending. Part of the increase comes from drugs being used to replace other kinds of treatments. Part of it arises from new drugs costing more than older kinds. Part of it is higher prices.____________

What to do? Both the Romanow commission and the Kirby committee on health care -- to say nothing of reports from other experts -- recommended the creation of a national drug agency. Instead of each province having its own list of approved drugs, bureaucracy, procedures and limited bargaining power, all would pool resources, work with Ottawa, and create a national institution.

42.    ____________[C] What does “national” mean? Roy Romanow and Senator Michael Kirby recommended a federal-provincial body much like the recently created National Health Council.____________

But “national” doesn’t have to mean that. “National” could mean interprovincial -- provinces combining efforts to create one body.

Either way, one benefit of a “national” organization would be to negotiate better prices, if possible, with drug manufacturers. Instead of having one province -- or a series of hospitals within a province -- negotiate a price for a given drug on the provincial list, the national agency would negotiate on behalf of all provinces.

Rather than, say, Quebec, negotiating on behalf of seven million people, the national agency would negotiate on behalf of 31 million people. Basic economics suggests the greater the potential consumers, the higher the likelihood of a better price.

43.    ____________[G] Of course the pharmaceutical companies will scream. They like divided buyers; they can lobby better that way. They can use the threat of removing jobs from one province to another. They can hope that, if one province includes a drug on its list, the pressure will cause others to include it on theirs. They wouldn’t like a national agency, but self-interest would lead them to deal with it.____________

A small step has been taken in the direction of a national agency with the creation of the Canadian Co-ordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment, funded by Ottawa and the provinces. Under it, a Common Drug Review recommends to provincial lists which new drugs should be included. Predictably, and regrettably, Quebec refused to join.

A few premiers are suspicious of any federal-provincial deal-making. They (particularly Quebec and Alberta) just want Ottawa to fork over additional billions with few, if any, strings attached. That’s one reason why the idea of a national list hasn’t gone anywhere, while drug costs keep rising fast.

44.    ____________[F] So, if the provinces want to run the health-care show, they should prove they can run it, starting with an interprovincial health list that would end duplication, save administrative costs, prevent one province from being played off against another, and bargain for better drug prices.____________

Premiers love to quote Mr. Romanow’s report selectively, especially the parts about more federal money. Perhaps they should read what he had to say about drugs: “A national drug agency would provide governments more influence on pharmaceutical companies in order to constrain the ever-increasing cost of drugs.”

45.    ____________[B] Or they could read Mr. Kirby’s report: “the substantial buying power of such an agency would strengthen the public prescription-drug insurance plans to neg