8．介绍两种重要的阅读技巧：Skimming and scanning
Passage 1
1. The purpose of the passage is to __________.
[A] review some newly-published interior-design books
[B] explore the potential market for interior-design books
[C] persuade people to buy some good books
[D] stress the importance of reading good books
Do your relationships keep failing? When you leave your home in the morning are you already feeling stressed? Is there no time in your life for fun any more? Cancel your appointment with the doctor. What you' need is a good interior-design book. Publishers have created a new genre of books for the home, titles that go beyond paint charts and superficial style and instead show you how your home can be transformed and even heal your life.
Dawna Walter is one of the authors leading the way in Britain with her book Organized Living that attempts to show how even a tidy sock drawer can improve the quality of your life. Walter is the owner of the Holding Company, a shop on London's Kings Road which sells hundreds of storage ideas for the home. It has been such a hit that Walter is planning to open four new outlets in the near future. Born in America, Dawna Walter is a fast talker, a self-confessed perfectionist, and a tidiness fundamentalist. "If it takes l0 minutes for you to find a matching pair of socks in the morning, then you are not in control and your outlook just isn't any good. Being organized saves you a couple of hours every week and gives you more time to do the things you enjoy," she explains.
Her book contains dozens of ideas for streamlining your life. In the kitchen she recommends filing magazine recipes immediately, and organizing them by types of dishes or particular cooks, and using ice-cube trays to freeze sauces in individual portions. Her ideas seem common sense but nevertheless require you to be at least slightly obsessive. CDs are a case in point: "How often do you want to find one particular CD and can't? Now, how much easier it would be if you placed them in alphabetical order? That will only take an hour. Then divide out the ones you listen to regularly into a separate section."
Another recent book in the British market was Sarah Shurety's Chinese-inspired Feng Shui For Your Home. Within 14 days of publication every copy had been sold. Shurety's room-by-room guide to creating a harmonious living space, based on the ancient Chinese tradition Feng Shui, contains rules for how to create the best atmosphere and promote health, wealth and happiness. Dinner party hosts are told to place quiet people at the head of the table and facing the door so that they will feel more garrulous; those looking for romance learn to place pink flowers by their beds; and house-buyers are warned to beware of properties built on sloping foundations if they want stability in their lives.
The book Creating Space, by Elizabeth Wilhide, claims that readers following its advice will not just improve their homes but transform their lives. Wilhide believes that as we increasingly work from home, we need to reassess the way our houses work (especially when there are children in the household) if we want to avoid being overrun by junk and that feeling of "being mentally weighed down". Unfortunately, she admits, she finds it difficult to follow her own advice. She sheepishly confesses to having "dumping zones" in her house, a handbag "that doesn't bear looking into", and a car "that's a no-go zone". But she is undaunted by these small failures. In the future, she says she is determined to tidy up her own life and follow the path to stress-free health, wealth and happiness.
Passage 2
2. The writer of the passage mainly intends to __________.
[A] criticize Germany’s tax system
[B] help companies ease their tax burden
[C] examine the current corporate tax rates
[D] propose ways to reform the tax system
One major reason for Germany's high unemployment and the evident weakness of business investment is the nature of the tax system, which tends to discourage both individual effort and investment. Nominal corporate tax rates are, in fact, very high and it is these rates that potential investors primarily look at. However, the actual burden borne by companies is not as great as it might seem, because the tax base is fairly narrow. This combination in itself tends to encourage tax avoidance at both the personal and corporate levels. Moreover, by international standards, firms in Germany are still taxed quite heavily.
A reform of corporate taxation, therefore, should start by reducing tax rates, cutting subsidies and broadening the taxable base. The resulting positive impact on growth would be reinforced if there were also a substantial easing of the net burden.
How do the current plans for a reform of corporate taxation measure up to these goals? The overall tax burden on companies is to be brought down significantly, with the ceiling of 35% being set. To this end, a dramatic reduction in the corporate tax on retained earnings is planned. The related drop in revenues is to be offset by changes in the rules governing tax breaks.
An approach incorporating these basic features would be a welcome step. If realized in its present form, it should ensure that the objective of making tax rates more attractive for businesses is achieved. At the same time, however, it would be unfortunate if an excessive broadening of the taxable base made it impossible to attain the equally important goal of providing relief. Comprehensive tax reform is needed in Germany to spur investment and to create new jobs, thus putting the economy on a higher growth path. The drop in revenues caused by the tax relief granted to both companies and households would, in time, be at least partially offset by the larger volume of tax receipts produced by economic growth. The gaps that remained should primarily be closed through spending cuts. If measure of this sort proved inadequate, then, as a last resort, an increase in indirect taxes could perhaps be considered.
Passage 3
3. The following passage emphasizes the role of __________ in health conservation.
[A] advertising [B] research [C] governments [D] taxation
Most of the ill health we suffer could be prevented if people made more effort to change their life styles. Instead many people continue to smoke, to drink excessively and to eat unbalanced diets. How can governments help people conserve their health and avoid premature death?
Well, many of the measures which need to be taken are primarily a matter of new legislation and need not be expensive. One of the first preventive health measures should be an increase in taxes on tobacco to the point at which consumption falls off. The aim should be to raise the same amount of revenue from a decreasing number of people. In the short term such a policy could even raise extra money which should then be spent on subsidizing sport so that advertising tobacco through sports sponsorship could be banned.
Legislation is badly needed to ban all advertising of tobacco products as it persuades people to smoke more and so is in a large part responsible for the ill health and thousands of premature deaths caused by cancer of the lung. Other measures should be enforced, such as a much tougher health warning on cigarette packets, and tobacco companies should be made to contribute to research into a cure for lung cancer.
Alcoholism could be prevented by making wines, spirits and strong beers more expensive and the revenue raised could be used to set up clinics to help the people who already have a drink problem and want to give up. Similarly all advertising of alcohol should be banned and compensation paid to families of alcoholics who die of cirrhosis of the liver.
A country's food and agricultural policy should also be based on a coherent health policy. For political reasons it is considered important to have a relatively cheap supply of eggs, cheese and milk, the very foods which are blamed as the cause of heart disease when eaten in excess. And even if it is disputed that excess animal fat is detrimental to health, foods could be labeled with the average percentage of different fats so that consumers who wanted to reduce their saturated fat intake would be able to do so easily.
Much more could be done to improve people's diet in Britain and everyone should be encouraged to eat the types of food which are good for health. Current research on the nutritional value of foods should be freely available and the government should control the advertising of "rubbish" food. A program of health education and lessons on sensible eating could be started in the schools with the Government's backing.