Passage Two
Questions 62 to 66 are based on the following passage.
In a country that defines itself by ideals, not by shared blood, who should be allowed to come work and live here? In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks these questions have never seemed more pressing.
On Dec. 11, 2001, as part of the effort to increase homeland security, federal and local authorities in 14 states staged “Operation Safe Travel”—raids on airports to arrest employees with false identification (身份证明). In Salt Lake City there were 69 arrests. But those captured were anything but terrorists, most of them illegal immigrants from Central or South America. Authorities said the undocumented workers’ illegal status made them open to blackmail (讹诈) by terrorists.
Many immigrants in Salt Lake City were angered by the arrests and said they felt as if they were being treated like disposable goods.
Mayor Anderson said those feelings were justified to a certain extent. “We’re saying we want you to work in these places, we’re going to look the other way in terms of what our laws are, and then when it’s convenient for us, or when we can try to make a point in terms of national security, especially after Sept. 11, then you’re disposable. There are whole families being uprooted for all of the wrong reasons,” Anderson said.
If Sept. 11 had never happened, the airport workers would not have been arrested and could have gone on quietly living in America, probably indefinitely. Ana Castro, a manager at a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream shop at the airport had been working 10 years with the same false Social Security card when she was arrested in the December airport raid. Now she and her family are living under the threat of deportation (驱逐出境). Castro’s case is currently waiting to be settled. While she awaits the outcome, the government has granted her permission to work here and she has returned to her job at Ben & Jerry’s.
62. According to the author, the United States claims to be a nation ________.
A) composed of people having different values
B) encouraging individual pursuits
C) sharing common interests
D) founded on shared ideals(D)
63. How did the immigrants in Salt Lake City feel about “Operation Safe Travel”?
A) Guilty.
B) Offended.
C) Disappointed.
D) Discouraged.(B)
64. Undocumented workers became the target of “Operation Safe Travel” because ________.
A) evidence was found that they were potential terrorists
B) most of them worked at airports under threat of terrorists
C) terrorists might take advantage of their illegal status
D) they were reportedly helping hide terrorists around the airport(C)
65. By saying “... we’re going to look the other way in terms of what our laws are” (Line 2, Para. 4), Mayor Anderson means “________”.
A) we will turn a blind eye to your illegal status
B) we will examine the laws in a different way
C) there are other ways of enforcing the law
D) the existing laws must not be ignored(C)
66. What do we learn about Ana Castro from the last paragraph?
A) She will be deported sooner or later.
B) She is allowed to stay permanently.
C) Her case has been dropped.
D) Her fate remains uncertain.(D)
这是一篇时事报道性文章，讲述在美国911恐怖袭击发生之后政府对工作在机场而无有效身份证明的人进行突击逮捕，以及此事对被逮捕人的影响。作者以探讨的笔调行文，开头提出问题，全篇叙述事实，对开头的问题进行解释。文章呈现问题后没有提出解决方案，这与其时事性有关，根据文意，此事的发展尚待明朗，作者也很难做出深入的评判。值得称道的是，这篇文章在写法上另辟蹊径，把文中所述事件上升为一种美国理想与权利问题，并在开头就提出，既吸引读者眼球，又能激起民众的响应情绪，效果好于平铺直叙式的报道。
全文一共5段，开头没有直接叙述事件本身，而是提出与该事件相关的论题：In a country that defines itself by ideals, not by shared blood, who should be allowed to come work and live here?并指出911后该问题变得更为迫切，以此提起读者对为何如此的探询，有设置悬念的作用。
文章后四部分解决了这个悬念，第二段叙述了美国911恐怖袭击发生之后政府对工作在机场而无有效身份证明的人进行突击逮捕的经过，并引述了官方如此做法的原因(open to blackmail by terrorists，这些人易受恐怖分子胁迫)。
第三段简明交代了被逮捕人的反应：angerd(愤怒)，being treated like disposable goods(受到货物一样的对待)。接下来的第四段引用Anderson的话支持了被逮捕者的这种感受。最后一段用Ana Castro的例子说明被逮捕者的窘迫境遇，透露出此事发展尚待继续的信息(吸引读者继续关注)。 |
