(3) For any trend, there are as many reasons as there are participants. This person runs to lower his blood pressure. That person runs to escape the telephone or a cranky spouse or a filthy household. Another person runs to avoid doing anything else, to dodge a decision about how to lead his life or a realization that his life is leading nowhere. Each of us has his carrot and stick. In my case, the stick is my slackening physical condition, which keeps me from beating opponents at tennis whom I overwhelmed two years ago. My carrot is to win.

(4) Beyond these completely different reasons, however, lies a deeper cause. It is no accident that now, in the last third of the twentieth century, personal fitness and health have suddenly become a popular obsession. True, modern man likes to feel good, but that hardly distinguishes him from his predecessors.

(5) With amusingly ridiculous myopia (目光短浅), economists like to claim that the deeper cause of everything is economic. Delightfully, there seems no marketplace explanation for jogging. True, jogging is cheap, but then not jogging is cheaper. And the scant and simple equipment which jogging demands must make it a marketer’s least favored form of recreation.

(6)Some scout-masterish philosophers argue that the appeal of jogging and other body-maintenance programs is the discipline they afford. We live in a world in which individuals have fewer and fewer obligations. The work week has shrunk. Weekend worship is less compulsory. Technology gives us more free time. Satisfactorily filling free time requires imagination and effort. Freedom is a wide and risky river; it can drown the person who does not know how to swim across it. The more obligations one takes on, the more time one occupies, the less threat freedom poses. Jogging can become an instant obligation. For a portion of his day, the jogger is not his own man; he is obedient to a regimen he has accepted.

(7)Theologists may take the argument one step further. It is our modern irreligion, our lack of confidence in any hereafter, that makes us anxious to stretch our mortal stay as long as possible. We run, as the saying goes, for our lives, hounded by the suspicion that these are the only lives we are likely to enjoy.

(8) All of these theorists seem to me more or less right. As the growth of cults and charismatic religions and the resurgence of enthusiasm for the military draft suggest, we do crave commitment. And who can doubt, watching so many middle-aged and older persons torturing themselves in the name of fitness, that we are unreconciled to death, more so perhaps than any generation in modern memory?

(9) But I have a hunch (预感) that there’s a further explanation of our obsession with exercise. I suspect that what motivates us even more than a fear of death is a fear of dearth. Our era is the first to anticipate the eventual depletion of all natural resources. We see wilderness shrinking; rivers losing their capacity to sustain life; the air, even the stratosphere (同温层), being loaded with potentially deadly junk. We see the irreplaceable being squandered, and in the depths of our consciousness we are fearful that we are creating an uninhabitable world. We feel more or less helpless and yet, at the same time, desirous to protect what resources we can. We recycle soda bottles and restore old buildings and protect our nearest natural resource—our physical health—in the almost superstitious hope that such small gestures will help save an earth that we are damaging. Jogging becomes a sort of penance for our sins of gluttony, greed, and waste. Like a hairshirt or a bed of naril, the more one hates it, the more virtuous it makes one feel. (10)That is why we jog. Why I jog is to win at tennis.

IV. In this section, there are ten incomplete statements, followed by four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the best answer and write the corresponding letter on your Answer Sheet. (10 points, 1 point for each)

55. According to the passage, the author ______. A. jogs regularly even though he doesn’t like it B. chooses to jog so that he can keep fit

C. hates jogging because it makes him feel bored D. has to jog because he is suggested to do so 56. How do some of the trotters feel about jogging? A. It is worse than bill-paying. B. Bill-paying is better than it. C. Bill-paying can’t be worse than it. D. It is exactly the same as bill-paying. 57. Which of the following is true? A. People run in order to follow the trend. B. People run for their respective reasons. C. Running helps people make wise decisions. D. Too many reasons cause the trend of running. 58. Economists are likely to think that ______.

A. the economic factor is more important than others B. everything depends on economic development C. economy leads to greater success in sports D. nothing is more important than economic claim 59. Which of the following is true about a marketer? A. He doesn’t like jogging because the equipment is simple. B. Among all the sports, jogging is the last one he wants. C. Jogging is the only form of recreation he doesn’t like. D. He can’t make much money from jogging equipment. 60. The shortened work week ______. A. satisfies all the working people

B. provides people with too much free time C. offers people more time to worship God

D. makes it hard for people to spend their time properly 61. The author’s tone about the economists is ______. A. angry B. friendly C. sarcastic D. sympathetic

62. According to theologists, people run because ______. A. they are afraid of death B. they enjoy the activity

C. they want to live longer D. they are suspicious about religion 63. People are concerned about the natural resources because ______. A. they are being destroyed B. they cannot be replaced C. they are disappearing rapidly D. they are being replenished 64. The author ______ that the earth we live on ______. A. is certain, can be saved by people’s action of recycling B. is not sure, can become better by people’s small gestures C. does not think, can be saved by what people are doing today

D. is hopeful, will become a better place with people’s efforts

V. There is one underlined part in each of the following sentences, followed by four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that is closest in meaning to the underlined part and write the corresponding letter on your Answer Sheet. (10 points, 2 points for each)

65. Some claim jogging is thought conducive; others insist the scenery relieves the monotony.

A. healthy B. profitable C. helpful D. fashionable

66. That person runs to escape the telephone or a cranky spouse or a filthy household.

A. bad-tempered B. humorous C. powerful D. ambitious

67. ... to dodge a decision about how to lead his life or a realization that his life is leading nowhere.

A. changes somewhere B. succeeds somehow C. is hopeless D. is unsuccessful

68. And who can doubt, watching so many middle-aged and older persons torturing themselves in the name of fitness,… A. for the sake of B. for the reason of C. in the light of D. as a result of

69. But I have a hunch there’s a further explanation of our obsession with exercise. A. strange enthusiasm for B. extreme unhealthy interest in C. incredible commitment to D. positive attitude towards

VI. Translate the following sentences into Chinese and write the translation on your Answer Sheet. (10 points, 2 points for each)

70. While jogging, all I can think about is jogging—or nothing. One advantage of jogging around a reservoir is that there’s no dry shortcut home.

71. From a practically infinite array of opportunities, we select one that we don’t enjoy and can’t wait to have done with.

72. Freedom is a wide and risky river; it can drown the person who does not know how to swim across it. The more obligations one takes on, the more time one occupies, the less threat freedom poses.

73. Theologists may take the argument one step further. It is our modern irreligion, our lack of confidence in any hereafter, that makes us anxious to stretch our mortal stay as long as possible.

74. We see wilderness shrinking; rivers losing their capacity to sustain life; the air, even the stratosphere, being loaded with potentially deadly junk.

VII. Answer the following essay question in English within 80-100 words. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet. (10 points)

75. Nowadays, an obsessive devotion to strenuous physical activity is a prominent feature of modern life. What do you think are the reasons?

VIII. Translate the following sentences into English and write the translation on your Answer Sheet. (18 points, 2 points each for 76-80, 8 points for 81) 76．她的脸色通红、呼吸急促，我意识到她发高烧了。

77．我怀疑晚间电视新闻中的内容有多少是真正可吸收和可理解的。

78．与过去相比，现在更多的女人更长久地保持年轻的外貌。从这一点看，这是一个成 功。

79．她以前从未这样想过，然而这解释了她为什么每周都要特意在同一时间离家的原 因。

80．我们的调查表明，当今没有哪家公司会通过面面俱到来取胜。

81．新潮势利虽不是我们这个时代独有，却已经变得空前重要。理由很简单，完全是经 济原因。由于有了现代化机器，生产超过了消费。消费者有组织的浪费是我们工业繁荣的先决条件。对生产者来说，消费者扔得越快越好、买得越快越好。当然，与此同时，生产者必须做出自己的贡献——只生产最容易用坏的东西。