Text 4

　　It was 3:45 in the morning when the vote was finally taken. After six months of arguing and final 16 hours of hot parliamentary debates, Australia’s Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die. The measure passed by the convincing vote of 15 to 10. Almost immediately word flashed on the Internet and was picked up, half a world away, by John Hofsess, executive director of the Right to Die Society of Canada. He sent it on via the group’s on-line service, Death NET. Says Hofsess: “We posted bulletins all day long, because of course this isn’t just something that happened in Australia. It’s world history.”

　　The full import may take a while to sink in. The NT Rights of the Terminally Ill law has left physicians and citizens alike trying to deal with its moral and practical implications. Some have breathed sighs of relief, others, including churches, right to life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the bill and the haste of its passage. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australia—where an aging population, life extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part—other states are going to consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia. In the US and Canada, where the right to die movement is gathering strength, observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling.

　　Under the new Northern Territory law, an adult patient can request death—probably by a deadly injection or pill—to put an end to suffering. The patient must be diagnosed as terminally ill by two doctors. After a “cooling off” period of seven days, the patient can sign a certificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met. For Lloyd Nickson, a 54 year old Darwin resident suffering from lung cancer, the NT Rights of Terminally Ill law means he can get on with living without the haunting fear of his suffering: a terrifying death from his breathing condition. “I’m not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view, but what I was afraid of was how I’d go, because I’ve watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks,” he says.

　　56. From the second paragraph we learn that ________.

　　[A] the objection to euthanasia is slow to come in other countries

　　[B] physicians and citizens share the same view on euthanasia

　　[C] changing technology is chiefly responsible for the hasty passage of the law(D)

　　[D] it takes time to realize the significance of the law’s passage

　　57. When the author says that observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling, he means ________.

　　[A] observers are taking a wait and see attitude towards the future of euthanasia

　　[B] similar bills are likely to be passed in the US, Canada and other countries

　　[C] observers are waiting to see the result of the game of dominoes(B)

　　[D] the effect-taking process of the passed bill may finally come to a stop

　　58. The word “euthanasia” in the second paragraph most probably means ________.

　　[A] doctors’ sympathy to dying patients

　　[B] doctors’ aggressive medical measures to dying patients

　　[C] doctors’ mercy killing to reduce sufferings of dying patients

　　[D] doctors’ well-meaning treatment to save dying patients

　　59. When Lloyd Nickson dies, he will ________.

　　[A] face his death with calm characteristic of euthanasia

　　[B] experience the suffering of a lung cancer patient

　　[C] have an intense fear of terrible suffering(A)

　　[D] undergo a cooling off period of seven days

　　60. The author’s attitude towards euthanasia seems to be that of ________.

　　[A] opposition

　　[B] suspicion

　　[C] approval(C)

　　[D] indifference

　　Section IV Translation

　　Read the following sentences, translate English into Chinese, and translate Chinese into English. (20points)

　　61. Proper, scientific study of the impacts of dams and of the cost and benefits of controlling water can help to resolve these conflicts.

　　62. The coming of age of the postwar baby boom and an entry of women into the male-dominated job market have limited the opportunities of teenagers who are already questioning the heavy personal sacrifices involved in climbing Japan's rigid social ladder to good schools and jobs.

　　63. It is not possible to determine whether both continents are moving in opposite directions or whether one continent is stationary and the other is drifting away from it.

　　64. Strengthening economic growth, at the same time as winter grips the northern hemisphere, could push the price higher still in the short term.

　　65. But it is hardly inevitable that companies on the Web will need to resort to push strategies to make money.

　　66. What is odd is that they have perhaps most benefited from ambition — if not always their own then that of their parents and grandparents.

　　67. This success, coupled with later research showing that memory itself is not genetically determined, led Ericsson to conclude that the act of memorizing is more of a cognitive exercise than an intuitive one.

　　68. Again, differences between people and the opportunity for natural selection to take advantage of it have diminished.

　　69. This near-tripling of oil prices calls up scary memories of the 1973 oil shock, when prices quadrupled, and 1979-1980, when they also almost tripled.

　　70. In just one generation, millions of mothers have gone to work, transforming basic family economics.

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