Short Answer Questions
Directions：Read the following two passages carefully，then answer the questions in the fewest possible words．
（A）
The process of entering the confinesof political and economic power can be pictured as a system in which persons are chosen from a potential elite pool．In this reservoir of possible leaders are the individuals with theskills，education，and other qualifications needed to fill elite positions．It is here that competition does exist，that the highest achievers do display their abilities，and that the best qualified do generally succeed．Hence，what is most im portant is entering this reservoir of qualified people．
Many in the masses may have leadership abilities，but unless they can gain entrance into the elite pool，their abilities willgo unnoticed． Those of higher class and status rankenter more easily into this com petition since they have been afforded GREater opportunities to acquire the needed qualifications．
In addition to formal qualifications，there are less obvious social-psychological factors which tend to narrow the potential elite pool further．“Self-assertion”and“self-elimination” are processes by which those of higher social status assert themselves and those of lower social status eliminate them selvesfrom com- petition for elite positions．A young man whose family has been active in politics，who has attended Harvard，and who has established a network of connections to economic and political power establishments would not be unrealistic in his aspiring to a high position in the business or political world．On the other hand，a young man with less prestigious family background，no connections，and only a high school education or even a college deGREe from a state university would not likely expect a future place for him self at the top．As Prewitt and Stone explain，such an individual“has few models to follow，no contacts to put him into the right channels，and little reason to think of himself as potentially wealthy or powerful．” Thus，self-selection aids in filtering out those of lower income and status groups from the pool of potential elites．Most elim inate themselves from the com- petition early in the game．
Questions：
1．What does“potential elite pool”（Line 4，Para．1）mean？
2．Why is it easier for people of high social status to secure
elite positions？
3．“Social status”in this passage refers to__________．
4．According to the author，what are the two most important
factors in the competition for entry into the potential
elite pool？
5．The two form s of self-selection are __________．
(河北师范大学 李新春)
（B）
EARLY in the campaign to hunt down Osama bin Laden（本·拉登），US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumfseld reflected onthe many changes this unconventional war would require of Americans．Among them：learning a new lexicon．
So it is that Americans now know anthrax（炭疽热病）can be“weaponized”，that a military action can cause“blowback”（negative consequences for the country that carries out a military attack）and that adding“bio-”to the beginning of any word gives it nerve-racking dimensions．
This is America's new vocabulary of anguish，and anger，as the events of September 11 and the mysterious mailings of anthrax have made US society able to speak in the uncomfortable language of warriors and doctors，policy analysts and bureaucrats．
And still words fail．“I watch people struggle to find a word that matches how deeply outraged they are，”said Wendalyn Nichols，editorial director for Random House Reference，which publishes“Webster's College Dictionary．”“‘Tragedy’is not strong enough．‘Atrocity’is not strong enough． We're trying to find words to call the terrorists．”
While there often is a time delay between a historic event and its effect on language，experts say they have already noticed some familiar words being stretched to fit new meanings．
David K．Barnhart，whose quarterly“Barnhart Dictionary Com- panion”tracks new words and usages，has already noted the evo- lution of some words．
Among them are using“plane”as a verb， as in“We've been planed”in reference to using planes as missiles；“the pile”for the rubble left behind that the World Trade Centre；and“debris surge”for the storeys-high cloud of dust，glass shards and papers that swept through lower M anhattan in New York．
Overall，Barnhart said he has found only a handful of words that will be mentioned in the next edition of the“Dictionary Com- panion”，such as“theo-terrorism”to describe terrorism resulting from religious extremism and“talibanize”to refer to the takeover of a government by Islamic fundamentalists．“One set of usage that was a little surprisingis the term‘ground zero’，”said Ron Butters，who edits“American Speech”，a quarterly publication of the American Dialect Society that，in part， tracks the evolution of words．“It's a new use of an old phrase，one that I find personally a little irritating．”The phrase used to mean the centre of an explosion of an atomic bomb． Now it is used to refer to the rubble left behind where the twin towers once stood．
The largest effect on language has been the reinvigoration—or broad embace—of little-used words that have been aroundfor years．
“Cutaneous”，for instance，evolved in the 1500s from Latin and means“related to skin”． It has found wide usage as a modi-fier for the less-lethal version of anthrax—another word that previously came up rarely in mainstream conversation．
“You're going to find‘anthrax’being used a lot more in the last two months than it was in the previous 60 years，”Betters said．
In fact，a search of the Dow Jones Interactive database of some 6,000 US publications found 160 references to“anthrax”in the month before the attacks and 2,905 references in the month after．
The breadth of the gap between media usage and popular usage is unclear，though． Just because reporters use the phrase“collateral dam age”（damage unrelated to the target that accom panies a mili-tary attack）doesn't mean it's appearing in neighbourhood conversations．
Still，experts say media usage reflects accepted definitions while directingpublic interest in specific subjects．And with war inthe news， military terminology is flowing freely．“Collateral dam age”had 161references in the Dow Jones database in the month before the attacks and 1,061 in the month after．“Ground zero”went from 349 mentions to 4,192，and “bioterrorism”from 25 to 1,368．
Questions：
6．What is the meaning of the word“weaponized”（Para．2）？
7．What word can best describe people's feelings when they use
these new words？
8．Can these new words fully express people's emotion？
9．How many references to“anthrax”did publications find after
the anthraxscare？
10．What's the main idea of this passage？
●上海大学 孟臻
Answer Keys：
（A）
1．A reservoir of qualified people．
2．They have been afforded m ore opportunities．
3．Fam ily background ，social connections and education
4．Formal qualifications and social-psychological factors．
5．Self-assertion and self-elim ination
（B）
6．Used as a weapon．
7．Outraged．
8．No．These words fail．
9．2,905．
10．The terrorists'attack brings out new words．
