TEXT H
First read the question.
34. The writer of this letter attempts to ___ the views in the editorial.
A. refute B. illustrate C. support D. substantiate
Now go through TEXT H quickly to answer question 34.
October 3rd 199
Dear Sir,
In your editorial on August 31st, there seems to be some confused thinking in attempting to establish a direct relationship between the desire of the OAA airlines to negotiate more equitable agreements with the United States for air-t raffic rights and the cost of air travel for the public.
It is simply untrue that the Asian carriers are not looking for increased access to the U.S. market, including its domestic market; they are, as part of b alanced agreements that provide equality of opportunity. So long as the U. S. ta kes the inequitable arrangements enshrined in current agreements as a starting p oint for negotiation, however, there is no chance that U.S. carriers will be gra nted more regional rights which further unbalance the economic opportunities ava ilable to each side. Most importantly from the consumer viewpoint, it has yet to be demonstrated that in those regional sectors where U.S. carriers currently op erate-such as Hong Kong/Tokyo-they have added anything in terms of price, qualit y of service, innovation or seat availability in peak seasons.
Turning to cost, I am not sure to which Merrill Larrych study you are referri ng, but it would be simplistic to compare seat-mile costs of narrow-body operati on over U. S. domestic sectors with wide-body operation over international secto rs; comparative studies of seat-mile costs are valid only if they compare simila r aircraft operating over identical sectors. On this basis, International Civil Aviation Organization figures show that Asian carriers are highly competitive. O f course, given its operating environment Japan Air Lines will have high seat-mi le costs, while a carrier based in Southeast Asia, such as Singapore Airlines, w ill have relatively low costs. But it is a fallacy to assume this means ’higher ticket prices or higher taxes’ for the ’hapless Asian air traveller’ if he travels on JAL.
The Japanese carriers have to compete in the Asian marketplace with others, and costs cannot simply be passed on to the consumer or taxpayer. The people wh o really pay the price or reap the reward of differing cost levels are the share holders.
(RICHARD. T. STIRLAND
Director General
Orient Airlines Association
TEXT I
First read the questions.
35. Today’s computers can process data ___ times faster than the 1952 model, ILLIAC.
A. 4 B. 100 C. 200 D. 4, 000
36. NCSA aims to develop ___.
A. a new Internet browser
B. a more powerful national system
C. human-computer intelligence interaction
D. a new global network
Now go through TEXT I quickly to answer questions 35 and 36.
URBANA, Illinois. Welcome to Cyber City, USA, where scientists are developi ng the next-generation Internet and leading ground-breaking research in artifici al intelligence. The University of Illinois at Urbana, which has a student body of 36,100, has a proud computing tradition. In 1952, it became the first educational institution to build and own its own computer.
That computer, ILLIAC, was four metres tall, four metres long and sixty cen timetres deep. Its processing speed was about 50 kilohertz compared with 200 meg ahertz-that’s 200,000 kilohertz for today’s computers.
At the state-of-the-art Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technolo gy, researchers from disciplines as far-ranging as psychology, computer science and biochemistry are focusing on biological intelligence and human-computer inte lligence interaction.
Beckman also houses the National Centre for Supercomputing Application (NCS A), which played a key role in the development of the Internet global network. I t was NCSA that developed Mosaic, the graphically driven programme that first ma de surfing on the Internet possible.
Mosaic, introduced in 1992, has been replaced by much more powerful Interne t browsers such as its successor Netscape or Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.
NCSA officials say they are now trying to bring more advanced computing and communication to research scientists, engineers and ultimately the public.
"What we’re looking for is a national system in which the networks are 10 0 times greater than the Internet today, and the supercomputers are 100 times more powerful," said NCSA Director Larry Smart.
A proposed joint project would develop a prototype or demonstration model f or the "21st century national information infrastructure" in line with an init iative announced by President Bill Clinton last October.
If funded by the National Science Foundation, the new structure would take effect on October 1st.
NCSA, one of the four operational federal supercomputer centres in the coun try, is awaiting a decision from the Foundation’s board late this month on a co mpetition for US $ 16 million in continued annual federal funding.
NCSA, which employs 200 people and has a yearly budget of US $ 31 million, is expected to be one of two winners along with its counterpart in San Diego.
"The University has put a great deal of effort into this competition. We r emain hopeful about the outcome, but we will have no comment until the National Science Foundation Board’s decision," Smart said.