Directions: This part consists of two short passages. In these
passages, there are altogether 20 mistakes. You may have to change a word, add a
word or delete a word. If you change a word, cross it out and write the correct
word in the corresponding blank. If you add a word, put an insertion mark ( ∧ )
in the right place and write the missing word in the blank. If you delete a
word, cross it out and put a slash (/) in the blank.
The improbable chain of events that leads Alexander Fleming
1. ______ to discover
penicillin in 1928 is the stuff which scientific myths 2.
______ are made. It was a discovery that would change the course
of the history. The active ingredient in that mold, which
Fleming named penicillin, turned to be an
infection-fighting agent of 3. ______
enormous potency. When it was finally recognized as what it
was--the efficacious life-saving drug in the world--penicillin
4. ______ would alter forever the treatment
of bacterial infections. By the middle of the century, Fleming’s
discovery spawned a huge phar- 5. ______
maceutical industry, churning out synthetic penicillin that
would conquer some of man-kind’s most ancient scourges,
including syphilis, gangrene, and tuberculosis.
When he died a heart attack in 1955, he was mourned by
6. ______ the world
and buried as a national hero in the crypt of St. Paul’s
Cathedral in London. Although Fleming’s scientific work in and
of itself may not have reached great, his singular contribution
7. ______ changed the practice of medicine.
He deserves our utmost recog- nition. At the same time, we
must bear on mind that the 8.
______ "Fleming Myth", as he called it, embodies the
accomplishments of many giants of anti-biotic development.
Fleming is but a cho- sen representative for the likes of
Florey, Chain, Domagk, and Waksman, many of who remain, sadly,
virtual unknowns.
9. ______ Their achievements have made the world a better,
healthier place. In commemorating Fleming, and we
commemorate them 10.
______ all. How does it happen that children
learn their mother tongue so well When we
compare with adults learning a foreign
11. ______ language, we often find
this interesting fact. A little child without knowledge or
experience often succeeds to a complete 12.
______ master of the language. A grown-up person with fully
developed 13. ______ mental powers,
in most cases, may end up in a faulty and inex- 14.
______ act command. What accounts of this difference
15.
______ Despite other explanations, the real answer in my
opinion lies partly with the child himself, partly in the
behavior of the 16. ______ people surround
him. In the first place, the time of learning the 17.
______ mother tongue is the most favorably of all, namely,
the first 18. ______ years of
life. A child hears it speak from morning till night and, 19.
______ what is more important, always in its genuine form,
with the right pronunciation, right intonation, right use of
words and right structure. He drinks all the words and
expressions which come to 20. ______ him in
a fresh，ever-bubbling spring．There is no resistance： there is
perfect assimilation．