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TEXT A Large part as a consequence of the feminist movement, historians have focused a great deal of attention in recent years on determining more accurately the status of women in various periods. Although much has been accomplished for the modern period, premodern cultures have proved more difficult: sources are restricted in number, fragmentary, difficult to interpret, and often contradictory. Thus it is not particularly surprising that some earlier scholarship concerning such cultures has so far gone unchallenged. An example is Johann Bachofen’s 1861 treatise on Amazons, women-ruled societies of questionable existence contemporary with ancient Greece. Starting from the premise that mythology and legend preserve at least a nucleus of historical fact, Bachofen argued that women were dominant in many ancient societies. His work was based on a comprehensive survey of references in the ancient sources to Amazonian and other societies with matrilineal customs--societies in which descent and property rights are traced through the female line. Some support for his theory can be found in evidence such as that drawn from Herodotus, the Greek "historian" of the fifth century B. C, who speaks of an Amazonian society, the Sauromatae, where the women hunted and fought in wars. A woman in this society was not allowed to marry until she had killed a person in battle. Nonetheless, this assumption that the first recorders of ancient myths have preserved facts is problematic. If one begins by examining why ancients refer to Amazons, it becomes clear that ancient Greek descriptions of such societies were meant not so much to represent observed historical fact--real Amazonian societies--but rather to offer "moral lessons" on the supposed outcome of women’s rule in their own society. The Amazons were often characterized, for example, as the equivalents of giants and centaurs, enemies to be slain by Greek heroes. Their customs were presented not as those of a respectable society, but as the very antitheses of ordinary Greek practices. Thus, I would argue the purpose of accounts of the Amazons for their male Greek recorders was didactic, to teach both male and female Greeks that all-female groups, formed by withdrawal from traditional society, are destructive and dangerous. Myths about the Amazons were used as arguments for the male-dominated status quo, in which groups composed exclusively of either sex were not permitted to segregate themselves permanently from society. Bachofen was thus misled in his reliance on myths for information about the status of women. The sources that will probably tell contemporary historians most about women in the ancient world are such social documents as gravestones, wills and marriage contracts. Studies of such documents have already begun to show how mistaken we are when we try to derive our picture of the ancient world exclusively from literary sources, especially myths. The author suggests that the main reason for the persisting influence of Bachofen’s work is that ______.
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When an invention is made, the inventor has three possible courses of action open to him; he can give the invention to the world by publishing it, keep the idea secret, or patent it. (46) Secrecy obviously evaporates once the invention is sold or used, and there is always the risk that in the meantime another inventor, working quite independently, will make and patent the same discovery. (47) A granted patent is the result of a bargain struck between an inventor and the state, by means of which inventor gets a limited period of monopoly and publishes full details of his invention to the public after that period terminates.Once the monopoly period comes to an end, all those details of the invention pass into the public domain. Only in the most exceptional circumstances is the life-span of a patent extended to alter this normal process of events. (48) The longest extension ever granted was to Georges Valensi; his 1939 patent for color TV receiver circuitry was extended until 1971 because for most of the patent’s normal life there was no color TV to receive and thus no hope of reward for the invention. But even short extensions are normally extremely rare.Because a patent remains permanently public after it has terminated, the shelves of the library attached to the patent office contain details of literally millions of ideas that are free for anyone to use and, if older than half a century, sometimes even re-patent. Indeed, patent experts often advise anyone wishing to avoid the high cost of conducing a search through live patents that the one sure way of avoiding violation of any other inventor’s right is to steal and use a dead patent. (49) Likewise, because publication of an idea in any other form permanently invalidates further patents on the idea, it is traditionally safe to take ideas from other areas of print. Much modern technological advance is based on these presumptions of legal security.(50)Anyone closely involved in patents and inventions soon learns that most "new" ideas are, in fact, as old as the availability of new technology. The basic patent for the theory of magnetic recording dates back to 1886. Many of the original ideas behind television originate from the late 19th and early 20th century. Even the Volkswagen rear engine car was anticipated by a 1904 patent for a cart with the horse at the rear. Secrecy obviously evaporates once the invention is sold or used, and there is always the risk that in the meantime another inventor, working quite independently, will make and patent the same discovery.
TEXT C In a country which must certainly have been a long way away from where we Rumanians live, all the young people decided to kill all the old people. It’s an old, old story... What was the use of their going on living with white beards and all They had lived their life, they’d had their time and that was that. Anyone who reached the age of fifty or a bit over—he was to be done away with. Lots of wise old men were killed and lots of wisdom passed away with them. Only one kind-hearted young man, so they say, took pity on his father; after all, he owed his life to him in the first place. So he hid him away in a cellar and took care of him. Time passed and a terrible drought came. Meadows and plough lands shriveled and withered and all the springs dried up. There was terrible famine, and sickness and all kinds of troubles came upon the young people thick and fast, and their hair began to go white before its time. They would have put up with everything as best they could, but more and worse troubles followed. The snow melted and spring was upon them without their having a single grain of seed to put in the ground. They scraped the floors of all the barns that used to be stacked so high they could hardly hold all the grain. All the king’s councilors held long talks with the king but there was nothing they could do to get themselves out of their terrible trouble. From bishop to farm worker the whole people were overcome with horror and fear at the thought that spring had come and there was nothing to sow their fields with. The old man hidden in the cellar could see that his son was going about looking miserable all the. time. One day he asked him: "What’s making you look so thoughtful, my boy Has anyone done you any harm Are you in trouble Tell your father all about it. He may be able to help you, even if it’s only with words." The son told him all the troubles straight away, from beginning to end. The old man thought for a little and then he said: "Don’t tell anybody anything for the time being. But when the last patches of snow melt on the fields, take your plough and go and plough up the lane in front of your house. Rake it over after that and.., stop worrying. "The boy followed the advice the old man had given him and what did he see There came a quick spring rain and out of the ground there began to sprout wheat and maize, oats and barley and even beans and peas in some places. It seemed so wonderful that news of it spread up and down the country. It was a thing no one had ever heard of—a man’s reaping where he hadn’t sown. Of course the king got to hear of it too. He quickly ordered the lad to be brought before him. So he presented himself and of course he was now considered to be the wisest of the wise. "What did you do How did you do it Who told you what to do" The king started asking him questions at once. All these questions confused the boy and he was afraid so he didn’t tell him the true answer straight off. But in the end he admitted what had happened. "Bring me your father here," the king ordered. So the old man was brought along too. "Well, your Majesty, just think how many seeds drop on the ground when people carry them home on their carts." The old fellow was given a royal reward; he had saved the life of the whole nation and so the boy was pardoned too for not killing him. And ever since then, my friends, they haven’t killed the old men any more. What is the message of this passage
SECTION B Questions 1 to 5 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following five questions. Now listen to the interview. If one wants to see a doctor in UK, he has to do the following EXCEPT ______.
TEXT D The senior partner, Oliver Lambert, studied the resume for the hundredth time and again found nothing he disliked about Mitchell Y. McDeere, at least not on paper. He had the brains, the ambition, the good looks. And he was hungry; with his background, he had to be. He was married, and that was mandatory. The firm had never hired an unmarried lawyer, and it frowned heavily on divorce, as well as womanizing and drinking. Drug testing was in the contract. He had a degree in accounting, passed the CPA exam the first time he took it and wanted to be a tax lawyer, which of course was a requirement with a tax firm. He was white, and the firm had never hired a black. They managed this by being secretive and cubbish and never soliciting job applications. Other firms solicited, and hired blacks. This firm recruited, and remained lily white. Plus, the firm was in Memphis, and the top blacks wanted New York or Washington or Chicago. McDeere was a male, and there were no women in the firm. That mistake had been made in the mid-seventies when they recruited the number one grad from Harvard, who happened to be a she and a wizard at taxation. She lasted four turbulent years and was killed in a car wreck. He looked good, on paper. He was their top choice. In fact, for this year there were no other prospects. The list was very short. It was McDeere, or no one. The managing partner, Royce McKnight, studied a dossier labeled "Mitchell Y. McDeere-Harvard." An inch thick with small print and a few photographs; it had been prepared by some ex-CIA agents in a private intelligence outfit in Bethesda. They were clients of the firm and each year did the investigating for no fee. It was easy work, they said, checking out unsuspecting law students. They learned, for instance, that he preferred to leave the Northeast, that he was holding three job offers, two in New York and one in Chicago, and that the highest offer was ＄76,000 and the lowest was ＄68,000. He was in demand. He had been given the opportunity to cheat on a securities exam during his second year. He declined, and made the highest grade in the class. Two months ago he had been offered cocaine at a law school party. He said no and left when everyone began snortihg. He drank an occasional beer, but drinking was expensive and he had no money. He owed close to＄23,000 in student loans. He was hungry. Royce McKnight flipped through the dossier and smiled. McDeere was their man. Lamar Quin was thirty-two and not yet a partner. He had been brought along to look young and act young and project a youthful image for Bendini, Lambert & Locke, which in fact was a young firm, since most of the partners retired in their late forties or early fifties with money to bum. He would make partner in this firm. With a six-figure income guaranteed for the rest of his life, Lamar could enjoy the twelve-hundred-dollar tailored suits that hung so comfortably from his tall, athletic frame. He strolled nonchalantly across the thousand-dollar- a-day suite and poured another cup of decaf. He checked his, watch. He glanced at the two partners sitting at the small conference table near the windows. Precisely at two-thirty someone knocked on the door. Lamar looked at the parmers, who slid the resume and dossier into an open briefcase. All three reached for their jackets. Immar buttoned his top button and opened the door. According to the passage, the main reason Lama Quin was there at the interview was that______.
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