Part I Listening comprehension (20 minutes)
Section A
1. A. she ordered it through the mail.
B. A male student gave it to her as a birthday present.
C. It was a present from her parents.
D. She got it while visiting her parents.
2. A. At a bank.
B. at a department store.
C. At a lawyer's office.
D. at a school.
3. A. Nothing.
B. To check out book from the library.
C. To see a movie and write a paragraph.
D. To read the next chapter in the textbook.
4. A. Jealous.
B. Indifferent.
C. Negative.
D. Proud.
5. A. He just had his new car come in.
B. The dealer is taking his time getting the car ready.
C. He hasn't got his driver's license.
D. He lost his car.
6. A. Because he wanted to meet the woman's parents.
B. Because he goes to a beach house each August.
C. Because he won't be able to take a vacation.
D. Because he didn't know the woman's plans.
7. A. '1 million.
B. ' 1/4 million.
C. ' 1/2 million.
D. '2 million.
8. A. She will reach the restaurant ten minutes late.
B. She has ten minutes to reach the restaurant.
C. He thinks he can reach the restaurant in ten minutes.
D. He thinks he can't drive quickly to the restaurant.
9. A. Because the plane turn sharply.
B. Because it is 22 miles.
C. Because there is no signs.
D. because of driving conditions.
10. A. Fred.
B. The woman.
C. Sharon.
D. Ed.
Section B
Passage one
Questions 11 to l3 are based on the passage you have just heard.
11. A. Health.
B. The processing of bread.
C. Organic gardens.
D. Poisons.
12. A. Refined foods.
B. The processing of foods.
C. Organic foods.
D. Unprocessed foods.
13. A. The ultimate content remains the same.
B. Vitamin information is not available after processing.
C. Vitamins are added to the food.
D. The Vitamin content is reduced.
Passage two
Questions 14 to l6 are based on the passage you have just heard.
14. A. Center
B. Centr
C. Centre
D. Centere
15. A. A smooth surface
B. An actor
C. An apartment
D. A movie
16. A. That British English and American English are the same.
B. That British English and American English are so different that Americans cannot understand Englishmen when they speak.
C. That British English and American English have different spelling and vocabulary but the same pronunciation.
D. That British English and American English have slightly different spelling, vocabulary and pronunciation, but Americans and Englishmen still understand each other.
Passage three
Questions 17 to 20 are based on the passage you have just heard.
17. A. Light darkens silver salt.
B. Light darkens natural salt.
C. Light darkens silver.
D. Light darkens self-developing film.
18. A. By making use of special paper.
B. By adding common salt to silver salt.
C. By creating the temporary image.
D. By using a special piece of metal.
19. A. He was a soldier.
B. He took war photograph.
C. He painted portraits.
D. He designed a portable camera.
20. A. A cheap process of developing film at home.
B. A new kind of film.
C. An automatic printer.
D. An "instant" camera that develops its own film.
听力原文：
Part I Listening comprehension (20 minutes)
Section A
1. M: It's a beautiful watch. Where did you get it?
W: It came in the mail this morning, as a birthday present from my parents.
Q: What does the woman say about the watch?
2. W: I just stopped by at your office in the bank. They told me that you had quit. Where are you working now?
M: I am working for a lawyer now. The pay is better and the work is much more interesting.
Q: Where did the woman work before?
3. W: Did we have an assignment for Monday? I don't have anything written down.
M: Nothing to read in the textbook, but we have to see a movie and write a paragraph about it.
Q: What have the students been assigned to do before Monday?
4. W: I'd like to ask you, Mr. Dean, what you feel about woman labor?
M: My answer to that is, let the woman work as much as they want to -- my wife's had a job ever since we got married -- just as long as they don't take jobs away from men that need them.
Q: What's the man's attitude towards woman labor?
5. W: I heard your new car came in today. When will you get to drive it?
M: Oh, it came in two days ago, but I'm beginning to wonder when I'll get to ride in it myself. The dealer is taking his time getting it ready.
Q: How does the man seem to feel?
6. M: I wish you had told me your vacation plans sooner.
W: I'm sorry. I thought you knew I go to my parent's beach house each August.
Q: Why is the man upset?
7. W: The charity appeal raised only half of what it expected.
M: One quarter of a million is respectable, however.
Q: How much money did they expect to raise?
8. W: Can you take me to the Palace Restaurant quickly? I'm ten minutes late already.
M: I don't know. I'll try. But with traffic this heavy, it will take at least twenty minutes.
Q: What do we learn from the conversation?
9. W: How do you get to Route 22 from the airport?
M: Take the airport exit and immediately get onto Route 1 north. Then right away take the exit for Route 21 and 22 following the signs 22. On account of the construction, there are several very sharp turns, so be careful.
Q: Why should the woman be careful?
10. M: What were you doing when Ed got here?
W: Talking to Sharon and Fred.
Q: Who came last?
Section B
Passage one
Questions 11 to l3 are based on the passage you have just heard.
Health food is a general term applied to all kinds of foods that are considered more healthful than the types of foods widely sold in supermarkets. For example, whole grains, dried beans, and corn oil are health foods. A narrower classification of health food is natural food. This term is used to distinguish between types of the same food. Raw honey is a natural sweetener, whereas refined sugar is not. Fresh fruit is a natural food, but canned fruit, with sugars and other additives, is not. The most precise term of all and the narrowest classification within health food is organic food, used to describe food that has been grown on a particular kind of farm. Fruits and vegetables that are grown in gardens, that are treated only with organic fertilizers, that are not sprayed with poisonous insecticides and that are not refined after harvest, are organic foods. Meats, fish, dairy and poultry products from animals that are fed only organically-grown feed and that are not injected with hormoned are organic foods.
In choosing the type of food you eat, then, you have basically two choices: Inorganic, processed foods, or organic, unprocessed foods. A wise decision should include investigation of the allegations that processed foods contain chemicals, some of which are proven to be toxic, and that vitamin is greatly reduced in proceeded foods.
11. What was the main idea of this talk?
12. Which term is used to distinguish between types of the same food?
13. What happens to food when it is processed?
Passage two
Questions 14 to l6 are based on the passage you have just heard.
M: British English and American English are really about the same, aren't they?
W: I don't think so. It seems to me that some of the spellings are different.
B: You're right, Mary. Words like theater and center end in r-e in England instead of in e-r like we spell them. Can you think of any more examples?
W: The word color?
B: Good. In fact, many words which end in o-r in American English are spelled our in British English.
M: I'm still not convinced. I mean, if someone comes here from England, we can all understand what he's saying. The spelling doesn't really matter that much.
B: Okay. Are we just talking about spelling? Or are there some differences in pronunciation and meaning too?
W: I remember seeing an English movie where the actors kept calling their apartment a flat. Half of the movie was over before I realized what they were talking about.
M: So there are slight differences in spelling and some vocabulary.
W: And pronunciation, too. You aren't going to tell me that you sound like Richard Burton.
M: Richard Burton isn't English. He's Welsh.
W: Okay. Anyway, the pronunciation is different.
B: I think that what you are really disagreeing about is the extent of the difference. We are agree that British English and American English are different. Right?
W: Yes.
M: Sure.
B: But not so different that it prevents us from understanding each other.
M: That's what I mean.
W: That's what I mean, too.
14. According to this class discussion, how is the word center spelled in British English?
15. What doe she word "flat" mean in British English?
16. On what did the class agree?
Passage three
Questions 17 to 20 are based on the passage you have just heard.
The camera is often thought to be a modern invention. But as early as 1727, a German physicist discovered that light darkness silver salt, a chemical compound. Using as a camera, a big box with small hole to let the light in, he made temporary images on the salt. Silver salt is still the base of film today.
Then a French scientist made the first permanent picture by using a special piece of metal sensitized with silver salt. A photographer he made in 1826 still exists. The painter, Daguerre improved on the process by placing common salt, the kind we eat, on the mental. This was in 1839, the official date of the beginning of photography, but the problem was the printing of the photographs, and it wasn't until other scientists developed the kind of paper we now use, that good printing was possible and photography became truly modern. In the 1860s, Matthew Bradey was able to take his famous pictures of the American Civil War, thus making portrait positions very popular. In the 20th century, Geogre Eastman of the United States simplified film developing, and Dr Edwin Land invented the so-called "instant" camera with self-developing film. If we say that photography came into existence in 1839, it follows that it has taken more than one hundred years for the camera to reach a condition of technical refinement.
17. What discovery was the basis of photography?
18. How was the first permanent picture made?
19. According to the speaker, why is Matthew Bradey remembered today?
20. What did Dr. Edwin Land invent?
Part II Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)
Question 21 to 25 are based on the following passage:
Three English dictionaries/published recently all lay claim to possessing a "new" feature. The BBC English Dictionary contains background information on l, 000 people and places prominent in the news since 1988; the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary: Encyclopedic Edition is the OALD plus encyclopedic entries; the Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture is the LME plus cultural information.
The key fact is that all three dictionaries can be seen to have a distinctly "cultural" as well as language learning content. That being said, the way in which they approach the cultural element is not identical, making direct comparisons between the three difficult.
While there is some common ground between the encyclopedic/cultural entries for the Oxford and Longman dictionaries, there is a clear difference. Oxford lays claim to being encyclopedic on content whereas Longman distinctly concentrates on the language and culture of the English-speaking world. The Oxford dictionary can therefore stand more vigorous scrutiny for cultural bias than the Longman publication because the latter does not hesitate about viewing the rest of the world from the cultural perspectives of the English-speaking world. The cultural objectives of the BBC dictionary are in turn more distinct still. Based on an analysis of over 70 million words recorded from the BBC World Service and National Public Radio of Washington over a period of four years, their 1,000 brief encyclopedic entries are based on people and places that have featured in the news recently. The intended user they have in mind is a regular listener to the World Service who will have a reasonable standard of English and a developed skill in listening comprehension.
In reality, though, the BBC dictionary will be purchased by a far wider range of language learners, as will the other two dictionaries. We will be faced with a situation where many of the users of these dictionaries will at the very least have distinct socio-cultural perspectives and may have world views which are totally opposed and even hostile to those of the West. Advanced learners from this kind of background will not only evaluate a dictionary on how user-friendly it is but will also have definite views about the scope and appropriateness of the various socio-cultural entries.
21. What feature sets apart the three dictionaries discussed in the passage from traditional ones?
A. The combination of two dictionaries into one
B. The new approach to defining words
C. The inclusion of cultural content
D. The increase in the number of entries
22. The Longman dictionary is more likely to be criticized for cultural prejudice ________.
A. Its scope of cultural entries the beyond the culture of the English-speaking world.
B. it pays little attention to the cultural content d the non-English-speaking countries
C. it views the world purely from the standpoint of the English-speaking world.
D. it fails to distinguish language from culture in its encyclopedic entries.
23. The BBC dictionary differs from Oxford and Longman in that ________.
A. it has a wider selection Of encyclopedic entries
B. it is mainly design to meet the needs of radio listeners
C. it lays more emphasis co language then on culture
D. it is intended to help listeners develop their listening comprehension skills
24. It is implied in the last paragraph that, in approaching socico-cultural content in a dictionary, special thought be given to ____________.
A. the language levels of its users
B. the number of its prospective purchasers
C. the different tastes of its users
D. the various cultural backgrounds of its users
25. What is the passage mainly about?
A. Different ways of treating socio-cultural elements in the three new English dictionaries.
B. A comparison of people's opinions on the cultural content in the three new English dictionaries.
C. The advantages of the BBC dictionary over Oxford and Longman.
D. The user-friendliness of the three new English dictionaries.
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
Real policemen hardly recognize any resemblance between their lives and what they see on TV.
The first difference is that a policeman's real life revolves round criminal law. He has to know exactly what actions are crimes and what evidence can be used to prove them in court. He has to know nearly as much law as a professional lawyer, and what is more, he has to apply it on his feet, in the dark and rain, running down a street after someone he wants to talk to.
Little of his time is spent in chatting. He will spend most of his working life typing millions of words on thousands d forms about hundreds of sad, unimportant people who are guilty of stupid, petty crimes.
Most television crime drama is about finding the criminal: as soon as he's arrested, the story is over. In real life, finding criminals is seldom much of a problem. Except in very serious cases like murders and terrorist attacks little effort is spent on searching.
Having made an arrest, a detective really start to work. He has to prove his case in court and to do that he often has to gather a lot of different evidence. At third big difference between the drama detective and the real one is the unpleasant pressures: first, as members of a police force they always have to behave absolutely in accordance with the law. Secondly, as expensive public servants they have to get results. They can hardly ever do both. Most of the time some of them have to break the rules in small ways.
If the detective has to detect the world, the world often deceives him. Hardly anyone he meets tells him the truth. And this separation the detective feels between himself and the rest of the world is deepened by the simples mindedness as he sees it -- of citizens, social workers, doctors, law-makers, and judges, who, instead of eliminating crime, punish the criminals less severely in the hope that this will make them reform. The result, detectives feel, is that nine-tenths of their work is re-catching people who should have stared behind bars. This makes them rather cynical.
26. A policeman has to be trained in criminal law because ____________.
A. he must work hard to help reform criminals
B. he must believe as professional lawyers do
C. he must be able to tell when and where a crime is committed
D. he must justify the arrests he makes of criminals
27. What is the most suitable word that describes the work of a policeman according to the passage?
A. Dangerous B. Demanding C. Distressing D. Dramatic
28. According to the passage, policemen spend most of their time and efforts _________.
A. patrolling the street, rain or shine B. tracking and arresting criminals
C. collecting and providing evidence D. consulting the rules of law
29. What's the policeman's biggest headache?
A. He has to get the most desirable results without breaking the law in any way.
B. He has to justify his arrests while unable to provide sufficient evidence in most cases.
C. He can hardly find enough time to learn criminal law while burdened with numerous criminal cases
D. He has to provide the best possible public service at the least possible expense
30. Why do policemen feel separated from the rest of the world?
A. Because they do not receive due support from society.
B. Because they find people insincere with them.
C. Because they feel superior to simple-minded people around them.
D. Because they are suspicious of the people around them.
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:
To live in the United States today is to gain an appreciation for Dahrendorf's assertion that social change exists everywhere. Technology, the application of knowledge for practical ends, is a major source of social change.
Yet we would do well to remind ourselves that technology is a human creation; it does not exist naturally. A spear or a robot is as much a cultural as a physical object. Until humans use a spear to hunt game or a robot to produce machine parts, neither is much more than a solid mass of matter. For a bird looking for an object on which to rest, a spear or robot serves the purpose equally well. The explosion of the Challenger space shuttle and the Russian nuclear accident at Chernobyl drive home the human quality of technology; they provide cases in which well-planned systems suddenly went haywire and there was no ready hand to set them right. Since technology is a human creation, we are responsible for what is done with it. Pessimists worry that we will use our technology eventually to blow our world and ourselves to pieces. But they have been saying this for decades, and so far we have managed to survive and even flourish. Whether we will continue to do so in the years ahead remains uncertain. Clearly, the impact of technology on our lives deserves a closer examination.
Few technological developments have had a greater impact on our lives than the computer revolution. Scientists and engineers have designed specialized machines that can do the tasks that once only people could do. There are those who assert that the switch to an information-based economy is in the same camp as other great historical milestones, particularly the industrial Revolution. Yet when we ask why the Industrial Revolution was a revolution, we find that it was not the machines. The primary reason why it was revolutionary is that it led to great social change. It gave rise to mass production and, through mass production, to a society in which wealth was not confined to the few.
In somewhat similar fashion, computers promise to revolutionize the structure of American life, particularly as they free the human mind and open new possibilities in knowledge and communication. The Industrial Revolution supplemented and replaced the muscles of humans and animals by mechanical methods. The computer extends this development to supplement and replace some aspects of the mind of human beings by electronic methods. It is the capacity of the computer for solving problems and making decisions that represents its greatest potential and that sees the greatest difficulties in predicting the impact on society.
31. A spear or a robot has the quality of technology only when it _________.
A. is used both as a cultural and a physical object
B. serves different purposes equally well
C. is utilized by man
D. can be of use to both man and animal
32. The examples of the Challenger and Chernobyl cited by the author serve to show that _________.
A. if not given close examination, technology could be used to destroy our world
B. technology is a human creation, so we are responsible for it
C. technology usually goes wrong, if not controlled by man
D. being a human creation, technology is liable to error
33. According to the author, the introduction of the computer is a revolution mainly because __________.
A. the computer has revolutionized the workings of the human mind
B. the computer can do the tasks that could only be done by people before
C. it has helped to switch to an information technology
D. it has a great potential impact on society
34. By using the phrase "the human quality of technology" , the author refers to the fact that technology __________.
A. has a great impact on human life
B. has some characteristics of human nature
C. can replace some aspects of the human mind
D. does not exist in the natural world
35. The passage is based on the author's __________.
A. keen insight into the nature of technology
B. prejudiced criticism of the role of the Industrial Revolution
C. cautious analysis of the replacement of the human mind by computers
D. exaggerated description of the negative consequences of technology
Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage:
Now custom has not been commonly regarded as a subject of any great importance. The inner workings of our own brains we feel to be uniquely worthy of investigation, but custom, we have a way of thinking, is behavior at its most commonplace. As a matter of fact, it is the other way around. Traditional custom, taken the world over, is a mass of detailed behavior more astonishing than what any one person can ever evolve in individual actions. Yet that is a rather trivial aspect of the matter. The fact of first-rate importance is the predominant role that custom plays in experience and in belief and the very great varieties it may manifest.
No man ever looks at the world with pristine eyes. He sees it edited by a definite set of customs and institutions and ways of thinking. Even in his philosophical probing he cannot go behind these stereotypes; his very concepts of the true and the false will still have reference to his particular traditional customs. John Dewey has said in all seriousness that the part played by custom in shaping the behavior of the individual as over against any way in which he can affect traditional custom, is as the proportion of the total vocabulary of his mother tongue over against those words of his own baby talk that are taken up into the language of his family. When one seriously studies axial orders that have had the opportunity to develop independently, the becomes no more than an exact and matter-of-fact observation. The life history of the individual is first and foremost an adjustment to the patterns and standards traditionally handed down in his community. From the moment of his birth the customs into which he is born shape his experience and behavior. By the time he can talk, he is the little creature of his culture, and by the time he is grown and able to take part in its activities, its habits are his habits, its beliefs his beliefs, its impossibilities his impossibilities.
36. The author thinks the reason why custom has been ignored in the academic world is that __________.
A. custom reveals only the superficial nature of human behavior
B. the study of social orders can replace the study of custom
C. people are still not aware of the important role that custom plays in forming or world outlook
D. custom has little to do with our ways of thinking
37. Which of the following is true according to John Dewey?
A. An individual can exercise very little influence on the cultural tradition into which he is born.
B. Custom is the direct result of the philosophical probing of a group of people.
C. An individual is strongly influenced by the cultural tradition even before he is born.
D. Custom represents the collective wisdom which benefits the individual.
38. The world "custom" in this passage most probably means __________.
A. the concept of the true and the false of a society
B. the independently developed social orders
C. the adjustment of the individual to the new social environment
D. the patterns and standards of behavior of a community
39. According to the passage a person's life, from his birth to his death, ________.
A. is constantly shaping the cultural traditions of his people
B. is predominated by traditional custom
C. is continually influenced by the habits of other communities
D. is chiefly influenced by the people around him
40. The author' s pump in writing this passage is ________.
A. to urge individuals to follow traditional customs
B. to stress the strong influence of customs on an individual
C. to examine the interaction of man and axial customs
D. to show man' s adjustment to traditional customs
Part III Vocabulary and Structure
41. It has been estimated that the earth's surface temperature has increased ________ one quarter to three quarters of a degree since 1805.
A. to B. by C. at D. with
42. The lady dressed in the latest Paris fashion is ________ in her appearance but rude in her speech.
A. elaborate B. excessive C. elegant D. exaggerated
43. Many people think that the standards of public ________ have declined.
A. morality B. rightness C. awareness D. mentality
44. Iceland lies far north in the Atlantic, with its northernmost tip actually ________ the Arctic Circle.
A. touched B. touches C. touching D. being touched
45. You need to rewrite this sentence because it is ________, the readers will have difficulty in understanding it.
A. comprehensive B. alternative C. deliberate D. ambiguous
46. People were surprised to find that he had the ability to ________ everything he was involved in.
A. precede B. dominate C. effect D. instruct
47. Colin named my sister and I married his brother, ________ makes Colin and me double in-laws.
A. what B. which C. that D. it
48. The problems requiring immediate solution will be given ________ at the meeting.
A. priority B. urgency C. superiority D. emergency
49. A membership card authorizes ________ the club's facilities for a period of 12 months.
A. the holder using B. the holder's use C. the holder to use D. the holder uses
50. During the conference the speaker tried to ________ his feelings concerning the urgency of a favorable decision.
A. comply B. impose C. imply D. convey
51. ________ I admit that there are problems, I don't think that they cannot be solved.
A. Unless B. Until C. As D. While
52. The fact that they reacted so differently was a reflection of their different ________.
A. performances B. personalities C. qualities D. appearances
53. Your excuse that an elephant fell on you and made you late is just ________.
A. inevitable B. indispensable C. incredible D. incurable
54. Another big issue ________the new republic is the problem of the education of its citizens.
A. confining B. confirming C. conforming D. confronting
55. I tried to relax because I knew _____, the sooner I would use up my oxygen.
A. the more excited I got B. I got excited more C. and more I got excited D. and I got more excited
56. Scientists first ________the idea of the atom bomb in the 1930s.
A. imagined B. conceived C. considered D. acknowledged
57. Cotton production has been ________ the decline these years.
A. down B. on C. at D. under
58. The day before my history exam, I still hadn't _____ reading the first book on the list.
A. as about B. caught up with C. got round to D. sat for
59. He has pointed out the dangers ________ in this nuclear power station.
A. interior B. inherent C. insists D. inner.
60. Wherever I have an appointment, I like to arrive _______.
A. ahead of time a little B. a little time C. a little ahead of time D. ahead of a little time.
61. Radar is used to extend the ________ of man's sense of observing his environment, especially the sense of vision.
A. validity B. liability C. capability D. intensity
62. The boy cycling in the street was knocked down by a minibus and received ______ injures.
A. fatal B. excessive C. disastrous D. exaggerated
63. If the ocean were free of ice, storm paths would move further north, ________ the plains of North America of rainfall.
A. to deprive B. deprived C. depriving D. deprived.
64. A window in the kitchen was _______; there was rubbish everywhere, and the curtains and carpets had been stolen.
A. scattered B. scraped C. scratched D. smashed
65. This is an ideal site for a university ________ it is far from the downtown area.
A. provided that B. now that C. so that D. in that
66. The most ________ technological success in the twentieth century is probably the computer revolution.
A. prominent B. prosperous C. solemn D. prevalent
67. Whether their football team will win is a matter of _______ to me.
A. indifference B. discrimination C. deviation D. interests
68. He thought he could talk Mr. Robinson _______ buying some expensive equipment.
A. on B. of C. round D. into
69. Today the public is much concerned about the way ________.
A. nature is being ruined B. which nature is ruined C. on which to ruin nature D. of nature to be ruined
70. Though __________ rich, he was better off than at any other period in his life.
A. by any means B. by some means C. by all means D. by no means
Part IV Error Correction (15 minutes)
Most studies suggest that when women and men do the
same job and have the experience, pay rates tend to be
similar. Most of the dollar differences stem from fact that --71.
women tend to be more recently employed and have more --72.
years on the job. Whether women who have started a career
will attain pay equality with men rest on at least two factors. --73.
First, will most of them continue part time at their jobs after --74.
they have children? A break in their employment, or a decision --75.
to work part time, will slow its raises and promotions
because it would for men. Second, will male-dominated --76.
companies elevate women to higher-paid jobs at the different --77.
rate as they elevate men? On some fields, this had clearly not --78.
happened. Many men, for example, have committed their --79.
lives to teaching careers, yet relative few have become --80.
principals or headmasters.
答案：71. from fact -> from the fact
72. recently -> frequently
73. rest -> rests
74. part -> full
75. its -> their
76. because -> as
77. different -> same
78. On -> In
79. men -> women
80. relative -> relatively
Part V Writing (30 minutes)
Directions : For this part you are allowed 30 minutes to write a composition based on the title: Should Firecrackers Be Banned? You should base you composition on the following outline (given in Chinese)
1. 有人认为放鞭炮是好事,为什么?
2. 有人认为放鞭炮是坏事,为什么?
3. 我的看法.
You must write your composition in no less than 120 words on the Composition Sheet and remember to write in readable handwriting.
作文范文：Should Firecrackers Be Banned? Some people think that setting off firecrackers is a good thing. They say that it is an ancient Chinese custom which should be preserved. They also claim that firecrackers make festivals and holiday occasions more colorful and entertaining for both adults and children. On the other hand, there are many people who say that firecrackers should be banned. They point out that firecrackers are responsible for fires which destroy property, and for injuries and bums suffered both by the people who set them off and by innocent bystanders. They also say that firecrackers are a waste of money and resources. My own point of view is that we should preserve the old custom of letting off firecrackers, while at the same time making them harmless. We can do this by banning firecrackers from public places. In addition, we should restrict the setting off of firecrackers to festival days.