I came across an old country guide the other day. It listed all the tradesmen in each village in my part of the country, and it was impressive to see the great variety of services which were available on one's own doorstep in the late Victorian countryside.
Nowadays a superficial traveler in rural England might conclude that the only village tradesmen still flourishing were either selling frozen food to the inhabitants or selling antiques to visitors. Nevertheless, this would really be a false impression. Admittedly there has been a contraction of village commerce, but its vigor is still remarkable.
Our local grocer's shop, for example, is actually expanding in spite of the competition from supermarkets in the nearest town. Women sensibly prefer to go there and exchange the local news while doing their shopping, instead of queueing up anonymously at a supermarket. And the proprietor knows well that personal service has a substantial cash value.
His Prices may be a bit higher than those in the town, but he will deliver anything at any time. His assistants think nothing of bicycling down the village street in their lunch hour to-take a piece of cheese to an old-age pensioner who sent her order by word of mouth with a friend who happened to be passing. The more affluent customers telephone their shopping lists and the goods are on their doorsteps within an hour. They have only to hint at a fancy for some commodity outside the usual stock and the grocer, a red-faced figure, instantly obtains it for them.
The village gains from this sort of enterprise, of course. But I also find it satisfactory because a village shop offers one of the few ways in which a modest individualist can still get along in the world without attaching himself to the big battalions of industry or commerce.
Most of the village shopkeepers I know, at any rate, are decidedly individualist in their ways. For example, our shoemaker is a formidable figure: a thick-set, irritable man whom children treat with marked respect, knowing that an ill-judged word can provoke an angry eruption at any time. He stares with contempt at the pairs of cheap, mass-produced shoes taken to him for repair: has it come to this, he seems to be saying, that he, a craftsman, should have to waste his skills upon such trash？ But we all know he will in fact do excellent work upon them. And he makes beautiful shoes for those who can afford such luxury.
The services available in villages nowadays are normally __ .
A．fewer but still very active
B．less successful than earlier but managing to survive
C．active in providing food for the village and tourists
D．surprisingly energetic considering the little demand for them

The word outgrowth in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to
A．separation
B．contest
C．contradiction
D．product

Political______sometimes looks like the performance on the stage.
A．act
B．action
C．actor
D．actress

Plastics is a kind of__ which is widely used in industry nowadays.
A．mass
B．substance
C．matter
D．material

Why does the author use the term golden age in discussing Greek civilization in the fifth century BC？
A．To suggest that most of the ancient Greeks were wealthy
B．To show that the period was a high point in Greek civilization
C．To argue that Greece was the only society with a political system
D．To explain why the population of Greece was growing rapidly

听力原文：F: Paul, nice to see you back from the university. How do you like your new university？ I remember your mom had wanted you to go to London University so that you can live at home and walk or cycle to attend the lectures.
M: Well, you know I didn't go to London University after all. My new university is on the suburbs of an ancient cathedral city and it is almost 8 miles from the city center. The university is planned on the so called American campus system. That is to say, students live in halls of residence grouped around the main university buildings.
F: You mean you live, eat and study within the university proper？
M: Yes, I like it. Because we are a real community. We've got comfortable common rooms and bars. We arrange dances and parties. We've got clubs, theater groups, choirs and so on. And we've got an orchestra. I played the drums in it. By the way, how about your university days, Betty？
F: I rented a house with two other girls in the middle of the city about ten minutes walk from the university. The house is falling to pieces. It is damp and there is no proper heating. M: That sounds awful. I couldn't work in a place like yours. The district is poor and could almost be classed as a slum.
F: I don't think so. We live among real people who treat us as real people. We've got an electrician living next door, who is always coming in and mending our cooker and electric fires. We could try to get into one of the halls of the residents. But we prefer to be independent. It's nice to belong to the city and to do things outside the university.
M: What sort of things do you do outside the university？
M: Well, there is a group of us who go and help in a home for handicapped children. And I sing in the city bar "Choir". We get on well with the local people, not like you in that suburban district.
W: Well, I like history. And my university is one of the best universities for that subject. Besides, it is an ancient city with a lot of historical relics and sightseeing spots. If you can drop by by any chance, I can show you around.
F: You bet.
（47)
A．In Bath.
B．In London.
C．In York.
D．In the suburbs.