2003年6月大學英語六級考試試卷、答案

Part I Listening Comprehension (20 minutes)

Section A

Directions: In this section, you will hear 10 short conversations. At the end of each conversation, a question will be asked about what was said - Both the conversation and the question will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A), B), C) and D), and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.

Example: You will hear:

You will read:

A) 2 hours.

B) 3 hours.

C) 4 hours.

D) 5 hours.

From the conversation we know that the two are talking about some work they will start at 9 o’clock in the morning and have to finish at 2 in the afternoon. Therefore, D) “5 hours” is the correct answer. You should choose [A] on the Answer Sheet and mark it with a single line through the centre.

Sample Answer [A] [B] [C] [D]
　

1. A) Riding a horse.

B) Shooting a movie.

C) Playing a game.

D) Taking a photo.

2. A) She'11 type the letter for the man.

B) She'll teach the man to operate the computer.

C) She doesn't think his sister is a good typist.

D) She thinks the man should buy a computer.

3. A) John can share the magazine with her.

B) She wants to borrow John's card.

C) She'll let John use the journal first.

D) John should find another copy for himself.

4. A) She promised to help the man.

B) She came a long way to meet the man.

C) She took the man to where he wanted to go.

D) She suggested a way out of the difficulty for the man.

5. A) The train seldom arrives on time.

B) The schedule has been misprinted.

C) The speakers arrived at the station late.

D) The company has trouble printing a schedule.

6. A) To find a better science journal in the library.

B) Not to miss any chance to collect useful information.

C) To buy the latest issue of the magazine.

D) Not to subscribe to the journal.

7. A) She wants to borrow the man's student ID card.

B) The tickets are less expensive than she expected.

C) She won't be able to get any discount for the ticket.

D) The performance turned out to be disappointing.

8. A) Do the assignments towards the end of the semester.

B) Quit the history course and choose another one instead.

C) Drop one course and do it next semester.

D) Take courses with a lighter workload.

A) The organization of a conference.

B) The cost of renting a conference room.

C) The decoration of the conference room.

D) The job of cleaning up the dining-room.

10. A) Meet his client. C) Work at his office.

B) Prepare the dinner. D) Fix his car.

Section B

Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.

Passage One

Questions 11 to 13 are based on the passage you have just heard.

11. A) One of the bridges between North and South London collapsed.

B) The heart of London was flooded.

C) An emergency exercise was conducted.

D) 100 people in the suburbs were drowned.

12. A) 50 underground stations were made waterproof.

B) A flood wall was built.

C) An alarm system was set up.

D) Rescue teams were formed.

13. A) Most Londoners were frightened.

B) Most Londoners became rather confused.

C) Most Londoners took Exercise Floodcall calmly.

D) Most Londoners complained about the trouble caused by Exercise Floodcall.

Passage Two

Questions 14 to 16 are based on the passage you have just heard.

14. A) It limited their supply of food. C) It destroyed many of their nests.

B) It made their eggshells too fragile. D) It killed many baby bald eagles.

15. A) They found ways to speed up the reproduction of bald eagles.

B) They developed new types of feed for baby bald eagles.

C) They explored new ways to hatch baby bald eagles.

D) They brought in bald eagles from Canada.

16. A) Pollution of the environment C) Over-killing by hunters.

B) A new generation of pest killers. D) Destruction of their natural homes.

Passage Three

Questions 17 to 20 are based on the passage you have just heard.

17. A) Whether it can be detected and checked.

B) Whether it will lead to widespread food shortage.

C) Whether global warming will speed up in the future.

D) Whether it will affect their own lives.

18. A) Many species have moved further north.

B) Many new species have come into existence.

C) Many species have developed a habit of migration.

D) Many species have become less sensitive to climate.

19. A) Storms and floods. C) Less space for their growth.

B) Disease and fire. D) Rapid increase of the animal population.

20. A) They will gradually die out.

B) They will be able to survive in the preserves.

C) They will have to migrate to find new homes.

D) They will face extinction without artificial reproduction.

　
Part II Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)

Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.

Passage One

Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.

In the villages of the English countryside there are still people who remember the good old days when no one bothered to lock their doors. There simply wasn't any crime to

Amazingly, these happy times appear still to be with us in the world's biggest community. A new study by Dan Farmer, a gifted programmer, using an automated investigative program of his own called SATAN, shows that the owners of well over half of all World Wide Web sites have set up home without fitting locks to their doors.

SATAN can try out a variety of well-known hacking (黑客的) tricks on an Internet site with­out actually breaking in. Farmer has made the program publicly available, amid much criticism. A person with evil intent could use it to hunt down sites that are easy to burgle (闖入……行竊).

But Farmer is very concerned about the need to alert the public to poor security and, so far, events have proved him right. SATAN has done more to alert people to the risks than cause new disorder.

So is the Net becoming more secure? Far from it. In the early days, when you visited a Web site your browser simply looked at the content. Now the Web is full of tiny programs that automatically download when you look at a Web page, and run on your own machine. These programs could, if their authors wished, do all kinds of nasty things to your computer.

At the same time, the Net is increasingly populated with spiders, worms, agents and other types of automated beasts designed to penetrate the sites and seek out and classify information. All these make wonderful tools for antisocial people who want to invade weak sites and cause damage.

But let's look on the bright side. Given the lack of locks, the Internet is surely the world's biggest (almost) crime-free society. Maybe that is because hackers are fundamentally honest. Or that there currently isn't much to steal. Or because vandalism ( 惡意破壞) isn't much fun unless you have a peculiar dislike for someone.

Whatever the reason, let's enjoy it while we can. But expect it all to change, and security to become the number one issue, when the most influential inhabitants of the Net are selling services they want to be paid for.

21. By saying “... owners of well over half of all World Wide Web sites have set up home without fitting locks to their doors" (Lines 3-4, Para. 2), the author means that _____.

A) those happy times appear still to be with us

B) there simply wasn't any crime to worry about

C) many sites are not well-protected

D) hackers try out tricks on an Internet site without actually breaking in

22. SATAN, a program designed by Dan Fanner can be used ____________.

A) to investigate the security of Internet sites

B) to improve the security of the Internet system

C) to prevent hackers from breaking into websites

D) to download useful programs and information

23. Fanner's program has been criticized by the public because.

A) it causes damage to Net browsers

B) it can break into Internet sites

C) it can be used to cause disorder on all sites

D) it can be used by people with evil intent

24. The author's attitude toward SATAN is _____.

A) enthusiastic C) positive

B) critical D) indifferent

25. The author suggests in the last paragraph that.

A) we should make full use of the Internet before security measures are strengthened

B) we should alert the most influential businessmen to the importance of security

C) influential businessmen should give priority to the improvement of Net security

D) net inhabitants should not let security measures affect their joy of surfing the Internet

Passage Two

Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.

I came away from my years of teaching on the college and university level with a conviction that enactment (扮演角色), performance, dramatization are the most successful forms of teach­ing. Students must be incorporated, made, so far as possible, an integral part of the learning pro­cess. The notion that learning should have in it an element of inspired play would seem to the greater part of the academic establishment merely silly, but that is nonetheless the case. Of Ezekiel Cheever, the most famous schoolmaster of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, his onetime student Cotton Mather wrote that he so planned his lessons that his pupils "came to work as though they came to play," and Alfred North Whitehead, almost three hundred years later, noted that a teacher should make his/her students "glad they were there."

Since, we are told, 80 to 90 percent of all instruction in the typical university is by the lecture method, we should give close attention to this form of education. There is, I think, much truth in Patricia Nelson Limerick's observation that "lecturing is an unnatural act, an act for which God did not design humans. It is perfectly all right, now and then, for a human to be possessed by the urge to speak, and to speak while others remain silent. But to do this regularly, one hour and 15 minutes at a time ... for one person to drag on while others sit in silence? ... I do not believe that this is what the Creator ... designed humans to do."

The strange, almost incomprehensible fact is that many professors, just as they feel obliged to write dully, believe that they should lecture dully. To show enthusiasm is to risk appearing unscientific, unobjective; it is to appeal to the students' emotions rather than their intellect. Thus the ideal lecture is one filled with facts and read in an unchanged monotone.

The cult (推崇) of lecturing dully, like the cult of writing dully, goes back, of course, some years. Edward Shils, professor of sociology, recalls the professors he encountered at the University of Pennsylvania in his youth. They seemed "a priesthood, rather uneven in their merits but uniform in their bearing; they never referred to anything personal. Some read from old lecture notes and then haltingly explained the thumb-worn last lines. Others lectured from cards that had served for years, to judge by the worn edges .... The teachers began on time, ended on time, and left the room without saying a word more to their students, very seldom being detained by questioners .... The classes were not large, yet there was no discussion-. No questions were raised in class, and there were no office hours."

26. The author believes that a successful teacher should be able to _____.

A) make dramatization an important aspect of students’ learning

B) make inspired play an integral part of the learning process

C) improve students' learning performance

D) make study just as easy as play

27. The majority of university professors prefer the traditional way of lecturing in the belief that _________________.

A) it draws the close attention of the students

B) it conforms in a way to the design of the Creator

C) it presents course content in a scientific and objective manner

D) it helps students to comprehend abstract theories more easily

28. What the author recommends in this passage is that _________.

A) college education should be improved through radical measures

B) more freedom of choice should be given to students in their studies

C) traditional college lectures should be replaced by dramatized performances

D) interaction should be encouraged in the process of teaching

29. By saying "They seemed 'a priesthood, rather uneven in their merits but uniform in their bearing...'" (Lines 3-4, Para. 4), the author means that _____.

A) professors are a group of professionals that differ in their academic ability but behave in the same way

B) professors are like priests wearing the same kind of black gown but having different roles to play

C) there is no fundamental difference between professors and priests though they differ in their merits

D) professors at the University of Pennsylvania used to wear black suits which made them look like priests

30. Whose teaching method is particularly commended by the author?

A) Ezekiel Cheever's. C) Alfred North Whitehead's.

B) Cotton Mather's. D) Patricia Nelson Limerick's.

Passage Three

Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.

Take the case of public education alone. The principal difficulty faced by the schools has been he tremendous increase in the number of pupils. This has been caused by the advance of the legal age for going into industry and the impossibility of finding a job even when the legal age has been reached. In view of the technological improvements in the last few years, business will require in he future proportionately fewer workers than ever before. The result will be still further raising of he legal age for going into employment, and still further difficulty in finding employment when hat age has been attained. If we cannot put our children to work, we must put them in school.

We may also be quite confident that the present trend toward a shorter day and a shorter week will be maintained. We have developed and shall continue to have a new leisure class. Already the public agencies for adult education are swamped by the tide that has swept over them since depression began. They will be little better off when it is over. Their support must come from the taxpayer.

It is surely too much to hope that these increases in the cost of public education can be borne by the local communities. They cannot care for the present restricted and inadequate system. The local communities have failed in their efforts to cope with unemployment. They cannot expect to cope with public education on the scale on which we must attempt it. The answer to the problem of unemployment has been Federal relief. The answer to the problem of public education may have to be much the same, and properly so. If there is one thing in which the citizens of all parts of the country have an interest, it is in the decent education of the citizens of all parts of the country. Our income tax now goes in part to keep our neighbors alive. It may have to go in part as well to make our neighbors intelligent. We are now attempting to preserve the present generation through Federal relief of the destitute (貧民). Only a people determined to ruin the next generation will refuse such Federal funds as public education may require.

31. What is the passage mainly about?

A) How to persuade local communities to provide more funds.

B) How to cope with the shortage of funds for public education.

C) How to solve the rising unemployment problem.

D) How to improve the public education system.

32. What is the reason for the increase in the number of students?

A) The requirement of educated workers by business.

B) Raising of the legal age for going to work.

C) The trend toward a shorter workday.

D) People's concern for the future of the next generation.

33. The public agencies for adult education will be little better off because _____.

A) the unemployed are too poor to continue their education

B) a new leisure class has developed

C) they are still suffering from the depression

D) an increase in taxes could be a problem

34. According to the author, the answer to the problem of public education is that the Federal government _____. .

A) should allocate Federal funds for public education

B) should demand that local communities provide support

C) should raise taxes to meet the needs of public education

D) should first of all solve the problem of unemployment

35. Why does the author say "Only a people determined to ruin the next generation will refuse such Federal funds as public education may require" (Lines 10-11, Para. 3)?

A) Only by appropriating adequate Federal funds for education can the next generation have a bright future.

B) Citizens of all parts of the country agree that the best way to support education is to use Federal funds.

C) people all over the country should make contributions to education in the interest of the next generation.

D) Educated people are determined to use part of the Federal funds to help the poor.

Passage Four

Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.

A new high-performance contact lens under development at the department for applied phys­ics at the University of Heidelberg will not only correct ordinary vision defects but will enhance normal night vision as much as five times, making people's vision sharper than that of cats.

Bille and his team work with an optical instrument called an active mirror — a device used in astronomical telescopes to spot newly emerging stars and far distant galaxies. Connected to a wave-front sensor that tracks and measures the course of a laser beam into the eye and back, the aluminum mirror detects the deficiencies of the cornea, the transparent protective layer covering the lens of the human eye. The highly precise data from the two instruments — which, Bille hopes, will one day be found at the opticians (眼鏡商) all over the world — serve as a basis for the production of completely individualized contact lenses that correct and enhance the wearer's vision.

By day, Bille's contact lenses will focus rays of light so accurately on the retina （視網膜）that the image of a small leaf or the outline of a far distant tree will be formed with a sharpness that surpasses that of conventional vision aids by almost half a diopter ( 屈光度). At night, the lenses have an even greater potential. "Because the new lens — in contrast to the already existing ones — also works when it's dark and the pupil is wide open," says Bille, "lens wearers will be able to identify a face at a distance of 100 meters" — 80 meters farther than they would normally be able to see. In his experiments night vision was enhanced by an even greater factor: in semi-darkness, test subjects could see up to 15 times better than without the lenses.

Bille's lenses are expected to reach the market in the year 2000, and one tentative plan is to use the Internet to transmit information on patients' visual defects from the optician to the manufac­turer, who will then produce and mail the contact lenses within a couple of days. The physicist expects the lenses to cost about a dollar a pair, about the same as conventional one-day disposable lenses.

36. The new contact lens is meant for _____________.

A) astronomical observations C) those with vision defects

B) the night blind D) optical experiments

37. What do the two instruments mentioned in the second paragraph (Line 5) refer to?

A) The astronomical telescope and the wave-front sensor.

B) The aluminum mirror and the laser beam.

C) The active mirror and the contact lens.

D) The aluminum mirror and the wave-front sensor.

38. Individualized contact lenses (Line 7, Para. 2) are lenses designed _____.

A) to work like an astronomical telescope

B) to suit the wearer's specific needs

C) to process extremely accurate data

D) to test the wearer's eyesight

39. According to Bille, with the new lenses the wearer's vision _____.

A) will be far better at night than in the daytime

B) may be broadened about 15 times than without them

C) can be better improved in the daytime than at night

D) will be sharper by a much greater degree at night than in the daytime

40. Which of the following is true about Bille's lenses?

A) Their production process is complicated.

B) They will be sold at a very low price.

C) They have to be replaced every day.

D) Purchase orders can be made through the Internet.
　

Part III Vocabulary (20 minutes)

Directions: There are 30 incomplete sentences in this part. For each sentence there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Choose the ONE answer that best completes the sentence. Then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.

41. In November 1987 the government _____ a public debate on the future direction of the official sports policy.

A) initiated C) induced

B) designated D) promoted

42. I found it difficult to _____ my career ambitions with the need to bring up my children.

A) consolidate C) reconcile

B) amend D Intensify

43. We all enjoy our freedom of choice and do not like to see it_____ when it is within the legal and moral boundaries of society.

A) compacted C) dispersed

B) restricted D)delayed

44. It is fortunate for the old couple that their son's career goals and their wishes for him _____.

A) coincide C) conform

B) comply D) collaborate

45. Allen will soon find out that real life is seldom as simple as it is _____ in commercials.

A) permeated C) depicted

B) alleged D) drafted

46. Europe's earlier industrial growth was _____ by the availability of key resources, abun­dant and cheap labor, coal, iron ore, etc.

A) constrained C) remained

B) detained D) sustained

47. As the trial went on, the story behind the murder slowly _____ itself.

A) convicted C) haunted

B) released D) unfolded

48. We’ve just installed a fan to _________________ cooking smells from the kitchen.

A) eject C) expel

C) exclude D) exile

49. Retirement is obviously a very complex _____ period; and the earlier you start planning for it, the better.

A) transformation C) transaction

B) transmission D) transition

50. Mutual respect for territorial _____is one of the bases upon which our two countries develop relationships.

A) unity C) entirety

B) integrity D) reliability

51. As one of the youngest professors in the university, Mr. Brown is certainly on the _____ of a brilliant career.

A) porch C) course

B) edge D) threshold

52. We work to make money, but it's a _____ that people who work hard and long often do not make the most money.

A) paradox c) dilemma

B) prejudice D) conflict

53. The design of this auditorium shows a great deal of _____. We have never seen such a building before.

A) invention C) originality

B) illusion D) orientation

54. The damage to my car was _____. in the accident, but I have a lingering fear even today.

A) insufficient C) ambiguous

B) ignorant D) negligible

55. Very few people could understand the lecture the professor delivered because its subject was very_____.

A) obscure C) dubious

B) indefinite D) intriguing

56. Diamonds have little __________ value and their price depends almost entirely on their scarcity.

A) intrinsic

B) eternal

C) subtle

D) inherent

57. Doctors are interested in using lasers as a surgical tool in operations on people who are _____ to heart attack.

A) infectious C) accessible

B) disposed D) prone

58. Many countries have adopted systems of_____ education in order to promote the average level of education.

A) compulsory C) constrained

B) cardinal D) conventional

59. I had eaten Chinese food often, but I could not have imagined how_____ and extravagant a real Chinese banquet could be,

A) prominent C) handsome

B) fabulous D) gracious

60. They are _____ investors who always make thorough investigations both on local and international markets before making an investment.

A) implicit C) cautious

B) conscious D) indecisive

61. In addition to the rising birthrate and immigration, the _____death rate contributed to the population growth.

A) inclining C) declining

B) increasing D) descending

62. Because of the _____ noise of traffic I couldn't get to sleep last night.

A) prevalent C) provocative

B) perpetual D) progressive

63. Don't let such a _____ matter as this come between us so that we can concentrate on the major issue.

A) trivial C) partial

B) slight D) minimal

64. If you go to the park every day in the morning, you will _____ find him doing physical exercise there.

A) ordinarily C) logically

B) variably D) persistently

65. Although she's a(n) _______________talented dancer, she still practices several hours every day.

A) traditionally

B) additionally

C) exceptionally

D) rationally

66. The cut in her hand has healed completely, without leaving a.

A) defect C) wound

B) sign D) scar

67. The idea is to ___________ the frequent incidents of collision to test the strength of the wind-shields.

A) assemble

B) simulate

C) accumulate

D) forge

68. Most people in the modem world ________________ freedom and independence more than anything else.

A) embody

B) cherish

C) fascinate

D) illuminate

69.1 told him that I would _____________ him to act for me while I was away from office..

A) authorize

B) justify

C) rationalize

D) identify

70. Over the past ten years, natural gas production has remained steady, but _______________ has risen steadily.

A) dissipation C) consumption

B) disposal D) expenditure

　

Part IV Error Correction (15 minute)

Directions: This part consists of a short passage. In this passage, there are altogether 10 mistakes, one in each numbered line. You may have to change a word, add a word or delete a word. Mark out the mistakes and put the corrections in the blanks provided. 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 Seattle Times Company is one newspaper firm that

has recognized the need for change and done something about

it. In the newspaper industry, papers must reflect the diversity

of the communities to which they provide information.

It must reflect that diversity with their news coverage or risk S1.____________

losing their readers' interest and their advertisers' support.

Operating within Seattle, which has 20 percents racial S2. ___________

minorities, the paper has put into place policies an

d procedures for hiring and maintain a diverse workforce. The S3. __________

underlying reason for the change is that for information to be

fair, appropriate, and subjective, it should be reported by the S4. ____________

same kind of population that reads it.

A diversity committee composed of reporters, editors, and

photographers meets regularly to value the Seattle Times’ S5. ____________

content and to educate the rest of the newsroom staff about

diversity issues. In an addition, the paper instituted a content S6. ____________

audit (審查) that evaluates the frequency and manner of

representation of woman and people of color in photographs. S7. _____________

 

Early audits showed that minorities were pictured far too

infrequently and were pictured with a disproportion

ate number of negative articles. The audit results from S8. _____________

improvement in the frequency of majority representation and S9. _____________

their portrayal in neutral or positive situations. And, with a S10. ____________

result, the Seattle Times has improved as a newspaper.

The diversity training and content audits helped the Seattle

Times Company to win the Personnel Journal Optimal Award

for excellence in managing change.

　
Part V

Writing Changes on State-owned Houses and Private Houses of China 

答案：

Part I. Listening Comprehension

1-10 D B A C A D C C B A

11-20 C B C B D D D A B C

Tapescripts:

1. W: Raise your hat a little bit and hold the saddle and smile a little. You look wonderful posing like that. Shall I press the shutter?

M: Wait a minute. Let me put on a cowboy hat.

Q: What are the speakers doing?

2. M: I’m still waiting for my sister to come back and type the application letter for me.

W: Why bother her? I’ll show you how to use the computer. It’s quite easy?

Q: What does the woman mean?

3. M: Hey, where did you find the journal? I need it, too.

W: Right here on the shelf. Don’t worry, John. I’ll take it out on my card for both of us.

Q: What does the woman mean?

4. M: Thank you for your helpful assistance. Otherwise, I’d surely have missed it. The place is so out of the way.

W: It was a pleasure meeting you. Good-bye.

Q: Why does the man thank the woman?

5. W: We are informed that the 11:30 train is late again.

M: Why did the railway company even bother to print a schedule?

Q: What do we learn from the conversation?

6. M: Maybe I ought to subscribe to the Engineering Quarterly. It contains a lot of useful information.

W: Why not read it in the library and save the money?

Q: What is the woman advice to the man?

7. M: I’ve been waiting all week for this concert. The performance is said to be excellent. And with our student discount, the tickets will be real cheap.

W: Ah ah…I’m afraid I left my student ID card in the dorm.

Q: What does the woman imply?

8. M: Mr. Smith, our history professor, announced that we would be doing two papers and three exams this semester. I wonder how I’m going to pour through when other courses have similar requirements.

W: Well, can’t you drop one course and pick it up the next semester?

Q: What does the woman suggest the man do?

9. W: Renting the conference room at the hotel will cost us too much. We’re already running in the red.

M: How about using our dining room for the meeting?

Q: What’s worrying the woman?

10.W: Jerry, can you pick me up after work today? I left my car at the garage.

M: I’m afraid I can’t. I’ve scheduled an appointment with a client at dinner time.

Q: What is the man going to do?

Part II Reading Comprehension

21. C 22.A 23. D 24. C 25. C

26. B 27. C 28. D 29. A 30. A

31. B 32. B 33. B 34. A 35. C

36. C 37. D 38. B 39. D 40. B

Part III Vocabulary

41. A 42. C 43. B 44. A 45. C 46. D 47. D 48. C 49. D 50. B

51. D 52. A 53. C 54. D 55. A 56. A 57. D 58. A 59. C 60. C

61. C 62. B 63. A 64. B 65. C 66. D 67. B 68. B 69. A 70. C

Part IV Error Correction

S1. it->they

S2. percents->percent

S3. maintain->maintaining

S4. subjective->objective

S5. meets-> meet

S6. 去掉an___

S7. woman->women

S8. from-> in

S9. majority->minority

S10. with->as

Part V. 參考例文

Ownership of Houses in a Big City in China

As can be seen from the chart, ownership of houses in Beijing has significantly changed in the 1990s. In 1990, 75 percent of the houses were state-owned. Five years later, the ratio of state-owned houses to private ones was 60 to 40. But from then on, the ownership changed dramatically and by the end of the century, 80 percent of houses were private.

There might have been two main reasons. One of the reasons was the policy of the government. In the 1990s, China carried on with its reform policy and the government called for privatization of the sate-owned estate. But it took time for the reform to come into effect. But from 1995 on when people have recognized its significance, the reformation took bigger steps. Another reason was that the people were getting better off and they could afford buying their own houses.

Such changes have had great impact on individuals as well as the society. On one hand, the individuals must save money to buy an apartment or to pay the mortgage. On the other hand, a heaven burden has been taken off the government so that it can take more effective measures to improve people’s life.