Passage 1

　　Water scooters are water vehicles that look very much like motorcycles. Nowadays speedy colorful water scooters are gaining in popularity. They can travel anywhere a small boat can and are typically popular with young people. The rising popularity of the craft has raised a question of water scooter regulation. In this case, the argument for strict regulation is compelling. Water scooters are a particularly deadly form of water recreation. For example, two women were vacationing in Longboat Key. While they were floating on a rubber boat along the shore, a water scooter crashed into them and killed them. Also, water scooter operators have been killed and seriously injured in collisions with other watercraft. Others have been stranded at sea when their scooters either failed or sank far from shore. Many water scooter operators are inexperienced and ignorant of navigational rules,  which increases the potential for accidents. The increasing popularity of the scooter has aggravated the problem, providing more water vehicles to compete for the same space. Crowded water ways are simply an open invitation to disaster. In addition to the inherent operational hazards of water scooters, they are proven to be an environmental nuisance. Beach residents complain of the noise of the scooters. The Pacific Whale Foundation on the west coast expressed the concern that the scooters are frightening away an endangered species of whale that migrates to Hawaii for breeding. Regulations, such as minimum operating age, restricted operating areas, and compulsory classes in water safety, are essential. Without such regulations, tragedies involving water scooters are sure to multiply, which makes many beaches unsafe for recreation.

　　Questions 26 to 29 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　Question 26: What does the speaker say about water scooters?
　　Question 27: What is mentioned as one of the causes of water accidents?
　　Question 28: In what way are water scooters said to be an environmental nuisance?

　　Passage 2

　　It seems to me that neighbors are going out of style in America. The friend next door from whom you borrowed four eggs or a ladder has moved and the people in there now are strangers.

　　Some of the traditional stories of neighborliness are impractical or silly, and it may be just as well that our relations with our neighbors are changing. The saying in the Bible "Love Thy Neighbor" was probably a poor translation of what must have originally been "Respect Thy Neighbor." Love can't be called up on order. Fewer than half the people in the United States live in the same house they lived in five years ago, so there's no reason to love the people who live next door to you just because they happened to wander into a real estate office that listed the place next door to yours. The only thing neighbors have in common, to begin with, is proximity, and unless something more develops, that isn't reason enough to be best friends. It sometimes happens naturally, but the chances are very small that your neighbors will be you choice as friends. Or that you will be theirs, either.

　　The best relationship with neighbors is one of friendly distance. You say hello, you small-talk if you see them in the yard, you discuss problems as they arise and you help each other in an emergency. The driveway or the fence between you is not really a cold shoulder, but a clear boundary. We all like clearly-defined boundaries for ourselves.

　　Questions 30 to 32 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　Question 30: What does the speaker say about the relations among neighbors nowadays?
　　Question 31: Why does the speaker say it may be difficult for people to love their neighbors?
　　Question 32: What should neighbors do in the speaker's opinion?

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