Section B Short Passages
Passage One
       In January 1989, the Community of European Railways presented their proposal for a high speed pan-European train network, extending from Sweden to Sicily and from Portugal to Poland by the year 2020. If their proposal becomes a reality, it will revolutionize train travel in Europe. Journeys between major cities will take half the time they take today. Brussels will be only one and half hours from Paris. The quickest way to get from Paris to Frankfurt, from Barcelona to Madrid will be by train, not plane.
       When the network is complete, it will integrate three types of railway line, totally new high-speed lines, with trains operating its speeds of 300kms per hour; upgraded lines, which allow for speeds up to 200 to 225 kms per hour and existing lines, for local connections and distribution of freight. If business people can choose between a 3-hour train journey from city center to city center and 1-hour flight, they'll choose the train, said an executive travel consultant. They won't go by plane anymore. If you calculate flight time, check in and travel to and from the airport, you’ll find almost no difference and if your plane arrives late due to bad weather or air traffic jams or strikes, then the train passengers will arrive at their destination first. 
       Since France introduced the first 260-km per hour high speed train service between Paris and Lyons in 1981, the trains have achieved higher and higher speeds. On many routes, airlines have lost up to 90 percent of their passengers to high speed trains. If people accept the community of European Railways’ plan, the 21st century will be the new age of the train.

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

26. What is the proposal presented by the Community of the European Railways?
27. What will happen when the proposal becomes a reality?
28. Why will business people prefer a 3-hour train journey to a 1-hour flight?
29. When did France introduce the first high speed train service?

Passage Two
       Western doctors are beginning to understand what traditional healers have always known that the body and the mind are inseparable. Until recently, modern urban physicians heal the body, psychiatrists the mind and priests the soul. However, the medical world is now paying more attention to holistic medicine, which is an approach based on a belief that people’s state of mind can make them sick or speed the recovery from sickness. 
       Several studies show that the effectiveness of a certain drug often depends on the patients expectations of it. For example, in one recent study, psychiatrists at a major hospital try to see how patients could be made calm. They divided them into two groups; one group was given a drug while the other group received a harmless substance instead of medicine without their knowledge. Surprisingly, more patients in the second group showed the desired effects than those in the first group. 
       In study after study, there is a positive reaction in almost one third of the patients taking harmless substances. How is this possible? How can such a substance have an effect on the body? Evidence from a 1997 study at the University of California shows that several patients who receive such substances were able to produce their own natural drug, that is, as they took the substance, their brains released natural chemicals that act like a drug. Scientists theorize that the amount of these chemicals released by a person’s brain quite possibly indicates how much faith the person has in his or her doctor.

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

30. According to the speaker, what are western doctors beginning to understand?
31. What does the recent study at a major hospital seem to prove?
32. What evidence does the 1997 study of the University of California produce?