SectionⅠ Use of English
Directions:
Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) foreach numbered blank and mark [A],[B],[C]or[D] on the ANSWER SHEET.(10 points)
Happypeople work differently. They’re more productive, more creative, and willing totake greater risks. And new research suggest that happiness might influence 1 firms work, too.
Companies located in places with happier peopleinvest more, according to a recent research paper. 2 , firms in happy places spend more onR&D ( research and development ). That’s because happiness is linked to thekind of longer-term thinking 3 for making investments for the future.
The researchers wanted to know if the 4 and inclination for risk-taking that come withhappiness would 5 the way companies invested. So they comparedU.S. cities’ average happiness 6 by Gallup polling with the investment activityof publicly traded firms in those areas.
7 enough,firms’ investment and R&D intensity were correlated with the happiness ofthe area in which they were 8 . But is it really happiness that’slinked to investment, or could something else about happier cities 9 why firms there spend more on R&D? To findout, the researchers controlled for various 10 that might make firms more likely to invest –like size, industry, and sales – and for indicators that a place was 11 tolive in, like growth in wages or population. The link between happiness andinvestment generally 12 even after accounting for these things.
The correlation between happiness and investment was particularly strongfor younger firms, which the authors 13 to “less codified decision makingprocess”and the possible presence of “younger and less 14 managers whoare more likely to be influenced by sentiment.” The relationship was 15 stronger in places where happiness was spreadmore 16 . Firms seem to investmore in places where most people are relatively happy, rather than in placeswith happiness inequality.
17 this doesn’t prove that happinesscauses firms to invest more or to take a longer-term view, the authors believeit at least 18 at that possibility. It’s not hard to imaginethat local culture and sentiment would help 19 how executives think about the future. “Itsurely seems plausible that happy people would be more forward-thinking andcreative and 20 R&D more than the average,” said oneresearcher.
1. [A] why [B] where [C]how [D] when
2. [A] In return [B] In particular [C] Incontrast [D] In conclusion
3. [A] sufficient [B] famous [C] perfect [D] necessary
4. [A] individualism [B] modernism [C]optimism [D] realism
5. [A] echo [B] miss [C] spoil [D] change
6. [A] imagined [B] measured [C] invented [D] assumed
7. [A] Sure [B] Odd [C] Unfortunate [D] Often
8. [A] advertised [B] divided [C] overtaxed [D] headquartered
9. [A] explain [B] overstate [C] summarize [D] emphasize
10. [A] stages [B] factors [C] levels [D] methods
11. [A] desirable [B] sociable [C] reputable [D] reliable
12. [A] resumed [B] held [C]emerged [D] broke
13. [A] attribute [B] assign [C] transfer [D]compare
14. [A] serious [B] civilized [C]ambitious [D]experienced
15. [A] thus [B] instead [C] also [D] never
16. [A] rapidly [B] regularly [C] directly [D] equally
17. [A] After [B] Until [C] While [D] Since
18. [A] arrives [B] jumps [C] hints [D] strikes
19. [A] shape [B] rediscover [C] simplify [D] share
20. [A] pray for [B] lean towards [C] giveaway [D] send out
SectionII Reading Comprehension
Text1
It’s true that high-school coding classesaren’t essential for learning computer science in college. Students withoutexperience can catch up after a few introductory courses, said Tom Cortina, theassistant dean at Carnegie Mellon’s School of Computer Science.
However,Cortina said, early exposure is beneficial. When younger kids learn computerscience, they learn that it’s not just a confusing, endless string of lettersand numbers—but a tool to build apps, or creat artwork, or test hypotheses.It’s not as hard for them to transform their thought processes as it is forolder students. Breaking down problems into bite-sized chunks and using code tosolve them becomes normal. Giving more children this training could increasethe number of people interested in the field and help fill the jobs gap,Cortina said.
Students also benefit from learningsomething about coding before they get to college, where introductorycomputer-science classes are packed to the brim, which can drive theless-experienced or -determined students away.
The Flatiron School, where people pay tolearn programming, started as one of the many coding bootcamps that’s becomepopular for adults looking for a career change. The high-schoolers get the samecurriculum, but “we try to gear lessons toward things they’re interested in,”said Victoria Friedman, an instructor. For instance, one of the apps thestudents are developing suggests movies based on your mood.
The students in the Flatiron class probablywon’t drop out of high school and build the next Facebook. Programminglanguages have a quick turnover, so the “Ruby on Rails” language they learnedmay not even be relevant by the time they enter the job market. But the skillsthey learn—how to think logically through a problem and organize the results—applyto any coding language, said Deborah Seehorn, an education consultant for thestate of North Carolina.
Indeed, the Flatiron students might not gointo IT at all. But creating a future army of coders is not the sole purpose ofthe classes. These kids are going to be surrounded by computers—in their pockets,in their offices, in their homes—for the rest of their lives. The younger theylearn how computers think, how to coax the machine into producing whatthey want—the earlier they learn that they have the power to do that—thebetter.
21.Cortinaholds that early exposure to computer science makes it easier to __________.
[A]completefuture job training
[B]remodelthe way of thinking
[C]formulatelogical hypotheses
[D]perfectartwork production
22.Indelivering lessons for high-schoolers, Flatiron has considered their______.
[A]experience
[B]academicbackgrounds
[C]careerprospects
[D]interest
23.DeborahSeehorn believes that the skills learned at Flatiron will______.
[A]helpstudents learn other computer languages
[B]haveto be upgraded when new technologies come
[C]needimproving when students look for jobs
[D]enablestudents to make big quick money
24.Accordingto the last paragraph, Flatiron students are expected to______.
[A]competewith a future any of programmers
[B]staylonger in the information technology industry
[C]becomebetter prepared for the digitalized world
[D]bringforth innovative computer technologies
25.Theword “coax”（Line.4, Para. 6）isclosest in meaning to______.
[A]challenge
[B]persuade
[C]frighten
[D]misguide
Text2
Biologistsestimate that as many as 2 million lesser prairie chickens—a kind of birdliving on stretching grasslands—once lent red to the often grey landscape ofthe mid-western and southwestern United States. But just some 22,000 birdsremain today, occupying about 16% of the species’ historic range.
Thecrash was a major reason the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) decided toformally list the bird as threatened. “The lesser prairie chicken is in adesperate situation,” said USFWS Director Daniel Ashe. Some environmentalists,however, were disappointed. They had pushed the agency to designate the bird as“endangered,” a status that gives federal officials greater regulatory power tocrack down on threats. But Ashe and others argued that the “threatened” taggave the federal government flexibility to try out new, potentially lessconfrontational conservation approaches.In particular,they called for forgingcloser collaborations with western stata governments,which are often uneasywith federal action,and with the private landowners who control an estimated95% of the prairie chiekens habitat.
Underthe plan, for example, the agency said it would not prosecute landowners orbusinesses that unintentionally kill, harm, or disturb the bird as long as theyhad signed a range-wide management plan to restore prairie chicken habitat.Negotiated by USFWS and the states, the plan requires individuals andbusinesses that damage habitat as part of their operations to pay into a fundto replace every acre destroyed with 2 new acres of suitable habitat. The fundwill also be used to compensate landowners who set aside habitat. USFWS alsoset an interim goal of restoring prairie chicken populations to an annualaverage of 67, 000 birds over the next 10 years. And it gives the WesternAssociation of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA), a coalition of stateagencies, the job of monitoring progress. Overall, the idea is to let “statesremain in the driver’s seat for managing the species,” Ashe said.
Noteveryone buys the win-win rhetoric. Some Congress members are trying to blockthe plan, and at least a dozen industry groups, four states, and threeenvironmental groups are challenging it in federal court. Not surprisingly,industry groups and states generally argue it goes too far; environmentalistssay it doesn’t go far enough.” The federal government is giving responsibilityfor managing the bird to the same industries that are pushing it toextinction,” says biologist Jay Lininger.
26. The major reason for listing the lesser prairiechicken as threatened is _
[A] the insistence of private landowners
[B] the underestimate of the grassland acreage
[C] a desperate appeal from some biologists
[D] its drastically decreased population
27. The “threatened” tag disappointed someenvironmentalists in that it _
[A] was a give-in to governmental pressure
[B] would involve fewer regulatory powers
[C] granted less federal regulatory powers
[D] went against conservation policies
28.It can be learned from Paragraph 3 thatunintentional harm-doers will be prosecuted if they _
[A] agree to pay a sun for compensation.
[B] volunteer to set up an equally big habitat.
[C] offer to support the WAFWA monitoring job.
[D] promise to raise funds for USFWS operations.
29. According to Ashe, the leading role in managingthe species is
[A] the federal government
[B] the wildlife agencies
[C] the landowners
[D] the states
30. Jay Lininger would most likely support _
[A] the plan under challenge
[B] the win-win rhetoric
[C] environmental groups
[D] industry groups
Text3
That everyone’s too busy these days is a cliché. But one specific complainis made especially moumfully:There’s never any time to read.
What makes the problem thomier is that the usual time-managementtechniques don’t seem sufficient.The web’s fullof articles offering tips onmaking time to read:“Give up TV”or“Carry a book with you at all times.”But inmy experience, using such methods to free up the odd 30 minutes doesn’t work. Sitdown to read and the flywheel of work-related thoughts keeps spinning—or elseyou’re so exhausted that a challenging book’s the last thing you need. Themodern mind, Tim Parks, a novelist and critic, writes,“is overwhelminglyinclined toward communication…
It is not simply that one is interrupted; it is that one is actuallyinclined to interruption.”Deep reading requires not just time, but aspecial kind of time which can’t beobtained merely by becoming more efficient.
In fact “becoming more efficient” is part of the problem. Thinking oftime as a resource to be maximized means you approach it instrumentally.judging any given moment as well spent only in so far as it advances progresstoward some goal. Immersive reading, by contrast depands on being willing torisk inefficiency, goallessness, even time-wasting. Try to slot it in as to-dolist item. and you’ll manage only goal-focused reading-useful, sometimes butnot the most fulfilling kind. “The future comes at us like empty bottles alongan unstoppable and nearly infinite conveyor belt, ”writes Gary Eberle in hisbook Sacred Time, and “we feel a pressure to fill these different-sized bottles(days, hours, minutes)as they pass, for if they get by without being filled, wewill have wasted them.” No mind-set could be worse for losing yourself in abook
So what does work? Perhaps surprisingly, scheduling regular times forreading. You’d think this might fuel the efficiency mind-set, but in fact,Eberle notes, such ritualistic behavior helps us “step outside time’s flow”into “soul time.” You could limit distractions by reading only physical books,or on single-purpose e-readers,” carry a book with you at all time “canactually work, too-providing you dip in often enough, so that reading becomesthe default state from which you temporarily surface to take care of business,before dropping back down. On a really good day, it no longer feels as ifyou’re “making time to read ”, but just reading, and making time for everythingelse.
31.The usual time management techniques don’t workbecause
[A]what they can offer does not case the modern mind
[B]what people often forget is carrying a book withthem
[C]what challenging books demand is repetitivereading
[D]what deep reading requires cannot be guaranteed
32.The “empty bottles” metaphor illustrates thatpeople feel a pressure to
[A]update their to-do lists
[B]make passing time fulfilling
[C]carry their plans through
[D]pursue carefree reading
33.Fberle would agree that scheduling regular timesfor reading helps
[A]promote ritualistic reading
[B]encourage the efficiency mind-set
[C]develop online reading habits
[D]achieve immersive reading
34.“Carry a book with you at all times” can work if
[A]reading becomes your primary business of the day
[B]all the daily business has been promptly dealtwith
[C]you are able to drop back to business afterreading
[D]time can be evenly split for reading and business
35.The best title for this text could be
[A]How to Enjoy Easy Reading
[B]How to Set Reading Goals
[C]How to Find Time to Read
[D]How to Read Extensively
Text 4
Young people who are still getting started in life were more likely thanolder adults to prioritize personal fulfillment in their work, to believe theywill advance their careers most by regularly changing jobs, to favorcommunities with more public services and a faster pace of life, to agree thatcouples should be financially secure before getting married or having children,and to maintain that children are best served by two parents working outsidethe home, the survey found.
From career to community and family, these contrasts suggest that in theaftermath of the searing Great Recession．those just starting out in life are defining pro and expectations thatwill increasingly spread through virtually all aspects of American life, fromconsumer preferences to housing patterns to polities．
Young and old converge on one key point：Overwhelming majorities of both groups said they believe it is harder foryoung people today to get started in life than it was for earlier generations．While younger people are somewhat more optimisticthan their elders about the prospects for those starting out today, bigmajorities in both groups believe those “just getting started in life” face a tougher climb than earlier generationsin reaching such signpost achievements as securing a good-paying job：starting a family．managing debt，and findingaffordable housing.
Pete Schneider considers the climb tougher today．Schneider, a 27-year-old auto technician from theChicago suburbs, says he struggled to find a job after graduating from collegeEven now that he is working steadily, he said, ”I can’t afford to pay mymonthly mortgage payments on my own, so I have to rent rooms out to people tomake that happen.“Looking back he is stuck that his parents could provide acomfortable life for their children even though neither had completed collegewhen he was young．”I still grewup in an upper middle-class home with parents who didn’t have college degrees，“Schneider said.”I don’t think people are capable ofthat anymore．”
36. One cross-generation mark of a successful lifeis
[A]having a family with children
[B]trying out different lifestyles
[C]working beyond retirement age
[D]setting up a profitable business
37 It can be learned from Paragraph 3 that youngpeople tend to
[A] favor a slower life pace.
[B] hold an occupation longer.
[C]attach importance to pre-marital finance.
[D] give priority to children outside the home.
38 The priorities and expectations defined by theyoung will
[A] depend largely on political preferences
[B] reach almost all aspects of American life
[C] focus on materialistic issues
[D] become increasingly clear
39 both young and old agree that
[A]good paying jobs are less available
[B]the old made more life achievements
[C]housing loans today are easy to obtain
[D]getting established is harder for the young
40 Which of the following is true about Schneider?
[A]He thinks his job as a technician quitechallenging.
[B]His parents’ good life has little to do with a collegedegree.
[C]His parents’ believe working steadily is a mustfor success.
[D] He found a dream job after graduating fromcollege.
Part B
Directions:
Read the following text and answer the questions bychoosing the most suitable subheading from the list A-G for each of thenumbered paragraphs(41-45). There are two extra subheadings which you do notneed to use.Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET.
[A]Be silly
[B]Have fun
[C]Express your emotions
[D]Don’t overthink it
[E]Be easily pleased
[F]Notice things
[G]Ask for help
As adults, itseems that we are constantly pursuing happiness, often with mixed results. Yetchildren appear to have it down to an art-and for the most part they don’t needself-help books or therapy. Instead,they look after their wellbeinginstinctively, and usually more effectively than we do as grownups.Perhaps it’stime to learn a few lessons from them.
41._______C_______
What does a child do when he’s sad?He cries.Whenhe’s angry? He shouts. Scared? Probably a bit of both. As we grow up,we learn tocontrol our emotions so they are manageable and don’t dictate our behaviours, whichis in many ways a good thing. But too often we take this process too far andend up suppressing emotions,especially negative ones.that’s about as effectiveas brushing dirt under a carpet and can even make us ill.What we need to do isfind a way to acknowledge and express what we feel appropriately,andthen-again.like children-move.
42.______E_______
A couple ofChristmases ago,my youngest stepdaughter,who was nine years old at the time,got a Superman T-shirt for Christmas.It cost less than a fiver but she wasoverjoyed,and couldn’t stop talking about it.Too often we believe that a newjob,bigger house or better car will be the magic silver bullet that will allowus to finally be content,but the reality is these things have very littlelasting impact on our happiness levels.instead,being grateful for small thingsevery day is a much better way to improve wellbeing.
43._________A_____________
Have you evernoticed how much children laugh?If we adults could indulge in a bit ofsilliness and giggling,we would reduce the stress hormones in our bodiesincrease good hormones like endorphins, improve blood flow to our hearts andeven have a greater chance of fighting off enfection. All of which,ofcourse,have a positive effect on happiness levels.
44.________B___________
The problemwith being a grown up is that there’s an awful lot of serious stuff to dealwith-work,mortgage payments,figuring out what to cook for dinner.But as adultswe also have the luxury of being able to control our own diaries and it’simportant that we schedule in time to enjoy the things we love.Those thingsmight be social,sporting,creative or completely random(dancing around the livingroom,anyone?)—it doesn’t matter,so long as they’re enjoyable, andnot likely to have negative side effects,such as drinking too much alcohol orgoing on a wild spending spree if you’re on a tight budget.
45.________D___________
Having said all of the above,it’s important toadd that we shouldn’t try too hard to be happy.Scientists tell us this canbackfire and actually have a negative impact on our wellbeing. As the Chinesephilosopher Chuang Tzu is reported to have said:“Happiness is the absence of strivingfor happiness.”And in that,once more,we need to look to the example of ourchildren,to whom happiness is not a goal but a natural by product of the waythey live.
Section Ш Translation
46. Directions:
Translate the following text into Chinese. Yourtranslation should be written on the ANSWER SHEET. (15 points)
Thesupermarket is designed to lure customers into spending as much time aspossible within its doors. The reason for this is simple:The longer you stay inthe store, the more stuff you’ll see, and the more stuff you see, the moreyou’ll buy. And supermarkets contain a lot of stuff. The average supermarket,according to the Food Marketing Institute, carries some 44,00 different items,and many carry tens of thousands more. The sheer volume of available choice isenough to send shoppers into a state of information overload. According tobrain-scan experiments, the demands of so much decision-making quickly becometoo much for us. After about 40 minutes of shopping, most people stop strugglingto be rationally selective, and instead begin shopping emotionally – which isthe point at which we accumulate the 50 percent of stuff in our cart that wenever intended buying.
Section IV Writing
Part A
47. Directions:
Suppose you won a translation contest and yourfriend,Jack,wrote an email to congratulate you and ask for advice ontranslation.Write him a reply to
1)think him,and
2)give your advice.
You should write about 100 words on ANSWER SHEET.
Do not sign your own name.Use “Li Ming”instead.
Do not write the address.(10 points)
Part B
48.Directions:
Write an essay based on the following chart.In yourwriting you should
1)interpret the chart and
2)give your comments.
You should write about 150 words on the ANSWER SHEET.(15points)(文都教育）
