Text 3
Robert F. Kennedy once said that a country’s GDPmeasures “everything except that which makes life worthwhile.” With Britainvoting to leave the European Union, and GDP already predicted to slow as aresult, it is now a timely moment to assess what he was referring to.
The question of GDP and its usefulness has annoyedpolicymakers for over half a century. Many argue that it is a flawed concept.It measures things that do not matter and misses things that do. By most recentmeasures, the UK’s GDP has been the envy of the Western world, with record lowunemployment and high growth figures. If everything was going so well, then whydid over 17 million people vote for Brexit, despite the warnings about what itcould do to their country’s economic prospects?
A recent annual study of countries and their abilityto convert growth into well-being sheds some light on that question. Across the163 countries measured, the UK is one of the poorest performers in ensuringthat economic growth is translated into meaningful improvements for itscitizens. Rather than just focusing on GDP, over 40 different sets of criteriafrom health, education and civil society engagement have been measured to get amore rounded assessment of how countries are performing.
While all of these countries face their ownchallenges, there are a number of consistent themes. Yes, there has been abudding economic recovery since the 2008 global crash, but in key indicators inareas such as health and education, major economies have continued to decline.Yet this isn’t the case with all countries. Some relatively poor Europeancountries have seen huge improvements across measures including civil society,income equality and environment.
This is a lesson thatrich countries can learn: When GDP is no longer regarded as the sole measure ofa country’s success, the world looks very different.
So what Kennedy wasreferring to was that while GDP has been the most common method for measuringthe economic activity of nations, as a measure, it is no longer enough. It doesnot include important factors such as environmental quality or educationoutcomes – all things that contribute to a person’s sense of well-being.
The sharp hit togrowth predicted around the world and in the UK could lead to a decline in theeveryday services we depend on for our well-being and for growth. Butpolicymakers who refocus efforts on improving well-being rather than simplyworrying about GDP figures could avoid the forecasted doom and may even seeprogress.
31.Robert F. Kennedy is cited because he_________.
[A]praisedthe UK for its GDP.
[B]identifiedGDP with happiness.
[C]misinterpretedthe role of GDP.
[D]hada low opinion of GDP.
32. It can be inferred fromParagraph 2 that_________.
[A]the UK is reluctant toremold its economic pattern.
[B]the UK will contribute lessto the world economy.
[C]GDP as the measure ofsuccess is widely defied in the UK.
[D]policymakers in the UK arepaying less attention to GDP.
33. Which of the following istrue about the recent annual study?
[A]It excludes GDP as anindicator.
[B]It is sponsored by 163countries.
[C]Its criteria arequestionable.
[D]Its results areenlightening.
34. In the last twoparagraphs, the author suggests that_________.
[A]the UK is preparing for aneconomic boom.
[B]high GDP foreshadows aneconomic decline.
[C]it is essential to considerfactors beyond GDP.
[D]it requires caution tohandle economic issues.
35. Which of the following isthe best for the text?
[A]High GDP But InadequateWell-being, a UK lesson.
[B]GDP figures, a Window onGlobal Economic Health.
[C] Robert F. Kennedy, aTerminator of GDP.
[D]Brexit, the UK’s Gateway toWell-being.
【答案】31—35 CBDCA
Text 4
Ina rare unanimous ruling, the US Supreme Court has overturned the corruptionconviction of a former Virginia governor, Robert McDonnell. But it did so whileholding its nose at the ethics of his conduct, which included accepting giftssuch as a Rolex watch and a Ferrari Automobile from a company seeking access togovernment.
Thehigh court’s decision said the judge in Mr. McDonnell’s trail failed to tell ajury that it must look only at his “official acts,” or the former governor’sdecisions on “specific” and “unsettled” issues related to his duties.
Merelyhelping a gift-giver gain access to other officials, unless done with clearintent to pressure those officials, is not corruption, the justices found.
Thecourt did suggest that accepting favors in return for opening doors is“distasteful” and “nasty.” But under anti-bribery laws, proof must be made ofconcrete benefits, such as approval of a contract or regulation. Simplyarranging a meeting, making a phone call, or hosting an event is not an“official act.”
Thecourt’s ruling is legally sound in defining a kind of favoritism that is not criminal.Elected leaders must be allowed to help supporters deal with bureaucraticproblems without fear of prosecution of bribery. “The basic compact underlyingrepresentative government,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts for the court,“assumes that public officials will hear from their constituents and act ontheir concerns.”
But the rulingreinforces the need for citizens and their elected representatives, not thecourts, to ensure equality of access to government. Officials must not beallowed to play favorites in providing information or in arranging meetingssimply because an individual or group provides a campaign donation or apersonal gift. This type of integrity requires will-enforced laws in governmenttransparency, such as records of official meetings, rules on lobbying, andinformation about each elected leader’s source of wealth.
Favoritism in officialaccess can fan public perceptions of corruption. But it is not alwayscorruption. Rather officials must avoid double standards, or different types ofaccess for average people and the wealthy. If connections can be bought, abasic premise of democratic society – that all are equal in treatment bygovernment- is undermined. Good government rests on an understanding of theinherent worth of each individual.
The court’s ruling isa step forward in the struggle against both corruption and official favoritism.
36.The underlined sentence(Para.1) most probably shows that the court_________.
[A]avoided defining the extent of McDonnell’s duties.
[B] made no compromise in convicting McDonnell.
[C] was contemptuous of McDonnell’s conduct.
[D] refused to comment on McDonnell’s ethics.
37. According to Paragraph 4, an official act is deemed corruptive only if itinvolves_________.
[A]concrete returns for gift-givers
[B]sizable gains in the form of gifts
[C]leaking secrets intentionally.
[D]breaking contracts officially.
38.The court’s ruling is d on the assumption that public officials are_________.
[A]allowed to focus on the concerns of their supporters.
[B]qualified to deal independently with bureaucratic issues.
[C]justified in addressing the needs of their constituents.
[D]exempt from conviction on the charge of favoritism.
39.Well-enforced laws in government transparency are needed to_________.
[A]awaken the conscience of officials.
[B]guarantee fair play in official access.
[C]allow for certain kinds of lobbying.
[D]inspire hopes in average people.
40.The author’s attitude toward the court’s ruling is_________.
[A]sarcastic.
[B]tolerant.
[C]skeptical.
[D]supportive.
【答案】36—40 CCABD
Part B
Directions:
Thefollowing paragraphs are given in a wrong order. For questions 41-45, you arerequired to reorganize these paragraphs into a coherent text by choosing fromthe listA-G and filling them into the numbered boxes. Paragraphs B and D have been correctly placed. Mark your answers onthe ANSWER SHEET. (10 points)
[A]The first published sketch, “A Dinner at Poiar Walk” brought tears to Dickens’seyes when he discovered it in the pages of TheMonthly Magazine From then on his sketches, which appeared under the penname “Boz” in The Evening Chronicle,earned him a modest reputation.
[B]The runaway success of The Pickwick Papers,as it is generally known today, secured Dickens’s fame. There were Pickwickcoats and Pickwick cigars, and the plump, spectacled hero, Samuel Pickwick,because a national figure.
[C]Soon after Sketches by Boz appeared, a publishing firm approached Dickens towrite a story in monthly installments, as a backdrop for a series of woodcutsby the then-famous artist Robert Seymour, who had originated the idea for thestory. With characteristic confidence, Dickens successfully insisted thatSeymour’s pictures illustrate his own story instead. After the first installment,Dickens wrote to the artist and asked him to correct a Drawing Dickens felt,was not faithful enough to his prose. Seymour made the Change, went into hisbackyard, and expressed his displeasure by committing suicide. Dickens and hispublishers simply pressed on with a new artist. The comic novel, The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club,appeared serially in 1836 and 1837 and was first published in book form in1837.
[D] Charles Dickens isprobably the best-known and, to many people, the greatest English novelist ofthe 19th century. Amoralist, satirist, and social reformer, Dickens craftedcomplex plots and striking characters that capture the panorama of Englishsociety.
[E]Soon after his father’s release fromprison, Dickens got a better job as errand boy in law offices. He taughthimself shorthand to get an even better job later as a court stenographer andas a reporter in Parliament. At the same time, Dickens, who had a reporter’seye for transcribing the life around him, especially anything comic or odd,submitted short sketches to obscure magazines.
[F]Dickens was born in Portsmouth, onEngland’s southern coast. His father was a clerk in the British Navy Pay officea respectable position, but with little social status. His paternal grandparents,a steward and a housekeeper, possessed even less status, having been servants,and Dickens later concealed their background. Dickens’ mother supposedly camefrom a more respectable family. Yet two years before Dickens’ birth, hismother’s father was caught stealing and fled to Europe, never to return. Thefamily’s increasing poverty forced Dickens out of school at age 12 to work inWarren’s Blacking Warehouse, a shoe-polish factory, where the other workingboys mocked him as “the young gentleman.” His father was then imprisoned fordebt. The humiliations of his father’s imprisonment and his labor in theblacking factory formed
Dickens’s greatest wound and became hisdeepest secret.He could not confined them even to hiswife, although they provide the unacknowledged foundation of his fiction.
[G]After Pickwick, Dickensplunged into a bleaker world. In OliverTwist, he traces an orphan’s progress from the workhouse to the criminalslums of London. Nicholas Nickleby,his next novel, combines the darkness of OliverTwist with the sunlight of Pickwick.The popularity of these novels consolidated Dickens’ as a nationally andinternationally celebrated man of letters.
【答案】41—45 FEACG
Part C
Directions:
Readthe following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments intoChinese. Your translation should be written neatly on the ANSWER SHEET.(10points)
Thegrowth of the use of English as the world`s primary language for internationalcommunication has obviously been continuing for several decades.
(46)Buteven as the number of English speakers expands further there are signs that theglobal predominance of the language may fade within the foreseeable future.
Complexinternational, economic, technological and culture change could start to diminishthe leading position of English as the language of the world market, and UKinterests which enjoy advantage from the breath of English usage wouldconsequently face new pressures. Those realistic possibilities are highlightedin the study presented by David Graddol.
(47)Hisanalysis should therefore end any self-contentedness among those who maybelieve that the global position of English is so stable that the younggeneration of the United Kingdom do not need additional language capabilities.
DavidGraddol concludes that monoglot English graduates face a bleak economic futureas qualified multilingual youngsters from other countries are proving to have acompetitive advantage over their British counterparts in global companies andorganizations. Alongside that, (48) Manycountries are introducing Englishinto the primary-school curriculum but British schoolchildren and students donot appear to be gaining greater encouragement to achieve fluency in otherlanguages.
Ifleft to themselves, such trends will diminish the relative strength of theEnglish language in international education markets as the demand foreducational resources in languages, such as Spanish, Arabic or Mandarin growsand international business process outsourcing in other language such asJapanese, French and German, spreads.
(49)Thechanges identified by David Graddol all present clear and major challenges toUK`s providers of English language teaching to people of other countries and tobroader education business sectors. The English language teaching sectordirectly earns nearly &1.3 billion for the UK in invisible exports and ourother education related explores earn up to &10 billion a year more. As theinternational education market expands, the recent slowdown in the number of internationalstudents studying in the main English-speaking countries is likely to continue,especially if there are no effective strategic policies to prevent suchslippage.
Theanticipation of possible shifts in demand provided by this study is significant.(50) It gives a basis to all organization which seeks to promote thelearning and very different operating environment. That is a necessary andpractical approach. In this as in much else, those who wish to influence thefuture must prepare for it.
【参考译文】
(46)但是即使当下英语使用者的人群还在进一步扩大,有迹象表明:在可预见的未来,英语可能会逐渐失去其全球主导地位。
(47)因此,对于那些认为英语的国际地位无懈可击、甚至觉得他们的年青后辈们不需要学习其他语言的人而言,他的分析可能会给他们的骄傲自大画上一个句号。
(48)众多国家正在将英语引进小学课程,但是,毫不夸张地说,英国学童和学生似乎没有受到更多的鼓励去学会流利地使用其他语言。
(49)大卫·葛拉尔多所发现的变化给教授他国人士英语的英国机构以及更广阔的教育市场带来了显而易见的巨大挑战。
(50)这给所有致力于推广英语学习和使用的机构提供了一个制定规划的依据,让我们能够应对未来完全不同的操作环境里出现的各种可能性。